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apachepowwow.com
September 2009
Station Fire Sets Los Angeles County Ablaze
However, not all were compliant with evacuation orders. Half the residents of Acton, Staff Writer a community near the fire, dug in and decided to stay, while residents of La Crescenta formed Should investigators confirm that the deadneighborhood watch groups called “ember ly Station Fire was indeed manshifts,” designed to spot and remade, the arsonist could face the spond to embers that may wander death penalty. Though not much into town. Of course, officials exhas been released concerning the pressed dismay, particularly Govdetails of what officials have disernor Schwarzenegger, who cited covered, it has been established that three people were injured that pool-like burn patterns and a in Big Tujunga Canyon because foreign substance, both indications they refused to evacuate as reaof the presence of an accelerant sons to follow regulations. such as gasoline, were found at By Aug. 31, the fire had the suspected origin of the Station roughly reached the height of its Fire. devastation, with firefighters havWhether the arsonist gets two Photo courtesy of JOHN PAUL KARAS ing only been able to contain 5% years in prison or the death penalty CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES The Southern California wildfires have of the fire. Seventy-four strucall depends on one thing: intent. burned through nearly 336,000 acres of land since August. tures were destroyed and the eastBecause two firefighters died in ern flank was advancing towards their effort to halt the inferno, the case is be- Marker 29 along the Angeles Crest Highway the historic Mount Wilson Observatory and all ing treated as a homicide. Should the blaze have up in the mountains north of La Canada Flin- its neighboring radio communications facilities. been an accident, the result of, say, a smolder- tridge, which is twenty minutes north and west Once they were over this hump, however, the ing cigarette, then the arsonist could be charged of Arcadia, the Station Fire advanced into the firefighters managed to stomp back the wall that with involuntary manslaughter, for which the densely-populated neighborhoods to the south. threatened Mount Wilson in an epic three-day minimum sentence is two years. However, as On Aug. 27 and 28, the first evacuations in battle, which ended Sept. 3. By Sept. 25, the fire authorities admit, the possibility that the fire Palos Verdes Peninsula and La Canada Flin- was 98% contained. was an accident is highly unlikely. One anon- tridge were called, and evacuation centers were The strongest of the arid winds that have ymous source said, “There was material that erected at various places in the area, including been responsible for the fire’s delayed containdidn’t belong there. It was clear evidence that at Crescenta Valley High School. As orders for ment have since passed, and the blaze is expectthe fire was intentionally set.” Thus, it could be evacuation exceeded 6,000—by Aug. 31, to be ed to reach full containment by Sept. 26. a contest between whether the person should be exact—reports poured in of frantic families carcharged with first or second-degree murder or rying nothing but a few belongings and their alin@apachepowwow.com voluntary manslaughter, which carries with it a pets underarm into emergency shelters. Graphic courtesy of VECTORART.COM
By ANDREW LIN
20-year sentence. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger initially set the reward for finding the arsonist at $100,000. The number is now at $150,000. Intentional or not, however, the damage has been wrought. First spotted Aug. 26 at Mile
Candlelight Vigil Lights Up AHS Arcadia’s Rising STARs Raise API “My family and I just wanted to thank everyone who showed up. It really means a lot.” News Editor The vigil ended with a reading of one of “What would you feel about someone if Clement’s random musings from a recent trip they died? What would others feel about you if to Taiwan found in his room, hoping to spread you died?” For most, these thoughts never cross his hopes and dreams and to inspire many oththeir minds; however, these were the words of ers as well. Clement Tsai, written while “What is my life puron a recent trip to Taiwan. pose?” he wrote, “To give Clement, who graduated love to the world. To accept from AHS two short years everyone for who they are and ago with the class of 2008, love them unconditionally. To was met with an unexpected die for those I care about. To fate when he was hit by a car have the courage to die for on Sept. 10 while crossing my mission. To bring music the street in Long Beach. He to the world. To inspire others was rushed to the ER and to heights mentally, morally passed away the next mornor socially. To liberate society ing. from its illusions and claims Crammed with people imposed by society itself. To from all walks of life—from write a book. To document