March 2015 gazette all sections combined

Musical Expression

College readiness

Giants begin training

B1

G8-9

Student artists share their music

C1

Are students emotionally ready for college?

Sacramento’s Susac shares experiences

The Granite Bay Gazette GRANITE BAY HIGH SCHOOL w 1 GRIZZLY WAY w GRANITE BAY, CA w 95746 w VOLUME 19 w ISSUE 6 w FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

Commentary

PLAGIARISM

neha kompella nkompella.gazette@gmail.com

As year wanes, nostalgia grows

T

he other day, my friend told me that we only had 100 days of school left, and I found that I had no idea how to react.

For the four years that I’ve been in high school, I’ve loved it and I’ve hated it. But I’ve always been in a sort of mad race to get to the end. It’s been semester after semester of aiming for that A, trying to keep commitments to all my extracurriculars, keeping up with the massive amount of homework that inevitably came my way in the IB program and still trying to get enough sleep and maintain relationships with friends.

And in between all of this, I don’t normally take the time to close my eyes and treasure the experience.

Of course, there’s still a long way to go. Between finishing up a veritable mountain of collegerelated paperwork and IB testing, the light at the end of the tunnel is still relatively distant. But now that I can see it, it doesn’t quite bring me the happiness that I thought it would.

It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that soon I’m going to graduate and move on to other things in life. It seems strangely surreal that, come this August or September, I’ll be away from all the friends and family that I grew up with. If I’m being honest, the thought of it scares me a little.

Actually, the thought of it scares me a lot.

For so long, the future has been an abstract concept, something to constantly make better through hard work and dedication. The mad scramble of high school life consumed so much of my time and energy that I usually just find myself worrying about a day at a time, falling into the predictable but comfortable routine of the daily grind.

It’s only now that I realize how much I’m going to miss the feeling of being surrounded by people that I care about, of going home after school to my family and knowing all of my neighbors really well.

In my last semester of my senior year, I feel like the last three years have passed by in a blur of activity and emotion, of people and places and experiences that I can’t even fully remember, but have turned me into the person I am today.

Of course, I can’t say I’m not excited for the future. I’m incredibly excited to make new friends, live in a new area and have new experiences. In fact, it’s rather difficult to concentrate on the present when I’m constantly making so many decisions about what’s going to happen after I graduate.

But even so, at this junction in my life, with the impatience of senioritis warring against the melancholy of senior nostalgia, I’m beginning to appreciate high school more and more.

So for the next two and half months, I’ve resolved to treasure every day that I have to drag myself out of my warm bed, to appreciate the little fights I get into with my friends and the homework that I have to do every afternoon. It might be tedious, but in 20 years, when I look back at my high school career, I want to remember making the most of it.

As the “lasts” of high school slowly begin to fade away behind me and the “firsts” of the future lay ahead of me, I want to make sure that I face tomorrow having thoroughly experienced yesterday. *** Neha Kompella, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.

A look at the ongoing trend of cheating at GBHS

Gazette photo illustration /kat mcgrail

BY MAGGIE BELL

D

mbell.gazette@gmail.com

espite recent advancements in anticheating programs such as turnitin. com, plagiarism at GBHS is still a problem.

Laziness is often associated with cheating by students but according to Granite Bay High School teachers, this is not the case.

Academically, Granite Bay High School is one of the top ranked public high schools in Northern California. Although many factors play into why the school is so

accomplished, the faculty is in agreement that a major reason GBHS has achieved so much is the ever-present culture to succeed. With such a high-achieving student body, there is a social pressure to excel academically in all subjects despite the potentially difficulty level of courses.

Advanced placement courses, typically left only to the academic elite at a regular high school, are commonplace among the schedules of many GBHS students.

AP Government teacher Jarrod Westberg said he is shocked that some of the students

GBHS teachers receive prestigious awards

Brandon Dell’Orto

Brandon Dell’Orto, Shayne Stedman are lauded

BY COLLEEN VIVALDI

cvivaldi.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School prides itself on academic student excellence, as well as, teacher superbness. Two of GBHS’ finest teachers, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate United States History teacher Brandon Dell’Orto and Algebra 2 and Integrated Mathematics teacher Shayne Stedman, have both been recognized as experts in their subjects.

Dell’Orto was named California’s Outstanding History Teacher by the Daughters of the American Revolution. He was first in a pool for Northern California and won in that arena, then won overall

who cheat are those with nearly flawless grades and GPAs. “I think it’s just such a drive that our students have, and also a fear of their parents,” Westberg said. (Students) are scared that they won’t get that perfect (grade) every time, so unfortunately some students will continue to to plagiarize.”

One of the largest pressures that can potentially affect the decision of a student to cheat comes from parents. Many times, parents may be more concerned with a final result than the process taken to achieve that

in the state.

This award is given annually by the DAR and this year, Dell’Orto was the teacher chosen to represent Northern California.

“Last year around April, I got an email from Mike McGuire, the principal at the time, who said, ‘Hey, congratulations, you have been nominated to be one of Placer County’s teachers of the year for history by the Daughters of the American Revolution,’” Dell’Orto said.

DAR is a not-for-profit organization that supports the lineage of the American Revolution for independence and seeks to promote patriotism and historical preservation.

“There were two very wonderful ladies

Teacher won “Outstanding History Teacher” Award, given by the Daughters of the American Revolution

BY TAMREN JOHNK

tjohnk.gazette@gmail.com

Throughout the school year, tension between some Granite Bay High School students and the GBHS administration has gradually intensified, reaching its highest point within the last few months. Drawing principally from changes in the implementation of school policies, those students have grown increasingly skeptical of the administrative team, resulting in an apparent disconnect between the two.

After Jennifer Leighton took over the job of being the

Shayne Stedman Math teacher named the school’s Teacher of the Year; he will compete at the district level for additional honors. that were all excited and said ‘hey if you want to do this, we would love to have you do it, we have heard you are a great teacher and you have come highly rec-

See TEACHERS, page A8

school’s new principal at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year, change swiftly came to GBHS within the first few months. Among the first things Leighton, with her administrative team, acted upon was the cancellation of Mr. Grizzly and the creation of a new tardy sweep policy.

“There are lots of pieces to my vision coming in, but I decided I wanted to start pretty small,” Leighton said. “I knew that there were some areas that needed to be tightened up, but I didn’t start with ‘I’m going to fix this, I’m going to fix this,’ it was more like as I observed things, then I started to work on them.”

Younger students facing more pressure

From kindergarten onward, youngsters pushed to the limit

BY JENNA MCCARTHY

The supply of college educations just can’t keep up with the perpetually growing demand.

With each passing year, colleges receive an exponentially increasing number of applications. This year, UCLA received more than 112,000 applications for fall 2015 – a six percent increase over last year.

Universities are receiving more applications than ever before, but they’re not creating more spaces to accommodate the increasing demand, prompting extreme competition for acceptance.

High-school students respond to this pressure by taking dozens of Advanced Placement courses, participating in extracurricular activities, and volunteering,. But younger students haven’t escaped this same pressure.

Students in kindergarten and first grade are now being prepared with much more rigor – not only to increase their chances of being accepted to top-level universities, but to help them succeed in their postsecondary education.

Brigitte Austin, a Rocklin resident, can attest to this increasing pressure. Austin’s six-year-old daughter, Ava – a first-grade student at Sunset Ranch Elementary School – is experiencing the heightened demand for college education with newfound rigor in her curriculum.

“Ava’s homework can be a bit challenging at times as far as helping her complete it,” Austin said. “I’m college-educated and there are moments that she asks for help and I’m not sure what the word problem

See DISCONNECT, page A7

inside the Gazette news Abortion rates decrease

The Mormon Church addresses LGBT

Students share their opinions on its prevalence in the community

Religious group shares its view on gay marriage and other issues

A2

See PLAGIARISM, page A7

jmccarthy.gazette@gmail.com

Is there an administrative disconnect?

Some students are not happy

result. Therefore, with all of the attention focused on the goal to succeed, disciplinary actions may have taken a backseat level of importance.

“There has really been no painful punishment other than being placed on the (academic dishonesty) list,” Westberg said.

“I don’t think anyone really cares about the list, but if (the penalty is instead that a student may be kicked off of a) team, that’s going to be a serious deal.”

voices

See PLANNING, page A7

Do politicians lack scientific awareness?

Public statements showcase ignorance of basic facts

A4

A9

News

A2

Granite Bay Gazette

Friday w March 13, 2015

NAMES IN THE NEWS

jacqueline gordon

Making the choice

jgordon.gazette@gmail.com

Honor Society inducts its newest class of members

A

fter months of deliberation, screening and background-checking of new candidates, the prestigious National Honor Society inducted new members on Feb. 27 at its annual induction ceremony, complete with marching music, dim lighting and a ceremonial lighting of the candles. Congratulations for making the cut, inductees!

Welcome to the cult... I mean, “society”... *** So. Juniors get a prom this year. Well that’s just great.

As a senior who didn’t get a school-sponsored junior prom, I’m totally ok with this.

I reaped the punishment for a previous class’s stupidity and now the juniors don’t have to, but that’s fine. I’m not bitter at all. *** The annual Saint Baldrick’s event is happening on March 20th. The fundraising will raise money for childhood cancer research. Senior Annina Hanlon is heading the event this year, and see her for more details about the event and how to sign up. Come out and support this awesome cause! *** The GBHS video game tournament will be held March 23 on the steps of the cafeteria. *** Get ready for another great production from Theatre at Granite Bay! Guys and Dolls will make its debut on Thursday, April 9. *** Whoo hoo! Spring break is coming up from March 28 through April 6. Keep on trudging, the end is within our reach! *** Before you take off for spring break, however, AP exam registration forms are due by March 27. So I guess I do have to think about the AP tests some time prior to the night before I take them. *** Look out, juniors! SAT testing is upon you. But fear not, for Scott Becker and David Tastor are here to save you. Starting April 7, they will begin their first sessions of spring SAT prep classes.

Space is limited, so sign up soon to save your sanity. As a senior, I’m proud to say I will not be joining you in your SAT endeavors. *** Spanish teacher Jennifer Hill recently announced that she is pregnant with a baby boy. Congratulations!

Jacqueline Gordon, a senior, is a Gazette news editor.

CORRECTIONS 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

Gazette photo /KAT MCGRAIL

 Abortion is a hot political topic, not just at GBHS but throughout the United States. The country is highly polarized about the issue and students engage in the debate.

Pro-life versus pro-choice culture debate is alive at GBHS

BY CAROLINE PALMER cpalmer.gazette@gmail.com

Whether fully supported or detested, abortion has been the subject of debate and altercations for years – morally, religiously and politically.

“The amount of abortions in the past decade in the U.S. has decreased, thanks to some states adopting more comprehensive sex education policies, which leads to greater education about condoms and contraception,” said Eve Zhurbinskiy, an intern with the pro-choice women’s rights organization the National Abortion Rights Action League, in an email interview.

As a result of contraception becoming more widely available to women, abortion numbers have gone down nationally as well as in California. However, California abortion rates exceed national averages, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

According to Zhurbinskiy, California is one of the most pro-choice states in America.

“Both Governor Brown and the legislature are pro-choice,” Zhurbinskiy said. “California is also one of the four states to voluntarily fund abortions through Medicaid last year, and the state mandated that all insurance plans cover abortion. This year, NARAL

Pro-Choice America ranked California the No. 1 state … in terms of ensuring the right to choose and also expanding contraception and protecting pregnant workers.”

Roughly one in three American woman will have an abortion by the age of 45, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

As opposed to actual medical abortions, some women choose to take the “abortion pill” instead.

“Mifepristone – commonly referred to as the abortion pill – can be taken up to nine weeks after a woman’s last period to induce an abortion,” Zhurbinskiy said. “The abortion pill causes the lining of the uterus to break down, so that a pregnancy cannot continue. Most in-clinic abortions use the aspiration method, which can be performed up to 16 weeks after a woman’s last period and involves a suction device emptying the contents of the uterus. After 16 weeks, a method called D&E – dilation and evacuation – tends to be used.”

A former GBHS student, who asked to remain anonymous, took the abortion pill late last year.

“I am very thankful that past the age of 14, medical information is strictly confidential between patient and practitioner,” she said.

“California is fairly sensitive toward these

issues in young adults and how it can drive families apart.”

However, she said she thinks some aspects of how young women get reproductive care could be improved.

“I do think, however, that your options can and should be talked about more than it is,” she said. “Abortion is such a taboo topic that the thought of clinics sends shivers down a lot if people’s spines. The thought of having to pay for an operation like that is terrifying.

“But if people were correctly informed, a lot more girls in tough places would know about the Planned Parenthoods who offer free abortions for women in need.”

She said she believes that, until someone goes through her situation, they won’t and don’t have to understand her choices.

“Never let anyone without a uterus influence your decision,” she said. “I had three weeks of intense depression, but not once did I think of this as ‘losing a child.’ I knew that this was a lump of cells at five weeks.

I was under no moral obligation to allow a lump of cells to control my life.”

There is, of course, lots of opposition to abortion.

“Morally, I would say it’s not really different than just murdering someone because, at the moment of conception, that is like a

Frenzy at Senior Fifth Quarter

See ABORTION, page A8

Tribe feels impact of new boundaries Administration regulates group

BY TAMREN JOHNK and TREASA MAIREAD HAYES

Fire alarm sounds at hypnotism show

tjohnk.gazette@gmail.com; thayes.gazette@gmail.com

hired for this year’s Senior 5th Quarter comes annually, and injuries are rare, but always possible.

Injuries were not the only unplanned events that took place. A faulty fire alarm in the theater brought the night to an abrupt end with about 10 minutes left in the show.

The piercing noise actually woke some students up from their states of hypnosis.

“I was so confused because the fire alarm was going off,” Fina said. “People were yelling, and I had no idea what was going on.”

The fire department not only came to check up on GBHS that Friday night, but also during the following

As the varsity basketball team advanced to playoffs, the Tribe, the Granite Bay High School student spirit section, was in full swing. The bleachers were packed with students, and the Tribe leaders were ready to cheer the players to a win.

However, rules were enforced on the school Tribe in order to maintain the Tribe’s behavior, such as no chanting or singling out players on other teams. The administrative team, along with athletic director Tim Healy, started enforcing these rules this year by having multiple meetings with the Tribe leaders and restricting students to what they can say and do within the Tribe.

According to GBHS principal Jennifer Leighton, several people have been unhappy with the Tribe’s behavior for years.

“When I first started this year, they were yelling cuss words and harassing individual players, and I was bombarded with phone calls from parents of other schools and it was apparent we needed to train the students of what’s appropriate and what’s not,” Leighton said. “I have met with the Tribe leaders several times and they have been receptive, at least in meetings. Now, I question everything when I talk to people because what I get face to face is different when people leave.”

In addition to the disappointment of Tribe members, the student body created a school-wide petition suggesting the impeachment of Leighton, trending on Twitter as the hashtag #impeachleighton.

Because administrative action has been taken concerning the Tribe, some of the senior class and a large portion of underclassmen said they have lost some respect and faith in

See FRENZY, page A8

See TRIBE, page A8

BY JORDAN HOLT jholt.gazette@gmail.com

February 13th is already a day of superstition, and Granite Bay High School’s Senior 5th Quarter seemed to support the stigma.

Senior 5th Quarter is an event in which a trained hypnotist puts on an interactive show with students.

The events that occurred at Senior 5th Quarter were hilarious for those watching. However, some of the hypnotism was painful to watch, and painful to the student participants..

Erik Manzo, a GBHS senior, hurt his knee while running around under the influence of the hypnosis.

“I was pretending to be my favorite superhero, Flash,” Manzo said. “I had absolutely no control over my actions.”

It was while he was impersonating this superhero that he fell and hit his knee.

“I was so tired (when I woke up from the state), and I couldn’t walk by myself,” Manzo said. “I had to have help from some of my friends.”

Manzo said he wishes he could’ve watched his foolishness rather than

living being, that’s when it all starts coming together for the child,” junior Abby Rowe said. “They don’t really have a choice, obviously, and morally I would say that’s murdering someone. So how can that be OK?” Rowe acknowledges there is some gray area in her views.

“I would say if you are a woman that got raped or forced into the pregnancy, then it should be OK for you to get an abortion, because it wasn’t your own stupidity that got you pregnant, it was just awful things that happen in the world,” Rowe said. “But if you’re like a teenager or even just like a grown adult and you just get pregnant … you shouldn’t be allowed to get the abortion.”

In Health and Safety classes at GBHS, contraception is taught – and so is abstinence.

“We talk about contraception, under California state law we have to,” Health and Safety teacher John MacLeane said. “It’s not like I’m saying I have to do it, that’s not why I do it. We cover the failure rates, what works, what doesn’t, what are your best options, and always with the caveat that only abstinence is 100 percent (effective).”

MacLeane said abortion isn’t something he and other health teachers regularly teach in class.

“We really don’t (teach about abortion),”

Gazette photo /EPSA SHARMA

 At Senior Fifth Quarter, seniors have the opportunity to get hypnotized. Here,

seniors Lexi Geraghty and TJ Neiman are shown under the influence of hypnosis.

experience his injury again. Despite the trip-up, he is glad people enjoyed the show.

He was not alone. Senior Greg Fina suffered a concussion which he received while hypnotized during Senior 5th Quarter.

Fina was asleep on a chair when he tipped over, head first. He hit his head hard on the stage floor, giving the audience a good show, but giving himself a mild concussion.

“I don’t really know what happened, I just fell right over my head and scorpioned over the top (of myself),” Fina said.

Assistant principal Dave Vujovich said he does not recall any injuries occurring at past Senior 5th Quarters.

According to Vujovich, the hypnotist

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Folsom Location 341 Iron Point Road (916) 353-1982

News

Downtown Location 1001 K Street (916) 330-1977

Sacramento Location 1338 Howe Ave. (916) 927-0542

A3

Friday, March 13, 2015

News

w The Granite Bay Gazette

A4

LDS church takes a stance on LGBT

Photo illustration/KAT MCGRAIL

The Book of Mormon, the religious text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is juxtaposed with a rainbow heart representing the LGBT community.

Anti-discriminatory legislation is supported by Mormons

BY HANNAH HOLZER

hholzer.gazette@gmail.com

On Jan. 27, church officials representing the Mormon Church announced their support for anti-discriminatory legislation for members of the lesbian-gay-bisexualtransgender community.

This legislation represents aspects of anti-discrimination such as housing and employment. It also notes that discrimination, specifically involving violence, against the LGBT community is wrong. The church’s statement comes as a result of trying to balance the rights of those in the LGBT community while not sacrificing or taking away the same rights of others.

However, this does not mean the Mormon Church, officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, supports the lifestyles of those in the LGBT com-

munity, same-sex marriage or acts of intimacy between two people of the same sex.

It simply means they will not discriminate.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that sexual relations – other than between a man and a woman who are married – are contrary to the laws of God,” Sister Neill F. Marriott, a member of the Young Women general presidency, said as a representative of the church, according to the Newsroom for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “God is loving and merciful. His heart reaches out to all his children equally and he expects us to treat one another with love and fairness.”

The Mormon Church has asserted that the announcement is not a change of stance or change in belief – accepting others has always been a prominent aspect of Mormonism. This comes as the result of a news

Junior prom is now an official event

GBHS adopts annual dance night

BY NATASHA CHANDA

nchanda.gazette@gmail.com

Junior Prom – not Non-Prom, the unofficial event that’s been held for two years, but an official Junior Prom at Granite Bay High – is finally happening.

Many are glad to welcome it back.

The prom was first cancelled four years ago, resulting in major disappointment from students who were planning to attend.

For two years, junior students held a “Non-Prom” separately from the school and donated the proceeds to charity. Attendance was high ‒ however, the school still didn’t have an efficient way of compensating for the losses the event had been generating.

“We really stopped doing it because we had two classes in a row lose money (from low attendance to the event),” said Tamara Givens, the Student Government adviser at GBHS. “Prom was supposed to be

a big fundraiser and it’s supposed to raise money for senior year.

They tried having auctions, but you can’t really raise as much money as a prom.”

The major deciding factor in bringing back the prom was to help the financial needs required for senior year.

“In other districts in our area, people raise between $5,000 and $9,000,” Givens said. “Seniors were getting denied all that money for their senior activities. It was just the right time (to bring the event back).”

Junior Prom is making its first long-awaited reappearance on Saturday.

Junior class president Brooke Gonzalez and vice president Maddie Williams are the coordinators of the event and have numerous plans to help increase attendance.

In past years, attendance seemed to be the main issue causing the prom’s cancellation. However, this year the main concern among

NEWS BRIEFS

conference held between official Church leaders to find a middle ground between the gap, and even “tension” that has mani-

It’s not new knowledge or information – it’s just letting the public ... understand what we believe.

– Kristen Hilburn, Mormon and ASB president

Madeline Williams Williams is vice president of the junior class and one of the heads of junior prom.

students seems to be the location of the prom.

According to both Williams and Gonzalez, the dance will be held in the quad on campus, complete with a wedding-style tent, dinner tables and dessert bars.

“People kind of cringe when I tell them (it’s held in the quad) just because they think of Quad Dance, and they say it’s not going to be formal … but we’ll make it look really nice,” Williams said.

Many students said they are under the impression that because the dance is not being held off-campus, it will be less significant.

“There’s this contingent of people (who think it) has to be off-campus, but Senior Ball is off-campus, and nobody else in our district has Junior Prom off-campus,” Givens said. “It’s not like our kids are so different that they require See PROM, page A6

-Compiled by Jenna McCarthy

nouncement serves to clear up any misconceptions others might have previously held concerning the Mormon Church or its beliefs.

“Its significance is mostly for the public,” Hilburn said. “To (announce this) isn’t a new thing for us. It’s not new knowledge or information – it’s just letting the public … understand what we believe. Acceptance has never been something we didn’t practice.”

Similarly, senior Miriam Flinders said the announcement and its purpose was directed toward the public in order to clarify the beliefs they have, and have always had, to propound that the Church is not “antiLGBT.” While beliefs inside the Mormon community have not changed with this announcement, GBHS senior and member See LGBT, page A8

Journalism credibility essential in the media Brian Williams controversy sparks discussion

BY MADELINE WILLIAMS mwilliams.gazette@gmail.com

According to the Newspaper Association of America, in one week, 69 percent of adults in the United States read “newspaper media content” online or in print.

Many people assume what they read is automatically true. A journalist’s job is to provide the honest truth and to simply tell a story as it is. However, journalists have to be aware of possible over-embellishment and avoid false words.

Granite Bay High School teacher and Granite Bay Gazette advisor Karl Grubaugh helps to ensure that the Granite Bay Gazette, the GBHS student newspaper, is as credible and honest as possible.

“I have to trust student journalists … until I have a reason not to,” Grubaugh said.

Such cases have been rare. In almost 20 years, he has only come across six cases of plagiarism in his journalism program at GBHS.

Luckily, only one of them was published.

“You just have to be very diligent and careful,” Grubaugh said.

Gazette co-editor-in-chief Tamren Johnk said the interview process, the first step in writing a story, is extremely important and must be done with diligence. She said it’s difficult to find people willing to be interviewed, especially on sensitive subjects.

“You start off with general questions that they’d feel more comfortable with answering … and as you go farther into the interview, you want to ask more difficult questions,” Johnk said.

Johnk said she usually knows the answer she wants to hear from her source. So if they start to veer away from the question being asked, she will rephrase the question or “keep hammering them.”

In the Gazette newsroom, after a story is written, it’s proofread by many people before it’s published. However, sometimes there

are mistakes that get overlooked.

The first step to fixing a mistake, is noticing that there is one.

“If someone notices it then they bring it up to one of the editors or co-editors-in-chief and then we have to address that (with) Grubaugh,” Johnk said. If the corrections are severe enough, they’re printed in the “corrections” section on page A2.

Unlike Gazette journalists, broadcast journalists don’t get second chances. News 10 news anchor Cristina Mendonsa emphasized the importance of proofing before a story is shown on television.

“You want to triple source things before the story becomes public,” Mendonsa said.

Mendonsa said it starts with a reporter, then it goes to the manager.

Next it goes to a producer who, if needed, sends it to an attorney to look for legal accountability.

However, inevitable mistakes See JOURNALISM, page A6

ASB UPDATE

Student hit by oncoming car in GBHS parking lot

On the morning of Feb. 12, sophomore Emily Kasarjian was walking through the parking lot on the way to her first period class when she was hit by a large vehicle.

“I was walking with some friends and looked before I walked and a guy who was speeding through hit me on the side and didn’t stop,” Kasarjian said.

The driver hit Kasarjian’s “whole left side.” She wasn’t severely injured by the impact, but her ankle and leg were briefly aching.

Kasarjian said the driver never stopped to see if she was hurt.

There were multiple witnesses in the crowded parking lot..

Sophomore Katie Carson, a good friend of Kasarjian’s, witnessed the accident. She said she was very shaken up by the ordeal.

Later in the day, Kasarjian was asked to come to the office of officer Joe Herrick for an investigation.

The accident has prompted increasing discussion of parking lot safety for Kasarjian and many others.

“It seems like we have enough (parking lot regulation) but just no one really follows it,” Kasarjian said. “I do feel a bit more paranoid when I walk through (the parking lot).”

fested between LGBT activists and religious rights activists.

Granite Bay High School junior and senior CP English teacher, Mormon and local Bishop’s counselor Jason Sitterud said the Mormon Church has always accepted LGBT people but does not agree with their lifestyles, and these beliefs have not changed with the announcement.

“I think the purpose (of the announcement) was to educate people,” Sitterud said. “I don’t think we’re always educated on what people believe in and so we hear stories and we hear rumors and … sometimes we base our opinion on those rumors without finding out what the reality is.

I think the purpose of the announcement was to clarify what the church’s stance is, and really always has been, with people who have alternative lifestyles.”

GBHS senior, ASB president and Mormon Kristen Hilburn also said the an-

Student government prepares for first junior prom in four years The Gazette talked to junior Brooke Gonzalez about the upcoming GBHS Junior Prom.

Gazette: When is Junior Prom?

Gonzalez: Sat. March 14 at 8 p.m.

Gazette photo /JENNA MCCARTHY

The accident on Feb. 12 occurred in front of the soccer field, after the car made a right turn.

Q& A

Also we have a lot of things in store for the event.

Gazette: How long has it been since Junior Prom was put on by the school?

Gonzalez: It has been four years since GBHS has held it.

Gazette: How are preparations for Junior Prom going?

Gonzalez: They are going good Gazette: What are the benefits – we just have lots of little of having the school host it? details to do!

Gonzalez: All the proceeds go toward our class for our senior Gazette: Why do you think year. Along with different senior juniors should come? activities we get to do, there Gonzalez: Juniors should come comes an expensive cost. This because you only get one juwould definitely help us out nior prom in your life and it’s a next year and might open new great opportunity to make great windows for new or different memories with your friends. events.

Gazette photo/JACQUELINE ROMERO

Junior Brooke Gonzalez is the president of the junior class and one of the heads of Junior Prom.

-Compiled by Jacqueline Romero

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

News

A5

Addressing a teacher’s leave of absence

Gazette photo illustration /SURINA KHURANA and Akash khosla

When a teacher goes on maternity leave or leave of absence, a substitute and/or part-time teacher has to take the teacher’s spot for however long the teacher needs to recuperate.

When GBHS teachers go on maternity leave, students ask questions

BY RAWAN KHALILI

rkhalili.gazette@gmail.com

It’s that glorious time of year, a time of stress, decisions and choices that class registration brings to the table at Granite Bay High School.

This is a time that should be considered stress free, one that allows students to determine how the next four years of their lives will play out.

For a few, all this bliss came to end when the news regarding GBHS Spanish 1, Honors Spanish 4 and Advanced Placement Spanish teacher Jennifer Hill came to light.

Hill will be taking a leave of absence from teaching for maternity leave. Although wonderful news, some students have begun to panic.

Questions are arising about what teachers fill her spot.

Fortunately, her classes will be taught by GBHS International Baccalaureate Spanish and Spanish 3 teacher Anna-Maria Gonzalez hands and there will be no substitute for the first semester of 2015.

Hill will return after midsame subject matter. terms and will be teaching This, in fact, is a relief for junior AP Spanish in the second Samantha Danilova.

I was really looking semester of 2016.

“I was really looking forward forward to taking Honors to taking Honors Spanish with “I’ll be out for two months, returning in the late fall and and was going to drop it Spanish with Hill, and Hill, spring term,” Hill said. when I found out she wouldn’t be was going to drop when teaching it,” Danilova said. “I felt “I have three sections of honors (Spanish) 4 and (AnnaI found out she wouldn’t relieved to learn that Gonzalez Marie) Gonzalez will take would be taking over. (I’m) really be teaching it. over in the fall and prepare looking forward to a great year.” my students for AP in the However, finding a substitute spring,” Hill said. for a teacher’s leave of absence – Samanth Danilova, GBHS Students at GBHS take the for other classes might be difjunior extra mile to make sure they ficult, especially for math and can take all the classes they science. want, and by doing so hope During the fall semester, IB bito have a great teacher. ology, college preparatory biology Fortunately the Spanish department, like others, is and physiology teacher Heidi McKeen left her classes equipped who are well-prepared teachers, ensuring on maternity leave as well. students will have teachers that are prepared in the Junior Shivani Bobbala feared that without McK-

Solving problems with teachers

Forming classes takes time, effort

How to go about getting complaints heard on campus

Steps to establishing new curriculum can be complex

BY NEHA KOMPELLA

nkompella.gazette@gmail.com

BY RAWAN KHALILI

A

rkhalili.gazette@gmail.com

s the new year approaches, students at Granite Bay High School have been preparing to select their classes for the new term – this year, however, some of the choices have changed.

With new Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses available, as well as hands-on electives that might interest many incoming classmen, the course selection outcome will definitely be different than in past years.

Kathleen Orchard, a counselor at GBHS, said there are seven new or previously unoffered courses that could make the cut for next year. Among them, Orchard said, are IB World Religions, Art Appreciation, Health and Wellness 2 and AP Physics 1. New courses on the selection list include Martial Arts, Exploring Computer Science and Web Design, as well as Peer Counseling.

IB World Religions has been on the list of possible GBHS courses several times, but it’s never had enough students register. It will be open to all juniors and seniors. English teacher David Tastor will be teaching the course, which, according to IB coordinator Duane Blomquist, has enough sign-ups to be offered in the fall.

The class will focus on nine religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

“I get to choose five,” Tastor said. “The unfortunate part were leaving out some important religions.”

Tastor said the possibility of students potentially being rubbed the wrong way by content focusing on religions different than their own will certainly be a possible issue. “(Students might) get offended, but hopefully by the end of the class they will gain tolerance,” Tastor said. “There’s no demeaning of religions, no indoctrination, (we’re) just trying to understand.”

Junior Ibrahim Hajjar is looking forward to taking the class – he said he enrolled because he wanted to learn about a broad spectrum of new information.

“It seemed like a really unconventional topic for a high school class, and I feel that makes it valuable at this level,” Hajjar said. “It is really important to be aware of history and people’s beliefs.”

Hajjar said he also hoped to gain a better understanding of different beliefs.

“This can allow for empathy and understanding and allow people to resolve global social issues,” Hajjar said. “I think the humanities hold a lot of value even if taken in conjunction with hard science and math classes.”

Students next year will also be able to take part in more proactive courses such as peer counseling and art appreciation.

Junior Katelyn Malixi is looking forward to taking peer counseling during her senior year.

een, IB Biology would be a difficult task.

“When I found out that McKeen was leaving, I felt worried, hoping that the substitute would be able to teach IB,” junior Shivani Bobbala said.

New GBHS teacher Kimberly Bergcollins took over Mckeen’s IB biology class, and is also teaching CP biology. Physiology is currently being taught by Lisa Goldsmith.

