OHS The Buzz 2. 11. 16 V.9.3 February Issue

February 11, 2016

OXNARD HIGH SCHOOL, 3400 W. GONZALES ROAD, OXNARD, CA. 93036

Volume 9 Issue 3

Teacher Love Stories Teachers talk about their love life By: Kaylie Hollub

“There’s so many things I love about her. She loves me for who I am, and I love that about her,” said Oxnard High School math teacher, Mr. Aaron Sanchez. He has been with his wife for 23 years. “We met at UCSB. My first impression was that she was hot.”

He instantly had a crush on her but wanted to suppress it, “I wanted to think about the bad things about her because I knew she’d probably turn me down.”

“She’s a really cool person, probably the coolest person I know,” said Mr.Sanchez.

He continued by saying, “Love to me is willing the Photo By Mark Ramos good of another, despite Mr. Preston Lanning hugging a tree. what happens to you. You put that person first no mat-

Project Kindness: Act of Kindness By: Jamie Tadiaman and Kim Valerio

“What is the nicest thing you’ve done for a person?” and “What is the kindest thing someone has done with you?”

“I have given a homeless man money for food and it brightened up his day,” said Oxnard High School senior Ramiro Campa.

“They gave me their food when they knew I did not eat that day,” said OHS senior Nancy Melendez.

“I bring Mr. Moreno food as a surprise to him to show my appreciation towards him, and before the superbowl i bought him a Bronco’s cake telling him I hope you win,” said Berlin Juarez.

“I found a lost ID card at school and i took it to the lost and found,” said senior Cynthia Nava.

ter what. You love that person for how they are, no matter how they change” said Mr.Sanchez English teacher Mrs. Ellen Acevedo has been with her husband for 16 years. Her first impression was that he was extremely outgoing and had a big heart. She said, “I met him when I transferred to Chico State. He came up to my friend and I and we just started talking. We became instant friends.”

Mrs. Acevedo and her husband are pretty much inseparable, “I just knew he was the one. It was one of those experiences when you meet someone and after meeting them, you just want to keep seeing them.”

To Mr. Meyring, an OHS

woodshop teacher, love is “genuinely caring about the other person not just yourself. It seems simple, but a lot of people just don’t get it.”

He and his wife just celebrated their 16th anniversary.

“We met at church at a single, young adult congregation.”

His first impressions of her were very strong. “We were 28, we both had enough dating experience to know when something’s real.”

They were engaged for only a few months before getting married “When it’s real, you just know.”

What he loves most about her is how supportive she is and and how she “takes her calling as a wife and mother very serious and loves [their] children.”

Fools for Love

Students at OHS offer their opinion on what it takes to be in a relationship.

By: Mateo Juarez

“The most important thing in a relationship, especially in high school, is probably trust because in high school you are tempted to do a lot, so as of now in this age, trust is key”, said Oxnard High School senior Nathan Thompson.

Every year around this time in February, love is in the air.

Couples are blooming all around campus as they try to enjoy their final semester with the ones they care about the most. Students at school run the risk of being just fools for love if they do not know what it takes to be in a committed relationship.

Getting to the root of what makes a relationship work between two people will differ depending on which couples you ask. OHS senior Jordan Sabater feels that the key to a relationship is to have acceptance because “in a relationship you are bound to have your own flaws and it is up to that other person to be accepting because not everyone is perfect.”

OHS senior Ingrid Carmona said, “The keys to a relationship are trust, loyalty, comfort, and communication.”

According to USA Today, couples’ mutuality is related to the degree in which the two parties can communicate and show caring for one another. “If they

Photo provided by Jason Juarez

A teen couple looking at the sunset. can’t communicate, and one of the two is doing something that is bothering the other, and they don’t tell them, then they won’t stop doing what it is that is bothering the other. You have to make sure the other person knows, and if they care enough, they will stop,” said Esteven Manrique.

The qualities of a real relationship differs with each per-

son as Thompson adds, “You can tell if two people are really for each other if it takes a long time for it to happen, if you don’t go straight into it and take time to get to know each other.”

The key to a long lasting relationship is different for each couple. As OHS senior Elizabeth Pacquing said, “It’s what makes you happy that makes a good relationship.”

Healthcare or Health Share?

The Buzz Staff

Should immigrants receive health care?

By: Lisandro Elizondo

the U.S contributes they should all have equal rights. However, as many immigrants look towards other opinions for health insurance, many are left stumped.

As the Los Angeles Times stated, “The law bars millions of undocumented immigrants, including an estimated one million Californians from these programs.”

