Eye of the Tiger (Issue 11, Volume 13)

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Four Special Ed students enjoy night at district spring formal

Juniors, senior critique SBAC administration, schedule complaints

Fast and Furious 7 offers typical action of series, but with a little heart thrown in, too

Swim breaks long streak of SFL woes with success in new league

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EYE OF THE TIGER Roseville High School’s student-produced publication

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APRIL 20, 2015 | ISSUE 11, VOLUME 13

ANALYSIS

AFTER RHS Do students leave prepared for the rigors of a college education?

BY ISABEL FAJARDO

i.fajardo@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Junior class kicks off pilot round of SBAC TEST EVALUATES IMPLEMENTATION OF CORE CURRICULUM

TEACHERS LOSE CHROMEBOOK ACCESS DURING TEST PERIOD

BY DEVIN ORR

BY SEIÉNNA PAPINI

With the beginning of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium testing, Roseville High School experienced an altered school schedule and testing process, bringing in elements from last year’s pilot SBAC test. The results will be used to view what sections students struggle and succeed in, and where RHS needs to improve upon its teaching process as it moves to Common Core. “[SBAC data] is really helpful in trying to figure out how we can do a better job,” Byrd said.

SBAC testing assesses basic English and math skills and incorporates critical thinking and reasoning skills. The test also includes a writing portion.

“So the test goes deeper than just math  SBAC | Page 2

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium testing for juniors began last Tuesday, April 14, and left Roseville High School teachers without Chromebooks.

The Chromebook carts were collected the week before RHS was released for spring break, and have since been absent from teachers’ classrooms and unavailable for use, as they have been distributed in the teachers’ rooms who have second period prep and are reserved exclusively for SBAC testing.

All teachers were first notified in February via a school wide email that the Chromebooks would be unavailable for use during SBAC testing and were advised to plan accordingly. Teachers were also further reminded via a series of emails, as  CHROMEBOOKS | Page 2

d.orr@eyeofthetigernews.com

s.papini@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Last week, RHS juniors participated in the school’s first administration of the SBAC, the Common Core replacement for the now-phased-out CST exams. On Tuesday, juniors completed the English portion of the test. On Wednesday, they received a special lesson (bottom) preparing them for their Thursday ELA performance task (top).

In wake of state drought, district prepares for dry times This goal of 25 percent water reducSites must comply with tion comes from California Governor governor’s 25-percent cut Jerry Brown’s statewide mandatory 25 percent cut in urban water use put in

BY GEORGE HUGHES place on April 1. This reduction is based g.hughes@eyeofthetigernews.com on the levels of water usage in 2013.

By 2014, some of the schools in As the California drought makes its the RJUHSD had almost met their 25 way into its fourth consecutive year, percent reduction goal. Granite Roseville Joint Union High Bay High School achieved a 24 School District leadership reduction and both Oakhopes to continue their progRHS WATER percent mont High School and Roseville ress in their reduction of REDUCTION High School had achieved a 19 water usage throughout the percent reduction. Woodcreek district.  Mandated by Last Tuesday, the RJUHSD Gov. Brown: 25% High School achieved a 10 percent reduction. cabinet concluded that, al Achieved so The district’s biggest probthough they have made quite far: 19% significant progress from *Percentages compared to lem is Antelope High School.

2013 baseline By 2014, AHS had actually sufwhen they began actively fered from an additional 50 perconserving water in 2014, cent increase in water usage. A they still need to continue to large reason as to why AHS’ water use work toward their goal of 25 percent water reduction at each school.  DROUGHT | Page 3

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

RJUHSD plans to focus its available water resources on maintaining its school sites’ athletic fields, including those at RHS (above). The district is currently exploring different methods of meeting the new state water limit, including halting the watering of non-essential, aesthetic turf.

By the end of this month, almost all Roseville High School seniors who plan to attend college next fall will have decided at which institution they will enroll.

Some will go on to in-state publics, some to in-state privates, some to out-of-state publics, some to out-of-state privates and some to community colleges around the country.

If the Class of 2015 is like the one before it, about 95 percent of graduating seniors will pursue some form of post-secondary education next fall.

For many, this impending change comes off as quite exciting. Graduating seniors are now less than 35 schooldays from crossing the stage, and many look to college as a hub of new beginnings. After they leave RHS, the Class of 2015 seniors will take the classes they want to, make the friends they want to, live the way they want to and generally do the things they want to. For them, next fall will be exciting. For them, next fall will be liberating.

Or so their thinking goes. But just 32 percent of the graduating class was deemed ready for college in the English section of their junior-year Early Assessment Program, and just nine percent scored at the same level in math. In addition, an Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) survey showed that over half of RHS’ current sophomores and juniors don’t feel challenged in the classroom.

With an extensive amount of students headed to college, and an extensive amount of students identified as not ready and not challenged, seniors in the Class of 2015 – along with those in the classes that will follow it – may have to worry if they’re heading to college prepared.  COLLEGE | Page 3

The two sides of the AP push Enrollment increase may hurt elective programs

BY MIKAYLA STEARNS

m.stearns@eyeofthetigernews.com

The recent increase in AP enrollment and discussions about adding AP sections at Roseville High School opens up academic doors for many students, but may draw focus away from non-AP classes, primarily non-AP electives.

For the 2014-15 AP SEATS school year, there are approximately 1,200  This year: enrollments in AP Approx. 1,200 courses, with an ex Next year: pected enrollment of Approx. 1,600 1,600 students next (expected) year.

In addition to increased enrollment in RHS’ traditional AP courses, two new AP offerings – AP Computer Science and AP Economics – increases RHS’ current offerings from 19 courses to 21.

“I think we should be trying to offer and run the classes that students want,” RHS principal David Byrd said. “We have almost  AP | Page 2

INSIDE: Upcoming Events......2 | News......2-3 | Español......4 | Features......5-6 | Opinion......7-8 | Entertainment......9-10 | Sports......11-12 | Read more at eyeofthetigernews.com.

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Eye of the Tiger ROSEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL 1 TIGER WAY ROSEVILLE, CA 95678 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Robbie Short NEWS EDITOR Isabel Fajardo FEATURES EDITOR Marian Abdelmalek OPINION EDITOR Olivia Hillman ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Marc Chappelle SPORTS EDITOR Nick Espino Daniel Ryan COPY EDITOR Rachel Barber Mikayla Stearns ONLINE EDITOR Awfa Al-Rakabi Marc Chappelle ESPAñOL EDITOR Elizabeth Morin BUSINESS MANAGER Grant Esparza FACULTY ADVISER Bobby Ritter

STAFF WRITERS Ryan Andrada Logan Ash Catherine Barber Amran Bisla Chase Blatnick Matt Brackmann Joslyn Carrell Marina Efstathiu Adam Erickson Luz Flores Haley Guardino Eve Hill George Hughes Michelle Im Brad James Delphine Kyubwa Lauren Leal Max Modeste Sophia Mogannam Devin Orr Netzy Ortega Seiénna Papini Carlie Reader Cesar Sanchez Nick Sapp Haylee Sex Andrew Smith Arturo Sotomayor Madie Whalen

april 20, 2015

AP: School pursuing AP Capstone status to respond to student demand

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

2,000 students so the needs of the student body point in a lot of directions. We are always trying our best to meet that demand.”

In the future, RHS is looking to continue offering a wider variety of AP classes.

One way the school is attempting to do so is by applying to be classified as an AP Capstone school, which introduces two AP courses – Seminar and Research – in order to complement the curriculum of the other AP programs offered.

“Applying to be a Capstone school, that’s a response to the students selecting AP courses,” Clark said. “We’ve had this growth in AP, and we have growth in first-time AP students. When you start looking at the fact that our students are saying ‘I want to take AP,’ then you have to look at what you’re offering.”

Individual readiness contributes to enrolling in AP courses as well as the encouragement from administration.

“Taking an AP course is a choice and a student has to be ready for it,” Clark said. “I would love to see every student graduate from Roseville High School having taken at least one AP course.

I think that many people on this campus have the attitude that [AP enrollment] is a good thing, but ultimately students have choice.”

The AVID program requires each student enrolled to also enroll in at least one AP course before graduation.

“As an AVID teacher to my students, I absolutely encourage AP classes,” Clark said. “But many of my students see that as an academic choice that they would like to make.”

The most recent Western Association Schools and Colleges visitation team confirmed the direction in which RHS is projected regarding AP courses.

“WASC confirmed that our three goals of one, closing the achievement gap for underrepresented students; two, improving college and career readiness; and three, expanding engaging instructional strategies, were all good goals,” Byrd said. “We think our work in AP helps us with number one and number two.”

Byrd continues to encourage the progression of AP and non-AP programs.

“I think there is enough room for a wide and diverse number of electives,” Byrd said According to Clark, RHS’ attempts to improve the AP program, as well as represent nonAP electives, are still in the early stages.

“I think that overall what I would like to stress is that we are in the beginning stages of looking at this, at looking at our AP program, and looking at how to sup-

port our teachers and students and making it a better choice than it currently is,” Clark said. “I mean it’s a wonderful choice right now, we have a really great program and our data is very good, but how do we make it better?”

Still, the push to increase AP courses and enrollment does have potential drawbacks.

According to Tiger Tech instructor Bradlee Crockett, the amount of AP classes a student is enrolled in should be dependent on the individual student’s goals after high school.

“I think there is a real heavy emphasis on AP classes and that’s not necessarily the best fit for every student, nor do I think that really every student should have multiple AP course,” Crockett said. “I think that students overload themselves a lot, and I think that adding more [AP] courses may encourage students to do that.”

Crockett will teach AP Computer Science next year as well as continuing the entry-level Exploring Computer Science class and Tiger Tech.

“I think that students need to be educated about what the other programs offer,” Crockett said.

“Just signing up for a class because it’s AP and it gets you the grade bump or potential AP credit is not necessarily the best advice depending on what the student wants to do.”

SPRING CHICKS

CONTRIBUTING CARTOONIST Catherine Barber

The mission of Eye of the Tiger, a news-gathering organization run by Roseville High School students, is to inform, entertain and serve as a public forum for student expression.

We will accomplish our goals by reporting unbiased news while offering student perspectives in our columns and editorials. This includes, but is not limited to, prominent issues, changes and events that have an impact on the students and communities of Roseville High School.

We will strive to report with depth, accuracy and timeliness. It is not our goal to evoke controversy or sensationalize issues. We do not push moral values or political agendas.

Views expressed in the opinion and entertainment sections, columns and letters-to-the-editor are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily belong to Eye of the Tiger staff, this publication or Roseville High School.

All letters-to-the-editor must be signed and are subject to review by the editorial board before inclusion in the newspaper.

We reserve the right to edit submitted work as needed for space limitations and content. Nonattributed editorials reflect the opinion of the staff and must be approved by the entire editorial board.

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Write to us at info@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Last Tuesday, science teacher CJ Addington’s classes got to hear the peeping of newly hatched chicks. The chicks come in an array of colors and cuddle together under a light in Addington’s room. During class, students are allowed to hold and pet the chicks, as well as let them roam around on tables. Soon, baby ducklings will also be joining the chicks. Addington expects they will hatch tomorrow. He hatches chicks and ducklings every year.

CHROMEBOOKS: Computer lab, library open to teachers, students CONTINUED FROM FRONT

well as a faculty meeting.

The absence of the Chromebooks, however, lead to some inconvenience for the teachers that integrate technology into their curriculum, as well as some necessary improvisation.

Government and Economics teacher Dana Dooley had to deal with this inconvenience and change plans for her classes.

Dooley integrates the use of Chromebooks in many different ways in her class including a research-based project pertaining to government policy called the “Issue Project.”

The project requires the use of the Internet and the Chromebooks aid that necessity. Dooley planned her part of her curriculum with the idea in mind that she would have access to her Chromebook cart, which provides a Chromebook for every student in each of her classes.

“Because we have been so acclimated to having access to this resource and because we are on a

4x4 schedule, we are repeating the same lesson plans from the fall in the spring, it makes it difficult to remove technology from the current curriculum,” Dooley said.

Dooley also points out that she has not yet fully integrated technology into her curriculum, some teachers are fully tech-centric and some still teach their classes in the traditional pen-and-paper style. For teachers who have not yet converted to be more technology-savvy, this month without Chromebooks will be much easier to get through.

Health and Safety teacher Marlin Galamgam does not see the loss affecting her classes too much.

“It won’t be that difficult for us,” Galamgam said. “We may just have to, you know, postpone some assignments where we need the Chromebooks. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

Although RHS teachers have a variety of needs that need to be met in order to effectively teach their classes, they also have many alternatives available to them.

The 400 wing computer lab and the library is available for use, and teachers are welcome to encourage their students to bring their own devices for the purpose of completing class assignments.

Some teachers, like Earth Science and Chemistry teacher John Fuller, have opted to schedule days in the 400 wing computer lab, while others, like Dooley, took advantage of the library’s resources and scheduled two consecutive days for her first and fourth period.

Because the library does not have enough computers and devices to supply an entire class, Dooley also encouraged her students to bring their own device from home, such as laptops, phones, iPads and tablets, so that no student would be without resources to work on their project.

RHS teacher Denise Weis, who is in charge of the SBAC testing at RHS, assures teachers that the Chromebooks and carts will be returned back after SBAC testing has wrapped up near the end of April.

SBAC: School to reflect on scheduling, results CONTINUED FROM FRONT

and English, by extension of that,” Byrd said. “It gets into science and it can get into social studies. And it can get into your ability to communicate and your ability to critically think.”

According to Byrd, one reason behind the test is to ensure that teachers are teaching what is required and to verify the school’s accountability, as well as the accountability of students.

“We do this because it’s one way of holding schools accountable to make sure that they’re teaching what they’re supposed to be teaching, and make sure students are learning what they’re supposed to be learning,” Byrd said.

Juniors last year took a practice version of the SBAC, however the results from this year’s exams will be the first to be counted officially. Along with those tests, sophomores this year will be required to take a paper-based text in science.

