3
THE MATADOR
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2014
NEWS
Matador Band places second in LA County fair parade competition R ebecca Lei
Photo by Sydney Trieu
Students sign up to donate blood in the quad, where members of the Red Cross cabinet have set up a table for donors. The blood drive will be held on Oct. 21 in the small gym.
Red Cross draws potential blood donors Yi ng C how San Gabriel students, excited to start off the year by donating to a charitable cause, lined up in front of the Red Cross table to sign up for the first blood drive of the year. The blood drive will take place on Oct. 21, in the small gym. Students will be dismissed from their class to go donate blood. Before donating blood, students who sign up at the table are required to show their identification. Then, on the day before the blood drive, they are recommended to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. On the actual day of the blood drive, volunteers check the donors’ iron level and blood pressure to make sure it is safe to proceed with drawing out blood. “We also have a height and weight requirement to ensure everyone’s safety,” Red Cross President junior Kelly Chu said. “The taller the person is, the less he or she needs to weigh.” The whole process is fast, simple, and safe. It takes about ten minutes for the students to sign in, for volunteers to ask each student about his or her physical and sexual history, and for the blood withdrawal. Each donor will donate one pint of blood. In order to encourage more students to donate blood, Red Cross Secretary junior Leo Liu decided to “set an example” and take part in the donation of blood. “Since I am a cabinet member, I feel like I should donate blood so I can help people who need the blood,” Liu said. “ Even though I’m afraid of needles, I think it will still be good for me because I heard it doesn’t really hurt.” Red Cross is hoping to get at least 150 donors to sign up for the blood drive. Currently, 74 students have signed up. “Each donor can save up to three lives, so we would like to see as many people sign up as possible,” Chu said. “Every person counts.”
together, so I think all of the sore muscles were worth it.” The Matador Marching Band took the The band was led on their route by Los Angeles County Fair by storm on Sept. drum major Emily Eng and directed by 18, with all 97 of their members marching band director Tammy Cognetta, who in full force around the parade route inside oversaw the band’s practices while they the fairgrounds in Pomona, Calif. The band tuned up for their competition. participates in the L.A. County Fair High “I was tremendously surprised by our School Band competition annually in hopes performance and our result,” Cognetta of winning the grand prize comprised of said. “We’ve been participating in this two components–$10,000 and a chance competition for longer than I to play in the Tournament can remember, but this is of Roses, an event held the first time that we’ve every year on New Year’s ever placed.” Day. This year, the band The band competed and Colorguard worked among 41 other together to achieve 2nd contenders with Blink place in Class A bands– 182’s “All The Small resulting in a monetary Things,” adapted reward of $750. for instruments by “It was a really fun Michael Sweeney. parade,” flutist senior The prize money Thao Vi Phan said. will go toward band “Since it was my first necessities, such as parade, I felt nervous buses for the Southern about having to play in California School front of so many people. Band and Orchestra But once the crowd started Association (SCSBOA) cheering and [the band] festival competition, set to started playing, my doubts occur in the spring. disappeared.” “It’s great that we have To p r e p a r e f o r t h e a cushion to fall back competition, the band and on,” Cognetta said. “The Colorguard members practiced money will definitely arduously through the blistering help in the future. Now Photo by Rebecca Lei heat of the summer sun week after week. we can purchase more “We would practice first with band instruments [for the kids], which is nice, during zero period and then after school,” since there are so many members in the Colorguard senior Duyen Pham said. “It band.” was tiring practicing the routine over and With the competition now over, band over again, but as they say, practice makes members will now switch gears to perfecting perfect. [It also] brought [Colorguard] closer their field show for football games.
