The Eagle Vol 5 Issue 4

The Verizon Bandwagon

> PG 5

Interview with Alex Pettyfer

> PG 7

All About George Washington

> PG 3

The new state budget may cause tuition to increase again. The budget set by Governor Brown on

January 10th, 2011 will slash $1.4 billion from higher education, which includes UCs, CSU, and community colleges. An estimated $500 million will be cut from both UCs and CSUs, and $400 million from commu-nity colleges. For the first time in history, UC student tuition revenue will go over what state funds will provide, and the new budget for UCs will return to 1998 funding levels. Several UCs also plan to raise annual undergraduate tuition by 8%, or $822, to $11,124, which is about triple what it cost a decade ago. UC’s slots for both midyear transfer students and students to be admitted into the UC’s for the year 2012 will also be cut. Additionally, CSUs plan to reduce enrollment, eliminate classes, lay off staff, furlough employees, and increase class sizes. The cut will also prompt community college fees to go up $10 per unit – a increase from $26 per unit to $36. A majority of the students in

George Washington High School expressed negative feelings for the new budget. They com-plained that in addition to paying more for tuition, the budget would also affect the class sizes making them bigger and reduce interaction with professors. “Pay-ing more for a less rewarding education,” is how students sum up the situation. “Many of us are already on the brink of affording school without these proposed cuts to the sys-tem, which will mean more class reductions, more cuts to student services, larger classes sizes, and looming fee increases,” said Pat-rick Ahrens, a student at UCLA. However, Brown spared Kindergarten through 12th grades from the state cuts. “Schools have borne the brunt of spending reductions in recent years, so this budget maintains funding at the same level as the current year,” Brown said. “A tough budget for tough times,” Brown said. He predicts that this budget will “return California to fiscal responsibil-ity and get our state on the road to economic recovery and job growth.” However, the barely affordable tuition fees will be even less affordable after the new budget cuts hit, causing even more people to not be able to af-ford college tuition.

The EagleGEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL’S

Volume V Issue IV | February 22, 2011 | San Francisco, California

By Carina ChiangNews Page Designer

OPINION-EDITORIALS, P2 With Teachers Slurs are A-OK

FEATURES, P4 Tired of Life? Write about it!

LIFESTYLES, P5 Rejected... from a UC

SPORTS, P6 Badminton: Throwin’ it up

ENTERTAINMENT, P7 Much Ado about Nothing

College Tuition Woes

Asian Finally Takes City Hall

Brown and Newsom behind Lee as he is sworn into office.PHOTO PROVIDED BY LUKE THOMAS, FOGCITYJOURNAL.COM

The Domino Effect: Middle East

By Stella ZhuStaff Writer

Egyptians are finally ready for democracy.PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE GUARDIAN

Be careful what you wish for. Democracy is advancing throughout the Middle East. Tunisia

was the first to overthrow their government in December 2010. The revolution started after a college graduate burned himself to death in protest of his grim prospects and that began the vio-

lent demonstrations. The result ousted Tunisia’s president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who ruled the country with an “iron hand” for 23 years. The people of Egypt took inspi-ration from the Tunisia people so they too began protesting. They took over the Tahrir Square with peaceful protests demanding that Egyptian President Hosni Mabaruk step down. He insti-tuted a new government, assured the people he would step down,

then transferred power to his vice president. But these efforts failed to meet the main demand of the protesters. Finally, the day after announcing he wasn’t going to leave, he stepped down causing massive rejoicing throughout the country. After seeing how the govern-ments of Tunisia and Egypt fell to the will of the people, other lead-ers in the Middle East have taken action. Abi Abdullah Saleh, presi-dent of Yemen, has said he will step down in 2013. “He’s been making promises for 32 years and never kept one,” said Shawki al-Qadi. “When he promised to fight poverty, we got poorer. When he promised to leave office, he made amendments to stay forever.” The Yemeni op-position hasn’t demanded that Mr. Saleh be kicked out yet. They want reforms and a transition of power through elections. The United States has been scrambling to react to the situation. While democracy is something the US wants to spread over the Middle East, they are wary of who will be elected as leader. Only time will tell what governments will replace these former allies of the US.

San Francisco welcomed Edwin Lee as its 43rd mayor on January 11, 2011. He was appointed

to serve as interim mayor since Gavin Newsom has resigned to take office as Lieutenant Gov-ernor of California. Lee’s term expires in January 2012, when the winner of the November 2011 mayoral election takes office. Lee has pledged not to run for the office. Lee is the first Asian American mayor in S.F. history. He is the first Asian American mayor of a top ten U .S. city in terms of gross domestic product and the first of a top ten U.S. city in terms of population density. “I think it’s surprising he’s the mayor because he’s Asian, ” notes Jun Liu, a senior at Wash, “but I think he’ll make the city more orga-nized.” Lee was born in Seattle, Wash-ington, graduated from Bowdoin College and the University of

California, Berkeley. He first began working for the City and County of San Francisco in 1989 as the Investigator for the city’s first Whistle Blower Ordinance. Mayor Lee is married to his wife, Anita and is the father of two daughters. “I think he’s going to make the city a better place and lower the crime rates.” said Tim Guo, a junior at GWHS. “There will definitely be more Asian American mayors after Edwin Lee since the city has a large Asian community.” Paulo Romero, a junior said,” He’s pretty cool because he’s the first Asian mayor.” “I will work with each and every one of you to see that con-stituents are well served and that the doors of diversity and oppor-tunity are open,” Lee announced. He promised to be “a mayor who tackles things head on and moves the bar forward.”