According to Byrd, the testing schedule is going smoothly at RHS. The schedule condenses test days in order to take less time than testing did in the previous

years.

“We’d [previously] spent days and days testing, and now they’ve been able to get it down to four days, four and a half days, of testing,” Byrd said. “If we can keep it there, that’s a sweet spot to be.”

After testing, Roseville will meet with other schools to collaborate and analyze their testing schedules and processes, in hopes to find the most beneficial strategy for everybody.

“We think the schedule works, but one of the things we have to do is get all of our results and sit down with other schools and say ‘How are you guys doing?’” Byrd said. “And they’ll ask us the same thing and we’ll all kind of settle on a schedule that’s best for everybody.”

Analyzing SBAC data is an exciting opportunity, according to Byrd.

“We don’t know what it’s gonna tell us, it’s gonna be fascinating,” Byrd said. “When the results come out, I’m gonna hide in my office for a day and pour through them to see if I can figure out what they mean. There’s still some bugs that need to be worked out with tests and with the whole process, but it’ll be interesting to see those results.”

news | page 3

april 20, 2015

Dooley ready to assume role as Yearbook adviser DROUGHT:

by SOPHIA MOGANNAM

s.mogannam@eyeofthetigernews.com

As of the 2015-16 school year, Roseville High School Government and Economics teacher Dana Dooley will be taking over as the new Yearbook adviser.

Upon the recent need for a new yearbook advisor, RHS principal David Byrd connected with former principal Brad Basham for insight regarding which teacher would be qualified to take over Yearbook, and approached Dooley.

“We looked at what was in the best interest of everyone: students, teachers and the yearbook program as a whole,” Byrd said.

“We thank Ms. Kaley for her work with the program for the last two years.”

Currently, Dooley is working on building alliances with courses such as journalism and media production, as many students taking these classes have a background in photography and graphic design, which will serve as an advantage to incoming yearbook students.

“There are amazing photojournalists in the [journalism

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

As next year’s adviser, teacher Dana Dooley hopes to connect Yearbook with other programs at RHS and with the school as a whole. program] that we can use advantageously in yearbook,” Dooley said. “Likewise, I’m sure we’re going to produce photos of certain events that journalism may want to have access to for the paper.”

In addition, Dooley will make attempts to connect with Student Government in order to keep up with dates of events and activities taking place at RHS. As Dooley is only familiar with content-oriented classes, she is eager to delve into a student-led class. As of now, she is dedicated

to teaching social science, but is planning on allocating a section to advising the Yearbook class, in the hopes that it will be a yearlong program.

Whether or not the Yearbook course will be offered as a yearlong class, will depend on how many students enroll. Dooley hopes to recruit more students for the program as she becomes more familiar with the responsibilities and timelines that accompany Yearbook adviser.

“I want people there who want

to be there, who care about our school, who want to memorialize it and participate in this amazing learning process and experience, where there is a lot of student-led moments and creativity to be expressed,” Dooley said.

According to Dooley, after this change in schedule, there will most likely be a need for another social sciences teacher, but it is yet to be determined whether this will be a current staff member or a new positioning opening in the department.

Upon multiple goals that Dooley has set for herself and her future class, are to make the deadlines accessible for students and to efficiently cover some of the main aspects of the yearbook.

“Another thing that I really want to take care of is to make sure that we are intentionally considering our process of senior superlatives, quotes and ads … because I know that has been a source of contention in the past,” Dooley said.

Due to Dooley’s journalism background, she was initially offered a yearbook position when initially applying for a job after Michelle Cole left the program

two years ago. However, Dooley was hesitant as to how qualified she was to take on the job in such an early stage of her career at RHS. She declined the position in order to first become acclimated to the flow of the school, as well as to get to know the students, staff and faculty.

Dooley is enthusiastic to have the opportunity to meet new students and create a bond within the classroom.

She plans to carry out projects for the class that will represent the Yearbook committee as a family, such as building graphic designing skills through making class T-shirts.

“I really am looking forward to the challenge,” Dooley said. “I’ve been feeling so encouraged and inspired by this offer that really it’s giving me the opportunity, as a teacher, to not only grow in my teaching abilities, but also my mentorship abilities.”

Byrd also has high hopes for Dooley as she embarks on the process.

“She will do a good job,” Byrd said. “She has a journalism background and is excited about the opportunity.”

COLLEGE: Best course of preparation not exactly clear to staff CONTINUED FROM FRONT

The numbers The most recent statistics from the Early Assessment Program test showed that, of last year’s juniors, nine percent are ready for college-level math and 32 percent are ready for college-level English. The Class of 2014’s junioryear results were slightly higher but similar.

English teacher Paige Powell believes there are multiple reasons why the numbers are as they are, with the main one being because students don’t take the test as seriously as they do other exams. She said it’s also challenging for teachers to pinpoint exactly where students are struggling due to the lack of information the results provide.

“It’s kind of hard to know because when [the EAP test] says a student is not ready, they don’t tell us if it’s because of the writing, because of the reading skills measured by the CST (California Standards Test) or if it was those 15 extra questions [from the EAP],” Powell said. “If we knew what to target, it would be a lot easier.”

Additionally, all juniors who are in Algebra II and above are required to take the EAP math test. According to math teacher Michelle Walton, all test content is covered by the end of Honors Pre-Calculus, but not by the end of Algebra II. The test is usually administered during the spring portion of the year.

In addition, the survey administered by EOS indicated that 63 percent of RHS’ 10th and 11th grade benchmark students – white and Asian students who come from medium- to high-income backgrounds – and 68 percent of 10th and 11th grade underrepresented students – all other students – don’t feel challenged in the classroom.

This statistic “intrigued” principal David Byrd.

“I wish I could get the kids together and ask a few more questions about that,” Byrd said.

“And, I now want to know, how do those kids define ‘challenged?’

Does it have anything to do with the time in which we asked them the question? What if we were to go back and ask them that question at the end of the school year when things maybe get ramped up and get tougher and maybe the curriculum gets more difficult?”

Byrd and counselor Jason Bradley both believe that the results require additional questions in order to get to specifics.

“It’s certainly interesting that that many students – that any-

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

In order for students to be prepared for their eventual move to college-level rigor, RHS counselor Jason Bradley (above) encourages juniors to take challenging classes their senior year during junior advising. This is among several different tactics RHS employs to ensure students are ready for college – but EOS and EAP data indicate they may not be enough. where above 10 percent of our students – don’t feel challenged, [which] leads me to wonder which classes that they feel that in,” Bradley said. “Because, [students are] not answering for each of their classes. They’re answering as whole if they feel challenged, so to me there would need to be further research into that question.”

Three students’ experiences Before Stephen Morin graduated from RHS in May 2014, he tried to load his schedule with as much rigorous coursework as possible. Though he found some of his classes challenging, he doesn’t believe he was challenged all the time.

“The workload was not really bad at all,” Morin said. “To be honest, however, it wasn’t too difficult to blow off some of the work and not study much and still get good grades in many of these classes. I’d say I spent an average of an hour to two hours a day doing homework.”

Now a freshman at Princeton University, Morin spends six hours a day studying and finishing assignments, and about 10 hours on weekends doing the same. And he, “still [doesn’t] get everything done.”

Just like Morin, Sam Courville (RHS ‘14) has trouble finding enough time to get all her work done at UCLA. She also tried to take a rigorous course load in high school.

“I did not find the transition in the workload as shocking as some. However, I do think time management has been the biggest challenge for me,” Courville said. “[In college], there is a lot

more time to complete your work, but also so many opportunities to participate in fun extracurricular activities all the time.”

C’Mone Davis (RHS ‘14), currently enrolled in Sierra College, faces the same problem.

“You’re kind of left on your own,” Davis said. “I think it’s just different because you’re not going to school every day, you’re not going over the subject every day. You’re doing more studying on your own time.”

Davis also shares the lackof-challenge sentiment with the sophomores and juniors who took the EOS survey this year. She believes the only time she was prepped for post-graduate work was during her senior year.

“That’s when the teachers kinda started being like ‘Okay, we can’t keep reminding you guys. Most of you are adults, and it’s not gonna be like this in college,’” Davis said. “I know my English teacher did that a lot. He kept trying to remind us ‘You guys are going to college, you’re gonna have to pay attention, not talk so much. When you go into college, it’s gonna be like, five times tougher than high school.’ And so that’s when I started realizing that it was gonna be different.”

For Davis, Courville and Morin, college was different. College was challenging. All three alumni encountered problems during their transition into college even though they believed that the courses they took at RHS were challenging.

Morin believes the obstacles are inevitable.

“I think, regardless of where people go, they will find the work to be much greater in quantity and

difficulty than they are used to,” Morin said.

He, along with Courville and Davis, encouraged students to stay on top of work, even if they don’t feel challenged.

“My advice would be to work on developing strong study and time management skills, even if you feel it isn’t necessary for the level of work you have right now,” Morin said. “Those habits will pay off in the end.”

Courville also advises students to get help when they feel like they are struggling.

“There are people willing to help you with your academics, but it is very much on you to seek them out and ask for the help you need,” Courville said. “Being proactive about seeking out help when you need it is super important.”

What RHS is doing Because the students who said they didn’t feel challenged on the survey are sophomores and juniors, RHD administration feels a “sense of urgency” to make sure that they’re challenged and prepared for college their senior year, Byrd said.

In an effort to increase the number of students who test as ready for college-level English and math, Powell and Walton hope to continue to emphasize the importance of the EAP to their students.

In addition, the counselors plan to continue to encourage future students who place as “conditional” in math and English – 44 percent and 22 percent, respectively, for the Class of 2015 – to take an Expository Reading and Writing Class (ERWC) and an EAP Math class to obtain the skills and en-

counter curriculum they need to be ready for college-level courses. Both classes were introduced in the 2013-14 school year.

Counselors are also reaching out to students during junior advising to challenge themselves during senior year.

“When I see a student that has selected a very easygoing senior year schedule, I’m always making lots of suggestions,” Bradley said. “Take classes that are actually going to help you, take classes that are going to not just increase your academic knowledge, but help you increase those life skills, those student-success skills. If it becomes too easy, you lose that.

If [they] stop being a student and take a less rigorous course of study, they might lose that. Students tend to lose that.”

According to the EOS survey, 83 percent of staff at RHS believe that college success is connected to taking a rigorous AP class during their time at the school. Counselor Philomena Crone believes, though, that students who take CP should be just as challenged.

“I think that our staff is also making sure our College Prep curriculum is a rigorous curriculum also, and therefore those students are also being challenged,” Crone said. “Our goal would be to challenge students. We want to challenge all students, not just AP students.”

Some ways RHS is looking to increase its rigor are adding new classes and continuing to implement Common Core. Byrd’s goal is to bring two to four new classes each year to slowly make RHS “a more challenging place.”

Byrd hopes students will see an increase in rigor, and wants to keep asking if students are being challenged, with or without EOS. “I’m intrigued by all the possibility of what [the statistic] means,” Byrd said. “But rather than just sit on it, I think we need to say, ‘Okay, here’s what we think it means and we got to try all of these things. We’ve got to try challenging more, we’ve got to ask some more questions of them. We’ve got to try figuring this out. We’ve got to figure out what the challenges are or are not for kids.’”

He also hopes that students will step up, too.

“We have a job on our end, as the adult, to try and add challenge for the kids, but, at some point, we need the kids to say, ‘I’m going to challenge myself,’ and meet us on that challenge,” Byrd said. “It can’t just be us all the time. At some point we need the kids to step up – and that’ll be fun to kind of work on.”

District to maintain fields for athlete safety

% REDUCTION NEEDED TO MEET STATE MANDATE ANTELOPE

 75 percent

GRANITE BAY HS  1 percent

ROSEVILLE HS  6 percent

OAKMONT HS  6 percent

WOODCREEK HS  15 percent

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

increased so dramatically was because they had to use an excess amount of water in order to produce and maintain a new soccer field that was previously been destroyed by a broken water line.

The district feels that they will still be able to achieve a fairly significant amount of reduction from AHS in the coming future.

One of the district’s primary focuses is to maintain the health of the natural athletic fields at each school in order to keep them in an appropriate and safe condition.

Because of this focus, the first areas that schools will look toward to continue to reduce their water usage are the non-essential areas in schools; areas on campus that are not highly necessary to maintain, such as decorate turf in front of schools and student gathering areas.

Another one of the district’s main focuses will be on maintaining the trees around schools and on school campuses, as they feel that it is necessary to keep the trees healthy.

If needed, schools will even cease to water some of these nonessential areas and instead use that water to maintain the trees and help conserve as much as they can.

Even with these ideas of turning off water in non-essential areas, the district is going to have to come up with some more ideas to conserve water in order to successfully meet their goals. At schools like RHS, most of the grass that is being watered makes up the athletic fields which are necessary to maintain healthy and playable, so turning off the water there is not an option.

“At Roseville High School, where we have hardly any turf, [it is] a lot more problematic,” Severson said. “We don’t have places where we can just turn off the water; the places that are being watered are athletic fields.”

RHS AP Environmental Science teacher CJ Addington said that the effects of the drought are felt not just by the people and communities of California but by the environment as well.

“Obviously the lack of water is having a big impact on a lot of the environment,” Addington said.

“The reservoirs are low, there is less water in the forests which means that they a lot more prone to forest fires. I suspect that this summer, we’re probably going to have more forest fires just because it’s so dry.”

Addington also said that students and people of the community of Roseville should do their best to try and save as much water as possible.

“People get into a habit of using all the water that they want,” Addington said. “If everybody used less water it would help out, like by watering lawns less, taking shorter showers, trying to use less water for dishwashing and laundry and things like that.”

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NOTICIAS Más estudiantes toman clases de AP POR MIKAYLA STEARNS m.stearns@eyeofthetigernews.com

El reciente aumento de inscripción en clases del nivel avanzado y discusiones acerca de agregar secciones de AP en la escuela secundaria de Roseville abre puertas académicas para muchos estudiantes, pero pueden sacar el foco lejos de clases no-AP, principalmente optativas no AP. Para el año escolar 2014-15, hay aproximadamente 1.200 inscripciones en cursos de AP, con una matrícula prevista de 1.600 estudiantes el próximo año.

