SDA Mustang Apr. 2010 by The Mustang Newspaper

The Mustang

04.02.10 issue five volume fourteen

On the Cover

04.02.10

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Senior Florian Termin has graduated from his signature coloredpencil portraits.“I like using old newspapers and vintage National Geographic magazines. I also like water color, paper mache, ink pen, and splatter paint,” said Termin. The piece on the cover is a reflection of Termin’s childhood memories of immigrating to America from his native country, Germany. “It represents the California experience. The Tabasco sauce can represent the Spanish roots of California, while the traffic is the modern industrial economic behemoth that’s conceived,” said Termin.

Staff

16 &17

News Editors Ariel Chao Andrew Kasselmann

Girls just want to have fun Is that maxim that men have assumed is true, really a reality? Or is it just another one of their games meant to confuse the other sex?

T.F. Elliot?

Tamzin Elliot recently had one of her original compositions played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. If that isn’t impressive enough, she is a junior whose talent will only mature. Enjoy this portrait of a muscian as a young woman.

Managing Editor Kyle Shohfi

Opinions Editor Ana Reyes

Arts Editors Rieko Michelle Whitfield Thea Brown

Features Editor Nicole Fisher

Circus Animal Fun Editor Dimitri Fausch

Essay Editor Design Editor Danielle Gradisher

Sports Editors Pauline Disch Kaylin Greene

Ads Manager Alexa Shapiro

Photo Editor Nina Moussavi

Staff Writers Lindsey Agnew, Laura Avila, Hayley Baker, Domenica Berman, Casey Dayan, Julian Dennis, Josh Drilling, Amy Dushkin, Paige Ely, Nicole Greene, Emily Hall, Eleanor Hendrickson, Maddison Lyon, Erika Mazza, Ashlynne McClean, Shelby Meyers, Bailey Mezan, Kate Murphy, Caroline Pollock, Kate Radcliffe, Kerry Roberson, Jack Rushall, Anna Sheridan, Henry Sweat, Tatiana Skomski Advisor Tim Roberts San Dieguito Academy Room 93 800 Santa Fe Drive Encinitas, CA 92024 (760) 753-1121 x5161

Notice The Mustang is the student newspaper of San Dieguito Academy. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the newspaper. The Mustang is an open forum which welcomes letters. Letters can be submitted to room 93, emailed to sdamustang@hotmail.com, or mailed to the above address.

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SDA escapes budget pain

New biotechnology lab opens

SDA avoids layoffs threatening other districts. andrew kasselmann

n the midst of California’s budget crisis, districts across the state and county have announced they may be laying off hundreds of teachers. The San Dieguito Union High School District, however, will not, Ken Noah, district superintendent, said in a budget message posted on the district’s website. The district will face a gap between actual revenues and estimated expenditures for the next three years of about $7.4 million per year, according to Noah. For the 2010-2011 school year, the district’s goal will be to reduce expenditures by about $3.5 million. In order to accomplish this, the district will not replace retiring teachers, look to reduce support-level positions, and make permanent reductions in accounts where there are still unspent funds, according to Noah. Class sizes should remain the same for next year though, Noah said. The district is expected to decline in enrollment by about 400 students next year, so it should balance out with the slightly smaller number of teachers, said Noah. While other districts have seen large reductions in staff, the district was able to avoid such sweeping layoffs for two main reasons, said San Dieguito Academy principal Michael Grove. First, SDUHSD is a basic aid district this year. As a basic aid district, funding comes more from property taxes from homes in the district and comes less from the state of California. “As a basic aid district, we have a

better idea of how much money we will have for the next year. We didn’t need to say that we may lay off lots of teachers like other districts had to do,” said Grove. Grove also said that the district has built up reserve funds that it will begin to tap into this year. According to Steve Ma, head of the district’s Business Services Department, the general fund reserve is approximately $17.4 million on a $101 million annual budget. As a result of significant revenue reductions over the past two years, district expenses exceed revenues by approximately $7.4 million. The district will use its reserve to help cover these costs and has also developed a fiscal stability plan which calls for reducing expenditures by $3.6 million in 2010-2011 school year. “This will go a long way to address the deficit spending in the near term,” he said. The budget difficulties will still have an effect on SDA. All of SDA’s temporary teachers who have one-year contracts have been notified that their contract may not be renewed for the next year, Grove said. In contrast, other districts are not offering jobs to even some tenured teachers, said Grove. Some support staff will most likely not be coming back next year either, he said. Work on the beautification of SDA’s campus may also be more limited in scope due to the lack of available funding. “Without a lot of money, it will be hard to do big projects, but a lot can still be done I think through little things,” Grove said.

Teacher layoffs by school district These are the numbers of teachers given layoff notices in each school district in North County. Information compiled from district websites and the North County Times. Cardiff: 7

Poway Unified: 237

Carlsbad Unified: 0

San Dieguito Union: 0

Encinitas Union: 26

San Marcos Unified: 40

Escondido Union (Elementary): 77

San Pasqual Union: 9

Escondido Union High: 0

Valley Center Pauma Unified: 3

Oceanside Unified: 200

Vista Unified: 151

ariel chao

SDA’s new biotech lab is up and running with brand new equipment, 75 percent of which was donated to the school by biotech companies. Students will have access to automatic pipettes, among other innovative additions that give the class opportunities never available before. The lab is also equipped with laptops and an internet connection in order to allow for simultaneous research and lab time. kyle shohfi

College Board questioned College Board’s executive pay and lobbying practices are examined. alexa shapiro

“I

f you’re taking three or four exams you have to pay $300-400, which is unfair to many students,” senior Courtney Swan said of the College Board AP tests. Collegeboard exams include the Advanced Placement tests ($96), the SAT ($45), and the SAT II’s ($20). “Many students have to pay for their own tests which is very difficult when the only jobs that hire high school students don’t pay much,” Swan said. “Fortunately, my parents pay for my tests, but if they didn’t, I don’t think I could afford to take them.” Many colleges require SAT scores, and students feel that a lot of AP tests will help their chances for admission. With all these tests, College Board makes a fairly large amount of money. The non-profit organization’s 2007 tax returns show that they took in $621 million in revenue, and spent $581 million of that. Where exactly does this money go? Critics say that a large portion of the money goes to overcompensating employees, while other critics question spending money on political lobbying.

Executive pay criticized

According to critics, a portion of College Board’s money goes to

extravagant salaries for highlevel executives. “College Board leaders direct huge sums of money to fund lavish lifestyles from unnecessary tests,” said Robert Schaeffer, Fairtest’s public education director. Fairtest is an independent non-profit organization that works to analyze and reform the way colleges assess students through standardized tests. Many media sources go to Fairtest when looking at criticism of testing organizations like College Board. Americans for Educational Testing Reform, an organization aimed at reforming standardized testing groups, believes that College Board overpays their high executives as well. According to their website, “CEO Gaston Caperton [president of College Board] is being compensated $830,832 per year. That is far more than the CEO of the United Way (America’s largest non-profit company), and more than twice the President of the United States’s annual salary of $400,000…These salaries are far too high for a non-profit company.” According to College Board’s 2007 tax returns, Caperton made $707,290. In addition, 10 senior vice presidents made from $150,000 to $450,000, and five vice presidents made $180,000 to $300,000. These employees

worked 40 hour weeks, the returns said. In comparison to other non-profits, “[these salaries are] ridiculously high,” Schaeffer said.

College Board responds

When asked for a response, Jennifer Topiel, a representative from College Board, said “Our executives’ salaries are established by a compensation committee of our Board of Trustees with the advice of independent, external compensation consultants. This firm benchmarks our salaries against comparable organizations, including educational organizations and other not-for-profit institutions. Our executive salaries are very much in line with the capabilities of professionals required to run an organization of this size and complexity.”

Independent firm’s opinion on fair compensation

Economic Research Institute, an organization that provides software to analyze salaries, estimates that the direct compensation for CEOs of organizations similar to College Board would be almost $410,000 with 50 percent of the salaries falling between $761,000 and $371,000. These numbers are similar to the CEO of College Board. This continued on page six

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Music to the ears $5,000 raised to support arts progams. lindsey agnew

nina moussavi

Sanding things out Students gather around in the woodshop to discuss their topic of choice.

Come together

SDA students congregate again during homeroom to share opinions on various issues. henry sweat

he interval between second and homeroom was inundated with students trying to find their room for Discussion Day on March 23. Each room had a topic, such as technology or sex, which they talked about during the 45 minutes of extended homeroom.

Teachers were given a list of discussion points to help aid conversation, but ultimately the flow of the discussion was dictated by the students. In one of the technology discussions, students discussed how technology affects transportation and the possibility that the world is run by a machine. In another discussion group, senior Kevin Brice

said, “I learned that sex in junior high is not socially acceptable; however, high school sex seems all right. We also all agreed that our parents would crush us if our parents walked in.” The following Thursday students met with their homerooms to discuss how their discussions went and what could be done to improve the experience. “My

own discussion group teamed up with the other discussion group that had the same topic and I got more out of it that way. I brought that up in homeroom and we discussed the benefits of that change,” said junior Chloe Jones. There will be one more Discussion Day on May 25 during extended homeroom.

SDA students bring home first in J-CAP An SDA team wins first place in ‘Jeopardy’-style Japanese knowledge competition. lindsey agnew

or the first time since the name was changed from Japan Bowl to J-CAP, an SDA level four team won first place in the ‘Jeopardy’-style competition for high school students who are learning Japanese. J-CAP, standing for Japanese Cultural Academic Proficiency, is an annual event that took place on Feb. 27 this year at San Diego State University and was sponsored by Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana. The winning team members included seniors Dylan Yokoyama and Zack Mayeda and junior Kyle Shumate. The team won by 40 points, with the final score in favor of SDA with 150, Scripps Ranch with 110, and La Costa Canyon with 50. “It was pretty unbelievable,”

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said Yokoyama. “At one point we had -40 points. We were down by 160, and there were only four 50 point questions left. Then I got two questions and bonuses right and we started winning.” “He turned as red as a tomato,” said senior Savonnah Turner. “It was really stressful.” Turner was one of the 14 competing SDA students. Teams from Canyon Crest Academy and Torrey Pines did not make it to the final round. The winning team was awarded prize bags containing a Japanese movie and book, posters, pens, stickers, and Japanese food. They were also given certificates signed by the Japanese consulate of Los Angeles. Participants received t-shirts and sumi e paintbrushes for traditional Japanese ink brush drawing, as

well as a bento box lunch. J-CAP is made up of two preliminary rounds and five final ones with a total of 25 total questions. The preliminary rounds are made up of a’Jeopardy’ round and a manga writing round. In the manga writing round, teams are given 45 minutes to fill in blank speech bubbles in a Japanese cartoon they are given. The cartoons are then judged on difficulty of vocabulary, complexity, and creativity. The final rounds are split up into five categories of ‘Jeopardy’style questions: Kanji (Japanese characters representing words), culture, Bumpou (grammar), Tongo (vocabulary) and Expressive Expressions. Groups are organized by level of Japanese classes taken. There are competitions for Japa-

nese II, III, and IV. “It was still really hard,” said Turner, who is currently in AP Japanese. “Competing in Japanese four doesn’t make the competition easier at all.” Students practiced for J-CAP by studying on their own and attending J-CAT, a practice session in the Mustang Center the previous week. Students got experience answering questions and practicing their Japanese. J-CAT originated when the yearbook misquoted Zoey Fox, class of 09’, when she said “I had a really fun time at J-CAP.” thinking she had said “J-CAT.” “We are all very excited, and I am very happy with how our team did,” said SDA Japanese teacher Rie Tsuboi. “It went really well. We felt like we all won since the highest level team won.”

round $5,000 was raised at the 3rd annual Cabaret Night to help support SDA’s music and theater departments. About 220 guests, most of whom were parents of students performing, attended the Feb. 27 event at the Encinitas Community Center. “The funds will be split fairly between the music and theater departments and pay for regular operating costs like sheet music and supplies,” said music teacher and event organizer Jeremy Wuertz. Lower pricing for student tickets, however, attracted more students to attend the event than ever before. “It was very exciting,” said Wuertz. “It was our third straight sellout and has become a regular part of our performance calendar. I’m thrilled to be a part of it, and I hope it becomes a longstanding tradition.” For the first time, SDA’s culinary arts class participated in Cabaret Night, providing food for the audience during intermissions. Fifteen students from the class served an assortment of appetizers. “It was great to see everyone’s reaction to the food, which was delicious!” said sophomore Sammay Ness, who was one of the chefs at the event. The music and theater classes provided entertainment for the night in a variety of performances. Theater students did short songs and skits such as “Curtain

[“ ”] It was great to see everyone’s reaction to the food, which was delicious!

-Sammay Ness, sophmore

Falls”, while the band split into small groups and played songs including the themes to “The Pink Panther” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” “They were all catchy, cabaret songs,” said clarinetist Mae Wright, sophomore. “It was a great opportunity for all of the arts to come together and create something beautiful.”

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Got talent?

Rockin’ out

he Academy Idol and the Talent Show were combined this year to produce a night full of singers and other performers. About 130 adults and students attended the March 11th performance. Teachers and students judged for the night. Winners included seniors Kirby Lochner and Jordan Gray, third place; senior Henry Chesnutt, second place; and freshman Ross Cooper, first place. Cooper played the guitar and sang his original song “Through and Through” which “is about someone special, that kind of universal love theme,” he said. Cooper has opened for Jewel, and played at the House of Blues and Humphrey’s Lounge. Other performances of the night seemed to keep everybody’s attention. Junior Matt Benedetti had the crowd laughing using a “serious” movie theater guy voice and his jokes about Arnold Schwarzenegger. Freshman Aly Baker did covers on “Tick Tock” by Ke$sha and Lady Gaga songs “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” on the piano. Although seniors Maddie Bailey and Kayla Boyd weren’t the winners of the night, they will proceed to North County Idol.The idol will be hosted at Canyon Crest Academy. Other high schools in North County such as La Costa Canyon and Carlsbad will send students to compete. At the end of the night, all the acts walked on stage and were flooded with a final wave of applause. ashlynne mcclean

an Dieguito Academy’s Symphonic Band received the highest rating possible “Unanimous Superior” at the Eastlake Music Festival on March 18. Junior Chloe Jones said only one other band at the festival received this prestigious rating, which means that the panel gave them a superior rating and that it was the first time that SDA’s band has received the rating. Senior Tanner Shimkus, first flautist, summarized the day: “We walked into the theatre and everything was in slow motion.Then we aced our music.Then we went to the sight reading and we owned that. Later, they were like, ‘Dude, SDA gets unanimous superior rating.’ We were like, ‘Dude, that is awesome.’” henry sweat

rie tsuboi

Heiwa Japanese exchange students Kana Furuya and Rubii Sugibayashi pose for a picture with freshman Sarah Coleman and sophomores Greg Baumann and Jody Salee.

Home away from home

vast expanse of fat slovenly half-wits, stuffing their faces with fried food and sugar-covered sugar. They sit on their big “American-sized” couches—the only ones that can support their enormity—watching their 10-foot tall TVs, shouting childish insults to the characters on the screen. This is America. Or America as seen by some of the incoming Japanese exchange students, prior to their arrival here on March 7. Twenty Japanese school-girls were welcomed with open arms by their temporary host-families, with whom they would stay for the next eight days and who would try to make them see that America is not just “Big food, big people, and big buildings,” as Yuki Miyaguchi said. During their stay, they would experience school at SDA, and learn more about American culture and the English language. Only a short time after her arrival, Miyaguchi had drastically changed her opinion of Americans. “At first I thought they were not good, and now I don’t,” She said. While the exchange students were here, they worked to improve their English and noticed a plethora of differences in the school system, culture, and food between Toyama City in Japan and Encinitas. “I like hamburgers. I think it’s so good,” said Ayaka Kawamura. She said In-n-Out was one of the things she would miss most about America. Toyama Minami High School, the school the exchange students attend, doesn’t allow them to do many things Academy students see as conventional such as painting their nails, dying their hair and wearing nonschool-approved clothes on campus. They cannot get their driver’s license, or a job, until they have left high school. Kawamura said she wants to use her English to help those in need, and plans to study international relations when she gets to a university. This trip helped her to improve her English, she said. The Japanese exchange students left SDA on March 15. Although they were sad to leave—Mizuki Katakai said she didn’t want to go home and wanted to live in Encinitas. People here, as Kawamura said, are likeable, loving, kind, and are not all fat after all. Although these 20 Japanese school-girls have been home for some time now, a second group of 13 Japanese students will have just left this Thursday. julian dennis nicole greene

Numbers

1,165

dollars raised by social science teacher James Hrzina’s third period for Pasta for Pennies

Forum recap

he last SDA forum was held on March 24.The majority of the time was spent discussing possible changes to SDA’s Academy Awards. One complaint about the awards ceremony was that four hours is too long. The idea of cutting down the number of student awards per teacher from six to two was not well recieved by the students present at the meeting. Another topic, introduced by senior Jen Godfrey, was the idea of creating a system of volunteer student drivers to safely transport intoxicated students from parties to their homes regardless of time of day. ana reyes

states that SDA robotics team will compete in including Georgia, Nevada and California

scott huntley

Welcome to Candyland Seniors Mike Hursa and Max Oltersdorf prepare trays of food for the hungry Cabaret Night guests.

Cooking up a storm

ulinary arts teacher Scott Huntley and his students hosted the first “SDA café” lunch for teachers at hour lunch on March 3. The class also helped to cater Cabaret Night this year. The staff who wanted to attend reserved a lunch spot ahead of time and showed up in the cooking room full of anticipation. “I’ve been looking forward to this all year!” said history teacher Oly Norris. Huntley and history teacher, Kerry Koda, had been brainstorming the idea for a while, taking inspiration from other school districts and culinary programs that serve food to the whole school or community. The staff who attended raved about the food and the experience. “Not only is the food delicious, but fresh and nutritious. It’s a joy to see all these students participating,” said Assistant Principal Jeanne Jones. The lunches show students how the lessons taught in culinary arts can be applied in a working restaurant. “This experience helped me learn more about the culinary profession and realize how it really works,” said sophomore Kendall Running. “This is a great way of bringing the rest of the campus in to show them what were doing,” said Huntley. Because of the success of this lunch, Huntley is planning on continuing these lunches on Wednesdays when teachers don’t have meetings. Huntley thought the whole process went really well considering it was the first time this had ever been done. Menus for the future will probably include Italian and Mexican food because of their impressive flavorful dishes. tatiana skomski

139

place Spanish teacher Sheryl Bode finished in the LA Marathon out of 1039 runners

nurseries that donated plants to the 30’s quad for the beautification project

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Souplantation for the teenage soul henry sweat

he day was late, but the sun still beat down on the waiting crowd. The people were all smiles, acting like N*SYNC fans waiting for autographs in the ‘90s. Then the floodgates opened at four and when each customer entered the new Souplantation there was a marked change. It was an every man for himself situation, with people ferociously creating salads, spooning tomatoes, grabbing lettuce and stealing the last big crouton. The restaurant opened for a few hours on March 18, with all proceeds going to the Encinitas Boys and Girls Club. Each meal was only $5 and included a drink. This preceded the public opening on March 23. As people finished their salads, they snuck over to the bakery which served the exquisite Quattro Formaggio Focaccia. People devoured the delicacy and servers were kept hard at work placing more of the fourcheese pizza on the buffet table. Further along the bakery line were classic breads with differing butters including the ever popular honey butter. The soups, from which the restaurant takes its name, stood, seemingly neglected from the customers. College Board continued from page 3

Then customers, teenagers especially, finished their meals and moved onto the sundae bar that has made a special spot in every teenager’s heart for Souplantation since it has unlimited refills. The Encinitas location is more complete than other locations since it features the rare crumbled Oreos. Each patron started with an empty bowl and left the sundae bar with a Matterhorn, complete with geographical formations like sprinkles, nuts and possibly chocolate sauce. At the end of the meal, customers sat contentedly, many having eaten a six-course meal in a period of 20 minutes. The servers were especially active, clearing each plate when the customer had finished. One server leaped to snatch a falling napkin, grabbing it when it had barely kissed the ground and quickly disposed of it. The customer who had dropped said napkin appeared shocked at the speed of its disposal and had prepared for this eventuality by bringing a few extras. Sophomore Aram Mahmoudzadeh said, “They really offer a lot more variety than most of the other local eateries. You just can’t beat 13 cookies for two dollars.”

means that executives with years of experience would make around $750,000, and new employees would make about $400,000.

