2011 november issue
DESCRIPTION
The November 2011 Issue. Published November 22, 2011.TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTINE BABAYAN
LEAGUE: Daniel Yepremian and Fernando Olivares tackle GHS running back Alex Yoon in the Nov. 10 cross-townrivalry homecoming game. To play with schools of similar populations, the athletic department is considering chang-ing to the Rio Hondo League. Unless GHS makes the same league change, BGD would become a pre-season game.
AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES
Students from low-incomefamilies may no longerhave the option of taking
their AP tests at a reduced price. Last September, the House
Appropriations Committee re-leased a bill proposing to elimi-nate funding for the AdvancedPlacement (AP) Test Fee and In-centive Program, which has beenhelping low income students payfor AP exams at a discountedprice of $5 in-stead of the usual$80-$95 since1999.
The commit-tee, which con-trols and decideswhat funds thegovernment is al-lowed to spend,proposed the billin an effort to decrease the na-tion’s expenses and cut spending.
Although the Senate Appro-priations Committee proposed re-taining the program, concern stilllingers in the air. The bill is cur-rently being revised by the Com-mittee for the House ofRepresentatives’ approval. Thefinal decision on the approval ofthe AP bill will be made by theend of this year.
About 400 students take APexams at the school every year,and roughly half of them dependon fee reductions from the APTest Fee and Incentive Programto take their exams.
Teni Arakelian (’13), who
plans on taking four AP examsthis year, said that if the bill wereto be passed, it would be “diffi-cult to have to pay hundreds ofdollars for all of those exams atonce.”
Upon the release of the bill,the College Board felt alarmedenough to send out emails to var-ious AP teachers and administra-tors, warning them about thepotential abolishment of AP fund-
ing and suggest-ing immediateaction such ascontacting staterepresentatives inWa s h i n g t o n ,D.C., to voicesupport for theprogram.
C o u n s e l o rRose Samore saidthe bill might re-
sult in a “negative perception” ofthe school and the school district,because if the number of studentstaking AP exams were to drop itwould appear as if the students“just don’t care.”
Junior Angelic Kirakosyan iscurrently taking three AP courses,and her younger brother DavidKirakosyan (’14) is enrolled intwo. Ever since their father gotlaid off from work last year theyhave been “struggling” to makeends meet. She stated that if thebill was to pass it would “cause alot of problems at home.”
AGNESSA KASUMYAN
I’m surprised the
government proposed
something so harmful
to students.
Angelic Kirakosyan (’14)
“
”
Volume 81 No. 7 February 25, 2011Volume 82 No. 4 November 22, 2011 tornado-times.com
651 Glenwood Road, Glendale, CA 91202 | (818) 242-6801 ext. 11202
ACLU files lawsuit against administrators, police for “racial profiling”
AP fee waivermay be removed
STEVEN LEE
The school’s athletic depart-
ment is exploring the possi-
bility of changing from the
Pacific to the Rio Hondo League
for all sports teams. If it decides to
switch leagues by next year, they
will apply for the league change
which would take effect starting
the 2013-14 school year, with the
approval of the California Inter-
scholastic Federation (CIF).
The Rio Hondo League con-
sists of Blair, La Cañada, Mon-
rovia, San Marino, South
Pasadena, and Temple City high
schools.
The department is considering
the league change primarily due to
the large difference in demograph-
ics between the school and the
other schools of the Pacific
League, which consists of Arcadia,
Burbank, Crescenta Valley, Glen-
dale (GHS), Burroughs, Muir, and
Pasadena high schools.
While the school consists of
about 1,900 students, the other
schools in the Pacific League have
student populations ranging from
3,000 to 4,000. Football coach An-
drew Policky would like to move
to the Rio Hondo league so that the
team will be playing against teams
with similar number of players.
The American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) has filed a
lawsuit against school ad-
ministrators and Glendale and Los
Angeles police departments on be-
half of students and family mem-
bers who alleged they had been
racially profiled by school admin-
istrators and police officers when
dozens Latino students were al-
legedly taken to two separate
rooms on Sept. 24 of last year.
Although the lawsuit has been
officially filed in federal court, the
plaintiffs have yet to be served.
The City of Glendale, the
County of Los Angeles, and Los
Angeles County Probation Depart-
ment are also named in the lawsuit.
Carmen Merino, the GPD General
Counsel, claims the incident was
an “educational intervention;”
however, the ACLU refers to the
situation as a “round up” and
“textbook case” (or classic exam-
ple) of racial profiling.
According to ACLU lawyer
David Sapp, the exact number of
students involved is “difficult to
estimate given the nature of the
case.” Among the alleged students
involved, only six are currently
named in the complaint.
Administrators named in the
complaint include Principal Jen-
nifer Earl, Assistant Principals
Hagop Eulmessekian and Caroline
Sweeney, and Student Resource
Center personnel Alex Garcia and
Ara Mgrdichian (who is no longer
with the school).
According to juniors Karen
Lopez, Ashley Flores, and Mirena
Alvarado, who were sophomores
at the time of the incident, they
were taken to room 2104 during
lunch and told by police that they
“could not hang out with each
other anymore and that if [they]
did, the police would tell [their]
parents that [they] are involved in
a gang.”
Similarly, seniors Giovanni
Pablo and Matthew Murillo were
walking to the first floor when Eu-
lmessekian told them they were
going to have a meeting. Pablo
said he initially thought the meet-
ing was going to be about “how
well” they were doing in school
that year academically and behav-
iorally, but were led to room 2104,
where they were told by police to
remain calm and take a seat with
about 20 other students.
During the incident, students
were asked to write information
such as their full names and phys-
ical descriptions on sheets of
paper. The students claim police
threatened to raid their houses at
six in the morning if they did not
do as they were asked, but that
Mgrdichian told them not to take
the situation seriously.
The policemen also asked to
see tattoos and confiscated cell
phones. The students were then
asked to hold up the sheets of
paper below their chin, and their
pictures were taken in the fashion
of a mug shot.
The primary concern of the
students and their lawyers is to
make sure that all the information
collected during the time is de-
stroyed so that they won’t be used
against them in the future. Accord-
ing to the ACLU, “it is not against
the law to be Latino,” but that the
school and collaborating police de-
partments “acted as though it
were” when they “rounded up, in-
terrogated, photographed, and col-
lected personal information” from
the students “solely because they
appear to be Latino.”
See “Waiver” on page 2
See “Lawsuit” onpage 2
See “League” on page 2
School considerschanging athleticleagues
hoover high school est. 1929Wenona Carlos twirls it 10
insi
de
6French pen pals say adieu “Anne Frank” comes out of hiding 8
the timestornado
Page 1 WIN_Layout 1 11/22/2011 11:35 AM Page 1
With the state budget
diminishing, tuition
for the California
State University (CSU) system
was raised nine percent last
week, the second increase this
year, boosting by $500 tuition
costs to $5,970 for next year.
The CSU lost $650 million
with budget cuts, which raised
tuition by 12 percent during the
2011-2012 school year. Accord-
ing to the Los Angeles Times, if
the state does not receive suffi-
cient revenues, another $100
million will be cut at well.
Trustee Roberta Achten-
berg, who voted for the in-
crease, said that they have an
“obligation” to run the system
well, despite lack of adequate
funding.
Andranik Mkrtchyan, a
freshman at Cal State Los Ange-
les (CSULA), understands that
they had to increase the tuition
due to the budget crisis; how-
ever, he stated that the “nearly
10 percent increase” will put a
great deal of financial burden on
students who “barely receive
enough financial aid for tuition
and board.” Because the nine
percent hike will raise fees, fi-
nancial aid will have to pay
more, eventually “burning out”
more money than it can support.
According to calstate.edu,
financial aid to CSU students
has increased by about $800
million since 2007.
The increased rates will
also impact students like
Mkrtchyan, who pay out of their
own pocket. In addition to help-
ing run his family’s business, he
will have to take up a second
job to accommodate the rising
fees.
Sergio Hernandez, also a
freshman at CSULA, relies on
financial aid, and finds that it is
“unfair” to increase rates during
“these hard economic times.”
AGNESSA KASUMYAN
Sapp claims that GPD refused
to provide students and their par-
ents with a letter that stated all of
the information collected on the
day of the incident had been de-
stroyed.
Merino, however, stated that
she “personally reached out” to
Sapp and the other attorneys on the
case in April and told them that
they had “no objection to provid-
ing the letter” but did not hear back
from them until the lawsuit was
filed.
District spokesperson Steven
Frasher questions what motivation
the district and the school would
have to racially profile anyone. Ac-
cording to Frasher, the planned ac-
tivity was to show students what
can happen if they ever get in-
volved or are associated with
anybody who is in a gang.
