High Tide: Nov 17, 2017

HT

Redondo Union High School Redondo Beach, CA November 17, 2017 Vol. XCVV Edition 5

Boys Water Polo wins first CIF Championship in their history. page 20

High Tide

Environmentalist Rich Gun owners Sensitive DEMOCRAT REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT REPUBLICAN

Through the lens of POLARIZATION Increased political tension polarizes students’ relationships

PHOTO BY JADE RONA. ILLUSTRATION BY EMMA LYON

NEWS

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Last dance with Mary Jane

Nicole Wesley speaks out about teen substance abuse in Redondo Beach

by Aaya jhaveri On Monday, Nov. 13, a Parent’s Education Event was held by the PTSA to discuss the topic of substance abuse. To keep parents informed about alcohol and drug usage, the PTSA members brought in guest speakers to expand upon the issue.

Redondo Beach’s growing rate of substance abuse amongst teens is predicted to increase due to the commercial license for marijuana businesses going into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

Former RUHS principal, Nicole Wesley, started the event by presenting statistics and information on new ways that teens use substances.

“It’s important to educate our parents as well as our students about the impact of E-cigarettes and vaping,” Wesley said.

“Many believe it’s not at all harmful, but the truth is that even if something has no THC in it, which most of the times it does, the flavoring and chemicals are still harmful.”

Wesley believes that it is more difficult to catch students using substances on campus due to the newly evolved vape pens.

“Now that students can use vaping devices, some even look like pens and are made to look like anything but an electronic cigarette, it’s a lot easier to vape in public places, including a campus,” Wesley said.

Detective Jenna Wolfinger, along with RBUSD, considers it to be harder to catch students using substances because, of the devices that include tiny cartridges so the smell is almost impossible to detect.

“Now, their marijuana doesn’t smell at all. It used to be the case that when a kid had a joint in their backpack, you could smell it in the classroom,” Wolfinger said.

Wolfinger has seen teens throw parties and get togethers in which they partake in substance usage together.

“Parties go viral. This is a huge problem, kids will put up on social media apps about their party and it will go viral throughout the South Bay,” Wolfinger said. “Kids from

all over the place whether it’s El Segundo or San Pedro will be at the same party in someone else’s house. Before you know it, it’s out of control.”

Moe Gelbart, Ph.D. Psychologist and founder of the Thelma McMillen Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, affirms that the teenage brain physically lacks development in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain in charge for reasoning and judgement. He believes that the addition of substance use can be dangerous and hinder the development of the brain.

“The brain is developed from the back to the front. The nucleus accumbens is the pleasure center which is developed more so than the prefrontal cortex, where decision-making occurs,” Gelbart said. “Sprinkling alcohol and drugs into the mix can really impair the limited judgement and decision making abilities,” “Alcohol is always a big substance of abuse and recently, so are opioids. When [teens] have a sports injury and begin taking a Vicodin or Oxycodine, they usually end up wanting more. The biggest problems with pain pills and drugs like Adderall and Xanax are that teens think since it’s prescribed by a doctor, that it’s okay.”

The source to where teens receive 1 in 9 youth big-branded abuse prescription pres cription drugs pills is usually right in their own

homes. Gelbart thinks that parents must be more conscious when storing away their old prescription bottles.

“The number one source of pills for teens is their parents’ medicine cabinets.

Parents often get prescribed pills and take the daily prescription then put it away and forget it’s there,” said Gelbart.

Gelbart finds it more effective to nip substance abuse in the bud.

“Prevention instead of intervention is important because the kids who begin to experiment will have unintended negative consequences,” Gelbart said. A survey by the California Health Kids revals that students in the Beach Cities abuse substances twice as much between ninth and eleventh grade which is much greater than the LAUSD and other state schools. Student John Doe believes that substance abuse is very high due to it playing a large role in the Beach Cities lifestyle.

“Especially in our area, there’s a really bad culture of drinking. It’s become the preferred way to have fun and people don’t like to just go out and be normal,” John said.

“Being sober is considered lame nowadays, many people drink just to impress others.

People need to learn how to have fun without substances.”

Having attended numerous parties, John notices that teens want to drink to let go of inhibitions and be more outgoing.

“A lot of people drink because they have anxiety and they want to temporarily alleviate that nervousness in a social setting however, the feeling of anxiety you get after you realize the choices that you make when you’re not sober, that feeling can be much worse,” John said.

In order to decrease substance abuse, John wishes that parents would do a better job holding their children accountable and not be in denial.

“Parents are refusing to believe that their kids are drinking because they think that there is no way that they raised a child to do something like that,” John said. However, it’s grown to something that’s uncontrollable, and everyone in high school will probably face at least one incident having to do with drinking or drugs.”

Teen drinking in the US

47% to 61.9%

The increase in binge drinkers from freshman to senior year.

18%

of highschool students are binge drinkers

8%

of youth drive after consuming alcohol

20%

of youth rode with a driver who had been drinking alcochol

INFORMATION BY DRUGABUSE.GOV, CNN. COM, AND DCD.GOV

Redondo Beach to be given grant to help the homeless

by Martha Farah

ILLUSTRATION

BY OLIVIA MOSS

Redondo Beach is one of 47 cities in the Los Angeles County to receive a grant to help end homelessness in the city.

Created by the Los Angeles County, the grant, Home for Good, is part of the county’s Measure H to help communities with programs to assist those suffering from homelessness. Measure H is a 10-year plan to both fund and implement programming to address homelessness in the county. Each city works to develop its own plan for homelessness.

“That’s where the funds and the personal efforts could be most affected because we know our streets best, and we know our population best,” Community Services Director John La Rock said. “We can best assist the population we have experiencing homelessness.”

Each city can receive between $30,000 and $70,000 depending on the amount of homeless people in that area. This grant allows the city to hire consultants with experience to develop a local plan to be available to homelessness.

“That’s everything from legal matters, mental health, drug addiction, housing problems and everything we could do in Redondo Beach that will tie into the services available on the county’s side,” La Rock said.

The grant will fund experts to provide employment services, medical services and to search for places for the homeless to live.

“They go in the field and meet with the person who is homeless. They do a history check on them, see what their condition is and find out why they are homeless. Then, they see what services they have to provide to get them off the street,” Mayor Bill Brand said.

The county’s homeless count every year has proved an increase in the homeless population. In 2015, there was a 23% increase county wide in homelessness. As La Rock believes, there are many factors contributing to this increase.

“It’s everything from domestic violence where children would leave their homes to discharged military veterans who aren’t able to find work,” La Rock said. “The majority of issues with people experiencing homelessness is that they need help finding jobs and a home while others deal with drug addiction or mental health issues.”

Due to the situations of homeless indi-

viduals, people should be open-minded since each person is going through something different according to La Rock.

“Every individual experiencing homelessness has their own unique case in terms of what they’re dealing with and their capacity to be self-sustaining,” La Rock said.

“The menu of ways people find their way to homelessness is almost undefinable.”

Issues about homelessness have fallen onto the police department even though many are not trained to handle these situations, causing this grant to become useful to the city.

“The police department simply isn’t qualified with those things, so what the county has done with these grants is help cities and local agencies commend their existing budgets to deal with homelessness,” La Rock said.

La Rock finds it important to not forget about the homeless population and to treat them respectfully. Homelessness is not a crime, and every person deserves the opportunity to become self-sustaining according to La Rock.

“We have to end the stigma that homeless people are dangerous and sub-human because they’re not,” La Rock said. “They are human, not criminals. We need to figure out who they are, what they need and see if we can help them.”

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NEWS

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

A tale of two elections

Attempted voter fraud, diss tracks, and brokered conventions mark AP Gov’s mock election

By Danny Pharzini

Every year Michael Henges AP Government classes take place in a mock election where his classes participate. all classes participate in.

Chamas narrowly misses clinching nomination

The leading candidate in the Democratic primaries is senior Malek Chamas, who currently has 50.8 percent of the votes.

While Chamas leads the overall polls for both the Democratic and Republican ballots, the influence of last minute Super PACs — organizations that gather campaign contributions from students and donate the funds to candidates for ads and media attention — could all possibly sway the election. The media is comprised of journalists who track and update the public on elections news.

According to Chamas, the AP Government class is predominantly Democrat, so he and the other Democratic candidates do not have to make a push to persuade the voters. For the Democrats, it is more of a race of personalities than political ideas.

“This election I have not been too aggressive mostly because that is not the type of person I am,” Chamas said.

“I try not to seek too much press attention because I am more passive and patient.”

Though there are many supporters for Chamas, several groups feel that he is unqualified. For example, the Desmos Super PAC supports Waleed Ghazal.

“We have decided that Waleed Ghazal would be much better candidate because he connected with the people more,” Nick Norambuena, head of the Desmos PAC, said.

“We stand behind him because he is a leader.”

Most of the past mock elections have favored Democratic candidates, as the majority of the AP Government student body identifies as Democratic.

“In general the Democratic candidates tend to fare better because students tend to associate more with the Democrats than the Republicans,” AP Government teacher Michael Henges said.

Primaries and caucuses are held as well, such as the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucus, in which students had to come out to support their candidate. These events gave the voters the opportunity to meet up to publicly support their candidates or vote for them privately.

With Chamas failing to get the 51 percent majority of the vote, the Democrats may have to enter a brokered convention, in which delegates will have to go through voting rounds until they choose a nominee.

Republicans are neck in neck in the primaries

The crowded Republican field has no clear leader: Lu-

12.8% 50.8%

16.8% 0.16% 15.6%

8.7%

10.0%

3.2%

38.2%

20.5%

19.7%

The primary results. Both party leaders failed to garner the 51% majority vote to clinch the nomination, forcing a brokered convention. cas Simoes failed to garner the 51 percent majority; he was followed by Adam Yorke, Kevin Clausen, Nick Robbins, Joey Shy and Andrew Ramirez, who all failed to attain 20 percent of the votes.

Unlike choosing a Democratic nominee based off of personality, the Republican candidates have to present the specifics of their policies.

“My strategy is to be as concise and as accurate as possible with policies that I want to implement so that people can understand where I am coming from,” Simoes said. “By making my policy very clear and not shady it will help bring support in.

As the general election approaches, Simoes and his staff are working to persuade students in other class periods to vote for him as the Republican nominee.

“Lucas has played it straight and brought a lot of policies to the debate that seemed to appeal to the student that are looking for someone that wants their vote to be earned,” Henges said. ”He comes out as working hard for the voters and I think he is being rewarded for that.”

Simoes plan is to bring together the minority of Republicans and hopefully convince some moderate Democrats to cross party lines to vote for him.

“My strategy of winning is to consolidate of the Repub-

licans in our AP Gov classes and trying to convert a few moderate Democrats to vote for me because moderate Democrat don’t actually realized but they would agree with many Republican policies,” Simoes said Shy has lost voters to the Simoes campaign. To help his “fledgling” vote count, Shy’s campaign decided to commit voter fraud. They got caught.

“During snack some of my campaign members decided to steal some ballots and use them all to vote for me,” Shy said. “Unfortunately when we were trying to submit them, Mr. Henges caught them and the scores were cancelled immediately. I would like to apologize for this incident.”

Shy’s campaign began losing momentum following the release of his diss track about the other candidates. The diss track backfired on Shy, as there are six times as many dislikes than likes on the YouTube video.

“I thought that the diss track would help my campaign but instead it rallied people to not vote for me,” Shy said.

“That is why my campaign resorted to corruption.”

The Republicans are heading to a brokered convention.

Henges believes that the scandal and trash-talking of the election makes it feel less of a simulation.

“It is starting to feel like a real election rather than just lab work,” Henges said.

The growing popularity of eBooks in the education field gives the impression that digital sources and learning is highly effective for students. However, the results of student testing and health studies are proving that print beats technology in performance and comprehension.

Researchers performed a study and discovered that “readers using a Kindle performed ‘significantly’ worse than paperback readers at recalling when events occurred in a mystery story,” according to The Guardian.

The study involved a group of 50 students; one half were given a paperback book, while the other half had the Kindle version of the same story. After reading the story, they took a test on the book’s characters and themes.

Stavanger University’s Anne Mangen was a lead researcher for this experiment. From the start, she had her doubts that eBooks were as effective as printed books. The study’s test results supported Mangen’s predictions, as “the Kindle readers performed significantly worse on the plot reconstruction measure” such as when they had to arrange 14 plot events in chronological order, The Guardian reported.

One of the predicted reasons of these results revolves around the “sensory offload” that progression books provide. When a reader is working through a physical book, the number of pages growing on the left and right sides give “a tactile and visual sense of progress.”

“I like feeling how much of the book I have left,” 9th grade English teacher Jessica Variz said. “I’ve read books on my iPad, but it is just so condensed on the one page that I can get lost from time to time as to how far along I am.”

The lack of an immersive experience is only one of eBooks and digital sources flaws. Other downsides include distracting visuals, such as scrolling through screens and, most importantly, significant health effects.

“The primary negative effect is the blue light that is emitted, which causes us to stay awake longer,” said Sheila McDowell, a nurse at Exeter Academy. “It affects the mela-

tonin levels in our bodies, which regulate sleep.”

