Issue 3, 2018-2019 by The Lancer

the

LANCER

Volume LVII, Issue 3 » December 12, 2018 » Thousand Oaks High School » 2323 N. Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 » www.tohsthelancer.org » thelancer.tohs@gmail.com » Circulation 2,099

TRAINED TO FIGHT Senior Colt Sanders (back) prepares for his future as a firefighter while enrolled in the Los Angeles County Fire Department Explorer Program. pg. 7

PHOTO » COLT SANDERS » WITH PERMISSION

MONEY MOVES EThOS seniors prepare for their Virtual Enterprise competition, pitching their business plan to a panel of judges. pg. 4

HOLY HOLIDAYS

STARTING FRESH

Many holiday traditions like travelling, decorating, and gift giving have big impacts on the environment. pgs. 10-11

pg. 18

Girls water polo comes into the season with a nearly completely new team, and a completely new mentality.

EDITORIAL

Hits and Misses

STAFF EDITORIAL

Suspended Success

What’s Up and Down with The Lancer Hit: Even though their competition season plans were foiled by the fires, TOHS cheer stunted all the way to victory.

BUS CH

OW »

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LAN

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Miss: With the rain came the return of Lake Lancer south of the I building… Oh California.

TIS T»

LOE

Hit: TOXC stomped on their record and made CIF for the first time in 10 years.

Is suspension effective in disciplining high schoolers? EDITORIAL BOARD

yes

abstain

You’re sitting in the office after getting in trouble while an administrator decides on your punishment. Congratulations! They are suspending you for two days; enjoy your time off. Wait… something does not add up here… Why are they rewarding you for bad behavior? That is an excellent question. Providing students with free time is not a punishment. Students earning suspensions are disconnected from the academic environment, so removing them further is only perpetuating the problem. For instance, if a school suspends a student for being disruptive during class, then they are likely to be falling behind since they aren’t paying attention in the first place. Upon their return, the classroom greets students with makeup work. We’ve all been there; whether it’s a family vacation, sickness or a suspension, receiving makeup work on top of current assignments is nauseating. Suspensions set students up for failure by further stressing an already struggling child, resulting in declining grades. While students are in need of discipline, the method of doing so is in need of an update. A few days off from school isn’t going to improve behavior in an effective way. Sure, they may be scared enough to behave for a little while, but that won’t work long-term. Somebody needs to teach them how to replace their problematic behaviors or else they will continue beyond high school into real life. On that note, studies show suspension can increase likelihood of future anti-social behaviors such as stubbornness, bullying and physical aggression. Not only

are suspensions setting students up for failure at school, but they are later in life too. In addition to likelihood of hostility, suspension has shown to increase a students chance of contact with the criminal justice system later in life. According to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project, pushing students already at risk out of school will only encourage them to continue down the wrong path. If a student is threatening school safety, it is important to remove them, but this is not enough. Let’s say a student brings a knife to school, and administration suspends them. Once they return, what is stopping them from repeating the action? Students acting out like this need help. In a perfect world everyone would have stable, happy parents effectively disciplining their children and teach them what is appropriate, so it would not be up to the school to do so. However, this is not a perfect world, and someone needs to teach them appropriate behavior. CVUSD seems to agree with us with the BreakThrough Student Assistance Program. The intention of BreakThrough is to reduce suspensions and work with students and their families on the underlying reasons for bad behavior. Some students are automatically referred to the program based on their offense, but they can also refer themselves. BreakThrough has proven itself effective because ninety-seven percent of students do not repeat their original offense, thus improving their behavior. Our school district is on the right track with BreakThrough; the next step is to get other districts on the same page.

Miss: Not sure if you guys have heard, but they did surgery on a grape.

Hit: ANDY’S COMING… summer 2019.

Miss: After fan backlash on Twitter, “Friends” will in fact be there for you on Netflix through 2019.

Hit: “Dr. Who” fans will have to wait until 2020 for series 12. By then we’ll all be asking Dr. Who??