“When you think of youth,
the assumption is that students are
on the right path,” Frasher said.
“What scares us [educators and po-
lice] is that students might get into
drugs and gangs.”
The school has had several en-
counters with gang violence in the
past. In 1989, three gang members
were arrested after they physically
attacked a student who belonged to
a rival gang.
On May 5, 2000, 17-year-old
senior Raul Aguirre was stabbed to
death after trying to stop a fight be-
tween Latino and Armenian gang
members. During the week of his
funeral, however, Latino gang
members shot a male Armenian
teenager in retaliation, further stir-
ring ethnic tensions between the
two groups.
Following Aguirre’s death, his
parents sued the school and the city
for “failing to provide sufficient
protection after increased tension
between Armenian and Latino
gang members,” according to
Merino, who oversaw the case.
Although the ACLU contends
that the school and the police had
no reason to believe that the stu-
dents were involved in a gang
aside from the fact that they ap-
peared to be Latino, Earl and Pro-
bation Officer Gilda Davis, also
named in the lawsuit, decided to
hold the intervention after Earl was
provided with evidence that a few
of the students were in the process
of being recruited into a gang.
Earl stated that, as an educa-
tor, she felt it was her responsibil-
ity to warn students about the
dangers and consequences that
come with being involved in or as-
sociated with a gang.
Tornado Times2 November 22, 2011NEWS
SAMANTHA MARIANO
Breaking dawnon Tornado TV’smorning show
Tornado TV (TTV) pre-
miered its new weekly bul-
letin announcement show
Morning Edition on Nov. 7, the
first telecast in the school’s history.
From now on, these broadcasts
will air every Monday.
The regular public address
(PA) announcements will continue
on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Although the video lasts ap-
proximately three minutes, it takes
two to three days to produce, ac-
cording to English teacher and
TTV adviser Brian Crosby. The
shooting and editing are com-
pletely done “by the students, for
the students.”
Principal Jennifer Earl stated
that “the fact we don’t have all the
equipment or the studio yet”
makes her proud that the TTV
members followed through on the
video piece.
Currently, TTV is borrowing
most of their equipment from the
Visual and Performing Arts depart-
ment. They hope to receive dona-
tions through DonorChoose.org in
order to purchase more items. A
door and drapes are being installed
in the first phase of the new studio.
In order to view the show,
second period teachers need to
connect their laptops to their LCD
projectors, and click on the Morn-
ing Edition link on the school’s
website.
The process of producing the
show begins with Jeannie Mai
(’13) who compiles bulletin no-
tices collected from the school
staff. Steven Lee (’13) is in charge
of the “teleprompter,” using the
Elmo projector to display the
script for news anchor Agnes
Gholoonian (’13) to read. Ben-
jamin Kwok (’12) sets up the cam-
era, microphone, and lights while
Gholoonian is placed in front of a
green screen and awaits the cue to
read her lines.
Afterwards, Kwok teams up
with Gabby Carreiro (’14) to shoot
her short remote piece.
Finally, the scenes are edited
by senior Dahn Kim using the ed-
iting program Final Cut Pro.
Social science teacher Chris-
tian Hong said that the new way of
making announcements is “much
better” compared to announce-
ments made over the PA system
because “we can actually hear it.”
James Pineda (’12) believes
that the broadcast is more attention
catching. Compared to his last
three years in high school, during
which announcements were made
over the PA system, the new video
broadcast is “more high-tech, eas-
ier, and efficient.”
CAMERA: Tornado TV camera man Ben Kwok records the weekly Monday
Edition show. Tornado TV’s Morning Edition replaces PA announcements
on Mondays.
AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES
“I’m surprised the govern-
ment proposed something so
harmful to students,” Angelic said.
An AP exam is a national test
that students take in May after
completing a college-level course.
Students can submit the score they
receive on college applications to
help their chances of getting ac-
cepted.
Research released this year by
the College Board presents proof
that students who score a 3 or
above on the AP exam (5 being the
highest), are more likely to enroll
in college, perform better academ-
ically, and earn their college de-
gree on time.
Science teacher Nerses
Abramyan stated that the bill
would be “extremely unfair” for
students taking multiple AP
courses because if they are unable
to pay and take the exams, univer-
sities would have no proof that
they are educated in all of the
classes.
Lawsuitcontinued from page 1
Another reason for the change
is due to the competitiveness and
the increasing losing streak of
some sport teams. According to
Director of Athletics John Van Pat-
ten, although the sport teams work
diligently, the results of many of
the games for the past two years
are enough reason for the athletic
department to consider this
change.
Van Patten believes that
changing leagues will help these
teams win more games.
“The teams are working hard,
putting a lot of sweat and tears into
their performances,” Van Patten
said. “Because team numbers
would be even, our teams would
have a better chance of winning.”
According to Van Patten,
some disadvantages to such a
change include a much different
geography and a smaller probabil-
ity to join playoffs. The school
would be competing against
schools farther from the area than
those in the Pacific League, and
there are only three spots for play-
offs as opposed to the Pacific
League’s four.
If the league change does hap-
pen, the traditional cross-town
football team rivalry with GHS,
better known as BGD, may be-
come a pre-season game during
early September. GHS is currently
considering changing to Rio
Hondo league as well.
“BGD is a tradition, and [we]
hope to be able to keep this tradi-
tion alive,” JV football player
Alvin Kim (’14) said.
Cal State feesrise by nine percent
Waivercontinued from page 1
Dollars
Year
4,2063,354
5,4725,970
Leaguecontinued from page 1
Staff Editorials
BGD poster causes peril
The class of 2012 and
those that come after
are lucky—they are not
required to take those pointless
SAT subject tests. By not being
required to take these “extra”
tests, we are given the chance
to actually have some time to
work on our school assign-
ments, the thing most of us for-
get about when November rolls
around.
When required by the
UCs, the SAT subject tests
were not a “make-or-break-
you” test, but rather more of a
“show-off-your-skills” test.
Those that take it should only
do so if they are extremely
knowledgeable in the subject at
hand. Average students plan-
ning on going to college should
not feel the need to compete
with those who are more aca-
demically competitive.
Some private universities
require at least one of the sub-
ject tests taken be a science or
math one. Why should any-
body who’s not majoring in
mathematical or scientific
fields be required to take tests
that do not correspond with
their future career?
The reason we bring up
this issue is that we are con-
fused. Do colleges still want us
to take these tests? This ques-
tion has been swarming in
everyone’s mind since the UC
system announced that the SAT
subject tests would no longer
be mandatory for admission.
If you have a 4.5+ GPA
and are considering Pre-Med,
by all means take the Math and
Biology subject tests.
But universities like Stan-
ford have this statement to say
when asked about the subject
tests: “We recommend (but do
not require) that you submit of-
ficial results of at least two
SAT subject tests, as these ad-
ditional scores often assist us in
our evaluation process.” Two
seems like overkill—why not
use that time to complete col-
lege applications and study for
the SAT reasoning portion?
Besides, taking the subject
tests seem repetitive and defeat
the purpose of AP exams,
which already test students in a
variety of subjects. At least the
AP exams give college credit.
However, since the UCs do
not require these tests, hope-
fully more of an emphasis will
be placed on other admission
factors like extracurricular ac-
tivities. If so, we trust that
you’ve all been doing your vol-
unteer work, joining clubs, and
playing those sports.
Being the first class that is
cursed with this freedom,
we’re not sure how much these
tests would actually affect our
admissions. We’re kind of like
the guinea pigs of the new sys-
tem. The UCs should be clearer
as to what they want from us.
After all, it is our futures we
are taking about here.
If you know that the tests
will completely work to your
advantage, go ahead and take
them. But if you are “iffy”
about them, don’t. Why show
the university something
you’re average at, when you
can show them more things
that you are excellent at?
SAT subject ensues stress
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Times�hopes to keep its readers in-formed of subjects pertaining tothe school, no matter what the sub-ject matter. Advertisements in theTornado�Times do not necessarilyreflect an endorsement of suchproducts or services by the staff orstudents in the Glendale UnifiedSchool District. Printed by NewsPublisher Press, 215 Allen Ave.Glendale, CA 91201/ (818) 954-0775.
