MIRADATHE

Rio Americano High School • Sacramento, CA Volume 48, Issue 1 September 25, 2009

CENTERRush week has everyone

clubbing Pages 10-11

Read and comment on this issue of The Mirada and addition-al features at www.riomirada.com

Online

See page 16 See page 8

Student responds to recent Kanye West and Taylor Swift controversy

Relive the Blink-182 concert that rocked Sacramento

Summer injury leaves teacher battered

By SUZANNA AKINSMirada Staff

Some strange things are happening at Rio, but it’s not because of the full moon.

Some students are hoof-ing it farther to catch a school bus. Some students are having trouble seeing the teacher from their desks at the end of a long row.

Rio students are wondering if their education is secure.

State budget cuts are causing some turbulent times. In California, po-litical leaders have cut pro-grams of all kinds. One of the major targets for cuts is the public schools.

The California Budget Project has estimated that the cuts to the San Juan

Unified School District will amount to $777 per stu-dent over two years. This is about an 11 percent cut from the $6,800 per student that the state provided in the 2008-2009 budget year, according to Vice Principal Shelly Friery.

“I know that California ranks about 48th out of the 50 states in per pupil spend-

ing,” Friery said. But being near the bot-

tom does not mean that the funding level can’t sink even lower.

“It is ironic, that in a state which already funds education so poorly, we would even contemplate taking money away from our schools,” former San Juan Unified Superinten-

dent Steven Encoh told The Sacramento Bee.

At Rio, some school bus stops have been eliminated.

“San Juan Unified school officials could save $2 million annually by making students walk far-ther, by waiting longer to replace buses, and by lay

As a calculus teacher, Wil-liam Dunkum knows some-thing about the laws of motion. But on a mountain bike vaca-tion in Canada this past sum-mer he got a real life lesson on what happens when your foot is at rest and your bike keeps moving.

The answer is you wind up in surgery getting a metal rod hammered into your leg to re-pair a spiral fracture in your tib-ia. And you thought derivatives were painful.

“It was day five of a seven day camp, so that was good,” said Dunkum, eager to look on the bright side.

He got a lot of quality biking in before his accident, which happened when least expected.

“We’d been doing some pretty gnarly stuff, creek jumps, and drops. We were out with the coaches for a morning les-son, and we were on our way to lunch down a little trail, and my back end went out, my body went down, leg twisted, my foot didn’t twist.”

Dunkum immediately knew something was wrong when he picked up his leg with his hands and his foot flopped down.

“It actually didn’t hurt at all because I was in shock,” Dun-kum said. “I knew immediate-ly it was broken, so I called for help and the coaches came back and carried me down.”

He clearly needed medical help, so he was carried to a cart which took him to an ambu-lance that drove him to a clinic.

“I was taken to Lionsgate

See DUNKUM page 3

ALEX MCFALL/Mirada StaffStudents enjoy the freedom of using cell phones at lunch since the administration changed its policy. Many students believe it is a privledge long overdue.

By ABIGAIL JENNINGSMirada Staff

See BUDGET page 4

Cells set freeStudents use phones at lunch following rule change. See story page 3

Budget cuts mean fuller classes, longer walks

This Issue

NewsPage 2 • The Mirada Friday, September 25, 2009

Preventions taken against spread of H1N1 fluThe World Health Organiza-

tion (WHO) reported that 35,585 people tested positive for the novel H1N1 virus from the start of the pandemic period on Apr. 19 to Aug. 1.

This data was received by feed-back from 73 countries, territories and areas. And, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the area of the United States including Califor-nia, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam reported elevated regional influenza activity.

A Rio student, who wishes to remain anonymous, contracted the H1N1 virus but recovered after missing almost a week of school.

“It was just like the regular flu, ridiculously miserable for a little while,” he said. “Then, I had a few days of fever when I was on lock down.”

At first, despite his symptoms, he did not think that his illness was the H1N1 flu, and came to school for a day.

“When I thought it was just a cold, I showed up and suffered when I should have been at home,” he said. “I didnt think I had [H1N1], but then I went to the doctors office,

and they made me stick a q-tip up my nose, saying something to the effect of ‘swirl’.”

A few other students have con-tracted the virus, but only some cases have been confirmed by the doctor as the H1N1 flu.

Because of the spreading flu virus, San Juan Unified School District is following CDC’s guide-lines for H1N1 virus prevention in schools.

Some of these suggestions in-clude encouraging good hygiene, continuing cleaning areas frequent-ed by staff and students, and asking staff and students to stay home if they exhibit flu like symptoms until 24 hours after the fever diminishes.

In order to stop spreading germs, schools are installing hand sanitizer dispensers in cafeterias and multipurpose rooms.

Continual washing of hands and covering of coughs and sneezes is urged as well.

The WHO declared the global pandemic of novel H1N1 on June 11 because of the spread of the vi-rus and raised the worldwide pan-demic alert level to Phase 6, which is defined as having continual virus outbreaks at the community level in at least two WHO regions.

Novel H1N1 infections had

spread through all 50 states in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dis-trict of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands by June 19, just two months after the first case emerged in the US.

Because of the similar genes be-tween common swine influenza vi-ruses and the H1N1 virus, the virus was initially called swine flu.

However, further study showed that there were differences between the two.

The contagious H1N1 virus transmits from person to person through coughing and sneezing.

Another way to contract the H1N1 virus is by touching some-thing with flu viruses on it, and then touching the mouth or nose.

Symptoms include cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, fever, chills, headache, body aches and fatigue. People have also reported symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting as well.

Infected people can spread the virus anywhere from one day be-fore feeling sick to five to seven days after.

A 2009 H1N1 vaccine is being produced, and is due to become public in the fall.

By ALEX REINNOLDTEditor-in-Chief

Get sick from spit swappingThe first few weeks of school bring to

mind new clothes, new books, new class-es, and new...outbreaks?

There’s something spreading around school, and no, it’s not a new fashion trend or a rumor about the new boy in your English class...it’s a mild outbreak of mononucleosis, otherwise known as “The Kissing Disease.”

For those who don’t know, mononu-cleosis is a disease caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), a type of herpes virus; people infected with the EBV will soon begin to feel increasingly tired and achy all over, and can also cause a loss of ap-petite.

This is definitely not how most kids want to feel at the beginning of a new school year.

In addition to being a particularly troublesome disease, Mononucleosis is also highly contagious, spreading mainly through saliva.

That means that bottle of Gatorade you shared at break, or that new lip-gloss your friend bought that you just had to try could soon leave you strung out on the couch, too tired to even move.

Mono strikes people between the ages fifteen and twenty making high school students prime targets for the virus, and when combined with the fact that high school students will share almost any-thing with their friends without a second

thought, is it any wonder that it’s spread-ing around school?

And yet, even with the threat of dis-ease practically breathing down our necks, very few students around school even seem to be aware that the disease is present at Rio.

“I didn’t even know that mono was going around at our school,” sophomore Candace Shaw said.

There’s already at least one confirmed case of mononucleosis here at school, but even one case should spark at least a mild wave of protection against it.

After all, mononucleosis can be con-tracted from just one sip from an infected water bottle, or even a bite of that deli-cious burrito your friend was eating at lunch, and that you stole a bite of when they weren’t looking, and then, before you know it you could be strung out on the couch, too tired and sick to even change the TV channel.

For those out there who want to pro-tect themselves from getting sick, there’s really only one simple rule to follow: Don’t share anything that comes into con-tact with your mouth.

This includes drinks, food, lip-gloss or chapstick.

Just follow that one rule, and you’ll be free and healthy while all your less cau-tious friends are trapped inside, forced to watch hours of infomercials and soap op-eras because they can’t reach the remote.

And that could very well be a fate worse than death.

By Cady WestMirada Staff

The Mustard Seed Spin benefits the Mustard Seed School for homeless children.

It’s an awesome organized bike ride along the river for kids of all ages.Do something good for yourself

and somebody else!Bring some friends and make a day of it...

Register on our website to ride this Sunday, September 27:

www.mustardseedspin.orgSee you there!

Take these everyday steps to protect YOUR health:

* Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

* Wash your hands often with soap and wa-ter. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

* Try to avoid close contact with sick peo-ple.

* If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC rec-ommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities.

*Keep away from others as much as pos-sible to keep from making others sick.

SOURCE: CDC

Rejoice students! With the new changes to the

cell phone policy, you can final-ly check that text you’ve been dying to see since first period at lunch, without the risk of get-ting in trouble.

Just one of the many new changes that has arrived at Rio this year, the cell phone policy change has been long overdue, a change that benefits both stu-dents and teachers.

Cell phone use in the class-room is at each individual teacher’s discretion, as long as the phones are being used for a

legitimate educational purpose.Students across campus have

widely accepted this change. Senior Brandon Odom really

likes the convenience of the new change.

“I have ROP for fifth and sixth period so it’s really nice to be able to call my parents so I know where they are,” Odom said. “Since I don’t have a car, knowing where they are is re-ally important.”

During lunch, it’s hard to walk across campus without seeing a lot of cell phones being used.

Although for some seniors, having not been able to use their

phones at school for three years, having their cell phones out in the open feels strange.

“It just feels so weird,” senior Chase Patterson said.

Although students are now able to use their cell phones at lunch, some ambiguity remains on when they are allowed to use it before school.

Many students believe they are able to use them until the first period bell rings.

But in the new policy, as soon as zero period starts, phones are not to be used until lunch.

But with every change for the better, there are always hid-den dilemmas.

The administration is buck-ling down on phone use at non-permitted times.

Students caught using their cell phones when they are not supposed to will no longer be given a detention, but be sent straight to on-site or worse.

The administration feels that with more freedom in cell phone usage, the students will return the favor and not use them when it isn’t allowed such as during class time.

But students do not seem to be showing the administration the same respect that it is show-ing them.

Everyday, numerous stu-

dents can be seen talking on the phone between classes and at morning break.

Calling parents for early dis-missals has also become much easier as a result of the new policy.

At last, students don’t have to use the decrepit old phone in the Attendance Office.

The administration has taken a great leap of faith with the new cell phone policy and only time will tell whether students have earned their new right, or wasted a chance at freedom.

NewsFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 3 • The Mirada

DUNKUM: Mountain biking math teacher breaks bonesFrom DUNKUM page 1

By EVAN KUBICKIMirada Staff

Minutes being eaten up faster during lunchtime with new cell phone rule

EUGENE KWON/Mirada Staff

Top: Math teacher William Dunkum III props his injured leg up on a pillow while teaching his first period transition to college math class. He is using the Elmo projector so that he doesn’t have to stand up to teach at the chalkboard.Bottom: The X-ray shows the metal rod and screws the doc-tor placed in his leg to mend the spiral fracture.

Courtesy of WILLIAM DUNKUM

Hospital in Vancouver, which was a two and a half hour drive in the ambulance,” Dunkum said.

Once he arrived at the hospi-tal, they got him an X-ray.

“The X-ray showed a spi-ral fracture, which needs seri-ous help,” Dunkum explained. “They told me I would be oper-ated on the next day.”

In Canada they have a na-tional health care system, mean-ing everyone is covered by taxes and gets free attention, which has its advantages and disad-vantages.

“The day after my wipe-out, I didn’t get breakfast or lunch because I was going to be oper-ated on that afternoon,” Dun-kum says. “Then, the doctor comes in around three and tells me someone with a more seri-ous injury came in and needs to be taken care of first and that I would be operated on the next day. So, I got dinner. The next day, Sunday, the same thing happens. I don’t get breakfast or lunch because I’m going to have surgery. Then they tell me I have to wait until the next day, so I get dinner. The same thing happens on Monday.”

Meanwhile, Dunkum laid in bed on meds and starving, hooked up to IVs.

“Finally, on Tuesday, the doc-tor comes in and tells me that they are ready,” Dunkum said. “I actually teared up. Finally!”

Four days after his accident, Tuesday August 12, he was taken downstairs to be operated on, and got left in the hallway thinking, “Is this a bad joke?”

“The doctor came and got me a few minutes later, and took me in for the surgery. They offered

for me to stay awake to watch it, but I didn’t want to. They cut me open below my knee and drilled my fibula hollow to put in a metal rod that’s 13 mm in diameter,” Dunkum described with math terminology. “They put the 320 mm long rod into the hollow bone using a ham-mer.”