THE LANCER STAFF 2018-2019 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

Natalie Dulansky Blake Saari

Ryan Hong Dylan Yoon

Tanner Patterson Sierra Smith

NEWS

IN-FOCUS

STAFF WRITERS

Ann Portereiko Cameron Smith

Cooper Goyette Sophie Crivier

Natalie Venable

Abbey Austin-Wood

ADVERTISING MANAGER Anna Norton

Elle Taylor

ARTISTS

FEATURES

Abbey Austin-Wood

Chloe Buschow Natalie Dulansky

Brandon Cupples Rebecca Tarbett

WEBSITE EDITORS

ADVISER

Tommy Kackert Emma Tunnell

Tasha Beaudoin

COPY EDITOR OPINION

BUSINESS MANAGER

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.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: www.tohsthelancer.org

NEWS

Current Events Every Lancer Should Know 1. Borderline Shooting On Nov. 8, twelve people, including a sergeant from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department were killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill. A relief fund for the families and loved ones of the victims, called the Conejo Valley Victims Fund, was created not long afterward.

2. Camp Fire The deadliest fire California has seen since 1918 struck Sacramento and the surrounding area on Nov. 8. It killed 77 people and burned 153,336 acres of land.and took 17 days to reach full containment.

3. The Kilogram is Changing The kilogram as we know it is about to change. Previously, a kilograms’ mass was based on the Grand K, a metal cylinder in France, but scientists are developing a new way to define it. This change will have implications wherever precise measurements are used, including computing, manufacturing, and the study of climate change.

SOURCE » NPR

SOURCE » WIKIPEDIA

SOURCE » BOSTON GLOBE

SOURCE » NBCLA

SOURCE » TVLINE

4. E. Coli Breakout On Nov. 26 CDC warned that romaine lettuce in northern and central California was linked to E. coli infections. Stores are not permitted to sell anything that is potentially dangerous to customers and the current CDC warning says that you’ll be fine as long as you check the label. 5. Stan Lee Dead Beloved, legendary and a Marvel superhero in his own right, Stan Lee has passed away at age 95. Fans all over the world mourn the death of the Cameo King. He was the creator of Marvel superstars like Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. He also had credits on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and Jessica Jones. Stan Lee will be sorely missed. Excelsior!

ALL PHOTOS » CREATIVE COMMONS

NEWS

Important Business CAMERON SMITH

Students create concrete business ideas around a product concept, and create presentations to prove their business can work on a reliable standpoint. The students will go to compete with other schools Dec. 11.

News Editor

A handful of seniors in the EThOS program have a big presentation coming up this Tuesday. Around 6:00 AM on Dec. 11, 16 seniors will be traveling to Rio Hondo College in Whittier, located in the Los Angeles area. The students, split into different groups, will be presenting four different products with brand names, sales pitches, design concepts, and more. Thursday, Dec. 6 was the date to practice the group presentations to make sure the business pitch goes smoothly. The four groups will be competing with many different schools at Rio Hondo attempting to get their ideas recognized. The students participating in the business presentation have been working hard to get their projects finished by the due date. The idea is to create a product and build a business idea around it that works. “The difficult part has been having the time to make the presentation and getting ready to present” senior Jessica Ricketts said. Ricketts is working on one of the projects, focusing around a product called ‘Piluna’, a pillow insert infused with essential oils. Two more products that are to be presented along with ‘Piluna’ are ‘Fabricated’ and ‘Fizzle Flask’. ‘Fabricated’ is an app focused around clothing, and ‘Fizzle Flask’ is a new twist on the old concept of drinking. Seniors Aidan Delkeskamp and Maxim Yalch are working on the ‘Fizzle Flask’ proposal, and are right on schedule to present at Rio Hondo tomorrow. “It really just came down to time management and collaborating with fellow group members” Yalch said. ‘Fizzle Flask’ is a portable water carbonation system designed to carbonate any beverage within seconds using a CO2 cartridge inside the lid. Ryan Thompson and Kellie Ehret are two teachers in the EThOS department at TOHS that are guiding the students to creating a successful and well thought out presentation. Although the students all have their presentations ready, they didn’t go without minor setbacks. “The two weeks that we had off set us back by a lot, because all of our work was on our computers at school. So when we returned to school, [our group was] in a rush to catch up and get ready in time” Ricketts said. Many hours of work go into creating a business idea such as what the 16 students have created. Some groups run into challenges along the way, and others concepts work very smoothly. “I wouldn’t really say that there were any hard parts to finishing the project” Yalch said. Thinking of a product, designing it, and building a virtual company around it takes perseverance and dedication to complete, amidst all the difficulties that may come along the way. All four groups will be presenting their business presentations at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, CA.