Scientist and researchers have been observing the “recent evidence linking chronic suppression of melatonin secretion by nocturnal light exposure with the increased risk of breast, colorectal and advanced prostate cancer associated with night-shift work,” the LA Times reports.

Despite these health warnings and eBooks’ ineffectiveness towards comprehension, students “overwhelmingly prefer to read digitally,” the Business Insider said.

Junior Matthew Lucas does not enjoy using textbooks because of the physical toll they cause.

“The problem in my opinion is the differences in accessibility, in terms of carrying heavy, annoying textbooks around as opposed to having something right there on the internet itself,” Lucas said. “ The only good thing about textbooks is that they make people stronger from lugging around all the weight.”

Another significant disadvantage of paper textbooks are their high prices.

“With the unavoidable costs associated with making paper, printing text, and boxing and shipping books to schools, the digital format definitely has greater potential for significant discounting,” Assistant Principal Jonathan Erickson said.

Textbooks, especially those made for college students can cost over $100. According to The National Association of College Stores (NACS), an average college student can annually spend around $655 on textbooks. But the total price can easily increase as a single textbook can cost around $300.

Regardless of the prices, Hailey Ivanson, a freshman and avid reader, believes that the experience of reading a print book cannot be replicated.

“Reading a print book, being able to flip through its dogeared and sepia-toned papers, smelling of old ink, and being able to pass down loved and worn books to friends — it is a special feeling eBooks can not duplicate,” Ivanson said.

Online textbooks gain prominence in classroom

By Sophie Fleming

5

$350

Textbooks per year

For 5 print textbooks

$10.50

$230

Cost of a Chromebook

Per online course

$67.50 Saved using eBooks

PRICES VIA JENS BRANDT AND CENGAGE

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NEWS

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

Backpacks weigh heavy on students backs

By Christina Owen The increasing load of backpacks is becoming a weighty issue for students and could be potentially dangerous. With school, extracurriculars and the daunting pressure to succeed, students may feel like they are wearing the weight of the world on their backs’, which is sometimes quite literally the case.

The weight of binders, textbooks, school supplies and lunches can often result in student injuries. Such injuries include severe back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as posture problems and strained muscles and joints, according to the the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Both freshman Tatum Dawson and sophomore Kasey Bohney have experienced back and shoulder pain due to the weight of their backpacks.

“At the beginning of the year since I wasn’t adjusted to the heavy weight load, I would wake up with sore shoulders. I still sometimes have bad back pain from wearing my backpack all day,” Bohney said.

Although the average student’s’ backpack shouldn’t weigh more than 23 pounds, both Bohney and Dawson report their backpacks weighing over 30 pounds.

For Bohney, the weight of her backpack has not always been problematic, but has increased dramatically since she started attending Redondo, and taking harder courses.

“Backpacks are heavier than ever in high school. We’re expected to carry chromebooks, textbooks, binders, notebooks, pencil cases and more- it’s completely ridiculous,” Bohney said.

Dawson has had a similar experience and says that taking off her backpack is like “a dream come true”.

“Even taking one book out of my backpack is a relief when you carry two textbooks, two binders, binders, a pencil case, a chromebook and other miscellaneous school supplies,” Dawson said.

Two alternative solutions to the problem at hand are class sets of textbooks and the use of technology in the classroom, as stated in a report released by the California Department of Education.

Though Chromebooks are used throughout the district, Bohney points out that they have had a limited effect on backpack weight.

“Chromebooks should have taken away from our load with online textbooks and documents but they really just add on extra pounds because we still use paper and textbooks in virtually all of our classes,” Bohney said.

While class sets of textbooks seem like a simple solution, only few classes have access to such resources. With regards to cost concerns, purchasing class sets may actually save districts money in the long run, according to a report by the California Department of Education.

“The use of classroom sets of textbooks may reduce wearand-tear on books and make them last longer and when applied on the scale of an entire district, the marginal scale of an additional set can be mitigated,” the report stated.

In addition to reducing wear and tear, class sets of textbooks will negate the need to take home textbooks, thus reducing weight of backpacks.

“To put it simply, heavy backpacks are not fun. Especially for people who have to walk to school. They weigh you down and make it difficult to move. The abnormally large size of my backpack makes me feel like a turtle,” Dawson said.

“Every time I take my bag off immediately I feel like there are 40 pounds taken off my back. And it’s not like I can just take something out either, because I need everything in my bag. There’s absolutely nothing that I can do to make the load lighter,” Dawson said.

Chromebook- 2.9 lbs

2 Spiral Notebooks- 3 lbs

2 inch Binder- 4 lbs Textbook- 4.18 lbs

Calculator- 0.44 lbs

PHOTO BY EDEN MILLAN

Recommendations for backpack weight The weight of a backpack should be no more than 15 percent of a students body weight The average high school student is between 100 and 150 pounds, so the average students’ backpack should weigh between 15 and 22.5 pounds Backpack-related injuries send approximately 5,000 children to the emergency room INFORMATION VIA THE U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION AND THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

All for one We Are One Club gives ESL students additional practice and offers tutoring

By Maia Ward Students learning English as a second language are often hesitant and intimidated to try to reach out to others in order to practice their English.

We Are One is a club that welcomes and celebrates people of different ethnicities and cultures on campus. It was started by juniors Hannah Morrison, Miriam Farah and Nasim Khorasani with the initial goal of offering more help to non-native English speaking students in English Language Development (ELD) classes at RUHS with English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring.

Morrison, president of We Are One, says she was inspired to start a club that would offer peer tutoring to ELD students last year, when she tutored her friend Khorasani in speaking, reading and writing English. Khorasani moved from Iran in the middle of eighth grade and graduated the ELD program at the end of freshman year, after passing the CELDT test which tests students for proficiency in English.

“I lived in Iran for a really long time, and then I didn’t speak English until I was seven or eight that’s when I started taking English classes. Then I moved here in the middle of eighth grade. My English was okay, but it was hard for me to adapt to the environment and speak English all the time. I was in ELD freshman year, and then after I graduated from ELD, I met Hannah in English honors sophomore year, and she kind of tutored and helped me in English,” Khorasani, co-vice president of the club,

said.

According to Ms. Benone, the ELD teacher, the classes help different levels of critical English learners by giving them more practice with reading and writing and plenty of time to complete their assignments.

According to Khorasani, even while she was still in ELD classes, one of the things she found most difficult about learning English was talking with other students on campus.

“The most challenging part of English in my opinion is talking to other people because writing and reading are things you do in your own mind, but when you’re speaking to someone else, you’re scared you’ll make a grammar [mistake] or say something wrong or say something that doesn’t mean something else. So that was the hardest part when I moved here and when I started to learn English, it was interacting with other people,” Khorasani said.

After she became more comfortable speaking English most of the time at school, Khorasani says last year in English honors she struggled with reading and writing under more strictly timed restrictions.

“We would have essays when we’d have to read a really long passage, and we would have like five minutes to read it. But it would take me a lot longer to read it and understand it at the same times because it [isn’t written in] my first language, and it would take me a while to understand what

it’s asking,” Khorasani said.

Khorasani says that practicing speaking English with Morrison and her friends at school was one thing that helped her improve her English the most, and she found that she felt more confident in school the more she practiced reading and writing in timed intervals.

Over the summer, Morrison, Khorasani and Farah talked about starting a club that would help other non-native students gain confidence in reading, writing, or speaking English.

“I feel like it will help them the way it helped me because it helped me in a way that I learned how to interact with people...I learned how to talk to this tutor who’s tutoring me, and knew where I made my mistakes, and learned how to pronounce stuff, so I feel like if we help them, they’re going to open up to people, and they won’t be shy [about] not wanting to speak English because [they’re] afraid to make a grammar error,” Khorasani said.

When Morrison, Khorasani, and Farah thought more about creating We Are One, they decided to expand on the idea of ESL tutoring by offering a community that celebrates different cultures to make non-native students feel welcome.

“The main purpose of We Are One is promoting diversity and acceptance of all different kinds of cultures and backgrounds that are represented in the student body here. We’re focused on accepting new students and immigrants into both our school

and the greater Los Angeles and American communities, through services such as ESL tutoring, just in general providing a safe space,” Morrison said.

On Nov. 7, Morrison, Khorasani and Farah met with the ESL tutors to give them general advice for helping any level of ELD students in areas they ask help for in, accommodating to their individual needs.

“It’s just how to best cater to the needs of different levels of ELD students, whether they’ve graduated so they just need more refined help, or if it’s someone who came just a couple of weeks or months ago or at the beginning of the school year and they need some help, facilitated in Spanish or German or wherever they come from, because they just need more help in speaking [English], confidence, and grammatical and accent nuances,” Morrison said.

According to Morrison, the club hopes that offering this peer tutoring to non-native English speakers will help ELD students to feel more included and accepted at RUHS. “I heard that at the professional development day we had off last week Ms. Benone [ELD teacher on campus] gave a refresher to teachers on how to adapt their teaching styles to ELD students, and when I hear that it makes me really happy because it shows that these people are not overlooked, but I think that it’s also an important project that hasn’t existed on campus before,” Morrison said.

NEWS

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

A Whole New World

Tait and Forbes work towards a more specific map of campus

By Analise Asaro Juniors Ben Tait and John Forbes are working to solve the widely-felt problem of being unable to get specifics about a certain location. They are doing this by developing a website with an interactive map that is able to give walking directions inside a specific place inside a location, like a classroom inside of a school.

“Every school is going to have a library, and an office, and classrooms and people who are coming who don’t know where they are. Obviously maps just help people in general,” Tait said. “Think about Back to School Night, where you have thousands of people coming who barely ever come to the school, and they need to get around to 4 or 5 different classes, and if all they have is a PDF that has some information, that’s just not good enough.”

In addition to giving walking directions, Forbes and Tait are able to put in additional information that goes along with each place, such as pictures and text.

“Because it’s online we can pack more stuff in there. With an interactive map you can put whatever information you want,” Tait said. “Like with the cafeteria you could say what the menu is today and how long it’s open. For the parking lot you could say who is allowed and include links and other things.”

They are not only able to create maps for specific locations but also specific events, like a fair.

“As it is easy for us to create these maps, we want to try and spread it as far as we possibly can, so it also applies to concerts and convention centers where people might need some help getting around.”

Forbes said.

Tait and Forbes are working towards adding a search function for the website.

“You can say, “Where is room 803?” and

it will tell you exactly where it is and how to walk there, which is much better than saying “It’s somewhere over in that direction,” or go that way!” We want more than that way.” Tait said.

With Mr. Brandt’s help, Forbes and Tait are first working to implement this software in Redondo and make it easily accessible by attaching it to the school website.

They believe that the interactive map is a good solution that people would want as a feature for their school or property.

“We think it’s a problem that a lot of people would be willing to pay money for us to solve,” Tait said. “It’s already pretty easy because we can send them a link, and now they have it to send to anyone they want to guide around their location.”

Although the short-term goal for the website is to enact the software in Redondo, they are planning on scaling the company up by selling it to places outside of Redondo.

“We’re planning on developing a website to promote and sell it. We’re actually giving it to Redondo for free, but in exchange for that we’re asking for a meeting with the Board of Directors for the district, and we’re planning on selling it to the entire district as a whole,” Forbes said. “We hope to get into a bunch of different school districts, including the UC system eventually.”

Tait was inspired by his dad to expand on his idea and was able to obtain the software program Eseri because of the company his dad works for.

“He and I both are interested in maps.

Back when he was young, his family owned a farm house and he drew maps telling people how to get around. He’s always been interested in helping people and especially through maps, which is

ASB Exceeds Goal for Blood Drive Information compiled by Ivanica Skalko

On Monday Nov. 6, 115 students donated blood for the UCLA Blood Drive put on by ASB. ASB has been working with UCLA to host the blood drive for years.

This year in particular they gathered enough blood to save 345 lives.

Signing up to donate blood requires students to meet many prerequisites, including having high enough levels of iron in their blood, weighing at least 110 pounds and not having any piercings done within the last year.

The process of actually sitting and giving blood can take eight to 10 minutes on average, depending on different factors that affect the process.

Donors are required to sit for at least 15 minutes after the process to ensure no negative side effects.

Over 200 students signed up to donate, and 115 donated.

One pint of blood can save as many as three people’s lives.

helping people get from place to place.”

Tait realized that there was an “easy solution” to the problem, and decided to approach Forbes at his club “Future Business Leaders of America,” to get help with the business portion and launch the company.

“I’ve had experience with starting my first business last year, and [Ben has] wanted to make it into a business instead of a project for a little while,” Forbes said. “We’re coming together to try and make this actually turn into something realistic and scalable.”

Although they are young, Tait and Forbes believe that it should not matter because they have a good idea and are willing to work to make their company succeed.

“If anything, this is the best time to start because it’s an area of your life where you can pursue whatever you want with the least amount of risk Tait believes that people wants to take advantage of the great processing power and connectivity of phones.

