February 2013 Issue 5

Student models

Resolve to change

New JV swim coach

G12-13 B1

B1

C1

Student lands professional modeling job something

Students stick to new years resolutions

Athletes look forward to this season with a new leader

The Granite Bay Gazette GRANITE BAY HIGH SCHOOL w 1 GRIZZLY WAY w GRANITE BAY, CA w 95746 w VOLUME 16 w ISSUE 5 w FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Commentary

Brown stays true to Prop. 30 intentions

Initiative ensures K-12 schools will receive $2 billion this year

nicole bales

nbales.gazette@gmail.com

At long last, it’s happened. California’s governor and the legislature – with a significant boost from the voters – have managed to create and pass a bill that most critics say is fair, balanced and for the good of the state.

Pessimists move aside, because for once, the politicians have proved you wrong.

Proposition 30, the long-awaited voter refer-

Disney’s lovely Princesses got Sandy Hook it all wrong starts safety conversations

‘D

reams do come true’ is the theme Disney has spent decades trying to instill in young minds through the Disney Princesses.

Through story-telling, Disney tells children that as long as they work hard and wish, they can achieve all their dreams.

Cinderella dreamed of leaving the life her stepmother and step-sisters forced upon her, and going to the royal ball to meet Prince Charming.

Rapunzel dreamed of the day she would leave her tower and see the floating lanterns.

Tiana dreamed of opening the restaurant she and her father always talked about.

What they all have in common is that all their dreams come true and, of course, they all marry their “Prince Charming” in the end, just as their predecessor Cinderella had.

But over time, as I’ve become less ignorant, I’ve found that the Disney Princess ideals are flawed, and yet I have come to appreciate them a lot more.

Dreams don’t come true. You can achieve a goal, but a goal and a dream are two different things.

A dream is how someone wants to see themselves on the surface once they achieve a long-term goal, but no one knows where the journey to their dream is going to take them and no dream or goal will ever go as expected.

I’ve learned through observation and personal experience that pure hard work and wishing does not always work. Even if you achieve your “dream,” the reality of the final product is almost unrecognizable when compared to the original dream.

Although I’ve had a rough wake-up call to that reality, I’ve found myself in a few more veg-out days watching Disney Princess movies lately.

It’s not because I still have some delusional idea that I can fully control my future, and they don’t provide any reassurance that I can.

It’s because I, like most Americans, have become addicted to the thought of achieving anything I want out of life, and when I fail, or it proves to be more difficult than Disney let on, I go back to Cinderella, Repunzel and Tiana because they simplify the whole process.

Our problem is that we want too much. No matter what we achieve we are never content, and the minute we achieve a goal, we are already on the hunt for bigger and better.

As a result, our dreams are never consoled because we’re never satisfied.

I see this reality in every adult around me.

Some accept and find love and joy where their dream has taken them, but unfortunately so many others find themselves stuck running in a hamster wheel wondering why their dream isn’t making them as happy as they thought they would be, ignorant to the fact that they will never be content with their “dream come true” until they’re content with their reality.

I’ve grown up with Disney all my life and have found so many truths tied into the stories, but the company has failed to teach the beauty that comes from dreams not working out.

Life never goes the way you want it to or expect it to.

Dreams should guide you through life, but if I got to decide where I was going in life through every dream, then I would have missed out on all the lessons and beauties that failure has to offer. Once I recognized those lessons and beauties and learned to appreciate them, I realized that dreams are over-rated. *** Nicole Bales, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.

BY MEGHAN CARLSEN mcarlsen.gazette@gmail.com

A

merica was all geared up to watch the San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl when a small group of children graced the field.

There were noticeable gaps between some of the students in the choir, and it’s been reported that the gaps were there to honor and represent their fellow students who couldn’t be with them to sing on this day.

They opened their mouths to sing “America the Beautiful” and suddenly tears were brought to the eyes of millions, as they were deeply reminded of the horrors these children underwent in the now infamous Sandy Hook shootings. *** On Dec. 14, when Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., received an unexpected visitor in the form of Adam Peter Lanza, 27 students and staff lost their lives. But many more have been affected by the grief, disbelief and fear that have surrounded this national tragedy.

However, what this calamity has also caused is a reevaluation of safety and security procedures all over America, including at Granite Bay High School.

Jill McKinney, who teaches social psychology, has had experience dealing with these types of lockdown situations while teaching at other schools earlier in her career at both Kennedy and Rosemont high schools.

McKinney described what a chilling experience it was to be a teacher at Rosemont when the school went into a serious lockdown because of a potential shooter when she was six See RESPONSE, page A9

endum designed to save the California K-12 and higher education systems, passed in the November election with an almost 55 percent approval from the state’s voters.

The bill will raise, and set aside in a separate account, $250 million for the University of California/ California State University systems and $2 billion for the state’s K-12 schools.

The real victory isn’t the amount of money Prop.

30 will raise, but that the money raised will be used exactly where it’s supposed to be.

Response to a tragedy

School Shooters wMost attackers have had previous access to weapons and had used them before. w In most cases adults noticed behavior prior to the attack that worried them. wMost school shooters have been males, 11 to 21, most between 13 and 18 years old.

Source:Teen Violence Statistics

Gazette photo illustration /Kristin Taylor

Because of the recent school shooting in Newtown, Conn., schools around the country including Granite Bay High School have started to re-evaluate their safety policies in order to prevent another similar event from happening again.

Kyle Holmes In a last minute change Holmes was placed to teach English instead of Intro to Journalism.

Magazine, Intro. Journalism combined

BY KATE HURLEY

On Monday, Jan.7, the day before the spring term was scheduled to start at Granite Bay High School, drama teacher and journalism adviser Kyle Holmes got a text message from assistant principle Brent Mattix asking Holmes to please come and chat with him.

“That’s when they let me know that I would no longer be teaching Intro. to Journalism,” Holmes said.

Earlier that day, Linda Dickson,

See PROP 30, page A10

FAST FACTS

Classes cut in sudden administrative move khurley.gazette@gmail.com

“Often politicians will play a budget bill one way, then as it passes, they put the money in areas completely unrelated,” Advanced Placement American government teacher Jarrod Westberg said. “The cool thing is that it appears (Gov. Jerry Brown) kept his word. There are no increases in funding for other programs unrelated to education.”

However, the discussions about Prop. 30 aren’t

Gazette illustration/LENA EYEN

BY ASHCON MINOIEFAR

aminoiefar.gazette@gmail.com

who teaches physical education and psychology and is the Magazine Club advisor, was told she would be taking over the Intro. to Journalism class and would be able to combine it with her magazine class that was underenrolled.

According to Dickson, the administrators gave her the choice of choosing between teaching magazine and Intro to Journalism combined into one third-period class, or teaching English – and whatever she chose, Holmes

would get the other.

“I wanted magazine to stay alive,” Dickson said. “(The) magazine is something I created and I didn’t want to lose it.”

Last spring, Holmes taught the Intro. to Journalism class and, with the help of a few students and other media/journalism teachers, he created a new school journalism and media website, See SCHEDULE, page A10

In feverish anticipation of worsening flu season New teachers carry on their predecessors’ previous successes

BY HALEY MASSARA

hmassara.gazette@gmail.com

Heidi McKeen has three bottles of hand sanitizer, five bottles of soap, and two packages of disinfectant in her classroom – all silent harbingers of this year’s hard-hitting seasonal flu.

“I have definitely experienced the highest number of losses I’ve ever had as a teacher,” said the Granite Bay High School physi-

ology teacher. “A large volume of students (absent) on a daily basis, but also students out longer than normal.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, California’s flu season this year reached its peak in January, though GBHS remains heavily impacted.

School nurse Linda Warfield said she’s been sending around 20 to 30 students home per day with flu-like symptoms, some with high fevers.

“I definitely agree that the cold and flu season is particularly bad this year,” she said in an email.

See FLU, page A10

inside this issue News

A2 – A10

Voices

A9 – A14

Second Look

A14

Features

B1 – B8

Sports

C1 – C6

Green Screen

G1 – G24

Slut Shaming

Robotics

A2

A3

Traditional versus risky clothing at school.

The robotics team starts a new season.

News

A2

Friday w February 15, 2013

NAMES IN THE NEWS

sydney kahmann skahmann.gazette@gmail.com

New members enter the GBHS staff family

T

wo babies were recently added to the Grizzly family, Lyla Grace Stedman and Leo Daniel Kirk.

On Jan. 6, Granite Bay High School teacher Shayne Stedman welcomed Lyla to his family.

On Jan. 13, former GBHS teacher Debbie Noyes, who retired last May, welcomed a grandson. Noyes’ daughter, Hilary, and husband Danny are the proud parents of baby Leo. *** The GBHS Guidance Assistance Program welcomed a new intern this month, Sheila Walker.

Walker is currently earning her masters of science in Counseling at National University and will graduate May 2014. *** Walker and the other school counselor intern, Sherry Franklin, will be hosting a Strong Teens group in the College and Career Center during lunch on Tuesdays from Feb. 4 to May 21.

Students are welcome to bring their lunches, and snacks will be provided.

The group will help students deal with their emotions and learn social skills that will be valuable in their post-high school lives. *** Three GBHS speech and debate students qualified for the National Catholic Forensics League tournament.

These students – Jeff Williams, Allyson McReynolds and Sai Sumana Kaluvai – will be traveling to Philadelphia on May 24.

Williams qualified through student congress, and McReynolds and Kaluvai qualified through Lincoln Douglas debate.

Maadhav Shah is the second alternate in international/national extemporaneous speaking. *** The Folsom Jazz Festival was held on Jan. 26 and the GBHS jazz performed.

The jazz band received third place in the competition and multiple GBHS students won medals for their solos. *** The 2013 Water Spots Video Contest is now open.

Videos must focus on this theme, “Check sprinkler systems every month for water-wasting problems and make repairs within 48 hours.”

Winners of the contest will have their video shown on the River Cats jumbotron.

Deadline to apply is March 22.

For more info see sacbee.com/ water-spots. *** Sydney Kahmann, a junior, is the Gazette News editor.

CORRECTIONS wIn a cover photo in the December issue featuring members of the GBHS football team after the Nor Cal championship game, Michael Geraghty was misidentified in the caption. *** wAlso in the December issue, Riley Carroll’s year in school was incorrectly reported in a cover photo caption. Carroll is a junior. The Gazette regrets the errors. *** Accuracy is perhaps the most important fundamental of good journalism. It's the policy of the Gazette to correct all factual errors that are brought to our attention. Email us at: gbgazette@yahoo.com

Identification Statement Granite Bay Gazette Published eight times per academic year c/o Granite Bay High School 1 Grizzly Way Granite Bay, CA 95746 Subscriptions: $25 per year/ $15 per half year

Granite Bay Gazette

Vice of a girl’s reflection

Slut shaming a self-inflicted double standard

Perfect looks can be a gauntlet of anxiety for many

BY ALEXA ZOGOPOULOS

BY HALEY BYAM

azogopoulos.gazette@gmail.com

hbyam.gazette@gmail.com

Self-expression has become a key concept of the continuously growing antibullying campaigns in schools. There are classrooms with large banners telling students to be whoever they please – with a few exceptions that aren’t written over an atmospheric background on a poster.

Society rules that if a girl wears “revealing” clothing, or has had multiple sexual partners, then she lacks self-respect.

The issue of “slut shaming” – judging a woman’s character based on her outfit choice or sexuality – has been generally an ignored, under-discussed form of bullying. It allows people to degrade a female’s respectability simply over her personal choices.

“If a girl wants to wear a short skirt because that’s what she feels comfortable in,” junior Perry Vargas said, “then she should be able to wear it without judgment, like how us guys can.”

The concept that a girl’s level of selfrespect can be measured by the length of her skirt has been prominent in American culture since its beginning.

Although it is now more accepted than ever for females to take pride in their sexual choices, traditional theories still hold strong that a voluptuous woman’s worth is less than that of others.

“I think we need to evolve past that.

We need to live in a society where people can express themselves freely, and some people express themselves through clothing – they shouldn’t be judged for it,” said KC Wachs, English and Peer Helper teacher, who has taken a strong interest in the bullying problem at Granite Bay High School.

“I feel like it’s more adults who are rigid about what girls wear,” Wachs said, “but the younger generation seems a bit more open about it now.”

The theory of the male versus female “double standard” comes into play here.

Some argue for high school students, men are encouraged to have sex, while women are considered dirty or worthless if they choose to act similarly.

“It’s one-sided,” Vargas said. “Guys can wear whatever, but it seems like girls have to think about it more consciously.”

At the beginning of her senior year, Dana expected nothing but great memories with her friends before making the intimidating leap to life as a collegiate.

High school was nearly behind her, and she was ready to move forward and start anew. However, she had always been an “anxious person” and it reached a dangerous climax during the final stretch.

“I went through high school not knowing that I had an anxiety disorder,” said Dana, who asked the Gazette to not disclose her last name. “I was constantly looking for ways to make myself ‘better’ so I wouldn’t have anything to be anxious about.”

Relentlessly bombarded with messages from her peers about how she should look and how she should eat, Dana started zeroing in on her own self-perceived flaws.

“I began to think that losing weight and becoming ‘thin’ was the key to being happy and not being anxious all the time,” Dana said. “I joined a gym and worked out every day after school. Gradually, I lowered my food intake and eventually stopped eating all together.”

Body bashing, or constant self-criticism and body comparison, is rampant among young girls and women. Just as men might use sports to create a connection, girls form instant friendships by complaining about their bodies.

“Body bashing can also be taken to the point where you’re doing a lot of body checking,” said Erin Patterson, a therapist at Summit Eating Disorders & Outreach program. “That can either be in the mirror or any way of measuring your body, followed by very harsh criticism.”

This kind of self-scrutiny can easily spin out of control in an environment where tens of millions of people of every age, race and gender develop eating disorders, and up to 20 percent of those affected die without treatment.

“Personally,” said Julia, a sophomore recovering from bulimia and who also asked to keep her last name undisclosed, “Body bashing has led me to a five-year struggle with an eating disorder, being hospitalized twice and permanent damage to my body.”

Some might cover up their insecurities

See SHAMING, page A7

Gazette photo illustration /CLEORA REBER

Many high school girls feel like they are trapped between social demands to be attractive and expectations that they won’t be seen as promiscuous.

See IMAGE, page A7

The drug scene drafts in new players Students going for pills, thrills and school work

BY AUSTIN PINK

apink.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School is no stranger to the issue of teen drug use, and most students eventually discover that drugs and alcohol are very prevalent in off-campus social interactions.

Every year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention releases a nationwide study about the evolving trends of drug use for teenagers. The most recent results unfortunately confirmed an ominous theory developed by Health Education analysts.

While marijuana and alcohol use remain constant with a fairly high rate of use among adolescents, analysts took relief in the consistent decrease in the use of more dangerous drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.

According to the 2011 CDC report, the use of heavier drugs like “heroin, cocaine, opium, and various hallucinogens has gone down for the past (seven) years.”

Only to be replaced by something that could potentially be much worse.

The largest increase in drug use has come from prescrip-

tion drug use varying from anti-depressants and anti-anxiety to cough medication and sedatives. More than 16 percent of adolescents over the age of 12 have used prescription medication for non-medical use.

The main reason for the increase in usage is due to “the accessibility of prescription drugs,” the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry reported.

Most teenagers have very potent drugs within their vicinity, mainly in their parents’ possession in family medicine cabinets. They perceive them as a cheap and effective means for getting high. But most teens are unaware of the consequences and dangers behind these unknown products.

The hazards associated with prescription drugs numerous, including – according to the Mayo Clinic – heart problems, high blood pressure, seizures or tremors, hallucinations, aggressiveness and paranoia.

While most of the country seems to be under the spell of the prescription craze, local trends are somewhat different.

The Gazette asked roughly 100 students in 10th-12th grades to complete an informal questionnaire, and the results showed some notable similarities and discrepancies.

Marijuana and alcohol were fairly consistent with the national trends – about 65 percent of GBHS student who responded to the questionnaire have used alcohol at least once, and about 43 percent have used marijuana. Those numbers are both slightly above the national curve for these mainstream drugs.

The second most-common drug group was prescription drugs. About 13 percent of students who took the questionnaire reported they have abused prescription drugs at least once.

All but one of the GBHS students who reported using prescription drugs reported Adderall as their drug of choice.

“I don’t even use Adderall to get high or anything like that,” said a junior who took the survey. “I, and probably most of the others who use Adderall around here, use it for studying or tests.”

Thus the main difference appears to be that GBHS prescription drug consumers use it for an academic purpose, as misguided as that might be.

Another local drug that has gained popularity is ecstasy or “molly,”, as it’s commonly called.

A comparison of the Gazette’s informal survey results and a local drug survey done in 2005 shows that “molly” use has gone up from 3 percent to 11 percent.

“It’s definitely way more common than when I was a freshman,” a senior survey taker said, “I hear about it all the time now, and a decent amount my friends have tried it.”

Unlike a few years ago, most students buy ecstasy in the powder form instead of the classic pill form that freshmen learn about in their health and safety classes.

Along with marijuana and alcohol, “molly” is one of the most popular party drugs in the area. “Drug use is different in every place and every high school,” said a GBHS senior.

Honors English 10 loses honorific H

Are semantics important to college’s decision?

BY TAMREN JOHNK

tjohnk.gazette@gmail.com

When the 240 sophomores who are currently enrolled in the Advanced Placement European History/Honors English 10 block send their transcripts to prospective colleges in their senior year, there will unfortunately be no “honors” designation for the English component of the class.

In late 2011, after reviewing the course complexity and conferring with the course instructors and other area high schools, Granite Bay High School admin-

istration decided to change the College Preparatory (CP) English 10 title for the course that was blocked with AP European History to Honors English 10. This was a name change only, with no weighted GPA component.

The students who enrolled in this year-long course for the 2012-13 academic year were told that the English class would be listed as “honors” on their transcripts, although no grade bump would be calculated, similar to other district high schools.

Yet, because of an inadvertent er-

ror by Granite Bay High School’s administration in not meeting a University of California submission deadline, the English course will now carry no distinction for these sophomore students.

Every year, high schools have new courses that they want the University of California system to recognize for credit in one of their A-G categories, representing the required curriculum for UC admittance. These courses must be submitted to a UC portal during the “window of opportunity.”

This portal opens Feb. 1 of the

year prior to the new school year and closes Sep. 16 at midnight.

By the time the error was identified in October of last year, it was too late. “The portal was closed, and there was nothing we could do about it,” said GBHS principal Mike McGuire.

GBHS has a process for how it audits courses to make sure they are submitted to the UC portal. For 13 years, the system has been spot on, never experiencing any problems or difficulties.

“The reason we never had a problem is because in 13 years no one has said, “Lets change the title mid-way through the course, so we never knew that our system was flawed,” McGuire acknowledged.

When the program planning guide was being reviewed last year for any new courses, administrators came across Honors English 10 in their audit process and did not recognize it as a new course, thereby assuming it had been submitted to the UC portal.

That was the mistake.

“So we passed right by it thinking (the course) was already there,” McGuire said. “But the portal closed on September 16th, and we can’t go back and add it for this year.”

Once the mistake was noticed, the school contacted the UC Office See HONORS, A7

Friday, February 15, 2013

News

w The Granite Bay Gazette

A3

Robotics team fired up for new season New robot picks up, throws Frisbees

Linus Halpin, GBHS senior and South Placer County Robotics team member, welds pieces of metal together in what will become the frame of this year’s robot.

Gazette photo / GRACE MOORE

BY SYDNEY KAHMANN

skahmann.gazette@gmail.com

S

ince the Granite Bay High School robotics team was founded, there have been some inevitable rough patches.

For a brief period, the team was completely dead; there were no members, no mentors and no robots.

But shortly after the GBHS robotics team’s death, it was reborn, which became the origin of the team’s nickname Renevatio (meaning renewal in Latin).

The South Placer County Robotics team emerged from the GBHS team’s ashes in a manner similar to the mythical phoenix, the team’s mascot.

Years later, the South Placer Country Robotics team is thriving, teaching students about the many facets to building a successful robot.

Students are divided into three different teams – the mechanical/build team, the programming team,

and the electrical engineering team. While mainly made of GBHS students the teams also have members from Roseville Woodcreek and Del Oro high schools, as well as students who are homeschooled.

“When I was a kid, me and a few friends ran a For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Lego league team, and through that I heard about this league,” homeschooled senior Daniel Hunter said. “I looked around on school websites to find a team and there were a few … but they wouldn’t accept members from outside the school, so I had to come here.”

Among the nearly 30 members, most of whom will go on to engineering careers, there are at least five girls on the team.

The female members of the team actively partici-

pate in all of the different team branches, regardless of their small number.

“It feels pretty powerful because I’m on the build team,” GBHS senior Tiffany Alunan said. “Getting to work hands-on with many mechanical devices, which really aren’t made for girls, makes you feel like you are a part of something really big.”

The team works together in the hopes of winning the regional competition and then moving on to the national competition, both of which require time during the on- and off-seasons in order to succeed.

On Jan. 1, everything changes. The FIRST Robotics Competition releases the challenge information and guidelines, starting the six-week period where robotics teams can build their robot.

Once it gets to the building season, the robotics

team meets every day.

According to Alunan, team members are not required to go to all practices, and the team leaders really understand missing meetings for major tests and other school obligations.

But because of the time-consuming nature of building robots for the complex challenges, the team members cannot miss too many practices.

“This year we have to pick up Frisbees and shoot them into a 24-by-12 inch slot on a wall 10 feet off the ground,” GBHS senior Hammad Bashir said.

To accomplish this feat, the mechanical, programming and electrical engineering teams need to work closely together.

See ROBOTICS, page A7

More parents host teen parties with alcohol Many believe they are protecting children by supervising gatherings

BY AMBER LES

ales.gazette@gmail.com

More than 40 percent of high school students consume alcohol illegally each month, according to the Center for Disease Control, and often at great risk to themselves.

There are various ways minors gain access to alcohol, and some are more surprising than others.

“My parents serve me alcohol occasionally,” said a Granite Bay High School senior who asked that his name be withheld. “They know that I drink with friends, too.”

The senior is just one of an increasing number of teenagers who drink as a minor under their parents’ supervision.

“Drinking (alcohol) socially is popular at our school,”

the senior said. “Whenever I go to parties, most people drink.”

According to the National Center on Drug Abuse, almost 75 percent of teenagers consume alcohol before leaving high school.

In addition, 65 percent of underage drinkers get their alcohol from friends or family. Out of that, 53 percent claim they get it directly from their parents.

“My parents don’t want me to go crazy in college (...) they want me to be responsible and know my tolerance,” the senior saaid.

According to a study done by the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 40 percent of the mothers surveyed believed that banning children from even tasting alcohol will only make it more appealing for the child to try it on their own.

Locally, students suggest many parents would agree with the people surveyed.

“I’ve heard of occasions where parents supply alcohol at parties,” said Eddie Leskauskas, a GBHS junior.

“Sometimes parents will give their kid alcohol (at home) or at dinner.”

Others said this should not be part of the appropriate

parenting norm.

“I would classify serving alcohol to a minor as bad parenting,” said Deputy Joe Herrick, the GBHS school resource officer. “It’s contributing to the delinquency of a minor.”

Herrick explained that serving alcohol to a minor could lead to a misdemeanor or a citation, depending on the case.

“Parents will have liability,” Herrick said. “If someone drinks and drives or gets injured, the parent can be held responsible.”

The consequences of serving alcohol to a minor might not always be in the legal system.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, children who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are six times more likely to develop substance abuse problems before age 21.

A 2012 survey by the Century Council showed that 83 percent of 13-17 year olds believed parents had the most influence on whether or not a child will drink alcohol.

“A small percentage of my friends know or accept that their children drink alcohol,” said a GBHS mother who admits to allowing her teenager to drink and who asked

ASB UPDATE Student Government discusses superherothemed spring dance The Gazette talked to Emily Nagel, Spirit Commissioner representative.

Gazette: What’s the spring dance this year?

Nagel: It’s going to be a superherothemed dance. We’re going to have a lot of cool, new stuff … like a cool DJ. Gazette: What ever happened to Junior Prom?

Nagel: Junior Prom was an event that we’ve had for a long time. But, a couple years ago, the junior class was starting to not make as much money as they wanted on it.

that her name be withheld. “(My child) has proven his/herself as a responsible teen who makes good choices,” she said. “However, I would not serve a minor that was not my own child, although I’ve heard of other parents doing so.”

A study done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Colombia University found that, by age 17, 46 percent of teens have been at a party where minors drink alcohol or use marijuana or prescription drugs while a parent is present.

This number seems to correlate with students’ experiences. Whether the actions of parents are justified, though, is a more difficult question to answer.

“I don’t think it’s bad parenting (to serve alcohol to your child),” the GBHS senior said. “If parents don’t allow some drinking with supervision, kids will end up sneaking around and getting in more trouble.”

Because the issue involves breaking the law, many families’ choices remain hidden behind closed doors.

“I think it’s about keeping your kid safe,” the GBHS senior said. Some parents just have different ways of doing it.”

News Briefs

Gazette: Is it ever coming back?

Nagel: I think maybe in the future if there’s a big interest. But, I don’t think it’s going to happen right now. Kids are welcome to have one outside of school.

Gazette: What happened to Sadies?

Nagel: We had one last year… but we didn’t get as much attendance as we wanted.

Gazette: Are you planning anything special leading up to the dance?

Nagel: We’re going to have (themed) things coming up during the week of the dance. And, we’re also going to have a Superhero rally (today).

Gazette: Is it a couple’s dance?

Nagel: It can be if you want. But, we’re not going to publicize it like that.

–compiled by Kristine Khieu

Gazette photo illustration /GRACE MOORE

 Students from across Placer County received news of the tragedy hours after it happened, through social media. Many offered their condolences and prayers via Facebook and Twitter.

Tragic car accident unites community, schools

Gazette photo /GRACE MOORE

Emily Nagel, ASB Spirit Commissioner said the spring dance is not a Sadies dance.

Placer County is still in mourning for the two girls who lost their lives in a car accident on Auburn Folsom Rd in Auburn. The SUV with six teenagers inside flipped when its driver swerved to avoid a deer on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 4.

Some Granite Bay High students knew one of the girls killed, a Del Oro junior named Morgan Helman, through church activities at Bayside Church. The second victim, Vivian Conner, was only 13.

“She was so funny and just full of light,” junior Hope Larson said.

GBHS students involved themselves through social media, especially Twitter, to share their prayers and the news to their friends almost immediately after word of the accident reached them.

“Through this tremendous loss, there has also been a lot of growth as a community.” Larson said. ”It’s sad to see two bright young girls leave us, but it’s also important to see what their death has caused throughout this community and how we’ve grown together,”

Career fair approaches Representatives from many different careers such as veterinary, fashion, law enforcement, dental, medical, political science, and more will be open for student’s questions at the Granite Bay High School career fair from 8-11:15am on Wednesday, Mar. 6 in the gymnasium. The first-ever event is intended to advise and introduce to students their potential career options after high school.

–compiled by Grace Moore

A4 News

Friday, February 15, 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Cancer victims tell their stories Families and survivors speak out about life after the diagnosis

BY HALEY BYAM

hbyam.gazette@gmail.com

Cancer: a word guaranteed to induce shivers in anyone, despite their age, race, or gender. It affects people of all demographics and, in fall of 2004, it happened to choose Janet Kaye’s husband Bruce.

“Initially, Bruce was only given three to six weeks to survive,” said Kaye of her husband, who was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor. “It was the worst brain tumor diagnosis – it’s basically a death sentence.”

The Kayes, refusing to sit back and watch Bruce fall victim to his disease, began to carve out their own, completely holistic path in the field of cancer treatment.

Through a diet of whole and organic foods, vitamins, exercise and various other alternative approaches, Bruce battled his tumor for 15 months, shocking the world of oncology and changing the way many professionals thought about “finding a cure.”

Bruce’s progress came to a standstill when the steroid meant to help his quality of life, one of the only treatment methods that wasn’t natural, weakened his body so much that it could not fight anymore, and he died on Jan. 28, 2006.

“You don’t get over something like that,” Kaye said.

“What you do is learn to figure out your new life. I’m still trying to figure that out.”

Bruce Kaye’s story is as much a tragedy as it is one of strength and perseverance, and his legacy continues to be an inspiration to those affected by cancer through the Bruce Kaye Brain Tumor Foundation.

“We started the foundation the week Bruce was dying,” Kaye said. “We currently sponsor 18 financially-in-need brain tumor patients.”

This aid helps patients pay for alternative treatments that they would not otherwise be able to afford, and informs families about unconventional therapies and treatment methods.

“Most people that are surviving a brain tumor diagnosis are doing something out of the mainstream box of traditional medicine,” Kaye said.

Another advocate of a multifaceted approach to cancer treatment is Kristin Kozlowski, who discovered her breast cancer during a mammogram.

“At that point, they thought it was a calcification cluster,

which is normal in women’s breasts,” Kozlowski said, “but it can also be an indicator of cancer.”

Following more tests and panels, she was diagnosed with stage I ductal carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma, which means that the cancer has left the ducts of the breasts.

Soon after her diagnosis, Kozlowski attended a support group, which she found a helpful resource for nutrition advice, preparation for surgery and what to expect in general.

“Everyone’s been down that road, so it can be a real blessing to share that information,” Kozlowski said.

After doing research and talking to other women at her support group, Kozlowski underwent a bilateral mastectomy and additional chemotherapy.

“I decided to treat it aggressively partly because I have three young kids,” Kozlowski said. “It was hard for them to see me like that. You’re used to seeing your mom up and about, and to see her in a hospital bed is quite difficult.”

After a successful surgery and several months of chemo, Kozlowski sees her oncologist twice every six months to take blood tests and check up on everything. She is currently in remission and has taken various alternative preventative measures.

“You have to be your own advocate in (lifestyle changes),” Kozlowski said. “I made dietary changes as far as switching out my coffee for green tea, drinking less alcohol, eating more fruits and vegetables and taking supplements.”

Peggy Kronner, another breast cancer survivor, found a lump in a routine mammogram. As a mother of three daughters, she decided the quickest route of action was the best.

Kronner had a double mastectomy, after which she fully recovered with the help of her family.

“We sort of turned into this cohesive unit that supported her and helped her through it,” said Marisa Thias, a junior at Granite Bay and Peggy’s niece. “She has been in remission for a long time and we hope that it stays that way.”

Shayna Hansen, a junior, has also been affected by cancer.

After an X-ray, her father, Steve Hansen, determined the pain in his hip that he’d attributed to a pulled muscle was actually a cancerous tumor.

“The doctors decided to start him on chemotherapy a month later,” Shayna said. “The type of chemo that he got was specialized, so he had to go to a hospital in San Francisco for a full week every three weeks.”

After the cancer failed to respond to the chemo, Steve Hansen flew to Seattle for intensive surgery while Shayna

stayed with neighbors.

He went in for a second operation in summer of 2012 after the first, which resulted in the removal of half of his pelvis, yet that still did not get rid of the cancer.

It was in the second surgery that his leg was amputated at the hip.

“Now he has one leg, which is actually better for him than having two legs,” Shayna said, “because the first surgery cut a lot of muscle so he wasn’t able to move it after that.”

Hansen is recovering well and attempting to regain the active life he had before his battle with cancer. He has begun looking into biking and skiing, and has already kayaked and walked with his crutches.

“I think it’s made us closer as a family,” Shayna said. “We’ve all sort of bonded together.”

Seven years after her husband’s death, Janet Kaye has one piece of advice for anyone struggling with the loss of a loved one to cancer: keep living.

“Bruce told me, ‘You can be sad for a little while, but if you don’t start having fun, I’ll be really pissed,’” Kaye said. “And there are times where that’s gotten me through a tough day.”

Not everyone recovers from this disease, but with support and information about their options, everyone can have a story of success and triumph.

“Bruce died seven years ago on January 28th,” Kaye said. “It’s really easy to self-pity, but life does go on. The hardest thing to do when moving forward is not looking back.”

After a cancer diagnosis, patients undergo intensive treatment plans that are either prescribed by doctors or are alternative all-natural healing methods.

Gazette photo / CLEORA REBER

IB students enroll in online classes for credit Diploma candidates forced to take required courses online in order to graduate from GBHS

BY CHRIS PEI

cpei.gazette@gmail.com

About 30 percent of high school graduates attend community college immediately after graduation – in fact, about one-third of University of California and two-thirds of California State University graduates begin their post-high school academic careers at a community college.

In addition to the high school graduate population at community colleges, however, is the demographic of students who are still in high school.

“Here at Granite Bay High School, we have such a rich curriculum that students don’t have to seek outside

schools,” GBHS counselor Tiffani Gieck said. “However, there are schools in the surrounding areas where some students max out their high school’s curriculum.

So it can be helpful for those students to have access to those resources.”

A number of GBHS students, however, are met with certain schedule conflicts, compelling them to seek ways to take required classes outside of GBHS. The process by which students enroll in community colleges is often lengthy, however, due to an increasing number of application guidelines and restrictions in the past eight years as result of budget restraints.

In order to enroll in supplementary courses, students are first required to meet with their counselor to deter-

mine eligibility and become “approved” to enroll.

Sierra College and American River College, for example, require students to have both completed their sophomore year and be 16 years of age by the first day of instruction.

Additionally, both the colleges’ academic requirements state that students must have a minimum high school GPA of 2.7 and can only register for courses that the high school he or she attends does not offer.

After validating eligibility with a counselor, students are given an academic enrichment application – called an advanced education application at American River College – to fill out that includes instructions for additional steps regarding the enrollment process.

For Sierra College, these steps include signing up for a mySierra account, completing an online orientation, taking any necessary assessments and providing any necessary documentation for the student’s file at the college’s admissions and records department.

American River College has a similar process for

registration that includes a counseling appointment during which the student applicant is required to submit a written statement regarding why he or she wishes to enroll at the college.

After completing all the necessary prerequisites, students are then able to officially register online for a maximum of seven units of classes per semester or summer.

Because of the budget restraints, however, impacted classes have become commonplace. Waiting lists for popular classes can often reach numbers exceeding 20 or even 30 students.

Johnson Khor, a GBHS senior, was met with this problem when applying to both Sierra College and Folsom Lake College.

Because Khor is an IB diploma candidate, his schedule could only accommodate a certain number of elecSee ONLINE, page A8

Many students must avoid cafeteria food Lactose-intolerance, vegetarianism, Celiac disease limit options

GBHS students with dietary restrictions, like a gluten intolerance, must eat special foods while at school.

BY WILLOW WOOD

wwood.gazette@gmail.com

In recent years Granite Bay High School has seen some changes to food offered in the cafeteria. Most recently added, the chicken caesar wrap, which comes with a salad.

While the Roseville Joint Union High School District is well informed and using the U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for nutrition and health to construct lunch-time meals, not all students think they are accommodated while on campus.

Gazette photo / Luke ChiRBAS

And some would like to see change, one group being vegetarians, or students who don’t eat meat.

Emily Meyers, a senior at GBHS, is a vegetarian by choice; she also chooses not to eat food from the cafeteria.

Meyers would be more inclined to eat there if they offered more foods suited to her preference.

“I’d be up for trying anything,” Meyers said.

The district’s nutrition services is starting to shift in favor of people like Meyers though, with the addition of salad-type options to the daily menu, while still meeting guidelines for nutrition.

The school also has the option to add preferences and restrictions to a student’s file, so they won’t be served anything that goes against that.

Vegetarianism isn’t the only thing that has been gaining speed. In the past few years an immune See DIET, page A8

Examining the WASC accreditation process at GBHS Schools without credit lose credibility with colleges

BY GOKUL ASOKAN

“It’s a very large document,” Guzman said, “and (consists of) five chapters.”

The first and second chapters of the self-study report Few would associate a standardized, bureaucratic contain demographics and all of the testing data, Guzprocess with self-reflection and growth. However, the man said. The third chapter deals with progress, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accredita- fourth chapter – the biggest one – is broken down into tion process has been described as just that. five sections: vision and governance, instruction, cur“The basic question is, ‘How are our kids achieving?’ riculum, assessment, and school culture, Guzman said. and ‘How do we know that they are achieving?’” said Every six years, WASC sends a visiting committee of Florentino Guzman, Granite Bay High School’s WASC five to seven people with extensive experience in the coordinator. education field to check the veracity of the claims made “Nationwide, there’s always been a consistent achieve- in the report, Guzman said. ment gap, for example, between Hispanics and whites, “Our visit is supposedly next year, in November, student with disabilities (and those without),” Guzman but we haven’t gotten any (notice yet),” Guzman said said. “(WASC) asks us how we are best closing those.” “What they’re doing right now is trying to develop a First, every school must prepare a ‘self-study’ report. team to come visit us, because it’s all a volunteer workgasokan.gazette@gmail.com

force.”

The price of failure, however, is quite large.

“In the worst of conditions, WASC can come in and yank your accreditation, in essence. That’s happening ... to some of the (community colleges),” said teacher Brandon Dell’Orto, who is the WASC chairman for the curriculum focus group.

When WASC revokes accreditation, the school’s degrees are rendered meaningless, Dell’Orto said. For high schools, a lack of WASC accreditation means the University of California system will not recognize student’s courses as fulfilling A through G requirements, making it virtually impossible to gain admission to a UC. “Those are pretty rare, though,” Dell’Orto said. GBHS has consistently received six-year accreditations, and this current accreditation cycle isn’t set to be drastically different.

The focus groups try to get input from as many sources

as possible, including students and parents. David Jin, a junior, is a student member of a focus group.

“As a student, I represent the … class of school society, as in people (whose) voice isn’t heard well enough,” he said. “The job of the school is to provide support for students in every possible way.”

Does GBHS really grow as a result of the WASC process? Does the self reflection that is supposed to happen actually occur?

“It’s probably similar to the American Revolution,” Dell’Orto said, “in that it’s a third-third-third split.

There’s probably a third … that are never going to feel like (the WASC accreditation process) was worth the time they gave up, there’s probably about a third who feel it’s a pretty good thing, … (who feel) a sense of self awareness, then there’s probably another third that are … just kind of in the middle, who are like, ‘It wasn’t horrible, but I don’t really know if it’s going to change my teaching.’”

Friday, February 15, 2013

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You only get what you give Students find personal fufillment in community service through National Charity League and others (there’s) soup kitchen, helping the elderly, helping the homeless. There’s a bunch of opportunities.”

Every senior must complete a 10-hour Personally, Howard’s favorite activity community service project in order to is cooking for and serving the homeless graduate from Granite Bay High School. at the Saint Vincent de Paul soup kitchen Students dish out soup at food banks, collect in Roseville, where she tries to help used coats or plant trees to fulfill their every month with her graduation requirements. mother and several Another form of other volunteers from community service the area.

