2011 November Issue

CHRISTINE BABAYAN

LEAGUE: Daniel Yepremian and Fernando Olivares tackle GHS running back Alex Yoon in the Nov. 10 cross-townrivalry homecoming game. To play with schools of similar populations, the athletic department is considering chang-ing to the Rio Hondo League. Unless GHS makes the same league change, BGD would become a pre-season game.

AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES

Students from low-incomefamilies may no longerhave the option of taking

their AP tests at a reduced price. Last September, the House

Appropriations Committee re-leased a bill proposing to elimi-nate funding for the AdvancedPlacement (AP) Test Fee and In-centive Program, which has beenhelping low income students payfor AP exams at a discountedprice of $5 in-stead of the usual$80-$95 since1999.

The commit-tee, which con-trols and decideswhat funds thegovernment is al-lowed to spend,proposed the billin an effort to decrease the na-tion’s expenses and cut spending.

Although the Senate Appro-priations Committee proposed re-taining the program, concern stilllingers in the air. The bill is cur-rently being revised by the Com-mittee for the House ofRepresentatives’ approval. Thefinal decision on the approval ofthe AP bill will be made by theend of this year.

About 400 students take APexams at the school every year,and roughly half of them dependon fee reductions from the APTest Fee and Incentive Programto take their exams.

Teni Arakelian (’13), who

plans on taking four AP examsthis year, said that if the bill wereto be passed, it would be “diffi-cult to have to pay hundreds ofdollars for all of those exams atonce.”

Upon the release of the bill,the College Board felt alarmedenough to send out emails to var-ious AP teachers and administra-tors, warning them about thepotential abolishment of AP fund-

ing and suggest-ing immediateaction such ascontacting staterepresentatives inWa s h i n g t o n ,D.C., to voicesupport for theprogram.

C o u n s e l o rRose Samore saidthe bill might re-

sult in a “negative perception” ofthe school and the school district,because if the number of studentstaking AP exams were to drop itwould appear as if the students“just don’t care.”

Junior Angelic Kirakosyan iscurrently taking three AP courses,and her younger brother DavidKirakosyan (’14) is enrolled intwo. Ever since their father gotlaid off from work last year theyhave been “struggling” to makeends meet. She stated that if thebill was to pass it would “cause alot of problems at home.”

AGNESSA KASUMYAN

I’m surprised the

government proposed

something so harmful

to students.

Angelic Kirakosyan (’14)

“

”

Volume 81 No. 7 February 25, 2011Volume 82 No. 4 November 22, 2011 tornado-times.com

651 Glenwood Road, Glendale, CA 91202 | (818) 242-6801 ext. 11202

ACLU files lawsuit against administrators, police for “racial profiling”

AP fee waivermay be removed

STEVEN LEE

The school’s athletic depart-

ment is exploring the possi-

bility of changing from the

Pacific to the Rio Hondo League

for all sports teams. If it decides to

switch leagues by next year, they

will apply for the league change

which would take effect starting

the 2013-14 school year, with the

approval of the California Inter-

scholastic Federation (CIF).

The Rio Hondo League con-

sists of Blair, La Cañada, Mon-

rovia, San Marino, South

Pasadena, and Temple City high

schools.

The department is considering

the league change primarily due to

the large difference in demograph-

ics between the school and the

other schools of the Pacific

League, which consists of Arcadia,

Burbank, Crescenta Valley, Glen-

dale (GHS), Burroughs, Muir, and

Pasadena high schools.

While the school consists of

about 1,900 students, the other

schools in the Pacific League have

student populations ranging from

3,000 to 4,000. Football coach An-

drew Policky would like to move

to the Rio Hondo league so that the

team will be playing against teams

with similar number of players.

The American Civil Liberties

Union (ACLU) has filed a

lawsuit against school ad-

ministrators and Glendale and Los

Angeles police departments on be-

half of students and family mem-

bers who alleged they had been

racially profiled by school admin-

istrators and police officers when

dozens Latino students were al-

legedly taken to two separate

rooms on Sept. 24 of last year.

Although the lawsuit has been

officially filed in federal court, the

plaintiffs have yet to be served.

The City of Glendale, the

County of Los Angeles, and Los

Angeles County Probation Depart-

ment are also named in the lawsuit.

Carmen Merino, the GPD General

Counsel, claims the incident was

an “educational intervention;”

however, the ACLU refers to the

situation as a “round up” and

“textbook case” (or classic exam-

ple) of racial profiling.

According to ACLU lawyer

David Sapp, the exact number of

students involved is “difficult to

estimate given the nature of the

case.” Among the alleged students

involved, only six are currently

named in the complaint.

Administrators named in the

complaint include Principal Jen-

nifer Earl, Assistant Principals

Hagop Eulmessekian and Caroline

Sweeney, and Student Resource

Center personnel Alex Garcia and

Ara Mgrdichian (who is no longer

with the school).

According to juniors Karen

Lopez, Ashley Flores, and Mirena

Alvarado, who were sophomores

at the time of the incident, they

were taken to room 2104 during

lunch and told by police that they

“could not hang out with each

other anymore and that if [they]

did, the police would tell [their]

parents that [they] are involved in

a gang.”

Similarly, seniors Giovanni

Pablo and Matthew Murillo were

walking to the first floor when Eu-

lmessekian told them they were

going to have a meeting. Pablo

said he initially thought the meet-

ing was going to be about “how

well” they were doing in school

that year academically and behav-

iorally, but were led to room 2104,

where they were told by police to

remain calm and take a seat with

about 20 other students.

During the incident, students

were asked to write information

such as their full names and phys-

ical descriptions on sheets of

paper. The students claim police

threatened to raid their houses at

six in the morning if they did not

do as they were asked, but that

Mgrdichian told them not to take

the situation seriously.

The policemen also asked to

see tattoos and confiscated cell

phones. The students were then

asked to hold up the sheets of

paper below their chin, and their

pictures were taken in the fashion

of a mug shot.

The primary concern of the

students and their lawyers is to

make sure that all the information

collected during the time is de-

stroyed so that they won’t be used

against them in the future. Accord-

ing to the ACLU, “it is not against

the law to be Latino,” but that the

school and collaborating police de-

partments “acted as though it

were” when they “rounded up, in-

terrogated, photographed, and col-

lected personal information” from

the students “solely because they

appear to be Latino.”

See “Waiver” on page 2

See “Lawsuit” onpage 2

See “League” on page 2

School considerschanging athleticleagues

hoover high school est. 1929Wenona Carlos twirls it 10

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6French pen pals say adieu “Anne Frank” comes out of hiding 8

the timestornado

Page 1 WIN_Layout 1 11/22/2011 11:35 AM Page 1

With the state budget

diminishing, tuition

for the California

State University (CSU) system

was raised nine percent last

week, the second increase this

year, boosting by $500 tuition

costs to $5,970 for next year.

The CSU lost $650 million

with budget cuts, which raised

tuition by 12 percent during the

2011-2012 school year. Accord-

ing to the Los Angeles Times, if

the state does not receive suffi-

cient revenues, another $100

million will be cut at well.

Trustee Roberta Achten-

berg, who voted for the in-

crease, said that they have an

“obligation” to run the system

well, despite lack of adequate

funding.

Andranik Mkrtchyan, a

freshman at Cal State Los Ange-

les (CSULA), understands that

they had to increase the tuition

due to the budget crisis; how-

ever, he stated that the “nearly

10 percent increase” will put a

great deal of financial burden on

students who “barely receive

enough financial aid for tuition

and board.” Because the nine

percent hike will raise fees, fi-

nancial aid will have to pay

more, eventually “burning out”

more money than it can support.

According to calstate.edu,

financial aid to CSU students

has increased by about $800

million since 2007.

The increased rates will

also impact students like

Mkrtchyan, who pay out of their

own pocket. In addition to help-

ing run his family’s business, he

will have to take up a second

job to accommodate the rising

fees.

Sergio Hernandez, also a

freshman at CSULA, relies on

financial aid, and finds that it is

“unfair” to increase rates during

“these hard economic times.”

AGNESSA KASUMYAN

Sapp claims that GPD refused

to provide students and their par-

ents with a letter that stated all of

the information collected on the

day of the incident had been de-

stroyed.

Merino, however, stated that

she “personally reached out” to

Sapp and the other attorneys on the

case in April and told them that

they had “no objection to provid-

ing the letter” but did not hear back

from them until the lawsuit was

filed.

District spokesperson Steven

Frasher questions what motivation

the district and the school would

have to racially profile anyone. Ac-

cording to Frasher, the planned ac-

tivity was to show students what

can happen if they ever get in-

volved or are associated with

anybody who is in a gang.

