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Redondo Union High School Redondo Beach, CA April 24, 2015 Vol. XCV Edition 13
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PHOTO BY YASMINE GHAZVINI
Inside
pg. 3
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So Cal ROC is going to receive more funding from the Board of Education
Marley Capper’s church went on a mission trip to the Bahamas over Spring Break
Baseball hopes to maintain their Bay League winning streak against Morningside today
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High Tide
news
News and Briefs
Festival Choir and Jazz Concert
Sabor de Salsa
2. PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS
Euphony. 1. Freshman Jake Buchen performs a solo on his 1.
Sousaphone for the RUHS Jazz Band at the concert last Tuesday, April 21. 2. Along with various Middle School bands, RUHS Choir also sang, with freshman Alyssa Yung taking a prominant position in the picture above.
ASB Elections Begin Rock the vote. With Student Body elections on Monday, April 27, stu-
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FRANKIE GUERRERO
Mambo to victory. Vice Presidents of Salsa
dents have begun their campaigns. Daniel Ferradas, 11, will be running for ASB president; Marley Capper, 11, will be running for senior class president; Ghattas Malki, 11, will be running for ASB Vice President; Savanna Navaroro, 11, will be running for ASB Secretary/Treasurer; Nick Sisto, 11, will be running for Senior Class Vice President; Justin Vu and Haley Trejo, 11, will be running for Senior Class Secretary/Treasurer. PHOTO BY CHANDLER ROSS
Club, juniors Destiny Coleman and Frankie Guerrero, celebrate with the trophy the Club recieved on their competition Saturday, April 18 at the RUHS auditorium. They won second and third place in small group, and second place in large group.
High Tide Adviser wins award by Simrun Ursani Journalism adviser Mitch Ziegler won the Journalism Teacher of the Year Award on Wednesday and received a plaque and now has a photo in the California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) newspaper. In order to make the day even more special for Ziegler, Vice Principal Lindsey Corcoran helped set up a lunch surprise celebration, inviting the upperclassmen in newspaper. “We just wanted him to be surprised and not know about it. We wanted it to be a special moment for him by making it about his students and making the students apart of it,” Corcoran said. Ziegler appreciated the surprise luncheon given to him by both administration and the organization of California Journalism Education Coalition (Cal-JEC). “It was a group of people who I worked with or who know me professionally who decided that I deserved it,” Ziegler said. “Our administration gets it. The administration was the one that brought in the lunch, who got the students thinking that it would mean something
to me and they were right so I appreciate that they did all that.” Corcoran’s goal for the surprise was successful because Ziegler did not find out until the award was presented. “I thought it went very well and I thought that everyone had a great time and we were able to celebrate with each other. That was the point, to make a happy moment in the day,” Corcoran said. Lacey Hatfield, president of the Southern California Journalism Education Association (SCJEA), presented the award to Ziegler, who was her mentor. “Each member nominates a person from their region who best fits the categories. I nominated Mr. Ziegler because of all the things he has done for journalism and he was unanimously chosen for high school,” Hatfield said. According to Ziegler, he was completely surprised to receive this award. “The award is more of a service award for journalism advisors who are involved in organizations,” Ziegler said.“ I have been the president of the SCJEA and I have served
on the Cal-JEC.” Hatfield was surprised as well, but more over the fact that Ziegler had not won the award before this year. “The award for Mr. Ziegler was a long time coming,” Hatfield said. “When I nominated him the rest of the board was amazed that he had not already been honored given his involvement, dedication as well as all he has accomplished.” The award requirements fit Ziegler, according to Hatfield. “[The award goes to] someone who has not only been an outstanding journalism educator, but someone who has also contributed to the growth and development of journalism,” Hatfield said. Being a mentee of Zeigler’s, Hatfield was more than happy to give the award to him. “Giving Mr. Ziegler the award was even more special because he is my mentor. It was through him that I have excelled in SCJEA. Despite saying he would have to step back from SCJEA he has come to every meeting and helped me to transform SCJEA back to what it used to be,” Hatfield said.
PHOTO BY YASMINE GHAZVINI
A dedicated man. Ziegler, adviser for both the High Tide newspaper and The Pilot, estimates himself spending at least 500 hours a year working with both of the school’s publications.
April 24, 2015
page 3
news
Witkin sworn in as School Board member by Gianna Aquilina and Zach Hatakeyama
David Witkin was sworn in on April 14 for his first term as a member of the RBUSD School Board, and is already expected to do good things for Redondo. “David Witkin is doing well. He is smart and articulate. He has two young children, one entering school in Redondo, so he has a vested interest in the success of the District,” Board President Michael Christensen said. “Also, his experience as a financial services professional will help us on the school board.” According to Witkin’s Candidate Biography, he graduated from Harvard with a degree in Economics in 2001, worked in finance for Bear Stearns and Citigroup in New York, and has managed his own investment firm since 2009. “My older son just started kindergarten at Beryl Heights this year. We will be in the
district a very long time and we have a huge incentive to make sure Redondo’s schools remain strong not just in the near term, but for years and decades beyond,” Witkin said. “Serving on the Board is one way I can positively impact the district not only for my own children, but for all kids in Redondo.” Witkin began his term on April 1, however he was officially sworn in at the April 14 School Board Meeting. “David was sworn in by City Clerk Eleanor Manzano. She had him repeat the words of the oath of office then gave him his certificate of election,” Christensen said. Witkin is looking forward to not only serving on the board but also becoming a more involved member for the community. “I’m really looking forward to being a more active member of the RUHS community as a school board member,” Witkin said.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SCHOOL BOARD EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT RICARDO GALLEGOS
By the people, for the people. Witkin takes his oath of office as his wife Saori and two children stand beside him in support.
Chromebooks suffer from network issues by Yasamin Fazeli
Recently, staff and students have run into frequent problems with network connections with the chromebooks, and admin hopes new updates in the next few weeks will solve the issues. “The district is doing an upgrade to our entire network which we see is increasing our bandwidth tenfold. What I’ve been told is we’re going from 100 megabytes to 1000,” Assistant Principal Jens Brandt said. Difficulties streaming the broadcast on Fridays during third period stands at the top of the list of network connection complaints. Spanish teacher, Sara Gonzalez is one of the many teachers who have had problems downloading the broadcast. “I usually try to get here early in the morning and load the video through YouTube because if I go through the link they give us, it takes forever,” Gonzalez said. Brandt explains that with the new up-
dates and bandwidth increases, network speed will improve. “The chromebooks typically are pretty fast, but where we really have some challenges right now is video streaming because that takes up so much bandwidth, no matter where you are in the world. It just requires more,” Brandt said. “Im sure you’ve noticed this when you’ve sent something via text, it seems to take longer when you send a picture or a video, and that all has to do with bandwidth. So just imagine on much greater scale what we’re dealing with here when 100 or a 1000 people are downloading the same video.” Network connections are stemming from simply the large amount of users on the network who play games or download large files, according to Brandt, so sharing google documents or researching does not tend to be a big issue.
ILLUSTRATION BY STEVEN BELL-NIXON
[cont. on hightideonline.org]
SoCal ROC program receives more funding
RBUSD board of education gives half of the money from the Career Technical Education to help fund SoCal ROC by Samaya Rubio The Board of Education approved unanimously a “one-year commitment to contribute 50 percent of its 2014-15 funded CTE augmentation grant estimated to be $390,003 to Southern California Regional Occupational Center (SoCal ROC) for the 2015-16 school year” because the state of California no longer funds the celebrated program. “SoCal ROC used to be funded as schools were, and then a number of years ago, the funding model changed; SoCal ROC was
considered a categorical area, and the governor said that categorical programs should be funded locally, not funded by the state,” said Brad Waller, a member of the RBUSD board of education since 2013. The decision did not only lie with Redondo, however. The SoCal ROC program is a joint powers authority run by the Redondo, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, Palos Verdes, Inglewood and Torrance school districts. “The big issue is that SoCal ROC is a joint powers authority district that is actually
part of six different districts, so the funding isn’t just a simple way of saying ‘well our one district wants to do this thing’ -- it has to get an agreement by each district,” Waller said. The committee, created in September for the purposes of finding a solution for funding, has one member from every district and a member from the SoCal ROC board. They met multiple times before reaching the 50 percent proposition, which was then voted on by each district’s school board. Waller hopes that they can receive sub-
stantial funding from the state directly to SoCal ROC, and if that happens, there will be no need for funding from the districts. The board will find out if they will need to continue financing the SoCal ROC program in two weeks when the Governor of California sends out his May Revise. “Next year’s budget and perhaps when the next governor is elected, they may have different priorities and change things. I believe this will be a year to year agreement for the next two years,” Waller said.