There was also something broken in his foot, but it is mi-nor compared with his intense leg fracture.

“The metal rod is held in place by four metal nails that go through my bone. My tibia is also broken,” Dunkum said.

There is no cast because casts are used to hold the bone in place, but the rod does that.

“I actually like it better this way,” he said. “It’s easier.”

His stay in the hospital clear-ly had advantages and disad-vantages relating to Canadian health care.

“There just weren’t enough doctors or nurses and it was too crowded,” Dunkum said. “They didn’t have enough storage space. The nurses were great, there just weren’t enough of them. The bad economy is ef-fecting them too, and they have to cut back operations.”

He wasn’t let out until the Monday following his surgery, and in the meantime had physi-cal therapy and was taught how to use a wheelchair and walker.

“I flew home Monday, and my leg was still swollen and bruised,” Dunkum said. “I had big purple, yellow, green, black, and blue bruises. I guess you get these things called fracture blisters. They were blisters as big as your hand on my leg.”

Right now he’s on his way to healing and hopefully will be riding his bike to school again by New Year’s.

“I’m doing ultra sound 40 minutes a day and taking bone growth hormones,” Dunkum said. “I can’t put any weight on it until Halloween, and I prob-ably won’t be off the crutches until Thanksgiving.”

He missed a week of school because there was too much pain, but Robertson taught for him.

“The math department did a really good job getting classes started and getting all the sub stuff set up,” Dunkum said. “Mr. Robertson got me my Elmo, this cool overhead projec-tor. The math department did a nice job taking care of me and rearranged my room.”

Dunkum can’t wait to get back on his bike and start racing again. “I have to use a trainer first to rebuild my muscle, but I will definitely be racing again.”

“I’m at a point in my life when I want to give back,” French teacher Alec Hodgins said. For the past two years, Hodgins has been in-volved in a group called the Flying Samaritans that makes free health care available in the town of San Quintin located in northern Baja Mexico.

Composed of bilinguals, pilots, doctors, nurses, dentists and volun-teers, the Flying Samaritans travel to San Quintin on a monthly basis. This group has dealt with all kinds of general medical procedures in-cluding prosthetics, pre and post-natal care, as well as optical care.

“I joined because I just find the people and the Mexican culture to be really nice,” Hodgins said. “I’ve always enjoyed the hospitality down there.”

With a recent economic down-turn in this area, the efforts of the Flying Samaritans have made a tre-mendous impact on these residents.

“The daily salary for a parent working full time on these farms is an unbelievable ten dollars,” Hodgins said. “The recent news of narcotic traffic violence, the Swine Flu and a big drop in tourism has really added to an already devas-tated economy.”

Along with supplying health care, the Flying Samaritans also donated $100 scholarships to 45 students. “That may not seem like a lot to keep a student going for a year, but, for many, it means the difference between going to school and not,” Hodgins said. Thus, Hodgins has started a school-wide drive for backpacks and school supplies in the interest of promoting education for these children. “As I called out the names of the scholarship recipients and said a few words of encouragement to the meritorious, I could see so much happiness, hope, humility and dis-appointment amongst the crowd because there were more than a hundred students that did not get any scholarships,” Hodgins said.

“At that moment an idea popped into my head: why not generate a back pack and school supplies drive for these students?” Groups such as Spanish classes, Student Government, Interact Club, Key Club and Avid have started

collecting items for the drive. For other students, items can be donat-ed in room B-5. “The idea is to get these school kids off to a good start,” Hodgins said. “Anything helps.”

* Advanced Spanish speaking stu-dents who are interested in com-munity service are encouraged to consider joining the Flying Sa-maritans.

News Friday, September 25, 2009, Page 4 • The Mirada

French teacher supports Flying Samaritan causeBy ALEXIS SHEN

Editor-In-Chief

-ing off some of their transpor-tation employees,” according to Melissa Nix, a writer for The Bee.

However, it is not only on the way to school that students experi-ence the budget cuts, but it is also in the classroom.

Every year, the money for tech-nology that the school doesn’t use, goes back to the district, according to English teacher Michael Ma-honey.

“We lost a counselor. We used to have four counselors and now we only have three. That’s a huge loss.” Friery said.

Some school districts, such as Sonoma Valley Unified, have a survival plan. They will stay afloat financially by using development trusts. These trusts will be entirely funded by private donations, but unlike donations to specific needs, like booster clubs, all of the money will be used for general education. It will fill in the gap created by the state’s budget cuts to education.

Although San Juan Unified has no plans for a development trust at this time, Principal Brian Ginter observed that it could be a possi-bility if adequate support could be found.

“You need to have somebody who is a professional at raising money for those types of situa-tions to get a lot into [the develop-ment trust] and sometimes it costs money to do that. If the district wanted to do something like that and there was public support for it, I wouldn’t see that as being a prob-lem,” he said.

In the meantime, school offi-cials would like to see more from California’s state legislature.

“I’d like to see them work with people who are in schools to look at what the needs are,”Friery said. “When you spend more [money] on prisons than you do on schools, that says something about society.”

Funding for public education will remain very difficult until the economy recovers.

“I wish we lived in a world where we had unlimited funding for education,” Friery said.

But Principal Ginter advises that students should not worry about things over which they have no control. Students at Rio still go to one of the best high schools in the state. They should focus on that and on their education.

BUDGET:School officials want more state sup-From BUDGET page 1

Top: Flying Samaritan member, Al Rabbe provides free dental work to San Quintin patient. Bottom Left: Señor Hodgins cha chas with the senoritas. Bottom Right: Patients wait in the morning line up at the San Quintin clinic. Photos courtesy of Alec Hodgins.

What YOU can do to help:

Please bring backpacks and gently used or unused school supplies to your fourth

period class or drop them off in Mr. Hodgins room, B5.

*The expected deadline date is Oct. 7.

Opinion Page 5 • The MiradaFriday, September 25, 2009

The MiradaRIO AMERICANO

HIGH SCHOOL4540 American River Dr.Sacramento, CA 95864(916) 971-8921 ext. 80

www.riomirada.comthemirada2010@gmail.com

Editors-in-ChiefAlex ReinnoldtMolly IngramAlexis ShenAlex McFall

News EditorSarah Vaira

Opinion EditorJessie Shapiro

Sports EditorAlex Kleemann

Features EditorsChristian Oldham

Tate Rountree

Photo EditorAlex McFall

Staff WritersSuzanna AkinsDanielle Arbios

Riva BallisJesse Bartels

Brendan CabeDylan Cartier

Alexandra ChanJessica Cook

Lindsay DehmRio Deitrich

Jessica DyatlovGina GaribaldiJarett Hartman

Thomas HemingtonAllison Henderson

Dayna IsaacsAbigail Jennings

Evan KubickiEugene Kwon

Isabelle LaSalleScott MacDonald

Elise MarshTandena Nelson

Jessica ObertRohith SachdevaRebecca Sanford

Teresa SuazoCady West

Business ManagerMolly Ingram

AdviserMichael Mahoney

mmahoney@sanjuan.edu

The Mirada is the independent voice of the students and a forum for diverse ideas published by Rio Americano’s newspaper class.

The Mirada welcomes story ideas, comics, letters to the editor and opinion pieces. Submit ar-ticles and letters to the box in A3 or the main office. Unsigned edi-torials represent the views of the Mirada editorial board.

Opinion articles and letters to the editor are the views of the in-dividual writer and not necessar-ily the views of the Mirada or Rio Americano High School.

We welcome advertising, but reserve the right to refuse any ad.

Every first Friday of the new school year, students pile into the large gym for the Aloha/Se-

nior Walk-in Rally. The freshmen eagerly await their

first high school rally, the sophomores can finally say they aren’t freshmen, the juniors are finally able to call themselves “upperclassmen” and the seniors get to make their way across the red carpet over to their final seat-ing.

One thing that has always accom-panied a Rio Rally is the usual chant, “Go Home Freshmen.” It’s been go-ing on for years as a well-known tradition. It’s something in which every person on campus has had to go through in their first year of high school; as the saying goes, everyone has to start somewhere.

But, for some reason, starting with last year, the administration has been pushing to put a stop to the familiar chants. We even had a mini assembly within the first week of school which, other than discussing the school rules,

addressed the topic of how “Go Home Freshmen” is offensive.

Now, one could understand how it could be taken offensively, why everyone can remember thinking to themselves on those freshmen bleach-ers, “Why would they say that?” But you get used to it. In the end it isn’t a big deal. It’s something that all fresh-men have to endure.

Although it may not seem like it now, it helps to build backbone, along with helping you to fully appreciate making the progression to sophomore year. It’s hard to understand why people take the chant so personally, it isn’t meant to be directed towards one lone person.

Sure, it can get heated at times, but it seems that the more we are told not to partake in the tradition because it is “offensive”, the more we are likely to do it, and the louder.

Once you endure the taunts that are inherent with being a freshmen for a year, the more you truly appreci-ate being older. It’s true, sophomores always do seem to yell “Go Home Freshmen” the loudest and longest.

But at the end of the day, “Go Home Freshmen” shouldn’t be thought of as “offensive” or “immature”; it’s a tra-dition that acclimates you to the hard-ships of high school while also giv-ing you something to look forward to next year. We all know that every freshman is counting down the days until they can finally join in on the continued tradition.

In the end, to us, the student body of Rio Americano, it isn’t meant to be damaging. Instead it’s a rite of pas-sage that every freshman has to go through.

Having the right to carry on the tradition of “Go Home Freshmen” is what makes the rally’s that much more exciting, and the progression of your years in high school that much more measurable.

OUR VIEW

EUGENE KWON/Mirada Staff

It’s not your fault you’re a freshman

“I don’t like it because it’s hurtful that my el-ders disrespect me.”

“I really don’t care what people say at ral-lies. They’re just rallies, and plus it’s freedom of speech.”

“It’s not that bad, it’s just kind of awkward.”

“It makes us feel like we’re less important than the rest of the school.”

Colin Savage,

9

Brodie Mills,

9

Frankie Mac-

Laughlin,9

Ariana Modellas,

9

High School is a time of transition and change for most students. It encompasses four years that people spend discovering themselves and learning to interact with one another.

For the freshmen, that experience be-gan the first week of school when they attended the Aloha Rally, and one of the first things our school showed them about being in high school: the Song Team, wearing spandex pants and low-cut shirts.

Then, the music turned on.Now, as a male student, I see the ap-

peal of the Song Team. First of all, many students find rallies

boring and phony, and the Song Team focuses the attention of at least one gen-der on the basketball court rather than on causing disturbances.

However, this performance went over-board.

Moves like we saw at the Aloha Rally are not allowed at normal school dances or even in most socially acceptable set-tings.

This is a high school rally, not the latest music video, and when the Song Team spends most of the routine bent over, while it may illicit catcalls from the audience, it is simply not appropriate.

The first thing the freshman girls and all the young ladies in the audience are seeing at this rally is that to be popular and admired by the school, you have to flaunt your body.

We are teaching the female student population that their biggest asset is how their genetics shaped them and how sex-ually they can move their limbs.

That is the wrong lesson for a Nation-ally Recognized Blue Ribbon school.

The female population has more to

offer than the amount of skin they can show and still be in dress code.

The vast majority of girls at school move on to higher education, and yet these same girls try out in a fierce compe-tition to be on the Song Team to be taught how to market their bodies.

We should not be encouraging the type of behavior that may lead to prob-lems like depression, eating disorders and men treating women like objects.

The girls on the Song Team clearly are talented dancers.

If their energy were focused on creat-ing a routine that displayed skill in danc-ing, the song team could be a productive outlet for girls who really enjoy dancing, but the routine at this rally went beyond

a display of skill and became downright dirty.

We need to have administrative ap-proval of song team routines with an eye to removing all moves that are explicitly sexual, which would have been almost of all of this rally’s routine.

Our school should recognize that we as a student body and the young women on the Song Team have more to offer than sexually-explicit dance routines.

So they are hot... then what?opinion Friday, September 25, 2009Page 6 • The Mirada

To view footage of the Varsity Song Team Aloha Rally performance, visit the Mirada’s YouTube account, RioMirada.

