Pulse Magazine: Volume 10, Issue 1

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Pulse Volume 10 Issue 1 Growing Pains For CCA

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What is a Sport?

6-7

Don’t Doubt the Drought

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The Rise of the Islamic State

11-13

How Old Are You Again?

15-18

Photos and the Moment

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The Race for CA 52

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On the Move

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Far Far Away

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#TBT

24-25

Spy Parents ZZZZZZZZZ...

26 28-29

When is Enough?

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Pulse Bloopers!

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Editor-in-Chief

Brian Chekal

A

Letter From the Editor With this opening issue of Pulse 2014–2015 we’re welcoming in Volume 10, as well as the smallest staff we’ve ever had. Coming into this year with only eight advanced staffers, all of us were nervous particularly myself. After all, a smaller staff doesn’t necessarily have to mean a smaller Pulse, and as its new stewards we had a decision to make.

In this issue, we tackle the same broad spectrum as we always have: from the serious, such as Patrick Lin’s exploration of California’s drought and Joshua Bi’s analysis of recent turmoil in the Middle East, to the humorous, in Emily Abrishamkar’s “#TBT,” a tounge-in-cheek look at the frosh experience. Sticking with this theme, our cover story examines the potential effects of our newest (and biggest) 9th grade class, while Cameron Chang interviews Raven siblings on campus.

As you can probably see, our staff isn’t calling it quits and has decided instead to think big. We hope you enjoy our bigger, more in-depth stories this upcoming year.

It is with great honor that we present this issue of Pulse.

Creative Director

Ethan Rappaport Editorial Director

Joshua Dillen Online Editor

Joshua Bi

Staff Writers

Cameron Chang Skylar Binney Patrick Lin Emily Abrishamkar

Advisor

Christopher Black

Want more? Scan the QR code below or head to ccapulse.com to see what else we’ve been up to!

Sincerely,

Brian Chekal 3

Growing Pains For CCA

by Brian Chekal

Even if you were to make the most cursory of evaluations, CCA would stand out. We’ve all heard the reports - top 100 in the nation, top 15 in the state, highest API in San Diego - but if you were to ask any CCA student or faculty member what makes us special, they wouldn’t respond with our grades or rankings. Our unique culture here at CCA is one of striking acceptance and inclusion, and for me as a senior, it is one that I have come to love, so when the first day of school arrived and we all started to realize just how large the freshmen class had become, I immediately began to wonder how this would affect our school’s atmosphere.

With school only just beginning its hard to really see any immediate impacts outside of cramped stairways and impossibly long traffic lines, but to predict its effects down the road, we need to first examine the underlying reasons for why this new change was necessary. The freshmen class is the largest CCA has seen to date, sitting at exactly 662 students admitted, and a simple answer as to why this number is so high is demand. The statistics, rankings, and awards that make CCA stand out on paper, coupled with our Envision, Robotics, and Quest programs have all made our school a very desirable place to be in terms of academic rigor, and our rising sports teams have also brought us a sense of credibility in an area Torrey Pines has long dominated. An important thing to note, however, is that all these virtues have been present in some form or another for these past few years and the question still remains: Why now? Why has our district taken this seemingly sudden new approach to the waitlist? After all, according to our administra4

tion, in two of the last three years CCA has not accepted ANY of the students on the waitlist, let alone the entire pool.

As a middle-school student I remember anxiously waiting the day our CCA waitlist was announced, and the way I celebrated when the lottery fell in my favor, but in that excitement there was a tinge of regret. I would no longer be able to see the vast majority of my friends at school anymore, many of whom had elected Canyon Crest only to be offered a spot on the waitlist.

It seemed so unfair, that kids who could see the school from their backyards would still be unable to attend.

Families of these students, and of others who had not been offered spots in the classes of 2015, 2016, and 2017, have for years been raising questions on the equity and overall merit of the CCA lottery system. It is only recently with the recent passage of Prop AA, and its Phase III plans to build another set of classrooms in a proposed B-building behind the counseling office, that the district decided to meet and take another look at CCA’s student capacity. After conducting a study led by our superintendent Mr. Rick Schmitt and discussing its findings, the school board eventually decided to make classroom changes at both SDUHSD academies to maximize efficiency and to accept the entire waitlists at both schools. Principal Mueller states: “Our district has set up a task force [comprised of] members from the northern region of our district, the southern region, teachers, classified staff, students, parents, our

feeder schools,” that will make sure that “when decisions are made, they are informed and purposeful.”

Such an action doesn’t necessarily guarantee that our following year will have an equally populous incoming class - Mr. Mueller goes on to say that this decision wasn’t “a rubber stamp that ‘from this day forward all students will get their school of choice’” - but the overall trend seems to favor an ever larger and larger CCA, one that despite the district’s assurances, still feels cramped. I know, I know, this senior’s complaints about crowded staircases during passing period “rush hours” and impossible pickup/drop-off lines may seem like the angry cane-shaking of a geriatric at the neighborhood children on his lawn, but it’s still a legitimate concern. After all, the proposed Building B is still a long way off, and even with that new structure, ballooning student-to-faculty ratios may continue to make certain classrooms feel like a squeeze, particularly those in the humanities that may not benefit from the many laboratories that are supposed to make up our new building. How about campus safety or even student parking? We only have one amazing Hector to enforce our closed-campus rules for this growing host of students, and the student parking lot is - as Mr. Steinberger’s frantic directing of after-school traffic can attest to - already jam packed.

Though individually they might not seem very pressing, each of these little concerns come together to pose a serious problem for our school in the future.

I’m not going to lie, I was worried. These concerns reminded me eerily of my procrastination – each little thing would build up and threaten to overwhelm us if things weren’t addressed sometime soon.

...an ever larger and larger CCA, one that despite the district’s assurances, still feels cramped.

After interviewing Mr. Mueller, however, I’ve come to realize that many of my fears were unfounded and that the district has already started actively working to address the others. For example, it turns out that with a series of new hires this past year, student-to-faculty ratios are at, or slightly below, those of years past: we are welcoming new teachers in the sciences, world languages, English, and even physical education. What’s more, the district recognizes that not all problems are as easily solved as hiring new teachers. As Mr. Mueller likes to say, “People vote with their feet,” and due to high demand for courses in such fields as engineering and computer science, the district has decided to make some hard decisions, closing some classes to freshmen. Mr. Mueller goes on to say, “It’s not new to this school year - last year there were courses that were only available for 10-12, and that’s just the reality of student interest. With the fourby-four we say to our freshmen ‘you have plenty of opportunities over the next three years and a term to take some of these courses.”

Culture, however, is something the district cannot actively control and the question still remains, how will we adjust to our bigger campus? Many of our bigger sister schools in the district have struggled for years with bullying, cliques, and fighting, and though these problems stem from many different sources, CCA’s small size, coupled with its distinction as a school of choice, has always played a big role in preserving our school’s unique mindset. This inclusiveness sets us apart, and thinking of ways to cultivate it with our newer, bigger composition harkens back to the “Keep CCA Weird” movement that occurred a couple years ago. Seniors in the then graduating class decided to challenge fellow ravens to pre-

serve our CCA “weirdness,” whether that be through being oneself or through accepting one another. This simple reminder of what it meant to be a CCA student helped all of us, whether we were students or faculty, come together and refocus on who we were.

In the same way, I’ve come to realize that regardless of how big our school may seem, we’ll always have to continually remind ourselves why we’re even here, and just like those 2012 seniors, it falls on all of us to decide what CCA is all about, and how it’s going to either stay the same or change accordingly. These things don’t have to be earth shattering; for the first time this year our ASB ran a New Student Orientation Day where incoming freshmen had a full day on campus devoted to getting to know each other - and the school - better.

At this particular event, students participated in name games, water balloon tosses, and campus tours, as well as getting to know our faculty better, formally meeting Mr. Mueller, the assistant principals, and our counselors before the school year even started.

Katie Simonian, our Senior Class President, played a large role in helping to make that happen, and when asked about the thought processes behind hosting such an event, she states: “[The freshmen class] is a big class, and obviously you can’t know everyone, but we thought it would definitely be cool for all of them to be closer together.”

“That [orientation] was really effective and helpful, and I feel like the freshmen class all got a better feel for CCA before they finally came here.”

Though it may have only lasted a single day, the student orientation has had a lasting impact. It has helped many of our new students

feel more welcome and more focused on forming interpersonal connections within their grade. We too, should work to cultivate that sense of unity in our school through our actions, continually welcoming others in the things we do. That doesn’t mean we have to suddenly start packing our gym to the brim with screaming fans whenever our girls volleyball team plays a home game - though having a new, more eager freshmen class may change all of that - but rather, trying to live out the “CCA spirit” in our daily lives.

