Issue 7, 2016-2017 by The Lancer

the

LANCER

Volume LV, Issue 7 » Mar. 15, 2017 » Thousand Oaks High School » 2323 N. Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 » www.tohsthelancer.org » thelancer.tohs@gmail.com » Circulation 2,304

PATH TO SCIENCE

FAIR

Students in The Center for Advanced Studies and Research work towards the Science Fair on Mar. 23. pg. 04

PHOTO » APRIL SANCHEZ» THE LANCER

STORYTELLING REINVENTED

INFRASTRUCTURE TAKEOVER

SPARK AN IDEA

The video game “Bastion” offers players a different experience from novels.

Local and global environmental issues inspire students to take a stand.

Freshman Zoe Siman-Tov discovered a passion through soldering a Tesla coil.

pg. 11

pgs. 12-15

pg. 16

EDITORIAL

Hits and Misses

STAFF EDITORIAL

We fell for a doggone lie

What’s Up and Down with The Lancer Hit: WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! WASC! EVERYBODY!

Miss: Obama may be spying on you through the microwave. What’s next? Hacking into our Hot Pockets?

Hit: UC’s and Cal State Universities propose a 20% limit on out-of-state admissions. Cali > Everyone else.

GRAPHIC » REBECCA HEINZEL » THE LANCER

Should federal law allow business owners to require paperwork from service animal owners? EDITORIAL BOARD

yes

abstain

Service animals indisputably have a positive impact on the lives of the five percent of Americans that own them. Yet, a recent controversy defending the interpretation of service dogs and their place in public situations eked itself onto the public scene. Technically speaking, a business owner, when greeted with a patron accompanied by an animal, is only legally allowed to ask the patron two questions regarding the validity of the animal according to the Americans with Disability Act of 1990. “Is that animal a service animal?” “Will the animal be performing what is was trained to perform?” Such vague questions prove there is an obvious flaw in the system, here. The committee that passed the ADA produced the act in an effort to refrain business owners or public officials from harassing people with disabilities into proving their pet’s worth as a service animal. However, what the ADA fails to take into account is the natural selfishness of Americans and, moreover, the human race as a whole. What this regulation devolved into is a loophole for the immoral and the selfish. Now we see perfectly able people walking into otherwise animal-restricted areas with their animals using the excuse of “this is my service dog, cat, pig, miniature horse…,” and because the company cannot legally ask for proof, the individual gets away with an innocent-enough lie. For example, if one shows up to jury duty in a courthouse with what they claim to be a service bird, Courthouse security might say he cannot have the bird in

the courtroom since animals are not allowed. But, as long as he says it is a service animal, it does not matter if security says that seeing eye and hearing dogs are allowed but not birds, the bird is still allowed in the courtroom. Security understandably believes the bird would cause a disruption to the court proceedings, but business owners must admit service animals even if local health department regulations or state laws deny access, the ADA trumps all other regulations. Any animal can be allowed. With this knowledge, anybody can disrupt the natural balance of a grocery store, marketplace or a courthouse with a trial taking place. Furthermore, several are using the service animal excuse to exempt them from businesses or hotels that offer pet fees. By using ADA as their fallback, anyone can say their pet is used for support in some way and bring it into their hotel room free of charge. The law needs to change. Not just for the benefit of the observers, the passersby or the owners of the establishment, but for the benefit of those who need service animals and have the proper documentation. Because of the abuse surrounding the use of ADA, people who legitimately need service animals are starting to be looked down upon due to inevitable skepticism now surrounding all service animals. Those with disabilities who have relied on their service companions for years are now the target of ridicule and claimed as selfish or inconsiderate for simply looking out for their own well-being. We need to accommodate the assisted by weeding out the counterfeits.

Miss: Daylight Saving Time. At least we have some change in our country.

Hit: Michael Knowles’ “Reasons To Vote For Democrats,” a 267 pg book of empty pages, was Amazon’s No. 1 Best Seller. Still rather read the Sparknotes.

Miss: Here’s The Lancer with your weekly weather report: 50° at first period, and 85° at fifth.

Hit: March Madness started this week. We were just informed this is not in any way correlated to a political movement.

THE LANCER STAFF 2016-2017 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Brian Lee Jessi Soporito

Shraya Blaisdell Sebastian Maya

Cameron King Allison Medley Paul Moon

Carissa Lo Quincey Smithers

MANAGING EDITOR

OPINION

Sam Kallen

Andrew Chau Gavin P. Norton Sierra Waters

BUSINESS MANAGER Cameron Neel

NEWS Natalie Pagan Nate Swanson

IN-FOCUS Joyce Huchin Hannah Mercer

FEATURES Clarissa Kano Kylie Patterson

STAFF WRITERS Abbey Austin-Wood Emma Caudill Austin Gregory Sam Hwang Abby Kawaii April Sanchez Samantha Shapiro

ARTIST Rebecca Heinzel

WEBSITE EDITORS Blake Saari Cate Valinote

ADVISER Tasha Beaudoin

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: www.tohsthelancer.org

The Lancer is the official school publication of Thousand Oaks High School, created and produced by students in Advanced Journalism. This publication as well as additional stories can be found online at tohsthelancer. org. The Lancer reserves the right to refuse advertising deemed inappropriate for high school publication. Guest editorials and “Letters to the Editor” are welcome, but must be signed and are subject to editing for length, libel, obscenity and grammar. They can be sent to thelancer.tohs@gmail.com. The Lancer is a member of the Journalism Education Association (JEA), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and NSPA All-American Hall of Fame.

NEWS

Marie Curie is the only woman to ever win two Nobel Peace Prizes.

14 percent of active members in the U.S. armed forces today are women

Women earn more than 60 percent of college degrees awarded in the U.S. every year.

Mary Kies was the first American woman to earn a patent in her own name

There are

157.2 million women in the U.S. and only

153.2 million men

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH The first International Women’s Day was held in March 1911, and now March is considered to be Women’s History Month. Women currently hold only 17% of Congressional and Senate seats in the U.S.

The first woman to run for president of the United States was Victoria Woodhull, who campaigned in 1872 under the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected in 1924 as the first female governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming governor.

Admiral Grace Murray Hopper worked on and wrote the manual for the first large-scale computer in the U.S. She also invented the compiler, which translates English commands into computer code.

Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17, making her the youngest winner ever

FAMOUS FEMALE INVENTORS SOURCE » WWW.PEWRESEARCH.COM

Windsheild Wiper: Mary Anderson

Dishwasher: Josephine Cochrane

Chocolate Chip Cookie: Ruth Wakefield PHOTO » THE LANCER

SOURCE » WWW. GENDERACROSSBORDERS.COM

SOURCE » SCIENCE.HOWSTUFFWORKS.COM

GRAPHICS » SAM KALLEN

NEWS

Science Rules The Center’s STEM program prepares for the Mar. 23 Ventura County Science Fair. With many having no prior experience, this will be a new endeavor. NATE SWANSON

News Editor

The Center for Advanced Studies and Research at Thousand Oaks High School has two branches of research, humanities and the sciences. The Scientific branch of the AP Research course competes in various categories of the Science Fair annually. This STEM class is taught by Dr. Nikki Malhotra during 4th and 5th period as the AP Research class. “I act as a coach for this academic program and try to guide my students in problem solving throughout the year,” Malhotra said. The students in the class are very self-sufficient on their own and even have senior mentors to help and guide them along with Malhotra. Much of the work for their projects is done outside of school just by dedication of the participants to perfect their projects. Malhotra emphasizes the importance of project based learning, especially to those in the Research program. “[The Science Fair] may become more competitive this year since more kids understand the importance of project based learning and couple of other high schools are preparing more seriously this year,” Malhotra said. Along with the other schools, Thousand Oaks is ramping up their competition as well. Amgen scientists are visiting the classes, giving feedback to the students and working directly with them and their experiments. The before mentioned mentors work alongside the students to help improve their work. The kids also started working on their labs earlier to attempt to perfect their work as much as possible. “I am testing the condition resistance of pesticides and specifically the two classes of insecticides organophosphates and carbamates. Angersophla and transition of insecticide resistance from those two classes,” Junior Chandler Witt said. He is testing the environment flies are in with two different types of pesticides and how they react to their newfound environment over two generations. “I am killing flies in the name of science,” Witt said. Witt plans to do as well as possible, as anyone

would, in the Environmental Science category. There are somewhere around twenty categories in the Science Fair, including Environmental. The students in the Research program span across all the categories of the competition with a vast difference in all of their experiments. Nearly 1,000 students compete in the Ventura County Science Fair, and the top 75 advance to the California State Science Fair to compete in Sacramento. The grades of participants range from 6 to 12 and stretch across all of Ventura County. The Science Fair takes place from March 23 to March 27. The first set up day is March 23 and the judging day is March 24, but the Awards Ceremony takes place on March 27. The State Science Fair does not happen until April 24 and 25, which the top 75 students advance to compete. Approximately 275 volunteers with engineering and science professional backgrounds across all of Ventura County judge the competitors. While some contestants use complex formulas and concepts, some are taking their projects down a more simple path. Almost back to basics, or back to the time Junior Zachary Zernik was in the eighth grade. “[In the eighth grade] I took a simple concept, and another simple concept, combined it and tested it. There was nothing complicated about my project,” Zernik said. Zernik competed in eighth grade with that project, and used the feedback from the judges that year to help fuel his project this year. He continued to speak with judges and representatives from donating companies and one company even gave him one hundred dollars to find alternative fuel. “To find my project, I took a simple concept, that feed often contains herbicides from the growing process, and another simple concept, that components in feed often persist into manure, and found a way to test it,” Zernik said. With the Science Fair less than ten days away, The participants of Thousand Oaks High School are hard at work perfecting their craft.

HARD AT WORK—(Top) Junior Nathan Holloway uses his phone to put calculations into his notebook. (Bottom Left) Junior Ken Zhou filters chemicals. (Bottom Middle) Junior Zachary Zernik pipettes a substance from a beaker. (Bottom Right) Junior Bronte Brazier works with bacteria in the fume hood.

ALL PHOTOS » TASHA BEAUDOIN » THE LANCER

NEWS

ALL PHOTOS » NATALIE PAGAN » THE LANCER

WORKs OF ART 3

SAMANTHA SHAPIRO

Staff Writer

Lancers have been busy working for weeks, even years, to present their compositions in the annual student art show. From March 13 to March 17, students’ artwork will be shown in the Performing Arts Center’s foyer. The featured works consists of art from the Ceramics, Art Media, Drawing, AP Art, Photography 1, Photography 2 and AP Photography classes. Photography teacher Lisa Ravitch noted there are many works from students, with nearly 200 individual student submissions, but several students have multiple works on display. Students have worked hard in preparing their pieces for the show, some submitting pieces they have worked on for the past year. Senior Kevin Hagedorn created many surrealistic works over the past two years. “Some of the art that’s been put up took me from last year to do,” Hagedorn said. “I just chose some of my favorites and saw if they could ﬁt.” In Holly Smith’s ceramics class, senior Nolan Frederickson used the medium to create an ice cream sundae.

Art students look back at their work as they showcase their art, photography and ceramics in the PAC lobby March 13-17 which is open to students and the public. He spent three weeks creating the piece, dedicating two weeks to actually making it, and another week painting it. It was a newfound challenge for him — having to make the ice cream look as realistic as possible created the task of detailing the texture of the ice cream, whipped cream, and cherry through shaping the clay. While preparing their artwork, some of the artists had trouble in the process of creating their submissions. Seniors Cole Whiteman and Allie Thompson, who found themselves not dedicating the time to finish the pieces right after starting them, chose to come back to it after taking a break. “I start a lot of drawings and then it takes so long that I get so sick of them,” Whiteman said. “[After placing them on hold], I come back to the ones I actually like and finally finish them.” Others have trouble starting out drawings and dedicating enough time to their work. “I take way too long to start a drawing,” Thompson said. “I should draw more, especially in this class, but I take too long of breaks.” Some artists found difficulty in discovering what materials would fit their art the best, especially those who have used more than one method to convey their message. “I just like how [art] can be really anything you want it to be when you look at it,” Hagedorn said. “I definitely have trouble figuring out what media I’m going to do art pieces in, so it always takes me a while to figure that out. Even with the difficulty the artists face in preparations, the finished products are worth the effort. “It is always a busy and time consuming process that is completed with the labor of love,” said Ravitch. “The teachers and students...all do this hard work to allow for a space for students’ work to be shared and experienced.” Many of the artists find that having their art featured allows for an opportunity for them to express themselves. The art program allows for a unique opportunity to create what they like and grow in their artistic abilities. “My favorite thing about ceramics is how creative I can be,” Frederickson said. “The clay can become anything I want it to be.”

