Granite Bay Gazette March 2016

Spring Break Students discuss vacation plans

Recreational Basketball

Religion in English Class G10-11

Some find allusion inappropriate

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Athlete’s involvement showcased

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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 4, 2016

COMMENTARY

hannah holzer .gazette@gmail.com

Experience allows time to mature

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hen most driven students or college alums are questioned about the reasoning for their desire to continue their education, undoubtedly most will give responses which relate to job opportunities, money-driven aspirations and parental requirements or personal gain. What many overlook, however, is the sheer value of gaining perspective.

Prior to the summer of 2015, California seemed – to me – to be the most progressive state, the most liberal, open-minded, advanced and certainly the least crime-laden. I have always lived in Granite Bay, and since realized that my mindset was simply based upon my own hometown.

When I was chosen to attend Girls State, a week-long mockgovernment program in the summer, I expected a heavy amount of challenging work, campfire songs and hot weather, but the most significant thing I received from that week was the gaining of new perspective.

The second day of Girls State was Picture Day, where each girl was required to wear either a solid red or blue shirt. As we walked over to the designated picture area, I noticed one girl who was wearing a shirt more orange than red.

I assumed she either did not care or did not own a red shirt – how silly, I thought, not to own even one red or blue shirt. However, I quickly discovered the girl I had noticed was one of at least a dozen California residents Life after whom I high school would hear of needs to be that did about selfnot own any solid reflection ... blue or red clothing for their own safety.

Several girls remarked how weird it was to not only wear solid reds and blues, but to be around these colors and not feel endangered. This is because in their hometowns, the colors of red and blue are gang-affiliated.

One girl I befriended who lived in Stockton semi-jokingly remarked on a personal social media platform that it would be hard for her to tell the difference between Fourth of July fireworks and gunshots. Another girl described an instance where she had bought blue shoelaces which were quickly banned by her school because of worries for gang-affiliation.

It’s not that I dislike the area I grew up in, because I understand and recognize how lucky I am to have grown up in such a secure town. But although I am looking forward to college for academic reasons – sharpening my abilities and actively learning – I also cannot belittle the opportunity to grow personally, in maturity and experience.

What is often overlooked when college is advertised to students is the change that college has on individuals – often serving as an almost necessary period of selfdiscovery.

Life after high school needs to be about self-reflection, or else what experiences and standards do you have to understand the world around you but your youth? Examine and explore the experiences of others, thus maturing the soul. *** Hannah Holzer, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.

Gazette photoillustration/CAROLINE PALMER

There has been an increase in the number of young vape users, although vaping has been seen to have health consequences different from those of cigarettes.

New method of smoking grows in popularity on campus

BY NASEEHA ISLAM

nislam.gazette@gmail.com

Granite Bay High School students are notorious for reaching for the stars. They hold themselves to high standards, strive for high grades, and face high expectations. But as of late, students and teens across the nation have been achieving that high in another way: vaping.

For those who don’t know, vaping refers to the breathing in of aerosols from heated chemicals stored in electronic, battery-operated devices including e-cigarettes or hookah pens – which is more common among high school students.

This practice has sparked conversation among students both in person and across the internet, as it has become a growing sensation over the past few years.

High schools around the country have experienced an increase in the use of vaping devices. Many teens accept the new cultural phenomenon, whether they take part in it or not.

While some students take vaping as a joke, others use these products regularly as a part of their daily routines or social rituals. Reasons for vaping may vary, but the appeal of the substance is strong regardless.

“I became familiar with hookah pens when I was a freshman,” said one junior girl who prefers to remain anonymous.

“Vaping became a social norm my sophomore year and now during junior year I see it a lot more often.

“I vape for literally no good reason, the vape juice just tastes good, and the clouds look really cool.”

But unlike other substances that are sometimes prevalent among this age group, many people are vaping for social participation and enjoyment rather than for personal drug purposes.

“It’s not for nicotine purposes or anything,” said the junior girl. “And I only (vape) socially, so not very often at all.”

Whether the majority of students can relate to the junior’s

GBHS students consider election Prospective voters share their views and candidate of choice

BY AMANDA NIST

ELECTION POLL

anist.gazette@gmail.com

With the 2016 presidential election – the previous primaries and caucuses and the many more on the horizon – politics has been the hot topic of many discussions.

Specifically, among Granite Bay High School students, the presidential candidates have sparked heated debates. Seniors this year will be able to vote for the first time and are working toward finding their political identities. This being said, in government and economic classes there has seemingly never been a better time to discuss voting and the presidency.

Jason Rath, a College Prep and Advanced Placement Government teacher, said he thinks more seniors than ever before will vote in this presidential election because of the presence of polarizing figures like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the race and the potential of either possibly getting their party’s nominations.

Rath also said he thinks most seniors in this school most likely identify with the Republican party, although if they could they would identify as indepenSee VOTE, page A5

inside the Gazette news

 Students who chose the Republican party are shown to support Marco Rubio overall but an overwhelming number of Democrats support Bernie Sanders Gazette graphic/ TROY PAWLAK Source: A survey of 140 Granite Bay High seniors conducted in five different classes

Vaping became a social norm my sophomore year and now during junior year I see it a lot more often – anonymous female junior

See VAPE, page A8

Blog draws attention, anger New assistant principal’s online footprint noticed

BY HANNAH HOLZER

hholzer.gazette@gmail.com

In most cases of judgments involving students and faculty members, it’s the student who is being judged and the faculty member who does the judging. But the recent discovery of a fashion-based blog produced by assistant principal Melanie Anvari has

flipped that typical scenario.

Granite Bay High School created a new job – intervention counselor – at the beginning of the 2015 school year. Melanie Anvari, who had not previously worked at GBHS, was hired to fill this position. At the beginning of the 2016 spring semester, Anvari was named to replace Sybil Healy as one of four assistant principals.

Anvari had created a personal blog See BLOG, page A7

Effects of gender inequality in STEM classes examined Girls underrepresented in math and science courses

BY SAVITRI ASOKAN and GARBHITA SHAH For senior Gauree Shah, this has always sasokan.gazette@gmail.com been a concern.

As an ardent STEM (science, technolWhile social differences in an academic ogy, engineering and mathematics) enthusisetting remain inevitable, a prevalent issue ast, Shah has consistently sought out areas in modern society is the existing disparities where girls are traditionally underreprebetween male and female students enrolled sented at Granite Bay High School, both inin higher level courses.

See STEM page A6

Campus Life at GBHS examined

Culture Shock week debuts

Purpose of faith-affiliated organization on campus is confusing to some

New five-day Student Government event premiers

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experience with vaping or not, students can agree that vaping is, at the very least, a hot topic at GBHS and teen culture in general. In fact, there is now even an Instagram account on the issue – @ gbvapesquad – which regularly posts pictures of “vapers,” vape pens and popular liquid flavors, indicating that regardless of whether vaping is taken seriously or not, its existence and in-

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voices

Myers Briggs test questioned Psychological personality test lacks validity

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News

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Friday

NAMES IN THE NEWS

Granite Bay Gazette

w March 4, 2016

surina khurana skhurana.gazette@gmail.com

Natalie Hatch chosen as Girls State delegate

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ive junior girls were nominated to represent GBHS at Girls State, where students participate in a mock government. Junior Natalie Hatch was selected to be the GBHS delegate and will attend Girls State over the summer. *** Senior varsity football players Sam Cusano, Scott Henrichs, Ryan MacIntosh and Ethan Milner were all honored at the post-season National Football Foundation awards banquet. I’d say that was quite the touchdown and a punt of a way to end the season. *** The juniors won the last rally and are expected to win Powder Puff. Bleed blue. *** Junior Prom is just a bit more than a week away from today. Daphne Peter and Alex Dillabaugh did a fantastic job with the invitations. It’s going to be a night to remember. *** Tomorrow marks the start of a new era. The new version of the SAT will be implemented. *** Junior Cole Kahmann, senior Sean Vajanaphanich and senior Tyler Short got first place in an FBLA event at regionals and qualified for state. Future business leaders? More like the future of America. *** Midterms are in one week.

If you haven’t started studying for your exams, maybe attend a meditation session at the Peer Counseling Center instead. *** Junior Julia Huss was an outdoor education counselor and supervised a cabin full of Excelsior Elementary School students. Usually the week is full of hikes and other fun activities, but Huss got a special surprise – one of her girls threw up on multiple occasions. *** Junior Sawaan Tiwari won the top award at the Lenaea Festival for costume design.

It’s probably more than just dress-up at this stage. *** The under-appreciated athletes of our school – the divers – had their first meet of the season last week. Sophomore Melia Stout ran circles around her competitors. Wait, no. She dove circles around them. *** There is no school on April 15. I’ve never loved Tax Day so much. *** Surina Khurana, a junior, 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

Special to the Gazette /ROB MAXEY

Special to the Gazette /ROB MAXEY

Left, Campus Life members gather at the Campus Life Barn, a meetup spot for weekly events such as breakfast and Ultimate Frisbee. Right, additional Campus Life members and leaders rest and regroup after a dodgeball tournament.

Some question Campus Life’s presence Students wonder about organization’s adult leaders on campus

BY OLIVIA HEPPELL, HANNAH HOLZER AND CAROLINE PALMER oheppell.gazette@gmail.com

Dating back to 1802, the idea of a separation of church and state can be attributed to Thomas Jefferson, who wrote about it in a centuriesold letter to a group associated with another, different religious group.

Although this separation is not guaranteed in the Constitution, it is a guaranteed assurance which took root in a clause issued by the Supreme Court after its ruling in Everson v.

Board of Education.

It might be confusing for students – specifically those at Granite Bay High School – to understand why Campus Life, a non-denominational national faith-affiliated organization which is in more than 1,000 schools across the country, is given access to a public high school campus.

Whether they’re sitting at lunch on Thursdays at a bannered Campus Life table or intentionally invited by the school district to talk to struggling students, Campus Life has a long history of appearing on the GBHS campus, but in more cases and for more reasons than some might think.

“In my time at Granite Bay (High School), we chaperoned the dances, the freshman class – even to this year – builds their float at

Community aims to aid refugees Immigration response is varied in the region

BY BRIGID BELL

brigidbell.gazette@gmail.com

Immigration ebbs and flows with world conflict. However, with politics in the national and global spotlight as the 2016 presidential election approaches, policies on how to deal with immigration have been receiving a great deal of attention.

From GOP candidate Donald Trump’s superwall to national controversy over Syrian refugees, the public seems bitterly divided over the policies surrounding immigration.

Some students at Granite Bay High School have an accepting attitude toward people seeking refuge in the United States.

“I think we should be welcoming to our fellow humans,” senior Avni Suri said. “I feel no ‘fear’ at all of having them here, because I am not fearful of other religions.”

Suri said since we are all humans with similar desires, we should welcome refugees.

“We all deserve to have freedom, from oppression and a life full of love, light and happiness,” Suri said.

“Therefore, I think refugees in our community should be a badge of pride on every American’s sleeve ... for being so understanding of others and offering our freedom out to the world.”

Senior Daniel Smith said he is also open to welcoming refugees.

“I think refugees in our community can be a good thing,” Smith said, “It’s the American dream – a person can come here and have the opportunities to become successful.”

One organization, World Relief, is dedicated to helping those who come into the United States find a home,

my house, and, when bad things happen, the school calls us,” said Rob Maxey, the executive director of youth for Christ Ministries in Sacramento, which is the parent organization for Campus Life. “The principal … will call and say ‘Hey, we’ve got some kids that are in trouble, could you help? (Or) we have a kid that has attempted suicide ... would you reach out to the family and connect with them? (Or) … we have a kid that has committed suicide, would you consider doing the candlelight vigil?’ So we’ve really been intricately engaged with Granite Bay for the last 20 years.”

Although many students have been under the misconception that Campus Life is affiliated with Bayside Church in Granite Bay, the organization is not related to any one church.

YoungLife, another Christian-affiliated youth organization, has similar goals and uses similar means, but it is a separate entity from Campus Life.

According to Maxey, the faith component of what Campus Life does on campus is always optional for students. In general, Campus Life focuses on character, confidence, responsibility and, as an optional component, faith.

Overall, a large aspect of Campus Life’s goal as a national organization is community outreach and improvement. “(For) a lot of the underserved kids at (local) schools, we figure out how to pay their life bills,” Maxey said. “We help coach the basketball team at Adelante and buy the kids’ Avni Suri Suri supports international action to welcome refugees.

organization, the confusion over one concise goal might help explain why some students feel uneasy with Campus Life’s presence at shoes because people can’t afford them.

GBHS. We’re faith-based, (but) Junior Julia Huss said we’re not putting Bibles that although she thinks in people’s shoes when we religious clubs should be alIf they say they are give them. lowed on campus, she won“When a kid gets susreligiously ders whether Campus Life pended or expelled from is proselytizing students. affiliated and ... are Granite Bay and they go According to Advanced to the district office, I go trying to push their Placement Government as an advocate and sit in on teacher Jarrod Westberg, it religion on people, the expulsion hearings … is a conflict of interest for We’re just trying to (help) they should any religious organizations local kids that have practiabsolutely not be with a campus presence if cal needs. they are approaching and here.

We have that kind of adtrying to actively convert vocacy for kids that don’t – Advanced Placement students. have advocates. I’m not Government teacher “If they are religiously just a random guy who affiliated and (openly prosJarrod Westberg showed up one day and elytizing), then it is a huge said ‘Hey, let’s hang out conflict of interest to be on with kids.’” a school,” Westberg said.

Campus Life, as both a community-based lo“If they say they are religiously affiliated cal and national organization, has such a large and if they are trying to push their religion array of responsibilities and past involveon people, they should absolutely not be ments that, for some students, it was hard to distinguish in one clear thought exactly who here, in a legal sense. I am sure that group has or what they were. Maxey said although he found the legal way to get into the school, but thinks Campus Life and its adult leaders com- looking at it, if that’s what they’re doing, it’s municate their purpose very clearly outside totally wrong.”

However, the fact that Campus Life is a reof school, the purpose for Campus Life’s presence on a school campus might be a little ligious organization isn’t the only thing which confusing.

Especially for those not involved with the See CAMPUS LIFE, page A8

Gov. Brown mandates that UCs accept more in-state applicants Record number of aspiring students for 2016-17 admission

BY RAWAN KHALILI

and feel welcomed in the process.

World Relief was established after World War II to serve as an evangelical humanitarian group which helped find displaced refugees a home after the war.

In 1980, World Relief became one of nine resettlement agencies that help the U.S. State Department place refugees around the country once they are cleared by the government.

Since then, World Relief Sacramento has helped over 30,000 refugees find homes in the Sacramento area.

“Historically, there is a very large Slavic community,” said Kirt Lewis, the office director of World Relief Sacramento. “We are one of the largest offices in the nation that settles former Soviet Union refugees.”

According to Lewis, this was particularly true through the ’90s and early 2000s after the fall of the Soviet Union, but the Slavic population has started to decline since then.

“Recently ... because of the conflict in the Ukraine, we have started to see larger numbers of Ukrainian and other Soviet Union refugees arrive here in the Sacramento area,” Lewis said.

There are high numbers of other demographics arriving in the area as well.

“The largest group or nationality arriving in the Sacramento and around the country right now are from Afghanistan,” Lewis said.

Most of these people come seeking refuge under former President George W. Bush’s special immigrant visa program, “(The program is) for Iraqis and Afghans who worked for the U.S. government or military who served as interpreters or civil engineers, or whatnot,” Lewis said. “It allows See REFUGEE, page A8

rkhalili.gazette@gmail.com

This year, the nine University of California campuses reported a record number of applications. Admissions offices concluded that increases ranged from 5.8 percent to 13.5 percent, making it the busiest year yet for college admission offices.

The UC campuses have always been a hit for Granite Bay High students, because of their ideal location and quality of education. It’s common to attend a school on a beach, something that makes California an optimal place for studying and surfing.

Senior Carmela Flores is one of the many students that would rather stay in-state for school, with her top choices being UCs. “I get really cold easily,” Flores said, “so I wouldn't survive on the East Coast.”

With its weather and location, California is a desirable place to live and attend school. The rate at which out-of-state students apply makes the process competitive, especially since out-of-state students are willing to pay more.

“There has been a lot more pressure to excel in every aspect where colleges look,” Flores said.

“Many students want to constantly prove they should be admitted to any school.”

Senior Frances Strnad applied to schools in both California and the East Coast.

“I would definitely prefer to stay in California.

I don't really like the East Coast,” Strnad said.

“My top choices are UCLA and UC Berkeley, even though they are really hard to get into. If I got to attend one of them, that would be great!”

For some students, staying in-state is the best way to go financially.

“I would prefer to stay in California because tuition is lower,” senior Gauree Shah said, “plus it’s close to home.”

Proximity can mean spending more weekends at home with family, and not in a dorm room.

Senior Sarah Jolly, who applied to three UCs, isn't too worried about the enlarged applicant pool this year.

“They are letting more state residents into col-

lege,” Jolly said. “That’s really good, since they have been accepting a lot of out-of-state students in the past. So that's good news for California residents.”

Recently, Governor Jerry Brown’s mandated the UC campuses to start accepting more California residents, efFrances fective immediately.

Jolly, who applied to three Strnad UCs, wanted to narrow her A senior, she options for colleges by only applied to colleges on the applying in California.

“There are so many op- East and West tions for colleges,” Jolly said. Coasts, but “It could be hard to choose prefers to stay in from them all. So saying that California.

I’m staying in California for colleges really narrows them down.”

The dramatic increase in applicants, while nerve-racking for students, inspires a positive perspective in some students. “ I think it's a good thing that more people are applying,” Strnad said. “This way, schools can select the best of the best. Whoever gets in truly deserves to be there.”

What's optimal about California is the variety of options, ranging from private schools to UCs and CSUs. “I’m not too worried about the competition because I have a lot of in-state backup schools,” senior Jack Kennedy said. “It’s good there’s more competition, but there are plenty of colleges for everyone, and the best people go where they need to go.”

The condensed applicant pool lowers chances but it might also encourage hard work.

“It forces students to be more competitive, which is good,” Shah said.

In a generation this competitive, dedication and hard work are the real keys to success, Flores said. Competition “shows students are encouraged to continue their education and reach their goals,” even if chances of acceptance are shrinking.

“UCs, in the end,” Flores said, “are taking a good step for in-state students, so that's an advantage.”

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Friday, March 4, 2016

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Culture Shock Week promotes understanding

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Student Government tries to create a unified school

BY SONIA GARCHA

sgarcha.gazette@gmail.com

Now that we’ve finally settled into the new semester, with new people in our environment, we must take a step back and remind ourselves of our theme this year, “Walk A Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes.”

As per usual, Student Government put together Ripple Effect in the fall, an event that connects students and faculty members with one another. The week full of thoughtful videos and activities that promote unity is always looked at as a highlight of the school year.

Culture Shock Week, a week new to Granite Bay High School, was created in order to remind students of the impact that Ripple Effect had and the importance of the theme of the year.

Associate Student Body President Aubrey Holt said that she felt that this event was necessary in order to continue the momentum and understanding promoted

by Ripple Effect. “(Mrs. Givens and I) talked a lot about how in the fall, Ripple Effect and how the whole culture on campus is so strong, but then it starts to fade into the spring,” Holt said. “We came up with the idea of Culture Shock. We saw a need for it and went after it.”

Similar to Ripple Effect, Culture Shock consisted of a week full of activities during second period and lunch, involving both students and faculty members.

Monday consisted of writing down compliments to one another in second period. Holt said that it was a great way to start of the week because everyone feels good when they receive a compliment or positive thought.

Tuesday did not include an activity, but a heartfelt video of Mr. Evans talking about his brother’s passing and how that affected his life in so many ways.

Student Government wanted to include teachers into the event, as they are also a part of the GBHS family.

On Wednesday, Student Government created a Happiness Board as a lunch time activity, decorated with sticky notes and pens. Members of Student Government encouraged students to write down something that makes them happy.

Thursday included another video bulletin which fo-

cused on the theme, “Walk A Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes.” Students were interviewed and stated facts about themselves that you would know if you walked a mile in their shoes.

Friday, the final day of Culture Week, was dedicated to an activity called Cross the Line. Students were told to stand up from their seats if they identified with the phrase given by the their instructor.

This activity was also done during Ripple Effect as Holt said that it’s the most eye-opening activity that really bonds teachers and students together.

Teachers who are new to GBHS told Student Government that they appreciated being included in the activities because they felt more connected to their students.

Holt said that this is an important event for our campus because we must remind students that they’re not alone when they’re going through a situation and that there is a support system for them on campus.

“Overall, we just wanted to remind students of the impact that culture does make,” Holt said. “People go through things daily, monthly, yearly, etcetera that they didn’t plan on happening and some students hide (those issues),” Holt said. “That’s the whole purpose of our theme.”

Junior Jack Lugo, Assistant Culture Commissioner, said that Culture Shock Week is a good way to keep students open-minded and remind them not to pass judgment on others, without knowing them.

“We never really know what people’s lives are like, or what people go through,” Lugo said. “It is really important to make sure we don’t hurt others feelings or say mean things to anybody when we don’t know their true story.”

Lugo said this event has been a mission for Student Government and that they’re really trying to make a change on campus.

“My team and I (had) been planning this event for a while, and we (had) selected activities … that we (thought would) help change the perspectives of our students on our campus,” Lugo said. “We are praying it (had) an impact.”

Freshman Chloe Ralli, member of the Culture Committee, said that this is an event that should continue

Gazette photo illustration /CARISSA LEWIS

Students participated in many activities during the week and gave each other compliments in one.

on our campus in the following years.

“Ripple Effect is in the first semester and Culture Shock is in the second semester so it’s important that the students are reminded that we all have our own stories and problems,” Ralli said.

Holt chose to use this year to host the inaugural event, but it’s up to next year’s ASB President and staff if they want Culture Shock to continue.

“It is definitely important to continue to keep our-

See CULTURE, page A6

New computer science course to be implemented

Three students named finalists

Select seniors earn National Merit honors

Class will open new doors for students

BY HANNAH XU

hxu.gazette@gmail.com

BY SURINA KHURANA

skhurana.gazette@gmail.com

Every October, many sophomores and juniors take the PSAT which helps students prepare for the SAT. It serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT).

To be a National Merit Scholar, one has to score high on the test as a junior. Nearly 1.5 million students take the test and around the top 50,000 scorers receive some kind of recognition – a mere 3.3 percent of test takers.

“It’s typical to have a few (National Merit Scholarship Finalists at GBHS) – at least one (and) sometimes more,” Granite Bay High School counselor Tiffani Gieck said.

In early February seniors Shivani Bobbala, Eric Jacobs and Savitri Asokan learned that they were are all finalists.

In order to reach the Finalist stage, the students first had to be selected as semifinalists.

In the September following the test, typically taken in October of the previous year, about 34,000 students are notified that they are commended students and about 16,000 students are notified by their school principal and counselors that they are semifinalists.

For Bobbala, being told she was a semifinalist came as a surprise.

“I wasn’t thinking much about the PSAT or the scholarship when I was studying for the SAT over the summer,” Bobbala said. “The scholarship was never really in my mind es-

selves in check to make sure we know exactly what someone is going through before we judge them or say anything bad about them,” Lugo said.

Although Culture Shock is an extension of Ripple Effect, Holt said that this event has the capability to be as big as Ripple Effect.

“We put Culture Shock together in such a short

Gazette photo illustration /AISHWARYA PATTNAIK

Eric Jacobs, Savitri Asokan and Shivani Bobbala advanced to be National Merit Scholarship Finalists based on their PSAT scores and an application. pecially because I’d never heard of someone or met someone who got it before. I thought it was for some random kid who gets a perfect score.”

After being told she was a semifinalist, Bobbala along with the other semifinalists submitted an essay and filled out an application similar to a college application to aid the committee in the finalist selection process. “(The application) was very resume-like – kind of just about your extracurriculars and what you do,” Asokan said. “It wasn’t necessarily an in-depth essay.”

During this round, counselors also submitted a letter of recommendation for each of their semifinalist students.

In February, according to Asokan, more than 90 percent of semifinalists were told that they had become finalists.

The final round takes about half the final-

ists to actual National Merit Scholarship winners. Of the 16,000 finalists, about 7,400 winners are chosen.

Asokan, Jacobs and Bobbala will know in the next few months about their status, but any recognition at all is an incredible honor.

To have reached the finalist stage will prove useful in the future.

“One of the things being a National Merit Finalist changed for me was the colleges that I chose to apply to,” Bobbala said. “I looked for colleges that were giving out really good scholarships because if you make it to finalist status, (many) colleges have either automatic scholarships or competitive scholarships.”

Bobbala said certain schools even offer free tuition to National Merit Finalists.

“I got the SAT score that I wanted before I

NEWS BRIEFS

-By Caroline Palmer

See COMPUTERS, page A6

ASB UPDATE

Ryan MacIntosh receives Burlsworth Character Award

Ryan MacIntosh, a 185-pound, 5-foot-11 middle linebacker didn’t know what the Burlsworth Character Award was until he was told by his coach, Jeff Evans, that he had been nominated.

This year, MacIntosh’s name, his coach’s name and the name of his high school will all be listed in the credits of a major-motion picture movie based on the player who the award is named after.

“It was truly an honor to be recognized for this award,” MacIntosh said. “It’s really cool to have my name in a Hollywood movie.”

This year, MacIntosh was chosen to be a captain of the varsity football team.

“It was an honor to be a captain this year for football,” he said. “The four other captains and I had a special bond, and every Wednesday we would have a captains’ dinner.”

Along with the bond between him and his fellow captains, MacIntosh said he has a strong relationship with all of his teammates.

“My favorite part of football is the atmosphere where we get pumped up with the band and run out on the field with the rest of my brothers,” MacIntosh said. “We definitely put in a lot of time and hard work over the years but every Friday night makes it all worth it when you’re under the lights playing in front of a huge crowd.”

MacIntosh has decided to not pursue football in college.

“I’m looking to possibly play rugby for Baylor or USC,” he said. “I’m really liking rugby and we are going to Nationals this year, so I’m definitely working hard to keep a starting position so I can be able to play in Nationals.”

See MERIT, page A6

As a new school year approaches, new additions have been introduced to the Granite Bay High School hefty and impressive list of classes. One addition that many students are excited about is the brand new Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course.

The recently added class will introduce students to graphical coding, application developing and robot programming. Additionally, students will learn the application of computer science and the past, present and future of computer science.

“There is a component to this (class) that is not in any other class,” said Marc Imrie, who teaches GBiT and AP Computer Science Principles said. “We talk about the social and ethical issues involved with computing.”

The students will also be introduced to different programs to help them along with their learning.

One of the programs used will be Berkeley-developed SNAP! “SNAP! is a drag-and-drop programming language,” Imrie said. “Some curriculums will use Python as their coding language, others use drag-anddrop which is a lot more user friendly.”

Additionally, Imrie said that dragand-drops help students learn to think computationally, without having to learn the syntax, and therefore feeling

the frustration, that is specific to coding languages.

“Students who have gone off to learn (specific languages) like Java have said that their experience with a drag-anddrop has benefited them,” Imrie said.

“They already know the thinking behind (the language), now they just need to learn the words for it.”

Junior Keaton Dougherty said learning to code is one of the most exciting aspects of the class.

But coding isn’t the only thing the class focuses on.

Those who take the class will also have many hands on projects to work on. From robot programming to app development, students will get the opportunity to play around with their newly learned skills.

“I’m really excited to learn about … the ways a person can make an inanimate machine do exactly what they want,” junior Michaela Warady said.

Imrie said that AP Computer Science Principles isn’t your typical class with the large number of projects and the little amount of lecture time.

Because the class doesn’t focus on taking notes, it deviates from the normal classroom setting. It further differentiates itself by allowing students to spend an entire day with a someone in a tech job, interview them, and then later present to the class their findings.

ASB discusses the soon-to-occur Junior Prom at GBHS The Gazette talked to junior Daphne Peters about the upcoming dance, which will take place on March 12, 2015

Gazette: When is Junior Prom?

Peters: Junior prom will be on March 12th from 7:30 to 10:30.

Gazette: Where will it be held?

Peters: It’s going to be at the high school in the quad.

Gazette: What is Student Government currently doing to prepare for the event?

Special to the Gazette /DAVE MACINTOSH

Senior Ryan MacIntosh received a prestigious award for honorable football players and will be recognized in a movie.

Peters: We are currently working on invitations for the junior class to get

Q A &

the information out and just getting all the details ready so the night can be perfect.

Gazette: What are some things students can look forward to at the dance?

Peters: Students can look forward to good music and dancing with their friends as well as delicious sweets.

Gazette: Why should students go?

Peters: I feel like people should go to have that prom experience and to go to a dance that is differ-

Gazette photo /Natalie Erickson

Junior class president and

Junior Prom Comissioner Daphne Peters describes details pertaining to Junior Prom.

ent from all the rest. It is a great opportunity to connect with your friends and to get closer as a class.

–Compiled by Naseeha Islam

Friday, March 4, 2016 w The Granite Bay Gazette

News

A5

Shaving heads for cancer

Annual St. Patrick’s Day event raises funds

BY ANJALI SHRIVASTAVA

ashrivastava.gazette@gmail.com

St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us, and this year the Gold Ribbon Club is hoping for the luck of the Irish to grace them with lots of funds.

The Gold Ribbon Club is organizing the annual St. Baldrick’s Day event on March 17, with copresidents Michelina Hanlon, Bella Matthews and Candice Leung at the helm.

All three have been a part of the club since their freshman year, but are new to the leadership roles they now hold.

“My sister ran the club last year, but I wasn’t really in the organization process too much,” Hanlon said.

“It’s been a learning process for me having to coordinate with everyone.”

Hanlon’s sister, Annina, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, or bone cancer, at the age of 12. Upon reaching high school, Annina Hanlon founded the club to raise awareness.

Because of this proximity to the disease, the Hanlon family began to see the lack of funding toward childhood cancer.

In fact, the National Cancer Institute spends only four percent of its budget towards childhood cancer research, and the other 96 percent goes towards adult cancer research.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is helping to bridge this gap. In 2015 alone, the nonprofit organization raised more than 23 million dollars for their cause. A

large portion of this money comes from the thousands of St. Baldrick’s Day events across the nation, including the one at Granite Bay High School.

The event will be emceed by sophomore Bronson Vanderjack, and raises money through the sponsorship of shavees.

“I want to emphasize all the good these people are doing by shaving their heads and supporting St. Baldrick’s Day,” Vanderjack said.

The club is currently trying to recruit more shavees for the fundraising event, as they need about 10 to 15, but only have five at present, according to Leung.

One of the committed shavees, Alexandra Beitia, is excited to be a part of the event. Beitia shaved her head in her freshman year, volunteered in her sophomore year and is once again shaving her head for her junior year. “ I’ve read lots and lots of stories about these children, and it’s really heartbreaking to find that these 4- or 8-year-olds are being diagnosed with cancer,” Beitia said. “(They will never) have these experiences that we all take for granted.”

Beitia described the feeling of shaving her head as “alive” and “energetic.”

“I knew I was doing something good, and wanted to continue,” Beitia said. “It didn’t feel like I was sacrificing anything; it just felt like I was being a part of a bigger community.”

After shaving her head, she said many people wanted to rub her freshly shaven head, and most were extremely proud of her.

Any perceived cons were far outweighed by the benefits, Beitia said.

“Your hair’s always going to grow back, and it grows back so fast,” Beitia said. “That’s the least you

Gazette photo / CARISSA LEWIS

Gold Ribbon Club members prepare decorations in anticipation of the St. Baldrick’s Day event. could sacrifice. In exchange for raising money and a close knit group of kids,” Matthews said. “We all shaving your head, you’re going to be donating to a want the same thing, we all want to raise funds for bigger cause and saving thousands of lives.” these kids.”

The charitable event not only offers money, but also To participate in the St. Baldrick’s Day event this a feeling of solidarity. year, whether as a volunteer or shavee, visit tinyurl.

“You get to meet new people, and our club is such com/gbhsbaldricks.

VOTE: Students prepare to cast their first vote in fall Continued from page A1

dent.

“Unfortunately you have to pick sides in our politics and so I think that most people at this school are socially liberal but economically conservative, if they really know what that means,” Rath said. “So they’re more moderate, but more moderate Republican.”

GBHS seniors Emily Gallegos, Mitch Montbriand and Colette Curran said they all plan on voting in the 2016 presidential election.

