2008 march

Volume 56, Issue 7

Arcadia High School 180 Campus Drive, Arcadia, CA

March 2008

Students Earn Bragging Writes

In this issue:

Photo by JENNIFER HANG

PERFORMING ARTS pg. 8 Speech Follies: Finally, AHS students get the chance to see what Speech & Debate is all about Photo by ELIZABETH HARTSHORN

HUDDLE FORMATION Juniors Renaud Poizat and Courtney Lee and senior Justin Youngs win scholarships.

By VICTORIA BIAN & KATHLEEN KAO

CENTER SPREAD pg. 13-16 Post Secret: Hear about the hopes, dreams, fears, and funny habits of your friends and fellow classmates

Photo Courtesy of JUSTINE LEE

STUDENT LIFE pg. 18 FBLA: How the aspiring business leaders performed at their recent competition

T

Staff Writers

hree students from AHS, juniors Courtney Lee and Renaud Poizat, and senior Justin Youngs, have defined “ethics” beyond its dictionary meaning. On March 7, 2008, to honor the three Arcadians for eloquently defining ethics and how it has governed their lives, the Rotary Club held a banquet at the Embassy Suites.

The banquet, imbued with the club members’ good-natured humor and generosity, acknowledged their outstanding essays, but declared Renaud Poizat as the Arcadia district winner, because his distinctive essay had an extra tinge of uniqueness that set him apart from the two runner-ups.

Though Poizat wrote the essay because it was an English assignment, he managed to churn out a heartfelt, eloquent response devoid of the conventional monotony found in many homework assignments. Through comparing his observation of American ethics with the ethics of his French culture, Poizat focuses on the negatives and the positives of both sides.

But more than knowing that he needed to write it because the essay was worth a grade, Poizat felt self-motivated to put a great effort into the assignment, because the issue addresses both

his French heritage and his upbringing in America. To Poizat, his “Ethics” essay was more than a simple English assignment. It gave him an opportunity to involve himself in the Rotary Club and meet important members of the community, such as the Mayor and the officers of the club.

One of the two runner-ups, junior Courtney Lee, focused her essay on the moral issue of honesty and how she was able to demonstrate this in her daily life. She centers her essay on one particularly memorable event that happened one night when she was eating dinner with her friends at a sushi bar. Upon realizing that they had been undercharged, Courtney and her friends collectively agreed that honesty outweighed any other reasoning and the waiter was notified of the error.

Although Courtney discusses the issue of integrity based upon her own values, like Poizat, she also attributes her ethical roots to the influence of the moral cultural values her upbringing had and how this had positively affected many of the decisions she had to make in face of a moral dilemma.

In a crucial part of her essay, Courtney said, “My practice and perspective on ethical behavior has always been positive and diligent. I believe it’s like a personalized piece of mental legislation-an unwritten resonance of Hammurabi’s Code that is comprised of your individual beliefs and opinion of what you feel is right and what is wrong, a crucial establishment of moral standards.”

Upon having to choose between writing an analytical essay on Macbeth or the “ethics” es-

say for the Rotary club, senior Justin Youngs’s interest in expressing his ethical values outshone his love for Shakespeare. As the second and final runner-up, Justin addressed a current controversy concerning major league basketball, a sport that Justin is highly passionate and knowledgeable about. With recent reporting on the scandals of celebrity basketball players and their questionable uses of steroids, Justin felt that this issue was ideal for the discussion. In referring to basketball players and drugs, the theme of Justin’s essay centered on social ethics and how young generations are more vulnerable and easily influenced to imitate the imprudent decisions that celebrity figures make (that are publicized in the media). Through his example of athletes, Justin argues that to counter the harm that the media has unleashed upon exposed minds of today’s youth, his generation needs to set a stable foundation of ethics for future generations. Justin’s interpretation of “ethics” adheres more to the denotative meaning. In his essay, Justin agrees, “Ethics serve as an individual’s guidelines for them to follow in order to live in a proper manner.”

Other than prize money, Courtney, Renauld, and Justin’s well-written responses to a difficultly broad topic has earned them acknowledgement and respect from adults and peers alike. Through eloquently defining ethics in their own ways, the three winners have shown a remarkable degree of insight, setting a new standard that the next batch of contestants will find hard to reach.

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NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS

3/26 Orchestra Vertical Concert - 7 p.m. Pasadena High School

theapachepowwow.com

March 2008

Presidential Election Update

3/27 EAP testing for 11th grade 3/31-4/4 Payment due for CSF - In the morning, during lunch or after school - ASB Office - Cost: $5.00 4/1 Recruitment meeting for the 08-09 Senior Men and Women service organization, 7 p.m. in the AHS cafeteria.

4/3 Professional Development Day (Late start).

4/3 “Movie Night” with Hispanic Parents Booster Club 4/5 Derby Days 5k Run - Santa Anita Race Track 4/5 Color Guard Invitational competition at Arcadia High School - 10 a.m.

- 11 p.m.

Photos Courtesy of GOOGLE.COM

ELECTION The once multitude of presidential hopefuls (top) have been narrowed down to the following potential candidates

4/7-4/11 Spring Break

of the 2008 General Election: Barack Obama (bottom left), Hillary Clinton (bottom middle), and John McCain (bottom right).

4/11-4/12 Arcadia Invitational Track Meet

By BONNIE CAO

4/14 Grad Night meeting 7:00pm in the cafeteria.

4/29 Choral Carousel - 7:00pm - Arcadia Presbyterian Church 4/30-5/3 Orchesis Show, 7 p.m., Little Theatre 5/2 Annual AHS Boosters Golf Tourna ment & Casino Night - Santa Anita and Arcadia Community Center 5/3 SAT & Subject Tests Compiled by the PTSA

Guest Writer

The current 2008 presidential race is turning out to be an exciting one.

On the Republican side, Senator John McCain has now become the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency, with 1,325 delegates to a required 1,191. But the road ahead wasn’t always such a clear one for McCain. Ask anyone about the candidacy of John McCain during the summer of last year and you probably would have received a scoff and an eye roll from most political commentators. But eventually from the crowd of seven emerged McCain. Amidst chants of “McCain, McCain!” and “The Mac is Back!” arose John McCain,

who - should he be elected come November would become the oldest person to assume the presidency in history.

But while the race for the Republican presidential nomination may be over, the race to become McCain’s running mate is just heating up. Could it be the businessman Mitt Romney?

The Religious Right favorite Mike Huckabee?

Or perhaps some as-of-yet obscure other? Only time will tell.

As for the Democratic Party, time is telling them one thing – to hurry up and make up their minds. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been neck in neck in vying for the Democratic nomination, each slowly inching their way to a now mathematically impossible nomination through the regular voting process. After twelve straight losses to Obama, on March 4, Clinton won in Ohio, Texas, and

Rhode Island, while Obama won in Vermont, and later in both Wyoming and Mississippi.

Should things continue the way they have been, and with neither candidate looking ready nor willing to step out of the race, it is very likely that the race will continue to the Democratic National Convention in Denver come August. But time’s a-ticking and pundits argue that in taking the nomination to the national convention – only weeks before the general election – the Democrats risk a great deal by granting the Republicans and John McCain time to sharpen their nails and essentially sit back and watch while the two Democratic candidates battle each other out.

Both parties are making for the most exciting presidential race in recent history as the question of the future President of the United States remains unanswered.

Prestigious Harvard-Westlake Scarred by Cheaters

By JACKIE CHAN Staff Writer

A cheating scandal erupted on Feb. 26 at Harvard-Westlake School, a prestigious, coeducational school that is nationally wellknown for its academic excellence, selective admission, and high college matriculation. The school, consisting of 1,600 students, is a combination of the Harvard School for boys and the Westlake School for girls, which officially merged in 1991. Because of the union between the two schools, it has two campuses, one located in Bel Air, where students from grades 7-9 attend, and another in North Hollywood, where students from grades 10-12 attend.

The cheating scandal occurred on the upper school campus, which ultimately resulted in six expulsions and more than a dozen suspensions. Harvard-Westlake President Thomas Hudnut said, “Students conspired to steal Spanish and history tests by distracting teachers in their classrooms. The tests were then shown to

several other students before midterm exams forth and be honest than to get caught.” There last month.” According to L.A. Times, the his- were students, though, who did not confess and tory department started to become suspicious were caught. After a three-week long invesof cheating when several students scored “ex- tigation, the outcome and punishments were ceptionally well.” On Feb. 8, the department finally agreed upon by the administrators and received an the school’s anonymous honor board, tip from a which is senior that comprised cheating had of both stubeen comdents and mitted and it faculty, and began its inwere revestigation. vealed in an Only one all-school student was a s s e m b l y. called into The edithe office tor of The Photo Courtesy of GOOGLE.COM that same P R E S T I G E T h e H a r v a r d - W e s t l a k e S c h o o l Chronicle, day; howev- h a s b e e n s c a r r e d b y i t s c h e a t i n g s c a n d a l . H a r v a r d er, the rumor Westlake’s that someone was questioned about cheating student-run newspaper, senior Michael Kaplan instigated others to voluntarily confess. Upper wrote, “By stealing these exams, the students School Dean Jason Honsel said, “I think the involved have tainted the most precious and message they heard is that it is better to come valued aspect of the school.”

Because of this incidence, people everywhere are reflecting on the toll that this scandal has created: not only in the school, but also in society. Questions regarding the extremity of the punishments as well as the scandal’s effect on other school campuses have risen. In response to the L.A. Times article about the scandal, Abel, an internet user, writes, “Is cheating wrong? Why is this wrong if survival of the fittest is the narrative of our culture?” Some students at Harvard-Westlake say that they resort to cheating because there is so much pressure to do well in school nowadays. Another response from a concerned parent writes, “Yes, the acts were deplorable, but six lives are now ruined in a very public fashion. Their future in the narrow world that they knew is zero.” Kaplan, however, strongly disagrees with the both of them and writes, “[The administrators and the school’s honor board] need to make it clear that students who steal testing materials [and cheat] in the future will be expelled because it is immoral and flat-out wrong…under any circumstances.”

March 2008

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STAFF OF THE MONTH

RITA WILKINS & ASHLEY FRANDSEN

By JACKIE CHAN Staff Writer

Rita Wilkins and Ashley Frandsen have recently been chosen to receive the titles “Staff of the Month,” an award which staff members receive recognition for their hard work and commitment to the students, for March.

Ms. Wilkins has always wanted to be a speech-language pathologist after she spent some time at a hospital when her son had a minor illness. Though she did not stay long there, she says that “spending time in the hospital changed me forever.

I knew that I needed Photo Courtesy of RITA WILKENS to work with children.” And so, Ms. Wilkins strived to work with children and has been a speech-language pathologist for 28 years. Pathologists are teachers who help students with communication handicaps who want to be successful in their social, vocational, and academic endeavors. She also makes sure that other teachers who teach her students have the help needed to understand disabilities such as autism and learning disabilities in order to promote success for students with disabilities in their classes.

Her favorite experience while being a speech pathologist is teaching with Mr. Gordon, Mrs. Tedesco, Mrs. Blackstock and Mr. Press a class called “The American Experience,” in which Ms. Frandsen, the other recipient of this award for this month, was “one of the stand-out regular education model students!” She wishes to add that “If anyone wants to donate to a good cause, they can sponsor me in the 5k Walk for Autism on April 26th at the Rose Bowl with Hugo Reid Elementary School by going to www. walknowforautsim.org.”

On the other hand, Ms. Frandsen became interested in teaching when she was in elementary school. She had always wanted to be a 3rd grade teacher because she had such a great experience with her elementary school teachers and class. When she was 21, she was asked to coach for Temple City High’s JV soccer team.

Because she had a great experience coaching as well, she decided to continue her education in Kinesiology Photo by HANNAH GALLAHER as well as coaching. She has currently been coaching for 10 years and teaching for six of them. She never thought she would ever become a coach, but is really glad that things worked out the way they did in the end. As a P.E. teacher, Ms. Frandsen “[tries] to explain that they don’t have to be the best out there to get the grade they want. They just need to work hard.” As a soccer coach, she “[tries] to push them to the next level.”

In her opinion, she thinks that the best part of being a teacher and coach is “seeing students progress.” Her favorite experience as a teacher and coach is when students come back after graduation to visit her because “it shows their appreciation of you as a teacher.”

Lockdown Sparks Uncertainty and to prevent any other violence that could escalate if such a man or person Staff Writer were on campus,” said Pederson. WorOn Friday, Feb. 29, students at ried parents watching the school from Blair International Baccalaureate High afar communicated back and forth with School (formerly known as Blair High their children on cell phones until the School) and Blair East Middle School students were finally released around in Pasadena were detained in their class- 5 p.m.

Afterward, a 17-year-old male rooms due to a lockdown after school officials were alerted that a person was student, whose name was not released, seen walking on campus with a hand- was arrested on the same day and taken into custody for investigation of posgun.

The Pasadena school is divided into sessing a firearm as a minor. He was two campuses. The adjoining east cam- charged at an arraignment on the mornpus, the middle school, was searched ing of Tuesday, March 4, with one felfirst, and students were released around ony count of making a terrorist threat with a gun, one mid-afternoon. The felony count of students from the being a minor west school, or the in possession of high school, were a handgun, and released later. one misdemeanThe lockor count of posdown was sparked session of live by a witness who ammunition by claimed to have a minor, accordseen an unidentiing to officials fied person walking from the Los with a gun in his Angeles County or her waistband.

District AttorAfter the faculty ney’s Office. was alerted, SWAT “Although a teams were sent to weapon was not Blair and an eighthour lockdown for Photo Courtesy of GOOGLE.COM found, there was 1,200 students was S A F E T Y A r i s i n g p r o b l e m probable cause to arrest the stuput into effect. Stuis in the San Gabriel Valley. dent, including dents were individually searched and then ordered to walk witness accounts that he was carrying in single-file lines with their hands over one,” said Lt. Jari Faukner. The felony their heads to a gymnasium and their charges also made allegations that the classrooms. While the students were teenager was a gang member.

Crime in the Monrovia-Arcadiaunder lockdown, the policemen were “looking room by room, hallway by Duarte area has been steadily growing, hallway, bush by bush,” said Lt. Tom posing as a threat to Arcadia’s safety.

Pederson of the Pasadena Police Dept. The murder of Jason Wei, owner of The police did not confirm if there re- Osaka Ya in Arcadia, the lockdown at ally was someone with a gun, since Blair, along with the gang violence in there were no shots fired and no reports Monrovia, are all prime examples of of any injuries. “The emphasis of this is the increasing threat to Arcadia. Dean to keep the kids safe. We want to make Keith Kerney advises students to “be sure that if anybody is armed, that we aware of [their] surroundings; if [they] discover who they are and secure them, see anything, [please] report it.”

NEWS

By CHRISTINE XU

Staff Editors

Editors-in-Chief News Editors

Opinion Editors Performing Arts Editors Student Life Editor Features Editors Sports Editor Academics Editors Center Spread Editor Calendar Editor Campus Focus Editor Advertisement Editors Executive Copy Editors Photography/Graphics Editors Webmaster Managing Editor Fundraising Chair

By JENNIFER CHANG Staff Writer

According to the recent survey, “Quality Counts 2008,” California schools have been ranked academically behind those of other states, earning a ‘C’ grade for its test scores and for falling below the national average for college preparation. California schools trail behind on academics, financing, and graduation rates. Having the 30th highest graduation rates, California ranks in the mid 40s for both English and Math at the middle school level. In regards to school funding, California schools ranked in the top 10 states for teachers’ salaries, but fell short when ranked in state funding on education to 37th and is ranked 47th in students who were funded at the national average.

However, AHS has achieved considerably higher scores when compared to other California high schools. In 2006, AHS achieved a 71% proficiency rate in English Language, compared to

Kyle Jacobsen and Hanan Kamal Lisa Chang, Jenny Lin and Jay Zhang Iris Jong and Gretl Lam Veronica Lim and Emily Rueter Mimi Kamal Cora Ormseth and Lily Wong Laura Kelly Melissa Chen and Jacqueline Yue Elaine Chang Daphne Tan Joanna Chuang and Mimi Kamal Michael Chen and Ivy Yang Celeste Cheung, Grace Kwong, and Christine Xu Roya Falatoonzadeh and Jennifer Hang Minda Wang Hannah Mathews-Ward Christine Howard

Staff Writers News Staff

Opinion Staff

Performing Arts Staff Student Life Staff Features Staff

Sports Staff

Academics Staff

A Passing “C” for California the state average of 41%, as well as a 63% proficiency rate in United States History, with other California schools averaging 38%. In addition, Newsweek Magazine recognized AHS as the 221st best high school in the nation.

AHS also consists of an above average staff, employing seven full-time counselors who all possess master degrees, four assistant principals, 115 teachers, of whom 82 have master degrees in their area of teaching. “It’s surprising to think that California schools are below average at the national level, especially since AHS and its surrounding schools are really competitive,” said senior Michael Szeto.

Despite California’s low state rankings, AHS has consistently shown adequate results on API scores– meeting and surpassing the statewide performance standard. AHS also earns high SAT and AP scores that are not counted towards calculating state rankings. “Regardless of state rankings, AHS has definitely shown itself to be strong academically,” said Michael.