By Elizabeth GlenisterStaff Writer

Middle East countries demand democracy

2 Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

OP-ED

What’s on your mind?Share your insight to community problems with

[email protected]

The Eagle StaffAdvisor:

John Propster

Editors-in-Chief: Kevin Kim and Kathy Woo

Front Page Editor: Michelle Tran

Front Page Designer:Carina Chiang

Op-Ed/ Backpage Editor: Sam Castro

Op-Ed/ Backpage Designer:Richard Lin

Lifestyles Editor: Sofya Gefter

Lifestyles Page Designer:Luis Lopez

Features Editor: Amanda Lizcano

Features Page Designer:Garrett Yee

Sports Editor: Ivan Huang

Sports Page Designer:Tsogtbaatar Otganbaatar

Entertainment Editor: Stacey Hom

Entertainment Page Deisgner:Kevin Adler

In-depth Editor:Tammy Zhan

In-depth Page Designer:Stephanie Rauda

Staff Writers: Nyamdash Amarbal

Vivian ChengElizabeth Glenister

Natalie LiuWinnie MaDerek Ng

Kimberly QuantAn Tran

Kathy WannavirojRachel Wong

Jeremy XuKristin YeeStella Zhu

Faiza Shaikh

The Eagle Editorial:

By Stephanie RaudaIn-depth Page Designer

By Eagle Staff

When people think of the journalism class here at Washing-ton, they think

about a course that is extremely boring. A student might think that they would need to have a strong, hardcore passion for writ-ing to voluntarily join “another English class” right? Wrong! Sure, having an interest for writ-ing won’t hurt you in this class, but journalism here at Wash isn’t solidly based on your writing skills. There are so many benefits that could be learned in this class. Not only are you practicing your writing techniques, but you’re also being exposed to a wide variety of creative classmates; we have the artists, who draw the comics on the back page; the photographers, who take the snapshots of school-wide activi-ties; Agnes, who gives you the advice; and of course, the writers, the majority of people that make up the newspaper. Many students around school don’t know this, but we take our page layout very seriously. Every editor has his or her own layout designer, and each layout design-er is held accountable for making each page of the newspaper extra organized. These designers are creative and have many ideas for spicing up the newspaper’s appearance. Without them, our paper would be a huge mess. If you like designing and working with computer design, journal-

Slurs In School

The use of derogatory slurs has gotten out of control at George Wash-ington High School.

Terms and phrases such as, “retarded” or, “that’s so gay” are heard numerously throughout the school day walking down the halls or sitting in class. You would think that such comments wouldn’t go unnoticed. At some point, a teacher or staff would jump in and tell the student that what they are saying is wrong, right? Not likely. Unfortunately, there is an obvious lack of in-terference by teachers and staff when derogatory slurs are heard. The San Francisco Unified School District has an anti-slur policy about the use of harm-ful comments. Our principal, Mrs. Ericka Lovrin says that this

policy is, “reinforced and ad-dressed in all SFUSD schools. “ It applies to ALL students and staff. Mrs. Lovrin says, “Failure to stop such language will result in a write-up. We can meet separately with student and teacher and move forward with disciplinary action.” According to Lovrin, there are no workshops available to students that deal with harmful or repeat usage of slurs. Whether or not these guide-lines are enforced is the problem. “I hear ‘That’s so gay’ daily. Ev-eryday, I hear something,” says Ms. Pauleen DeLa Concepcion, a health and English teacher at George Washington High School. “And sometimes, I feel like I’m the only one doing something about it. There are teachers who always intervene, but I think a lot of teachers ignore it because they

don’t have the time or they don’t want to deal with it.” Students seem to agree that teachers aren’t stepping in enough when an uncalled for re-mark is heard. 11th grader Abra-ham Rivera only sees teachers say something when they witness derogatory slurs occasionally. He says, “Sometimes they’re just too busy or they don’t care.” So when will our school decide to take a more proactive approach about such a serious problem? “Students who aren’t assertive aren’t going to able to advocate for themselves,” says Ms. DeLa Concepcion. Our school needs to get more involved and concerned about the behaviors of our teachers, staff, and students. We can’t put up signs in our classrooms saying our school is a, “Safe Space” until we know our school truly is.

ism is the class for you! See if you’re up for the task. In this class, you are also given the opportunity of showing your leadership skills by being an editor. Since The Eagle is mostly student produced and directed, we certainly must have editors for each section of the newspa-per. These editors are in charge of a certain page and have the proud responsibility of perfecting their part in the newspaper (be aware that you must be a layout designer for a whole school year in order to step up as editor). Freshmen and sophomores defi-nitely have a chance in being an editor for The Eagle. Does all the responsibility of an editor sound too intimidating for you? No problem, just sign up as a staff writer! As mentioned before, you don’t have to be perfect at writing; use journalism as an outlet for your imagina-tion. Although it is required for us to be unbiased in our reports (except for editorials), we still use our creativity to get the message across. We’re not only reporting current events to you, but we’re also trying to corroborate why what we are writing is important for you to acknowledge. There are a variety of sections that you can write for, so use this op-portunity to experience being a reporter. So, who says journalism is just a boring writing class? GWHS’ The Eagle staff certainly doesn’t think so.

Free To Feed

An astonishing 90% of students at Washing-ton prefer to have a more open campus.

As a result, we should not be restricted to only Balboa Street; expanding where we are able to go would amplify many benefits. Students at Washington want a greater variety of food at lunch, which the Balboa Street restric-tion does not allow. Simon Chan, a student at Washington High, says, “People are just tired of the food on Balboa. It would be nice to be able to go wherever you wanted.” Student behavior in class would also benefit from a more open campus. Fewer students would act up with the satisfac-tion of having freedom.