ALL PHOTOS » TASHA BEAUDOIN » THE LANCER

GROUP PRESENTATION— Two four person groups for ‘Piluna’ and ‘Fizzle Flask’ do a practice presentation at TOHS. Both groups will present at Rio Hondo College on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Presentations include topics like goals of the company, production quotas, and more important information that is key to company success.

NEWS

805 STRONG TOHS alumni Megan Macias organizes a 5K in support of victims of recent tragedy. ANNE PORTEREIKO

News Editor

On Dec. 16 TOHS alumni Megan Macias is hosting a 5K run that will directly benefit the victims of the fires and the families of the Borderline tragedy. “I wanted to help support our community beyond my own financial means. I wanted to create an event that would be positive and uplifting for the community as a whole,” Macias said. We’ve all been affected by the recent tragic events that swept through our county this last month in some way, and Macias, along with her partner Rachel Kirksey, wanted to gather support and showcase how strong our community is even in the face of disaster. “While we hope to raise enough money to truly make an impact for the families and to help our community heal and rebuild, this 5K is really about uniting in the midst of tragedy and helping the families who lost everything, be it their loved ones or their homes. We want them to know that their hometown has their backs,” Kirksey said. The 5K will start at Thousand Oaks High School at 7 am and is open to people and families of all skill levels who want to run or walk the course. The map of the route is on the official website, 805strong5k.com, and will loop down to Avenida de las Flores, up to Arboles, and end back at the school. Macias and

GRAPHIC » NATALIE DULANSKY » THE LANCER PHOTO » NATALIE DULANSKY » THE LANCER

Kirksey are touched by all of the support that the run has already received from concerned citizens wanting to make a difference in the lives of everyone who was affected by the fire, and the loved ones of the people killed at either the Borderline shooting or in the fires. “The outpouring of love and support we’ve received thus far is both humbling and inspiring and is a testament to the unwavering strength of our community. We hope to make this event as special as our beloved hometown,” Kirksey said. Early registration is $35 for general admission and is due on Dec. 14. Registration is at Fleet Feet in Westlake on Dec. 15 from 12 a.m to 4 p.m. Fleet Feet is also sponsoring the event along with Sharkey’s, UCLA Health, Follow Your Heart, Piaggo Group Americas, Subaru and others. For those that miss the early-registration, there are tickets available the day of the 5K for $40. Kids under five are free to get in at all times. All proceeds of the 5K will be donated to the Conejo Valley Victims Fund and the Hill Fire/Woolsey Fire Sudden and Urgent Needs Effort Fund. “After two horrific tragedies struck our community, we felt such a strong pull to do something to unite our hometown, and help our friends and neighbors begin to heal,” says Kirksey. Both women are excited to see the turn out on Sunday. The run promises to be a fun time for everyone so consider signing up and enjoying a day with friends and family. For more information and to register for the upcoming 5K, check out the website or email at 805strong5K@gmail.com.

OPINION

... That’s Debatable Will the recent action against vaping by the FDA be effective?

YES

The FDA’s latest effort to minimize the teen vaping epidemic will require stores to sell vapes from adult only areas in order to prevent the sale of flavored vape products to kids. Some say is a step in the right direction — but is it?

The new action against vaping will be beneficial

Limiting access to vapes will only make them more appealing

NATALIE VENABLE

ELLE TAYLOR

Opinion Editor

I’ve been in high school for less than two years, and I’ve seen kids vaping everywhere from bathroom stalls to the middle of class. One of my favorite quotes that I heard freshman year was, “Oh man, I spilled vape juice in my backpack, wanna smell it?” It’s no secret the teen vape epidemic is alive and well. However, the recent action by the Food and Drig Administration may mark it’s decline. For months the FDA threatened a ban on e-cigarettes, but they stopped short of it on Nov. 15. They announced they would allow stores to continue selling e-cigarette products in closed off sections of stores that are inaccessible to teens. The agency expects stores to carry out this change in the next few months. In an interview with the Washington Post, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said “Our aim is to make sure no kid can access a fruity flavor product in a convenience store.” Most high school vapers use flavored products, so it makes sense they would tackle that issue first. “The bottom line is this: I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes,” Gottlieb said Nicotine is nicotine. Whether it’s blue-raspberry vape or menthol cigarettes, teens are still getting addicted at a young age. These new regulations are already making a difference as Juul Labs, the largest e-cigarette seller, announced they are suspending store sales of their flavored pods, excluding mint, menthol and tobacco. With the largest e-cigarette seller suspending the products teens love, hopefully we will see a decrease in vaping. So, why not a full fledged ban? The FDA is smarter than that. Not only do they want to avoid serious legal repercussions, there are people that need e-cigarettes as many smokers use them to quit. Taking them completely off the market would be unfair to those who need them. While many are unhappy with this recent action, it was a good call.

