High Tide: April 7, 2017

TIDE

H IGH Redondo Union High School Redondo Beach, CA April 7, 2017 Vol. XCVII Edition 13

THOUGHTCRIME. TEXTCRIME. ILLUSTRATION BY ADRIAN CRACIUN

Inside:

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pg. 6

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New bill passed allowing internet providers to sell people’s search histories without permission

Editorial discusses the dangers of potential new bill overstepping student privacy boundaries

New bill would allow teachers and administration to take and search student phones without warrant

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news

High Tide

ILLUSTRATION BY CASS ANDERSON

Trump’s budget proposal endangers arts and science programs

by Sarah Flannery President Trump’s budget proposal for 2018 suggests great benefits for American troops, yet may come with the cost of making deep cuts in arts and scientific research nationwide.

The budget proposal increases funds for border patrol and a border wall and gives a $30 billion boost to defense spending. However, it drains nearly $3 billion in cuts to education programs and grants to help low-income students to pay for college.

The budget also may nearly or entirely put a halt to federal funding for the National Endowment of the Arts. According to art teacher Amanda Roth, the cuts to the arts will have a drastic effect on students, especially on those who are not as proficient in traditional subjects like math and science.

“Not every kid is terrific in math and science. It is our job to show kids there isn’t one way of doing everything and how important originality is. I feel like the arts offers a place for students who don’t think like everyone else,” Roth said.

Roth also pointed out that the arts are important in fields like math and science because they provide a variety of different types of thinkers in the work force.

“Most of us think alike and we are losing that touch of being original. I think art encourages creativity,” Roth said. “If everyone thinks the same, no one would invent some-

thing new. The future kids are going to be designing new cell phones and deciding how new spaceships will work. Anyone can have the mathematical part but the creative part keeps things unique, which is what the arts provides.”

According to Roth, some students find it helpful how art lacks a rigid structure and formula, allowing more free-minded students to thrive.

“With art, we have several different ways to get to a solution. There also could be several different solutions. It frustrates a lot of people because in math you have one answer. People who are more right brained really excel in the arts,” Roth said.

Other programs that would take big hits if the budget is passed are the Environmental Protection Agency, which is proposed to lose approximately $2.6 billion in federal funding, and the Department of Agriculture, which is expected to lose nearly $4.7 billion dollars in federal funds.

Biology teacher Kelly Lewis underscored the importance of keeping environmental preservation alive, such as fighting for clean water and protection of endangered species.

“If we don’t fund research and protection of the environment, there is no one to look after these creatures and no one thinking towards the future of our ecosystems. Earth has a carrying capacity of only so many people.

If we’re not actually researching and figuring out what’s best for the environment, we’re going to use up resources and hurt our planet,“ Lewis said.

Lewis believes Trump’s budget proposal sends a demoralizing message to the youth of the country regarding the perception of the environment.

“I think for any kid to be told the environment is unimportant is discouraging. It says that we don’t need to think about the future of humanity which is extremely selfish of us.

We can’t think like that. We ourselves are animals, we just have access to more power,” Lewis said.

Lewis explained that the nation’s representatives need to pay more attention to how we can help the creatures that inhabit our planet.

“Humans are causing extinctions that just have never been seen before and creatures are dying at an unhealthy rate,” Lewis said. “Not researching ecology shows that we don’t care about our environment” According to theatre arts teacher Melissa Staab, the arts bring out courage in students that cannot be elicited in other circumstances “I think theatre brings out confidence and self security. Students who participate in the

arts become more aware of who they are as individuals, they embrace who they are and what makes them unique,” Staab said.

Staab believes that students in the arts tend to be more well-rounded in both academics and extra-curriculars “Art students have stronger community ties, are involved in school and perform better academically because they feel motivated to do well through such an outlet. The skills that arts build in students are extremely important in shaping people as humans, not just as artists,” Staab said.

The teamwork and cooperation involved with theatre is an aspect that Staab believes is unique to the arts.

“It’s a different feeling than playing a game that repeats itself every week, it’s working for months and months on something that is over in 5 days. How people come together to build that product is a bond that you really can’t get many other places” Staab said.

Staab is sure that even if funds are cut, the arts will continue to stay in schools across the nation.

“The good thing about the arts is that we will always fight to stay alive. There will always be opportunities in the arts,” Staab said.

“I don’t think the arts will ever be dissolved from the schools, they just don’t give up. I can’t see the arts dying in a school setting.”

April 7, 2017

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news

ILLUSTRATION BY LULU

WEGMAN

by Nadia Stodder

Students reflect on bill allowing ISPs to sell search history without consent

by Nadia Stodder President Donald Trump signed a bill on April 3 that allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to sell their customers search history to third parties without their permission.

This bill overturns restrictions set in place by the Obama administration that were supposed to take effect next year on what internet providers could do with user information without the customer’s’ consent.

In Congress, an overwhelming amount of Republicans, as well as the president himself, supported the bill but there are who think otherwise.

“It is an invasion of our privacy. People might say if we don’t have anything to hide it’s fine, but it’s not okay that people can pay to look at your history. We aren’t criminals, we’re everyday people,” freshman Julia Utley said.

Although the search history bill will not directly be affecting students’ chromebooks and school assigned technology, the bill will still apply to students’ cellphones and other personal electronics, making anything peo-

ple search capable of being legally brought into the public eye.

“Internet providers can be bribed easily, and people in this world will take a bribe, so I don’t think this is okay. I think people need to stop being so greedy. They can get money in other ways without having to invade people’s privacy,” Utley said.

In recent years, there had been restrictions placed on what information internet providers can sell and publicize in order to protect internet users’ privacy, but under the new administration, there are students who see online privacy as something that is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

“I don’t like it at all. The government is trying to better target us for ads and to find criminals, but they should prioritize our privacy more than anything. They don’t need to have our personal information,” sophomore Sara Shor said.

Despite most students not having to be nervous about being found doing illegal actions, some are still fearful as to what this

means for the country and the privacy of American citizens in the future.

“They don’t about our privacy at all, they care more about making money. This is our information, they shouldn’t be able to sell it to just anyone who bribes them with money,” Shor said.

Utley believes that the passage of this bill is a relevant issue to every American, Democrat or Republican.

“It is really an invasion of privacy, and it is not okay. I understand why it would be okay if someone is a criminal, but this applies to everyone, not just particular people. They are trying to take our personal information, and this shouldn’t be allowed to happen,” Utley said.

Sophomore Sangjun Lee, a right leaning independent, also agrees that the passage of the new bill crosses the line in terms of privacy.

“I looked at what the bill was and I have a bit of conflicting opinions. I don’t agree with allowing the ISPs being able to sell your in-

formation without your consent,” Lee said. “If they are allowed to sell my information without my consent, I would consider that theft.

But they were probably doing that already.”

Lee believes that the passage of this bill reveals an abandonment of traditional conservative values by certain Republicans and a prioritization of party over country.

“Bills like this is why I consider myself an independent. This shows how conceited some Republicans are,” Lee said. “Similar to the attempt to pass the American Health Care Act, some Republicans are departing from conservative values and leaving the conservative base behind with this bill. They are not really helping us right now.”

The purpose for lifting ISP restrictions is not clear to Lee, but the fact that the bill presents no benefits for the American people is.

“I believe that the ISPs are the biggest beneficiaries,” Lee said. “This threat to our privacy is very a Orwellian concept from both the government and the big corporations.”

The regulations

The effect

The Obama era regulations set to take effect this year would have regulated internet service providers’ collection of user data

The removal of these restrictions will allow Internet service providers to compete in the $83 billion market for digital advertising.

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High Tide

news

Alarms pulled, but no emergency

Unidentified students set off campus fire alarms without presence of danger

by Yasmine Elahihaghighi

Throughout the recent weeks, students and teachers have been disrupted by the repeated setting off of school fire alarms without the presence of emergency.

No danger had been occurring on campus at the times the alarms were set off, but students and teachers were still forced to evacuate their classrooms due to standard emergency procedure.

“When somebody does this, it is one of the most selfish acts I can think of on campus because it impacts everyone,” Principal Jens Brandt said.

One of the fire alarms was caused by an accidental pulling, according to an anonymous report on Sprigeo, but the other two incidents were set off in bathrooms, which Brandt says makes it impossible to identify the culprits.

“There will never be cameras in bathrooms and there is so much traffic in and out of them that it is impossible to pinpoint who may have done it by something like smoking,” Because of this recurring issue, Brandt explains how he is working to make students aware of the consequences and changes that will come.

“We are definitely increasing supervision and making sure all these different locations are being watched. Closing the art and science building seems to have helped with

those situations, and it is much easier to supervise that area,” Brandt said.

The school also plans to increase the amount of cameras over the summer.

Meanwhile, with AP and SBAC exams coming up, Brandt feels false alarms are a disruption to students’ learning and focus.

“It wouldn’t be fair to our students working so hard or our teachers preparing them.

At the end of the day when a fire alarm goes off, every single student, all 2800, have to leave their classrooms,” Brandt said.

The ones suffering the most from these incidents are the students, according to Chemistry teacher Wilkin Lee. “They are not able to get the material they need to be successful, and they have to depend on their own skills,” Lee said.

Lee explains that the alarms get in the way of the students’ performance on their tests.

“A lot of the times, the fire alarm went off during a quiz, and the students can not finish or lost focus and concentration so a fire alarm is really disrupting to their learning environment,” Lee said.

The RUHS Theatre Department also felt the alarms to be “frightening,” according to senior performer Sam Higuera.

During their performance of Shrek: The Musical last Saturday, a false alarm was set off, interrupting their show.

“The alarms were very embarrassing, frustrating and disruptive to us in the musical.

However the professionalism and maturity of our cast and crew allowed us to overcome this,” Higuera said.

The school and RBPD will be punishing anyone found to have participated in these “immature acts.”

“In addition to the disciplinary consequences I have confirmed that a student that pulls the fire alarm will be arrested, fined by the fire department, and will have to go to court,” Brandt said.

He believes a big issue with the false alarms is that people are going to start taking the real alarms less seriously.

“People start to become complacent and they think it is not a real alarm and this could end up injuring somebody or in the worst scenario someone could be killed,” Brandt said.

According to RBFD Division Chief Rob Rappaport, going to the school and then realizing that it is a false alarm is “certainly frustrating” for him.

“When we are responding we think it’s an emergency so we go with lights and sirens and put ourselves and the public at risk for going to something that is not a true emergency,” Rappaport said.

When a unit is set out to the school it becomes unavailable and affects the depart-

ments ability to provide service to the citizens.

“If someone is having a heart attack or anything we would have to send a farther unit, and that would delay us getting to someone else,” Rappaport said.

Although both fire department officials and school administration feel the situation has been frustrating, they have agreed to maintain a close relationship with each other.

“The fire department has been great to work with and I have even gotten to know a few of them as a result of them being on campus. They are very cooperative and very positive,” Brandt said.

According to Brandt and Rappaport, a big issue is that the false alarms cost the city money paid with taxpayer dollars every time the firemen have to come and investigate.

“We want everyone to be cognizant of that too because it is definitely a waste of money,” Brandt said.

Brandt hopes the effort being put in to prevent similar incidents has a positive outcome.

“I really hope that those students when they hear these messages or read the emails or articles have something something that clicks up in their brain that says ‘I can not do that anymore,’” Brandt said, “It’s not right and they will be caught eventually.”

RBFD:

The cost of a false alarm In the first three months of 2017: Seven fire department calls to the high school have been false alarms, compared to its eight false alarms in the entire year of 2016.

It costs the city $250/hour to deploy a single firetruck and its crew, resulting in a net cost of

$850 to the city paid with taxpayer dollars.