“It is always a busy and time consuming process that is completed with the labor of love.” —teacher LISA RAVITCH

STUDENT ART— (1) An ink drawing by junior Hannah Mackay (2) An ink dot drawing by sophomore Breanna Mosier (3) A multi-medium piece using copic markers and color by senior Allie Thompson

ADVERTISEMENTS

CALENDAR â&#x20AC;&#x201D; MARCH/APRIL SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

15 -WASC Summary Meeting -Art Show

16 -Link Crew Interviews -Art Show

17 -Art Show

20 -Talent Show Auditions

21 -Talent Show Auditions

22 -Common Planning Day -Talent Show Auditions

23 -Miss Dance Drill Team Nationals -Talent Show Auditions

24 -Miss Dance Drill Team Nationals -USA High School Spirit Nationals ~ Cheer -AP Research Science Fair

25 -USA High School Spirit Nationals ~ Cheer -Winter Guard Performance & Competition @ Monrovia HS

26 -EThOS Virtual Enterprise Competition

27 -EThOS Virtual Enterprise Competition

28 -EThOS Virtual Enterprise Competition -Mandatory Cheer Try Out Meeting

29 -Orchestra Performance @ TO PAC

30 -Choir Heritage Festival -USA Nationals ~ Varsity Dance Team

31 -Choir Heritage Festival -USA Nationals ~ Varsity Dance Team -Orchestra Festival

-Choir Heritage Festival -USA Nationals ~ Varsity Dance Team

-Moorpark College Orientation Class

-Common Planning Day

-NSPA Journalism Convention ~ Advanced Journalism -Talent Show Rehearsal -Pre-ID AP Bubbling

-NSPA Journalism Convention ~ Advanced Journalism -ASB Open Applications S.W.I.T. Rally Day

-Choir Heritage Festival -USA Nationals ~ Varsity Dance Team -Orchestra Festival Awards

-NSPA Journalism Convention ~ Advanced Journalism -ASB Open Applications

ACCESS Ackerman College Counseling and Educational Support Services Helps Students: Develop Extra Curricular Activities Resume Compose and Edit Outstanding Admissions Essays Navigate Financial Aid Create an Appropriate list of Schools at which to Apply

For more information, contact Bill Ackerman (818).371.4956 accesscollegecounseling@gmail.com

Since 2001, ACCESS students have been admitted to: Princeton Harvard Stanford Chicago MIT Penn Cornell Washington University in St. Louis Notre Dame Georgetown UCLA Claremont McKenna Wesleyan Virginia Illinois UCSD and many, many more

Last year, his students were admitted to: Brandeis Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Carnegie Mellon Case Western Reserve Clark College The Cooper Union George Washington Georgia Tech Hofstra Indiana University

Juniata Loyola Marymount Loyola University of Chicago Macalester College Michigan Rice UC Irvine USC University of Washington Tufts

ENTERTAINMENT

TS:

ESEN IAN PR

DON’T TAKE MY CHIPS

Photography to Phonies CATE VALINOTE

Website Editor

Just ten years ago, photography demanded a collection of gear and expertise to capture a mediocre shot. When mobile phones welcomed camera apps into the picture, the world of photography changed. All of a sudden, anyone could capture an attractive photo embellished with autofocus and built-in ﬁlters. Not only does an extensive mobile library store up to thousands of shots, but social media boasts the chance for these shutterbugs to establish a public portfolio. As of 2015, a DMR Stats Report revealed that there are over 100 million iPhone users in the United States — that’s 100 million people walking around, ready to capture an image at a moment’s notice. For the majority unwilling to invest in expensive cameras and their accessories, these user friendly photo apps and social media platforms expose the general public to billions of picturesque images— but what does this mean for the real artists: the photographers devoting hard-earned time, money, and thought to emerge beyond the amateur stage? Senior Shyla Sturman found her love for photography at ten when she got a hold of her mom’s Nikon. Ever since, she spends her sunsets shooting subjects outdoors. Afterwards, she edits her photos — adjusting light and color to maximize the warm tones. When she got her ﬁrst DSLR, she started using Instagram. Sturman pointed out that many pursue photography for sponsors and followers. With user-friendly apps and portfolio builders like Instagram, countless pages can be found aiming for the same goal. Many famous photographers have begun releasing their presets, which transform

ordinary photos by applying a collection of functions that cause the image to mirror the expert’s style. If an amateur photographer is uninterested in editing their dull photos, but wants to achieve the look of their favorite professional, they could simply buy a Lightroom package that works almost like a phone filter. As a follower of many photography accounts, Sturman is disappointed in professionals for allowing others to borrow their craftsmanship. “That’s your artistry! Don’t sell it,” Shurman said. Luckily, the true artists have what the fame fanatics do not — authenticity. “For me, a photographer should have a certain style,” said Sturman, “that’s true with any art.” Lisa Ravitch, the photography teacher at TOHS, guides students towards finding their artistic identities by encouraging them to opt for cameras instead of phones to foster a creative mindset. “[Phones] lead to good things in terms to experimentation, but can also lead to haphazardness and [lack of] focus,” Ravitch said. Yes, the newest iPhone may have a six element lens, flash that adjusts to the environment’s color temperature, and optical image stabilization that reduces blur and handshake, but the photographer has a limited amount of control compared to a camera. “A skill becomes watered-down, less formal, less intellectual. Everyone feels as if what they do is beautiful,” Ravitch said. Juniors Irene Li and Jake Clark’s skills behind the camera allow them to develop a successful Instagram. They both prefer the DSLR to the smartphone. “With a camera, you choose whether you want the foreground [or background] to be in focus,” Li said. Clark and Li are surprisingly humble for a talented duo taking Instagram by storm. They have a knack for capturing their peers’ personalities and lifestyles, but were quick to say that they don’t consider themselves professionals. Their modesty is refreshing in a world where many believe a gadget can buy them artistry. Luckily, we can count on these students to help distinguish the line between artist and amateur. “There will always be art and people who use their medium, photography,” Ravitch said, “For something higher than just aesthetics.”

From heavy photography equipment to light phones, technology allows photographers to use easier equipment for the same quality photos .