Over 98% of e-cigarettes sold at convenience stores contain nicotine.

60% of teens believe vapes are composed of mostly flavors.

28% of teen vapers use e-cigarettes twenty days per month.

28% of high school students vape.

43% of young people that ever tried e-cigarettes tried them for their appealing flavors.

The maker of JUUL e-cigarettes claims their products deliver nicotine 2.7 times faster than other e-cigarettes

Only 37% of teen JUUL users know the product contains nicotine.

SOURCE » CDC.GOV SOURCE » VAPING.COM SOURCE » NEW YORK TIMES SOURCE » TRUTHINITIATIVE.ORG GRAPHICS » NATALIE DULANSKY » THE LANCER

As of 2016, Americans spend $22.6 billion on vaping. Nictotine can affect brain development in young people

Staff Writer

E-cigarettes and vaporizers are in right now, but they didn’t start hitting the market until 5-7 years ago. Since then, these companies have been working on making their products more appealing by adding different flavors to the e-cigarettes. By doing this, teens are more drawn to the product along with adults. The Food and Drug Administration felt they needed to do something so they decided to prevent minors from being able to get a hold of flavored e-cigarettes by selling them in closed off areas. This is the agency’s way of persuading vape companies, such as Juul Labs, to stop marketing their products to kids. Although this may appear to be productive, putting these kinds of restrictions on addicted teens could be detrimental. Just look at what’s happening with people and heroin. Since it’s illegal, users resort to buying heroin on the streets without knowing if it’s laced with another dangerous substance. Putting these restrictions on vaping may lead to minors to go buy them on the streets. The agency reported 3.6 million people under the age of 18 using e-cigarettes, making the ban on minors purchasing vapes even more of a risk. If these kids are getting hooked on nicotine before they turn 18, just think of how hard it will be for them to quit. Some teens started vaping because they thought it was harmless. According to Healthline Newsletter, people make the mistake of thinking the aerosol in vapes isn’t dangerous. While they think it is a harmless substance, it contains toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, respiratory problems and heart diseases. If this is what regulated products contain, I don’t even want to think about what would people put in them on the streets. The bottom line is, kids need protection. The FDA should instead, require the vape companies to reduce the harmful chemicals in their product but keep the desired flavors. The agency believes this is the way to “fight the rise of kids vaping,” but in the end, it could end up doing the opposite.

OPINION

Thousand Oaks Strong The slogan “TOStrong” has defined the last couple of months, but such a short phrase fails to capture the inspiring stories behind it. NATALIE VENABLE

Opinion Editor

Waking up to our hometown trending on Twitter was strange. The reason why was horrifying. Whenever I used to tell someone I’m from Thousand Oaks, they look at me wondering where in the world that is. Now, however, that will change. Over the past few weeks, our community has plastered the words “TOStrong” just about everywhere. It’s a powerful slogan but not as powerful as the stories behind it. TOStrong means hundreds of people showing up at La Reina High the day after the Borderline shooting because Los Robles Hospital announced they needed blood, and then even more people bringing food and water to those waiting in line because the drive was not set up for such a large crowd. There were so many people there they had to send some away and set up other blood drives because so many wanted to help. Here at TOHS, a monumental amount of love and support greeted students that day at school was unreal. I would like to thank the teachers and