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High Tide
opinion
Do it for the children
Those teachers who assign additional homework at AP review sessions are doing their students more harm than good Editorial
The gauntlet has arrived, with AP testing just around the corner and back to back review sessions filling up the few hours a day students have to complete their mountains of homework. Unfortunately, those teachers who give out materials during “optional” sessions that must be completed and eventually turned in for a grade compound the problem. Review sessions cannot by law be “mandatory” and should only be for the benefit of students who want to review. Teachers giving homework on days when they hold review sessions defeats the purpose of worthwhile review by forcing students to have to juggle homework, a “good night’s sleep,” and an extra two hour class after school. By giving out materials that will be counted for a grade, teachers are making the review sessions seem more mandatory than optional to students, passively forcing students to attend. Ironically, while review sessions are supposed to relieve some of the pressure of reviewing a whole year’s worth of material, they ultimately add more pressure due to all of the assignments from the session and additional homework from the class that must be completed. The review sessions should serve as a refresher, not as an extra responsibility for students to worry about. In fact,
since most students in the class should know — or at least vaguely remember — the majority of the information already, review sessions’ draw should be as a way to reinforce information without seeming like a burden. However, by giving homework for the class itself and for the session, teachers take away any satisfaction that students could feel during the reviews, as they view them as an obligation rather than a choice. Without a doubt, students who for some reason cannot attend sessions can photocopy the needed materials; however, the mounting, accumulating stress and the sleepless nights outweigh the benefits of review. Some students taking multiple AP’s have review sessions four times a week and occasionally have to stay at school as late as nine o’clock. So while there are certainly benefits, the minimal amount of time a full course load’s worth of homework takes to complete cannot be ignored. Many other schools do not give out packets during review sessions. The lack of extra homework from the sessions alleviates the pressure of having to worry about organizing and turning in more work — if the students deem it necessary, they can approach the teacher for extra practice materials. Without additional homework, students can prioritize their time and work much better and more efficiently.
ILLUSTRATION BY LUMA WEGMAN
ILLUSTRATTION BY LULU WEGMAN
agree
6
Editorial Board vote
disagree
Additional homework assigned at AP review sessions is disadvantageous for students
3
Right or wrong, it’s legal Whether or not it’s morally sound is for you to determine, but Indiana’s religious discrimination bill is in fact constitutional by Cody Williams Recently, the constitutionality of refusing to serve clients or customers based on sexuality has been a topic controversy. Some feel that these businesses that take part in such behavior are participating in outdated discriminatory behavior that should be considered an illegal violation of civil rights. Others believe that service refusal based on sexuality is completely reasonable and should be a right reserved to companies on the grounds of religious objection and inclination. Although refusing service based on sexuality seems unjust in today’s progressive
and increasingly liberal society, it is currently a behavior that is protected by the constitution. Those who disagree with this practice must have faith in the constitution and trust the justice of basic economics to encourage progressive changes. The entire United States is covered by the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination by privately owned places of business or public service on the basis of “race, color, religion, national origin or people with disabilities.” (legalzoom. com). The Civil Rights Act does not list homosexuals as a group covered by these antidiscriminatory laws and therefore does not not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. This means that is states such as
Indiana,where the Religious Freedom Restoration act has been passed,a business can legally refuse service based only on a customer’s sexuality as long as it is in an effort to enforce and maintain one’s religious values. Although this legislative loophole may be frustrating to some who support equal rights for all sexual orientations, trust in good judgement and faith in the goodwill of the American must be maintained. Twenty states, including New York and California, have enacted laws that prohibit discrimination in service environments based on sexual orientation. Also, in the United States justice system, the courts have consistently exhibited a modern attitude toward homosexuality in their rulings, finding a majority of their rulings in favor of the discriminated
party. For example, a baker in Portland, Oregon refused to create a wedding cake for a samesex couple, saying that it violated his religious beliefs. The court held the baker liable, saying that his reason was just a pretext for discriminating against gays. As a result of the bad publicity, the baker lost a significant amount of business and was forced to close his bakery entirely (nydailynews.com). It is simply a poor business decision to deny a service to homosexuals. The refusing business loses potential capital and puts itself at risk of serious economic consequences and could potentially jeopardize the company entirely. In the end, businesses will realize that people of all sexualities pay with the same American dollars.
April 24, 2015
opinion
Letters to the
We got ourselves here
Editor
If you have an opinion about one of the articles, letters can be sent to the editor at hightideonline@gmail.com. We reserve the right to edit them for content, grammar, and space constraints. Letters must be signed and are not guaranteed to be printed. Please keep letters to a maximum of 250 words. Longer guest opinions are also accepted.
High Tide
staff
Editor in Chief: Allegra Peelor
Managing Editor: Alejandro Quevedo News Editor: Jason Rochlin Opinion Editor: Christopher Paludi Features Editors: Yasmeen El-Hasan;
Vaidehi Gandhi; Caterina Hyneman; Shawn Mallen; Shaniya Markalanda
Sports Editors: Nina Gomez; Sophie Maguy
Design Editor: Grace Zoerner Writing Editors: Stella Gianoukakis; Kayla Nicholls
Photo Editors: Ted Cavus; Chandler Ross Copy Editors: Joseph Blakely; Kira Bowen Online Editors: Vivian Vy Lam; Romy Moreno
page 5
by Micah Ezzes
California’s drought was seen coming from far away, but the measures that would have prevented the current crisis were never taken
As the drought continues to strangle California agriculture, scientists from NASA predict a ‘megadrought’ that could extend far beyond the state and cripple the country. But it shouldn’t have even come to this. Evidence done in multiple studies over the past five years predicted that such a drought had a high probability of occurring, yet not enough was done to prevent it. Now it is put on the people to fix a situation that they had a dispraportionately small hand in creating. We are bombarded by the media, by our representatives, by our governor, telling us to conserve water, to not water our lawns on Mondays, and the like. But the reality of the situation is, the residential population only consumes or uses ten percent of the state’s water supply. The biggest drain on water? Agricultural industry, at 80 percent. I’m not saying that since residents don’t contribute as much we should just ignore the drought; indeed, everyone has to do their part to help conserve water. But why has nothing been done to publicize the water use of agriculture? They are the main culprit, by a large margin. What’s been done to make farmers conserve water?
Agriculture, in of itself, requires a lot of water, but the crops being grown in California are disastrously water-intensive. The top two agricultural products in California are almonds and alfalfa, which is used to feed cows that eventually are eaten by us. Both almonds and alfalfa require year-round intense watering, otherwise the plants die. Not to mention, the almonds produced aren’t even consumed by Californians — 70 percent of the almonds produced are shipped off for profit overseas to places like Japan and China. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that we are selling food for profit —it’s a viable and important method of making money for a state fresh out of an economic crisis. However, with the massive volume of water we pump into these crops, are we draining our state’s water supplies dry just to sell and export food? It makes absolutely no sense. Something needed to be done at the state level to curb this unsustainable water overconsumption by massive agricultural operations. Asking ten percent of the state to reduce their water use makes about as much sense as the recent proposal of cancelling public television, which comprises
less than one percent of the federal budget, to reduce the national debt. The state needs to atone for its mistake in getting us into this problem in the first place. The studies all pointed towards something like this happening, but nothing was done. Now is the time to take control of the situation, and at the very least, curb water consumption in the agricultural industry. There’s nothing wrong with surplus food, but why would we dry up our already scarce resevoirs of water to continue producing it? The answer —forcing farmers to grow less water-intensive crops —is rather obvious, yet the government seems too wrapped up in agricultural profits to recognize this fact. They would rather get their water from other states than impose real conservatory measures on agriculture. This is just a classic exploitation of the common people at the hands of money-grabbers who would suffer no direct consequences from the drought. As I said, I’m not against us in the general population doing our best to conserve water —I’m just against the idiocy and fact-denying that resulted in a lack of any mitigating measures to California’s drought, and got us into this crisis in the first place.
Photographers: Dinah Aiad; Samantha
Bendall; Jennifer Blanco; Madison Brooks; Erin Czulewicz; Morgan Goldstein; Daniel Green; Janelle Howe; Lexi Kleen; Carla Macar; Masha Pescheryakova; Laua’e Schweitzer
Illustrators: Steven Bell-Nixon; Kaita Pannor; Luma Wegman
Staff Writers: Gianna Aquilina; Malek
Chamas; Jason Clebowicz; Erin Czulewicz; Micah Ezzes; Lizzie Fauver; Yasamin Fazeli; Jason Fong; Daniel Green; Zach Hatakeyama; Kayla Hiken; Jessica Johnson; Jon Mallen; Marie Ona; Kaita Pannor; Samaya Rubio; Reema Saad; Mylene Silver; Simrun Ursani; Tyler Wunderli; Adam Yorke High Tide dedicates itself to producing a high-quality publication that both informs and entertains the entire student body. This is a wholly student-managed, designed, and written newspaper that focuses on school and community events. High Tide is published by the journalism class at Redondo Union High School, One Sea Hawk Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277. Signed commentaries and editorial cartoons represent the opinions of the staff writer or cartoonist and in no way reflect the opinions of the rest of the staff.
