2010-2011 School Year Issue 1

The Mt. Carmel

WWW.MCSUN.ORG MAKING THE SUN SHINE ONLINE

High School WHAT’S

INSIDE

CHELSEA’S LAW With one of the speediest decisions on a bill, Chelsea’s law flew to the governor’s desk in record time. Read about the signing of Chelsea’s Law in Balboa Park.

PAGE A3

25

SUN

A FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2010 VOL. 38 NO. 1

9550 CARMEL MOUNTAIN RD., SAN DIEGO, CA 92129

REASONS TO LOVE

MCHS

COURTESY OF: SAN DIEGO NEWS NETWORK

QURAN PROTEST Read about the protest against the infamous “Burn a Quran Day” started by the pastor from Florida, which took place on Sept. 11.

PAGE A3

1 SUMMER TRAVELS Sundevils visit countries all over the world to volunteer, visit, and explore.

PAGE A4 & A5

Sundevils have pride. They show their spirit through pep rallies, free t-shirts for everyone on campus at the beginning of the year, the Sundevil hand signal (above) and Red Out Fridays where students proudly sport their scarlet and gold, the two official school colors. No day will pass when you won’t hear the mantra: It’s Great to be a Sundevil.”

2

>>Check out Staff Editorial: Why You should have School Spirit.

PAGE A7

ACTIVITIES 1

Key Club is the largest club at MC, boasting over 200 members on a yearly basis. The club offers service opportunities to Sundevils looking to serve the community.

AMERICAN HYPOCRISY Read one staffer’s opinion on what Americans don’t realize about their country.

PAGE A6

CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? The SUN staff delves into the ageold question of whether material wealth and possessions result in true happiness.

PAGE A8

2

The Grammy-winning marching band at MC is the elective with the greatest number of students involved. The band has hosted the Mt. Carmel Tournament of the Bands on a yearly basis in October for the past 33 years. Over 30 schools visit from all around San Diego and other areas in SoCal. In 2010, the band was the declared overall champion at the Fiesta Bowl National High School Band Competition, where they took first place in the parade category and second place in the field show competition.

In the same year, the band won first place with a score of 94.625 out

Athletics play a key part in school life at the Mount.

The majority of students will participate in one of the 23 athletics teams at some point during their four years here. In addition to having won numerous League Championships, MC has garnered 79 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) titles. Sundevils play in the Palomar League.

3

Over 30 clubs and extracurricular activites aside from athletics are offered here. Band, drama, choir, and three major publications: Horizon Yearbook, Mt. Carmel SUN Newspaper, and MC SHINE Anthology, are open for students to join. Plenty of other clubs can be found for students to get involved in, ranging from MC Go Green to i-Art to Japanimation.

>>Jump to: A Short List of some Clubs offered at MC.

>>Read about: MC Returns to Palomar League for 2010-2011.

PAGE B6

PAGE B1

ONLINE

www.mcsun.org

MAKING THE SUN SHINE ONLINE

UPCOMING

The color guard at MC is ranked in the top 10 teams in the nation and placed 2nd at an international tournament in 2007.

Two teachers at MC have won the Poway Unified School District Teacher of the Year award during the past two years. Kris Hizal was honored during the 2008-2009 school year and Karen Shimer during the 2009-2010 school year.

1

Adam Lambert

There are 77 teachers at the school, with a student-toteacher ratio of around 20:1.

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH (NO SCHOOL)

SEPT. 24 SEPT. 29

LATE START

OCT. 1

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA APPLICATIONS START

OCT. 1

SAT ADMINISTRATION

OCT. 9

INDEX NEWS CENTERSPREAD OPINIONS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT FEATURES

A2-A3 A4-A5 A6-A8 B1-B3 B4-B5 B6-B8

3

3

4

Chase Ellison

The school motto, first proposed by math teacher Joe McEacheron, is “Reach ‘em with Relationships, Teach ‘em with Rigor, Let ‘em Soar with Relevance.” The originally proposed motto, according to math teacher Ken Matson, was “Reach ‘em, Teach ‘em, Cut ‘em Loose.”

Biology teacher Tore Blickfeldt has been compared to David Hasselhoff in appearance.

Track and Field is the sport with the greatest number of athletes, with a roster of about 240 students last year.

3

HISTORY 1

Notable MC alumni include Eric Chavez, 3rd baseman for the Oakland A’s, Emmy-winning director Mark Risley, Duke Preston of the Dallas Cowboys, Robyn Villanueva of the Chicago Bulls, volleyball player John Hyden, and American Idol semifinalist Adam Lambert, who visited the school in 2008.

2

The most people ever in attendence at a football game was when MC first faced Westview in 2002. There were purportedly 11,107 people in attendance at the time. The actual capacity of the stadium falls at 11,000 seats, making it one of the largest on-campus high school stadiums in the state of California. In 2007, the Drum Corps International quarterfinals was hosted in the staduium.

4

Graduate Ken James holds the CIF rushing record of 436 yards in football.

5

The boys volleyball team is ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation.

6

Softball has maintained four straight years of CIF championships, starting in 2007.

MC is the second oldest school in the district, founded in 1987. The oldest is Poway High.

3

Biology teacher Gail Miller is a state champion in wrestling and is a graduate from MC. He was recognized as Athlete of the Year in 1992.

5

2

4

EVENTS 2 LATE START

The senior class, Class of 2011, has never lost to Westview in a football game. The wrestling team has also never lost to Westview.

3

TEACHERS 1

5

MC is the most diverse high school in the district, with the highest percentage of minority students in every category when compared to RB, Westview, and Poway.

According to the Registrar, 40.5% of students are Asian (including Filipino), 6.2% of students are African-American, and 15.6% of students are Hispanic.

Students can enjoy the diversity and multicultural nature of MC through interactions with students of many ethnicities.

ATHLETICS 1

of 100 in the Hawaii Invitational Band Review. They have also played in the Rose Parade three times.

Two honor societies for students who accel in academic and community service participation, National Honor Society (NHS) and California Scholarship Federation (CSF), offer disctintions to graduates who are members.

Two-year members of NHS are the first students to graduate, and recieve sashes and special markings on their diplomas. Three-year CSF members also obtain sashes and also gain cords and special marks in their dimplomas.

Both groups are exclusive, highlypriveleged organizations with selective GPA and service requirements.

4

Class offerings at MC are plentiful. Beside core curriculars like math, English, history, and science, many electives can be taken.

Woodshop, photography, auto mechanics, drawing and painting, ceramics, and computer graphic arts programs offer fun alternatives to stressful academic classes. With 18 AP Courses ranging from Calculus to Physics to English Literature, overachieving Sundevils can also challenge themselves.

(as seen in “The Tooth Fairy”)

Current student senior Chase Ellison is a professional actor and has been in movies such as “The Tooth Fairy.”

4

The movie “Bring It On” was partially filmed on campus. The boys’ locker room was used as a setting in the film.

5

5

Hasselhoff

Blickfeldt

MC has won the California Distinguished School Award three times, in the years 1985, 1999, and 2005. The school has also won the National Blue Ribbon Award twice, in the years 1989 and 2000, which is an award by the federal government granted to high-performing schools.

FACTS BY: DENNIS SUN // EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ISAIAH BRUCE, BRADEN BUCKEL, MICHAEL CLOGSTON, ALEXA MAUZYLEWIS, MARISSA MOREY, DAVID PU, SEAN WOOD // STAFF WRITERS PHOTOS BY: PEP RALLY PHOTOS LINDSAY ALDER // PHOTOGRAPHER HEADSHOTS BRITTANY SMITH // WEB EDITOR CHASE ELLISON PHOTO PROVIDED BY // CHASEELLISON.NET

A2 MT. CARMEL SUN Mt. Carmel High School 9550 Carmel Mtn. Rd., San Diego, CA 92129 (858)484-1180 ext. 3211 tcalver@powayusd.com http://www.mcsun.org

News

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

Schwarzenegger signs in Chelsea’s Law blake eaton STAFF WRITER

Our mission is to provide the MC community with an informative, accurate and respectful student-run publication. The SUN seeks to stimulate the discussion of issues in order to promote a more aware student body.

Whether informing, voicing opinion, or entertaining, the SUN strives for standards of balance and good taste.

Dennis Sun Editor-In-Chief Tim Calver Adviser Catherine Jaravata Assistant Adviser Craig Racicot Photo Adviser

Editors Abby Mansour News Kelly Fan Centerspread Vandana Bhairi Opinions TJ Rivera-Alonso Sports Jacob Snyder Entertainment Shayon Said Features Jennifer Farrell Photo Brittany Smith Web Jessica Hong Copy Alison Ashworth Business Manager

Staff Writers Andrew Augst Isaiah Bruce Braden Buckel Michael Clogston Danielle Damper Blake Eaton Kelsey Elliott Brittlyn Foster Emma Glassman-Hughes Lauren Hall Cordell Hunter Zach Jensen Angela Kim Ben Kim Tessa Lance Camille Mansour Marissa Morey Alexa Mauzy-Lewis Rachel Peters David Pu Cassidy Sargent Billy Watson Sean Wood

Photographers Lindsay Adler Cordell Hunter Mariah Nichols Brittany Smith Tim Woo

photo courtesy of san diego news network

Brent and Kelly King stand over a picture of their late daughter, Poway High’s Chelsea King. The Kings visited Sacramento to support the bill inspired by Chelsea’s tragedy. Under “Chelsea’s Law”, violent sex offenders will now receive mandatory life sentences and paroled sex offenders will face new restrictions.

Flying through the sky in a small aircraft, a pilot traced the following phrase across the sky: “<3 CK”.

The reason: to celebrate California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signing of Chelsea’s Law. The governor’s signing of the legislation was the final step in changing California law following the deaths of Poway High School senior Chelsea King and 14-yearold Amber Dubois.

According to the new law, violent sex offenders will now receive mandatory life sentences.

The law also places new restrictions on paroled sex offenders and revises past laws.

Although critics said that the law is too harsh in its criteria for which crimes warrant the mandatory life term, the legislation passed with little difficulty.

Before reaching Governor Schwarzenegger, Chelsea’s Law was passed unanimously by the state assembly.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, the local politician behind the initiative, said that passing legislation as complicated as Chelsea’s Law is

Genesis scheduling program proves to be a “nemesis” dennis sun editor-in-chief

Last July, the school changed its scheduling program from the longused SAHSEE to the new program, Genesis. Due to SAHSEE’s producer company’s disintegration, a lack of tech support led to the change.

“We couldn’t use SAHSEE anymore because the company that owned it was no longer in existence,” counselor Kim Bronson said. “There was no technical support, so whenever something went wrong with it, we didn’t have anyone to help us.”

However, problems of unfamil-

iarity with the program have frustrat- noying. It used to be that there was a blaming our staff for not doing a window already open. Now to get to good enough job setting up our mased counselors and teachers alike.

“We knew it was coming, and attendance, it’s a click, a click, and ter schedule. We did a much better about that this year than last, but they offered us some training in the then another click.” instead of helping us, they spring,” Bronson said. “We blamed the staff for not doing didn’t realize what a problem a good enough job, so that’s it was until we got into tryIt used to be that there was a window been frustrating.” ing to make things work. We already open.

Now to get to attendance, it’s Another problem the jumped in before we realized counselors faced was the inhow bad it was.” a click, a click, and then another click.” experience the company had Teachers have also had -Kristine Adams with trimesters. difficulty with the new sys“We were told that this tem, which some have nickIn addition, the technical support company has worked with trimester named “Nemesis.” that was the cause of the change has schools before.

We don’t know if it “It’s not a very user-friendly been unhelpful to the counselors. was a miscommunication, or if they system,” art teacher Kristine Adams said. “Doing the attendance is an“I heard [the technical support] simply weren’t truthful with us to

“

Amy Cheu Kelly Fan Yisha Wang The Mt. Carmel SUN is the official newspaper of Mt. Carmel High School, published by its Journalism 2 students. The views expressed in the SUN do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Mt. Carmel High School administration or PUSD Board of Education. Unsigned editorials reflect the beliefs of the SUN editorial board. The SUN is a student open forum, and all final content decisions are made by its student editors.

Letters to the editor are welcome and should be signed. For advertising rates and information please call, email, or write the SUN at the address above.

sell the product, but they don’t work with trimester high schools.”

Since the decision to change was implemented district-wide, the same sentiments have been felt at other high schools.

“For us and what we do, it’s a lot harder for high schools, and I’ve heard the same thing from colleagues at other high schools, too,” Bronson said.

Despite her frustrations, Bronson sees that things will improve.

“We do the best we can, and most of us are pretty tech-savvy,” she said. “We’ve caught on and we’ve gotten better at it.”

Budget forces teachers to transfer, teach new, unfamiliar classes angela kim STAFF WRITER Due to the increase in Del Norte students and the budget cuts, the student population at MC decreased; MC, as a result, had to reduce 14 teaching positions.

Following the staffing ratio of about 20 students to one teacher, four teachers moved to Del Norte, and the remaining teachers retired.

The teachers that moved to Del Norte are math teacher James Lafferty, language teacher Gabriela Montero, math teacher Helen Olmsted, and social sciences teacher Tasha Giffin.

However, four new teachers have joined the teaching staff. Alice Lee now teaches Critical Skills for disabled students, and Amy

Shamansky and Matthew Pope for the Poway Academy of Learning (PAL), who previously taught at Black Mountain Middle School, now teach the program at MC. A former substitute teacher and student teacher, Arline Pascual, now teaches math part-time.

Also in response to the teacher reduction, a number of teachers are teaching classes that they had not previously taught or have not taught in a few years.

In one case, social sciences teacher Christiana Jenny is teaching all economics classes, and history teacher Stephen Edwards is teaching AP Government for the first time.

In order to maintain the number of courses offered despite the shortage of teachers, some teachers have made these course changes. Since

teachers are given credentials by subject area and not by course, teaching any course in the subject area is completely natural.

Principal Tom McCoy believes that despite a significant loss of teachers, the high standard of education at MC will be preserved and the current teachers are able and working hard to also keep up that standard.

“The teachers here actually all work very diligently to prepare for their classes whether they’re teaching them for the first, the tenth, or fifteenth time,” he said.

“I know that they’re going to do a great job…I think that we will be able to achieve those same levels of excellence even though it’s a more difficult environment to work in and learn in.”

The Mt. Carmel SUN newspaper would like to thank our sponsors...

PLATINUM level sponsors:

- Employers Resource

GOLD level sponsors:

- Jooyeon Kim - Min Shan

SILVER level sponsors:

BRONZE level sponsors:

- Margarita Alonso - Kauita Agarwal

ASB Update October 16:

janis yue | photographer

Arline Pascual, part-time math teacher, explains to her students how to solve an equation. Due to the ongoing budget cuts, teachers have been confronted with teaching new courses. Three teachers were transferred to Del Norte and four new teachers were hired to MC.

- Mansour Architecture - Lance Family

Artists

exceedingly rare, especially on the bill’s first run-through.

The push for Chelsea’s Law began after the rape and murder of King.