staff who reminded us that we are not alone, and we will in fact get through this. They’re right. Not a single one of us is alone in this, and I cannot stress that enough because everything we’ve been through isn’t anything anyone should be taking on by themselves. The support did not stop at our school. When I heard my friend talk about how amazing it was to be on the field at her first NFL game, I was elated to hear her happy because she was at Borderline that night and hasn’t been the same since. There are no words for how grateful I am for her still being here. The Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks all displayed the names of the Borderline shooting victims on their warm up jerseys at their games at the Staples Center. The NBA is one of the biggest sports stages in the world, so the impact of the shooting clearly spread beyond Thousand Oaks. That same day, the Woolsey Fire put our city’s strength to the test even further. Waking up to my neighbor ringing my doorbell telling me to evacuate was terrifying to say the least. However, as I was evacuating I looked around at my room and realized: It’s all just stuff. Of course, I love my stuff, but it is replaceable. Lives are not. I was fortunate enough to return four days later to my fully intact, slightly ashy home, so thank you to the fire truck that parked on my street making sure every house in my neighborhood, right up against the now charred Hillcrest Open Space, made it through the week. Not everyone was so lucky, so I would like to take

this opportunity to say: my condolences. The amount our city came together in peak chaos was impressive, but once things settled down, TO took it to another level. Even though we had two weeks off of school, ASB made sure every student who lost their home at least still had a backpack, and Project Concern kept their tradition of ensuring every TOHS student had a Thanksgiving dinner. It warms my heart to know that we are resilient enough to come together and support each other in times of tragedy. The Ventura County Community Foundation set up fundraising for the Borderline, Woolsey and Camp Fire victims. There are also countless fundraisers on GoFundMe to donate to specific families and organizations in need. Many people were not directly affected by these events, and they were left wondering what they could do to help. Fundraisers were up and running in no time, and United Way of LA’s raised over a million dollars for those in need. What I feel that more people should realize is there’s no expiration date on grief. Just a few days ago, surfers paddled out in Cornado, Calif. to commemorate Justin Meek’s death. Even a month later, it is more than okay to still be working through the tragedy we have endured. Thousand Oaks has been through a lot to say the least, but after seeing how we’ve come together in light of these tragedies, I have never been so proud to be a part of this community. Hang in there, Lancers. We are Thousand Oaks strong.

805 STRONG—(Left) Memorial on the corner of Rolling Oaks Drive and South Moorpark Road in honor of Daniel Manrique, Justin Meek, Alaina Housley, Cody Gifford-Coffman, Noel Sparks, Kristina Morisette, Sean Adler, Jacob Dunhame, Blake Dingman, Mark Meza, and Ron Helus, the Borderline 12. (Right) Signs made for the first responders who protected California during the Woolsey Fire.

ALL PHOTOS » NATALIE VENABLE » THE LANCER

ENTERTAINMENT

With open mic nights, seasonal foods, and coffee roast of the week, local cafe Five07 grows in popularity.

COMMUNITY CAFE—(Left) “TOgether” sign on a side of the wall at Five07. (Right) Joel Foster working the espresso machine.

N O

ER NC LA E TH

DY LA N

Tasha Beaudoin For Blake Saari to get a real phone Natalie Dulansky The threat of an alien invasion Blake Saari A hug from Dr. Swanson Dylan Yoon A date with Ryan Hong Rebecca Tarbet Sprite Cranberry Natalie Venable For Anna Norton to take me to prom Emma Tunnell For world peace Sierra Smith To not have to write website articles Sophie Crivier Bring back the OG features section Ryan Hong My time back Tanner Patterson Sprite Cranberry Abbey Austin-Wood For my crush to notice me Anna Norton For Sierra Smith to smile at me Tommy Kackert A new camera Cooper Goyette To be as good as Sam Kolder Brandon Cupples 1D X Mark II Cameron Smith An actual phone Anne Portereiko To meet my celebrity crush

A NEW BREW

ALL PH OT OS »

The Lancer Staff Holiday Wish List

COMMUNITY CAFE— (Bottom Left) A latte and lavender honey toast. (Bottom Right) A busy weeknight at Five07.

