2016-2017 Issue 5 (December 16, 2016)

PANTHER

PROWLER Friday December 16, 2016 • Issue V • Newbury Park High School 456 N. Reino Rd., Newbury Park, CA 91320 • pantherprowler.org

Diversity in December

IN THIS ISSUE: 2 The Obamas

6

@npprowler Friendship

13 Strings Concert 16

Surfing

2 America says goodbye to the Obamas staff editorial

Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

As our president’s term comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on the many achievements the Obamas have accomplished for our nation.

1961: Barack Obama is born

1964: Michelle Obama is born

2008: Obama

2010: Michelle

becomes U.S President

starts “Let’s Move”

2015: Rejected Keystone Pipeline XL; Michelle starts “Let’s Girls Learn”

2014: Clean Power Plan

2009: Passed Stimulus 2004: Obama becomes U.S Senate

and expanded Hate Crimes Prevention Act

2011:

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is repealed

2016: Obama’s Presidency ends

“Yes, we can!”. These three words echoed through the minds of the American people just eight years ago. With them came hope, inspiration, the dream of a better life and the possibility for a better world. With the inauguration of our new president around the corner, millions of Americans are disheartened by the fact that the Obama’s will be leaving office.

Barack Obama will go down in history as one of the best presidents this country has ever seen-- his presidency was one of change, progress and innovation.

Born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama went on to a life of civil rights law, teaching, and community organizing.

In 2004, Obama ran for the US Senate, winning 70% of the votes in the general election. All of this lead up to the 2008 election that made Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States.

President Obama has accomplished much in his time in the White House. He has made reforms in everything from environmental issues to health care to foreign affairs. He is one of the few presidents to serve in the white house without any scandals. Through his assistance, foreign powers, such as South Sudan and Egypt, were aided.

In the area of social justice, President Obama lead to greater equality for millions of Americans. By repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 2011 and eliminating Catch-22 in equal pay laws in 2009, he brought more truth to the philosophy of equality that the US prides itself on.

Under his presidency, the economy turned around for the better. After passing the Stimulus in 2009, 3.2 million jobs were created in the private sector. Although President Elect Donald Trump has said that “our real unemployment is anywhere

from 18 to 20%,” there is no evidence to back this up. Since Obama was sworn in, it has actually decreased from 7.6% to 5% throughout his presidency.

By expanding protection from hate crimes in the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, he protected more people who were attacked based on gender, race, sexual orientation or disabilities.

President Obama also stopped the dangerous moon launches with outdated equipment and instead supported private sector near earth launches and rocket research in 2011. Doing this, he cut out a billion dollar cost for a dangerous program, and funded a mission to Mars to search for life.

Although people have criticised President Obama for some of his reforms, he made great strides toward a greener and more peaceful world.

During his presidency, he ended the war in Iraq, started pulling troops out of Afghanistan, eliminated Osama bin laden and simultaneously recovered many Al-Qaeda papers, and nullified Bush-era legislation to allow torture for prisoners.

To look out for the future of our planet, Obama’s decisions reflected the health of our environment. In 2015, Obama rejected Keystone XL pipeline which would potentially devastate the surrounding areas. He also proposed the final version of the Clean Power Plan with the goal of reducing carbon emissions in 2014.

During the time between the election and the inauguration of the new President Elect, most presidents settle back-- but not Obama. Obama’s “lame duck period” is anything but; he is still actively working to help our country. Meeting with foreign leaders and taking stances on issues like the Dakota Access

Pipeline are just in a day’s work for our POTUS. While the President was hard at work, our First Lady Michelle Obama was also making great strides in helping the youth.

Michelle Obama was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois. Her brains and kind heart were already apparent.

Following Harvard Law School, she helped low-income people with housing problems while she worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. She is only the third First Lady to earn an advanced college degree.

Since launching “Let’s Move” in 2010 in order to address childhood obesity, Michelle Obama has been active in forwarding her work in helping children lead healthy lives and supporting military families.

In 2011, Michelle Obama launched “Joining Forces” to unite the people around veterans and service members. In her “Reach Higher” program from 2014, she inspired people to pursue higher education. “Let Girls Learn,” a 2015 program, encouraged young girls to obtain and remain involved in education.

Michelle Obama has worked through her life and career to be first a successful mother to her two daughters, and then a lawyer, public servant, and finally First Lady.

The Obama’s have played a key role in making our country a better place for all, in and out of the White House. President Obama brought passion to politics; First Lady Michelle Obama brought unity, kindness and healthy living. Their goals and aspirations took root and we are forever grateful. President Obama was never more right than when he said “Yes we can!”.

table of contents.

2 Editorial: The Obamas 3 Election Recount 4 10 Cent Bags 5 School Board Meeting 6 The Rules of Friendship

7 Christmas Adopts Materialism 8-9 DPS: Religious Holidays 10 Teacher Parents 11 Student vs. Teacher

12 13 14 15 16

Music Review Strings Concert Winter Dance Concert Sports Column Surfing

news Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

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‘Tis the season to raise money for baseball Bella Robakowski Copy Editor Every sports team knows the difficulty of raising money to support their team throughout the year. The baseball team has taken a very unique approach to their fundraising in the form of a Christmas tree lot that is hosted by the team annually.

Shortstop Shay Whitcomb, senior, has worked the tree lot since his sophomore year at Newbury Park High School. “Every year the baseball team hosts this fundraiser,” said shortstop Shay Whitcomb, senior. “It takes place over by the Alamo Parking lot. Anyone can come and buy the trees and support the baseball team.”

The tree lot has a wide variety of trees and raises approximately $30,000 and covers a large portion of the team’s expenses. “...we get three shipments of 500 trees ranging from 4-feet all the way to 14-feet. The money goes towards jerseys, getting our outfield redone, getting new screens, and new baseballs things of that sort,” Whitcomb said.

According to Wendy Kennedy, NPHS Baseball Boosters Vice President, buying from the baseball tree lot is more than just a buying a christmas tree. “Customers love the overall experience they get from our tree sales boys and they love that we deliver for a small fee,” said Kennedy, “The delivery boys even take the time to make sure the trees they deliver are set up perfectly.”

Rick Sagerman, JV Assistant Coach and campus supervisor, explains that the tree lot is also an experience for the boys to bond. “It builds up camaraderie in the program because it’s not just the varsity,” Sagerman said. “It’s the freshman and JV too and they all work together. It is definitely a team oriented function for us.”

Pitching Christmas trees- For the holiday season, the NPHS baseball team sells Christmas trees to help their program.Emily Nagamoto/Prowler

Minimum wage Presidential election increase is a recount does little for blessing and a results curse Angela Swartz Opinion Designer

Angela Swartz Opinion Designer If you are looking to apply for a job, wait to file your application until the new year.

Governor Jerry Brown plans to gradually increase the minimum wage in California over the next six years under Senate Bill 3.

By 2022, the minimum wage will reach $15 per hour. In the upcoming year, minimum wage will increase by 50 cents to be $10.50 per hour for businesses with 26 or more employees. This will be a higher increase than any previous wage increase in any state.

Although workers will be receiving a higher salary, the effects are not all positive though. With the increase in salary, a decrease of jobs will come as a result. Having to pay workers more means business owners will compensate by firing workers, raising prices of products, and investing more in technology. California’s minimum wage labor force is expected to decrease in size by one-fifth by 2022. These consequences have upset many business workers as a result.

But, Emily Flores, junior and assistant instructor at Z-ultimate Self Defense Studio, views the benefits of the wage increase to outweigh the drawbacks, as the new wage will properly compensate workers.

“Some may feel that the amount of work is not reflected through their (current) wage and it is not fair to overwork an employee,” Flores said.

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Contrary to popular belief, the presidential election is not over yet. Green Party candidate Jill Stein has raised over $6 million dollars for a vote recount in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania due to concern over the accuracy of the votes. This has come as a surprise to many as Stein only raised $2.5 million for her own campaign.

Although democrat nominee Hillary Clinton was expected to win all three states, Stein claims that she filed the recount not favoring Clinton but to make sure the Green Party’s votes were all accounted for.

While recounts are not uncommon in elections, they usually do not change the number of votes drastically. Stein has pushed forward the recount in fear of voter fraud and Russian interference.

Although several states have used electronic voting machines which have been proven to be easy to manipulate in order to change the results, it is unlikely that hacking would occur on such a large scale. There has also been speculation about the Russian government favoring Republican nominee and president-elect Donald Trump to win and therefore altering the results by cyberattacks. This has been confirmed by the CIA on Dec. 9, creating tensions between Trump and the government spy agencies. He has claimed any interference to be false.

Stein does not stand alone in wanting a recount.

Clinton declared her support for the recount on Nov. 31, and others have followed. Many citizens are enraged due to the fact that Clinton won the popular

vote by over two million votes but lost the electoral vote and the presidency. Some have even taken to social media to be heard with the trending hashtag #AuditTheVote.