“I think it brings exists, however – the Not only does kind one does willingly, Howard prefer this me a great sense n o t g r u d g i n g l y. To activity because of joy just going some students it might she enjoys cooking, be unbelievable that but she finds the there. I feel someone might volunteer experience of definitely happy for simply the sake of aiding the homeless volunteering, but it personally beneficial. when I’m done happens – all over GBHS, “I just enjoy doing volunteering. all the time. it – the fulfillment Kristin Howard, a junior that you get from at GBHS, volunteers as a seeing the homeless – Kristin Howard, member of the National going in there junior Charity League, a mother(after) you’ve just daughter nationwide made this beautiful organization in which arrangement of food students participate in a and (seeing) them being so thankful,” she variety of charitable activities under the said. umbrella of NCL. When Howard’s mom signed her up “It just depends on which ones you want for NCL in seventh grade, Howard was to do,” Howard said. “There’s stuff like skeptical of whether she would enjoy it, the (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty but she now finds it is something she looks to Animals), there’s (the) Red Cross, forward to.

BY MEREDITH DECHERT mdechert.gazette@gmail.com

“I think it brings me a great sense of joy just going there,” Howard said. “I feel definitely happy when I’m done volunteering.”

Witnessing the deprived conditions of others has also widened her perspective. “(I’ve gained) a sense of gratefulness for what I have living in Granite Bay and seeing that we have it really nice here,” she said.

Other students find volunteer work through religious organizations.

Johnson Khor, a senior at GBHS, has lead community service programs for the children’s ministry at Bayside Church. He started a group called Knights of Hope that did various charitable projects.

“We’ve made care packages for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We would make paracord survival bracelets for them,” Khor said.

When a local pastor was diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma, and his wife and sons also suffered serious health problems, one requiring multiple open-heart surgeries – all in the midst of a home remodel – Khor and others decided to help.

“We had about 80 youth and their parents, and we finished remodeling the room that he was doing,” Khor said. “When we found out he needed to go to Stanford Medical Center, we decided to put on a fundraiser.”

NCL sponsors philanthropic events, which are enjoyed by NCL members and charity beneficiaries alike.

Photo courtesy to the Gazette /SCHorer family

See SERVICE, page A8

Offering a much-needed academic boost Technology, teachers help students succeed

BY GRACE MOORE

gmoore.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School students having trouble with core subjects have more options than ever to help them succeed in school, thanks to the efforts of teachers, students and technological advancements.

While GBHS has a significant amount of students who succeed with standardized tests, there is a significant minority of students who need extra help to succeed.

When a student’s issue is as simple as the lack of a quiet place to study, fifth period and lunch study times are offered this semester.

“We are not leaving any child behind,” said Kathie Sinor, a GBHS Health and Safety teacher.

“In other words, all students are going to learn. It’s up to us as teachers to do whatever we can to make sure we are succeeding as a school.”

Sinor has of late been donating her lunch and her time after school to provide fifth period in her classroom for any students who would benefit from the environment. Teachers can now also compel students to attend fifth period as a result of her efforts, though not many currently do.

For years, GBHS has been the only school in the Roseville Joint Union High School district to offer classes like Algebra 1A/1B and Geometry A/B, or the Academic Literacy block available to freshmen and sophomores who require a “scaffold,” as English teacher Jenny Padgett calls it, for fluency. Students of these yearlong blocked classes were placed as a result of math and reading tests they took in middle school.

“There’s as many reasons kids may struggle with something as there are kids,” Padgett said.

She sensed a common stereotype

generalizing students who take intervention classes, and pointed out that it was untrue.

“Often the Academic Literacy class or any kind of intervention classes are marginalized or seen as classes for students who are not as intellectually capable, and that isn’t the case,” Padgett said. “The students who I teach in Academic Literacy are very bright and very capable. They’re anxious to do well.

“For whatever reason, at this point in their life, they struggle with literacy,” she added.

One rapidly growing group of struggling students consists of those who speak a language other than English at home.

Over the last 30 years, the number of school-age children (children ages 5–17) who spoke a language other than English at home has nearly doubled from 4.7 to 11.2 million, according to the

U.S. Department of Education and to signify cross-multiplication the National Center for Education in his extended Algebra classes, and enunciation of certain words Statistics.

With more English learners to make mathematics taught in a foreign language than ever in more palatable.

California More commonly, and in the It’s up to us students having rest of trouble focusing the U.S., as teachers to might find Farmer teachers do whatever lightly tapping have made their desks, all in an adaptations we can to effort to reach out to their make sure to students and get style that we are them to understand. are visible In his more in the way succeeding slowly paced math classes are as a school. classes, he finds taught. time for students to While these write out what they students are – Kathy Sinor, know and decorate a minority at health teacher the walls of his this school, classroom with teachers are free information, prepared for posters explaining anything.

For example, English Language various math equations and Learners (ELLs for short) might theorems. benefit from GBHS math teacher There is another more vast pool Thomas Farmer’s crossed arms of free information available on the

Kathy Sinor She now offers an extra fifth study period after school.

internet, Farmer said, that helps his students succeed.

This unprecedented access to knowledge varies from free videos and practice problems on websites like Khan Academy to monthly services like those offered from Chegg, a service that provides textbook solutions online.

AP chemistry students are occasionally treated to lectures by the professors of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who speak in hours upon hours of valuable lectures found for free online. Many math teachers love Khan Academy for its concise explanations of new topics, not to mention the priceless analysis and background information English students can find on about every assigned reading for free on See HELP, page A8

Sufferers of mental illnesses face stigmatization One student speaks out about her family’s struggle with schizophrenia

BY SAVITRI ASOKAN

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

Despite Granite Bay High School’s efforts at promoting acceptance, mental disabilities are not a serious topic to many students.

A GBHS freshman girl is one of the many students who are affected by mental illnesses. The girl’s uncle was diagnosed with schizophrenia during his childhood.

Schizophrenia is a disease where warped senses force victims to perceive reality incorrectly. Approximately 2.4 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia,

according to the National Institute for Mental Health. This is just a small fraction of the 57.7 million Americans who suffer from mental disorders in any given year.

The girl’s life has changed because of her uncle’s illness.

“Since his brain doesn’t function correctly, he has had to live with us for a while,” the girl said. “My mom does a lot to help him.”

More importantly, the condition caused her to reevaluate her perspective on all kinds of mental illness.

The girl said that the biggest problem with GBHS’ attitude towards mental illness

is apathy.

“I don’t think they are really all that much aware of what really happens with mental illness,” she said.

Freshman Bre Alpha believes this ignorance is inconsequential.

“Everybody is tolerated and accepted,” she said. “I don’t think there is a lot of bullying.”

The freshman girl, however, thinks indifference can lead to decidedly negative results.

“Most people just think that someone ‘isn’t normal,’ and some people may make jokes about it… typically I don’t think they are trying to make fun of people or hurt anyone’s feelings, but for some people it could be very sensitive,” she said.

She is one such person. She said she is annoyed in particular with students’ tendencies to trivialize mental disabilities.

However, she does believe that people are beginning to experience positive change.

She said the efforts made during the Ripple Effect program seemed successful.

“It informed people of how things really are and it isn’t really something to joke about,” the girl said.

Others believe the changes were insignificant and fleeting.

“I think that the Ripple Effect didn’t really work,” freshman Jennifer Harris said.

“The Ripple Effect was useless,” said freshman Grace Lyu. “People don’t really care and forget pretty quickly. It’s not something that has a lasting effect.”

According to the freshman girl, all that needs to be done is for individuals to change their outlook.

“I want students to try to be more conscientious about what they say,” the girl said. “Be sensitive and not take a

careless, ‘whatever’ attitude about these kinds of things.”

Despite the disadvantages, the girl said she has gained unexpected benefits from her uncle’s illness. “(I have learned) to be thankful for my mental health and my friends,” she said, “and a few of the little things that are easy for me to do … aren’t so easy for him.

Mostly (I) try to be thankful and not get too worked up about my problems, because they sometimes are really petty compared to the struggles he has.”

If GBHS students make an effort to understand those with mental disabilities, the girl believes that their lives will improve.

“In a way I am glad to be able to experience this,” the girl said, “because it makes me more aware of situations and have more empathy towards other people.”

Grads, upperclassmen struggle to flee future debts Even with new financial aid programs, college is a costly prospect for students

BY NICOLAS ONTIVEROS nontiveros.gazette@gmail.com

As his senior year comes to an end, senior Justin Habashi has been considering both domestic and international universities for his future education. “(I’ve been accepted to) American University in Washington, D.C. and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver,” Habashi said. “A few Canadian schools (are) high on world (rankings for colleges).”

Habashi’s main motive for applying international happens to be cost.

“UBC is going to be about half as expensive as American (University),” Habashi said. “(Canadian students) don’t incur (nearly) the same amount of debt.”

Student debt has recently been skyrocketing as state governments slash funding for public universities.

However, California is offering hope for its students.

Although students would pay In the California state legislature, $20,000 under AB 181, the Assemblymember Dan Logue (R legislation effectively reduces – Marysville) has introduced the The best tuition for some of the top colleges Affordable College Act, also known in the nation. as Assembly Bill 51,a two-part bill way to avoid Furthermore, the Affordable designed to make college affordable student debt is College Act seeks to promote for everyone. student achievement in the Assembly Bill 51 integrates both a scholarships. sciences.

California Community College and High school students interested in California State University education – Moyez Hirani, science, technology, engineering, by offering the low cost of attending 2011 GBHS or math (STEM) degrees will a community college while providing be able to take more advanced the rigor of a CSU school. alumnus science classes at community According to AB 51’s text, students colleges, which would reduce the will earn a bachelors degree for a total number of classes they would take cost of $10,000. If passed, the bill would establish a pilot program to test out the model. at a CSU or UC school.

For GBHS junior Amir Karamlou, the Affordable Students participating in the program would not be constrained by a cap on the number of college College Act offers a great opportunity to have a rigorous units they can obtain through passing AP exams. STEM curriculum while not paying much for college.

“I want to study physics,” Karamlou said. “I’m Thus, undergraduates would not be stuck learning planning to get as much scholarship money as I possibly rudimentary subjects.

Assembly Bill 181 is very similar to AB 51, the only could.”

Karamlou hopes to attend the Massachusetts Institute difference being AB 181 utilizes the University of of Technology, but rising tuition costs have caused him California schools instead of CSU schools.

to look at local schools.

“I’m considering some state schools (because of tuition),” Karamlou said.

However, the Affordable College Act has still needs to be passed in the state legislature. In the meantime, undergraduates are looking for other methods to pay for college.

Moyez Hirani, a 2011 GBHS graduate, is currently enrolled at UC Davis. Hirani has found a couple of ways to fund his education. “(I’m) paying for college through a combination of scholarships, student loans and supplementary income from my business,” Hirani said. “The best way to avoid student debt is scholarships.”

Hirani believes all students should look at scholarships to reduce debt.

“There are hundreds out there for so many different things, just apply for as many as you can,” Hirani said.

Habashi has been searching for scholarships so he can stay in the United States, but Canadian schools still remain the cheaper alternative.

“It’s going to be sad possibly leaving the state and country I love,” Habashi said. “If the UCs and private schools can’t compete financially, I’m going to take my mind elsewhere.”

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College freshmen receive credit for AP, IB exams Bureaucratic process proves variable and confusing, yet provides considerable benefits to students

BY MEREDITH DECHERT mdechert.gazette@gmail.com

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

AP and IB exams taken in high school often translate to credits for college students, reducing the number of classes required to graduate. Accepted scores vary from college to college, however.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes offer a challenge to high school students and an increase in the chances of admission to high-ranking universities.

But they also offer a benefit that extends beyond graduation and admissions – college credit.

Colleges across the United States award class credits to incoming freshmen for scores on AP or IB tests that satisfy the college’s score requirements for the exam.

These credits may be applied toward general education to waive course requirements, reduce the cost of a student’s course load and enable the student to graduate at an earlier date.

“I got 63 (quarter) units, because I got nine units per class,” said Michaela Ryder, a GBHS graduate and freshman at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “I got more (credit than I expected). I only need 180 units to graduate.”

Ryder completed seven AP courses at GBHS and passed each exam with a 3 or 4, scores that satisfied the requirements at Cal Poly for credit.

Thanks to her AP results, she was exempt from courses that would have otherwise been required.

“I got all my free electives filled, most of my histories, econ and one of my English classes,” Ryder said.

Ryder said she is pleased with the advantages of entering college with a substantial amount of credit.

“It’s really nice – it’s allowing me to double-minor in (economics) and Industrial Technology,” she said. “It got me out of some of the classes that a lot of people talk about hating, like the econ class here.”

Ryder also found the transfer process simple and easy.

“You just had to fill out a form that the AP (proctors) gave you when you took the test in March,” she said.

At many colleges, some limitations apply to the AP and IB test score credits able to be counted toward a student’s major. Students may receive more or less majorrelated credit depending on their major.

“I get to use all of my credits, because for my major you get a significant amount,” said Ryder, who is a business administration major with a concentration in marketing.

“I talked to people who don’t get as much credit for them, like if you’re an engineering major. I don’t know as many AP classes that go toward an engineering major.”

In the University of California system, some credits may be applied toward “breadth requirements,” also known as general education, but may not be applied toward “subject credit,” classes needed for a major.

Karina is a current University of California at Irvine student who works UC Irvine admissions office.

She wouldn’t give her last name.

“If you’re a humanities major, you’re required to take a foreign language, so you can’t test out of your foreign language by taking an AP test,” Karina said. “You need to take it at the end of the day. But if you’re any other major, and you’re not required to take a foreign language, then you can test out using your AP test.”

Score requirements for particular exams and the nuances of accreditation vary from college to college across the country. Differences exist even between UC campuses.

“The number of units that we offer for each (AP) test score is consistent across the system, but campuses use the test results to meet different graduation requirements,” University of California media specialist Brooke Converse said in an email interview.

UC awards either four or eight quarter units for each passing AP test score of a 3 or above, according to the UC admissions website, but different AP scores result in different types of course credit across the different campuses in the UC system.

“Depending on the campus, (a score of) 3, 4, or 5 (on a particular AP test) might satisfy different degree requirements,” Converse said.

The number of units received for an AP test and the specific type of credit received at each UC campus for a 3, 4, or 5 on that exam is viewable on the UC admissions website.

Many colleges nationwide provide similar information online.

The UC webpage dedicated to IB credit explains IB accreditation policy less explicitly.

The ambiguity surrounding credit transfer for the IB diploma and IB exams may account for the difficulty some GBHS students have experienced in transferring IB credit.

Amrit Narwan, a GBHS graduate, IB diploma recipient and freshman at UC San Diego, has not been able to transfer her IB test credit.

“I got AP credits. I didn’t get IB credits,” said Narwan, who also took several AP tests and community college courses.

Narwan was frustrated that the UCs do not grant credit for Standard Level IB classes – only Higher

Seniors share second-semester stress Students deal with senioritis amidst challenging classes

BY NICK ONTIVEROS

nontiveros.gazette@gmail.com

As Granite Bay High School senior Tiffany Alunan prepares to receive acceptance letters from universities, she’s fighting an ongoing battle with senioritis.

“I’ve definitely been trying to procrastinate less,” Alunan said. “I’ve been very mindful of not overwhelming myself with my class schedule or with ... speech and debate competitions.”

Alunan is enrolled in a wide variety of difficult classes, ranging

from laboratory sciences to music. “(This year,) I’m taking IB Chemistry, IB Biology, the AP Government (AP econ block), AP English Literature, Honors Spanish (Four), Speech and Debate, and Chamber Choir,” Alunan said. “With all the AP and IB classes that I’ve taken in high school, I’ll be able to get some college credit.”

Trying to manage her time between academics and extracurricular activities, Alunan is not the only GBHS senior who still feels the pressure to perform well in the classroom despite submitted college applications.

Michael Tom, a GBHS senior, remains optimistic about his grades even with his rigorous AP curriculum.

“I’m not really concerned about

grades for any particular (class),” said Tom, who is taking a schedule similar to Alunan’s, chock full of honors and AP classes.

Instead of focusing on his school work, Tom hopes to promote the Future Business Leaders of America club during the rest of his senior year.

“This year I want to help make the GBHS FBLA chapter top tier in the state,” Tom said.

Although Tom can devote much of his time toward FBLA, International Baccalaureate students must finish additional graduation requirements to earn their IB Diploma.

Seniors have to complete not only their Extended Essay, a 4,000 word research paper, but also their Creative, Action, and Service hours, which include 150 hours of artistic,

athletic and charitable activities.

“I have to keep my grades up (and) finish my Extended Essay very soon to get the IB diploma,” IB student Sydney Stansberry said. “(I transferred to) to Granite Bay (High) because of the IB program.”

Stansberry has been accepted early decision to Dartmouth College.

She also said her acceptance helps her combat senioritis since her acceptance could be revoked due to poor academic standing.

Some GBHS seniors are not planning to attend four-year universities immediately after high school.

Instead, the military offers different career opportunities.

“I’ve enlisted into the Air Force (...) as an Air Traffic Controller,” senior Alex Ware said. “As far as the Air Force is concerned, all you re-

ally need in terms of formal education is a high school diploma.”

Even though the Air Force does not put a tremendous emphasis on AP classes, Ware still decided to take AP courses to be ready for future Air Force training.

“Every class I’m taking is difficult to varying degrees,” Ware said.

“I’m willing to chalk that up to my deteriorating motivation.”

Luckily, Ware did well on the ASVAB, an aptitude test that determines career options for people entering the military. His success reflects the tough classes Ware took during his first three years of high school.

“I scored so high on the ASVAB that the (Air Force) let me choose any job I want,” Ware said. “I would have to fail to graduate to get

Level classes – although SL courses are considered to be of the same difficulty as AP classes.

“It was annoying,” Narwan said.

In addition to rejecting SL course tests for credit, HL course transfer credit is more complicated than it is for AP credit.

Generally, UCs accept a score of 5, 6 or 7 on IB HL tests for credit, but there are often complicating details in the analysis of IB courses.

“As far as I know, there aren’t two UCs that do the same thing for acknowledgement of IB,” said Duane Blomquist, GBHS math teacher and the IB program coordinator. “Now, they will be consistent with AP, but IB – too new.”

Blomquist said East Coast colleges, in his experience, seem to have a greater level of understanding of the IB program.

“It’s easier (for them) just because (of) experience and tradition,” Blomquist said. “They know IB like we know AP. You talk about East Coast whatever, and there’s an answer. There’re answers to how they interpret IB, there’s a document for how they interpret IB. West Coast – it’s still a moving discussion.”

Some colleges on the West Coast are surprisingly liberal in their acceptance of both SL and HL IB courses for credit.

“State universities up and down, not just California – Oregon and Washington – are giving credit for SLs if you get a 3 on the test, so it’s just weird,” Blomquist said.

The advantages of college credit awarded for AP or IB exams may influence a student’s choice when deciding which college to attend.

Potential cost reduction plays a role in decision-making for many high school graduates.

GBHS senior and IB diploma candidate Chloe Pan has applied to a few colleges, including at least one Ivy League institution.

“At this point with the economy the way it is, I feel like even if I got into the Ivy League school, I don’t know if I would even go because of the price of the tuition,” Pan said. “So if I was able to get a class waived off, then I guess it would be more beneficial.”

In some cases, the amount and form of credit a student may receive for his or her AP or IB test scores at a college may be the deciding factor in the decision.

As Blomquist said: “A kid could actually choose a college (by considering) – ‘Well, they’re acknowledging what I’m doing better, so I’m going to go to that college.’”

Tiffany Alunan GBHS senior said that despite her heavy academic schedule, she still finds time to enjoy her extracurriculars. disqualified.”

While GBHS seniors are no exception when it comes to senioritis, many are taking difficult schedules and participating in extracurricular activities. As Alunan finishes her last year of high school strong, she expects her hard work throughout high school will pay off with acceptances from the University of California schools.

“I’m the type of person who always has to be busy,” Alunan said.

“This year I’m not trying to create any (...) unnecessary stress.”

University hopefuls describe their early decision experiences International Baccalaureate students accepted, deferred and rejected at prestigious colleges

BY GOKUL ASOKAN

gasokan.gazette@gmail.com

Dartmouth College began sending out emails to its early decision applicants in early December, and Granite Bay High senior Sydney Stansberry couldn’t wait.

Months later, Sydney still has strong memories of the day. “I remember the day perfectly,” Stansberry said.

“Oh, it was ridiculous, it was scary,” Stansberry said.

“I came here and I was crying, I came to school crying, (because) I was just nervous about the early decision.”

Sydney was not alone in her stress. Although Dartmouth was one of the first colleges to release early admissions decisions, throughout December and January Granite Bay students continued to receive emails from various colleges about early decisions.

Hammad Bashir, captain of the robotics team, sent in his early application for the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, or MIT, on Oct. 31. He received his admissions decision on Dec. 15.

“It was a Saturday, and the results came out 9 o’clock our time,” Hammad said. “I woke up at 9 and refreshed the page, because it was already up on my computer from the night before.”

Unfortunately, the verdict was that MIT was unable to offer him admission, he said.

Hammad was disappointed. However, even in the beginning, he knew the process was always somewhat of a crapshoot. “(I was) OK, I kind of saw it coming,” he said.

Many of these schools are highly prestigious, and boast extremely low acceptance rates – Dartmouth College’s acceptance rate is 9.8 percent, and MIT’s acceptance rate is even lower, at 8.9 percent. As such, early applicants often know that their chances of success are slim, and refer to these as their “dream schools.” For the vast majority, rejection is the reality.

Felix von Wendorff, an IB student and one of the two presidents of the Future Business Leaders of America club, was neither accepted nor rejected, but instead deferred by his first-choice school, Princeton University.

For Felix, deferral meant a second chance at admission to a highly selective Ivy League institution.

“Deferral means that Princeton University wants to look at my application again, for the regular decision pool,” Felix said. “To be honest, I’m really surprised that I was deferred. I expected to be flat-out rejected.”

Princeton recently reinstated its Early Action program last year, and Felix was sure to take advantage of this new opportunity.

“I felt I had a good application, but I knew it was a long shot. I was preparing to be rejected, so this was a good turn of events.”

The deferment does have its drawbacks, Felix said. “(The wait) makes it a little more stressful for me, knowing that I could still get into my number-one school and that I don’t have my plans laid out yet,” he said.

Felix said the early application process adds a significant boost to his chance of being admitted. Last year, Princeton’s overall admissions rate was a mere 7.9 percent. For those applying early, however, that figure jumps to 18.3 percent, with 697 admissions out of 3,810 applicants.

“For Princeton, applying early (over) doubled my chance of getting in,” he said.

In the mean time, Felix has lined up a battery of alternative colleges in case he isn’t admitted to Princeton.

“I’m applying to (the University of California at) Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and some schools in Germany,” Felix said. As a German citizen and fluent speaker, Felix still has the option to go to back to Germany.

“I’m looking at the University of Kiel and a few others,” Felix said.

For Stansberry, her Dartmouth early-admission day was filled with dread as she thought she would be rejected.

“I went home, and I got to my driveway, and I just burst out in tears,” Stansberry said.

“My dad said, ‘Oh don’t look at it until you get home,’ … so (when) I walked in the door crying, my dad thought I looked at it and had (been) rejected.”

In fact, the exact opposite had happened.

“You (log into the portal) and you see that ‘congratulations,’ ” Stansberry said. “My dad and I fell out on the floor, we were so excited.”

Friday, February 15, 2013

News A7

w The Granite Bay Gazette

ROBOTICS: A winning machine needs programming, design, mechanics

Continued from page A3 “A rough prototype might take one or two days (to design) – we try to prototype as close to what we’ll actually build (and) dial in all of the small variations,” Bashir said. “In comparison, an entire robot might take three or four weeks to (design) together, when the prototype might take one week (total), but the prototype is much less compact.”

The compact, concise final robot comes from the diligence of the students and their mentors.

While students learn many of their skills from their peers and through experience, their mentors prove to be extremely helpful, especially at machining metal parts for the mechanical team, which makes 40-50 parts a year.

“We deal with thousandths of inches of polymers,” Bashir said, “meaning when we cut a part we cut it to .001 of an inch and if it’s off … that messes our robot up. We deal with very extreme details.”

Many of these details are often overlooked by outsiders, according to the robotics team.

“When people see the robot, they’ll see the general functionality but they don’t recognize all of the geometry and calculations that have gone into it,” Bashir said.

“Every single angle is correct, every single dimension is correct (and) the motors are spinning at the correct

RPM.” One little mistake can mean a catastrophic error, added senior Mitchell Moffat.

“Last year we had an axel we were working on, and the dimensions were a little bit off, so it started breaking during the competition,” he said.

To prevent unforeseen breakage, the team uses computer-automated designs.

“We design everything on the computer in (Solid Works),” Bashir said. “Every detail is thought about beforehand.”

The team starts out with a rough design, adding details until the robot will successfully be able to pick up and launch a Frisbee.

“A lot of thought goes into the designing process because it’s imperative to get it right the first time,” said sophomore Sona Jeswani, a member of the mechanical team. “It’s really hard to keep on going back and changing your designs.”

The programming team has a different approach; they usually try, fail and then try a different strategy.

“Our biggest challenge it getting whatever we write to work,” senior programmer Vamsi Chekuri said.

“If you get it right the first time, it’s an act of God, because that doesn’t happen. It takes continuous testing and multiple (attempts) and multiple errors and multiple designs.”

Programming is one-third planning, writing down

what the robot needs to do, one-third typing the code into the computer, and one-third debugging and making sure everything works, senior programmer Chandler Brown said.

For this challenge, the programming team is focusing on the first 30 seconds of the challenge when the robot has to operate without any instruction.

The programming team’s problem lies in the specific way the robot must pick up a Frisbee, as the challenge rules do not allow robots to pick up multiple Frisbees at a time.

“I’m working on trying to get the robot to drive straight and take an angle and then go back at it all by itself (to pick up Frisbees),” Brown said.

Jacob Rabishaw, a GBHS sophomore programmer, suggests looking at any programming-related problems like a flowchart – one part leading to another.

If this fails, GBHS sophomore programmer Josh Hazeghazam looks to the internet or experienced mentors for help.

The electrical engineering team does the same thing, with the help of their mentor Cliff Dover, who works at Intel.

Through this, the electrical team gives the robot the power to carry out the actions the computer, or human controller, wants it to do.

“We’ll have gyros, we’ll have coders, accelerometers, many different sensors and (the team will) have to

choose how to use them and then how to rely on the interface,” Dover said.

The electrical engineering team also deals with the mandated emergency shut-off switches.

“When my son was doing (robotics), we had a robot go screaming across the field, chasing people off of the field, and then smash,” Dover said.

Safety is of the utmost importance to the electrical team, and an electrical team failure cannot be easily resolved.

“Our job is to make sure the magic smoke stays inside the robot,” Dover joked. “I’ve tried to put the smoke back in, but it’s never worked.

Regardless, the electrical engineering team believes its failures are the most interesting.

“The mechanical team failures are easy to see because things get crushed,” Dover said. “(Our failures get) sparks and smoke. When we fail, you know.”

Not that the robotics team has had many failures.

Most of its members learn many valuable skills which transfer over into their post-high school lives.

Most go into engineering fields, and one robotics alumnus is an assistant researcher at Rice University.

“I like to see how far we’ve come,” Jeswani said. “I remember at the very beginning we didn’t have any designs or anything, and now we’ve progressed forward… I just like to see us moving forward.”

SHAMING: Judgment stems from other women more than men Continued from page A2

Student model poses in a non-traditional outfit.

Gazette photo /cleora Reber

HONORS: Class title doesn’t affect college admissions, McGuire says Continued from page A2

of the President requesting the portal be temporarily re-opened, however the answer was “no.” UCLA even contacted the Office of the President on behalf of GBHS; however the answer was still a “no.”

Several college admission counselors and advisers were also contacted to determine if this issue would be a concern for GBHS students applying to their schools. Only the UCs identified it as potentially problematic.

McGuire now had a choice to make, either leave the class title as “honors” or change it back to CP. “I can’t leave the title on the transcript that might not get recognized by a UC college admissions officer as not meeting 10th grade credit,” McGuire said. “That is a bigger risk that would have a negative impact.”

Therefore, the final decision was to change the title on the transcript back to CP English 10, so the UCs will validate the course. In addition, the school decided to add a notation on the transcript that refers to the difference in rigor for this particular course.

While the class has now reverted back to the original title, many students feel that they are being penalized, doing more work and being graded more rigorously than a regular CP class and not being acknowledged for it.

Sophomore Kat McGrail believes that because she is taking a more challenging class, English 10 teachers should therefore modify their grading to fit the students’ extra efforts.

“I do believe we should get credit for taking the harder class, and if (the teachers) don’t change their grading policy to meet their student’s needs, then I will probably be worried that it will affect us more for getting into good colleges,” McGrail commented.

“I know kids who get B’s in this class, and a B in an honors class looks pretty good for colleges,” McGrail said. “But if you get a B in a CP class, (the colleges) will think you aren’t as smart and motivated to push yourself.”

McGuire however disagrees and believes that the title switch has no impact as far as getting into colleges.

“For 13 years, kids have gone to Berkeley,

actually asking to be insulted or even raped,” Vargas said.

This theory was a common excuse for the Junior Nikki Chang agrees that slut-shaming is mistreatment of women in the past. Unfortuonly an issue for women, and that it is a form of nately, many still believe the orthodox teaching judgment based on nothing but a girl’s personal of women being compellers who lure men into choice that doesn’t display her character. their trap that is between their legs, and then place “There definitely is a double-standard,” Chang blame on them. said.

“It’s an old-school, traditional concept,” Wachs “Boys are encouraged to have girlfriends and said, “I think it’s an outdated paradigm.” really spread themselves But although these ideas come around, whereas girls are from the minds of older people, encouraged to be singular many youths still absorb them and Even if it’s a and not to engage in sexual frequently criticize fellow high activities.” school students over their personal ‘joke’, it’s not Chang also said the judgsex life. ever funny when The criticism often continues to inments come not only from the traditional ideas engraved you’re the one crease, and girls become convinced into people’s minds, but also by others that perhaps they truly are feeling fat and worthless. from personal insecurities of the criticizer.

“I think a lot of people, especially ugly.

“I think a lot of it can be in high school, don’t realize how jealousy or some kind of much of an issue it is,” Chang said.

– Julia, a “body unhappiness in the shamer “Some people may not take it as basher” themselves,” Chang said. seriously, but other people can really “But as for the ‘asking for it’ take it to the core.” concept, I think that mainly “Whether someone is or isn’t sexcomes from sexism.” ually active, that says nothing about The idea that a woman’s outfit gives a rapist rea- their personal character,” Vargas said. “It’s their son to be provoked, or that because of her outfit business and it doesn’t define them as a person.” she’s “asking for it,” has become a heated debate Most frequently, it is women who slut-shame in media and politics recently. other women. This judgment creates a vicious Those who slut-shame often also tend to believe cycle that leads to men believing it’s acceptable to that a woman should anticipate harassment if she do the same, resulting in constant unfair judgis dressed skimpily in public, particularly on a ments coming from both genders. date.

“Women need to stop judging each other so “Some people think it’s ‘self-deserving’ if you harshly,” Wachs said. “We’re our own worst endress a provocative way and get insulted for it emies, and we need to allow other women to express – but I disagree with that, because no one’s ever themselves.”

One of those parents was Ramona Blain, who said some students are not receiving the grades they deserve because of the more rigorous curriculum.

“It’s just that it’s a competitive world out there with college, and anything you can do to UCLA etcetera, and not a single one of those have a boost for yourself as a student, it would students had Honors English 10 on their tran- definitely help,” Blain said. script,” McGuire said. “Some of those kids got Blain is advocating for all students in trying B’s in CP English 10 with AP European Histo- to assure this issue is adequately addressed. ry and, probably, some of them even got C’s.”

“I don’t know if teachers should grade easier, McGuire has talked to the English teachers but they need to make a difference,” Blain said. considering differentiating their grading; how- “So still teach (the students) and show them ever, the teachers were not unanimous on this what they are doing wrong in their English and idea. how they can improve, but I think they should “I support my teachers in this decision when have a little more leniency in their grades.” it comes to their grading practices, we are not Adam McLearan, one of the teachers in the trying to give grades that are undeserved,” Mc- AP Euro/English 10 block, along with Anthony Guire said. “This is about Davis, understands the preparing students for colconcern student and parlege which is what we are ents over this issue. doing for them in this class.”

“They signed up for a For 13 years, They also considered a course and they thought grade bump based on the kids have gone to that they were going to score of the AP European have an H at the end of it, Berkeley, UCLA, History exam that will be which universities would administered in May, with etcetera, and not look more favorably on the AP score being the deterthan a CP,” McLearan a single one of minant of their final grade. stated. “Although I don’t AP exams are scored on a those students think it will affect the stupoint system from 1 to 5, dent as much as they think had Honors Engwith 5 being the best posit will.” lish 10 on their sible score.

McLearan acknowledges “The teachers’ response that grading easier would transcript. was sure, but as long as we be “a very slippery slope.

– Mike McGuire, GBHS can lower grades if they “I don’t foresee that principal don’t get a four or higher,” happening with the conMcGuire said.

“So the versations I have had,” he teachers were willing to be added. completely fair with that opMcLearan affirms that tion, but it’s not in the students’ best interest.” just the name on the course has changed, but When parents were notified of this issue at the content and theory of the course remain the the end of last year, McGuire received several same, which he sees as the ultimate merit of emails and met with a few of the concerned the class. parents. Through these communications, Mc“At the end of the day, a student that takes Guire identified a few common themes. this honors course is going to be much more One of the themes was that if parents would prepared for college,” McLearan said. have known the class wouldn’t have the label Sophomore Annina Hanlon is another stuof honors, they would have put their children dent who is somewhat disappointed that her in regular CP English, where they would have English class now doesn’t have the title of gotten a better grade.

“Honors,” but she is able to put it all into perAll of these concerns and issues were ad- spective. dressed at an open meeting at GBHS on Jan. “I don’t think I should be worried about 16, when more than 50 parents came to listen it because it’s just the title, it’s just a name,” to McGuire explain how and why the title had Hanlon said, “it’s not going to affect me or my to be changed. grade.”

IMAGE: Fixation on looks worsened by Web

Continued from page A2

and internal struggles with false laughter and subtly deprecating remarks, especially in groups of friends.

This, being as contagious as it is, creates a vicious cycle in which the people who were supposed to be supporters begin to reinforce the worst of how someone feels about themself.

“Lately I feel like it’s all taken too lightly,” Julia said. “Even if it’s a ‘joke’ it’s not ever funny when you’re the one feeling fat and ugly.”

Photo-based sites like Instagram are a feeding ground for girls in need of reassuring, said 17-yearold Christina. They post pictures of themselves with joking captions like “Ha, I look gross”, and wait for the wave of comforting comments to arrive from their friends.

Even though this sort of obsession seems unhelpful, it’s not completely negative. There may be hidden pieces of information in these outwardly harmless comments.

“When they body bash, most teenage girls are speaking to how they feel on the inside,” said Tony Paulson, Ph.D and founder of Summit Eating Disorders & Outreach Program. “They have such little control over how they feel internally that they externalize that and try to control how they feel by controlling their bodies.”

Experts say it is possible to kick your body bashing ways and get to the root of the problem through mindful activities such as yoga or meditation.

A peer-led, national body image improvement program called Reflections suggests enacting a fattalk-free day and encouraging people to stop trashing their bodies.

“Stand in front of a mirror and

practice saying only positive things about yourself,” said Carolyn Becker, Ph.D and founder of Reflections. Also, instead of focusing solely on how your body looks, notice all of the incredible things it does for you every day.

Paulson believes that the key is to promote understanding earlier in grade schools, with lessons about healthy eating, teaching girls positive methods of increasing selfesteem and reinforcement through school projects about body image.

“I think part of it is just bringing awareness to it,” Patterson said.

Telling someone ‘stop doing this’ isn’t the solution. The solution is what you can do instead.”

If girls know that there are different, more fulfilling ways of talking about their insecurities, perhaps they will turn to those in place of body bashing or, eventually, more dangerous activities.

“I think many people are so unaware of the effects that the media and diet industry have on individuals that they automatically assume that body bashing is normal,” Dana said. “Talking about something as life-threatening as an eating disorder is uncomfortable for most people, so they tend to avoid it.”

Now finishing her freshman year of college, Dana has recovered from her eating disorder through support from her family and therapy, where she has learned to let go of her body image issues and make a conscious effort not to engage in body talk.

“There are more important things than weight, like excelling in school and maintaining a healthy frame of mind,” Dana said. “The only way to stop the body talk is to promote awareness of the negative impacts body bashing can have on someone’s life.”

A8 News

Friday, February 15, 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

ONLINE: Diploma candidates walled in by IB Continued from page A4

tives during his junior and senior years, all of which he had to take during fourth period.

IB students planning on acquiring an IB diploma are required to take six courses from six different disciplines, which holistically correlate to the “IB Hexagon” of the diploma program.

Four of these six subjects are blocked over a student’s first and second periods, all of which span the course of two years – a student’s junior and senior years.

The remaining two subjects – mathematics and foreign language – are taken separately during a student’s third period, both junior and senior year.

Thus, if a student wishes to fulfill the IB diploma requirements, he or she is only left with fourth period to take a class of his or her choice, such as a supplementary AP course or VAPA elective.

Because of graduation requirements, Khor needed to take a government and economics course as one of his non-IB “electives.” But Khor is choir president, and he also needed to take GBHS’s choir class – a major schedule conflict.

So in order to free up his fourthperiod slot during his senior year, Khor sought out community college courses to fulfill his government and economics credits for graduation.

When Khor signed up for classes, however, he was waitlisted as number 42 for political science at Sierra College and number 26 for economics at Folsom Lake College.

After realizing the chance of being enrolled in local community college courses would be slim, Khor decided to broaden his search to other schools in California.

His search began with Mission College in Santa Clara, which –

DIET: Food options can be ‘limited’ for some Continued from page A4 disease known as celiac disease has been on the rise.

Celiac is an inherited autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive process of the small intestine. When a person who has Celiac disease consumes gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, the individual’s immune system responds by attacking the small intestine.

This disease affects more than three million people in the United States, according to the University of Chicago Disease Center. Many people on campus are among those three million.

Katie Davidson, GBHS junior, has a more mild form of celiac disease as well as being allergic to dairy and eggs. She has to deal with carefully selecting foods each day to bring to school.

although it had class openings – would require Khor to make a two- hour drive to the college for final examinations.

It was then when he changed course in order to find a viable online education program.