In April, registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty to her murder in addition to the rape and murder of Dubois in 2009.

Dubois’ remains were found in March. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

After King went missing in February, the organization “Chelsea’s Light” was founded to preserve her memory. Tens of thousands of people joined Facebook pages memorializing her.

MC junior Liddy Pospichal, a friend of one of the Poway students that serves a major role in “Chelsea’s Light,” is glad that the law has been passed.

“I’m glad that they’re doing something about it and that it’s not going unnoticed,” she said.

After their daughter’s murder, Brent and Kelly King moved back to their home state of Illinois.

The couple briefly returned to California for the signing of the bill, but has since left for Illinois, their new home following their daughter’s murder.

Homecoming

September 15-16: Freshman Elections October 11-14: Float building

News

Mt. Carmel SUN

A3

September 17, 2010

Protestors congregate to promote religious tolerance

emma glassman-hughes staff writer At precisely 12 PM on Saturday, Sept. 11, the protest began.

The red, white, and blue balloons were the first indication that something was happening.

Signs were being waved, horns were being blown, and voices were being heard. Those voices belonged to a group of dedicated college-aged kids passsionate about a cause.

cordell hunter | photographer

Many have heard of Florida Pastor Terry Jones’ proposition to have a “National Burn a Koran Day,” where he spelled “Quran” incorrectly, and he and his 50 member congregation were planning to burn thousands of copies of the Muslim Holy book.

When word of his scheme caught wind in places including San Diego, many people were angered and offended.

Among those people were the

Funds continue to deplete from school budget KELLY FAN centerspread editor In recent times, every new school year has reflected ever more drastic cuts in funds – meaning more crowded classrooms, fewer teachers, and cut classes. This year is no different.

“Essentially our budget situation is the same as the end of last year,” Ron Garrett, assistance principal, said. “Twenty-four million dollars, about 10 percent, was cut from the district budget last year, and people are now seeing the effects of 24 million being removed from the system.”

Essentially the budget cuts lead to the same unhappy situation, only at a greater magnitude.

Many rooms are over-flowingly full, while others are empty from lack of teachers.

“What you’re seeing nowadays are mostly classrooms very full,” Garrett said. “Many have added an additional row of seats at the back of the room.”

This is due to the fact that the school has had to cut 11 teachers, not including those lost to Del Norte.

“That’s 11 less teachers for over 2,000 students, which makes 11 a very significant number,” Garrett said.

However, the releasing of teachers is not an arbitrary thing, says Garrett. There have already been cuts in office administrators, student maintenance, and even the number of school days (from 180 days to now, 175).

“We have tried to keep away from classrooms as much as possible,” Garrett said. “In the past two years we have cut from all other areas, but we have run out of areas to cut.”

In this way, this year’s fiscal situation has been the worst yet, because of its extended impact on students.

The issue with funding is further exacerbated by the fact that there has been a significant increase of students this year.

“Typically, 100 students leave Mt. Carmel every year – not referring to those that graduate,” Garrett said. “We also gain around 100 students, so there is no significant change in the number of students. However, only 70 students left this year, and we gained 140 students.”

This means a net gain of 70 students, and a lot more financial headache.

Even though things have been holding up, says Garrett, knocking on the wood of his desk, the whole situation still undeniably puts a great deal of strain on teachers.

“They have been so good; they’re troopers, and they’re professional, putting on their best faces in class,” he said. “It’s hard to manage a class, period, and it’s even harder to manage with 40 students. I really feel for the teachers.”

Garrett is positive the situation will get better, but “the light at the end of the tunnel is very far.”

“This is all due to California’s bad funding system,” he said. “Our funds come and go with the economy: when the economy gets better, the money will come back.

Things are bound to change, Garrett says.

“I just hope things will happen soon enough to prevent permanent damage.”

kids who organized this protest, which took place in front of the Federal Building downtown.

They were all determined to get their point across to the opposing party.

“This cause is really about how people shouldn’t blame an entire religion for what happened nine years ago,” Kevin Iraniha, one of the protest organizers, said.

The group was also trying to spread awareness of the culture and

enlighten those who are ignorant.

“More awareness means less ignorance,” Iraniha said. “There are so many cultures today, and ignorance happens when you only associate yourself with one kind.

People need to educate themselves on other lifestyles. Then maybe we wouldn’t have this kind of hatred.”

At this protest, there were the organizers, all in black t-shirts with the “Coexist” emblem on them, random protestors off the street, and

a man preaching and spreading their word via megaphone.

As pedestrians passed by, he would speak to them and try to get people’s attention.

When confronted with the rudeness of some passersby, he would simply say he was sorry that they felt the need to act like that, and he kept going with his speech.

This kind of peaceful spreading of their message was what these citizens were all about.

Their main goal was to raise awareness of ignorance and try to calm such hateful acts like the Quran burning.

“This cause is not only because of the Quran burning, but about Islamophobia in general,” Iraniha said. “We’re trying our hardest to denounce those who say that all of Islam is bad, because really, no one religion is bad. We can all exist peacefully in this world, and that’s really what this is all about.”

ASB swings into the new school year with aloha pep rally rachel peters staff writer After a long, hard two weeks, ASB was finally ready to present us our first pep rally of the school year.

“In ASB, we do a lot of hard work but in the end it’s worth it when you see how much fun the students are having,” sophomore Sharon Su said.

The theme of this years fall pep rally was Aloha MC. Everything was Hawaiian and at one point they had hula dancers dance for the students.

“Planning this pep rally was less stressful than last years spring pep rally,” Su said.

Last year, they stayed up till 12:30 in the morning.

They also made a video for each fall sport and especially enjoyed making the football video a little more creative by making it like a news channel and showing the highlights of the game against La Jolla.

“The most exciting thing about plan-

ning this pep rally was making up the games and activities,” Su said. “The most difficult was getting the balloons on the ceiling.”

Senior Justin Nguyen plans and makes up all the games and activities.

ASB gives out red t-shirts for redout day so students can show their school spirit and pump them up for the fall sports.

Although most students try to keep up the school spirit by wearing their red MC t-shirts on Fridays, some don’t.

“I like having red-out day because it’s just cool when you’re in the gym during the pep rally and you see a sea of red,” sophomore Marc Mattern said. “It’s just awesome.”

It looks like the first pep rally of the school year was a success and the students can’t wait for the next one.

“This pep rally was great,” junior Annika Nelson said. “I loved the AllMale dance because they’re skilled and I liked watching everyone attempt the Hula Dance. This pep rally was definitely a hit!”

lindsay adler | photographer

Sundevil football player is thrust into the air at the climax of the pep rally last Friday morning. The rally had an aloha theme which featured professional Tahitian dancers, class competitions, dance performances, and recognition of varsity athletes. ASB bought every student a red-out shirt that most proudly wore.

Visit D rivers Ed.c during om and ent er the on line p discount* c ayme nt pro ode CAHS3 cess.

Online Drivers Ed

• Fun, flexible lessons so you pass your permit test • California DMV-approved • 50 free online permit practice tests

Driving Lessons in Your Area

• Practice driving in brand-new MINI Coopers!

• Free driving-lesson pick-up and drop-off • Licensed instructors teach you to drive Questions? Call us at 1-888-651-AUTO.

Want a fast, easy way to fundraise for your class? Earn a 25% commission and save your friends 15% off drivers ed. Visit www.DriversEd.com/Associate-Programs. *Discount for online drivers ed class only.

H_BW_6x8_F3 © 2009 DriversEd.com

Sun Spread

Mt. Carmel SUN

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

sundevil summers

This summer, sundevils traversed all corners of the globe; from coast to coast they experienced many cultures, significantly altering their perspectives of the world.

TURKEY & AFRICA

A4

BRITTLYN FOSTER STAFF WRITER Her crisp blue-green eyes scanned the crowd for a familiar face, or skin color for that matter.

She was the outsider in a intimidating swarm of middle easterners where she unmistakably did not belong.

This was the scene for junior Alex Busse who spent three weeks of her summer traveling through Istanbul and Tunisia.

“I felt a little out of place

(in Istanbul) because it still is a Muslim country,” Busse said. “You see women walking around in long black dresses and you feel a little out of your element, and a little self conscious. But there was this certain adventure knowing you are in a completely new place with different people, and it was an experience that really can’t compare to anything I’ve ever been involved in.”

Busse got the privilege of staying in Istanbul next to the famous mosque, the Hagia Sophia for four days where she had the opportunity to experience many new and invigorating things.

“In Istanbul there’s something about waking

VANDANA BHAIRI OPINIONS EDITOR It’s 100 degrees and English teacher Robin Blalock and her six students are on a train in Italy, sweat pouring down their faces, laughing and taking in the beauty around them as they look out the train window on the hot summer night.

Over the summer, Blalock decided to take a trip to Europe with a few students.

“I thought it would be fun to see all the things we had studied, as well as a way for kids to experience different cultures, and get around

wanted to go see also.”

Busse’s privileged upbringing has allowed her to travel all over the world, undoubtedly shaping the person she is today. “[Traveling] makes you more accepting of people and more comfortable of who you are,” Busse said. “And it teaches you to be more aware of what is going on and that there are bigger things then just PQ. There are borders and worlds beyond PQ. The things you are studying and learning here are not just it, there’s so much more left to be discovered and traveling just gives you a bigger hope on everything and what is really out there.”

different cities,” she said. “There’s so many things that you gain in terms of your independence and making things come to life.”

Their 10 day trip consisted of visiting London, Paris, Florence, Assisi, and Rome.

For senior Emily Myers, her favorite parts of the trip were visiting Paris as well as seeing the Pieta in Vatican City.

“I worship Audrey Hepburn so I was looking forward to going to Paris to experience why she loved it so much and how it changed her,” Myers said. “I feel like going on the trip really changed me too because it was the first place where everyone spoke a different language and I learned what it’s like to be out of my element.

“Paris opened my eyes to what I want to do in the future and I found that art really affects me emotionally. When we went to see the Pieta I had goosebumps the whole time.”

The best part for Blalock was neither a monument nor a city but rather seeing her students experience Europe for their first time.

“The best part was to see the girls I took experience it [Europe] for the first time and get excited when we were in the Louvre museum or to see them excited at the top of the Eiffel tower;” she said. “To hear it and see it through their eyes and get their perspective was really fun for me and it made all this stuff that I had taught worth it.”

ENGLAND, FRANCE, ITALY

Riding a donkey, sophomore Gabriela Eracleous and her equine steed trudged up a hill in Santorini, Greece.

“It was kind of weird, but an interesting experience,” she said.

The donkey carried her along the trail to beautiful white architecture. This was one of her many adventures.

Eracleous journeyed to Greece in July to attend her cousin's wedding, and also to visit close family members she sees about once a year.

Her father is from Greece and came to the United States for college. He decided to stay after meeting Eracleous' mother.

Culture has always been important to their

BENJAMIN KIM STAFF WRITER Two weeks in Africa during this last summer was all the motivation Junior Tim Warnake needed.

With thirteen others, Warnake set out to Southeast Africa for a mission trip and to aid those in living poverty.

Warnake went with hopes that he would have a great time.

Nevertheless, the first look at the city populated with small rundown houses gave just a glimpse of their hardships.

“Everybody worries about the latest fashion these days,” Warnake said. “These people just appreciate what they have, which isn’t very much.”

At the city they built small houses as their side project for the two families in need of new homes. It took one whole week, but it was well worth it.

“I was sweating like crazy and everybody was really hot and tired,” Warnake said. “But when we saw the result, it was worth it.”

Alongside building the houses, he was told to play with the kids, his all time favorite.

However, it took Warnake a little time to get to know them and have fun.

“When we first came they were actually scared of us white people,” he said. “When they noticed we weren’t dangerous they just started to treat us normally.”

One thing Warnake was surprised to see even in their playing was the strictness in their respect for the elders.

“In San Diego, there are lots of guys that don’t respect their parents,” Warnake said.

“Over here, we would have to show absolute respectfulness or they would get really mad at us.”

From building houses, having fun with the kids, and experiencing firsthand poverty, now Warnake can say he saw it all.

“I say that it was a good learning experience for me and a definite reality check in my life,” Warnake said. “I would definitely do it again.”

up in the morning hearing the call to prayer while staying next to the Hagia Sophia,” Busse said. I don’t think there’s anything that can really beat that. Sometimes you need to let go of what makes you so insecure and if you see an opportunity to do something new, you should just take on the chance.”

Her stay in Tunisia was quite the opposite from any expectations she had going into the trip.

“Tunisia was really different because we didn’t know what was going to be there,” Busse said. “But it was kind of like a why not just go type of thing, and there were roman mosaics we

MARISSA MOREY STAFF WRITER

AFRICA

HAITI

CHINA DAVID PU STAFF WRITER The concept of summer has been thought of as a time to just relax and have fun, however, for some people it’s a time to reach out and help others.

“I went with my church group, Resonance, of about ten people for a mission trip,” senior Ginny Ho said.

One of the many goals that Resonance sought to accomplish was to teach English to students in China.

“We taught English to various university students at Yan Da

ABBY MANSOUR NEWS EDITOR

University, then about 25 of them signed up for an English camp at Wang Yu resort which was about 40 minutes away from the university,” Ho said. “We also did various English workshops where we taught them [the students] about American culture.”

When Resonance wasn’t teaching English to the university students, they were hanging out and having fun.

“There were days where we’d go to the beach and we also went to the Great Wall, too,” Ho said.

As a church group, Resonance was not only in QinHuangDao to build friendships and relationships, but to spread the gospel and to bring people closer to God. Resonance

also set aside time from teaching English and spreading the gospel in order to visit and spend time with children at orphanages.

“We met up with another church from Maryland and visited three orphanages, two of which were for disabled children,” Ho said.

Ho describes the overall trip as very “enlightening”, but the thing she feels will be most memorable are the students from the university.

“The people I got to know became my true friends, and it was sad having to let them go,” she said.

“I felt accomplished though, like I had done some good in the world.

It was all very worth it.”

The streets were drenched in demolished buildings, unimaginable poverty, and broken people. While the rest of the world gave money from the comfort of their couches, he went out.

Rebuilding houses in 110 degree heat to help complete strangers; this was junior D a v i d Brewster’s nine day summer trip to Haiti.

“The destruction there… it’s incredible,” Brewster said.

“As you go further into the city, there are less buildings and tons of people living in these blue tents. These people have lost their homes , businesses, or their jobs. Even before the

earthquake, the poverty there... it’s overwhelming.”

Brewster went with nine other people in a church-based group. While there, the leader of the group went through the government and politicians to try and get relief, while the rest of the group did more hands-on labor.

The group performed numerous tasks, among them delivering food packages, roofing houses, and building a foundation for an orphanage.

Brewster remembers one of the more powerful moments.

“We climbed up a mountain, and it took hours. But when we got to the top, there were these families living in shelters made from branches and tarps. The poverty was incredible. We gave them medical supplies and food packages, and the looks on

their faces and the gratefulness that they showed made the long journey worth every step.”

