High Tide Mar. 27. 2014

HIGH

TIDE Redondo Beach, CA // Redondo Union High School March 27, 2014 // Vol. XCIV // Edition 11

NEAR DEATH-EXPERIENCE: an unusual experience taking place on the brink of death that can strike at any moment. [see pages 10 & 11]

p. 9 //

Senior Dylan Huggins plays competitive paintball.

p. 11 //

PHOTO BY TYLER EISENHART

Senior Daniel Palomino was pronounced dead for seven minutes.

Cho, Angel Blanquel, and Andrea p. 15 // Hannah Chung are very involved with their church.

Photos of the Week

Acadec places 9th in state

3 on 3 Basketball Tournament

by Chris Paludi

PHOTOS BY ---

2.

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PHOTOS BY TED CAVUS

Off the backboard. 1. Tyler Saxton shoots for “Team USA” with an attempted block

by Cole Henderson. 2. “The Basketballs” and “Dumb, Dumber, Duncan” face off.

Boys vs. Girls Rally

Academic Decathlon placed historically high in their state competition in Sacramento over the weekend, taking ninth place.

“This is the highest we’ve ever scored in our school’s history so this is a testament to how hard we’ve worked,” senior and Acadec captain Luke Murphy said. “We feel accomplished for reaching a level we’ve never reached before.”

Junior Samantha Karnes shares the team’s pride in their achievement.

“This was the first time RUHS has ever broken the top ten in state competition,” Karnes said. “ It’s very difficult to do so as we compete against so many high-scoring teams. California is one of the most competitive states when it comes to acadec. So we’re all very proud about our placement.”

Individually, Luke Murphy earned a Bronze medal in Art, Sam Arrow a bronze medal in interview, Jenna Barrett a bronze medal in speech and Bella Hsu a gold medal in speech. Murphy believes that their accomplishments were earned through hard work.

“We prepared more than we ever have before,” Murphy said. “This whole year we’ve been constantly practicing, almost twelve hours a week, so we went in with hope and a lot of confidence.”

Although they felt confident about their “strong” speeches, interviews and essays, they didn’t know how they compared to the other teams.

“We’ve done pretty well in the past but we haven’t gotten in the top ten, which was our goal this year,” Murphy said. ‘We were taken aback at the awards ceremony as they counted down from ten, to nine and our names were there. It was kind of a shock to us because the competition had been so difficult and after being anxious for so long as to how we had done.”

In their effort to place in the top ten in state, the team improved their regional score by 3,525.8 points in one month to top out at 49,368.8 out of 60,000 total points. According to Murphy and Karnes, team bonding was an important factor for the team’s ability to succeed this year.

“Our team is really, really close,” Murphy said. “This year’s team was made up of many different people who bonded over some sort of thing, whether it’s our interest in the subject or getting to know each other through the speeches and such that we do. Going through so much practice has made us a team, a cohesive unit. We’re actually able to enjoy each others’ company.”

Their team chemistry allowed them to go the extra mile in reaching their objective.

“Everyone has become very good friends because of Acadec,” Karnes said. We spent a lot of time with each other both inside of and outside of studying, and I think that our team bonding contributed greatly to our ability to reach our goal. We are all very proud of each other.”

Publications receive accolades

by Chandler Ross and Chance King 1.

2.

PHOTOS BY TYLER EISENHART AND JUSTIN LEE

Showing some spirit. 1. Salsa preforms at the Boys vs. Girls rally, the highlight of Thursday this past Spirit Week. 2.

Cheer team boys and girls live up to their name, eliciting cheers from both of the seperated crowds, boys and girls alike.

3. Sofia Colwell gives half of the rally’s announcements, especially concerning the girls’ side victories and sports teams.

3. Daniel Niko announced for the boys.

2

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NEWS

Out of the schools that competed in an annual write-off competition, in Rancho Dominguez, the journalism team came out on top: first place in the competition. The yearbook class also received a prize for their publication: the Silver Crown for the Pilot in New York.

The Southern California Journalism Education Association (SCJEA), held their annual write-off competition, which journalism students from 30 Southern California school competed in. Of those students, RUHS had nine writers and one cartoonist compete, like junior Allegra Peelor, who was “ecstatic” with winning the competition.

“Well, Mr. Ziegler was texting Cedric and me, while they were doing the awards and when I saw that we won, I was really happy and super excited. I think I screamed a little and he sent us a picture of the trophy. I was overjoyed and proud of everybody,” Peelor said.

According to Peelor, there were different categories of writing that each student had split up into: an interview and the writing that then followed.

“We got here and split up into our different categories. I was in sports, and there was also features, news and editorial. Then, we would go into our rooms and do a group interview

with someone. After the group interview was done, we wrote our stories on the computers for an hour,” Peelor said.

The write-off competition consisted of two competitions, one on March 1st and the other on March 15th. In order to advance to the March 15th competition, the team had to qualify and place on March 1st, in which all of our writers did.

Redondo Union’s yearbook The Pilot also succeeded in competition, earning a Silver Crown award at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) conference in New York last week.

Editor in chief of the 2013 yearbook and almuna Channing Lou was “extremely happy and proud” with the result of the competition.

“When I heard we were finalists, I honestly was not surprised. I don’t mean to sound prideful , but I was confident in our staff’s work and the final product,” Lou said.

According to Lou, the staff was “disappointed” that they did not receive the Gold Crown, but still pleased with the results.

“It is nice to be recognized with a Silver Crown award for all the hard work our staff and the editors put in last year,” Lou said.

Willkommen. 1. (From left to right) Alex Bruckner, Alex Holmes, Reina McGonigle, Grace Zoerner, Chris Ward, Fiona Price, Jane Witzenburg, and Serenity Robb perform in a kickline. 2. The ‘Cabaret’ dancers dress as Nazi soldiers to show the political takeover of Germany in the 1930s. 3. Performing Two Ladies are Robb, Ward and Vaughn Cook.

2.

1.

Perfectly marvelous

by Cedric Hyon

There was a cabaret, and the master of ceremonies not only ran the cabaret, but stole the audience’s hearts.

His acting was beautiful. His energy was beautiful. Even his bare back shown from his less than a shirt was beautiful.

Cabaret gave everything it could offer.

With months to prepare, the show did not disappoint on any level, which is extraordinary for a high school production. Everything from the minimalist sets to the cast choices were able to create power, essence and emotions that left us not only laughing,

Play Review

3.

PHOTOS BY MATT MARDESICH

Great performances and singing by Ward, Ragusa, Bruno in ‘Cabaret’ adaptation take musical program to new heights

but also left us speechless.

The master of ceremonies, played by Chris Ward, needs no introduction. Everything about his performance left pure happiness in the hearts of many. When he was on the stage, the audience could not take their eyes off of him. His aura, essence and voice were simply perfect. Ward’s dedication to his character along with his beautiful range of facial expressions left me sad whenever he left the stage.

Paolo Ragusa’s performance as Herr Schultz also deserves praise. Not only did Ragusa show dedication to his character,

but he had the strongest pipes of anyone in the show. His performance with Gabriella Bruno singing “Married” was beautiful with all of the harmony and emotion put into the song.

The choreography, coupled with the acting, made this production one of the best I’ve seen from the RUHS Drama program.

As a senior, I have seen three of the four musicals, and the dancing in Cabaret was the best. From the feet to the body motions, the ensemble was dead-on in sync.

Baldridge’s idea of using makeup as a metaphor for the Nazi’s takeover was ab-

solutely brilliant. It keeps you hooked and your eye on the ensemble, questioning what fate will affect the characters. With both subtlety and mystery behind it, the makeup was one of the stronger elements in conveying the message of the story.

Cabaret was by far the best production that I’ve seen at RUHS. It deserves all the hype and praise, and now I understand why there were posters across the city; it truly was a great showcase of the talent our school has to offer. My applauds for Baldridge, Ward and the rest of the crew for putting on a show I will truly remember.

SAT to change its format for upcoming years

by Marie Ona

In the spring of 2016, revisions to the SAT will be implemented. The current sophomores, juniors and seniors will not be affected.

The new SAT will include significant changes to the scoring, timing, and the subjects tested. It will be available in print as well as online.

The new version will return to a scale of 1600 instead of the current 2400, focus more on in-depth analysis of content, and will have no penalty for wrong answers.

“I like the scoring feature because I don’t think students should be penalized for guessing, so that’s a plus,” Counselor Shannon Rodriguez said.

Students are given 45 minutes less to complete the exam, but with the optional essay, 50 minutes are given. Currently, the accuracy of information cited is not being tested, but in these essays facts will matter.

“I suspect that the UC’s are going to re-

quire the optional essay anyway,” Rodriguez said. “Right now if you take the ACT, there’s an ‘optional’ essay but there isn’t really a choice.”

Author and SAT instructor Paul Jury received notes from teachers and counselors claiming their kids are not prepared to write college essays which led to the optional essay.

“Making the essay portion optional all of a sudden is like saying writing is not important, but the one thing that every single kid has to do even if they are a math major is write, so to say it’s optional is misprioritizing things,” he said.

The math portion may only focus on three topics with real-world problem solving and data analysis, “the heart of algebra”, and “passport to advanced math”. Students will also no longer be able to use calculators.

“That’s still a question. I still think the math section hasn’t been clearly defined yet,

so I haven’t formed an opinion on the new math section,” Rodriguez said.

Jury disagrees with the new scoring for the SAT, as half of it will be based on math.

“College and high school isn’t half math.