Though staircases, parking lots, and classrooms can always be built anew, that sense of CCA unity and welcome cannot, and I for one, welcome our new freshmen class to our Raven family.

We, too should work to cultivate that sense of unity...

As Mr. Mueller likes to say, ‘People vote with their feet.’

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What Is a Sport?

by Ethan Rappaport

What is a sport? According to dictionary.com, a sport is:

Sport [spawrt, spohrt] Noun 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

That’s great, and by any measure, a reasonably complete definition. But is it perfect? Does it really define what a sport is? Even more, does it define what a sport isn’t?

By this definition, one could theoretically categorize an everyday trip to the gym as a sport. Obviously it requires physical prowess, what with the weight lifting and the running. It’s an athletic activity because athletic means it “[involves] the use of physical skills” and synonyms for skills are “Knowhow, proficiency, and prowess.” Since we already know it requires physical prowess, abra-cadabra, it’s an athletic activity. Is it of a competitive nature?

Straining against increasing resistance, sweat glistening on your brow, you lift the five pound dumbbell high above your head. As it approaches it’s apex, you glance to your right, locking eyes with the man in short-shorts. Your heart rate quickens and your blood pressure rises as you thrust the weight cieling-ward, driven towards insanity by your insatiable thirst to best this shortshort sporting torte with your meaningless display of might. The real question is… is there anything more competitive than going to the gym?

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So, by this process of logic, using dictionary.com’s definitions, going to the gym is indeed a sport. If this is true, why stop with dictionary.com?

Spencer McKinney, a senior at Canyon Crest, has been playing golf since he was two years old, walking since he was one, and contemplating the definition of a sport since the moment he was born. After 17 years of introspection and golf, here is the fruit of his labor:

we go by this… what is a sport? Using these parameters, parking your car is a sport. It is an activity, and if anyone has tried to park on the side of the road by the staff lot after 7:45, they know that it takes a prodigious amount of athletic skill and/or talent.

Additionally, since this definition lacks dictionary.com’s confining adjective– competitive–this activity is officially a sport!

Sport [$p0r+, shbort] NOUN! 1. Any type of hobby or activity that requires some amount of athletic skill and/or talent Obviously, one can tell immediately from looking at this definition that it is a masterpiece of encyclopedic proportions. The wording is impeccable, the breadth of content that it captures without describing the entire known universe is unparalleled. However, if

Coming to a parking lot near you…

ESPN! The Entertaining Sport-Parking Network! Buckle up and check your transmission, it’s gonna be a tight squeeze!

With so few restrictions on what a sport is or isn’t, it’s hard not to come up with a whole slew of new ones for our parking victors to back into. Somethings competitive:

Foreseeably there would be a lot of winners, among who, many will look for another sport to test their metal.

Providing a more accepting, tolerant definition is Jessica Muchnik, a senior at Canyon Crest. Jessica is a level three in instrumental conservatory. She plays bass, guitar, piano, drums, ukulele, and nearly anything else that produces sounds. Her repertoire of genres includes jazz, rock, ska, reggae… and not sports. Jessica defines a sport as:

-Major League Gambling (MLG)

Sport [sphowrt, scbortt] Noun…?

1. Something competitive -Major League B!@#$ing (MLB)

Of course, not all of these newly established sports are for everybody. Not everyone can alter their bone structure for a brief period of time, as is the norm in the ISF, and not everyone can shake it like they do in the ATP. But sports are of equal value to for the spectators. Sports are a way for us as

humans to realize, “Can I parallel park like the pros? No. Can I have a good time watching, or at least curse silently when they take my spot? Always.” Enjoy the short-shorts man. Appreciate the wheel turning finesse involved in parking. Take the time to congratulate your classmate on their selfie achievements.

Most importantly, understand that the fact of the matter is, sports

cannot be defined by one set of parameters or another. Sports are the part of our society that allows us to compete without social limitations, to strain against arbitrary forces, and to win and lose without the strings attached to real-world failure.

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Don’t Doubt the Drought

by Patrick Lin

Every night, with temperatures hovering around 80 degrees, San Diegans were increasingly turning to their AC’s, fans, or whatever they can use to keep themselves sweatfree. So far, the first half of 2014 has been the hottest on record since the beginning of the 20th century, aggravating one of the worst droughts in history; what’s more, in those 119 years on record, 2013 had been the driest. The heat and drought amplify each other, throwing California into a vicious cycle of environmental and infrastructural distress that has forced many Californians to reconsider their lifestyles.

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In January of this year, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency, bringing officials and state workers together to quickly take action to alleviate the effects of drought and take preventive action against our ever-dropping water levels. With this declaration, radical steps could be taken to remedy the situation. He stated his goals:“We can’t make it rain, but we can be much better prepared for the terrible consequences that California’s drought now threatens, including dramatically less water for our farms and communities and increased fires in both urban and rural areas.”

Governor Brown is entirely correct in that we cannot make it rain, but Californians are curious about the causes of this emergency. Meteorologists have observed a massive area, almost two thousand miles long and four miles high, of atmospheric high pressure off the Pacific coast. This zone has diverted Pacific winter storms north into Alaska and Canada, depriving the lower West coast of its vital rainfall for more than a year now. The lack of rainfall first causes superficial conditions, such as visible patches of dry vegetation, decline in rivers and streams, dropping reservoir and lake levels,

and more. Deeper effects includes losses in hydropower production, disappearing aquatic species, and even sinking land surfaces due to subsurface water loss. This sinking of land, called subsidence, is caused by over-pumping of water in aquifers or water under the surface.

In fact, pumping in Central Valley has already caused land elevation to drop and created infrastructural problems in major canals. Meanwhile, the heat from human-caused global warming only lessens runoff from snowpacks and catalyzes faster evaporation from surface water.

Another tangible impact of drought is the potential for wildfires to be sparked by the combination of dry weather and windy weather and the ample fuel provided by our dense vegetation. In May, for example, the Bernardo Fire led to mandatory evacuations in 4S Ranch and Black Mountain, two days of school closure in CCA, and one day closure of all SDUSD schools. The Carlsbad and San Marcos fires also caused millions in property damage and at least one death and multiple injuries.

In terms of property damages, the state’s agricultural community is probably hit the hardest by the drought. California’s farmers, both family run and those belonging to agricultural companies, reside mainly in the Central Valley. In this hot, rural area, spanning from the Northern LA area to northern SF bay area, farmers produced 12.8% of the United States’ total agricultural production by dollar value, as observed by the California agricultural Resource Directory.

Those who have driven north on

the I-5 might notice unending rows of bushes and trees lining the side of the freeway. Covering a significant part of Central Valley’s 22000 square miles of land are these fruit and vegetable plants: Grapes, citrus, nuts, garlic, tomatoes, and more.

This year, a part of these colorful plots of lands will be going out of production. According to agricultural powerhouse UC Davis, 428,000 acres of irrigated farmland is going out of production, while farmers collectively lost an estimated 1 billion dollars in revenue losses and half a billion in water-pumping costs. Trying to combat these losses and prevent even more crops from going to waste, farmers are resorting to bidding for water or buying water at inflated prices to pump into their lands. Now, farmers are holding large amounts of well water or groundwater and are selling them to less fortunate farmers at extremely high prices. Even though groundwater is usually transferred and bought through state and federal aqueducts, more farmers are privately pumping their treasured water to other areas, which only exacerbates the land subsidence problem.

All these are significant damages to our lands, but many citizens don’t perceive the full impact of drought. Some who don’t follow news sources aren’t even aware that we are in an extremely severe drought. How exactly does it affect us, the average suburban San Diegan who has a house and two lawns? Does it affect CCA? It may affect us moderately, but nothing life-changing or financially threatening. Because of the conditions in the Central Valley, prices

of produce are also seeing a large increase. As acres of farmland are left idling, farmers are forced to grow and harvest fewer crops, causing high valued crops to jump even more in price. Avocados, lettuce, melons, tomatoes, and even dairy now cost even more in the average Vons or Ralphs. In terms of water usage, local municipalities and water suppliers have been ordered to employ shortage contingency plans that may influence our water supplies and bills. According to San Diego’s mandatory water use restrictions, we cannot use a running hose to wash down sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, tennis courts, patios or other paved areas.

Watering is also restricted to before 10 A.M and after 6 P.M currently.

Along with these restrictions, the state-run water conservation campaign encourages all of us to reduce our high water usage, and public interest groups have been running advertisements on TV and internet to encourage further conservation and awareness.

