Volume 8 Issue 2

theGAMUT

VOLUME VIII, ISSUE II // OXFORD ACADEMY // 5172 ORANGE AVE., CYPRESS, CA 90630 // NOVEMBER 4, 2011

The makings of W O S an olympian Keith Yoder

ccupy all treet movement spreads David Pham

Protesters on the west coast and overseas contribute to the cause

Photo courtesy of Koloa Wolfgramm AN OLYMPIAN IN TRAINING (ABOVE): Wolfgramm prepares for a bobsled trial run.

Junior Koloa Wolfgramm recruited for 2014 Paralympics

Junior Koloa Wolfgramm, a student and basketball athlete, left Oxford on Oct. 20, 2011 to explore a new opportunity he was granted earlier this year. With Wolfgramms’s highly athletic lifestyle and the circumstances of his disability, the United States Paralympic Bobsled team recruiter, Tami Stanley, commented on his athletic build and said he seemed like he would be a worthy addition to the team.

“She gave me the number of the director of the team and I met with him in the beginning of September to talk about the team and the introductory camp coming up,” Wolfgramm said.

In early September, Wolfgramm sought out his opportunity and called his training coach. After establishing a relationship, he flew out to Park City, Utah and attended the athlete tryout camp. There, Wolfgramm set four of five existing records.

“I had the record in bench, squat, bicep curl, and shot put. I plan on upping those weights [and] distances with the workout regime that my coach gave me,” Wolfgramm said.

After attending the camp, the team asked for Wolfgramm back as an athlete to train with the team in preparation for the 2014 Paralympics in Russia.

While transitioning to a life in Utah, Wolfgramm will no longer attend high school. In the past weeks, he has taken the California High School Proficiency Examination, and is confident he passed. While he leaves behind a high school life, Wolfgramm described his time with the team so far as compelling, and discussed the training camp where he learned about bobsledding for the first time and its components including explosive sprints and what it takes to compete at an olympic level.

“I watched the Olympics every time they were on. In my mind they were the best of the elite. The

epitome of competition,”Wolfgramm said. “It always seemed so unattainable that I never even thought about actually being able to compete in them. The Olympics have always been special to me, as it is one of the best childhood memories I have.”

Now Wolfgramm may relive his childhood memories as the athlete rather than the spectator.

As he begins his training, he has clear aspirations in mind for his olympic career.

“I really wanted to compete against the elite athletes of the country. It’s really an honor to represent the United States and wear the name on our various shirts, sweaters, [and] gear,” Wolfgramm said. “I felt like this was a sport that I can be really good at. I feel extremely proud every time I practice

“

It’s really an honor to represent the United States and wear the name on our various shirts, sweaters, [and] gear.

with my United States Paralympic Bobsled team shirt and represent this great country. Go USA!”

Although he will be missed, Wolfgramm’s athletic achievements in Russia will make the Oxford community proud. He will reside in Utah with his uncle and once settled in, he will move on to college at the University of Utah while he trains. In addition to his paralympic goals, Wolfgramm aspires to move on to MIT and major in aeronautical engineering.

But at the moment, his main goal is to focus on bobsledding and intensively train for his journey towards the winter Paralympics in 2014.

S T A F F

Disheartened by the sinking economy, American protesters have rallied to voice their disapproval of government economic policy. The movement originated weeks ago in New York, when demonstrators flocked to Wall Street to express their frustration. These protesters, who call themselves “the 99 Percent,” represent millions of middle and lower class Americans facing economic hardship. Collectively calling their movement “Occupy Wall Street,” their philosophy is this: protesters feel they have been overtaxed compared to the wealthiest one percent of Americans, which consists almost exclusively of the financial industry’s billionaire executives, and are calling on the government to take action on the issue.

Los Angeles has had its own demonstrations.

Dubbed “Occupy L.A.,” the movement began on Oct. 16 with many Angelinos camping out in front of town hall to express their concerns about America’s future.

Occupy L.A.’s main targets are big banks such as Bank of America, with some swarming to the Seventh and Figueroa branch and sitting down in the bank’s lobby. Ten protesters were arrested and cited for trespassing.

Nonetheless, thousands continued to march through downtown L.A., picket signs in hand.

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has garnered plenty of controversy because many feel this movement lacks both organization and specific goals. Tea Party activists have recently called them “a disorganized, unruly mob of shiftless protesters,” reports politico.com. Many feel that they must have clearer goals as a movement in order to provoke any action in government.

With movements spreading to cities such as Boston and Chicago as well as overseas to England and Japan, the fight for accountability in the financial industry has become a global issue.

ALI FIGUEROA....................................NEWS EDITOR

GAIANA MORALES............................STAFF WRITER

SARI ZUREIQAT...............................SPORTS EDITOR

AMY CHI.............................................STAFF WRITER

GRACEE KIM.......................................STAFF WRITER

THERESA PHUNG..............................STAFF WRITER

AMY TESHIMA..........ASSOCIATE EDITOR/LAYOUT

HANNA JEONG.....................CENTERFOLD EDITOR

TIMOTHY TORNO..............................STAFF WRITER

CAROL LEE..........................ILLUSTRATOR/ LAYOUT

JESSICA LIM..................................EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

VINCENT NGUYEN............................STAFF WRITER

CHRISTINE KIM..................................STAFF WRITER

JORDAN REYES..................................STAFF WRITER

YONG-SHING CHIANG.....................STAFF WRITER

DAVID PHAM.....................................STAFF WRITER

KEITH YODER................................................LAYOUT

YVONNE NG......................................OP-ED EDITOR

DUSTIN NGUYEN..............................STAFF WRITER

KEVIN LUONG...................A&E/LIFESTYLE EDITOR

ELLY SHIN...........................................STAFF WRITER

MATTHEW VERGEL DE DIOS........PHOTO/LAYOUT

HIBA TAYLOR................................................ADVISER

NOVEMBER: SATURDAY, 5 // SAT THURSDAY, 10 // TALENT SHOW FRIDAY, 11 // NO SCHOOL THURSDAY, 17 // HOPE HOMECOMING MON, 21 -FRI, 25 // NO SCHOOL THURSDAY, 24 // THANKSGIVING

IN THIS ISSUE: PAGE 3

Dream Train Departs PAGE 4

The Issue at Hand PAGE 8

Overly Critical PAGE 9

An Ethnic Delight PAGE 11

Miles of Trials

News

2

November 4, 2011

theGAMUT

Removing the color code Yvonne Ng

AUHSD responds to privacy concerns regarding incentive program

In early October, the Anaheim Union High School District modified an incentive program that issued color-coded ID cards and planners to Kennedy High School and Cypress High School students based on their state standardized test scores. The system had allowed higher scoring students special privileges, such as a faster lunch line and discounts on tickets to shows, games, and other campus events.

After having started the program last spring, the AUHSD decided to remove the color-coded items and the separate lunch lines in response to parent and student concerns that the items violated student privacy. At the same time, the district promised it would keep some of the privileges and establish a new system to reward higher achieving students.

But according to one teacher from Kennedy High who insisted on

remaining anonymous, the program was still well-received by many on campus.

“In all honesty, I never once had a parent express criticism or concern about the program to me; the parents who spoke to me about it liked it,” the teacher said. “A few students seemed lukewarm about it, but obviously students are not all motivated by the same thing. The student feedback I heard was positive.”

The teacher herself was supportive of the program.

“The program helped students to focus on learning,” the teacher said.

“You can’t really “cram” or study right before the CSTs and do well; the tests reflect a year of study and mastery of skills. Having a tangible goal helped many students to focus on their studies.

Overall, teachers saw an increase in homework completion and taking classes more seriously.”

Though she didn’t hear many

criticisms of the program firsthand, the teacher identified ones she knew about.

“I only know what criticisms parents and students had from the press coverage generated by the story,” the teacher said. “The criticism seemed

“

The incentives did motivate some students to work harder as intended but also discouraged those who work hard and fail to achieve on one test. to focus on the belief that the ID cards revealed test scores (although they didn’t – there were combinations of ways students could qualify) and made some students who didn’t get gold cards feel badly.”

For one student from Kennedy High who insisted on remaining anonymous, the program seemed fair in some respects but not in others.

“Overall I believe the incentive system was ethical,” said the student. “I do not agree with the method in which it was implemented, [such as] the planners.

The incentives did motivate some students to work harder as intended but also discouraged those who work hard and fail to achieve on one test.”