ILLUSTRATION BY KAITA PANNOR
page 6
High Tide
features
Law and Order
Judge Rice presides over Teen Court, an alternative sentencing program by Yasmeen El-Hasan Judge Rice, clothed in his black judge robes, holds his gavel as the presiding juror delivers the verdict. They are not in a courtroom, however, and the jury is not composed of adults; the court is the Bingo Room and the jurors are teenagers. Torrance Judge Stuart Rice is the presiding judge of RUHS’s Teen Court, an alternative to juvenile court for minors who commit minor crimes. “I feel like that I am contributing to society in a way that benefits everyone. The Teen Court model is such a great model. I love it. To have an opportunity to work with Ms. Botchie, Ms. Corcoran and the students is just great. To see the teamwork and training makes me proud of the next generation, and makes me hope that maybe they will make the world a better place,” Rice said. Upon accepting the terms of the Teen Court program, accused minors, accompanied by at least one legal guardian, appear in front of a jury of their peers. The jury, comprised of local students, questions both the accused minor and his or her guardians. After questioning, the jury determines guilt and recommends to Judge Rice terms of probation. If found guilty, the accused minor must abide by the jury-determined terms of probation for six months. If they comply, then the crime is removed from their record. “Teen Court helps kids who are in trouble be diverted without having a record that might prevent them from going to college. The record might ruin their whole life. So if it’s something fairly minor, do they really need a record?” Rice said. “This option for the prosecuting agencies other than sending them to court is a wonderful alternative.” Teen Court is student-driven, a quality which Rice believes makes it successful. Students who undergo training may participate in Teen Court as a juror, court clerk, assistant court clerk, or bailiff. Those without training may observe the cases as an audience member. “I think it’s important to excite young people about the law. A lot of people come to the law on their own, but others may not think about it. If going through Teen Court as a juror, as a clerk, as someone in the audience, gets you excited about what it might be like to be a lawyer, then I feel like what we’ve done is of great value,” he said. After each case, Rice invites the accused minor to participate in the Teen Court program as a juror. If the accused is found guilty, jury participation is always one of the terms of probation. Rice finds this switch of roles to be notably beneficial for the minor. “I like the idea that when the kids in trou-
Laying down the law. 1. “I play a
1.
role in helping people come to a resolution without anybody having to lose, which is very rewarding. When I do a good trial where both sides are well represented and it all goes smoothly under my leadership, and justice is done, I feel very proud,” Rice said. 3. Lawyers of the South Bay Bar Association facilitate students in the jury deliberation room, offering relevant legal advice.
PHOTOS BY CHANDLER ROSS
ble sit on the jury, the stigma of being the kid in trouble is alleviated. Maybe some of these kids who are in trouble might find themselves wanting to become lawyers, or at least think about the law in a different way, and maybe think about it next time when one of their friends asks them to do something stupid,” Rice said. RUHS is the most recent addition to 24 LA County schools with Teen Courts. Rice, having worked with juvenile law for a portion of his career, along with assistant principal Lindsey Corcoran and special education teacher Marie Botchie, took the initiative last year to extend the program to the South Bay. While it typically takes two years to implement a court, RUHS was able to begin this school year. There is one trial per month, typically on a Wednesday, in the Bingo Room, attended not only by students but also community members, school board members, teachers, staff, probation officers, and lawyers of the South Bay Bar Association. Rice’s wife Laurie Rice, a lawyer, also attends. “It is my honor to be with the students at Teen Court. They’re all motivated, energetic, open to learn, and it gives my wife and me a great sense of satisfaction when we leave Teen Court. It’s already a great success, and I think it’s going to continue to be,” Rice said. Following the death of his son Adam last summer, Rice’s life “changed in a way that will never be the same.” He finds that being
involved in meaningful programs such as Teen Court helps his grieving. “Adam’s on our mind all the time. None of them are Adam, but I like being around young, bright, motivated people. It doesn’t fill the hole,” Rice said. “but it does help. I appreciate the opportunity to be around young minds who have good thoughts about the positive future for our country.” In addition to Teen Court, Rice also works with a diverse group of law students from CSU Dominguez Hills. He notes that in the past years, there have been complaints in the legislature that judges and the legal community are not reflective of society. “LA is a very diverse place. If I can, in my small way, help anyone that’s interested come to the law, especially from a background where their parents aren’t really lawyers or aren’t really thinking about their kids going off to law school, I feel great about it,” Rice said. Rice has worked as a judge for ten years; formerly a criminal court judge, he now presides over civil court. Previous, he owned a law firm in Long Beach. During this time, he also worked as a part-time juvenile court referee, which is similar to a substitute teacher for judges. In 2003, he was hired as a commissioner, and in 2005 was appointed as a judge by Governor Schwarzenegger. Rice finds that his passion for law has been enhanced as he continues his career as a judge. “I enjoy making decisions, I enjoy the rea-
soning that goes into making a decision, and I enjoy making sure justice has been done. That’s what got me excited about it, and I’ve never looked back,” Rice said. “There’s nothing like the human condition; you can’t make up some of this stuff. I like working with people, I like helping to resolve disputes, I like trying to see that justice is done.” Being a judge has been a rewarding experience for Rice, especially when a complicated trial works out. “I play a role in helping people come to a resolution without anybody having to lose. I create an environment in my courtroom that enables people to be and do their best. When I do a good trial, an important case, where both sides are well represented and it all goes smoothly under my leadership and justice is done, I feel very proud,” he said. While rewarding, Rice occasionally experiences frustrations, particularly due to the inability of both lawyers and clients to figure out solutions to relatively simple matters on their own. “It’s my job to help see that justice is done either through settlement or through a trial. Even though it is a frustration, it can also be my greatest reward to see that a dispute is resolved, not by a fight or violence or defaming another, but in a great country where we have courts of law that work, where people can feel confident that they can come to that environment and have justice done,” he said.
April 24, 2015
page 7
features
Teen Court over the year... November 19
Minor was charged with possession of a controlled substance. Police found him and friends smoking marijuana in a car. In addition to marijuana, minor was in possession of Adderall and hydrocodene. He was found guilty only of possession of Adderall.
January 14 CASE 1: Minor was charged with and found guilty of battery on school grounds. He threatened to physical assault a peer, and later beat him up in the boys’ locker room. CASE 2: Minor was charged with and found guilty of battery on school grounds. Her friend took a picture of her on Snapchat and posted it on her Snapchat story. Minor requested it be deleted. When her friend refused, minor beat her up.
February 11 CASE 1: Minor was accused of participating in the assault addressed in Case 1 of January. He was found not guilty. CASE 2: Minor was charged with and found of vandalism. He threw a roasted chicken over a busy street, hitting and denting a moving car.
March 11 CASE 1: Minor was accused and found not guilty of criminal threat. An unidentified person made a bomb threat targeted at South High School in Torrance over the social media platform Yik Yak. The threat was traced to minor’s phone. CASE 2: Minor was charged with and found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia and of resisting arrest. He admitted guilt to using a vape pen on school grounds, but felt it was not a punishable offense.
April 1 Minor was charged with and found guilty of driving without a valid license. She was driving home from a review session past curfew when she lost consciousness and crashed into two parked cars.
CASE 3: Minor was charged with and found guilty of shoplifting. She and a friend slipped items from the mall into her purse and were caught by mall security.
page 8
Give and you shall receive
features
High Tide
Juniors Capper and Vorndran went on a mission trip to the Bahamas by Jessica Johnson Among the broken cars and shards of glass, they were greeted by families. The unconditional love and gratitude of the people warmed their hearts. Juniors Marley Capper and Hailey Vorndran went to the Bahamas over spring break to help build a community center in Blackwood. Capper feels that the trip impacted her and her friends’ lives and inspired them to continue helping people in need. “This trip was amazing and has opened so many doors for me,” Capper said, ”But its been hard to balance what I learned and how to convey that by helping people.” After visiting last summer with a few of her friends she used to cheer with, she fell in love with the community and, with the permission of her pastor, started planning a trip for her church. “I couldn’t stand not being there, so I did a lot of planning and had to create the applications for the people attending the trip. It was cool that my pastor trusted me with planning this trip,” Capper said. “I felt like God’s right-hand girl.” Capper’s deep connection to the kids at Blackwood made going back more “impactful” than the first time. “The first day I walked on to that camp they remembered my name. The fact that seven months after my first visit they still remembered made me feel like I found my purpose by serving those kids,” Capper said. Most of the Blackwood community lives under the poverty line and has limited access to clean water. “A lot of these kids come for refuge from Haiti and they need work permits to live there. Even though they live in terrible conditions, they are so grateful because they realize that they would have it worse in Haiti,” Capper said. Vorndran was shocked at how much different the people’s lives were and is grateful that she got to experience another culture and community. “Seeing the conditions that those kids live under and the joy that they show daily has made me more grateful and has made me want to make an impact for the less fortunate,” Vorndran said. Capper’s church packed extra food like protein bars, other non-perishable food items and water in their luggage to give to the people there. “Sometimes a group of us wouldn’t eat and give them our food but a lot of the kids
would give the food to a younger brother or sister or bring it home to their parents,” Capper said. “It was so amazing to see the kids be so giving even though they had nothing.” Capper was “in awe” of how grateful the children were and believes these experiences changed the way she looks at life. “There are a lot of things in life that you would think are easy to understand, but when you are on a mission field trip you really have to be there to experience it,” Capper says. While there, they helped paint and put finishing touches on the new community center there and played with the children. “It was really fun to hang out with the kids because they had so much energy and were so grateful that they treated us like celebrities,” Capper said. Capper feels that the kids living in Blackwood have taught her more about God and generosity than she could ever teach them. “Because these kids have nothing and don’t know about social media, they are willing to completely surrender their lives to God,” Capper says. “This made me realize that I need to dedicate my life to him daily.” A lot of the teenagers that went on the trip decided to try and live like the kids in Blackwood. One of the volunteers did not wear shoes the entire trip. “One of the days a group of us tried fasting to see what the kids there go through and it was hard to not eat because it was hot and we were doing hard labor and running around with the kids and usually food was so accessible to us,” Capper said. Between working on the church and playing with the kids, they had one day to explore the island. “We went to the Glass Water Bridge: where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was so great to explore the beauty of God’s creation,” Capper said.