the relatives to high school story of my life, and have othfriends to former teachers learn from it. To be able to ers to college friends to the move thousands of people to random acquaintances—the tears. To remind people that Photo courtesy of JANICE MA life is good, and to keep livAHS football stadium was home to a lot more than the C A N D L E L I G H T V I G I L ing. To help others find themtypical football game Sat- Attendees sign a memorial selves. To find myself. To urday night, Sept. 12. As poster for Clement. educate people less fortunate hundreds of people gathered on the field for a than I am. To show love to the people that care candlelight vigil to celebrate the life of Clement the most about me. To love my family uncondiTsai, it was evident what sort of an impact he tionally, for I mean the world to them and they had on such a diverse group of people. Family, to me. To show unconditional love, first starting friends from high school and friends from his with my family, then to my friends, then to socicollege fraternity all came out to speak on his ety. To create a world where people would judge behalf, sharing funny and enlightening stories others not by their appearance, but the content of Clement’s life. Senior Kevin Liu said, “It was of their character. To make others smile.” amazing to see that he was still bringing people Rest in Peace, Clement. Thank you for evtogether even after his passing. The whole night erything you have shared with the world. was just so inspirational and positive.” Clement’s sister, senior Rowena Tsai said, mchien@apachepowwow.com
By MICHELLE CHIEN
By ANDREW CHANG Staff Writer
California’s standardized test results have never been stunningly impressive—but they’re getting better. In the context of improvement, whether schoolwide or statewide, we’ve always reached our goals. And our AHS is simply no exception to this standard of achievement; if anything, we’re above and beyond it. The 2009 STAR testing results, released as a whole on Aug. 20, indicated a continuation of the upward trend that California test scores have seen in the last seven years. “I am pleased and encouraged to see that for the seventh year in a row, California public school students continue to improve,” remarked State Superintendent Jack O’Connell. In 2003, state proficiency scores in the language arts and mathematics peaked at a lowly 35%. Given this clear problem, the state decided to change its standardized testing apparatus, aligning it to meet specific state academic standards. Since then, the number has been on a steady incline—and we can only hope for the continuation of this trend. On the contextual level of AHS, we aren’t doing too badly either. Since 2007, our school’s API, or Academic Performance Index, has risen from 859 to 876—a 17-point improvement propelling the high school to a rank of 43rd out of 987 schools in the state. And the STAR testing results in 2009 have established AHS to be one of the highest-scoring schools in the San Gabriel Valley. In other words, the statewide API performance target is a number which we’ve already reached. But as junior Justine Lee put it best: “Our API may be good now, but it’s not rising. A score of 400 is proficient, but we have to re-
member that it’s out of 600 total points.” The relatively slow speed with which our scores are rising, indeed, draws a slew of legitimate questioning. “It seems like many people just don’t care about the STAR test,” explained senior Andrew Taylor, delineating a possible reason to the slow growth. And the lack of incentive for students to do well on STAR testing may very well be the reason for our school’s slow progress as a whole; as the only test not affecting one’s individual success as a college applicant, the STAR test ends up commonly taking a backseat to higher priorities in students’ lives. But District Superintendent Dr. Joel Shawn thinks differently. “California schools have a belief that everyone is entitled to a public education,” he said, “and to apply the same academic standard to such a wide group of people is an incredibly challenging job.” And Dr. Shawn, too, has his point—that growth in and of itself is a remarkable thing because of the wide variety of factors that AHS must take into account. In our school alone, we take care of ten different subgroups of students, each with their own strengths and weaknesses and each requiring a vast amount of attention. Given this fact, it is imperative to realize that growth, perhaps, cannot possibly occur rapidly because of the very academic nature of California schools in general. In the end, the answer to another step in vast improvement cannot be said for certain. But even at its current rate, our school’s test score improvements leave little room for complaint. “It’s truly hard to believe how good our school is,” remarked Dr. Shawn—and it’s true. We can only hope that Arcadia’s STARs will continue to shine. achang@apachepwowwow.com
