The Matador: September 2016

OPINIONS

FEATURES

SPORTS

“Microwave, hot water should be available to students” pg. 4

“New teachers open their lockers at San Gabriel” pg. 12

“Varsity football team defeats Ganesha, earns redemption” pg. 10

THE MATADOR

SAN GABRIEL HIGH/SEPTEMBER 22, 2016/ VOLUME 62 / ISSUE 1

WWW.THEMATADORSGHS.US/801 S. RAMONA ST., SAN GABRIEL CA 91776

Writing Center offers tutoring help to all students Sydney Trieu One by one, students filed into the library after school to attend the grand opening of the Writing Center, sponsored by the California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), on Sept. 14.

Led by Dr. Robert Land, a professor at CSULA, the Writing Center was established to aid high school students with college and career readiness. Both college professors and college students will serve as tutors for the program, open to guiding any student and providing necessary feedback for improvement.

“We can help with just about any kind of interest,” Land said. “Some students come every week just to get mini-lessons on improving their writing. Others come for a month or so to get help writing a big assignment or research paper. Advanced students, English learners, struggling writers, and everyone else are welcome at the Writing Center.”

Department head and English teacher Karen Johnston emphasizes this, urging all students to take advantage of the program.

“I’ve always been supportive of the idea of [the program] coming [our school],” Johnston said. “[Teachers] could encourage students to go to the Writing Lab and work with pre-service teachers on writing their essay. Students can also go there to work on their college statements. I know [San Gabriel has] Project HOPE also as a resource, but this can be an additional resource.”

Senior David Auyeung was one of the many who participated in the Writing Center’s first session. During the session, he felt that he “was learning how to become a better writer” and mentioned that “being around these amazing writers was really inspiring.” “ [The tutors helped] me think of ways to connect my thoughts to a metaphor and expand on my writing. They also taught me [an] exercise [where I’d] write out a list of my life to help with my college apps,” Auyeung said. “I actually enjoyed

Photo by Sydney Trieu

Dr. Robert Land (left) guides students through several introductory exercises before diving into writing. [the program] a lot so I would [come back] for sure.”

However, students were not the only ones learning; first-year English teacher Alicia Canzano also attended the Writing Center’s opening, assisting Land while also hoping to build on her own teaching skills.

“Dr. Land is very smart, and I would like to learn what I can,” Canzano said. “I wanted to learn ways to work with students and get them to want to learn. I wanted to incorporate Land’s strategies with my own students.”

The Writing Center program was initially integrated into the Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) last year; beginning in the winter of 2015, it was first established at Mark Keppel High School before expanding to Alhambra High School and now San Gabriel High School.

Career Center expands technology use

“There are a lot of good reasons why we chose to work with the AUSD,” Land said. “The high quality of instruction and the diverse and dedicated student body are two reasons the district schools are so appropriate as learning sites for future teachers.”

Land adds that because “CSULA enrolls many students from AUSD, [there is] a vested interest in helping increase students’ chances of success in college.”

“It is a real honor and privilege to be guests at [San Gabriel High School], and it is so rewarding and so much fun getting to work with [its] students,” Land said. “For professors and tutors alike, the hours that we spend in the Writing Centers are often the best hours of our week.”

The Writing Center will be open to all students every Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. in the library.

P.E. gets new lockers after over sixty years

Shirley Dinh In order to inform students about the latest updates, the Career Center recently created a Remind account, adding to its array of technology usage.

Career and Technology Education adviser Elizabeth An started using the Remind app last school year in order to connect to more students. Besides having an account for just the Career Center on the Remind app, there are also separate Remind accounts for the graduating classes and the dual enrollment classes.

Students who sign up for the Remind app through the Career Center will be instantly notified about field trips, workshops, college presentations, scholarships, and more. “[Using technology] is our way of communicating with students the best way we can, because I know everyone is always looking down on their phone,” An said. “Using the Remind app makes news spread fast, because the students with the reminders can tell their friends.”

Senior Robert Gonzales, who signed up for the Career Center’s Remind app, shared his thoughts on the benefits of using the app or signing up for it by text.

“It’s really useful because I get to know about field trips, workshops, and more before anyone else,” Gonzales said. “[However,] it’s disadvantageous to not use the technology that’s offered to us because then other [students] wouldn’t know what’s going on around school.”

The Career Center also uses other technological resources in order to reach out to more students. This includes the Career Center website and emails to students.

The website for the Career Center includes all the information that students need to know, such as upcoming events and information about college. Regarding the website, An said that she “updates it two to three times a week.”

Students can sign up for the Remind app online on their phones, or text the number 81010 to get reminders by text. Some upcoming events include a choosing of your major workshop on Sept. 21, and the field trip to California State University, Dominguez Hills on Sept. 23, which students can sign up for at the Career Center.

Photo courtesy of Leo Yue

Lucas Jorgensen After decades of using outdated lockers, San Gabriel has been given new and improved physical education (P.E.) lockers. P.E. teachers have long heard rumors about receiving new lockers, but now they have finally arrived.

“The old lockers were the original lockers put in when school was first opened, and they’ve needed to be replaced for about 20 years,” P.E. teacher Jon Keller said.

Other schools, such as Mark Keppel High School, have had the same locker dilemma like San Gabriel, but none have been replaced with new lockers.

“The P.E. teachers are very excited for the new students this year to have the newest lockers in 60 years,” Keller said.

One thousand and two hundred new lockers were ordered for students taking P.E. classes. The installation of the lockers began over the summer

and concluded in mid-Sept. While previous lockers were just enough to fit a student’s clothes, these new lockers will be able to fit both clothes and backpacks.

Previous lockers were small because students used to have personal lockers.

“They are a big upgrade to what we had before,” senior Emanuel Hernandez said. “The paint job is nice. They practically redesigned the P.E. locker rooms.”

Recently, students got their first look at the new lockers, and what they saw was definitely different from the previous rusty lockers. The new lockers are blue, a new look compared to the old gray lockers.

They are also no longer stacked upon each other as much as before, with two on top of each other instead of four or five. The locks changed quite a bit from the previous ones, now featuring a new switch that requires a hit upwards to open and the locks are attached to the door. With this change in the P.E. classes, many students are excited to use the best lockers in the school’s history.

2

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

New lunches revamps cafeteria’s menu

NEWS

New bus system implements student fee

Photo by Michelle Ho

Sydney Tr ieu

Photo by Vivan Wong

The cafeteria displays the new chicken and rice (left) and tamale (right) for 2016-17 year Vi v i a n Wo n g New meals were added to the breakfast and lunch menu in the cafeteria for the 2016-17 school year.

In order to attract more students into eating lunch, the Food Services Department added new and various types of food items such as tamales, pigs in a blanket, and teriyaki chicken with rice. “[The director of food services] made this change to bring more kids in,” food service cook manager Rosaline Mendez said.

A food show is held annually and hosted

by Alhambra Unified School District’s Food & Nutrition Services team for nutrition education and food tasting where parents, students and staff rate food and beverage items from a mixture of vendors. Those opinions are then taken into consideration whether the items should be added or taken off of the menu.

“Vendors lay out food and students and the community can taste these food,” Food Service Technician Leina Chang said. “Then

we conduct a survey and tally up what the students and adults like.”

Even with all the food people select, not all items are served because they must meet certain nutritional requirements.

“We are mandated by the government, so we have to make sure what and how much we serve fits the standards,” Chang said.

Many students prefer the new breakfast and lunch items and find it better than previous years.

“I actually like the new lunch. There is more variety than what was offered last year,” sophomore Jaqueline Garcia said. “Last year, [the cafeteria] only had three choices and now there’s a lot more.”

Junior Mao Si Lam hopes that more food is added in the future, as it give students a broad range of options and eliminates repetitive meals.

All in all, Chang stresses the importance of eating breakfast and lunch. She explains that research has shown that kids who eat have more energy and tend to perform better in school.

