The Mustang Dec. 2012

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12.21.2012

issue 3 volume 17

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Mustang 12.21.2012

ISSUE

Here’s the deal

BEST OF

The Best Of Issue highlights the most popular aspects of 2012 as voted on by SDA students. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the Mustang Staff… except for the ones that say our opinions.

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Features

Health

Gym Buff Molly Kovacs moves to the beat, shedding calories at Jazzercise La Costa.

Facebook flattery 12:30 a.m... the moment SDA Compliments was born and immediately began to spread the love.

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Teacher Tidbits Which current SDA teacher was attacked by a pack of monkeys while visiting a sacred temple in India?

To find out, visit www.sdamustang.com

a.m.

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Today is the official date of the world’s end.

Whether we all die today or wake up tomorrow, it’s been nice being your newspaper staff.

Features

Winter break to-do list Joleyne Lambert gives you the scoop on fun things to do in town over winter break.

Features

Jessi Goralski

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Centerspread

Backpage

Who are we?

Fur a good cause

After studying our best-of survey results, we created types of people you are likely to find around SDA’s campus.

Kelsey Navis follows SDA’s Animal Care Club and their dog wash for a good cause.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/NEWS EDITOR Laurel Sorenson

HEALTH EDITOR Austin Kasselmann

STAFF WRITERS

ARTS EDITOR Caroline Glass

BUSINESS MANAGER/CAF EDITOR Lily LeaVesseur

DESIGN EDITOR/STAFF ARTIST Avery Finden

ONLINE NEWS EDITOR Nicole Smith

OPINIONS EDITOR Molly Kovacs

ONLINE ARTS EDITOR Emily Hall

FEATURES EDITOR Kelsey Navis

ADVISOR Tim Roberts

Kira Elliott Nicole Greene Taylor Knudson Joleyne Lambert Max Lundberg Dana Shin Becca Von Zweck Andrew Walker Sam Winter

PHOTO EDITOR Tacy Manis

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It was nice seein’ ya, SDA!

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 98, emailed to sdamustang@gmail.com or mailed to the above address.

San Dieguito Academy / Room 98 / 800 Santa Fe Drive / Encinitas, CA 92024

Read more about our cover artst, Jessi Goralski, inside this issue.

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Parents concerned over religious implications of yoga Some parents view the introduction of yoga into EUSD as religious indoctrination. laurel sorenson

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arents have criticized the Encinitas Union School District for bringing religion into the classroom with the new yoga program, advocating for legal action to end the program.

Ashtanga yoga was integrated into the physical education program in the entirety of the district as a result of the $533,720 grant from the Jois Foundation and is intended to be taught at all nine schools in the district, said the Paul Ecke Central Elementary School PTA website.

Some of the schools in the district already had yoga classes with Jois yoga teachers before the grant and there were no complaints, EUSD board member Carol Skiljan said.

Concerns arose when some viewed the introduction of yoga into the physical education program as religious indoctrination, the National Center for Law and Policy said. According to their website, the NCLP is a legal representation group from Escondido that advocates “religious freedom, the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, parental rights, and other civil liberties.”

While EUSD did not view the yoga classes as religious, they did consider the cultural implications of yoga. Instead of using the Sanskrit names for each pose, instructors teach students breathing and stretching with the use of names that kids can easily relate to, Skiljan said.

The Jois Foundation donated the money to aid the fight against childhood obesity, Russell Case, a yoga teacher who works for Jois Yoga said. “The Jois Foundation is committed to providing a health and wellness model to EUSD that we can replicate in other districts throughout the country,” said Case.

Yoga is just a part of EUSD’s comprehensive health program, Skiljan said. “The Jois Foundation donated money because we are doing a study. We’re collecting data from students, parents, and teachers,” said Skiljan.

According to Skiljan, the University of San Diego and the University of Virginia are responsible for the research aspect of the health program, surveying parents and having students take their heart rates.

Those who are opposed to yoga in EUSD believe implementing it as

part of the curriculum in elementary schools violates the First Amendment, the NCLP said. “The EUSD yoga program unconstitutionally establishes the Hindu religion as the preferred and favored religion in the district,” said the NCLP. The NCLP also argued that the yoga program is against the California Code of Regulations, which forbids separating students on the basis of religion. “The EUSD program is divisive and discriminatory and violates the law by separating parents and students of other non-Hindu religious beliefs from the parents and students who do not object to Hindu religious beliefs and practices,” said the NCLP. One parent said at a meeting that she believed as a Christian, that yoga was not simply stretching, Skiljan said.

Although religious concerns have arisen, Case said EUSD Superintendent Dr. Timothy Baird made sure it was not culturally insensitive. “Tim was very careful to take out any cultural references to India. As to the religious implications I can’t speak to that as yoga is philosophy not religion,” said Case.

According to the NCLP, yoga is religious in all its forms because of its Hindu philosophy that conflicts with the beliefs of other religions.

The Jois Foundation believes the program it funded is advocating healthy living, not religion.

“Yoga is a prescriptive system of implementing positive philosophical health benefits into your lifestyle. It’s no more religious than Ballet or Judo,” said Case.

Publicity over this issue has brought lots of attention to Jois Foundation, but according to Case, it hasn’t had any negative effects. “It’s not much controversy when it’s 5 parents against, 5000 parents for,” said Case.

EUSD has received support from lots of parents as a result of the publicity, Skiljan said. “If anything we had lots of parents rave and tell us their kids love it and they want us to keep it,” said Skiljan.

Although the NCLP urged parents to demand that the district cut the yoga classes, the program is not in danger even in the case of a law suit.

“We do have some parents who have kids in these classes who are with Coast Law that said if [the district faces a lawsuit] they’ll represent us pro bono,” said Skiljan.

Visit www.sdamustang.com to become the cultured individual you always hoped you’d be.

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Random Dancing

Prop AA Passed

A dance party errupted after the Encinitas Holiday Parade.

Over a month after the election, the school construction bond gained the necessary 55 percent majority.

As the Holiday Parade wound down and families walked with their blankets and hot chocolate towards their cars, a throbbing beat caught their attention.

This year’s Holiday Parade took an unusual turn when a spontaneous dance party broke out in front of Charlie’s Foreign Car in downtown Encinitas.

The Encinitas Rotary Club held an event before and after the Dec. 1 parade to showcase their work, and as the parade ended and the music got louder, dancing came about organically, said rotary member and manager of Charlie’s Foreign Car Niko Sougias.

Christmas songs provided the back drop for the Rotary Club’s event, but when DJ Guy Williams of G-Dog Productions changed the music to well-known pop songs like Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and Usher’s “Yeah!” about Senior Marisa Pearce gets ready to join the crowd of dancers outside of Charlie’s Foreign 100 people flocked to the event.

Car. Photo courtesy of Sadie Olson.

Williams said this was the best event he had ever done because of the diversity of the dancing crowd. “It was people from every walk of life. We had little kids with their parents and teenagers together,” said Williams.

The dance party lasted about an hour, providing fodder for many embarrassing Youtube videos and Facebook posts as iPhones were pulled out by a large portion of the bystanders.

Visit sdamustang.com to see videos of the spontaneous dance party.

-laurel sorenson

After weeks of counting absentee ballots, prop AA, the school construction bond, passed by a margin of .52 percent, about 409 out of 78,574 votes. The election was so close that immediately after the election it seemed as if it would not get the 55 percent needed to pass. The bond allocates $449 million to the San Dieguito Union High School District and will bring a series of campus improvements to SDA immediately following graduation The bond will spur several new infrastructure improvement projects. These will take about six years and will begin with the construction of a new track, field and stadium. This portion of the bond program is expected to be completed by late September of 2013 in time for fall sports.

“It’ll be a synthetic field… a lot like [the fields at] LCC and Torrey,” said Tim Hornig, principal.

Until the field at SDA is finished, a new field will be used at Oak Crest Middle School. This will be renovated and finished by mid-August, in time for certain fall sports. “[This will be used] for teams like field hockey… juniors this year should only see the construction of a stadium this summer,” said Hornig.

Next, will be the construction and renovation of science and math buildings in the 120’s, 100’s and 90’s area. According to Hornig, sophomores should expect to see the start of these changes in about 2015.

One of the final steps in construction will be the construction of the English buildings, not expected to be completed for several years.

“Freshmen should see the… start of the English buildings… Incoming freshmen should really expect to see construction for all four years [of high school],” said Hornig.

- taylor knudson

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12.21.2012

Staff Editorial

STAFF

2012

Bungee-jumping for the first time Crowd-surfing

Camping out at Comic-Con

Bringing my grandma to Disneyland for her first time

In 2012, Taking a nap at the top of Mt. Whitney there were

Having pneumonia… seeing Batman’s times

midnight premier anyway we’ll always remember

Passing the AP World History exam after not ...

writing two out of the three essays

Rescuing a goldfish Building a 4,000-piece Lego set depicting the London tower bridge

memorable

moments

Buying a fish, naming him Jack Alexander Davidson VIII

Getting the stomach flu before Thanksgiving

Killing a skunk en route to a Halloween party

Watching my neighbor’s pet cat get run over by a car ...

Dropping my five-day-old iPhone, having to pay $300 And for a new one times that we’d

Hitting a car in the parking lot on my first day of a new job rather forget

For this issue’s staff ed, we took a personal spin. In our staff-wide discussion, rather than focus on controversial issues like propositions and the SDA dress code, we took time to reflect on our personal experiences throughout 2012. Across the board, we’ve had our share of moments: the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in-between.

‘Tis the season...

So many things have become commercialized and “mainstream” now. Maybe a “return to sentiment” is the way to go.

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kira elliott

s a volunteer for the Rescue House cat shelter, I go to Petco every Sunday in the mornings and take care of the cats.