Junior Sean Hernandez from Kennedy High, however, disagreed about the fairness of incentives.

“Personally, I think the privileges regarding money are even worse (such as the no cost football games),” Hernandez said. “Lower income students in general tend to score worse on state exams than higher income students, and the students [in the top category] as a whole are the last group who are in need of monetary assistance.“

Editor’s Note

As we pass into the second quarter and a new month, we enter the awkward, mud-grey area of questionable new beginnings. It points to new beginnings that really are quite dead with opportunity. We too often take the true beginnings for granted and the false ones too seriously. Procrastinating from night to night, we leave assignments, studying, and sleep for the next morning. The hours of missed sleep, hours of missed opportunities that we leave behind will never simply cease to exist; they will rise up again and again in waves, bumping up against your unsuspecting dikes of time until they cease to hold. Then, when they break and the flood of work, stress, and life begins to catch up, the unsuspecting citizens of your mind will run for cover, cover that will vaporize as plywood does under flaming bundles of thermite.

In a country supposedly ripe for opportunity, we too often miss those that are the lowest hanging, ignoring them until they rot and fall to our feet. It is then that we realize that the only ones left hang from the top, unreachable except by those with inhuman reach. As seniors move ever closer to college application deadlines and others move towards the end of a semester, it is crucial to realize that these conclusions bring no new beginning, new second chances.

It is too often that those with control and time neglect to maintain the conditions of their status quo, and situations like the Occupy Wall Street Movement and a questionable new movie prequel arise from expecting the same results from reduced efforts. It is imperative for us students to keep trying in our studies, our relationships, and our lives, even if we have found contentment; it is contentment that rests on the precipice of apathy.

- Kevin Luong, A&E/Lifestyle Editor

Letters to the Editor: The Gamut welcomes all viewpoints. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited or republished in any format.

Please include your name, grade, cluster teacher and email address. Do not send any attachments. Letters should be emailed to thegamut@gmail.com.

The comments and opinions expressed in The Gamut are those of the editorial staff and do not necessarily represent those of Oxford Academy or the Anaheim Union High School District.

Corrections News:

In the previous issue, “{whatever that petition was called}” in “Teen charged with murder” should have been replaced with “petition.”

But both seemed to agree that the public nature of the color-coded ID cards and separate lunch lines were a problem. At Kennedy, students received white, gold, or black cards, in order from lowest to highest test scores.

“Last year, because of my transfer to the high school, I was issued a white card. It kept me from accessing many of the same benefits as the vast majority of my friends,” Hernandez recalled. “A common situation would occur at lunch when they would ask me to stand in the lunch line with them, at which point we realized I couldn’t, because of my lack of a gold card.”

“Getting rid of the IDs and planners, I feel, eliminated the automatic judgment of students based on the color of the cards,” the anonymous student said. “The physical separation is what was causing the controversy and now that it is gone the students that were offended before are content.”

As of now, whether incentivizing students to perform higher on standardized testing is fair and effective is a question still debatable.

The AUHSD, however, answers in the affirmative.

“Because we believe having incentives can appropriately motivate students, we will develop another system for them to access the incentives,” the district said. “This is similar to acknowledging students for their participation in athletics, performing arts, extracurricular activities, and community involvement.”

A VISUAL INCENTIVE (LEFT): Color coded agendas emphasized differences in students’ test scores.

November 4, 2011

News

3

theGAMUT

Larson to publish children’s novel David Pham

The Dream Train provides a soothing story for restless children

After letting her writing project percolate for some years, English teacher Cathy Larson will publish her first children’s novel.

Slated for release in late December, her book, entitled The Dream Train, follows the story of a sandman who drives a train to pick up children after they have fallen asleep and takes them to their dreams.

Larson first had the idea for the book nine years ago—shortly after her son was born—but decided to focus on work and family.

In the last two years, however, she began reworking, editing and revising the book until it was ready to print.

“I was inspired for the children’s book by my own children,” Larson said. “When I was a kid, I was told the story of a train that used to come pick me up to take me on my dreams.

And it stayed with me, and then when I had my own children, I took that basic premise and created an entire storyline around it.”

Originally created to help answer her own children’s questions about sleeping in a kid-friendly manner and as an incentive to get them to bed easily, Larson wrote the book in the hopes of aiding other parents in their own possible struggles to get their children to sleep at night.

“[I] would use it to get my kids to fall asleep at night because the dream train does not come to pick you up unless you are in bed and sleeping by bedtime, and so there [is] a whole story that [goes] along with how you had to be in bed and who you could take with you and where you wanted to go and visit in your dream,” Larson said. “There’s a piece of the story that explains how the sleep gets in your

eye at night and why the dreams disappear. It answered a lot of the kids’ questions that they had but primarily worked to get them to go to bed on time.”

Larson also wrote her novel to quell any fears children would have when they go to bed, using the book to help give them a sense of accompaniment, that someone will always be by their side as they sleep. In The Dream Train, kids can choose anyone who is dear to them and bring them on the journey to relive fond memories.

“They go to bed knowing that they are loved, [and I] hope that not only does it become a tool the parents use to get their children to sleep but that the kids find it a welcome tradition,” Larson said.

The writing and publishing process did present some challenges for her. Larson originally did not know her way around the publishing world. Afterwards, she faced the challenge of finding a way to pay the publishing fees, but Larson was able to put her Masters in Business Administration to work.

“I decided to publish the book myself,” Larson said.

Larson also found an independent illustrator who worked with her to create the illustrations, a plush designer to help her design the plush sandman who would accompany the book, and a printer to help publish her novel after nine years in the works.

“I have gained a sense of accomplishment, and the attitude that you can figure anything out if you just take it one day at a time,” Larson said.

A MEMORABLE VOYAGE (RIGHT): The cover art for Larson’s children’s book, The Dream Train.

Leaders of tomorrow Amy Chi

Junior high ASB members look forward to a new year

“Although Oxford is already a great school, we have plenty of room to improve.”

That’s eighth grader Ankur Somani’s philosophy.

“I want to implement new ideas, which could eventually help Oxford improve right now and in the long run. We can create a better environment for new students so they’re getting support and having fun while learning,” Somani said.

Somani, the junior high ASB president, and the rest of the junior high ASB, definitely have a lot on their plates.

By taking note of areas of improvement from last year and taking measures to ensure they improve and learn from their past experiences, the junior high students have started their year on the right foot.

Somani and junior high ASB advisor, Deanna Miner, both agreed that one of their goals is to help every member of the ASB actively participate and share their

opinions and ideas.

“We’re just trying to make sure every student in junior high ASB gets involved and every student has a voice,” Miner said.

“Last year the eighth graders didn’t exactly overpower the seventh graders, but they were contributing a lot more ideas,” added Somani. “Basically, we’re trying to get the seventh graders to speak up […] We know they have good ideas.”

These junior high members are eagerly volunteering themselves for responsibilities such as planning rallies, field events, dances, and creating activities and games to go with each event as they strive to make this year even better than the last. Executing each event, however, takes much planning, and only by staying focused and prepared can the members manage all their responsibilities.

“We want junior high to stay organized,” said Somani.

“Right now, we’ve got pretty much

everything covered, but last year we were getting things done last minute, so we have to stay on top of things.”

Ultimately, the main goal of all these activities and events is to draw the classes closer and encourage bonding on all levels: among the ASB members themselves, each individual class, and junior high as a whole.

“With bonding events, people of different grades can get to know each other,” said Somani.

“Since we were in their shoes last year, and we know how they feel, we want seventh graders especially to feel welcomed.”

The seventh graders, new to the school as they are, have been quickly settling down and accustoming themselves to Oxford’s atmosphere, with the help of Oxford veterans- some willing to give advice, and others not as much.

“There’s a lot of people who are really friendly and will help

you find your way if you’re lost,” said seventh grader Meghan Vill, the junior high dance coordinator.

“But thenthere’s also those people who just look at you and think, ‘Oh, more scrubbies.’”

As for the eighth graders, they’ve become more accustomed to life at Oxford. No longer do they fall under the label of “scrubs,” but have began to tentatively develop an identity of their own.

“Every class thinks that they’re the best class, so that’s something our class has developed between ourselves as well,” Somani said.

Eager to fill the year with exciting new memories, the junior high ASB is ready to make every moment count.

“Being part of the junior high ASB has helped me bond with people,” Vill said,” and I’m definitely looking forward to learning and making new friends here.”

