Issue 3, 2017-2018 by The Lancer

the

LANCER

Volume LVI, Issue 3 » December 5, 2017 » Thousand Oaks High School » 2323 N. Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 » www.tohsthelancer.org » thelancer.tohs@gmail.com » Circulation 2,216

RACE TO SUCCESS Junior Kyle Foster explains his motivation and passion towards BMX and describes his evolving relationship with the sport. pg. 16

PHOTO » BLAKE SAARI » THE LANCER

FORMAL FALLOUT

TRENDY TEACHERS

ATHLETE OF THE ISSUE

ASB struggled hosting a Winter Dance and hopes to incorporate new dances in future years.

Teachers talk about previous trends and connect them with trends today.

The Lancer goes in depth with junior guard Hunter Thorne.

pg. 8

pg. 22

pg. 5

EDITORIAL

STAFF EDITORIAL

Let The Students Read The below editorial was co-written by the editorial board of the other student newspapers in the district, Westlake and Newbury Park high schools, in conjunction with The Lancer.

Is the board’s approved “optout” policy realistic for students and teachers? EDITORIAL BOARD NPHS NO TOHS NO WHS NO

Over the past several weeks, the CVUSD board has been embroiled in a controversy over a new policy for approving Core Literature. Not only does this policy outline a new selection process for approving Core Literature novels, but it also creates an opt-in policy requiring parents to essentially sign a permission slip for their children to read books in class. The controversy over books began in the summer when the board voted to approve the book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” for ninth grade curriculum. Bringing this novel to attention rallied community members on both sides in a fervor that translated into the debate over the opt-out policy. Because the book contains mature content, it prompted board president Mike Dunn to create a committee of teachers, community members and board members to draft an opt-out policy for parents. After weeks of work by the committee, board clerk Sandee Everett disregarded the carefully-drafted policy to adopt her own, according to a KCLU radio piece. Rather than being an opt-out for concerned parents, Everett’s policy reads like an opt-in. It requires parents to sign a form approving their children reading material that is considered to contain “mature content” by the California Department of Education. Several students from NPHS, WHS and TOHS attempted to speak about their objections to the policy during the board meeting on Nov. 7. These students were met with yelling from people in the crowd, many of whom do not have children in the district or do not live in the district. These are the people who say they have the best interests of the students at heart, yet their disrespect for student opinion is appalling. Due to backlash at the Nov. 7 board meeting, Everett had an emergency meeting with the original committee on Nov. 13, agreeing to make amendments to her policy. However, the updated policy was not released before the board deliberated and passed it in a 3-1 vote the following day; board member Pat Phelps was absent. Although Everett plans to fix the problematic wording of the policy, as pointed out line-by-line by board member Betsy Connolly during the meeting, this hasty vote and lack of transparency from the board is concerning in itself. As of now, the final policy has yet to be released. According to the California School Board Association, the job of the school board is “to ensure that school districts are responsive to the values, beliefs and priorities of their communities.” However, by neglecting to release the changes before the final vote, the board broke its compact with the community. The

board was unable to hear feedback from the community regarding the changes, and thus cannot possibly be representing its views. Everett’s current opt-out policy could inhibit teachers from teaching essential learning material, and thus limits a student’s ability to process difficult subject matter. As students, we trust our teachers, who have an education in choosing meaningful curriculum, to choose what books we read in class. In contrast, Everett has never taught in a classroom setting; therefore, it is no surprise that the policy was met with heavy opposition from teachers. We respect a parent or student’s choice to opt-out of an assignment; however, burying materials and making them unteachable for the rest of the students is not an appropriate solution. As students, we are the community members that this policy directly impacts. When we transition from children into adults, we should be able to comprehend difficult and uncomfortable literature. Because the district already allows concerned parents to opt their children out, the new policy, instead of encouraging positive parent involvement as intended, simply creates extra concern for both parents and students. Many busy parents will see the label of “mature content” and simply opt their children out of Core Literature without further research, unknowingly limiting the quality of their children’s education. If the school board had the students’ best interests in mind, it would not take away their role in deciding their own education. The purpose of literature is to expose students to mature content that reflects reality. Books are reflections of an author’s interpretation of real-life problems, and no one has the ability to opt-out of life. Our classes teach us to be informed, critical thinkers. It is best if students learn about difficult topics in a classroom setting where they can have mature discussions and ask important questions rather than learning about them in an uncomfortable manner, such as on the Internet or through first-person experience. The books that we read do not promote controversial acts, but rather teach us their repercussions. If we allow the school district to limit our in-classroom conversations, we limit our ability to respond to the uncomfortable situations we will inevitably face in the real world. As students, it is our responsibility to voice our concerns in order to defend the quality of our education. Let’s look in the mirror and realize that life has mature content, and it doesn’t have a warning label with an opt-out option.

Hits and Misses What’s Up and Down with The Lancer Hit: KIIS FM visited campus yesterday and brought the sweet jams. Fortunately the school wasn’t evacuated for radio activity

Miss: ASB has confirmed there will be no Senior Ball this year. It looks like Stepmother said “no.”

Hit: Band won fifth place in the statewide tournament awards. Good on them for getting positive notes!

Miss: Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Michael Flynn lied about his campaign connections to Russia. Guess he Flynn’ched under pressure ...

Hit: The deadline has passed for UC applications, relieving stress for many ... in one way or another.

Miss: Boys varsity soccer’s game on Friday resulted in a tussle and two red cards. Hopefully our players were able to score a solid hit.

Hit: Latino Connection Club sponsored the Noche Buena Dance last Friday night. Beuna refers to the night, not our dance moves.

THE LANCER STAFF 2017-2018 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Sebastian Maya Paul Moon

NEWS

IN-FOCUS Ella Fortney Shannon Lin

FEATURES

Sophia Dockus Wynona Goddard

Natalie Dulansky Rebecca Tarbet

OPINION

SPORTS

Hannah Mercer Gavin P. Norton

Nate Swanson Emma Caudill

ENTERTAINMENT

SENIOR COLUMNIST

Abby Kawai Quinn Smithers

Gavin P. Norton

WEBSITE EDITOR

BUSINESS MANAGER

Blake Saari

Abbey Austin-Wood

PODCAST EDITORS

CHEIF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Nick Gougas Austin Gregory

STAFF WRITERS Nick Gougas Tanner Patterson

Cameron Neel

ARTIST Natalie Dulansky

ADVISER Tasha Beaudoin

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.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Blake Saari Quinn Smithers

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: www.tohsthelancer.org

OFF-CAMPUS PASS

Current Events Every Lancer Should Know

From supermoons to pandas, here’s what you need to know about the events taking place since the Lancer’s last issue. 1) Australia Votes ‘Yes’ On Same-Sex Marriage Many people celebrated on Nov. 15 after Australia legalized same-sex marriage. A majority of Australian citizens voted in favor of same-sex marriage, responding to a non-binding survey letting Parliment recognize same-sex couples.

