Jaguar Times

JAGUAR TIMESThe Student Voice of South East High School

Volume 7 Issue 6 March, 2012

INSIDE THETIMES:

In News:

Teen Dating Violence

Alternatives to Truancy and CitationsBy Manuel MejiaEditor-in-Chief of Design

This is the first of a two part story exam-ining absences

When a stu-dent is tardy or ab-sent consistently over long period of time the result is usually a truancy or citation. The response, is tak-ing a new direction towards improving student attendance.“ We have various incen-tives to get 9th graders motivated to come to school,” said Vanessa Ramirez, the Atten-dance Improvement Counselor for 9th grade. “My goal this year it to raise school attendance by 5 percent; last year they had 51.16 percent of students at 96 percent attendance, so I plan to raise it to 56.16 percent,” Ramirez said. She has already. Just this March, she raised the attendance to 58.06 percent. “ These next couple of months are the hardest, where at-tendance [drops] the most,” Ramirez said. R e c e n t l y , Ramirez held a poster contest where Brandon Perez, a senior in the Visual and Performing Arts Small School won. Those who took the time to participate were also rewarded for their interests and efforts by receiving a certificate to receive a burger at In-N-Out. The purpose of the poster contest was to create a new poster that promotes a positive

message to attend school on daily basis. R a m i r e z comes from the Atten-dance Im-p r o v e m e n t Program, un-der the juris-diction of the LAUSD Pu-pil Services. A t t e n d a n c e Improvement C o u n s e l o r s (AIC) were assigned to 25 senior high schools and 52 elemen-tary schools with the low-est attendance rates, those most in need of attendance improvement at the targeted grade level. “By the end of the year the LAUSD goal is to have 66 percent of students will have 96 percent attendance or higher,” Ramirez said. Schools with AIC’s were selected based on last year’s rates of 96 percent higher in (proficient/advanced) student at-tendance in grades kin-dergarten or 9th. One day of counselor sup-port was assigned per every 50 students en-rolled. Of course the AIC being able to stay at SEHS is dependent on whether Ramirez is able to reach her goal and if the program con-tinues to get funded. Ramirez is not the only person who has been working with students to help chronically absent

students. Marisa Gon-gora, a Pupil Service and Attendance Coun-selor (PSA) also deals with chronically absent students. Gongora has masters in social work, allowing her to use her social work skills to work with students who have chronic absences.“As a social worker, I provide advice that can lead to a solution,” Gon-gora said. Each student has a different story and a different problem that contributes to an atten-dance problem. Some suffer from health relat-ed issues like asthma, depression or anxiety while others have wit-nessed domestic vio-lence, had an accident that required bed rest, or even suffered the loss

of a family member. “Depending on the situ-ation [I] figure out what the problem is and ei-ther send them to a dif-ferent school or refer them to a program for support such as coun-seling, daily attendance check, daily homework check, weekly program report,” Gongora said.Although both Ramirez and Gongora are at-tendance counselors, their roles are differ-ent. Ramirez, as an AIC, focuses on creat-ing incentives that will have a positive impact on 9th grade students to encourage them to come to school. Gon-gora focuses on school-wide attendance to help those students in all grades who have

excessive absences. “[I] collaborate with Ms. Ramirez in creating programs and incentives that I normally don’t have time for,” Gongo-ra said. With Ramirez now lending a hand to Gongora with students she never imagined she would reach, they believe the Attendance Improvement Program is well on its way to achieving its goal.

Check out Manuel Mejia’s blog

http://manuelmeji-ablog.blogspot.com/

By Jacqueline W. AldanaEditor-in-Chief of Content

Many students who watched the Kony 2012 video were moved by the information, the images, and the call to action. Watching the 30 minute video left them thinking that they had to make a difference. “The fact that these people are suffer-ing is very devastating and so people should take action to help them,” said Crystal Cabral, a junior in the Tech & Media Magnet. There have been many high schools that have contrib-uted to raising money for Kony 2012 and many students who believe every-one should help in making a difference. The fact that Jason Russell, founder for Invisible Children, took the time to put together the video, made people believe in the cause and in his honesty. “Yes [I believe Russell]. Yes because he has been studying Kony and what he does, and he would not lie about something like that,” said Yasmine Mar-quez, a sophomore in the Health Sci-ence, and Environment small school. The video has impacted a lot of people around the world since it’s airing on March 5. It has received 85,805,833 views and 1,380,668 likes. It has even received a lot of media support through Facebook. Of course, knowing that the internet is full of lies, Cabral and Marquez pursued in researching further on the situation. “I did [research and] I came across many [articles], some for it and some against it, but many were support web-sites and articles that explained what to do on April 20,” said Marquez. After being well informed about what the video proposes everyone to do, Marquez was set on participating in the event on April 20. Aside from doing re-search, Crystal Cabral also took in prior knowledge to come to a conclusion. “I do believe that what he said is true be-cause in many third world countries the government is very corrupt and many people suffer because of it,” said Cabral. Both believed when they saw the video that Jason Russell was trust-worthy and that everyone should lis-ten to him and help make a difference.trust I had in him [Jason Russell] went away. If he was arrested for what they say he did I believe it’s just idiotic,” said Yasmine Marquez. Believing there would be no end to Russell’s embar-rassing outrage Marquez said, “For all we know he can just be a liar who just wanted to be YouTube famous.” Though her conclusion may not be correct many people do think alike. “When I first found out he was arrested I was shocked but I still be-lieve that there are people suffering because of Kony. I still believe it be-cause I know the governments always been corrupt in Africa,” said Cabral. The government not doing as much to begin knowing that Kony was do-ing this tothe people was wrong on their part. Now that it’s become world-wide known they are taking action. “The head of Uganda has now come out and said, ‘oh this is outrageous you know Kony is not in Uganda anymore and I’ll tell you what we are in the middle of tracking him down,’ ” said Cenk Uygur, a host of The Young Turks, in one of his broadcasts. Regardless of Jason Russell’s detain-ment the government in Uganda has taken action to help those in Uganda.

Check out Jacqueline W. Aldana’s blog at:

http://jacquelinewaldana.blogspot.com/

What students think of Kony 2012

By Gritsy Urrutiareporter Being a foot-ball coach, a business man, and a teacher can be hard and may take up a lot of time, but Mr. Carrera has managed to keep his schedule and get everything done. “I plan a lot and organize my week on Sunday to be prepared,” said Car-rera. Being the person he is, it has taken a lot of effort and hard work to do everything that he has done. Many people might think that he might not get his tasks completed because of everything that he has to do, but he manages to get it done. “If anything I get 95% done,” said Carrera. To be the per-

son he is now, he had to sacrifice various things. “It was tough grow-ing up, unfortunately I sacrificed my social life, like partying and hanging out with my friends,” said Carrera. Carrera has had much accomplish-ment and this has made him who he is. “Suc-cess comes from doing something you’ve nev-er done in order to gain something you never had,” said Carrera. Af-ter helping his parents establish business at a young age and going to school full time, he says “I don’t regret any-thing that I have gone through, and gave up at a young age because it’s made me the person I am today.” Not being

the typical teenage boy, he did not complain be-cause he knew that with hard work and school. He would become a successful person. After attending two years of community college at El Camino and two and half years at CSUF, he managed to receive all his credits and obtain his college diploma, with a d o u b l e d e g r e e in Math-e m a t -ics and Chicano Studies. Carrera t a k e s time out of his b u s y

schedule to educate his students and makes them realize what they may confront in the near future. “My mis-sion in life is to educate the youth with knowl-edge that allows them to develop a positive self esteem, confidence, and to generate wealth and careers to live a life of abundance and joy,”

said Carrera. Carrera is a person full of success. His out-standing work has made him the man he is today. Even though he has a lot to accomplish, he man-ages to complete every-thing by the end of the day. Carrera has come far, and has the life he always dreamed of.

