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May 2013 - Volume 22 -Issue 7 - Sonoma Valley High SchoolGalley NewsBy Chelsea Krause and Brooke Slack
Recent Crimes Recently, there was has been an increase in citywide violence re-volving around two specific events with the connection of a 17 year old boy. On March 29, a hate crime was committed against an openly gay 18 year old male. The group of suspected gang members began verbally assaulting him with offen-sive names regarding his sexuality. One of them began to physically as-sault him and other soon joined in. Two of the victims friends posed a distraction giving the victim enough time to escape, but his wal-let and phone were stolen. Follow-ing this assault, on Friday, April 5, ten shots were fired near Taco Bell at Maxwell. However neither the gunman or civilians were injured. Two boys were arrested for these crimes
No Name Break- In Over the past few years, the No Name has provided students with a safe environment to eat, study, and socialize. The campus cafe was broken into, by violently breaking a window to enter, on Sun., Apr. 21. This vicious s attack caused physical and financial damage to the facility. The teen center was affected by the $800 that was taken from the cash register. The No Names profit ben-efits the teen center of Sonoma Val-ley, whose budget greatly decreased after this incident. The money, which used to be held over the weekend in the cash regis-ter is now being held in a safer envi-ronment. In order to prevent another break in, the Teen Center is planning to install security cameras. Also a new alarm system and safe may be purchase to increase the protection. The disturbance was directly handed over to the Sonoma police, explained Jodine Taylor, the manager of No Name. They are currently in-vestigating the incident and hope to pinpoint suspects. Evidence, includ-ing fingerprints were taken, noted Taylor. These clues will assist the police in finding the robbers, and will regain peace on the SVHS campus. Although SVHS and the Teen Center were damaged due to the disturbance, solutions are be-ing put into effect to halt further break ins.
Dragons TaleMrs. Hawing, new principal
Prom Royalty, pg 8
By Chelsea Krause and Brooke Slack
Mrs. Hawing, has been select-ed to fulfill the principal posi-tion at SVHS for the upcoming school years. Over the past few months, SVHS has been in search for a new prin-cipal to take over for our intern principal, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. Candidates from all over state applied for the job by first fill-ing out a resume to reveal their qualifications, known as the paper screening process. After the re-sumes were submitted, they were reviewed and narrowed down into the candidates most fit for the job. They were then invited to inter-views on the campus of SVHS.
The interviews was an extensive process. For example, they had to simulate a teacher evaluation con-versation and perform a variety of job oriented tasks. The best interviewees moved on to second round of interviews which were ran by four commit-tees. The committees were di-vided into parents, staff, students and community panels. The superintendent then made their decision and recommended the Mrs. Hawing for the job. Mrs. Hawing completed each task thoroughly, receiving the job as principal. Her contract will start this sum-mer and will be welcomed by the students in the fall of the 2013-14 school year. Photo courtesy of Sopfa Jeremias
Her favorite part of working in high schools has been interacting with the students themselves. Witnessing the raw potential in students is truly magical, Fitzpatrick recalls. Fitzpatrick loves to travel and will be doing so when she retires. She already has a trip planned to the South Pacific and hopes to one day visit the Galapagos Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. Although these teachers are retiring, they plan to revisit the school and the students.
Fond farewell to faculty favoritesBy Chelsea Krause and Brooke Slack
This spring SVHS says goodbye to four important, members of our community. Ms. Crews, Mr. Ly-ons, Mr. Tuttle and Ms. Fitzpatrick will be retiring after a long and memorable career in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. Mr. Lyons will be saying goodbye after an unforgettable 26 years teaching in the English department. When he first started teaching back in the fall of 89, Lyons taught English to mostly lowerclassmen, but then proceed-ed to educate upperclassmen and has been doing so since 1992. When asked about his favorite part of teaching English, Lyons reminisced about teaching Ham-let to his seniors. He recalls that his most memorable part of teach-ing was when a student really connected to a book, and gained something from his teachings. Lyons plans to travel when he retires but wants to remain fairly present in the SVHS community. He is head of the WASC accredi-tation committee, which will have him at the school at least one day a week next year. Another beloved teacher, Mrs. Crews, will be retiring along with Mr Lyons. Mrs. Crews has been committed to SVHS for 37 years teaching a variety of subjects. When she first started, she taught English and reading, but then began to teach Home Economics. With the changing times, Home Economics even-tually turned into Living Skills,
a class still being taught. Fi-nally she settled into Foods and Nutrition and Culinary Arts in 1998. Mrs. Crews remarks on her students as never dull. When asked about what she would miss in retirement, Crews replied that she looks at each new day working as the Culinary Arts teacher as a new adventure. Eventually, it becomes your identity. Mrs. Crews, Culinary teacher. Its who I am. When she retires, Mrs. Crews plans to spend time with her six grandchildren and her aging parents. I have a sort of interesting hobby, Crews con-tinued with a chuckle, I like to buy, fix, and resell house boats. Crews also enjoys gar-dening and volunteering. Crews plans to travel, espe-cially to the Mediterranean, where she has already planned a trip for this summer. Out of all the useful information her students can gain from her class, Mrs. Crews hopes that her students give their very best in all that they do and strive for greatness. Another Sonoma favorite, Mr. Tuttle, will be among the list of teach-ers who will be ritiring this spring. Tuttle has been teaching at SVHS for 22 years, teaching P.E., Woodshop, and Art. Tuttles most favorite sections to teach in Art are painting and ceramics. In response to a ques-tion about his most memorable experience, Tuttle replied that he enjoys watching sudents dis-
cover something about themselves through art. When Tuttle retires, he plans to pursue his own art, travel (to Mex-ico, Humboldt, South America, and Spain), immurse himself in nature, and love and appreciate his wife of 40 years. When SVHSs ex-principal, Dino Battaglini, resigned, Lynn Fitzpatrick took over as the interim principal until a permanent one was selected. Fitzpatrick has been an educa-tor for 35 years, and has been a part of the SVUSD for three years.