Además del aumento de la matrícula en los cursos tradicionales de RHS, dos nuevas ofertas de AP - AP Computación y AP Economía - aumenta RHS’ oferta actual de 19 cursos a 21.

Pruebas de SBAC requieren Chromebooks POR SEIÉNNA PAPINI

s.papini@eyeofthetigernews.com

Pruebas de Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium para los estudiantes de tercer año comenzó el martes pasado, el 14 de abril y dejó a los maestros de la escuela secundaria de Roseville sin Chromebooks.

Los carretillas de Chromebook se recogieron la semana antes RHS fue lanzado para las vacaciones de primavera, y desde en-

En el futuro, RHS está tratando de seguir ofreciendo una variedad de clases de AP. Una manera de la escuela está tratando de hacerlo es dirigirse a ser clasificado como una escuela de AP Capstone, que introduce cursos Seminario y Investigación, con el fin de complementar el currículo de los otros programas de AP ofrecidos.

“Aplicando a ser una escuela Capstone, eso es una respuesta a los estudiantes seleccionar los cursos de AP,” dijo Clark.

Sin embargo, el esfuerzo para aumentar los cursos de AP y la inscripción tiene inconvenientes potenciales. Instructor de Tiger Tech, Bradlee Crockett dice que la cantidad de clases de AP el estudiante está matriculado en debe depender de metas individuales. tonces han estado ausentes de las aulas docentes y no disponibles para su uso, ya que se han distribuido en las salas de profesores que tienen segundo período de preparación y reserve exclusivamente a SBAC la prueba.

La ausencia de la Chromebook, sin embargo, conduce a algunos inconvenientes para los profesores que integran la tecnología en su plan de estudios, especially en la clase de Dana Dooley.

Profesora de AP/CP gobierno y económica Dana Dooley se ocupó de este inconveniente en su clase.

¿Están listos para la universidad?

A final de este mes, casi todas las personas mayores de Roseville de secundaria que planean asistir a la universidad el próximo otoño habrá decidido en qué institución se inscribirán.

Para muchos, este cambio inminente sale como muy emocionante. Estudiantes que se gradúan son ahora menos de 35 días escolares de cruzar el escenario, y muchos ven la universidad como un centro de nuevos comienzos.

Experiencias de tres estudiantes Antes de que Stephen Morin graduó de RHS el mayo de 2014, trató de cargar su agenda con tanto trabajo académico riguroso posible. A pesar de que encontró algunos de sus clases desafiantes, él no creía que él fue desafiado todo el tiempo.

Ahora, un estudiante de primer año en Princeton, Morin pasa seis horas al día estudiando y terminando las tareas, y cerca de 10 horas en fines de semana haciendo lo mismo. Y él “todavía [no] puede completar todo.”

Al igual que Morin, ex alumna Sam Courville (RHS ‘14) tiene problemas para encontrar el tiempo suficiente en la UCLA para completar todo su trabajo.

También trató de tomar una carga

de cursos rigurosos en la escuela secundaria.

Ex alumna C’Mone Davis (RHS ‘14), actualmente inscrito en Sierra College, se enfrenta al mismo problema.

Para ella, Morin y Courville, la universidad era diferente. La universidad era un reto. Los tres ex alumnos tuvieron problemas en su transición a la universidad a pesar de que cree que los cursos que tomaron en RHS fueron desafiantes.

Aunque, Morin cree que los obstáculos son inevitables.

Las estadísticas Las estadísticas más recientes de la prueba de Early Assessment Program mostraron que, de los estudiantes de tercer año del año pasado, nueve por ciento de los estudiantes están listos para las matemáticas a nivel universitario, mientras que el 32 por ciento de los estudiantes están listos para nivel universitario inglés.

Lo que está haciendo RHS Debido a que los estudiantes que dijeron que no se sentían retados en la encuesta son segundo y tercer año, hay un “sentido de urgencia” para asegurarse de que están preparados para la universidad para el último año, dice Byrd.

En un esfuerzo por aumentar el número de estudiantes listos para el nivel universitario en inglés y matemáticas, Powell y Walton esperan seguir haciendo hincapié en que la importancia de la prueba a sus alumnos.

La transición de Singapur a California

Girl Child Soldier viene a RHS

POR CATHERINE BARBER

POR EVE HILL

Un billete de avión y un largo viaje parecía ser el precio de un nuevo comienzo. Después de recorrer 9.000 millas desde Singapur, estudiante de primer año Chloe Fan llegó a California.

Fan emprendió el largo viaje como ella emigró a Roseville de Asia en la esperanza de obtener nueva oportunidad, el conocimiento y la experiencia. Para ella, el movimiento significa un nuevo comienzo en su vida.

En comparación con su sistema escolar en Singapur, RHS difiere en varios aspectos. A diferencia de los días de ocho sujetos en Singapur, RHS tiene cuatro temas del día. Fan también se ha adaptado a las nuevas clases requeridas, como la clase de salud.

A pesar de las diferencias entre los sistemas escolares, Fan cree que encaja bien. En comparación con una cultura más introvertido en Singapur, los estudiantes aquí son socialmente más extrovertido.

La clase de teatro de la escuela secundaria de Roseville está apuntando despertar conciencia a los niños soldados a través de la obra, Girl Child Soldier.

La obra es un reparto de conjunto con ocho mujeres y tres hombres. Inicialmente desarrollado por los estudiantes en la compañía de baile de RHS, Burning Bright, en 2003, la obra ha sido modificado con nuevas canciones y los cambios en el guión.

Girl Child Soldier se basa en informes de salida de ocho mujeres que eran niños soldados.

El objetivo de esta producción es llamar la atención a Red Hand Pledge. Además, esto tiene como objetivo detener leyes que permiten a los adultos jóvenes a alistarse en el ejército.

La producción se llevará a cabo a las 7:00 pm el 23 a 25 de abril en el teatro Patti Baker y durará aproximadamente 75 minutos y consistirá en ocho canciones.

El equipo de béisbol tiene un récord de 5-2

Después de pruebas en la SFL el equipo de natación enc

POR ISABEL FAJARDO

i.fajardo@eyeofthetigernews.com

el 20 de ABRIL de 2015

NOTICIAS

REPORTAJES Tres estudiantes consiguen pasantías con Kaiser POR HAYLEE SEX

h.sex@eyeofthetigernews.com

Tres estudiantes de la escuela secundaria de Roseville han sido dados la oportunidad de una vez en la vida oportunidad de trabajar en un hospital.

Estudiante de segundo año Metty Geleta, estudiante de último año Jasmine Martínez, y estudiante de tercer año Daniel Timonichev están internando en Kaiser Roseville durante el verano a partir del 15 de junio. La pasantía es para cinco días a la semana, de 8:00 am a 5:00 pm, hasta el 7 de agosto. Serán la sombra de enfermeras y médicos diferentes y aprender cómo funciona el hospital, además de aprender sobre las especialidades diferentes.

“Sé que vamos a aprender acerca de cómo funciona el hospital y la seguridad,” dijo Timonichev.

“Lo que es realmente interesante es que una gran cantidad de áreas en realidad funciona junto con otras partes y se puede experimentar las otras partes, por lo que si se tiene un fuerte interés en otra

sección, puede hacerlo.”

Geleta fue introducido a las prácticas a través de anuncios de la mañana de RHS y terminó de recoger una solicitud después de que ella lo vio de nuevo en línea en el sitio web de la escuela y el centro de la carrera.

Los tres de ellos tuvieron que pasar por un largo proceso de solicitud, a partir de una solicitud en papel, una llamada telefónica y luego una entrevista en persona.

Martínez espera convertirse en una enfermera pediátrica de un hospital de Kaiser más tarde en la vida y Timonichev no tiene un interés trabajo específico, pero disfruta de radiología y productos farmacéuticos. Él es la esperanza de averiguar su carrera a través de Kaiser.

“Todavía estoy tipo de experimentación [con carreras],” dijo Timonichev. “Estoy pensando en estar en cualquier lugar en el campo de la medicina y la ciencia viene un poco fácil para mí, así que estaba pensando en ir un poco más de esa manera.”

c.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

e.hill@eyeofthetigernews.com

DEPORTES El equipo varsity de voleibol continúa tener una temporada muy fuerte POR NICK SAPP

n.sapp@eyeofthetigernews.com

Hay cuatro más partidos por jugar en la temporada y el equipo de voleibol de varsity de la escuela secundaria de Roseville es 10-0 en la liga y 22-4 en general. Estos cuatro partidos son contra rivales de la liga y incluye Ponderosa, Oakmont, Bella Vista, y Whitney.

Tres de esos equipos están sentados en el segundo, tercero y cuarto lugar respectivamente.

La noche del jueves Los Tigres jugó contra Los Titanes de Antelope y ganaron en cuatro sets.

Ganaron el primer y el tercer set 25-19, perdieron el segundo set 18-25, y ganó el último set 2523. La suya es la segunda victoria para los tigres contra Los Titanes de este año.

“El partido contra Antelope podría haber ido mejor, nos fuimos al saber que estábamos mejor, pero aún así tuvimos que demostrarlo,” dijo el capitán de último año Trevor Pratt.

Según Pratt la razón que perdieron en el tercer set fue porque no estaban jugando como un equipo y no se comunicaban.

El próximo jueves RHS se

enfrentará la secundaria de Whitney. Los Tigres los golpearon en su partido de liga en cuatro sets, aunque en JDVBT Chico Torneo de Los Tigres perdieron. Luego de la derrota de los tigres estarán compitiendo lejos en Whitney.

Ganar la temporada aseguraría una bandera de la liga para Los Tigres y un lugar en la post-temporadas.

Como Los Tigres siguen en la racha de invicto a través de la liga el objetivo en su espalda se vuelve más grande según Pratt.

“Todos los equipos más grandes van a tratar de vencer a nosotros, para saber que realmente nos mantiene enfocados porque queremos ganar la liga e ir a las post-temporadas, y superando a los equipos como Whitney, Ponderosa, y Oakmont es importante,” dijo Pratt.

Entre los mejores resultados del equipo son Pratt y estudiante de primer año Neal Reilly.

El próximo partido del equipo será contra Bella Vista el martes por la noche. En un partido a principios de temporada los tigres derrotaron a los Broncos en tres sets corridos.

POR LOGAN ASH

l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

A medida que el equipo de béisbol entra en la segunda mitad de la temporada, que se sitúan con un récord de 5-2 sólo perdiendo a Bella Vista y Oakmont.

A partir del pasado miércoles, después de vencer 17-5 Ponderosa, que han vencido a los equipos CVC por una diferencia combinada de 30 carreras en sólo seis partidos.

De acuerdo con muchos jugadores, Los Tigres dependen en gran medida su fuerte rotación de abridores en la alta Adam Erickson junto con estudiantes de tercer año Andreas Lara y Andrew Hansen.

En el comienzo de la temporada, el entrenador Lance Fisher cambió muchos jugadores alrededor para ver lo que los jugadores dan al equipo la mejor oportunidad de éxito para lograr un campeonato CVC. De acuerdo con muchos jugadores de béisbol, su química del equipo se ha debilitado recientemente y muchos de ellos se sienten que está afectando a su equipo de una manera muy negativa.

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Estudiantes de tercer año usan los Chromebooks para las pruebas de SBAC, pero eso ha creado una problema para los maestros que ulitizan los Chromebooks en sus clases para proyectos.

REPORTAJES

MARIAN ABDELMALEK EYE OF THE TIGER

Una nueva obra está viniendo a RHS por la clase de teatro de la escuela secundaria de Roseville. La obra se centra en las historias de niñas que eran soldados.

DEPORTES

POR RYAN ANDRADA

r.andrada@eyeofthetigernews.com

Después de años de lucha en la liga ultra competitivo de SFL, los equipos de natación han tenido un buen desempeño en su nueva liga.

Este éxito ha llegado a pesar del hecho de que muchos de los nadadores mayores del equipo están compitiendo en el nivel de secundaria por la primera vez.

“Es difícil entrar en un deporte que nunca has hecho antes, pero aprendo más cada día y yo amo la química entre el equipo,” dijo el nadador de primer año Taylor Ledang.

“Me encanta que los chicos animan a las chicas en la práctica y en los encuentros; y hacemos lo mismo para los chicos cada vez también. Es como una gran familia y estoy realmente feliz de que yo decidí probarlo para mi último año en la escuela secundaria de Roseville.”

El equipo ha participado en varios encuentros y ha tenido varios nadadores golpean a sus registros personales temprano en la temporada.

El equipo se encuentra actu-

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

El equipo de natación está experimentando mucho suceso esta temporada en la nueva liga, CVC. El equipo de relevos de chicos (por encima) está tres segundos lejos del récord de la escuela. almente en una racha de cuatro se reúnen después de enfrentarse a los nuevos rivales de liga Bella Vista, Cosumnes Oaks, Whitney, y Antelope.

El cambio a la CVC ha afectado a todos los deportes en Roseville este año.

Cambiando la competencia hasta que realmente hace que un factor desconocido de entrar en los encuentros de los nadadores, pero ellos se han adaptados bien.

“Después de todo el trabajo duro que se siente muy bien para

vencer a su expediente y saber su verdadera mejora y segundo afeitado su tiempo,” dijo el nadador de último año Zach Evenson.

Evenson tiene grandes esperanzas para su equipo.

“El equipo está consiguiendo día más y más por día,” dijo el alto Zach Evenson. “A diferencia del año pasado, el equipo está muy pegado, lo cual lo hace mucho más divertido.”

Los Tigres parecen hacer frente a la Ponderosa Bruins este jueves a Ponderosa.

Features

april 20, 2015

page 5

Enjoying the prom experience of their dreams Four Special Ed students attend districtwide spring formal at OHS

by MARIAN ABDELMALEK

m.abdelmalek@eyeofthetigernews.com

Four students in the Special Education program at Roseville High School had a chance to dance the night away at their own special prom.