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Calendar Staff Campus Focus Staff Advertisement Staff

Copy Editing Staff

Center Spread Staff Fundraising Staff

Photo Staff

Adviser

Victoria Bian, Jackie Chan, Jennifer Chang, Celeste Cheung, Akhila Rao, Christine Xu Tiffany Chang, Iris Chen, Eleana Chiang, Arthur Huang, Kathleen Kao, Yan Man, Kayla Pang, Elaine Tsui Brianna Beckman, Andrés Delgado, Erica Liu, Kristen Shields Iris Chen, Joanna Chuang, Amber Kakish, Parvin Shakib, Angela Shen Rachel Cheong, Nancy Lam, Kristen Murakami, Christine Pao, Kristie Tom, Linda Wang, Erica Win, Sharon Yik Aisha Elmasri, Christine Howard, Mitalee Khilnani, Kristie Tom, Hannah Mathews-Ward, Minda Wang Kevin Kim, Grace Kwong, Tracy Lee, Scott Lyou Victoria Bian, Christine Wong, Melanie Yuen Joanna Chuang Matthew De Lellis, Rose Fisher, Chris Liang, David Sun, Kristie Tom, Christine Wong, Melanie Yuen Rachel Cheong, Andrés Delgado, Cindy Huynh, Tracy Lee, Scott Lyou, Eileen Yoon Sarah Lin Brianna Beckman, Aisha Elmasri, James Hernandez, Christine Howard, Ashley Johnson, Amber Kakish Hannah Gallaher, Elizabeth Hartshorn, James Hernandez, Ashley Johnson

Mr. Johnny Lee

Publication Information: The Apache Pow Wow is a student publication distributed monthly throughout the school year. The paper has been continuously published since Arcadia High School opened in 1952. Unsigned articles appearing on the opinion page reflect the opinion of the Apache Pow Wow editorial board. Student’s work does not represent the views of Arcadia High School or the Arcadia Unified School District. Address letters to the editor to: AHS Apache Pow Wow, 180 W. Campus Drive, Arcadia, CA 91007. To place an advertisement in the newspaper, call (626) 821-8370. Advertisement rates vary from $30 for a business card advertisement to $380 for a full-page black and white advertisement, with quarter-page, half-page, and advertisement insert options available.

Opinion

4 How to Stay Awake in Class (i.e. AP Stats)

By ARTHUR HUANG & YAN MAN

Staff Writers

Bored out of your mind in class? Trouble staying awake? Feel like you’d rather rip out your eyeballs than learn? No worries.

We’ve got you covered.

1. Lay your head down on the blank papers that you pretend are notes and rest your eyes– if the teacher happens to catch you, you can easily avert punishment by claiming, “Sorry. There was a bug in my eye... and I was trying to suffocate it.”

2. Befriend a nerd who either a) owns a Nintendo DS or b) owns a calculator with games on it, and persuade him or her to let you play with it for the period – don’t worry about trying to hide it, because if you are caught playing, say, Tetris, you can always protest, “No, I was graphing functions, but the lines just kept on disappearing, that’s all.” Just don’t cheer too loudly when you win. It’s awkward in a quiet class.

3. Ask the teacher politely for permission to go to the restroom. Then run away.

And never come back.

4. Throw balls of paper in the general vicinity of the teacher as a scientific experiment. Count the number of seconds that pass between your throw and their noticing; it’s like counting time between thunder and lightning – the shorter the intervals, the angrier your teacher is.

5. Doodle and create flipbooks. These hold great potential for entertainment. My own flipbooks illustrate the evolutionary history of human beings and a dude hula dancing, then flying into space like Superman.

6. Guess your teacher’s age through extensive analysis of balding patterns, wrinkles, and the general pain and destitution in his/her eyes – from years of having to teach lackadaisical students like yourself.

7. Listen to the teacher, absorb the information, and actually learn; after all, that is why you go to class. Take notes, volunteer with answers, think critically, pay attention to the material, read ahead, maintain a positive attitude… Nah, just kidding. Number 7 is actually just to gripe at the people around you.

8. Make cool drawings of the teacher with red kangaroos dancing around him. Be sure to give him a bell curve as a hat. Draw a parabola for his mouth. Label the z-score on his forehead.

9. See how many Post-It notes you can put on the person sitting in front of you, without their noticing. Don’t forget to leave amusing messages insinuating embarrassing behavior.

10. When you get really desperate for things to do, and nothing has worked to quell your boredom, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but do work for another class. Less homework for home.

11. Sleep. But have someone keep lookout for when the teacher comes after you, like Mr. Fox does with his rubber chicken, or Dr. Sutro with his hammer, or Mr. Pasqua with his air horn.

theapachepowwow.com

March 2008

How to Act Like An Opinion Writer Because We Know You Want to

How to be Emo

I’ll tell you how to be emo. First, you have to— wait, sorry, do excuse me, I really can’t continue right now. Because: Oh. My. Gosh. Life. Seriously. Sucks. Eff my life. Eff me, eff you, eff this! Who am I kidding? Like I actually have time for such nonsense. I’m having my periodic mid-hour crisis here, and you’re asking for tidbits of advice?! Could you be any more self-centered? Does the world always have to revolve around you and your petty problems? I don’t see how you can live with yourself, knowing the state of devastation I’m in right now. Someone’s eating my favorite peach-flavored Jelly Bellies as we speak and here you are, doing absolutely nothing to console me. Honestly, you’ve crossed the line— hurt me real bad. I bet this was all part of the plan, huh?— to distract me and then steal my sole food supply. I can’t believe you’d do that to me. Sigh. The world hates me. Everyone is out to get me. Sigh, again. Excuse me while I go cry in my remote little corner.

-Tiffany Chang, Resident Sob Story

How to be Profoundly Profound

I must profess, to sound as profoundly profound as I do in my articles requires more professionalism than I can propose to possess.

As such, some of our dear readers have, more than a few times, pointed the crooked finger of indictment at me and branded me a hypocrite, though my female audience, largely infatuated with my profundity, recieves my prose more appropriately, with (what I should imagine are) wistful sighs of appreciation. But it is a simple matter of tapping into the inner soul

and drawing upon a more philosophical alter ego to write for me, a skill obtained through decades of meditation and enlightenment.

Never mind that I’m barely 18 yet, it’s taken decades. Upon decades. Decades of ridding the decadent within and leaving only the pure, the breathtakingly thoughtful and heartrendingly sensitive.

-Arthur Huang, Don Juan/Artistotle Incarnate; Distinguished Sage Extraordinaire

How to be Cynical

All it takes is a lot of perseverance (because just wanting to become a cynic won’t make it happen – you’ve got to work at it), a complete lack of innocence, some logic, and a little inherent bitterness towards all creatures that move. And, of course, there is always that one last ingredient that is most integral to becoming an active cynic; I would tell you, but I’m pretty sure you selfish fools would use my information for evil.

-Yan Man, Mr. “Life Sucks and So Do You”

How to Avoid Writing an Article

So what if you’re part of the Opinion section? As if newspaper staff members are supposed to write! They just have to appear busy. It’s quite simple, really. Between shuffling pages upon pages of articles, sorting them into stacks, and rearranging them all over again; scribbling a rainbow of nonsense in every page margin; staring idly at punctuation marks; reading the dictionary daily; attempting to acquire a working knowledge of obscure grammar rules; and trekking to and

from the computer to chat with everyone else, there just isn’t enough time. Sorry.

-Gretl Lam, Diligent Scriptophobe/Editor

How to be Didactic

You must remember this: You are superior to everyone else. Everything you believe is truth. This is a fact. Embrace it wholeheartedly and enthusiastically (that’s the easiest part).

Once you have mastered omniscience and omnipotence, proceed to instruct those around you on anything and everything, any time and all the time. Speak as though you know everything; it should be easy, considering that you do. The world at large will be thankful in the long run... probably.

-Iris Jong, O Great, Wise, Learned Editor

How to be Sarcastic

Seriously? You want me to tell you how to be sarcastic? Do I look like the sarcastic type? Me? Sweet, soft-spoken opinion writer?

You’re kidding me. I’ve never uttered a scathing comment in my life. I’m the exact opposite of sarcastic, actually. Instead of rightfully saying you’re an idiot, I’ll sugarcoat things and tell you that your label of me as someone who is sarcastic was a simple mistake. You must have gotten me confused with Swift and his not-so-modest proposal. But I’m sure a simple eye exam would clear things up for you. Or you could consider switching brains with my dog, Lucky. Whichever. Take your pick. Then again, I’d rather you opt for the first option.

Brain operations are so expensive these days, and I don’t want to end up with a stupid dog.

-Kathleen Kao, Little Miss Ray of Sunshine

5 Easy Steps to Ultimate Nerd-dom

By ELAINE TSUI Staff Writer

As an experienced nerd, I feel insulted when my own friends (yes, I do have friends) snicker at my social status. Their insolent remarks frustrate me because really, being a nerd is not a terrible thing at all. Though my friends don’t understand the philosophy of nerd-dom, I’m willing to give them a chance at redemption because I know for a fact that they’re just secretly jealous. And that’s why I feel so obligated to share my secret with them, and with the world, my five-step plan to achieving ultimate nerdiness.

Step 1: The easiest step to achieve in this five-step process is the first— the Appearance Step. Let’s get real here. Not all nerds wear glasses, tuck their shirts in, and don funky-colored sweaters. Sure, some do fit this stereotypical image, or part of it (I have the glasses and acne down perfectly), but that doesn’t mean nerds look like this all the time. “Nerdy” isn’t synonymous with “unattractive.” And nerds set their own trends. Many have their own unique “I could care less what you think of me” style. Some adopt a practical “wearing a raincoat on a rainy day” style, which is very, well, practical. And smart, very smart.

There is one quality that distinguishes the appearances of nerds from those of non-nerds.

Nerds always choose to wear clothes that are

TCID:

sensible and tasteful, clothes that look appropriate and proportional on them. So establish your own style, and boom, you have the perfect look.

Step 2: Now that you’ve achieved the look, it’s time for the act— the behavorial transformation. If you’re currently an annoying slack-off, you are one no more. You are no longer one of the oh-so-polite kids in class who chat when the teacher lectures and put their feet on the desk. No longer one of the kids who lean precariously back on their chairs until they flip over and crack open their heads. Instead, you are now going to be the kid who actually listens in class, who actually pays attention, who knows the answer to the question that no one else got on the final.

Ditch the clueless “I’m so awesome” attitude and adopt the prepared, down-to-earth one.

You are not, however, boring. Oh no, nerds are anything but boring. You have your own witty brand of humor.

Step 3: Ah, what is a nerd without brains?

Academics, academics, academics. Sports may or may not exist in a nerd’s world, but academics are guaranteed to be a part of it.

Academics are the core of nerd-dom. That’s not a bad thing, of course. To become a nerd in the first place, you must first possess an insatiable lust for academic matters: learning, enlightenment, excellence. You can’t be a true nerd without first declaring your love for at

least one school subject. The most notorious are the math and science nerds, who can solve almost any equation or problem, but we must not forget the English nerds, whose literary prowess would blow Shakespeare’s socks off, not to mention the art nerds, the music nerds, the tech nerds, and the history nerds.

Step 4: With the academics comes the so-called “limited” social life. Don’t get me wrong— what some people might call a “limited” social life is really just a pleasantly subdued one. It doesn’t mean you don’t have friends, or never have fun. It just means you’d rather chill with your friends and watch a movie at home than go out drinking and partying. It just means you have your priorities straight and you are ready to have as much fun with your friends as possible— once you’ve done what you need to do. Ultimate nerdiness can only be achieved when you do what you are supposed to do first and leave the fun for later.

Step 5: The final and most important step is realizing that being a nerd is something to be proud of. Nerds are often perceived as nolife weirdos, people who are supposed to be the subjects of jokes, but nerds are no doubt a thousand times cooler than non-nerds. And laughing at the coolest people in the world is pitiful. Hey, if you don’t believe me, then listen to the biggest nerd in the world: Bill Gates. His advice: “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.” Long live the nerd!

March 2008

Opinion

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Maneuvering AHS: A Guide to Hallway Etiquette

By KATHLEEN KAO Staff Writer

So I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but AHS is a tad crowded. Sure, the campus is big, but when the bell rings to herald the end of one class and the beginning of another, streams of students dribble from the classrooms and ooze into one, enormous mass, flooding the arteries of AHS. The traffic is terrible enough to put the infamous Interstate 710 to shame, and as a senior who has braved the traffic for nearly four years, I have had just about enough.

I’m a pretty fast walker. I walk unnecessarily fast, in fact— with quick, snappy strides that carry me from J building to H hall in less than a minute. So you can imagine my frustration when someone simply stops dead in the middle of the hall to discuss the latest Beauty and the Geek episode, or when a couple designates the walkway as their romantic, make-out backdrop. Even more frustrating are the people shuffling along at a pace that I could beat if I crawled on my hands and knees with a house on my back. It wouldn’t be a problem if there were space for me to shoot past, but the sheer number of people sardined together means there never is. The only way I can avoid being forced to drag behind the slow walkers is by squeezing between the crowds, elbowing several people, and muttering a string of “sorry”s along the way. But I shouldn’t have to do that.

We shouldn’t have to make whiplash stops each time we hit a knot of people standing there, oblivious to the traffic bustling about them.

Throughout the years, I’ve categorized four types of walkers that slow traffic: The Window Shoppers, The Hazards,

The Baskin-Robbiners, and The Car Wrecks.

Window Shoppers are students who stroll sluggishly down the hall, glancing around blankly at nothing in particular. They seem to think they’re ambling through Beverly Hills on a fine Saturday afternoon. Be cautious of these people because if you get stuck behind

Graphic by DANIEL YAMANE

WATCH HOW You’re GOING Think you’re the only one traversing

the hallways of AHS? Think again- the traffic doesn’t revolve around you. them, they’ll make you late to your class. So when you detect blank eyes and slow, listless feet, avoid at all cost. It’d be easy for The Window Shoppers to walk just a little faster, but I suppose such etiquette escapes them.

The Hazards are the only ones who can physically harm you on your way to class.

Secrets Do Make Friends

By TIFFANY CHANG Staff Writer

A handful of people are your avid enthusiasts who wait ever so impatiently, ever so diligently for the weekly PostSecret updates: come Sunday, come raw PostSecret candor. Whether it is dashed with humor, slashed with anguish, laden with remorse, or tainted with guilt, the postcards appeal to audiences like you and me.

Most people seek PostSecret as a pastime, a sort of vicarious thrill. We read about held grudges and past regrets; about anxieties, insecurities, and disappointments; about unrequited love, unfaithful love, lost love; about the what-if, the should-have, and could-havebeen; about destiny; about life; about death.

And after a few secrets are divulged, after a few tugs on our heartstrings, we start to recognize secrets deep within, beneath our own awareness. These secrets remind people of their own lives; they remind us of a common humanity that we share with anonymous strangers.

And so we continue to read weekly, to feed off PostSecret in hopes of finding some refuge, of stumbling upon some common ground that is not trodden by us, the viewers, alone. There is some gratification, selfish as it may be, in knowing that I am not the only one out there who is lost and hurt and lonely

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They launch their companions like missiles into unsuspecting crowds of people, lumber into defenseless students to tackle their friends, or play tag, shoving people out of their way as they dive for their targets. A furious “hey!” will not stop their childish ploys. We can only hope they one day realize that the hallways are

too— that others also let opportunities slip by, push people away, fake a smile, reek of selfdisappointment. It is perhaps this constant struggle that unifies us all; all of us have and will continue to experience heartbreak, and though it may not be the same heartbreak, it is, in the end, still heartbreak, a minor setback that allows us to relate with one another.

But at the same time, despite this sense of human connection the postcards seem to provide, they also exist as a means of distinction between people. For the postcards exhibiting idiosyncratic secrets or secrets of extreme situations, such as rape or abuse or even suicide, really make you think twice. Regret for not telling the truth versus child abuse, and suddenly the former seems so trivial. Disappointment for not being good enough versus attempted suicide at age twelve, and suddenly you have it better off, you live the better life.

Long-held grudges versus murder, and suddenly you aren’t as screwed up as you thought.

By human nature, secrets consist of those things that we are most shameful about, things we feel a need to hide from the world. Why do we continue to insist on knowing others’ secrets? To know that we aren’t alone. To know that someone out there has it worse than we do, and that someone else is more messed up than we are. To make ourselves feel better.

not their playgrounds, that you and I are not jungle gyms to climb over. Unfortunately, it’s hard to confront The Hazards and tell them to leave their Red Rover games for the football field, so it’s up to them to stop themselves.

It’s a little hard to criticize The BaskinRobbiners because, like the ridiculously inde-

cisive customers at Baskin-Robbins, they are just wishy-washy people who have a tendency to walk from one hallway to the next, unsure of whether to go to their next class, stop at the bathroom, or turn in their overdue attendance slip first. If you find yourself behind a BaskinRobbiner, be prepared to expect the unexpected. These people tend to whirl around suddenly and stride the other way—right into you. At the last second, you’ll find yourself slapped by long hair or run over without so much as a hasty “excuse me.” If only they would stop making last minute changes in the middle of the hallway… there would be a lot less crashing and a lot smoother flow.

The Car Wrecks, perhaps the most annoying of the four, simply stop in the middle of the hallways with a couple of friends and disregard the people jostling around them. In the arteries of hallways branching throughout AHS, The Car Wrecks are the equivalent of the fat clogging and narrowing the passageways. They have extremely low senses of self-awareness, the sorts who wouldn’t realize they were standing on your foot unless you screeched at them.