Photo courtesy of Sofia Jeremias
Valedictor ian & Salutator ian, pg 3 Sonoma Film Festival, Online Golf & Sports Update, pg 7
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Opinion-Editorial
Dragons Tale Page 2 May 2013
By Jesse Summers Against the years of struggle for civil rights, the recent push for equal rights for gays, includ-ing the right to marry, would seem to be a natural next step in the evolution towards so-cial equality. But in fact, the debate rages on in national media. For many high school stu-dents struggling with sexual identity and acceptance, the fu-ture remains uncertain. For stu-dent athletes, openly gay role models have been few and far between, particularly in profes-sional sports such as football, basketball and baseball. Of the nine million people who tune in to watch the popu-lar television series Glee a show about William McKinley High School students com-peting in the Glee club while dealing with relationships, and issues with social and sexual status among their peers the appeal is mostly to teenagers. The popularity of the program Glee testifies to the desire to see openly gay characters participating in mainstream activities, and not as silent, marginalized outsiders. Glee focuses on the high school song and dance club whose members range from football players to nerds to an openly gay student with a heart set on a career in theater. Despite their apparent differences, the students share a common goal: winning the sectional competi-
tion. Regardless of Glee Club members social and economic background (ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) they must re-spect their various differences and honor what each person brings to the final performance in order to achieve this goal Even while Americans strug-gle to define normal sexual-ity, the characters in Glee are instantly recognizable; audi-ence members see themselves in the triumphs and failures of each individual. But real life seldom offers simple resolutions. Recently Jason Collins, a 12
year NBA center, publicly came out as a homosexual in an ex-clusive interview with Sports Il-lustrateds Franz Lidz. While statistics indicate that there are currently more gay athletes in America, Col-lins holds a place in history as the first openly gay athlete. Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, says Col-lins, but its a good place to start. It all comes down to ed-ucation. Ill sit down with any player whose uneasy about my coming out. As expected, Collins is fac-ing disapproval from players
and reporters in the world of the Big Four of sports (Foot-ball, Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey). Most notably ESPN analyst, Chris Broussard, con-demned Collins revelation of homosexality, calling it an open rebellion to God. Collins, a man of faith, says, I take the teachings of Jesus seriously, particularly the ones that touch on tolerance and understanding. On the other side, Collins has received massive amounts of support and love from fam-ily, friends, fans, and even President Obama. Players from around the league have expressed the re-spect they have for him break-ing the barrier. And this support seems to be just the beginning. Jason is going to make a huge impact on a lot of people, especially young people, not only to speak their minds but to come out, said sixteen-year NBA veteran Steve Nash, of the Los Angeles Lakers. Collins is not the first African American to break boundaries. Like Jackie Robinson, Collins will open doors for openly gay athletes, both male and female, of any and all colors. Collins, as well as the Glee club members at William McKinley High School, are role models for this genera-tion. Like the Glee club di-rector Will Schuester, Collins says, A lot of ill feelings can be cured by winning.
By Javia Headley Over the years, Disney has capti-vated the masses, lured in millions of children, and found a special place in hearts worldwide. However, while Disney has been appealing to our need for fantasy, true love, and magic, it has also been covertly placing subliminal messages into our minds. According to an article in the Illinois Periodicals On-line, Two hundred-forty mil-lion people have seen a Disney movie and 800 million people have read a Disney comic book or magazine. Disney reaches more children than any other animated movie company. But what exactly do these Dis-ney movies teach us? Most parents wouldnt think twice about allowing their chil-dren to watch the latest Disney movies. Why should they? Disney has been the source of entertain-ment in families for generations. The fact is Disney does pose a psychological threat to those who watch the movies. These movies have been found to contain subliminal messages that hypnotize and condition the mind of children starting from a very young age. Subliminal messages, messages that are registered by your sub-conscious but not by your con-scious mind, have been a prob-lem for years. While the use of subliminal messaging, according to BBC News, has been banned since 1958, it is still practiced. Many of these subliminal mes-sages are found to be either nega-tive or sexual often hypnotizing the viewer to buy a product. In Disney movies, sexual subliminal messages have been found. A study done by Bowling Green State University has found
that movies such as Aladdin, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid contain a variety of pornographic images, the most prominent being the stars in The Lion King spelling out the word SEX. Most of these sexual messag-es appear in the newer Disney movies--which may or may not attest to the fact that the younger generations have become more sexualized in the way they talk, dress, and carry themselves. The older Disney films such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Dumbo (1941), and Peter Pan (1953) contain subliminal messages that are more attuned towards racism. Ben Joseph, a writer of com-ics and cartoons, has studied these older disney movies to find the racist subliminal mes-sages. Remember Sebastian the Ja-maican Crab from The Little Mermaid? He teaches Ariel that life is better Under the Sea, because underwater you dont have to get a job. This places the misconception that Jamaicans are laid-back and lazy into the minds of little children. As if that isnt bad enough, there are the blackbirds from Dumbo who sing Id be done seen about everything/when I see an elephant fly! Not only are they voiced by a white man doing his best imitation of a black voice, the lead is nick-named Jim Crow. An argument can be made that Disney was just trying to expand its horizon--it was trying to in-clude characters that are not the stereotypical white American male. However, it is evident that by using names such as Jim Crow and stereotypes such as the lazy Jamaican, Disney is subconsciously implanting racist
B e w a r e o f t h e u n s e e n p o i s o nthoughts and ideas into the mind of children. Disney is not just mocking blacks--its mocking American Indians too (as seen in Peter Pan)! While Disney is prodding at our subconscious with racist and sexual ideas, it is also cleverly disguising terrible life lessons as morals that will make children successful. Tricia Psarreas Murray, who is currently working to get her M.A. in English at the New York Insti-tute of Technology, has studied Disney movies and has come to find that the values behind Dis-ney movies are so flawed that anyone who tries to learn from a Disney flick is bound to become psychologically scarred. She studies the classics such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Little Mer-maid and The Lion King. Each seems to have its own deep meaning meant to carry a child through life. However, with a closer look, she found that the ideas be-hind these mov-ies are some-what scary. Look at Beau-ty and the Beast. It seems to be a relatively harm-less film. In fact, the SVHS drama department just put on the theat-rical version of this film. What seems to portray is the golden rule--do unto
others as you would like them to do unto you--it also shows that the abusive hostage takers are all princes in the end or at worst a Stockholm syndrome of a hostage. So, with all the hidden mes-sages in Disney films, the ques-tion is, Are Disney films worth watching? Sure, they are a great source of entertainment, a good distraction for kids, and timeless movies we can watch again and again, but they are also poisoning our minds and our generation. Parents should not allow, or, at least censor, the Disney products that they allow their children to watch. Undoubted-ly, these movies are the poison-ous apple that Disney is beck-oning children to bite, and, in the end, a poisoned mind isnt worth missing out on a few childhood memories.