But it’s not enough to only be aware of the problem. It’s time to become part of the solution.

Anybody can start saving water in their homes, starting from brushing teeth in the morning to taking a shower at night. Knowing to set water sprinklers to certain times and abstaining from hand-hosing the lawn can also help a lot. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else we can do in terms of conservation measures other than hope that the weather conditions recover to a more manageable level. Still, as fall progresses temperatures should drop significantly, and the drought should be curbed.

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cca yearbook 10

THE RISE OF

TheIslamicState

by Joshua Bi

On August 19, 2014, a YouTube account claiming to belong to a member of the jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State uploaded a video portraying the brutal beheading of missing American journalist, James Wright Foley. YouTube reacted quickly and took the video down, but by then the video had already spread across the internet and the amount of people that had viewed the video had only grown exponentially as copies of the video circulated the internet. Before long, millions of Americans were glued to their screens in horror as they watched the diabolical decapitation of one of their own. By midday, most Americans had heard the news as headlines such as “American journalist beheaded by ISIS” ran across screens around the world and keywords such as ‘foley,’ ‘beheading,’ and ‘ISIS’ skyrocketed to the top of search engines. By the end of the day, one pervasive question remained on the minds of many Americans: What is ISIS?

In a way, that question is exactly the one that the Islamic State wanted the international community to ask. In the video, Foley appears kneeling in a stark orange jumpsuit while a member of the terrorist group

stands next to him in pitch black, wielding a small knife no larger than his fist. Foley then, in what appears in to be a pre-rehearsed speech, condemns the United States and his younger brother serving in the United States Air Force. His executioner then speaks in a distinctly British accent, warning President Obama that “any attempt by you… to deny the Muslims their rights of living in safety under the Islamic Caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people.” The beginning of Foley’s gruesome beheading is then shown before the video cuts to the end result. It ends with an image of Steven Sotloff, another missing American journalist that had disappeared in Syria, and a threat to also execute him if the United States continued its bombardment of the Islamic State.

Their choice of executioner also gave the Western world insight to their goals. It was no fortuitous coincidence that the executioner they chose happened to have a clear British accent.

ISIS was making a clear statement: We have your citizens working for us. This fear was later confirmed when British foreign secretary, William Hague, admitted that as many as 400 British citizens were believed to have joined ISIS, prompting many to wonder what factors would have caused people born and raised in the United Kingdom to leave their country and join a jihadist group.

The Islamic State (formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and more commonly known as ISIS) is a radical Sunni jihadist group founded in Iraq and Syria by an elusive man by the name of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. To understand alBaghdadi is to understand the Islamic

State and its motivations.

Many observers believe that al-Baghdadi was born in 1971 (putting him at approximately 43 years old), in the city of Samarra, a historically significant Iraqi city that lies just east of the Tigris River. Not much is known about his family life but he is believed to have attended the Islamic University of Baghdad, where he received his Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, and eventually his Doctorate in Islamic studies. After finishing school, al-Baghdadi founded a jihadist group which eventually joined the Mujahideen Shura Council, an organization of six Sunni Islamic terrorists groups, of which included al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The group had a common goal of ridding Iraq of American and government influence. After former leader, Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi, was killed in a rocket attack by US and Iraqi soldiers in 2010, Abu Bakr alBaghdadi was placed at the head of the group, which had by then rebranded itself as The Islamic State of Iraq (IS).

Through a succession of car bombings using improvised explosive devices and multiple suicide bombings, the group received a reputation of being deadly and brutal. Pretty soon, the attracted attention placed al-Baghdadi as one of the most wanted men in Iraq. By 2013, al-Baghdadi had drawn in enough of a following that he was able to expand in to Syria, forming the more overreaching Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL). There, the group fought in the ongoing Syrian Civil War against the Syrian Opposition, despite the fact that ISIS did not officially have ties either for or against the Syrian govern11

ment. On June 29th, 2014, al-Baghdadi declared that he had formed a caliphate (an Islamic state) and declared himself as caliph, a title given to the successor of the Prophet Muhammad, a revered figure in Islam. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant had become, simply, the Islamic State. Less than 51 days after, they beheaded their first American journalist, though, not their last.

Just as the world was beginning to comprehend the nature of Foley’s death, the life of the second American journalist who had been captured and threatened was soon the topic of much debate. Steven Sotloff, an American-Israeli journalist, had been kidnapped soon after arriving in Syria from Turkey. After worries from his family that his Jewish faith would provoke his captors to be especially cruel to him, Sotloff ’s previous employers and family attempted to conceal any traces of information that might betray his faith to his captors (an apparent success as there is no information to indicate his abductors 12

ever learned that he was Jewish). After the Foley beheading video was released and the Islamic State had made it clear to the American public that Sotloff ’s life was also jeopardy, many debated the best course of action. Should the US bend to the Islamic State’s will and stop airstrikes in the hope of saving Sotloff ’s life? Should the US be reenergized in its attempt to destroy the terrorist group? Adding to the fire, word came out that the US had failed in an earlier attempt to rescue the men—faulty intelligence lead US forces to a location where neither of the hostages were located at. The real life drama became even more heartbreaking after Sotloff ’s mother released a video begging her son’s captors to release him. In the video, she addresses al-Baghdadi as his self-imposed title of caliph and asked him to show mercy like the Prophet Muhammad did. “As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet

Muhammad, who protected People of the Book… Steven has no control over the actions of the U.S. government. He is an innocent journalist.”

Many wondered whether her compassionate words would have any effect on the heartless group, some thought (or hoped) that al-Baghdadi would be moved by her emotional appeal and have mercy on Sotloff. The answer soon became apparent when less than a week later another video from the group was posted online.

“I am Steven Joel Sotloff. I’m sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing before you,” says Sotloff in the video. He is on his knees and dons a sickeningly familiar orange jumpsuit while a man in black stands next to him, wielding a small knife. “And now this time for my message: Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be for the preservation of American lives and interests, so why is it that I am paying the price of your interference with my life. Am I not an American citizen? You’ve spent billions of

Above: James Foley, the fourth western hostage to be beheaded in a similar manner.

U.S. tax payers’ dollars and we’ve lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so where is the people’s interest in reigniting this war? From what little I know about foreign policy, I remember a time you could not win an election without promising to bring our troops back home from Iraq and Afghanistan and to close down Guantanamo. Here you are now, Obama, nearing the end of your term, and having achieving none of the above, and deceivingly marching us the American people in

the blazing fire.”’

The man in black begins speaking in the same British accent as the Foley video.

“I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings… on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You, Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to

strike the necks of your people…”

The Islamic State’s reign of terror did not end there. On Sept. 13, 2014 a video depicting the execution of a third hostage, David Haines, was released by the Islamic State, hours after his family released a statement through the British Foreign Office asking his captors to contact them. On Oct. 4, 2014 another video was released showing the beheading of Alan Henning, a British aid worker, making him the fourth westerner to be killed in a similar manner.

At the time of this article’s publication, none of the four bodies have been recovered.

The executioner remains at large.

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San Diego, CA 92130 Catis molori dolut que corem mos earchic iassitas dolupta aut ut quamusae seque dolorecusdaUt pa ped peSan Diego, CA 92130 Catis molori dolut queium corem mos earchic iassitasque dolupta autandit ut quamusae seque dolorecusda pabea peexcestium, volorrum delenquiam, nonsequist, lam et rumqu ibeatis essector am ratio (858) 509-9101 excestium, volorrum ium nonsequist, que lamatiatec et andit rumqu essectorditaes am ratio (858) 509-9101 dem quis dolorer chilit quedelensi senda quiam, dolorep eratiis nis molupic quiam, ibeatis cor sincimpos quobea te dem quis dolorer chilit que si senda dolorep eratiis nis molupic atiatec quiam, cor sincimpos ditaes quo te www.highbluffacademy.com 2 14 www.highbluffacademy.com 2

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Siblings at CCA

Relationships between siblings are consistently complex and fascinating, and that friendship/rivalry/competition/frenemie… whatever you want to call it, can instill some fascinating psychological effects on both siblings.

There’s something profoundly intriguing about living with a blood relation, during your time as a youth, (and in particular those-puberty years) 7 days a week, for 24 hours a day. Whatever the case may be, relationships between “sibs” are neither simple nor easy, and an emotional response, of any kind, is always in association. So, to put it lightly, going to high school with a sibling (age difference of 2-3 years in particular) is probably some weird s**t.