“I can’t blame her ( Bergcollins), teaching IB is difficult,” Bobbala said. “Shes doing a great job though, and is receiving help from the other IB biology teacher Damien Lawrence.”

Typically, if a teacher is requesting a leave of absence he or she would request it in accordance to the Roseville Secondary Employees Association contract. According to Tina Cosgro of the Roseville Joint Unified High School District, when searching for substitutes, the district uses a teacher pool.

“We have an auto calling system for substitute teachers. When a teacher enters an absence into this system, calls will go out to available subs,” Cosgro said. “If a teacher is going to be out for a short period of time, their absence may be covered by one of the substitute teachers we have in the substitute pool. We currently have 130 individuals in the substitute pool.”

Gazette photo /colleen vivaldi

GBHS classes, both those that are new and many that are already in place, give students opportunities to learn and to be innovative.

“I was interested in making our campus a place where students are comfortable enough to share their struggles and ask for advice,” Malixi said.

AP psychology teacher Natalie Elkin worked on putting the class together this spring, and Malixi is in one of Elkin’s classes – which is where she heard of the opportunity to help others on campus.

Not only is the school introducing new courses, there are also plans to remove a few.

One of those classes will be Honors Physics, which will be replaced by AP Physics 1.

It was done so “students could have the opportunity to earn college credit, because the rigor of Honors Physics was so high” said Orchard, the GBHS counselor.

However, some students who were interested in this class are having second thoughts about its cancellation.

Junior Kate Miller said she was planning on taking Honors Physics, but she might switch to College Preparatory physics or take physics at Sierra College over the summer.

“I’m afraid that it’ll be too hard since I haven’t taken any physics classes before,” Miller said. “It disappoints me that they removed the honors physics class since it would have prepared me better for AP physics.”

Getting classes in place at GBHS requires the potential teacher to propose the idea to the district.

If the superintendent recommends that the course be approved, the Roseville Joint Union High School District school board has to officially adopt a written curriculum. The board then establishes a review cycle to evaluate the curriculum in order to make sure the course aligns with state and district goals.

The board can require review of the curriculum in response to student assessment results.

“Overall the process of getting the class approved went very smooth,” Tastor said ,referring to IB World Religions. “The board was very supportive of the course, with very few questions.”

What we apparently have here is a failure to communicate.

Some teachers at Granite Bay High School say that when students have an issue with them or with a policy in their classroom, the first thing they should do is try to communicate with the teacher themselves.

But that’s often not what happens.

“If you’re having a problem with a teacher, talk to the teacher first,” International Baccalaureate English and Advanced Placement Literature teacher David Tastor said.

“We live in a society where it is very easy to complain via Twitter, or write an anonymous email – things where you don’t have to have face-to-face communication.

But I think most students would go to the teacher and say, ‘Hey, I’m not sure what happened in class today, I felt like there was a disconnect between us.’ ” According to some teacher, when students overreact to a situation or feel uncomfortable because of an emotional encounter within a classroom situation, they tend to forget that teachers have to manage their emotions as well.

“There are times when students make you hit the wall,” Tastor said.

“After all, I’m only human. As much as it’s the teacher’s responsibility, it’s also the student’s responsibility to come and ask to talk about what happened.”

If however, the issue is a serious or illegal one and not merely a mi-

nor disagreement between the student and the teacher, teachers said students should take their concerns to the administration.

“If a student takes their problems (with at teacher) to the administration, the administration would have to, by law, act on it,” AP Government teacher Jarrod Westberg said.

“The teacher has a right to know what the student said, and then they would have to get into an investigation.”

There are some students on campus, however, who aren’t sure the administration is doing an adequate job in dealing with student concerns about teachers.

“I’m sure that the administration receives so many complaints that it’s hard to filter what’s really important and what isn’t,” said a senior who asked to remain anonymous. “But I’ve had experiences where I felt the administration didn’t spend any time on my concerns, when they could have investigated it a little further.”

While minor problems like disagreements over grades for assignments or just general complaining about the strictness of a teacher are not issues large enough to be given a lot of weight, some incidents involving teachers have been more serious.

“I was in a classroom once, and two of my classmates were African American,” the senior said. “The teacher made it very obvious that he/she was stereotyping them in front of the whole class, and that’s definitely not OK.”

Other problems that students might have with teachers involve feeling uncomfortable when asking a question.

“I believe that as a student, you should be able to go to a teacher and ask for help, and it (will) be given,” the senior said. “Of course, most teachers will, but there are a few at this school that have picked on me for asking ‘stupid’ questions repeatedly, or made me feel uncomfortable in front of the class.”

At the end of the day, it is important to remember to not classify or stereotype all teachers or all students into one mold.

“It’s not fair for people to assume that just because we’re kids, our complaints or concerns aren’t important,” the senior said. “On the other hand, there are teachers on this campus that I feel extremely comfortable around and go to whenever I’m experiencing problems.”

The majority of problems can be solved by exercising more effective communication, according to teachers and students.

“My advice to students that feel uncomfortable with a teacher would be to go to another teacher that you feel comfortable around and explain the situation,” the senior said. “Talking about it with someone else can help you understand whether or not it’s a real, legitimate issue that needs to be taken to the administration.”

From our team to yours.

The Gazette.

Friday, March 13, 2015

News

w The Granite Bay Gazette

A6

The dangers of adventuring on Foresthill Bridge Placer County Sheriff’s Department implements fines for trespassing on bridge in Auburn

BY JORDAN HOLT

jholt.gazette@gmail.com

F

oresthill Bridge, located in Auburn, has become a deadly social media trend for daring teenagers in our area.

Pictures on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter of someone on the Foresthill Bridge girders are common and easy to find.

Behind these artsy photos are potential life-threatening risks.

The Placer County Police Department said they are well aware of the trend, and is trying to stop the trespassing all together.

This form of adventuring has become a very popular social media trend, specifically among high school teenagers, including students at Granite Bay High School.

“It’s all about that Instagram post,” said a GBHS senior boy who has asked to remain anonymous and who has taken pictures on the bridge. “I won’t go back

because I don’t want to get a ticket.”

Illegally trespassing through the fences guarding the catwalk and bridge beams has become a norm for many high school and college students. They seem to be pushing the limits to the maximum, as the bridge is 730 feet above the ground.

Many GBHS students are aware of the consequences, yet are up for the quest on the tallest bridge in the state of California.

The activities on the bridge have ranged from posing in front of the graffiti wall to hanging onto the bridge with two hands to gain the rush of a near death experience.

Those who dare to dangle off the beams of the bridge are commonly known as girder hangers.

The PCPD is raising ticket prices for those caught exploring below the bridge on private property, in hopes of stopping daredevils

from putting themselves in lifethreatening situations.

Although girder hanging is extreme, adventuring along the beams to take pictures has swept social media.

Numerous students at GBHS have posted pictures on social media, as part of a chain reaction of trending activities in our area.

GBHS senior, Natalie Rhodes, went her sophomore year to take pictures with one of her friends.

“It was scary and thrilling,” Rhodes said. “I didn’t actually think about it being illegal to walk on the bridge so I hadn’t thought about fines.”

Rhodes said she was not shocked about the new fines and said the activity trends because people want to simply say they’ve done it.

“Once one person goes and posts a picture, everyone has to go and see it for themselves,” Rhodes said.

Posting a picture is the proof of the adventure, but also the evidence of trespassing.

The desire for the thrill of the experience has grown so much, it has prompted the PCPD to take action to try and stop people from walking on the catwalk and the girders.

Barbed-wire has been set to guard the bridge, and police patrols around the bridge have increased.

Placer County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer, Dena Erwin, said that because of the new implementation of trespassing fines, the amount of people violating that, has declined.

“The trespassing has stopped for now,” Erwin said. “Placer County Public Works placed a wire around the bottom of the bridge structure to prevent people from climbing up into the catwalk area.”

The catwalk section of Fores-

thill Bridge has become the location for many photo opportunities among teenagers.

Erwin said the trespassers caught were mainly juveniles out of the Sacramento area.

Natalie Colosimo, a GBHS junior, said she is glad to have made the adventure below the bridge before the fines were recently raised.

“It’s a fun, new thing to do,” Colosimo said. “It was cool walking around (the bridge) and the view was super pretty.”

Despite the breath-taking view and thrill, the overwhelming danger of climbing around the bridge structure is evident. An unofficial count states the 72 people have died from either falling or jumping from the bridge.

People are encouraged to view the landscape from the safety of the main deck rather than to push the limits on the structure below.

Phone calls to parents will be

made by the PCPD for any juveniles sighted for being under the bridge.

The PCPD continued to catch groups of high schoolers wandering on the private property, even after the fines were raised.

Public Works sealed off remaining possible entrances to the bridge’s catwalk to further ensure no one wanders onto the lower structure.

This action wasn’t only made to protect private property but also to prevent adventurers from risking their safety.

The PCPD has a message for anyone considering trespassing the Foresthill Bridge that Erwin said needs to be heard by the community.

“It’s illegal and extremely dangerous to trespass on the bridge.

Any trespassers found there will be ticketed,” Erwin said.

Special to the Gazette /NATHalia sainz

Are English classes equal?

Despite the same course titles, the content in some classes varies SAVITRI ASOKAN

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

Taking an English class at Granite Bay High is required every year for graduation. But many argue that English classes are subjective, differing in content because of different teaching styles among the faculty.

Students who are interested in pursuing higher-level English education at Granite Bay High School have two main possible options: the Honors English and Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum – for juniors, AP English Language and Composition; for seniors, AP English Literature – and the International Baccalaureate English program. The majority enroll in AP. Because of the rigorously defined nature of these classes, which are dependent on the particular content

that appears on the College Board’s tests, continuity is deemphasized in favor of course-specific material. Some students who enter into the program find the courses difficult to transition to.

“In AP (English Language and Composition), there’s so much writing … which is really different from what I’m used to,” junior Jacklyn Nguyen said. “In Honors English, we didn’t have to complete nearly as many essays.”

Additionally, the types of writing produced vary greatly between courses, Nguyen said. The learning curves for these “new” styles of writing can be problematic for students.

“Unlike Honors English, where we were just preparing for the DBQ,” Nguyen said, “we have to write three types of essays, which all have a different format. Other

students (in my class) definitely find it very difficult. It’s like learning an entirely new method of writing.”

Even courses with the same titles can radically differ in several aspects. According to junior Kate Miller, who is taking AP English Language as well but from a different teacher, the core content remains the same but the varying emphasis on different aspects of composition lead to the cultivation of different skills.

“Although we annotate the same articles, read the same books and write on the same essay prompts, the teaching styles are very different,” Miller said. “With (AP Language teacher Bonnie) Robbins, there is more homework but fewer essays.”

This is largely because of the focus of the class itself, which is

centered on knowledge of literary and rhetorical devices.

Others might benefit from a different approach, some students said.

“The heavy focus on participation is something that’s very important in … college courses,” 2013 GBHS graduate Christopher Pei said. “I’d recommend that (the English department) push discussion and participation aspects – and striving to make sure students aren’t intimidated or embarrassed to share their opinions with the class.”

However, Honors English 10 teacher Anthony Davis said that increasing continuity between English course by proactive preparation “can sometimes be detrimental.” When a movement to align middle school curriculum to high school courses took place

Gazette photo /SURINA KHURANA

GBHS students review their books in an English class.

several years ago, students began covering material twice over in class.

“If you keep trying to get them ready for the next level, you turn education into a kind of game,” Davis said. “Instead, we should be maintaining what’s universal for an English course in literature.”

For this reason, despite some inconsistency, the GBHS English department is structured to cover

a broad range of literary topics.

“The question we’ve been trying to ask, and answer, in this particular discipline,” Davis said, “is what do we want from our own kids ... far after they’ve left GBHS? (Skills such as) critical thinking – being able to reason, being able to recognize that within each particular poem or book, there are certain ideas, ... This is what every English class should be teaching.”

JOURNALISM: Maintaining PROM: Junior dance now official integrity in the media industry Continued from page A4

Continued from page A4 are going to occur.

Mendonsa described a personal experience she had about 25 years ago in which she made a mistake on live television.

As she was setting up for a live shot for a crime case, she decided to stand in front of the suspect’s house where there was a car parked. Unknowingly, the license plate of the car was clearly shown in the shot which was aired on public television.

“The person who owned that vehicle was not happy with me at all because I accidentally got their vehicle on the air as I was standing in front of the suspect’s house,” Mendonsa said.

In cases like these, Mendonsa said the best resolution is a sincere apology.

A recent elaboration of a news story caused much controversy among the dedicated fans of NBC news anchor Brian Williams. For over a decade, Williams claimed that a helicopter he was in during the invasion of Iraq was hit.

However, he recently revealed that he was not in the impacted helicopter but rather he was in the one behind it. According to the pilots of Williams’ helicopter, their aircraft was not behind. It was part of a completely different company.

Because of his variation of the true story, Williams’ viewers became skeptical of other things he’s told them over the years. There is

something unsettling about the possibility of journalists such as Brian Williams lying so easily.

Mendonsa said some journalists might have seen this recent issue as a threat to their reputation.

“I know people who know him personally and tell me he’s a sincere man … and a good journalist,” Mendonsa says.

Mendonsa said local journalists, their audience is much smaller, challenging them to have to have a stronger connection with their viewers.

“We have to prove ourselves to our viewers every single day … and some days are better than others,” Mendonsa said. “If you purposefully lie, then you’re in the wrong business because trust is everything.”

an off-campus Junior Prom, when everyone else in the district has one on campus and they’re perfectly satisfied.”

This Junior Prom is also different from previous years because of its theme – or lack of one.

Williams and Gonzalez have agreed that no theme is the best theme. They decided to keep it simple and basic this year, focusing on the activities and features at prom.

Royalty is one of many things the two juniors have planned. Junior Prom King and Queen will be new for the students – until this year’s Junior Prom, the only GBHS royalty court has been at Homecoming. And dinner, which used to be part of the event, will not be part of the evening’s plans.

According to Gonzalez, former students said dinner drove down attendance. Instead, dessert will be a main feature this year.

“We’re going to do very heavy, catered desserts,” Gonzalez said.

While experimenting with new things, the two stu-

dent leaders decided to get rid of prom pictures altogether and instead do a photo booth.

A professional photographer will be present to take photos and photo wristbands, free of charge, will be provided to every attendee. The wristband will contain a USB cable which will allow direct uploads of the pictures onto mobile devices at the dance itself.

Along with the photo booth, a professional photographer will be at the dance, taking candid shots throughout the night.

Tickets are priced at $30 with activities and $35 without. Invitations were handed out to the juniors during their second period classes the week of Feb. 17. The personalized invitations were wrapped in a lace doily and tied with a piece of twine.

Financial issues aside, Williams made it evident she wants her peers in the junior class to take this opportunity to bond with each other and “to really bring them together as a class.”

Gonzales agreed: “There’s something for everyone, regardless of who you are, who your friends are, what sports you play, what kinds of things you do. Everyone is welcome.”

LGBT: Mormon church decides to support new legislation regarding LGBT Continued from page A4

of the Gay-Straight Alliance club Amanda Ramos said she sees this announcement as a step in the right direction toward change and acceptance “I’m glad that this LGBT progress has to do with a religious group,” Ramos said.

“Because it can (serve as) a wake-up call for other religious groups – showing what religion should really be about and that re-

ligion doesn’t mean denying people of their rights and the way that they love. I don’t just see it as a step forward in politics, but a step forward in understanding and human compassion.”

Therefore, Ramos said the announcement may serve a bigger purpose that encourages acceptance of others – no matter their differentiating lifestyles.

“I think that in a school community like

ours – where many people are very grounded in religion – this news can show people how possible it is for (those) who are firm believers in their faith (can) also be accepting towards those who are different from them and/or who don’t share the same views,” Ramos said. “Awareness is always very good in improving a community.”

Finally, the question remains of whether or not this announcement, or the effects

of this announcement, will, in any way, touch Granite Bay or GBHS. Both Hilburn and Flinders said they do not think the announcement will bring any noticeable changes – as both said they believe the GBHS student body has a sound knowledge of Mormon belief – however, Sitterud said the announcement’s impact will be its significance.

“I don’t think it’s going to impact Granite

granitebaytoday.org

Bay (in a drastic way),” Sitterud said. “But I think it supports the various clubs we have on campus and I think … it supports the ripple effect. I think it’s just another caveat that will help bring awareness that people need to be good to each other – no matter what (their) lifestyle choices (are) or what your economic background is – (because) we’re all the same so let’s just get along.

When we get along we can do great things.”

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

DISCONNECT: Administrative tensions more prevalent

Continued from page A1

Students have said there is a clear difference between last year with principal Mike McGuire and this year with Leighton, mostly involving the enforcements of rules and policies at the school.

“I thought about it a lot and ... I get what they are trying to do, that they’re trying to enforce their power because admin in the past hasn’t been super assertive,” junior Kassidy Henson said. “But, I think they’re going about it in a way that makes the students feel like they’re not being considered, so it’s definitely created a disconnect between the two because they can’t work in unison anymore. It’s just more of a definite authoritative power over students now.”

One of the first changes, the cancellation of Mr. Grizzly, was a combined effort

by Leighton and her administrative team.

After the cancellation by the school, senior students then planned a Non-Mr. Grizzly event that took place off campus.

“I think (admin) got involved with things that were off campus that made kids really upset, but at the same time kids were using GBHS to promote an event that was (not at) school,” senior Hannah Davis said. “It was hard to distinguish if it was a school event or not, so the school got involved.”

Advanced Placement Literature teacher Jenny Padgett said the communication of the cancellation could have been handled more effectively, and has contributed to the overall disconnect.

“I think the students felt like they were being condescended to, and I think they felt that something punitive was being done (because of) a previous situation,” Padgett said. “Communication broke down and it broke down badly, and I think it has been a tough recovery since then.”

Padgett, however, sees this type of discourse between students and administrators as something that may not necessarily be bad.

“I think it’s natural, and I think there should be a disconnect between seniors in high school and authority figures,” Padgett said. “It’s important that especially the seniors are reaching a point where they are doing some critical ... and independent thinking and taking a look at rules and programs and issues.”

Another area of contention for students

that Leighton and her administrative team changed at GBHS was the implementation of the tardy sweep before first-period. This issue was brought to light by teachers at a faculty senate meeting upset because of the number of first period tardies that the school was experiencing. Leighton then took this back to her team to be discussed and eventually acted upon it through a new policy.

Communication of the tardy sweep was handled efficiently, according to Leighton. “(To) every kid that was tardy, we said, ‘Hey, we are starting this tardy sweep in a week in a half,’ here’s the date, and then we sent out that date through Naviance to parents and students,” Leighton said. “So I don’t know what else we could have done … we felt like we made the effort to communicate.”

The GBHS start time is well known to be 7:45 a.m., but students not only balked at the issue of being held accountable for showing up to class on time, but furthermore thought they should have had a voice in the implementation of the new policy.

“I would have been so much more ok knowing that I needed to be at school on time instead of just strolling into class and having to get sent back to the office to wait 20 minutes until I actually get back to class,” Henson said. “If I would have known what a tardy sweep actually was before I got tardy swept, I would have been ok with it. But I didn’t know, so I freaked out because I had no idea what it was going to mean.”

Even though administrators said they had delivered sufficient communication, many students said the main reason for the disconnect between students and administrators was because of the lack of communication on the new rules and policies enforced on the school campus.

While issues around Mr. Grizzly and the tardy sweep are well known because they impact the entire student body, other more individual issues are also central to the problem.

The banning of a particular GBHS Tribe member from coaching this year’s Powder Puff, due to his actions within the tribe during school athletic events, has been questioned by some. A few other students were not allowed to coach in Powder Puff for other reasons as well.

“I don’t think they should take away me

coaching Powder Puff for going to the basketball games and supporting friends and yelling with the rest of the Tribe,” a junior boy athlete said. “I definitely feel like I got cheated out of coaching in Powder Puff.”

Leighton said these cases are about simple respect and appropriate behavior.

“There has been a rebirth across campus of, ‘Why are we allowing students to be disrespectful and be misbehaved and still get things that are a privilege and not a right.’ So (our decision) was a reflection on that conversation, and I know a lot of the teachers are feeling the same way,” Leighton said. “We don’t have to write letters of recommendation, we don't have to do Powder Puff, these are just things that we do because we want to create fun here, and if a student is going to be disrespectful or is not going to comply, it makes sense that we would not necessarily grant them that privilege.”

These individual issues, which might typically be more private, have become schoolwide fodder because of the use of social media, which students have used to share their opinions about the administrators. Several student comments have appeared on social media outlets such as Twitter with hashtags such as “#impeachleighton.”

Assistant principal Sybil Healy said all of this is just a normal reaction to perceived behaviors and policy changes.

Healy was involved in a similar situation last year with her implementation of the new dress-code policy, which resulted in comparable push-back and negative feedback from students. The discourse over the dress code policy has died down since last year, as dress code implementation is now the norm.

Healy said the anger from students stems from a lack of understanding that the dress code had always been a rule – although it had never been consistently enforced, in a situation that mirrors the tardy sweep concerns. To remedy discontent, she urges students to actually sit down and talk to the administrators about their concerns.

“My encouragement to students will be instead of Tweeting, don’t be cowards and come out and sit down and have a meeting,” Healy said. “We are all in transition, and transition is hard and not everybody is going to like it.”

Even though Henson does not agree with

all of the administrators’ decisions, she too dislikes the ways in which students are reacting to the situation.

“I know that (these changes in policy) do make us angry, but I feel like there’s (a) much better way to go about it,” Henson said. “Yes, we want to stand up for what we believe in, but ultimately it’s just because we don't want to change what we are used to. You may not like what is happening, but people should be civil about things.”

Others express similar sentiments regarding the negative social media.

“I think students should stay out of it, especially on social media,” Davis said. “If they have a serious problem with admin, then they should talk to them in a respectful manner and directly to them and not to the whole school.”

Padgett urges students to work constructively, not negatively, as an organized unit to effect change.

“If you want to be heard, use your numbers, make a stand and unify yourselves,” Padgett said. “That can be a very powerful thing if (done) with some humility.”

While Leighton is committed to moving forward and working toward common ground, she does not know if her concerted efforts will make a difference for everyone involved.

“I just think that now the lens, from certain kids, is that everything I do is a negative thing,” Leighton said. “(These comments) are hurtful, but I know I’m not going to win any popularity contest. At times it will get to me, but I just try to remember what I’m here for and what my vision is of where we could be and why I was hired.”

Throughout the school year, Leighton acknowledges that there were “little fires” that alerted her to problems, but she didn’t realize until January that there was a target on her from certain students who had developed a level of resentment toward her.

“That’s the hard part about this campus, that everything just seems normal when I am out there and I just hear some pretty hateful things going on underground, and I guess that was the biggest surprise to me, just the venom in it all,” Leighton said.

However, because Leighton is the principal, she ultimately takes responsibility for her and her staff’s decisions and everything that has happened this year.

“I am the new one. I have a different viewpoint and I thought some things needed to

A7 News

Jennifer Leighton Principal receives negative feedback from some GBHS students.

be reigned in and my team was crying for it as well,” Leighton said. “So we worked together, we really attacked everything together.”

While every effort and intention was made to thoroughly communicate the changes, that still was where the breakdown likely resulted.

“It’s always, regardless, that we can communicate and explain things much better, especially because you can never over communicate,” Healy said. “What would have been good was to sit down with a group of students from every sector of the senior and junior class and say, ‘Hey, this is where we are going, give your input and we will take into consideration what you will say,’ but ultimately the school is operated by your teachers and admin and other staff.”

After everything has been enforced, Leighton is still not sure what she would have done differently to fix the disconnection between the students and the administrators.

“I wish that we could have had more constructive conversations, (but) they didn’t work out very well, so I feel students made up their minds about me right away and I’m not sure there’s anything I could have done to change that viewpoint,” Leighton said.

Even with the disconcerting feedback from certain students that have been directed at Leighton and her administrative team, Leighton said she can’t let these criticisms drive her decisions regarding the overall school and student body.

“I know it’s a hard adjustment for you guys ... but I have to do what I feel is the right thing for this school,” Leighton said.

“I know I am doing what I have been put in place here to do.”

PLAGIARISM: Increasing among students Continued from page A1

Gazette photo /KAT MCGRAIL

Some GBHS students take a part in the plagiarism phenominon occuring throughout the school from just hitting the copy and paste button on their computers and using that as their own work.

Currently, the punishment for plagiarism and cheating follows a “three strikes” policy that involves the academic dishonesty list, then followed by further disciplinary actions if the issue persists.

Assistant principal Brian McNulty admits the administration hasn’t seen the schoolwide cheating issue decrease in recent years despite recent advancements in anti-cheating technology. “(The academic dishonesty list) is an inhouse record, it is not shared with anyone outside of the realm of school, McNulty said. “We destroy those records after you leave high school.”

Without long-term repercussions for cheaters, the worry persists that students will fail to learn their lesson now, and that their cheating flaw will cause them to be at a detriment in situations after graduating, as institutions outside of high school deal with cheating to a much greater and harsher extent.

On the other hand, the current procedures in place for students facing charges of plagiarism at GBHS may prove as an advantage for those who do learn their lesson about cheating early on, in a healthier environment.

For example, there are students who might plagiarize accidentally, using a source of information that they research but forget to cite.

Honors English 11 teacher Anthony Davis, who works primarily with sophomores, thus works with students who are being exposed

to advanced placement and honors courses for the first time. As a result, these students might have a hard time adapting and coping with the unfamiliar academic pressure.

“For some kids, it is unintentional,” Davis said. “I’ve had kids turn in essays where I have used turnitin.com and I find that half of an essay is taken from somewhere else (such as) a literary criticism of someone else commenting on the piece of literature.”

In these cases, Davis said he might possibly give the student a couple options to use from as to where to go next. “(Once) I pulled the kid aside … and there was a very embarrassed, apologetic, tearful student who approached me,” Davis said. “(The student) was so remorseful for (plagiarizing) that in this particular case, I gave the student the option of taking the zero or of choosing … to rewrite the entire thing on a different topic.”

The decisions students make are parallel to those adults in the real world make – and these include both good and poor judgements. The goal of the GBHS administration is to discipline students in high school and thus teach them beneficial life skills for their future – but to avoid creating a permanent stain on their records that could hurt future opportunities.

Providing this extra leeway to students can prove to be both beneficial or destructive depending on the way in which the student chooses to treat the system.

Where plagiarism is concerned, Davis said

there is no template for the student who might cheat, but that those who choose to play the system do so for a variety of different reasons “You get the kid who just basically wants to game the system, an extreme of the kid who has got so many AP classes and juggles so many things,” Davis said.

Although the punishment for cheating is more serious in high school than in elementary or middle school, the idea of not plagiarizing is not a new concept to students.

“You should know what your work (is) and what somebody else’s work (is) at this point,” Davis said. “Surely that should have been emphatically reinforced by the time you got here.”

There are many grey areas in the process of dealing with plagiarizers, as high school administrations must try to tackle the delicate situation of striking a balance between giving students the opportunity to move forward and grow personally, yet providing enough of a punishment to prevent the students from plagiarizing again in the future.

But at the end of the day, it is important to realize that plagiarism is a serious issue that can have long lasting repercussions for students – and that major emphasis should be placed on what could happen in the lives of students if this tactic was used in a career or in college.

“I just don’t think we’ve really educated students enough,” Westberg said, “on the magnitude of it.”

PLANNING: Students hoping for future success in college, beyond Continued from page A1

is asking you to do. I came from an education background where you were given a problem and you gave an answer. Today, kids are given problems and are asked to explain how they came up with the answer.”

Austin said the implementation of Common Core State Standards – initiatives that “establish consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through twelfth grade,” according to corestandards.org – have contributed to the rigor of her daughter’s education.

“When Ava started kindergarten. Common Core had already been implemented,” Austin said. “I was shocked at the fact (that) they received homework in (kindergarten). Every night there was reading homework, sight-word flash cards and they practiced weekly math pages.”

Corestandards.org notes that the new standards were implemented because “today’s students are preparing to enter a world in which colleges and businesses are demanding more than ever before.”

As the number of college applicants continues to increase, the pressure and competition seeps down into lower grades, affecting young students like Ava. Austin said she has “mixed emotions” about the ever-advancing curriculum and standards.

“Sometimes, I think her education is too rigorous

at such a young age,” Austin said. “They are reading chapter books and using the computer regularly. We have about 30 minutes of homework a night. She’s in first grade and I really feel that playtime is important for kids. Let kids be kids. They have their whole lives to be serious in school and then after in work. But then the other side of it, makes me so proud at what she’s accomplishing at such a young age that I never thought was possible.”

In elementary and middle schools, Common Core isn’t the only device preparing students for college and beyond.

Heidi Williams, principal of Excelsior Elementary School, said the school has adopted a program called Challenge 21 to equip students with necessary future skills.

“Challenge 21 … is focused around 21st century skills and providing opportunities for students to develop skills in the areas of … life and character skills, communication and collaboration skills, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, information, media and technology skills and creativity and innovation skills,” Williams said. “Those are the skill areas we identify for college and career readiness within our district and knowing that we needed to prepare students just beyond the course content, so those are the areas we focus on throughout the curriculum.”

Like Austin, Williams said she’s seen how Common Core, implemented at Excelsior, has introduced more

rigor to prepare students for college acceptance and beyond.

“I think (Common Core is) different in the level of expectation,” Williams said. “In particular, we are asking students to delve a little bit more deeply with the standards and to be able to not just respond to a prompt or answer a math question but be able to understand their thinking and be able to articulate their thinking on a deeper level. The result of that is a higher level of thinking and expectation for students.”

The explicit discussion of future plans hasn’t escaped the fourth through sixth grade students at Excelsior. Williams said teachers spend time talking to students, sixth-graders in particular, about college and future options.

Middle-schoolers, in sixth through eighth grade, are being prepared for the future as well. At Olympus Junior High School, the advanced curriculum helps students learn necessary skills for high school and college.

Maureen O’Brien, seventh and eighth grade core teacher at Olympus, is training her students for future expectations with current rigor.

“Every year we do a better and better job of getting kids ready for what they need in college or in the work world,” O’Brien said. “In seventh grade … we start doing a lot of responding to literature where it’s incorporating their inferences - their thoughts, their connections - and that’s a change in writing and reading.

Before it’s been more summary writing and kind of regurgitating the information but … we try to make it a change and make it so it goes deeper with their understanding.”

Olympus is trying to excite its students for college and future plans. They recently held a college fair exhibition with representatives from multiple universities including Sacramento State University, the University of Michigan and William Jessup University.

O’Brien said she was initially shocked by the idea of a college fair on a junior high school campus, but she was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the event.

“It was wonderful,” O’Brien said. “The kids liked seeing … the different options and learning more about what (college is) like … It got the kids excited.”

Over the years, students have been prepared with increasingly more rigor. From kindergarten to 12th grade, more expectations are placed on them to compensate for college acceptance competition.

Granite Bay High School health and safety teacher Kathie Sinor said she experiences the repercussions of this early preparation in her freshman classes.

“I believe I am seeing a growing number of freshmen are feeling the pressure to work harder toward their goal of going to college,” Sinor said. “Overall, my class averages are 4-5 percentage points higher than three years ago.”

The Gazette // granitebaytoday.org

Friday, March 13, 2015

News

w The Granite Bay Gazette

A8

TEACHERS: GBHS faculty receive awards for their honorable teaching efforts Continued from page A1 ommended,’” Dell’Orto said. “I submitted the 10-page-long questionnaire and was finally told that I was Placer County’s teacher of the year, which is cool, and a little while after that, I was told that I was then chosen to be California’s teacher of the year, which is really neat and that part is very cool.”