Although math is certainly important, to say that it’s half of everything that you will do in your career only applies to a very small percentage of careers, like mathematicians and math teachers. So if all of a sudden half of your SAT scores are based on math, I think that’s sort of silly,” Jury said.

In the reading and writing section, there will be no sentence completion. The section will instead focus on analyzing literature, social studies and science passages.

“I like the change in the reading and writing section. There’s a lot of common core that I think is really good. No more regurgitating, you actually have to think, you have to apply. You have to extract information from a passage and you have to apply

it. That makes sense so I think that’s a good thing,” Rodriguez said.

The new reading and writing section will also focus on real-world vocabulary, rather then mostly unused vocabulary.

“This is the part that I think is really going to benefit students,” Rodriguez said. “It’s more academic language, everyday language that all the kids should be familiar with, so in that sense I think it’s fair.”

Jury does not think that the focus on real-world vocabulary will change much.

“They talk about getting rid of the obscure vocabulary, but most people don’t know that the vocabulary is already only about 9% of your actual SAT score and of that only some of those words are actually hard and the strategy is just don’t do the hard ones. So really even if they eliminated all complicated vocabulary, it wouldn’t only really mean maybe 80 points score difference, which isn’t really a big deal,” Jury said.

NEWS . 3

EDITORIAL: THE PERFECT STUDENT...

STUDENTS WORK MORE AND SLEEP LESS, AND IT IS HURTING OUR HEALTH IN MANY WAYS

Opinions about homework load, opinions about AP homework and opinions about the necessity of homework do not matter for anyone. Everyone’s opinion, whether it’s students’ or teachers’, do not matter. Why? Because students are suffering.

As a staff, we are trying our best to not simply make this whining about our homework levels and how bad students have it.

But when there are students losing sleep, working all-nighters until they pass out, there’s a problem. A major one.

When a student, especially an AP or honors student, comes home from school, what’s their main issue? Surprisingly, it’s not school drama but rather the homework they have. When will they finish? Will they do it before or after dinner? Can they do it before or after rehearsal? There’s free time?

That means it’s time to do more homework.

Piles and piles of papers infiltrate students’ daily lives, and the students are the ones that suffer.

It’s not to say that students are sometimes at fault. Linda Dillard should be commended for her weekly homework system.

When students are spending 4 hours a night on her homework, it’s usually the students’ fault. That might not always be the case: stu-

ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH BIESCHKE

dents could mean to pace their homework, but maybe an AP English research project or a Calculus test gets in the way and Dillard’s homework ends up getting pushed to the weekend. And what’s a weekend without homework?

The health risks have not even been grazed, however. The recommended amount of sleep for a teenager on a school day is about 8.5-9.25 hours. Recall some conversations you may have overheard the other day or even partook in yourself. Why is it that students must feel accomplished when they get six hours of sleep? Why is it that students are awestruck when they see a peer get nine hours of sleep? Why are depression, heart problems, lack of motor skills and diabetes chosen over sleep? So suggesting that a

student gets home from practice at six, takes an hour to eat dinner and his three classes on a block day require an hour of homework each, he’s going to bed at ten. But that doesn’t even consider students in band who have practice until seven or drama kids that have rehearsal every night. In addition, an hour of homework each class is pretty conservative, considering some assignments can take a whole weekend day. Time to see your parents? Time to see your dog? How dare you ask such preposterous questions.

But homework is the means of teaching kids what you can’t teach in the classroom, right? Finland is one of the highest ranked in education quality in the world. The test scores are through the roof and students are genuinely happy. A contributing factor is

that kids have more time to be kids. Teachers rarely give homework in Finland, and when they do, it usually doesn’t span over an hour a night. It’s upsetting to see kids quitting things they love because of school.

It’s upsetting to see kids quitting what they love because of the fear and randomized amounts of homework that can pop up. The suffering, the fear, the anxiety-- this cannot go on any longer. The kids need to have time to be what they are: kids.

FINAL TALLY:

AGREE

EDITORIAL STAFF VOTE

DISAGREE

4 0

Afterthoughts...

CODY WILLIAMS It’s three o’clock in the morning. Eyes are heavy with severe exhaustion and the only thing desired is the luxury of closed eyes and a deep monotonous sleep. But there is still work to be done and compromising that A on the semester report card is not an option. Although sleep deprivation is easily avoided, it is all too common for students to allow themselves to become

4 . OPINION

sleep deprived for the sake of academic success.

By definition, sleep deprivation is “the condition of not having enough sleep.”

This condition, which can be either chronic or acute, can result from a variety of things ranging from late night use of electronics to allowing pets to sleep in the same bed as the drowsy individual (cbsnews.com).

Although sleep deprivation is common among working American adults, it is also common among students trying to get ahead in the competitive world of college admissions. Students are being subjected to conditions some adults don’t even face.

One student who has often subjected himself to sleep deprivation in order to keep up with academic demands is junior Andy Lee. Lee, who is currently enrolled in four advanced placement or AP classes, allows himself to go with little sleep in order to stay on top of the workload of his rigorous courses.

“Sometimes I’m able to sleep, sometimes i’m not,” Lee said, “It all depends on how much homework I have to turn in [the next day].”

It is a common known fact that people, especially teens, should obtain a night’s sleep lasting a minimum of eight hours to ensure a healthy, well functioning body.

However, Lee routinely finds himself falling marginally short of this standard.

“It’s normal for me to get barely an hour of sleep. I’m still able to take on the day though.” Lee said.

On occasion, Lee will wake himself up in order to prepare for the school day to come.

“Lot’s of times I will set my alarm for five in the morning after staying up until one or two.” Lee said “then I will just study or do homework until I have to go to school.”

Although these habits frequently make Lee feel “tired” and “like a zombie,” he feels

that his current sleep deprivation will lead him to success in his future.

“It sucks now,” Lee said, “but I know that if I keep working hard, the sacrifice I am making now will pay off when I’m older.”

But is depriving oneself of sleep absolutely necessary to succeed in today’s academic world? In some cases such as Lee’s, the occasional all-nighter is useful in maintaining academic status. However, sleep is important for maintaining a healthy heart, brain, and normal stress levels (coco-mat. com).

If one allows themselves to be deprived of sleep for long periods of time, they run the risk of developing diseases of the heart and kidneys, and even diabetes (nhlbi.nih. gov).

Although academics are often a main concern, one should ensure that a good night’s sleep is a top priority to ensure overall health and well being.

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

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

HIGH TIDE

STAFF

Editors in Chief: Cedric Hyon; Allegra

Peelor Managing Editor: Alejandro Quevedo News Editor: Jason Rochlin Opinion Editor: Chance King Health Editor: Kayla Nicholls Features Editors: Kira Bowen; Yas-

meen El-Hasan; Stella Gianoukakis; Shawn Mallen; Grace Zoerner Sports Editors: Ted Cavus; Micah Ezzes Photo Editors: Tyler Eisenhart; Justin Lee Copy Editors Deborah Chang; Lauren Diethelm; Angela Kim; Romy Moreno; Chris Paludi Illustrators: Joseph Bieschke; Angela Kim Online Editors: Vivian Lam; Kayla Maanum Staff Writers: Lauryn Alejo; Joseph Blakely; Jennie Bao; Caitlyn Catubig; Jason Clebowicz; Caitlin Cochran; Shaw Coneybeare; Lauren Diethelm; Jason Fong; Vaidehi Gandhi; Nina Gomez; Kelly Harraka; Caterina Hyneman; Eli Jarmel; Roxanne Labat; Stephanie Lai; Sophie Maguy; Shaniya Markalanda; Marie Ona; Chris Paludi; Phoebe Reneau; Jené Price; Amanda Ross; Chandler Ross; Sophia Ruffo; Reema Saad; Amanda Shaw; Laura Smith; John Webb; Luma Wegman; Cody Williams The 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.

The 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 other members of the High Tide staff.

A MAN’S WORLD A response to the Boys vs. Girls Rally Feminism. In four simple syllables, this word begs for equality, peace, and happiness among all genders. So why is it so misunderstood?

Declaring oneself to be a feminist can be synonymous with a plea for degradation and scorn. Somehow a feminist stopped being someone who strives for equality and became a woman who takes too much offense to everything, who hates the entirety of the male gender and who advocates for the overthrow of our patriarchal society in favor of the absolutist rule of her and her Amazonian sisters. Somewhere, somehow, being a feminist became a bad thing.

Feminism has become so twisted in the eyes of many that a quick Google search will produce millions upon millions of results for “anti-feminism,” a cause that dedicates itself to stifling the aforementioned bitter, angry, unattractive hags as they strive for social equality. How could a movement for harmony stimulate this kind of violent response?

Society, it seems, has redefined feminism into so ugly a term that even the women whose rights are being fought for want

nothing to do with it.

Society, it seems, has successfully disfigured the definition of feminism to the point that a female can no longer vocalize her opinion about her own rights without widely being met by judgment and belittlement.

Society, it seems, has warped feminism into a sort of sick joke about which men and women alike laugh themselves sick. Society does not allow the advocacy of women’s rights, but it allows jesting at the idea of taking away the rights for which women throughout history have fought so hard.

If you follow this line of thinking, it is clear to see that the problem with RUHS’ annual Boys vs. Girls rally doesn’t lie in the rally itself. The problem is not ASB, who has received and responded to the complaints filed and promised to keep the rallies in years to come as non-offensive as possible. The problem is not the student body, even the boys and girls, and the existence of these girls, who are just as guilty as the boys, does not go unnoticed, who held up distasteful signs, including one boy’s expression of his desire to “repeal the nineteenth.”

