April 19, 2018
VOL. MMXVIII, No. 2
RAM’S EAR R I O V I S TA H I G H S C H O O L
First Female Ram on the Diamond
by Kiara Agan, Staff Writer
Trinity Gonzales has broken the barrier of girls on baseball teams in the places she has traveled. She first started playing baseball when she was 4 years old, which makes this her 13th year playing. Trinity started with baseball instead of softball because it was what her older brother had played. They would play all the time so it was what she was most comfortable with. Trinity has received so much love and support from her family and her dad pushes her everyday to be the best she can be. The road for her becoming a baseball player was not easy. Trinity faced a tough time when she was cut from a boys’ baseball team. They had cut her because they were concerned about extra expenses that would be incurred to support a female on the team. These expenses would be paying for an extra hotel room for Trinity during
playoffs due to the fact she was female and could not be housed in the same rooms as the boys. But she did not let that stop her; she soon later received a call from a coach recruiting her for a girls only travel ball team. The team went to New York and out of the 50 teams there, they were the only girls team. The team was composed of girls who play from all over the world. For a team that had never played together they were able to secure third place. Now, she is part of the Rio Vista High School baseball team, along with 17 other players who all hope for a good season that ends in playoffs. The boys have never had a girl player, so this is a new experience for them. As for Trinity, she advised to girls: “Don’t doubt yourself. Realize you can do anything a guy can, and don’t let them treat you any different.”
Courtesy of Gonzales Family
Find Your Hiker’s Haven
by Brooke Okumura, Staff Writer
Seeking a rural get-away for a day? A late night adventure? Your craving is just around the corner. Take a half hour drive to Clayton to embark the trailhead of the Waterfall Loop at Mt. Diablo for a 6-mile round-trip hike. Not only can you witness the fairy-tale like scenery of the waterfalls, but you can also view the sweet floral smell of the wild daffodils that are now blooming in season.
If you’re looking for a new set of scenery, head to the Echo Lakes hike in Lake Tahoe. Depending on how far you decide to travel, you can visit Echo Lake, take the Tamarack Trail to Lake Tamarack, or seek an overnight stay for the enduring and self-satisfactory hike to Aloha Lake.
EDITORIAL
Map of Echo Lakes Trails
Mt. Diablo’s Waterfall Loop Trail
For those of you looking for a trek, head to the trails near Mill Valley to begin the Dipsea Trail, famous for the the Dipsea Trail Run, the Double Dipsea, and the Quad Dipsea Trail. The Dipsea begins in Mill Valley and ends at Stinson Beach, adding up to a 9 and a half mile hike.
Trail map of Pacheco Valle
Young Trinity Gonzales originally from Twentynine Palms, Calif., was the catcher for the Sparks baseball team.
If you’re craving a simple day getaway, go to the Marin Headlands to take the trail of the Steep Ravine or Alamere Falls Trail. The Steep Ravine is similar in area to the Dipsea trail, but instead of the many popular land bridges of the Dipsea, it has ladders along the way. Alamere Falls may be a better choice for those wanting a hike that is short and concise with a sweet ending; the Point Reyes National Seashore. Go on a day excursion, take the weekend off, go outdoors and take in the natural beauties of this earth. Disregard all things materialistic and take time for yourself to relax and treat yourself to the serenity of the wilderness.
Map of the six trails in Tuolumme Meadows in Yosemite National Park
Do You Really Trust the Government Enough to Hand Over Your Guns?
by Aiden Mayhood, Editor-in-Chief
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The Second Amendment, intended to keep the U.S. from maintaining a standing army, also served as a tool to protect the First Amendment, the right to free speech. Treated as a second-class right in today’s American society, the Second Amendment has faced harsh criticism from both sides of the aisle (yes, BOTH sides), although you might be taught that Democrats are more keen to be more restrictive of the “right to keep and bear arms” and Republicans want no gun legislation at all as a result by the elite-backed mass media that spreads propaganda to the youth of our nation and even our educated class. However, their wants and needs are not very different. Giving citizens of the United States the means to protect themselves by right wasn’t originally intended for hunting or target practicing; it was created mainly for one purpose: to protect against a tyrannical government like that of King George III. I’m here to show you why you shouldn’t
trust your government, allegedly of the people, for the people, and by the people, to whittle away your Second Amendment rights so that their objectives can take precedence over yours and why guns are the only tool we have when diplomacy and democracy fails. In the annals and muniments of history, free societies have faced tyrannical leaders, dictatorial factions, and freedom-grabbing ideologies that all have one thing in common: the retraction of guns from the general populace. From Hitler’s Nazi regime taking away guns from “enemies of the state” like its Jewish citizens, Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic of China banning the possession of firearms, and Stalin’s Union of Soviet Social Republics stripping guns from its citizens during Collectivization, guns have been taken from the hands of innocent citizens by tyrannical governments so they could rule with an iron fist. Although taking away the right to “keep and bear arms” isn’t always the first step to take over government and its people, it is a necessary step to keep despotic leaders in power. There is a quote from an (Continued on Page 2)