The experience posed many difficult challenges, both physically and mentally.

“You have to get used to the intense humidity; sweating so much you feel disgusting,” he said.

“You miss all of the luxuries at home that you would normally take for granted,” he said.

Brewster has found that the experience has made a profound impact on his life through the life lessons and changed of perspective he has gained.

“You learn that everybody isn’t so different; we’re all basically the same,’ he said.

“I’ve learned not to complain about the small stuff, happier with how lucky we are and how much we really have.”

Say “romantic vacation” and a soft golden-lighted image of a Paris skyline swims behind one’s vision. France is a vacation spot steeped in natural beauty and charming antiquity.

This summer, junior Paige Crowl, in an informal foreign exchange program, immersed herself in the provincial Midi-Pyrenees in southern

family; her father even taught Eracleous the language.

“My Greek culture is very important to me because I've grown up with it all my life,” she said.

“My dad has taught me to love what I am.”

Because she speaks fluent Greek, Eracleous calls her grandparents “Yaya” and “Popou.” Both live in Cyprus alongside the rest of her family.

During the course of her vacation, she spent about half of her time in the city with her grandparents and the remaining half in their house on the beach.

“My favorite part was probably going to the beach and hanging out with my family,” Eracleous said. “I met some friends there, too.”

Having been to Greece about eight times before, Eracleous has yet to become bored of the sights and culture.

“If I could, I would move there,” she said. “I really like it there. It's very different, but it's nice.”

GREECE

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF ASHLEY NESTOJKO JANIS YUE | PHOTOGRAPHER KELSEY ELLIOT | PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID BREWSTER PAIGE CROWL ROBIN BLALOCK TIM WARNEKE GINNY HO ALEX BUSSE

FRANCE KELLY FAN CENTERSPREAD EDITOR

A5

France.

“I was put in contact with a French family through my French teacher,” Crowl said. “Last summer, my exchange counterpart came to visit America at our house, this year I visited theirs.”

Crowl was able to absorb both French language and culture on her three-week-long trip.

“I was able to truly experience French culture first hand, which can’t really be conveyed by just learning about it in class,” she said.

Surrounded by historic relics like the Maison Carree, a Vitruvian

temple, and the Roman Ampitheatre, juxtaposed with modern France. Crowl was struck by a new perspective of her own country.

“It’s really amazing, and makes you realize how young of a country America is,” Crowl said. “France has centuries and centuries of history, and things have a sort of weathered charm, and an accumulated culture from the ages.”

Another perspective Crowl gleaned was the point of view of Americans from a French perspective.

“They were so shocked at the

fact that I wasn’t fat,” Crowl said.

“Contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, they don’t dislike Americans.

They actually think they are really generous.”

Likewise, Crowl gained a perspective on French culture relative to ours.

“They are so much more laid back,” she said. “They don’t get frustrated by waiting long in traffic or lines. They sit for hours chatting in cafes.”

Perhaps this is a perspective that many in our own clockwork lifestyle should experience.

Opinions

A6

Lovescreams

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

Angela kim

Hypocrisy evident in American history Jessica Hong STAFF WRITER

As proud citizens of our country, we believe that we are a moral nation capable of making rational decisions. But take a look at our past—are we really?

During the Nuremberg trials of Nazi Germany in the late 1940s, American judges were called upon to serve in a world court, condemning German citizens for committing the atrocities of the Holocaust.

But was it not America that segregated its own citizens after the attack at Pearl Harbor? In 1942, Japanese-American citizens were ushered from their homes and forced to live in internment camps.

Weren’t we the country who claimed that atomic bombs would be abused in the hands of unstable leaders?

Yet, after the Pearl Harbor attack, our government released two weapons of mass destruction on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Within two days, 200,000 Japanese civilians died instantly and another 200,000 from radiation within the next five years. We look upon tribal genocide in Africa with disgust in spite of our own bloody history.

In the Trail of Tears, 4,000 out of 15,000 Native Americans died on the 60 mile trek out of their homeland.

They were fed a handful of boiled corn, a turnip and two cups of water every day. In stamping out the native people, Americans successfully tortured and slaughtered more people than were killed

In my Seoul As a kid, I remember my father admonishing me, “Attitude is everything.” I’ve seen it on posters, inspirational books, everywhere, but somehow, I never fully wrapped the concept around my brain.

This summer, I voyaged to my “motherland,” South Korea after three years. The last time I went, I fell in love with the country: the food, the interesting people, the neatly stacked buildings with all kinds of compartments.

During those three years between my last visit, I began to see the side of Korean people I strongly disagreed with: staunch group mentality, forced conformity, and impoliteness.

So this time around, I arrived to Korea’s Incheon airport feeling mistrust and almost hate for both the Korean people and their country.

The flight was over-air-conditioned and stuffy, and almost 14 hours long.

I stepped off that plane with an unpleased frown, and my arms crossed in defiance. I dragged my body along to my grandfather’s chauffeured car and looked out through the tinted windows.

I saw the same Korea I’d left three years ago, moist smog swirling around the skyscrapers, flashing neon signs I thought were too loud.

Faint blasts of cheery Korean pop music sifted through the sticky air, but none of it impressed me.

I scoffed at the familiar crowds: shops, convenience stores and eateries bunched close together due to limited space; the waves of busy people shifting in and out of buildings.

I am even ashamed to say that I was slightly irritated with meeting my extended family because I had to try just a little harder to speak Korean instead of comfortable English.

Looking back now, my closed body language and my unfair condescension and prejudice illustrated exactly a “bad” attitude—an attitude that precluded me from seeing the beauty of my birth country until the very last moment.

I still didn’t consider my attitude until I witnessed the joy and genuine warmth in my grandfather’s old eyes when I came to stay, when I relished my grandmother’s salty and savory bean-paste stew—I began to see Korea again with the eyes I saw through those three years ago.

As time went by, I grew more receptive to my birth nation as I once again joked with and texted my aunts in Korean, practiced Korean slang and swear words with my cousins, and attended Sunday mass with my family.

Having seen South Korea little by little, starting from family life, I now realize how beautiful the country still is. I looked at the crowds of seemingly uniform Seoul-dwellers and picked out individuals, normal people trying to etch out a place in such a complicated world. People working hard, like in the States, to create a life, a dream.

Again I peered upon the natural landscape of mountains painted with lush green trees and the unnatural landscape of glossy buildings and towering apartments and realized that people roamed about them, different people, but still people.

Now I understand that strange balance between old Confucian etiquette and filial piety, and modern competitive spirit that makes Korea both a contradiction and a progressive nation.

I remember sitting on the clean, cool and organized South Korean subway and just observing the different lives sweeping by me. Everything I disagreed with, the conformity, the roughness—it wasn’t “bad” anymore, it was simply different.

At the end of my trip, as my mother and I left the terminal gates, I couldn’t help but shed a tear.

I didn’t cry because I was sad to go; I cried because of how blessed I am to love my country, both my countries, with my own eyes and attitudes.

in the Holocaust.

History is so constant and each life is so fleeting that we lose perspective and fail to take into account everything as a whole. When we live day to day, each decision seems reasonable and logical, but we should step back and piece everything together.

We are the same nation that declared all men to be equal in 1776, yet we were the last in the Western world to abolish slavery.

We are the same nation that declares marriage to be sacred, yet we hold the highest divorce rate .

And we are the same nation that offers freedom of religion yet hesitates to construct a Mosque near ground zero.

We criticize other nations’ actions, forgetting that the mighty United States did the same things.

We are quick to judge other countries for the things they do—but what standard are we basing our judgment on? America is not the clean beacon of justice that many may like to believe it is.

Every institution, in no matter what stage of development, has its flaws, and not one can be sure of the validity of their judgment.

When we block out any possibility of our own wrong, we come to judge others without understanding that we, too, come from the same, flawed background.

When we believe that everything we do is righteous, overconfidence can lead to more dangerous implications than just hypocrisy.

kELLY FAN | artist

Feelings of sympathy fade Youth of the world quickly after first being felt have grown greedy Andrew augst STAFF WRITER

You see a picture of a starving child in Africa and read his tragic story.

Your heart aches and you feel terrible. You walk away and minutes later the feelings are gone—but just because it’s forgotten, doesn’t mean the child stopped hurting.

There are so many places around the world where peoples’, and even animals lives are much worse than ours: starvation, poor education, disease. Our minor issues pale in comparison.

Given our somewhat luxurious lives we often forget how hard it is for people around the world who are suffering.

Those people aren’t thinking about how well their football team will do in next weeks’ playoff game, or worrying about how their relationship is going.

They are worrying about how to get through life, day by day, meal by meal, paycheck by paycheck.

A huge tendency of society is

to overplay the importance of those everyday problems.

So many times we take for granted the little things in life that others may not have, like food, clothes, school or shelter, that we never have to worry about lacking.

It’s difficult for an average American student to imagine a life where those things are missing.

While it’s most likely that people realize that during the time that they are wondering what’s for dinner, some less fortunate people may be wondering if there will be food on the table.

People often forget about others’ problems and selfishly become consumed with somewhat insignificant grievances.

It isn’t surprising that people are that way, and it shouldn’t be expected for people to constantly walk around upset about how a Haitian child won’t be able to go to school or a dog needs an owner soon.

The more practical solution to our tendency to forget about those problems is to always keep those

people in mind and see what ways we can help.

Although the opportunities are rare, there are clubs and fundraisers that one can go to that will benefit those in need.

If one is truly feeling depressed over those sad commercials or photos they can seek out a way to help.

It’s relatively selfish for one to see how much is going wrong for some people and assume that the most they can give is their pity.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that they should donate money or go out to those places and help, because many times people don’t have the money for it.

What people do have, in most cases, is time.

It is truly repulsive when people whine about minor problems.

Although it’s human nature to feel sad over certain things and worried sometimes, when someone continuously complains about day to day annoyances, it’s about time they step back and realize how easy we all have it.

Amy CHEU | artist

Dennis sun editor-in-chief

It is frightening to think how much our society has begun to emphasize materialism.

Commercials promote the purchase of expensive name-brand clothes, bags and shoes High-tech phones cost hundreds of dollars, and yet parents are buying them for their children, who plead and beg for the latest gadgets because they feel that having nice things is a symbol of status. Desire to consume has taken over not only the youth of America, but the youth of the world.

Chinese visitors come to America to purchase Gucci and Armani products to impress their friends overseas. Some attempt to marry rich, and on some dating shows in China, the girls request to be paid before they can go on a date. The average price? Around 35,000 yuan, or 5,000 dollars.

It’s things like these that people should worry about. An enormous amount of greed has spread into the populace of the world.

In this age of consumption, Americans especially have posed a problem.

With the highest quality of living worldwide, American teens have expensive phones, cars, and other gadgets, and they keep looking for more.

As soon as the iPhone came out, swarms of people lined up to buy them. While some people legitimately had a need to get new phones, many young people who already had functioning, welldeveloped technology sought the Apple brand as a status symbol.

And their decision wasn’t

cheap. Bills for the iPhone ran well over $70 per month, and the iPhone itself was $400. Commercials and material greed drove the young to seek out the iPhone despite its price. It surprises me even now that half of my younger sister’s 10-year-old friends have iPhone or iPod Touch products. Undoubtedly they had asked their parents to provide them with these devices in order for them to feel that they had status.

The desire to consume name brands grew quickly, and when the iPad came out, another flock of young people bought the device, which is not particularly necessary in an age where almost every person has a laptop, but the name and the commercials fueled purchases by the young. I, myself, saw a group of young kids crowded around an iPad that one of them owned. The young are being corrupted by this desire to consume.

People might blame corporations for preying on their children with gaudy advertising, but it is also a problem of parental consent.

Since most parents hold the pocketbook in the family, they must first allow their children to purchase these products.

It’s not as much the fault of corporations as the fault of the parents who are giving their children the money.

To solve the problem of greed amongst the American young, parents need to hold the purse strings and prevent overconsumption.

Having gadgets and namebrand clothes is nice, but going to great lengths and spending in excess is never good for the growth of young greed.

Prop 19 should legalize Marijuana, benefits greatly outweigh “risks” Cordell hunter STAFF WRITER

Prop 19 is on the ballot this year, and, if it’s passed, then marijuana will become legal.

One of the side effects is on the cartels and other violent weed growers.

Eliminating the need for an underground market would destroy the income of the growers, which would force them out of business. With cartels weakened, the number of drug-related felonies would decrease dramatically.

Another aspect of legalization would be the money generated for the state. Under prop

19, the growing of marijuana would be taxed establishment and regulation of pot companies by the state of California, like tobacco. The could provide the kick in the pants we need profit of this would to get ourselves be immense.

Considering back on track The The establishment and regulation of that weed is the legalization of largest cash crop pot companies could provide the kick in the marijuana would in California, and also go a long way our state debt is pants we need to get ourselves back on toward freeing one of the largest track.” up jail space for in the country, worse offenders.

Considering C u r r e n t l y, that weed is the marijuana and largest cash crop in California, and our state crimes related to it make up the largest debt is one of the largest in the country, the portion of convictions in our state, and most

“

of these crimes aren’t serious. Under current law, anyone caught with weed and intent to sell is charged with a felony and can face years of jail time, or time for selling.

Under prop 19 however, there would be no penalty for selling, former underground growers would have legitimate jobs in legitimate companies, and their former jail cells would go to violent criminals who actually deserve to be locked up.

The benefits of legalization far outweigh the problems, and while some might argue that they don’t want their state run on drug money, a tax on marijuana is no different than the current policy on tobacco and alcohol.

Opinions

Mt. Carmel SUN

A7

September 17, 2010

Should the mosque near Ground Zero be built?

In New York City, an Islamic cleric has announced that he wishes to build a Muslim community center in the area near Ground Zero. Much debate has arisen over whether or not this is an acceptable decision. While some believe that constructing the mosque would be disrespectful towards the sacredness of the site, others have no problem with it.

YES EMMA GLASSMAN-HUGHES STAFF WRITER Hey, America! Here’s an idea: stop being so damn ridiculous.

The amount of ignorance and bigotry geared toward the Park51 cultural center, also known as the “Ground Zero Mosque” by its critics, is truly crazy.

First of all, the majority of people who oppose this project oppose it because they think that it’s supporting terrorism and/or is an act of triumph of Islam over America with Sept. 11, 2001.

Now, I could see why there would be reason for protest if there actually was a mosque being built directly on top of Ground Zero because I think there should be some kind of commemorative memorial there due to the unbelievable loss.

Unfortunately for the critics of Park51, this building has nothing at all to do with Sept. 11 except for the fact that it is being built in the same city. Sorry, protestors.

Along with that, it is actually not a mosque, contrary to popular belief. It’s an Islamic community center— kind of like a YMCA. It includes a basketball court, auditorium, swimming pool, bookstore, along with many other things, such as a Muslim cultural center and place for worship.

Nobody would be complaining if someone wanted to build just a regular old YMCA where they’re building Park51.