If you physically divide a group of teenagers

by gender, what do you expect to happen?

There will obviously be chaos and uproar.

A baby is not born with feelings of hatred or prejudice. Rather, prejudice is born in the minds of our youth through society’s institutionalization of the hatred and oppression towards a group of people, be it those of a certain race, sexuality or gender. These are the people that grow into the intolerant.

Therefore, the problem behind the Boys vs. Girls rally is, and will continue to be until social reforms are made, society. The problem is society’s ability to distort a message of love, compassion and acceptance into something unrecognizably ugly, something at which to laugh.

This is why I implore that as the first step in a series of important societal reforms, we redefine the term feminism once more in an attempt to bring it back to its roots. Feminism is not a joke or a stereotype, but an expression of unity among all genders, and until we reach this point, it will continue to be relevant.

The Boys vs. Girls rally proved that we are far from there, however. And that’s why we need feminism.

SURVIVING THE BELL ELI JARMEL

“Students should be encouraged to get to school and class on time, but tardy sweeps and dentention do more harm than good”

Teachers, please close and lock your doors.

This is a tardy sweep.

Tardiness, excused absence, unexcused absence, truancy. Parent notes, doctor notes, student notes, teacher notes. The attendance policy at RUHS has been convoluted for a long time and while administration is taking major steps to improve the process, there is still a lot that can be done.

It’s obvious that the point of our school’s attendance policy is to improve attendance in all students. Tardy sweeps and the No-Go list are not intended to punish kids for no reason; they simply are designed to incentivize students to get to school. The same goes for putting the names of students with solid attendance records in the PA announcements every week. The point is to motivate us to improve.

Lunch detentions and tardy sweeps are effective in motivating students to avoid showing up to school late, but they also incentivize

some students to stay home when they are running late.

Those students who do decide to show up to school knowing they are going to be late are sometimes kept from class an extra 20 minutes waiting in the long lines for tardy sweeps, increasing the damage done by whatever made them late.

According to the administration, tardy sweeps have proven to statistically reduce tardiness in the student body, but that does not mean they cannot be made more efficient.

Lunch detentions or long term punishment for receiving a certain amount of tardies would be a better solution than purposely keeping students out of class as punishment.

It’s clear that students need an incentive to get to class on time, but that incentive should not jeopardize the ability of students to be educated in class.

In addition to improving tardy sweeps and punishment for tardies, the process of clear-

ing absences needs to be made clear to all students and parents. Administration is actively taking steps to improve the clarity of the school’s attendance policy and these efforts must continue.

Every RUHS family should know exactly what kinds of absences are excusable and how to clear those absences. The difference between truancies and absences needs to be clearly specified, and the consequences of poor attendance have to be visible and effective in motivating students to keep track of their attendance record.

While administration has a point that improving attendance is a priority for our school, the methods by which attendance are improved cannot jeopardize student’s ability to learn in class.

Steps are being taken to improve the attendance policy at RUHS, but more must be done to clarify and add efficiency to the system currently in place.

OPINION . 5

Catching Z’s compiled by Sophia Ruffo

facts about sleep

- The recommended amount of sleep for teenagers from 11- 17 years is eight and a half to nine and a half hours.

- Getting the right amount of sleep lowers stress, helps maintain a healthy weight, improves athletic performance and coordination and increases your ability to pay attention.

- Sleepwalking is a disorder that occurs during a deep sleep and ends up in walking and doing complex actions while asleep.

- Teen sleep patterns shift toward later times meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm.

- Most teens do not get enough sleep. Only 15% reported sleeping eight and a half hours on school nights.

- Teens usually have irregular sleep patterns throughout the week. Typically they stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which may affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.

- Not getting enough sleep can limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems.

- Lack of sleep can also cause acne and other skin problems.

- If you fall asleep in less than five minutes, you are sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, so you are still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so tired you feel sleepy by day.

- It is impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, meaning we dream about things worth remembering.

- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in six fatal road accidents.

- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all whom sleep for 10 hours.

- The average person wakes up about six times per night.

- You can only dream about faces you have already seen.

- When you die you will have slept about 1/3 of your life, which for the average person is approximately 25 years.

- Not sleeping for 16 hours leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to having a blood alcohol level of .05%.

- Within five minutes of waking up 50% of your dream is forgotten.

- People born blind don’t see images in their dream, but they do experience higher auditory levels where they hear the dream instead of seeing images a blind person’s dreams utilize their other senses such as smell and touch.

- For 2 hours every night, we experience spurts of what is known as REM sleep. That cycle is the cause of our crazy dreams. (compiled from the National Sleep Foundation, dailyinfo.com, list25.com, and thoughtcatalogue.com)

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ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH BIESCHKE

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Phone: 818. 772. 5187 Fax: 818. 306. 5903 10233 Topanga Canyon Blvd.

Chatsworth, CA 91311

FEATURES

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF DANIEL SMITH

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Carving up a storm. 1. Senior Daniel Smith crafted a bird house with an intricate design around the entrance. 2. Smith carved a rose into the surface of the wood. 3. Smith emulated a moon hidden behind the shadowy clouds using only wood. 4. He carved a scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas as a gift for his girlfriend, Addi Castillo. 5. Smith wrote “love” in the wood as another gift. 6. “Monique” was engraved into the wood using the pocket knife that was given to Smith by his uncle.

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Young little wood-Smith 4.

by Roxanne Labat

The fine dust covers him from head to toe, fluttering at his feet and piling on his mask. His calloused hands shake the dust from his hair as he observes his finished product: a piece of art that could not have been easily created without understanding the craft of wood carving. Carving wood has become one of senior Daniel Smith’s favorite pastimes.

Smith gets his wood from exotic woodshops.

“Right now I have 10 or 12 planks of wood, like basswood and other exotic woods from these two woodshops in Torrance,” Smith said. “My mom’s co-workers also had a business in wood carving so I used to get free carving stocks, which are small sets of cubed wood that you can whittle into.”

Smith has attracted the attention of many customers through wood carving.

“People place orders. They contact me by word of mouth or on Facebook,” Smith said. “I’ve been selling my wood carvings for about three years.”

His recent work includes a variety of flowers, leaves, animals and other shapes.

He has also recently made a birdhouse and carved a vine pattern on its surface.

“I build things and engrave different designs in the wood,” Smith said. “I usually have some of my artistic friends draw some-

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Senior Daniel Smith makes wood carvings for pastime

thing out for me, and then I copy it onto the wood.”

Although Smith can predict what some of his customers like, he is occasionally asked to do carvings that are different from what he normally does.

“The weirdest one I’ve ever done was for a girl who wanted something for her and her boyfriend’s anniversary. She asked me to draw a spider and a tube of toothpaste inside of a heart,” Smith said.

In addition to carving for those who place orders, he has turned chunks of wood into gifts for his family.

“I created a sunset beach scene with a shell around the entire carving for my mom,” Smith said.

Smith’s girlfriend, junior Addi Castillo, has also received wooden gifts from Smith.

“One of the first gifts he gave me was a carving of a scene from The Nightmare Before Christmas with Jack and Sally,” Castillo said. “It showed me his talents. It’s one of the qualities I like about him.”

A majority of Smith’s customers are female.

“I’ve never had a guy at school ask me to carve anything, but I’ve had girls ask me to make many things,” Smith said. “But there was this one guy who asked me to carve a set of proofing stamps for him. Another guy

paid me for this notravoid that goes on your thumb and holds a book open for you.”

Smith’s love for wood carving originally came to be after the introduction of a new member to his family.

“I was in the sixth grade and my cousin’s family had come to stay with me,” Smith said. “I’d recently gotten a pocket knife from my uncle, and we had some extra fence boards. They had a baby girl, and I decided to carve her name into some wood.”

Smith said that he did not know why he did so, but that his wood carving “has grown a lot since then.”

“Now I have actual tools. I have a variety of chisels, knives, a rotary tool, a burning pen, and different sanding sheets. Sometimes I have to make my own tools,” Smith said.

Of the tools he uses, many are handled cautiously.

“To use the burning tool, I plug it in, and there’s a heating coil inside that goes down to the brass tip. It gets up to 1,050 degrees; it’s so hot that if it touches paper, the tool will set it on fire,” Smith said. “And if a rotary tool touches paper and the tool isn’t sharp enough, it will catch the paper and twist it around.”

Smith has experienced the dangers of his wood carving tools through several mis-

takes.

“I’ve been to the emergency room because I’ve cut my fingers up a few times,” Smith said. “My second time ever carving anything was while using a Swiss Army knife, which didn’t have a lock on it. I tried to do an angle, and it just closed on my thumb and went all the way down to the bone. There was also a time that my burning tool melted my fingernail.”

Castillo does not completely disapprove of Smith’s wood carving, despite its potential dangers.

“He has been around tools since he was little. Plus, he’s responsible,” Castillo said.

“It’s not as dangerous as, say, mountain climbing.”

Another obstacle of wood carving that Smith had to overcome was attempting to avoid breathing in sawdust-polluted air.

“I recently bought a mask because I was starting to get respiratory issues due to sawdust,” Smith said. “My mom made me get it because I was coughing fiercely every day.”

Despite the few setbacks he faces, Smith has come to realize how much of his life wood carving has become.

“It’s something that sets me apart from others,” Smith said. “It’s a way to make money and distract myself, but it’s also something that makes me unique.”