On the other hand, Trump claims the recount is a ‘scam’ and Stein is using the funds for her own benefit. Trump has said he does not believe in a recount as “there was no voter fraud,” but at the same time he believes there is voter fraud when it would improve his margins.

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” Trump said on Twitter.

Currently, the recount in Wisconsin has finished on Dec. 9 with an extra 131 votes for Trump. In Pennsylvania and Michigan, Stein’s fight for a recount and inspection into potentially hacked voting machines has come to an end as the federal judge refused the request. In Nevada, independent candidate Roque De La Fuente raised $14,000 to request a partial recount for Las Vegas; there have been 15 more votes for Trump as a result. In Florida, three voters filed a lawsuit in Leon Circuit Court claiming Trump only won the state due to voter fraud.

But in the end, the results of the election have virtually remained the same, contrary to Stein’s and many citizen’s beliefs.

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news Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Shoppers plagued by 10 cent bags Maya Chari Staff Writer Daria Azizad Staff Writer The California Plastic Bag Veto Referendum was approved as a proposition in the recent election. Although the new instatement is more eco-friendly, some are concerned that it is not entirely human-friendly.

Instead of getting a single-use bag with groceries, customers have to either bring their own reusable bag or buy a paper or heavy plastic bag for 10 cents. Any plastic bags sold in stores now have to be designed for 125 uses rather than the previous single use norm.

The money for the bags goes back to the business, but with more expensive materials needed to manufacture the new bags, it is unclear whether this will help or hurt them in the long run.

In addition to affecting businesses, this law also affects shoppers; people no longer have the previous freedom of having countless bags at their disposal.

Camille Lish, sophomore, is against the new implementation. “I don’t think that we should have to pay for it,” she states, “this is not the direction we should be going”. Her concerns lay with the economic aspect of the bags, “My family, we buy a lot of food, so when we have to pay a lot for bags, it’ll add up to a lot of money,” she explains.

Lish believes that the environmental point of the bags is not withstanding. Instead, she thinks that we should be pushing recycling and donating to environmental foundations. “We can [help

College Board 101:What really 101: happens in college Kavita Rai Staff Writer

the environment] on our own time, instead of spending the money we were using on food,” she finishes.

On the other hand, Brooke Merrill, sophomore, has a different perspective on the bags. “It’s an inconvenience just because we’re not used to it,” she says, “once everyone is used to bringing their own bags or paying for it, it won’t be a big deal”.

“People won’t want to pay the ten cents every time, so people will start reusing bags,” Sam Church, sophomore, explains. “It’s a really good way to be more conscious about what they’re doing and how much plastic we’re using”.

For Veronica Seixas, sophomore, the environment is her main concern. “The new bags make business and people both more mindful of all the plastic they use,” she tells. “The businesses are profiting from the environmentally friendly bags, so it’s a really good idea to make the environment and businesses have the same goals”.

Although she agrees that the ten cent bag law will reduce the amount of plastic in landfills, Elizabeth Wilson, Sophomore, thinks that it may burden some lower-income families.

Robert Martin, IB Environmental Systems and Societies teacher, is completely for this new law. “When reusable bags began to get publicized, a lot of people thought that it was a great idea,” Martin explains, “but we always would forget to bring them”. He believes that the ten cents is “basically nothing, but it provides enough of an incentive to bring your own bags.” From an environmental perspective, the planned obsolescence of the bag “isn’t exactly ideal,” because of the “amount of energy and material for something with such a short lifespan”.

While the new implementation will help the environment, many still feel unsure, due to the fact that the luxury of not needing to remember to bring a reusable bag to the store is no longer feasible to the shoppers of California.

High School students have a vision of what college is, but wouldn’t it be nice to know what really happens in college?

NPHS will be hosting their 7th Annual College 101 Forum in the Performing Arts Center on January 5th, 2017, at 7 p.m. The goal of the event is to help students get a clearer picture of their future.

Many high school students, especially juniors and seniors, get stressed out when thinking about college.

To help alleviate this stress, a panel of recent NPHS alumni will talk about their experiences and give honest information about college life.

These panelists will be discussing what they wish they knew beforehand -academics, financial aid and social issues - to further prepare students for their college journey. College 101 gives students an opportunity to ask successful graduates what classes they should be taking now to get into their dream college.

Students can ask panelists about what college life really is, including such topics as living with a roommate, the safety on campus or even dealing with a transfer process.

High school students of all ages, including their parents, are welcome to come and listen. Having a student perception of college, rather than an administrators, provides a more open atmosphere of conversation. Ask questions that are not normally provided on school websites, and take this opportunity to get some mentorship and wisdom from past NPHS students.

Dictionary.com names Xenophobia “Word of the Year” Caitlin Henderson Chief Photographer “The presidential election” was a phrase anyone living in 2016 could not ignore.

Whatever the news outlet may be, and whatever political ideology people aligned themselves with, it was impossible to avoid its presence in the media.

Dictionary.com defines xenophobia as, “the fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.”

The website explained why they chose this word, saying, “news stories have centered around fear of the ‘other.’ Fear is an adaptive part of human evolutionary history and often influences behaviors and perceptions on a subconscious level.” Citing 2016’s rise in fear to “cultural discourse” and the online dictionary’s trending lookup data, Dictionary.com named xenophobia the word of the year.

Xenophobia is a word stemming from Greek, xenos meaning “stranger” and phobia meaning “fear.” The word saw surges in lookups starting in April 2015, spiked once more July 2016, along with the word “populism,” and once again on Nov. 9, the day after the US presidential election.

Dictionary.com described the word in terms of world events, referring to the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of the alt-right and “other ideologies that promote hate, especially

directed toward Muslims, Latinos, Jews, trans and queer communities, black America, and other nondominant groups.” Since Nov. 9, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate-based incidents have increased, mostly consisting of vandalism and verbal harassment, though few reported cases of physical harassment.

Despite the website mentioning world events surrounding xenophobia, it noted that “While our lookup data can tell us what Dictionary.com users are interested in, it doesn’t tell us the reason for the interest. Perhaps some of our users were unfamiliar with the word xenophobia, while others might have looked it up to double check the spelling or pronunciation. Maybe our users looked it up to affirm what they already knew about the meaning, or to share the definition with others.” However, the online dictionary asserts that the word does connect to politics and world issues.

“What we do know is that from global events to political rhetoric, xenophobia was a recurring subject of discourse in 2016,” Dictionary.com said. “Despite being chosen as the 2016 Word of the Year, ‘xenophobia’ is not to be celebrated. Rather it’s a word to reflect upon deeply in light of the events of the recent past.”

news Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

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Looking inside the school board: New member and new propositions

Rachna Deshpande Copy Editor Lindsay Filgas Entertainment Designer

Handing over the gavel-Board gavelmember, Mike Dunn, wins the vote for school board president on Dec.6. Emily Nagamoto/Prowler

“Let’s have a round of applause and welcome our newly elects,” Dr. Ann Bonitatibus, Superintendent, said.

Dr. Betsy Connolly, first elected in November 2008, and Sandee Everett, elected this November, were each sworn into their elected positions to the Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board of Education in a Swearing-In Ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 6, beside members Patricia Phelps, Mike Dunn, and John Andersen.

“I am looking forward to continuing to provide leadership that increases opportunities for student success and maintains

the District as a great place to teach, work and learn,” Connolly said.

Additionally, Everett was excited to follow the footsteps of experienced Connolly and to begin her journey as a CVUSD Board member.

“I look forward to building relationships of trust, of fulfilling the responsibilities which I know are very important to not only the District employees but to the community of the whole,” Everett said.

In reorganizing the elected positions for the upcoming year, the existing Board nominated members for positions for President, Vice President, and Clerk. The elected officials included: Dunn, president, Andersen, vice president, and Everett, clerk.

As Connolly and Everett were sworn in and the newly elected Board organized the future dates for the following school years, the Dec. 6 meeting also marked the end of Peggy Buckles’ term on the CVUSD Board of Education. She was “honored to have served for 8 years and (wishes) nothing but the best for our students.”

At the recent board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 13, the first action item proposed was the approval of replacement of board policy 6142.94 with the Fair Act, mandated by the state of California. This Act addresses history and social science instruction. Upon its announcement as a proposition, and a call for a motion, several long moments of silence ensued before Connolly voiced the movement.

The revision allows for the expansion of social science in the classroom, specifically incorporating civic values and

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national identity, addressing the significance of recent civil movements, including gay rights and women’s rights, and their place in history.

The community members who spoke on the amendment were overwhelmingly in support of adopting the curriculum changes. A member of the Thousand Oaks branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Bonnie Shubb, expressed her thoughts on why the amendment is necessary.

“The state of California Board of Education hand selected a 25 member committee to study and recommend the curriculum for the state … They were experts in the field,” Shubb said. “So from a purely intelligent and logical standpoint, I would like you to ponder why there is any consideration on your part not to adopt this curriculum as is.”