2) Supermoon Trilogy Dec. 2 gifted us with the first supermoon of 2017 – the start of the predicted three supermoons over the span of 10 weeks. A supermoon is when the moon is at or near its approach to earth in its orbit, and it can appear larger and brighter than the moon does on other nights. The other two predicted supermoons are on Jan 1, 2018, and Jan 31, 2018.

3) World AIDS Day Ever since 1988, Dec. 1 has been the day to raise awareness about AIDS, a condition that impacts 36.7 million people worldwide. People come together on this day to support and help raise awareness at campaigns. Every year has had a different theme, with this year’s being ‘My Health, My Right.”

4) Trump Shrinks Utah Monuments President Donald Trump reduced two Utah national monuments- Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. He plans to reduce Bears Ears by 85% while he reduces the Grand Staircase-Escalante to half its size. This act angers both Native Americans and environmental groups. Native American tribes plan to sue the administration because they see Bears Ears as sacred. They protested by rallying in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Sources» -abcnews.go.com -aidsmap.com -nytimes.com -bbc.com -townhall.com -amfar.org

4) First Panda Born In France Recieves Name For the first time, a panda was born in France. It has been named Yuan Meng, which means “realization of a wish,” as well as “accomplishment of a dream.” The name was chosen by France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron and various Chinese dignitaries. The name was officially announced at Beauval Zoo in France. Yuan Meng will eventually go to a Chinese panda reserve when it’s weaned.

PHOTO » NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PHOTOS » PIXABAY PHOTOS » FLICKR GRAPHIC » PAUL MOON » THE LANCER

NEWS

HOLIDAY FUNDRAISER TRADITIONS Various clubs and organizations on campus work hard every year to help our fellow lancers who don’t have the supplies for holidays. SOPHIA DOCKUS

“We try to take care of the one day out of the year that you can put a great meal on the table, which is Thanksgiving.”

—teacher EILEEN MOORE

PHOTO » SEBASTIAN MAYA » THE LANCER

News Editor

A little bit of kindness can go a long way. On campus, multiple groups individuals devote their time each month to organize drives and fundraisers to help those who need it. Recently, Project Concern and Pencils of Promise had fundraisers for various different groups. The Thanksgiving Drive, organized by Project Concern, helps give to those in need. Project Concern, with the assistance of the PTSA student group, organized a Thanksgiving Drive that collected food, hygienic items, and other necessities to help TOHS families that haven’t been able to celebrate the holidays to its fullest. “Whether people ﬁnd it hard to believe or not, we have pockets of tremendously poor and many of those people do go to Thousand Oaks High School,” Project Concern adviser and English teacher Eileen Moore said. “Our ultimate goal is to keep [our students] fed all year long, but of course we can’t do all of that, so we try to take care of the one day out of the year that you can put a great meal on the table, which is Thanksgiving.” This year Project Concern gave to a total of 36 families. The drive is planned accordingly so that the food in the classrooms can be delivered to all of the families in time for Thanksgiving. Club members normally pick up the food the Monday before Thanksgiving, and organize it into boxes for all of the families. Moore and other teachers then deliver the food to the families. The class who donates the most items also wins a breakfast prepaid by the club. “We usually feed two dozen families each Thanksgiving with turkey or ham, vegetables, potatoes, cornbread, soup, all sorts of things,” Moore said. “Anything we have leftover, we hold back and give to the neediest of families to have an opportunity to get more at Christmas.” In October and early November, Pencils of Promise teamed up with Operation Gratitude to organize the Candy Drive for the Troops. Students were asked to drop off any excess Halloween candy, which would

then be donated to soldiers. The club went through multiple steps to set up the drive. They began by finding the drop off location for Operation Gratitude (the major organization running the Drive) and asked for cardboard bags for the candy. They created large posters and flyers for the bags and distributed them to the classrooms. The end results, however, was rewarding and the club continues to help in the community. “We collected over 250 lbs of candy,” President and founder of Pencils of Promise Ally Malilay said. “We still continue to volunteer in the community and have fundraised for local organizations like Schools on Wheels and Many Mansions.” To actively organize a drive or a fundraiser however, isn’t easy. There are certain regulations and requirements that fundraisers must adhere to before they are officially approved. Assistant Principal of Activities Kristi Hronek explains the difficulty of starting a drive. “All fundraisers have to be run through a club or an student organization on campus or a booster organization,” Hronek said. “Student organizations need to go through their club on campus and have approval for the fundraiser. In a form, they try to guesstimate how much money they’re gonna make to make sure it’s a viable fundraiser.” Due to the invariability of fundraisers, Restaurant nights are as frequent as they are because of their consistency. Typically, it only requires a phone calls and flyers to advertise the restaurant night. As a result, these events are a common weekly occurrence. Bake sales are also similar in terms of simplicity. Most of the time a bake sale only requires a table, some chairs, and baked goods to sell. This all usually takes a couple of days to organize and set up. Our clubs and organizations have proven time and time again that with a little bit of teamwork, an organized strategy, and a good cause, students can make truly meaningful differences to people’s lives. They are some of the hidden heroes in our school and local community. Who says all presents given have to be wrapped in big fancy bows?

NEWS

The Fall of Formal After the hype of Homecoming, ASB set to host a Winter Formal. Due to venue conflicts, however, their plans fell through. WYNONA GODDARD

News Editor

With the unfortunate news that Senior Ball would no longer happen (as there were not enough seniors interested in going), rumors grew that our ASB would put on a new dance, a Winter Formal. Despite the efforts of ASB, however, a Winter Formal no longer seemed plausible, at least not for this year. The biggest obstacle in the way of hosting a Winter Formal is where the dance would be hosted. “All the dates were taken for boy’s basketball for playoffs, and so the gym was not an option,” senior class president Irene Li said. “We were going to look into doing it off-site, but we wanted to make it inclusive of all other grades and for most off-sites, you have to have a smaller dance. We were thinking about in the quad or in the MPR, but apparently in the past it hasn’t worked out.” Trying to plan the formal to be outside provides its own problems that ASB would have to solve before being able to host the dance in the quad. “We had to take into account factors that it could be cold, or people could easily sneak out or sneak in because it’s outside,” ASB President Jake Clark said. The idea of Winter Formal launched after Homecoming was well attended and well enjoyed. ASB wanted to have another dance that would do just as well. “Everyone was really happy with the way it turned out, and we heard a lot of good feedback that people had a lot of fun,” Clark said. “So we said, ‘maybe we could plan a

“I am okay with the fact that [Winter Formal] got cancelled because there is already so much in the year, and it’s a lot of money.”

— senior Crystal Morey GRAPHICS » WYNONA GODDARD » THE LANCER

“I only started hearing about [Winter Formal] yesterday and today.”