DYLAN YOON

Entertainment Editor

About two weeks ago, a shooting and ﬁre occurred one right after the other. In response, local cafe, Five07 hosted a concert with TOHS alumni, Cole Supples and Alyssa Hernandez, along with Radio Rebels, a local band, to support the Thousand Oaks community. The performers already planned on performing but due to the incidents that occurred, they shifted their mentality to support the community. “First it was set-up as a normal gig where I come by and sing for an hour but then the shooting and ﬁre happened. I wanted to do something extra and use my art to help heal the community,” Cole Supple said. Despite the havoc, the community has responded with an outpouring of support, which Five07 continued in this event. “Our community is so supportive and loving towards each other and as long as we stand together and stay strong, we can conquer and overcome anything,” Alyssa Hernandez said. Five07, located on 2036 E Avenida De Los Arboles, Thousand Oaks, is a cafe founded by owners, Sean and Amber McCarthy, who wanted to create a place where students can hangout. “We both grew up in the area and there was nothing like Five07 in the area. [We] wished [it] to be a spot

“Five07 seeks to be a creative and social space where people can come together whether it’s in the morning or night” —SEAN MCCARTHY

where we could hangout in highschool and college, so we decided to make it happen” Sean McCarthy said. The cafe is aimed to be different and fun for both friends and family. “Five07 seeks to be a creative and social space where people can come together whether it’s in the morning or night. Our mission is to follow the five steps of the creative process which are inspiration, buildup, resistance, overcoming, and collaboration in hopes to move everyone closer to their best life” Sean McCarthy said. The cafe is open from 7:30-midnight all seven days of the week. They offer coffee, tea, smoothies, and various foods ranging from toast to crepes. They also have seasonal menu items, a coffee roast of the week from various countries, and special events such as open mic nights. In the future, they hope to grow imaginatively and open up opportunities for artists. “We definitely want to move forward on a creative aspect by inspiring more writers, artists, painters. We have open mic night the first saturday of every month, live music from local artists, and other special events” Sean McCarthy said. Ultimately, Five07 is a great place for friends and family to meet up at an artistic spot and enjoying music, games, and food.

ENTERTAINMENT

Winter Dance Concert

The TOHS Dance department continues with their annual winter dance concert, despite a multitude of setbacks this month.

Q&A: THE LANCER: What’s your favorite part about the dance concert process? Delaney Rond: I honestly don’t have a favorite part. I love the whole process from tech rehearsal to dress rehearsal to the show itself. I do really love the fact that winter concert is one of the only times of the year where all the dance classes and teams come together in one place to dance. We don’t really get to see what the other dancers are working on until we get to the show and it’s super cool watching everyone in other class periods. Also, I just love to perform and move people through dance and this is one of the few moments where we get to showcase to the school which is pretty cool. Serena Rozsa: My favorite part about winter concert is bonding with the entire dance team and seeing what everyone has worked on all year. It’s also exciting to meet new people with the same interests as me supporting one another. Haley Hallman: My favorite part of the dance concert is getting to bond with my fellow classmates. During our down time we get to know each other a lot better since we have little time to talk during our regular class day. TL: What have been some of the challenges this season and how have you pushed past them? HH: Our biggest challenge this year has been racing against the clock to finish all of our pieces. After the unexpected break, we had to quickly finish two of our dances that were only half way choreographed. However Murphy, our teacher, and Jordan, our coach, helped all of us learn the endings quickly in the last week or so. SR: There have been many challenges this season due to the shooting and the fires. We were all affected from the tragedies and dance helped us get through it. We practiced for multiple days just to

PHOTO » RYAN HONG » THE LANCER

make up for lost time practicing for winter concert ,but we knew it was a priority. TL: What were your hopes and intentions when including a dance piece dedicated to TO Strong? DR: We know everyone in Thousand Oaks has been affected by what has happened recently in our community including our dancers and our team. We just wanted to take a moment to recognize the strength and unity that we’ve shown in our town. HH: We included a dance representing TO Strong in order to acknowledge the recent events in our community. It also allows the audience and dancers to be able to express and acknowledge their feelings and sentiments towards our community. TL: Why would you recommend people come to the concert? DR: First, I think it’s a really cool way to see what your peers are getting involved with and it’s the perfect chance to support a school program. Also, it’s an event appropriate for friends or family. The winter dance concert is super fun and entertaining and just a good time all in all. SR: I would recommend people to come to the dance concerts because it supports the school the same way going to watch football or basketball does. HH: People should come to the concert because it’s super fun! I know our entire program has worked really hard to put on this show and we would love for everyone to come see it.