I probably sound like a hallway Nazi, commanding all students to step in unison on their way to class. I’m not saying everyone should march robotically down the hallway, but a good rule of thumb? If you wouldn’t do it on the road, don’t do it in the hallways. No sane person would swerve wildly down the streets in his or her car trying to tag a friend, or stop in the middle of the road to fish out a cell phone. Be more self-aware. You may have the luxury of walking at a snail’s pace because your next class is just a hall away, but there are those desperately clawing their way across campus to get to class on time.

What Are You In? AP Dumb?

By YAN MAN Staff Writer

We treasure our transcripts; we worship them; we treat them like the be-all, end-all of our academic careers, like certificates of our value as intellects and scholars. But most of all, we regard them as foolproof indicators of a student’s intelligence. We love to think that superior grades and demanding classes are innately tied to smarts, that genius is inversely proportional to the number of B’s and C’s garnered over the span of four years and directly proportional to the number of AP classes we have managed to cram into each semester. But alas, we are sadly misinformed, blinded by the “AP” label that gleams enticingly before a course title. It seems that course content is absolutely irrelevant once we see the “AP” mark; any class of this stature automatically assumes an air of authority. As a result of this worship, we have so hastily, and faultily, come to the conclusion that the more AP courses a student is enrolled in, the smarter he or she must be. But take it from me, a student who took five AP courses his junior year: AP’s on a transcript don’t mean jack squat.

Really, AP classes are just, well, classes.

Signing up for three, or four, or five of them isn’t significant or spellbinding or magnificent in itself. All that is true about those who hap-

pen to enroll in a couple of them is that they have the ability to highlight a few course names on a piece of paper before handing it to a counselor. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m positive even a third grader possesses enough skills to accomplish this feat.

And obviously, just being able to get into a class has no relation to academic potential.

Those who have elected to put themselves through this rigor don’t deserve idolization, because in the end, the number of AP courses we take isn’t an achievement, but a choice.

Some might contend that hurdling the prerequisites barring random entry proves a student’s mental acumen. But many AP’s work in a step-wise fashion; to get into some of these subjects, all you need to do is to pass the one preceding it. Meeting prerequisites is as pedestrian as taking any other course, some of which require prerequisites themselves. So what makes AP classes superior?

I’ve successfully taken five AP’s in one school year, but I’ll also be the first one to tell you that I’m not the smartest kid around.

And I’ve seen peers who have taken five or six AP’s but remain incorrigibly dim. I’ve also seen some brilliant kids take utterly ordinary, undistinguished courses. It’s all a matter of preference, and we all get to pick our own path. Choosing to maneuver a maze doesn’t make you more brilliant than the next kid.

6

Opinion

theapachepowwow.com

Exploiting: It’s a Way of Life

By KAYLA PANG Staff Writer

It has been passed down from generation to generation; it is as common as the flu virus; it is quite possibly the pinnacle of humanity’s long history of cultural achievement – it is the art of exploiting people. Society has created ingenious swindlers who have mastered the various techniques of manipulation, like freeloading, copying homework, and taking anything and everything from those around them.

Exploiting people is one of the greatest facets of life. After all, it has remained a strong tradition for ages. Yet “exploiting a person” connotes more ill than the practice deserves, so instead, I propose we rename it to “making the best of a relationship,” “treasuring the added perks of a friendship,” or “sharing all the benefits a relationship has to offer.” I assure you, this is all justifiable. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, so how are we supposed to survive without seeking help from others?

Give it a try. To first prove your credibility as an exploiter, freeload. Everyone wants to have a moocher as a friend. Mooch, mooch, mooch, and everyone will know your name.

Repeatedly snatch other people’s food without permission, and you’ll hear their cries of joy.

They love it when your fingers dig through their fries and tater tots– it adds a unique flavor they can’t get anywhere else. There’s no need to wait for a response when you ask for a bite; nix all unnecessary conversation and head straight for the action– by making a beeline for their lunchboxes. Don’t be discouraged if someone only has one fork for his spaghetti – that one fork is yours, not his. The next time your counselor asks what you want to be when you grow up, say, “I want to be a freeloader, because I can feed a family of five with this job.”

If you fail to become a successful freeloader, you can always become a champion suck-up instead. Compliments = willingness to do favors; this equation makes as much sense as e=mc². You’ll win the love of peers and teachers alike. Your saccharine personality will be so beloved that no one will have the heart to reject your whines for help. To top it off, throw in some harmless lies and conscience-harrowing facial expressions to guilt-trip anyone into doing your bidding. You know your carefully invested time has paid off

GO ON, HELP YOURSELF

when your teachers reward y number of extra credit points for every x number of boxes of chocolates you give them– coincidentally, the same number of points needed to bump you up one letter grade. You will thrive and prosper in high school, and life, this way. With luck, your future boss will be in desperate need of a praise-generator like yourself to boost his/her self-esteem, and will gratefully promote you to Executice Suck-Up. Once you have an appropriately sweet personality going for you, the sky’s the limit.

If you cannot create that kiss-up bond with a teacher, you can always resort to charming the “smart kid”– the classmate who aces every test and actually completes every assignment. Turn on your charm. He doesn’t mind that you’re using him for his brains. He probably relishes the awkward silences that arise when you pester him for his homework and as he grudgingly surrenders it. He probably loves the idea that, by handing over every homework assignment, he has become an advocate for cheating. He probably brags about the fact that his phone rings nonstop every night because all of his “friends” call him (for answers).

Even better, recruit the “smart kid” to be your best friend– then he’ll be obligated to provide you with free tutoring sessions. It should be loads of fun for both of you.

If all of the above fails, at least you know you can count on your family for love, support, and understanding. It’s in the job description– they’re required to provide such services. Your family should appreciate you no matter how low your GPA plunges. In fact, they’re expected to drop whatever they’re doing to help you whenever you need something, like money for Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Regardless of their mood, remind them what family is all about with some fortune cookieesque message like “Sometimes true love calls for sacrifices.” The phrase should tug at their heartstrings and make them say, “Please, tell me what to do! I’ll do whatever you say.” This is definitely an ideal way to go.

Be a nice person, do a good deed, wolf down someone else’s lunch when they’re starving. Suck up to everyone so that you can guilt-trip them into helping you. Make friends with the smart kid, whose homework is more valuable than his company. Or cry to your mother, because she’s the only one who is eternally obligated to care. Go exploit anyone, anywhere. Just take care not to be exploited yourself, because it hurts pretty bad.

Graphic by DANIEL YAMANE

Because it’s not as though exploiting people is, you know, hurtful, or manipulative, or anything.

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March 2008

Sorry, I Don’t Read Books With Blank Covers

Graphic by IRIS JONG

IT’s A FINE, FINE LINE The difference between stereotyping and reasoning and not judging at all is fine- but the consequences of choosing one over another can be drastic.

By KATHLEEN KAO Staff Writer

Don’t judge a book by its cover. We’ve all heard this mantra before. We’ve all chewed the saying over, swallowed it, digested it, and accepted it, but today, I’m going to throw it back out like cud and chew it over again, rethinking and reevaluating it completely.

I’m just going to put this out there: Judging isn’t bad. Before the angry mob comes stampeding after me with torches and pitchforks, or worse, before you turn away in disgust and move on to another article, hear me out. There’s a fine line between judging and being prejudiced. It’s nearly invisible, but it’s there. Society has slapped a negative connotation onto the word “judge,” but only because history has proven that we sometimes take it too far.

Telling people not to judge is like telling them not to blink- no matter how hard we try to suppress the urge, it happens anyway, and in the sanctity of our minds, we judge all the time, every second of every day. If you tell me you’ve never judged before, I’m going to call you a liar. It’s in our very nature to judge. It’s what makes us human. It’s what has ensured our survival and our ascension to the top of the food chain. Back when we were still in caves, tearing into raw meat, we were already honing our ability to judge. We picked the biggest, reddest apples, because the small, green ones looked sour and unappetizing. We avoided animals with claws and fangs because they looked dangerous. That urge to judge still exists. If I’m walking along the sidewalk and someone in sagging pants, arms a canvas of grotesque tattoos, comes limp-struttin’ towards me making gang signs with one hand and twirling a blood-streaked bat with the other, you can bet I’m going to ditch the

Barney-esque “judging is bad” lesson and dive into the bushes to avoid being seen. And I bet you would, too. In actuality, that person might be a straight-A student who’s never hurt a fly in his– or her– life (perhaps he had been hitting ketchup packets with his bat and practicing sign language just seconds before), but he could just as easily have been a gang-banger looking for his next victim. In such a situation, my judging may make me look like an idiot… or it may save me. Who knows?

People teach children to never judge others, but they also tell them to make good first impressions. God. It’s so contradicting that it’s painful. Why would we need to make positive first impressions if good people supposedly don’t judge? Don’t impressions exist because people judge? If judging shouldn’t exist, why should these dreaded “first impressions” exist?

Does it makes sense to you? It doesn’t to me.

Stereotypes have made judging taboo.

But stereotyping is just judgment on steroids - anything taken beyond moderation creates an evil. Some ugly things have spawned from judging, and it seems that, more than anything else, we oftentimes abuse our ability to judge.

A 20/20 experiment, for example, showed racism at its worst: In a predominately white suburb, a number of people made calls to the police station when they saw two African Americans simply sleeping in their own car.

Clearly, people were making judgments based on skin color. But what made these people call the police wasn’t rational judgment- it was stereotyping, judgment on steroids. As I’ve said, the line is fine. You’d have to squint to see it, but that hair-thin line makes all the difference in the world. If we demonize judging because of its ramped-up evil cousin, stereotyping, we’re denying ourselves the right to reason, the right to decide, the right to determine for ourselves whether we want to stay on that sidewalk or take flight as that leering pedestrian with the ketchup-stained baseball bat nears.

March 2008

Opinion

theapachepowwow.com

Generic Enough For All! A Guide to the Next 24 Hours

are to be able to live with the guarantee of hot meals.

By ARTHUR HUANG Staff Writer

Rocks Pretty Hard to be a Sophomore

By KAYLA PANG

Gemini (May 21- June 21):

Staff Writer

You’re going to meet new people!

Cancer (June 22- July 22):

Expect the unexpected, young grasshopper.

That is all.

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22):

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Appearances can be deceiving. It’s inner beauty that counts.

Really. Remember this well. You’ll need it.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22): Graphic by GRETL LAM

All-Knowingly Accurate Did your horoscope turn out vaguely true? Uncanny!

There’s just something so enthralling about fate that we permit the ridiculous presence of daily “Astrological Forecasts” in our newspapers. Some people would really rather first read about what could happen in their day than actually engage in the world. But I’ve always envied those forecast writers. They have such freedom in writing their… articles? ... Exposés? Editorials? Divinations? Prophecies? No. No. No. They’re just … pieces.

Well, now that I’m part of a renowned newspaper, I finally have the chance to write my very own astrological forecast! This is like a dream come true. All right. Ah, I should first place a disclaimer just like those professional “Astrological Forecast” writers do. Here it is: This forecast should be read for entertainment. There. Now no one can sue me if none of this ever comes true (although the forecasts in the newspapers are so generic and clichéd that it’s impossible for them to go unfulfilled).

Here, I’ll give you an example from the February 22nd edition, for Aquarius: “You have the most fun when you do the least amount of planning. Before you leave the house, pack half as much as you think you’ll need and bring twice the money.” Great advice! Awesome prediction! Very insightful, Ms. Holiday Mathis, L.A. Times Horoscope writer! If I were an Aquarius, this might have made more sense. But I’m not, so I’ll just assume it’s great advice! Anyway, here’s my version of the Astrological Forecast. I would read the stars and let them lead me, but it’s cold outside. Besides, it’s raining and I just heard thunder. No way am I going out there.

Aries (March 21- April 19):

Hindsight is 20/20. Today you will stop and think about things. And you’ll come across something in the past and have regrets. But then you’ll learn from your mistakes and realize that life is about change. Change, baby.

Change and maturing.

Taurus (April 20- May 20):

Food and nutrition are very important to you.

Today you will eat about three meals, give or take a few. You will eat something crunchy, and also something spicy. And you will drink bottled water, not tap water or drinking fountain water. And you’ll appreciate the little things in life, realizing just how blessed you

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What you don’t understand will be made clear to you- later. So just relax. For example, if you didn’t understand this brilliant prophecy, then you have nothing to blame but your own lack of insight. Don’t worry, you’ll know exactly what I mean soon enough.

Libra (Sept. 23- Oct. 23):

Love isn’t real. It only exists in fairytales and chick flicks.

Scorpio (Oct. 24- Nov. 21):

Confidence is what you need. Get some confidence and take control of your life! Just don’t cross the line and become arrogant. People who like to brag about nothing in particular are usually the most hated ones. But, hey, stop being so timid. Take a couple risks, and you’ll win a couple times.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21):

Today is payday. You will be showered with gifts of many kinds. But it is also a day to give back to a charitable cause. I suggest the “Wii for Lee” fund, my friend. It benefits all.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19):

Bad luck and good luck will befall you today.

Yin and yang in balance. Beware of bad karma, but also perform beneficial deeds to sow good karma... That is dharma.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 18):

Almost done here, finally… I’ve never found it so hard to make up random, useless advice.

Wait. Did I say that out loud? Never mind, never mind. Forget you ever read that. Aquarius, today you will come into contact with water. H2O: it is the universal solvent for a variety of many chemical substances. A very useful essence of nature.

Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20):

Man, no wonder you’re pissed. You’re last on this list. All right. Let’s see. Pisces, today you will meet the love of your life and fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately, your soulmate is going to be a Libra who believes that love isn’t real and only exists in fairytales and chick flicks. Good luck convincing your true love otherwise.

Okay, that’s it! Hmm. I wonder if there’s a reason “Astrological Forecasts” are placed next to the comics in the L.A. Times?

Arthur Huang writes his column for Pow Wow. This forecast must be taken seriously.

Your life depends on it.

7

Looking at the freshmen, juniors, and seniors, we sophomores think it’s evident that we breeze through school more comfortably than any other class. We’re not classified by a stereotype like the following: “naive freshmen,” “overworked juniors,” or “collegebound seniors”; we’re just the filler between freshman and junior year, the “nobody’s.” But if you think about it, it’s actually better to be defined as nothing than by a negative idiosyncrasy. Sophomore year is a combination of the benefits afforded to other grade levels, not merely the year of disregard.

Freshmen can brag about their actionpacked social lives and lax courses, but we sophomores keep our fair share. Freshmen may be blessed with a free schedule to engage in stress-relieving activities, but we sophomores manage to pencil in the occasional outing as well. And, like freshmen, most sophomores don’t have to worry over the same number of APs as juniors and seniors, so we’re sailing almost as smoothly. Tasting up to two AP courses, we sophomores can sleep the desired six to eight hours most nights– and that’s an amazing feat for most AHS students.

This gradual transition to a more strenuous schedule is convenient, because we can enjoy the leniency of freshmen year while preparing ourselves for junior year.

Accustomed to the AHS lifestyle– functioning after 3 a.m., dedicating countless weekends to studying, and balancing extra-

curricular activities– juniors have settled into their niche on campus– and so have the sophomores. After a year in this high school bubble, we have established AHS as our new comfort zone, a place for us to drift mindlessly before we’re thrust into the notorious junior year. The beauty of it all is that while we don’t carry as heavy a burden as the juniors, we can boast of our own familiarity with campus. Witnessing the juniors’ suffering is a friendly reminder to be grateful that we are not them, a reminder that we should be cherishing every moment we have before morphing into those stressed juniors. We watch them and think, “I’m so glad I’m still a sophomore.”

Seniors think they’re on top of the world– or at least of the hierarchy- but it’s a position that we wouldn’t want to be. All classes younger than they are look up to them for leadership and advice, seeking guidance from mature adults who know exactly what’s coming. Exuberant from an acceptance letter or crestfallen from a rejection, these seniors’ moods can swing wildly from one minute to the next. The pressure they deal with is overpowering. It’s a state of constant distress that sophomores are willing to wait two years for.

The only dilemmas that sophomores have to freak out over are whether we have a date to the Sadie Hawkins dance or how much our previously failed quizzes will affect our grade.

With the attention on these upperclassmen, the pressure is off us, because no one is watching us, or expecting anything from us.

If the class hierarchy were an Oreo, the sophomores would be the best part– the cream squeezed in the middle.

There’s Only You!

By IRIS CHEN Staff Writer

As an only child, you may think you’re a loner. You may think you’re boring and sad.

You may think your parents are the only ones you can trust to always be there, other than the temporary BFFs you made at school. There’s a forced independence you have to accept– a bully at school becomes a problem you must face on your own, because you can’t run and hide behind your brother. There is no one to stand up for you, to drive you around, to listen to your countless problems and always stand by your side; there is no one to tell your deepest secrets to, to take you to Six Flags when your parents are too busy. There is no one to protect you, to help you with your projects, to warn you about which SAT prep program is better, to cover for you when you have to go out Friday night.

Oh, no, no, no.

As an only child, you get to announce your test scores with overwhelming excitement and pleasure to your parents, without having to endure the inevitable side-by-side, point-bypoint comparison afforded to those with siblings. Entitled to all of your parents’ free time, you can always depend on your parents to listen to you rant about how horrible your day at school was. Band competition, Speech & Debate tournament? Your parents will always

be there supporting you. And when your relatives come, you are the one showered with all the gifts and praise. Not only can you attend your dream college with the college funds your parents set aside just for you, but you can also buy that new bike you’ve been crazy about, instead of being stuck with your older sister’s hand-me-down. You don’t have to spend hours waiting in line for the bathroom in the morning. You don’t have to split that giant chocolate cookie with your little brother– stuff it all in!