4

November 4, 2011

Op - Ed

theGAMUT

Bringing back progressivism to Wall Street Gaiana Morales & Yvonne Ng

The main criticism about the Occupiers of Wall Street is that they are a directionless mass of youth complaining about their unemployment, socioeconomic problems, and overall despair.

And in a way, critics are right.

While everyone knows unemployment rates are high, very few can claim to be experts in economics. As a result, some Occupiers probably have never considered that the plight of the middle class may be partly due to economic forces and historical cycles.

Globalization and fast-paced technological development, for example, have been increasing the competitiveness of the labor market, making it difficult for even college graduates to find jobs. Whether for good or evil, that’s a natural part of capitalism.

Unfortunately, natural competition isn’t the only problem facing the middle class.

Though the government can’t (and shouldn’t) prevent the economy from marginalizing less skilled workers in favor of growing industries, this doesn’t give the nation’s most powerful bankers the right to amass fortunes from fraudulent loans at the expense of an entire nation. It certainly does not mean that the protesters on Wall Street are wrong when they identify the government’s corrupt relationship with Wall Street as the immediate cause of the financial bubble in 2008.

The thesis of OWS is that our country runs on a broken system serving the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the lower social demographic. The slogan encapsulating this front is “We are the 99 percent,” with the other 1 percent representing the nation’s most powerful bankers and businesses. With Wall Street CEOs working for the government and academic economists working for major banks, this group had used its power to deregulate business to the point where high risk lending resulted in economic failure.

Despite argument that banks also lose money when the economy crashes, the executives of failed banks, such as the Lehman

Brothers, not only ran off without legal punishment for the mass sale of fraudulent mortgage loans, but also retained the billions they made before going bankrupt. Whereas Wall Street’s CEOs have walked away with a fortune and found jobs in other major firms and the government, the other 99 percent who have truly lost the most in this recession were the ones who could have afforded to lose the least. This is what needs to change most, and this is why the protesters are marching on Wall Street and not in Washington.

As a result of this undue influence, the protesters feel powerless in the face of a government that works only for bankers and not the 99 percent. If politicians could set aside their desire to please Wall Street just long enough to reach a beneficial decision for the People, then the masses would not have to take to the streets. OWS merely reveals how the American people have lost their faith in the government— to the point where they’re forced to take matters into their own hands. OWS may not offer all the answers, but perhaps our legislators need a little kick from the People to realize they must put lawmaking and progressive change before pointmaking and bickering in Congress.

And the word progressive isn’t anything new to our nation’s history. At the turn of the 20th century, labor conditions grew increasingly difficult and the wealth gap increasingly large as a result of the rapid economic growth of the Industrial Revolution. But the natural and innovative Industrial Revolution was not the only reason the working class was marginalized at the time. The Gilded Age before the Progressive Era gave rise to land corruption in government, as exemplified in the Boss Tweed Ring and Tammany Hall. Like today’s America, the plight of the lower social classes was not only the result of the nature of capitalism, but also its unhealthy byproduct of overwhelming corruption.

But of course, there is one important difference—the government did something

about the overwhelming corporate power back then. In response to corruption, the Progressive Presidents enacted anti-trust policies and found new institutions, such as the Department of Commerce and Labor, the Bureau of Corporations, and the Federal Trade Commission, in order to fix abuses of power. At the same time, corporations still survived the trust-busting policies of presidents like TR and Taft. Curing the ailments of corruption and abuses isn’t anticapitalist—it’s pro-capitalist.

As Bob Cesca from The Huffington Post said, OWS is not a movement against corporations, but corporate crime. With the natural forces of globalization and

technology already squeezing the middle class today, the situation only becomes worse when the government allows banks and big businesses to deliberately cheat the system through irresponsible financial activity. The government might not really be able to do anything about capitalism’s squeeze on the middle class, but the government certainly can do something about corruption and fraud on Wall Street.

If the top 1 percent wants to maintain the health of capitalism, it must create a fairer competitive market. And if the government doesn’t fix the abuses on Wall Street today, it can almost certainly ensure another bubble to burst in the near future.

Illustration by Carol Lee

Consequences of cheating: too harsh or lenient?

Elly Shin

Cheating is no new controversy in the world of academics, but the recent outbreak of an SAT cheating ring in New York has forced parents, administrators, and students to consider whether academic dishonesty has become problematic enough to warrant the extreme punishment of legal action and arrest.

The methods used by the cheating ring, such as the creation of fake state ID cards and impersonation, can result in fines up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to nine months according to New York law.

High school students involved in the scandal were arrested on misdemeanor charges while the college student who took the test for them faces felony raps and jail time.

Since the college student broke New York’s laws on criminal impersonation for monetary reasons, his arrest and conviction were justified. On the other hand, arresting high school students for cheating is

overstepping the boundary between school administration and law enforcement.

Though cheating is wrong, it is unfortunately a natural method of survival in the competitive world of academics, which defines success by numbers and letters. The scandal was first discovered by a counselor who found discrepancies between the high SAT scores and mediocre grades. As students who attend Great Neck North High School, a prestigious school in New York, the students’ academic environment would have been insanely competitive.

As a result, they probably thought cheating was a necessary method for getting accepted into their dream school and meeting their parents’ expectations. Doing so would put them on par with other top students achieving A’s, high SAT scores, and perfect resumes.

Despite the fault of this flawed academic culture for motivating students

to cheat, cheaters must still be punished.

But the appropriate punishment for high school students who cheat, even on a test administered by a private company like Collegeboard, must be one of an academic nature rather than a legal one. Having law enforcement step in is not only too harsh when dealing with minors, but it also does little to change the mindsets of cheaters.

Unfortunately, the Collegeboard has no such effective academic consequences in place for cheaters. When the ETS finds unusual fluctuations in scores, it merely withdraws them without warning. Colleges that have already received the faulty scores are not informed of withdrawals or instances of cheating, which means schools can accept cheating students without knowing it.

All testing organizations, not just ETS, need to create proper punishments that clearly state cheating will result in a notification of their cancelled scores to all

colleges that have received them and a rejection or expulsion from their chosen school. Taking away what cheaters want most will have the greatest impact on cheaters. Besides, for students focused on academic success, a lowered grade, a canceled score, or a ruined chance to be accepted into a prestigious college, would be more suitable than an arrest or fine.

It is highly unlikely that our society’s perceptions of success in the academic world will change or that the pressure for high scores will subside any time soon. The only solution for students is to avoid the temptation of cheating, no matter how daunting the pressure of academics and college may be. For school administrators and testing organizations, they need to establish that cheaters must change their ways and that ultimately, cheaters don’t prosper.

November 4, 2011

Op - Ed

5

theGAMUT

Putting education into more qualified hands Timothy Torno

Parents think they deserve to be involved in their child’s education, especially when schools appear to be causing low academic performance. But the effects were discouraging when state boards passed The Parent Trigger, a set of laws allowing parents to manage school staff, merge campuses, and change classroom curriculum.

Students faced larger class sizes, less qualified teachers, and fewer resources to choose from. Although the latest Trigger laws promise immediate reform on paper, the parents who intend to benefit from them will only prevent schools from meeting the needs of a diverse student body.

True, not everything about the Trigger Laws is totally disputable.

The second clause, titled the “Turnaround Phase,” increases parent involvement on campus by giving them “more control over the staff and budget.”1 Still, the community cannot always trust a parent’s judgment.

If a teacher can adapt to a tightening budget, teach on a daily basis, and oversee a student’s academic achievement, that shows the parent may be unreasonably biased against the teacher.

When parents make decisions based on their bias, their actions fail to account for the entire student body.

“Parents” have always belonged to a vaguely defined

Illustration by Carol Lee

demographic with criticisms of the school system that are not always qualified and reasonable.

Such overprotective concern becomes a problem when one parent’s intentions for his or her child clash with those of the education system.

Many aspects of Oxford exemplify these questionable changes.

At the lunch line, certain foods were replaced by “healthier” alternatives, such as lentils for potato chips. At the library, students now browse a banned book reading list which includes such favorites as the Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and

Where’s Waldo. Keeping education safe and ethical is the goal of any parent, but these actions sometimes infringe on a student’s freedom to manage his or her education. In the case of Oxford, the reforms pressed

by Anaheim parents have made the campus more a daycare than a learning environment.