1.
By the end of the trip, Capper believes the group got closer and formed meaningful relationships with each other. “My church and I had more intimate talks about Christ. At the end everyone genuinely wanted to be with each other and to be personal with each other,” Capper said. Capper believes this trip has affected her life and she will continue to go on missions trips. “This trip has made me appreciate everything that I have more, and made me feel guilty about everything that I have because those kids live off of what we throw away,” Capper said. “I think I found my purpose by serving those kids.”
2.
Take me to church. 1. Capper poses with
the child of a friend she made in the Bahamas. “I was super excited to finally meet Justin, [Denis’s] son,” Capper said. “I loved holding him and just getting to share my love with him.” 2. Capper and some natives pose in front of the missions house on Easter. The team went dressed up and went to the church on the island they stayed on, Spanish Wells. “It was really fun to hang out with the kids because they had so much energy and were so grateful that they treated us like celebrities,” Cappter said.
April 24, 2015
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features
Across the ocean, across the sea Senior Lexi Kleen takes a cruise with the money fundraised from Girl Scouts by Lulu Wegman Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs: these cookies and other girl scout products helped seniors Lexi Kleen and Kimberly Vavrek helped raise $9,900 with their Girl Scout troop. They were raising this money for four years. With the money, went on a cruise to the Caribbean and paid little from their own pockets. “Overall, it was amazing. Every girl was super excited and it was my first time going to the Caribbean. It is because of Girl Scouts that we got to go on this trip and the reward of going on the trip definitely was much greater than the work it took to get there,” Vavrek said. They visited Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua,
PHOTO COURTESY OF LEXI KLEEN
Cruising across the Caribbean. Kleen (on the left) and her fellow girl scouts Kimmy Vavrek,
Susannah Nevarez, Victoria Friend, and Jisu Park dock at a beach on the coast of St. Maarten, an island in the northeast Caribbean , to soak up the sun.
and St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and San Juan. in the eight days of the cruise. “It was very excited going places I’ve never been before and seeing how different they are from us.” Kleen said. For Kleen, the troop trip was her first ever
cruise. She believes it was a great experience and helped the troop become closer and strengthened their friendshis. The members of Vavrek and Kleen’s troop decided to go on the cruise during their senior year but found it challenging to fund-
raise with college applications and school to manage. “At first, we just knew we wanted to do it senior year. We lost some girls over the four years we fundraised, so we had more money than we would have without them.l” Vavrek said. Vavrek has participated in Girl Scouts for longer than the four years money was raised for the cruise. “I have been in Girl Scouts for nine years. My mom has been co-leader for seven years, so you could say that I was greatly involved. My house always stored the Girl Scout cookies, nuts, and candy.” Vavrek said. Vavrek and Kleen’s troop attended the cruise that lasted eight days. “It was a Caribbean Cruise with Celebrity cruise line. We got on the boat from San Juan and then we had one full day at sea, it happened to be Easter Sunday.” Vavrek said. “It was my leader’s idea to go on a cruise. Our first idea was to go to Hawaii, but we realized it would be way too expensive. I’m really glad that we decided to go on a cruise because we had more fun than we ever would have in Hawaii.” Kleen said. Spending time on the cruise boat named “Summit” helped the Girl Scout members of Vavrek and Kleen’s troop to bond. “The cruise was very family-friendly. We always had something to do once we got back from our excursions such as see a show or go to the dance parties, and spending time with the same people, it was almost like we have known them for ever.” Vavrek said.
Channeling his passion Brandon Quan pursues acting by auditioning for many television shows by Malek Chamas He pretends to be a different person, and thinks from a different perspective. Freshman Brandon Quan is currently auditioning for a television show. Quan has always liked acting and first discovered this passion at the age of five. “Ever since I started, my first acting class in Culver City was very fun. There were many possibilities involved with it,” he said. “[Acting] allows you to be yourself, and it allows you to think of anything. You could be anything, you could do anything, and it’s just a great experience.” Quan is currently auditioning for multiple television shows and has been since the age of six. To receive an audition, acting directors call the agents of clients to schedule a first audition. If they are called back in, they then schedule a second audition and may be called in. “I used to be really nervous when I waited for callbacks, but not really anymore, be-
cause I’m used to it,” he said. One of his first acting teachers, Gary Spatz who has trainied actors such as Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, and Britney Spears continues to support and help him throughout his acting career. “I met him when I was six at his acting class,” Quan said. “ He then put me into a class after I passed the audition tests. He’s trained a lot of famous actors that are in movies now.” According to Quan, the nervous feeling before auditions gets easier to handle with experience. “At first, it’s really unnerving, but then you have realize that they’re not judging you, they’re just seeing what they want to see. You just have to go on stage--it’s just acting--and you have fun,” Quan said. “It’s best if you chill out because worrying in auditions will just make you perform worse.” Acting becomes easier for Quan each
time he overcomes his nerves. “It was difficult at first, because I needed to get used to all the people staring at me,” Quan said. “But once I realized that you just hang out with them and be yourself it’s really easy.” According to Quan’s mother, she has noticed that acting has improved his public speaking. “He has no fear of speaking in front of people,” Ms. Quan said. “He can do presentations in a class and not worry about it.” Ms. Quan says she noticed when Quan’s acting capabilities began to grow from what they originally were. “[Before], if they wanted him to wing it, it was harder for him,” Ms. Quan said. “Now, if they want him to wing it, and improvise something different, or do the scene differently, he can come up with a different take.” Quan believes another major aspect of the acting process is getting into the as-
signed character properly. “You can’t just pretend you’re you all the time, because you don’t have the same emotions,” he said. “But if you think in the mind of someone else, then that will change your actions.” A happy moment in Quan’s acting career was being accepted into his first commercial at ten years old, according to Ms. Quan. “We were just sitting in front of our TV, and I think it was his aunt that saw him first. She kind of yelled, and said, ‘He’s on TV! He’s on TV!’” Ms. Quan said. “It was a big, happy moment.” Although Quan hasn’t received a call-in from a television show to film yet, he plans to continue purusing his passion for acting. “Right now, I’m going through a professional acting class. I love acting, it’s awesome,” Quan said. “I plan on going on with it, probably all the way through high school and maybe even further.”
What students think of RUHS’s spirit compared to other South Bay Schools
RUHS
*From a survey of RUHS students
19-23% of students reported they had a high degree of meaningful participation
2014-2015 freshman orientation was attended by 75% of the entire freshman class
Get in the
RUHS
5+ 15.7% 3-4 10.6% 1-2 18.5%
Basketball Football
3-4 6.9%
Costa
West
South
is important because “it Spirit shows your pride in your
school, and is part of what makes Redondo one of the best schools in California.
”
5+ 12.5%
Peninsula
Same
Worse
22.7%
Better
Worse
12%
Same
9.7%
38.9% 38.9% 18.1%
Better
Terrible
37.5%
Worse
6%
216 students report how many Redondo sporting events they attend
Volleyball
70% are involved in school activity beyond the school day
70% of students are aware of the extracurricular activities on campus and know how to get involved if they want to do so
Game
10.2%
44.4% 38.9%
Better
Excellent
13.9%
Worse
4.6%
39.4%
Worse
31.5%
Same
>>>
41.7% 44.4%
Better
” -Savannah Navarro, 10
49.1%
50.9%
Same
47.7%
the school when we have events and makes everyone excited to be here.