Schaeffer said. After asking for a comment regarding their political lobbying, College Board refrained from responding.

Lobbying questioned

Organizations like Fairtest and AETR have attempted to minimize the amount of power held by College Board. AETR started a petition in April of 2008 and hopes to force College Board to reform their ways and stop overcompensation of executives and political lobbying. However, the petition has only 109 signatures. Fairtest offers colleges ways of evaluating testing policies by holding conferences and meetings. In response to Fairtest, College Board has said that their product is good and asked Fairtest to remove some of their claims from its website, however, Fairtest refused, said Schaeffer. In 2009, College Board sold 293,151 advance placement tests in California. If sold at the San Dieguito Academy’s standard price in 2009 of $86, this comes out to a total of $25,210,986.

Americans for Educational Testing Reform criticized College Board for participating in political lobbying. The College Board tax return form showed the organization spent over $1 million dollars on political lobbying. AETR said these actions were to “solidify their existing monopoly or even create a new one,” according to their website. According to Open Secrets, an organization that analyzes money’s influence on U.S elections and policies, College Board lobbied on acts aimed at enhancing engineering, science and mathematic education. Although these numbers appear high, Schaeffer said, non-profits are allowed to participate in political lobbying. It’s a question of whether “a parent or student wants their money going towards political lobbying,”

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Come cheer on Mustang sports on Friday, April 2! Boys Volleyball vs. Escondido Adventist Academy at SDA. Junior Varsity 4:30 pm,Varsity 5:30 p.m.

Boys Varsity Lacrosse vs. Carlsbad at Carlsbad high school, 7:30 p.m.

Warning! Receiving salon services from Detour Salon triggers acute episodes of vanity and happiness. Symptoms include continual smiling, confidence in your look, head tossing, hair flipping and unexpected compliments. Reinforcement of conditions occurs by shopping the hip selection of clothing, jewelry and accessories. HIP URBAN HAIR

Reforms sought

$10 off any hair service with valid San Dieguito High School student ID card (Excludes waxing. Cannot be transferred or combined with any offer.)

Yuko & Bio-Ionic Hair Straightening

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the

Mustang

Regarding the SDA shuttle bus scuttlebutt

opinions 04.02.10 What’s up with...

Students want to establish transportation network for intoxicated teens. Will it work?

hroughout the past several weeks, PALs have visited homerooms to discuss with students ways to prevent drunk driving and riding in cars with intoxicated drivers. This is due to the increase in the percentage of SDA students who binge drink, drive while intoxicated, and ride with intoxicated drivers, according to the results of the Healthy Kids Survey of 2009. The idea of a volunteer pick up group to drive home drunk students from parties was raised. Although The Mustang

thinks this service should exist, there are potential problems with creating and maintaining a student-made organization responsible for safely bringing home intoxicated or stranded students from parties. One major concern is the safety of the volunteer student drivers at night. Some strangers might abuse the system and pose as students in need of a ride only to take advantage of the volunteers. In order to combat this problem, a code word or mandatory proof of identification could be used. Volunteers would then

Financial WHAT?!

STAFF EDITORIAL

know that the person they are picking up is in fact the student they claim to be. In addition to the use of code words, volunteers could also use a buddy system to ensure their safety. No matter what precautions may exist, however, having potentially drunk passengers will be distracting to the student drivers, making it hard for them to focus on the road. People might wonder if there would be enough students to volunteer and if those students would be reliable. If students did in fact create this system, they would have to screen student

volunteers. Because of curfew laws, the volunteers would have to be at least 18. Additionally, due to the age requirements, the pool of students who would be able to volunteer is severely limited. To attract volunteers, students could be charged $5 for the service. Thirty-one of The Mustang staff members supported the idea of having such a service for students. Eleven students supported the idea of students being able to plan on using the system ahead of time, while 14 students thought the system should only be a last resort for students.

“...mean people?” katy swanson, sophomore

“...math?” isaac leruth, sophomore

A taste of potential liz avila

35 San Dieguito Academy AVID students embarked on a trip to their future.

ozens of fundraisers and $5,800 later and we were on the road to Fresno. Thirty-five SDA AVID students, from freshmen to seniors, got on a charter bus at 4:30 a.m. on March 10 in the search of finding their picture perfect four-year college. We stayed in a different hotel for three nights, and for many of us, it was our first trip away from home. Most (if not all) AVID students are generally the first in their families to go to college; there are times when parents do not understand the importance of either visiting colleges before applying or going away for college as they may think that education is the same no matter where you get it. The recent trip focused on Merced, Sacramento, and the Bay Area. We visited 10 fouryear schools, including top UC’s, CSU’s, and private universities. Blaze Newman, the trip coordinator and AVID teacher, explained that the trip is beneficial. “It often changes [students’] lives—they really ‘get’ that college is possible for them ... They come back much more serious and focused on their work.” Every year the AVID classes raise money that funds the cost of the trip. We AVID students strive to go on this trip. In

liz avila Preparing for College: An admissions officer at the University of San Francisco talks to AVID students before they head back to San Diego.

order to make the trip happen, we start fundraising as soon as school starts. My sophomore year (I’m a senior now), the AVID club did not raise enough money to create an overnight trip, but we were allowed to take day trips to schools in Southern California. For many of the kids, it will be the first time that they leave home without their parents.

Before my first overnight trip last year in March of 2009, I had never gone anywhere outside of San Diego without my parents. Many first-generation college students run the risk of having their parents not allow them to leave the county for college. Many parents want their students to commute from home to class every day, or think that education is education no matter

what the school name is, or the school location, be it San Marcos or Berkley. There have been situations when parents did not understand how different education can be based on the level of difficulty in the school. The trip allows kids to come back ready to convince mom and dad about the big difference moving away for college is. Senior Cindy Lopez said, “The first year that I went on the college trip, was the first time I was away from my parents. Anywhere I went, it was always with my mom, dad, or siblings. But when I went on the college trip my freshman year, I realized that I could make it without them—at least for school. I want to explore something outside of Encinitas. A lot of the schools that I have visited are the same schools I applied for in the fall.” On Saturday, March 13, the 35 students got off the charter bus at the front SDA parking lot and all had one ideal college in mind that they could see themselves attending. From freshmen who now know the schools that seem interesting, to seniors who visited a college that they have been admitted to and are truly considering attending, we all walked off with a new dream that can never be taken away.

“..taking seven minutes to get to class in the five minute break?” sarah gallagher, freshman

“...spring break being so short?” nick savage, sophomore

“...semicolons?” jamie yates, senior

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Mustang

woof, woof

tatiana skomski

the

opinions 04.02.10

Save me

Adopt a dog, save a life, gain a companion.

ittle kids around America are asking their mothers for new, little, fluffy puppies to play with, yet there are thousands of loving and perfectly good dogs awaiting their “furever homes” in shelters all over the country. The story is always the same. The young family or newlywed couple comes into a pet store or animal shelter looking for the tan and white fluffy puppy to complete their little world. These people make me sick. Working as a public relations intern at Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, I am constantly faced with the harsh truth of our world. People don’t want old, abandoned dogs. They want that storybook puppy to play in the garden and to grow up with. What’s wrong with a fiveyear-old mutt with a skittish and nervous personality? I adopted my now 10-year-old mutt Roxy from the Helen Woodward Animal Center. Although her nervousness has improved, there are still obvious traces of abuse from Roxy’s past. Whenever a loud noise is made or someone is yelling she will hover in the corner and start to shake. My dad’s male friends still can’t come over unless they have known her since we got her, and even then they are still growled at.

Still, Roxy has found warmth and love in her new home and makes every day worth living for us. Let’s just say you were a dog, hypothetically speaking. How would you feel if you were a “mixed breed” left alone in a cold kennel on a rainy winter night? How would it make you feel if nobody wanted to play with you or scratch your belly or give you kisses on your wet nose? You would feel terrible, that’s how you would feel. Being left alone to die isn’t a great feeling. Working at an animal shelter really opens your eyes to the cruelty our world can hold. When you walk through a row of kennels at Helen Woodward, or any other kind of shelter, you are faced with the same attention grabbing barks and distressed looks on faces. “Where am I? Where’s my family? What’s going to happen to me?” These needy pets are all barking for the same thing: love. Helen Woodward is not only a no-kill shelter, but it is also the creator of Iams Home for the Holidays, which has given 1,363,638 abandoned animals a loving home. Every week Helen Woodward is faced with harsh acts of abuse. From a box of newborn puppies left in a box in the desert, to a kitten shot in

tatiana skomski Help, I need somebody. Behind rusting bars, this abandoned mutt, Lucky, serves out his undeserved life sentence.

the eye and then left alone to die in a box, acts of cruelty seem to become more and more popular these days. However, through every bad thing comes a good thing. For me, this idea has come to my attention through vicious animal crimes. While I was working at the center, an abused kitten arrived.

Less than six months old, this kitten was shot in the eye. If someone can be this cruel to an innocent kitten, then they can surely do the same to a human. Why would someone do something like this? What goes through the heard of a criminal while shooting an innocent kitten through the head? This I will

never understand. Adopting animals is one of the most fulfilling experiences you can ever have. You are giving a second chance to someone who was given up on life. That’s what I did with someone who is now my best friend. So please save a life and adopt your next pet.

rap snitch knishes

Lit’ature gets facial’d by TV Good books can fly you to new worlds. TV can too. Except you sit first class instead of economy.

josh drilling

“T

he Grapes of Wrath.” “The Great Gatsby.” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Sure these are “great books.” Classics, as my grandmoms might say, or some guy who likes “The Decemberists,” but reading is yesteryear’s pastime. Reading used to be as American as apple pie, which were baked and then sat out to cool looking delicious for hours before they could be enjoyed. When moms used to cook

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those pies and iron my collars and vacuum the damn living room already, reading was analogous to fixin’ cars, playin’ football, chewin’ gum and squintin’ in the dust, pretty much waiting to gather ‘round the table for dinner and talk small. Teachers and aunts and counselors alike can vouch, teenagery didn’t used to be so much volunteer here, get a job there, score a 24-hundy Saturday morning, go to practice but

don’t miss Spring tryouts, and don’t forget your AP homework, young man; (teenage) life was a little slower. In that slower life, people had the time to read. They’d read books and talk about ‘em with their friends and get along and base their inside jokes off books. But who does that anymore? Maybe after a long debate in English about how absurd Henry Higgins is we made fun of Karl

for being Henry Higginsy, but that was one time. People spend more time watching TV than they do watching books. Books are slow, books are written slow, books are read slow. In a half hour, I can see an entire plot unfold and resolve in “Entourage,” and then my friends and I can chat about it. Oh television ain’t the most respectable of art forms? It ain’t as methodical, nuanced, clever

as literature? Meet Don Draper from “Mad Men.” IChat with John Locke from “Lost.” Text dirty with Dr. House. The amount of attention, capital, and acclaim garnered by television and its massive scope have drawn in the best artists just as Florence’s wealth afforded the Renaissance. TV is awesome. The “classic” has been reestablished: “The Wire,” “30 Rock,” and “Breaking Bad.”

Mustang

iWit

the

opinions 04.02.10

mckenna taylor

Plugging into now

News flash. School is for learning. Tuning into your iPod over teacher’s lessons is not part of the deal.

can’t decide

e’ve all seen them. The mischievous, the furtive. They are among us. With one earpiece in and one earpiece out, the people who are able to juggle music and learning. But these “multi-taskers” do not see the negative side to their actions. Ever since iPods came out, no adolescent is without the latest music at their fingertips and in their ears. This trend has struck every classroom. Although this fad keeps growing, the earpiece accessory is taking kids away from the classroom and classmates and into their own little world of music. Plugging into one’s music during class time is just plain rude. There are expectations for the average student to fulfill. One of them is to pay attention and show respect to the teacher. Listening to an iPod shows anything but respect. Think about it from a ana reyes teacher’s perspective. Would you want to spend your time Turn off that sound, While iPods may bring you joy, they only bring me pain.

lindsey agnew

teaching students who aren’t even lending you their ears let alone paying attention? At least when students zone out in class, they are usually able to come back to what the teacher is talking about instead of getting absorbed in the noise of their music. If students don’t care about their teachers’ expectations of them, at least they should take their fellow peers into account. Imagine taking a challenging test. Suddenly, the sound of your neighbor’s death metal meets your ears and all concentration is lost in the roaring. I’m sure all of us have experienced this, maybe not with death metal but at least with another genre of music. Now, think about yourself. Live in the moment and take advantage of all the opportunities being handed to you. When you’re tuned into your iPod, you’re missing out on your education and the benefits of

succeeding in school. Think of all that wasted time you spend listening to your iPod in class, when you could actually be learning something worthwhile. We have so many classes offered at our school. By excelling in your core classes, you have more room in your schedule to take elective classes that interest you. Paying attention earpiece-free and getting good grades in exchange for fun electives sounds like a pretty good deal, if you ask me. So stop sticking those earbuds in and getting consumed by the music world. Save your iPod sessions for out-of-class time. Plug into the present. Stop missing out on the knowledge around you. In the end, plugging into Lady Gaga over lessons is only hurting yourself. Whether you care about your teachers, friends, or self, the next time you begin to plug into your iPod, think again. Plugging into the present holds a brighter future.

Are u game?

Move over iPods, there’s an old game back in town.

n a consumer-based society like ours, we go through handheld electronics faster than you can download Tap Tap 4 on your iPod. But we can’t forget the history that has taken us up to where we are now. Though my old Pacman games are ready for the museum showcases, turning on my Game Boy Color and watching the grey screen flicker to life with pixilated graphics and cheery beeps of music brings joy to my heart. I’m not saying that all old games are better than new ones. I love my iPod and all the apps that are on it. But older games simply have a certain charm that the new ones are lacking. Maybe it’s the cartridges you pop in to them, or the little beeps as they turn on. It could be that the games didn’t cost $0.99, and saving up allowance to buy them made them feel so much more special.

While some of the new iPod games are really great (Doodle Jump, anyone?), they are easily overshadowed by the masses of pointless, awkward, and just plain stupid ones. There’s iGouge: Eye Poking Fun! and iPuke Mobile, where you get the luxury of choosing between upchuck, regurgitate, and vomit. Don’t forget about iBeer, iFart, and iBurn—the list goes on and on. Not even these inane games can compare with my personal favorite: One Hundred. Costing $99.99, this app displays eight facts about the US $100 bill. There are certain times when everything seems all crazy in the world, when something as simple as Tetris and Pong seem just perfect. They’re old, familiar, and great enough to have stood the test of time. Compared to the new iPod games, where the Top 25 change every week, older games are much more

comforting than the iTunes Store’s random variety. Take my parent’s old Nintendo Game Boy. The original Game Boy, with a green LCD screen and black pixels for graphics. When it debuted in 1989, the Game Boy set the tone for insert-the-cartridge handheld games for decades. I found three games for it: Tetris, NASCAR Fast Tracks, and Lazlo’s Leap. To make it all better, in NASCAR, I got to drive a Ford Thunderbird and the screeching of the brakes sounded like someone was torturing a cat. Pressing D-pad and A and B buttons has completely disappeared in handheld games with the iPod Touch and iPhone. But, in a cheap imitation attempt, certain games have D-pads on the screen that you tap with your fingers. Those, however, cannot truly compare to the little plastic ones that gradually

nina moussavi

Game over, Buttons on the old Game Boy are no match for the iPod touch.

disappeared with the coming of the Nintendo DS. That device was brilliant, offering both the charm of older games and the cool new technology of a touch screen with its stylus. So please, the next time you are waiting for that new app to

download, dig through that pile of old stuff in the corner of your room, and find that old PSP or Game Boy Color you couldn’t be separated from when you were 10. You would be surprised by how great Super Mario Bros still is.

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Mustang

licensed to drive

kate radcliffe

the

opinions 02.26.10

From vroom to doom Cars and criminals make for a dangerously stupid combination on the road.

hile watching the muted news on a big screen in the YMCA gym, a breaking story about a car chase in Kansas flashed on the screen, and stayed there flashing for nearly an hour. As the car drove around at dangerous speeds, usually on the wrong side of the road, with numerous pieces of wood hanging like appendages from its windshield and bumper, it occurred to me that if one were to commit a crime, the worst possible thing one could do to minimize the problem would be to engage in a car chase. First of all, to commit the kind of crime that would involve a car chase would have to be pretty legitimately illegal. We’re not talking riding without a bicycle helmet. More like big bank robberies or assault―the sort of things that make the police actually want to follow you for hours. Unfortunately, the criminal activity doesn’t stop at the first misdemeanor. As I saw during the coverage of the Kansas City car chase, you may find that speeding away to avoid the cops actually causes you to commit even more crimes: driving on the wrong side of the road, going over the speed limit, and crusading through private property are just the start. But I guess to some crooks, crimes are like tattoos—you can

never have too many. Cars can only hold so much gas, so they will only run for a limited amount of time. That’s right. There are no time-outs either to refill your tank or grab some donut holes from the convenience store. So it is inevitable that the police should catch you and subsequently arrest you. And by the time they catch you, there will be lots of them, and they will have lost their patience for you and your shenanigans. They will have also wasted a whole tank of fuel chasing you around the state. Gas is not cheap, buddy. And neither are all the donuts that it took to feed the whole squad of cops, so you aren’t going to be adding good behavior to your criminal repertoire anytime soon. Car chases serve as a mild form of entertainment at the criminal’s expense. Forget the fact that you’re going to jail, the public humiliation will sting for longer than any amount of time behind bars. Spike TV re-runs will not get any easier to watch, especially when they are dramatized to make you look stupider than you actually are. Extra tattoos, mohawks, and low intelligence will be included. It might hurt a little, but hey, at least you got to go on that road trip around the state you were always talking about.

nina moussavi

Burning rubber: A speeding car is pursued by cop cars in this miniature reenactment of your typical car chase scene.

heavens

Teenager vs. Predator

danielle gradisher

“T

RUN! RUN WHILE YOU CAN! THEY’RE GONNA GETCHA! No, seriously, just calm down.

here’s a predator out there, Dani,” my mother said ominously. She had been watching the news. I try to keep her away from that stuff, I swear, but every so often she gives me the slip and gets buried under the latest tragedy. This time, when she flipped her way toward fear-mongering overload, the kidnapping and murder of Chelsea King dominated. I suppose that after covering the earthquake in Haiti and the innumerable peace talks

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between Palestine and Israel, the local anchors got bored of farflung tragedies and felt the need to dredge up a misfortune closer to home. Soon, every telephone pole from Vista to Tehachapi had the smiling faces of first Amber Dubois and then Chelsea King stapled to their sides. Widespread searches using dogs, helicopters, and humans combed the area, where they disappeared. Then, after four tense days, John Albert Gardner III was arrested. After hearing of his cap-

ture on (what else!) the evening news, people like my mother breathed a sigh of relief and went back to their daily lives. Sorry, Mommy, but predators are always “out there.” John Gardner III is not the only dangerous person in San Diego County. Just take a gander at familywatchdog, us, and Violá! All those red dots that pop up in your neighborhood are pedophiles, and, yes, they’re living right down your street. According to missingkids.com, there are 118,692 sexual offend-

ers registered in the state of California alone. While I’m not saying that you should lock yourself in your house and live off of pizza and cheese whiz for the rest of your life, a can of mace might not go amiss for the average pedestrian. It’s not just when the higher-ups of the media decide that more ads can be sold with “kidnap” in the headline to buy them another Lear jet that those predators come out of their fox holes. Unfortunately, the media is a

for-profit business, and therefore, the story that will get the most viewers is the story that will run. So, when the stories like those of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois flash on and off of your TV sets, the problem hasn’t correspondingly been turned off. Like the rising oceanic acidity and the danger of trans-fats, it’s only when specific, tangible, relatable examples come to light, like Amber Dubois and Chelsea King, do the media and people like my mother pay attention.

with a side of hair

the

Mustang

amy dushkin

A hairy situation

Every March, the male students and teachers of SDA show off their primitive sides. Please shave.

very year I see the sign announcing “Manly Month of March” and cringe. The thought of the male student population going around, faces covered in gristly hair is enough to make anyone gag. I mean really, hair is supposed to go on top of your head, not all over your face. Every time I see someone with unruly facial hair my thoughts immediately go to images of cavemen, grunting to each other in primitive languages rather than speaking sophisticated, fullyformed words of today. Wild, untrimmed hair on your face is in no way appealing. There are plenty of styles of facial hair (goatees, moustaches, soul patches, etc.) all of which require shaving to create or maintain. Even handlebar moustaches with long ZZ Topesque beards would look better than just letting facial hair grow all by itself. Also, the combination of food and a scraggly beard can be disastrous. Imagine seeing someone walk around with particles of left-over sloppy joes

golden greene

opinions 04.02.10

natalie o’brien Moustache madness, Imagine dried up pieces of food in this messy man’s facial hair, and you can see the problem.

on his face. Now add a layer of thick, coarse facial hair in-between. Believe me; nobody wants to see little bits of your

lunch stuck in the excess hair on your face. Plus for anyone with a job, untamed facial hair can be

unsanitary as well as unprofessional. Even the New York Yankees have a “grooming policy” in which the players are

not allowed to have unkempt facial hair. Other corporations, such as Abercrombie, prohibit employees from having any facial hair. A big part of restaurant credibility is directly correlated to sanitation. Some restaurants, such as Souplantation, ban male employees from having facial hair. If anyone who served me food had a hairy, unshaven face, I would immediately scour my plate for any trace of hair, in disgust of simply the thought of hair falling off of someone’s chin and into my bowl of chicken noodle soup. I know that the purpose of Manly Month of March is to foster some sort of school spirit, but letting nature take its course by letting hair grow all over your face is a bit excessive. There are other ways to show your school spirit, such as going to sports games, that don’t require growing a winter coat on your face. Yes, you have passed puberty; we get it. Now go buy a razor.