Art by Javia Headley
By Sofia Jeremias
Wikipedia, created in 1993, is a large online database that consists of 39 million regis-tered users and is familiar to the majority of internet op-erators. However, unlike most online data bases Wikipedia is interactive and the information on the site is provided by its members. This policy of allowing any registered user to edit its pag-es has resulted in the entry of numerous controversial pages ridden with slander, including, but certainly not limited to, sexism. Wikipedia, like most mediums available to the pub-lic, has suffered its fair share of prejudice. In its most recent debacle fe-male American novelists were put into a sub category, while male American novelists re-mained in the category simply entitled American Novelists. The failure to completely dif-ferentiate male and female authors has led many female writers moved to the Female American Novelists section to express their outrage. Amanda Filipacchi, one of the the female writers moved to the subset, wrote in the New York Times that she believed that this most recent change in Wikipedias interface was a direct reflection of the way women are viewed and that (its) things like this that make it harder and slower for women to gain equality in the literary world. In many ways Filipacchi is right, moving women to a sep-arate category does imply cer-tain prejudices and affects the way women are viewed. Such minor changes to a webpages infrastructure can adversely af-fect the way that humans view each other. However, hoping that those users are starting to get the point is like hop-ing that all prejudice and sex-ism will be eliminated simply because of a few angry articles speaking out against it. Wikipedias prejudice has been a continuous problem, not simply a resurgent one. In 2005 the entry for Woman was riddled with derogatory terms that were unparalleled to the entry for Man. This problem was solved through debate over the pages forum and the terms were eventually moved to the Misogyny subsection. If women are angered by Wikipedias recurrent sexism, which they should be, they must also be the ones to make an effort to curb such bias. Ac-cording to Forbes 80 per-cent of Wikipedias editors are young, white, child-free men. For the duration of Wikipedias existence this has been the case and this gender gap has yet to be remedied. If women truly expect a change in websites such as Wikipedia, then they must take action. Women have to become active users of the online da-tabase if they want to begin to eliminate the prejudice that has resulted due to the lack of di-versity on the website. The great feminists of past ages such as Alice Paul, Mar-garet Sanger, and Mary Woll-stonecraft did not simply write about the injustices of their age, they actively fought against the ideals they believed were wrong. Modern women must take a cue and fight against the phenomena which they find un-just, even if this means simply joining Wikipedia.
Sexism slips into Wikipedia
Art by Sofia Jeremias
Glee & Jason Collins open up the closet
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News
May 2012Dragons Tale Senior Section Page 3
Caught in Thought
What are your plans for
next year?
Marissa Balchinas
Getting out of Sonoma, and all the drama.
Stephen Flynn-Garcia
Im looking forward to learning guitar as a hobby.
Courtney Struthers
Live in the woods of Alaska and bartending.
Brain Hurley
Rolling in the Benjamins and raking in the
skrillians.
Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he plans to study International Econom-ics. What follows, however, still remains unknown. I know that I want to travel and even live overseas, so working at the State Department or with an in-ternational corporation would be ideal, he comments. Griffin Hill, the salutorian of the class of 2013, has a re-
By Grace Bon
Over the course of his four years at SVHS, Connor Griggs Demmin has achieved a record that many would expect from a valedictorian. He has played school soccer for four years, two of them on varsity, as well as two years of varsity tennis. He has taken nine of the twelve AP courses offered on campus, scoring a 5 on all of them. He has worked as a sport editor on the Dragons Tale staff for two years and this past summer, he attended Boys State, a selective government simulation confer-ence held in Sacramento. Despite his academic success-es, Griggs Demmin says it is the connections he made SVHS that he will remember most. I always felt that people here cared about me, whether it was a science teacher or my group of friends, he recalls. I think that is what makes SVHS special - the faculty is genuinely com-mitted to the students success. Next year, Griggs Demmin will be attending the School of
Griggs Demmin, Hill to recieve high honors
Ana Lagunas is among SVHSs most motivated and a c c o m p l i s h e d students. She won the Press D e m o c r a t Youth Service Award in the area of com-munity action and will attend UC Berke-ley in the fall. Her academ-ic resum con-sists of eight total AP classes, and various volunteer service hours. The
Senior Spotlight
cord that comes in close sec-ond. Like Griggs Demin, he played soccar all four years, two on varsity, as well as four years of varsity tennis. Next year, Hill will be attend-ing Stanford University, the first SVHS student in recent history to be admitted to the prestigious school. He will be studying in the Earth Systems Department. I want to save the oceans,
he says. Hills passions are exempli-fied by his internships over the past couple of summers. Two summers ago, he spent a week and a half aboard the SSV Cor-with Cramer student vessel, working as a crew member. This past summer, Hill interned at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center. I really discovered my pas-sion for the environment both here at SVHS and through the opportunities Ive had out-side of school, comments Hill. My AP Biology class with Mr. Neville definitely contributed to my interest. In addition to his academic success, Hill has also excelled in the music department. He has participated in band since his freshman year, serving as drum major b eginning sopho-more year. Last year, he ran for and won Slate, meaning that he spent his senior year as part of Leadership. Go Cardinals! he says with a smile.
Ker r ick Mar t in i s the school s res ident v ideo genius - an exper t c in-e m a t o g r a p h e r and a more than capable m o v i e m a k e r . This year he says h is most fu l f i l l ing ex-per ience was he lp ing the s tudents in Mr. Hansens Video Ar ts c lasses make the i r movies - mos t of which were show-cased in the s tudent por t ion of the Sonoma Fi lm Fes t .
Kelly Brauns first year in college wont be in a university; she will spend it trav-elling abroad. Shes enrolled in Antioch Col-leges gap year program - she will go with a group of stu-dents to India in the fall, with opportunities to travel and intern, earning college credits all the meanwhile. In the spring, her options span across the globe - for three months
list of community service shes done include volun-teering for Adele and Alti-
mira Middle Schools, as well as or-gan i za t i ons like La Luz, Pets Life-line, and Santa Rosa M e m o r i a l H o s p i t a l . At Cal, shell be p u r s u i n g a major
in Integrated Biology - pre-med, and possibly
Ana Lagunas
Jon Tillmon is enlisting in the United States Air Force this year. He says that he chose to do so because its great for e d u c a t i o n , and additional-ly, he can sup-port his family and have a bet-ter life, learn some disci-pline, among other things. Comment-ing on high school, he says its been long, and a blast, a long blast. His fa-vorite memory - Senior Prom.
Jon Tillmon Unlike other branches of the military, the recruitment pro-cess for the Air Force, accord-ing to Jon, is relatively easy.
He has to go through the MEPs, Military En-trance Pro-c e s s i n g , where they perform var-ious tests. Jon is ex-cited for his future in the military I like planes,
he says, and I chose all-air-borne so Ill be in the air.
she can choose whichever country she wants and travel there for her pro-gram, finding internships and seeing
the country and cul-ture of her choice. Additionally, shes graduating high school in three years, a decision she made to gradu-ate with her friends after moving to Colorado and back to Sonoma, leav-ing her a year be-hind. I really like
the people here, she says. Kelly is excited to travel around the world.
Kelly Braun
Kerrick Martin Throughout h igh school , hes done numerous f i lm and v ideo pro jec ts , so many, tha t i t was d i ff icu l t
to f ind one tha t i s h i s f a v o r i t e . Ker r ick i s one of the most ac-c o m p l i s h e d c i n e m a t o g -raphers and m o v i e m a k -ers to be g r a d u a t i n g f rom Sono-ma Val ley
High School . His cont r i -but ions to Mr. Hansens v ideo c lass a re numerous .