Better Same
School spirit is a positive “atmosphere that surrounds
Stats on particaption and spirit at RUHS
According to
page 11
center
Poor
Pride
April 24, 2014
Average
Sea Hawk
High Tide
center
Strong
page 10
PV
is extremely important. It brings a “lotSpirit of different groups of people together, and I like that. ” -Aidan Zenka, 11
-Zoe Hansen, 9
1-2 11.6% 3-4 21.8% 1-2 19.9%
5+ 32.9%
PHOTO BY PETER TRAN
page 12 Collaboration, experience, and skill work together to create success for a team. Only in their second season, the Ice Hockey team puts together these core factors to create success for themselves. “The players are familiar with their positions, there’s good chemistry, and they just have a lot of talent,” Nicholas Sklarenko, the team’s coach, said. The team is nearly halfway through the season, and the success, according to Senior Payton Thatcher, is a positive change from what they had last year. “Last year we started the program, and the first season was basically just trying to find kids, get contact information, and make sure we had the necessities to run the team,” Thatcher said. The team is not only new one but also young, comprised of many young players along with the majority upperclassmen. “There’s only four seniors, most of the guys are Juniors, and then we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Thatcher said. “All of us are able to work together and put out success.” The players are not the only ones who are new to the high school hockey experience. The team recently acquired Sklarenko as the new coach. “Coach Sklarenko has done well as the new varsity coach,” Thatcher said, “Pretty much every coach we’ve had in our two seasons has done a good job.”
features
Hockey continues undefeated season by Jon Mallen
The team itself is relatively new, but the players are experienced. According to Thatcher, the players naturally improved after a year of playing, and because of this, the team of the first season blossomed into a more skilled, better working team in the second season. “There’s always little things to improve on in every position of the game,” Thatcher said. “Every year you play, no matter what it is, you kind of just improve naturally after a year of whatever you’re doing.” Every player, according to Thatcher, is
open to improvement, including himself. “My defensive play can improve,” Thatcher said. “It’s my job to follow the puck wherever it is in the defensive zone. I can always get better with covering my responsibilities, and everyone else can too.” The team’s improvement, according to Sklarenko, has allowed the players to reach their goal of success. “The team’s performance has been really strong,” Sklarenko said. “They haven’t dropped a game yet, so overall it’s been a good year so far.”
High Tide According to Thatcher, there have not been too many personal factors that have weighted the team down in their takeoff to success. “We’ve been excelling in pretty much all parts of the game and we haven’t really had anything that’s held us back,” Thatcher said. “We’ve got great goaltending and we’re scoring a lot, and that’s what matters.” Thatcher sees the success and improvement as an opportunity to advance in their bracket farther than they ever have before. “We’re undefeated, and realistically to make playoffs we only have to win three of our next six games, whereas last year we ended up missing the playoffs in the final game,” Thatcher said. “We’re definitely in a better position than we were last year.” Due to teams like RUHS and Beverly Hills blowing other teams out, a scoring rule was implemented. This rule stated that once a five goal lead is reached, goals are to stop being recorded in order to keep standings competitive. According to Thatcher, the ingredients of success, collaboration, and skill that the team posesses are a sure recipe to get to the playoffs and maybe fulfill hopes for the championship. “Honestly I don’t see a reason why we wouldn’t make the playoffs,” Thatcher said, “and we should be going to the championship. Eventually that’s what we should be doing.”
April 24, 2015
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features
A shadow of what he hopes to become
Caiden Soriano will learn from some of the world’s top surgeons at Harvard over the summer by Adam Yorke One of the world’s top surgeons will gently slice his scalpel through a day old cadaver at Harvard Medical Center, and freshman Caiden Soriano will be standing not ten feet away. Starting June 26, Soriano will spend 1-2 months shadowing the world’s top surgeons, examining live surgeries firsthand, and meeting five Nobel Prize winners at Harvard. “At first I was extremely nervous yet excited at the same time, but now after have some time to process what I will be doing, I am completely fine and usual, and see this experience more as another day of school,” Soriano said. “Except I will be examining a diseased liver that was recently cut out of a living being, compared to learning how to
say ‘car’ in French.” Soriano and approximately 30 students from around the nation will be attending the summer program, allowing for personal interactions with some of the nation’s brightest minds. “I have been practicing what I will say to the Nobel Prize winners, and I am going to ask, ‘How does a Nobel Prize change your view on things and has it affected you in any negative ways? Also, with the work you have done to win such a prize and a million dollars what is it that motivates you to keep working, even though you financially do not need to?’” Soriano said. Soriano was nominated for the summer program by a Harvard admissions counselor who he had been constantly emailing since middle school. “In 7th grade I started to email multiple
Old game, new sport
Harvard admissions offices, when I reached out to the medical office. I told them I wanted to get into Harvard to eventually become a pediatrician, and three years of doing that lead to where I am now,” Soriano said. Soriano’s early initiation into the college application process is largely driven by his determination to attend Harvard. “It is hard to say exactly what inspired me, but honestly it may have been the fact that I wanted to attend that university so badly that I felt one huge way to put me a step further to getting accepted was emailing,” Soriano said. “We are a generation of technology, so why not use that to our advantage? I felt as if I needed to distinguish myself from any and all applicants that would apply, and emailing Harvard was what I thought of.” He hopes the experience will not only give him a step up in the race for college ac-
Prepare for takeoff. Billy Strickland dives for a disc and catches it with one hand.
Zane Zent talks about his experiences with ultimate frisbee club by Vivian Lam
Senior Zane Zent’s passion for ultimate frisbee prompted him to create a club for him and his friends to play. “The purpose of the club is to have a fun way to get all my friends together competing against each other in a great athletic competition,” Zent said. The club means a lot to him because he created the club two years ago and he “loves” playing frisbee. “It took a lot of work to build and I’m so proud of all the kids that learned the game in the past two years,” Zent said. The club plays other schools occasionally and even has members from other schools.
“Everyone is welcome to join. People from other schools heard and loved the game so they asked me if they could join,” Zent said. “We occasionally play with other schools like South High on the softball field and we win. I set up the day and the field and then people just come to play.” The club provides activities for him and his friends. “I love watching all my friends make spectacular catches, like when my buddy Billy Strickland leaped over a potential defender to catch the disc that was flying away from
ceptance, but also further his desire to work in the medical field as an adult. “After finishing medical school, I would like to become a pediatrician because I love working with people and kids, and this career would not only allow me to do that but also possibly help a family. In the case that a child does need emergency medical attention, I could possibly be the one to help, and that thought is one of the major reasons why I have kept my interests about the medical field,” Soriano said. Throughout his communications with the Harvard admissions counselors, Soriano discovered the keys to acceptance to a university that accepted 5.9% of an estimated 35,000 applicants last year (from news.harvard.edu). The counselors emphasized focusing more on quality of work than overall GPA, warned to only take AP or Honors classes if a high grade was attainable, and said that without any extracurriculars or volunteer work, your file would be thrown aside. “Overall, if I keep up my ambitions, grades, and do plenty of work outside of school, then I should be fine. They also said I don’t need to worry so much about college at the moment and focus more on just enjoying school and life now, because you only get to go to high school once, so try not to stress too much about the future,” Soriano said. “But I’m going to stress anyways, so it might as well be for Harvard.”
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his body with one hand,” Zent said. “When I make a great catch, it feels like a dream come true.” The frisbee club, however, does not play as often as Zent likes. “We used to play once a week last year, but this year is once a month. Our more competitive team couldn’t play as often because they’re busy,” Zent said. Zent does not have high hopes for the future of the club after he graduates because he believes that no one is as dedicated as he is. “There’s no chance it will remain and I feel fine about it. The goal was to make a tourney
where me and my friends can play in and we did that ten fold so if the club dies, then it dies,” Zent said. “If the club did continue, I would feel like I won the lotto because it’s one long shot. If kids still play frisbee, then my team will come back during winter break and play.” Even though the club will probably not remain next year, Zent plans on playing frisbee during college. “I’ve played sports my entire life. I don’t have the size or the skill to play in college so I decided to play club frisbee because it would just feel too weird not playing any sports anymore after this year,” Zent said. “I’m stoked. I love playing ultimate frisbee.” The frisbee club taught Zent that each person is “different and unique.” “To teach someone something new, you cannot treat them like you treated the person before,” Zent said. “The club gives me great satisfaction because I helped each person in there become better at something which made every second I spent worth it.”
