Tiger Newspaper Vol. XCVIII, No. VIII

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Virtual Business succeeds in Oakland By Devin Mitchell News Editor Virtual Business won several awards at the Bay Area Trade Fair on Sunday and Monday. Helios, the varsity team, won six awards, including first place in marketing and second place in venture capital. The team also placed third in salesmanship, a central component of large trade fairs. According to Sid Vyas, the chief operations officer of Helios, it was the first time they had placed in salesmanship at the competition. “We worked especially hard on that portion,” said Michael de la Torre, the Vice President of Operations. “Our salesmen were set-up beforehand and were wellprepared.” Members of Helios as well as those of Mistery and DuBass, the junior varsity teams, left for the Bay Area early Sunday morning. They stayed at the Waterfront Hotel in Oakland, where the competition was held. The smaller, oral competitions, such as venture capital, human resources, and marketing plan, took place

on Sunday. The trade fair, when salesmanship and booth quality are judged, happened on Monday. The judges are a mix of businesspeople and college professors. Students had a chance to explore San Francisco on Sunday night, with some going to Pier 39, at the edge of the Fisherman’s Wharf district, and others to the Golden Gate Bridge. “It went really well,” said Vyas. “Our time isn’t as strictly structured as Bakersfield and we have some freedom.” The junior varsity teams also had success. DuBass also reached the top ten in six categories, including placing second in the video category. Mistery was recognized in four areas, the best of which was a third place finish in the catalog category. “It took months to make [the video] look like that,” said DuBass CEO Alex Fung. “We did a lot better than Baskersfield [in December]. We prepared a lot for this competition, and I’m really proud of the company,” said Fung.

Teachers offered severance package By Sofi Goode Feature Editor

Theo Mandin Lee

Seniors Montane Silverman and Jackson Atwater carry GQ King Max White down the aisle at the GQ Assembly on March 9. For more on Powderpuff and GQ, see pages 10 and 11.

Juniors shock seniors with Powderpuff win By Meghan Roche Staff Writer

Jennifer Kim

Mistery CEO James Jin presents the company’s product line to a potential customer at the Oakland Trade Fair on March 12.

in this issue

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Opinion:

Mr. Asher on online learning tools, a closer look at the merit of AP classes, and a rebuttal to the criticism of KONY 2012.

12 Feature:

Band director wins a Bravo Award, students apply to study abroad, and seniors prepare for Yosemite.

20 Sports:

Girls track continues to set records, Keaton Leach makes a baseball comeback, and volleyball shines early.

The scoreboard showed a 38-26 junior win at the end of this year’s Powderpuff game, but deafening cries of “SENIORS!” echoed through Ray Solari Stadium as the Class of 2012 swarmed the field, unknowingly celebrating the first senior loss in over a decade. Many students perceive the event to be rigged; accusations of foul play have ranged from switched scores to biased referees

in years past. But no such meddling appeared to take place in last Friday’s game. Senior Max White was crowned the GQ King at halftime. “Every year, the juniors complain that it’s rigged, and this just proves that it’s not,” said junior class advisor Mr. James Jontz. “It’s a fair game, it doesn’t come down to the reffing, your grade…it’s how you play.” The juniors started the game strong when MVP Sammy Amido See “Powderpuff” on pg. 2

The Public Agency Retirement Service is offering eligible South Pasadena High School employees bonuses for retiring from district employment before June 30. This program provides retiring or transferring faculty life insurance policies if they resign from their current school district by the end of this school year. It functions independently of CalPERS and CalSTRS—the two retirement organizations for California teachers and administrators. Retirement is optional for the program; those who choose to leave SPUSD may be employed by another school district and still receive the benefits. “It’s an amount of money in addition to and separate from the retirement amount,” said SPHS mathematics teacher Mrs. Margaret Fullinwider, who is eligible for the PARS benefit package. Faculty members must be 55 years of age with 55 years of District employment or 50 years of age with 30 years of district employment to be eligible for the deal. Should a faculty member choose to participate in this program, South Pasadena Unified School District will contribute 85% of his or her salary for the 2011/2012 school year to purchase a life insurance policy from the Pacific Life Insurance Company. This policy will include See “Teachers severance” on pg. 2

Students raise money for Pennies for Patients By Rhian Moore Assoc. Feature Editor More than just pennies have filled the boxes placed in each classroom to collect spare change for the annual Pennies for Patients fundraiser, which ends tomorrow. Over $2,000 has been collected during the traditional three-week campaign, which raises money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As of press time, Mr. Paul Groves’ class is in the lead for the prize, while Mr. Mark Afram and Mr. Greg Ring’s classes are in second and third, respectively. The fourth period class that collects the most money will receive free lunch from The Olive Garden. “I told each student to come up with

one idea to do something above and beyond to raise money,” said Groves, whose class has raised almost $500. Groves contributed by selling soup in his classroom to students and adding the money to the Pennies for Patients fund. Sophomores Annie Davis, Paulina Darrett, and Grace Algeo did their part by baking and selling cupcakes, brownies, and cookies. “We figured no one could resist baked goods that supported a good cause,” said Darrett, who raised $20 with homebaked cupcakes. Additionally, an Xbox Guitar Hero World Tour Bundle donated by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be raffled off to a randomly selected student who donated $50 or more.

Katie Whitworth

ASB will finish collecting and counting the money students have been donating to Pennies for Patients on March 16. In past years, South Pasadena High School has raised varying amounts of money for Pennies for Patients. Students raised over $7,000 to support the Society last year. “[Pennies for Patients]

is something that a lot of schools do every year to give to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society,” said Commissioner of School and Community senior Brianna Loo. “It’s for a great cause, and I’m happy to run it.”


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