Photo By Grace BonConnor Griggs Demin and Griffin Hill, valedictorian and salutorian of the Class of 2017
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Dragons Tale May 2013Page 4 & 5
Feature
S V H S S e n i o r s f u t u r e p l a n sJasmin AcevesBernardo AcostaMarisela AlcalaPedro AlquezadaAntonio AlvarezChelsy AlvarezCinthia AlvarezJonathon AmandoliMatthew AmatoriMason ArringtonMarissa BalchinasJoselyn BaltazarMelissa BarlingMaria BaronVincent BrutonSharmae BryantSiena ByrdDomenic CarafaJose CazaresAustin Cetrangolo Fernanda ChavarriaMiguel ChavezMonica ChavezEmerson ClarosAlejandro ContrerasTaylor CoppleCarolina CoronaMacy Crawford-RobertsMichael DalyKeaton DavisWynfield DavisChristopher DiasAlondra DomiguezSabrina Domitri
Daniel DwyerAriel EncarnacionHeather EspinozaBrian EvansClaudia FariasCesar FigueroaYuritzi FloresStefan Flynn-GarciaSean ForneyWilliam FuscoJennifer GarciaAlexis GiomiShelby GrayAdelia GegoryNicholas GrgichBrianna GrimmVictor GuerreroSelena GuiterrezBrian HurleyMartin Hurtado-VegaOlivia KettlerDonald KrauseLilly LamelzaChristopher LopezZachary LouieGustavo LucasKathryn LyonCourtney MacklingTaryn MakEmilie MarenecTyler MarmadukeKerrick MartinViridiana MartinezSteven McVeigh
Luis MedinaRosy MenaAndrea MendozaAmelia MetzlerSofia Meza PerezGornrawee MitcharoenchaiRicardo MolineroDaniel MontesBanesa Moya VelascoJoseph MurphyBlake MysliwczykLucas MysliwczykJennifer NaidooMichael NorrbomRichard NunezCody OaksOlivia OlsonEsther OrosRaquel Paz-PedroncelliAngelica PenaSuleika Perez-UsherGrace PetersonMaria PonceMonique PowellGiovanna PurecoFrancisco RamirezJuan RamirezHosea ReyesMartin ReyesFernando RiveraDiana RoblesIrma RodriguezAlexandra RomanoAlma Rosas
SRJC
Alejandra BarajasMelissa BernabeJohn BuckleyCristal ChavezNina ChurchAllison CogbillFidel GarciaCassandra GomezBianka Magallan BecerraVeronika PadillaLizbeth RamosErick RendonJaxson StrongMiriam TinocoDiana Vitorelo
Sonoma State University
Cal Poly San Luis ObispoKendall AsheRiley Ellis-ReisAidan LacyMorgan MomsenJonah Son
San Diego State UniversityJamie BallardGrisha Papadin
Humboldt State UniversityJordan BeargStephen MontanoMichaela Shrum
Chico State UniversityWyatt CassellaLeanne WoodsTashi SherpaSarah VaughnJordann Dagner
CSU FullertonCaitlin Ellis
CSU StanislausOscar Aparicio
CSU Channel IslandsBarbara Hodgkinson
UC BerkleyMatt CharlestonArianna MaysonaveHalli DobsonAna Lagunas
UC DavisCaroline KnefAnneliese KochPio Valenzuela
UC Los AngelesArthur Morgan
UC Santa CruzRose GreenbergKyle LandRiley ODonnellGiordi SerafiniLiam Casey
UC San DiegoSebastian AmaraRyland OsborneChase Campion
UC MercedWeston Updegraff
Dominican UniversityKristin Gare
Marymount CollegeAustin Aviles
University of the PacificJanet GonzalesPedro Napoles
Saint Marys CollegeCraig GusseRegina MellingerCierra PercyTsarina Secyugu Claver
University of San DiegoAshley Vail
Chapman UniversityBuster La HayeEugene La Haye
Sacramento State UniversityYeny Lucas
Stanford UniversityGriffin Hill
Santa Barbara City College
University of Redlands
San Francisco City College
Folsom Lake College
Napa Valley College
De Anza City College
College of Marin
Mendocino College
Azuza Pacific University
CSU Northridge
AJ Lemaire
Justin McDonald
Serena Spry
Danielle de la Torre
Kevin Lind
Amanda Martinez
Kristin Broderick
Emily Sterner
Alexis Long-Am
Brennan ColeSelena Vargas
University of PortlandConor JohnstonRory Johnston
University of Washington
University of Kansas
Jessica MarioniGreg Maggioncalda
Benedictine College
University of Montana
Perdue University
University of Colorado, Boulder
DePaul University
Arizona State University
Jessica Johnston
Lindsey Jasperse
Emily Garbarino
Alexis Krouzkevitch
Peter GrayNaomi Haaslevens
Ella Krikorian
Sam Denning
University of Missouri: Lindsey Slack
Kenyon CollegeGianna Biaggi
American UniversityGrace BonRaquel Rios-Gomez
Santa Clara UniversityElizabeth Biersch
New York UniversityHannah Cenci
Georgetown UniversityConnor Griggs-Demmin
Rochester Insitute of Tech.Veronyka Martinez
Northeastern UniversityTali Soroker
UTIPedro AlquezadaChristian CamarenaAugustin Sanchez
Jordan SamsonAugustin SanchezSandra Sandoval-ArriagaEmily SanfilippoMakaela SchraderTrevor SversonDolma SherpaSamantha ShoemakerDustin SloaneRosa SobrevillaFrancesca StornaiuoloMichael StovallCourtney StruthersFlor EsmeraldaSky SwansonOmar TapiaGrant TatumGriffin TatumJonathon TillmonJorge TinocoChristopher ToseJessie TrujilloKeenan TuohyJose ValenciaJordan WaggonerGarrett WalkerHannah WeberJessica WilsonJoseph WilsonEmily WoodRobert WoodworthToay YankManuel YoungAlberto ZacariasAngela Zurcher
Beauty AcademyDiana RoblesAirforceJonathon Tillmon
Marines
Gap YearLaura AmadorKelly BraunLillian DannerAngelica MorganSavannah URen
Luis FonsecaJoseph Cotter
WorkTre ColesJose GarciaBruce HernandezAnesly HurtadoDiego LopezRicardo MejaOscar MirandaEfrain MoyaUlises TrejoScott Wade
University of the UndecidedMadison AnuskewiczDora BarreraMarisa DawsonBeatriz DuranJacqueline EcheverriaJohn Engebreth
City College Stockholm, SwedenBronwyn Todd
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Opinion-Editorial
Editor s Farewell Sandy devastated the east coast, and witnessed the capture of Osama Bin Laden. Weve attended film festivals, parades, dances, games, plays, rallies, and elections. We were here. But its time for us to move on, and while some of us seniors may reflect on these years with fondness, some of us cant wait to get out of here. Some, maybe even most of the lessons well take away from our time at SVHS didnt come from a textbook. They didnt come from the English essays or the math quizzes or the historical analysis. Our lessons came from the experiences we had with each other. Most of us are leaving high school as changed people, and these changes can be credited to the people around us, from our best friends to the people we barely spoke to, from the teachers who taught us how to go the extra mile to the people who challenged us and hopefully made us better. To those of you who will still be in high school next fall, I encourage you to take risks and challenge yourself,
D i s c o v e r i n g t h e r i g h t - c h o i c e c o l l e g e
but know that its okay to take a break sometimes. Dont work simply for the sake of working. Youll eventually drive yourself crazy. Work towards a goal. Take the occasional minute to look around and appreciate where you are in life at this moment. High school, for all its occasional faults, is a special time. To my fellow seniors, thank you for making these years memorable. Im excited to see where the class of 2013 goes, and how we all succeed in our own ways. These four years have been quite an experience that Im glad to have shared with many of you. As you go on in life, I hope you remember these years fondly, and I hope you continue to read newspa-pers (or online newspapers, perhaps) along the way.