Lucia Lemieux, English teacher, also attended the school board meeting to voice her opinions on the amendment.

“Teaching our students about people with different challenges, backgrounds, and orientations opens their mind to the important fact that not everyone is like them,” she said.

After hearing from the public, Everett moved to postpone the vote until a future board meeting to give her time to further “understand the verbiage.” While Connolly questioned Everett’s motive for this motion, Dunn seconded the motion.

“I’m disappointed that we’re not prepared to vote yes for this policy as it was proposed,” voiced Connolly. “I’m concerned that the idea of deep research on every one of the board policies and every bit of the curriculum isn’t going to be sustainable.”

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opinion Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Caitlin Henderson/Prowler

The rules of friendship: a helpful guide for people without a moral compass Caitlin Henderson Chief Photographer Before we begin, I would like to make a disclaimer. I have the kindest, most supportive, beautiful friends that anyone could ever ask for, but now and then we think some people are really cool, only to find that they’d sell your soul to Satan for a donut from Rolling Pin. For all you soul-sellers, fear not, because I’ve created this handy guide to help you out of the emotionless, black hole of bad friendships that you curate.

This one also goes out to all the sexists and racists out there! If you’re afraid of people thinking you’re a jerk, it might be because you are a jerk, and I’m not talking about little things like “I forgot to say thank you” or accidentally bumping into someone and not saying sorry. If a friend repeatedly tells you that something is wrong, the initial reaction should not be “well that’s your problem,” it should be to help the friend. If you’re apathetic to every problem your friend comes to you with, it’s a warning sign that you are . I suggest you find a dictionary and look up the word “empathy.” It’s not in your vocabulary but it’s a good edition to have.

1. Ask your friends how they feel.

Now, I know this seems absurd for people who think they’re some type of all-powerful god, but other people do exist and feel, and you can use this to your advantage. Asking people how they feel not only allows you to relieve some of your selfish tendencies, but it expands your worldview. If someone is sad, you could somehow think about why they’re sad, and attempt to fix it because, news flash: you’re not the center of the universe, and if you want others to be nice to you, you only get what you give away.

4. Don’t ignore the

N

w

problem

E

2. If someone tells you that they are upset, they’re upset

s

I would like you to imagine that I am making pasta. I am very bad at cooking.

I start to boil the water, and instead of checking up on it, I go into another room and watch TV. When I come back, the water boils over the top and it’s a hot mess.

This, if your thick head hasn’t caught on by now, is a metaphor for friendship; if you ignore a problem for too long, it boils over and becomes a bigger mess than it should be. Check up on the boiling pot, even if you don’t think it’s perfect for cooking pasta yet.

It’s so crazy to think that we have various methods of communication, like writing, speaking, or even our facial Angela Swartz/Prowler expressions, and you choose to ignore all three! It’s Just try. absolutely amazing to me. This might not come second None of us will ever be the perfect friend, but we can do our nature to you despite all those years learning it in your childhood, best. Trying to help already makes it seem like you care, and but fear not, it is a skill that you can learn again! Simply listen to really, that’s the most important aspect of friendship. If you want what your friend is telling you, and think to yourself: did I cause to have a mutual, caring relationship, you need to both try and this problem? How can I help fix it, regardless of my involvement make it work. If you’re not willing to listen, talk, or make an effort in the problem? Why does this person feel upset? What can I do to change your wrongdoings, then all of the wonderful advice to comfort them?

I’ve just given you will not work. The fun part of friendship

5.

3. Stop being afraid of being perceived as a jerk, rather than actually being a jerk

is that you can effortlessly laugh, smile, and talk, but the most important part of friendship is that you are also willing to work for it. I’m not a perfect friend and neither are any of you, but sometimes we just need a reminder to force us back into line.

Cagami Ramen review gets spicy John MacMillen Copy Editor In short supply is comfort. Newbury Park has few pleasant, warm restaurants. However, in Camarillo there is one more: Cagami Ramen.

My favorite thing to do on a Friday night is to sit around in a restaurant or cafe. Newbury Park falls asleep at seven, though.

Cagami is open until nine on weekdays and ten on Friday and Saturday. It’s the perfect place to eat late.

The most important thing (the food) is also amazing. Only two things are served: tonkotsu broth ramen and sashimi and rice. The noodles and tonkotsu (pork) broth are house-made.

The noodles are cooked well, not chewy or dry, and the broth is fatty and silky. The chashu pork, though, is overdone. Not burnt, but tough If regular tonkotsu broth is too plain, there is also garlic tonkotsu and spicy miso tonkotsu.

For a lighter, cheaper meal, on the menu is sashimi and rice.

The rice is sticky, not wet or dry. The sashimi is free of salty brine; it’s fresh.

Cagami also serves tea and Asahi beer. The beer tap has been awkwardly wheeled on a cart into the dining area. For reasons I don’t understand, it’s endearing. Served is both genmaicha

(a lower quality green tea with puffed rice) and what they call japanese iced tea.

Cagami Ramen is smooth. Eating there is melting. Ramen requires most of a person’s attention, so those who eat to relax and relax to eat should go.

Alyssa Boedigheimer/Prowler

A study on group work Daria Azizad Staff Writer Greed, gluttony, pride: a vast number of people consider these sins to be the greatest evil. I used to be one of these people, until a recent situation made it abundantly clear: the true evil in this world-- no, not Donald Trump (this time)-- are group members that don’t do any of the work.

Group projects are already nightmares as it is.

Organization, cooperation and finding the time to get anything done are all great triumphs that have, quite frankly, obliterated any sense of dignity I had left.

I was honestly confused; it was almost as if there was a mass exodus from physics period 3A that no one cared to inform me of. Just earlier that day, Group Member no.

1-- I mean, Ghost Member no. 1-- said, “We’ll get this done by tomorrow”. What I know now is that what they really meant was, “You’ll get this done by tomorrow”.

The first text was sent at seven twenty eight a.m.

No response. The second text was sent at two fourteen pm. No response. A few choice words came to mind. I bit my tongue-- or rather my thumbs that were eagerly approaching my keyboard.

The pacifist I generally try to be took a leave of absence, turning to discord and hostility to fill the gap in the hierarchy. But of course, they didn’t come without their favorite weapon: sarcasm. “I love having an interactive group that’s always working!!” and “thanks for all your contributions!” seethed with derision.

The lack of responses only fueled me to text more and more. My word choice increasingly emanated with my ever-growing agitation. I continued angrily calculating the force of friction. I grabbed my phone and renamed the group chat title to “who knew resistive forces were people”. That’ll show ‘em, I thought.

Two hours and forty eight minutes later the same old excuses rolled in. “My mom took my phone,” my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. “I fell asleep,” an audible sigh.

By that time, the report was already finished. I fired out a final text, “Just letting you know, I think I’m gonna write my column about lazy group members. Not that this inspired me or anything”.

No response. What a surprise.

opinion Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

On: Buying indulgences

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John MacMillen Copy Editor Consumption is a guilty process; buyer’s remorse is universal. As such, businesses have had to adapt. A question must be answered: what would a consumer have to buy, besides the initial product, to cleanse guilt? The answer is to sell indulgences.

Every fraction of a purchase being sent to a hungry child in Africa is an example. The donation is not evidence of corporate generosity, the donation itself is a product. First the initial product, then the secondary product to remove the guilt of purchasing. Organic food has this appeal.

The major draw of organic food is not to oppose Monsanto, reap claimed health benefits or to adopt an ecocentric lifestyle but that these reasons make it feel good to buy the primary product.

Indulgences do not need to be sold with a physical product to succeed. The church survives on tithes and offerings for providing spiritual guidance, community and catharsis and beggars and charities for cleansing guilt and the promise of improving the world.

Purchasing products and services to feel better isn’t necessarily bad.

Finding comfort in food or music is fine. However, indulgences are sold by using emotional weakness--guilt. To protect yourself and your personal finances, you must consider your emotions.

The best way to relieve guilt is to cut out the middleman. Work for a cause yourself by volunteering rather than pay another for fulfillment.

Spend time and money wisely.

Alyssa Boedigheimer/Prowler

Christmas becomes an excuse for spending money Megan Joshi Ad Manager Gianna Longo Cover Designer Christmas brings in its cheer and music a little too early every year. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, however, it also allows companies to promote their businesses early for the holiday shopping. Not only is Christmas the holiday of giving, family, laughter and celebration but also economic growth.

Radios and TV’s are already infested with ads by November. The focus is no longer family and celebration but rather shopping and getting the best deals. Advertisers use Christmas music and themes to attract attention and holiday spirit, but by doing so, it eventually draws the attention away from the meaning of the holiday itself A 2013 Apple commercial is an example. It depicts the story of a family celebrating christmas by making a snowman, snowball fights, decorating a tree, opening presents and more.