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OpinionThe Master Gabster
Angine ShahbazyanGabby Carreiro
November 22, 2011Tornado Times
3
Ovsanna AvetisyanChristine Babayan
Kimberly Anne BondocGabby CarreiroVictor Garcia
Agnes GholoonianAni Hakobyan
Paul HongNatalie HovanesianDaniel Hovanessian
Cristine KenadyAni Kirakosyan
Soo LeeSteven Lee
Samantha MarianoJeannie Mai
Ashley McClureSophie MirzaianAlejandra RosasMaritza Ruelas
Angine ShahbazyanJennifer Vasquez
As four gigantic posters
unfolded from the
third floor on BGD,
seniors cheered and cried, as
they were dropping their poster
for the last time. However, as
soon as the posters rested in
their usual spots reigning over
the first floor quad, the cheers
and cries turned into angry
tweets and infuriated Facebook
statuses.
This year, one of the days
seniors look forward to most,
ended in anger and tension be-
tween upper and underclass-
men once it was realized that
the senior poster had been
ripped, with paint plastered all
over it as a prank. A little nos-
talgic, seniors even wrote their
names on the poster to symbol-
ize the years they spent at the
school, but even those were
crossed out with big ugly
“X’s.”
Perhaps those who thought
that sabotaging the seniors’
chance of winning the poster
contest was a good idea after
inhaling too much paint while
working on their own poster.
For some underclassmen
and juniors, it may be difficult
to understand why seniors get
so worked up about their last
poster drop, why they care so
much about making sure their
last skit is perfect, or why they
do everything they can to at-
tend their last BGD game.
It may be clichéd, but as
soon as you hit your senior
year, reality kicks in. You real-
ize that you’re no longer going
to be able to enjoy the blissful
traditions of high school and
get that giddy feeling when
you see your peers unite in
school spirit.
The perpetrators may have
thought that it was okay to play
pranks in the name of spirit and
pride, but when the prank re-
sults in sabotage and hurt feel-
ings, it’s kind of a hint that
things have been taken a little
too far. The seniors worked
hard to make their poster as
great as it was, using their own
time to get it done.
The fact that the other
classes worked just as hard on
their own posters makes the
entire ordeal even worse—they
should have appreciated and
valued the work that was put
into the posters. It’s not like
seniors are going to get another
chance to make their last poster
drop a memorable experience.
Well, on second thought, it sure
is memorable now that they
will look back on the day with
some bitterness.
Dramatic? We don’t think
so. We don’t think anybody
would want their work to be
basically spit on.
We get it that it feels good
to be the funny guys that got to
the seniors, but really it’s kind
of a shame that people have to
try so hard to be “cool.”
Believe us, we know how
to appreciate a good prank, but
this one just felt short of class
and good humor.
Next time you want to get
back at the snooty seniors, try
doing something that doesn’t
involve too much damage, like
challenging them to a dodge
ball match.
GABBY CARREIRO | TORNADO TIMES
Scholastic Aptitude Test
(SAT): $45. Advanced
Placement (AP) Test: $80.
Average College Application: up
to $100. A quality education? Not
so “priceless” anymore.
And that list does not even
include the fat, juicy college tu-
ition all seniors fear to face. For
apprehensive juniors and seniors,
this time of the year is not only
the most nerve-racking, but also
the most money-draining.
There is financial aid for
those who qualify, but for the
middle class, which makes up a
great portion of our community,
there is very little funding. Stu-
dents whose families fall in-be-
tween what is considered to be
“rich” and “poor” end up with
mounds of fees to pay simply be-
cause, on paper, it appears to be
perfectly fine and doable.
Let’s face it: financial aid in-
stitutions are far too detached
from the nation-wide student
body, forcing counselors and stu-
dents to grapple for sufficient aid.
Very few take into account
the struggles of a single parent or
the health issues of a family
member. None of these complica-
tions can be explained on fee-
waiver forms, since such
applications focus mostly on the
amount of income each family
makes, regardless of personal
conflicts.
Usually, the students who are
in the Free or Reduced Lunch
Program are able to receive fee
waivers. The Food and Nutrition
Service considers a student eligi-
ble for this program only if the
family’s income lies within the
guidelines: for families of two,
the annual in-
come must be
no more than
$27,214, all the
way up to fami-
lies of eight, at
no more than
$69,616.
It is under-
standable that
b o u n d a r i e s
must be set for the sake of clarity
and efficiency, but that does not
mean everyone else should be
ruled out simply because their
families make a few thousand
dollars more than what is consid-
ered as the eligible income.
The College Board and the
ACT work in the same way when
setting qualifications for who re-
ceives how much financial aid,
using similar income require-
ments. These qualifications are
broad and can never be an accu-
rate representation of a student’s
ability to pay, since such institu-
tions are often not aware of the
pupil’s personal circumstances.
Even though, as the College
Board reports, the National Asso-
ciation for College Admission
Counseling (NACAC) does con-
sider the “counselor's personal
knowledge of family circum-
stances,” students are often un-
aware of this possibility.
Despite hav-
ing the potential to
qualify for aid,
many students
“don’t realize that
they should step
up” comments jun-
ior counselor Rose
Samore. Students
do not advocate
enough for them-
selves, leaving the counselors
without a means to connect stu-
dents to financial assistance.
Senior counselor Rena
Scharch has personally reached
out to private schools for students
who “have a hardship that pre-
vents them from being able to pay
for their application.” However,
when it comes down to those who
are just a speck above the border-
line, even counselors do not have
much room to work in. The num-
bers might just look too good for
any persuasion to sway private
school policies.
As a student who receives
generous financial aid when it
comes to test and college applica-
tion fees, I personally understand
the relief that comes with not hav-
ing to worry about how I will be
paying the expenses.
Senior Lucine Oganesian is
one of those who is faced with a
heap of fees to pay. Having al-
ready spent $179 on her standard-
ized tests, she now faces $700
worth of application fees.. Being
wedged in between the two polar
societal classes keeps her in the
limbo area where she does not
qualify for many scholarships for
tuition either.
These students are squeezed
into a tunnel where efficiency is
key, and quality is no longer
widely available. A wide range of
schools is supposed to be open for
students, but many cannot even
imagine attending simply because
they are considered as “well off.”
The system of giving need-
based financial aid lacks a per-
sonal relationship that would
allow aid providers to gain a bet-
ter understanding of those who
would not qualify on paper. The
middle class often bears the brunt
of the situation, leaving them
fending for themselves in this bat-
tle for equal educational opportu-
nities.
Tornado Times4 November 22, 2011OPINION
College is just around the corner. It’s
kind of like a pimple: you can see it
coming, but you never thought it
would be here so soon, and that it would
have such a huge impact on your life.
For the past 17 or 18 years we have
lived our lives as dreamers, imagining how
wonderful our lives will be in the near fu-
ture.
We have all dreamt. We’ve thought
about becoming firefighters, artists, or
video game designers, and I’m sure that a
few of us have even gone to sleep and
imagined becoming computer technicians
or something.
But many of us have decided these ca-
reers are not, and here’s the word I dread
most of all, “practical.”
And due to the “impracticality” of
these dreams, we have decided to give up
on photography and major in law instead.
My point? That we have always imag-
ined achieving these wonderful tasks, but
have never really had the chance to work
towards these goals. But now, as we’re ap-
plying for colleges and graduating high
school, we finally have the chance to put
those dreams into action; in other words,
make them realities.
So isn’t it ironic that the moment we
actually have the chance to pursue these ca-
reers we decide to give up on them? And
more importantly, why do we give up on
them?
The answer to this is simple: bock
bock bock bock bock. CHICKEN. We are
scared. Terrified even, of doing something
that will be just a little bit harder, that is just
a little bit more out of our reach.
I’m not saying that getting a degree in
engineering is a bad thing—if you’re pas-
sionate about that, then go for it.
But those of you that are going to study
something “practical” such as biology, law,
or engineering don’t receive the every day
criticisms, the demeaning glances, the
smirks that those of us who want to do
something just a little bit out of the realm
of normality are forced to deal with.
I understand—it’s not easy being con-
stantly thought of as stupid, or being told
that you are going to be a “hobo” if you
keep your head stuck in your “unreachable”
dreams.
But possibly the worst consequence of
being a dreamer is doubting yourself. Stay-
ing up nights in fear of the future, imagin-
ing yourself reaching for the stars and
failing miserably, being sucked into a black
hole and achieving nothing in life.
Don’t let these nightmares get the best
of you; let your dreams overcome them.
I realize that I’m beginning to sound
like a Hallmark card, but sometimes we
need a little bit of inspiration, even if it
comes from some theatre kid’s high school
opinion column.
The most important thing to remember
is that our lives are what we make them.
Those who accomplish all they ever
dreamed of are those who never gave up,
those who had enough passion and determi-
nation to walk past the doubt, the fallbacks,
and the fear towards ultimate happiness.
So go ahead and train those dolphins,
don’t let anyone get in the way of reaching
your dreams. Especially yourself.