You get first pick of which donut you’d like for breakfast, first pick of which restaurant to go to on Friday night, first pick of which movie to watch with your family, first pick of what color your room should be repainted, because you’re technically the “youngest” – well, the only – and the elders are more likely to spoil you.

You get your own room, your own desk, your own computer, cell phone, T.V., closet, toilet. Sharing? You’ve never heard of sharing.

“Sharing is caring” never was and never will be an argument a sibling can hurl at you while you’re fighting. Why share when everything’s yours? That’s right, undivided attention – all yours. Oh, yeahhh.

Sure, you may not have a brother to hide behind, but you don’t have a brother to take all your parents’ attention away from you either.

You are your parents’ pride, your parents’ joy, your parents’ love… your parents’ jewel, sweetie pie, pumpkin, darling... the apple of your parents’ eyes. Lucky you, huh?

8

PERFORMING ARTS

Chanteurs and New Spirit Shine @ the Big Pow Wow

By SHAYLYN RICHCREEK Guest Writer

With competition season coming to a close, Chanteurs and New Spirit enjoyed hosting their Big Pow Wow show choir competition at the majestic San Gabriel Mission Playhouse on Friday, March 21.

Even though putting this competition together required many hours of preparation both during and outside of school, getting to host their own competition is always worth the stress that precedes the satisfaction of a job well done.

To prepare and put on a competition as vast as the Big Pow Wow is no easy feat. Show choirs from high schools all throughout the San Gabriel Valley attended with hopes of having a good time. Two or three students from Chanteurs and New Spirit were assigned to host each group and ensure that their competition experience was a smooth and pleasant one. Hosts went so far as to make posters advertising their school and prepared goodie bags for each performer to congratulate him or her on a job well done. Then there is the matter of ensuring that all goes well behind the scenes. The scores must be accurately and swiftly tabulated, each group’s props taken care of backstage and the sound must be in perfect clarity and balance with the bands that each group brings.

Among the 11 show choirs in attendance were Arcadia rivals John Burroughs High School and Burbank High School, with groups both in the intermediate and advanced divisions. Burroughs advanced group swept the competition, winning first place along with the Outstanding Musicianship and Showmanship awards, and Burbank won second place.

But what really brought down the house were the performances by New Spirit and Chanteurs. New Spirit opened the intermediate division with pop hits “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” Chanteurs performed later on in the evening, opening the advanced division with the popular “Oh, Pretty Woman/You Got It” and “Shake, Rattle, and Let the Good Times Roll.”

Even with the pandemonium inherent in hosting a large competition such as this, New Spirit and Chanteurs still found time to socialize with the other show choirs there. Senior Chanteurs member Vanessa Lam enjoys the Pow Wow because “it’s a great opportunity to make friends from groups that we compete against and share our competition sets and love of performing.”

The night was a great success and sure set the bar high for next year’s competition.

Photo Courtesy of SHAYLYN RICHCREEK

ChanteursThese performers sang their hearts out.

theapachepowwow.com

March 2008

JV Percussion Drops a Beat in AZ

By ANDRES DELGADO Staff Writer

On March 10, JV Percussion traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for the WGI Regional competition, a harrowing battle of performance and rhythm. Arcadia had two teams entered in the Open Division and Division A. Both squads displayed their drumming prowess, clinching first place in their respective divisions over schools from California, Nevada, and Arizona.

To succeed in the highly competitive atmosphere of a percussion competition, teams must put on a performance that is impressive both visually and musically. Competitions are organized by Winterguard International, a sports circuit for indoor activities such as Color Guard and percussion. Its judges are looking for music quality, aesthetic appeal, and the effect of the presentation in general. Part of the presentation is how efficiently the teams set up and take down the necessary equipment, and points can be docked if these activities exceed the allotted time. A lot of work goes into ensuring that the teams are perfectly rehearsed and tournament-ready. “The students put in a lot of time outside of class to make sure they are very proficient at what they do,” said percussion director Kevin Sherrill. “Our class period is usually busy, either we’re marching or working on our technique,” said Open Division member David Hernandez.

Clearly, JV Percussion had no difficulties meeting and exceeding the requirements. Their performances were stellar despite a grueling seven hour bus ride. Throughout the tournament, the students remained optimistic and de-

Photo Courtesy of MEGAN BALLEW

JV PerCUSSION AHS’ JV percussion performed phenomenally at their competition in Phoenix, Arizona on March 10. termined. “When we found out we had gotten first and moved on to finals, we were thrilled,” said A Line member Landon Jensen. Mr. Sherrill was pleased with the way they carried themselves, saying “All the students were very professional on the trip,” and that he was “pleased with both performances.”

JV Percussion is doing very well in its league, having placed 1st and 5th in its last two competitions, respectively. With the amount of time and effort that they invest in their craft, their possibility of success in future tournaments is very high. Best of luck to them as they continue on their path to victory.

The Shadow Box: Celebrate Life with ADD Beverly, played by senior Tovah Goodman.

Both Mark and Beverly find themselves at The Cottages to support Brian but discover that they Staff Writer do not get along. They must work to overcome The Advanced Drama Department (ADD) their differences and encourage Brian through will be performing the Pulitzer Prize and Tony his remaining days.

Award-winning play, The Shadow The last story is one of a Box, on the nights of March 25-29 mother-daughter relationship befrom 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Little tween Felicity, played by senior Theatre. Tickets to The Shadow Box Elizabeth Semerad, and Agnes, can be purchased for $5 at lunch in played by junior Jillian Engel. the rally court, by the J building, Felicity is an elderly woman and by the Trading Post starting on who has been cared for by AgMarch 18. During the nights of the nes for many years. She knows performance, tickets will also be that her time is running out but sold at the door for $8. holds onto the hope that her faThe Shadow Box is ADD’s first vorite daughter, Claire, will soon serious drama of the year. The acreturn. tors have been preparing relentlessAlthough the three stories ly, not only practicing their lines, presented in The Shadow Box but also analyzing their characters seem to be vastly different, they and trying to truly understand their eventually blend into one tale of roles in the play. The characters that love, loss, grief, joy, and accepthey must portray are complex, and tance that ultimately celebrates the actors feel that they have grown life rather than death. As senior significantly by being a part of The Brian Poladian said, “This play Shadow Box. Standing in stark conhas inspired me and will inspire trast to this year’s previous comPhoto by STEVEN VOLPE others to live every day as is it edies, the show aptly displays the the shadow box Actors pose for a quick picture were their last.” Senior Juliet versatility and depth of the actors’ during rehearsal for their upcoming production.

Sanchez, who plays the intertalents. viewer, added, “The Shadow Box Written by Michael Cristofer, this play yet told their teenage daughter, Stevie, played is one of the best experiences of my theatre cacenters on the lives of three terminally ill pa- by junior Ashley Ayad, of Joe’s disease. reer. This play brings out raw human emotion, tients—Joe, Brian, and Felicity—who are living Next is the story of a bisexual professor, and I would love to relive this moment.” Stated out their days in a hospice known as The Cot- Brian, played by senior Brian Poladian. He is simply by junior Iris Guo, The Shadow Box “is tages. Through interviews about the dying pro- now with his partner, Mark, played by junior a full blown drama. It’s an amazing play, and it cess, each character’s unique story is revealed.

Derek Tran, but remains close to his ex-wife is extremely inspirational.”

By KRISTEN SHIELDS

First is the story of Joe, played by senior Matt Burstyn, a working-class father that has come to accept the reality of his disease. His wife, Maggie, played by senior Nikki Caiello, refuses to accept the fact that Joe’s impending death is inevitable. Because of this, she has not

March 2008

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PERFORMING ARTS

No Follies Made at Speech Follies

By VERONICA LIM Performing Arts Editor

“Well, since the other hosts are currently a little ‘tied up,’ it looks like Brian and I’ll be your hosts this week,” said seniors Jeff Black and his co-host Brian Poladian as they finished disposing of the bodies of sophomores Andrew Chang and Carl Trigilio on stage.

Not exactly a conventional show opening. Then again, Speech Follies isn’t your conventional show.

Last week, from March 19-22, the AHS Speech and Debate team hosted its annual Speech Follies, the only opportunity most AHS students get to watch the team in action. The performance showcased some of the best abilities of the team, with a lineup that changed daily to ensure more team members the opportunity to perform and returning audience members a different experience at every show.

At Speech Follies, the team showed their audience that they’re more than just a bunch of kids standing up and giving boring political speeches. In fact, they demonstrated the wide range of events that Speech and Debate encompasses, which ranged from hilarious partnered Duo Interpretations to serious, dramatic pieces that moved audience members to tears.

cONGRATULATIONS TO nikki caiello!

Congratulations to ADD senior Nikki Caiello, who took 1st place at a drama competition in Fullerton on March 7-8. Nikki confessed that “competing at Fullerton and this accomplishment really showed me that [acting] is what I want to do in the future.” With a heart-wrenching monologue that moved the entire audience, Nikki easily surpassed her competitors and finished at the top. Her fellow actor, junior Torie Jee, admitted that she “cried like a baby when she saw [Nikki] perform.”

Photo Courtesy of STEVEN VOLPE

NIKKI CAIELLO Props to

ADD’s senior Nikki Caiello, who took first at Fullerton on March 7-8.

formed their duo rendition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Other members, including junior Justin Lu, gave hilarious performances in mock-debates over whether or not the US should extend its foreign policy to include extraterrestrials.

Yes, that’s right, extraterrestrials.

For team members, performing at Speech Follies is an accomplishment in itself. In order to perform at Follies, a Speech member must go through a rigorous screening process and be judged by a panel of judges composed of Varsity Speech members. Then, speakers are allotted a certain day to perform, in order to allow more team members the opportunity to speak.

“I’m really proud of the team and how we’ve done this year,” said Speech Vice President, junior Ping King, “Congratulations to everyone who performed at Speech Follies—it was phenomenal—and congratula“Speech tions to all those who made Follies is what it to State Championships. inspired me to join Hopefully, we’ll do as well Speech and Debate.” in the future.”

Photo by VERONICA LIM Many AHS Speech -Jonathan Chan, Speech Speech members members have qualified for President lit up the stage at Follies.

State Championships, a highly competitive tournament that takes with their performances. Seniors Amy at most the top seven of every category, Tang and Kevin Wang performed their duo, a two-person speech, while seniors Jeff Black and which is to be held the weekend of April 19-22 Brian Poladian hosted the show and also per- in San Francisco.

On Wednesday, Speech Follies included a variety of performances from juniors Cameron Miller and Derek Tran, both of whom qualified for State Championships

Pep Squad: More than Meets the Eye

By BRIANNA BECKMAN Staff Writer

If you deem them anything less than extraordinary, you’ve clearly either been living under a rock or you simply don’t pay attention during pep assemblies. With all of those tremendous kicks, flips, and harmonized flag tossing, it’s nearly impossible to label the girls of Pep Squad as anything less than exceptional.

It would be fair to claim that Pep Squad doesn’t receive enough recognition for its incredible talents. While they may not be kicking around a ball or dashing laps around the track during sixth period, these girls are going above and beyond all expectations. Enduring an extensive two to three hours of practice at least four days a week, the girls of Cheer, Song, and Flags prepare for everything from games, to rallies, to assemblies: “Practices are extremely difficult when competition season comes around...

We usually run a routine, then literally run, run the routine, then run, and repeat this cycle until practice is over....Nevertheless, when dancing becomes a passion, the minor discomforts fail to matter,” said Song Captain Sandra Wong. Head Coach Ms. Tamera Erickson explained that “We [have] one to two games a week, however, we have decided we need to scale back on how many games we attend in the future. My girls are out too much and I think it is weighing on them.

As for practices being strenuous—they should be strenuous...they should work you out.”

As far as morale and self-assurance are concerned, the girls of Cheer, Song, and Flags are equipped with plenty of both. “We all get along well together and we try to work things through so that there isn’t any drama during practices and we won’t waste time,” explained Varsity Cheer Captain Alison Chien, “Every once in a while we’ll bump heads, but those are the things that make us stronger and better teammates.”

Although the countless games, assemblies, and rallies are physically and mentally exhausting, these girls’ passion for cheering and dancing keep them on their toes. Alison said, “to be honest, at the beginning of every performance, even minor ones, all of us express our nervousness to one another. We do care [about] how well we perform, but ultimately at the end of the day, we just want to do what we love—that is to cheer, dance, and support.” Coach Erickson accredits their dazzling feats to tremendous leadership and great teammates: “I am confident in both my squads and the individuals on them.”

Of course, the girls are no strangers to the indispensable meaning of triumph. Overcoming obstacles is an imperative part of success, and the past winter assembly was a remarkable achievement in that aspect. “It’s hard for me to believe we even made it through that week,” explained Sandra, “Song, along with the rest of Pep Squad, had to drive down to the three middle schools Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to perform a rally during lunch...The fact that we lacked sleep every night, yet brought the same energy level from day one to day five... felt exhausted, yet remained spirited throughout...were physically present in so many places, yet continued to smile...is an accomplishment in itself.”

Although the girls qualified for Nationals this year, it’ll be the first year that they “will not be attending for various reasons”, said Coach Erickson. Now that competition season has finally ended, the girls are no longer focused on competing but rather on throwing an extraordinary Spring Assembly for AHS, an enjoyable Goodbye Rally, and supporting as many athletic teams as humanly possible. According to Alison, “every girl on the team is so willing to learn and everyone is definitely a team player.”

So in the words of Coach Erickson, “Go team, go!”

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Orchestra Update

By RICHARD FU Guest Writer

Photo Courtesy of arcadiamusic.org

benefit Orchestra played skillfully on its special night.

February 23 marked an important day for the AHS orchestra program. After months of hard work and preparation, the three orchestras, totaling over 300 students, gathered at the Community Center for the annual Benefit Dinner performance. The Benefit Dinner is a decade-long tradition that not only showcases the superb quality of our orchestras, but also serves as an important fundraiser to help keep the program running at a high level.

The guests began arriving early in the evening, and as parents chatted merrily with one another over dinner, the student ensembles waited backstage. Ten chamber music groups performed during the night, displaying their versatility with a program featuring a dazzling array of styles. From the elegant prose of Mozart to the passionate sighs of Mendelssohn and from the melodious voices of Bach to the Impressionistic echoes of Ravel, the student ensembles set the tone for an evening of musical joy with their technical expertise and mature interpretations.

As part of tradition, the spotlight then turned to this year’s special guest artists:Tom Sauber, his son and former AHS alumni Patrick, and Mark Graham. The three, who had recently collaborated to record a professional album, treated the audience to a delightful repertoire of American fiddle music.

The grand finale ended the evening with a bang. Literally. All 300 plus students swarmed into the room, surrounding the audiences and filling the hall to its maximum capacity. The students played three tunes– Zydeco Two-Step, Traumerei, and Light Calvary Overture. The unique setup of the stage not only made it physically possible to fit all performers, but also gave the audience a first-hand experience of sitting in the middle of an orchestra. Talk about a surround-sound effect.

Mr. Rick England and Mr. Tom Forbes, the orchestra conductors, had high praises for the night. “I thought the Benefit Dinner was a success,” remarked Mr. England. “It raised money for the program, entertained the guests, and showcased the strength of our orchestra program.”

Up next will be the Vertical Concert on March 26 at Pasadena High School. Orchestra 3, along with selected students from Band 3 and Percussion, will be performing Beethoven’s Ernst Symphony and the Winds of Poseidon.

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ACADEMICS

Euphemisms: From Flab to Fab

By TRACYLEE LEE

By TRACY

StaffStaff Writer Writer

It’s always hard to bluntly state a negative thought…which is why man created the “euphemism.” For the hard-to-convey ideas, use euphemisms at your discretion to sound nicer than you are.

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SO, the Team Advances to State

By KEVIN KIM

Staff Writer

On Saturday, March 15, Science Olympiad (SO) competed at California State University— Los Angeles for its regional competition. Of the 20 members on the Arcadia team, 15 went to compete against 32 other schools, including rivals North Hollywood and San Marino High

School. Arcadia fell short to North Hollywood High School, which placed first, but went on to beat San Marino and dominate the rest of the competition. Moreover, Arcadia pulled off an amazing second-place finish, thereby qualifying for the state competition.

“The team was outstanding at competition as a result of the high level of work they put into studying and practicing throughout the year,” said Co-captain junior Sean Maroongroge.

1. Death: It’s probably the number-one source of euphemisms all around: went to visit the pearly gates, kicked the bucket, bought the farm, went to a better place, bit the dust, croaked, pushing daisies, taking a dirt nap, etc. There is a plethora of ways to say that someone has died, but my favorite has to be “passed away.” Coupled with “went to a better place,” it’s the gentlest way of expressing the idea, especially to the kids. “Oh, Daddy!

Where did Sparky go?”/“Well, Billy, Sparky passed away. It means he’s gone on to a better place.”

2. Weird: The nicest way to call yourself weird, or to admit that you are not normal without being a creep, is to call yourself “quirky.” Quirky means that you’re strange, abnormal, but it somehow holds the most upbeat connotation possible for “freak” and seems to say, “Yes, I am weird, but in a cool, avant-garde way, not in a deadbeat-just-really-weird way.”

3. Fat: Every women’s fashion magazine on the planet has featured some spread on how to flatter your own shape, regardless of what it is. They have the straight-limbed and the dwarfish, and then there’s always that one picture of the girl who can only be a plus-size model. Bluntly, she might be called fat, but most magazines will refer to her body type as “curvy.” How much nicer does it get?