But during this family celebration, a teenage boy spends his Christmas isolated on his phone. At the end of the ad, the boy shows a video to the family he had been making the whole

$

time. It’s of the them spending time together for Christmas, making his parents proud and family members full of joyful tears to know he captured these moments with his new iPhone. This commercial uses Christmas music playing in the background and usual christmas traditions to capture the holiday spirit and draw in attention to the ad,but only exists to promotes the video quality and phone use of the Apple iPhone.

These new deals mainly begin on Black Friday, where companies promote their stores by bringing in great deals for those to shop for the Holidays. Black Friday is where it all begins. It allows other companies to get a taste of what it is like to sell a great amount of products and gets them warmed up for the holiday promotion to begin.

Our holidays have become an excuse for shopping and using ads in order to get people to shop. Either way, Christmas has become a gold mine for companies.

Angela Swartz/Prowler

For the record...

Caitlin Henderson’s name was misspelled in Issue IV Entertainment 13 Rachna Deshpande’s name was misspelled in the staff box in Issues III and IV The Panther Prowler deeply regrets and apologizes for any errors we have made. If you spot any errors we have missed, help us correct them by sending mistakes to: prowler.newspaper@gmail.com

PANTHER PROWLER

2016-2017 staff

Editors-in-Chief Nina Chiuchiarelli Victoria Juan Entertainment Designer Lindsay Filgas Copy Editors Rachna Deshpande Connor Keep John MacMillen Clare Wang Isabella Robakowski Cover Designer Gianna Longo

Ad Manager Megan Joshi Opinion Designer Angela Swartz Photographer Chief / Caitlin Henderson Sarah Lu Emily Nagamoto Farhaan Pathan Megan Vlietstra News Designer Kessa Chavez Clare Wang

Online Lindsay Filgas Nelson Kappas

Sports Designer Alyssa Boedigheimer Graphic Artist Alyssa Boedigheimer

DPS Designers Nina Chiuchiarelli Victoria Juan Features Designer Nelson Kappas

Staff Writers Daria Azizad Maya Chari Rahul D’Souza Olivia Luby Kavita Rai Nidhi Satyagal Jaycen Sussman Aditya Vunnum Broadcast Lindsay Filgas Caitlin Henderson Connor Keep Jaycen Sussman Angela Swartz

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Adviser Michelle Saremi

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Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

THE M E A N IN G OF HOL IDAYS NOW e wish you a Merry Christ-” Click. “I wanna wish you a Merry Christ-” Click. “All I want for Christ-” Click. Switching from one radio station to the next these days, the ever looming tones of Christmas fill the air. While this music may be enjoyable, there’s more to the holiday season than just Christmas; it’s rare to find many radio stations playing, for example, Hebrew Hanukkah music.

Hanukkah is the eight day Jewish festival of rededication of the Holy Temple, also known as the festival of lights. At the time of the rededication hundreds of years ago, little oil remained in the Temple as the rest had been looted by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the Temple’s menorah, but there was only enough oil to burn for one day. However, a Hanukkah miracle occurred, and it burned for eight days. Thus began the eight day Hanukkah festival created to celebrate the miracle.

During each of the eight days of celebration, blessings are said (called berakhot), and candles are lit, which must burn for at least half an hour. One candle is added each day to the menorah, which is a candelabrum used in Jewish

Lindsay Filgas Copy Editor Sarah Lu Photographer Kavita Rai Staff Writer

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worship. It has eight branches and a central socket.

“Hanukkah is eight nights, so it gives you a lot more time to be festive, and be friendly and have a great time with everyone that you know in the Jewish community,” Shira Goldstein, sophomore, said.

Hanukkah is a holiday filled with traditions. Since Hanukkah is the holiday that celebrates the significance of oil, fried foods are very important to eat during the holiday. One of these fried foods is latkes, or potato pancakes. Another tradition that takes place in many families during Hanukkah is the game, dreidel. Dreidel is a small four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side, used to gamble. The letters form the words “a great miracle happened here.”

“We have a big celebration, we cook latkes and we have all of our family come.

That’s usually our main celebration,” Evan Milhaupt, sophomore, said. “We get

our big presents on the first night and th beginning and the end.”

Some families, however, are a little m unorthodox in the way they celebrate.

“We usually ignore the first night… eat Chinese food. We do the prayers on candles and stuff, but we don’t get pre on the first night in my family. We make latkes or anything, ” Goldstein sai To Daniel Cohen, senior, his fav part of the holiday is “spending time family, and lighting the candles.”

Tiffani Coull, history teacher, also en uniting with her family.

“My favorite part about Hanukkah like we always have a big Hanukkah din and we get the whole family toget Coull said.“We do a Passover dinner, Hanukkah traditions and we tell the sto Hanukkah.”

While Coull grew up a Chris her husband is of Jewish heritage, so holiday season is a mixture of Chris and Hanukkah, known to some “chrismukkah.”

“We’ve kind of made our own holiday, and we call it Cousins Christ where all of the cousins from both of the family get together, and it’s all o in our twenties and thirties and their We kind of celebrate both Hanukkah Christmas,” Coull said.

Melting the two traditions of her fam has meant a lot to Coull.

“It’s so beautiful to me,” Coull said.

Especially as a history teacher, for Cou love the Jewish history, because they’ve through so much, and just the dedica that this religion has to their culture, it still kind of excited about it, because it’s Cohen agreed,“Hanukkah is really fu and we get to spend time with family.”

he luminous lights, hecti holiday parties and gift “Christmas.” Many have the holiday and what Ch However, the holiday still Nick Nagamoto, senio celebrates Christmas because it is the “c “We believe he came into the wo

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Do you think Christmas is the “universal” holiday?

Yes 41.5%

47.2% No 11.3%

No

Position

Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

he last night, sort of like symbolizing the

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ull,“I Caitlin Henderson/Prowler gone ation t’s amazing to me,” she said.“I guess I’m not something I grew up with. I love it.” un. We get to play dreidel, eat good food,

ic shopping malls and an abundance of exchanges come along with the word e forgotten the religious value behind hristmas is truly supposed to be about. l remains religiously significant to many. or and president of the Catholic Club, celebration of the birth of Christ.” orld to forgive us for our sins and to die

on the cross for us, so his birth is a very momentous occasion because it’s God coming down in the flesh,” Nagamoto said.

To Nagamoto, Christmas is not just one day that is celebrated, but rather a season of advent.

“It’s four weeks before Christmas, preparing your heart for the coming of Jesus Christ. You’re supposed to be very humble during this time and pious to really prepare yourself. That way when God comes, you’re ready,” Nagamoto said.

Bella Scott, junior, is very close to the religious ties that come along with the holiday and surrounds herself with people of her faith during the blissful season.

“Every year I go to church on Christmas Eve and also on Christmas Day,” Scott said.

Scott enjoys the spirit that Christmas radiates during the winter as well.

“There’s that old saying, ‘cold hands, warm heart,’ and that’s how Christmas makes me feel,” Scott said.

Christmas caroling, cookie decorating, and ugly sweater parties are all fun during this season of joy, but Nagamoto values the Catholic Christmas traditions as well. “[The advent wreath] is a wreath with four candles, three of them are purple, one of them is pink, and you light one each week,” Nagamoto explains. Another Catholic tradition Nagamoto partakes in is going to church. “We all go to Mass, we all sing Christmas songs.”

Although Nagamoto practices all the religious ceremonies that come along with the Catholic faith during Christmas, he believes there is no real way to materially celebrate the joyous holiday.

“I know my family always [celebrates] with a tree and whatnot, but that’s really more of an Americanized add-on. Really, the best way is to just spend time with family, and practice the teaching that would be later shared by Jesus,” Nagamoto said.

lthough Christmas is, at its root, a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, it has evolved in American culture to become a secular celebration of joyfulness, family, and most importantly, gift giving.

Many who practice a religion other than Christianity, or who do not practice any religion, still celebrate the traditions associated with Christmas, such as getting a Christmas tree, putting up lights, and exchanging presents.

Alex Meinhof, senior, is one example of someone who celebrates Christmas

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without its religious affiliation.

“Religion isn’t a part of my life,” Meinhof said. Despite this, his family annually participates in the Christmas festivities. “We do the whole gift ceremony of course, we have the tree, we have the decorations. I guess we really just do everything but go to church.”

Meinhof feels that what is now really celebrated during the holiday season are the ideas of joy and happiness associated with Christmas.

“The holidays symbolize certain atmospheres,” Meinhof said. “People just kind of latch onto (these feelings) easier than they do something religious.”

In addition to those who do not follow any particular set of religious beliefs, many people celebrate Christmas while still practicing non-Christian religions.

Alisha Patel, junior, and her family practice Hinduism, but still celebrate Christmas. “(I like) how close I feel with my family during Christmas. Like on Christmas Eve we just hang out, have the fireplace going, eat cookies and watch Christmas movies,” she said. “It’s really nice because we’re on break and I’m not stressing as much as usually I am. It’s a warm and happy feeling.”