Senioritis, an epidemic at SVHS
lot about my time in high school, what it meant to me, how I thrived and how I faltered, and in my reflection I came upon a point I wished to publicly address from the perspective of an SVHS graduating student. Theres an attitude in our community, an ideology even, that there are more chances for success outside of Sonoma (to the tune of $10,000+ a year) than in it. That motivated students or concerned parents should look to private schools as a better option for better college chances, or academic excellence, or even as a drug-safe zone as opposed to SVHS. Coming from St. Francis Solano I saw many friends go on to attend private high schools and I heard many parents tell my parents horror stories about SVHS, the fact that there was An active police officer on campus! seemed to necessitate the theory that drugs and violence was rampant. Looking back on my high school experience now, I can
S V H S c r e a t e s s u c c e s s f u l g r a d u a t e s
Page 6May 2013Dragons Tale Senior Section
By Pio Valenzuela
University: literally, it means an institution of higher learning. It stems from the whole, or the entire body of people that make up a school. Many high school seniors face a difficult question each year: which college is right for me? After a student graduates which university a person attends or where s/he learns doesnt matter as much as the experience gained and the edu-cation received. Whats the end goal anyway? The most common misconcep-tion is that college will get you a better job and a better sal-ary - not necessarily. This way of thinking is so widespread, however, that its nearly become
the truth. Recently, the University of Texas has been the epicenter of pub-lic debate about the very meaning and function of higher educa-tion, according to Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Univer-sities. In the storm of public debate, conservatives - spearheaded by Gov. Rick Perry and nine regents appointed by him, setting poli-cies at the school - are rallying for a change in the way higher
education works. A demand for creating a plan
to run the school with a tuition of only $10,000, expanding online classes, and focusing on
integrating students into the job market undermines the mean-
ing of education. This conserva-tive push means much more than politics; it points to a deep philo-sophical divide. Rawlings puts it: Many of the kids graduating from college these days are going to hold a number of differ-ent jobs in their lives, and many of those jobs have not yet been invented. For a world like
that, whats the best education? Seems to me its a very general education that enables you to
think critically. The countrys institutions of higher learning rank among the best in the world, however, plagued with this divided take on education, students cant thrive. Both students, adminis-trators, and policy-makers (especially politicians) must realize that education is the very essence of how one lives their life. Deciding how the course of someones life will play out is an idea larger than just making college more afford-able, or being in an esteemed university. No, ultimately, universities must be institu-tions where people can learn for themselves how they want to live their own lives.
By Arthur Morgan
New York University was generous enough to fly me out to Shanghai, China this past month in order to visit the new NYU Shanghai campus, which is on schedule to be completed in 2014. Like NYU Abu Dhabi before it, NYU Shanghais goal is to push cultural and educational conven-tion by creating an American university overseas. Currently there are two students from Sonoma enrolled at NYU Abu Dhabi, Emma McGee (2010) and Ben Marcus-Willers (2012). Emma is currently pursuing three minors, including Arabic, and is studying abroad in Argentina, studying Spanish while (you cant make this up) Ben is just return-ing from a U.S. State Department sponsored stage in Taiwan. In the days that accompanied my arrival back home in Sonoma I reflected on my trip and what it meant for my future educational goals, and the decision I would have to make May 1.I thought a
tell you, nothing could be farther from the truth. This year some of my fellow classmates and friends have been accepted to or are attending schools like Stanford, George-town, Washington University in St. Louis, Duke, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and other top-tier research universities across America. These are the same friends with which I took a wide-breadth of academically challenging and motivating courses available at SVHS, and coincidentally, not all available at the commuter private schools in the region. From AP Calculus with Mrs. Wittbrodt, to AP U.S. History with Mr. Gibson, or (how could we forget) AP Eng-lish with Mrs. Manchester and the following year Mr. Alderson SVHS boasts not only AP classes, but also competent, first-class teachers on the cutting edge of their subjects. This isnt meant to take any-thing away from private schools they have great teachers too, I am sure, and advanced courses
available to take. This is a perspec-tive from a student, to prospective students or parents of SVHS, and even the entirety of the valley, saying, Get rid of the stigma, SVHS is one of the best learning environments out there with all the tools and resources readily available to succeed! The bottom line is, if you want to succeed, if you want to be motivated, to be challenged, to take top-quality classes with top of the line teachers, and to have the chance to get ac-cepted to prestigious universities and further your educational goals, SVHS can provide all the steps to get there. Returning from Shanghai, I real-
By Jamie Ballard
This marks my final issue on the staff of the Dragons Tale. Ive
had the unique opportunity to serve as editor-in-chief for two years, and during this time, Ive learned a great deal. In the four years that our class of 2013 has been here, weve seen it all: bomb threats, visits from Congress-men, and the Giants winning the World Series - twice. Weve seen three different principals in our time here, and are watching the transition to a fourth. Weve been there as our school fought for tolerance on campus, and weve been there as the SVUSD budget was cut by nearly 2.6 million. Weve seen the re-election of Presi-dent Obama, watched as Hurricane
By Eric Webber Senioritis is derived from the word senior plus the suffix -itis; which refers to inflammation; however, it has become a part of our language to describe something resembling an illness. While this illness usually fosters itself sometime during senior year, others feel they were af-fected sooner. Ive had seniori-tis since junior year! exclaims John Tillmon, senior. Although this can be seen as something of a frivolous concept, some individuals feel that it is a serious problem that should be addressed. Buster and Eugene LaHaye, both seniors, explained that although we thought that senioritis would not affect us, we have contracted it nonetheless! The main problem is that many
seniors believe that because they have put so much effort into their educational pursuits thus far, they can simply give up a year to pointless fun. Alexandra Kasper, senior, while waving her hands in the air with a heavy aura of sarcastic delight exclaims I have the worst grades in my life right now! Concerns over the neglected year have given rise to the imple-mentation of a Senior Semester in many high schools throughout the country, which allowed se-niors to spend time outside of the school or attend seminars in their specific interests.Peter Gray, senior, when asked how senioritis has affected his year said that Im the wrong person to ask, somehow Im im-mune! For many, it seems, there is some hope after all.