What’s more unnecessary is that the 2011 Trigger gives parents the right to temporarily merge “a nearby charter school” with a “failing school.” 2 Though many bureaucrats claim this Trigger clause was created with one goal

in mind—to fix underperforming schools—putting two such schools together inevitably furthers their decline. Parents are led to uproot existing communities, enact costly policies, tamper with the school curriculum, and worst of all, decide the rights of the student. They fail to understand the diverse learning styles and needs of an expanded student body. While localization does instill a community’s values in a student, it fails to develop the most important part of the “globally competent” scholar: his independence.

In the same way kids lack the leadership necessary to run a community on their own, parents lack the foresight to take over the responsibilities of a school board. True, their concern for us is irreplaceable at home, but it shouldn’t take precedence to the more qualified ideas and experience held exclusively by a school and its teachers. Schools may appear internally flawed, but they continue to meet the standards that at the very least prove they educate us.

Footnotes: 1 ParentRevolution.org:“Take Action and Change the Status Quo”;Article 2 2 ParentRevolution.org: “Take Action and Change the Status Quo”; Article 1

What IS an Opinion-Editorial?

Yvonne Ng

For those who don’t write editorials, the name of the Opinion section of the newspaper has always been misleading. From my own experience, I’ve noticed some distinctions that both readers and writers of editorials can keep in mind to make the most out of these pages.

On the most basic level, beginning editorialists can make two mistakes—they either write a statement of their feelings or a rehashing of facts in order to seem logical. In the Op-Ed section, opinion isn’t only a belief—it must be a carefully thought out judgment backed up by reasons and evidence.

Writing a rehashing of facts to seem logical fails to account for the first part of this definition—“a carefully thought out judgment.” On the other hand, writing only about feelings fails to account for the second part— “backed up by reasons and evidence.”

But to truly write a provocative Op-Ed, the editorialist must also remember to be an optimist.

Unlike the normal persuasive essay, a provocative editorial doesn’t merely criticize or point out hypocrisy in

society. It should also offer some new insight or a solution to the problem.

As Oscar Wilde said, “The cynic knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.” Unlike Wilde’s cynic, the insightful editorialist offers constructive criticism about the issue at hand.

When writing about the problem of cheating at Oxford, for example, it is pointless to only discuss why cheating is wrong or right, even if the opinion is supported with facts and reasons.

The Oxford community already has a solid understanding about cheating and doesn’t need an editorialist to point out its injustices. In contrast, the constructive editorialist would offer a new solution to the problem of cheating that was rarely discussed.

On an even more subtle level, editorialists must also understand the difference between qualifying and defending an issue.

When we think about debates, we usually see this latter form of analysis. That is, debaters separate the issue into the “pro” and “con” sides, and they usually do whatever it takes to prove their side of the argument correct.

It is also the type of argumentation that lawyers use in the courtroom to prove their defendants’ innocence.

Of course, the defending type of analysis is perfectly valid, appropriate, and even necessary at times. But the best editorials I’ve read are those that qualify rather than defend. To qualify an issue means to validate the arguments presented that seem logical and to challenge the arguments that don’t. An editorial that qualifies goes beyond agreeing with the “pro” or “con” side of the issue. It analyzes arguments rather than people or sides.

An example illustrating this difference is our most recent editorial about Occupy Wall Street. During our first few drafts, Gaiana and I wanted to show that Occupy Wall Street is a valid movement, despite all the criticisms it has received from the conservative news media. In fact, we were so set on proving its validity that we forgot to consider the arguments of the other side.

After talking to one of my moderate Republican friends, however, I finally realized that we were too focused on defending OWS instead

of qualifying the issue at hand.

This realization then prompted us to address the opposition, which is especially apparent in the first two paragraphs of the editorial.

Qualifying is powerful because it allows the editorialist to place the issue in the greater context. The inability to distinguish between these two types of argumentation is exactly the reason we have such intense political polarization today. Rather than deconstructing the terms “pro,” “con,” “conservative,” and “liberal,” politicians and voters often think too much in terms of binary oppositions.

Like any other writing, the point of an Op-Ed isn’t merely to communicate ideas or opinions. As we progress in our English classes, we must also remember that writing is our means for exploring and thinking about the world. And when we open up the newspaper to the Opinion pages, keeping all of these distinctions in mind can make reading this section of the paper all the more interesting and enjoyable.

Centerfold

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November 4, 2011

theGAMUT

90s Nostalgia Fest

The class of 2017, this year’s seventh graders, is considered to be the last of the “90’s kids” since most of them were born in 1999. This is a look back on everything from the 1990s…the good, the bad, and the forgotten.

Television

Music

The Nineties spawned a decade fraught with laughter, mystery, and drama with the emergence of groundbreaking shows. Seinfeld, routinely billed as “a show about nothing” wrung hilarity from things like answering machines, Junior mints, and autoerotic tendencies. Friends, a sharply written snapshot of life as twenty-somethings, became one of the staple sitcoms of the decade. Twin Peaks appealed to the audience with its fusion of the surreal soap-cum-murder-mystery of Laura Palmer, Agent Cooper’s bizarre idiosyncrasies, and camp comedy. The X-Files tapped into popular conspiracy fearsto unearth commercial success. Sketch comedies, including In Living Color and The Ben Stiller Show, flourished. My So-Called Life treated universal teen woes with poignancy instead dismissing them as whiny teen drama. Buffy the Vampire Slayer artfully blended adolescent angst with mysticism, from witches to werewolves. Eighties holdovers, including Married with Children, captured the cynical humor of a coming-of-age Generation X.

The Nineties was also the golden age of cartoons. Potty-mouthed rants and pop culture jabs became funnier coming from fourth graders in South Park. The Simpsons’ eponymous family and their kooky yellow Springfieldians lampooned the quintessence of suburban America. Beavis and Butthead and Daria became classic pieces of 90’s youth culture and the MTV generation. Saturday morning cartoons exploded with Pokémon, Recess, and Rugrats.

The Nineties emerged with the explosion of the scratchy-scratch power chords and smells of grunge spirit, with Nirvana’s Whatever, Pearl Jam’s Ten, and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger. Grunge’s emergence was not only one of the many musical milestones for modern music— it’s a prism through which much of the last twenty years need to be viewed. It saw Eighties’ holdovers U2 and R.E.M reaching creative peaks with Achtung Baby and Automatic for the People and first flirtations with alternative rock. It was charged with fresh sounds of the fusion of rock and hip hop. Riot Grrrl movement marked the start of the thirdwave feminism; it swept through the West Coast underground scene, ideas of women empowerment and equality spreading as Bikini Kill and Bratmobile went on tour.

Pop punk underwent resurgence, as Green Day, Weezer, and The Offspring attained massive commercial success.

The mid-nineties were marked by the deaths of rappers Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac, accentuating the East CoastWest Coast hip hop rivalry. The Nineties began delivering prepackaged boy bands, like *NSYNC, New Kids on the Block, and Backstreet Boys, to the hands of screaming adolescent fangirls. Girl bands like the Spice Girls, Latin Pop like Shakira and Enrique Iglesias, and Brit Pop like Blur and Oasis experienced popularity in the States.

- Carol Lee

- Carol Lee and Hanna Jeong Photo courtesy of Lebeau’s le blog

On technology: The nineties were when, of course, you started getting internet and all the possibilities for wasting time…

-Mr. Hodges

Photo courtesy of Reprise Records

On Music: I used to have a Walkman. I used to treasure it like I treasure my iPod today.

-Mr. Royal

On Fashion: If 90’s fashion comes back, I’m leaving this country.

On Fashion: The idea was that you should look like you don’t care…I had a lot of female friends who just shaved off all their hair.

-Mrs. Vosskuhler

-Mrs. Galvan

November 4, 2011

Centerfold

Toys

Technology

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Fashion

As technology developed in the adult world, the toys and entertainment for children advanced as well. Past fad toys like Yo-yo’s, Silly Putty, Skip-It, and Troll dolls were re-popularized in the Nineties.

Though the sales of simple dolls like Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, Barbie, and Polly Pocket remained high, interactive toys brought the industry to a whole new level. Electronic and virtual pets like Giga Pet, Furby, and Tomagotchi attempted to teach kids the responsibility of having pets.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and Power Ranger action figures were in the hands of every young boy. The Nineties was also notably considered “the Disney Decade.”