4. Ugly: Coming along hand in hand with “fat” is “ugly.” Of all the ways I have ever heard someone kindly refer to someone else as ugly, I like best of all “not my type.” Taken at face value, it is a relatively noncommittal and non-offensive term that simply means that no, you are not the kind of person the speaker typically goes for. Thus, it becomes the perfect way to cover up sorrier sentiments such as, “Ew…you are gross and I am not into that.”

5. Stupid: Stupid is one of the meaner things you can call someone, despite how common it is. “Slow” is a much milder way of terming it, as if that person is just a second or two behind. Of course, that’s usually not the case, but the connotation is so much more uplifting.

“He’s just a little slow,” sounds a lot better than “He’s kind of stupid.”

6. Crippled: There are a lot of good ones for the handicapped as well, most of which would anger Nancy Mairs, but many enjoy the milder tones of “handicapped,” “disabled,” or my personal favorite, “handicapable.” “Handicapable” people sound like their cripples have miraculously refrained from permanently damaging their ability to live, leaving them even peppier and more upbeat than before.

How pleasant.

March 2008

Photo Courtesy of PAUL CHEN

WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU So the SO team stands in triumph after continuing the tradition of placing among the top two.

Schools competed in a total of 23 events: 19 testing and five building. The testing events required members to take tests, perform labs, or analyze data on their corresponding event, while the building events needed teams to build a device before the competition and compete against other schools using that device. The events required extensive knowledge in nearly every science such as biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers, and technology, and fell under three categories: Science Concepts and Knowledge, Science Processes and Thinking Skills, and Science Application and Technology.

The team with the fewest cumulative points after all 23 events would be awarded first place since the scoring system awarded one point to the team that placed first in an event and 34 points to the team that placed last. Meanwhile, individuals who placed first, second, and third in their events won gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively, and those who placed fourth, fifth, and sixth won medals that bore differentcolored ribbons. In all, schools that finished in the top seven would then qualify for the state competition next month.

Arcadia did quite well in both the building and testing events, winning 16 medals overall: five gold, two silver, three bronze, and six ribbon medals.

Junior Jack Ching said, “I’m really proud of what we can accomplish as a team, especially with our competing in the state finals in April.”

AHS’s second place finish allowed the Science Olympiad team to qualify for the state competition, which will be held later at Cal State University—Long Beach on April 12.

Outnerding the Nerd for April Fools

By TRACY LEE Staff Writer

The first of April means that one day a year when you are allowed to completely mess around with people’s heads, so take advantage of it with a nerdy prank. Go ahead and put your non-tech savvy friends in a fix and earn yourself a great, big guffaw out of it, too.

Blue Screen of Death The ever popular blue screen of death is a favorite in terms of botching a friend’s computer. Visit technet.microsoft.com/en-us/ sysinternals/bb897558.aspx and download the screensaver so that when the computer goes idle after 20 minutes, it looks like the computer has crashed. As a note of warning, though, pulled computer plugs as a “solution” to the “crash” may result in lost data, so take care to not let the prank go out of hand.

Ditto Wallpaper A popular joke in general, an exasperating way to mess with a desktop is to take a screenshot of the desktop, which can be done by pressing the “Print Screen” button on the upper right part of the keyboard, and then setting it as the wallpaper. Then “Autohide” the taskbar on its settings and hide all the icons in a folder (don’t erase!). Make sure to minimize any and all programs. The end result should look like a regular desktop, realistic enough to trick your friends into exasperation as they click madly, struggling to open a window.

Mouse Decapitation For those who are still ghetto or old fash-

ioned rolls on over Just ring

enough to use a mouse that a ball, it’s easy to just turn the mouse and pop the ball out. move the encircling and it should come out in a jiffy. Hide the ball ( d o n ’t

throw it away or that mouse is permanently dead!) and watch the next sad person to use the computer angrily slam and shake an uncooperative mouse.

Photo by MELISSA CHEN

Right is Left For another mouse-related joke, go into the mouse settings and swap the mouse buttons, setting left-click as right-click and vice versa.

It’s not a very complicated trick though, and most non-Neanderthals can figure it out after a bit. Recommended use would be on someone so helpless that he or she doesn’t know what a mouse setting is. I personally like 2, 3, and 4 in conjunction with each other.

Lost in Translation With a phone or iPod, whatever handy little doohickey your friend favors, take it and change the language settings. Almost all phones have multiple languages and iPods most certainly do.

I recommend choosing languages that he or she has no chance of understanding, such as those with different alphabets. In my experience, Arabic and Korean both work well.

Open CD Visit www.pranksonline.com/open_ cd_prank_hilarious_and_confusing for the download. By installing this program, any attempts to open a program will cause the CD drive to open. It gets pretty annoying after a while, especially when you’re closing the same drive over and over again.

Reverse the keypad On the right of most keyboards is a 0-9 digit keypad. Using a keycap puller, you can reverse the orders of 1-9. Most people generally don’t notice this switch as phones use this order, so they’re usually confounded when a 1 looks eerily like a 7.

March 2008

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ACADEMICS

Destination: World’s Raisin Capital

By SCOTT LYOU

Staff Writer

On Saturday, March 1, AHS’s Destination Imagination participated in the Regional Competition at La Mirada High School. Destination Imagination is an international non-profit organization that brings students of all ages together to learn about creative problem solving, teamwork, and critical thinking. Arcadia displayed an excellent performance this year at the Regional Competition, with every team scoring either first or second place in its challenge.

Arcadia’s Destination Imagination is advised by Mrs. Charmaine Cordero and is composed of five groups: Hit or Myth, DI’ve Got a Secret, Chorific, Switch; and Obstacles, Of Course. These groups correspond respectively with five competition challenges: Theatrical/ Technical, Theatrical, Improvisation, Structural, and Engineering/Technical.

During the Team Challenge segment of the

competition, every team was assigned a unique prompt and required to compile a skit no longer than eight minutes about that prompt (the Improvisation challenge only required a skit no longer than six minutes).

Challenges were designed to test the creative ability of the team.

T h e competition also featured the Instant Challenge.

Every team is given an Instant Challenge with 2 to 10 minutes to create a solution. It is a critical peak in the competition because it can be

DI DECISIVELY D O M I N AT E S

worth up to 100 points. Unlike the Team Challenge, where there can be some pre-researched elements in the skit, the Instant Challenge is a complete mystery to everyone until the moment it is revealed. Senior Jackie Chan from Team Kaboomxp, which scored second place in Improvisation, said that “the Instant Challenge was exciting because everyone had to think fast and hope that everything [would] turn out well in the end.”

Destination Imagination will advance to the State competition at Fresno on April 12. Senior Katie Nyman, also from Team Kaboomxp, considered the competition “a great accomplishment, and it should be really fun to stay a few days in northern California.”

(top) Kaboomxp senior Charles Lee plays with a doughstache while seniors Katie Nyman, Jackie Chan, Richard Chen, and junior Yena Bae look on.

(left) Members carefully construct a capable creation of Photos Courtesy of SCOTT LYOU toothpicks.

Staff Writer

tition in which all the members of each team worked together to solve intense problems from each topic.

Staff Writer Team A for Meet III was composed of On Wednesday, March 12, the Math Team seniors Arthur Huang, Thomas Lam, Charles competed in the Bay Math Lee, Solomon Wang, Raymond Wu, League Competition at West and Aubrey Yang, juniors Bryan High School in Torrance for Cheng and Alan Xie, and sophomores the third tournament out of Jason Jong and Eddie Xue. Team A the four meet tournaments. dominated the majority of the compeMath Team went up against 10 tition with the help of Aubrey Yang, other schools, once again facwho placed first for 12th graders and ing strong teams from many Bryan Cheng, who placed second for rivals. Unfortunately, Arcadia 11th graders. fell short to Peninsula, which Team B for Meet III was made placed first, but still managed up of senior Hannah Kim, juniors Paul a strong second-place finish Chen, Fady Gharbawy, Ki Bum Kim, by defeating third-place San Stephanie Tai, Cliff Wu, and Andy Yu, Marino. and freshmen Kristi Kwon and EdCaptain senior Solomon ward Pang. Team B also maintained a Wang said, “We were beat decent score, in which Stephanie Tai (sic) only by Peninsula, and placed third for 11th graders. only by eight points. However, “We did quite well in the compewe beat San Marino by a good tition even if we may have barely lost 32 points, bringing us, cumulato Peninsula. I also commend on (sic) Photo by CLIFF WU how well Aubrey did since he was one tively from Meets I-III, to first place. Now we just need to re- MATH TEAM Seniors Thomas Lam and Aubrey Yang and of the only two people to get a perfect peat our performance in Meet junior Fady Gharbawy drown themselves in numbers. score,” said Paul Chen.

IV to win it all.”

Congratulations to Math Team’s ume, 10th-grade math to rational expressions, This competition maintained the same 11th-grade math to conics, 12th-grade math to second-place finish and first overall, and best structure, consisting of tests in five differ- optimization, and research math to statistics: of luck to their final meet at Miracosta High ent topics, with each individual competing in simulations. The final round was a team compeSchool on May 21.

By KEVIN KIM

three of the five. First were 10-minute rounds of 9th- through 12th-grade math with the addition of research math. Test topics ranged from geometry to calculus, in which the third meet assigned ninth-grade math to area and vol-

College Profile: Vanderbilt University

By GRACE KWONG

lim f(AHS Math Team) = 2 x→Bay Math

11

Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is a private, coeducational university. According to U.S. News & World Report, Vanderbilt is nationally ranked as the 19th-best university, tying with the University of Notre Dame and ranking slightly ahead of University of California—Berkeley.

Vanderbilt is well known for its law, medical, and nursing schools. In addition, it is ranked first in the nation for its specialeducation and audiology schools. Prominent alumni include Al Gore, a former Vice President, and Fred Thompson, a real-life politician who plays Arthur Branch on Law and Order.

Vanderbilt University encourages its students to actively pursue learning by engaging in its various research programs and institutions. Surprisingly, Vanderbilt students can also research unconventional topics such as coffee and bridge. Vanderbilt’s online research magazine, Exploration, provides a forum with which students can describe their research projects or decipher the purposes of other research projects; no topic, no matter how obscure, is neglected. Even topics like zoology and archeology are discussed in thorough detail.

Though Vanderbilt offers various athletic programs, it does not have a softball or volleyball team. The school is particularly strong, however, in tennis and basketball. Because it is a relatively small school, Vanderbilt doesn’t always attain the same degree of national athletic success other schools, such as the University of Florida or the University of Kentucky, achieve.

There are approximately 400 student organizations at Vanderbilt University. All of these organizations encompass a large variety of activities. There are several prolific newspapers, many organizations that encourage community service, and 35 fraternities and sororities.

Some information about Vanderbilt: SAT Critical Reading: 630-720 SAT Math: 650-740 SAT Writing: 630-710 ACT: 28-32 Out-of-state tuition: $35, 278 % of applicants admitted: 34 Total # of undergraduates: 6,378

Photo Courtesy of google.com

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Calhoun Hall schooled in every grace.

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March 2008

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WHAT’S YOUR SECRET?

By SARAH LIN

Staff Writer

Inspired by Frank Warren’s PostSecret blog, Arcadia High School recently hosted a schoolwide PostSecret project which ran from March 3 to March 21. Students were encouraged to design a postcard-size secret and submit it anonymously to one of the PostSecret boxes placed around school. The numerous secrets received vary from the strange, to the heart-wrenching, to the inspirational, yet each one serves as an honest representation of a number of students.

The 27 printed here serve only as a small taste of the secrets which were submitted. PostSecret is a chance for students to discover that though we each carry secrets, we are all bound together by them; we may be more alike than we think.

AHS Postsecret 13

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AHS Postsecret

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AHS Postsecret 15

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AHS Postsecret

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ADVertisements 17

STUDENT LIFE

18 PROFILE SOLOMON WANG

By ANGELA SHEN Staff Writer

Do you think carrying your textbooks, backpack, and lunch bag all at the same time is hard? Try keeping objects simultaneously in motion through the air. Senior Solomon Wang, President of the Juggling Club, Photo by ASHLEY JOHNSON is able to juggle up to seven balls without breaking a sweat. Although many view juggling as simply an activity requiring phenomenal hand-eye coordination, Solomon reveals a different type of juggling he enjoys: site-swap juggling. According to Solomon, this type of juggling involves “mathematical algorithms that generate numerical sequences, corresponding to how the ball is thrown.”

In ninth grade, Solomon read an article from Discover Magazine on juggling, and he immediately became enthralled. Starting with the basic two tennis balls, he gradually increased his skill to five balls by the end of freshman year. “You’ll never get bored with doing the same thing over and over again, because there’s always a different pattern to master,” he said. Although he has not competed in any competitions, Solomon has a record of seventeen completed catches, meaning he was able to catch the balls that were dropping to the ground seventeen consecutive times. “[Juggling] teaches determination and perseverance to get over the enormous number of times you are going to drop the balls while practicing,” said Solomon.

Solomon Wang has not considered professional juggling as a future occupation, but joked about juggling for food and money during a trek around the world to observe socioeconomic differences among cities. For this juggling virtuoso, his unique hobby “is also a very soothing and relaxing activity to engage in: a reprieve from the stresses of AHS academic life.”

Dance Crew

PROFILE THE AHS B-BOYS

By ERICA LIU Staff Writer

With hands flat on the ground and legs twirling in dizzying circles, the members of the AHS Break Dancer Boys (AHS BBoys) focus on perfecting their break dancing moves. The AHS B-Boys started out with only four members: sophomore Sung Kang and juniors Daniel Kim, Daniel Baek, and Youn G. Chang, who all share a love for dance. As the year progressed, with the addition of enthusiastic new friends and eager freshmen, they eventually became the elev-

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March 2008

FBLA Takes Care of Business

By ANGELA SHEN Staff Writer

In formal blazers, dress shoes, and business suits, Arcadia Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed in the annual Gold Coast Section Conference on March 1 at West Ranch High School. This year, Arcadia FBLA sent 30 members to compete in business-related events, ranging from Business Calculations to Public Speaking.

Competitors were allowed to compete in up to two individual events and one team event, in which they demonstrated their skills through multiple-choice tests or oral examinations, depending on the category. On the side, elections took place for the 2008-2009 Gold Coast Section Officer team as candidates rallied for sup-

port, campaigning with candy, posters, and other incentives in attempts to earn the delegates’ votes from each school’s chapter. “I think it was a good experience. I got to learn about business while getting to know members of our club,” said freshman Justine Lee. Shortly after the opening ceremony, in which candidates were given an opportunity to deliver a brief speech, the testing sessions began to determine the top 10 winners for each competitive event. For many, however, the long tedious tests were well worth their time and energy, as the reward of going to Six Flags Magic Mountain afterwards consumed their thoughts.

The day ended with the much-anticipated awards ceremony, in which top competitors advanced to the state level.

This year, winners from Arcadia FBLA in-

Photo Courtesy of JUSTINE LEE

FBLA Members competed in an annual section conference on March 1.

clude: Brianna Zhao (2nd place for Accounting II and 2nd place for Entrepreneurship), Justine Liang (9th place for Accounting II), Wilfred Chang (6th place for Business Calculations), Jacqueline Yue (1st place for Business Communications and 4th for Future Business Leader), Jessica Ma (3rd place for Business Math), Joanna Shen (8th place for Business Math), Chloe Yuan (5th place for Business Procedures and 9th for Job Interview), Doris Xin (5th place for Computer Applications), Matthew Chang (10th place for Computer Problem Solving and 6th place for Cyber Security), Vivian Wang (10th for Personal Finance), Jade Shao (3rd place for Public Speaking I), Rose Guo (6th place for Public Speaking II and 2nd place for Parliamentary Procedure), Alex Chen (2nd place for Entrepreneurship), Joyce Hsu (8th place for Global Business), Dheemanth Manjunath (8th place for Global Business), Angel Hu (7th place for Management Decision Making), Maggie Fan (7th place for Management Decision Making), and Jenny Tu, Jimmy Nguyen, Wilfred Chang, Sophia Chan all placed 2nd for Parliamentary Procedure.

Senior Vice President Jimmy Nguyen said, “Section was a rewarding experience and the chapter did fantastic.” Overall, Arcadia won sixth place in sweepstakes against 15 schools around the area. Currently, the finalists are fervently preparing for the upcoming State Leadership Conference in April. “I hope we do a good job at State and hopefully we can make it to Georgia for Nationals! Go FBLA!” said freshman Leslie Chang.

Freshmen Visit the Museum of Tolerance

By AMBER KAKISH

Staff Writer

On Friday, March 14, Ms. Ashley Novak’s two Freshman Honors English classes visited the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The museum “provides firsthand knowledge about intolerance throughout history,” said Ms. Novak to explain why she took her students on this trip, alluding to the intolerance the Nazis had for Jews and other minorities.

The English students left during their third period classes and were first dropped off at The Grove, a farmer’s market with many stores and restaurants close to the museum. After an hour

and a half of shopping and eating, the eager learners went on their way to a very informative experience.

Numerous exhibits were displayed, most of which were “interesting and informational” as freshman Skye Johnson put it. Not only did the students learn about the Jews in the Holocaust, but they also learned about themes such as discrimination, equality, and hatred.

When the tour ended at 5 p.m., the extremely tired students filed into the bus. With all the traffic, the bus did not make it to school until nearly 7 p.m. “Overall, I thought it was a good experience– there’s a lot to learn and I would recommend this museum to anyone,” said freshman Sanzana Anica.

Alex Chen. They take their dancing very seriously and practice from Monday through Thursday for at least twoand-a-half hours while on Friday they practice for five-and-a-half hours.