INFORMATION COMPILED FROM RBFD. ILLUSTRATION BY ADRIAN CRACIUN

April 7, 2017

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news

March 28-April 3: March Madness

2

Set up for the swish’. 1. Senior Tyler Murrell goes for a jump-shot from the three

1

point line while being guarded by senior Jaden Allen. 2. Senior Thomas Ecklund makes a drive dribbling against junior Raymond Mackenzie. “I loved playing in this tournament. I got to play with and against many people who I don’t normally play with, making it very entertaining. The atmosphere was great and lively and the players got energy from the crowd and the friends they played with. The crowds developed favorite players and teams, making all the games really fun, especially when there was a great play,” Ecklund said. PHOTOS BY RYAN CARTEE AND CELINE OH

Battle for state

Academic Decathlon concludes the season with state competion in Sacramento

by Malek Chamas

At this year’s state competition in Sacramento, Academic Decathlon placed seventh in Division 2 and 25th in the overall competition, out of the more than seventy schools in attendance. The decathletes won a total of one bronze, three silver and two gold medals, with captain Julie Nguyen, senior, earning an additional medal as the team’s top scoring decathlete.

Academic Decathlon coach Aimee Gauvreau believes the team performed “phenomenally well,” and praises the competitive attitude of the team’s members as they went into the competition.

“This is a team that went into state wanting to win. There was no sense of, ‘Oh, we’re in the middle of the pack. Let’s just have fun.’

There was definitely a sense that they were really out there to represent their school, and you can see that by their scores,” Gauvreau said. “That is what we always want to promote in all our athletics, and this applies to Academic Decathlon. And we never rest on our laurels until we’ve been told we must.”

Although the Academic Decathlon team has achieved better results in state competition during previous years, it has improved upon its twelfth-placed finish in Division 2 last year. According to Gauvreau, the team’s

performances have generally “maintained an upward trend” during recent years.

“We tend to do very well when we are in Division 2, because we are a high-performing school. But there have been years where we have done so well at regionals where we’ve been in Division 1 at state,” Gauvreau said. “The best placement we’ve ever done was about four years ago, when our team was able to bring home a ninth-place finish in Division 1. And we’ve been part of AcaDec for a good 25 years. We’re holding our own and bringing those regional trophies home, and that’s what gets us invited to state every year.”

Gauvreau attributes the team’s increasing achievements to its members’ commitment to the program, and says that this commitment manifests itself in team’s efforts to study and win medals and earn a high ranking.

“This is definitely a group of young people who recognize that to be in AcaDec at Redondo means to place in the top five or the top six at regionals, to make it to state and to place in the single digits there too,” Gauvreau said. “I tell them at the very beginning of the year, ‘This is what I’m looking for.

I am going to put together the best team I

can. I think each and every one of you has the potential to be a stellar decathlete. The more you study now, the more you perform between now and November when we take our scrimmage, the more likely you will be part of the winning team.’”

Both Gauvreau and co-captain Samantha McVeigh believe that teamwork and cooperation are also integral parts of the decathletes’ success. McVeigh says that Academic Decathlon provides students uninvolved in athletics with “that same team team feeling,” while Gauvreau claims that the program allows students to think of “things in this life that matter more than themselves.”

“Once the team’s fully determined, it’s up to the team to come together and recognize that no individual decathlete is going to win this. They all have to be part of this. And so the roles I play are motivating them, maintaining our schedule and talking about what and when we’re going to study,” Gauvreau said. “So we come together, eat some Trader Joe’s snacks, play games, and study our hearts out. And if they’re not going to do it for themselves, they do it for their team and they do it for this school.”

McVeigh stresses the inclusive nature of the program as another reason why she is

grateful to be a member.

“Everyone thinks Academic Decathlon is just for super smart kids with high GPAs, but we actually need kids with lower GPAs who are still very smart but more self-educated.

Some kids love learning and studying but they hate a subject like math, so their GPAs are low. But they do really well in Academic Decathlon, because they’re good students who do things themselves. It’s all about selflearning,” McVeigh said. “Academic Decathlon’s all about studying what you want to, when you want to. It is for everyone, whether you have a high GPA or a low GPA.” Gauvreau thanks all her students in the program, from those in the A team to the assistant coaches, for the team’s result this year.

“Every member of this class has just been so dynamic. I have watched our support team, come up with fabulous powerpoints for our science, social science and economics curricula. I’ve watched them go to town trying to help our decathletes prepare, and our B team also took on that role this last month,” Gauvreau said. “This really is a win for the entire class. This, in every sense of the word, was not just a team effort, it was a class effort.

Student-centered learning at its best.”

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High Tide

opinion

Editorial

Plead the fourth

Assembly Bill 165, which allows for confiscation and search of phones and other technology by teachers and administrators, invades student privacy rights

There’s a reason teenagers are known for their angst; it seems that rebellion is inherent, coded into DNA from ages 13-19. But here’s a fun idea: why don’t adults make that angst 20 times worse by passing a law so that school administration can snatch student phones and search anything and everything on them?

Calif. legislators are flirting with the idea of passing Assembly Bill 165 which would allow schools to force students to hand over their phones to government officials, police and school administration so they could search the device. Text messages, private social media accounts, pictures, emails, and personal notes can all be accessed with no search warrant needed.

The majority of students on campus may be minors, but that doesn’t mean they’re not American citizens or human beings. Passing a bill that would allow someone to simply take and search another’s private property without a search warrant is a blatant Fourth Amendment violation.

Nowadays, phones have become people’s diaries; financial information, personal conversations and information, are all stored in phones or laptops. There’s a reason phones have passwords on them—the information on them is sensitive, and not intended to be shared with the rest of the world, obviously.

Just because students are still kids doesn’t mean that someone searching private property isn’t as infuriating to them as it would be to adults. There’s a reason the founders wanted to protect America’s citizens from this injustice by passing the Fourth Amendment.

The bill would essentially be the equivalent of the police randomly coming into a person’s home and reading up on their financial statements, health records, checking out photo albums, and wiretapping phones to hear conversations.

If this was the case, there would be an immediate lawsuit. This is an invasion of

Yes

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ILLUSTRATION BY LULU WEGMAN

privacy, and inherently people know it’s just plain wrong.

The bill stems from pure intentions, especially since with the rise of technology has come the rise of cyber bullying. It would be so much easier for administration to skip the he-said-she-said when investigating a cyber bullying case and just snatch the student’s phones and see the truth for themselves. But most of the time incidents like this can be solved without needing to take a student’s phone.

And what if the investigation is much more serious than anticipated? Administra-

tion should absolutely have access to student’s phones in an investigation of a larger scale. After they’ve legally secured a search warrant.

The passing of this bill would irritate relationships between administration, teachers, and students and students would trust the adults in their life less than they already do. In theory, it could actually in turn worsen cyber bullying, as students will be less likely to talk to adults at school if they feel as if everything they say, do, or show on their phone will be held against them.

Students are already being monitored

on the chromebooks issued by the district, which makes sense since they are loaned computers to be used explicitly for educational purposes. Overall, students should be aware of what they put out in the Internet, since it can always be traced back to them.

But sensitive information on a phone is not being put out into the Internet; it’s on a private device for a reason. At school it already feels like students’ every move is being tracked, but should this bill pass, we would undoubtedly move backwards in time toward 1984. And to that students should respond, “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.”

Editorial Board vote

Assembly Bill 165 violates students’ rights to privacy, as phones often carry personal and confidential content.

No

0

April 7, 2017

High Tide

Curtain call

staff

Editors-in-Chief: Caterina Hyneman; Shaniya Markalanda

Trump’s first budget plan cuts programs vital to education

Online Editor-in-Chief: Reema Saad Opinion Editor: Dina Ghanim News Editors: Ben Brill; Jon Mallen Features Editors: Reem Chamas; Miriam Farah; Lizzie Fauver; Summer Saad; Adam Yorke; Kylie Yorke Sports Editors: Mia Berger; Luke Peterson Senior Editors: Yasamin Fazeli; Amanda Shaw Photo Editors: Jarrah May; Eden Millan Copy Editors: Davina Nguyen; Marie Ona Social Media Editor: Justin Pioletti Illustrators: Adrian Craciun; Lulu Wegman Staff Writers: Brian Adler; Aaliah Alz; Analise Asaro; Maryam Bacaloni; Brittany Baker; Amanda Ban; Mia Berger; Tessa Biscaldi; Malek Chamas; Michael Teng-Kai Chang; Alexander Dang; Whayden Dhamcho; Kayvon Elahihaghighi; Yasmine Elahihaghighi; Martha Farah; Sarah Flannery; Daphnie Fulton; Camille Grace; Maya Groark; Kelly Harraka; Kayla Hiken; Kylee Kallick; Lauren Kim; Shyanne Landers; Grace McGonigle; Hayley O’Connor-Rigby; Daniel Parhizi; Ethan Park; William Pournamdari; Julian Quevado; Rubab Quraishi; Batia Rotshtein; Nicole Sandoval; Keana Sterling; Nadia Stodder; Angie Tait; Benjamin Yepez; Erika Zlatkin Photographers: Cass Anderson; Matthew Davidson; Hiroki Goto; Kaitlyn Katayame; Anne-Elyse Peterson; Danielle Sestak; Michael Yoon This is a wholly student-managed, designed, and written newspaper that focuses on the school and community.

Signed commentaries and editorial cartoons represent the opinions of the staff

Letters to the

Editor

If you have an opinion about one of the articles, letters can be sent to the editor at hightideonline@gmail. com.

We reserve the right to edit them for content, grammar, and space constraints. Letters must be signed and are not guaranteed to be printed.

Please keep letters to a maximum of 250 words. Longer guest opinions are also accepted.

page 7

opinion

Yasi Fazeli On Thursday, March 16 President Trump released his budget plan for the 2018 fiscal year, his first budget proposal as president.

This proposed plan, namely “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,” is characterized by its sharp increase in military spending and decrease in 18 other agencies.

The most concerning cut, in regards to the learning environment at RUHS and other schools likewise across the nation, is the proposed decrease in funding for education, specifically in the arts and sciences.

Programs such as The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) may face large cuts, as the new proposal categorizes them as “waste.” It is important to recognize that these programs may serve as the basis of inspiration for millions of Americans.

Having the opportunity to grow up watching Sesame Street, or easily visiting a museum in high school that may inspire us

to one day become a great artist or journalist are resources we have all taken for granted.

The threat to these longstanding opportunities should serve as a wake up call.

The President’s budget plan is a clear illustration of his priorities and it is evident that we have reached a point in our nation’s history at which the sciences and arts, and encouragement of higher education are not a federal priority.

This should be of great and dire concern to citizens nationwide. To cut funding for the arts and sciences is to cut concern for the well-being of the United States.

While the budget proposal has increased the money available for various private schools, billions of dollars are planned to be cut for high need schools, after school tutoring programs and grants to help lower income students realizing their college dreams.

Even more concerning, however, is the fact that the lack of proposed funding for the arts and sciences is a result of President

Trump’s belief that more money should be allocated the U.S. military.

In 2016 the United States spent $596 billion on the military, more than the next seven countries—including China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Kingdom, India, France and Japan—combined, but ranked 14th in education. Perhaps this should serve as a wake up call, illustrating numerically the areas in which budget plans should place a heavier emphasis on.

We do not need billions spent on F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, but rather be able to ensure stability in our secondary and higher education programs. It is this stability, rather, encouragement of the arts and sciences in school, that will produce the next Maya Angelou or Nikola Tesla.

A $54 billion increase in spending for the Department of Defense is not what will inspire a generation of aspiring doctors, educators, and other people who hold the great power of truly making America the great nation that it is.

You can’t sit with us The closing of the science and CTE building at lunch is ineffective, introducing more negative consequences The huge science and CTE building has become a haven for a various number of students where they can sit comfortably. The administrative team has their reasons for shutting the building down during snack and lunch—reasons that don’t warrant shutting down the entire building.

According to Principal Brandt, the building was closed because of recent fire alarms that are disruptive to the classroom environment, students that leave campus through the science building doors, and trash that lies all over the floors when lunch ends. He says that the staff simply doesn’t have the manpower to make sure that students don’t litter or to watch the gates to make sure students don’t leave campus.