Sure, the two probably shared some years of elementary school together, but it was different back then. It -pardon the cliché- was a simpler time. The two’s relationship then was probably clean, uncomplicated, and elementary if you will (ha). Ahh, those K-6 days. We had yet to develop the opinions and anxieties that accompany that pimple- popping, voice-cracking transition from child to teen. And, during pubescence, one of the tikes is at middle school, the other with a s**t eating grin in elementary school. And when that happy go-lucky younger one hops on that roller coaster of cataclysm that wipes that naive smile clean off, their older counterpart heaves a sigh of not so quiet relief, as they pack up their luggage and move out of the junior hellhole/pigsty and into the refreshing and rejuvenating world of high school (at least in CCA’s case).

So what happens when the two’s school-attending escapades reunite?

Especially in high school, a place where a sibling’s behavior around friends, teachers, etc. could easily surprise and/or shock the other. We

by Cameron Chang

all have vague ideas in our minds of how siblings (specifically older ones, I would assume) react to the situations, something along the lines of “I can’t believe my sister/brother is growing up, it’s so weird they think they’re way older than they are” (spoken by the older sibling), or some form of “OMG, my older sister/brother is going to ruin my life and constantly embarrass me and make me lose all my friends and social status.” But is that what they’re really thinking? Probably not. With the overwhelming invasion of freshman at CCA this year, I felt that it would be fitting to interview pairs of CCA siblings of a 2 year age difference, one a freshman and one a junior, to ask them how they really feel about going to school together. How will this affect the overall relationship, as well as other inquiries of that sort.

My first interview was with boy-girl siblings, Jonas and Sophie McMullen. Jonas, a freshman, just recently graduated from Earl Warren Middle School, and has participated in a number of theatre productions all across San Diego. Sophie, a junior, was the Sophomore Class President during the 2013-2014 school year, and is the current Junior Class President. You could argue that Sophie is an ideal representation of the kind of student that our school is rumored to have; smart, sociable, and outgoing.

In your minds, what are some of the cons of going to school together?

Jonas: “Ok this is your turn” (he smirks) Sophie: “Where do I begin…”

J: “Having to find her after school is annoying. She’s a wanderer.” (commented in the drollest of tones) S: “I’m a social butterfly!” (she scoffs)

J: “She makes everything look easier than it is. She’s got it down. I don’t see any evil in you, of course” (he rolls his eyes).

S: “People come up to me and say ‘Is that weird freshman your brother”’!”

J: “There are so many bad things I could say actually, it’s not even funny anymore. I don’t know, I’m good.”

S: “Can we move on to another question?”

J: “Oh, she gives too much advice. Giving me her own personal experiences when I don’t need it , when it doesn’t apply to me.”

What was your feel/idea/impression of CCA before going (for Jonas)?: J: “Well, I’ve been waiting to go to this school for a very long time. I was equally excited when Sophie got in two years ago, because I knew that it meant I would be going here as well I thought it was new and inclusive, not like Torrey Pines (laughs). It would be somewhere I would really fit it in. Cool teachers. Hard academics.”

What’s it like seeing your sibling grow up/go to CCA? S: “When I see him I’m still in shock like, “Wait you go here? What?”. But I’m like, that’s so cool he gets to see how cool CCA is. I feel like anyone who has the opportunity to go to this school is lucky, and I’m happy to see him be there and see him make his mark on CCA.” How do you approach social situations such as seeing your sibling at school or walking past them?

S: “Actually though, I’m like, “Hey babe waddup?”. (The two take a minute to compose themselves) I always say hi to him first.”

J: “Usually, she’s sitting with someone 15

I don’t know though, and they’re all like, “OMG you look so much like her! my god!” I really only saw you in passing first day though (to Sophie).”

S: “Are you kidding? I see you every day. I come by you every day to make sure that you’re not sitting all alone in a corner.”

J: “Are you kidding? I have dilemmas trying to decide between two friend groups.”

S: “I just don’t want you to be the one guy sitting by the elevator by the gym all alone but you weren’t, so that’s good!”

Who is more enthusiastic about going to school together and why?

S: (screams) “I was so excited. And I LOVE ALL HIS FRIENDS.” J: “I was really excited (deadpans). No I was.”

S: “You’re probably more excited than me, actually.”

J: “It’s a new environment and middle school was NOT FUN. And it’s the first time we’ve gone school together since 4th grade and we’re really close and I really like her advice, her friends.”

What do you appreciate (or not appreciate) about the way your sibling acts at school?

S: “He’s a little too confident.

Like, you’re a freshman.

But I’m glad he’s comfortable and feels like CCA is his

home. Even if he’s too confident.”

J: “Wait. In what way do you think I’m confident?”

S: “It was kind of a joke.”

J: “That’s not a joke.”

S: “Ok, Jonas, this is serious. “Ok, I’m happy when I see him all confident, because I know he’s adjusted well.”

J: “Well I don’t appreciate it when I’m doing homework or complaining about it, and she always compares it to herself by saying “Freshman year’s so easy Jonas, just wait till sophomore and junior year”!”’

S: “When did I ever say 16

that?”

J: “I have a bunch of new teachers, you don’t know what they’re like! I don’t appreciate her downplaying…”

S: “Wait. Enough.”

J: “Ok, but what I appreciate is that she’s very supportive and is willing to help me with any issues, cause she’s experienced in the stuff I’m doing, especially dealing with at school.”

How does going to school together affect your relationship?

S: “More bonding!”

J: “Yeah more bonding, more…alone time. TOO MUCH TIME WITH ME AND HER. IT MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE. SOMETIMES IT GETS KIND OF WEIRD.” (He begins to scream) “AND THEN SHE COMES TO BITE.” S: “Wait what was the question?”

What will you to do embarrass your sibling?

S: “Oh that’s a good question. I scream his name as loud as I can so everyone can see and hear me screaming his name. I get super excited when I see him and his friends. He’s a champ.”

J: “If I ever did anything she would cut me.”

S: “NOT TRUE.” J: “There would be abuse. Let’s just say I would lose a limb…Embarrassing Sophie? I think she’s already got that covered.”

J: “I look forward to a great year.

WAHOO.”(He comments with a sarcastic edge. If you haven’t noticed by now, Mr. McMullen has a particularly dry sense of humor).

The 2nd (and final) pair I interviewed was Ronnie and Marisa Simon.

The two are both highly experienced dancers, and could certainly be labeled as “competition dancers.” Ronnie, a freshman, also recently graduated from Earl Warren, and apparently had a tough time choosing between Canyon Crest and Torrey Pines (?) because she feared that not having a school football team would interfere with her overall high school experience, since going to football games is usually an integral aspect of an average high school’s culture. Marisa, a junior, is very representative of CCA in terms of academic rigor taking all the APs she can get her hands on (an exaggeration, but you get the point).

What are some of the pros of going to school together?

Marisa: “We have to leave extra early now, and if I left early last year I’d always have try and find people to hang with, but now we have each other.”

Ronnie: “Yah we’re not like weird loners.”

M: “We’re weird loners together. Oh and people walk up to us because we’re people magnets. There are no more pros to that question.”(laughs) R: “Well at lunch if I have no friends I go find her! Wait, that’s not a pro.”

M: “Yeah that’s a con.”

R: “Well the thought of having her, like I had a dream where I broke my angle on the stairs. (Marisa laughs) No wait, shut up! I had a dream where I broke my angle and had to go to the hospital and almost died, but I was ok because I could call her.”

M: “You just feel safer by my presence.”

R: “Well, you know, like if I have allergies or something…

M: “YOU DONT HAVE ANY ALLERGIES!”

She loves getting their attention, like STOP STEALING MY THUNDER. You have your friends and I have mine.

Like my friends are her best friends on snap-chat, it’s so weird. Attention seeking is an issue.”

R: “Wait can I actually say something.

“Well, at beginning of the day we get here together, so what am I supposed to do? Stand 3 ft. away from your friends and stare?”

M: “Well you could be like a background role as opposed to, HEY PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!”

R: “Well you, you complain to me about Everything. Like EXCUSE ME. I don’t need to know about you boy problems, or your ACT problems, like GOLLY JEEPERS, just handle it yourself Like a Boss!”

cause I’m weird. I also thought that it might suck because we don’t have a football team.”

How do you guys approach social situations?

R: “Ok, let me explain. I see her-(she gets up), I spot her big curly hair and get my running start. Then I run, jump on her and say RISSYYYY!”

(For Ronnie) What was your overall feel of CCA before attending?

R: “I thought I wasn’t going to make any new friends. I also thought people wouldn’t want to hang outwith me

Cons?

R: “Wait I get to do this, MY TURN.” M: “Wait I have a ton of cons. Fine you go first, I’m being polite because I have a ton of cons about you. Actually I’ll go first. Ronnie loves to steal my friends.