Disney saw tremendous success with their films Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Lion King, Toy Story, Pocahontas, and Mulan. With the release of these animations, the Walt Disney Company began marketing toys, clothes, and books with its recognizable characters to the world. The invention of Nintendo 64 and Game Boys revolutionized the world of Nintendo; videogames were now portable and more accessible.

The Nineties were the first few stumbling steps to digital technology and the beginning of one of the most distracting possibilities for wasting time, the Internet. In its early years, the Internet was only used by engineers and scientists, mostly for research. It was during the mid-to-late Nineties, with the growth of the PC consumer market, that the Internet took off and became more user-friendly. One of the most visited sites of the time was AOL, which went from 200,000 users to one million within two years. Portability of music transitioned from the Cassette Walkmans of the Eighties to the CD Walkmans.

The Discman, one of the most popular at the time, was considered to be the “iPod of the Nineties”. The Discman, nevertheless, was no iPod Nano; it was a full sized CD player that was carried in backpacks or strapped onto a belt. Cell phones also ranged from various sizes, from ones that had to be carried in a brief case to others that were the size of a candy bar, depending on whether they were for business or personal use.

The design of the cell phone itself was less sophisticated with bulky buttons and retractable antennas. Because cell phones were expensive and uncommon, most relied on communication through pagers and pay phones.

The fashion world is cyclical, each era adding a small twist to a recycled trend. One glance at celebrities like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Miley Cyrus, Rachel Bilson, Taylor Momsen and many more reveals the strong nineties influence in the current trends.

Influenced by Nirvana and other grunge bands, fashion in the nineties matched the prevalently rock music.

Combat boots, band t-shirts, plaid flannels, ripped jeans, bed-head and an overall disheveled appearance were considered “gnarly.” Aside from the “rad” rather “hipster” clothing, the nineties were a time when scrunchies, overalls, denim and cute wear reigned.

Like the Beverly-Hills-bred Cher in Clueless or the more normal teenagers from Saved by the Bell, the preppy shied away from the grunge fashion.

Scrunchies gathered hair onto strange heights on the tops of girls’ heads, overalls made farmers seem chic, and sweater sets completed the prep look.

And of course the “Rachel,” popularized by enduring style icon Jennifer Aniston on Friends, was the in hairstyle of the time.

- Hanna Jeong

- Elly Shin

- Jessica Lim

Photo courtesy of coolspotters.com

Courtesy of Nickelodeon

On Fashion: In the middle [of the 90s], it was like this weird awkward period.

My hair was like a horrible mushroomlike bowl cut.

On Toys: Heck yeah. I’m the original Mario Brothers player on the original Nintendo.

-Mr. Chaldu

-Ms. Morrissey

On Slangs: “That’s gnarly…” I used “gnarly” a lot.

-Mrs. Casanova

Photo courtesy of Sony

3 favorite things from the 90s: Grunge, Riot Grrrl, and horror movies… and Furbies!

-Mr. Kovac

A&E

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November 4, 2011

The Web Epidemic: Self-Importance

theGAMUT

Theresa Phung

The creation of a worldwide web led to several innovations of the modern day: political expansion, social exposure, invasion of privacy, unorthodox perversion, and rampant idolization of scathing, often pointless critique. The web persona is sick—congested with the illusion that strangers with punny screen names do in fact care about their infinitesimal philosophies. It’s an Photo courtesy of Pitchfork

affair of delusion and self-praise. Nothing, though, could be as ludicrous or nauseating as the resident elitism promoted by review boards.

Movies: When it comes down to merciless movie manslaughter, The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) no doubt comes squealing into mind. IMDb draws out the flowery, gilded kind of pretentiousness: the only aspect of use is their ability to type gargantuan words without spellcheck. User reviews are more akin to rants than anything remotely comprehensible — critiques, praises, anything with substance becomes lost in an absurd maze of Arial Narrow.

The closest IMDb gets to redemption is that its foundation spans worldwide — novellas on “Real Steel” are available from Hong Kong to the Phillipines to Aukland.

Music: Music reviews don’t get much more painful than Pitchfork. Loyal to its title, Pitchfork is ready to gut any pitiful album that creeps past, no qualms and no restraints.

Unlike IMDb’s faux sophistication, Pitchfork

New Girl

avoids the flowery “I have a deep, complicated comprehension” for a vicious “I know what’s crap and what’s not, so listen to me” attitude. Their review boards are saturated with strung-together vulgarities and obscenities, so much so it becomes more like an x-rated horror film than anything musically comprehensible. Pitchfork in a nutshell: the man who looks ready to throttle if someone even breathes the word “Coldplay.”

Television: If there were any popular review site whose self-absorption was in the least bit tolerable, it would be Televisionwithoutpity.

True to its absurdly lengthy name, TWP has the knack for chewing out TV sitcoms, animations, and dramas with all the tenacity of a playground bully. Admittedly, said bully still bullies — boxing the ears of House and giving wedgies to Vampire Diaries — but what makes TWP surprisingly enjoyable is the sheer amount of sass embedded into its very existence. The site thrives off the regurgitation of snark. Clever one-liners, sarcastic articles, and a bright sunshine yellow homepage

Although the men disapprove of some of Jess’ eccentricities such as the fake vampire teeth she wears, she soon proves herself to be insightful and helpful with their relationship problems. At a wedding they attend together, for instance, Jess encourages Nick to “take [his] shoes off, and dance [his] face off” rather than mope over his ex-girlfriend and fall into a flirtatious trap.

New Girl creates an endearing portrait of a disheveled girl who is not afraid to be silly but still has a unique personal charm. This sitcom conveys a powerful sense of optimism through Jess’ open heart and positive outlook. Though her immediate reactions to life-altering situations such as the end of her six-year relationship are not typical, she manages to work her way towards a happy ending, extending the feel good quality of the show to relatable issues.

Finally finding closure, Jess happily tells her exboyfriend, “I’m living with three guys I met on the Internet and yeah stranger danger is real, but I love these guys.”

New Girl puts a fun and light-hearted twist on relevant issues such as painful break-ups, career expectations, and unexpected friendships. It creates a funny yet heartwarming story about a group of unexpected friends making their way through their daily problems with the support of one another.

Although the show has the amusing and succinct quality of any other sitcom, the characters are still able to interact and approach their problems in relatable ways, highlighting the importance of friendship and humor in times of difficulty.

Jordan Reyes Photo courtesy of screenrant.com

Hot Tracks from Coldplay

Having seen John Carpenter’s The Thing long before watching this movie, I came into the theater knowing what I wanted out of its prequel. I wanted it to explain some origins of the events in Carpenter’s film and that of the Thing itself while also establishing some ideas of its own. I left the theaters disappointed.

I expected this movie to be somewhat of an homage to its predecessors and have a few easter eggs scattered throughout the movie, but nothing that would detract from its originality. Although the movie claims to be a prequel, it tries too hard to be a remake. It is understandable for the film to want to draw influence from its predecessor but instead it tries to imitate it excessively.

The characters in this movie are almost carbon copies of those from the 1980’s version. There is the typical grizzly, male protagonist and attractive female lead who is shown little respect from her male peers despite having the most astute observations.

Contrasting the moral and sensible leads is the crazed scientist who is too committed to his work to care about the events occurring around him. Finally, there are the typical background characters who do not get noticed all that much until they serve their

After a grueling three-year hiatus, Coldplay has returned with a new album that explores unfamiliar musical boundaries.

Officially released on October 24, Mylo Xyloto (pronounced MY-loe Zy-letoe) has already placed first on iTunes’ and Amazon’s list of top albums. With a curious title that nobody really knows the meaning behind, Coldplay’s fifth album breaks new ground with electronic vocals and backgrounds, yet still manages to keep the band’s original sounds, including the voice of lead singer Chris Martin and the background variations on guitar and piano chords.

Critics of Coldplay often complain

with an intro of synthetic beats, deviating from the normal instrumental piano or violin motifs that Coldplay is known for. The lyrics are, unfortunately, rather uninspiring and hollow, as Martin sings about kids dancing all night until another Monday morning in life approaches. Composed better musically than lyrically, this single further exemplifies how members of Coldplay arguably never pick the best track as an appetizer for their album. A bit more satisfying than the first, the second single, “Paradise,” immediately identifies itself as a product of Coldplay, complete with dramatic string progressions marked by fresh, electronic twists. The chorus ends distinctly

Gracee Kim

that all of their songs are lukewarm and boring. For these people this album is a pleasant surprise as many of its tracks, like “Hurts Like Heaven,” step away from the normal sequence of piano-driven sounds and explore more bouncy pop-synthesized beats and the energetic, fast-paced pulsating drum clockworks in the background. For the loyal fans who have remained dedicated to Coldplay’s softer, slower-build up of the chorus for fifteen years, songs like “U.F.O.” and “Us Against the World” fulfill their cravings for more emotional and sentimental tracks.