P.E. class policy bans leggings E m i l y Val ent i n Girls are not allowed to wear leggings in physical education (P.E.) classes due to health and sanitary reasons. Though this policy has been in effect for the past two years, it seems new to some P.E. students.

Sophomore Angelica Morales does not like the policy.

“It is dumb because leggings are stretchable and we are able to do exercise in them,” Morales said. “The shorts are uncomfortable because when you stretch you could see through.”

P.E. teacher Michele Buchicchio said leggings are problematic because “students need to sweat in P.E. clothes, not the clothes they wear to school. We want them for sanitary/health reasons to be able to change out of sweaty clothes, not wear them to their next class. Many girls were wearing leggings to school, not changing out of them for P.E. class, and wearing them essentially all day.”

Freshman Estefany Casas understands the policy.

“It is good that we aren’t going to be able to wear leggings,” she said. “It’s going to be uncomfortable because you are sweating in them.”

Students who wear leggings receive partial credit for their P.E. uniform grade.

AUSD ninth annual College Fair returns next month to San Gabriel T h o m as Wang The ninth annual Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) College Fair will be taking place at San Gabriel High School on Oct. 13 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. Open to all students in the AUSD, the College Fair has over 60 representatives from colleges and universities across the nation, vocational schools, and the military. Through these representatives, both students and parents will have the opportunity to learn about campus life and different occupational opportunities after high school. In addition, workshops for financial aid and the revamped University of California personal insight questions will be held for students. Last year, hundreds of students and parents across the District attended the College Fair that was held at San Gabriel.

Next semester, the Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) plans to implement a new system called Z Pass onto district school buses, funded by a grant from Zonar, a GPS tracking company. The usage of this system will require a bus pass separate from regular student IDs, and some students will be charged for these passes.

Students who receive free or reduced lunch will be eligible for free bus passes; however, students who do not qualify will be charged $100 a semester for a bus pass. If a family under full-priced lunch has more than three children taking buses after school, the cost for passes will top off at $300.

“Students paying to ride the school buses has been a board policy for many years, but it hasn’t been enforced,” Nico Richardson, director of Transportation Services for the AUSD, said. “[Bus passes] will now go with applying for lunch passes; both are covered with just one application.”

Lunch applications do not need to be resubmitted in order to obtain a bus pass.

In addition, Matthew Dultz, assistant principal of Business and Activities, explains how these bus passes may be distributed based on his previous experience at Mark Keppel High School.

“What may happen, like what they do at Keppel, is that you pay for the bus pass at school, so you don’t have to walk all the way to the district office,” Dultz said. “For those that should be paying, it comes out to about $20 dollars for the whole month, which is 50 cents a ride.”

The district-wide implementation of Z Pass reflects the concern for student safety, as the bus passes will serve as ID cards to scan and identify students as they board the bus.

“That way, I can check and see what bus [a student] is on and whwether they got off or not to make sure no one gets left behind,” Richardson said. “We will be able to keep track of the number of students who board the bus and to locate students if necessary. [We can also] track buses with GPS and see how fast they’re [driving].”

The Z Pass system also comes in response to the passage of Senate Bill 1072 by the Calif. state legislature, mandating that all school buses be equipped with an alarm that sounds when the engine is turned off. The bus driver would then have to walk to the back of the bus and scan all the seats before disabling the alarm. The bill now awaits approval by Gov. Jerry Brown.

San Gabriel wrestling program cut for 2016-17 school year Eva H er nandez After several decades of having the program on campus, San Gabriel High School will not have a wrestling team for the 2016-17 school year.

Last year, the program began facing challenges as membership and participation dwindled.

“I was suspecting it already,” senior Josef Rafael Del Mundo said. “I didn’t know for sure until we got our class schedules during the summer.”

Assistant Principal of Business and Activities Matthew Dultz remarked that the program had been cut mainly because of the lack of participation. However, another determining factor was the former coach’s decision to move to Alhambra High School.

“We put up advertisements for someone to fill in the position,” Dultz said. “Unfortunately, when we asked that they also provide a list of students willing to participate, the three candidates we received never got back to us.”

Junior Lillian Zhang, a former varsity wrestler, said that she was surprised when she heard

the news at the beginning of the year. She was interested in the sport since her freshman year but did not join until last year. Zhang also shared the same concerns as Del Mundo; she remembers hearing from the coach that participation issues would cause various problems in the future.

“If we were to get another coach and get enough people, I would love to continue with wrestling,” Zhang said.

Dultz later remarked that aside from the lack of participation and coaches, the cost of the sport is more expensive than others due to “calibration” requirements. Students must be weighed individually to find out their body mass and weight in order to determine which weight class they will compete in. Because of this, it is preferred to have a larger team so that the school will have more reason to pay for the calibration.

“We need the numbers,” Dultz said. “We’d rather have a large team that would be able to participate than a handful of kids that might not be there the next year.”

Until further notice, there will be no wrestling team on campus.

NEWS

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

Palma challenges Mackintosh for board position

Yearbook prices decrease

N at han Ta After several years of uncontested school board elections in the Alhambra Unified School District, incumbent and Board President Patricia Rodriguez-Mackintosh now faces a challenger: Yvonne West-Palma.

Both candidates hail from District 3, aiming to secure a seat in the upcoming general election on Nov. 8.

These are briefs of their answers; to read their full answers, go to <thematadorsghs.us>.

Patricia Rodriguez-Mackintosh

Photo courtesy of AUSD

Q: Tell us about yourself?

A: “After high school I opted to go to a vocational trade school [at] Marinello’s Cosmetology Beauty school...”

Q: Why are you running for school board?

A: “I have been on the board for 11 years and nine months, and it has been a great learning experience to be able to help, to be part of and to see all the wonderful changes that our students received.”

Q: What do you plan to do if re-elected?

A: “I would like to see more of [building] on our Career Technical Education program.”

Yvonne West-Palma

Photo courtsey of Ballotpedia

Q: Tell us about yourself?

A: “I’m currently a Speech & Language Pathologist at LAUSD, where I have worked for the last 16 years.”

Q: Why are you running for school board?

A: “I have a strong passion for education and want to be more involved in our district and to be sure the educational goals are being met.”

Q: What do you plan to do if elected?

A: State standards obviously need to be met, but each student may have a different way of reaching those standards. It’s definitely important to listen to our students’ needs.

3

Anny Li Wu The cost of the yearbook decreased by $20 from $95 to $75 this year and senior portraits decreased by $40 to $20.

In the past, the yearbook staff has struggled with selling all of the yearbooks because of their high prices. With the price decrease of senior portraits, the staff hopes more seniors will take their pictures and be featured in the yearbook.

“People were shocked that the prices have decreased,” one of the yearbook Editors-In-Chief (EIC) Gilberto Gallegos said.

It was this news that prompted seniors to reconsider their decisions to take their portraits and purchase the yearbook.

“It’s cheap,” Huang said. “It’s my senior year and I want to keep [my experiences in a book] as a memory.”

The price of the yearbook dropped because the school changed vendors from Herff Jones to Friesens.

Victoria Vu, another yearbook EIC, explained that students may not know that the size of the yearbook has also decreased.

“I feel like it would’ve been better if we stuck with the old company even though it was more expensive because now [the yearbook] is about the [same] size of printer paper,” Vu said.

Dultz explained that the Associated Student Body (ASB) pays the bills for the yearbooks, but they also make a profit from them as well. These profits allow ASB to pay the custodians and the employees who work the [sports] games. If ASB is able to make more money and afford to pay for other functions that support the school’s population, it would give students a better experience.

Without these profits, ASB would not be able to offer many activities unless the price of the yearbook increases, he explained.

Whitman plans to expand water filter use

Students disappointed over AP Physics 2 cancellation

Photo by Christina Lov Photo by Sydney Trieu

Principal Debbie Stone explains the cancellation of AP Physics 2 to students who wished to take the course.