Many taxpayers response What many taxpayer’s rebuttal is that they shouldn’t have to Photo by Lisandro Elizondo pay for medical coverage that they don’t A student using crutches to walk around need or require. Meanwhile, others argue that A controversy that much as $32 billion each the same Medical Coveroften divides American year treating chronic and communities revolves non-urgent problems age is required for everyaround whether people with emergency care in- one. More importantly, people often associate without legal documen- stead of primary care.” tation in the U.S should Other critics argue the prohibited notion of gain health care benefits. that immigrants should not allowing immigrants Critics blame immi- receive health care re- to use what they deem grants for the much of gardless or not immi- unconstitutional.

For example denying the nation’s overspend- grants contribute to the the first amendment and ing. ABC News support- community. Therefore, choosing to cut out imed this by estimating that it should be said that if “The nation spends as everyone that is part of migrants.

The L.A Times be-

lieves in the efforts which immigrants have to endure in getting to into the U.S. They also argues that many of those immigrants are children without families. Meaning a service is being denied to a future contributing U.S citizen. Leading to those who oppose children coming from different countries do to the ever growing U.S. population.

The N.Y times uses the idea that many programs exist which provide support for these immigrants and their families. While others argue that these programs will eventually cost taxpayers even more money and also end up causing more problems in the economy. For example, several new programs were created to cope with the individual problems.

To summarize my in the words of Martin Luther King Jr.” We learn to live together as brothers or perish as fools”.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death An inside look at the controversial topic of abortions and sexual education.

By: Luz Martinez and Stephanie Quero

“I don’t think anyone can jump into labeling themselves as ‘I’m ProChoice’ or ‘I’m Pro-Life’ automatically because it is a decision that can affect others for the rest of their lives,” said Oxnard High School’s officer Curtis.

According to ProChoice action network, “Pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. We do not advocate abortion over birth - we simply defend the right of women to decide for themselves.”

Pro-life activists, on the other hand, do not support abortion under any circumstance and claim that human development is a continuous process, “beginning when an ovum from a female is fertilized by a sperm from a male,” said Ayako Urao in his article “Pro-Life, Pro-Choice.”

“I believe in child’s right first, women’s rights second, even if it was rape because the children are the innocent ones,” said OHS math teacher Maria Gutierrez.

Some people think women avoid the consequences and are irresponsible when they

have an abortion since it is easily accessible.“I think people should own up to their responsibilities and give the baby a chance to live,”said OHS teacher Miguel Campos, “They could be great at something if given the chance.

You do not have the chance to press the reset button on every mistake.”

For some, abortion may be their only option.

Paola Dragnice from Salon.com desired to become a mother before the age of 30. Unfortunately, she was obligated to undergo an agonizing induced labor because it was illegal to have an abortion in her country.

The abortion was needed to save her life for in the 14 week mark a testing confirmed a fetal chromosomal disorder, triploidy, that was causing tumors to grow in the placenta. This condition can carry lethal consequences for the mother.

Because her country did not allow abortions, her pregnancy led her to death.

Some OHS students may also be facing a similar situation of be-

ing pregnant. Some may turn for help towards counselors, nurses, or other mentors.

Regardless of the decision they make, “the conversation is 100% confidential,” said the nurse, “My role is just to be a support system.”

If the student decides to keep the baby then the school gets more involved.

First, the nurse must obtain proof that the female is pregnant. Afterwards, the nurse refers the woman to CAL-SAFE to get in contact with the school’s care center. “Our goal is to help students work towards their high school diploma while still being a good parent,” said the OHS care center supervisor.

According to SexEtc. org, students being educated on safe intercoarse, abortion, and birth control can lead to a decrease in teen pregnancies and number of abortions.

“When I worked for the county in Ventura in the mid 90s we used to have really high rates of teen pregnancy. There was a campaign to try

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to cartel that,” said OHS counselor Cordova.

Part of that campaign was to educate students.

“I even came to OHS and we would do a whole week on teaching kids about sexuality, myths and facts,” said Cordova, “If they don’t get this info at home or school, then that’s when they are bound to make mistakes.”

“Talking to many students here at OHS, many of them say that they do not get a very thorough sexual education,” said Cordova Health teachers at OHS cover one unit of sexual education. “It all depends if the health teachers have the freedom and are not limited to certain regulations, but I don’t think we need a specific class all about safe sex or more,” said Campos.

“There is funding for everything, so how could you not find funding for something so important,” said Aguilar, “The more we talk about it, the more the truth gets out and the truth should hopefully influence students to make the right choice.”