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Mixin’ it up
High Tide
features
Ideozu makes basketball mixtapes to highlight players’ skills by Reema Saad When sophomore Nnaji Ideozu brings his watching a mixtape of someone, and the two loves together, basketball and comput- edits were really sharp and really ers, he creates highlight reels for many tal- great, but the music just was not ented high school basketball players. captivating. The player received While Ideozu mostly makes so much hate for it. The music reels for his friends, he has creas a viewer shows what this ated a business out of it, as well player is about,” Ideozu said. as a YouTube channel called “When I select music, it is MakeorBreak Mixtapes. Some to match a player’s of his clients include RUHS stugame.” dents. For Ideozu, it According to Ideozu, the took a while to maspurpose of these mixtapes is to ter the many differdefine a player’s talents and caent elements in P pabilities. The mixtapes themselves are HOT creating a O short videos with many clips of the player in BY CH AN DL action that demonstrate their most valuable ER RO plays and moments in a game. SS “I want to emphasize their skill level and m i x make them look better than what we see tape. He learned b y them as. I want to make their movements watching major YouTube supernatural in my editing, and I want to channels such as Ballislife, enhance their game, but in my way,” Ideozu Shift Team HQ, and Hoopsaid. mixtape. One of the most important factors in the “When I first started, editing process is music. Ideozu said that I was learning the tricks music can change the effectiveness of a of the trade by watchmixtape in terms of the player’s abilities. ing videos on YouTube. “Music is totally everything. I remember I was self-taught. I re-
member one time, I YouTubed ‘how to make a basketball highlight reel’ and I got no results,” Ideozu said. “I took it upon myself to see how other people do it. I did my research on what programs I would have to use, like Final Cut Pro and Sony Vegas.” Ideozu believes that personal style is also a major part of creating these highlight reels. “I tried to emulate the style of others, and eventually I mastered some of the techniques in my editing. My style is very diverse and unique. Once I see what I can do better, I add it on. If you have a specific style, then you are too predictable. When you are too predictable in this business people are
going to exploit you on that and call you out, and you will be less successful. Add more variety and people will see that y o u are capable of doing different things,” Ideozu said.
According to Ideozu, the biggest challenge of filming is finding interesting angles to shoot from. “I like to stand underneath the basket because I can get that perfect shot. I can see the whole play going on. If you are standing in the bleachers, it is not a good angle because it is farther and you might have to use the zoom technique on your software,” Ideozu said. “It can make your video more blurry and pixelated. You want the best quality.” Despite all the challenges that Ideozu has come across, he continues to improve upon his hobby. His sister, sophomore Karra Ideozu, believes that he has grown since the beginning of his business. “He has learned a lot about filming at better angles. Editing consumes a lot of time, however Nnaji is getting better at creating a balance between business and academics,” Karra said. Since his first reel, which took him about a month to make, Ideozu has cut down on the amount of time it takes to make one mixtape. “The shortest I have taken is two days and the longest I took was a month,” Ideozu said. “It is all about perfecting your craft and learning. After that, you can do anything.”
April 24, 2015
page 15
features
Proud to be an American Dilley and Carmody are enlisted in the Marine Corps by Roxanne Labat The 2014-2015 school year has produced a record number of eight graduating seniors who are enlisting in the Marine Corps. Senior Coltrane Dilley finds that being enlisted in the Marines is beneficial. “I wanted to better myself,” Dilley said. “I think it’s a great opportunity straight out of high school to get some accolades under my belt. The GI Bill covers $180,000 in tuition and I like the traveling experience.” Dilley is in the Delayed Entry Program, also known as DEP. “DEP is basically for anyone waiting to be shipped off the boot camp. I leave four days after graduation,” Dilley said. Dilley broke the news to his family, inciting skepticism from his mother. “My mom was scared and worried when I told her I wanted to join the Marines,” Dilley said. “I think one of the biggest misconceptions about the Marines is that you’ll be shipped off to war, and that’s completely false. Only around 20 percent of Marines go to combat. The other 80 percent do office jobs and other things.” While Dilley decided not to go to combat, he once wanted to be a part of the 20 percent who do. “At first I was heavily considering trying to go infantry, but my mom would never be
Serving their country. Carmody (left) and Dilley (right) salute. and be the best version of me,” Carmody said.
able to sleep if I was deployed. I’d be ready for the possibility of combat, though,” Dilley said. Senior James Carmody, a four-year MJROTC member, also enlisted in the Marines. “My junior year, I started thinking about what I want to do with my life,” Carmody
PHOTO BY CHANDLER ROSS
“I want to be a marine
said. “I want a challenge and I want to help people and make a difference. I couldn’t handle being in a classroom for four more years.” Like Dilley, Carmody finds there are benefits to being a Marine, such as gaining more skills. “Everyone is striving to be better and push you to be the best you can be. The
Marine Corps allows you to improve as a person,” Carmody said. “You get technical and on-the-job skills, too. This means if you decide to go back to the civilian job market after four years, the skills you learned as a Marine can really help you.” Carmody also knows of the disadvantages of enlisting. “You do have to give up a lot of freedom. Boot camp is three months straight. You could be deployed or get stuck with duty. Communication with civilian life can be limited, too. There are lots of pros and cons, but I weighed them. I want to be a Marine,” Carmody said. Carmody feels that an unaddressed misconception might make the list of cons seem longer than it actually is. “People seem to think that if you go into the Marines, you’ll be a hardened killer who burns stuff down and acts crazy,” Carmody said. “It doesn’t change you other than making you the best that you can be. You won’t be a brainwashed machine.” Both Dilley and Carmody are content with their decision to be a part of the Marine Corps after graduation. “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” Dilley said. “It’s a title I’m looking forward to having.”
Arakawa volunteers with Special Olympics
by Marie Ona
Special Olympics
4,004,415
Soccer 9.0%
Top Sports
Basketball 8.0% Bowling 6.0% Bocce 5.0%
Athletics 34.0%
Other 38.0%
140,827
ILLUSTRATIONS BY LULU WEGMAN
“It probably made him realize he is to be healthy because some of these people have come back from big injuries,” Chris said. Arakawa was self motivated to volunteer. “I encouraged myself. You learn that you need patience. It’s optional but I like to do it anyway,” Arakawa said. “It doesn’t feel like a job or a hassle.” Although he has not run into any obstacles, Arakawa feels that volunteering with people who have disabilities is not easy. “Some people have major disabilities and it’s a struggle to help them in certain ways,” Arakawa said. “Not only can they be physically disable and they need your help that in that way but when there’s mentally disabled adults sometimes you can’t really cooperate with them. You have to kind of guess a little because they can’t speak normally.” Because of Special Olympics, Arakawa feels that he has learned to appreciate life and others. “Life is fun while it lasts and you should help people when you feel like they need it,” Arakawa said. “I’ve learned to appreciate the little things because I don’t think these people planned on being disabled. Don’t take for granted what you have at the moment.”
Youth Volunteers
doing it with your friends it makes it pretty fun.” According to Arakawa, making new friends is a benefit from volunteering. “It’s a great place where you can make friends outside of school,” Arakawa said. “My social skills improved because you have to interact with people to be able to volunteer.” Arakawa works alongside his brother, Chris. “It gave me and my brother time to work together and do something fun at the same time,” Chris said. “It’s a fun and honoring opportunity because these types of events people together. It should be what you want to do and it gave me good feeling when these people appreciated that I wanted to help them.” Additionally, Arakawa feels that volunteering will help him in the long run. “It’ll prepare me for work like when someone asks me to do something I can do it and I won’t give attitude about it,” he said. “It gives you responsibilities, leadership and cooperation. My worth ethic has improved because of it.” According to Chris, Arakawa has changed for the better.
Athletics Served
Seeing their faces light up brings a smile to his face, knowing he did his job well. Sophomore Cole Arakawa volunteers forSpecial Olympics with his church, St. James. “The Special Olympics is a sports organization for those who have physical or mental disabilities held at USC. “It’s for people who can’t do what they normally should be able to so you go out there and help them,” Arakawa said. “In one case, a person’s disability might need me to walk them to back to their rooms, and then I’ll do whatever else they will need me to do.” Arakawa believes volunteering with Special Olympics is a good opportunity to see how these people become happy. “I just wanted to see their faces when they were having a good time. It’s really a special time for them to go out there and do these games and I thought it would bring me happiness too,” Arakawa said. Arakawa “loves” returning to St. James and spending time with the new friends he makes. “I like to keep coming back to the people to see how they’re actually having fun as you’re helping them,” he said. “It’s a way for me to bond with my friends to. When you’re
Information from http://www.specialolympics.org (2011)
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High Tide
sports
Boys tennis prepares for Bay League by Lizzie Fauver
athlete of the issue: Kat Ung
Ung proves asset to softball Ung-stoppable. Junior Kat Ung pitches in a game last month at the beginning of softball’s season.
PHOTO BY JOSH KANO
by Mylene Silver Star pitcher and batter, junior Kat Ung, seems as if she was almost born to play softball. But according to Ung, it’s hard to be naturally excellent at such a demanding sport. “There are certain skills that you have to learn, but I think that the more experience you have, the better you’ll be,” Ung said. “I think that anyone can get better with playing time and practice.” Ung has played on different teams throughout her softball career, including playing for travel softball teams through different organizations. She attends lessons to perfect her pitching and batting. “Softball is year-round for me,” she said. “During the spring, I’m playing for the high school team, but I’m playing year-long for my travel softball team. I’m fully committed to the sport.”