“When you think of youth,

the assumption is that students are

on the right path,” Frasher said.

“What scares us [educators and po-

lice] is that students might get into

drugs and gangs.”

The school has had several en-

counters with gang violence in the

past. In 1989, three gang members

were arrested after they physically

attacked a student who belonged to

a rival gang.

On May 5, 2000, 17-year-old

senior Raul Aguirre was stabbed to

death after trying to stop a fight be-

tween Latino and Armenian gang

members. During the week of his

funeral, however, Latino gang

members shot a male Armenian

teenager in retaliation, further stir-

ring ethnic tensions between the

two groups.

Following Aguirre’s death, his

parents sued the school and the city

for “failing to provide sufficient

protection after increased tension

between Armenian and Latino

gang members,” according to

Merino, who oversaw the case.

Although the ACLU contends

that the school and the police had

no reason to believe that the stu-

dents were involved in a gang

aside from the fact that they ap-

peared to be Latino, Earl and Pro-

bation Officer Gilda Davis, also

named in the lawsuit, decided to

hold the intervention after Earl was

provided with evidence that a few

of the students were in the process

of being recruited into a gang.

Earl stated that, as an educa-

tor, she felt it was her responsibil-

ity to warn students about the

dangers and consequences that

come with being involved in or as-

sociated with a gang.

Tornado Times2 November 22, 2011NEWS

SAMANTHA MARIANO

Breaking dawnon Tornado TV’smorning show

Tornado TV (TTV) pre-

miered its new weekly bul-

letin announcement show

Morning Edition on Nov. 7, the

first telecast in the school’s history.

From now on, these broadcasts

will air every Monday.

The regular public address

(PA) announcements will continue

on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Although the video lasts ap-

proximately three minutes, it takes

two to three days to produce, ac-

cording to English teacher and

TTV adviser Brian Crosby. The

shooting and editing are com-

pletely done “by the students, for

the students.”

Principal Jennifer Earl stated

that “the fact we don’t have all the

equipment or the studio yet”

makes her proud that the TTV

members followed through on the

video piece.

Currently, TTV is borrowing

most of their equipment from the

Visual and Performing Arts depart-

ment. They hope to receive dona-

tions through DonorChoose.org in

order to purchase more items. A

door and drapes are being installed

in the first phase of the new studio.

In order to view the show,

second period teachers need to

connect their laptops to their LCD

projectors, and click on the Morn-

ing Edition link on the school’s

website.

The process of producing the

show begins with Jeannie Mai

(’13) who compiles bulletin no-

tices collected from the school

staff. Steven Lee (’13) is in charge

of the “teleprompter,” using the

Elmo projector to display the

script for news anchor Agnes

Gholoonian (’13) to read. Ben-

jamin Kwok (’12) sets up the cam-

era, microphone, and lights while

Gholoonian is placed in front of a

green screen and awaits the cue to

read her lines.

Afterwards, Kwok teams up

with Gabby Carreiro (’14) to shoot

her short remote piece.

Finally, the scenes are edited

by senior Dahn Kim using the ed-

iting program Final Cut Pro.

Social science teacher Chris-

tian Hong said that the new way of

making announcements is “much

better” compared to announce-

ments made over the PA system

because “we can actually hear it.”

James Pineda (’12) believes

that the broadcast is more attention

catching. Compared to his last

three years in high school, during

which announcements were made

over the PA system, the new video

broadcast is “more high-tech, eas-

ier, and efficient.”

CAMERA: Tornado TV camera man Ben Kwok records the weekly Monday

Edition show. Tornado TV’s Morning Edition replaces PA announcements

on Mondays.


“I’m surprised the govern-

ment proposed something so

harmful to students,” Angelic said.

An AP exam is a national test

that students take in May after

completing a college-level course.

Students can submit the score they

receive on college applications to

help their chances of getting ac-

cepted.

Research released this year by

the College Board presents proof

that students who score a 3 or

above on the AP exam (5 being the

highest), are more likely to enroll

in college, perform better academ-

ically, and earn their college de-

gree on time.

Science teacher Nerses

Abramyan stated that the bill

would be “extremely unfair” for

students taking multiple AP

courses because if they are unable

to pay and take the exams, univer-

sities would have no proof that

they are educated in all of the

classes.

Lawsuitcontinued from page 1

Another reason for the change

is due to the competitiveness and

the increasing losing streak of

some sport teams. According to

Director of Athletics John Van Pat-

ten, although the sport teams work

diligently, the results of many of

the games for the past two years

are enough reason for the athletic

department to consider this

change.

Van Patten believes that

changing leagues will help these

teams win more games.

“The teams are working hard,

putting a lot of sweat and tears into

their performances,” Van Patten

said. “Because team numbers

would be even, our teams would

have a better chance of winning.”

According to Van Patten,

some disadvantages to such a

change include a much different

geography and a smaller probabil-

ity to join playoffs. The school

would be competing against

schools farther from the area than

those in the Pacific League, and

there are only three spots for play-

offs as opposed to the Pacific

League’s four.

If the league change does hap-

pen, the traditional cross-town

football team rivalry with GHS,

better known as BGD, may be-

come a pre-season game during

early September. GHS is currently

considering changing to Rio

Hondo league as well.

“BGD is a tradition, and [we]

hope to be able to keep this tradi-

tion alive,” JV football player

Alvin Kim (’14) said.

Cal State feesrise by nine percent

Waivercontinued from page 1

Dollars

Year

4,2063,354

5,4725,970

Leaguecontinued from page 1

Staff Editorials

BGD poster causes peril

The class of 2012 and

those that come after

are lucky—they are not

required to take those pointless

SAT subject tests. By not being

required to take these “extra”

tests, we are given the chance

to actually have some time to

work on our school assign-

ments, the thing most of us for-

get about when November rolls

around.

When required by the

UCs, the SAT subject tests

were not a “make-or-break-

you” test, but rather more of a

“show-off-your-skills” test.

Those that take it should only

do so if they are extremely

knowledgeable in the subject at

hand. Average students plan-

ning on going to college should

not feel the need to compete

with those who are more aca-

demically competitive.

Some private universities

require at least one of the sub-

ject tests taken be a science or

math one. Why should any-

body who’s not majoring in

mathematical or scientific

fields be required to take tests

that do not correspond with

their future career?

The reason we bring up

this issue is that we are con-

fused. Do colleges still want us

to take these tests? This ques-

tion has been swarming in

everyone’s mind since the UC

system announced that the SAT

subject tests would no longer

be mandatory for admission.

If you have a 4.5+ GPA

and are considering Pre-Med,

by all means take the Math and

Biology subject tests.

But universities like Stan-

ford have this statement to say

when asked about the subject

tests: “We recommend (but do

not require) that you submit of-

ficial results of at least two

SAT subject tests, as these ad-

ditional scores often assist us in

our evaluation process.” Two

seems like overkill—why not

use that time to complete col-

lege applications and study for

the SAT reasoning portion?

Besides, taking the subject

tests seem repetitive and defeat

the purpose of AP exams,

which already test students in a

variety of subjects. At least the

AP exams give college credit.

However, since the UCs do

not require these tests, hope-

fully more of an emphasis will

be placed on other admission

factors like extracurricular ac-

tivities. If so, we trust that

you’ve all been doing your vol-

unteer work, joining clubs, and

playing those sports.

Being the first class that is

cursed with this freedom,

we’re not sure how much these

tests would actually affect our

admissions. We’re kind of like

the guinea pigs of the new sys-

tem. The UCs should be clearer

as to what they want from us.

After all, it is our futures we

are taking about here.

If you know that the tests

will completely work to your

advantage, go ahead and take

them. But if you are “iffy”

about them, don’t. Why show

the university something

you’re average at, when you

can show them more things

that you are excellent at?

SAT subject ensues stress

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OpinionThe Master Gabster

Angine ShahbazyanGabby Carreiro

November 22, 2011Tornado Times

3

Ovsanna AvetisyanChristine Babayan

Kimberly Anne BondocGabby CarreiroVictor Garcia

Agnes GholoonianAni Hakobyan

Paul HongNatalie HovanesianDaniel Hovanessian

Cristine KenadyAni Kirakosyan

Soo LeeSteven Lee

Samantha MarianoJeannie Mai

Ashley McClureSophie MirzaianAlejandra RosasMaritza Ruelas

Angine ShahbazyanJennifer Vasquez

As four gigantic posters

unfolded from the

third floor on BGD,

seniors cheered and cried, as

they were dropping their poster

for the last time. However, as

soon as the posters rested in

their usual spots reigning over

the first floor quad, the cheers

and cries turned into angry

tweets and infuriated Facebook

statuses.

