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September 24, 2013
Lifestyle
THE GAMUT
(Greatest International Scavenger Hunt *the* World Has Ever Seen) Host a seated traditional Japanese tea ceremony in an elevator to make the passengers feel more at ease.
Mexico is famous for the perfect dessert: the churro. We know churros are delicious, but what else are they good for? Improve on perfection by modifying a churro to serve an alternate non-food purpose. Let’s see your interpretation of “helium pants.”
Let’s see your most dramatic interpretation of “Death by Chocolate!”
Create a shrine to an actor from a CW show. Pay homage to it.
You know the expression, “Beefcake?” As in, “He’s such a beefcake!” Have you ever really stopped to think about it? What exactly is a beefcake? It sounds good, right? I think we should have beefcake for dinner. Serve frosted beefcake at a family dinner where at least three generations are represented.
September 24, 2013
The Hunt for Art
Lifestyle
By Kitty Guo
The grand prize, if your team wins, often involves traveling to remote corners of the world with your team members and Collins himself. This year, it is a mysterious unnamed island where everyone will partake in fish stew and séances.
The idea of a scavenger hunt calls to mind kids running around at a birthday party, frantically attempting to retrieve mundane household items. And yet, this summer, I participated in one myself, called GISHWHESthe Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. The tasks weren’t the typical “Find a red jacket” or “Take a picture of a license plate from another state.” They were a little more…unusual… than that. Hosted by Misha Collins, most known for his role as Castiel on the CW show “Supernatural,” GISHWHES has broken Guinness World Records for largest scavenger hunt for three years. For a week, thousands of people from all over the world gather, get sorted into teams of fifteen and work together to complete as many tasks as possible.
Photo taken by Kitty Guo All Hail Misha Collins: Food and blood sacrifices were made.
Miss Teen Taiwan Global by Phi Do
Photo courtesy of Anthea Shih Crowned Beauty Queen: Shih proudly represented her culture and won fifth place at the Miss Teen Taiwan World Pageant
This past summer, senior Anthea Shih participated in the Miss Teen Taiwan World Pageant, a competition honoring independence and Taiwanese culture. “I love learning about Taiwanese culture and this pageant would be a fun opportunity for me to gain confidence and make new friends,” Anthea said. Anthea participated
in three events. The first required a self-introduction, in which she discussed her interests in music and desire to learn more about Taiwanese culture. The second event asked for a description of a place in Taiwan and Anthea described her father’s birthplace and its beautiful scenery. Finally, her last event asked her to describe a Taiwanese
traditional holiday and Anthea chose to talk about the moon festival and its influence on families. “There’s a great sense of respect in families and one of the best things about the moon festival is its ability to bring families together,” Anthea said. Anthea faced many obstacles throughout the pageant. She had less time to prepare and had difficulties walking in heels. “Five competitors noticed I was having trouble and took me to back to teach me how to properly walk. I only knew them for 20 minutes but I felt as if I’ve already gained friends and confidence. The fact that I had less time to prepare also left me very apprehensive. But when I grasped the microphone, I just decided to say what was in my heart and resolved to try my best.” Her proudest moment was when the Master of Ceremonies (MC) presented her with a crown, allowing her to walk away with fifth place and the title of “Miss Teen Taiwan Global.” “If I could do it again, I would bring a friend, practice walking in heels, and strive for first place. Placing first doesn’t matter as much to me as the fact that the winner is chosen to be the MC for next year’s pageant. I would’ve loved to see younger people follow my footsteps and present them with crowns, watching them promote culture and gain confidence the way I did.”