MICHAEL YAPUJIAN
Dreamers afraid toawaken
Sticks & Stones
TornadoTALK
Compiled by Jeannie MaiAN UONG | TORNADO TIMES
What do you think about the way fi-
nancial aid is distributed?
“If you work hard and get
good grades, you deserve
some sort of aid. It’s unfair
to be based only on in-
come.”
Reef Oldberg (’13)
“It’s unfair and I think new
criteria should be set.”
Sevada Khodaverdi (’12)
“A lot of people cheat the
system, they don’t deserve
the aid they receive.”
Andrew Galstyan (’13)
“I think it’s fair; it’s helpful
to the families who can’t
pay.”
Paris Zadoorian (’15)
Financial aid misses the middle class
API Also Proves Inadequate
We are a program im-
provement school. In
other words, we’re a
“failing” school.
You’re all familiar with the
infamous No Child Left Behind
(NCLB) Act, brought into action
by former president George Bush
in 2002 and is currently being re-
pealed by President Barack
Obama. According to
edweek.org, NCLB “[takes] par-
ticular aim at improving the edu-
cational lot of disadvantaged
students.”
Because of this act, schools
are measured by a system known
as the Academic Performance
Index (API). According to
greatschools.org, the API scores
are “calculated using each
school’s test results from the Cal-
ifornia Standards Tests (CST),
the California Modified Assess-
ment (CMA), the California Al-
ternate Performance Assessment
(CAPA), and the California High
School Exit Examination (CAH-
SEE).”
Are you kidding me? The
grueling, excruciating tests that
all students dread come May are
used to judge our school? This is
extremely ridiculous.
We all know that although
these exhausting tests are not
necessarily difficult, they are aw-
fully lengthy, leaving students
worn out after the first 30 ques-
tions.
I do not know anyone who
cares even the least bit about his
CST scores.
On Sept. 21, letters were
mailed home informing families
that our school has an API score
of 776. Students were then given
the option to transfer to Cres-
centa Valley (CV) High
School—a high school in La
Crescenta with a significantly
higher API score of 884.
Shortly after receiving the
letter, the parents of one of our
own, Durga Ghosh (’13), applied
for a permit and had their daugh-
ter transferred to CV.
Mother Ruby Ghosh felt
that this was a great opportunity
to have her daughter transfer to a
school of a more “competitive
medium, with each teacher push-
ing students to learn.”
This is exactly what I mean;
the API system creates a false il-
lusion of our teachers and stu-
dents.
If our school is marked as a
“program improvement” school,
other schools and students out-
side of Hoover will merely focus
on that fact and fail to realize the
great elements of our school—
like our arts programs, for exam-
ple.
Even though the CSTs are
tremendously boring, I’ve al-
ways made an attempt at passing
with a high score. But apparently,
that’s not the case for other stu-
dents. Everyone knows there are
always going to be those students
who just don’t care about their
schoolwork or their education, so
why are we being judged as a
whole based upon their poor per-
formance? What kind of student
wants to say “I go to Hoover, a
program improvement school?”
The API scores shouldn’t be
based solely on test results.
Changes need to be made, a new
scoring system must be created.
The API is a failed system
that relies exclusively on test
scores, missing the big picture.
Very few take into
account the struggles
of a single parent or
the health issues of a
family member.
AN UONG
JEANNIE MAI
Lindsay Lohan, Robert Downey Jr., and
Paris Hilton. What do all of these in-
famous celebrities have in common?
They have all been in jail.
But that’s not all. They have all received
unjust special treatment because of their
celebrity statuses. Celebrity statuses, I should
say, that were undeserving to people of such
vulgarity and barbarism.
Lindsay Lohan, who has been sentenced
to jail four times and released every single
time due to “overcrowding,” was again taken
into custody on Oct. 19 because she failed to
complete the community service require-
ments (mandated in her probation) at the
Center for Women, a women’s shelter in
downtown Los Angeles.
This cycle of being arrested, then freed,
then arrested, then freed again, has caught the
attention of many. Why does this “Queen of
Failure” deserve to go home when she could
have killed someone because of her reckless
driving in 2007? What about stealing a neck-
lace worth $2,500 in January?
You would think that this would have
convinced her to get back on track.
Nope. The jailbird is back in her habitat.
Once again, she was arrested and sent to
jail on Nov. 2. She is to serve 400 hours of
community service at the county morgue. Ini-
tially, the judge ordered her to be in jail for
300 days, but shortened it to 30. That is, of
course, if Lohan can clean up her act.
Hold your applause, people. The chance
of Lohan staying for more than six days is
very rare.
Lohan took a trip down the memory lane
on Nov. 7 when she “visited” Century Re-
gional Detention Facility around 8:48 p.m.,
according to the Los Angeles County Sher-
riff’s Department website.
She was released at 1:30 a.m. on Mon-
day morning. The reason? “Overcrowding.”
Pretty unoriginal if you ask me.
Yet again, the former Hollywood royalty
has found a loophole to avoid doing jail time.
She deserves to be in jail just like the
“commoners” who have committed similar
felonies.
But of course, Lohan gets to roam free
while others rot in jail for their crimes. So
what if she is rich and famous? What exactly
sets her above the law? Not even famous
people should be able to find a way out of
jail.
So why are Hilton and Lohan able to
squeeze out of their sentences? The answer
is pretty simple. Does the word “celebrity”
ring a bell?
I guess they are so busy thinking about
the next place to party that they “forget”
about their probations.
Room 7021, also known as “the Heis-
man” in the Los Angeles County Jail because
of O.J. Simpson, who inspired the name
when he spent time in 1995, has hosted many
celebrity inhabitants besides Simpson, in-
cluding Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee, and
Sean Penn.
According to the New York Times, the
room offers hygiene products, tasty food
such as a continental-style breakfast, and,
most importantly, solitude.
According to Captain Richard Adams of
the Los Angeles County Jail while talking to
Prison Legal News.com, celebrities are put
into room 7021 because they do “not want
anyone getting hurt.” Thus, the high priority
of the protection of celebrities is confirmed.
Obviously, celebrities with wealth and
fame are more important. After all, no one
wants to hurt the feelings of those poor peo-
ple, who earn only tens, of millions of dollars
annually. Who cares about the others?
I say the justice system needs to get its
priorities straight.
Playing the prison fame gameANI HAKOBYAN
5November 22, 2011 OPINION
Too much weight put on body image“P
eers into the mirror, mirror on
the wall, frowns at her face, her
eyes, her skin, not fair.”
These lines from Pat Mora’s poem
“Same Song,” touch upon a serious issue
that, even in this day and age, still go on.
Body image issues are currently receiving a
lot of attention, but there are still issues that
deal with self-image that rarely, if not never,
receive attention.
Many girls are teased about their
weight, often being told to “go lose weight”
or told mean jokes about their size. This is
pretty prevalent, and a lot of girls claim that
they feel pressured to be skinny because of
that, but something that is never talked
about, which infuriates me, is the bullying
of those with thinner builds.
A controversial trend has emerged in
this new era of technology: a blogging fad
called “thinspiration.” Thinspiration, also
known as pro-ana, short for anorexia, or
pro-mia, short for bulimia, are the glorifica-
tions of eating disorders as acceptable and
healthy ways to lose weight.
Typical thinspiration involves giving
advice on how to best induce vomiting, tips
on how to ignore or suppress hunger pangs,
and advice on how to hide weight loss from
doctors and family members.
According to a study done by the Na-
tional Center for Biotechnology Informa-
tion in 2010, the number of blogs that
shared out crash dieting information and
techniques rose from 67 percent in 2006 to
83 percent in 2010. The number of these
blogs is still on the rise, and, unfortunately,
they affect both sexes.
While it isn’t as mainstream as female
thinspiration, male thinspiration is still
prevalent among teenage boys. They aspire
to be almost waiflike, similar to the male
models that appear on designer runways.
According to teeneatingdisorders.us,
one in every 10 teenagers that have eating
disorders are male, and teenage boys are
just as likely as teenage girls to have Body
Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD in
boys, however, mostly deals with the desire
to look lean and muscular, like, say, Cris-
tiano Ronaldo or The Rock.
It’s saddening that the public coverage
of eating disorders among boys is practi-
cally nonexistent. Just because a certain
phenomenon isn’t as widespread as another
doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.
I stand at five foot three and weigh
about 105 pounds, and throughout my life,
I have heard comments about me, ranging
from “oh my god you’re so skinny!” to
“you’re practically anorexic!” to “go eat
something!”