Both Gallegos and Montbriand both said they identify with the Republican party, while Curran said she identifies more with the Democratic party.

“I don’t choose my positions based on my party, however, 99 percent of the time (I) identify with the Republican Party,¨ Gallegos said. “It almost aligns (completely) with my moral and political beliefs.”

Montbriand agrees. He said he also thinks most of GBHS is conservative because of how they were raised.

“I’m a Republican because I think that government is wasteful so the economy should be in the hands of the private sector,” Montbriand said. “I also don’t like the political

correctness Democrats insist on.”

Curran said she mostly agrees with the Democratic party because they favor taking more measures to protect the environment, decreasing the gap between the very wealthy and the poor and supporting of equality and justice for people of all races, sexual orientations and gender identities.

“I also agree with the liberal policies of expanding health care, making education more affordable, practicing reasonable foreign policy actions, making abortion a woman’s choice, eliminating the death penalty and implementing more gun control,” Curran said.

Young voters’ impressions Curran said she believes liberal students in Granite Bay are in the minority.

“Most students at GBHS seem to be conservative,” Curran said.

“There is also a large number of students that have moderate political beliefs.”

Rath said he believes his students, and seniors in general, are still developing their political views, and a lot of them don’t really care.

“The only things they care about are social issues because that’s what impacts their life,” Rath said.

“As an adult, you always continue

to develop and care about different issues (and) as you change through different phases of life certain things become more important to you.”

Rath also said he thinks Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are probably the most popular among his GBHS seniors.

“I think the students like the idea of free education, so Bernie Sanders (is popular),” Rath said. “I think the students like listening to Donald Trump speak, just because he’s Donald Trump and a reality TV star, not a politician … and to be quite honest, they probably are not aware of any of the other candidates, besides Hillary Clinton.”

Curran said she will be voting for Bernie Sanders because she agrees with his plans for liberal reforms; however, she’d like to know more about his foreign policy. Gallegos said she is leaning toward Marco Rubio because she thinks he will work very hard to stop ISIS, illegal immigration while maintaining a path to citizenship.

“I think he will maintain great foreign relations while making America strong again and not taking a back seat to other countries,” Gallegos said. “Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything we disagree on.”

Follow our beat.

Community influences Gallegos said she thinks a lot of GBHS students have very different political views than her, along with most teenagers her age.

However, she also said she knows there are a decent amount of kids who agree with her based on the general beliefs of Placer County, Granite Bay’s economic stance and the huge theological influence the Granite Bay community has.

A lot of kids gravitate toward Bernie Sanders, Gallegos said, because of his stance on college finances.

“I think from our generation, almost all of the votes will either go toward Bernie or Hillary, but I feel like the older generations will vote for Rubio or Trump or one of the (other) leading Republican candidates this year,” Gallegos said.

Montbriand said he is going to vote for whoever gets the Republican nomination, because he believes they will be able to fix the economy, but he is ultimately leaning toward Marco Rubio. “(Rubio) seems pretty moderate but I wouldn’t mind Trump,” Montbriand said. “I think since Trump is the loudest candidate most people will vote for him. I like him because of his policies

even though I think building a wall is a bit extreme.”

Navigating extremes Although people seem to have strong opinions on the presidential candidates, Curran said many people may feel like they are voting for the lesser of two evils.

“People who are strongly liberal are likely to happily vote for Sanders and people who are strongly conservative will likely be happy to vote for Cruz or Trump,” Curran said. “If the general election is between Trump and Clinton, I think it will definitely be a clothespin vote for many people.”

Because the presidential candidates haven’t said anything very important, Rath said he thinks this makes teenagers feel indifferent toward the election.

“Donald Trump has just said these outlandish sound bites and Cruz and Rubio are left to defend themselves … so the candidates haven’t really gotten down to the issues yet, they’re more or less battling,” Rath said. “You’ve got Republicans fighting Republicans and Democrats fighting Democrats, because that’s what the primaries do.

So I think a lot of people are just waiting to see who’s left.”

Rath also said that voting is the

one time teenagers can be taken seriously.

“Vote because it shows that you matter and you care and that’s your one time to express it,” Rath said.

“Politicians and everyone else will start taking young people seriously if they voted. See, that’s the beauty about politics – your opinion matters and when you vote, you’re expressing that opinion. That’s why I think it’s important to (vote).”

Why voting matters Contrary to popular belief, students’ votes matter, Rath said.

“About a hundred years ago, women didn’t have the right to vote,” Rath said. “In the 1960s, African Americans were still struggling for the right to vote and our politicians are still trying to take voting rights away from people.

It’s the one power that we all have.”

Rath said it’s hard to vote because we live in the moment and it’s a very powerful action.

“So many people fought for such a long time to gain the right to vote,¨ Rath said. “I hope these students exercise the political power all of us have – no matter how much money you make, no matter your gender or the color of your skin. This is the one time that all of us get the same power in politics.”

Friday, March 4, 2016

News

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Lack of knowledge about uncommon sexual orientations

There are more orientations than many seem to be aware of when it comes to human sexuality.

Ignorance brings harsh feelings, hurt to students

BY KATIE COLOGNA

kcologna.gazette@gmail.com

Even though the world is more accepting of the Lesbian-Gay-Bissexual-Transgender+ community than ever before, there are still people with other sexual orientations who may feel neglected.

There are sexual orientations beyond just gay or straight – it is not so black and white. Other sexual orientations include asexual, bisexual, pansexual, transgender and demisexual.

“Any time I’ve talked about gay, straight or other, people are like ‘other?’ I think our culture is trying to wrap our brains around being gay,” Granite Bay High School Advanced Placement Psychology and Peer Counseling teacher Natalie Elkin said, who is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist For instance, asexuality may not be as commonly understood.

“Being as I am an asexual, I get a lot of people who think I’m joking.” an anonymous female senior said.

The senior said people often say inappropriate or irrational things because they do not understand others’ different lifestyles.

“Luckily, I’m really confident in my sexuality and refuse to be pressured whatsoever,” the senior said.

“But there’s an incredible amount of stress being put on people with these lesser-known sexualities, and it’s brutal to deal with.”

The senior said it’s necessary that different sexual orientations be more well known because young people are growing up thinking they have to be one thing or another.

Most people tend to think that the LGBT+ community accepts every sexual orientation, but even the LGBT+ community doesn’t accept all sexual orientations.

“I’m a huge supporter of the LGBT+ community, with friends in it and me technically being in it as well, there’s no doubt I’m really involved with it, but my sexuality is treated like kind of a joke even in that community,” the senior said. “There’s a tendency for people to tell asexuals that it’s ‘just a phase’ and that

they ‘just don’t know what (they) want yet.’”

With the constant fear of being judged, some live most of their early years knowing but never confronting their sexual orientation.

“I’ve always been this way. Ever since I was a little girl and stared blankly when girls asked me why I’d never kissed a boy before,” the senior said. “For the longest time, I hated it – it alienated me from everyone, and I didn’t know how to explain what I was feeling and why it was affecting my relationships so much. But once I found that there was a term for what I was feeling – and, way more importantly, a community I could talk to – I was able to take on a new sort of confidence.”

The struggle of people not adapting to different types of sexualities is a problem that will always be there.

“I don’t think people want to accept it,” the senior said. “Asexuality is such a weird concept for people, especially in this sort of sex-crazed modern society.

You can’t get away from sexual references, I swear.

They seem to be in every song, every show and every movie. I’ve just learned to accept it and turn away.”

Most students at this age have someone to look up to, but when there still aren’t a lot of people in the public eye that are open about their sexuality, it can be hard for teens who fit into these different sexualities.

Also, some people aren’t aware that it can be hard for these students to feel understood.

“I think they’re not aware because there’s no venue in our culture or society where we see it modeled and or even discussed,” Elkin said.

Pansexuality, or being attracted to anyone, is a more recently-coined term.

“I’d say it’s definitely demonized in comparison since it’s seen as a ‘switch’ or ‘half in the closet,’” Granite Bay High School senior Elise Ramos said.

There are a lot of misconceptions about pansexuality and other sexual orientations. People are often less educated than they think they are.

“People always say ‘Oh, does that mean you cheat more (since) you’re attracted to pans or bisexuals?’”

Ramos said. “Even some lesbians and gay people are

Gazette illustration/ CARISSA LEWIS

surprised that I’d be ‘with a trans person,’ which goes to show that transphobia exists even within the LGBT+ community.”

Society plays a huge part in the acceptance of other sexualities. This generation has arguably been the most active in advocating for the rights of everyone. According to the Pew Research Center, the Millennial generation is the most accepting of equality and same sex marriage. Still some can’t accept the fact that change is happening.

“Society is very scared to change what they already know, so with new acceptance in small numbers, supporting the genders and sexualities that are not considered ‘normal’ comes more confusion and sometimes anger,” an anonymous female sophomore said.

It is not just society that is causing a problem in the understanding of different sexualities. In order to actually decide if they are okay or not okay with the variety of sexualities, they need to actually know what it all means.

STEM: Genders not equal in some courses Continued from page A1

side the classroom and out.

When Shah took Advanced Placement Chemistry during her sophomore year, she was confronted with the reality of being one of only two girls in the entire class. A dedicated participant – and one of the few girls – on the GBHS robotics team, she also faced discrimination, she said, as she attempted to establish herself in a program where leadership is mostly dominated by males.

Shah, who decided to join the team as a freshman due to personal interest and the encouragement of her brother, who was already on the robotics team, found that she often had to outperform the average male member to assert her competence.

“At first, people tended to underestimate what I could do,” Shah said. “No matter how many times I tried to prove myself. It’s a studentdelegated team, and the student mentors would not give me the jobs that I could do just as well as any other guy … If someone needed something, they wouldn’t have me do it, but would tell me to go get someone else to do it. It’s not something that they did consciously. They just thought I wasn’t ready, partly because of my gender.”

Since joining the team, Shah has seen the gender disparity steadily worsen as fewer and fewer girls have decided to participate over the past years. According to Shah, this creates a vicious cycle that deters more girls from participating, as “they don’t have many friends on the club to begin with, and feel dominated by the other sex.”

Experience not abnormal Shah’s experience is far from singular. Statistics from GBHS have always pointed to a distinct gender gap in STEM courses: all-male computer education classes last year; consistent imbalances in some advanced chemistry courses; over three times as many males as females in advanced physics courses. Just three years ago, in advanced physics courses at GBHS, California Department of Education reports show an enrollment of two girls and 31 boys.

Given the current state of science and technology innovation within the nation, such figures are understandable. According to the White House Council for Women and Girls, created

by President Obama in 2009 to promote gender diversity in science and technology, female engineers and scientists make up only 24 percent of the workforce. However, women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more than their non-STEM peers. For a field often touted as the education of the future, replete with smaller wage gaps and lucrative jobs, STEM seems to be closed to half the population.

Yet even when placed within the larger context, the sheer breadth of the gender gap at GBHS appears to be something of an anomaly. In every other school in the Roseville Joint Union High School District, with the exception of Adelante High School, overall enrollment in science courses has historically been higher for girls than boys (due, in part, to the preponderance of females in biology courses.) However, for GBHS, this trend is reversed. In the 2014-2015 school year alone, male enrollment outstripped female enrollment by 65 students.

But those female students who do take advantage of GBHS’ science and tech offerings might

find the experience rewarding, as senior Kate Petterson did. Petterson, who was one of five girls of approximately 35 students in a computer science class last year, said she benefited from pursuing her interests.

“Technology in our society is generally promoted as a guy-centered activity,” Petterson said. “Such gender stereotypes are really negatively impactful. But it was a fun class and I really enjoyed it, and (I believe) that the mindset of people on campus should be that you can do whatever you want to do no matter what you gender is.”

In national STEM initiatives, the presence of other women, and the creation of support systems, has been cited as fundamentally beneficial to student success. Senior Jolie Huang, who took AP Physics C in a year when just under a third of the students were girls, said that she was “glad (her) class had at least a few (females), since my class would have probably been much worse without them.” Huang “wasn’t really aware” of the all-male classes in AP Physics, which have occurred in the past and this year as well.

District-wide stem enrollment John Montgomery, the Roseville Joint Union High School District assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said the district has taken measures to combat gender disparity.

Yearly, representatives of the District and Career Technical Education “conduct surveys to identify those underrepresented gender groups who are enrolled in STEM courses and Programs of Study.”

While some programs at some schools have shown improvement, others are still below even the minimum state standard for participation.

Consequently, Montgomery said, the district uses “recruitment (and) registration, and showcases events in order to attract more underrepresented students.”

Montgomery’s recent efforts, which he discussed at an RJUHSD meeting in November 2015, begin as early as middle school, identifying differences in mathematics entrance exam results between genders.

Difficulty of finding a solution Educators like Phillips find this disparity perplexing and worrisome. One reason could be the divergent perceptions of science and tech teachers (who are more likely to be male) and female students. For example, although California Department of Education data consistently shows that girls have been underrepresented in AP Physics C teacher Steve Miller’s class, he said he “doesn’t see there being a trend, per se.”

“Of course, as a teacher and a father to three daughters, I’d like to know if there’s anything I could be doing that I’m not to further encourage girls to take those higher-level courses,” Miller said. “But I couldn’t really define what it is exactly that may prevent girls from taking AP courses. That’s a societal thing many experts are trying to find the answer to.”

However, Miller said there have been years where there were no girls on both the robotics team and in his classes. On these occasions, Miller is aware that team dynamics do shift.

“One thing I tell my robotics kids, especially when there aren’t any girls on the team, is that we’re only working with half of a brain,” Miller said. “Robotics is all about problem solving, and I’ve seen that boys and girls approach those

A6

problems differently. So it’s always nice to have both girls and boys on a team, or in a class, because getting those different perspectives is a good thing.”

On the other hand, IB Biology teacher Elizabeth Henderson said she was “never discouraged from any science field on account of gender.” Henderson, who worked in biology research and in food science, doesn’t think gender disparities in science have any real basis.

“I hope that all of my students will consider a STEM career, and I don’t make a concerted effort to target girls over boys,” Henderson said. “However, I do think we need to combat some assumptions and stereotypes and .. make women in STEM more visible to younger girls, and especially in engineering and math. If they don’t see many women in STEM, they may not consider it an option or get the wrong message that ‘It’s not for them.’”

Inequality from a female perspective Integrated Math teacher Lisa Vaughan had a different experience in STEM. Always having dreamt of becoming a teacher, it wasn’t until much later that she realized her interests in the math and sciences and went on to achieve her degree in engineering. However, unsatisfied with the profession, she decided to pursue her original goal of teaching.

“I really strengthened my understanding and passion for the math and sciences through my engineering degree,” Vaughan said. “When I actually got into doing the engineering after my degree, it wasn’t rewarding for me. So I went back and got my teaching credential and now I’m doing something I’m passionate about, but it was strengthened through my understanding and passion for the math and sciences.”

Therefore, Vaughan said encouraging girls to pursue a certain STEM-oriented field just to create a gender balance isn’t righteous.

“I feel like we each have our own innate fields that we connect with,” Vaughan said. “We should be encouraging anybody who has a passion for math and sciences,... but I don’t want to force passion on anyone.”

Vaughan also described how being one of the few females in her college engineering classes ironically gave her an advantage.

“I never faced discrimination as a woman. In fact it was the opposite,” Vaughan said. “It was easier for me to get into Cal Poly because they wanted more females.”

To further elaborate upon this idea, while students like Shah feel the definite presence of a “subtle sexism” when part of a gender minority, their peers might see otherwise. 2015 GBHS graduate Alex Chew, who worked with Shah on the robotics team for three years, said he didn’t think girls on the team were treated very differently from the boys. In the past few years, Chew said, girls on the team have been in major leadership positions.

According to Montgomery, although the transition is slow, RJUHSD administrators should continue supporting students at registration time, as well as developing new programs of study which appeal to underrepresented groups.

“It’s just a matter of thinking twice before you make a judgment,” Shah said. “It’s a matter of leaving old judgments behind and helping the next generation.”

“In order for the minority to have an effect on the majority, whether (they say) ‘Hey, I just want to educate you,’ or ‘I want acceptance’ the minority all have to agree and their message has to be consistent,” Elkin said.

Even though a lot of people feel lost when finding their sexuality, there is a sense of happiness that comes to many when finally discovering who they are.

“I think I love that there’s all of these nuanced categories that people are finding,” Elkin said. “It’s like they’re not satisfied with just being placed into this category or having this label that they want to find words, phrases (and) labels that capture exactly what their experience is, and even that it captures the freedom to change.

“I think for some people sexual orientation is more complex than we’ve ever given it credit for, so some people know right away and others go on a little journey.”

COMPUTERS: New AP Computer Science course broadly hopeful for launch Continued from page A4

AP Computer Science Principles also helps with life outside of solely the learning environment.

With an ever-growing technological economy, the new class opens doors to the workforce and introduces students to skills applicable in a variety of jobs.

“Any job nowadays has some sort of computer aspect,” Dougherty said, “so having these skills will be useful for anything I plan on doing.”

The unique characteristics of this class sets it apart from other classes, with the assurance of a “real life” use and its interactive curriculum.

“I think computer science and computer programming is often misunderstood,” Imrie said. “It’s writing algorithms – the steps or directions to help solve or plan a task … If we transfer that thinking (of algorithms) from computer science to the outside world or our personal lives, that just makes computer science a little more interesting.”

MERIT: Students qualify for success through PSAT

Continued from page A4

took the PSAT as a junior,” Asokan said. “So I definitely took it for the scholarship opportunities.”

Asokan’s junior year PSAT/ NMSQT was the third time she took the test, but she received the same score her sophomore year.

She said that receiving this recognition was one of her goals.

“It was surprising to me that you can get this much money for just one test,” Bobbala said.

Doing well on that one test, however, typically isn’t very easy.

Bobbala and Asokan both spent lots of time studying for the SAT which ultimately prepared them for the PSAT/NMSQT. Jacobs, on the other hand, had a different approach to success.

“I studied a moderate amount – probably a couple hours (total) for the PSAT and maybe a little bit more for the actual SAT,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs, like GBHS’s other two finalists, are excited to see what the future holds as they head forth in their education with this incredible achievement.

CULTURE: New event encourages kindness, caring Continued from page A4 amount of time just because of the schedule,” Holt said. “People can make it as big as they want or do

what they want, but this year I just wanted to remind students of Ripple Effect … You never know what someone is going through behind closed doors.”

Read the Gazette, the award-winning newspaper of Granite Bay High

Friday, March 4, 2016

w The Granite Bay Gazette

A7 News

BLOG: Administrator’s online efforts upset some Continued from page A1

quasi-Joan Rivers’ “Fashion Police” mixed with Stacey London’s “What Not To Wear.” She intended it to serve as a kind of helpful-hint website – fashion policing from behind a screen. But students at GBHS who discovered the blog – which has since been deleted – were surprised and even offended by blog posts dating back to 200910, although the blog was last updated in late 2015.

“This was a while ago, 2009-2010 – a while ago – and, for the first part of college, I wanted to go into writing and … journalism,” Anvari said.

“I started the blog because I was at the moment where I really wanted to be … a fashion (critic). Like the show (“Fashion Police” with) Joan Rivers and her daughter. I thought something like that would be the coolest thing.

“I started it because (I thought), ‘That’s it, that’s what I’m going to do if teaching doesn’t work out.

I’m going to do this.’ I missed writing. When you’re in journalism, you change your style of writing to fit whatever you’re trying to do, and that was that style of writing. Since then, I definitely switched (my) blogging from ‘What Not To Wear’ type (of) fashion (posts) to more lifestyle(themed posts), but I just started running out of time and my priorities shifted.”

The older posts, dating back to 2009, gained the most popularity as they were the most critical. Screenshots of these posts circulated among students and especially among seniors.

Students saw screenshots Sonia Matheus, a senior, said she first came into contact with Anvari’s blog after a friend showed her screenshots of old posts.

“When I first read the pages sent to me, I just had to laugh out loud – it was utterly ridiculous,” Matheus said. “Not only were some of her comments degrading, but they were words that I wouldn’t expect to see come from a professional. I’ve never come into direct contact with Anvari, (so) the blog is the first time I had indirect contact with her, therefore I can’t tell you how she portrays herself as a person/professional. However, reading those comments really turned me off – I wouldn’t want to speak with anyone who openly degrades people, no matter if it was a thing of the past.”

Although these posts, along with the blog, have since been deleted, screenshots of the posts remain in circulation and have been distributed by students and others via text and group messages. Portions of the blog are still cached on the internet and can be found using Google.

The theme and content of the blog focuses mainly on criticizing the clothing choices of strangers.

Blog posts include topics such as costume days from the perspective of a teacher: “Being a teacher is slightly annoying during major holidays, such as St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, etc. It’s EXPECTED that you will dress up and be festive for these cliché holidays. You would think at the high school level, this would all die down but you are wrong. If anything, the high school kiddos are MORE excited to wear pink on Valentine’s day or wear their fabulous slutty ‘fill in the blank here’ costumes.”

They also include fashion tips: “General tip: DRESS FOR YOUR BODY TYPE. Not all (women) can pull off certain types of dresses,

don’t kid yourselves! … Take someone (shopping with you) who will let you know that clingy fabrics are not the best choice for larger-sized dresses, this way you can save yourself from being on this blog.”

Additionally, they give personal pointers: “Personal choice: I never wear leggings with a shirt that is too short. After all, leggings cling to EVERYTHING! … Moral of the story: ‘Cover the cookie or else he is gonna want to eat it,’ as quoted from my … stripper dance class.”

Blog wasn’t a hiring concern Some students who read the older posts were surprised that, given the ease of finding the blog online, it apparently didn’t come up when Anvari was being hired as an interim assistant principal. It isn’t clear whether the blog was discovered by the hiring committee or taken into account during the hiring process.

Both GBHS principal Jennifer Leighton and Roseville Joint Union High School District Superintendent Ron Severson declined to be interviewed for this story.

“I am going to pass on this one,” Severson said in an email. “Not sure I want to be even a part of this story.”

According to the Professional Standards for all district employees, “inappropriate employee conduct includes, but is not limited to … using profane, obscene or abusive language against students, parents/guardians, staff or community members.”

All district employees are held to the standards listed and expected to perform in such a manner as to meet these expectations.

The fact that the blog is so accessible shocked seniors Macayla Thomas and Ryder Sanders, who both said they thought it should have been a factor in the hiring process.

“I was very shocked to see that something like that would still be up when she is going out looking for jobs,” Sanders said. “I was also shocked that our admin did not find it in the hiring process.”

Anvari said she generally does not think an online presence should necessarily be relevant in the hiring process, as long as a person’s personal and work life remain separate.

Ironically, Anvari is partially responsible for enforcing the dress code on campus.

“If she were to enforce dress code, her words on the blog make it look like she could be dress coding people based off of her standards of what’s appropriate,” Matheus says, “(rather than) what is actually prohibited.”

No intention to harass, offend Anvari said the purpose of her blog posts was never to harass or offend individuals by name, and especially not students.

“I feel like the purpose of blogs … is to express yourself and to say how you feel. What I wrote about was how I felt,” Anvari said. “What I wrote about was never from my work. I didn’t write about anybody I worked with, I never wrote about students – I wrote about things on my personal weekend, like concerts or being out. It was never about anyone individually. It was more ... (about) life lessons.”

She also said that, as the only female assistant principal, it is her goal to strive to become an ally for the female population, especially senior girls. Anvari said she wants to repair what might be a broken relationship with senior females.

However, some male seniors might have been offended by particular blog posts. Sanders, for example, said he was upset by comments on a blog post from 2013 about American

Flag Attire that classified all such clothing under the category “The Bad.” “I had no idea how many hats, shirts, pants, shorts, scarves they made out of the American flag,” Anvari wrote in her blog. “I couldn’t tell if people were genuinely patriotic or poking fun. I was confused and I didn’t like it.”

Sanders said he thought these comments were “disrespectful and rude” because being patriotic, even through clothing, is not something which should be “frowned upon.”

Most teachers don’t have a significant digital footprint – or if they do, it isn’t generally accessible to students.

Given her relatively new status as a GBHS staff member, some students are asking if her blog posts have had a lasting effect on her professional reputation.

“I have never had any personal interaction with Anvari, but ... it made a lasting impression,” senior Macayla Thomas said. “To me, it is highly unprofessional to have … a blog that comes off as very superficial and judgmental which we need less of, not more.”

Anvari has no regrets, but deleted blog anyway Other students, however, disagree.

“The screenshots that I saw – (because the blog) was taken down before I could see it – were all from five or six years ago,” said a senior girl who asked to remain anonymous.

“If you think about it, everyone has done stupid things in their past, and this was nearly a decade ago. If it was more recent, I would probably be more upset about it, but it’s in her past and hopefully she’s different now.”

According to Anvari, while she said she does not regret any of the posts, she also said she deleted the blog because she heard students were upset – and the second students either misinterpreted or took offense is when she knew it had to go.

At the time, Anvari said she meant every word she said, but when posting online, it is important to think of how comments can be perceived from others’ point of view. Also, she said she wishes students would talk directly to her instead of talking to other students about her.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong, I just want to fix how people are feeling,” Anvari said. “What I wish is that people would come talk to me instead of talking about it with other people. And I say that to students

all the time too, because the biggest conflicts can arise when people talk about (things) with other people instead of involving that person.

“I would never, ever … talk about my students that I work with – that is so unprofessional. I just want people to talk to me about it so they can understand. I don’t want to hear that they talked to (others first). That’s not going to solve anything, it’s just going to make it worse.”

But at the same time, in life you can’t have regrets. That’s why I say I don’t regret (the blog). I thought about it and I meant every word I said and it was never meant towards anybody.

“But you have to think about the whole picture and (other) people’s perceptions. When you do something and when you put something out there with social media … you have

to think about it and you have to be OK with the consequences.

“I think this is a really great, teachable moment. Because … you’re constantly learning and growing as a person because every day is a new battle and a new struggle (and) … the cool thing out of this (situation) is that it’s not what you’ve done before, it’s where you go from there.”

“Just be careful” The members of the millennial generation – those born roughly between 1980-2000 – face a new threat of outward surveillance, a new form of scrutiny that can haunt them even from their past. A millennial’s online presence, depending on what they’ve posted, might hinder employment opportunities and relationships – a more modern problem not seen often by older generations.

This problem is especially groundbreaking because with the speed and efficiency of modern technology, a person’s whole past – regrettable or otherwise – can effortlessly appear on the screen of any leisurely Google-user.

According to a report published by On Device Research, a market analysis firm, one in 10 young people 18 to 34 who are looking for a job have not been employed because of their activity on social media. Yet 70 percent of those surveyed also said they had no concerns about the impact of their personal social media accounts on their chances of finding employment.

Additionally, 66 percent said the threat of social media impacting future employment opportunities would not hinder their use of it.

“I think the lesson about online presence is to just be careful,” Matheus said. “Nothing really gets fully erased on the internet, and the web is a much different and a more comprehensive place than has ever been created. Of course people can publicize their opinions in America, but it is important to put things into context. View everything in context, and of course use your brain.”

What’s posted is permanent For Anvari, the lesson is to remember that whatever is being posted is permanent.

“Once you put it out there, it’s there,” Anvari said. “You know what you meant by it and you know what you intended to say with it, but other people may perceive it differently.

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Friday, March 4, 2016

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VAPE: New trend comes with possible health consequences Continued from page A1

fluence on students is irrefutable.

Pictures started appearing on the instagram in early 2016.

“I think (vape culture) is funny and it’s kind of a joke to me,” said the creator and administrator of the Instagram page @gbvapesquad who wished to reamin anonymous. “I feel like it’s basically the same thing as weed culture. (People vape) ... because it looks cool and it’s not (that) dangerous. (Although) there are a lot of tests to show that it can be or is.”

Above all, the social aspect of vaping seems to be the universal theme among those who take part.

“The idea is that it isn’t addictive,” said the Instagram admin. “Maybe just the social aspect of it is addictive. A lot of people do it for the social aspect ... just like a lot of

people smoke weed for the social aspect of just being in that culture,” Drama teacher Kyle Holmes has personal experience with students using electronic substance products on campus.

“When I was teaching English five years ago there were students that thought it would be appropriate to use vape pens – (vaporizers that look like pens) – in the back of my classroom,” Holmes said.

While those students faced the repercussions with school administration at the time, Holmes seems to be relatively impartial to the issue of vaping as it compares to the use of other substances.

“It’s a substance on campus, and I think anytime you incorporate that it detracts from what we’re supposed to be doing, which is learning or teaching,” Holmes said. “It’s like any other substance on campus in my opinion.”

However, Holmes recognizes the growing appearance of vaporizing products through their marketing and once again, the social settings associated with them.

“I think the vape industry is doing a really good job with trying to make it a desirable social thing,” Holmes said. “I know a few blocks away from my house there’s a vape bar and ... on a Friday night, it’s hopping. It’s like a bar – people sit and socialize and they’re sharing something common. I think from a marketing standpoint they’ve done a good job with that.”

It can’t be denied that vaping is clearly a social practice. However, the issue becomes much more ambiguous when trying to determine the impact that vaping could have on individuals in terms of health.

One anonymous senior boy, who used to vape on occasion during his underclassman years, does not think there are many adverse effects when it comes to vaping.

“It is portrayed as (harmless) compared to all the stuff that a cigarette does,” he said.

“People say it’s just water vapor.”

However, the senior boy does consider some of the dangers to be directly associ-

ated with vaping.

“If you have nicotine in your juice or something, you could get addicted to that nicotine high,” said the senior boy. “But overall, it’s better to (vape) than (to do) other things.”

While there is no concrete evidence that these electronic products have long term effects, the mystery surrounding them is obvious, especially regarding the lack of regulations on the items.

Carol Maytum (MPH), a private public health consultant for nonprofit organizations in Sacramento, claims that the greatest danger of these vaping products is the inability to know exactly what substance is being stored in such devices.

“Vaporizer pens are becoming the new way for drug users to not only get high, but (to do so) discreetly – at times, right under the noses of police, parents and teachers,” Maytum said. “It is nearly impossible to tell what is inside someone’s vape. It could be nicotine, marijuana concentrate, or fruitflavored, nicotine-free ‘e-liquid.’”

The lack of regulations on products such as vape pens is also concerning to some.

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As of now, vaporizing products are essentially void of any regulations from the Food and Drug Administration, leaving the door open to potentially dangerous impacts of their use.

“Although (vape products) contain nicotine derived from tobacco, they are not yet subject to regulation as tobacco products, including the requirement that purchasers be a certain age,” Maytum said.

The vaping industry’s marketing towards a younger age group perhaps contributes to its popularity among teens, according to Maytum.

“Their easy availability online or via mall kiosks, in addition to their wide array of cartridge flavors (such as coffee, mint, candy and fruit flavors), may make them particularly appealing to this age group,” Maytum said.

The rise of vaping does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. As the availability of vaping hookah pens and other devices continues to grow, students must weigh the social benefits of participating in the trend and the potential costs that they could face in the future.

CAMPUS LIFE: Organization’s presence at GBHS discussed

Continued from page A2

makes some students feel uncomfortable. Some students say they are also perturbed by the representatives who come to promote Campus Life – most are adults rather than GBHS students. The lack of other religiously affiliated school clubs might also intensify the discomfort some students experience.

“I think as school clubs, you should be able to have a club surrounded by your religion or talk about your religion or culture (but) if ... kids were in charge of it, it would be different because when it’s adults, you feel more of a weird pressure,” Huss said. “I would be open to them having all kids running it for all different religions, all different cultures When it’s adults and it’s only one religion, it’s weird.”

Keaton Dougherty, a junior, said he also finds the presence of adults on campus to promote a religious school club to be disconcerting. Dougherty said he is uncomfortable that adults, rather than students, are in charge of the booth.

When asked about her thoughts regarding some student discomfort over the appearance of Campus Life at GBHS, principal Jennifer Leighton said she would need to know more about students’ feelings of discomfort but that there isn’t any direct pressure to interact with the club.

“My understanding is that they are positive adults hanging out at the request of our student-run Campus Life Club,” Leighton said. “There’s certainly no obligation to talk to Campus Life adults, or to even go to that far end of the campus where their table is set up. As long as they are invited by our student club, and have gone through the proper clearance channels – they’ve checked in at the office and the teacher responsible for the club is expecting their arrival – we can’t deny their presence.”