The tasks, captured in images and videos, seemed impossible: “eat a large sandwich in a simulated skydiving machine” and “film a CEO of a major corporation dancing to ‘Single Ladies’” come to mind. But there was no time to panic - already we had less than a week to complete the tasks. Our team created a color-coded Google Drive document, accessible to everyone. It was quite organized and efficient, which helped to dispel the “what have I gotten myself into” state that was threatening to overwhelm me. So we settled down, chose the ones that looked doable and went to work, casting
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THE GAMUT
our dignity and sanity out the window. I ended up clothing myself in a teabag swimsuit and making a blood sacrifice to a shrine of Misha Collins. The website, www. gishwhes.com, states their mission statement as “GISHWHES believes that ‘normalcy’ is overrated and that true ‘living’ can be found hidden under the rocks of community artistic creation and in acts of artistic sublime public performances. More importantly, we are all artists and have gifts for society no matter what our capabilities or talents. And most importantly, cheese is not a good sewing material.” That single week, I accomplished more than in my entire summer. Truly, we went out and created art, unafraid of public opinion. Keep that in mind next time you claim to have no artistic ability– and maybe you’ll choose to participate next year.
ANGSTY POET’S CORNER “B R E A T H E”
by Ock C. Jen Choke hold, no air Head up in the stratosphere Drowning in my own rhinorrhea Nasal congestion sucks Time for my hourly dose of Children’s Dimetapp
“My Dawgitty Dawg”
by Maultiss Puh-Pi Bless your darling little paws And your fluffy white rump I can’t wait for our daily walks and picking up your cute little poops in little pink plastic baggies just for you Yo my dawgitty dawg dawg I love you Luna, My only friend
“Phobia”
by Teng O. Sueno Anatidaephobia: the fear that somewhere...somehow... a duck is watching you What a scam. Symptoms: Dry mouth, gasping or shortness of breath, muscle tension, overall trembling, hyperventilation. Puh-lease. I’m not a duck. Submit an angsty poem today to thegamut@gmail.com! Submissions should be less than 150 words.
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September 24, 2013
Ask Me a Question
Op-Ed Illustration by Grace Villaroman
By Alex Gao Just a month ago, 14-yearold Hannah Smith hung herself because of bullying. Though tragic, teen suicides usually don’t get coverage in the news. Neither do they become subjects of intense scrutiny and research. This suicide, however, was unique in that it was caused by intense cyberbullying on Smith’s Ask.FM profile. Yet even after these controversies, teens still like to use Ask.FM because it’s not as popular, unknown to adults and simply a new thing to do when they’re bored. Upon examination, however, the way teens use this site reveals how the internet has changed our generation socially and morally. First and foremost, the way the site is set up makes it impossible for your friends to see your questions and answers unless you link them incessantly to your Ask.FM page, essentially becoming a cry for attention. Behind every single answer a user shares on their Facebook page, and behind every single thought out, seemingly insightful answer the user makes, is really
THE GAMUT
one simple request: would somebody please acknowledge me? Every Facebook link to someone’s ask.FM profile is, in a nutshell, an indisputable plea for attention. Sure, we can say it’s because we’re bored, because there’s nothing else to do – but before the invention of websites like this, what would we do? Walk out into
the street with a sign that says “I want people to know about me?” It’s not surprising that actions such as this would lead to suicides like those of Hannah Smith. After all, it’s been hypothesized that acts of self-mutilation and attempted suicide snowball out of unanswered cries for
This is admittedly an extreme case, but it’s a reminder to us of how sites such as Ask.FM have permanently changed the way we interact. In the real world, would people ask for the spotlight like this? Would people, almost without any qualms, bully others and even themselves if they were not anonymous users behind a keyboard? Comedian Marc Maron has said, “Twitter and Facebook are my technoparents, sating the child in me. But they are not beyond abusing him.” Ask.FM is like Twitter and Facebook, abusing the child in all of us for its own profits, even turning this child-like thirst for attention into something more destructive and sinister. It’s up to us to recognize when this metaphorical child is throwing a tantrum, and rein him in by attention. And in Smith’s case, realizing that we’re almost according to Ask.FM, 98% adults now. No matter how of the hateful questions she bored we are, there are better received on her profile were and more mature ways of sent from her own IP address, dealing with our boredom than meaning that she sent herself spamming links to your page, most of those questions. Sure, sitting in your chair aimlessly this girl had other problems, while constantly hitting refresh but Ask.FM helped exacerbate on your browser, desperate for them and bring them into the new questions to answer. It’s public eye. up to us to recognize that.