Going for the gold kaylin greene

Achieving the highest award in Girl Scouts requires a lot more work than just selling cookies.

here is an endangered strain that walks among us. They look identical in appearance to every other member of their sex; they do their hair and apply mascara and paint their nails. In fact, if you didn’t ask them directly (and if they didn’t lie to you if they respond), you would never know their secret. They are the Girl Scouts of the United States of America and they’re fighting. Fighting like hell to obtain the highest award available in the entire organization. “The Highest Cookie-Seller Award?” Oh no. No, if you want cookies, I can provide them for you, but otherwise I am not going to stand on your dang doorstep on a Saturday morning. Alas, I have my sights set on something much higher (and

that actually exists): The Gold Award. And no, this award has nothing to do with Thin Mints, Tagalongs, or even Samoas. Flash back to elementary school: The size of Girl Scout troops would exceed maximum capacity while Boy Scout members seemed to be few and far in between. By the time middle school came around, however, the jeering and taunting of peers who got word of the Scouting status of girls was almost like the meteor that drove the dinosaurs extinct but left the birds to evolve. It’s because of the cookies. It seems that the only label we received was door-to-door cookie saleskiddies. We were much, much more. Going through high school, I saw more and more

people emerging from the shadows, but they weren’t who I was expecting. The boys who had, for so long, been secretive about their own fledgling Scouting status were rising as full grown, mighty Eagles. It’s like where did they come from? And every time I hear about boys becoming Eagle Scouts, I catch praise and admiration in the voices of the people who congratulate them. The Gold Award is a massive, 65-hour community-service project. But before we can even get approval from Girl Scout Council to begin the actual project, we must have completed 30 hours in a leadership role, 40 hours of career exploration, and a plethora of other badges and requirements, most of which

are huge time commitments in themselves. Of course, saying is easier than actually doing: less than 5% of all eligible Girl Scouts earn it. It’s just about identical in every way to becoming an Eagle Scout, but there is one distinct difference between the Gold Award and the highest award that can be earned in Boy Scouts. While there are about 50,000 Eagles earning their wings every year, there are only 5,500 girls that become Golden annually. Where have all the ladies gone? I was talking with a boy who is an Eagle Scout and mentioned that I was working on my Gold, (after I explained what it was) and received a pair of raised eyebrows and a “Wow, you’re the only girl I know that’s

in Girl Scouts, getting her Gold Award.” Among my own troop, (the numbers are down to six) the girls kept their voices down around non-scouting friends about their involvement with Girl Scouts for a few years. Now that we’re going for the Gold, we’re a little more open. It’s emotionally deflating at times. We all worked hard. I want to be proud of myself. I want others to be proud of me, too. But every time I mention something about Girl Scouts offhandedly, I expect a “You’re still in Girl Scouts?” type of response. One time I actually got a “You must be enjoying all those free cookies.” Sigh. I worked so hard.

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Mustang

the

essays

04.02.10

New York state of mind T New Yorkers might not have the most approachable attitudes but when it comes to the way they go about their lives, they know the secret to easy living. Essay by Nicole Fisher.

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he night before was spent squirming around in my seat to find a comfortable spot that avoided the light beams streaming into my eyes. Thanks to the man across the aisle of the plane, there was no comfortable spot to sleep. So after a six-hour flight across the country I arrived in New Jersey with a crick in my neck, a grumpy personality, and a sleepy state of mind. When I got off the plane and regrouped with my family, I had a feeling of despair for the day to come. All I wanted to do was find the nearest bed, become enveloped by the blankets, and sleep. These feelings stuck with me as I dragged myself through the airport but when I exited the automatic sliding doors of brisk breeze brushed across my face. The air smelt so fresh, and the chill was refreshing. I was home. Five years ago my family moved out to California because my father’s company relocated its headquarters to the West Coast. When we left the East Coast we did not just leave the pizza, bagels, and eggrolls behind. We left my extended family: the same reason why we returned within the last month. My grandfather was turning 80, and we came as a surprise, yet we arrived a day early so we could venture into the City, (and by the City I mean New York) for a day filled with good food, good memories, and good people. Yes good people. I love New Yorkers and when I was in the City, I was reminded of that. After finally finding parking on the right side of the street for it was a Friday and it was alternate side parking day, we went to H&H, got bagels, and proceeded to walk into Central Park. I love Central Park, for once inside the only reminder of the city is the occasional skyscraper that peaks out from above the trees. My family and I strolled around the park, stopping at favorite places like the Alice in Wonderland statue, the Bow Bridge, and the Imagine circle. With a hot cinnamon raisin bagel in my hand, a runner passed by me and accidently bumped into my shoulder. In almost unison, we both said, “Sorry,” and went our separate ways. That incident was insignificant to the runner, but to me it was the first time in months I had heard an apology for being bumped. I walk the hallways of SDA and

people bang into me all the time. When it happens here, I get a look of disgust and the expectation of an apology. Maybe it is because in high school I am surrounded by immature, catty girls, and this runner was an adult, but I have a different theory. New Yorkers and East Coast people altogether just know when to care, and when to let it go. East Coast people have the reputation of being pushy and blunt, but in reality they just know the right time to open their mouth: when they actually have a problem. Out West, many people become so bogged down with insignificant details like a bump in the shoulder or being cut off on the freeway. The first time I was in California visiting before I moved, my family was trying to navigate along the 101, and my dad accidently cut off a woman behind him when switching lanes. The woman was so annoyed that she sped up, rolled down her window and while passing us, held out a certain finger of choice while saying some choice words. I am not saying that there is no traffic to complain about back East. There are traffic jams all the time in the City; people drive like idiots, cutting into lanes frequently to try and go a little bit faster. The thing is, there it is such a common occurrence that people know not to let it affect their day and just move on. In California, you offend someone and he or she makes sure the whole world knows about your rudeness. Californians should take a lesson from those back East. Yes, New Yorkers can be rude but when they decide to call someone out, it’s over something bigger than not using your blinker and switching lanes anyways. There is no point to go out of your way to complain over little things that, in the end, do not affect your overall day. In the end it does not make them feel any better (for it was either a mistake or they know about their jerky move) and why go out of your way to ruin your day. Sometimes it is just better to take a breath, be the bigger person and just move on. And that’s exactly what the runner and I did. She said sorry and so did I, but then we moved on.

Mustang

the

essays

04.02.10

A child at heart A childhood favorite is lost in the modern world. Story by McKenna Taylor.

plashing. A word that sums up the place where I spent most of my childhood birthdays. This place was filled with nonstop swimming merriment—jumping off of my dad’s shoulders, performing the best underwater hand stands, and competing in contests to see who could swim faster, who could hold his or her breath longer, and who could find the hotel key on the pool floor. While most kids receive the typical birthday party with cake, balloons, and presents, my parents took my sister and me to any water lover’s paradise—La Casa Del Zorro in Borrego Springs. Located in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, La Casa Del Zorro became not just a vacation spot, but also a tradition during my childhood.

Choosing one friend each, all six of us piled into our van and drove the winding road through the mountains. With games like Mad Libs and Scattergories to keep us occupied, the drive was filled with memories of fun and laughter. During the drive, we would only stop stopped once in Ramona to pick up piping hot, freshly baked Pizza Hut pizzas, which we always saved until we got to the resort. After reaching La Casa Del Zorro, the rest of the weekend was spent either by the pool or in the pool. We kids were only out of the pool to eat or sleep for the duration of our stay. From games such as Marco Polo, Salt and Pepper, and Colors to making water slides and caves with the pool rafts, we had enough fun to last the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, my oasis closed. I can never relive these cherished memories at La Casa Del Zorro. They now can only be found in photo albums and the back of my mind, since my oasis is closed. In December 2007, after spending approximately $10 million on renovations, La Casa Del Zorro was turned

into the Borrego Ranch Resort and Spa. La Casa Del Zorro went from satisfying families to appealing to the wealthy in the new resort. Thanks to Gregory Perlman, former owner of the Borrego Ranch Resort and Spa, my childhood birthday spot was lost to a place for pure pampering. According to the resort’s official website, “Perlman discovered the magic of the desert at a young age when he vacationed with his family in Palm Springs.” If Perlman had experienced the “desert magic,” then he wouldn’t have ruined it for Borrego. Taking a look at photos of the supposedly new and supposedly improved Borrego, I cannot see a trace of the La Casa Del Zorro in the main pool that had been a part of my birthday present for so many years.

When the Borrego Ranch Resort and Spa closed on January 8, I couldn’t accept the fact that my childhood sanctuary was definitely no more. Replacing the old with the new never seems to work, in my opinion. That’s probably why I hate change so much. Tradition, on the other hand, is one of my favorite words. La Casa Del Zorro was all about tradition and happily embracing ours. The transformation La Casa Del Zorro underwent is similar to the transition I am making now from child to adult. As my next birthday approaches, the realization of growing up dawns on me. 18. The age of becoming a legal adult, or for me, the age of leaving my childhood days behind. I am like the old La Casa Del Zorro, undergoing the renovations—news from colleges, thoughts concerning graduation, etc. Even though I feel as though I am losing a piece of me (my childhood), I figure this is a fact of life. Everyone must have to get over this idea of staying a child forever. For me, however, I will accept the changes as they come while still holding onto the child I am at heart.

I saw the sun. Father and daughter time at our beloved Borrego.

Splish sp lash Pool time with my mom and sister in La Casa Del Zorro as a baby .

nds with frie er e im T ! noodle nt at none oth Do the e s well sp is alway sa Del Zorro. Ca than La

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Mustang

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essays

04.02.10

Bam!Pow!Smack! Self-defense class teaches the secrets of staying safe. by Caroline Pollock

healthy fear of the world has always been instilled in me by my parents. I first noticed their

fascination with frightening realities when the question of whether or not I should go with my dad to Mexico arose. My mother tried to intimidate me by telling me about her experience which basically consisted of too many cockroaches. She also tried to impress upon me the vague idea that “bad things” happen down there. My dad, in a strange attempt to sway my decision towards Mexico, explained the things that are actually scary about Mexico: corruption, rape, and murder. But those things don’t happen very often so I shouldn’t worry about it. Needless to say I have not yet seen Mexico. The same storytelling trend still continues. After learning a family friend was raped during her freshman year and her mother didn’t find out until she graduated, my mother quickly produced the names of five other people I know who have been raped. After the realization that college campuses are the perfect hunting ground for rapists my mom took the smartest course of action. About the time Chelsea King’s parents reported her missing my first self-defense class began.

The suprising truth

The class of 15 girls was taught by a petite feminine looking woman, really the last sort of person I expected to teach me how to throw a punch. “If someone pointed a gun at you and told you to get in the car how many of you would get in the car?” asked the instructor, Jennifer Johnson. Almost everyone raised their hand including me. I would probably be frozen with fear and do whatever they told me. I value my life too much to risk having my head blown off. Johnson told us most people think they should get in the car but once they get in the car they are as good as dead, so they would be better off running away. Statistically, chances of survival are higher if you run because it’s hard to hit a moving target and if they want you to get in the car then they want to take you somewhere

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else to do whatever they want to do to you. For the first hour of class we watched a power-point and then went into the best ways to protect ourselves before a physical confrontation even begins. Johnson told us self defense is 90 percent awareness and avoidance and 10 percent physical resistance.

Confidence as a weapon

Most rapes and assaults are premeditated. Criminals look for easy targets, people who are unaware of their surroundings and look like they wouldn’t put up a fight. Walking with an aura of confidence and awareness could deter criminals from choosing someone as a victim. Even if I am a little nervous about walking to the car in the dark I will hold my head up, have my mace already in my hand and act like nothing can touch me. Johnson warned the class to beware of texting and walking at the same time. That made sense considering when I am staring down at my phone reading a message from my friend I am dead to the world. Texts are just too riveting to pay attention to anything else. Most electronics are distracting but at least with IPods and phone calls my head is up and I can fake awareness. Every so often I encounter people who make my skin crawl. My first impulse is to avert my eyes and try to draw as little attention to myself as possible. Johnson told me this was all wrong. Neither of these approaches would deter a potential rapist if my intuition was correct. She told me I should look directly at him because that way if he does attack me I’ll be able to identify him for the police and eye contact displays confidence. Sometimes creepers aren’t just passing me on the street. Sometimes creepy people just sit there. Staring. Usually I would pick a spot on the wall and do my best to ignore them. That awkward feeling is pretty hard to avoid though. According to Johnson the best approach is much more confrontational. Look right at him and say “Can I help you?” or “I noticed you were staring at me -is there something I can do for you?” That display of confidence is probably enough to change any rapist’s mind about me being a potential victim and if it’s just a normal person giving off creepy vibes he’ll stop staring and I won’t have to feel awkward.

Watered down martial arts

Then we moved into the fun part. We started learning physical self defense; punches, kicks and the dramatic defense position. Even if all I remember is the defense position, striking that pose with a shouted “NO!” could be enough to frighten off an attacker. My puny kicks became infinitely stronger after receiving the tip to kick through my attacker. I aimed for the wall, the ceiling, the girl standing behind the target. Chelsea King’s murder was frightening and horrible. I rarely thought about rape and assault on women before. But new awareness gives me the opportunity to prepare myself because it could have been me, it could have been anyone. I expected the self defense class to make me feel paranoid but I left feeling strong, confident, and prepared.

More things to freak you out •1 in 8 college women are rape victims in their college years •1 in 4 college women have suffered attempted rape •Female victims between the ages 16-24 are four times more likely to be raped than any other group •57 percent of rapes occur on a date. •84 percent of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim •50 percent of victims and 70 percent of assailants involved in a rape had been drinking or using drugs •68 percent of rapes occur between the hours of 6pm and 6am. •only 2 percent of aquaintance rapes are ever reported to the police. •1in 6 men will be sexually assaulted •1 in 12 male students had comitted acts which met the legal definition of rape •33 percent of men surveyed said they would comit rape if they could escape detection. •95 percent of rapes arn’t reported to the officials. For more information go to: http://www.rwu.edu/studentlife/studentservices/counselingcenter/sexualassault/ rapemyths.htm

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the

essays

04.02.10

Death is not the end When you die, they say you see your life flash before your eyes. But do you see your life before then? Essay and art by Casey Dayan.

lack road winds, slowly, smoothly, up and through a wet Dr. Suess hill, punching through fog banks seamlessly uniform in color. Grey-white; a heavy blanket is covering the sleepy city below. Above, currents and clouds coil and dance, churning like the upset belly of a child. Dotted yellow lines lead to where she’s going, a house on a hill at silver dusk. Certain palms float like jellyfish in heavy wind, viscous arms pointing in the direction of the air with the ebb of this atmospheric tide, in her direction. Out of the car- A sun-washed Accord, pale green. Up a driveway. Through a fence and an arch and a doorway. A silver-

haired man walks her inside. Unmarried, certainly. Trinkets. A telescope. A joke-shop remote control hand with a mechanical middle finger. She hears scratching on the hardwood floor. He shows her into the kitchen. “There he is.” A black and brown bloodhound lay limply on the floor. “I’m sorry, I’ll be outside. I could use the weather.” His lower lip trembles between stutters of words. “You’re a good dog, Gogh. Real good.” She kneels down beside the creature. A syringe from a pouch dips itself in death. Old eyes behind falling skin focus sloppily on her. Young eyes behind fine skin focus on a job, unexcitedly, dispassionately, avec blasé. There is nothing spiritual or romantic or sexy in the whole world, now. Dog dies. This is her profession. Her career. She walks out of the house and into the vehicle. She inserts the key into the ignition. The car releases a flat apian hum. She backs out of the complex. It is night now. The sky is a seamless black, the clouds dully lit by the off-yellow buzzing lights of the urban place below. She will drive across a tired lake and an antique bridge, by a timeless ocean and an old oak, colors, one of each, a nest and a cat and a bee and fresh, rich, moonlit soil, dancing with life, and dirt ancient as time- and she will only see the road. Hands on the wheel, eyes dead ahead.

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04.02.10

Poor Richard’s alMANac Four score and seven years ago, man was utterly perplexed by woman. Nothing has changed— until today. Staff writers Kyle Shohfi, Henry Sweat, and guest interviewer Kevin Brice asked SDA girls 48 questions that we’ve all been dying to know. Read up, take notes, and go get ‘em, champ.

1. Why do you change in the same room? Wouldn’t you rather change with us? A: “No, ‘cause I would feel self conscience and it’s slutty.” –senior. 2. What’s up with bugs? You are scared to death of them… but hate when we kill them. A: “I don’t like them, but it’s, like, mean.” – freshman

3. What’s the deal with pony tails? What are you hiding in there? A: “It keeps hair out of our face,” sophomore. “It’s full of secrets.” –senior

4. Why don’t you people have pockets? Why are they so small? A: “It’s the design. And we have purses for our stuff.” –junior 5. Why can’t we come in your rooms? Again, what are you hiding? A: “There are either rules laid down by parents prohibiting guys from entering our rooms, but really I think girls are more private and don’t want their weird quirks and intricacies to be judged.” –senior 6. What the hell are female condoms? A: “It’s like a condom that goes inside. Like a plastic baggie — kind of.” –junior

9. Why do you REALLY go to the bathroom in pairs? A: “Oh my god, okay! So…we go to gossip about whoever you’re with, but you have to be careful, because if there are people in the stalls they could hear, so you have to wait sometimes. That’s why it can take so long.