This year, one of the days

seniors look forward to most,

ended in anger and tension be-

tween upper and underclass-

men once it was realized that

the senior poster had been

ripped, with paint plastered all

over it as a prank. A little nos-

talgic, seniors even wrote their

names on the poster to symbol-

ize the years they spent at the

school, but even those were

crossed out with big ugly

“X’s.”

Perhaps those who thought

that sabotaging the seniors’

chance of winning the poster

contest was a good idea after

inhaling too much paint while

working on their own poster.

For some underclassmen

and juniors, it may be difficult

to understand why seniors get

so worked up about their last

poster drop, why they care so

much about making sure their

last skit is perfect, or why they

do everything they can to at-

tend their last BGD game.

It may be clichéd, but as

soon as you hit your senior

year, reality kicks in. You real-

ize that you’re no longer going

to be able to enjoy the blissful

traditions of high school and

get that giddy feeling when

you see your peers unite in

school spirit.

The perpetrators may have

thought that it was okay to play

pranks in the name of spirit and

pride, but when the prank re-

sults in sabotage and hurt feel-

ings, it’s kind of a hint that

things have been taken a little

too far. The seniors worked

hard to make their poster as

great as it was, using their own

time to get it done.

The fact that the other

classes worked just as hard on

their own posters makes the

entire ordeal even worse—they

should have appreciated and

valued the work that was put

into the posters. It’s not like

seniors are going to get another

chance to make their last poster

drop a memorable experience.

Well, on second thought, it sure

is memorable now that they

will look back on the day with

some bitterness.

Dramatic? We don’t think

so. We don’t think anybody

would want their work to be

basically spit on.

We get it that it feels good

to be the funny guys that got to

the seniors, but really it’s kind

of a shame that people have to

try so hard to be “cool.”

Believe us, we know how

to appreciate a good prank, but

this one just felt short of class

and good humor.

Next time you want to get

back at the snooty seniors, try

doing something that doesn’t

involve too much damage, like

challenging them to a dodge

ball match.

GABBY CARREIRO | TORNADO TIMES

Scholastic Aptitude Test

(SAT): $45. Advanced

Placement (AP) Test: $80.

Average College Application: up

to $100. A quality education? Not

so “priceless” anymore.

And that list does not even

include the fat, juicy college tu-

ition all seniors fear to face. For

apprehensive juniors and seniors,

this time of the year is not only

the most nerve-racking, but also

the most money-draining.

There is financial aid for

those who qualify, but for the

middle class, which makes up a

great portion of our community,

there is very little funding. Stu-

dents whose families fall in-be-

tween what is considered to be

“rich” and “poor” end up with

mounds of fees to pay simply be-

cause, on paper, it appears to be

perfectly fine and doable.

Let’s face it: financial aid in-

stitutions are far too detached

from the nation-wide student

body, forcing counselors and stu-

dents to grapple for sufficient aid.

Very few take into account

the struggles of a single parent or

the health issues of a family

member. None of these complica-

tions can be explained on fee-

waiver forms, since such

applications focus mostly on the

amount of income each family

makes, regardless of personal

conflicts.

Usually, the students who are

in the Free or Reduced Lunch

Program are able to receive fee

waivers. The Food and Nutrition

Service considers a student eligi-

ble for this program only if the

family’s income lies within the

guidelines: for families of two,

the annual in-

come must be

no more than

$27,214, all the

way up to fami-

lies of eight, at

no more than

$69,616.

It is under-

standable that

b o u n d a r i e s

must be set for the sake of clarity

and efficiency, but that does not

mean everyone else should be

ruled out simply because their

families make a few thousand

dollars more than what is consid-

ered as the eligible income.

The College Board and the

ACT work in the same way when

setting qualifications for who re-

ceives how much financial aid,

using similar income require-

ments. These qualifications are

broad and can never be an accu-

rate representation of a student’s

ability to pay, since such institu-

tions are often not aware of the

pupil’s personal circumstances.

Even though, as the College

Board reports, the National Asso-

ciation for College Admission

Counseling (NACAC) does con-

sider the “counselor's personal

knowledge of family circum-

stances,” students are often un-

aware of this possibility.

Despite hav-

ing the potential to

qualify for aid,

many students

“don’t realize that

they should step

up” comments jun-

ior counselor Rose

Samore. Students

do not advocate

enough for them-

selves, leaving the counselors

without a means to connect stu-

dents to financial assistance.

Senior counselor Rena

Scharch has personally reached

out to private schools for students

who “have a hardship that pre-

vents them from being able to pay

for their application.” However,

when it comes down to those who

are just a speck above the border-

line, even counselors do not have

much room to work in. The num-

bers might just look too good for

any persuasion to sway private

school policies.

As a student who receives

generous financial aid when it

comes to test and college applica-

tion fees, I personally understand

the relief that comes with not hav-

ing to worry about how I will be

paying the expenses.

Senior Lucine Oganesian is

one of those who is faced with a

heap of fees to pay. Having al-

ready spent $179 on her standard-

ized tests, she now faces $700

worth of application fees.. Being

wedged in between the two polar

societal classes keeps her in the

limbo area where she does not

qualify for many scholarships for

tuition either.

These students are squeezed

into a tunnel where efficiency is

key, and quality is no longer

widely available. A wide range of

schools is supposed to be open for

students, but many cannot even

imagine attending simply because

they are considered as “well off.”

The system of giving need-

based financial aid lacks a per-

sonal relationship that would

allow aid providers to gain a bet-

ter understanding of those who

would not qualify on paper. The

middle class often bears the brunt

of the situation, leaving them

fending for themselves in this bat-

tle for equal educational opportu-

nities.

Tornado Times4 November 22, 2011OPINION

College is just around the corner. It’s

kind of like a pimple: you can see it

coming, but you never thought it

would be here so soon, and that it would

have such a huge impact on your life.

For the past 17 or 18 years we have

lived our lives as dreamers, imagining how

wonderful our lives will be in the near fu-

ture.

We have all dreamt. We’ve thought

about becoming firefighters, artists, or

video game designers, and I’m sure that a

few of us have even gone to sleep and

imagined becoming computer technicians

or something.

But many of us have decided these ca-

reers are not, and here’s the word I dread

most of all, “practical.”

And due to the “impracticality” of

these dreams, we have decided to give up

on photography and major in law instead.

My point? That we have always imag-

ined achieving these wonderful tasks, but

have never really had the chance to work

towards these goals. But now, as we’re ap-

plying for colleges and graduating high

school, we finally have the chance to put

those dreams into action; in other words,

make them realities.

So isn’t it ironic that the moment we

actually have the chance to pursue these ca-

reers we decide to give up on them? And

more importantly, why do we give up on

them?

The answer to this is simple: bock

bock bock bock bock. CHICKEN. We are

scared. Terrified even, of doing something

that will be just a little bit harder, that is just

a little bit more out of our reach.

I’m not saying that getting a degree in

engineering is a bad thing—if you’re pas-

sionate about that, then go for it.

But those of you that are going to study

something “practical” such as biology, law,

or engineering don’t receive the every day

criticisms, the demeaning glances, the

smirks that those of us who want to do

something just a little bit out of the realm

of normality are forced to deal with.

I understand—it’s not easy being con-

stantly thought of as stupid, or being told

that you are going to be a “hobo” if you

keep your head stuck in your “unreachable”

dreams.

But possibly the worst consequence of

being a dreamer is doubting yourself. Stay-

ing up nights in fear of the future, imagin-

ing yourself reaching for the stars and

failing miserably, being sucked into a black

hole and achieving nothing in life.

Don’t let these nightmares get the best

of you; let your dreams overcome them.

I realize that I’m beginning to sound

like a Hallmark card, but sometimes we

need a little bit of inspiration, even if it

comes from some theatre kid’s high school

opinion column.

The most important thing to remember

is that our lives are what we make them.

Those who accomplish all they ever

dreamed of are those who never gave up,

those who had enough passion and determi-

nation to walk past the doubt, the fallbacks,

and the fear towards ultimate happiness.

So go ahead and train those dolphins,

don’t let anyone get in the way of reaching

your dreams. Especially yourself.

MICHAEL YAPUJIAN

Dreamers afraid toawaken

Sticks & Stones

TornadoTALK

Compiled by Jeannie MaiAN UONG | TORNADO TIMES

What do you think about the way fi-

nancial aid is distributed?