Common Core increases emphasis on use of technology, changes curriculum Kri s t y Du ong With the implementation of Common Core, there has been an increased emphasis on the use of technology in classes in order to prepare students for the 21st century and the new SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) test. One of Common Core’s College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing includes the “[use of] technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.” “The kids are submitting work online, producing work online, and] using message boards,” Business and Technology Academy teacher Joan Lee said. “I’m also teaching them to use Google Drive so that they can actually learn to use Google professionally. They’re doing a lot of collaborative work together like they’re working together on a document or Prezi. The idea is a blended classroom, a blending of technology and tradition classroom.” In addition, the math standards now say that “strategic use of technology is expected in all work” as “mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem, [which] might include pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator,
a spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic geometry software.” Math teachers have been incorporating more computer use into their classes with the start of integrated math classes. According to integrated math teacher Nicholas Nguyen, these classes make weekly trips to the computer labs in order to “get students used to taking tests and doing assignments online because the new Common Core test is going to be online based” and “to prepare students with 21st century skills so they can use current technology to their advantage.” However, with increased online classwork, there has also been increased online homework. “99 percent of the time, I assign homework online now, so they are responsible to go online and download the homework on their own,” Nguyen said. However, with the increased use of technology, students who do not have access to computers or printers at home may find it difficult to complete their work. Senior Stephen Yu has had issues doing work online for the past few years with a lack of Internet at home. “I wouldn’t be able to communicate with [my group members] that well,” Yu said. “What my mom said to do
was to get their phone numbers and call them, but then [it makes it harder to work together]. Yu feels that people who have Internet access at home have an advantage because “they can use it to talk to other people,” but he also believes that “it’s sometimes not as convenient because people get distracted.” Because not all students have access to technology at home, teachers have been trying to help students by providing classtime to do online homework and making online homework assignments short. “For those who don’t have a computer at home or don’t have access to a printer, I did show them how to do it in the Career Center and the library,” Nguyen said. However, some students believe that these new internet lectures are beneficial. “The new online program is helpful as it doesn’t let you move onto the next [math] section until you fully understand the current one and fill up your skill-o-meter, but it’s tedious,” freshman Justin Quach said. Overall, the transition from traditional to technologybased learning may take some time to get used to, but it appears to be something that everyone just needs to adjust to.
Hong Kong protesters challenge Chinese government, disturb civic peace C h ri s t y De n g An estimated 50,000 citizens are protesting in the streets of Hong Kong for universal suffrage. The Chinese government had granted Hong Kong voters the right to elect their own leader for 2017. However they announced in August that the people of Hong Kong would only be able to vote for specially selected candidates approved by a proBeijing committee. The protests began on Sept. 26 and started with students boycotting their classes. As days passed, a civil disobedience campaign called Occupy Central with Love and Peace called for more protesters; as numbers grew,
peaceful protests turned violent when police attacked the demonstrators with tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets. Cell phone reception was shut down and Instagram was blocked to prevent people from sharing any information or images coming out of Hong Kong. “My hope for Beijing is to give free and fair elections [in Hong Kong], but I doubt that’ll happen,” US History teacher Eric Hendrickson said. “Hong Kong has little experience with violent protests, but using tear gas was the wrong way to go.” Demonstrators came together and demanded the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Chun-Ying Leung on Oct. 1, the national holiday celebrating the founding of communist China. However,
the chief executive claimed that it was “impossible” for him to step down. Beijing and Hong Kong governments are currently waiting for Occupy Central to run out of steam. Many residents who are not attending the protests are complaining about the noise and have not been able to continue everyday activities because of the crowded streets. “My great aunt lives in Hong Kong and she called us saying that she was tired of the yelling on the streets,” junior Michelle Hua said. “She can’t do the things she normally does because there’s so many people outside and it’s really crowded and loud.” The current Hong Kong protests are
deemed as “repeated history.” In 1989, pro-democracy demonstrators, comprised mostly of students stood in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to protest for freedom of the press and governmental accountability. This led to the infamous Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which a large, unknown number of protesters died due to police brutality. “Since the protest in Tiananmen Square didn’t go well, the Hong Kong government will probably react the same way the Chinese government did,” junior Francine Yu said. “I think the protesters should find another way to voice their opinions. They are blocking the roads and a lot of places from opening, and people cannot continue their daily routines.” Photo by Citobun/CC BY