To m C h e a h Following the resignation of former AP Physics teacher Larry Kanow, school administration was unable to find a suitable replacement teacher and thus, closed the planned AP Physics 2 class.

The AP Physics 2 course was originally slated for fifth period. However, without this class, the 36 seniors who had signed up for the course were required to take an alternative course, such as Teacher Aide-Tutor, or early release fourth period to fix their schedules.

“Due to staffing, we had to look at who could teach the course,” Principal Debbie Stone said.

“We considered the entire staff, but none were allowed to teach an AP Physics 2 course due to credentialing.”

Stone stated that the administration had looked at ways to offer the course but ultimately had to close the planned AP Physics 2 class.

“I’m really sad by the fact that I couldn’t take the class because I really looked forward to it,” senior Gilbert Gallegos said.

Though he does not fault the administration for not offering the course, he felt that students should have been given more chances to study physics.

“There should have been more options for us, like a regular class with a substitute teacher or an after school class,” Gallegos said.

Senior Grace Li also expressed a similar sentiment and wanted more support from the administration.

“I don’t think students should handle this situation by themselves,” Li said. “Administrators should have sorted this out [instead of letting] the students figure it out by themselves. We were told to commit to the two year course when we signed up for AP Physics 1, but in the end it isn’t us who aren’t committing.”

Li stated that she would have liked to see the administration do more to find a replacement teacher or help set up a physics study group for students.

“We will do our best to plan staff on student requests for courses,” Stone said. “We were just caught in a difficult position this year. It is unfortunate because schools should be able to offer courses that students want.”

Stone said that San Gabriel could offer the AP Physics 2 exams if students are interested in taking it and is looking to fill the vacant physics teaching position for the upcoming school year.

Chr istina Lov After a water filter in AP Environmental Science teacher David Whitman’s room (E209) was installed in mid-May, over 1,800 water bottles have been filled, saving an abundant amount of plastic, energy, and money, according to Whitman.

Lead and chlorine are filtered from tap water and minerals are left intact, resulting in water that tastes the same as bottled water, he said. Each filter can fill 21,000 bottles and Whitman has one more filter, meaning 42,000 bottles can be filled before another filter needs to be purchased.

“A lot of my students use the filter, and I have kids come in [and] they aren’t mine,” Whitman said. “They just swing in, hold the bottle for a few seconds, and out they go.”

Whitman estimates that over 40 students use the water filter on a daily basis, and he hopes for more to reduce the use of plastic bottles.

Junior Adrian Kobayashi shares his perspective on the water filter and explains how it impacts his

daily routine.

“A lot of the water fountains at the school don’t work, and with this water filter, I can easily fill up my water throughout the day,” Kobayashi said.

Despite the impact the water filter is making, many students are wondering why it is located in E209.

“It was difficult to get it installed near the A-building water fountains and the student bank,” Whitman said. “The installment required a lot of work, and there’s always the issue of vandalism. I can imagine someone poking it and damaging it. Then it won’t work for anybody, so at least in here, it’s safe.”

However, Whitman’s main goal is to make the school more environment friendly. He still plans to fundraise for another water filter, but this time it will be on campus, making it more convenient and accessible to the student body despite possible property damage.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about water,” Whitman said.

“We’d all be dead without it.”

4

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

“Luc”-ing for Simplicity

Lucas Jorgensen At a crossroads Being the most obvious Mormon (probably) at SG is weird. I’m not bothered by getting called out for being white anymore, but it’s always awkward when I’m called out for being a Mormon or when I’m asked about my beliefs. It took me a while to get used to racist comments, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this. The term “Mormon” is short for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Most of the time, I tell people I’m a Mormon and they either accept it or judge me. Being a Mormon isn’t very different from other Christian-based religions. The biggest differences are probably the limits to drinking alcohol, coffee, tea, and other things like that. There’s a lot that we do that’s strange if you don’t know much about the culture, but it’s definitely strange (for me at least) when you go to Utah.

Mormons are all over the state. I go to Utah for the summer and Christmas, and I feel a mixture of comfort and awkwardness when I visit. There are two kinds of Mormons in Utah: the ones who are totally dedicated and the people I am familiar with, the ones who would rather be somewhere else. I’m closer to traditional Mormons, but not all the way up there. I was born in Utah but raised in California, so unlike the Utah Mormons, I wasn’t almost completely surrounded by people like me. As a Mormon one different thing we do is go to an early morning class called seminary, unless you’re in Utah, where it’s a high school class that takes up one of the six or seven periods.

I get up every morning at 5 a.m., not getting enough sleep, rushing out of the door to get there before attending my six periods afterwards. I had a horrible time doing it last year, and while this year seems to be much better, it looks harder. I am being forced/encouraged by my parents to get this big award in the class that looks good to Mormon church schools like Brigham Young University but aren’t a big deal anywhere else. As stated earlier, seminaries are considered a regular class in a Utah high school, which is a little unfair to me, as I am in California. I hear my parents say they liked going to it, but not at five in the morning. I had to go with a negative crowd of three or four other people last year, who really didn’t want to be there either, and that doesn’t help encourage learning for anyone.

This year I’m hoping things will change.

My parents are promising rewards for effort, and that never hurts. The new class is a little better, and the new assistant teacher is great. I once heard that if you’re born into your parents’ religion, it’s the first time you agree to “the terms and conditions” without reading them. But it’s not as though I don’t like it; I love it. It’s like the iOS 10, I agreed to the terms and conditions before getting it, and now I can remove the Stocks app and more, in order to have more space on my phone to do what I want. I agreed to stay away from substances, and now I won’t ever have to worry about the consequences following those.I also plan to go to a Mormon college, so the seminary class I am taking now is important. I had the choice to agree to the rules and standards of my religion when I was eight, and I haven’t regretted it since. A leader in my church once said, “If the church is too difficult for you in your busy life, then simplify it.” I simplified my life and have had peace with myself since then, and I invite you all to simplify your lives as well.

Editorial

OPINIONS

Teacher aide system requires improvements For decades, teacher aides (TAs) have been a keystone to the San Gabriel ecosystem. Much like any ecosystems, removing any aspects of it throws the ecosystem on its head, and removing TAs in the future school years does exactly that. It reduces the productivity of the school and places staff members in a paperwork quagmire.

However, simply reinstating the TA course much like the years before should not be the solution, as it does not provide much educational value. A new adaptation to the San Gabriel environment is needed to fill the niche of TAs. TAs are vital. More specifically, the work they do is vital. The class is not, however. It is indisputable that the staff members and teachers of this school are overworked. From grading papers to preparing for school wide eventss, teachers have an innumerable amount of responsibilities outside of teaching the classroom. On the same note, staff members in the office also climb the same mountain. For example, two people once filled the role of the Business and Activity office manager. The assistance TAs are invaluable to the success of the how the

school run. To completely remove TAs cripples the productivity of teachers and staff, and this demands the void in labor to be filled. It would be humanly impossible to their job otherwise.

However, the current TA system does not work. The class offers almost no educational value. For the most part, TAs do jobs that anyone could do. They follow orders to do menial labor or other repetitive tasks.

Compared to an art or science, TA courses offer almost zero academic engagements.

The Alhambra Unified School District is merely complying with Under AB 1012, a state bill that requires school districts to limit courses without “educational content.” Even though the bill does not eliminate these classes, the student must reach certain requirements which has been implemented in this year. Some may argue that the TAs should be kept as long as it abide by the rules. Yet, this does not change the fact that the TA system itself is just a Band-Aid solution to a broken system. The school is understaffed which has caused TAs to be a necessary evil.

The ideal solution is that helpers are hired to assist the staff and faculty. This alle-

viates the monumental workload from the teachers and staff members while keeping the students in the classroom. However, this is unlikely as the current trend in staffing has been downsizing.