While what Principal Brandt says about the fire alarms is true, they do serve as a huge disruption of the learning environment, a couple alarms going off isn’t really reason enough to shut down the entire science building. The same goes for the issue of trash and students playing hooky.

The campus is unfortunately taken for granted and students litter all over campus as they do in the science building, but

the entire campus isn’t shut down for lunch to prevent littering, so then why use that as reasoning to shut down the science building and not use the same idea to close Main Hall or get rid of picnic benches frequented by trash?

A couple of students ditching school is detrimental only to them, it doesn’t really affect anyone else on campus. There are also other ways for students to leave campus. The only exit isn’t through the science building, blocking one of the various exits isn’t going to be able to prevent the escaping of students.

Closing the science building during snack and lunch also deprives the student population of two bathrooms. With the two bathrooms in the science building being unavailable, that leaves only the bathrooms in Main Hall and the 800’s Building open for over two-thousand students to share.

Students pile into restrooms as soon as the bell rings and often have to stand in line for the entirety of lunch. This leaves students no time to relax, talk to friends, or eat.

The doors for the science building for club members close at 12:30 PM, a mere ten

Lauren Kim

minutes after the bell rings dismissing students for lunch.

Many students stay in for the beginning of lunch to talk to teachers or to grab lunch from the seemingly endless cafeteria lines and therefore cannot get to the science building before the doors are locked at 12:30.

Students will be locked out of their clubs and will have to miss their meeting because they had to talk to their teachers or wait in the ridiculously long line for the bathroom.

The science building is also a place where many students spend their snack and lunch time. A large number of students have become comfortable in their designated spots.

Kicking them out of the areas they’ve become accustomed to throws a couple hundred students into a sort of frenzy, vying for one of the few comfortable lunch spots that might be left.

In all honesty, the reasons that the administrative team has doesn’t justify shutting down the Science Building during snack and lunch. The cons outweigh the pros, and the proposed solution just isn’t effective in solving the problems that caused the closing in the first place.

page 8

features

She stares at

Shooting for

MARS

by Whayden Damcho

Bettger takes steps towards becoming an astronaut

the screen, and watches the same black and white scene once again. She stares at the Apollo 11 spacecraft, and watches it gently settle on the rocky surface of the moon. She stares at Neil Armstrong, and watches him descend the ladder, step by step. And she listens. She listens to the heavy, steady, strong words of Armstrong, to the sparkle of history. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

For senior Jaymie Bettger, the video of the first moon landing has been one of the driving forces behind her interest in astrology.

“The first moon landing video still gives me chills,” Bettger said. “I find it so amazing that America has been to the moon, and before that, no one else had. It was totally uncharted territory.”

Bettger aspires to be an astronaut, hoping to work for companies such as Spacex, NASA, Boeing, etc. More specifically, she would like to go to Mars one day. To help her reach this goal, she went to a space camp in Alabama this past summer. She plans to get her private pilot’s license this summer, allowing her to fly small, singleengined planes, which is necessary to be an astronaut.

“Going to space camp was a really cool experience for me because I have never really been around a lot of people who really understand and like the same things I do,” Bettger said. “It was a really cool eye-opening experience knowing these people at the camp like the exact same thing I like and to have life-long friends from that is really great.”

Bettger says that from a young age, she grew a real passion for space from her father, who works as a software engineer.

“For my whole life, space has been my interest. Seeing my dad, who works for Boeing, do what he does is where I get my inspiration,” Bettger said.

When Bettger told her father, David Bettger, that she wanted to be an astronaut, he was skeptical, knowing how perilous the industry can be.

“When she told me she wanted to be an astronaut, I was a little worried. It’s a dangerous profession but I knew that she was fully aware of the dangers,” Bettger said. “Any parent would be worried about their child’s safety in any dangerous profession, but I know she is working towards something greater than all of us, so I think that eliminates some of her fears.”

Rockets, aerodynamics and propulsion, which is the action of pushing forward, have been some of the attracting features of aerospace engineering. More importantly, Bettger appreciates the diversity and teamwork with others.

“What intrigues me is how people from all over the world, all over the United States, work together for this one goal. The science behind

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it is amazing,” Bettger said. “They’re trying to push that boundary to see how far can we really go as a human race, which I think is really cool.”

David Bettger never had the intention of Bettger to follow in his footsteps but is satisfied with the outcome.

“It wasn’t much about her following in my footsteps but finding something she enjoys,” David Bettger said. “For me, it doesn’t matter really matter what she does, as long as she’s happy, but I can’t say it doesn’t make me a little happy that she’s following in my footsteps.”

Bettger also really appreciates the space industry as a whole, from the collaboration with others and the people involved, to the technicalities in design for creating certain vessels.

“Everyone in the space industry is just so amazing,” Bettger said. “You can learn so much from watching their interviews, reading their books. There’s just so much to learn.”

Aerospace has impacted her motivation in education.

“I definitely think that I take school more seriously than I would’ve before, and I’m more driven because I know that what I’m doing now is going to impact what I’m doing later,” Bettger said. “If I don’t take some of these classes now, it could potentially hurt me in the long run, so it forces me to definitely look at the bigger picture.”

Bettger also has a plan for her future if she cannot accomplish her primary goal of becoming an astronaut.

“If I can’t be an astronaut, I want to work with them and help the space program,” Bettinger said. “I want to do what I can to contribute to the end goal, like going to Mars, for example.”

David is glad that Bettger is pushing to be an astronaut and is proud of her. He has faith that Bettger will achieve her goal of becoming an astronaut, but he and Bettger are open to other options.

“I am extremely proud of her and how she has taken her dreams and is making them a reality,” Bettger said. “She took her dream and turned it into a goal, and I could never be more proud of her.”

Bettger is always fascinated by the way that the space industry finds a way to accomplish tasks that were once unfathomable and hopes that she could be one of the people to make a great change.

“These bright minds came together and they worked out all the math, did a ton of tests,and they kind of ‘launched’ the program,” Bettger said. “It’s really cool to see everyone achieve the impossible by working together.”

Reaching for the stars. Senior Jamie Bettger poses in her flight suit. “Being an astronaut is kind of an extreme thing because you are essentially strapping yourself to a bomb and going up into an inhabitable zone,” Bettger said. PHOTO AND ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM YORKE

April 7, 2017

The first responders

Life saver. Senior Jake Bolt poses in his EMT training uniform. PHOTO BY JARRAH MAY AND ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM YORKE

Noah Rosenthal and Jake Bolt train to be EMTs

by Analise Asaro

35 to 50 hours of their lives are dedicated per week to saving lives and helping others in our community. Seniors Noah Rosenthal and Jake Bolt are training as EMTs, or Emergency Medical Technicians.

EMTs are trained to respond quickly to emergency situations involving medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident scenes.

They are responsible for basic life support for bodies in critical condition until they reach the hospital.

As EMTs in training, the seniors go on ride-alongs, assist their preceptors with activities and attend an EMT class four days a week.

During these ride-alongs, Bolt and Rosenthal are paired up with a fully trained adult who they help with any activities that are needed. Mainly, they take vitals and ensure

EMT median pay

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the patient’s blood pressure doesn’t stagnate or go too high or too low. If something goes awry, the trainees alert the paramedics.

“I really enjoy running through the scenario in my head of what I would do if I was in charge, then I can watch a fully trained EMT do it and test myself against what they do,” Rosenthal said.

Bolt has learned how to use his training to provide the best care for your patient.

“I just treat my patients with what I can and what I’ve been trained, like CPR, oxygen, bandaging etc. in order to best help them,” Bolt said.

To pass their class, they must have 10 patient contacts and at least 36 hours on ridealongs. In order to do this, they volunteer with McCormick, an ambulance company that takes the 9-1-1 calls for the Torrance area,

and Liberty, which transports patients from one medical to facility to another.

“With McCormick, I play a much more passive role where I mostly observe the paramedics and EMTs work,” Rosenthal said.

“But when I work at Liberty, I’ll help with takings vitals, carrying the patients and doing the assessment.”

The seniors are taking the 17-week EMT course at Southern California Regional Occupation Center, where they learn and practice skills such as CPR, airway management, basic trauma care and treating injuries like broken bones, cuts and burns.

“I feel useful and good knowing that if something happened, I would be able to help,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal works for about 5 hours a day and about 12-16 hours on the weekend.

“I’ve definitely had to make some sacrifices with my normal high school classes to make sure I’m at my best for EMT. This and high school don’t leave much room for free time,” Bolt said.

According to Rosenthal, EMT is the hardest class he has ever taken in his life.

“We have to do a good portion of the learning outside of class by reading the textbook and doing the workbook,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal applied because of his love for helping others.

“I’ve just always enjoyed helping people, so I looked to medicine as my way to do that,” Rosenthal said. “I’ve always wanted to do hands-on medicine for my career choice, and I thought that this class would be perfect.”

Bolt wanted to get into EMT because of his ability to perform well under stress and to see if medicine is something that he was interested in pursuing.

“I’ve had an interest in medicine for a long time, and my aunt, an ER doctor, said that this would be a good way to figure out if it was something I really wanted to do,” Bolt said. “I like doing something on my feet, and I don’t think that I could be trapped behind a desk all day. EMT seemed like a pretty good compromise to get my feet wet in that field without going to med school.”

Weekly, they are in an ambulance with people whose lives are endangered.

“To know that you are doing something that is truly helping someone in their hour of need is quite the feeling,” Bolt said. “I’m constantly asking myself what I could be doing better in the moment or what I could be doing to prepare for whatever comes next.”

So far, Bolt has enjoyed his experience in the EMT class and volunteering with McCormick and Liberty.

“I haven’t been on too many crazy calls yet. Mainly psychiatric is what I’ve done,” Bolt said. “I’ll have to do more of the trauma side of it and 9-1-1 calls to really make up my mind about it, but right now I’m leaning toward yes [about pursuing medicine].”

Rosenthal feels “fulfilled” and Bolt feels “good” helping people using their skills out in the field. Both plan on working part-time as EMTs in college and hope to have a career as a physician’s assistant.

“I recommend people try EMT if they have an interest in medicine because it’s a good way to test the waters,” Bolt said. “It makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile with my time.”

Hours of training required per position:

$31,980 120 400-500 2,500 Entry level EMT

Intermediate level EMT

Paramedic

EMT stands for Emergency Medical Technician

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1.

Toughin’ up Students participated in Tough Mudder competition

by Brittany Baker

Facing more than 20 obstacles across a span of over 10 miles, juniors Nathan Ladabouche and Melia McKinley encouraged each other to compete in a Tough Mudder.

Every quarter mile had obstacles, such as running through active electrical wires, pushing through chest deep water with only a small amount of room for air, climbing over rotating barriers with the help of other competitors and plunging through small tubes into ice water to duck under barriers in order to get to the other side.

“There were obstacles where you had to literally just dive into a pit of mud and climb over a wall, where you had to sprint up a ramp and had to have other people in the race pull you up the ramp. There were ones where you had to make a human ladder to get up a wall, one where you had to climb up a wall to get on top of it and then climb down,” Ladabouche said.

Of the many obstacles they had to face along the course, Ladabouche’s favorite was the “Arctic Emema.” Since McKinley decided to skip the obstacle, she enjoyed watching Ladabouche complete it on his own.

“Nathan did the Arctic Enema where you slide into a pool with a cage over it so you couldn’t get out and was full of ice cold water, to go with the temperature outside already being 50 degrees. You had to swim under the cage and a wall, then proceed to run the second half of the race,” McKinley said.

The length of the Tough Mudder was longer than McKinley and Ladabouche had anticipated.

“It was horrible. There was a course that was five miles and a course that was ten. I didn’t realize that we were doing the longer one, and I haven’t worked

out for almost a year. I definitely wasn’t prepared for it at all,” McKinley said.

Since Ladabouche is currently on the track team while McKinley was on it her freshman and sophomore years, they were familiar with the intensity of exercises.