Officer paintballer ready

Senior Dylan Huggins competes in paintball with his team South Bay Integrity

by Kelly Haraka

As he turns the corner he spots movement behind a wall and sends a forceful glob of paint soaring into his opponent’s chest.

Senior Dylan Huggins competes with his team in paintball competitions.

“Getting hit doesn’t always hurt too bad.

It really depends on the distance that the paint is shot at and the quality of the paint.

If the paint is cheap, it will just crumble on your body, but if it is expensive, it doesn’t break as easily and hurts more,” Huggins said.

He got into paintballing from a friend who asked him to come. He expected it to just be a one time thing, but was amazed at how much he enjoyed it.

“It was a lot more fun than I expected,” he said.

Huggins not only plays with his team, but also with his brothers and close friends.

Although they are his comrades off the course, he feels there is no holding back when it comes to the game.

“Once I was playing two on two with some of my friends, and I saw one of them behind a wall. My gun was on semi-full auto and ran right up to him,” he said.

Huggins was somewhat surprised about how badly the paint affected his friend.

“I shot him from about six to ten feet away a couple of times in the back. When

we left he had welts onhis back the size of a quarter,” Huggins said.

Huggins practices once a month with his team. They mainly focus on accuracy and skill building.

“We usually practice at California Paintball Park. I play with around 15 to 30 people. I play ‘snake side’ which is on the right side of the field and am really comfortable with my position. There are referees that determine whether you are out or not. You are only out if the paint ball explodes and there is paint on you,” Huggins said.

Huggins’ coach, Chris Tregarthen, has a very supportive role in instructing the team on learning new skills and is happy to have Huggins on the team.

“Dylan is a key member of Southbay Integrity. His ability to move up the field fast and make eliminations makes him one of our strongest weapons,” Tregarthen said.

The fields are set up with three different sections. In the middle there are blow up objects that you can hide behind.

“The blow ups go from rocket ships to castles, they are kind of like a mini-town that hides you from the other team,” he said.

Huggins’ team competes against others in competitions. Recently they made it to semi finals and placed 5th out of 14 teams.

“Our goal is to carry the team as a far as

possible. We are division 5 right now and want to be able to get to division 1,” Huggins said.

There are some requirements of attire for playing, but the rest is dependent on how high your level of pain tolerance is. If there is a low level of pain tolerance, more clothing may be necessary.

“I usually wear an undershirt, a long sleeve and then my jersey which is brown and black. The only gear that you are required to wear is a mask because if you get shot in the eye, you could become blind,” he said.

Huggins’ coach also appreciates the support that he gives his team.

“Off the field his high energy and enthusiasm for the team is constant encouragement,” Tregarthen said.

Huggins isn’t usually nervous before a match, instead he plays an important role of supporting his teammates. He gets everyone in a circle, and they chant a rhythm that one of his teammates makes.

“One thing I do to stay calm is take deep breaths, but I always try to keep my mind clear,” Huggins said. “I have a very calm mind set during a game. I normally pump everyone else up because some people are really nervous or worried, so I do my best to keep everyone calm.”

Taking control of their game

PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE

Gonzalez and his friends take their passion for video games to a new level by creating games of their own

by Joseph Blakely

Most people have played video games, but few have set out to actually make one in high school.

Senior Martin Gonzalez and a team of other high school students who are “pretty big on science fiction” are creating a video game. It features a security guard who questions his superiors, discovers corruption, and finally confronts the CEO. “We just pitched ideas for how the story should go, and we pieced it together and are smoothing it out to form a seamless story,” Gonzalez said.

The ambitious idea to make a game spurred from interests in computer science and video games.

“I feel like most of us who grew up with video games in our lives have wanted to make one at some point. I want to make a game that people will enjoy playing,” junior Samantha Preshaw said.

The basic idea of the game was derived from other games and also group member’s own personal interests.

“I got the idea after I showed a friend a text-based RPG type game, and he said that it would be cool if we made an actual game,” Gonzalez said. “We decided it would be a sci-fi game because the majority of our team is really into sci-fi themes.”

Making a game is “very strenuous”, and Gonzalez had to find people who could perform various aspects of programming.

“A full game is difficult to make and requires multiple people,”Gonzalez said.

“When I worked with text-based programs, I never had to worry about art or sound, and I could just do everything myself. Now I had to find people that were good at those sorts of things.”

One difficult aspect of creating the game is having continuity between all art styles.

“There are a few artists including me working on the game, and our styles are very different,” Preshaw said. “We have to work together to develop a single style to use without sacrificing quality. It’s also difficult to find time for all of us to meet together.”

The team consists of Gonzalez, Boris Tsetsorin, Samantha Karnes, Jamie Chappell, Mahzaib Quraishi and Iris Polak.

“We’re all friends so we talk on a regular basis, and we also schedule meetings on some weekends where we discuss our plans and check on progress,” Gonzalez said.

One of the best aspects of creating a video game is the experience gained, making Gonzalez a “better” programmer. However, the immense nature of the undertaking is the largest challenge.

“When I work on making the bullet objects fired from a gun, it really shows how much effort is necessary to program every single part of the game. A template for the bullets, each gun with all of it’s different aspects, the lighting, how the camera moves with the player and more,” Gonzalez said.

“When you play video games, you never really think about the small things like that, but every single tiny thing has to be individually programmed and I find it difficult to really think about all of that and still feel

like this is possible.”

However, the possibility of failure can be discouraging at times.

“We have a lot of fantastic ideas for the game, but we’re not always sure we have the time or skill to implement them,” Preshaw said. “This game will be a risk, but it’s hard to stay discouraged for long though because the possibility of success is a big motivator for us all.”

After completing the video game, Gonzalez believes that he will reap many benefits.

“This will help me personally become a better leader and improve my organizational skills,” Gonzalez said. “I’m not the best at either of those, and now that I actually have pretty big responsibilities to the team, I need to get my act together.”

Preshaw believes that through the process, her work ethic will improve and all of the struggles making the game will pay off.

“Creating this game will be difficult, but we have the dedication to pull through,” Preshaw said.

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Close

Beyond the battle

First Sergeant Mick recounts a close call he had while serving in Quan Tre

by Nina Gomez

The sound of gunshots suddenly penetrates the atmosphere as the helicopter attempts to land safely. He hears shouting and screaming as his friends drop dead by his side. ROTC instructor First Sgt. Mick’s experience as a Marine during the Vietnam War has left him with the unforgettable memories of war.

“I joined the Marine Corps in 1970 and after training I was sent to Okinawa, Japan and then to join a helicopter squad in Da Nang, Vietnam where I was a door gunner,” Mick said.

Being in the middle of a warzone kept Sgt. Mick and his helicopter squad in direct range of the enemy at all times.

“Our job at the time was to take infantry marines in and then drop them off or pick them up,” he said. “And anytime that happens, there’s going to be some exchange of gunfire.”

His first and most prominent memory of a life-threatening mission was when his squad had to land and drop Marines off at a specific location very close to the enemy.

“Probably the one that really struck me the most was going into Quan Tre. We knew the enemy was close and we had to land where they were because that was the only land that was available,” Mick said.

He recalled the helicopter flying so low that the enemy was able to shoot right through the bottom and side of the helicopter.

“By flying at treetop level they were given opportunities to shoot at us but we had to land regardless,” he said. “So before we even

landed, eight Marines were already dead.”

As Mick and his squad attempted to transport the Marines that were still alive, he was faced with a “scarring” scene.

“As I turned to yell to the other door gunner on the other side to give him some instructions about where the fire was coming from, his head exploded,” Mick said.

“And it was just really messy. It was a really harrowing experience.”

Although the death was scarring, Sgt. Mick found that it didn’t affect him until after the mission was over.

“A lot of people say the same thing because during the mission you’re just trying to stay alive, protect your buddies and accomplish your mission. Afterwards when you think about it, you wonder why you didn’t get killed,” he said.

Sgt. Mick believes that Marine Corps is a very tight organization and the support he received helped him deal with the experience.

“If somebody has a problem and is struggling, we don’t just leave him alone, that’s not how we do it. We’re going to get together and share our experiences because that’s the way Marines do things,” Mick said.

Although experiences differ between the Marines, he believes they all have common problems and experiences that they share.

“The old guys come around and tell you what happened to them and how they dealt with it,” Mick said. “But it’s not easy to deal with the fact that you’ve killed people or that those people were trying to kill you and they’ve killed your friends as well.”

Into the deep

by Reema Saad

Wave after wave, freshman Teà Leksunthon found herself six feet under the waters of Hawaii.

“It was maybe five o’clock, the sun was just starting to set there and the waves got bigger, but I’m a really good swimmer so I thought I could handle it,” Leksunthon said.

Despite her skills in the water, Leksunthon’s then ten-year-old self could not handle such large waves.

“The waves were relentless and just kept coming. It was harder to get a breath of air every time a wave came over,” Leksunthon said.

She said that her thoughts kept telling her that she was going to drown and it was all she could think about.

“At first I was freaking out. I remember that my heart was beating a lot because I really couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t come to the surface. I couldn’t die, but it was a possibility. I was little then, so it was possible for me to drown,” Leksunthon said.

She described the feeling as one that

10 . FEATURES

“crushed” her chest because she couldn’t get enough oxygen to her lungs.

“You know when you’re running for a long time, and your chest gets tight and stings? It kind of felt like that. Not enough oxygen was getting to my lungs and it felt like I was being crushed,” Leksunthon said.