With less students on Balboa, the lines for restaurants would shrink, causing shorter lines, re-sulting in less tardies after lunch. In addition, broadening the limitations would decrease the chances of students cutting class to buy food from farther restau-rants. Students would be satisfied with the variety of foods offered

to them, and would not feel the need to escape campus rules to satisfy their cravings. In conclusion, a totally open campus would benefit the major-ity of students. Happy stomachs will result in satisfied students, enabling them to be more willing to learn and progress in school.

By Joseph ZhuGuest Writer

“It would be nice to be able to go wherever

you wanted.”

Hard On ‘Em

Did you know that Wash does not give its athletes priority in scheduling? People

may not recognize this prob-lem, but it definitely affects the athletes who have to deal with bad scheduling. Athletes have to stress over this unnecessary prob-lem, getting less sleep, which has a negative affect academically and physically. Small factors can led to bigger ones. Athletes deserve a priority in scheduling. It would only be fair. Athletes put a large amount of time for practices and games. Athletes don’t get to choose their practice times. Therefore, it is very difficult for them if their

school schedule doesn’t work out in a way that would benefit them. Having a bad schedule can affect the athlete’s academic per-formance, as well as the physical performance for the sport. For example, having a late schedule when practice starts an hour ear-lier, will not benefit the athlete. The athlete misses practice and their skill level is most likely a step behind the rest of the teams’. On game days, the athlete has to skip classes. Since the athlete has a later schedule, he/she has to miss more classes. That way it may be harder for athletes to graduate. Athletes help the school. Because of their record, they help the school earn a good reputation in the sports sec-tion. Student athletes in middle

school are often attracted by a high school’s sports reputation and puts the school with a good sports reputation as first choice. Based on a survey for athletes’ scheduling at George Washing-ton High School, most students agree with athletes being able to have priority in scheduling. I had late schedule and al-though the season hasn’t official-ly started, I was late to practice a lot. There were no more ways to change my schedule, unless I chose to drop a class. I chose to drop it to be on time for softball. However, if a person takes simi-lar action, he/she may not have enough credits to graduate. A small change of giving priority to atheletes in scheduling would help them, and the school.Can we not be so hard on ‘em?

By Megan ChiemGuest Editorial

San Francisco high school students are invited to submit 1,000 word orginal essay on California plants or gardens. Three cash prizes will be awarded. First prize winner’s essay will be published. Entries to be submitted by March 31, 2011. Entry form and info: pitschelprize.org.

$500 Cash Prize for Best Student Essay!

3Volume V, Issue IV

IN-DEPTHHappy Birthday George!Did You Know?

Is it True That...?

A Life to Remember

By Stephanie Rauda In -Depth Page Designer

By An TranStaff Writer

By Steven WuStaff Writer

1. Is it true that George Washington had wooden teeth? The truth is that he did not have wooden teeth. He started losing his teeth at an early age. He only had one real tooth at the time of his presidential election and the rest were false teeth. Some of the false teeth were made by Dr. John Greenwood, a well-known dentist in America. George Washington also tried transplanting teeth that he bought from slaves.

2. Is it true that George Washington had many children with his slaves? George Washington had no children because he was sterile. However, he did raise two children that belonged to his wife Martha, from her first marriage.

3. Is it true that George Washington wore a wig? He did not wear a wig. The white hairstyle he had was his real hair, but he could have worn a wig for fashion. He often wore his hair long and tied it back or wore a ponytail.

4. Is it true that George Washington added “So help me god” to the oath of becoming president? He, as did a majority of the other presidents, said “So help me God,” after their oath.

5. Is it true George Washington grew marijuanna? Yes, he grew a marijuana field because he was a farmer before becoming president. In the 1790s, marijuana was mainly grown for industrial value, such as soil stabilization and hemp. George Washington had great farming skills and was a “pioneer” in modern day agriculture.

6. Is it true that George Washington died of syphilis? Two of George Washington’s doctors, Craik and Elisha Dick, said that he died from cynanche trachealis, which blocked his windpipe and caused him to die from suffocation. There is no evidence that Washington had symptoms of syphilis.

7. Is it true that George Washington was not the first president of the United States? George Washington was not the first president of the U.S. The first president of the U.S. that was elected by the Congress was John Hanson, right after the notification of the Articles of Confederation. George Washington was the first president elected under the Constitution.

“My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the

earth. ”“It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal ser-vices to the defense of it.”

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is bet-

ter to be alone than in bad company.”

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your

confidence.”

Birth 1732

Westmoreland County,

Virginia

-> George Washington only left the country once. At the age of 19, he trav-

eled to Barbados in the West Indies with his older brother half-brother, Lawrence

Washington.

-> George Washington was the only Founding Father to free his slaves. He owned more than 300 at the time of his

death. In his will, he arranged for all of the slaves that he owned to be freed

after the death of his wife.

-> George Washington was the only president of the United States history to be elected to office by unanimous

vote (69) by the Electoral College.

-> George Washington proposed to Martha Dandridge Custis after knowing

her for only three weeks and meeting her only twice!

-> Martha Washington burned all of the letters between she and George at

his death to protect their privacy.

-> George Washington was never formally a part of political party. He believed that they created too much

division. He was, however, considered to be the informal figurehead of the

Federalist Party.

-> George Washington was thought to be very reserved, shy and humble. He turned down a $25, 000 salary, which

was considered to be an enormous amount of money at the time.