I think the roots of the opposition towards Patrk51 are that it has to do with Islamic culture. It’s really upsetting that so many Americans have started to slip into this mindset where they think that all Muslims are bad and they all have evil intentions.

This is what the experts like to call ignorance.

There are good people and bad people from every corner of the Earth that originate from every ethnicity and culture. I thought that America was supposed to embrace those other cultures and be

NO SUN POLL Should the mosque near Ground Zero be built?

26% YES

51%

23% NO

UNDECIDED a place of equal freedom for everybody?

In addition, this project is largely being supported

by Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is an Imam at a New York City mosque in the Tribeca District. Rauf is a genuinely good guy who praises American government and says that he hopes to “achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions” quoted from Time Magazine.

What an awful man with terrible, calamitous objectives.

Come on America. This project is in no way meant to be offensive or triumphant toward those who were and still are suffering from the horrendous attack that occurred nearly nine years ago, but rather a way to blend a taste of Islamic culture peacefully with America.

We don’t have to forget about Sept. 11, but we don’t have to blame an entire people who were not the cause of it. In the words of Smashmouth, “Why can’t we be friends?”

BLAKE EATON STAFF WRITER Nine years ago, a devastating attack to our nation sent New York City reeling.

In the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, nearly 3,000 people died and many more were injured.

That particular day set the course of a decade; most people still remember what they were doing when the Twin Towers collapsed.

Now, plans for a mosque near the site where al-Qaeda launched the War on Terror have been met with strong resistance throughout the United States. Politicians, families of 9/11 victims, and even other Muslims have argued that the worship center be moved to another location.

Freedom of religion is definitely an important thing to maintain in American society.

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that concessions must be made in light of the heavy criticism facing the Ground Zero Mosque.

Ciro Gonzalez

Sophomore Dalton Wimmer

Junior

Skye Sadjadi

Andrew Preecha

of a 3rd grader. This is going to be a good year.

-Cordell Hunter camping in front of the T.V. on Saturdays for the greatest thing on

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a moderate Muslim and seeks to bridge the divide between Islam and the Western world. He even condemned the 9/11 attacks as un-Islamic.

However, this is exactly the reason why he should listen to the opposition to his mosque and relocate it.

At its core, much of the controversy centers around respect for the dead.

Thousands of people died at Ground Zero. Even if the Imam hoping to construct a mosque two blocks away has good intentions, he must consider how those who lost their loved ones on that day feel.

The time is too soon, the wounds too fresh to build a new mosque near the former location of the Twin Towers. Terrorism is still fresh in people’s minds, and Islam – unfortunately – is inextricably linked to such thoughts.

Many New York residents knew people who died in the Twin Towers. Now that their attention has been

Senior

I’m a senior with the maturity level

School has started. That means

raised to this mosque’s construction, it is far from surprising that the idea would anger them.

The mere fact that people are so vehemently arguing over the mosque is regrettable. It casts a shadow over our country’s commitment to freedom.

However now that the debate has begun, Imam Rauf and his partners in the construction of the mosque must prove that they are the better people.

By moving the mosque away from Ground Zero, the Imam will send a message just as powerful as he no doubt hoped the mosque’s current position would send.

It would tell the world that Muslims are not belligerent fanatics. It would tell Western society that followers of Islam can take the high road and back down when necessary.

And that is what Imam Rauf needs to do. He needs to take the high road and move his mosque.

earth: college football. Boomer sooner!

-Jacob Snyder It’s been a marathon of full days and long weeks, but I don’t mind. We have a double-header of late-start Fridays coming up, and holiday season will be here in no time!

-Blake Eaton

Scientists say that people are going deaf due to iPads; I think it’s due to the fire drills at schools.

-Michael Clogston Everybody says senior year goes by soooooo fast. Why is it that it feels like 5 weeks has been 5 months?

-Isaiah Bruce This past week my internet has been down. I’ve been more concerned with not being able to update my Facebook status than with not being able to check my grades.

-Vandana Bhairi

YISHA WANG | ARTIST

Sundevil Perspective Freshman

Thumbs

Visit mcsun.org to see:

Teacher

Steven Edwards

Zachary Jensen Random Stuff

No, there’s nothing wrong with Muslims, but it’d create a bad memory.

I think that it’s far enough from Ground Zero that it doesn’t really matter to me.

This country was built on equality, so yes.

I believe that it is his right to put the mosque there, but I question his wisdom to do so.

I believe it’s fine as long as it is appropriate and is within the bounds of propriety.

As if Apple didn’t already have enough iPod models, they went on and decided to add three more to the lineup. On Sept. 1, they announced the new iPod Shuffle, Touch and Nano, all sporting huge changes.

Staff Editorial

Sundevil pride essential to survive four years of high school In an era where everyone is finding different ways to be unique, school pride may be the best way to bring us all together.

We can build school spirit by promoting awareness of the success of school clubs and sports teams.

One of our many goals as a student publication is to increase knowledge and excite the student body about issues regarding the school.

Football games are amazing venues to exhibit school spirit. If you haven’t been to one, we strongly suggest it.

Coming together as a school against other schools in athletics gives us an opportunity to encourage our peers.

Die-hard Sundevil fans will even paint their bodies at these games. It is crucial for us as a student body to unite.

After all, we’re stuck at the same school with the same people for four

years anyway.

Isn’t it better to enjoy those years feeling like you are part of a bond that will never be broken?

Beat Westview! Beat Poo-way!

Beat RB! Hell, beat Del Norte!

And when we do, shouldn’t you get that feeling of pride and success inside?

Shouldn’t Sunny the mascot dancing be on your mind?

Once a Sundevil, always a Sundevil. That is what being a student at MC is all about. You are a Titan for four years, a Sundevil forever.

Look at Adam Lambert, American Idol runner-up for Season 8 in 2009.

He graduated from MC and for his “Hometown Episode” decided to come back.

Another way to become a more knowledgeable and active Sundevil is to find out unique facts about our school.

Our school is different in ways that people see every day but do not notice.

For example, last year MC became the first school in San Diego County to reach 79 CIF championships.

Another example is that free T-shirts are passed out to students before pep rallies.

When students wear these shirts to school or other pep rallies it shows how unified as a group we are.

As we approach this new school year with anticipation, worry, excitement or boredom, let’s not forget our roots as fellow Sundevils.

Fight on for Mt. Carmel, Sundevils gold and scarlet win. Our alma mater proud looks up to you with spirits high for Mt. Carmel.

Fight on for victory! Fight on! Fight on!

And remember, in the words of Dr. McCoy, “It’s great to be a Sundevil!”

Dennis Sun Logically Illogical

AMY CHEU | ARTIST

Frankly, I don’t know what I would do if there weren’t any more tomatoes to go around.

I would probably die.

Some find the fruit, which is legally and culinary a vegetable, to be incredibly repulsive.

I, for one, could not imagine a world without them.

Sure, it’s easy to say that they taste gross raw. (I would beg to differ.) But could you imagine a world without pizza or cheeseburgers? How about a world without ketchup on your hot dog, or sauce for your pasta?

Opinions

A8

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? brittlyn foster Staff Writer

always known is that when it comes down to it, at the end of the day, the only thing that will always remain is love.

Here’s the thing: one day you are going It is not about what high paying white to die. It is not going to matter if you were collar job you make your living at for eight homecoming king your senior year or how hours a day, it is about what you come home to flashy your Mercedes-Benz convertible was, at night that validates true happiness. you’ll die just the same as a poor man.

That is because true joy does not come from Society loves to paramount fictional ideas a pay raise or a flamboyant sports car; in fact of happiness such as luxurious Rolex watches this greedy cancerous mentality of Americans or Gucci handbags, little do they know that is what is destroying love all together. money is merely an escape.

I have always believed that everything that An escape from the pain, from the daily was worth it in my life was worth fighting to the insecurities that make us human, and most of last slammed car door, the last painful tear and all an escape from who we really are as people. to the last undeserving promise of forgiveness.

Wealth masks the flawed qualities we have Every horrible circumstance I was sure and acts as compensation in order to set our I could never get through became incredibly conscious mind at ease. worthwhile the day I found love. It is the We tell ourselves strongest word in the “well it’s okay if I get human language, and wasted this weekend has the immense strength as long as I still pull to completely wash True joy does not come from a my 4.0 and keep my pay raise or a flamboyant sports car; away every worldly letter for varsity.” Or, in fact this greedy cancerous mental- materialistic desire you “It’s alright if the reity of Americans is what is destroying have, because you know lationship I have with you have everything you love all together. “ my spouse and kids is could ever need. incredibly unhealthy Sometimes people as long as I still have grow up and forget about my million dollar what it was that left them home and HD plasma smiling as they fell asleep screen television at the end of the day.” or how simply holding the person you love’s According to the world this mentality is hand made every problem melt away. They correct. It is excellent moral fiber to commit become consumed in a world where money sin, adultery and lies, as long as you appear is god and love takes a backseat, damning if a to have it all together materialistically on the person is happy or not. Unfortunately, that is outside. when people stop living for love and start living The truth is these people are dying inside, for themselves. they are so focused on the accumulation of This tragic truth is the reason the world worldly pleasure and pseudo success that they has drawn its attention from everything that lose sight of everything that has ever truly has ever truly mattered. It is the reason people mattered to them. on their death bed are cursing at themselves There has to be something more to this because they wished they could go back and life than the egotistical world that Forbes say “I love you” more. magazine billboards as happiness. There must It’s the reason so many well off surgeons be something that levels out the corruption of and doctors finally come to realize that they this world and makes every triumph worth the have pushed all their relationships aside and price and sacrifice it took to get there. spent their whole life chasing a worthless green After 16 years of living and being certain I piece of paper. knew it all, it took me until right now to realize That is why love will always outweigh that I know nothing about this world. I have money, because if you never take the chance no idea what will happen today, tomorrow, or at living for love you will never really take a 30 years from now. But the one thing I have chance at living at all.

“

amy cheu | artist

SUN POLL Can money buy happiness?

43%

48% YES

9%

UNDECIDED

NO

SPORTS & ARTS WHAT’S

INSIDE

SUNDEVIL SPOTLIGHT

Read the new Q&A format. Featured athletes are Kevin Robinson, Brandon Laitifi, and Kelly Rooks. page B2

FALL SPORTS Read the season previews on girls volleyball, girls golf, cross country and girls tennis.

andrew augst STAFF WRITER Determined to keep up last year’s great record, Varsity Field Hockey is looking forward to a great season, regardless of the obstacles they must now overcome.

Losing two games might discourage some teams, but for the field hockey team, their losses are just pushing them to even train harder.

“We’ve won one game and lost three,” senior Rachel Torres said.

“But most of the team is new so we’re still working out the kinks.”

This year’s team faces a daunting task. A majority of last year’s team was seniors, and although they have been replaced with new players, the team is attempting to reorganize.

“This year’s team is different because we lost over half our team, so we’re basically like a whole new team,” Torres said. “Last year we

had the best record for field hockey at MC, so hopefully we’ll do even better this year.”

Although this kind of challenge can be difficult to overcome, the team is still optimistic and confident they will do well.

“I feel like the team is working together well and has improved a lot since the start of the year, so this should be a good season,” junior Marina Danecker said.

If practices are any reflection on

how well the team will do, the field hockey girls agree that this season will be a good one.

“As the season is progressing, our practices have become focused on game-like situations, perfection of the basics, and hard work to get ready for the tough games ahead,” junior Paloma Larson said. “And we beat Otay Ranch, so this has potential to be a good season.”

“Our coach has us practice a lot of situations, and we run a lot to get

TACKLING TOUGHER

Don’t know what to watch when procrastinating on homework?

Want a preview on the new season of your favorite show? Check out the Fall TV preview.

Lauren Hall STAFF WRITER

page b5

CLUB CATALOG Want to join a club? Check out the previews on a variety of the clubs offered at MC.

OPPONENTS

page b6

SENIOR APPROACHES

Jennifer farrell | Photo editor Matt Rochelle (12) and Silvano Altamirano (12) congratulate each other after a successful drive in a recent game against Mission Hills. This year, the football team, as well as all other athletic teams at MC, will compete in the extremely competitive Palomar League once again.

MC leaves Valley League, returns to more competitive Palomar League after two year absence; athletes, coaches ready for higher competition Braden Buckel STAFF WRITER

JV SPORTS

on www.mcsun.org

MAKING THE SUN SHINE ONLINE

Do you participate in a JV sport?

Have friends or family on JV? Log on to MCSUN.org to check out articles and pictures of your favorite teams.

Keep an eye out for updates on the junior varsity teams. Find scores and schedules for the teams every three weeks.

Check for updates on all the fall JV sports: Girls Golf, Girls Volleyball, Football, Boys Waterpolo, Cross Country, Girls Tennis

For the 2010-2011 school year, MC will be transferred from the Valley League to the Palomar League.

This means the Sundevils are in the same league as Poway, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, Torrey Pines, and Westview.

MC’s entry into the Palomar League was decided at an annual meeting of CIF Southern Section school officials and CIF Southern Section council members. They decided that MC needed to be transferred from the Valley League to the Palomar League and that MC could and should compete at the higher level.

Many at MC will be affected by the move from the Valley League to the Palomar League.

One of them is the Athletic Director, Mr. Wright.

He commented on the effects the move would have on MC athletes.

“It [the Palomar League] will be more competitive for us with harder schools that are traditional powers,” Wright said. “There will definitely be a revival of rivalry.”

That revival refers to the last time MC was in the Palomar League, which was three years ago.

Back then, MC faced RB, Westview, and Poway on a regular basis in league play.

Understandably, some are opposed to MC being placed into the Palomar League. MC is a CIF DII school, and Torrey Pines, Poway, and Rancho Bernardo are CIF DI schools. This gives them more potential athletes to make into teams, therefore an advantage.

One person who believes this is Mr. Middleton, one time Varsity basketball coach.

“Even in sports other than football, it is unfair for the smaller schools in that the larger schools have more potential athletes to choose from.”

Middleton said.

He also commented on how schools should be put into leagues.

“All members of your league should be in your CIF division and nearby geographically.”

Not everyone agrees with Middleton. Although the new league may be harder, some see an opportunity to show the true potential of MC athletics. One such person is Mrs. Davis, the JV boys’ water polo coach. She is looking forward to

3

Danielle Damper STAFF WRITER

about

COLLEGE APPS Don’t worry too much yet! You still have time to write those essays and fill out those countless questionnaires.

HOMECOMING School dances should be fun. You shouldn’t fret about who you are going with, what you are eating, and what you are wearing.

2

AP Classes Make sure you don’t fall behind because it will be harder to catch up, but other than that just do your work and you’ll be fine!

3

the new challenges ahead for her and her team.

“It (the Palomar League) has a larger and more developed athletics programs and more challenging teams.” Davis said. “It gives us a chance to compete at a higher level and to progress as a team”.

Davis believes that the new challenges will result in a better team and a better water polo program at MC. Coach Davis is not alone in her positive outlook on the turn of events. Varsity wrestling coach Mr. Miller is also looking forward to the new level of competition in the Palomar League.