“We bonded during the Tough Mudder by suffering through it together since distance isn’t really our thing and we prefer short distance,” Ladabouche said.

Although the two were unprepared for the length of the race, Ladabouche feels as though the course was “completely doable.”

“Anyone can do it because everyone there helps you no matter what by assisting you with any course. Little kids even do it,” Ladabouche said. “But I do feel like I was better prepared from running track.”

McKinley believes Tough Mudder attracts people who are competitive. Although some return year after year to improve their times, there are people who solely participate to have fun.

“Some people do it for their time, but then other people are like ‘We’ll just walk it because it is for the experience,’” McKinley said.

According to McKinley, the people participating in the Tough Mudder were all very welcoming and encouraging towards others.

“The obstacles were really fun to watch. Because even if people were struggling to get over an obstacle, everyone there would try to help them and cheer them on,” McKinley said.

McKinley appreciated the accepting environment for those who wanted to skip a particular course. Despite Ladabouche and McKinley skipping some obstacles, they enjoyed watching the others take on the challenge.

“The course took us about four hours since we walked most of it, and you could skip as many obstacles as you wanted. I skipped more than Nathan, like the “Arctic Enema,” but he only skipped some of the water based ones since it was so cold.

They also had mats outside of the course for people who just wanted to watch everyone else do it,” McKinley said.

Overall, Ladabouche and McKinley both experienced the Tough Mudder alongside McKinley’s family and family friends, who ran the entire course in a much shorter length of time.

“Everyone there was super cool. They were always asking everyone if they needed help getting over an obstacle. Since I am so small, they practically threw me over,” McKinley said.

According to Ladabouche, although he believed the course was ‘doable’ and was prepared athletically, he was relieved once the race came to an end.

“It felt really good when I reached the finish, and they gave me a bag of pretzels. I’ve never been happier to see pretzels in my life,” Ladabouche said.

Ladabouche would recommend others to participate in this event due to the complexity of the obstacles as well as the quality experience.

“I loved the experience and felt great after the race,” Ladabouche said. It’s a fun event to be able to say you’ve done.”

2.

Fight on.

1. Juniors Nathan Ladabouche and Melia McKinley pose for a picture with other Tough Mudder competitors. She participated in the race soley for fun. However, she stands with her family and family friends who were “serious” and completed the whole race. 2. Although she was tired, McKinley attempts to climb over one of the obstacles at the Tough Mudder competition. “After the race, I was really tired. But during the race, I felt like I was in the army. I skipped a few obstacles since I was just too exhausted. It was too windy to be going into the water obstacles. I wanted to give up about a quarter of the way through. It didn’t help that I’m so out of shape,” McKinley said. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOUGH MUDDER

April 7, 2017

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Rowing to the top

Kupau wins first at Catalina Crossing U.S. Outrigger Championships

by Daniel Parhizi Nine years ago sophomore Kaaia Kupau’s father introduced him to a water sport called outrigging. Nine years later, after much teamwork and dedication, Kupau’s Junior outrigger team won the Catalina Crossing U.S. Outrigger Championships and claimed the title of fastest team in the country.

“The amount of time and dedication we put in towards the season really helped us get there,” Kupau said. “We are practicing five days a week every week, and we put a lot of time and effort into the water.”

Kupau and his teammates train everyday and push their bodies and skills to the limit.

move fast,” Kupau said.

According to Kupau, his team is simply a regular group of friends that work very well together in practice and competitions. During races, they are extremely serious and determined to keep their title.

ter a few miles, your arms began to burn a lot, but you just gotta learn to ignore it and keep paddling.”

Kupau and his team also focus a lot on preparation.

“For competitions, we usually get there early in order to get the boats off the trailers, rig

There are many types of races Kupau and his team have been preparing for. Specifically, he looks forward to the race from Long Beach to Catalina Island.

“My favorite competition of all time is Catalina, which is the most fun. I’m looking forward to the ironman races, which are the ones that you don’t stop and just go for about a few hours. [They] are usually between twelve to seventeen miles,” Kupau said.

According to Kupau, his team try their best to keep the title of the fastest junior team. He helps the team in any way he can and trains the newcomer, so they can com-

Start location: Avalon, Catalina

Time: 4:14.39

End location: Newport Harbor

Distance: 30 miles

He believes that practicing during daily helps them improve in competitions.

“We have known each other for so long, so we know how everybody paddles,” Kupau said. “We blend together very well and with our coach he used to be one of the top five in the world so he teaches us a lot and we do really crazy things like 50 mile paddles.”

When practicing during the week, Kupau’s coach emphasizes teamwork. They participate in team building exercises and drills, such as paddling in the harbor, so they can become synchronized during competitions.

“Teamwork is very important to success.

If you can’t work well with one of the paddlers on the boat, then the boat tends to not

the

“In competitions, we are prepared to feel a lot of pain because sometimes we go for hours without stopping. We really got to get ourselves ready and trained properly,” Kupau said. “Af-

boats up, and [become ] ready before the race starts,” Kupau said. “Especially for the Catalina Crossing U.S. Outrigger Championships, we showed up early in order to warm up for the thirty mile race.”

Competition ready. Sophomore Kaaia Kupau trains with his outrigger team in order to prepare for the Catalina Crossing U.S. Outrigger Championships. PHOTO COURTESY OF KAAIA KUPAU

pete at their skill level one day.

According to Kupau’s coach, Danny Ching, the dedication he sees from his team leads to their success.

“My team has really been pushing themselves to the limit this season. I am really proud of each and everyone of them for getting this title,” Ching said.

Although he enjoys outrigger, Kupau started experimenting with rowing.

“For paddling, I will definitely be doing it in the future [because] it’s a fun sport, but you can’t really go anywhere. Colleges don’t recognize it as a common sport,” Kupau said.

“However, with rowing, I definitely see myself going to college for rowing.”

RUHS wrestlers bond while training with Redondo Beach’s SWAT team

by Kayla Hiken Growing up, many kids dream of becoming a police officer. What many of these kids do not get to experience is the training and hard work that is put in to being a police officer. The RUHS wrestling team trained with Redondo Beach’s SWAT team last March.

“It opened a new perspective on police training and decisions police officers have to make, but it was definitely more of a team bonding activity. It instead made us a better team,” junior Nick Webb said.

Webb first suggested the idea of training with the SWAT team out of pure interest and believed it would be a “good” activity for the wrestling team to bond over.

After talking to the RBPD police chief, the wrestling team prepared themselves for a day dedicated to training with the SWAT team. They did physical training for about 10 minutes before going into their designated locations for special hands-on experiences.

“One of the activities we got to participate in was a simulator where we were put into real-life situations. For me, I was a police officer with a partner. We were put into a setting where we had to follow a criminal on foot.

The criminal ended up pulling a gun on my partner, so I had to shoot the criminal before my partner got shot,” Webb said.

Webb believes the real-life stimulation helped him understand the thoughts and actions a police officer has to make. He had to take quick action to prevent anything “bad” from happening while remaining calm throughout the process.

For freshman Jacob Nash, the real-life situation activity was one of his favorite parts of the entire experience.

“I enjoyed the part with the gun simulations. I was able to see what police officers go through everyday and the hard choices they have to make,” Nash said. “Trying to figure

out what to do in those tough situations was probably the most challenging part.”

Another activity the team got to partake in was breaking and entering into a locked house.

“This was fun to do because we got to watch what the SWAT team does when they are put into this situation, and then we got to recreate it,” sophomore Tristan Kirkpatrick said. “The hardest part, however, was probably being patient with things; learning the steps they do and then trying not to rush through things like you see on TV.” For Webb, one of the most memorable moments was getting to see what being a part of the SWAT team was like.

“We got to ride around in a SWAT van and watch what they do everyday. For one of the activities, search and seizure, they used a canine. We got to see the canine in action and the SWAT team showed us what they

would do in a situation like that,” Webb said.

After training and being able to see what the jobs of police officers is like, many of them gained more appreciation for the job.

“I respect every police officer, as well as anyone who dedicates their time towards public safety. This training was an eyeopener by showing me just how dangerous it can be,” Webb said. “A police officer has to take so much into account in every situation and must think on their feet. This training showed me how much weight is on a police officer’s shoulders and helped me appreciate what public service members do even more.”

Webb believes this experience helped the team become closer with one another.

“I think it helped our team become more unified. It was a fun event that we are now all able to share,” Webb said. “I really hope we can do this again next year, hopefully making it a tradition for the wrestling team.”

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Applying the real Karin De Collibus worked at Vector Control and uses her experien

by Martha Farah She worked to take calls from people reporting dead bird sighting and to test them for diseases while dealing with the public.

The skills Karin De Collibus developed from her job at Vector Control transfer over to her current job as a physiology and biomed teacher.

Vector Control is a public agency in charge of doing surveillance for diseases that could be transmitted to humans from animals.

“The Zika virus is spread by mosquitos, so our job is to go out and reduce them as much as we can and to treat places that have active mosquitos,” De Collibus said. “In addition to controlling the mosquito population, [we] also test mosquitos if they get diseases.”

Her previous experience working at Vector Control assists De Collibus in helping her students understand the classroom material.

“I can share my past experiences with students because it’s real life experiences,” De Collibus said. “I think this helps my students understand things better in the classroom. I can make the subjects in class very relevant to daily life this way.

De Collibus can apply the knowledge gained from working at Vector Control when she teaches Biomedical Innovations, Human Body Systems and Physiology.

“It’s nice to have a reference to tests and techniques I’ve done in the past,” De Collibus said.

Because of her applied science background, De Collibus believes that her experience at Vector Control has helped her to become “a better teacher.”

“I can try to make everything relevant to the students, like ‘Why are we learning this?’

‘It’s because this is information that could be used for testing,’” De Collibus said.

During graduate school, De Collibus volunteered to teach ornithology and field ecology to AP Environmental Science students, which led her to becoming a teacher.

“I was completely hooked on teaching after the first lesson,” De Collibus said. “I knew I loved science, but didn’t know I wanted to

be a teacher right away.”

Having access to the laboratory and facilities that are not usually given to high school students, De Collibus took her students to Vector Control.

“In addition to the tour, my students had a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and talk with a fascinating virologist who developed some of the techniques for testing specimens for West Nile virus,” De Collibus said.

De Collibus was interested in working at Vector Control because of her passion for birds. She worked there for six years before becoming a teacher.

“It interested me because I was passionate about ornithology, the study of birds, but also fascinated with epidemiology and disease outbreaks. I was just so eager to actually get paid to do science,” De Collibus said.

When working at Vector Control, De Collibus worked with mosquito trapping and identification. Also, she was in charge of necropsies, so she would assist a veterinar-

ian.

“A necropsy is an autopsy on an animal, so people would call in and say, ‘I found a dead bird,’ and we’d go out and pick it up,” De Collibus said. “I would do the necropsy of the bird, pull out organs, and then we would send them off for testing.”

De Collibus necropsied different types of birds during her time working at Vector Control.

De Collibus enjoyed working there since it was “different” every single day.

“It was never the same thing, so it was exciting,” De Collibus. “It was really cool to be part of that, especially as an undergraduate.

There was always something new to learn, whether it be a new laboratory technique or a new species of bird to necropsy.”

Because of her work at Vector Control, De Collibus learned how to “analyze and display data for scientific talks.”

“It solidified my love of science and learning,” De Collibus. “I absolutely love sharing my experiences there with my students.”

Bugs, birds and butterflies. Karin De Collibus performing a necropsy of a dead American Crow to

test it for West Nile virus in 2004. De Collibus transfers her skills from her previous job to her current job as a physiology and biomed teacher. “I used to take blood from birds. When you take blood, you use a certain type of syringe, and I would show [show students] pictures, which enhances the presentations I do,” De Collibus said.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KARIN DE COLLIBUS

April 7, 2017

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world nce in her teaching

A teacher for teachers—English teacher Benone worked as an Academic Officer for McDougal Littell, producing school curricula and instructing other teachers on how to supervise their class.