Mr. Carrera: Living the Dream

In Opinion:

Disneyland Vs. Six Flags

In Features:

Oswaldo Gomez Strives for Achievement

In Sports:

Baseball season sets goals

In Arts and Entertainent:

Drumline Finals

Onlin

e Now!

Check o

ut www.ja

guartimes.n

et

NewsPage 2

Budget cuts affect Higher Education

Jaguar Times

Editor-in-chief(Content)

Jacqueline W. Aldana

Editor-in-chief(Design)

Manuel Mejia

Managing Editor

Alejandra Aguilar

Section Editors

Sports Editor:

Desiree VillatoroAsst. Editor:

Jaime CarrilloFeatures Editor:

Sergio GallegosAsst. Editor:

Mariana MontoyaSpecial Features Editor:

Alejandra AguilarAsst. Editor:

Monica RodriguezNews Editor:

Breshawna RamseyAsst. Editor:

Richard PerezOpinion Editor:

Diego MunozAsst. Editor:

Oscar BasurtoArts & Entertainment Editor:

Gritsy UrrutiaCo- A&E Editor:

Ashley Covarubbias

Online Editor

Richard Perez

Opinion Editor

Bryan VillanuevaOscar Basurto

News Editor Luis GonzalezAngelica Farris

Features Editor

Melissa MayoralEva Luna

Sports Editor

Alejandra AguilarAshley Covarubbias

Arts&Entertainment

Rosemary Sanchez

Special Features Editor

Jacqueline W. Aldana

Staff Photographers

Jessica IngiguezLuis SantanaAnnabel GonzalezSergio Gallegos

Reporters

Alejandra AguilarDesiree Villatoro Diego MunozAmbrocio AlmanzaJaime CarrilloVanessa NavarroRamiro SuazoChristopher CasillasMelissa MayoralDaniel CanalesJessica IniguezJose DiazGritsy UrrutiaJocelyn RamosJesus NunezEmmanuel DelgadoLeonardo MartinezMariana MontoyaDaniel NavarroRichard PerezJefrey MendezHumberto GurtionMonica RodriguezJacqueline MartinezJazmin Marin

Adviser

Mr. Cottom

The Jaguar Times is generally an eight-page publication produced by the South East High School Journalism depart-ment. The entire student body, the primary audience, receives the paper free of charge to encourge readership and to ensure the showcasing of student journalistc work. The secondary audience for the paper is the fac-ulty, staff, and administration of the school district. Other audiences include members of the local community, other school jour-nalism programs throughout the counrty, and organizations that promote the develop-ment of scholastic journalism. Without their support, the department cannot maintain a high-quality program. The newspaper attempts to inform and entertain it’s audience board, fair, and accurate manner on all subjects that af-fect readers. The publication seeks also to provide a forum for the opinion students, the staff, of the paper, and the faculty, thus encouraging an exchange of ideas and opin-ions on issues of importance to the readers. Although the staff will allow constructive criticism of any part of the paper before publication, final authority for content of the paper rests solely in the hands of journalism students. In accordance with State of California Education Code 48907,

Teen

By Mariana MontoyaReporter

By:Daniel NavarroReporter

Statistics from “Break the Cycle” show that nearly 80% of girls who have been physically abused in their intimate re-lationships continue to date their abuser. Teen dating violence is a vicious cycle that doesn’t seem to stop until it’s too late. Even though the number in teens being in a violent relationship is high there are many things that parents and friends can do to prevent and stop teen dating abuse. “I think that teen violence in rela-tionships can be pre-vented if you talk, and if you are being abused that you let people know” said Robert Jo-seph Neilan, a junior in Justice and Law. The statistics from “Break the Cycle” are high showing that one in three teens expe-rience some kind of abuse in their romantic relationship, including verbal and emotional abuse. Abuse does not start from the specific relationship that the couple is in; it almost always starts at home. If a child grows up in a home where the par-ents argue and there is domestic violence, then when the child grows up to be a teen

he or she may believe it is acceptable behavior to abuse their partner. Teen dating violence is an ongoing cycle that seems as if one cannot get out of. For this reason it is im-portant that friends and family help the abused and report the abuser. “If I had a friend or saw anyone going through a relationship [being abused] I don’t care if they “love them” or not I would report it… no one deserves to be treated that way,” said Elizabeth Serrano, a junior in Tech and Me-dia. Friends can help out by simply report-ing if they see someone being abuse in their

relationship. If you’re a friend of the abused don’t keep silent, tell an adult or a councilor to help. Friends are usually the first to no-tice that there is trou-ble, because their clos-est to the victim, yet parents maybe blind to the situation, because the victim is scared or embraced to say any-thing. Parents need to learn to see the signs if their son or daugh-ter is being abused. “With educa-tion [teen dating vio-lence] could be pre-ven ted…educa t ion goes a long way” said Mr. Islas, the Dean. Some questionable situations that may

signal that something is wrong include; dif-ficulty maintaining school grades- his or her grades may drop, symptoms of aggres-sion- does he or she get angry easily, and signs of depression- if your teen loses interest in things he or she used to do. The most important thing you can do to help your teen is to always keep an open commu-nication, don’t be judg-mental, and take seri-ously your teens early dating relationships.Teen dating violence is a cycle of torture and physical pain. If some-one actually loves their partner and cares for them he or she would

never make the other feel bad and never lay a hand on the one he or she loves. There is always time to stop the cycle…the real question is will you stop the viscous cycle?

Check out Daniel’s Bloghttp://dnpejr.edublogs.org

Check out Mariana Montoya’s blog at http://mmontoya55.edublogs

International High School MovesBy Luis GonzalezEditor Mrs. Sotomayor has con-firmed that International High School will be moving to a new location next year. LAUSD has not yet decided what will happen with the extra space. So, what are some new ideas with the extra campus space? A new pool, new gym, maybe new classes, who knows? “When they [opened] in 2005, we agreed that, [it] would be a continuation school, but that was seven years ago. Many things have changed and there isn’t a lot of money to knock it down and re-build something,” said Sototmayor. Due to the lack of funding ideas are limited as to what can be done with the extra space. Sotomayor has many ideas as to what the space could be used for. Some of those ideas include artificial turf, a real cafeteria, or a continuation school.

California’s higher educa-tion funding has slowly been declin-ing throughout the years, but due to the increase in state budget cuts many universities have become very selective in offering admissions to students. “Officials estimate 20,000 to 25,000 eligible students could be turned away” says an article in the Los Angeles Times titled Cal State could turn away 25,000 students in budget slashing by Carla Rivera. Eligibility is not only based on grade point average, but it has now turned to a race of time, luck, zip code, and academics. Due to budget cuts universities all over California have a designated number of stu-dents that can be accepted into their school; therefore, admissions are be-coming more competitive each year. According to the Governor’s budget summary “From the years 2008-2009 through 2011-2012 the state reduced funding by 2.65 bil-lion General funds to the University of California, California State Uni-versity, the California Community Colleges, and the Hasting College of Law.” As a result not many students will be offered admissions in their school of choice or in any schools at all. It is predicted that a nearly “$200-million cut will occur in the middle of the 2012-2013 academic year,” says the LA Times. This leaves many current and future undergraduate stu-dents with scarce options. “Students that have potential are being and will continue to be overlooked, and it

honestly is not fair because there are many out there who are incredibly smart. Sadly, they have not and prob-ably will not receive any good news,” said Rosa Nieto, a senior in the Visual and Perform-ing Arts small school.California State Uni-versities are currently not accepting as many students because they have become impact-ed. Impacted schools are those who have many students and not enough space for more. These universi-ties do not have enough funds to accept more students than they are designated; therefore many students have be-come waitlisted. Waitlisted students do not have a guaranteed accep-tance in the school at a later date;

it just means they have the require-ments to enter, but due to the lack of space they did not get accepted.