“I like going into a match while being the underdog” Miller said. “We were like the big fish in a small pond.”

Miller believes that the move up will benefit his wrestlers as they get used to tougher competition than last year.

The other coaches at MC side somewhere in the middle of the argument. They believe the league games in the Palomar League will be harder than those last year, and the rivalry between MC and the other PUSD schools will play out in the 2010-11 season.

On Sept. 3, the football team beat La Jolla 38-3. The team’s hard work over the summer, as well as triple days, has given them immense strength.

“Summer ball was fun bonding with the team, but it took a great deal of commitment and hard work to go to practice, work out, and give our all every play,” senior Matt Rochelle said.

The team’s conditioning consisted of heavy amounts of weight training and many drills, such as running “220’s” for speed.

“Our speed, offensive line, and strength are what make us strong competitors,” Rochelle said.

This year’s team consists of mainly younger players because of all the seniors that the team lost to graduation. That has also changed the team and built a foundation for even stronger relationships.

“We are closer together, and we are more like a family,” senior Kevin Lewis said. “Our weakness is our size, but we have heart, so it makes up for it.”

The team lost 40-21 against Mission Hills on Sept. 14, a wake up call to the team that they have not reached their full potential yet.

“We need to work on not giving up so quickly when part of the game doesn’t go our way,” Rochelle said.

The team will apply this strategy in their game today against San Pasqual. The home field advantage could give them that extra push to keep fighting against the toughest competitors.

They strive everyday at practice in hopes of having a winning record and advancing in the playoffs. This new positive attitude can allow them to do that.

“We have heart,” Lewis said. “It’s not about just winning anymore, it’s about how we can make our program improve.”

Better league match-ups prepare boys water polo for more successful season

THINGS to not stress

1

into shape,” Torres said.

This year’s seniors are also confident that a lot of the new players have high potential.

“Taylor Towne, Niki Barba, and Valeria Bednarski are new to the team and look good,” she said.

Although they have numerous challenges to overcome and their current record isn’t its best, the girls field hockey team is convinced that this year’s season will have a successful outcome.

Hard work during offseason pays dividends for Football

FALL TV PREVIEWS

page b8

FRIDAy September 17, 2010 VOL. 38 No. 1

Early losses push Field Hockey to train harder, prepare for league

page B3

Seniors! Excited for your last months of high school? Check out different ways to approach your senior year.

B

Jennifer farrell | Photo editor Nick Heffner (12) passes the ball in a recent home game against Rancho Buena Vista. This year, the team hopes to play up to their potential and prepare for a CIF run at the end of the season

Water polo is back, and the team believes that they are better than they have ever been. They practice long hours and keep themselves focused on two things: doing great in regular season and winning the CIF championships.

All of this practice has lead to a confidence that this season, boys waterpolo will astonish everyone.

“I’m really positive about the season,” Senior Grant Still said. “A lot of the other teams consider us the underdogs this year, but I think we’re really going to shock them.”

Boys water polo believes that even with the change of leagues from the Valley to the Palomar League, this is their year to take CIF. After coming back from the Poway invitational on last Sunday Sept. 12, they cannot help but look forward to the rest of the season. The team came in 5th out of 36 teams.

“I think this is our year to take CIF,” senior Carlos

Rivera said. “This is something that we haven’t done since 2002”.

Although the team admits that they have a lot of hard work to do, they don’t think it’s lack of skill that’s held them back from achieving their full potential in previous years.

“Last year, we were used to playing Valley League teams and teams that weren’t that strong,” Still said.

“We would usually play down to their level, but this year, every team is really strong, so it’ll be really really competitive. We need to step up our game, but I don’t think it will be a problem” Tuesday’s home game against Rancho Buena Vista ended in triumph for the Devils. The boys dominated for a convincing 12-5 win. They hope to continue this overwhelming success for the rest of the season.

Water polo is excited with the win and intends to use the momentum from such a dominating performance to inspire better performance for the rest of the season.

The next game is Tuesday, September 17, at Grossmont high school.

Sports

B2

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

AFC half marathon inspires runners VANDANA BHAIRI OPINIONS EDITOR Four MC cross country runners push their way through thousands of people hoping to get a good spot for the race.

The gun goes off, and junior John Chisholm and sophomores Matt McEachern, Eric Sindel, and Kenny Pyle set off hoping to conquer the 13.1 miles that lay before them in the America’s Finest City’s Half Marathon.

The half marathon, which took place on Aug. 15, started at the Cabrillo National Monument, then followed to San Diego Bay and Harbor Island along the Embarcadero to The Star of India, and continued to downtown San Diego and finished in Balboa Park.

Sindel says that he, as well as the other three runners in his group, wanted to do the AFC half marathon as a way of getting ready for the upcoming cross country season.

“John found the half marathon and it just seemed like a good way to train for cross country, and it would be really fun and a good experience,” he said.

In the weeks leading up to the AFC half marathon, the runners didn’t do anything that was out of the ordinary.

“We really just did our normal summer base training which consisted of just running five days a week, normally about five to six miles a day, and we just did a couple eight mile long runs,” Chisholm said. “We didn’t prepare exclusively for it.”

All four runners placed in the top 15 for their age division (17 and under) as well as finishing under two hours.

Sindel and McEachern got second and third, Chisholm got fifth, and Pyle got 12th.According to McEachern, the hardest part about the course was the last two miles.

“The last two miles were all uphill so that was just really hard but we were all excited to finish so we didn’t let that stop us,” McEachern said.

After running the half marathon, Sindel said that he not only felt a sense of achievement, but also learned that half marathons are nothing to have feelings of trepidation over.

“It felt really relieving to be finished and I felt really great that I accomplished such a big thing,” Sindel said. “I learned that 13.1 miles is nothing to fear, and it doesn’t seem any harder than our usual long run.”

All the guys felt the same sense of accomplishment as Sindel, but Chisholm also felt inspired by the event and the people who participated in it.

“It was really inspiring because you could see all of these professional racers who were getting times of 1:05 (which is just incredible) and all these guys who have come from other countries like Kenya and Japan to race,” Chisholm said.

“You raced with them so you could just think ‘Oh wow, I’m only CORDELL HUNTER | PHOTOGRAPHER this much behind some of the best From left to right: Matt McEachern (10), Eric Sindel (10), Kenny Pyle (10), and John Chisolm (11) pose with the medals they won for racers in the world’ and it’s just really finishing the America’s Finest City Half Marathon. They decided to run the race to prepare for the cross country season, and all finished in nice because they’re the best people the top 15 percent of the under 17 age group. Along with a sense of accomplishment, the runners felt inspired by their experience and the you can meet.” athletes they ran with.

Hell Week separates committed from quitters ANDREW AUGST STAFF WRITER Senior Nick Heffner woke up at the crack of dawn. He made his way to water polo practice.

Nick trained his heart out, fully knowing that he still had two more practices to go.

What is known as “Hell Week” has become a tradition for sports like football and water polo.

“Hell week is basically just as it

sounds—hell,” Heffner said. “I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get my butt whooped with intense swim workouts. Then I ate as much as I could and tried to sleep before a second practice. After that practice I would just crash and set my alarm for yet another practice.”

Those intense practices are enough to scare off people new to the water polo team.

“Sometimes people drop out after the first day just because it’s too

COMPILED BY KELSEY ELLIOT, ALEXA MAUZY-LEWIS, CASSIDY SARGENT | STAFF WRITERS

KELLY

Volleyball you

help physically, some players wonder if they’re necessary.

“Our coach thought it was necessary because we are moving into a better league and basically playing catch up,” Nelson said. “We all agreed.”

Such physically demanding workouts take harsh tolls on the athletes’ bodies.

“My body just wanted to sleep the entire time. Half the trouble was fighting that off,” Heffner said.

Sundevil Spotlight

into

Well, I had a friend who did a volleyball camp so I did it with her, and I guess that’s how I got started.

It also runs in my family. My brother plays it too.

How old were you when you started?

I was in 6th grade at the camp with my friend.

What was the camp like?

It was hard at first. You have to learn everything broken down so you can understand it, but I eventually got it.

What position do you play?

I play outside hitter.

Have you always played this position?

No. Over the years, I was a setter, but then I moved to outside hitter.

Why that position?

Because it was my favorite and it was the one that stuck with me.

What is your favorite part of volleyball?

The good feeling after getting a kill or a dig!

Who is supporter?

your

Cross Country

Football

How long have you been in cross country?

Well, my mom is always positive and helps me when I’m down on myself or if I play badly.

Ever since my freshman year. I made varsity my sophomore year.

I normally just blast my music in my car on the way to a game, but I always have my Ipod on before a game.

Do you have a certain song that gets you in the moment?

I did last year, but not yet this year.

What is a moment you will never forget?

My sophomore year.

It was the semi final game and it was neck in neck and just such an intense game.

What is your goal for the season?

My goal is to just be confident in myself and to just calm down and have fun this season!

What got you started in this sport?

In 8th grade, my brother and my friend, Sam, decided we all wanted to do a sport together, and we just started to get involved in crosscountry because we were all pretty good at running in middle school.

We were told that all the time, and then it just happened.

Why do you love to run?

I think it’s a lot of fun when you’re in school, and you are just thinking “I really need to get out”, so running is like an outlet for me because it lets me be able to have fun and talk with my friends.

I mean, it’s a lot of hard work at times, but if you do it, all of it pays off in the end.”

How do you think your team will do this year?

I’ve heard you’re the fastest on the team. What are some of your personal records?

I think once the team meshes and comes together, we will be very good.

My fastest at state was 6:38, but it depends on what the course is, you know, flat or hills.

a full on practice from six to nine at night,” junior Bryan Low said. “We were all super tired by the end of the week.”

Among others, Bryan felt the improvements just as water polo players had.

“I felt like it was well worth it, and we won our first game in a while so it must have paid off,” Low said.

“It was definitely necessary because not only do we improve, but we bond as a team.”

ALL PHOTOS BY BRITTANY SMITH | PHOTOGRAPHER

KEVIN

main

What do you do to go get pumped up before a game?

“I was dying,” Nelson said. “I was icing my body basically everyday. It was a nightmare.”

Football players experience the same extreme exercises, just on different terrain. The team had basically the same schedule as water polo, a day long practice with certain breaks in between for a week.

“We would practice in the morning with half pads, then noon with just helmets, and that would be special teams, lift, then swim, then

BRANDON

LATIFI

ROOKS

What got volleyball?

hard, but it was pretty cool how this time everyone made it,” junior M.J. Nelson said. With all those heavy practices, their work paid off.

“The team was definitely much better afterward, partially because we were in better physical condition, but mostly because we were bonded together in the fact that we had all gone through this physically grueling experience and made it,” Heffner said.

While the workouts certainly

ROBINSON

At Dana Hills, the course is all flat, so I got a 15:49 in the 3 mile race.

What would you say have been your biggest accomplishments in Cross Country so far?

I guess I have to say my biggest accomplishments have been being able to be on varsity my sophomore year.

Another big accomplishment was our team being able to win CIF’s my sophomore year. We also placed 2nd in CIF’s last year to Patrick Henry.

Is there a certain coach or role model that inspires you?

Well my “sorta” role models would have to be Jacob Wood and David Vasko because they make cross country such a fun atmosphere, and it’s just one day after the other with them.

What are your goals for the future, as far as CrossCountry goes?

I hope to continue with it and finish strong for my senior year.

We’ll see where it takes me from there.

Do you think that your team will do well this upcoming season?

Yeah, I think we might do alright depending on how we’ve been acting lately.

Why do you think the team will do well in this upcoming season?

We have been practicing really hard, and we are motivated.

How long have you been playing football?

I’ve been playing football for like, six or seven years.

Why did you start playing football seven years ago?

I saw people playing football on TV, on the NFL and college teams and I wanted to try it.

Why do you like playing football?

It is a lot of fun to play football. I really enjoy it.

Do you play any other sports besides football?

I do play another sport. I play a little basketball.

What do you think makes your football team stand out from the other teams that you

play?

I think we are different because of how well we bond.

We bond a lot better than most teams do.

Do you think that your team gets along well with each other?

Yeah, we get along really well.

We are a really well-bonded team.

play?

What position do you

I play running back, safety, kick return and second-string quarter back.

What games are you looking forward to? Why?

We are looking forward to the RB game because we know a lot of people on the team, and it will be fun to beat them.

We are also looking forward to when we play Mission Hills. They beat us last week, and we want a rematch because we feel that we can beat them.

Are there any pre-game rituals that you guys do as a team?

First we do a prayer. Then we will get in a huddle and do a chant.

Sports

Mt. Carmel SUN

B3

September 17, 2010

Girls volleyball starts season fresh with new players Isaiah Bruce STAFF WRITER

MARIAH NICHOLS | photoGRAPHER

Kelly Rooks (12) spikes the ball to Tricity Christian at a home game. The team’s vitcory on Tuesday Sept. 7 was unexpected, seeing as this year they moved into a more competitive league.

Cross Country buckles down again, benefits from early summer training Sean wood STAFF WRITER Running is like riding a bicycle- the only way you can accomplish anything is through energy and effort. The harder you push yourself, the faster you go.

“Just knowing that I have to train really hard to meet my goals gives me motivation,” sophomore Sabrina Seay said. “I don’t really know just this year I got this new energy to train really hard.”The training starts in July and lasts through August 16th where mandatory practice starts. The period between these two dates ultimately determines a runner’s success throughout the cross-country season.

This part of the runners training is arguably the most crucial part of the season.

“I’ve been training with varsity on almost every single run and pushed myself to try my hardest every time,” sophomore Eric Sindel said. “This year is going to be tough but I’m ready to work as hard as I need to” On hot summer days no one feels like running but the ones that do are the ones that will prosper later. The summer base, in which a runner runs longer rather than faster, is really important, which the coach drives into their heads.

“Coach Boyer preaches to us how important summer training is,” Sindel said. “He always tells us that the base is what makes or breaks your season.”

Not only is the summer base important but the beginning of the season holds a lot of importance as people start to see where they are compared to the competition.

“My plan for the beginning of the season is to set personal records in every race,” senior Max Latifi said. “It’ll be fun to watch all the hard work we did over the summer start to pay off.”

The start to the season is when all the work you did starts to show off. Or in some cases gives you the motivation to get to the top.“Hurting my ankle really set me back,” Seay said. “As much as I want to be up there in the front I just don’t have the endurance or speed that I need right now. But I’m ready to start ramping up my training because I really want to win CIF this year.”

Not only does the girl’s team want to win CIF, but the boy’s team wants to show everyone they’re good enough to win CIF too.

“I can see us winning CIF this year,” Sindel said. “I think our team is good enough and it seems like we all work really hard and really want it.”

No matter how slow or fast the first race may go everyone on the team knows that the team always comes first.

“The team is a lot different then last years,” junior Victoria Ung said. “We lost a lot of people but we’re going to make the best of it and win CIF this year.”

Girls volleyball sets off again, and many people are curious as to how they are going to do this year.