Without question, the month of September brings about rou-

tine. Kids settle into the daily grind of school, students become familiar with their new teachers, and the first day jitters are finally over. Along with the clockwork cooler weather and the break out of the fall ward-robe, one epic sporting and social event arrives routinely in September. It is again time for two local Catholic high schools to face off head to head in the ultimate football battle- yes, the Holy Bowl is here.

Students, parents, friends, fans, and alumni of Christian Brothers, Jesuit, and other neighborhood schools alike gather each year at Hughs Stadium to witness the area’s most revered rivalry and finest foot-ball showdown. The rivalry appears to grow each year, with last year’s total attendance exceeding over 12,000 people, and expecting more this year.

I understand the animosity between the two schools, the rivalry that is rooted so deep that most claim that it’s in their blood. I under-stand the camaraderie established at both Jesuit and Christian brothers between the students, athletes, and staff. And I understand the alumni’s support of their alma mater and their one day a year to relive their high school memories. But what I don’t understand is the support Rio students have for either Jesuit or Christian Brothers.

Every year at Holy Bowl, without I doubt I see my classmates at the game reppin’ a homemade “Go Jesuit” shirt or a “Brothers” sweat-shirt. I’ve seen Rio students join Jesuit’s Galley Crew and chime in on their chants. Some I’ve seen go as far as shouting profanities about the opposing school.

Why do Rio students have so much spirit for a school that isn’t even ours? Can we not go to Holy Bowl to simply to enjoy the game, a night with friends and high school tradition as spectators?

Personally, I think we have a case of a forgotten identity or even multi personality syndrome on our hands. We cannot disregard that we are the Rio Raiders, not the Jesuit Marauders or the Christian Brothers Falcons.

So tomorrow night at the game, sit back, relax, enjoy the game with your friends, and leave the rivalry to the students at those schools. But raiders don’t forget those chants against Jesuit, they will come in handy in December.

Fans are religious about Holy Bowl

SARAH VAIRA

By JOHN BUTTERFIELDGuest Writer

“’The End’ is saying goodbye...,” I shockingly read on EndOnline.com. 107.9 “The End” was going off the air!

Or was it? I had been hearing rumors about my

favorite radio station all day long and de-cided to check their web site.

I couldn’t believe the sentence I was reading.

If the announcement were true, that would mean no more consistent main-stream music, no more of The Wake Up Call in the morning, no more New Year’s countdowns, Jingle Balls or contests.

I was devastated. I remember listening to the 107.9 ever

since elementary school, and it would be depressing to lose it forever.

Sure, “The End” basically plays the same top 20 songs on iTunes over and over again, but I can always count on lis-tening to an upbeat song in the car or at home after a dreary day of school.

I naively believed that 107.9 was telling the truth. I did remember that they tricked Sacramento by announcing that there was not going to be a Jingle Ball, and instead there were two. How-ever, I did not think that they would lie about going off the air.

Nonetheless, I was wrong.The radio station DID deceive all of

Sacramento. 107.9 later updated their web site headline with two more words that set the record straight: “’The End’ is saying goodbye... to commercials!”

This disappointed me even more than before.

107.9 was not going anywhere; they merely wanted to publicize their new Commercial-Free Tuesdays.

A hoax to increase ratings? Complete-ly unnecessary!

If 107.9 “The End” really is “Sacramen-to’s #1 Hit Music Station,” they should not have to pull a stunt to advertise.

They have clearly lost my undying support as a fan by lying to make the local news report. Instead of causing

confusion throughout Sacramento, the station should have simply spread the word about their new Commercial-Free Tuesdays.

The radio station did not truly deserve all the publicity they received through-out those few days. The new listeners and haters that tuned in to 107.9 were interested in discovering a fresh piece of information, not the latest Miley Cyrus single.

So yes, in retrospect, 107.9 likely did receive more curious listeners over the course of those few days, but I believe it only hurt them.

I have lost all respect for “The End” as a leading, local radio station, and I’m sure others have as well. I do not enjoy listening as often anymore.

107.9 essentially cheated to improve their ratings, when they should have earned Sacramento’s attention by publi-cizing Commercial-Free Tuesdays.

“The End’s” practical joke has ulti-mately undermined its reputation; who knows what they will lie about next?

An end to ‘The End?’ Nope, just kidding!By DAYNA ISAACS

Mirada Staff

Comments? Share yourthoughts: www.riomirada.com

Getting a locker at Rio can be a harrowing experience.

If you somehow avoided choosing a locker in freshman or sophomore hall, here is an idea of what you escaped.

At first glance it is already apparent that some lockers are vandalized. There are a couple bulging unnaturally, while oth-ers are missing doors entirely.

The most wide spread prob-lem appears to be absent or damaged lock catches.

The ones that look to be in good condition have to be checked over to make sure they slide smoothly. If they aren’t stuck perpetually shut, you may be in luck, but don’t get your hopes up just yet. First you must make sure the door swings.

Check. But will the lock catch secure

it shut? Check. And more importantly, is this

puddle of sticky liquid really two year old syrup? Yuck! Bet-ter move on to the next locker.

The further you progress

down the hall, bouncing from wall to wall looking for the per-fect locker, the more you find that most aren’t even functional.

Finally you discover a good one with only some scratches and spray paint on the inside. It doesn’t seem like there could possibly be enough lockers for everyone, especially with so many ‘out of commission.’

Not so, according to Custo-dian Burt Fong.

“We have extras,” he said, “lots of spares.”

Many students don’t use their school locker at all their first two years at Rio, prefer-ring to carry their load of books around with them instead of having to deal with the hassle of lockers at all.

“Rio is one of the last high schools with lockers.” Fong said, “The only one in the dis-trict,” to have outdoor lockers at all, and he guesses the main reason is the potential for an il-legal substance problem, as well as the current budget issues.

24 percent of lockers in soph-omore hall are unusable. Fresh-men hall is not far behind with 17 percent, however both junior

and senior hall are in very good repair. They have only 13 dys-functional lockers combined.

“Its like loosing teeth,” Fong said. There are not sufficient funds to replace lockers that have been pried out of shape.

However, custodians can do a lot to repair broken lockers, like taking parts from useless lockers.

They can tighten screws, unjam doors, lubricate the lock mechanism, and repaint the in-terior. Usually lockers can be fixed, but there is always the op-tion of getting assigned a differ-ent locker.

The previous principal, Rob Hollingsworth, was a big moti-vator for upkeep of the lockers in senior hall.

The custodians were asked to use special cleansing pads, only Windex, and no chemicals. These lockers received special treatment because they are the ‘youngest’ at only about six years old.

All-in-all, the custodians “don’t really do that much re-pair,” Fong said. They just don’t receive that many requests for them to fix lockers.

And the work that remains is just “minor and on-going.”

Slamming locker doors is a part of high school life and a part of Rio, and although it contributes to the distress of the lockers, it is at times under-standable. Your personal locker is your small home on campus, where you can decorate it with pictures, notes, magnets, and anything else you want.

If you’re lucky it will be adorned with streamers and a sign wishing you well on your

birthday.Even if you don’t use it for

any of that, it’s a place to hang out and talk with your friends while lightening your load.

However, if vandalism con-tinues, there may be a day when there are no more lockers to go around.

Even senior hall will even-tually fall to the disrepair that sophomore hall has suffered.

I, for one, hope I never see that day.

OpinionFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 7 • The Mirada

Lockers present a combination of problemsBy TANDENA NELSON

Mirada Staff

FreshmenSophomoresJuniorsSeniors Total

Number ofStudents ‘08-’09

423

430

362

393

1608

PercentUnusable

17%

24%

2%

1%

12%

Number ofLockers

400

420

428

294

1542

Number ofUnusable Lockers

69

101

10

3

183

Locker statistics for the 2009-2010 school year

TANDENA NELSON/Mirada Staff

By BRENDAN CABEMirada Staff

Your cell phone is slowly killing you, and it has nothing to do with radiation or electro-cution.

Yes, sadly the device which many teenagers hold closer than the people they call on it, is a major stress factor.

Of course, the stress caused by cell phones won’t harm you directly, but stress over time can have harmful effects. It’s no myth that stress can lead to sleep deprivation, sickness, headaches, anxiety, etc.

Cell phones are a major cause of anxiety largely because of our reliance upon them.

It’s not just phone calls or tex-ting anymore, now people are sending and receiving emails, checking their Facebook, their Myspace; they’re twittering, looking up music, listening to music, sending “pix” and “flix”, and the list goes on.

The iPhone is only making things worse with its seemingly infinite applications.

So when we start using our cell phones for everything we do, they start to control us.

When we lose them, break them, or add some other com-plication into the mix our lives slip into chaos. How will we text back that hot date?

What about calling Jimmy to find out what the English as-signment was? Or what if we can’t update our Facebook sta-tus when we are out painting the town and aliens attack?

Here lies the problem, we store most of our lives on one piece of technology, and when it fails, so do we.

Many people don’t realize how much stress one cell phone can cause, but think about how many times a day you use your phone.

If you really pay attention to it, you might find it surpris-ing how much time you spend texting, calling, or updating. All those times when you felt the need to wait around for a reply, you were stressed just thinking about it.

The interesting thing is what

happens when you lose or break a phone, and don’t get it re-placed for a week or so.

The first few days you might worry about what you’re miss-ing, but then something strange happens: you begin to relax.

Like a curse being lifted, ex-tended separation from a cell phone leads you to pay more attention to the world around you.

Maybe you will spend more time with friends or family in person, instead of just calling or texting them.

You find that being out of contact with people electroni-cally actually strengthens your bond with them personally.

Admittedly, this isn’t a formal experiment on stress caused by phones, but it brings up a valid point, and many studies have been done.

Not everyone even uses a cell phone of course, but the point here is; think about a trial separation… From your phone of course. It might be just what you need.

Cell phones cause stress:harmful effects build over time

ALEX MCFALL/Mirada Staff

Seniors Israel Tamiru and Michael Venturino check their phones during lunch. Since the change in the cell phone policy, the num-ber of students texting at school has increased exponentially from its already high levels.

Blink-182 stages superb show at Sleep Train

After performing on Dec. 16, 2004 in Dublin, Ireland, Blink-182 stated that this would be their last live performance. Therefore, when the band announced at the 51st Grammy Awards that they were reuniting, viewers everywhere knew that their Summer Tour 2009 would definitely be worth attending.

Being a devoted fan, I woke up early the day that tickets went on sale, so I could purchase the best possible seats to this historical concert.

Finally, after months of anticipation, the long-awaited day had come. Driving to the Sleep Train Amphitheatre, wearing my favorite Blink-182 t-shirt, I could hardly believe that I was going to see them, and hear all my favorite songs played live, rather than on my iPod.

When I first arrived at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre, a crowd of what must have been over 15,000 fans snaked around the entire venue, all waiting patiently to get inside.

Compared to the last concert I attended, I definitely noticed a significant difference when it came to the fans.

There were far more guys at this concert, as well as older fans adorned with multiple piercings, tattoos and colored hair.The inside of the venue seemed to resemble a fairground, with various vendors selling everything from mixed drinks and Jamba Juice to band merchandise.

Among the Blink-182 merchandise offered, limited edition t-shirts and miniature Blink-182 bunny figurines were offered.

According to Hoppus’ blog page, only 182 shirts per tour stop were made, and I was lucky enough to get one to add to my concert t-shirt collection. The shirts, which contain black and white photographs taken by photographers Jered Martin and Lisa Johnson, will not be reproduced to ensure their limited availability, and the films to the photographs have been destroyed.

In addition, only 250 of the bunny figurines, designed by

artist Acorn, were produced.The first opening band to

take the stage was Chester French, a somewhat new two-man band. During Chester French’s performance, the stage was whimsically decorated with inflatable palm trees and monkeys, which colorfully decorated the stage in a way that the other opening acts weren’t creative enough to think of.

Although the moshers in the mosh pit weren’t entirely flailing around during their performance, the band still nonetheless managed to give the concert a strong start, pumping up the audience for the headlining act.

Taking Back Sunday, the second opening act, was by far the worst part of the entire concert.

Lead singer Adam Lazzara sounded as if he were drunk, and was so disoriented that he made the mistake of addressing the audience as San Francisco rather than Sacramento, later saying that it didn’t make that much of a difference.