Say it’s lunch time, the peak of demand for all snacks and foods alike. Hypothetical person A, Rasheed, has a bag of lime-flavored potato chips, which are highly valued and worth at least a pack of Gushers. You love lime chips, and luckily have a pack of Gushers that you can’t even eat due to health reasons that your mother forgot about. You both proceed to do the only thing that would make sense — trade foods. Soon the both of you are on your dandy way with each other’s items in hand. BUT HOLD UP. As chief lunch marshall, I say the trade is unethical without providing a reason, leaving poor Rasheed confused and forcing you to trade your gushers with the only other person willing to eat them — hypothetical person B, Duong. Unfortunately, Duong’s mom is uncool and only packs unsalted assorted nuts. You can’t eat the gushers but need to eat something, so you reluctantly accept. As you stare at the combination of tasteless ginko nuts and all the other nuts no one knows the names of and prepare to eat them, everyone starts complaining about you eating the nuts. I don’t really know why they’re complaining, but they are. Now you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, because I said you couldn’t eat the chips leaving the nuts, but now people won’t allow it. What if I told you the food didn’t matter, and the root of all this lunchtime evil is hypocrisy and the government of Texas. For a state whose motto is “friendship,” Texas isn’t doing so hot with extending that friendliness to 17-year-old transgender boy, Mack Beggs. Beggs recently won the Texas girl’s wrestling state title for the 110-pound weight class after going 57-0. Any feat of this scale should call for celebration in normal circumstances, yet Beggs is waist deep in a pool of angry parents, athletes and lawsuits. The problem begins with the fact that Beggs is two years into his physical transition from female to male, which means he has been taking medically prescribed doses of testosterone in order to make the change. According to Texas Education Code and the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the use of steroids like testosterone is allowed if “dispensed, prescribed, delivered, and administered by a medical practitioner for a valid medical purpose,” so Beggs has every right to compete, however,the UIL has a rule stating all Texas high school athletes must compete in the league that aligns with the gender marked on their birth certificate. That being said, I’m with the angry parents, because the UIL has created a rule directly targeting trans-athletes, creating a fat cluster-storm of controversy, but on the other hand, Beggs should absolutely not be allowed to wrestle in the girl’s league. He has a clear unfair advantage over his female competitors. He is blatantly taking performance enhancement drugs — medically prescribed or not.At regionals, two of his three opponents forfeited with “safety” cited as their reason. There’s nothing wrong with taking the testosterone for his procedure — it’s the fact that the testosterone has given Beggs a biological advantage. Rulings should be case by case in these scenarios because students undergoing a physical gender change isn’t the most common event in high school athletics. Texas is one of only a handful of states that still doesn’t allow boys and girls to wrestle in the same league, so if they removed that separation, this would have ever happened in the first place. If Beggs was placed in the boy’s league, there is no way he would have found as much success as he did when competing with girls, and none of this controversy would have occurred. It isn’t his fault, it’s simple biology mixed with the idiocracy of some rules. Bottom line, no one should be forced to trade away their lime chips for a lame bag of nuts and Texas shouldn’t force Beggs to compete with girls. —Brian Lee

ENTERTAINMENT

MARCH SO FAR IN HASHTAGS

The Lancer focuses on what fellow Lancers have been talking about in March. These talking points not only demonstrate what our school focused on this month, but how they shared those focuses with the world. Just as students remain lively on campus, they remain active on Twitter.

TOHS lancers always feel a sense of school. Yet, this month especially felt a surge of school spirit when the girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s varsity basketball team won the ---- championship and proceeded to go to the CIF regional championships at the Honda Center. Shown above, our principal Lou Lichtl uses #BleedGreen to show his support and rally support for the team.

ENTERTAINMENT

PHOTO » SHRAYA BLAISDELL » THE LANCER

Cinqo: Fast food done differently This new Mexican cuisine “fast food” restaurant Cinqo opened in Thousand Oaks six weeks ago. Its short wait times, freindly service and unique takes on the classic taco and burrito will leave customers coming back again and again.

HAPPY EATING — (Above left) Cinqo’s chips with tomatillo and habanero salsa. (Above right) Tofu based burrito. (Middle) Cinqo’s communal table has spacious seating. (Below) The menu is displayed above the checkout counter.

Entertainment Editor

Trust me when I say this isn’t your average fast food restaurant. Cinqo is called a Mexican cuisine fast food restaurant because of its order-ﬁrst style and quick service a necessary addition to the Thousand Oaks food scene. It’s not fancy or expensive, yet the restaurant’s quality and character remains the same as a more upscale food joint. With simple ingredients, Cinqo will be a favorite of all types of eaters. Its food remains true to the cuisine’s traditional ﬂavors while incorporating elements of the arising trend of “healthy-fast-food.” Basically, it’s delicious. Cinqo opened six weeks ago and is run by chef Niko Scholz, the sous chef at other restaurants in

Thousand Oaks like the upscale Pearl District. Unlike those restaurants, however, Cinqo is very laidback restaurant that is perfect for students. The interior of the restaurant is open, but not empty. The decor seems a little meager but doesn’t detract from the amazing wholesome food. With comfy, booth and a long communal stool table, Cinqo is designed well for its intended purpose — quick eating. I loved the charming elements that were incorporated around the room; small succulents adorned the tables, and the chairs had wood detailing consistent with the tables. Judging from the atmosphere of the restaurant and the quality of the food, Cinqo won’t be a stranger to families or students. The menu is pretty comprehensive, but doesn’t go overboard with options. It was pretty straight forward, and any questions I had about the ingredients were enthusiastically answered by the friendly staff. The menu follows a step-by-step format whereby each component of your meal is separated by a step. You have the option of getting a burrito, two tacos, and a bowl to hold your ingredients. I was surprised when I got the food so quickly — in less than ﬁve minutes; they weren’t kidding when they said it was “fast” food. Quite frankly, I’m glad it didn’t run off the table … because it was so fast. Each meal was served in a gridded bowl-platter lined with newspapers from around

FAST FACTS

SHRAYA BLAISDELL

the world. Accompanying a dish, a new newspaper showed up: the London Royal Times, the Honolulu Tribune the New York Tabloid. I swear that I didn’t like this aspect of the presentation just because I write for the school newspaper. The whimsical and cute presentation makes the food more interesting to look at. I feel like Cinqo’s portions were very reasonable, especially for the price. The burritos were at least the same size or bigger than Chipotle’s. And although the tacos didn’t appear large when I first saw them, I quickly realized that Cinqo gives more than enough food to satisfy customers. I was very full after I finished them. The darker meats, pork and beef, were marinated very well. They were tender and definitely my favorite part of the meal. One of the servers told me that they brine their meat for 12 to 24 hours before they put it in their dishes. The chicken was nicely cooked and mild. All the ingredients from the lettuce to the tofu to the Spanish rice tasted homemade and fresh. None of the ingredients were over-seasoned and blended together well to form light, yet hearty foods. None of the dishes were oily or greasy, which can be a problem in Mexican cuisine done wrong. And, a word of advice — they’re not messing with you when they say the Habanero salsa is extremely spicy. The prices are affordable for each dish (even on a student’s budget) and seem reasonable for the quality of food served at the restaurant. One of my meals, the two tacos, cost $9. My biggest concern with Cinqo is the short hours. Being open only until 8:30 pm every night, I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to eat at Cinqo after seeing a school basketball game or another late-night event. That being said, Cinqo is a staple Mexican restaurant in Thousand Oaks because of its affordable prices, distinctive flavors, and clean aesthetic. It’s great Mexican food that will leave you wanting more.