“We don’t need to invent something new, we just need to use what everyone has in their pocket,” Tait said.

PHOTO VIA GISday

5

OPINION

STAFF

6

The giant that sits atop Congress: Why the U.S. has not achieved universal healthcare

Editors-in-Chief

Ben Brill, Elizabeth Fauver, Kylie Yorke

News Editors:

Miriam Farah, Reem Chamas

Opinion Editor: Jon Mallen

Features Editors:

Summer Saad, Alex Dang, Ben Yepez

Entertainment Editors: Mia Berger, Justin Pioletti

Sports Editor: Luke Peterson

Photo Editor: Eden Millan

Writing Editor: Lauren Kim

Copy Editors:

Lauren Kim, Alexander Clark

Multimedia Editor: Samaya Rubio

Illustrators:

Makena Frias, Brennan Hickey, Emma Lyon

Staff Writers:

ILLUSTRATION BY MAKENA FRIAS

by Ethan Park Universal healthcare has been a long, fought for right of American citizens that is still yet to be achieved. Contrary to popular belief, the toxic division in Congress is not what is holding America back from achieving this right. Rather, there exists a powerful giant in Washington. One that squashes the rights of American citizens and stands in the way of progress, all in the name of profit. I am referring to, of course, the mighty insurance lobby.

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was passed to provide cheap, accessible healthcare to all American citizens. While it was certainly an attempt to bring healthcare to the citizens of the U.S., the pandering to both the interests of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries made sure that it accomplished none of its primary goals.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a good attempt, but ultimately a failure. According to statistics provided by healthpocket.com, premiums for both individual and family plans have risen egregiously within the last decade, with around 17-32 percent increase from just last year depending on what plan they have. The average deductible, or the amount a person has to pay before the insurance company takes over, for the bronze plan of the ACA in 2017 is around $6,000 for individuals, and around $12,000 for families. What is the point of “affordable” healthcare, if the cheapest plan comes at such an incredibly high deductible cost?

The failure of the ACA stems not from lack of planning by the Democrats, but comes from the incredibly greedy health industry in this country. There seems to be one argument that is in the forefront of discussion: who should pay for healthcare?

However, this is not the major question Americans should be debating amongst themselves. Instead we should be asking the simple question: why is healthcare so expensive in the first place?

This problem can be answered simply: the corrupt nature of the American health industry. America spends more on healthcare than any other nation on Earth, with nearly 20 percent of our gross domestic product going towards it according to TIME Magazine. We spend more on healthcare than the next ten biggest spending nations combined, with our sum total being around $2.8 trillion in 2013. That’s around 27 percent more than if we spent the same per capita as other developed nations.

Unfortunately, the average quality of our healthcare does not match the amount of money we spend on it.

Americans pay so much money because of the ridiculous practices by chargemasters at hospitals, who determine the prices of operations and medicine. According to personal stories posted on TIME, simple operations, such as taking out blood, are charged up to $100. Medicine such as aspirin, which can be bought over-the-counter in bulk for a dollar, are charged individually sometimes for $1.50. These chargemasters’ determination for prices are completely random, with no consistency on prices compared to other hospitals.

Hospitals charge so much money due to the belief that insurance companies will take care of most of the extravagant prices. But this is simply not the case for the 44 million Americans who are uninsured, according to the PBS website section on healthcare. Additionally, these huge prices cause high deductibles for people who are insured, causing Americans to pay nearly double the amount per capita than any other developed country in the world.

The pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies, the hospitals, the politicians and the lawyers who represent them — all have to gain from high health insurance costs. The only person who has to lose is the consumer: the American people.

Changing to a new healthcare plan would accomplish nothing, as the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies still have tremendous power in Congress. According to opensecrets.org, they lobbied around $28 billion to Congress in the 2016 election cycle. Their corporate influence in Washington must be weakened before any real, effective plan can be put in place. Perhaps this can be achieved by the gradual de-privatization of insurance and healthcare to convert it to a fully government-run industry. This would solve many of the problems inherent to the current healthcare system.

Assuming that American policy finally does become less influenced by the insur-

ance and pharmaceutical industry, single payer healthcare is the most reasonable choice, which closely resembles Canada’s plan. Canada does not have an entirely socialized healthcare, but their insurance is paid for through a public plan. Most doctors are not government employees, but instead bill the public plan rather than a large, private insurance company. This means the services are paid for through general taxation, but not delivered by federal employees.

This plan would guarantee low-cost healthcare to all Americans. Instead of the strange mix of universal and free-market insurance policies we have today, this plan is more coherent and delivers the benefits of low cost healthcare to all Americans.

The status-quo prevents any real progress from being achieved. Regardless of what healthcare bill is put forward in Capitol Hill, the insurance and pharmaceutical lobby will strangle it to death with counter-campaigns and lobbying if it is not favorable to their profit, until the voices for universal healthcare can be heard no more.

Aaya Jhaveri, Adam Sayad, Alex Laureano, Alexis Mesa, Analise Asaro, Austin Nunis, Camille Grace, Christina Owen, Christopher Snyder, Danny Parhizi, Eduardo Rosales, Em-erson Owens, Ethan Park, Grace McGonigle, Ivanica Skalko, Jade Rona, Jenna Edwards, Joshua, Juninho Paniouchkine, Kaden Kaczmarczyk, Kate Ripley, Kiera Patterson, Liam Barrett, Lorraina Scolaro, Maia Ward, Martha Farah, Michael Solimando, Molly Cochran, Nicholas White, Ophelia Winslett, Rukhaa Kamran, Sabrina Kim, Sangjun Lee, Sarah Falahahwazi, Sarah Flannery, Shyanne Landers, Sophie Fleming, Sydney Nguyen, William Pournamdari

Photographers:

Shuaib Ahmad, Elise DiPaola, Danielle Sestak, Mia Wicks, Kierin Wooldridge, Ben Cheng

Adviser:

Mitch Ziegler

Letters to the Editor The High Tide encourages greater input of opinions from both students and staff. 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.

Hits&Misses Gay marriage legal in Australia Lawmakers will enact same-sex marriage in response to a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum.

Sexual harassment allegations Sen. Al Franken, Pres. George H.W. Bush, Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, and more? Sheesh!

Texas high school renamed Robert E. Lee HS renamed to L.E.E. (Legacy of Educational Excellence). Not very clever...

OPINION

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

7

Editorial

The missing piece of the school’s health curriculum If the numerous events we have all heard about in the news are any indication, acts of sexual harassment and sexual assault are present as ever in our society.

But what can be said about the presence of these actions within our own students?

High school is a time of great confusion, and what is right and what is wrong may not always be clear. With most students, proper conduct flies out the door.

Unwanted sexual attention, touching and obscene remarks are all examples of sexual harassment. Rape and all forced sexual activities are a different offense identified as sexual assault. And the list doesn’t end there. There are multiple forms of these offenses. However, most students would not be able to tell the difference. The truth of the matter is that students are not provided adequate knowledge to identify the differences between sexual harassment and sexual assault, let alone provide a definition of what these actions mean.

Sex education is a brief topic mentioned in California school health course. Yes, the course teaches students how to have safe sex when appropriate. However, it does not stress the issue of consent to sex and what sexual harassment and assault is enough for students to be able to recognize when it has been done.

The fact that sexual harassment and sexual assault are not effectively built into the curriculum is reflected by the numerous incidents that occur involving students. At one of our home volleyball games, multiple students were involved in a “prank” that entailed a shirt featuring a nude photo of a girl on the opposing team.

Administration suspended the student and others who took part in the making of the shirt, but nevertheless, it happened. The suspension, however, did not involve any

Editorial Board Vote Should the school take greater action to address sexual assault and sexual harassment by making education on these issues a part of the sex-ed curriculum?

YES: 7 kind of workshop on proper student conduct or teach them what was wrong about their actions. The students involved in this incident view their actions as harmless joking, which shows that they do not know where the boundary is drawn on which actions qualify as sexual harassment.

Although California high schools are required to teach teach sexual assault in their health courses, the subject is still

NO: 0 dismissed, as it is taught with little depth and in a matter of only one chapter. Simply saying “sexual harassment is wrong” does not convey to students why these kinds of actions are wrong.

As well as this, many students to take physiology in place of the health course.

This means a number of students are not exposed to the sexual harassment and assault aspect of health requirements. Al-

though sexual assault is required, by law, to be taught in health class, this renders it ineffective. By doing so, essential instruction on topics relating to sexual harassment and assault is lost.

One way we can address this topic more effectively is by having guest speakers give speeches about their experiences with sexual harassment and sexual assault. By having these guest speakers come to the high school each year, students may become more aware of the reality of the issue as it gives real life examples of how victims’ lives are impacted.

Another solution could be having a thirty minute course students must attend once a week after school. This course could address the impacts on lives of both offenders and victims, to show students that committing sexual assault can jeopardize their chances of succeeding in life or pursuing their dreams. It would teach victims that their offenders should and need to face consequences for their actions.

Administration could supplement their guideline of mandatory suspension to those involved in sexually harassing or assaulting others with a mandatory workshop to be attended in the duration of their suspension.

The school’s shock at the numbers of sexual harassment and assault incidents among our students without putting forward the best possible effort to educate students on these topics is nothing more than an empty gesture. Addressing the topics of sexual assault and sexual harassment will take a tremendous amount of effort, but it is well worth it. If any real change is to be achieved, it must be brought to the students in the form of a stronger emphasis in the curriculum on sexual harassment and sexual assault.

How to respond to your family’s opposing viewpoints on Thanksgiving

by Adam Yorke It’s that time of the year again. Next Thursday, fascists and communists alike will sit around a table brimming with overcooked Turkey, dry stuffing and surrounded by relatives not worth seeing more than once a year.

Thanksgiving is a day of indulging. It’s a day to eat so much pie you throw up. It’s a day to listen to your drunk uncle yell about how it’s time to “take back this country.”

What Thanksgiving is not, is a day to quietly eat dinner while snapchatting your friend about how your uncle is racist, too afraid to speak up.

Political beliefs have become so polar-

izing and divisive that people are afraid to say who they support in fear of offending someone or ruining a relationship. Not everyone who supports Trump is racist or anti-Muslim, and not everyone who supports Sanders or Clinton is a gender-fluid snowflake socialist. There is a middle ground.

I remember last year is US History class when one student told another that he was a Republican. Her response was, “so you don’t like gay people?” Confused, he tried to tell her that he was pro-gay marriage and pro-choice, but still a Republican. She wouldn’t have it, “that’s impossible,” she said.

There are many reasons for America’s political divisiveness. The primary is ignorance. How can two opposite sides have an actual debate when they don’t know what the other believes?

It is very possible for someone to support conservative free market principles while holding more liberal social beliefs.

It is also very possible for someone to hold progressive tax ideals while disapproving of gay marriage.

Not to join Trump’s war against media, but “fake news” is very prevalent on both

sides. The primary purpose of CNN, Fox, DailyWire, etc. is increased viewership for more ad revenue. Accuracy is secondary.

What’s worse is that these biased news reports are blindly repeated and circulated, creating even more biased misinformation.

This process leads to echo chambers, a situation where readers are only shown content that reinforces their current political or social views, without ever challenging them to think differently.

The Washington Post published a study proving this phenomenon. “Alarmingly, when deliberately false information was introduced into these echo chambers, it was absorbed and viewed as credible as long as it conformed with the primary narrative. And even when more truthful information was introduced to correct or ‘debunk’ falsehoods, either it was ignored or it reinforced the users’ false beliefs.”

Harvard professor Cass Sunstein conducted a study proving that this mob mentality affects all of us by randomly assigning federal judges to three-judge panels.

When liberal judges happened to be temporarily put on a panel with other liberals, they usually swung leftward. Con-

versely, conservative judges usually ruled rightward when randomly grouped with other conservatives.

We live in a liberal echo chamber. The word “Republican” is regarded as almost an insult here in Los Angeles, where only 22% of votes were cast for Trump. It is like generalizing all white girls as basic and attention seeking Instagram models. It’s not true for all, only some.

For example, UC Berkeley descended into a war zone when Milo Yiannopoulos, a right wing journalist, was scheduled to speak. His speech was eventually cancelled when it was deemed too dangerous for him to even show up. Whether Republican or Democrat, we should all be able to agree that this is ridiculous.

If you are so offended by someone else’s ideas that you infringe upon their first amendment rights, then you should probably just stay home and watch Parks and Rec with your cats.

So this Thanksgiving, I encourage you to answer the inevitable questions about college not with “I don’t know”, but with “I’m a gay Republican, how ‘bout them apples?”

Readers are treating college applications like online dating profiles

by Samaya Rubio Your college application is little more than an online dating profile. To the school of your dreams, a swipe left or a swipe right determines your admission.

On most dating apps you get a short biography and some quick facts. On a dating site it might be height, weight and occupation, but on a college application it’s grades, test scores and maybe an interesting thing you’ve done with your life. From these facts and figures, admissions staff can never put together a real sense of who the person is, let alone if the applicant would really be a good asset to their school.