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M: “That doesn’t happen.”

R: “Don’t you remember?”

M: “That happened one time. You usually just give me a double chin.”

R: “I just do this, (demonstrates double chin) then stare for 5 minutes.”

Anything surprising about the overall experience?

R: “That she likes guys.”

M: “That is so rude!”

R: “I just didn’t see her that way!”

M: “Can we move on? NOTHING SURPRISED ME ABOUT YOU. Oh, I thought she was gonna be a little Torrey (Pines).”

R: (gasp) “I’m so offended.”

M: “Well in middle school like you wore leggings and Uggs. Well you don’t wear Uggs anymore, how exciting CLAPS FOR YOU.”

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What do you appreciate (or not appreciate) about the way your sibling acts at school?

M: “I appreciate how open sheRisIwith TU TO NG her personality because I thought she was going to be closed off. I thought you were going to try to be too cool for school instead of doing your double chins all the time.”

R: “It’s really different to see you at school, because it’s a lot different. At home, you’re all focused on studying, TUTORING and at school you’re super social. I expected you to be…”

M: “Kinda like a nerd?”

R: “Yeah.”

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How does this affect overall relationship bet M: “It’s bonded us more, but sometimes it makes us more annoyed with each other.”

R: “Well, you never you used to open up with me about big things. Like life.

But we fight more often.”

How will you embarrass your sibling?

M: “HER DOUBLE CHINS. I answered it for her.

Is Taking Photos Stopping People From “Enjoying the moment”?

by Grace Tencer

Every teenager has heard the dreaded comment at least once in their lives: “put your phone down and appreciate the moment.” We all roll our eyes and ultimately comply with our parents’ wishes, but is using our phones to take pictures really taking away from “the moment?”

This past summer, I spent a few weeks with my family in Bali, Indonesia. One night we decided to go down to the beach to check out the sunset and when we arrived, it was to one of the most stunning views I had ever seen - the sky was burning in brilliant reds, rosy pinks, and cheerful yellows. My family and I stared openmouthed at the beauty in front of us, and then we, as one collective hive mind, pulled out our phones and started snapping photos.

As I stood there taking picture after picture on my iPhone, I swear I could almost hear the ghost of scolding’s past, screaming at me to “put away that technology, young lady, and live in the now.” Guilt getting the better of me, I put away my phone and stared at the sky until the sun finally went out of sight.

But is taking pictures on our phones instead of “appreciating the moment” really so wrong?

A lot of people argue that yes, it is wrong. They say that it stops you from living in the now and fully appreciating the moments that are happening right in front of you.

Ultimately, however, that’s where they are wrong.

That night in Bali I managed to enjoy the sunset both with my own two eyes and by the eye of my camera lens. Taking pictures that night is something that I am still pleased I did, as the act of doing so is still reaping benefits for me even today.

Upon arriving back to San Diego, I immediately set one of the sunset pictures as my screensaver. Now

this may not seem like that big of a deal, but it’s actually had a significant impact on my life these past few weeks. Whenever I’m having a bad day, or feeling overwhelmed about school, I can just take out my phone and look at those pictures. While it isn’t exactly a cure for stress or unhappiness, it DOES bring back a lot of happy memories and never fails to make me smile.

Just last week, my cousin Stephanie sent me a video of her daughter Brooke taking her very first steps.

Stephanie lives in Virginia, and because of this I don’t see her and her family nearly as often as I’d like to. By living all the way across the country, I’ve missed a lot of Brooke’s baby milestones- from her first time crawling to her first time speaking - so being able to witness something so important and monumental as this felt like nothing short of miraculous. By taking this video of Brooke walking, Stephanie was able to share that meaningful moment with her loved ones. Not only that, but Brooke will be able to watch it when she’s older (and probably groan as her mother starts crying).

So, is taking pictures really ruining the world?

Is spending a few minutes in front of a restaurant with your friends taking selfies really going to kill anyone?

The answer is a resounding “no.”

Take selfies with your friends! Take pictures of every sunset, of every flower. Take pictures of the night sky and your friends making silly faces. Forty years from now, when you might not even remember your high school best friend’s name, you will still have those moments and memories captured on a that four inch screen, where you can look at them and laugh, and cry, and groan, and most importantly, remember everything you thought you’d forgotten.

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2014 is an election year for California’s 52nd congressional district, an area which includes a large portion of San Diego County, including Carmel Valley, La Jolla, Point Loma, Downtown, Poway, and Coronado. The race for California’s 52nd congressional district seat is currently fiercely fought battle between incumbent, Scott Peters (D), and challenger, and former mayoral candidate, Carl DeMaio (R). Despite many of their similar views, supporters of both candidates vehemently believe that their candidate will better the future of their district. On November 4th, 2014, Californians will vote in to choose who they want to represent them in the House of Representatives for the next two years.

Scott Peters (D), Incumbunt Abortion Supports Affordable Care Act Supports Cannabis Supports medical use, opposes recreational Gun Rights use Supports but advocates for better enforcement of existing gun laws and reinstatement of HR437 Immigration Reform Supports Improving the Economy Believes increasing government transparency will help small businesses Marriage Equality Supports Minimum Wage Supports raising to $10.10 Net Neutrality Supports

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Carl DeMaio (R), Challenger Abortion Supports Affordable Care Act Opposes Cannabis Supports medical use, believes federal gov’t should leave regulation to states Gun Rights Supports but advocates for better enforcement of background checks Immigration Reform Supports Improving the Economy Believes deregulation will help small business and thus the economy Marriage Equality Supports Minimum Wage Supports raising on condition that costs on small businesses are reduced by gov’t Net Neutrality Supports

On the Move

by Emily Abrishamkar

Five states, nine schools, and enough goodbyes for a whole lifetime sums up Vyctorya Thomas-Vanzant fifteen years on earth. Growing up with both of her parents in the military, Vyctorya, a current sophomore, has not exactly had the same suburban experiences as most of us. She was born in Virginia, where she lived for two years before moving to Georgia, next Louisiana (where she lived with her grandmother), later Florida (where she lived with her aunt), then Corona (near Riverside in California), finally arriving in San Diego for eighth grade.

The most difficult part about moving, she says, is “leaving friends behind. It did not really start affecting me until third grade because I made so many close relationships and it was hard for me to just get over it.” What’s worse, as she got older and entered middle school the people that she became good friends with quit keeping in touch with her shortly after she would move: “They just stopped texting, but I’m pretty used to that by now.” In a way, she reasons, it was to her benefit to go through losing friends early on in life because she developed realistic expectations and understood not to take things so seriously or personally, for “that’s how things happen sometimes.”

Another major challenge she has dealt with her whole life is being separated from her parents, who met through their services in the military and were absent for months, or even over a year, at a time because they were stationed overseas. In kindergarten, when she was living with her grandmother, she recalled taking pictures with her classmates’ parents for the parent-oriented events instead of her own. The most traumatic incident, however, occurred at age five when she overheard her grandmother talking about her mother and misinterpreted that her mother had passed away. She remembers, “I was crying my eyes out

for two straight hours [even after my grandma told me my mother was not hurt]… when [I spoke to] my mom [on the phone], she reassured me that she was not going to be fighting”. Her father, who served in Iraq for about two years while Vyctorya was in third grade, also comforted her when she was younger by giving her a map marked with all of the places he would be so she would not have to worry about him.

Though she copes with practically unbearable circumstances, Vyctorya maintains a genuinely positive attitude. Her greatest memory happened around a year ago, she explains, “my mom was gone for nine months so I didn’t get to see her at all. She came back [to San Diego] about a week early [without me knowing] and she came to my dentist appointment. My dentist started playing this really happy music and told me to look at my braces in the mirror and she was behind me, [I could see her] in the mirror!” It is moments like these that make up for so much of the stress that is consequent of being a member of a military family, she affirms.

If anything, Vyctorya has learned to appreciate every moment that she has with her family and friends.

Because she spent so much of her life concerned for her parents’ safety, often wondering if she would ever be able to see them again, she insists that gratitude is one of the most underrated and valuable qualities to possess. Vyctorya elaborates, stating, “Listening to how my friends talk about their parents made me realize that most kids never fully appreciate [everything] their parents do for them.”

As for joining the mili-

tary herself, Vyctorya professes that she is definitely not interested. Instead, she would like to pursue her passions for theater and photography after graduating high school, and hopefully travel to New York.

Fortunately, she identifies Corona and San Diego as her favorite places and because her mother is planning to retire from the military this December, she will not have to pack up and leave again before college.