(805) 247-0001

Monday-Sunday 11 AM-8:30PM

2024 E Avenida De Los Arboles

$$*

*Information in graphic about prices based on reviewer’s opinion.

OPINION

Competitive

Illogical S PHOTO » WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

With Betsy DeVos as the new United States Secretary of Education, the current Presidential administration has reintroduced the concept of school vouchers — especially (but not only) in low income neighborhoods of inner cities. The proposed legislation would allow California to offer school vouchers for private school choice in addition to the preexisting public school choice. Should the state of California further the distribution and expansion of vouchers?

YES

Vouchers broaden options by promoting healthy competition

Vouchers are hypocritical and waste taxpayer money

ABBY KAWAI

Staff Writer

Voucher schools have been under the spotlight as of late, and many people seem to have a negative view of them. When looking at the facts, however, voucher schools can actually be beneficial to taxpayers, students and public schools. With proper financial and curriculum regulation, voucher schools can become a great option for students. A common misconception about voucher schools is that they are harmful to the budgets of public schools. However, when placed vouchers can actually save some money. For example, Florida’s Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research found Florida’s tax-credit scholarship program was saving the state $58 million per year as of 2012-2013. Voucher schools can only hurt public schools if a majority of students attend them, which is highly unlikely. Another thing to consider is the healthy competition that having local voucher schools promotes. Competition motivates businesses to give their customers better service, and the same thing goes for schools. If a public school is in direct competition with a voucher school, it will push underachieving schools to improve their education systems or risk losing more students. A study done by Caroline Hoxby, an American labor and public economist, showed that all schools performed better in areas where there was competition among public and private schools. Students deserve the best education that they can receive, and having local public schools compete with voucher schools gives them more options and an overall better experience at whatever school they choose. Voucher schools also give students the opportunity to pick what school they want. Specialized education is a great feature of voucher schools because public schools have very strict curriculum rules. Exceptional students who want to broaden their horizons can choose a school that aligns with their interests through a voucher program. A student who wants to go to a local school with a STEM program could go there through a voucher program without paying a fortune. Students with special needs could go to a private school that can better accommodate their needs. This is why voucher programs should be, could be and often are in the best interest of the students. The effects of school voucher programs on the students themselves is also something to consider. Schools offering voucher programs show the students that they care about them individually and can provide quality education for all. When surveying students from the Milwaukee voucher program, David J. Fleming found that voucher students demonstrated higher levels of political tolerance, civic skills, future political participation and volunteering than students at public schools. The Supreme Court itself declared that voucher schools, including religious schools, do not violate the First Amendment and are constitutional. The voucher system should, therefore, remain as an alternative to public schools.

GAVIN P. NORTON

Opinion Editor

In 13 states and Washington DC, anybody who lives in certain districts selected by a state board can voice their displeasure with their school district and relocate their child to a more respectable charter or private school free of charge. The only reason this sounds too idealistic is because it is. The program I’m referencing is the School Voucher Initiative, (sometimes addressed as Opportunity Scholarships) and their primary purpose is to place children in impoverished areas into one of several private or charter schools deemed by the state as appropriate. Now California wishes to be added on the not-so-prestigious list of states to initiate the program for Opportunity Scholarships, and the plan they wish to take could not be more hypocritical. A name like “Opportunity Scholarships” suggests that the scholarships being presented would gift the recipient with a new opportunity. On paper, the concept sounds great; why not give every student equal opportunity to the great, free education like they deserve? Well, it is perhaps because of the use of that fateful word “opportunity” that the program is receiving so much justified backlash. In America, we should already have opportunity. America was founded on the principles of opportunity and now our government is telling us there are many in poverty without the opportunity to have an equally fruitful public education. The plan itself is inherently anti-public school. If approved, the plan would grant vouchers worth as much as $12,000 each to every low-income student in the state of California to use at the private, magnet, charter or traditional public school of his or her personal choice. By setting forth a notion to grant thousands of dollars for families to opt out of public schools, the state government sends a clear message: the public schools many families would be sending their children to are inadequate. It’s as sensible as if Payless shoe store handed out “Buy one pair, get one free” coupons for Foot Locker to their specifically poor-looking customers. It’s counterintuitive and redundant. The plan California established for the initiation of vouchers makes it so voucher-schools would receive similar aid from the state without actively following the same curriculum as public schools. So, this could mean taxpayers who are vehemently a specific type of schooling would be required by law to pay taxes that would be used towards vouchers to bring students through the undesirable program. Which, in turn, drives attention away public schools, where the funds should be allocated first. Furthermore, we’ve already tried this in California and it just cannot work. In California, voters have twice voted down private school voucher initiatives, once in 1993 and once in 2000. So, the program is not only apt to be rejected by the public schools losing their appeal and the voucher-schools gaining an unwelcomed influx of new, likely unmotivated students, but also by the citizens in California who know their tax dollars would only be hurting the education of Californian children as a whole.