Conflict of interest seen by some However, according to Westberg, it is also a possible conflict of interest for a group that is religiously-affiliated to be making students uneasy at school – a place where students should be made to feel completely at ease.

“Any group that’s here on campus should absolutely not be here if they are making students feel uncomfortable – whether it’s a Christian group (or) a Muslim group,” Westberg said.

“The No. 1 job of the school district is to protect the students – period. It is not to say ‘Well this group is OK in our eyes.’

If students are being made to feel uncomfortable, they should absolutely not be on campus.”

Huss said that, to her, it seems as if GBHS is pushing an “overall ideal of what you have to be to be on this campus” by allowing Campus Life access.

Westberg also said that a religiously affiliated group being on campus is an “indirect endorsement.”

Ethan Guttman, a Jewish senior at GBHS who said he attended Campus Life meetings his freshman year with his two friends – both of whom were atheists – said that although he does not necessarily like Campus Life being on campus, he thinks the organization’s goals and aspirations are admirable.

When Guttman was involved with the organization, he said the meeting were like a “social group for kids.”

Similarly, Destiny Valencia, a junior who still participates in Campus Life, talked highly of the social aspect of Campus Life when asked why she attends meetings.

“A couple of friends told me how interesting it was and how everybody is so nice and people are there for you so … I went and (that) got me involved,” Valencia said. “(At meetings) we hang out, we talk about God and then we’ll do activities and they’ll have food for us – so it’s pretty fun.”

According to Maxey, meetings are led according to the national curriculum. The meetings are topical, followed by a discussion and video. “(February is) love month, so we’ll talk about parent relationships, peer relationships (and) girlfriend/boyfriend (relationships),” Maxey said. “We spend most of our time in small groups where we really listen. Our goal is (to) talk 10 percent of the time and (have) the kids talk 90 percent of the time. It just allows students a venue to be heard, so it’s not a preaching thing – (like) telling you how to live your life – it’s like ‘Here’s some parameters, why don’t you tell us what your experiences are with dating or your parents or divorce.’ We facilitate conversations more than we sit and

lecture about stuff.”

Involvement with mental health Although Maxey himself is not a licensed counselor, the organization does work with such mental health professionals, as well as other services.

“We certainly have counselors on staff and … nationally many of our programs work with licensed therapists,” Maxey said. “(When) we do Point Break, (which) is … an antibullying program (and) ... an evidence-based faith-neutral all-day workshop – in those all-day workshops, we do have licensed counselors and then we actually work with the school counselors and people from the police department. I’m not a counselor, so I don’t offer counseling advice … (but) we refer out and we’re mandated reporters so if something bad happens, I’m the guy that calls the school. As a non-profit youth organization all of our staff (members are) ... reporters.”

At the school level, Campus Life serves as a club on the GBHS campus and sets up a booth once a week. Religion is never discussed on campus but is discussed briefly at meetings held outside of school.

Equal Access Act and regulations According to the Equal Access Act, school-based clubs cannot be discriminated against over their presence on campus, which is what guarantees the Campus Life club the right to exist.

“The ... act states that it’s illegal for public high schools to discriminate among student clubs,” Leighton said. “Additionally, public schools have to remain neutral on matters of religion, and nonreligious matters. That means that no adults – either employees of our school or those that come from the outside – can lead religious activities. Only our students can.”

Although they are guaranteed the right to exist as a club, Campus Life leaders, when visiting the GBHS campus, must follow a certain set of regulations.

According to the GBHS Student Handbook for 2015-16, “student visitors are not allowed on the GBHS campus during the school day. Pre-authorized adult visitors must check-in at the front office and wear a visitor’s pass at all times.”

Reception of other faith-affiliated groups Some students wonder how other organizations with a different religious affiliation other than Christianity would be welcomed on the GBHS campus, “I’m sure (an Islamic club) would be judged a lot more,” Dougherty said, “I feel like there would definitely be complaints, (but) I don’t know if they would be removed.”

Huss also said she thinks the school would never allow a Muslim-affiliated club to come on campus.

However, Leighton said she has had conversations with different students about inviting different religiously affiliated groups on campus, and that they are more than welcome.

“A Muslim or Jewish (or other religiously affiliated) organization would definitely be allowed on campus,” Leighton said. “Students have asked me this in the past, and I’ve always answered in the affirmative. The important distinction is that a student club/group must invite them – it can’t be initiated by their particular organization.”

Overall purpose of organization In regards to the overall purpose, Maxey spoke more of the community-based approach rather than the organizaiton’s religious affiliation, although he says that is also an important factor in what they do.

“One of the things that psychologists have discovered is … that when it comes to assets for kids to be successful, one of the things that has been proven (important) over and over again, is that caring adults in kids’ lives really makes a difference,” Maxey said. “So regardless of the faith background, having adults that care, that have been background-checked and screened, … it’s nothing but positive. Having more caring adults in life as a kid is a good thing. Having the right caring adults in the lives of kids (is good).

“I would say that there is a faith component to everything that we do. So in one sense, I don’t want to dodge the question, I don’t want to say that (faith) is not a motivating factor (because) that’s absolutely part of our motivation is (wanting) our faith to shine through our actions. But, it’s much more than that.”

REFUGEE: Flood of people running to U.S. trying to escape war-torn areas Continued from page A2

them the opportunity to come and be resettled in the U.S. as refugees given the fact that their service to the U.S. government has put them and their families lives at risk.”

And as Lewis sees it, this problem isn’t about to go away.

“I would call it a crisis… currently there are over 60 million people globally who have had to flee their homes due to war and violence,” Lewis said. “Over 20 million had to flee their country, 4.5 million of those from Syria.”

Although the U.S has already increased the amount of refugees to be accepted from 70,000 to 85,000, they are hoping to reach 100,000 refugees by next year.

World Relief sees a potential for more aid.

“That’s still a very small percentage of the world’s global refugee population,” Lewis said. “We think

the U.S. can do more, both from the standpoint of what we can do overseas but also what we can do here in the United States.”

Lewis sees the situation as one that is going to take more than just public support, but he is confident that Sacramento will rise to the occasion.

“It’s going to take the church operating in a way that it extends the compassion and the love it’s mandated to.”

“The number of churches and volunteers that have approached us has increased substantially since all of this focus shifted and was placed on the Syrian refugee crisis,” Lewis said. “It seems to have inspired more people to get involved and see what they can do to support refugees both locally and globally.”

That confidence in the local support has seen historical evidence.

“In Sacramento,” Lewis said, “there’s a long track record and this is a very welcoming community.”

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Granite Bay Gazette

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GAZETTE The Granite Bay

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

Editors-in-Chief: Savitri Asokan Hannah Holzer Troy Pawlak News Editors: Surina Khurana Caroline Palmer Voices Editors: Connor Hinson Amanda Nist Anjali Shrivastava Lifestyle Editors: Natasha Chanda Garbhita Shah Hannah Xu Green Screen Editors: Olivia Heppell Blake Panter Amanda Prather Epsa Sharma Sports Editors: Cole Kahmann Matthew Ontiveros Jacqueline Romero Online Editors: Clair Kasel Rawan Khalili Jill Kurpershoek Ali Lemos Isabella Tkachuk Illustrators: Natasha Chanda Carissa Lewis Troy Pawlak Photo Editor: Carissa Lewis Staff Writers/ Photographers: Brigid Bell Arthi Bobbala Shivani Bobbala Katie Cologna Sonia Garcha Naseeha Islam Brayden Johnk Stephenie Kang Whitney Knorp Aishwarya Pattnaik Meagan Tallman Savanna Thompson Adviser: Karl Grubaugh The Gazette is published eight times per academic year by students in the advanced journalism class at Granite Bay High School.

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

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

Signed editorials and columns reflect the views of the writer.

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

The editorial board reviews letters to the editor, advertising and guest commentaries and reserves the right to edit and refuse material.

Reasons can include length, clarity, libel, obscenity, material disruption of the educational process at Granite Bay High School or violation of copyright laws.

Send Letters to the Editor to: gbgazette@yahoo.com Identification Statement GRANITE BAY GAZETTE PUBLISHED EIGHT TIMES PER ACADEMIC YEAR c/o Granite Bay High School 1 Grizzly Way Granite Bay, CA 95746 Subscriptions: $25 per year/ $15 per half year

Quick To Talk and Easy To Stalk COMMENTARY

Social media posts remain a prime example of how people’s words can define them forever

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e all have that one post we regret, whether on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook (if anyone even uses that anymore). Our generation has put more of our lives online than any generation before us – but that’s not news to anyone.

I can’t even begin to count the number of dinner table conversations that have been spent with my parents and grandparents complaining about how the internet and all its faults are taking over the world. And to an extent, maybe they’re right.

Somehow, the World Wide Web paradoxically allows our world to get smaller while our social spheres grow larger.

Everyone has the ability to voice their opinions online.

Freedom of speech and freedom of expression have never been as boundless – but never have they been more closely scrutinized.

We pick up our phones faster than we’re willing to make a statement out loud. But there’s always that tiny voice in the back of our minds quietly warning us of the consequences that our words could have.

Until now, our generation has had the privilege to be socially impulsive thanks to a wide array of online outlets, without seriously having to consider the repercussions. But now that we’re growing up and making plans, whether now or in three years, to leave our safety bubble of high school, we’ll have to start paying more attention to what we say and how it could affect both current reputations and future employment.

With so much personal information available online, it’s

nearly impossible to keep a clean slate. We delete old, risky posts and clear our Google search history, all in a futile effort to act as if we’ve never done a thing wrong.

Which brings us to another issue: our generation’s obsession with presentation and appearances. Whether it’s the amount of time nislam.gazette@gmail.com we spend fixing our hair every morning or the growing laundry list of unnaturally impressive achievements we put together for a better-looking college application, we are entirely engulfed in the idea of making ourselves look better than we really are.

This contributes to a generation of technologically-addicted young adults who can sometimes be a little too keyboard-happy. We post with the intention of earning views, likes, shares, and retweets, for whatever superficial and temporary satisfaction we can gain from it.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing that we are able to have our voices heard so easily. The only problem arises when you realize that not only are we saying things that we don’t always mean (or at least may one day regret), but that it’s not just our close circle of friends that’s seeing it.

Social media allows for people, not just celebrities, to gain hundreds, if not thousands, more followers than even Jesus Christ did during his lifetime, and thanks to a small world with lots of connections, perhaps the ability to reach more minds.

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Not only that, but accessibility to our personal photos and statements is possible even if you’re on a “private” setting of the account.

All of this makes us more vulnerable than ever, and more to ourselves than anyone else. When you think of threats to your “internet security”, you probably think of credit card hacks and identity theft. But perhaps the ones we should be most afraid of are not the intimidating number of digital criminals out there, but rather ourselves, and our all-too-common inability to realize the permanence of our “temporary” words and posts.

When it’s so easy to search and save what you see online, it’s almost an inevitable guarantee that, eventually, someone will find something to hold against you. Whether it’s from parents, future employers, or new friends, we won’t always be able to successfully hide our histories of crude language and unpopular opinions. But we’ve grown up to say what we mean, and to say it immediately, online, before we have the chance to think twice.

Maybe the fact that we have this freedom isn’t all bad, but just different (and more candid). Social media and the internet gives us two potentials: the potential to create a facade and keep the “image” we want others to see, or the potential to be our most genuine, imperfect selves. The former will only contribute to our preexisting preoccupation with superficiality. The latter will draw criticism without fail, no matter how hard we try to erase the footprints and round the edges of our electronically connected personalities.

The millennial generation is finally growing into the workforce, which is what brings this issue to light in the first place.

But soon enough, we will become the managers, employers, and parents, and perhaps we’ll be more forgiving than our predecessors toward the people who’ve made one too many mistakes with the illusively simple click of a button. *** Naseeha Islam, a senior, is a Gazette staff writer.

As graduation approaches, labels disappear Seniors unnecessarily wait until their last year to form new relationships

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enioritis: the dreaded, chronic disease that cripples a large portion of senior classes nationwide, leaving them sweatpants wearing, excessively absent students with little to no will to complete assignments in a timely fashion (if at all).

Let me tell you – this part of senioritis is real and shouldn’t be underestimated.

I haven’t opened my backpack at home for a month.

But oftentimes, a common yet overlooked symptom of senioritis is the relational shifts that happen during senior year. As Gabriella Montez said, “it feels just like kindergarten.”

All of a sudden, it doesn’t matter who your date to the next formal dance is or who you’re sitting with at lunch. All of a sudden, you find that you have a lot in common with that one person who has been in your math class for the past three years, although you’ve never bothered to talk until now.

It seems as though the senior class has taken a page out of Lizzie McGuire and her Spanish doppelganger’s book and asked themselves “why not take a crazy

COMMENTARY

brigid bell bbell.gazette@gmail.com

chance?”

These mid-2000s Disney song lyrics us seniors have unofficially adopted as our slogan provide a refreshing and pleasant experience that draws us closer together as graduation approaches.

So my question is: why do we wait until so late in our high school experience to be friends with that kid we had half of our classes with? Why do we wait to talk to that person we’ve had a crush on since sophomore year?

The age old answer that is often used to explain a senior’s sudden willingness

to branch outside of their comfort Why do we wait until so late in our high zone is that seniors just don’t care school experience to be friends with that about the bridges kid we had half of our classes with? they could burn or the awkward situations that might above, in addition to a weird, wonderful arise in the midst of taking that chance.

Although I agree this is partially true, phenomenon. We’ve begun to focus less I have a difficult time believing the only on ourselves and more on others, helping us find both an individual identity as reason we have for waiting to make well as a group one. new friends until senior year is to avoid We drop the superficial label of “band uncomfortable situations and conflict.

Whether or not we intend for it to hapgeek” or “jock” or “queen bee” and inpen, those things are a part of growing stead become people with unique stories up. waiting to be told. We get to embrace So what is it then? Is it our survival ourselves and others for who we truly instincts kicking in, preparing our social are, and that’s pretty awesome. skills for our next phase in life where So as much as the high school experiwe may not know a single friend, much ence isn’t all the singing and dancing less the same ones we’ve had since that Disney movies make it out to be, elementary school? Or is it that we’ve they did get one thing right: don’t stick finally began to create our own unique to the status quo. persona instead of trying to follow the *** norm, searching out for new friends Brigid Bell, a senior, is a Gazette staff who are doing the same?

I think it’s a combination of all the writer.

Presidential candidates have sophomoric attitudes

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ith the presidential election upon have discussed the election in us, arguments and debates about our government and economwhich candidate is “best” are inics classes.

The voice of the vading every day conversations. It’s hard to And it’s not really helping Granite Bay go a full ten minutes without hearing somethat the candidates receive air thing about how outlandish Donald Trump is, time based on the rating they Gazette or how irritating Hillary Clinton is. acquire for a channel, rather Never before has there been such an than each receiving an equal interest in politics from the Granite Bay High School amount of air time. student body. In a way, it’s intriguing to watch people A lot of people wait their whole lives to turn 18 and take such a fascination in politics for the first time, earn the power to vote. But this election – the first however the constant political battles happening presidential election seniors at GBHS are eligible to amongst students are trying. vote for – is ludicrous.

Regardless of the arguments, there is one thing we How are we supposed to take politics seriously can all agree on – this presidential election is a joke. when there is absolutely nothing serious about this The many televised Republican and Democratic election? debates have served as platforms for the candidates We know more about Donald Trump’s feud with the to throw superfluous insults at each other, rather than Pope and the insults he throws at every other candidiscuss issues that actually matter. date than we do about his political stances. Ted Cruz As teenagers who have not fully developed our and Marco Rubio spend more time arguing about who political stances, it is difficult to accurately choose has tighter immigration policies than anything else, which presidential candidate to support, unless we even though they are both of Hispanic decent.

It’s ridiculous. The way the candidates are acting is have gone out of the way to do our own research or

EDITORIAL

childish. The Democratic debates have been slightly less chaotic and insulting, but it still seems the candidates discuss nothing of importance.

Hillary Clinton spends a majority of her time on stage defending her flip-flopped stances and brushing off questions about her email scandal from when she was Barack Obama’s secretary of state. Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, has spent a majority of his time attempting to explain the difference between pure socialism and Democratic socialism.

These are neither crucial nor relevant to the presidency.

As the next generation of voters, it’s essential for us to be educated about politics and the candidates, because this is our future. As teenagers, we are assumed to be ignorant and indifferent about everything, but we have no true platform to learn when our candidates insult each other and talk about nonsense.

It’s hard to truly care about the campaigns when the candidates have hardly touched on any real issues.

Why should we care when it seems like they don’t even care?

Friday, March 4, 2016

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The Granite Bay Gazette

Myers Briggs? More like Liars Briggs!

HEARD Personality tests are fun, but not accurate on the BAY COMMENTARY

Who are you rooting for in the upcoming election?

“They’re all kinda terrible, but if I had to vote for one, it would be John Kasich because he’s a laid back conservative.”

freshman

Blake Whittier “Bernie Sanders! He understands what’s going on in the world and the youth, and he supports the minorities.”

sophomore

Yasaman Mohammadi “Donald Trump, because all my friends hate him.”

junior

anjali shrivastava ashrivastava.gazette@gmail.com

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arl Jung, who was enormously influential in the budding field of psychology, once hypothesized that humans are categorized into “types” – people who perceive rather than judge, who prefer sensing over intuition and who think rather than feel.

But even then, Jung realized most people would not fit neatly into one category, writing “there is no such thing as a pure extrovert or a pure introvert. Such a man would be in the lunatic asylum.”

A few decades later, Katherine Cook-Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs-Myers, neither of whom actually studied psychology, took Jung’s types and slightly altered the terminology to create what is now the widely-used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

The test classifies a person according to four “principal psychological functions.” This includes extraversion versus introversion, intuition versus sensing, thinking versus feeling and judging versus perception.

However, obviously people don’t work that way – so the results of this test are just not reliable.

Anyone involved in the research of human developmental behavior who would not immediately benefit from the continued usage of this test, including clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, does not actually believe in it.

One study which appeared in the Consulting Psychology Journal found that as much as 50 percent of participants who took the test twice arrived at different results, despite the retest occurring five weeks after the initial testing bout.

As a culture, we love to categorize ourselves – Buzzfeed knows this. We love categories and the idea that we understand everything around us.

The results are always positive, and because

Students who claim they are busy with too much work are simply preoccupied with the wrong tasks

Approaching my final year in high school, I am beginning to understand that soon enough, I will be on my own in college, independent.

I’ve been told every so often that I had ‘time’ to pick the school I wanted to go to, or to decide

Jack Armstrong “The Bern man, he’s just a lovable old grandpa.”

isabella tkachuk itkachuk.gazette@gmail.com

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Ciarra DeLaCruz “I’m supporting Bernie Sanders.

I think it would be fun to see him go and shake the whole thing up. I most closely align with most the things (he) says.”

ime used to seem infinite.

People always told me that I had time to do certain activities, to achieve my goals and to do my work. Up until recently, I hadn’t realized that time runs out, and that it is, in fact, not ceaseless.

staff

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Brandon Dell’Orto Compiled by Rawan Khalili

Gazette illustration/TROY PAWLAK

certain tasks.

I have no qualms with taking the test as a form of entertainment, yet the common belief that it has a supernatural predictive power is undeniably false. *** Anjali Shrivastava, a junior, is a Gazette Voices editor.

Is high school a good use of our precious time?

COMMENTARY

senior

the descriptions are vague, they are hard to argue with.

I myself thought my original type of “INTJ” described me perfectly, until I recently retook the test and received “INTP.” The general descriptions could apply to almost anybody, a demonstration of the socalled “Forer Effect,”which has long been associated with purveyors of astrology, fortune-telling and other forms of pseudoscience.

The test itself is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. My original profile, INTJ, was described with words such as “strategic,” “calculating” and “ambitious.”

I never saw myself as a conspiring mastermind, yet because of this description, I accepted it as a part of my identity.

Isn’t that crazy? I changed the way I saw myself because I read something online, contrary to the teachings of so many respected people in my life.

It’s funny how the mantra “Don’t believe everything you read” is never talked about in the context of personality tests.

I was directed towards laborintensive careers such as industrial engineer, surgeon or computer scientist, none of which appealed to me.

The company that distributes the test, the CPP, reportedly earns 20 million annually from this one test.

And get this – though the CPP markets the MBTI as “reliable and valid, backed by ongoing global research and development investment,” one of its own leading psychologists admitted that “it would be questioned by (his) academic colleagues.”

It’s not like this test is only being used in classes or at home – it’s used in professional settings as well.

An estimated 200 federal agencies continue to waste money on this flawed test, including the extremely reputable State Department and the CIA, to separate potential employees and determine whether or not they are right for

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However, time is not actually running out – we are. Time will always be here and we will soon be gone. So why is it that we think that time is running out when in reality it’s not? whether I wanted to play soccer for four more years or not.

All of a sudden, it seems as though I no longer have enough time to do anything; that I no longer could ease my way through the rest of high school and wait for my decisions to be made for me. I realized my time was truly running out.

I feel that people are frantically applying to colleges and cramming the top classes into their schedules, leaving out time for fun and to just live life.

I mean, school is important, but is it really worth every existing second of time? Should we have to devote all of our energy and motivation towards something that will soon be over in \four short years?

No, I don’t think that is how we should be spending our time.

I now know that time is precious, and that it feels as though I have so much less of it than I used to as a child.

However, time is not actually running out – we are. Time will always be here and we will soon be gone. So why is it that we think that time is running out when in reality it’s not?

We constantly set limits and time frames for ourselves. We prefer things to be organized and scheduled because it makes us seem accomplished if we can finish something we started in a certain amount of time.

Just like applying for colleges and trying to figure out the next steps after high school, students constantly feel more satisfied with their results when they know they did the maximum possible to get them where they want to be.

But the feeling of contentment of our particular accomplishments only lasts until we are in need of something else to fulfill our desires, and yet again, time seems minimal.

Ultimately, time is always going to be there – it is definite and it is infinite. People should spread their time out and not just focus it on something so temporary, because frankly, we are temporary. *** Isabella Tkachuk, a junior, is a Gazette online editor.

Friday, March 4, 2016 wThe Granite Bay Gazette

Voices A11

Educators and grades misplace value of learning Students experience unnecessary stress due to rigorous courses

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s an IB student, I can confirm that the IB program delivers on all of the stress that it promises its students.

When I first entered the program my junior year, the academic rigor often left me feeling inadequate, demoralized, and irritable on a good day.

Side effects of being in the program include but are not limited to: extreme sleep deprivation from pulling all-nighters, frequent mental breakdowns, loss of motivation, a virtually nonexistent social life, etc.

But IB students are not alone in feeling this way. Many AP students are in the same boat.

As one of the most competitive schools in the area, Granite Bay High has become the breeding ground for excellence whether it be academic, athletic or artistic.

As acceptance rates for top schools continue to decline, expectations rise. The demands placed on students today is ridiculous.

Not only do we have to bring home an impeccable report card, but we are also expected to play a varsity sport, get a 2400 on our SATs, do meaningful research alongside a professor and

start a nonprofit organization, all within 4 years time.

The stress that students are currently experiencing is not unwarranted, yet more often than not, adults dismiss our concerns as empty and invalid.

They simply think that we are too “lazy” and “unwilling to work,” yet never stop to question whether they are asking too much of us.

Time and again, when I tell an adult about how stressed out I am, they will turn the situation around and tell me that it is my fault that I am feeling this way. They will give me a grand speech about how “grades don’t matter in the large scheme of things” and that I just need to “take it easy.”

When you tell us that we just need to find better ways to cope with our stress, it makes us feel like our reactions are unsubstantiated and completely

COMMENTARY

GPA and test scores. In turn, very intelligent students start to lose baseless, when in reality this is not motivation and feel inferior when the case at all. they start becoming anything less Consider the case of high school than perfect. students in the Silicon Valley area.

It now seems that students will In recent years, the high schools do absolutely anything in order to in this region have attracted much receive an A on their transcript, media attention because of their even if it means compromising abnormally high suicide rates. their character.

According to NPR, at Gunn High In turn, cheating has become a School and Palo Alto High School nasty side effect of our education the suicide rate is 10 times the system. High achieving students, national average. who are more than capable of doMore so than Granite Bay, the ing their work honestly, are often abobbala.gazette@gmail.com Silicon Valley area is extremely found cheating. notorious for fostering an overly I personally feel like our educacompetitive environment. At Gunn High School, tion is being undermined because the intent is no for example, around 20 seniors are admitted to longer to learn and expand one’s knowledge, but Stanford University every year. to fulfill certain requirements.

People seem to have a hard time grasping the As Neil DeGrasse Tyson once tweeted, “When fact that we can only push and stretch a kid so far students cheat on exams it’s because our school before they break. system values grades more than students value What’s worse is that when we try to voice our learning.” concerns, we are completely undermined and told Cramming, regurgitating, and forgetting is what that we complain too much and that our stress is we have come to call learning in America. I am our own fault. not saying that playing a game is necessarily a This can have detrimental consequences bebad thing.

Trust me, I am just as guilty of this as everyone cause it inadvertently causes teenagers to interelse. At the same time, I would like to think that nalize their stress and it makes them feel like we are capable of positive change. they can’t talk to anyone about it.

So what’s the solution? To be honest, I don’t It isn’t just the increasing amount of apathy know if there is one. Numbers are always going from teachers and adults, who have come to see to matter, and there is nothing we can really do stress as commonplace or “normal” in teenagabout it. ers. The root of this stress must be identified and But I think that stress in schools is a legitimate addressed.

The origin of my stress is the ridiculous amount issue that warrants discussion among educators.

Until adults start to accept the harsh realities of of weight that grades, rankings and test scores hold for my future. At the end of the day, students our education system, this conversation cannot are forced to accept the fact that they are going to and will not take place. * * * be reduced to a few arbitrary number and letters.

Arthi Bobbala, a senior, is a Gazette staff Grades cause us to compare ourselves to those around us and to measure our self worth by our writer.

arthi bobbala

Beyoncé makes SUPER BOWL’d statement JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/Bay Area News Group /TNS

Half-time show an ill-fit setting for deep political messages

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t 3:20 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, I was preparing for the ultimate showdown between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos, anxious for the game to begin.

My mom brought out her famous seven layer dip, and I began chomping it down as the action started.

Besides the game itself, I was looking forward to the entertaining commercials the Super Bowl always brings, and more importantly, the halftime show.

Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé were all scheduled to perform, and I was eager to see the spectacular production that the Super Bowl always creates.

As the game went on, my excitement for the halftime show actually grew, since the first half was surprisingly boring, with the Broncos leading at halftime by 10-0.

At that point, the score wasn’t my concern. I just cared about seeing the halftime show and how good it was

going to be.

Coldplay was great and started the show off right. All I can remember from their lead singer was how much he continually jumped up and down … and the flowers – there were lots of flowers.

Once Bruno hit the stage, things got real.

“Uptown Funk” is one of my favorite songs, and this performance, especially the dancing, did not disappoint. I was up off my couch dancing right with him.

My sister, recruited to work as a Super Bowl greeter, was able to see it live and told me this was really the best part of the whole show. I’d have to agree.

But right when I thought things couldn’t get crazier, Beyoncé and her band of backup dancers entered.

Although Bruno was my favorite, Beyoncé was right up there with him.

She brought loads of energy, seemingly stealing the show from Coldplay.

By this time, the seven layer dip

COMMENTARY

brayden johnk bjohnk.gazette@gmail.com

brought out two and a half hours ago was gone, the halftime show was over and the second half of Super Bowl 50 was underway.

I was expecting the Panthers to come back strong and hungry for some points, but they really didn’t, and the rest of the game was a snooze. At least the halftime show would go down in the records as a lot of innocent fun … or so I thought.

It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I became aware of the controversy over Beyoncé’s performance, and, to be honest, I was astonished.

Beyoncé wasn’t just performing to

entertain; she was out there to promote a strong political message – one which, I have to admit, I was completely oblivious to as I watched the show.

Apparently, the black berets and leather jackets worn by the backup dancers paid homage to the militant Black Panther movement, and the “X” formation was a tribute to black separatist Malcolm X. Beyoncé, in her performance and song lyrics, was addressing racism in America and showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now, I am not arguing for or against any of these ideas or labeling them as right or wrong. However, I do think there is a time and place for them to be expressed, and the Super Bowl 50 halftime show was not it.

With over 114 million viewers, Beyoncé saw this as the right moment to promote her political message and she knew that she certainly had the stage to do so.

But, I really don’t think the Super Bowl should be a platform for any political message of any type – no matter what it is or who it is from.

Rather, I think it’s a time for good ‘ole entertainment – singing and dancing

Beyoncé, Chris Martin and Bruno Mars, left to right, perform “Uptown Funk” together at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show in San Francisco. Beyoncé wears her leather jacket in homage to the Black Panther movement.

... Later, I became aware of the controversy over Beyoncé’s performance, and, to be honest, I was astonished.

that I can look back on in 40 years and remember for its sheer enjoyment and exuberance.

Instead, I will now look back and remember the Super Bowl 50 halftime show for a calculated political statement, rather than for the all around entertainment that it was meant to be and for the fun of dancing with Bruno’s funk. *** Brayden Johnk, a sophomore, is a Gazette staff writer.

Second look

A12 News

Friday, March 4, 2016 w The Granite Bay Gazette

Amazing Race Classes battle to win $1,000,000

 Brandon Dell ’Orto, top left, dances at the Amazing Race rally. The freshman team, top center, scrambles quickly to finish eating. Juniors Nicolette Lewis and Nate Moudakis, top right, race across an obstacle course. The sophomore team, center, prepares for competition. Teacher Jason Sitterud and senior Sean Vajanaphanich, bottom far left, match the name of a country to its flag. Nate Moudakis, bottom left, holds the junior team’s winning “check” for $1,000,000.

Gazette photos by Carissa Lewis

Lifestyle

Granite Bay Gazette

B Section

Friday w March 4, 2016

Revelations on religious allusions

COMMENTARY

hannah xu hxu.gazette@gmail.com

Passion is not necessary for future comfort

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he saying “follow your heart” is a unifying force if I’ve ever heard one.

From kindergarten to your death, following your heart is probably the most cliche and banal line you will ever hear about making decisions for yourself.

Everyone is told to follow their heart, whether it be the “encouraging” advice given by your teachers or parents, or the underlying theme of a cheesy and poorly written coming-of-age TV movie.

On paper, the sentiment is everything someone wants to hear ‒ it’s inspiring and takes the pressure off. In a battle between head and heart, heart is supposed to win because whatever the heart says is what you truly want.

Unfortunately, this unrealistic idea that following our heart, and subsequently our dreams, is the right path to take trails into our decisions about the future and the careers we will eventually choose to go into.

The American ideal that everyone should do what they love is more detrimental than it may seem.

“If you do what you love and follow your dreams you’ll be happy because you’re doing something you’re passionate about!”

Wrong. More often than not, what you love isn’t going to support you. And that’s okay. That doesn’t mean you have to give it up, but working a mundane job just like every other mundane person will not be the end of your world.

Happiness can be found outside of the work field, through spending time with family or through going on hikes on the weekends.

You’re not going to be happy struggling to make ends meet because your passion got you nowhere.

But the impracticality of following your dreams isn’t the entire reason as to why it’s a harmful belief. Such ideology only emphasises the idea that there is something out there for everyone, when the truth is that there are going to be people that simply don’t have a passion.

It hurts to not understand why there isn’t something you love to do and that pain only derives from the inaccurate perception perpetuated by American culture that there must be something you would want to do for the rest of your life. In actuality, you might not find anything that sparks your interest and that lack of enthusiasm for any one thing shouldn’t be looked down upon.

However, unfortunately it is.

And because it is, many are left floundering about in a perpetual identity crisis not understanding that nothing is wrong with them.

They are left unhappy because they think they have some higher purpose that they aren’t achieving, when really they could be perfectly happy with whatever it is they’re doing.

It’s hard to accept because we are taught from a young age that following our hearts and our dreams isn’t everything – but wanting to do whatever gets you money is perfectly fine.

***

Hannah Xu, a junior, is a Lifestyle editor.

Students reflect on spiritually themed required works

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Gazette illustration/HANNAH XU

BY ANJALI SHRIVASTAVA ashrivastava.gazette@gmail.com

eligious sentiments are seldom exhibited, yet still a presence, in public education – the most commonly discussed controversies are the Pledge of Allegiance, the Creationism versus Evolution debate in science classes and certain sensitive subjects in sexual education classes.