“If you work hard and get

good grades, you deserve

some sort of aid. It’s unfair

to be based only on in-

come.”

Reef Oldberg (’13)

“It’s unfair and I think new

criteria should be set.”

Sevada Khodaverdi (’12)

“A lot of people cheat the

system, they don’t deserve

the aid they receive.”

Andrew Galstyan (’13)

“I think it’s fair; it’s helpful

to the families who can’t

pay.”

Paris Zadoorian (’15)

Financial aid misses the middle class

API Also Proves Inadequate

We are a program im-

provement school. In

other words, we’re a

“failing” school.

You’re all familiar with the

infamous No Child Left Behind

(NCLB) Act, brought into action

by former president George Bush

in 2002 and is currently being re-

pealed by President Barack

Obama. According to

edweek.org, NCLB “[takes] par-

ticular aim at improving the edu-

cational lot of disadvantaged

students.”

Because of this act, schools

are measured by a system known

as the Academic Performance

Index (API). According to

greatschools.org, the API scores

are “calculated using each

school’s test results from the Cal-

ifornia Standards Tests (CST),

the California Modified Assess-

ment (CMA), the California Al-

ternate Performance Assessment

(CAPA), and the California High

School Exit Examination (CAH-

SEE).”

Are you kidding me? The

grueling, excruciating tests that

all students dread come May are

used to judge our school? This is

extremely ridiculous.

We all know that although

these exhausting tests are not

necessarily difficult, they are aw-

fully lengthy, leaving students

worn out after the first 30 ques-

tions.

I do not know anyone who

cares even the least bit about his

CST scores.

On Sept. 21, letters were

mailed home informing families

that our school has an API score

of 776. Students were then given

the option to transfer to Cres-

centa Valley (CV) High

School—a high school in La

Crescenta with a significantly

higher API score of 884.

Shortly after receiving the

letter, the parents of one of our

own, Durga Ghosh (’13), applied

for a permit and had their daugh-

ter transferred to CV.

Mother Ruby Ghosh felt

that this was a great opportunity

to have her daughter transfer to a

school of a more “competitive

medium, with each teacher push-

ing students to learn.”

This is exactly what I mean;

the API system creates a false il-

lusion of our teachers and stu-

dents.

If our school is marked as a

“program improvement” school,

other schools and students out-

side of Hoover will merely focus

on that fact and fail to realize the

great elements of our school—

like our arts programs, for exam-

ple.

Even though the CSTs are

tremendously boring, I’ve al-

ways made an attempt at passing

with a high score. But apparently,

that’s not the case for other stu-

dents. Everyone knows there are

always going to be those students

who just don’t care about their

schoolwork or their education, so

why are we being judged as a

whole based upon their poor per-

formance? What kind of student

wants to say “I go to Hoover, a

program improvement school?”

The API scores shouldn’t be

based solely on test results.

Changes need to be made, a new

scoring system must be created.

The API is a failed system

that relies exclusively on test

scores, missing the big picture.

Very few take into

account the struggles

of a single parent or

the health issues of a

family member.

AN UONG

JEANNIE MAI

Lindsay Lohan, Robert Downey Jr., and

Paris Hilton. What do all of these in-

famous celebrities have in common?

They have all been in jail.

But that’s not all. They have all received

unjust special treatment because of their

celebrity statuses. Celebrity statuses, I should

say, that were undeserving to people of such

vulgarity and barbarism.

Lindsay Lohan, who has been sentenced

to jail four times and released every single

time due to “overcrowding,” was again taken

into custody on Oct. 19 because she failed to

complete the community service require-

ments (mandated in her probation) at the

Center for Women, a women’s shelter in

downtown Los Angeles.

This cycle of being arrested, then freed,

then arrested, then freed again, has caught the

attention of many. Why does this “Queen of

Failure” deserve to go home when she could

have killed someone because of her reckless

driving in 2007? What about stealing a neck-

lace worth $2,500 in January?

You would think that this would have

convinced her to get back on track.

Nope. The jailbird is back in her habitat.

Once again, she was arrested and sent to

jail on Nov. 2. She is to serve 400 hours of

community service at the county morgue. Ini-

tially, the judge ordered her to be in jail for

300 days, but shortened it to 30. That is, of

course, if Lohan can clean up her act.

Hold your applause, people. The chance

of Lohan staying for more than six days is

very rare.

Lohan took a trip down the memory lane

on Nov. 7 when she “visited” Century Re-

gional Detention Facility around 8:48 p.m.,

according to the Los Angeles County Sher-

riff’s Department website.

She was released at 1:30 a.m. on Mon-

day morning. The reason? “Overcrowding.”

Pretty unoriginal if you ask me.

Yet again, the former Hollywood royalty

has found a loophole to avoid doing jail time.

She deserves to be in jail just like the

“commoners” who have committed similar

felonies.

But of course, Lohan gets to roam free

while others rot in jail for their crimes. So

what if she is rich and famous? What exactly

sets her above the law? Not even famous

people should be able to find a way out of

jail.

So why are Hilton and Lohan able to

squeeze out of their sentences? The answer

is pretty simple. Does the word “celebrity”

ring a bell?

I guess they are so busy thinking about

the next place to party that they “forget”

about their probations.

Room 7021, also known as “the Heis-

man” in the Los Angeles County Jail because

of O.J. Simpson, who inspired the name

when he spent time in 1995, has hosted many

celebrity inhabitants besides Simpson, in-

cluding Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee, and

Sean Penn.

According to the New York Times, the

room offers hygiene products, tasty food

such as a continental-style breakfast, and,

most importantly, solitude.

According to Captain Richard Adams of

the Los Angeles County Jail while talking to

Prison Legal News.com, celebrities are put

into room 7021 because they do “not want

anyone getting hurt.” Thus, the high priority

of the protection of celebrities is confirmed.

Obviously, celebrities with wealth and

fame are more important. After all, no one

wants to hurt the feelings of those poor peo-

ple, who earn only tens, of millions of dollars

annually. Who cares about the others?

I say the justice system needs to get its

priorities straight.

Playing the prison fame gameANI HAKOBYAN

5November 22, 2011 OPINION

Too much weight put on body image“P

eers into the mirror, mirror on

the wall, frowns at her face, her

eyes, her skin, not fair.”

These lines from Pat Mora’s poem

“Same Song,” touch upon a serious issue

that, even in this day and age, still go on.

Body image issues are currently receiving a

lot of attention, but there are still issues that

deal with self-image that rarely, if not never,

receive attention.

Many girls are teased about their

weight, often being told to “go lose weight”

or told mean jokes about their size. This is

pretty prevalent, and a lot of girls claim that

they feel pressured to be skinny because of

that, but something that is never talked

about, which infuriates me, is the bullying

of those with thinner builds.

A controversial trend has emerged in

this new era of technology: a blogging fad

called “thinspiration.” Thinspiration, also

known as pro-ana, short for anorexia, or

pro-mia, short for bulimia, are the glorifica-

tions of eating disorders as acceptable and

healthy ways to lose weight.

Typical thinspiration involves giving

advice on how to best induce vomiting, tips

on how to ignore or suppress hunger pangs,

and advice on how to hide weight loss from

doctors and family members.

According to a study done by the Na-

tional Center for Biotechnology Informa-

tion in 2010, the number of blogs that

shared out crash dieting information and

techniques rose from 67 percent in 2006 to

83 percent in 2010. The number of these

blogs is still on the rise, and, unfortunately,

they affect both sexes.

While it isn’t as mainstream as female

thinspiration, male thinspiration is still

prevalent among teenage boys. They aspire

to be almost waiflike, similar to the male

models that appear on designer runways.

According to teeneatingdisorders.us,

one in every 10 teenagers that have eating

disorders are male, and teenage boys are

just as likely as teenage girls to have Body

Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD in

boys, however, mostly deals with the desire

to look lean and muscular, like, say, Cris-

tiano Ronaldo or The Rock.

It’s saddening that the public coverage

of eating disorders among boys is practi-

cally nonexistent. Just because a certain

phenomenon isn’t as widespread as another

doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.

I stand at five foot three and weigh

about 105 pounds, and throughout my life,

I have heard comments about me, ranging

from “oh my god you’re so skinny!” to

“you’re practically anorexic!” to “go eat

something!”

These comments make me feel terrible

and make me hate my body, and it’s incred-

ibly frustrating that the media, who is now

so hung up over body image issues, never

acknowledges the fact that even the skinny

people, who are marketed as being the

“ideal” shape of a woman, still get harassed

and made fun of. They are tormented as

much as people of heavier builds and the

reasons why no one mentions it are beyond

me.