IN-FOCUS

A WASTEFUL WINTER Between driving all over the country, wasting food and paper, and the energy expended from decorations, the holidays have a big impact on the environment. COOPER GOYETTE

In-Focus Editor

As the year draws to a close it comes time for Americans to celebrate the holidays. From Halloween to Thanksgiving, Christmas to Hanukkah there’s a holiday for everyone, and that inevitably means a ridiculous amount of money spent which in turn, creates more waste. From the shipping boxes to packaging, and the single-use wrapping paper that is used for celebrations, there comes an increase in waste this time of year. Sustainable America estimates there is a 25 percent increase in garbage between late November and the end of the year, when compared to the rest of the year. There are nearly one million extra tons of debris made up of plastics used only once and wasted material produced every week. On Christmas Day alone 8,000 tons of wrapping paper, equivalent to 50,000 trees, are used by Americans. Up to 90 percent of this is wasted and ends up in landfills where it cannot be recycled, and in our oceans, ultimately damaging ecosystems. 10 percent of discarded plastics and papers will end up in the ocean, posing threats to the marine life and the people living in coastal areas. Another problem that arises during the holidays is fuel consumption. Whether it’s planes, trains, or alternative forms of transportation, there is a significantly larger amount of fuel being consumed during the holiday months. This is also amplified by the increase in shipping during this time of year. Boats, planes, and delivery trucks make up the fleets of companies and they contribute to a large percentage of the fuel consumption. Consumers often choose air shipping because it is faster, however, it burns much more fuel. No matter how a package ships, fossil fuels will be consumed. “Every time you get in the car or fly somewhere to visit family you are burning fossil fuels. Right now our economy is based on fossil fuel burning, we’ve gotten better at renewable energy, but we have not yet reached the total switchover,” Environmental Science teacher Heather Farrell said. No matter what type of food people buy, it is packaged in some form or another. Often times packaging is plastic and will end up in places where it is not recycled. Americans fail to consume 40 percent of the food they buy, which contributes to the waste

SOURCE » NEEFUSA.ORG SOURCE » THEODYSSEYONLINE.COM SOURCE » M.HUFFPOST.COM SOURCE » HTTP://SUSTAINABLEAMERICA.ORG

produced during the holidays. During Thanksgiving, roughly 200 million pounds of turkey are wasted. That all ends up in landﬁlls, and those numbers don’t even include all the other types of food wasted on that single meal. Between 25 and 30 million real Christmas trees are bought each year and recently the number of fake Christmas trees purchased has jumped to nearly 20 million a year. Whether it’s real or fake, the longstanding tradition of putting up a tree each year has an impact on the environment. Farrell explains the positives and negatives of real and fake trees, as well as how while christmas trees are grown, they become a carbon sink, or convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. However, when they are cut down, they become a carbon source, or an organism made of carbon. “If you’re going to [use a plastic tree] you have to make sure that you keep that tree around for a very long time. If you are getting the plastic tree and replacing it every two or three years, it’s pointless. You might as well get a real tree,” Farrell said. “For the real tree, while it’s being grown there is carbon from the atmosphere being pulled in and sequestered and becomes a carbon sink, but when you cut it down it becomes a carbon source. So you have pluses and minuses there.” Whether someone is traveling or staying home, celebrating the holidays or not, they should remember to think about how the choices they make aﬀect the environment. Being conscious of the decisions made while eating, traveling and gift-giving can lead to a more positive environmental impact during the holiday season. People’s decisions are the driving factor in the battle to keep the environment clean, and the holidays are a good time to think about that. Farrell suggests only buying what is necessary and from companies that support the environment. “Buy less and don’t be wasteful. Only get what you need, and buy from companies that are protecting the environment, companies that have shown whether through the process or the manufacturing their viewpoint on the environment,” Farrell said. “Companies such as Patagonia have a more positive environmental outlook than others. Holidays are supposed to be about family anyway, so make it more about what it’s supposed to be, family, and less about what’s the next greatest thing out there.”

IN-FOCUS

40% of all food is wasted in America

Real Christmas trees are about 3 times as popular as artificial trees 2.65 billion Chrismas cards are sold each year in the United States

1 million tons of food, bags, packaging, wrapping paper, and ribbon end up in landfills per week Waste increases by 25% in each household from Thanksgiving to New Year’s

8000 tons of wrapping paper is used during the holidays each year LED holiday lights use up to 95% less energy than traditional lights 38 thousand miles of ribbon, enough to wrap around the entire world, is used each year.

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Food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to plate