Additional practices are held on Saturdays and Sundays for three to four hours. The group divides their practices among themselves, with freshmen on their own, while the sophomores and juniors practice together.

The dance crew has not performed professionally, but hopes to do so in the future. Another mutual Photo by ERICA LIU goal of the members is that now they en-member group that they are today. have performed in the Winter Pep AsThe current members of AHS B-Boys in- sembly, they hope to “perform at more school clude juniors Robert Kim, Daniel Kim, Daniel assemblies”. Before performing, adrenaline Baek, Youn G. Chang, sophomores Sung Kang pumps, and all that nervousness “just goes and Matt Eng, and freshmen Colin Ma, Andrew away,” according to Sung. Sung, who choreoYeh, Peter Yang, Andrew Lin, Brian Brink, and graphs the dance moves, is the unofficial leader

Photo Courtesy of GOOGLE.COM

MUSEUM Freshmen learned of the Holocaust here on March 14.

of the group.

As for the music the AHS B-Boys use, Daniel Baek says that “it can range from rap to classical, but as long as the music has a beat” they are willing to give it a shot. When asked why they enjoy dancing so much, all the AHS B-Boys agreed that “dancing is their way of expressing themselves.”

The groups’ fondest memory would probably be the welcome party held for newcomers on Feb. 15, as they officially became the group that they are today. They treasure this memory because “this was the first time we got together and practiced like a real group.” As for their role models, the boys agree a major one would be the worldfamous Gamblerz Crew.

The AHS B-Boys’ advice for aspiring dancers is just to “never lose that compassion you have for dancing and treat every time like it’s your first.

March 2008

STUDENT LIFE 19

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APES Learns AP Art History Students Getty-ing Hands-on Water Treatment

By AKHILA RAO

Staff Writer

By MICHAEL CHEN Staff Writer

Here’s the truth, which most people should be able to handle (unlike a certain Scientologist): there are people who have no idea where their trash goes after the garbagemen take it away from their homes.

On March 11, about 17 students from AP Environmental Science attended a field trip at the Puente Hills Landfill, the largest landfill in the United States, to find out where trash ends up. Though a landfill definitely does not seem to the most visually appealing sight to behold, the first impression of the landfill is actually a beautiful green hillside park. It isn’t possible to see any trash until visitors get over the top of the hill.

The class then headed over to Whittier Narrows, an area in Puente Hills where the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel Rivers join together. There, they studied various ecosystems and got a better grasp of how urban choices impact local wildlife. As Ms. Joan Stevens, the AP Envrionmental Science teacher, said, “We will definitely go again next year. The highlight of the trip for me was how the facility deals with an outrageous amount of waste from our homes (and also from the industries that employ and service us) and handles it in a very sanitary and visually appealing way.”

So what can be done to keep the environment free of trash? According to Ms. Stevens, “The very best way to deal with trash is to not make it in the first place. All organic matter (food scraps) can easily be composted. Many materials can and should be reused and/or recycled. For the small amount leftover Puente Hills is a great ‘final resting place’ in my mind.”

ALUMNUS PCC

By ALEJANDRO OMIDSALAR

Guest Writer

Pasadena City College? Sweet Christmas, what did you do wrong by your rigidand-high Arcadian standards to deserve the sheer punishment of attending a junior college? Answer: nothing wrong at all. In fact, you’ve done something right for a change, so pat yourself on the back. Go ahead. No one’s looking.

Pasadena City College (PCC) frequently gets the short end of the stick at a school like AHS, and without just cause. Sure, it is a junior college, and as a transfer institution, it lacks a certain level of “campus life” that is usually expected from the college level; however, to say that it is entirely bereft of merits is to lie (or to be incorrect, if you’re not feeling so spiteful).

PCC’s Shatford Library just won the prestigious “Excellence in Academic Libraries” award from the American Library Association, and rightfully so due to its vast selection of books and other media, as well as its attentive and helpful staff. While some readers may be rolling their eyes at the previous evaluation, take it from the son of two

On March 21, AP Art History students had the chance to see an accumulation of work studied throughout the year come to life in a visit to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. We saw first-hand some of the pieces we had studied throughout the year.

The AP Art History teacher Mr. Johnson, says that “the purpose of the trip was to broaden [his] students’ understanding of the art they had studied and hopefully further their appreciation of the pieces and how they were created.”

Located on a mountain top with a panoramic view of Los Angeles city, the Getty holds some of art’s most significant paintings, sculptures, and other various artifacts from history throughout the world. Senior Emily Lin recalls her “initial awe after walking into the first gallery and seeing the greatly detailed sculptures.”

She adds that her “experience would not have been the same without having taken Art History and learning the significance of the pieces of art and what they symbolized.”

In addition to its display of various art pieces, the Getty Museum is also known for its unique architecture that, at first glance, can be considered art as well. Its open airy structure

Photos by AKHILA RAO

AP Art History Students live and breathe art at the Getty Museum.

Model UN Conference at Knott’s

By JOANNA CHUANG & ANGELA SHEN Staff Writers

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to attend a conference with the prominent United Nations? To be able to discuss international issues in a professional environment?

On March 1, a group of ambitious members from the Model United Nations club received this opportunity at the Buena Park Conference at Knott’s Berry Farm, an annual conference hosted by Pan American Model United Nations.

This event was not only comprised of high university librarians: running a library, especially a college-level one, is no mean feat.

PCC is still ranked in the top three of transfer institutions to the UC and CSU systems, and the staff of its counseling and transfer departments are kind, courteous, and knowledgeable about what a student needs to transfer to the school of his/her choice.

Transferring is expedient and easy to deal with thanks to the well-designed (and UC and CSU approved) transfer program; when used in conjunction with PCC’s Scholars Program, a transfer student is guaranteed priority when being considered for admission to various California schools, such as UCLA or Occidental College.

Finally, at $20 a unit in the time of wanton budget-cutting, PCC is a handsome option for the thrifty student.

If you’re in doubt, or if you’ve skimmed the contents of this article while snorting to yourself about how a four-year university is immediately (yet inexplicably) superior to attending a junior college with intent to transfer, enjoy paying exorbitant sums of money for equivalent classes that you could have taken in a close, convenient environment.

While this writer does not wish to denigrate four year institutions entirely (seeing as he will be transferring to one), suffice it to say: it never hurts to save some cash and thumb your nose… in that order.

school student participants, but was also open to college and university participants as well.

The competition was in the form of roleplaying rather than debates, as students were required to implement the viewpoints of international ambassadors from the UN, even when the opinions differed from their own. “More than anything else, I was impressed with the closeness the MUN conference kept with actual

“It was a great moment to see everyone come together for a common cause” --Senior Lily Chen, Model UN President UN conferences- not only in procedural rules, but also in the way people acted and the atmosphere in which one needed to be careful how to word things,” said Vice President senior Yifei Wang. Model UN President senior Lily Chen said, “My favorite moment was when I finished my resolution with my fellow delegates. It was a great moment to see everyone come together for a common cause after hours of caucusing and debating about what solution would be more logical and successful.”

Each week in Model UN, members explore and discuss the issues on the agenda of the actual United Nations. Regarding the Buena Park Conference, the topic heavily prepared for was the spread and evolution of avian influenza, as well as the relations between food and security problems in Africa. However, with the conference over, Model UN is planning to introduce the idea of nuclear weapons ownership as their next topic of discussion. “It’s pretty interesting how young people are so interested in foreign affairs,” said Historian junior Andy Huang. Today, Model UN and other similar organizations are present in all continents (with the exception of Antarctica), allowing students from around the world to get involved and gain a better understanding of foreign politics and the differing views of other countries.

allows visitors to feel the mountain top breeze while perusing its unique gardens, from the flowering maze to the cactus display.

Senior Carny Lee describes her overwhelming experience at best: “What this museum has to offer is far too much to absorb and appreciate in just one visit.”

PROFILE CESAR MACIAS

By KRISTEN SHIELDS

Staff Writer

High school bands have become somewhat of a cliché, often viewed as a way for bored teens to simply pass time, discrediting the true thought and effort involved in creating quality music.

However, some young musicians are dedicated to their craft, hoping someday to make their teenage passion into a career. This is the case Photo by ASHLEY for junior Cesar MaJOHNSON cias.

Cesar, who has loved music for “as far back as [he] can remember,” started playing in bands at age 11 and has continued ever since.

Currently, he is a founding member of three bands: The Neighborhood, Superherokids, and Honest as Love.

The Neighborhood is Cesar’s main project and consists of himself on vocals with his neighbors, brothers David and Abraham Gonzalez, on guitar and drums. When asked to describe The Neighborhood’s songs, Cesar said, “It’s a mix of different kinds of sounds like indie, pop, a little Latin, and just a bunch of other stuff.”

In contrast, Superherokids is a two-man band comprised of Cesar and his friend, junior Nikola Simikic. The band is simply “two guys just having fun” and plays primarily indie music, focusing heavily on guitar and vocals.

Cesar’s solo project, Honest as Love, is his most recent endeavor, in which he plays piano, guitar, and drums. It provides him with creative freedom and has “less boundaries” than his other bands do because he makes all the decisions.

Although being a member of three bands can be difficult, Cesar finds time for each and practices music as often as possible. So far, his bands have only played a few shows, including the AHS Battle of the Bands. According to Cesar and his bandmates, “We haven’t really been out there [performing] but people have been asking us to play.” For now, Cesar’s bands continue to provide him with a creative outlet and allow him to focus on experimentation and creating new music rather than becoming well-known.

Cesar, while having no intentions of gaining fame through his bands, does intend on pursuing a music-related career. When asked about what he would like to do as an adult, Cesar responded, “I would love to be a music teacher—take what I learned and give it back, you know?” No matter what the future holds for Cesar Macias, one thing is apparent: he is passionate about music and has found his niche in this world.

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Features

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March 2008

April’s What Did You Just Call Me? Bizarre Holidays 1

Features Editors

April is officially the month of Emotional Overeating Awareness, Soy Foods, Poetry, International Twit Awards, Landscape Architecture, Stress Awareness, Southern Belles, Jazz Appreciation, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

And there’s more. The month of April is split into weekly observances, as well. From April 1-7, treat others as you want to be treated because it’s Golden Rule Week. Unfortunately this conflicts with Hate Week, which runs from April 4-10. From April 21-27, put down that remote for TV Turn-off Week. This conveniently coincides with Sky Awareness Week, so while you’re unglued from the TV screen venture outside and admire the sky.

Then there’s the daily holidays...

1- National Fun Day 2- Kick Butts Day 3- Tweed Day 4- World Rat Day 5- Tangible Karma Day 6- Teflon Day 7- No Housework Day 9- National Cherish An Antique Day 10- National Sibling Day 11- International “Louie, Louie” Day 12- Licorice Day 13- International Plant Appreciation Day 14- Pan-American Day 15- That Sucks Day 16- International Moment of Laughter Day 17- Blah! Blah! Blah! Day 18- Comic Book Day 19- Husband Appreciation Day 21- Kindergarten Day 22- National Jelly Bean Day 23- World Book and Copyright Day 24- Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day 25- Arbor Day 26- World Tai Chi and Qigong Day 27- Rural Life Sunday 28- Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day 29- National Dance Day 30- Beltane Day

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By NANCY LAM Staff Writer

Arcadia has suffered an overdose of Jessica’s, Michelle’s, Tiffany’s, and Kevin’s. Our lack of originality with names has forced us to address them with both their first and last names, or at the very least, the first letter of their surname, because if we don’t, a simple call of Michelle turns many heads. But among the thousands of students at AHS, there are a few handfuls of uncommon name bearers.

Babette Homer: Meaning traveler from a foreign land with origins from France, Babette is currently a sophomore and claims her name sounds exactly like “blah.” She wishes her parents had chosen their first choice name, Victoria Rose, instead, anything over Babette.

When asked if anyone ever made any references from her last name Homer to the donut eating, yellow-skinned Homer from FOX, she said,” Are you kidding me?!” followed by a hearty “Yes.” Shibo Zhong: Constantly teased in elementary school for his name, freshman Shibo Zhong confesses that his name is “unusual,” but would not change it if given the choice because, after all, it is “my name.” With a moniker of Sheebs from Speech and Debate coach

World’s Weirdest Foods

By SHARON YIK

Staff Writer

Stir fried crickets, pickled snake heads, fried lizards, candy corn soda, pickled sea cucumbers, and fish eyes. Mmmm. Who wouldn’t want to try these exotic cuisines found all over the world? While these foods may seem weird to us, these exotic dishes are more often than not common everyday meals found in other cultures.

Sophomore Brian Zhu has eaten live shrimps, or “gun shrimps.” The live shrimps are put in a bowl of chili and soy sauce where they “get dizzy and start jumping around.” To eat, one would open the lid on the bowl, grab a shrimp and “squeeze from the back to the

legs, kinda, so the inside meat gets pushed out.” Brian commented on the fact that it was delicious and crunchy, tasting like shrimp, soy sauce, and a hint of chili. Talk about being fresh!

Mealworms, those crunchy little worms commonly used to feed reptiles and avian pets, are also consumed by humans. Sophomore Kristi Tseng was offered mealworms by her Orchestra teacher in middle school and says that it tasted “like cheese… yet it also had no taste.” It was an orange-yellow with textured segments. She recalls that it “melted in [her] mouth,” yet it was “crunchy on the outside” at the same time.

While in Australia, junior Derek Sun

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o Try t guess is o h w who!

Ms. Novak, Shibo admits that “having a “Z” as the last initial is more annoying than name calling, because “you’re usually last,” but also mentions that “the best is saved for last.”

Inkarat Mittongtare: In Thailand, expecting parents carry around name dictionaries, but not for surnames. Instead, they simply make up their own. Inkarat, nicknamed Inky by his family, originally had a Chinese last name, but when his grandfather decided that he wanted to embrace his Thai heritage, they went from Chun to Mittongtare. “Yeah, some guy made up our last name,” remarked Inkarat.

Rainbow Sun: Sophomore Rainbow Sun’s colorful name originates not from thunderstorms, but from a baby name dictionary. Pleased with its meaning and the hope it inspired, Rainbow’s father decided that his daughter would be named Rainbow. Rainbow said, “One day, I was on MySpace and decided to see of there was anyone else who had my name, and found a girl named Rainbow Star! I became friends with her (on MySpace, of course!) and we found that we had a lot in common.”

Thuthiri Lwin: Moving from Burma to the U.S. when she was five, Thuthiri Lwin first went by Honey or Ri Lwin throughout elementary school for the sake of mispronunciabought a pack of kangaroo jerky, which he felt he absolutely “had to taste in order to satisfy [his] curiosity.” He was disappointed to find

Photo Courtesy of google.com

YUMMY Mealworms are just one of many exotic foods tasted by students here at AHS.

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Photos by KAYLA PANG

tion. But even that did not sway others to not make fun of her name: “I was teased for both Ri and Honey, but no one is immature enough to tease me in high school [now].”

Nuria Mathog: Nuria Mathog, half Ukrainian and a quarter Chinese and Japanese, was dubbed “Nerdia” during her elementary school years. Nuria, which means “fire of the Lord,” was chosen by her parents during their stay in Spain, with the name having Spanish and Hebrew roots. “I used to really hate it because people gave me the nickname Nerdia. But now, I’ve grown to love it. It’s unique and no one else around here has it,” said Nuria, a sophomore.

Chihiro Ito: “Hey! You’re that girl from Spirited Away,” is how junior Chihiro Ito is usually greeted by those whom she first meets.

Meaning “great depth” and “friend to all” in Japanese, she embraces her name, saying “I would never change it for anything else.”

Plagued with nicknames since her childhood, Chihiro names just a few: “Cheerio, Churro, Shakira, Chichi, and Chihiro the Hero.”

Answers: 1. Chihiro Ito 2. Babette Homer 3. Inkarat Mittongtare 4. Rainbow Sun 5.

Shibo Zhong 6. Thuthiri Lwin 7. Nuria Mathog

By CORA ORMSETH & LILY WONG

out that it wasn’t anything particularly unusual and that in fact, “it was kinda bad.” All he tasted was “spiciness and smoke flavor, a foreign tinge” and has “never really had an interest in kangaroo meat ever since.”

Sophomore Jocelyn Huey did not falter one bit when her aunt told her to try the chicken brain that came along with the dish. The brain is a sandy-white color about the size of a quarter. Despite it being the brain of another animal, Jocelyn liked the tiny morsel and commented that it tasted “creamy and yogurt-ish.”

A chemistry teacher at AHS, Ms. Chow remarks on her childhood where she and her grandpa fought over fish eyes. Her grandpa had told her that eating the fish eyes was good for one’s health and eyesight. One wouldn’t exactly eat the hard eyeball, but suck the jellylike substance around it. The slimy substance tastes like gooey sea-water.

March 2008

Features

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Let’s Spread Gossip

By LINDA WANG Staff Writer

Woodsen, a beautiful girl who leaves New York for a boarding school because she feels guilty for having an affair with her best friend’s boyfriend. When she returns to New York, her friends neglect her and she starts to hang out with Dan, an outcast who is not wealthy like the others. Her ex-best friend, Blair Waldorf, plans to exclude Serena from her circle of friends. The two girls start a scandalous cat fight and the Upper East Side will never be the same again.

Compared to those kids, the students at AHS live simpler and more peaceful lives. We don’t have limos picking us up everyday, we don’t wear designer clothes from head to toe, and we don’t attend elite private Photo Courtesy of google.com schools. But one thing we have in HAVE YOU HEARD? “Gossip Girl” has caused common is that we all love to gossip rumors and buzz after its hit premiere last year. Its about the people we know. Isn’t that the best part about going to school?