Became a Major in the Virginia Militia, Re-

signed as a Colonel in

1758

1759Married Martha Dandridge

Curtis

Elected as Commanding General and Commander in Chief of the

Continental Army. He didn’t accept any pay.

1775

1776Took Trenton, New Jersey from

Britain

Led army to victory in Yorktown. Took 7.600 prisoners

1781

1789Washington was elected presi-

dent, again in 1792

Retired from presidency and moved to Mount Vernon, Virginia.

1797

Death 1799Mount Vernon,

Virginia

(February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799)

“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever

saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intel-

lectual and physical

educa-tion I

received from her.”

Tabia Ye. You’ve prob-ably heard her name or seen her walking around campus. But who is she?

Senior Tabia Ye is not only the founder of lacrosse club and the co-captain of girl’s gold, but she’s also a member of the key club and the senior class representa-tive for Chinese American Club. With such a hectic schedule, it’s crazy that she has time to keep her grades up and have time for friends. Ye’s lived in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunter’s Point all her life with her mom, dad, older sister, and pet rabbit Herman. She went Martin Luther King, Jr. Preschool then attended Corner-stone Academy from kindergar-ten to eighth grade. During the fifth grade, Ye decided to join the Cornerstone basketball team. Ye stated, “I remember we lost all our games but one, but our loss only encour-aged us to try harder the year after and we ended up winning

all but one game.” They made it all the way to the championships and in the end, they became the champions of their division! In high school, she only

continued her athletic-ness. She was a member of the softball team during her junior year.

Also, she and her best buddy Jamie Hom managed to create a slowly expanding lacrosse club. Ye stated, “Now we have a boy’s varsity and girl’s varsity team. We’ll be playing games against other cities in Nor Cal since the Washington Eagles are part of the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association.” Mr. Lawrence Yee, the lacrosse sponsor, stated, “[Tabia]’s the one who really brought lacrosse to Wash…She’s a dream student— She challenges herself with hard classes, plays on sports teams, and participates in student activi-ties.” Although Ye has a lot of extra curricular activities, she still man-ages to keep in touch with her friends. Ye stated, “I’m a pretty busy person but I try my best to make time for my friends. I eat lunch with them almost everyday and on special occasions such as holidays and birthdays, we get together and just hang out.” Ye is an extrodinary student who is an example of how much one can achieve during high school.

Student of the IssueBy Kimberly Quant

Staff Writer

Student of the issue, Tabia Yee. PHOTO BY KIMBERLY QUANT

FEATURES4 Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Origins of the Writer’s Club

Do you like to read and write stories? Need help with an essay? Then come to Writer’s

Club! Writer’s Club is a place where students can come write for fun and improve their writing. They develop their own style and learn how to construct a good essay or story. Writer’s Club, sponsored by Mr. Ryan Novack, currently has about fifteen members.

The club started when Had-rian Quan, the president, and Calvin Lin, co-founder of the club, started writing notes to each other during a boring class. Quan said, “One day, one of the notes was a short story. We eventually started writing each other short stories and working on them every week and giving them to each other. “ Lin added, “Hadrian had the idea for the club before I did. He had planned on making the club after that.” The co-founders both have something they truly enjoy about

the club. Quan stated, “It’s really fun because you can sit down, stare at a blank page and come up with a beautiful story.... Then we get it critiqued and make it even better!” Lin said, “I like this club because it’s a comfort-able place to work.... I don’t feel judged even if I don’t feel that I’m writing well. “ If you are into reading or writing short stories, or want to improve your own writing, check out Writer’s Club! They meet ev-ery Friday during lunch in SH8. Come check it out!

By Derek NgStaff Writer

The Eagle Staff wanted to know what your favorite aspect of Wash is, so we set out to find the

answer.

Question of the Issue

“ You can get help with anything with college at the college

center... Help is easily available

-Jovelean Villanueva

by Garrett YeeFeatures Page Designer

“My favorite thing about Washington is the environment kids and teachers. I also... like how we have a lot of different classes to

take.”

-Joseph Satariano

“I’m purely apathet-

ic”

-Steven B. Chen

5Volume V, Issue IV

LIFESTYLES

Dear Agnes,Three of my friends are in a fight, two against one. They

keep arguing and calling each other insulting names. The first friend wants to make up but the others keep fighting with her, so it has become a huge fight. My other friends and I are stuck in between and we feel sorry for the one friend that they are against. What do you think I should do? Sincerely, Stuck-In-The-Middle

Dear Stuck-In-The-Middle,It is not your problem that your friends are in a fight and you should not get involved. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, pick a side because it will only make matters worse. The best thing you can do is sit them both down and encourage them to talk it out and end their dispute. Peace and love! Love Always, Agnes

Dear Agnes, During the summer, I met this amazing guy and we talked almost everyday. It started from “you’re going to be my best friend” to “I’m going to wife you.” It felt as if we were already a couple. He was the one person that could make me smile out of the blue. We still talked after sum-mer but not as much. He used to say, “I always have time for you, now, tonight, later, or tomorrow.” But now, he says he’s too busy and doesn’t have time for me. Should I stick around or just move on? Sincerely, Summer Fling

Dear Summer Fling,If he is not putting in effort to talk to you, then forget it. No matter how busy a person is, they can always make time for someone else if they really wanted to talk to them. If a guy is not willing to make time for

you then he definitely isn’t worth your time. Find a guy that will treat you like you’re his priority and make you feel like you’re the only girl in the world. Love Always, Agnes