“I ended up going to Foothills College, which is about three hours away,” Khor said. “I only had to drive over there once for registration purposes, and the rest was online. I ended up taking both political science and economics through their online program, and it was really easy and worked out great.”

Enrolling in an exclusively online class is becoming a popular option for students met with schedule or transportation conflicts, especially for students who enjoy working at their own pace.

Sammy Goldberg, also a senior IB diploma candidate, took government and economics through the K-12 online education proBre Bolton She suffers from lactose intolerance, which makes finding a lunch at school a bit more difficult.

“It would be awesome (if the school could cater to my needs) but I doubt that it will happen,” Davidson said.

While the district does not cater specifically to Davidson’s needs, it does recognize that students have these allergies. The district’s nutrition services department recognize that its analysis software should not be used to provide menu planning for a child with a medical condition or food allergy.

The RJUHSD nutrition services department recognizes that it cannot offer food that will appeal to the individual need of the student, because it has to appeal to the entire student body.

Bre Bolton, a junior who is lactose intolerant, still finds a way to enjoy food that the cafeteria has to offer.

“They make pills that you can take that help you digest lactose,

which is the thing I have difficulty digesting,” Bolton said.

Bolton takes her lactose digesting pills, but in general she said she tends to avoid foods that her stomach reacts poorly to.

“The food here is limited.”

Bolton said. “A particular problem is that they only offer milk with your meal here and they make you pay for water.”

This policy, while unfair to those with lactose intolerance, is simply how the district follows the USDA Dietary Guidelines.

“Adding more options for people with preferences would be a good idea,” Meyers said. “It would probably bring in more money for the schools if more people bought food.”

located in the classroom every day, while 54 percent could bring computers into the classroom, according to the California Department of Education. This change has made the ratio of students to computers in the classroom 5.3 to 1 in California.

“I think that we are on the verge of an evolution in education with the use of technology and the new Common Core standards,” Farmer said.

Tools like these are causing a shift in the way courses are taught, a shift that Farmer hopes will continue.

The Common Core standards, which Farmer says will be more application-based, will soon replace California’s STAR tests and intends to make what students learn more relevant.

GBHS has offered peer tutors of all subjects who stay after school in the Learning Center every Tuesday and Thursday to help

students.

Because the district can only afford to pay a few tutors, several tutors, like freshman tutor Gauree Shah, offer their services – in her case, tutoring up to the calculus level – for free.

“If (students) can’t afford to get a personal tutor, then the school has tutors like us that can help them with math when they really need it,” Shah said.

Shah has several pupils who return regularly for her help with math, and while she looks forward to the day where she will be paid by the district for her services, Shah said she finds her work fulfilling.

“If (you work with) someone who comes back regularly, and you get to work with them for a whole semester, by the end of the semester they’ll tell you, ‘Oh, I got an A on this, or I did amazing on my homework!’ You feel (that you’ve) made a difference,” she said. “It’s awesome.”

HELP: Tutors, websites prove useful Continued from page A5 websites like Sparknotes.

Teachers also have profited from

time-saving tools on the Internet.

English teachers use TurnItIn, a website that takes submitted essays and checks for plagiarism.

Homework for physics classes is assigned and graded with the click of a button, all online.

Resources like Blackboard let teachers share website links, like interesting online biology labs, with their students, along with documents and homework.

With the abundance of SmartBoards, document viewing cameras called Elmos, and LCD projectors at GBHS, it’s been easier than ever for teachers to change the way their courses are taught.

Despite budget concerns, it seems many of these gadgets are out benefiting students in California. In 2009, 97 percent of teachers had one or more computers

gram in order to free up his fourth period for IB Film.

Goldberg, however, started his search with online classes and was met with minimal complications in the enrollment process.

With K-12, there was no limit on class size, so Goldberg was able to start the class as soon as he was registered.

“It was more convenient to take an online class over the summer – I had easy computer access; I had less access to transportation,” Goldberg said. “Plus, the approval process is quick since K-12 easily meshes with Granite Bay High School by default.”

As of this year, IB juniors vying for the diploma are permitted to take the government and economics course during their junior year, potentially freeing up their senior-year schedules for any desired electives.

Anna von Wendorff, a junior currently enrolled in GBHS’s IB

diploma program, worked closely with the school’s IB Coordinator Duane Blomquist in integrating IB Economics HL – a course the GBHS IB program is currently unable to offer – into her class schedule.

With the help of Blomquist, von Wendorff was able to register for the class via Pamoja Education, an Oxford-based education company specializing in online IB courses.

“I was really interested in majoring in economics when I first started the IB program,” von Wendorff said. “I hadn’t heard about the AP Economics block offered at our school, so that’s when I started looking to outside sources.”

Although GBHS does offer AP macroeconomics and AP microeconomics to accommodate any aspiring economics majors, the rigidity of the IB class schedule would have prevented von Wendorff from taking the class.

With only her fourth period slot

open – the period when AP economics teacher Karl Grubaugh teaches journalism – von Wendorff was unable to take the class.

After exploring her options, von Wendorff was eventually able to take IB Economics HL online as one of her six IB diploma courses.

“Thankfully, with the help of Blomquist, it all worked out,” von Wendorff said. “As of now, the only issue is figuring out how to transfer the class units to my transcript so that colleges will recognize the credits.”

In the end, although online classes are typically more convenient, GBHS counselor Tiffani Gieck still recommends taking community college courses for the college experience, if possible.

“Really, the nice thing about students taking courses outside of our school setting,” Gieck said, “is that it exposes them to a college campus and the experience that comes with it.”

SERVICE: Students donate time to hospitals, libraries Continued from page A5 Khor and the Knights of Hope raised more than $5,000 to help fund the bone marrow transplant for the pastor, whose cancer is now in remission.

Like Howard, witnessing another’s struggle and the efforts of the community to help has touched his sense of compassion.

“Actually knowing someone – it just hits close to home,” Khor said. “Just seeing that all these bad things can happen to one person, but then on the other side, seeing how the community reacts, and how the community all comes together to be able to help this one family in any way that they can.”

The happiness Khor has experienced helping others has even influenced his plans for the future. He is now planning on becoming a physician.

In addition to emotional growth, high school students can learn more practical skills from volunteering at organizations around the area.

“They can get everything from just basics like how to answer a phone to doing data entry to actually doing some entire project,” said Kathleen Mazzei, the manager of Roseville Arts, an art gallery that offers workshops for children and hosts events.

Roseville Arts offers students a flexible form of volunteering in which they can request activities at adaptable times. Other organizations, like the local

libraries, will accept any volunteers, but prefer more consistent participation.

Christian Moore, an employee at the Maidu Public Library, says the library is in need of volunteers and encourages high school students to sign up. “(Volunteers) will learn a lot of leadership skills, organizational skills, the Dewey Decimal system, filing, organizing, and working with others,” Moore said.

Kelly Fox, a junior at GBHS and an NCL member, is learning some of the skills she will need in a career as a doctor by volunteering once a week at the Sutter Hospital outpatient ward.

Fox does odd jobs like cleaning gurneys and pushing patients in wheelchairs, and provides friendly conversation to patients recovering from surgery.

“They have helped me learn to communicate better with people, because they’re strangers, and I’m able to hold conversations with them,” Fox said.

Having a consistent charitable activity on her high school transcript – boosting chances of college admission – is another of Fox’s motivations to volunteer.

Ultimately, however, it’s the service to others that Fox values most.

“I think it’s pretty important,” she said, “because it gives you something to do, and you’re giving back to your community.”

Friday, February 15, 2013

News A9

w The Granite Bay Gazette

RESPONSE: Tragedy of Sandy Hook prompts faculty to reconsider school safety Continued from page A1

Principal Mike McGuire has also been involved in these meetings months pregnant with her first that have shifted into overdrive since the Sandy Hook tragedy. child.

People involved on this commit“It’s still something that scares me to this day, so I can’t even tee are aware that GBHS has not imagine (being involved in Sandy undergone an emergency drill of Hook), as high a magnitude as it any kind in quite some time and that it is possible, with all the hirwas,” McKinney said.

After going through lockdown ing of new teachers, that many are experiences like this, McKinney not briefed on all emergency proresolved to rethink the way she cedures. “(The Safe Schools Commithandles school safety in her classroom. McKinney now provides tee meetings) are usually once a each of her new classes with an month, (but) because we’ve not emergency intruder plan at the be- had meetings for awhile, we’ve ginning of each semester. While got a lot of work to do,” McGuire said. “We’ve gother plan is often complacent, ten explained It’s that one type thinking that with a comewhat we would dic air, she is of event (like Sandy deal with (would serious about Hook) where you be something providing students with a come to realize, at like) a kid (pulling) a fire alarm. precautionary the end of the day, … As soon as plan in case of an intruder athow vulnerable we (Sandy Hook) happened, the tack. really are.

Safe Schools “My intruder team got togethplan is … giv– Mike McGuire, GBHS er.” en in a comical These commitway, but it’s principal tee meetings are also a way to comprised of not sort of engage the students into the idea that we only administration but also difwon’t go down without a fight,” ferent members of the staff as well as parents or students who are inMcKinney said.

However, McKinney recognizes terested. McNulty said he is strivher personal plan might not nec- ing to make it an integrated team essarily work best for every situ- from the community to come up ation, and she has eagerly been with a plan that takes all angles awaiting the opportunity to revise into account.

The first meeting of the comGBHS’s emergency plans to finalize a more unified crisis response. mittee was focused on reassign“Sandy Hook has catapulted ing spots on the crisis response us into a place where we have to team. Areas of this team include pay attention, and I think that’s Search and Rescue, which is led really great even though I wish it by school resource officer Joe wouldn’t have taken that to push Herrick and math department cous to that place,” McKinney said. ordinator Duane Blomquist. Other areas of this team include jobs like Medical/First Aid headed by Safety committee meeting The GBHS Safe Schools Com- school nurse Linda Warfield or mittee is currently holding meet- student liaison/student care lead ings at 7 a.m. every Tuesday that by school psychologist Shietel are led assistant principal Brian Chhana and counselor Christina McNulty. The focus of the meet- Cross.

These, plus a variety of different ings is to revise the crisis response binders which are supposed to be areas that would need to be taken found in every teacher’s class- care of in a crisis situation, were room and contain a detailed de- assigned to different members of scription of who is a part of the the GBHS staff, depending on crisis response team and what are their expertise.

“I think our No. 1 goal should be the procedures for a myriad of to … know and understand what specific crisis situations.

to do in case of a crisis,” McNulty said. “It may be as simple as getting everybody up to speed on all emergency procedures.

What McNulty plans to do through the next few meetings is to go over each emergency plan, which could include anything from a fire to an earthquake to a lockdown situation like Sandy Hook.

McGuire emphasizes that there are many things that can affect whether a school is safe or not, and the Safe Schools Committee has to deal with all of these things, not just the risk of an on-campus shooter. The committee also handles all other problems affecting overall school safety including substance abuse, bullying or simple structural malfunctions that could harm students on campus, like uneven sidewalks. However, McGuire acknowledges there is something different about preparing for a situation like Sandy Hook.

“With (every) other crisis we’re talking about … people can feel secure and we can manage it and know what to do and where to evacuate kids,” McGuire said.

“It’s that one type of event (like Sandy Hook) where you come to realize, at the end of the day, how vulnerable we really are.”

Something that struck much of the nation about Sandy Hook was how unexpected it was for something like that to happen in an area where crime rates are very low and most people had no reason not to feel safe and secure.

Even more unsettling is the fact that this school had above-average security measures where the school was locked up after 9:30 a.m. every day and visitors were admitted only after identification by a video monitor.

“That’s the safest school I’ve heard of in my lifetime, and what happened there is incomprehensible,” McGuire said.

Herrick, who is the Placer County Deputy Sheriff assigned to GBHS, is usually here five days a week from before school to the end of school. He has multiple duties, including a focus on staff and student safety, the investigation of any crimes that occur on campus and serving as a deterrent to pre-

vent criminal action from occurring in the first place.

Emergency procedures changing Herrick brings a law enforcement point of view to the Safe Schools Committee, and it would be his job, in case of on-campus danger, to stop that threat at all costs. In contrast to how law enforcement might have responded in the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, procedures in law enforcement have changed.

Before Columbine, the procedure would be to set up a perimeter around the situation and wait for back-up before responding, Herrick understands – and his department has added additional training for its deputies – that now, such as in the case of Sandy Hook, first responders would address the scene as soon as possible.

“I don’t have time to wait for other people to get here and back me up,” Herrick said. “That’s my job here; to go toward the shooting while everybody else is running away from the shooting.”

Because of recent public shootings, from Sandy Hook to the Aurora, Colo., movie theater massacre last summer, McKinney explained how the first response is to often load up on security procedures. Before Sandy Hook and Aurora, security measures seemed to be more of a hindrance to everyday life.

“I think we all have to work together as a community and try to do the best that we can to make this school a safe place but an operational educational institution as well and not … (feel) like a jail,” McKinney said.

McGuire pointed out other problems with full-blown security tactics like metal detectors in a school like GBHS with so many places that are not completely covered such as the entire back portion of the school site that leads to Feist Park. In order for metal detectors to have any effect, all students would need to pass through them via the front gate of the school – and that would be very difficult to regulate when more than half the population of the school is attempting to squeeze through that gate in an orderly fashion so they

get to class on time in the morning.

“That being said, it only takes some incidents for you to (say that it doesn’t matter) if it takes longer to get into school,” McGuire said.

“I hope we don’t get to that point, but I would totally understand if we were dealing with daily violence out in our community and a heavily armed student population … (but) that’s not the kind of community we are.”

her door in a lockdown situation.

McGuire is currently looking into different types of locks that would be safe, practical and affordable, and he is discussing these with Roseville Joint Union High School District Superintendent Tony Monetti.

“People drop their kids off and entrust them to us on a daily basis,” McKinney said. “We have to make sure that we can do everything we can to make them as safe as possible.”

New safety features considered Instead of things like metal Thinking the unthinkable detectors, McGuire, McNulty While Sandy Hook affected the and the rest of the people on the whole nation to varying degrees, School Safety Committee have for teachers who are also parents, a few key safety features they it offered an entirely different perwould like to implement to im- spective on how they think about prove overall safety. not only the safety of their own The additions to security that are children, but also the safety of the being discussed include adding teenagers in their classrooms. another cam“I think as a pus monitor teacher – you You’re fully aware in order to … take on a that as a teacher, have another protective role pair of eyes you’re the one who’s almost like a watching out parent,” McKgoing to have to be at all ends of inney said. the campus.

“You’re fully the strong person in The adminthat as a the situation if some- aware istration has teacher, you’re thing does happen, also been disthe one who’s cussing placgoing to have (and that’s) a very ing security to be the strong scary place to be cameras at person in the key entrancsituation if sometimes. es. something does The adminhappen, (and – Jill McKinney, social istration has that’s) a very psychology teacher recently purscary place to chased a golf be sometimes.” cart so campus monitors can more Both McKinney and McGuire easily respond to needs across the pointed out how heroic the teachentire GBHS campus. ers in Sandy Hook were in the Another problem that’s be- face of danger and how their reing addressed is that some of the sponses saved many lives. gates around GBHS are not being In the aftermath of a tragedy like locked properly because the cur- Sandy Hook, it leaves some sturent locks are an inconvenience dents wondering whether they can and are difficult to unlock and re- really feel safe at GBHS. lock when a staff member is enHowever, McGuire and McNultering or leaving the campus. Ad- ty are confident GBHS is one of ministration hopes to resolve this the safest schools in America. by having gates that automatically “There’s nothing you can do to lock upon when they are closed. stop mayhem if someone is fully A main concern of McGuire is intending to create it,” McGuire having doors in classrooms that said. “What you can do is prepare can be locked from the inside – in for your response to it, to minimost current classroom configu- mize its horrific impact on the rations at GBHS, a teacher would people you’re trying to protect – have to step outside to lock his or and that’s what I think about.”

A10 News

Friday, February 15, 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

FLU: Students desperate to catch up with schoolwork return to class too soon Continued from page A1 “Teachers have been trying to be vigilant in sending ill students to the health office so they can go home. These ill students are contagious to others.”

Year-round, the GBHS attendance office reports an average of 80 to 100 partial or total absences due to illness daily. During the three days surveyed by the Gazette, however, an average of 197 such absences were reported – twice the norm.

But such figures don’t factor in students who return to school the moment their fever resolves – but before they’re well.

“I think I have kids that are coming back too soon,” McKeen said.

“I don’t know if that’s a product of the 4x4 schedule, or the type of students we have at Granite Bay, (who) are high achievers, but I would say there’s a pressure to come back, even if they’re not feeling well yet.”

The GBHS official policy states that a student may return to class if

they’re fever-free, without medica- dents working in cohesive groups. tion, for a full 24 hours.

Tamara Givens advises one such But the CDC states that adults class – student government – and can spread the flu virus for five has had as many as 25 percent of days after they begin her class absent showing symptoms on any given day.

– meaning many “In my class, students are back in it’s not individual It kind of affects work, and so if school while they’re still contagious. gone, the whole class someone’s That’s especially someone else has when a lot of unfortunate this to pick up the year, when the compeople are sick. slack for what mon flu virus seems isn’t happening,” unusually debilitatshe said. “It kind – Tamara Givens, ing and long-lasting. of affects the Junior Michael whole class when student Gezi was absent for a lot of people government five days after conare sick.” teacher tracting the flu.

Absences affect “It sucked,” he the school as a said. “(It felt) lonwhole, as well. ger.”

According to principal Mike McHe said he returned to class when Guire, GBHS still receives funding he felt nearly well, but still felt a when students are out sick, as this little rushed. is an ‘excused’ absence. But the Such sentiments aren’t uncom- school still must shoulder other, mon, particularly in classes that as- hidden costs – like covering for sign lots of projects or rely on stu- teachers when they or their young

SCHEDULE: Poor turnout blamed for loss of magazine Continued from page A1

Granitebaytoday.org. He had high hopes of continuing to develop both the class and the website this spring.

Holmes had six teacher interns – all who had been editors of The Gazette or his sports journalism class in the fall – scheduled to assist him in teaching the class. They were going to continue to be involved in writing articles and doing other hands-on journalistic work, all while they teaching younger students in the Intro. to Journalism class the fundamentals.

“Now I have a third-period prep with six teacher interns and I teach English 10 first period,” said Holmes, who noted that his TIs are still doing work on the website.

According to Mattix, the magazine class needed to be combined with the Intro. to Journalism class because “(class sizes) were catastrophic in English 10.”

The administration tries to keep class sizes at an average of 36, but sophomore English classes were so over-populated that one teacher was scheduled to have 47 students.

The magazine class only had 16 students enrolled, and the Intro. to Journalism class had 35. Combining the two into one class wasn’t going to get the class to 50 students – not all students were able to be in the class when it changed to a third-period combo class – but according to Mattix, combining the two classes was “easier than moving other classes” in the school’s master schedule.

In other words, it was easier for Mattix

to blend two classes together than dramatically adjust the master schedule and try to rearrange other classes.

The master schedule can be found on a large board in Mattix’s office that documents the schedules of every teacher on campus.

Through extensive planning and mathematical structuring, the administration is able to form a year-long schedule that meets 85 percent of student and teacher schedule requests.

There are bigger problems that can arise within the master schedule, however, including students with “broken” schedules or a lack of the classes necessary to meet the University of California/California State University admission requirements.

Because of other issues with the master schedule, Mattix failed to notice the low number of students in the magazine class.

Still, the combination of the classes, and the switch for magazine students from fourth to third period, happened at the very last moment before the spring term started.

Some students who signed up to take the Intro. to Journalism class said the blended course isn’t meeting their expectations.

“I wanted to learn how to become a better writer,” junior Katie Thomas said. “I soon realized that it’s not what I was going to be learning.”

Thomas said the class is focused on developing the school magazine and that the writing the students have done so far is “practice writing.”

“It doesn’t end up (getting published) or going anywhere,” Thomas said. “Either we

children fall ill.

“No matter how great the (substitute teacher) is – and we always bring good ones into the school – there’s a little disruption to the continuity of learning,” McGuire said.

“And certainly, we have to pay (for them), so there is that cost.”

As media coverage of the flu increased, public demand for flu shots spiked. For a period in January, demand was so high that several places offering vaccines did, in fact, run out.

But of the six local pharmacies surveyed by the Gazette, four reported no supply problems, and one was still offering the high-dose flu shot for adults over 65.

The CDC and health professionals still recommend the flu shot for those who haven’t yet received it, and the earlier the better – people won’t have full immunity until two weeks after their shot. Flu season can continue as late as May. According to research by the California Department of Public Health, 90 percent of influenza samples Brent Mattix GBHS assistant principal said that the magazine class needed to be combined with the Intro. to Journalism class.

choose to be in the magazine or do practice writing.”

Dickson understands, to some extent, the frustrations students are experiencing. She’s frustrated too.

“I was disappointed,” Dickson said. “I thought I was going to have a magazine class in May.” Dickson said she “doesn’t think it matters” who teaches the course, and she is still teaching the “fundamentals.”

For his part, Holmes is also disappointed with how things have turned out, although he added that he didn’t want to in any way be critical of Dickson or her teaching skills – it’s just that he spent a semester planning to teach a specific course, and, a day before the start of the semester, that course was taken away from him.

“Mr. (Karl) Grubaugh, (the Gazette adviser who co-advises the granitebaytoday. org website) and I spent a lot of time trying to build this program,” Holmes said. “If you plug someone else in who hasn’t been a part of the building process, it’s not going to grow … the way you want it to.”

Dickson gets it – and she’s not happy about the entire situation either. But she’s trying to make the best of it.

“I mean, I feel bad that Holmes got yanked from (Intro. to Journalism),” Dickson said.

“But at the same time, it had to be one of us.”

taken for study matched the strain which the 2012-2013 vaccine provided protection from.

McGuire, McKeen and Gezi all said they had opted not to get the flu shot.

“It hasn’t been an issue for me, regardless of the strain, regardless of what’s going on,” McGuire said.

While he personally dislikes inoculation, he said, he sees the benefit for at-risk groups like small children and the elderly.

The CDC and Warfield both recommend standard sanitation procedures – washing hands frequently, not touching one’s face and avoiding sick people and crowded areas.

These precautions in mind, McKeen said she wasn’t particularly concerned for her health.

“As a teacher, it’s just a possibility,” she said. “You’re in a classroom with 30 to 100 kids every single day, and you’re touching their papers and touching their desks.

I’m not any more nervous this year than I would be any other time.”

FAST FACTS Steps to avoid spreading the flu: wIf you get sick with flulike illness, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone. wPractice proper cough and sneeze etiquette. wWash your hands regularly. wAvoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. wClean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at home, work or school, especially when someone is ill.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

PROP 30: Local students respond to sales tax increase Continued from page A1

so much about where the money is going as where the money is coming from.

Tax increases have already taken place this fiscal year, with everyone bearing at least some of the burden of Prop. 30.

All Californians must now pay a 7.5 percent sales tax, up from the previous rate of 7.25 percent.

“My Chipotle burrito cost a little more,” GBHS senior Jake Peterson said. Other than these kinds of minor concerns, the small increase hasn’t raised many local grievances.

But the brunt of the new budget’s revenue will come from the highest-income earners in the state.

Individuals making $250,000$300,000 per year will see a marginal income tax increase of a full percentage point, from 9.3 percent to 10.3 percent. The $300,000-$500,000 range will increase by a full two percentage points, from 9.3 percent to 11.3 percent. Those making $1 million or more a year will see their marginal state income tax rates rise three percent, from 10.3 percent to 13.3 percent.

This is where the issues begin; even among students who will benefit from the new revenue, many do not agree with these new tax numbers.

Check out granitebaytoday.org!

“I don’t think they should have raised taxes on anyone, especially the rich,” GBHS senior Brian McCauley said.

The belief that the money should flow down from the top income brackets, commonly referred to as “trickle down economics,” isn’t something everyone agrees with at Granite Bay High School.

“I don’t think the revenue gained is worth all the taxes,” McCauley said. “They should have cut the spending from other programs that we don’t need, rather than tax us for their irresponsibility at managing money.”

Worries over future spending aren’t solely found on the right wing of the political scale and are not restricted to current budget numbers. Concerns about future actions regarding California’s sensitive economic system are also found on the more liberal side of the spectrum.

The Daily Democrat, a print and online newspaper in Woodland, described the new budget as “a window of opportunity, not a solution.”

How these future financial issues will be handled is still up for debate. Bipartisanship on these matters is expected to return to California, with both sides battling it out to return to the stable and prosperous California many remember.

Voices

Granite Bay Gazette

A Section

Friday w February 15, 2013

GAZETTE The Granite Bay

GRANITE BAY HIGH SCHOOL 1 GRIZZLY WAY GRANITE BAY, CA 95746

Editors-in-Chief: Nicole Bales Lena Eyen Haley Massara Chris Pei

The destructive lure of technology Commentary

News Editors: Sydney Kahmann Grace Moore Voices Editors: Chase Evans Kiana Okhovat Lifestyle Editors: Meghan Carlsen Kristin Taylor Madison Touloukian Green Screen Editors: Tamren Johnk Hayley McAvoy Jonah Poczobutt Alexa Zogopoulos Sports Editors: Austin Downs Amber Les Brad Wong Online News Editors: Chase Evans Kate Hurley Ashcon Minoiefar Photo Editor: Kristin Taylor Illustrators: Austin Alcaine Chase Evans Lena Eyen Tamren Johnk Sydney Khahmann Hayley McAvoy Thomas Taylor Alexa Zogopoulos Photographers: Luke Chirbas Cleora Reber Staff Writers: Austin Alcaine Gokul Asokan Savitri Asokan Parker Burman Kevin Burns Haley Byam Meredith Dechert Brendan Gonzalez Summer Haenny Dan Johnson Kristine Khieu Akash Khosla Neha Kompella Nicolas Ontiveros Austin Pink Nicolette Richards Thomas Taylor Colleen Vivaldi Willow Wood Brian Zhuang Zack Zolmer

Advertising Manager Megan Hansen Adviser Karl Grubaugh The Gazette is published eight times per academic year by students in the advanced journalism class at Granite Bay High School.

Content is determined by the staff and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Granite Bay High School’s faculty, administration, adviser or student body.

Students are protected in their exercise of press freedom by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and California Education Code 48907.

Signed editorials and columns reflect the views of the writer.

Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged and must be signed, although anonymity can be granted on a caseby-case basis.

The editorial board reviews letters to the editor, advertising and guest commentaries and reserves the right to edit and refuse material. Reasons can include length, clarity, libel, obscenity, material disruption of the educational process at Granite Bay High School or violation of copyright laws.

Send Letters to the Editor to: gbgazette@yahoo.com Identification Statement Granite Bay Gazette Published eight times per academic year c/o Granite Bay High School 1 Grizzly Way Granite Bay, CA 95746 Subscriptions: $25 per year/ $15 per half year

austin pink

apink.gazette@gmail.com

Our society is being consumed with electronics

A

s technology progresses at such an astounding rate, I sill find it easy to take a reality check and be grateful for what kind of power we hold at our fingertips. A power that, if I may say, is completely misused.

Thomas Edison would punch us all right in the mouth if he knew we were using incredible super computers to send a video of 2 Chainz.

Let me clarify, I am not a complete technophobe. Though I don’t use social networking, I do have an iPhone and enjoy chuckling at cat pictures on Imgur.

Technology is not the problem. It’s the execution.

I formulated this opinion last week when I stepped into a Starbucks for what I thought would be a routine caffeine binge. To my left, it appeared

to be a lovely date between two people about my age. To my right, I examined a group of friends enjoying a nice afternoon out.

There was one problem.

Every single person had their phone shoved in their face, as if they were ignoring the very existence of the people around them. Not a conversation was in sight. In fact, all I heard over the baristas doing their magic was a cacophony of vibrates, beeps, and the occasional, “Bro…did you get my text?”

Heaven forbid, we could just sit somewhere, talk, or even just exist as human beings for five seconds without constant electronic stimulation being shoved down our throats.

This is becoming such a social norm because of how early we introduce kids to this salvo of stimulation.

I have seen six year olds who have their own cell phones. Six. Years. Old. These kids with phones, you see, are six years old.

The kid can’t even count, yet he has a computer more powerful than the one from the Apollo missions.

A developing mind does not need and should not have that amount of stimulation. You need proof? Go find a kid who looks pre-teen with a phone and just take it real quick.

His response will look like that of a rabid dog. He’ll jump and

scream for it back, having been so on edge from the continuous electronic punches to the face. You think that’s a good sign? Is that a sign that it’s something healthy for them?

This kind of constant distraction is very prevalent in the existence of social networking. In theory, social networking is brilliant.

A system where people can interact instantly from anyplace and anywhere and still have

lets me know I have a dying mindset The necessity to let everyone When technology is so know your every thought powerful and helpful in dayand to follow someone else’s to-day-to-day life, you need every move has led people to to at least recognize and be so hyperactive they have appreciate its merit. All day, I no appreciation for the real feel like I hear people scream world. Their addiction rivals and complain at their phone. that of a cracked-out homeless “Gosh my phone sucks! I hate guy. Even worse, at least Verizon! the homeless guy has some Give it a second, ok? Is the recollection of sobriety. speed of light not good enough When I tell someone I don’t for you? Step back; realize that use Twitter or Instagram, you’re shouting at an inanimate I get a confused look that object because it wouldn’t open your Clash of Clans account, and calm down.

For most people, it isn’t merely a matter of stopping. They don’t have the capacity to simply go cold turkey. If there’s cake in the fridge, you’ll eat it.

Likewise, if the technology bender constantly surrounds you, you are going to be on your phone all the time.

However, there is redemption. At one point this week, try leaving your phone at home. Pull off the information super-highway and settle for the dirt road. It’ll be hard. It’s like kicking a bad habit when you were younger. You might have to relearn to eat without taking a picture, but you will survive.

This might even be a kind of trend right now, but I don’t have a Twitter so I’m not really up on things.

*** Gazette illustration/CHASE EVANS Austin Pink, a junior, is a Gazette staff writer. appreciation for the physical world! Scratch that last part.

How effective is Obama’s reform campaign?

How realistic are the goals set out in his 2013 plan?

W

hen I was in middle school, my hair as-of-yet undyed and my personal philosophy half as nihilistic, I suffered a bit of public indignation.

I fell in the bark box (yeah, we had a bark box) during physical education, and a few chunks of wood embedded themselves in my forearm. I was bleeding a bit, so my teacher told me to see the nurse.

One glance at my arm – which, mind you, still had a few splinters stuck in it – and her tone turned deathly serious. She gave me a Band-Aid and sent me on my way, leaving me to wonder why she’d seemed so mortified.

I found out later she’d called my parents to tell them I had cut my own arm intentionally.

For the rest of the year, I was bothered periodically by the doubtlessly well-meaning – but no less humiliating – counseling staff. Was I feeling ok? Was everything all right at home? Was there anything I wanted to talk about?

Commentary

haley massara

hmassara.gazette@gmail.com

Most of the administrative staff never quite treated me normally after that. One unfortunate slip in the bark was enough to stigmatize me permanently.

You’re probably wondering why I told you that admittedly rather uncomfortable story. It’s not something I want to brag about, certainly.

But I mention it because a part of me – the part made paranoid by my eighth grade troubles – was a little perturbed by President Obama’s push for better mental health care, in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Now, the sentiment of his reform campaign is something I can really get behind.

Personally, I believe every American in need of professional help – be it physiological or psychological – should be able to get it. I’m a dirty, pro-socializedmedicine liberal, what can I say?

But the wording of the actual executive order worried me a bit.

According to a White House press release, new measures will be put in place to “help teachers and staff recognize signs of mental illness in young people,” and states will be offered incentives to help funnel more 16-to-25-yearolds – the group at highest risk of mental illness – into treatment.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing, but I wonder: how do the logistics of it work?

No offense to Granite Bay High School’s faculty, but are teachers really qualified to diagnose something as serious and significant as a psychological disorder?

And if not, will a few governmentsponsored seminars be enough to teach them to?

Teenagers are an unpredictable breed, to say the least; disorders like Attention Deficit Disorder and clinical depression can be mistaken for typically erratic adolescent behavior.

In so many words, we can act crazy without actually being crazy

– but if our teachers are suddenly responsible for our emotional health, they will, understandably, be all the more likely to see illness where there is none.

More importantly, will a wellintentioned, good-faith law – as seemingly benevolent as whatever support program decided middle-school age me needed to be checked up on – really improve anything?

Or will it serve only to further stigmatize people my age – nonviolent people – who just happen to have been born with the wrong combination of brain chemicals?

Not only that, but will giving states cash kickbacks for boosting the numbers of young people actually in treatment – which the bill describes simply as “developing innovative approaches” – unintentionally motivate them to drag atrisk people into the mental health system even earlier?

Now, to be fair, President Obama – and, you know what, everyone in the public eye who has spoken out about Sandy Hook’s implications, our own Principal Mike McGuire included – has done a fantastic job of differentiating the violent and the harmlessbut-chemically-imbalanced.

No one is saying that someone with a mental illness – high

school-age kid or otherwise – is inherently capable of committing atrocities. If anything, they’re saying the opposite: that troubled individuals are the most victimized.

But trying to provide “better” care for them is too vague a goal to legislate. And I’m concerned – not only for myself, and my fellow anxiety-stricken adolescents, but for all the young people who might be falsely labeled and pressured into unnecessary treatment.

Reform is good. Vital, even.

But, rather than trying to catch potential problem kids while they’re young, we need to offer psychiatric help to anyone who needs it – not force it upon them.

If there’s anything common to the teenage experience – and that’s a big if, but bear with me – it’s our shared desire for control over our own lives.

If we restructure the mental healthcare system, such that suffering students can hang onto that self-determination while also getting the help they need, maybe they won’t be ashamed to ask for it. *** Haley Massara, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.

Beauty comes from within – that’s all that matters

O

ne of the most concerning traits about girls and boys is the relentless amount of self doubt they have toward themselves— especially about their bodies.

Through increasing influences – one of the heaviest being the media, TV, movies and music society has developed a morphed and disoriented perception of beauty...true beauty.

As cliché as it might sound, beauty comes from within.

People find it hard to understand and accept this definition of beauty because so many people in our society don’t believe it.

A person’s personality makes them beautiful. That’s what

easier said than matters, what done. counts, because You have to looks don’t last. make yourself An individual The voice of the be so extremely is an individual Granite Bay satisfied, pleased, because of their Gazette certain and sure character, their of who you are, actions. That’s that the opinions what defines of others won’t matter, because them and that’s what sets us you know they are wrong. Their apart from each other.

Girls and boys can’t allow how worthless opinions should be they look on the outside to make irrelevant, bouncing off of your titanium-clad wall of confidence. them feel bad about themselves, You have to realize your full because in the long run, that potential and not feel obliged to won’t matter.

The first step toward achieving remodel yourself to fit society’s definition of beauty. this self-acceptance is to Girls, beauty is not about convince yourself of the true changing who you are to please a meaning of beauty. boy, because then you’re a fake.

And this is, understandably,

EDITORIAL

And boys, beauty is not about how muscular, athletic or cool you are. In fact, those can be major turn-offs.

Beauty is about loving yourself, loving who you are.

Beauty is being the best you can be.

Looking half-dead is not beauty, contrary to the ads and fashion shows that portray Holocaust-victim-resembling skeletons miraculously having the energy to make it down the catwalk.

The people and images the media constantly bombard us with are not real.

The bodies of your favorite celebrities are not real. They have an endless amount of

trainers, nutritionists and chefs who are at their service 24/7.

It’s all superficial.

What makes us beautiful is the goodness of our hearts, our personalities, our intelligence, and above all, confidence.

Confidence is beauty.

Look at Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Christiane Amanpour, Condoleezza Rice.

These are four stunning women. From outward appearances? No! From their intelligence, their confidence, their hard work.

Learn to love yourself and rise above the twisted influence of a distorted definition of beauty.

You’ll feel so much better, and be so much happier.

A12 Voices

Friday, February 15, 2013

HEARD on

Don’t fault me for having opinions I am proud of the way I express my viewpoints to the world around me

BAY ‘I

What do you think of Valentine’s day?

“I think of red, pink and white, love and candy.”

freshman

Jordan Holt “Valentine’s Day is the stupidest holiday ever.

That being said, I like how you can be creative and show your significant other a good time.”

ntolerant.”

If there’s any term that the new social justice generation of teens will use to negatively describe someone who has strong views that oppose their own, it’s intolerant.

I’ve been deemed “intolerant” plenty of times by classmates and friends after I’ve moaned and groaned about how much I can’t stand certain beliefs, activities, music types or fashion styles.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Gee, she is really particular.”

Congratulations, you’re correct!

It is true, and I feel no need to deny it; I’m picky. I’m opinionated. I will judge you if you have a Confederate flag bumper sticker, and I don’t want to even try listening to your favorite soft indie song.

To many people, this makes me narrow-minded. I’ve been called that virtually my whole life by friends and family, and, sure enough, I believed it for a while.

But eventually, I came to realize the truth: yes, I have very particular taste, but that doesn’t make me narrowminded-all it means is that I have strong feelings, both

Commentary

alexa zogopoulos azogopoulos.gazette@gmail.com

positively and negatively.

I get overwhelmed with joy when discussing something I love just as easily as I get overwhelmed with anger when hearing about something I despise. I’m simply a dramatic person who expresses her beliefs and feelings freely.

Yet for whatever reason, that doesn’t get processed by others. I’m seen solely as judgmental and one-sided.

But from this point forth, I’m done apologizing for being opinionated-because I’ve realized that, as particular as I might be, I am not a bad person for knowing what I do and do not like.

Having strong opinions comes from the ability to make up my mind independently. I can formulate my thoughts on

a topic, consider both sides, sionate Democratic Socialor just consider what I do and ist, (Gasp! Did she just use do not like about something, the “S” word?). I quite enjoy and there-I have formed my explaining my political views, opinion on it. and I do that frequently. I also Although I do tend to have happen to wear a few pins on opinions on virtually every my clothes and backpack that small subject or interest, I still have bolded, snarky socialist don’t understand why that is phrases on them. such a bad thing. What is so Naturally, my friends have intolerant and grown black-andtired of white about hearing me decisiveness? rant about If anyone is economic Having strong judgmental, systems it’s those who they hardly opinions comes assume that underfrom the ability because I may stand. I feel strongly sympathize to make up my about somewith that mind indepenthing or take frustration. an abnormal But far dently. stance, then I too often won’t accept I get other anyone who friends disagrees with asking me. me if the The hypocreason risy in that is obvious; people I so openly support these judging others for having ideas is because I “just hate strong feelings, and calling all conservatives and want to them the judgmental ones. sound as different and unique But this double standard as possible.” doesn’t completely surprise Absolutely no part of that is me. Hearing the generally true. unheard side of an opinion is Yes, I do in fact despise bound to frustrate people when conservatism and the views it’s so different from what themselves-but not the people they’ve always heard. who hold those views, necesFor instance, I’m a passarily. I’m not so partial as

to hold an animosity towards someone because they don’t see things the way I do, even if I feel extremely passionate about my viewpoint.