In the years to come commu-nity colleges will also slowly become more selective to en-sure that all stu-dents have an adequate prepa-ration before entering their institution. This means that not everyone will have an equal o p p o r t u n i t y to enter into a

higher education system in California.“Schools are focusing more on the academics because they are raising the expectations for students to make sure they are academically ready, but

I think eligibility also ranges within the area you live in.” says Stephanie Portillo, a senior in the Health Sci-ence, and Environment small school. The area in which students reside in plays a vital role that may determine the schools they may get accepted to. Most California State Universi-ties are giving priority to those stu-dents who live near the campus be-cause housing is becoming limited. Unfortunately next year bud-get cuts will increase even more and students will have fewer chances to be admitted to a public University in California or a Community College. Students will have to work hard to be able to secure a spot in a university in the golden state of California. Only time will really tell what will happen in these upcoming years with the Cal-ifornia system of higher education.

“Officials estimate 20,000 to 25,000 eli-gible students could

be turned away” says an article in the Los Angeles Times titled Cal State could turn

away 25,000 students in budget slashing by

Carla Rivera.

www.jaguratimes.net

Warren Pulley, along with two companions, recently opened up a new business across from campus. OMG is a

frozen yogurt store, where one can go and choose different flavors of yogurt and dec-orate it as they please. They started the new

business in January, before the construction of the barrier be-gan. According to Pulley busi-ness was great, until the bar-rier between the high school and OMG construction began. “Our concern is that we’ll have fewer costumers with this new barrier,” said Pulley. He made it clear how it had been too late to go against the new construc-tion because the city manager had already approved it, and already received the money for the construction. Because he can do nothing about it, Pul-

ley is left to hope that business won’t die out and that people will still go and buy frozen yogurt.

Customers won’t let the median stop them from buying frozen yogurt.

News Page 3

Head coach, Rasheed Tap-scott, is preparing his year round girls’ basket-ball team by getting them ready for the season ear-lier than usu-al. They have started con-ditioning in hopes that they get better and that the strug-gle from last year, the 14-7 overall record is ready to be left in the past. “We look young, play young, and have brought back some experience

from last year,” said Tapscott. Three lady jags from last year’s play-offs

have returned, Jazmine Avalos, a junior of the Health Sci-ence and Envi-ronment small school, Lupe Cruz, a sopho-more in VAPA, and Genesis Car-rera, a sophomore in Business, Inno-vation and Lead-

ership small school. Coach Tapscott is glad to have them back and be-lieves that with the early preparations for season, and the three girls back on

the team, they will accomplish more. Tapscott is ready to take on the season and win more games this year. “This year [the] girls are work-ing hard [and] it’ll be better during the summer,” said Tapscott. Though the teams conditioning has already started, it doesn’t stop there. There will also be practice during the spring, summer, and fall for the upcoming pre-season games, four tournaments, and league games. The girls’ basket-ball team is always looking for new additions and girls are welcome to join during the summer, but they must meet the requirements and team goals. According to Coach Tapscott requirements vary, but to join students

have to be physically healthy, deter-mined, turn in information required from him, and have at least a 2.0 GPA. Fundrais-ing is also a big part of girls’ effort to get better. They are fundraising now in order to acquire the materials needed to enter tour-naments and gain more experience on the court. Some of the fundrais-

ers are selling subscriptions for the L.A.Times, selling candy, shirts,

and receiving donations from different businesses. Tapscott is looking forward to meeting the team’s goals and ac-complishments along-side the girls’ effort and determination. He hopes all goes well for the upcoming games and that the team can surpass past records.

LAUSD along with the other school districts have been accused of using “pink slime” for school lunches. The alleged “pink slime” is made up of fatty meat scraps that are mixed with ammonium hydrox-ide gas to kill E.coli and salmonella. This is said to be bad for any person’s health because ammonia is something that is used in clean-ing products. “ I think it’s gross to

be feeding us pink slime instead of quality meat,” said Gracie Mendoza, a junior in the Tech & Media Magnet. Fortunately, the Deputy Direc-tor of Food Services for the LAUSD disclaimed the accusation. He stated in an email that the LAUSD district uses 100% natural ground beef with no fillers or by products. The Associ-ated Press conducted a test to prove that students were not being fed pink

slime. In the test pink slime was found to not have a very good taste and even contained bits of gristle. Stu-dents can rest assured that LAUSD is not feeding them pink slime.

South East passed the mid-term checkup of the visiting WASC committee who noted that the stu-dent body is very involved in extra-curricular activities and is constantly improving their test scores. “The only recommendation [WASC repre-sentatives] gave was to keep pushing for improvement,” said Mrs. Soto-mayor. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), is a way to check up on schools on how effective the educators are in teach-ing the standards, if ESLRs are being integrated into curriculum, and if the school challenges students. While the WASC visiting committee has now gone, teachers and staff were prepar-ing to have the visit run smoothly. A lot of preparation was put into making the WASC visit a suc-cess. “We did things in groups of coordinators and leadership teams of department and small school

heads,” said Mrs. Sotomayor. These teams were put into focus groups with the information given to them in order to discuss and make deci-sions. Leadership members had also posted the school’s ESLRs in the

halls in order to prepare for WASC to remind stu-dents of their ESLRs. Students felt the impor-tance of the WASC rep-resentatives coming into

the school as well. “Everybody just stiffened up when the [WASC rep-resentatives] came in,” said Cynthia Flores, a junior in the Health Sci-

ence and Environment small school. After the WASC visit, many stu-dents were anxious about whether or not the school would pass. “I [was] hoping that we passed,” said Itzel Perez, a sophomore in the Tech & Media Magnet. The preparations and planning put into the WASC visit impressed the visiting committee. “There were many positives,” said Mrs. Sotomayor on what WASC rep-resentatives thought of the school. The visiting committee observed that the students are happy which means the likelihood of students coming back to school is higher than if the students are bored. While the school has passed the midterm checkup, the next visit will be in three years.

Basketball Coach Tapscott takes control

WASCSouth East passes midterm visit

CAHSEEBarrier built to last

By Vanessa NavarroReporter

By Monica RodriguezReporter

By Alejandra AguilarReporter

By Vanessa NavarroReporter

www.jaguartimes.net

With every passing year, South East’s sophomores have to surpass the previous year’s pass rate for the CAHSEE. When the school

first opened, the pass rate was 60%. Currently, the

pass rate is 80%. Mrs. Soto-mayor sets goals every year for the CAHSEE and each year they’ve gotten higher. With Sotomayor starting the Saturday program as an assistant principal, she fully believes in the program. “It’s in the results,” said Mrs. So-tomayor. Sophomores have also felt that the Saturday classes have helped. “They’ve helped me remember things I’ve forgotten… especially in math,” said Esmeralda Tranquilino, a sophomore in

the Justice, Law and Pub-lic Service small school. With nerves running high for sophomores, many feel

that they’ll be able to get a 380 on the test. “I’m pretty sure I will pass since every person who has

taken it has said it was easy,” said Alexis Salas, a sophomore from the Health Science and Environment small school. Un-fortunately, students will have to wait until the summer to find out if they’ve passed the CAHSEE.

Is LAUSD using “pink slime”?

By Monica RodriguezReporter

Alexis Salas, a sophomore hopes to pass the CAHSEE the first time.

LAUSD has come under suspicion for using pink slime in meat.

“[The school not being accredited] is not going to happen on my watch,” said Sotomayor.

Itzel Perez is ecstatic to find out the school got accredited.

Ms. Sotomayor’s Saturday classes helped Esmeralda Tranquilino feel confident about passing the CAHSEE.

“We look young, play young, and have brought back some experience from last year,” said Tapscott.

Check out Monica’s blog at monicarodrigues.edublogs.net

Check out Alejandra’s blog at alejandraaguilar.edublogs.net

Check out Vanessa’s blog at vanessanavarro.edublogs.net

“This year [the] girls are working hard [and] it’ll be bet-ter during the sum-mer,” said Tapscott.