As the District is implementing new classes in place of TAs, a solution to consider is to enrich the TA program so students would undergo formal training whether it is for word processing or various technological skills. Because TAs are treated as employees, they might as well be trained as one as well. In this case, two days a week are spent on educational activities while the other three days are focused on their assignment to whomever. Does this avoid AB 1012? Probably not, but it is a more enriching experience.

Furthermore, the TA position can be combined with the TA-Tutor course to further condense the courses while providing more responsibilities to the TAs. While the TA system has been essential to San Gabriel, it does not benefit the students much. Therefore, the system needs to change in order to give students practical skills while serving San Gabriel.

The school’s ecosystem needs to adapt.

Microwave, hot water should be available to students K ari na Mat i as With the beginning of a new school year, there are some new changes. Unfortunately, the new policy of hot water and microwave usage being no longer available is problematic for students.

The new school nurse, Rebecca Barker, notified students that the hot water and microwave in the health office would no longer be available during lunch break.

This was probably one of the most heartbreaking news for many students.

It is unreasonable why this new policy was implemented.

Many students decide to bring their own food because the school lunch prices are too high. Others simply do not enjoy the food served in the cafeteria. It could also be because many students come from different countries, and part of their culture depends on the food they usually eat. Although some teachers allow students to use their

microwave, that does not mean every single student has that luck.

Almost everyone grows up being told to always eat three meals a day, and it is highly important to do so, especially since many students stay for a long period of time after school. Whether it is be catching up with homework or playing sports, it is truly important to get the necessary amount of nutrients.

“I do not agree with the policy,” Barker said. “I think you kids have to eat well in order for your brains to stay active!”

Although many students are not quite in agreement with the new policy, they respect and understand it, because it was due to a parent complaint.

“If the problem was because people left the place dirty then they should just make them clean after,” senior Miranda Martinez said.

O r l o g i c a l l y, a b a n k o f microwaves and a hot water dispenser should be added to the campus. It’s a small gesture t h a t m a n y w o u l d a p p re c i a t e , Illustration by Vincent Maresca including teachers.

New coaches bring diversity, does not affect sports performance Mi chel l e H o Anderson. Franey. Keenan. All of these names are unfamiliar to San Gabriel High students. They are the last name of the new coaches.

They are white.

With new changes within the sports department, one would observe that coaches are vastly different; they are culturally diverse, and this raises the question of how their differences may impact the sports in San Gabriel, a mainly minority school. However, sport achievements have nothing to do with the color of their coaches’ skin or who they have descended from but rather the effort the coaches put into the team.

According to the scores and statistics from the sports department, cultural diversity has no effect on whether sports teams win or lose.

The real fact of the matter is that whatever the coaches bring to the table is what the team puts out. Sport performances have nothing to do with the physical attributes of their coaches but rather the coach’s mentally capability to drive their team to success.

“I don’t think my team is winning more because my coach is white,” varsity basketball player junior Christine Nguyen said. “ We’re winning because of how determined our team is. [Coach Jordan Franey] helps us with every little thing we need to get better whether it’s with layups, shooting, or post moves. It’s like a vibe she sends out to the whole team showing us how much she wants us to win and help us improve.”

However, one may think that the addition of coaches of different

ethnicities would change the entire sports system. Being a majority minority school, many do not have insight on what it would be like to have white coaches. Less aggressive treatment and a change in how the sports were ran came with the new coaches, which some athletes have linked to the difference of their culture. Athletes of several sports began to run less, and thus a drop in overall achievement and victories against other teams occurred. Some may point out that not all changes that came along with the new coaches were beneficial.

“When I heard more than half of the new coaches were white, I already knew our sports department would change,” junior Dustin Ta said.” I could tell that they’d add some weird white cultural thing into our sports teams. Change isn’t always a good thing.”

Nonetheless, the change in authority, not race, impacted the athletes abilities in ways both mentally and physically, as well as the team’s performance as a whole. Varsity basketball player Xue Fu describes the impact of the recent authority change brought to her team.

“Before, as a team with our [former] coach, we weren’t a team. We weren’t united,” Fu said. “We were more focused on winning, but ever since our new coach came, we are not only about winning. We’re more into cooperation. We’re winning as a team now; whereas, before, we were only playing as individuals. We’ve learned to win together and lose together as a team.”

The new changes made in the sports department should not be considered ineffective or horrible; everyone works towards a shared goal in the long run. The new coaches have all said that their end game is to have their teams perform at their absolute best, to win and succeed, but most importantly, to work as a team and not several individuals.

OPINIONS

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

Harsher requirements for both criminals, judges needed N a t han Ta Brock Turner was recently released from prison early, serving three out of his six month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. Now, why is it that Turner was released in such a short amount of time for a crime that could land almost anyone else a maximum of 30 years? White privilege.

Racial inequality plagues the American criminal justice system.

Former African-American Vanderbilt University student Cory Batey was sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison for the same charge as Turner. According to The Wall Street Journal, prison sentences for AfricanAmericans are nearly 20 percent longer than for whites. But in Batey’s case, his minimum sentence of 15 years is 3000 percent longer than Turner’s original six month sentence.

It should be obvious that when someone says yes, they mean yes, and when they say no, they mean no. If people cannot understand this concept, it points to the lack of education that people receive about consent. In 2010, the organization No Means No Worldwide developed a program for boys called “Your Moment of Truth” that taught Kenyan boys about rape.

The study found that boys who went through training were more likely

to intervene when witnessing a girl being assaulted, and they were less likely to verbally harass girls. Additionally, schools in Kenya that featured this program found that rape dropped by 20 percent.

Of course, some action had already been taken in America as well. Calif. Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 695— also known as the “yes means yes” law— last year to help educate high school and college students about consent.

But clearly, this law is not enough.

Fortunately California has recognized this problem. In response to the ruling on Turner, Brown passed Assembly Bill 2888 on Aug. 30. The bill mandates a minimum prison sentence of three years for those convicted of rape.

Now that short sentences for rape will be unlawful at least in California—how do we fix the problem of “white privilege”? The answer is simple. America needs to evaluate their judges on a scheduled basis. The evaluation will be held by other judges of the same level in the same state.

This scheduled check-up will ensure that those who wish to continue being a judge will remain unbiased in their rulings.

This case stirred a lot of controversy within social media but also brought light to some serious issues in the nation as well. Unless changes within our criminal justice system and education about consent are implemented, rulings like Turner’s case education will continue to happen.

Illustration by Jennifer Cheung

Common Core does more harm than good to students, teachers S e l i n a H an In its first debut in 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by over 40 states across the nation. The main goal of CCSS is “to prepare all students to be college and career ready.” Although many states adopted CCSS, it was not long before the new education system faced backlash from teachers, parents, and students alike.

Common Core is not America’s solution to catch up with other nations.

The national experiment puts a whole generation, our generation, behind.

The standards need more revision before being fully implemented.

Ideally, Common Core should be a set of mutual standards that all states across the nation agree upon. The standards were adopted by the California State Board of Education on Aug. 2, 2010 in hopes of encouraging students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. Prior to the adoption of Common Core, Californian students were assessed by the California Standards Test (CST) for math and English-language arts. Proponents of Common Core argue that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) student assessments are more efficient than the CST because the SBAC

MATADOR

Editors-in-Chief News Editors

Opinions Editors Focus Editors Life and Art Editors Sports Editors Features Editors Copy Editors Photo Editors Artist Business Managers Website Editors Multimedia Editors Blogs Manager Community Editors Adviser

The Matador Bullring

Sydney Trieu Thomas Wang Joanne Chau Nathan Ta Sunny Chen Eileen Ong Karina Matias Kim Pham Jennifer Cheung Jessica Tran Uyen Sy Kim Ta Michele Thai Selina Han Kelly Ho Shirley Dinh Eva Hernandez Andy Yung Sunny Chen Michelle Ho Vincent Maresca Anny Li Wu Christina Lov Tom Cheah Kathy Quach Kevin Contreras Michelle Ho Vivian Wong Carlos Carillo Virginia Situ Jennifer Kim

Reporters: Nian Capilli, Lucas Jorgensen,Chelsea Li, Vincent Maresca, Kayla Tang, Emily Valentin The Matador is published monthly by the journalism class of San Gabriel High School. 1,600 copies per issue are published at J. E. J Print Inc. The Matador is a public forum for student expression and highly encourages responses in reaction to issues discussed in the paper. The opinions expressed are those of the writers, not the faculty or administration. Articles without bylines are the opinion of the staff. Submit comments as a letter to the editor, signed (anonymity is guaranteed if requested), to H-2, or Ms. Kim’s mailbox.

features open-ended questions with free response answers rather than the traditional multiple choice problems provided by the CST. It did not take long for some states to completely opt out of the new education system after learning that contrary to their original belief, the new standards were not clear, effective, or easy to understand.