The first single dropped from this album, “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” begins

CRINGE-WORTHY BLUNTNESS (LEFT): Pitchfork describes Stevie Jackson’s album, (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson, as a “music fan’s doomed attempt to seduce through the strength of his record collection.”

The Thing

Yong-Shing Chiang

With the return of the usual feel good shows such as Glee, New Girl provides a refreshing sitcom centered on the fast-paced yet genuine friendships of four young people sharing an apartment building.

Starring the lovable Zooey Deschanel, it recently premiered on September 20. Deschanel transitions from her previous cool, collected acting roles into the light-hearted, naïve Jess.

As the show begins, the quirky Jess devises a stripper persona named Tiger Boobs to surprise her boyfriend, Spencer. After giving an equally embarrassing and endearing performance of her “doing sexy things with the pillow” and “sexy stuff with the plants,” she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her. She vividly compares this particularly nasty break-up to the untimely but avoidable deaths of girls in horror movies.

This dramatic event in Jess’ life lands her in an apartment with three other men—Winston (Lamorne Morris), Nick (Jake Johnson), and Schmidt (Max Greenfield). The men function well together, using a “douche bag jar” to check possible misdemeanors, and they each possess distinct personalities.

Winston, an old roommate who returns from playing oversees basketball, shares similar playful characteristics with Jess. Nick, the most practical of the three, is still recuperating from a difficult breakup that occurred six months ago. Lastly, Schmidt, is a high-achieving business man who struggles to be taken seriously by women and be accepted by the “big shots.”

complete its jester-like personality. Although TWP doesn’t do much besides state the horribly obvious, it manages to cover up its inefficiencies with scathing humor.

IMDb, Pitchfork, and TWP, Youtube, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook — the web has become congested with sites that insist on patrons being as self-absorbed as possible (though most would label it self-expression).

Thoughts become convoluted and painted over with flowery words or witty jokes — the content is squandered beneath all the paint. When the world is being updated “I woke up” and “Please like my comment” and “I ate my first In n Out burger today! :D” something just might be wrong, just might be a little sick.

purpose as examples of how well the director can film gruesome deaths. Although Joel Edgerton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead have naturally convincing auras when onscreen, their characters and co-characters are very one-dimensional and static. With minimal development in the characters, what you see is what you get.

Unlike Carpenter’s version, where every character in the film served a purpose, whether it was being a badass protagonist, a calm, logical worker, or a mad scientist, the new version seems to throw in characters simply because it had the budget.

The characters in Carpenter’s film may be typical archetypes, but they don’t start off that way, and the movie expertly showed how The Thing warps their mentality. The current movie only wants the audience to know that most of the cast gets scared easily.

The movie as a whole is as good as the shoddy character development- immensely predictable. It usually follows the same pattern: characters grow suspicious of someone else, tensions rise, someone proposes that everyone is a suspect, and then someone gets killed. Although the 80’s film followed a similar formula, the expertly developed characters and dialogue added to the suspense of the movie, making the viewer constantly guess which character is truly who they say they are. The new version attempts to do the same but fails.

Despite the hype and potential that was tied to this prequel, the movie does not deliver. All it did was make me feel like I should have saved my six dollars and just re-watched John Carpenter’s The Thing on Netflix.

BLAZING IT (TOP): Mary Elizabeth Winstead torches The Thing.

with Martin’s ubiquitous voice singing the title in a series of fading cascades.

Different from previous Coldplay albums, Mylo Xyloto amps up the volume and brings quicker, catchier beats to its tracks.

For fans who don’t appreciate electronically synthesized voices and backgrounds, this change could be slightly disappointing. The transition from their rock-based music to a more alternative and pop style isn’t too drastic for the average listener, however. So instead of focusing every bit of attention towards Justin Bieber or Adele in the upcoming months, be sure to check out this new album as well.

Lifestyle

November 4, 2011

Dining

with

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Royalty

Theresa Phung

With its sunshine yellow billboard, Al Amir Bakery is hard to miss in the gargantuan plaza at Brookhurst and Ball. Snugly squished between the U.S Post Office and a Filipino restaurant deceptively named Bingo’s, Al Amir offers Lebanon spliced right out of the Middle East and plopped into the center of Anaheim.

Admittedly, from the outside, Al Amir looks questionable.

Everything from the bright McDonald’s yellow and red sign, to the huge posters advertising flatbreads (known as manaeesh in Lebanon) with photoshopped fires in the background gives the impression of a 90’s pop video: gaudy and uncomfortable. Upon seeing it, my companion snorted, grimaced, and sarcastically blurted, “That’s it?”

After parking our bikes and trudging in, though, first impressions immediately change. The restaurant is clean and spacious, with just the right niceties that hit home.

A television set advertising other Middle Eastern stores hangs off the wall, faux windows decorate the opposite wall (that are surprisingly less tacky than amusing), and the cashier lays starboard, awaiting patiently with a massive menu on the wall above her head.

I ordered two popular house dishes: the Zaater and Cheese and Sojouk and Cheese, and had my cash ready in hand but the cashier

smiled and told me to pay after my meal. Immediately it struck me as a completely ineffective method of payment and that they were bound to encourage dining and dashing by the boatload. But perhaps that’s one of Al Amir’s many unique traits that make it so refreshing.

Of course one of those qualities is the food itself. After ordering, the food emerged within ten minutes, piping hot and freshly baked from the oven. The Zaater and Cheese ($2.99)—a special house blend of sesame seeds, thyme, and olive oil—was tangy and refreshing, and somewhere in the mix, exotic popped into my mind.

But for those who are a bit skeptical about trying unfamiliar foods, the Sojouk and Cheese ($4.75) is ideal. The Sojouk is a mildly spicy Armenian beef sausage that is just the right amount of savory without being overwhelming and poises well with a perfectly melted blend of cheese.

Additionally, both flatbreads offer a sPhoto o f t , courtesy c h e w y cofe n t e r b a l a n c e d w i t h a trendfashionstyle.org crispy crust—just charred enough for the world to know that Al Amir Bakery does in fact, use a real brick oven.

And the world has been giving Al Amir Bakery attention—it is rated amongst the top restaurants of Anaheim on Yelp and has been featured twice in the Orange County Register.

Regardless of being in the middle of a community thriving with other Middle Eastern gourmet,

there is no questioning why Al Amir is receiving all the accolades.

The bakery possesses something quaint within its many contradictions—a shoddy storefront with a cozy interior, restaurant quality food without the prolonged wait, foreign foods with familiar textures. But the most noticeable contradiction of all is that in Arabic,

Al Amir translates to The Prince.

The ethnic manaeesh might be a popular proletarian dish back in Lebanon, but Al Amir Bakery is able to add its distinctive flair, something exceptional that makes it deserve its regal title.

BAKED TO ORDER (RIGHT): Al Amir Bakery makes unique and delicious flatbreads to order.

Fingernails for fall Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org

Yong-Shing Chiang Nail art, an increasingly popular pastime, is a mode of self-expression that introduces an impermanent form of body art. Even with limited colors, interesting and eye-catching designs are still possible. The versatility of nail art makes it easy to modify designs and create new ones. Without breaking your budget, you can accentuate your outfits with a pretty nail design that can be easily altered for any occasion. In preparation for fall’s rainy days, here are simple instructions for “Silver Raindrop” nails.

For this design, you will need sea green nail polish (Read My Mind by OPI), white nail polish (Alpine Snow by OPI), v-shaped tape, and tear drop-shaped and round rhinestones.

2. First, apply two coats of sea green nail polish and wait for it to dry.

3. Next apply the v-shaped tape to the center of the nail

4. After the v-shaped tape is in place, apply white nail polish above it, and peel off the tape after the nail polish dries.

5. Then add a tear dropshaped rhinestone at the bottom point of the v-shaped curve and a round rhinestone at the top.

6.

Continue this process with as many nails as you want.