“Going into this year, we had lost eight seniors, so everybody was kind of worried about how we would do,” senior Sierra Moran said.

“But after playing Tricity Christian and the tournament, we were really very impressed and proud of each other, and I think we have a great chance of doing well this season.”

The team lost eight seniors last year and are now in a, what some consider tougher, league. Despite their minor set-backs, many team members look to embrace the competition instead of fearing it.

“Switching leagues means a lot harder competition,” Moran said. “We play Torrey Pines and Poway who are great opponents. But I think that we will be able to play at that high intensity level. We need to challenge some of the top teams.”

So far, they have. Just last weekend, after a close

match against strong competitor Tricity Christian, the team competed in the Varsity Volleyball Fall Classic.

Being a young and new team, many people had doubts about how they would do in such a prestigious tournament so early in the season.

But the young team proved their ability to do well, as they went on to beat Patrick Henry, West Hills, and Lakeside on Sep. 10.

The following day, the team continued their winning streak when they beat West Hills again and Steele Canyon.

They were finally brought to a halt in the finals when they had to face Patrick Henry for the second time in the tournament.

In the end, the team took a well deserved second place in the silver bracket of the tournament.

Last year the team attained a 15-12 record which helped them reach the quarterfinals of CIF, but many team members feel like that was not enough.

The team believes that this year, if they work hard enough, they might be have a more memorable ending in

their post season and hopefully earn MC volleyball a banner.

“I think we did okay last year, but we could have come together more at the end,” senior Moran said.

For now, this is just the beginning. So far, the team has proved to be quite successful in their first match and tournament.

The team goes on to face new rival Del Norte on Sep. 22.

Since Del Norte is a new PUSD school, a majority of their students often have friendly camaraderie.

Many of the players feel that this will raise the tensions and anxiety of the game to its peak.

“I think we’re going to do really well,” sophomore Nicole Rigler said. “We’ve already improved a lot since the beginning of the season.”

High hopes are raised for this new and young team.

“I think we are going to have a really good season.” senior Kelly Rooks said.

“This year’s volleyball team has a ton of potential, and we are going to be a really strong team overall.”

Girls tennis braces for tougher competition UpcomingMatches 9/21: San Dieguito @ San Dieguito 9/23: Poway @ MC 9/28: Rancho Bernardo @ MC 9/30: Ramona @ Ramona 10/5: Westview @ Westview 10/7: Torrey Pines @ MC 10/12: Poway @ Poway 10/14: Rancho Bernardo @ Rancho Bernardo 10/19: Ramona @ MC 10/21: Westview @ MC 10/26: Torrey Pines @ Torrey Pines

Billy watson STAFF WRITER Our back to back CIF champions girl’s tennis team is back at it again.

But just because our team is state champion does not mean that this season will be easy.

This year, MC will be competing in the Palomar League, which means, for tennis, that they will be competing against the toughest schools in the County —schools like Torrey Pines, Poway, Cathedral, and RB. “My expectation is that every single week is going to be a dogfight,” said Coach Jim Wrage.

Senior Melissa Anewalt, however, is excited for the tougher league.

“I feel pretty good for the Palomar League,” Anewalt said. “I’m excited for the tougher competition, because it will make every game a true contest, and it will make every win more worth it.”

Anewalt is confident that she and her partner, senior Karen Truong, will do very well this season.

“I think what will really help us throughout is the fact that we just work really well together,” Anewalt said. “We have good communication, and we watch each other’s backs.”

Tennis is a very versatile game, and one that requires its athletes to be very adaptable. Since a player is rarely set in

their position, they have to be good at every aspect of the game.

They are moved around, from singles to doubles and back again. This means that they sometimes must play with different partners, and they must utilize different strategies and play different at different court positions.

All this combines to mean that the girl’s team must be well rounded and have the skill to win in any situation.

But such ability does not appear overnight. The team’s practices are very intense, and the girls go full out every day on the courts.

“I take it seriously because I know that to be on varsity tennis is a big deal,” junior Shriya Chhabra said. “I don’t want to see MC tennis go down, so I personally do everything that I can to make sure our team stays strong.”

To make sure that the girls do not let up, Coach Wrage likes to emphasize a different aspect of the game every practice.

As a result, the team is polished on all the techniques and strategies that they have been practicing.

“Yeah we’re in a tough league, but our team is pretty tough too,” Wrage said.

“We’re still going to work hard, and I’m confident that our team will have a really good season this year.”

Girls golf struggling to combat lack of players, still optimistic for season Braden Buckel STAFF WRITER

JENNIFER FARRELL | photoGRAPHER

Veronica Hodge (11) raises her arm ready to swing at the ball with the power girls golf has been training for. The team is holding it together after losing almost half of last year’s team to graduation.

The 2010-11 season has started and all of the fall sports teams at MC are preparing for another year of athletic competition and interschool rivalry, and the Girls of the Varsity Girls Golf team are no exception.

The Varsity Girls Golf team has five players: senior Kareena Fugii, juniors Roni Hodge and Rachael Lee, sophomore Emily Tando, and junior Sammie Gandalfo.

The team is coached by David Rudgers.

This will be Rudger’s second year coaching MC Girls Golf.

His first year coaching the team’s record was 12 wins and three losses and they led the Valley league, but the team looks to do even better this year.

However, the Girls Golf team has already run into trouble. Last year the Girls Golf team had nine players, but this year they will only have five players.

Fortunately five players is just enough to qualify for CIF league matches, otherwise the team would have to forfeit every gme.

But coach Rudgers still feels that they are short on players.

“The girls team can play with only five players but it should have at least six” Rudgers said, “We had three team members return from a team of nine players”.

The team is also getting some new players as well.

“We had two players join the team this year,” Rudgers said.

This year’s team will have to settle with fewer players, and the tougher league, but hopes are high that they will be able to perform as well as they had last year.

Despite this issue coach Rudgers is optimistic and feels confident in his team’s ability to win matches at a higher level of competition from last year.

He hopes that with hard work and determination, his team can overcome

whatever obstacles that stand in their way.

The obstacles will be many as the Palomar league has North County powerhouses such as Torrey Pines, Rancho Bernardo, and Poway.

Torrey Pines had finished first in the Avocado league and led North County to become ranked second across the state last year.

Rancho Bernardo had finished second in the Palomar league behind Carlsbad, and Poway finished third in the Palomar league behind RB. This year the North County Times published an article ranking Torrey Pines as the best in San Diego County, Poway was ranked second, RB was ranked third, and MC was ranked ninth best.

“ We have a pretty good team all around.

The girls have a great attitude and golf is a fun sport to participate in.”

-Coach Rudgers

However, the North County Times was making a prediction and only time will tell what the final standings will be.

But most likely it will be the team that put the most into improving their game.

MC Girls Golf gets in as much practice time as they can.

The team practices four times a week on Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:45- 5:30.

The team’s home course is the Double Tree golf course near the Carmel Mountain Ranch Shopping Center.

There will 12 league matches for the team and several interleague games against teams from the other CIF leagues in North County.

The team played its first league game on Thursday against RB and that leaves more 11 league games left until the end of their season.

Coach Rudgers had good things to say about his team and their work ethic “The girls have a great attitude and golf is a fun sport to participate in.”

Apparently he and his team get along well and hopefully this will push the girls to new levels of competition.

Entertainment

B4

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

Hollywood sacrifices engaging plots Danielle Damper Staff Writer Americans are lazy. We drive through fast food places so we don’t have to get out of our cars to get food; we text people so we don’t have to bother talking to them, and we hate exercising so much that obesity has become an epidemic.

America’s hatred of actually “doing” things has filtered into our movie-watching experience. Instead of going into a movie excited to find out what happens and being surprised when there’s an unexpected twist, we walk into movies knowing exactly what’s going to happen and leave not at all surprised that what you thought was going to happen happened.

Modern day movies lay out what’s going to happen in the entire movie in the trailer, and almost never deviate from the same five plotlines that all moviemakers recycle over and over again.

How can we be expected to sit through a movie truly excited when all

you have to do it sit in the dark theater and let your eyes glaze over? Movies will never be incredible again until they require you to actually think.

Even “masterpieces” like James Cameron’s “Avatar” use stunning CGI and a big budget to distract from the fact that we’ve seen the “fallen hero” plotline before. The movie itself was stunning visually, but watching it was like being a child distracted by a shiny object. You didn’t really care what was going on. It just looked really cool.

Let’s face it. You could let your eyes glaze over and still understand the strife of the blue people.

When “Inception” first came out, there was a buzz about the movie, even though no one really knew what it was about, everyone was excited to see it just to find out what the deal was.

The only reason “Inception” became such a phenomenon was that, for once, a movie was engaging. You had to take an active role in trying to understand what was happening. When was the last time we’ve gotten to watch a movie that made us think so much?

But then again, a lot of the people I talked to said the reason they didn’t like “Inception” was because it tired them out. They didn’t like thinking so much. I do understand that you go to the movies to relax, but shouldn’t you also go to the movies to be entertained and intrigued in what you’re spending money to go see?

Some movies will always be idiotic; could you imagine “The Hangover,” if it tried to appeal to our intelligence? Comedies are understandable for Hollywood to purposefully dumb down, but in most other cases, Hollywood should start using thought and a sense of originality to come up with some more interesting movies (I, for one, can’t deal with another “A team”-like movie with no plot and annoying action).

If Hollywood stopped making inane movies, I think that the American viewing population could stop being lazy (at least during movies) and appreciate more movies that really make us think. yisha wang | artist

Jersey Shore attracts viewers with “Halo: Reach”arrives as final crazy parties, outrageous behavior installment of beloved series Tessa Lance Staff Writer

Guys, hit the gym, do your laundry and spray on your tans. Girls, poof your poofs, line your eyes and stuff your bras. The new season of Jersey Shore has arrived.

The hit reality tv show first aired in 2009 and stormed the nation. The self proclaimed “Guidos” and “Guidettes” drink all day and party all night.

They tear up the shore with trademark dance moves and ridiculously hot

tempers. With names like Snookie and Jwow, such behavior is to be expected.

For season two, the cast fist-pumped their way down to Miami Beach.

They continued to get kicked out of clubs and bars. Plus, the twisted relationships and out of control hookups kept viewers on the edges of their chairs.

While there is no debating whether the show is entertaining, people have differing opinions about its effect on society.

“I don’t even watch MTV but I

Photo provided by Nymag.com

The cast of “Jersey Shore” parties it up like usual, catch this show Thursday nights at 10 p.m. on Music Television Network.

can tell that Jersey Shore is fake and manipulated by producers to make as much drama as possible,” junior Brent Nelson said. “I think Jersey Shore is a stupid show and a bad influence on everybody.”

Others think it is just wrong.

“Jersey Shore is a perfect example of the decline of American society,” junior David Brewster said. “It proves the lack of integrity and intelligence in a society obsessed with mindless, glamorized entertainment. It shows both the fun, carefree aspects of the “party life” as well as the dark, dirty, disgusting side.”

Every show has their haters and this is no exception, but there are also some obsessive fans. “[There is] so much addicting drama, you just can’t turn away,” freshman Hillary Phan said. For others, the show is more than just an hour of laughs.

“No matter how bad my week is going, Jersey Shore always brightens up my Thursday night,” junior Melissa Vanda said.

“Remember where it all began.” This tagline, featured in TV spots, trailers, and shirts, is the premise of the newly released video game “Halo: Reach.”

Having launched on September 14, Reach is renowned developer Bungie’s last game in the series, and fans of the series had high hopes for the game.

“I feel like this will be an awesome game [for Bungie] to finish off the franchise,” junior Bryce Keefer said. “I’ve played the entire series so far, and they have all been great games.”

As the tagline might suggest, Reach is not a continuation of the original Halo trilogy, but rather serves as a prequel to those three games.

The ending to the story may already be well-known, but excited gamers like Keefer

A

F

REVIEWS

Blake Eaton Staff Writer

are happy with the decision.

“I’m glad they’re finishing with the fall of Reach,” he said. “As Bungie has said, you don’t completely know a story until you know the beginning.”

While the story is definitely an exciting part of the game, the thing that has kept gamers returning to Halo time and time again is the tried and true mechanics of the game.

According to junior Gina Musto, the way the game plays has largely remained the same, although some welcome additions are making their way into the multiplayer component.

“I’m excited about being able to sprint [like in Modern Warfare],” she said.

Other additions include new game modes, added armor abilities that aid the player during combat, and the ability to select different “loadouts” of weapons and powers.

Some people, like junior Alex Olberding, have already tried out the game and are extremely happy with the direction the series has taken.

“The game has good graphics and a nice story concept, but what’s really amazing is the new forge [a game mode in which players can create their own levels and game modes],” he said.

Microsoft is putting a large amount of its advertising muscle behind the new game.

The week of its launch was even dubbed “Invasion Week” on Xbox Live. Gamers got a chance to download new themes for their profiles, play with the makers of the game, and gain access to exclusive in-game content.

For Olberding, Invasion Week still didn’t come soon enough.

“When I first played it I was a little skeptical, but overall the game has blown me away,” he said.

C

A

Name: The Last Excorcism Rating: R Genre: Horror

Name: Zpizza Location: Carmel Mountain Road Style: Pizza

Name: MTV Video Music Awards Rating: TV-14 Genre: Awards Show

Channel: Wong Fu Productions Website: WongFuProductions.com Genre: Comedy

Cordell Hunter Staff Writer

Marissa Morey STAFF WRITER

Abby mansour News editor

David Pu Staff Writer

The Last Exorcism chronicles the story of a fraudulent pastor who decides to film a documentary of his final exorcism and expose his deception.

Unexpectedly, he arrives at the house to perform the act, and the demon turns out to be real.

While the plot did have some potential, it was unoriginal, and the only nightmares I will be having will be from how bad the ending was.

While disturbing, it was far from scary, which is generally why horror movies exist: to scare people. Getting anything less than that makes you feel like you’ve wasted your time and money.

Movies like “The Last Exorcism” make me nervous for the future of the horror genre.

It’s been a long time since I saw a genuinely scary film, and if this current trend of shaky camera, plot holed gore fests continues, I don’t think we will ever see one again.

The only positive thing I can think of about “The Last Exorcism” is that it gave jobs to lesser-known actors trying to make it in the business. At least my money wasn’t completely wasted.

Healthy pizza. To many high school students, it sounds questionable, unappetizing, and bizarre. Rethink everything.

Zpizza’s success of 24 years proves just how delicious healthy pizza can taste. It even has half as much fat as its competitors, The combinations are endless with the menu, consisting of a vast variety of crusts, sauces, and toppings. There is even a vegan option filled with enticing flavors.

Customers’ favorites include the Napoli pizza. Its delectable crust is coated with roasted garlic sauce. Ripe tomatoes and fresh basil compliment the scrumptious cheese.

After one bite, it’s easy to forget the pools of grease typically associated with pizza.

Smiling and helpful, the employees add to the relaxed atmosphere. The owner, Bill Alexander, and store manager, R.J. Taylor, bring personality to the pizza diner and strive for people to have the best experience.