Photo by Sergio Gallegos

Photo by Sergio Gallegos

Photo by Sergio Gallegos

Photo by Sergio Gallegos

Photo by Sergio Gallegos

Photo by Sergio Gallegos

OpinionPage 4

Spring break is right around the corner and many Jaguars are lookingforward to it. Taking into mind that spring break will only last ten days, will the Jag-uars have enough time to rest and to enjoy? “Spring break should be good for me. I am really looking forward to go down south to Mexico. Since we only get one week, I will be missing a couple of days,” said Edgar Valenzuela, a sophomorefrom the Tech & Media Magnet.While some Jaguars might be traveling others will stay home. “Unfortunately I will be headed nowhere, I am expecting a load of homework for my AP classes. The worst thing about it is that we only get one week off and yet teach-ers give us homework. My cousin who lives in Cathedral City will be gettingtwo weeks off,” said Pamela Pelayo, a junior from the Tech & Media Magnet. Some students feel they need a break urgently, due to school stress and don’t care if they only get one week

off. “I really need a break from school and seriously I don’t care if it’s a week. As long as I’m out of school I’m satis-fied. It’s overwhelming after a while,

too much work gets annoying,” said Neftali Garcia, a freshman from the Justice, Law and Service small school. Not all think that extending spring break is good. “I don’t like spring break, because it makes students come back lazy, and it’s difficult to get them back on

track,” said Mr. Sisophountang, a math teacher from the Tech & Media Magnet. Spring break this year will start earlier, but some Jaguars don’t seem satisfied.

March 30 will be an unas-signed for the Cesar Chavez holiday. “One Day is not as good as getting an entire extra week off. It’s awesome, but it doesn’t fulfill me,” said Cynthia

Rodríguez, a sophomore from the Jus-tice, Law and Service small school. Spring break is known to be important for students because some of

them party, but will Jaguars be safe during the break? “For [the] most part of my spring break I will be having some party time, but I do have in mind that I am a young adult. I will try to be respon-sible,” said Martha Gonzales, a junior in the VAPA small school. The reason of spring break for most students is to enjoy free time off school. Some won’t really have that spectacu-lar spring break. “I would like to have two weeks because right now my parents are

having economic prob-lems, so I will try to help them out by finding a job. In one week I doubt I’ll

find a job. I definitely would like to

have one or two extra weeks,” said Juan Martinez, a senior from the Business,Innovation and Leadership small school. For other students spring break is very important religiously due to the holy week that will take place the same week as spring break. “As a Catholic this week is very important because we have Holy Friday during that week. I will be preparing the whole week with religious rituals. So basically my entireSpring Break I will be in church. I would like another two weeks off just for myself,” said Arthur Sauce-do, a freshman in Health Science and Environment small school.

Is one week of spring break enough?

Students are now given a chance to choose the theme park they want to visit for Grad Night during their ju-nior year. This year many changes were made, seniors preferred going to Six Flags rather than Disneyland. This is unfortunate because Disney-land is the ideal location for seniors. “Many seniors preferred to go to Six Flags. Personally, I would have liked to visit Disney-land, but all seniors have a vote and the majority chose that destination,”said Alexis Gonzalez, a senior in the Tech & Media Magnet. Some stu-dents disagree whether Six Flags is the favorite theme park in the school. The juniors were given the chance to pick the destination earlier this month. “I prefer to go to Six Flags because it has better rides, it is more appropriate for our age, and it can of-fer a better grad night experience,” said Andres Iniguez, a junior in the Health Science and Environment small school. There are some juniors that disagree that Six Flags is the suited place to visit. “Disneyland is awesome. The tradition of Grad Night is to visit Dis-neyland, so what is the point of chang-ing it? It’s obvious that students are go-ing to choose Six Flags for its fast roller

coasters,” said Eleazar Magania, a juniorin the Business, Innovation, and Leadership small school. Some Jaguars feel that Six Flags is for more mature people. “I think that many others want to go to Disneyland because they are [afraid] of the rides at Six Flags,” said Liliana Medrano, a senior in the VAPA small school.Why were the students given the chance to pick the location of grad night? Ms. Che, Magnet and WASC Coordinator said, “The students were given the choice last year because a Magic Mountain rep-resentative came to our school to ask us if we wanted to change the locationof Grad Night to Six Flags. We also did it to give the students more options and more voice.” Overall, the favorite site for this year’s juniors is Six Flags Magic Moun-tain. “The ballots that we already counted indicate that Six Flags is taking the lead,” according to Ms. Barragan, a teacher in theVAPA. Six Flags took the lead once again, which devastates the Disney fans.

Disneyland Vs. Six Flags

The Jaguar Times is both crit-icized and anticipated by many students. Most critics look for grammar, picture quality, and even some sections like comics that aren’t there. Students even notice repetition in stories which can make it boring to read knowing they were already informed in other paragraphs. “It repeats itself in the middle of the story [saying the same thing] just in different words,” said Jonathan Guillen, a senior in the Tech & Media Magnet.Students criticize the newspaper because they notice the staff has made many errors in past issues. “The stories are not interest-ing and the language is simple, bor-ing, bland, and could be better,” said Andres Iniguez, a junior in the Health Science and Environmentsmall school. Students and faculty ex-pect the Jaguar Times to learn from their mistakes, but are let down. “I

probably suggest that you elevate your writing,” said Ms. Lowe, a Tech & Media Magnet English teacher. Lowe said that the Jaguar Times prints too many newspapers and she is left with more than the students need and doesn’t know what to do with them. “I had over ten issues from the past newspapersand I have had them for more than six months.” Lowe uses the extra news-paper as a class assignment so the newspaper won’t be a waste. Even with its critics, the newspaper has fa-vor with other students and teachers. Students and teachers have their favorite section they like to read and be informed by. “I like the movie reviews and how they debate both sides of the movie whether it was good or bad and the drawings that show the creativity studentshave,” said Guillen. Students and teach-ers liked to be informed because it gives them an idea of what is happen-

ing inside and out-side the school. “I like how they write about policies and keep teachers in-formed besides stu-dents,” said Lowe. Even though he is a critic, Iniguez likes the sports sec-tion because it is less illiterate and less opinionated. “I like sports because it is the best one to me because it has the least errors and it is more straightfor-ward,” said EleazarMagana, a junior in Business, Inno-vation and Leader-ship small school.Ms. Che, the Tech & Media Mag-net coordina-

tor, likes the newspaper because, not only is it student based, it has student voices and it represents hard work. Despite all the criticismfrom many teachers and students, the Jaguar Times still pushes for-ward taking into consideration how to catch the attention of many of their readers and improve past mistakes. “The stories are not interesting and the language is simple, boring, bland, and could be better,” said Andres Iniguez.

The most recent solar flare oc-curred in March, but many more will take place. On some occasions the flare

might be strong enough to affect life on Earth, and therefore flares are hazardous.

It is a very serious situation that many ignore, even though solar flares can

strike at any moment. Solar flares occur

when the sun releases a burst of radiation. According to Techradar.com, “Severe space weather such as solar flares can cause disruption to a range of

technologies and infrastructure; includ-ing communication systems, electronic circuits, and power grids.” The solar flares are dangerous because humans

rely on many of the technologies that are incorporated into their lives every day. The malfunctioning of elec-trical circuits and power grids can se-verely hurt the economy. “The majority of businesses such as factories rely on electricity in order to make the machin-ery operate properly, without working equipment nothing will produce and the company will lose a large amount of money. The economy will end up deteriorating; it’s like a domino effect. One falls, the others will end up falling with it,” said Ricardo Chaman, a junior in the Technology & Media Magnet. Solar flares also affect the so-cial aspect by disturbing communication systems. “Solar flares will deeply affect

society because humans rely too much on technologies such as cell phones and internet. Without the service of these

technologies, the people won’t be able to communicate with one another, which will lead to a social depression,” said Fernando Martinez, a junior in the Health Science and Environment small school. Not only do solar flares disrupt

technologies that humans depend on every day, but the environment also re-ceives a negative impact. “If the solar flare is strong enough, a large quantity

of radiation will enter the earth’s atmo-sphere without the possibility of bounc-ing back out because carbon dioxide in the ozone layer traps the radiation. The radiation could then affect the living organisms on earth by mutating their DNA,” said Ms. Gonsales, a teacher in the Justice, Law and Service small school. Mankind is lucky enough to not experience a large solar flare that

will affect all parts of life. The sun is unpredictable, so humans have to be prepared. “[The most recent flare was

weak], future solar flares could cause

worst damage,” said space.com, a website that does research on space.