To add insult to injury, people can easily lie on their applications. You can compare my application that is filled to the brim with activities that I really do to someone who sits at home all day doing nothing but playing video games, and they could be nearly identical. That person could make everything up and the admissions staff may not even know the difference.

The problem is that there are no consequences for the liars if they are not caught, but consequences for the competitors who put in the effort. These consequences may result in a greater likelihood of what is known in the dating app as a swipe left, and what is known in the admissions process as a trip to the reject pile.

A different take on the application process is that it does provide a valid show of your academic life, the factor that a school should be focusing on more than anything else. It is not difficult to understand what kind of a student they are. Using blanket statements like “rigorous course load,” colleges can tell if this person has been pushing themselves academically or not.

This obviously begs the question of whether the applicant was involved in

other responsibilities at the time. It doesn’t matter if you were supporting your family financially, watching siblings, starring in a TV show or devoting your life to being hunched over a microscope trying to cure cancer, you will automatically be flagged as not good enough for many schools. Just like it can be compared to a dating app, the college application is also like a giant marine aquarium — the pool is so large that if a college misses out on a dolphin they can have 100 goldfish and do just fine.

College is a scary process. It’s about making yourself look good no matter how it must be done. In the end, you’ve got to make the best show of yourself possible in those seven minutes the readers look at your application packet. Good luck to those applying this year.

9

OPINION

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

Editorial

Banning books is detrimental to education To Kill a Mockingbird was removed from several schools, sparking debate over censorship

Commonly

banned books in the US

1984

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Of Mice and Men

Lord of the Flies

The Great Gatsby

The Catcher in the Rye

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MAKENA FRIAS AND INFORMATION FROM LIBGUIDES.BUTLER.EDU

The Catcher in the Rye. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 1984. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Lord of Files. Of Mice and Men. All these literary classics have been a significant component to the education of many middle school and high students by teaching values and introducing readers to themes in human history of racism and slavery, totalitarianism, human nature and more.

Unfortunately, these books have been banned from schools at one point due to sexual references, racial slurs or excessive violence. Why? It’s a form of censorship that detracts from education on important issues. At no point should a book be prohibited from schools or libraries, as they are meant to encourage readers to question established social institutions like religions, governments or education systems.

To Kill a Mockingbird was pulled from the eighth-grade curriculum in Biloxi, Mississippi due to the mention of the n-word.

By removing To Kill a Mockingbird, educators have missed the opportunity to discuss the prevalent racism in our society; the freedom educators have to explore different social issues and promote new ideas should be upheld. When books are censored, teachers are left teaching in a bland and formulaic manner. Instead, they can help their students to read, think and question by discussing books that explore sensitive issues. Isn’t that what schools are for?

Continuing to act as if race no longer matters or it’s too difficult to discuss are parts of the problem. Censorship is simply a way for our society to avoid conversing about sensitive topics.

And that’s just one book children are of-

ten prohibited from reading. Other books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Of Mice and Men have been banned for the same reasons. These controversial books launch a discussion about racial inequality, the portrayal of people of color in literature and social hierarchy. Sugarcoating past

atrocities and prejudice does not help our society learn from its mistakes. It stops our society from becoming a progressive and tolerant place for everyone.

Even books such as Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto shouldn’t be banned. To understand the rise of fascism and communism, students must have the ability to read these texts. Though the books may have incited violence and hatred, or encoura g e d working-class revolution, they nevertheless provide truths about the feelings and sentiments of the people that implemented these forms of government which cannot be ignored.

Peop l e

ILLUSTRATION BY BRENNAN HICKEY

Editorial Board Vote

Is there any circumstance in which a school should remove a book from the curriculum?

YES: 3

NO: 4

read to learn; they don’t, for instance, read The Communist Manifesto to establish their own communist utopia.

Rather, reading The Communist Manifesto is a means to explore the sentiments behind communism and its ideological development. Primary sources, along with proper factual evidence, historical accounts and other opposing authors, provide a better understanding. People should form their own opinions regarding controversial issues instead of mindlessly agreeing with the popular opinion.

When a book is banned, it simply means those in power, such as politicians, parents or administrators, have decided that it’s for the people’s own good that they do not read a certain book. What right do they have to say what students can and can’t read? Students of a certain age are capable of thinking analytically, and therefore, should be able to read these texts when they are introduced to the subject in school.

If students are learning about Nazism and the Holocaust in our history classes, then we shouldn’t be banned from reading the books and articles written at that time.

In addition, students can try to comprehend how and why such atrocities could have happened by reading these disputed texts. Avoiding discussion about influential historical texts and controversial works of literature simply exacerbates the problem by leading to naivety.

Books are a powerful and effective catalyst for change, but if some are continuously attacked for tackling prevalent issues, then we are at risk of losing our ability to think critically about the world around us.

People should take greater initiative to combact homelessnession

by Kate Ripley

In Los Angeles, 74%ofthehomelessareunsheltered.,and33%of them have a mental illness.

The busy areas of Los Angeles, like Skid Row, are far from pleasant. With waste in the streets, cracked sidewalks, smog-thick air and putrid smells, few would wish to spend much time in the bustling crowds.

Well, some people don’t have a choice.

Over half a million people are homeless in our country. Why is this number so high?

Why are kids just like you and me living alone on the streets, often without shelter or any help at all? As a community, we should assess these questions and ask how we as individuals can make a difference.

It’s rather daunting that sympathy is now a distant concept to us when it comes to the homeless. The thing is, the problem goes far beyond those immediately affected by homelessness: it is your problem, too.

It is my problem. It is our problem.

People tend to use homeless veterans as their argumentative tactic: “Why are we helping _____ when we have homeless veterans?” I have yet to personally see a single one of these commenters out helping the homeless in general.

In fact, Vice President Pence tweeted “Our nation owes a debt to our veterans, and it is a debt we can never fully repay — but on this Veterans Day, and every day,

In the US, 32% of the homeless are unsheltered,and2O%arechildren.Also,therewere39,471 homeless veterans in January 2O16.

INFORMATION COMPLIED FROM WWW.EPATH.ORG AND WWW.HUDEXCHANGE.INFO

we will strive to do just that.” However, he cut transitional shelter programs and reduced shelter budgets, harming the hundreds of homeless veterans living Indiana when he was the governor.

However, veterans are not the only group struggling with homelessness. At least 88 percent of homeless families attribute their situation to domestic violence, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Many people — specifically women and children — are forced to choose between an abuser in their home or homelessness. Due to the the high concentration of homeless in Los Angeles, many are turned away from shelters and forced to be on their own, especially kids.

In addition, about 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBTQ, many of whom were kicked out by parents who refuse to accept

their identities, according to a national study done by the Williams Institute of Law. No wonder our society cannot sympathize with strangers in need— they can’t even sympathize with their own children.

While the issue of homelessness has been improving nationwide (decreasing 3 percent between 2015 and 2016), the issue is highly concentrated in California, specifically Los Angeles. In California, almost half (44 percent) of the homeless are unsheltered, according to the Housing and Urban Development Department. Yes, there are shelters, but there aren’t enough; simply put, many of them aren’t adequate.

With 74 percent of the homeless unsheltered, Los Angeles exceeds the state’s already concerning 44 percent, according to People Assisting the Homeless (PATH).

For those unsheltered, finding a place

to sleep is more difficult than people may think. For example, Beverly Hills passed the Panhandling Bill in the 90s, which made it illegal for people to sit on sidewalks and other public areas open to pedestrians, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, the issue of homelessness is not being met with proper political action. Democrats and Republicans alike lack motivation or a decent plan to benefit the homeless. We need representatives who care and will truly work to better the lives of our citizens — all of our citizens.

When election time comes around again, vote. For those of you who are not 18, research and advocate for candidates who will make a difference. Attend city hall meetings or research city policies and decide whether they are fair to the homeless in your neighborhood. If they aren’t, work to change them.

The homeless are not all mentally unstable criminals who want to hurt you.

There are some homeless people who may be rude or intimidating, but many are kind and simply disadvantaged. Don’t let one bad experience ruin your image of all people in need.

Helping the homeless doesn’t mean you have to build a shelter or volunteer daily. You can start small. Donate old, clean clothes to shelters, give a little food to someone who looks hungry. Even as a highschooler, you can help. Stop by room 501 to donate to the Downtown Women’s Shelter or participate in the Red Cross Club’s drive for veterans (office or room 821). Helping people is much easier than many think, people just need to find the initiative to act.

FEATURES

OCT. 6, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

Knitting

9

for a cause

For her Gold Award, Chun is making scarves for the homeless

by Molly Cochran The allure of living in Los Angeles is the thought of a glamorous downtown metropolitan area, but locals know the truth; rather than actors and pop-stars, the streets are filled with homeless Americans.

For her Girl Scouts Gold Award project, junior Julia Chun is putting together holiday kits to pass out to the homeless living in Skid Row and writing a book about how the stigma surrounding homelessness.

“In downtown LA, it’s really bad. Skid Row has extended all the way to Little Tokyo now,” Chun said.

Since Chun is concerned about the people living without shelter during the winter months, she believes this project would help the homeless live a slightly better life.

“It may not snow here, but it does get cold. It means so much more when they’re handmade,” Chun said.

In addition to her concern for homeless people’s well-being during wintertime, she also seeks to raise awareness about the stereotypes surrounding the homeless population, which is why she decided to write a book about it.

“I want to spread awareness that it’s not just ‘druggies and alcoholics begging for money.’ They’re people just like you and me who may be in these circumstances through no fault of their own,” Chun said.

Her troop leader, Shannon Coyle, believes that passing out scarves and inter-

viewing strangers for a book is a difficult task and is shocked to see Chun—a “quiet and reserved” girl—prepared to help people in need.

“The first time I ever heard her talk was because she didn’t know I was in the room.

Hearing that she chose this as her project was definitely a pleasant surprise,” Coyle said.

As a dancer enrolled in many Advanced Placement (AP) classes, Chun is constantly “busy.” With the addition of writing a book and hand-knitting scarves, she does not have time for friends or free time. Regardless of the “huge” time consumption, Coyle states that Chun is still willing to put in the necessary effort to help the homeless people.

“She shows a ton of commitment to the project. There’s a required amount of 80 hours but I know she’ll surpass that if she hasn’t already,” Coyle said.

According to Coyle, starting a Girl Scouts Gold Award project is “very extraneous” process that requires preparation and dedication.

“She has to write an entire proposal, draw up a budget, go through an interview process, and that’s all before she even starts the project. The project itself takes at least 80 hours of work, working with a mentor for her community, fundraising, and no parent help,” Coyle said.

However, the experience is extremely “rewarding.” Along with the opportunity to step out of her suburban neighborhood—a “comfortable” Redondo Beach bubble—this award looks very appealing on college applications and certain job resumes.

“It’s a very prestigious award, when colleges are choosing between a gold award student and a non-gold award student with the same qualifications, they’ll choose the gold award student,” Coyle said.

As a troop leader, Coyle who has known Chun’s family for nearly 16 years has mentored seventeen Girl Scouts since she began volunteering and believes none are quite as uniquely kind as Julia.

“Her family is very service-minded. For someone of her age to be this insightful, really speaks to her intelligence and the ability to pinpoint homeless people speaks to her personality and compassion,” Coyle said.

Chun, a girl with meals every night, a bed to sleep in and a television with Netflix on it, was “taken back” by the unnoticable privileges that she had. After realizing this, she decided to help the homeless who are deprived of a “comfortable” life, specifically by hand-knitting scarves in every kit to donate.

“Store bought scarves are nice, but with these, the love was put into it,” Chun said.

As Chun was walking around, she in-

teracted many people without jobs and homes—an experience she believes to be “life changing.”

“When I went to pass the kits out, it was really cool and humbling. It made me grateful for everything I have like a roof over my head. It made me appreciate more.

I saw the opportunity to help people, so I did,” Chun said.

Sew Cute. Junior Julia Chun knits a scarf for her Girl Scouts Gold Award project. PHOTO

BY EDEN MILLAN

Battle of the smartphones

by Ophelia Winslett

iPhone X

Pixel 2

Marking the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone, Apple’s $999 smartphone, the iPhone X is out.

“It’s great. I really appreciate the design and the technology. There is a whole bunch of new technology I get to play with. I appreciate the bigger size, I have a lot more room."

Although the phone posseses many “great” characteristics, the iPhone X has several downfalls.

“With the angle of the face ID sensor, you have to lift it up and look at it for it to work. It’s a little small hat, but it can still get annoying.”

Battery life: 8 hours and 40 minutes

RAM: 3 GB

Screen size: 5 inches

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which was released on September 15, is a huge improvement from the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. According to GadgetMatch, it is a success.

“From all angles, there’s no denying it’s a good looking phone,” the Youtuber Michael Josh from GadgetMatch said.

Despite including many “nice” features, the phone’s large size may affect its functionality. However, GadgetMatch believes the new phone’s advantages outweigh all its negative aspects.

“It’s what sets it apart from other big screen phones,” GadgetMatch said. “Samsung’s second attempt at building the best smartphone is a smashing success.”