GBHS senior Daniella Cassano said that Dell’Orto exemplifies the traits the DAR and the award represent and enjoys being in his class.

“Yes, I do know about (his nomination), and I think he deserves it because he goes above and beyond to help his stu-

dents, he cares and you could literally go any day after school and he would help you,” Casson said. “(Dell’Orto) would always make you laugh and there was never a dull moment; he makes learning fun, and that is what a class should be like.”

Stedman won the award for outstanding achievement as a mathematics teacher for Granite Bay High School staff for the Roseville Joint Union High School District.

“I believe that I feel very lucky, very humbled because we have a stellar staff at Granite Bay that is extremely, extremely competent that are very classy people, so to be named or to be nominated teacher

of the year here is great,” Stedman said.

“Well, I really don’t consider this an individual nomination for myself. I really feel like it is a department nomination because our math department is just so stellar. We all work together very well.”

Sophomore Emily Kasarjian said that Stedman perfectly exemplifies the highquality teaching abilities that the GBHS staff has nominated him for.

“Mr. Stedman is a very approachable teacher and uses technology a lot in his class, which I think is handy because everyone nowadays has phones and uses them,” Kasarjian said. “I felt very comfortable with asking him questions, and he made the atmosphere very nice yet

ABORTION: Students offer different opinions on pro-life vs. pro-choice

cut to the chase and taught quickly.”

Stedman looks to implement new-age technology at GBHS to help aid in accessible and easy learning for the department’s math students.

“So, I have just put a lot of technology pieces together for everyone involving everything Google,” Stedman said. “So, I think that is what they see and maybe they voted because of all that technology, but it is definitely not an individual nomination, but a department one.”

Dell’Orto also said he felt honored and humbled to win such an award, and hearing from adults and students alike really made the nomination feel even more prestigious.

FRENZY: Alarm triggers at GBHS event Continued from page A2

– and some argue that even if abortion was banned, it would still occur.

MacLeane said. “If someone “Every year, hundreds of thouhas a question about it, we will If someone has a question sands of women die from unsafe answer it, but we don’t get into about (abortion), we will abortions in countries where pro-life vs. pro-choice. To me, abortion is illegal,” Zhurbinsit’s a waste of time because answer it, but we don’t get kiy said. “Banning abortion or people feel so strongly about into pro-life vs. pro-choice. impeding access to it will not it. … I don’t think it really has end abortion. … When women To me, it’s a waste of time. a place in a health class.” are forced to carry a pregnancy Freshman Katie Misik said – John MacLeane, health teacher to term against their will, they the class covered contracepcan experience severe financial tion well. constraints and not be able to “By the end, we were aware provide the quality of life they of condoms and birth control. wish for their child. This also and how a slip or fault could change the entire situ- sets women back from obtaining an education or ation,” Misik said. “We did talk about abortion – to achieving their career goals. the extent of what our religions believed and how it “Everyone should have the full array of reproducwould affect us emotionally and physically.” tive options – childbirth, adoption, and abortion – An abortion ban doesn’t seem to be on the horizon available to them.”

weekend, when the faulty sensor triggered the fire alarm again.

By unlocking the emergency key box outside the front gate of the school, the fire department was able to shut off the the sensor in the theater closet.

This particular alarm went off on Thursday, Feb. 19 while school was in session. The sensor had been silenced by staff because of the numerous false alarms that had happened previously.

“We got everybody out, and treated it like it was a real fire,” Vujovich said. “The alarm went off in a storage closet on the side of the theater.”

The irony behind the situation is that the theater has the newest fire alarms in the entire school, as the whole system was redone last year.

A new company was used to install the alarms than in years prior, but the default in this sensor was simply untimely.

According to Vujovich, the 5th Quarter alarm

Continued from page A2

“I think this year, the Tribe has been a little bit of the same but also … different because from my perspective as a leader, leading the Tribe is different than following along,” Munkdale said.

“But I think overall it hasn’t been that bad but also hasn’t been that great. I think last year was a little bit better.”

Having transferred to GBHS just this year, Quinn has no experience with the Tribe in past years except what he viewed from the opposing side at Jesuit High School.

Continued from page A2

“What was really neat was, more than anything else, was the very nice things that I got told about me in the letters of recommendation,” Dell’Orto said.

For the last 18 years, Dell’Orto has taught at GBHS, and Stedman has been a member of the staff since 2012. Both teachers have made considerable impacts on numerous GBHS students.

“I was hearing from all of these former students from 10, 15, 20, 25 years ago and they started writing these cool little posts,” Dell’Orto said. “So, that part has been the best of this, is seeing all these old students tell you that you did make a mark on them and leave an impression on them.”

came as a complete shock. Although he was in the audience, he said he had begun to feel the effects of being hypnotized.

He said he felt slightly dazed, and had his son, Jordan Vujovich, drive them home just to be safe.

Hypnotized or not, every student was successfully and safely evacuated. The alarm was fixed in the days following.

Senior audience member Natalie Caraway said she remembers waking up while standing before her peers after the hypnotist indirectly caused her to fall asleep.

“I wasn’t technically asleep, I was just in a different state of mind,” Caraway said. “I only woke up because everyone was super loud around me.”

This year’s Senior 5th Quarter might have been more eventful than in the past, but it was a memorable Friday 13th nonetheless, according to Manzo.

“People enjoyed the show and I’m glad they did,” Manzo said. “That’s all that matters.”

TRIBE: Student group feels the effect of GBHS administration’s new regulations

the school’s authority.

From changing roles from being a Tribe member to a Tribe leader, senior Brett Munkdale said he believes the Tribe has, overall, been decent, and toward the end of the basketball season, he said the Tribe improved a great deal.

“I think that the Tribe leaders last year had no filter, but they did a good job getting people in the game and getting them energized,” Munkdale said. “This

year the admin did a lot. They went up to me and (senior) Nick Marakas yelling at us for doing and saying certain chants, like for singling out players.”

According to junior Ethan Quinn, the senior class has a lot to do with the new rules.

“I felt the admin did not have much respect for the seniors coming into the school year, and the seniors slowly lost what little respect the admin had for them throughout the year, causing the new rules,” Quinn said.

Junior Hunter Loomis said he

is optimistic about the future of the Tribe, and he is unsure of the treatment the student section will receive in the upcoming year.

“When I look into next year, I see nothing but great things coming from the Tribe,” Loomis said.

“I feel like this year it wasn’t as strong as previous years, so I’m just really looking forward to getting huge amounts of people out to the sporting events and getting louder than ever before.”

However, those graduating in May have a slightly different opinion.

“Coming into this year at Granite Bay, I had high expectations for the Tribe,” Quinn said. “But sadly, I was a little let down. We were not as loud as I remember the Tribe used to be, and we were not as crazy either.”

For many, the best part of the Tribe in previous years was the top-notch organization and enthusiastic leaders.

“The cheers they had were always loud and they were all together and they seemed to be able to say whatever they wanted,” Quinn said. “The Tribe

leaders were also always loud and really led the Tribe.”

However, despite new rules, according to Loomis, the Tribe still can be a great student cheering sections.

“The new regulations concerning the Tribe aren’t to me that big of an issue,” Loomis said. “I don’t think that any regulations should stop students from being a part of the Tribe because it really is an awesome experience and an opportunity to make memories that you will never forget.”

Your names.

Your faces.

The Gazette

Your names. your faces.

The Gazette The Gazette: yOUR NEWSPAPER

Voices

Granite Bay Gazette

Friday

A Section

w March 13, 2015

GAZETTE Doing good journalism harder than it looks The Granite Bay

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

Editors-in-Chief: Tamren Johnk Akash Khosla Neha Kompella Colleen Vivaldi News Editors: Jacqueline Gordon Jenna McCarthy Voices Editors: Savitri Asokan Treasa Hayes Lifestyle Editors: Blake Panter Troy Pawlak Emily Wagner Green Screen Editors: Hannah Holzer Epsa Sharma Brian Zhuang Sports Editors: Maggie Bell Steven Gerisch Caroline Palmer Online Editors: Alex Baldonado Natalie Erickson Hannah Holzer Amanda Nist Hannah Xu Social Media Editors: Amanda Prather Jacqueline Romero Illustrators: Akash Khosla Troy Pawlak Brian Zhuang Photo Editor: Katherine McGrail Staff Writers: Natasha Chanda Cole Kahmann Clair Kasel Rawan Khalili Surina Khurana Jill Kurpershoek Matthew Ontiveros Harrison Tucker Madeline Williams 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 case-by-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

Student journalists struggle to establish their standing

H

elp us help you. I guess that’s the motto when it comes to interviewing people for journalistic reasons.

Being in journalism since my first semester of my sophomore year, I have written countless stories and interviewed hundreds of people. About three-quarters of those people interviewed have been students and the other quarter have been adult officials at Granite Bay High School. We always try to include school representatives in order to incorporate better sources of expertise. Trust me, it makes a difference in our stories.

I don’t think there has been any time when a student has declined an interview. Usually students are always cooperative, even if it’s because they just want to see their name or face in the school paper.

However, sometimes adults are different.

Out of the numerous times I have requested interviews, there’s always a small minority of adult school representatives that say no.

Why? I would love to know the answer to that question. Some have valid reasons, while others, I believe, simply do not.

Being a journalist, we always try to find the best sources possible for our stories, and when we hear the answer “no” to an interview, it kills us inside because that’s one less interview to make our story that much better.

Basically, it changes the story.

Commentary

tamren johnk tjohnk.gazette@gmail.com

Yes, I know journalism isn’t supposed to come easy – it’s not meant to be. Yet when I spend hours asking and searching for the right adult official and we finally find them, just to be denied an interview for basically no particular reason, frankly it stinks.

Now if you have a valid reason, that’s great, and I respect that. For instance, we write sensitive stories on things like abortion, death, drugs, sex, alcohol and mental illness, and I know that some of these interviews can be difficult and delicate to the interviewee.

Sometimes, with these types of stories, people have declined. But there have also been other people who are willing to do the

interview and be completely open with me.

However, when I am writing a non-sensitive story and the principal of our school along with my journalism adviser refer me to a particular administrator to interview about a topic that is in their area of expertise, and that individual declines me for no reason, something is clearly wrong.

Now you can’t say that this administrator who declined didn’t know anything about the topic, because then that would mean our principal and my journalism adviser are referring me to the wrong person. And trust me, that’s not the case. They clearly know more than I do, so I respect them and their judgments.

But it’s frustrating because I think sometimes this minority of administrators and or teachers generally take advantage of us as journalists and just think it’s easy for us to find another source. Well, let me tell you, it’s not.

In addition, when an adult school representative declines an interview, I think they forget that they are actually hurting our grade.

It’s called Advanced Journalism. Yes, it is actually a class. And yes, we do actually get graded on work.

I believe another problem is that there’s a trust issue. Some adults might not want to be interviewed because they are liable for what they say and don’t want to get in trouble. But

I also think they are scared that their quote will be different from what they actually said.

If you think that has happened to you or your quote, I’ll go out on a limb here and say, sorry – you actually said it. Don’t blame the writer, we are just doing our jobs, maybe just be careful with what you say next time.

We are just students trying to do good journalism. We aren’t trying to hurt you or make you look bad at all – we are just trying to tell the story. Remember, we are always willing to give you questions in advance if you would like to see and prepare for them if that would help.

So when adult school representatives say no to an interview, there comes the question of, do you really trust your students? Now I would hope the answer would be a sincere yes. I don’t get how you could say no and actually enjoy your job.

Most GBHS administrators and teachers have no problem doing an interview. Unfortunately, it’s just the rarity of the adult officials who won’t interview who make me want to rip my hair out. All I want is a little cooperation. Is that too much to ask for?

So next time you are asked for an interview, think twice about what you say, and try to help your students succeed in doing good journalism. *** Tamren Johnk, a Gazette co-editor-in-chief, is a senior.

American politicians need scientific grounding

Government officials lack basic knowledge of facts, causing problems for the rest of us

A

s Americans wished in 2015, it was brought to light that Congressional approval ratings for 2014 were a dismal 15 percent – only one percent above the national low.

While Americans were still reacting toward the government shutdown in 2013, many Congressmen and women remained vastly inept at their job.

One of the scariest realities is Congress’s ignorance on scientific topics – several Congressmen have been quoted with shockingly flawed statements.

Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R.- Nevada) voiced her opinion that she “believe(s) (cancer) is a fungus” that can be “flushed” out of the body.

The senselessness doesn’t stop there, though. Sen. Ted Cruz (R.Texas) was just placed in charge of overseeing NASA and similar affairs.

On the topic of global warming he declared that, “Contrary to all the theories that (Democrats) are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn’t happened.”

Unfortunately for Cruz, satellite data has shown that the earth’s temperatures, along with ocean temperatures, are and have been on the rise.

Whether or not these rises are attributed to global warming and the entrapment of carbon dioxide gas is up for dispute.

Instead of bickering whether the planet is warming or cooling,

Commentary

Congressional members have been quoted expressing their complete ignorance on basic knowledge.

Freshmen at GBHS apparently know more than some of these politicians.

Although one man or woman’s ability to perform at such a job shouldn’t be determined by one quote, it is still apparent

that they are lacking in certain areas of their jobs.

This also begs the question of whether we as Americans are failing to elect qualified representatives.

Many political campaigns are clouded with mudslinging from both major parties.

A constant stream of advertisements from political campaigns honestly becomes sickening after a while – empty promises are just handed out like candy on Halloween to win votes.

According to the Washington Post, eligible voter turnout in 2014 reached an all-time low since the Second World War. Such a decline really cannot continue if we expect this issue to improve.

We as a community are at least fortunate to have an environment where voting is encouraged, and to have a qualified district politician. *** Matt Ontiveros, a junior, is a Gazette staff writer..

matthew ontiveros montiveros.gazette@gmail.com

representatives should be deciding whether greenhouse gases are the cause of warming or natural earth processes.

However, these politicians are making claims that have no scientific backing whatsoever.

It is honestly frightening that such obviously incorrect scientific beliefs are being fostered by representatives Americans elected.

But the sad part is that we have elected many foolish representatives in the past.

In 2012, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R.- California) made it clear he did not understand the basic concepts of global warming.

“Is there some thought being given to (...) clearing of rainforests in order for that country to eliminate that production of greenhouse gases?” Rohrabacher asked.

But it is not just misunderstandings of greenhouse gases or whether the earth is heating.

Gazette illustration /AKASH KHOSLA

Seniors’ conduct should reflect responsibility W EDITORIAL

hether we like it or not, obedience to authority is inevitable.

We must respect, to an extent, those who hold a position of power, even though they might abuse or incorrectly apply that power.

Throughout the course of this year at Granite Bay High School, several individuals have protested the system, attempting to rebel against the change in administration which has, in reality, regulated the campus fairly well.

However, succumbing to generalizations, teenagers do not respond well to confinement and control. The seniors on this campus are expressing their contempt and frustration in unnecessary and borderline unacceptable methods.

The First Amendment guarantees us the freedom of speech, yet we are disproving our responsibility to follow rules in a traditional high school environment. Those in the senior class are so close to gradua-

The voice of the Granite Bay Gazette

tion, and the least we can do is obey those with standing above us.

The recent disconnect between the student body and the GBHS administration has given the senior class a label, given the underclassmen a tangible idea of the picture of seniority. Being the elders of the school, we are an example to the freshmen, the sophomores, the juniors.

However, the class of 2015 is only setting future classes up for failure – do we really want to leave a legacy of rebellion?

At the Gazette, we believe that responsibility comes with a price. Although a large number of the members of the senior class

became a justifiable, at least in the eyes of are legal adults, these individuals have students, cause for rebellion. The cancellaan obligation to respect the rules of the tion of Mr. Grizzly earlier in the institution for the reyear served as another foundamainder of the year. tion for defiance. It was only Our age should a matter of time, then, before reflect our maturity, Our age the administration once again our ability to handle should reflect became an object of attack. ourselves in various Instead of targeting the ones situations and our our maturity who intend to create a safe and willingness to com... and our enjoyable campus environment, promise. Freedom of willingness to can we at least take partial reexpression is both a sponsibility for our actions? necessary and valucompromise.

There is absolutely nothing able right, and even wrong with expressing how one on the cusp of our feels, but that doesn’t then give release from public us the opportunity/right to speak high school, we must out against those who have not wronged also express discretion.

From the recent regulations on the Tribe us. Although you may not agree with this, high school is high school. to the newly implemented lunch policies, So, can we please agree to finish the the administration is creating unfamiliar school year out strong and leave an honorboundaries for the student body. The able impression? suddenly enforced dress code of last year

Friday, March 13, 2015

w

The Granite Bay Gazette

Voices A10

Lack of culinary class left unaddressed Heard Program was on the

BAY

What are your plans for spring break?

“To play FIFA.”

freshman

Jack McGrail “Going on the Mexicali trip.”

Commentary

essential for teaching skills

G

ranite Bay High School is a school well-financed enough to fund fantastic academic programs, a great staff and a IB science classes with as few as six students – but evidently not a culinary program.

The culinary program at GBHS still existed when I entered high school and, as a freshman, beginning culinary was my very first high school class.

That class turned out to be one of my very favorites and gave me skills and recipes I still use and friends I still have today.

At the time, the eight kitchens in the room were fully functioning with sinks, stoves, various cooking utensils and two refrigerators for the room.

The room also had eight Cuisinart mixers – mixers that are prominent in the culinary world and approximately $300-$400 each.

With such state-of-the-art equipment and perfectly workable kitchen fixtures, it was hard for me to accept the vague excuse that the

hannah holzer hholzer.gazette@gmail.com

reason for the discontinuation of the program was simply because of the lack of a replacement teacher. Although this is an adequate short-term explanation, the permanent discontinuation of a popular GBHS program doesn’t make sense – and whatever the real explanation is, it definitely was not conveyed to the student population.

As someone who is passionate about both cooking and baking, and who thoroughly enjoyed the culinary program, culinary class was incredibly important for me to learn and grow as a chef. From a broader viewpoint, as many of my peers, including myself,

will soon be enrolled at various colleges, culinary also taught vital information for everyday life – especially necessary for living away from home.

In college it won’t be necessary to know the difference between egg whites whipped to a soft peak versus a stiff peak, but learning how to boil pasta, cook an egg or prevent foodrelated illnesses might be. Starting college only knowing how to make a bowl of cereal will prove frustrating. A single culinary elective could provide the difference between eating cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and being able to cook for yourself and teach others.

But unfortunately, I will not be able to take the Advanced Culinary class I planned to take before I graduate, nor will any other students who attend GBHS. Now, students who haven’t taken a culinary class – the majority of the student body – have lost the opportunity to learn any of the provided skills and potentially be at a greater risk for foodborne illnesses.

What other class provided at GBHS teaches the maximum time for foods containing ingredients liable to spoiling to be left at room temperature? Or about how to thoroughly cook foods with eggs to prevent salmonella? Or how about preventing food poisoning

by knowing which foods need proper refrigeration? Not any class we have currently available.

Because GBHS lacks any course catered toward a student wanting to pursue a career in the food industry, it seems as if the school almost discourages such career paths. Currently, the school has three business classes, but apparently it is not able to provide even a single culinary arts class.

For a student such as myself who is debating between a career path in the food industry or a career provided in a typical academic college, a culinary program available in high school can strongly influence the decision. It can also be a vital source for those students who have not yet uncovered their culinary passion.

It seems highly unlikely the culinary program will make a reappearance before I graduate, but I deeply feel it is of the highest importance that future students learn how to cook for themselves and look out for their own well-being.

And I’m also fairly certain the world would be a happier place if everyone knew how to make their own homemade cookies. *** Hannah Holzer, a junior, is a Gazette Green Screen editor.

Frustration unfairly directed at administration Protests by seniors prove their immaturity

am the biggest proponent of free speech (any staff member of the Granite Bay Gazette can attest to that.) It’s simply a cautionary message. I want I think many students feel pern epidemic has spread students to have the ability and confidence to speak Commentary sonally violated by Leighton, and their minds, but I want them to exercise discretion, through Granite Bay High they believe they deserve justice.

School. It’s hit many stufor their benefit.

Do they think she imposed the dents, particularly seniors. Symptoms Use freedom of speech wisely. It’s an absolute “tardy sweep” to personally hurt include bitterness, rage and use of privilege to have the ability to speak your mind. them? Or canceled Mr. Grizzly obscenities – all aimed at the school I don’t think this freedom should be exploited by just so a certain person couldn’t administration. mindless banter like “Impeach Leighton.” win?

GBHS students have been plagued Although students should have free speech, I I’m not sure with an utter hatred toward all admindon’t think they should use their priviif this is teenistrators, especially principal Jennifer lege to say mindless things that can only age rebellion Leighton. However, I don’t think this damage the administration. It’s still their or a “Granite hatred is new. Its direction (toward right, but I believe free speech should be I simply want to exercised for constructive criticism that Bay” sense of Leighton) is new, but the feelings are entitlement, aged. urge students to will elicit improvement from the adminisbut either Each year, the student body has tration. jmccarthy.gazette@gmail.com give more way, it needs chosen one member of the school Further, if a student has a legitimate to stop. faculty to absolutely derail. Last year, respect – respect complaint or is looking for an explanation, The GBHS administrators are it was assistant principal Sybil Healy. This year, it’s the administration would be happy that is absolutely Itoknow trained authorities. They’ve all Leighton. lend an ear. I’d even go so far as to say had a great deal of experience Just as Healy was verbally attacked for her dress deserved – to the the administration would offer an explanawith students. code reforms, Leighton is receiving hatred for the administration. tion, or potentially a solution.

We need to start giving them a imposition of a “tardy sweep” and the cancellation I think the administration is happy to bit more trust. of Mr. Grizzly. listen to mature students who are willing I’m not trying to defend the The GBHS population needs to realize the adto speak like adults. Of course they’re not administration’s actions. This ministration deserves respect. Each administrator going to listen to a crazed, hormone-laidpiece is not a debate about the is more educated – and clearly more mature – than en student who can only spew insults. ethics of the “tardy sweep.” each student. Every administrator is still an authorBeyond college, administrators are trying to I simply want to urge students to give more ity figure. prepare students for life. They’re trying to equip us respect – respect that is absolutely deserved – to the with the necessary skills we’ll need in the future – Students are using the administration as an outlet administration. for their anger. They target one individual in power one of which is maturity.

No matter the circumstances, it’s not appropriand blame everything on them.

Now, shall we exhibit some adult-like behavior ate nor mature to chant “Leighton is Satan” in the This year, students have gone so far as to launch and sail smoothly through the rest of this year? an “Impeach Leighton” campaign, suggesting every cafeteria at lunch. *** Is she really Satan? As in, the Devil? Do students mishap of the year is directly linked to her.

Jenna McCarthy, a senior, is a Gazette news know the significance of their comparison?

I feel a sense of entitlement among students this editor.

This is not a commentary about censorship. I year. I’ve felt it before, but it’s much stronger now.

A

sophomore

jenna mccarthy

Danielle Griggs “To spend time with family.”

junior

Sydney Ladrech “To watch Netflix with my dog.”

Misfortune too often becomes a competition It’s only human nature to take perverse pride in misfortune

F

senior

Kylee Benner Gazette photos / Alex Baldonado

“To look at homes in Fortuna, California.”

staff

James Cunningham Compiled by Alex Baldonado

or a long time, I believed that I couldn’t be sad because it would be unfair to those who have issues far worse than mine.

Growing up with shelter 24/7, food in the refrigerator at any given point of the day and enough money to do extra activities, I was constantly taught that I shouldn’t need to cry or be distressed because there are people who are starving in Africa, people who are dying in wars, people without fathers or mothers or homes.

I was told to “put things into perspective.” But it’s hard to put things into perspective when your world is crumbling down around you.

In fourth grade, I had to get surgery on my left arm and miss “Open House,” undoubtedly one of my favorite days of the school year. My 10-year-old mind couldn’t comprehend why out of all nights of the year, I just had to fall off the monkey bars and dislocate a growth plate. However, compared to the 24.7 million people in Africa living with HIV/ AIDS, it’s not difficult to say who’s got it worse.

Needless to say, it is not fair for this many people to have a deadly sexually transmitted disease, but for 10-year-old me, it was not fair I had to get surgery and restrict how long my arm was going to grow.

This is not to say that breaking my arm is of the same caliber as getting an STD. But it isn’t a matter of what’s worse, but rather the fact that the consequences affected each respective party in a negative way.

Commentary

For people like me, injuries and perhaps the death of a loved one is the worst they will have to face in their lifetime. But for someone who has only known good things, and who hasn’t seen the worst in the world, these situations become traumatizing.

And for someone who has only seen death, or only seen the aftermath hxu.gazette@gmail.com of a disease-stricken country, the worst for them is far more wretched each other’s issues would be putting than the worst for people like me. them into a competition of “who has Breaking my arm was a low point it worse.” My difficulties are not a for me, and to say that I couldn’t be game piece in a competition. People sad about being stuck in a cast for as a whole tend to want to have the months is like saying that I can’t be worst because for some inexplicable happy because there will be someone reason, it is honorable to in the world who is have more issues to overhappier. come. It is more desirable “You think you’ve to have more troubles than got it bad?” is not the To say that one another because it makes thing I want to hear us seem like we have (issue) is more more purpose, and more when I cry about my problems. harmful than the strength.

None of us know Of course we would other is illogical never what the other persay this out loud, son is experiencing, and but think – was there ever and because of that it a time when you and your unproductive. is hard to simply say friend were discussing all that one problem is the problems you both had worse than the other. to face and you just wanted They’re not compato keep piling them on? It rable. makes you seem impor“Put things into tant to have been burdened, and you perspective.” I have, and while there are not the only one. Humans tend is no doubt that the problems that afto do this unconsciously. We put our fect the world severely are bad, I have problems into a competition they the right to be sad about the problems shouldn’t be in in the first place. in my life.

The same goes for the issues in the At the same time, by comparing

hannah xu

world that affect others on a larger scale – starvation, war, homelessness, diseases, racism, sexism and many more.

To say that one is more harmful than the other is illogical and unproductive. For anyone who spends a second on social media, it is not uncommon to see complaints of “These Americans think they have it so bad.

The white feminists don’t understand what true inequality is like, don’t know what true misogyny is like.”

But to pit one injustice against the other doesn’t solve anything. Women in America are fighting more for the end of double standards and equality amongst men; in places such as India, women are fighting for these as well, but also for more pressing issues, like the enforcement of laws against rape.

But to say that one is worse than the other does not solve the problem.

Instead, it just causes more issues as people fighting for the same goal fight against each other.

Inequality in America is different than inequality elsewhere in the world, but at the very core it is still inequality. To say that racism is worse than sexism does not erase the idea that both are still bad. To say that starvation is worse than contracting a disease does not eradicate the fact that both are still deadly.

Social, economic, political and biological injustices are not meant to be thrown into a ring to fight to see which will be solved, but instead recognized so the resolution to end all of them can be the winners. *** Hannah Xu, a sophomore, is a Gazette online editor.

Friday, March 13, 2015

w

The Granite Bay Gazette

Voices A11

English classes do not reflect college expectations Commentary

Requirements need to be more stringent

L

ook, I’ve been a good student.

I write grammar good. I’ve been avoiding the passive voice and clichés like the plague. I even take the time to vary the beginnings of my sentences.

But with that said, I feel the English classes I’ve taken have been inadequate in preparing me for college.

I do not say this to target or ridicule the teachers I have had for English – my teachers have all been good, capable instructors. However, the standards that we force teachers to adhere to are more destructive to student education than

jacqueline gordon jgordon.gazette@gmail.com

they are helpful.

To help illustrate what I mean, a little help from the world of college applications.

A few weeks ago, I began an application for the Sacramento State

Commentary

Honors program. While Sac State is by no means my top choice, the honors program offers quite a few benefits, so I figured I’d apply for it just in case.

However, one of the application requirements was to submit a term paper or extended research paper I had written in high school.

I had a moment of panic, because I have never actually written a term paper in my high school career.

Despite having taken two Advanced Placement English classes, supposed “college-level courses,” I couldn’t fulfill a basic requirement for the application.

Instead, I’ve spent my AP English classes preparing for AP tests. Particularly, AP Language and Composition was incredibly test-focused.

I understand. It takes a significant amount of time to get students ready for an AP test. In AP Lang, we had to learn

kmcgrail2.gazette@gmail.com

Acts of kindness are always appreciated

W

ith all that has been going on in and around our country over the past few months, you would probably think that the world is headed for hell. I mean, have you watched the news lately? Police officer shot and killed; escaped llama shot and killed; yet another man killed by ISIS; shooting, killing, the bloodier, the better – just as long as it sparks the interest of the viewers.

We merely blink at the stories of murder, disappointed but not affected. Headlines scream controversy – and make sure you pick a side, because you shouldn’t sympathize with anyone who thinks differently than you do.

It’s almost as if society is begging us to dehumanize each other in everything that we do. The bad guys seem to get more fame than the good people, and the solicitude of the human race goes unnoticed.

But there are still genuinely good people, and whether or not their good deeds are newsworthy is of no concern.

Ten years ago, when my family had just moved from North Carolina, my dad lost a wallet. The wallet itself was a nice black leather wallet, and inside it was his driver’s license, all of his credit cards and cash. He thought he misplaced it at a Subway, so he went to look for it, but it was gone.

Assuming the wallet would fall into the wrong hands, he cancelled all his cards and moved on.

Fast forward to February 2015. My dad gets a call at work – and it’s a guy who says he has my dad’s wallet. Naturally, his first reaction was to check his pocket. He had his wallet was safely in there, so he assumed it was some type of scam, but nonetheless, he agreed to meet the guy at his office.

When the stranger pulled up to my dad’s office, he had a black leather wallet in his hand and asked for my dad by name. He and my dad spoke for a while, and the man told my dad about how his daughter had found it jammed under a seat in his car, which he had bought three years ago. The car that the stranger owned ended up being an old car that we had sold when we first moved to California, and the wallet ended up being my dad’s.

But here’s the crazy part. Everything was still in the wallet. Obviously after 10 years, my dad had no recollection of how much money had been in the wallet when he lost it, but when he checked, there was $185 still inside. His credit cards, photo ID from North Carolina, gym membership, everything. The guy hadn’t taken anything. He described how he had used my dad’s drivers license to look him up on Facebook and found out where he worked, and then drove almost an hour to his office to return the wallet.

The man owned a screen door company, and he gave my dad his business card in case he ever needed repairs. My dad, in turn, promised to call if he ever needed work done on our house, and mailed him a $50 Applebee’s gift card to show his appreciation for the man’s kindness.

Benevolence is rare, and is unfortunately becoming even more scarce. The human race is so enthralled with concepts of fame and fortune that they often forget that the most important thing is the “Golden Rule”: Treat others the way you want to be treated. The way we tolerate each other’s ideals is an idea that is revolutionizing, with some debates like religious toleration that have dated back centuries, to more modern concepts like gay marriage rights.

Whether for or against, we forget that it should never matter when it comes down to the amount of compassion that is shown toward others. The truth is, there are far greater numbers of caring people in this world that we live in, so we shouldn’t generalize the human race as ill-intentioned.

And no matter who you are or where you come from, showing kindness should always triumph over differences. *** Kat McGrail, a senior, is a Gazette photo editor.

lish class, the teacher informs the class how previous English teachers taught us “wrong.” We then have to learn an entirely new style of writing to correct the previous teacher’s “mistakes.”

In subjects such as math, the classes build upon each other. And theoretically, English should be the same way.

However, too often I find my classes reinventing content from the previous year instead of teaching a progression of writing and critical thinking.

As a result, I don’t feel I’ve had a very consistent education in English.

English, literature and writing are all great passions of mine.

However, I think it’s time that we fix some of the flaws in how we teach English on this campus. *** Jacqueline Gordon, a senior, is a Gazette news editor.