The goal of CCSS, to prepare students to be college and career ready, is popular amongst educators, but the current standards simply do not deliver them. CCSS faces most criticism for its math curriculum. Although the standards sound good in theory, open ended questions on the SBAC put many students, like English learners, at a disadvantage. As a result, the system can not be assessed accurately because of gaps in test results despite last year’s alleged improvements.

Many credit Common Core’s insufficiency to the creators’ lack of consideration of input from public teachers. Common Core needs to be reevaluated and altered by its creators instead of be used in schools across the nation. In the meantime, the State Board of Education should work with educators to implement traditional curriculums into the newer ones and combine the efficient parts of both curriculums together.

How do you feel about Common Core?

“ “

“

It’s the worst thing that has happened to me. It’s made my tests so much harder to pass because you have to be a lot more detailed in your answers.”

-Karen Figueroa, 9th grade

It ruined math for me because I was I was hoping to take algebra when I came to high school but I had to take a common core class instead. All the material was really boring and I hated it.”

-Sharon Tu, 10th grade

“

Common Core hasn’t affected me, but I think it helps students more since it forces them to show work step-by-step and support their answers with logic.”

-Gordon Wong, 11th grade

I don’t really have an opinion about Common Core because it hasn’t affected me as a senior. “ -Patrick Brundige, 12th grade

Photos by Sunny Chen

5

Slowly, but “Shirley”

Shirley Dinh More than what meets the eye My mom has always told me, “Go to a good college, get a good job, and earn some good money.” It was either that or marry a rich Taiwanese guy. So I decided to work and study hard to live up to my mom’s expectations. My mom isn’t one of those parents that expect their kids to go to an elite schooI, but I have always felt that pressure. Up until high school, I studied and worked hard in order to please my mom, because I wanted her to have a daughter she could be proud of.

Now that I’m a senior, I find myself trying to live up to my own expectations.

The only problem is, I set low standards and expectations for myself. I set my own standards so low that it could be considered underground. I grew so conscious of others and what they thought of me, resulting in a sort of inferiority complex towards most of the things I do. Whether it be in a classroom, a group of peers, the tennis team, or even my family, I tend to think of myself as inferior to the rest of them. I have almost no confidence in whatever I do and I have yet to find something I’m actually good at. The only thing I’m confident in is being able to binge watch Korean dramas.

It feels like I’m falling behind everyone else. I used to think the phrase, “Slow and steady wins the race,” applied to me; but as time went on, I realized that I’m running a little too slow compared to everyone else. Whenever someone asks me about my dreams, goals, or aspirations, my mind draws a blank. I start to think, “What college would even accept me?” and “Who would even want to be friends with a loser like me?” Instead of “I’m gonna work hard and get into a good college,” I think: “Even if I work this hard, no good college will even accept me.” With those kind of thoughts, I shattered my own expectations.

I also have a shy and introverted personality. I’m one of those people who never raises their hand in class. I realized that my shyness and introvertedness also contributed to my inferiority complex. I’m almost always the quiet one in the group, and I never speak in class discussions. I don’t like voicing my opinion because whatever I say sounds unintelligent and uninteresting. I also think of myself as the kind of person that people don’t want to be friends with. It leads me to believe that other people are automatically more interesting, or better than me. I’m scared that I will let go of a lot of opportunities in the future due to my tendency to not take initiative.

My older sister and my mom have always told me that I’m more than what I think I am and that I can do so much more if I just believe in myself. They are the two people that lift me up when I don’t have the strength to do it myself. I have always felt like I don’t deserve my family’s kindness.

Even with their love and support, I can’t seem to gather the confidence that I need.

The fear of disappointment, judgement, and my own expectations were what drove me to believe that I’m not good enough. The future is one of the things I look forward to the most, but it is always one of the things I fear the most. I fear that I won’t be able to treat my mom out to a nice dinner, because of the doubt that I have regarding my future endeavors.

Day by day, I try to gather a little more confidence. With my family and my close friends by my side, I know that I have the ability to become the person that I strive to be— a self confident person. I just have to work towards that day when I can finally say, “Mom, I finally succeeded in life. Meet my rich Taiwanese boyfriend.”

8

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

iPhone 7 unveils to controversy Kevin Contreras Envisioning a wireless future, Apple introduced the new iPhone 7 promoting a new and improved camera, longer battery life, faster processors, and the removal of the headphone jack.

On Sept. 7, Apple announced that they would remove the headphone jack so the devices could intuitively connect to one port. The new iPhone 7 has one lightning port and includes a pair of headphones that plug directly into it. In addition to the headphones, the phone also includes a cable converting the Lightning port to the headphone jack. This change has caused iPhone users to question whether Apple has made the right choice.

“People are now forced to use headphones with a Lightning port connector,” junior Marco Tam said. “It’s bad because they can’t choose their own headphones.”

With the removal of the headphone jack, the new iPhone has space for louder speakers, including a new stereo feature which allows sound to be projected from the top

and bottom of the phone. This new feature provides sound two times louder than the iPhone 6s.

Apple also announced that the new phone is water-and dust-resistant, and also has a better camera. The regular iPhone 7 camera consists of an optical image stabilizer providing the user with stunning beautiful images while the iPhone 7 Plus includes two camera lenses, one wide-angle lens and one telephoto lens. This combination of lenses allows brighter images as well as the ability for the user to be able to zoom in further while still providing a clear image.

Apple also announced slight changes to their iconic home button, replacing a physical button with a virtual one using the “force touch” feature. This feature provides different options based on the amount of force applied to it.

These new features and changes of the new iPhone allow a new and different experience from previous iPhones.

The iPhone 7 was released on Sept. 16 and is now available in stores, ranging in price depending on the model, color, and amount of memory space.

Photo courtesy of Best Buy

Band Camp helps students grow musically

LIFE & ART

Summer In Review Timeline

California primary collects votes - June 7 It came to be California’s turn to vote for the next President of the United States. The results show Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump’s wins. Election Day is Nov. 8.

Students took courses offered at Mark Keppel High School to get credits for the next school year.

Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando - June 12

Finding Dory premieres - June 17

This was called the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

The total damage consisted of 49 civilians dead and 53 wounded.

Finding Dory is the sequel to the 2003 film Finding Nemo. The movie is about Dory (voiced by Ellen Degeneres) searching for her parents. A total $931 million worth of tickets were sold.

Pokemon Go released - July 6 It is the revival of Pokemon on the go. The game allows players to catch Pokemon by walking around using augmented reality.

Ghostbusters movie premieres - July 11 This is a reboot of the 1984 film with the same title, except this year the main cast is made up of women.

Rio Olympics August 5 to August 21

Photo by Michelle Ho

2016 AEF Summer High School June 8 to July 20

Team USA won 121 medals, the highest amount of medals won out of all the countries that participated. USA won 46 gold, 37 silver, and 38 bronze medals.

Volleyball coach and science teacher Larry Kanow resigns- July 25 “I enjoyed my time teaching at San Gabriel, but with things how they are now, I felt it was time to leave,” Kanow said.