Dragons Tale StaffADVISER - Alison ManchesterEDITOR IN CHIEF (SENIOR SECTION) - Jamie BallardEDITOR IN CHIEF (IN TRAINING) - Javia HeadleyCOPY EDITORS - Grace Bon, Arthur MorganNEWS EDITORS - Grace Bon, Chelsea Krause, Brooke Slack OP-ED EDITORS - Laura Amador, Adelia Gregory, Javia Headley, Sofia JeremiasFEATURE EDITORS - Lindsey Jasperse, Ellen Angeloni, Anneliese Koch, Gianna Monterosso CULTURE EDITORS - Sebastian Amara, Laura AmadorPHOTO & TECH EDITORS - Matt Amatori, Jessica MarioniSPORTS EDITOR - Connor Griggs-Demmin, Jesse Summers, Jacob Little BUSINESS MANAGERS - Connor Griggs-Demmin, Arthur Morgan, Brooke Slack, Gianna Monterosso REPORTERS - Jamie Ballard, Laura Amador, Sebastian Amara, Ellen Angeloni, Grace Bon, Liam Casey, Brennan Cole, Adelia Gregory, Connor Griggs-Demmin, Javia Headley, Lindsey Jasperse, Sofia Jeremias, Anneliese Koch, Chelsea Krause, Jacob Little, Arianna Maysonave, Giana Monterosso, Arthur Morgan, Riley ODonnell, Giordi Serafini, Brooke Slack, Jonah Son, Jesse Summers, Weston Upde-graff, Eric Webber
ized the opportunity that brought me across the world, and the wide breadth of opportunity that awaits me now as I choose what school to attend this fall, is largely in part to SVHS and the education I received, here, in the Sonoma Valley a two minute bike ride from the plaza. As I move away from the valley and onto college life, I feel as if I owed it to SVHS, and the community therein, to give back and share my experiences, and the successes of the class of 2013 as a whole. In closing, you dont have to look far for a great academic option in Sonoma just a look up Broadway, will do.
Graphics by Jamie Ballard
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Sports
Dragons Tale Page 7 April 2013
Farewell, Senior Athletes!
Water PoloSebastian Amara: Dancing in my Speedo at the ralliesRose Greenberg: Playing water polo with my best friends Zoe and Madeline
VolleyballAlexis Long-Am: Beating Analy for the SCL title and stopping their run of 7 in a row
SoccerStefan Flynn-Garcia: Playing in NCS for three years in row
Lindsey Jasperse: Either Senior Night or dancing in the rallies
Football
Jonny Amandoli: Beating Petaluma on Senior Night
TennisStephen Montano: Winning SCL my senior yearLindsey Slack: Learning how to play a new sport I wasnt used to
Baseball-SoftballJonah Son: Hitting back-to-back home runs with Sam MorganJordan Samson: Having Nerf wars at the hotel at the Ukiah tournament
Basketball
Vince Bruton: Senior Night, which came to be known as Vince Bruton Night
Cross Country Track
Greg Maggioncalda:Bus rides with my Johnston boys, Owen, and Alex
Hannah Cenci: When I beat my personal record for the 2 mile
Favorite moments of their high school careers...
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Dragons Tale Page 8 May 2013
Adelia Gregory and Arthur Morgan
Nawang Sherpa and Alexis Long-Am
Danny Montes and Alondra Dominguez
Most Down to Earth
Best Hair
Most likely to be in a fashion show
Sean Hall and Ashley Vail
Stephen Montano
Stefan Flynn-Garcia and Jamie Ballard
Worst Case of Senioritis
Most likely to survive Survivor
Best Karma
Sebastian Amara and Hannah Cenci
We were unable to locate Sean and Ashley
as they wereabsent.
Daniel Dwyer and Courtney Struthers
Most Awkward
Extra FavoritesMost likely to become a Noble Laureate
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Sports
Dragons Tale Page 9 May 2013
Dragons win SCL pennant
By Jacob Little
In a crushing effort from the senior led Sonoma Varsity Boys tennis team, the Drag-ons walked over league foe El Molino by a score of 6-1 to clinch the outright regular season SCL title for the sec-ond consecutive year. A week later, in the SCL singles tournament, the Drag-ons No. 2 singles player and fourth-seeded senior Stephen Montano upset both the first and second seeds in the tour-nament to get first place and claim the SCL singles title. As the last time Ill get to play tennis competitively, it felt great to end on a high note, explained Montano. With all five of their start-ing singles players returning seniors, the Dragons started off the season with high ex-pectations. During the first half of the season Sonoma swept easily past their op-position. But at midseason, without the help of No. 1 singles player Sean Hall, the Dragons slipped to league ri-val Petaluma. The loss only hardened
By Jacob Little
A spectacular first place finish in the SCL tournament from the 3-seeded Sonoma boys varsity golf squad put a dazzling cap on an up and down 3rd place regular season. The Dragons were led by an out-standing performance from sopho-more Christian Ballard, who scored 77 on the 18 hole tournament to propel his team to victory and ad-vance himself into the prestigious NCS tournament. With a team score of 411, Sono-ma slipped past Analy and Healds-burgs 417 and 418 scores. El Moli-no placed third with 426, while Petaluma fell to last place with a 444 finish. To back up Ballard and bring the Dragons to victory were clutch rounds from junior Dario Minatta, sophomore Cyle Gusse, and seniors
Craig Gusse and Justin Crocketts scores of 81,81,84,and 86, respec-tively. Prior to the tournament, the var-sity boys golf team wrapped up their regular season on a high note with an emphatic 218-236 victory over league rival Petaluma. Dario Minatta, junior, and Christian Bal-lard, sophomore, led the team with a high score of 40 each. They were supported by Cyle Gusses 43 and scores of 46 and 47 for Crockett and Craig Gusse, respectively. Despite playing well, Sonoma didnt start the second half of the season on a high note. El Molino managed to slip past Sonoma by a narrow score of 216-224. Sonoma played well and were led by Mi-nattas 42, Ballards 44, Craig Gusses 45, Cyle Gusses 46, and Crockets 48. The Sonoma roster is composed of seniors Justin Crockett and Craig Gusse, juniors Dario Mi-natta, Dante Monterosso, Nicho-
Sonomas resolve. They came roaring back, defeating Piner, Analy, Elsie Allen, Healds-burg, and El Molino in con-secutive games to once more climb atop the SCL throne with a league record of 11-1. In the individual tournament Sonoma was well represented by Montanos dominating ef-fort. Years of practice led into that last tournament, Montano commented. He won his first game 6-3, 6-1, before advancing to the semifinals where he upset the number one seeded Kevin To 6-3, 7-5 to reach the champi-onship game. Playing against the second seed, John Bursick, Montano quickly wrapped up the tournament with an easy 6-0, 6-2 victory. The championship team is made up of seniors Liam Casey, Peter Gray, Connor Griggs-Demmin, Sean Hall, Griffin Hill, Aidan Lacy and Stephen Montano, ju-niors Chris Angel, Magnus Forsythe, Rafael Hernandez and Sachin Naidoo, sopho-mores Kaden Cable, Alex Gustafson, Caleb Horow-itz and Sam Sondheim, and freshman Fabien Metelmann. Helping coach them to their second league pennant was head coach Thomas Byrne. Photo courtesy of Stephen Montano
Senior Stephen Montano returns with a backhand en route to an SCL tourney title
Golf sweeps tournament
Sports Update
With seasons coming to an end, and NCS around the corner, we caught up with some spring sport athletes ready for playoffs...