Junior Sam Mirsepassi along with seniors Dani Coulter, Gareth Roberts and Shelby Sardia attended the annual districtwide Spring Formal held at Oakmont High School on April 11.The event was started five years ago

by OHS Special Ed ParaEducator Denal Green and a student in the Special Ed. program, Kiki Hendon. The event occurs two hours before Oakmont’s actual junior prom, and the junior class donates their decorations and DJ to the Spring Formal.

Students take pictures, dance, sing, eat and most importantly, have a chance to experience a prom night. The event invites both students and their parents to attend, while OHS picks certain students to volunteer and take part in the spring formal.

“Going to a Prom is kind of a rite of passage and some of the special ed and functional skill program parents aren’t going to have that opportunity, more than likely, of seeing their child go to a prom so we try to make it as normal and average as possible so they get that whole experience,” Green said.

One of the students who attended was RHS senior Dani Coulter, who brought junior Maddy Furdek as her date.

Furdek first met Coulter in her

freshmen PE class, and the two became very good friends. While the two danced away at the night, Dani Coulter’s mother, Rose Coulter, watched from afar.

“One of my favorite parts has to be that I can go with her,” Rose Coulter said. “I never went to prom when I was in high school, so to experience it vicariously through Dani is great.

Another favorite thing is watching Dani have such a wonderful time, dancing and singing, and not getting anxious about anyone judging her.”

Rose Coulter enjoys getting to see her daughter be comfortable and see her true fun-loving personality while she sings and dances with the rest of the students.

According to Green, the expressions of the parents is the most exciting as some have never seen their child in an environment where they are acting like any other teenager.

“I think it’s so exciting when I see them do something that I didn’t expect, like slow dance,” Green said. “This year the DJ played a slow song which I just thought, ‘This is crazy why are you playing a slow song,’ and all the kids grabbed a partner and were slow dancing. It was so cute.”

The event brings together students from multiple high schools; allowing the different students to reconnect and have a chance to make new friends. According to Furdek, the event had a wide spectrum of kids of all abilities,

COURTESY LYNN SHELLEY

COURTESY ROSE COULTER

Senior Dani Coulter brought junior Maddy Furdek to the Spring Formal as her date (left). Junior Sam Mirespassi (third from left) and senior Shelby Sardia (far right) took pictures with other students who attended the event in the phootobooth (right). The district’s annual event took place April 11 and gave RJUHSD Special Education students the chance to dance, take photos and eat sweet treats in a prom-like atmosphere. Parents and volunteers also had the opportunity to attend the event to create a comfortable environment for the students. all which interacted and danced with one another.

OHS hand-picks volunteers to help with the event, dance, and interact with the students in order to ensure they have a good time.

OHS Senior Casie Silvia was one of the students who attended the event and loved the feeling that dancing with the students made them so happy.

“I don’t have a favorite part because the whole experience is truly incredible,” Silvia said.

“The students love it so much and being able to work with them is truly a blessing and they love just being able to enjoy a fun night with their friends.”

The event not only serves as a way for Special Ed students to complete their milestones, but it is also a good service to helping them learn and practice social skills that they may use for future events they attend. The dance serves as a way for students to be immersed into the traditions high schools students participate in.

“They want to be immersed and feel like they’re involved with all these other programs in school,” Furdek said. “Being together they know each other anyway but it’s just really cool that they can all relate...it’s just a really good experience and they all have a lot of fun together.”

The event to Special Ed teacher Lynn Shelley is very uplifting and makes her smile for the rest of the school year. Shelley believes that it is a good way to unify the different students.

“I really think it brings an awareness of how much alike people are and the joy that you see on everybody’s faces and to see their parents being a teenager, a normal one of the mill teenager, dancing and singing and having fun that’s the best part of it to me,” Shelley said.

The Spring Formal gives the students a chance to attend something they’ve always wanted to in a comfortable setting, for both

themselves and their parents, making it less stressful. This event has offered students the opportunity to dance with friends, capture photos, experience the prom each high-schooler looks forward too.

“Dani and her friends understand the importance of high school milestones such as prom, and it makes me happy to see so many get to have this wonderful experience,” Rose Coulter said.

“Often they may be overlooked, and maybe even thought of as not understanding or caring what the prom is about, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. They know how special prom is.”

Burning Bright to speak out against child-soldiering

by EVE HILL

e.hill@eyeofthetigernews.com

MARIAN ABDELMALEK EYE OF THE TIGER

Above, the ensemble cast practices the opening scene of Girl Child Soldier, a play Drama is putting on in the Patti Baker Theater this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The cast strives to bring attention to an international child-soldering awareness group, The Red Hand Pledge, and encourage people to fight against child-soldiering.

Roseville High School’s drama class is aiming bringing awareness to child soldiering through their play, Girl Child Soldier.

The show is an ensemble cast with eight girls and three boys.

Initially developed by students in RHS’ Drama Company, Burning Bright, in 2003 the play has now been modified with new songs and changes in the script.

Girl Child Soldier is based on exit reports from eight different women who were child soldiers, and their individual stories of their experiences both before and after they served. The show will feature real-life interviews with the eight girls who entered and left the military force in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Colombia.

The goal of this production is to bring attention to the Red

Hand Pledge, an international child soldering awareness group that encourages people to fight against child soldiering. This issue happens consistently around the world with kids varying from as young as 10, and up to 18 being drafted into the army. Also, this aims to stop laws that allow young adults to enlist in the army without parental consent.

The cast has gotten extremely involved in this issue during the time period of perfecting their performance, by means of studying and researching what they are acting about.

“It’s humbling to be able to use your voice to speak about something they don’t have power over,” junior Alesha Bonner said.

Most profits from the show will be put towards the Drama programs trip to the UK to attend the National Festival of Youth Theatre in 2016. The troupe will

be the very first American group in 11 years to attend the festival.

The rest of the profits, which will come from donations, will be sent to the Red Hand Pledge in support.

The Drama Program is using the power of art to spread awareness, and while it may seem like a heavy subject, it is a positive show.

“If you don’t realize this is a form of that is so real and intense people across the world want us to come speak on this issue, you aren’t appreciating the art,” director Stuart Smith said. “[The show] goes from hopeless to hopeful.”

The production will take place at 7 p.m. on April 23-25 in the Patti Baker theater and run for approximately 75 minutes. The actors will perform eight songs over the course of the show.

Tickets are available at lunch.

Ivy League gates open for two seniors; they may enter Harvard’s

by HALEY GUARDINO

h.guardino@eyeofthetigernews.com

Two Roseville High School students, Beth Morin and Robbie Short recently received the exciting news that they have been accepted to Harvard, Class of 2019.

When Morin got the news, she had just landed in Washington D.C. “Right when I landed, I checked Harvard first because it was the one I least expected to get in,” Morin said.

As soon as she saw the “Congratulations!,” Morin called both her mom and dad while in

the plane to share the news with them.

Morin did not expect to get into Harvard.

“I wasn’t even going to apply because there were a lot of applications due on the same day, Jan. 1, and it was one of my last minute ones, and I did it on a whim, and turned it in.”

Beth Morin will be visiting Morin the Harvard campus this Thursday for the ‘Visitas’ event, and likely will commit to the school on Friday or Saturday.

“My interviewer contacted me and personally congratulated

me and I got a handwritten letter from one of the admissions officers saying like why they picked me,” Morin said. “They said something regarding my language capacity and they think I’d have an influence on the Portuguese and Brazilian population in Boston.

So, they’re excited to see me get involved there.”

Morin was also accepted into the University of Pennsylvania.

Short discovered he had been accepted after seeing his friends tweeting about other Ivy League acceptances and rejections. After checking his portal and seeing

he got the news, he immediately of it is I’ve been thinking of showed his mom and they celYale for so long, because I was ebrated together. accepted in December,” Short Short will also be attending said. “Everyone keeps telling me Harvard’s advent days, that I don’t have any bad which will be the first time options; of course they he will see the Harvard are both great schools, so campus in person. He will now I’m just really trybe visiting Yale’s campus ing to figure out which Monday through Wedneswill be the best option.” day, and then travel to visit Short believes beHarvard Saturday through cause both schools are Robbie Monday. almost equally prestiShort Short has the difficult decigious in regards to academsion of choosing between two of ics, the feel of the campus will the nation’s top universities, Yale be an important factor in his and Harvard. decision.

“I’m definitely leaning “I think I’ll probably be majortowards Yale, but I think part ing somewhere in the humanities,

and I’m looking at sort of that general area, and each schools are like roughly equal; it’s more about where I’m going to be happiest,” Short said. “My parents are pretty open to either, because it’s Harvard and Yale. You can’t go wrong.”

Both Morin and Short expressed their excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to attend Harvard University.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity, I wasn’t expecting to get into Yale and I definitely wasn’t expecting to get into Harvard, so getting into both of them is kind of crazy and exciting,” Short said.

page 6 | features

april 20, 2015

A new life in a new country Freshman Chloe Fan leaves Singapore for opportunity

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

COURTESY CHLOE FAN

Freshman Chloe Fan (above) moved to California from Singapore this winter in the hopes of gaining greater educational opportunities and a chance for a new beginning. Fan has spent the majority of her life in Asia. She studied in China for a year and Singapore for nine before moving to the US.

by CATHERINE BARBER

c.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

A plane ticket and a long journey seemed to be the price of a new beginning. After traveling 9,000 miles from Singapore, freshman Chloe Fan arrived in California this winter.

Fan embarked on the long trip as she migrated to Roseville from Asia in hopes of gaining new opportunity, knowledge and experience.

Fan was elated to learn that she and her mother were going to make the move to the United States. After spending the majority of her life in Asia, the chance to experience life in California seemed exciting. To her, the move signifies a new beginning in her life.

Compared to her school system in Singapore, RHS differs in several ways. Unlike the eight subject day in Singapore, RHS has four subjects a day.

Fan also has adjusted to new required classes such as Health and Safety.

Despite the differences

between school systems, Fan believes she fits in well. Compared to a more introverted culture in Singapore, students here are more socially extroverted. Fan was surprised at how welcoming her teachers and peers were upon her arrival.

“Teachers are nice. They care about you and want to know about you,” said Fan. “Here people [are] so friendly they will talk to you. In Singapore all we do is study, study, study, we are not as close to each other.”

Although English is part of education in schools in Singapore, it is completely different in America. English is Fan’s second language, after Mandarin.

Learning how to understand American dialect and pronunciation has not been easy, but Fan believes she is improving.

Currently, English is her favorite subject.

“English is my favorite subject because every other subject is in English, so you must be good at it and my teacher is so nice,” said Fan.

Sophomore Julia Tarasova, who migrated from Maldova last fall, relates to Fan as she too went through the process of adopting English as a second language.

“It is hard to move here, like we are talking in different languages in our country and when we come here everything is in English but I like it,” Tarasova said. “You can spend many years learning English in your own country but here you have real experience.”

Art teacher Patricia Leong often hosts an array of students from different cultures in her class. Having seen students transition to the American way of life in the past, Leong believes Fan will have no problem interacting with her peers and learning in an English classroom.

“She is great. She is really motivated and seems to have no problem or difficulty understanding the directions and what we are doing,” Leong said. “She is with a group of girls that she seems really comfortable with.”

FASHION COLUMN: JUNIOR MICAH saludares

‘Classy punk’ styler ready for summer

by MICHELLE IM

m.im@eyeofthetigernews.com

How would you describe your style?

I’m not really sure how to describe my style. I think it’s more like classy punk, but my friends say that its more like soft grunge, which I’m not really sure what it is, but they say it’s mixed with gothic and hipster. And I guess I fit into that.

Where do you get any or most of your inspiration from?

Well, I go on Tumblr a lot − I don’t know if that counts as an inspiration. I follow a lot of fashion blogs, and I think that it inspires me − the way they dress is very different and is very nice and its clean.

Have you seen anything that might be hot for the summer?

Floral prints. I think those are pretty nice, and I’ve seen a lot of people wearing them now.

Even the guys are wearing floral prints… especially through button-ups.

Do you think you’ll be wearing those kinds of shirts during the summer?

Oh yeah, I have a couple already.

I have a rose shirt – it fits in with Roseville, so I thought I would buy it.

Are there any particular stores that you shop a lot at?

Well, I usually shop at clothing consignment stores like Crossroads or maybe even a thrift store sometimes, but at the mall, I go to H&M and Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters and the occasional Hot Topic.

Do you have any fashion recommendations for the guys at RHS? Just try to look as nice as you can. I’m not a person who would wear saggy pants or anything. I’d go for a clean clothing style, not too flashy. Simple.

How do you accessorize your

outfits? Do you go for simple accessories too?

I always wear a bracelet. I have a bracelet with like skulls on it.

The [bracelet I’m wearing] I got from Forever 21. It’s a simple leather one with a metal plated finish on it. Yeah, it accents my outfits. If it matches, I’ll wear it.

How do you usually coordinate your outfits?

Oh, well, over the weekend... I try to stay as organized as possible because you know because of school and no time. So over the weekend, I’ll plan out what I wear, and I’ll usually pair up a button-up with pants and some boots and a hat or something like that. I’ll get it ready the weekend before, and I try to make everything match as much as I can.

What kind of patterns and colors do you tend to gravitate towards?

I like I mean I usually dress with the color black accented, and I don’t like flashy patterns. I’m more repeating patterns like [my shirt] isn’t too flashy. It’s just a repeating, simple pattern and stuff like that. Or plaid. Plaid is nice.

How frequently do you shop?

I haven’t been able to shop recently, but I think once a month, I’ll splurge on shopping for clothes.

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Junior Micha Saludares wears jeans with jeans with a buttoned-up shirt, along with Doc Martens and a black hat. Majority of his outfit is from Crossroads, the clothing store.

What do you think is a good range to spend on pieces or on clothes in general?

Usually, I spend about...my budget is 120, and I won’t go over that unless it looks really nice and I want it.

Do you usually wear your hats?