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10. Would you rather be told you are hot, cute, or pretty by us? A: “I would say pretty, but it depends on how hot the guy is.” –junior 11. What’s up with that high pitched voice when you talk to other girls? A: “It’s totally not on purpose.” –senior 12. What’s up with turf wars? We’re down for sharing. A: “It’s like how dogs pee on a tree...it’s a territorial thing.” –sophomore 13. Where are the pregnant high school girls we see on MTV? A: “Minnesota, duh!” –senior 14. Why don’t your socks match? A: “The dog eats them. No, seriously.” –senior 15. Are periods REALLY an excuse for your pissiness? A: “I don’t get that upset when I’m on my period, but I think some people do.” –senior 16. Why do you act nicer to boys than to other girls? A: “Because we want to reproduce with you. It’s for the good of humanity.” –senior 17. What’s up with asking boys to Winter Formal FOUR MONTHS before the dance? A: “You have to make your reservations early.” –freshman

7. Why are you completely different than you were yesterday? A: “Little things affect us more than they affect guys. We over-think everything. An ant to a guy is like an elephant to a girl.” –junior 8. What’s up with wearing shoes that are made out of nothing? A: “It’s all for style.” –senior

We also check each other for hair and makeup and to make sure nothing embarrassing happens like stuck toilet paper.” –junior

18. Follow up questions. Are we allowed to date someone else in that THIRD OF THE YEAR? A: “Yeah…Hell yeah. But keep it quiet.” –sophomore 19. What’s in the purse? Why are they so big? A: “Presents for boys, clips, pencils that don’t work, pieces of paper, cards, and more cards, a bracelet that broke, a piece of paper for a boy, my cell phone, a present for my exchange student, a wallet, and a clothing tag.” –junior

the

Mustang

What a girl wants...

features 05.10.10

Girls know what girls like. For this exposé, staff writer Kyle Shohfi and guest interviewer Kevin Brice polled 100 girls at SDA regarding their idea of a perfect first date. Gentlemen, get out your notebooks. Class is in session. 1. What should the boy be wearing when he picks you up?

a. Suit/Tuxedo…0% b. Button up shirt…35% c. Whatever he was wearing anyway…65% d. Basketball shorts…0% Looks like the ladies favor the casual look for the first date, but if you’re dying to add class to your sass, go ahead and work the button-up.

2. What do you expect him to bring?

a. Nothing…84% b. Flowers…11% c. Chocolates…4% d. A present for your mother…1% Sorry, moms, nothing for you. Fellas, the girl is going to be happy just to see you. Flowers could be cute, but they might also seem a little over-eager. Know your girl.

9. Who pays and for what?

Knock on the door…54% b. Ring doorbell…34% c. Call your phone…12% d. Honk from the car…0% If you even want her to step out the door, DO NOT HONK. A simple knock on the door or ring of the bell will do just fine. If she warns you of girls would like their date in advance about especially creepy parents, go to open the car door for ahead and do the phone call. But ONLY if prethem as they enter the approved by the girl.

60% car.

4. Should he open your door to enter the car?

a. Yes…60% b. No…40% Apparently chivalry isn’t dead.

5. What route should he take to dinner?

a. Quickest possible…22% b. Somewhat slow…24% c. Most scenic…33% d. Any way with a roundabout…15% e. Let the girl drive…6% It turns out it doesn’t matter much how you get there (as long as you’re driving). Buckle up!

6. What music should be playing in the car?

a. Top 40 blasting…10% b. Quiet and mellow…27% c. Nothing at all…8% d. Girl chooses on the iPod…55% We all know that the girl ends up making all the decisions anyway, so don’t even bother pretending otherwise. Plus the iPod will distract her from your driving bad habits.

7. Should he open your door for you to get out?

a. Yes…25% b. No…75% She doesn’t want to wait for you to get out and walk around the car. But if you’re half-way to the theater and she’s in the car, you should go back and open her door.

8. Where should he take you for dinner?

a. In N Out…9% b. Roxy…14% c. Pannikin…14% d. Islands…18% e. Chart House…4% f. Rico’s burrito to go to the beach…41% A date at the beach makes you look impressive and sophisticated. And it’s cheap.

Boy pays for everything…29% Each person pays for them selves…21% c. Boy pays bill, girl pays tip…23% d. Boy pays for dinner and movie, girl pays for popcorn, etc…27% What I’m getting out of this is that only 21% of girls actually want a boyfriend.

10. What do you talk about?

41%

of girls would prefer a Rico’s burrito to take to the beach over the traditional restaurant.

a. School…13% b. You…16% c. Him…16% d. Your childhood…11% e. Future of the relationship…3% f. Movies, books, music, etc…41% Talk about you, she’ll talk about her. Or you could talk about her and she’ll talk about you. You could even talk about the future of you two together. But I wouldn’t.

3. How should we get your attention at your house? a.

a. b.

11. What kind of movie should he take you to? a. Suspense/Horror…13% b. Action…18% c. Romance…8% d. Comedy…56% e. Drama…5% Girls like to laugh, and not at how scared you are.

12. What’s the hands/arms situation?

a. Holding hands…34% b. Leaning away from each other not touching…9% c. His arm over your shoulder…36% d. His hand on your knee during intense parts of the movie…21% These all go out the window if you’re sweaty.

13. What about on the walk from the theater to car?

a. b.

Hands held…31% His arm around your waist, you leaning on him qui etly…10% c. Casual arm over shoulder, talking about the mov ie…43% d. No physical contact, talking…16% Girls say it depends on how much they like you. So in other words, there’s no telling... like usual.

14. What do you talk about on the drive home?

a. Movie…60% b. Future of “us”…1% c. Continue conversation from dinner…39% Don’t talk about “us,” unless that was the name of the movie or your unfortunate waiter.

15. What should his exit strategy be?

a. Walk you to the door…68% b. Drop you off. He doesn’t exit the car…14% c. He parks a block away so he can walk with you for a few minutes…18% of girls would like to end d. He slows down the car a little bit with a hug. Note: some and you jump out…0% who marked kiss also Walk her to the door. Watch for the danchose hug. gling keys, boys.

49%

16. Final move?

a. Hug…49% b. Kiss…38% c. Make-out…2% d. Wave…11% Make out like a bandit...with a hug.

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Mustang

the

features

04.02.10

Fact attack

Think like a butterfly, buzz like a bee. Story by Emily Hall.

he room was all silence, except for the small, scratching sound of pencil to paper. The hand of the clock dragged along its face like molasses to the spectators. To the teams at the front of the room, though, it was only a matter of milliseconds before the enemy buzzed in. A hand went forth and slammed the buzzer into submission. “The square root of five divided by two,” said freshman Molly Kovacs clearly. “That is correct, three points to SDA!” was the moderator’s reply, and the audience sounded their praise as a triumphant mark was added beneath the words ‘San Dieguito’ on the scoreboard. A trivia competition for the fearless, the prepared, and the avid factoid-collecting Academic Team, North County Academic League is the mental marathon in which our Mustang Minds race against opponents to be the first to buzz in with the right answer. Questions come in wide variety, and can be anything from “What is the definition of the Latin root ‘circ’?” to “What is the deepest lake in the world?” Members of the team then sound their buzzer before the opposing team, and earn points for each correct fact. This year the freshman and junior varsity teams each won two of five games, and the varsity team won two of four games. Although the numbers reflect a fairly average season, Michael Santos, the varsity coach, said that he felt this was a great season for the teams because of the high amount of bonding. “The season went well; there was lots of good team bonding and I feel like the teams were a lot more cohesive as a whole,” Santos said. “It was still a building year, and we’re working on ways to help them become better and more competitive against tougher teams.” “Even though they lost against Torrey Pines and Canyon Crest, though, both were close matches,” he added There is abundant preparation for Mustang Minds

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competitions, and lots of thought goes into each. “There are lots of activities we used to prepare – [we] usually use laptops to look things up, and ask other people on the team for things we don’t know. And practice questions, too,” said MM veteran senior Karl Olsen. Besides obtaining new factoids, members of the team also found it helpful to warm themselves up physically to get ‘in the zone’ for competing. “Before competition, we practiced buzzing, did jumping jacks, stretched, and boxed,” said freshman Daniel Spiegel. The typical setup for a competition includes a team of five from each school, each with buzzers in front of them. A question from any random category is asked, sometimes with multiple parts, and Mustang Minds members must find the answer to the question first and buzz in. The person who buzzes then has three seconds to answer, and wins three points for each correct answer. Most of the people on the academic team who competed in these fast-paced tournaments joined for simple reasons: learning new things and having a good time with the rest of the team. Kovacs said she joined to “increase general knowledge of things I might not have known before, and have fun.” Olsen said he wanted to join because “I like to know things. It’s fun to hear questions being asked and know the answers to them. Mustang Minds is a great way to be a part of something at SDA, and it’s fun to stay in it through high school and eventually be really respected and recognized.” Though much work went into preparing their brains for the next challenge, about three hours a week of practice, members of Mustang Minds described their hard work for the competitions as very rewarding. Senior and varsity member Ryan Healey said of his experience, “It was really fun; we took the trivia seriously but not ourselves.”

Mustang

the

features 04.02.10

Just read it

How to predict your future without a crystal ball and an empty wallet. Story by Erika Mazza and Kerry Roberson.

alking through the beaded curtain, you are enveloped in the delicious aroma of Dragon’s Blood incense. The lights are dim and soft noises of synthetic rolling waves murmur throughout the smoky room. Several candle flames flicker images of the deceased onto the dusty wall. A shadowed figure emerges from the dark recesses, clutches your left palm, strokes the outline of your fingers and says, “What can I tell you, my dear?” She leads you by your hand and you disappear into the thick, foggy haze. What exactly went down in that thick foggy haze?

Palm reading: one of the many ways a psychic can relay your future to you. For centuries, people have been speculating about their palms in order to discover what may lie ahead. In an interview, professional psychic Lezlie Bernal, from “Lezlie The Party Psychic” described palm reading as “…an ancient art that’s been around since the beginning of time. It has been practiced by many different tribes throughout history, especially the shamans. Palmistry is another way to help assist people to see what is going on with them and their lives. One’s spirit

is expressed through different avenues of one’s body and these avenues help interpret what is going on in one’s life. It kind of helps you cut to the core of what one is able to see beyond what one thinks in the mind.” We have outlined some of the basics on how to read your own palm so you can find that deeper interpretation of yourself and your future. For all you skeptics out there, this is just speculation. The process of how to read a palm was partially derived from ofesite.com/spirit/palm/lines and from the interview with Lezlie Bernal.

Here’s how-

1. Identify your dominant hand. 2. Look at the other hand. That’s the palm you will be reading.

Line A

This is your Life Line, the most important line on your hand. It represents your energy and how long your life will be, depending on the shape and how deep the line is. I If your life line extends all the way across your palm and is deep and easy to identify, you will live a long and happy life, full of positive forces. I If your life line is short and shallow, it shows your inclination to be controlled by others. I If you have a doubled or tripled life line, you have more positive forces in the universe working for you. You will find that often times in life, the scale will tip in your direction.

Line B

This is your Head Line, which represents both your intelligence and your attitude towards life. This can be determined again by the straightness of the line and the depth of the line. I If your head line is straight and deep, you think logically and directly, and you have an exceptional memory. I If you have a short, shallow head line, you tend to search for happiness by obtaining material, physical things rather than searching for happiness in other areas of your life. I If your head line is wavy, you have a short attention span, but your intelligence is not affected.

Line C

This is your Heart Line. This tells you about your love life; i.e. your ability to love and be loved. The depth and shape of this line determine how you deal with romance.

I If your heart line is shallow and curved, it shows an overall appealing love life with a warm vibe attributed to your actions toward others. I If your heart line starts below your middle finger, you’re a selfish and materialistic lover. I If the line is short, it shows disinterest in future romantic relations. However, if long and deep, affections are generally stable.

Line D

This is your Fate Line, also known as the Line of Destiny. Some people do not have this line. It tells you about how your life will be affected by external forces, or events out of your control.

I If your fate line joins with your life line, it indicates that you are self-serving and individualistic. I If your fate line breaks between your head and heart line, you will have a successful change in your career path. I If your fate line joins the life line but starts at the wrist and curves, it shows a point where you will need to give into your surroundings. If it starts at the wrist and curves, but does not touch the life line, a time of life where you gain control of your surroundings will occur as well.

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Mustang

the

features

04.02.10

Devotion

Seniors Jaden Pratt and Addison Schwan have put their writing skills, friendship, and knowledge of vampires to the test in their book, “The DS Saga.” Here’s a behind the pages look at how their hard work has been well worth it. Story by McKenna Taylor.

ath class is usually the last place where the idea to write a book pops into one’s head. However, that is exactly what happened to seniors Jaden Pratt and Addison Schwan during their junior year. “I said, ‘Hey, why don’t we do one of those silly little pass around stories where I write one paragraph and you do the next. Then we’ll stop and treasure it forever,’” said Schwan, who also edited most of the book. Taking Schwan’s words to heart, both authors began a writing process that endured for about a year. Their book, “The DS Saga,” is about vampires and werewolves in Los Angeles. The fantasy fiction book’s first sentences were written on Pratt’s DS PictoChat and developed into the 300-page, hand-written saga from there. With her junior year being composed of “pretty simple classes,” Pratt spent all of her lunch times with Schwan talking only about the book. “I got the time to write it [the book] by not doing homework and staying up until 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. and coming to school hopped up on a pot of coffee every morning,” Schwan said. Their dedication to “The DS Saga” is apparent not only through the time they spent, but also through the approximately 170-typed pages of writing and handdrawn artwork. Along with doing a variety of different drawings of the characters and scenes, the two seniors flipped back and forth between writing. The book is printed in two fonts to show which parts Pratt wrote (Times New Roman) and which parts Schwan wrote (Courier New).

Solutions to writer’s block

The process of writing the book together proved to be a challenging task. “Sometimes it got really frustrating. I’d work really hard to build this certain point in the story, and someone [Pratt] would Deus Ex Machina [“god from the machine,” which is when a person has a sudden solution to a problem] it to death, and totally ruin everything I had written so far. I would cry a little, write her a threatening letter, and then ruin one of her scenes in revenge,” Schwan said. Even through the ups and downs of writing a book together, though, Pratt and Schwan agreed that it was well worth it. “Usually I have an awesome idea for a story but have no idea how to end it, or where it goes after the first couple of scenes,” Pratt said. “ With Addison there, I could leave the story at a fork in the road, and she could decide where to go from there.” Schwan agreed: “Most of the time it was really fun. I mean, not only are you getting all the power-tripping greatness out of writing a book, but you get to read it, too, and be surprised by the little plot twists the other [person] throws in.”

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Masterpiece theater Taking a day to honor their literary masterpiece, seniors Jaden Pratt (left), Addison Schwan (right), and the rest of The Cosplayers Society dressed up as characters from “The DS Saga.” With their dedication to acting the part, the copresidents posed as “The DS Saga” characters that most resembled them. Pratt provided the description of her character, Matthew Darbanville, while the description of Schwan’s character, Absrtact Addy, comes from the book.

Being close friends and having common interests also helped make their book a success. They both found some inspiration in their passionate hate for “Twilight” and became motivated to write their vampire book. As well, looking up to authors led them to their writing path. Pratt said, “I hope I’ve done them [her favorite writers] justice.” Some of her literary idols include George R.R. Martin, Niel Gaiman, Piers Anthony, and Terry Pratchett. Schwan admires authors who write urban and visceral horror stories. Her role models include Dean Koontz, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Jim Butcher.

Write off the pages

In addition to having heroic writers of their own, Pratt and Schwan are esteemed by several of their friends from The Cosplayers Society. One friend, junior Yoshi LeaVesseur, said, “They’re really dedicated for taking the time do to it [write a book]. I respect them for getting this far and working together so well.” Heading up The Cosplayers Society as copresident, Pratt and Schwan have brought a lot to their club, especially with their book. “Our members love it [the book],” said Pratt. “It’s a great way to bring them together.” Soon after handing out copies of the book to more of their fellow club members, the pair of authors decided to dedicate a day for “The DS Saga.” “It was so amazing to not only see them [The Cosplayers Society members] dress up, but also play their parts,” Pratt said. “After all, that is half of [The] Cosplayers Society; it’s not enough to dress the part, one must act it just as well.” Schwan added her own impressions of the day, too. “It was mindfreakingly awesome,” Schwan said. “People did really well with costumes, and I was suitably impressed. I even cried a little.” Freshman Logan Thurman was one member in particular who got something out of “The DS Saga” Day. He said, “I dressed up as Elias Cutwell. Some aspects [of Cutwell] fit with my personality like being power-hungry and slightly lazy.” Thurman also said he found inspiration from Pratt and Schwan’s work. He said, “I was working on a book before, but now I have new incentive to finish it and get people to read it.” With their first book, “The DS Saga,” being such a hit among their fans, a sequel is already in the making. “We are taking more time structuring this one [the sequel]. It’s a lot more organized, and there are fewer random parts and more plot-relevant scenes,” Pratt said. “It’s going to be rabidly awesome,” Schwan said.

Matthew Darbanville is an eighteen-year-old boy who is in the service of the vampire Elias Cutwell, an Englishman who runs the LA Times with an iron fist. Because of his status as a ghoul, he has not aged since fourteen, when he was first kidnapped into kindred society. He dresses the way Elias tells him to, which is generally standard Wall Street attire; white button-down shirt, black tie, black slacks, belt, and blazer, with dress shoes that are never scuffed. When he’s not daydreaming on his confusing situation, he is busy picking up dry cleaning, making coffee runs, and carrying out Kindred business.

Abstract Addy is the Malkavian primogen of Los Angeles, though she secretly associates herself with Anarachs. She is small with a curvaceous figure, and is slightly more attractive than average, though her odd clothing and make-up choice distract from her natural allure (she looks sixteen). When Angie’s sire was destroyed, she took it upon herself to teach Angie the Traditions and way of Kindred society.

Mustang

the

features 04.02.10

In the year 2102... Complacency will morph into passion. It will be the year of the Paradox. Story by Kaylin Greene.

luminum wheels click against thinly carpeted floor. Receptors pick up a remotely controlled signal. Turn left. No. Sideways. Electricity is conducted by hundreds of red and blue wires, commanding, controlling, correcting, cranking. Within each wire are bundles of copper filament, directing the electrical flow. Its very creation is the result of the efforts of the human mind; biological energy and intelligence that ultimately brought shape and existence and life to the once inanimate hunk of metal. The robot approaches a soccer ball and launches its kicker, sending it flying into a red goal and down the chute. Score one for the Red Alliance! With only 30 seconds on the clock, the robot skitters up onto a bumper and sidles to a tower. Precariously balancing, it unleashes its pneumatically powered arm and gropes for the top bar. Only 10 seconds left, but its own weight proves to be its undoing: The extended arm wavers like a flag, and the entire machine leans dangerously to the right, an aluminum and silicone Tower of Pisa. The crowd holds its breath while the drivers frantically try to regain balance, but to no avail. CRASH! The once proud and eager robot lies tragically on the floor of the San Diego Sports Arena as time runs out.