‘Love Yourself Week’ confines confidence

GSA week-long program encourages students to love themselves, conditionally

P

kat mcgrail

three entirely new styles of essay writing and prepare for the difficult multiplechoice portion. And ultimately, students tend to care very little about their AP classes beyond the scope of the AP test.

So I understand teachers feeling the need to teach to the test.

But why does the AP curriculum put no emphasis on writing more extended pieces, since colleges require us to write them?

The point of AP classes is to prepare us for the workload and standards we will experience in college. However, many English classes teach little more than how to write a fancier version of a five-paragraph essay.

We are taught how to pass the AP test and little more.

I’ve also noticed discrepancies throughout my English classes.

Often, whenever I enter a new Eng-

Commentary

year calls for a clean slate, a utting yourself first is neither tabula rasa, so why not start pompous nor egotistical, but the year with a message about an act of self-preservation and feeling comfortable in your gratitude that allows you to be a better own body? And why can’t it person. However, there is a fine line be “Love Yourself Year;” or between appreciating who you are as heck, why can’t we just tell an individual and acting like a narcisour students the campus is a sist who owns the place. But even safe environment, and they with that said, I think everyone should can express who they are all adore who they are and do whatever the time and not feel judged.? they need in order to be comfortable Needless to say, I was quite in their own skin. frustrated at the publicity for So please, go ahead – love yourself “Love Yourself Week.” Now, and enhance your inner Kanye West. don’t get me wrong, I’m not Last month, I became acquainted trying to shed negative light with “Love Yourself Week.” At first, esharma.gazette@gmail.com on the facilitators, or even the I was pleased that our school was general idea of the event. I publicizing such a powerful message was just not content with the wording associated with of appreciation. the event. There’s no reason why you would start But I was perplexed as to why the Gay-Straight an empowering event and publicize it for only one Alliance designated one random week in the school week. year for such an influential event. Also, why limit But I gave “Love Yourself Week” the benefit of the appreciating yourself to one week? Why not promote doubt. I waited for the bulletin to explain the overall the message of loving yourself 24 hours a day, 365 concept. But to my dismay, the bulletin enlisted spedays a year? cific key points of “how to love yourself.” It stated I believe the overall concept of “Love Yourself pointers such as “wear casual clothes, like sweats and Week” should have been broadcasted last August, to a sweatshirt.” But for me, loving myself is dressing set the tone for the school year. I mean, a new school

epsa sharma

up for school; I feel elated wearing a good outfit.

Another point espoused in the bulletin was that to “love yourself” was not wearing makeup and going all-natural. Of course I think it’s necessary for you to feel comfortable in your own skin, but if wearing makeup makes you love yourself, go for it.

Wear all the makeup you need to feel confident and appreciate who you are. In my opinion, wearing makeup is just a way to enhance facial features. It elicits confidence in so many individuals, therefore allowing them to “love themselves” even more.

The bulletin announcement for “Love Yourself Week” essentially proclaimed that going natural and not wearing makeup is a fundamental part of loving yourself. Of course I agree that every individual should be satisfied with themselves, and if makeup increases their satisfaction than so be it.

So why hinder students from an activity that allows them to be content with their appearance? The bulletin message shouldn’t put a restriction on how students should showcase love for themselves.

Every individual is different; everyone finds ways to love and appreciate who they are differently. So in the future, I hope the “Love Yourself” event is still present in school years to come – but I hope the GSA reiterates it as “Love Yourself Year.”

And I hope the event is ingrained into students’ minds at the beginning of the year, so they’ll be encouraged to be themselves without the thought of being judged. *** Epsa Sharma, a junior, is a Gazette Green Screen editor.

Technology can inhibit individual potential Online communication limits us from experiencing full life

W

e text, we post, we comment, we tweet, we Snapchat.

Where does the technological obsession end and allow face-to-face communication to begin?

The 21st century has introduced many inventions, many of those including bright screens and home buttons.

Smartphones, computers and tablets are all amazing conveniences found in any home in our area. But at what point do we substitute these technical occupations for person to person interaction?

I look around the cafeteria during lunch, and am shocked at how many heads are face-down, all attention devoted to a two-inch-by-four-inch screen of a smartphone.

Why we prefer to tweet rather than begin a conversation with another human being is a mystery to me. By keeping our heads down, we block out any opportunity of discovery around us.

How I see it, a ‘like’ on Instagram can wait, you don’t have to be the first to see a Snapchat story and retweeting a relatable post on Twitter can just as easily be expressed with your own words.

We use technology as an escape, myself included. So many people have such crazy schedules to keep that we fill in the little free time we have with our technological gadgets. Wake up, check phone. Eat lunch, check phone.

Finish homework, check phone.

This instinctive motion of glimpsing at our phone every five minutes or less is addictive.

Look up! There’s so much to see, therefore there is so much you can miss.

We give away precious time to our phones, computers and tablets, and they have the power to consume us entirely.

In such a rapidly transforming world, we cannot allow technology to steal value from our lives. There are seven billion people in this world - odds are we have something in common with at least one person.

Face-to-face conversation has so much more meaning than anything typed. How can one compare “ily” to the sentimental emotions of the spoken word?

The danger of technology is real. We are already aware of the dangers of

Commentary

jordan holt jholt.gazette@gmail.com

combining texting and driving. The danger of texting and walking is just as real, but in a different manner.

Perhaps one day you’re playing a game on your phone when you walk right past the love of your life. You may never know if it was the love of your life, because you were strictly focused on your phone in that moment.

Was it worth it?

Our generation has grown up in a world with a surplus technology at our hands. This is a serious issue when considering how many jobs require good communication skills.

The real world is so interactive. If we don’t prepare ourselves and gain the ability to communicate verbally, we will never be able to handle the obstacles we face, including earning a

SAT, ACT biased toward wealthy

I

f you reference the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the American College Test in a high school classroom chances are most students wouldn’t have any idea what you are talking about.

But say the words ACT or SAT and a universal groan will ring throughout the room. With nearly every college requiring admission test scores for acceptance into their school, they are an unofficial “must” when applying to school.

Many students, including myself, take these tests without even knowing their complete name, let alone the “why” behind them – all we know is that unless you get above an 1800 you can kiss your college dreams goodbye.

Not really. But a good score on one of these two tests can prove to be a “make or break” when you are applying to universities.

In a survey conducted by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, admission test scores

ing the system of the test. ranked as the third highest factor colThere are hundreds of different leges look at when deciding whether or books and classes you can take in not to accept a student. order to prepare for your test – not to The NACAC’s research reveals teach you new inforuniversities consider the mation, but how to SAT and ACT even more score the highest on the highly than your grades or a writing sample. With With nearly every test by getting through the information the this in mind, you would college requiring quickest. assume that the curricuThe SAT and ACT, lum is high-level mateadmission test rial learned primarily in respectively, cost apscores for ac- proximately $50 and recent high school years.

However, this couldn’t be ceptance ... they $100 if you register on further from the truth.

Although they are an unofficial time.

The math in these tests offer a fee waiver, if pertains to concepts we you want to do well “must.” learned back in middle on an assessment test school. The science – excluding rare cases section of the ACT is a of geniuses – you must series of graphs that are take a test-prep course presented in a scientific format, but that costs yet more money. with an objective to simply read the With money being such an influential graphs as accurately and quickly as factor, colleges are narrowing their acpossible. ceptance pool even further.

In the end, it all breaks down to beatOn their website, the SAT advertises

living.

We cannot be dependent on technology to get us through life. Dependency leads to addiction. Spending three hours a day getting current on your Twitter feed is an unhealthy habit.

We progress in the field of technology everyday, yet the possibility of the human race also faces regression.

Self-monitoring our use of social media is crucial. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap, because the use of technology is a privilege that we cannot afford to abuse.

There is so much to discover in this world that the Internet just can’t explain. There is so much to talk about that can’t be conveyed over Snapchat or text messaging.

The beauty of face-to-face communication is that we sense emotions. Interpretations don’t have to be made as they do through the phone or computer.

Sure, maybe texting gives us more time to think about what we actually want to say, but our initial responses are the real ones. They are in the moment and as strong as they’ll ever be.

We all have voices that deserve to be heard - don’t let yours always be through a subtweet, a duck-faced selfie or texting emojis 24/7.

We have so many inventions that have the power to silence us, and we forget we have the power to speak. *** Jordan Holt, a junior, is a Gazette staff writer.

Commentary

maggie bell mbell.gazette@gmail.com

to be a globally recognized college admission test, letting users show colleges what you know and how well you can apply that knowledge.

That statement is the beautiful work of advertisers paid to promote the assessment tests, when in reality they prove nothing more to colleges than the hard work and time a student puts into studying to succeed on their tests. *** Maggie Bell, a junior, is a Gazette sports editor.

Second look

A12 News

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Seniors take the fifth.

Gazette photo /jill kurpershoek

ď ˇSeniors, top, are hypnotized at Senior Fifth Quarter. Senior Julia Beatty, center left, raises her hands in victory. Senior Greg Fina, left, acts like a turtle. Senior Lexi Geraghty, center right, sticks tries to speak with her tongue in the way, after being instructed by the hypnotist to do so.

Senior Brenna Myers, bottom left, reacts joyfully. Senior TJ Neiman, bottom right, lies on the floor of the stage while hypnotized.

l

Gazette photo /jill kurpershoek

Gazette photo /epsa sharma

Gazette photo /epsa sharma

Gazette photo /Epsa sharma

Gazette photo /jill kurpershoek

Lifestyle

Granite Bay Gazette

Friday w

Commentary

B Section

March 13, 2015

blake panter bpanter.gazette@gmail.com

Why suffer if it’s not necessary?

What a genius idea – taking a single class over the summer to make my junior year schedule much more bearable. It seemed like a genius idea, but not as genius as I would be at American history.

Last summer, I decided to take History 17B online at Sierra College, the equivalent of taking Advanced Placement United States History. I was to receive a rumored easy A and GPA bump. The class, however, was a complete joke and I learned close to nothing. But I don’t care – I got an A! Spending no more than a couple of hours a week on the class, I would have learned more of the 200 years of history in a 10 minute YouTube video. I wouldn’t be able to name ten presidents. What’s Civil Rights about? What’s the Constitution? I know Rosa Parks was one of the founding fathers that signed the Boston Tea Party, right?

I got to spend my summer doing absolutely nothing while all of the AP kids are slaving over homework all night long. Sorry, but it’s not my fault you weren’t intelligent enough to take a class and learn nothing.

Now, colleges get to see my arduous summer school schedule and commitment to my education while falling in love with my GPA – I mean holistic knowledge of American history. They just care about what I look like on a piece of paper, not particularly what I actually know.

Important events and topics of American history were either glossed over or ignored altogether.

I know close to nothing about American history, and I partially blame myself for taking the easy way out, and yet I also blame those that even make this possible to happen.

However, I feel immensely pressured to seize this opportunity to get ahead. Everything is a competition now, and we are forced to take every single advantage possible, even if it means killing our brains with the lower standards of community college.

I am sure not every class high school students are able to take at Sierra College is that bad, but in my particular experiences, and the majority of experiences I have heard of, there is really no educational benefit to taking these classes. But who cares – just give me the A! I feel forced to take these classes, ignoring my educational well being, without any interest, and with the sole purpose of getting a grade boost or easing my schedule for the year ahead. I cannot understand a system that allows a student to get such an advantage through such ease while others actually have to work for their education.

I feel I have sacrificed a quality education for a meaningless number, and yet, I am doing it again as I plan on taking sociology this summer at Sierra. Wait, what’s sociology? Who cares – I want an A!

*** Blake Panter, a junior, is a Lifestyle editor.

Gazette illustration/ TROY PAWLAK

Are we preparing for the right thing?

Students focus on the academics of college without emotional preparedness

C

BY COLE KAHMANN ckahmann.gazette@gmail.com

ollege time is near, and many students feel like they’re locked aboard an emotional roller coaster filled with excitements and scares.

For many students, the thought of leaving for college has been suppressed and sometimes even feared because of the lack of control students feel over their future These young adults are conflicted over new-found freedom, opportunities and the anxiety about what these rewards entail – more responsibilities, and life on their own.

Many students might be questioning what life will be like after leaving home, their community, friends and families.

Senior Dane Mortensen, who will be attending Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in the fall, understands some of the feelings many future high school graduates go through.

“I’m really anxious about it,” Mortensen said. “I feel like there are some aspects of living on my own that I’m not all the way prepared for yet.”

Mortensen said he is not completely ready to leave his family, and he even feels anxious about little things like having to cook on his own sometimes.

College students have to learn to live with less sup-

port and supervision, but experts, as well as those who hve already experienced going away to college, suggest this can be very rewarding in the end and can be learned fairly quickly.

Even though many students are nervous, most understand that they really are ready and will be able to adapt to this new kind of life.

Senior Tyler Soares said after living in one area for a long period of time, he is looking forward to heading out and starting a new life.

“I cant wait to leave,” said Soares, who will be attending Cornell University in upstate New York next year. “I want to move.”

Senior Davis Pae said although he’s undecided about where he will attend college next year, he is still excited to meet new people, see different areas and experience new things.

Senior Riley Brown, who will be attending the University of California at Berkeley as a member of the crew team, said she is looking forward to living in Berkeley and gaining some independence from her family.

Even though she will miss them, she said she has experienced life away from home before and feels ready to depart.

She also said she is thrilled to meet and be with her future teammates.

However, to meet these new people, it is necessary to leave some things behind, something Pae said will be difficult.

“It’s going to be kind of hard (leaving) because I have close childhood friends,” Pae said.

Perhaps the most common fear of leaving for college is saying goodbye to friends and family and leaving home all at once.

Despite not feeling completely confident about his imminent departure for college, Mortensen said no one is ever entirely ready, and he knows these challenges will bring positive change.

“I’m looking forward,” Mortensen said, “to the personal freedom and growth I’m going to experience during that time.”

Pae said he is somewhat concerned about the increased difficulty of the school work in college. Brown said she is also aware of the increase in academic rigor, but she views it as a great opportunity for personal growth.

“It’s definitely going to be a big change,” Brown said, “but I think I’m going to love it.”

Performing arts taken to the next level School actors win prestigious awards

BY EMILY WAGNER ewagner.gazette@gmail.com

On the weekend of Feb. 7 and 8, nine Granite Bay High School students went to Folsom Lake College to participate in the Lenaea High School Theater Festival.

“Lenaea Festival is a high school theater festival and competition for California high school students to go and compete with pieces of theater and get feedback on them,” GBHS drama teacher Kyle Holmes said. “(They also) workshop with professionals on the (performances) that they decide to do.”

Lenaea is an annual drama competition in which over 60 schools attended every year.

The students who participated performed monologues, short scenes or musical

numbers in front of professional actors and directors. These judges, called respondents, then critiqued the students’ work and provided them with feedback.

After each performance, the actors went through a workshop process with their respondents and then re-performed specific parts of the scene that had now been reworked.

GBHS senior Kelli McTague and junior Nick Martinez performed a scene together from Tony Kushner’s play “Angels In America.” They received a Respondent’s Choice Award for their performance. The award comes as the result of the respondents’ choice in picking a ‘winner.’

“They received a Respondent’s Choice Award, (which means) they didn’t score the highest on the rubric for their category, but

the judges, in spite of scoring, picked Kelli and Nick’s performance as their favorite to work with and see,” Holmes said.

McTague and Martinez’s scene revolved around a fight between a married man, Joe, and his female spouse, Harper. However, Joe is secretly gay and Harper is addicted to pills.

“We chose a scene that worked for both of us, and it really worked,” McTague said.

“We had really good chemistry and that was one of the things we scored a nine out of ten on.”

“It was a very prestigious honor (to get this award),” Martinez said. “And it was a life changing process.”

Martinez said performing the character of Joe was hard in front of his drama class, but even harder in front of his peers, friends and family because of the challenge required to get into his character’s physical

and mental state.

“To really perform the scene to the best of my ability, I needed to become Joe.” Martinez said.

McTague said that the workshop with the respondents was espeKYLE HOLMES cially helpful for her.

Kyle Holmes “In the scene, we’re is the drama trying to attack each teacher for other with our words, GBHS. and so at one point (during the workshop) the respondent said, ‘We’re going to hold you back and you’re going to try as hard as you can to get at (Nick) while saying your lines so you get the intensity,’” McTague said. “And it worked. It was a crazy scene, See LENAEA, page B5

inside lifestyle

Top Ten How To College Random Stuff

B2 B3 B4 B5

TCID:BW

Sierra College Students take summer courses in order to get ahead during the year

B2

April Fools Students play jokes on friends every year

B3

Band GBHS band continues to pursue excellence

B6

B2 Lifestyle

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

top California Travel spots

Beverly Hills Gazette photo /BLAKE PANTER

Sierra Community College, among other community colleges, is a common place for students to take classes over the summer, even during the school year.

Community colleges offer class alternatives Coronado Beach

Boardwalk

The Bay Bridge

Students seek extra opportunities to get ahead on their learning schedules

BY AKASH KHOSLA akhosla.gazette@gmail.com

Although many students attend community college after high school, there is a small group of individuals who take community college courses as alternatives to high school offerings.

Maadhav Shah, a senior at Granite Bay High School, took several courses at American River College as well as the University of Nevada, Reno, starting in fourth grade after running out of courses to take.

“The main difference between Advanced Placement classes and community college classes is essentially just that one is made for a high school environment and one is made for community college,” Shah said. “As obvious as that sounds, those are pretty much the reasons for all the differences in classes. AP classes will generally have more course/homework because high schools assign more work for students to do to ensure it gets done.

In college, students are expected to study on their own without an overload of work that needs to be turned in.”

Shah described his experience as more independent in the studying department and not as personal with the

student and teacher relations as they are in high school.

“If students learn better from group projects or creative teaching, then community college courses probably won’t work as well,” Shah said. “Due to the lack of too much time, a lot of community college courses are essentially lecture, take notes, and leave class, day in, day out. This can also cause less material to be covered than in AP Classes. Professors will probably expect students to do reading in addition to what they learned inside of class.”

Although Shah initially felt a bit strange in the class setting as the youngest kid, he ended up being accepted by others and learned from others. Shah concluded his experiences as positive and enlightening, allowing him to be prepared for the college setting.

“All that being said, I’ve learned a lot from my experience in community college courses,” Shah said. “It’s allowed me to develop as a more independent learner as self-learning is key in college classes. I’ve also been able to adapt to a professor-student relationship that’s more similar to what I’ll see when I go to college, and learned how to be the most efficient with what col-

UC system initiates vaccination requirements Three-phase system implements school-wide immunizatons for public California colleges

BY NATALIE ERICKSON

Universal Studios

Santa Monica Pier

Newport Beach

Yosemite

nerickson.gazette@gmail.com

The University of California has recently announced their new plans for incoming students. Starting in the fall of 2017, all students attending a UC will be required to show proof of tuberculosis screening as well as four additional vaccines.

These vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chicken pox), tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and meningococcus.

“For the past several years, many of our campuses have had to deal with outbreaks of a variety of these diseases, such as pertussis, mumps, measles, active TB, and meningitis,” said Gina Fleming, the UC Student Health and Counseling Medical Doctor. “In the past, we had no way of knowing who was, or was not, immunized or susceptible to these illnesses.”

Previously, the UC system only re-

quired students to be immunized against Hepatitis B. Recently, however, they decided to raise vaccination standards, with the help of the California Department of Public Health and the UC student health centers.

“The new plan has been in the works for about a year,” Shelly Meron, a UC media specialist, said.

The plan will make it a priority to defend students from infections they were not previously protected against, like measles.

According to Granite Bay High School health teacher Terry Stafford, measles is most serious in children under 5 years old, but anyone can contract the virus.

“Measles is a virus that spreads from people coughing and sneezing, and someone gets the virus in a mucus membrane area like the nose or mouth,” Stafford said. “It is highly contagious, and symptoms include high fevers, dehydration, and horrible skin rashes.”

The un- Official SAT Tip

practice guide

This Issue’s SAT Word: Expert: Benevolent: Expressing good-

Studying Resources: I downloaded the SAT Question of the Day application on my phone, and that helped me a lot. I also used The Official SAT Study Guide by the College Board.

Lake Tahoe

What Not to Do:

- Compiled by Rawan Khalili

Nadine Isahac is a senior at Granite Bay High School.

- Compiled by Natalie Erickson

The measles vaccination, along with the other three that will be needed to attend a UC, will not be a adjustment that is sudden.

Instead, the new immunization plan will be phased in over the next three years. The first phase will place an emphasis only on providing information about the future plan. Starting in fall of 2015, the universities will begin informing students of the upcoming changes, but nothing will be mandatory yet. Then, in fall 2016, phase two will begin.

“All campuses will require student self-entry of vaccine and TB screening information via the secure electronic medical record portal,” Fleming said.

“This requirement will be ‘soft,’ without a registration hold placed during this phase.”

The final phase will take place in fall 2017, when it will be mandatory for students to comply with the requirements.

“Full implementation of student selfentry of vaccine and TB screening information via the secure electronic medical record portal will be required, along with submission of a verifiable vaccination

record,” Fleming said.

If students fail to meet these expectations, there will be consequences as their registration will be put on hold.

Though individual campuses may carry out the plan more rapidly than others, there will still be a standard path to follow for all of the UC schools.

“The goal of this phased schedule is to set a baseline that all campuses can attain,” Fleming said.

The new policy has been formed to provide a safe environment for students attending all of the UC institutions.

“We want to help ensure that our campus community is protected from various infectious diseases that can cause serious complications,” Fleming said.

Also, now that the costs of the vaccines are covered by the Affordable Care Act, there is no longer the barrier of affordability of these immunizations “Now seems to be the right time to implement a plan to ensure students are properly immunized as they enter college,” Fleming said. “So far, we’ve received only positive feedback from students and parents.”

CollegeBoard

will or kindly feelings; charitable.

Disneyland

lege classes give you. I would recommend courses at a community college if you’re willing to put out the time outside of class to study, and know you’ll have the discipline to do it.”

Other students at GBHS usually take courses at Sierra College, as Sierra College is closer to GBHS than American River College.

For students enrolled concurrently in Sierra College courses and Granite Bay High School courses, one of the most popular courses is History 17B, which the Roseville Joint Union High School District treats as the equivalent to Advanced Placement United States History on the transcript.

“Taking history at Sierra was the best decision I have made school-wise,” said Cole Pautsch, senior at GBHS. “It was easier, shorter, and less stressful than taking it at GBHS. Although I had to go to class during summer, I only had class for three days a week.”

But there’s a catch: History 17B, the only US History course at Sierra College needed to obtain credit at GBHS, doesn’t cover the same content as AP United See COLLEGE, page B5

Don’t cram all of the information the day before, but study over a period of time. Also, get a lot of sleep the night before.

Studying Advice: You should read SAT Prep books and practice answering the practice questions under timed sessions.

March to the beat of your own drum.

Read the Gazette.

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Lifestyle B3

Time for playing pranks

Student

Spotlight

Gazette photo /Kat McGrail

A person opens a napkin which represents an April Fools’ prank that students play on each other.

Nate Moudakis

Students talk about their April Fools’ Day experiences

BY MATT ONTIVEROS

montiveros.gazette@gmail.com

The international day of pranks has almost arrived.

Granite Bay High senior Nick Wohlman believes April Fools’ pranks are a great way to joke around with family members.

Two years ago, Wohlman replaced the contents of his father’s deodorant with butter as a prank. “(My dad) got very mad at first,” Wohlman said. “But looking back at (the prank), he laughs about it now” However, the boundary of a prank becoming harmful can be pushed and crossed by students.

“There is a very fine line between pranks and just being mean,” Wohlman said. “Pranking your brother or father is different from pranking random people and being hurtful.”

GBHS graduate Chandler Brown was the victim of one of these pranks two years ago.

Brown, who is a sophomore at UCLA now, had well-known aspirations of attending MIT while he was a GBHS

senior.

Brown’s friends decided to replicate a letter of acceptance from MIT and mail it to Brown, who believed the fake was real. Many colleges and universities actually release their decisions on April 1.

At the time, the incident did some damage to Brown’s friendships.

Junior John Sabin recalls hearing a mother crudely prank her children.

“Back when I was in fifth grade ... I was walking home on April 1 and ... overheard a mom threatening to take her kids to a foster home and leave them,” Sabin said. “One of the two kids just started bawling.”

Sabin said pranks should be planned with modesty instead of unthoughtful insults.

“Extremely personal (pranks) are bad for April Fools’, while those that are smaller are (more) fun,” Sabin said.

Junior Tanner Basset said people who are typically outgoing and enjoy excitement are best for pranks.

“Whether (a prank works or not) depends on the person,” Bassett said.

April Fools’ observances seem to be declining in popularity in Granite Bay.

“I think (April Fools’) is kind of a dying holiday,” Bassett said. “It’s (really) not that big of a deal anymore.”

Wohlman said many high school students have outgrown the novelty of April Fools’. “(April Fools’) was more apparent when we were younger,” Wohlman said.

Around the country, however, this is a holiday that still has plenty of adherents.

Many students choose to watch pranks on YouTube rather than make the effort to carry them out on their own.

“Everyone sees really good pranks on YouTube, which takes away from people’s desire to prank the people around them,” Sabin said. “The (risk of) pranks failing discourages (participation).”

Junior Daniel Smith would like to see greater participation in April Fools’ at school.

“I think it would be (great) if GB participated more in April Fools’ pranks, but it might (interfere) with the teacher’s curriculums,” Smith said. “I don’t think (pranks) (aim) to be beneficial but they are super fun. But can’t fun be

Sophomore finds an interest in lacrosse Gazette: How long have you been playing lacrosse?

Moudakis: About seven years.

Gazette: Why do you like lacrosse?

Moudakis: I get to hangout with my friends. It’s a very active sport with lots of contact, and you’re always very involved. I also like the guys that play.

Gazette: Do you play outside of school?

Moudakis: I used to, but have not since seventh grade Gazette: Since lacrosse is not a school sponsored sport, what does the program do for funding?

Moudakis: We don’t get any money from the school, we do all of our own fundraising.

-Compiled by Amanda Prather

See APRIL FOOLS’, page B5

‘Empowered Teens’ aims to stop dating abuse GBHS club informs students about the dangers of dating violence

BY TROY PAWLAK tpawlak.gazette@gmail.com

According to Stand Up Placer, one in three high school students report verbal, emotional or physical abuse in their dating relationships.

Empowered Teen Bystanders is a student group focused on making a difference by promoting leadership in the community and proactivity relating to violent relationships.

“I hope (the members) will learn life lessons and become more educated and help the campus and community wherever they go,” club founder Isabella Li said.

Li was contacted by the Amy Stroud, the leader of the program, and they

worked together in order to form the club. “(Stroud) contacted me because she was looking for a place to put her workshop,” Li said.

Li said Stroud was uncertain of the level of support she would receive on campus, but through cooperation Li and Stroud said they have made their dream a reality.

These upstanding students desire to improve the safety of dating.

The course, taught over the course of nine meetings, aims to guide Granite Bay High School students toward the values and desired outcome of being proactive bystanders.

Members aim to identify signs of dating violence, aid peers and take action.

Stroud, an employee of Stand Up but the club had been in the process of Placer, received a grant for the formation forming for several weeks beforehand. of the Empowered Teens group from The “It’s a training program to (help people) Placer Community Foundabe upstanders in their tion. According to Julianna communities and better Hedstrom, the GBHS librareducate them about datIt’s a training pro- ing violence and sexual ian, Stroud chose to use gram ... to better assault and self defense Granite Bay as the campus for the program. educate (people) and a lot of other topics,” Stand Up Placer, an orgaHedstrom said. about dating vio- Hedstrom said a small nization focused on elimilence and sexual group is preferred, so a nating violence from the lives of everyone, supports assault and self tight-knit group of well many individuals such as trained peers is preferred defense.

Stroud. as opposed to an open Stroud said acquiring forum. the grant was difficult, but Currently, there are 12 – Julianna Hedstrom, worth the work put into the students taking part in the GBHS librarian process. program, which was the Starting this calendar year, maximum number Stroud the program highlights the desires of would allow. students who wish to aid peers.

The group will be visited often by guest It’s first meeting took place on Feb. 24, speakers in order to supplement the mate-

How to... do the Hokey Pokey 1. Put your left foot in 2. Your left foot out 3. Your left foot in 4. And shake it all about 5. Do the Hokey Pokey 6. And turn yourself about 7. Repeat steps 1-6 with other body parts

-Compiled by Troy Pawlak

rial taught to the members. “(The guest speakers) are more experts on certain (topics), and I think it is good to get an outside viewpoint and also to know where the resources are within the community,” Stroud said.

Stroud said getting the word out about program was a difficult hurdle in the process of forming the group.

“Granite Bay High School has been amazing in letting us use (Natalie Elkin’s) room and letting us come (to Granite Bay),” Stroud said. “(Granite Bay High School) has been very supportive of the entire program.”

Stroud said she wishes to continue the program into the future, but securing funding for future years has been difficult.

Li said she thinks the club is a great opportunity for all students and encourages them to join if possible next year. “(Violence) is a topic that is pertinent to the whole school body,” Hedstrom said.

If you really knew me, you would know...

Tyler Soares

If you really knew me, you would know I hate bacon.

Isabella Tkachuk

If you really knew me, you would know I can speak Ukrainian.

Austin Dumont

If you really knew me, you would know I am musically challenged. So if I’m singing to you, you’re special.

- Compiled by Jordan Holt

B4 Lifestyle

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

An ‘in-tents’ week

Shady Creek outdoor education program allows high school students to counsel and lead youth

BY EPSA SHARMA esharma.gazette@gmail.com

Special to the Gazette /IVY LiU

International Baccalaureate Psychology students collaborate on an assignment.

IB has its pros and cons Students intellectually challenged by program

BY HANNAH XU hxu.gazette@gmail.com

Within the last few years, the International Baccalaureate program, known as the IB program, has been growing speed and catching the eye of many students and parents worldwide.

The IB program took flight in Geneva, Switzerland over 40 years ago. Since then, over 500 schools in the United States has adopted this program.

However, in the Roseville Joint Union High School District, Granite Bay High School and Oakmont High School are the only schools offering IB. The IB program was introduced to the Granite Bay community and faculty at the high school less than seven years ago.

Because of this relatively new alternative in choices when it comes to picking advanced classes, there is much speculation among many students regarding the success of the program. Already, those that take the program

have picked up a few stereotypes.

“On campus, I believe that many people think of (the IB students) as the ‘super-nerds’ of the school,” senior TJ Conway said. “They also probably think that (IB students) have no social lives.”

Because IB is indeed an advanced level program, matching the difficulty to certain college courses, they oftentimes have the same amount of homework seen in a typical college setting.

Conway said the amount of homework along with the time allotted for extracurriculars, clubs and sports makes it difficult to balance a social life, but not impossible.

“We do have breaks (from school work) that we know we have to take,” Conway said. “I don’t think that’s something that everyone thinks that IB students get to do.”

There is also debate among some students about which is better – Advance Placement classes

or IB classes?

“I don’t think that there’s much more of an advantage taking IB (over AP),” sophomore Afrah Tahir said, who will be taking IB classes in her junior year.

However, Megan Le, a sophomore who was planning on starting the IB Program in her junior year, decided to drop out of it and thinks differently. “(The AP program) isn’t necessarily better than IB but I feel like a program that’s been here (at GBHS) longer has definitely gained more experience,” Le said.

While many believe one program is better than the other, there are definitely significant differences between both.

Unlike the AP program, some IB classes span over two years, and there are different types of IB classes as well.

In IB there are classes marked as Higher Level, which count towards the IB diploma received at the end of senior year, and dard See IB, page B5

Shady Creek Outdoor Ed Camp – it’s a week for sixth graders at Excelsior Elementary School to dive into a world of environmental science. The camp offers students an opportunity to understand the responsibility to preserve, conserve and enhance the environment.