With my ears plugged, Taking Back Sunday sounded remarkably better. Yet, it was impossible

to understand the screaming lyrics, especially over the blare from a much-too-loud bass guitar. If only some of the time allotted for Taking Back Sunday was given to Chester French during the opening, the concert would have been more enjoyable.

The final opening act, Weezer, played some of their greatest hits such as “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills” as

I impatiently waited for Blink-182’s appearance on stage. Weezer’s interesting choice of orange jumpsuits for

concert apparel s e e m e d

r a t h e r odd, but it didn’t take away from their

performance, which was well-received by the audience.

The moment I spotted Mark behind the black curtain intended to block the view of the audience as the stage was set up, I began to scream uncontrollably, along with the other crazed fans around me. The moment we had all been waiting for had finally arrived.

As soon as Delonge, Hoppus and Barker emerged onto the stage, my complaints about the opening acts seemed to vanish into the intense energy of an excited crowd, happy to see Blink-182 performing together for the first time since 2004.

Sacramento, the 36th city visited on the tour of 50 North American cities, was a particularly special stop for Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker.

Blink-182 dedicated “Stay Together For the Kids”. to one of their dear friends, 29-year-old Chris Baker, who died in the plane crash which critically injured Barker last September. Baker was a Sacramento native, and Hoppus announced that his family was in the crowd during the show.

The relatively small stage didn’t give Mark and Tom that much room to move around while playing. Generally, Delonge remained on the right side of the stage, near his mic, while Hoppus actively played his bass near the front of the stage, walking around as fans in the mosh pit tried to crowd surf their way towards him. Among over 19 songs performed by Blink-182 were old favorites such as “Carousal”, “What’s

My Age Again?” and “The Rock Show”.

Hoppus and Delonge interacted with the audience throughout the entire concert, talking during their songs, and sharing information such as their horoscopes. Also, in-between songs, the two would banter back and forth with each other to keep the show moving along, while still being funny and entertaining. There never seemed to be a dull moment of waiting around for the next song to be played.

After playing “Anthem, Pt. 2”, the crowd chanted for Blink-182 to do an encore, and Travis emerged onto the stage and sat down at his drums, which were lifted into the air, and spun around as he continued to play an amazing drum solo. The show seemed to go by so quickly, and I was sad to see them leave the stage. They don’t need the glitz and glamor of dramatic entrances, or a super elaborate set. All Blink-182 needs to make an unforgettable concert is the music, and of course, their fabulous selves.

FeaturesPage 8 • The Mirada Friday, September 25, 2009

By MOLLY INGRAMEditor-in-Chief

Top left: Guitarist Tom Delonge sings the chorus of “Stay Together for the Kids”. Top right: Bass player Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker entice the crowd with their impressive display of a skillful performance. Bottom left: Hoppus thanks the crowd for coming to the concert during their final song, “Anthem, Pt. 2”.

Photos by Molly Ingram

To view footage

from the concert,

visit the Mirada’s

YouTube channel,

RioMirada.

Upcoming Events

Reunion tour reignites fans’enthusiasm

Tarantino packs a punch with latest Nazi hunter filmBy JESSE BARTELS

Mirada Staff

As I sat down in the theater to watch critical darling and film-making auteur Quentin Tarantino’s sixth film, “Inglouri-ous Basterds”, I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

I did not enjoy “Death Proof”, his previous film, and knew little of what “Basterds” was about.

I have to say, I wasn’t disap-pointed.

The film opens with a great title sequence in which the cred-its are displayed against a stark black background while Dimitri Tiomkin’s theme from”The Ala-mo “ plays in the background.

The plot is entirely fictional, and involves two stories that intersect with one another, the exploits of a small group of sol-

diers known as The Basterds that use old Native American tactics against the Nazi’s, and make a habit out of scalping their victims. A premiere of a Nazi propaganda film with all of the leaders of the Nazi party in attendance gives them ample opportunity to stage an attack. Little do they know that the proprietor of the theater has her own plans for the Nazi’s. On the whole, the film feels like watch-ing an old ‘70s movie. I could sense strong similarities to “Pulp Fiction” in the film. The selection of music, the bright colors, and the cinematography all help channel this feeling. The visual style of the film is brilliant, especially in the final sequences with its vibrant use of red.

The film is violent, although

not as violent as Tarantino’s pre-vious works. While a few crit-ics believe that the violence is exploitative, it was needed for the whole 1970’s mood that they were going for. When the vio-

lence happens, it’s sudden and shocking, but not overly bloody.

As usual when dealing with Tarantino, the dialogue is excel-lent, and the movie actually has a very palpable feeling of sus-pense, which isn’t something usually seen in the director’s work. I particularly enjoyed a scene in a tavern where four undercover agents and a Nazi major play a card game togeth-er.

They spend about 5-10 min-utes playing this game, all the while trying to keep their cover so that they can receive infor-mation from a German infor-mant. You just know that one of them is going to screw up soon-er or later, but you’re not sure if the major already knows what they’re up to or not. It’s a bril-liant scene, masterfully done.

Brad Pitt was gut-bust-ingly hilarious as Lieutenant Aldo Rayne, the leader of the Basterds.

However, Christoph Waltz, who plays Colonel Hans Landa, the charismatic but sociopathic villain of the film, deserves the true accolades. He has the nick-name “Jew Hunter”, for his uncanny ability to find hidden Jews. He is absolutely terrify-ing, but he never yells and never has anything but a smile on his face throughout the entire film. He always seems to have some ulterior motive underneath, but you can never tell exactly what, and that is what makes him scary.

If you like Tarantino, WW2 films, spaghetti westerns, or just different films, I’d highly recom-mend “Inglourious Basterds”.

Brad Pitt portrays a lieutenant in “Inglourious Basterds”.

Upcoming EventsOn Campus

Club Rush WeekSept 21-25, lunchon the quad

SAT/ACT Practice TestSaturday, Sept. 26, 8:30 A.M.-12:30 P.M.

College NightWednesday, Oct. 7, 6-8 p.m.in gyms, library, cafeteria, M1Students and parents can get information on college and the application process.

Picture RetakesWednesday, Oct. 14, lunchin the small gym

PSAT Test Saturday, Oct 17, 2009

Homecoming Spirit WeekMonday-Friday Oct. 19-23

Reader’s Theater presents “Grease”Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 20-21in the Betty Miller TheaterA reader’s theater adaption of the Broadway classic will take viewers back to the ‘50s.

Homecoming Rally Friday, Oct. 23

Homecoming Football Game Saturday, Oct. 24, Junior Varsity: 11:00A.M. Varsity: 1:00 P.M. Come watch the float com-petition at half-time and see which senior princess is crowned queen.

Homecoming DanceSaturday, Oct. 24, 8-11P.M.Don’t miss out on this year’s homecoming, “Music Legends Through the Ages.”

ALEX MCFALL/Mirada Staff

Students in Ms. Cusick’s art class practice drawing their surroundings through clear plastic. The exercise was used to improve their sense of depth and their ability to draw landscapes.

QUICK DRAW

Features Friday, September 25, 2009Page 3 • The Mirada

MiradaFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 10 • The Mirada

1.

1. Seniors Nathan Swedlow and Zach Darf confess their undying love for frisbee. The group was one of many founded this year.2. Senior Hanna Spano checks out the College Development Club’s table on day two of Rush Week. This year, students could choose from more diverse and interesting clubs than ever before.3. Members of the Rio Ski and Snowboard Club raise their signs high to lure in students. The club is one of Rio’s returning outdoor clubs.4. Micah Mador and Brian Eiselman help students sign up for the Jewish Heritage Club.

Bright posters, students yelling across the quad to one another and kids pushing each other around. This is what lunch was like during club rush week.

Many students were out signing up for all the different clubs the school has to offer. These clubs included Rio Rug-by Club, the Long Board Club, College Development Club and Interact Club.

The majority of the clubs solicited to the crowd promises of community services hours and lunchtime fun.

“Do you like really short shorts? Then rugby is the club for you,” senior Aaron Soskin yelled across the quad.

This will be the Rio Rugby Club’s ninth year as a recog-nized school club. Although rugby is not an official school sport, it is still widely acknowl-edged. The team plays in the Sacramento Valley High School Rugby Conference which in-cludes many other high schools such as Jesuit and Del Campo. The season will begin in the winter.

President of the Long Board Club, junior Kaleb Wilson rep-resented his new club during rush week.

“I started this club because I love to long board and I wanted other people to be able to enjoy it with me,” Wilson said.

As president, Wilson wants to take veteran riders to go ride down hills. Wilson would also like to take everyone on after-school rides, as well as have discussions at lunch about long boards and skateboards. He plans on making homemade long boards with the club.

Wilson encourages all who

are interested in learning how to long board to join his club, whether they own a long board or not.

Another new club on cam-pus this year is the College Development Club.

This club was started by founder and President Shea McCaslin as a way to prepare students for their academic futures.

“I started this club because I personally don’t know what college I want to go to,” junior Shea McCaslin said. “I would like to help other people figure out their decision as well as fig-ure it out for myself. I just want to help get people prepared for college.”

McCaslin plans to start a fund raiser to charter a bus to go to nearby California colleges on the weekends. For instance, she would enjoy visiting col-leges such as Cal Poly and UC Berkeley.

She also intends to help organize community service activities for the club to do together, along with study groups to prepare for tests.

For everyone out there who would like to start their own club next year, the require-ments are simple. To begin, you must attend a meeting in the student government room, C-10. There, you will receive a packet which you will fill out with information pertaining to your club. Then you just need to get signatures from the adviser, president, vice presi-dent, treasurer and secretary of your club, followed by filling out the club constitution. There is also a budget form which can be filled out, but it is strictly optional. Finally you must have some purpose to your club and then get it approved by student government.

By TATE ROUNTREEStaff Writer

3.

4.

RIO RUSHRush Week brings creativity and humor to campus

Photos by Alex McFall and Jarett Hartman

The T-Shirt ClubPresident: Eric LambingMeetings: Every Friday in D-13, Mr. Montbriand’s room.Why you should join: “It’s threadless at school; anyone can submit a design and then everyone in the club votes, and the favorite design gets proofed by a panel of artists and we choose colors,” senior Eric Lambing said. “Then we tally up orders and get shirts.”

Funny Thursday ClubPresidents: Elise Marsh and Alexis ShenMeetings: It’s an all day event on Thursdays that typically meets on Senior Lawn at lunch.Why you should join: “It’s a way to celebrate the anticipation of Friday by having themes for every Thursday, such as ‘fake tat-too day’,” senior Briana Ezray said. “Everyone should partici-pate because it spreads joy around the campus.”

Gay Straight Alliance ClubPresident: Iris ShanksMeetings: Tuesday at lunch in room A-2.Why you should join: “GSA is a club that focuses on accepting all different types of love and supporting the gay community at Rio,” sophomore Iris Shanks said.

Key ClubPresidents: Leah Chen and Eugene KwonMeetings: Tuesdays at lunch in B-3.Why you should join: You can gain community service hours, a fun environment that spans multiple district schools.

Interact ClubPresident: Elise MarshMeetings: Monday at lunch in room A-1Why should you join: “It’s a great place to meet people that are interested in the same things you are,” senior Laura Anderson said. “It’s a good way to become enthusiastic about helping others through community service while gaining opportunities to learn more about yourself.”

Science Club a.k.a. The Rio Americano Science and Engineering ClubPresident: Aneil DhillonMeetings: Approximately once a month.Why you should john: “We get students to experience/enjoy science outside of the classroom. For example, we engage in discussions, attend lectures and eat food,” senior Katelyn Peter-son said.

Rugby ClubPresident: Aaron SoskinMeetings: Practices start around December.Why you should join: “The club is not only for people to play rugby, but also for those who want to become real men,” senior Aaron Soskin said.

Mongolian Barbecue ClubPresident: Ben EganMeetings: Thursdays at Mongolian Barbecue on Howe Ave.Why you should join: “Because who doesn’t love eating all-you-can-eat food for $6,” senior Aaron Soskin said.

Young Democrat’s ClubPresident: Alison BurnsMeetings: Every other Tuesday in room A-6.Why you should join: “It is a place where young democrats can express their views and make a difference in the political arena,” senior Alison Burns said.