Eating healthy is easy when pizza is this memorable. Deals attract some, while others buy the gluten-free crust so a percent of proceeds will go towards autism research.

Aside from the pizza, there are subs, pastas, salads, and calzones, all of which, are delcious. Zpizza doesn’t compromise taste for healthiness; neither should you.

What do you get when you take a fifteen year-old who has fallen in love multiple times, a pop princess with red hair, a superstar clad more often in meat and glitter than a t-shirt, and the world’s classiest artist, Ke$ha, in one room? No, not a felony, but the 2010 Video Music Awards (aka the VMA’s).

The VMA’s were broadcasted from LA’s Nokia Theater and were hosted by the unfiltered, uncensored Chelsea Handler, whose crude humor started as entertaining, but gradually became simply annoying.

The show began with Eminem singing “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie feat.

Rihanna”. Although I was a little distracted by the drummers, who hilariously resembled monks, the show proved to be entertaining.

The coveted award of Best Video was awarded to Lady Gaga (who won two other VMA’s) for her video “Bad Romance”. Justin Beiber was awarded as the Best New Artist.

Taylor Swift performed a new song “Still An Innocent”, which was awkwardly directed towards Kanye West. Highlights of the show included Usher’s performance, where he sang “OMG” and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love”. Not only was he one of the only artists to sound just as good live, but both his light show and dance routine were amazingly entertaining.

What started out as just a few videos made by three college kids, their dorm mates, and their friends has sparked into a huge independent production company that generates thousands of hits from online viewers daily.

Wong Fu Productions has been making videos since 2003 and has attracted millions of viewers worldwide. With their videos that appeal to people of all ages, Phillip Wang, Ted Fu, and Wesley Chan always seem to perform at their best, making them fun to watch. Their names are now familiar among many Youtube and internet users, and they continue to expand as a production company each day.

Even though Wong Fu has multiple videos posted constantly, they aren’t short of quality. Wong Fu’s videos consist of music videos, rants, recaps of their tours, comedy shorts, and dramas that are usually about relationships which always seem to make a person laugh with their unique fresh ideas.

Besides making video blogs, Wong Fu also works to promote Asian Culture with concerts, such as their yearly ISA concert.

Philip, Ted, and Wesley never fall short of expectations and are always able to entertain people with their quirky humor.

Entertainment

Mt. Carmel SUN

B5

September 17, 2010

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY GOOGLE

Fall TV Preview ANGELA KIM STAFF WRITER Most people nowadays might say the typical “hot girl spy” story is banal and overused.

But premiering this fall, “Nikita,” featuring Maggie Q, breathes life into the typical “hot spy chick” formula with elements like revenge, the psychology of being an assassin, and, well, geeks.

The story begins with Nikita, a disturbed teen awaiting death row but is miraculously “saved” by a top secret U.S. organization called “Division.” Division fakes her execution and takes her under its wing—only to train her as a ruthless assassin. Despite grueling training that is supposed to create people into cold, hard

FOX Wednesdays, 8pm

killers, Nikita retains some softness and becomes engaged to a civilian.

And because no story is a story without revenge, Division kills her fiancé , so Nikita decides to hunt down Division.

Of course, she does this in style and sultriness, with dangerous nemeses like Percy (Xander Berkeley) and Amanda (Melinda Clarke) and nerdy allies Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford).

The spy/assassin story debuted on Sept. 9 on the CW, so stay tuned with the story!

JACOB SNYDER ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR J.J. Abrams has created a new show. Yes die-hard Lost fans, you’re not crazy. You did read that correctly. The master of mystery is bringing a new show to televisions this year. But surprisingly, it’s nowhere near the mystery genre.

The show in question is titled “Undercovers.”

The storyline revolves around Stephen (Boris Kodjoe) and Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) Bloom,

BLAKE EATON STAFF WRITER Conspiracy theories sell. Whether it’s in a book like The Da Vinci Code or a TV series like “Prison Break,” the idea of a secret plot draws readers and viewers in. At least that’s what the creators of NBC’s new series, “The Event” seem to be hoping.

Starring Jason Ritter as “quintessential boy next door” Sean Walker, “The Event” is a conspiracy thriller about a mysterious event and “the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.”

Beyond that, NBC has released little information beyond the names of the cast members and minimal character profiles for the roles they perform. Many phrases

MTV Mondays, 10pm

Andrew Jenks is an inspiring filmmaker that is on a mission to test the world.

In his new MTV reality show “World of Jenks,” Andrew takes strangers, music icons and more, and makes their realities his.

Telling true stories from a homeless girl to a rap superstar, Jenks proves that this is not your ordinary reality show. He shows people with raw emotion that aren’t

ABBY MANSOUR NEWS EDITOR Michael Scott: “What is the most inspiring thing I ever said to you?”

Dwight Shrute: ‘Don’t be an idiot.’

Changed my life.

It is this type of banter between Michael Scott( Steve Carrell) and Dwight Shrute(Raiin Wilson) on NBC’s “The Office” that will be missed when the hit comedy loses leading man Steve Carrell, who will be leaving the show when his contract expires at the end of this season.

The frantic search for a replacement frontman is in full effect. Rumored to fill these enormous shoes are Danny McBride and Rhys Darby.

two former CIA operatives who fell in love and left the agency to have a “normal and quiet” life as caterers. Little did they know, they would be thrust back into the world of espionage once again. When a former associate goes missing, they are quickly reactivated into the agency.

When they realize how normal and boring their days have become, they yearn for the sheer thrill and excitement of their former lives, and agree to take on one more assignment.

As they are globe-trotting around the continents, the two begin to learn more about each other than they thought they would, and end up falling in love all over again.

With J.J. Abrams involved, “Undercovers” is a definite must-watch.

are blacked out on the profiles, which are made to look like top secret government forms.

All of this ambiguity is just what the marketers for the show are shooting for. Trailers show a presidential assassination plot and a CIA cover-up, but go on to say that none of these things are “The Event.”

Those who can’t wait to uncover the mystery of the “The Event” won’t have to wait long. The show begins its run as part of NBC’s fall lineup on September 20.

KELSEY ELLIOTT STAFF WRITER

The CW Thursdays, 9pm

NBC Mondays, 9pm

afraid to show it.

Familiar people will be followed

by Jenks, including Versaemerge, and Maino.

Jenks isn’t afraid to risk his life in order to show what it’s like to live in these peoples life. His bravery is what will make you want to continue watching the whole season.

This fall, begin the journey of a life time with Andrew as he opens the eyes of viewers to the real world. You may find yourself relating to the people he follows throughout the documentary “World of Jenks” premiered on September 12.

For more information go to mtv.com, or facebook.com/worldofjenks. Don’t miss out on the journey.

FOX Mondays, 8pm

NBC has confirmed that the show will be continuing without Carrell one way or another.

Although the show’s future is clouded with uncertainty, one thing seems inevitable: “The Office” will simply not be the same without the offensive, boisterous Michael Scott.

Last we saw of the Dunder Mifflin-ites (now working under the company Sabre), the mystery of what employee went to the press concerning faulty printers was in full throttle.

SHAYON SAID FEATURES EDITOR Rude. Offensive. Lawbreaking. Intrusive. Lifesaving. The five words that sum the character of the greatest doctor television has ever witnessed, House.

Though his attitude towards his patients and coworkers remains unchanged, meaning he’s still the ass he always was, House (Hugh Laurie) returns to Fox this September for his seventh season on “House M.D.”

MARISSA MOREY STAFF WRITER Ending season one on a high note, Glee is back with its second season, premiering Tuesday, September 21. The musical comedy-drama has something for every viewer, whether it is the music, a heartwarming storyline, or humor.

Although a few scenes in the show have a tacky script, they are outweighed by the phenomenal musical performances.

For some of the actors, Glee was a breakthrough role. It brought in nineteen Emmy nominations for its first season.

The success of Glee is built on the idea of high school stereotypes including geeks, cheerleaders, and jocks coming together in Glee club to pursue a common

NBC Thursdays, 8pm

The new season revolves around multiple new cases that House and crew face once again; however, House’s crew deals with an even brasher boss as House starts out the new season completely missing.

Tensions will also rise as the lovehate relationship between Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and House is settled by their growing relationship with one another.

As Dr. Cuddy’s attitude rises during the series, House attempts to fight his drug problems and save lives at the same time. Of course, House’s expertise should still prevail in saving lives.

The first episode of the new season is set to be aired on September 20 Definite watch.

dream. Guided by an inspiring teacher, the Glee members challenge themselves to bring hype back to the club.

It’s never too late to begin watching Glee, as each episode begins with a short brief of previous events.

As for those who have come to love the series, the preview for the upcoming season builds anticipation with a cover of “Empire State of Mind.”

Any true Gleek would agree that season one was near perfect and will expect Glee’s second season to amp up the fun.

ZACHARY JENSEN STAFF WRITER Returning in its second season, NBC’s comedy “Community” follows a group of misfits and their study group as they attend Greendale Community College.

With seven very diverse characters making up the study group, “Community” gives everyone a character they can relate with.

From the nerdy Abed, Jeff who had his law degree revoked, and Shirley the divorced mother of two,

NBC Thursdays, 9pm

FOX Tuesdays, 8pm

each member of the study group varies in age and lifestyle. These differences come together for a great comedy, as they argue, bicker, and try to relate to one another.

The great cast is comprised of many well-known actors, many of who have played major comedy roles before. Cast members include Chevy Chase of “Chuck,” Donald Grover of “30 Rock,” and at the center, Joel McHale, a comedian who hosts “The Soup.”

Fans of “The Office” will love “Community,” which both share the same type of comedy.

“Community” will premiere September 23, and will definitely leave you laughing.

B6

Features

Club

September 17, 2010

Cruisin’

Mt. Carmel SUN

A catalog featuring a small selection of the many clubs for students to join. *

Key Club

Agape Club

DAVID PU STAFF WRITER Leadership, community, service hours, the satisfaction of helping others while helping yourself, this is what Key Club is all about.

“It’s great because students help others and help our community in a positive way,” President of Key Club, senior Laura Li said.

Meetings are every Wednesday

in the gym during lunch, and the club is all run by students. The goal of Key club is not only to offer the opportunity to get community service hours, but to teach the concept of leadership, too. It is the biggest club in the whole school, so not only will you being meeting new people within the club but outside of it too.

“It’s the biggest club and you meet great people and make new friends,” Li said.

ALEXA MAUZY-LEWIS STAFF WRITER “Agape is a word that means unconditional love”, says member Cristopher Groutte. “It is a club where students can praise God and talk about Christianity”.

The members sing worship songs and participate in bible studies and discuss the teachings of Jesus. Agape uses monthly themes to celebrate Christianity. For example, this month’s theme is “avoiding

Speech & Debate

Badminton Club

DAVID PU STAFF WRITER Badminton offers a fun and easy way to get active during lunch.

“We provide a good environment to learn and play badminton,” President of Badminton Club, senior Shayon Said said.

As an easy sport to pick up, anyone is able to play. All you need is a racket and a birdie, which are both offered by the school. If you don’t know how to

temptation”.

Memebers will sometime also have their own preachers or Church Youth group leaders come in and discuss what these themes mean and how to honor them.

“Agape also tries to reach out and help our community”, said Scott Currie, who runs the club in his room. “We do things like feed the homeless, or pick up trash around the school.” If you’re looking for an enriching way to practice Christianity, Agape club meets every Thursday in Mr. Currie’s room, K6.

play badminton, then think of it like a lighter version of tennis. However, unlike in tennis, the birdie can’t touch the ground.

With people of all different skill levels, one can always find someone as good as themselves to play.

The club meets every week in the gym on Monday during lunch, and this year there will be some competition for those who want it.

“This year, we get to play against other schools such as Westview so it’s like playing an actual sport,” Said said.

Anthology Club

VANDANA BHAIRI OPINIONS EDITOR Everyone has an opinion, so why not voice it?

The Speech and Debate team is perfect for anyone who is looking to better their public speaking skills or just anyone who loves to argue.

“We’re a club that provides the perfect place for students to voice their opinions, argue with one another, and in the process build up public speaking skills,” says senior Shayon Said, the president of the club.

The club participates in numerous debate tournaments all

over the county throughout the year as well as a mock trial competition which is perfect for anyone who is interested in a career in law.

Said also adds that his favorite part isn’t competing at the tournaments, but rather debating amongst the team.

“I like the arguments that we get into with our actual team about different issues,” Said said.

“It’s fun trying to prove who’s right and who’s smarter and beat one of your teammates in the argument.”

The first meeting of the Speech and Debate club is on Sept. 24 after school in U8.

Jewish Club

ALEXA MAUZY-LEWIS STAFF WRITER

EMMA GLASSMAN-HUGHES STAFF WRITER MC is known as a fairly diverse high school, as high schools go. This creates an environment that incorporates many flavors of life, and there are many opportunities to learn about them.

For example, a new club known as JTSG, or Jewish Teenage Social Group, is starting this trimester and has goals of bringing a taste of Jewish culture to the MC campus.

“I decided to start this club because I want to spread awareness of Jewish heritage to Jewish and non-Jewish teens,” club president Talia Herring said.

In addition, the hopes for this club include spending time with other Jewish clubs in other PUSD schools, celebrating Jewish traditions and holidays, and to bring Jewish teens together and create friendships.

JTSG had their first meeting on Sept. 16 in Mr. Raskin’s room at lunch. This club is not only for kids of Jewish descent, rather it’s open to anyone who may want to dip their feet into Jewish culture.

*Due to the large number of clubs at MC, it was not possible to represent all clubs on campus. The SUN will attempt to feature as many other clubs as possible in future Club Corners. (See page B7.)

The anthology club is a way for MC students to showcase their creative work and looks great on a college application.

Anthology is a student run publication of writings that will be published and sold at the end of the year.

“Its fun and new people should definitely join”, said Co-President Tori Tighe.

“It’s a gives you a chance to publish your creative work.”

Anyone can join, but you do not need to be on the staff to submit your work.

Just turn in a hard copy of your piece to Ms. Shimmer in F6 and also email a copy to the MC anthology email, mcanthology@ gmail.com.

Anthology meets Mondays and Thursdays in Shimmer’s room, F6.

Oceanography Club

ALISON ASHWORTH BUSINESS MANAGER The Mt. Carmel Oceanography Club, run

by Marine Science and AP Environmental Science teacher Harold Dorr, has been in existence for 27 years. The club members, who all share a love for the ocean, enjoy hands-on, real world experiences. “[Oceanography Club] makes real world connections between Marine Science and APES classes and the ocean around us,” Dorr said. “Activities in this club directly reinforce the academic information that students learn in the classroom, and make that information come to life.”

Club President Gina Ingoglia feels that the club is educational and fun at the same time.

“My favorite part of Oceanography Club is the fun that comes with learning about the ocean and helping other kids get involved with activities involving the ocean as well,” Ingoglia said.

This club has a lot to offer students at MC, but it does have a prerequisite to join.