In recent times, there have been many court cases surrounding the dispute, including the Skoros v. Klein case which protested the display of religious symbols (such as a menorah, and the star and crescent) during the holidays in schools and the Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum v. Montgomery County Public Schools which challenged the health education curriculum for discussion of sexual orientation.

A more subtle presentation of religion occurs in the form of allusions. Several required works read in Granite Bay High School English classes feature overt religious themes, including William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, Anne Bradstreet’s poem Upon the Burning of Our House, Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Bees, and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, amongst other works.

All of the pieces required by English classes that have religious allusions refer to Christianity, with the exception of Elie Wiesel’s novel Night, which has references to Jewish culture and traditions.

Some people who are not members of the Christian faith believe this is unfair. Michaela Warady, a junior at GBHS, said that, as a religious skeptic, she did not pick up on several biblical references in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and did not understand the religious allegory in Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

“(Christians) have a more comprehensive understanding, which will benefit them in comprehension and Socratic (discussions),” Warady said.

Warady is uncomfortable with religious allusions, because they are “unnecessary” to teach writing or reading comprehension.

She argues that if religious allusions are there, then all major religions should be covered to ensure equality.

“We should either have no religious text at all or we should have a variety where it’s evenly distributed among different religions and nonreligions,” Warady said. “I don’t care which way, but it should be fair for everyone.”

There are many books taught at other high schools that feature other religions, such as Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, which exhibits Buddhist themes, and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, which both exhibit strong Islamic themes.

Elizabeth Sciascia, however, is uncomfortable with religious references for a different reason.

In the GBHS class Advanced Placement English Language and Composition, students are required to read a sermon titled Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, given by preacher Jonathan Edwards.

The sermon depicts God as a violent, vengeful being who does not punish humans out of mercy, but will if provoked.

Edwards says in the sermon, “The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, ... and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, ... that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.”

Sciascia, a devout Christian, said this description did not align with her view of the faith.

“I see God as love,” she said. “Because of my beliefs, I

think there will be consequences if you don’t acknowledge that you are a sinner … but I don’t think that is a good way to portray God at all because he’s not somebody who wants to hurt (us) and he’s not somebody who tries to bring all these bad things upon us ... it was just a bad representation of the Christian faith.”

When confronted with such presentations of her religion, she thinks that other students will jump to conclusions about her own religious beliefs.

“Obviously there are radicals and extremes in any religion (but) people definitely group you with those extremes,” Sciascia said. “(They) say ‘oh you believe in this God who (does these) terrible things’ and so in class it’s hard because I’ll hear (that) they really don’t see some of the most important things about our faith and they look more at how terrible it is (because) of some of the stories they’ve read.”

As far as the advantage her religion presents, she says she has not felt the effects of it.

“It hasn’t given me an unfair advantage at all,” Sciascia said. “Maybe it’s helped me understand, but it’s just like if a kid played a specific sport they would understand that sport more than another kid would.”

Yet, Neha Prakash, a senior and non-Christian, understands why certain books are taught over others.

“I feel like the number one religious focus is Christian rather than any other religion (so) it’s ... an obligation almost that the schools act ... upon the religious norms of this country,” Prakash said. “They’re trying to teach American culture and they’re trying to show students in America that Americans have culture through literature and through language … I’m not too aware of other books that would do that that aren’t in those religious categories.”

A hidden issue: modern-day slavery Human trafficking prevalent in Sacramento

BY AISHWARYA PATTNAIK

B

apattnaik.gazette@gmail.com

eing unaware can be detrimental.

Especially when it comes to serious issues such as human trafficking - a form of modern-day slavery.

Sacramento is identified as a hub for human trafficking among the 18 top most cities for U.S in human trafficking. Along with this statistic, Sacramento is among the top five cities experiencing an epidemic of child prostitution according to an FBI report.

After interviewing GBHS students, they all came to the same conclusion that this huge issue is not being addressed enough. “[Sex trafficking] isn’t well known because isn’t advertised or publicized by the media since it isn’t a positive thing about our area,” junior Haley Miller said.

There is a lack of understanding that Sacramento is so distraught with this problem.

“Sacramento is used as a transportation hub to ship people out all over the country,” senior Ryan Corp said. “People are being shipped from Mexico and foreign countries to Sacramento,” Corp said.

Corp described that although incidences of sex trafficking occur in close proximities of this region, many people remain unaware of the issue.

“Up in the suburbs, (sex traffickers) will take over normal houses and turn them into undercover brothels,” Corp said. “No one would ever know because they look like regular houses.”.

The obscure nature of this problem makes it that much more difficult to detect.

“Once (the sex traffickers) find a way to lure people into the profession, it’s almost impossible to leave,” Corp said.

The justice system itself encourages this problem to persist by not reprimanding the sex traffickers and wrongly punishing the victims instead. Corp stated that even when victims speak out, they are still tried as criminals in court.

While there is a definite need for social awareness about the growing concerns of sex trafficking in the Sacramento area, there are public outreach resources as well.

“There’s some educational programs and some organizations such as Courage House,” Corp said, “(They) bring awareness and fundraise in order to aid victims.

The Three Strands club is a new club started this year by juniors Haley Miller and Audrey Wagner. The purpose of the club is to assist women in Cambodia and Nepal who have just escaped sex trafficking.

“We sell bracelets made by these women and send the profits back so they don’t have to sell themselves back to human trafficking,” Miller said.

If one wants to help, there will be fundraisers held by Three Strands at soccer games . Their goal is to raise, “$5,000 because it takes that much to save one girl by the end of the year,” Wagner said.

Gazette Photo Illustration/CARISSA LEWIS

The tied wrists above represent the hundreds of people trapped at the mercy of their trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery.

inside lifestyle Top 10 B2 Book of the Month

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Random club

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Black History Students reflect on significance of month dedicated to African American history

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Campus Custodians Janitors provide insight and share personal stories with Gazette

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Seagulls Students share experiences with notorious campus birds

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Friday, March 4, 2016

B2 Lifestyle

w The Granite Bay Gazette

The influence of African-Americans Powerful month inspires and empowers students to learn more about their history Kayla Hess, who is African-American, said. “I have to educate myself through books, news and other media sources outside of school if I really want to know about (my) roots.”

Many students have come to view black history education in our schools as too reductive and simplistic.

“Other than the famously historic events and people such as Harriet Tubman and (Martin Luther King), black history is not talked about frequently and is not really looked at with depth and moral analysis,” Hess said.

Black History Month prompts schools to actively try and integrate black history into American history.

While many acknowledge the necessity of Black History Month, they also believe that marginalizing it to one month is wrong.

“I feel that it is not right that people are acknowledging black history one month out of twelve and the shortest month at that,” GBHS alumnus Azra Carrington, also African-American, said. “People should make an effort to recognize black history anytime, not just February.”

Nevertheless, many have come to appreciate Black History Month because it encourages everyone to reflect upon all of American history, good and bad.

“This month demands our country to take a step back and look at all of the ugly

BY ARTHI BOBBALA

abobbala.gazette@gmail.com

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any, if not all, Americans know who George Washington was. But how many know of George Washington

Carver?

February is Black History Month, and in recent years there has been much debate about its celebration, its implications and its value.

Last month, this annual debate materialized among Granite Bay High School students, who were asked about their opinions on the celebration of this month.

Some people believe in the notion that Black History Month is racist and exclusive because there is no White History Month. Similarly, many believe there should be an All Lives Matter movement.

Like the Black Lives Matter movement, Black History Month focuses on a specific race because they warrant that attention and they need to be targeted if we want to create a more equitable society.

In schools, black history is still not taught as extensively as white history which is why many believe that celebrating Black History Month is an absolute necessity.

“African-American history and culture is not something that is really talked about even during this time of year,” junior

racism and discrimination of our nation’s past but also at the beauty of the love and strength that overcame it,” Hess said. “It ensures that we will not resurrect the sins of our past.”

Black History Month not only forces Americans to confront their past, but it also inspires them to hope for a better future. “(It) recognizes the dark past of our country and gives light to the ongoing prejudice of today,” Hess said. “Black history month calls this nation to a higher standard every year to always do better, to love those who may be different.”

Racism is still very prominent today in America. When asked, many racial minorities said that they have been victims of negative racial stereotypes.

“Being the only African-American in each class is horrible, and the school is so stereotypical about African-Americans,” Jeremiah Usher said. “They expect us to be ghetto, loud and to cheat or lie or steal.”

These stereotypes reflect how many perceive African-Americans and their culture.

Black History Month can work to help rid not just the Granite Bay community, but also the whole of the country, of these unfair stereotypes and see the AfricanAmerican community in a new light.

Along with educating others about black

Student-led efforts help to incorporate all on campus mtallman.gazette@gmail.com

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hen people think of Granite Bay High School, they may think of outstanding academics or impressive sports. The GBHS campus is renowned nationwide as a top public institution, but something that’s often overlooked is the compassion of students on campus.

Through a number of outreach programs, GBHS students have extended a hand to students with special needs to make them feel included on campus.

Emily Gallegos is a senior and a member of the Student Government class, which runs a weekly lunchtime program called Lunch Buddies.

“Every week we come up with different games or activities or something to learn,” Gallegos said.

“Then we set up all of our chairs in a circle and have lunch together and hang out, talk and play games.

It’s a really fun experience!”

These games and activities allow for the students in the special needs class to have somewhere positive and fun to hangout during lunch, where they otherwise could be ostracized and ignored. At Lunch Buddies, these students are surrounded by fellow peers who appreciate them for their differences and simply want to not only enrich the high school experience of the students, but their own experiences

as well.

“There was this one boy that had come to lunch buddies a few times, but he was really shy and didn’t talk a lot,” Gallegos said.

“One day he came in for lunch and we were all playing duck, duck, goose. He didn’t really want to play because the game was really out of his comfort zone … but that day he sat with us and watched and laughed so hard his face turned red.

I could tell he was having a really good time, and seeing him enjoy the lunch made me so happy and is why I love putting on lunch buddies so much.”

Another outreach program is A Touch Of Understanding, a club at GBHS. Michaela Setiawan has been involved with the club for four years now, and has been dedicated to reach out and making others feel more included. “(ATOU) has meetings every other Thursday where we discuss and help plan upcoming events and also learn more about different disabilities,” Setiawan said. “We hold events for kids with disabilities every month and act as their buddy for the night. Our club aims to promote acceptance and prevent discrimination for all, especially those with disabilities.”

Setiawan said she’s seen a rise in GBHS students who want to get involved and help others. During Club Rush this past fall, the club gained a large amount of new

Random...

BY NATASHA CHANDA

Facts

nchanda.gazette@gmail.com

1.) Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories an hour.

2.) Pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled by feathers.

3.) Human saliva has a boiling point three times higher than water.

4.) Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in one sitting.

5.) If you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground, it can’t jump.

- Compiled by Troy Pawlak

thinking group.”

This month enables influential AfricanAmerican teenagers and children to take pride in their history and culture. “(Black History Month) uplifts those of African-American heritage who have broken down the deceptive and misconceived stereotypes and it proves that we are above the labels that society puts on us,” Hess said.

Black History Month meant a lot to Hess growing up because it gave her black role models that she could look up to See BLACK HISTORY, page B5

Gazette illustration /CARISSA LEWIS

Sojourner Truth, an African-American activist, escaped slavery along with her daughter and fought for women’s rights.

College of the Month

University of California Santa Barbara

Lunch Buddies and clubs provide for special needs

BY MEAGAN TALLMAN

history, this month celebrates the accomplishments of prominent black individuals and empowers the African-American youth to take individual responsibility for their future.

“In my opinion, black history month gives the African-American community a chance to reminisce on their progress.

(That is the result of) the path paved by … greats like Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson,” Ayo-Ajibola said. “It’s easy to see that many feel a personal responsibility to continue to paint the African-American community as a peaceful and forward

member.

Though there are a number of outreach programs at GBHS, they are not the only way to exercise empathy towards others, as is the case with sophomore Josh Fu, who has special needs, and senior Charlie Tooley.

“I love basketball and watching the team play. Charlie is really good,” Fu said.

Their mutual love for the sport is what brought them together, Fu explained.

“I first met Charlie at the basketball game here and he came and talked to me. I went to his basketball practice and then we still talked and became friends,” Fu said.

The pair spend time together frequently, doing everything from attending Sacramento Kings basketball games to bowling with a group of friends.

Tooley enjoys their time together just as much, as Fu has become a very close friend to him as well.

“He’s got such a kind heart and always has a smile on his face and he honestly just loves being around people,” Tooley said.

Students like Gallegos, Setiawan and Tooley are a sample of many here at GBHS who want to encourage a positive high school experience for everyone. GBHS students have done much in order to make the campus a place where all feel included.

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Spe

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Gaz

/UC

TA SAN

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ABA

BAR

Acceptance rate: 36.3 percent accepted In-state tuition: $13,865 Students: 20,238 Sports: NCAA Division I Fun Facts: there are over 400 clubs, ten percent of students are involved in Greek life and six percent of students have cars on campus - Compiled by Cole Kahmann

Club Club Club Name: Young Writer’s League Presidents: Reagan Tran and Matt Lauth

What is the purpose of your club?

The purpose is to learn, collaborate, inspire, and encourage creative writing pursuits.

When do you meet?

We usually have a lesson every week about some aspect of story writing.

How was the club created?

An actual cool thing we do is NaNoWriMo, where we try to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days just for the sheer satisfaction of it.

When and where do you meet?

We meet every Tuesday after school in room 924.

- Compiled by Stephenie Kang

Student Lexi Harrington

Gazette photo /ALI LEMOS

Gazette: Are you involved in any sports at Granite Bay High School?

Lexi: Yes, I play softball here.

Gazette: How long have you been playing softball?

Lexi: I have been playing softball since I could walk.

Gazette: How long have you been on varsity?

Lexi: I like the team aspect of it but in the same way it’s a very individualized sport.

- Compiled by Ali Lemos

Friday, March 4, 2016

Lifestyle B3

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Some transfer students’ GPAs are inflated

If you really knew me,

you would know...

Weighting system differs from school to school causing some students to have GPAs unlikely to be attained at GBHS

BY COLE KAHMANN

ckahmann.gazette@gmail.com

T

ransferring from out of state has its ups and its down – students look forward to enjoying the California sun while they feel the stress of moving.

Consequently, there are details about moving schools that can affect a transfer student academically.

Students come to Granite Bay High School from all types of high schools and from many different states.

Recently, senior Quincy Smith moved to GBHS from North Carolina.

Smith transferred from Green Hope, named the most academic high school in North Carolina, known for feeding their students into top local universities like Duke University and the University of North Carolina.

“Academically, (my old school) is pretty much the same, except possibly a little more competitive (than GBHS),” Smith said.

She mentioned the vast differences in the way her old school graded and weighted classes.

“We had a 7 point grading scale so 93 to 100 percent was an A, 85 to 92 percent was a B and so on,” Smith said. “AP classes counted as 6 points towards your GPA, honors classes counted as 5 and regular classes counted as 4 points, so we had a chance to get a higher GPA than (students) here.”

GBHS, on the contrary, only offers 5 points for Advanced Placement and Honors classes.

Students transferring in have the ability to

Lexi Harrington

If you really knew me, you would know that even though I act very extroverted, I am actually very shy.

Ryan Corp

keep their original GPA if it is elevated, or to recalculate their GPA to GBHS’ weighting – if that would be more “At my first school, I took more beneficial.

Honors and AP classes in my freshGBHS graduate and man and sophomore years than current University of people at Granite Bay were able to,” Southern California Yeager said.

I had a lower GPA student Mark Yeager The discrepancies in schools’ arrived in Granite weighting systems and the ability to before I transferred, Bay from a small transfer over to a different weightbut when I moved to ing system can have significant school in Virginia.

Despite coming in the way that GBHS impacts on transfer students’ with a GPA over 4.0, weights classes, my transcripts.

Yeager had the ability GBHS student counselor Kathy to raise his average Orchard said that the schools gradGPA got inflated. higher. ing system, Aeries, will not allow “I had a lower GPA 6.0 credits for classes and decimal – Mark Yeager, before I transferred, changes to class credits such as GBHS alumni but when I moved to a 0.25 point increase or decrease the way that GBHS for a class. However, she said she weights classes, my believes the real benefit for transfer GPA got inflated,” students comes from keeping the Yeager said. weighted credits from classes At his previous at their old school that are not school, Yeager said not only that the classes weighted here. were much more difficult, but also that classes She also added that colleges have the ability to rewere scored harder and students were given calculate any student’s GPA depending on whatever less credit. system they use.

In contrast to Granite Bay High School, his As a result, those that transfer over from other old school took away 0.3 points from the grade schools can have some advantages over other if the student got a “-.” For example, A-’s are students. worth 3.7 instead of 4.0s.

“The combination of the number of weighted “Plus, Honors classes at my old school were courses I took as a freshman and sophomore,” an extra half point added to the GPA versus a Yeager said, “and the way that Granite Bay weights full point at GBHS,” Yeager said. grades played a big part in putting me in the position Because of these drastic differences, when to have a high class rank.”

Certain aspects of identity change over time

If you really knew me, you would know that I desire to see progress in the world toward peace and prosperity but also progress toward technology and human advancement.

Students share opinions on the aspects that can influence themselves

BY CARISSA LEWIS

clewis.gazette@gmail.com

F

Pooja Jadhav

If you really knew me, you would know that I love music.

- Compiled by Aishwarya Pattnaik

rom birth to adulthood, physical and mental change are inevitable, but does that mean identity follows this same pattern? Is identity a constant course of development, or does it eventually reach a standstill?

According to Stage of Life, a community that studies people of all age groups, 37 percent of teenagers believe their current identity will adjust over time.

The majority, 63 percent, believe the identity they have now will remain with them for the rest of their life.

Because it has no clear-cut definition, the implications of identity vary.

“Identity is not an absolute,” Physics teacher Andrew Phillips said. “It’s a construct and so of course it’s influenced by the people and environment that we

surround ourselves with.”

Phillips said his personality and mindset have changed since his childhood. His own sense of identity has developed with time.

“I was a social chameleon,” Phillips said. “I wanted to be liked no matter where I was, and so I changed my personality depending on who I was with ...

That was exhausting, first and foremost, and it really kind of messed up my sense of self.”

While this tendency can be reflected in the interactions of high school students, formulating groups can also allow individuals to enhance their personality.

According to senior Elise Ramos, groups are often generated through coinciding passions.

“It’s natural,” Ramos said. “I think that people are going to just (gravitate) towards people who share their interests. People you end up making your friends are people who still have those com-

Yearbook refrains from fall distributions

Strict deadlines push the yearbook staff to meet a more practical spring delivery

BY JILL KURPERSHOEK

jkurpershoek.gazette@gmail.com

H

igh school yearbooks are a tradition.

They function as somewhat of a time capsule, holding the last childhood memories.

The yearbook photo deadline is long before the end of the school year, falling around mid-March. In order to be in the yearbook, all photos have to be submitted before then.

Since some Granite Bay High School students participate in spring sports and activities that occur after the yearbook deadline, these students have less documentation in the yearbook.

In order to change this, certain schools

Yeager transferred over, he had the ability to change his GPA to match the weighting that correlates with GBHS’.

Both Smith and Yeager said that at their prior schools they had more opportunities to take AP and honors classes.

have decided to do a fall delivery, in which students don’t receive their yearbook until the fall of the next school year.

“If the deadline were later, seniors wouldn’t have the book in time for senior picnic,” Bernadette Cranmer, the yearbook advisor said. “We had to disappoint some seniors last year because of the late distribution, and that was awful.”

The yearbook staff also has to plan their distribution around the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test dates.

“We’re distributing on May ninth,” Cranmer said, “That’s the same day as the AP Physics and AP Biology tests, but those have fewer test takers than some other days.”

Noelle Larson, a former GBHS student,

Gazette photo illustration /NATASHA CHANDA

Granite Bay High School Ursus has been releasing yearbooks every spring

since 1997, one year after the school opened in 1996.

now goes to a school that does fall yearbook distributions. By this means, seniors have to come back to pick up their yearbooks in the fall, or a friend or family member has to pick it up for them.

Larson said the positive aspect of a fall distribution is that the yearbook has more content and more time to be perfected, making the price of it seem reasonable because of all the work put into it. Regardless of this, Larson still favors a spring distribution.

“I definitely prefer end-of-the-year delivery, because I always loved getting together with my friends and trading yearbooks to sign,” Larson said, “With fall delivery, signing seems kind of pointless.”

Cranmer said a fall distribution would be less effective and would cause students to buy yearbooks, but not end up picking them up in August.

Additionally, the yearbook staff begins training over the summer, and if there were a fall distribution date, they’d have to continue working on the last year’s yearbook when they usually would be training new staff members.

“Receiving the book at the end of the year is a culminating activity just like Day at the Bay, Senior Picnic and Graduation,” Cranmer said.

In the past, the yearbook staff has released an insert that covers more events from the end of the year, however, aren’t considering doing this again.

“It would be difficult to finish (and) print a magazine in time for distribution day,” Frances Strnad, senior Ursus staff member said, “It might also be a little redundant considering the fact that the Gazette already has such great coverage of spring events.”

Strnad agrees with Cranmer, saying that a fall distribution would lessen the enjoyment of getting the yearbooks.

“For a lot of students, especially seniors, signing yearbooks is an end of the school year activity,” Strnad said, “It’s a chance to say goodbye to your friends before they leave for college, transfer to a different school or move.”

monalities with you, even if they differ significantly in some other areas.”

In addition to friendships, identity can be shaped by age, family, religion and culture.

For Ramos, switching schools prompted a change in personality.

Ramos said she used to be more violent and didn’t have many people to talk to. Since coming to Granite Bay High School, she has become more open.

“I ... have this philosophy that ‘you’ as a concept or ‘me’ as a concept is going to be something that’s constantly changing,” Ramos said. “You’re never going to be the same person that you (were) even a couple of minutes ago.”

While certain characteristics are prone to transformation, others are ground into an individual from birth. Junior Megan Marty said part of an individual’s identity is inherited from his or her

parents.

According to Stage of Life, 84 percent of students believe their identity is shaped by “nurture” over “nature.”

“The way you were raised and your parents’ views, or the views you adopted from them, are another big part of your identity,” Marty said. “At this kind of age or younger, … kids are really impressionable.”

Even with respect to parental influence, an individual’s sense of identity has the potential to adjust.

Regardless, fundamental personality traits neglect to change.

“There’s some aspects of identity that do stay permanent throughout life,” Marty said. “But I don’t think anyone ever stays permanently the same throughout their life. I have some sort of faith in humanity that there’s an ability to change.”

Book of the Month

Gazette photo /GARBHITA SHAH

Title: Scarlet Letter Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne The Great Gatsby of mice and men Romeo and Juliet

Grapes of Wrath

Summary: A must read during one’s high school career, The Scarlet Letter encompasses several themes that all of humankind can relate to. These range from compassion and forgiveness, creed and passion, to human hypocrisy and sin. The story takes place in seventeenth century New England, and the plot is centered upon the protagonist Hester Prynne and her battles against the Puritanical norms of her society.

- Compiled by Garbhita Shah

Lifestyle B4

Friday, March 4, 2016

From classroom to quad Campus custodians share personal backgrounds

BY SHIVANI BOBBALA

sbobbala.gazette@gmail.com

P

ardeep Kumar, the newest janitor at GBHS, has only been at the school for two years, working as a janitor for a total for three and a half years. He immigrated in 2010 to the United States from Punjab, India. Kumar says he faced hardships upon his arrival to America as an immigrant who knew little English. He worked at McDonald’s for a short period of time before taking a subjob as a janitor for the district and finally settling into this job at GBHS. “My life has been defined by struggle. In India, succeeding in school was competitive and difficult,” Kumar said. “After I moved here, things didn’t get much easier. It is really hard for immigrants to find a job here, especially without know-

J

oe Cuneo grew up in Santa Clara, CA. He went to Wilcox High School, from which he graduated in 1977 (although he doesn’t look nearly as old). He went onto work for Hewlett Packard for 23 years. The last 12 of those years were spent at a desk job, which Cuneo found he strongly disliked. He says that he simply has too much nervous energy to talk on the phone and take conference calls. After his job at HP, he worked for

ing any English.”

Since he came to America, Kumar says his English has improved significantly and that he doesn’t struggle with the language as much as he used to.

He attributes his success to diligence, hard work, and the support of those around him. He says that he goes home and reads children’s books everyday in English, which he says seems silly but has greatly helped him improve his English. He also looks to other sources such as newspapers, news magazines, and educational television to better his English speaking and reading abilities. He says pushing himself to talk to others has also helped him immensely. He makes an effort to connect with kids and attempt to carry conversations with them which he says have been very beneficial.

He also says that the rest of the custodial staff has really helped him, conversing with him in English and helping him through the learning process.

Overall, Kumar has really enjoyed working at Granite Bay. He says the students, staff, and other janitors are very nice and helpful. For example, he says that kids in student government have often helped him set up for events. Kumar lives with his wife and 2 daughters in the North Highlands.

His kids attend Creative Connections Arts Academy, with his oldest daughter in 5th grade and his youngest in 2nd grade. When he’s not working, Kumar likes to stay active by playing sports and lifting weights. He says that staying healthy in America has been more challenging than he expected, but that he is determined to stay healthy.

a year and a half at Clark Pest Control but decided that wasn’t the greatest fit for him either. He didn’t like working alone and being exposed to harsh pesticides every day. His wife, who worked at Antelope High School, told him about the job opening as a janitor. He applied and got the position. He has been working as a janitor for 12 years, spending the last 7 of those years at GBHS. He is in charge of all of the sporting events in the big gym and responsible for the maintenance of 27 rooms around campus. He really likes his job as he really enjoys working with kids and loves the sporting events, because he is a “sports freak.”

Last week, he and his wife went wine tasting in Sonoma to celebrate their 17th anniversary. His daughter, who graduated from GBHS in 2013, is currently studying at San Francisco State University, and hopes to be a teacher someday. If Cuneo could tell high schoolers anything, he would tell them to stay in school and save every penny. He attributes his comfort and very low house payments to his financial acumen. At age twenty-five, Joe saved enough money to buy his own home in cash.

He recommends keeping a conservative budget, and says that that simple principle has completely changed his life.

R

emigio Hernandez, who goes by Remi, is the only daytime janitor at GBHS. His shift goes from 7:00 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon, when the other janitors take over and work shifts till 11:00 pm. He moved to the area in 1991 from L.A., where he lived for eleven years. He originally immigrated from Mexico, and still visits his parents

K

athy, the only female janitor at GBHS, has been working here since she moved to California four years ago to be closer to her family. She is originally from Montana, where she grew up.

Later, she spent some time in Idaho, where one of her daughters currently lives. After

M

ichael James Whiting, has been a janitor for GBHS for the greatest length of time. He has worked as a custodian for the school for 17 years since November 1999. The school itself has been open since ‘96, so Whiting has been with the

Emerald Brigade marches to Hawaii Band changes competition location

D

BY STEPHENIE KANG skang.gazette@gmail.com

itching initial plans to go to Chicago, the Emerald Brigade is going to Hawaii over spring break, causing mixed reactions amongst band members.

The change was originally brought on by a conflict with a popular religious holiday.

“The concert was the day before Easter and that wouldn’t work really well,” Emerald Brigade director Lynn Lewis said.

However, now that they are going to Hawaii instead of Chicago, they get to stay in Hawaii longer.

“We usually have about eighty, (this year) we have about fifty people go-

Student

Spotlight Elizabeth Sciascia

ing, including chaperones,” Lewis said. “It’s a smaller group but sometimes that’s easier to put songs together because there are less people to coordinate.”

Despite all the positive energy and fanfare, there are still band members who are miffed about being not going to Chicago.

“I want to go to Chicago,” clarinet player Kelsci Jensen-Baba said. “Chicago sounds pretty fun.”

However, some students believe that all in all, Hawaii is still a better option than what else they had planned for spring break.

These kinds of trips are a tradition in the Emerald Brigade. Each year, band members go on a trip over spring break.

“Every other year it switches from a small trip to big trip so this was a big trip year,” Nelson said.

And what are band members going to do on this trip?

“We’re going to be playing in a festival, we’re going to be sightseeing, we

Student finds interest in painting the school Gazette: How long have you been doing (these chalk drawings on the walls)?

w The Granite Bay Gazette

there every year. He is happily married to Ana Hernandez, also from Mexico, and has three daughters. His oldest daughter goes to college in Monterey, and his second daughter is studying at Sierra College. His youngest daughter is currently a junior at Oakmont High School. In his free time, he says that staying active is one of his favorite hobbies. He used to play soccer when he was young, but unfortunately had to stop because of leg problems. He says, nowadays, he enjoys running and goes for six-mile-run every other day. Before he was a janitor, he worked at a furniture store, until it moved locations to Michigan. He knew he wanted to work here after the first time he saw Granite Bay High School’s campus. Since then, he has been working as a janitor for GBHS for 13 years. His experience at Granite Bay has been good, and he notices that the teachers and the administration are all really nice people. He is particularly grateful to the current principal and assistant principals, and says that their walking around school during lunches has really helped the trash problem. If he could tell high school students one thing, it would be to keep the trash in the trash can.

that, she moved to Oregon where she worked as a janitor for twenty years before moving to California. She said that the move was definitely a big change for her, but that her grandkids made it worth it. She moved here from a small town of 1500 people (which is smaller than the population of Granite Bay High School). She says that it is a big school, which took getting used to, as her last job was at a small grade school in Oregon. Her son and daughter now live here, along with her grandsons who are 12 and 7.

Kathy thinks that diversity at GBHS and the multitude of people here from different ethnic backgrounds make the high school stand out among others. If Kathy could tell high school students one thing, she would tell them to go to college and get an education. She truly believes that it is well worth it. She says that her son did just that, went into the service and is now making good money.

“I would have done it back then but I didn’t have the opportunity. If you have the chance to go to college or trade school, go,” Kathy said. school almost since its inception. He has been a janitor in general for 31 years. Although he did similar work before he worked for GBHS, he hasn’t worked for any other schools. Whiting is very content with the experience he has had for nearly two decades. He likes what he does, and approaches his work with a good attitude. Although he admits that some days can be worse than others, he thinks that this job is still good overall. Having observed the high school over the years, Whiting has stood witness to the many changes the school has undergone.

One specific issue he weighed in on was the trash issue. He claims that the trash issue has definitely gotten much better over the years.

He also observes that the job pretty much entails a lot of trash and a lot of setup, and that’s about it. Whiting lives in the Granite Bay Area. He has three kids who have all graduated high school. He also now has three grandkids. If he could tell high school students one thing, he would simply tell them to pick up after themselves.

get to go to a luau and get to meet other bands from all around the world.

There’s one from Australia and (another from) Japan“ Nelson said.

However, the learning experience acquired from going on the trip is emphasized by the Emerald Brigade staff..

“We play for college professors and then they have a workshop with us for about an hour,” Lewis said. “And then we have a shared rehearsal where we get to meet bands from New Zealand and Japan. There are about eight or nine bands that got invited.”

Not all big trips are purely for the experience of performing in festivals and visiting islands. Some experiences band members can actually put on their resumes, such as trips to New York city to play at Carnegie Hall.

And, of course, band members will have the opportunity to take advantage of their trip to Hawaii.

“We’re going to be sightseeing, and we get to go to a luau,” Irma Nelson said.

The Emerald Brigade will be departing for Hawaii over spring break from March. But Chicago will still linger in some members’ minds.

“I wish we had gone to Chicago,” color guard member and clarinet player Lauren Jensen-Baba said.

Your Names

Sciascia: I have done this once before but this one is for media.

Gazette: How did you pick the colors?

Sciascia: I really like reds and sunflowers, so this is a combination of both.

Your Faces

Gazette: Why did get involved with art?

Sciascia: I have always loved art, and the Mr. Stevens has taught me so much.

Gazette photo /CLAIR KASEL

-Compiled by Clair Kasel

The Gazette

Friday, November 13, 2015

Lifestyle

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Strange scholarships entice students Odd ways to gain college money are open options

BY NATASHA CHANDA

nchanda.gazette@gmail.com

A

pplications are on their journey back home from college admissions offices around the world and seniors are quickly figuring out the next step in their educational journey.

One aspect of applying to college students can forget about in the frenzy of being accepted into the college of their dreams is applying for scholarships afterwards.