Her cousin Chrissie Pacheco, who went out to help Leksunthon after a while, was “shocked” by how difficult it was for them to be spotted from the shore.

“You wouldn’t have been able to see her or me unless you were in the water after the waves broke. The peak of the waves hid us from anyone farther out,” Pacheco said. “It wasn’t ‘till we were back on shore that my brother asked us if we were okay.”

Even after her experience, Leksunthon is still comfortable with ocean swimming.

“It doesn’t really change anything now to be quite honest, because it was at night and I don’t really go to the beach at night and I don’t really go to the beach anymore because I don’t have enough time,” Leksunthon said.

Looking death in the face

CALLS PHOTO BY LAURA SMITH

Freshman Leyna Duong had near fatal allergic reaction and was hospitalized

Of a fragile heart

First came the inability to move. Then not being able to see or hear. And finally, failing to breathe. What at first seemed like normal hives to freshman Leyna Duong turned into a battle between life and death.

According to Duong, she suddenly broke out in hives two years ago at a friend’s house.

The hives looked regular, but Duong’s mother was worried because of Duong’s hypersensitivity and many allergies.

“I’m running [to the car] and all of a sudden I can’t feel my legs and then I fall over.

My mom doesn’t see me fall over, and I try to stand up but my vision starts to blur. I start seeing flashes of purple and yellow and I’m [thinking], ‘Oh my God, I can’t see,’” Duong said. “I can’t really breathe either so I’m wheezing and I can’t hear anything. You know how you can hear the wind rush past you, it just stopped all of a sudden. I’m trying to reach the car and crying at the same time, and my mom’s like, ‘Oh my god.’ She tries to guide me to the car, and I lay down and pass out.”

According to Duong, the worst part was waking up after passing out in the car and not being able to breathe.

“It’s like you’re holding your breath but you’re trying to breathe at the same time.

Even though it was only for about 15 seconds, it was the worst because I couldn’t breathe for 15 seconds. I know that’s not a lot because you can hold your breath for fifteen seconds, but when you’re panicking it’s kind of a lot,” Duong said.

Duong’s mother, unsure of what to do, raced to the hospital.

“I’m being rushed into the hospital and there’s the paramedics on one side and some doctors and nurses on the other. I just hear a lot of noise and beeping. Someone put a mask on me, I remember they injected me with something and it was just a lot of yell-

Senior Daniel Palomino is limited by a broken heart, but it wasn’t a girl who broke it.

At two years old, Palomino stopped breathing and had open heart surgery because of an incomplete valve and was pronounced dead for seven minutes.

“I’m really sad and scared because of my limitations and what I can do, like I have to keep my adrenaline in check and there are some things that I can’t do that a lot of other kids can do. I’m just scared I’ll have an attack at the wrong time,” Palomino said.

Palomino’s open heart surgery has resulted in many obstacles.

“I am very limited. I can do physical activity but it does get to a point where I have to stop because if I start breathing too hard, then the blood starts pumping faster, which could just stop me and I would start hyperventilating. It’s pretty much the effects of asthma, but it’s worse because if I work too much, I die,” he said.

Because he is so limited, his life is always at risk.

“I’m open to be operated on at anytime, which is also really sad because it’s like I’m a walking bomb,” Palomino said.

Knowing that he is fragile, Palomino is constantly “worried” about himself.

“It has made me a lot more cautious in life. I know I have to be very careful. For example, I can’t hit my chest because during the surgery they had to saw down my ribs.

I don’t have the bone in the center of my ribs, so my ribs are held by titanium rings,” Palomino said.

Although Palomino is scared, he is very thankful for the surgery.

“I’m extremely thankful for the surgery.

It was done through the Ronald Mcdonald Foundation, so it was pretty much all paid by them. I’m lucky to be alive right now and I’m lucky I’m not crippled or handicap,” he

by Lauryn Alejo

by Stephanie Lai

ing,” Duong said. “I pass out again, and the doctor was like, ‘If you had gotten to the hospital any later you would’ve died, you would have suffocated to death.’”

Duong was then put on a machine that gave her air because she wasn’t able to breathe on her own.

“After I woke up, my face was still really thick with hives so I still couldn’t move and my lungs were really tight. The machine that gave me a certain type of air felt really uncomfortable. I felt like I couldn’t control my own body, and sometimes I would gasp because I still couldn’t breathe properly,” Duong said.

According to Duong, she “appreciates” her life more because this experience.

“When they told me I had almost died, I started crying and then my mom started crying. I just felt so sad but happy at the same time, sad that that just happened but happy that I’m still alive,” Duong said.

Duong recalls the event as an overall “terrifying” incident.

“After getting out of the hospital, I realized I could have died. It’s a really unique feeling that you can’t explain with words,” Duong said.

Anh Nguyen, Duong’s mom, was also “very sad” about what happened to her daughter. Although she is “happy” that Duong is okay, Nguyen is “scared” because of her daughter’s many allergies and the “potential to react with everything.”

“Even though I feel happy, a lot of my emotions revolve around fear because I know that even though it may be gone temporarily, it’s still in her system and she still has a high potential of getting it again.

When she comes out of the hospital, I may be happy, but I know that it’s still going to happen again and it’s just like a little ball of fear,” Nguyen said.

PHOTO BY TYLER EISENHART

said.

Without the surgery, Palomino would not be here today.

“I would’ve died at a really young age or I would have to walk around with an oxygen tank,” Palomino said.

Palomino is also grateful because he knows there was a chance of him not making it.

“When I got my surgery, it was a new technique and there was another kid who got my surgery the same day,” Palomino said. “As I was leaving the surgery, there was a pastor there for the other kid because he didn’t make it.”

Since Palomino was so young when he had the surgery, he does not remember much.

“Before the surgery, I remember everyone was freaking out, and afterwards everyone was still freaking out. I was just confused why everyone was yelling and crying,” Palomino said. “I remember my family was praying, thanking God I made it.”

Palomino is now healthy and living a normal life, but he is still at risk.

“Doctors keep telling me that I’ll end up getting surgery again eventually because there are still holes in my heart, so as long as they stay small, I’ll be fine,” he said.

Knowing that he is still in danger, Palomino is “scared.”

“If I went through that whole process again, now that I’m older, knowing what’s going on would be a lot scarier to me,” Palomino said.

However, because of the surgery, Palomino has realized how thankful he should be.

“The main thing is, you have to be grateful for what you have. I could’ve had it a lot worse, like the kid that didn’t make it through the surgery, but I did and we had the same surgery,” Palomino said. “You should be very grateful for what you have.”

FEATURES . 11

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by Caitlyn Catubig

Joshua Kano plays competitive Pokemon

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c h t a ‘ e c m a t

Breeding, training, solving math, battling. Together, these words might not make sense, but to freshman Joshua Kano, this is all in the day’s work in the world of competitive Pokémon.

Competitive Pokémon is based on the Pokémon franchise with the idea of catching and battling fictional creatures called Pokémon.

The franchise has created a popular series of games, shows and movies.

In competitive Pokémon, players compete against other real players with their Pokémon in “battles,” instead of games set in the storyline of the game itself .

“Competitive is different. In the game you’re stuck with made up characters, but when you’re competing, you’re facing real people with real minds. It really changes how you play,” Kano said.

According to Kano, competitive Pokémon consists of three main components: “breeding, training, and math.”

“In the game, you would breed two Pokémon together to get the kind you

the experience.

“Pokémon was one of the first games that was the start of ‘friend to friend’ contact. You would be able to play together, exchange Pokémon, and more,” said Hesseltine. “I’m a gamer and I find that playing with others is better than just playing by yourself. There’s something added to your gameplay experience and I feel that Pokémon was the first of that. A lot of the games today, even if it may not seem like it, blends something like online connectivity to where it all started; Pokémon.”

According to Hesseltine, “the complexity of the game itself ” also adds to its appeal to players.

“If you’re a hardcore gamer, there are a lot of thin aspects you’re not told of in games. Like, EV training that isn’t really taught to you in the game,” says Hesseltine. “You figure it out on your own or by doing research into it. There can be so much depth to something that seems so simple on the surface.”

Although being longtime fans of the series,

want. Then there’s training to build up ‘EVs,’ which are your effort values, or stats of a Pokémon. Math comes into play when you need to decide how much damage you might take from an attack and so on,” said Kano.

Unlike other popular competitive games, Pokémon uses a turn-based system which has the player focus more on “strategy than instant decisions.”

“Most teams have six Pokémon,” says Kano. “You always have to outsmart your opponent. You have to get the right mindset. You have to have to think about what the other person is thinking about too like, ‘What would they do next,’ or ‘How should I deal with this attack?’ It’s almost like chess.”

Along with millions of other players, Kano finds the experiences through the game worthwhile and enjoys the

feeling of winning from it.

“Winning in anything feels good. After a win, you

get this sense of achievement and you’re think

ing, ‘Yeah, I did it’,” says Kano.

Senior Michael Hesseltine, agrees with Kano

that the connection between players key to

Kano and Hesseltine, decided to start battling competitively when its newest addition to the games, ‘Pokémon X&Y,’ came out last October.

“I started with ‘Pokémon X&Y.’ It’s the easiest game to start with because it’s new and the creators made it so easy to understand how to battle and breed Pokémon,” says Kano. “I went on YouTube too, and I saw people battling. I was thinking, ‘Oh, people have already started this? I should get into this too.’ So, I started to breed pokémon and it took me about a month to get me to a good place with my team.”