This doesn’t come down to just politics and social issues.

If a certain music artist makes me want to rip my hair out, so what? All it means is that I’m bothered by that particular artist or genre. It does not, however, mean that I’m negative towards everything most people like, intolerant of those who hold opinions different from my own or one-sided. The tendency of people to jump to conclusions when I speak my mind shows that they, in fact, are the real judges.

I am proud of being opinionated. I gain a sense of personal satisfaction from knowing I’m outspoken, and my views are a prominent part of who I am.

I wish I could’ve accepted my pickiness at a younger age and not convinced myself that perhaps I am a horrible person for knowing what I want.

But at least now I realize that having specific tastes is not synonymous with being narrow, and I hope my hypocritical judges will learn that. *** Alexa Zogopoulos, a junior, is a Green Screen editor for the Granite Bay Gazette

Books teach life lessons to those who read

sophomore

People underestimate the power of fiction

T TJ Neiman “I think it’s pretty cute. It’s an opportunity for you to excel your relationship.”

junior

Dany Kash “Valentine’s Day is an interesting holiday to me, I find it great for those in a relationship and it can also be tough for those who are single. Personally I like to call it Singles Awareness Day.”

senior

Jeff Williams Thumbs down: Homework…

“It’s great to have aAP dayand Honors named after you.” homework…

staff

here I was, suspended much you dislike your in a surreal state beparents, Harry Potter has tween fond memories it way worse. of my pillow and the awful And, even though realization that winter break I’m sure you’ve been was over and school was told this many times by back in session. countless librarians and I had just begun to worry English teachers, readabout how many 10-car ing truly does expand pileups I had caused in my your vocabulary. first-day daze when the You’re basically teacher told us to write our prepared for the English favorite books on a note section on the SAT if card. you’ve been reading As I stared into space, since you learned to sleep-deprived and attemptwalk, and don’t even get ing to remember what the me started on essays in hbyam.gazette@gmail.com English language even was, English class.

I heard it: “Does texting Chuck Palahniuk and count? Because I don’t Kurt Vonnegut, two of read.” the best authors of the 20th century (in my I turned to find the source of that remark opinion), are better teachers than any writing amidst riotous laughter and found him, slapclass I’ve ever taken. ping his knee and cackling. I wasn’t sure Speaking of teachers, I don’t think anyone who decided that not reading was comedy or anything has taught me more about love gold, but I didn’t stick around to find out. and loss simultaneously than John Green’s Next thing I knew, I was laying in a hospiLooking for Alaska. tal bed, suffering a self-induced concussion I’d like to thank my seventh grade self for from repeatedly banging my head against a picking up The Perks of Being a Wallflower wall. and slowly morphing into the massive music OK, I was kidding about that last part, but snob I am today. Also, less importantly, of his comment definitely put me near the edge. course, for realizing that I am not my past And, unfortunately, he isn’t alone. A stagand it’s okay to talk about it. gering 100,000 people have liked the FaceI could go on and on about books that have book page “I Don’t Read,” and hundreds made me laugh, cry, and roll around sobbing more teenagers consumed by movies and TV in a puddle of melted Ben & Jerry’s, but I’ll join the dark side every day. spare both of us the embarrassment.

It isn’t just me who’s noticed this. A study Go out and read. Build your own list of by the National Endowment for the Arts authors and stories that changed your life found that Americans spend an average of and shaped who you are. Connect with those two hours watching television and a mere who have cried over the same things as you seven minutes reading. (“Your copy of Before I Die is stained with Honestly, since when did feigning illiteracy tears and snot?! Mine, too!”), and meet new become cooler than getting lost in a great characters and explore new worlds through book? those who haven’t.

When did going on an adventure with Use Google to search something other than J.R.R. Tolkien or falling in puppy love with “cats doing funny things”, and find a library Sarah Dessen lose in a Best Way to Spend near you. They still exist, I promise, and the Your Time competition against refreshing Internet will be waiting for you when you your Twitter feed every five minutes? return.

Not only does reading make you look inAlthough, once you get used to seeing credibly attractive and intelligent (according “your” and “you’re” used correctly, I don’t to a professional study by me), but I’m pretty know if you’ll ever want to go back. confident there is no better way to wind *** down after a stressful day than comforting Haley Byam, a junior, is a Gazette staff yourself with the fact that no matter how writer.

hayley byam

Thumbs Up Thumbs up: This school year is well over half-way finished!

Mike Valentine –Compiled by Akash Khosla

Commentary

Gazette illustration/SYDNEY KAHMANN

Thumbs Down

the

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Thumbs down: That means midterms, finals and AP testing are on the horizon.

Thumbs down: That means allergies are back and the sweaters get put away.

Thumbs up: Spring time is almost here!

by Colleen Vivaldi Gazette photos /LUKE CHIRBAS

Friday, February 15, 2013

Voices A13

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Being an introvert is harder than it seems Extroverts have a hard time understanding us and how we function in our own solitude

I

was a social These little kid, I pressures to had lots of be social are friends and lots of not someplay dates. I was thing that I pretty shy though. face alone, However, as I got its someolder, I got a little thing many more confident students face. but a little less This ongoing social. feeling of I started dreadneeding to be ing the first week a social, acof school because tive person is it would be filled unnecessary. with forms and High school wwood.gazette@gmail.com presentations is an exand poems about hausting myself and plenty of class bondtime for many reasons. ing activities that would somehow Extra curricular activities and a make our class experience better. packed schedule dominate high These activities held no meanschool life. But for introverts, it’s ing to me. I didn’t feel more cona whole other game. nected to the people in my class And I know that there are and I didn’t feel that the teacher plenty of people on this campus better understood me because who are the same way. of some presentation that I gave Introverts are people who find about my interests and hobbies more power in times of solitude and life story. then they do in social situations, I can remember times my parand social situations can someents would question my decision times be an exhausting endeavor. to stay home rather then go to a The fact that we can find peace friend’s house. And times where in a little bit of solitude doesn’t they would get worried that I was make us loners. It doesn’t mean somehow missing out on a giant that we are socially awkward and portion of my high school experi- shy. It just means that high school ence. might be a little more difficult for

Commentary

willow wood

us.

The idea of working in a team and social interactions could be a daunting task for someone who prefers to work alone.

And for others, activities at the beginning of a new term could be the only worry in their minds on that first day of class.

And for some, just walking through the quad or getting lunch can be something they struggle with.

Of course there is a simple niceness in meeting new people, because it is possible that you will find someone likeable. These forced social situations can also lead to nothing but awkward dead end conversations that leave both parties feeling strange.

This doesn’t mean introverts deserve hateful labels. Just because we don’t want to spend lots of time chatting or hanging out all the time doesn’t mean we don’t have friends, and it doesn’t mean we hate everyone.

High school creates this pressure on students to be outgoing, joining clubs and such. This isn’t to say that any of that is bad, it just creates a different environment for those who aren’t as gregarious.

To those people who are more outgoing, just because we don’t

enjoy the same sort of social situations, it doesn’t mean we don’t like you. But the stigma that all introverts want to be extroverts is not true.

I’m sure there are some people who wish at times that they were more social, but the idea that people should be forced to be more extroverted is absurd.

There are introverts and extroverts, this is a psychological fact.

However not everyone falls in to these distinct categories completely. But why is one of these so highly regarded while the other is seen so skeptically and treated with pity?

Introverts are not disadvantaged.

I spend time with people who are my true friends, and I like spending time with them. Introverts just don’t find the same type of joy in superficially constructed relationship.

Some people say I’m the quiet girl. Yet around friends, I can sometimes be quite loud. And sometimes I like to turn off my phone and simply enjoy a good book by myself, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Gazette illustration/ THOMAS TAYLOR

*** Willow Wood, a junior, is a Gazette staff writer

Reading between the lines about classic literature We are ignoring the importance of books in our society

T

Commentary

he funny thing allowed contemabout modern-day plation. adolescents is that Why has the we spend the majority of modern adolesour time reading. cent lost sight Tweets, texts, IM mesof the immense sages, and #hashtags are value of reading all things that make up our fine literature? youth literature experience.

Over time, our The appreciation for fine species has grown literature has settled under accustomed to the a comfortable layer of dust slang and the colin the human attic, where loquial demeanor the language of “slang” in which we conhas become worn from duct ourselves, nrichards.gazette@gmail.com overuse. but at what cost?

What has happened to The modern reading? cultural phenomenon of television, rap The real kind of reading, where the con- music, and social networking has eroded tent you read consists of sophisticated and human language to a “ghetto” form that enthralling dialogue, instead of the word bares no resemblance to its lineage. “like” as an accepted transition word.

From this, teens have settled into an exPerhaps it is a matter insignificant to our istence where retention of quality literary daily functions, but this issue should be works is not necessary, or even applicable,

niki richards

to day-to-day life.

Literature, true literature, bares no relation to a language they understand.

They don’t recognize it, they don’t relate to it, they in fact show contempt and rejection of it, which poses a significant issue for modern-day writers.

One cannot write a non-language, especially one that revolves around reiterating our everyday lives to people who don’t care.

Knowing this, the axiomatic decrease in our adolescents’ understanding of quality written works is reflected from their lack of interest in them from the get-go.

Considering the fact that our youth may not find this to be a significant issue, the rapid decrease in adolescents reading cannot be stopped, or even slowed.

Without acknowledgment or concern in the matter, we cannot hope for reformation.

How this came about can most certainly be pinpointed on the development of soci-

Our political failures The government is flawed at compromising

A

Commentary

lthough many Ameriwas not a top priority for Democrats. cans are relieved by However, once all the shooting outbreaks the recent fiscal cliff occurred in late 2012, Nancy Pelosi promcompromise, another economic ised to renew the weapons ban, but why did crisis is looming. As spending Congress not reinstate the ban during the approaches the mandated limit, eight-year layover between the expiration Congress will have to raise the date and the shootings? Only after Ameridebt ceiling, cut spending, or can blood was spilt did Congress consider suffer a government shutdown renewing the statute. if no deal gets passed.

Even then, the Democrats are nowhere The federal government near passing legislation on gun control. endured a similar situation Republicans simply refuse to compromise. back in 2011. While RepubWho knows how long until any bills will licans and Democrats refused be enacted? to compromise on spending, With a crumbling infrastructure and a nontiveros.gazette@gmail.com the federal government only growing national debt, the United States had a couple of days before has many long term crises that Congress the treasury would default on its loans. The credit rating is not trying to fix. The federal government never plans agencies, however, responded unfavorably. for the future, but instead focuses on the immediate In fact, Standard and Poor’s, the most respected rating problems. agency, downgraded the U.S. debt from AAA to AA+.

According to a report by the American Society of The downgrade exemplifies Congress’ inability to conCivil Engineers, America’s infrastructure has earned a struct effective policy. The plan passed reduces neither “D” rating, an all time low for the most powerful nation the deficit nor the debt by a substantial amount to ensure in the world. The federal or state legislatures would fiscal discipline. need to spend 2.2 trillion dollars to repair everything Lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum from roads to levees. make promises about slashing the federal deficit, but The same study reveals cities across the nation where these blanket statements never become fulfilled. Instead, Americans are consuming filthy drinking water, yet Americans believe and vote based on the deceiving no government spending is devoted to fixing the water rhetoric. Why can’t politicians be truthful about their facilities. political agenda?

Bounded by law, state governments must balance Fast forward to December of 2012. Republicans and their budgets, which is completely understandable, but Democrats scrambled to avoid the fiscal cliff, but politiwhy does the federal government decline to fund local cians merely prolonged the debate on spending cuts for projects to ensure safe infrastructure? Congress will not another date. Now, Congress will have to handle another act until infrastructure becomes an utter catastrophe, self-imposed emergency since no agreement was when bridges physically can not stand and levees begin reached in either December or January. to break.

Altogether, the federal legislature is as successful at Former President Bush and Congress should have policy making as a procrastinating teenager is at produc- began funding construction projects at least ten years ing quality work while pulling an all nighter. Both the ago when repairs would have been less costly since the government and the teenager complete their most press- infrastructure was in a decent condition. As infrastrucing tasks at the very last minute, which prevents either ture has decayed over the past several years, Congress from being effective. has a more severe matter to deal with.

Congress follows the same pattern for solving any What will occur with the next debt ceiling shownational issue: wait until the problem becomes severe, down? No one knows, but everyone will be watching spend too much time in political gridlock, and finally Congress to see if the federal government can finally pass below par laws solve a slice of America’s many dilemmas.

Take, for example, gun control. After the Federal As*** sault Weapons Ban expired in 2004, renewing the ban Nicolas Ontiversos, a junior, is a Gazette staff writer

nicolas ontiveros

ety with the luxury of television.

Because of this decline in literary and The first generation to experience incline in computerized life, we are no television had to make a choice between longer exposed to sophisticated language remaining literature and thought provokoriented, and becoming ing works, and instead acquainted with a cyber engross ourselves in eleclifestyle. tronic “texts’ the majority Without The second generaof our waking hours. tion, now present day, With each new gadget, acknowledgehas developed a depenfaster computer, more ment or concern advanced electronic dency on the electronic world to the point of in the matter, we device, we pull further catastrophic repercusfurther away from cannot hope for and sions. books, substance, and reformation We no longer need to appreciation for the read long, intricate writamazing literary feats we ten works in order to have accomplished as a learn about the world. culture.

We no longer have My concern is that we to rely on educating may lose sight of the ourselves in cultural texts to become sucliterary world altogether. cessful.

What happens to a phenomenon that’s We can just access everything with the ostensibly redundant in our world? push of a button, allow our mind to read It disappears. something, and then forget it. *** You do not need to retain something that Niki Richards, a senior, is a Gazette staff is easily accessed. writer

Write a guest commentary for Gazette Voices

A14 Second Look

Second look

Friday, February 15, 2013

Senior Fifth Quarter

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Hypnotized seniors subconsciously entertain their peers

Senior Kevin Mugno, top, peacefully goes back to sleep after following orders to be a “savage” and jumping on senior JR Calton in the front row of the audience. Mugno later strains while “giving birth”, above left. After having delivered his baby, senior Grayson Walker, above right, is delighted with his newborn.

Senior Tiana Teunissen stands up and calls out that she is “king of the world” and then sits down embarrased by her action, above left. Senior Kayleigh Brunner, above, gives the hypnotist the death glare, fulfilling her role as a “skeptic.”

Seniors Kevin Myers and Walker, far left, cheer filled with joy at hearing their horse has won the imaginary race. Seniors Megan Fazer, Walker, Sarah Cusak and Courtney Richardson, left, relax as they gently fall under the hypnotist’s spell.

wGazette photosw Kristin Taylor

Lifestyle

Granite Bay Gazette

B Section

Friday w February 15, 2013

Commentary

As the beginning of the new year comes to a close, students still ... meghan carlsen mcarlsen.gazette@gmail.com

People are people, even the ones in ‘People’

‘G

uess who’s pregnant?”

“Find out how he broke her heart.”

“See who has the best and worst swimsuit bodies!”

Headlines like these cover the magazines that you see when you stand in line at the grocery store.

And while some of us have an understanding of how true (or, rather, untrue) these stories are, they still can be attention-grabbers.

If we choose to indulge in such stories, what we also indulge in is dehumanizing the celebrity we are reading about.

We read about how these people are cheaters, liars, fat, ugly, slutty and a myriad of other insults that would normally be atrocious to call another human being. But because we don’t think of these people as human beings, it’s OK to call them whatever we want.

These celebrities are people though, and I’m sure they catch some wind of the rumors going around concerning their name, no matter how hard they try to avoid it.

I don’t think we, as “everyday” people, could imagine what it would feel like to pick up some random magazine or turn on some random TV channel and see our name thrown around carelessly with awful accusations, most of which are unsupported.

It’s not those magazines I’m attacking, however. It’s our thirst as a society to read such personal things about people we barely know.

In doing this, we feel like it’s okay to call this actor or that singer a slew of insulting names and have our conscience be totally clear.

We are associating those labels with a live human being whom we have no personal experience with in order to form a judgment like that.

I want to make it clear that this isn’t just a pity party for all those poor celebrities, because I know a good portion of them do things they probably aren’t proud of. But don’t we all?

I think this kind of blatant ability to throw out insults and accusations links us to a deeper problem in our society.

We can name-call all we want with celebrities and feel no remorse because we are either sure they will never hear our insults or because we think they just deserve those insults.

Either way, this kind of merciless way of viewing another human being has caused us to forget that these people are real people just like us, with hopes, fears and faults.

If we can dehumanize those people when we talk about them, there’s not much stopping us from dehumanizing those people we see everyday but never took the time to really know.

I know we’ve all heard the “bullying is wrong” speech and I admit those talks can be incredibly cheesy, but the way we treat each other really is important.

I’ve heard too many stories of kids hearing awful insults said either behind their backs or to their faces, just because the person saying them didn’t take a second to realize that this kid they’re hurting isn’t so different from themselves.

They want to be liked. They want to be accepted. They have hopes for their future. They have their own set of fears and problems they have to deal with on a daily basis.

Taking even a second to think about this fact could stop our urge to casually toss out harmful names or rumors toward other human beings, whether they are famous or just the kid we pass on our way to class.

*** Meghan Carlsen, a senior, is a Gazette’s Lifestyle co-editor.

Resolve to

CHANGE

BY MADISON TOULOUKIAN mtouloukian.gazette@gmail.com

I

t’s New Year’s Eve, and visions of weightloss, academic achievement and social climbing fill the heads of Americans around the world.

As in year’s past, the most popular 2013 resolution was losing weight, according to a study done by Intel Company.

Granite Bay High School students were among those eager to change their social, study and eating habits.

While the future may have looked bright during the first week of 2013, old habits

die hard. In fact, time management firm FranklinCovey found that a third of Americans stop striving for their goals by the end of January.

On the GBHS campus, however, students seem to be determined to make significant changes in their life.

These alterations range from academic to athletic life.

Freshman Mira Pexa plans on earning better grades and getting more involved in school activities.

“I want to do better in school for (a better chance to get into) college,” Pexa said.

She also plans on studying harder and paying better attention in class in order to earn more privileges from her parents, who view this as a reward for her good

grades. As for her social life, Pexa wants to be a bigger part of the student body on campus.

“I’ve been paying more attention to what activities are going on,” she said.

Senior Taylor Reynolds also plans on breaking out of her social shell by improving her body positioning around people.

“I was intrigued by a study that said that confident (and) powerful body posture will actually trigger hormones in your brain and make you feel more confident,” Reynolds said. “I think this would be a good skill for going off to college and making new friends.”

Health goals are also commonly made when the new year roles around, as both losing weight and eating healthy fall in the top ten according to the USA. gov website.

“Water is…essential to daily life and feeling energized and healthy,” Reynolds said. “I think making a conscious effort to drink more water will have nothing but positive effects on me and my habits.”

Reynolds chose resolutions that she felt would be easy to remember and easy to pursue. She, like 60 percent of people surveyed by Intel Company, did not last past the six month mark on her resolutions last year.

See NEW YEARS, page B6

Gazette illustration/CHASE EVANS

Students learn about their culture in classrooms Parents involve their teens in their religious and ethnic backgrounds

BY NEHA KOMPELLA

nkompella.gazette@gmail.com

For Aditi Ganapathi, a sophomore at Granite Bay High school, the morals and values that she learns from being a part of a different culture are important to her daily life.

Ganapathi finds her weekly culture school, or “Sunday School,” Bala Vihar, to not only provide her with a connection to her religion, but also to maintain a close friendship with her Indian friends.

“The morals and values I take from the scriptures and the teachers are (integrated) into my daily life at school and at home,” Ganapathi said. “(They allow) me to be a better person.”

At Bala Vihar, the students are taught about Indian culture through two classes – a language class, and a religion class. They discuss various topics dealing with Hinduism, including vegetarianism, the doctrine

inside lifestyle Top Ten

B2

Student Spotlight

B3

How To

B5

Random Student

B6

College of the Month

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of temples and the journey to salvation.

“I like that Sunday School allows me to keep a regular connection with my religion,” Ganapathi said. “Also, it is a great way to stay involved in the Indian community and meet my friends.”

Many of the parents whose children go to Bala Vihar are of similar opinions.

Uma Shanmugedran, a parent whose sophomore daughter Sumana Shanmugedran attends Bala Vihar, enjoys both the social and cultural value that it provides for her daughter.

“I wanted my child to know about her culture and where she is from,” Shanmugedram said. “(Bala Vihar) greatly benefited her by helping her gain many friends with the same culture, make great memories that will last the rest of her life, and make sure she knows about her culture.”

Bala Vihar is only one of the cultural schools that is present in the local area.

Many other students go to cultural schools

Online shopping People go to their computers for new clothes.

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including those for as Chinese and Hebrew cultures. However, students joined these groups for a variety of reasons For sophomore Jacob Rabishaw, the son of a rabbi, going to a Hebrew school has been an experience that shaped his personality.

“It definitely made me feel more comfortable about myself, both about being a Jew, but also about other things”, Rabishaw said. “Plus, I now know a language that not many people know.”

However, not all cultural schools are religious. Many of them, including the one that sophomore Janice Leung go to, are primarily meant to explain the language and the culture.

“I went to Great Wall Chinese School near Sacramento every Saturday, (and then later) to the Folsom Chinese School Friday nights until freshman year,” Leung said.

Leung described how she saw Chinese school as more of a chore for a long time,

Winter Guard starts to compete Unique activity on campus has success in state competitions.

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Aditi Ganapathi A sophomore at GBHS attends Indian culture school to learn more about her background.

but then had a change of heart.

“To be honest, when I was young, my parents forced me to,” Leung said with a smile. “It took me a while until I began to appreciate it more and then I didn’t mind going. I made new friends, and that helped me learn the language better and it became fun.”

Leung has a reason to know her language well, as she has many relatives who speak Mandarin and Cantonese, and enjoys being able to communicate with them in a common language.

GBHS students with jobs People on campus share their work experiences.

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See CULTURE, page B6

B2 Lifestyle

Friday, February 15, 2013

top Classic rock Artists

Aerosmith– Aerosmith makes the list due to their catchy songs and strong guitar playing.

Guns N’ Roses– This band is the epitome of American classic rock and roll. Their lyrics reflect 60’s and 70’s America perfectly.

Lynryd Skynryd– Skynryd combines funk with rock and roll and injects incredible lyrical energy.

Pink Floyd– The inventors of the psychedelic rock genre have inspired several spin-off genres that exist today.

Online shopping gains popularity Students purchase their merchandise on the web as an easier option

BY WILLOW WOOD

wwood.gazette@gmail.com

A few quick clicks and you could be on your way to making some great purchase.

Online shopping has been on the rise for some time now.

And the students of Granite Bay High are no exception to this trend.

Senior Emilie DecavelBueff is one of many GBHS online shoppers, and for Winterball in December, she decided to purchase her dress online.

“To be honest, I was too lazy to go shopping and spend hours and hours trying on dresses,” Decavel-Bueff said.

She noted that most online marketing seems to be focused on the efficiency of online shopping.

And the ease with which you can control your shopping is a fundamental part of the experience.

“Online is a lot easier to compare items without going through the hassle of searching through racks” Nikki Chang, a junior, said.

Many online customers have noticed that most stores have begun improving the quality of their websites, including the sites’ technological efficiency and the ease of placing orders.

If people are engaged in the website, experts say they become more interested in the products being marketed.

These improvements have been crucial in building up this already strong online market.

The State of Retailing Online, in a new survey released last month, notes that the

main investment of companies in 2013 is going to be their overall website experience.

SORO also reported that the rate of online

Gazette illustration/TAMREN JOHNK

shopping has increased 28 percent in the past year alone.

These numbers have been steadily creeping up in the past few years as sites such as Amazon have really taken off.

But most other retailers are also working on their online

market.

And even GBHS students have noticed this upward trend.

As college acceptances begin to pour in, seniors become less and less motivated in school – except for a select few

BY AKASH KHOSLA

akhosla.gazette@gmail.com

The Who– This British band is famous for songs that tell stories such as “Pinball Wizard.”

Rolling Stones– The Stones have encouraged a plethora of current rock bands to thrive; their influence is still heard today.

Gazette illustration/HAYLEY MCAVOY

Led Zeppelin– The only band where every song I have heard, I have liked.

- Compiled by Thomas Taylor

As college applications continue to be reviewed by admissions offices, some students at Granite Bay High School are still as studious as ever and avoiding senioritis.

Whether it’s their grades or extracurriculars, the top students have been excelling in maintaining their academic status since their freshman year. Some people have also been taking leadership roles in Robotics, Speech and Debate, and other teams, in addition to taking AP and IB courses.

“I know (senioritis) is going to happen to my students, so I don’t really worry if a student starts to show signs,” Jared Westberg said. “They start dropping off, but then they come back working really hard.”

While the work is doable, most seniors give up around the beginning of the second semester of the school year as grades

have already been submitted to colleges.

A majority of the GBHS students have senioritis mostly because they lack the motivation to continue. Many start seeing symptoms of laziness around the first semester, though, which can really affect college admissions.

Not everyone wants to go to prestigious schools. However, those who do should reconsider working more to get at least decent grades in their classes.

Grades matter in the end because when students get to college, their grades on the AP or IB exams determine whether or not they are able to skip the introductory courses. Even though some might be okay with taking the introductory courses again, others in an AP level course may feel as if they don’t belong in such a class. Review classes can be a waste of time, and not to mention finances.

Most importantly, even once you’re accepted (especially into one of the world’s top schools), most colleges will revoke acceptance if the student slacks off after

being accepted.

Even with senioritis, many seniors have been handling everything fine and are enjoying their high school career as a senior, while maintaining their class ranks, GPAs and extracurriculars.

“I’ve had a little bit of senioritis. And I do procrastinate sometimes, but I manage to get the work done,” senior Chandler Brown said, the current salutatorian.

Along with an excellent academic record, Brown is also the software programming lead on the robotics team.

“I’ve put in huge amounts of time into robotics,” Brown said. “I just don’t feel like giving up right now, and colleges will still be looking at my academic status as well.”

Unlike many students, Brown expresses enthusiasm for what he does in robotics and in the classroom. Without passion, most seniors acquire senioritis, but those who know what they want to See SENIORITIS, page B7

Club sends sick child to Legoland

Students raise $5,000 throughout year to make a young boy’s wish come true

BY KIANA OKHOVAT kokhovat.gazette@gmail.com

Beatles– Incredible lyrics and stellar guitar playing spearheaded the British cultural invasion of America.

In an informal survey of 50 students, 88 percent of those surveyed said they had noticed a large increase in online shopping, with only 76 percent of these students ever having purchased anything online at all.

Students do admit they don’t think online shopping will ever totally reign.

“I have the feeling malls will always dominate online shopping websites,” Decavel-Bueff said, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if we started veering towards the internet.”

Still, as goes the nation, so goes GBHS – online shopping numbers are on the rise.

“I think that due to online shopping being less stressful, more specific and sometimes cheaper, it has become more trendy,”Chang said.

Out of those GBHS students who said they have shopped online, 75 percent of them said they only purchase items they cannot find in regular stores.

Online shopping has also increased because the range of items available for purchase, as well as the number of brands, is much greater.

“I only like it when I’m looking for a few specific items, like, ‘Oh, I need green boots with blue spikes,’ ” Chang said.

There are some undeniable drawbacks to online shopping, however. Shoppers put their faith in the online retailer that the clothes will fit, or the item they ordered will be in the condition promised.

But the downside is no match for the ease of shopping without the commotion, dressing rooms, sale sections, searching the shelves and waiting in lines.

“Sometimes,” Chang said, “it feels like an awesome present when that package shows up at you door.”

Senioritis epidemic strikes

Journey– Journey’s long-winded rock songs have inspired generations of people to rock out.

Queen– Freddie Mercury’s golden voice has been the tune for many years since Mercury’s tragic death.

w The Granite Bay Gazette

A certain club most students are aware of at Granite Bay High School is the Make-AWish Club. What most students do not know is that it’s the first Make-A-Wish Club in California.

GBHS senior Kelsy Green founded the club last year.

“I’ve been involved with Make-a-Wish (foundation) since the fifth grade, doing something called the Twilight Walk for Wishes,” Green said.

Green then decided to become more involved and researched the Make-A-Wish foundation to find more information.

The Make-A-Wish Club works in conjunction with the Sacramento charter of Make-AWish foundation.

GBHS senior Ken Lynch’s father, Ken Lynch Sr., is on the board at the foundation.

When Ken’s younger brother, Nick, had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma nearly 10 years ago, the Lynch family was told that he had only a year or two to live.

The Lynch family traveled to New York City for medical treatment, to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which has the top neurblastoma treatment. An antibody treatment called 3F8 saved Nick’s life.

Nick has had no evidence of neuroblastoma since.

Since this experience, Ken describes his family to have adapted the “cancer culture.”

His family vigorously contributes to foundations and hospitals and hosts fundraisers.

“We (support and contribute to) all the things that there are for support for people with cancer.” Ken Lynch said. “MakeA-Wish (foundation is) one of the many that we’ve been involved with.”

The fundamental goal of the Make-A-Wish Club at GBHS is to grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.

Children at the non-profit organization are given one wish and the Make-A-Wish Club grants one of these wishes.

The first wish the club has granted so far was a project they began nearly a year ago with an anonymous boy, “John,” who wished to go to Legoland. His wish cost a grand total of $5,000, which the Make-A-Wish Club had to raise.

“It was hard to get ... people

involved. It was hard trying to raise $5,000 in a year,” Green said. “It was a really big reach.

I had to reach out to people and my dad’s business, otherwise I don’t think we would have raised the money.”

One active club member, junior Vessi Doncheva, also helped contribute towards the fundraising.

“I brought in. cookies, (and) if you made a donation, you … got a cookie,” Doncheva said.

This proved to be very successful. Some students, Doncheva added, were nice enough to make donations and kindly refuse the cookies, simply wanting to help John.

Green worked hard by holding numerous fundraisers to raise the money. She wrote an article for GBHS’ At the Bay maga-

Kelsy Green President of the MakeA-Wish club accomplishes club goal.

zine discussing the Make-AWish club, Habit fundraisers, Star fundraisers and the coin drive, which raised money for the wish. The coin drive is the fundraiser most students are familiar with – boxes were placed in all second period classrooms where students could make donations.

Through the efforts of the faculty and student body, the See WISH, page B7

Friday, February 15, 2013

Lifestyle

w The Granite Bay Gazette

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Going green with eco-friendly clubs Student

Spotlight

Maadhav Shah

Dedicated sophomore involved in challenging course and extracurriculars Gazette: Are you involved in any extracurricular activities Shah: I’m currently in robotics (and) speech and debate. I tutor for community service and I also have a tutoring job for math here at Granite Bay (High School).

Gazette: What does a typical day look like for you?

Shah: Typically, (after school), I’ll tutor for an hour ... and then I’ll come back for robotics for four hours.

Sometimes (I’ll have) Speech and Debate for two hours in between. On weekends, I’ll (spend about) thirteen hours at robotics.

Gazette: What are your favorite classes?

Shah: Last semester, it would have probably been Speech and Debate. But this semester ... it would probably be Honors Chemistry because of the math associated with it.

Gazette: What do you plan to do after high school?

Shah: After high school, I’m planning to either be an engineer ... or going to physics and being a physicist.

(I’d like to do) something that’s associated with math.

Gazette: What’s your dream school?

Shah: My dream school would probably be Stanford, Caltech or Harvey Mudd. I don’t want to go outside of California.

Gazette: How do you balance all your activities?

Shah: I kind of just do whatever’s happening. I don’t really think about it. I just do it.

Gazette: What ... in your life has inspired you to be such a (hard worker)?

Shah: I guess my dad has been one of my inspirations. Also, my mom because they’ve both been working really hard to get me where I am. I’ve also grown up around a lot of people who have done a lot of amazing things.

-Compiled by Kristine Khieu

Students involve themselves in projects to help the environment

BY AUSTIN DOWNS

adowns.gazette@gmail.com

When senior Montana Strohl-Roy founded the Eco Green Club with her fellow senior friend Chloe Pan last year, doing other activities to help promote the club or boost their list of accomplishments was never on their list.

Instead, the Eco Green club focused their attention on doing as much as possible for not only Granite Bay High School but also the surrounding community.

“We did a lot of projects last year ranging from clean-ups to recycling, but our most involved one was probably volunteering at the Maidu Indian Center,” Strohl-Roy said.

Last year, the club had a steady attendance rate and routine schedule for planned projects but, this year, the club has struggled to attain the same rate of attendance they once had.

“People, including myself (and Pan), got pretty busy with other things such as other clubs and schoolwork, and the results have shown in our club,” Strohl-Roy said.

However, the stagnant club has not completely given up on their

original goal, and has been working to maintain an effort of helping out with other projects.

“So far this year we’ve only done two major projects,” Strohl-Roy said. “The first being (at GBHS) when we worked alongside Bayside Church to clean up our campus and the other coming from when (Pan) and (senior) Chris Pei did some volunteer work in Sacramento.”

Despite the low number of projects contributed to, Strohl-Roy says she still hopes the club can be involved in future projects.

Besides the Eco Green club, another new club this year for GBHS, the Water Works Project Club, has seen relative success in their fundraisers and projects.

The club’s president, junior Anna Lim, has fully dedicated herself to the club and their mission.

“Currently we are recycling around campus to help raise (funds) to provide clean water sources to (impoverished African countries),” Lim said.

Since beginning their recycling event in early October, the club’s goal is to raise a grand total of $1,000, and so far Lim says that they are just past halfway in terms

Gazette photo illustration /LUKE CHIRBAS

Proper recycling habits are carried out through clubs on campus. of money collected.

“I definitely want to do this again next year and I hope someone can keep the club going (after I leave),” Lim said.

Treasurer of the club, senior Justin Habashi, says he couldn’t be more pleased with how the club has been raising their funds and the total amount of funds they have collected.

“As soon as (more events happen), we will certainly be past our set goal

of $1,000,” Habashi said.

In addition to their projected earnings, Habashi is more concerned with seeing that the funds raised actually produce a tangible result when all is said and done.

Similar to how the Key Club or Rotary Club at GBHS operate as a chapter of the national organization, the Water Works Project Club operates similarly.

See GREEN, page B7

New technology in development Latest and greatest gadgets coming into view for the future

BY AKASH KHOSLA

akhosla.gazette@gmail.com

Even though technology is advancing exponentially, most people in Granite Bay don’t get to see many of these kinds of advances because they are only concepts.

But the products for customers was at CES 2013, the Consumer Electronics Show of 2013. It recently took place in Las Vegas, showcasing all the revolutionary and trendy technology that will be coming to the U.S. and the consumers of Granite Bay very soon.

Most of these technologies featured at CES will be seen in our cars, TVs, consoles and other devices by the end of 2014.

From flexible phone screens to eye-controlled computers, CES is full of many interesting and useful products, but there were some eye catchers this year that even Granite Bay High students were interested in.

4K was a new technology introduced by several of the corporate TV makers such as Samsung, LG and Sony. It’s considered the next level of definition in television and media, but until TV shows and even Blu-Ray movies start displaying their media in that quality, most tech critics have said people should wait until 4K becomes

standardized and the price goes down. Currently, these televisions start at $10,000.

“I think 4K was pretty much the big hit there,” said Bradley Chee, a sophomore who specializes in the use of technology. “There’s no 4K media to play though, so there’s no need for it yet.”

Essentially, what 4K does is put a Retina display on a TV. “Apple has done a great job with their Retina displays on their phones. Putting them on TVs will only lead to further success,” said Karim Sharif, a sophomore who is a keen fan of Apple technology.

On the other hand, Sharif and others said 4K is fantastic for those viewing movies, especially on a bigger screen.

The technology will also be put into movie projectors.

Although few people will be buying a new 4K-equipped TV soon, the device offers a great way to future proof the technology in homes and for viewers to have a more immersive See TECHNOLOGY, page B6

Gazette illustration/THOMAS TAYLOR

Guard gains prestige Winter team gears up for a successful season and hopes for new members competition last year.

Out of 115 guards in the Western United States GBHS is ranked 11, and out of 324 Pressure is mounting as guards nationwide, the team Granite Bay High School’s Winter Guard prepares for its is ranked 34.

“We practice twice a week next season. from 6 to 9… (and) I practice People usually recognize one to two hours every day,” Guard solely by flag spinning performances at football senior co-captain Brian Coon said. “But games; howfor comever, there is petitions, a whole other Not a lot of we’re competitive side there all to the program. people know day.”

From Januabout it.

Not Coon ary to April, a lot of people has been Winter Guard involved uses sabers, give it the with flags, and rifles Guard credit it to produce a since his choreographed deserves. sophomore performance year. He to music. has gone – Senior Haley Marr Throughout the on to season, they rigcompete orously prepare with the for competiprestigious Blue Devils and tions and showcases along won the 2012 Performer of the way. the Year at the California Last year, GBHS’s Winter Color Guard Circuit.

Guard came out on top with With impressive titles and a number of significant influential teammates, new awards. members are entering into After getting first in the the program with the bar Scholastic AA Color Guard already set high.

Circuit, they went on to win “It was really hard at second place at a national

BY KRISTINE KHIEU

kkhieu.gazette@gmail.com

Gazette photo /CLEORA REBER

Senior co-captain Brian Coon prepares his routine with his fellow guard members in the cafeteria at GBHS.

first,” freshman Guard member Sarah Ehrlich said. “But, it got easier. We’ve been working really hard.”

Coached by Chris Marr and Vince Velasquez, and with the help of veteran members, the team has been strenuously working to prepare for their upcoming competitions.

This year, Winter Guard has a difficult season ahead of them. With many events planned all across California, Guard is applying the same rigor seen in the past season to the upcoming one.

Co-captain and senior Haley Marr believes that the path for another win is to put in a little more effort and perseverance to take them to the next level.

Even with their recent wins, Winter Guard has become a forgotten program in the plethora of activities at GBHS. “Not a lot of people know about it,” Marr said. “Not a lot of people really give it the credit it deserves.”

The team is hoping to break the stereotypes to encourage others to join.

See GUARD, page B6

B4 Lifestyle

Friday, February 15, 2013 w The Granite Bay Gazette

Common Sense Institute reaches out Student-run website shares opinions on local and worldwide news

BY KRISTINE KHIEU

kkhieu.gazette@gmail.com

In a generation where teenagers are more distanced from current events, a new student-run opinion site known as “Common Sense” has been reaching out to many students at Granite Bay High School.