So there I was, on my way to another day with the cats. My first warning bell started to chime when I noticed that there were absolutely no Halloween decorations. Odd. It was October, where were the spooky dog sweaters and fake cobwebs? I pushed the thought aside and kept walking. It was only when I had closed the door to the cat shelter and said hello to them that I noticed the tune playing on the radio. Hm… that tune sounds familiar…

I stopped, shocked. No, no, maybe I’m mishearing… For the love of everything that is holy, is that seri-

ously a pop cover of ‘O Holy Night’?

What blasphemy is this?

Maybe it was only the one song. I let out the cats, tensely waiting for the next song.

What’s this? A cover of ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’? It’s October, not… oh, my head… I sank into the chair set out for visitors. Snoopy, one of the kittens, jumped into my lap. I stroked him absentmindedly, all the while wondering why in the world we were listening to Christmas music 58 days before Christmas.

I have never been a huge fan of Christmas music. However, I like Christmas. It’s a time for family, hot chocolate, and staring nostalgically at the Christmas tree. Siblings are home from college, memories of Christmases past are talked and laughed about. It’s the holiday of warm and

fuzzy feelings.

It’s overkill, however, to start playing holiday music when it’s not even the holidays. I feel the stores that start selling Christmas lights and playing holiday jingles months before its necessary to do so are tossing aside the sentiment of the event and turning it into a commercial venture. Hey everybody, come buy your plastic light up snowmen before they sell out! Avoid the crowds and do your Christmas shopping now!

Big businesses have been capitalizing on human sentiment for over a century. Now, I feel like we have come to expect this, and we start celebrating holidays based on the agenda of the commercial industry rather than the calendar. Those days that industry has decided are important we celebrate weeks, even months

before the actual date. The ones that are not so important get passed over or are half-heartedly advertised. This year, Thanksgiving seemed to pass unnoticed. Even Halloween was downplayed in perhaps an all-time low. But the winter holidays… this is the capitalist heaven. People shopping, spending more and more money – this is the biggest commercial event of the year. Fun fact – Jesus Christ was not born on the 25 of December. The date was moved to coincide with the pagan celebration of the Winter solstice.

Isaac Newton, on the other hand, was born on December 25, 1642. So I guess the celebration of Christmas has been commercialized all along.

Well, when are we supposed to start celebrating? Here’s my personal answer: around two to three weeks before the actual holiday would be a

good time. That’s plenty of time to get your shopping done. It’s also close enough to the holiday that you can feel that “holiday spirit” and really start to look forward to it. It was like waiting for “The Hobbit” – you got a little excited when they set a release date, and the excitement increased as the date gets closer and closer. The excitement is at its highest a few weeks before, as you can finally appreciate what’s coming – in the case of Christmas, it’s the aforementioned fuzzy feelings, hot chocolate, presents, etc.; in the case of “The Hobbit,” it was the midnight release and finally seeing what has been talked about for five years.

In the end, it’s up to you.

Whether it is the capitalist commercialized version or the seasonal, you get to decide which agenda you follow.

CAF sdamustang.com

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San Dieguito Sentinel spend your last moments reading circus animal fun

Congress waits for end of world

By Lily LeaVesseur

With the fiscal cliff rapidly approaching, many Americans have expressed concern about what will happen with their finances in the hands of uncompromising politicians.

Today both Democrat and Republican members of Congress revealed that it is not a lack of bipartisanship causing the wait for a decision, but actually a lack of any attempts to come up with a solution, due to the belief that the world will be ending today, Dec. 21.

“For a while we thought we might try to get something done, but then it was like, ‘Hey, the Bush tax cuts don’t expire until the 31st. What’s all the fuss about? The world will have been over for like 10 days, so screw it,” said President Obama.

While some have stayed behind to pretend to act contentious for the public, many members of Congress

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have left town for vacation.

“Since we stopped caring about coming up with a plan, I’m basically being paid to do nothing. Might as well do nothing in the Caribbean,” said congresswoman Lois Capps.

“I’m actually kind of glad that there’s going to be an apocalypse. That seems like the easiest solution; I don’t really think anyone’s ever going to come to an agreement. Plus if the world ends today then we won’t have to deal with this next year!” said leader of House Democrats Nancy Pelosi.

When asked what will happen if everyone does continue to exist on the 22nd, Speaker of the House John Boehner said, “We haven’t really thought that far in the future. It’s not like the fate of the nation is in OUR hands.

The Mayans are taking care of it. #Yolo.”

All-inclusive winter songs

¢25x1

by Lily LeaVesseur

With North Korea just having successfully launched a missile and the world in a perpetually fragile state, the U.S. government has launched a campaign to prevent any cross-cultural offenses. Starting Dec. 21 they will be cracking down on expression of any sort of religious or cultural affiliation and enforcing political correctness. During the holidays, public radio stations will only be permitted to play songs using governmentmandated lyrics. The following government-issued list previews lyrics from these new songs: O Holiday Plant (formerly O Christmas Tree) O holiday plant O holiday plant How lovely are your allinclusive branches You don’t have any religious affiliation You are the mascot of a coexisting [bumper sticker symbols] nation O holiday plant O holiday plant You are bland and ugly but you represent tolerance

We Wish You a NonDenominational Winter Break (formerly We Wish You a Merry Christmas) We wish you a nondenominational winter break We wish you a nondenominational winter break We wish you a nondenominational winter break And a happy January 1st!

I Have a Little Spinning Top (formerly I had a Little Dreidel) Spinning top, spinning top, spinning top, I made it out of clay And when it’s dry and ready Oh non-religious recreational activity I will play

Secular Night (formerly Silent Night) Secular night Completely unopinionated night All is calm All is bright Previously pregnant young lady and a child His name isn’t Jesus but he’s still tender and mild Sleep in earthly peeeeace Sleep in earthly peace

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AFTER SCHOOL 12.21.2012

features

ADVENTURES

Any given day at SDA is likely to be filled with after-school activities. Essay by Nicole Smith.

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s students pile through the entrance to the band room, they begin to take out their instruments while the soft tune of a piano drifts lazily around the room.

I am suddenly struck by how out of place I feel. It’s the Friday, the 30th of November and I am covering the band’s rehearsal for an article about the upcoming holiday parade.

I worry that I am standing somewhere where a person will want to walk. How will I notice and dodge approaching people if I am writing in my notebook? A friend notices how nervous I look and ushers me over to a “safe zone” where my uncomfortable presence will not interfere as to cause any six brass instrument pile ups. Although it is after school hours, the students are busy and moving around the room purposefully.

Jeremy Wuertz steps in front of the students and requests them to form a grid to practice dance steps. The students have been preparing for the Encinitas Holiday Parade on Saturday throughout the week and know what to do. They quickly shuffle into an organized grid pattern in time for the speakers to begin playing a familiar tune. A few of the students’ expressions become particularly elated when they put down their imaginary instruments to shimmy and step to the tune of “Surfin’ USA”.

The band eventually moves to the dance room in the gym where SDA’s dance team has been practicing to accompany the band in the parade. The dance team has prepared a routine that incorporates multiple spins and changes in formation. There is even a small piece of the all-too-familiar Gangnam Style dance incorporated into the routine.

Comedy Sportz players instruct their teammates.

Photo by Nicole Smith.

Once inside the gym, I lean over the rails momentarily to watch the girls’ basketball team practice. They are in two lines, tossing and bouncing balls back and forth to opposing lines. I have never been a sports person, so I have no idea what the purpose of this is, but they look focused so I assume that they are doing something important. Maybe they are practicing balance. I imagine that I would fall over if someone hurled a basketball at me.

Later in their practice they start a game. I notice that during the slow parts of the game, some of the students dance to the tune of the marching band.

I walk out momentarily to experience the increasing rain as well as to look over my notes. The rain has picked up

Comedy Sportz players sit in a circle to play a warm-up game.

Photo by Sierra Zounes.

so there are only a few people in front of the PAC. There are a couple of students with highly developed mental barometers who are walking around campus with umbrellas.

A couple groups of students are huddled under overhangs to keep dry and warm. One rebellious boy skateboards straight through a puddle causing a particularly glorious splash. To hell with you, rain. Rebellious boy skates wherever he wants.

I rejoin the band students, now back in the band room, in time to sit in on a band sing-along. Students wheel a piano to the center of the room where they gather around Wuertz as he plays Katy Perry’s “Firework.” The band students are wonderful on instruments, but their singing skills as a group are somewhat questionable. The song falls apart after the first chorus, but there is something to be said about the sense of warmth in the room.

Once all of the band members have left, I take a short walk around the school. Straightaway, I make the mistake of stepping into a particularly deep patch of mud. My black Converse are immediately soaked and filled with water, unpleasantly making my socks heavy with the frigid rain.

The school is nearly deserted. It is dark and the only sources of light are the occasional rooms from which the gentle hum of vacuum cleaners echoes. Other than that, the only sound is that of water pattering into the puddles collecting beneath the corners of overhangs.

Once I get back to the PAC, I sit down in a corner to

wait for students to arrive for the Comedy Sportz game.

The only company I have is a sad looking paper cup that is sitting in a direct line across the quad from me. It is the type you might get at any chain hamburger joint. I suddenly get the impression that the cup is staring me down and find myself oddly intimidated.

Eventually, a couple of Comedy Sportz players meander to the side of the building. They shuffle around the courtyard for a while and are eventually joined by a third person. I sit in my corner, still trying to stare down the cup.

At some point, after a considerable number of people arrive to set up for the game and the doors to the theatre have been opened; I notice the cup lying smashed on the cement.

It is not long before the lights in the theatre are on and chairs have been ushered into the building. A few early fans gather around the doors and I find my spot in line.

The school has come back to life once again.