—freshman Jake Ward

Winter Formal’.” A lot of planning, and money, goes into putting on a school dance. ASB must choose a date that doesn’t conflict with student’s already busy schedule, as well as pay for the music and entertainment. “Sometimes when something is new, it’s hard to get people to go to it,” ASB Advisor David Sheridan said. “But it’s difficult when it’s new to get people to carve into their already busy time line of what they think the year is like, especially for seniors.” Another big obstacle is the cost of dances. Each dance, even Homecoming that is hosted here on campus, runs in the thousands of dollars. When adding up the costs of the security, DJ, and venue, the price raises fast. All of these expenses are accounted for when pricing the tickets. “It’s quite expensive to have [a dance]. In different years, we’ve had different controversies where kids think it’s too much to pay for an event, so we do our best to keep that price down,” Sheridan said. “For student activities we rely on Prom and Homecoming to have some kind of a profit.” The profit that ASB gains from these dances range from losing money, breaking even, to earning money to be used in other places on our campus. New dances, ones that aren’t as iconically known as Prom and Homecoming are a gamble as people don’t have the same motivation to attend. To make a dance work, many things need to line up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this year’s winter formal will become a reality. Perhaps it will be something we are able to experience in future years.

“I guess it would have been nice because I didn’t go to any of the dances the other three years so I would like to go to all the dances possible.”

— senior Orissa Morales PHOTOS » WYNONA GODDARD » THE LANCER

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ENTERTAINMENT

The Lancer Staff Holiday Wish List

Back to the Past TOHS staff discuss how trends of their high school past has come back alive.

Quinn Smithers Entertainment Editor High school students are notorious for recycling old trends from the past. With TV shows like “Stranger Things” and movies like “It”, both taking place in the 1980’s. “As a historian, you can see that coming a mile away,” Government and Economy teacher Krister Swanson said. “We did the same thing [in the 80’s]”. Children look to their parents and what they used to wear which sparks the resurgence of older trends. Students are inspired for an outfit that is similar to what their parents used to wear. “If I look at old magazines from the 60’s or 70’s and see an outfit I like, I usually try to recreate it to the best of my ability,” senior Giana Tognerollie said. With the success of streaming services including Hulu and Netflix, students are able to rediscover cult classics and hits that were lost with the arrival of all the new movies. Classics like “Heathers” and “The Fury” are readily available for students to fall into a rabbit hole of cult classics from past decades, giving them inspiration on how to speak, act, and what to wear. The comeback of big hair and shoulder pads are not the only things that are popping up in the hallways of our school. There is also the comeback of attitudes that were lost in time when the 1990’s and the early 2000’s came around. Social activism has been seen in the school through the creations of club like Operation Equality and Feminism club. Through, students are finding their voice to stand up in what they believe is right. Bringing back the spirit of young high schoolers who wanted to make a change in the world and do

what is right. “Students that I have had for the past five years have a level of caring, reaching out, and not so much me-ism anymore” said Connie Peter who runs the College and Career Center. “I really see kids wanting to help out not only on campus, but outside of campus. I’m just amazed. There was a lot of that social activism in the 70’s, too”. While some fads have been brought back, others have been lost with the decade. “I would really laugh if there were male students who could grow the big old sideburns.” math teacher Bill Gemberling said. It brings out the question; will it come back in later years? Like will the popularity of dolphin shorts spring back into style and if they do come back, would it be a small trend or spread around social media sites? Even with the old trends coming back, new ones, like the fishnets and ripped jeans look, holding strong or being created up without help from the past. More students are going to thrift shops and getting clothes that match their aesthetics. Whether it is platforms or fringe, trends come back alive and make people feel like they are in the past. For the staff on campus, seeing these trends make them feel nostalgic and reminds them about being in high school. “[It’s like] Deja Vu” Gemberling said. Even with the old trends that have come back into the hallways of Thousand Oaks High School, most of the older generation would not experience high school in another decade; satisfied with their high school experience and wouldn’t experience it in another decade GRAPHIC » ABBY KAWAI » THE LANCER

DECADES:

THE

Nirvanna Defined the decade in the 1990’s

The Lancer polled 33 Staff members about when they went to high school and which artist defined the decade

The Beatles Defined the decade in the 1970’s

Jimi Hendrix

Madonna

Justin Timberlake

Defined the decade in the 1960’s

Defined the decade in the 1980’s

Defined the decade in the 2000’s

When Staff Attended High School

Tasha Beaudoin For The Lancer to meet their 3:00 p.m. deadline Sebastian Maya To be the mother of dragons Paul Moon MIT admission Sophia Dockus For Buzzfeed Unsolved to post twice a week Wynona Goddard A wholesome meme Hannah Mercer Heelys and a Lite Brite Gavin P. Norton My own interest group Abby Kawai To stop unintentionally distracting others Quinn Smithers All the candles Ella Fortney A Band-Aid for the planet Shannon Lin Motivation Natalie Dulansky The resurrection of Barb from Stranger Things Rebecca Tarbet A Nimbus 2001 Nate Swanson University of Portland Basketball WCC Title Emma Cuadill To get accepted to Hogwarts Blake Saari A one way ticket to Bali, Indonisia Nick Gougas Rams Super Bowl win Tanner Patterson A decent season for the Knicks Austin Gregory A hug from Mr. McGinnis Cameron Neel More wishes Abbey Austin-Wood For my crush to know that I like them

ENTERTAINMENT

DISNEY POP BOPS The votes are in, and you Lancers have voted for this issues Monthly Mixtape theme: “Disney Pop Bops”. This playlist consists of Disney pop songs that you can look back at and say, “this is still a bop.” You will be transported to a time when your favorite shows had bright colors, cheesy laugh tracks, and heartfelt messages. This playlist is for the kids who’ll grow up to be adults who go to Disneyland but don’t have any kids. So, sit back, get out your Mickey ears, pull out your Hannah Montana wig, and enjoy. ��NT��Y ��X��PE

GRAPHIC» EVELYN ROGERS

1. Hoedown Throwdown/Miley Cyrus

Me Something I Don’t Know/Selena Gomez

2. When Can I See You Again/Owl City

14. Potential Breakup Song/Aly & AJ

3. Determinate/Adam Hicks, Bridgit Mendler, Hayley Kiyoko, Naomi Scott

15. Jump to the Rhythm/Jordan Pruitt

4. Something That I Want/Grace Potter

16. Our Lips Are Sealed/Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff

5. Real Wild Child/Everlife 6. True To Your Heart/Stevie Wonder, 98 Degrees 7. La La Land/Demi Lovato 8. The Boys Are Back/Zac Efron, Corbin Bleu 9. Gonna Get This/Hannah Montana 10. Strut/The Cheetah Girls

17. Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’/Pentatonix 18. Hawaiian Roller-Coaster Ride/Jump5 19. Ready or Not/Bridgit Mendler 20. Push It To The Limit/Corbin Bleu 21. Burnin’ Up/Jonas Brothers 22. Hey/Mitchel Musso 23. Replay/Zendaya

11. I2I/Tevin Campbell

24. Trashin’ The Camp/Phil Collins, NSYNC

12. Busted/Candace, Vanessa

25. Play My Music/Jonas Brothers

13. Tell

SCAN TO LISTEN GRAPHIC » ABBY KAWAI » THE LANCER

ENTERTAINMENT

Quinn’s Advice For the Masses

ROOM FOR COMEDY Oh, hi Lancers! In honor of the “Disaster Artist,” released on December 1st, The Lancer decided to look back at one of the worst films in cinematic history, “The Room.” Get ready to grab a spoon, a football and a black wig, because “The Room,” is about to be torn apart.