Charging time: 2 hours and 10 minutes

RAM: 4 GB Charging time: 2 hours and 25minutes Storage: 64 GB-8 GB

Battery life: 8 to 10 hours

Screen size: 5.8 inches Cost: $999.00 PHOTOS VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

With a 98 rating on DOX and being the cheapest out of the three smartphones at $650-750, Android’s Pixel 2 is breaking records.

“I was excited when I got it. It’s a new phone really powerful,” freshman Logan Galimi said. “It’s got the best camera on a smartphone ever. Unlike Apple, Google has a more stuff your assistant can do. You can have heavy google searches and you can somewhat talk to it.

Galimi enjoys many of the phone’s features, such as the phone’s dual stero speakers, speed and battery life.

“Because the phone charges so fast, I don’t have to charge my phone and listen to music at the same time,” Galimi said.

“The speakers on this phone are the best I’ve ever heard.

“It’s a really fast phone. You can customize a lot of it.”

Screen size: 6.3 inches

Battery life: 7 to 11 hours

Storage: 64 GB-2 TB

10 NOV. 17,2017 | HIGH TIDE

IN FOCUS

Political polarization

How the lost common ground between political parties is divi groups and dinner tables

by Adam Sayad and Grace McGonigle

The Root Cause

Broken plates, spilled drinks, uneaten food, screaming people. No, this isn’t a bar fight, this is a Thanksgiving table after a political debate.

The 2016 presidential election proved to be one of the most turbulent political races in American history. President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both attracted very different groups of supporters who took opposite approaches to almost every policy and changed the parties’ demographics.

Even though the election itself is over, its effects are prevalent in many aspects of American society. The American people remain more divided than ever and have reached new levels of political extremes. Many liberals are dissatisfied with the workings of the current administration.

Conservatives on the other hand usually support limited government and free market, two principles that are heavily debated by republicans and democrats alike.

These issues may seem to occur solely at the national level, however, division runs rampant at the high school.

claimed that it was disrespectful to the American flag and those who have served in the military.

Others argued that it was a form of peaceful protest and went along with first amendment rights.

Stock’s decision to identify as a republican in a very liberal setting has been difficult for her. She sometimes feels restricted when she wants to discuss her opinions because of the school’s environment which is very polarized in her opinion.

“Many people at our school aren’t accepting over different viewpoints. I get criticized all of the time for what I have to say, I get closed down a lot, I accept other people’s opinions but I don’t feel respected,” Stock said.

2. Gun control

On the other hand, junior Hayden Anderson takes a more moderate and non-interventional approach to politics and the “heated conversations” they often cause.

In particular, gun control is a major topic of debate. During the 2016 election, the second amendment and its current role in American society became a major point of controversy. Clinton and Trump strongly disagreed on how gun control should be enforced.

Modern political controversies: Clinton’s campaign focused on tightening re1. Kneel or stand? strictions for gun purchases through extensive Junior Saige Stock believes that the school envibackground checks and tighter legislation. ronment isn’t very accepting and has experienced Trump’s campaign focused on protecting the backlash for her opinions on certain issues. She rights of gun owners through preventing legfirst felt targeted for her beliefs in islation that impedes on the second her Speech and Argument class “I get criticized all amendment. Unlike Clinton, Trump during a discussion about kneeling of the time for what opposed putting during the national anthem. restrictions on asI have to say, I get “In class we were arguing about sault rifle sales. He whether people should be able to closed down a lot, I cited mental-health kneel during the national anthem, accept other people’s as the biggest factor I personally believe it’s rude to opinions but I don’t for gun violence kneel during the national anthem and he proposed because I think it’s a form of disrefeel respected.” solutions to fix spect to all of the men and women - Saige Stock our “broken” who have fought for our country, mental-health system. my class kept shutting me off and some people asAnderson recalls a sumed that I didn’t support the ‘Black Lives Matter’ fight that occurred bemovement which isn’t true,” Stock said. tween his mom and sisThe topic of kneeling during the national anter at a family member’s them has been especially dividing. When NFL birthday party. Both of players, many of which were African American, them had to leave bekneeled to unite against President Trump, some

How to avoid a political feud at Thanksgiving 1. Stick to “Tier 1” topics: Pop culture, sports and shared ex-

periences like, the food, family matters or even the holidays themselves.“Tier 2” conversations, on the other hand, are things like politics, religion and sex, and they tend to create deeper divisions.

2. Don’t take the bait or feel obligated to argue your uncle’s or cousin’s point you believe is wrong. It’s not worth the fight.

3. Be compas-

sionate, listen, and admit when you’re wrong so everyone can move on.

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

cause the confrontation became too intense.

“My sister and mom were talking about gun control, my mom who has been a cop for 30 years strongly believes in the second amendment, whereas my sister completely opposes that view and the argument got pretty violent.”

Conseqences and remedies

Ignoring political discussions might be easy, especially with Thanksgiving approaching, however, Stock believes that they are important to have, and that talking about politics with people who disagree with her helps her learn.

“Be open-minded, it doesn’t matter if you think that they’re wrong, listen to what they have to say because you “You would might end up agreeing with them. You be very ign can learn so much from someone if you tarnish a fr don’t immediately shut them down,” over a disag Stock said.

Stock wants people to know that of opinion. one’s political viewpoints should not mately refle define their personal character. She you are kno bases this belief off of the various you can’t li things that people assume about her other people just because of her political stance. you “People make such quick assumptions. Just because I’m republican peo- Lucas S ple assume that I agree with everything Trump has to say which is not true,” Stock said.

Initially, Senior Lucas Simoes had a difficult time coping with the backlash that his more conservative views had with some people at the high school.

“During my first time expressing my political opinion, I was very scared because I didn’t know that politics were such a big deal, I almost gave in and felt the need to follow what everyone else was saying, but I was eventually able to develop stronger self-esteem and stand up for my beliefs,” Simoes said.

Simoes enjoys political discussions and takes pride in putting his opinions out there. He believes that it is healthy for people to develop their own opinions while listening to others.

Simoes constantly argues with his friends over controversial issues like abortion and social

IN FOCUS

NOV. 17,2017 | HIGH TIDE 11

iding friend

welfare. However, they remain friends because of ed debates she has been in are over abortion, a their ability to respectfully disagree with each othtopic that has divided Americans for decades. er.

“The most intense arguments I’ve gotten into “Unfortunately relationships are only ruined are about pro life and pro choice. People get really when people are very narrow-minded. You would passionate about that and I can see both points of have to be very ignorant to tarnish a friendship over view, so it’s frustrating when people don’t want a disagreement of opinion. That ultimately reflects to see another side or can’t consider any views who you are knowing that you can’t live when othother than their own,” Coneybeare said. er people disagree with you,” Simoes said.

Coneybeare believes that the way people Simoes believes that the high school is polarized share their political views reflects who they are on many issues. However, he believes that people as a person. should never be afraid to express their opinions.

“If you’re very politically knowledgeable and “I definitely think that our school is more polaryou know what you’re talking about, then the ized, but it goes beyond to most of the ideologies you hold politically also are who you South Bay and California. We’re definiteare as a person. If you’re against gay marriage d have to ly leaning left on a lot of issues, and I feel and civil liberties then I will lose respect for you norant to like if somebody presents an opinion that because you don’t respect other people,” Coneyriendship is a little bit different they do get some beare said. of shame for their opinion even if In spite of this, Coneybeare still makes an greement sort they have a logical argument people tend effort to respect those with different views than That ulti- to not listen and bully her. ects who them,” Simoes said.

“I am civil to Trump supporters.

“The ideologies you Simoes believes that I don’t hate them. I just don’t think owing that hold politically also political conflicts I would be close friends with them ive when many arise from people believbecause we wouldn’t have a lot in are who you are as e disagree ing that they are always common, and if you’re rude about a person. If you’re u.” right. People should be your views then you’re rude in genagainst gay marriage eral,” Coneybeare said. willing to listen even if Simoes they believe that they are and civil liberties then Coneybeare thinks that the key correct according to Sito avoiding political polarization is I will lose respect moes. to acknowledge different for you because you learning “For people to get along, they have beliefs. don’t respect other to get past the mental barrier of al “People should have a more open mind and be able to respect other’s ways being right, don’t always folpeople.” opinions, even if they don’t accept low the bandwagon, be open to other -Emily Conybear them as their own,” Coneybeare opinions and listen to the evidence, said. “You should recognize that don’t be so stubborn about different that opinion exists things, even if you disagree you can present your and not have to own facts, evidence, and knowledge,” Simoes said. refute it or acFor senior Emily Coneybeare, even though many cept it.” of her friends share her political views, she has still experienced the divide politics can cause.

“Most of my friends are pretty liberal because we live in a mostly liberal area, but I have definitely gotten more distant from people or lost respect for them because of very extreme political views that weren’t the same as mine,” Coneybeare said.

Although she has experienced conflicts in different forms, the most heat-

Democrats and Republicans are more ideologically divided than in the past Distribution of democrats and Republicans based on a 10 item scale of political values

1994

MEDIAN

Democrat

MEDIAN

Republican

Consistently liberal

2004

MEDIAN

Democrat

Consistently conservative

MEDIAN

Republican

Consistently conservative

Consistently liberal

2017 MEDIAN

Democrat

MEDIAN

Republican

Consistently liberal INFORMATION COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS ILLUSTRATION BY BRENNAN HICKEY

Consistently conservative

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Kiamilev and Donahue invest in Bitcoin and stocks

Saving up for a rainy day

by Austin Nunis

Waking up in the morning, senior Lawrance Kiamilev’s heart drops when he sees his stocks have gone down, but he has to remember his most important rule, to “just stick with it” and ride the highs and lows of the investment out.

At ten years old, Kiamilev’s interest in his dad’s investment practices peaked, and his love for the stock market was discovered.

“My dad just invested in a lot of things and I got curious so he taught me how to go about it. I just had fun with it at first,” Kiamilev said. “You can see anything as an investment, so the first thing I technically invested into was these little Hot Wheel cars that actually appreciate in value.”

After years of learning the ins, outs, and strategy to the stock market, Kiamilev currently has successful shares in Facebook, Nvidia, Google, Apple, Tesla and Bitcoin.

“I just buy what I know. So if I know that something’s going to happen with this company and their value is going to go up then I’m going to buy the stock,” Kiamilev said.

A calculated risk taker, Kiamilev has learned how to get the most out of his investments by watching trends in the market.

“I take a lot of risks because I feel like I can. The more risks you take the more reward I find, however, it’s also more risk that you’re going to lose money. However, I don’t take blind risks, I take educated risks,” Kiamilev said. “I’ll be willing to pay as much as I have, so if a share is $1,000 and I know it’s going to go up, and I have $1,000, I’ll be willing to pay it.”

Kiamilev’s friend senior Liam Donahue is also in the business of investing Riding the highs and lows. but hasn’t taken on the stock market just yet. Instead, he is focusing his attention on Bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency and digital payment system.

“I thought that I might as well get into

investing while I’m younger, so any income that I have is still really disposable,” Donahue said. “I figure if I lose all my money right now it’s not like I have to pay rent or anything, which allows me to take more risks and sort of play with my money.”

H e plans to keep his investment in Bitcoin for around ten to twenty years, letting h i s m o n ey gradually ILLUSTRATION BY MAKENA FRIAS grow.

Kiamilev has a similar mindset, and plans to save his money “for a rainy day”.

“I’m at a point in my life where I don’t need the mone, and I can take risks, so I’m keeping it there, letting it grow. I’m letting

my money work for me and I’m not taking it out until I’m probably about 25. I see it as insurance, a rainy day fund,” Kiamilev said.

Throughout this process, which he took interest i n this past September, Donahue has learned the importance of “biding time”.

“If you’re not sure about something, then watch how things are playing out before taking too much action or making a decision,” Donahue said. “I used to just throw in money at random times, but now I check the price every 15 minutes, and now I can understand the trends and know when the best times to invest are.”

Kiamilev, on the other hand, has learned valuable lessons in patience and the importance of diversifying.

“If you don’t put all your eggs in one basket, I find that your stock will go up because usually investments are a long term process, not short term. So when you see it one day go down five dollars, you’re going to freak out, but I usually just stick with it,” Kiamilev said. “It’s exactly like poker in the sense that you’re your worst enemy. So as long as you have patience and diversify, you’re guaranteed to make money.”

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NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

#

13

Middler the Marathoner

: 5 Mile Markers

Computer Science teacher Mitch Middler has run two marathons

by Sarah Flannery Q: What marathons have you run?

A: My first marathon was the LA Marathon, and my second one was the Lexus Ventura Marathon.

Q: How did you prepare for your first race?

A: I just sort of cobbled up my own plan from stuff I found online, and it didn’t work out that well. Three weeks before the run, I trained about 23 miles up in the hills of Palos Verdes which made my body go ‘ok that’s the marathon so now you can rest for the next five months.’ But going to the actual run three weeks later, my body was not happy with me.

Q: What did you do differently when you prepared for the Lexus Ventura Marathon?

A: Well, now I’m in a run club with a coach, and he put together a slow and steady training plan for me.