If you are interested in altering this simple design, you can embellish the edges of the v-shaped curve with round rhinestones in colors of your choice. If you want to opt for a simpler, neater look, you can place round rhinestones on the nails that do not have the white tips. This design is easy to work with and can be done with various nail polish colors. The “Silver Raindrop” design has a color scheme that is fitting for a rainy day. You can, however, choose more vibrant colors such as red to create a more dramatic effect.

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November 4, 2011

Lifestyle

theGAMUT

Oatmeal for the Teenage Soul Jordan Reyes

The internet is a powerful tool that has generated many mediums of art and creativity. One of the most popular forms is web comics.

Web comics are a widely known form of entertainment that does not just rely on their delivery to be funny.

Artists often have some type of message or theme to get across in their comics and the use of crude but funny jokes help the message stick with readers. The lack of restriction and censorship that are put on these artists allows them to create comics that are much more relatable.

Unlike the comics of yester year that were confined to the medium that of printed newspapers, web comics are free to create whatever they want, however they want. It allows them to write about a relatable topic like school, geek culture, or grammar in the most realistic way that makes it possible for people to say “Story of my life,” or “Ain’t that the truth.”

Take The Oatmeal: on the surface his comic, “When to use i.e. in a sentence,” may seem like nothing more than jokes about yetis who enjoy yak’s blood and about using claymores to destroy unicorns, but those jokes and examples help convey his goal, to make people more grammatically correct. You will never forget that “e.g.” is used when wanting to make “egg xamples” and “i.e.” is used when you need to get something “in essence.”

Yet, all comics aren’t as detailed and as unicorn-murdering as the Oatmeal’s “When to use i.e. in a sentence.” Some of his comics and comics of other websites are briefer blurbs that get straight to the point. His comic “Dear Slinky” is just that, a brief recount of every child’s obsession with trying to get

Photo courtesy of The Oatmeal

Photo courtesy of trendfashionstyle.org

Photo courtesy of fashclothing.com

a slinky to do its famous downstair fall. The attempt, just like many of ours, was unsuccessful. Although at first this comic may sound sad, his overexaggeration of the character’s emotion and language makes it quite funny because as crude as it may seem, that’s how we all felt when our slinky failed us.

Some web comics discuss different types of pop culture or events like HiJinks Ensue. It is a well known fact that David Tennant

is highly regarded as playing the titular character in Doctor Who, some going even as far as saying that he is the best.

There are those, however who believe that the new iteration of the Doctor with Matt Smith is the best.

HiJinks Ensue agrees with the latter and humorously exaggerates his experience of telling his Tennant-loving friends that he prefers Smith. Matt Smith lovers and geek-lore lovers will definitely get a kick of how relatable these

comics are.

Next time you’re perusing the internet for something to procrastinate on your essay with or something that you can laugh at, give web comics like The Oatmeal, HiJinks Ensue, or Cyanide and Happiness a try.

THE OATMEAL (RIGHT): Popular webcomics such as this one discuss everyday musings with a humorous touch.

A Costume Zoom Gracee Kim

“In girl world, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut, and no other girls can say anything about it.” Taken from the famous movie, Mean Girls (2004), this serves as a reflection of what a night supposed to be filled with genuine creativity has actually become.

When we think about Halloween, we tend to associate the holiday with scary ghosts, frightening decorations, and most importantly, costumes that portray our originality. But when we walk to the female teens and adults sections of our nearest costume store, the majority of the costumes seem to depart from this purpose. Why? The obvious answer is displayed in the extravagant designs and colors.

The costumes are far too revealing and similar to be focused on these ideas. The cut and shape of the outfits are identical to one other, with the exceptions of an eye-patch for a pirate or a feather duster for a housemaid.

The way these costumes are designed falls to the trap of a patriarchal view that women are to be pleasing to the male gaze. Our expectations for each gender become unhealthily prevalent during this one night; male costumes are

exaggerated representations of masculinity, and female costumes are tools meant to exude sexuality, not imagination or creativity. These costumes, however, seem to take particular issue towards females by implying their lesser abilities.

The contrast between male and female costumes reveal the questionable motivation behind these outfits. Male costumes focus on various subjects ranging from professions, cartoon characters, and whimsical creatures. Females, on the other hand, have limited costume choices that typically deal with visual appeal only.

Even if the female costumes are representations of successful careers, they flaunt the women’s bodies more than their brains. Men career costumes are very precise representations of the actual attire, but women career costumes are drastically altered to replace the professionalism with suggestive provocation. Nurses, cops, and firefighters are just a few of the many careers that do not seem so prestigious when women wear the costumes.

We use Halloween as a justification to do many things we normally would not do. Let’s just count the number of candy

Photo courtesy of Gemma Correll

wrappings we have at the end of Halloween week. But just as it is difficult for us to stop chomping on sweets once we start, how far can we go before we permanently become insensitive to the objectification that these costumes imply?

Criticism of these costumes may seem trivial, especially when no one seems to mind once Halloween night rolls around. But that seems to be the core problem: no one

realizes that these costumes could be accurate representations of our society’s views.

So here is a thought for next Halloween: consider the real fun and creativity behind Halloween before you go buy a costume at the party store.

CHOOSING WISELY (RIGHT): Webcomics explore issue of sexualized costumes.

Sports

November 4, 2011

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Areas of Disagreement Vincent Nguyen

What the lockout means for the future of the NBA

On Oct. 10, David Stern, the commissioner for the N.B.A., announced that the first two weeks, or first 100 games, of the regular season would be canceled.

Had negotiations between players and owners been successful, the season would have started on Nov. 1. After a series of talks between league and union officials lasting a total of 13 hours over a span of two days, Stern announced the long expected delay.

The split was mainly caused by the fundamental issue of how the $3.8 billion pool of revenue that the N.B.A. has would be divided. What finally ended the negotiations, however, was the dispute over the system of the N.B.A. as a whole.

Owners want the N.B.A. to become more balanced so that all teams have an equal chance of winning the title. As of now, the last four N.B.A. championships were won by teams that have paid the luxury tax, a tax only incurred by high-spending teams. This tax was made to deter prodigal spending by teams, as it is believed that higher spending directly

contributes to results.

In order to alter this pattern of large spenders vying for the title while the small spenders are left out of the competition, owners want a stricter luxury tax to standardize spending and promote fairness.

Players oppose this idea because if teams have less money to spend, then they would be paid less.

Recently, players have earned 57% of revenue generated by the league as a whole. Owners want this number to be 50% or lower.

Derek Fisher, president of the players union, does not believe that competition is affected by the payroll, arguing that there are many other factors that contribute to a team’s success.

Over the period of the lockout, the league as a whole is expected to have losses of about $325 million in basketball related income (BRI).

Some players are looking into playing for a foreign league abroad, while others are opting for exhibition games or training sessions until the lockout ends.

Players and owners are not the only ones affected by the lockout. For instance, 114 N.B.A. workers were laid off from various offices in New York, New Jersey, and around the world.

Arena workers and local businesses around the arenas are feeling the financial implications.

Arenas intend to fill up the empty spots left by the games with other events, but not all the dates can be filled with events that generate as much money as an N.B.A. game does, especially on such short notice. Some dates will simply remain empty.

Most importantly, fans at home and the television networks that advertise to these fans are deprived of their professional basketball programming. Fans are eager to view their favorite teams compete for the title, while the networks are eager to gain back their viewers for their advertisers.

This is the fourth time that a lockout has occurred, with the previous one happening during the 1998-1999 season of only 50 games.

In the previous lockout owners

lost about $1 billion and players lost about $500,000 in paychecks.

A main issue was the hard salary cap, which would set a limit on the maximum salary that a player could be paid. Owners conceded this hard cap to the players, although a soft cap was set which limited the salary for veterans and players at the top.

Areas of agreement were the raising of minimum salaries for rookies and rules of drug testing.

As with the preceding lockout, owners have the upper hand and are expected to be granted a majority of their demands.

Players and owners have been resolute in their positions, with little signs of yielding on both sides.

More recently, even with the help of a federal mediator, George Cohen, talks have broken down despite a 16 hour marathon session.

Cohen has withdrawn from the negotiations, after players could not accept the 50-50 split that the N.B.A. offered, demanding a 52.5% or no deal.

Final Stretch for Boys Cross Country Dustin Nguyen

Boys face challenges of a difficult season

The ongoing season of boys cross country has yielded new challenges for the team including budget cuts and tough competition.

Through the last weeks of the season, the team has overcome its lack of resources to stay competitive with the rest of the league.