21

F

or teenagers, high school relationships seem to be the first step towards commitment with another person. Although most of these relationships can last anywhere from four days to four years, the annual graduating class continuously breaks the hearts of love-struck high school students each year. It is almost always to be expected, however, that one’s significant other will be moving on to bigger and better things after his or her high school career.

There remain two options for these couples: break up the summer before the graduating student leaves for college, or aim to continue the relationship long distance. Depending on the relationship, this depressing situation is handled completely differently by each individual. Canyon Crest Academy student Javan Tahir says that continuing his relationship with graduating senior, Troy Lingelbach, was a given. After three and a half months of dating, Troy left to Marymount Manhattan, more than 2,700 miles away. The couple has transitioned extremely smoothly, as they still keep in contact with each other daily via text and Skype.

For junior Jake Larnson, his 19 year old girlfriend leaving for college was a wakeup call. Problems that were unapparent before somehow presented themselves at a time when both were vulnerable. A month before his girlfriend, Hannah Terrip, left for college, the couple began discussing their future plans together– or apart.

Five months before her departure, Jake couldn’t bear to imagine his life without her. The process of slowly separating from each other during the month before Hannah’s leaving lead Jake to slowly ease into the mentality of no longer being with her. This evolved into the proposition to take a break

until they were together again.

Senior Christi Asher was left no choice but to give her significant other to the world of college after four months of dating. Attending school in Arizona, the distance between her and her boyfriend was too difficult to tolerate. Christi made the decision to leave her boyfriend, Adam, a couple weeks into the summer. Although both teenagers were compatible and steady, the ultimate decision was made by Christi to break things off to enable her love to continue his life without any obstacles.

Many high school students are faced with this issue every year, and it is more than likely that one of the two in the relationship will feel the need to end things for the better.

The desire to be free and start fresh in college seems to be a repetitive thought in the minds of newly graduated high school students. The idea of an open relationship between Jake Larnson and Hannah Terrip sparked from the fear of being “anchors” for one another, and holding each other back from experiencing life to the fullest. Agreeing to openly see other people, their relationship lives by the saying, “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

In the case that a couple stays together through long distance, the situation sets up many opportunities for infidelity and disloyalty. Trust is not a dramatic issue for most high school relationships because the couple is able to see their significant other on a regular basis. Christi Asher and Adam Terrone had no issue trusting each other over long distance, although time spent apart was a large issue in their relationship. The lovers trusted each other with everything and constantly exchanged secrets. Javan and Troy, the separation of these two men have not broken them apart, but rather

Don’t ask, don’t tell

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given their relationship more value and love. Keeping in constant contact, the couple sends each other packages and write letters to be sent across the country.

As we begin a new school year in 2014, many of our returning students are left feeling alone with their significant other so far away, or even gone. Unlike the college student, the teenager left behind in high school is not offered the same opportunity to start over and experiment. They must return to a life of routine and familiarity, which at one point was bearable with

Far,

someone by their side, but now they must enter alone.

However, the loss of everything familiar once

by Skylar Bi a senior graduates and moves on to college in a completely new environment is told to be much more difficult than staying behind as a high school student. Jake Larnson speaks of the difficulties regarding his girlfriend leaving for college, “Even though I am jealous of her living on her own in college, I think it is harder for her. She left all of her friends and family and now she doesn’t have her boyfriend with her anymore.” Javan feels as though the difficulty for him and his boyfriend are equal, but agrees that, “Although he is off at college having fun while I am still stuck in high school, he left all of his

Awa

family and friends behind and is in a new environment.”

High school is focused mainly around a single individual, which makes the stress of caring for another person in one’s life much more difficult. Relationships are hard enough as is, and long distances just emphasize the pressure. For Christi Asher, the distance was too much to bear, which caused drastic decisions to be made. The distance between Christi and her boyfriend, although not large,

I am still stuck in high school

Far

would have kept the couple from continuing in a comfortable relationship. ar Binney The realization that a couple’s love may not be able to withstand distance often leads to the “Turkey Dump.” A short 3 months after separation, Thanksgiving break arrives as the first reunion for couples after their recent separation. This event may be exciting, but also daunting. For many, the holiday break gives a college student an opportunity to see their boyfriend or girlfriend, which many times, leads to a breakup.

With a past of 11 months together, Hannah and Jake are still unsure of their life in the future together.

way

Hannah now attends school in the Midwest, which makes it difficult to communicate with her boyfriend, but still makes an effort to contact her boyfriend nearly every other day. On her own and free to do as she pleases, it is unknown whether or not she remains loyal to the relationship, but trust is not an issue with their open relationship. Although it is not preferable, both Jake and Hannah have approved the idea of an open relationship status.

Hannah aims to be with Jake forever as she jumps into adulthood, but he still remains in his teenage years with the future far ahead of him. Plans to be together once Jake has graduated have not been established, however, and he makes it clear that “[he] will always want her in [his] life whether it is as a friend or in an intimate relationship”. For couples that have never experienced long distance relationships, the idea of being apart from a loved one is terrifying. Jake Larnson once felt that way, but now sees the break from his girlfriend from a different perspective.

He views the separation as a chance to take a breath and take some time to “enjoy freedom from seeing someone every day.”

The couple was reunited for the first time in two months on October 4th, when Hannah flew out to visit Jake. Jake mentions, “I want my time with her now, but I can’t see the future with her yet. She’s starting college though and she’s older than me, so she wants a future. I’m only 16”. When asked whether the age difference is a problem at all, he replies, “Even if I was going to college too, we’d still be far apart.” Likewise, Javan makes it clear that age does not have an effect on his relationship with Troy, but the circumstances that come

along with the age gap are what cause a struggle. While the couple was at Canyon Crest together, age was but a number; now it has taken its toll and has divided the two men with 2,700 miles between them.

The way that couples choose to cope with the separation caused by one of them leaving brings many emotions and doubts to the surface. Loyalty and compatibility are questioned, which leads to necessary decisions being made in the relationship’s best interest.

Breaking up, dealing with the distance, or creating an open relationship seem to be common sources of resolution between a couple, but each individual relationship has its own methods to making both lovers satisfied and happy. Although graduating students are forced to leave their high school sweethearts, they remain hopeful that the distance is no match for their love.

She wants a future. I’m only 16

*Some names have been changed to protect identities.

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#TBT

by Emily Abrishamkar

Disclaimer: Some of the content in this article is fabricated or exaggerated for dramatic affect. For any freshmen reading this, I sincerely apologize if it seems like I am demonizing you. Welcome to Canyon Crest Academy.

7:30am I am still driving myself to school- I guess I can just be a freshman that was held back enough years to already have a license.

8:00am-11:12am I proceed to my assigned schedule classes, I swear this article is going to get better guys, but I couldn’t change my entire schedule to be a freshman.

11:12am Ah, the dreaded oncampus lunch, I came prepared with a Luna Bar and a bag of goldfish. Tears start to swell up as I see my fair-weather friends frolic off into the student lot, their only care in the world being that their Chipotle burritos will be ready on time. Luckily, I have my freshman sister to keep me company while I weep over my melted Luna bar and pitiful existence.

11:36am Holy s*** is lunch not over yet?

1:22pm Third period ends and the sophistication I feel after exiting AP Government quickly wears off as I realize that I am about to head into the eye of the storm. Freshmen. Everywhere. Like parasites eating away at little pieces of my soul. Mission impossible: walking through the upstairs hallway without being trampled over by a stampede of fourteen-year-olds.

How can I actually keep myself alive long enough to endure another hour and a half of school? I think I would rather listen to an entire Nickleback album while eating raw kale than sit 24

through a fourth period class right now.

1:26pm As I pass the ramp I see my fellow seniors walking down into a field of dreams that is the student parking lot, alas, I trudge my way on. Upon reaching the threshold of my Spanish I classroom I recite a quick prayer that I will make it out of this class alive. I enter the classroom: am I in Munchkin Land? All I see for miles are girls skinny enough to actually fit into the Brandy Melville jean shorts and boys too young to know they need to ditch the Bieber hair cut. Of course, with my last name beginning with the letter A I am seated in the front row directly in front of the projector, a heartfelt name

tag already propped on the desk.

1:30pm For whom the bell tolls?

Class begins and my teacher starts speaking hardcore Spanish to greet us. Let me be clear about something, I took French and other than the Spanish vocab provided in Organge is the New Black, my Spanish vocabulary is pretty much nada.