Lilu ClubPresidents: Janine Terra and Hannah MilsteinMeetings: Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. Contact club officials for more information.Why you should join: “Lilu is basically teens helping teens, and it is a group of people who get together and sew handbags,” Milstein said. “In April we have a fashion show, and all the proceeds from the fashion show go to the WIND center.”

Mirada Friday, September 25, 2009Page 11 • The Mirada

2.

FeaturesFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 12 • The Mirada

When you think of the Mid-dle East, you may think political tension, sand, and falafels; but one thing that is always over-looked is the rich culture.

Rarely will a musician from the Middle East have any sort of fan base in the US, that is, until now.

Sublime Frequencies, a re-cord label based in Seattle, Washington, had the idea to bring in music from around the world that encompassed differ-ent cultures and different styles of music and import it into the US under the label name.

One artist who has grown in popularity because of this is one of my favorites, Omar Souley-man.

Souleyman isn’t your average Middle Eastern pop star. For one, he’s from Syria, a country that borders the Mediterranean Sea, Iraq, Turkey, and Israel.

Souleyman’s music has many faces. At times it is fast and energetic with keyboards and drum machines, at others it is

slow and made to show off Sou-leyman’s vocal technique and often times the string player’s mastery. Overall, good times are to be had whenever his mu-sic is playing.

The story of his rise to star-dom is a strange one. Back in 1990, Souleyman was invited to sing at a friend’s wedding. After that he was invited by more and more friends until he formed a band in 1994.

Once the band formed they got an office and started to play weddings more frequently, per-forming traditional songs rath-er than their own material.

Due to an accident to his eye when he was just a child, Sou-leyman did not go to school and did manual labor until his mu-sic career began to pick up from 1994-1996.

Until 2000, Souleyman was a popular seller in music shops, but when he made his first mu-sic video, the people started to take notice. Most of his songs are meant to evoke an emotion as most of his songs are tales of love or grief.

An interesting fact about Souleyman’s work is that he is just the singer, the lyrics come from poets who he is ei-ther friends with or hires, and whoever has the best choice or words gets the job.

No matter how popular the

group gets, they all still perform at weddings. These weddings are recorded and then sold as tapes, for attendees and for fans of Souleyman.

This is the reason why Sou-leyman has a mind-blowing

library of more than 500 tapes under his belt. Sublime Fre-quencies has released two CDs that act as the greatest hits of Souleyman’s releases

After touring in Europe with other artists under the Sublime Frequencies label, Souleyman and his band have continued performing at weddings and parties and will hopefully re-lease more music for people to enjoy.

CHRISTIAN OLDHAM

ON EDGE

Souleyman is known for wear-ing his signature sunglasses.

Syrian king of pop brings diversity to American music scene

The Raider Quiz1. What exactly is the Raider Quiz?a) A collection of random funny questions designed to make your day a little more bearableb) A long-forgotten newspaper tradition revivedc) The spirit of Elvis speaking to you from beyond the graved) The greatest thing since sliced breade) Cleverly or not so cleverly disguised inside jokesf ) Bargain bin nuggets of wisdom

2. So the school year has officially started; how are you cop-ing with the work?a) I’m currently developing a system of excuses to get out of homework. If it’s an essay... my dog ate it, if it’s an art project... my dog ate it, if it’s math homework, my dog ate it... if it’s a combination of all three? A pack of dogs ate it... it’s a work in progress.b) “I don’t cope with work, work copes with me.”c) Work? I thought we were supposed to be doing home wok ... what am I going to do with all this left over Chinese food?d) The perfect fix. If I am feeling overwhelmed I just watch the Slap Chop Rap on YouTube until my worries are gone... “Slap-ping your troubles away with the Slap Chop.”

3. Rush Week ends today, what clubs have you joined?a) The Cellphone Club!!! At last, a legal way to use my cell phone at...wait a minute...b) The T-shirt Club, of course! I have to make sure I’m ready for Captain Freedom’s workout!c) None, I’ve been banned from all school clubs ever since the French Club Nutella incident of ‘07...d) We have clubs at this school? I’ve been doing so many other more interesting things I hadn’t noticed. 4. For seniors: The time to apply for college is almost upon us, what’s your approach to applying?a) I’ve already applied to every college I want to go to; none.b) Due to budget cuts I can’t go to college.c) The world needs a new class of maintenance workers.d) Lots of energy drinks.

5. For freshmen: You’ve been here for just over a month, what’s your opinion of Rio?a) It’s great! I love Rio!b) I miss Middle School! High School’s too tough!c) Meh.d) Is it possible to have senioritis already?

- Alex McFall & Scott MacDonald

Montbriand’s multitude of hats makes Fridays funAs students walk into D-13

for their chemistry class at the end of the week, they are al-ways excited to see which one he is wearing that day.

As chemisty teacher Phillip Montbriand enters his class from his back room, the stu-dents’ questions are answered and a smile emerges on all of their faces.

Every Friday, students, par-ents and staff can see Mont-briand wearing some sort of extravagant hat from his exten-sive collection.

“I just thought it would be something fun that the students would look forward to on a Fri-day,” Montbriand said.

Montbriand has been able to amass over 100 hats since his collection began five years ago. He began buying hats at a cou-ple different shops in Old Sacra-mento, such as Evangeline’s and other small stores.

A hat, Montbriand said, is the perfect gift to get him. He gets hats from his wife, counselor Jill Montbriand, friends, cur-rent and former students, Secret

Santas, and even his children make him hats. “I get hats from all over the place,” Montbriand said.

Montbriand, who admittedly said he didn’t like going to his chemistry class in high school, enjoys seeing his students “smile upon walking into their chemistry class.” His hats act as a way to keep the morale of students up and their attitudes positive during the day.

To some students, his hats also make him appear more ac-cessible.

“I like his hats because they make class more interesting and they make him seem more ap-proachable and friendly,” senior Hanna Spano said. “They make him seem like he’s just another kid, not a teacher.”

Teachers also notice the ef-fects of the hats on the attitudes of the entire school. “I think that his humor energizes staff and students alike,” French teacher Alicia Murray said.

“I’d love to see more teachers wear hats on Friday,” Montbri-and said. “[You] can’t help but put a smile on a student’s face when wearing a joker’s hat.”

The hats can sometimes devi-

ate students‘ minds from their work, but overall Montbriand is happy with the positive at-titudes of his students on his Crazy Hat Fridays.

Montbriand’s hats do not only allow pleasant memories to be made in the classroom, but also serve to remind him of past va-cations and adventures.

This summer, he went to exot-ic places such as Peru, the Gala-pagos Islands, and Lake Titicaca in South America. For each trip, he has a different hat and a fond memory.

After doing these Crazy Hat Fridays for so long, Montbriand said that it is basically expected of him. “I’ve created this mon-ster and now I can’t end it,” Montbriand said.

Crazy Hat Fridays are a great way to end the stress of the school week. Students always love to see the wide array of hats Montbriand has to offer, and Montbriand in turn loves to show them off. Luckily for future students, Montbriand plans to continue his Crazy Hat Fridays.

“I don’t think I’ll ever end it,” Montbriand said.

JARETT HARTMAN/Mirada Staff

Phillip Montbriand shows off his amazing and well-known collection of hats that he wears every Friday.

By JARETT HARTMANMirada Staff

Kyle Parker works under the stage name Infinite Body.

His new album, “CMB-CME INAPTD,” out on a Los Angeles based label, Teenage Teardrops, is like swimming underwater and stopping to look up at the light that shines down.

The first song, “Last Liv-ing Thought,” is nothing more than a 22 second field record-ing of police sirens and a faint guitar strumming in the back-ground.

This track is the only kind

on the album, all other songs feature keyboard and nothing else.

Infinite Body has a unique styling in that he’ll use his key-board, turn it up all the way in order to get the keyboard to create clipping, and then run it through delay pedals.

The result is an almost ethe-real and wondrous sound that is intense yet calm.

The second track, “And Ev-erything Stayed the Same,” is a great example of this intense yet calm sound.

It starts with the keyboards but a quiet static soon starts to creep in and eventually over-take the keys.

That too fades and leads to the sound of wind chimes and a low hum and eventually transitions into silence.

“Their Hearts in Flood,” the third track, starts with a chorus of tone floats that radi-ate all over your ears.

One of the most interest-ing tracks on this album is, “Gardens Grow Backwards,” which is a track, as the title

suggests, that is played in re-verse. It makes you feel as though you’re falling up or swimming underwater at an extremely fast pace.

The final song, titled, “CMBCME,” is by far the best. It is a 14 minute epic that starts out as a simple hum and continually builds and builds into a wondrous and expan-sive piece that slowly starts to break down towards the end and give the album the great close it deserves.

-Christian Oldham

Infinite Body“CMBCME INAPTD”

Features Friday, September 25, 2009Page 13 • The Mirada

Raekwon“Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. 2”

Recently in the music in-dustry, country has been infil-trated by a series of pop/rock country artists.

But no need to worry coun-try music lovers, fresh-faced Justin Moore is bringing coun-try back.

From the catchy country twang, to the down home lyr-ics, Justin Moore’s self titled debut album is a breath of fresh air for country lovers.

Moore combines his rich pure voice with simple, reflec-tive lyrics to create songs that bring us back to the good ol’

days of country.Not only is his music au-

thentic, but it is also original. Moore co-wrote nine of

the album’s ten songs, which shows his talent as a singer and as an artist.

The albums opens with the upbeat song, “How I Got to Be This Way,” which describes the bumps and mistakes that are universally made as a young kid.

The next track goes to his chart-topping single “Small Town U.S.A..,” which paints a picture of a simple life.

This album has a perfect balance between fast, slow, and meaningful songs, com-plete with humorous lyrics that will guarantee to crack a small on your face.

Although Moore’s audience are those with similar small town backgrounds, fans from the city can appreciate a differ-ent kind of lifestyle described in his music as well as his mu-sical talents.

The lyrics fit the antique guitar and vocals, yet Moore combines the rock culture that attracts audiences young and

old.With this album, Moore set

high standards for himself and other aspiring country singers.

Audiences are looking for-ward to what he comes out with next.

Justin Moore is the real deal. Not only is he an up and coming star, but also a relief to country music.

There is no faking with this album, no pop, no rock, just pure country.

-Sarah VairaJustin Moore“Justin Moore”

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Jay-Z’s upcom-ing album, “The Blueprint 3,” and Eminem’s new comeback album, “Relapse”. However, amid all of this hip-hop buzz, I found myself far more interest-ed in another comeback album.

Raekwon the Chef is a mem-ber of the seminal hip-hop group The Wu Tang Clan, and in 1995 he released his first solo album, “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx”, which is often consid-ered one of the best Wu-Tang solo albums ever made. Now, 14 years later, he has released

a sequel to that album, “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II”.

The album opens with a spoken introduction, like the first album. Papa Wu speaks to Raekwon, discussing his return and the deception of fans and friends. This is beautifully set to a sample from Barry White’s “Mellow Mood, Part I”.

It’s an interesting and re-laxed start to the album, but this is only a trick, as the first track, “House of Flying Dag-gers”, comes bursting through your speakers with a sympho-ny of horns and a loud beat. It’s

a great beginning song.My favorite tracks on the

album mostly come from (the late) hip-hop beatmaker J Dilla.

His signature sampling style of sparse piano and old soul records is still fresh, even after his death.

I do have some complaints. For one thing, the album is far too long. With over 22 tracks for 70 minutes of music, it’s im-possible not to have filler, and there is a lot of it, primarily in the middle of the album.

Some of the songs are sim-ply just unmemorable, and

Raekwon’s flow and rhyme scheme isn’t as fast and sharp as it was on the first record.

Overall, the album is not as good as Raekwon’s first “chap-ter”, and it is nothing com-pared to GZA’s Liquid Swords, probably the best Wu-Tang solo album.

With catchy and fresh beats from today’s finest hip-hop producers, this album is raised from “average” to “pretty good”. If you have to buy one rap album this year, you could do worse than go for this one.