There are many issues surrounding

body image, and whether they are well-

known or not, they need to be examined.

Illiteracy. It's rapidly like a virus, in-

fecting many of the people that we

know and love. We notice it every-

where: at school, at the mall, on the Inter-

net, you name it.

In the comfort of my home, I always

enjoy sitting down and surfing the 'net. If

there's one website I used to look forward

to visiting daily, it was Facebook—a site

that most people log on to frequently.

When I first joined, I thought of it as

a wonderful way to communicate and

catch up with friends and family. Nowa-

days, I am constantly clicking on the

“close” button, disgruntled and peeved.

It seems as if a status posted on Face-

book with perfect grammar and spelling

is a rarity these days. Nearly every post I

come across on Facebook is filled with a

vast amount of errors. “Your” and

“you're” are always used incorrectly.

“Their,” “they're,” and “there” are all

switched around, all the time, and the

same applies to “then” and “than.” Many

people claim that they are “very busy” and

“in such a hurry” that they have no choice

but to often shorten words. “Don't” be-

comes "dnt,” “your” becomes “ur ,” "are"

becomes “r,” and so on.

Some may think it's not much of a big

deal, and that it is only prevalent on the

Internet through websites such as Youtube

and social networking sites, but it is not.

According to the National Adult Lit-

eracy Survey, 42 million adults are inca-

pable of reading, 50 million adults can

recognize so few words that they are

capped at a 4th or 5th grade reading level,

and one out of every four teenagers that

manage to graduate out of high school has

at most the equivalent of an eighth grade

education. This proves the astounding

amount of illiteracy in our nation.

If you think that students would

never dare to include careless mistakes

such as the ones mentioned above on es-

says, you're very wrong. English teachers

at our school have known for a very long

time about the lack of literacy.

English teacher Kathy Angers states

that students “can't read because they

don't read” and that they “can't write be-

cause they don't write.” She believes that

students "can't speak with fluency" and

notices that they fill up sentences with

“um,” “like,” “stuff,” “okay,” “thing,” and

“dude,” which shows their lack of articu-

lacy.

It has even spread onto T-shirts. To

her dismay, Clark student Eliza Tur-

dzhyan ('13) once encountered a certain

shirt as she was strolling down the mall.

The shirt stated “I cry because YOUR

UGLY!” Notice anything wrong with this

statement? I hope you do, because “your”

is supposed to be “you're.” When she saw

this shirt, she felt as if “illiteracy [was]

being sold,” and in a way, being pro-

moted.

It is evident that America no longer

cares about being literate if such a huge

error is bypassed and put into stores for

parents to buy for their toddlers.

Is there a way to stop illiteracy?

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Facebook des-

perately needs a spelling/grammar check.

Maybe schools shouldn't focus on "filling

in the blanks on a worksheet" and instead

should direct students to write sentences.

Maybe we need more of an emphasis on

quality check for items.

In any case, this is an issue that

should be taken seriously and there should

be an effort to stop it. I miss seeing gram-

matically correct sentences, and you

should, too.

Sprdng illtrcy

CRISTINE KENADY

DANNY HOVANESSIAN

GABBY CARREIRO | TORNADO TIMES

Tornado Times6 November 22, 2011

FeatureP a r t y i n g i n t h e U S AP a r t y i n g i n t h e U S A

ASHLEY MCCLURE

During the summer, my family

and I set up a separate room for

my French pen pal, Marine

Moindrot. We decided to decorate the

room with a classic Hollywood theme

that she would find interesting. We

hung movie posters and shelves for our

movie memorabilia.

I helped my family brush up on

their basic French and constantly

emailed Moindrot to make sure she had

everything she was going to need for

the trip. I ended up welcoming Moin-

drot’s classmate Lara Mortier to stay

with us as well.

After school, on Oct. 27, we gath-

ered all students taking French class in

the lower quad to await the arrival of

the French students and their teachers.

As they entered the quad, chaos ensued

with the clashing of two languages to

find our pen pals.

We were divided into color groups

for better communication. Each group

had about five to six American students

and at least one teacher. The groups

were decided upon which American stu-

dents were friends with each other and,

therefore, ended up spending quite a lot

of time together. French students whose

pen pals dropped out of the program at

the last minute were either placed with

other volunteer students or were placed

with teachers.

Their first day at school was a

whole new adventure. We took the

French with us and introduced them in

all of our classes, receiving different re-

.arrival

.the stayD

uring the first weekend my pen

pals were here, my family and I

took Moindrot and Mortier to the

Los Angeles Zoo and out to eat at my fa-

vorite diner. We also ended up going to a

Halloween party that Saturday, hosted by

the French 5-6 class.

On Halloween, I lent them my home-

made Marilyn Monroe and cowgirl cos-

tumes and took them trick-or-treating on

Kenneth Road. Almost all of the pen pals

in the program could be spotted on Ken-

neth that night, each with very unique cos-

tume choices.

“Halloween is very strange but fun,”

Manon Damien said. “We don’t celebrate

it that much in France.”

Because the pen pals practically be-

came part of my family, they came to all

of the events I went to. As a volleyball

player, my pen pals as well as all of my

friends’ pen pals came to support my team

at our game against Glendale. They all

made posters and cheered for us both in

French and English.

I was not the only one to have the

French on my side. French students at-

tended water polo games, football games,

and even tennis games. The idea of such

excitement over a high school game was

a very new concept for them, but they

dove right into it in their purple and white

gear.

In France, one of the biggest fascina-

tions about America is Hollywood. All of

the students could not wait to go to Uni-

versal Studios and the Hollywood Walk of

Fame. Unfortunately, it rained on the day

we went to Universal Studios, but this did

not seem to faze them as this is normal

weather in France. Their favorite roller-

coaster was the Simpson’s Ride, claiming

that there is nothing like it in France.

A few days later, my group had an

early Thanksgiving dinner, complete with

traditional Thanksgiving food. Most of the

pen pals did not understand the point of

the holiday, but loved the food and said it

was very American as we are “always eat-

ing.”

On their last night here, we went over

to social science teacher Kate Duggan’s

house for a final dinner together and a

bunch of rounds of cards. We all went

home that night extremely excited for

BGD the next morning.

.departureA

ll of the students came to

school completely decked

out in the school’s purple

gear on Nov. 10. They attended the

annual poster drop and BGD as-

sembly.

“The assembly was very

amazing, there was so much going

on,” Moindrot said.

Later that day, all of the host

students gathered in the peace gar-

den to have one last lunch to-

gether. There were definitely

extreme emotions in the air—

being with these students for two

weeks created strong bonds be-

tween us all.

Throughout the whole trip our

pen pals collected loads of sou-

venirs and American memorabilia.

They bought shirts, chocolate, key

chains, and postcards for their

family and friends that didn’t

come with them. Some families

gave their pen pals parting gifts to

remember them by, and we all

promised to write often and hope-

fully come visit them someday.

When we arrived at the airport

and got off the bus, I told myself I

wouldn’t get too emotional. But

when I gave Moindrot and Mortier

hugs goodbye, I couldn’t help but

cry. I was going to miss them so

much.

For the two weeks they were

here, our school and our students

participated in a once in a lifetime

experience. It wasn’t just the peo-

ple hosting that benefited from the

program–it was our whole school.

Even students outside the program

who didn’t speak a word of French

enjoyed and learned from the pro-

gram and the time they spent with

the pen pals.

sponses from students. Some students

spoke with broken French while others

spoke slowly and carefully—in English,

of course.

After spending the whole day at an

American high school, I couldn’t help but

ask what they thought of America.

“Everything is big,” Moindrot said.

“Your houses, roads, school—every-

thing.”

Because the pen pal program is brand

new, all of those involved were hoping to

make it a big success. The great thing

about the program is that every French stu-

dent got a very unique experience. Be-

cause each family is different and does

different things, all the students were

bound to leave America all having grasped

very different pieces of American culture.

PEN PALS: (top left) Some of the pen pals helped chalk the quad on Wednesday, November 9

along with the rest of the senior class. (above) The pen pals are packed and ready to leave for

the airport after saying their goodbyes to their student hosts.


Smashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives


FEATURE 7

Cutting calories, not taste

Although we all love and

look forward to stuffing

our faces with all of the

mashed potatoes and turkey at

Thanksgiving time, most stu-

dents don’t actually wonder

about the aftermath of this mass

consuming.