Or are they a summer thing?

I like hats. It keeps my head warm. It keeps me from the shade, and I think it looks nice.

Also, if you’re wearing a hat, you have to remember to match it with the rest of your outfit too.

Opinion

april 20, 2015

page 7

SBAC: Two different views

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

I

Juniors: online SBAC poses tech issues

f you are a junior then you have experienced the SBAC test. The test occurred on Tuesday and Thursday, with a mini-lesson on Wednesday which taught the students about intellectual property. This schedule will continue next week.

The mini-lesson was supposed to help the students with their essay writing on the following day. It was a waste of class time as it did not have a connection with the essay prompts that were given to us. These prompts were super ambivalent questions that had no relevance to anything we should be learning in school. We all know Wikipedia isn’t always a reliable source of information, and we don’t need to write an essay about it.

If they are going to continue to make the students take this in the future it would be best if they didn’t force students to use the Chromebooks and instead went back to pen and paper. The screens give numerous students headaches, as staring at a bright little screen for two hours can strain your eyes. Yes, doing the

BY MARINA EFSTATHIU & CESAR SANCHEZ opinion@eyeofthetigernews.com

SBAC on Chromebooks will decrease the amount of time needed to grade the tests, but it also leads to a higher probability of error.

During the testing period on Thursday, a huge mistake occurred in one of the testing rooms.

A teacher gave all the students in her room the wrong test, which resulted in all the students having to leave their first period the following day to rewrite the essay

with a different prompt.

If we are going to be using Chromebooks for testing, then all of the teachers should be informed on how to give the students the right test so they aren’t given the wrong one. If there are going to be two different proctors during the testing period, then they should be checking all the tests to make sure the students are taking the right tests. If the proctors were to be examining the tests they would have been able to correct the error.

The SBAC test is good for the students, but the school should consider some changes like not depending on technology to test the student, inform the teachers how to give out the tests and have the proctors examine the tests.

The SBAC test also had a huge impact on the class schedule. It lowered the class time to 60 minutes per period, which did not allow teachers enough time to finish their lessons. Many teachers have not finished their curriculum for the year and with AP tests coming up in May that should be the priority.

Senior: quit whining; SBAC is inevitable

I

walk around school and hear more juniors complain about SBAC testing than I hear people playing their music on a speaker. The complaining needs to stop because they aren’t the only ones who are going to take this test. If they weren’t taking the SBAC, it’d be the CST. When this whole testing started last year our class had it the worst.

The time we would take the test was right in the middle. We took a test that did not even get recorded; it was just a run-through the test to see if it would work.

Other than the test being on a computer, the new SBAC and its corresponding schedule is better in every way. When I was a junior the testing took up many class periods. This caused many teachers to cram lessons in and skip assignments because we were all taking the test. The transition to having the juniors test in the morning and the students come at 9:45 a.m. is a great idea. It accommodates all the classes fairly.

The juniors may complain about having to come early, but they have to realize its better for

BY NICK SAPP

n.sapp@eyeofthetigernews.com

them. The old schedules left the AP classes fewer days to review for the AP exam, which is very important. Sure, they have to come school earlier, but they just have to suck it up because it is a schedule that would accommodate all the classes.

It’s not any earlier than they’d have to come to school on a regular school day, so it’s honestly nothing to complain about. Us other classes get this benefit of two extra hours to sleep in because it’s just not our time to take the tests yet; the Class of 2015 had to take similar tests last year and “took one for the team.” Now it’s the juniors’ turn.

The implementation of this new schedule also allows Senior

Olympics to continue. Senior Olympics became very popular and many seniors looked forward to doing it when it was their year.

Although when the SBAC testing was implemented, the idea of senior Olympics seemed to be over because of how the schedule was set last year, but this new schedule changes it so the seniors can carry on the great tradition we all wait for.

In the bigger picture, aside from juniors’ complaints, the new schedule is a lot better than the first. The schedule should not be changed because it was well developed and helps accommodate all of our grade levels.

The sophomores and freshmen may enjoy their few days where they get to sleep in now, but they will have to eventually go through the terrible SBAC testing. In the end it will all even out.

It is good that we realized our previous schedule had flaws in it and they adapted and created a great schedule. The juniors need to understand it is for the better of all the classes and it is not just all about their schedules.

Even in AP, foreign What I wish I’d known about college costs language still foreign M

A

fter five years spent in my foreign language classes, I still get beads of sweat on forehead as I try to comprehend my Spanish-speaking customer. As an AP Spanish student, I expect myself to be at a higher level than I currently am.

Sitting in my first period, the teacher speaks in Spanish the entire ninety-minutes, and I’m able to understand her as she speaks, but I find myself floundering as I attempt to understand voices I’m not familiar with.

I blame these inabilities mostly on the lack of seriousness on part of the students in the beginning levels of foreign language classes.

It’s no secret that two years of a foreign language is required, with three years recommended, which means Spanish or French 1 looks a lot like your freshman English class.

Being surrounded by unmotivated, I-have-to-be-here students doesn’t do much for an aspiring bilingual.

A major component of learning, especially when you don’t have the opportunity to completely immerse yourself in the language, is taking every opportunity to practice speaking and hearing the language.

Unfortunately for many of the students who desire to take their language learning to the next level, these opportunities are infrequently offered in class and even when they are, many of their peers don’t take the time to practice seriously.

It has become apparent to me that in the beginning of the se-

BY HALEY GUARDINO

h.guardino@eyeofthetigernews.com

mester, teachers are very strict on the “No English” rule, but as the students continue to speak in their native tongue, the teacher gives up. In my experience, teachers have given a great amount of effort to provide their students with any resource or opportunity they believe would aid their learning.

Just as a lack of participation in discussion times takes a toll on your progress, not utilizing the resources provided stunts your learning as well.

Even as we progress from the beginning levels of foreign language classes to the more advanced, the student motivation doesn’t change. I’m guilty of it, too, it can be frustrating and difficult to try to express your casual conversations with friends in a language you aren’t fluent in.

In any class, especially AP, I expect to be in an environment where all my peers are working as hard as I am to retain the information we’re learning.

The ability to speak more than one language is a rewarding ability that may one day open more opportunities. I hope students will understand that and begin to take advantage of the opportunities they have here.

ay 1 marks a new beginning for seniors at Roseville High School as their Statement of Intent to Register is submitted and they can start to plan for their new lives at universities across the country.

While this should be an exciting time for me as a senior, college brings the constant fear that I’ll be facing a ridiculous amount of student debt.

My fears aren’t so off from reality as an analysis of government data by Mark Kantrowitz found that the Class of 2014 has reached a record high with amount of college debt.

With a steady increase over the past few years, I have no reason to believe that I will be any different.

My parents and RHS have not done enough in order to prepare me for such a large purchase.

Counselors and parents seem to only focus on getting you into the college of your dreams, but fail to mention how you should plan to pay for it.

Numerous scholarships are available to students throughout their senior year, but I don’t believe this is early enough. While classes like AP European History and AP Human Geography are pushed onto sophomores, applying for scholarships isn’t. Planning for college takes years of saving and applying for scholarships. Despite that, paying isn’t ever really part of the conversation years before.

Looking at scholarship on my own this year made me realize how many of them I can’t apply to because of my age. Scholarships out there are open to people of all ages and students should be en-

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

BY NETZY ORTEGA

n.ortega@eyeofthetigernews.com

couraged to apply to them early on. If they are already planning their schedules to meet a university’s requirements, they should also be encouraged to plan financially for them. Several of the students I’ve spoken to tell me that their parents aren’t helping them financially.

Although I can understand that students should be financially independent, that isn’t always easy right off the bat. Too many par-

ents are ignoring the value of an education and the negative effects that skipping out on college has on students.

Another issue I have with paying for college is that the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid assumes we are dependent as students unless we are one of several ridiculous options available.

A close friend of mine doesn’t live with his parents or receive any money from them. Unless he goes through a lengthy legal process to become an independent by FAFSA’s standards, he will have to pay the full amount due to his parents’ high income.

Other students may live with their parents, but will not be taking any amount of money from their parents once they graduate.

Yet when they log into their fi-

nancial aid package, the price is based off a family’s expected contribution. My problem with this “expected contribution” is that it isn’t expected at all in today’s society.

College is seen as important by most families, but several of them don’t ever plan to contribute at all to their child’s education.

The problem gets worse for students in the middle class who end up having to take out loans to pay the full amount.

Yet students with parents who have a low income get to pay little to nothing.

Parents, schools and the federal government need to change the way they view paying for college.

While very little can be done on a larger scale, conversations at home and RHS can make an enormous difference.

opinion | page 8

april 20, 2015

Apathetic teachers create apathetic students

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lthough the vast majority of teachers at Roseville High School care deeply for the education, as well as the future and success of their students, I have noticed some teachers are apathetic toward these very same things and it is evident.

Unfortunately, this is not exclusive to only teachers as Roseville.

The majority of teachers I have had in my lifetime, I felt, have always been exceptional at encouraging participation, success and, most importantly, believing that their students are capable of success.

I am not whatsoever accustomed to teachers who doubt their students’ abilities and those who make a habit and rule of doing so.

As a senior, a student who has attended RHS for four years, as well as a student who has always put forth an immense amount of effort in her classes, I have had a unique and unfortunate experience this year.

I took an elective class that I was legitimately excited about.

I took the course because I sincerely wanted to enhance my high school experience by learning something completely new.

I was excited about this class, but, unfortunately, I was not greeted with the same excitement from the teacher of this class. I, as well as the other students in the class, have been subject to the impression that the teacher wouldn’t even care if we failed, that most do, in fact, fail, and that that’s

BY SEIÉNNA PAPINI

s.papini@eyeofthetigernews.com

something of which to be proud.

Not only did this kind of attitude shock me, but it diminished my zeal for the class, my work ethic was incredibly stifled and I was apathetic towards the quality of work I produced, as well as my grade.

I dread coming to that class every day – which, mind you, was the class I was most excited to take at the beginning of the term.

I do my assignments the day they are due and, quite frankly, I probably wouldn’t even flinch at seeing a poor grade because I feel as though it means no difference to my teacher whether I succeed in the class or not.

However, as I considered my loss of excitement for the class, I questioned in what point of any teacher’s career do they lose their zeal for their career and stop caring about the fact that they are shaping the minds of the future of America and even of the world – and why are these teachers so smug about their apathy?

All three of my little sisters attend Buljan Middle School and my two eighth-grade sisters came

home on the first day of school, syllabi in hands and told me about all of their new classes for the year. Both of them shared a teacher – one that told their budding students that they should not even try to achieve an A in their class because it is impossible to do and, therefore, they should not even try.

I was possibly even more furious at the attitude of this teacher.

While it is this teacher’s class, why do they feel it is their prerogative to diminish the willingness and effort of their students to achieve greatness? Furthermore, do they realize they are encouraging a bunch of 13 and 14-yearolds to stop at “average,” to never strive for more than “average”?

Even more dangerously, there are students who attend our school and other high schools, as well as lower-level schools, who are actually affected far more than students who are naturally studious in the first place.

Students who do not live in a home where academic success is encouraged come to school and are already apathetic toward their education are even further bogged down by teachers who are apathetic toward their chosen career.

It’s hard to be excited and passionate about learning when the teacher seems entirely bored with the information they are attempting to teach, especially when they convey the mantra that you shouldn’t even care.

It has been proven and proven

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

again that these at-risk students would actually flourish if they experienced a different, positive and encouraging environment when they came to school, which is what we should be striving for.

If we want ultimate success for our students, we should hope that our teachers would put forth the effort and show concern for students’ success so that this can be accomplished.

Given, failure and mediocrity in classes is most definitely not always the teacher’s fault, as a grade is always representative of

the effort given in class, but the problem is not only that some teachers with this apathetic attitude are not doing anything to help this, but are instead encouraging this mindset.

When teachers brag about the fact that either “every student fails their class” or that “no student succeeds in their class,” they make it okay for students to not put forth effort, but also to justify their failure, which is not what our education system should represent whatsoever.

What these teachers do not un-

derstand is that the more effort put forth into your students will directly translate into your students’ effort in the class − which maybe then would lead to a much, much, much lower failure rate they seem to treasure.

What teachers must remember is that their profession is of great importance; they are the crafters of an America that will continue to grow and flourish, or the contrary: an America whose educational process will diminish future possibilities of success and growth.

TOP 10 THINGS I LEARNED senior YEAR 1. The deadlines still exist, but we are too dead to care

CATHERINE BARBER EYE OF THE TIGER

SG: Thanks for doing your job, but please don’t touch our cars

S

tudent Government on campus is a Roseville High School organization designed to unite the school and do various things for our students – one of which is to inform the student body, and a way to do that is to put flyers on cars in the senior lot.

I don’t park in the parking lot reserved for seniors anymore, but when I did, I fell victim to the flyers on my car.

I don’t really mind too much about getting flyers and stuff on my car, but I do see both sides, including people who are really against it.

People who despise the flyers have their reasons of how they just don’t want people touching their car and the fact of how annoying it can be.

I see how people can say it is annoying because they have to grab the flyer and just throw it away. They leave their car in the morning one way, and they return to find a piece of paper on their windshield. Who knows what else could have happened to your car when you have to know that at least one person invaded its space?

Plus, what used to happen to me is that I would start driving and forget to grab the flyer. That would be something I could see

BY MAX MODESTE

m.modeste@eyeofthetigernews.com

could make people mad because, like me, they would have to pull over and grab it or try grabbing it while driving, which could be a challenge and a potential hazard.

Also, it’s a little unfair to the entire student body because the people that put the flyers on the cars have access to the parking lot during school hours, while no one else does.

As a baseball player, I need to be able to access my car during the school day so I can pick up my gear for my fourth-period Athletic PE course. I’m not allowed to go to my car to grab my bags before class since it’s during the school day, but SG is permitted to access the lot to expand their advertising?

The other side of my opinion is how SG is doing their job, too.

Putting flyers on cars is a way to inform the school about events, and even though people usually throw it right away or leave it on

the ground, at least they are trying to inform us.