Spirit from the metal shop to the Sports Arena

In the stands of the Sports Arena on March 5 and 6, SDA’s Robotics Team 2102, Team Paradox was a roiling ocean of yellow, red, and blue pom-poms, face paint and hairspray. Some teams arrived with six or seven members. But some teams don’t have the passion of Team Paradox. As a school known to lack an audience for most ordinary sporting events, the robotics team drew over 100 fans, family members, friends and teachers to cheer them on. Their designated section was filled from the stadium floor to the walkway in a mass of yellow shirts and red pants. At one point, the MC for the event exclaimed over the loudspeaker, “San Dieguito, did you bring your entire high school?!” They responded with an earsplitting roar. In short, they were intimidating. Suki Berry, sophomore, said, “It’s like a cornucopia of red, yellow and blue all singing in joyous harmony in celebration of life, teamwork, and technology at once.” The objective of this year’s FIRST Robotics competitions was to build robots that would be able to play breakaway, a game similar to soccer. The arena was set on a field that was divided into three zones by bumpers that extended across and towers. Four goals of either red or blue coloring resided in each corner of the field. Robots had to perform functions such as climbing over bumpers, kicking soccer balls into goals, and lifting themselves onto the towers. Two blue and red game alliances of three teams each would participate in each 135-second match. One point was awarded for each goal, two points were awarded if a robot could lift itself onto the tower, and three points were awarded if an alliance robot could suspend itself from a robot already on a tower. There were over eighty ranking matches, followed by sixteen elimination rounds to determine the competition finalists. Finalists would be determined by a combination of ranking and number of points scored. Team Paradox was given six weeks to build two identical robots to complete this task, according to marketing president, Andrea Reye, senior. “The night we got the

kaylin greene

Pump it! Juniors Andrew Dalager and Will Saake and senior Kevin Brice cheer at the driver’s station as their robot competes in the FIRST Breakaway competition. To see more photos of Team Paradox at the San Diego competition, see pages 22 and 23.

task, we went to the Mustang center and set up a field. Then we had teachers and parents and volunteers pretend to be the robots, and the kids were all on the sidelines, shouting out directions to control their ‘robot.’” One robot would be shipped and held by FIRST and used in competition while the other robot would be kept by the team for practice. In all, both robots cost about $13,000. On the night before Ship Day, students stayed at school from 3:10 p.m. until the next morning in order to complete the robot. “We have supervision the entire time; all the parents and teachers are so supportive,” Reyes said. “We have volunteers that don’t even have kids on the team, they just found out about us and wanted to help.”

Heads held high

At the end of the competition, Team Paradox experienced several technical difficulties that kept them from winning several matches and making the finals, placing them 39 out of 49 teams. According to Kevin Shaw, senior, the chain in the tower kept skipping sprockets, making it difficult to raise itself up, and the wheels were too big, which made it hard to maneuver. “We’ll be going to the Las Vegas Regional competition [from April 1 to 3] with a better robot.” Shaw said. “Since we have time, we can improve things. The robot is really fast now!” Reyes added. Even though the team does not have access to the main robot used in competitions and so cannot make any major changes to the body, they can still improve parts of the robot and add them on later. This, however, didn’t put a damper on the spirit of the team. Getting up in front of the entire stadium to lead the Electric Slide, the Macarena, and the YMCA, Team Paradox kept it going all day long. And it paid off. As the final awards were being given at the end of

the night, as the robots were being packed back up to be shipped and held until the next competitions, Team Paradox held its breath in anticipation. The words “Team Spirit Award” flashed on the huge screen. The Winner: Devil Duckies, from Madison High School. Next, “Engineering Inspiration Award” came up. The stadium was dead silent. This award was given to the team that best personified the foundation of FIRST—to educate kids in technology and teamwork to learn life skills and be confident and do their best, even if this meant the team was not winning all the time. And Team Paradox won. Many happy tears were shed as the mass of red and yellow swarmed the arena to collect their medals, many hugging the MC and judges multiple times before dashing off to celebrate. “It was something almost unexpected,” Reyes said. “When we didn’t win the Team Spirit Award, we knew something was up…that maybe, maybe…we’d still have a slim chance for an even more prestigious award.”

Widespread news coverage

There is a bright future in store for Team Paradox. The team has a Las Vegas Regional competition this weekend, from April 1 through 3. Despite not being able to place high enough to make the finals, the team will be traveling to the National competition held in Atlanta, Georgia on April 15 through 17 on account of their winning the Engineering Inspiration Award. “As for next year, there’s not many juniors at the moment, so we may have joint leadership in pairs next year. We plan to step up the program and its fund raising. It’s like a snowball effect. If we keep pushing it, robotics will get bigger and bigger.” Reyes said. Team Paradox has been interviewed by Radio KCBQ on channel 1170 AM, and were also featured on television by NBC News on March 25.

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March Madness

March Madness came with its typical infectious bliss, causing a strong spring fever to be born out of San Dieguito Academyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winter hibernation. A rambunctious Scooter Day featured students flying across campus anchored to the ground by only two wheels. Robotics won the Engineering Inspiration Award and plans to travel across the country to participate in Nationals. Men (and a few women) sprouted hair as participating students and teachers cultivated beards to compete in SDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legendary Manly Month of March competition. As this month marches on, SDA can look back and remember the month of the Mad Hatter. Story by Henry Sweat.

nicole fisher

kaylin greene

1) Six members of the SDA Robotics team eagerly watch from behind the glass as their robot competes. 2) While a few members of the team are down on the field, the rest of the Robotics team show their spirit up in the stands with painted faces and pom-poms. 3) Junior Zake Morgan and sophomore Jack Connor strut their stuff on the catwalk. 4) Sophomore Austin Scott shows off his moves on a scooter during lunch on Scooter Day. 5) English teacher Rob Ross gets into the school spirit of Manly Month of March and endures a whole month without shaving.

6) Junior Jessie Vahalla participated in Mainly Month of March and chopped off more hair than all the men combined could grow

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Photos courtesy of ASB

AFTER

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Driven

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To ease her (mother’s) mind after all the recent driving accidents, staff writer Danielle Gradisher goes to a driving safety course.

he two peaked white tents were perched in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot like birds waiting to take off in the stiff wind. A group of teenagers was clustered around the opening, waiting their turn with their parents beside them. Stepping out of my car, I joined them. After entering one of the tents while still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I talked with a couple of the others. “I’m excited, sure, maybe a bit nervous, but I’m way more tired,” a junior from Santa Fe Christian said. She’d only had her license for six months so both she and her mother had felt that the driving course would keep her safer on the road. Her story was repeated throughout the tents by most of the teenagers. “Yeah, my mom told me I was going.” “My parents heard about it from my school, and, well, here I am.” “The kids who were killed [in a car accident on December of 2009] went to my school [Torrey Pines], so my mom was like, ‘you’re going.’” The Teens Driving For Life Driver’s Safety Course which was taught by the Driving Directions Foundation was held Saturday, March 20 in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot.

Classroom Fun

As soon as the multitude of forms and releases were filled out, the first “classroom” portion of the day commenced. In a neat and orderly fashion, the two instructors Judy Ray and Lauren Pearce directed us to rise and introduce ourselves. That was the last orderly thing that was to happen all day. One of our instructors had been a founding member of the safety course and had spent the past summer racing cars in Europe. While some of the activities might have seemed common to her, to us they were scary. We were making our cars do things that we had never even thought of doing on purpose and so we found it difficult to drive full force into a sharp turn without applying any brakes at all. While in the classroom, melodramatic stories of tragedies behind the wheel reigned and outside during the “driving” part, long waits, missed cues, and counterproductive instruction only frustrated all parties involved. Many teenagers still felt like they were learning something. “I don’t know, it’s kind of annoying and I know a lot of what they’re saying, but when we did the stops? Whoa, that was cool.” The “stops” as that Canyon Crest Academy junior called them were part of an activity designed to test, it seemed, both the cars’ Anti-lock Brakes and the drivers’ trust in the instructors. We were told to put the pedal to the metal, literally, and when the speed reached 40 mph or so to slam on the brakes and not let up until coming to a full and complete stop to test and built up trust and comfort with the cars’ braking systems. One variation included the drivers putting their palms on the roofs of the cars a couple of seconds before braking and leaving them up until fully stopped. Don’t try this at home, kids.

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On your marks, get set, drive safety! 1) The limits of my poor Subaru are thoroughly pushed while weaving though the slalom at top speeds. 2) Anxious teen drivers wait their turns to take on the many driving courses that test both their skills and their sanity.

Teenagers were accompanied by instructors from the Ferrari and Corvette Clubs when first driving the courses.

Helpful Hints

One excellent tip they said was to readjust the car’s side mirrors so that the car’s sides aren’t showing to eliminate those pesky blind spots. Although this sounded ridiculous, we tried it and, as one senior from Cathedral Catholic High School said, “Bam! No blind spots!” Because we were able to see the sides of the car by leaning to one side just a few millimeters, we were able to see all of the cars around us without feeling disoriented.

Mixed Opinions

The day was a long one. From its start at 7:30 to its end at 4:30, both the heat and high stress situations pounded

on teens and adults alike. But, according to a junior from Torrey Pines, “It was worth it. Absolutely.” Some students were not so enthused. “I guess I learned from all this but there’s no way I would pay for this,” a Cathedral Catholic High School junior said. Citing the recent cluster of teen driving accidents, local parents and organizations helped to fund raise and solicit donations. One such donor was the District 5 County Supervisor Bill Horn’s office who sponsored half of the course’s costs. Another was our very own San Dieguito Academy Foundation Even when the day’s frustration and boredom threatened to melt my brain, the words “learning experience” kept cycling through my brain. This wasn’t the most fun a Saturday has offered me, but it sure wasn’t the worst.

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Kerry’s Cooking Corner

Heat one tablespoon of peanut oil and two teaspoons sesame oil in a large nonstick pan or wok over high heat.

Chicken and snap pea stir fry. Delicious, fast, and easy! Recipe by Kerry Roberson. Art by Rieko Michelle Whitfield.

Add one pound of chicken breasts cut into strips, one tablespoon of chopped ginger, one tablespoon of minced garlic, and ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper to the pan. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked through.

Add a pound of sugar snaps peas, a large thinly sliced carrot, and a cup of sliced shitake mushrooms, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce. Serve over hot cooked rice, white or brown, and sprinkle with peanuts and scallions if desired.

From student to successful musician Jennifer Thomas is just one SDA graduate who followed her dreams. dominica berman At SDA students are surrounded by talent all the time. There is always someone lugging a painting around that looks more like it should be on display in a museum than on an unframed canvas in a high schooler’s clammy palms. There is always the kid lounging in senior court picking a guitar with as much skill as any of the Beatles (maybe a slight exaggeration). Do you ever wonder where these talented peers are going to go in life? Jennifer Thomas graduated from SDA in 2001 and has followed her love for music and turned it into her lifestyle, playing the viola in a successful band that released an album in 2008 and has regular performances. When she was at the Academy she played violin and viola in the San Diego Youth

Symphony and accompanied many of her peers when they performed. “I just kept pushing myself to perform with musicians more advanced than me. I think that’s the best way to learn,” said Thomas. Some of the things she remembers from being an aspiring musician at SDA were playing at Exhibition Day and how supportive science teacher George Stimson was of her. One year he recorded her and her dad playing a duet and it’s the only recording they have of them up to date. When Thomas went to Boston University, she realized she wanted to make music not only a hobby, but a career. She lives in Los Angeles now and teaches at the music school where she became connected with her new band. Through a friend of a friend she met singer-songwriter, Kira Fontana, who was forming a band. The pieces fell

dimitri fautsch

gorillaz.com

Plastic Beach Gorillaz Lou Reed Cameo

9/10

Only in this day of Slingboxes (not the weed dealer ) and anime porn can a virtual band be more successful than their warm-blooded compadres. The computer-created Gorillaz have had success in the past, and now in the present with their new album “Plastic Beach.” The Gorillaz tend to make the same album over and over: futuristic minglings of hip-hop,

in place with the percussionist, cellist, and violinists and they began performing. Fontana, who has a background in classical composition and got degrees from Yale and Columbia, composes all the music with input from the band members. Their music is described as classically tinged alt-rock with intricate rhythms, haunting lyrics and lush harmonies. Their debut album, “The Inner Revolution,” was released in 2008. “Careers in music have changed a lot lately, not only because of electronic capabilities, but also because of how the arts are funded. I always trained to be a classical musician, but I think I always knew I wanted to be able to perform all different genres of music, which distinguished me from those musicians that only stayed in the classical world,” said Thomas. She has played in an array of different kinds of music groups

electro, pop and reggae featuring the same R&B old-timers played out against different background beats. The album opens with a short glimpse into the world of classical music before taking you into the dog house with Snoop Dogg lazily rhyming his way around Damon Albarn’s beats. You may have heard the charttopping “Stylo,” an embodiment of the 80’s Miami club scene, complete with a combed handlebar and crisp white jeans.

Courtesy of Jennifer Thomas Voila Thomas dishes up a sweet song on her viola for our listening pleasure.

including bluegrass bands, rock bands, indie bands, folk bands, jazz and classical bands. There have been some defining moments in her career. One of them was when she traveled to Central Europe with the San Diego Youth Symphony in between her freshman and sophomore year of high school. Even though she was separated from the musicians she was playing with by a language barrier,

The best part of the album is the second half. The iconic Lou Reed guests on “Some Kind of Nature,”, and contributes in a big way toward the song’s excellence. Mos Def’s unique tone can be heard in “Sweepstakes,” and the album’s eponymous song, “Plastic Beach,” amazes with its style guitars at the beginning, the keyboards throughout the main song, and Albarn’s distorted voice. The Gorillaz have some of

music connected them and that was a very powerful realization for her. As advice to high school musicians, Thomas said, “Work hard, be patient with yourself, and always stay true to the kind of musician you want to be. There are so many different needs for music in our world, that there is a place for everyone to be successful and contribute in their own way.”

the best musical sensibility of this time period. On top of that, they are able to pull many influences (Lou Reed, De La Soul, Mos Def). Albarn embraced the information age, while still keeping his band mysterious. Does anybody even know how they play at concerts? Is it just a screen with funky animations, and circling lasers? Their air of mystery is why they will be such a big deal on the third day of your three day pass at Coachella.

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A noteworthy achievement After months of hard work, junior Tamzin Ferré Elliot got the opportunity of a lifetime, having the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra perform her original composition at the Disney Concert Hall. Story by Thea Brown

or some students, music is a couple of chords thrown together on a guitar. Then some lyrics are put on top, and leveled off with bass and drums. A quick play in front of the school gym highlights the peak of their career. The band members come and go, the styles changing each month. For junior Tamzin Ferré Elliot, her goals are much bigger: Disney Concert Hall. In December 2009, Elliot began composing a minute and thirty secondlong piece on the piano. Within two months time she wrote out the piece for a full orchestra. On Feb. 24 and 25 the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra performed her piece, “Cloister,” in front of the full concert hall. Elliot got involved with the LA Philharmonic through her harp teacher. Her teacher, Sylvia Ré, is the principal harpist for the LA Philharmonic, and suggested that Elliot should apply to be a part of a two-year program with the LA Philharmonic. In the program, Elliot was assigned to compose and notated a one-minute piece for a full orchestra to perform. “It was a challenge seeing as the assignment was to write a one minute theme and variations for full orchestra. Usually a theme and variations is just that: the theme is stated in the piece, and then the composer spells out a million and a half variations. These pieces are usually on the longer side. So, with my assignment being one minute, I really had to rethink the idea of variations,” Elliot said.

The movie inside her head

Her piece, “Cloister,” was set to a very specific “movie” in Elliot’s head. “The image and feel that I tried to portray is that you are sitting in a corridor of an abbey, maybe by a garden, and you can only pick up fragments of conversations, prayers, chants, and songs among the clamorous birds. Suddenly a line of monks walk down the corridor past you singing the chant, and you hear the clear representation of what you have already heard within the echoes,” she said. After all of her efforts, it was finally time for the performance. “It was absolutely crazy,” she said, “but there is a funny thing

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Photo Courtesy of Ann Elliot

Nocturne in E Minor Elliot scribbles down the next few notes of her opus, taking care to not disturb the rest of the house with some excited squeals.

that happens at the premier of every piece which one of my teachers, A.J. McKaffrey, told me, that it’s like staring at a blank screen and only the mistakes pop out.” Regardless, Elliot recalls the night fondly. “The first night the L.A. Phil played my one and a half minute first orchestra piece wonder; I barely remember how it went. I was so exhilarated.” Despite the entire ordeal being for the performance, Elliot said that her favorite part was the rehearsal. “My piece was not traditional, and I had to explain it to the L.A. Phil. I was sitting 20 rows back with a microphone, ready to wet my pants, and I swear I could feel my heart beat in my neck. That’s how the entire five-minute rehearsal went.” Composing brings her a tremendous satisfaction. “It’s really bad because I compose at the piano in my living room which is attached to every room in my house and I’ll have a breakthrough and just start yelling random noises because words can’t describe the happiness,”

she said. “And then my mom will look at me funny from the office. But the best part has to be hearing [a piece] performed and rehearsing it. Because, as my mom says, ‘All we get to hear is your clinking at the piano and we don’t actually know what it sounds like and you can’t just talk to us about it.’” For Elliot, the process of composing is like a series of decisions. “It’s like writing an essay, except there are a lot more things you have to worry about and take into account. It really just starting with a “what do I want to accomplish?” which then becomes “What do I need to consider/do to actually portray this idea?” which then becomes “What is the bassoon’s range?” and so on,” she said.

Prelude

Elliot began playing music, as she says in a dumb home video way on a color coated tinkley thing. “Really I started doing stuff when I was five on a piano and I’d clink out little melodies. My mom was obsessed with the

‘Phantom of the Opera,’ so I’d always clink out ‘Phantom of the Opera’ melodies,” Elliot said. By third grade she had progressed on to the flute in order to join band. The flute then gave way to the harp. “I learned how to play the harp because I am part Irish and wanted to play a folk harp,” Elliot said. “Then I realized that with folk harp you couldn’t do much, so then I started playing pedal, which is like the orchestral harp.” When she was in eighth grade, Elliot joined the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra, playing the harp, flute, and piccolo. But even before the Civic Youth Orchestra, Elliot was composing. It was around the age of 11 that she wrote her first piece. In another home video story, Elliot said that she began composing after attending a clarinet quartet concert. “One of the guys had an original composition and he said that he wrote it to movies in his head, which now sounds sort of cliché to me, but at the time it was so novel,” Elliot said. “So I thought, ‘I can do that!’ and I

went home and started writing a little piece.” She went on to submit the piece to a state competition and won 2nd place. In the next competition she took home first. The level of seriousness and focus that Elliot possesses now towards her music did not come until her summer at Yellow Barn Music School. Elliot describes it as “a chamber music program for six composers that go, and the rest are musicians. It’s an intense thing out in the middle of nowhere in Vermont. Half of the kids are going to Julliard.” It was there that Elliot gained her attitude of virtuosity and musicality she has now. “In regards to her future involvement in music, only one thing seems concrete to Elliot. “I would like to study composition in both undergrad and graduate levels, but that’s all one can really say - from there one can freelance, teach, be a copiest for big wigs with more money - it all really depends on networking. Getting a degree pretty much is the most definite thing one can do.”

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Backstage Pass

In the spirit of “Spinal Tap” and “Anvil,” staff writer Rieko Michelle Whitfield sets out to “rockument” what really goes on behind-the-scenes at band practice of two of the most renouned bands from SDA: The APE; Nate and Circle of Manias.

Circle of Manias

Rieko Michelle Whitfield

Felipe Pezzoli drums to odd time-signatures.

When Circle of Manias (formerly known as Amun Ra) broke out on the Progressive Death Metal scene in 2008, the furious double-bass beats of drummer Felipe Pezzoli, the brutal sweeps of lead guitarist Eric Gudmundsson, and the choreographed head-banging of the five impeccably longhaired seniors wooed the hearts of metal-heads and cougars all throughout the nation. Many SDA students may be familiar with Circle of Manias as finalists in SDA’s Battle of the Bands two years in a row, or as the band that has an eerily accurate resemblance to the members of the fictional band Dethkolk from the show Metalakolypse. Regardless of their

reputation, this tight nit group of friends is one of the most enduring bands in the ruthless independent music scene here at SDA. With a self-described sound as “on a scale from one to metal, we’re pretty damn metal,” Circle of Manias has been shredding harder than ever with their loyal legion of followers – their parents. In the future, the band plans to stay together and hopes to record a debut album and get signed to a record deal. “[Bassist] Clinton [Frerichs] is gowing away for college, but it doesn’t matter because you can’t hear it anyways. Bassists are highly replacable,” said front man Tory Bader.