“College these days is so expensive,” senior Ivy Liu said. “I don’t want to be in debt later on, and it is going to be hard finding a job while managing my studies, so scholarships are much needed.”

College can be a tremendous expense, so taking advantage of scholarships can be beneficial for lessening any financial burden.

Of course, the usual local and academic scholarships are always available to everybody, but students would be surprised at the amount of non-academic and nonsports related scholarships available to seniors and older students.

“There’s a lot of unique ones out there,” College and Careers counselor Cindi Underwood said.

Some of them can get extremely specific and, according to many students, really random.

The SAMMY scholarship, short for Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year, awards $7,500 of scholarship money, a free trip to Disney World and a spot in the

Milk Mustache advertisement. It is nationally awarded to 25 student-athlete seniors with at least a 3.20 GPA who participate in either school or club sports.

Physical characteristics can also be a major contribution to attaining scholarships as well.

Tall Clubs International and Central Arizona Tall Society (C.A.T.S.) are two organizations that provide scholarships for students who are taller than the average person.

Little People of America (LPA) is another organization that provides scholarships for shorter individuals.

Hair color is another physical contribution to scholarships. ScholarshipRed awards scholarships for women specifically with red hair.

Another familiar scholarship opportunity is one related to family lineage.

“If they have a particular situation, whether it’s a student who has a parent that’s a cancer survivor, they can actually go directly to Google,” Underwood said.

“They’d be surprised at the scholarships that come up.”

Not all of these scholarships have limitations however.

Many of them award creativity.

Take the Jif Most Creative Sandwich Contest for example.

If seniors can come up with a creative recipe using Jif Peanut Butter, they might be on their way to winning $25,000 towards college expenses, as well as a $50 Jif Peanut Butter basket.

How about the “Wear Duck Tape to Prom” scholar-

ship?

Duck Brand duct tape holds an annual scholarship where students are encouraged to show their creativity through the creation of a prom outfit entirely out of duct tape. The reward is $5,000 towards their college fund.

Even though these opportunities are out there, a large amount of students have not considered applying for them because they simply didn’t know about them.

“I have not applied to any of these weird scholarships just because I haven’t heard much about them,” senior Ivy Liu said. “However, I might think about applying to some because it will be fun writing an essay on something besides myself or my education.”

On the other hand, there are students who prefer not to apply for such scholarships because they feel they are being rewarded for something they did not put in work for.

“I don’t think I would consider applying for those scholarships,” junior Diana Garcia said. “I would have put no effort into receiving the award so it wouldn’t feel right.”

Regardless, no matter where a student comes from or the extent of their strengths and weakness, there is a scholarship out there for them.

So, here’s the moral of the story: Take advantage of your opportunities.

In today’s day and age, as mentioned before, college is expensive, but there will always be a way to get the necessary higher education.

B5

TOP

Places to move to if Donald Trump wins the presidential elections Iceland

Luxembourg

Ireland

How to: Create a Resumé 1. Create a title.

2. Explain your interests and career objective.

3. List your past work experience, background in education and any extracurricular activities you have done or currently take part in.

Portugal Gazette illustration/HANNAH XU

4. List any awards you’ve won and when you won them.

Netherlands - Compiled by Carissa Lewis

GBHS gives back over spring break Students head to Mexicali for mission work and to help others

BY ALI LEMOS

L

alemos.gazette@gmail.com

ooking across the Granite Bay High School quad after spring vacation, students have become noticeably tanner. While it may appear they were at the beach, many dedicated their breaks to helping others.

Bayside Church’s Mexico Outreach Ministry has created a program where both college and high school students are given the opportunity to serve God and help those in need in Mexicali, Mexico.

This program, which began in 1996 with only 26 students, now has over 1,000 volunteers attending.

The volunteers will leave on Mar. 18 and return on Mar. 26, the majority of GBHS’ spring break.

Victoria Hatch, a leader of one of the groups, has been spending the week of Easter in Mexicali with Bayside for the last three years.

“This year I am the adult team leader,” Hatch said. “I’m on an impact team where we’re assigned a specific church that we go to all week and we play with

the kids, (and) try and teach them about faith.”

An impact team isn’t the only path that a volunteer can take, there is also construction, festival and community service.

Construction builds two bedroom homes for families, while festival brings fun to the churches with bounce houses and face painting. Community service takes on a variety of projects including cleaning up parks and administering to the homeless.

Each of these options provide students with a unique opportunity to interact and experience something new they might not get to in Granite Bay. Genna Kozlowski, a junior at GBHS who is a part of the construction teams, loves the interactions she experiences.

“I go down to build a closer relationship with God personally, and to make an impact on others lives,” Kozlowski said.

“It feels really good to do something with my spring break by helping others.”

Spending the whole week serving others may not sound appealing at first, but with the growing numbers in this

program it is apparent that students have found something they love.

Developing relationships with the kids she sees has kept senior Camilla Griggs returning time and again on this trip. “(Last year) we went back to the same sight I went (my) first year and as soon as we got to the place … immediately the kids recognized you and they were so excited to see you,” Griggs said.

In fact Griggs looks forward to this year. She is going to the same area again and fortifying her connection to these communities.

The significance of this experience on the students is as much, if not more than that on the children.

“You don’t only get to change the lives of others, but you yourself get to experience a trip that will leave an infinite impact on your life,” junior Jack Lugo said.

“I know this trip has done this for me.”

However, this trip does not just consist of the week in Mexicali, there are a number of steps that teams must complete in order to prepare.

These include three formal trainings and team building activities which are

BLACK HISTORY: Positive key

figures arise from America’s past

Continued from page B2

and be proud of.

“Growing up, Beyoncé has always been my role model as a strong and talented black woman,” Hess said. “She allowed me to see that I too can rise above the standard set before me, (and) that I can have an impact on others in and outside of the black community.”

According to Hess, Beyoncé also inspired her to shamelessly carry hot sauce in her bag.

Contrary to what many think, Black History Month is just as much for white people as it is for black people.

“I think that BHM should be celebrated and I don’t think that it is racist toward white people,” junior Matthew Grundy said. “As the saying goes, every other month is White History Month.”

The month serves to bring more light to AfricanAmerican struggles and also their achievements.

“This month definitely did make me more aware of both the hardships faced by African-Americans as well as their amazing accomplishments,” freshman Blake Wittwer. “I remember when I was younger, the NBA basketball players would all wear black history t-shirts during this month and that definitely had an impact on me growing up.”

Although Black History Month only lasts a month, the effects last longer than just 28 days.

“African-Americans really do need this month in order to highlight their accomplishments and facilitate intercultural understanding between races,” Grundy

designed to help teams feel like “families” before they leave on this journey Lugo is leaving two days earlier than the majority of the volunteers as a part of the “Spartan” team which helps to prepare their camp before the rest of the volunteers show up.

“We have tons of things to set up, but our main job … will be to get all the tents up before everyone gets there,” Lugo said. “We arrive on Thursday to Mexico, while the rest of the groups arrives on Saturday.”

Once in Mexico all participants stay on a campsite that the Mexico Outreach ministry purchased in 2009.

After spending five days and a total of seven hours a day working with these children or helping the community the volunteers head back home.

The students supporting this program return home with a new maturity and appreciation, and a longing to return again next year.

“For the students that go with us they learn to serve and give their hearts and go down with purpose and it really grows their faith too,” Hatch said. “The big point is … that here we go to give and serve but it’s unbelievable what it gives back.”

Germany

New Zealand

Australia

FAST FACTS Influential African-Americans and Their Mark on History wFrederick Douglass was a promisaid. nent leader and author during the 1800s. wHarriet Tubman aided the escape of slaves after having escaped slavery herself. wSojourner Truth became an activist after her escape from slavery. wScott Joplin was a key figure in the development of ragtime, a style of music popular in the early 1900s.

United Kingdom

Canada

Source: www.u-s-history.com

Read the Gazette.

- Compiled by Katie Cologna

B6 Lifestyle

Friday, March 4, 2016

The Siege of the Seagulls Students feel terrorized by the attack of plummeting feces on the GBHS campus

S

ome call it a right of passage, others consider it an omen.

Still, more scream hysterically. Most of the Granite Bay High School student body considers it a mildly disgusting nuisance.

Pooping is not normally acceptable outside of designated areas on campus, except if you are a seagull. Not only are they granted the privilege to poop wherever they want, they can even let their bowels loose on students.

The seagulls have been a part of campus life at GBHS since the inception of the school.

In fact, according to assistant principal Brian McNulty, ideas for lunchtime activities have stemmed from their presence.

Senior Michaela Setiawan has built both a fascination and respect for the birds.

Her infatuation with the seagulls started when her friends and her were trying to avoid getting “hit” by the birds’ flying feces when they noticed that a few of the birds were “special.”

“There are two birds that don’t have any legs,” Setiawan said. “There’s also another seagull that has one leg dangling when it flies.”

Over the course of the next few months, Setiawan and her friends took up bird watching during their free time at lunch, attempting to spot these mysterious no-legged birds land.

“I haven’t witnessed them landing before,” Setiawan admitted.

Although her admiration for the handicapped birds is evident, Setiawan also has a certain level of appreciation for the rest of the seagulls.

“I love having the seagulls on campus,” Setiawan said. “Their presence is beautiful and adds character to our school.”

Junior Nikki Zavesky has a polar-opposite attitude towards GBHS’ feathery friends (or foes).

“I hate the seagulls flying around campus all the time,” Zavesky said.

Zavesky’s dislike of birds has been a part of her life since she can remember.

Although the problem has never interfered with her punctuality, Zavesky views the birds with a certain animosity and fear.

“I have to run into class terrified and I embarrass myself,” she said.

As Setiawan keeps her eyes peeled for seagulls without appendages, she also makes sure to stay outside the birds’ target zones to avoid the presents that the birds drop from time to time.

Zavesky too keeps a safe distance at all times.

“When I see a seagull I will most likely scream and run away if I feel like I’m in danger of it attacking me,” Zavesky said.

While Setiawan is relatively happy with the current situation, she admits that she is yet to be pooped on by one of the seagulls.

“That’s why I can have such a positive attitude towards them,” she said.

Zavesky, although in the same no-poop club as Setiawan, believes that measures should be taken in order to minimize the seagull presence on campus.

“I don’t know if there are such things as bird exterminators, but if not, people should at least not leave food around so they don’t swoop down,” Zavesky said.

Setiawan agrees that there is room for improvement to help both students and seagulls alike on the GBHS campus.

“We shouldn’t leave out trash or anything that attracts them,” Setiawan says, “because it increases the amount of people getting pooped on.”

Gazette illustrations /CARISSA LEWIS

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Sports

Granite Bay Gazette

Sports C1

Friday w March 4, 2016

COMMENTARY

jacqueline romero jromero.gazette@gmail.com

Experience doesn’t have to relate to talent

G

rowing up, we are encouraged to try different sports in order to find out which ones we like the best. However, since when do things that we decide at such a young age have to stick with us for life?

People always find it shocking when someone in high school decides to try a new sport because they assume they would automatically be behind.

I don’t think that people should be limited to only playing the sports they committed to playing in junior high and elementary school.

Just because someone starts a sport late, doesn’t mean that they don’t have the potential to improve and become a great athlete in the game.

I have been playing tennis since 4th grade, but believe me, there are many girls on my team who have been playing for way less time and are a lot better than me.

During the first day of tryouts this past fall for the tennis team, every girl had to fill out a form giving information on their tennis background. One of the questions specifically asked us how long we have been playing.

I personally do not think that this should be a factor in your ability to play the game.

Obviously I know that experience contributes a lot to a person’s skill level, however, there are other factors that play into it.

For example, even though I have been playing tennis since 4th grade, I hardly ever did tournaments or during high school played in the off-season.

I know many people who have been playing for half the amount of years that I have, yet their dedication toward playing consistently and intensely over those years has allowed them to quickly gain lots of experience.

Students should be able to try new things in high school without assuming they are going to be behind.

Coaches should be open and inviting to students who are looking to try out for their team. Who knows, maybe they could have a hidden talent for the sport.

I also don’t think that someone should feel obligated to continue playing a sport for all four years in high school just because they have played it all the way up to their freshman year.

Students should be able to stop old things in order to try new things if they want to.

Throughout high school, people have always told me to stick with my sport all four years, specifically to benefit my college application.

They would tell me that colleges like it because it shows “dedication”.

Why does it look worse for me to play softball my first two years and soccer my last two years? I’m still playing a sport for all four years.

Students should be encouraged to try new things if their heart is no longer in something they have been doing for years.

Just because someone tries a sport for the first time later than the other kids on the team doesn’t mean that they should automatically get written off as less of an athlete. *** Jacqueline Romero, a senior, is a Gazette sports editor.

Special to the Gazette /SYDNEE GREER

To have some fun outside of other commitments, “Team Trump” enjoys playing in a recreational basketball league on the weekends.

Local basketball leagues grow

Students from high schools around the Sacramento area participate on recreational teams

R

BY MATTHEW ONTIVEROS montiveros.gazette@gmail.com

ecently, GBHS athletes have been looking to a nontraditional route for participating in athletics.

Recreational sport teams give GBHS students the ability to compete with their friends, without having the rigorous practice and game schedule that a competitive team has.

Junior Bradley Jones and many of his friends participate in a local basketball league called Hotshots.

“Well most of our players are pretty time committed to other things whether it be baseball or academics,” junior Bradley Jones said. “It’s nice to not have a huge time commitment, and (when) we’re together it’s fun.”

Despite being the same age as all the players on the team, Jones is a coach for the “Team Trump”.

Recreational basketball has no regulations or limits on who can or can’t coach.

The team of 10 junior boys has looked outside of the school to participate in basketball by joining a Hotshots recreational team.

The decision to do so incorporates many aspects, mainly a consideration for time, level of competition

and a desire to have fun with friends.

“We started our team because we all enjoy playing ball for fun,” junior Satgur Mann said.

“We haven’t taken it all too seriously yet because everyone makes playoffs so we’re just 3-3,” Jones said The competition is varied as students from all around the Roseville, Rocklin, and Granite Bay area come to play in the league.

“We play against kids from different high schools and (they) are usually superior in talent,” Mann said.

The structure of one game a week and limited practice allows for a balance between fun and competition.

It is this flexibility that draws groups of 10 friends to pay to play.

Hotshots youth basketball charges $147 for one season

before purchasing jerseys or any other equipIt’s nice to not ment. They host games Friday have a huge time nights for high commitment, and school ages.

The seasons (when) we’re together lasts 8 weeks it’s fun. with short play– Bradley Jones, coach of offs.

Joining a a recreational basketball recreation team team provides a much different attitude than a structured high school team.

The group of friends has been dictating everything the team does, including some nontraditional aspects.

“My main strategy is to yell things that might help and snap clipboards,” Jones said.

The prospect of having fun on a rec team is even appealing to some on the GBHS varsity team.

Senior Kovey Palmaer is considering joining a team

Senior and junior girls prepare Madness to clash in the Powderpuff game comes back

Players in training and excited for the annual feminine flag football frenzy at Granite Bay High

BY CLAIR KASEL

ckasel.gazette@gmail.com

Powderpuff isn’t your average Friday night football game.

On March 29th, senior and junior girls from Granite Bay High School will start practicing for their night under the lights.

This tradition started around 1972, at Pope John XXIII High School in Massachusetts, and soon became very popular across the states.

The name of Powderpuff actually comes from the term “powdering” – when girls put on their makeup.

However, on the field, makeup and nail polish are far from what is on the girl’s mind.

“I got very serious when we walked onto the turf and my competitive nature came out,” senior Kassidy Henson said.

Senior game commissioner and player, Tiffanie Nguyen, is looking forward to her first year fully participating because of an injury during last year’s game.

to GBHS this March

The annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament thrills students on campus

BY ISABELLA TKACHUK

March is filled with events from beginning to end. From St. Baldrick’s Day to Sports-a-Rama, students at GBHS tend to take these activities to the next level.

However, there is something that seems to stand out about March on this campus – a Madness that is focused solely on college basketball.

Even though it may seem as though college is out of reach to some high school students, others can justify that their favorite time of March is during a NCAA College Basketball Tournament, referred to as March Madness.

This collegiate, Division I- level event, will announce tournament brackets on Tuesday, March 15th and the official tournament will begin on Thursday, March 17th.

Not only does the tournament create official brackets for the event, but fans can actually make their own brackets and predict the outcome of the tournament.

By taking a personal spin on the touritkachuk.gazette@gmail.com

Gazette illustration/TROY PAWLAK

On March 29th, practices start to get players familiar with the sport, teach skills and work on plays for the game on April 8th.

“Even though I was picking pun-filled names injured during the game, it for the games. was still such an exciting “For me, the best part and cool experience leadwas walking out onto the ing up to the game and the field before the game as a game itself,” Nguyen said. whole class,” senior AlesThe small details, like sandra Denning said. “It the players names, haven’t really felt like we were a been settled yet, but they team.” will be soon.

She is aspiring to be a “I recently ordered defensive line player for mouth guards for the play- her second season. ers to use during practice, “Since I played this so those should be coming position last year, I am not in soon,” Nguyen said. doing much to prepare for Each player has a differthe game,” Denning said. ent experience and favorite When you are on the part about the game, field, there is a lot going ranging from the practices on and it can be slightly or the tradition of See POWDERPUFF , page C3

See HOTSHOTS, page C3 nament, people can compete with their friends, enemies and coworkers to potentially win money and other prizes.

At GBHS, March Madness happens to be something taken seriously by many competitive students.

“I started (making brackets) in 6th grade,” Junior Daniel Its really hard to tell Swartz said. “My how the tournament friends and will go because of I get really into it.” the inconsistency in Not only does most of the teams this Swartz season. watch – Daniel Swartz, these March Madness basketball games at enthusiast his house and with his friends, he also tends to watch them during school as well.

“We watch it at school,” Swartz said. “I try to watch as many important games as possible.”

In previous seasons and based off of statistics, it is evident that the teams in this year’s tournament are strong, yet they have not been as reliable as past teams.

“It’s really hard to tell how the tournament will go because of the inconsistency in most of the teams this season,” Swartz said.

Even though the outcome of the tournament may not be easily predicted, it will still be full of surprises.

GBHS IB math and AP Calculus teacher Scott Becker is an avid University of North Carolina Tar Heel supporter.

See MADNESS, page C3

inside sports Fan of the month

C2

Grizz Quiz

C3

For the record

C5

Spring Sports Teams look to accomplish their athletic goals this year

Rugby GBR seeks another stellar season after making nationals last year

Crew The unique sport is gaining attention from students as well as colleges

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C4

C5

Friday, March 4, 2016

Sports C2

w The Granite Bay Gazette

GBHS spring sports begin as athletes have big goals Boys’ golf looks to avenge disappointing last year

BY BRAYDEN JOHNK

bjohnk.gazette@gmail.com

Last year’s Granite Bay High School Varsity Boys Golf Team had a successful season that came to a disheartening end at the State Championships.

As a result, this year’s varsity team is ready to build on last year’s accomplishments, which included winning the Sierra Foothill League, the Sac-Joaquin Division1 North Sections and Masters, along with placing second in CIF Norcal and sixth in State Championships.

Tim Healy, the GBHS Athletic Director and coach of the Varsity Boys Golf Team, sees the program’s ongoing success as a result of the depth and talent of the players.

“I think last year was arguably the strongest team we’ve ever had at Granite Bay High,” Healy said.

During State last season, the team was actually leading after nine holes, but failed to finish strong. “They ended up coming in 6th,” Healy said.

“Even though out of 2,000 or so high schools, 6th is pretty good . . . the kids were actually disappointed,” Healy said. “And so I think (they) are coming back hungry this year.”

Because of this incentive, Healy clearly sees a bright future for this year’s team.

“As great as last year was, I actually think the team is even stronger this year,” Healy said. Team composition is always a significant factor driving results, and despite losing two key seniors from last year’s team, Healy isn’t phased.

“We’re just deep, we really are – it’s a great position in which to find yourself,” Healy said.

This year’s team is anchored by seven returning varsity players – seniors Bryan Baumgarten, Andrew Hansen, Ryder Sanders and Riley Sullivan and juniors Nicko Craig, Drake Mendenhall and Tim Sauer – with the addition of one new player, junior Karim Richani.

Healy sees the leadership provided by the senior players as being key to the team’s success.

“There’s probably never been a stronger group of seniors in the history of this school in this program,” Healy said.

Healy is also very confident with the quality of players he has coming up the ranks in terms of underclassmen on the Junior Varsity Team.

“This team is going to be a state level team for many years to come,” Healy said.

Being a coach who has witnessed the team’s State

Championship victory in 2012 and countless other wins, Healy earnestly continues to see a promising future for GBHS boys golf, but still acknowledges that there is always room for improvement.

“I want to see us at the very highest tournaments finish even stronger than we already have,” Healy said.

Staying focused, determined, and positive during these important matches separates a good team from a great team.

“One bad swing can cost an entire team a tournament,” Healy said. “And I think that that’s where we need to improve as a team.”

Healy says he wants the entire team as a group to score under par, something which is a rare feat, but very possible for the current members. He also sees overall team chemistry as being the team’s secret weapon.

“They understand what it means to be a team, and from a coaching perspective, (it’s) awesome to watch the guys really actually create synergy and create a stronger team dynamic than they are as individuals.”

Bryan Baumgarten, a varsity team player since his sophomore year, agrees with Healy’s positive assessment of this year’s team.

“We have a lot of chemistry and a lot of the guys are really close,” Baumgarten said. “We all get along really well, so it’s going to be a fun group.”

However, with four seniors on the team, Baumgarten also sees the potential for a possible problem. As their last months of high school come to a close, seniors might become preoccupied with summer and college plans.

“I think our biggest challenge is just trying to stay motivated,” Baumgarten said. “If we stay in the moment and stay focused on our season, then I think we’ll play pretty well.”

Baumgarten credits the team for working hard during the off season, which has not only made them stronger players, but also better friends and teammates.

“We have the talent to go as far we want,” Baumgarten said. “It’s just can we build off of what we are as a group and support each other.”

With last season in the books, both Baumgarten and Healy expect nothing less than success for the varsity golf team this upcoming season.

“They’re a rare combination of talent and character that just makes it awfully fun to coach,” Healy said.

A new point of view

GBHS senior reflects on transition into the stands

BY MATTHEW ONTIVEROS

A

montiveros.gazette@gmail.com

s his senior year approaches an end, senior Parker Matheson has transitioned from athlete to fan for various Granite Bay High School sports.

Matheson had played football and baseball for several years before deciding to spend time on other activities.

In his transition, he moved from playing on the field to being a spectator.

“You have more time to just enjoy the experience and atmosphere,” Matheson said.

Special to the Gazette/JOHN SACHS

Junior Sydnee Greer dribbles the ball in a series of drills as the girls’ soccer season begins this spring. The soccer team is coming off two consecutive SFL titles.

Girls’ Soccer The Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team members have their eyes set on hardware this season once again, trying to surpass last year’s first place SFL record of 8-2-2 and a loss in the 2nd round of SJS Championships.

Senior goalie Laura Perjanik definitely sees the objective for her team as keeping the momentum going from past seasons.

“After winning league two years in a row, there’s probably the expectation on us to win it again – even though no one’s ever won the SFL two years in a row,” Perjanik said.

She believes the team is up to the challenge. “We’re really excited for the season.”

Baseball The baseball team, after finishing with a 12-6 record in last season’s Sierra Foothill League and making it to the Sac-Joaquin Section semi-finals where the Grizzlies lost against Elk Grove, is looking forward to even better results this year.

According to senior Drew Kindelt, the team has a strong group of new and returning players, and has set strong goals for the upcoming season.

“We are most looking to just bonding as a team,

Instead of playing on the football field this year, he was enjoying watching from the Tribe.

“As an athlete, often I got caught up worrying about my teams or my performance, and winning became my ultimate goal,” Matheson said. “Now, as a fan, I can just enjoy socializing with friends, taking part in the chants and not have tunnel vision on victory alone.”

Matheson has continued to come out to other sports.

“The night of Senior Fifth Quarter was one of my favorite basketball games because it was one of the rare times it seemed like most of the senior class showed up,” Matheson said.

That night, the GBHS boys’ basketball team won by one point in a game that came down to last second defense.

Nonetheless, his experience as one of the athletes participating gives him a unique perspective as a fan.

Matheson said it is important for a consistent Tribe to show up at athletic events.

“As an athlete it was a total buzzkill to walk out and see a visiting

hopefully making it far in the playoffs, and just getting a lot of wins,” Kindelt said.

Boys’ Lacrosse The Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse Team, after placing first in the Sacramento Valley League with a 7-0 record and placing 2nd in North Coast sections last year, seeks revenge.

Senior Alex Hassna is looking forward to his final year as a Granite Bay Grizzly and expects his team to achieve great things.

“I believe that we are a North Coast Section winning team,” Hassna said. “I think that if we keep it together as a team, we can win it – the whole thing.”

Girls’ Lacrosse The girls’ lacrosse team is also hungry for playoff victory after losing in the second round of North Coast sections last season.

Senior Carlin Isaacson sees athleticism as a key strength of this year’s team. “Our entire team is super athletic – everyone is super fast,” she said.

Isaacson not only wants to win this year, but also is looking forward to enjoying it with her teammates.

“We have a spring break trip that we go on to Southern California, so I’m excited for that.”

Parker Matheson As the senior nears graduation, he is evaluating his experience both on and off the field.

student section bigger than ours,” Matheson said.

As boys’ basketball continues into the playoffs, fan support will be essential.

Whether or not the basketball team pushed past the first few rounds of playoffs will be determined in these upcoming weeks. A better seeding of sixth compared to past years will assist in their attempt to succeed.

Tribe is subject to stricter rules and policies going forward As GBHS boys’ basketball progresses, admin cracks down

BY SAVANNA THOMPSON sthompson.gazette@gmail.com

Toward the end of basketball season, the Granite Bay High administration has requested a shift in the behaviors and chants of the Tribe.

Varsity boys’ basketball brings out huge crowds of excited students to cheer on their classmates after the popular football season.

Tribe Leaders Joey Scotti and Jack Willing face a new challenging task – keeping a huge group of students mellow in the hype of a game and in tune with the administration’s ideas for a more positive cheering section.

“The first thing that we would like to see is an adaptation of PRIDE for the school– an acronym which would encompass a whole lot of behaviors, but ... responsibility would be the biggest one,” said Assistant Principal Brian McNulty who characterizes himself as a teacher with a tie and with the job of ensuring students’ safety while in the Tribe.

PRIDE stands for Personal responsibil- manner, or being disrespectful.

With these goals, Tribe favorite chants ity Respect Integrity Dignity and Engagement and is a guiding principle at GBHS. like “You can’t do that”, “Airball”, or “Butterfingers” would “Win, lose or draw, we be considered inapproshow a lot of class, and we show a lot of charpriate and against the acter,” said McNulty. In I think it’s ridiculous image GBHS is trying to achieve. order to do that, it’s very that they are telling us Senior Jared Baer simple– cheer for your own team and make it in which ways we can argues that the Adminpositive.” istrations tightened Nationwide, sportsman- and cannot support our control of the Tribe takes away from the ship initiatives from the classmates. experience in the stuhigh school federation – Aya Atassi, GBHS junior have taken flight with a dent section. focus on how not only “Part of the Tribe is students but also parents getting into other playbehave at sporting events. ers’ heads,” Baer said.

The California Interscholastic FederaThis type of distraction is arguably a tion also governs GBHS, setting rules the part of basketball culture nationwide as fans are seen at professional games bangschool must abide by at athletic events.

The goal set for the student body is to ing clappers together and holding up fat cheer positively for the grizzlies without heads of players on the other teams. singling out players on the other team, Aya Atassi comes out to every basketcheering for the other team in a negative ball game because it’s her favorite sport.

Atassi says the Tribe exemplifies students bringing energy and support to a high school sporting event, and as a basketball player herself, she loves the feeling of hearing her classmates because it “changes the tempo and makes you want to play harder”.

Even if a cheer may be directed at an individual or on her team, she says there is too much happening during a game for the cheer to seriously affect a player.

“You’re too focused on what’s going on and hearing your coach tell you what to do, so really your last concern is what the other school’s student section is saying,” Atassi said. “Naturally you block it out.”

Like Baer, Atassi disagrees with the policies the administration is trying to implement within the tribe.

“I think it’s ridiculous that they are telling us in which ways we can and cannot support our classmates,” Atassi said.

At the end of the league season, Atassi observed a decrease in student attendance even with all the advertisements on Twitter and the GBHS Bulletin.

“The leaders beg people to come out and [...] it’s actually pretty sad that admin

Get hyped Read the Gazette.

did this much damage to the student body,” Atassi said.

Tribe Leader Joey Scotti says he hasn’t noticed a huge decrease in attendance and that many students cope with the new restrictions.

“It’s tough because a lot of chants can be seen as negative or demoralizing when really they are just in the spirit of the game,” Scotti said. However, Baer says that once students realize nearly anything they do will have them kicked out, students will quit attending games.

As far as the administration is concerned, the 2016 senior class eases the transition into a more positive cheering section.

“I think that change within a group is always a challenge, but with the great senior class that we have this year, I don’t know that it’ll be a struggle just a challenge,” McNulty said.

The Tribe is also restricted from rushing the court during halftime or after the game to prevent any injuries and to prevent basketball games from turning into a mob scene.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Grizz Quiz

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Compiled by Jill Kurpershoek

Do you have any pregame rituals?

What is your favorite color?

What do you enjoy most about playing your sport?

What is your favorite season?

What other sports do you play?

Sports C3

Kennedy Christie Girls’ Soccer

Makenna Johnson Track and Field

Ryder Sanders Boys’ Golf

Everyone meets in the middle of the field and does a team chant

I cry before every game

Blue

Clear

Blue

Always having the potential to throw further every meet

Eating what I want and not getting fat

Becoming one with Mother Earth

Summer

Winter solstice

Summer

I don’t play any other sports

Amatuer Curling League

I only play golf

Eating a hearty breakfast

Carlin Isaacson Girls’ Lacrosse

Kassidy Henson Swim

Picking the colors of my hair ties and drinking lots of water

I pray

Green

The sunset or black

I enjoy running the most and being able to work with a team

Getting out of practice

Spring

Autumn

None

Amatuer Curling League

GBHS athlete shifts to attitude of more determination

BY CLAIR KASEL

ckasel.gazette@gmail.com

Sophomore Janelle Cruz is in her third track season and is ready to continue throughout highschool and hopefully in college.

It started as a sport for her to do in junior high school to pass the time but this past year, she has become much more determined to beat her personal best and train even harder.

“Over winter break I started to get more serious about (track) and I got a personal trainer,” Cruz said.

During her practices, Cruz participates in all sprinting events. If you include the relays, she knows how to race a total of five events-

to participate because it is an inclusive sport. But because they have so many people, it can be hard to get to know all the people on the team and they divide up into groups to get more of a bond together.

“I don’t have as many close friendships as I would in other sports, but we divide up in groups and I can’t speak for all the other sprinters but when we return, we feel really close,” Cruz said.

Most people think that track is a sport where people just run in circles in quarter of a mile increments. But to others it is much more.

“Yes we do run for fun but I think it’s because of the atmosphere, it’s you competing individually but then the whole team understands your win

100,200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400. Cruz is flexible, and will race whatever the coach puts her in.

Luckily, the events are spaced out, but doing so many events during one meet would tire anyone out. But she keeps a positive attitude and does not let it stop her.

Cruz is most excited for finals at Del Oro High School on May 13th which happens to fall on Granite Bay High School’s quad dance. But in true track fashion Cruz is already preparing for how she can do both.

“I am planning on finishing the 4x400, sprinting straight off the track, into the car and go to quad,” Cruz said.

Track allows for as many people as they want

MADNESS: As NCAA basketball tournament nears, some teachers incorporate event in their classrooms Continued from page C1 Because of his strong devotion to the team and their achievements, Becker participates in mulitple brackets with his family and students at school.

“I’ve been doing something with my classes regarding March Madness since I began teaching almost 20 years ago,” Becker said.

“Most years I do a game with my kids that involves them buying teams,” Becker said to describe the process. “I have created a monetary system where the better teams cost more and the lower seeds cost less.”

Becker then explained that he occasionally has his students do statistical calculations and data tracking as well.