Patel believes that the “materialistic” quality of Christmas has caused it to gain popularity in American culture.

Robin Lilly, English teacher, has also embraced the secular side of Christmas in her classroom with a Secret Santa gift exchange.

“I try and preface it with the idea that Santa has become a secular figure as part of American culture. I think even if you do not celebrate Christmas, you see it everywhere,” Lilly said. “As a capitalist culture, it’s ubiquitous. Santa’s ubiquitous. You can’t really avoid it.”

Whether it be in movies, advertisements, shopping centers, or music, Santa Claus has become an icon of Christmas media. His image can be seen in most stores as a symbol of the season of giving.

With regards to the gift exchange, Lilly said, “I could probably call it something else, but I also think that as a symbol, Santa represents kindness and giving and jolliness, and so from a symbolic reference, I choose to keep it.”

While Meinhof, Patel, and Lilly have focused on celebrating the secular version of Christmas, Nagamoto believes that it is possible to enjoy both the cultural and religious significance of the holiday.

“I make a distinction between the Catholic Christmas and Christmas the event, like the secular holiday,” Nagamoto said. “Because I’m Catholic, I think it’s rather sad that other people take it only as an occasion to celebrate and party and buy stuff for everyone else. I think it’s fun but it’s not as fulfilling as it would be to really celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.”

However, Nagamoto also addressed the so-called “War on Christmas.” Some Christian celebrations see attempts to remove the religious significance of Christmas from American culture as an attack on the holiday.

“Other people get really angry, like ‘Oh it’s the war on Christmas,’” Nagamoto said.

“But I don’t see it that way. I just see it as some people are not perceiving the full extent of what Christmas should be.”

Do you celebrate Christmas?

Do you know what Kwanzaa is?

Yes, 44.0% religiously

ha • nu • kkah Dec. 24 - Jan. 1 The rededication of the Holy Temple in 165 B.C. by the Maccabees after its desecration by the Syrians

37.4% No 62.6%

Yes christ • mas Dec. 25 The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ

kwan • zaa

Dec. 26 - Jan. 1 A secular festival founded in 1966 by professor and activist Maulana Ron Karenga for African Americans to celebrate their culture and heritage

Based on survey of 144 students on campus.

Yes,

not 46.1% religiously

No 9.9%

10

features Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Parents Populate the School Olivia Luby Staff Writer Emily Nagamoto Photographer

Most students kiss their parents goodbye as they walk out the door to school, or get dropped off in carpool saying the usual, “see you later.” However, for some, this is not the case. While some mothers and fathers are doctors or electricians, these students have English teachers and math teachers as parents, and seeing them on campus is just another day at school.

Just like anything else, having a parent at school has its benefits and its downsides, and sophomore Luke Magnante, his mother an English teacher, knows what he likes the most and the least.

“Favorite thing, don’t have to carry my books, don’t have to go to my locker. Least favorite, the teachers know who I am already.

They already have that fact that they know my mom is an English teacher,” Magnante said.

While he has attended the same school as his mom for the past nine years, from Sycamore Canyon Middle School to NPHS, Magnante says that he tries to not let it affect him. He wants to go his own way.

Freshman Chloe Harris is experiencing her mother, a biology teacher, teaching at the same school for the first time.

“I like it, because if I ever need anything I can just go to her classroom and get it. But, sometimes it’s hard because she can go to my teachers directly and talk to them about my grades and stuff, and she can check up on me,” Harris said.

While these students may see their parent at school, they are not being taught directly by them. However, having their own

things

5 you d id n ot kn ow ab o ut

Megan Vlietstra/Prowler

John Abney // English Conor Keep Copy Editor

1

His favorite book is “The Stand” by Stephen King.

2

His dream job was to be a musician and he can play the guitar along with percussions such as the congos and hand drums.

3

He grew up in North Hollywood and then moved to West Valley.

4

Before he taught at Newbury Park, he worked at Westlake for one year.

5

He owns a dog named Murphy who is about one and a half years old.

parent as a teacher is not unheard of. For instance, freshman Evan Metcalf ’s mother holds the position of both his mom and math teacher. Nonetheless, Metcalf does not let this phase him.

Even though he has only been at the same school as his mom for around four months, he says it feels normal for her to be a teacher here.

“In class, I talk to her casually like she’s my mom. I tried to talk to her like my teacher but it didn’t work,” he said.

Some parents encourage their children to pursue the same career that they have, but surprisingly, the Metcalfs have different ideas for Evan’s future.

“I’m good at math because (my mom) is a math teacher, but she wants me to be a doctor and my dad wants me to be an engineer,” Metcalf said about his future professions.

Senior Karina Anderson also is choosing a different path for herself, instead of being an English teacher like her mom; she wants to be a sports psychologist.

“She can’t really influence that. She doesn’t get to pick the classes I take or anything like that. She obviously would never want to have me in her class, because she said she would grade me harder than all the other kids,” Anderson said.

But she understands where her mother is coming from, especially when her mom checks up on her with her teachers, and says she knows her mom only does it because she cares. Anderson also believes that this understanding has improved since going to the same school as her mom.

“I think we’ve gotten a lot closer, actually, over the past four years, especially since I started to come here as a freshman, mostly because we can actually talk about things that are occurring in

both of our lives,” Anderson said.

Even with having both the responsibilities of being a teacher and a parent, teachers treat their students’ education and the students themselves as a priority, much like they do for their own children at home.

“She cares as much for her students and helping them do good in school as she cares for me and my brother and everything that we did,” Magnante said.

Mother and Daughter - Chloe Harris and her mother, Brianna Harris, share the campus every school day.

Emily Nagamoto/Prowler.

Triplets on campus share their story Rachna Deshpande Copy Editor “It’s like living with roommates,” Kate Powers, junior, said.

For juniors Kate, Meg, and Molly Powers, sharing just about everything--even their birthday--is the norm. As triplets, they have been firsthand witnesses to the perks of having two familiar faces by their side at all times. “(Being a triplet) has been really nice because I always know that I’m not alone on things,” Kate said. “For example, if I went to go join a club or just went to a new class, I always had two people with me.”

Never having experienced the fear of finding a partner to work with in a new class, the triplets have grown closer by sticking together at school.

“We always acted more like best friends than that typical sister relationship,” Kate said. “We … talk about the same people, teachers, or things going on in classes. And we’ll know what we are talking about.”

While the sisters enjoy sharing their experiences together, they also acknowledge that it can be tough at times, being constantly compared to one another.

“It is hard (at school) because there’s an extra level of competition. You’re constantly compared. I struggled with that in middle school, but now I’m just like ‘you know what? I’m my own person’,” Kate said.

Not only can it be tough for the triplets themselves, but also for their younger sister and freshman Paige Powers. However, Paige takes the family dynamic in stride.

“I think only having a 2-year age gap helps in how close we all are,” Paige said. “(My sisters) are now branching out and are going to be going down different paths … it will be interesting to see what they all decide to do.”

Nonetheless, from school projects to moving from Tennessee to California, the sisters are grateful for each other’s company through what can be struggling times.

“Because I share so many experiences with Meg and Kate,

we’ve become best friends,” Molly Powers, junior said. “No matter where we move to, no matter what happens to our family, I’m always with my best friends. And I find a lot of solace in that” The third triplet, Meg, feels the same close connection that the other two feel, but she admits that some things can get annoying.

“My favorite thing is always having people with me and supporting me everyday, however my least favorite thing is having people get us confused,” Meg said.

But Meg has not only gotten used to this, but also has embraced it, and everything else that comes with being a triplet-the good and the bad.

“I wouldn’t want to change it for the world,” Meg said.

Three at once - The Power sisters can be seen here together.

Emily Nagamoto/Prowler.

features

STUDENT Ethan Duffy/Senior music album has sold the most copies in 1 What history?

Ethan Duffy: No answer Mr. Johnson: “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zepplin A: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Neither of them got it right. The game starts out 0-0.

actor starred in the “Iron Man” 2 What movies as the lead?

VS

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Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

TEACHER

Connor Keep Copy Editor

4-3 Duffy Wins!

Ethan Duffy: 1992?

Mr. Johnson: Well, in 1932 and 1984 A: 1932 and 1984 Duffy may know running stats, but Mr. Johnson sure does know his history. The score is 3-2 Duffy.

Mr. Johnson: Ulysses S. Grant A: Ulysses S. Grant Both of them must keep lots of money in their wallet. The score is now 4-2, Duffy is still in the lead.

was the 16th president of the United 3 Who States?

is the most populated country on the 7 What Earth?

Ethan Duffy: Abraham Lincoln Mr. Johnson: Abraham Lincoln A: Abraham Lincoln Everybody knows this one. Each of them get a point and the score is 2-1 Duffy.

Ethan Duffy: It’s has to be India Mr. Johnson: China A: China Well, it’s not India. Mr. Johnson gets the point and the score is 4-3 Duffy.