Sophomore Vanasis Ohan-

ian “can’t help but think about

which gym [she’s] going to get a

membership to after Thanksgiv-

ing.” However, there are healthy

alternatives that can satisfy

your stomach just as much as the

unhealthy foods that usually

crowd the Thanksgiving table.

Ellie Krieger, the host of the

hit show “Healthy Appetite” on

Food Network, gives wonderful

recipes that not only have high

ratings, but are also healthy.

Now, since dessert is always

a personal favorite, we’ll start

with that. Krieger’s Thanksgiv-

ing recipe for dessert is a pear

ginger crumble that includes

pears, cinnamon, oats, freshly

grated ginger, and ice cream.

I baked this crumble myself

and my friends and I agreed that

it was a very good mixture of

tenderness and crunchiness. This

dessert, which serves about

eight, is only 266 calories. See?

Delicious and nutritious.

Next, we have (and this isn’t

going in any particular order) the

smashed potatoes with sour

cream and chives. The side dish

serves four and has 130 calories

per serving.

After eating about two big

bowls of this dish that I made, I

can say first hand that it is phe-

nomenal. The potatoes melt in

your mouth and the chives add a

bit of a kick to the creaminess of

the smashed potatoes. The pota-

toes are a perfect example of a

plate that is both mouth-water-

ing and easy to make.

The next side dish is jewel

roasted vegetables. I understand

that the thought of eating vegeta-

bles makes most teenagers

cringe, but Krieger’s way of

roasting the vegetables with gar-

lic brings out the rich flavor in

the carrots, beats, and other veg-

etables, softening them just the

right amount. The jewel roasted

vegetables are 190 calories per

serving and serve about six.

One of Krieger’s Thanks-

giving appetizers is the An-

tipasto Sausage Skewer which

has fresh basil, sun-dried toma-

toes, Italian-style sausage, and

artichoke hearts. Krieger’s

recipe makes 14 skewers and has

140 calories per serving (four

skewers).

Now, for the main dish:

turkey roulade with apple-cider

gravy. Yes, even turkey can be

healthier. This dish has dried

cranberries, freshly grounded

pepper, and many other whole-

some ingredients that make this

main course a good choice for

your Thanksgiving dinner, in-

cluding the fact that it only has

400 calories per serving.

So just as long as you can

have a good and healthy meal,

stuffing your face on Thanksgiv-

ing is absolutely accepted and

even encouraged. To me, it’s a

day for eating. And of course,

for giving thanks. But what’s

better than giving thanks, eating

everything in sight, and not hav-

ing to worry about getting that

gym membership?

GABBY CARREIRO

1

4

1 Put 1 1/4 potatoes in a steamer basket over a pot of boilingwater. Steam for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are ten-der.

Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of low-sodium chicken broth and coarsely mash the potatoes.

Add 1/4 cup of sour cream and 1 1/2 tablespoons of choppedchives.

Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy.

234

AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES3

2


Entertainment

“Ihope I will be able to confide

everything to you, as I have

never been able to confide in

anyone, and I hope you will be a great

source of comfort and support.”

Anne Frank’s famous words have

reached out and captured the attention

of the drama department, as it gets

ready to stage “The Diary of Anne

Frank” in the Little Theater on Dec. 8.

The story follows the lives of the

Franks, the van Daans, and Albert

Dussel through their troubles under

Hitler’s regime. It revolves around a

young Jewish adolescent, filled with

energy and hope, trying to find herself

during a time of tragedy and despair.

The play will show how the families

lived in a cramped space and how they

coped with the constant fear of being

captured and killed.

Director Dave Huber cast 13 stu-

dents to play the characters in Anne

Frank’s life during her teen years. He

is “incredibly happy” with the cast

and feels confident that they will be

able to convey the true emotions be-

hind the moving piece.

“This was a play I had to do. I

needed to do this,” Huber said. “It’s an

amazing piece of theater.”

Huber found the casting process

tough and “agonizing.” He cast the ac-

tors not based on their individual tal-

ent but on how much chemistry the

group of students had with one an-

other.

Junior Kristine Paguinto and sen-

ior Michael Yapujian will be playing

the lead roles of Anne Frank and Otto

Frank, her father.

Paguinto felt “unusual” upon re-

ceiving her role, because it was the

first time she’d ever gotten the lead of

a play. She feels a lot of “pressure” but

says that she will try her best to por-

tray her character.

“I love the play, it allows you to

actually get into the minds of people

during the devastating period of the

Holocaust,” Paguinto said. “The audi-

ence will be able to gain insight on the

characters.”

Although Anne Frank’s situation

was hopeless, Paguinto said that her

character is one of the more “opti-

mistic” ones because she believes that

things will get better despite hard-

ship.

Junior Emily Shin is one of many

who look forward to watching this

performance.

“I want to see the live experi-

ence,” she said. “[The story] isn’t

something that happens today, so I

want to know how Anne coped with

the situation.”

The actors have put much of their

time into the play with two-hour re-

hearsals every day after school and

one on Saturday.

Besides the acting experience, the

actors hope theatre goers will leave

with something else from this play.

Yapujian feels whenever he is

having a bad day, the play is his

“wake-up call,” and that it “isn’t just

for the actors, it’s for the audience to

understand how lucky they are.”

Charlene Brandt (’12) is playing

Anne’s older sister, Margot, a ladylike

and proper young woman. She says

that other than the stage experience,

she hopes the students will gain a

sense of strength by getting a better

understanding of the struggle the fam-

ilies went through.

Assistant director An Uong (’12)

looks forward to learning about the

“nature of hope” from the play and

watching “how the actors grow into

their characters as they interact with

each other.”

Though the story of Anne Frank

revolves around her traumatic life ex-

periences, the cast and directors want

to reveal more than that.

“We all know the story. They die,

but we don’t play that. Anne lived her

life; she believed people were good at

heart,” Huber said. “We incorporate

the comedy, the sadness, the tragedy,

the terror and the hope.”

JEANNIE MAI

Dramatizing the Holocaust in a Frank manner

The family goes into

hiding.

Source: scholastic.com

PLAY: The cast for the “The Diary of Anne Frank” rehearses for the

upcoming play. It premieres in the Little Theatre on Dec. 8.AN UONG | TORNADO TIMES

ANGINE SHAHBAZYAN | TORNADO TIMES

Summer 1933Hitler becomes Chancel-

lor of Germany. The first

anti-Jewish laws are es-

tablished and the Franks

decide that they must

move to the Netherlands.

July 6, 1942

June 12, 1942Anne receives a diary for

her 13th birthday.

August 4, 1944

The residents of the Secret

Annex are betrayed and ar-

rested, then taken to a concen-

tration camp where the men are

separated from the women.

October 24, 1945

Otto Frank receives a

letter informing him that

his daughters died and is

given her diary.

Summer 1947The first 1,500 copies of

Anne’s diary are pub-

lished in Amsterdam.

Dates: Dec. 8-12

Time: 7 p.m. (5 p.m. on

Dec. 8, 2 p.m. on Dec. 11)

Place: Little Theatre

Price: $8

After a personal hiatus from Netflix, I dis-

covered how many new movies and

shows were added to the instant queue.

To my surprise, all 115 episodes of the 1988-1993

American comedy-drama “The Wonder Years”

are now available to watch instantly.

The show centers around a typical American

teenager, Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), in the

1960’s. No, this does not involve a teenage girl

getting pregnant every season like teen shows of

today, but is more about the classic, innocent teen

experience such as dealing with parents, older

siblings, academic struggles, friends and first

loves.

For those of you who have never heard of

this iconic show, I don’t blame you—it did stop

airing right before most of us were born. How-

ever, the years of syndication on networks such

as Nick at Nite and ABC Family are the reason

for its familiarity among teens my age.

There are so many aspects to love about this

show. For one, it tends to bring out a lot of heart

from situations between the family members and

from the lessons Kevin learns. However, the awk-

ward middle and high school positions that any

teenager is put through is inevitably funny. In one

episode, Kevin and his classmates have to endure

learning about the female reproductive system in

gym class. The excitement is immediately shot

down by the diagram shown by their teacher.

The characters, however, are what make this

series most memorable. There is the father who

hates his middle-management job, the stay-at-

home mother (who later reflects the feminist

movement), the rebellious hippie sister, the abu-

sive older brother, and the nerdy best friend who

is allergic to practically everything. But above all,

who could forget the girl next door, Winnie

Cooper?

The love between Kevin and Winnie is the

ultimate basis of the series. One of the most

iconic moments in the show is Kevin and Win-

nie’s first kiss in the pilot episode. When Win-

nie’s brother had just been killed in Vietnam, she

goes to Harpers Woods alone. Kevin arrives to

comfort her, puts his Jet’s jacket around her to

keep her warm, and kisses her.