“I think that the tournament gives my classes a chance to bond and just have some fun outside of our daily routine,” Becker pointed out.

March Madness is Becker’s favorite event of the year, therefore he feels that it is important to him in a “fun-sense”.

“In the realm of athletics, it is one of the most popular and lucrative events in the world,” Becker said. “The percentage of the total revenue coming into the NCAA which comes from March Madness

is staggering.”

Not only does Becker incorporate March Madness into student life in the classroom, AP Statistics teacher Bruce Honberger does something quite similar. “(My students and I) analyze stats on the probability of winning, based on seeds and records,” Honberger said. “Sometimes my classes will complete an extra credit assignment for March Madness.”

Honberger doesn’t necessarily feel that it is a good idea to set aside time in class for the sole purpose of watching games, but feels that it is ok to squeeze some watching into their busy schedules.

“If it’s on in the background while students are working on homework, that’s ok,” Honberger added.

Honberger agrees with Becker that about 60-70 percent of the population of this school participate in some sort of March Madness competition.

As opposed to Becker, Honberger roots for the West Coast schools and the “underdogs” in the tournament.

No matter where you are from or where you go to school, participating in a bracket-making competition can still provide a fun experience for anyone.

and your loss (making it the best),” Cruz said.

She has learned much more than how to run.

The lessons that the coach and other players have taught her are ones that will carry her throughout her career. “(Tack) has taught me how important it is to work individually and how it impacts the whole team,” Cruz said.

HOTSHOTS: Students join recreational teams Continued from page C1

of his own. “(I want to join) so I can mess around once a week and have some fun with my friends,” Palmaer said.

Palmaer is currently geared in playoffs for the GBHS Varsity Boys’ Basketball team.

However CIF regulations do not allow for high school athletes to be competing on any other club team.

Students on the high school team must wait for spring before

they can play in recreational leagues.

GBHS students creating their own recreational sports teams is not a brand new phenomenon though.

For the past couple of years, several Hotshots teams have been formed by high school students.

“I filled in for some people a couple times when I was a sophomore,” Palmaer said. “It was a good experience to not play seriously for once.”

POWDERPUFF: Junior, senior girls sign up and gear up to battle on April 8 Continued from page C1

confusing for the girls who do not have much experience with football.

“I only know a little about football, but I am really excited to learn and I think it is going to be so fun,” junior Nikki Zavesky said.

Even though this will only be Denning’s second time on the field, she is anticipating the seniors to have the advantage because they had the experience from last years game.

“I think last year’s seniors behaved really well,” Denning said. “There was obvious competition between them and us, but there was no maliciousness or bitterness.”

Despite the previous year’s game, last year’s participants were pleased to avoid a lot of serious injuries.

“I am really excited to make the memories during the game and practices, but I am a little nervous about getting hurt,” Zavesky said. “I am ready to go

all out for the game and if an injury happens, I will know that I tried my hardest.”

While both teams are hoping for another injury free year, they are anticipating the unexpected and think they will be ready for what comes.

“I think this year’s juniors will be apprehensive and a little scared since they don’t know what to expect, but I’m sure once the game starts and they get a feel for the level of intensity and competition, they will be fine,” Denning said.

Even though Powderpuff is mostly catered to senior and junior girls, there are ample ways for the junior and senior boys to get involved along with underclassmen.

This event is the last chance for the senior football players to be on the field together before they move on past high school.

The boys have to go through an application process before they can be official coaches. Once they have had all the forms filled out and turned in, they wait to see if they have been authorized, then they are of-

ficially coaches.

It is their job to get all the girls ready for the game.

Usually two guys work together to coach a position that they played in their career. Many of them had only played football, so coaching it was something they had never done before.

“I liked that I got to see what it was like to coach and not only be a player because I never realized how hard it must be for coaches to do their job until now,” senior Jared Baer said.

He played defensive line on the GBHS football team and also coached it as well last year.

However, Baer will not be coaching this year due to conflicts with lacrosse.

“It is definitely sad that I won’t be coaching this year, I really wanted to help them win,” Baer said.

Scott Henrichs, another senior football player, will be coaching this year. He will be focusing on the wide receivers.

From the experience he has working with his younger brothers team, Henrichs wants to show them

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why football has been so important to him in his life.

“I want to focus on teaching (the girls) the fundamentals of football, but also just how you can have fun playing because they came out to our games to support us,” Hendrichs said.

For the guys who want to be part of Powderpuff but are not football players, they can be the cheerleaders.

Some of the girls from the GHBS cheer team, volunteer their time and cheer expertise to help the boys own their moves at the rally and the halftime show.

The rally and watching the game are the other ways that the underclassman can get involved. GBHS and student government put a lot of effort into getting the school to come together for the game. “(The rally) not only pumps up the teams, but also it pumps up the underclassmen too,” Nguyen said.

Come April 8th, it is a safe bet that the entire campus will either be sporting yellow or blue colors, based on who they support.

Senior Alessandra Denning is anticipating a final score of: Juniors 7 and Seniors 28.

Sports C4

Friday, March 4, 2016

w The Granite Bay Gazette

Crew rises in popularity among many athletes at GBHS Students become interested in the sport due to the many challenges and benefits it provides

the sport for very long, they can still succeed and even earn athletic scholarships.

“It happens if they’re that good,” said Students looking for a way to keep active Chris Manibusan, a coach for the Upper Natoma Rowing Club. should consider an up-and-coming sport“We’ve had numerous kids get heavily crew. recruited (by many prestigious universi“Being in a rowing shell (boat) with ties).” your teammates on the water is comThere is an especially lucrative amount petitive and energizing and the scenery of scholarships ofis awesome,” said Tom fered to women from Babcock, Granite Bay many universities.

High School sophomore “A lot of the girls and rower for the Upper get scholarships, but Once you get Natoma Rowing Club. for men there aren’t The rowing teams into rowing, the a lot of scholarships around Granite Bay area have a reputation for positives about the available,” Manibusan said. “It basically their talent even though sport energizes you evens out the scholarthey have only been between men around for six years. to do well in every ships and women’s sports.”

They are known for beaspect of your life However, despite ing some best teams in the many opportunithe country and are freties and prestige in quent finalists at national – Tom Babcock, GBHS rowing, crew teams Gazette photo/STEPHANIE KANG competitions. sophomore around Granite Bay “The Southwest region are still relatively Members of the Upper Natoma Rowing Club train on the Natomas River in preparation for upcoming races. for high school rowing small. teams is incredible. We “It’s a hard sport benefits they receive from the sport. rewarding to the athletes in the Granite School without traffic. have some of the best to sell because of “Once you get into rowing the positives Bay. Additionally, the physical exertion reteams in the country and the time commitment,” said McKenna about the sport energizes you to do well in “If it’s a sport that nobody’s thought about quired may be brutal for some. tend to do very well at national competiCowles, GBHS sophomore. “It’s great every aspect of your life.” Babcock said. or they get stuck in whatever sport they’re “I played different sports, I played tions,” Babcock said. “(Upper Natoma seeing people try it out.” “ You feel so good about yourself physidoing, rowing is definitely something that football, ran track, played basketball and Rowing Club has) only been around for The UNRC practices daily from 3:30 is a full body workout (with the) full team baseball, but rowing was by far the hardest cally, mentally and socially that you feel five years, and we’ve gone to nationals until 6 at Lake Natoma, an estimated four- and most rewarding,” Manibusan said. experience (that’s) mentally and physically so in charge.” four out of five times,” teen minute drive from Granite Bay High Despite that, rowers rave about the mental The sport is thought to be very unique and challenging,” Manibusan said.

Even if students haven’t been playing

BY STEPHANIE KANG skang.gazette@gmail.com

Students prepare for the annual night rally, Sports-A-Rama Highly anticipated event considered top class competition ensure that they can attend the required practices.

“If you want to do Sports-A-Rama you have to be jromero.gazette@gmail.com able to attend at least one whole practice as well as the mandatory rehersal and the actual Sports-A-Rama Of the many class competitions put on by Granite event,” said Abriana Rowe, captain of the senior class Bay High School, Sports-A-Rama is thought to be team. one of the most fun and most competitive events of Since the freshman class has a full team, the team the year. captain, Gaby Williams, said she thinks the team will The event will be put on at 7:00 pm Wednesday, perform well. She said she is most looking forward March 16 in the GBHS gym as a night rally for stuto seeing how each individual will perform in the dents and their friends and family. games.

“Each class’ (theme) is a movie,” “I am excited to see the team said Andrea Haganer, head commiscome together and do the skit sioner of the event. “This year the and dances,” Williams said. seniors are ‘The Sandlot’, juniors People should “We have worked really hard on are ‘Finding Nemo’, sophomores them.” look forward to are ‘The Hunger Games’ and the Each class has their own asfreshmen are ‘Hairspray’.” watching the signed practice times as well as The rally will consist of skits, locations and the dress rehersal games and boys’ and girls’ dances dances and the will take place on March 14, two based on movies. nights before the event. games are also “(There will be) figure 8 musical According to Stiern, the biggest chairs, the shoe game, tank race, very entertaining challenge involving preparing for the balloon game, hula hoop game, Sports-A-Rama is ensuring that to watch donut game, shoot the chicken and everything gets done in time. whip cream bubble gum game.”

“We only have two practices Haganer said.

– Taylor Stiern, to teach two dances and a skit so Sophomore team captain Taylor that is very hard,” Stiern said.

Stiern said last year, when she was sophomore class captain Students who are not parthe assistant captain, her favorite ticipating are still encouraged to part was the boys’ dance. come and support their class. “(This year) I’m most excited to “Whichever team gets the most watch the boys’ dance again, it is attendance gets more points toso fun,” Stiern said. “People should wards their final score,” Haganer said. “Also there is look forward to watching the dances and the games going to be a chance to win where four people from are also very entertaining to watch.” the audience will have an opportunity to play in a In order to prepare for the rally, participants must game to win a gift card.” make sure that they are available on certain dates to

BY JACQUELINE ROMERO

Gazette photo /JACQUELINE ROMERO

Abriana Rowe, captain of the senior class team, prepares for Sports-A-Rama by making posters in Student Government.

Since seniors are typically known for winning many school activities, the senior class this year is preparing extra hard in hopes of a victory.

“Seniors in the stands will be given props to help encourage my team so that we feel even more pushed to win,” Rowe said. “I suggest you all come out.”

This is the only rally of the year held at night and

it is a great way to earn spirit points for your class through winning games and overall attendance.

“No matter what your grade is, you’ll be able to watch and/or participate in a huge Granite Bay tradition,” Rowe said. “(It is) the best rally of the year and such an exciting competition.”

Support the winning team

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Friday, March 4, 2016

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Sports C5

GBHS club rugby team strives for success this season The team works to achieve their goal of winning the national championship this year

BY MEAGAN TALLMAN

“Everything we do is in preparation for that (game),” Divine said.

Though not even a decade old, the Granite Bay Last year the grizzlies Rugby program repeatedly performs as one of the came heartbreakingly close best in the nation. As their season gears up, the team to accomplishing that goal, is ready to give this season their all in order to mainonly to lose by one try to tain their reputation. the already 2 time national Head coach Jason Divine who has been with GBR champion team, the Royal for four years now said though the program has alIrish out of Indiaways been strong, he’s napolis. really seen it grow over Members of the the past few years.

GBR team said they “We have won a Nor Our program is conaren’t afraid of putCal Championship, a stantly getting bet- ting in the work to State Championship, ter. We have great accomplish their goal. and played in a Nation“We have to take al Championship final coaching, players this pretty seriously” all in the last 3 years,” and everyone works said Senior Marshall Divine said. “This has really hard Brusca. raised our national proThe team is working file and college scouts Special to the Gazette/STEVE LAGORIO have taken notice.”

– Ryan Hurley, varsity rugby toward winning the National Champion- Senior Jake Van Order battles to escape his opponent in a recent Granite Bay rugby game against Jesuit High School.

Scouts really have player ship through traintaken notice- Divine Brusca said. “I had a couple of friends that played them to nationals. ing during practices has helped 16 GBR and they brought me out to practices and I ended up Senior flanker and forward Ryan Hurley has been and games. players continue playreally liking it.

It’s a really fun sport.

I’d encourage with GBR for a few years, and said he is ready to “We practice after school everyday and then ing the game on the anyone to come out and try it.” make it back for another shot at the championship. have games on Saturdays,” Brusca said. “Our praccollegiate level.

Brusca said he has enjoyed the sport so much that “Our program is constantly getting better. We have tices vary from a more chill workout to really intense Though making it to collegiate level rugby is an he plans to continue at the collegiate level next year great coaching, players, and everyone works really and high level preparation.” accomplishment in itself, Divine hopes to one day when he attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. hard.” said Hurley of his GBR teammates “It was a Since last season was Brusca’s first in the sport, guide a player to the USA National Team.

“They have a club rugby team and I plan to join hard loss but we are ready to come back and win it he’d really like to see a repeat of the team’s stellar “That would make me extremely happy” said that so I can keep playing,” Brusca said. this year.” said Hurley performance.

Divine.

This year however Brusca is focused on hopefully So far, the rugby team has been well on their way to “I originally started playing because I had stopped This season however, the GBR Varsity team is doing track and was looking for another sport to do,” winning league and state which would ultimately lead achieving their goal and are currently undefeated. focusing on winning a national championship. mtallman.gazette@gmail.com

Teams advance to the playoffs in different divisions

Divisions based off student population

BY SAVANNA THOMPSON sthompson.gazette@gmail.com

One common playoff misconception is that a high school is considered Division I or II for all sports that qualify to compete in the postseason. However, the San Joaquin Section has specific procedures for each sport to determine a team’s placement in a division.

These procedures cause a high school to compete in varying divisions for each sport even though its enrollment remains consistent.

The SJS soccer postseason determines the playoff teams by league placement.

The top nine leagues by postseason winning percentage over the last three years receive an extra playoff berth. Those teams are then divided into divisions by enrollment.

After the GBHS girls’ soccer team won a DII section title in 2011, the team was bumped up to DI and has remained that way ever since.

Mark Broers, girls’ varsity soccer coach, has coached at many local schools includ-

ing Rio Americano and Oakmont, and he has experienced a post season in DI, I, and II. “It’s harder to win a DI title because you have to play one more game before reaching the finals, and generally, the teams are better because the schools are larger, giving the coaches more choices for the team,” Broers said.

Division I consists of schools like Saint Francis where athletes go specifically for their soccer program and Davis Senior High School.

“Any team that is coming from the SFL that is DII is a favorite to win the title, but for DI teams like us, it is more up in the air about who will win,” Broers said.

At the beginning of last season, all SFL girls soccer coaches were told which division they would compete in come playoffs. Regardless of GBHS’ record, if they qualified for playoffs, the team would be DI because of the school’s enrollment.

The season record would affect the team’s seed, but not its chance of playing DI. Teams that continue to dominate a divi-

Junior finds success playing lacrosse for GB Mannsfeld was drawn to the sport due to its competitive nature

BY NATASHA CHANDA

sion can move up a division. Del Oro has won the DII section title for the past two years, so they could be the next team to be brought up to DI. For the girls volleyball team, a Division II playoffs placement led to a section title. The lady grizzlies beat Rocklin High School to be section champions this past November even though the lady grizzlies played in the Division I playoffs the year prior.

Each league in the SJS has a predetermined amount of teams that can qualify for playoffs. If a team qualifies to advance to the postseason, it will then be placed in a division based on its own enrollment compared to the other qualifying teams.

Again, the schools with the largest enrollment comprise Division I. To the surprise of senior captain Emily DeMure, the difference between DI and DII was not as big as she had anticipated.

“DII has some great teams that we had to compete with,” DeMure said. “Last year was slightly more difficult because we had several injuries, so we didn’t make it as far in playoffs as we had hoped. DII gave us an opportunity to play all new teams and I think that drove us to

MacIntosh. “We got to play some of the teams that we played in the regular season like Del Oro, and if we would’ve beaten them, we would’ve played Rocklin.”

MacIntosh said that playing familiar teams increased the team’s chances of success because the team was better able to prepare and strategize ways to compete against the opposing team’s key players.

Like girls’ soccer, SJS basketball postseason determines playoff teams by qualifying through league play. The top 12 teams by division at the end of the season by MaxPreps rankings are then split evenly by enrollment into Division 1-4.

Division 5 is all schools with enrollment of between 201-600 students.

The SJS swimming postseason does not consist of different divisions. Rather, to advance to the Section meet, swimmers must reach a qualifying, and the top three placers in each race at the Section meet will advance to the State Championships.

The division in which a team places does not determine the amount of success that team will achieve. Each sport can be different, but GBHS athletes strive for and have found success in both DI and DII playoff runs.

Autumn Mannsfeld

Junior started playing lacrosse in the fifth grade and has continued loving and excelling at the sport ever since.

nchanda.gazette@gmail.com

Autumn Mannsfeld, a junior at Granite Bay High School, has been playing lacrosse since fifth grade when her dad signed her up for a Granite Bay lacrosse clinic.

She has since worked her way up to the varsity level and is currently on the lacrosse team at GBHS. “I love contributing to my team and making a difference in our team and how individual people play,” Mannsfeld said.

The varsity team practices every day of the week, excluding the days when they have games.

Typically the team has two games a week but every once in a while they will have three.

Unlike many other sports at GBHS, lacrosse does not participate in any tournaments during the high school season.

The competitiveness and the teamwork of lacrosse draw Mannsfeld to the sport, prompting her to continue playing after high school.

“I enjoy playing because I love being part of a team,” Mannsfeld said. “Plus it is very competitive so it suits me.”

Though she is unsure to what degree she will be playing the sport after high school, she hopes to still play at some competitive level.

“I hope to play lacrosse in college,” Mannsfeld said. “Even if its for a club and not for the college I play for.”

Outside of school lacrosse, Mannsfeld plays for a local club called Tenacity Elite. The club season runs from approximately May through January which is the offseason for high school lacrosse.

Many of the girls playing lacrosse on Granite Bay’s team had little experience o knowledge with the sport before they started playing.

Likewise, Autumn challenged herself and has

work harder.”

In past years, the GBHS football team entered playoffs as Division I, winning the section title during the 2011 season, but this year the team played in Division II, facing competitors like Del Oro and Grant.

The San Joaquin Section football postseason has a specific playoff plan from which it determines the playoff teams and the division of each team. Once the 72 qualifiers have been selected, the top 16 schools with the largest enrollment automatically are placed in Division I, the next 16 teams become Division II, and the next 16 teams become DIII. The final 24 in groups of 8 will make up Divisions IV, V and VI. The GBHS football team advanced to the third round of playoffs, beating a strong Grant team in arguably one of team’s best games of the year to play a familiar Del Oro team.

Senior football captain Ryan MacIntosh said the football team would have been successful regardless of what division it placed for playoffs.

“I definitely think we had a better shot of winning going Division II,” said

improved greatly through her junior year considering she had no knowledge of the sport either.

“I have improved in every aspect since I started playing,” Mannsfeld said. “I would say practicing really does make a world of difference in lacrosse just like any sport. Just getting to know the game and situations during the game are all achieved through practice. As well as stick skills of course.”

Mannsfeld’s coaches have been a major contribution to her success and have been key factors in teaching her everything she knows today.

“All of my coaches have been a help in my improvement,” Mannsfeld said. “Whether they have had small or large effects.”

Make the game winning shot

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C6

Friday, March 4, 2016

w The Granite Bay Gazette

SECOND LOOK

For the Record Boys’ Basketball wFeb. 3: Nevada Union 77, GBHS 61 wFeb. 5: GBHS 72, Rocklin 36 wFeb. 8: GBHS 62, Nevada Union 56 wFeb. 10: GBHS 59, Del Oro 44 wFeb. 12: Woodcreek 67, GBHS 62 wFeb. 16: Oak Ridge 68, GBHS 60 wFeb. 24: GBHS 61, Edison 49 wFeb. 26: @Sheldon wMar. 2: TBD

Gazette photos /STEPHENIE KANG

Gazette photos /CARISSA LEWIS

Girls’ Basketball wFeb. 2: GBHS 77, Nevada Union 65 wFeb. 5: Rocklin 54, GBHS 49 wFeb. 9: GBHS 51, Del Oro 49 wFeb. 12: Woodcreek 53, GBHS 47 wFeb. 16: Oak Ridge 68, GBHS 28 Boys’ Wrestling wFeb. 6: CIF SFL league finals: Jack Ramalia champion wFeb. 27: SJS Masters: Jack Ramalia 1st place -As of March 4, 2016

Special to the Gazette /STEVEN LAGORIO

Gazette photos /CARISSA LEWIS

Gazette photos /CARISSA LEWIS Special to the Gazette /STEVEN LAGORIO Gazette photos /STEPHENIE KANG

wSenior Charley Tooley, top left, stalls time in their first round playoff game against Edison High School to secure the win. The GBHS track team, top right, recently start practicing to prepare for the season. Granite Bay Rugby, big middle, loses against Jesuit in an important early season match up. Senior Kovey Palmaer, middle left, concentrates to make it to the hoop. Tooley, middle bottom left, attempts a free throw in their playoff win against Edison.

Senior Sam Cusano, bottom middle, looks to make a run from a toss by a teammate in their game against Motherlode. The track team, bottom right, runs around the track to warm up. Capital Crew, very bottom, goes through their routines in a normal practice schedule.

Gazette photos /STEPHENIE KANG

GS The Gazette’s arts and entertainment guide.

March 2016

GREEN SCREEN Spring break destinations are highly anticipated this year

PAGES 10 &11 Special to the Gazette photo /COLLEEN VIVALDI

Page 2

March 2016

sneak peek.

Special to the Gazette/AIMEE JOY

wSee page 9 for a look at the Granite Bay Hot Yoga trend

Special to the Gazette/COLLEEN VIVALDI

wSee pages 10&11 for a look at the best spring break activities

Gazette photo/ HANNAH HOLZER

wSee page 20 for a look at the best art galleries in Sacramento

School kills our dreams by starting too early Later start time would benefit both students and faculty

R

emember when we got to stroll into our little elementary Allowing us to start school at 9 a.m. would benefit students and schools at 9 a.m. with our roller backpacks and cute little faculty in numerous ways. pigtails?

Besides just getting some much needed sleep, our educational It was a much simpler time, those were the days weren’t they. experience would be enhanced.

Well obviously times have changed, and now Sleep deprivation impairs the ability to be we are forced to drag ourselves out of bed at 6 alert, absorb information, and solve problems. a.m. and march into the prison of Granite Bay So how should we be expected to solve a at 7:45 a.m. trigonometry problem or learn about the human Hundreds of studies and research projects body at 7:45 a.m.? have been conducted that clearly prove that Lack of sleep can also lead to drowsy driving, waking kids up to go to school at 6 am every emotional irritability, and depression. morning is unnecessary, unhealthy, and all Which are all things that schools discuss how around cruel. to prevent, when in actuality the school start So why does nobody listen to these studies? time can be a cause for these things.

We hear the studies loud and clear about Our society takes eons until they realize alcohol and drug use and how it ruins lives and problems actually need solutions that they can causes long term damage, but so does sleep actively change. deprivation.

Change doesn’t happen by people in power So the real crime here is not forcing adopositions standing by and watching issues arise. lescents to get up, it’s continuing to blatantly By the time something is done about this aprather.gazette@gmail.com ignore the fact that starting school at 7:45 is issue, we will all be about 40 years old and actually decreasing our ability to maximize our whining about being jealous of our own kids educational experience. going to school at 9 a.m.

I’ve heard a lot that school starts earlier and earlier as we go Davis Joint Unified School District, who is known for their outthrough the education system because as we get older, we don’t standing test scores and a high academic caliber, is working hard require as much sleep as we did when we were little. This could towards a 8:30 a.m. start time. not be any more of a false statement.

Recently, Davis High School has been working towards this later If anything, we require more sleep than when we were younger. start time to benefit students health and educational experience. This Sports teams, extracurriculars, all on top of the hour or more of change is likely to be enforced for the 2017-2018 school year. homework we get from each class every night makes for quite a This may seem to be a whole year away, but it appears that our busy day. A day in the life of a high school teen is a stressful experi- school district is much farther away from a change. ence in itself, so why does our society and school system decide that So yes, you do remember when you got to wake up at 8 a.m. and getting us up at 6 a.m. is a good idea? This is the ultimate question. roll into Ridgeview Elementary at 9 a.m., what a time that was.

COMMENTARY

amanda prather

Page 3 Music reviews

Guide to Green Screen

Page 4 St. Patrick’s Day Page 5 #OscarsSoWhite Page 6/7 Food reviews

Page 8 iPhones vs. Androids

Page 12 Artist of the month Page 13

Upcoming GBHS Events for March March 10-11 Midterms March 12 Junior Prom

March 17 St. Baldrick’s event Page 16 Top Tweets Page 17 TV show comebacks

Page 9 local art museum popularity

Inspirational books

Page 14 Pokémon

Page 18/19 Movie reviews

Page 10/11 Spring break

Page 15 Anime culture

Page 20 Hot Yoga

March 2016

Page 3

tune in.

Tori Kelly Unbreakable Smile

BY WHITNEY KNORP

wknorp.gazette@gmail.com

D

espite a rocky entrance into the music industry, Tori Kelly seems to have finally found her footing and has surmounted to an enormous amount of success.

Kelly began creating her own success through viral YouTube videos of her singing popular radio hits.

These videos eventually gained a significant amount of attention which allowed her the chance to produce her own self-made album.

Eventually, she was able to land a record deal with Capitol Records and release her EP Foreword. Kelly’s success has rocketed through singles such as “Should’ve Been Us” and “Nobody Love,” which are featured on her recently released album Unbreakable Smile.

Her debut full-length pop album fluctuates between catchy, upbeat pop songs and slower,

heartfelt ballads.The concepts behind these songs stray from the typical formula of a love song.

Kelly does include many songs about love, but adds in several songs highlighting her struggle as an artist in the music industry.

For instance, Kelly’s title track “Unbreakable Smile” is a semi-egocentric ode to herself for rising above pressures and haters that come with her profession.

The song is very well done and catchy, and I commend her message of independence and the whole “stay true to you” mentality.

However, it gets a little too preachy and cliche when Kelly paints herself as this simple “California girl with big dreams” who is simultaneously going to “change the game” by staying true to her holy self and “sell(ing) out shows without taking off (her) clothes.”

Kelly pulls a similar message into the bridge of “Anyway,” where she makes an attempt at

slight rapping that is a little awkwardly off beat at times.

She criticizes smokers, partiers and hipsters because apparently you aren’t being true to yourself unless you’re pure and God-driven like she is.

Despite her overcritical jabs at people who wear less or party more than she does, the remainder of the album is very nicely done.

“Should’ve Been Us” is an incredible powerhouse ballad full of emotion and incredible vocal skill.

Kelly kills the ballads “Art of Letting You Go,” “Falling Slowly,” “First Heartbreak,” “Funny (Live),” and best of all the ballads “I Was Made for Loving You (feat. Ed Sheeran).”

Final mention goes to my favorite track, “Hollow”. I think this track best represents Kelly with its great pop sound, her very honest, human lyrics, as well as Kelly’s powerhouse of a voice.

Capital Records

 Unbreakable Smile was released on Jan. 29, 2016.

B+

Skip to: “Hollow”

Hunter Hayes Rihanna ANTI Storyline

BY SONIA GARCHA

sgarcha.gazette@gmail.com

A

Westbury Road Entertainment

ANTI was released on Jan 28, 2016.

ASkip to :

“Closer to You”

fter four long years of waiting in anticipation, Rihanna has finally come back and blessed us with her miraculous music.

ANTI was released on Jan 28, 2016 and quickly debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200 within the span of three days. Not too shabby Riri.

The album features 16 tracks and is available for streaming on Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music.

The first song I heard off the album was “Work” featuring Drake. My initial thought was that it wasn’t really anything special. The more I heard it, however, the catchier it got.

Since then I’ve become obsessed and can’t stop singing it whenever I get the chance.

The rest of the album is much slower and takes some time getting used to. I feel as she has transitioned so much from pop to R&B.

Although the album claims to include pop, I believe that a majority of her songs have an R&B vibe.

Most of the songs are typically written about romance or independence. While most artists dedicate their songs to those themes, Rihanna’s combination of her lyric and voice really resonates with the listener.

“Consideration” featuring SZA is one of the more upbeat songs, although it’s still notably slow. They discuss the restraints of a relationship and the unequal amount of respect between partners. Although I enjoy the lyrics, I’m not entirely sold on the beat of the song.

“Closer to You” holds some very deep meaning and is probably the most tear-jerking song on the album. Perfect for those rainy days when you want to look out the window in deep thought.

“James Joint”was written as a tribute to marijuana, according to Rihanna, but holds much deeper meaning as she uses the marijuana as a metaphor for an addicting

relationship. After listening to the album for the first time, I felt that it was hard to distinguish the songs from one another.

The more you listen to it, however, the easier it gets.

“Higher” and “Never Ending” are two others that I thoroughly enjoyed. I do quite enjoy how her music has become much deeper and personal, instead of just being another dance anthem.

People who love Rihanna are no doubt already in love with the album, but I also believe that those who aren’t into Rihanna will also fall in love with the album.

If you aren’t a fan of the fast-paced pop songs, this album is a much more chill version of Riri.

Of the 16 songs on the album, I would say that I’m a fan of almost all of them.

This is a different Rihanna with different music and I wasn’t disappointed. After four years of waiting, she truly did live up to the artist that she is.

David Bowie Blackstar

BY SHIVANI BOBBALA

sbobbala.gazette@gmail.com

A

fter Bowie lost the 18 month battle with cancer on Jan 10, 2016, aged 69, the world mourned the death of one of the most influential musicians of the century.

To say that he played a role in shaping the music industry and artists today would be an understatement. Artists from Jay Z, U2, to Lady Gaga have cited him as a major influence.

Tributes to the star on social media continued on for weeks after his passing.

At the 58th annual Grammy awards, Lady Gaga performed a touching tribute to the star, who is now forever immortalized by his huge influence on entertainment and pop culture.

Bowie’s versatility in many different musical genres makes it so that it is difficult to place him into just a single one.

Not only has he successfully experimented with a variety of genres, but also performance styles, constantly reinventing himself and incorporating his training as a mime into

his performances. His refusal to conform to conventions didn’t end there. Bowie was instrumental to the greater acceptance of the LGBT community.

He was proudly open of his bisexuality at a time when it was still illegal to be homosexual in many places.

Blackstar, Bowie’s 25th album, consisting of seven tracks, was released just two days before his death on his 69th birthday.

The album went on to take the No 1. spot on the Billboard 200 chart, topping both the US and UK charts. A quarter of the Top 40 Chart ended up being by Bowie.

Bowie’s rank among the greatest in the industry and the critical acclaim received by the album puts me in no place to critique him or the choices he made for this album. Also, being unfamiliar with his previous work, I decided to approached this review as your average listener.

I was not an avid Bowie fan before, and I was not equipped with the ear of someone who could discern and pass judgement on the complex harmonies and sounds employed by Bowie in his tracks. Having said this, even

if you separate the album from the giant that its creator was, it would still do well in my opinion. To begin with generally, I really did enjoy listening to the album.

It was quite a change from what I normally listened to, and I had to go out of my comfort zone a little bit, but it still definitely fulfilled all of the expectations I initially held for it.

Every song on the album is unique and special in it’s own way, but at the same time all of its tracks unite to relay themes that make the album coherent and deliberate. was Picking the best song on the album was difficult, because there were many great options.

I chose “Lazarus,” because I thought it was the best track on the album to just relax to. It has a much more soothing sound than all of the other songs, which I tend to prefer.

However, the other music on his album is still great and it’s evocation of emotions such as disorientation and confusion is deliberate and consistent with the unifying themes of the album.

Overall, I thought it was great and I would definitely give it a listen.

Columbia Records

Blackstar released on Jan 8, 2016.

B+

Skip to: “Lazarus”

Page 4

shamrockin.

March 2016

ST PATRICK’S DAY Gazette illustrations/AMANDA PRATHER

The meaning of this Irish holiday can be confused in American culture

BY AMANDA PRATHER

L

aprather.gazette@gmail.com

eprechauns, alcohol, green things and pinching are probably the most common associated words with the American celebration of St. Patrick’s day. St. Patrick’s day is a celebration of the death of the patron saint of Ireland.

In America, this holiday is pretty much a great excuse for kids and adults to drink a lot, wear green, and pinch those who don’t.