-Jessie Bartels

Album Reviews

FeaturesFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 14 • The Mirada

The Mirada’s Molly Ingram had the opportunity to talk with Justin Burkhardt, who landed a job as Chester French’s Concierge VIP worker after graduating from college last winter. Here’s what he had to say about his experience on tour with Chester French:

As Chester French’s concierge on tour, what are you in charge of doing? Well, Chester French has a VIP concierge e-mail service that if you sign up for via the website, you become a VIP. What this means that you are notified when we have appear-ances around your town and also when we have important Chester French news. I help as the person who arranges meet and greets with fans when we come to your town and also if we are having a special party or in-store appear-ance, I would help with that as well. I also have some tasks I do during and before the concert.

How did you meet D.A. and Max? I was actually a member of the concierge service and started to e-mail back and forth with D.A. a little over a year ago. When they would come to the Philadelphia area where I am from, I would connect with the guys; I even once helped do the merchandise at one of their shows. I graduated (from) college in December with a degree in Communications and Public Relations, and received a text one day from D.A. asking me if I wanted to help out on the Blink tour doing the concierge work. And I said yes, of course!

What was your favorite part of the tour? My favorite part of the tour was traveling with an awe-some bunch of guys. Chester French is an awesome, smart band. Just working for them was an awesome opportunity, and going to places I never thought I’d visit (Salt Lake City, Boise, Idaho, California) was an awesome experience. Plus, I got to meet a bunch of people on tour both actually tour-ing with us, and people just attending the concerts. I love meeting new people and it was just a great time.

What was it like being on tour with Blink-182? Did you get to meet Mark, Tom and Travis?I got to meet all the guys (of Blink-182)- Weezer and Taking Back Sunday also included. (I) got more time with some than others, but they were all super nice and welcoming. When you travel with that many people on such a big tour, you may think there would be some sort of problems, but everybody from catering to production to stagehands were super nice and welcoming.

Since Chester French is done touring with Blink-182, what will you be doing in the future? Well, even though Chester French just finished up with Blink-182, I hope there will be more touring in my future for Chester French. (I) would love to continue the concierge role on the next tour if possible, especially if it is a smaller scale tour than compared to Blink-182’s; I think we could continue to reach many more people with the concierge service and keep the band totally accessible to all (of ) its supporters.

Get familiar with Chester French

MOLLY INGRAM/Mirada StaffD.A. Wallach and Max Drummey, together known as Chester French, perform an acoustic set at Dimple Re-cords. After peforming songs, Wallach and Drummey signed autographs and took pictures with their fans.

On the morning of the Blink-182 concert I had been looking forward to attend since I was aware of its existence, I decided to check one of my vari-ous e-mail accounts and happened upon an e-mail from the Chester French VIP concierge, their online fan club, stating that the band would be at Dimple Records that afternoon.

Being a big fan of Max Drummey and D.A. Wal-lach’s work, I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportu-nity to see them in person, even if it meant I would be missing the first football game of the season.

And I definitely don’t regret my decision.When I arrived at the Dimple Records store on

Arden Way and made my way towards the entrance of the store, almost like magic, Chester French came from around the corner of the building. Before I even got to listen to them play, I had already got to meet them. I shook hands with Wallach and Drum-mey as they politely introduced themselves to me, as if I didn’t already know who they were.

When they got inside, they just walked around the store, browsing the CD racks while fans quickly took candid snapshots of them with their iPhones and cameras.

Much to my surprise, there wasn’t a very large turn-out. However, it was almost better that way, because I had the perfect spot to watch the acoustic set, right in the front row.

Held in a corner in the front of the store, Wallach and Drummey played songs by request from the audience, including their new hit single, “C’mon (On My Own)”.

“Our senior year, when we started getting atten-tion from record labels and stuff, they flew us out to LA in the middle of exams and we met for the first time of lot of these kind of sleazy, Hollywood types... agents and managers, and this song is about that experience and what we felt,” Wallach said.

The small crowd gave the acoustic set a cozy, intimate feeling, which was further enhanced by Drummey and Wallach’s down-to-earth, friendly personalities.

After listening to Chester French’s debut CD, “Love the Future”, as well as a live performance, I must say that I like the sound of their live per-formance better, simply because of the clarity and pureness of the sound. While some bands may need the assistance of special effects and synthesizers to enhance the sound of their voices, this is clearly not the case with Chester French.

Each and every one of the songs they played at both Dimple Records and the Blink-182 concert sounded amazing, and their lively, upbeat perfor-mance made it all the better.

From what I could see at the record store, Chester French truly cares about their fans, considering the fact that they were willing to do a free acoustic set for those who were unable to attend the Blink-182 concert for whatever reason.

Not only did they take time out of their busy schedule for an in-store acoustic set, but they even stayed afterward to meet each fan who came to see them play. They even were kind enough to autograph CDs, posters and vinyl albums, and take pictures with those who asked.

Also, Chester French’s VIP Concierge worker and friend Justin Burkhardt was there to sign fans up for the e-mail list if they weren’t already on it, and kindly passed out free stickers.

If Chester French ever happens to visit Sac-ramento again, I can only hope that I’ll be lucky enough to watch them perform.

By MOLLY INGRAMEditor-in- Chief

To view footage

of Chester French,

visit the Mirada’s

YouTube channel,

RioMirada.

Justin Burkhardt spends time in front of the tour buses with Blink-182 drum-mer, Travis Barker.

Meeting the duo and hearing acoustic set at Dimple Records made this fan’s day

E-mails led to tour job withBlink-182’s opening band

Keep in tune with the music scene at the Mirada online at riomirada.com

Features Friday, September 25, 2009Page 15 • The Mirada

Musician receives full-ride college scholarship As college application due

dates quickly approach the se-nior class, fall generally tends to be a stressful time for students and teachers. However, one se-nior is stress-free.

Senior guitar and saxophone musician Zach Giberson has no concerns when it comes to col-lege, because he’s already been accepted into his dream school.

“I first heard about (Berklee) through my guitar instructor Tyson Graf, a Berklee College of Music alum,” Giberson said.

By making a simple choice to do an audition during the summer, Giberson impressed the board members of the Berk-lee College of Music in Boston, earning a full-ride scholarship to their five week Summer Per-formance Camp. But that was only the beginning of Giberson’s success.

Not only did he win a spot in the camp, but also in Berklee’s class of 2014.

“Berklee was always on my list of schools to which I should apply, but oddly enough, they invited me to attend both their Summer Performance Program this past summer as well as their undergraduate program before I even applied,” Giberson said.

This past April, Giberson went to Monterey with the AM jazz band to compete in the prestigious Next Generation Jazz Festival. It was there that he auditioned for Berklee’s Sum-mer Jazz Workshop. Giberson was notified later on that he had been accepted into the camp,

thus being able to attend the Summer Performance Program for free.

“During those five weeks, I was able to see all the amazing facilities, faculty, and student body Berklee had to offer,” Gib-erson said.

Although Giberson was somewhat nervous about be-ing so far away from home, he quickly adjusted to the east coast lifestyle, and fit in with the rest of the students. In fact, Gib-erson made new friends during

his stay in Boston, and is look-ing forward to spending the up-coming school year with them.

“I’m most excited to return to the school next year because of the student body,” Giberson said. “I’ll have the incredible opportunity to work with musi-cians from all over the world, all with a common goal and reason for attending the college of mu-sic.”

At the end of the camp, Gib-erson and the other musicians participated in the five week Blowout Concert, where they got to perform what they had been working on during the camp.

Several hours before the con-cert started, Giberson received a notification which stated that he was to arrive backstage before the start of the concert. During

the Five Week Blowout Concert, highly talented musicians from the camp were presented with various scholarship awards.

Finally, the Berklee College of Music full-scholarship re-cipients were announced, and Giberson was among nine lucky students.

“While waiting back stage, I was able to figure out that I had won the full-ride,” Giberson said.”After the concert, I walked outside into the exiting crowd, and I saw the look of pure dis-

belief on my parents’ face.”Feeling excited and “more re-

lieved than anything”, Giberson was “extremely happy” that he had been accepted into such a prestigious music school, which will help him achieve his future goals.

With a dual major in perfor-mance and jazz composition, Giberson plans to obtain a Mas-ter’s degree, followed by a Ph.D.

“After that, I hope to teach music as a college professor while continuing to perform and write as much as possible,” Giberson said.

Because Giberson has al-ready been accepted into col-lege, he doesn’t have to deal with the inconvenience of col-lege applications, the hassle of finding teachers to write recom-mendation letters or the fear of

not knowing where he’ll end up next fall.

“It’s slowly starting to sink in, and I think I’ll fully realize my good fortune when November

comes around,” Giberson said. “In any case, it’s an amazing feeling to just know where I’m going, and that everything for the most part has worked out.”

By MOLLY INGRAMEditor-in- Chief

Jarett Hartman/Mirada Staff

Senior Zach Giberson plays the soprano saxophone during his first period Honors Concert Band. Besides the saxophone Giberson is also a master of many different instruments, such as the guitar.

”

In any case, it’s an amazing feeling to just know where I’m going, and that everything for the most part has worked out.

“ — Zach Giberson

Reader’s Theatre greases things up with new show

All things retro are back in style thanks to Reader’s The-atre and their upcoming perfor-mance of the fabulous ‘50s clas-sic, “Grease” .

“It’s a fun show that high schoolers can relate to,” Read-er’s Theatre teacher Jesse Miller said.

“I think they can identify,” she said. “It’s about high school kids, even though it’s in a differ-ent time period. I think its fun for them to see kids play teen-agers sometimes.”

Miller expressed that she doesn’t plan on diverting from the original script which isn’t based on the movie but, more so on the Broadway performance.

When it comes to costuming, Miller’s got it all under control.

The cast plans to wear ‘50s style black clothing, along with an accent color.

“It’s the usual Reader’s The-atre dress but with a twist,” Miller said.

You are sure to see all the classic characters, from the T-Birds to the Pink Ladies.

There will be 15 cast mem-bers, five of which are Reader’s Theater veterans. Seniors Han-na Spano, Jorden Litchfield, Brendan Cabe, and juniors Kelly Rodgers and Tanner Bond will return to the stage this year.

“I’m very excited to be a vet-eran this year,” Litchfield said.

“I’ve always dreamed about being in “Grease” ever since I was six,” said Litchfield. “Back then I wanted to play Rizzo, but my mom didn’t approve of that. Now she wants me to play Riz-zo but, now I want to be Jan.”

Rumor has it that the char-acters, aside from Cha Cha Di-Gregorio, might have New York accents; making the characters slightly tougher.

“As with any accent, if we’re not unified in our performance, than we might just drop it,” Miller said.

With Miller’s and Litchfield’s assurance of a great perfor-mance, audiences can sit back and enjoy.

“There will definitely be a lot of laughs,” said Litchfield. “That’s all I can hope for since I love to make people laugh; its my dream.”

Whether you arrive Oct. 20 or 21, with a craving to see the T-Birds, Pink Ladies, this is as-sured to be a show that both teenagers and their parents alike will love.

By LINDSAY DEHMMirada Staff

Bigger isn’t better with iPodsBy SARAH VAIRA

Mirada Staff

Apple raises the bar again.Yes its true, the new Nano iPod is in stores, and its better than ever.

The biggest improvement to the Nano fifth generation is the addition of the video camera. Slim and perfectly pocket sized, the new Nano has been designed not only for your portable music needs but also for impromptu videos.

The camera is complete with a built in microphone allow-ing the camera to capture both audio and video.

In addition to the video cam-era, apple made other adjust-ments like adding an FM radio tuner directly into the head-phones and has a larger screen of 2.2 inches with a higher

resolution.This iPod appeals not only

to the music minded, but also the health nuts. The Nano fifth generation also includes a pe-dometer complete with Nike+ technology. It counts steps as you take them thanks to the built in accelerometer.

All these new additions are tied together with the trade-mark slim, sleek, and colorful look of the Nano and is now available for $139-$149.

The new iPod Nano with a built-in camera

Car of the Issue

Tanner Bond & Chris Grellas, 112004-2005 Ford Mus-tangWhat’s your favorite part about your car?TB: It’s the “Chick Magnet Edition.”CG: I love the 40th year anniversary logo.

Where did you get the car?TB: My dad gave it to me.CG: My cousin hooked me up with a sweet deal at Brasher’s Auto Auction.