Even though this show is not a modern take

on American families, Kevin goes through the

same events that today’s teenager normally

would, minus the cyber bullying.

Wandering through the Wonder-ful years

Movie Review Music Review

Waking up from a long

night of dreaming is a

strange experience.

You feel groggy and a bit disori-

ented until you begin to recall the

wonderful things you experienced,

the people you met, the scents that

filled your nostrils, and the sounds

that filled your ears.

M83’s latest album, “Hurry

Up, We’re Dreaming” shares a

similar experience. The genres

M83 identifies with—electronic,

shoegaze, dream pop, ambient—

allow for the most dreamlike of

music. There are stories of cup-

cakes and magic frogs in

“Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” and

more melancholy themes in

“Wait,” along with lots of what

would be nothingness in a dream

but does not appear as such in the

album.

This ambitious two-disc

album both begins and

ends strongly. Zola Jesus, an up-

and-coming synthpop/goth rock

artist, is featured on the first track,

“Intro,” and “Midnight City” is

packed with drum parts reminis-

cent of the 80s and never-before-

heard elements such as saxophone

solos.

“Raconte-Moi Une Histoire”

(meaning “Tell Me a Story”

in French) is the most unique song

off the album. There is a little girl

speaking on the track about a spe-

cial frog with a quaint electronic

tune playing in the background,

showing off her splendid imagina-

tion and emphasizing M83’s love

of youth, fun, and adventure, as

well as creative thinking.

“OK Pal” on disc two has an

80’s vibe to it with its booming

drums and heavy synth. Late in the

album, “Echoes of Mine” recap-

tures your attention with some

subtle French lyrics and leads you

to the concluding two tracks.

A new element seldom previ-

ously heard—if at all—is the use

of instruments besides synthesiz-

ers and electric guitars and basses

typical of shoegaze bands.

Acoustic guitars can be heard on

several tracks, as well as the saxo-

phone solo on “Midnight City.”

M83 definitely does not fail to

please with this album. As dreams

make the night pass, the album

makes time fly. It feels like a 45-

minute album despite

the fact that it clocks in at 74 min-

utes. There are no overwhelmingly

long songs as there have been on

other albums, the longest being

five minutes and 42 seconds.

Compared to old albums,

however, it is significantly longer,

but the grandeur is incomparable.

M83’s past albums, although they

had vocals and similar synth

arrangements, were subtle com-

pared to “Hurry Up, We’re Dream-

ing.” This album can only be

described as monumental.

Anyone who has enjoyed

M83’s past albums will most

likely be happy with this one as

well.

If you haven’t heard M83’s

music before, enjoying this album

won’t be a problem as long as you

like electronic, shoegaze, or ambi-

ent music, or if you’re fun-loving

and open-minded.

NATALIE HOVANESIAN

SOPHIE MIRZAIAN

DAPHNE ONG

M83 dreams up a nice album

ALEX KARIBYAN | TORNADO TIMES


ENTERTAINMENT 9

Source: 20th Century Fox

DAWN: The latest film in the saga, “Breaking Dawn: Part One” takes a lighter approach to the more de-

pressing tones that the previous movies set. It premiered last Friday.

There I was, impatiently waiting in the unbear-

able cold with strangers at my side, excitedly

chattering about what they were about to see.

The moment we had all been waiting for, Nov. 18, had

finally arrived.

The midnight premiere of “Breaking Dawn: Part

One” consisted of six hours of sitting uncomfortably

on the icy, coarse concrete, frantically doing home-

work and losing sleep—but it was all worth it.

The movie is the fourth of the Twilight Saga,

which has become a worldwide phenomenon. The

main character Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is a

human who falls in love with Edward Cullen (Robert

Pattinson), a vampire. Together they conquer all forces

that try to break their love apart.

In this particular film, the couple gets married and

Bella unknowingly gets pregnant. The “fetus” grows

very quickly and slowly destroys her from the inside

out—the only way for her to survive is to be turned

into a vampire.

One aspect that I didn't like was that “Breaking

Dawn: Part One” had a completely different tone than

the previous films. In the beginning, the movie is more

comical than what audiences are accustomed to be-

cause most of the characters crack jokes here and

there. But the moment that Bella realizes she is preg-

nant, the mood changes entirely becoming very seri-

ous. Everyone is worried for Bella's life, made evident

through the actors' wonderful depictions.

When Edward finds out that the baby is sucking

away at Bella's life, he goes into shock and yells at her

with a powerful and frightening look on his face. This

is a side of Edward that audiences haven’t seen before

that Pattinson does a great job conveying.

Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) also depicts his role

very accurately. During one scene, he starts crying be-

cause he learns the bad news. His face expresses ex-

treme anger and sadness that the audience can relate

to, making the viewers sympathize with the character.

The special effects of the movie are also incredi-

ble. Bella's portrayal when she is pregnant is just as I

had imagined while reading the novel. Her face has

black creases everywhere, she loses a great amount of

weight, and her stomach is completely bruised. At one

point, I was even disgusted by her because the make-

up looked so natural.

In another scene where Bella is becoming a vam-

pire, venom is shown spreading throughout her body

and revitalizing her into a completely different person.

Her hair turns light, her skin regains its color, and all

her scars and bruises heal. These changes happen

quickly in one shot, leaving the viewer mesmerized.

The soundtrack was notable as well, as it effec-

tively enhanced the emotional aspect to “Breaking

Dawn: Part One." The song used for the wedding

scene, for instance, is the same one used in the first

film during Bella and Edward's first dance.

Incorporating “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”

by Iron and Wine as their wedding song was a great

idea that fans definitely noticed and enjoyed. There

were also some instrumental songs that stood out be-

cause, once again, the melody was taken out of the

first movie's soundtrack and combined with the new

music.

Since “Breaking Dawn: Part One” is the second

to last movie, there are flashbacks from the other

movies put together to summarize Bella's struggles in

her life. The last scene contained memories that re-

mained from her "human life" that symbolized the be-

ginning of her new life as a vampire.

“Breaking Dawn: Part One” is a movie you’re not

going to want to miss.

Source: Summit Entertainment

Breaking Dawn breaks expectations

Source: Virgin Records


How do you twirl flags, run

your senior class, deal

with school, and fit in

time to eat, sleep, and study? It’s

impossible.

Rather than doing everything

at once, one must find a way to

balance everything out. This

sounds like a difficult task to ac-

complish, but senior Wenona Car-

los has managed a way to make

this her daily routine.

A regular day for Carlos

involves waking up at 6:15 after

"clicking the snooze button six

times," getting ready for practice

at 7 in the morning until second

period, after which she carries on

her day at school, finishing off

with something to do related to ei-

ther school or errands.

At home, Carlos sleeps from

the time she comes home until

midnight. Then she wakes up and

finishes her homework. If she has

any extra time left over, she drives

to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and

runs early in the

morning.

As pep flag cap-

tain, she must moti-

vate her team to

work hard, practice

hard, and strive to

win this year’s na-

tionals, which is set

during April.

Carlos joined

pep flags her fresh-

man year and stuck

with it until her senior

year. She joined because it

seemed like an active and enjoy-

able sport to be in.

With her stay in pep flags,

Carlos has learned to work well

with others and perform in front

of a huge crowd.

“She’s really patient with us

even when things get frustrating,”

varsity pep flag teammate Sarah

Shin (’13) said. “Not only does

she understand our problems, but

she goes out of her way to help us

despite her busy schedule.”

When her teammates need

her, whether it is emotionally or

financially, she’s there for them.

“She demonstrates the quality

of a true captain, which is why I

admire her,” Shin said. “She’s like

a big sister to us.”

In addition to her teammates

appreciating her company, her

coaches also admire her dedica-

tion.

“She’s everything we look for

in a captain,” assistant coach

Anita Bacon said. “She makes

sure everyone is working hard;

her attitude is strict but fair.”

Being in pep flags for so

long, Carlos has made numerous

memories with her team.

“The most memorable expe-

rience in flags for me is going to

nationals and performing in front

of a huge audience,” Carlos said.

As the USA Nationals at the

Anaheim Convention Center ap-

proaches, Carlos and her team are

motivated to win first place.

This year’s routine consists of

the original one flag and two flags

in which the team uses only one

flag for one show and two flags

for the other show. This routine

placed them third last year during

nationals and second during fi-

nals.

“I really want us to be in the

top three this year, and if we work

really hard, finish in first place,”

Carlos said.