“We should be in each other’s classrooms and see what we are doing because that’s how we know how to do a better job. But yet we never do that,” Benone said. “As a teacher you’re really isolated in your classroom with your students, and you don’t spend time in other schools, and you don’t see other teachers hanging out in your classroom.”

Benone believes that her experience as an Academic Officer provided her with the confidence and skills for her teaching career.

“I think by doing all of the academic work and research that I did and becoming as expert in curriculum gave me a confidence to make choices in the things I have my students do. I know that they are sound. They are good curricular choices,” Benone said.

As an Academic Officer Benone was able to learn from other teachers.

“It was amazing because I got to go into classrooms, spend entire days in other people’s classrooms, observe other teachers and see what they do that’s great and see what they do that’s not so great and I learned from that,” Benone said.

Benone collaborated with other teachers

to find a proper collection of questions, plays and excerpts to place in their textbooks, such as the RUHS 10th grade literature book.

Benone’s career as an Academic Officer required her to travel across the country and present her teaching strategies.

“I facilitate professional development for educators, which means I teach teachers and superintendents and principals stuff about education like reading and writing practices,” Benone said.

As an Academic Officer, Benone enjoyed meeting with teachers who shared similar interests.

“The best part about [being an Academic Officer] was getting to meet teachers all around the country. People think teachers are nerds and like who wants to hang out with teachers? Teachers are so fun, smart and cool and have a really hard job that they are passionate about. It was great to meet all these people,” Benone said.

Benone began teaching at North High, where she taught for 15 years. After exploring a career as an Academic Officer, Benone returned to teaching, but this time at RUHS.

“I came back because I just really missed [teaching]. Honestly, I really missed [students]; I missed teenagers. [Teenager] drive me crazy but [they’re] so funny, and it’s such a fun job,” Benone said.

According to Benone, she had a “hard time” giving up her teaching job at North High School.

“To leave all that and to jump into the unknown and not know what it was going to be like was absolutely terrifying, and it’s something I am really proud that I did because it was really hard to do,” Benone said.

Benone attributes her success as a teacher to her “bold” decisions throughout her career.

“I think your life shrinks or expands in proportion to your own courage; the more courageous and brave you are to take chances, the bigger and better your life becomes,” Benone said.

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Teacher for teachers. Jordana Benone’s picture is featured in the sophomore English textbook as a Calif. Teacher Advisor. “I just think it’s funny; I hated high school when I was in it. I cut class all the time; I was a bad student.

I loved school once I got into college, but it’s really funny for someone who hated high school so much [to be] passionate about education now,” Benone said. PHOTO BY EDEN MILLAN

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High Tide

Never letting go Baker and O’Connor dress up as Disney princesses for kids parties

by Grace McGonigle

2.

Do you want to build a snowman? 1. “It’s not about the money for us. We’re high school students who want to spread happiness and joy for these kids through their role models,” O’Connor said. 2. “She’s one of my best friends, it’s such a joy to be around her. She’s really happy and smiles a lot. I think we really bring out the 2. best in each other,” Baker said.

1.

F

reshmen Brianna Baker and Ashley O’Connor aren’t like the princesses you’re used to. Instead of befriending woodland creatures and getting rescued by princes, they provide children with a magical experience and make their dreams come true.

Baker and O’Connor have their own business, Sparkling Princess Parties, where they dress up as princesses to entertain kids at their parties.

“We go to parties and perform as princesses. We do interactive story times and games, and we teach dances and songs from the movie that the princess is from. We also do a meet and greet, take photos, and do a princess crowning where we crown the kids as different princesses,” Baker said.

O’Connor decided to started her own business to provide parents with lower price options for princesses.

“I decided to start my own princess business because the prices of the other companies that do this are crazy expensive.

I know some people can’t afford that and I still want to give them this experience,” O’Connor said.

They would like to hire more girls to work with them, but want to become more experienced first.

“We have been thinking about hiring other people. Right now it’s just us because we want to become a little more stable before we take on other people. We have a very basic structure right now, so we’re hoping to work a lot more parties and become a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing. We also want to make the right choice, we don’t want to rush into anything just because we want another person,” Baker said Currently, they dress up as Anna and Elsa from Frozen, but they would like to dress up as other princesses.

“We’ve been thinking of adding Rapunzel or Cinderella. We still have to consider what we look like and how everyone acts. When people are interested in working for us, we have to think about what they look like and how they act to see which princess they are the best fit for,” Baker said.

O’Connor wants to do this for kids because she wants to spread joy.

“I want to make kids’ dreams come true.

These characters are their role models and the fact that we get to spread happiness and talk to them as their favorite characters is amazing,” O’Connor said.

The business started in October of 2016, after Baker and O’Connor went on a trip to Disneyland together.

“It was Ashley’s idea in the beginning.

We had gone to Disneyland and seen all these princesses, and dressing up was just something we were joking about and a little interested in. Then in October, Ashley came told me that this was something we could actually do,” Baker said.

Baker decided to go along with O’Connor’s idea because it gave her a chance to make kids happy.

“It’s about smiles, joy and happiness; that’s the reason we started. Getting to see that in the kids and knowing I caused that makes me so happy. It’s amazing to see it spread and gives us an amazing feeling,” Baker said.

O’Connor wants to work for Disney when she is older and thinks this is a great way to get into that.

“I want to work for Disney when I’m older, so this is a way to start getting used to that. I will continue it as long as possible and as long as we’re interested and other people are into it. It’s a job where I have fun and if you’re not into your job then why are you doing it?” O’Connor said.

Baker thinks that this business provides great insight into owning a business.

“Getting to start a business has been a really valuable experience, there’s so much I didn’t know that went into it. We have had the chance to have a practically unlimited budget, but not all business do, so we’ve been trying to keep everything lower end to see what it would be like to have a budget where you have to squeeze and to see what we could get out of it,” Baker said.

Baker and O’Connor would like to start working with the charity Pediatric Therapy Network, a company that helps special needs children.

“I know they do a lot of activities, but nothing like this. What we do is a lot more interactive and the kids don’t have to think, they can just enjoy the experience, ask questions and take pictures. Being there with the kids, helping them and seeing a smile on their face would be incredible,” Baker said.

In spite of all the work that goes into owning a business and the money they can potentially get out of it, O’Connor and Baker always keep in mind that it’s really about making people happy.

“There are so many things going on in the world that are negative right now, so it’s nice to be spreading joy and happiness,” Baker said. “Seeing smiles on people’s faces is just all I’ve ever wanted and I think this is a great way to make people smile.”

April 7, 2017

features

Going the distance

Every morning starts off with a trip to Hermosa in an old Volkswagen bus that that has come to contain hundreds of memories. Assistant surf coach, Frank Paine, designed the interior of his classic car and sees the bus as a representation of himself.

“It’s a pretty good metaphorical representation. We’re both slow and old. We both like to take the roads closest to the beach.

We like to surf and carry our favorite things around, including our friends and family,” Paine said.

According to Paine, his Volkswagen bus brings “good vibes” wherever he travels.

“It’s an accessible kind of vehicle that inspires comments and friendly exchanges,” Paine said. “When you’re driving down the road, all the other buses give each other the peace sign or shaka if they’re surfers.”

After acquiring his bus, Paine now views traveling as more than just getting from one destination to the other and started to enjoy traveling more.

“This is the kind of vehicle where you have to take your time. No matter what, you’re not going to be the first one to the intersection or the next stop light,” Paine said. “I love it when somebody in a Lamborghini flies around me and I end up next to them at the next light. That’s the poetic justice of L.A. traffic.”

Paine heard about the bus being up for sale five years ago when he was in the process of selling his old car. What convinced him to make the purchase was the excitement of his wife, Annie Paine.

“It can carry anything. It carries our bikes, surfboards, paddle-boards, grand-kids and whatever we need,” Annie said. “Frank never gets road-rage when he’s driving the bus, and even though we’re slow, no one ever honks.”

His first trip with the bus was his favorite. He was on his way to San Elijo State Park for a surf trip when the bus stopped shifting. When he got out to check what was wrong, a local who was in a Volkswagen bug stopped to help.

“It turned out his dad owned a VW repair shop and he was a mechanic. I got a bolt and a tiewrap and in 20 minutes I was back on the road. We slept in the bus and it was really comfortable and, to top it off, the surf was good so it was just really a perfect surf trip.”

Since owning the bus, Paine has made some adjustments to the interior to better fit his surfing lifestyle.

“My favorite part of the bus [is] the inside racks for my boards. I have racks on the outside that I typically use if I’m on a trip to free up room on the inside, but daily I just roll the boards in by the skateboard wheels I installed,” Paine said.

While the convenient surf racks rest outside of the bus, the couch, portable hose shower and a small closet, with extra coats and jackets, are located inside.

Because Paine is used to handiwork and small projects, fixing the interior was a breeze.

It was the decorating and designing that was more of a struggle.

“My niece did the Hawaiian print seat covers,” Paine said. “I put in grass mats and bamboo reeds on the walls. The interior top is woven bamboo; there’s Fijian tapa cloth on the accessory panels, and I built a bamboo table in one corner with a hula skirt around it to keep trunks and hats and stuff.”

Students on the surf team have come to recognize the bus and are often interested in the stories Paine has told them involving the bus.

“I’m always amazed at how much the kids like the old bus. I thought maybe they’d think it was cute, but stupid and not practical. Oddly, enough they seem to gravitate to the same things that made me love it,” Paine said.

“And for surfing it’s really as practical as anything else.”

Assistant Surf coach Frank Paine designs the interior of his Volkswagen bus

by Kelly Harraka

Lost Boys. “It’s an acces-

sible kind of vehicle that inspires comment and friendly exchanges,” Paine said. PHOTO

BY KELLY HARRAKA

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High Tide

features

OGA

Hastings works at SoHo Yoga

by Shyanne Landers Every busy teenager needs an outlet for relaxation, and sophomore Hannah Hastings found her outlet through working at SoHo Yoga in order to get unlimited yoga and soul-cycle sessions in return.

“My position is called Energy Exchange and I work six hours a week with a three hour shifts. What I do specifically is help out around the studio and make sure everything is in place. I fold and roll towels and make sure all of the boxes we have are straight and refill water jugs,” Hastings said.

Hastings fits in work on Sunday mornings and Monday nights, and goes to do yoga five times a week. She does many yoga positions to both relax her body and strengthen her muscles.

“I wanted a job at SoHo because I wanted to get work experience, plus the free yoga classes and soul-cycle. I just love how nice everyone is, the friendly vibe and how laidback it is,” Hastings said.

In addition to working in exchange for yoga, Hastings has also gotten used to a work environment.

“Working there has really taught me how to deal with customers and get people skills. They teach you that you’re not only working for yourself, but also for everyone working and doing yoga. [The job] has even boosted my confidence a bit too, I feel better about myself and my physical strength,” Hastings said.

Find your balance.

Sophomore Hannah Hastings does hot yoga in a 100 degree room. She started attending classes two months ago. PHOTO BY MATT DAVIDSON

She has suffered from multiple head injuries, including a concussion from soccer in November of last year.

“After that happened, my parents and my doctor didn’t want me doing any contact sports because of the threat it posed towards me. I didn’t think I would have been able to play soccer again,” Hastings said. “But I found my willpower and strength to pursue sports again by doing yoga and I was able to ease back into soccer.”

A critical recovery had paved the way for Hastings to begin her journey with yoga.

“I needed some sort of physical activity to do to get over my concussion since I was out of sports at the time, and my mom had just gotten into yoga,” Hastings said.

Hastings continued attending soul-cycle and yoga classes to build her endurance again.

“When I’m doing planks or holding a position, the workers encourage us to not give in and rest while we are working out and tell us to keep holding it. It made me realize how strong I really am,” Hastings said.

Being paid in yoga classes led her to attending for a year, which helped her full recovery.