Do you talk during a movie? Read This!

GRA

PHIC

» AB

BY K AWA I»

THE

event to hit the silver screen should be inexplicably crammed in. “The Room” revolves around an ideal AmeriAt the heart of all atrocities within this movie, can man, whose “future wife,” is cheating on him Wiseau’s vision is what fueled the horrendous fire. with his best friend. The plot follows Johnny and It’s Wiseau’s relatable incompetence in executing his interactions as the pressure from his job, the his dream movie that keeps audiences coming back. problems of his friends, and his love life makes him The movie is a reflection of his nonsensical, yet go insane. The movie has laughable dialogue, an admirable ambition. in-cohesive plot, and the strange Tommy Wiseau “[Tommy Wiseau] gives himself executive probehind it all, giving the movie the odd charm that ducer credit, directorial credit, and written credit,” has made it a cult classic. Lisa Ravitch, the photography teacher, said. “He James Franco’s newest film “The Disaster Artwas very hardcore serious about this movie, it’s ist,” which came out on December 1st, retells the pretty evident.” absurd, yet true, story behind the making of Tommy Wiseau continues to be surrounded by mystery, Wiseau’s “The Room,” based on Greg Sestero’s from his suspicious procurement of the film’s six tell-all book of the same name. When watching this million dollar budget, to his accreditation of an new film, it’s important to understand the madness executive producer who died years before the film that is “The Room,” to fully appreciwas even made. The intrigue of “The Diate every quote that references “The saster Artist,” stems from the audience’s “I’m not one of want to see more of the man behind the Room.” The fans have turned viewing of those rubber-neckers curtain. the film into an event. Whether it’s “The Disaster Artist” brings Wiseau on the freeway, but from behind the curtain and onto the dressing up as Wiseau with long, black wigs, throwing around footballs [The Room] is that center stage, showing the world how during the entirety of the film, or creating such weird movie came to be. kind of phenomenon The movie shows the beginnings of bringing plastic spoons to throw at the screen each time a framed photo creation coming to life and how where you can’t look Wiseau of a spoon can be seen in the backridiculous filming is. Wiseau decided ground, fans honor Wiseau’s work to recreate an alleyway for the movie away.” by turning the flaws of the film into instead of using the actual alleyway he - Lisa Ravitch enjoyable quirks. based it off of. Or even how Wiseau took Every conversation in “The filming seriously and berated the other Room” is awkward, whether it’s actors because they believed it was a because English is Wiseau’s second language, joke movie and not a serious one. or because he’s just that bad at writing dialogue. “I think people still watch [The Room] because Character interactions make it seem like they have it gets worse every time you watch it and it is a cult never interacted with human beings before. There is movie, so people want to be a part of the joke,” a scene where best friend Mark tells Johnny about Senior Lindsay Flores said. a being beaten up for cheating, and Johnny just “I kept hearing the name Tommy Wiseau, and laughs and says, “What a story, Mark.” silly things associated with him,” said senior Gabe The plot makes zero sense. There are so many Warburton. “ I searched his name on youtube and subplots within this film, that most lead to nowhere found a plethora of funny videos with him, and and seem like they never happened. The mom his,”unique” way of acting. This led me to find of Johnny’s “future wife” mentions she got test interviews with James Franco and his movie “The results back and found out she has cancer, yet she Disaster Artist,” which I plan to watch right when it never brings it up again. There are characters who comes out.” are introduced that are discarded as soon as their Even if one has not seen “The Room, scene ends. The plot feels like it was written by an Franco’s “Disaster Artist,” is still an enjoyable film overzealous child, who thought that every exciting about a cult classic.

ABBY KAWAI

Entertainment Editor

LAN

CER

The movie theatre is a sanctuary where all kinds of people come experience a film on the silver screen. It’s suppose to be a place where it’s only you and the movie. No distractions like cell phones or others to disturb you from the film. But that is an utopia that can never be achieved. People break the rules all the time. So much that before any screening of a movie ads ask you to silence your phones and not to talk. We all know these rules but I wanna enforce them again because I’ve seen the sneaky ways that people break the rules and want to hang them up for everyone to see. No one will do it anymore. The biggest problem I always find in the movie theatre when I’m watching a movie is people on their phones. First off, you paid good money to see this movie and instead, you’re wasting it on your phone, which you can do anywhere. Also, people can still see you on your phone. I know people think they are slick or are like a ninja by texting their bag or purse, but we still see it. It’s distracting and makes me more interested in the drama you have with your friends other than what is happening on the screen. Just silence your phone and put it away, enjoy the movie. You could miss out on something so cool and amazing and everyone will talk about it, but you will never know. Your nose was stuck in your phone. Another rule that needs to be enforced is talking. Please do not talk in the movie theatre. I know that there is a cool scene that just happened, but you don’t have to tell your friend. They were there, they just saw it with you. They know what happened. We can still hear you even if you whisper. There are other people trying to enjoy the movie. When you talk, you take away from the dialogue and others can miss something important. Just keep those thoughts to yourself. Also when laughing, don’t be loud and don’t laugh for a long time. Movies are fast paced, it’s a lot of action jammed into two hours, so they can’t wait five for you to stop laughing. I understand that it is funny, but try the no-noise-laugh. With that laugh, you can laugh through the whole movie and no one will have to listen to your laugh. I’m not sure if this is an actual rule in movie theatres, but it has to do with food. Please; if you get food, pick up after yourself. It’s gross to step into soda that was spilled or if your gum fell out of your mouth. Cause now the person has their day ruined because you couldn’t throw away your gum after the movie has concluded. Don’t throw food because even though you are trying to hit your friend in the row in front of you, it can hit someone else and that’s not fun for both parties. Also, you make a bigger mess for the people who clean up the theatre after you leave. Which is extremely disrespectful, you don’t let food spill in your house then not clean it up. Yes, it may be their job, but that’s creating more unnecessary work for them. Just be kind to everyone around you and only put the food in your mouth. Overall, just be courteous in the movie theatre and follow the rules. Don’t throw food or talk or even text. Just sit and enjoy the movie. - Quinn

Smithers

OPINION

... That’s Debatable Is it reasonable and worthwhile for student drivers to use transportation apps like Uber? In 2009, Garrett Camp founded Uber, the transportation service of the 21st Century. Using a smartphone application, users can request a ride and get picked up by an Uber driver almost immediately. While many find Uber useful, others are concerned with the safety and financial sense of the service.