The Blame Game
Illustration by Grace Villaroman
By Moses Kim
After we as a nation recover from the tragedy of a shooting, our first thoughts are to desperately prove that the massacre wasn’t without cause. The Sandy Hook shooting nine months ago was no different, with the media and moral guardians piling on to anything resembling a motive for the killing. It reached a new low, however, when British tabloid “The Express” pinned Adam Lanza’s murderous spree on a video game called Dynasty Warriors, a game that contained no firearms and was
rated suitable for teens by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Regardless of the game’s alleged severity of violence, the pointless endeavor of pinning violence on video games should be stopped to focus on definitive causes. The crux of the argument is that the violence in video games blurs the line between reality and fantasy. The problem with this argument is that it assumes that we as a society are clueless enough to be unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Even
the youngest children know the difference between shooting someone in a game and shooting someone in real life. Although the interactivity of video games may create a greater visceral joy in theoretically killing someone, the mental barrier between performing fake violence and real violence is too strong for most people to overcome, and those who do overcome are already insane. But the media wouldn’t assume that people are ignorant enough to confuse a game ragdoll
for an actual corpse. So why are games the go-to scapegoat for violence? The answer is obvious when you consider previous targets for the moral guardians: television, film, rock music, and other forms of entertainment. Because of our unwillingness to understand new forms of media as they appear, these new media immediately become the cause for all of society’s vices. Nowadays, the three previously listed are usually not regarded as the motive for killings, as they have now become part of our culture
and are brushed past in search of newer, more disturbing forms of entertainment, of which video games unfortunately fit the bill. A question then appears: if video games are not the cause, what is? No single cause exists, but it is a variety of causes that are overlooked. The significance of firearms is frequently ignored, when it is an uncontestable fact that if the guns were even slightly more regulated, many killers would lack an easy means to take innocent lives. Our mental health care system is also partially responsible, as better detection for the mentally ill would significantly reduce the amount of future murderers. But perhaps the largest single cause is parenting. Parents have the most control and time over a child’s life, giving them countless opportunities to keep their kids in check. Parents have the ability to remove any firearms from the household, parents have the ability to notice any signs of psychopathy in their children, and if we were to assume that video games actually do cause violence, parents have the ability to monitor what their kids are playing. Although we cannot be too upset at the media and public for looking for a reason to explain away the senseless massacre, it is time that we stop scapegoating new media and start looking at the actual factors that meld together to form a murderous mind.
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September 24, 2013
Op-Ed
THE GAMUT
Think Before You Eat By Joyce Pan It’s a holistic approach that Americans have taken in response to the recent emphasis on building healthier lifestyles, shifting their gazes to focus on not only exercise, but also diet. However, when the origins of our produce are scrutinized to the point that pesticides are condemned and “organic” is glorified, America has clearly gone too far. The seeds of the organic food trend were planted in a moment of weakness with the discovery that pesticides are harmful to the environment and humans alike. Soon enough, the idea of “pure” foods rooted itself deeply in our society, and families began to hunt for any produce embellished with the sacred “ORGANIC” sticker. What many fail to realize, however, is that the core argument for organic food lies in the criticism of crops grown with pesticides — and research from Stanford University has disproved the popular belief that untreated produce offers more positive health effects, revealing that health benefits of organic food are so minimal that consuming a pesticide-
free diet would be no different from ingesting “regular” food. Even so, the “organic” craze is still taking America by storm, and preying on this trend are supermarkets. Taking advantage of this so-called diet saver, they are inflating prices to outrageous highs, a completely ridiculous move that forces some Americans to pay double, or even quadruple, the normal prices of food in return for false hopes and empty promises. Whose fault is it, though, that our nation is being swindled and deceived? This problem may have stemmed from the ignorance and gullibility of the masses, but it has long drifted from that source. In fact, it has joined forces with one of the leaders of manipulation today’s society: the media. How often have we seen tabloids fawn over celebrities eating “the right way” as they walk out of Whole Foods with grocery bags in both hands? When was the last time magazines raved about the advantages of eating organic? With the never-ending exaggeration and exposure, the overwhelming organic
food hype won’t be taking a bow anytime soon, and in the meantime it only continues to mislead more and more people. As a nation, it is important
to work together to create a better quality of life, but even more so to understand societal trends and be able to discern truth from lies. When we
accomplish that, we will be able to uncover the truth behind, as well as prevent, shallow scams such as organic food.