Nerve movie premieres - July 27 Online game Nerve challenges players Vee (Emma Roberts) and Ian (Dave Franco) with a series of dares in the movie’s plot.

Suicide Squad premieres August 5 Dangerous villains do good deeds to help the world. The movie made $640.1 million at the box office.

Students imitate marching with instruments in the scalding heat over the summer.

Christina Lov Near the end of summer, over 40 incoming marching band members attended band camp for three weeks to learn the fundamentals of marching.

For two weeks, the members held their ground against competitive drill downs, multiple sessions of grid of death, and death blocks that never seemed to end.

Each day in band camp lasted six hours, with only an hour lunch break in between to look forward to as the only salvation from the scorching heat.

Freshman Elsie Wang shares her thoughts on death blocks, where members “block it up,” stand still, and are not allowed to smile, laugh, or make any movements until the time is up. It can last up to 10 minutes, and one single action can cause the timer to restart.

“It’s horrible. It’s sweaty. It’s hot. You can’t move,” Wang said. “I didn’t laugh, [but] they were making World War II jokes.”

In addition to learning the rigors of Marching Band, band camp became a journey of self discovery for current and incoming marching band members alike.

“Band camp helped me build [on] my social skills and learn [how to] to talk [to] and lead people,” senior drum major Christian Le said. “It allowed me to become more confident in leading a group of people without running them into a wall, and [by] teaching new people the things I already knew, I got to learn more myself as different people know different things.”

Junior Victor Lao also shares his experience of growing as a person by interacting with others and gaining a sense of unity.

“I improved as a person by putting myself in unfamiliar situations that I would’ve never [gotten into] had it not been for band camp,” Lao said. “It helped me socialize and made me want to improve [myself] overall, seeing everyone working so hard together.”

During the last week of band camp, the members were saved from the heat and played countless run-throughs of songs to be performed in the upcoming school year in the band room, where there was air conditioning.

The band showcased what they learned over these three weeks to the school faculty on the following Wednesday at school.

Briefs by Kim Ta Illustration by Vincent Maresca

LIFE & ART

100 Layers Challenge takes over YouTube Joanne Chau Forget the Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge, there’s a new challenge in town: the 100 Layers Challenge. This trend involves people applying coat after coat of cosmetic products until they hit 100 layers.

YouTubers have done this challenge with products ranging from liquid lipsticks to foundation. While some people find this challenge fascinating, others find it nauseating.

This trend started when YouTuber Cristine Rotenberg decided to follow her commenters’ requests to put on a layer of every single polish she owns. She posted the video “100+ Coats of Nail Polish,” with the hashtag #POLISHMOUNTAIN, on her YouTube channel, Simply Nailogical. In this video, she applied her shades of nail polishes and ended up with 116 coats of product on her nails. This entire challenge took her 12 gruesome hours to finish. In the end, she even challenged her viewers to attempt this tedious challenge.

“I go where no nail polishers has gone before, Polish Mountain! Care to out-coat me? #POLISHMOUNTAIN,” Rotenberg said in her video.

Inspired by Rotenberg’s #POLISH-

9 The Matador Muse

THE MATADOR

MOUNTAIN, many other YouTubers have created videos of this outrageous challenge: Nicole Skyes with 100+ layers of mascara, Jeely with 100 layers of foundation, and MayraTouchofGlam with 100 coats of liquid lipstick. Despite being extremely timeconsuming, this challenge has made its way into the viral section of social media. Now the question is, “Why would anyone waste their time and money on this challenge?”

While normal everyday people would never be bored enough to attempt this challenge, YouTubers have nothing to lose but time. Beauty gurus are sent boxes full of makeup and need to find a use for them. It is all for fun and curiosity. Although these YouTubers get judged for being wasteful, they should be given props for their patience and sanity.

“I think it’s really gross and entertaining at the same time.

But then again, I get sick of watching after the first couple of layers,” senior Vicky Ong said.

Overall the 100 Layers Challenge became the trend of the summer of 2016 due to its oddly mesmerizing process.

Despite the numerous opinions on this challenge, YouTubers continue to tackle the 100 Layers Challenge with alternative beauty products, and further create more outrageous challenges.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

“How Are You”

I’ve been through elementary, intermediate, and high school.

Well, part of high school.

Emotions brewed and boiled, relationships got screwed into turmoil.

Many people are uptight, however high school for me is alright.

I’m a junior.

I wonder if I will soon get my way.

My current status… is questioned Every. Single. Day. By friends, family, and strangers.

How are you?, he, she, they, it said.

Well, how about you, sir, ma’am, boy, and girl?

How are you, physically, emotionally, internally, externally, and mentally?

Answer me! Please…

Let me know.

-Kim Ta, junior

Illustration by Jennifer Cheung

Netflix releases new shows over summer

=

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Nian Capili Whenever I would listen to Kanye West’s album, the Life of Pablo, or J Cole, I often heard the name Pablo Escobar. “Who is he? What is he known for?” I thought to myself. Last summer, I was curious enough to ask my older cousins about Escobar and learned that he was a drug lord and trafficker who had connections within the government of Colombia. During that time, I was introduced to a series on Netflix called Narcos.

Narcos is an ongoing Netflix series based on a true story about the irrefutable legend Pablo Escobar and his accomplishments, while the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) try to get their hands on Escobar and kill him for his crimes.

Season one debuted on Aug. 28, 2015.

It began with Escobar becoming more successful at smuggling cocaine into the United States with the help of his cartel Before the DEA began their search for Escobar, they usually tracked down locals with the possession of drugs.

This series grabs the audience’s atten-

tion through its fast pace, continuous brutality, violence, and suspense.Though the actors are all solid and talented enough for their roles, they still have some flaws.

I felt that Escobar’s character, played by Wagner Moura, was not as intimidating as the real Escobar, as he is a cold hearted man with no regrets. Although Narcos is not 100 percent accurate, it still captures a majority of the truth. Recently, Narcos released season two on Sept. 2, 2016.

Escobar’s situation with the DEA is now more critical than before. With the DEA on pursuit to kill Escobar, who is now on the loose, season two seems more hectic and full of suspense.

Overall, I would rate Narcos a 4.5 out of 5. I do not usually watch crime films or series, but I felt that Narcos is a very good series that is more unique in its own way compared to other crime films. The concept is very fascinating filled with dramatic and action-packed moments that were breathtaking. Although I am personally not a big fan of original Netflix series with 45 to 50 minute episodes, I enjoyed giving Narcos a try and plan to keep up with the series.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Uyen Sy Filled with dark, mysterious suspense, Netflix recently released an original series called Stranger Things, a supernatural show that hits every aspect of the 1980s science-fiction and horror movies. Portraying vibes of the vintage era, the cast is dressed in striped polos, plaid skirts, and turtlenecks. Walls are covered with wood, phones are connected by spiral cords, and children are free to roam around the neighborhood on their bicycles.

Taking place in 1983 at a small Indiana town of Hawkins, a group of curious 12-year-old boys go searching for their missing friend, Will Byers, who suddenly disappeared one night as he biked home.

Along their adventure, they encounter an exotic, muted girl named Eleven, eventually discovering that she possesses strange, supernatural powers. With the help of Eleven’s abilities, Will’s family and friends continue to desperately find him, but realize he is captured in an eerie world by a faceless creature who has the ability to vanish and creep through walls. Through-

out the show, many characters lose and develop various bonds and friendships among one another as they reach closer to the discovery of Will.

In my opinion, Stranger Things is one of the best shows I have binge watched on Netflix. Because the first season has only eight episodes, it makes the show short and sweet. It gives out a clear and concise story which gives the viewers enough details to make them feel satisfied, but also holds back enough to keep the suspense rolling. In addition, the show does a great job at displaying a tremendous sense of mystery. With supernatural creatures coming out of walls, ominous woods containing pure silence, and lost spirits communicating through electricity and crackling phone lines, every episode would leave me with chills and questions.