These comments make me feel terrible
and make me hate my body, and it’s incred-
ibly frustrating that the media, who is now
so hung up over body image issues, never
acknowledges the fact that even the skinny
people, who are marketed as being the
“ideal” shape of a woman, still get harassed
and made fun of. They are tormented as
much as people of heavier builds and the
reasons why no one mentions it are beyond
me.
There are many issues surrounding
body image, and whether they are well-
known or not, they need to be examined.
Illiteracy. It's rapidly like a virus, in-
fecting many of the people that we
know and love. We notice it every-
where: at school, at the mall, on the Inter-
net, you name it.
In the comfort of my home, I always
enjoy sitting down and surfing the 'net. If
there's one website I used to look forward
to visiting daily, it was Facebook—a site
that most people log on to frequently.
When I first joined, I thought of it as
a wonderful way to communicate and
catch up with friends and family. Nowa-
days, I am constantly clicking on the
“close” button, disgruntled and peeved.
It seems as if a status posted on Face-
book with perfect grammar and spelling
is a rarity these days. Nearly every post I
come across on Facebook is filled with a
vast amount of errors. “Your” and
“you're” are always used incorrectly.
“Their,” “they're,” and “there” are all
switched around, all the time, and the
same applies to “then” and “than.” Many
people claim that they are “very busy” and
“in such a hurry” that they have no choice
but to often shorten words. “Don't” be-
comes "dnt,” “your” becomes “ur ,” "are"
becomes “r,” and so on.
Some may think it's not much of a big
deal, and that it is only prevalent on the
Internet through websites such as Youtube
and social networking sites, but it is not.
According to the National Adult Lit-
eracy Survey, 42 million adults are inca-
pable of reading, 50 million adults can
recognize so few words that they are
capped at a 4th or 5th grade reading level,
and one out of every four teenagers that
manage to graduate out of high school has
at most the equivalent of an eighth grade
education. This proves the astounding
amount of illiteracy in our nation.
If you think that students would
never dare to include careless mistakes
such as the ones mentioned above on es-
says, you're very wrong. English teachers
at our school have known for a very long
time about the lack of literacy.
English teacher Kathy Angers states
that students “can't read because they
don't read” and that they “can't write be-
cause they don't write.” She believes that
students "can't speak with fluency" and
notices that they fill up sentences with
“um,” “like,” “stuff,” “okay,” “thing,” and
“dude,” which shows their lack of articu-
lacy.
It has even spread onto T-shirts. To
her dismay, Clark student Eliza Tur-
dzhyan ('13) once encountered a certain
shirt as she was strolling down the mall.
The shirt stated “I cry because YOUR
UGLY!” Notice anything wrong with this
statement? I hope you do, because “your”
is supposed to be “you're.” When she saw
this shirt, she felt as if “illiteracy [was]
being sold,” and in a way, being pro-
moted.
It is evident that America no longer
cares about being literate if such a huge
error is bypassed and put into stores for
parents to buy for their toddlers.
Is there a way to stop illiteracy?
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Facebook des-
perately needs a spelling/grammar check.
Maybe schools shouldn't focus on "filling
in the blanks on a worksheet" and instead
should direct students to write sentences.
Maybe we need more of an emphasis on
quality check for items.
In any case, this is an issue that
should be taken seriously and there should
be an effort to stop it. I miss seeing gram-
matically correct sentences, and you
should, too.
Sprdng illtrcy
CRISTINE KENADY
DANNY HOVANESSIAN
GABBY CARREIRO | TORNADO TIMES
Tornado Times6 November 22, 2011
FeatureP a r t y i n g i n t h e U S AP a r t y i n g i n t h e U S A
ASHLEY MCCLURE
During the summer, my family
and I set up a separate room for
my French pen pal, Marine
Moindrot. We decided to decorate the
room with a classic Hollywood theme
that she would find interesting. We
hung movie posters and shelves for our
movie memorabilia.
I helped my family brush up on
their basic French and constantly
emailed Moindrot to make sure she had
everything she was going to need for
the trip. I ended up welcoming Moin-
drot’s classmate Lara Mortier to stay
with us as well.
After school, on Oct. 27, we gath-
ered all students taking French class in
the lower quad to await the arrival of
the French students and their teachers.
As they entered the quad, chaos ensued
with the clashing of two languages to
find our pen pals.
We were divided into color groups
for better communication. Each group
had about five to six American students
and at least one teacher. The groups
were decided upon which American stu-
dents were friends with each other and,
therefore, ended up spending quite a lot
of time together. French students whose
pen pals dropped out of the program at
the last minute were either placed with
other volunteer students or were placed
with teachers.
Their first day at school was a
whole new adventure. We took the
French with us and introduced them in
all of our classes, receiving different re-
.arrival
.the stayD
uring the first weekend my pen
pals were here, my family and I
took Moindrot and Mortier to the
Los Angeles Zoo and out to eat at my fa-
vorite diner. We also ended up going to a
Halloween party that Saturday, hosted by
the French 5-6 class.
On Halloween, I lent them my home-
made Marilyn Monroe and cowgirl cos-
tumes and took them trick-or-treating on
Kenneth Road. Almost all of the pen pals
in the program could be spotted on Ken-
neth that night, each with very unique cos-
tume choices.
“Halloween is very strange but fun,”
Manon Damien said. “We don’t celebrate
it that much in France.”
Because the pen pals practically be-
came part of my family, they came to all
of the events I went to. As a volleyball
player, my pen pals as well as all of my
friends’ pen pals came to support my team
at our game against Glendale. They all
made posters and cheered for us both in
French and English.
I was not the only one to have the
French on my side. French students at-
tended water polo games, football games,
and even tennis games. The idea of such
excitement over a high school game was
a very new concept for them, but they
dove right into it in their purple and white
gear.
In France, one of the biggest fascina-
tions about America is Hollywood. All of
the students could not wait to go to Uni-
versal Studios and the Hollywood Walk of
Fame. Unfortunately, it rained on the day
we went to Universal Studios, but this did
not seem to faze them as this is normal
weather in France. Their favorite roller-
coaster was the Simpson’s Ride, claiming
that there is nothing like it in France.
A few days later, my group had an
early Thanksgiving dinner, complete with
traditional Thanksgiving food. Most of the
pen pals did not understand the point of
the holiday, but loved the food and said it
was very American as we are “always eat-
ing.”
On their last night here, we went over
to social science teacher Kate Duggan’s
house for a final dinner together and a
bunch of rounds of cards. We all went
home that night extremely excited for
BGD the next morning.
.departureA
ll of the students came to
school completely decked
out in the school’s purple
gear on Nov. 10. They attended the
annual poster drop and BGD as-
sembly.
“The assembly was very
amazing, there was so much going
on,” Moindrot said.
Later that day, all of the host
students gathered in the peace gar-
den to have one last lunch to-
gether. There were definitely
extreme emotions in the air—
being with these students for two
weeks created strong bonds be-
tween us all.
Throughout the whole trip our
pen pals collected loads of sou-
venirs and American memorabilia.
They bought shirts, chocolate, key
chains, and postcards for their
family and friends that didn’t
come with them. Some families
gave their pen pals parting gifts to
remember them by, and we all
promised to write often and hope-
fully come visit them someday.
When we arrived at the airport
and got off the bus, I told myself I
wouldn’t get too emotional. But
when I gave Moindrot and Mortier
hugs goodbye, I couldn’t help but
cry. I was going to miss them so
much.
For the two weeks they were
here, our school and our students
participated in a once in a lifetime
experience. It wasn’t just the peo-
ple hosting that benefited from the
program–it was our whole school.
Even students outside the program
who didn’t speak a word of French
enjoyed and learned from the pro-
gram and the time they spent with
the pen pals.
sponses from students. Some students
spoke with broken French while others
spoke slowly and carefully—in English,
of course.
After spending the whole day at an
American high school, I couldn’t help but
ask what they thought of America.
“Everything is big,” Moindrot said.
“Your houses, roads, school—every-
thing.”
Because the pen pal program is brand
new, all of those involved were hoping to
make it a big success. The great thing
about the program is that every French stu-
dent got a very unique experience. Be-
cause each family is different and does
different things, all the students were
bound to leave America all having grasped
very different pieces of American culture.
PEN PALS: (top left) Some of the pen pals helped chalk the quad on Wednesday, November 9
along with the rest of the senior class. (above) The pen pals are packed and ready to leave for
the airport after saying their goodbyes to their student hosts.
AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES
Smashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives
November 22, 2011Tornado Times
FEATURE 7
Cutting calories, not taste
Although we all love and
look forward to stuffing
our faces with all of the
mashed potatoes and turkey at
Thanksgiving time, most stu-
dents don’t actually wonder
about the aftermath of this mass
consuming.