exclusion amongst different religious faiths. While a valid argument might be made that the aforementioned “God” can be interpreted as the god of any monotheistic religion, the same cannot be said for polytheistic religions, including Hinduism and a number of Buddhist sects. Moreover, those who do not believe in any deity are completely left out of the equation by the given phrase. The United States, as a nation that claims to offer equality to all, cannot, by sheer principle, give preferential treatment to any type of religious faith—even through such minor acts as wording the Pledge in a specific way. In response to this line of reasoning, proponents of the Pledge’s current form often assert that to exclude “under God” from the Pledge would be an insult to our revered Founding Fathers, whom they claim established this nation under Christian principles that form the basis of the God-given rights cited within our Constitution. What these people may not realize is that most framers of the Constitution were secularists who vehemently opposed any religious influence in politics, and that some of them (including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin) were in fact Deists whose core beliefs contradicted many Christian
teachings. Furthermore, the inclusion of “under God” within the pledge did not even occur until 1954—nearly a century and a half after the Founding Fathers’ deaths and decades after the original composition of the Pledge of Allegiance. It was during this post-World War II era that the government, driven by an irrational fear of communistic atheism, inserted the phrase “under God” into the official text as a form of mass religious advocacy with which it hoped to distinguish America from so-called “godless socialist societies.” Even with the decline of anti-communist sentiments in the late twentieth-century, the Pledge never reverted to its original state, instead retaining its present form and all its propagandistic glory. Given the many ways in which the words “under God” contradict American belief in universal equality and the intentions of our Founding Fathers to establish government as a secular institution, the fact that we continue to keep the phrase within the pledge is, quite simply, illogical. Only when we act according to our Constitutional principles and remove the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance can we, as Americans, truly offer liberty and justice for all.
Illustration by Grace Villaroman
One Nation Under Equality By Matthew Kang The average student will have recited the Pledge of Allegiance 2340 times before he or she has graduated high school, and likely already considers it a formality that bears little sentimental value. It may then come as a surprise that there exists much debate surrounding the Pledge, specifically regarding its inclusion of the words “under
Illustration by Grace Villaroman
God.” In the past decade alone, there have been nearly half a dozen legal disputes over whether the phrase should remain a part of the patriotic oath, with one case having made it all the way to the Supreme Court. While an issue such as the legality of “under God” may seem too trivial for the amount of controversy it has incited, it
is significant in that it entails matters of Constitutional rights. As inconsequential as it may appear to be, the inclusion of the words “under God” in the Pledge violates the First Amendment’s ban on government endorsement of religion and should therefore be removed. The very nature of the words “under God” promotes
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Sports
September 24, 2013
THE GAMUT
Pre-Season Prep by Justin Lee push the team ahead. Many week throughout summer. athletes agree that the senior “This season’s team has, and runners’ initiative have is working to, stay prepared,” prepared them for this season. said Danny Do. “To stay fit, we “We’ve had early also do abdominal workouts practices and workouts, and P90X after our runs. both formal and informal,” Though plenty prepared said senior athlete Danny thanks to the summer pre“There may be fewer seniors Do. Formal practice began season practice, the team and juniors compared to last in July, informal senior-led continues to maintain and year, there’s a lot of leadership practices began in June.” improve in anticipation in them,” Philip Corachea To get ahead of the game, of their coming meets. said. “The sophomores have runners have been encouraged “Hard work will make improved tremendously and the to begin drilling before the this team successful,” said freshman have a lot of energized season came around. Seniors Corachea. “And hopefully hard and dedicated athletes.” have also taken matters into work can guide us to the CIF’s.” This year, strong leadership their own hands, running three days a and fresh talent are bound to practices As is the problem with every year, Oxford’s crosscountry team is faced with the loss of its most senior members. This year, the team is putting in extra dedication to live up to, and perhaps surpass, the prior year’s records.