Q: What were the hardest parts of the races?

A: The first time I did it I had physical blocks, but I didn’t have many blocks mentally because I was a little overconfident. The second time the mental blocks were mainly about having to do it again and trying not to repeat my mistakes. It made me respect the distance of the marathon.

Q: Why did you decide to run a second marathon?

A: Having those challenges the first time around is exactly why I wanted to come back. I felt like I didn’t accomplish what I’d set out to do, and I wanted to feel satisfied.

The second time I felt good about finishing which is an awesome feeling because it felt like the different approach really paid off.

Just keep running. Middler runs in the 26.2 miles Lexus Ventura Marathon. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MITCH MIDDLER AND CREATIVE COMMONS.

Q: Did you always want to run a marathon?

A: When I started, the longest I’d run was 6 miles, so I only thought I’d do half marathons; even that seemed like a lot, but now here I am with two marathons under my belt!

Witteman’s passion for motocross changed his life

by Amanda Ban As the sun beats down and the contestants line up to race the desert is almost silent, but once the starting gate drops the silence is interrupted by the sound of roaring engines and excited cheers from the stands.

Senior Joe Witteman has grown up outside playing sports and has always had an interest in mechanics. At the age of three he discovered motocross racing which allowed him to combine his love of athletics and engineering. Witteman spends a lot of his time working on dirtbikes, cars and doing mechanical researching. This combined interest has given him an idea of what he wants to do with his future.

“Working on dirt bikes has peaked my interest in everything mechanical. One of the main things I want to study in college is engineering,” Witteman said. “Rebuilding dirt bike engines and seeing first hand how it works has inspired me to become an engineering major and possibly get a job in the automotive industry developing new ideas for car engines.

Motocross has given Witteman the chance to meet new people and grow closer to friends that share his interest “In the first grade my friend Jake took me to a track for the first time and I loved

it. That was when I got introduced to the track style of riding,” Witteman said. “Going to the track you meet a lot of cool people who are willing to help you with your bike and give you tips. There are a lot of nice people on the track that I wouldn’t have met in my everyday life.”

Witteman’s family is “a big outdoors family,” and has nurtured his interest in racing from the beginning. He started riding on his brother and sister’s old bikes and worked his way up to bigger, more advanced ones.

“I learned from my dad at a young age.

We used to go out a lot with one of his friends that was a really good rider,” Witteman said. “My mom works for Honda, so there are a lot of people that work with her that are a part of the Honda Motorcycle Club. We used to go with a lot of experienced Honda riders, and a lot of those guys taught me.”

To prepare, Witteman gathers his protective gear, loads his bike and stocks up on water and gatorade since the races generally take place in 90 degree weather.

Despite the inherent danger of the sport, Witteman has never sustained a serious injury.

“It’s kind of rare not to get hurt from it.

I’ve been lucky and been able to avoid injury,” Witteman said.

The race tracks incorporate different kinds of obstacles to challenge the riders including jumps anywhere from 30 to 60 feet high, whoops, which are many small continuous jumps, and sharp turns. Witteman enjoys racing, although he sometimes gets anxious.

“Everytime I hit a new jump I get pretty nervous. I usually speed check someone else into the jumps,” Witteman said. “I’ll ask someone ‘hey do you mind if I follow you into this jump’ and I’ll gauge the speed that they are going at. It gives me a little more confidence when I’m going into something new.”

Motocross has also allowed Witteman to bond with his family more, especially his older brother. “[My brother and I] don’t really socialize too much, but dirt biking has always been a mutual interest of ours,” Witteman said. “It’s been nice to have something to bring us together.”

Witteman’s father is “proud” to see that

the time he has spent working with his son is appreciated and has helped him refine his skills.

“Whenever Joe gets on the track his personality totally changes. He becomes very serious and is there to do his best.

With other sports he never had the same kind of drive and determination that he has with motocross,” Mr. Witteman said.

“It has been a joy watching him progress over the years. At the end of the day, win or lose, he is always humble and always thanks me.”

At 10 years old, Witteman entered his first race at Milestone MX which was particularly ‘nerve-racking’. Although he “did pretty badly in [his] first race,” it gave him the opportunity to overcome his fear.

“At the starting gate I honestly thought I was going to throw up. I was so nervous because I had never done it before, and I was going up against kids who lived at the track and went every weekend,” Witteman said. “Once the gate dropped and we started racing all the fear went away, and I started having fun.”

2.

1.

Full throttle. Joe Widmen rides his dirt bike on a dirt course with many sharp turns (1) and whoops (2). PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOE WITTEMAN.

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Nora Viola Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: I get my inspiration for clothing everywhere. I can be inspired by scrolling through my feed or even walking down the halls of Redondo.

Q: Which stores do you usually shop at?

A: I shop anywhere really but I always find myself thrifting. You can get cool and good clothes for such a cheap price.

Q: How would you describe your clothing style?

A: I don’t think I have one specific clothing style.

One day I can wear streetwear and the next day I’ll go for more of a chic look followed with a 90s fit. I think that’s one of the fun things about dressing up is that you can change your style all the time.

Connor Gore Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: I find my inspiration from Travis Scott and Lebron James.

Q: When did you start experimenting with your style?

A: I started to take different styles of clothing and mixed them together during the summer going into junior year. When I started dressing up I just wanted to be more presentable and unique with my appearance.

Q: Where do you usually shop at?

A: My favorite places to shop are H&M, Flight 23, Champs and Tilly’s.

Q: How would you describe your clothing style?

A: I like to mix active wear with street wear with a combination.

Redondo Style

Students use clothes to express themselves INFORMATION COMPILED BY WILLIAM POURNAMDARI PHOTOS BY HALLE BENDER AND EDEN MILLAN

Miya Stephanoff

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: My mom’s fashion inspires the way I dress.

Q: When did you start experimenting with your style?

A: I started dressing the way I wanted freshmen year because I started thrifting.

Q: Which stores do you usually shop at?

A: I mostly shop out of my mom’s closet. She used to work at Guess in the 90s so I get to incorporate all of her nice pieces.

Q: How would you describe your clothing style?

A: I would generalize it as vintage androgyny. I like 90s monochromatic outfits, but also loud 60s dresses and the 40s swing era as well.

Zito DeBoer

Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?

A: My inspiration comes from Russell Westbrook’s, Big Shaq’s and A$AP Rocky’s clothing.

Q: What was your motivation to experiment with your style?

A: I’m trying to be cozy.

Q: Which stores do you usually shop at?

A: I shop at H&M, Cotton On and Grailed.

Kiara and Nathanel Gries ran a Spartan Race

by Sarah Falahahwazi With the steep hills of Big Bear surrounding them, Kiara and Nathanel Gries pushed through their doubts and got third and fourth place respectively among 15-19 year olds in the Spartan Race.

Although people discouraged Kiara for being four feet and eight inches tall, that only motivated her to push herself harder.

“They said I was too small to do it, but I just took that as a challenge,” Kiara said.

“It made me push harder when I saw that there were all these older people so I could keep up with them.”

The siblings competed in the five mile obstacle course on Oct. 29. Along the way, competitors would have to throw spears, climb rocks, climb monkey bars and carry buckets full of rocks. If an obstacle was not completed successfully, then participants had to do 30 burpees.

The hardest obstacle was “Hercules Hoist,” according to Kiara. Using a pulley system, competitors had to lift a rope attached to a weight 50 feet up in the air.

“It took an enormous amount of arm

strength, endurance and teamwork. We almost dropped the weight because it was just so tiring,” Kiara said.

The siblings started preparing for the race a few weeks in advance. Together, they would do monkey bars, burpees, and carry sandbags. Training together allowed for more efficient preparation, according to Nathanel.

“Training with my sister helped a lot because it motivated me to push harder,” Nathanel said.

During the race, the siblings would support each other.

“If we were struggling on any obstacles, we would encourage one another,” Nathanel said. “If I did the Spartan race again, I would do it with my sister.”

Although Spartan Races usually take place on a flat course, this year’s course contained hills that were hard to run on, according to Kiara. However, she also claims that her brother inspired her to run harder on the hills.

“The hills were really difficult because

they were so steep and the climbs would go on for a long time,” Kiara said. “My brother went fast on the hills though, and that motivated me a lot. He told me to keep going and to keep trying to get up the hills, so my brother really helped me out.”

Kiara and her brother became interested about the race when they heard about it. It seemed like it would be “fun,” according to Nathanel.

“I wanted to assess my strength and endurance,” Nathanel said. “I’m glad I did it. It made me do things I thought I couldn’t do.”

Kiara finished her race after two hours and 29 minutes, with Nathanel only a minute behind her. Finishing the obstacle course felt “amazing,” according to Kiara.

She claims that not only did the race make her a healthier person, but it also increased her confidence in her ability to push herself.

“It really makes you believe in yourself,” Kiara said. “When you’re in the moment it feels impossible, but afterwards you believe that you can push yourself harder.

You want to keep doing the races so you can try to do better each time.”

Kiara claims that she enjoyed the race itself and the sense of accomplishment that came with it afterwards, and she encourages others to participate in the obstacle course. She hopes to compete in another Spartan Race.

“I’d love to do another Spartan Race because it feels so rewarding once you finish,” Kiara said. “I definitely recommend other people do this because it makes you really healthy and it’s so much fun. It’s worth it.”

However, Kiara’s favorite aspect of completing the race was proving herself to those who doubted her.

“It felt amazing, and I couldn’t believe that I did it. Everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to complete it, so proving them wrong made me feel great,” Kiara said. “The best part of completing this race was showing everyone that I could do it.”

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NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

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Students bond through the rigorous marching band schedule

by Sabrina Kim Music makes the listener feel. This is important to know, especially for the Marching Band. As a Drum Major, senior Carly Stock has to make sure everyone in band is able to understand that.

“We are all like individual performers,” Stock said. “Everybody kind of needs to get into their own character.”

While performing, they have to think about the notes, timing and how the band play. As well as the actual musicality, they have to be aware of surroundings and how they are expressing themselves.

“It’s definitely very difficult to get everybody to sound the same,” Stock said.

“There’s different interpretations of music, so we have to be super aware of that.”

Competitions are extremely nerve wracking. There are judges that give the band a score. The top three bands of the district go to the Grand Champions.

“The first four minutes are one of the most stressful parts of the show because you’ve got to get everything set up,” freshman Sara Stienecker said. “Then after that the show [starts] and you’re just running on adrenaline.”

The theme for this year is called “Atlantis,” and it was inspired by the Disney film.

It is divided up into four movements.

The first is discovering Atlantis, the second is exploring, the third is “going under” and the fourth is the mystery returns. “Going under” is the climax of the performance, the crystal is stolen and Atlantis begins to sink.

“We try to form a story because we take the judges on an experience,” Stienecker said.

For Stock, her role as Drum Major means she helps to oversee the rest of the band. Drum Majors, their assistants, band captains, and band presidents help Raymundo Vizcarra, the band director, maintain the whole band.

“There’s obviously a lot of stress and that comes with the job too, but I tend to be pretty well aware of that and I feel most of the time in my right mind,” Stock said.

“There’s some occasions where something wrong will happen and I’ll have to obviously react quickly to fix it, so that will be stressful but I feel like I do relatively good job.”

This role has taught Stock how to be a better leader.

“It has definitely made me very disciplined, and a very good time manager because we are so incredibly busy,” Stock said. “Also just help me immensely with my leadership skills and my ability to work with other people of all kinds.”

As a freshman playing alto saxophone,

Stienecker believes her first year should be spent mastering the foundations of marching band.

For the time being, Stienecker just wants to improve herself. But she does dream about being on leadership as Assistant Drum Major or even Drum Major.

“I think as a freshman, your role in marching band is to learn and soak up as much as the basics as possible,” Stienecker said. “Enjoy your freshman year because after that they expect a higher level of experience for you.”

Stienecker has learned many things from marching band including dedication, time management, being prepared and never giving up.

“You also have to have perseverance.”

Stienecker said. “During band camp you got home at five and you were half alive, but you had to have grit and perseverance to keep going knowing that later in the season, it pays off. Now you’re on par with the rest of the people.”

The band community is tightly knit; they all depend on each other.

“I really like band because it’s like a giant family,” Stock said. “I always have somebody who I can rely on talk to about anything. Not only the social aspect, also the playing aspect. We all have that one thing in common that kind of connects us in that way.”

Everyone has a mutual relationship where they give tips on how to play better.

“It’s really nice to see that seniors and juniors and sometimes even the sophomores or other freshmen help each other out and say ‘hey you should work on this.’

You learn how to give positive feedback but you also learn how to accept it,” Stienecker said.

Stienecker and Stock believe Vizcarra is a big reason why the band is so successful.

“Mr. Vizcarra eats, breathes and sleeps marching band. He has such a great imagination but not to the point where we can’t execute it,” Stienecker said.

He can’t lead the band alone though.

Dedication and passion from each artist is also needed for a good show.

“The people that are [in marching band] really seem to care about the program,” Stock said. “We all have a really big drive just to be very successful.”