Sophomore Vanasis Ohan-
ian “can’t help but think about
which gym [she’s] going to get a
membership to after Thanksgiv-
ing.” However, there are healthy
alternatives that can satisfy
your stomach just as much as the
unhealthy foods that usually
crowd the Thanksgiving table.
Ellie Krieger, the host of the
hit show “Healthy Appetite” on
Food Network, gives wonderful
recipes that not only have high
ratings, but are also healthy.
Now, since dessert is always
a personal favorite, we’ll start
with that. Krieger’s Thanksgiv-
ing recipe for dessert is a pear
ginger crumble that includes
pears, cinnamon, oats, freshly
grated ginger, and ice cream.
I baked this crumble myself
and my friends and I agreed that
it was a very good mixture of
tenderness and crunchiness. This
dessert, which serves about
eight, is only 266 calories. See?
Delicious and nutritious.
Next, we have (and this isn’t
going in any particular order) the
smashed potatoes with sour
cream and chives. The side dish
serves four and has 130 calories
per serving.
After eating about two big
bowls of this dish that I made, I
can say first hand that it is phe-
nomenal. The potatoes melt in
your mouth and the chives add a
bit of a kick to the creaminess of
the smashed potatoes. The pota-
toes are a perfect example of a
plate that is both mouth-water-
ing and easy to make.
The next side dish is jewel
roasted vegetables. I understand
that the thought of eating vegeta-
bles makes most teenagers
cringe, but Krieger’s way of
roasting the vegetables with gar-
lic brings out the rich flavor in
the carrots, beats, and other veg-
etables, softening them just the
right amount. The jewel roasted
vegetables are 190 calories per
serving and serve about six.
One of Krieger’s Thanks-
giving appetizers is the An-
tipasto Sausage Skewer which
has fresh basil, sun-dried toma-
toes, Italian-style sausage, and
artichoke hearts. Krieger’s
recipe makes 14 skewers and has
140 calories per serving (four
skewers).
Now, for the main dish:
turkey roulade with apple-cider
gravy. Yes, even turkey can be
healthier. This dish has dried
cranberries, freshly grounded
pepper, and many other whole-
some ingredients that make this
main course a good choice for
your Thanksgiving dinner, in-
cluding the fact that it only has
400 calories per serving.
So just as long as you can
have a good and healthy meal,
stuffing your face on Thanksgiv-
ing is absolutely accepted and
even encouraged. To me, it’s a
day for eating. And of course,
for giving thanks. But what’s
better than giving thanks, eating
everything in sight, and not hav-
ing to worry about getting that
gym membership?
GABBY CARREIRO
1
4
1 Put 1 1/4 potatoes in a steamer basket over a pot of boilingwater. Steam for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are ten-der.
Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of low-sodium chicken broth and coarsely mash the potatoes.
Add 1/4 cup of sour cream and 1 1/2 tablespoons of choppedchives.
Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy.
234
AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES3
2
Tornado Times8 November 22, 2011
Entertainment
“Ihope I will be able to confide
everything to you, as I have
never been able to confide in
anyone, and I hope you will be a great
source of comfort and support.”
Anne Frank’s famous words have
reached out and captured the attention
of the drama department, as it gets
ready to stage “The Diary of Anne
Frank” in the Little Theater on Dec. 8.
The story follows the lives of the
Franks, the van Daans, and Albert
Dussel through their troubles under
Hitler’s regime. It revolves around a
young Jewish adolescent, filled with
energy and hope, trying to find herself
during a time of tragedy and despair.
The play will show how the families
lived in a cramped space and how they
coped with the constant fear of being
captured and killed.
Director Dave Huber cast 13 stu-
dents to play the characters in Anne
Frank’s life during her teen years. He
is “incredibly happy” with the cast
and feels confident that they will be
able to convey the true emotions be-
hind the moving piece.
“This was a play I had to do. I
needed to do this,” Huber said. “It’s an
amazing piece of theater.”
Huber found the casting process
tough and “agonizing.” He cast the ac-
tors not based on their individual tal-
ent but on how much chemistry the
group of students had with one an-
other.
Junior Kristine Paguinto and sen-
ior Michael Yapujian will be playing
the lead roles of Anne Frank and Otto
Frank, her father.
Paguinto felt “unusual” upon re-
ceiving her role, because it was the
first time she’d ever gotten the lead of
a play. She feels a lot of “pressure” but
says that she will try her best to por-
tray her character.
“I love the play, it allows you to
actually get into the minds of people
during the devastating period of the
Holocaust,” Paguinto said. “The audi-
ence will be able to gain insight on the
characters.”
Although Anne Frank’s situation
was hopeless, Paguinto said that her
character is one of the more “opti-
mistic” ones because she believes that
things will get better despite hard-
ship.
Junior Emily Shin is one of many
who look forward to watching this
performance.
“I want to see the live experi-
ence,” she said. “[The story] isn’t
something that happens today, so I
want to know how Anne coped with
the situation.”
The actors have put much of their
time into the play with two-hour re-
hearsals every day after school and
one on Saturday.
Besides the acting experience, the
actors hope theatre goers will leave
with something else from this play.
Yapujian feels whenever he is
having a bad day, the play is his
“wake-up call,” and that it “isn’t just
for the actors, it’s for the audience to
understand how lucky they are.”
Charlene Brandt (’12) is playing
Anne’s older sister, Margot, a ladylike
and proper young woman. She says
that other than the stage experience,
she hopes the students will gain a
sense of strength by getting a better
understanding of the struggle the fam-
ilies went through.
Assistant director An Uong (’12)
looks forward to learning about the
“nature of hope” from the play and
watching “how the actors grow into
their characters as they interact with
each other.”
Though the story of Anne Frank
revolves around her traumatic life ex-
periences, the cast and directors want
to reveal more than that.
“We all know the story. They die,
but we don’t play that. Anne lived her
life; she believed people were good at
heart,” Huber said. “We incorporate
the comedy, the sadness, the tragedy,
the terror and the hope.”
JEANNIE MAI
Dramatizing the Holocaust in a Frank manner
The family goes into
hiding.
Source: scholastic.com
PLAY: The cast for the “The Diary of Anne Frank” rehearses for the
upcoming play. It premieres in the Little Theatre on Dec. 8.AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES
ANGINE SHAHBAZYAN | TORNADO TIMES
Summer 1933Hitler becomes Chancel-
lor of Germany. The first
anti-Jewish laws are es-
tablished and the Franks
decide that they must
move to the Netherlands.
July 6, 1942
June 12, 1942Anne receives a diary for
her 13th birthday.
August 4, 1944
The residents of the Secret
Annex are betrayed and ar-
rested, then taken to a concen-
tration camp where the men are
separated from the women.
October 24, 1945
Otto Frank receives a
letter informing him that
his daughters died and is
given her diary.
Summer 1947The first 1,500 copies of
Anne’s diary are pub-
lished in Amsterdam.
Dates: Dec. 8-12
Time: 7 p.m. (5 p.m. on
Dec. 8, 2 p.m. on Dec. 11)
Place: Little Theatre
Price: $8
After a personal hiatus from Netflix, I dis-
covered how many new movies and
shows were added to the instant queue.
To my surprise, all 115 episodes of the 1988-1993
American comedy-drama “The Wonder Years”
are now available to watch instantly.
The show centers around a typical American
teenager, Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), in the
1960’s. No, this does not involve a teenage girl
getting pregnant every season like teen shows of
today, but is more about the classic, innocent teen
experience such as dealing with parents, older
siblings, academic struggles, friends and first
loves.
For those of you who have never heard of
this iconic show, I don’t blame you—it did stop
airing right before most of us were born. How-
ever, the years of syndication on networks such
as Nick at Nite and ABC Family are the reason
for its familiarity among teens my age.
There are so many aspects to love about this
show. For one, it tends to bring out a lot of heart
from situations between the family members and
from the lessons Kevin learns. However, the awk-
ward middle and high school positions that any
teenager is put through is inevitably funny. In one
episode, Kevin and his classmates have to endure
learning about the female reproductive system in
gym class. The excitement is immediately shot
down by the diagram shown by their teacher.
The characters, however, are what make this
series most memorable. There is the father who
hates his middle-management job, the stay-at-
home mother (who later reflects the feminist
movement), the rebellious hippie sister, the abu-
sive older brother, and the nerdy best friend who
is allergic to practically everything. But above all,
who could forget the girl next door, Winnie
Cooper?