Rieko Michelle Whitfield

Hope Leaves. Guitarist Lukas Weiss covers Opeth.

The APE; Nate

Rieko Michelle Whitfield

Bass lines and bass beats. Bassist Brian Moffatt and drummer Bryan Hee rock the lower end of the frequencies.

These days, up-and-coming band The APE; Nate seems to be ubiquitous. After taking the title of 2009’s winner of SDA’s Battle of the Bands in October, they have played renowned venues as the Mustang Center, headlined for SDA’s Amnesty International concert in December, and have even played private acoustic sets in the boy’s bathroom near the gym warming up before the Battle of the Bands finals. Kirby Lochner (senior), guitarist and vocalist, claims the bathroom has “great reverb” - perfect for the buttery smooth auditory seduction that is The APE; Nate. Yet just one mystery remains – What is the origin of the band name, The APE; Nate? After much pestering, the anthropoidic lips of the Ape remained sealed. “We can’t tell you,” said Lochner, “Like the Rolling Stones once said, you can’t always get what you want.”

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Catch ‘em You will finally be able to get them all hayley baker

lot of my childhood was spent playing Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance; I skipped the Game Boy XP but caught up with the DS brick. Many game cartridges came and went, were lost and found, but there is one game that will continue to remain a powerful icon of my childhood. The second Pokémon generation was a great and wonderful excitement. My classmates whispered to me on the playground: “There’s a Pokémon called pikablue! There’s going to be even more than 151 Pokémon!” More than 151 Pokémon? Impossible! That meant having to spend three weeks allowance to buy a new and improved Pokémon trainers handbook Gold and Silver were the

best Pokémon games because there was so much to do. It was a never-ending adventure. After beating the Elite Four in the Johto region, you could return to the original Kanto region and beat the original line-up of gym leaders. It was hours and hours of battles, training, exploring and catching. It was everything I ever wanted. So early this year when I heard that Heart Gold and Soul Silver had been announced I relived all those moments of excitement. They were essentially remaking my entire childhood but with new shiny graphics and cool re-done gyms and puzzles and moves and plot and maps and everything! Heart Gold and Soul Silver, which was released March 14th , retains all the endearing qualities of the original games

thea brown

Pika Pika Junior Louis Edelman proudly shows off his inner pokemon.

but with more pretty colors and more 3D buildings and graphics. The plot is slightly tweaked to include a friendly rival and adds the story of Suicune that many Pokémaniacs remember from Crystal version. But all of those childhood attachments – awaiting the ap-

Alice, in chains.

The review

Disney restricts Burton’s genius.

It’s not a room...

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a copy of Heart Gold, I realized that these babies weren’t even born by the time I evolved my Charmander into Charizard. But that didn’t matter. It was all in the spirit of Pokémon, and Heart Gold and Soul Silver carry that spirit with them still. Pokémon 4ever. Pokémon 4 life.

hayley baker

he love between a tortured soul and a beautiful young lady, the torrid battle between a mystical beast and a doubtful underdog – the new “Alice and Wonderland” sits comfortably between the two most common realms of storytelling. The Disney movie, directed by Tim Burton, is an epic journey that brings confused characters not only to triumph, but to the discovery of themselves. Needless to say, it isn’t the predictable story line crafted at the hands of Disney, or even the mediocre battle scenes masked by 3D effects that sets this movie apart. Frankly for a story written by a pedophile rumored to be tripping on acid, Disney’s role in the making of the film made it a bit too family-oriented. The new “Alice in Wonderland” was an undeniable mix between the films by Walt Disney and the ones by Tim Burton - a predictable little hybrid. Though not as apparent as in “The Nightmare before Christmas” or “Edward Scissorhands,” the use of Burton’s brilliance was clear in his use of color schemes conveying his characters most explicit traits, manipulating angles to match

pearance of the legendary dogs or finally getting the silver wing to unlock Lugia – are still there. And none of the original sentiments are lost. As I stood outside the GameStop at 8 AM in the morning amid a group of ten-year-old boys waiting to get my hands on

disney.go.com No wonder... It’s time to ditch the Disney.

the insanity of his plots, and mostly at casting his wife (the evil Red Queen, Helena Bonham Carter) who skews her characters to their most deranged form. Burton’s style helped to make this movie a bit more of a… I hate to say it, but… trip. But for a highly grossing movie, expected to be phenomenal, the new “Alice in Wonderland” by no means lived up to its expectations. Everything from Johnny Depp’s acting, to the plot was completely predicable. Although Disney and Burton did not completely mutilate the original, as usually happens with remakes, it did not offer anything awe-worthy. For the next movie my advice for Tim Burton would be to ditch Mr. Disney, he’s a deadweight, this one’s all yours.

want you to go home and look at your goldfish. Now, imagine your goldfish trying to create a movie that depicts human interactions and emotion. You now have some general idea of what “The Room” really is. “The Room,” simply put, is the best worst movie ever. Imagine an Ed Wood movie that is actually funny due to the terrible exchange of dialogue, props, costumes and scene development. It’s a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” cult movie gone terribly wrong. Imagine a movie so bad that you never want it to end. A movie that is so mind-numbingly awful that it nips our ability to assess its bad-ness and replaces that with uncontrollable laughter. Imagine watching this movie at San Diego’s Landmark Ken Cinema at midnight, either April 2 or 3. To understand “The Room” you must first understand the man behind the camera. And in front of it. Tommy Wiseau, a man of unknown origin. Some suspect that he is an alien due to his strange appearance, which may or may not be the result of intense facial reconstructive

hayley baker

Fine living Director Tommy Wiseau artfully decorates his room with spoons.

surgery.Wiseau starred in, produced and directed “The Room” with his wide array of talents (or perhaps incredible lack of). It took somewhere around $7 million and three different film crews to shoot the movie. When asked how he came up with the money Wiseau said that he spent a lot of time importing leather jackets from Korea. The plot follows the deteriorating relationship of Johnny (played by Wiseau) and his “future wife” Lisa. Johnny is very taken with Lisa, but after a 15 minute sex scene in the beginning of the movie between a wrinkly alien-looking man (Wiseau) and a barely-18-yearold actress, we find out that Lisa is falling out of love with Johnny, and in love with his best

friend Mark. Some of the classic audience interactions are to throw plastic spoons at the screen. This is because on the set there are some framed pictures of spoons in the background. No one knows why. It is speculated that Wiseau has such a poor understanding of home décor that he assumed it was normal to frame pictures of spoons. If you have a love for fine cinematography, then you are better equipped to appreciate this terrible movie. It is a Jackson Pollock masterpiece created on accident by a two-year-old spilling spaghetti on the kitchen floor. If everyone watched “The Room” they might just become a better person. Or laugh for two hours straight. Whichever.

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We ruv Becca-chan!

Becca is big in Japan. The Japanese exchange students were estatic with her performance, but clearly, SDA was not. julian dennis

nother band playing at lunch. One in a string of many to grace SDA with their famed presence, trying, for some reason, to use high schools to further their careers. It was Spring, and the air was rich with the feel of excitement, energy, and art. Or, maybe not. The woman taking the stage, trying to look like something out of the 80’s Goth scene, was reminiscent of Avril Lavigne, if she had been fostered by equally bland J-pop parents. She was Becca, or Rebecca Holcraft, as she was last known in the United States before leaving as a teen for Japan where she was to make a career for herself. And she succeeded. She is a big star in Japan, even the visiting exchange students knew of her. “A miracle!” one might say. But no, this Portland-Japan hybrid “made it” based purely on her own mediocrity. Perhaps it was only in Japan that her dull and insipid musical style could be accepted and allowed to flourish. As she said herself after the show, the people there are much less judgmental, and more open than Americans. The small crowd of SDA students, looks of boredom plastered on many a-face, was barely excited enough to give a weak

I’m ALIVE!! With such profound lyrics such as —I live my life/I’m alive!— in the refrain of her hit song, Becca is the epitome of mediocrity.

little clap. Becca wasn’t too used to this, as it was very different from her experiences in Japan. As she played fondly with a studded bracelet around her wrist, Becca said that many of her Japanese fans would give her gifts as a sign of appreciation. She says she has received many things, including articles of

clothing and pieces of jewelry, which she wears at many of her shows. She is very committed to her fans, isn’t she? Becca says Japan has inspired her music to be quirky and different. This, however, was not too evident, seeing as how she sounded like any other “tough,” “punk-rock” female vocalist

singing about heart-break and love. Her so-called quirks belong to too many others to be considered different. Her dreams, too, are very cookie-cutter. She wants to win a Grammy. Can you do that in Japan? She also wants to tour the world and continue to infect others with her love of music.

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“I love Japan, but the U.S. is where I’m from,” Becca said. And it is with that thought in mind, and with her talents (or lack thereof) that Becca begins her takeover of America, doomed, at least for now, to play to an audience of 10 or 15 very unimpressed high school students.

In over their heads, they come from a (West)land down under Westland played their hearts out to SDA, and no one even knew ‘til now josh drilling

ast month the band Westland pit-stopped at San Dieguito Academy on their massive West coast tour, dancing and bobbing and strutting and sweating, outfitted in black hair or bracelets or mascara. They filled the half-hour with what math teacher Gail Lee described as a “hard-to-describe, but very folky teen-punk.” Their songs were tight; they thrilled each other during choruses, leaning sweaty-backsto-sweaty-backs and bumbling around behind the lead singer’s arched, mic-in-the-air vocals. Their roadies huddled at the

josh drilling

Bummed. Their shadows were the only other dancers at lunch that day.

merch-table, shooting thumbsup and wide grins. A handful of unimpressed luncheoners avoided the excitement by hunching their too-cool cold shoulders while bobbing to the music. The crowd must’ve forgotten to bring their “DGAF

all ye who enter here” sign with them, but Aaron Bonus, the lead singer/songwriter for the band didn’t seem to mind. Clumps of passers-by passed them by; walking through thatplace-in-front-of-the-gym without realizing the band was even

from out of town. The band was unfazed by this reception: they were unobtrusive; even when they danced, they made sure to return to the standard shape. The music seemed cut-anddry, like any emo-teen-poppunk with exploding big hair is. They screamed and guitar solo’d and crashy-drum-filled when they needed to. Their music could blare out of MTV between episodes of “My Life as Liz” and “The Buried Life” just as banally as any other teen-emo-pop-punk band does. But Aaron sang about surviving, striving, and dealing-withit: “I’m still breathing, I’m still living.” They didn’t have matching Coheed and Cambria outfits.

They made goofy faces at each other and their jeans sagged. The oafish white tour van bore scars from journeys to remote venues and dusty-tattoos, “Brianna was here love you guys.” Drummer Carlo pulled his earplugs out between lunging thrust-smacks so lead guitarist, dubbed “Chubby Jon,” could ask him to quiet down, Aaron’s lyrics drowned-out by his exuberance. Excited by SDA’s lack of a football team he remembered his own life in high school, his voice, shoulders, and eyes dropped, “Maan, I came from a high school that—” Ryan absently began the intro-riff to their next song.

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The

Mustang Messenger where the turf meets the bitchin’

Music industry cracks down on teen Facebook lyric usage, copyright infringement abounds

That guy’s senior trip will be so much sicker than yours

By Dimitri Fautsch

By Josh Fautsch

A 17- year-old girl at San Dieguito Academy has been sued by Jay-z’s Roc-a-fella records for copyright infringement after posting lyrics to Jay-z’s “99 Problems” as her Facebook status. “It’s safe to say she now has 100 problems,” chuckled clever Roc-a-fella executive Pete Roleum. When asked by The Messenger for an explanation of her crime Academy Senior Brittany

“Call me Kesha” Cole responded, “I guess I just wasn’t thinking straight, and like, Facebook was open and all my friends were on. It was like the Perfect Storm.” Miss Cole continued, telling of how she had like a bunch of homework to do but was in a really good Facechat. The good folks at Roc-afella records, along with the Recording Industry Association of America realize that it is an uphill battle to find and fight

everybody with a Facebook and annoying parents. “We’re going to run like a spike in the mainframe, and trace it back to the proxy server,” said Roc-a-fella’s head white guy, Blake Collins. Cole has shown a repeated history of copy write infringement using Facebook statuses; especially the day after her boyfriend broke up with her, and when her mom wouldn’t leave her alone.

In a recent conversation overheard in Senior Court, it was recently revealed that that guy’s senior trip is just going to be way better than yours. Looking to surpass his impressive bevy of plans, several students pitched outlines of their own trips; however, that guy would not be outdone. “Some girl was like ‘Euhh NASA’s taking me on an orbit round the Earth with their new Once in a Lifetime Orbit around

the Earth Program because I got into MIT for inventing TV on the cellphone,’ but she was like easily one-upped when I told her my sick plans,” he said. Refraining from any of the trivial details like departure date and destination, that guy went on to dazzle the entranced audience with projections of the cool stuff he would do in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Kiev, and other sick places, further dazzling his listeners.

Academy theatre canceled, CCA blamed. Thespians start acting out in protest, resume hazing freshmen By Henry Sweat The plan to build San Dieguito Academy’s theatre has been canceled. The school board voted yesterday to cancel SDA’s new theatre that was supposed to fix SDA’s lack of a decent theatre. Citing the recent budget crisis, the Board stated, “After analyzing the situation in immense depth, we decided need to divert these funds to somewhere useful like a new theatre for Canyon Crest Academy.” When it was pointed out that CCA already had two theatres, the board answered that they thought they needed to devote funds to a school that was “up and coming, and actually had

good CST scores.” Many extremely angry thespians from SDA threatened to resume hazing initiate thespians, which they said would result in the district getting sued. The district replied by banning the entire theatre program at SDA, which ultimately launched the prominent Facebook group, “Grassroots movement for a theatre program at SDA.” One cardigan sporting kid who wished to remain anonymous said, “I just joined because I am also super grasrootsy.” It was rumored that the funds may be devoted to the purchase of real grass for the small hill along the pathway to the shop rooms.

Concrete jungle Scheduled to become host to SDA’s new theatre, the blacktop just beyond Encinitas’ Rutgers Park will be converted into a really crappy skatepark, where 8th graders can spend their Fridays.

Nostradamus prediction that she would go to prom with this one guy ‘untrue’ Josh Fautsch The famed French philosopher Nostradamus’ prediction that that hot girl at Souplantation would agree to accompany that one student to Prom on May 22nd ended up being wrong. “I sent her some really sexy

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texts with like some funny pics, but she wasn’t responding,” said the broken-hearted suitor over text message. “So I showed her Nostradamus’ 5th quatrain to convince her, but like, she was just pissed I was waiting ‘not’ naked in

her car til she got off work” he texted. Nostradamus in his 5th quatrain wrote, when translated into English: “On May 22nd if you gotta dance at the zoo, take the hottie with the badonk who works at

the soup farm. Definitely hit that ‘not’ in the Sky Safari.” The translation of some of the quatrain’s meaning was hard to discern, so some inconsistencies may be present. “Not really sure how he was wrong, the quatrain is very spe-

cific,” he texted, “Nostradamus’ other prediction that I’d find five dollars this morning also wasn’t true.” Nostradamus could not be reached to comment on the inaccuracies of his most recent prophecies.

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The art of SDA fashion W I <3 fashion

hen you think of SDA the first things that come to mind are the beautiful artwork, the surfing, hanging with friends and the overall relaxed atmosphere. Although these are all importatiana skomski tant parts of our school’s culture, one aspect that has become an instant identification of our school are the unique styles of the students that accompany us. From thrifty, to vintage, to edgy rocker, to sophisticated, to eclectic to everything in between, our school has one of the most unique and diverse sense of styles I have ever encountered. Walking through the hallways is like taking a stroll through every kind of magazine put together. From Cosmo, to Vogue, to Surfer magazine, the fashion at SDA proves to be nothing less than boring. You see super trendy or vintage, skater punk or surfer chill, t-shirts and jeans or floral dresses. You see so many different styles all combine to create the culture we call SDA. There is not one definition of fashion or style. Fashion is its own unique art form. Anything that you put on your body sends a certain message to the world around you. Whatever you pick up off the floor of your room in the morning is what you decide to tell the world that day. The fact that fashion isn’t just the runway; it’s the sidewalk and the school hallway. Anywhere you go and anything you do, you are telling someone your mood, personality and the views you have by what you are wearing. As an artistic school, it is not unusual to see murals covering the walls and guitars being strummed during class. Fashion, although not usually recognized as art, is just as important as the paintings, photographs, and music that are made here every day. SDA is blessed with the attitude of wear whatever you like and you’ll be accepted. Our school doesn’t have any “mean girls” telling us what we can and cannot wear. No matter what your style is, keep up the art, because, let’s face it, SDA is the most stylish school around.

shelby meyers

Shalom earth Local eco-friendly store carries clothing and other products that promote all-around well-being of self and environment.

Eco-friendly fashion in; toxic products out Shed your fur coats and leather pants for fashion that doesn’t have to come at a cost to the planet. By Maddie Lyon, Shelby Meyers, and Kate Murphy.

s Klean Kanteens, Priuses, and vegan food continue to stir the interest of everyone and their brother, the next eye-catching trend to attract environmental enthusiasts can only be planet-friendly clothing. From hemp to bamboo to organic cotton, there seems to be an eco-friendly alternative to almost every piece of clothing. Several popular brands and companies have decided to go green and produce clothing of the future, or at least clothing that will hopefully make the future foreseeable. These companies have begun to reduce and reuse by creating clothes made out of organic or recycled materials. Some major companies have joined the movement and have taken major steps to create their products with a lower cost to the environment. American Apparel currently uses 20 percent organic materials in all of their cotton

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clothing and hope to increase that to 80 percent in the near future. They also recycle over one million pounds of fabrics every year and have equipped their LA headquarters with solar panels on their roof, according to the American Apparel Sustainable website. Levis Strauss Jeans has greened up the production of jeans by using organic materials, recycled buttons and zippers, and natural indigo dye. Patagonia started their Common Threads Recycling Garment program which recycles the worn out clothes customers mail back to their stores to create new polyester fiber. This simple change has resulted in “an energy savings of 76 percent and a CO2 emissions [greenhouse gasses] reduction of 71 percent” according to a Patagonia press release introducing this revolutionary recycling process.

Ecotopiia, a local store on the 101 (that replaced Envirogentle), opened up with the slogan, “Using good products to lure innocent people into environmental activism since 1991.” Ecotopiia differs from the other aforementioned companies in that it sells everyday products such as soaps, snacks, and jewelry that are allnatural and local. Ecotopiia employee Jennifer Waters explained how customers are constantly surprised on how clean and healthy the store feels and smells. Its natural and organic clothing products aren’t processed with toxic chemicals and avoid the reeking perfume of unnatural fabrics like many large department store chains often have. Instead of using processed materials, each article is made of either hemp, bamboo, soy, flax or organic cotton. The natural fabrics are grown without pesticides and are chemical free

ensuring an enviro-friendly process from start to finish. The company not only sells healthy clothing, but also acquires its merchandise in an eco-friendly manner. Ecotopiia brings in merchandise from local venders who make products such as original bracelets made from hemp and soda can tops, or lunch bags made from recycled juice boxes. But don’t fear. Quality isn’t sacrificed for the sake of the environment. Ecotopiia’s soft, comfortable, stylish, and chemical free products keep customers coming back for more. Ecotopiia’s products are addicting and make a member of post-industrial society convert back the days of clean living. It seems that this new fad, unlike others, turns back to our natural roots and keeps in mind the value of preserving our world and the nature that surrounds us.