I know students in the class have a tough job of putting together activities and making students aware and interested, but talking to a lot of my peers I think that the best solution is to not put flyers on cars and rather inform the student body in another way.

I think there are a lot of tried-andtrue methods to spread the word about some uncoming events, like using the bulletin or posters on school property or advertising directly to classes. These have usually worked for us.

I personally don’t want to blame and get mad at SG since they are just trying to their job, but I can also see how people find it annoying or problematic to have people but flyers on their car.

I can also see where someone could get in trouble; for example, if a person puts a flyer on a car and somehow a huge scratch or dent appears on the car, who are they going to blame?

And since the car isn’t SG’s property, people wouldn’t really appreciate them touching their stuff.

All in all, I feel like it’s a touchy subject (helping SG vs. stopping the annoyances) and maybe the best solution is to just stop putting stuff on students’ cars.

I’m just gonna say this: not wanting to go to school and senioritis are completely different, and senioritis is much worse.

Being assigned work everyday is actually soul-crushing, and being in a place of ‘I want an A, but I don’t care’ is seriously the ultimate struggle. After all the deadlines we had to deal with in the fall, we are just dead.

2. Everyone has a different senior year experience Senior year is always described as the best year in high school, the time where freedom and true friendship exists, and we all want to have this grand “senior year.”

The best part about this experience we all crave is that we are all probably going to graduate with a different one. There are no guidelines to having a great senior year. It’s your year – you make up your own guidelines.

No one can make it the best year you’d like to have but yourself.

3. Sleep is more important than your #ootd When I look back at my freshman year and the time I would wake up, I literally cringe with embarrassment. I really wished that I knew the hell junior year would be so I could have hibernated during my freshman and sophomore year. But in all honesty, the best kind of concealer any of us will purchase is the free remedy of sleep. Also, it’s still possible to wear a super cute outfit and get a good amount of sleep: pick it out the night before or become an expert at creating outfits in under two minutes (which I think I have).

7. The true definition of laziness

BY MARIAN ABDELMALEK m.abdelmalek@eyeofthetigernews.com

4. The drama needs to STOP Yo senior peeps, we are all either 18 or almost 18; let’s get it together and just stop with the unnecessary drama. Sure, the Twitter drama was entertaining at a point, but really? We’re about to go to the adult world where confronting someone is beyond putting their “@” in your “diss” of a tweet.

5. You don’t need to be friends with everyone You’re gonna like some people, you’re gonna dislike some people. It’s important to know that everyone you meet isn’t going to like you and, yeah, it sucks, but it’s a part of life.

6. Life goes on – don’t stress about the small things Maybe it’s because I like romantic comedies and teen inspiring movies, but I believe it and think it’s true when adults tell their children that “everything seems so much worse than it is when you’re young.” Something or someone might break your heart, but one day you’ll move on. Work hard and do your part, but don’t stress about things you can’t control,. Trust me, worry only makes you crave In N Out more than you probably already do.

Google dictionary defines laziness as the quality of being unwilling to work or use energy.

Imagine having no energy to even make a sandwich for your hungry self. I’ve gotten to that point, and I’m not proud.

8. Don’t procrastinate It’s easy saying, it’s hard doing.

Maybe a New Year’s Resolution for next year? Who knows if we can change enough in the next two months. Procrastination has been an issue forever, and we’re realizing now that it won’t stop.

9. Bells have never been so annoying Oh the bells, the loud ringers that let us know when we start and end school, both a blessing and a curse. I’m just not feeling this whole “the bell controls you” thing. I consider myself more of a free-spirit than that (laughing at myself, I’m just kidding). Sometimes you wanna go to lunch at 12:20 not 12:24, you feel me? At least bells don’t follow us to college.

10. Networking is everything I would say that a big part of being successful goes beyond working hard. Having a good network of people who can help you can be very essential.

Whether it’s an alumnus, a peer, a co-worker -- anyone that helps you with your future or leads you to opportunities -- those people are important to meet and know. Networking opens up a lot of doors, so make sure to take advantage of the opportunity and pull it open (unless it says “push”).

april 20, 2015

Entertainment

Furious 7 mixes passion with action

page 9

Novel spin on genre pays off Unfriended takes ambitious approach

BY RACHEL BARBER

r.barber@eyeofthetigernews.com

Moviegoers expecting Furious 7 to be the exciting-yetgrueling two hour, 20 minute car chase scene should be surprised to find that the newest installment in the franchise injects a lot of heart into the typical Furious story. The movie series is globally known for its intense drama and thrilling action scenes, yet Furious 7 offers more.

After the first two weekends, Furious 7 hit $800.5 million in ticket sales worldwide and is now the highest profiting film out of the entire Fast and Furious series.

With the shocking death of Paul Walker (who played Brian, the main character of the Furious series) in a late-2013 car crash, fans expected to watch a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. This fanbase most definitely includes myself (a hardcore Furious fan), but as a teenage girl who did not cry in The Notebook or Titanic, I couldn’t envision myself crying in an action movie.

The producers did an excellent job explaining why Brian will not be appearing in the rest of the series. After a brief explanation at the end of Furi-

ous 7 and a not-so-noticeable scene featuring Walker’s brother, there was a bitter-sweet tribute to Walker directly following the film. This is where I possibly had a tear in my eyes in the middle of the crowded movie theater, but I believe almost everyone else did as well.

Besides the fact that the movie pulled at dedicated fans’ heartstrings, it was as promised and expected, visually dazzling.

I truly believe that the producers found every stunt that ever existed and put them in this production. For one scene, they literally drove a car through three high rise buildings. It is safe to say Furious 7 was not the most realistic of movies, but people all over the world do not spend $800.5 million to see two hours and 20 minutes of realistic driving and sitting in traffic.

Longtime fans should be satisfied with Furious 7 because of the closure it manages to find. This pertains especially to Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and Dom’s (Vin Diesel) relationship and memories from past movies.

However, for those who are not devoted to the series, the movie delivered a new plotline and proved to be interesting regardless if the viewer understood all

COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES/TNS

Furious 7 successfully transitions Paul Walker’s role out of the longrunning franchise, to emotional effect. Beyond the poignant goodbye, the movie won’t disappoint fans expecting an exhilarating fill of action. the connections to prior films or not.

Furious 7 also proves to be more than just a predictable action movie, as it spans three completely different continents, showcasing many cultures. The new extended cast other than the main five characters, proves to be very diverse as well, adding intrigue to the plotline.

It is certainly safe to say that the cast was star-studded. However, Universal Pictures did upset some viewers with their choice of one guest star appearance. Although she had only precisely 15 seconds of screentime, Fast and Furious fans say “rapper” Iggy Azalea’s appearance towards the beginning of the film ruined the whole thing in its entirety. While playing one of Dom’s friends, her one line, “Hey, there is the the girl I have heard so much about.

Where you been at, ghost girl?” is quite cringeworthy. They just had to make her say “been at,” didn’t they? Ludacris’ appearance was applauded as usual, however. Universal needs to understand that one washed-up rapper is enough for one movie.

However, one part of the movie that really stood out to me was the film’s soundtrack.

Standout tracks are already on the top charts and hits on popular radio stations. “See You Again”

by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth is one such pop/hip hop song, another being one that goes along with an entire internet fad, “Whip” by Famous to Most. I distinctly remember doing it at least once in the theater. Other artists like T.I., Kid Ink, YG, Wale, and Juicy J contribute to a prominent hip hop sound, which makes the soundtrack appealing

to my tastes and I hope those of most other Furious fans as well.

The creators of Furious 7 could have chosen to rein in some of the outrageous car chases and crashes for a change, to be different from the previous films. Instead, they cranked up the intensity of them. Furious 7 seemed to contain an unusually high number of brutal blows and collisions that characters walk away from like invincible superheros, a fact that made some moviegoers laugh at the ridiculousness of a scene or crash.

These unrealistic feats all make sense in the wake of Walker’s death and creates a nice, fitting sendoff for the star, because it ultimately explains that the characters (like Walker’s Brian) in the film can defy death, immortalized by the silver screen.

Bloodborne earns series spot with Expanded Kazoku more of the same, plus new content stays true to roots

BY LUZ FLORES

Old fans and new will be excited to hear that Bloodborne still incites the same sweaty-palmed nervousness of dying and losing your progress like past Souls video games.

Bloodborne is the spiritual successor of the Souls series, and it definitely deserves its place among the franchise. For those that are new, the game is a bit easier in comparison to past games (except for the admittedly easy Dark Souls 2) due to the harder bosses being optional.

This is the first of a vast amount of extra features in this game.

Those who aren’t strangers to this franchise will know that you won’t be able to get all the weapons, armor and magic in one playthrough, pushing replayability through the roof.

Bloodborne however has a whole new level of extra content that first time players are usually unaware of, and I love the fact that I don’t have to pay any stupid microtransactions for all these new things.

It’s pretty much inevitable that you’ll end up missing a lot of items due to the sheer amount of extra content that the game doesn’t really tell you about, which makes the replayability of this game absolutely fantastic.

Of course if you’re a stickler for getting 100% completion in your game, I guess you can use a guide, but if it’s your first playthrough you should experience the game blind at least once (It’s

impressed with the teriyaki in both the Bento Box and the Healthy Bowl. The meat was If you enjoy great tasting tericooked nicely and the teriyaki yaki and authentic Japanese food sauce was very satisfying. at a reasonably low price, then I then moved on to the look no further; Kazoku Teriyaki sushi roll. I was not nearly as & More has relocated to provide impressed with the sushi as I customers with a more spacious was with the teriyaki, which dine-in area and good quality was quite disappointing but not meals. outside my expectations, because Although still relatively small, of the fact that the name of the Kazoku has upscaled in size and restaurant highlights ‘teriyaki’ as available capacity from its previits specialty. ous location around the plaza The menu describes the Q corner and is now able to accomRoll as a “Deep Fried Spicy modate a reasonable amount of Tuna Roll topped with Sauce.” diners with ease.

I received a “Deep Fried Spicy Entering the restaurant, I was Roll topped with Sauce” that was impressed by its cleanliness and missing the tuna and was instead simplicity. It was neither busy crammed with rice. nor empty; just what The sauce did well in I would expect making up the lack of from a restauflavor caused by rant that had the shortage of recently tuna, but I still relocated, could not help creating a but notice the calm and heaviness and comfortable starchiness of atmosphere. the rice.

I ordered Ultimately, I three items; would highly recthe Special Benommend Kazoku to to Box with beef absolutely anybody for teriyaki ($9.99, its great teriyaki, but Jamee’s Healthy Bowl $1.00 extra for I would advise them ($8.99) beef), the Q Roll to stay away from the ($7.49) and the Jamee’s Healthy ‘& More’ portion of its name.

Bowl ($8.99).

After ordering and taking a Kazoku Teriyaki & More is seat in a nice booth, I cannot located at 5131 Foothills Blvd. It say that my food came quickly, is open Monday through Friday although the wait was worth it. from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and opens As I began to dig in to my Saturday at 12 a.m. food, I found that I was highly

BY GEORGE HUGHES

l.flores@eyeofthetigernews.com

g.hughes@eyeofthetigernews.com

COURTESY TNS

Bloodborne, the latest entry in the Souls series, offers expanded gameplay that, if used effectively, makes typically stressful Souls sessions easier. a Souls game for crying out loud, you should get frustrated like the rest of us).

The gameplay is pretty similar to past Souls games, except for its faster pace. The inclusion of firearms makes playing a lot more interesting due to the fact that you can use your firearms to counter, interrupt your enemies and finish them off early as well. These so-called “visceral attacks” are very reliable and worth mastering.

A lack of variety in weaponry is redeemed by the fact that each weapon has two distinct modes, which makes for interesting and varied gameplay styles. MAstering these modes lets you get the most out of the experience.

While I consider the game a bit easier than the preceding Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls, if you don’t take advantage of the extra

content and gameplay strategies on offer, it can easily rival or surpass the latter in difficulty.

Being a next-gen game, it isn’t all that surprising that Bloodborne has excellent graphics – it’s a shame that the game is locked at 30 frames per second, prohibiting the utmost silky smooth animations.

The darkness of the world and the tone of the stories of different non-playable characters also make you downright depressed.

After all, what’s a Souls game without making its players feel down in the dumps?

Bloodborne is a satisfying successor to the Souls franchise, unique yet familiar to franchsie veterans. It doesn’t hold your hand, for those that want the challenge, while still maintaining a level of accessibility for newcomers.

BY DEVIN ORR

d.orr@eyeofthetigernews.com

Horror entry Unfriended takes a different approach to the common “found footage” genre.

Instead of seeing the movie through the lens of a camera, the film exists completely in a computer screen, limiting your sight to only the scope of what the skype camera shows.

The plot revolves around the suicide of high school girl Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman), pushed to the brink after a series of defaming internet videos and harassments – pretty much an anti cyberbullying campaign. Interrupting a five-way Skype call, she enacts revenge on the people responsible for her demise.

Unfriended, surprisingly isn’t a cliché, filled with jump scares, but an eerily psychological. It starts off slow and relaxed, like most horror films, but then as Drake would say, it goes “from zero to 100 real quick.”

The first 30 minutes or so is just typing – typing to people, looking up videos and accounts.

But before you can say it’s a boring movie, you get hit with some things safely beyond belief.

Everyone involved has some deep secret (shocker). Most of them are genuinely disturbing.

After my initial shock, I began rooting for the ghost to give the kids what they deserve.

You only gain compassion for two characters, which is shortly ripped to shreds, making it hard to invest in the characters and their deaths, which isn’t entirely the actors’ faults.

The acting is very believable on all ends. When the characters break down, cried or freaked out it looked and felt realistic. From disbelief to horror, the acting was the highlight of this film.

These people are messed up.

Why would someone bully one of their “friends” that much?

Why would someone post drunk videos of said “friend” on YouTube? The movie explores none of this, which confused me the whole time.