If you never have, I would highly suggest that you spend some time on campus after school, especially if you don’t have anywhere to go. Even if you step in mud, freeze your toes off, and find yourself intimidated by an abandoned cup, it is a worthwhile experience seeing the school when it is dark and empty as well as when it is alive with after school activities. SDA is not just a place to go to classes; it is an environment for students to interact in.

After school hours, it is still playing that role.

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FACEBOOK FLATTERY The Facebook users known as Sda Compliments spread the good vibes of anonymous admirers. Story by Laurel Sorenson.

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tatuses like “Daniel Kim is pure Swag Nasty, LadyKiller” and “This might sound a little strange, but Aly Baker has a really really pleasant voice,” have been appearing all over SDA students’ newsfeeds on Facebook. The sudden outflowing of compliments was started by a group called Sda Compliments.

Sda Compliments is a Facebook account that allows students to anonymously submit and post comments. The group of students (who preferred to stay anonymous so people would feel comfortable submitting compliments) has set out to impact SDA’s culture and bring students together.

The comments range from sweet ones comparing people’s smiles to rays of sunshine to borderline flirty by asking students to formal and calling them “dank.”

Sda Compliments refused to reveal their identity for fear that students would be less willing to share these types of sentiments if they knew who was operating the Facebook account.

“We were really trying to stay unidentified because the anonymity adds so much more to the compliments. So even hints like the number of people [running the account] are clues we don’t want to reveal,” said an anonymous representative of Sda Compliments in an interview over Facebook.

Some people were suspicious that it could be the PALs trying to spread positivity at SDA, but according to senior PAL Abby Sullivan, they only wish they had thought of it.

“Compliments Accounts” started at Queens College in Ontario, Canada the Sda Compliments representative said.

It has spread to universities, colleges, and now high schools, including LCC and CCA, across the country.

Sda Compliments, which began on Nov. 29 at 12:30 am according to the Sda Compliments representative, has gained 827 friends.

It was formed to strengthen the already tight knit community of SDA, Sda Compliments said.

“We thought it’d be a good idea

to make an SDA Compliments because the school already feels so intimate—which means compliments spread the feelgood vibe quicker than wildfire,” said the Sda Compliments representative.

Sda Compliments has been creating a buzz both with its positive message and the mystery of who [created] it, senior Brigitte Williamson said.

“I think it’s a bit genius, and I’m so curious as to who’s running it.

I hear people talking about it all over campus, especially when it first started. It’s been great. I think it’s helped people connect to people they otherwise don’t interact with – remind each other of our humanity and all that jazz,” said Williamson.

The anonymous nature of Sda Compliments is reminiscent of internet communities like MySpace and Formspring, which have been known for negativity and cyber-bullying, but those in charge of Sda Compliments do their best to maintain positivity on their Facebook account.

“People have been doing an amazing job of staying positive all by themselves. If not, we like to just comment helpful reminders or if offensive, delete the comment,” said the Sda Compliments representative.

These students are on Facebook constantly, posting during the school day (many times during fourth period) until one or two in the morning. The account receives anywhere from 30-50 compliments every day, and tries to post all of them unless they are inappropriate or negative.

The ubiquity of computers and smart phones makes it practically impossible to identify who is responsible for this social project at SDA. It could be the sophomore in Screen-printing who’s glued to his iPhone, the guy sitting in the library every morning who never talks, or the girl who’s always really happy and just wants to be everyone’s friend.

Whoever it is, senior Haile Brant believes they are making a positive impact. “It seems to make a lot of people’s days,” said Brant.

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What To Do over Winter Break Dec. 22 Holiday Pet Festival. Here you can wonder around visiting playful puppies and cute animals of all sorts!

You can adopt a new pet, or help with donations and contributions to helpless animals in need. It is a free event filled with fun like A Wiener Dog Contest, Pie eating Contest, live music, pictures with Santa and best of all "The Bitch Runway"-where dogs and other animals stride down a real red carpet runway. The Festival will be hosted at the Children's Park between Front Street and West Island Avenue, San Diego 92101 from 10 a.m. to 4p.m.

Dec. 29 Visit the Garden of Lights at the San Diego Botanical Gardens (Quail Gardens). Decorative lights illuminate the beautiful gardens, along the paths you can listen to live music, roast marshmallows, and even play in snow! It goes from 6p.m.-8p.m. and costs $8 for students.

Jan. 2 Start out the new year healthy! Stop by the Encinitas Farmer's Market to support local businesses. It goes from 4p.m.-7p.m. at 620 Vulcan at the Encinitas Station.

Dec. 23 Visit the Holiday Parade of Lights.

Stroll through a magical view of silly and vibrant decorations of lights at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. 5:30-10p.m.

Dec. 24 Get out your favorite cookie recipe and ask your family to join in and cook up some delicious treats! Kill some time as you wait for the cookies to finish in the oven by watching ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas.

1p.m. “The Polar Express” 3 p.m. “The Santa Clause” 5p.m. “The Santa Clause 2” Dec. 30 Check out Art-on-the-Green, where COAL Gallery artists display paintings, photos, sculptures and more.

The art is on showcase from 9a.m.4p.m. in front of Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort, 3075 Carlsbad Boulevard Jan. 3 Watch a movie in the Giant Dome Theater at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. For $15.75 you can journey on a scientific adventure in their theater and have access to the eccentric science gallery full of hands on science experiments. Open 10a.m.-5p.m.

By Joleyne Lambert

Dec. 25 Merry Christmas! Have a cheery day full of family, presents and cookies!

Dec. 26 Take a day trip down to point Loma and visit the beach around 2:40 pm to see the tide pools and interact with sea creatures. Afterward look out from the cliffs to view the migrating whales pass by the shores off the coast. Finally check out the Cabrillo National Monument to finish your day at a historic Light House.

Dec. 31 Stock up on Party Poppers from Party City and sparkling Cider. Tonight as the clock strikes 12 pop open the Sparkling cider and let your party favors explode confetti!

Jan. 4 Spend a day "ooohing" and "awwing" at the wild animals of the Zoo. Then as the sun goes down celebrate the holidays with the animals in a night full of music, lights, holiday activities and snow! $44 for a full day ticket.

Jan. 5 Bake a zesty meal for your friends or family. Learn how to cook blankity blank blank from the Craftsman Restaurant on page 34.

Dec. 27 Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade. Watch marching bands, vivacious floats and giant balloons parade around San Diego, followed by family festivities such as rock climbing and carnival games. The Parade begins at 10 a.m. on Harbor Drive, and runs south toward the Pacific Highway near Seaport.

Dec. 28 Watch Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas at The Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park. The show starts at 5p.m. Ticket pricing starts at $42.00. It’s best to buy them ahead of time.

Jan. 1 Happy New Year! Set up a jar to fill with slips of paper. When good things happen to you write about it on a piece of paper and drop it in the jar. At the end of 2013 read about all the happy moments that made you smile through out the year.

Jan. 6 It’s National Cuddle Up Day! Grab a pet, stuffed animal, or friend to wrap up in a fuzzy blanket and get cozy on your lazy boy. No better way to spend the last day of break than cuddling up and relaxing.

features A license to be adopted An animal shelter teaches dogs to drive in order to challenge negative preconceptions of shelter dogs.

At the Auckland SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in New Zealand, three rescued dogs–Porter, Monty, and Ginny–sit buckled in the driver seats of their Mini Coopers, using their paws to push specially designed accelerators, brakes, and gear sticks. They turn steering wheels modified with handles and press starter– buttons mounted on dashboards.

Unbelievably, these dogs are driving.

Animal trainer Mark Vette trained the dogs for two months as part of an SPCA campaign aiming to prove the potential shelter dogs have as family pets.

According to SPCA, two of the dogs were dumped at the shelter.

Ginny was found abandoned.

The dogs practiced each driving behavior by first using a mockup rig and clicker training before advancing to the Mini.

“Animals this smart deserve a home,” is the project slogan.

Footage of the dogs driving have elicited popular coverage on the news and responses on YouTube and Twitter. The abnormality of driving canines is spotlighting SPCA’s message.

“They’re really putting the fur in chauffeur,” tweeted news site Huffington Post.

-dana shin

Cover artist spotlight Student artist Jessi Goralski’s bright colors and realistic style come to life on our cover.

Cover artist Jessi Goralski has been making art “as long as she can remember.” This senior’s talents have only improved throughout the years, as she has refined her technique and style through art classes. “I’ve been in every art class I can get since middle school, so I guess that’s when I really got into it,” said Goralski.

Like any true artist, despite all this practice, she still feels she has room to grow. “I’m still working on finding a style,” she said. But, as you can see on our cover, she is now focusing on her color–the brighter the better. The subject matter of her art ranges from portraits to still lives to abstract, all incorporating her love of bright colors like yellow, orange, and red.

Goralski uses lots of mediums–her favorites being pastels, watercolors, and pens. “Oil paints are fun too, but take a long time and I’m pretty impatient when it comes to painting,” said Goralski. Regardless of medium, it is clear she has a real talent and passion for creating art. Said Goralski, “My favorite thing about making art is that art can make anything beautiful. You could paint a trash bag and have it come out as a cool painting.”

-caroline glass

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Turn the next page for more and check out the online Mustang at sdamustang.com

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Art by Eunice Velazquez

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The Best Of issue has been a tradition of The Mustang for 12 years. Throughout that time it has changed formats, graphics, categories, but has maintained its core purpose: to provide you, our loyal readers, with insight and entertainment on the world of arts for that year. Each year the categories vary, constantly changing to incorporate the hottest topics. This year the subject matter ranges from the song you have heard about ten too many times to the celebrity breakup you shed the most tears over to the movie that kept you on the edge of your seat.