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Rocking the catwalk

Helping Haiti can be fashionable too. The event showcased the latest prom fashions. By Tatiana Skomski

ights, camera, catwalk. The first prom fashion show displayed a range of beautiful Dresses, Suits, and accessories suitable for the upcoming spring Prom. With a selection of gowns sponsored by David’s Bridal, and suits from Men’s Warehouse and an assortment of student designed dresses, the show was far from boring. Senior Jenn Godfrey headed the event and got the idea while flipping through a prom decoration catalogue. An ad was spotted for David’s Bridal sponsoring fashion shows for high schools to win $5,000 if they used their dresses. The David’s Bridal portion of the show included a range of long and short gowns filling the entire color spectrum. From a tan, ruffled, full-length gown to a short, bright teal one, there were dresses to fit every style. Although there were fewer boys than girls, the boys had as much fun. The Men’s Warehouse suits spanned from traditional black three pieces, to all white with black detailing. The

suits stayed mostly consistent to typical prom attire with nothing too surprising. One of the most exciting events was the student design showcase. This was where the real creativity came from. This portion included multiple designs from five student designers, Elle Farrell, Senior; Claire Li Sophomore; Leslie Nesser, Senior and Brianna McDonnell, Senior. The trends differed for each designer but included edgy, romantic, soft, and most definitely unique. Inspirations ranged from ordinary things such as zippers and buttons, to animals like peacock. Music was another big inspiration for the designers using eastern rock as a muse to create their masterpieces. As the show came around the corner ASB advertised for student models. Although it was available to anyone who wanted to participate, David’s Bridal had a requirement that the models be at least 5’8”. Sophomore Samantha Sonnich said it was a “fun yet nerve-racking” experi-

ence as a first-time model. “My biggest fear was tripping on my dress which was full length,” she said. “But once I stepped onto the runway, it was really fun. I’m glad I participated!” In addition to being a fun event for the school, there were a few serious causes the show was benefiting. Donations towards helping Haiti were accepted and ASB raised about $120 from the event. Also, a dress drive was incorporated into the show, where girls could donate their old prom or formal dresses to give to girls in the hospital with cancer. Although they have some, ASB is still accepting dresses and would greatly appreciate any donations.. The Prom fashion show was filled dresses, music and fierce poses. ASB was happy about the overall show and said they would be happy to do it again. “It was a crazy event. Planning it was the hardest part and although it wasn’t perfect, I am still pleased with the end result,” said Godfrey.

tatiana skomski

Work it Sarah Hertica shows off her personal creation on the catwalk.

Ultimate Steeze Angela Zhang, sophomore, and Jordan Gray, senior. By Maddie Lyon and Tatiana Skomski jacket: China jacket: Home necklace: Forever 21 shirt: H&M shirt: China pants: Forever 21

pants: Pac Sun

shoes: Urban Outfitters

Estimated cost: $100 Personal style: diverse ecclectic Fashion icons: Coco Chanel

shoes: Allstar Outlet

maddie lyon

Estimated cost: $120 Personal style: DGAF Fashion icons: Brian Moffatt

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The

Mustang Messenger 100% news for 100% people

“Rejected” says College Board director Mutombo By Hayley Baker

University of Deuce de la Sac has rejected their entire applicant pool of 50,000 for the fall of 2010, the office of administration says. “We’ve found that there are no qualified freshmen in this incoming class,” said College Board director Dikembe Mutombo. “Deuce de la Sac only accepts the most deserving of the deserving, the best of the best. They cannot run the risk of lowering their university’s standards and alumni donations by allowing such cretins to plague their beauteous and intellectually stimulating campus.” The average GPA of all applicants was 5.6, and to qualify one must have cured at least one major illness, fixed Zimbabwe’s rapid inflation or established peace between Israel and Palestine. After that, applicants were

required to write a 500-page novel about their development as a free-thinking individual. Only Varsity captains of Division I teams who had also started water polo leagues for paraplegics and other handicaps would be considered in the “extracurricular activities.” Applicants were also required to have letters of recommendation written by every teacher they have ever had, dating back to kindergarten. Those rejected are quite crushed about the University’s decisions. “I had to have blood transfusions to fit the blood type requirement, and clean all of the plastic out of the ocean to qualify to even view the application for Deuce de la Sac,” said. “It was so much work, and to have done all that and only get into Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Cornell, Columbia is such a disappointment.

deutsches bundesarchiv

Totally worth it: Senior Out winners Col Denbluddy and Inhatt N. Gloves pose for a post-celebration photo.

Game of senior out turns violent at local prison By Dimitri Fautsch Accusations of limb-chopping and sexual harassment marred what was supposed to be a friendly game of Senior Out at San Elijo Estuary Correctional Facility. One prisoner claimed that the severed hand, and piece of poop he was holding qualified as a person and nobody could tag

him. Another ignored the “no playing in the showers” rule, and ‘tagged’ two other prisoners at the same time. DCF was in chaos late Thursday afternoon as prisoners were scrambling to tag their assignments before the prison was put on lockdown. “Uhhh… it like reminded me of the opening sequence of

‘Triple XXX: State of the Union’ when Black Ice or whatever escapes from the jail, it was like that hectic,” said one guard. Prisoners have also questioned the prize of a pack of two-ply and one three day pass to the Coachella Music Festival. “What I am supposed to do with ONE pass anyways” sassed Reggie “Red” Redding.

Trees at the Academy are cut down; aptly named officials and students speak out By Henry Sweat

Sylvain Pedneault

Claaaassic CCA: Having caught word of SDA’s impromptu fire drill, CCA decided to one-up SDA by burning down one of their buildings.

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Recent developments have forced San Dieguito Academy to make cuts again. In the recent economic recession, schools everywhere have been taking a hit. SDA experienced a 30 percent cut to all departments last year; however, SDA’s brain trust locked itself in a room and decided to fix everything to prevent another round of drastic cuts. Their new plan salvages SDA’s budget and saves the environment in one fell swoop. The new plan calls for every single tree on campus to be cut down. Students originally were against the idea, “I thought the idea was a joke. How could they dare to cut down all of the trees that make our school so beautiful? I was stumped as to why they would do that,” said senior Douglas Fir.

While students pine for trees cut down, they realize the benefit to the school and environment far outweighs the costs. The plan calls for each tree to be shipped to the local paper plant and processed into paper. Although the school pays for cutting the tree down and shipping, the paper plant agreed to process the paper for free. Tulip Poplar, the owner of the plant, said, “We are happy to do this service for our community and we know the papers that we supply will ensure that each kid always has a piece of paper to draw penises on forever.” San Dieguito Union High School District representatives looked to encourage other schools in the district to adopt the same policy. La Costa Canyon was not interested in the policy since they found out that the funds earned could not be spent on the football team per

California State Law. Sunset is currently sponsoring a student project to research a way to expand the program to include other plants. Canyon Crest is adopting the policy pioneered by SDA, as usual. Torrey Pines, under protest, is not adopting the policy. Torrey Pines representative Will Lowe stated, “Torrey Pines unfortunately cannot adopt SDA’s policy since the trees found at Torrey Pines, which are named after the school, are considered too rare to be cut down. We deem it unfair that SDA has this advantage and strongly protest their right to cut down their trees on the grounds that it gives them an unfair advantage over the rest of the district, since they can now allocate more money to improving their STAR testing scores.” SDUHSD is taking their protest under advisement and will vote on it sooner or later.

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circus animal04.02.10 fun

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Mustang Messenger The arts section, purely for the Educated

New Dan Brown novel ‘not lope’ for Rastas By Dimitri Drillin In a move that is sure to fry out the Rastafarian church, Dan Brown released a new thriller “The Da Funky Monkey” that questions the legitimacy of the Rasta movement. Brown’s novel details the hectic life of several “Rastafarians,” and their rampant couchpotatoery, unemployment, and dubstep. In a heavy Jamaican drawl, the Rastafarian pope Frank Kush said, “Yo listen up ma main man Dan Brown, is no longa ma main man. Both his passport and his medi card be blacklisted. He be no longa welcome to Jamrock.” Everywhere, readers irritated by the mockery of their religion protested by staying home from

work all day. In a “really, really” long line to buy some “Sanuks: Not sandals, not shoes” one reader, who swore his red-eyes were caused by the medication for his “back-pain and euh, insomnia” commented on his decision to stay home from work the day of the book’s release, “Well I was like pretty bummed about that book, man. And there was an Aqua Teen Hunger Force marathon on.” Others were angered at the length and lack of illustrations in the novel. In one of the hottest chapters in the book, investigative reporter, T.H. Caldwell, finds out that Bob Marley lip-synced the whole One Love Peace Concert wherein he helped unite two rival Jamaican political factions.

Idol votes surpass world population, Seacrest confused Dear Jack-y By Josh Drilling Over 15 billion text-votes were tallied on Wednesday night after “American Idol” contestants sang their hearts out; voting started shortly afterward and the window stayed open for the following hour. Defying logic but not expectation, it was the biggest voter turnout in the history of the show’s 130 seasons. When asked about the startling results, Ryan Seacrest was like, “I know, right? Buy a brand new 2011 Ford Fiesta.” Economics professors at UCSD were consulted to explain this phenomenon, but many of the interviewees were unable to comment, as they were too busy buying hybrids. When Dr. Pete

Retentious, Ph. D was asked about the popular show, he said, “What? I don’t watch [“American Idol”], everything on TV’s mainstream and consumerist.” Sipping his Peet’s house-blend coffee, he went on to explain why “Lost” was this century’s greatest masterpiece, but that he only watches “it on Hulu and people’s blogs and other internet locales.” Simon Cowell and those other judges tweeted their opinions of the results. Cowell said, “Americans are idiots.” Other celebrities voiced their opinions as well, President Obama was “inspired by the devoted character of America’s heartland.” He is preparing the Senate to text their votes on the student loans bill next week.

Jack-y helps students sort out their problems: real problems. Real students ask about these problems, also. He’s even a real descendent of Dear Abby, who is his actual ancestor. -By Jack Rushall

Hey, so I really like this girl: she’s the apple of my eye. We hang out all the time and go to the movies and drink milkshakes, you know, the whole nine yards. But, the catch is that she’s also dating my second cousin Drew. Do you still think she likes me? Isn’t love supposed to be shared between just TWO people? Signed—Mr. Milkshake Love There are two people: you and your cousin.

Sandra Lee is a mediocre chef specializing in drinking games. Her recipes can be imitated, but never duplicated. By Eleanore Hendrickson Sandra Lee, star of the Food Network’s “Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee,” has inspired many with her show; she combines 70 percent storebought food with 30 percent fresh ingredients into 100 percent failure. To be fair though, as many internet web sites prove, most of what she inspires for her viewers are drinking games. (Take a shot every time she uses canned icing!) Sandra Lee reveals her many diverse influences along the course of her show, which may explain many of her recipes as discussed below. She almost explodes with glee every time she announces “cocktail time,” ecstatically opening up the vodka bottle in preparation for “the best time of the day.” This, along with her Christmas “cocktail tree,” which was

seemingly decorated in a drunken stupor as dozens upon dozens of alcohol glasses of every type hang from its branches, paint the picture for a much-needed intervention. Now, of course, I may have no place in criticizing Sandra, as my cooking repertoire consists of the abilities to boil water and make toast. This has changed upon watching footage of her show. One video centers upon her “cooking” a meatloaf that lay at the end of the video in a puddle of its own fat and grease, oozing wads of cheese as she proclaimed it delicious. In another clip, she blended heavy cream, vodka, and lemonade together – the heavy cream curdled once it hit the lemonade. This time, she didn’t even mask her displeasure, revealed as a frame-by-frame view of her face tasting the drink showed her puckering in disgust. But, still, I can barely boil water, and since the show seems

specifically targeted towards people with the same amount of skills as me, it seems only fitting that I take on the task of creating Sandra Lee’s “Infamous Kwanzaa Cake.” I decided to take a few liberties with the recipe, though I don’t think I could possibly match the distance straying away from traditional instructions that Sandra Lee has strayed away from what could actually be defined as cooking. Since I could not find a few of the ingredients at the store, I decided to make some replacements. Instead of pumpkin seeds, I used pine nuts, and I had to omit black candles, so I suppose this is no longer a Kwanzaa cake, but a Christmas cake. I also had to make my own apple pie filling, since I couldn’t find a can at the store, even though this is supposed to be a “no bake cake.” Sandra would be disappointed.

nina moussavi Are those corn nuts? This cake tastes almost as good as it looks.

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Tales from a barista

ComedySportz Game Friday, April 23 7 p.m.

This customer likes more than her cup of coffee to be extra hot. Story by Paige Ely.

A large BMW pulled up to the front of Starbucks. A woman with white hair and large designer glasses got out of the driver’s seat and approached the door. Finally she realized the door wasn’t automatic and she would have to open it herself. Hesitantly, she entered. “Hi how are you this morning?” I welcomed her. She furrowed her brow and nodded slightly. “I want a white chocolate,” she said confidently. The confidence surprised me, considering we don’t carry simply “white chocolate.” “Well, we have a white chocolate mocha, which has espresso-“ She turned her back, and walked out the door before I had finished. She stopped before she got to the car. I could hear her yell, “What did you want?” I saw her nod. She turned around, hesitating at the door once again, before entering. This time she took off her sunglasses. She nodded to me this time. “White chocolate mocha.” “All right. What size would you like?” Less than amused, she stormed out the door a second time. I heard her yell, “What size?” She wobbled in, showing her unease in high heels. “Grande.” I grabbed a cup to mark, and rang her up on the register. By this time, the man she had been yelling at came in. Knowing it was his drink, I asked: “Would you like whipped cream on top?” He nodded in the same manner she had. “Yes, 180 degrees, whole milk.” And with that he walked away. “Okay…umm…sounds good. Anything else for you?” She answered by handing me her credit card. I finished marking the cup, then made the drink. As the store quickly filled, I called it out and moved on to the next five drinks waiting for me. I began steaming nonfat milk, but instead of white, I saw green. Confused, I looked up. The woman was fluttering a dollar bill in my face. As she saw my coworker, she followed him back to the register, holding the dollar at an arms-length. She shook it at him grabbing his attention. He took it gingerly with a slightly puzzled: “…thank you?” She turned away. He shrugged and put the tip in the tip jar, a term she obviously was unfamiliar with. At the door she handed the drink to her husband, or wait, is that who he was? Seeing them together, she was probably 15 years his senior, and more than probably his sugar mama. I guess green is a universal symbol. If it isn’t Starbucks, it’s money. It’s what keeps people hydrated, what makes the world go round, and what keeps this couple together. If a cup of hot coffee doesn’t keep you going, I guess a hot younger man will. *careful, the story you are about to enjoy is extremly steamy

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sports 04.02.10

courtesy of dennis lhota courtesy of kylie dalrymple

Gather Round The Mustang Minds team congregate outside Souplantation with their temporary mascot, the “Sweet Tomato.”

Cats Cradle Varsity softball players Mia Sprau and Rachel Calsbeek play cats cradle while waiting for their game to start. The players generally relax or play games so that they can avoid getting stressed out before the start of their game.

Smells like team spirit On the field SDA’s teams appear focused and serious about winning. But off the field, pasta parties, intimidating cheers, and other team traditions bring laughter and togetherness. Story by Alexa Shapiro.

raditions. Everyone has them. Some are simple: a cookie-baking party during the holiday season or an annual bonfire to signify the end of an academic year and the start of a relaxing summer. No one is more practiced in these traditions than the teams here at San Dieguito Academy. While some traditions poke fun at athletes, others are aimed at getting energized and ready for a game. No matter what the ritual is, each serves as a way to connect the players to one another.

Mustang Cheer

“Whenever possible, we do a ‘Mustangs’ cheer,” said senior Travis Norton, varsity soccer player. The boys soccer team started the cheer when Andrew Weinfield, now a freshman in college, began regularly shouting “mustangs” before and after practice, during halftime, and before games while playing for the varsity team. As the captain of the team, Weinfield led the team in the cheer, said Norton. “There was a time where we were about to do our cheer before the game and looked over and saw the other team was about to also,” Norton said. Naturally, wanting to be louder than the opposing team, the Mustang boys waited for them to cheer first and “show them up,” Norton said. “It turns out they had the same idea and we stood there for a good five minutes and waited until they went first. Of course, we beat them; they went first, we were louder and I am pretty sure we won the game also.” The cheer “is probably the closest, literally, we ever get to each other,” Norton said. Girls volleyball created a dance they called “ride that pony.” “We would all circle up and two people would go in the middle and dance and then it would switch,” said senior Jennifer Godfrey, varsity middle blocker. Although complaints from prior years regarding how

sexual the cheer was ended the tradition, the team saw ways around it, and even tried to create a new dance to do at the start of games. “The things we came up with were...well let’s just say interesting,” Godfrey said. During summer practice, the varsity team would teach the newer athletes the dance. “I personally [think] that traditions bring the team closer together and give everyone something to bond with. Like, our dance was our way of getting pumped before a game,” Godfrey said. “It was something that all of the girls enjoyed doing.”

Dining Out

Other teams have traditional team dinners. These dinners give the teams opportunities to get to know one another without the stress of a game or the focus required in practice. Although the wrestling team is relatively new, they’ve started a tradition of eating large meals after weighing in at early morning tournaments, said junior Sam Caras. These team breakfasts have allowed the team to get to know each other on a more personal level. “It is a major part of bonding with the team. It lets us all hang out in a fun way and get to know each other without having to run sprints or carry each other like in practice,” Caras said. The tradition allows for the team to bond over “silly things like poking fun at Tanner [Curtis, senior] for ordering a giant plate of French toast before a wrestling match, or how some people can eat three meals in one sitting or not realize that they’re spending $12 on orange juice because refills aren’t free at IHOP,” Caras said. Mustang Minds typically has a team dinner before or after matches, junior Sam Houskeeper said. “I think the basis for this tradition is really just the fact that we

are teenagers and constantly hungry. Everyone looks for any excuse to get food,” Housekeeper said. Regardless of how the tradition came to be, it plays a crucial role in Mustang Mind success by allowing the team to be friends with one another. “I think that we have continued having team dinners because of how much it brings our team together,” Houskeeper said. Other teams combine the need for carbohydrates with team traditions. “We usually have Pasta Parties before big games and home games,” said junior Ariana Crowe, varsity field hockey player, “it is great team bonding and they are a lot of fun. It is always entertaining to just sit down and eat plates full of pasta and be able to talk and hang out.” The field hockey coach generally tries to keep the team on task during practice by discouraging conversations not related to field hockey. “The pasta parties give the field hockey team a chance to talk and be together, causing us to bond more,” Crowe said.

Original Traditions

Some teams developed traditions far different from the typical team dinners and cheers. SDA’s girls lacrosse team started an annual Easter egg toss five years ago when their previous coach developed the idea, senior Haley Arsenault said. During the egg toss, players toss eggs to one another using their lacrosse sticks. “It ties the team together because [the team] needs teamwork to keep the egg from breaking in the stick or on the ground,” Arsenault said. Team traditions have made teams like a second family, allowing athletes of both physical and mental games to come together and bond. These traditions are an important essence to teams because they “give us a sense of continuity and unity among the team,” said Houskeeper.