The love between Kevin and Winnie is the
ultimate basis of the series. One of the most
iconic moments in the show is Kevin and Win-
nie’s first kiss in the pilot episode. When Win-
nie’s brother had just been killed in Vietnam, she
goes to Harpers Woods alone. Kevin arrives to
comfort her, puts his Jet’s jacket around her to
keep her warm, and kisses her.
Even though this show is not a modern take
on American families, Kevin goes through the
same events that today’s teenager normally
would, minus the cyber bullying.
Wandering through the Wonder-ful years
Movie Review Music Review
Waking up from a long
night of dreaming is a
strange experience.
You feel groggy and a bit disori-
ented until you begin to recall the
wonderful things you experienced,
the people you met, the scents that
filled your nostrils, and the sounds
that filled your ears.
M83’s latest album, “Hurry
Up, We’re Dreaming” shares a
similar experience. The genres
M83 identifies with—electronic,
shoegaze, dream pop, ambient—
allow for the most dreamlike of
music. There are stories of cup-
cakes and magic frogs in
“Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” and
more melancholy themes in
“Wait,” along with lots of what
would be nothingness in a dream
but does not appear as such in the
album.
This ambitious two-disc
album both begins and
ends strongly. Zola Jesus, an up-
and-coming synthpop/goth rock
artist, is featured on the first track,
“Intro,” and “Midnight City” is
packed with drum parts reminis-
cent of the 80s and never-before-
heard elements such as saxophone
solos.
“Raconte-Moi Une Histoire”
(meaning “Tell Me a Story”
in French) is the most unique song
off the album. There is a little girl
speaking on the track about a spe-
cial frog with a quaint electronic
tune playing in the background,
showing off her splendid imagina-
tion and emphasizing M83’s love
of youth, fun, and adventure, as
well as creative thinking.
“OK Pal” on disc two has an
80’s vibe to it with its booming
drums and heavy synth. Late in the
album, “Echoes of Mine” recap-
tures your attention with some
subtle French lyrics and leads you
to the concluding two tracks.
A new element seldom previ-
ously heard—if at all—is the use
of instruments besides synthesiz-
ers and electric guitars and basses
typical of shoegaze bands.
Acoustic guitars can be heard on
several tracks, as well as the saxo-
phone solo on “Midnight City.”
M83 definitely does not fail to
please with this album. As dreams
make the night pass, the album
makes time fly. It feels like a 45-
minute album despite
the fact that it clocks in at 74 min-
utes. There are no overwhelmingly
long songs as there have been on
other albums, the longest being
five minutes and 42 seconds.
Compared to old albums,
however, it is significantly longer,
but the grandeur is incomparable.
M83’s past albums, although they
had vocals and similar synth
arrangements, were subtle com-
pared to “Hurry Up, We’re Dream-
ing.” This album can only be
described as monumental.
Anyone who has enjoyed
M83’s past albums will most
likely be happy with this one as
well.
If you haven’t heard M83’s
music before, enjoying this album
won’t be a problem as long as you
like electronic, shoegaze, or ambi-
ent music, or if you’re fun-loving
and open-minded.
NATALIE HOVANESIAN
SOPHIE MIRZAIAN
DAPHNE ONG
M83 dreams up a nice album
ALEX KARIBYAN | TORNADO TIMES
November 22, 2011Tornado Times
ENTERTAINMENT 9
Source: 20th Century Fox
DAWN: The latest film in the saga, “Breaking Dawn: Part One” takes a lighter approach to the more de-
pressing tones that the previous movies set. It premiered last Friday.
There I was, impatiently waiting in the unbear-
able cold with strangers at my side, excitedly
chattering about what they were about to see.
The moment we had all been waiting for, Nov. 18, had
finally arrived.
The midnight premiere of “Breaking Dawn: Part
One” consisted of six hours of sitting uncomfortably
on the icy, coarse concrete, frantically doing home-
work and losing sleep—but it was all worth it.
The movie is the fourth of the Twilight Saga,
which has become a worldwide phenomenon. The
main character Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is a
human who falls in love with Edward Cullen (Robert
Pattinson), a vampire. Together they conquer all forces
that try to break their love apart.
In this particular film, the couple gets married and
Bella unknowingly gets pregnant. The “fetus” grows
very quickly and slowly destroys her from the inside
out—the only way for her to survive is to be turned
into a vampire.
One aspect that I didn't like was that “Breaking
Dawn: Part One” had a completely different tone than
the previous films. In the beginning, the movie is more
comical than what audiences are accustomed to be-
cause most of the characters crack jokes here and
there. But the moment that Bella realizes she is preg-
nant, the mood changes entirely becoming very seri-
ous. Everyone is worried for Bella's life, made evident
through the actors' wonderful depictions.
When Edward finds out that the baby is sucking
away at Bella's life, he goes into shock and yells at her
with a powerful and frightening look on his face. This
is a side of Edward that audiences haven’t seen before
that Pattinson does a great job conveying.
Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) also depicts his role
very accurately. During one scene, he starts crying be-
cause he learns the bad news. His face expresses ex-
treme anger and sadness that the audience can relate
to, making the viewers sympathize with the character.
The special effects of the movie are also incredi-
ble. Bella's portrayal when she is pregnant is just as I
had imagined while reading the novel. Her face has
black creases everywhere, she loses a great amount of
weight, and her stomach is completely bruised. At one
point, I was even disgusted by her because the make-
up looked so natural.
In another scene where Bella is becoming a vam-
pire, venom is shown spreading throughout her body
and revitalizing her into a completely different person.
Her hair turns light, her skin regains its color, and all
her scars and bruises heal. These changes happen
quickly in one shot, leaving the viewer mesmerized.
The soundtrack was notable as well, as it effec-
tively enhanced the emotional aspect to “Breaking
Dawn: Part One." The song used for the wedding
scene, for instance, is the same one used in the first
film during Bella and Edward's first dance.
Incorporating “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”
by Iron and Wine as their wedding song was a great
idea that fans definitely noticed and enjoyed. There
were also some instrumental songs that stood out be-
cause, once again, the melody was taken out of the
first movie's soundtrack and combined with the new
music.
Since “Breaking Dawn: Part One” is the second
to last movie, there are flashbacks from the other
movies put together to summarize Bella's struggles in
her life. The last scene contained memories that re-
mained from her "human life" that symbolized the be-
ginning of her new life as a vampire.
“Breaking Dawn: Part One” is a movie you’re not
going to want to miss.
Source: Summit Entertainment
Breaking Dawn breaks expectations
Source: Virgin Records
Tornado Times10 November 22, 2011
How do you twirl flags, run
your senior class, deal
with school, and fit in
time to eat, sleep, and study? It’s
impossible.
Rather than doing everything
at once, one must find a way to
balance everything out. This
sounds like a difficult task to ac-
complish, but senior Wenona Car-
los has managed a way to make
this her daily routine.
A regular day for Carlos
involves waking up at 6:15 after
"clicking the snooze button six
times," getting ready for practice
at 7 in the morning until second
period, after which she carries on
her day at school, finishing off
with something to do related to ei-
ther school or errands.
At home, Carlos sleeps from
the time she comes home until
midnight. Then she wakes up and
finishes her homework. If she has
any extra time left over, she drives
to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and
runs early in the
morning.
As pep flag cap-
tain, she must moti-
vate her team to
work hard, practice
hard, and strive to
win this year’s na-
tionals, which is set
during April.
Carlos joined
pep flags her fresh-
man year and stuck
with it until her senior
year. She joined because it
seemed like an active and enjoy-
able sport to be in.
With her stay in pep flags,
Carlos has learned to work well
with others and perform in front
of a huge crowd.
“She’s really patient with us
even when things get frustrating,”
varsity pep flag teammate Sarah
Shin (’13) said. “Not only does
she understand our problems, but
she goes out of her way to help us
despite her busy schedule.”
When her teammates need
her, whether it is emotionally or
financially, she’s there for them.
“She demonstrates the quality
of a true captain, which is why I
admire her,” Shin said. “She’s like
a big sister to us.”
In addition to her teammates
appreciating her company, her
coaches also admire her dedica-
tion.
“She’s everything we look for
in a captain,” assistant coach
Anita Bacon said. “She makes
sure everyone is working hard;
her attitude is strict but fair.”
Being in pep flags for so
long, Carlos has made numerous
memories with her team.
“The most memorable expe-
rience in flags for me is going to
nationals and performing in front
of a huge audience,” Carlos said.
As the USA Nationals at the
Anaheim Convention Center ap-
proaches, Carlos and her team are
motivated to win first place.
This year’s routine consists of
the original one flag and two flags
in which the team uses only one
flag for one show and two flags
for the other show. This routine
placed them third last year during
nationals and second during fi-
nals.