Wearing designer clothes, riding limousines to school everyday, and living in huge apartments—isn’t this the life that everybody wishes to live? The characters in “Gossip Girl” are all born into fabulous lives like this.

Ever since the premiere of “Gossip Girl” in September 2007, it has become one of the most popular TV shows among students. “Gossip Girl” revolves around the lives of some extremely wealthy high school students on New York’s Upper East Side. The series is narrated by an omniscient character, nicknamed Gossip Girl, who runs a blog about the personal lives of a crowd of rich kids in Manhattan.

The story starts with Serena van der new season begins next month on April 21.

It’s Not Rocket Science

By POONAM MANTHA Staff Writer

When the lunch lady asks 15-year-old Hal Hefner if he wants pizza or fish, all that comes out of his mouth is “P-p-p-p….” You can feel his intense frustration and humiliation when, throughout the movie Rocket Science (currently out on DVD), he tries desperately to tell people he wants pizza but can’t seem to say the words due to his crippling stutter.

But the movie is about more than pizza.

The plot reaches new heights of irony when a pretty and smart girl at school, Ginny, manipulates Hal into joining the debate team, hoping that he has hidden talents and that he can overcome his stutter. Hal is immediately enamored

Go Digital

By RACHEL CHEONG & KRISTEN MURAKAMI Staff Writers

Mark your calendars! Feb. 17, 2009 will be the last day for television to be broadcasted in analog. The nationwide switch from analog to digital TV, also known as the DTV Transition, marks the beginning of a new era for television broadcasting.

Digital signals, which differ greatly from analog signals, are sequences of pulses that are converted into a series of ON/OFF signals before being transmitted, much like Morse Code. Analog signals, on the other hand, are rudimentary and consist of continuous electrical waves that vary in response to changes in the sound or image being transmitted. Because digital signals are more highly developed and have many advantages, Congress decided to discontinue analog broadcasting and advance to digital.

with this beautiful girl and her possessive interest in him. The pinnacle of their relationship happens during several blissful minutes in the janitor’s closet, after which Ginny transfers to another school. Because of this, Hal becomes obsessed with trying to become the best debater he can be.

The movie isn’t laugh-out-loud hilarious, but it’s not supposed to be. Hal Hefner suffers.

With a love lost, bitterly divorced parents, and no friends, Hal has little to be happy about.

But still, throughout the movie, you never feel sorry for him. It’s through a bitter recognition that we find ourselves laughing and thinking, yes, sometimes those things happen.

Don’t get me wrong; the movie is flawed.

Director-writer Jeffrey Blitz too closely tries

to emulate cult classics such as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, but who can blame him? Still, Rocket Science stands apart because it is so thoroughly heartfelt. Deep down, this movie is about nothing more than a boy who wants to find the answer to a question that all of us seem to be asking: why does everything have to be rocket science?

At the end of the movie, we come to understand that, eventually, Hal will be fine.

Yes, high school is terrible, and adolescence is terrible, but he will still survive. There is no clichéd moment in which Hal proves everyone wrong, stands up, speaks, and wins a debate competition. That would be too unrealistic, too much like a “based on a true story” sports movie. But we can always find solace in life’s small victories: after a horrible day, Hal walks into a diner and successfully orders several slices of pizza.

Benefits of Digital TV: •Digital signals can be sent for longer distances and are less prone to interference than analog signals.

•Digital signals resemble a string of numbers, so they can be reproduced an unlimited number of times.

•With digital signals, we will free up parts of the broadcasting network for public safety communications, which includes police, fire departments, and emergency rescue squads.

•Digital broadcasting displays an improved picture and enhances sound quality.

•Digital broadcasting can provide interactive video and data services that are not possible with analog technology.

•Digital broadcasting includes a new feature called “multicasting.” This allows broadcast stations to offer several channels of digital programming at the same time.

Here are some common questions regarding the “big switch” in 2009: 1. Will I need a new TV? Not necessarily. You can keep your old analog TV just as long as you install a digitalto-analog converter box. (This is not the same as a cable box.) The digital-to-analog convert-

er box is placed between the antenna and the TV, and will convert the new digital broadcast signal to an analog signal that your TV can understand. Without a digital-to-analog converter box, your TV won’t get a signal, but you can still use it to watch movies on a VCR or DVD player.

2. How do I get a Digital-to-Analog TV Converter Box? You will be able to find digital-to-analog converter boxes wherever TVs or electronic equipment are sold. They will cost about $40-$70, but you won’t have to pay too much because the government will provide every household with up to two $40 vouchers to be used towards the purchase of eligible converter boxes. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has already begun accepting applications for coupons since January 2008.

3. What about my VCR, DVD player, and gaming systems? Will they still work?

Don’t fear! Your VCR, DVD player, camcorder, gaming systems, and other equipment that require the use of your television will continue to work.

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ARTIST PROFILE

Taylor Swift

By CHRISTINE PAO Staff Writer

Senior Serena Hua walked into the Wilshire Theater on Jan. 17 with high hopes for the Taylor Swift concert ahead of her. Lost in the raw energy and power of the music, the sincerity of Taylor’s stage presence, and the beauty of flashing cell phones waving to the smash single “Tim McGraw,” she was not disappointed.

“Her whole band was jumping around the stage and the atmosphere was amazing!” said Serena. “Then one by one, her band members brought a stool up next to her on stage and joined her in her performance. This was the best part of the show because it was here when I realized just how much these songs meant to her. I felt the heartbreak, the innocence of a teenage crush. I felt her presence.”

It is exactly this kind of passion and commitment that has propelled Taylor Swift, only 18 years old, to country stardom.

Nominated for an array of awards, such as Favorite Female Country Artist for the American Music Awards and Best New Artist for the Grammy Awards, this singer-songwriter has proven that, with guitar in hand, she is a force to be reckoned with.

Taylor’s self-titled debut album features what she knows best—broken high-school relationships (“Tim McGraw”), unrequited teenage love (“Teardrops On My Guitar”), and peer acceptance (“The Outside”)—thus allowing her to fully devote herself to the songwriting process.

Willing to express her innermost emotions and unafraid to make herself vulnerable to the public, Taylor has demonstrated her honesty and integrity not only as a singer and musician, but also as a songwriter. Her lyrics are wholesome and unfettered, her vocals are pure and sweet, and her tunes are catchy yet surprisingly simple.

“I love how her music is so relatable,” said Serena. “The fact that she can write songs that are in tune with our own experiences makes her songs so memorable.”

Standouts in Taylor’s first album include the heart-wrenching “Mary’s Song,” a touching true story of the timelessness of love, and “Our Song,” one of the catchiest, if not the catchiest, songs on the entire CD. Of course, there is also “Tim McGraw,” the track that initially drove Taylor to her current fame, and “Teardrops On My Guitar,” which drips with as much sorrow as the name implies.

The whole album, however, is composed of 10 or—if you’re lucky enough to own the deluxe edition—15 very strong tracks, and the fact that this is Taylor’s first album is, in itself, enough reason to push you off the couch and go purchase a copy.

Fans of all genres of music will find Taylor’s music to be a breath of fresh air amidst the over-processed, generic tunes that crowd and suffocate the airwaves. Even avid country experts cannot deny her raw talent, as she has never relied on vocal alterations or studio cover-ups as her means of reaching the hearts of thousands.

In the end, it’s just Taylor and her guitar—exactly the way she intended it to be.

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SPORTS

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

SOFTBALL

Varsity Volleyball Coach Chuck Freberg comments: Our goals for this season are to become a cohesive team and to also win League.

This team is very talented, but we are having difficulty developing a starting line up. However, we Photo by HANNAH G are improving our weaknesses through practice. Nonetheless, the team has very good setters and strong offensive players this year. Throughout the season, our biggest challenge will be against Claremont.

Although we don’t have any traditions yet, the team developed the slogan of “Do Work” last year and they have continued it this season.

Varsity Softball Coach Megan Leahy comments: My goals for this season are to continue the tradition of competitive Lady Apache Softball. For us, being competitive also means defending our Pacific League title. Our main strength is our famPhoto by HANNAH G ily atmosphere. I was lucky to welcome back a strong core group of returners that have welcomed the new players with open arms. The experience of the returners and the enthusiasm of the newcomers make for great softball. The best part of our team is our light hearted nature. They can be singing on the bus one moment and then step on the field and be completely composed and focused.

BOYS GOLF

BASEBALL

Varsity Golf Coach Robert Greep comments: My goal this season is to become more consistent and win League, as well as to bring back the strength of the Apache reputation in the Pacific League.

Boys Golf has great attributes such as positive Photo by ELIZABETH H attitudes and good team camaraderie.

However, our weakness is the boys’ lack of experience. The boys relate really well with each other this year. Although we’re not performing at the level we expected they’re still positive and working hard. This years team truly seems to be enjoying themselves and we’re having a great time. As always, I have the opportunity to coach a great group of young men.

Varsity Baseball Coach Nick Lemas comments: Our main goal for the year is to reach the CIF playoffs and win first place in league.

We hope to compete in the playoffs once we get there. Our team is fairly young, only three starters return: junior Bryce Photo by HANNAH G Rutherford, junior Tim Smoley and sophomore Garrett Tuck. Bryce will lead us on the mound. He is coming off a 1st team all Pacific League and 2nd team all CIF season. Tim should lead us at the plate.

He has already belted one homerun and two triples. Our weakness is definitely our youth.

However, you can expect to see us improve over the course of the season and make a serious run at the end for a league title.

Baseball Pitches up a Storm but as of now they have won two games. In the Chicks/Elks Tournament, the Apaches competed against the following teams: Temple City, AlhamStaff Writer bra, Rosemead, Paraclete, and Sierra Vista. ArWhile most of us at AHS spend our sixth cadia beat Sierra Vista 9-5 and Rosemead 11-4, periods sunk in our chairs, patiently watching but lost to the other three teams. The tournathe clock tick away, boys baseball is hard at ment was good preparation for the upcomwork in their heavy uniforms in an ating season that Arcadia hopes to win. tempt to improve their skills on the Sophomore Garret Tuck said, “We had field. a rough start but finished the tourSetting standards high nament off well!” from the beginning can Coach Lemas has high give a team something hopes for his new team: to work for as their “We are a young team, season progresses. with only four re“Our ultimate goal is to turners, but we do win CIF. We always try to have potential to be very shoot for the top,” said Varsity successful this year. We are Coach Nick Lemas. Realizing very talented and I believe that that CIF is not the first step in the throughout the season we are goprocess, Coach Lemas said, “First we ing to keep improving and building would like to win league. In order to do more confidence.” that, we need to win one game at a time. So Despite the team’s youth and lack of that is our current focus. One game at a time, experience, Coach Lemas says that this is actuand one pitch at a time.

Photo by HANNAH GALLAHER ally one of their greatest If we can do that our attributes, “Because of other goals will fall into BASEBALL Junior Bryce Rutherford the team’s youth, they place.” try very hard to work perfects his bunting skills.

So far the team has on their game time deciparticipated in only one tournament, so it’s hard sions and they have the will to work at their weakto determine whether these goals will be obtained, nesses. They have a great work ethic.”

By AISHA ELMASRI & CHRISTINE HOWARD

theapachepowwow.com

March 2008

Softball Slides into Success

By AISHA ELMASRI

Since the tournament, Arcadia has played two pre-season games against South Pasadena and Staff Writer Monrovia. The girls lost to South Pasadena 3-7 Perseverance is needed for any athlete, and is but beat Monrovia 8-0. This result was already a characteristic all successful people must possess. a great improvement from the previous tourPerseverance is pushing through the hard pracnament. Senior Sara Kalemkarian said, “I tices, doing that one extra sprint when one think we definitely have a chance to win is convinced that taking another step is league, we just have to keep our game impossible, and giving up Saturday on.” mornings to improve one’s game.

Competing is always easPerseverance is what the Lady ier when someone is around Apache softball team dempeople they trust and is onstrates while they are participating in someout competing in tourthing they love. naments and scrimmages Senior Sara Kalemin preparation for the upcomkarian said, “Our team ing season. chemistry is really good.

Our Lady Apaches have had We are always there to help a rough start this year; so far they’ve each other out. That’s what I like competed in the San Dimas Tournabest about our team; we trust each ment, where they played teams such as other and back each other up on and off Bonita, West Covina, La Puente, and Walnut, the field.” and suffered three losses but ended strong with The girls are looking forward to playing one win against La Puente their first league game and Photo by ELIZABETH HARTSHORN 10-3. Sophomore Emily McSara explained a few of Quaid said, “Everybody SOFTBALL Senior Dusty Gibbs their team rituals, “Begot hits and we were defi- sprints towards second base. fore every game, we alnitely pumped up! We just ways blast our music. We never gave up.” When asked about the unfortunate have Curly’s boombox with us; we sit in the back losses, Emily said, “We are inconsistent: we score and break out singing and dancing. Also, before all runs but we also give many up. This year, everyone our games we huddle up and we each say one thing needs to step up for success!” we are going to focus on during the game.”

TRACK & FIELD

VARSITY SWIM

Boys and Girls Varsity Track and Field Coach Chris Shultz comments: Our overall goals for the season are to win our league championship in each of the four levels at which we compete (Boys Varsity, Girls Varsity, Boys Frosh/Soph, and Girls Frosh/Soph). Part of the Photo by HANNAH G process is helping the athletes achieve their potential in their particular event.

Our strength is our balance. Most track teams have a specialty area that they are known for. The Arcadia Track Team has quality competitors in every event area: Sprints (Corbin Whalum, Anthoni McKinley), Distances (Ryan Ernst, Kris Romero, Renaud Poizat, Will MacNeil), Jumps (Jay Ma, Will Bonucci, Robert Pachorek, Markus Fields), Hurdles (Charles Yu, Rawad Wehbe) and Throws (Forrest Reed, Josh Kim), Pole Vault (Darius Shu, Steve Byun, David Lim).

For the girls: Sprints (Angela Liou, Kendra Walker), Distances (Catrina MacAlister, Tiffany Lin, Giselle Sorial), Jumps (Johanne Boulat, Karen Han, Danielle McPherson, Alicia Sowa), Hurdles (Johanne Boulat, Becky Yamane), and Throws (Amy Qiu, Kimberly Wong, Ashley McPherson), Pole Vault, (Chloe Yuan, Lindsey Richert). We also have people who do many events for us and help us out at every single meet like Ted Hooper and Alex Gureghian on the boys team and Jasmine Williams and Bianca Hillier on the girls team. Our weakness is that sometimes we lose focus during the course of a long season.

I think that the people on our team have fun as we do some really hard work. People can laugh and joke, but when it’s time, they get down to some serious training. That is part of what makes track the sport that it is.

Boys and Girls Varsity Swim Coach Janice Clark comments: This season, we are aiming to defend our League Championship titles from last year. The league is quite competitive, so this will not be an easy goal to achieve.

Also, we would like Photo by HANNAH G to improve our numbers in qualifying more individual swimmers and relays for CIF. In both the boys and girls programs, we are very well balanced this year with swimmers who can win events as well as those with the ability to score the important depth points we need in order to win a meet. Strokewise, we are also strong across the board, although in general, we will face stiffer competition in league in the freestyle events than in the other strokes. We are working to make our freestyle even stronger than it currently is.

The best part of both teams is that they have lots of energy and enthusiasm.

BOYS TENNIS

Boys Tennis Varsity Coach Jerry Dohling comments: Our goals are to win the league and qualify for the CIF Playoffs. We are working hard at trying to have a balanced team in both singles and doubles.

The players are working well together and Photo by HANNAH G are working to improve.

SPORTS 23

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March 2008

Varsity Swim Splashes Track and Field: In the Fast Lane Into a New Season

By JOHANNE BOULAT

this mark, but knows she can do even better, as she said “I hope to set a new school record in the pole vault and do my best in CIF.” Senior Steve Byun also soared to new heights when 10, the number of hurdles in the 100 mehe cleared a respectable 13’. In the sand ter high hurdles race. 9, the number of lanes pits, junior Danielle McPherson tripled on our track. 8, the number of laps in the jumped her way to third place two mile. 7, the number of spikes in most at the Royal Invitational track shoes. 6, the number of Invitationwith a new personal record als the team is attending this year. 5, of 35’ 9”. In her wise the number of points you get for 1st words, track is about place in any event. 4, the number getting closer to your of people on a relay team. 3, the teammates; it’s about number of athletes that com“supporting each peted in CIF Finals last year. other like a big fam2, the number of commands ily.” the starter gives before he fires the And the team gun. 1, the number AHS’s track team has been doing just that. is aiming to be.

Especially during their And they have definitely been much anticipated dual with setting the bar very high. So high league rivals Muir. The that in their very first meet junior Jay girls dominated the meet Ma jumped a stellar 6’ 4 ¼” in the high winning with a score of jump. Junior teammate Corbin Whalum 92-53. Freshman Kendra also opened up his season with some reWalker performed espemarkable times. 11.0 in the 100 meters cially well as she clocked and 22.9 in the 200 meters to be exact. times of: 12.4 and 25.8 in the 100 At the Foothill Invitational the distance meters and 200 meters respectively. The boys squads excelled as well. Both the girls’ couldn’t quite get the best of Muir, and lost a and boys’ four by one mile relay close meet with a score of 56-71. It was thrilling teams won first place. The boys’ battle after thrilling battle on the track. Junior team consisted of seniors Ryan Markus Fields gave Ernst, Will MacNeil, and Photo by ELIZABETH HARTSHORN a tremendous effort Kris Romero and junior Renaud Poizat. Ryan Ernst BOYS TRACK Seniors William when he clinched split a swift 4:30 for his MacNeil and Daniel Yamani sprint second place with his 42’ 10 ½” in the mile. The girls’ team con- towards the finish line. triple jump. Also persisted of sophomore Alex Dreves, junior Tiffany Lin, freshman Catrina forming well on the field was sophomore pole McAlister, and sophomore Veronica Yee. Catrina vaulter David Lim who cleared the bar at 13’.