This issue is particularly challenging for us, so we want to make it the best. The staff creates and distributes surveys to about 500 of you and spends a day painstakingly counting and tallying each individual survey. This gives us a rather interesting look into the nature of our student body. There are several different kinds of survey-takers roaming the halls of SDA. You have the following-directions type who circles one in each category, for every category. Then you have the extremely enthusiastic type (probably a freshman) who puts 5 hearts or smiley faces next to their favorite song or celebrity couple. There are the people who draw pictures of a particularly phallic nature or the guy who writes a paragraph-long rant about how rock music is dead. Many of you pointed out that we messed up on a meme name-(You’re right, it’s Bad Luck Brian. I apologize; my knowledge of meme culture is rather lacking). But the sassy comments and even the namecalling provide us with laughs and an entertaining afternoon, so for that, we want to give you the best.

Last year, the Best Of was revamped and remodeled. We maintained many of these changes, while adding a few of our own. The student art is a fairly new addition you may remember from last year. We wanted to keep that creative spirit alive in this issue, utilizing all-new student artists sharing their talents through drawings of Honey Boo Boo and Spiderman. The best of essays and quick blurbs on each page are another change we kept from last year. The essays-done by our resident movie, music, and pop culture fanaticsprovide a more detailed analysis of the trends we noticed throughout the year, while the blurbs provide a short and entertaining bit about the winners of each category. One new addition this year are the graphics representing our winners and runners-up. The percentages are listed above the blurbs, but the graphics visually represent these percentages. We felt it was important to convey in a more entertaining way just how much you all loved “Batman” and hated “The Punisher.”

Overall, we hope all of you – the following-directioners, the extreme enthusiasts, and yes, even the sassy commentators – enjoy this year’s Best Of issue. We know we do.

Caroline Glass, Arts Editor

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Taylor Swift’s “Red” inspired art by Avery Finden

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New Age,

New Music

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n the indie world, we saw Mumford and Sons try out a newer, less folksy sound (though still equipped with their bountiful beards and guitars), Animal Collective release yet another album to destroy the adjectives previously assigned to them, and our favorite band named after a body part, The Shins, came out with a surprisingly more pop-centric record than any of their previous music. And then there were Grizzly Bear and Beach House, both with provocative new sounds in their recent albums “Shields” and “Bloom,” respectively, that were perfect for hipsters and mainstream-ers alike to sway along to and blast from car stereos on sunny weekends.

More commonly heard on radiowaves, pop bands like Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Justin Bieber also released new albums. Taylor Swift’s new album, “Red,” while voted best pop by SDA, was still similar to all her other albums by many standards – her

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songs still have catchy melodies and focus on her unfortunate amount of breakups and lost loves, with lyrics like “Losing him was blue like I’d never known.

Missing him was dark grey all alone.” Taylor is currently dating lead singer of One Direction, so who knows, we may be hearing the fruits of Swift’s sadness in yet another breakup album next year, if things don’t work out.

A lesser discussed genre, electronic had two noteable efforts from both a classic and new-to-thescene artist alike. We heard the aptly named new album “Gossamer” by Passion Pit gain brief recognition, with their signature dreamy sound coming back stronger than ever to wow both the indie and electronic world. Equally, if not more successful, was “Visions,” the newest effort of previously under-theradar power female, Grimes. Working solo to create all of her songs, the electronic superstar has been in

the spotlight this year more than ever, due to both her unique electronic ambience and her uniquely limecolored hair.

Rock this year was another genre that saw some almost undiscussed gems – voted as the best rock album of the year was a comeback selection of songs from the rockers of all of our nostalgia, Green Day. And then there was Jack White of the White Stripes, with the release of his first solo album “Blunderbuss,” which had some great success in the rock world despite being notedly Meg-free.

I guess if the world really does end at one point today, we can all be thankful for some Biebz, danceable electronic, and a good dose of apocalypse-y tunes from the year to keep us company in our final moments. I think Grimes’ song “Oblivion” is most fitting.

- emily hall

Best Indie Album: Babel - Mumford and Sons 52%

Best Rap Album: Wild Ones - Flo Rida 33%

Port of Morrow - The Shins 20% Centipede Hz - Animal Collective 14% Shields - Grizzly Bear 12%

Based on a T.R.U. Story - 2Chainz 28% Food & Liquor - Lupe Fiasco 23% Good kid, m.a.a.d City - Kendrick Lamar 12%

Everything is better with a British accent and a banjo, at least that’s what you said, SDA. Indie has turned mainstream and so has Mumford & Sons with this year’s Best Indie Album, “Babel.” With a keen early 1900s fashion sense and one-size-fits-all lyrics, it’s a band that would fit in seamlessly at SDA, who is dancing along to those clanking notes of this rock/ country/boy band.

-kelsey navis

Flo Rida’s fourth album, “Wild Ones,” drops beats that reverberate within the bowels of my soul. With collaborations featuring Jennifer Lopez, Sia, Lil Wayne, and 50 Cent, Flo Rida’s album reads like a compendium of sellout pop stars. It’s almost as mind-blowing as the fact that Flo Rida is the word Florida. Think about it. Then think about buying this album, because according to your fellow mustangs, “Wild Ones” is the place to go for your rap fix.

-nicole greene

Best Pop Album: Red - Taylor Swift 47%

Best Rock Album: Uno! - Green Day 35%

Unapologetic - Rihanna 21% Take Me Home - One Direction 21% Believe - Justin Bieber 10%

Battle Born - The Killers 30% The 2nd Law - Muse 18% Blunderbuss - Jack White 15%

As made evident by her previous albums, Taylor Swift has always been a hopeless romantic, which is probably an underlying reason for her ability to write such sincerely romantic songs. Filled with the usual lyrical, inspirational, and heartfelt melodies of love and heartbreak, Taylor Swift’s “RED” will not disappoint. From the fast paced “I Knew You Were Trouble” to the bittersweet “All Too Well”, Swift offered an array of different styles that strayed from the innocence of her prior writing while at the same time maintaining her delicate, sensitive tone.

-becca von zweck

After three years of relative radio silence from the punk rock stars, Green Day rolled out a three album set, suitably named “Uno!,” “Dos!,” and “Tre!.” “Uno!” delivered angst and romance rather than social commentary and angst. You’ll find yourself head banging within the first seconds of each song.

The lyrics are chock-full of f-bombs and catchy phrases such as this friendly suggestion: “Shoot the f***ing DJ.” Though lacking the energy from previous albums, “Uno!” has the good old Green Day rock n’ roll which is why SDA voted it best rock album of the year.

-kira elliott

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Who are we?

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Loves Babel

by Mumford and Sons and Imagine Dragons.

D ENDS

Cuffed jeanswearer who watches Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

Loved 21 Jump Street and Red.

WORL

Would like American Idol to end, and loves Wild Ones.

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You never know who those strangers are that walk next to you in the hallway. That kid walking past in the beanie could be a closet “Honey Boo Boo” aficionado, and that girl in the crop top and the Jeffrey Campbells? She likely knows how to do ever combo move in “Assassin’s Creed”. In this centerspread, we’ve created an infographic that brings to light these and other startling revelations.

Refer to the chart at the left for detailed combinations, and check out the graphics below for the most interesting results we discovered from the Best of 2012 Survey. illustrations by emily hall

Fan of the Hunger Games and Boyfriend.

Fan of Miley Cyrus and Imagine Dragons.

Ships Justin and Selena and loves Moonrise Kingdom.

Likes Magic Mike and Call Me Maybe.

Loves Instagram and Black Ops 2.

Watcher of Moonrise Kingdom and The Walking Dead.

Wears high waisted shorts and loves Batman:The Dark Knight Rises.

Loves The New Normal and Instagram.

The math behind the map I know at first glance the circular web with dozens of lines connecting every which-way may look like a failed attempt at a needlepoint project, but please, let us explain. All around the circle are the winning responses for each category in this year’s Best of Survey. A green line between two items means that someone who voted for one of the connected responses was very likely to also vote for the other; blue means they often either voted for both or neither; and pink means if they voted for one, they rarely voted for the other.

To read the web, simply pick any winning response and follow the lines jetting out of it; you can see what a person who voted for that response was likely to vote on the others. These lines create personality types: for instance, those of you who liked “Black Ops 2” tended to think “50 Shades of Grey” was the best book of the year, particularly enjoyed the “Sexy and I Know it m&m commercial,” and were big fans of the

“Dark Knight Rises.” People who were looking forward to “The Hobbit” premiere professed a secret love for “Honey Boo Boo,” and likely aren’t quite ready for the “Paranormal Activity” series to come to an end.

To create the lines, we looked for a relationship between the responses using a statistical method called the chi-square test of association and independence (No, not chai tea, chi square.

It’s less yummy, but at least twice as cool). Basically, for each person we compared each question to every other question - a total of 578 comparisons.

We then looked to see how different the actual responses were from what the results would have been if each person had selected an answer at random. The bigger the difference, the more likely the responses were associated in some way. graphic by tacy manis

concept by sam winter and max lundberg

Loved Green Day’s “Uno!” and the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme.

Loves The Hobbit and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

Digs dipdyed hair and 50 Shades of Grey.

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“Gangnam Style� inspired-art by Julian Dennis

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his year, one of the many changes to the music world has seemingly gone unnoticed. This change isn’t about how new artists and bands have affected today’s music, but is instead about how the music has shaped its listeners. Along with clothing and hair styles, people have started to utilize their music tastes as a way to express themselves.

Look around campus. Students are constantly reflecting the views presented to them in their music.

A Taylor Swift fan may express the same kindhearted nature that shines through Swift’s love songs, while a dub step enthusiast may sport a Skrillex haircut or immerse themselves in the percussion coming

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from their headphones all day. As humans, we have begun to pride ourselves on the songs found on our smart phones and MP3 players. We love to find new melodies and unknown bands to make us feel unique, setting us apart from what’s now known as “mainstream.”

People have also started to define themselves by the music they reject. This year, everyone is trying their hardest to be an individual and stand out from everyone else. So, essentially, popular music is out.