Editors-In-Chief Stephanie Quero Tatyana Sharpe Managing Editor Mark Ramos Copy Editor Jamie Tadiaman Quality Control Editor Janine Tadiaman Layout Editors Victor Galicia Mateo Juarez Entertainment Editor Kim Valerio Sports Editor Nicholas Robles Business Manager Jazmine Toledo Reporters Sarah Anaya Jaime Barron Lisandro Elizondo Rhiannon Enriquez Leslie Espinosa Carlos Gonzalez Ileana Gonzalez Kaylie Hollub Jordan Kimbrough Aaron Lee Cedric Lim Devin Lohse Ruby Lyn Lucin Adriana Mandujano Luz Martinez Alexis Negrete Rena Okayama Peyton Quintana Mark Henry Salupen Cienna Saucedo Jonathan Viveros Jesus Zapien Faculty Advisor Mr. David Page

February 11- Open House (Regular Day Schedule) 12- Minimum Day 15 -President’s Day- School Holiday 23- 9:10 Late Start TBD- 8th Grade Parents’ Orientation (6-8pm) March 1- Late Start 4- Sadies Rally /Dance 5- SAT 8- Late Start 15-16- CAHSEE 23- Blood Drive 28-4/1- Spring Break (No School)

Beauty Standards

A Curriculum to Follow

A discussion on society’s standards affecting how we view ourselves.

By Janine Tadiaman

Opportunities for special needs students at Oxnard High School.

By Adriana Mandujano and Jamie Tadiaman

“When I got here, I had absolutely no curriculum whatsoever to go by,” said Mr. David Yunker, a Severely Handicapped special education teacher who has been working at Oxnard High School for four years. “I had some guidelines, but no curriculum. There are teachers out there, [for example] math teachers, who get a math book and a curriculum to follow. All your other classes are like that, but we had nothing.”

“I didn’t even know that was a problem,” said junior Eli Cervantes, “There isn’t a whole lot of awareness, that’s the problem.”

The Oxnard Union High School District, in addressing the issue in a January 2016 meeting, proposed two curriculums for the special education.

Mr.Yunker presented Project Discovery, which targets student skills necessary for the real world work environment by using visuals, which, according to Mr. Yunker, will increase student success rates.

“My students tend to not process auditory information very well, but they’re strong visual learners.”

Project Discovery will aid SPED -- Special Ed -- students to prepare for the real world by practicing and demonstrating independence.

“We’re trying to help them be independent. Our best way to prepare them for life after high school is to give them functional skills,” said Mr. Yunker.

Emmaly Hamersmma, an OHS paraeducator, said, “The kids come in here and work on careers, so they learn how to do a job interview and how to do a resume.”

Project Discovery will open up the special needs students to the community by giving them the opportunity to earn jobs after graduating. “[Only] 35% of special

Photo by Tatyana Sharpe Makeup used as a measure for beauty.

“We don’t even realize that most of what we read and see is specifically engineered to create subconscious beliefs about who we are in the world,” said Bri Seely in an article for Huffington Post.

Oxnard High School senior Ana Sanchez said, “As a young child, I constantly got picked on very harshly for the way that I looked, dressed, and acted. In those days of my childhood, people could only respect someone who looked “pretty” and acted like the gender they were.

There were way too many standards under the definition of ‘beautiful.’”

Although social media focuses on physical beauty, it has also pushed for ‘inner beauty,’ or that which makes a person beautiful on the inside.

“In certain cases, social media has promoted the idea that, regardless of physical features, everyone is beautiful,” said senior Sara McGraw, “I have always believed this, so my thoughts on what beauty is has never really been swayed by the media.”

Sanchez said, “There is so much talk of love and acceptance that in-

spires people everyday to just accept themselves for who they are, and not care about what anyone else thinks.”

As for standards on the cultural level, we learn them because we grow up with them.

Social media brings about the trends that many young people try to keep up with, while culture and traditional beliefs instill in us what we should look like according to our ethnicity.

“Ethnic features set the foundation for our culture,” said senior Devon Escoto, “For a long while, the fact that I had a dark skin tone made me insecure. [Society held] white colored people in high regard. It wasn’t until I grew up that it wasn’t just about the color of your skin.”

Despite various views on physical and inner beauty, one should always have confidence.

Sanchez said, “Beauty is like art, it doesn’t have a definition.”

needs kids get to work in their lifetime,” said Mr. Yunker “We want to change that and get it over 50%. I’d like to see it flop to 70%.”

The second curriculum proposed within the district uses a more conventional approach. Mr. Yunker described it as more ‘technical’ and emphasizes students working in the traditional manner, at their desks. Mr. Yunker stated that “it did have strong points.”

“We’re trying to help them be independent. Our best way to prepare them for life after high school is to give them functional skills.”

-Mr. Yunker The contrast in the proposed curriculums caused excitement because it helped unify the Severely Handicapped programs within the district. “They’re talking about creating a blended curriculum,” said Mr. Yunker, “We can supplement some of the stuff that they have with the activities that Project Discovery provides.”

The blended curriculum will create opportunities for the students to become social. “They can be really shy,” said OHS paraeducator Emmaly Hamersmma, “They’re just like any other student; you just have to make the first move.”

Quality vs. Quantity

A discussion of given diplomas versus earned diplomas.