Baseball13-9 overall standings4-6 SCL
Standout Athlete: Jonah Son, senior, with 28 hits on the season, batting .467
Heading Into Play-offs:With the SCL title out of reach, we have our sights set on NCS and we are deter-mined to get there. Our pas-sion and will to win will lead us to victory. Miles Hagin, junior.
Softball16-4 overall standing7-2 league
Standout Athlete: Amber Rose, junior with 25 hits on the season, batting .581Jordan Samson, senior threw no hitter in 12-0 win over Healdsburg.
Heading Into Play-offs:This year we are a much closer group of players and we have built a strong trust for one another. Despite en-during a painful knee injury, I still feel a part of the team because we all play for each other. Lindsey Rocha, junior.
TrackGirls Varsity: 3-3Boys Varsity: 2-4
Standout Athlete: Edwin Reyes, freshman, posted a 52.37 time for the 400m run on varsity.
Heading Into Play-offs:Even though track is an in-dividual sport, we need to work as a unit and support one another if we intend on improving before NCS, Greg Maggioncalda, junior.
Swimming up to potential
Photo by Jessica Marioni Dario Minatta eyes the green at Sonoma Golf Club.
By Jacob Little
A dominant performance by the varsity Sonoma boys and girls swim teams cleared their opposition out of the water in high-scoring double digit victories. After beating Elsie Allen but losing to league-power Analy, the Sonoma boys and girls varsity swimming teams pro-duced a dominant comeback performance against the com-bined teams of Lake County and Kelseyville. For a small team like Sono-ma, the season has been quite successful. Sophomore Adam Curry remarked, Our team has great unity and weve used it to beat many larger schools. To lead the Dragons against the Elsie Allen Lobos in a lopsided 85-25 victory were first place finishes by seniors Sebastian Amara and Arthur Morgan, sophomore Adam Curry, and freshmen Cian Lacy and Jack Lewis. The Lady Dragons had an even more emphatic victory, winning by a stunning score of 122-8. Sonoma was paced with first place finishes by juniors Madeline Cline, Gina Peil, and Maria Hawings, and sophomores Amanda Gillion and Ella Mighell. After such a dominant per-formance the Dragons faced league power Analy, who fed them the same medicine they had forced down the throat of
Elsie Allen. The boys squad swam well and suffered a nar-row 84-76 loss, but the girls team was even less fortunate and fell by a score of 135-34. First place victories by Am-ara, Morgan, and fellow senior Chase Campion, as well as Curry, Lacy, and Lewis helped keep Sonoma close, but ul-timately were not enough to bring the team home victorious. The girls team had no individ-ual first place performances. The determined swim squads were not phased by the tough defeat and worked hard to both gain solid wins against their next opponent- Lake County and Kelseyville. Led by first place events from Campion, Amara, Curry, Lacy, and Lewis, the boys squad won by a score of 92-62. The Lady Dragons came home victorious thanks to first place performances by Peil and Gillion. Both Sonoma swim teams finished their season in the SCL tournament on May 10 and 11, but the results were not available at presstime. Excluding those already mentioned, the boys team is rounded out by Jacob Paine, Max Shepard, and Rowan Todd, while Jamie Ballard, Ally Cogbill, Annie Green-slade, Caroline Knef, Mari-ela Mendoza, Jazmin Ortiz, Jacqueline Regan, Abby Van Kirk, Natalie Vega, Sofia Wil-liams, Leanne Woods , and Natalie Baker finish the girls team.
Montano takes first in Singles Tournament
Ballard Advances to NCS
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Photos by Sebastian Amara This years Film Festival hosted celebrites, culture, and celebrations.
Festival brings films and fun
By Laura Amador and Sebastian Amara
It is no secret to Sonoma residents what time of year the Sonoma International Film Festival rolls around. Any Sonoman will be able to spot the signs upon entering the Plaza- tipsy tourists, limited park-ing spaces, and of course the big, wooden sign facing Broadway that reads SONOMAWOOD. This year, the Festival kicked off with a showing of the film, Iceman, at the Sebastiani Theatre Wednes-day night. The Student Showcase followed bright and early the next Morning and from there on was a weekend filled to the brim with various films and shorts in venues surrounding the Plaza. This years Film Festival fea-tured over 90 films ranging in genres such as independent fea-ture, documentary, world cinema,
shorts, and a Showcase of Span-ish language films. This five day event took place throughout the heart of Sonoma with its nine ven-ues within walking distance from the plaza. While the Sebastiani Theater has the best show atmosphere with its red velvet seats and butter pop-corn, the best venue at the festival was the Vintage House. Mias kitchen sponsored the Vintage House venue, providing free salad, pasta (including Mias pasta sauce and meatballs), and of course, wine, thus making a ticket there worth far more than one at any other venue. Between the Opening Recep-tion and the Awards Ceremony, the festival featured an array of parties. While the Gala and Latin Fiesta have been customary, this year, the festival organizers got creative, or should I say groovy,
hosting an LGBT Secret Disco Party that quickly became the festivals newest hit. There were also several celeb-rity spottings. Among the direc-tors and contributors to many of the films were more well known actors such as Ray Liotta, Mary-Louise Parker, and Demian Bichir. At the Celebrity Tribute in the Pla-za, Parker and her co-star, Bichir spoke about acting and their roles in the popular television series, Weeds. Having starred in the pre-miere movie, Iceman, Liotta also spoke at the festival, appearing at the Student Showcase for a Q&A along with the director of the film, Ariel Vromen. The Sonoma Film Festival never fails to produce a jovial atmo-sphere that resonates throughout the town. Tourists and residents alike shall wait restlessly in antici-pation for next years event.