Dear Agnes, I’ve set my heart on ask-

ing this girl to Prom. I’ve known her throughout my entire life

and we’re great friends and I’ve grown to love her

over time. The issue is: someone’s already

asked her and she said yes. My heart sank when I found out and though im happy she’s happy, I strongly

feel like I’m THE ONE that’s meant to take

her to Prom. It’s not just about taking her, it’s about being

with her during one of our last moments together in high school. She’s set her heart on going to New York and I’ve decided to go to college in Florida. I don’t know whether to get over this fact or say something to her. Help me Agnes! Sincerely, Dateless

Dear Dateless, Don’t worry! Just because she is going to Prom with someone else doesn’t mean that you can’t hang out with her during the dance too. And besides, you can always plan a get-together with her and do something more special to spend your last days in high school with one another. I’m sure that would mean so much more to her than just taking her to a dance. On a side note, it’s still a bit early for prom-asking, so you still have time to ask someone else. Who knows? Maybe you will make a great new friend and have a blast! Love Always,

Dear Agnes...

Rejection BluesDon’t Jump Into the Verizon iPhone Bandwagon Just Yet!

By Kevin AdlerEntertainment Page Designer

By Winnie MaStaff Writer

By Faiza ShaikhBeauty Columnist

Beautifully You: Skincare Made Simple

I t finally happened, the iPhone has launched on Verizon’s network. In the first two hours

of pre-ordering, Verizon smashed its own record for the number of preorders of a phone, and this was between 3 and 5...in the morning. Many people are foolishly jumping in not realizing that there is most likely going to be a new iPhone model coming out this coming June. Apple has been following a yearly cycle of iPhone refreshes every June since the very first iPhone. It’s very unlikely that Apple will change its schedule. Although the Verizon iPhone has been tested and proven to have significantly better coverage than its AT&T counterpart, AT&T still has the faster net-work…when it’s there at least. The Verizon iPhone also does not support si-multaneous voice and data. With the recent launch of HTC’s Thunderbolt on Ve-rizon’s network, one might

change their mind about purchasing the iPhone. The Thunderbolt is the first Verizon 4G phone featur-ing Google’s Android OS, a 4.3-inch touchscreen, si-multaneous voice and data with a staggering 40GB of pre-loaded memory at a reasonable price of $250. In tests, the Thunderbolt has shown that it is faster than the iPhone for most tasks, especially web browsing where the Thunderbolt uses Verizon’s new 4G network which has been bench-marked as being four times faster than 3G, the network the iPhone uses. Why pay now for old technology? The iPhone 4 is already at its halfway point in its life cycle and is bound for the grave. With new 4G networks why get something that’s 3G? Be gadget smart and either wait for the next iPhone that is almost certainly due sometime in June or buy something that is more contemporary like HTC’s Thunderbolt.

Congratulations seniors! You have finally made it through your four years in high school.

Starting to plan ahead for college yet? Soon, most seniors should be receiving acceptance letters. How about rejection letters though? Here are some ways in which you can cope with rejection if it comes along. #1. Put it into context. Keep in mind that more students applied to college more than ever this year, so you are competing with a greater number of students for freshman admis-sion spots. #2. Take time to get over it. Receiving a rejection letter and feeling sad about it is 100 percent normal. Take the time to get over it by finding things that can cheer you up. Maybe movies, the gym, or spending time with friends who have their own rejections.#3. Get it all out. Write down your emotions or talk to someone about what

you’re feeling. It’s all part of the grieving process when it comes to rejection. #4. Don’t take it personally. Remember that admission decisions may have nothing to do with your test scores, creden-tials, extracurriculars, or personal essay. You could be a student who is fully qualified but just not what the school is looking for this year. Mark Montgomery, presi-dent of Montgomery Educational Counseling said, “Admissions offices are always trying to find a wide range of people to fill a community, trying to make it diverse, and sometimes that is the reason that you didn’t get in.”#5. Send updates. Let the wait-listing school know it’s still your first choice. Send in a note with an update on what you have been doing since sending in your applica-tion. Joie Jager-Hyman, a former admissions officer for Dartmouth stated, “If you’re really eager to attend or build a relationship with the school, it’s a positive because that’s the one time it may be rewarded.”

#6. Give other schools a chance. Take a campus tour of each school that accepted you, then make a list of what you like about each one. Chuck Hughes, former admissions officer for Harvard, said, “You can’t change the decision, so instead of obsessing about what went wrong or think-ing of your available options as second-best, find the things that these schools do better than the schools that turned you down.” #7. Figure out the reasons be-hind your rejection. Ask the admission officers at the school why you didn’t get ac-cepted or what you can improve on. Yale psychology professor Susan Nolen-Hoeksema added, “Instead of stewing about your rejection, you should ask about what was so weak about your application.” There are always many ways to cope with the rejections. Just know that you won’t be alone if that rejection letter comes and find ways to cope with it. A stu-dent has until May 1st to make the final decision so until then, there’s plenty of time to think about what you are going to do.