“I love the challenge that it poses and just the way you feel after it,” Hastings said. “You know you worked out and feel good about it. Once you do something difficult like that, you end up working out both your mind and your body.

Perks of being a yogin

Increases arm strength by

12% after 16 classes

More oxygen to the brain Increased

lung capacity Less chance of

heart disease Peace of mind

ILLUSTRATIONS BY LULU WEGMAN. INFORMATION COMPILED FROM https://www.washington.edu/wholeu/2014/09/02/yoga-month/

April 7, 2017

Life

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features

e n a l

s a t f h t e n i Stretching and rythmic breathing in swimming

release endorphins 30 minutes swimming

=

40%

reduced risk of coronary heart disease

HDL

Good cholesterol

Strengthens

LDL

Bad cholesterol

Lowers risk of

your lungs and helps improve symptoms of asthma

diabetes

ILLUSTRATIONS BY LULU WEGMAN. INFORMATION COMPILED FROM http://www.beseengetscreened. com/blog/infographic-health-benefits-of-swimming

Coach Brancato competed in national swim competitions

by Martha Farah Swim coach Julie Brancato trained for five hours a day to stretch, run, lift and most importantly: swim. Through all her work, she succeeded in achieving her goal in 1986 when she competed in Nationals for swimming at the age of 16.

Every year, Brancato attended CIF, where she won eight titles. Her success in both high school and college pushed Brancato to become a swim coach.

“I think the motivation just came from [swimming] being my favorite thing to do and my favorite sport. Competing at the high school level is awesome because my accomplishment was that I never lost a race in high school,” Brancato said. “I was about 14 years old when my dad told me that I was unbeatable, and I believed it.”

She competed in many different parts of the country, but the Nationals occurred in Southern California.

“It was cool to be good at your sport and be able to compete against other swimmers from California and other states,” Brancato said. “I enjoyed competing at the highest level and trying to compete against people that you’ve raced against for years, and finally beating them, or hopefully winning.”

Brancato was always aware of her compe-

tition’s characteristics and tendencies.

“When I [used to] compete, I always knew who was next to me. I needed to know what their strengths were, and if they were going to be faster at the beginning of the race or the end, just what their potential was,” Brancato said. “I knew everyone around me. You have to be more aware of who you’re competing against, even if it’s your own teammate.”

Brancato lived by a lake during her childhood, sparking her initial interest in swimming at the age of four. From then on, watching the Olympics and the benefits that came from swimming inspired her to keep going.

“I was motivated by the Olympics, not by a particular person [in it], but by watching people in the Olympics and seeing how much success they had, and just wanting to try it myself,” Brancato said. “[Swimming] is such a good sport for cardiovascular, strength and just staying in shape.”

Brancato enjoys swimming because of her ability to get better.

“I enjoy it because you’re outside, and you can do it year-round in California. It’s fun, and even in my last year that I was swimming, I was able to improve,” Brancato said.

“To go that many years, day after day, and still be able to improve is pretty cool.”

According to Brancato, swimming differs from other sports because of the way a person competes.

“I think swimming is different from other sports because it’s an individual sport. You are racing against the clock, but you are on a team, so it kind of makes it nice. I think some people, like myself, are cut out to just make their own decisions in a sport,” Brancato said.

Swimming is based on a time standard, so a person’s background does not matter as much as if a person can beat a certain time.

“If you want to go for it, you can. You don’t have to live in a certain place, be from a certain background or have swam one year or 20 years,” Brancato said. “If you can make it, that’s pretty cool, and just knowing that you’re in that top group of swimmers is pretty exciting.”

At times, it would become a challenge for Brancato to keep herself motivated and committed to swimming.

“The biggest challenge is keeping yourself motivated through the hard times and being able to commit to getting up early. I got up everyday at 4:00 in the morning,” Brancato said. “Back then, attendance was really important. Now, I feel like kids say, ‘I

don’t have to go,’ or ‘I don’t have to do that.’”

Brancato was 22 years old when she stopped swimming because she finished her four years of eligibility in college. Right after, she coached swimming in Crescenta Valley, where she was the Varsity girls head coach.

“I decided to coach because of my love of the sport. I want to teach others all about it and help all the athletes meet their full potential,” Brancato said.

For anyone wanting to give up swim, Brancato believes that a person should “think it through” first.

“For me, that’s hard to hear because I never really gave up on anything, whether it was school or athletics. I think that anyone who wants to give up should really think about what the outcome is if you do,” Brancato said.

Brancato wishes to impact and help students so they can become more confident in the future.

“Given the opportunity to be here with the high school kids, I hope I can influence them in some way to make it a better place for them here, where they see how something like this can take you in life,” Brancato said.

“I hope that they walk out of here learning something about themselves, making a friend or learning to overcome something.”

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features

Put your records on

Fontana collects vintage records

by Amanda Ban

S p i n me right ‘round. Ju-

nior Cross Fontana holds two of his favorite records, including The Beatles and Led Zepplin,

both vintage. PHOTOS BY DANIEL SESTEK AND MATTHEW YONEMURA

For junior Cross Fontana, collecting records has become a way for him to characterize significant time periods in his life.

“When I listen to my records I can remember when I bought it, and it reminds me of what was going on in my life at that time,” Fontana said.

Fontana inherited a large part of his collection, including vintage Led Zeppelin, Wild Cherry and Rolling Stones albums,

from his father.

“When I was 10 years old, my dad gave me his vinyl collection that his mother gave to him when he was my age,” Fontana said.“I didn’t have a turntable at the time, but I thought it would be really cool to be able to listen to these records and it inspired me to get a turntable and start collecting records. I started going to flea markets, looking online and picking up any old records I could find.”

Collecting records has given Fontana a way to connect with his friends and family.

“I’ve made a lot of friends through vinyl.

I meet people at record stores, music clubs, school and online,” Fontana said. “The relationships I’ve made with people through vinyl have been some of the most rewarding friendships I’ve had in my life.”

He became close to one of his best friends, junior Shane Murray, because of their shared

taste in music and love of records. “[Cross] and I first started talking in the seventh grade when I posted a picture of my record player; he commented that his was better than mine and we started talking about record players and music from there,” Murray said. “Now every year for each others’ birthday we give each other a record and listen to it together.”

Fontana’s collection is made up of mostly vintage records. He now has 255 vinyls.

“I think [vintage records] sound better.

The way that the needle runs through the grooves sounds so crisp,” Fontana said. “All of my Beatles records [are my favorites]. I haven’t finished the collection, but I’ve been collecting Beatles records for a long time.

They are all vintage; none of them are remakes. I try to get original ones; they are all from 1967 to 1969.”

Fontana “loves” searching for albums and often spends days in LA searching for “the best” albums he can find.

“I’ll go anywhere that sells good music. I go to the Record Recycler a lot and I used to go to flea markets in Downtown LA; it’s really fun to hang out down there all day and pick up whatever you could find,” Fontana said.

He feels that the sound quality and experience that vinyl offers is “an experience unlike any other.”

“Vinyl has always offered a more intimate experience. There’s something wonderfully interactive about putting on a record, listening to a side, and then flipping it over to hear the other side,” Fontana said. “ It makes the listening experience something in which you are physically and emotionally involved; It’s social and fun. Vinyl can be fragile, yes, among other imperfections, but those end up being part of its charm.”

Watch out: El-Khatib collects rare watches

by Marie Ona

It’s about time to talk about senior Sanad El-Khatib’s watch collection.

El-Khatib views his watches as art and takes pride in his collection. He enjoys the appearance of watches and being able to wear them “It’s like a masterpiece because if you think about it, people actually spend a lot of time and effort assembling every single part of the watch and at the end of the day it’s just a beautiful art piece that you can put on your hand,” El-Khatib said. “I feel satisfied when I have a decent collection that people enjoy looking at. I also feel happy when I wear the watches.”

As a child, El-Khatib enjoyed engineering, sparking his interest in the complexity of watches. He also enjoys the many features of a unique watch, such as water resistance or a fluorescent outline that makes the watch glow

in the dark.

“I’m fascinated by the mechanics of the watch itself; how all the gears come together to make something that just ticks and how it actually keeps time,” El-Khatib said. “Mechanical watches, like the automatic movement, are my favorite. I really think they’re amazing because if you look at the back of them, you can actually see through it because it’s a glass cover so you can actually see the movement itself.”

El-Khatib’s collection includes watches made in the United States, Finland and Switzerland, with a number of them being military watches. His “most prized possession” is the military watch made by the Swiss company, the Breitling, because it has “the best chronometer movement in the world.” A chronometer is a timing device with a special mechanism to ensure accuracy despite variation in temperature, humidity and air pressure.

While visiting his uncle in Jordan, ElKhatib took an interest in the facinating

watches his uncle would wear.

“He gave me my first watch, a Luminox, on my birthday; that one is beautiful. From then on, I would buy watches and made a collection out of it,” El-Khatib said. “[My uncle] would always teach me about watches. I was intrigued by the concept of a small object on your wrist that tells time.”

El-Khatib hopes to expand his collection.

He is waiting and saving up his money until he finds watches that catches his eye. He

believes the brand-name of a watch is what gives it it’s worth “If I was buying myself a watch with my own money, I would probably go for an old swiss company brand, but I would want the watch itself would be manufactured recently, and it would be a fairly new watch,” El-Khatib said. “Once you start buying watches that are more expensive ans sought-after, it’s not just for the watch itself, but it’s also for the name, for show.”

In time. El-Khatib currently has six watches in his collection, but plans to expand it in the future. Watches from left to right: Suunto x Lander, Luminox, Traser, Breitling Colt Quatzt, Fossil, Fossil. PHOTO BY SANAD EL-KHATIB

April 7, 2017

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features

Sklarenko puts his passion for history into his coin collection

by Erika Zlatkin The majority of his coins from the vast collection that he has can be traced back to a specific point in history hundreds of years ago. AP European and United States History teacher Nicholas Sklarenko enjoys collecting historical foreign coins as a hobby and passion.

“I’m a history guy, and coins are just a neat, tangible part of history that you can hold. Of course, they do have some monetary value, but that is not why I collect them,” Sklarenko said. “It is more for the historical significance.”

Sklarenko estimates to have around 300 coins as a part of his “core” collection alongside other coins that he claims are not as valuable.

“I continue growing my collection because there is always something out there that I want, so I’ve set out a pattern for my collection,” Sklarenko said. “I try to have an example from each period that fits with a certain monarch, type of government or era, etc.”

He believes collecting coins has done a good job of incorporating history into what he loves doing as a hobby.

“I plan on passing my collection down to my kids if I have any in the future,” Sklarenko said. “I do not plan on ever selling it all because I like them too much. I like to bring them into class and share them with my students since it’s not a business for me, it’s just a hobby.”

One of Sklarenko’s students, sophomore John Forbes, enjoys Sklarenko’s incorporation of his coin collection into the history lectures.

“I think it is really cool how Sklarenko can tie collecting coins into the subjects that he is teaching,” Forbes said. “It brings a different aspect to learning in the classroom that you don’t get in most classes.”

Forbes believes that the coins are more interesting than reading out of a textbook and put an interesting “spin” on how history can be taught tangibly.

“His coins add a sense of realism to the lectures during class,” Forbes said. “It is a reminder that these events actually happened and encourages me to actually pay attention

and care about the lesson.”

Sklarenko enjoys incorporating the coins into his lesson plan, as it brings history “alive.”

“Most people think my collection is pretty nerdy, and I will be honest—it totally is—but that is okay because we all have our things that we enjoy doing,” Sklarenko said.

Sklarenko says he doesn’t care what others might say about his collection, because he likes it and is accepting of his “nerdy” hobby.

“I respect Sklarenko a lot for taking the time and money to build his passion around history using coins,” Forbes said. “Although his collection may be a bit on the nerdy side, it adds so much value to the lesson and others seem to enjoy it too.”