1:40pm She finally starts speaking in English, thank God. The obligatory ice-breaker task is simple: say your name, three things you like to do, what you did over summer, one food you like, one you dislike, and one interesting fact about yourself to your parter, who will then repeat what you said in front of the class afterwards. I look to my right, my partner is a baby-faced boy who I’ll call John. We make eye contact, and it becomes clear to me that my suave senior exterior is intimidating to sweet John, who finds it within himself to muster up the courage to introduce himself.

1:45pm You would think that after four years I would have some grasp as to three things that I like to do, but when John asks I fumble for words, is my senioritis kicking in already?

“Umm… you go first!” I laugh, avoiding the question for the moment.

“Okay! I like playing basketball, doing video games, andddd sleeping.

You?” He responds.

For the love of all that is holy what the hell do I say? Drugs, sex, and alcohol is all that comes to mind. Now that I am a senior I have a reputation to uphold for my entire class. But no, it is my duty to protect the innocence of CCA’s youth, I cannot expose him to seventeen-year-old vices. Though

judging from the conversations I overhear around campus, these kids are no strangers to PG-13, per se.

“I like… hiking, swimming, and sleeping” I decide, playing it safe.

1:50pm I would say that I am thoroughly acquainted with my Spanish partner. He went to Boston over the summer and he has a twin sister. Deep stuff. The Profe (new word I learned for teacher for all you ASL and French kids) announces that it is time for us to present each other to the class. Fortunately, we are not the first pairing to go. Watching them present, I see their faces unworn by the all-nighters that are soon to come and their eyes do not bear that pall of sadness that one develops from taking an AP test. One girl is a cheerleader. What has CCA come to?

2:00pm It’s time. I hardly anticipated getting public speaking anxiety when getting up in front of a bunch of children. As I rise from my seat I begin to break a sweat with all of these beady eyes sizing me up. I open my mouth to speak but it fails to produce any words and my eye begins to twitch. SOS people. Get your s*** together girl, you are representing class of 2015, you have a lot at stake here. I scan the crowd for any familiar faces but find none, my gaze lost in a sea of trusting eyes.

2:15pm Presentations are over and I plan on blocking out the occurrences here today. The Profe displays a PowerPoint on the projector and starts talking it through in Spanish. Unfortunately, my 5’7.5 frame sufficiently blocks the screen and obstructs my pocket-sized classmates from taking in the full view of Profe’s children, instead they are blessed with a magnified image of my fly-aways. You’re welcome.

2:26pm I am freaking starving and my stomach is growling louder than a rabid dog. I have no idea what Profe is saying. Maybe my language acquisition device is already closed because of my old age…

2:30pm The Profe pulls up the incumbent syllabus and the freshmen fixate on the screen with unprecedent-

ed precision, being as though they are still concerned with their personal records. Even though my bad-a** self refuses to actually read the screen, I pick up a few laws that are particularly disturbing.

1. No gum 2. No cell phones. No exceptions.

3. Participate in class 4. 3-4 bathroom passes a semester What kind of bulls*** is this? I am a

mere six months away from voting and I am denied my Constitutional right to chew gum in a public classroom?! And do I even have to get started on the no cell phones during class civil rights violation? There is no way I can do well on my eight hour photo shoot in PopGlam if I can’t play KimKardashian: Hollywood during class. All I can do is ponder what I ever did to deserve such a cruel and unusual punishment.

Lastly, I am way to godd*** old to be given bathroom passes.

2:40pm We get to pick our Spanish names. Of the list of female choices I instantly zoom in on “Margarita.”

Thankfully, being first on the alphabetical roster I am the first to choose.

2:50pm The final ten minutes of class have me feeling like I’m in the freaking Hunger Games. We are left to sit and chat with our new classmates and future biffls but I am too focused on being the first one to get to the door to make small talk about Bob the Builder with these children. I overhear the peppy blonde behind me talking about how excited she is to start reading Lord of the Flies and I envy her carefree demeanor, whereas I am stuck with a heart of darkness, literally and figuratively.

3:00pm I make a bee-line for the door without pause, pushing through the endless obstacles of rolling back packs. Peace out.

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Spy Parents

by Ronnie Simon

Are parents outsmarting their technological genius kids?

There is a new group of a secret spies out on this loose and they’re called parents. As the social media world grows, so are the amount of concerned parents and with applications like Snapchat and Whatsapp, it is hard to control what kids are sending and talking about these days. Fortunately for those over-protective parents, there is new way of spying on your kid’s phone, without taking it in the middle of the night.

New software such as mSpy and Spyera have created a whole new world of spying on kids. These applications allow parents to see their kid’s Snapchats, texts, calls, emails, Skype, and also Whatsapp. There are some apps more advanced than others and one of them is Spyera. This software allows you to listen to live calls, spy on cameras, and even listen to what’s going on around the phone. This means that the app places a hidden call to the iPhone it’s installed on and allows the person on the other side to listen to the phone’s surroundings, somewhat like a bugging device.

Most teens would argue that this is an invasion of their privacy and some parents may even agree with that.

However, it is legal to download this kind of software without the persons consent if they are a minor, according to mSpy’s website. However, if so many 26

parents can’t trust the relative safety of social media then why are a reported 73% of adults involved in a type of social media network? The protection of their kids is a parent’s main concern. However, there does come a level of trust needed between parents and teens within social media, one that does not involve a spy software connected discretely to phones.

To use mSpy and any other similar apps, a parent must first download it onto their child’s phone. Once it is installed, it leaves no icon on the screen, so children may not even be aware that the app is running in their phone. This is probably very concerning to teens at this point. Still, these apps are not perfect - in fact they are far from it. There are still some very small ways to find out if you have been invaded.

Most apps that you can download on Android phones leave your phone glitchy and with other small clues. For example, the app “Mobistealth” leaves behind the conspicuously named file “mobistealthv2.apk” in the download directory of the phone’s SD card. However, Spyera, which is downloaded on the iPhone, is a bit more clever and is not as visible to the average user. One hint, though, is that Spyera requires the phone to be jailbroken. iOS jailbreaking is the process of removing limitations on iOS, Apple’s operating systems. Most jailbreaks leave evidence such as the app Cydia or other

tweaks to iOS. If there is no evidence but your phone is acting fishy, simply restore the phone from a backup, or upgrade its firmware to un-jailbreak it. Even though there are ways to cheat the system, it is still very difficult to determine whether or not you have been “bugged.” One of the best ways to prevent this is to simply keep track of your phone at all times. That gets a bit hard though, when your punishment is no phone for a week.

The spy software can be considered, in many ways, unfair and a source of mistreatment, but life isn’t fair.

Right, parents? Actually, the parents are right about this one, but before parents download these apps, they should think about how it may affect their relationship with their child. If your child is better that you are with technology, then they will most likely find out that there is some form of spy software on their phone, and then is it even more likely that they will rebel and take charge of their own lives. So is it really worth paying up to $60 a month and losing your child’s trust, just to be absolutely sure they are safe online? Some parents may argue that they have the right to look at their child’s personal online life, and this can be true. On the other hand, this doesn’t just give you the power to look at your child’s information, after all these apps often shows you what their friends are saying too. If you thought reading your kid’s diary was bad, imagine reading all their friend’s diaries as well.

The best way to protect your child from the “dreaded” internet is to first, let them know what they should and should not do online and secondly, simply trust that they are doing the right things.

You Lose if You Don’t Snooze

by Ivy Li Coffee. Redbull. Tea. Five Hour Energy. Caffeine. More Coffee. Sound slightly familiar? These are the tools used to combat tiredness. And nowadays, a long snooze is almost unheard of. As school ramps up again, students bid the lazy days of summer goodbye.

Gone are the days of waking up at lunch time and staying up until one in the morning to play League of Legends and stalk people on Facebook.

However, this is impossible during the school year. Despite the recommended amount of 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep per day introduced by the National Sleep Foundation, teens are still resorting to lattes or several slaps to the face - instead of rest - to challenge the upcoming school day.

The pressure of balancing demanding activities such as school, sports , music, jobs, volunteering, and a social life is causing teens to cut sleep to get everything done. Countless high school students are taking high-demand AP courses and participating in a hoard of after school activities. As a result, the average high school student gets a mere 7.1 hours of sleep.

Say you were to follow the sleep guidelines and you plan to get nine hours of rest per day. School is about seven hours long and you have an average of four hours of homework per day. That leaves you about four hours. If it takes you an hour to get ready in the morning, and another

hour to cook/eat dinner and get ready for bed, then you would be left with two free hours. Sounds alright, doesn’t it? Not if you are playing sports, participating in clubs, working at a job, connecting with your friends, practicing a musical instrument and taking other classes. As a result, sleepy teens resort to sleep deprivation to cram in all of these activities.