W ith all the myths about skincare, the option of thou-sands of skincare

products and loads of mixed reviews, it may be hard to keep your skin in its best condition. I’m sure if you’re big on taking care of your skin, your routine consists of the following: cleans-ing, exfoliating, moisturizing and using sunscreen. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? The average person doesn’t have time for all four, but despite that one can still manage to have and maintain great skin. Celebrity star Queen Latifah says ‘’ I’ve been washing my face with baking soda for years, it’s not harsh on the skin and gives me a glow.’’ The key is to find a

product that works best for you; whether it’s bought from a store, recommended by your derma-tologist or just in your kitchen. If you’re looking for a new skincare product, you might want to fig-ure out your skin type first. I’ve personally tried and looked through many reviews to give you the best tips on your personal skin type. For those of you who have dry, patchy or rough skin, I recommend using ‘Burt’s Bees Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream’. It leaves your skin super soft and is priced at only $8. The best product I’ve come across for oily skin has to be ‘Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub’, which I have personally been using every morning. Every time I use it, it leaves my face less oily, smoother and brighter; and

at only $6 it’s not a bad deal. Next comes the trickiest type of skin, combination skin, which basically means you have both oily and

dry spots on your face. I recom-mend using ‘Philosophy Purity Made Simple’. Priced at $20. One reviewer wrote “My face doesn’t feel too dry or oily afterwards, just great! Plain & simple. You can’t go wrong with this one”. However if you’re on a budget, try ‘Dove Essential Nutrient Self Foaming Cleanser’ for half the price. This product has also won the Instyle Best Beauty Buy Award. If you’re the type of person who is tired of purchasing prod-ucts, you can eat certain foods to better your skin. It may be hard to believe stuffing your face with certain foods help your skin, but it’s true. Foods like berries, salmon, almonds, yogurt, and green tea can play a really big part on getting healthy, beautiful skin.

ASK AGNES:[email protected]

SPORTS6 Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

On Your Mark!By Jeremy XuStaff Writer

School Sportsmanship

Take your mark!” The sound of the starting gun goes off and the compe-tition begins.

Swimming, an all time popular sport, is as much as an individual sport as a team sport. Though swimming is won through racing other individu-als, a team should encourage and spur each other on. GWHS has a very competi-tive and supportive swim team. They practice Monday through Friday at the Rossi Pool from 4:30 to 6:00. Everyday they are put through strenuous exercises, but it is worth the effort. Melodye Jung, a junior at GWHS, says, “Swimming is awe-some! It’s tough but worth every

practice, you get to meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends. People should definitely join the swim team if they love to swim and have fun. It’s a blast!” All these practices are for the preparation of meets. In these meets, swimmers decide which event they wish to participate in. There are a large variety of events to pick from. During meets swimmers will take part in events in all strokes from 50 yards to 100 yards. Swimming has four unique strokes - free style, breast stroke, backstroke, and butterfly. Aside from the four generic strokes, there are also individual medleys in which all strokes in involved in the race. Lastly, there are relays in either freestyle or a medley,

where several swimmers on the same team race with each others against other schools. Jeffery Phan, a junior at GWHS, says, “I think swim-ming is awesome! People should join because its fun and is great exercise.” Danny Camacho, the swim coach, says, “I think swimming is great exercise, has less impact on the body than other sports, and is therapeutic. I encourage swim-ming because it’s good strength-ening for all sports. It builds stamina, strength, and power and it helps benefits the body.” The swimming season has already started and is open to ev-eryone who can swim, regardless of age. It is a great way to stay in shape and to have fun.

By Kathy Wannnaviroj Staff Writer

Jump & Sprint!

Do you wish you had a way to get fit, have fun, get away from your frustrations, and

make some friends all in one go? The GWHS Badminton Team has started the 2011 season! The members have practice Mondays, Wednesdays and meet in the gym. The matches take place all over public high schools in the San Francisco Unified, and some-times, have a pre-season match at University High School. Many enjoy and recommend joining the sport. The badminton team is hoping to do well this year. Ms. Sharon Wong, coach of the Badminton team, says,“This is the first year there is a co-ed Badminton team at Washington. Last year the girl’s team made it to championships. I think this season is going to be interesting and is doing great so far. We’re very excited for this season.” Jessica Chan, a freshman, says, “I played Badminton at my middle school and I’m considering joining Washington’s Badminton team.” Janan Dea, a junior, and new member says “I think we have a team that’s really skillful. I was

the Badminton team manager in my sophomore year. This is my junior year and males can now play on the badminton team, and I want to take the opportunity to play on the team.” Badminton is the fastest racquet sport in the world! Experienced players can smash the shuttle at speeds of over 200 mph. When you learn to return those kinds of shots you get a serious rush! The objective of the game is simple; to hit the shuttle over the net so that it lands in your opponent’s court before it can be returned. You can hit the shuttle fast, slow, high, flat or low. A little-known fact about badminton is that it demands high fitness levels from its play-ers in addition to agility, speed and accuracy. Players exercise every muscle in their body they have to lurch left and right, twist their bod-ies, jump, run quickly forwards, backwards and sideways all while lunging to hit the shuttle back to the opponent. Badminton brings much laughter, joy and a friendly competitive spirit to the players. Playing Badminton can immense-ly help your body fitness and you can achieve a well-built body in a short span of time, and have loads of fun too!

Fastest Racquet Sport

by Rachel WongStaff Writer

The unwritten rules of sports

Lowell’s outburst at the Battle Of The Birds was a great example of bad sportsmanship, but

what is good sportsmanship? Ijezie Ugo ,freshman in the JV basketball team at GWHS says, “Good sportsmanship is when people play hard at something, and are proud of themselves for their efforts. Whether you win or lose you should be respectful to your opponent, and your own team.” He added, “After a game depending on how we (the team and I) play I would feel proud of us. I would be less satisfied with a loss, but know that we must work harder next time.” That’s an example of good sportsman

ship. Competitors should learn from a win or a loss. Either way knowing you have to work hard-er, and not slack off. Mr.Wright, JV basketball head coach says, “Good sportsmanship is a uni-versal definition. Congratulating others, being respectful no matter what the score is, doing things the right way and being cool with the outcome.” At a game how might the fans show good sportsmanship? Kevin Tom, freshman at GWHS went to the Battle Of the Birds and he said “People were booing the other school when they made a point, and there was a fight between the fans after the game.” The fight is a perfect example of

bad sportsmanship. The fans can make a huge contribution to the game. The way the fans act can also make a huge effect on how the team plays. If the fans boo the oppos-ing team, then they might lose confidence and can get upset. Mr. Wright says, “Before you could kick a person off the team you have to get the person’s side of the story. Bad sportsmanship has to do a lot with the game and not respecting it in general. Also hard, unnecessary fouling of others is an example of bad sportsmanship. Whether it’s playing basket-ball, tennis, soccer, volleyball or any sport, we should all have fun, and be a good sport.