YES

Uber is a new, inexpensive revolution in transportation

The risk associated with Uber and similar apps is too high

TANNER PATTERSON

HANNAH MERCER

Staff Writer

Owning a car is a major task for anyone, and even more so for the ever increasing number of teenage drivers on the road. Rideshare services are hitting the mainstream, and using it as a main form of transportation is finally a viable option for students looking for low cost transportation to school. With the various costs and stacks of paperwork required for registration, insurance, maintenance, and other upkeep costs, vehicle ownership is a major hassle for students. Uber not only eliminates the costs of buying a car up front, but also the long term fees that come along with it. Although Uber does charge per mile, multiple daily trips will still be cheaper for most students than owning a car. With the annual automobile ownership cost is estimated at around $8,696 by AAA, daily Uber rides make a lot of sense for many students supporting themselves with lower paying jobs, as they might be unable to afford the high costs of owning and maintaining a car. Uber’s price helps not just students in part-time jobs, but also the many families with busy work and school schedules that cannot afford to buy or maintain multiple cars. Driving their teenager in the morning may not be an option for some parents, and rideshare services can alleviate the problem of hectic shared car situations. Uber’s price structure allows for most families, even those on a tight budget, to be able to afford to rideshare regularly. UberPool, the company’s least expensive option, provides students and families on tight budgets quick transportation with a cheap average price per mile of $0.85. On the surface, buying or leasing a car may look like the cheaper option, but factor in the other variables such as the costs of insurance, gas, maintenance, plus other various fees, and Uber comes out on top. A larger issue than the price may be the safety. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 16-19 teenage drivers died every day in 2015 from automobile crashes, and the crash rate is 3.7 times higher compared to adults according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Startling statistics like this can not only intimidate parents, but also the driver. Uber’s comprehensive background checks for all of their drivers can give teenagers a safer ride, relieving the worries of parents and new drivers alike. As services such as Uber becomes more popular, using it as a main form of transportation becomes more of an option for teenagers looking to get to where they need to go on a tight budget. Over a period of 6 years, Uber has grown to serve over 450 cities around the world, making it the largest and most used rideshare service in the world. With the service growing this rapidly, it soon may be common to see students using Uber to get to school every day. Uber revolutionized the transportation business by making it a realistic possibility to quickly travel without owning a car. Although owning a vehicle full time may have its added benefits such as better flexibility, the lower cost of Uber could soon grab the attention, and money, of high school students everywhere.

Opinion Editor

With gas prices steadily rising, many students think taking an Uber is more financially sensible than driving themselves to other places. This makes sense considering Uber provides an estimated price before you confirm your ride. The cost of your Uber fluctuates in response to traffic, however, and your driver could charge you extra if they have to wait more than 5 minutes for you. Uber also recently added a feature that allows riders to tip their driver, making it extra uncomfortable when they were nice and you can’t afford to give someone a 10 dollar tip for driving you six blocks. When growing up, how many adults said, “never talk to strangers?” Well, using applications such as Uber violates everything that phrase stood for. Anyone can become a driver for these companies without any sort of formal interview. The only requirements for becoming an Uber driver are as follows: Drivers must be over the age of 21, own a four door vehicle and pass a background check, which only covers the past seven years. Also, since Uber does not check fingerprints, the background check is “completely worthless,” according to San Francisco attorney George Gascón. Uber is an appealing choice because in advertisements, the company refers to itself as a “side job” that will allow drivers to make some extra cash in addition to their real job. This means when you call an Uber, you are calling a total stranger to come to your home, pick you up and suffer through the excruciating torture of awkward small talk/uncomfortable silence with you for 30 minutes. Oh, and remember hearing “never take candy from strangers?” Think about that the next time a random man in a dirty white T-shirt driving a silver Prius offers you mints and bottled sports drinks. Countless Uber horror stories tell terrifying tales of creepy, rude, racist and sexist drivers. There have been many accusations about drivers raping, abducting, and/or assaulting ridersespecially female passengers. There are hundreds of claims against drivers who made inappropriate comments and exhibited absolutely unacceptable behavior towards young women going home from clubs after consuming alcohol and not being able to drive themselves. How disgusting is that? When these attacks are reported to Uber, the outcome is usually just a refunded ride, which is totally inadmissible. Uber takes no responsibility for its drivers’ actions, and when incidents occur, they provide little to no compassion or remorse for their company’s role in the event and frequently refuse to condemn the driver. In fact, they often allow the driver to continue driving for them. Uber could easily fix the issues that arise in cases of “he said, she said” episodes by updating their terms of service and requiring drivers to place a camera on the dashboard of their car, which would record all driver/rider interactions. This could be considered a violation of privacy, but it would certainly be worth it if something went wrong when you were in the backseat, wouldn’t it? To put it simply, save your phone storage and head on down to your local Chevron. GRAPHIC » NATALIE DULANKSY» THE LANCER