This site was first founded by GBHS seniors Gokul Asokan, Michael Tom, Alexander Ware and Brian Wei in Dec. 2012, “It started when Michael first came up with the idea,” Ware said. “He asked (us) if it was a good idea to offer critiques and analysis on very sensitive and opinionated issues. We loved it and jumped onboard immediately.”

Common Sense’s goal centers on tackling controversial topics that are thought to have a profound impact on our society. The founders are dedicated to formulating solutions based on multiple sources.

This student-run site received the most traffic

with their first article, a scathing critique on “Every 15 Minutes,” a program that simulates a drunk-driving experience.

To most students, this program was emotionally impactful, but to some, including the minds behind Common Sense, it was unnecessary to go to such lengths to portray a message that, to them, was “manipulative.”

Overall, they argued the Every 15 Minutes program “trivializes the losses that we have sustained and turns us away from effecting meaningful change.”

Their debut was instantly met with passionate and opinionated debate and critiques from students from GBHS and the community.

According to Ware, this was just the beginning. Common Sense plans to tackle many other controversial issues such as gun and marriage rights.

“It’s good to see a different perspective on politics,” GBHS junior Parmeet Sahota said.

“Especially the independent opinions of stu-

dents that aren’t influenced by others.”

Common Sense currently derives most of its audience from the site’s Facebook page.

In an attempt to attract more students, the Common Sense editors have been posting online polls which allow readers to vote on what articles they want to see next.

By integrating social media into the site, readers are able to become more involved and interested with the content.

In addition, Facebook also serves as advertising by notifying its followers about new content.

Currently, the site’s other articles include essays on farm subsidies, the Cuban embargo and the carbon tax.

Even though the articles have been somewhat advertised on Facebook, Common Sense has lost momentum from its debut. These newer articles do not relate as easily to teenagers and are therefore, less popular.

“I think (the site is) too small to make a big

effect on those who don’t follow politics,” Sahota said. “(But) of course those who do follow politics can relate with the site’s content.”

Although Common Sense has attracted teenagers, with the story on Every 15 Minutes, the main goal is not to write relatable stories for teenagers, but to rather offer critiques and commentary on many different relevant and pressing issues.

“I want to see them continue the quality of their articles … and to never stray away from a topic because it might be too controversial,” said sophomore Maadhav Shah, who is a regular reader of Common Sense.

For the future, the team plans to continue putting out articles on sensitive topics and to do this even after they graduate from high school.

“We agreed that we’ll do as much as we can to keep putting out articles,” Ware said. “Hopefully our experiences after high school give us additional insight in the articles we release.”

Gazette illustration/LENA EYEN

From a private education to public GBHS Students adjust to life in a different school environment

BY BRIAN ZHUANG

bzhuang.gazette@gmail.com

The first day of school is always nervewracking and filled with anxiety – especially in an entirely different type of school.

Though some people get stressed before making the switch from a private to a public school, others are extremely excited to meet new people.

Sophomore Parker Bishop has been going to a private school for the majority of his life as a student – until he started at Granite Bay High as a freshman.

Many high school students would seemingly prefer public schools for the broader social experiences, but Bishop said he actually prefers the private school experience.

Bishop said he did better in his academics and he focused better in class when he was a student at St. Albans School, a non-religious private K-8 school in Roseville.

In classes with just 24 students, St. Albans teachers don’t have as many bodies crammed into their classrooms. Unlike private schools, GBHS teachers often have to deal with more than 100 students every day and class sizes that regularly approach 40.

“I like private schools better because of the smaller classes and better teachers,” Bishop said. “The teachers are more fun and dedicated to each student’s growth.”

Presumably, many students would prefer that kind of one-on-one time with the teachers in

a public school. This devoted time and effort could potentially boost up grades and scores for typical students.

On the other hand, many ex-private school students highly enjoy public schools because of the more social environment.

For many students, this social environment feels more welcoming, and it might help new students become more comfortable.

Junior Kenny Doran learned to be more social after his transfer to GBHS from St. Albans – but it took a while.

“Freshman year was pretty overwhelming because there were so many people,” Doran said. “But then over time you learn to adapt and become more sociable.”

Sophomore Alex Salidas prefers public school more than his private school experience at St. Albans because he likes to meet new people.

Salidas enjoys the excitement of meeting new teachers and new people with classes changing every term.

Although many ex-private school students like public schools because of the social atmosphere, some parents urge their children to attend a private school because of safety concerns.

But many former private school students said public schools are no different in safety than private schools. Because of the socioeconomic circumstances in Granite Bay, most students don’t have to worry about safety – but they’re not worried about safety in most private

schools, either.

“I never really felt unsafe in either of the schools,” said Bishop, the GBHS sophomore.

So while safety might not be an issue, the number and kinds of classes can be quite different in public versus private schools.

At St. Albans, for example, the schedule consists of eight classes with trimesters, and daily class sessions are about 45 minutes long.

At GBHS, new students often are initially overwhelmed by the longer periods.

According to Bishop, Salidas, and Doran, the private school stereotype of students being really restricted and uptight doesn’t really reflect any of their experiences.

“You just get used to everything there and it just seems normal, so it’s not bad at all,” Bishop said.

And so why do some students transfer? There are lots of reasons, and they’re unique to each student.

Former students at St. Albans who don’t want to attend Jesuit or St. Francis typically end up at GBHS. When they get to GBHS, they often already know some other students because they’ve usually been living in the area for some time.

Doran simply didn’t want to drive all the way to Jesuit every day.

At least for the GBHS transfers from St. Albans, their preferences are clear – they generally prefer the public school setting to a private school one.

“It’s just better,” Salidas said.

Gazette illustration/HAYLEY MCAVOY

If you really knew me,

Your names. Your faces.

The Gazette.

you would know...

Garbhita Shah

“I have a Black Belt in Taekwondo, a signature of my rarely portrayed aggressive side.”

Mattie Ramirez

Michelle Milligan

“I was the captain of the cheer team at my old school, (and I want to) try out for our school’s team next year.”

“I’ve been made fun of most of my life because of my size”

- Compiled by Neha Kompella

Friday, February 15, 2013

Lifestyle

w The Granite Bay Gazette

B5

Being a bilingual baby The advantages of knowing a second language

BY NEHA KOMPELLA

nkompella.gazette@gmail.com

Gazette illustration/ALEXA ZOGOPOULOS

Students get to work

When Camille Mallet learned English at the age of 10 in France, she never would have guessed that the skill would prove invaluable seven years later at Granite Bay High School.

As a French transfer student spending her senior year at GBHS, Mallet says that English has made her feel more capable.

“To work anywhere (in any country), you need to know either the language of the country or English,” Mallet said.

Mallet is just one of the 199 students at GBHS who speak a second language, many of whom believe that being bilingual has helped them.

Growing up in a bilingual household has many advantages, including maintaining close ties to a different culture and being able to communicate fluently in a different country.

For students like Kristina Ledwith, a sophomore who speaks Thai at home and visits Thailand frequently, knowing both the language and the culture has been a defining experience.

“It makes me view a different culture the way I normally wouldn’t,” Ledwith said. “And, it helps me with other languages.”

In fact, many studies have found

that bilingual students may find it easier to learn a third or even fourth language.

This is due to the Broca’s Area, an area on the dominant frontal lobe of the brain that is linked to speech production.

When a language is learned, the information associated with that language is stored in the Broca’s Area, which is essentially the activation area for that language.

In a child who has grown up speaking two languages from birth, the two areas of activation are found to overlap.

This is very different from the child who learns a second language later in life, as in this situation, the two areas of activation are separated, and there is no overlap.

Those who learn a second language growing up are more likely to gain a level of enunciation that is not so readily available to those who learn it later. “(And that’s why) children who grow up in bilingual households are able to learn multiple languages easier and faster than those who do not grow up in a bilingual home,” Dr. Jaclyn Pasco, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente, said. “Those who grow up in bilingual households have an improved enunciation of the languages (in comparison to) those who attempt to learn the language

at a later date.”

Dr. Phani Vadarevu, a specialist in geriatrics from Folsom, elaborated on how being bilingual may not just be beneficial as a child, but even as a senior citizen.

“By learning a second language, we are finding…that the symptoms of old age may be delayed,” Vadarevu said.

This is because those who speak more than one language on a daily basis are constantly forced to remember different grammatical forms, tenses, and vocabulary to express the same things.

“The earlier in life you learn a second language, the more likely it is to help you in any way,” Vadarevu said.

One way that knowing two languages may help in high school is by extending into a third language.

Josè Luna, a sophomore at Granite Bay who speaks both Spanish and English fluently, finds that very true.

“It’s better to know more than one language because it can help you learn another language,” Luna said. “I find French easier because it’s very similar to Spanish…it can extend into you becoming trilingual.”

Luna also finds that living in three different countries and See BILINGUAL, page B6

Careers range from the yogurt to car industry

(also) sing to every single song because we know (all) the lyrics.” djohnson.gazette@gmail.com As far as her future there, she does not plan to pursue a career in the yogurt business.

Students at Granite Bay High School have waded “I’m going to college,” Martin said. into the tumultuous job market with the hope of findSome students have bravely ventured out from ing some serious cash and maybe some free sandwich- food services. Of those students, senior Joey Blackwell es to go with it. has taken the plunge and has found himself in a Rachel Lyon is one such student bucket full of suds. Blackwell helps wash cars at receiving bread in more than one Dirt Buster’s Car Wash. way. She gets both a nice wage and “I do rim jobs and pressure wash cars,” I want to give some free food from the growing Blackwell said. “There is really nothing fun the people restaurant Jack’s Urban Eats. about that job.”

Lyon has worked at Jack’s for For Blackwell, the decision to start working justice. seven months. at Dirt Busters was not been entirely his.

“I make food, serve people and I “(I started working) mainly because my – Will George, ring people up,” Lyon said. parents made me,” Blackwell said. “They wanted GBHS senior Although the Lyon’s job contains me to learn the concept of a job.” a simple routine, times do come While washing cars is pretty straight-forward, when she has to step up and deal difficulties can occur with certain customers. with drama of the real world.

“We had a guy who was not being very po“We (can) have crazy customers. lite to our Hispanic employees, and he wouldn’t One lady is a scam artist (who) tries let them do their job,” Blackwell said. “He to get free food every time,” Lyon actually picked the rag up himself and began said. working.”

In overwhelming situations like these, Lyon chooses Many students at GBHS have found jobs with an asto consult those with a little more work experience. sortment of different descriptions. Blackwell typically “I make my manager handle it,” she said. finds himself enjoying his paycheck at dining options Another such student who has found a career in conveniently close to Dirt Busters. the restaurant business is Morgan Martin. Martin Some even found potential career choices. After works at the local yogurt store Nuyo. working at Green and Hall Law Firm, senior Will She receives a $3.50 credit on yogurt while working George has been inspired to pursue a career in law. and 30% off any purchase at Nuyo when she’s off the “(I want to) give the people justice,” George said. clock.

State champion football player Justin Ramirez has “I eat a lot of yogurt,” Martin said. found a unique career as a chauffeur for elderly people She also enjoys the camaraderie at Nuyo. She has who can no longer drive themselves. It’s a career he enjoyed getting to know all of the other employees thinks he may pursue in the future. through the 18 months she’s worked there.

“Maybe (I could) become a limo driver for Kobe “We dance around in the lobby,” Martin said. “We Bryant,” Ramirez said. “(Or) something like that.”

BY DAN JOHNSON

how to...

Fish-tail braid your hair 1. Part hair down the middle and separate into two large sections.

2. Grab a thin strand of hair from the outside of the left section, pull it over the top of the left section, and weave it under the right section. For best results, use skinnier strands.

3. Repeat step two, pulling a strand from the right section.

Grab a thin strand of hair from the outside of the right section, pull it over the top of the right section, and weave it under the left section.

4. Continue to alternate sides, weaving strands over and under until you reach the end of the braid.

5. Secure your finished braid with a hair tie or clear rubber band.

-Compiled by Kristin Taylor

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

Gazette photo /MEGAN HANSEN

Jack’s Urban Eats employee Rachel Lyon works at the cash register of the popular restaurant.

B6 Lifestyle

Friday, February 15, 2013 w The Granite Bay Gazette

Random facts

Random club of the month

A list of facts you will never need to know but always find interesting

One of 2,128 GBHS students is randomly selected every issue

President: Senior Kimberly Sinclair Gazette: Who is eligible to join your club?

Anyone can join the club who has interest in astronomy.

Cows “moo” in different accents according to where the live. Just like humans talk.

Why should students join your club?

Students should join in order to develop a greater understanding of the heavens, meet fellow students who are passionate about science, and get great opportunities to stargaze.

If two full moons occur in a month, the second full moon is called a blue moon.

Google was originally called Backrub.

What do you do during club meetings?

During club meetings, we discuss current developments in cosmology, physics, astronomy, and other related fields. Also, we go to a local observatory once a month to view deep sky objects. Occasionally, we perform a small-scale experiment to analyze tangible astronomy.

The first TV show to be put into reruns was “The Lone Ranger.”

In 1878, the first telephone book issued only had 50 names.

Facebook engineers originally wanted to call the “Like” button the “Awesome” button.

Most people have lost 50 percent of their taste buds by the time they reach the age of 60.

Source: http://www.allrandomfacts.com/

Gazette photo /SUMMER HAeNnY

Alex Stamas, sophomore What are you most looking forward to this sophomore year?

Definitely when the school volleyball season starts.

Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi?

Coke.

What is your favorite color?

Chartreuse, because it is the most fun to say.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A pediatrician because I would like to help people.

If you could be on any NFL football team, what team would you pick?

The San Francisco Forty-niners because I’m a band-wagon fan.

Over the past few years, the number of Guard members has fallen. With less than 20 people on the team, GBHS’s Winter Guard struggles to find new people.

Despite this, the group continues to do well and is encouraging students to sign up for the program next year.

According to Coon, being open to trying new things and being up to working hard are the only requirements needed to join Winter Guard. Dance and equipment training are all a part of the program.

“Every single one of the new (members) has caught on so well this year,” Marr said.

“It’s amazing how far they’ve

come and how far they’ve progressed.”

Guard is a great program not only to learn a new skill but also to build a close team and network of friends.

For the future, GBHS’s Winter Guard is trying to bring the program to students at junior high schools in the hopes that they will continue on at GBHS. In fact, several members are volunteering their time to aid in coaching this new junior high school team.

With great coaching and dedicated members, the stage is set for yet another successful season.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Ehrlich said “and I think we’re going to have a great year.”

Continued from page B5 experiencing the variety of culture and language has given him an advantage over monolingual students. “(Learning a second language) has definitely given me an advantage. I feel more capable in the languages area,” he said.

As Camille Mallet finishes her senior year here at

experience.

Smart TVs have been around for some time, but many companies are introducing a new line of smart products – so-called smart appliances.

Many argue that smart appliances are rather useless because they contain the same functionality of a tablet, but convenience was the key factor corporations were aiming for.

But sophomore Walker Knauss said he thinks smart appliances are potentially useful, and he said there will eventually be a market for them.

“When you’re too lazy to open the fridge and make the meal yourself, it’s possible these appliances could eventually have the ability to create the meal for you,” Knauss said.

Smart appliances are the next

step in the campaign of having a smart house. Many predict these types of appliances will soon be the standard.

Cars are also taking a turn in terms of technology. Whether its Audi’s light technology or windshield interfaces, companies are making changes that are really intuitive – but they might make cars more distracting.

“People do enough distracting things in the car,” Knauss said.

“They need to focus on the driving, or accident rates will go up.”

On the other end, some have argued that smart technology in vehicles might actually result in fewer driver distractions.

“It may be a disturbance, but with more technologies, we could have more hand-free techniques to prevent distractions,” Sharif said.

CES also displayed gaming technology such as a new console

Continued from page B1

Gazette photo /CLEORA REBER

Brian Coon practices guard.

known as Project Shield that apparently can play any game on the go and is basically a controller with a screen mounted on it. But what really caught the attention of many who attended or watched the broadcasts was something in the virtual reality category – the Oculus Rift.

Virtual reality has been somewhat abandoned over the last few years, because it was never immersive or realistic enough to give a worthwhile experience.

But the Rift changes that.

With $2.4 million raised in a Kickstarter fund, the creators of the Rift device managed to make it to CES with the brilliance of the Irvine-based company’s engineers.

“It’s the future of the gaming industry,” said Chee, the GBHS sophomore. “Virtual reality has been around for a while, but this is something revolutionary.”

BUS RIDE: A student’s adventures The bus was fairly expensive for a single ride.

It cost me $4.00 to ride the bus about four miles.

But it is a much better deal with an unlimited

thirty day pass for $58.

Riding the bus forces you to keep to a very tight schedule, but it will get you to where you need to go.

Bus trips to Sunsplash or the mall are relatively

–Compiled by Willow Wood

GBHS and moves on towards her future, she leaves behind parting advice for those currently learning a second language.

“Be immersed by the language in movies, music (and more) and if you can, travel and spend time with people who speak this language, even if you make some mistakes.” she said. “You will learn easily and faster.”

NEW YEARS: Students pursue goals set at the beginning of the 2013 year

TECHNOLOGY: 21st century devices emerge in fast-growing businesses Continued from page B3

What is your favorite memory from your club?

My favorite memory from my club is the time, last year, that about six of us took the trip down to Sac City College in the middle of the day to watch the Venus Transit.

BILINGUAL: Knowing many languages can help you throughout your lifetime

GUARD: Students aim for great success Continued from page B3

When and where does your club meet?

Our club meets after school once a month in Room 609. The day of the week varies.

–Compiled by Tamren Johnk

–Compiled by Madison Touloukian

Continued from page B8

Astronomy Club

cheap and since they are on the A and B lines, the busses come much more frequently which makes your time less restricted.

As I arrived at my church after a 45 minutes bus ride, including

my layover at the transfer point, I realized that although it would be much more difficult than driving my car, the bus is a legitimate form of transportation for those who need it.

“I feel like most people, including myself, forget or just stop caring as much when life starts getting too complicated and busy,” Reynolds said.

Optimism is a common feeling around GBHS, as student athletes step up their game for the new year.

Sophomore Sarah Cady is a competitive equestrian who views the new year as a time to achieve the goals that she’s been working towards for years. “(I want to) compete in bigger medals and move up in competition,” Cady said.

She aims to compete in more difficult horse-back riding events and compete in shows with steeper competition. Unlike most new years resolutions,

Cady’s is something that can only be achieved because of the hard work from prior years.

“I’m hoping it will last all year, because it’s something I’ve been working towards for a few years, so we’ll see where it goes,” Cady said.

As she sets her sights on greater competition, her daily habits change in order to further improve her riding.

“I’ve been working on my leg position to make sure it’s stronger,” Cady said. “I’ve been running (…) and focusing on horses a lot more than (my) friends because it’s a bigger priority for me.”

Cady believes that her greatest motivation comes from within.

“I like to be competitive and I like to push myself,” she said. “If I win or even get to where I want

to be it will complete my (goal).”

Similar to athletic goals, senior Lorenzo Burgos plans on practicing the drums this new year in order to improve as a musician.

“Being good at your instrument is (the core) of being a musician,” Burgos said.

He also plans on reconnecting with his family during 2013. His family of four has made sure to participate in a family dinner at least once a week.

“We don’t see each other much during the week because we’re so busy,” Burgos said.

This time together has given them all a chance to hold one another accountable for their resolutions.

“We review our resolutions and make sure we’re staying on track,” Burgos

said.

Some GBHS may students fall into the 52 percent of people surveyed by Intel Company who genuinely believe they will continue their resolutions throughout the year.

But why is the new year such a great time to change something about yourself?

“It’s a new start to what’s going on in your life and you get a new year to fix what you’ve already tried,” Cady said.

The idea of a fresh start is appealing to many who want to make a change.

“In my head, I visualize the months like a giant clock,” Reynolds said.

“For me, the new year feels like a start of a new rotation, a new hour. It’s as good a starting point as any to try to make positive changes in one’s life.”

CULTURE: Lives are enriched when students attend more than one school Continued from page B1 “I use it when talking to my extended family, who don’t speak much English,” Leung said. “When I visit (my) Chinese relatives and family friends, I can socialize with them, and it’s always makes a good impression that I know the language.”

Unlike Rabishaw and Ganapathi,

however, Leung mostly learned how to read and write Mandarin, as opposed to more religious topics.

“I learned Chinese culture but mainly how to speak and write Mandarin,” she said. “(I worked on) dialogues (and) essays, it’s really similar to the things you learn in language here at GBHS… except in Chinese, of course.”

The one thing that these students

have in common, however, is their belief that their cultural school and the lessons that they have learnt there have shaped who they are.

“I like how since I’m Chinese, I know my language and it’s part of my culture,” Leung said. “And I think it’s great to be able to retain my origins and customs.”

Your names. Your faces. The Gazette.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Lifestyle B7

w The Granite Bay Gazette

College of the Month: University of California, Berkeley

Who: 25,885 students Where: Berkeley, California Tuition and Fee Cost: $11,767 Acceptance Rate: 21.6% U.S. News Ranking: #21 School Colors: Yale blue and California gold Mascot: Oski T. Bear, Golden Bear Athletics:

• More than half of all seniors at UC Berkeley assist faculty with research.

• The Bench is the official Cal Bears spirit section for home basketball games.

• All students in The Bench are required to stand during the entire game.

• The marching band is one of oldest marching bands on the West Coast.

GREEN: Clubs direct their attention to the environment However, the Water Works Project Club at GBHS is not officially recognized by the international organization known as the Water Works Project.

Despite this minor setback, the club operates with the assistance and communication with their parent company.

“Back earlier in the year (our club) contacted the (company) and told them our goal and willingness to help,” Habashi said. “(The Water Works Project) was very responsive (to us) and they sent us supplies and guidance to help us meet our goals.”

Sadly, Habashi says that since their club is not officially recognized, they

are planning on giving the Water Works Project their complete sum of funds at the end of the year through an approved bank account, which has caused some minor problems.

“We (give our) funds to the county who then sets up the bank account for us, (which will then) allow us to be an official school club,” Habashi said.

Above all, Habashi says that the work that Lim has done for the club is the reason why they have seen such a successful year despite being a first-year club.

“The work she puts into the club is just remarkable,” Habashi said. “She really wants to help out (so we) will have a strong year after this one.”

CollegeBoard SAT

un- Official SATpractice guide

Match the words in the first column with the definitions in the second column. Each chalkboard is its own separate game. Answers can be found below.

Campus Life:

Gazette illustration/AUSTIN ALCAINE • Cal Berkeley has more than 29 Fun Facts: men’s and women’s athletic teams.

• More than 84 national championships • The 750 pound California Victory have been won by Cal teams.

Cannon is shot off at beginning of •More than 90 Olympic medals have every home football game, every time been awarded to Cal students and Cal scores and after every Cal victory. coaches.

• The basketball player with the biggest shoes donates their shoes to Oski Academics: T. Bear at the end of every season.

• The gold nugget that set off the Cali• Over 7,000 courses are offered at UC fornia Gold Rush is held at one of the Berkeley. university libraries.

• It is rated the best public school in the country.

- Compiled by Summer Haenny

Continued from page B3

The

Chalkboard 2

Chalkboard 1 1. Zarzuela 2. Festoon 3. Fanfaronade 4. Euchre 5. Heliacal

a. Empty boasting; bluster b. Relating to or near the sun c. A decorative chain or strip hanging between two points d. A private showing or preview of an art exhibition e. A trivial or childish lie

6. Mise-en-scene 7. Tutelary 8. Taradiddle 9. Vernissage 10. Campestral

f. Of or relating to fields or open country; rural g. A usually comic Spanish operetta h. Having the guardianship of a person or a thing i. The arrangement of actors and scenery on a stage for theatrical production j. To cheat of trick

- Compiled by Gokul Asokan

Continued from above; The un-Official SAT practice guide answers: 1. G, 2. C, 3. A, 4. J, 5. B, 6. I, 7. H, 8. E, 9. D, 10. F

SENIORITIS: Students struggle to continue working Continued from page B2 do and enjoy what they do continue to work normally.

“My stress has been reduced considerably, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say I

have senioritis. I’m still going to try to finish off the year strong,” senior Brian Wei, the current valedictorian, said.

With lots of hard work, Wei managed to fit as many academics and extracurriculars as he could into his schedule.

“I’m not entirely jealous of those who are slacking off, since I still have free time to do things I want to do,” Wei said.

“Since I’ve already endured most of my high school career, giving up now would be a waste,” he said.

Green emails members who weren’t able to make it what they missed.

With Green’s graduation coming up, she feels good about parting with the club she helped establish.

“I feel good about (leaving the club behind after graduation) because I have a sophomore and junior who are taking over next year,” Green said.

Vice President Camille Newbold, a senior, shares her insights. She helped cofound the club with Green.

“Kelsey and I just really wanted to be a part of the school and we were thinking of different clubs and Kelsey brought up the idea of a Make-a-Wish Club and I thought

it was a great idea,” Newbold said.

The feelings Newbold had when the club was raised the $5,000 dollars were indescribable. It took a few days to count all the coins and money that resulted from the many fundraisers, but the end result was completely worth it.

“I felt extremely happy,” Newbold said.

“I was really proud of (not only) what we did, but also the school, because the school was generous enough to give us the resources for fundraising and also the students and teachers who donated. It was a huge goal for us and it felt amazing when we finally counted up all the money.”

WISH: Club makes patient’s dream come true Continued from page B2 coin drive generated $1,500. The classrooms that raised the most money were Thomas Farmer’s, Jarrod Westberg’s, and Karl Grubaugh’s classes. An incentive of donuts was offered to motivate students to donate money.

“Mr. Farmer didn’t tell his kids about the donuts. He just wanted them to give from their hearts,” Green said. “He told me he didn’t want any donuts, so (when they raised the money) I just went to their class and said thank you (and) I gave the donuts to Grubaugh and Westberg’s classes.”

The club meets about once a month, and

B8 Lifestyle

Bus ride time

Friday, February 15, 2013 w The Granite Bay Gazette

A student investigates the use of public transportation

BY CHASE EVANS

cevans.gazette@gmail.com

If you have driven around Roseville for a very long time, you might see a rare sight once every blue moon. And by blue moon, I mean a big blue bus.

The Roseville bus system has large, blue, ecofriendly buses that drive around the city escorting what seems to be nobody.

I decided to try and ride the bus to see if it was a valid use of transportation at all, and if so, who uses it.

My first bus ride consisted of two main parts – preparation and execution.

Through my experience, I realized that the Roseville transportation system is both awful and amazing at the same time.

Working my way around the Roseville public transit website and getting the information I needed proved to be quite challenging. After clicking on links to the wrong part of the website many times, I eventually stumbled on a huge map of Roseville with different colored lines on it.

There are 12 different bus systems in Roseville, each converging at transfer points and diverging to different areas of the city.

Each of the bus systems has a seemingly random letter of the alphabet that it corresponds with and after about 10 minutes of searching the poorly-drawn map I stumble upon where I live.

It turns out that the G bus has a pick-up point less than five minutes from my house and I never knew it existed.

The website has a really handy feature called “Roseville Bus Tracker,” which monitors the buses and approximates when the bus will arrive at each pick up point.

This all seemed very straightforward, and I was excited to ride the bus for the very first time.

With a plan mapped out to get to my church roughly four miles away, I embarked to my bus stop to experience the bus.

My church starts at 7:00 p.m. every Wednesday, but the G bus stops running at 6:30, so my plan was to take the G bus at 5:55, transfer to the A bus at the Sierra Gardens transfer point and then take the A bus to my church.

In order to make sure I got on the bus, I left 20 minutes early, and watched the Roseville Bus Tracker.

As I wait for the stoplight to change to let me cross the street to my bus stop, I watched the G bus fly past the bus stop with approximately 16 minutes left on the Bus Tracker.

That was the last bus for the night.

If I had needed to rely on the bus for transportation, I would have been stranded five miles away from my destination with no more busses coming because the Bus Tracker was off by 15 minutes.

However, I walked home and took my car to church and waited for the next week to try the bus again.

I was determined to get on that bus.

This time, I left more than a half an hour early, knowing that the Bus Tracker could be off. I arrived at the bus stop and proceeded to wait there by myself. The bus came, but 10 minutes past its posted arrival time on the Bus Tracker.

I got on the bus, looked around and said hello to the bus driver.

“You have special card?” he asked with a heavy Slavic accent.

I replied with a no.

“Then one dollar (and) fifty (cents) for you,” he said. “No change.”

I put in two dollars because I didn’t have any quarters and sat down on the empty bus.

“Buckle your seat belt. Technically this is (a) van,” the bus driver said.

As we pulled out of the bus stop, I explained to the bus driver that I am writing a story for the Granite Bay High School newspaper about public transportation in Roseville.

“That is good,” he said. “More people need to know about the bus. I think less people ride (the bus) because nobody knows.”

He proceeded to tell me how a majority of the people who ride the bus are elderly people who can’t drive anymore.

He told me that because most of the customers are old, very few people ride the bus in the late afternoon and night.

The A bus and the B bus get the most customers because they are close to many Roseville locations.

“The G bus does not have many people ever,” he said.

He went on to clarify that students do ride the bus. The Roseville Bus system offers a $10 all-summer bus pass to youth, which, according to the bus driver is used by many young people.

“They get on (the) bus, go to Sunsplash, go to movies (and) then go home,” he said.

As we drive along, he looks at each empty bus stop, mumbles something, and then drives on.

I ask him what he is saying.

“Ah, it is nothing. We have little nicknames for each stop,” he said.

After about a 10 minute ride for about two miles, we arrived at the transfer point. The transfer point is across the street from Fry’s and the post office.

I thanked the bus driver and he promised that the A bus will come soon.

I got off of the bus and sit on a long bench in the dark by myself.

Five minutes after sitting on the bench, I encountered two different types of people taking advantage of public transportation.

The first was a very startling encounter. As I sat on the bench writing notes from what the bus driver told me, I heard a man walking up to the stop, grunting with each step.

I expected it to be a homeless man from his gait and noises but as I turn to look at him, it was a man about 25 years old, 6’4, and 240 pounds.

To the left of me was a discarded shopping cart and as he walked over, he examined it and put his hands on it.

Then, to my complete surprise, he smashed the shopping cart on the ground over and over

again until it broke.

At this point, I was fairly terrified, feeling a bit out of my element and to my horror, he sat down directly next to me with his legs touching mine.

We proceeded to have a conversation, in which he continued to use large amounts of profanity to convey his emotions. “(Are) you waiting for the bus?” he asked.

After every sentence in the conversation he would say a sentence, laugh uncomfortably, take a drag from his cigarette, and say an expletive.

And like that, he began to speak to me for the next 10 minutes about his life and why he had to take the bus.

He explained to me that he used to have a car, but he got caught driving without owning a license so he had to go to jail. Then he lost his car but now he has a license and is looking for a car.

“I’ve been riding the bus for two years now,” he said.

And then he summarized his two years of riding the bus in a single sentence.

“Riding the bus is a (hassle),” he said.

Finally the bus pulls up and I get on, again paying $1.50 and I met more bus riders.

There were three people on this bus.

A man in a business outfit who seemed to be returning from work, and a Hispanic couple with groceries in their arms.

All three had a long term bus pass and seemed like seasoned veterans of the bus system.

From my observations, using the bus is a form of transportation that isn’t used casually, but when worked into your lifestyle, can work as a mode of transportation.

See BUS RIDE, page B6 Gazette illustration/LENA EYEN

Sports

Granite Bay Gazette

C1 Section

Friday w February 15, 2013

Commentary

Boys grapple with problems in roster

brad wong

brwong.gazette@gmail.com

Fan culture – is it taking a turn for worse?

It’s been an exciting time for sports fans, especially football junkies.

The past few months have been packed with wild card games, playoff berths, division championships, and the game I was childishly impatient to see, the dubbed Har-Bowl.

But, through all the cheering, watching the best of the best, and enjoyment of football parties, I’ve come to detest something.

“You’re such a bandwagon!”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase or have been accused of it, especially during the Super Bowl season.

For those who don’t know, bandwagon is a derogatory term to describe someone who likes a team solely because they are suddenly performing well.

Sometimes, arguments get to a personal level where because he/ she is a bandwagon, that makes him/her a horrible fan and person by extension.

Just because you know every single player on the depth chart, or know each players’ alma mater, that does not give you the right to attack others with less esoteric knowledge.

The day after the San Francisco 49ers beat the Falcons, I told my friend how excited I was, his response…

“You’re such a bandwagon!”

I was annoyed because I’ve followed the 49ers because as a lifelong Stanford fan, I tracked Jim Harbaugh’s process into the NFL. It just irritates me that people chastise others for liking a team, regardless of any justification.

And I’m certain my case has no exception, on campus and outside of school I’ve heard and seen plenty other fan altercations, verbal or otherwise.

Is this how our fanship in America has changed? Where the best fan is the only fan and all others are mere wannabees?

I hope fellow fans haven’t lost sight of what spectator sports are supposed to be, at least in my mind – enjoyment and camaraderie.

This may seem like such a petty annoyance, but nothing irritates me more than having to explain why I have the privilege to like a team.

Fan arguing has shifted from who is the most efficient passer in the league, to how long one has watched a team play.

Now with other sports mounting on the horizon, most notably baseball, I hope I won’t have to deal with the same accusations and won’t have to hear the same pointless debates.

So what if I like the San Francisco Giants? They are a local team, why shouldn’t I pay attention to my surroundings, no less a defending World Series Champion?

So, for those ESPN aficionados and statistic zombies, good for you, you have an expansive knowledge of many professional athletes.

But, the sad reality is that this debate in sports will never go away, as irascible as it is.

That is unless I’m only a die-hard lover of the Sacramento Kings… or Seattle Supersonics, whatever they’re supposed to be called. *** Brad Wong, a senior, is a Gazette sports editor.

Gazette photo /LUKE CHIRBAS

GBHS wrestlers are impacted by missing athletes in certain weight classes

BY NICOLE BALES

nbales.gazette@gmail.com

The goal of Granite Bay High School sport teams is to make it to the state championships. But what happens when fall sport teams make it to competitions that overlap with the beginning of winter sports?

The GBHS football team made it to the state championships last year, but since football, a fall sport, was still continuing after the winter sport season started, some of the two-sport athletes were unable or to burned out to compete in winter sports.

This is a contributing factor to why the wrestling team, a winter sport, experi-

enced a decline in participating athletes this year.

In the past, there have always been 40 to 50 athletes, but this year there was just under 30.

The GBHS wrestling team is currently in league finals and will be advancing to divisional, masters and the state meet the first week of March.

The League Duels lost by four points and gave 18 points in forfeits in weight classes.

GBHS wrestling coach Shane Dixon said since the team didn’t have any athletes to compete in the weight classes, the athletes of which usually come from football, cost them the League Duel.

C2

Athlete of the Month

C3

Rising Star

r

C4

“I’d love for my athletes to do all the season (sports), because I think there’s benefit in doing all that,” Dixon said. “It just so happens that this (football season) in particular was extra long.”

With practice every day of the week and matches on Saturday, Dixon said wrestling can be a pretty grueling sport, especially when combined with a fall sport.

Although the team as a whole was unable to perform to the best of their abilities, individuals can still advance toward the state meet.

“Overall I think the state has made it hard by having these additional play-off See WRESTLING, page C5

Multi-sport athletes feel the physical effect Injuries aren’t a rare occurrence for many players

BY BRAD WONG brwong.gazette@gmail.com

At Granite Bay High School, athletes are watched in amazement because of their unique talents.

Fans flock to see the game-winning touchdown under the Friday night lights, or the slam dunk on the hardwood.

What many often forget though, is the physical toll on many of these players, who are merely teenagers, not so different than

any other GBHS student.

With more hours spent practicing in the summer than any other past team and a season that lasted until December, varsity football players had a trying year.

This apparently paid off in the form of a state championship, but senior football players were certainly glad to wrap up the season and give their bodies a rest from the past four years.

Senior and defensive lineman Tyler Arneson, who also plays lacrosse, has dislocated his right shoulder three times, sustained a severe concussion.

Aside from these major sportsinduced injuries, Arneson has chronic hip flexor problems as a result of the wear and tear of his sports.

“The first two dislocations took

Possible creation of a new SFL Section officials propose a tentative realignment, combining more schools

BY AUSTIN PINK

apink2.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School’s state championship victory this year signaled a second state title for the Sierra Foothill League in the last two years.

As the four-year tenure of the SFL’s most-recent alignment reaches its end, a new realignment proposal is in the works.

Section officials recently announced their proposal to

add Oak Ridge and recent Division II state football champion Folsom to make the SFL one of the strongest football leagues in the state.

This change would apply to all California Interscholastic Federation approved sports and change the playoff picture for all schools in the section.

The SFL would become the premier high school sports

inside sports Grizz Quiz

“Easily that cost us our first League Duel and probably our second one, (where) we lost by six points,” Dixon said.

The team won their next two duels, but had a hard loss to Del Oro High School.

“If we would have had the guys on the team (we had) last year back this year, (and) everyone healthy, we would have had a good match,” Dixon said.

Although the wrestling team had a tougher season than usual because of the two-sport athletes that were unable to compete this year, Dixon still encourages his athletes to do as many school sports as they can, while being conscious of when their bodies need a break.

Q & A with Isiah Thomas Sacramento Kings’ point guard tells his story about his path leading up to his NBA career

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about two-three weeks to get my game a little nervous but once strength and stathe adrenaline bility back to an kicked in I didn’t acceptable level think about it,” to play,” ArneArneson said. son said, “after Despite the My injury was the third that physical and more of a mental mental hardships required surgery; thing than it took around Arneson tolersix months to he leaves anything else, it’s ated, recover.” no regrets for constantly at the his high school The concussion Arneson back of my mind. career. experienced “I plan on also caused him continuing to – Senior Kevin to have trouble play football moving immein college and Blank diately followbeing on a team ing the injury, like I was built and required my confidence,” two weeks to Arneson said, “I recovery. will have memories and lessons “In both cases I went into each that will stay with me for life and

that, to me, outweighs the pain I have gone through,” Arneson said.

Another senior, runningback John Cooley, has sustained his share of physical setbacks. Two shoulder injuries and a knee injury have totaled for just over six months of recovery time.

Cooley broke his shoulder and tore his labarum and twisted his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee before football season last year, but healed quickly.

To strengthen his shoulder, Cooley would attend physical therapy once a week and work the small muscles in his shoulders, which was a painful experience.