Jaguars’ thoughts on the newspaper

Dangers of solar flares

By Christopher casillasReporter

By Diego MunozReporter

heck out more of Diego Munoz at:[email protected]

By Jesus NunezReporter

By Christopher CasillasReporter

Check out more of Christopher Casillas at: christopherc.edublogs.org

Check out more of Christopher Casillas at: christopherc.edublogs.org

cartoon by Humberto Gurtron

cartoon by Humberto Gurtron

Newspaper has been criticized for its overproduction. Photo by Sergio Gallegos

www. Jaguartimes.net

OpinionPage 5

Life without Internet

Cursing has been passed on from generation to genera-tion. Most students now have cursed at least once in their life. Some kids can’t go a day without cursing, and at times try to play a “no cursing game.” “I never cussed before and I don’t see why I should start now,” said Carlos Dueñas Cortes, a junior in the

Justice, Law and Service small school. Cortes has learned not to curse because as child his parents would punish him if he were to say a bad word. He feels that it’s okay to curse as long as it’s not disre-specting a teacher or school staff. He says that if profanity is not a problem in the classroom, then it should be left alone. Cortes knows that everyone curses and

hears it, but he chooses not do it and not fol-lows the crowd. Some students use profanity more than oth-ers and for dif-ferent reasons, but people seem to see it dif-ferently. Some may see it as a bad thing, while others see it as a way of relief to some stress. “[I] Pretty much [curse] every-day, but not all the time,” said Sergio Lopez, a senior in the

Health Science and Environment small school. Lopez says he curses whenever he’s mad or stressed. He feels it’s help-ful. He feels if teachers are cursing in class then it’s appropriate for the stu-dents to curse. Lopez says it’s not a big problem in school, nobody curses about serious issues, or as racial issues. He still

feels that it can become a serious prob-lem if everyone curses for no reason. There can be many reasons why kids start to curse at a young age. One reason can be because they have family that curses too much, or as little kids they could have been around their older cousins, who at times use foul language. Sometimes some kids have friends that curse and they just adapt to it. Sometimes parents use profan-ity when they are fighting. Sometimes

they scream and their children hear it. “Early childhood professionals and parents should anticipate children’s dirty language. Most normal children will experiment with dirty words and dirty jokes in the course of growing,” accord-ing to the website, earlychildhoodnews. This website is a professional resource for teachers and parents. Most parents do not accept this behavior from their children, but it is actually normal behavior. In the future children may grow to be teenagers who experiment with these words, then as an adult it’s seen normal. According to earlychildhood, “Some children are positively reinforced by siblings or par-ents for cursing. Hearing racist, sexist, or offensive language may be common experience for some young children.”

In other words, a child being prone to the use of foul language is almost im-possible because it goes on everywhere. Profanity in school can turn into a big problem. Teachers, deans, students, and parents may have at least used profanity once in their life. Foul language is now used in every single way, such as lyrics to songs, po-etry or anything that is entertaining. Schools shouldn’t have a policy on pro-fanity. At the same time it should be reg-ulated as to not cursing to the teachers, or disrespecting anyone. For example, it should be a classroom rule if the teach-ers don’t like it. Mainly it should be kept outside the classroom and it should be during lunch between friends when they are having a normal conversation. When friends have a conversation and use foul language, the school staff should not do anything about because it is among them. School rules, teachers, and deans can’t stop a student from us-ing profanity. The only way to they can stop, is if they make a choice to stop.

Check out more of Leonardo Marti-nez at: [email protected]

The Internet was once known as the ARPANET and was used for communication. Al Gore was the first po-litical leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and sup-port its development, according to Rob-ert Kahn and Vinton Cerf, Co-Designers of the TCP/IP Internet network protocol.“[The Internet] helps me communicate with my family from Utah, Mexico, and Japan,” said Michelle Macedo a student in Health Science and Environment small school. The Internet was used as early as October 29, 1969 in UCLA to try to communicate with Stanford Re-search Institute according to Daniel Wait Howe an expert about the history of the Internet. The Internet today is now used more than just for communication.The Internet today is used for finding

news instantly, communication with people all around the world, and re-search. The Internet is also used for jobs, such as “YouTube” the people who post videos get paid for the views, subscrib-ers, and advertisements. Now people can

listen to music through Internet web-sites. The Internet can also be used to finding directions for a destination. The

possibilities are endless when having Internet even today it is still evolving. The internet is im-portant to many people for their daily lives. Such as in college many classes require the internet for re-search to complete essays or to get the homework assign-ments. Teachers also now use inter-net to post lectures assignments and home work. The students that do not have Internet at home could fall behind in their stud-ies by not knowing what the homework was. Salcedo believes that people should “have access to the Internet because it’s a valuable resource which may be good

[for emergencies].” Internet is used in our everyday life and it would differ if there were suddenly no more Internet. If there was to be no more Inter-

net, “I would feel like it’s a necessity that was taken away,” said Macedo. Some students need Internet in their daily life to be social and communicate amongst

students and family when they are not in school. “Well, if there was no Internet I would probably call or text my family and friends that live far away in order

to communicate with them,” said Macedo. Many people can rely on the Internet mainly for communi-cation “[Internet] is my closest way of socializing with friends outside of school, I would be mis-erably sad if it’s gone because, the Internet is a socializing trend teens use every day,” said Justine Salce-do, a junior in the Health Science and Environment small school. Al-though Salcedo occasionally uses the Internet at home on the week-ends and sometimes in school she mostly uses it to socialize.Some students believe that the “Internet is not that important for many people [because] some use the Internet for games which

should be used for research and for class projects”, said Diego Aguirre, a

student in the Health Science and Envi-ronment small school. Aguirre believes that people rely on the Internet too much “because they worry about Facebook

and other junk.” Aguirre mainly uses the Internet for school work “when I need [Information] about a project.” Sometimes the Internet is not needed for a primary source for research be-cause you can also rely on several oth-ers. Even without the Internet for re-search, doing homework would still be possible “I would ask help from [a] teacher, a librarian or any educated per-son with the knowledge,” said Salcedo.People long before have lived with-out the Internet and some may still not have Internet in their homes. Not having Internet “[would] be hard at first to adjust, but eventually I

[would get] used to it,” said Salcedo.In the community of South Gate every one should be able to have access to the Internet. Not a lot of people have Internet because they can not afford it. McDonald’s and the city of May-wood have free Internet for the public and so should the city of South Gate.

Profanity: is it really hiding?By Leonardo MartinezReporter

Undecisive weather

Hot and cold, up and down, the weather has been fluctuating. The

weather recently has been cold one day and extreme-ly hot the next. T h e “weather has been crazy,” says Hector Rosito, a senior in the Tech & Media small school, “Hot to cold and cold to hot.” The weather is being caused by “glob-al warm-i n g , ” said Travionne Watson, a freshman in the Justice, Law and Service small school. The weather has been “weird, very hot and very cold.” Watson said, “The days [we] plan on running, [we] can’t [because the] track is always wet.” Even though they can’t practice Watson’s fa-vorite type of weather is cloudy.

Everyone has a dif-ferent type of favorite weather, for example Diego Cuevas, a freshman in the Justice, Law and Service small school, has a favorite weather type,

its rainy. Its seems

everyone has been getting his or her favorite weather; it’s been hot, cold, rainy, sunny etc. These weeks weath-er has been going in every which way.

By Oscar BasurtoEditor &Juan Lomeli Reporter

Wind moving trees during rain.

Photo by Luis Santana

Computer with no internet access. Photo by Luis Santana

Photo by Luis SantanaStudents cursing in hallway.