OPINION

FAUX SURE

With news sources under attack from all angles, many are apprehensive when it comes to trusting anything in the media. However, local and student news sources should be trusted now more than ever. The category of fake news that seizes middle ground of morality is misleading content, and that takes the idea of a Disclaimer: What you’re about to read is not fake news, bias to an extreme by only presenting one side of a broad but, rather a discussion of fake news. topic. It’s just cheap. And, although it is perhaps the better The concept of fake news is too simple. Fake news is alternative to fabricated content, it is too prevalent. any news that is not real, or in more condensed terms — In the “good old days,” when the labeling of news as fake wait for it — fake. It’s anything advertised as newsworthy, wasn’t commonplace, there were only a handful of sources noteworthy and relevant that is actually a falsehood. It is not society knew not to trust. Among the watch list were The what you call a real news story you don’t like because of its National Enquirer and The New York Post, whose sensalenses or bias; fake news is fundamentally fake. And, really, tionalist headlines and designs were hardly ever based on fake news is not all that bad. anything empirical. First, it is critical to realize, apart from its recent resurfacWith the internet’s evolution, though, anyone can say ing, fake news has existed since news’ inception. Benjamin anything and say that anything is a real thing. A real newsFranklin was among the first to take advantage of the craft, worthy thing. when he knowingly published fallacies for political gain. Websites like Wikipedia are losing money rapidly beIn 1782, while still representing the United States in Paris, cause of all the needed upkeep to monitor the fallacies their Benjamin Franklin printed a fake edition of The Indepenusers input daily into the site. Posts on Facebook can reach dent Chronicle — an actual Boston newspaper. Amid the millions of views without being fact checked. fictitious ads and articles, Franklin inserted a made-up story Yes, grandpa, that does mean Trump didn’t really punt a about the massive slaughter of white settlers on the frontiers Chihuahua from The White House lawn. of New York. In the service of the British forces, he claimed Yet there are real advantages to the rise of fake news. Native Americans had collected 700 scalps from men, womYes, bad journalism dilutes the pool of good journalism en, children, and even infants. Franklin lied. and changed the public outlook on news, but this doesn’t It is evidently much harder, then, to call this action as mean every citizen views journalism as the root of all evil. slanderous as other sources of fake news. If anything, fake news makes real news all the more special. But, are other sources of this fake news slanderous at all? The Lancer, for example, is real news. I say this and Is fake news good? admit a bias towards The Lancer, but I can still do that as Well, yes. a journalist. I am allowed to have a bias, especially if I tell As long as informed readers make the distinction between you, the reader, about my bias. real and fake news, both are beneficial. Real news keeps the The Acorn is real news. Though it may seem like an public informed of what is happening in society and across insignificant local paper, it is the closest a resident of the world, and fake news questions that reality by propagatThousand Oaks can get to real, local news. The Acorn, like ing agendas or pushing opinions. The Lancer, is not only an award winning publication, but a Take satire, for example. One would evidently avoid fresh perspective on local events. labeling publications like “The Onion” poorly written or Since the publication you are reading now is geared toresearch, yet by definition, “The Onion” is absolutely fake ward an audience of students, our goal is to relate to the stunews. The purpose of “The Onion” is to commentate on real dents (that’s also why the paper as a whole is student-run). news stories or events with humor or farcical input. It is satThe role of local news is to bring events to the forefront of ire, and satire, though one of the more harmless categories, our community using a local voice. Without it, we are left is nonetheless categorized as fake news. to the mercy of the big corporations, the news and media The likely most prominent category of fake news is news machines targeted for accuracy and derailed for inaccuracy. with a false connection, or more simply: clickbait. In news Local news is within the reader’s reach. If you have a with false connection, the headline and the story’s content concern, if you have a question, you can reach out with a are not connected, and if they are, they are only connected guarantee of a reply because local news is grounded news loosely. It is undeniably a helpful tool from the journalist’s of the people. Guest editorials and letters to the editor are perspective, though. This fake news would help me if I titled available and abundant, and local news needs support. this piece “Benjamin Franklin collected scalps,” because I What the rise of fake news has proven is that real news is do technically discuss the correlation between Franklin and not the enemy. scalps and that headline has an innate “clickability.” Read local news. It’s the best chance any of us will get to Of course, there is and will always be bad fake news. feel involved and literate in the news: The real news. GAVIN P. NORTON

Opinion Editor

THE

NUMBERS: Only about 119 million Americans are confident they can decipher fake news.

In 2016, 11% of Americans said they would always trust what they hear on cable news stations.

A majority of Americans find CNN to be the MOST TRUSTWORTHY source of their news for politics and government.

This year, 64% of Americans said the spread of fake news caused “a great deal” of national confusion. In 2017, 31% of Americans said they are exposed to fake news at a minimum of once a day. SOURCES » STATISTA.COM GRAPHICS » GAVIN P. NORTON» THE LANCER

GOOD ADIDEAS B

#3:

COMMUNISM

Oh, yes. There she is! The big ol’ ugly C-word is crowning one of my columns in the form of a headline. It’s time for me to turn communism into a good bad idea. Actually, my job here is pretty dang easy because a good number of insane radicals and terrible dictators have already done my job for me. They’ve made it evident that, despite working in theory, communism is just a bad idea. Plain and simple. My hard task, then, is glorifying communism to the point where it’s a good bad idea instead of a bad bad idea. My solution? First, I’m going to tackle one of my absolute favorite phrases to shoot down. “Communism works in theory.” Congratulations on knowing what a theory is! In fact, to garner a better understanding of the levity of the phrase we are working with here, I’m going to define each part of that phrase. Communism: It’s a noun. Communism is a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and need. (Oh, wow! Listen to how pretty that sounded!) Works: A verb. It’s a present tense conjugation of the verb “to work” and to work means (of a machine or system) to operate or function, especially properly or effectively. (Note how the actual dictionary defines it as “especially” properly. This means it doesn’t need to work properly, and, although this is where I can easily poke holes, I will refrain). In: It’s a preposition used as a function word to indicate limitation, qualification or circumstance (emphasis on circumstance). Theory: The second noun in the phrase. A theory is an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action. A theory is an idea used to account for a situation. If we wanted to account for a situation where the campus supervisors drove monster trucks instead of golf carts, we could do that in theory. The phrase would look something like this: “Campus supervisors driving monster trucks around T.O. works in theory!” And that phrase would be fundamentally correct! Anything works in theory. The existence of any phrase ending with “in theory” is only so that phrase can put on a facade of value or significance. Yes, campus supervisors driving monster trucks could happen. It is not impossible. Yes, they could use those monster trucks to drive around campus. Yes, this could happen during school hours. And, yes. This could work well, with few negative ramifications. But, that’s just our theory. That’s only what we are using to try to explain some event. We control our theory because it’s our idea. Nevertheless, people — and students especially — continue to devise theories all the time. Agendas? Theories. Pleasant trips to Indiana? Theories. Tentative outfits? Theories. New Year’s Resolutions? Theories. They’re only ever theories. Communism doesn’t work, so it is a fundamentally bad idea. However, what those who practiced and praised communism did was revolutionary. They were all bold and actually applied a theory. They were unafraid to take a risk on Marx’s crazy theory and actually apply it full scale, as a real system of government. That’s what makes communism a good bad idea. Their theory didn’t stay unfulfilled. They went for it and transformed a simple theory into a good bad idea.

» Gavin P Norton

IN-FOCUS

rachelsoswaggy123

ALL PHOTOS » ELLA FORTNEY » THE LANCER

Dating in the digital age

Teen relationships have changed significantly with the rise of new social networking technologies

IN-FOCUS

Teens, Technology, & Relationships Between social media, dating apps, and personal devices technology has had a significant influence on how teens in relationships interact with each other

ELLA FORTNEY SHANNON LIN

In-Focus Editors

Technology has significantly shaped our generation. So much so that some people have even started referring to us as the iGeneration (referencing the impact that Apple and all of it’s “iProducts” have had on our development). We already know this. We hear all the time from our teachers and parents that our phones and computers are making us less patient, less active, and less motivated than kids were “back in their day.” If so, is it possible that these devices that are meant to make it easier to connect to one another are actually also lessening our interest in and ability to interact with each other? According to a study conducted at San Diego State University, teens today are much less likely to go on dates than the teenagers of previous generations, and many individuals think the emergence of new technology is the culprit. AP Literature and Philosophy teacher, Felix McGinnis, has observed this shift in how his students interact and thinks it might specifically have to do with social media. “You are producing this version of yourself that you hope will be liked and I think that there’s the fear that version of you and the real version of you don’t fit” McGinnis said. This anxiety about living up to one’s social media presence, McGinnis proposes, could deter students from seeking close romantic relationships, where one is required to be their true self. In addition to having an effect on the number of teens that are dating, personal devices and social media have changed almost every aspect of teen relationships. From stalking people they are interested in on Instagram to breaking up with their significant other over text, technology has given teens countless new ways to interact with each other.