by Sebastian Amara The Hunt, a Danish film fea-tured at the Sonoma Valley Inter-national Film Festival, captures the enticing effects of societal prejudice on the individual. Mads Mikkelsen, known for his role as Le Chiffre in Casino Roy-ale, plays Lucas, a small-town kindergarten teacher who finds himself as the target of sudden, mass hysteria. Due to the naive actions of a young girl at his kin-dergarten, the entire community, including his closest friends, ac-cuse him of being a child mo-lester. This film recreates McCarthyism in a modern form that we, as young viewers, can understand. It is not the children who claim to have been molested; their parents make the ac-cusations of Lucas, actions without proper regard for evidence. As Lucas faces accusations of the town, he begins to lose his rights. A memorable scene is
when he faces hardship when he simply needs to buy groceries. The staff of the store maliciously assault him and the scene ends with him meandering away, alone and covered in blood as his best friend deliberately avoids him. While Mikkelsen played Lucas fearful yet reserved and then an-gry while in pain, he gave the film its epitome of a man undergoing turbulent emotions. The film is predictable at times, but its intensity still makes the viewer jump cringe and jump in their seat. In the denouement, a year after the accusations of the town and being declared innocent, Lucas continues to face death threats from the community. A single shot nearly grazes his head while hunting; he knows it is no acci-dent as he looks up to see only the silhouette of the shooter. The conclusion of the film expresses that society will continue to be vindictive regardless of the truth.
Film hunts for thrill and sorrow
By Laura Amador Its not everyday that a high school student is able to use high-quality camera equipment to make a profes-sional-grade movie, but in Mr. Han-sens Video Productions class, it is. Every year, Sonoma Valley High School students take the spotlight at the Sonoma Valley International Film Festival, starring in a Student Showcase that highlights the best short movies made by students in the media arts program. This year, along with the year before, the Se-bastiani Theatre was overrun with eager students lining every row of the crowded theater and yet spill-ing into the aisles. And it is no won-der that the Student Showcase is anticipated with such excitement. Filmmakers in this showing work long, grueling months to produce high-quality movies no more than 20 minutes long each for this annual event. Some may underestimate the amount of work that goes into mak-ing a movie, even one of relatively short length, but Hansens filmmak-ers understand the entire process by the time their movies reach the big screen. Once you get started, you real-ize that there is so much more to filmmaking than just shooting and
Adolescents add pizzazz to the fest
editing, Jen Howlett, Junior, em-phasized. Its stressful, especially because most students have a lot more going on in their lives than just video productions, but in the end, its worth it. The films ranged from sci-fi to suspense, artistic to comedic. Every film reflected the cinematic talents of the youth that are often overlooked without an opportunity such as this showcase. Ariel Encarnacion, Se-nior, even produced his own music for several films in the showcase. I sat down for about 5 hours, replay-ing the video over and over so that I could match the music with the tim-ing and the emotion of the film, he explained. Encarnacion created the music tracks for his own film, Run, along with another film in the show-case, Alive. A total of ( ) films made it into the Showcase this year, with movies created by students in both Hansens advanced and beginning classes. As Hansen acquires more advanced camera equipment for his students, the quality of the films increases. Yet even without the cinematic polish of a studio produced film, as long as there are students who are inspired to make movies, there will be a Stu-dent Showcase at the Sonoma Inter-national Film Fest.
Photo by Matt AmatoriThe screen of the Sebastiani Theatre illuminates before an anxious crowd.
Censored uncovers media manipulationBy Sofia Jeremias Imagine a world where the na-tions largest corporations are the sole proprietors of all news sources. A world where yellow journalism runs rampant and you can trust a respected newspaper to deliver truthful and accurate news no more than you can trust a Vegas slot machine to deliver a payoff. This is the depiction of the dys-topian world created in the docu-mentary Project Censored. The film, created by Doug Hecker who was a former participant in Sonoma States Project Censored, highlights the programs dedi-cation to ending the tyranny of junk food news and maintain-ing a media democracy. Hecker not only informs the viewer of the Project Censored mantra, but of the oncoming wave of corporate run media. The film postulates that the government, corporations, and media are all in cahoots and determined to rid the common citizen of his or her con-stitutional freedoms. However, the film does not sim-ply believe that this oncoming wave is unavoidable, but offers a solution, a solution manifested in the work of Project Censored. Project Censored offers college students the opportunity to search for their own truths and to become their own news sources. Over the past 37 years the program has ac-cumulated thousands of stories in-vestigated by students and expand-ed to colleges across California.
Yet despite the programs dedi-cation to reliable news, one can-not help but amass a good deal of doubt. When faced with shocking headlines such as FBI Agents Re-sponsible for Majority of Terrorist Plots in the United States ques-tions of credibility immediately begin to form. Questions such as who is fact checking these stories, where are students getting their information, and do the facts gath-ered prove the associations and ac-cusations made. These are some of the most funda-mental questions asked of any news source, yet Project Censored fails to answer any of them or alleviate doubts. Certainly the film claims that its organization is compiled of well meaning reporters dedicated to the truth, but such a statement cannot be taken at face value. Project Censored presents an interesting conundrum in which it points fingers at the nations larg-est news sources and then offers itself up as a pure and moral al-ternative without ever backing up its claim. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Tribune may be funded by some questionable companies; how-ever, they also have a policy of fact checking and accuracy that a reader can trace. Project Censored has a long way to go before it can claim credibility and the trust of hundreds of thousands of read-ers, beginning with obtaining facts rather than misguided but well meaning fiction.
Best American Independent Film:
As High as the SkyDirector: Nikki Braendlin
Best World Feature: Blackbird
Director: Paul Osborne
Best Documentary Feature: Terms and Conditions May Apply
Director: Cullen Hoback
Best Narrative Short: Chance of Rain
Director: Phillip C. Wolter
Best Documentary Short: The Flogsta Roar
Director:Johan Palmgren
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Documentary:Living on One Dollar
Directors: Zach Ingrasci, Sean Leonard & Chris Temple
Best American Independent Feature:
As High as the SkyDirector: Nikki Braendlin
Best World Feature:Jackie
Director: Antoinette Beumer
Culture
May 2012Page 10Dragons Tale
Filmfest Awards
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