OPINION

A new style of narrative The concept of storytelling is revolutionized by video games like “Bastion,” which make the player an active part of the narrative rather than a passive observer. ANDREW CHAU

Opinion Editor

Everyone loves a good story. I think that’s a fair and uncontroversial statement; we as human beings enjoy partaking in someone else’s or something else’s journey, whether it’s true or fiction. But what exactly is a story? And what forms can it come in? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is a little vague. Maybe it’s when I tell a friend about something that happened to me. Maybe it’s a ghost story we tell while sitting around a campfire. Maybe it’s a book, or a play or a movie. Or maybe, it’s a video game — a narrative game, to be specific. Let’s take a look at Supergiant Game’s “Bastion” to further explain. Spoilers ahead. Stories all have a common thread: storytelling mediums have an audience. We, as an audience, are expected to react to whatever information is presented to us. We watch Snape kill Dumbledore, and we feel sad, angry and betrayed. We see Buddy save Christmas and we are happy for him. The emotions we feel are purely sympathetic ones — we feel frustrated or hopeful out of sympathy for a character. In “Bastion,” a narrative game, you play as “the kid” after the Calamity, which destroyed the world, leaving nothing but ruins and monsters. Your job is to restore the world by gathering crystal cores to bring back to the Bastion, a safe haven that survived through the Calamity. When powered up, it can rewind time to the past, before the Calamity ever occurred. Even though you play as the kid, you have no control over the story that unfolds before you. You are an audience, albeit an active one. You watch scenarios unfold and you have no choice but to go along with the predetermined story. In the linear world introduced to you, that’s completely fine — your quest is to collect shiny rocks and save the world. It’s that simple. But eventually, the game says it’s not that simple. To find the cores, you destroy anything and everything in your path: monsters, buildings, memorials — the list goes on. But that’s okay. Even though you’re obliterating the post-apocalyptic world that’s trying desperately to rebuild itself, you’re doing so for the greater purpose of restoring the world. When first playing through the game, chances are you won’t realize you are wreaking havoc on the societies you encounter. But even if you do, that understanding is worthless. Sure you’re playing as the kid — the main character — but you’re still an audience: your personal reactions, opinions and desires are meaningless. The story moves on regardless of how you feel.

Then, things become interesting. As the story progresses, you eventually learn the reason for the Calamity. Your people, the Caels, led an imperialistic society that was developing a genocide machine entirely unprovoked to wipe out a neighboring race of people, the Ura. However, it backfired and destroyed the Caels instead. Here, the once-simple quest becomes complicated. If you collect shiny rocks and rewind the world, you risk repeating the unprovoked Ura genocide. On the other hand, if you choose not to collect shiny rocks, all the havoc you’ve wreaked is unjustified. If “Bastion” were a book, movie or any other traditional storytelling medium, you would observe the main character choose between these two options and you would probably feel sad, regardless. Instead, since it’s a video game, you have the power of choice: you yourself choose to repeat history or to continue in the aftermath of what you’ve destroyed. The first time I played through “Bastion,” that decision, despite being a matter of one button press, took me ten minutes. Even though it’s a fictional story, I invested myself in the game and its characters. I felt as if my personal opinion carried was important and relevant. Moreover, it was my own choice. I didn’t read about or watch someone make a hard decision — I pulled the trigger. No matter how well-written it is, a book or movie can never create an experience comparable to the one in “Bastion.” Through video games the role of the audience can be transcended. In these, we take on the role of the main character rather than act as an audience to him or her. We make our own decisions and are responsible for whatever consequences ensue. As a result, we feel an entirely new set of emotions that are impossible in other genres. That’s something we as a society should be excited about. Narrative games pave the way for the future of storytelling. Far too often, video games are frowned upon because they are seen as violence-inducing. But I want to suggest that well-written narrative games can have the same depth as the classic literature we study in school. Maybe they don’t appeal to everyone, but that shouldn’t invalidate them as educated pieces of work. One hundred years ago, film and television changed the way we experience stories. Now, they’re both parts of everyday life. Likewise, narrative games mark a revolution in storytelling, redefining what is and isn’t possible.

GRAPHIC » ANDREW CHAU » THE LANCER

Seas The Day “Go ahead, go grow up.” —Mike Wazowski, “Monsters Inc. Fun fact about myself: I work with kids. A lot. I am a swim instructor, a basketball referee and a tutor. Most of the kids I work with have a pretty good set of morals, but not all those kids are, simply put, superstars. But even those kids give me hope, because since they’re so young, each one of them has potential. I’d have to say though, the hardest part of working with kids is working with their parents. I feel as if calling a foul against their kid (who’s obviously the next Michael Jordan) doesn’t give them the right to call me a donkey’s backside. Or if I don’t pass their child on his swim test because he can’t float on his back, but apparently he deserves to pass just because they believe in him. But maybe that’s just me. Dealing with parents like these has made me realize that kids are awesome, and there are definitely some things that we could learn from them. First: Kids invented DIY. They aspire to a higher form of creativity — originality. It’s hard for us to accept that not everything we do is going to be “Pinterest perfect.” However, a little kid can create anything they want with anything they want. A lump of Play-Doh will soon be the Flying Spaghetti Monster himself. I was once coloring with a four-year-old girl who gave me a piece of paper with incomprehensible scribbles and two triangles on it. Upon asking what it was, I found out that the triangles represented the two of us, and the scribbles were ice cream. It’s abstract. You wouldn’t understand. Second: Kids are incredibly accepting. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, gay, straight, alien, or whatever. They don’t know any stereotypes until we tell them. When I was working at a camp for special-needs kids over winter break, I was nervous that the “abled” kids would be mean to their different peers. But every single kid played with our campers and wasn’t mean at all. They don’t see differences, they see personalities. Third: Kids are straight-forward. This goes for younglings of all ages up to about twelve. They have no problem voicing their opinions, and they’re pretty passionate too. Even older ones make their thoughts known in a very direct manner. Last week I went to outdoor school where I was responsible for a bunch of sixth grade girls I had assumed were going to be super passive-aggressive. It was the exact opposite. If one of the girls was being annoying, the others had no problem telling her. It wasn’t mean, it was just honest. Fourth: Kids take compliments. I, for one, am definitely guilty of having a hard time being complimented. In our minds, our habits of self-deprecation create walls to self-acceptance. However, if you talk to any kid and compliment them, 99.97% of the time, they will answer with, “I know.” Fifth: This is probably the most important concept that kids can teach us: Teamwork. The fact of the matter is society is designed for us to work together. But sometimes it’s really hard to do so when people are just so frustrating to work with. However, kids are spectacular at compromising and letting the leaders of the group take charge. It’s because of their honesty and acceptance that makes communicating with each other so easy. Whether that’d be a group project or finally getting seven jumps in Double Dutch, they understand that everybody has a role. I mean, obviously these things are a give and take, but I believe children’s innocence is the foundation of the world’s hope. So I think we should spend more time with kids; seeing them smile and look up to you will light up your whole life. — Sierra Waters

IN-FOCUS

Environmental impact

Admist political debate around environmental issues, clubs on campus work to lessen the damage TOHS has on the environment.