At a USC Annenberg jour-nalism gathering, Konnie Krislock, an authority on First Amendment rights, said, “Your rights as citizens of this country do not stop at the school house steps.” Many students in every school believe they aren’t allowed to speak their minds freely. They believe that because their on school grounds their speech is limit-ed. The First Amendment in the Consti-tution states that “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer-cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” If congress doesn’t have the right to take away any part of the First Amendment then nei-ther does a school. Students have the right to speak our minds freely within the grounds of a government institution, like South East. No one has the right or power to direct otherwise as long as the right is exercised appropriately. Appropriate meaning you can-not us foul and obscene language. As a result a California Student Free Ex-

pression Law was enacted in 1977, which protects “student journalists at-tending California public high schools, including charter schools [which came later], with added protection against administrative censorship. “It also provides protection for teachers and other school staff members against re-taliation for students’ lawful exercise of their free-speech rights,” accord-ing to the Student Press Law Center. According to California Stu-dent Free Expression Law this means that no member of the schools staff can be dismissed, suspended, reassigned, transferred, disciplined, or retaliated against in any way for protecting a student exercising this right. Though the California Student Free Expres-sion Law has been in action since 1977 it wasn’t until 2010 that the teach-ers were protected in charter schools. Konnie Krislock, at the time the yearbook adviser for Orange Coun-ty High School of the Arts, was fired in

2010 from the charter school because she refused to allow administrators to regulate the students’ freedom of speech. And since charter schools were not included in the California State

Free Expression Law at the time Krislock’s rights, as well as the students’ were not recognized. It wasn’t until the Senate Bill 438, spon-sored by state Senator Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, was passed that char-ter schools were included in the law. Krislock understands the meaning of being a teacher and the meaning of the students’ freedom of speech, she said [to Student Press Law Center staff writer, Josh Moore], “These aren’t our fights,

they’re the students’ fights and we’re

the backbone people who stand behind them and say, these are the kids’ rights we stand with them, and for them. ” Students will always have the support of a staff member while exercis-ing their rights. Even if it’s in a journal-ism class where a student writes a report on a tough situation in school or a student in an English class that writes on some-thing the teacher may not agree with. Students cannot be punished for speaking their minds, staff mem-bers cannot be punished for doing their job, and most importantly, they cannot be punished for exercising their rights.

Editorial

www.jaguartimes.net

By Emmanuel DelgadoReporter

For more of Emmanuel Delgado go to: http://emmanueldelagdo.edublogs.org/

For more of Oscar Basurto go to:http://oscarbasurto.edublogs.org/

“Hot to cold and cold to hot,” said Hector Rosito .

FeaturesPage 6

About 12 years ago, there was a four-year-old

girl who watched her grandfather pass away

from cancer. As she grew up, she knew she

wanted to study in the medical field to prevent other people from suffering the way her grand-

father did. That four-year-old girl has grown

up to become who is Maria Davila now. Academically, Davila maintains a rigorous schedule. She is currently taking

four AP courses which are: English Language

and Composition, Spanish Language, United

States History, and Biology. Her other courses

include Trigonometry and Physical Anthropol-

ogy. “Maria is one of the top students in my

class. She’s very determined,” said Ms. Diaz, her AP Biology teacher.

Davila gets support from friends and family whenever she needs some words of encouragement or help. Even though “be-

ing the first and only child, my proud parents motivate me” to do well in school, it’s “mostly self-motivation” that keeps her working so diligently, said Davila. She said that she has always tried to

surround herself with a positive, intellectual, yet fun atmosphere. “Maria has always shown

determination and is very smart,” said Melissa Marcia, a junior from the Tech & Media mag-

net.

Throughout her academic life, Davila has certain goals she wishes to accomplish.

Davila’s short term goals are to do her best in high school, to graduate, and get accepted into

UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and Stanford Uni-versity. As for long-term goals, Davila wants to go into the medical field. In particular, she wants to major in microbiology and pre-med.

As for extracurricu-

lar activities, Davila has made sure that she is well

involved. She is currently a member in the New

Age Club and the Tech &

Media Student Council. As for sports, Davila plays Defense (DS) for the school’s varsity volleyball team. Davila has set future goals for her-self to accomplish in this very year. Davila is planning to start a Pre-med Club on April 13.

This club will be open to all those, like Davila, who want to purse a career in the medical field and will be held Friday during lunch in room

D206. Also, during this school year, Davila applied and got accepted into the Kaiser Per-

manente paid internship program, where she

will do hands-on training in one of their health

care facilities during the summer.

Overall, that four-year-old girl who had such a tragedy happen to her at such an

early age has taken a negative aspect of her life, and has turned it positive in order to fulfill her goals. According to Marcia, Davila’s determination and strong aspiration will help

her become successful in life. “Even if it gets hard, never give up because if you really want it that bad you’ll achieve [whatever you want],” said Diaz.

Story by Daniel Canales

Reporter

Photo by Jessica Iniguez

Maria Davila aspires for greatness

Tarman, a psychology and history

teacher was filled with joy when she re-

ceived news she was expecting a baby. Tarman discovered she was pregnant on December 31, the Saturday before

SEHS returned to school. She said

it was so exciting and she was really

happy.

This will be her second child,

which looks like a little boy. “[I’m] re-

ally happy and excited to share with my

husband [whom] is a pilot. [I] was wait-ing for him to come

back,” said Tarman. She was absent for

nine weeks because

the doctor ordered

her to be on bed rest.

Tarman’s

husband is always

on flight, he’s usu-

ally off four to six

days a week. “His

schedule has gotten

pretty bad,” said Tar-man. Her husband

was unemployed for

a while when he got

laid off in 2009. He

started working for

a DMV in Torrance,

and later started fly-

ing planes again.

She takes her one

year and seven month child to a

daycare and picks

him up after work.

Tarman says all her

family lives two hours away in San

Diego, but she goes

there on the week-

ends and takes her

child. She stays with

her two brothers in

San Diego. Tarman

hopes to spend a

lot of time with her

upcoming child.

“LAUSD allows

you to take time off

to take care of [my] new born,” says Tarman.The experience of having a baby can be exciting but comes along with a

huge responsibility. “[The] experience is awesome, but you have to be ready

for it,” said Tarman. She is happy to be back teaching and excited to have her baby.

The students were questioning her

absence because she’s always there and

ready to teach. “It felt strange not com-

ing to work,” said Tarman. She believed that she couldn’t be absent for too long

but it was important for the health of

the pregnancy. “Teaching is intense,” said Tarman.

Tarman is grateful that she and her

husband have a job, not a lot of families have that opportunity. “I love my job.

Even if it’s hard, you come to work. All of us have choices to make if you’re a parent and work,” said Tarman.

Josue Alferez is a sophmore from the Visual and Performing Arts

small school. He is currently a member

of different clubs and is on the swim

team. “[I] try my best in school and do hard work,” said Alferez. Alferez has competed in sev-

eral swim meets as part of the frosh

team. Although this is his first year, he believes that he is doing very well, and might join it again next year. Accord-

ing to Ms. Serrano, the swim coach,

he always tries to work hard and is

enthusiastic and determined during

the workouts and competition. Alferez is “always asking for help, helpful to

others, and talks with the coaches,” said Serrano.

According to Alferez, academ-

ics are also very important as well. He is currently trying to complete his A-G

requirements. Something that is eye-

catching about Alferez is “his level of inquiry reading. He likes to question,” said Mr.

Juarez. Alferez dreams of

“finding a job [to help] my

parents

with ev-

erything.” He also

said that

along with

himself, his

parents

are the

people

who mo-

tivate him to strive for success. Overall, with the goals that he has set for himself, Alferez plans to achieve more than just completing

high school. As his high school years

unfold, Alferez hopes to have all of his

goals met and become successful in life.

“Continue to be persistent, never give up, and always advocate for [yourself],” said Juarez.