By Nicholas Robles and Jonathan Viveros

The Oxnard Union High School District may believe contradict that the more students graduate, the better the reputation they have set to other districts in the state.

With over 60%(check source) of students graduating high school, some may be concerned about how well students performed throughout their high school career.

This leads to the question, when students continue high levels of education, do they carry the knowledge they deserve?(quantity over quality).

AP Psychology teacher, Mr. Matthew Creech believes that the district is trying to raise graduation rates without giving thought to how well the student performed in a specific class.

He said, ”It’s always great when you can point to the fact that more kids are graduating; however, if you’re really looking at what we’re trying to do with kids these days, I think some-

Photo Special by the Buzz

Graduating high school students. times we’re missing the mark.”

Teachers are more focused on teaching their students in depth analysis and inquiry study.

Then again this may affect how well the students grasp the information learned.

As Mr. Creech has stated, “We

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kinda got to the point in education where we wanna teach a mile wide and an inch deep when it comes to subject matter. We want to teach more content, but we don’t want to get in depth of what’s going on in there.”

He utilized that yes in depth analysis may be the most difficult process to teach and to learn, but that is what we truly need in education.

Without students going more in depth in their subjects, the class becomes easier for the students who may not fully understand the subject as a whole. “I think that standards may have lowered so D’s and F’s students are now able to pass a class.” said OHS senior Destinee Cervantes.

Although it is great we have students going on and graduating and pursuing higher levels of education, the question that still remains: Are students getting the quality right education they deserve?

Oxnard Defeats Channel Islands OHS boys basketball has another victory against Channel Island

By Nicholas Robles

would be celebrating Senior Night.

This game was especially important to win.

“I was pretty excited, a little nervous for our senior night but I was confident we were going to get the win,” said senior varsity basketball player Taylor Kirkham.

Photo By Cienna Saucedo Varsity player Oxnard High School Boys Basketball huddles and senior Marquis before the game Sedeno wanted to get everyone The OHS varsity boys basketto get some playing time for seball team defeated the Channel Islands High School Raiders with a nior Night. “I wanted to get every senior on the court and we were score of 65-30.

They remain undefeated able to accomplish that tonight,” against all Pacific View League said Sedeno.

Head basketball coach Jeff Stteams.

The game was a special one aniland added,“We wanted to play for the seniors on the team who well, let our seniors play, and con-

tinue to play good basketball.”

With it being the seniors’ last After the victory against the season playing basketball, they CI Raiders, the Yellowjackets have want to make this the most memtwo league games left to clinch orable one. Sedeno said,”Hopefulthe Pacific View League champi- ly this year we make it farther in ons title.

CIF. “Right now we’re in a good poOur team has been putting in a sition. We are 6-0 so far in league. lot of work and I hope that we can We need two more games and go as far as we can.” then we’ll secure the league championship,” said Sedeno.

After winning league, the team will be moving on to play in CIF. Coach Staniland said,” We’ll move on [to CIF] no matter what but now with each win, our seating and our ranking will get a little better. We just want to Photo By Peyton Quintana play our best bas- ketball at the end Oxnard’s Taylor Kirkham goes for a layup of the season.”

Another win for the Lady Jackets

Support your school newspaper

OHS girls varsity soccer defeat Rio Mesa in their sixth league game

By Nicholas Robles and Jonathan Viveros

On January 28, 2016, the OHS girls varsity soccer team won their sixth consecutive league game with a score of 2-0 against the Rio Mesa Spartans.

The Yellowjackets are 7-0 in league play and 17-6 overall.

“I was really nervous,” said varsity soccer player and freshman Jessica TaPhoto by Nicholas Robles mayo. “It was going to be OHS’s Ashley Cruz dribbles towards the goal. a big game and [Rio Mesa] had to win. I knew they As the game moved on to the secwere going to come out and fight,” ond half, the Yellowjackets’ defense added Tamayo. continued to stop the Spartans from Head coach for the girls Andrew scoring. Junior Yamile Mondragon Aguailar also believed it was going scored the second goal for OHS. to be an important match. He said, Rio Mesa received a penalty kick ”[The game] could propel us into a which became their first opportunity spot where we have a great shot of to score a goal. Junior Peyton Quinwinning league and the girls stepped tana, the goalkeeper for OHS, blocked up to the challenge.” the kick and kept the score at 2-0.

The Yellowjackets started the The varsity team clinched the Pagame off strong with defense by re- cific View League title after defeating turning the ball back to the offense Hueneme High School. The Yellowwhenever the Rio team would enter jackets are now focused on playing their territory. OHS junior Jacqueline in CIF. Coach Agualiar said, “Hopefully Aldrete received a penalty kick after we go into CIF as number one in our being fouled and scored the first goal league, and I feel we have a great shot for the team. to put a good run together.”

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