This surge of attitude has sparked a continuous cycle that has taken place in the music world. A song is new and unheard of, individualists love it for this

reason, more people buy it, and it eventually hits the top charts on iTunes. Out of nowhere, previous fans begin to reject it, claiming they never really liked it in the first place. This never-ending cycle has led to the death of many songs including “Ho Hey,” “Somebody That I Used to Know,” “Payphone,” and the winner of our most overplayed song “Call Me Maybe.”

So, while so many new artists and genres have changed the face of music this year, the music itself has encouraged people to change as well.

Whether it’s our clothing choices, attitudes, or overall presences, the songs and bands of 2012 have created a fresh new community for the new year.

-avery finden

Best Emerging Artist: Imagine Dragons 32%

Most Overplayed Song: Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson 35%

Ed Sheeran 27% Gotye 20% Lana Dey Rey 19%

Somebod That I Used to Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra 32% We Are Young fun. 16% Lights - Ellie Goulding 14%

Your foot starts tapping, your head starts nodding, and you find yourself humming along with a huge smile on your face. Suddenly you’re screaming out, “Now don’t you understand… that I’m never changing who I am!” Yep, you’ve got a bad case of Imagine Dragons fever. With their insanely catchy tunes and upbeat mandolin strums, there’s no surprise that you voted them the Best Emerging Artist of the year.

-avery finden

So you’re sitting in your car, minding your own business, when you have a moment of déjà vu. “Didn’t I just throw a wish in the well?” you wonder. “Yep, I just heard this. I’m going crazy. But it’s so catchy—I’ll leave it, maybe…” “Call Me Maybe,” swept the nation before Bieber and Swift could even bat an eyelash.

It played, and then it played some more. It played until you, your best friend, and your best friend’s mom knew all the words. It played until we voted it the most overplayed song of 2012. And yet, it is still playing.

-molly kovacs

Top 40 Song: Gangnam Style-Psy 40%

Song You Love to Hate: Boyfriend-Justin Bieber 38%

Some Nights-fun. 29% Die Young-Ke$ha 19% Starships-Nicki Minaj 9%

We are Never Ever Getting Back Together-Taylor Swift 29% Live While We’re Young-One Direction 16% Wide Awake-Katy Perry 15%

“Gangnam Style,” nuff said. Psy, the singer, has mad swag, not to mention this boy can dance. The slightly portly South Korean dude took the international pop world by storm. His YouTube video of the song even passed Justin Beiber’s “Baby” as the most watched video. “Gangnam Style” is hilarious and has sparked its own dance craze. Everyone from tots to NFL professionals has been caught bustin’ a move like Psy. *Snap* now go get some “Gangnam Style.”

-austin kasselmann

Men and women alike could not resist “Boyfriend’s” techno beat. Pause—bowwww; pause—bowwww.

Don’t deny it—if you had the choice, you would so be chillin’ by the fire while eating fondue with the Biebz. With this song, Justin made sure to shed his “lady-voice” reputation forever. And, make no mistake, he has stepped into the world of swagdom with style. Love to hate? More like, hate to love.

Be careful, or he might get some swag, swag, swag, on you.

-molly kovacs

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“Spiderman” by Chloe Rock. See full image in index.

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ast year, the film industry seemed to be on the decline as creativity was replaced with 3D remakes and even more sequels. And yes, this year did have its flops (did anyone actually see “John Carter?”), its terrible 3D remakes, its so-so sequels. There were, of course, quite a few where the trailers were far better than the movie. But more often than not, there was real creativity and damn good acting. Books that I thought would never be adapted for the silver screen were, and some of them made my jaw drop. The best, however, was saved for last. There are three movies that are or promise to be mind-blowing: “Cloud Atlas”, “The Hobbit”, and “The Hunger Games”.

What’s interesting about these films is that they are all book adaptations. Some would say that this means that the film industry is relying on pre-made storylines due to a lack of ingenuity from their own screen writers. I say, however, that it is the opposite – it takes tremendous creativity and insight to adapt a book for the

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movie screen. That creativity and insight is evident in every one of these three films.

Let’s begin with pop culture favorite, “The Hunger Games”. The movie version was very true to the book.

The costume design was perfect, with the District 1 citizens’ care-free flamboyancy captured beautifully in their ostentatious outfits and make-up. Also, the movie took it to the next level by bringing more conflict to the forefront, giving further insight into the government’s operations and the threat that it posed. It presented the haunting message of the book clearly without being obvious, made sure that everyone knew that it was more than just a game.

Next up is “Cloud Atlas”. If you thought “Inception” blew your mind, just wait until you see “Cloud Atlas”.

Six storylines, six main actors. Here’s a twist: each actor plays six different characters. Sometimes, you can’t even tell it’s them, as they can change gender and ethnicity. It’s one of those films where as you are

watching it, trying to follow every storyline is a little difficult, but at the very end, it all comes together in a beautiful “I understand everything” moment.

Finally, we have “The Hobbit”. We “Lord of the Rings” fans have been waiting for this for close to five years. We got more than we could have ever hoped for. For one thing, we don’t only get one movie; we get a trilogy. Every detail is exquisite and adds to the story line, and every actor does such an awesome job at creating and invoking their character. This movie went above and beyond a simple book adaptation.

What is the point to this rather long essay? The movie industry is not dead. Yes, the movie theaters are getting increasingly expensive, but the movies that are coming out are well worth the six to nine dollars per ticket. I don’t know about you, but I will be spending most of my Winter Break at the theaters, watching movie after movie after movie.

-kira elliott

Best Superhero Movie The Dark Knight Rises 43%

Best Comedy 21 Jump Street 52%

The Avengers 38% The Amazing Spider-Man 8% The Punisher 1%

Ted 24% The Dictator 17% The Campaign 11%

2012 was not the year of the Dragon (yes, I looked that up), but year of the bat – Batman, that is. Batman: “The Dark Knight Rises” provided us with a healthy dose of our favorite winged vigilante, as well as surprising plot twists and some Anne Hathaway badassery. As we weaved through the streets of Gotham with Bruce Wayne, we were reminded of the genius of director Christopher Nolan, and given a fitting conclusion to the trilogy documenting all of our favorite flying mammal.

-emily hall

The chiseled abs of Channing Tatum and the antics of newly slimmed down but far less attractive Jonah Hill have won SDA’s hearts and minds in “21 Jump Street.” Though this movie had comical merits, Tatum’s status as People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” probably didn’t hurt its rise to popularity. This movie also appealed to high school students with its funny, but not so far off depictions of how high school students have changed from idolizing dumb jocks to fawning over Berkeley-loving recyclers.

-laurel sorenson

Franchise that Needs to End: Ice Age 26% Men in Black 8%

Step Up 32%

Paranormal Activity 32% “Paranormal Activity” was an unprecedented success.

And the big companies, hoping to cash in on this fright fest, have decided to rewrite the SAME STORY not once, not twice, but three times. There’s only so many times we can watch different families terrorized by an unseen antagonist, eventually ending in gruesome deaths enacted by a demon.

In each prequel or sequel there are a few cheap scares to make you jump, but the stories are so predictable they have lost the tense anticipation of the first installment. You’ve shown us enough devil babies and Ouija boards, guys, so just quit while you’re (slightly) ahead.

-caroline glass

While four in a series doesn’t seem like a lot when we’re talking Harry Potter or Star Wars, when you make four movies about love and dancing, it can get a little repetitive. “Step Up” has graced the movie screens every two years since 2006, when middle-schoolers everywhere pined for the Romeo and Juliet-esque love story and drooled over Channing Tatum’s killer 6-pack. Since then there has been a “streets” version, a 3D version, and a 4ever version. But we can only take so much break dancing and “wrongside-of-the-tracks” guys. So after this year’s release, let’s hope the Step Up writers will “step down” once and for all.

-caroline glass

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Film Collage by Irena Weaver

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Best Book Adaptation: The Hunger Games 41%

Best Indie Film: Moonrise Kingdom 45%

Perks of Being a Wallflower 32% Twilight: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 13% Life of Pi 11%

Seven Psychopaths 25% The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 19% Silver Linings Playbook 9%

What’s sadder than Dobby dying? Answer: the death of Rue. Fans of Suzanne Collins’ hit post-apocalyptic book were also crying out for its long-anticipated film release which stayed true to the book.

Nothing’s better than seeing sci-fi-style silver metallic training suits, teen bloodshed, and man-eating 3D dogs on screen. “The Hunger Games” surely satisfied SDA’s appetites for a juicy book adaptation since “The Deathly Hallows.”

-dana shin

Estrogen Fest: Magic Mike 46%

In his new movie “Moonrise Kingdom,” Wes Anderson deviated from both Futura font and his usually adult-centric style. Anderson brought us Suzy and Sam, a pair of kids with hearts full of adventure and suitcases full of camping supplies, and followed them on their journey into the woods and away from the rules of adult life. Suzy and Sam brought out everyone’s inner child, made us yearn to relive our own carefree days of scout camp and pen pals, and showed us that we all have a magic power.

-emily hall

Edge-of-your-seat: Taken 2 36%

The Vow 27% Pitch Perfect 17% Django Unchained 5% Channing Tatum turns up the heat from his usually romantic self when he plays the role of a seductive stripper in the erotic estrogen fest (judged presumably by number of women in the audience) “Magic Mike.” You can feel your hormones rushing through your blood as he reaches for his shirt and BOOM his shirts off and your heart has exploded and you’re squealing for more and next thing you know…your boyfriends’ hands are over your eyes. “Magic Mike’s” audience goes from rambunctiously hollering and hooting to charmingly tilting their heads, whispering “Awww, what a sweetheart.”

-joleyne lambert

Prometheus 35% Argo 23% Premium Rush 4% The original “Taken” was centered on Liam Neeson saving his daughter from being sold as a sex slave after being kidnapped.