Perseverance, passion and dedication are all things needed for marching band. “[The band should] keep pushing,” Stock said. “It’s not over until championships. To anyone who’s watching the band, we appreciate you guys and we love it when you are super engaged with the show. It means we are doing our job as a marching band.”

Marching to the music. The Marching Band placed sixth in the division 6A semifinals. They scored 85.6 on their performance. PHOTO BY MIA WICKS

ECO Club brings aesthetic recycling bins to campus

by Jenna Edwards This past thursday, ECO, Ecological Conservation Organization, Club President Justin Pioletti and Vice President Alanna Grogan brought brightly colored recycling bins used at Coachella covered in graphic art onto the RUHS campus.

Pioletti and Grogan wanted to bring the bins to the campus in an effort to encourage students to recycle through bins that will stand out and catch their attention.

“We have partnered with Global Inheritance, a nonprofit organization that encourages recycling, and what we did was get recycling bins from them that were recently used at Coachella and brought onto the Redondo campus to encourage recycling here,” Grogan said.

ECO partnered with Global Inheritance, a nonprofit organization that encourages recycling. The club got recycling bins from

them that were recently used at Coachella and brought them onto RUHS campus to further promote recycling to students.

Grogan stumbled upon the recycling bins when she went to a music festival called Air + Style last year where the organization was volunteering the bins that were previously used at Coachella. From there, Pioletti submitted an application to get them for the RUHS campus.

Pioletti and Grogan are both hopeful that the new recycling bins will encourage the students to recycle as much as people were inclined to recycle and reduce pollution at Coachella.

“I’m pretty confident that the new bins will have an effect on people, because Coachella and other music festivals did have a pretty serious problem with pollution, and after the bins were displayed

there, the trash was reduced,” Grogan said.

However, after seeing the bins around school, sophomores Edyn Saylor and Foster Townsend were not so confident about the effectiveness of the idea overall.

“I don’t think it will help because it’s more like a sculpture, it’s not really seen as a recycling bin anymore, but rather an art piece,” Townsend said.

Agreeing with Townsend, Saylor explained that the bins’ altered appearance doesn’t necessarily mean that it will encourage students to recycle more.

“I feel like it may be effective in reducing tiny bits of trash, but with how highschoolers are, it might not be so effective.

The recycling bins may appeal to the eyes but they may not change a thing no matter how colorful they look,” Saylor said.

The whole goal of starting ECO Club for

Pioletti and Grogan was not only to reduce trash output and spread awareness about pollution to students, but also encourage sustainability overall.

“ECO is an organization that we started to further promote sustainability and recycling on the campus,” Pioletti said.

Pioletti and Grogan want to persuade more students to help the environment through their club at school, but they also want them to take ideas from the club and bring it into their individual lives at home, which will help the environment.

“Recycling is great and everything, but it’s also only one aspect in sustainability overall, so we have to make sure that our entire lifestyle about reducing what we use in our daily life, and that’s something we’re really trying to encourage with ECO club,” Pioletti said.

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ENTERTAINMENT

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

Red pill withdrawals

Feeling blue. Lead singer Adam Levine erforms Red PIll Blues PHOTO VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

RED PILL BLUES MAROON 5

Maroon 5 disappoints in album Red Pill Blues

by Alexis Mesa

With over two decades of experience in the music industry, Maroon 5’s sixth studio album Red Pill Blues proves that veteran bands can lose their way when conforming to the current pop wave. Although the album is a plethora of love songs like their previous works, as all pop albums are, the band surrenders their signature sound in exchange for a compilation of songs mimicking pop’s top hits from the last five years.

In their seminal work It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5’s edginess could not have been more apparent, found especially in tracks like “Little of Your Time” and “Wake Up Call”. Lyrically and musically they began to innovate, applying to their songs sexually provocative lyrics and just as seductive instrumentals.

However, Maroon 5 completely abandons their charmingly unique qualities to cater to the preferences of new listeners. Red Pill Blues exchanges raw strings for tracks almost entirely composed of manufactured electronic noise. Even the cover art is aggravatingly artificial and mainstream with band members wearing blemish-concealing Snapchat filters.

Red Pill Blues’ opening track “Best 4 You” is evidence of their desperation to please the current generation. Harboring a regenerated 80’s sound, the song continues the trend of nostalgia among artists like The Weeknd and Bruno Mars. Though the nostalgia is appreciated, Maroon 5 shies away from reinventing music, deciding to play it safe in music already proven to succeed. Frankly, if it weren’t for Adam Levine’s distinguishable voice, Red Pill Blues could be believably claimed by any current pop artist.

Lyrically, Maroon 5’s latest work is lacking. In “Whiskey” and “Denim Jacket”, all that can be heard is dull nonsense as Levine mulls over failed relationships. From lines like “I was so young ‘til she kissed me, like a whiskey” to “I miss you and that denim jacket”, the lyrics are unapologetically basic. However it does not matter at times, as the song’s insipid or inconsistent melody distracts from its content.

The aptly named closing track “Closure” continues to bore in an eleven and a half minute song, eight minutes of which is a guitar and piano solo attempting to resemble jams from artists like Stevie Wonder, but fails to do so. The

song is shy and stifling, failing to grasp the listener’s attention all throughout.

Yet there are mild success stories in Red Pill Blues found in the songs “What Lovers Do”, “Help Me Out”, “Don’t Wanna Know”, and “Cold”, two of which can only be listened to with the eleven dollar purchase of the deluxe album. In a sense, Maroon 5 punishes fans who want to appreciate their art, wrongfully forcing them to pay two dollars more than the standard. Within these tracks, the versatile range of Adam Levine is put on display, complemented by featured artists like SZA, Julia Michaels, Kendrick Lamar and Future. Unfortunately, these four above average songs are not enough to save Red Pill Blues from falling flat.

The album’s opening track “Best 4 You” seems to warn listeners of the impending mediocrity, stating “you don’t want what I’m gonna put you through”. Despite the album’s shortcomings, Red Pill Blues should not be considered the start of a downhill spiral for Maroon 5, but instead a plateau from which the band can recover. The days of It Won’t Be Soon Before Long are long gone, and the time for Maroon 5 to find their new sound is now.

Welcome to camp

Tyler the Creator hosts sixth annual festival, Camp Flog Gnaw

by Lauren Kim Since the first year of Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, the festival’s success has skyrocketed, attracting bigger headliners and larger crowds, this year’s October festival marks Flog Gnaw’s most successful year yet.

Although considered a hip-hop festival, the lineup consisted of artists from various genres such as R&B songstress Solange and EDM DJ Alison Wonderland, offering artists that appealed to a wide range of preferences.

Flog Gnaw is also unlike most festivals offering not only musical performances, but carnival games, free charging stations, and rides as well. The games served as an enjoyable way to pass time between sets and gave people something to do when neither of the stages hosted artists that they wanted to see.

The experience at the hip-hop boy band Brockhampton’s performance was genuinely terrifying. They were the first artists I saw at the first music festival I had been to, and I was severely unprepared for the crowd and environment.

Everytime the beat dropped, huge mosh pits opened up and I was being shoved around by sweaty men twice my size. People were being rammed to the ground and being trampled. We eventually had to leave because we were overwhelmed by the crowd.

Special guest Mac Demarco’s performance was much tamer, with chill indie music. The atmosphere of his set was the opposite of Brockhampton’s. The crowd was swaying along to his music rather than shoving fellow festival-goers around.

Nearing the end of Saturday night, almost everyone attending Camp Flog Gnaw rushed to see Tyler, the Creator to hear him perform his latest album, “Flower Boy.” The

crowd during Tyler’s set was phenomenal. The totality of jority of his songs, he did not fail to get me jumping and the crowd sang along to every song that he performed and dancing with the rest of his fans. He was able to excite the excitement that people had was contagious; he had the the crowd not only with his music but also did things like crowd jumping the whole time during his hour-long set. opening up a mosh pit spanning the entire length of the Tyler was undoubtedly the best performer at the festival stage and get 15 people to crowd surf simultaneously.

-- his ability to capture the crowd and entertain was unCamp Flog Gnaw Carnival ultimately serves as a place rivaled. for people to have fun, dance, and scream song lyrics at It was announced that the first artist set to perform the top of their lungs. People from all over the Sunday morning, Rex Orange County, was unable to enter country travel to attend this festival, the United States due to problems with his visa. This news and after attending for the first upset both me and many other die-hard fans that he had time, I can understand why. and definitely made Sunday morning start on a bad note.

For whatever reason, the crowds seemed tamer on Sunday; even at performances by rap artists like A$AP Rocky, people never seemed to be as excited as they were during Brockhampton’s set. Most of the musicians also seemed to put on a less entertaining performance than those that did Saturday.

Kehlani just wasn’t very impressive and it was difficult to focus on Playboi Carti’s set because the things people in the crowd were doing, like dancing in trees and crowdsurfing a man in a wheelchair, which were far more thrilling than the performer himself.

However, some of the musicians’ sets were stellar. Alison Wonderland’s performance was incredible because she is a renown EDM DJ and was able to keep the crowd animated.

As great as her performance was, Lil Yachty was arguably the most entertaining performer of the night.

Lil Yachty is an incredible performer.

Although I’m not familiar with the maFlower Boy. Tyler, the Creator began the festival in 2012. PHOTO VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

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NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

Sh

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East Coast burger chain opens its first restaurant in the South Bay

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ENTERTAINMENT

by Sydney Nguyen

SHAKE SHACK

EL SEGUNDO

ILLUSTRATION VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

The East Coast craze has spread across the country, finally making its way to the South Bay. At 2171 Rosecrans Ave. in El Segundo, a newly opened Shake Shack stands out against all the other competition. Its contemporary exterior and lingering waft of burgers and fries tempts future customers.

The restaurant is located in the Apollo Landing center and fits into the up and coming food scene. Following the success of their November 5th opening, many people still eagerly wait in line for burgers and their famous shakes.

With Shake Shack being a counter service restaurant, a bustling open kitchen faces the front where customers are greeted by friendly cashiers.

It gives off an industrial and part contemporary feel from plenty of wood furniture, like wood tables and benches, and accents as well as the dark gray walls.

There is a warm and exuberant environment present with the restaurant being a hit for all types of groups, from families to groups of teenage friends. The foosball and shuffleboard table are always occupied and create a lively atmosphere along with TVs that are always showing the game playing that night.

Although it is a counter service type restaurant where cus-

tomers pick up their food after the pager buzzes and they help themselves to condiments and utensils, there are employees constantly walking around checking in on dining customers and clearing food trays when needed. Lots of seating is available, however, not many people utilize the large patio space outside, at least not at night even with lights always turned on.

The chain attempts to reduce the amount of materials that will end up going to the landfill by taking measures such as sorting out recyclable materials post-collection and reusing cooking oil to produce clean energy. Green architecture and materials are also in use with features such as long picture windows for natural lighting and reclaimed bowling lanes that are transformed into tabletops.

Along with moving towards an eco-friendly system, they take pride in the prime ingredients used to make the food, from the big factors such as fresh, never frozen, 100 percent Angus beef in burgers to small details like the milk that contains no artificial growth hormones in their frozen custards and their partnership with Niman Ranch supplies them with it. The quality is truly exhibited as customers bite into the succulent, fresh patty in the ShakeBurger or drink the rich, creamy milkshakes.

They are able to take these ingredients and craft them into delectable dishes, even meat lovers will

appreciate their ‘Shroom Burger, which replaces the traditional beef patty with a crunchy, fried Portabella mushroom patty that perfectly blends together the aromatic flavor or the mushrooms with the muenster and cheddar cheese and other toppings.

Shake Shack does what they can to make a positive influence on the Earth by using sustainable materials and dealing with ranches that raise their livestock humanely. However, they make positive influences in other aspects as well including charities and giving back to organizations like Exceptional Kids that work to provide disabled children with educational and social enrichment.

In addition to making a positive influence in the environment, Shake Shack emphasizes the importance of community by giving back to charities and organizations depending on the location.

In El Segundo they donate 5 percent of sales from their Pie Oh My custard and seasonal pie dessert to Exceptional Kids, an organization that works to provide disabled children with educational and social enrichment.

With quality food and a warm environment, Shake Shack appeals to many groups and their vision of making a difference in their community adds to the appeal, expanding the chain’s fanbase even more across the nation.

Thunderstruck

Ragnarok delivers action and comedy at Marvel caliber

by Lorraina Scolaro

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe grows, superhero movies have become hard to top. With their brilliant humor and intense plot lines MCU audiences find themselves on the edge of their seats anticipating what is to come next. This is no different with Marvel’s latest film, Thor: Ragnarok.

Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok takes audiences on an epic ride through the cosmos. Trapped on the opposite side of the universe, the famous God of Thunder is forced to fight a gladiator contest against former teammate The Hulk, while simultaneously in a race against time to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his homeland, Asgard.

Bringing in familiar MCU characters such as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), as well as new characters Hela, (Cate Blanchett) the goddess of death and several others, Thor: Ragnarok developes the famous Thor series into a more relatable and humorous franchise.