GRAPHIC » SAM KALLEN » THE LANCER

IN-FOCUS

Make a local impact JOYCE HUCHIN

In-Focus Editor

The rupture of a 7-inch-wide pipe allowed for ﬁve billion cubic feet of methane gas to escape into the atmosphere, between Oct 2015 - Jan 2016, according to the Washington Post. This incident is known as the Porter Ranch gas leak or the Aliso Canyon gas leak. It is one of the extreme cases that highlights the risks associated with gas storage facilities, and it happened one hour away from TOHS. “The Porter Ranch methane gas leak was the largest in U.S. history, releasing 97,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere,” Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Recycle Club president Fallon Rabin said. Structure failures such as this bring into question the safety, or lack thereof, of human projects designed to contain natural resources such as gas or oil. Pipelines are categorized as one of these structures, which threaten the environment and human health. “The leaking of a pipeline, especially if it’s near a water source, whether it’s a lake, stream, river or groundwater, is a risk,” AP Environmental Science teacher Heather Farrell said. “Even a single drop of oil has the potential to contaminate many

STUDENT-RUN — Green 4 Green vice president Shannon Lin takes a compost bin to the AP Environmental class’s habitat between the C and B building.

gallons of water, and the slightest contamination can pollute an entire water source.” Pipelines continue to be built because they bring economic proﬁt. The ofﬁcial website for the North Dakota Access Pipeline reports the pipeline is an infrastructure project meant to transport North Dakota product that can be sold in the global market. Also, the TransCanada Corporation proposed Keystone XL, a 36-inch-diameter crude oil pipeline that extends from

Kansas to Alberta, Canada. Meanwhile, environmentalists argue that economic gains should not be prioritized over health and safety. “By allowing the pipeline projects to go through, we increase our reliance on using fossil fuels rather than finding a renewable healthier alternative,” Rabin said. “Also, it would be very expensive to clean up, if it can even be cleaned up.” Residents of Ventura County experienced health risks associated with leakage starting in the 50s at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, owned by Boeing Co. The incident prompted community members to demand political action be taken to resolve the problem. According to the LA Times, residents’ concerns were addressed in 2007 when California passed a law that established high standards for the cleanup process. Boeing, NASA, and the US department of Energy are in charge of the cleanup. Their ten year deadline was 2017, but they delayed it again in Jan. “Santa Susana is a place in Simi Valley where the largest nuclear accident happened in the US, and they’re still fighting it today,” Farrell said. “There are mom groups in the area whose children have the rarest of rare diseases, which are caused by radioactive fallout, and when there’s a fallout, it doesn’t get contained to one area. It spreads.” Despite the danger associated with pipelines, President Donald Trump’s executive order on the Keystone and Dakota pipelines allows TransCanada to reapply for a cross-border permit to build Keystone XL and for Energy Transfer Partners to complete the North Dakota Access Pipeline. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is meant to preserve the well-being of the environment and people by enforcing federal regulations, but environmentalists warn against the newest head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt. “Pruitt is the Ex-CEO of the Exxon oil company. He doesn’t feel that climate change is a serious problem and believes that carbon dioxide is not the contributing factor to climate change,” Rabin said. “He took more than $300,000 of donations from gas, coal, and oil companies. He also intends to cut 25% of important programs that help reduce toxic pollution and save human and animal lives. Scott Pruitt weakens the EPA agency that he has been appointed to lead.” The federal leadership is criticized by environmentalist groups. Many find that focusing their energy on local efforts is most rewarding. TOHS has two environmental clubs that aim to reduce the school’s eco footprint. The ACE Recycle Club organizes the recycling and the Green 4 Green club does the composting. “We need a compost system at this school because it creates a closed loop system where the food we don’t eat goes to use instead of being thrown away and sent to a landfill,” Green 4 Green vice president Shannon Lin said. “It’s almost entirely student-run along with support from Rhonda Frohn, our club advisor.” Students interested in environmental issues reach out into the community by working with Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization that educated the public on oceans, watersheds, and the general environment. “I coordinate beach and creek cleanups for my club with the help of Heal the Bay,” Rabin said. “I also help educate the public while volunteering at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, helped on the No on Measure O campaign to stop oil drilling in Hermosa Beach, and the Yes on 67 plastic bag campaign in November.” Rabin’s political and community involvement sets an example for all students who also wish to make a positive environmental impact. Despite national troubles, TOHS has students like Rabin, who bring positive change to campus and the community. PHOTO » CARISSA LO » THE LANCER

IN-FOCUS

2 3

PHOTO » CARISSA LO » THE LANCER

Bin use breakdown RECYCLE In classrooms, blue bins are for empty plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

PHOTO » CARISSA LO » THE LANCER

RECYCLE Lined, printer, construction, and all other types of paper go in the tall, green recycling bin.

COMPOST PHOTOS » FALLON RABIN » WITH PERMISSION

Compost bins are for any unfinished food waste such as fruits and vegtables. Each bin features students’ original artwork.

TAKE CHARGE — (1) Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Recycle Club president Fallon Rabin hosted a beach cleanup at Leo Carrillo State Beach and collected 52 pounds of recyclables and 74 pounds of miscellaneous trash on the beach. (2) A compost bin decorated by senior Sofia Lin sits between the I and J buildings outside of I4. This year the Green 4 Green introduced compost bins to campus. There are large bins in hallways and on the quad, as well as smaller bins in classrooms. (3) The ACE Recycling club stands outside of the Ralph’s on Moorpark Road on DATE. They handed out reusable bags donated by Heal the Bay. The club helped educate the public about Proposition 67, which was on the November ballot and passed, placing a tax on plastic bags in California.

FEATURES

the

LIGHT

ROOM

MADE TO SHINE— (Top Left) Siman-Tov demonstrates how her Tesla coil operates to power a lightbulb. (Top Right) A disconnected lightbulb lights up in close proximity to her homemade Tesla coil. (Below) Siman-Tov’s tools are ready to build with in her home workspace.