This time it’s an hour and a half of father-daughter bonding as the two of them attempt to save his kidnapped wife. It was exciting despite being almost identical to the first and the action was just as exciting as before. Liam Neeson never seems to disappoint in roles where nothing but chaos is left in his wake and deserved the title of best edge of your seat movie of year.

-andrew walker

Most Anticipated: The Hobbit 57%

Testosterone Fest: The Expandables 2 40%

Les Misérables 27% Zero Dark Thirty 9% Django Unchained 5%

Red Dawn 32% Total Recall 15% End of Watch 11%

“The Hobbit” is truly the most anticipated film of 2012 – it’s fans have been waiting for this film epic for close to five years, ever since New Line cinemas announced that Peter Jackson was going to direct the film in 2007. Each little production video posted on Youtube has been pored over, every word analyzed. Screams of excitement could be heard around the world when the first trailer was released. The trailer was just a hint of the awesomeness that awaited fans on December 14th. The midnight premiere was well worth the lack of sleep.

-kira elliott

Movies like “The Expendables” always leave me with a pretty bittersweet feeling all of these, at one time all-star action heroes were making good movies on their own. Bruce Willis had “Die Hard,” Arnold Schwarzenegger had the Terminator series and Slyvestor Stallone had “Rambo” but as they get older mega actors like them are recycled into mash up movies like “The Expendables,” or “RED.” They entertain and satisfy my primal love for explosions and testosterone fueled excitement for gun slinging one man armies, I can’t help feeling these guys could be doing better movies than this.

-andrew walker

Best Animated Film: Wreck-It Ralph 31%

Biggest Flop: John Carter 33%

Brave 25% Frankenweenie 12% The Lorax 30%

Rock of Ages 31% Dark Shadows 19% The Watch 15%

The sugar-coated, eight-bit adventure that is “Wreck-It Ralph” breathes new life not only into the dying animal of Walt Disney Animation Studios, but also into each one of us. Video game bad-guy, Ralph, leaves his virtual, 80’s arcade game in search of a little appreciation, and on the way, earns it from the audience.

With endearing, memorable characters and a heartfelt plot, this truly is an animated film not to be missed.

-sam winter

Audiences across America are heralding John Carter as a breathtaking, CGI spectacle of epic proportions. Or they would be, if anyone had bothered to go and see it. With a net loss of over $200 million dollars, critics have labeled it “the biggest box office flop since ‘Waterworld.’” That’s right folks, “Waterworld.” But why did it fail so drastically? Bland title? Confusing plot mechanics?

Poor advertising? As long as audiences, and Disney for that matter, continue to deny its existence, the world may never know.

-sam winter

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“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” art by Emily Fountain

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elevision this year was- well, it tried. While there may have been a few successes, they were swamped by sea of Jersey Shore spinoffs, a surprisingly large number of medical dramas “with a twist!” (ie: incorporating the mafia and/or monkeys) and just too many shows about baking.

Despite this, television had a few cute moments.

New fall comedies like “The Mindy Project” and “The New Normal” in addition to the renewal of older favorites like “Modern Family” and “The Middle” kept television’s heart beating with a few laughs and sassy characters. However, comedies like “Guys with Kids” made a lot of viewers just want to pull the plug.

A few shows raised the question “Is this a comedy?” such as the second season of “Extreme Couponing” (it’s real, I promise),“My Crazy Obsession” (entirely distinct from “My Strange Addiction,” obviously) and

“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”, a classic.

Discussion of American television isn’t complete without of course, recognition of the singing competitions. “The X-Factor” launched in the United States, and while we have yet to see the American version of One Direction emerge, watching Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell bicker over the sound of Brittney Spears’ inspired comments like “I feel like you’re Vanilla Ice meets Lauryn Hill meets Westside Story” can bring a smile to anyone’s face while also forcing the question “Why is this happening?” “The Voice’s” third season came with many new viewers, a lot of glitter for Christina Aguilera (to compensate for her lack of clothes) and a few more odd animals for Cee Lo Green to stroke while attempting to hit on contestants. Oh, and “American Idol” is still happening (I think).

Most Embarrassing to Love: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo 43% Glee 28% Breaking Amish 21% Nashville 5% It’s time to “red-neckognize” the epic philosophical, emotional, and linguistic journey “Here Comes Honey- BooBoo” delivers to its viewers every week on TLC. The show follows Alana, a seven year old beauty pageant queen, and her “beautimous” family as they face day to day struggles, such as accepting their pig Glitzy’s homosexuality and coping with Mama’s addiction to coupon cutting. The show is literally incomprehensible, and not just because of the deep philosophical undertones, but also because despite the fact that the family is fluent in English, sub-titles are necessary to understand practically any word that comes out of their ketchup and hairspray covered mouths. Perhaps that just adds to the magic that is Honey Boo Boo and why SDA has chosen it as the “Most Embarrassing to Love” television show this year.

-taylor knudson

Best Commercial: Sexy and I Know It m&ms 44% Ferris Bueller Honda 26% Brad Pitt Chanel No. 5 19% Elton John Pepsi9% This m&ms commercial features the classy brown m&m at a party facing the hardship of having party guests think her milk chocolate was showing because of the color of her shell. In the midst of such adversity she has to deal with the idiotic red m&m ripping off his shell to the tune of LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It” because he thought it was “that kind of party.” As if that were not enough, the brown m&m is subjected to the red m&m’s disturbing “Wiggle Man” dance. This performance won the hearts and minds of all us who yearned to help the brown m&m break the stereotypes about the color of her shell and who couldn’t tear our eyes away from the red m&m’s gyrating body.

-laurel sorenson

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While Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera choked on their own drool, renewal of action-packed dramas like “Breaking-Bad” and “The Walking Dead” kept viewers’ DVRs full. Other new shows like “The Mob Doctor” and “Emily Owens, M.D” made viewers cry, and not in the good way.

Less exciting shows like “Dancing with the Stars” rang in their eightieth seasons and kept grandmothers and elderly math teachers awake with special celebs like Kim Kardashian (because she isn’t on enough television) and Kirstie Alli.

The only common theme this year in television is a large amount of humor. May it have been intentional or unintentional, induced by witty jokes or seven year old pageant stars, television this year was undoubtedly hilarious.

-taylor knudson

Most Addicting: The Walking Dead 37%

Breaking Bad 33% American Horror Story 16% True Blood 12% Horrifically gory and overflowing with grotesque, decaying zombies being slain left and right, “The Walking Dead” is not for the squeamish, but like a train wreck it’s hard not to watch.

Every episode is jammed with the constant mystery and suspense of not knowing who will become the zombies’ next meal. With its intriguing cast of characters, it follows their battle to survive as they struggle to hold on to their friends and family in a world infested with cannibalistic monsters.

-becca von zweck

Needs to End: American Idol 34%

Glee 32% The Bachelor 17% Dancing with the Stars 14% “American Idol” has been on for a decade. No talent search should last that long. The judges have changed countless times, from Simon Cowell to Ellen DeGeneres to Nicki Minaj. It has inspired spin-offs, all 10 times more popular than the original. And with the exception of a few like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, no one remembers the winners. (Points for anyone who knows who Ruben Studdard is.) All of these signs should point to a graceful end. And that end should have happened five years ago. Just please, Fox, end this show.

-caroline glass

Best New Show: The New Normal 31%

Smash 26% The Mindy Project 22% Elementary 19% “The New Normal” is the cutest thing since Ryan Murphy’s fedora.

It follows a gay couple, David and Bryan who want to have a baby and employ the help of Goldie, the baby’s surrogate mother. The show keeps its “safe-for-the-whole-family” rating with slightly generic, yet relatable messages to end each episode while also flavoring the plot line with characters like Nana, Goldie’s grandmother, whose headstrong beliefs from 1943 provide for great laughs, in the “Oh my gosh, did she really just say that?” kind of way. It’s no wonder it has earned its “Best New Show” status.

-taylor knudson

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“50 Shades of Grey” and “Overly Attached Girlfriend” crossover art by Sydney Busic

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#2012 #bestyear

CULTURE

BEST OF

P

opular culture is one of the vaguest labels you can give something. It can encompass anything. In this case, we’ve stretched pop culture from books to celebrity couples. How do these two things even begin to relate? The bottom line is that they don’t. It’s completely up to chance. I see no other way to explain the connection between a raunchy novel rewritten from “Twilight” fanfiction and the engagement of Hannah Montana and Thor’s little brother besides the fact that that’s what people happened to be talking about this year. And people happened to be talking about a lot this year…

To attempt to sum up this year I draw from my experiences on the internet. YouTube witnessed Carly Rae Jepsen’s annoyingly overplayed “Call Me Maybe,” Psy’s “Gangnam Style” which sparked a worldwide

dance craze, and the triumphant return of ZeFrank, “The Father of Video Blogging.” Tumblr loved this year’s Marvel movies, made apparent through enormous amounts of “LOKI’D,” Andrew Garfield’s gravity defying hair, and Hawkeye’s ass covering my dashboard. The internet in general got a kick out of the one perfectly kempt man (later named “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy”) in a group of sweaty and tired marathon runners and really seemed to connect with “Overly Attached Girlfriend” and her creepy song parodies describing her obsession with her boyfriend.

It was a great year for important events as well. America’s nationalism was at a high when the “Curiousity” landed on Mars during the Olympics.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, everyone got a kick out of Ryan Lochte’s tweets (“Always reach for the moon cuz

Most Tragic Celebrity Breakup: Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez 40% Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes 24% Amy Poehler and Will Arnett 18% Seal and Heidi Klum 15% Girls everywhere had their hopes rekindled as Selena Gomez and J-Biebs ended their two year romance. Never again will the Canadian pop star and Disney princess fascinate the world with photos of the pair’s intimate moments. Biebs now finds himself available to date all of his Barbie-wielding fans. SDA failed to realize the new opportunities that have arisen as they voted Jelena as the “Most Tragic Celebrity Break-up” this year.