Caitlin Henderson/ Prowler

Ethan Duffy: Usain Bolt Mr. Johnson: I know he’s from Jamaica and I can see him doing his thing A: Usain Bolt The runner, Duffy, knows his running stats, but Johnson was very close. Duffy takes a big lead of 3-1.

year(s) were the Olympics held in Los 5 What Angeles?

Who is on the $50 bill?

6 Ethan Duffy: Ulysses S. Grant

Ethan Duffy: Robert Downey Jr. Mr. Johnson: No idea A: Robert Downey Jr. Looks like Mr. Johnson needs to start watching more superhero movies. The score is 1-0 Duffy.

has run the fastest 100 and 200 meter 4 Who dash in the world?

Steve Johnson/History

movie has made the most money 8 What (highest grossing)?

Ethan Duffy: “Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Pt. 1” Mr. Johnson: The first Harry Potter A: “Avatar” Looks like this question evaded both of them.

The score ends up as 4-3 meaning a win for Duffy.

Project Holiday Cheer Kavita Rai Staff Writer The holidays are just around the corner and what’s a better way of getting in the spirit than giving back? Project Holiday Cheer is a program that the school has participated in since 2009. It focuses on giving gifts for less fortunate families to ensure a joyous time for the holiday season. Groups on campus such as CSF, ASG, Key Club, and even individual classes have gotten involved in the rewarding sentiment of giving back.

Counselor, Leslie Nedwick, is in charge of Project Holiday Cheer and delegating families to different clubs and classes on campus.

“I get information as to who wants to adopt, that way I can also send out emails for teachers, to keep an open eye if they see any students that are in need or any issues that come up.”

Nedwick said.

Project Holiday Cheer plays a key component in some of the students’ lives on campus, especially during the holiday season.

“In counseling, we get a lot of information about homeless students. I call the kids in, and give them a wish list. They take it home, fill out, and bring it back. Then, I can give it to each department so they are giving based off their wish list.” Nedwick explained.

Senior, Liam Lecka has participated in Project Holiday Cheer through ASG on campus.

“ASG has sponsored a family by delegating out different items. One commission, for example, is buying the jeans or other clothes. Another commission is making sure to get gifts and

things [the families] want on their list to make sure they have a lot of stuff for the holidays.” Lecka said.

For sophomore, Katie Rose, this year was her first time volunteering for Project Holiday Cheer.

“Through CSF, I participated [in Project Holiday Cheer] sitting outside Trader Joe’s and collecting donations from people passing by. These collected donations help families in need who do not have enough money to buy Christmas presents for their family or loved ones.” Rose said.

Project Holiday Cheer doesn’t just put a smile on kids faces, but it also substantially benefits the parents. Matt Elam, local youth pastor from Monte Vista Church, donates ten $100 gift cards to Albertsons for these parents.

“The holidays are such an important part of families being together, and being able to alleviate the stress for parents that are going through a hard time is so important. There’s so many things that these families need to spend their money on, so being able to take [buying presents] off their plate is hopefully very helpful for them.” Nedwick states.

The excitement that the holidays bring is undeniable. The jittery feeling that lies in the pit of your stomach as you anticipate what’s inside that box never seizes to get old. Lecka and Nedwick have a goal to try and spread that cheerful warmth throughout the program. “ I think one of the cornerstones that bring people together is being able to have that gift to share, that excitement.” Lecka

said.

Lecka explains how it’s important to give back, especially during the holiday season.

“I think a lot of us forget or take for granted the aspect of having a really nice meal, or maybe going out for dinner one night for the holidays,” Lecka said. “I think it’s really important to recognize when we can help people out especially during this season. [Project Holiday Cheer] is a really a great opportunity, especially because people are willing to help and spread the holiday cheer.”

Rose would love to participate in Project Holiday Cheer again because it’s a way to spread the Christmas spirit.

“I would love to do it again. Knowing that the families in need, who cannot celebrate the holidays sometimes, are receiving gifts, warms my heart.” Rose said.

Nedwick’s favorite part about Project Holiday Cheer is the feeling she gets when she knows she has made someone’s holiday a little brighter.

“Bringing everybody together and being able to give back ... also when delivering presents and dropping off a huge sack of wrapped presents ... It’s the best feeling. The families are so appreciative.” Nedwick states.

Project Holiday Cheer touches the hearts of many families in need, but it also touches the hearts of the people who volunteer with the program. The holiday season can get hectic with festivities, but remember take some time to give back to the community.

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entertainment Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Self driving cars The key to the future Rahul D’Souza Staff Writer Aditya Vunnum Staff Writer Since cars were invented during the 1800’s, they have continually progressed with new features added on every model. Recently, cars have started to become more and more self-reliant to the point where they don’t even need a driver.

Most cars only do things like brake when they sense an object or keep the car at the same speed without the driver pressing the pedal. However, Tesla recently released videos of a fully autonomous car during October. It features a view similar to the driver’s, and a view of what the sensors are “seeing.” The driver entered a destination into the car and sat back as it took him there, stopping at

stop signs and signals, and waiting for other cars to pass by before turning. After the driver got out of the car at his destination, the car drove away and parked itself in the nearest spot next to the curb in between two other cars. At the driver’s command it would return to its owner’s location.

Google also has their very own self driving cars that have hit the streets in multiple cities around the world. They have designs similar to a Smart Car, but with a large spire protruding from the center. Their sensors can “see” two football fields in every direction and analyse the information to drive the car correctly. The cars aren’t as sleek as Tesla’s, but they still drive well enough.

Intel is developing autonomous cars as well, using their powerful Intel cores to process the information. Apple is very excited for the potential and the possibilities with autonomous cars. They have already made deals to integrate iPhone compatibility into the cars for utilities such as Apple CarPlay and navigation.

The companies that manufacture the cars promise zero accidents and mobility for all, but all it takes is one glitch and many could get seriously injured or killed. In the future, if the majority of cars are autonomous, one foreign object introduced into the program could cause a lot of damage. The technology is promising but it needs to be further developed before it can be a viable alternative to today’s transportation.

Alyssa Boedigheimer/ Graphic artists

Latest albums rise to the top Connor Keep Sports Editor Jaycen Sussman Staff Writer

J. Cole has done it again: The man from North Carolina put out one of the most influential albums of the year. The live instrumentation on the album is out of this world with his use of bells, guitar, bass, trumpets, violins and the piano. Prior to the album, Cole released a 40 minute video titled ‘Eyez’ which showed his listeners what was going on in the studio and how he makes music. “4 Your Eyez Only” contains ten songs, which is the least he’s released on any album, but the quality is just as good if not better on this album.

The most popular song on the album, ‘Deja Vu’ has a similar beat to Bryson Tiller’s ‘Exchange’ and Cole has two verses on it. The producers of the song, Velous, Boi1da, and Vinylz voiced their opinions on the beat and believe that “The Mekanics” (consisting of 5 star and Foreign Teck) stole the beat and gave it to Tiller. The third song of “4 Your Eyez Only” is about how he wants a woman to leave her boyfriend for a normal guy, like him. People respect the song’s sound, which is similar to 2Pac. The seventh track off of the album is ‘Neighbors.’ The hook for the song is, “The neighbors think I’m selling dope,” which is based on a true story when Cole was recording his album in an upscale house in North Carolina. His white neighbors called the police because they thought drugs were being produced and sold in his house. The SWAT team raided the house when nobody was home and simply found the recording studio. On the second verse of the song Cole raps, “Some things you can’t escape; death, taxes and a racist society.” He goes on to say that it doesn’t matter how wealthy and popular you are, racism still persists.

The ninth song of the album, ‘She’s Mine, Pt. 2’ is rapped from his perspective about becoming a father. He talks about how great caring for his daughter is, and describes his daughter as a gift that God made which he has fallen in love with for the first time. Cole also goes into corporate greed, saying that Santa Claus represents greed in the world, as represented by Christmas and Black Friday during which people purchase things they can’t afford.

The album is projected to debut at the third highest selling (first week) of the year, only behind Drake and Beyoncé. Additionally, it is projected to outsell his last album, “2014 Forest Hills Drive.” It is all about a fictional person that changes throughout time and the last song reveals he died and made the album for his daughter, and the story parallels J. Cole’s life. The concept of the album is very unique and is also inspired by 2Pac’s fourth album, “All Eyez on Me.” Overall, “4 Your Eyez Only” is one of the strongest albums made to date.

After his 2015 success, ‘Beauty Behind the Madness,’ The Weeknd decided to change a few things around.

First it was his haircut (no more dreadlocks!), next it was his sound. Over the past few years his music has been known for its moody R&B love stories, but The Weeknd made a change to a Michael Jackson type sound in his newest album ‘Starboy.’

The album begins with the title track, ‘Starboy’ ft. Daft Punk; the opener isn’t very special since it sounds much like his older music, but it provides the fans with a message that the old Weeknd is dead and a new one is here. This leads right into his new sound with the songs ‘Rockin’’ and ‘Secrets,’ where the album shines.

