La Costa Canyon High School
MavLife
December 2013
One Maverick Way, Carlsbad, CA 92009
Volume 8 Issue 2
Ban on ‘BEAT TP’ Shirts Causes Frustration, Controversy
Prejudice
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Emily Schacht
Left to right: Seniors Erika Staab, Emma Anderson, and Alana Ittner, sophomore Mickey Moniak, junior Brandon Steidley, and seniors David Lester, Dan Moran, Devin Orr, and Elliot Freer cheer from the student section at the Beach Bowl game on November 8. Brandon Steidley wore his “BEAT TP” shirt to the game, but was asked to remove it by Principal Kyle Ruggles. He held one of the multiple“We Wipe Our Butt w/TP” signs that students were distributing at the game.The sign was confiscated by Assistant Principal Mark Van Over in the fourth quarter of the game.
rincipal Kyle Ruggles announced on November 7 that students wearing the popular “BEAT TP” shirts would not be admitted to the annual Beach Bowl football game versus rival Torrey Pines. Dr. Ruggles and Torrey Pines principal David Jaffe, who instituted a similar rule at Torrey Pines, aimed to create a more healthy relationship between the two schools. The new restriction violates students’ right to free expression as guaranteed by state and federal law. “If you want to use your First Amendment rights, then the shirts will hold up because it’s not distracting the educational environment at all,” senior and varsity football player Ryan McCormick said. “That’s what a rivalry game is all about—just showing your school pride and the ‘BEAT TP’ shirts weren’t going over the top or insulting.” That the decision might have implications for students’ right to free expression did occur to some staff members.
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New Task Force Reviews Media Center Plan P
roposition AA passed by a narrow margin in November 2012, giving the San Dieguito Union High School District $449 million to fund projects that will repair and update school facilities. The administration and staff are currently involved in the planning stages for media center renovations.
The Media Center Task Force recently was formed by teachers from each department to voice needs and concerns regarding the media center plans. “We have met to discuss the architectural plans themselves,” task force member and US History teacher Lucia Franke said. “The turnaround time is very quick, as with construction there’s lots of different deadlines that have to be met. We had to really scramble to quickly voice of students some concerns.” want According to SDUHSD Executive Director of Educational Services Jason Viloria, the media center renovations are being designed for long term use. Molly Mineiro “Proposition AA was Through a survey of 147 students conducted by about making it adaptable, MavLife from October 6 to 20, students ranked flexible space and desktop computers and printer access as very or technology-rich,” Viloria of students rank of students rank most important. said. “The idea behind all laptops orasnetbooks as the spaces on campus is desktop computers making them as adaptable very or most important very or most important
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desktop computers
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IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS 2
Remembering Mandela
OPINION 4
as possible and also to develop a space that can develop over time.” Some teachers believe that the plans include such a spacious area in order to replace the purpose of a video conference center, which is no longer included in Prop AA plans. “That’s the only reason that could make sense to have that big a square-footage in the library, to match the square footage that would be the video conferencing room,” task force member and World Language Department Chair Ryan Giusta said. “That’s why they’re tearing out so many walls.” The majority of the faculty was unaware of the new plans for the media center until a department chair meeting on September 3, when the plans were revealed. At this point, some staff wished to contribute their input to the media center changes. “We heard that they were going to begin this next summer,” Giusta said. “Jim [Teague] knows the construction stuff; he knows we’re probably hitting some sort of state timeline right now. We knew we
FEATURE 8
were crunched for time. We tried to do some damage control from what was already decided.” This “damage control” included promoting the need for small, quiet study rooms, with a few private areas with glass walls for student use. Students also expressed this need in a MavLife Student Survey distributed from October 6 to October 20. Because the survey included questions both on media center renovations and academic honesty, responses were anonymous to protect students’ privacy. “Students need to be able to work together and collaborate, but sometimes students also need to work quietly on an individual basis,” one junior said. “Where else could students go to find a quiet work space on campus?” However, the Task Force is still concerned that opening up the media center may not best serve students’ needs. “They’re really making the media center this big cavernous
of students w ant
Printer Access
We don’t want “wasted funds. I want it done right.
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WORLD 11 SPORTS 12 ENTERTAINMENT 14
Surf PE Page 13
The Hungry Maverick
Page 11
English teacher Jill Lax reflects on her memories of South Africa during apartheid and the impact Nelson Mandela had on South Africa.
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Staff writer Anna Gardiner-Feldman explores surf culture and its hidden hierarchy.
Page 15
MavLife discovers the most delectable coffee cake in town, just in time for the winter weather!
Ryan Giusta