Josue Alferez beats all odds for success Mrs.Tarman Juggles another

addition to the family

Oswaldo Gomez Strives for Achievement

Oswaldo Gomez, a sophomore in the Technology & Media Magnet small

school, challenges

himself with sports

and advanced class-

es. He tries to put all

his time in school

and in sports.

Gomez has been joining sports

since 7th grade. He

has been in sports

such as swim and

cross country. Go-

mez felt his great-est achievement was running the LA

Marathon four times.

He felt confident and accomplished when

he ran the marathon.

“My motiva-

tion for being in

sports is to keep

improving. I love what I do and doing good in my sport is

an awesome feel-

ing,” said Gomez. His only role model

is his dad. His father

used to run mara-

thons, so he became motivated to run as well.

Gomez plans to join cross country, volleyball, and SRLA in his junior year. “For my senior year I would do the same thing but go back to swim

instead of volleyball,” said Gomez. “I challenge myself by doing better every time,” said Gomez. His favorite factor about sports is interacting with

other people. Gomez claimed that swim is the most challenging sport because

you have to use your whole body. His life has changed because he is healthier

and physically fit. He feels he is equally good in cross and swim. “I will be in varsity teams for both [sports] next year,” he said.Gomez takes risks like taking AP World History, Honors Chemistry, and Hon-

ors English. “At times it can be hard

because you come home late from

practice,” said Gomez. He will continue to challenge himself and will persist in

different sports.

Story byJacqueline MartinezReporter

story by Daniel Canales

Reporter Story by Jaqueline MartinezReporter

Photo by Jes-

sica Iniguez

by Jessica Iniguez

photo by Jessica

Iniguez

Maria Davila at work :A scholar, an athlete,

an honorable friend.

www.jaguartimes.net

Mother and baby at work:

At four months, Mrs. Tarman

shows her excitement of her

future baby.

Varsity Swimmer, frosh cross

country, and an Honor stu-

dent: Oswaldo Gomez enjoys challenging himself in both sports

and academics.

Frosh swimmer dedicated student :Josue

Alferez strives for success.

Page 7

Story by Breshawna Ramsey Reporter

Drumline Finals The drumline went out and competed against six other high schools at Marina High in Hun-tington Beach. This is South East’s sixth year competing in drumline. Before the competition, while practicing their music and getting in their formations, showers start-ed to fall which made it hard for the drummers to play. “We didn’t do so well due to rain getting in the way. It was a very bad day, but we tried our best,” said Joseph Folgar, a ju-nior in the Tech & Media Magnet. Folgar is one of five bass drum-mers. Folgar and the other bass drum-mers had trouble trying to keep rhythm due to the rain. “You just get used to it once you’ve practiced the song more than once,” said Folgar. Most kids in the marching band are planning to contin-ue to play in band in different colleges once they graduate from high school. Folgar is already looking into different types of schools in and out of state to see which school suits him best. “So far I’ve been looking into UCLA’s band and also USC’s, but I wouldn’t mind finding a school

out of state,” said Folgar. Folgar

Students were nervous going into the competition simply because it was their first competition of the year and no

one knew what to expect. “Since it was our first competition of the school year

I was really nervous, but I think we did pretty good that day,” said Edward Sosa, a junior in the VAPA academy. Sosa is known as a good drummer in the drum-line. He’s been a part of the band since he was in 7th grade, and he used to come after school and watch them practice. Now he is one of the best. “It feels pretty good knowing that I’m a good drummer.” Sosa plays the Tenor drums, also known as the quads, mainly because it has four small drums. Due to the rain during the second competition they had trouble keeping the drumsticks from slipping off the drums, but it didn’t stop Sosa from doing his best. “I was more excited than nervous going into our second competi-tion, but the rain made it a little hard.” The drumline will be competing in April against other schools to make it to finals.

Review: 21 Jump Street

Story by Ambrocio AlmanzaReporter

Review by Jaime Carrillo Reporter

Review by Jaime Carrillo Reporter

Review: 1000 Words

Arts and EntertainmentAfter the Anticipation

Drumline member plays bells Photo by Luis Santana

In life words shouldn’t be taken for granted. Eddie Murphy stars in his new movie, A Thousand Words, as literary agent, Jack McCall. Jack McCall

has gone through life stretching the truth or, in other words, lying throughout his entire life. But one day after stretching the truth with a spiritual guru his life was soon to change. McCall discovers a bo-dhi tree in his backyard in which after every word he says a leaf falls off, which means one less word until he dies. The tree and McCall himself have a connec-tion physically because whatever is done to the tree is also happening to McCall.

The movie in itself has a good moral, but it’s filled with outdated Eddie Murphy

comedy. It received 4.3 stars out of ten on IMDB but 0% in Rotten Tomatoes by critics. Overall, this movie isn’t worth the money. Its filled with dumb-down

comedy that gets boring after the first

five minutes. For Eddie Murphy fans this

might be a movie to watch but besides that this movie isn’t worth the money.

Review: Project XReview by Jocelyn RamosReporter

Project X is a comedy by Nima Nourizadeh and is based on three seniors in high school: Thomas, Costa, and JB. The three want to be known at school and become popular by throwing a huge party which is also a birthday celebration for Thomas. Thomas’s par-ents are away for the weekend so Costa makes sure everything happens, but Thomas never really agrees to it. Sure enough everything goes as Costa had planned and when the party begins ev-erything quickly gets out of control and Thomas is worried about his parent’s home and his dad’s car. Nothing seemed okay for Thomas, but he forgets about ev-erything for a while. Thomas begins to enjoy himself, but then again he real-izes everything is a mess. His street is wrecked, his own home is completely destroyed, his dad’s car is in the pool and there is nothing he can fix anymore.

Everyone else seemed to be having fun except for Thomas. Costa apologizes for everything because he knew mostly everything was his fault.

Things did not go as Thomas had expected. Everything is wrecked, but it’s a night he will never forget and he got what he wanted to become popular. He is now known by people at school because of his huge party.

Drumline practices music before performance Photo by Luis Santana

Check out more on my blog

http://ambrocioalmanza.edublogs.org/ Joseph Folgar, Caroline Castro, Jose Torres, Blanca Arriaga, Nathalie Baños. L to R

Arrival of Junior Ball

Juniors on the campus waited for what seemed to be an exciting night. They gathered at the Queen Mary to celebrate their Junior Ball. Some juniors were surprised by the outcome of Junior Ball. “At first I

wasn’t looking forward to it but now it’s really exciting and fun,” said De-nise Cortez, a junior in the Health Sci-ence and Environment small school. The ballroom setting on a ship overlooking the lights of downtown Long Beach all made the scenery com-plete. “Its fun and elegant. I love how it came out,” said Bianca Don Lucas, a junior in the Justice and Law small school. Most of the juniors lived on the dance floor. “Arianna [Angel], ju-nior class president did a really good job finding a DJ,” said Jose Aguayo, a

senior on the Leadership Committee. The elegance of the set-ting also showed on each one of the

junior’s attire; the boys in their slacks and ties and girls in their

dresses and high heels. “I spent like an hour getting ready,” said Cor-

tez. Even the teachers that attended the ball were dressed up. Ms. Diaz, a Tech & Media Magnet science teacher, and Mr. Martinez, a Math teacher in the Business & Finance small school, accompanied each oth-er in matching black and white attire. Rumors circulated that the ball could have been cancelled. “I was really angry when I heard it was go-ing to be cancelled,” said Leadership junior class president Arianna Angel. Ticket sales were above Leadership’s expectations. According to Ms. Bara-gan approximately 149 tickets were sold for Junior Ball. “We sold so many tickets that we had to move [the

ball] to a bigger room,” said Angel.

The process of planning for so many people can be difficult, “Yea [it

was stressful] but Ms. Baragan, the

leadership teacher helped out a lot,” said Angel. Girls danced out of their shoes and guys out of their ties. By the end of the night all of the juniors seem to have enjoyed themselves.