Budget cuts involving cross country currently limit transportation and other resources of the team. Senior George Kuruvila notices the effects of the budget cuts on meets.

“We used to have more meets because we had funding, but now we just don’t have the money,” Kuruvila said.

The team, however, has adapted to the cuts. The runners now carpool to most of their meets; they rely less on the bus for transportation.

The team also compensates for the cuts through fundraisers such as selling tickets for the Orange County Car Show.

“Ticket sales helped raise the money we needed,” junior Jeremy Burns said. “The buses got us where we needed to be.”

Another challenge for the team

is the current difficulty of the league, which includes schools with recordbreaking runners.

“This might be one of the toughest leagues this year,” Coach Nathan Taylor said. “We’re in the middle of a really tough season.”

The team, even against such schools, manages to keep up with the competition. The runners scored fourth out of twenty-one competing schools in

“

Going through the pain of working out together, we are all bonded by our sweat and effor t

the recent Mt. SAC meet.

“I’m impressed with the times dropping,” Taylor said. “The team is still improving as the season goes.”

Along with improvement, the team also demonstrates high morale even with the challenges. Junior Lawrence Benavente stays calm regardless of team’s situation because he knows not to let the difficulty discourage the team.

“The motto is ‘no big deal’,” Benavente said, “In the end, we say ‘NBD’.”

League finals showed the effects of the effort put into overcoming the challenges, resulting in many personal records. Throughout the season, the bonds formed by the team made the experience worthwhile.

“Going through the pain of working out together, we are all bonded by our sweat and effort,” Kuruvila said.

SPEEDING UP (RIGHT): Junior Jeremy Burns runs in preparation for an upcoming meet

Sports

November 4, 2011

Libero Jasmin Hernandez on the defense Dustin Nguyen

The girls varsity volleyball team has been pushing through a season against tough competitors such as St. Margaret’s and Whitney.

Despite such high level competition, the team manages with the help of a key player, junior Jasmin Hernandez.

Sari Zureiqat

American sport-lovers are often extremely familiar with and enthusiastic for their country’s own pastimes, most prominently demonstrated by the westernized football that has little to do with feet. Mention a sport like rugby to the average American and suddenly the world returns to an age of pre-technology where knowledge of European affairs takes a long journey across the Atlantic to reach U.S. ears.

But Americans are missing out in this regard: a sport like rugby football is rightly popular around the world and easy to enjoy by the average teen.

The Rugby World Cup (RWC) took place this year from Sept. 9 to Oct. 23, hosted in New Zealand. Broadcast in the U.S. in high definition by NBC Sports and Universal Sports, the RWC featured many participating countries from around the world. The New Zealand “All Blacks” emerged victorious after competitions

with France, Australia, England, Canada, Romania, South Africa, and various other countries. The International Rugby Board (IRB) cited it as the third largest sporting event in the world, following the equally diverse Olympics and FIFA World Cup. But while many Oxford students watched the last FIFA World Cup in teacher’s classrooms, the Rugby World Cup went largely unnoticed.

Though played with a similar ball, rugby is very different from American football; it is, however, not too difficult to learn. The most obvious difference is that in rugby, the ball can only be passed laterally or backwards, and never thrown forward (the only way to advance a ball is by running with it or kicking it). Also, in rugby, a player ahead of the football throughout the game is considered off-sides, unlike the off-sides in American football occurring during the initial

Photo courtesy of rugbyworldcup.com

“If they spike it over, it’s my job to get the ball,” Hernandez said.

“I pick up what they put down and I throw it back at them.”

Hernandez has a strong role in the team’s defense while maintaining bonds with other players.

“Jasmin is a really sweet, fun person to be around as well as a great team player,” senior Phoebe Kim said. “You can always rely on her to dig up hits and pass the ball.

She is a very dependable libero and defensive specialist.”

“She has improved since last year,” Le said, “She [moved on to become] one of the most prominent defensive specialists on our team.”

Aside from her personal performance, Hernandez points out the impact of maintaining a connected team as a result of the bonding outside of school and practice. With the volleyball season soon ending, the girls still remain a strong team.

“Compared to last year’s team, we’re more connected,” Hernandez said, “We bond well and it reflects on the court.”

Hernandez is also the shortest player on the team, which would normally put her at a disadvantage. She does not let that fact bother her; she plays her best regardless of her stature.

“Even though I’m the shortest person on the team, I’m still tough,” Hernandez said.

snap at the line of scrimmage. A score in rugby, known as a try, involves the player pressing the ball to the ground rather than simply entering the end zone. And in rugby, the team conceding the score then kicks off.

Rugby generally provides a much more active game than American football: a play doesn’t stop at an incomplete pass. Only a score, foul, or out-of-bounds ball stops the play, so the game is much more fluid—similar to soccer.

Plays are therefore not structured extensively for every “down” as in American football, but are rather more impulsive and require quick thinking from the players.

Interestingly, in order to continue a play after a rule infringement, players from each team bind together in three rows facing the other team in what is known as a scrum. As a ball is rolled in between the two teams, the front row players, facing one another, interlock heads and attempt to hook the ball backwards to their team using only their feet. In addition to the scrum, rugby allows for more freedom and opportunities to kick the ball—as an alternative to making passes, the player with the ball can kick it forward and attempt to recover it.

And here’s the best part--rugby doesn’t require expensive helmets, shoulder pads and shin guards, since the game is played with modest padding. On a professional level, head and bodily injuries are common, but fear not—a casual game in the park or a rugby-watching party with friends won’t require a hospital visit. So grab the ol’ pigskin and move forward (while passing backwards, of course) with this European game.

A LATERAL PASS (LEFT): In rugby, the ball advances forward by first moving backward.

Girls cross country advances together

Though Hernandez plays libero, she can assume different roles on the team. A versatile player, she is able to contribute multiple strengths to the team’s defense.

Other varsity girls have noticed Hernandez’s growth over the years of playing, including returning junior Diana Le.

theGAMUT

Indie Sports: Rugby

Hernandez, a returning player this year, is a vital component of the team’s success. Hernandez plays the position of libero, a defensive player whose job is to be one of the first lines of defense.

“When I’m not playing as libero I can play back row, and if coach needs me in the front row, I’m there,” Hernandez said.

12

Christine Kim

Team members focus on development through practices

The girls cross country team members have improved their times and achieved personal goals since their first meet. After running together during summer and attending after school practices, the team has found consistent attendance at practice to be essential for meets.

“Running is something where you really need time to get better,” freshman Mary Garcia said. “It’s really all about practicing.”

The team ran about nine miles every week during the summer, and practiced five days a week throughout the season, regardless of the heat.

“I think we’ve progressed a lot since [summer practices] because I’ve seen improvement in everyone and I think everyone [is] just doing their best in achieving new goals,” Garcia said.

Though cross country is largely about the individual, the girls find that the support from working in a group makes practice worth the time.

“You need [to attend practice] in order to go to the meets and practice is a great way to relieve stress and hang out with your friends,” freshman Jennifer Zambrano said.

Sophomore Jacqueline Lee also finds that practices are important for advancement because the team is able to challenge, motivate, and encourage each member to better her time.

KEEPING IT FUN (ABOVE): Freshmen Jennifer Zambrano and Mary Garcia use practice for more than just running. intensity of the team’s workout sessions in an email interview.

practices, but asserts that the improvements are worth any pain she feels.

“Our normal practices are like other teams [sic] punishments. We are preparing for competition, but we are also developing mental toughness, discipline, fortitude, and […] determination.”

“After getting into shape, you really adjust and in the end, your time is just so much better. We all love running, so any soreness is just totally worth it,” Lee said.

After school, the team can be seen doing more than the standard long distance runs.

“I […] improve so much more after practicing with the team. Not everyone can just run by themselves and improve, and that just defeats the purpose of even having a team,” Lee said.

“This year, we do the stretching, jogging, and sprinting still but we also do a lot of conditioning. We’re focusing more on our core muscles. Oh, and we do intense workouts on the [exercise] bicycles,” Lee said.

Mr. Taylor commented on the

Lee admits that she feels sore after

At the league finals on Nov. 1, the team put in its best effort and achieved personal records .

“The first meet was […] hard […] because we didn’t know what to expect. But now we […] know what to expect, we know our competition, and we just know we have to try our best. It’s not really about who you’re competing against, it’s about you and your time,” Garcia said.