Shady Creek allows juniors and seniors in high school to quench their nostalgic thirst by offering them a chance to relive their experience through a different perspective as a counselor. The constant success of this camp is partially due to the highenergy counselors that Granite Bay High School supplies. Volunteering time as a counselor not only adds on to college resumes, but also adds on to a list of life experiences.

Junior Adam Kahan was inspired to be a counselor because of the remarkable experience he had when he attended.

“When I went there it was such a great experience and I had so much fun,” Kahan said. “And a bunch of my friends at the end of camp told each other that we should come back and do this again. Soon I found out that we were able to volunteer and my friends and I thought it would be a great opportunity, even though we’d be missing a week of school.”

According to counselors, the enriching experience makes up for the lengthy application process.

In order to apply, GBHS student have to fill out an application from the college and career center and then be interviewed by the sixth grade teachers conducting the camp. After the applicants were chosen, follow up meetings were held to confirm everyone was prepared for a week of responsibilities.

GBHS junior Aishwarya Pattnaik was elated and ready for the counselor training that ensured the camp would run smoothly.

“There were some meetings we had to go through with the teachers to familiarize ourselves with the daily schedule,” Pattnaik said. “During the meetings, we had to read 13 – 14 page packets on how to be a great leader. An actual staff member from Shady Creek paid us a visit and elaborated on what we needed to know.”

According to senior Chase Galmeister, being a counselor was stressful at times because of all the students that needed to be watched, but it was a worthwhile experience.

“The hardest thing was being in charge all day and only having an hour and a half break. It’s physi-

cally challenging keeping up with the kids all day long,” Galmeister said. “But I remembered when I went to Shady Creek, I always recall how amazing my counselor was, so even though it was stressful I wanted the kids to have a memorable experience.”

In agreement with Galmeister, GBHS senior Zach Vane had the role of making sure students were on task and following the schedule. He did his best so his students could have a near perfect experience.

“We wake up and then go to breakfast, and get ready for an outdoor activity,” Vane said. “Soon we would head out to lunch, attend another outdoor activity and maybe grab a snack or two. Recreation playing time follows the snack break, which leads to a numerous amount of games. As the day comes to a close the students wind down do homework and head off to dinner. We would always end each day on a positive note and partake in some night time activities.”

Shady Creek granted counselors the opportunity to create amazing bonds with each other and with their cabin members.

“I was able to sit in on some classes that the sixth graders were required to take, we went on many hikes with lots of kids and I met some really cool people there,” Kahan said. “All the counselors and I are now really good friends. It was a lot of fun and it’s still a lot of fun to reminisce on all the good times we had.”

Shady Creek was definitely not shady on the amount of responsibilities that were given to the counselors, but the ambiance of the place and the contentment of everyone’s personality made up for it.

“The most rewarding thing was breakfast during the last day of camp. All the kids in my cabin said they were going to have a moment of silence for their counselors because they said we made the week enjoyable and that they loved us,” Galmeister said. “It was one of the best feelings ever. It’s incredibly rewarding knowing how much you impacted the kids in a positive way and that they won’t forget the week.”

Missing a week of school for Shady Creek was hard for many of the junior counselors because of rigorous schedules.

“I had lots of tests and quizzes to make up and some of the teachers seemed a bit irritated that we missed school to be a counselor,” Pattnaik said.

“But I feel like it was an experience that you had to go through to really appreciate.”

Anonymity of Yik Yak promotes cyber bullying Trending app allows for anonymous posts to community

BY BLAKE PANTER bpanter.gazette@gmail.com

For those with a driving lust of unlimited and completely anonymous cyber bullying, don’t worry – there’s an app for that.

Commonly described as an “anonymous twitter,” Yik Yak is a trending app around Granite Bay. The app uses a phone’s location to determine a five mile radius, then displays posts from the surrounding area. The app allows for users to bypass the process of making an account to immediately get to the step of posting completely anonymous comments to their community.

Cyber bullying is not new, but because of the inherited anonymity of the app, Yik Yak has caused an issue of a new type of cyber bullying – one that does not leave a direct trace.

“The majority of the posts are out of good natured intent, like comedy that you just can’t say on Twitter or something, but what comes along with that is that there

will be some bullying that you can’t really avoid,” junior Kovey Palmaer, an avid user of the app, said.

Junior Nicholas Mastromattei said although there are some harmful posts on the app, there is also a good comedic side to the app. People being able to voice their opinions and comments anonymously can make for a good post; however, the comedy can tend to target individuals.

“It’s difficult because if you knew who other people were, no one would be posting bad stuff on it, but since you can say anything freely, it’s hard to call them out for it,” Mastromattei said.

Because of the complete anonymity, Mastromattei said people are more likely to post something that they do not feel as confident as posting on Twitter.

Posts about Granite Bay High School administration and student government are common, as well as some posts targeting individual students.

Due to the potentially harmful

content on the app and because it requires the users location, access to the Yik Yak app is prohibited while on Granite Bay High School and other elementary schools or high schools. Yik Yak is a large attraction on college campuses, however, and users are allowed to “peek” at locations other than their own.

Users are able to “up vote” posts they enjoy and “down vote” posts they do not. Posts that receive five “down votes” will be deleted from the feed. Someone could potentially delete someone else’s post, if their name was mentioned in it, by getting enough people to “down vote” it.

Yik Yak, however, for each post, retains the IP address from the device the message was posted, the GPS coordinates of the location the post was sent from and the time and date when the message was posted. For posts posing serious threats, or posts requiring legal investigation, Yik Yak can provide user information to law officials for investigation.

College of the Month: Tuition: $30,888 (out of state) Where: Eugene Oregon Enrollment: 24,548 students Student Body: Female - 52%, Male - 48% Acceptance Rate: 73% School Colors: Yellow and Green Mascot: Duck

“At this time, there is no feature that enables one to delete a post or clear a history, since the app is anonymous,” Trish DaCosta, senior account executive of Yik Yak said. “We work directly with local officials when a post reaches a violent nature. We take those issues very seriously and monitor traffic to ensure that any threats are reported to the appropriate authorities, as well as work with officials who contact Yik Yak directly. Users are also able to flag or report certain posts if they believe that it’s inappropriate or threatening.”

Palmaer said if people knew the app keeps the data of a post, even after it is deleted, then it might prevent them from posting insulting comments about individuals.

“They wouldn’t say the things they do if they knew the potential consequences to their actions,” Palmaer said.

Students believe the way Yik Yak is being used is what has made it a negative service.

“I think it’s just embarrassing

Gazette illustration /blake panter

what our generation has found amusing with social networking and how they’ve turned bullying into a way of enjoyment,” GBHS junior Sam Cusano said. “You can just anonymously bully someone

and just make them feel bad about themselves without them even knowing who you are. And you probably don’t even know the person. You’re just bullying them.

It’s sad.”

University of Oregon

Most Popular majors : Business/Commerce, Psychology, Sociology, Economics and Physiology Athletics: • Conference - Pac 12 • NCAA - Division 1 • Athletic director - Rob Mullens • Varsity Teams - 7 men’s teams & 11 women’s teams • Basketball arena - Matthew Knight Arena • Baseball stadium - PK Park • Football stadium - Autzen Stadium

Academics: Student Faculty 19:1 U.S. News Ranking: 106

- Compiled by Jacqueline Romero

Gazette illustration /BLAKE PANTER

Friday, March 13, 2015

Lifestyle

w The Granite Bay Gazette

B5

Students display support for cancer research Shaving heads on campus to fundraise for fighting illness

BY HARRISON TUCKER htucker.gazette@gmail.com

St. Baldrick’s is a volunteer organization dedicated to fundraising and donating money in order to fund institutions attempting to cure childhood cancer.

Through the donations of donors and shavees, the institution has given approximately $154 million in grants to 329 institutions across 22 countries, according to the St. Baldrick’s website.

St. Baldrick’s events works by participants getting their heads shaved on stages in front of hundreds of participants. Although the head shaving is free, shavees ask the community as well as their friends and family to sponsor them by donating to their cause.

In the case of several students at Granite Bay High School, many of them will be preparing to raise as much money as possible to donate for the March 20 event.

Long time participant Ryder Sanders, a junior, has participated in eight events since he was in first grade. He likes the bonding experience as well as the satisfaction of helping his community. Although he does not plan on participating this year, he says that he will definitely be doing

more events.

“St. Baldrick’s allowed my buddies and I to come together and partake in something that positively impacted us and our community,” Sanders said.

Senior Nick Wohlman, another past St. Baldrick’s participant, is unsure if he will be fundraising for this years event.

“I did (participate) last year and I am still unsure if I will this year,” Wohlman said. “My dad wants me to have hair for graduation but I will still fundraise regardless.”

Although cancer has never impacted the Sanders or Wohlman family, it has impacted the life of the St. Baldrick’s event coordinator, Annina Hanlon.

Hanlon was diagnosed with osteosarcoma bone cancer at 12 years old. She eventually beat child cancer after long and cruel years of chemotherapy and constant surgeries on her legs.

Having fought for her life, physically and socially, Hanlon knows what it’s like to have cancer and does all she can to try to aid everyone else.

Random Facts Club Club Name: National Honor Society

1.Dartboards are made out of horse hairs

2.On average, 2 newborns will be given to the What is the purpose of the club? wrong parents everyday The purpose of NHS is to allow admitted students to come together and

organize events, raise money and volunteer with local organizations.

3.In the U.S, Frisbees outsell footballs, baseballs and basketballs combined When do you meet?

We meet every first and third Monday after school.

How does this club affect and help our GBHS students?

Two of our projects are geared towards the GBHS student body. We have raised $1000 for the peer tutoring center.

Also, in April we will be painting the pillars in the quad with the ripple effect themes.

5.Daniel Boone hated coonskin hats Source : www.uselessfacts.org

- Compiled by Matt Ontiveros

How can students get involved in this club?

In order to join NHS students must submit applications and then be selected by the faculty council members. The next round of applications will go out the beginning of the upcoming school year.

Student

- Compiled by Emily Wagner

Taylor Stiern

What are your plans for spring break?

“Chillin with friends and family”

If you could live in any other decade what would it be?

“70’s I guess … just the whole rock and roll theme – I like the way people dressed”

Favorite season?

“I like summer because it’s when my birthday is and it’s just time to relax”

Favorite show on netflix?

“I absolutely love one tree hill because it is just a great show that is very suspenseful and never has a dull moment”

Who do you most admire?

Gazette photo /MADeLINE WILLIAMS

Gazette illustration/TROY PAWLAK

LENAEA: Hard work in the drama department pays off Continued from page B1

President: Sumana Kaluvai

4.Children grow faster in the springtime

“Current treatments are not only lacking in effectivity, they also come with a host of terrible side effects,” Hanlon said. “Having witnessed these detriments while I was in treatment, I was inspired to become involved with a number of organizations which support pediatric cancer patients and raise money for imperative research.”

More children every year die of childhood cancers than AIDS, asthma, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies and diabetes combined, also according to the St Baldrick’s website.

At Granite Bay High School during both lunches on Friday, March 20, barbers will be set up on stage. After everybody checks in, participants will go on stage to have their heads shaved.

Volunteers will be collecting donations to add to whatever money participants have already raised online.

Nearly $6,000 was raised by the 2014 GBHS event.

With a hopeful increase in event participation, Hanlon and her team are hoping to make a dramatic difference in both attendance and money raised.

Students and viewers can donate to the charity at the event, but can also participate by joining the event on the St. Baldrick’s website.

“I admire my mom the most because she is a strong independent woman and I hope to be successful like her one day” - Compiled by Madeline Williams

and was really cool.”

Senior Amanda Ramos performed the musical number “Summer in Ohio” from the musical “The Last Five Years,” and according to Holmes, she left her respondents speechless and free of critique.

Another GBHS student, Junior Mira Pexa, performed a dramatic monologue. as the character Nell from the monologue “Like Dreaming Backwards.”

According to Holmes, her monologue left the majority of viewers including her designated respondents, family and

friends, in tears. “(Mira) did this dramatic monologue, performed it, and (the respondents) scored her really high on it, gave her some feedback and had her workshop it a little bit,” Holmes said. “The second time she did it, there were like twenty of us in the room and everyone was crying. It was crazy.”

Holmes said overall the event went well and was successful.

“It went really well. We scored really well and got a lot of good feedback,” Holmes said. “(We) had a really great time showcasing our art for a lot of local schools.”

Continued from page B3 beneficial?”

Getting more active participation April Fools’ pranks would require more effort than in previous years.

“(April Fools’) is a good holiday because it endorses and encourages good fun and pranks,” Wohlman said.

“It makes people have a better sense of humor.”

APRIL FOOLS’: Students take part in pranking tradition

IB : Advanced classes taught to dedicated classmates Continued from page B4 Standard level classes that do not.

However, people that take IB are not restricted to taking only IB classes. Any AP classes that are taken are counted as weighted electives.

Because of what some might see as a restriction on their schedules, some students who have considered taking IB

have opted out for AP. Along with as different classes, the IB Program differs from AP due to its requirement of a certain amount of community service hours.

Regardless of what a student chooses when it comes to picking out advanced courses, both require a lot of work and commitment.

“It’s the student that makes the program what it is,” Conway said.

COLLEGE: Extra classes taken over summer break by GBHS students Continued from page B1 States History. According to Brandon Dell’Orto, AP US history teacher, without History 17A, students are not getting the full content that US history courses at GBHS cover.

“What I’ve argued for years is, if we’re going to have kids take AP US History, or the Sierra College path and call it equivalent then (they) should take History 17A and 17B,” Dell’Orto said. “In AP US history, we go from Jamestown to present. Sierra 17B will go from 1900s to present. The system has allowed kids to have an opt-out option, in my particular subject, which they don’t have for (government or European history) ... so I think kids took a path of least resistance.”

Dell’Orto said he does not blame students for taking the course, since the problem lies in the availability of the option, not necessarily the ones who use it.

“Every time I have ever talked to anybody, they have said (US History at Sierra is much easier than it is at GBHS),” Dell’Orto said. “We’re talking maybe over a hundred students since this has been allowed. I haven’t yet heard a single student say it was a hard, challenging, ‘wow I’ve been pushed experience.’ It’s almost

always been the opposite.”

Taking History 17B during the summer allows for students who go to high school in RJUHSD to get their US History requirement to graduate. According to Jarrod Westberg, AP US Government and Politics teacher, taking 17B ends up working out for students in AP Government, but their knowledge

of US history is deficient.

“They’re not as prepared as the ones who take AP US, because they only get a small snapshot of History in that class with the weighted grade,” Westberg said.

“For me it’s a bit of a struggle at the beginning, but they usually end up fine at the end. It’s just kind of an easy way to get a

weighted grade versus getting an actual take of the actual class.”

Because GBHS students concurrently enrolled in Sierra do not have to take the full overview of US history to fulfill their requirements, it has raised questions as to why the district accepts credit.

“17B is an easy fix because you don’t have to take 17A,” West-

$2 Off

berg said. “We’ve been trying to find out for years why this is the case, it seems like some sort of influence peddling is going on — it doesn’t make much sense. It doesn’t cover the whole history, and the district hasn’t said a lot, as for years, they haven’t given us a straight answer. Something’s going on for sure.”

With student ID card

expires June 1 2015

Friday, March 13, 2015

B6 Lifestyle -

w The Granite Bay Gazette

GBHS band strikes a chord

Gazette photo /blake panter

Granite Bay High School musicians begin their concert season on a high note Freshman Amanda Batz, above, plays the french horn during the band’s Music For Hope concert. Cameron Harmon and several other musicians, below, concentrate on their music. Jeff Harley and Laura Berthelsen, bottom left, warm up before a concert on their flutes. The band, bottom right, performs a song during their concert.

A

t Granite Bay High, the school’s band has been a source of ongoing excellence – and that commitment to excellence is continuing this year.

Leading the Emerald Brigade is band director, Lynn Lewis, and she had much help from the student conductors and drum majors. Their main goal is to make a fun and safe place for band members to be themselves and to share their passion for music with their friends.

For many students, the band room is a second home. Junior Sara Fassler has made some of her best memories in that room.

“I have laughed, cried and slept in that room … and leaving it next year will be so hard,” Fassler said.

Practicing for 12 hours on Saturdays, three hours after school on Mondays, during zero period every day except Wednesday in addition to second period allows for them to quickly become a new family.

Having music in common also helps them to connect.

“Being such great friends keeps us going in the hard times and is part of what makes us so good,” Fassler said.

In the fall, the Emerald Brigade won a majority of its Northern California Band Association competitions, placed fourth at the Western Band Association Championships.

In addition to the Emerald Brigade’s successes, the drumline is making its very own comeback.

The percussion group won individual

trophies at the multiple competitions, and the drum majors won for the first time in seven years.

“Drumline has swept the floor this year (in their competitions),” said sophomore Kyle Sundquist, who is a member of the drumline.

Overall the band is ranked 5A out of a scale of 1A-5A in the WBA. Being on the highest notch provides the band with the opportunity to compete against the best bands – which only helps them improve more.

“This year has been really exciting – there is such a great feeling of pride and camaraderie when you bring home a trophy that we worked so many hours on to win,” Fassler said.

Currently the GBHS band is the No. 4-ranked band in the Norcal region. The high regional ranking, combined with their many other talents, has helped the members of the Emerald Brigade be recognized and given them greater opportunities.

A year ago, band members had a chance to play in New York City at the famous Carnegie Hall.

“Playing where so many other famous musicians have before felt surreal, better than I could have imagined,” Fassler said.

Later this spring, the band will be traveling to Disneyland to play with a

BY CLAIR KASEL

ckasel.gazette@gmail.com

conductor, who will be giving them music to play during a recording session. After they finish, the conductor is going to set it to a scene, and Emerald Brigade members will get to watch their music become a part of movies.

Also, the band will be giving a concert for other Disneyland tourists on a special stage, playing a variety of music.

“Its going to be a great time!” Fassler said.

Band members who are going said they are already getting excited and can’t wait to have the extra days to run around the park.

There is a crab feed fundraiser scheduled for Saturday that is being put on by band students and their families that will help raise the funds needed to continue developing the program.

According to many band members, what sets this band apart from the thousands of others high school bands is how strong their core beliefs are – all collectively have the same goal of doing their best individually, but they also focus on encouraging their band mates to be their best.

“I have stayed in band for the people,” Fassler said. “We really are a big family … what I love about band is how we are always there for each other.”

For junior Emalyn Atkins, the key element is the band’s dedication to excellence.

“It’s the determination and enthusiasm for what (we) do,” Atkins said.

Sundquist said the formula is really quite simple.

“We are fortunate to have awesome staff members,” Sundquist said, “who dedicate their time to help us be our best.”

Gazette photo /blake panter

Gazette photo /blake panter

Gazette photo /blake panter

Sports

Granite Bay Gazette

C1 Section

Friday w March 13, 2015

Commentary

Seniors win 21-6; Rhodes named MVP forth unsuccessful drives until senior Annie Wright completed a 63-yard run for a touchdown. Another extra point gave the seniors a 14-6 lead at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter did not include any scoring until 13 seconds left when a Libby Deters touchdown cemented the 21-6 win Senior Sydney Talmi holds the experience in high regard.

“Powder Puff is by far the best event (of senior year),” Talmi said. “I love coming together with the rest of my class to … slay.”

Junior running back Neha Prakash was pleased with the teamwork put forth by everyone on the field.

“I think our junior team did really well in working together during all of our plays

Holt shines for juniors in Powder Puff

BY MATT ONTIVEROS

nontiverous.gazette@gmail.com

steven gerisch sgerisch.gazette@gmail.com

Don’t let legends retire on other teams, it’s painful

E

ach and every year sports teams face some difficult decisions during the course of the offseason. None of these decisions are more difficult than deciding to cut or re-sign player due to salary cap concerns.

This decision becomes even more difficult and emotional when the player has been a stalwart on the aforementioned team and is a future hall of fame candidate.

Too many times in sports have superstar athletes on a decline been forced to play out the remainder of their career for a team other than that with which they started and made their name with. The images of Michael Jordan playing for the Wizards, Jerry Rice playing for the Seahawks and Emmitt Smith playing for the Cardinals all seem so horribly wrong that we all try and forget those days.

These players would have been better off retiring with the teams they made history with. The harsh reality is that professional sports are a business and so these cases will always exist.

This offseason the Pittsburgh Steelers decided The to let Troy Polamalu walk away, images of due to age and Michael contract issues.

For football fans Jordan far and wide–re- playing for the gardless of team Wizards, Jerry affiliation– nobody in their Rice playing right mind could imagine the face for the of the Steelers de- Seahawks and fense playing for Emmitt Smith another team this late in his career. playing for the The same may Cardinals all be said for Andre seem so Johnson of the Houston Texans. horribly wrong He holds the team records for receiv- that we all try ing yards, touch- and forget downs and every those days. other receiving category imaginable. He has been the embodiment of the franchise and a consummate professional in his time with the team. He isn’t being let go for lack of talent, but rather, for the his high price commands.

For fans, being forced to watch idols who have been the face of a franchise for years, now compete on other teams while their careers enter a tailspin will be a tough pill to swallow. Being forced to watch idols who have been the face of a franchise for years, now compete on other teams while their careers enter a tailspin, only leaving us to watch a shadow of their former self. It not only hurts the legacy of the player who isn’t allowed to finish their career with their beloved franchise but also leaves a bad taste in the mouths of fans as we can only remember how poorly their careers ended.

Pro sports would be doing its fans and teams a service if they could implement a veteran exception for those who have been loyal and longtime fan favorites within their cities to avoid these painful goodbyes.

Please professional sports, save these athletes careers and create a veteran exception in the salary cap, nobody would have wanted to see Derek Jeter in a Marlins or Padres uniform, so who wants to potentially see Tim Duncan in a Bucks or Hornets uniform? Nobody, that’s who. *** Steven Gerisch, a senior, is a Gazette sports editor.

The Seniors have defended their title as Powder Puff champions.

Last year the class of 2015 had won the prized flag football game as juniors a task that has only been accomplished a few times in Granite Bay High School history.

Preparation for the game began on Feb. 23, with a total of five practices before the game.

Modifications to the traditional rules of football include 18-minute quarters, with a running clock for the first 16 minutes and automatic timeouts were implemented

at the nine-minute mark of each half.

Six minutes into the game, the senior girls intercepted a pass to end the first drive of the game.

Junior Brooke Gonzalez capitalized on a Senior turnover to create a 40 yard run.

No points would result from any junior efforts during the first quarter however.

Senior girls managed to score late in the first quarter, and made an extra point to establish a 7-0 lead.

With about 15 seconds left in the half, junior Jordan Holt intercepted a senior pass to score a touchdown. A failed extrapoint attempt left a halftime score of 7-6.

The third quarter consisted of back and

and playing our hearts out,” Prakash said.

Safety was a priority in the game, as injuries in the past have created concern.

“We take precautions when playing and wearing mouth guards is highly enforced by all the coaches,” Prakash said.

Injuries on the field pose a challenge for many student athletes who have already committed to play a sport for a university.

Talmi committed to Claremont McKenna in December for soccer.

“Injuries are always (concerns) that come along with any athletic activity you do,” Talmi said. “I knew if I went harder into tackles than my opponents then my chance (for injury) was greatly decreased.”

Talmi competed in a varsity girls’ socSee POWDERPUFF, page C3

Gazette photos/AMANDA NIST

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum, above, gets ready to deliver during a spring training game against the Padres. Nori Aoki, right, waits for his turn in the batting cage.

S.F. Giants begin effort to win another crown The Gazette gains access to Spring Training FIRST PERSON

BY AMANDA NIST

anist.gazette@gmail.com

For the past few weeks, the only thing that has been on my mind is baseball. Not junior prom, or midterms or even the SAT I’m taking soon, just baseball. This probably wasn’t the smartest thing for me to be thinking about , but, oh well, because I got the privilege to travel to Arizona and watch the San Francisco Giants’ spring training.

From telling people I was going to spring training, I learned that if you’re not an avid baseball fan, you won’t know what spring training is, which

amanda nist anist.gazette@gmail.com

surprised me. The amount of times I had to tell someone that “no, I don’t play baseball, but

What’s the difference?

Coaches adapt to working with different genders

BY COLE KAHMANN

ckahmann.gazette@gmail.com

The differences between coaching boys and girls are greater than people think.

Coaches are almost expected to behave differently as they coach the two different genders. These coaching differences are designed to get the best connection and performance from their team.

“Coaches see potential and promise in all athletes whether they are a boy or a girl,” sophomore runner Trevon Lockwood said.

However, to reach their full potential, athletes need to be guided differently.

A lot of the differences have to do with

I’m going to watch professional players play,” was astonishing.

However, I can’t blame them because if I hadn’t grown up the child of two huge Giants fans, I probably wouldn’t have known what it is either.

For those who don’t know, spring training games are the equivalent of a preseason for Major League Baseball. They are essentially tryouts for new or minor league players who hope to make the roster for the major league team and for returning players, serve as a warmup and conditioning for regular season games.

I was extremely excited to go

this year because I’d never been before. And because I love baseball-- I love the Giants and I love Giants’ baseball.

During my trip, I attended three games at three different stadiums in support of Giants.. The first game I saw was at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona, home of the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. The Giants played the Rangers, and I got to lay down my 2010 Giants World Series Champions blanket (which, ironically, the Giants won against the Rangers) and relax. I sat for basically the whole game except when I went to purchase food and for the national anthem. One of my favorite parts of a baseball game is when everyone stands

up during the national anthem and the whole field is quiet. Not even because I’m pro America, just because I’m pro baseball.

Even though we were at the Rangers’ stadium, it was filled with mostly Giants fans, which, after another World Series win, wasn’t surprising to me. (There were also a few Dodgers’ fans, but I’m choosing to ignore their existence.)

The Giants won 12-3. I got to see Brandon Crawford and Travis Ishikawa both hit triples, Matt Duffy hit a homerun and Andrew Susac play catcher. It was a great game.

The second game that I saw was a completely new experiSee NIST, page C2

How young is too young?

Steve Fischer Soccer coach says different genders react differently to criticism and that it is the coach’s responsibility to find out what works best.

High school athletes are being recruited younger than ever

BY MADELINE WILLAIMS mwillaims.gazette@gmail.com

gender.

From a physical standpoint, coaching boys and girls must be done differently.

Lockwood pointed out the amount of workouts and strain that boys have when training is much greater than what girls should endure. He explained that boys usually have to run longer and lift more weights than girls are required to do.

It’s very important to get the most out of athletes, but overworking the athletes past their physical capabilities can injure them.

Also, if the athletes are overworked than they could experience long lasting fatigue and even prevent the athlete from being able to play the sport as long as they could.

Granite Bay High School’s varsity soccer coach Steve Fischer, who has experiSee GENDERS, page C4

According to the Student Athlete World website, over 65% of college coaches choose to start scouting student athletes during their sophomore year of high school, however, some sports begin recruiting as early as seventh or eighth grade.

Because recruitment is so competitive among coaches of different schools, Student Athlete World claims the earlier the better since scholarship money is limited.

Some Granite Bay High School students have made the decision to end their own recruiting processes early by verbally committing earlier than most. GBHS junior, Carlin Isaacson committed to Villanova University in Pennsylvania for lacrosse in November 2014.

Isaacson said she was originally interested in west coast schools but changed

her mind after participating in tournaments on the east coast in the summer of 2014.

“I ended up going to Villanova’s camp after a tournament in Philadelphia,” Isaacson said. Despite the fact that she didn’t know any of the coaches going into the camp, she eventually bonded with the girls who were already committed and ended up loving both the coaches and the campus.

The question for Isaacson wasn’t if she was going to commit or not, but rather when and where was she going to commit.

“It was a tough decision because I was also looking at UC Davis,” Isaacson said.

Being only about 30 minutes away, UC Davis seemed to be a convenient choice but after weighing out the pros and cons, Isaacson knew that Villanova was for her.

See RECRUITING, page C3

inside sports Alumni in the pros

C2

Grizz Quiz

C4

On the record

C6

Diving Several GBHS students train with the district’s multischool dive team

Kings Stadium Sacramento finally receives approval on a new NBA arena

Fan of the Month GBHS athlete enjoys supporting others at their events

C5

C3

C5

Friday, March 13, 2015

w

Sports C2

The Granite Bay Gazette

Former GBHS athletes advance to greater things

Alumni represent community at the professional level

BY SURINA KHURANA

skhurana.gazette@gmail.com

Thousands of student-athletes have graduated from Granite Bay High School since the school opened in 1996. But only a handful followed their dreams to the professional ranks in the sports they love.

GBHS has seen its prodigies – golfers, swimmers, football players and soccer players, in particular – go on to compete at the national level and in the Olympics.

Haley Anderson, a 2009 graduate, won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games, competing in the 10-kilometer open-water swim event.

Her career initially started in the Granite Bay community, where she started swimming on local swim teams at the age of 5. While being an Olympian had always been a dream of hers, she said growing up she didn’t picture herself making it there.

After earning a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, Anderson said she feels like there is more she can do. She has a new set of goals for her future.

“My goals are to make the Olympic team in the 10-kilometer again,” Anderson said.

In the London Olympics, Anderson was only .40 seconds behind the winner – an incredibly small margin of victory in a two-hour race.

“That’s definitely been on my mind since London – how close I was to getting gold,” Anderson said. “I’ve had that motivation in my head this whole time.”

Anderson said she remembers loving swimming as a part of the GBHS swim team with her classmates.

“Coach (John) Sherman was probably the coolest,” Anderson said. “He was so fun.”

She said that as a club swimmer for the Sierra Marlins in Folsom, she would have lots of tough practices, but she found high school swimming to be lots of fun.

“I loved all the people on the (high school) swim team,” she said. “It’s always fun to hang out with your friends day in and day out.”

Anderson isn’t the only athlete who’s competed at the highest level. Among other pros are Devon Wylie, Adam Jennings, Sammie Stroughter and Miles Burris, who are or have been on National Football League rosters; Connor Hallisey, who was drafted this spring by Sporting Kansas City FC of Major League Soccer, and Ryan Hollingshead, who played for the MLS FC Dallas team; Andrew Knapp, who was drafted a year ago by the Philadelphia Phillies, and several other former GBHS athletes including Hunter Carneval were drafted by major league baseball teams and played in the minor leagues; and Natalie Gulbis,

who has been a long-time competitor in women’s professional golf.

And GBHS graduate Tommy Thompson is another well-known name around the Granite Bay community.

Thompson grew up in the area playing soccer his whole life. Thompson earned a scholarship from Indiana University and graduated from GBHS in 2013, after his junior year, in order to play at Indiana in the fall of 2013. After his first semester of college, Thompson signed a professional contract with a Major League Soccer team, the San Jose Earthquakes, and he’s now in his second season.

“My ultimate goal was always to become a professional soccer player,” Thompson said. “I just didn’t know it was going to happen so fast for me.”

Thompson said he wanted to be the best he could be and has always dreamed of being a professional soccer player.

“The first thing I wanted to do was get a college scholarship to play Division I soccer,” Thompson said. “The next step after that would be to get a professional contract, hopefully before my senior year of college. It ended up happening my freshman year, so I was happy to achieve what I wanted to achieve.”

Having now accomplished what he set for himself a while back, Thompson has since created new goals for his future.

“I want to play games in the U-20

World Cup this summer, (and) I’m hoping to become a part of the Olympic team that is going to Brazil in 2016,” Thompson said. “My ultimate goal would be to play for the full national team in the Gold Cup or World Cup and that would be in 2018, 2022 or 2026.”

Thompson, like Anderson, has positive memories of GBHS and his time on the varsity soccer team.