Before Dating

91 percent of all teens today have some form of social media available to them. These social media accounts allow people to display a slice of their life to the world. This aspect of social media is particularly advantageous for those who want to get to know a little more about a potential boyfriend or girlfriend. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2015, 28 percent of teens have used social media outlets to search someone they were dating or were interested in dating. It makes sense that teens use this method of getting to know a little about their potential dates because it may be awkward or obvious to ask about ask about them in real life. Social media allows people to reveal things about themselves that may not otherwise be known to someone that only knows them indirectly. Social media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat also allow people to view others through photos and videos which is also another way to get to know someone.

The Process of Asking Someone Out

Though many may consider it significantly less romantic to ask someone out over text, in a study done by the PEW Research Center about Teens, Technology, and Romance, they found that it was the second most common way teens asked each other to go on a date. Additionally they found that for 48 percent of teens, using their mobile device to ask someone out (either over text, phone call, or social media) was their preferred approach. Because asking someone out already puts one in a vulnerable position, it makes sense that teens would take the opportunity to lessen the chance of receiving a rejection in person. However understandable this is, many argue that willing to put oneself in this vulnerable position is a sign of emotional maturity and is an important part of learning how to be in an adult relationship. Others are concerned that by having the option to avoid uncomfortable situations, like being rejected, teens are becoming less confrontational, and less prepared to deal with negative situations they might encounter in adulthood.

Communication

With 72 percent of teens communicating with their partners over text daily , and 35 percent expecting to hear from their partner every few hours, it is fair to assume that teens today have

much more of an opportunity to communicate with their partner than the teens of earlier generations. In the 1800s it could take days or even weeks (depending on the distance) for a letter to get transported from one partner to the other . Because of this, communication over letters was often formal and drawn out in order to take full advantage of the opportunity. Even in recent history before texting was commonplace, couples had to maintain at least some amount of formality by actually having conversations when talking to each other over the phone. Nowadays, with the ease and informality of texting, teens don’t even have to communicate with each other in full sentences, or in real time. They can receive a text and take anywhere from a few seconds to multiple hours to formulate a response. This freedom, many argue, is causing teens to lose the ability to have meaningful conversations with each other. In her Ted Talk about technology and human relations, researcher Sherry Turkle explained this exact phenomenon. “Human relationships are rich and they’re messy and they’re demanding. And we clean them up with technology. And when we do, one of the things that can happen is that we sacrifice conversation for mere connection” Turkle said.

Going on Dates

Technology may not have a direct negative impact on how often teens go on dates. Senior Madison Kepler* explains that texting or using Snapchat allows her and her boyfriend to plan dates. “It’s easier to plan when to hang out when we text and then we can finalize our plans in person,” Kepler said. Social media and communication technology has vastly improved the efficiency of non person to person communication. While this allows teens who are dating to communicate more easily about when and where to go on a date or to hang out, some argue that technology in general has caused a decline in real life interactions between teens in general. Because it is harder for teens today to hold meaningful conversations, it is no surprise that going on dates is less common now that it was a couple decades ago. Between 1991 and 2013, the percentage of 12th graders who went on more than one date per week declined from 34 to 16 percent. In the same time period, the proportion of 10th graders who frequently dated also declined from 17 to 9 percent. Most teens who are dating don’t go on dates they just “hang out.” The formality of going on an actual date can be scary because calling a date makes the situation a lot more real; for most teens, having official relationships can be intimidating as opposed to dating casually. It should be noted that the antisocial behavior of teens today is also attributed to busier schedules due to more school or work related activities.

Breaking Up

Much like asking someone out, teens use technology to avoid discomfort when ending relationships. In the same PEW study cited before, they found that 27 percent of teens have broken up with someone via text message, and 31 percent of them have been broken up with this way. Because text messages make it difficult to detect tone, and impossible to see facial responses, they can make the process of breaking up even more complicated and painful. This can have negative effects on both individuals. For the person being broken up with, it can lead to increased feelings of confusion and abandonment. For the person initiating the break up, it allows them to avoid processing their feelings, and can leave them without a feeling of closure. Regardless of whether you think technology is having a positive effect on teen relationships or a negative effect, the truth is that what really matters is how individuals choose to use it. As Senior Zach Levy explains, “[technology is] one of those things where it brings you closer together but at the same time it pulls you further apart.” Levy Said “The main difference is that you can still interact but you have to do it at a distance and for some people they’re okay with that but with other people they need the interaction.” *Madison Kepler is a pseudonym for a TOHS student who wishes to remain anonymous. SOURCE SOURCE SOURCE SOURCE

» » » »

CHILDTRENDS.ORG PEWRESEARCH.ORG PEWINTERNET.ORG TED.COM

SOURCE » FHWA.DOT.GOV SOURCE » GREATERGOOD.BERKELEY.EDU SOURCE » GLOBALDATINGINSIGHTS.COM SOURCE » HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

IN-FOCUS

Gabe // 12:30 AM

What do you want to do tonight?

Emma // 12:33 AM

Idk we could see a movie I guess

Gabe // 12:38 AM

That works

Austin // 3:26AM

Today, +9HRS

I CANT BREATHHH

Berlin

IM DYINGNGN HAHAHAHAHAH

Today, +3HRS

New York

9:15PM

SOURCE » STILLBLOWINGSMOKE SOURCE » VAPINGDAILY.COM SOURCE » WIKIPEDIA SOURCE » BUSINESSINSIDER.COM SOURCE » STILLBLOWINGSMOKE SOURCE » VAPINGDAILY.COM SOURCE » WIKIPEDIA SOURCE » BUSINESSINSIDER.COM

3:15PM

ALL PHOTOS » ELLA FORTNEY » THE LANCER GRAPHICS » SHANNON LIN & ELLA FORTNEY » THE LANCER

FEATURES

Junior Kyle Foster practices and competes in Bicycle Motocross in his free time at the Camarillo Freedom Park BMX Raceway. REBECCA TARBET

it gives you a goal. There’s competition and it’s a lot of fun to try and compete with your friends. It’s fun to try new stuff on the track,” Foster said. Along with the exercise and exhilaration bicycle motorcross brings, Foster has also formed a tight knit BMX community over the last two years he has been biking. “There’s not too many people who know about