How did you feel when you found out you would be driving almost the same exact car as your friend?TB: It was cool… I guess.CG: I was so stoked that I couldn’t wait to park next to him

on the first day of school.What’s the craziest adventure you’ve had so far in your car?TB: I robbed a bank and ran from the police all the way to Tijuana where I laid low for a while.CG: Right after I bought it, I was driving it home when all of a sudden I saw at least 10 people I knew drive right past me one after another.

FeaturesFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 16 • The Mirada

Shadeh Amirsheybani, 11

What’s your perfect date?A romantic dinner at a ka-raoke bar.Describe the perfect guy.My perfect guy has a great sense of humor and a great smile.How could a guy impress you?Playing Guitar Hero on hy-per speed.What’s your biggest turn off?When guys act really shy.Your favorite pickup line?Do you have a library card? Because I’m checking you out!

-Rohith Sachdeva

Kamran Siddiqui, 11

What’s your biggest turn off?A girl taller than me.Where would you take a date to?I would take her out for a nice dinner at a restaurant.Blond or Brunette?Either.What is your best feature?I think my intelligence is my best feature.How could a girl impress you?Prove O.J. ... guilty!What’s your best pickup line?Are you Pikachu? Because you’re SHOCKingly beauti-ful!

-Rohith Sachdeva

Bachelor and Bachelorette

ALEX MCFALL/Mirada Staff

Juniors Tanner Bond and Chris Grellas show off their almost identical cars. The two are great friends and are excited to share the same type of car.

Did you know...

-Jessica Dyatlov

Yo, Mirada I’ma let you finish but the New York Times is the best newspaper of all time...All time!

Senior Alexander Kou-mis produces his own music for his band “Slamtime.”

Senior Victoria Beyer is double-jointed in all of her fingers.

Sophomore Kevin Akerland has conver-sations with his friends while he sleeps.

Illustration by EUGENE KWON/Mirada Staff

Know someone interesting? E-mail themirada2010@gmail.com today!

SportsPage 17 • The Mirada Friday, September 25, 2009

Raider game gets rowdy

On Sept. 12, at the JV Raiders’ home football game, a fight broke out in the last 4 seconds, result-ing in a 40 yd penalty against Natomas, putting the Raiders in a position to tie the game.

“The game was pretty much over when the fight started,” sophomore Hunter Akins said. “We were down 19-27 when our quarterback, freshman Josh Mon-tes, was late-hit by a Natomas player in the knee.”

Things started spiraling out of control after this provoking hit after the whistle was blown; wide receiver Jack Maldonado saw the hit and was upset with it and said something to the offending player.

“I had to protect my quar-terback from that dirty hit,” sophomore Jack Maldonado said. “I had to stand up for him when I saw that he was injured.”

The Natomas player proceed-ed to shove Maldonado. Maldo-nado shoved him back, but was immediately swarmed by about five Natomas players who began to punch and shove him.

“I tried to break up the fight,” Akins said, “but I was attacked by two players. One grabbed my face mask while multiple others hit me. I started retaliat-ing, and I got about 8 shots in on the player holding my face mask in an attempt to get him off me when one of the opposing assistant coaches socked me in the stomach. After that someone, I don’t remember who, got the players off me and the fight was broken up.”

Other JV players saw Luke Sheridan, an offensive lineman, getting punched in the stomach as well.

“I saw a Natomas coach hit-ting some of my players and then I went after everyone,” sopho-more Zac Burns said.

Burns was punished for his defensive behavior. He and Maldonado are suspended from the next football game against Pioneer.

“I just saw Zac Burns helping his teammates by breaking up the brawl. Coach Fuentes ran out onto the field to break it up and the other coach came out and pushed Coach Fuentes,” sopho-more Dylan Block said.

Quarterback Montes is also out for the next game as well as Burns and Maldonado due to a knee injury from the late-hit. He was on crutches for four days.

By SUZANNA AKINSMirada Staff

With Rio Americano Ath-letic Boosters (RAAB) mem-bership declining, athletic program cutbacks were im-minent. The most immediate impact is the absence of an athletic trainer this year.

“Not having a trainer has been a huge impact,” Athletic Director Karen Hanks said. “It’s a necessity. It benefits students in that their recovery is quicker with a trainer on board because they are hands-on everyday and can help with that process.”

RAAB paid more than $16,000 toward the athletic trainer’s stipend in the 2008-2009 school year. However, according to RAAB President Tony Asaro, all of the fund raisers last year were 20 to 25

percent off profit and member-ship was down 20 percent.

“We had to cut our budget to the bare minimum based on the deficit we had last year,” he said. “We reduced the amount of money for coaches salaries, trainer, and assistant to the ath-letic director several thousand dollars. So hard decisions had to be made in services.”

As the impact of these bud-get cuts sets in, teams, parents, and RAAB alike are all push-ing to raise money to pay for an athletic trainer. RAAB is-sued an all-call asking families for any donations, and teams themselves are pitching in.

“Us as a team here are go-ing to collect money and try to raise $1,000 for the trainer for cross country and track,” Coach Gordon Hubble said.

RAAB will continue to raise money throughout the year

with key fund raisers such as membership, fireworks sales and the fall Dinner/Dance, which takes place on Nov. 7 and is a “huge profit-maker for all Rio sports” according to Asaro. In order to raise enough money, RAAB mem-bership needs 50 percent par-ticipation by all teams’ families to cover coaching stipends for freshmen, JV and varsity levels. From fall sports this year, Hanks said that 25 to 30 percent of athletes’ parents are members.

“At other schools, like Del Oro High, every parent of ev-ery athlete donates, except for 1 or 2 percent that are strug-gling and can’t afford it. It’s a kind of culture; it’s just what they do,” Hanks said. “We want to get it back to that. It’s all about changing the mind-set.”

Boosters in need of a boost

Leg WorkNot only does senior Gavin Moler have

to deal with the pressure that comes with his last year in high school, but he also has be-come the newest kicker for the varsity foot-ball team.

Since the previous kicker, Adric Jope, graduated last year, the varsity football team was left without a replacement. Moler, dur-ing tryouts, proved that he could be a valu-able addition to the team.

“I like being back in a team sport after having been away from soccer for a few years,” Moler said. “No one cares more about their sport and their team than the football players, and no other sport brings the kind of energy you get with football.”

Despite the fact that joining the team started as a joke among his friends every year, Moler has been taking his new role se-riously by working hard as a new member of the team at all the intense practices.

“A typical day at practice is at least six miles of running, followed by about two hours of kicking and special teams,” Moler said. “It gets me tired.”

While this is Moler’s first year playing football, his time is also occupied by another sport: cross-country. He has had some dif-ficulty managing both sports this year, but is still able to participate in the two.

“Both the football and cross country coaches know I do two sports, and I’ve worked out a system to miss as little as pos-

sible of each,” Moler said.Even though both of his sports are impor-

tant to him, Moler always remembers to keep up with school no matter how difficult it gets.

“Especially now with college applications time, it’s getting more and more difficult to do two sports and stay on top of school work,” Moler said. “But thankfully even with all the AP classes, senior year has been lighter in the homework load than in years past.”

Although he may have taken on a lot this year, Moler has truly grown to enjoy being on the football team.

Even though it was difficult at first, the guys on the team “are great guys and nev-er get down on any other player”, mak-ing adjusting as the new varsity kicker easy for Moler.

Even though it was difficult at first, the guys on the team “are great guys and nev-er get down on any other player”, making adjusting as the new varsity kicker easy for Moler.

By RIVA BALLISMirada Staff

By ALEX REINNOLDTEditor-in-Chief

Senior Gavin Moler works his legs hard balancing two sports in one season.

• Paid $90,000 in stipends (salaries) for all freshmen, all JV, and most assistant coaches for all sports.

• Paid more than $16,000 toward the athletic trainer's stipend.

• Purchased more than $10,000 worth of uniforms and equipment for various teams.

• Contributed $23,000 toward field repairs and maintenance.

• Contributed more than $5,000 toward the salary of the Athletic Director's assistant.

• Contributed $1,500 toward recognition of Athletes of the Month and Scholar Athletes.

TOTAL: $145,500

Membership donations to RAAB for the

2008-2009 year:

A fight breaks out at the JV boys football team after a dirty hit by the opposing team.

Senior Gavin Moler takes a kick during the football game against Pioneer. The team lost 14-31.

EUGENE KWON/ Mirada Staff

Senior Gavin Moler makes a strong start at the beginning of race.

ALEX REINNOLDT/ Mirada Staff

Sports Friday, September 25, 2009Page 18 • The Mirada

As if playing for the JV team wasn’t hard enough, sophomore Kendall Kulper has taken on the challenge of playing both JV and varsity water polo. She is the only sophomore on the 15-member varsity squad.

Kulper enjoys the game, even though she has only been playing for little over a year. After swim-ming competitively for the Gold River Stingrays for 11 years, she decided to make the change to a new sport.

Water polo, which combines a unique mix of swimming, ball-handling, and teamwork, re-quires difficult practices that in-volve intense swimming sets and a variety of plays. Think of it as trying to play basketball while si-multaneously trying to swim.

“I do feel like quitting some-times,” she said, “though my teammates are always there for me.”

That’s what makes water polo, as Kulper describes it, “amazing.”

“Everyone gets along really well, and it’s more like a family. Everyone is always there for one another.”

Last year, she was the only freshman on the section-winning varsity team. However, an injury kept her on the sidelines.

Though it didn’t bother her too much that she wasn’t able to play, she is prepared for the challenges of the upcoming season.

“Varsity is a lot faster paced, and the intensity level of the games is a lot higher,” Kulper said of the differences between playing the JV and varsity levels.

On a daily basis, she deals with grueling three-hour practices and more games than she can keep track of. Even after she’s finished with her JV games, she joins the varsity team to play for them.

In an average week, she es-timates that she spends around 20 hours doing something water polo related, whether it’s pre-

paring for the upcoming game against rival St. Francis or simply carpooling to and from the pool.

“My main motivation is that all of this hard work makes me a better player,” she said.

“Kendall is very hard-work-ing,” varsity teammate Barbara Kalustian said. “Everyone ad-mires her for how much effort she puts into her playing.”

After playing competitive wa-ter polo during the summer for the American River Water Polo Club, Kulper believes that her experience will help her improve her game.

Not all athletes have the skills to play on the varsity level, but Kulper reminds her fellow under-classmen that they should “keep working at it….It’s not going to come over night, but in the end, all of the hard work definitely pays off.”

Until the end of the season, Kulper will be training vigorous-ly as she eyes yet another section title for the girls’ water polo team.

Sophomore surrounded in a pool of swimming seniorsBy ALEX CHANMirada Staff

Courtesy of Kendall Kulper

Sophomore Kendall Kulper guards an opposing player in a game against Mountain View.

A soccer player is sprinting down the field with the ball. He is coming up on the goal, but his shins are in pain, so instead of shooting he has to pass it off, and be taken out of the game because he can’t run.

Technically, shin splints are a painful inflammation of the mus-cles around the shins, and they are frequent among runners. Young student athletes often times aren’t aware of shins splints and will in certain cases play through the pain. Senior Andrew Spittler has had to sit on the bench during his soccer career due to shin splints.

“I played soccer all summer,” Spittler said. “I thought everyone on my team was going through the same thing.”

Spittler has played soccer all four years of high school, as well as on his competitive team, Boca.

“Soccer is my life,” Spittler said. “I guess it was bound to happen eventually.”

If the shin splints aren’t treated with care, the pain can quickly be-come unbearable.

“I felt like I was giving birth to a 12 pound baby through my shin,” Spittler said.

However, Spittler played through the pain and didn’t take any time off from soccer.

“I’m told I don’t listen very well,” he said, disregarding his

trainer’s advice to rest. Fortunately, shin splints can

be prevented. Shin splints are due to an imbalance between the muscles that lift the foot and those that pull it down. As long as you do not over stride, you walk with flexible shoes and you take time to strengthen your calf muscles with exercise, shin splints will not be a problem.

If they have already begun, the best way to treat them is to take time off and simply let your shins heal. Senior Jocelyn Zidar is in the process of letting her shin splints heal. Zidar is a soccer player as well, and was on Rio’s Section Title team last year.

“It hurts,” Zidar said. She wishes she was playing soccer, but due to her shins, she has to spend time away from the field.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to play again,” Zidar said, “but right now I have to cool it for a bit.”