“I loved playing for the high school,” Thompson said. “Having the opportunity to play varsity as a freshman, with my two older brothers on the team, was something special. I’ll never forget being able to suit up with them, traveling to practice together, going to the games together and eventually winning sections together.”

Just five years before Thompson graduated, another sports legend graduated from GBHS. Alyssa Anderson, the older sister of Haley Anderson and a 2008 GBHS graduate, has been swimming for as long as she can remember. She says that she joined her first team at the age of six. “(After high school,) I went to school at the University of Arizona,” Anderson said. “I went there to be part of a Division 1 Championship team. That gave me everything I could have dreamed of and more – amazing teammates, coaches, and the environment to learn.”

Anderson qualified for the 2012 London Olympics in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. She competed in the prelimi-

nary heats at the Olympics, and her relay team went on to earn a gold medal.

After achieving the dream she’s had since the 2000 Olympics, of being an Olympian and representing her country, Anderson decided it was time for her to move on.

“I have not swam since London,” Anderson said. “I wanted to find out what else was out there. I still gave myself the opportunity to come back if I wanted to, (but) I really have fallen in love with this next chapter of my life.”

Anderson said it’s definitely not easy to let her sport of swimming go completely, like it would be for any professional athlete.

“I think it’s a pretty challenging transition to go from an elite athlete to the next phase in your career,” Anderson said.

“A lot of people really struggle. It’s hard because you’ve dedicated your entire life toward the sport and you’ve passed up … some of the work experience that your peers have that you don’t.”

Anderson is thinking of pursuing a career in either the sales or marketing field.

She says that many athletes have gone through this phase of their lives, what she calls the “unknown,” and make it through it because of what they have learned through competing in their sport.

“I think a lot of us are high-achieving individuals, so we’re pretty determined,” Anderson said. “We’re fighters as far as getting behind whatever it is that you have a passion for.”

NIST: Writer gets an opportunity to check out World Series champs Continued from page C1 ence. It was at the Giants’ home stadium, Scottsdale Stadium, and I was given a press pass for the game in order to get closer access to the players and private facilities. The press pass allowed me in the press box, the clubhouse and onto the actual field before the start of the game.

I arrived early to the home game– in time to see the Giants’ batting practice. I walked down a flight of stairs, through the clubhouse, through the dugout and on to the field where I stood about 10 feet away from the team. I wouldn’t say I was starstruck, but it was a pretty surreal moment.

After I watched batting practice, I wandered back into the clubhouse to see if I would be able to interview Roseville local, Andrew Susac. Luckily I got to speak with him and although i was nervous, he was friendly and engaged throughout the entire interview, When I finished chatting with Susac, I walked around the clubhouse more, and casually passed

by Buster Posey and Tim Lincecum. I even saw Bruce Bochy, the manager of the Giants, and Mike

Krukow, former Giants player and current broadcaster.

I then went back up to the press box because my pass allowed it, and I was curious to see what it was like. They were serving ribs and sandwiches. I opted for the sandwich because I honestly wasn’t that hungry, but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance for free food in the press box at a baseball game.

Then, of course, I wanted new Giants merch. I already have enough Giants clothing and items to last me a lifetime--but having more never hurts. My mom, stepdad and I found our way to the Giants Dugout Store and between the three of us, we bought five tshirts, two hats, two pins, a patch, a car decal, chapstick, a pen and a pencil.

Next was the actual game, which was against the San Diego Padres.

I sat in seats for this game and even though it’s nice to spread out on the grass every once in a while, I prefer the seats with more of the authentic feel of being at game.

The Giants lost to the Padres 7-6, but for me, it didn’t really matter. I mean, of course I wanted them to win, but I still enjoyed

the game. Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Hunter Strickland all pitched, and that was extremely cool from a fan standpoint since they almost never all pitch the same game. Joe Panik, Angel Pagan and Posey all played as well-an added bonus.

The third, and sadly, the last game I went to was at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, also in Scottsdale. The Giants matched up against the Diamondbacks. They played a split game, so half the team played half of the Diamondbacks in Scottsdale, and the other halves played at Salt River.

The Giants lost both games, 12-2 and 10-5. Because I wasn’t at the Giants home field, only a few players I wanted to see, including Brandon Belt, Brandon Hicks and Gregor Blanco, were at my final game of the trip.

The only thing that could’ve possibly made the trip better was if I was 21 and drinking beer, But, until then, I’ll just keep trying to convince my parents to slip me some of theirs. The three days I spent in Arizona just overall confirmed my love for baseball. So, Mom, if you’re reading this, we should go again next year.

Gazette photos /AMANDA NIST

Roseville ballplayer excels

Giants catcher Andrew Susac, top, swings at batting practice.

Susac, below, is all smiles while continuing his practice during spring training.

Susac, who went to Jesuit High, grew up in Roseville and played on local Little League teams.

Susac fulfills his childhood dream

BY AMANDA NIST

anist.gazette@gmail.com

Gazette photo /Amanda Nist

San Francisco Giants player Buster Posey swings in an at-bat during a game against the San Diego Padres at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Giants are the defending champions.

Andrew Susac was called up to the big leagues on July 25, 2014.

The NorCal native now plays as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants and a backup to Buster Posey.

Born in Roseville, Susac said he supported the Giants from a young age, and is thrilled to now be playing for his childhood team.

“Growing up with my dad, we used to come to games and go to Candlestick and we were there for opening day when Pac Bell (AT&T) opened, so I guess you can say that black and orange is just kind of in the Susac blood,” Susac said. “We’ve always been Giants fans.”

Susac played youth baseball for Woodcreek Little League. and later attended and played as a catcher for Jesuit High School in Sacramento. After high school, he went on to attend Oregon State University and play division 1 baseball there.

Susac also said he is an advocate for playing a variety of sports alongside a main sport. Growing up, Susac played multiple sports including football and basketball, which he said helped him as an aspiring baseball player.

“Sometimes when you do the

same thing over and over it almost tends to be a downfall, (and) it kind of decreases a player,” Susac said. “In basketball you’re triggering your athleticism and other certain things but, I mean, just playing and being competitive at a young age was a big help for me.”

Although he wears number 34, Susac said he didn’t choose that number but was given the number when he was called up to Major League.

“I was number five in Triple A,” Susac said. “I like Johnny Bench, and he was number 5. He’s one of my favorite catchers of all time, so that’s kind of what I was going for.”

Susac said when he and some of the other rookies were

called up, instead of being hazed, they were just poked fun at.

“They made us dress up like all teams do– I think they knew we were going to contribute, and they wanted to help us help them basically.” Susac said. “It was all good fun.”

Susac said it was unbelievable experience to win a World Series as a rookie, especially having been called up only three months earlier.

“I was telling someone the other day that you can’t write it up any better than that for your first year,” Susac said. “It was a serious roller coaster ride and I’m just blessed to be a part of it.”

The Gazette //granitebaytoday.org

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Sac Republic strives to become part of MLS Campaign ‘Built for MLS’ highlights plans

BY ALEX BALDONADO

abaldonado.gazette@gmail.com

In 2014, Sacramento Republic Football Club won the United Soccer League-PRO championship, establishing itself as a fast-growing soccer franchise in the country.

Currently, Sac Republic is trying to become a new Major League Soccer expansion team, creating a campaign titled “Built For MLS.” Owners of multiple professional teams in Northern California have bought into the campaign – starting last January that Jed York, the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, and Vivek Ranadive, owner of the Sacramento Kings, have invested into the club and plan to get the team into MLS. President of Sac Republic FC, Warren Smith, is excited about the additions of York and Ranadive to the ownership group.

“You (get) a lot of experience, not just capital, that both organizations bring,” Smith said. “Both have had success in building or are building high quality facilities that we are ultimately trying to accomplish in Sacramento.”

MLS have said they plan to expand the league from the current 20 teams to 24 teams by the end of the decade. Two of those spots have been filled by a second Los Angeles team and Atlanta.

Tho other cities competing with Sacramento for the two remaining spots in MLS are San Antonio, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and St. Louis - all trying to persuade the MLS they are the best destinations for a new team.

People don’t expect a decision from the MLS until June as they weigh their options with the remaining

teams.

“Built for MLS” is a fairly simple campaign that Sac Republic and their investors continue to push – stating that the growing soccer community in the Greater Sacramento area would be supportive of the team, explaining the details of a new downtown stadium and an ownership group that will be active in building a winning team.

Smith feels adding York and Ranadive to the ownership group brings experience and shows that Sacramento is in fact “Built For MLS.” In its first year as a professional soccer team, Sac Republic had an average attendance of about 11,000 people and played its first game of the season in front of 20,000 people - breaking numerous attendance records while doing so. Currently, the team plays at Bonney Field at Cal Expo and is expanding its stadium to cater to larger crowds.

About 8,000 season tickets have been sold for the 2015 season, confirming Sac Republic’s local support that would grow if the team is chosen to become a MLS franchise.

Sac Republic has a plan in place with Downtown Railyard Venture, LLC to buy space at the downtown rail yards for its proposed location for its new stadium.

The building of a 20,000 seat MLS stadium in downtown Sacramento will help the local businesses and city grow and give the city another option of entertainment.

This stadium proposal, according to Sac Republic’s website, will give Sacramento “added character” that will “revitalize underserved areas of (the) city while fostering the community economically and cultur-

ally.”

Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has called this mission of reinvigorating Sacramento “Sac 3.0,” partnering with Vivek Ranadive and bringing a new 21st century approach to the city.

Smith says having an MLS team in Sacramento will show the competitiveness Mayor Johnson visualizes with Sac 3.0 – making “Sacramento a better place to live, work, and play.”

Senior Nick Wohlman, a self-described Sac Republic fan, thinks the ownership changes and plans for a new stadium are positive moves by the team.

“The more professional sports team we can bring here, the better,” Wohlman said. “It’d obviously bring a lot of economic advantages here.”

Soccer itself has seen a huge increase in the country, with the growth of the popular video game FIFA and during the United States men and women national team’s World Cup runs in the past couple of summers. “(Having an MLS team in the area) would increase the support for soccer,” Wohlman said.

Currently, Sac Republic serves as a stepping stone into professional soccer, taking in and training young, up-and-coming players for the San Jose Earthquakes and Portland Timbers.

One of those players is current San Jose Earthquakes forward and Granite Bay High School alum Tommy Thompson. Thompson signed a contract with San Jose but played in a few games for Sac Republic to tone his skills to a professional level.

Senior Tatum Thompson, younger sister of Tommy and currently on the girls’ soccer team at GBHS, says watching Tommy play for Sac Republic was fun and exciting to see him play close to home.

Thompson also likes the moves made by Sac Republic for the community and the sport itself.

“It definitely gets the community more involved in

Sports C3

soccer and a lot more support for it,” Thompson said.

According to Tatum Thompson, her brother Tommy enjoyed his time with Sac Republic and still watches their games and supports his former teammates.

Although MLS plans to expand to 24 teams, it’s questioned if that’s a good idea for the league or how successful these new teams will be.

Sac Republic would have to make a fast transition from playing semi-professional 3rd division soccer to the top division of professional soccer in the country.

Smith thinks it would be a smooth transition however.

“We have the right coach ..., Sacramento is a hotbed of talent ... and we’re rolling out the academy program in a couple weeks and building a player development pyramid,” Smith said.

“The last thing is to make sure we build a quality organization with the right culture.”

The San Jose Earthquakes, which recently defeated Sac Republic 1-0 in a friendly preseason match, finished in last place in the 2014 MLS western conference - showing Sac Republic’s lack of talent against one of the worst teams in MLS. Sac Republic would have to sign some better players and improve their team to survive in MLS, but with this new ownership group that shows the investment needed to be put into the team, that isn’t a farfetched idea.

The addition of a development program and academy team allows Sac Republic to build their team from the roots of the area.

The only thing stopping Sac Republic from growing into a successful professional team is MLS, choosing not to include Sac Republic in the league.

If Sac Republic doesn’t get the bid for a new MLS team, the once promising investment group will have to wait to prove that Sacramento is “Built For MLS.”

Gazette photos/ JACQUELINE GORDON

The senior defensive live, right grabs a flag from the junior offensive line. Senior male cheerleaders, above, perform in the halftime show by lifting the flyers into the air on the football field.

POWDERPUFF: Seniors prevail Continued from page C1 cer game a few hours before competing in powderpuff.

“Soccer is obviously a passion of mine so I love every game I play, but powderpuff you only get twice in your life,” Talmi said. “(Powderpuff has) bleachers … packed with fans, so it is just a really amazing experience I’ll cherish forever.”

For Talmi, the crowded stands adds to the anticipation of the game.

“Its the only big athletic event that girls have that actually rakes in a crowd, so I think we get really excited about that.” Talmi said.

The senior defense didn’t allow any points from a junior offensive drive, accentuating the lead they established from three touchdowns.

“The defense really bonded this year and we were able to work together and run trick plays to catch (the junior girls) off guard”

senior Natalie Barron said.

As a right defensive end, Barron stopped several runs behind the line of scrimmage.

“Our amazing coaches really helped us along,” Barron said.

Prakash already has ideas and schemes in the works for next year.

“We could improve our offensive side (by) having more variation in our plays,” Prakash said. “Our team works very well together.”

Kings fans anticipating state-of-the-art stadium The era of Arco Arena has come and gone

BY BRIAN ZHUANG

bzhuang.gazette@gmail.com

The Sacamento Kings have officially started the construction of their new stadium, moving their home location from Natomas to downtown Sacramento–a more appropriate fit for this team.

With the Kings struggling in the unforgiving Western Conference of the National Basketball Association, plans for this new stadium gives the Kings and their fans something to look forward to.

“It’s a real chance for them to grow out of their old glory days of Arco, as well as its subsequent years of failure,” GBHS senior

Matt Park said.

Park has been a fan of the Kings franchise since he was first introduced to basketball at a young age. He started watching when the Kings were one of the best teams in the NBA, with players Chris Webber and Vlade Divac on their team.

The fans are hoping this new arena will prove to be a great addition to the Kings franchise as it will hopefully compliment the new staff.

“This new arena will be way nicer than Sleep Train Arena,” GBHS senior Nick Wohlman said.

“It seems like if they have new

management and everything else, why not a new arena.”

Currently, Sacramento and the Kings franchise are not big basketball icons, so making any effort to improving the appearance or reputation of Sacramento will benefit the Kings.

With this new stadium and location, there is potential for a culture change to gain more publicity and interest surrounding Sacramento that could entice more fans and players.

“I think this will help the organization because it will make fans want to come to games more,” Wohlman said. “It will be a better

experience and will hopefully attract some free agents.”

The new arena will be called the Entertainment and Sports Center, as it will be a multi-use facility.

A publically owned indoor space, it will be available for concerts, sports events and much more.

Though this is suppose to be an upgrade from Sleep Train Arena, it will only be able to hold up to 17,000, 300 seats less than Sleep Train. However, the arena claims that it will be able to hold 19,000 with the addition of temporary bleachers.

King franchise president Chris Granger said that he is excited for the uniqueness of this new arena.

“What we’re trying to achieve is to do something uniquely Sacra-

mento,” Granger said on an interview with Good Day Sacramento.

“Something that celebrates our values, something that celebrates the way we live our lives, whether that’s climate or our farm-to-fork culture.”

Being an influential part of Sacramento culture, the farm-to-fork mentality is incorporated into the new arena through its vendors and food options.

“To the extent that we can, we are going to do locally sourced food, farm fresh food,” Granger said. “Things that are probably a step above what you would find in most arenas across the country right now.”

The city and the people have had a huge impact on the construction

and design of the new arena as many people have expressed their opinions and feelings.

“We’ve touched over 20,000 people or so who have given input through various workshops and focus groups and open houses and surveys,” Granger said. “It’s been great to test our ideas and work with the community to come up with something that’s reflective of us.”

The $477 million dollar project first broke ground in November of 2014 and is projected to be finished by October of 2016, as Sacramento is proposing bids to host the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend.

“It’s a new start for this franchise,” senior Park said. “A new beginning.”

RECRUITING: Age of committing to college being cut down considerably Continued from page C1

“I mostly chose it because of the coaching staff and the majors at the school … and I got along with the team really well,” Isaacson said.

During a recent visit to the school, Isaacson said she got to stay in the dorms and spend time with the other girls, which got her even more excited about her decision to attend Villanova in the fall of 2016.

Another GBHS junior, Savanna Thompson, received the same privilege of drawing interest early on her high school career. Having played soccer since the ages of four or five, Thompson drew the attention of colleges as early as her freshman year which is when she began playing on the GBHS

varsity soccer team. She committed to University of San Diego for soccer the summer before her junior year.

“I started to get looked at by colleges freshman year but that was very premature and not as serious as sophomore year,” Thompson said.

According to Thompson, USD had been her dream school for two years prior to her recruitment.

Although she didn’t have too hard a time deciding whether or not to commit, there were definitely some things to consider.

“I thought about the academic quality of a school first because I wanted to go somewhere that would challenge me,” Thompson said.

Additional considerations included location, size and weather. Thompson said that it’s important to

love your college town to ensure the best experience if your sport doesn’t work out.

“The school is so beautiful, challenges me academically and has the best weather I could picture living in,” Thompson said.

Varsity girls soccer coach Mark Broers has had many student athletes involved in the early recruitment process. Broers said that he does not have a problem with early recruitment and has had several students verbally commit prior to junior year.

“That is a personal decision that should be left up to the player and their family,” Broers said.

According to Broers, a verbal commitment can be broken for any reason at any time by the college or the player. However, once the letters of intent are signed, it’s difficult to take back an agreement.

“If an injury occurs, there is always a risk that the college may search for a new player,” Broers

said.

Unfortunately, there is always the possibility of getting injured during practice, games, or even something unrelated to sports.

“If you get hurt snowboarding, fall down the stairs at home, or become injured playing your favorite sport, your partial or full scholarship can be at risk,” Broers said.

Because some student athletes verbally commit to colleges so early nowadays, Broers said, waiting until 11th or 12th grade might seem late ten years ago however, that was a common time to commit.

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Sports C4

Grizz Quiz Compiled by Surina Khurana

Melia Stout Diving

What is your favorite type of food?

What is your favorite hobby?

What is your favorite thing to do in the snow?

Japanese

Chinese

Painting my nails

Watching TV

I’ve never been

Savanna Thompson Soccer

Michael Plastino Swimming

Hannah Davis Trap Team

Italian

Italian

Italian

Exercising

Ultimate frisbee

Painting

Snow football

Sledding

Skiing

Dog

Cheetah

Cheetah

Tiger

Her Yorkie Shih Tzu

Strawberries with coconut

Grapes

Doesn’t like eating before a game

Fruit

Starbucks or Dutch Bros

What is your favorite animal?

What is your favorite snack to eat before a game/competition?

Adam Kahan Volleyball

Skiing

Teams ready to spring into action

Athletes preparing to excel in array of activities, including trap team

BY CLAIR KAISEL

ckaisel.gazette@gmail.com

Sydnee Greer Greer says she’s recently fallen in love with the center defender position.

Junior varsity soccer captain enjoys the challenge of the sport

BY COLE KAHMANN

ckahmann.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School sophomore Sydnee Greer has been playing soccer for 10 years. Most of those years she has been playing for her competitive travel team.

Now, Greer has brought her skills to the Granite Bay High School’s junior varsity girls soccer team.

With her help, GBHS’s JV team tied for first place in league play and Greer won the defensive MVP of the team, which was an impressive feat for a freshmen.

Although Greer has had great success in the defense position, she played as a midfield for the majority of her career in soccer.

“I played as a center midfielder for years, but last year the JV team needed another center defender and ever since I’ve been in love with this position.” Greer said.

She adapted to the opening well, becoming a starter and experiencing a lot of success, leading to a more permanent conversion to the new position.

Greer enjoys the challenge of trying to get as many shutouts as possible, because it makes her position that much more competitive and enjoyable.

This season, the coaches rewarded her success and leadership making her one of this year’s JV captains.

As a captain of the team, Greer is looking forward to the start of the season this year and their future success.

“This year we have a whole new team and as far as I can tell, we work very well together on and off the field.” Greer said.

“I’m confident to say we have a very good chance of ending league in first.”

So far this year, the team has shutout Oakmont High School in their first preseason game and went on to blank River Valley High School in Yuba City in a 8-0 win.

Greer and her team are on track for many more shutouts and wins this season.

The athletes at Granite Bay High School are beginning to start the spring 2015 high school sport seasons – and are expecting great results. GBHS has an incredible amount of 12 spring sports and are ready to get their games going.

The trap team is growing, with the number of girls on the team more than doubled from last season. Even after their coach retired, the shooters are hopeful to continue their streak of being nationally ranked for the past three years. Senior Hannah Davis has been on the team for three years, but has shot for almost four.

“Beating De La Salle is going to be the most challenging team to beat at state in June,” Davis said.

The trap team competes against a team every two weeks, allowing them to know their strengths and weaknesses. Having not competed since July, the coaches and shooters are getting comfortable with each other.

The growth of this sport is making it hard for competitors to keep up. However, GBHS’s new coaching staff is working hard to ensure their shooters are ready.

The safety of this sport is extremely important, and without taking the right precautions, students could potentially be put in danger. Untrained students are required to attend a gun safety class prior to competing– helping to prevent any potential accidents.

All new players compete on the junior varsity team, no matter what grade they are in.

“New shooters are doing really well for their first few weeks,” Davis said. “The JV team will be very strong this year.”

Baseball The GBHS varsity baseball has been preparing for weeks, and appear ready to compete. The varsity team is showing positive signs leading into this season, having already won some of their preseason scrimmages. The team started competing in games last week at tournament in Fresno, letting the new players become acclimated to the actual game scenario before playing important league games against Del Oro and Rocklin High School.

Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming The swimmers are focused on practice for their Oak Ridge swim meet on April 24th.

“Training and staying positive along with our new strong athletes is what is going to get us ahead and start off to a great season,” junior Caitlin Barnickel said.

They are hoping to win the section championship and are anticipating to send a few swimmers to state with hopes to bring back state titles.

Girls’ Softball New players on the girls softball team have big shoes to fill after a successful season last year, but are

doing their best to catch up. Their goal in preseason has been to find who best fits into each position the before their rival game against Del Oro. “We miss the graduated seniors,” junior Corina Pochini said. “It was a big loss, but we are making up for lost time.”

Boys’ Volleyball Junior Adam Kahan is playing his third year on the boys volleyball team and said he is ready to beat league rival Nevada Union on March 24.

“All the players are excited to play and there’s a lot of energy on the team,” Kahan said.

If all goes as planned, they are expecting to go through section championships and advance to playoffs – where they play matches against more challenging teams.

Girls’ Soccer Although it has only recently started playing together, the girls soccer team feels confident in its ability to compete in their season with minimal losses.

Junior defender, Savanna Thompson, said she feels that the team is blending together nicely. Many of the girls have played with each other for years, helping the team be more ahead than others.

Thompson said the team’s only challenge will be incorporating new players into their system and learning to how to play together.

“We look like we have been playing together for much longer than a few practices,” Thompson said.

The team wants to make it past league and into the playoffs to compete for the section championship.

Boys’ Tennis Already off to a good start, the boys tennis team beat Jesuit in one of its first preseason games. The boys feel strongly that although it will be difficult, they will be able to beat them again in the actual season.

“The (tennis team is) setting high goals … to win sections,” senior Abhi Jadhav said.

Girls’ Lacrosse Girls lacrosse is focusing on camaraderie and gaining strength for the upcoming season. Currently there is some conflict between the players and coaches but they are working to move past it.

Junior Carlin Isacson has high hopes that they will win league and have a good chance at playoffs.

“We have had one game, and we won,” Isacson said.

After having proved that they are off to a good start, hopefully they can continue their good run of form.

Boys’ Lacrosse New talent from underclassman will help the boys lacrosse team reach their goal of going undefeated in league games and win the California Interscholastic Federation championships. Junior Ethan Quinn is extremely happy with how the team is shaping up and what the season holds for them.

“The new players are becoming acclimated to varsity,” Quinn said, “and are bonding exceptionally well.

According to Quinn, fear of injuries and lack of depth are the main obstacles they will have to overcome in order to achieve their goals. Having a single player out can hurt a team in lacrosse, as all players are so valuable and necessary to excel.

“One player injured will immensely affect our team,” Quinn said.

Setting aside the possible injuries, the team is happy to have both rival games at home on March 7th and April 30th.

Track and Field Even though track contains a variety of individual sports, the team must come together to help build each other up and earn points for their team in order to win meets. Individually, they all have different goals.

Junior Aubrey Holt, SFL champion in both long jump and triple jump events, is working to improve even more this season.

“As athletes, we hope to accomplish our personal records and work together to win dual meets,” Holt said.

Track strikes a balance for athletes who want to participate with other athletes but also focus on improving their self individually.

Rugby Striving to go to the NorCal championships, and be one of the top competitors, the rugby team is pushing themselves as hard as they can at practice. So far, the team has won all their games with ease. Senior Drew Tonda said he wants to advance and get an opportunity to play the tougher teams such as Jesuit and Del Oro, but those matches are not scheduled until later in the season.

“The new players are making a big impact at practices and during games,” Tonda said, “but the biggest challenge is pushing each other to get better and work harder at practice.”

Boys’ Golf Ranked one of the best teams in northern California, the golf team is ready to start their season after a long waiting period without matches. Varsity Members Brian Baumgarten and Ryder Sanders are confident that the success of the team comes from the close bond of the players.

The team is working hard to improve their less experienced players and help them improve with better competition. The more advanced players work with the ones who need more practice, attempting to create consistency throughout the team.

“The team’s No. 4, 5, 6 players can beat any other 4, 5, 6 players in the state,” Sanders said.

But Baumgarten understands that the strongest athletes aren’t the most important.

“Our worst player on our team,” Baumgarten said, “is also the best.”

GENDERS: Coaches do their best to strike a fair balance Continued from page C1 enced coaching both males and females, noted the differences in the genders motives and motivators.

“Boys like to be driven and then become successful.

Girls like to be accepted and then they’re successful,” Coach Fischer said.

More than just physical and mental coaching, the sport coaches need to adjust the atmosphere and their demeanor to get the most out of their players.

“I think girls and guys do react differently and different approaches need to be taken to get the best results,” junior varsity basketball player Daeja Black said.

Black feels that in general, coaches tend to be more

conscientious of what they say to girls than to boys because of the different ways boys and girls tend to react.

According to an article in Soccer America, gender not only affects how coaches act, but is also partly accountable for the way players perceive coaches’ actions mentally and emotionally.

The article also points out when a coach makes a critiquing remark to the entire team, girls tend to take it more personally. Boys, on the other hand, choose to believe that the coach must be talking about their teammates.

Coach Fischer observed how boys cherish the competitive side of sports more than other factors; where girls, who still want to be competitive, pay more attention to

the camaraderie and social activeness.

While gender determines how a coach makes decisions, it is not the only factor. Other factors include age, individual personalities and maturity.

As a seasoned coach, Fischer understands there is a delicate balance between these different motivators. Despite the gender, a coach needs to study and understand the team to find the perfect mix.

The best coaches adapt their coaching methods every year depending on their players, regardless of their individual genders.

“Every individual is different.” Fischer said. “It is up to the coach to try to find what each player’s strengths are and then to draw that out.”

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Enthusiastic Tribe member supports GBHS athletics

Diving team prevails

Athletes unite in district-wide aquatic program

BY SURINA KHURANA

skurana.gazette@gmail.com

Brad Fina Brad Fina an active member of the school student section.

Junior enjoys cheering at games and leading the crowd in spirited chants

BY COLE KAHMANN

ckahmann.gazette@gmail.com

High school sporting events contain some of the most loyal fans that sports will ever encounter. These fans don’t bandwagon or drop a team when they are not performing well – these fans are united under one name and are more involved with the players than at any other level of sports.

Junior Brad Fina is one of those crazy high school fans– arguably even crazier than most.

Fina is not only a fan but also an athlete himself,. He is a multi-sport athlete playing both football and baseball his entire high school career.

Next year, Fina said he hopes to become the starting quarterback of the varsity football team.

Alongside being a member of GBHS athletics, Fina has been an active member in the Tribe since his freshmen year.

Since Fina can’t attend the varsity football games as a fan, he enjoys going to basketball games because of the energetic and loud atmosphere similar to football games.

“I like watching my friends out there,” Fina said.

One of his favorite parts is being able to be so close to the court and be able to talk to the

Sports C5

players. He said he enjoys the connection that is formed between the team and fans.

When asked about what makes the good fan Fina said he thought highly of people who are willing to cheer as loud as they can.

The junior Tribe enthusiast encourages people to cheer their hearts out and support the team, even if they need to venture out of their comfort zone.

Fina said whether people are on the sideline or the bleachers, support sections should feel free to let go and be as uplifting to the players as possible.

Having an athlete’s, perspective, Fina understands how much the support of peers can help a team.

“I like it when (the fans) are loud, especially before the games,” Fina said.

The home field advantage is only a true advantage when the crowd is there to motivate their team. However, if a crowd does rally around a team they can make a different and even inspire their team to win the game.

Fina said he is definitely looking forward to the rest of the upcoming sporting events in the Spring and next years sports with the hopes of a spirited tribe.

“I highly recommend everyone getting all their friends together,” Fina said, “and coming out and having a good time.”

Usually student athletes practice their sport at the school they attend, in preparation to compete against other schools. However, divers from schools within the Roseville Joint Union High School District practice with their competition.

All the divers in the RJUHSD practice together at Oakmont High School and then compete against each other in meets.

Granite Bay High School athletic director Tim Healy said the number of divers is too few at each school for independent diving programs so a district-wide program was created more than ten years ago.

“There are not enough divers in any one school to have a dedicated coach per site but also there aren’t the resources,” Healy said.

“Oakmont is the only (school) in our district that even has a diving board.”

There are a total of 35 divers that are part of the program – five from GBHS – Janice Leung, Taylor Garcia, Melia Stout, Danielle Matthews, and Emry Orioles.

Sophomore Taylor Garcia has been diving for two years and is looking forward to this season and the meets.

“At meets we all compete at the same time but we compete against only one other school at

Special to the Gazette/Taylor garcia

GBHS diver Taylor Garcia, right, trains with students from other schools.

a time,” Garcia said.

While there may be disadvantages to competing against the people the athletes practice with, many of the divers actually enjoy it.

“Instead of practicing with the same people you see at school all the time, you get to practice with people you don’t usually get to see,” Garcia said.

Freshman Malia Stout agrees with Garcia.

“It’s fun (and) you get to meet new people,” Stout said.

Both Stout and Garcia began diving after suffering from injuries due to gymnastics.

“I broke my knee in gymnastics and it was an easy transition to keep doing what I like to do,” Garcia said.

After former coach Mike Brown stepped down from the position a few years ago, Ashley Garcia became the head coach.

“It’s not an easy position to fill. There are not a lot of (people) qualified,” Healy said.

Coach Ashley Garcia, however, is one of the few qualified for the job, as she has a rich background in diving.

Like Stout and Garcia, coach Garcia also dove for her high school team, St. Francis High School, after suffering an injury from gymnastics.

She went on to dive for UC Davis on scholarship and worked a few years before she started coaching the teams in the RJUHSD diving program.

“I love watching the kids try new skills and overcome their fears,” Coach Garcia said. “It’s one of those sports that takes a lot of courage so it’s fun to watch them try new stuff and do things that they didn’t think they could do.”

These athletes don’t just practice with their high school team during the spring sports season from February to May, but many also partake in club diving programs that go year-round.

“I have high school practice (on) Wednesday and Friday, and then club diving (on) Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday,” Stout

Special to the Gazette/ TAYLOR GARCIA

Taylor Garcia rehearses a dive during practice.

said.

With this high level of dedication, Coach Ashley Garcia thinks that some of the divers from the GBHS team have a good chance at winning sections.