Combining his classic R&B with a Michael Jackson sounding chorus, he forces this new sound in the song “Rockin.” It is upbeat, flows quickly and The Weeknd allows you to hear a little of the new sound he is using. On the other hand, ‘Secrets’ flows perfectly start to finish combining R&B and the 80’s sound from ‘Rockin.’ The Weeknd slams us with his new sound throughout the whole song to the point where you’re in love with it and don’t want to go back to his older music.

The last song of the album, ‘I Feel It Coming,’ was released a week in advance. The Weeknd incorporated Daft Punk into this track as well, which is an interesting move considering this track flourishes his new 80’s sound while ‘Starboy’ reminisces for his older tunes. However, Daft Punk plays a major role in this song by adding to the electric background, and it was the perfect ending to a perfect album.

‘Starboy’ was a rare experience; the album was flawless and will easily be in talk for the album of the year.

The Bruno Mars time machine is back and better than ever! He presented us with his first album since 2012’s ‘Unorthodox Jukebox,’ and it was an interesting ride. As Mars’ newest album, “24k Magic” brings us back to the classic funk 80’s and 90’s, and although it was a huge risk, he pulled it off to perfection.

The album starts off with the title track “24k Magic,” one of the best songs of 2016. It is upbeat and you will be dancing by the end of it.

This album does a great job incorporating the use of the slow jams like “Versace on the Floor” and “Calling All My Lovelies.” While “Versace on the Floor” is all around a fantastic song, bringing a sexiness and dreamy vibe to Mars’ music, “Calling All Lovelies” seems cheesy and dull, with weak lyrics and Mars calling the actress Halle Berry over the phone, implying she is one of his “lovelies.”

The album closes up with the songs “Finesse” and “Too Good to Say Goodbye,” and they are flawless.

“Finesse” brings a Boyz II Men sound from the 90’s, reminding the listener of their classic song “Motown Philly.” “Too Good to Say Goodbye” may be one of the best tracks on the album. The electric sound from the 80’s delivered a powerful ending, making this album hard to say goodbye to.

13 Strings strikes a chord with the audience entertainment

Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Bella Robakowski DPS Designer With instruments tucked under a chin or grasped between knees, they lift their bows gracefully. Only an inch of space hovers between the bow hairs and the coiled metal strings. Silence fills the room. The conductor’s raised hands quiver above the players’ intensely watching eyes.

Then, his hands swoop up and drop, bows meet strings, and the music of the NPHS orchestra fill the Performing Arts Center with reverberating melodies.

The beginning strings, fifth period strings, and advanced chamber orchestras held their winter concert in the PAC on Friday, Dec. 4, accompanied by members of band and choir. With primary conductor and music theory teacher Tina Huang away on maternity leave, orchestra members found themselves leading the planning of the concert and adjusting to the style of interim orchestra director Michael Doty. “(It’s difficult) walking into someone else’s program as a person who’s not going to be permanently there and trying to figure out what it is that they are expecting from their students, and trying to put myself into her mindset and carry on to the best of my ability,” Doty said.

Despite the change in leadership, students continued to learn from Doty.

“Doty is very experienced with music so we didn’t lose anything at all. He has a lot of new ideas and he is shaping our playing in a new way,” Anna Cismaru, senior and violist, said.

Students such as Victoria Pacheco, senior in chamber orchestra adjusted well and have learned from this new experience.

“At first it was kind of hard to get used to it. I’ve only ever had Mrs. Like father like son- Christian Blatter, junior, and Carla Rosales, freshmen, focus on their instruments during the concert on Dec. 2.

Huang as a teacher in high school,” Victoria Juan/Prowler Pacheco said. “But Mr. Doty is really the biggest crowd we have had,” Cismaru said. She began playing the viola in the Sycamore Canyon g r e a t and he’s been a really good teacher.”

While Doty was originally trained as a trombonist, he has previously Middle School orchestra, and has played in four winter concerts as a member of the strings and substituted as a strings orchestra conductor at Thousand Oaks High chamber orchestras. “I genuinely feel that was the best concert we have had since the orchestra was School. Since then, he has noticed differences between the two types of started in 2013.”

The concert program included “Cantique de Noel,” “Shepherds’ Farewell from L ‘Enfance instrumentation and trained himself in teaching for strings.

“Wind music requires air. Strings music requires bowing to produce the du Christ,” and “Movement I From Gloria.” The stars of the night were the chamber orchestra sound. It isn’t that much of a change,” Doty said. “The fun thing about strings members, senior instrumentalists who blew the audience away with their philharmonic melodies.

“The chamber orchestra is perhaps the most musically accomplished school group I’ve ever is it’s visual. You can see the production of the sound using the bow whereas air is been in front of.” Doty said, “It was a challenge for me to challenge them with not only literature invisible….with a string player you can see what’s the problem.”

While Doty admitted to several struggles during the concert, overall he regarded the night as a that they could sink their teeth into and get away with performing well, but to insist that they perform it well and get after them for the little things.” success, as did the students, who led the planning of the concert with the help of the PFA. The winter concert was Doty’s last and only performance with the NPHS strings groups, as “We sold a lot more pre-sale tickets, which is a huge victory, almost a full house and probably Huang returns after winter break.

Alyssa Boedigheimer/ Graphic artist

Billy is on the street Caitlin Henderson Chief Photographer celebrity guests, a recent one being Seth Rogan.

“Let’s play a game I like to call…Death Rogan!”

Eichner yelled. Rogan unsuspectingly handled the camera, while Eichner broke the news to people: Seth Rogan died. Then after a moment to capture their responses, Eichner would yell: “I have good news for you! Seth Rogan is RIGHT HERE!” It’s segments like these that make me laugh so much, and we all need a good laugh every once and awhile.

Eichner is a funny, loud man. He exaggerates the importance of Hollywood blockbusters, always calls celebrities by their first and

tru TV/ Press release

“What’s your favorite Sandy Bullock movie?” Billy Eichner asked an unsuspecting woman, walking amongst the streets of New York. Eichner typically asks questions like this, whether it be about movies, songs, or just celebrities in general.

“Billy on the Street” is a TV rendition of Eichner’s popular video series that aired on Funny or Die. He asks strangers in New York what they think of a certain topic, all while yelling at them. He has the dream job. I would love to yell at strangers.

The show also includes segments with

last names, and even tells Chris Pratt: “You’re off doing do Guardians of the Galaxy and I’m stuck doing this his stupid stu show.”

Hands-down, the best part about this show w is how Eichner treats representation in Hollywood. He screams scream at his contestants, “Name four Latina actresses!” and when the they can’t, it just goes to show how badly this representation ntatio is needed. He criticizes Hollywood’s stringent straight, raight, white male prevalence, coming from the point-of-view f-view of a socially-conscious, white gay man. He exaggerates erates Hollywood’s importance in our daily lives, revealing ealing how stupid it is that we actually care who the Kardashians shians are, or how ridiculous the underrepresentation of female actresses in action movies is.

Overall, “Billy on the Street” is a nice show w to watch when you feel upset, because it’ll lift your spirits immensely. Sometimes, it takes a man yelling ling at strangers to get you out of your funk, but hey, it’s whatever works.

14

sports Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Dance Concert Captures Hearts and Pikachus Megan Vlietstra Photographer The curtain for DancersGo first opened to reveal two rival Pokemon Teams facing off to find out who was the superior team. After the introductory duel, the dance team, period 2 and 3 dance classes, IB dance, and guest studios gave performances. For the finale, the entire dance department took the stage in a heartwarming and entertaining number highlighting the diversity of the group.

Performances for the concert ran from Dec. 8th through the 10th.

“It’s not just a dance team show. It’s the whole dance department’s show,” Jessica Jewett, junior, said.

Indeed it was. Dances were performed by the NPHS Dance department and by local dance studios including Thrive Dance Center, Aspire Dance Studio, and Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts. Each dance was unique and featured a different type of dance at various difficulty levels. There were lyrical numbers, hip-hop, contemporary and bollywood dances among others.

Each branch of the NPHS dance program put forth numerous hours towards making this concert happen.

Olivia Johnson, junior, was selected to choreograph a contemporary piece for IB

Going Dancing - Jensen Merril, senior, Arianna Mah, sophomore, and Spencer Seebach, sophomore, dance during the final routine, where it is tradition for each grade level to pick matching costumes. Caitlin Henderson/ Prowler

dance for this concert.

“I started choreographing a few weeks ago and I started teaching the students the Wednesday before we went off

(Thanksgiving) break,” Johnson said.

“It’s less classical than ballet,” Johnson said. “It has kicks, it has turns and stuff but it’s less structured.”

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The dance team also put forth countless hours towards putting on the concert.

Jewett is one of the four captains of the dance team. Jewett and Rhea Vermani, sophomore and dance team member, described the hard work that they put forth towards the dance concert.