The majority of the coins in Sklarenko’s collection range from $50 to $100 American dollars each when he buys them, and a couple of the ones he owns are worth more than that.

“What makes a coin so valuable is its rarity, material that it’s made of, condition and if it holds any historical context or significance,” Sklarenko said.

Sklarenko collects mainly silver coins including one that dates back to a 1733 Spanish shipwreck after a convoy ship sank. He obtains the majority of his coins from coin shows and online auctions.

“I go to coin shows, mainly to buy coins, that occur often where a lot of individual collectors and coin dealers meet to buy, sell and trade coins,” Sklarenko said.

At these coin shows, Sklarenko negotiates so that he can get the best price possible for his coins.

“Luckily, Long Beach has one of the biggest coin expositions three times a year, so I enjoy going to that one and a few other local ones every couple months,” Sklarenko said.

Currently, Sklarenko looks to obtain coins from the periods of times he does not have.

Although content with his current collection, he hopes to increase it.

“I’m always looking to fill the holes in my collection relative to specific time periods, and that could take forever, but who knows what is out there,” Sklarenko said. “That is

what keeps me going, trying to find the next piece of the puzzle.”

Sklarenko’s background of teaching history has influenced the types of coins he looks for.

“Being a history teacher has definitely propelled my love for collecting coins,” Sklarenko said. “Quite honestly, I don’t know if I would even be collecting coins if I wasn’t teaching because currently, my collection is entirely geared around what I teach, as opposed to just collecting random coins.”

Sklarenko describes collecting coins as an “enriching investment” that can be understood through the appreciation of history and the past.

“It all started with my dad. He’s the one that got me into the hobby, so he has been my greatest source of encouragement to continue collecting,” Sklarenko said. “He passed down his collection of coins to me, and I’ve been expanding on it ever since.”

The collection first started to develop when Sklarenko was eight years old after his father gave him his collection for Sklarenko expand upon.

“I plan on passing my collection down to someone later in my life,” Sklarenko said. “If I had really amazing coins I would love to donate them to a museum, but I don’t think I have any that are too valuable.”

Sklarenko says that currency is a lot different now than it used to be since people didn’t start to use paper money until about hundred years ago. He encourages others to start collecting coins since they can “preserve” history.

“I think if you’re interested in history, it’s a really cool thing to be able to have a tangible part of history in your hand,” Sklarenko said. “It’s amazing to wonder that a if a coin is 400 or 500 years old, where has it been? Whose hands have it been in? There’s such an interesting story there that one could only be able to scratch the surface of.”

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sports

High Tide

There and back again

Boys volleyball returns from Hawaii to take on Costa

by Justin Pioletti

1.

Mira Costa wouldn’t be an easy win. In order to beat Costa, boys volleyball had to practice with heightened prudence, according to senior Kai Osagie.

“To prepare for the Costa game we practiced a lot of ball control, serving and passing consistently everyday. Going in we knew they were a potential threat, and beating them would be a challenge,” Osagie said.

RUHS recently placed second in the Iolani Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. The week long tournament showed the team the necessary angles it needed to improve its performance, while bringing the boys closer as a team.

“We played alright in the tournament. We lost to Punahou, who we knew was a good team since they won the Best of the West tournament earlier this year. The tournament showed us that when we work together as a team, we play well,” senior Ian Pizzuti said. “Altogether, the Hawaii trip really helped the team get to know each other. We experienced a lot, and it was a great bonding experience.”

According to senior Logan Glave, the Iolani Invitational shed a light on players that have stepped up to take on important roles on the team.

“Cole Arakawa is our starting middle, and he brought a lot to the tournament,” Glave said. “He’s gotten a lot better, and definitely improved when we needed him to.”

Along with senior Cole Arakawa, other players have found ways to contribute to the team. Sophomore Keagan Benson has become necessary in getting the team in their right mindset before every game.

“Keagan Benson is an essential player on our team. Although he doesn’t start the games just yet, his overall energy, effort and enthusiasm really helps us when we need it. Keagan Benson is our tool of motivation.” Pizzuti said.

2.

Over the top. 1. Middleback Kai Osagie, senior, jumps up to spike the ball . 2. Senior Logan Glave hits the ball into the opposing team’s side against South. PHOTOS BY KYRA PACIFIC AND MICHAEL YOON

Boys golf looks to continue hot streak, will face Peninsula

by Brian Adler

In rhythm. Boys golf beat South high by one stroke on and will soon be playing against Peninsula. “I am practicing my short game almost every day and keeping myself physically fit to perform at the best of my ability,” senior Zach Rodriguez said. PHOTO BY JARRAH MAY

Continuing its successful season, boys golf beat South Torrance last Wednesday at the Los Verdes course, taking the win by one stroke.

“It was a perfect day for golf, not too much wind, pretty sunny, no clouds, really just a beautiful day,” senior Tyler Boyd said. “[The match] wasn’t too stressful and everyone played well, just kind of grooved. When everyone is relaxed and not super worried about everything, that’s when we play our best and when we’re at our best we can be pretty tough to beat.”

The boys team has won six out of its nine matches so far, attributing some of its success to experience amongst the players and the commitment to improvement among members of the team.

“We’ve all been together playing for a while and we have good chemistry and we’ve all practiced a lot over the summer to get to where we are now,” Boyd said. “We’ll go to the golf course on the weekends and practice

and play together, and when we don’t have a match we’ll go to the driving range, hit for a couple hours or play a couple rounds. I think all those extra repetitions have really helped us a bunch.”

The team has had a more successful season than in years past, with many of it’s members hitting in the high thirties and low forties, a considerable mark in the sport; the player’s progress is yielding results.

The next competition will be against Peninsula on April 18, and the boys have high expectations for the match hoping it will move them forward in Bay League.

“I think if we keep playing like we are, I think we could definitely make a run in CIF playoffs and make a run for second in Bay league,” Boyd said. “I think PV is going to get first, but we could definitely take a match or two away from Peninsula. If we keep playing the way we are, I think we could definitely do some damage.”

April 7, 2017

sports

page 21

Baseball to play at Bishop Montgomery

by Kayvon Elahihaghighi Baseball plays Bishop Montgomery this Saturday, after losing to Hart High School 5-1.

“The game easily could have gone our way but the other team got a couple significant hits and that was enough to make the difference.

We also need to work on our run production as a whole,” junior Caden Dorn said.

Dorn believes that the game highlighted the team’s need for a greater run production.

“We need to swing at strikes and put the ball in play forcing the other team to make plays and then keep the pressure on the other team,” Dorn said.

Baseball’s season hasn’t gone to plan, losing most of their games.

“We strung a few losses together in a tough week of four games in five days. Pitchers were walking a lot of guys and offense was struggling to hit the ball, which out a lot of pressure on our defense forcing us to get stuck playing defensively,” Dorn said.

The team is still confident that they can turn the season around.

“So far the season is average. We hit a rough patch over the last couple of weeks but our schedule lines up nicely to get some wins in the coming weeks and we should be better prepared for league play coming of some solid results,” Dorn said.

In order to ensure a hit scoring win, baseball will focus on offensive tactics in practice.

“Our hitting groups for batting practice need to be focused and hardworking in hopes that it will carry over into the game Saturday,” Dorn said.

Dorn and the team have simple goals for Saturday’s game.

“This Saturday we want to go out there and get a high scoring win, leaving for spring break on a good note,” Dorn said.

Quick pitch. Sophomore Christian Bryant looks for a strike against a player from Saugus High. RUHS would win the game 5-2. PHOTO BY JARRAH MAY

Christian Bryant throws a perfect game

by Nicole Sandoval

Sophomore Christian Bryant has been playing baseball for his whole life; his passion for the game is only growing. He has earned the RUHS JV baseball team a perfect game while pitching against San Pedro High School.

“When I was four or five I watched my first baseball game, and I fell in love with the game. To me it’s really interesting, and I just have a passion for it,” Bryant said.

Bryant said that the completion of the last play of his perfect game was “ecstatic” and felt phenomenal.

“The last out was amazing. I threw two pitches to the last batter, and he had popped up the last pitch and my second basemen, junior Bobby Moore, made a good play on the ball. As soon as he caught it, it was an unforgettable moment,” Bryant said.

Bryant pitches and plays third base. He pitches every other three games and has “high expectations” for himself. Along with practicing everyday with his team, he also works on his pitching mechanics two times

a week with a friend.

“It’s a pressure I give myself. I have new expectations for myself. People expect me to do well, but it’s my expectation to try and be perfect as often as I can,” Bryant said.

A “perfect game” is when the pitcher does not allow any opposing player to reach base.

Bryant prepares to make his game as perfect as possible by placing his thoughts “in the back of his mind.”

“I mentally prepare myself. I go through a series of things in my head, make sure I’m focused on the game, make sure I know what my game plan is, making sure I know what I’m going to do in certain situations,” Bryant said.

Bryant claimed that his tunnel vision really helped his game and is ultimately the reason how he was able to throw a perfect game.

“Towards the fourth or fifth inning, people started telling me that I was throwing a perfect game and I knew that if I thought about it too much I would have gone back

out there and said “okay I could do this” and I would’ve messed up. I just put it in the back of my head, focused and just pitched. I wasn’t focused on being perfect, I was focused on pitching” According to Bryant, this moment was a “once in a lifetime experience,” and he couldn’t have been more proud of himself and his teammates for backing him up without allowing any errors.

“A lot of my friends were saying that it’s almost like I had tunnel vision, and I would agree with that because I was basically blocking out everything else. I was just focused on one thing and in the end it worked and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I couldn’t have felt more proud of myself.

All the support I got from my teammates was unbelievable, they helped me through the whole game,” Bryant said.

As far as goal setting, Bryant plans to continue playing baseball all through high school, college and dreams of playing in the Major Leagues one day.

“My plan for making it as successful as it can be is to work hard day in and day out and try to become the best baseball player I can be. I just always know that there’s somebody behind me that’s trying to get in front of me and there’s people in front of me that I’m trying to pass as well.”

Bryant’s grandmother inspired him to start playing baseball because it was her favorite sport growing up; she passed on her love for the game “My grandma inspires me because she always wanted me to play and always wanted to see me play but she never got the chance to,” Bryant said.

Bryant has been a part of the team since freshman year and will continue to play and hopes to improve each and every day.

“I love everything about the sport. Everything about it interests me because it’s crazy to think that one day I could be something even better than I am now. Right now, I think I’m pretty good but I can be better than that and it shocks me,” Bryant said.

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sports

Icing on the cake Puck it. Boys hockey played against Notre Dame which they won with a final score of 4-3. “It’s an honor for me to be representing my school and a great experience to be playing with more experienced players that I can learn from. The best part is the comradery between the players and the coach,” Mitchell Hyneman said. PHOTOS BY WALT HYNEMAN

Boys hockey receives second win of the season vs. La Cañada

by Maryam Bacaloni Boys hockey beat La Cañada with a score of 5 to 4 on Wednesday April 5, making this their second win of the season.

“I think we won as a team because we scored early in the game and really brought their morale down,” junior Connor Matthews said.

The team credits their win to their ability to work well together on the ice rink.

“We all click as a team which allows us to have good chemistry and make certain plays happen,” senior Steven Rosero said.

Rosero agrees that they did not play as

“

well in the first half, but later persevered past their loss of energy in order to win during the second half.

“We did much better the second half because we were able to communicate better,” Rosero said.

“Our skills really showed towards the end, even though we were really tired.”

Although the team has a lot of potential this year, however Matthew believes the boys need to focus on certain moves and plays so that they can advance even farther.

“Our team can improve by moving the puck faster and making decisions quicker,”

We all click as a team which allows us to have good chemistry and make certain plays happen.

”

Matthews said. “Our weaknesses are not making decisions fast enough and to keep playing hard even though you are winning the game.”

Rosero is optimistic looking into the season and believe they are capable of winning consecutively.

“I think we’re going to be one of the top teams this year,” Rosero said. “We’ll definitely make it to playoffs and see how we do from there.”