“Granite Bay has a really good team and is definitely growing,” Coach Garcia said. “Last year we only had three divers and now we have five at Granite Bay.” While the team is growing, Healy says that there are some difficulties due to the heavy use of the Oakmont pool.

“One of the problems is (the divers) have to share the pool with the Oakmont swim team and that becomes a little difficult and complicated, but it’s the only way to make it work,” Healy said.

Something that many may not be aware of is that the swimming and diving teams at GBHS, as well as the other schools in the district, are actually one team. “(Diving) is considered a swimming event,” Coach Garcia said. “We do everything separately but are considered one team, so (the points from our meets) do go to the swim team.”

Granite Bay High’s diving team competed in it’s first meet on March 3rd and has high aims for the rest of this season.

Student’s shot earns him a year of free sushi “I wasn’t very confident going into it, but I just threw up a prayer and somehow it went in.”

However, even more surprised than Adam Kahan was Mikuni’s CTO Taro Arai.

“I wanted to have some fun and add some excitement,” Arai said. “I told my CEO, ‘don’t worry about it nobody is going to make it’ – and then bam! It went in.”

One of the most memorable and exhilarating part of a sporting event is the rushing of the court. After the tribe witnessed the shot, the bleachers were emptied as the student section swarmed Kahan, the new winner of an entire year of Mikuni sushi.

“It was insane when the Tribe stormed the court,” Kahan said.

Kahan wasn’t alone in his excitement to see his half

court swish. Senior Nick Marakas, a Tribe leader, had a similar reaction to Kahan over the shot in the reaction which followed.

“Storming the court to the half court shot was just a natural reaction,” Marakas said. “We all looked around for a split second and were in shock and then in a matter of a few seconds, everyone was on the court surrounding Adam.”

There was a lot of promotion for the event. From banners made by student government to bulletins made by the media department, promotional propaganda littered the halls of GBHS. “I did a bulletin to help promote the Mikunis Night, spread it by word of mouth and Twitter so everybody knew they had a chance to participate,” Marakas said.

The gym appeared to be sold out. People waited to witness the half court shot, as well as one of the GBHS boys’ varsity basketball team’s biggest games.

The rivalling Woodcreek High School Timberwolves

eventually went on to win the game, beating the Grizzlies in overtime 58-54.

Although the varsity team evidently lost, Kahan did not.

With the win of his enormous prize Kahan did face some limitations to the reward. While Arai said he didn’t care too much about the reward, he was more awed by the half court shot.

“Every week, (Adam) gets to eat one roll of his choice (up to $18 per visit, which expires every week unused) for a year,” said Arai. “I think more times a week and you get sick of sushi!”

Mikuni is a sponsor for GBHS, donating money, awards (such as the half-court shot contest) and banners in the gym. However, with Arai’s children graduating from GBHS after next year, the curiosity lies in whether or not the Mikunis night at high school basketball games will be a tradition for years to follow.

“Coach (MacLeane) has a very unique style of coaching that’s a lot different from any other coaches I’ve been coached by,” Nathan Ellinthorpe, a sophomore in the water polo program at GBHS, said. “It’s definitely a lot more hardcore than other coaches.”

Though his coach may be intense, he claims that it is for the benefit of the players.

“We’re in it to win it,” Ellinthorpe adds.

Coach MacLeane, the boys water polo coach at GBHS, explains how he coaches with intensity but attempts to maintain a balance.

“We’re probably harsher than we should be … we try to temper that with a lot of positive things and let them know when they’re doing well,” MacLeane said.

Autumn Mannsfeld, part of the girls lacrosse team, is also a firm believer that coaches are intense for the benefit of the team. However, she admits that it does get personal sometimes.

“Sometimes the criticism can be harsh, and it’s hard to see it as a lesson … It makes you think back on what you did and try to improve upon it,” Mannsfeld said. “It can be seen as rude … but coaches are there to help you become the best player you can be.”

Her coach, Stu Brokowsky, tries to keep his criti-

cism constructive and purposeful.

“They need to know how to fix what’s wrong.

These girls have been with me for a while now so they understand (the criticism) and they like to be reminded (of how to improve their skills),” Coach Stu said.

There seems to be a distinct difference in the level of aggression coaches use with boys compared to girls.

According to Diana Garcia, a part of the JV Volleyball team this past season, girls take criticism differently compared to boys, which is why it is so important for coaches to be careful.

“I believe that many boys take criticism less emotionally than girls, but both boys and girls understand the benefit of the criticism in the end,” Garcia said.

Though Coach MacLeane admits to coaching both boys and girls very differently, he says that it truly depends on the player he is dealing with when giving feedback. Some people deal with it very differently from others, regardless of gender.

“Coach is very good at knowing who he can yell at and who takes constructive criticism (well) … and who can’t,” Ellinthorpe said about MacLeane.

So really, where is the line when it comes to giving

criticism?

According to Garcia, criticism crosses the line when “it’s a constant critique and when a person is being humiliated in front of their teammates by a coach. It becomes unnecessary when coaches compare you to other players.”

The coaches here at GBHS make a conscious effort to keep their criticism purposeful and the least personal as possible.

“One of the most important things a coach can remember is that the kids aren’t screwing up on purpose,” Coach MacLeane said. “They want to do it right. They want to be successful.”

Though the criticism may sound brutal to those who are not playing the sport, many players understand that it is in their best interest. “ Sometimes, I take it as a compliment because if a coach has high intensity, it means that they believe that we as a team have the capability to improve and become great players,” Garcia said.

The criticism is given for the benefit of the player and is rarely meant to be personal.

Coach MacLeane said, “In the heat of the battle, we have all the respect in the world for them.”

Junior scores big and swishes half-court effort

BY HARRISON TUCKER htucker.gazette@gmail.com

February’s Friday the 13th proved to be quite lucky for some people – contrary to popular belief.

Granite Bay High School junior Adam Kahan was selected to participate in the Mikuni’s night halfcourt shot at the friday night basketball game. Stepping up for the free throw worth $25, Kahan drained it. After failing to convert the three pointer worth $50, Kahan then ran back to the half court line, flailing his arms, in the air trying to liven tribe. Kahan, focused yet nervous, lofts the ball into a long arc while the crowd goes quiet, awaiting a true longshot. The ball felt nothing but the sweet touch of nylon netting, and Kahan became the winner of an entire year of free sushi.

“I just didn’t want to air-ball the shot,” Kahan said.

Coaching styles vary among teams and genders Certain personalities said to be important

BY NATASHA CHANDA

nchanda.gazette@gmail.com

Over-aggression is an important factor in sports that coaches have to be conscious of when it comes to coaching.

At Granite Bay High School, the coaches are a key factor in the successful sports program. Their coaching has led teams to win numerous titles, including section, league, and state championships.

Many of the students at GBHS only witness the communication between the players and coaches on game day ↼ however not everyone knows what occurs during practice and the kinds of relationships the coaches have with their players.

Aside from strategies and play writing, the coaches have to be very aware of the limits they have when it comes to giving criticism to players.

Boys Water Polo is one of many sports that can require harsh coaching.

The Gazette. Good journalism any way you read it.

The Gazette. Good journalism any way you read it.

C6

Friday, March 13, 2015

w The Granite Bay Gazette

SECOND LOOK

For the Record Swim

w 3/13 Folsom/Rocklin

Tri-meet @ Vista Del Lago

Girls’ Soccer w3/13 @ Folsom w3/16 @ Oak Ridge w3/25 vs. Nevada Union

Boys’ Volleyball w3/17 vs. Placer w3/19 @ Oak Ridge w3/24 vs. Nevada Union

Gazette photo /JENNA MCCARTHY

Gazette photo /JACQUELINE GORDON

Track and Field w3/21 Dublin Distance Fiesta

Girls’ Lacrosse w3/13 @ Cal High w3/20 vs. Bella Vista w3/25 vs. Christian Brothers

Girls’ Softball w3/17 vs. Rocklin w3/19 vs. Del Oro w3/20 @ Woodcreek

Boys’ Lacrosse

w3/13 vs. Las Lomas w3/17 vs. Grenada w3/21 @ Amador Valley

Boys’ Baseball w3/16 @ Folsom w3/18 vs Folsom w3/20 @ Folsom

Gazette photo /JACQUELINE GORDON

Boys’ Tennis w3/17 vs. Del Oro w3/19 @ Folsom w4/26 vs. Oak Ridge -As of March 13, 2015

Gazette photo / JACQUELINE GORDON

Gazette photo /JACQUELINE GORDON

Gazette photo /JACQUELINE GORDON

Juniors Caroline Palmer and Kassidy Henson, top left, celebrate by chest bumping after a play during their Powder Puff loss. Senior Natalie Erickson, top right, blocks junior Ciara Thompson. Senior Annie Wright, center, turns the corner upfield in hopes of scoring a touchdown. Natalie Barron, middle left, rushes the passer trying to get around a potential blocker. Junior and senior team captains. middle right, meet at midfield for the coin toss before the game. Natalie Rhodes, bottom left, runs around blockers before eventually being pushed out of bounds after a long run. Senior Sydney Talmi, bottom right, evades junior Kassidy Henson.

Gazette photo /JACQUELINE GORDON

GS

The Gazette’s arts and entertainment guide.

Previous Video Jenny Marie Videos

March 2015

GREEN SCREEN Creativity within YouTube accounts

PAGES

8&9

Page 2

March 2015

sneak peek.

Gazette photo/ EPSA SHARMA

wSee pages 8&9 for students involvement in YouTube and Soundcloud.

Special to the Gazette /Kat mcgrail

wSee page 10 for the 50 Shades of Grey influence within social media.

wSee page 13 for the day in the life of a theater student.

Well, at least we know what color the dress is

A

A generation engrossed in materialistic nonsense

dress...is taking over the entire generation through social important things like news or politics. media.

The internet has been divided like warring armies over this You might ask how? picture, and even celebrities are posting their discoveries with Well, there is a dress that is heavily controversial because half the hopes of getting affirmation from their fans. the population perceives its colors as black and blue, and the This is all irrelevant to society as nothing gets accomplished other half sees white gold. from knowing the real colors of a dress. Yes, it may bring satI started on Tumblr when a girl posted isfaction to those who religiously believe in a picture asking the public if a dress was blue and black or vise versa, but this is just black and blue or white and gold because plain sad. she and her friends couldn’t agree on it, I’ve even been told that I am subordinate and from there, it exploded. to someone who sees black and blue because The funny thing is, is that the majority supposedly my rods and cones are worse. of people can’t even see the other set of What kind of crap is this? colors whatsoever.

Anyways, people claim that the dress is acHowever, the picture of this dress is tually black and blue, but even if that is true, very poorly taken with distorted accents the picture clearly shows white and gold.

Its statements like that that create even greater and fades that could have possibly imarguments as people can’t seem to budge on pacted people’s perception. their perception.

What’s even more bizarre is that, many The words “clearly” and “obvious” have people have switched what they claim to connotations that inherently show superiority see. Some people see white and gold, but over those who just simply can’t agree. then after coming back to the picture later, bzhuang.gazette@gmail.com The amount of time people have invested in they see blue and black. fighting over this dress is straight stupid. This Several say that it all depends on a perdress also sold out in hours on Amazon and son’s mood and feelings at a certain time, which is what changes on the retailer’s store. the colors of the dress in one’s eyes.

That’s how ridiculous this generation is.

This questionable dress has been going viral, mainly through But let me just clear the air. I, myself, am someone who was Twitter when people argue over the colors of the dress. going crazy over this dress and I am certainly part of this new era I, for one, only see white and gold even when people show me different exposures and filters of the picture. I still only see white of teenagers. I am in no way, shape or form better than anyone for “criticizing” my generation. I’m simply saying what is going and gold. on.

But that is not the point. This entire dress chaos simply deMost importantly though, the dress is still white and gold, scribes our generation and the things we are fixated on. We are so regardless of what anyone says. amazed and interested about a stupid dress rather than on actual

Commentary

brian zhuang

Guide to Green Screen

Page 3 Music reviews Page 4 Follow Friday Page 5 St. Patricks Day culture

Page 6/7 Food reviews Page 8/9 Youtube creativity Page 10 50 shades of Grey influence

Special to the Gazette /Kat mcgrail

Page 11 Polaroid cameras Page 12 Top Spirited Tweets Page 13 Theatre Student Life.

Upcoming GBHS Events for March Mar. 14

Junior Prom held at GBHS

Mar. 20 St. Baldricks event Mar. 28April 6

Spring Break Page 14 Spring Break Page 15 Movie reviews Page 16 Senioritis Epidemic hits Granite Bay.

March 2015

Page 3

tune in.

Various Artist Fifty Shades of Grey

BY COLLEEN VIVALDI

W

cvivaldi.gazette@gmail.com

ith all the hype surrounding the tumultuous and steamy book-turnedmovie, Fifty Shades of Grey the soundtrack accompanying the movie matches up perfectly with the steam that the plotline possesses.

Comprised of well-known and talented artists like The Weeknd, Ellie Goulding, The Rolling Stones, Sia, Beyonce, Skylar Grey a remastered Frank Sinatra rendition and others, the album could have easily weighed down the complexities of the movie, however, it paired perfectly with the elements of the story that the motion picture was trying to depict.

One of the best songs on the album and most popular with the public, “Earned It,” by The Weeknd bangs out sardonic melodies and

strong vocals, creating a sense of angst.

The album presents a perfect blend of new and old pop, combined with vocally appealing lyrics that are woven in nicely with the theme of the movie.

Beyonce’s remix of “Crazy In Love” is my next favorite on the Fifty Shades of Grey compilation.

Her ever-present strength and range, put together with new beats to an already fabulous song, makes for a wonderful listening experience.

It is perfect for jamming out in the car or dancing with friends.

On another note, the remastered version of Frank Sinatra’s “Witchcraft,” created a classical, yet elegant mood during the film as well as during personal listening experiences.

The raspy horns combined with Sinatra’s smooth voice, made me feel like I belonged

in an era I was not part – of a rarity in general,everyday music.

Sintra is a personal favorite, so hearing one of his masterpieces in the film as well as on the album was, to say the least, satisfying and wonderfully delightful.

I thoroughly enjoyed how this album grabbed elements of R&B, classical pop, lyrical and alternative music, to create a playlist of range that almost became a story within itself.

Republic Records Another great addition to this motion picture  Fifty Shades of soundtrack, “Love Me Like You Do,” by Sia, Grey is lyrical as well as alternative, so the fusion was released on Feb. of different inspirations, created a wonderful 10, 2015. listening experience for me.

Sexy and steamy, this album doesn’t disappoint.

Overall, the album was surprisingly Skip to: impressive and I would recommend taking a listen.

“Witchcraft”

A-

Fifth Harmony Hunter Hayes Reflection Storyline

BY NATASHA CHANDA

F Republic Record

Reflection came out Jan. 27 2015.

A-

Skip to : “Reflection”

nchanda.gazette@gmail.com

ifth Harmony is among one of the rising pop groups in today’s music world.

The five member girl group is the epitome of fierce. Their upbeat, pop style keep the listeners engaged and wanting more.

Fifth Harmony finished third place on X Factor USA in 2012 and then proceeded to sign with SyCo Music and Epic Records afterwards.

Their most recent album, Reflection, was their debut studio album. Reflection officially released in Feb. 3, 2015.

Their sound is a cross between Carly Rae Jepsen, Cher Lloyd and Jessie J, who are all very prominent and outgoing figures in pop culture.

They add their own punch with the sass factor and their impeccable vocal capabilities.

Their style is balanced and strays away from

any mainstream sound. They maintain a very mature tune in their music which make them hard to forget.

One of the best songs on the album is “Reflection.” It screams confidence and its hip-hop/pop beats make it impossible not to sing along. “Worth It,” featuring Kid Ink, also has a strong hip-hop feel to it.

“Body Rock” also has a techno vibe to it, which makes it more interesting and fun. “Top Down” also falls into this category.

In my opinion, the faster, more upbeat songs are better to listen to.

The melodies are better and their fierce attitudes and confidence are heard more in the upbeat songs.

“BO$$” is one of the more popular songs on the album. Though it is more popular, and it has a strong beat and tune, the lyrics seem too repetitive in the song.

Another one of the popular songs is “Sledgehammer” which is catchy and fun to

sing along to in the car or with friends.

The chorus is hard to forget and the melody makes it one of my favorite songs on this album.

The album leaves an impact because of its empowering messages linked with the catchy sounds.

“Brave Honest Beautiful,” featuring Meghan Trainor, is another great song on the album that carries the theme of confidence.

Overall, this album is a solid piece due to the diverse styles used throughout.

“Reflection” is one of the best albums I have heard in a very long time from a girl group.

This album is an enjoyable listen at anytime and is extremely uplifting. There are many songs on this album that will have you moving to the beat.

Fifth Harmony proved their abilities with this album, and amazing things can be expected from them in the future.

Dylan Gardner Adventure in Real Time

BY CAROLINE PALMER

U

cpalmer.gazette@gmail.com

sually when I write a music review I plunge at the chance to delineate artists that I favor, however this time around I decided to try something new.

Adventures in Real Time was an album sent to the Granite Bay Gazette for review. I thought it would be a stimulating experience to listen to the music with zero expectations.

Dylan Gardner is a 18 year old boy who lives in Pasadena, California. The first song off the album “Let’s Get Started” reached around 3 million hits on spotify, revealing that Gardner is starting to become successful.

Most of the songs have a upbeat tempo to them and you can tell where some of his inspiration stems from when he starts out with “I’ll Be John and You Be Yoko” in his first song.

Although most or all of his songs pertain to love and feelings of it, he still stays original.

I didn’t mind the artists constant melodious revocation of his feelings.

Somehow he avoids being cliche and you can tell his lyrics come from authentic experience, making them that much stronger.

Gardner has a quality in his music that sets him apart from the rest of his genre.

In the second track “Heroes Tonight,” the tone and range of his voice is very euphonious and impressive.

The drums are also utilized and his simple but sweet lyrics blend with the other features.

At first the blithe atmosphere in his music annoyed me.

I don’t listen to pop much anymore however, after I heard the album more and more I began to notice myself humming the songs throughout random intervals of the day.

Another song, “The Actor,” Gardner delivers something a bit slower with a melancholy ambience.

The guitar in this song is noticeably slower than all of the other creating a effortful contrast to the upbeat vibe mentioned.

What also impressed me is that he created 75% of the album or more. He is a multi instrumentalist, pro-tools engineer and

a bedroom producer. Gardner basically transformed his closet into a vocal booth.

This is someone who understands the mechanism and technique of music.

He didn’t just go into the recording booth and sing lyrics already written for him over music he didn’t make. He wrote all of the songs and played most of the instruments on the album, this will definitely benefit him as he grows.

Even though coming as off young, Gardener still sounds classic and polished.

As he gains life experience and evolves his lyrics more, I could see his music deriving into something more meaningful.

The romantic aspect of his music shouldn’t be diminished, however it should be manipulated in a more moderate way.

Gardner really knows how to convey a beat and lyrics that get pleasantly entrapped in the listeners mind.

The type of the pop that this artist creates has been misused and abated over the last decade however this album does it right and I expect a lot more from Gardner in years to come.

Big MachineRecords

Adventure in Real Time was released on Jan. 30 2015.

B-

Skip to: “Invincible”

Page 4

current.

Mixtape - Hits of the 2000’s

March 2015

Artist of the Month Hannah Sides What impact do you feel art has had on your life?

It’s a really good outlet. If I need to express myself, it’s a healthy way to do it rather than something that can harm people.

BY HARRISON TUCKER htucker.gazette@gmail.com

1. One Thing - Finger Eleven Relaxing guitar accompanied by smooth lyrics; did you do everything you always wanted to do?

2. She Will be Loved - Maroon 5 If you’re falling in love, you’re also in love with this song.

3. My Immortal - Evanescence About your relationship with your best friend boy or girl; relaxing but catchy chorus.

4. Daughters - John Mayer If you can play this on guitar, you’ve got brownie points from your girlfriend.

5. Hey Ya! - Outkast Andre 3000 with one of the most popular songs of our lifetime.

Follow Friday

Instagram

Follow @sydsampson to add some adventure to your feed. Compiled by Natasha Chanda

Do you see yourself going into art as

a profession?

I either want to (have art) on the side or I want to be an art therapist so I can use it to help other people.

What are you working on right now?

I’m painting a series that’s about moving forward and changing.

When did you first start to get into art?

I’ve always been really into (art) but probably around fifth grade I realized I wanted to do more with it.

Compiled by Hannah Xu

2 FRESHMAN 015 201 vs .

8

VS. SENIOR

1. Who is the hottest senior boy/girl?

Katie Misik: Daniel Eitzman and Molly Graves Brandon White: Mia Goodwin and “Man Dime” 2. What do you think of the controversial new admin.?

Katie Misik: I personally hope Leighton leaves next year, and I think students have the right to do whatever they want to do.

Brandon White: I learned you could get suspended for playing

music.

Compiled by Jill Kurpershoek

March 2015

ST. PA TRI CK’S DAY

Page 5

irish you good luck.

GBHS students and teachers find the true meaning behind the holiday

BY STEVEN GERSCH

S

sgerisch.gazette@gmail.com

t. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday where people come together to recognize the death of their patron

saint.

Many celebrate the holiday by attending parades, festivals, wearing green and participating in many other cliché events.

Granite Bay High School chemistry teacher and Irish native, James Cunningham, said that the holiday has become too Americanized and has lost the meaning of what the holiday is supposed to entail.

“St. Patrick’s Day is a day of religious significance,” Cunningham said. “It is a family day and we normally go to church in the morning, have lunch together and then enjoy the day.”

The holiday in America has a completely different conceptual meaning. Millions celebrate the holiday by dressing up in as much green attire as possible, eat corned beef and cabbage and proceed to consume alcohol throughout the day to celebrate the “Irish spirit.”

“I don’t like the way St. Patrick’s Day is portrayed here in the United States.

It’s a very negative stereotype of the Irish,” Cunningham said. “I think it’s actually sponsored by breweries now to encourage people to drink more alcohol… the significance of the day is lost.”

GBHS senior Nick Wohlman has a much more positive outlook on the holiday.

“To me it’s a celebration of a culture and even if you aren’t Irish, like me, you can still participate and have fun,” Wohlman said.

While there are many American traditions for the holiday, such as eating corned beef and cabbage, there are new traditions that also result in

positive feedback.

Each year, millions of Americans across the nation shave their head for charity which is known as St. Baldrick’s Day. Last year alone, the St. Baldrick’s Foundations raised over 39 million dollars, with all of the proceeds being donated towards fighting childhood cancer.

While GBHS senior Ryan Arneson doesn’t take part in St. Baldrick’s day, he still loves to celebrate by following other traditions special to the day.

“As a kid I was a troublemaker so I enjoyed pinching anyone that didn’t wear green,” Arneson said.

Though the holiday has always been special to him, Cunningham’s favorite part, family camaraderie and togetherness, is long gone.

“Even the tradition of nipping someone for not wearing green is something which is alien to me, … now it’s just a day for consuming a lot of alcohol (and) it’s a changed day for me,” Cunningham said.

While he may not be in support of the many traditions that have destroyed the true meaning of St. Patrick’s Day for him, Cunningham still tries to share his roots with his students on the day. Cunningham will regularly try and wear the shamrock and even attempt to teach his students a traditional Irish dance on the day of. “(It’s fun) just seeing everyone wearing green and having fun with the same tradition,” Wohlman said.

Depending on where in the world one is, the day has a vastly different meaning. For some it’s a day of religious significance, for some it’s a day to consume drinks and for others it’s a day to celebrate all things Irish.

“I celebrate all things Irish, and … I tend to show the positive sides of St. Patrick’s Day and try to remove some of what the day has become,” said Cunningham.

Whether being of Irish descent or not, the holiday brings out a joyous playful nature in everyone. The holiday still serves as an outlet for those needing celebration in their lives, authentic or not.

Everyone is allowed to partake in every aspect of the holiday as much or as little as they want.

“I didn’t even taste corned beef and cabbage for the first time until eight years ago,” Cunningham said.

Gazette illustration/TAMREN JOHNK

Page 6

March 2015

naanstop.

Tikka chance on me...

Chaat Paradise

BY SURINA KHURANA

skhurana.gazette@gmail.com

There is a belief that Indian street food is the best type of Indian food.

Naturally, I was quite happy when Chaat Paradise opened in January, as that is the type of food they serve. I was so excited to come and try their food and was not disappointed.

I admit, I had my doubts when I first got there, since there was no one else in the restaurant. However, by the end of my long meal, the restaurant was nearly full.

When I first walked, in I noticed the nice, clean and trendy modern decor. I thought they did a good job of creating a nice atmosphere.

We ordered multiple dishes as the prices were very reasonable and affordable. When I went to sit down at my table, I noticed the cute steel cups and the matching steel water pitcher at the table that gave an authentic feel to the restaurant.

The food came out in a timely fashion and we began to devour. Most of the food was full of flavor and full of spices.

The chole bhatura was delicious. You can’t go wrong with this dish. It is a fluffy bread served with garbanzo beans in a gravy.

My only complaint was that the service was a little discombobulated.

The Gazette staff is on the hunt for the best South Asian food in town.

Taj Oven

It was a little confusing as to how their system worked and the workers seemed new to what they were doing.

They were all very nice but definitely did not seem experienced.

However, at one point the chef came out and served us a complimentary dessert which was a very nice gesture.

It was a mousse-like pudding with cardamom. It was decent but I probably wouldn’t order it.

During my time at Chaat Paradise, the people there asked for our feedback. It was refreshing to see that they knew they weren’t perfect right at the start and wanted to improve..

I would definitely recommend dining at Chaat Paradise and trying some delicious Indian street food for reasonable prices. Though the people seemed inexperienced, they were very hospitable and welcoming.

Gazette photo /SURINA KHURANA

Chaat Paradise brings a nice, modern atmosphere for a trendy feel.

BY ALEX BALDONADO

abaldonado.gazette@gmail.com

You never know what you will get when you find a restaurant on Yelp! – but boy did I luck out. The Taj Oven is a small, cozy restaurant off Pleasant Grove Boulevard by Highway 65.

Taj Oven is a great place if you are looking for fresh Indian cuisine. The restaurant has a great buffet for about $11 and offers a taste of everything – from curry, meats, rice, fruits, vegetables and salad.

When eating from the buffet, I recommend trying anything that starts with the word “taj”. The Taj Special rice and Taj chicken were my favorites. The special taj spice used in their dishes makes those traditional indian plates even better, adding a small kick of spice that compliments the rest of the serving very well.

The aloo masala was another one of my favorite plates. The dish came with potatoes and cauliflower, with added spices that gave all their food distinct flavors.

Gulab jamun is a dessert they served me, which took the shape of a golf ball with cheese in the middle and served with a light syrup. It was a sweet addition to a spicy meal.

I had to try their curry since it is such a trademark dish of Middle Eastern food. With the buffet, Taj Oven

served a lamb curry that was very good with lean chunks of lamb served with a brown curry sauce. It was an odd texture that was hard to stomach at first, but it was a pretty good dish without a flood spices like the other plates.

The service, which apparently was under new ownership, would never ran into the problem of food running out on the buffet and brought over naan for my table.

The restaurant atmosphere was a little dark and peaceful so I easily could’ve fallen asleep, but the spices and food kept me awake. I enjoyed my food much more than I thought I would have and recommend anyone in the area to go to Taj Oven.

Gazette photo /ALEX BALDONADO

Taj Oven employs some inexperienced workers, but nevertheless serves delicious Indian food.

Bamiyan Restaurant

BY HANNAH HOLZER

hholzer.gazette@gmail.com

Tucked away in the crevices of El Dorado Hills is a small Afghan restaurant – small, but boy is it good.

Bamiyan has been serving up delicious food to its surrounding community and returning customers since 1989.

Its location is not the most desirable, but its cuisine certainly makes up for it. My family and I dined at Bamiyan and started our meal with two appetizers – samosas and pataks.

Now, I’m no stranger to samosas, as they were so perfectly crispy and delicious, I could have just eaten a whole plate of them.

These particular samosas were filled with potato and vegetables and fried to a perfect golden brown. The pataks, filled with spinach, also looked exactly as they should, and were also delicious. However, the real star of the appetizers was the accompanying sauce – a cilantro chutney which was so impeccably tasty that I

would’ve bought five whole cases of it on the spot.

Next, each main dish came with either spinach or brown rice, your choice of eggplant, pumpkin puree, sauteed spinach, squash, okra or potatoes as well as afghan bread. I decided on the chicken shish kebab with pumpkin puree and spinach rice.

I’m a big pumpkin fan and Bamiyan cooked this particular pumpkin puree to perfection. The puree was creamy and perfectly spiced – not too sweet, with just the right amount of savory flavors. Of course the headline of the dish, the chicken, was cooked to that perfect in between stage where the meat is just the right amount of crispy.

We rounded out our meal with three perfectly sized desserts – baklava, rice pudding and fernee. The baklava was the best I’ve ever had – the spices working together perfectly – and the latter two, both puddings, had such distinct and unique flavors like I had never tasted. Both dishes were made with rosewater which was delightfully floral tasting and light.

Bamiyan serves delicious and traditional Afghan

food, almost impossible to find elsewhere in the area, for a reasonable price. I had a whole meal left for the next day and I even got to take home the leftover cilantro chutney – I assure you, nothing was left.

Bamiyan Restaurant serves excellent chicken shish kebab that sizzles the tongue.

Gazette photo /HANNAH HOLZER

March 2015

Page 7

naanstop.

Mehfil

BY JILL KURPERSHOEK

jkurpershoek.gazette@gmail.com

Although I’m completely new to indian cuisine, I can’t say my experience at Mehfil Indian Restaurant was a bad one.

Located on Douglas Boulevard., Mehfil is across the street from where I work and in a relatively close proximity to Granite Bay. Not surrounded by any notable businesses, Mehfil is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, bordering a freeway exit and old Roseville.

I expected to come across a limited variety of customers familiar with traditional Indian eateries, however many different people were busy enjoying the unique ethnic food offered.

Not many workers were around and only one of them spoke fluent English. The service was self-seating and the majority of the customers there took part in the allyou-can-eat dinner buffet, so frankly, service wasn’t really necessary. The meals on the menu were diverse, and generally a bit out of my price range, from $11$15 for only one dish, but many deals and buffets were

available to avoid paying too much.

Mehfil’s website also offers a mailing list that sends customers discounts for those looking to save some money.

The atmosphere was relatively quiet and both the customers and the few workers were friendly. After spending a solid 15 minutes trying to read the menu, I decided to order to-go, filling a box from the buffet for only $12.

Honestly, the food was a bit intimidating, considering I didn’t know any of the ingredients, but one of the customers kindly gave me his recommendations. My main priority was to get something that wasn’t mindnumbingly spicy, which I achieved. Although a nice change from my regular dinners, Mehfil wasn’t quite so “newbie-friendly” if you aren’t already at least a little familiar with Indian cuisine.

I ended up getting basmati rice, naan, chicken tandoori and chicken curry. Since I haven’t had Indian food before, it was fun to taste all the new foods and decide what I like and dislike. There was enough food to feed at least three people, all of which were delicious and freshly made.

Tandoori Nights

BY RAWAN KHALILI

rkhalili.gazette@gmail.com

First impressions are important – I agree. However although upon walking into Tandoori Nights, I wasn’t too impressed with the atmosphere, but the food was amazing.

I ordered one of my favorite Indian dishes, tikka masala with chicken.

The flavors blended very well with one another. The fresh Naan bread complemented the dish well – it was like the frosting to a cupcake, only Indian.

You may also choose from five different types of naan, including original, garlic, potato and meat stuffed. They are all freshly prepared and never fail to impress.

Additionally, the ingredients were fresh, tasty and never once was I left disappointed.