“We started preparing for (the concert) in the summer,” Vermani said.

Jewett explained that the team learned the routines to the football game dances over summer break. During the school year, practices continued five days a week with several hours dedicated to each day.

Vermani and Jewett were two soloists for the Friday night concert. Vermani performed a mix between a contemporary and jazz piece while Jewett showcased a lyrical number.

Vermani noted that the dancers could not be entirely credited for the show’s success. “The backstage and the people running the lights are essential to the dance concert,” she said.

In the end, the three-day concert was a success. “(The) biggest nights for ticket sales were Friday and Saturday night. The show turned out better than expected!”Jewett said.

sports Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

15 r n/Prowle enderso Caitlin H

Every Sunday with the No Fun League Jaycen Sussman Staff Writer

On the court - Daniel Foldes, junior, dribbles down the court at a home game against Rio Mesa on Nov. 28, where Newbury Park won 65-39. Caitlin Henderson/with permission

Sneak peek at the upcoming basketball season Farhaan Pathan Sports Editor Aditya Vunnum Staff Writer As the weather gets colder, basketball season begins. Both boys’ and girls’ teams have a good chance of winning the league championships and look forward to a good run in playoffs.

“We are 2-4 and off to a rough start, but we’ve played some pretty good competition and I believe we have a good chance to win league,” Andrew Noble, senior, said.

The boys’ varsity basketball team has come closer these past few games by building familiarity with each other and a strong bond among all of them.

“As a team we just have to keep growing our chemistry and trusting the offense. If we play within the sets we will be very successful,” Brandon Smith, junior, said. “I think our whole team has really stepped up. We’ve really grown since we started playing with each other over the summer.”

With many goals in mind this year, the boys’ varsity basketball team’s main goal is to win.

“Our main goal for the season is to win a league championship,” Matt Solomon, sophomore, said.

Daniel Foldes, senior, agrees with Solomon. “Our main goal is to win league and make a run in the playoffs,” he said.

Along with the boys, the girls’ varsity basketball team also believes that they have a good chance for

making playoffs this year. Currently, they are the defending southern region CIF champions and are still strong contenders for winning CIF again this year.

“We are rebuilding our team this season since we lost a big portion of our team this past year, so it will be interesting to see how we do in league,” Simone Overbeck, sophomore, said.

Although they lost a big portion of their team last year, the team is fairly new and consists of young players this year, such as Alysandra Lacanilao, sophomore.

“She always is working hard in and out of practice.

During the games she always gives it 100% and is emotionally involved,” Carly Magallanes, senior, said about Lacanilao. “She brings an energy to the team that makes the rest of us do better and try harder.”

As the season continues on, the girls’ basketball team looks forward to bettering their skills with each game.

“We can improve on helping our team have a lot of energy through the whole game, no matter how we’re doing,” Lacanilao, sophomore, said.

With new players and new skill sets on both teams, each team has the potential of making it to CIF.

Football is one of the most entertaining sports to watch. Games are filled with excitement, relief and occasionally heartbreak. Fans feel the same emotions as the players do whether you’re on the sideline, or at home watching on TV. But the NFL has taken action against something truly unnecessary and it has affected multiple players throughout the league.

This season, the NFL has been fineing and penalizing players for excessive celebrations now more than ever.

I am a huge Antonio Brown fan. Last season Brown returned a punt for a touchdown and like athletes do, he got excited. What he did next was what truly started this whole conversation of these unnecessary penalties. Brown sprinted to field goal post and lunged himself onto it, hanging like a monkey.

Now I thought this was hilarious, but the NFL did not. After the celebration occurred, the team received an understandable penalty for excessive celebration. But after the game Brown was personally fined $11,576 by the NFL for the celebration. At the time that seemed a lot for a celebration, but Brown was able to squeeze out higher fines by the league.

In his season opening game against the Washington Redskins on September 12, Brown caught an amazing touchdown pass and immediately after began twerking for the opposition’s crowd. Brown was penalized, but this time fined a total of $24,309.

Brown is not the only one getting these charges from the league.

Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has an ego and we all know it, but doesn’t it seem a little strange that he was fined $12,000 for pretending to photograph a teammate during a celebration?

The idea of these men not being allowed to celebrate is erratic.

They have worked their whole lives to get where they are and deserve to be excited when they become a playmaker on the field.

But of course there are going to be a few readers out there who are thinking, “Oh, well these men are professionals…shouldn’t they act like it?”

Picture it this way: it’s math class. You study extremely hard for your test and you ace it; as a result you do a little dance in your desk.

Out of nowhere, your teacher comes over and slams a detention slip on your desk for disrupting the class.

Isn’t that just annoying - working hard but not allowed to get excited.

We are living in a new era of football. What used to be a league known for its aggressiveness is now one where you get fined if you oh-so-dare to look at an official the wrong way.

The NFL is a product, the league is selling it to us, and they are watering it down. Ratings have dropped significantly this year…and now I know why.

I love the sports industry because it is always changing, but this is not progress. If the NFL is holding the players back, then how can they expect the league to progress in the coming years?

16

Surfing Panther Prowler • Dec. 16, 2016

Hang Ten - John Warne, junior, surfs at Leo Carillo Beach. Warne has surfed for over four years, and tries to go surfing three to four time a week. John Warne/with permission

It’s pitch black outside. Most people are cozy in their beds, safe from the biting cold that signifies that winter is coming. The sun hasn’t woken yet. Outside, not even the crickets chirp. Most are still in deep sleep, dreaming about not going to school.

A group of boys, with sleep filled eyes, all manage to crawl out of bed. It is only five o’clock in the morning. Why would anyone be up at this hour? For these boys, the answer is surfing.

Here in southern California, going to the beach is very common. What is not as common, however, is seeing a teen get up early in the morning, way before school even starts, to drive out to the beach to surf.

“It’s better in the morning. There’s better conditions; less wind, less people,” as John Warne, junior, said. This is dedication.

Warne started surfing about four to five years ago, and now surfs three to four times a week, never deterred by outside forces, like weather, if he can help it. Even sharks won’t stop him from doing what he loves.

A fellow surfer and friend of Warne’s, Jay Kimball, junior, also does not let sharks make him leave his relaxation place. Kimball recalls the time when he “saw a shark one time attack a seal.” Although he was frightened, he soon forgot about it, as “the waves were pretty epic that day.”

Kimball also started surfing four to five years ago when his dad and his uncle, who “has been a big inspiration,” introduced the activity to him.

“Sea”-ing the waves - Wally Thane,sophomore, prepares to go catch some waves at Port Hueneme.

Thane tries to go surfing about four times a week.Wally Thane/with permission

Feeling free on the Sarah Lu Photographer Kimball surfs to improve, to try and beat his friends.

He wants to hopefully “build up, get better, so I can pass it on to my future kids.”

The most important part to Kimball is “just trying to keep up with people out in the water around you, and having fun.”

Warne agrees, saying an important thing he believes about surfing is “just having fun and not caring. Just getting out there, even if you’re bad or good, and just having fun.”

Wally Thane, sophomore, also loves surfing. “It was just really fun and exciting, and I like being in the ocean,” Thane said.

Often going right after school to the beach, he surfs “probably like 4 times a week, maybe more.”

Making a splash - Jay Kimball, junior, rides in on a wave at Leo Carrillo Beach. Kimball goes surfing to release stress and to relax.

Jay Kimball/with permission

To Warne, surfing is something “that you have to build, and it takes a lot of time.” But it is worth it when you can hang out with your friends while doing what you love.

And to Kimball, surfing is like an outlet, one where he can forget about life for a while and just have fun. “I feel relaxed, I feel like I don’t have to worry about anything else, school work or anything. It kinda just keeps things off my mind,” he said.

Another surfer who can wholeheartedly agree with this is Katie Rose, sophomore.

“Surfing to me is when I get to escape from stress of school or anything, and just be myself... just be able to feel like I’m free and just enjoy life.”

Unfortunately with all of the homework that c o m e s

with sophomore year, Rose does not have many chances to get away to her haven. “I used to be able to go every single week, but now with school, I’ve been getting more busy, so I haven’t had much time, but I’ll usually go maybe twice a month at the least.”

Not only an outlet for Rose, surfing also helps with manners. “I think the most important thing is to love and appreciate the ocean because it’s a very scary thing, and that you should respect other people and respect the ocean wherever you go,” she said.

Rose loves surfing so much because “it’s fun, and I love the ocean, and it’s really thrilling, and it’s a great thing to do with friends.”

In addition, when Rose surfs, she feels like everything is right with the world. “I get really happy inside especially if I haven’t gone in a while, because it’s just really fun. Every wave that I’m on is just like a whole new experience, and I’m always in my happiest state of mind,” Rose said.

Surfing is a sport that many can say is theirs, one that they enjoy a lot and benefit from. Surfing is what makes surfers who they are. Surfing is the time where they can be free, and forget about their s c h o o l and life troubles, and just let go.