She plays competitively as well, so it’s not easy for her to just stop playing soccer. Shin splints are an injury that should be taken seriously. If not, they can affect playing ability and cause pain, potentially preventing athletes from competing in their sport.

There are many student ath-letes who do not realize how in-jury prone they are; they think it’s just a little soreness from the day before. However, shin splints are not to be taken lightly. Any athlete with shin pain should get their shins checked by a doctor because, without the right treat-ment, they may never go away.

Playing through the pain By THOMAS HEMINGTON

Mirada Staff

PREPS of the issue

ANSEL MILLSjunior

cross country

SARAHLAM

juniorcheerleading

How long have you been playing volley-ball?I have been playing since sixth grade, so this will be my fourth year. My teacher was also a volleyball coach and I liked her and I wanted to try it.

What position do you play?I play all positions.

What is your favorite part of playing vol-leyball?To see how we all react and play together; the teamwork.

What was the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you during volley-ball?When I went to spike the ball and I tripped over my shoelace and I didn’t even hit the ball.

Do you plan to continue playing after high school? I really want to play in college. I plan on going to USC. I’m going to play softball in high school, but I probably won’t play in college.

- Gina Garibaldi - Gina Garibaldi

How long have you been playing water polo?This is my first year playing water polo ever.

What originally made you want to start playing?“I was tired of doing soccer every single year, and water polo is a conditioning sport.

What made you decide to start playing?There aren’t any positions, and you don’t really get told what to do. And, you get the ball more than any other sport.

How did Hell Week go for you?It was really tough, but as the days went by, it got easier because my muscles got used to the strain.

How do you plan to manage your time with water polo? Water polo takes up all of my time except a few hours after school, so I plan to do my homework in-between practices.

Many athletes develop painful shin splints without even realizing what they are going through.

SportsFriday, September 25, 2009 Page 19 • The Mirada

SCHEDULES AND RESULTS

Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time

Varsity Boys SoccerAug. 25 Jesuit 4:00Sept. 1 at Rosemont W 7-1Sept. 3 at Woodcreek W 3-0Sept. 8 at Oakmont T 1-1Sept. 10 Ponderosa W 2-0Sept. 15 at Folsom W 3-1Sept. 17 Yuba City T 5-5Sept. 23 Mira Loma 4:00Sept. 25 Christian Brothers 4:00Sept. 28 Bella Vista 4:00Sept. 30 Del Campo 4:00Oct. 5 at El Camino 4:00Oct. 7 Casa Roble 4:00Oct. 10 St. Pius 1:00 at JesuitOct. 12 at Mira Loma 3:30Oct. 14 at Bella Vista 3:30Oct. 19 at Del Campo 3:30Oct. 21 El Camino 3:30Oct. 23 at Jesuit 3:30Oct. 26 at Casa Roble 3:30

Varsity Boys Water PoloAug. 22 *Woodcreek -Aug. 29 *at St. Mary’s/Marin -Sept. 11/12 Schmitt Tournament W 8-5 Sept. 25 Jesuit TBASept. 28 at Bella Vista 4:45Sept. 30 El Camino 5:45Oct. 5 at Casa Roble 4:45Oct. 7 Mira Loma 5:45Oct. 9/10 Polofest TBA at San JoseOct. 12 at Del Campo 4:45Oct. 14 Bella Vista 4:45Oct. 19 at El Camino 5:45Oct. 21 Casa Roble 4:45Oct. 26 at Mira Loma 5:45Oct. 28 Del Campo 4:45Oct. 30 at Davis TBAOct. 31 at Campolindo TBA*Indicates pre-season scrimmages

Varsity Girls Water PoloAug. 29 Scrimmages TBASept. 5 Scrimmages TBASept. 11/12 SF-Mt. View Tourney TBA at Mt. View/St. Francis PrepSept. 18 Ponderosa 7:00Sept. 25/26 Rio Varsity Tourney TBA Sept. 28 at Bella Vista 5:45Sept. 30 El Camino 4:45Oct. 5 at Casa Roble 5:45Oct. 7 Mira Loma 4:45Oct. 10 Clovis West TBAOct. 12 at Del Campo 5:45Oct. 14 Bella Vista 5:45Oct. 17 SF-Mt. View/Granite Bay TBAOct. 19 at El Camino 4:45Oct. 21 Casa Roble 5:45Oct. 26 at Mira Loma 4:45Oct. 28 Del Campo 5:45Oct. 30/31 NorCal Invite TBA at Davis

Varsity Girls VolleyballSept. 5 CIV Tourney W 2-0 at RenoSept. 7 at Davis W 3-0Sept. 9 Franklin W 3-1Sept. 10 Sacramento W 3-0 at Sac HighSept. 15 El Camino L 0-3Sept. 17 Casa Roble W 3-2Sept. 21 Oakmont 6:30Sept. 22 at Del Campo 6:30Sept. 24 Mira Loma 6:30Sept. 25 at Pioneer 6:30Sept. 29 at Bella Vista 6:30Oct. 1 at El Camino 6:30Oct. 3 Sacramento Invite TBAOct. 6 at Casa Roble 6:30Oct. 8 Del Campo 6:30Oct. 13 at Mira Loma 6:30Oct. 15 Bella Vista 6:30Oct. 20 El Camino 6:30Oct. 22 Casa Roble 6:30Oct. 27 at Del Campo 6:30Oct. 29 Mira Loma 6:30Nov. 3 at Bella Vista 6:30

Varsity Cross CountrySept. 26 Stanford Invite 12:10 at Stanford UniversityOct. 3 Yolo County Champs 8:00 at Mueller VineyardsOct. 7 Center Meet #2 3:30 at RioOct. 10 The Other Meet 8:00 at Granite ParkOct. 17 Bronco Invite* 8:00Oct. 30 CAL Championships* 3:00Nov. 7 Sub Sections 8:30 at Angels CampNov. 14 Sections* 8:30Nov. 28 States TBA at Woodward Park*meet that are at Folsom HS.

Varsity Girls GolfSept. 10 Mira Loma 3:30Sept. 15 El Camino 3:30Sept. 17 Casa Roble 3:30 at Diamond OaksSept. 22 Del Campo 3:30Sept. 24 Bella Vista 3:30Sept. 28 CAL Tournament #1 12:30Oct. 1 Mira Loma 3:30 at Haggin OaksOct. 6 El Camino 3:30Oct. 8 Casa Roble 3:30Oct. 13 Del Campo 3:00 at MatherOct. 15 Bella Vista 3:30 at Haggin OaksOct. 19 CAL Tournament #2 12:00 at Antelope GreensOct. 26 Divisionals TBA*Home matches are at Ancil Hoffman.

Varsity Boys FootballSept. 3 Jesuit Scrimmage 4:00Sept. 12 Natomas W 19-18Sept. 19 Pioneer L 14-31Sept. 25 at River Valley 7:30Oct. 3 Inderkum 1:00Oct. 9 at Woodland 7:30Oct. 16 Mira Loma 7:30 at El CaminoOct. 24 Bella Vista 1:00Oct. 31 Del Campo 1:00Nov. 6 at El Camino 7:30Nov. 14 Casa Roble 1:00

Varsity Girls TennisSept. 24 at Bella Vista 3:30Sept. 29 at El Camino 3:30Oct. 1 Casa Roble 3:30Oct. 6 Del Campo 3:30Oct. 8 at Mira Loma 3:30Oct. 13 Bella Vista 3:30Oct. 15 El Camino 3:30Oct. 20 at Casa Roble 3:30Oct. 22 at Del Campo 3:30Oct. 27 Mira Loma 3:30Oct. 30 CAL Champs - Singles TBANov. 2 CAL Champs - Doubles TBANov. 9 Section Finals TBA*Home matches are at Arden Hills.

The seven-time section title win-ning girls water polo team is off to a fair start this year, suffering a loss at a tournament Sept. 12 and 13, win-ning a practice match on Sept. 17 against Ponderosa, a team they hope to see again at section finals, and league games starting on Sept. 28. The team also has a few new addi-tions including many new, younger teammates and a new assistant coach, Lauren Calnero. “It’s a grow-ing year, but I still think we’ll be good,” junior Maddie Brown said. “We hope to continue the legacy the previous girls have brought to Rio.”

-Danielle Arbios

With talented new freshmen and sophomore golfers, as well as the returning upperclassmen, the girl’s golf team is anticipating a success-ful season. The players have high hopes, especially after taking second place in the championships last year and qualifying for the Masters for the first time.

“El Camino is the team to beat if we want to go to the Masters again this year,” junior Nicolette Grajeda said. “We have improved so much since last year, so I definitely think that we can make it again.”

In last week’s game against El Camino, the Rio team defeated their rival 257-273. They have also beat Mira Loma and Casa Roble, making their current record 3-0.

- Alli Henderson

The girls’ varsity volleyball team, which has been coached by John Grix since 2006, is expected to be more competitive than ever before. They won all three of their pre-sea-son games against Davis, Sacramen-to High, and Franklin. Their regular season, which started just last week, consists of a win against Casa Roble and a loss against El Camino.

The team is looking forward to upcoming games against Bella Vista on Sept. 29 and El Camino on Oct. 1.

“We’re a good team,” junior Whitney White said. “We plan to work hard and come out with more wins than last year. I think we are going to have a good year.”

- Allli Henderson

Major changes came to Rio’s var-sity football team this summer as the infamous Coach Smith retired his position to assistant Coach Ma-haffey, who had been on Smith’s coaching staff for many years. The players are more pumped than ever to be starting a new season. Accord-ing to junior Jeff Hackett, a major rival this season will be Del Campo.

“After last year’s varsity game, we are going to come at this year more than ready to win.,” Hackett said.

-Jessie Shapiro

The varsity girl’s tennis team is starting fresh, with several younger players and two new coaches joining the team, Maureen Barnett and Gina Costello, who is also a teacher at Rio. “We lost a lot of seniors, so this year we’re starting new,” junior Lauren Kohatsu said. “Hopefully we’ll do well with all the new players.” The girls played their first practice match on Sept. 9 against Oak Ridge and suf-fered a narrow loss. In a tournament in Clovis on Sept. 11 and 12 they had a few hard losses, too, and also lost in their practice match against Davis on Sept. 15. The girls look forward to all league games, which continue through Oct. 27.

-Danielle Arbios

SPORTS BRIEFS

Junior Stav Alon, flanked by his teammate, senior Harris Levin, drives the ball to the middle of the fielding a JV soccer game against Jesuit.

Girls Tennis

Girls Water Polo

Girls Volleyball

Courtesy of Tesoro Staff

Boys Soccer

Girls Golf

Boys FootballOut-of-pool practices proved

a difficulty at the beginning of the boys varsity water polo season, but with hard work they were able to stay on track.“We got to a rough start because the pool was closed,” senior John Butterfield said. “But we’ve been working hard since the pool re-opened, and were back on track.” The boys won 11th place at Schmitt invitational this past week-end against schools from around the state. Playing four games, the team won 2 and lost 2. “We showed im-provement throughout the tourna-ment,” Butterfield said. The boys are looking forward to facing the Jesuit team today at 6:30. “We’re going to kick their butts!” Butterfield said.

-Alex Kleemann

Boys Water Polo

Cross country, headed by vet-eran coach Gordon Hubble, is ex-cited for this season. Even before school started, dedicated runners on the team were meeting at Ashton Park every night at seven to go on a “short” jog, which was usually a few miles.

“It all depends on what Gordon has planned, it could be 30 minutes to up to an hour and 40,” senior Aaron Goodrich said.

So far, there have been two meets, with Rio facing long time rival Jesuit, Del Campo, El Camino, and even teams from Davis. With 30 members on the team this year, the cross country team is looking to a bright future.

“The most amazing thing, though, is that everyone’s improved so far, and most of all, we’ve had no injuries (knock on wood)!” Go-odrich said.

- Dylan Cartier

Cross Country

Two games into the season the boys varsity soccer team is undefeat-ed. In last Thursday’s game against Yuba, the raiders came back from a 4-2 Yuba lead with two goals by Aus-tin Kinn, senior, and one goal by Matt Parkinson, junior. Rio and Yuba tied with a final score of 5-5. “We were all so amazed when we scored the last goal,” said David Ashton, junior.

- Sarah Vaira