“My shoulder is still not the same at all and never will be,” See INJURIES, page C5

JV swim has new coach

As a football player, I’d say the team has always wanted to play Folsom because of (its) recognition as a powerhouse – Junior Jack Dockham

See SECTION, page C5

Swimmers are optimistic of season under new leadership by current GBHS teacher

BY AUSTIN ALCAINE

aalcaine.gazette@gmail.com

The Granite Bay High School junior varsity swim team has a new head coach.

GBIT Jared Amalong teacher has taken over as head coach of the junior varsity swim team and many swimmers are very excited for the new elements he will bring to the team.

“I am really excited for the upcoming year with coach Amalong,” JV swimmer Cody Hurtado said, “he seems like he is going to do a great job with the

Fan rivalries Students use social media as outlets to create tension between high school sports teams

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team and have a lot of positive vibes.”

Last years JV swim team went undefeated, giving Amalong a lot to coach up to.

“There is a bunch of wonderful guys on the team already,” Amalong said, “I previously coached at Rocklin and we were always trying to be like these guys,” Amalong knows that he is already coaching an exceptional group of swimmers and he wants to bring a positive influence to the See SWIM, page C5

Rugby gains popularity This emerging sport provides a fast-paced alternative to other options

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C2 Sports

Friday, February 15 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Basketball star Isaiah Thomas tells his story Player balanced academics with athletics throughout career

BY LENA EYEN

leyen.gazette@gmail.com

Recently, the Gazette’s own Lena Eyen sat down for an interview with Sacramento King’s point guard Isaiah Thomas to talk about his road to the NBA and his experience this year with his team.

The following is a transcript of the conversation.

What was your high school basketball experience like, and how did you find a balance between academics and pursuing basketball?

Actually in high school, with me, it was kind of the other way around. I didn’t really focus on my school work and it kind of hurt me because I went to three years of high school and then I went to (preparatory) school on the east coast in Connecticut because I had to go there to get my academics in order for me to attend the University of Washington. But once I made that move, I really buckled down and focused on getting my grades right, knowing that I needed my grades to get into college which was the next level I was trying to go to.

Do you think there is a tradeoff if you want to excel in either academics or sports?

Not really, I think you can do both at a high level. I mean, especially if you’ve done it for a while.

Maybe at first, when you first start

For the complete transcript of the Gazette’s interview with Isaiah Thomas, go to granitebaytoday.org to get into basketball, or whatever sport it is, handling both of them is kind of hard. But once you get the hang of it, you know how to do it.

You can get the best grades you possibly can and you can do well on the basketball court.

What would you say is your most memorable, non-basketball high school experience?

Probably graduating high school.

That was a big one for me because it took a lot out of me, and like I said, I had to go through going to “regular” high school then transferring all the way to the East coast and going to a prep. school to obtain my diploma. So that was probably the biggest thing.

And throughout that, you’re goal was to get to the NBA? Yes it was. And knowing that I might not be able to go to college because my grades weren’t right made me act right.

What were the factors in your decision to go back and finish your degree at the University of Washington?

With me, it was just that I was so

close. I was so close to graduating.

When I left a year early, I was actually ahead in my credits. I had a talk with my coach Romar, Coach Romar is there at the University of Washington, and my academic advisors and they were like, I think it would be a good idea to try to finish since you’re so close. Because a lot of guys who leave early say they are gonna go back, but once you take two or three years off, you know, it’s likely you’re not going back because its just so hard. So, I was so close, and then they gave me the opportunity to go back and take my classes online.

And, I made a promise to my parents that I would go back and finish, and I just felt like, if I don’t do it now, I won’t get it done, so why not do it now.

Last May, the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District voted to cut high school sports and other extra-curricular programs because of state budget troubles.

Hundreds of concerned parents and students expressed their concern about the changes, causing issues within the district.

So, in times of economic hardship, what keeps high school sports off the chopping block when districts have budgets to slash and deficits to offset?

The difficulty of funding sports and other extracurricular programs is shared by plenty of other school districts across the state, including the Roseville Joint Union High School District and its five comprehensive schools – Granite Bay High, Oakmont High, Antelope High, Woodcreek High and Rosville High.

“Direct cost to (our) district is roughly $2.4 million per year to fund athletics at the five comprehensive high schools,” GBHS athletic director Tim Healy said.

“But it’s a low investment cost with really big returns.”

Among them, according to Healy, is an “enhanced education” for student athletes.

“Students who are connected to their school through sports are more committed

Grizz Quiz

Composed by Hayley McAvoy

Dark or milk chocolate?

Do you have a Valentine?

Max Ellinthorpe Boys’ swim

Sacramento Kings player Isaiah Thomas sat down with the Gazette’s own Lena Eyen to talk about his experience in the NBA.

Many students weigh the pros and cons of idea

BY JONAH POCZOBUTT

associations unrelated to schools. Sports like soccer, baseball, basketball, lacrosse and volleyball among others, are available to students along with the sports offered at the high school.

Seen as a good way to stay sharp and to hone skills during what would normally be a sport’s off-season, club sports have risen in popularity substantially in the surrounding community and have made themselves a viable option for many.

However, club sports come with additional costs that school sports don’t.

Club fees alone can run from $500 to several thousand dollars – these costs don’t necessarily include travel and hotel fees borne by those individuals and families who actively participate in club sports.

For those without access to these opportunities, the athletics GBHS has provided its students for more than 17 years has been a viable option.

Not only has GBHS athletics been there for those with nowhere else to turn, they have left their students grateful for the experience, for the chance to compete among their friends and in front of their families.

“By and large,” Healy said, “kids who have been in our program for four years have left thinking it was a pretty good experience.”

Milk

No

jpoczobutt.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School is an environment with great opportunities for students such as an assortment of clubs and phenomenal sports teams.

With such a wide variety of sports, the lack of a ski team at GBHS seems to be a glaring omission of what could be a great activity for many interested students.

Several other area high schools have competitive ski teams and clubs that compete and ski together in the Tahoe region.

Junior Marc Ellis has been skiing for the majority of his life and still actively participates in the sport almost every weekend.

“I have been skiing since I was four,” Ellis said. “I typically ride park but I am a mountain skier too.”

Ellis is one of the many GBHS students that would be interested in joining a ski team, if the school were to create one.

“I would join a ski team at Granite Bay,” Ellis said.

Many students are interested in ski teams because of the social aspect they bring to the sport. Ski teams give students the opportunity to spend time improving, practicing and competing with friends who they would not usually get to ski with.

Dalton France Boys’ volleyball

Julia Beck Girls’ soccer

Neither

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

Possibility of a ski team lures GBHS athletes

Tim Healy Athletic Director says that having high school sports allows athletes to stay focused on their academics.

to their education,” said Healy, who cited several studies that make the case for athletics in schools. “When you’re involved in a program, you are more connected to that organization.”

Just as the development of an education can prove beneficial later in life, the social skills that sports help to build can also serve an important influence.

“High school sports build character, teamwork and they prepare you for potentially being a college player.” said Luke Rodgers, a cross-country and track athlete.

“They’re a great way to have fun and collaborate with other people.”

Connor Ryan, a two-sport athlete, agrees.

“You get to hang out with your friends,” said Ryan, who runs cross country and track. “You get in shape … it’s just a great activity.”

In addition to the benefits school sports provide socially, their time-consuming nature can keep students busy and allow them to live a healthier lifestyle. “(Sports) take up a large amount of time in the day,” Ryan said, “but they’re a good activity after school and they keep you in shape.”

There are, however, other extra-curricular options for students.

Club sports, for example, are competitive

No

What advice would you give to current high school students who have obvious potential playing a sport in college, and possibly even professionally?

Just to really focus on getting your academics right, first and foremost. And, also working as hard as you can. I mean it’s not going to be easy. There’s gonna be bumps in the road. There’s gonna be highs and lows, but if you have a go at whatever you wanna do, whether that’s being a basketball player, football player, baseball player, whatever it is, don’t let anybody tell you, you can’t, because I mean it is possible, and you can do it.

What is it like being in the NBA? It’s crazy. For me, it’s just a dream come true. Every day I wake up, I have a smile on my face just knowing that I’m living my dream and playing at the highest level of basketball in the world. So it’s fun man, it’s a little surreal. My whole life growing up watching the NBA and always wanting to be there, and then now I’m one of those guys, I’m an NBA player. And I can even go

Maintaining programs is a key priority

BY ZACK ZOLMER

Is there any player that, growing up, you looked up to as your idol?

Kobe Bryant. So, the first time we played them last year, it was crazy even being on the same floor as him. And then it was funny, with me, I was just trying to get his attention, just to even look at me, and he wouldn’t even look at me last year. But this year, he kinda talks to me every now and then when we’re on the court. He pats me on the back, and it’s fun.

What did you major in, in college?

American Ethnic Studies.

Keeping GBHS sports despite budget costs zzolmer.gazette@gmail.com

back home and people know me as a NBA player and it’s just crazy.

And it’s a blessing from God to be in this position. Every day that I wake up, I thank him.

Milk

Annie Spargo Track and Field

“Skiing with friends who you would usually not get to go up with would probably be the best thing about a ski team,” Ellis said.

Despite these positive aspects, Ellis says that the only negative aspect of a school ski team would be school time missed related to team activities.

Junior Megan Klingler is another GBHS skier who would be excited to join a ski team if it was available.

“My dad (was on a) ski team when he was in high school, and he had a really great time, so I would definitely join the ski team if the school had one,” Klingler said.

Klingler, while most excited about the social aspect of a ski team also points out the monetary benefits of a school sponsored team. “(A ski team) could probably get a group discount,” Klingler said.

Some students feel that a ski team lends itself more to male participants and would not function well as a coed sport. However, Klingler believes that a school ski team would encourage more girls to become involved in the sport.

“Most girls like to ski but just haven’t done it very much,” Klingler said.

See SKI, page C5

Macayla Thomas Girls’ swim

Dark

Milk

Yes, my girlfriend

Yes

No

“Never say never” by The Fray

“I will wait” by Mumford and Sons

“What it is” by Cool Kids

What was the last song you listened to?

“Mr. Rager” by Kid Cudi

“I Knew you were trouble” by Taylor Swift

Where is your favorite place in the world?

Southside of Seal Beach

Anywhere on the beach

Italy

Is the glass half empty or half full?

Quarter full

Half full

Half empty

My house

Half full

Bahamas

Half full

Friday, February 15, 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Sports C3

Fans escalate rivalry through social media Twitter now a new platform for ‘trash talk’

BY BRENDAN GONZALEZ bgonzalez.gazette@gmail.com

After the Granite Bay varsity boys’ basketball team defeated Roseville in the first Sierra Foothill League game of the year, students from both schools got into a heated argument on Twitter.

Granite Bay students reportedly made inappropriate comments towards the Roseville High student body and specific fans, while Roseville High students did the same.

These ‘tweeted’ arguments quickly escalated to students from the opposing schools directly fighting and insulting one another via Twitter.

These fights brought about a lot of speculation as to whether the ‘tweeting’ went too far.

Many students found the insults as offensive and unnecessary.

“It’s pointless and proves bad sportsmanship,” GBHS junior Emily Andress said.

However, many students think that this trash-talking is entertaining and actually adds to the game.

“Trash-talking sparks my social media nightlife as well as builds up pre-game tension which brings

a big crowd,” GBHS senior and prominent Tribe member Brett Bautista said.

Senior GBHS basketball player Daniel Romero agrees with Bautista.

“The trash-talking brings a bigger crowd to the game, making it more intense and motivating us to play harder,” Romero said.

Andress, however, thinks that the students do not think hard enough before sending off the tweets.

“It’s annoying because if we end up losing, we’ll look really stupid,” she said.

Senior GBHS basketball player Jacob King appears to share the same frustration with these trashtalkers.

“Honestly, if you aren’t playing in the game, you shouldn’t be talking because you aren’t the one who has to play and back it up,” King posted on Twitter after seeing numerous tweets between Roseville and Granite Bay students.

While both arguments hold true to some extent, many feel that when the gloating turns into personal attacks or bullying, it’s gone too far.

When this happens, many high school administrators have had to intervene to mediate or investigate the situation.

At a recent GBHS home basketball game, GBHS administrators and teachers were forced to step in between the Roseville and Granite Bay fan sections during halftime.

The two sides were dancing on the court, which posed a problem for the safety of the students.

Prior to this game, an unknown GBHS student made a twitter account entitled “Rocklin Student,” which tweeted disparaging things about Rocklin from what was supposed to be a Rocklin student’s perspective.

Even the “GBHS Tribe” twitter account took part in a few direct tweets at Rocklin High students.

Administration recently had to reprimand a student due to his actions at a home basketball game.

Many students may not know where to draw the line between good-natured trash-talking and over-the-top arguments.

If this talk continues to be a problem, more drastic measures may have to be taken to mediate it.

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

The GBHS fan section, known as the Tribe, point towards a Rocklin basketball player as he tries to put the ball back into play. The Grizzlies defeated the Thunder 58-56.

Senior athlete a ‘team player’ Scott Romuk hopes to lead Grizzles to a playoff appearance

BY MEREDITH DECHERT

“He’s kind of stepped up—He leads by example, and he just has a passion to do well and wants others to do Senior Scott Romuk has been a “rock” for well too,” Sitterud said. the Granite Bay basketball program these past The emotion and enfour years, leading his various teams to suc- thusiasm Romuk brings to the court has helped cessful seasons. to increase the energy Romuk started playing basketball at age level of the team. eight, starting in the Hotshots League. He “His work ethic is kind played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball in middle school and went on to play of contagious,” Sitterud said. “The juniors step at Granite Bay as a freshman and joined the up and want to keep up varsity team as a junior. with him.”

Despite also being a dedicated baseball Romuk, a center, is player, Romuk has stuck with basketball as a equally as valuable as an source of great enjoyment to him. individual player as he is As a senior player this year, Romuk has a teammate. This season taken a leadership role alongside the team his gameplay has been captains. exceptional.

“Last year I noticed that I was playing more as an individual and not as a teammate,” “He does a great job Romuk said. “So this year I wanted to come defensively, clogging up the lanes and working in and focus on being more of a leader and motivating my team to play hard at all times the interior,” Sitterud said. “Offensively, he does a great job of and hopefully just leading by example.” passing up the post and finishing at the rim According to his coach and teammates, (to) get us extra buckets.”

Romuk has done exactly that.

Varsity basketball coach Jason Sitterud says However, Romuk is ultimately a team player and feels the friendship that he and Romuk consistently gives his utmost effort his teammates share is very important to and actively motivates his teammates to do strengthening them as a whole. the same. mdechert.gazette@gmail.com

“We’ve really bonded well as a team and become real close, almost like a family, so I think that kind of plays into our success,” Romuk said.

He also enjoys the tremendous spirit with which GBHS supports the basketball team.

“The Tribe has been amazing,” Romuk said. “(Hearing) your name being chanted or just knowing that your school’s going to have your back when (our team) gets up—it’s a big thing (and it’s) fun having all your friends on the sideline cheering you on,” Romuk said.

Romuk has been accepted to Cal Poly and San Diego State, where he hopes to play baseball in college.

However, he looks forward to playing intramural basketball and to continue playing for fun.

Now, he’s focused on keeping up the team’s success.

“Last week we had two pretty hard losses,” he said. “But we’re hoping to bounce back and come away with the SFL title.”

Ga-

Gazette photo / KRISTIN TAYLOR

Romuk goes up for a layup in a recent home basketball game against the Rocklin Thunder. Romuk plays center.

Crimson Tide: dominating football?

Local reaction to Alabama and its place atop college football Crimson Tide received their fifteenth national title in school history. zzolmer.gazette@gmail.com Not only is Alabama’s fifteen national titles four more than second place Notre Dame in On January 7, the Alabama Crimson Tide NCAA college football history, Alabama’s and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish met at Sun fifteenth was also their third in four years, Life Stadium in Miami to play for the 2013 adding to their recent dominance BCS National Championship. over the rest of the college football Alabama, fresh off a national landscape. championship win the year prior, And some could say that they are had lost only one game during It’s almost like already favorites to win it all again the college football season.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, they’re able to next year.

“It’s a great football program over had shocked the college football get all of the there,” said sports fan and Granite world by going undefeated in the crazy football Bay High Varsity football player regular season.

Gavin Smith. “They’re well trained They were able to get the best stars (...) and they obviously win a lot.” of USC, who at one point were This unmatched command over the thought of as the best team in the entire college football world begs nation.

– Peter Stoberlein, the question every team other than An argument could have been junior Alabama is searching for -- to what made for either team. Football exactly does Alabama owe their enthusiasts anxiously anticipated overwhelming success over the last what they thought would be a few football seasons? What do they close game between two schools do better than any other team in the with storied histories and pasnation? sionate fan bases.

“Recruiting,” said Peter Stoberlein, an avid It turned out that number-two ranked Alacollege football fan and junior here at GBHS. bama defeated top-seed Notre Dame 42-14.

Behind a two-touchdown, 105-yard receiving “It’s almost like they’re able to get all of the crazy football stars coming out of high school.” performance by freshman wide receiver Amari And Stoberlein’s claim is backed up solely by Cooper and a four-touchdown effort from second year starting quarterback AJ McCarron, the Alabama’s 2013 recruiting class alone.

BY ZACK ZOLMER

Just this year, the Alabama Crimson Tide signed 25 five, four, and three-star high school commits, more than any other university in the nation. Of all these projected future stars, 18 are included in the ESPN 300, a list of the top 300 high school football players and athletes in the nation.

They were even able to sign the #1 rated inside linebacker in the U.S., Reuben Foster, out of their infamous rival university’s territory, Auburn, Alabama.

In addition to their thorough recruiting processes, sound coaching techniques are another one of the reasons cited in their resounding success. In theory, good coaching will lead to good play, resulting in wins when out on the football field.

There is little doubt among college football enthusiasts that the Alabama Crimson Tide fit this mold.

Their head coach, Nick Saban, already has four national championship titles to his name, needing only two more to match the 6 Division I championships won by renowned former football coach of the Crimson Tide, the late Bear Bryant.

It is without question that Alabama’s history of success in football runs directly parallel to the coaches of their past and present.

“They’re just a well coached, well rounded football team,” said Smith. “Good coaching goes a long way in football.”

Granitebaytoday.org

Friday, February 15, 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Sports C4

Fast-paced sport offers change, opportunity

Left, members of the Granite Bay rugby team lift a teammate in practice. The rugby team is ranked nationally and has improved throughout the season.

Increase in popularity of rugby gives players a ‘brotherhood’

BY PARKER BURMAN

“You get to do it all in rugby,” Rogers said, who has been playing Over the past few years, rugby’s rugby for six years. popularity has vastly increased.

Rogers and Delaney agree that Athletes from every sport backrugby appeals to the big football ground have hung up their old players who seldom carry the ball. uniforms for a brand new rugby It is a different experience for jersey. players that have never touched a Some like the fast pace, others rugby ball, but it is easy to learn. enjoy the tackling and many just “They get a lot of opportuniyearn to get the ball in their hands. ties to touch the ball,” Rogers Rugby is a said. “It’s really a unique sport, and fast-paced, highits complex game intensity game that play is a big part everybody really of that.

It’s really a fast- enjoys.”

Steven Peart, Peart added, “A paced, high the local Granite football backBay rugby coach, intensity game ground really helps says many players that everybody in rugby.” get into rugby Players who alreally enjoys. ready have learned because everyone gets to carry the how to tackle ball.

– Senior Kyle Rogers and aren’t afraid “Everyone gets of contact easily a chance to pass, make the transikick and run into tion to rugby. The contact with the complexity of the ball,” Peart said, game make it a fun “It’s a fun sport for everyone on challenge for newcomers. the field.”

However, not all players partake Senior players Mike Delaney in rugby only for the love of the and Kyle Rogers both used to sport,. play other sports like football and Rugby presents many scholarbaseball, but later decided to focus ship opportunities to the most solely on rugby. talented athletes who are willing pburman.gazette@gmail.com

Gazette photo /cleora reber

to apply themselves.

Delaney says that rugby players have an increased chance to get a scholarship over other sports by far.

“More people play rugby in college then any other sport,” Delaney said.

There are fewer players, so athletes get more opportunities to play during their college years.

Delaney and Rogers are prime examples of this, and have both already received scholarships to the University of Arizona, where

they will join their former teammate John Kimble.

Former Granite Bay rugby player Taylor Honnette graduated last year and is currently playing at the University of California Berkeley.

“About twenty of our guys are going to have a good opportunity to get looked at by big time colleges and have that scholarship money coming their way,” Peart said.

With the incentive of financial aid, many athletes find rugby an

appealing option going into college.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of rugby, however, may be the brotherly love that the teams show towards each other.

“It’s a brotherhood around the world,” Peart said. “You can find a rugby brother anywhere and have a place to stay and a meal to eat.”

Peart played rugby for Del Oro High School and Sierra College, but rugby has allowed him to make friends in places like South

America, Canada and Washington D.C. “It’s a great sport to travel the world,” Peart said.

While rugby can be similar to many popular sports, playing it is an experience all of its own. It is unique, and can appeal to every type of athlete out there.

While the fast-paced action may seem confusing, many players have come to love it.

“My mom signed me up for rugby,” said Delaney,“and I never looked back.”

Athlete proves to be a leader Freshman has ‘natural talent’ for the game, teammate says

BY ZACK ZOLMER zzolmer.gazette@gmail.com

For many Granite Bay athletes, sports have been part of their lives since early childhood.

As far back as freshman Charlie Tooley can remember, the game of basketball has always been an important part of his life.

With significant attention on the Granite Bay Varsity basketball team this year, Tooley has quietly helped to lead the JV basketball squad to a 17-6 record up to this point in the season. He attributes his success to hard work and effort when out on the floor.

“I’m just working my hardest in the games, trying to be a leader out there and helping my teammates,” Tooley said.

Tooley’s performance has been all the

more impressive by his instant success in his first year of high school. Going straight to the Junior Varsity team, Tooley hasn’t looked back.

“The most impressive thing (about Tooley) is that he is only a freshman and yet he is one of the best players on the JV team,” said current Varsity basketball athlete Spencer Palmer. “He’s very competitive (and) he always wants to win.”

In addition to playing for Granite Bay, Tooley said he also plays on an AAU basketball team almost every weekend when there are no high school games scheduled.

He believes this extra playing time helped his all-around performance.

“Playing on an AAU team, we play at high level basketball tournaments against really good teams,” said Tooley. “All that training I’ve done has prepared me very well.”

Already an extremely gifted athlete, Tooley has continued to improve his game, saying he needs to work on his scoring abilities and the use of his opposite hand.

Palmer agrees.

“He needs to improve on his off hand and maybe the mental aspects of the game,” Palmer said. “But that will come with time and I feel he will be great with that.”

In that time, the young guard has high hopes for himself in the sport of basketball.

By next year, Tooley intends to make an impact on the Varsity team, and to continue his basketball career following high school.

Said Tooley, “I hope to play a lot at the varsity level and then go to a college and hopefully play basketball there.”

Fortunately for him, Tooley isn’t the only one who feels this way.

“He can be a great player,” said Palmer.

“He’s just an athlete (with) lots of natural

Gazette photo / CLEORA REBER

Freshman Charlie Tooley hustles to his position during a recent away game. Tooley has been a key component for the JV team.

Lance: Living strong or living wrong?

Students and faculty discuss reaction to cyclist Lance Armstrong’s actions

“I think it does (affect sports in the future) because career was a sham (because) he used performance enpeople turn to that as an answer to win,” said Nicolas hancing drugs to win all of his trophies.”

Decavel-Bueff, a sophomore Bike Club member. “He Wesley Murer, the coach of the GBHS Bike Club, Lance Armstrong, famous professional cyclist and got seven medals (…) but people are going to see (using founded the club after a personal and family interest seven-time Tour de France title winner, recently admitperformance-enhancing drugs) as the developed. ted to using performance enhancing way to win and overuse it.”

“Typically I do not look up to drugs to win those seven titles – a Companies and charities involved professional athletes, but I did sudden shift that has disappointed many I did admire with Lance Armstrong, including Nike, admire Lance Armstrong,” Murer I was disappointed Granite Bay High sports fans.

Livestrong and the U.S. Postal Service, said. “Not just because he had won Lance Armstrong after realizing his (one of) the most prestigious (and) At the time of his remarkable success, have severed all ties with Armstrong (because he Armstrong denied using illegal and entire career was grueling cycling races in the world, after evidence confirmed his illegal use banned substances. After an extensive was) the underof banned substances. but (because he was) the undera sham (...) investigation by the United States AntiSome have said Armstrong’s actions dog.” dog.

Doping agency, it was determined with were unthinkable and unforgivable.

People of all ages have felt – Tyler Soares, compelling that Armstrong had cheated However, others say he has a chance to cheated and lied to by Armstrong – Wesley Murer, coach and deceived the agency and cycling sophomore Bike Club bounce back because of the fact that he and his use of banned drugs. of the GBHS bike club did accomplish a lot of positive things, fans for more than two decades. member The USADA, the non-profit and GBHS just recently acquired a new like starting the Livestrong Foundation non-governmental organization club dedicated to cycling. to support cancer research and those who designed to get to the bottom of Tyler Soares, a sophomore cyclist and illegal drug use in sports, received suffer from the disease. member of the Bike Club, said Armsworn testimonies from 26 of “I think he has a chance of rehabilitatstrong’s recent admissions were deeply disappointing, Armstrong’s teammates, including lab reports, emails ing his image,” Soares said, “because despite (…) what he and have affected his views of cycling. and payments all indicating that Armstrong did, in fact, did, he still did a lot of (positive things) with his money.”

“Watching the Tour of California and seeing all the participate in doping.

Not everyone agrees– and some critics believe that his professional bikers sparked my interest in biking,” For some GBHS cyclists, the possibly greater disapimage is permanently scarred.

Soares said. “I was disappointed after looking up to pointment is that Armstrong’s choices may encourage “He screwed it (up),” Decavel-Bueff said, “when he took (Armstrong) as a role model and realizing that his entire future doping by young athletes. the medals from actual winners.”

BY COLLEEN VIVALDI

cvivaldi.gazette@gmail.com

Granitebaytoday.org

Friday, February 15, 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Sports C5

SWIM: Confident coach plans for a big year Continued from page C1

to bring a positive influence to the team.

“I think we are going to be working on our technical skills in the pool a lot more this season,” JV swimmer Nirvan Sorooshian said.

According to Amalong, the team is already very talented and wants the swimmers to get their fundamentals down to set them off immediately with a strong foundation.

“We had a really good team last year so I think Amalong will be good at having

a good influence on our team so we can have another successful season again this year,” Sorooshian said.

While he coached previously at a different high school, Amalong has always had aspirations to coach for GBHS swim team.

Although Amalong has always wanted to coach for GBHS his aspirations to be head coach for varsity are not of high importance to him.

“We always tried to resemble them,” Amalong said, “Coach John Sherman has done such a great job I couldn’t imagine

WRESTLING: Team not affected by gaps Continued from page C1 games,” Dixon said.

This year, the Northern California Championship was added to the play-off games.

Before this change, schools were selected to compete in the state championships, but now teams have to be nominated t for the right to compete on the state championships.

“That generates extra money to the section,” Dixon said.

Adding another play-off game ultimately prolongs the season and is a reason why sport seasons can overlap.

“If kids are feeling pressure from a sport while another sport is in season, that’s not good,” Dixon said. “If you’re in a sport,

you have to do it to the end of a season and then move on.”

Senior, John Cooley helped carry the football team to the state championship last year. Because of a shoulder injury he got in his junior year from wrestling, he decided not to participate in the winter sport his senior year.

Although being a two-sport athlete is very physically demanding, Cooley trains everyday to maintain his athleticism throughout the year.

“I train my body every day,” Cooley said, “This is what I’ve been doing my whole life, it’s like second nature.”

Like Cooley, senior Justin Ramirez, played football in the fall and is currently playing rugby.

replacing him anytime soon.”

Sherman has coached the GBHS varsity swim team for ten years and has led the team to multiple section titles.

“So far we have had great practices working on fundamentals and have had good vibes the every time,” Hurtado said, “I think we are going to have another successful season for the JV team.”

All of the JV swimmers have come to the consensus that Coach Amalong will be a great fit for the JV swim team.

Even though many of the swimmers liked last years JV coach Brad Dawson, Shane Dixon Boys’ wrestling coach acknowledges inuries, but has no worries for his team

Both athletes have developed injuries during their fall sport, but rely on the winter break to recover before their spring sport.

“After a while my joints give out,” Ramirez said, who has had ankle and knee injuries. “The wear and tear on your body is just too much (along) with the stress put on your body during school, work and long grueling five hour practices. It gets to you and at one point just gives out and you need to sit on the couch. That’s what Christmas and Spring break is nice for because it (allows) you to relax and let your injuries go away.”

swimmers this season seem to have already grown very fond of Amalong.

“Brad was a good coach, but coach Amalong is going to work on fundamentals and keep a good attitude for the team throughout the year,” Sorooshian said.

The swimmers believe that coach Amalong can lead them to another perfect season like Dawson did last year.

“I think we can go undefeated this year again with Amalong coaching our team,” Hurtado said.

One of the big goals for Amalong is to prepare the JV swimmers for when they

move on to the varsity team.

“Really one of the big goals is to get these guys ready for when they move onto varsity so they can go on and compete at a highly competitive level successfully,” Amalong said.

Many of the JV swimmers believe Amalong will create a positive impact for the swimmers in and out of the pool.

“I can not wait for the season to get under way and see the positive way Amalong will lead our team to another undefeated season,” Hurtado said.

INJURIES: Lasting effects of four-year athletic careers Continued from page C1 Cooley said, “I’ve re-injured my shoulder multiple times, and I feel it’s going to stay like that forever.”

Cooley, who has played through several injuries, feels he has adjusted adequately, but his body has become fragile. Mentally, he tries not to think about it, but the thought it is still there.

“I wonder with injuries like the ones I had, where I would be at right now, if I wasn’t setback for so long,” Cooley said.

Some injuries can be so detrimental, they stop high school careers.

Former two-sport senior Kevin Blank wrestled up until his junior year, when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after planting his weight incorrectly on

one of his legs.

Blank was able to undergo surgery one month after the incident, and was out for a total of seven months, which included a three month period of physical therapy.

“My injury was more of a mental thing than anything else,” Blank said, “it’s constantly at the back of my mind.”

However, Blank suppressed some of these worries by wearing braces on both of his legs while on the football field.

“I still don’t do everything I used to, and I won’t engage in day to day activities as vigorously,” Blank said.

Even though physical therapy proved difficult for Blank, the end result of a state championship was worth the pain and he would not have done anything different.

“I would take the injuries over doing everything else, I love sports,” Blank said.

Junior hopes to bring energy and intensity to students Myles Slattery has ambitions to keep school spirit at an all-time high

BY PARKER BURMAN

pburman.gazette@gmail.com

The first half buzzer sounds and the Grizzlies head to their locker room. The crowd noise lowers to a hum, and the audience begins to make idle conversation.

The noise is cut through by the sound of the tribe yelling, as the Granite Bay High School students slowly raise to their feet.

Slowly, the tribe begins to sway back and forth, shouting chants for their Grizzlies.

In a matter of seconds, the whole crowd has started dancing and screaming, watching several students lead the way onto the basketball court.

One of these tribe leaders is junior

SPORTS BRIEFS College Athletics A total of 15 athletes committed to play in college, with locations varying from Berkeley, Reno, and the Air Force Academy Girls’ Basketball Freshman Daeja Black led the team with 16 points and 10 rebounds in their close loss to Woodcreek High School by a score of 66-60 on Feb 7 The team’s record is now 11-15 overall Boys’ Basketball On Feb 8, the team defeated Woodcreek High School by a score of 64-45 to make their league record 7-2 as the team looks toward the playoff games in the following weeks -Compiled by Austin Downs

But being a spirit leader of The Tribe “I started helping lead The Tribe beisn’t always so carecause I felt comfortable free. in my skin and thought “Other schools have I could help others feel copied us, which is more comfortable in kind of irritating betheirs as well,” SlatI have been go- cause we have to find tery said, “I put myself Myles Slattery. songs” Slattery out there and do crazy “I have been ing to the games new said, “but it is cool bethings.” going to the for as long as I cause even though they In fact, a video has been games for as don’t like The Tribe, circulating around the long as I can can remember. they respect it.” internet of the tribe going remember,” Slattery feels that the crazy in a home game Slattery said. most important aspect against Del Oro High The junior – Junior Myles Slattery of The Tribe is to supSchool. Slattery can be decided to get port the team. seen dancing and going more involved “I want to pump up crazy along with his tribe in school sports Gazette illustration/CHASE EVANS the audience to give brethren. his freshman the players support and “The halftime videos year when he noticed some seniors chantto have a good time are awesome because ing, and thought it was awesome what during the game,” the they display how spirited they were doing. junior said. we are, and how we are Slattery has recently become even more While Slattery loves all the chants, he just having fun doing our thing,” Slattery involved lately, often leading chants and was able to pick a favorite. said. getting the audience involved.

SECTION: Players and officials alike

feel need to improve league quality Continued from page C1

leagues in northern California. The member schools, if the current alignment proposal is approved, would be Del Oro, Granite Bay, Nevada Union, Rocklin, Woodcreek, Oak Ridge and Folsom. Roseville was scheduled to be in the new SFL in the original realignment proposal, but the second version moves them to the Div. 2 Capital Valley Conference.

Most schools in the new SFL would continue to compete in Div. 1 in the playoffs with the exception of Del Oro and possibly Rocklin, section officials noted in a press release. However, only certain sports like basketball, cross country and football would move to Division II. Some student athletes see this as an opportunity to increase the status of GBHS sports locally and around the state.

SKI: GBHS students hope to have an official ski team Continued from page C2 Junior Reed Klaeser has been an avid skier for most of his life and would consider joining a schools ski team, but he does point out some of the negative aspects of a high school ski team or club.

“A ski team is more of a time commitment than recreational skiing on the weekends, so (students) that have other sports might not be able to participate,” Klaeser said.

Another concern for prospective ski team participants is the cost of the sport in general.

“Skiing is a very expensive sport, it requires a lot of expensive gear and lift

tickets are also expensive,” Klaeser said.

In addition to costs for students, a ski team could potentially be very expensive for the school. High schools that have ski teams have to purchase special insurance to cover their participants in the risky sport.

Schools would also be held entirely responsible for the behavior and safety of their students in a completely off campus sport.

Despite these drawbacks, Klaeser would still strongly consider joining a GBHS ski team to practice and compete with friends in one of his favorite sports.

“As a football player, I’d say the team has always wanted to play Folsom because of (its) recognition as a powerhouse,” junior Jack Dockham said. “The only bummer for me is that I won’t be around to witness it.”

That’s because the realignment won’t go into effect until the start of the 2014-15 school year.

Although current juniors will miss out on the transition, the sophomores and freshmen will get to experience the first years of this new league.

Some have doubts about the realignment’s effects on smaller sports.

“For football, which is usually strong, I think this is a positive change,” varsity basketball player Aidan Naughton said. “But for some of the smaller sports that aren’t always as capable, I think it will hurt their opportunity to be successful and make playoffs.”

According to athletic director Tim Healy, a few other schools share this

apprehension and have opposed the realignment proposal, but Healy said nothing is yet set in stone.

“League realignment is a six- monthlong process, and this proposal is the first stage,” Healy said. “Our administration is supportive of this adjustment; however ... Nevada Union (has) stated that (it) will petition to be removed from the league if this change is approved.”

Healy said Nevada Union and Roseville were both worried about a lack of athletic equity and competitiveness.

“Comparatively, Granite Bay has been one of the most successful programs in the area in all sports,” Healy said, “Despite our slight population decreases (predicted for the future), we are successful due to the commitment of our students and our fine coaching.” staffs.”

Although staff and students alike are proud of previous athletic success at GBHS, only time will tell how coaches and athletes will adjust to

Myles Slattery Wants to inspire others to maintain enthusiasm for school and fellow students.

“My favorite is the I Believe chant,” Slattery said.

The chant involves the crowd, requiring them to repeat words that Slattery or other leaders of the tribe shout out.

Slattery always tries to make the experience fun for new fans, and recommends that those who haven’t been out to sporting events to try to go to one just to try it out.

“I personally promise that if you come,” Slattery said, “you will enjoy yourself.”

C6 Sports

Friday, February 15 2013

w The Granite Bay Gazette

AT A GLANCE

Stats at a Glance Boys’ Basketball Upcoming Games: wSFL playoffs begin next week, dates and opponents TBA

Girls’ Basketball Upcoming Games: wSFL playoffs begin next week, dates and opponents TBA

Boys’ volleyball Upcoming games: w3/1 vs. Whitney w3/5 @ Ponderosa

Boys’ lacrosse Upcoming games: w2/26 @ Las Lomas w3/2 vs. Monte Vista

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

 Above right, senior Sherron Bradford charges up the court to beat the shot clock at the game against Rocklin High School on Friday Jan. 26. Junior Jennifer Manduca, right, prepares to jump for the ball during the game against Woodcreek High School Thursday Feb. 7. Far right, senior Gianetta France moves past the screen her teammate has set against the Woodcreek defense. Senior Philip Canete tries to pin his Del Oro opponent during a match on Wednesday Jan. 30. Below, the tribe reads the Gazette, gloating the football team’s state championship as senior Jacob King walks onto the court during the game against Rocklin.

Gazette photo /CLEORA Reber

Gazette photo /CLEORA Reber

Gazette photo /LUKE CHIRBAS

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

green screen.

The Gazette’s art and entertainment guide February 2013

Like these clothes? See what’s thrifting.

Page 12&13

Page 2

February 2013

calendar.

In this Issue

MONDAY

SUNDAY

Music reviews

Page 6

Page 7

Best of the Web

Page 8&9

Food Reviews: Burgers

E

E ISS M

K

CHAR

Models CUTIEon PIE Campus

Keeping the Romance Alive

Page 16

Tattoo Trends

Page 17

Off Campus Adventures

Page 19

Date Night Restaurants

Page 20

Japanese Culture

Page 21

New Console Page 22&23 Movie Reviews

Rally

BE MI

NE

15

22

dt

n Ba E

ME

CHA

IE IE P CUT IE IE P CUT T U IE P C IE

CHA

RM

VE IBLEO VE M O IN YIOLU U E YO

ME

Gazette illustrations/TAMREN JOHNK

The fake fans of soccer E

M ARM I LO ClaimingI LCOHallegiance to teams they know nothing about VE Y VE O

L

OU Bay High, ooking around Y Granite jerseys from English soccer clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea are not hard to spot.

Had the typical English soccer fan somehow been abducted by aliens and dropped PIEGBHS, he might think he TIEinto CUfound had himself in a town divided against itself in loyalty to these two teams.