With such compelling suspension, Stranger Things is definitely a must watch show because it perfectly ties in the elements of mystery, horror, and romance all at once. Season two, which is rumored to come out in 2017, will hopefully explain the cliffhangers from season one.

10

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

SPORTS

2016-17 Fall Sports Scoreboard BOYS FOOTBALL

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

CO-ED CROSS COUNTRY

GIRLS TENNIS

VARSITY 8/26 @ Montclair 9/2 vs Garey 9/9 @ Marshall 9/16 vs Ganesha

FRESHMAN 8/25 @ Montclair 9/1 vs Garey 9/15 @ Ganesha

VARSITY 9/6 vs Temple City 9/15 @ South Pasadena

3-1 3-0

W L

VARSITY 9/10 @ Rosemead Invitational

JV 8/30 @ Maranatha 9/6 vs Temple City 9/15 @ South Pasadena

2-0 2-1 2-1

W L L

VARSITY 9/2 @ Pasadena 9/6 @ Temple City 9/7 @ Arroyo 9/9 vs San Marino 9/15 @ Duarte

14-4 17-1 16-2 17-1 11-7

L L L L L

JV 9/6 9/7 9/9 9/15

16-2 15-3 16-2 11-7

L L L L

21-7 22-12 28-7 27-0 49-0 32-8 12-6

L L W W L L W

FRESHMAN 8/30 @ Maranatha 9/15 @ South Pasadena

(B)

11th

(G)

15th

FR/SOPH

2-0 2-1

9/10 @ Rosemead

Invitational

W L

vs Temple City vs Arroyo @ San Marino vs Duarte

Varsity football team defeats Ganesha, earns redemption N i an C ap i l i “I believe that we will win! Matadors in the house!” the crowd shouted as the varsity football team warmed up against Ganesha High. And win they did, with an overwhelming score of 27-0. Performance groups such as drill, cheer, Colorguard, and Marching Band, along with the students who represented their class colors in blue, red, black, and white, showed their support and spirit throughout the game.

The first quarter had a slow start with both teams at 0-0 until the end of the quarter. As the second quarter began, neither of the teams were able to turn things around. However, Ganesha began inching closer towards the end zone within four downs. The game changed its course as San Gabriel managed to prevent Ganesha from scoring at the 10 yard line. With San Gabriel on the offensive, things turned around as quarterback junior Brandon Nguyen launched a pass to junior Juan Coronado for an 80 yard touchdown with the score of 7-0.

The Matadors kicked off the second half with a more motivated attitude. Despite neither team being able to score during the third quarter, both teams had fought hard, going back and forth for the ball. San Gabriel’s defense could not be stopped as Ganesha tried to break through.

The fourth quarter commenced with the Matadors shutting Ganesha down. As the ball was kicked off, quarterback senior Ivan Gonzalez rammed through Ganesha’s defense and scored another touchdown for the Matadors with a 14-0 lead. San Gabriel’s momentum continued to accelerate as senior Jose Pineda sacked one of the opposition’s players, allowing junior Matthew Flores to intercept Ganesha’s pass on the ten yard line.

San Gabriel kicked off towards the offensive ends until Ganesha’s receiver missed the catch, leaving the Matadors to retrieve the fumble and lead Gonzalez to score another touchdown at 21-0. They continued to play hard as Flores yet again intercepted another pass and rushed from the 20 yard line for a touchdown with 26 seconds left. San Gabriel ultimately finished off Ganesha with a 27-0 victory.

Nguyen believed that the team played very well on both offensive and defensive ends by using strategies to make the team better.

“We need to act like [a team],” Nguyen said. “We need to communicate more and be a

Photo by Sunny Chen

The San Gabriel Matadors prepare to defend against Ganesha’s offensive line. lot more humble while playing the game of football. If we keep doing what we have been doing in our last couple games, we will make a big change around San Gabriel.”

Head coach Joe Ledesma also shared his impressions of the team’s tremendous success on defense, as well as some improvements for upcoming games.

“We got some talent now and we want to make sure we’re running things by fundamentals,” Ledesma said. “Having faith in each other is the key; that’s what we got to keep doing and never stop doing.”

San Gabriel Matadors welcome new coaches to sporting department

Name: Jennifer Tran Sport: Tennis Team: JV Girls and Boys Q: Why did you want to be a coach?

A: I’m in the process of getting my teaching credential, so eventually I want to become a teacher.

So I thought coaching [would] be a good experience for me since I’ll be working with a different age group.

Q: What do you like about coaching?

A: I like that I can help the kids get ready for tennis and it’s just that kind of stuff that can also be used in life as well. I really like teaching them to try to be better and try to improve.

Q: What expectations do you have for your team this year?

A: I expect them to be able to be pretty consistent in hitting the ball. Ideally, I want them to be able to win league and also to be able to be good enough for varsity next year.

Q: With your own experience, what advice can you give to your team?

A: They hear me talking about this all the time, but there are many times when they doubt themselves so really believe in yourself and trust in yourself.

Name: Jordan Franey Sport: Basketball Team: Girls Varsity Q: Why did you want to be a coach?

A: I learned and gained a lot of experience about life on and off the court from my coaches when I was playing, so I want to give back what I was taught.

Q: What do you like about coaching?

A: There are so many lessons to be learned off the court and I hope I can teach the team what I was taught from my coaches when I used to play.

Q: What expectations do you have for your team this year?

A: I want them to be able to use [what I call] Habits of Excellence in their life. The Habits of Excellence are to always do the right thing whether in school or in sports and not do things just for show. Practice when you are on the court and off the court. Practice by yourself to get better, not just when the coach tells you to.

Q: With your own experience, what advice can you give to your team?

A: To become a good or best player, put in hard work out of practice and do the right thing when nobody is watching.

Name: Josh Anderson Sport: Volleyball Team: Girls Varsity Q: Why did you want to be a coach?

A: I’ve always been interested in coaching. My major was sports management and I took up a graduate assistant coaching spot in college to see how I would enjoy it as well.

Q: What do you like about coaching?

A: I like seeing the desire and eagerness of the athletes to get in the gym and start playing.

Q: What expectations do you have for your team this year?

A: I expect to be very competitive this year. After overlooking the schedule, I feel like we have a good chance to play with everyone that we face. If we work hard during these next few weeks, it will pay off in October and November.

Q: With your own experience, what advice can you give to your team?

A: From my experience as a player and a coach, I can help give the athletes advice on how important time management is. From being a college player as well as coach, being able to manage your time both on and off the court will help lead to success.

Briefs compiled by Virginia Situ

Photos by Sunny Chen

FEATURES Tell Me

what’s the

WORD. Famous Hallway quotes

“My grades are gonna drop faster than when they dropped Harambe.”

- Student after taking a math test “Federalism evolved like the Pokemon.”

- Teacher explaining the history of US government “Don’t trip, but your shoes are untied.”

- Student giving joking advice to friend “Rose [gold] lets Jack go again.”

- Student making joke about the iPhone 7

All quotes overheard

by The Matador Staff.

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

Duran pursues passion for medicine at Harvard University cause I [didn’t feel] like I was supposed to be there,” Duran said.

Nevertheless, Duran was able to see and meet students from all over the world.

When she first set foot on campus, senior Valeria Duran was left in awe as “Making friends seemed like it was going to be hard at first,” Duran said. she gazed up at the historical buildings of Harvard University. For weeks, she “But we got to know each other very quickly because of how much time we had been packing and preparing to travel to the East Coast where she would spent together.” spend two weeks studying medical anthropology.