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Juniors have a night of enchantment Photo by Annabel Gonzalez

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The box office shot up on

the release of the Rated R movie, 21 Jump Street. The movies stars are Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. This laugh out loud comedy is about a pair of underachieving and non-mature cops who are sent back to high school on an undercover assignment.

Their mission is to bring down a lo-cal drug ring that is supplying high school students with drugs. The movie truly is a comedy that will have you laughing from beginning to end. It received 7.7 stars out of 10 on IMDB, which is .3 away from what The Hangover received, a well known comedy. The film recieved a 86% rat-ing on Rotten Tomatoes, which was 8% higher than The Hangover. This

move is pure fun and non-stop laughter.

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Photo by Luis Santana

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SPORTSPage 8

With baseball season coming at full swing, the South East High School varsity team is ready to win games this year. With a team of seniors, juniors and a couple of sophomores these Jags are inspired to bring home the eastern league championship for the first time.

These talented players have been practicing since summer, both

with their coaches and on their own.

“Our team is special in many ways, but mainly we all share the same common goal of wanting to win it all and be champions,” said Daniel Zamudio #27, a ju-nior who plays left field from the

Tech & Media Magnet. Winning league would mean so much to them. Andy Alvarez, a senior and captain who plays short stop from Jus-tice and Law small school, is very pas-

sionate about his games. With years of baseball, he transferred to SEHS for his

junior year. Coming from Lynwood he was ready to work hard to play Varsity

and help the team out by bringing those “W’s” home. Alvarez biggest dream is to play like everyone who has a passion

for a sport he wishes to one day play in the major leagues. “I love baseball so much because I enjoy playing and learn-ing new things about it everyday. If I [could] play everyday like they do in the majors I would,” said Andy Alvarez #22. Coach Coria has been helping his team out since freshman year. “He has helped me so much. I’ve improved since I first started playing, but [I] also

have to give credit to coach Nava. He motivates us a lot,” said Noe Martinez, a junior who plays catcher from the Tech & Media Magnet. Coach Nava is a new as-sistant coach this year. He played ball for Roosevelt high, ELAC and CSUDH. According to the players he helps out a lot. The varsity team also has some new additions to like Ce-sar Yocupicio a sophomore who plays second base from the Business, In-novation and Leadership small school scored the only run against cross-city rivals South Gate to come out with the win in their first league game.

Joseph Perez #39 at hand to hit a home run at thier first league game against South Gate.

Photo by Ana Uraga

Baseball team sets goals By Ana Uraga Reporter

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Varsity Volleyball team’s road to glory

The long awaited vol-leyball season has begun and with a great start varsity is 6-1. A great record to begin a season with, this record may lead the team to a championship run. “They have the ability to do it. They just

have to put everything into doing their best,” said Ms. Morales, the head coach for both the girls’ and boys’ volleyball. One of the varsity captains, Brian Montoya a senior in the Jus-tice and Law, expects this year’s team

“[To] be the best in South East his-tory,” and with their current record of 6-1 they are proving that they have what it takes to be good. The team also has a lot of experience this year. With most of the players be-ing seniors, experience is on their side, but they still need to do their best to get a shot at playoffs and a champion-ship. Montoya believes that if they get a chance at playoff “we will get to CIF”. This confidence in the team might

be good for the rest of them and will bring them to do everything they can so that they can win a championship. The team wants a championship this year because to most of the players who are seniors this will be their last chance to win CIF. But the team has con-fidence and experience and this combi-nation will bring an advantage over the other teams they face. This might lead them to become the next CIF champions. The team must practice and do their best in every game and keep that 6-1 record going. The only thing that’s in their way would be themselves, so they have to try their best and stay con-fident about them going to the champi-onship… and not let schools like Jordan

By Humberto Guiton Reporter

Swim team makes a splash

After a few swim meets against other schools, the SEHS swim team is off to a good start. “There is potential to get far. As long as the entire team gives it’s all,” said Ms. Serrano, su-pervising teacher for the swim team. Some are will-ing to give it all for the team.

“Training for the swim team is something that requires great dedication. It’s a sport that challeng-es both mind and body,” said Antonio Velasco, a junior from the Tech and Media Magnet.Swim team members train 5-6 days a week in the morning before school and in the afternoon after school at the South Gate pool. “Training night and day is a must since swimming re-quires the whole body,” said Velasco.

Swimmers are pushing it to the max in hopes of triumph over other schools in swim competitions this sea-son. “The second part of our season is [going to be] tough, we have some chal-lenging competition,” said Serrano. Through these heart-pumping workouts and astounding efforts, it’s no wonder the team is a formidable opponent. “I think we have a good chance to prevail,”said Serrano. If the team does prevail, they might just make it to City Interscholas-tic Finals this season. “I expect a bigger presence at city this year with any of our newcomers making their first presences

at the USC swim stadium,” said Serrano. The team has done an amaz-ing job in the past which indicates that they can do better because of their hard work during practice. “I have prepared well and hope for the best this season,” said Justine Salcedo, another junior on the swim team in the Health Sci-ence and Environment small school.

A spike from Jordan High School doesn’t Photo by Annabel Gonzalezget past SEHS guys varsity team.

By Jose DiazReporter

With a swing, a hit, and a catch the girls’ softball team started their eastern league sea-son by playing against Hunting-ton Park Spartans where they won their first game. This year’s soft-ball team is a fresh start for many, while for others a new experience. For many players there have been some obstacles that stop them from meeting their goals. “Recently we had girls with injuries such as [hurt] arms, shoulders, and ankles,” said Julie Pineda a Varsity player from the Tech & Media Magnet. Even though injuries keep some of them from playing for others, it is something that keeps them moti-vated. “A couple of us are hurt, but for the love of the sport we go around the obstacles and complete our goals,”

said Alma Aviles, one of the captains for Varsity team who plays third place or center field from the Health Sci-ence and Environment small school. This year’s team is also closer as a family than last years. Because of this many of the players think they will do better. “I feel we have a good shot in getting league this year, we came a long way from a new team of strangers, to a close family,” said Sonia Vasquez, pitcher for the Varsity team from the Tech & Media Magnet. With unity and a determined mentality the girls see themselves winning Eastern League champs

and even making it farther off into playoffs. “If we all put every-thing we have together, our team should go as far as CIF champi-ons,” said Jazmin Alonzo, the sec-ond captain for the varsity team from the Tech & Media Magnet. In order for the girls to meet their goals of winning Eastern league Champs they practice four hours a day after school. “We put in time and effort to meet our expecta-tions,” said Aviles. With the effort and practice they put in they hope to go to playoffs and win CIF champs.

Daisy Zamora gets ready to score victory hit.

Photo by Annabel Gonza-lez

By Jazmin Marin Reportter

New season, new team, fresh starts and new experiences begin

Defeating South Gate in their first meet pumped up the team

for the rest of the season. Christian Peralta, a sophomore from the VAPA small school, is ready to help take the track team to the top. Peralta has been running since fresh-men year. He has made a big impact in cross country, students run LA, and track. Running has become something very important in Peralta’s life. “What I enjoy most about the track team is competing against other schools be-cause I like to represent my school.” Unlike other track team members, Peralta isn’t in the team just for fun. Winning and going to the top is in his head the whole time. “I want to win Eastern League and go to city. [I] consider my-self a god runner,” said Peralta.

Like every other student in any type of sport, Peralta is expected as a stu-dent athlete. Therefore, school isn’t left behind. Peralta takes school very serious. Peralta has taken advantage of the AP classes that are offered on campus and is taking AP Spanish with Ms. Tovar. “Christian Peralta is a great student. Ms. Tovar expects all her students to speak nothing but Span-ish in her class, and Christian speaks perfect Spanish. He speaks [it] like a professional,” said Kryshna Garcia, a junior in the Tech & Media Magnet.Everyone who talks about Peralta seems to talk about how amazed they are by his hard work and dedication. Peralta sets his goals high and expects nothing less than to meet his goals.

By Christian PeraltaReporter

Racing through the road of dedication and determination

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