Since then Kano continued to play and now, Kano hopes to compete in a regional competition in California where he can face many other players later on.

“This year in the summer, I want to finish on top. I don’t expect to finish that high, but I just want to play there because there’s so many big people that live here in California that are into Pokémon and I want to get exposure to that,” says Kano.

“It builds up time now. I can spend an hour breeding Pokémon, instead of going through an hour doing nothing. It’s fun.”

12 . FEATURES

Discipline Chief Warrant Officer-3 Keith Willoughby reflects on his career in the Marine Corps

by Amanda Shaw

PHOTO BY LAUREN DIETHELM

Responsibility, discipline, punctuality and rational thinking are only a handful of the numerous skills that ROTC instructor Chief Warrant Keith Willoughby acquired throughout his years of service in the Marines.

“I learned a lot about self-discipline, regimen and routine. I was pretty unorganized when I was a young man, sleeping in all the time. I used to get in trouble for that stuff in the beginning of my Marine Corps career,” Willoughby said.

Willoughby was complacent with himself until a point in his career when he had to face consequences as a result of his unorganized mentality.

“The warrant officer who was in charge of me when I was a young Marine told my mother, ‘Your son needs to get out of the Marine Corps because he’s not Marine Corps quality people,’” Willoughby said.

Willoughby was punished, which became a “life-changing” experience for him and motivated him to change his attitude.

“For the next couple of weeks I got to do a locker inspection every single morning for a whole two weeks until I had absolutely no discrepancies. I was on time every single day and I had to know my knowledge questions. Everything had to be perfect before he would let me off. That got me out of the late, undisciplined thing, and into a more of a Marine Corps lifestyle,” Willoughby said.

Willoughby began his career as a postal clerk. Several years later he joined the drill team and became a drill instructor on Parris Island in 1986 for two years. There, he found that the skills he acquired from the Marine Corps served him well.

“We were on Parris Island on the rifle range. The recruits shoot actual live rounds that could kill somebody if you use them in your rifle and shot somebody, but they shoot at targets. When they got done with the rifle range each day, they had what was called a shakedown where they have to look for any live rounds that a recruit might’ve kept them for whatever reason to make sure they don’t carry any live rounds with them off the rifle range,” Willoughby said.

One day after finishing shooting and the shakedown on the range, problems arose.

“This one psycho kid smuggled some live rounds off the rifle range, and he went to the barracks with these live rounds. We got back and I just happened to be the duty drill instructor that night, which meant I’m

going to sleep in the drill instructor’s house in the barracks with the recruits all night.

There was no else there but the recruits and me. Well, this guy had smuggled the rounds and his intent was he was that he was going to knock on the door in the middle of the night, and when I came to the door, he was going to shoot me,” Willoughby said.

Remaining calm in the face of death, Willoughby was able to keep the situation under control after another officer informed him that live rounds were missing from the rifle range.

“When that happened, I told the recruits,‘Zero,’ which means they all freeze.

Everyone froze and I called all of the other drill instructors. They all came down and we dumped every rack, every foot locker, and looked through everything, and we find live rounds on this kid. Sure enough, he got discharged. We kicked him out of the Marine Corps, and he went to psychological evaluation and they determined that he was not fit for duty. The reason I know he had this intent was because the person that worked for the Chief-in-Staff knew me and they read his statement which said exactly what he had planned to do,” Willoughby said.

Willoughby was able to contribute to the Marine Corps with his hard-working attitude, but it wasn’t until much later that he considered becoming an ROTC teacher to share his knowledge with young people.

“For six years I was out of the Marine Corps and didn’t anything to do with ROTC, but one day we looked at the ROTC website and saw there was an opening nearby, so I had the opportunity to get involved.

I took over a school out in Las Vegas for one year. Then I found out that Redondo was going to open up and I had the opportunity to come here,” Willoughby said.

Willoughby knew right away that working as an ROTC instructor was the right job for him, and he has been here ever since.

“I was thrilled when I got the job at RUHS. Having grown up in Redondo Beach, this was the perfect opportunity for me. During the previous 28 years, I had been away from my family and friends, serving the country and traveling the world.

Getting the job at RUHS allowed me to come home. Most notably, I was able to see my Dad during his last few years, before he passed away in 2011,” Willoughby said. “I have been truly blessed by my experience here at Redondo.”

FEATURES

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13

Charity through divine inspiration Hannah Cho, Angel Blanquel, and Andrea Chung share how church has impacted their lives

by Sophie Maguy

PHOTOS BY TED CAVUS AND JUSTIN LEE

Through extracurricular participation in church functions at Good Christian Church, freshman Hannah Cho has learned to “see everything and everyone in a different way.”

“Church has changed my view on the world and why people do things. It’s just different. I can see what’s right and wrong,” Cho said. “Let’s say parties for example. As a high schooler, of course I want to go out and party, and it’s like a bucket list for my high school experience, but I know because of church and with ‘God’s eyes’ parties have a lot of sin and the situation could get bad because I would probably do things I would never do. Me being surrounded by sin doesn’t help my relationship with God at all.”

Cho is passionate about volunteering in church.

“I think I just have a serving heart. Every time there’s an opportunity to serve, I always volunteer because there is something about me, whether it would be the right or wrong reason, that just always wants to help people,” she said.

Cho’s value of her relationship with God is what motivates her to be so involved in her church. That “is and should be one of the most important parts” of her life.

“I value my relationship with God because we as humans were made to glorify God. Having a relationship with God is the single most important thing to me,” Cho said. “Without God, nothing is possible. If I didn’t have a relationship with God, then I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I believe that the only way to get into heaven is just staying as close as I can to him and that’s only possible through my relationship with God.” Other reasons for her eagerness to be a part of church functions include motivation from her friends and pastors, her love for serving others and the spiritual renewal that comes with going to church.

“I’ve been doing all of this since sixth grade, so I’m really worn out spiritually. But now these days, after prayers of other people, I’ve been doing sort of good again,” Cho said.

“To me, going to church is important because it is where I get spiritually boosted when I’m all worn out from the week. And also, it’s my home base. It’s a place where I get trained and get ready for the week to come.”

14 . FEATURES

Sophomore Angel Blanquel’s involvement in St. Joseph’s Church has improved his optimism.

“Church gives me a positive outlook on life and I think there are some things that science can’t answer,” Blanquel said.

Blanquel’s passion for being involved and helping others is part of what motivates him to go to church.

“Whenever I donate, whatever it is, I like to think that it is going out and helping someone who really needs it more than I do. I do it because I like helping people,” Blanquel said.

He has been helping people at church ever since his youth and tries to go to church whenever he can.

“I go whenever they have food drives or clothes drives where we can donate food and clothes. Sometimes we go to church on Saturdays to help out or we go for anniversaries or marriages,” Blanquel said.

Whether he is worshipping or working at church, Blanquel makes it a point to give to the church and help others.

“During mass, whenever we pass around the basket to donate money, I make sure that I donate every time,” he said.

He is “determined” to go and help at church because of positive encouragement from his mother.

“My mom motivates me to be involved in church because she keeps pushing me to do it and she says that its good because it helps other people and spreads a good message,” he said.

Because of his involvement in his church, Blanquel says that he is a changed person.

“Church gives me a little bit of confidence and makes me more optimistic,” Blanquel said.

Freshman Andrea Chung uses church activities to help others and to vent her feelings.

“It’s not really my place to say that being involved in church and church activities is important because some people don’t believe in church or God,” she said. “For me, church is just like someone to vent to, and I think that everybody should have that somebody.”

Chung goes to St. Francis Church and believes that it is important to continue being actively involved in church throughout high school.

“I think that people should be able to get away from everything,” she said. “In my opinion it is bad when somebody has to hold everything in--they should be able to let it all out.”

Discussions about what goes on in her life each day helps her vent and let her emotions out. Because of her attendance at church, Chung has become more relaxed.

“I am stressed sometimes, but most of the time, I’m just really carefree about everything,” Chung said. “Attending church functions has allowed for me to be carefree because a lot of my stress is relieved.”

At church, Chung is able to vent in large part due to her friends.

“My friends allow me to relieve my stress. I like being able to talk everything out with everyone,” she said. “My friend Andy Lee inspires me to come out more and be more active because he comes out to church all the time and he’s always there for everything.”

Chung goes to church on Fridays and some Saturdays for community service and fundraising.

“We fundraise for kids in Africa in order to provide them food through canned food drives and collecting money.”

Chung has been going to church for years, yet she has not fully began to vent and relieve stress through church until recently.

“I began to vent to the church and become involved in church activities around 7-8th grade. I went before then, but I never really understood anything,” she said.

Overall, church helps Chung to be more carefree in general.

“I’m less stressed, and a lot happier,” she said.

Doctor Who? Sfetcu and Johnson bond over their love of the show “Doctor Who”

by Shaniya Markalanda

Talking together at lunch about it, texting each other about it and sometimes watching it together, freshmen Lexi Johnson and Jocelyn Sfetcu bond over their addiction to “Doctor Who”.

According to Sfetcu, “Doctor Who” is about an alien, referred to as “the Doctor,” who time travels through space.

“Overall, it’s about a man who’s not really a human; he’s a Timelord.” Sfetcu said.

“He travels through time and space, saving different planets and everybody basically.

He always has a spunky companion with him, and it’s really fun to watch.”

Being so “fun” to watch, Sfetcu believes she has become “too obsessed” with the British show.

“I try to watch it whenever I can,” Sfetcu said. “It used to be something I was just really passionate about, but then it turned into an addiction. I’m hooked. It’s a genuine problem.”