On the first day of class, Duran had felt nervous—but mostly excited—to “I was kind of surprised that I made it in,” Duran said. “It seemed learn more about her course and classmates. Her professor, Dr. Jason Silreally unrealistic. It didn’t seem within my reach.” verstein, had just finished his Ph.D. at Harvard and taught at the medical Duran discovered that she had been accepted into the Harvard school there. pre-college program back in February and chose to attend in order “I feel like my class got the best professor in the program,” Duran to broaden her horizons. said.

“He was very encouraging and made his class a space where it “I wanted to see what it was like so far away from home,” was easy and natural to volunteer an opinion or answer.”

Duran said. “I just wanted to experience that because as a Duran described her work at Harvard and the material that the senior, I’m going to be applying to different colleges, and I class focused on, including her final project—a “biosocial analysis wanted to get that feel.” on a disease and community. “ Initially, Duran was hesitant about taking the course be“Everyday we’d read our book and then write a paper about cause it was a long way from home and a costly class to pay our thoughts on the reading,” Duran said. “I chose to do [my for. Luckily, Duran was able to convince her parents to allow final project] on alcoholism in young Mexican-American males her to attend. who live in U.S.-Mexico border communities.”

“My parents were still apprehensive about letting After the program came to a close, Duran had not only me go,” Duran said. “I didn’t have the money to go, gained knowledge from her course but also life experiences [but] I got a generous scholarship and financial aid, from working with different kinds of people. so it was okay.”

“As the whole course went on, it was kind of realization During the two-week course, Duran exthat I can do it too,” Duran said. “The most valuable thing pressed that she had felt out of place compared that I got from it was my sense of self-worth.” to her other classmates at the start.

Duran hopes to continue studying public health and “I felt very intimidated—I felt scared—bePhoto by Sunny Chen medical anthropology when she begins college next year.

K at hy Q uach

Phung cracks code, learns computer programming with Python at UCLA Vi vi an Wong Through the world of coding, the internet, photos, music, and online stores are all made possible.

In order to learn how to code, senior Calvin Phung decided to enroll in the Los Angeles Computing Circle (LACC) program during the summer to assist his future career.

Before enrolling in the four week coding program located at the University of California, Los Angeles, Phung was required to submit a resume and answer various questions regarding any previous coding experience. Throughout the program, he learned about topics such as coding with Python, website creation, and mobile applications.

“Being able to code is a useful skill to have for a lot of things I want to do, like websites and mobile app development,” Phung said.

At LACC, many of his projects, such as making games with Python and solving language detection problems, were done on a computer. However, towards the end of the program, Phung was able

to gain hands-on experience and work with a microcontroller, a device used to bridge videoconferencing connections that can send radio signals.

“For the final project, I used a microcontroller as a remote control and the signals it sent to a game let [me] move a spaceship around,” Phung said. “When I finished programming the controls, I felt satisfied because it gave a really tangible result.”

Although the workload at the program required a lot of time and strenuous work, he appreciated every aspect of it.

“The program in general was pretty difficult because most projects took several hours to finish, but it was also the most fun I had in awhile,” Phung said.

Not only did LACC expand his expertise, it gave him a head start so he will be better prepared when he attends a university, as he now has some background information relevant to the subject. Phung has yet to decide where he wants to continue his education next fall, but he plans to pursue a career in electrical engineering and technology such as robotics.

RebeccaBarker

New staff members find new home at San Gabriel Coming from Martha Baldwin Elementary School, Rebecca Barker, the new school nurse, starts the year with hopes of establishing solid relationships with students. She has been a school nurse for 20 years and continues to enjoy it. Having to move to a new school was a whole different experience for her. Especially treating high school students, since she was used to being with elementary kids. “I was not happy, now I am,” Barker said. Although it was the district’s decision for her to move from schools, she is very happy to be the new school nurse.

LuisaGeiger

New English Language Development (ELD) specialist, Luisa Geiger, has joined the Matador family, since the start of this school year. “I work with ELD students, I support teachers, and I help teachers with strategies they can use in the classroom to help RELD (Reading English Development) students in progressive English,” Geiger said. Having 17 years of experience working with students from various backgrounds, she looks forward to helping students reach their academic learning goals.

Sabina Miller

11

After returning to California from her studies in Boston, Mass., Sabina Miller has begun to continue her career as a Speech Language Pathologist at San Gabriel. She began her career in 2012, with the goal to help her students and/or patients help with their communication and expressing skills. A native of the Golden State, she wanted to return to her home state in order to reconnect with her passion for working with students. “I hope to help my students communicate in their daily life,” Miller said. “I also want to see them academically succeed in their other classes.

Briefs by Eva Hernandez, Chelsea Li, Karina Matias

Photo by Sunny Chen

12

THE MATADOR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

FEATURES

About me

About me

- designed t-shir ts in college - lives the pug life , has pug everything - live action rolep lays once a month

What inspired you to start teaching?

One of the biggest thin gs...when I was 19 years old, I had cervic al cancer so the chances of me actual ly having a child at my age is going to be extremely difficult.

So one of the things tha t I thought is 'Well, if I might not ever be able to have a child, why not be around kids all day !' I'm passionate about students, but [te aching’s] definitely there to fill that void if it never happens.

Do you have any weird qu irks?

I have a twin brother. Wh en I’m with him, I notice we do everythin g the same. We walk, talk, and sit the sam e. His girlfriendshe’s my best friend-is always telling me, ‘God you sound just like your brother right now!’ I just bought a new car and then he texted me saying he’s getting a new car! I was like ‘Whaaat?!’ It’s really weird.”

About me

What’s a secret talent yo u have?

Wh

en it comes to eating, I can reach my hand all the way into the bottom of a Pringles canister.

Do you have any weird qu irks?

I like to say “alright” a lot.

I like Linda from Bob’s Burgers and she says “alright” a lot.

I don’t mean to but it kee ps coming out.

Any tips for students?

Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for help. I have family and friends who are college professors; the biggest thing they notice about memorab le students is that they get help and reach out to professors.

That’s a good strategy in high school to start developing. If you need help, whether it’s homework or an ass ignment, reaching out to a teacher is defini tely going to help you out when you go into college.

About me

- loves movies and the arts - childhood dream job: actor - started teaching 8 years ago

Do you have any weird

- has a cat - favorite TV sh ows: Parks & Rec, Ho use of Cards - favorite movie : District 9

- taught and ma jored in history - Editor-in-Chief , in ASB, played 3 sports in HS - ambidextrous

quirks?

kinds of shoes, like I have a lot of different oes, so that would sh I constantly buy a lot of guess I really hate I d an s, es gu be my quirk I l teacher. na looking like a conventio

?

First impression of SG

design of it, The Big. But I really enjoy the was just a circle-that high school I went to Here, there’s different was it, just one building. of different shapes. h nc bu a buildings with

dents?

Any survival tips for stu a bad grade,

tting Don’t freak out over ge things out. Just re figu to e tim s there’s alway u will never get yo e us enjoy your time, beca hool again. Some of to experience high sc ht were so tragic back the things you thoug you get older, you’ll en then...later on, wh that’s nothing!” think, “Oh my gosh,

Graphic layout by Kelly Ho Photos by Sunny Chen, Michelle Ho Additional photos courtesy of gannett-cdn.com, realclearsports.com Quotes gathered by Selina Han, Kathy Quach, Kayla Tang, Andy Yung All locker designs are based off each teacher’s personality and interests.

u have?

What’s a secret talencat nyoname the entire

I can juggle and I s.

1998 San Diego Padre starting lineup of the

t not know?

Any facts people mighkids, and I’m named I’m the youngest of six e Great Gatsby. after a character in Th

students?

What’s your advice for live in the world.

and Get off your phone on, so much around ing go ch mu so There is ess, and we’re just atn gre ch us going on, so mu stuck on our phones.

t the future?

How do you feel abou here for a long time.

I ‘d really like to stay m ulty, enthusiasm fro The support from fac SG . re.. he en be t I have students.. the time tha . I’d like to stay here for ce pla ial ec sp lly rea a is is know why this place a long time and get to so special.