-taylor knudson

Best iPhone App: Instagram 55%

Snapchat 22% Tiny Tower 12% Spotify 9% @SDAmustang #bestapp. While some people are set out to send the most embarrassing duck-face “Snapchat,” SDA students put becoming “insta-famous” first on their to-do list. Now we can look at someone’s plate of enchiladas in envy, and follow the lieves of strangers. Instagram gives us all the opportunity to let our inner stalker shine every “Throwback Thursday”. So lurk your fellow classmates, post your heart out, overuse hash tags, and enjoy the best IPhone app of the year: “Instagram.”

-avery finden

Best of Books: 50 Shades of Grey 56%

The Fault in Our Stars 21% Mark of Athena 14% The Casual Vacancy 7% Boasting reviews like: “Every time I read one of these lines, I just wanted to put the book down” E. J. James hit trilogy is already being adapted for the big screen. After bringing paddles, leashes, and an abusive relationship disguised as BDSM to suburban moms throughout the country, Fifty Shades of Grey takes this year’s number one position as the most talked about book that no one has actually read.

-max lundberg

if u slip up u will still be a star!! #Jeah”) and grumpy US gymnast McKayla Maroney, who sparked the “McKayla Maroney is not impressed” meme. And right as the Olympic news died out, we had the presidential election to take its place. Mitt Romney’s comments on “Big Bird” and his “binders full of women” sent the internet into a frenzy.

Does any of this matter? Not really. It’s almost sad that what most people took away from the election was Romney’s personal vendetta against “Sesame Street’s” giant, yellow, feathered friend. I think that’s exactly what pop culture is though; those things that won’t really matter in a few months but are a whole lot of fun to talk about now.

-tacy manis

Best Video Game: Black Ops 2 38%

Assassin’s Creed 3 31% Halo 4 21% Borderlands 2 8% Sometimes the moniker is “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. This certainly applies to “Call of Duty Black Ops 2,” the fourteenth installment of the “Call of Duty” saga. But this year there are actual changes. The newest installment departs from its linear campaign and adopts a dynamic sandbox environment much like an RTS. Choices made at any part of the game affect the outcome of later events, which hopefully promotes at least a little critical thinking.

-max lundberg

Best Meme: Overly Attached Girlfriend 37%

Bad Luck Brian 28% McKayla Maroney Not Impressed 18% Extremely Photogenic Guy 15% Laina Walker or “Overly Attached Girlfriend” made her descent into stalkerism June 6, 2012 when she submitted a video to go along with Justin Bieber’s hit “Boyfriend”. Walker’s parody of the song, featured lyrics like “Readin’ all your texts, watching everything you do,” while staring at the camera with loris-like eyes. The video has transformed into a meme featuring Walker’s face usually captioned with a creepy statement like “I went on Google Earth today…whose car was that in your driveway June 6, 2008?”

-tacy manis

Best Celebrity Couple: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth 36%

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West 30% Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart 21% Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger 10% Well, you all picked Miley and Liam as the best couple of 2012. I guess we all like seeing our beloved Hannah Montana star blossom into an adult and shed her Disney cocoon. Miley and Liam met during the filming of their romantic movie “The Last Song,” and have been together ever since.The stars are engaged and we can only hope that their love will not require a ‘last song,’ like so many other celebrity couples of 2012.

-emily hall

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STYLE

BEST OF

Best Guys Trend: Cuffed Jeans 52%

Best Girls Trend: High Waisted Shorts 35%

Boat shoes 19% Elbow patches 17% Cut off shorts 11%

High-Low skirt 32% Crop tops 17% Studs 14%

So many things are better rolled up: Fruit Rollups, burritos, toilet paper, sushi, and, according to SDA, rolled up jeans. The 2012 trend took us by storm, and soon the motto for jean legs was “the rolly-er, the better.” Actually, I made that up.

But still – becuffing pants was one of this year’s hottest trends. Whether it was to show off a pair of cool socks or just provide your ankles with a little breathing room, freshman to senior guys alike sported the popular trend in SDA’s halls this year.

-emily hall

This trend originated with moms across Middle America, who wore them during the summer while perusing the aisles of their local Wal Marts. Due to the obesity epidemic, these shorts were outgrown and cast into thrift stores across the nation. They waited unwanted in Goodwills and Community Resource Centers, until they were dusted off by girls in need of outfits in which to attend outdoor music festivals. In 2012 they have made their reign as a top trend known in stores like Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and H&M. -laurel sorenson

Girls Hair Trend: Dip-dye 45%

Totally Over Trend: Feathers 41%

Super short 21% Top knots 19% Bright colors 13%

Uggs 26% Dream catchers 17% Patterned/ ripped tights 14% Apparently the feeling of majesty that comes from being covered in feathers—synthetic, real, and/or illustrated—is just not rockin’ San Dieguitans’ socks anymore. So pile up your peacock earrings and your graphic tee’s, because feathers are out. You are not Big Bird. SDA students will rain judgment upon those of you who decide you can get a little more mileage out of those feather extensions…just know that the San Dieguitans…they’re watching.

-nicole greene

With half of Tumblr users being teenagers girls, and 75 percent of the pictures on Tumblr being hipsters with pink hair, it’s no wonder these indie trends have become mainstream. The favorite trend this year was “dip-dye,” which is where the ends of the hair are dyed purple or pink or blue or green, making it look as though the hair has been gently dipped in a bucket of paint. You couldn’t go anywhere in Encinitas without bumping into a girl with her hair dyed some crazy color. Although the trend seems to be dying out (haha), we will always hold in our hearts a fond memory of the summer of pink hair.

-caroline glass

Worst Girls Trend: Skrillex Haircut (Partially Shaved Head) 54% Mustaches 28% Bra-lettes 9% Sheer shirts 7% elbow patches

cuffed jeans

boat shoes

The fashion police of SDA have spoken and the Skrillex hairdo has officially been deemed a hairdon’t. Based on the stringy black locks of Dubstep master Skrillex, creator of songs with titles like “Kill Everyone” (!), this hairdon’t involves the shaving of one part of the human head in a way that results in looking like you changed your mind halfway through pulling a Britney. While some can rock the look, the general public agrees: like Skrillex and his bass, this trend must be dropped.

As MetalHeadPenguinsFan said in this one forum on the internet about the Skrillex haircut, “People need to learn that hair is not a right, it’s a privilege.”

-lily leavesseur

dip-dye

crop top

high waisted shorts

illustrations by emily hall

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It’s a New Year and a new you As 2013 rolls in, make this year your best and most fulfilled by finally commiting to a New Year’s Resolution. Story by Joleyne Lambert

A

Photos by Colleen Haynes and Joleyne Lambert

s you snuggle in to your warm and inviting bed, sink your head deeply in your cotton pillow and try to turn your mind off, thoughts, dreams, regrets and ideas start to float in and out of that dozing brain. You start to think about what could be different, and wish you could change.

Let’s face it, there is always something about the way we live that we’d like to change. Maybe you’d like to be kinder to others, get better grades, or spend more time with your family; whatever it might be, there is never any better time to change, than the start of the New Year! As you celebrate the stroke of midnight with sparkling cider and blast your party poppers, you are not only celebrating the start of a New Year, but also the start of a new you!

First, figure out what you would like your New Year’s resolution to be.

To help you think of one, ask yourself: Have I struggled with anything this past year? Is there anything I regret doing or not doing? What do I wish

I had more time for? Can I improve myself? As you ask yourself these questions reflect on the year, who you are as a person, and what you can change to become a happier, healthier and better person.

Choosing your New Year’s reso11 lution is the easy part.

10 The hard part is m a k ing it happen.

O n c e 8 you have decided what your 7 resolution is going to be, you must decide how you are going to put it into action.

First, you should think about what is keeping you from being able to achieve what you are trying to change.

Let’s say your resolution is that you are going to spend more time with your family. So ask yourself, why do I not have time to spend with them? Then, when you figure out the reasons, think of ways to avoid them.

Maybe you don’t have time for your 1 family because your entire 2 evening consists of trying to finishhomework. Take a moment 4 to think about how you can fix 5 this and make a plan for how you are going to change this. You could choose two days a week to spend lunch in the library to work on homework, or if homework takes you too long because you’re constantly on your phone, hide your phone for an

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hour and get as much homework done in that time as possible.

The only thing left to do now is stay motivated! Think about why you chose this specific New Year’s resolution. How will you benefit from this change? In what ways will it make you happier? You could post sticky notes around your house or in your binder with reminders. Plan ahead; if you know you’ll be least busy on Monday and Thursday decide that you will spend two hours with your family on those nights, then set an alarm on your cell phone with a reminder to “spend time with family tonight!” If your resolution is to lose five pounds, hang pictures up of your dream body or plan out meals for the week.

You could also reward yourself when you do something helpful to achieving your resolution. Eat a piece of chocolate after hanging out with your family, or take a relaxing bubble bath every time you drop a pound!

This year when the clock strikes twelve, cheer for the new you!

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Local Eats Recipes from our favorite local restuarants to your table!

Lobster Corn Dog from Craftsman Tavern: 267 North El Camino Real, Encinitas Ingredients: 1 lbs spiny lobster meat ½ lbs ling cod ¼ lbs scallop ¼ lbs shrimp 1 orange zest 2 tbsp chives 1 egg ¼ cup heavy cream salt and pepper to taste

Corn dog batter: 3 cup AP flour 2 1/4 cup corn meal 1 cup sugar ¼ cup baking powder 3 eggs 3 cup milk 6 tbsp bacon fat or canola oil salt pepper to taste

Procedure: Roughly chop all seafood ingredients.

Combine all ingredients in a robo coupe or food processor and make a mousse.