THOR: RAGNAROK MARVEL STUDIOS

Containing many amusing verbal fights between Thor and The Hulk, the movie shines a light on the less serious side of the god, portrayed in previous Thor films.

The fast-paced and exciting film exceeds expectations with a comfortable balance of intense battle scenes and whole hearted humor. Thor turns into a loveable character audiences can relate to, and the comical action gives more depth to the characters personalities, allowing fans to see the more realistic sides of their favorite superheroes.

Thor: Ragnarok brings out a strange side of Thor that audiences have yet to experience as he battles his way to protect his people and discover the true strength of his powers. The constant humor mask the somber feeling in the movie as main characters die, turning it into more of a comedy rather than the expected action drama.

All in all, Thor: Ragnarok delivers fans a new and exciting Marvel blockbuster.

Whether Thor is your favorite superhero or not, Ragnarok is a must see for all.

Director: Taika Waititi Release Date: November 3 Screenplay: Eric Pearson

God of Thunder. Thor faces a gladitorial contest in Ragnarok. PHOTO VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

Budget: 180 million Rating: PG-13 Duration: 2hr 10min

Chris Hemsworth: Thor Cate Blanchett: Hela Tom Hiddleston: Loki

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OCT. 6, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

SPORTS

SPORTS

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FOOTBALL | CROSS COUNTRY | VOLLEYBALL

Underdog dreams dead

Football’s season sinks in team’s playoff game loss

by Kaden Kaczmarczyk One play is all that separated RUHS and San Juan Hills last Friday night.

With three minutes left RUHS drove down the field and scored a two-yard rushing touchdown in the minute of the game.

Losing by a score of 23-24, the team elected to attempt a two-point conversion and failed.

“I thought it’s was the right decision to go for the twopoint conversion because all year we have had a win or go home mentality. Last year when we played Sierra Canyon we had the chance to go for two and we ending up losing in the third overtime so I’m glad we took the chance,” Alexander said.

After three straight wins against Peninsula, Inglewood, and Mira Costa to clinch a playoff spot, the team lost to San Juan Hills in the first round of playoffs.

“I was heartbroken after we lost the game against San Juan Hills. I shed some tears but in life when you are faced with adversity you get better,” senior Jack Alexander said.

RUHS finished with a final record of 6-5, going 4-1 in Bay League. It was a rollercoaster ride of a season starting off with two losses against Rancho Verde and Villa Park.

“As the season went on we got stronger as a team and if we played some of those teams we lost to again we could beat them,” senior Aaron Hatfield said.

Now that the season is over, the seniors will never playing alongside their brothers again.

“Most of these guys I’ve been playing with for my whole life. I know that some people joke around about the acronym but playing with these guys are really my brothers and I don’t know what I would do without them,” Aaron Hatfield.

Graduating seniors are assured that the returning players next season can carry the mantle.

“They have learned a lot this year and if they get some more lineman on both sides of the ball they should be a really strong team next year,” Hatfield said.

But, the future looks bright heading into next year with sophomores and juniors who have learned a lot from the upper classes successes and mistakes.

If they continue to work hard in the offseason and focus themselves in camp, they should be able to compete for a Bay League title next season.

“We’ve got a tremendous amount of talent on our team heading into next year,” sophomore Daniel Webb said.

“We’ll be a young team that’s losing four or five of our starting linemen, but if a couple of guys can step up into those leadership roles we’ll have a chance to make a run for a league title and a championship.”

1.

The greatest show on turf. 1. Senior Adam

Yorke runs the ball after receiving a snap. “For a second, I thought I was going to score, but those hopes were dashed when seconds later I broke my hand in a tackle,” Yorke said. 2.

Quarterback Jack Alexander is brought down by a defender. 3. Junior Demarcus Johnson runs the ball on offense. 4. Senior Aaron Hatfield tracks down the ball on defense.

PHOTOS BY MIA WICKS

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SPORTS

NOV. 16, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

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Cross Country advances to CIF Finals

Title in reach. After coming up short in Bay League, the team aims for better performances in CIF. PHOTOS

by Liam Barrett and Kiera Patterson

BY BEN CHENG

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The boys will compete at the CIF Southern Section Finals tomorrow at the Riverside Cross Country Course, the same place the team ran in the preliminary stage.

This time, however, the team’s opponents will be much tougher. Five of the teams in the race are expected to advance into the next race. Only seven teams can possibly advance to the next race.

“It will be pretty difficult to place in the top seven. We have been on and off throughout the season, but we want everyone to have their best race on the same day,” junior Ben Tait said.

To prepare for the meet, the team had a “hard” workout on Monday.

This included one 400m, four 800m runs and four 200m intervals.

Wednesday saw an easier workout with 150m and 200m runs.

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This week the girls have continuously been improving and training for the upcoming meet.

“We have been focusing on track workouts so we can focus on our paces because during the race since it’s such a flat course we have to really focus on speed and staying at a consistent pace,” junior Peyton Heiden said.

The “pack” mentality to stay together also helps the team push themselves as each runner is trying to stay with other runners.

The girls are are also there for each other off the track.

“Personally, I have my mom and dad as my family, but when I think of my family, I don’t just think of them. I think of each person on the team as a family member who has my back 100 percent of the time. The minute we step foot on the track or course for training or racing, I know my girls will be there for me, pushing me past my limits,” Heiden said.

Gi rl s

Cross country coach Robert Leetch explains the team’s history interviewed by Sangjun Lee

Q: How successful has our team been, both boys and girls, in the CIF and State races in the past?

Chloe Curtis, who graduated in ‘10, and Cody Schmidt, who graduated in ‘09, are standouts that broke the ice for us.

A: In State, we’ve been extraordinarily successful. It’s just very difficult to get there. We haven’t been there in the last couple years; we’re in the top division, which makes it difficult.

Q: Does any particular moment standout to you in particular?

Q: Who were some of the standout athletes that led our teams during your time as coach?

A: We’ve had great athletes, and cross country is more of a team sport than other sports like track, which is much more.

A: At the two mile mark of the state championship in 2011, our top 4 girls were running shoulder-to-shoulder, all in sixth place. It was a packed house with a couple thousand people right where we were standing, and it was just a shock to everybody.

Q: Has Redondo always had success in cross country?

A: The school’s been around since 1905, and the first championship we have ever been to was in 2007. In the last ten years, we’ve had remarkable success in CIF and state championships, and I feel like we’re very close to that right now with the group of guys and girls I have.

Q: Can you give me a rough estimate of how many times the team has made it to State?

A: The boys have made it to the State meet six times, and the girls have made it seven times. Both groups have raced well in the past, and the girls have reached the podium six times.

Q: What would it mean for the teamif you raced well enough to advance into State this year?

A: It would be a return to excellence on both the girls and the boys side. We’ve got a really committed team on the boys and girls side. They’ve worked hard, and they have the talent to do this, but it’s very difficult, and I think a lot of it is psychological to reach the state championship.

The California State Championship in cross country is one of the top high school sporting events in the United States. It would mean a lot to the psyche of the team, and the alumni who brought us to where we are at.

Volleyball falls into State tournament after CIF loss

by Michael Solimando Volleyball looks to bounce back after a loss in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Tournament by preparing to take on Canyon Crest Academy in the CIF State Open Division Tournament, Thursday at 7:00pm in San Diego.

Senior Kelly Dickinson shared what she believes her team can take away from the loss to Marymount in the CIF Southern Section Tournament.

“We have lost a few key players to injury lately and were not able to fully adapt to the missing pieces, but we have had a lot of good practices so I believe we’ll play much better this game” Dickinson said.

Junior DS Lundy Glave explains how her team needs to “start out stronger and gain momentum” in order to secure the win Thursday night.

Glave knows that “it’s going to be tough because they are playing the top teams in California,” but she also stated that if her team “gives all its effort and focuses on executing the task at hand” then the team will be able to walk out of the gym with a win.

The Seahawks will be coming into the game with an overall record of 34-5, ranked 47 in the nation (8 in California).

On the other side of the net, Canyon Crest Academy will entering the game with a 26-9 record and is ranked 55 in the country (11 in California). Although “playing on the road during playoffs can be difficult,” Dickinson knows that “if [they] can manage to only worry about their side of the net, then [they] will achieve [their] goal.”

Junior Emily Mitter thinks that if the team stays “focused” throughout the entire game with “a lot of energy” they will be successful and “the results will take care of themselves.”

Mitter thinks the Seahawks can take lessons from the previous loss on what the team need to improve on to push forward through the CIF. “We need to minimize our errors individually and as a team, as well as serve tough to get the other team out of system movre often. We have quickly moved on from the loss and have used it as motivation to prepare for Thursday’s State Playoff game” Mitter said.

Mitter is aware that Canyon Crest Academy is a solid team who has had success this year, but she isn’t worried.

“It doesn’t matter who we are playing, we just have to continue to focus on

the things that have made our team as successful as we have been all year” Mitter said.

Glave explained what her team’s emotions going into the game.

“We’re excited to compete against the best teams in the state, but also a little nervous of course” Glave said.

Mitter explained the ups and downs of playing on the road during the playoffs.

“It’s always nice to play at home in front of the home crowd, but road trips are always good quality moments for team bonding that bring us closer together every game” Mitter said.

Her team has to “take the game one point at a time.”

Dickinson shared that her team needs to give maximum effort in order to be satisfied with result.

“If we leave it all out on the court, then we can’t have any regrets no matter the outcome” Dickinson said.

The Seahawks are prepared to take on any challenge that stands in their way, shaking off the loss to Marymount. They are putting all their focus on the task at hand, beating Canyon Crest Academy on Thursday night, and extending their playoff run.

Spike that. Freshman Kami Miner sets the

ball against Marymount. PHOTO BY BEN CHENG

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SPORTS

NOV. 17, 2017 | HIGH TIDE

STAYING AFLOAT

For the first time in school history, boys water polo wins the CIF Championship

by Camile Grace

B

oys water polo made RUHS history on Saturday, Nov. 11 when the team beat Walnut with a score of 10-7 to clinch the CIF champions title for the first time in school history.

The team believes that their determination was the biggest factor that lead them to victory.

“Our heart made us win the game. We wanted it really badly. We were all nervous before and wanted it more than the other team. It felt really good to win with this particular group of people because some of my best friends are on the team and to go through all the work, it was pretty exciting,” captain Blake Vogelsang, senior, said.

The team also credits all the hard work they put in, not only this season, but in all the years they have been on water polo.

“We put in a lot of work, and it felt nice to get some recognition and a reward,” senior captain Seth Ulrich said.

Walnut was up by two in the third quarter, and Redondo didn’t secure a solid lead until the fourth quarter.

“When we were down, we were chasing. They would score, we would chase back and then at that point it was sheer will,” Ulrich said.

A goal from sophomore Gavin Pierce in the third quarter was said to be the turning point of the game. Goalie Camilo Munoz, sophomore, also had 11 saves in goal to help the team claim the win.

“It was the very end of third quarter, and there was a second left on the clock. Blake shot and Gavin caught the rebound and put it into the goal. That put the momentum up, and we scored two quick goals after that, so we were up by three. That’s when I knew we were pretty close, and we were probably going to win,” Munoz said.

Not only the intensity of the game, but the atmosphere of CIF added to the pressure for the team.

“It’s definitely high stress level. With Blake and I being team captains, you have to keep everyone and even the coach under control. You have a lot of people there watching you. It’s like you’re the only chance we have of a win, and luckily we came through,” Ulrich said.

After four successful games to get them into the finals, the team had confidence throughout the whole last game.

“We had to go in with confidence. We weren’t cocky but going into the game with confidence really helped us.

We expected to win that game. You look into the crowd for us, and it’s just a wave of red. It’s crazy how many people came out to support us. You can either use the crowd or tone them out,” Vogelsang said.

For the seniors, this was the best way to end their high school water polo careers. Coach Chris Murin knows the win will bond the team even more.

“He told us that because of this game and our win, we were going to be bonded for life and hopefully that’s true.

It’s a nice motivational story to have,” Ulrich said.

1.

Overoming troubled waters. 1. Sophomore

Brad Vogelsang looks for an open shot in the CIF Championship game on Nov. 11. 2.

Senior Blake Vogelsang blocks a shot

by Walnut for goalie Camilo Munoz, helping the team to a 10-7 victory. “Our determination and hunger for winning a CIF title [helped us win]. We’ve come this far and it’s a waste of time if we go there to lose and win the past four game just to lose that game.

We really wanted the W and we got it,” 3.

Junior Logan Lewis passes the ball around a Walnut player over to his teammate.

2.

STEPS TO VICTORY Sophomore Gavin Pierce outlines steps to campionship winning game

1

Pre-game The team took the bus

together as a team and coach Chris Murin gave them a pep talk

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Wrightsman shut down their best player and matched his goals

Scoring Senior Blake Vogelsang

scored two goals, and Pierce scored off a rebound of his shot to take the lead

4 5

Shutdown Junior Alex

Goaltending Goalie Camilo

Munoz, sophomore, did not allow any goals after the third quarter

Celebrate The team pushed Murin in the pool and jumped back in the water to celebrate after their win