Although Johnson does not express her obsession as much as Sfetcu, she feels she is “just as addicted.”

“I’ll be honest, I don’t openly obsess over it. I don’t use references in everyday conversation or constantly talk about it, aside from when I’m with friends who also enjoy it,” Johnson said.

When Sfetcu watches “Doctor Who”, she feels “happy.”

“Watching ‘Doctor Who’ brings me this joy on the inside. It feels like it warms my soul,” Sfetcu said. “Just the fact that it’s such a good show warms my heart. Not to sound weird, but it honestly fills a void and satisfies me.”

Like Sfetcu, Johnson feels “excited” while watching the show.

“How I feel depends on the episode.

If I’m rewatching one, I’m sort of excited about it in a sense, even though I know

how it ends,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you catch stuff you didn’t notice the first time 1. around and that’s a cool feeling. If it’s a new episode and I’ve been able to avoid internet spoilers somehow, then I’m usually in a state of complete focus.”

Hoping to have someone to discuss the show with, Johnson introduced the show to Sfetcu.

“I wanted more friends to be able to talk about the show with, because at the time, it really wasn’t popular here yet. The only place I could talk with fellow fans was online. I had a feeling Jocelyn might like it due to her naturally odd personality,” Johnson said.

When Sfetcu began watching Doctor 3.

Who last year, she “immediately loved” the show.

“It was a very unique show and I just got hooked. It appealed to me because I really like science fiction,” Sfetcu said. “There’s all these different settings and different types of people but its all connected by one character, so it’s really nice.”

With so much to discuss about the show, Johnson feels bonds have formed between the two friends.

“Jocelyn and I have formed now bonds over the Who, and it may seem crazy, but having something so strongly in common is great,” Johnson said. “It gives you something so much more to talk about, and you can go to each other whenever you get drastic news about stuff you like. Overall, it’s been a huge way to get to know each other better than we used to.”

Sfetcu agrees that the show has helped her bond with Johnson better then before she started watching the show.

“I bond with Lexi over the show through our favorite actors, characters, episodes, and scenes. We also bond over the emotional

2.

trauma that comes along with our overobsession for the show,” Sfetcu said. “We talk to each other about these things with full of love and understanding, without the judgement of people who find this obsession ‘weird.’”

In addition to discussing the show with her friends, Sfetchu buys merchandise to “fill the void.”

“I have four Doctor Who t-shirts, and I might have one more. I have a Doctor Who beanie, a sonic screwdriver, a nightlight, a mug, a skirt, two earrings, two necklaces, ten pins, a pair of socks, three stuffed toys, a lamp, a cookie jar and I have a fez. But I know people who definitely have more than I do,” Sfetcu said.

Sfetcu believes she has learned different concepts from the show. “ ‘Doctor Who’ has taught me a lot about friendship. A family is not someone you’re blood with and a home isn’t a set place. A home is wherever you are surrounded by

PHOTOS BY TED CAVUS

Whovians. 1. Johnson and Sfetchu talk about the show “all the time” and discuss episodes together. 2. Sfetchu collects merchandise to “fill the void” when she isn’t watching the show. 3. Johnson and Sfetchu pose.

those you love and would die for,” Sfetcu said.

Like Sfetcu, Johnson believes show’s differences are what make is unique.

“You can’t really find another show with a similar premise. It also has so much range, one episode can be humorous and then the next one could be creepy, and the one after that pure adventure,” Johnson said. “The whole base idea for the show makes it so flexible to changes and one of the main ideas of the show is change. In that sense, it never really gets old, and that’s why it’s lasted 50 years now. It really makes it stand out, especially the show’s history as the longest running sci-fi show on television.”

FEATURES

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15

Star-studded Track team finds success in several events at the Adidas Meet of Champions classic.

by Reema Saad

PHOTOS BY MATT MARDESICH

Just run. 1. Junior Sergio Rodriguez runs in the relay in the Nike Invitational. 2. Junior Thalia Silva sprints in a leg.

A number of Redondo Union athletes placed at the 2014 Adidas Meet of Champions Distance classic on Saturday.

Among them was junior Amber Gore, who won the girls 800 meter run with a time of 2:11.86. Just after her in the same race was junior Anevey Hiehle with a time of 2:15.02.

Both girls believe that if the team is mentally in the race, then they can improve their times just by staying focused.

“You lose time when you slow down obviously. We need to stay more alert and focus on staying at the correct pace and not slowing down just because we’re in first,” Gore said.

Hiehle added that she believes the team is good at trying hard, but thinks that they can try even harder.

“We’re really good at doing our hardest but knowing that we can go just a little bit farther will make a big difference,” Hiehle said.

In terms of improvement, Gore said the team needs to just keep lowering their times.

“There’s always room for improvement at times. But from what I’ve seen, I know that a majority of our team had a really good race so I would just say we need to keep lowering the times,” Gore said.

Senior Dustin Herold, who came in second in the boys 800 meter run with a time of 1:54.40, said that little things during practice will also help to improve the times.

“To improve the times, the best thing we could do is to keep training hard and doing what we have been doing daily. The best improvement during practice that could be attained is self discipline,” Herold said.

Hiehle said that the team wants to stay competitive with teams like Mira Costa, Palos Verdes, and others in Bay League.

“There was a lot of really good competition out there and our team is really good at cheering everybody else on. I think Redondo just really wants to stay on top with our competitors in Bay League,” Hiehle said.

Gore added that she thinks staying at a competitive level with these teams, will help with improvements.

“I look forward to future competition in our division that will push us to faster times,” Gore said.

Lacrosse beats Beverly Hills

by VaIdehi Gandhi

PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE

Rejected. Senior Harrison Faecher carries the ball against Beverley Hills last Wednesday.

16 . SPORTS

Boys’ lacrosse came out strong against Beverley Hills after a flat start, winning 15-5.

Team captain Harrison Faecher believes that the team started the game rather flat because they had thought it would be “a blowout game.”

“That worked out against Beverley Hills but that won’t work against other teams,” Faecher said. “Other than that, the team did a good job of making sure everyone was on the same page and limiting our mistakes as much as we could.”

The team has been working towards improving, and Comito believes that the team has much potential.

“We’re working a lot on our offense and defense and transition play, which is the key to lacrosse,” Comito said. “We have some really skilled players, we’re very athletic and we’re experienced also.”

Comito is optimistic about the season and believes that this year’s team is the best there has been at Redondo.

“It’s going to be really important for us this year to stay healthy-we can’t afford to lose anybody,” Comito said. “I think the boys on the team are really serious about winning championships and it’s just a special group of kids so it should be a good season.”

Senior team captain Harrison Faecher also expects a lot

from the team, and believes that they can go further than any other Redondo team in history.

“The farthest the lacrosse program has gotten is the second round of playoffs-we feel that this group of boys can go way beyond that,” Faecher said. “Many of us have been playing together for years, so we have a special connection that other teams don’t have.”

Sophomore Preston Faecher believes their teamwork is what led to their win.

“We had great teamwork and effort throughout the game,” Faecher said. “The team we played wasn’t great so it wasn’t great so it was more of a game to work on plays and such.”

The team has worked towards improving every aspect of their game in order to prepare.

“This year we have two very good face-off players and we’re hoping that they give us that boost that we need to go from a top fifteen team to a top five team,” Comito said. “We’re also reinforcing what we did well last year.”

According to Faecher, the team has a lot of chemistry and is getting better each day.

“Everyone is bigger, faster, and stronger. We are working towards getting better each and every game till we can’t get any better,” Faecher said.

Torpedoes

Swim team hopes to keep the good times rolling after beating North

by Chris Paludi

Varsity Swim defeated North Torrance High School in a dual meet on Tuesday, and looks to build on this victory next Thursday at Palos Verdes.

Because North is not as strong of a team as RUHS, coach Chris Solba placed the swimmers in “off events,” or events they would normally not swim in.

“I feel like the team did really well,” sophomore Rodrigo Gutierrez said. “Even though some of the times weren’t what we would have liked them to be, the off-event swimmers performed very well. Our frosh coach last year is now our varsity coach and he is doing an extremely good job perfecting our technique and motivating us to swim faster.”

Sophomore Sabrina Endicott agreed that the team rose to the challenge presented by their coach.

“I think that as a team we did pretty well,” Endicott said. “Even though we weren’t swimming in our best events, we all gave it our best.”

The team’s best is expected: the swimmers practice for twelve hours per week in their effort to perform well in league play.

“I think we will perform much better than we did last year because we have stronger swimmers and a new coaching outlook,” Endicott said. “We’re all hoping we do well.”

Gutierrez attributes much of the credit for the team’s success to its chemistry both in and out of the water.

“We’re all willing to work together when the team needs it,” Gutierrez said. “It allows us to be flexible during event placement and be prepared to give it our all in any event.”

PHOTO BY CEDRIC HYON

Torpedo. Sophomore Taylor Vigil competes during the meet against North Torrance last Tuesday.

Beach volleyball goes undefeated

by Jené Price

PHOTO BY JUSTIN LEE

Put the ball in the hole. Senior Evan Diery reacts to a putt shot in the team’s last meet against West High School. The team lost to West, due to lack of focus. “As a team, we did not play so well,” junior Garret Stribling said. “We need people to step up and be more focused.”

In the very first year of boys beach volleyball, the team won the national championship, sweeping Dana Hills 3-0.

“It really means a lot to win the national championship considering it was the very first beach volleyball league,” senior Louis Richard said.