This Catholic celebration, though celebrated by more than Catholics, has a bit of a different meaning in Ireland than in America.

Chloe Miller, GBHS junior, who is one quarter Irish, said that the meaning of the holiday in Ireland started with the celebration of the death of St. Patrick, but has evolved from its origin.

“It’s really just a reason for our country to celebrate something, usually through lots of alcohol, that we do so by wearing green to represent Irish culture and leprechauns,” Miller said.

Miller added that being Irish has allowed her to embrace the culture a little more than others on St Patrick’s day by also eating an Irish meal.

“It’s a nice reminder that our country is made up of different cultures and we can all celebrate each other’s holidays and traditions,” Miller said.

Miller also said that although this holiday can be used as a reason to drink and celebrate the color green, this can actually bring people together.

Nate Moudakis, GBHS junior and non-Irish citizen, said that those who are not Irish usually spend St. Patrick’s Day simply embracing the color green and spending time with his family.

“My family all wears green and enjoys the holiday’s spirit,” Moudakis said.

Moudakis added that St. Patrick’s day is affiliated with lots of drinking, but that is just what the tradition of the holiday is.

Dan McCort, GBHS junior and recent newcomer to Granite Bay from Ireland said that the holiday back in his home of Northern Ireland is celebrated by catholics and involves lots of dressing up, drinking, and eating Irish meals.

“It’s viewed as a day that you should get drunk on,” McCort said, “it involves wearing things such as leprechaun hats (and) waving the irish tricolor flag.

McCort added that people also eat a traditional Irish breakfast called Ulster fry which consists of beans, sausages, eggs and potatos bread amongst other things.

McCort said that American celebration differs from irish celebration.

“I’ve heard about a tradition in Boston of dying the river green, and that doesn’t really happen back home,” McCort said, “it seems like a crazy American thing, some attempt to cling onto heritage.”

McCort said that St. Patrick’s Day is obviously more significant back in his home of Northern Ireland, but that doesn’t mean it’s not relevant in America.

“I’ve discovered that a big part of American culture is tracing your roots, therefore it could have strong significance to families or groups that feel strongly affiliated with their Irish ancestry.” McCort said.

The biggest part of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, according to McCort, is the people embracing their nationalism.

“Everyone just sort of revels in the resolute fact that they’re Irish.” McCort said.

So this March 17, ask yourself, are you celebrating the death of St. Patrick, or are you drunk and pinching people, I guess both tend to represent St. Patrick’s day.

March 2016

and the oscar goes to.

Page 5

#OscarsSoWhite The 2016 Academy Awards made headlines for its lack of racial diversity ... again

Gazette illustrations/ EPSA SHARMA

BY NASEEHA ISLAM

T

nislam.gazette@gmail.com

he 2015 year has witnessed a seemingly neverending growth of racial tensions in American news and culture. Now, it seems that the worn discussion of race has followed us not only into another year, but also into another establishment -the iconic annual Academy Awards.

The 88th Oscars awards ceremony, taking place on Feb. 28, is making headlines, but not for the usual reason.

For the second year in a row, the Academy has nominated an all-white lineup for the Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories.

Unlike the 2015 awards however, movie-enthusiasts rose their voices in reaction to the nomination announcements, sparking the trending social media hashtag ‘#OscarsSoWhite.’

The Academy was criticised for its exclusion of minority actors and actresses from major films such as Straight Outta Compton, Creed, Concussion and Beasts of No Nation. A few Hollywood stars, such as Jada Pinkett Smith, have even gone so far as to boycott the event altogether.

While it cannot be denied that performances recognized by the Academy, including Leonardo DiCaprio’s stunning work in The Revenant or Cate Blanchett’s impressive character in Carol, deserve nominations, people, including GBHS students and staff, are noticing the lack of minority representation.

But should this fault be attributed to the Academy, or to the broader issue of racial integration in American culture? Or is it even a fault at all?

Some individuals believe that the homogeneity of this year’s lineup really is a problem with the Academy itself, whether intentional or not.

Junior Reagan Tran recognizes the lack of diversity in the 2016 Oscars’ spotlight to be discrimination inflicted by the institution.

“For no people of color to even be nominated for an Oscar is not a mistake,” Tran said. “It’s not that

white actors are just objectively better than those of color. It’s that the...Oscars awards committee subjectively perceive them to be.”

Others, however, think that the Academy is rightfully doing its job of recognizing the performances that deserve the attention, and that perhaps this year, the winning works just happened to be performed by Caucasian actors and actresses.

“I feel like it is easy for people to jump to conclusions,” said senior Neha Prakash, “about whether something (like the film industry) is actually racist.”

“I dont think it is fair that so many great movies have not been nominated,” Prakash said, “but then again I do not think that this is the only year it has happened.”

Nor has this all-white phenomenon always been the case. The Academy has had minority nominations in past years, supporting its claim that the institution is indeed colorblind, as it should be.

Senior Luke Snedecor agreed with this idea.

“I think the meaning behind the Oscars is to award individuals on the hard work and performance delivered,” Snedecor said.

“Race should not be a factor in determining the winner of an Oscar,” Snedocer said, but agrees that if discrimination does in fact exist within the Academy, it should definitely be addressed.

Media and IB Film teacher Zachary Weidkamp understands the issue at hand, but also recognizes that maybe 2016 just isn’t the year for those minority celebrities that #OscarsSoWhite is pointing at.

“I hope that (the Academy Awards) doesn’t turn into something where we have to put in a minority (only) because if we don’t, people are going to get mad,” Weidkamp said. “I hope it’s purely (based) on the talent, because that’s what it should be.”

On the other hand, he realizes that the Academy is most likely biased, just maybe not in terms of race.

“I doubt that the Academy is completely unbiased because it’s really difficult to be completely fair with anything,” Weidkamp said. “I like to think that their decisions are based on talent only, but that’s not the

case in all scenarios.”

The Oscars, however, are just the effect of a cause, rather than the other way around.

Some think that the issue of racial inequality in entertainment goes back to the root of the issue--film production.

“It has to do with casting too,” Tran said. “so many movies are totally whitewashed, with one black guy in the background who producers point to when someone points out the lack of diversity.”

“The lack of ethnic representation in movies leads to children of color growing up thinking of themselves as a background character...or a villain to the white kids’ princesses, superheroes, and love interests,” she said.

“You have to be incredibly ignorant...to not see the ridiculously common racial discrimination in the film industry,” Tran said.

To Weidkamp, the unintentional corruption of the film industry is an unfortunate inevitability.

“Hollywood is naturally incestual...all the way from acting to who does catering” Weidkamp said.

“It’s not always how good you are, but who you know.”

“I believe that a lot of roles might go overseen, because (for example), a Jewish film company (may not) have any connections to the African American or Asian community,” Weidkamp said.“You pick what’s easier and what you know, rather than going outside the box than trying to do it ethically.”

If anything, all the talk about the Academy through social media and celebrity boycotts has raised the issue of minority representation in American culture, both on and off the big screen.

With the recent year’s focus on the Black Lives Matter movement, #OscarsSoWhite is perhaps just an extension of the broader issue.

“With anything that promotes a cause (such as racial equality and representation), the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Weidkamp said. “So I think they are succeeding at bringing to light that we should… pay more attention to this.”

Page 6

March 2016

guac on over.

Let’s taco-bout it...

Chando’s Tacos

BY RAWAN KHALILI

rkhalili.gazette@gmail.com

I’m going to start off by saying, I love tacos. Always have. I harvest respect for households that observe Taco Tuesdays, because Tacos indeed deserve a day dedicated to their savory deliciousness.

When I first walked into Chando’s, I had very high expectations. I was prepared to be wowed.

Upon my entrance, I was greeted by a friendly staff, and a woof of cold air from the AC. The restaurant was cozy but spacious. The seating area contained several tables, all spaced just enough, to avoid hearing strangers conversating.

Chando’s Tacos originally started off as a food truck, and over the years gained enough popularity to become its own restaurant. It has subtle touches that address the legacy of Chando’s Tacos, all the way from day one and present day.

The workers were just as welcoming as the environment. They were extremely helpful despite how long it took for me to make up my mind, and were able to make my tacos in a couple minutes.

So this restaurant would be perfect for a sit down lunch or for when you need something on the go.

Chando’s offers a vide variety of authentic Mexican foods, ranging from their signature tacos to burritos and tortas. Obviously, I couldn’t help but order the tacos, and boy was I pleased.

For about $7, you could get three tacos, with your choice of meat and fish and a fountain drink.

The Gazette staff gets jalapeño favorite Mexican restaurants.

El Novillero

The best part hands down was the guacamole. While ordinary in taste, each taco had the equivalent scoop that would you get at Chipotle. And it’s already incorporated into the price, so don’t expect to pay extra for guacamole on your tacos.

While their corn tortilla tacos were small in size, I felt very satisfied when finished. So if you don’t think three tacos will do the trick, you can definitely opt for a burrito or add nachos.

Also, if you’re feeling saucy, you can make your way on down to their open sauce bar for some extra salsa, perfect if you want a little kick for your taco or burrito.

Once you’re feeling tired from all the saltiness, you could treat yourself to one of their delicious churros. You could never go wrong with a little sugar.

Overall I would say I was pretty content with my experience at Chando’s Tacos. If you’re feeling tired of Taco Bell and Chipotle, then give this local restaurant a try. Chando’s Tacos offers a wide variety of Mexican dishes, with great guacamole servings.

Gazette photo /RAWAN KHALILI

BY OLIVIA HEPPELL

oheppell.gazette@gmail.com

El Novillero provides the kind of reliable, tasty Mexican food we all need in our lives.

This establishment has been blessing Sacramentans for 45 years and consistently delivers some of the best Mexican food in town.

Going to El Novillero has become somewhat of a tradition in my family.

Since my dad was teenager, the Heppell family has been frequenting the restaurant.

This dedication is not a result of habit, but of love for high quality Mexican food.

The restaurant is perhaps not in the most convenient location for Granite Bay High School students, nor is in the nicest part of town, but the quality of both service and food outweighs any negative aspects of the restaurant.

El Novillero supplies the perfect environment for eating Mexican food. With its warm, red-orange color scheme and paintings of bullfighters – El Novillero translates roughly to young bullfighter – I consistently feel at home and ready to eat some Mexican food.

The chips and salsa that come complimentary with your meal are the perfect appetizer. With just enough heat, the salsa prepares your palate for the food that awaits.

If you want to splurge on appetizers, El Novillero offers baskets of hot flour chips, which are pretty much warm flour

tortillas that were lightly fried. This twist on the classic chips and salsa is one of my personal favorites.

El Novillero’s menu is extensive and allows for personalization of your plate.

This time around, I ordered a carnitas enchilada. The meal comes with rice and beans, which I personally believe to be the best in Sac. While I usually go for the chicken tacos, which are superb, I was in the mood to take a risk, and it definitely paid off.

The seasonings were on par and the freshness of the guacamole that would pop up in a bite was just what the heaviness of the carnitas and cheese needed for balance of flavors.

The food is not only authentic and almost impossibly tasty, but the wait for your food is never very long, which is something all restaurants should aim for.

A downside to El Novillero is the potential for long wait for a table. While the restaurant is roomy, it is usually so popular that a wait is unavoidable if you go at peak dinner hours.

El Novillero, without a doubt, always delivers on what the diner needs and wants. El Novillero has become a local and family tradition.

Gazette photo /OLIVIA HEPPELL

Jesse’s Mexican Grill

BY SHIVANI BOBBALA

sbobbala.gazette@gmail.com

I wasn’t expecting much from this food experience.

Frankly, I chose this restaurant last minute simply because it was closer to my house.

I ate there once before but didn’t go a second time.

The item I got the first time didn’t end up being all that great, so I didn’t give this restaurant a second chance, until I was forced to, of course, by my incorrigible tendency to procrastinate. And I’m glad I did, because my overall experience actually went very well.

When I walked in, I was greeted amicably by the cook who was heading to the other side of the restaurant.

I ordered a grilled chicken burrito at the front, got some water and sat down. As I waited, I ate the free chips and salsa that were provided as an appetizer.

This was the moment I realized that this was going to be an awesome food experience. The chips were still warm from the pan, and the salsa was fresh. This made the experience so much more authentic for me.

I had gotten used to the processed, salty tortilla chips provided at generic Mexican restaurants. In this way, I

think mainstream Mexican restaurants really miss the point. I mean, if that’s what I really wanted, I could have gone to Walmart, gotten a bag of Tostitos and salsa and had just as good (and cheaper) a food experience.

As I waited for the burrito to arrive, I also took a moment to observe the ambience of the restaurant. The lighting was dim, in a pleasant way. The seating was spaced out elegantly and thoughtfully, with a bar at the front of the restaurant.

The two large flat screens playing sports at the front of the restaurant and the soft music playing in the background set a lighthearted tone for the dining experience.

The decorations the restaurant chose were also particularly impressive. They added that authentic touch of Mexican culture, without falling into the overgeneralized stereotypes of what a Mexican diner should look like or having decorations that were more distracting rather than pleasing to the eye.

By the time the food came, which wasn’t long at all (less than 10 minutes wait time), I was thoroughly impressed with what I had seen so far that I had high expectations for the food.

The food was delicious! Something that I think sets it apart from other grills is that it actually tastes like

authentic Mexican food. The spices gave the food a kick missing from grills that have compromised their authentic taste to cater to the mainstream population. If you want authentic Mexican food and dining experience, this is the restaurant to go to.

The portion sizes were also great, and the prizes were fair. I ordered a more than satisfying meal for just $7.49.

There aren’t many ways in which you can go wrong with this restaurant. It’s a bit of a drive out of Granite Bay, however, if you are ever in the area, I definitely highly recommend it.

Gazette photo /SHIVANI BOBBALA

Jesse’s Mexican Grill has fresh and always warm tortilla chips with some great salsa.

March 2016

Page 7

guac on over.

Zócalo

BY SONIA GARCHA

sgarcha.gazette@gmail.com

As the seasons begin to evolve, so do our tastebuds.

We’re moving away from the cold weather and soup and closer to the warm weather and ethnic foods.

I decided to visit Zócalo in the Roseville Fountains to fill my craving for some delicious Mexican food.

When informing my editor that I chose this restaurant to review, I recall a bunch of people getting excited and telling me how amazing the food is. So you can imagine that I had some good expectations right off the bat.

My initial reaction when walking into the restaurant is why it is so busy on a Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. while it’s pouring rain outside? I then thought about how popular the restaurant is and was now even more excited to try the food.

We waited five minutes before being seated and immediately were given a bowl of tortilla chips along with beans and salsa.

I had to control myself at this point, as it was a true test of resistance. I knew that if I kept eating those chips that I would be too full to eat dinner and I can’t write a review on the fabulous chips and salsa.

Although we were given our chips initially when seated, we did have to wait for our drinks for a little while. I pushed that aside as the restaurant looked quite busy to begin with. Besides, those chips were there to momentarily distract me. I see you Zócalo.

Once we had our drinks, we wasted no time to order our meals. My standard test to determine a good Mexican restaurant is to pick the enchiladas.

We received our dishes on time and were decently happy with our portion size. On my plate, I received 3 chicken enchiladas, a side of rice and beans, and broccoli with (what looked like) ranch on top. How odd.

Of course I skipped out on the broccoli because I was eating in a Mexican restaurant, not my mother’s kitchen where she’s trying to force vegetables down my throat.

I ordered one red chile and two verde enchiladas. I was happy that they gave an option to mix and match between the different sauce options.

There was a nice kick of flavor with the verde sauce and the tortillas were filled with deliciously flavored chicken. The red chile had a kick too but was slightly bitter. It’s hardly noticeable if you plan on inhaling your food like a vacuum, much like I did.

I was slightly disappointed by the size of the enchila-

Café Delicias

BY CAROLINE PALMER cpalmer.gazette@gmail.com

In 1964, Nabor Ramirez opened his first restaurant in Old Town Auburn, not knowing that one day his vision for authentic Mexican food would be passed down through generations.

Following the opening of his Old Town Auburn restaurant, Nabor Ramirez and his wife Rosario opened restaurants in Roseville and Rocklin and at another fourth location in Auburn, off highway 49.

The Ramirez’s children: Ofelia, Ruben, Emilio, Maggie, Rogelio and Miguel all helped to get the businesses off the ground.

Today, Nabor Ramirez and his four sons who are managers at each location, oversee the restaurants.

Café Delicias prides themselves on a family run restaurant, one that ensures that hospitable, homegrown experience, and that is what I got when I sat down to eat at Café Delicias.

Lively Spanish music was bustling through the whole restaurant when I entered and all of the wait staff seemed genuinely happy to be there.

It is apparent that the restaurant’s owners are proud of their success. Newspaper clips from food reviews are plaqued on the wall, along with family photos.

One of the best parts of the restaurant is the hot salsa. When you are seated a few minutes after a waiter or waitress comes over with two types of salsa, one is a more pico de gallo type of salsa, the other is the hot, fiery, red salsa that I’ve come to know and love.

In fact, I poured the salsa bowl into my to-go box in order to savor the delicious salsa.

I’ve never had such perfect, divine

das as they’re a bit small compared to other restaurants.

I did have to keep in mind, however, that the dish came with three enchiladas, not two. And I’m just an enthusiastic eater, I guess.

All in all, I think the food was really good, but it was lacking that special something. I’ll probably come back but nothing made me excited about returning.

The enchiladas are good, but the tacos could have been amazing or the burritos could be legendary. It’s all about what the customer orders. If you’re an enchilada person like myself, give the restaurant a shot and see if it’s a new favorite. Zócalo is a busy but worthwhile restaurant to wait for.

Gazette photo /SONIA GARCHA

El Sombrero

salsa. It was like it was the 1930s again and my mouth is the Savoy Ballroom and all the spices are dancing to jazz on my tongue.

After eating at this restaurant for a few years, I can honestly say that anything on the menu is good; however, I would strongly urge everyone to get the cheese enchiladas.

The combo plate comes with a salad, beans and rice and two decadent cheese enchiladas.

Growing up in California, I’ve eaten my fair share of enchiladas, but something about the enchiladas here keep me coming back for more.

The best part about the enchiladas is by far the sauce; no other restaurant surpasses.

It is rich without being too thick and flavorful without being too salty or spicy.

The enchilada sauce combined with the fresh tortillas and cheese makes for a scrumptious meal.

I always leave Café Delicious with a full stomach and smile, similar to the smiles seen on the family photos on the walls. Café Delicias offers great food but even more noteworthy salsa.

Gazette photo /CAROLINE PALMER

BY BLAKE PANTER

bpanter.gazette@gmail.com

Three tacos: one chicken, one steak and one carnitas, each competing with the others to win my affections as to be labeled the best of the three; spicy red hot salsa ready set the buds ablaze, and a rice milk drink at the ready to extinguish the desired fire.

It is clear El Sombrero Taqueria is a Granite Bay staple, participating in the Granite Bay community through donations to the high school and by being the go-to “field trip” location for Spanish class where students grudgingly practice their skills with a cringe-worthy accent.

The restaurant recently went through renovation, essentially doubling its previous size. The new area has new seating and a sit-down bar to eat and order drinks. The large TVs in the corners of the restaurant typically play soccer games and make for the perfect distraction when the dinner conversation runs dry.

They have also recently started to adapt to the digital age. Posters boast compatibility with NFC adaptors and text-in deals. An electronic tablet sits by the cash register, ready for the customer to login and snatch their next free burrito.

The menu is quite large, flaunting traditional Mexican staples such as menudo to the simple burrito. Without guidance, choosing what to order can be a daunting task.

The posole, a spicy hominy and meat soup with crunchy cabbage and radish is perfect to warm the soul on a cold and rainy day. The steak torta is a classic, safe choice for those avoiding too much of a dining adventure. The chile verde

plate, although a little steep in price, is as authentic and spicy as it gets.

On this particular occasion, I ordered the a la carte tacos, choosing one steak, chicken and carnitas. I almost went for a fourth taco, but assumed the self-serve chips and salsa bar would help satiate my hunger if I really needed it. I also ventured for a horchata refresco. I had never ordered a refresco from here before, let alone a rice milk and cinnamon one, so I did not know what to expect.

It tasted like a lighter, sweeter milk mixed with cinnamon. I was a bit skeptical since I don’t like to drink milk with my meals, but this tasted completely different.

When eating the spicy salsa or even trying the grilled chile that came on my taco plate, I found myself reaching for the horchata drink, as it immediately cooled my mouth and did not leave the spicy aftermath residue that usually stays there when drinking other drinks with spicy food.

Cantina-style counter service never tasted so good. Hats off to El Sombrero Taqueria. El Sombrero Taqueria’s carnitas tacos are something to write home about.

Gazette photo /BLAKE PANTER

Page 8

battle of the phones.

March 2016

Android vs. iPhone Special to the Gazette photo illustration/ ZACH EPSTEIN

Students compare and contrast the similarities and differences of phone software

BY BRAYDEN JOHNK

J

bjohnk.gazette@gmail.com

ust like Coke or Pepsi, Fruit Loops or Cheerios and Nike or Adidas, the debate between iPhone and Android continues on. Which side are you on?

Granite Bay High School senior Michaela Setiawan, is clear on her preference.

She owns a Samsung Galaxy S5 and supports the Android side.

“I like the complexity of my phone and how I can customize everything,” Setiawan said. “Too many people prefer iPhone because it is simple.”

Although she has owned an iPod Touch in the past and is familiar with Apple products, she opted for an alternate path in her phone purchase.

“I wanted to be different since iPhones were, and still are, very mainstream,” Setiawan said.

While satisfied overall with her choice, Setiawan still has some complaints.

“I wish the group messaging between the two (iPhone and Android) could be more compatible,” Setiawan said.

Senior Kendall Lilley owns a Samsung Galaxy S6 and uses it mostly for texting and social media.

Lilley agrees with Setiawan on the phone’s quality of the customization.

“I like how I can make it more for me,” Lilley said. “It (also) has an amazing camera.”

Sold on the quality of Android, Lilley will probably get the new galaxy whenever it comes out.

While Android is popular among students at GBHS, the iPhone is just as big, if not bigger.

Sophomore Logan Embree owns an iPhone 6, but began with an Android, yet is a definite Apple fan.

“I had an Android phone for awhile but with Apple, everything that you have connects,” Embree said. “With Android it was kind of like your phone was isolated.”

That is not the only reason he switched.

“One of the best qualities (of the iPhone) is that it is really fast,” Embree said.

“Along with that it has a really great camera, good storage, and it’s pretty good for games.”

Embree is not the only iPhone advocate at GBHS. Freshman Everett Hayes has an iPhone 6 as well and mainly uses it for texting, social media and playing games.

“The (Apple) app store I think is better than the Android app store,” Hayes said.

“It’s more user friendly, too.”

Although other members in his family own Androids, Hayes is not persuaded by their phone preference.

“My dad has an Android and I don’t like using it very much,” said Hayes.

Even the best phones have their downfalls in Hayes’ eyes.

“I think it would be better if the speaker could be a little better,” Hayes said.

“Sometimes the touch ID doesn’t work very well with the case on.”

While some support Android and others support Apple, there will always be those in the middle.

Sophomore David Song currently has the Nexus 5, and when asked which type he preferred, he responded, “Do I have to decide which one? I like both products.”

Just like Setiawan, Song has owned both types of phones.

“I’ve owned an iPhone 4 and a Nexus 5, and I changed to an Android because of the open platform provided by Android,” Song said.

Along with the common uses for phones like texting and social media, Song also uses his phone to turn in homework online and access documents for classes.

Song’s next phone he plans to get is the Nexus 6p.

“It’s comparable to an iPhone 6s (and) has a nice aluminum build, and a great display,” Song said.

Also undecided between iPhone and Android, sophomore Rishi Somanchi has an opinion on each. “(With Android) I could make my phone look like my phone and not like someone else’s,” Somanchi said. “But I feel like the Android app store is very lacking in the amount of apps it has.”

Because of this, Somanchi said, he will probably switch back to iPhone.

Clearly, there are pros and cons to both sides and never-ending supporters for each, as this controversy will continue to live another day.

“I wouldn’t say that my phone (Android) is better or worse than an iPhone,” Setiawan said. “It all depends on your own preferences.”

March 2016

Page 9

that’s a stretch.

HOT YOGA Special to the Gazette /AIMEE JOY

GBHS students find new ways to relieve tension and stress at local studios

BY SAVANNA THOMPSON sthompson.gazette@gmail.com

O

m. Om. Om. With the turning of a new year, Granite Bay High School students have found peace, performing hot yoga for individual enjoyment, stretched muscles, or physical benefits like a toned body.

Hot Yoga tends to focus more on the outward benefits of yoga rather than the “spiritual journey” because it is a very intense and physical total-body workout.

Yoga instructors use the heat to increase an individual’s flexibility in poses.

The most widely known form of hot yoga is Bikram Yoga where yogis and yoginis perform a series of 26 poses at 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

Many GBHS students attend Bikram Yoga Granite Bay for their dose of hot yoga and exercise.

There are different types of classes, but the classic one is 90 minutes: an hour is spent on the standing up series and 30 minutes is spent on the ground,” said senior Susanna Behnam

who attends Bikram Yoga four times a week.

It is unlikely that instructors will demonstrate the poses because they are trained to talk yogis through the flow as a part of moving meditation.

“The energy is really positive, and others around you really push you to do your best,” said Behnam. “I think that’s what makes it different than any other workout; the benefits are shown right there in class, and there is no better feeling than seeing improvement in your form and strength.”

During the class, an instructor typically allows for one water break, but yogis may take as many as they please, but the class will continue without them.

It is advised to drink plenty of water as people sweat a lot in the class and run the risk of dehydration.

Life Time Fitness also offers a hot yoga class for all levels in a less humid but still hot 90 degree room.

Weekly attendee, Jenna Ladrech, said that the class helps her breathing and reallys

stretches her out.

Senior Christian Turner recently turned to hot yoga at Life Time because he has had back and knee injuries, and the yoga soothes his joints and muscles.

“I like how it feels afterward: it’s relaxing and therapeutic to me,” Turner said.

Turner enjoys going to classes with friends once a week to engage in the challenging yet pleasurable exercise.

My advice for newbies is to not talk and just let it all happen,” said Turner. “Also, you get pretty wet and sweaty in there, so bring a towel.”

The excessive sweating during the class is said to remove toxins from the body.

Yoga, in any form, is a stress reliever as the poses relax the body’s muscles.

Other local hot yoga studios include Granite Bay Pilates and Yoga Inc, Purple Moon Yoga, and Bodyheat Hot Pilates and Yoga.

Improving an individual’s outlook on life, yoga instructors preach taking love and peace out into the world.

Namaste.

Gazette photo illustrations/EPSA SHARMA

Pages 10 and 11

March 2016

break out of granite bay.

SPRING INTO BREAK GBHS students discuss their favorite places to travel for spring break

Special to the Gazette/MARK ZAGAYNOV

Gazette

BY KATIE COLOGNA

A

Special to the Gazette /KATIE HARTMEIER

kcologna.gazette@gmail.com

t Granite Bay High School and many other schools around the world, students long for the week break from school in the spring, whether it be four miles or 4,000 miles away.

Most families spend their spring break together, but some students get the opportunity to go with their closest friends.

Special to the Gazette/COLLEEN VIVALDI “It was actually an invitation,” GBHS sophomore RJ Dumke said. “He asked what I wanted to do for spring break and he said he was going to A beach in Mexico, left. A beach in Monterey, top right. Papaya and pineapples in Kauai, bottom right. Palm trees in Los Angeles, bottom left.

Panama, and he asked me to tag along with him.”

For others, spring break is time for the family to get together.

“I am going to go look at the colleges in Arizona, and my grandparents live For some students, such as Oppenheim, they get the chance to go to two places over up there so we are going to go horseback riding,” GBHS senior Ashley Opthe break. penheim said.

“In Cabo, I think we are just going to go sightseeing and just go swimming a lot,” OpSpring break isn’t just a great time to spend with family and friends, but also for people penheim said. to get back in touch with old friends.

Spring break is also a great time for students to experience new and foreign things to “We are meeting up with friends that I haven’t seen for two years,” GBHS junior Leah them.

Thomas said. “They live on the east coast, so we’re meeting them in Chicago.”

“We’ve never been their before and we wanted to try something different,” Oppenheim With all of the scheduling that goes into planning a vacation for break, students are said.

“We are planning on going ziplining in Cabo, and I’ve never done that, so I’m itching to explore these new places. super excited for that.”

“We plan on going deep sea fishing, zip lining and going to my friend’s coffee plantaFor some, going far away is not the plan for them. It is common that students go for tion,” Dumke said. family day trips close, but far enough to call a trip.

At every destination there is something different to do – something that each location is “I might stay home during spring break, but my family and I plan on going to go to known for.

San Francisco as a day trip to hang out,” GBHS sophomore Chia Vang said.

“We’re going to go see cloud gate, (…) and we’re going to go on boat tours and probAlthough spring break is a time for students to escape the stresses of school, teachers ably see Broadway shows,” Thomas said. also have the time to go and enjoy the break with their friends and family.

Even though there are many things on the list to do on vacations, there is always someMyron Stephens, who teaches Art 2 through Advanced Placement Art, is going to New thing in particular that students are most excited for.

Orleans for his week off.

“I’m really excited for the deep sea fishing to catch a big ‘ol fish,” Dumke said.

“The food there is amazing and listen to cool music,” Myron Stephens said.

A hot spot for a lot of students is Mexico.

Without a doubt, spring break is a time that both students and teachers love because it “We’re going snorkeling, going to go look at the Mayan ruins and then going to go zip is their first taste of the nice spring and summer weather. lining,” GBHS sophomore Payton Lemiere said.

March 2016

Page 12

current.

Mixtape - Festival Season

Artist of the Month Hannah Stubee 1. What do you enjoy most about painting?

I think it is just really relaxing.

2. Are you planning on pursuing art in the future?

I want to minor in art, but I am not sure after that if I’ll do more. I think I always want to have art in my life, but I don’t know if I’m going to do it as a job.

BY JILL KURPERSHOEK

jkurpershoek.gazette@gmail.com

1. Summer – Calvin Harris This song debuted in 2014 but is still extremely popular and can be expected at Coachella this year, as Calvin Harris is one of the headlining artists on the third day.

2. It’s Strange – Louis The Child feat. K. Flay Louis The Child has certainly been a duo to watch this year, as they’re lined up to play at a number of festivals including Coachella, Snowglobe and Governor’s Ball. This song has single-handedly increased their fan base with it’s unique sound and deep lyrics.

3. Indian Summer – Jai Wolf Jai Wolf is known for his musical tributes to his Bangladeshi roots. This song combines the electronic dance music genre with an ethnic flair, creating a care free vibe that’s perfect for the festival season.

4. Weekend – Mocki (Jai Wolf remix) Even those who aren’t fans of the electronic dance music genre, the Jai Wolf remix of this song appeals to all due to it’s catchy lyrics and fun feel, regardless of which genre you’re into.

Follow Friday

Instagram

Gazette photo /BRAYDEN JOHNK

3. What style of painting do you do the most?

I do a lot of figurative works – more realistic.

4. When did you first get into art?

I have always been into art.

5. What impact do you feel art has had on your life?

It keeps me sane, honestly. It has just always been there and it is a good way to calm me down when everything else is so unstable.

6. What are you working on right now?

Right now I’m doing my self-portrait, and I have a few side projects as well, but that’s the main thing.

Compiled by Brayden Johnk

FRESHMAN 2019 vs .

2 VS. SENIOR 016 What is your favorite TV show at the moment?

Kelli : “Modern Family.”

Camilla Griggs, a GBHS senior

Kelli Litchfield, a GBHS freshman

Camilla: “Grey’s Anatomy.”

What is your biggest fear?

Kelli: “Spiders.”

Camilla: “Being kidnapped.”

Follow @thenashrood for an artsy touch to your feed. Compiled by Meagan Tallman

Gazette photo WHITNEY KNORP

Gazette photo /WHITNEY KNORP

Compiled by Whitney Knorp

March 2016

Booked for inspiration bookmark this.

Page 13

Find something inspiring in the top 10 most motivational reads Gaz

ette

illustr

ation

s/AM

AND

A PR

ATH E

R

BY SONIA GARCHA

O

sgarcha.gazette@gmail.com

ur generation has evolved from reading the words from award-winning novels to the comedic gold we find on Twitter. It’s time that we take a step back and appreciate authors all around during March’s National Reading Month.