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Victory on the horizon The Mustang varsity basbeall team defeats Horizon, winning by a margin of 14 runs. kaylin greene

ustang baseball outhit, outplayed, outran, and outfielded Horizon during a home game March 24. Horizon started with a confident 1-0 lead until the third inning, when SDA was able to tie up the score. By the fourth inning, however, Horizon didn’t stand a chance. After one hit scored the team a run, it was like the leak that broke open the floodgates to victory. The boys were able to swing like there was no tomorrow and began to get run after run after run. At one point, Horizon’s catcher dropped the baseball and had to chase after it, giving SDA another run. 10 runs later, the Mustangs entered the fifth inning. San Dieguito Academy, talented not only at bat, but also in the field, made short work of Horizon and took the game into the bottom of the inning. At this point, spectators and players on both sides foresaw the outcome of the game and were getting tired, so when senior Alex Scheiwe hit a foul ball over the fence that sent it hurtling towards a row of parked cars, a gasp came up out of the crowd. The ball arched down and landed with a harmless ‘thunk’ against the canvas roof of a Jeep, and everyone laughed, relieved. The Mustangs were able to score another run in the sixth inning, and after they struck Horizon out three times in the seventh inning, both teams agreed to end the game, lining up for high fives. It was a decisive 15-1 victory for San Dieguito Academy. Overall, the team plans on keeping this up and being very

nina moussavi

Down and dirty Senior Ben Kiolbasa sprints down the third base line and braces himself to slide into home and take out the Horizon catcher if necessary.

strong this year, with intentions to not only win Coastal North League Championships, but to capture a CIF Division III Championship title too, according to varsity coach Dennis Koolhaas. The team has a 7-3 win-loss standing as of March 31, accord-

ing to The North County Times. “We will win the league as long as we play our brand of baseball. Offensively, our team is very strong in the top of the lineup so putting the ball in play will be key,” Koolhaas said. However, there have been

no major changes in the program between last year and this year, which puts Mustang Baseball in an excellent position for their pursuit of the Championship, according to Koolhaas. “The program is in an exciting growth period. The JV and

Freshman teams are as strong as we have ever seen, and that bodes well for the future of the program,” he said. Last year, the team won Coastal North League and made it to the first round of CIF Championship playoffs.

Hit me with your best shot The varsity boys golf team is off to a rough start with five losses, but the boys are staying strong and improving. pauline disch

he varsity boys golf season has started off with a 1-5 record in the Coastal League North, according to the North County Times as of March 31. The boys had a victory over Army Navy Academy with

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a combined score of 211 as opposed to Army Navy’s 234. They lost, however, to La Costa Canyon by a margin of only six points and Canyon Crest Academy by eight in a three-way match. The Mustangs also lost aginst Santa Fe Christian by 33 points and Tri-City by only five.

The team is full of a range of athletes including some returning players, some rookies of different grades, and incoming freshmen with strong skills. According to Coach Doug Timmons, freshmen John Cassidy and Brady Lawrence are showing a lot of potential.

Timmons also said the returning players worked on their skills during the off season and several should make CIF playoffs. According to Timmons, the team consisted of a lot of rookies last year and, therefore, was not as experienced as others which led to several losses. This year

the boys are much stronger and will definitely be contenders for CIF rankings. “We are doing really well because we are all shooting close scores to each other so it’s not like we have any players that are standing out and blowing it,” said Cassidy.

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What a steal!

The Mustang varsity softball team is 9-3 and on the road toward a successful season and winning a league title. kate radcliffe

he varsity SDA softball team started slowly against Frances Parker, but by the end the Mustangs came up with a solid win over the Lancers on March 10th. In the first three innings, neither team scored a run, but the girls were playing hard with the help of their coaches’ and teammates’ constant cheering from the dugout. Finally the game picked up pace after a series of strong hits that had the Mustangs running home while Parker coach urged his team to pick it up, shouting, “Let’s see some urgency here!” And by the end of the fourth inning, the score was 5 to 0 in the Mustangs’ favor. From then on, the players managed to hold onto their lead with great defense, as well as solid pitching from freshman Tonia Wu, who certainly was a large contributing factor to SDA’s success. Offensively, the girls got some great hits, though Francis Parker came prepared for power hitter, senior Rachel Calsbeek. “Kick back- you got a far hitter here!” yelled Parker’s coach each time Calsbeek batted. In the end, the final score was 5 to 2, and the players came off the field proud of their win. Marissa Sacco, freshman, said, “It was a really good game; we had a tight defense and some good hits. I think the team looks pretty strong from the first

couple of games.” In playing Francis Parker the Mustangs showed their good mix of experienced players and talented incoming freshmen. The variety of players in the batting order who helped to achieve the sequence of five runs was evident as girls from every grade and various positions contributed. Coach Sam Corrao said that his team is looking good, predicting that varsity will contend for the Coastal North league championship. The girls are currently 10-3 as of March 31 according to the North County Times as compared to their 7-10 record last year. For the past three years, the Mustangs have won the Coastal North league title, and this year will be the last opportunity for SDA to secure the title again before they enter a new league next year. Coach Corrao said this fact makes the girls “very determined” to win, and that they stand a good chance thanks to the strong group of returning and incoming players. In the games to come, the coach said he hoped to see the girls working hard to be competitive against the larger schools in their schedule to give him an indication of the team’s improvement. The varsity and JV teams are also compiled of 11 floaters who play in both team’s games. These players will enable the varsity team to have a large

nina moussavi

Hey batta, swing! Freshman Tonia Wu winds up for the pitch to try to strike out Francis Parker at the plate.

number of girls to choose from, thus allowing the coaches to play to everyone’s strengths.

The players will be involved in various tournaments during the month of March, hopefully

allowing them to gain enough practice and experience to have success in the league.

Off to the races The varsity track and field team is sprinting their way into the lead. pauline disch

kaylin greene

Running man Junior Effrain Olvera excelled at Francis Parker placing third in the 200 meter race at 27.05 and second in the 400 meter race at 58.54.

he SDA track and field team kicked off their season with a meet against Francis Parker with successful results. On March 18th the Mustangs ran against their Coastal League opponents and beat the Lancers when it came down to the teams’ points. The long distance runners dominated their competitors in the 100, 200, 400 races. According to athletic.net, sophomore Jenna Asperslag was first in the 100 meter race with a time of

13.68 while junior Katey Ford placed first in the 200 with a time of 28.87 and the 400 at 62.96. Senior Ryan Carl was second in the 200 meter race at 26.51. In the 400 meter race sophomore Eric Rumble finished third at 1:01.28. Also, freshman Amy Concha finished second in the 100 meter race with a time of 14.21 and placed second in the 200 meter race at 30.37. Junior Eunji Roh and freshman Colleen Haynes placed first and second in the 100 meter hurdles with times of 19.99 and 21.96.

Several ninth graders are popping up on the leader board because, according to Coach Justin Conn, the new runners on the team are doing a nice job of filling the gaps of the graduated seniors. “Everyone is looking really strong, especially girls’ sprinting because they’re really fast,” said senior Mieu Bry who finished second in the women’s 400 meter race with a time of 1:12.62. Bry also said that the team has more runners participating which will result in more points and hopefully more victories.

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Sit back and reLAX

Spring break

April 5-9

End of third quarter and minimum day April 16

Girls varsity lacrosse is off to a strong start. kate radcliffe

he girls varsity lacrosse game against Bishops on March 30 was one to be proud of. Though the Bishops team had nearly double the number of girls that SDA did, the Mustangs proved that quality is more important than quantity, with a solid win. SDA ended the game 10-5 and the team was pleased with the way that everyone worked together to achieve the win. Coach Chuck Kaczmarek was very happy with the team’s performance, and said, “Everything I said to do, they did. It was almost a perfect textbook game.” He attributed the win to the great defense that limited the number of shots that Bishops offense was able to take. For times their opponents had the opportunity, senior goalie Kellie MacPhee was able to prevent them from scoring. Junior Courtney Haller said, “Kellie was on fire.” Sophomore Annie Brolaski added, “She’s a star.” This far in the season, the Mustangs are 4-1, which the

coach calls a great start compared to the 4-15 record of last year. Coach Kaczmarek is new to the team, but said that the players have adjusted well to the new coaching style. He defines himself as a very defensive-minded coach, and has the team focusing more on that aspect of the sport, something that really came through in the game against Bishops where defense made the difference. Games so far have gone well according to the coach, though he anticipates stiff competition against teams like Santa Fe Christian and Canyon Crest Academy that have very strong lacrosse programs. Due to the coach’s lack of experience with the league, he is planning on taking games one at a time, but predicts that by the second half of the season the Mustangs will start to dominate. Overall, the team is making progress and constantly improving, but no matter what the season outcome is, the coach said, “These girls are a class act. I am very proud.”

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Too much love Tennis hits off to a rocky season. kaylin greene

DA tennis trekked to Bishops for what they knew would be a tough match March 23. “We look[ed] forward to Bishops just ‘cus, hell, it’s Bishops, and it’s fun anyhow,” said senior Eric Ward. The Mustangs put up a fight against the Knights, but had difficultly winning matches. Junior Tor Syvrud and sophomore Steven Lee, however, maintained a strong offense, cutting down their rivals and holding SDA’s ground against Bishops. They formed a dynamic doubles team that ultimately proved to be successful in driving a wedge into the margin Bishops was creating between SDA, who lost 2-16. All was well by the end though, when a team parent presented the team with homemade blue and white cupcakes that had either “S”, “D” or “A” icing.

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The team has seen big changes from last year, due to several factors. The team gained another coach, Knute Syvrud, to help train players. “We’re a three-headed monster,” junior varsity coach Deb Abrahamson said. Another difference is due to the graduation of several of last year’s talented seniors. “We have a lot of new players this year. We also graduated two of the best players SDA has ever seen, and it’s been hard to replace them,” senior Jacob Sztraicher said. Despite this, the team is optimistic for the remainder of this season. “I think through hard work during the season, we will see player and then match improvement, and hopefully a seed in the North Coastal League,” Abrahamson said. Last year, the team finished 6-8 in the Coastal Conference and 9-9 overall and qualified for San Diego CIF.

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sports 04.02.10

Digging deep The boys volleyball team may be down 0-2, but they are not out. anna sheridan

hen the San Pasqual boys volleyball team came to SDA, they were expecting a challenge. Even though the Mustangs are young, they took up that challenge. The game began with jump serves barely clearing the net and being fielded by the opposing libero, defensive player. The Mustangs could jump higher than Pasqual to hit, but San Pasqual was up to block every time. Despite the Mustangs best efforts San Pasqual pulled ahead, winning the first game 25-14. Coach Mark Smith said that the boys are inexperienced, but he is certain that they can improve. “Just like last year, the team is young, but this year the boys

are more athletic,” said Smith. With a few kills from senior Cory Kintz, the Mustangs started out the second game strongly. School volleyball matches consist of three to five games. The first team to win three games wins the match. “Cory is going to carry us this year,” said Smith. The match went back and forth fairly evenly for the second game, stopping occasionally for disputed calls from the referee. As the second game was coming to an end, the Mustangs were close to tying it up, and that got them pumped. The boys were cheering from the bench, and SDA fans cheered from the sidelines. The Mustangs were unable to pull it together, and lost the second game 25-21.

The two losses did not make the Mustangs lose hope. The boys came back on the court with even more drive than the first two games. In the end, though, the Mustangs lost with a final score of 25-22. Smith thinks that they will finish the season around the same place the Mustangs finished last year. “We won’t be last,” he said. The team is now gearing up to play their biggest rival, Canyon Crest Academy, said Smith. The team said that the hardest team to beat this year would be Santa Fe Christian, but that they would be ready. According to the North County Times, the boys finished last year 5-14 and are 0-2 in the Coastal League as of March 31.

Nina moussavi

Fly high Junior Jack Walsh and sophomore Kyle Kitner avoid the net while jumping together to block a ball hit by their opponents Santa Fe Christian.

Sticking it to the man

The Mustangs boys lacrosse team has high hopes for their season and look to improve. anna sheridan

hen the SDA varsity boys’ lacrosse team stepped on the field they were fired up. On March 19, the opponent, Patrick Henry, was whipping shots into the goal while warming-up. The tension was high on the field. The Mustangs quickly gained control of the game in the beginning of the first quarter with a 2-1 lead before letting Patrick Henry tie it up. During a timeout called by SDA, head coach Nick Borden tried to motivate the boys. “I tell them that we are always in it, so get pumped,” he said in an interview. The varsity goalie, freshman Yoni Anbar, contributed greatly to the team during the game with 14 saves. “He definitely has talent,” said Borden. When the fourth quarter rolled around, SDA was down by two with a score of 7-9. The Mustangs were still motivated, and determined to win. After a goal in the last 50 seconds, the Mustang sidelines went crazy. There were 30 seconds left and only one goal standing in their way. Captain

Dan Knox, junior, attributed the Mustangs’ ability to keep in the game to their mid-field players. “The midis really stepped it up this game. They helped us hold our own,” said Knox. When the 30 seconds disappeared, the Mustangs were still content; exchanging manly hugs and slaps on the back as they shook hands with Patrick Henry. The final score was Patrick Henry 9, SDA 8. In the absence of a JV team, the bench was filled with new players. “Some standout freshmen include Yoni Anbar and Braiden Kerins, although many new players are picking it up quickly,” said Borden. The team is now training for the games against CCA and SFC. “The Academy Cup is a great tradition, and Santa Fe Christian is the team to beat right now,” said Borden. He is confident the Mustangs can get at least one win out of them. The team hopes to finish the season better than their record last year, 10-10. The boys lacrosse team is currently is 0-3 in the Coastal League as of March 31 according to the North County Times.

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Timeout with: Clara Sekowski Have you ever heard of The Three Musketeers? This senior has—and was inspired by the story to learn fencing. pauline disch

ustang: What made you start fencing? When? Clara Sekowski: When I was eight years old I was in a play for the Three Musketeers and played D’Artagnan. I was in a stage fight for my character and a fencing coach in the audience wanted to recruit me because he thought I was good. So now I’m 16 and have been fencing since. M: Do you want to go to the Olympics? CS: I qualified last year for the Junior Olympics and this year, but I couldn’t go to the recent one because I was in a snowboarding accident. I am going to graduate a year early at 16 and take a year off to go to the international fencing stadium in Poland for a couple months. M: Do you get bad vibes for being a senior? CS: Yeah, a lot of the juniors give me crap because I’m 16, but, whatever, because I’m graduating early and they’re not. M: What inspires you to do all this?

CS: Since 8th grade I’ve known that I don’t want to go to college right after high school and that I would graduate early. I’ve been to three different high schools because I’ve moved a lot, including: Pacific Palisades, La Costa Canyon, and San Dieguito. M: Have you ever been injured from fencing? How? CS: I’ve gotten hurt a bunch of times while I fence. I tore my achilles tendon and was out for a year and a half because I would think it was going to get better, but then it would worsen. I also dislocated my shoulder and fractured my growth plate. One time I fractured my right elbow in two places so I fenced with my left arm and qualified in a fencing tournament; I looked really weird, though. M: How would you approach fighting Puss in Boots? CS: I’d probably just kick him. Plus he’s a foil fencer which is different than what I do: saber fencing. The end of the sword is bent at the tip in my style instead of dulled, plus we can actually hit people with

courtesy of eila miller

En Garde! On the right, senior Clara Sekowski fights with her opponent and executes her moves to the point.

them. M: Do you practice at home? Like with your siblings? CS: I don’t have any siblings, but I practice with a tennis ball hanging from my garage. M: Do you prefer being on the offensive or defensive?

CS: I attack better than I defend, so probably offensive, but it really depends on your opponent. M: Do you say ‘en garde?’ CS: After we test our equipment the referee says, “En garde, pret, allee!”

M: Do you feel like Zorro when you are fighting? CS: No, I feel more like the character I played in the Three Musketeers because you are worrying about everything and all the technicalities, along with those of your opponent.

Pop culture It’s a whole new season of exciting sports which means a whole new group of talented athletes, what do they think of today’s society? Interviews and photos by Pauline Disch

mitch fierro sophomore vollyball

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current song on ipod:

favorite candy:

teacher of the year:

celebrity who you hate:

favorite hair color:

kardashians

magenta

shemp -ratatat

red vines

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sosha hodson freshman track and field

paperweight -dear john

heath bar

conn

lindsay lohan

dark red

ashley munoz junior lacrosse

lost it -old time rock n’ roll

skittles

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hate is too strong of a feeling

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Surfer vs. Skater

Juniors, surfer Jack Walsh and skater Branden Hinkle, put their love aside in a battle of wits. Story by Paige Ely.

If a man without arms has a gun, is he armed? Skater: Yeah, he finds a way. Surfer: Wait, what, how’s he holding the gun? Like with his feet, maybe…like that’s a real threat. Me: Skater, really? He finds a way? Well I guess you aren’t stupid, you just found a way to be. Surfer, you not only insulted the question, but also an innocent, defenseless man. You must have been scarred as a child for you to pick a fight with someone without arms to fight back. Whether he can hold the gun or not, he’s still armed. Surfer, minus 15 points for bullying. Skater, 5 points for showing the handicapped a little respect. Why do people say they “slept like a baby” when babies wake up about every two hours? Skater: They have comfortable beds and their parents come wait on them. Surfer: Cause babies don’t have a lot on their minds. Me: Skater, babies don’t have beds. They have cribs. And apparently you have never slept in

one. They are far from comfortable, just as you are far from any points. True Surfer, babies don’t have a lot on their minds, but you don’t either. You failed to answer the question. Minus 5 points. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2? Skater: Pens are better. I hate pencils. You have to get up and sharpen them and stuff. Surfer: It has to do with how hard the lead is and the hardness of the eraser. Me: Skater way to dis the 900 million people who not only buy pencils, but sharpen them too. Unlike you, they actually care about life and take the time to erase and correct their mistakes. Surfer, you actually showed some intelligence with the first part of your answer, but by repeating hard twice, I can tell what’s on your mind and it’s not the question. Each of you, minus 15 points for being lazy, redundant, and wrong. Where did the expression “balls to the walls” come from? Skater: Balls to the walls,

hmmm…It’s from when you get in a fight and you get your balls smacked against a wall, or when you run out of energy and they get stepped on. Surfer: Balls to one wall. It’s a singular wall. It came from the same guy that said, the s**t hit the fan. Me: Skater, I don’t know who you’re fighting that they are able to pin you against a wall, and step on your manhood at the same time. They must have smacked you around quite a bit for you to come up with that answer. 10 pity points. Surfer, where do I start? No, the expression is in fact balls to the walls. Not singular. Plural. Do I need to give you a lesson in grammar and respect? The expression actually comes from military aviation. A throttle has a ball shaped end. When a pilot wants full power, he moves the “ball” towards the front “wall” of the cockpit. Surfer, minus 30 points for trying to revise beautiful poetry. Skater: 5 points Surfer: -70 points

Can you feel the love? Skater Branden Hinkle, right, embraces his surfer bra Jack Walsh, left. Win or lose, they still love each other.

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rieko michelle whitfield Metal. The members of Circle of Manias, left to right, seniors Eric Gudmundsson, Clinton Frerichs, Tory Bader, Felipe Pezzoli, and Lukas Weiss wrapped up the night’s performance.

rieko michelle whitfield Opening band Year of Glad drew a crowd of patrons to kick off the night of music, home-made pastries, and Rubio’s burritos.

Songs for a cause Seventy students attended and helped raise $736. By Amy Dushkin.

T rieko michelle whitfield Going solo Junior Nick McIntyre covered Dave Matthews.

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he evening of March 12, students, teachers, and parents gathered together to support a noble cause at the Polio Benefit Concert, which was put on by Interact and the Encinitas Rotary Club. The concert featured bands Year of Glad, Circle of Manias, and

Astrologic. Baked goods from Culinary Arts and Rubio’s food were for sale. Student artwork was sold as well. Between sets, speakers came to talk about how polio still exists in the world, and how only one percent of polio in the world still has disastrous effects. Guest

speakers included Rotary President Tom Cozens and RYLA Chair Alfredo Gonzales. Interact members wore T-shirts reading “1%” to provoke questions and interest about the cause. Public relations officer of Interact McKenna Taylor said, “Overall it was a successful turnout.”