The boys team went undefeated and Dana Hills was the only other undefeated team according to Richard.

“Sweeping the only other undefeated team was rewarding in itself and shows a lot about the strength of our team,” Richard said.

Devon Burki, a transfer from West Torrance High School, teamed up with Richard during beach and was excited about the win.

“When we won I felt victorious and content. We brought up Wes Graves from JV and he performed really well,,” Burki said.

Senior Vincent Pizutti was away on a college visit during the national championship but when he learned of the team’s accomplishments he gained greater confidence for their indoor season.

“Winning the national championship gives our team confidence going into high school season,” Pizutti said. “There’s no doubt in my mind we will do well in season this year.”

SPORTS . 17

Softball catches winning fever

by Romy Moreno

With the TNT tournament and South game over, the girls look back and reflect on their performance and look forward to their upcoming game tomorrow against Westview High School.

The girls were able to come out on top in yesterday’s game against South high school, 15-3 and won three out of their five games in the TNT tournament.

“Compared to last year, as a team, we improved a lot throughout the tournament,” sophomore Allison Betty said.

Betty is not the only player that believes the team did better compared to last year.

“We really stepped it up this year and were able to win three out of our five games,” junior Brigid Antonelli said.

According to the team, there were many

2.

Grand slam. 1. Junior Breanna Miskimen hits the ball at the game against South 2. Sophomore Katheryn Ung winds up a pitch.

1.

PHOTOS BY TED CAVUS

different factors that caused their improvement.

“Last year, there were more cliques in the team that made us all feel obligated to come together,” Betty said. “However, this year, we are all one big close group, which really helps with our team chemistry on the field which leads us to our victories.”

Junior Kammy Fisher has similar thoughts.

“Since we’re all extremely close, it makes it incredibly easy to just go on the field and trust everyone playing, which makes us more confident on the field,” Fisher said.

Even though the team agrees that they did well in the tournament and in yesterday’s game against South, they plan to work on a few things before their game tomorrow against Westview.

“One of our biggest problems in the tournament was leaving runners on base,” Betty said. “So if we work on getting our runners in, we will do just fine.”

Antonelli has a few ideas on what to do in order to get their runners in.

“If we can perfectly place our hits in certain situations, then we will do great in tomorrow’s game and throughout our season,” Antonelli said.

Overall the girls have high hopes for their game tomorrow.

“If we keep playing like we are now, then I have no doubts about winning our game tomorrow,” Fisher said.

Boys tennis hopes to continue domination at West The tennis team aims to improve and be victorious at the next game at West to maintain their winning streak After a 14-4 win over Culver City, boys tennis is working hard to improve and dominate at their next game against West.

“We changed our lineup in doubles, so we won more points, and we had a strong singles lineup,” junior Jared Hiram said.

“We just need to come closer as a team and get more volleys.”

The team made the vital decision to change their doubles line up which “led directly to the win.” Seniors Jack Jarvis and Sean Mitchell pulled the number one doubles and helped secure the win.

“Our doubles game has been the weakest part of our team. Before we changed the lineup last game, we were only getting one or two sets in doubles, so we moved some people around and it had a big effect,” said Mitchell. “We’ve been running drills to work on volleys and overheads, so we can win more doubles, since our singles is fairly strong.”

Though this win was a major victory, the boys are training hard in order to prepare

18 . SPORTS

for their upcoming matches against a “good team,” West.

“Its going to be very tough. We lost every [player] from last years varsity team except for me, and we’ve definitely had a more difficult time with teams we beat last year.

“

“I’m proud of how we are doing, and the harder we work the better we will get” - JARED HIRAM 11

“

by Caterina Hyneman

West is still a good team, so we’ll have to play extremely well and have a bit of luck on our side to pull out a win,” said Mitchell.

“We are ready for our next match, we just have to play hard and smart and place shots better,” added Hiram . “I’m proud of how we are doing, and the harder we work, the better we will get.”

2.

PHOTOS BY KAMILA AUROGH

Serving it up hot. 1.

Sophomore Kevin Chang serves against Culver City 2.

Harris Khan returns the ball with skill 1.

Baseball team makes a comeback After a loss against Torrance, baseball came back with a victory in the second game with a score of 6-2

by Jason Fong

PHOTOS BY TYLER EISENHART

A swing and a hit. 1. Junior Brady Dorn is up to bat and takes a swing at Tuesday’s game at Torrance

This Tuesday, Boys’ baseball played a doubleheader against Torrance High School, and lost the first game 8-4, and won the second game 6-2.

“The first game we didn’t come out as fired up as we should’ve been. We weren’t as mentally prepared as we could’ve been, and we didn’t perform on the level that we were capable of,” senior Tyler Comer said.

“The second game we came out a little more fired up, and in the third inning we scored a couple of runs. We just kept building on that and kept our energy level up, and closed the game strong.”

Comer attributes the team’s victory to pitcher Vance St.John. He thinks St. John pitched a solid game and that Cole Henderson had a key hit in the second game that gave us the win.”

According to Comer, scoring runs is the team’s strength.

“Our hitters, when they’re on, are the team’s main strength. Seniors Cain Castor

and Duncan Mckinnon have been hitting the ball really well, and always get on base for us. It’s hard not to score runs with those guys on our team,” Comer said.

According to Comer, the team’s goal is to win a Bay League championship.

“These past few years, we’ve come so close to winning Bay League. Last year, we put ourselves in a really good position to win league, but we never came through and ended up losing by one game.” Comer said.

According to Comer, the key to the team’s success is to perform to their highest capability, and to score runs early in the game.

“We have a pretty strong team, and the main key to our success is to do what we’re capable of. Once someone sets the pace and breaks the game open, we all go with it. So we really needed that one guy to get that one key hit that gets us all fired up early on in the game. Normally with us, if we don’t start the game ahead, it’ll take us to the 6th or 7th inning to start scoring runs. We need to come out of the gate firing,” Comer said.

According to Comer, the team is mentally trying to transition from a more passive style to an aggressive one.

“We’re going through a major overhaul as a team right now. We used to have a relaxed, timid practice because that’s who we are as a team. But lately, our coach has been emphasizing being more uptight and aggressive. So we’re really trying to build on that,” Comer said.

The next baseball game is this Saturday, April 5 against Loyola.

“Loyola is a pretty good school. They were ranked 3rd in all of California by the LA Times. They have six or seven guys committed to play for some D1 colleges. They have pretty good hitting and pitching, so it should be a tough game.”

Comer believes that the team can do well against Loyola.

“Hopefully we do well against Loyola.

Last year, we only lost to them by one run. I think that we can hold our own. If we play our own game, we should be able to beat them,” Comer said.

SPORTS

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athlete of the issue: cassius hamm

Catchin’ up with Cassius Senior Cassius Hamm, who was Varsity Pitcher of the Year and on First Team All-Bay League last year, has served as a role model to his teammates.

by Jason Clebowicz

Glove out, feet up, eyes locked; the motion of senior Cassius Hamm’s 87 mph fastball repeats three times and the strikeout is complete, along with an avid fist pump and a jog to the dugout.

For Hamm, the baseball diamond is a comfort zone in which he can perform well and feel gratified. “[Baseball] feels good, and just right for me. I consider the baseball field as a home away from home,” Hamm said.

Hamm attributes his success on the field to his natural physical inclination: being 6’2” and 190 pounds. He believes it gives him an edge over the competition.

“A lot of my success would have to come from my natural abilities. I’ve been told that I have all the natural ability in the world but I need to work on technique.

But the foundation is there,” Hamm said.

Hamm’s athleticism makes him extremely versatile, so he is able to play three different positions.

“I pitch, play outfield, and a touch of third. But I’m used mainly as a pitcher,” said Hamm.

According to Hamm, pitching is not only his favorite position, but his best position as well. He is able to throw four different pitches regularly.

“I’d have to say pitching is my favorite position when I play. I can throw a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. I consider my fastball to be my best pitch with my curveball a close second when it’s working,” Hamm said.

When pitching, Hamm likes to focus on strictly the future, and forget whatever happened on the pitch before.

“I just try and focus on what’s ahead and not the past. I forget all of it regardless if it’s good or bad,” Hamm said.

Despite massive amounts of success, Hamm has gone through slumps that have discouraged him from continuing playing.

“There was one bad outing I had my junior year that I’ll never forget. It was my first time pitching on varsity and it was against a strong Long Beach Wilson team. They hit me really hard and I thought I would never going to be able to compete at a higher level,” Hamm said.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, and Hamm went on to emerge as one of the best varsity baseball players.

“That year I went on to win Varsity Pitcher of the Year, and was selected to First Team All–League for Bay League,” Hamm said.

Senior James Zimmerman, a four-year teammate and friend, believes that Hamm always brings a positive attitude no matter how he performs on the field.

“I’ve seen Cassius frustrated, but never unhappy. He’s always at the edge of the dugout cheering for everyone else regardless of whether he did well or not,” Zimmerman said.

This uncompromising spirit hasn’t gone unnoticed, and teammates such as Sophomore Jason Dicochea look up to Hamm as a role model. “[Hamm] has always been a guy I look up to. I admire him not only for being a good pitcher, but also for his character on and off the field. He’s a great guy and I love him,” Dicochea said.

ERA (earned run average):

1.56

WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched):

1.07

20 . SPORTS

Ha K’s (strikeouts): m thi m 25 in 17.2 innings pitched s s ’s ea sta so ts n s fro of m ar

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