Features Editor

Foster first heard about bicycle motocross, or BMX, about two and half years ago, and he first went to the track when his friends and family encouraged him to try riding. He often goes to the track with his younger sister, Kelly. BMX gives the Foster siblings opportunities to encourage, support, and bond with each other. “I think we both help each other out, we both try to encourage each other,” Foster said. “She always gets scared when I try to do something different or something new because she doesn’t want me to hurt myself.” Foster typically rides one to two times a week at Freedom Park BMX Raceway in Camarillo. He participates and competes with his team, Gold Coast BMX. A typical BMX track has three straight aways with multiple jumps. “[BMX] is a sport for all ages and for all kinds of people. The tracks are usually pretty basic and what’s great about the sport is that you don’t need to be super fast or good to start off with,” Foster said. “You can easily move up in the ranks by just practicing and there’s no pressure to jump something stupid or do something crazy, it’s all just kinda chill.” Although the sport has a relaxed atmosphere, Foster reaches high speeds when he bikes. Foster typically rides 15 to 18 miles an hour on the track and has placed first in many local and state races in California. “I usually get second,” said Foster. “I won at Bellflower and I got second in state overall for my age.” He hopes to make more time within his schedule to visit the track, so he can have more time to improve in his biking skills. “It’s a very technique based sport. If you haven’t practiced in a week then you’re already a lot slower than you were when you practiced last. You have to constantly be going at it and with my schedule now it’s hard to consistently practice,” Foster said. “That’s what makes you good, getting time to ride.” Participating in BMX allows Foster to meet new people, make connections and set new goals. “[BMX is different from regular biking because]

OS TE R

»W

ITH

ISS

[BMX] so everybody’s pretty close,” Foster said. Foster is not currently looking into a career in BMX, but hopes to continue on with the sport as a hobby. He looks forward to progressing as a BMX rider and recommends that other youth try it out. “A career would be a stretch, it’s more of a hobby,” said Foster. “We’ll see how much better I get.”

EF KY L OT OS » PH AL L

ON THE TRACK

BMX—(Left) Kyle Foster showcases his trophy after racing in the state championships in Perris, California (Right) Foster races in a state qualifier race in Bakersfield. He typically rides between 15 to 18

FEATURES

Cycles for Success NATALIE DULANSKY

Features Editor

After 30 years of hard work in the Conejo Recreation and Park District, Pete Martinez, Youth Outreach Coordinator, has made a lasting impact on many teens in the community. Cycles for Success, a program started last spring by CRPD and Conejo Schools Foundation, has helped provide bikes to teens who do not have transportation to school. “Because of their situations at home, they might not have a car, money to ﬁx a car, or their parents are too busy working multiple jobs,” Martinez said. “Sometimes [the students] just don’t have a way to get to school.” Martinez works closely with students at Westlake, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, and Conejo Valley High Schools to provide them with resources and opportunities that might have otherwise been unattainable. Often, the students are reluctant or embarrassed to reach out for help before they meet him. Martinez is dedicated to providing a familiar face for every teen that goes through his program. After getting to know many of them personally, he realized that their lack of easily accessible transportation was an

After a year of running Cycles for Success, a joint effort between Conejo Schools Foundation and Conejo Recreation and Park District, more than 60 bikes have been donated to at-risk teens in the Conejo Valley.

overwhelming problem. “I am in a position to talk to the kids who [have] difﬁculties at home,” Martinez said. “I see that this is one of the issues for them, just getting around.” After receiving attention from the local media, the program received donated bikes. Since there is currently no budget set in place for Cycles for Success, the program relies heavily on public contributions. As of now, Cycles for Success has received over sixty donations. “The people from the community responded in a fantastic way and donated all kinds of bikes,” Martinez said. “The response has been amazing from the community and from the teens themselves.” Martinez recommends people to take time to check for lightly used bikes they can donate. He mentions that the teens who receive the bikes are aware of who gave it to them and are all thankful. “The teens know where the bikes come from, and feel like they matter,” Martinez said. “They feel like the community is connecting with them and cares about them.” Recently, the program teamed up with the Amgen

Foundation to give 15 teens new bikes. Other local organizations and companies have reached out to help maintain and repair the donated bikes. “I take them over to a shop in Newbury Park called Michael’s Bicycles and they ﬁx them,” Martinez said. “Money donated to Michael’s Bicycles has gone to the repairs of those bikes.” In his interview with The Lancer, Martinez emphasized that all young people should be involved in their community. Other members of the community have donated their own time to Cycles for Success. “They take the bikes to their own home and use their own resources to upgrade the bikes and bring them back,” Martinez said. “A lot of people out there have their heart in the right place and they want to help. That’s very encouraging.” As for the future, Martinez’s goal is to help even more students and continue the program for as long as possible. “I would like to have, in the future, a budget for money to get new bikes and to repair bikes.” Contact Martinez at pete@crpd.org for more information on how to donate.

PHOTO » CONEJO SCHOOLS FOUNDATION » WITH PERMISSION

CHARITY WORK— Pete Martinez stands with the youth who were recipients of bikes from the Cycles for Success program.

FEATURES

The Lancer hosts a Q&A with freshman Kaylee Gomez about her experiences developing and sharing her musical talents. REBECCA TARBET NATALIE DULANSKY

Features Editors

The Lancer: When did you first begin singing? Kaylee Gomez: Since I was four or three. Ever since I could sing, I have been. TL: We’ve heard you have a business card. What can you tell us about that? KG: There’s a business card, but it’s my dad’s. He is a DJ and he takes me with him to things like weddings. If [the clients] need someone to sing for their cocktail hour, I sing for it and I make money. TL: How often do you get the opportunity to sing at weddings? KG: In the summer I did maybe twice or three times a month, which is a lot for the weddings. Now [I sing] once or twice every two and half months because of school and everything going on. I can’t go with him everywhere because he goes pretty far, too. He goes all the way to Northern California and I can’t go that far when I have so much homework. TL: What has been your favorite performance recently? KG: I was in the [TOHS choir] solo show case, I sang “Chasing Pavements” [by Adele]. TL: Do you want to have a career in music? KG: Yes, I would like to have a career in music my entire life. Maybe teaching or at a college or something like that. Not the whole singing thing like Ariana Grande, or Justin Beiber, [because] that’s really hard to achieve.

TL: Who inspires you? KG: My favorite singer of all time is Ella Fitzgerald. I just love old music from the fifties, it’s my favorite music to listen to. TL: Have you participated in any singing competitions? KG: I auditioned for “The Voice” in May last year. My parents told me I was going to do it and I was really excited, but as it got closer, I got more nervous. It’s a lot different than people think, though, and I wasn’t really prepared. I didn’t know what would actually happen, and I didn’t know what song I was doing. But if you don’t really have any connections with that stuff, you’re usually not going to get on the show. I think I might do it again this year but I don’t know, because I know it’s a really small chance of getting through the thousands of people. TL: What other events do you sing at? KG: I do talent shows. My dad DJs a lot of events locally so I go with him to all that stuff. I’ve done a talent show at the Ventura County Fair. TL: Why do you love to sing? KG: When I did my solo showcase performance, I made one of my friends cry. Music has a lot of power. and when I sing it makes people happy.w I just love to sing.

VIBRANT VOCALS— Freshman Kaylee Gomez performs Adele’s “Chasing Pavements” on stage during the Nov. 9 TOHS Choir Solo Showcase.

GRAPHICS » NATALIE DULANSKY » THE LANCER PHOTO » QUINN SMITHERS » THE LANCER