“I really want us to be in the
top three this year, and if we work
really hard, finish in first place,”
Carlos said.
To add to her impressive re-
sume, Carlos
also attended
t a e k w o n d o
practice when
she was
younger.
T a e k -
wondo, being a
Korean martial
art, combines
combat tech-
niques, self-de-
f e n s e ,
exercises, and,
in some cases, meditation. After
three years of training, she earned
her black belt at the age of 14.
"To be honest, it’s hard at
times to manage everything be-
cause I am a procrastinator," Car-
los said, "but I work well under
pressure."
As the ASB senior class pres-
ident, Carlos must be on top of
everything—nothing can be sub-
par for her. As well as monitoring
the acts and events of her flag
team, Carlos must also make sure
that the senior class is up and ac-
tive.
“She is a phenomenal, charis-
matic, outspoken individual who
shows the qualities of a great pres-
ident,” ASB adviser Edgar Melik
Stepanyan said. “When she talks,
people listen.”
Other ASB students also ad-
mire her enthusiasm.
“She motivates me to be
more spirited and involved to-
wards all the events,” said fellow
ASB member Hilary Noori (’12).
With such a busy but produc-
tive schedule, Carlos makes time
for family during the weekends.
“I usually go out to eat with
family and spend some quality
time with them,” Carlos said.
Although all of these activi-
ties may seem stressful and over-
whelming, Carlos does not regret
her choices.
“I would rather be busy than
just be sitting around and doing
nothing,” Carlos said. “I know my
choices will benefit me and my
future.”
Sports
Moving away
from tradition
In Edward’s
EDWARD NADURATA
Defense
For many years, our
school’s administra-
tors and sports offi-
cials have been talking about
transferring leagues from our
current Pacific League to a
“lesser” division, the Rio
Hondo league. And this time,
it seems clearer than ever.
One big problem with
the teams in our school is the
participation among the stu-
dents. The football team had
no chance of substituting
players during games be-
cause they did not have
enough players to do so. Un-
like other teams that had 50
players or more, we had 26
this season along with many
players getting kicked out of
the team for a plethora of
reasons.
Since many of the
schools in the Rio Hondo
league have the same number
of players, the odds of win-
ning will be greater.
One of the biggest things
I am concerned about is
BGD.
The second game against
Glendale is the big home-
coming game and Glendale is
in the Pacific League. If we
switch leagues, the first pre-
season BGD becomes the
homecoming game, breaking
away from tradition and basi-
cally discarding the many
festivities each class prepares
for during the weeks before
the usual November game.
There are also only six
teams in Rio Hondo, which
means that there are fewer
spots open for our team to
enter playoffs.
Note that all our school
teams would be switching
leagues, not just football.
What can happen to our ever
so successful water polo
team that is basically domi-
nating our league? Can their
record change because of our
move?
Before we move leagues,
we need to see that winning
isn’t everything.
Before us is one of the
longest standing cross-town
rivalries in California history
and all of this can go away in
a heartbeat if the school de-
cides to move.
Is it all worth the move?
Is a win greater than tradi-
tion?
Carlos twirls her way to the top
AN UONG| TORNADO TIMES
TWIRLING: Carlos cheers for the football team Nov. 10 during the
annual homecoming game against Glendale. Besides from being a dance
captain she is also the senior class president has a black belt in taek-
wondo.
She’s everything
we look for in a cap-
tain. She makes sure
everyone is working
hard; her attitude is
strict but fair.
-Anita Bacon
“
”
PAUL HONG
Novemeber 22, 2011Tornado Times
SPORTS 11
With the $39,800 that
Major League Base-
ball (MLB) awarded
the school’s baseball program last
January, the team purchased in-
field soil, grass seeds, two new
batting cages, new equipment,
new purple uni-
forms, a pitching
machine, and out-
field dirt.
B a s e b a l l
Coach Joe Cotti
applied for the
grant back in Au-
gust 2010 through
the Baseball To-
morrow fund, a
joint initiative of
MLB and the
MLB Players As-
sociation that promotes the
growth of youth participation in
baseball.
After representatives from
MLB had visited the team and in-
spected their equipment and field,
the baseball team had to raise
$39,800 in order to receive the
MLB’s donation through the
matching grant, a grant that re-
quires the recipient of the grant to
raise the same amount of money
as they will be receiving, which
would total nearly $80,000.
After months of hard work
selling sponsorships, snacks, and
holding a summer training camp,
the baseball team was able to
reach its intended
goal in January.
Receiving the
grant relieved
many of the play-
ers and, most im-
portantly, Cotti
himself.
“It was not a
piece of cake,”
Cotti said. Accord-
ing to Cotti, he
had to write a 40-
page application
that took days to complete and
weeks for approval.
Despite this, the baseball
program has been able to thrive
due to support from various spon-
sors and families of the team. The
grant money not only helped the
team revamp their equipment and
field, but also heightened their
spirits. It motivated them to work
even harder at fundraising and
honing their skills to make it to
playoffs.
“With our new replacement
equipment we’re able to practice
harder and more effectively,”
player Tim Gneier (’13) said. “It
helped our varsity team make it to
the CIF playoffs this past year.”
According to player Thomas
Alchermes (’12), the old field did
not have green grass and it con-
tained crab grass and weeds on
the edges. The outfield dirt was
unevenly leveled which posed a
problem for the players because
there was a greater possibility of
injury. Much of their old equip-
ment was worn down. The old
uniforms used to be blue and
were so old that some buttons
were missing.
This is the first year the base-
ball team will be playing during
the winter. Tryouts were held last
week.
“We’re going in the right di-
rection,” said coach Cotti regard-
ing the players’ progress. “It takes
not just financial support, but also
individual support and the sup-
port of the school. We’re not
going to give up.”
MLB grant used for improvements
When thinking of com-
mon ways to spend
your 60th birthday,
running a triathlon is not one of
them, except in the case of Eng-
lish teacher Deborah Fox.
For the last month, Fox has
been doing just that preparing for
“The Turkey Triathlon” next
Sunday at Bonelli Park in San
Dimas.
The first of the three-part
Triathlon is a half-mile swim.
Fox has been swimming for
25 years and used to swim almost
every day during her younger
years.
“I grew up in Southern Cali-
fornia so body surfing and swim-
ming was something I grew up
with,” Fox said.
Her love of this sport was so
great that she even swam through
her pregnancies up to a week and
even a day before she went into
labor.
The second leg of the
triathlon is a 14-mile bike ride. In
preparation for this, she is cy-
cling up to 11 miles daily. Fox
wants to get to at least 14 miles
before the triathlon.
The final part of the race
consists of a 14.5 mile run.
Preparing for this portion of the
race has been the only bump on
her road to success, according to
Fox.
One night, as she was out
training for her run, she fell and
broke her arm. This injury
“made it hard” for her to con-
tinue training. It especially inter-
fered with her swimming
practices, but she did not let up.
“I think it’s really cool that
she wants to do it,” Hayley Black
(’13) said.
Fox likes to think of “The
Turkey Triathlon” as “The Alu-
minum Woman” because of how
much strength it would take her
to actually complete the triathlon.
“I’m extremely proud of my
mother for setting a goal for her-
self and working hard each day
to achieve it,” daughter Rebecca
Fox said. “She really wants to
prove that she’s a ‘tough
cookie.’”
Fox has wanted to partici-
pate in a triathlon since she was
20 years old. She considers it a
form of “challenging herself.”
She had run races before, such as
the Los Angeles 10,000 meter
race, but nothing as intense as the
upcoming triathlon.
Finishing first or last is not
what is important to Fox. What
is important to Fox is the accom-
plishment of finishing.
FOX RUNS FREE
STEVEN LEE
ANI KIRAKOSYAN
English teacher Deborah Fox joins “The TurkeyTriathlon” as a way to celebrate her birthday.
The Three Parts of a Triathlon1. Half Mile Swim2. 14-Mile Bike Ride3. 14.5 Mile Run
TRIATHLON: English teacher Deborah Fox poses before going biking
around her neighborhood as preparation for “The Turkey Triathlon.”
Fox has been wanting to participate in a triathlon since she was 20 years
old.
Courtesy of Deborah Fox
BASEBALL: Kevin Mendoza practices for the team’s pre-season winter
games on the reseeded baseball field. In order to receive the grant that
MLB offered, the team had to raise and match the $39,800 that was of-
fered.
AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES
The baseball team received $ 39,800 from MajorLeague Baseball for improvements including newbatting cages.
With our new re-
placement equip-
ment we’re able to
practice harder and
more effectively.
-Tim Gneier (’13)
“
”
= 29 Miles
12 November 22, 2011Tornado Times
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