To add to her impressive re-

sume, Carlos

also attended

t a e k w o n d o

practice when

she was

younger.

T a e k -

wondo, being a

Korean martial

art, combines

combat tech-

niques, self-de-

f e n s e ,

exercises, and,

in some cases, meditation. After

three years of training, she earned

her black belt at the age of 14.

"To be honest, it’s hard at

times to manage everything be-

cause I am a procrastinator," Car-

los said, "but I work well under

pressure."

As the ASB senior class pres-

ident, Carlos must be on top of

everything—nothing can be sub-

par for her. As well as monitoring

the acts and events of her flag

team, Carlos must also make sure

that the senior class is up and ac-

tive.

“She is a phenomenal, charis-

matic, outspoken individual who

shows the qualities of a great pres-

ident,” ASB adviser Edgar Melik

Stepanyan said. “When she talks,

people listen.”

Other ASB students also ad-

mire her enthusiasm.

“She motivates me to be

more spirited and involved to-

wards all the events,” said fellow

ASB member Hilary Noori (’12).

With such a busy but produc-

tive schedule, Carlos makes time

for family during the weekends.

“I usually go out to eat with

family and spend some quality

time with them,” Carlos said.

Although all of these activi-

ties may seem stressful and over-

whelming, Carlos does not regret

her choices.

“I would rather be busy than

just be sitting around and doing

nothing,” Carlos said. “I know my

choices will benefit me and my

future.”

Sports

Moving away

from tradition

In Edward’s

EDWARD NADURATA

Defense

For many years, our

school’s administra-

tors and sports offi-

cials have been talking about

transferring leagues from our

current Pacific League to a

“lesser” division, the Rio

Hondo league. And this time,

it seems clearer than ever.

One big problem with

the teams in our school is the

participation among the stu-

dents. The football team had

no chance of substituting

players during games be-

cause they did not have

enough players to do so. Un-

like other teams that had 50

players or more, we had 26

this season along with many

players getting kicked out of

the team for a plethora of

reasons.

Since many of the

schools in the Rio Hondo

league have the same number

of players, the odds of win-

ning will be greater.

One of the biggest things

I am concerned about is

BGD.

The second game against

Glendale is the big home-

coming game and Glendale is

in the Pacific League. If we

switch leagues, the first pre-

season BGD becomes the

homecoming game, breaking

away from tradition and basi-

cally discarding the many

festivities each class prepares

for during the weeks before

the usual November game.

There are also only six

teams in Rio Hondo, which

means that there are fewer

spots open for our team to

enter playoffs.

Note that all our school

teams would be switching

leagues, not just football.

What can happen to our ever

so successful water polo

team that is basically domi-

nating our league? Can their

record change because of our

move?

Before we move leagues,

we need to see that winning

isn’t everything.

Before us is one of the

longest standing cross-town

rivalries in California history

and all of this can go away in

a heartbeat if the school de-

cides to move.

Is it all worth the move?

Is a win greater than tradi-

tion?

Carlos twirls her way to the top

AN UONG| TORNADO TIMES

TWIRLING: Carlos cheers for the football team Nov. 10 during the

annual homecoming game against Glendale. Besides from being a dance

captain she is also the senior class president has a black belt in taek-

wondo.

She’s everything

we look for in a cap-

tain. She makes sure

everyone is working

hard; her attitude is

strict but fair.

-Anita Bacon

“

”

PAUL HONG

Novemeber 22, 2011Tornado Times

SPORTS 11

With the $39,800 that

Major League Base-

ball (MLB) awarded

the school’s baseball program last

January, the team purchased in-

field soil, grass seeds, two new

batting cages, new equipment,

new purple uni-

forms, a pitching

machine, and out-

field dirt.

B a s e b a l l

Coach Joe Cotti

applied for the

grant back in Au-

gust 2010 through

the Baseball To-

morrow fund, a

joint initiative of

MLB and the

MLB Players As-

sociation that promotes the

growth of youth participation in

baseball.

After representatives from

MLB had visited the team and in-

spected their equipment and field,

the baseball team had to raise

$39,800 in order to receive the

MLB’s donation through the

matching grant, a grant that re-

quires the recipient of the grant to

raise the same amount of money

as they will be receiving, which

would total nearly $80,000.

After months of hard work

selling sponsorships, snacks, and

holding a summer training camp,

the baseball team was able to

reach its intended

goal in January.

Receiving the

grant relieved

many of the play-

ers and, most im-

portantly, Cotti

himself.

“It was not a

piece of cake,”

Cotti said. Accord-

ing to Cotti, he

had to write a 40-

page application

that took days to complete and

weeks for approval.

Despite this, the baseball

program has been able to thrive

due to support from various spon-

sors and families of the team. The

grant money not only helped the

team revamp their equipment and

field, but also heightened their

spirits. It motivated them to work

even harder at fundraising and

honing their skills to make it to

playoffs.

“With our new replacement

equipment we’re able to practice

harder and more effectively,”

player Tim Gneier (’13) said. “It

helped our varsity team make it to

the CIF playoffs this past year.”

According to player Thomas

Alchermes (’12), the old field did

not have green grass and it con-

tained crab grass and weeds on

the edges. The outfield dirt was

unevenly leveled which posed a

problem for the players because

there was a greater possibility of

injury. Much of their old equip-

ment was worn down. The old

uniforms used to be blue and

were so old that some buttons

were missing.

This is the first year the base-

ball team will be playing during

the winter. Tryouts were held last

week.

“We’re going in the right di-

rection,” said coach Cotti regard-

ing the players’ progress. “It takes

not just financial support, but also

individual support and the sup-

port of the school. We’re not

going to give up.”

MLB grant used for improvements

When thinking of com-

mon ways to spend

your 60th birthday,

running a triathlon is not one of

them, except in the case of Eng-

lish teacher Deborah Fox.

For the last month, Fox has

been doing just that preparing for

“The Turkey Triathlon” next

Sunday at Bonelli Park in San

Dimas.

The first of the three-part

Triathlon is a half-mile swim.

Fox has been swimming for

25 years and used to swim almost

every day during her younger

years.

“I grew up in Southern Cali-

fornia so body surfing and swim-

ming was something I grew up

with,” Fox said.

Her love of this sport was so

great that she even swam through

her pregnancies up to a week and

even a day before she went into

labor.

The second leg of the

triathlon is a 14-mile bike ride. In

preparation for this, she is cy-

cling up to 11 miles daily. Fox

wants to get to at least 14 miles

before the triathlon.

The final part of the race

consists of a 14.5 mile run.

Preparing for this portion of the

race has been the only bump on

her road to success, according to

Fox.

One night, as she was out

training for her run, she fell and

broke her arm. This injury

“made it hard” for her to con-

tinue training. It especially inter-

fered with her swimming

practices, but she did not let up.

“I think it’s really cool that

she wants to do it,” Hayley Black

(’13) said.

Fox likes to think of “The

Turkey Triathlon” as “The Alu-

minum Woman” because of how

much strength it would take her

to actually complete the triathlon.

“I’m extremely proud of my

mother for setting a goal for her-

self and working hard each day

to achieve it,” daughter Rebecca

Fox said. “She really wants to

prove that she’s a ‘tough

cookie.’”

Fox has wanted to partici-

pate in a triathlon since she was

20 years old. She considers it a

form of “challenging herself.”

She had run races before, such as

the Los Angeles 10,000 meter

race, but nothing as intense as the

upcoming triathlon.

Finishing first or last is not

what is important to Fox. What

is important to Fox is the accom-

plishment of finishing.

FOX RUNS FREE

STEVEN LEE

ANI KIRAKOSYAN

English teacher Deborah Fox joins “The TurkeyTriathlon” as a way to celebrate her birthday.

The Three Parts of a Triathlon1. Half Mile Swim2. 14-Mile Bike Ride3. 14.5 Mile Run

TRIATHLON: English teacher Deborah Fox poses before going biking

around her neighborhood as preparation for “The Turkey Triathlon.”

Fox has been wanting to participate in a triathlon since she was 20 years

old.

Courtesy of Deborah Fox

BASEBALL: Kevin Mendoza practices for the team’s pre-season winter

games on the reseeded baseball field. In order to receive the grant that

MLB offered, the team had to raise and match the $39,800 that was of-

fered.


The baseball team received $ 39,800 from MajorLeague Baseball for improvements including newbatting cages.

With our new re-

placement equip-

ment we’re able to

practice harder and

more effectively.

-Tim Gneier (’13)

“

”

= 29 Miles

12 November 22, 2011Tornado Times

ADS

2011 November Issue

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