To join, you must be currently enrolled in either Marine Science or AP Environmental Science, or have already successfully completed either class.

The Oceanography Club meets every Wednesday in L3.

National Honor Society EMMA GLASSMAN-HUGHES STAFF WRITER As the name suggests, being a part of the National Honor Society Club is thought of as a privilege. In fact, in order to be a member of the club, one must have a weighted GPA of a 4.0, show leadership, partake in

community service, and have two academic recommendations.

Being a member of this club almost guarantees you access to a nice, cushy fouryear college, which is definitely a draw for a lot of students.

The president of the National Honor Society Club, Tracey Huynh, believes that this club represents the elite students of the

campus.

“This club is very prestigious, and it contains the school’s academic leaders,” Huynh said. “We promote good character and we also tutor other students that need help.

Our club is nationally recognized, as well.”

The meetings are only held about three times per trimester, and the first meeting was on Sept. 10.

Features

B7 Tragic car crash unifies community Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

Lauren Hall Staff Writer

photo Courtesy of HAley NOrdin

Students and other community members gathered at Swami’s beach in Encinitas on August 10 and completed a memorial run in honor and celebration of the recent victims of a tragic car accident, Cathedral Catholic High School alumnis Amanda Post and Natalie Nield.

As she sprinted around the final curve for a second time, the gym, filled with people whose lives she’d touched, stood in applause.

On August 13, hundreds of people gathered in the Cathedral Catholic High School gym to celebrate alumna Amanda Post’s life. Post’s CIF winning race was shown at her Memorial Mass as a tribute to her.

A similar mass was held the night before for Cathedral Catholic High School alumna Natalie Nield.

Both were members of the cross country and track team at Cathedral Catholic.

Post and Nield were killed on August 9th when their SUV hit a van on Highway 395 and swerved out of control, hit by another car. Two other alumnus, Derek Thomas and Drew Delis, were badly burned and hospitalized.

“I heard the news from my teammates right after I woke up the morning after their accident,” MC senior Nicole Garcia said. “It was so shocking to me because I had just seen them race during track season, and the fact that they were gone just made me speechless.”

Shortly after the accident, the community reached out to help those who were affected by this tragedy.

“The day after the accident, there was a memorial run in honor of Natalie and Amanda at Swami’s in Encinitas,” teammate Tom Valente said. “On October 23 at Lake Murray, there is a 5k run being organized to benefit their foundations and Derek Thomas’s Re-

covery Fund.”

Also considering the feeling of losing a teammate, the MC cross country team got involved to make sure their fellow runners felt their support.

“We attended a beach run for the girls and both their memorial services, made and signed a card for their team, and continue to help in any ways we can,” Garcia said. “We made sure we got involved in helping them cope with their loss because losing a teammate is like losing a family member.”

These two athletes had reached out and touched the running community by their positive attitudes and commitment to their team.

“Their hardworking personalities and their drive for the sport of running left a positive benchmark for the cross country team to be like them on the track and in the classroom,” Cathedral Catholic senior Hailey Nordin said. “The team has attended grief counseling in order to cope with the loss and overcome emotional challenges. Being there for each other in times of need has only made us an even tighter family.”

The girls were known for their closeness and fun personalities and also for their high goals in running. It was said by Post’s father that “it [running] is what she was put on this Earth to do.”

According to close friends, both Post and Nield had done so much with their lives.

“This tragedy has taken a huge toll on our cross country community as well as the school community,” Nordin said. “However, at the same time this brought us closer together, and allowed us to live each day to the fullest, as Natalie and Amanda did!”

Tping provides adrenaline rush, criminal record Tessa Lance Staff Writer The streets are quiet, houses are dark, and the only thing heard is the footsteps of mischievous teens. Sophomores Matt McEachern and Eric Sindel scamper to their friend’s house and begin their pranks.

McEachern and Sindel, also known as the TP twins, are among the many students who partake in toilet papering people’s houses.

This classic prank is used to get friends, enemies, or a team building experience.

Most enjoy tping because of the exhilarating feeling and adrenaline rush it brings.

“Tping is a really fun thing to do,”

McEachern said. “It’s fun to take pride in it so that the person you’re tping has to clean up for a while.”

All participants in tping agree that doing it is way more fun than cleaning it up.

“Tping is classic,” junior Cole Dragon said. “It’s definitely a lot more fun doing it to someone, than having it done to you.”

While covering someone’s house in a blanket of toilet paper sounds like all fun and games, there are some consequences.

“The first consequence you will definitly get is a curfew violation,” Officer Susan Steffan said. “It definitely will affect your school, and if you’re involved with special clubs that require you not to get in trouble, it will affect those as well.

Also, if you are a provisional driver and you are driving after dark, after curfew, or with people, that will be handed over to the DMV, and your driver’s license will be suspended.”

School and driving consequences aren’t the only ones you may receive.

Getting caught tping may break your bank.

“Its good for revenge,”junior Thomas Haden said. “When you’re in the car about to tp, you get butterflies in your chest, but when your actually doing the job, its all buisness and theres no messing around.”

Steffen also said if the toilet paper gets stuck in palm trees or something at the victim’s house and they have to pay for someone to remove it, the pranksters will have to pay for that.

Amy cheu | artist

Students take advantage of summer, accumulate community service hours Cassidy Sargent staff writer Some people spend their summers working; others spend it relaxing and going to the beach. But unlike most people, sophomore Kylie Vari loves to spend her summers volunteering with her friends at her church.

To Vari, the heat and exhaustion while she is working is a reason to feel better about what she’s doing for her community.

“I love volunteering. It makes me so happy, and I feel like I’m doing my part in the community,” Vari said. Vari started volunteering with her church when she was in fifth grade.

“I go to Maranatha Chapel with my family, and every summer I volunteer for my church,” Vari said. Every summer Maranatha Chapel has a lot of volunteering events. The events will vary from a kids summer Vaca-

tion Bible School (VBS) to cleaning up the local beaches.

The VBS is a volunteering event where teenagers give up their summer days to watch over the younger kids that go to Maranatha Chapel while their parents are working during the summer.

“Working VBS is not all work. It is a lot of fun, and the groups play a lot of games,” Vari said. Most of the events with littler kids involve games that relate to the bible teach-

ings. Their goal through all the volunteering is to gain a better understanding of the bible.

Another event to educate kids about the bible is the AWANA program. AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, which comes from 2 Timothy 2:15. The AWANA group volunteers with younger kids, watching them and helping them understand bible teachings.

“In the past, I have gone on beach clean-

ups and hikes and a lot of other things, but my favorite has to be the AWANA program,” Vari said. All of the programs do good for the community, but to Vari, the AWANA is the most entertaining.

Vari, as a result of what her church does every summer, feels the need to keep up with her volunteer work and is excited to get all her community service hours in.

It is very unique to find someone who will give up their summer days to volunteer.

Club Corner Featuring...

S.A.D.D.

ABBY Mansour news editor

Jennifer Farrell | photo editor

Club president Betty Leung (12) conducts the first Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) meeting on September 13. She hopes to prevent regretful situations for fellow high school students during these vulnerable years. The club’s official mission is to “provide students with the best prevention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving and other destructive decisions.” The club meets in Profe Cashion’s room, V8, every Monday at lunch.

Last May, a totaled car was displayed on the front lawn of MC’s campus.

The condition of the car was tragic, but not nearly as heart breaking as the story behind it. The car had belonged to a teenager who chose to drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

MC’s SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) club arranged for the car to be showcased as a reminder before Prom to students to not make the same fatal mistakes as these unfortunate teenagers.

The SADD club’s official mission is to “provide students with the best prevention tools possible

to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving and other destructive decisions.”

Senior Betty Leung, club president, says personal experience has driven her to become involved in this club.

“SADD’s main goal is to prevent students from dr inking underage and driving under the influence,” Leung said. “I have had close friends tell me they have gotten drunk and regretted it. Hearing about this has made me extremely sad. Through this club, I hope to prevent regretful situations, such as those of my friends, from happening to others.”

Even this early, the club is already making plans and goals for the course of the year.

“I plan to influence students on this campus to make safe choices,” Leung said. “Especially during prom season, I hope to raise awareness of the consequences of drinking and driving. Also, I hope to plan an activity to discourage drug use because I have heard some classmates talking about drugs.”

The club highlights the importance of having peer support available to them.

“People’s high school years are perhaps the most vulnerable years of their lives,” Leung said.

“SADD gives young people the strength they need to live healthily by educating, informing, and supporting.”

The SADD club meets Mondays at lunch in Profe Cashion’s room, V8.

A8

Opinions

Mt. Carmel SUN

September 17, 2010

on a scale of 1 to 10...

We’re an ‘11

College Bound

The In-Between

The SUN explores the three types of senior class of 2011.

Senioritis Stricken

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRITTANY SMITH | PHOTO EDITOR

MICHAEL CLOGSTON STAFF WRITER Harvard. Yale. Princeton.

Berkeley. All of these colleges have one thing in common: they all require students to work their butts off throughout high school.

Colleges make it a requirement for a student to have brains, ambition, hard work, self-motivation, and self-awareness.

Lack of any one of those attributes could spell disaster for the college-aspiring student.

To the average student, senior year should be a pretty easy year, full of classes that are not too challenging, except for an occasional AP class. However, this is not the case for the collegebound student, or overachiever, who may, and most likely will, fill up their entire senior year with AP classes.

Quite a few people at MC are very hard-working students, who actually enjoy the taking on the challenges and learning new things, like senior Nina Zhu. “I learn a lot in school, even things I won’t need, but it’s good for a foundation,” Zhu said. “I also enjoy the challenge that comes with taking AP classes, since it pushes me to work harder and get smarter. I’ve always picked the hardest classes possible. But to me, they are rewarding me with the knowledge that I can gain from them.”

Most students that are college-bound may also commit to hours of community service, but no matter what, school is the most important priority.

“I am currently volunteer-

ing to teach students at Los Pen after school,” Zhu said. “I used to volunteer at the zoo, too, but the drive was too far, and I still needed time to do my homework, so I had to quit.”

Although college-bound students may seem like they have everything planned out, they still might not know where they want to go to college.

“I still don’t know where I want to go [to college], but I just want to go somewhere where I can experience new things and learn more.” Zhu said.

Now, does school have to be hard? Probably, since it prepares people for college. Most people think that school is difficult if not at least challenging and don’t question that. However, as tough as it may seem to some during times in high school, it can be rewarding to go to the college of one’s choice, knowing that they are going into the school prepared to succeed and ready for whatever task is assigned to them.

College-bound seniors are at the end of their childhoods, ready to step into the real world and to start making the hard decisions.

But a person is never too young to start thinking about their career, what they want to accomplish, and what they need to do to get there.

“You need to push yourself, but it is really rewarding in the end,” Zhu said.

A motivated, bright student has an enormous array of possible careers and professions to pursue, limited mostly by his or her personal interests, resulting in a potential lifetime in the end.

KELSEY ELLIOT STAFF WRITER SHAYON SAID FEATURES EDITOR In every senior class there are the common and UC application geniuses, and then there are the kids who don’t even know the difference.

The ultimate story is between the college bound student and the senioritis stricken student. Of course, the majority of seniors are at the in between, per se.

Almost all students strive to attend a four-year college or university; then again, almost all seniors don’t have the motivation their final year to get there.

The simplicity in the courses we take as seniors in comparison to the courses we take as juniors also contributes to the strong level of senioritis we have.

Senior Krizel de Leon explains the fact that her courses are a little easier than last year and how she feels idle in doing her work.

“I don’t really have to do anything senior year because I’m only taking two AP courses,” she said “I just feel lazier because school is easier for me.”

De Leon’s senioritis is increased by the precedent that she might already go to a community college after graduation, but she still carries many qualities of a student focused on attending a four year college.

The main reason college applications are difficult for many isn’t senioritis, but that many

don’t know how to complete them correctly.

“My initial plan is to go to a community college, but I’m trying really hard to get into a good four-year university or state college,” she said. “I guess you could say the fact that I don’t know what the heck I’m doing stops me from completing [college applications], but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go to a good school. I really want to get into a good college.”

Fear also drives some students to procrastinate on their college work. “I’m scared out of my mind about college apps because competition is getting so tough, and they make it so much harder to get into college that it seems impossible,” Senior Nichole Silva said.

Silva, like many other students at the ‘in between’ spot, will eventually overcome senioritis.

“I don’t really have any motivation to do my homework, and I’ll put if off for hours,” Silva said “Regardless, I still get it done. No doubt about it, I definitely want to go to college, and I don’t think senioritis will affect me in the end.

I mean, I might procrastinate and stuff, but when it comes down to it, I’ll definitely get all my stuff done.”

De Leon agrees that, ultimately, she too will get their apps done and conquer her senioritis.

“I think college apps are quite scary,” De Leon said “I’m afraid of the process of getting into college, but I know I’ll get it done.

After that, I’ll be fine.”

The hands on the clock seem to go by slower. After four years of sitting in a desk, seconds in a class room seem like hours. The bell rings loudly and tauntingly.

Backpacks feel like they have nothing in them. Dropping it all seems like the easiest thing to do.

All the lecturing, all the studying and all the work doesn’t matter anymore. Class becomes sleep time and homework becomes dog food. Welcome to your final year — senioritis year, that is.

Though it may seem all fun and games with senior breakfast, senior night, and prom, there is still work to be done! Some kids go the high ride taking all AP classes, while others choose to take classes that don’t need much effort. Yet somehow, no matter what class you are taking, senioritis creeps in at one point or another. You want to give up and not try, maybe even skip a few assignments. There are many cases of senioritis. Some have it mildly, while others severely.

What is senioritis? The answers are all the same: you just don’t care anymore. Senior Breanne Schoaff has accepted that she has senioritis.

“We have been here for four years, and we just get tired of school,” she says. “We basically just want to give up because we are so close!”

With the end of school approaching, most seniors have the same attitude as Schoaff.

The drive to do work has been taken away from them. So what

do these seniors do during class?

Nolan Polinski answers that.

“I do work very slowly,” Polinski says. “I just feel like there is no reason to even do work anymore.”

Seniors get senioritis at different times. Some get it right on the first day of school, while others get it when the work load starts. JC Buford shares his thoughts on when seniors get senioritis “Some kids have had senioritis since, like, fifth grade,” he said.

But what makes these kids just not want to do anything?

Most plan to go to a junior college or join the armed forces, but the main thing is that they just give up. Polinski shares his plans for after school.

“I don’t know what I am doing after school. I’m not going to college or junior college,” he said. “I will probably just join the marines.”

Senior Megan Feinberg explains her thoughts on senioritis.

“I think most seniors get it,” Feinberg said. “At one point throughout their senior year, they just kind of say ‘screw this!’ So far today, I have fallen asleep three times in class. I guess you can say I got senioritis going right into senior year.”

High school has been around for many years, but has senioritis? Feinberg says yes.

“It’s probably always been around,” she says. “I think the name, though, is a more modern.”

For some, senioritis may be no big deal. But don’t take it light heartily, it’s out to get you.