Less rest can mean a lot, even if you’re just getting up half an hour early to study for that math quiz.

Sleep deprivation can cause drowsiness, which results in over 100,000 automobile accidents per year. Drowsy driving may be equivalent to driving with a BAC(Blood Alcohol Content) of 0.08%. Additionally, less sleep may cause high school students to fall asleep in class, thus missing important information or receiving a scolding from a frustrated teacher. Tired teens are more likely to forget what they learned and their level of concentration and attentiveness is significantly lower than that of the well-rested.

Moreover, less sleep causes dreaded acne to flare up.

But, you can’t blame all of this on “I have too much work.” Recent research suggests that technology plays a large role in sleep deprivation. The glowing screens of laptops, televisions, tablets and smartphones of a digitalized age also contribute to less sleep.

Teenagers of the digital age obsessively check social media, play games, and watch their favorite televisions shows and according to the study, teens who sleep with an electronic device in their

rooms are more likely to sleep less.

Additionally, those with parents who enforce a “digital curfew” are shown to be more likely to get a full night’s rest.

Laptops, tablets, cell phones and even some light bulbs emit a blue light. On the light spectrum, the colors are arranged in “rainbow order,” with violet on one end and red on the other.

Red light has the longest wavelength in the spectrum, while violet light has the shortest wavelength. Since shorter light waves tend to simulate the brain, the “blue light” of an electronic screen will confuse the body’s biological clock and it will take longer for one to fall asleep.

Despite the sleep discouraging environment that we live in, there are several measures that one can take to ensure a less exhausting lifestyle.

Several people choose to drink a warm beverage, such as tea or milk, which may help him or her relax at night. Meditation and listening to soothing music or a white noise generator will also help.

Additionally, one may also choose to download a program called f.lux, which causes the screen of a laptop or phone to adjust its brightness based on the time of day, which reduces the effect of blue light.

These are just some of the many options available.

In the end, no one can make you more sleep at night. It is your choice to study or snooze, or to nap or chat. Make a smart decision.

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When is enough enough?

By Josh Dillen

Over the Summer, as political situations developed for the United States, with the self-declared “Islamic State,� so did situations for one of the United States’ most controversial allies. With continued threats and airstrikes from neighboring country Palestine, Israel found itself in an increasing difficult situation that finally found themselves invading the Gaza Strip. While these actions concern Americans as Israel has received continued support from the United States in the form of defense, they also concern our student body at Canyon Crest Academy with a large Jewish student body and a large Jewish community in San Diego.

While Israel would argue that its actions against Palestine and its controlling power, Hamas, were justified, outsiders have condemned them for unsavory military tactics 28

that endangered and killed innocent Palestinians. Conflict in Israel did escalate over the Summer, one thing is certain: this is not the first time Israel and Palestine have fought.

In order to understand the recent conflict, a look to the past is necessary to fully understand why Israel has had to fight so hard to maintain their independence. Ever since the foundation of Israel after World War II, there has been fighting.

With the atrocities committed against Jews still fresh in the minds of world powers, Zionist groups decided that a Jewish state in the homeland of Judaism was necessary for the survival of these people. The establishment of a state in already claimed land by Arab nations increased tensions from the very beginning. Ever since then, fights over land and resources have been

fought with Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian people. Currently, peace treaties exist with both Egypt and Jordan, but lasting peace has yet to be achieved with the Palestinians. The prospect of resolutions with Palestinians are only made more tense by the current governing party Hamas, a group that has been declared a terrorist organization by many countries including the United States and the European Union.

The Palestinian struggle began when the British defined the homelands and boundaries of the Palestinian state and gave what many Palestinians believe to be land that was rightfully theirs to the new Jewish state of Israel. Ever since then, Palestinians have been fighting both physically and diplomatically to have their rightfully owned land returned to them. In

recent years, Palestinian territory to fire their missiles and that that mitigated if Gazans were given has fallen under the rule of Hamas. needed to be stopped.” There have more time to evacuate. “Hamas Hamas is an Islamic organization even been reports that Hamas was forced citizens to stay in buildings that works to see all of Palestinian encouraging Gazans to stay in their so it doesn’t matter if they were territory, under their definitions, homes during Israeli operations given more time,” said senior Alex led by an Islamic government. so the Israelis might be less willMaloney. “Hamas has to be shown However, Hamas does not have ing to attack the areas people lived that their actions must stop...shellcomplete legitimacy as their milior certain buildings. “It’s obvious ing hospitals is not necessarily the tary force is said to be a terrorist that Hamas doesn’t care about its solution but it is effective,” said organization by many countries own people,” replied Claire. Schools Claire. including our own. Israelis have en- run by the United Nations were There also accusations of Israeli dured countless missile strikes from also utilized by Hamas to harbor neglect in Gaza. According to many Hamas over the human rights orga...there will be fighting and rights will be violated. past few years nizations Israel has, and Israel decided that they had weapons and soldiers in the hopes “ongoing control over significant had enough. that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) aspects of life in Gaza,” and they Under a barrage of relentless would be wary to attack them. have, “a legal obligation to ensure rocket fire and allegations that However, Hamas was not the sole that the humanitarian needs of the Hamas had kidnapped three Israeli perpetrator in this conflict. people of Gaza are met.” In basic children and killed them, Israel deAnother common theme on words, if Israel is going to put such clared that they had no choice but social media was a whole host of a heavy focus on Gaza, it is their to begin military operation in Gaza articles condemning Israel’s actions responsibility to ensure that Gazans to destroy missile launching sites with accusations of war crimes have all basic human necessities inand tunnel systems built by Hamas. and violations of international cluding infrastructure for electricThe operation began with ranged humanitarian law. One accusaity and water. Accusations outline bombardment and later moved to tion was that the IDF did not give that the attacks on Gazan soil have a ground invasion of Gaza. Many Gazans enough time to evacuate weakened the infrastructure and cease fires were agreed upon, and buildings before attacks. “I know caused limited access to these basic broken, until August 26th which that Israel shelled [Gazan] hospitals necessities. “If Hamas wants to be has lasted until the time this article and homes,” said Sam Dutt, senior in control, they need to provide for was written. Thousands of Gazans at CCA. The IDF certainly did shell their people,” said Claire. Sam Dutt were killed, thousands of homes hospitals and homes injuring and replied saying, “Israel needs to be and buildings were destroyed, killing civilians and leaving tens of careful...[Gazans] should be alallegations of human rights violathousands of homes as rubble on lowed these basic rights and should tions were made, and United States the ground. Many people believe be given water and electricity.” citizens’ approval of Israel’s actions that casualties could have been Many Canyon Crest Academy dropped. have resigned to an attitude of not Due to our large Jewish popucaring about the conflict. If the lation at CCA and in San Diego, fighting is so far away, why worry dialogue of this issue abounded about it? The two countries have over the Summer, leading to some been fighting for years and there pretty intense opinions. Common is always conflict in the Middle sights on a CCA student’s social East. Why should we be involved networking accounts was pro-Israel in Israel’s affairs. The United State news that focused on the actions of is a large supporter of Israel and Hamas that led up to the event and even provided weapons used in required them to take action. Claire the recent conflict. Citizens should Goldman, a senior at CCA, said, question whether this aid should “I was told that Hamas was using be continued or not if Israel is schools and hospitals as shields going to continue to violate inter-

29

national law. “We should definitely be involved,” says Alex Maloney. “If we don’t help Israel, Hamas could continue to neglect its own people and attack Israel.” Some however might argue that the crimes committed by Israel should call U.S. support into question. “Whether we support Israel or not, there will be fighting and rights will be violated.

I’m not saying we should stop supporting them, just reevaluate the terms by which we do,” said Sam.

30

However, some might argue that the war crimes committed by Israel are lesser in severity than those of Hamas and are better than unimpeded attacks from Hamas. Either way, this conflict raises important questions here in the United States.

On the 26th of August both Israel and Hamas agreed to another cease fire. Only time will tell if this fully quells the fighting or even lasts through the end of the year.

While bullets and missiles have

stopped flying, words continue to be exchanged. Foreign policy with regards to Israel could become a topic of debate in midterm or even upcoming presidential elections.

This conflict shows no signs of ending soon whether it is fought with conventional weapons or the weapons of diplomacy. In the meantime, we as Americans must evaluate our role in supporting Israel.

Pulse Bloopers!

If you’ve ever wondered how many pictures it takes to get the “money shot” here at Pulse, here’s a small snippet of some of our bloopers.

There are some blurry ones, some bad ones, some light ones and some dark ones. There are missed poses, mid-sentence snaps, and lighting snafoos. Enjoy.

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