Ever walk around the track after school? If you have then you’ve prob-ably seen the track team

practicing? The track team, head coached by Shannon Lowe, who has been coach of the track team for 11 years, is a one of Washington’s oldest sports, beginning in Wash-ington’s inaugural year 1936. Wash graduate Lowe de-scribes his style as hands-on and direct with intense focus. He also stresses that he wants his athletes to be driven and “wants their success on the field to translate into success in the classroom”. His practices are fun and have a family- like atmosphere. Freshman Sandip Lama, who just joined the team, described his first practice as “hard but exciting”. He recommended it

for “all who can run.” The team, which competes in the city for 16 Track field events, practices 5 days a week. Track season is from January 28 to May 28. Life as a Track team member is rewarding as Assistant coach Sophia Corbett describes former track members coming back to visit during track practice at Washington. Simon Xie, who has been run-ning track for 7 years, 4 years for Washington, describes the team as prepared and in good shape this year as a lot of the runners from last year are returning to give the team a good veteran presence. So with the track team posed to take All -City titles things couldn’t be better.

By Tsogtbaatar OtgonbaatarPage Designer

A Showing of Sportsmanship after a game. PHOTO PROVIDED BY WIKICOMMONS

Track Team Photo PHOTO BY TSOGTBAATAR OTGONBAATAR

Rossi Swimming Pool PHOTO BY JEREMY XU

First co-ed badminton team at Wash

A veteran team competing for finals

The 2011 year begins with new movies and rising stars including the book series inspired movie

I Am Number Four starring 20 year old Alex Pettyfer, released nationwide on February 18th. The Eagle staff met and inter-viewed the British born actor at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. At the round table interview, he discussed the process of and his favorite aspects of filming I Am Number Four.Pettyfer arrived at the interview cheerful and relaxed. Q: What’s your dream movie to act in? Alex Pettyfer: “Well, I am Num-ber Four [laughs]. I just did a movie which is kind of cool. It’s called Now and I play the bad guy, which is kind of interesting because it was a different route for me. It’s about how everyone stops aging at the age of 25 and there’s no such thing as money. Currency is all run by time and so we all have these clocks that run out, and when they run out, you die. When you hit 25, you only get a year left so you can buy and sell things [clocks], so you can end up with a million years or 23 hours. The story starts off with this guy played by Justin Timberlake and he has 23 hours left to live. So as soon as he clocks out his 23 hours, he basically works to live and then one day he stumbles across a guy who has a million years and doesn’t want to live anymore and he gives it to him and I [his character] see him give it to him and I think that

time is what I deserve.Q: How hard was it to train for this role? You already did Alex Rider and you did some training for that, but this movie looked pretty intense from what we saw last night. AP: [laughs] It was a hard experi-ence. Two months before we trained, we did all this wirework. It was cool, we took what we learned from there and took it to the day and it was kind of modeled off of it and some of it I’m much proud of. I don’t like heights very much and I had to jump off a cliff at 80 feet in the air, backwards, which is kind of scary, but it was cool, it was fun. Q: Can you relate to your character John Smith in any way?A: Yeah, I think that you know we all at some point feel like an outsider and John is an outsider and kind of believes he wants this normal life, but can’t because of the secret he’s hiding and I be-lieve that when I was in school, I felt like an outsider at some point and so yeah, I can relate to him.

Q: What was the hardest part of filming? AP: I think the fact that I had to go back to high school. I always found school boring, but I mean, I was dyslexic and so I found it hard to learn. But I think it’s hard to go back because you have to kind of revisit your past and kind of bring that back and it’s weird, high school is such a complicated thing. I remember going back and we shot there the first day—I went to an English school which we call college, and I remember arriving and getting out and I couldn’t believe it, it was like watching an American movie. You had all the jocks in one class and you had all the cheerlead-ers looking at the jocks and then you had, all these cliques. I was like “No, they can’t really be like that,” and when we were try-ing to organize the extras, they wouldn’t leave each other, and I was like “Wow, it really does flow like that.”

7

ENTERTAINMENTShakespeare meets Washington again!

By Nyamdash AmarbalStaff Writer

Volume V, Issue IV

Television-to-Go

By Natalie LiuStaff Writer

Young Hollywood’s Alex Pettyfer By Kathy Woo

Editor-in-Chief

John Smith played by Alex Pettyfer discovers his new ability

PHOTO BY STACEY HOM

New Season of Glee

Singing, drama, and high school. A new season of Glee premired on Fe-buary 8th. Some GLEEKs

around George Washington are excited to know that this season Glee stars will have even more top chart music song covers such as “Meet Me Half Way” by the Black Eyed Peas and Justin Bie-ber’s “Baby.” Ashley Estes, a senior at George Washington, said, “I loved this last episode cause it was so cute and I liked all the new songs.” Estes has always been watching the new episodes and wouldn’t change any of the charac-ters, “I’m not that excited for the Bieber episode though. I’m not a big fan of Justin.” Estes says as she enjoys all the songs that Glee has covered. Meghan Louie, a senior at George Washington, said “I love