However, what he would actually find are oversized groups of posing, pseudofans who could not name more than three players from either team’s starting lineup.

I am going to take a moment now to say that I realize that there are more than a few “real” fans of European football in Granite Bay, and I think that is great.

However, these fans would also tell you that the overwhelming amount of bandwagon fans, especially for the two previously mentioned clubs, can be frustrating at times.

This unfortunate phenomenon reared its ugly head in one of my classes last week when a fair-weather Manchester United fan found herself in a heated debate with an even more unenlightened Chelsea fan.

Seeing as they both probably never watched the full duration of an English Premier League match, the most statistically accurate facts they could come up with to support their respective teams were along the lines of “Man U is the best” and “No, Chelsea all the way” As well intentioned as these fans may be, these kinds of arguments serve to show their lack of knowledge when it comes to their teams.

ic

t as

IN BE MINE BE M

INE BE M

Page 12&13 Page 14&15

14

SATURDAY

ME RM ME RM A H C

Junior Choir Night

M ME

FRIDAY

KISS

KISS M

24

THURSDAY

E Valentine’s M KISS E Day M KISS

No School

Page 10&11

Thrifting

WEDNESDAY

february

Page 4&5 Twitter Takeover

TUESDAY

Commentary

E I LOV YOU

jonah poczobutt

U

What the popularity of these clubs really indicates is the power of branding and advertising in the modern world.

who claim to be a fan of two of the major clubs in the EPL, for example Manchester Another negative trait of many of these City and Manchester United. This equates Manchester United and Chelsea pseudoto someone saying that they are both a fans is their disrespect of other teams.

Raiders and 49ers fan. On a more local I have been an Arsenal fan for as long as level, it is like someone saying that they I can remember. I have watched matches, prefer to root for GBHS and Del Oro. know the names of the players on the Now imagine that this person knows team and hope to visit Emirates Stadium, nothing about either of the schools and you Arsenal’s home field, this summer. will begin to understand my confusion.

I have been made fun of countless times I don’t want to sound intolerant because by pseudo “Man U” and Chelsea fans who I think that people should try to educate have never watched a game, and more themselves more about international sport than likely had no idea of the current EPL to better understand the world outside of standings. the U.S. What the popularity of these clubs I typically like to counter such attacks really indicates is the power of branding by asking if these fans can name just three and advertising in the modern world. members of their team’s world class starting At the end of the day, if you have never lineup. Most times, this reveals the realities watched a match, don’t know any of the of American soccer fans. players and in some cases don’t even know While this reality can be inconvenient the city in which “your team” plays, you for people who want to have an in depth should educate yourself with a few quick conversation about the game, the “fans” Google searches and a T.V., or you should that make the least sense to me are the ones stop pretending to be a fan. jpoczobutt.gazette@gmail.com

current.

February 2013

Youtube Video and of the Month

BY AKASH KHOSLA

akhosla.gazette@gmail.com

A recent video by the YouTube channel “MagicofRahat” called “Drive Thru Invisible Prank” recently went viral because of the hilarious reactions of the people featured in the video.

Rahat does a lot of pranks and magic related videos. There’s a series of drive thru related pranks, which are quite humorous.

In this one, he uses a clever car seat disguise to go by the drive throughs of America’s fast food restaurants JULIANSMITH87/YouTube He orders food and approaches MagicofRahat uses a cleverly designed the window with the disguise on.

The disguise is relatively simple, seat costume to fool fast food employees but quite effective. When seeing one appears to be driving. On occasion, the disguise at first, it’s hard to see how Rahat whispers a word to the employees a piece of cardboard with a layer of car at the window and pretends to be a ghost. seat fabric will work. But once Rahat But the reactions are priceless–some employees think they are hallucinating, sits down with the disguise, it blends others think there’s some kind of ghost in extremely well with the rest of the in the car and few of them are wondering interior. where the driver went.

The employees are shocked to see no

Trend of the month: Grunge

BY SAVITRI ASOKAN

Page 3

iPhone App of the Month

Temple Run 2 is an incredibly well made sequel to the successful Temple run application.

For those who are not familiar with the game, it takes place in a temple ruin where an archaeologist is being chased by apes, and the objective is to keep running and avoid all obstacles.

There’s no end to the running; the purpose is to get the highest score possible.

With the sequel already out in the App Store, the popularity of Temple Run 2 is equivalent to its original with over 20 million downloads in less than a week after release.

Graphically, the game has been slightly improved with richer details, but keeps the artistic style displayed in the original. The game now takes place in the ancient ruins of the mountains instead of a swampy temple, which gives a refreshing yet familiar feel to the game.

Some of the new obstacles in this update include waterfall streams,

Imangi Studios

rooftops and zip lines, but best of all is the addition of the mine cart. This adds a little more difficulty as it requires more tilting of the screen in order to dodge the broken rails and bridges and keep the game going. Rather than just speeding up to add a challenge as time goes by, the game also progressively increases the amount of curves and obstacles to confuse the player.

The sequel is a definite success, as the downloads continue count with constant five star ratings.

Brandon Borjon Artist of the Month

BY MEREDITH DECHERT mdechert.gazette@gmail.com

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

Most agree that fashion trends are cyclical.

Grunge style is the main trend that has resurfaced amongst Granite Bay High students from the past two decades.

Popularized in the 90’s, grunge style is characterized by a rough street–like aesthetic.

Freshman Tatum Rice bases most of her wardrobe on grunge style.

“Some of the grunge-inspired items that I love to wear are high-waisted jeans and big flannels,” said Rice. “I like taking my dad’s old shirts and tying them in knots.”

Flannels and oversized clothes are key elements in a grunge-inspired wardrobe.

Other ways to add a bit of grunge to an outfit include adding studs and spikes to accessories and wearing darker hues such as plum, burgundy or olive.

Rice believes that having a sturdy pair of combat boots is an excellent way to anchor a grunge-inspired outfit.

The best brand, she said, is Doctor Martens, known for manufacturing their shoes

since the beginning of the original punk scene in 1960.

“I love wearing Doc Martens,” said Rice. “They were very popular in the 90’s grunge era.

The style of Doc Martens is edgy and unique … they add a little punk rock to each outfit and I wear them everyday.”

Music, especially grunge and alternative rock, is a large part of the style as well.

“A lot of grunge style is influenced by bands from the 90’s, such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or Hole,” Rice said.

While music may influence fashion, it is sometimes necessary to draw a line between the two.

“People nowadays wear band shirts and say that they listen to their music without actually doing so,” said Rice. “But they shouldn’t because they don’t.”

Above all, the general rule of thumb for those attempting to channel the spirit of grunge should focus on the individualism emphasized by the style.

“It’s getting really mainstream,” said Rice.

When did you first become interested in art?

Freshman year Basic Art with Mr. Stephens is when I really started to get into art more. That’s when I really thought, I can really do something with this.

What inspires you?

Gajin Fujita does a really cool job of this stylized, low-brow urban art, kind of fused together with Japanese woodcuts, so it’s this cool fusion of lowbrow and fine art, and that’s what really inspires me with my work.

What concepts do you like to portray in your art?

I like to have my paintings always mean something to me and communicate some kind of personal story, but at the same time, I don’t want to come off as preachy or shoving that message to other people.

What is your favorite medium?

It’s a toss-up between acrylic and spray-paint. I like Acrylic because I still have a lot of control over it. I can do real fine details. You can do really cool things with it, like really large-scale paintings in a short amount of time.

Gazette photo /SUMMER HAENEY

Artist of the Month Brandon Borjon stands with his newest painting

Do you plan on pursuing art after high school?

Freshman year I did not think of art as a serious part of my life. I definitely didn’t want to have any kind of career in it. I don’t think I want to be an art major in college, but I’m thinking of doing a minor. I have an art show coming up right now that I’m really excited about, and that’s been really cool for me, because it’s another step in showing myself how far I can go.

Page 4

February 2013

music.

The Joy Formidable Wolf’s Law as she seemingly floats over the heavy emotional conflict emanating from the instrumentation.

It also gives vibrant insight into the natural discourse of the struggles in life.

The chaos, the ups and downs, the sadness, the joy, the bravery, the fear, the anger, the hate, the love and the hope are all depicted.

The Joy Formidable has given this album to the public with the intention of it being listened to all at one time in it’s original order, as though it has the chronology of a lifetime. But if there are a few songs that are pivotal in its understanding, “Silent Treatment,” “Maw Maw Song” and “The Turnaround” contain the moments necessary to see the album’s purpose: the

BY DAN JOHNSON

M

djohnson.gazette@gmail.com

any modern albums aspire to come across a listener with a message of uncertainty, exploration and hope for a better future.

The Joy Formidable’s Wolf’s Law is not one of those albums. Although it has an indie band-like aura, it galvanizes aspects of alternative punk rock with slightly rebellious lyrical choices, powerful guitar rifts and edgy drumbeats.

The album screams out a message of the conflict between love and the hate of the forces that alter love’s path.

Lead singer Ritzy Bryan conveys this point with elegance and graciousness

cathartic realization of love.

I don’t believe there is truly a need to categorize this album into good or bad.

The band’s sacrificial gift of an honest and vulnerable expression of their thoughts and feelings disallows me from having the need to call for any extrication of imperfections.

The coming of this transcendence beyond petty differences shows the power of honesty, and I can only congratulate them for their break through.

The pleasant arrival at truth is more important, and The Joy Formidable’s Wolf’s Law displaces the distances between people and natural law arriving at a conclusion of peace, which is something worth tapping into.

ATLANTIC RECORDS

Wolf’s Law by The Joy Formidable was released on Jan.22.

A

Skip to: Turn Around

Bad Religion True North

A

EPITAPH RECORDS

True North by Bad Religion was released on Jan. 22.

Skip to: Past Is Dead

B-

BY NICOLAS ONTIVEROS nontiveros.gazette@gmail.com

s punk rock fades away from the contemporary music scene, Bad Religion’s latest album, True North, represents a rejuvenation of punk rock.

The album features powerful guitar riffs, dynamic drum beats and rather judgmental lyrics that are essential to punk music.

Bad Religion, originally from Los Angeles, has always been known for embedding social criticism into their lyrics.

The Dissent of Man, Bad Religion’s previous album, included many arguments against war and corporate greed, but True North modernizes these messages.

For example, the song “Robin Hood in

Reverse” criticizes the power corporations have obtained over the past couple of years. Bad Religion even mentions Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, the 2011 landmark ruling by the Supreme Court that allows companies and employee unions to donate an unlimited sum of money towards political campaigns.

The reference to the Citizens United ruling can also suggest that people often believe in false promises, especially those from politicians.

Double meanings demonstrate the band’s intellectual appeal. Almost every song on the album has substance, which is not common in popular music.

Furthermore, fast-paced songs, such as “Land of Endless Greed” and “Popular

Consensus,” dominate the record—but slower songs, in particular “Hello Cruel World,” reflect Bad Religion’s intensity, as the listener becomes absorbed in the harmonious mixture of rich guitar chords and emotional vocals.

However, the album becomes very repetitive. The drum rhythms at the beginning of True North sound almost identical to those at the end of the record.

All of the guitar riffs appear to have the same strum pattern although in different keys.

Overall, Bad Religion delivers a well developed album in terms of lyrics, but as most punk rock bands face, the tiresome guitar and drum rhythms undermine the beauty of each song’s lyrics.

Local Natives Hummingbird

BY NIKI RICHARDS

I

nrichards.gazette@gmail.com

n the music trends of today, two particular styles have risen to the top; pop/rap and wannabe “deep” indie-rock bands.

Hummingbird fully embodies this wannabe façade.

With unintelligent lyrics and repetitive, monotonous tones, it’s easy to say that listening to the album was an agonizing experience.

From the starting point, the album crashes and burns from the get-go, with the song “You & I.” The beat is strange, and the singing is best explained as wailing and obnoxious.

The lyrics are completely incomprehensible, which caused me to press “skip” after just 30 seconds into the song. I couldn’t handle the frustration of trying to decipher what was being said.

Continuing with the few odd lyrics that I could understand was the next song, “Heavy

Feet.” It had a nice drum beat, but lyrics that make you stop and go, “wait, what?”

The next songs, “Ceilings” and “Black Spot,” have the same wailing and peculiar sound as “Heavy Feet,” with no distinguishable flow to the lyrics However, they improved upon the first songs with a nice piano accompaniment.

Finally we get to a song that is actually bearable, with “Breakers,” where the flow is smooth and the rhythm consistent, allowing me to have a break from the abuse being imposed upon my ears.

The song “Black Balloons” sounds as if The Beatles and The Script mated and had an untalented child, with less-than sophisticated harmonies and an upbeat guitar tempo.

However, it is not as cringe-worthy, which is quite an improvement to the album’s quality.

It seems as though this band is only capable of recording one guitar cord and one basic drum beat, because the sounds of each song became too similar to be anything else.

The song “Wooly Mammoth” has the same droning guitar, repetitive drum beat and wailing singing in the background.

Where is the musical diversity?

With a simple tempo and tolerable guitar playing and lyrics, “Mt. Washington” is a decent-enough song, yet not impressive enough to save the atrocity in this album.

The song “Columbia” is sweet and actually comprehensible enough to enjoy, with a melody that stays consistent, instead of being all over the place.

The final song finishes off the album without a bang.

“Bowery” has too chaotic of piano playing, lyrics and flow, making me feel confused and irritated. That’s not a very enjoyable combination when listening to music.

Overall, this album fills the void between YouTube-terrible and stellar band status as a mediocre attempt at music.

All it really accomplished was an awkward experience of moody and creativelycrammed style of music.

FRENCHKISS RECORDS

Hummingbird

by Local Natives was released on Jan.29.

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Skip to: Breakers

February 2013

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music.

Foxygen We Are the 21st Century of Peace and Magic

T

BY SAVITRI ASOKAN

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

he fundamental reason for starting a band is a passionate love of music.

And chances are, if you’re already in one, the music of the artists you admire will likely influence your own sound.

Foxygen, an indie rock band who recently released their debut LP, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, is no exception.

The duo behind the band, Jonathan Rado and Sam France, has spent years listening to classic rock records—and it shows.

Foxygen’s signature sound and aesthetic are both based on obscurity. Hushed, unclear vocals are masked by distorted, blues-tinged electric guitars and lo-fi production, and the songs sound as if they are drifting from behind the hazy scratch of needle on vinyl. Foxygen’s most notable influence is the vintage pop/rock bands of

the 60s, and the entire album sounds as though it is being broadcasted from a radio still stuck in that decade.

The opening track, “In the Darkness,” is an obvious nod to the title track of one of the most widely acclaimed albums of all time, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, featuring trumpets, an introduction and tumultuous applause.

For Foxygen—who searches through all musical history to find inspiration— it’s something of a no-brainer to start off the album with a reference to what most hardcore music nerds refer to as the greatest album ever recorded.

“No Destruction,” the second track, is easily the standout of the album. Lead singer France transforms his voice into the quietly intimate tone of Lou Reed.

A meandering guitar line and insistent piano riff fade into the background of the song as the surrealistic lyrics come

forward, bringing images of “doors of consciousness” and “the aliens and armory.”

The nostalgic “San Francisco” begins with a peaceful children’s melody, full of chirpy flutes and tuneful xylophones. The entire song is redolent of the hazy fumes of a time when hippiedom was at its peak and San Francisco was the center of idealism.

To strong believers in the linear rock canon, We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic might come off as too unfocused and ambiguous to properly pay tribute to its inspirations.

But by subtly subverting the style of the artists they owe homage to, the band elevates their songs to new heights.

For those willing to look past the standard conventions of rock criticism, Foxygen’s first full-length album is a promising debut for a band who has found a refreshing new path in well-trodden musical territory.

JAGJAGUWAR

We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic by Foxygen was released on Jan. 22.

Skip to: No Destruction

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Yo La Tengo Fade

BY CHASE EVANS

cevans.gazette@gmail.com

Y

MATADOR RECORDS

Fade by Yo La Tengo was released on Jan.15.

Skip to: Paddle Forward

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o La Tengo is an incredibly suave band. The mixture of harmonic vocals and lack of a typical rhythm guitar makes Fade a very easy listen.

Fade is their 26th album. They have been making music as a band for a very long time and it shows with the sophistication of their music.

With all four members of the band listed as vocalists, their music is full of really well-done, four-part harmonies.

The opening track of the album, “Ohm,” is a great summary of the band as a whole.

Featuring many harmonies, soft drums

BY BRENDAN GONZALEZ

A

bgonzalez.gazette@gmail.com

year and a half after A$AP Rocky’s mixtape Live Love A$AP thrust him onto the forefront of the rap scene, he released his highly anticipated album, Long Live A$AP, on Jan. 15.

The album solidified the Harlem native’s prominence on the rap scene.

The album contains songs featuring big names such as Kendrick Lamar, Drake, 2 Chainz and Skrillex.

The album also includes popular singles such as “Goldie.”

Both “Ghetto Symphony” and “Long Live A$AP” contain the bass-filled rap beats similar to those of his mixtape.

and a lead guitar, it really sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Fade progresses in a similar fashion with more solid songs such as “Is That Enough” and “Well You Better.”

I then reached what became my favorite song on the album. “Paddle Forward” starts off softly like the rest of the songs but with a much more indie-folk feel.

The chorus of “Paddle Forward” is the catchiest of the whole album.

The next song, “Stupid Things,” is probably the most marketable to the mainstream music scene.

They back away from the trend and tone of the album, don’t harmonize and have a more regular compilation. But because the song doesn’t showcase what they typically

are, it loses some of its allure.

The album moves on to songs like “I’ll Be Around,” “Cornelia and Jake” and “Two Trains,” none of which stand out.

The last notable song on the album is “The Point Of It,” which is a strange song.

It has the expected soft vocals, but with a hard and succinct drum beat.

While the lyrics and styling are both soft, the drums are very prevent in the song which is atypical of most mainstream music.

The risk-taking by Yo La Tengo allowed Fade to be much more unique and thus entertaining than it would’ve been otherwise.

The album is great for easy listening and studying. The more you listen to it, the catchier the songs become.

A$AP Rocky Long Live A$AP More lyrical raps such as “1 Train” (featuring Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big K.R.I.T) and “Phoenix” are also on this album.

The song “Suddenly” does not have much of a beat, but rather free-flowing rhymes that describe Rocky’s upbringing in Harlem.

The mixture of catchy beats and lyrical raps makes for a great contrast that a listener looks for in a rap album.

A$AP even goes out of his comfort zone and incorporates some dubstep in his song “Wild for the Night,” featuring the beat master Skrillex.

Of course, the quality which A$AP is most famous for, his creative wordplay,

is again imminent on this album.

While this album is great for the rap fan, it is not a good choice for the easily offended, as every song on the album is considered “explicit.”

The album continues to embellish and promote his intriguing persona and sound.

His raps about the usual topics of his money, drug usage, fashion and hair also appear.

Long Live A$AP manages to dip into mainstream rap, while also maintaining the mix-tape sound that makes him unique.

Rocky’s care-free, intelligent lyrics bring the whole album together into a masterpiece.

RCA

Long Live A$AP by A$AP Rocky was released on Jan.15.

A-

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Ghetto Symphony

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trending now.

February 2013

The Bird is the Word Twitter is becoming the head of social networking sites, while Facebook is dying out “As far as a communications tool, I still prefer Facebook over Twitter,” Hubbard said. “For practicality and social (reasons) I would prefer Twitter, but for or many Granite Bay High students, Twitter’s communicating and working with people for school great flight has seemingly taken over the social work and what not, Facebook is still better.” media power-house that is Facebook.

Although Facebook still has desirable features, a few Facebook usage has been dropping significantly of Twitter’s unique aspects trump those of Facebook. among GBHS students, and that time formerly spent on “Its speed is a lot faster than Facebook,” Hubbard Facebook is now – by many – spent said. “Especially on the mobile app on the on Twitter. iPhone.”

Junior Taylor Peterson has noticed Peterson connected some of Twitter’s draw to Facebook’s decline, and he sees Using a social its fresh source of popularity. people using Facebook differently networking site is “There seems to be a trend with the ratio than before. sort of like a trend of going around (of how many people you “It’s more just used now for are following to how many people follow clothing – it comes and uploading your profile picture,” you),” Peterson said. “You want more people Peterson said, “because Facebook’s it goes. following you than you’re following, and you’ll still used to look up people you hear look more popular, more cool.” about and see if you recognize them.”

– Senior Chet Hubbard Peterson also alluded to re-tweeting, the As Facebook’s use becomes more ability for people to pass another person’s limited, Twitter fills the void without tweets onto their followers. carrying on Facebook’s weaknesses.

“I think potentially both (Twitter and Facebook) will “With Facebook, there are these ads and just a bunch go away,” Hubbard said. “Using a social networking of (stuff) that you don’t want to see,” Peterson said, site is sort of like a trend of clothing – it comes and it “but Twitter doesn’t usually have that.” goes.”

Peterson isn’t the only one to notice Facebook’s Hubbard cited Myspace as an example – what was clutter. Senior Chet Hubbard is also disillusioned with once the leading social network site is now virtually out similar aspects of Facebook. of use.

“Facebook’s features are often pretty annoying,” “My personal guess is that they’ll eventually go away,” Hubbard said. “There are a lot of photo shares, these Hubbard said. pictures that are ‘liked’ by a hundred thousand people “There will be something new and better. Especially that I don’t even care about. It’s kind of spam.” with the internet, there is always something new and Hubbard, like Peterson, also acknowledges the better that is going to come out.” benefits of diversifying social media sources. By taking For now, forecasts suggest the bird is the new word, the most adept pieces of different social media sites and but the digital climate has many seasons. For now, it using them to create the most efficient assortment for seems to be Twitter’s season – but every bird flies south their needs, they, along with others, are trying to fully some time. utilize social media.

BY DAN JOHNSON

F

djohnson.gazette@gmail.com

February 2013

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of the W t s e e b B

Gazette illustration/AUSTIN ALCAINE

The undiscovered treasures of the web

G

BY NIKI RICHARDS

nrichards.gazette@gmail.com

ranite Bay High students appear to spend the majority of their time on their phones, particularly on the Internet.

However, after spending hours and hours on the same websites, the pastime can become a bit dull.

Meanwhile, the true depths of the Internet are barely being tapped. The most entertaining of sites and apps are also the most inconspicuous ones.

The Onion is one of these.

It consists of political satire and pieces that poke fun at nearly anything and everything in our society.

The website sh__youcanafford.com is probably the greatest accumulation of things you don’t need, but want.

With color changing LED showerheads, sound activated plasma disco balls, ninja star coat hangers, and belt buckles that double as flasks, this

website will have things you didn’t even realize existed, but now desperately want.

Junior Kevin Burns recommends the site.

“It’s awesome because it’s an easy way to find cool stuff that you can realistically purchase,” Burns said. “They have a horse mask and laser pointer that can shoot 10000 feet, and it is just really funny stuff you can get as a joke for friends.”

For those who prefer homemade activities, Allrecipes.com is a great tool.

The site has nearly any recipe one could wish to utilize, contributed by people nationwide who make and bake them.

With the recipes on this site, a good meal is practically guaranteed. The steps are simple and easily-followed, and the recipes also display input from other site users in the forms of comments and ratings.

GBHS graduate, Shannon Richards, speaks about personal success with this website.

“Having absolutely no culinary skills, I was

able to make a fettuccini alfredo dish from scratch using a recipe from it, and it turned out really good,” Richards said.

If you are getting tired of your overused applications on your smart phone, the top rated ones may be just under your nose.

For scholarly purposes, the app Wolframalpha is probably the most ingenious creation.

This app is a rendition of Wikipedia, but for all things mathematical and scientific.

From simple homework questions on Algebra, or contemplative concepts of the universe, this site is a gold mine for quality and accurate instant information.

Another addicting new app is Guess Movie.

The concept is simple enough: you are shown a freeze frame of a movie, and then have to guess what movie it is, all while racking up as many points as possible.

If you are bored and sitting around, this game makes time fly as you test your cinematic skills.

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February 2013

eat.

Where’s the Beef?

Fuddruckers

BY HALEY BYAM

hbyam.gazette@gmail.com

I walked into Fuddruckers on a Saturday afternoon with low expectations. I had just spent the day at Costco (and for those of you asking, “How is it possible to spend a day at Costco?”, it is completely possible), and all I could think about were the 12 boxes of microwavable chow mein sitting in the trunk of my car.

It looked average and boring from the outside, with sparse decorations and plain white paint. Several of the letters in the sign were missing, which led me to believe that we were actually having lunch at “Fu dru k ‘s”.

A small collection of arcade games in the back dinged and whirred while the kids surrounding them screeched their approval, and a TV to my right played a football game, judging from the cheering men in

Gazette file illustration/ SAM SPARGO

jerseys.

After I struggled to take all of that in, the beautiful aroma of fresh, sizzling patties smacked me in the face and pulled me over to the wall-sized menu displaying everything from salads to wild boar and ostrich burgers.

Not feeling especially adventurous, I decided on a 1/3 lb. Original Fudd with cheese, and satisfied my curiosity by asking the cashier about the more “exotic” meat choices.

He greeted me, not with a quick welcome-toFuddruckers-what-would-you-like-to-order, but by asking me about my day and agreeing that yes, it is nice outside. I was surprised, considering that most fast-food joints don’t even pause to make eye contact with you while cueing the conveyor belt to spit out another Big Mac. I walked past the Build Your Own Burger bar and found a table. My name was called within five minutes, and I walked up to the counter to retrieve and

The Habit

BY NEHA KOMPELLA

nkompella.gazette@gmail.com

When I first walked into the Habit Burger Grill, I’ll admit, I was skeptical. I’ve never really been a fan of hamburgers, and I tend not to eat at burger joints often.

But at a first glance, the Habit certainly drew me in. The outside of the restaurant is well maintained, with comforting colors and groomed shrubbery.

I was going for a late lunch, so by the time I walked in it was around 1:30 p.m.. The restaurant was almost empty, with only a few other people sitting inside.

Walking in, I was pleased to find that, unlike other burger joints, The Habit was hygienic, the floors were clean and the tables were cleaned of stains or old trash.

In addition, the décor was particularly pleasing to the eye, as the walls were painted neutral colors, such as dark orange, red, yellow and brown.

The lighting was sufficient and bright, developing a restaurant interior that was pleasant and had a family-friendly demeanor.

The music that was played was mainstream but soothing, providing a relaxed atmosphere.

As the employee behind the counter took my order, he made several helpful suggestions with a smile and a friendly demeanor, prompting me to finally decide on the veggie burger and a vanilla milkshake.

customize my very own Fudd.

After perfecting my burger, I sat down, tried a bite, and realized that I had been neglecting my taste buds with Carl’s Jr. and McDonald’s freeze-dried patties for far too long.

I could actually taste the freshness, and the burger was almost too large to hold once I’d added produce and condiments. The service was incredibly fast, bearing in mind that everything, including the buns, was made that day in the restaurant.

The food spoke for itself just like any good restaurant’s should, and the staff was welcoming and friendly.

If you’re ever nearby and looking for a memorable meal, consider Fuddruckers. It’s an oddly-named, wellkept secret with great food and many possibilities for courageous meat choices. Buffalo, anyone?

Smashburger When the food arrived, it didn’t look particularly special–it was certainly presented nicely, but there was no special touch to it.

The burger well cooked, the bread was soft and the vegetables were abundant and fresh. But there was nothing to differentiate it from every other burger.

If nothing else however, the food was certainly filling and refreshing. It seemed to define what fast food should be like, a quick meal that is healthy and leaves you satisfied.

The Habit is a place that I would recommend for someone looking for a quick meal, but not necessarily for someone that wants quality.

When I walked out of the Habit, I was definitely not as disappointed as I had expected, but I still wasn’t wowed by the food.

Gazette photo /NEHA KOMPELLA

The Habit is located off of Douglas Blvd. next to Walmart.

BY BRENDAN GONZALEZ bgonzalez.gazette@gmail.com

As I stepped into Smashburger, the first thing I noticed was the modern design that gave it an upbeat feel.

What appeared to be a boring brick building from the outside turned out to be a clean, well-decorated restaurant with a red and silver color scheme, which made it a very appealing place to eat.

Upon entering the restaurant, I Gazette photo /BRENDAN GONZALEZ grabbed a menu from a stack by the Smashburger is located across door.

The menu contained all different from the Galleria near BJ’s. kinds of burgers, hot dogs, chicken (vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry) sandwiches, salads, sides and shakes. are the perfect texture–thick but not I decided on the “BBQ, Bacon, & impossible to drink through a straw, Cheddar” burger, which contains like many milkshakes are.

BBQ sauce, applewood smoked The menu also contains a number bacon, cheddar cheese, and haystack of specialty beverages. Smashburger onions on an egg bun. serves Bottled Soda Floats, and Oreo, The meat was cooked perfectly, Nutterbutter, and Butterfinger flavored containing the brown crust of a milkshakes. “backyard” burger. The BBQ sauce The service was also excellent, as was just spicy enough, the bacon I received my food within a few short crispy, and the cheese gooey. minutes after ordering it.

The egg bun, adding an element to While the food and service was very the food that other burger joints do good, buying lunch here everyday not have, was substantial but not too would burn a hole through your thick. wallet, as a meal including fries and a Another nice option for those who drink is around $10. are picky eaters is the “Create Your However, the slightly higher prices Own Burger” part of the menu, in are worth it. which you can choose your bun-type, I would much rather pay $10 for sauce, toppings and cheese. a meal at Smashburger than at most The Smashfries, seasoned with other fast food joints. olive oil and garlic, were excellent With the numerous options and not overly greasy as fries at many of burgers, sides, and drinks, restaurants are.

Smashburger is a great place to eat Made with hand-dipped Häagen –Dazs ice cream, the milkshakes with a couple of friends.

February 2013

Pete’s

BY LENA EYEN

leyen.gazette@gmail.com

The walk through the brisk January air to the entrance of Pete’s Restaurant and Brewery was enough to make me embrace the warm and dim ambiance that welcomed me inside.

Pete’s has a very similar menu to The Cheesecake Factory and BJ’s; all three are in the medium-price range and have an expansive menu, varying from burgers and sandwiches to pizza and pasta.

The crowd was to be expected on a Sunday night — not overcrowded, but enough people to ensure that it was a popular spot. We were seated immediately at a booth upon request.

Opening the menu is rather overwhelming. When looking for a burger, I usually choose the All-American burger.

It is a basic burger with a beef patty, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce and tomato. This time, I chose the Pete’s Deluxe Burger — an enhanced version of the plain burger that I’ve enjoyed many times before.

The Pete’s Deluxe was a calorie-filled meal-inside-a-meal. In addition to the flavorful beef patty was crisp bacon, beerbattered onion rings, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato accented with Pete’s signature BBQ sauce.

I was hesitant at first by the packed ingredients — I am usually one to enjoy simplistic combinations of flavorful tastes, so I was delightfully surprised by the manageable taste of the Deluxe.

The wait for our food was relatively short compared to some of the busier nights that I have experienced. Just as I started to envy the neighboring tables’ food, the waiter arrived with our’s.

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eat.

This Month’s Picks The first bite into the burger was juicy and tender. I had ordered it medium cooked and it was slightly more pink than I had desired, however I was easily distracted by the taste.

Beside my burger were thick sweet potato fries, which were unlike those from a fast food joint. The potatoes were rich and creamy without the excessively salty and greasy taste of most fries.

After the enormous meal, I decided to top off the evening with a slice of cheesecake.

To my pleasant surprise, I learned that the cheesecake that is served at Pete’s is taken directly from the Cheesecake Factory.

The oversized slice arrived at the table topped with strawberries and drizzled with a strawberry syrup. The first mouth-watering bite was a blend of creamy cheesecake, sweet icing and crunchy graham cracker crust. While the strawberries added additional sweetness, I did not care for the syrupy flavor that was drizzled on top, and would have enjoyed the flavor of the cheesecake by itself.

The meal rounded out at about $16 — about $10 for the burger, and $6 for the cheesecake. Overall, the medium-to-high price was worth the delicious meal.

The Gazette Ranking Panel samples dishes from each of the five restaurants this month and ranks them accordingly.

#4T The Habit- The Habit has been a Granite Bay burger staple for many years, but their lackluster products tie them for last place in a strong class of burger joints this cycle.

#4T Squeeze Inn-

Squeeze Inn is reasonably priced but the food is just mediocre, putting them in a tie for last place this cycle.

#3 Smashburger- Smashburger offers

tasty burgers and fries but runs a bit expensive for a full meal.

#2 Pete’s- Pete’s offers high quality food for a medium price, guaranteeing a satisfying meal for every customer.

Gazette photo /lena eyen

Pete’s is located off of Douglas Blvd. in the Quarry ponds shopping center

#1 Fuddrucker’s- Fudrucker’s incred-

ible assortment of meats and fresh ingredients featured in the Build Your Own Burger Bar make it the number one restaurant this cycle.

Squeeze Inn

BY AUSTIN DOWNS

adowns.gazette@gmail.com

When the Squeeze Inn first came to Roseville, I had a great sense of excitement. during my most recent visit, that same feeling of excitement returned.

For my order, I went with the classic hamburger combination; the famous Squeeze Burger. I chose to add cheese, ina ddition to an order of fries and a soda.

Being the main purpose of my visit, the burger was absolutely marvelous.

I found the bun to be quite delicious. Rather than the hamburger bun trying to compliment the meat, I feel that the bun stood alone.

Next, and probably the most distinctive feature of the restaurant, is the cheese. To those who are unfamiliar with the cheese at the Squeeze Inn, the method they use is quite unorthodox.

Rather than adding a slice of cheese when the meat is done cooking, the cooks add a handful of cheese onto

Gazette photo /austin downs

Squeeze Inn is located off of Douglas Blvd. next to the freeway the cooking meat and then cover the product, leaving it to ooze over and create the finalized product. With that said, the ok result makes for some quite delicious cheese that can be eaten with the hamburger or even by itself.

This method of preparing cheese is a trademark of the Squeeze Inn and makes the restaurant unique, while greatly improving the quality of their burgers.

After a few bites of my burger, I made my way over

towards the fries and after adding a dab of ketchup, took my first bite.

The fries were bearable, but I did not find them particualarly tasty, or anywhere near as satisfying as the burger. They were bland and left much to be desired.

When I had finished my fries and my burger, I had mixed reviews. The burger was quite delicious but the fries were not up to par with the rest of the meal.

As for the atmosphere and overall look of the Squeeze Inn, the restaurant has an American diner feel that was visually pleasing and enjoyable to eat in.

In addition, I fancied the way I was able to see the entire kitchen including the grill. I enjoyed being able to watch the cooks prepare my food and I feel like this was a very positive aspect of the restaurant.

Above all, if a unique hamburger is what you desire while passing on the fries, the Squeeze Inn will suffice your cravings.

If you are looking for a satisfying and unique burger and are able to go without fries, the Squeeze Inn will satisfy your cravings.

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smizing.

High School Modeling Senior Shannon Barker, sophomore Erin Guy and freshman Arianna Jones jump-start professional modeling careers while attending Granite Bay High

BY KRISTIN TAYLOR

ktaylor.gazette@gmail.com

February 2013

February 2013

Gazette courtesy photo /shannon barker

Gazette courtesy photo /Arianna Jones

S

chool halls by day, catwalks by night. Not only is Granite Bay High home to promising athletes and future leaders, but also potential America’s Next Top Model winners.

Senior Shannon Barker enjoys modeling because she “gets to play dress up” as a combined career and hobby.

Barker stumbled upon modeling after receiving much encouragement to look into the industry due to her ideal height and lean physique.

Her first shoot was with BCBGeneration this past summer and she has been continuing to seek out multiple other modeling jobs, including taking photos for Timeless Boutique, Stylehaul and most recently, Brandy Melville.

“My favorite shoot was definitely Brandy Melville because it is one of my favorite companies and I got to work with some amazing people, including one of my idols (creative director Jen Humphrey).”

While at a shoot for Stylehaul in Los Angeles in January, Barker and her older sister Caitlyn heard about an open casting Brandy Melville was hosting at their Santa Monica location the next day and decided to go for the spots. Now, they will both be featured on the online store, brandymelville.usa. com.

“A lot of (modeling) has to do with being in the right place at the right time, and so far I’ve been pretty lucky,” Barker said.

Barker’s published pictures

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smizing.

Gazette courtesy photo /shannon barker

turn out flawless, but as for the process of producing them, photo-shoots are often slightly nerve wracking.

“Having the spotlight on you is definitely weird at first because it will just be you in front of the camera and there could be 15 people standing around watching you, which is uncomfortable at first,” Barker said. “You just have to get used to it and not be afraid to act silly, because if you feel uncomfortable or stupid, it will show in the pictures.”

In addition to working with popular brands, Barker also has a Youtube channel to which she posts do-it-yourself videos and “lookbook” videos where she models outfits she has styled. As of Feb. 5, she has an impressive 17,398 subscribers who seek her fashion advice.

Making videos is something Barker does on the side, and she is becoming more serious about her career in the fashion industry. Living in Northern California, however, Barker is unable to find many local modeling opportunities and she has plans of moving to Southern California after graduation to be closer to the fashion world. She wants to sign with an agency and has hopes of working with companies such as Billabong, Swell and Wildfox in the future. “(Right now) the drawbacks (of modeling) are balancing school, cheer and friends while having a career that includes a lot of traveling,” Barker said.

While Barker plans to concentrate on print work sophomore model Erin Guy has

a passion for the runway.

One of Guy’s most memorable events modeling was the Evening of Hope fashion show in San Francisco, which raises money for HIV and Aids research, at which she strutted in a dress assembled with hundreds of condoms (unused of course).

“It was actually pretty cute, but I was like ‘Am I actually wearing this right now?’”

Guy has worked for Alfred Angelo, David’s Bridal and Banana Republic. She currently models once every couple of months, but expects her schedule to pick up with the conclusion of winter. Springtime is her busiest time of year with many spring fashion shows previewing summer wear.

To be ready for a photo-shoot or runway show at any time, Guy tries to make it to the gym for 45 minutes to an hour everyday in order to sustain her modeling figure.

“I like to stay in shape any ways. You have to get lean while you’re young,” Guy said.

Maintaining a healthy physique is also critical for Barker who eats well-balanced meals and participates in cheerleading.

“Every now and then I still go to In N Out or Mongolian BBQ, but for the most part I try to eat clean, especially if I have a shoot coming up,” Barker said.

Guy was inspired to model by a family friend who modeled internationally, and she also has hopes of being able to model and travel.