Rosero agrees that in order to keep winning, they need to improve on a few strate-

“

gies.

“We can improve as team by encouraging ourselves on and off the ice and improving our communication,” Rosero said. “Also, we could work more on our systems and overall positioning individually.”

Matthews is not sure whether they will be as good as last years team, however by the way they are playing, things are looking bright for the team this year.

“Last year we had a lot better of a team but this year we are still winning and I believe we can go very far,” Matthews said. “It’s hard to tell since we have only played two games but we have some good players so I think we can do it.”

We can improve as team by encouraging ourselves on and off the ice and improving our communication.

”

Boys tennis is defeated by Mira Costa High School

by Hayley O’Connor-Rigby On Tuesday April 4, boys tennis challenged their rivals, Mira Costa, in an all out battle on our own home court. Through a lot of sweat and vigorous matches, the Sea Hawks were out of luck and lost to the Mustangs at a final score of 5-13.

According to singles player Sundeep Chakladar, freshman, there was still some nervousness that lingered into this game from their previous game against Peninsula high school, but the team still managed to play well despite the loss.

“I think the team went into the match a little nervous because we were expecting Mira Costa to have a strong lineup. Howev-

er, we knew we had a better chance this year than in past years to get a win since we also have a stronger lineup this year,” Chakladar said.

The team also believed that Mira Costa had more confidence taking on the RUHS players in an attempt for them to turn around and break out of their so called “losing streak”.

“Mira Costa has almost always beaten up by a fairly large margin. Because of this, they had a lot of confidence coming to play us.

On the other hand, we didn’t have as much confidence since we were aware of our previous record against the Mira Costa team,”

Chakladar said.

Despite the loss, the Sea Hawks still managed to recognize the strengths and strategies that they developed as they performed against the Mustangs.

“A lot of our players knew kids from the Mira Costa team, but they didn’t know us as well. Because of this, we were able to interact as a team to develop a strategy against each of their players which was pretty beneficial to us. It’s a plan we should do more often,” Chakladar said.

The next time the team will be on the court will be another round with Peninsula on April 25. There is a lot of hope and enthu-

siasm that the team has time to stay on track and improve their attitude in order to reach the CIF level.

“Since there is a lot of time for practice, we really want to work on team spirit. In the close matches we had, it would’ve been nice to have teammates who support us from the side of the court to encourage us to play our best. The team is still on track to reach our goals for CIF which is to get past a few rounds,” Chakladar said. “We definitely have the potential to achieve this goal, the only thing stopping us is our level of confidence. I think this will improve as the season goes on and we get to know each other even better.”

April 7, 2017

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sports

LAX to the MAX

Girls lacrosse defeats Mira Costa Boys lacrosse hopes to beat Costa

by Camille Grace

by Angie Tait

Girls lacrosse beat Mira Costa with a score of 17 to 3 on Tuesday. April, 4.

With their first Bay League game coming up against Mira Costa, Boys Lacrosse is deter“Our offense was on fire as we were up 12-1 in the first half. We had multiple girls scoring mined to push on after an 8-10 loss against Downey High School on April 3. and had a lot of assists because the ball was being shared,” coach Tom Borgia said.

The team unanimously believes that the loss was “easily winnable,” and that the end result Despite a few errors, senior Melanie Paiz felt that her team played really well together was due to simple mistakes and overthought opportunities. overall.

“We did not play up to our full potential. It was certainly not one of our best games, but “We really wanted to play our game and show them that we are unbeatable. If anything we still only lost by 2, which is not at all bad,” junior Bryan Cloutier said. “We could have beat we can work on patience on our picks and them, but we did not posses the ball plays but other than that I think we played on offense, so our defense had to as a really well-rounded team,” Paiz said. play a lot. We were united as a team, The team felt confident going into the but we just played a really sloppy game, but knew they still had to work hard. first half.”

“Going into the game we were very Remaining in good spirits about confident as Costa is having a down year. the players’ overall skills, the team But I reminded the girls that last year we maintains that they share the loss were rated well above Costa and barely and will work together to come back won in overtime. When we play Costa we and beat Mira Costa in their home can’t take them lightly,” Borgia said. game on Friday, April 7.

After a disappointing loss to “It’s upsetting, honestly, to know Palos Verdes earlier in t h e that you have a team with a ton of season, the team has potential and opportunities but been practicing hard doesn’t take advantage of them and to prove they are still doesn’t play hard all the time, which the team to beat in the Bay is what happened against Downey,” League. senior Ryker La Franchi said. “ But “After our game against PV, we came it’s time to forget it, move on, and together and set some team goals for our get ready for Costa, another big upcoming games and things to work on at game in our season and even more practice. I think we were determined on so with our rivalry.” bouncing back from it and showing everyDespite Mira Costa ranking 46 one who RUHS lacrosse really is,” captain in the state compared to RedonJaymie Bettger, senior said. do’s 126, the boys are confident that The game against PV proved to be a the score will only depend on their challenge with many players out due to mindset going into the game. injury, but they will be meeting up with “The Downey game was a wakethem again for a highly anticipated game. up call. While it wasn’t the result we “Bettger had ACL surgery the week bewanted, it helped us realize where fore the season and Jackie Schneider had we are currently and what we have surgery on her thumb the week before the to do to succeed. Costa is also a PV game. We were also missing our fastbeatable team, and if we slow things est defender Lisa Diethelm who was sick, down and play our game, we’ll be so we expected a tough game. We focus on able to win,” Connoy said.

2.

1. one game at a time but we all know that To prepare for the game, the team the game against PV on April 21 is the bighas been especially working on beLive, Love, LAX. 1. Sophomore Emma Hodges intercepts the ball during the girls lacrosse game against El Segundo gest game we will play this year,” Borgia high school on Friday, March 24 in which they beat El Selgundo 16-5. 2. Senior Ryker La Franchi runs around, trying to find an ing more aggressive on defense and said. opening for a shot while a Downey player defends the goal. Boys Lacrosse lost to Downey high school 8-10. PHOTOS BY ANNEmaking the most of possessions on The win against Costa helped them ELYSE PETERSON AND JESSICA CHAVARRIA offense, which they agree was part raise their league rankings, but the team of their downfall against Downey. needs a win against Peninsula, and PV “As a senior who will never get to again, in order to secure the title. play high school lacrosse again, it’s “It’s very important for us to beat Penn sad, but at this point and time, we because we recently lost to Palos Verdes, alone have the power to decide who so now we have to beat all these teams wins in the Costa game,” LaFranchi that we’re playing next, and Palos Verdes said. “It’s about who wants it more again, so we can be Bay League Champias a team, so I hope everyone is able ons,” Paiz said. to step up.”

The team knows what needs to be done RUHS Boys: in order to achieve this season’s goals.

“For the Peninsula game all we need to Los Angeles Ranking - 64 do is play our game,” Borgia said, “PeninMira Costa Boys: sula has never beaten us and we are not Los Angeles Ranking - 13 about to have it happen now.”

Girls Lacrosse

Boys Lacrosse

RUHS:

RUHS:

Mira Costa:

Mira Costa:

National Ranking - 175 State Ranking - 46 National Ranking - 539 State Ranking - 149

National Ranking - 611 State Ranking - 126

National Ranking - 195 State Ranking - 46

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news

Thoughtcrime, textcrime

Calif. assembly considers passing bill that would allow administration to search student phones without warrant

Around California Electronic Communications Privacy Act Redondo

Should administration be able to search students’ phones or technology to find information?

COMPILED BY KEANA STERLING, PHOTOS BY JARRAH MAY

“

They should not have access to [my electronic devices]. Just because I bring it on campus does not mean that it is their property.

”

-Joseph Washington, 12

“

I do not think they should be able to use our phones.

We have personal information on there and we should be able to keep that to ourselves.

” “

-Anna Johnson, 9

That is a huge invasion of privacy.

What I do outside of school might be on my phone and they cannot punish me for that.

”

-Sierra Williams, 10

“

I feel like that is an invasion of privacy and I think most it is not really relevant.

”

-Brooklyn Narvaez, 12

“

I [understand] we give up a lot of rights walking on campus especially at this age but I do not think it is morally right.

”

-Quinn Robinson, 10

• passed Jan. 2016 • prohibits government or law officials from • has not yet passed demanding or accessing personal • would exempt governvs. electronic communications ment and school officials from and information withCalECPA, allowing them to seize and out a warrant. search students’ phones without a warrant.

Assembly Bill 165

by Alexander Dang Whether they are used for texting or calling friends and family, playing an addictive game or surfing through the Internet, cell phones are essentially walking diaries for students. But a new bill could end the private security students enjoy with their electronic devices.

Assembly Bill 165 could revoke protections given by the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA) to members of educational institutions, including students. The bill would allow government and school officials to seize and search students’ phones without a warrant.

AP Government teacher Michael Henges is concerned that the bill could infringe upon the rights students have.

“Students do not shed their rights when they enter campus. They have their Constitutional rights wherever they go in the country. There are protections in place that do not disappear simply because people step foot on a public school property,” Henges said.

According to Assistant Principal Meghan Schooler, administration does inspect the electronic communications of students, albeit with their expressed consent.

“Our policy is to ask students for permission to see their online activity on their cell phone or personal device,” Schooler said.

“Most often, even when someone has made a poor decision, he or she is willing to cooperate in order to resolve the situation.”

The Fourth Amendment in the Constitution protects citizens from search and seizure without a warrant or probable cause.

While the bill is still going through legislation and will not be passed in the near future, Henges believes that if more specifics are added to the legislation, the more likely that it will be ratified.

“If there are protections in place in this

bill for probable search clauses and they carve out exceptions, then I think that the law could be upheld,” Henges said. “But if it is just allowing arbitrary search without any cause, then there are obviously going to be concerns about that.”

Proponents of the bill argue that it would assist law enforcement officials and school authorities during cases of cyberbullying or harassment. However, Schooler believes that there are already “sufficient” anti-cyberbullying measures in place, such as Sprigeo. “[Administration] has also been working with different groups like the PTSA and outside speakers to inform students and families about responsible technology and online use. Our hope is that as more students and families become better informed there will be a reduction in the amount of cyberbullying,” Schooler said.

According to Henges, the sought after information on the electronic devices should not be hard to find without the bill.

“A lot of online postings and different social media accounts are actually public, so I feel like a lot of this information is available if people were to look for it. And if there is harassment going on, hopefully the person being harassed would bring that to the attention of the school officials,” Henges said.

According to Schooler, administration does not have to search for long for the electronic content in a cyberbullying case, as it is often sent as a screenshot or an email to them.

Additionally, Schooler is concerned with the permanence of Internet actions and the widespread availability of electronic communications “Perhaps one of the more important things to discuss as we talk about rights to privacy is just how little privacy exists online

and the need for all students and adults to be thoughtful about what they say and type online,” Schooler said.

Henges cautioned the lawmakers deliberating the bill to the possibly permanent implications Assembly 165 has for Californians.

“I think whenever you are making an exception to someone’s rights, you have to be very careful because often you don’t get that [right] back. Many times the direction of making exceptions is not reversed very easily,” Henges said.

Students can contain sensitive information on their phones, including private family and health matters. Henges believes that the bill could make people more vulnerable at the cost of addressing harassment.

“Students and adults have a lot of sensitive information in our phones these days whether it is financial or personal information that we would not expect other people to see,” Henges said. “On a school site there are reasonable limits to our rights for the purpose of creating a positive educational environment, but lawmakers have to be careful not to go too far.”

As technology is quickly changing, Henges feels that the country’s laws and policies are “struggling” to keep up with it. While Henges believes that people can benefit from modern technology, he urges them to consider their rights when choosing to accept the “relief” technology brings into their daily lives.

“Our devices and the Internet have changed has made life easy in some ways,” said Henges. “People have not stopped to consider the implications for what bills like this would mean in the long run. Things are so convenient that often people are trading away their liberties one convenience at a time.”