Tandoori Nights is owned by a local family who is very welcoming. Its location is centered in the heart of Roseville, only a couple minutes away from the Galleria Mall.

The cuisine at Tandoori Nights is the perfect comfort food after a long day of shopping. The service is also relatively fast.

The seating is limited inside the restaurant, so taking the food to-go would be an excellent option, especially when you don’t feel like cooking. Just call in ahead of time, and get your food very quickly, take out style.

Don’t feel like driving? Fear not. The restaurant also delivers within two miles of its location.

Although I didn’t stay in and eat at the restaurant, I don’t think dining in versus eating at home really made a difference since the atmosphere was overall pretty homely and comfortable, especially due to the selfservice.

I would definitely go back to Mehfil, except next time I would bring someone who is already familiar with the dishes and knows what is worth trying.

Mehfil allows for customers to experience a buffet style dinner for a relatively decent price.

Gazette photo /JILL KUPERSHOEK

This Month’s Picks

The menu includes a wide variety of traditional Pakistani food.

Don’t like spicy food? Well neither do I. That’s the best part, when ordering meats, you can ask for mild, medium or spicy, catering to whatever flavor you prefer.

Tandoori Nights gave me that authentic East Asian vibe, without having to gulp down on water half the time because of intense spices.

I have been to Tandoori nights multiple times, and every time I still choose to order the chicken tikka masala. The warm dish, is paired best with fresh oven baked naan bread.

The food is also set at a fair price as well. There is no doubt you will walk out, full and satisfied, without spending a lot of money.

Tandoori Nights is one of the best Pakistani restaurants I have ever tried. A flavorful experience.

The Gazette food reviewers sample dishes from each restaurant and rank them. #5 Chaat Paradise- Disorganized service

and mediocre dishes with better restaurants out.

#4 Taj Oven- Inexperienced workers, but delicious food makes for a decent experience.

#3 Mehfil- Locally-owned Indian buffet

gives customers a chance to try all aspects of the cuisine.

#2 Tandoori Nights- Authentic Pakistani

Gazette photo /RAWAN KHALILI

Tandoori Nights is located relatively close to the galleria mall perfect for an after-shopping meal.

food for an affordable price.

#1 Bamiyan- Unique, high-quality food

with good service

Page 8 & 9

March 2015

like, comment, subscribe.

SOCIAL MEDIA & blog links below Previous Video

BY AMANDA PRATHER

I

aprather.gazette@gmail.com

nterest in music and media at Granite Bay High School is progressing on campus.

Many students at GBHS enjoy writing songs, making music and posting YouTube videos.

Students can express their creativity and talent through these outlets as well.

Kylie Shimada, a GBHS junior, has her own YouTube channel and loves the process of making and posting a video.

“Making YouTube videos is a great way to (become) more creative and also challenging yourself to make a good quality video that you’re proud of once you post it,” Shimada said.

Shimada said that her videos are inspired by her style, Tumblr and Pinterest.

“Anything that catches my eye like an outfit or a trend that’s going on is what I really pull video ideas from.” Shimada said,“I got started my freshman year by getting a Canon DSLR camera which all of the people I watch on YouTube use.”

With exposure to YouTube, Shimada hopes to be herself and have fun in all of her videos.

“I don’t do it to build up a fan base or get a ton of views, I do it to just have fun and channel myself, my style, and everything i’m interested in into my videos,” Shimada said.

Shimada’s YouTube is “heartsandtriangles” and posts videos about fashion, her monthly and weekly favorites, and more.

Jenny Tarbell, GBHS junior, also has a YouTube channel where she posts videos about fashion trends and fashion by seasons.

“I love the community and all of the creativity that goes within a video,” Tarbell said.

According to Tarbell she started getting into fashion by watching YouTube videos and she hoped to be a part of it.

“I hope to gain a career from it if possible, but if not I have fun with it anyways,” Tarbell said.

Some GBHS students also have interests in the music industry, and enjoy not only singing but writing their own songs.

Samantha Leigh Teemont, a GBHS sophomore, has been singing her whole life and

writing since she was 10.

“I love it because it’s a good emotional outlet and makes me feel good,” Teemont said.

Teemont spends her free time thinking of stories, which inspire most of her songs.

Teemont uses YouTube and posts on her social media to promote her music.

Her YouTube channel is “SL8” where she posts music videos of her songs.

Kassidy Henson, a GBHS Junior, also enjoys singing and making music.

Henson has been singing since she was five and has been writing seriously since she was a Freshman.

“I love it, I cannot really draw or do creative writing so this is a pretty easy way for me to express myself,” Henson said.

According to Henson her vocal coach has really helped her become more comfortable as an artist and has helped her learn so much about music. sible career.

“As an artist it’s important to find things that people can relate to as well as telling your own story,” Henson said.

Page 8 & 9

March 2015

like, comment, subscribe.

SOCIAL MEDIA & blog links below Previous Video

BY AMANDA PRATHER

I

aprather.gazette@gmail.com

nterest in music and media at Granite Bay High School is progressing on campus.

Many students at GBHS enjoy writing songs, making music and posting YouTube videos.

Students can express their creativity and talent through these outlets as well.

Kylie Shimada, a GBHS junior, has her own YouTube channel and loves the process of making and posting a video.

“Making YouTube videos is a great way to (become) more creative and also challenging yourself to make a good quality video that you’re proud of once you post it,” Shimada said.

Shimada said that her videos are inspired by her style, Tumblr and Pinterest.

“Anything that catches my eye like an outfit or a trend that’s going on is what I really pull video ideas from.” Shimada said,“I got started my freshman year by getting a Canon DSLR camera which all of the people I watch on YouTube use.”

With exposure to YouTube, Shimada hopes to be herself and have fun in all of her videos.

“I don’t do it to build up a fan base or get a ton of views, I do it to just have fun and channel myself, my style, and everything i’m interested in into my videos,” Shimada said.

Shimada’s YouTube is “heartsandtriangles” and posts videos about fashion, her monthly and weekly favorites, and more.

Jenny Tarbell, GBHS junior, also has a YouTube channel where she posts videos about fashion trends and fashion by seasons.

“I love the community and all of the creativity that goes within a video,” Tarbell said.

According to Tarbell she started getting into fashion by watching YouTube videos and she hoped to be a part of it.

“I hope to gain a career from it if possible, but if not I have fun with it anyways,” Tarbell said.

Some GBHS students also have interests in the music industry, and enjoy not only singing but writing their own songs.

Samantha Leigh Teemont, a GBHS sophomore, has been singing her whole life and

writing since she was 10.

“I love it because it’s a good emotional outlet and makes me feel good,” Teemont said.

Teemont spends her free time thinking of stories, which inspire most of her songs.

Teemont uses YouTube and posts on her social media to promote her music.

Her YouTube channel is “SL8” where she posts music videos of her songs.

Kassidy Henson, a GBHS Junior, also enjoys singing and making music.

Henson has been singing since she was five and has been writing seriously since she was a Freshman.

“I love it, I cannot really draw or do creative writing so this is a pretty easy way for me to express myself,” Henson said.

According to Henson her vocal coach has really helped her become more comfortable as an artist and has helped her learn so much about music. sible career.

“As an artist it’s important to find things that people can relate to as well as telling your own story,” Henson said.

Page 10

March 2015

laters, baby.

50

Shades of Controversy GBHS students express concerns toward the Fifty Shades of Grey book and movie

BY AMANDA NIST

anist.gazette@gmail.com

Fifty Shades of Grey, the erotic fanfiction turned novel, opened Valentines Day weekend, grossing over 85 million dollars.

The story consists of Anastasia Steele, an awkward, innocent college student and Christian Grey, a wealthy young, but troubled, man initiating a dominant and submissive BDSM relationship.

The novel and film focus on their sexual exploits, which has sparked controversy in the Granite Bay High School student body.

Julia Huss, a GBHS sophomore, said that she believes Christian manipulates Anastasia into having sex with him.

“In the book and in the movie it very blatantly said that she’d never had sex before and that she’d never even done anything before, and I think she’s very uneducated about sex in general and anything of that nature,” Huss said.

Huss said that she thinks that people need to realize that just because Jamie Dornan, who plays Christian, is an attractive actor, it shouldn’t be seen as an actual relationship that’s healthy and respectful of one another.

“Him not letting her hang out with certain friends, and only letting her go out with him on a date once a week are such obvious signs of an abusive relationship and it’s weird that people don’t recog-

nize it,” Huss said.

Olivia Heppell, a junior at GBHS, agrees. She said she also believes Fifty Shades of Grey shows an unhealthy and abusive relationship.

“Throughout the movie, it’s clear that Christian Grey is just using Anastasia for sex without regards to what she wants,” Heppell said. “For a good portion of the movie, Anastasia is upset with the emotional and physical abuse Christian inflicts, usually through manipulation.”

Heppell said that she believes the only reason people are so fascinated with this story, is because Christian Grey is hot, young and rich and buys his “girlfriend” gifts like cars.

“If it was about a paunchy, middle aged, middle class man who was into BDSM, the concept would be incredibly unappealing,” Heppell said.

Heppell also said that she thinks Fifty Shades of Grey has the potential to create unsafe relationships.

“Fifty Shades of Grey may create an unrealistic and unhealthy idea of what a relationship should be for teens,” Heppell said. “It sends the idea that taking advantage of women is fine, and reinforces the belief that men should dominate and control women.”

Ciara Thompson, junior at GBHS, said she liked how the movie stayed true to the storyline and had a great plot. Although Thompson said she liked and enjoyed the movie, she also said

she thinks the movie romanticizes and glamorizes the relationship of Christian and Anastasia to be a normal and healthy relationship.

“In reality I think it’s abusive because he pretty much manipulates her with intimidation into him being able to violently control her,” Thompson said.

Amy Maggard, a sexual assault services coordinator for Stand Up Placer, a group dedicated to helping and caring for victims of sexual assault, said she was initially happy that an erotic novel was finally being written for a woman, but after reading the novels she discovered the relationship was completely unhealthy.

“I was looking forward to having a book that women could look up to and empower them, and while it may look like that, I think that a lot of the violence is masked,” Maggard said. “With domestic violence, it’s typically about power and control and that’s what the movie surrounds itself with. So, I was disappointed.”

Maggard was a guest speaker for GBHS club, Empowered Against Violence (EAV). She talked about the dangers of getting into an abusive relationship, and how to help someone that could potentially be in one.

Amy Straud, who is an advocacy specialist for Stand Up Placer, runs the EAV club. She said she did not read Fifty Shades of Grey in hopes of preventing

negative influence on her fifteen year old daughter.

Maggard said Christian and Anastasia’s relationship definitely depicts an unsafe relationship, and the most dangerous part about it is being that they sensationalized and normalized it in the movie.

“With Christian, they don’t really show his violent side,” Maggard said.

“It says that he gets mad, but that’s not real life. In real life, violence escalates.

It’s a cycle and it’s really rare where a perpetrator is that controlling and that it doesn’t escalate to severe physical violence.”

Maggard said that teens and women look at it and think it’s erotica for women.

“It’s not real life because domestic violence doesn’t just stop like that,” Maggard said. “Usually being verbally abusive, emotionally abusive and physically abusive, they all coincide. It’s not just one type of abuse, ... so people may enter into a relationship like that and be like ‘oh, well Hollywood shows that it’s okay so it must be okay,’ and it gets dangerous really quickly.”

Maggard said that working as an advocate against sexual assault and helping victims has helped her see the movie for what it really is.

“I think it sends the message that violence is okay,” Maggard said, “and that women are objects for pleasure.”

FYI Stand Up Placer is an organization dedicated to helping victims and survivors of sexual assault live a life free of violence. They provide a 24 hour hotline, a 24 hour emergency shelter for battered women and their children, support groups, legal services and counseling.

Amy Maggard, Sexual Assault Services Coordinator. 530-823-6224 ext. 210 Amy Stroud, Advocacy Specialist. 530-889-8497.

Crisis Line 800-575-5352 Gazette photo /KAT MCGRAIL

March 2015

Page 11

famous.

GBHS graduates go

on air

Aspiring singers reach The Voice and American Idol

Gazette illustration /BRIAN ZHUANG

BY JILL KURPERSHOEK

S

jkurpershoek.gazette@gmail.com

inging competitions, for some participants, have been an efficient method of starting a career in performing arts. Music stars, including Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, One Direction and Kelly Clarkson, have reaped the rewards of winning such contests.

Granite Bay High Scool graduate, Sam Denton (class of 2014), and Cindy Maslov, a former Granite Bay resident, are both in Los Angeles in pursuit of auditions for American Idol and The Voice.

“I’m not sure what my future holds,” Denton said, “but as long as I get to be creative with my career, I’ll be happy.”

Denton participated in a series of auditions for The Voice, only to be cut from the final audition which would allow him to be on the show.

“We were all surprised,” said Abe Denton, Sam’s younger brother and a current GBHS junior, of his brother getting cut.

The audition process took the majority of a day, “includ(ing) four and a half hours of waiting in lines,” Denton said.

While auditioning, Denton was in a group with nine others, but each of those participants sang one at a time for different producers of the show. This was Denton’s first audition for a television show.

In addition to singing, Denton writes his own music on the guitar and piano, and he plays other instruments as well.

The audition served as more of a learning experience for him.

“Shows like The Voice are very specific with what they’re looking for,” Denton said, “and there are other things that go into making it on the show besides just your voice.”

According to Denton, the main thing to take away from participating in such competitions is not to take them too seriously.

“Something like The Voice is never your last chancem,” Denton said.

With a family that is supportive of his music, Denton said he is far from his “last chance.”

“Writing and listening to music has gotten me through so many hardships,” Denton said. “I don’t know what I would (do) without it. It (is) a huge part of how I express myself.”

As for Maslov, she was a part of the 2014 American Idol top 40 before getting cut from the show.

According to her Facebook page, she has studied music technology and production at the Los Angeles Film School.

However, the success of participants who make it onto the show is debateable, as it isn’t a guaranteed fame-producer.

“Knowing how few people make it (in the music industry),” said Abe Denton (Sam’s brother), “my parents have encouraged me to do something practical and (put) music on the side.”

Because creating a career in music is challenging, there have been scenarios in which auditionees who were rejected became famous by other means – and on the other hand, sometimes competition winners have short-lived careers.

Amber Riley, member of the Glee cast, Lady Antebellum lead singer Hillary Scott and Colbie Caillat have all auditioned for American Idol, and all were cut before the judges’ round. In addition, season seven winner Jordin Sparks was cut from the competition after her first audition, but she made it onto the show after auditioning a second time.

According to a story in USA Today, The Voice has not produced any stars. The evidence? 2012 and 2013 winners Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery had album sales – 206,000 and 134,000, respectively – that are considered low.

The majority of successful musicians have become famous by means of discovery by the right person, and sites such as YouTube have become talent-havens for those seeking success.

As for Sam Denton, even if he doesn’t hit it big, music has been inspirational for him and his family.

“I do love music, and so does Sam,” Abe Denton said. “That is one big thing we can share and connect on.”

Page 12

March 2015

current.

Top Tweets Spirited tweets by Granite Bay High School students

BY CLAIR KASEL

c.kasel.gazette@gmail.com

Twitter Do you have to ask a senior to prom .. ?

Who’s Hiring

BY AMANDA PRATHER aprather.gazette@gmail.com

Ryder Sanders @doctasandas

Dollar Tree sales associate performs basic customer service activities.

6861 Douglas Boulevard Granite Bay, CA 95746 (916) 771-2601

Kohl’s

Kohl’s is in need of talented associates to bring the customer experience to life.

10375 Fairway Drive Roseville, CA 95678 (916) 773-1991

Dominick’s Italian Deli

Macy’s is in need of employees in retail cosmetics sales.

1197 Galleria Blvd Roseville, CA 95661 (916) 771-3333

23 Favorites

I hate when teachers assign home (in your car before school) work G-WALK

Dollar Tree

1 Retweets

@GareBear_44

2 Retweets

18 Favorites

Shout out to the tribe by far best student section thank you for everything this year #rolltribe darren @23darren23

4 Retweets

54 Favorites

0 Retweets

10 Favorites

Positivity only lilshimi @kylie_shimada

Don’t feel so pressured to do good on midterms.. McDonald’s is hiring Ryan Arneson @ryanarneson15

2 Retweets

23 Favorites

Recipe of the Month: Macarons Ingredients: 1. 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 2. 3 large egg whites 3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4. 5 tablespoons granulated sugar 5. 2/3 cup almond meal or ground almond

Directions:

BY SAVITRI ASOKAN

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

1. Preheat the oven to 280ºF. Position racks together.

2. Place egg whites in a stand mixer. Beat on medium-high. Add granulated sugar, and stir in the vanilla extract. Add the almond meal and fold in gently.

3. Pour batter into a pastry bag, and using a tip, pipe out onto baking sheets in inch-long circles.

4. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

5. Switch oven racks halfway during baking time and rotate the sheets. When the macarons are hard, they are fully baked.

Gazette photo/ HANNAH HOLZER

class act.

March 2015

Day in the life:

GBHS Theatre Theater students describe their daily experiences

BY JACQUELINE ROMERO jromero.gazette@gmail.com

P

reparing for the Granite Bay High School spring musical includes many different roles that contribute to the production of the show and requires lots of work from the students involved in putting on the show.

Junior Kendall Lilley, who plays Adelaide in the spring musical Guys and Dolls, said that the work to prepare for the upcoming show can be time consuming and stressful to ensure that everything gets done.

Lilley said working on improving her performance of her character can be difficult because of all the different components incorporated in her role.

“Most days (in class) I dance or work on lines,” Lilley said. “(Adelaide) has a very specific character, voice and is also a dancer. There’s a lot of work that comes with the role because Adelaide is so extreme and like a caricature.”

In addition to preparing for her own role during class, Lilley also works to ensure other components of the musical run smoothly.

“I also choreographed a dance that my character isn’t in,” Lilley said. “My character participates in the majority of the other dances in the show.

Sophomore Ryan Alpha plays the role of Big Julie, a minor antagonist in the show. He said that the plan for each day is planned by Kyle Holmes, the drama teacher at GBHS and director of the musical.

Alpha dedicates most of his time in preparation for the show toward scenes that involve dancing and or singing.

“Each day up until closing night is planned by Mr. Holmes on a tight schedule of what to run when, so all of our songs and scenes are up to snuff before we go on,” Alpha said. “A typical day includes a lot of dancing, singing and dancing and singing at the same time, which is more difficult than I thought it would be.”

Junior Aubrey Holt, a Hot Box Dancer and part of the ensemble, said that even though it is a lot of work preparing for the show, it is also very exciting.

“I decided to audition for the musical because I love being

on stage,” Holt said. “I was in many musicals while growing up and I have been apart of a performing dance company since I was five.”

In order to learn all the dances for the show, Holt and her fellow Hot Box Dancers have worked with Deserie Milburn, who teaches the dance program at GBHS. Holt also works behind the scenes to contribute to the production of the show.

“A typical day includes running through and blocking all the scenes, rehearsing for our dances, going over our songs and building the set,” Holt said. “It’s all very exciting and we are all looking forward to it.”

When it comes to production, a lot of work is needed.

Costumes need to be precise and appropriate, and setting and props are essential – the behind the scenes team is crucial.

“In Advanced Drama most of my job is dedicated to working with costuming,” head costume and production manager Emily Lavrador said. “As (the musical) gets closer I’ll also be working with sound such as special effects or mostly the mics on the actors” Lavrador said that to prepare for the show, she looks through the theatre department costume room to complete costumes for different characters or searches for them online to order.

“We base (the costumes) off of other versions of the musical,” Lavrador said. “We give our own twists, sometimes for satirical purposes.”

Lilley said that the majority of her costumes are chosen by Lavrador, and Holmes and Deserie Milburn have the final say on what they wear.

As opening day slowly approaches, Lavrador and Alpha both agree that keeping all the costumes organized has been a bit stressful, but is also still fun work.

“To get prepared I run lines by myself or with a friend pretty often and try my best to get my dances down,” Alpha said. “I drink a lot of red bull to stay pumped.”

Holt said that being involved in the musical has given her an opportunity to try something new and make new friends.

“I thought being in the musical would be a fun experience and it allowed me to participate in something new on campus.” Holt said, “My favorite part is getting to meet new people and getting to sing and dance everyday.”

Page 13

Page 14

March 2015

vacation.

spring break Previewing what the vacation means for Granite Bay High School students

BY KAT MCGRAIL

kmcgrail.gazette@gmail.com

Each year, Roseville Joint Union High School District has a Spring Break that falls during the week before Easter Sunday. But for some, the connotations of Spring Break are particularly suggestive of “the Hollywood party scene.”

Movies like Spring Breakers and other Spring Break imitating films depict this break as a time designated to go down to some tropical destination and consume large amounts of alcohol on a beach.

But what does Spring Break entail for the majority of the Granite Bay High School population?

Some say it’s a necessary time off halfway through the semester, others say it is a good week for a vacation, while some say it’s a time to unwind and party – but it is often misrepresented by the media.

For many high school students, especially seniors who have already been accepted into colleges, the idea of a little “last hurrah” before college with no concern for school workload is enticing.

Advanced Placement United States History teacher Brandon Dell’Orto believes that Spring Break has always been associated with partying, especially for high school and college aged students.

“There’s this little moment in time between senior year and (the) second to last year in college where (students) are free of all responsibilities except for classes,” Dell’Orto said. “It’s nice to be in control and give yourself the right to play for a week.”

However, junior Kassidy Henson believes that the purpose that Spring Break has is mostly not centered around high school aged students, but rather college kids, since the majority of high school students are still under 18 years old.

“I think people associate Spring Break as a party break,” Henson said. “Because a lot of college parties happen around then.”

Dell’Orto agrees that the party aspects of Spring Break are short-lived. For students, the experience is fun and exciting, but drastically changes once you get a little older and have a family with children, not to mention a greater responsibility.

Senior Nick Wohlman also said that even though Spring Break is centered around some idea of a crazy party, many high school aged students are not involved with the majority of the stereotypical Spring Break activities.

“Most people (in high school) just go on vacations with their parents,” Wohlman said. “(Spring Break) is more of a college thing than anything.”

Students agree that Spring Break is heavily falsified by movies made about this break.

Many movies concentrate their themes on crazy drunken tropical adventures and wild vacation hook-ups – but the reality is that spending Spring Break this way is not all that common.

“I think like a lot of things, there’s the glamour and the allure,” said Dell’Orto. “(But) the images (don’t) really live up to it for a lot of people.”

The Hollywood version of Spring Break has evolved to represent what people think that this spring holiday should be like, and the muse of a wild Spring Break is really more of a dream than anything that actually takes place during the week.

Sophomore Cassie Cook says that Spring Break is primarily just a much-needed break before the summer month and the media’s representations of it are very distorted. “(The) media tries to put ideas into people’s minds on what you should and shouldn’t be doing on Spring Break, and what the so-called ‘cool’ people do,” Cook said. “People aren’t influenced by it.”

Both Wohlman and Henson agree that Spring Break gets a lot of hype from the media, but it’s all inaccurate for the most part and most students don’t experience it at such a radical level of partying extravaganzas.

“Some people do see it as a ‘party vacation’,” Cook said. “But most people are just excited for the week off.”

spring break MORE SLEEP THE BEACH

Gazette illustrations/ HANNAH HOLZER

Rated: PG-13 By: Amanda Nist anist.gazette@gmail.com

F

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

ocus, directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, was one of those movies that lingers in your head hours afterwards. Starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, this film combined action, romance and humor. It was very well-written and kept me on my toes – constantly wondering what would happen next.

Taking place in New Orleans, the movie had a modern feel. It begins with a professional con man named Nicki (Smith) meeting a woman named Jess (Robbie), who he quickly takes under his wing.

Though, at first I thought it would be yet another love story, it turned out to have much more in store.

Nicki allows Jess to be a part of his con man “crew” and teaches her the “psychology” behind it.

Together, the crew works together to steal expensive items such as wallets.

I am not one who will patiently wait for a movie to become entertaining. Too often movies progress slowly until the middle, when they pick up but, I can honestly say that was not true of Focus. From the beginning, the movie started strong and continued to heighten as the events unfolded.

In my opinion, the plot was extremely interesting.

Being able to see how con men go about robbing people, and becoming filthy rich from it, was fascinating. The dangers and risks from this job were portrayed throughout the movie, which was also cool to see.

While the film encompassed a great deal of action, it also included a romance between the two main characters – but not one that I expected. I was prepared for the writers to fall into the hole of directing a movie depicting another shabby love story.

However, they did not. The love story between Nicki and Jess was only a small fraction of the movie. But, blended with the thrilling action, the directors molded the movie into one unlike any I have ever seen before.

Constantly during the movie I found myself questioning who the characters really were and their true intentions. And the truth is, you don’t really know until the end.

I was very impressed with the storyline of the film, since I had never imagined what the life of a con man may be like. I would strongly recommend seeing this movie because there are none out there like it. With an intriguing plot, great acting, and thrilling scenes, Focus is definitely worth seeing.

Rated: R By: Natalie Erickson nerickson.gazette@gmail.com

focus: A

Warner Bros. Pictures

didn’t really know what to expect when I decided to see Jupiter Ascending. I knew it was a new science fiction movie and Mila Kunis played the main character, but the plot seemed confusing to me. I didn’t know if it was about aliens on Jupiter or even aliens in general, and honestly – I’m still not quite sure.

I do know that Kunis plays a girl named Jupiter Jones who cleans toilets and washes clothes for a living. I also know that the main antagonists, three human siblings who have discovered how to stay young forever, live on Jupiter. The fact that the protagonist’s name is Jupiter, and the bad guys/ superhumans live inside of Jupiter further confuses me. Jupiter literally ascends into Jupiter.

Anyway, basically Jupiter inherits earth from a powerful human who had the same genetic makeup as her, and although they’re not related at all, Jupiter is left in her will. The three antagonists of the movie, who are the children of Jupiter’s doppelganger, all attempt to manipulate her in hopes of stealing Earth, which you learn is really just a breeding farm for humans.

Honestly this is probably one of the cheesiest movies I’ve ever seen. Everything about it was unoriginal which – in a science fiction movie – shouldn’t be allowed. The dialogue, the romance and the so-called action scenes were all horribly cliche.

One scene towards the start of the movie features Channing Tatum, (Caine Wise), flying around on his anti-gravity shoes trying to save Jupiter from green, flying aliens who work for the bad guys, but only after a ten minute chase scene. And I’m not exaggerating – I used the bathroom and came back before Caine and Jupiter had finally gotten rid of the aliens.

The romance between Kunis and Tatum’s characters seemed almost forced. Not to mention, a forbidden love Beauty and the Beast aspect was added in which Jupiter should not be with Caine, because in the special superhuman space world, Jupiter is the queen of Earth and Caine is the equivalent to a dog.

The movie really wasn’t all too bad. I enjoyed the way space was portrayed and I also enjoyed the spaceships and floating cities. The ships reminded me of Star Wars and the warp speed portals reminded me of Star Trek, which, while overall contributing to the unoriginality of the movie, was pretty cool. If you’re a sci-fi geek like I am, you’ll at least be able to appreciate this aspect of it.

jupiter ascending: D+

I

Page 15

film.

I

LIONSGATE

went into the movie expecting it to be cheesy and predictable and that’s just what it was.

However, I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud at times and I’m slightly ashamed to say that I teared up a little.

In an over exaggerated stereotypical high school, an underrated senior girl named Bianca gets offended when her best friend calls her a “D.U.F.F.” which stands for designated ugly fat friend. Even though she denies it, she starts to realize that she is the least attractive friend in her group.

When she tries to impress a boy that she likes, she turns to Wesley, her childhood friend and captain of the football team, for advice in exchange for help in chemistry. Like every cliched high school movie, there is always a “mean girl” – in this case her name is Madison and she is the source of conflict in the movie.

There is a motif of social media throughout the movie in which the effects of it are revealed through the characters. When an embarrassing video of Bianca goes viral, she becomes humiliated. The creators of the movie clearly tried to make it as relatable to teenagers as possible by naming practically every type of social media there is during the 104 minutes. Also, by incorporating dating websites and the “duck face,” the movie clearly depicts current pop culture.

The movie very plainly emphasizes bullying in high school and how it hurts people and can make them insecure. More specifically, cyber bullying is a perpetual concern. However, Bianca finds a positive outlet to mull things over.

Another subplot in the movie that may cause teen viewers to be empathetic is the fact that Bianca struggles with having divorced parents and Wesley has to deal with his parents fighting regularly. Both characters work together to overcome this hardship which might inspire viewers to do the same.

Through all of Bianca’s strife, her best friends Jess and Casey never permanently leave her side.

After one little fight, they reconcile and support one another again. A message of true friendship is very evident in this aspect of the movie. It seemed to me that the writers of the movie tried to incorporate as many high school themes as possible even if it means adding blatant exaggeration.

Although I knew the movie was painfully predictable, it was still heartwarming and sweet. I would recommend the movie to people who like foreseeable yet heartfelt outcomes.

Rated: PG-13 By: Maddie Williams mwilliams.gazette@gmail.com

the duff: B-

March 2015

Page 16

March 2015

senioritis virus.

zero to

SENIORITIS

Real Quick The senioritis epidemic has now affected the class of 2015.

BY JACQUELINE GORDON jgordon.gazette@gmail.com

From the recent outbreak of measles to the Ebola crisis, the past year has seen unthinkable illness infect the world.

However, this year a new illness, seniotoma demotivatius, more commonly known as senioritis, has ravaged GBHS at record levels.

Senioritis is a disease of the brain that specifically targets senior students. It causes apathy, sleepiness and in extreme cases, death of all academic performance.

According to AP United States History and IB History of the Americas teacher Brandon Dell’Orto, senioritis manifests in 4 stages.

The beginning stage, according to Dell’Orto, fully develops a month into senior year. By the end of September, seniors experience loss of motivation and forgetfulness.

“It takes them awhile to remember … the things they once knew as a student, for example, what a pencil is,” Dell’Orto said.

“There’s this kind of senior dementia.”

Stage two begins when seniors start their

college applications.

“Those people are … easily distracted, almost like a dog with a squirrel running by it,” Dell’Orto said. “They get back to an almost animalistic state. … There’s a distinct, ‘woe is us’ … (and) semi-martyrdom (mentality).”

Excessive anxiety marks the third stage as students await admission to colleges.

Sweating, insomnia, and students making plans to join communes characterize stage three.

“The last stage of the disease shows itself almost instantaneously,” Dell’Orto said.

“You know when it’s terminal. … The day the senior in question receives the acceptance letter from a college … all thinking stops. … (They get) an ashen look … (and) dried remnants of drool accumulate … at the corners of their mouths.”

Senior John Coffey is among those infected and said it has been a difficult road to recovery. “(Senioritis) creates a void in your life,” Coffey said, “that (can only) be filled with copious amounts of Netflix and chocolate.”

Newfound treatments have helped Coffey

cope with the illness.

“My first period off, that’s part of my therapy,” Coffey said. “I can invest my little energy into (fewer classes).”

According to Coffey, senioritis is highly contagious. “(If) you get involved in the senior culture … you can get the disease (as early as) sophomore year,” Coffey said. “By the time you’re a senior, your grades could die.”

For teachers, the impact and even reality of senioritis are highly controversial.

AP Government teacher Jarrod Westberg said that senioritis is a burden in his classroom.

“Students think it’s a right of passage to sit back and do nothing,” Westberg said. “February and March are the worst months of a senior teacher’s life. That’s when (seniors) … fall off a cliff.”

Westberg deals with senioritis primarily by threatening students.

According to Coffey, all schools need to raise more awareness to help prevent senioritis.

“This is a serious disease,” Coffey said, “and it needs to be talked about.”

Gazette photo /EPSA SHARMA