“I’m seeing how far I can go with it. I want to model in

Gazette courtesy photo /Arianna Jones

Far left, freshman Arianna Jones smiles for the camera. Going clockwise, a different perspective one of senior Shannon Barker’s photoshoots. Jones is all smiles. Sophomore Erin Guy strikes a powerful pose. A behind the scenes look at one of Barker’s photoshoots and Barker. Along with her sister Cait Barker take pictures in between their BCBG photo shoot.

Gazette courtesy photo /Erin guy

Gazette courtesy photo /shannon barker

Europe.”

As of now, Guy puts her schoolwork first and models for the pure fun of it. She, much like Barker, also enjoys the glitz and glam surrounding the modeling industry.

“My favorite part is getting hair and makeup done because you get to have all these crazy looks and stuff,” Guy said.

Another GBHS student accustomed to primping and hot spotlights is freshman Arianna Jones who has three years of experience in the modeling industry. She got her start at John Robert Powers, and is now employed with Cast Images.

Although she is just as enthusiastic about modeling as Barker and Guy, she treats it as a fun extracurricular and isn’t currently considering a fulltime career in the business.

One of Jones’ most significant opportunities has been her Macy’s prom event at which she modeled floor length gowns.

Her favorite types of shoots and events are those where the hair and makeup are over the top and glamorous.

“I don’t ever do fancy stuff like that myself, so having someone do it for you is always exciting,” Jones said.

Barker, Guy and Jones concur that life as teenage models is gratifying, but has its perks and its faults.

“It is an extremely competitive industry (and) you’re being judged completely on your looks, which can be stressful if you don’t have the right mindset about it,” Barker said. “ (But) honestly, modeling is one of the most fun things I’ve ever gotten to do.”

Pages 12 and 13

February 2013

i’m gonna pop some tags.

Students follow Macklemore in his quest to find great deals on clothes at local thrift stores

BY HAYLEY MCAVOY

T

hrift store have existed for some time, but have recently seen a rise in popularity ever since Macklemore’s hit song “Thrift Shop.”

In the song, he talks about going into a store with 20 dollars, and finding a wide variety of clothes for a really low price.

Some students here at Granite Bay High have this same ability and use it to find unique clothes for cheap.

Senior Brian Mueller is one such person.

He is able to get around 7 t-shirts for about $10 or 3 pairs of shoes for $15.

However, Mueller didn’t want to disclose which store he went to.

“I’d rather not give it away,” Mueller said. “I like to keep it a secret.”

However senior Jenny Gilbert and junior Corey Consunji were both willing to give up their hideouts for chic clothes and cheap prices.

hmcavoy.gazette@gmail.com

“I go to Eco-Thrift, Goodwill and various Salvation Army’s, mostly in the Bay Area,” Consunji said.

Going out of Placer County takes time, but it is worth it to Consunji as he is able to furnish the vast majority of his wardrobe with frequent trips to those thrift stores.

“It’s hard to find things. You have to go frequently and it takes quite a bit of patience,” Consunji said.

Gilbert is able to go thrifting on a regular basis because she volunteers simultaneously.

“I go thrift shopping at the American Cancer Society Discovery Store, usually after I’m done volunteering there,” Gilbert said. “It’s just convenient and they have some cute stuff.”

In addition to great deals, the American Cancer Society Discovery Store also does philanthropy work. All of their proceeds go to the American Cancer Society to use for research or whatever else they

need.

This way, you can actually feel good about shopping.

Thrift stores do, however, have their drawbacks.

A typical stereotype for thrift stores is that they aren’t very clean or do not have pristine clothing.

Gilbert does not find this to be the case.

“The thrift store actually keeps it(‘s interior) really nice,” said Gilbert.

“They only keep some of the nice, more expensive things and it’s nice to be able to buy designer products that are at reasonable prices.”

Consunji agrees with this.

“People throw away really nice things and they don’t even know it,” he said.

Finding those more sought out items can be compared to finding a needle in a haystack, according to Gilbert.

Mueller employs a happy-golucky outlook in order to score his great finds.

“It’s not too difficult,” he said.

“I don’t really go looking for anything, I just come across things.”

Consunji approaches thrift shopping with a similar perspective.

“Its’ fun—it’s like an adventure trying to find cool things that people throw away,” he said. “I’m so excited when I find something.”

The main drive for going thrift shopping is for the deals.

“They’re cheaper and generally you can find what you would get at big stores, just for a whole lot less,” Mueller said.

“It’s worth (the search) because it’s substantially cheaper and you find very interesting things when you do go.”

Gilbert believes there is a little extra help.

“Sometimes it’s hard to find things that fit and it’s really hit or miss with finding things that are in style” Gilbert said. “I mean its just luck—sometimes you find things, sometimes you don’t.”

Gazette photos /Cleora Reber Gazette photos /HAYLEY MCAVOY

Page 14

ah ah ah ah.

February 2013

How do you keep the Romance Alive?

After V-day, find less extravagant outings that keep that spark going

BY NIKKI RICHARDS

nrichards.gazette@gmail.com

For any relationship, a huge weight is lifted once one of the most dreaded holidays, Valentine ’s Day, has passed; however, that doesn’t mean the work is done.

The romance doesn’t have to die.

But, not every day requires the lavish spending and grand gestures seemingly obligated on Valentine’s Day. Some of the simplest things can keep the romance alive even after this holiest of days, without breaking the bank.

An alternative for lavish luxuries may be making the day special by taking that special someone to a place that’s romantic, yet inexpensive.

Granite Bay high students have turned locating the idyllic romantic spots all across the region into a science.

Spanning all of Granite Bay, including our own campus, are intimate locations where you and your special someone can have the romantic setting of the century.

A more sophisticated date is a visit to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and every third Sunday is free!

Walking along the paintings, sharing a kiss here and there and appreciating something together makes this experience both cultured and cute.

February 2013

staying alive.

Why not surprise your honey in the morning with a personal note taped to a steaming cup of Starbucks starting the day off right?

Or, another way to start the morning off right is to make and share a homemade pancake breakfast together.

Make it extra special by adding a dash of red food coloring, making them in the shapes of hearts and substituting plain maple for raspberry syrup.

Page 15

“Hea eye-v ven” is a v ie ie be loo w of Place w point th at sho k r Cou i n gd was n w n amed own from th ty much lik s a birds. e e plac This e for w it would for pu secluded o hich it c Gazette file photo/ARI BLACK ing th kering up i utlook is th ep eG na Stude ranite Bay private se erfect plac munit nts and o /Roseville tting over e y t lookty of t have a un her membe area. his sp r i v s ot, wit ersal resp of the co region h its ta . e m ntalizi ct for the b It’s pe ng vie e lunch. rfect for s w of o aucenic u r views or eve n a pi cnic

If heights seem slightly daunting, Folsom Lake can be one of the most romantic spots imaginable.

Timed right, (generally 5 o’ clock in the evening) a couple can walk along the beach and settle on a spot with a thermos of hot cocoa.

On a clear night, Folsom Lake allows you to look across one side of the sky at the setting sun and simultaneously see the stars appear on the other, an experience that would turn any regular weekend into a romantic adventure.

Gazette photo/LUKE BF CHIRBAS

February 2013

Page 16

style.

T A T T O O

T R E N D S

Gazette photo /Kristin Taylor

Gazette photo /Kristin Taylor

 Senior Sherron Bradford decided on a tattoo that is not only significant to his beliefs, but also represents his love for basketball.

 Senior John Cooley’s Bible verse tattoo represents something permanent but meaningful in his life.

With a purpose behind each one, tattoos are increasing in popularity

BY BRENDAN GONZALEZ

I

bgonzalez.gazette@gmail.com

t’s hard to turn on a sporting event or reality T.V. show without seeing a famous person who is covered in tattoos.

This trend is becoming increasingly popular with high schoolers as well.

According to a study by Pew Research Center in 2010, ten percent of high schoolers have a tattoo.

There has not just been a rise in teen’s desire for tattoos, but also in parents’ willingness to let their teens get them.

According to a poll on Cafemom.com, 15% of moms would allow their teens to get tattoos and 30% say they are unsure or open to tattoos.

More conservative people may be asking, “Why pay money for somebody to scar your body for life?”

Many psychologists believe that teens get tattoos to have something permanent as they struggle through the confusion of high school.

For many teens, however, tattoos are seen as a way to be unique, to symbolize something significant in one’s life.

Another prominent argument against not only teenage tattoos, but tattoos in general is the dangers of possibly contracting in infection, or even worse, HIV or hepatitis B or C. However, state regulations have been instituted that require legal tattoos to only be given by artists who are licensed and certified and also requires artists to use sterilized equipment.

The problem is when teens get tattoos done illegally because of lower prices, or because illegal tattoo artists do not require the recipient to be of the legal age of 18.

When tattoos are done illegally, they are usually done in a place without optimally sanitary conditions, so the possibility of disease is much higher.

There is also a fear that inking up one’s body would affect potential opportunities in the workplace.

“A lot of times teens are not sure what career they will be going into, and to have a tattoo that’s visible would possibly prevent them from realizing their full career potential,” said Melissa Funk, the owner of a local tattoo parlor. “As a conscientious tattoo artist,

As long as you get something that is meaningful, there is no problem with getting something so permanent.

– Senior John Cooley

I feel that I should advise them that it limits their employability to have visible tattoos.”

However, those getting tattoos are now usually thinking ahead.

According to a Harris Media poll, 70 percent of teens and young adults who get tattoos place them in spots that potential employers wouldn’t see.

Many naysayers also believe that teens should not

mark up their bodies with something so permanent at such a young age. They claim that most teens will end up regretting tattoos as they get older.

“I would possibly get a tattoo later in my life, but if I got one today, I would probably get something that means a lot to me now, that probably wouldn’t mean as much to me when I’m older,” junior Spencer Palmer said.

To back up this argument, if someone was to regret a tattoo, laser tattoo removal could cost anywhere from $300 to $2,000 depending on the location and size of the tattoo, and is also reported to be incredibly painful.

John Cooley, a senior at GBHS, argues that there is no problem with tattoos as long as they are significant.

“As long as you get something that is meaningful, there is no problem with getting something so permanent,” Cooley said. “One of my tattoos is a Bible verse that has been with me my whole life.”

Senior Sherron Bradford also agrees with Cooley.

“Before I got my tattoo, I thought a lot about what design to get, I decided on a bible verse that will always mean a lot to me,” Bradford said.

According to Funk, this is the case with most teens.

“For the most part, teens get tattoos with some meaning,” Funk said. “A very few seem to want a tattoo just to have it.”

With the growth in the number of teenagers getting tattoos comes the growth of safety and caution as well.

Getting tattoos is a trend that goes beyond the cliché of “everybody’s doing it.” Most high schoolers are now getting tattoos that have a meaningful person, moment or quote behind them.

February 2013

Page 17

story time.

Once upon a time...

Adventures of Granite Bay High School students

BY BRIAN ZHUANG

bzhuang.gazette@gmail.com

A

lthough Granite Bay students complain about the docile and boring nature of the area, some have experienced very exciting episodes.

Danger, adventure, fear and excitement are clearly exhibited in these following entries.

Arman Mizani In the mountains of Tahoe, on the way to a cozy, inviting cabin, sophomore Arman Mizani was very excited to finally go on a vacation and get away from the pressures of rigorous academics.

With his large family in an old Suburban, everybody was waiting anxiously to reach their snow-covered residence.

In the middle of playing 21 Questions, Arman’s brother, Ashkan, saw a small rock fall from the mountains in his peripheral vision.

Ashkan immediately warned his family, but they dismissed it as nonsense.

As everybody was looking out the windows enjoying the panoramic view, Arman was cautiously observing the scene for danger.

Snow delicately fell on the water of the lake, causing tiny ripples to shimmer across the surface.

Though everything seemed so peaceful, rocks, gradually growing in size, continued to fall.

The family was not worrying about these rocks and was more focused on reaching their comfy cabin.

Unexpectedly, a big boulder flew down one of the white peaks.

The giant rock was coming toward the left side of the car straight toward Ashkan, and while all this seemed like it was happening in slow motion, Arman realized Ashkan was not wearing a seatbelt.

He screamed a warning, but it was too late.

“I thought Ashkan was going to get smashed,” Arman said.

The boulder was steadily making progress, ready to hit their car at any moment.

There was nothing the family could do to stop the momentum of the threatening object.

As the boulder hurled toward them, Ashkan shoved his brothers, making room for himself to move away from the window.

Luckily, when the boulder hit, Ashkan had moved away from the side of the car.

“I felt like such a hero, saving my brother,” Arman said.

Ironically, not wearing a seatbelt had ultimately prevented Ashkan from getting injured.

The boulder did make a dent in the car’s side, and unfortunately, the Mizani family had to head back home to get their car fixed.

Ricky Smith* In the middle of a Friday night in Hillsborough, four boys decided to go doorbell ditching.

This wasn’t just a normal ring-and-run.

The house that the boys were going to prank had a knocker on the front of the door, and after seeing this, one of the boys

had a crazy idea. He said, “Let’s tie a fishing line to the knocker of the door.”

The line was about 50 yards long, so the boys could hide while knocking on the door. They hid near the house so they could see how the residents would act instead of just running away.

Ricky and another boy hid behind bushes about 15 feet away from the house and the other two hid approximately 85 feet away.

After getting set, the two boys that were farther away pulled the string, causing the knocker to rise and fall, hitting the door with ease. After a few knocks, nothing happened, and the boys thought that no one would come out.

However, they were wrong. A man, around 25 years old, came walking out.

Luckily, they were still in their positions when this man appeared.

The man was wearing a full track suit with running shoes, looking like he was getting ready for a track meet.

Everything was going well, until finally, the man caught a glimpse of the translucent fishing line and began to slowly follow the line.

The two boys near the house immediately started to run and so did the other two boys. The man saw them and sprinted to try and catch them.

As everyone was running the boys could hear the man yelling curse words at them, threatening to beat them up.

Three boys ran one way and Ricky ran the opposite way. The man heard his footsteps as he ran, and started sprinting

towards him.

Ricky quickly jumped behind a bush, hoping that the man didn’t see him.

“I thought I was going to die,” said Ricky, a sophomore.

The man stopped running and slowly walked by, examining his surroundings.

He walked nearly three feet away from where Ricky was.

He started cursing loudly.

Ricky waited in fear behind the bush for about 15 minutes.

The man later gave up, and went back to his house.

The other boys, already back home, were almost crying because they thought the man had beaten up Ricky.

The boy was then forced to walk around the entire neighborhood and sneak through the back door of his house.

A few mornings later, the boys found an entire article online written by a local newspaper, referring to this incident.

According to the source, the resident had a gun in his house, and he alluded to the idea that the pranksters were lucky he wasn’t a little crazier. *Names have been changed. *** The stories of Ricky and Arman show that students can have adventures if they’re willing to stomach a little spontaneity.

Perhaps a little adventure would enliven the lives of GBHS students here in the apparently not-so-boring Granite Bay.

Gazette photo LUKE BF CHIRBAS

current.

February 2013

Page 18

Pump Up Mixtape

Sophomore Neel Chanda shares his mixtape for getting pumped

BY GOKUL ASOKAN

gasokan.gazette@gmail.com

Carrie Underwood is touring in support of her album, Blown Away. She will be playing on February 26 at the Stockton Arena.

BY BRIAN ZHUANG

bzhuang.gazette@gmail.com

1. So Many Girls-DJ Drama, Wale, Roscoe Dash, Tyga “Because I like the beat and I like girls.”

2. Hit Em’ Up – Lil Wayne “Because Lil Wayne sounded so much sicker in his old songs.”

3. Compton – Kendrick Lamar I like Kendrick Lamar, its beat is pretty sick, and I like how it’s a throwback tune.”

4. Polo and Shell Tops-Meek Mill “I like the story of growing up in the hood.”

5.Ghetto Symphony – A$AP Rocky “It’s a catchy old-style beat.”

6.New Cash Money – Lil Wayne “I like the beat.”

7.Double M Genius – Wale “Because I like to play basketball to this song.”

8. Hate Being Sober – Chief Keef ft. 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa “I don’t drink so I like being the opposite of Chief Keef.”

9.Hundred Dollar Bill Skyscraper – Big Sean ft. Mac Miller “That’s my favorite song to listen to on the way to San Francisco.”

10.Sorry – T.I. ft. Andre 3000 “It has a good meaning and I like the way

Recipe of the Month: Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

BY SUMMER HAENNY

shaeney.gazette@gmail.com

Ingredients: Vegetable oil, cooking spray 3 cups of all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons of coarse salt 3 sticks of unsalted butter 12 ounces of unsweetened chocolate 3 cups of sugar 6 large eggs, room temperature 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray, line bottom with parchment and then spray parchment. This makes clean-up very easy.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Pour one inch of water into a small soup pot on the stove.

3. Place butter and chocolate in a clean, heat–proof bowl that can rest on top of the pot without being submerged in the water.

Meshuggah, a Swedish extreme metal band hailing from Umeå, is playing at the Ace of Spades in Sacramento. They will be playing on March 1 alongside Animals as Leaders and Intronauts.

Morrissey, former front man of The Smiths, will be playing at the Robert Mondavi Center in Davis.

He will be performing on March 4, along with Kristeen Young.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, along with Ryan Leslie, are performing at the Stockton Civic Memorial Auditorium on March 28. Macklemore, famous for his songs “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love”, is promoting his debut studio album, The Heist.

4. Boil the water. Place the bowl with the chocolate and butter on top of the boiling water allowing the steam and heat to melt the chocolate and butter. Stir until the ingredients are melted and mixed together.

5. Attach a different bowl to mixer, add sugar and mix on medium-high speed until smooth. This should take about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then add one tablespoon of vanilla.

Fractured Transmitter

Macklemore LLC 9. Do not remove food from cooking containers. Both the pastries and the containers are incredibly hot.

10. Use frosting from the store to decorate the cupcake. You can get the perfect color by buying white frosting and red food coloring.

Remember a little food coloring goes a long way, so don’t use too much.

6. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture.

7. Divide batter among muffin cups, until each is two thirds full. Spread the remaining batter in square pan.

The batter in the square pan will become the brownies.

8. Bake until set but still soft for about 18 minutes. Let cupcakes and brownies cool in the pan and tins.

Gazette photo /summer haenny

Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes combine the best portions of brownies and cupcakes into one delicious baked good

February 2013

i want food.

Page 19

Which Restaurant?

See which eateries are best suited for different dining occasions

BY COLLEEN VIVALDI

cvivaldi.gazette@gmail.com

Other date night situations could possibly be long-term anniversary dinners. For important occasions such as those, restaurants like Il Fornaio, Hawks or Ruth’s Chris Steak House are good prospects for getting dressed up and going to a fancier, upscale restaurant.

Il Fornaio is a great place to dine at and presents a total variety of authentic Italian food, such as the Capellini al Pomodoro that goes for $14.99, Pizza Margherita at $12.99, salads and oven-warm bread. Definitely consider taking a spouse here for an intimate sit-down meal to celSpecial to the Gazette /CHASE COOPER ebrate time spent together.

Hawks and Ruth Chris, for instance, are both very fancy steak houses that will have long-term girlfriends/ boyfriends feeling even more special. The steak at both venues is lean and full of seasoned flavor. Being that they are steak houses, both offer signature steaks like filet, ribeye and porterhouse.

However, the prices do tend to get up into the high double digits, especially at Ruth Chris.

Gazette photo /Hayley McAvoy

Places for a first date are usually the hardest to choose because of all of the pressure to impress. Typically, a somewhat fancy restaurant with decent prices is the safest bet.

Venues like Mikuni or Chicago Fire are two really solid choices for a first date with someone.

Reason being, Mikuni is not cheap, but not overly expensive and holds a wide variety of choices from exotic sushi rolls, like the Train Wreck Rolls priced at $14 to bento boxes.

Chicago Fire on the other hand, provides mostly gourmet pizzas. From the All Meat deep dish pizza to the Vegetarian thin crust pizza and salads, the bill doesn’t rack up to be overly expensive, but still gives an overall finedining experience.

Anniversary Dinner

Gazette photo /Hayley McAvoy

First Date Special to the Gazette /CHASE COOPER

Group Outings

Special to the Gazette /CHASE COOPER

Going out to dinner with just a group of friends is always a great Gazette photo /Hayley McAvoy idea for a social outing, date night or group date.

Places like the Cheesecake Factory, BJ’s or Smash Burger are enjoyable and suitable settings for large groups.

The Cheesecake Factory is not expensive and has every type of cuisine on the menu known to man. The title says it all when it comes to the delicious cheesecake dessert this restaurant offers.

Just like the Cheesecake Factory, BJ’s has nearly a vast menu of different categories of foods like chicken fried steak, tacos and even spaghetti. BJ’s is prominently known for the famous “Pizooki” cookie dessert. It is an oven-baked, melt in your mouth cookie (various flavors available) topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Be sure to buy one or two for the group to finish the meal off on the right note.

If the group is solely looking for a delicious burger and non-dressy occasion, hit up Smash Burger.

Smash Burger is a perfect place to go spur of the moment. This restaurant is unique because it offers the option of creating your own burgers with various kinds of cheese and toppings that are always fresh off the grill.

Gazette photo /Hayley McAvoy

Page 20

culture shock.

n o i s a v n I ese

February 2013

n a p Ja

The Japanese pop culture scene has been transforming the atmosphere at Granite Bay High School

Gazette photo /CLEORA REBER

Gazette photo /CLEORA REBER

Gazette photo /CLEORA REBER

Popular aspects of Japanese culture that many GBHS students are beginning to incorporate into their daily lives

BY SAVITRI ASOKAN

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

P

Gazette photo /CLEORA REBER

Gazette illustration/LENA EYEN

op culture is consistently changing, and recently, GBHS students have been taking a strong interest in Japanese pop culture trends.

Students are using Japanese stationery, listening to Japanese music, eating Japanese food and immersing themselves in different aspects of the culture. The most popular of these trends are anime, which is video cartoon animation, and manga, which are comic books.

Sophomore Thomas Conway is one of the many devoted fans of anime and manga on campus.

“I read and watch both anime and manga,” Conway said. “Every couple of weeks I will pick up a manga and just read for fun.”

Conway is not the only one who has begun to take an interest in Japanese culture. Students all over campus are exploring this foreign form of pop culture.

Freshman Chalyse Thompson also takes part in these trends.

“I read manga a lot, but I watch a lot more anime,” Thompson said.

Thompson also “cosplays,” which she said means “dressing up like characters from (her) favorite Japanese movies.”

Freshman Kate Miller, who is half-Japanese, said she enjoys

going deeper into the culture than the average student.

“I do watch anime and read manga, but I also do other Japanese things,” Miller said.

While she concedes that some parts of Japanese culture are gaining in popularity, she said most people aren’t celebrating the more obscure parts.

Despite the success of some trends, Miller said, she doesn’t think the experiences of those who make occasional forays into the culture are entirely accurate or comprehensive.

“I know (for) most people who learn about Japan, it’s about the sushi, the anime and the manga, but for me, it’s ... more of the culture,” she said. “The food is really important to me, and the people and the experience.”

Miller said this is probably because of her Japanese heritage.

“I speak Japanese at home ... my mom watches TV Japan, and my mom and sister listen to Japanese music, which they introduced to me,” she said.

But it’s not only those with Japanese heritage that are speaking the language on campus.

Conway was so compelled by his interest in the culture that he is currently taking Japanese as his foreign language class.

“All of my friends took Japanese

as freshmen, and had conveyed their feelings to me about how fun the class was,” Conway said. “It seemed interesting, and I took it.”

According to Miller, there are also some key differences between authentic Japanese culture and America’s version of it.

“In Japan, One Piece (the name of a manga series) is really big, while Naruto (another manga) is not,” Miller said. “Here, it’s the other way around.”

Most of the trends, Miller said, have more to do with entertainment than the deeper culture.

Freshman Kayomi Kayoshi also shares this perspective.

“I started (participating in Japanese culture) when I was little,” Kayoshi said, “because my dad is half-Japanese. “From when I was five to seven, I went to a Japanese school and learned the traditions.”

Despite racial boundaries, Japanese culture is getting a foothold on high school campuses across the nation.

Conway believes there is a lot to find in it if you look, as Japanese culture is so very different from American culture.

“It’s intriguing,” Conway said, “and there is just so much rich culture that most people don’t bother to find or look for in the first place.”

February 2013

Page 21

gaming.

BY THOMAS TAYLOR ttaylor.gazette@gmail.com

2013

is shaping up to be a very exciting year for current generation console gamers.

Nintendo’s home console, the Wii U, is already on store shelves; Sony’s Playstation successor is going to be announced as soon as Feb. 20 and Microsoft’s next Xbox will probably be announced following Sony’s announcement.

The first current generation console, the Xbox 360, was unleashed upon the North American masses in 2005.

It has been almost 8 years since the console’s release.

The Playstation 3 was first sold in 2006 along with the motion-controlled sensation, the Nintendo Wii. These “Big three” console makers have decided that it is high time to unveil their newest hardware upon the world, and GBHS students are voicing opinions.

“Yeah I’m really excited to see how the new technology in the world will be integrated with the new systems,” junior Kevin Burns said.

The most powerful of the current generation consoles, the Playstation 3, came out in 2006.

Computer technology rapidly advances every six months, and it has been 7 years. Microsoft’s and Sony’s new consoles will be incredibly more powerful than their predecessors.

Nintendo’s console, the Wii U, is already on shelves.

It is marginally more powerful than the current generation Playstation 3, but it makes up for this underwhelming amount of power with a touch screen built into the controller.

“It is interesting because it seems like it combines the Nintendo DS with the newer consoles,” Burns said, “so I am intrigued but I don’t think it will work out very well because it looks too confusing … for Nintendo’s main audience.”

Nintendo sold millions of Nintendo Wii’s to “casual” gamers when the system released. Nintendo’s Wii U is designed to regain the “hardcore” gaming audience that was lost by Nintendo.

Console gaming has always been very cheap at the end of a console’s life cycle. For example, you can buy a refurbished Playstation 3 for around $200 from Gamestop.com. Unfortunately, the prices of new consoles are never this cheap.

New consoles soon to arrive Granite Bay High Schoolers speculate about new video game consoles Gazette illustration /THOMAS taylor

“It’s always exciting to see new hardware come out,” junior Chase Cooper said, “but it is always very expensive at first.”

The new generation of consoles may launch anywhere from $399 to $500. The Playstation 3 was released at $599 in 2006.

More important to GBHS gamers are the services that these new consoles provide. The hugely popular games distribution application, Steam, is touted as the easiest way to purchase games.

When asked if they would like to see a service similar to Steam on the next generation consoles GBHS students had varying responses.

“I would be excited if they had Steam as a service on consoles, because then you could play games with all your friends who play games on Steam on different consoles.” junior Chase Cooper said. “It is very annoying to switch between multiple services; I want one service I can use for everything.”

Cooper is excited to see if the consoles will employ Steam as their online marketplace, as opposed to the already existing Playstation Store or the Xbox Marketplace.

“No, (I’m not excited) because knowing companies like Microsoft, it would be expensive,” says junior Armin Anderson, “(There would be) lots of added charges if Microsoft or Sony did their own versions of

Steam.”

Anderson is not excited to see these new consoles use a Steam service because then they will charge a substantial amount of money for gamers to do what they love–game.

GBHS gamers chose their current consoles back when they were in middle school. They have grown up with their favorite brand, whether it is Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. Now is it time to put aside these allegiances and choose a new home console based solely off merit? “(My next console will be) whichever offers the best games. Like Microsoft’s Xbox has the Halo series,” Anderson said.

For Anderson, and other gamers, it is not a matter of who has the better hardware, it’s who has the better software.

“I would probably have to stick with the Playstation brand,” Cooper said. “I do not like how you have to pay for Xbox Live.”

Cooper has made his decision to stick with his beloved Playstation brand in order to cut down on paying a monthly subscription for online functions.

This next year will be fascinating for gamers to look upon; new games for our current consoles are coming while the release dates of the next consoles loom closer.

Aggregate Films

By: Luke Chirbas lchirbas.gazette@gmail.com

identity thief: C-

he careers of Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy appear to have peaked early in life.

Both are Emmy-nominated actors, having starred in two of TV’s biggest critical hits Arrested Development and Gilmore Girls. Their newest movie, Identity Thief, however, falls short of their respective talents.

It isn’t a star-studded cast that the movie lacks, but a well-written script and cohesive plot.

Conceptually, the film’s story line seems like a great idea. Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is an ordinary hard working citizen who learns that his identity has been stolen from him.

That’s because halfway across the nation, a woman named Diana (Melissa McCarthy), has been using his identity to go on spending sprees, buying everything possible.

Patterson decides to search for the guilty party and clear his name. This involves traveling across country to Miami, where he ends up getting sucked him into a world of trouble while trying to capture Diana.

At times, however, screenwriter, Craig Mazin, goes overboard. We shouldn’t feel like we are watching one of those Spanish telenovelas, where one unexpected twist comes right after the other for no explicable reason whatsoever.

The dialogue is also at times witty, with the film not sticking completely to the typical slapstick comedy routine.

In fact, the film even tries to intermingle the comedy with drama. Some scenes are staged quite seriously, exploring the psychological issues that run deep in the hearts of Patterson and Diana.

Some scenes felt as if the actors were trying too hard to make a scene emotional when it just wasn’t there in the script.

Identity Thief is at times entertaining and funny, but it’s hard to ignore that the film is so completely average. The comedy is not exceptional. The story is not polished. The actors don’t exhibit all of their talents.

Then again, this movie isn’t aiming for an Academy Award, but rather to amuse the audience, so it does manage to succeed.

Rated: R

T

Endgame Entertainment

he plot of this Hitchcock-esque thriller is abound with guile and deceit; yet, as the plot progresses, the series of lies and half-truths are soon overtaken by the film’s sheer number of twists.

While revealing the plot twists here would obviously be in poor taste, I will say this: the twists, while effective in building suspense, soon cause the plot to feel convoluted and farfetched, as character motives and underlying plots fall prey to poor development.

To begin with, Side Effects is essentially split into two parts, each with its own character arc.

The first half of the film chronicles the struggles of Emily Taylor, a woman suffering with major depressive disorder (played by actress Rooney Mara).

Following a suicide attempt, she begins seeing a new psychiatrist (played by actor Jude Law) who helps her cope with her internal struggle.

She is soon prescribed with a new medication that elicits certain “side effects,” some of which cause risky behavior.

The second half of the film, however, suffers from contrived plot elements and a forced sense of suspense, causing the story to develop into more of a criminal drama, told from the perspective of Emily’s psychiatrist following a drug trial lawsuit.

Despite the second half’s convolutedness, it still managed to maintain the cinematography and scene composition (which were excellent) from the first half, before the major plot twist.

The fluidity and length of scenes, coupled with an innovative mode of story-telling, highlighted Steven Soderbergh’s (director of Contagion and Magic Mike) directorial style and aesthetic perspective, both of which are pleasantly reminiscent of French New Wave films.

Written by Scott Z. Burns in collaboration with Dr. Sasha Bardey, a practitioner of forensic psychiatry for the city of New York, the subject matter explores our culture’s increasing dependency on prescription medication and the debilitating nature of major depressive disorder, with references to William Styron’s Darkness Visible.

Although Side Effects certainly isn’t Soderbergh’s best work, its ambitious subject matter and innovative cinematography make it an absorbing, thought-provoking thriller – one definitely worth seeing.

Rated: R By: Chris Pei cpei.gazette@gmail.com

side effects: B

T

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film.

T

Incentive Filmed Entertainment Pictures

he movie Parker features Jason Statham as a criminal with morals, seeking revenge on men who wronged him.

His quest leads him to Florida, where he meets Jennifer Lopez, playing the role of a struggling realtor in Palm Springs.

Parker quickly learns that she can help him with her knowledge of the area, and the two form an unlikely duo as they hunt down the men who wronged Parker.

Lopez and Statham both are wonderful in connecting with the audience, and the overall acting in this movie was above average.

One cannot help feeling sympathetic for a struggling businesswoman and definitely cannot help but love a resourceful hero that accompanies his crimes with witty one-liners.

The plot, albeit a tad bit predictable, was solid, but the slow pace in the middle of the movie had a hard time keeping its viewers engaged.

In terms of differentiating itself from other action films, Parker did not do much to make it more worth seeing than any other movie at the theater.

The only redeeming quality in Parker’s storyline was its take on a modern Robin Hood, living vicariously through Parker.

This old idea is properly handled in Parker, as it helps break the mold of action stars that kill needlessly and only care about money, women and themselves. It was a breath of fresh air.

But honestly, most people do not go to action movies for the plot or the characters, they go for the action. Parker handled this aspect pretty well with many intense fighting scenes of both sides taking hits.

Overall, this movie was decent, with a couple redeeming qualities. Its action scenes are nice, but are out-shown by most other action movies of today.

Unfortunately, the best word to describe Parker is just average, and your money would probably be better spent on other action movies that feature a bit more action.

Rated: R By: Parker Burman pburman.gazette@gmail.com

parker: C+

February 2013

S

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film.

Lakeshore Entertainment

A

Wunderkind Pictures

By: Zack Zolmer zzolmer.gazette@gmail.com

By: Thomas Taylor ttaylor.gazette@gmail.com

Rated: R

noobz: F

n interesting idea fell flat on its face in the new movie Noobz.

Horrible acting, dreadful dialogue and a bizarre conclusion all contributed to an awful movie that stank of low production values.

The movie begins with “loveable” loser Cody getting dumped by his overly sexualized wife.

Cody spirals even further into depression and is despondent when his gaming “clan” member, Andy, enters their team into the big video game tournament.

The three team members then drive across the country to Los Angeles and pick up another gamer named Hollywood. This kid, who is supposed to be deathly ill, is then spirited away from his crazy mother and his gold digging dad who just happens to be Casper Van Dien of Starship Trooper fame.

Have you ever heard of Starship Trooper?

No? Then it is an odd choice for an actor of his age to play himself in a role that is directed at our demographic.

Interesting choices in actors aside, the movie’s dialogue is riddled with enthusiastic “bros” and “dudes,” with ample swear words for added effect.

The movie’s one saving grace is the romance that buds between Ricky and Andy. Ricky is a member of another team competing to win the cash prize in this tournament.

The relationship also creates the only funny part in the movie when Andy is preparing for his big date in front of the hotel mirror. Not exactly comedy gold, but in a movie so devoid of anything entertaining, you have to take what you get.

The conclusion to the movie had Andy sparing Ricky’s life in the final battle so she could save her childhood home with the prize money.

However, the movie’s only interesting characters did not even end up together in the end. In fact, none of the main characters really benefited from the road trip in any way.

An odd conclusion, horrible acting and dreadful dialogue leave a bad taste in my mouth. What could have been a homage to competitive video gaming just made us all seem like massive idiots.

stand up guys: B-

tand Up Guys was a surprisingly entertaining movie, which was fitting given the ripe age of the main characters.

The movie was filled with seasoned actors such as Christopher Walken (Doc), who plays an aging con man and lockpicker, Al Pacino (Val) as a recently released convict fresh off 28 years in prison and Alan Arkin (Hirsch) as the prisoner of a dreadful retirement home. All of these characters are looking for one last flashback to the past.

Whether they’re stealing a sports car, speeding through the streets or evading police while ducking in and out of traffic, danger is no object to these men.

Even though their driving is fast, the pace of the movie more closely resembles the speed of their walk, tedious and slow.

The picture begins with Val being escorted out through the halls of the prison one final time from his sentence for accidentally killing the only son of the notorious crime boss, Claphands (Mark Margolis). Upon his exit, Val finds his longtime wing man, Doc, waiting for him. However, he doesn’t know that Doc has orders from Claphands to avenge the death of his son and kill Val by 10 a.m. the following day.

Over a midnight meal, Val forces Doc to admit to him his plans of killing Val by the morning. With this admission, the two set out to turn back the clock to their younger conmen days.

The two proceed to steal some new suits, rob a pharmacy and snort stolen prescription drugs off the bar of a nightclub.

However, for all these somewhat intense action sequences, there are simply too many seemingly unending scenes where Walken and Pacino sit around, rambling on about nonsense while cracking dreadful jokes.

For all that this movie does well, the good seems to be almost entirely offset by long, boring acts of nothingness and little to no character development.

However the charm exhibited by Walken, Pacino and Arkin in their desperate cling to youth make this movie worth watching.

Rated: R

A

GreeneStreet Films Inc.

fter I was finished with my viewing of Movie 43, I left the theater with mixed feelings.

None of them were very pleasant. The movie attempts to draw in crowds with the promise of outrageous and raunchy situations with a starsaturated cast.

Honestly, the number of celebrity cameos was only matched by the number of failed one-liners.

The movie starts off with a loose background of an erratic director played by Dennis Quaid, who is attempting to pitch a movie to a studio owner played by Greg Kinnear.

The movie he’s pitching is made up of a bunch of twisted and dirty sketches with celebrities ranging from Seth McFarland to Richard Gere.

Director Peter Farrelly was going for a 21st century version of “The Groove Tube” and “Kentucky Fried Movie,” two pretty funny, very raunchy and very influential sketch-comedy flicks of the mid-1970s. He shot for the stars and barely got airborne.

As the movie progresses, all essence of plot or structure fall to the wayside, as a series of A-list celebrities attempt to show their carefree, comedic attitude by doing shocking, yet very unfunny, skits.

How shocking? Hugh Jackman, who just won a Golden Globe for a masterful performance in Les Miserables, has a skit where he wears a scrotum on his chin.

Like any lame episode of Saturday Night Live, some of the skits did force a laugh. However, any laugh was due to sheer vulgarity; they certainly weren’t from good comedic timing or dialogue.

As though it was on purpose, each skit gets progressively worse. With each new cameo, from Anna Faris, to Emma Stone, to Naomi Watts, to Halle Berry, let me assure you that it gets worse.

This movie doesn’t even follow the Golden Rule of comedy films. If you’re going to be dirty, then at least be somewhat humorous.

Again, if you’re just looking for shock value and some cheap laughs, then by all means you will not be disappointed. But personally, I’m looking for a bit more for my ten dollars.

By the time the credits rolled, I noticed that most of the logical viewers had conjured the sense to leave.

Rated: R By: Austin Pink apink.gazette@gmail.com

movie 43: D

February 2013

Page 24

Point

February 2013

break the point.

Break

Granite Bay High School students participate in the 4th annual antibullying seminar

Youjin Ko, along with other GBHS students gather at the Madiu Community Center, teacher Mrs. Sinor and senior Asja Lynch play “Birdie on a Perch,” junior Wyan Coplen and freshman Jordan Armstrong discuss their similarties and differences. Seniors Steven Graber and Ellie Machado practice eye contact.

Identity Thief

C-

Side Effects

B

Parker

In Theat ers

B-

Stand Up Guys

F

Noobz

D

C+

SeeDark pages 22-23 for reviews Shadows

Movie 43