Laura’s ghost has the best sense of humor – airing everyone’s dirty laundry, creating a split in the friendships of the five teens. At one point, she begins playing music mockingly.

Unfriended is a refreshing take on the horror genre. It was different, trying something ambitious, and it worked. I felt scared the majority of time and enjoyed the film, even though my rant seems to say otherwise. If you’re looking for a thrill ride, this isn’t a choice you’ll regret.

april 20, 2015

page 10 | entertainment

Hollywood bridges the age gap While We’re Young connects old with new Romances not created equal in Longest Ride

BY MIKAYLA STEARNS

m.stearns@eyeofthetigernews.com

It is easy to overlook While We’re Young on account of its comparatively small advertising campaign and place in theaters alongside big box office successes like Furious 7, Insurgent, and Cinderella. Despite its lack of car chases, dystopian futures and magic, the underdog film engaged me in every scene.

The film stars Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts as married couple Josh, a documentarian stuck in a rut, and producer wife Cornelia. Stiller and Watts are not necessarily spotlight actors right now, and seeing Stiller as the lead often turns me away from a movie. They are accompanied

by Darby (Amanda Seyfried) and Jamie (Adam Driver), a married 20-something couple making their way in the world. Surprisingly, no one character outshines the other and each actor is fully capable in their role.

The script provides extremely spot-on commentary regarding (for lack of a better term) “hipster complexes.” I mean, what other word is there if not “hipster”? And I’m not talking about the ripped jeans, fake glasses, ironic t-shirt-wearing, tea-drinking hipsters.

Darby and Jamie own a chicken and hundreds of records, travel almost exclusively on bicycles, all while owning a homemade ice cream business on the side. They wear fedoras because they actually like them, and ditch popular forms of technology, setting them apart from other yuppies.

The older couple, Josh and

d.kyubwa@eyeofthetigernews.com

COURTESY JON PACK/A24 FILMS/TNS

Middle-aged Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) embrace newfound “hipster complexes” in While We’re Young.

Cornelia, latch onto their authentic and generous lifestyle after aspiring documentarian Jamie approaches Josh during a lecture.

Quips are exchanged. Antics ensue. We grow to love the quirky, unconventional ways of the 20-somethings and encourage Josh and Cornelia to ditch their similarly-aged friends for these adventurous young ’uns.

I was so glad that this journey didn’t turn out to be a cliché “endearing old people try to figure out young people trends” kind of movie, which it could’ve easily been. In fact, the older couple is portrayed as more technology-dependent while Jamie and Darby reject modern tech and embrace spontaneity.

My favorite part of the movie was the subtlety of its progression. I have a really bad habit of trying to predict what exactly will happen next in a movie or

TV show I’m watching, which makes most theater experiences disappointing if I figure it out ahead of time. In While We’re Young, the plot changes directions, as did my feelings towards certain characters, and I hadn’t predicted that at all. Tiny things along the whole of the movie direct it away from the cliché.

That being said, if you normally go to the theater for movies like Furious 7 – or even something like Guardians of the Galaxy – you will not be thrilled by this movie. As I was informed by my fellow moviegoer, who likes a good fan-pandering action movie, While We’re Young was “boring” at times. I loved it, but I’m also the kind of person who rolls my eyes more times than I can count during gratuitous fight scenes.

The progression of the plot and character development was

so subtle, in fact, that by the time the credits rolled, my attitude towards certain characters had done a 180. Achieving this without a dramatic plot twist is impressive. None of the progressions felt rushed and the on-screen relationships were natural. There are even themes in the movie that could’ve been taken advantage of and used as plot devices, like young marriage, miscarriages, or the “Age of Cameras,” but weren’t.

What I expected going into this was a hardy-har comedy about different generations and a bunch of Siri/Twitter jokes, along with some sort of version of “Darn these new-fangled doodads!” In a delightfully surprising way, While We’re Young didn’t make out a clear and satisfying winner between the cassette generation and the internet generation.

MICHELLE’S FOOD JOURNAL

Pinkberry consistent, convenient froyo choice

Each issue, senior Michelle Im will scout out the best local eateries. On the way, she finds the good, bad, and in-between of a particular dining scene.

This issue’s target: Frozen yogurt.

Dear food journal, Springing along on a hot afternoon day during spring break through the Galleria, I found myself pondering my life choices: Why did I choose to sit down here? Where are my friends Kat and Isabel? But most importantly, what is the best froyo place for a soon-to-be extremely broke student? This topic is a very important matter to me, Kat and Isabel, the whole RHS community, and the universe. Where do I get some hoppin’ froyo?

But don’t worry, food

watching two completely different films ensue at the same time, and one was far more captivating Yet another Nicholas Sparks than the other. film adaptation hits theaters, and Every positive aspect of the as expected, there isn’t anything movie had nothing to do with about The Longest Ride that sigthe main protagonists, the film nificantly sets it apart from any would’ve been lost without the other entry in the romance genre. enthralling storyline associated Conflicting paths and funwith the older couple. Aside from damental differences in lifeIra and Ruth, theres nothing difstyle threaten to tear a newlyferent or unique about the movie. infatuated couple apart: Luke It was predictable and far longer (Scott Eastwood) hopes to make than necessary (ironically so, a comeback in bull riding, and considering the title).

Sophia (Britt Robertson) is about I didn’t buy the “grand” love to pursue her dream job in Manthat Sophia and Luke were under hattan’s art world. As the couple the pretense of having. Their consider their romantic future, relational development is so lackthey find inspiration in Ira (Alan ing that I was confused.

Alda), an elderly man whose They go on a couple of dates romance with his beloved wife in which Luke is depicted as a Ruth (Oona Chaplin) withstood chivalrous cowboy (because he the test of time. calls instead of texts… offers to In comparison to Sophia and buy her drink… and brings her Luke, Ira and Ruth exhibit so flowers). They have a picnic. much more appeal in terms of They ride horses together. They chemistry, character developsleep together. And suddenly, ment, and plot all toSophia, lover of art gether. In flashback and “everything scenes, the couple is WHAT TO LIKE: about it” is willing far too good, infusto drop her life long Older couple’s ing their story with desire for a career unique story so much emotion, it in art. almost seems out of the fact WHAT NOT TO LIKE: thatBesides place. it’s irritating, Young relationship’s at best, to watch a Robertson and Eastwood are far lack of development young woman shape less affecting. her life decisions Though, to be fair, around a boy, it Ira and Ruth do tackle more submight have made more sense if stantially compelling trials: she’s their “love” was conveyed as a Jewish refugee from Austria meaningful enough to give it up. who wants to have a large family Needless to say, it wasn’t. in the wake of the Holocaust and The Longest Ride was a typihe gets a wound in the war that cal and cliché Nicholas Sparks renders him sterile, but are still movie: young, troubled, white unable to adopt. protagonists fall in love in their It was refreshingly different heteronormative world and for the film to feature a male as receive words of wisdom from the reason a couple is unable to an unlikely source. While the have children and the uniqueness story wants to pretend it’s about of the growth that ensues for the Sophia and Luke becoming two pair because of this makes for a fully realized individuals who much more engrossing plot. battle their obstacles and fight for Meanwhile, Robertson and their love, it isn’t. If anything, it’s Eastwood are forced to struggle an Ira and Ruth story. At the very with a distinctly less interesting least I’ll pretend that it was, just problem: Sophia likes art and so I don’t feel like I completely not bull riding, and Luke likes wasted two hours and 19 minutes bull riding and not art. It was like of my life.

BY DELPHINE KYUBWA

BY MICHELLE IM

m.im@eyeofthetigernews.com

journal. I think I’ve found the best places. Pinkberry is always the right choice. The default choice, always convenient and located right in the mall. Their froyo is handmade at the kiosk and always delicious; I myself am partial to their strawberry vanilla and chocolate hazelnut flavors. Sorry if you’re getting stained, journal. I’m crying just thinking about it – my tears are

THE APP PULSE

MEERKAT

MORTAL KOMBAT X

Meerkat livestreams and posts video from your phone.

You can scroll through a list of livestreams, filter results, and then join in to watch and comment live in the feed. Seeing streamers react to comments is one of the most incredible things I have seen on an iPhone in a long time. And since these things are only the beginning of an expanding feature list, you need to check out and keep up with Meerkat.

In reality, this game is simply a reskin of the popular mobile game Injustice: Gods Among Us, but an excellent one it is.

Not being a previous fan of the Mortal Kombat series, I found myself more interested in the fighters than their sometimes dull DC counterparts. The look is pleasing and the new x-ray moves are straight-up dope.

Basic mechanics are identical to Injustice, so I would’ve liked more innovation on this front.

- Andrew Smith

falling down upon you. Their four-toppings-maximum policy is also a cause for tears, as well as the price, but the taste is always worth it. Always.

Coming in at a close second to my heart is OMG Yogurt, the epitome of student-friendliness and everything good in this world. Along with the weird, yet inevitable encounter with some of your high school classmates whose names you don’t know, OMG Yogurt offers very affordable prices. Though Pinkberry prices by cup sizes, OMG Yogurt follows the typical style of priceby-weight. It is convenient and always preceded by a whole lot of stuffing of sweets into your cup and wondering if you’ve made the right decision. I never learned too much in AP Physics,

but mass is equal to density times volume, right? Right. But if that never works out (as Kat and I have learned happens with me and physics), then just stuff your cup. It’s that time of year. Don’t worry about it.

Yogurt is always nice to have.

It’s everywhere too. I’ve come to see Big Spoon Yogurt as a gift from up above. Sitting next to a huge, beautiful fountain and trying to slurp down my froyo before it all melts will always be a good memory to share with my friends. Big Spoon is typically an RHS favorite, always bustling with crowds and little people.

Thinking about these soon-to-be high school students makes me wonder: Do we start them off young, so then they can’t escape from the glory of froyo? Yes.

Sports

april 20, 2015

page 11

Varsity volleyball steamrolls to 10-0 in league play With four games left to play, team sits first in CVC

BY NICK SAPP

n.sapp@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

After losing just four times in preleague play, the varsity Tigers have managed to keep their CVC season lossless and are currently aiming to finish out by winning league. They next play the Bella Vista Broncos tomorrow night at 6.

With four games left in the season, the Roseville High School boys varsity volleyball team is 10-0 in league and 22-4 overall.

Those four losses came against Ponderosa, Oakmont, Bella Vista, and Whitney. Three of those teams are sitting second, third and fourth. The Tigers currently sit first.

Thursday night the Tigers took on the Antelope Titans winning in four sets. They won the first and third sets 25-19, lost the second set 18-25, and won the last set 2523. This is the second win for the tigers against the titans this year.

“The game against Antelope could have gone better, we went in knowing that we were better but we still had to prove that,” senior captain Trevor Pratt.

According to Pratt the reason they lost in the third set was be-

cause they were not playing as a team and were not communicating.

Next Thursday, RHS will take on Whitney High School. The Tigers beat them in their league match in four sets, although the Wildcats beat them in a preleague meeting in the JDVBT Chico Tournament.

“We are going to focus on our game and I feel that loss will be motivation for us to better prepare for that game,” coach Jason Cole said.

Winning out the season would secure a league banner for the Tigers and a spot in playoffs.

According to Pratt, as the undefeated team, the Tigers will have a target on their back as they finish out league play.

“All of the bigger teams are going to try and beat us,” Pratt said. “Knowing that really keeps us focused because we want to

win league and go to playoffs, and beating those teams like Whitney, Ponderosa, and Oakmont is important and we keep that in mind during practices.”

Top performers on the team are Pratt and junior Neal Reilly. Pratt has 228 kills, a hitting average of .344, 82 digs, and 41 aces. Reilly has 175 kills, a hitting percentage of.229, 57 blocks, 134 digs, and 26 aces on the season so far.

The Tigers next match will be against Bella Vista High School tomorrow night. In an earlier match in the season the Tigers defeated the Broncos in three straight sets.

“They are steadily holding down the course to win league.

It’s not easy being number one, everyone is gunning for us and the only way is down when you’re at the top,” Cole said. “We do know how to compete and this team deserves to show some clout.”

Tigers shoot low to earn back playoff shot JV softball pushes through ace injury

BY MAX MODESTE

m.modeste@eyeofthetigernews.com

After a little struggling during the middle portion of league play, the Tigers have put themselves back into the playoff contention with wins over Ponderosa and Cosumnes Oaks. Beating Ponderosa was huge for the team, as they were third place in league and get to face them once more at Roseville’s home course.

“Defeating Pondo was huge and put our team in a place to be in contention for playoffs,” varsity golf coach Corey Fukuman said.

In the match against Ponderosa, the final score was Roseville 223 and Ponderosa 227. The leading scorers for Roseville were medalist senior Sam King with a 40, sophomore Andrew Smith 42, senior Jameson Plaskett 44, sophomore Jake Littlejohn 45, and sophomore Parker Crews 52.

In their next match, the Tigers took on the first place Oakmont Vikings, and fell to Oakmont.

The score was Oakmont 213 and Roseville 219, the top scores were medalist King 38, Littlejohn 42, Crews 46, Chandler Schroeder 46, and Smith 47.

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

After beating both Ponderosa and Cosumnes Oaks, the Tigers’ league record now sits at a solid 8-4.

“We lost a close match to Oakmont by six strokes, who currently is in first place in the CVC, so we know we can compete the best teams in our league,” Fukuman said.

The Tigers recently came off a win over Cosumnes Oaks with a score of Roseville 223 and Cosumnes Oaks 230. The top scorers were medalist Littlejohn with a 40, King 43, Smith 45, Plaskett 45, and Schroeder 50.

“Everyone on the team has

been contributing in each match which has helped the team be very successful in league play,” Fukuman said.

The feelings of the team are getting intense as the Tigers near a playoff berth.

“The last half of league play should be exciting,” Fukuman said.

According to senior Sam King, the team’s success is due to the team stepping up and getting roles.

“Being a senior on the team I feel as my role is to be a role model for the younger guys,” King said.

Fukuman is feeling that the team is playing well together and can make a run for the playoffs.