Put mousse in pastry bag and cut 1 inch from the tip of the bag.

Pipe cylinders of mousse on a flat surface layered with plastic wrap.

Roll tightly and seal the edges with butchers twine.

Poach in boiling water for 5 minutes and cool right away in ice bath (prepare ice bath ahead of time).

Let cool, unwrap and cut into 1 ½ inch cylinders.

Stick corn dog stick or wood coffee stirrer ¾ right in the middle.

Dip in batter and fry in 350 degree oil.

Super Acne

Gym Buff

One of teens’ biggest problems has become even harder to overcome.

Molly Kovacs jumps and jives in Jazzercize.

Acne, the third most powerful of teens’ nemeses (after exams and parking tickets) just got more difficult to vanquish. Caused by bacteria and oil in the pores, many try differing battle strategies. Soaps, gels, creams, pills, all emblazoned with names like ketoconazole and doxycycline and salicylic acid.

However, acne bacteria aren’t going down without a fight. The bacteria have become increasingly drug-resistant, which means that antibiotics alone often no longer suffice.

Nonetheless, the armory is stocked full with other options. Various creams—retinoids and vitamin A derivatives—can be used to unclog pores before they become inflamed.

In addition, a strong dose of Vitamin A in the form of Accutane can help with more severely affected complexions.

So do not fear. Even though mutating bacteria is crawling across your face, from one pore to another, you will always be able to fight back.

Until the zombie apocalypse.

-nicole greene

Staying Fit How to stay healthy even with the temptations of holiday treats.

Whether you’re winning chocolate coins as you spin the dreidle with your family or finishing Santa’s left-over cookies, you must be worried about where those extra treats are headed. But in the excitement of the season and rush for time, it’s hard to find a way to keep off those holiday pounds. Below are easy ways to keep your summer figure, even in the winter.

John Brennan, San Dieguito Academy’s weight training teacher and personal trainer, says “this time of year is when you gain the most body fat.…” He advises, “Just go for walks, instead of talking on the phone, take that same conversation and go for a walk on the beach….Take a walk from Moonlight to Swami’s and back….Walk your dog, even go shopping.” Brennan wants to emphasize the importance of getting up and moving. However, he also reminds us of safety: “If you’re a girl, try and go with a friend or a parent.”

If you have the motivation to work out Brennan suggests, “Go to a health club and tell them you want to join. They’ll give you a two-week pass.” If you have the desire to work hard, just not the equipment, a free pass is perfect to use over the winter break. Also, for those trying to watch what they eat, “The biggest thing is the empty calories…..Avoid those sugary drinks or fast food…,” Brennan says.

A little trick is to sprinkle cinnamon on all your holiday treats! According to Mariska van Aalst who wrote “The Prescription for a Lifetime of Great Health”, “Both cinnamon and apple cider vinegar have been shown to reduce blood sugar cinnamon alone by anywhere from 18 to 29 percent-” Cinnamon tastes delicious on cookies, oatmeal, hot cocoa, or whatever you’d like. Dash a little bit on all that you eat!

Laugh a little - or more like a lot. “Laughter increases the production and activity of antibodies and protective T cells in the immune system,” says van Aalst. It is especially important in this cold weather to be well protected from all the viruses floating around, so be sure to make time in your schedule for some belly jigglin’ giggles.

We all want the holiday season to be a time for fun and ease, but with a little motivation and movement, staying healthy and fit no longer has to be a burden.

-joleyen lambert

Molly hard at work in her Jazzercize class. Photo by Tacy Manis

Jazzercize As soon as I stepped foot through the door, a cheery receptionist greeted me and I signed one of those “no, I don’t have obscure health conditions” waivers. From there, I tentatively walked to the side of room and put down my bag. As I reached for my phone, the ultimate tool to avoid uncomfortable social situations, a woman approached me and asked “Are you new to Jazzercise?” I said yes, and she gave me some kind-hearted advice (“Just have fun!”) and a couple pointers (“You’ll want to have a water bottle and some weights,”). It was just silly small talk, but I could feel from the vibe of the room that Jazzercise was not a place to be nervous.

My convictions were reaffirmed when the music started. The room became an upbeat, foot Jazzercise La Costa stomping, heart7720 N. El Camino Real rate-escalating Carlsbad, CA 92009 estrogen fest.

(760)602-7190 Whether it was the nice, older $15 for walk-ins lady who had “a fusion of jazz dance, resistance training, talked to me at Pilates, yoga, and kickboxing movements” the beginning, “feels more like a girl’s night out than a work- the super fit 20-something to out!” - jazzercise.com my left, the shy teen to my right, or the spunky 40-year-old who “Wooo!”-ed through the entire routine behind me, everyone couldn’t help but smile.

The hour-long routine itself was really easy to follow, even for someone as dance-challenged as myself, and the workout combined both cardio and strength training. The focus was just to get your heart-rate escalated, whether the moves were perfect or not.

Jazzercise has been around since 1996, but it is still going strong.

It is a growing enterprise, now operating over 30,000 classes a week in 32 countries worldwide. The appeal is clear. Its jazzinfluenced workout moves, constantly changing routines, spunky instructors, and fun-loving vibe really make Jazzercise a unique workout experience.

-molly kovacs

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Skier vs.

Snowboarder

Seniors skier Scott Lindquist (left) and snowboarder Daniel Kim dodge snowballs and speed down slippery slopes in the holiday edition of Surfer vs Skater. Story by Lily LeaVesseur.

Photo by Tacy Manis

Who delivers the mailman’s mail?

Snowboarder: Being a mailman is a life of loneliness where he basically lives by himself. He delivers his mail to himself by himself.

Skier: Nobody delivers the mailman’s mail. Mailmen touch enough envelopes. They do everything electronically now.

Snowboarder, that’s an interesting observation. Maybe the use of “mail” in a mailman’s name completely cancels out his need for mail, as well as love and affection. However, I feel as though you are misinformed. Let me tell you a little story from my youth that you might be able to learn from. As a youngin, I always thought that teachers lived in their classrooms and never went home to a real home, and that cashiers slept on their cash register conveyor belts under tiny little blankets. As you might know, this is false. As is everything you’ve ever known about mail carriers. I would know, I am very close to our mail man. Sometimes I see him putting mail in our box! Minus 5 points for making assumptions.

Skier, you must spend too much time with Snowboarder. Mailmen are real people! They have friends probably, who write them letters and send them presents! They also receive fun stuff like coupons for facials and pool services. However, you do make an interesting point about electronic mail (also known as E-MAIL) causing post offices to die out. That’s what you said, right? Anyways, by the time you’re all old you’ll be holographs or something! Science! Plus ten points for making me think about society and feel smart.

Why isn’t a snow cone made of snow?

Snowboarder: Well that question’s just wrong. A snow cone is made

out of snow. Snow is water. Snow cones are made up of ice. Ice is water.

Skier: A snow cone could be made out of snow. I’ve made one before, it was for my friend. And it was also lemon flavor, but he didn’t really like it.

Snowboarder, don’t question my question! That’s almost as bad as answering a question with a question.

And as many times as I try I reread it I can’t figure out your little science lesson. I’d need a flow chart or something. You definitely aren’t on track to a career as a science teacher.

I’m glad I helped you discover that.

I should be a career counselor. Plus 20 points for making me realize that while you obviously won’t become an MIT professor, I am capable of anything!

Skier, I feel that you are making some veiled reference to the peenomenon that is yellow snow. I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but consumption of urine is probably dangerous. You aren’t a true friend!

Except in kindergarten I heard this story about a man who was allergic to everything except for tree leaves and urine. And he survived! The moral of the story is I had a very distorted view of the world as a child. If I was writing this in kindergarten I’d probably give you points because I didn’t know what was up or down (I still have trouble telling left from right when I’m driving), but since I am now a responsible young adult, I will give you minus 30 points in the hopes that you learn a valuable lesson.

Snowboarder: 15 points Skier: -20 points

Yay Snowboarder! You win nothing.

12.21.2012

Visit www.sdamustang.com to view an online version of The Mustang!

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Brother and sister French Bull Dogs Lucky (the blond) and Zulu (the black) share a bath.

2 Dog Lola relaxes under the soap and water.

3 Senior Dana Brolaski washes a calm and patient Tika.

4 Freshman Emma Schneir

manages the dog toy give away table to hand out after the dogs have been washed.

5 A life-like dog advertises and 5

brings customers in from the road.

Fur a good cause

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That lovely wet dog smell can only be a good thing when it benefits a noteworthy cause, like saving and caring for animals. Story and Photos by Kelsey Navis.

W

hen you look into those big brown eyes, it’s hard to deny your four-legged friend anything, even a romp through a muddy puddle. For those messy dogs, SDA’s Animal Care Club busted out the bubbling soap to clean pups in a sudsy fundraiser. With the help of Dirty Dogs, a self-help dog wash, volunteers soaked, scrubbed, rinsed, and dried canines from all over Encinitas. It was held on the sunny Saturday of Dec. 2, at Dirty Dogs just above the 101 in Cardiff.

“It’s a dog wash fundraiser for the SDA Animal Care Club to help raise money for protecting and adopting and saving animals’ lives,” said club member, junior Mckenna Klink.

That means every sandy, grimy pooch that left sparkling clean with a pink bandana slung around their neck helped to save a fellow mammal. The event also featured a raffle for the furry ones consisting of baskets filled to the brim with fuzzy, squeaky toys of all colors, perfect for

every dog’s chewing dream. There was a silent auction for the two-legged ones and a bake sale for both alongside live SDA student bands, including More Sound for All, Decibella and guitarist Ross Cooper.

“We are using the money to help pay for the fixing of animals or the paying of medical bills if people can’t afford it either,” said senior Dana Smith, president of the Animal Care Club. In total, the event raised $547 and good karma.