These books are more than just words on page. They’ve influenced many to look at the world through a different light.

1. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri The Pulitzer Prize winning Lahiri writes about the struggle of Gogol, the child of two immigrants, and his struggle being raised in America and questioning his own traditions and beliefs about his culture. This book will allow to indulge into and appreciate where you’ve come from.

2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley First published in 1932, Huxley paints the picture of a world that is willing to surrender true joy for a bland happiness free of suffering. Although it was published almost 85 years ago, Huxley discusses many issues that are still prominent today such as consumerism, promiscuity, censorship and much more. It’s quite the timeless read for the average angsty teen.

3. Blazed by Jason Meyers Yet another literary treasure for an angsty teen. Not all books have to be historical or knowledgeable, they just need to appeal to the reader. Meyers conveys the struggle of Jamie, a drug-addicted teen, is forced to reconcile with his abandoning father while also dealing with his anxiety-spiked mother and his increasing need for a high. Meyers shows raw emotion in a situation that occurs more often than we’d like to believe.

4. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein When you look at the cover, just remember to ‘never judge a book by it’s cover’ because this looks like a book you read in elementary school and maybe you have. However, the concept that Silverstein embodies is so simple, yet so complex. A boy who is unconditionally loved by a tree (yeah, yeah I know) that gives him everything, yet he still demands more. Is the boy selfish for demanding more or is the tree naive for giving, knowing that she’ll never receive? We’ll let you be the judge.

5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Of all the books we’re required to read in our English classes, this one is favored the most and for good reason too. When you push aside all of the money, luxuries, parties and glamor, you’re left with a man who would do anything for love. The constant question of ‘who is Jay Gatsby?’ is continuously running through your head. The story also historically showcases the ‘roaring 20s’ and the attitude of Americans in the glamorous city of New

York. And yes, the book is better than the movie.

6. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne It’s crazy to think that a book that was published all the way back in 1850 still remains controversial in our day and age of continuous ‘slut shaming.’

Hester’s illegitimate child tests the wrath of the strict Puritan community.

The parallel between the past and the present will draw your attention to the on going adulterous issues that we continue to see today.

7. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher If you’re expecting a lovey dovey romance book, please skip ahead. This book is nothing but heartbreak, but it’s good to shed a couple tears every once in awhile. Hannah Barker commits suicide and leaves a box of cassette tapes for Clay Jensen, her former classmate and crush. On the tapes, she reveals the thirteen reasons she decided to end her life, him being one of them. For some, suicide is a touchy subject that shouldn’t be brought up and glamorized by the media. And while that’s true, it’s still a serious issue that needs to be discussed in order to be prevented. Clay heard Hannah’s story after the tragic loss, but it’s not too late to listen to other’s stories and make a difference in their life.

8. Sold by Patricia McCormick Sometimes the truths that we’re too afraid to say out loud must be expressed through the means of writing. McCormick writes about the devastating truth of prostitution and how little Lakshmi must be sold in order to pay off her family’s debt. A debt that wasn’t caused by her, yet she must pay the price. We’d like to believe that these misfortunes don’t occur in our world, but they do and Lakshmi’s journey is far more complicated than we can imagine.

9. 1984 by George Orwell If Orwell had bet money on our technology induced society today, he would have made quite the fortune. The novel enforces the idea of a world where technology is the higher power and humans have lost their ability to take control. OK, it’s kind of a stretch for today’s times. However, we should take Orwell’s wise words into consideration and stop refreshing our Insta feed for two seconds.

10. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne For all the history lovers, this one’s for you. In the midst of the Holocaust and World War II, young Bruno is informed that him and his family will be moving to a new house, in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. Bruno, however, resists and decides to explore his surroundings and comes across the boy in the striped pajamas. They find many differences between them, including the a wire fence that keeps them apart. They continue to live their different lives, while also not allowing those differences affect them.

Page 14

March 2016

gotta catch ‘em all.

Lv. 5

HP

100

Gazette illustration/BLAKE PANTER

Childhood game leaves GBHS students feeling nostalgic

Few cultural phenomena embody the late ‘90s

BY CONNOR HINSON chinson.gazette@gmail.com

Few cultural phenomena embody the late

and early than Pokémon.

‘90s and2000s earlymore 2000s more than Pokémon.

At it seemed thatthat every formform of of Atthe thetime, time, it seemed every entertainment, from video games to televi-to entertainment, from video games to television sion to children’s toys,taken had been taken over children’s toys, had been over by the cute by the cute little monsters. little monsters.

Withinthethe years however, this soWithin lastlast 10 10 years however, this so-called called “Pokémania” has died down.

As 2016 “Pokémania” has died down.

As 2016 marks the marks the 20th anniversary of Pokémon’s re20th anniversary of Pokémon’s release in Japan, lease in Japan, and the seventh generation of and the seventh of Pokémon(Pokémon was Pokémon wasgeneration recently announced recently Sun and Pokémon Sun andannounced Pokémon(Pokémon Moon), there is no better Moon), theretoisreflect no better now to legacy. reflect on than now on than the series’ theWithin series’ legacy. the first year of Pokémon’s 1998 North release, Pikachu,1998 the North series WithinAmerican the first year of Pokémon’s mascot, had already become a household American release, Pikachu, the series mascot, had name. become a household name. already However, a 1999 MSNBC report on However, in in a 1999 MSNBC report on PokéPokémon, a psychiatrist was quoted in mon, a psychiatrist was quoted in saying thatsaying that Pokémon is ultimately destructive, Pokémon is ultimately destructive, urging parents urging parents to stay away from buying totheir stay children away from buying their children the toys, the toys, games and movies. games and movies.

Surprisingly, this sentiment was not unSurprisingly, this sentiment wasn’t uncommon

at the time. Some religious groups attacked the common at thesatanic time. and Some religious groups brand for being pro-evolution. attacked the brand being Many schools wentfor so far as tosatanic ban alland instances pro-evolution. of Pokémon, be it the cards or the games, from Many schools went so far as to ban all their campuses. instances of Pokémon, be it the cards or the Most people, however, have more positive games, from their campuses. memories of the series.

Most people, however, have more positive Granite Bay School Junior Nate Moudakis memories of High the series. reminisced aboutHigh his childhood memories Granite Bay School junior Nateof the series.

Moudakis reminisced about his childhood memories the series.

“The first of Pokémon game I played was Fire “The Pokémon I played was my Red, andfirst it was always agame competition between Fire Red, was always competition brother whoand wasitthe owner.

Weawould always see between who the Me owner,” who couldmy beatbrother the game thewas fastest. and my Moudakis wouldbyalways see who who brother weresaid. both “We introduced his friend could beat the game the fastest. Me and my played Gold,” Moudakis brotherPokémon were both introduced bysaid. his friend “ My favorite thing is the challenges that are who played Pokémon Gold.” still present eventhing after beating the story, such “My favorite is the challenges thatasare completing your pokedex or catching all the still present even after beating the story, legsuch endaries or evenyour getting all youror starters to level as completing pokedex catching all the legendaries or even getting all your start100,” he continued. ers to level he values continued.

Kasey Yean,100,” GBHS, Pokémon’s positive Kasey Yean, GBHS sophomore, values messages.

Pokémon’s positive messages.

“What I loved most about Pokémon was that in “What I loved most about there Pokémon was the shows, movies, and games, was always

lessons to learn,” Yean said. “(Lessons) like to

that in the shows, there always be your bestmovies, and workand hardgames, no matter was always lessons to learn,” Yean said. what.” “(Lessons) likeSchofield to always be Pokémon your bestfor anddifJunior Emily loves work hard no matter what.” ferent reasons.

Junior Emily Schofield loves Pokémon for “I will always have fond memories of Pokémon. different reasons.

My brothers and used to playmemories in the same “I will alwaysIhave fond ofroom on our little devices together, and it was just fun Pokémon. My brothers and I used to playa in thing to have in common with devices my brothers who the same room on our little together, I look and alove. would also trade cards and it up wastojust fun We thing to have in common with my brothers who I look together sometimes,” Schofield said. up to and love,” said.

“We would also trade ThereSchofield seems to be a genuine sense of commucards together sometimes.” nity that comes with the series.

There Junior seemsArjith to be Jayaraman a genuine felt sense comGBHS thatofPokémunity that comes withtothe mon brought him closer his series. friends.

GBHS Junior Arjith Jayaraman felt that “My favorite memory Pokémon be Pokémon brought himof closer to hiswould friends. when I would battle my neighbors for hours, and “My favorite memory of Pokémon would even playIthe card battle games,” be when would myJayaraman neighborssaid. for hours, and even play the card games,” Jayaraman said.

For kids under 30, Pokémon is more than just a game. It defined the childhood of a generation, and has continued to inspire children well into this decade.

March 2016

Page 15

animazing.

Anime Cul

ture

Special

to the G

azette /S

HELBY

Animated shows, movies and art make GBHS students crazy

BY BLAKE PANTER

bpanter.gazette@gmail.com

Anime culture and its impact on many students on Granite Bay High School’s campus are often overlooked by the majority of the student population. Many students not only watch the animated shows but also draw them and may participate in cosplay.

Senior Josiah Luna only watches anime, but knows people who draw it and collect posters.

He said that depending on the anime, the plot can be loaded with drama, action, adventure, psychological thrills or romance. His favorite part of anime is the attractive artwork.

“Anime covers almost everything,” Luna said.

“It would be the same as saying Hollywood movies. It’s not just a genre; it’s an entire industry.”

He recommends watching One Punch Men for the psychological route, Death Note for a more popular one and Five Centimeters Per Second for a romantic drama.

Senior Beatrice Yabut watches anime, reads manga and occasionally draws anime. When finding an anime show to watch, she looks for comprehensive plots and good lessons.

“There are so many genres,” Yabut said.

“When you’re watching anime, there are so many in depth stories and it teaches you really good life lessons. There are really good themes involved and aside from that, the animations are really pretty.”

Although Beatrice was introduced to anime long before high school, she said that it was not uncommon to be assigned to watch anime for her Japanese class homework. It helped her learn the language as well as the culture.

GBHS junior and Japanese student Grant Navarro agrees.

“When you get the idea of all the words, it becomes repetitive,” Navarro said, who is currently in Advanced Placement Japanese. “When you watch it, certain phrases come back over and over again, and you end up memorizing what it is they’re saying. And because you watch it with subtitles, you understand what it means. I think it helps a lot (to learn the language and culture).

There are different cultures and different regions that differ from anime to anime, so you learn a lot about different cultures and how they work.”

Luna chooses to watch anime with subtitles so he can understand what is happening, and has been able to pick up on parts of the Japanese language.

“To put it in perspective, I never took Japanese class and I have picked up on a few sayings and specific words,” Luna said. “So if anime can teach someone like me, someone who is actually studying Japanese and wants to see it put into practice is going to benefit as well as being entertained.”

While anime can be entertaining as well as educational, many students agreed that there is a stigma against anime and the type of student that watches it. Navarro’s least favorite part about anime is that some people criticize anime without ever trying it.

“Some people just don’t understand anime,” Navarro said. “They just think it’s a cartoon which irks me because they’ve never tried it, so why criticize it? Most (GBHS students) perceive anime as a cartoon, probably because they haven’t been introduced to it. They assume it’s a cartoon, but it’s more. It’s an entire culture.”

Navarro said that to help fix this stigma, a wide variety of people should introduce themselves to the culture and see if they like it.

“I want the people of Granite Bay High School to have an open mind and try new things,” Yabut said. “There is really good anime to watch, both for the stories and the animation.”

KHATAM

I

Page 16

March 2016

current.

Top Tweets

Spirited tweets by Granite Bay High School students

BY EPSA SHARMA

esharma.gazette@gmail.com Gazette illustration/AMANDA PRATHER

Twitter

Who’s Hiring

BY SAVANNA THOMPSON sthompson.gazette@gmail.com

Petroglyph Ceramic Lounge 2030 Douglas Blvd Roseville, CA 95661 Petroglyph is looking for energetic and hardworking individuals to work the register, upkeep the store and assist with customer service. The schedule is flexible, but applicants must be available to work weekends.

Pizza Guys 4920 Pacific St, Rocklin, CA 95677 Pizza Guys is searching for positive and outcoming individuals with flexible schedules to fill various roles in their restaurant. To be either a delivery driver or hold an inside position, individuals must be at least 18 years of age with great customer service skills.

Panera Bread 1850 Douglas Blvd, Roseville, CA 95661 5100 Commons Dr, Rocklin, CA 95677 Panera is looking positive and enthusiastic applicants to fill full time or part time positions as Customer Service Associates or Production Associates. Must be at least 16 years old, and foodservice or retail experience is preferred but not required.

Recipe of the Month:

BY SONIA GARCHA

sgarcha.gazette@gmail.com

Ingredients:

1. ½ cube (four tablespoons) margarine 2. Four cups flour 3. ½ teaspoon baking soda 4. Four teaspoons baking powder 5. ½ teaspoon salt 6. One cup sugar 7. One egg 8. One cups currants 9. Four tablespoons caraway seeds 10. Two ¼ cups buttermilk 11. Green food coloring (for St. Patrick’s Day festivities)

8:30 p.m sounds like a good time to start a Harry Potter marathon to me.

emscho @emilyyschofield

0 Retweets

8 Favorites

My younger sister is officially taller than me... I don’t even know what I’ve worked for all these years.

Erica Lucia @e_loochie

0 Retweets

13 Favorites

one time I had a physical in 8th grade and I peed in a cup but I dropped all of it so I panicked and filled it with water and ran out of there.

montana tech dad @jennah_quenell

0 Retweets

18 Favorites

If anyone is wondering what heaven is like...

Brennan Holt @brennanholt_

11 Retweets 104 Favorites

Green Irish Soda bread

Directions:

1. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

Mix egg, baking soda and buttermilk.

2. Take one cup of flour mixture and flour currants.

Then, add the floured currants and caraway seeds to the rest of the flour mixture.

3. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and add green food coloring.

4. Mix well to consistency of biscuit. Heat skillet and melt margarine, swishing it around in the skillet. Add excess margarine to mixture.

5. Pour mixture into skillet and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

-Compiled by Brigid Bell from her Great, Great Aunt Annie Mulligan’s recipe

Gazette photo/ BRIGID BELL

March 2016

Page 17

throwback.

High School Musical had a reunion special on Jan. 23, 2016. The reunion consisted of looking back at old audition tapes, dance moves and favorite movie moments.

Disney Channel

 “Gilmore girls” and “Full House” are back for one more season. Netflix has taken on the task of reprising both shows with the original cast. Fuller House premiered on Netflix Feb. 26, 2016.

Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions

Jeff Franklin Productions

“Friends” , returned to the NBC network, for a televised interview. On Feb. 21, 2016 the cast of “Friends” were there for us once again, minus Chandler Bing.

Warner Bros.

Can you feel the nostalgia this year?

BY EPSA SHARMA

I

esharma.gazette@gmail.com

t only took them a year or 10 or 29. Many of the movies and the shows we grew up with decided 2016 was the year for their reprise.

The ever so iconic Disney Channel Original movie, High School Musical was released Jan. 20, 2006, the year that changed our lives. The high school musical fanbase grew as each movie came out, and when High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released the popular movie series was already an established franchise worth more than 10 million dollars.

The movie was released at the start of our academic endeavor, so in elemenatry school we were all infatuated with Troy Bolton, wished we were as smart as Gabriela, sassy like Sharpay and a professional creme brulee baker like Zeke.

As current high schoolers we still swoon and will not pass up an opportunity to sing a throwback HSM song. I guess it’s safe to say, our generation has grown up with High School Musical, and when they announced a reunion the inner wildcat in all of us was ready because it’s now or never.

Of course Zac Efron had to have a Troy Bolton moment and not show up to the reunion. But he was

forgiven, due to a video clip of him apologizing and sharing his favorite wildcat memory.

This year started off with a nostalgia kick, and there was one after another.

Following the High School Musical Reunion, Netflix announced they were going to take upon the task of bringing back “Full House” and “Gilmore Girls.”

Full House is one of those shows that has something for everyone, and even thought the last airing of full house was 21 years ago, the humor is still relatable.

Netflix is reprising the family favorite “ Full House” and introducing new cast members alongside the original members in “Fuller House.” The whole gang is getting back together again for a 13 episode season on Netflix, which aired Feb 26. 2016. It’s definitely something to binge watch, and finally get the full house closure that we all need in our lives.

Another ABC family classic, “Gilmore Girls” is up for a return as well. Lorelai and Rory return to our television screen and are back to warm our hearts.

Filming for the return of “Gilmore Girls,” started on Feb. 2, 2016.

According to producer Sherman Palladillo, we can expect the return of “Gilmore Girls” to be availiable on Netflix, winter of 2016.

Sadly, there will only be 4 episodes in this reprise

of “Gilmore Girls,” and they won’t be released all at once. Each episode will be 90 minutes long, and only be released at the start of each season, so the entire revival will occur throughout the year.

So the avid Netflix binge watcher will have to wait months between each episode instead of watching it on a Friday night.

Alongside the High School Musical cast reunion special, the popular 90s’ sitcom “Friends,” announced a reprise. However this so called reuniuon was not what I anticipated.

When the news of a reunion was annoounced, Twitter exploded with assumptions of a reunion epsidoe, but all we were given was a televised interview with only 5 out of 6 of the Central Perk gang.

Of course Matthew Perry had to ruin the chance of seeing the gang back together again. I know when that Chandler Bing, and that can only mean one thing, don’t expect him to show up.

Can we just discuss how Matthew Perry and Zac Efron played the same character in 17 again, and both of them didn’t show up for their reunions to the productions that launched their careers.

Aside from a few bumps in the road, the revivals of these shows started 2016 off on the right foot. The year they all decided to come back and pull at our nostalgic heart strings, will be forever remembered.

February 2016

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film.

LIONSGATE

T

WALT DISNEY PICTURES

I

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Rated: PG-13

Rated: PG-13

Rated: PG-13

By: Savanna Thompson sthompson.gazette@gmail.com

By: Katie Cologna kcologna.gazette@gmail.com

By: Savitri Asokan sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

hail caesar: A

n future years, Hail, Caesar! will be regarded as both a comedic masterwork and a seminal example of mainstream post-postmodernist entertainment.

The only thing more bewildering than its decidedly undeserved poor performance at the box office is the incredibly complex and thickly woven plot – at different points in the film, it alternately appears to be an aesthetically unblemished paean to the culture of 1950s Old Hollywood, an affirmation of enterprising American individualism, a passionate defense of Marxism and anti-intellectual absurdist humor.

Of course, none of these really penetrate the core of the film. It’s about subverting every interpretation possibly applicable and ensnaring the audience with an endless supply of witty jokes and allusions, mocking everything it appears to promote.

Hail, Caesar! is composed of a series of almost too charming subplots, the individual arcs of various actors, actresses and hangers-on of the film world.

At the center of them all is Eddie Mannix, a studio “fixer” from a bygone age, who makes it his personal mission to somehow reign them in and keep his movie business at a sort of peace.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t work out so well when Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), the star actor of his new production (the titular Hail, Caesar!) is kidnapped by a seemingly humane group of scriptwriters turned academic Marxists.

When they explain to him their predicament – charged with the production of meaning in film yet robbed of the means of production – Whitlock begins to understand the validity of their argument.

And just as his character in the movie-within-amovie converts to Christianity, Whitlock converts to Communism.

Hail, Caesar! was marketed in trailers as a lighthearted, visually appealing Coen brothers production, with almost no hint of what the plot actually revolves around.

In retrospect, the decision makes total sense.

Revealing even a small portion of the plot would fatally undermine what the award-winning actors and actresses seek to build up. Part of the essential humor the film relies on the huge difference between the typical roles members of the cast play in real life, and the ones they play in the movie.

Ultimately, all I knew to be true by the conclusion of the film was that everyone involved in the making of Hail, Caesar! must have been enormously grateful for the experience.

the finest hours: A-

he Finest Hours is an action-filled movie wrapped around a traumatic event that is all held together by the hope of a love story. With Chris Pine rocking a Bostonian accent and playing an honorable United States Coast Guard job, and Casey Affleck playing an intelligent chief engineer of an oil tanker, the two carry the plot of The Finest Hours by being the leaders of separate complications that occur in their crew.

The Finest Hours is based on the true events of the 1952 Pendleton boat that consisted of mariners. The conflict of the story occurs when the 503 foot boat splits in half.

Ray Sybert, played by Casey Affleck, was the metaphorical glue of the boat. Being the quiet one of the crew, no one liked nor paid attention to him.

He took the lead and showed everyone what he was capable of by saving the boat until the Coast Guard came to rescue them.

The Coast Guard rescue team, led by Bernie Webber, had to pass through Chatham Bar, which had 40to 60-foot waves. The incredible part of the rescue was that the rescue team consisted of four men on a small 36-foot rescue boat that rescued 33 men.

Compared to the real events that occurred in February of 1952, the movie portrayed a nearly perfect representation of what actually happened, with the exception of a few scenes that added to the storyline.

The movie captures a moment in history that a lot of people had forgotten or not known about. Being a Disney movie, I wasn’t confident that the true event would come off as genuine. As in most movies, there is exaggeration of the events, but Disney was able to deliver a comparatively accurate portrayal of the reality of this event.

As for the typical Disney love story, the movie succeeded in capturing true love. Personally, I don’t think the movie should have focused as much on love, but on the relationship of the brave men.

This movie also touched on faith. In a town where most families had some kind of involvement in the Coast Guard, they were well aware of what they were doing. The community joined together in hopes of the rescue team and survivors reaching the safety of home.

I thought this was a refreshing element. It made it a movie that represented a community that was there for each other whether they were strangers or family.

Watching the movie gave me new appreciation for the Coast Guardsmen that were sent on this rescue in the worst of conditions and means.

If you are looking for a movie that will give you a sense of pride for your country, but also include aspects of love, this movie gives all of that and more.

the choice: B-

icture the classic Nicholas Sparks romance.

Two strangers meet in some Southern town and fall in love. Unfortunately, there’s a complication in their relationship causing audiences to question if the two will stay together.

Now, unlike other Sparks films, audiences briefly witness the happiness and success found in the couple’s relationship in The Choice, only to be hit with another heartbreak.

Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer star as Travis Shaw and Gabby Holland, a pair who immediately spark an irresistible attraction after fate brought them together as next door neighbors.

Holland is a medical student who first encounters Shaw when she angrily storms over to his house to accuse his dog of impregnating her own. Shaw turns on his southern charm as a ladies man, making the disagreement worse as Holland does not find his wit or sarcasm funny in the midst of her crisis.

The argumentative nature of their relationship continues throughout the whole story as Holland is feisty and stubborn and Shaw never takes no for an answer. Shaw’s sister will later warn him that he just found his wife.

Their relationship encounters many challenges, the first being Holland’s long-time boyfriend as she begins her romance with Shaw. As usual, the question in the film is will true love endure the test of time and all of life’s many obstacles.

I genuinely enjoyed the movie, but I would not rave about it because it mirrors nearly of all of Sparks’s previous works as a textbook romance marked by laughs and tears.

I read the book, and I worried after watching the trailer that the movie would not accurately capture the struggle the main characters experience in a visual production.

The Choice is another classic example of a movie which fails to achieve its same purpose and evoke the same emotions as was done in the book.

The movie did not perfectly depict the decision Shaw has to make, so the title The Choice is not as well revealed or as expanded upon as I had hoped.

If the average moviegoer did not read the book, he would not understand the plot because it jumps around and is hard to follow. The movie lacked background information, slapping the audience with a storyline upon which they had no prior knowledge.

Regardless, the movie exceeded the expectations I had set after watching the trailer. Who doesn’t love a classic love story released right around Valentine’s Day?

February 2016

I

Page 19

film.

A24

T

MOONSTRUCK PRODUCTIONS

A

20TH CENTURY FOX

Rated: R

Rated: R

Rated: R

By: Connor Hinson chinson.gazette@gmail.com

By: Amanda Nist anist.gazette@gmail.com

By: Arthi Bobbala abobbala.gazette@gmail.com

deadpool: A-

ction-packed, hilarious, romantic, vulgar and satirical all at the same time, Deadpool is a fantastic movie that I would recommend to every and any kind of movie-goer.

More of a chick-flick chick myself, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a great love story was craftily woven into this not-so typical superhero movie. It was definitely a refreshing movie that deviated from the often formulaic nature of so many other conventional superhero films.

Although vulgar at many points, I felt it made the film more honest and organic. I loved the innovative curse words that were scattered throughout the film.

I would advise those that can handle some profanity to watch the movie because I absolutely loved it.

The opening credits of the movie, which rarely warrant my attention, encapsulate the sheer genius of this film. Instead of introducing the actors behind each character, this film comments on the stereotypical stock characters using descriptions instead of names. For example, you have “God’s perfect idiot,” “the hot chick,” “the villain” and “the comic relief.”

It then introduces the director as an “overpaid tool” while it describes the writers as “the real heroes here.”

The satire and sarcasm of the movie which endured from start to finish drew me in and kept me entertained for the full 100 minutes. Although too many jokes can sometimes be excessive and distracting, Ryan Reynolds’s character, Wade Wilson, never crossed the fine line that separates witty from annoying. As a fan of dry humor and sarcasm, I absolutely loved the one-liners from Wilson which kept the mood of the movie light-hearted.

Wade Wilson is a rebellious personality who refuses to identify as a typical superhero. He starts of as a mercenary, referred to as a “merc.” He falls in love with a tortured prostitute, Vanessa, who is just as witty and unruly as he is.

After he finds out he has cancer that is in its late stages, Wilson is approached by a shady man in a suit who promises him that he will be cured if he agrees to undergo certain procedures. The experiments that are performed on Wilson give him mutant supernatural abilities but leave his face and body deformed and ugly. Too scared of what Vanessa might think of his new face, Wilson sets out to find the man that did this to him. This movie was still one of the best I have seen in a long time, and it is one I would definitely recommend.

touched with fire: B+

ouched With Fire, featuring Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby, tells the story of two bipolar adults who meet after being institutionalized during their manic episodes. The movie was inspired by the book Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, which links bipolar disorder with artistic ability.

I feel like a lot of movies that portray mental illness these days, like Silver Linings Playbook, often romanticize or glorify the illness. There’s nothing romantic or glorious about having a mental illness, so when I saw Touched With Fire, I was expecting it to be the same as every other movie.

I was pleasantly surprised at the accurate portrayal of bipolar disorder in this film, and although the two main characters do fall in love, the movie didn’t focus solely on their relationship. It focused on their mania, their depression, how they changed on medication and the struggles of staying on medication.

Unlike other films, Touched With Fire strays away from the typical ‘romance solves all my problems’ attitude. The main characters are actually discouraged from seeing one another, because their doctors believe they are an unhealthy influence on each other and will prevent themselves from getting better if they kindle any sort of relationship.

A main motif of Touched With Fire is Starry Night

by Van Gogh. Holmes’ and Kirby’s characters are enthralled with the painting and because of this, much of the movie is centered around celestial objects.

Kirby’s character calls himself ‘Luna,’ partly because he loves the moon, and partly because it’s short for lunatic. Luna is an aspiring poet-rapper and focuses his poetry on the moon, aliens and an extraterrestrial apocalypse.

Contrastingly, and unfortunately cliché and predictable, Holmes’ character is mesmerized by the sun and how brightly it shines, which earns her the nickname ‘Sol.’ Luna and Sol develop the unoriginal sun and moon polar opposites relationship.

However, this film played it off well with amazing cinematography. Beautiful shades of blue were shown during Luna’s monologues about the moon, and fiery shades of red and orange appeared when Sol would recite her poetry.

Some of the script was so erratic, choppy and rushed it was hard to follow, but it perfectly embodied the manic phase of bipolar disorder.

Ultimately you get to explore the relationship between bipolar disorder and creativity, like the book the movie is based on. The passion shown for art and nature in this film is truly incredible, and although there’s a slightly predictable ending, there’s no doubt the film is captivating.

the witch: A+

t is difficult to understand the importance of The Witch without first understanding the climate of modern horror films.

The vast majority of horror pictures produced today are either annualized cash-grabs (see: Paranormal Activity 15), or moderately original scripts which are bastardized by greedy production companies (see: every movie put out by Blumhouse Productions).

Therefore, I was nothing short of ecstatic when I learned of this movie’s existence early last year and the praise it was receiving. People were touting it as ‘the best horror movie in years.’

With this knowledge, I went into The Witch with fairly high expectations; expectations which were, incredibly, surpassed.

At its core, it is about a Puritan family, banished from their village, forced to deal with the hardships of living out in the wilderness alone.

The Witch does in fact feature a witch, but the film doesn’t treat it like some unbelievable horror creature. To the characters in the film, the question of whether or not witches exist isn’t a question.

This is made believable partly by the excellent direction by first-timer Robert Eggers.

Eggers states that his inspiration for the film came from his own New England upbringing, making it a surprisingly personal film.

All of the dialogue is in a style of English congruent with Puritans of the time. At first, it is a bit hard to decipher, but the actors sell their performances so well you begin to translate with ease.

Anya Taylor-Joy in particular gave a wonderful performance, especially considering that this is her first feature film. Her command of the difficult dialogue comes off a effortless, stealing scenes from many of the more experienced actors.

Eggers also build tension exceptionally well.

There is a sense of dread held throughout the entire film, even when the images on screen are not particularly frightening.

The “scares” are not the type which are terrifying in the moment, but some of the imagery will stick with you nights after viewing the film.

The Witch is able to stand toe-to-toe with the classics of both the horror and period piece genres.

Incredibly, The Witch might be one of the best horror films of the decade, hopefully marking a change from the mediocre trash that has thus far punctuated the genre.

Page 20

March 2016

art.

Home is where the Art is Gazette photos/ HANNAH HOLZER

Special to the Gazette/LISA FISHER

Local art galleries in Sacramento attract students and families to experience their beauty and essence.

Various museums in Sacramento allow for a cultural experience

BY SAVIRTI ASOKAN

sasokan.gazette@gmail.com

1. Crocker Art Museum Located in 216 O St. in midtown Sacramento, the Crocker Art Museum is itself an artistic relic from a previous time, built from a house dating all the way back to the 19th century. The Crocker’s historicity makes for an immersive experience, and the decorative furnishings, ornate wallpaper and plush sofas are just as important as the framed pieces.

Two current exhibitions which definitely should not be missed are the Ai Wei Wei installation Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (open all through April) and a collection of Albrecht Durer’s works on paper, extended indefinitely.

The Crocker accords Circle of Animals the significance an internationally renowned artist merits, situating it in an easily accessible and prominent outdoor space between the museums. Accompanying the outdoor statues is an inside collection, scattered in areas throughout, which highlights the links between ancient and modern Chinese art. It’s a valuable opportunity to see a famous contemporary piece just a short drive away.

2. Blue Line Arts Gallery Aspiring student artists might just get their first gallery showing at Roseville’s Blue Line Arts.

While the relatively small size of the venue limits the size of their collection, the gallery houses some compelling pieces, cycled out periodically.

Sculptures carved from books and porcelain guns are some of the recently featured pieces.

For those who are willing to travel a few hours’ distance, San Francisco’s two sister museums – the De Young and the Legion of Honor – are nationally recognized for the merit of their collections.

3. De Young Museum The De Young’s eclectic collection ranges from Oceanic, African and Native American art to craftwork – textiles and decorative arts – and American painting.

Current exhibitions include a Robert Motherwell retrospective and Printed Stories, a curatorial experiment which recontextualizes individual prints into sequences, leaving them open to interpretation as narratives.

One of the unique highlights of the De Young is the pairings of some Impressionist paintings with ekphrastic poems by children.

Not only is it an engaging way to compare the aesthetic values of writing and art about the same subject, it’s also a reminder of the inspirational power of these works and their continuing relevance today.

4. Legion of Honor Unlike the De Young, the Legion of Honor places less of an emphasis on contemporary and international art and more on classic and early modern pieces; its permanent collections boasts acquisitions by Cellini, Rubens and Rembrandt, to name a few.

Until May, visitors can view impressive works like Raphael’s Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn, select paintings by Pierre Bonnard and even the Nuremberg Chronicle.

The museum’s ambience mimics the traditional and elegant aesthetic, which only enhances it more. Perhaps the best example of this is the Rodin collection, which is one of the Legion of Honor’s prominent collections.