Photo by Joyce Woo Winners in the Making: Chang hopes to improve his team and take them to CIF again this year.
The Coach’s Position by Ankur Somani Oxford Academy’s tennis teams may have the most dedicated players, however, the coaches are the key elements towards completing the team and ensuring triumph. Having experienced personal setbacks and failures, the junior varsity and varsity teams have one mutual perception, to receive the necessary aid from their coaches. “Coach Sheika is the most amazing coach ever. You know she wants you to succeed because she pushes us to do well and try our hardest,” sophomore Jenny Chung said. “She always looks serious, but when we make her laugh it’s the best thing ever. She’s pretty much the best coach ever.” Chung proves that the fundamental reason behind a coach’s intense training is to help players improve. Coach Sheika’s attempts towards drilling the team for the upcoming season proves that she faithful in seeing her players improve. The entirety of the team also recognizes what they may have to endure, but with the help of Coach Sheika, almost any concern may have a solution.
“Mr. Chang is a chill coach that can give us reliable tips without being too professional.” junior Jinnie Kim said. “He’s just chill and does his job…when he’s not angry.” Kim believes that Mr. Chang, the head coach, will be capable of guiding the team in the right direction. Although his anger may seem intimidating to some of the players, it actually goes to show his passion and dedication for the team. This intimidation is also what pushes the team to grow as a whole and understand what is truly expected of them. “Maybe we can make it to CIF again?” said junior Jinnie Kim. Given these superb coaches, Oxford’s tennis teams have much potential. Both teams may be performing at separate pars, but at the end of the day, these lady patriots have been truly impacted by the way their coaches teach. After all, this is the key difference between a good team and a great team and the bottom line is that Oxford’s tennis teams will always strive for the latter.
Photo by Joyce Woo Mentor in Action: Coach Sheika prepares a junior varsity player for the upcoming season.
Photo by Justin Lee Maximum Velocity: The team, with both new and old members, practices together in order to reach their peak performance.
Upcoming Games: Girl’s Tennis
Girl’s Vball
XC
October 1, 2013Oxford vs. Whitney
October 2, 2013Oxford vs. St Margaret’s
September 24, 2013League Preview #1
October 4, 2013Oxford vs. Sage Hill
October 4, 2013Oxford vs. Brethren
September 28, 2013Brea Invitational
October 8, 2013Oxford vs. Crean Lutheran
October 15, 2013Oxford vs. Sage Hill
October 18, 2013OC Championships
October 9, 2013Oxford vs. Beckman
October 18, 2013Oxford vs. Crean Lutheran
October 25, 2013Msac Invitational
October 11, 2013Oxford vs. St. Margaret’s
October 22, 2013Oxford vs. Sage Hill
October 18, 2013Oxford vs. Whitney
October 25, 2013Oxford vs. St. Margaret’s
October 22,2013Oxford vs. Sage hill
October 28,2013Oxford vs. Brethren
October 25, 2013Oxford vs. Crean Lutheran
November 1, 2013Oxford vs. Sage Hill
November 5, 2013League Finals November 16, 2013CIF November 23, 2013CIF
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September 24, 2013
A Rising Athlete
Sports
THE GAMUT
by Albert Nguyen team, I’m not allowed to play front row hitter because of my height,” Nelson said. Playing for both her school and club volleyball teams, however, takes a toll on Nelson’s academic life. She, like many other athletes at Oxford, has to sacrifice school participation for mandatory games, that often take place an hour-distance away. “I have chemistry and English for seventh and eighth period, which proves to be a problem,” Nelson said. “I can’t be present during labs and discussions due to my absence for the volleyball games.”