“We are back in contention to finish as one of the top three teams to move on in the playoffs,” Fukuman said.

According to Littlejohn, the team hasn’t lost focus and is still hungry.

“I feel my impact for the team is to shoot low scores everyday and and to keep improving to reach the playoffs,” said Littlejohn.

The Tigers feel strong playing as a team.

“We get along with each other really well,” King said. “Being good teammates allows us to win matches and play better individually.”

Finishing out the second half of league, Littlejohn feels confident the team will make the playoffs.

“The biggest factor for our team is improvement,” Littlejohn said. “Also last year we only lost two seniors and other schools lost a lot of seniors.”

BY BRAD JAMES

b.james@eyeofthetigernews.com

Moving into the front half of April, coach Mike Baker and the girls JV softball team have gone 7-1-1 through league. However, the team will have its work cut out for them in the coming games, as they recently lost leading pitcher Megan Anderson, who leads the team in RBI and home runs.

Megan Anderson has been a huge factor in the Tiger’s success - especially in the three games preceding the injury. Over that stretch, Anderson has racked up magnificent numbers. Through through 19 innings pitched, she had 30 strikeouts on no earned runs,allowing just six hits and five walks. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Anderson went down with a late ankle injury in the win against Cosumnes Oaks.

Coach Mike Baker is confident the team can continue to excel.

“We won’t get as many strikeouts as we did with Megan, but Emily [Thompson] and Megan Takata are more than capable of getting the job done,” Baker said.

“Our defense is very capable of picking up the slack ... This team by far is the best team I have coached in my 20-plus years involved in this game.”

In the Lady Tigers’ first game without without their ace, they seemed to hardly feel the loss.

Freshman Emily Thompson was given the nod by Baker to try to fill the hole left by Anderson.

Thompson conquered as the Tigers blew past the Titans and won 14-3.Thompson was unphased by Antelope’s line-up, allowing just three runs over five innings. The Tigers were on top of their game offensively as they banged the opposing pitcher, tallying 16 hits.

“Of course we were upset when Megan got hurt; she’s done so much for us and provided in many different ways for us this year, so we just wanted to come out and play hard like we do, putting together hits and not making many mistakes,” Thompson said.

Baker and the Tigers look to add another win onto their league record of 7-1-1 tomorrow as they play Bella Vista at home.

Sports Shorts Sotomayor runs to fourth in nation

BY CHASE BLATNICK

c.blatnick@eyeofthetigernews.com

On Saturday, April 4 at the Stanford Invitational, Roseville High School’s track star Arturo Sotomayor put on an absolute show. Running against number one in the nation Connor Ross, Sotomayor took second place in the 800. However, with a time of 1:52.2 Sotomayor has now recorded the nation’s fourth fastest 800 meter time for high school athletes this year.

“I felt strong during the race.

I made a few mistakes and that’s why I lost,” Sotomayor said. “In order to be successful next meet I need to take it out with the pack and re-strategize my attack.”

The following weekend at Arcadia, Sotomayor took fourth in a very tough meet. The first place runner was a kid out of Illinois.

All runners ran neck in neck the

whole race and in the end Sotomayor just came up a tad short of pulling it out.

“It was such a close race and everyone ran well,” Sotomayor said. “The guy who finished first beat me by one second; that just sums up how close the race was.”

Junior Megan Fereira also participated in the Arcadia meet where she set her personal best in the pole vault as she jumped 10 feet, 9 inches.

“Arcadia’s meet had some amazing athletes all across the board,” Fereira said. “There were a lot of athletes which was intimidating at first, and it is extremely difficult to get into that meet, so the fact that I was able to stay composed and post my personal best made me very happy.”

Both of these Tigers’ stars made the program look great and competed in another big meet this past weekend at the Mt. Sac Invitational.

Their stats for that meet were not available at press time.

Varsity soccer clings to playoff hopes

BY MAX MODESTE

m.modeste@eyeofthetigernews.com

The Roseville varsity girls soccer team sits at 6-3-1 in league as it is wrapping up its first season in the CVC. For their final three games, the team will face Whitney, Ponderosa and Oakmont – all of whom the girls have beaten already in their first matchup.

“The CVC has a lot of tough competition,” sophomore Tahnee Smith said.

The Lady Tigers hold third in league and need to win out the rest of the season to guarantee a playoff spot.

“I would have liked to have won league, but we made some mistakes and the loss and tie have prevented us from doing so,” coach Paul Stewart.

After leaving a tougher SFL league, the girls have continued to show success from the team.

“If we keep playing the way we currently are, we will make playoffs,” said Smith.

This season, about half of the varsity team is made up of underclassmen. Six freshmen and four sophomores have been pulled up to varsity with the remaining eight upper classmen..

“Everyone is nice,” said freshman Sarah Sassano. “But on this team you have to prove yourself and hold your own to be on varsity.”

Tennis at tail end of near-winless season

BY MATT BRACKMANN

m.brackmann@eyeofthetigernews.com

With two matches left in the regular season, the Roseville High School boys tennis team has an overall record of 1-11. Despite their record, coach Dallas Guerrero feels the team has some positives coming out of this season – including the performance

of senior Ben Judd.

“Senior year, people tend to drift off since they won’t be continuing on playing tennis,” Guerrero said. “But [Judd] is working harder than ever to continue to improve.”

According to Guerrero, another standout player for the Tigers this season is freshman Sam Dimitrov.

Dimitrov has gotten a lot of higher-level match play this season due to the team always missing one or more of the top lineup.

“Sam is a consistent and strong player who is showing a lot of potential to be a great Roseville tennis player,” Guerrero said. “I am excited to see what he does in the future.”

Softball struggling at 5-5 with five left

BY MATT BRACKMANN

m.brackmann@eyeofthetigernews.com

As the varsity softball season is coming to an end, with only five

more games remaining and one of the games being a non-league game, the team appear to be struggling this season as opposed to their season last year.

Last season the softball team finished with the best record in league, while now the girls hold an even record of 5-5. The girl’s softball team lost eight valuable players this year as they went off to college. These eight players were Emily Butcoff, Brittani Whitten, Danielle Crockett, Maddy Butcoff, Taylor Brewster-McDowell, Summer Muir, MacKensie Priley, and Justine Garner.

“Losing our seniors had a big impact of our team because we lost six out of nine starters this year; it’s hard to start a new defense and offense with freshmen the team has never seen before,” varsity player Aly Manzo said.

“Our team chemistry last year was better than this year because we all grew up together playing with one another as well as against one another for recreational games.”

Sports

page 12

april 20, 2015

CVC ‘ease’ doesn’t warrant disrespect

BY LOGAN ASH

l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

After six CVC league meets, the Tigers’ record currently sits at 4-2, better than any a swim team from RHS managed to achieve during the past eight years of play in the SFL.

After SFL struggles, swim finds success

BY RYAN ANDRADA

r.andrada@eyeofthetigernews.com

After years of struggling in the ultra-competitive SFL, Roseville High School’s boys and girls swim team has been performing well in its new league.

The Tigers’ league record currently stands at 4-2, after a loss against the Ponderosa Bruins last Thursday. After losing its first league meet against the Del Campo Cougars, the team managed to string together a four-meet win streak, securing victory over the Cosumnes Oaks Wolfpack, the Antelope Titans, the Bella Vista

Broncos and the Whitney Wildcats. This record is better than any the Tigers have notched in at least the past eight years.

Additionally, with a best time of 3:35, the boys 400 free relay A team – normally composed of seniors Josh McCown and Kevin Gard, junior Adam Botnen and freshman Eric Metzler – is currently just three seconds off RHS’ school record. During their meet against the Broncos, the Tigers’ success hinged on the team, which was able to capture a first place and a team victory in the meet’s final event.

Changing the competition up has made the competition in this year’s meets sort of an unknown factor for returning swimmer, though.

“The switch to the CVC is exciting for us. I believe the schools we compete against now are more in our skill level,” senior Bailey Clark said. “The meets are a lot closer and more entertaining and fun – not having to literally get blown out of the water by stronger schools like Woodcreek and Granite Bay. I look forward to continuing this season and ending my senior season off right

with my close friends.”

This success has also come in spite of the fact that many of the team’s older swimmers are competing at the high school level for the first time “It is hard going into a sport you have never done before, but I learn more everyday and love the chemistry between the team,” first-year senior swimmer Taylor LeDang said. ”I love how the guys encourage the girls at practice and at meets, and we do the same for the boys. It’s like one big family and I am truly happy that I gave it a shot for my last year at

Roseville High.”

The team has had several swimmers beat their personal records early in the season.

“After all the hard work it feels really good to beat your record and know your truly improving and shaving seconds off your time,” senior swimmer Zach Evenson said.

Evenson has high hopes for his team.

“The team is getting closer and closer day by day,” said senior Zach Evenson. “Unlike last year, the team is really bonding, which makes it a lot more fun.”

Starting rotation boosts varsity Tigers to league 5-2

BY LOGAN ASH

l.ash@eyeofthetigernews.com

As the varsity baseball team enters into the second half of their season, they stand at the record of 5-2, only losing to Bella Vista and Oakmont. As of last Wednesday, after they beat Ponderosa 17-5, they have beaten the CVC teams by a combined difference of 30 runs in only six games.

According to many players, the Tigers rely heavily on their strong starting rotation in senior Adam Erickson along with juniors Andreas Lara and Andrew Hansen.

“Our pitching and defense has all been dominate along with our offense,” senior outfielder John Kidder said.

According to Kidder, the Tigers have a variety of weapons on the offensive side from their leadoff hitter in senior shortstop Devin Orr, who leads the team in doubles. Kidder bats second and also contributes to the team with his bat, as he is almost always at the top of the list for all the hitting categories.

“Devin has been our most consistent guy,” junior utility player Jordan Woods said. “John has been picking it up a little and I think they are doing the best in league so far.”

In the beginning of the season, coach Lance Fischer switched many players around to see what players give the team the best

Erickson, Lara, Hansen, Orr, Kidder all key

ROBBIE SHORT EYE OF THE TIGER

Above, senior Shea O’Hara prepares to score off a hit by John Kidder (18) during the Tigers’ game against the Oakmont Vikings last Friday. The Tigers weren’t able to pull out a win, though, and fell to the Vikings 10-9. shot at success to achieve a CVC championship.

“We have guys that we can put at different positions and we just try to find the best fit that we can,” Fischer said.“Defensively we are good no matter what we do, offensively we have trouble scoring runs.”

According to Fischer, the team can rely on their pitchers they just

need to hit and put runs on the board to win baseball games.

“We know our pitchers are going to do their job and not give up that many runs,” Fischer said.

In the beginning of the season, the Tigers were not able to bring all aspects of the game together whether it be they pitched well one game or they could not put runs on the board the other game,

but according to Lara, they have been able to bring it all together now that league has started.

“We are playing a lot better now that league has started and we are bringing everything together,” Lara said.

According to various players, Fischer has pulled players out of the game after they have exhibited poor sportsmanship after a

strikeout or a bad play.

“I think it’s very childish and they need to stop thinking they are so good,” Woods said. “Everyone strikes out.”

According to many baseball players, their team chemistry has weakened recently and many of them feel that it is affecting their team in a very negative way.

On the other hand, Kidder thinks they are able to put that aside when it matters the most and take care of their business.

“When it comes to game time we are all together and we pick each other up,” Kidder said.

When push came to shove in last Friday’s game against Oakmont, the team did appear to be able to band together, as Kidder anticipated.

Although momentum gained slowly in the first inning, wherein the Tigers gave up three runs to the Vikings, they kept up with their opponent throughout most of the game.

However, during the top of the fifth inning, the Oakmont Vikings scored four runs on Tiger defense, and pitcher Hansen.

The Tigers continued to fight, tying up the score at the bottom of the sixth inning at 8, following a chain of two RBI doubles at the hands of Kidder, then junior Justin Robbins.

Ultimately, the Tigers and Vikings fell into tense extra innings, with the Tigers falling 9-10.

When our school first caught wind of the news of the drastic switch from the Sierra Foothill League (SFL) to the Central Valley Conference (CVC), everyone was astonished by the disrespect that was thrown our way by being demoted to the CVC of all leagues. We were even demoted to the league that Oakmont has been in, which seemed like the biggest slap in the face we could possibly receive as an athletic program.

Then the questions arose, if we were indeed as good as we say we are or we should be. Going into this year I was expecting an onslaught of CVC banners being hung in Moeller Gym, along with copious amounts of teams entering into the postseason and making a huge impact.

In the fall sports season we accumulated a grand total of one banner (for varsity boys water polo). However, we did make a hefty dent in the playoff realm of our new league with football, water polo, girls volleyball, girls tennis and with a handful of cross country runners.

In the winter sports, there was a lack of presence at the varsity level, despite eleven wrestlers making an appearance in the postseason. On the other hand, the varsity basketball teams had little to show in the way of postseason action or competitiveness in the CVC. However, the spring sports thus far have been absolutely obliterating the CVC all the way across the board. Varsity baseball and varsity volleyball have only lost one game in league play so far along with the boys golf team racking up wins left and right in the CVC. Mind you, before this year, no students at Roseville have ever seen a golfing victory on the boys side.

Looking at the varying performances from different sports across the board, I have concluded, along with my fellow sports writers, that the CVC is just as good in the so called “mainstream” sports like football, basketball and baseball. However, they seem to be worse in the (as I like to call it,) higher class sports like golf, tennis and volleyball.

I am not trying to make it sound like I am degrading these sports at all, for our athletics have improved greatly in the past few years in more ways than one from new coaches to having more dominant athletes in general. For example, we have a huge number of football players, baseball players, volleyball players, softball players, swimmers, water polo players and runners that are extending their career by playing at the next level whether it be at a junior college or a four year.

This is a perfect testament to the level of play the CVC offers our high school. Granted, it does not compare to the SFL or anywhere near to it, but the CVC is no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. Going forward, the athletes at this school should not degraded if they do not perform as well in the CVC, for the other athletes put their shoes on the same way we all do and they all want the same thing, performing at the next level.