This is her third year playing on the school varsity team, though Ung has been playing the game since she was eight years old. “She has definitely stepped up to be a leader this year, more so than any other player on the team at this point in time,” softball coach Jennifer Dessert said. “She’s been a lot more outspoken when we’ve had issues. She’s respectful to her teammates, and that’s something that the girls respect her for.” Ung has a close relationship with Dessert. “From a player and coach aspect, this is one of the best relationships I’ve had with a coach before,” Ung said. “Being with her for three years has made our relationship really special. She encourages me and she immediately knows when I’m having a problem while playing.” Dessert believes that she and Ung share a
PHOTO BY JOSH KANO
Ung-er pressure. Ung runs to first base after hitting in a game at the start of this year’s season.
mutual respect, which is “something that all coaches want”. “She is respectful to me and she respects what I’m teaching,” Dessert said. “She knows what I’m asking of her and the girls to do as a team. Our connection takes it on the field and we trust each other that way.” According to Dessert, Ung is a solid pitcher and one of the team’s clutch hitters. “When we are in a close game and we’ve got runners in scoring position, I fully trust her to be able to tag a nice hit to score her runners and the team’s confident in her as well,” she said. “She brings that confidence up to the plate.” Ung has been on the varsity team for three years. “I was terrified as a freshman on varsity. Just the mere fact that I was pitching against girls who were three years older than me was so terrifying,” Ung said. “I really relate to the freshman girls now. I like to think that they can come talk to me whenever they want.” According to Dessert, from the minute Ung was a freshman stepping on the field, she has been a very composed and determined player. “When she’s on the mound, she pretty much represents every great quality that you need to have to be a great pitcher,” Dessert said. “She is positively challenged by excellent batters wants to do whatever it takes to find her opponents weakness.” Everyone on the team builds off of each other’s energy, according to Ung. “It’s just been so much fun. I’m so blessed to be able to play with the team,” Ung said. “It’s just been such a great time and I’m so glad I get to spend high school with them.”
Boy’s tennis walked away with a 15-3 win against Inglewood on Tuesday, helping them prepare for the start of Bay League. Junior Jaideep Chakladar believes that coming out of a win will motivate the team in their upcoming game against Peninsula. “We just get more confidence in ourselves and each other when we win,” Chakladar said. The team hopes to bring the same cohesive teamwork they displayed in their previous game into their upcoming match. “We have lost to Penninsula, but I think we have a fair shot because there are 18 games and I think that we can get at least one, which is a big achievement for RUHS tennis since Peninsula is undefeated,” junior Alec Johnson said. “I think we have a great shot because we are united as one coherent unit and we all love each other.” According to Johnson, the team has put large amounts of effort into practice to ensure a successful match against Pen. “We are currently running many vigorous drills in order to prepare upcoming game,” Johnson said. “We are focusing on our overhead shots because they are a little week, but we are improving them day by day.” In practice, the team works on real-game situations in order to be fully prepared to play against any type team. “We have been bonding very much through the games we have to play whether it be Inglewood, Culver City, or Mira Costa. We have done pretty well this season and we just keep bonding as a team, its’ pretty amazing,” Johnson said. Although the upcoming game is just a practice match for the team, Johnson believes that every match should be taken seriously so that they start Bay League off strong.
PHOTO BY PETER TRAN
‘Bout to get served. Sophomore Jaideep Chakladar hits a forehand
April 24, 2015
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sports
Girls lacrosse confident after PV win by Adam Yorke
After rolling past Palos Verdes in a 24-6 win on Wednesday, girls lacrosse has extended their undefeated season to 13 games. “Our team played phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better focus on the field. We had a great warm up and went into the game with intensity and has we kept going our momentum just grew,” senior Allie Kobel said. Lacrosse anticipated a tough game but were never agitated and came out with the win. “We knew going into this game that it would be an intense one. PV definitely went in wanting to beat us but we were able to stay calm and just play our game under all pressure,” Kobel said. RUHS can accredit much of their 18 goal difference to their powerful offense. “We had great ball movement in transitions and on attack which enabled us to score a lot of goals. I think we can always improve on using our plays but overall it was a great game,” senior Maddie Farmer said. Even with the tremendous amount of shots that landed in the back of PV’s net, RUHS still had some difficulties.
Keeping the momentum.
PHOTO BY SANDER FINK
Senior Allie Tsuji runs with the ball during a home game against Agoura earlier this season.
“We had trouble with how fast PV was. They had a really fast transition, so sometimes it was hard to get back to defense on time,” Kobel said. Despite PV’s speed, RUHS was able to hold their scoring to a minimum. “PV is a very aggressive team and drives a lot on offense but our defense communicated well and had great defensive sliding and so were able to keep them from scoring many goals,” Farmer said. RUHS’ strong offense and defense stems from their good work ethic in practice. “We were a lot more focused this week in perfecting our plays and also working on
defensive ride,” Farmer said. “We are very excited about our win today but this will just motivate us to work harder in practice and to keep up our momentum into the next game.” The win was big for the girls, but they are still using it as a learning experience for future games. “Some things that we will take from this game is just the calmness we had on the field. When we are all calm and collected we play a way better game,” Kobel said. “We just need to remember to go into every game as calm as we did today.” Their next game is on Wednesday, April 29
against El Segundo (7-5), who lost to RUHS 17-2 in their last meet. “We have played [El Segundo] once before this year so we know how their offense works. We will do our best to shut down their key player, and shut down their ride,” Kobel said. RUHS does not expect stiff competition, but will continue to improve in practice. “When we play El Segundo next week we are going to work on our plays and stick work during practice to ensure that we can win,” Farmer said. “We are very excited to finish out our season stronger than ever and I know we will play great next Wednesday.”
Softball continues winning streak by Jason Clebowicz Coming off back to back wins against Bay League newcomers Inglewood and Morningside, the Girls Varsity Softball team pulled out a 4-1 win against Peninsula last Thursday. The game started off as Peninsula’s leadoff hitter hit a homerun in her first at bat. The score remained 1-0 as both teams failed to score until the sixth inning. “Our whole team started off very slow hitting. It took us awhile to dial the pitcher in, but when we did we had a lot of success,” junior Sarah Staudle said. The game remained quiet until the top of the 6th, when freshman KP Fraser blasted a go ahead two run home run to put RUHS up 2-1. Fraser’s home run ended up being the essential spark for her team’s offense, as
they added two more runs before the inning was over. “[Fraser’s] home run was definitely the turning point in the game. We finally executed offensively and put up a decent amount of runs,” Staudle said. Kathryn Ung went the distance for RUHS, throwing a one-run complete game and snagging her fourth win. Their next game will be played this Saturday at 3:15 at RUHS against Palos Verdes High School. But according to Junior Kathryn Ung, their biggest challenge in Bay League this year will be Mira Costa. “The toughest competition we will have for a Bay League title is Mira Costa. They have already beat both Peninsula and Palos Verdes this year,” Ung said.
PHOTO BY JOSH KANO
Up to bat. Senior Brigid Antonelli hits the ball during a March game.
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High Tide
Stepping up to the mound Baseball strives to win against Morningside in today’s game and maintain their undefeated League record by Tyler Wunderli As baseball begins league, their first few games have been blowouts. The team has won by scores of 11-1, 14-0, and 12-1, and are looking forward to today’s game against Morningside, their second of the season. Senior Nick DiPaola expects an “even better result” than they had on Wednesday when they played Morningside for the first time. “We played a good game overall,” DiPaola said. “Our pitchers threw strikes and didn’t walk any batters, and our hitters were patient early in the count and hit the ball hard and executed well.” Although Morningside is not a “strong program,” DiPaola is still happy about the win and the team’s performance. “It’s always difficult to stay focused for seven innings and put up a lot of runs like we did today,” DiPaola said. Senior Duncan McKinnon thinks they have done very well, and is looking forward to the rest of the season. “We’re doing really well, we’ve played a lot of tough, competitive games against good teams, and we’re doing a good part for the most part, pitching well and stuff,” McKinnon said. DiPaola agrees that they have played well this season so far in the games they have had, and looks to do well moving forward. “I think the Bay League title is ours to lose right now. We’re playing very good baseball” DiPaola said. “I think we’re picking up the same momentum that helped us play well at the end of last year.” Last year’s team was a good team, making it all the way to the semifinals of the CIF tournament, but still fell short of the ultimate goal. “I think that this year’s team is better than last year’s team. Every person on our team has the ability to change a game and give us an advantage over our opponents,” DiPaola said.
PHOTO BY SANDER FINK
Hitting the bases. Junior Jason Dicochea hits the ball in a game earlier this season against North Torrance Jigh School. McKinnon is optimistic about their chances to do well this year in CIF. “I think we have a really good chance, especially from last year. We did really well, lost in the semis, so we have a lot of leadership coming back,” McKinnon said. Although CIF will be a challenge, both players are confident in their team’s abilities to do well in the tournament. “We fully expect to contend for a CIF title,” DiPaola said.