PHOTO » CARISSA LO » THE LANCER

Freshman Zoe Siman-Tov discovers her love for soldering and engineering by constructing projects in her own garage with inspiration from her grandfather. KYLIE PATTERSON

Features Editor

Over the summer, freshman Zoe Siman-Tov spent her sunny days not at the beach, but in her garage building her very own Tesla coil, a transformer used to produce high voltages at high frequencies, simply for fun. In order to construct the Tesla coil, Siman-Tov had to learn soldering, where you use iron to heat up the solder, a malleable metal with a high melting temperature, and use it to fasten metals together. She first learned how to solder last summer after it was recommended to her by her grandfather. “I wanted to build a Tesla coil,” Siman-Tov said. “My grandpa said it would be cooler if I soldered it instead of just used a solderless breadboard, which is a board that you plug electronic components into, like transistors, resistors, wires, to see if you’ve connected everything correctly before you solder.” There are many different types of Tesla coils that have been created along with the progression of technology. The type that Siman-Tov choose to build was more simple than others that have been invented. “There are cool ones but the one I built it creates an electromagnetic field, and then it’s able to light up the lightbulb without the light bulb being connected to anything,” Siman-Tov said. Siman-Tov has built things other than her Tesla coil, although that is the project she has enjoyed the most. “I built an electronic keyboard, and I tried making a sound amplifier, but I broke the resistor so it didn’t end up working,” Siman-Tov said. “I’m most proud of the tesla coil, it took a very long time. It took sixth months, because I had the wrong resistor.” Building this impressive piece of technology is no simple task, but all obstacles presented were ones that Siman-Tov overcame. “The hardest part was winding the coil, probably. That took a really long time,” Siman-Tov said. “You have to use magnetic copper wire and you have to wind it around PVC pipe” Siman-Tov’s main inspiration is her grandfather, who is an electrical engineer currently residing in South Africa, where her mother is from.

“He actually had his own company and was doing really well in South Africa, but I think they made some bad investments,” Siman-Tov said. “He inspired my aunt to become an engineer and now I’m into it too.” Another inspiration of her’s is Nikola Tesla, one of the most renowned inventors to date. “He’s a Serbian inventor. He’s the one who created AC currents. He was a rival of Thomas Edison,” Siman-Tov said. “He’s so cool. That’s how I decided I wanted to build a tesla coil.” Although Siman-Tov wants to be an engineer, she wants to learn more about the robotics side of technology, including robotics, and pursue it as a hobby. “It’s on my bucket list to build one of those robot arms you hook up to your arm and it mimics what you do,” Siman-Tov said. “Eventually I’d like to know enough about robotics where I can enter competitions.” Because of academic commitments, Siman-Tov is not currently working on any new projects, but has plans for things she would like to build in the future. “I haven’t been working on anything new because I’ve been trying to focus on the science fair,” Siman-Tov said. “I do want to try and build a capacitor, but I want to do that with my grandpa because I don’t want to do anything wrong.” The only advice Siman-Tov has for anyone looking to build a Tesla coil is one of caution and safety. “Do a little research before. Don’t touch the soldering iron because it’s very very hot. Be really careful with it because I’ve definitely melted some things that I shouldn’t have melted before,” Siman-Tov said. “Just be careful, otherwise it’s fine.” Siman-Tov is going to keep building new things, not only because she wants to be educated, but because she genuinely enjoys it. “I’ll continue working with this because I think it’s fun, and I’d like to go into robotics a little, so I think this is an important part of it,” Siman-Tov said. “One of my goals is to be educated about it. Because if I’m going to go into the field of computers, I should know all aspects of it, not just one aspect of it. It makes me feel like I’m an inventor. It makes me think I can totally do whatever’s in the future.”

“It makes me think I can totally do whatever’s in the future. ” —freshman ZOE SIMAN-TOV

PHOTOS » ZOE SIMAN-TOV » WITH PERMISSION

FEATURES

A CAREER IN CARE

Junior Kevin Perez-Norwood has had a love for animals all throughout his life. Now that he is older, he wants to harness that passion in order to have a fulfilling career helping and healing them as a veterinarian. CLARISSA KANO KYLIE PATTERSON

Features Editors

For as long as he can remember, junior Kevin Perez-Norwood’s love for animals has been a prominent part of his life. His aspirations of becoming a veterinarian grew from his childhood dream of working with animals on a farm. “I wanted to be a farmer when I was little because I always wanted to work with my hands outside and I had always loved the outdoors,” Perez-Norwood said. “When I was 12, it changed to veterinary science.” During the transition between wanting to be a farmer and a veterinarian, he even considered animal science, which involves the production of meat and foods, but Perez-Norwood decided against it. “I didn’t want to work in food production mostly because I wanted to focus on helping animals, and not on trying to get the most meat off of an animal,” Perez-Norwood said. “Also I think that being a veterinarian would be a lot more fulfilling.” His affinity for animals spurs from many things, one of these being the pets he has owned, including a coop of chickens he received as a Christmas present. He raised the chicks and once they were grown, he would sell the eggs to his neighbors. “The most fulfilling part of raising the chickens was watching them grow and becoming a parent to them. I say that because whenever I would take them out of the coop to mow our lawn, they would follow me like I was the mother hen,” Perez-Norwood said. “Besides that, the best part of having the chickens was just tak-

ing care of them and making sure they were always safe and happy.” Unfortunately, Perez-Norwood had to give away his chickens due to the ever perpetuating responsibility that is high school. “School was so much time and stress,” Perez-Norwood said. “I couldn’t give enough of my time to the chickens, so I gave them to a friend of mine.” He still found ways to educate himself on animal science and health. Perez-Norwood is a part of the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Animal Science (ANA) Majors Program and had the opportunity to discover the UC Davis’ veterinary program. “I went to an open house at UC Davis where they had the farm. The students actually take care of their own animals there, and then they sell them,” Perez-Norwood said. “I almost did 4H too, where people take care of their own animals. Everything I’ve seen, I’ve been interested in.” Another one of his inspirations is James Herriot’s book called “All Creatures Great and Small.” “I’m reading it now because my dad recommended it to me. [Herriot] is a great writer and uses a lot of descriptive words so you’re in the moment,” Perez-Norwood said. “It was a series of stories like where he is pulling a calf out of a cow, and all these incredible stories, and it’s what helped me know what I want to do.” Perez-Norwood can see his passion for working with animals continue in the near future too. “I’d love to get a job at a wildlife conservation center. One just

opened up nearby,” Perez-Norwood said. “They save exotic animals. Not the very exotic kind, but you know, birds, ducks, and not the usual things you’d see at a veterinary hospital.” None of Perez-Norwood’s relatives are involved in animal science, although his mother was raised on a ranch in Mexico with many farm animals. “I think my love for animals has always been with me. There was never one moment where I decided that I liked animals,” Perez-Norwood said. “Maybe my love for animals comes from my house pets or maybe from all of the stories that my mom tells about her time living on a ranch.”

MAN’S BEST FRIEND — (Top Left) Perez-Norwood’s chickens enter the coop he got for Christmas. (Top Right) One of the chickens roosts. (Below) Young Perez-Norwood walks his dog, one of his pets that helped fuel his love for animals. PHOTOS » KEVIN PEREZ-NORWOOD » WITH PERMISSION