Glee and all the relationships with each other are really good. I wouldn’t change a lot of things, but I would like to see Puck and Quinn keep the baby and for Mercedes and Tina to get more solo songs.” Louie is also very

excited to see the Bieber episode in Glee. “I haven’t been keeping up with Glee lately, but I think Quinn’s pretty hot.” Jonathan

Mak, a junior at GWHS, said. Mak doesn’t like the story plot that Glee has, “It’s not really realistic, cause Glee takes high schools to an extreme.” Mak said The new season of Glee will be interesting in high school drama and as well as the song choices. For those who haven’t been keeping up with the high school

Glee club… Finn and Rachel broke up because Rachel cheated on Finn with Puck, because Finn lied about sleeping with Santana. Quinn is dating the new transfer, Sam. Rachel is obsessing over her break up, while Kurt transfered because he was getting bullied by the in-the-closet football player. Kurt is also crushing on his friend named

Blaine, on the Wobblers. Mer-cedes is okay with being single, unlike Tina, Mike , Arty. and Brittany. And, that’s what you missed, on Glee.

By Kristin YeeStaff Writer

PHOTO FROM SCREENCRAVE.COM

Claudio and Hero at their wedding ceremony

Can’t get enough drama on TV? The classic Shakespearian com-edy, Much Ado About

Nothing. is what you’re looking for. This spring play will be full of drama, bitter love, betrayal, and comedy. The play will be performed in the auditorium, on March 11, 12, 18, and 19 at 7:30PM. There will be a preview on March 10 at 3:00PM. “I picked Much Ado About Nothing because we do Shake-speare every other year. The last spring play was Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy, so we wanted to do a comedy this year,” says Mari-anne Philipp, the director. Benedick, played by Flynn Beckman, and Beatrice, played by Ruth Garay, are a couple who de-spise each other. The villain, Don John, played by Lisa Guerkova, devises a plan that tricks the

enemies into falling in love. There’s the sweet young lovers, Claudio, played by Max Paterson, and Hero, played by Callahan Foley. Claudio and his fellow soldiers are staying with Leanato’s family, and that’s how he meets Hero, Leanato’s daugh-ter. Complications begin to rise when Claudio thinks the prince Don Pedro, played by Ian Mock, has stolen his love Hero, and is tricked into thinking his love has been unfaithful to him. ”I think this play is interesting because there are so many accu-sations and rumors flying around and it’s fun to see how each char-acter chooses to resolve them. It will be a challenge only because the wording is so different from modern English, but I get used to it,” says Ruth Garay, senior. On top of all the plans, tricks, comedy, and gossip, there will be sword fighting, dancing, and crazy romance. Don’t miss out on all the fun!

Veoh is the multi-million, full-length, high quality, video and movie streaming site. It

has a special “lean-back” feature that allows people to remote control what’s playing. You can

view many shows like Two and a Half Men, NCIS, and CSI: Miami. Many movies are also available, like Phantom of the Opera, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter. Many anime shows are also available on Veoh. Veoh has about twenty million views per month, its also made

over seventy million dollars since its first appearance in February 2007. It announced compatibility with iPhones and other devices in the year 2009. You can download all of the videos, and even upload your own. There’s a wide range of videos, everything from studio quality to user-submitted. However, it has a broader range of videos than other video streaming sites like YouTube, offering more network television content and full-length films.

“Veoh’s quick and easy to use, and I can see some of my favorite movies, including My Neighbor Totoro.” Said Will Skevos, a fresh-man at George Washington High School. “The channels there are good, I especially like the one with the videos from Fearnet.” Said Phyo Thein, a sophomore. “Most of the groups there seem to be anime dominated… which is a plus!” said Hari Khan, a freshman. The website offers forums for users to chat or report technical

issues, and groups for different interests, where you can find videos floating around Veoh to your specific needs. It has separate sections for user videos, TV shows, Movies, and Music. You can like it on FaceBook, and tweet different videos you’ve enjoyed. There’s even a video on pets dressed up as hula girls and Little Red Riding Hood! Veoh is a great place to watch videos when bored, or just a place to relax with a classic movie.

Now available on iPhones, iPod touch-es, and even Sony PsP’s.

The Glee cast performing their thriller numberPHOTO FROM TVSOMIAC.COM

8 Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

FUN AND GAMESSudoku

By Kimberly QuantStaff Writer

Hippo!By Kristin YeeStaff Writer

Where in Wash is This?By Jeremy XuStaff Writer

Answers:

Whe

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Was

h is

Thi

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Roo

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CrosswordBy Elizabeth Glenister

Staff Writer Across1. Hamilton is the capital of this Atlanticisland group (7)4. Continent (4)7. African river, aka Crocodile River (7)8. South American mountain range (5)9. Caracas is the capital (9)10. America’s largest state (6)12. Island, southern Indonesia, eastof Bali (6)18. Biblical town, near Jerusalem (9)19. Located in 9 Across, ___ Falls (5)20. Montgomery is the state capital (7)21. Tehran is the capital (4)22. Tirana is the capital (7)

Down1. Country in central South America (7)2. Bucharest is the capital (7)3. Group of Portuguese islands in theAtlantic Ocean (6)5. Asian river, flows from Tibet to theArabian Sea (5)6. Capital of Norway (4)8. Historic San Antonio mission (5)11. Capital of Afghanistan (5)13. Manama is the capital (7)14. Capital of Uganda (7)15. Capital of Canada (6)16. Muscat is the capital (4)17. Mountain peak in the Bernese Alps,notorious for its North Face (5)