McAlister also raced to two stellar times at the Senior hurdlers Charles Yu and Rawad Whebe Royal Twilight Invitational with a 5:32.78 in the also upped the intensity when Charles placed mile and 11:51.67 in the two mile. On the boys’ third in the 110 meter high hurdles and Rawad side, Renaud Poizat ran an impressive double of placed fourth in the 300 meter low hurdles.

As you can see, they’ve already opened 4:28.49 in the boys’ mile and 9:35.56 in the two up the season in a sensational fashion. With allmile, placing third and second respectively.

Also getting good marks at the Royal In- around strength and depth, who knows how far vitational were the jumpers and pole vaulters. this year’s team will go? But, one thing is for In the pole vault, junior Chloe Yuan cleared the sure. If you have been smelling smoke lately, bar at 10’. She was certainly very happy with it’s because they’ve been burning up the track.

Guest Writer

By KRISTIE TOM Staff Writer

Both the girls’ and the boys’ varsity swim teams have been able to stay undefeated so far this season; both teams hold league records of 3-0-0.

Coach Janice Clark said, “[This year], we have the largest team we’ve ever had. We have great diversity, and we’re well balanced in all the different strokes. In league, we have several strong opponents, such as Glendale, Burbank, and, as always, Crescenta Valley, who’ll all be challenges, but we have a really good chance at winning.”

This year’s girls swimming squad proves to have a promising season; many of the swimmers have already set new time trials during the four swim meets they’ve competed in. Captain Cindy Huynh said, “This season, we’re hoping to defend our championship title against CV.” So far this season, the girls have done very well, winning in their meet against Los Altos High School 123-47.

During their second swim meet, they won against Polytechnic High School with a score of 121-35.

They did wonderfully in the Los Amigos Relays, coming out first out of 29 total teams. In the meet against Monrovia, they won 115-57.

Photo by JAMES HERNANDEZ

SWIM Girls Varsity Swim Team competes in a freestyle relay race.

The boys, on the other hand, have gotten off to quite a rocky start. In their very first swim meet against Los Altos High School, 12 of the 16 swimmers from Arcadia were disqualified due to unsportsmanlike conduct during the 400-meter relay. Freshman Ray Chao said, “Well, we were serious in the beginning, but as the race went on, we lost our composure and started screwing around. We kind of threw it in their faces, and now we look like big jerks.” The Arcadia swimmers were seen doing belly flops instead of proper dives into the pool at the start of the race, granting the other team generous head starts, making a show of swimming extra slow with their heads above the water, making faces at each other while racing, and celebrating outrageously after winning. The official of the meet was seen laughing along with Arcadia’s swimmers. Coach Janice Clark marched over to the official and demanded that all of her swimmers who had been acting disrespectfully be disqualified. She “would like to apologize to Los Altos, because [at Arcadia], fooling around during serious events is not condoned. Here, we try to stress seriousness and respect for the other teams.” The boys won the Los Altos meet with a score of 123-49. They recently swam against Polytechnic High School, winning 125-37. Like the girls, they placed first out of 29 teams at the Los Amigos Relays. During the meet against Monrovia, they won 116-54.

A Life Cut Short:

Stanford Bound Football Player Shot in Los Angeles

By ERIC WU Guest Writer

On March 1, in a random act of gang violence, Los Angeles High School’s star running back Jamiel Shaw was shot and killed.

Several gang members approached Shaw while he was on his cellphone, asking him which gang he was in; when he didn’t reply, the Photo Courtesy of Google.com two men fired several shots and left the scene. Shaw died later at a local hospital. Shaw, voted Most Valuable Player on the Los Angeles High School football team, was only a junior, and yet had received a recruiting call only a week earlier from Stanford University’s football program.

However, few students at Arcadia are even aware of his death, and are even less concerned for their own safety. Does Shaw’s death make Arcadia more susceptible to violence? If this star running back and standout student could be shot walking down the street, can ordinary students at Arcadia High School be in danger as well? Two students at Arcadia High still feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings.

“I mean, it’s Arcadia!” remarked junior Kozue Okubo, about potential school violence “I feel safe because my safety depends on the people I associate myself with,” added junior Monica Shei. It seems that on first reaction, students seem to feel protected by an invisible and unspoken safety bubble that hovers around campus.

With this, we need to keep in mind the two lockdown drills that have occurred in the past three years, all because of calls informing the police of guns on campus. Monrovia and El Monte gang violence have police forces all over the San Gabriel Valley on high alert. School violence across America has slowly escalated since 1999, hitting a peak in February, with five notable school shootings in the month of February alone.

We live in a false sense of hope that Arcadia is immune to any school violence. The persistent threat of a killer on the loose should remain on the minds of AHS students. We should mourn the loss of Jamiel Shaw, a respected and admired student, but we must also learn a lesson from his death: no one is truly safe with the threat of school violence continually rampant throughout America and even within our own city.

Boys Volleyball Serves up a Good Start

By CHRISTINE HOWARD Staff Writer

The Apaches have played four games so far this season, including a scrimmage against Los Altos. During that scrimmage, though it didn’t count, Arcadia clearly dominated the court. They then played a home game against Chatsworth High School, which they lost, 2-3, but didn’t go down without a fight. Arcadia won the first and third games, 25-20 and 25-23, and forced Chatsworth to work hard to get its last wins, with scores of 20-25, 16-25, and 11-15. The boys then traveled to San Marcos High to play another round of games, which they ended up losing 1-3. In their next match, they easily beat San Marcos in the first game, 25-14. San Marcos didn’t let its guard down, pushing ahead of Arcadia to win the last three games, 21-25, 19-25, and finally 18-25.

On Thursday, March 6, the Apaches played Burroughs High School, which is first in the league, and beat them 25-18 in all three games.

There were some star performances in blocks, and amazing hits and digs from a couple newcomers to varsity, including outside hitters junior

Nick Cvjetkovic and senior Gordon Au. Paraclete and Claremont High Schools. The The Arcadia Invitational Varsity winner of that game would go on to play ArTournament, a major tournament cadia for the first place trophy. After three hosted at AHS, was held Saturlong games filled with high energy rallies day, March 8. Arcadia started between the two teams, Claremont came off strong, beating Arrowout as the winner. Without any time to head, South Pasadena, and rest, Claremont was thrown into the Temple City without losing final game against Arcadia. This a single game. They came match would be different; instead out of their pool undefeated of playing the best two out of three and in first place, pushing games, it became a single game to them into the next round 25, much like a sudden death match. against Los Altos, the team The game started out in Arcadia’s fathey had recently defeated vor, with Au acing serve after serve in a scrimmage. They won to gain a 7-0 lead. But after a couple both games easily with final well played rallies between the two scores of 25-16 and 25-12. Afteams, Claremont came back and overter a long break between games, took Arcadia. The game was still close, Arcadia went up against Temple but the Apaches began making mistakes City, again winning both games with and allowed Claremont to overpower them. final scores of 25-17 and Photo by E. HARTSHORN Finally, after a fierce rally be25-19. tween the teams, Claremont beat After the game, the BOYS VOLLEYBALL Arcadia 23-25, earning their first team sat in to watch the Senior Gordon Au delivers a killer place trophy and forcing Arcadia intense game between spike against Burroughs. to accept second.

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March 2008

March 2008

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26

CALENDAR

March Wordsearch

Spring St. Patrick’s Lucky Easter

Spring Break CAHSEE

Sadies Daylight Savings

Green Leprechaun Clover Pinch

theapachepowwow.com

March 2008

Can You MAster the Pow wow?

In order to fill in this crossword, read the articles in the Pow Wow. Across 1 Arcadia’s Math Team competed in the ____ Math League 3 Last name of the AHS student who won $3,000 prize for the “ethics” essay 8 On March 1, Arcadia’s _________ Imagination team participated in the Regional competition at La Mirada High School

Down 1 ____ High School experience a lockdown on February 29.

2 A nice way to state something negative 4 What Students Promoting Literacy is selling from April 28 to May 2 5 Cheating scandal occurred at Harvard _______ School.

6 Arcadia’s Speech and Debate team place ____ overall in the league.

7 JV Percussion traveled to ________ on March 10 Answers: Across: 1 Bay; 3 Poizat; 8 Destination; Down: 1 Blair; 2 euphemism’ 4 AP Grams; 5 Westlake; 6 third; 7 Phoenix

Confessions of a Teenage Glutton

By CHRISTINE WONG Staff Writer

For those in search of an upscale restaurant without the usual serious attitude of a typical fancy bistro, Roy’s in Los Angeles is the place for you. Not only does this place create a casual atmosphere comfortable enough for you to walk in with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, it also has a sophisticated twist that’s perfect for a formal dinner. Roy’s is probably my favorite restaurant; I’ve been to a couple of Roy’s in Hawaii as well as the one in Newport Beach. Though you may not be overlooking the beach here in downtown, L.A., the atmosphere is much more elegant than that of Newport Beach.

The skyscraper buildings and the many Bentley’s displayed at valet certainly gives this restaurant notable class.

Roy Yamaguchi has his way of fusing his Hawaiian and Californian upbringing into all his dishes. Offering a mast selection of fresh sushi and sashimi, Roy’s also provides an entirely different menu of filet mignon, pork shank, and prime rib. If you are on a budget, Roy’s go as far to offering

Confessions of a Teenage Glutton: Take Two

By CHRISTINE WONG Staff Writer

Right in the heart of shopping central Melrose, Los Angeles, a rather less-attractive vendor displays prominently a small bright yellow sign that screams “Melrose Hotdogs.” Chicago and New York may have long-acclaimed fame for its distinctive dogs, but there is a new player in town and the locals officially refer to it as the L.A.-style hotdog. Though most may associate this with the famous Pink’s, just down a few blocks of this shopping scene, the L.A. dog doesn’t require an hour-long wait and definitely doesn’t amount to Pink’s reputation. However, the grilled bacon-wrapped goodness, topped with grilled onions, bell peppers, and a generous mound of relish, jalapeños, ketchup, mustard, and mayo, the L.A. hotdog is not too shabby for $3.00. Served along side with chips, bottled soda and water, the L.A. dog is a food icon here on Melrose.

Honestly, I was quite skeptical about my first L.A. hotdog; I didn’t really feel like getting food poisoning that afternoon.

their “prix fix” menu, including a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert for $35. With a selection that accommodates almost all taste buds, you can’t go wrong with Roy’s. If you are still unsure of the menu, yet anxious to try something unbelievably delicious, I suggest the Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish (with SizA D V I C E : DO NO T SH A R E YO U R zling Soy FOOD Roy Yamaguchi’s best dishes Vinaigrette) are definite pleasers: Hawaiian Style for your Misoyaki Butterfish with Sizzling Soy main entrée Vinaigrette (top); Roy’s Signature while sipMolten Hot Chocolate Soufflé (bottom) ping a Lava Flow (pina colada fused with strawberry purée) on the side, virgin, that is. I know, I know, you’re too full for dessert right? Wrong. Here, dessert is a must have. Probably the best advice that I can give is to order their signature Hot Choco-

However, I wanted to try what L.A. locals were eating and I am glad I did. Every bite of that hotdog was dripping with heart-clogging deliciousness. When I asked for an opinion, Senior Mike Zhang was too busy scarfing down the remains of his hotdog and replied only with unintelligible grunt and belch. It’s so good that it’s actually illegal. Such vendors do possess the proper permit to serve hotdogs; however, all hotdogs from vendors “must be prepared how health inspectors currently allow, by boiling or steaming” (laweekly.com). Even worst, the L.A. hotdogs are not up to the standards of L.A. police and the Environmental Health Department because under their requirements, bacon is raw meat and must be stored in a properly refrigerated area (lapublichealth.org). The last time I checked, a vendor doesn’t have a refrigerator connected to their cart. A violation of these regulations can result in a trip to the L.A. county jail. However, sanitation is obviously an unspoken issue; the usual letter-grade approval of health inspectors does not exist. Since no one seems to be complaining, locals continue buying and vendors continue selling and hiding.

Don’t want to search all over Los Angeles for one of these

late Soufflé and not to share it with anyone. It’s just that good.

If you are planning to go, be sure to make reservations; expect at least a one to two hour wait for those that prefer “walk-in’s”. I’ve also often ran into the problem of arriving late to my reservation; though the receptionist are quite hospitable, they will only hold your table for an extra ten minutes before you are placed back in the bottom of the “walk-in” list. If you think this is a hassle, finding the restaurant is not nearly as easy. Beware: Roy’s is in the downtown part of L.A., leaving those unfamiliar with the area often confused by the many one-way streets. If you don’t feel like driving too far, Roy’s is currently under construction in Pasadena and will be opening soon.

Roy’s - Los Angeles (213) 488-4994 800 S. Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90017

Photos by CHRISTINE WONG

Photos by CHRISTINE WONG

This is how they do it in L.A. Tasty but sinful, Melrose Hotdogs are a must when in L.A.

vendors? Melrose Hotdogs is parked at the corner of Melrose and N. Stanley Ave. (smack dab in the middle of Urban Outfitters and Starbucks). The next time you’re shopping around the neighborhood, be sure to stop by and get a real taste of L.A. culture.

March 2008

CALENDAR

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Far...Far...Away...

By AMY QIU & MELANIE YUEN In another kingdom...

In another era...

In another universe...

In Arcadia...

27

PHOTO OF THE MONTH Sometimes I Feel So Lucky

Photo Contest Winner: Elizabeth Hartshorn

Dance Like Someone is Watching

By VICTORIA BIAN

“Having a three-year-old sister is hard work and can sometimes be very frustrating but there is always a brighter side to everything. I feel extremely lucky and blessed to have a sister this young, whom I can teach right from wrong, and most importantly, to believe in herself.”

Second Place – Ashley Johnson: “Ballet slippers!

British Skunks! Blue Socks!” When I first heard these words in association with a card game, it took me a moment to realize that they were actually synonyms for the game which we shorten to BS. Around me the vast amounts of brownie girl scouts all age eight and under beamed up at me with their shining faces and told me that i was lucky because I won the game. And at that moment I felt like the luckiest [girl] in the world, not because I won some card game... but because I was surrounded by people who truly apreciated me.”

Third Place – Judith Chuang: “To be able to travel and see beautiful sights such as this; Lake Louise in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, with my own two eyes – I know I am lucky.”

The next month’s theme is “Potential.” E-mail submissions to powwowphotos@gmail.com by April 16, 2008.

Sudoku: Think

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Crew

28

CAMPUS FOCUS

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March 2008

Familiar Faces From Far Far Away Classic

Unique

Modern

Kassandra Zamanis & Jake Melton

Tiffany Ly & Chris Chan

Daisy Ching & David Sun

Coco Ching & Scott Fairbanks

Ashleigh Ellis & Bryant Lee

Jessica Lai & Michael Benipayo

Eleni Christodulelis & Jude Chacon

Richie Bui & Lily Dai

Vicky Mo & Norman Phan

By JOANNA CHUANG Staff Writer

In the past, fairy tales and fables were interpreted to be stories with beautiful princesses wearing exquisite dresses, valiant Prince Charming riding on his horse, and magical creatures talking to humans. However on March 15, students expressed their own interpretations of fairy tales and fables as they dressed up in varying imaginative costumes at the “Far far away”-themed Sadie Hawkins dance.

The theme originated from an idea of a theme about fairy tales and fables, but since fairy tales imply a romantic setting, the theme “Far far away” was implemented instead. Taken from the classic movie Shrek, this theme was chosen because it gave students a greater selection of costumes and allowed students to dress up as childhood story characters that they grew up hearing. “As most fables and fairy tales took place in magical areas ‘far far away…,’ we decided to add a bit of magical luster and chose this for our theme,” said junior Tina Kwan.

This year’s Sadie Hawkins dance differed from former ones for having the best turnout in the history of AHS, surpassing the number of attendants last year and the organizers’ expectations.

On top of this, the dance differed as modifications were made ranging from having the same DJ as the Homecoming dance to setting a rearranged stage and dance area. Flashing multi-colored lights and themed decorations were additional features that contributed to the “Far far away” atmosphere. “We definitely set high expectations for future Sadies and I hope the count will increase over the years. Receiving so much positive feedback from our peers was extremely reassuring,” said junior Karen Tsai.

With an open-ended theme, students put together creative costumes that held a touch of classic Disney “happily ever after,” a unique surprise that reveals distinguishing creativity, or a modern twist based upon recent media. Seniors Jake Melton and Kassandra Zamanis portrayed the classic Beauty and the Beast with their authentic costumes, while senior Ashleigh Ellis decided to “take the theme literally” as she and her date distinctively dressed up to be satellites.

With the recent debut of Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers Brawl, seniors Daisy Ching and David Sun dressed accordingly as Peach and Mario.

Photos by JOANNA CHUANG & JENNY LIN /Photos Courtesy of GOOGLE.COM & ELENI CHRISTODULELIS