“Anything less isn’t acceptable to us because we feel we have the depth and pitching staff to beat good teams when it counts.” Out first, the team has to do well in league before hopefully advancing to CIF. “We’re favored to win it but anything can happen,” McKinnon said. “I think we have a really good chance of doing well and winning it.”
Boys golf loses to Mira Costa in game yesterday and looks to win Tuesday by Samaya Rubio
PHOTO BY BRITTANY UNGERMANN
Game on. Senior George Kurasaki puts the ball in a recent match against Beverly Hills.
The boys Varsity golf team lost against Mira Costa yesterday. Playing away game them the advantage they needed to earn a CIF qualifying score of 197, while they played “average” at home. “Costa has been such a dominant team, I think that we are making our way back to where we were in the past,” Junior Aidan Curtin said. The team was playing “decently”, but they need to work on rebuilding the chemistry they had in previous years. “I think, for being an older team, we need to improve on chemistry, because while golf is an individual sport, at the team level, we haven’t built that up,” Curtin said. The team utilized new strategies to potentially aid them
in the game, such as playing “one sophomore up”. Playing away on Tuesday gave the players who were “struggling” a chance to be more energized, which gave the boys an edge against Mira Costa at home. “I think we played better away [on Tuesday], which is shocking, but honestly it is more exciting to play away, the feeling of playing other courses, and getting out into the golf community.” Curtain hopes that the team’s performance in yesterday’s match will serve as proper preparation for CIF. “CIF looks promising, with Garrett Stribbling shooting some really low scores, it seems really promising for us to get far into the CIF finals,” he said. “We went under 200 which is a CIF qualifying score.”
April 24, 2015
Going for the kill
Boys volleyball looks to maintain winning streak after recent win against Palos Verdes on Tuesday by Romy Moreno With a more challenging win than expected against Peninsula high school on April 20th, the boys volleyball team plans on entering their upcoming game on Tuesday April 28th, with higher expectations than before. “We were expecting a relatively easier game,” junior Evan Murry said, “But we ended up really having to fight to win it.” The team agrees that they went into the game longing for a win but underestimating Penn’s abilities. “After losing to PV and Costa we really wanted to get the win against Penn,” sophomore Jake Ernst said, “But the game began with really tough serves that we weren’t expecting.” Sophomore Logan Glave had similar thoughts. “We didn’t really get the motivation we needed to win until after we started losing,” Glave said. According to the team, a lack of energy was bringing them down in the early sets. “When Wes and Eric came in, they brought the energy we needed to make big plays and stay in the game,” Ernst said. The team also expressed that another major factor in their win was senior Daniel Zieglers five consecutive serves in the fifth set. With a rematch in only a few days, the team is already preparing themselves on the things they need to work on. “In order to beat them again we need to keep the pressure on and let them make all the mistakes,” Glave said. In addition to constantly pressuring Penn, the boys are focusing on other key elements. “When we played Penn our side out game wasn’t the best so we plan on really improving that before we face them again,” Ernst said. Glave, on the other hand, believes in another means to improving. “We plan on running a faster offense so that we’ll be a step ahead of their blockers and get more kills,” Glave said. “Also our passing seems to be getting better and better so if we keep that up we should be able to do better than before.” According to the boys, their game yesterday against Morningside and having a home court advantage is going to give them the momentum they need to get another win
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Upcoming Games
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PHOTO BY MATTHEW YONEMURA
Tips all around. Sophomore Cinjun Coe tips the ball to the opposing team in a game earlier this season.
against Penn. “We’re hoping that that we’ll have a big crowd since its a home game,” Ernst said. “A big crowd will be able to help bring us momentum and energy throughout the entire match.” Junior Lucas Lossone has similar thoughts. “Having a home court advantage hopefully will help lessen Penns confidence and really give us the edge we need to topple them,” Lossone said.
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Dance Guard looks to improve for indoor season by Kayla Hiken Now that the season is over and preparation for the upcoming year is beginning, the dance guard team reflects on how they did this year and any improvements they can do to make the team even better and stronger next year. “The team this year was very different from our previous years. We started the season off with a brand new coach and practically a new team because we only had four returning members, so we had a rough start going into the season,” senior Bailey Phillips said. Aside from their difficulties at the start of the year, the girl’s believe they were able to
pull through the season as best they could. “Our team did pretty well this year and we all tried our hardest, which is what’s important. However, I think we had the potential to do more,” freshman Emily Coneybeare said. Although the dance guard team was fairly new this year, they believe they had some strengths that came from each girl, which contributed to how they did during their competition seasons. “One particular strength that really helped us out this year was that everyone was willing to put in the time and effort to not only improve themselves, but to also improve the team as a whole,” Phillips said. The girls were able to use these strengths
to help the team prepare for their competitions, get over their nerves, and avoid getting “psyched out.” “I think our team is really good at remembering the choreography and staying focused, because the competition settings can often be nerve racking and its sometimes hard to remember the little things,” Coneybeare said. Along with their strengths, there are a few corrections the girls would like to improve on and see be done next year. “Some things the team can improve on are our technique and timing. This will help them improve in every aspect of competition,” Phillips said. Other than their few setbacks this year,
the girls enjoyed being on the team and how much fun they had during the process. “I think the most enjoyable thing about dance guard has been all the people I’ve been able to meet and the new experiences it has opened up for me,” Phillips said. “Out of everything, I think I will miss the camaraderie our team shared the most.” Overall many of the older girls, and some of the newer members, enjoy being on the team and recommend it to any others looking for a sport to join. “I’d love to see more people join next year and in the upcoming years. It’s always fun to be involved in school activities and I think dance guard lets you have a lot of those opportunities,” Coneybeare said.
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High Tide | April 24, 2015
sports
Racing to the end of season
After top finishes at the South Bay Championships this weekend, track is preparing for Bay League finals by Jason Fong
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LAUA’E SCHWEITZER AND ALLEGRA PEELOR
Jump for joy. Senior Tasleen Suttles com-
petes in the long jump during a meet at RUHS.
This past weekend, track had a strong performance at the South Bay Championships, held at West Torrance. The boys and girls track teams competed against local South Bay teams, including Palos Verdes, who they will be facing this week, El Segundo, and West Torrance. The girls team placed first in the tournament, while the boys team placed highly as well, finishing in the top five. “There were a lot of good performances across the board. Both varsity teams for guys and girls placed pretty high at the tournament. It was a good chance for us to compete against some South Bay teams that we will be facing at league,” senior Carlos Suarez said. “For both our team and others, not all of the top athletes competed at the South Bay Championships. However, it was a great opportunity for some of our less experienced varsity runners to compete,” Suarez said. “The team’s next meet will take place this Thursday, against Palos Verdes, in their first Bay League head to head competition. “Going into this week’s match, we are definitely confident about our chances of winning. We’re not taking them lightly, but their team isn’t the stiffest competition of the Bay League,” Suarez said. According to Suarez, as the most important meets of the season arrive, the team’s preparation for their upcoming competitions will differ, as required by the individual nature of the events. “Many of our runners are tapering off in the intensity of their training to keep their legs fresh for Bay League Finals and CIF individual competition,” Suarez said.
Swim prepares for Costa meet next week by Kaita Pannor As the season comes to a close, RUHS swim prepares to face rival Mira Costa at a dual meet on April 30. The meet will be held at Mira Costa, the last meet before Bay League Finals. “If we win, it will really boost our confidence going into Bay Leagues. Going into the last meet of the year knowing we beat our rivals would be really helpful to us,” junior Rodrigo Gutierrez said. This season the team played Costa at the South Bay Invitationals, but this meet will be the first against them in a dual meet setting. “It may be a challenge, but I think we can win because I feel that our team is more motivated and has been working harder than Costa,”
junior Robert Atkins said. This season the team has been training with its new coach, West Carter. “This year we all feel much stronger as a team. Coach West has been training us hard and dedicating his time to every swimmer. We see improvement at every meet,” Gutierrez said. The team has been preparing through “intensive” spring break training at practices twice daily over spring break, as well as at before school and after school practices. “We are maintaining that intensity in preparation for the meet. I believe one of our biggest strengths is preparedness,” Gutierrez said. According to Gutierrez, the intensive training has left the team
well prepared to put up a fight against Costa. “I think our swimmers need to realize how hard we’ve trained and go into the meet with a positive attitude. Confidence is one of our biggest weaknesses,” Gutierrez said. According to freshman Camille Grace, the outcome of the meet is important in order to see where RUHS stands for Bay League Finals. “Overall we’re nervous, but eager to see the result of our hard work. All we need to do is try our best and focus on every aspect of the race, making sure to nail every single turn, stroke, and dive,” Gutierrez said. “We all want a good result, so by pushing ourselves we will get there,” Grace said.
PHOTO BY LEXI KLEEN
Fly away. In a meet at RUHS earlier in the season, junior Taylor Vigil swims 100 butterfly.