Yet her efforts don’t go unrecognized. Varsity coach Richard Chew acknowledges Nelson’s presence and contribution to the team. “Alyssa improves her skillset each day we have practice. The fact that she joined a volleyball club team in order to keep herself in shape during off-season volleyball at school just really reveals how much dedication and passion Alyssa has for this wonderful sport,” Chew said. “She works well with her teammates, which is a great attribute to have in all team sports.”
Photo by Joyce Woo
Trusty Left: Playing all-around left, Nelson returns a pass with zesty determination. Sophomore Alyssa Nelson stands at 5’2” tall, slightly shorter than the other members on her volleyball team. Yet in the eyes of her team members and coach, it is her dedication and affection for the sport, and not her height, that qualifies her to be one of the youngest players for varsity. Nelson’s passion and dedication for volleyball began when she joined a club team in her elementary years. This is when she developed her fundamental court skills that laid the foundation
for
her
current
successes.
“I first joined the volleyball team in fifth grade at my elementary school,” Nelson said. “Then I joined a volleyball club called Goldenwest Volleyball.” The thrill Nelson receives from watching games acknowledges that she loves and recognizes the intricacy of the sport. “What made me start loving volleyball was watching it being played, seeing how hard people worked and how
they communicated as a team,” Nelson said. “It was cool because of the different responsibilities involved with each person.” Nelson’s responsibility as an all-around left is to return passes and set the ball when it’s on the left side of the court. Though she’s given a front position when playing for Oxford’s team, she faces certain restrictions for her outside club. “For my club volleyball
Photo by Joyce Woo
Young Talent: As a sophomore, Nelson is one of the youngest players on the varsity.
Leading by Example by Justin Lee
Photo by Joyce Woo
Since sophomore year, incoming senior Obinna Omeirondi has been running diligently with Oxford Academy’s varsity boy’s cross-country team. In the senior year of his career he reflects on the models that drove his journey and strives to pay the experience forward. “Practicing and pushing each to reach your goals really brings people together,” Obinna said. “It’s not just having them support you that makes it worthwhile, but bonding and getting to know them.” He recalls being cheered on by his team as he finished the race, as well as getting to befriend and know one another after practices. “The past two graduating classes that I looked up to have encouraged me to work harder as an athlete and as a student,” Omeirondi said. “People like Robert Miyoshi, Robin Lea, George Kuruvila and Frank Hoang, just to name a few.” The past years Omeirondi had practiced and ran constantly to live up to his seniors’ examples. They inspired Omeirondi and the team to excel both at their sport and in the classroom. “They were role models for me, and some of them still help me now,” Obinna said. “They help with college applications and classes.” Though miles away
they still keep in touch, guiding Obinna through his final year of high school. “And now I’m a senior,” Omeirondi said. “I want to do all I can to motivate the underclassmen that I run with in the same ways that they did.” In his final year of crosscountry, he wants to pay it forward and encourage the underclassmen. Eager to set a precedent for the underclassmen, Obinna runs
longer and harder at practice. In the classroom, he pursues rigorous academia and pushes his teammates to do likewise. “I just want to try and emulate the qualities I admired in an effort to pass a lasting impression on my teammates,” Omeirondi said. After a successful year that almost launched them into the CIFs, Oxford Academy’s crosscountry team seeks to improve on their record. Though there
are setbacks as usual, the team is proactive and dedicated. “To lose some of Oxford’s greatest athletes can be tough, but the hard work of everyone else will make the team successful,” said cross-country runner Philip Corachea. “From the first day of summer practice, where there was no Robert Miyoshi and the seniors, everyone including the freshmen, have put hard work.” Photo by Joyce Woo
The Motivator: Star runner, Omeirondi, pushes himself to become a role model and motivator for his team, hoping to not only lead but unify.
AP Scores 12-13 AP 2-D Design
AP Studio Art
AP Psychology
AP Government
AP US History
AP World History
AP Spanish Language
AP Literature
AP Language
AP Chinese Language
AP Spanish Literature
AP Physics
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Statistics
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
AP Computer Science
Illustrations courtesy of Joyce Woo