The Talon Newsmagazine

JOHN A. FERGUSON SENIOR HIGH 15900 SW 56TH STREET MIAMI, FL

THE TALON NEWSMAGAZINEVOLUME 10 ISSUE 3 March 2013

YouTubersTardy PolicyUltra 2013

Letter to the EditorThe Death of Print

Muse Concert Review

In this Issue:

4-5Entertainment• The“Perks”ofreading• Springintofashion• Musealbumreview

3Features• UltraMusicFestival

CONTENTS

The Talon is the official publication of John A. Ferguson Senior High and is an open forum for student expression. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or official policies of the school or the adviser. Anyone wishing to express opinions, thoughts, or questions about this publication should

direct letters to Room 1028 or e-mails to [email protected]

CONTENT MANAGERSSara ChavesVaughn Brito Justin Sanchez

STAff wRiTERSMatthew Diaz

Amanda GonzalezClarissa Garcia

Catherine Toruno

Gabriela RuizAnabelle PetiscoLauren Mitchell

PUBLISHEREmily Nieves

PUBLICATION EDITORSYaneli MontesNicolas Zapata

A D v I S E RTracey Burger

BUSINESS MANAGERKristal Frenero

Naty DelrosalBrianna NordeloJennifer Salazar

Ivana Pino

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3 Publisher’sNoteInthisissue,wewantedtoshowthevarietythat

theInternetcanprovidebyshowcasingsomeofourfavoritepartsofYouTube.Whenreadingourcenterspread,weencourageyoutoseeifyouwatchanyofourfavoritesandtocheckoutanyYouTubersthatyoumightnotbeawareof.Inthisissue,we’vealsocovered Ultra, spotlighted some up-and-comingartists,andreportedonsomeofFerguson’ssportsteams. In our opinions section, we’ve shared aletter to the editor we received in response toaneditorialandsomeofourwritershavesharedtheir take on serious and amusing issues alike.

Wehope you enjoy our latest issue.

--EMILY NIEVES PUBLISHER

10-11Sports• Baseball• Trackandfield• Badminton• Girls’basketball

TH

E Talon Staff

6-7DoubleTruck:YouTubeThe theme of this issue is all things YouTube. In our staff room, YouTube is a special part of each of our lives. We don’t all watch the same sort of things on the website, however, so we divided up our double truck into the most popular parts of YouTube, including comedy, vlogging, and more.

8-9Opinions• LettertotheEditor• *Insertcatchyheadlinehere*• It’snolaughingmatter• It’sbetterlatethannever• YouTube:it’snotjustawebsite

Vanessa AdrianBrianna Rawls

Bianca PeiroCassandra Paredes Katia Fernandez

GRAPHIC DESIGNER ART DIRECTORJessiette TellezAlec Artidielo

March 2013

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Miami Music Week: Ultra’s 15th anniversaryCASSANDRA PAREDESFEATURES EDITOR

Features

Ultra will be taking place over the span of two weekends (March 15-17 and March 22-24) in honor of the event’s 15th anniversary. This is the first time that it has lasted for more than one week-end. The surprising announce-ment took place over a live You-Tube broadcast. The news of Ultra being held over a two weekend span brought some controversy to the City of Miami. There were rumors that the event would be cancelled because the festival causes de-lays and disturbances to the lo-cal business community. Also residents complain about noise, traffic, and nuisance behavior by festival-goers. The matter was quickly settled after a formal meeting with the City of Miami: UMF agreed to pay for extra police presence at the festival and around the area to minimize all the delays and dis-turbances. According to a recent study from Washington Economic Group Inc., the festival generates at least 915 jobs and brings in about $79 mil-lion into South Florida’s economy, benefiting the city tremendously. It seems, with Ultra’s 15th an-niversary, the brains behind the event keep shocking fans with all their surprise announcements. Adam Russakoff, one of the co founders and President of UMF, comments that each weekend will be “two unique experiences.” The lineup for this year’s event is one of the biggest yet. Head-lining are some of the most renowned artists in the Electric Dance Music genre. Ultra will be hosting Swedish House Mafia’s final performances on their “One Last Tour.” The group will be headlining and opening the festival the first weekend and closing the following. Ultra also announced Dead-mau5 as their second headliner.

The announcement came as a shock to many because Dead-mau5 bashed the event a year ago with controversial comments on a YouTube broadcast. Deadmau5

confirmed the announcement on Twitter, tweeting “Well, I caved in... There was just too many of you guys asking me to play at Ul-tra this year, so im doin [sic] it for you guys!” Along with Swedish House Ma-fia and Deadmau5, the festival recruited big times names such as

Tickets are available on the offical Ultra Music Festival Website and have been selling out quickly.

Above & Beyond, Afrojack, Avicci, Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, Cal-vin Harris, Kaskade, Tiesto, Steve Aoki, Snoop Dogg, The Weeknd, Laidback Luke, Benny Banassi,

The Bloody Beet-roots, and Hardwell are just naming a few. Ultra will have dif-ferent arenas such as a “State of Trance 600” and “Carl Cox and Friends” arena. The festival is also bringing back “The ECO Village” for the

10th consecutive year. This area is devoted to the coverage and un-derstanding of various non-profit organizations and charities. In the area you can find interactive booths that provide an enlighten-ing outlook on the world today. “The ECO Village” is also hosting its own soundstage with artists

and musicians from around the globe. With weeks leading up to the event, the official UMF Twitter account has been giving its fol-lowers sneak peeks into the con-struction and development of the event. They also publicized that there will be free water given out at the event. As the festival approaches, many of Ferguson’s students will be attending the event, new-comers and veterans alike have expressed much anticipation. “I’m excited for the performers but I’m even more excited for the whole experience and being in an environment where everyone ap-preciates the same type of music as much as I do,” senior Magalys Suarez said.

‘‘ ‘‘ I am excited [to be] in an environment where everyone appreciates the same type of music.

-Magalys Suarez

Entertainment The perks of reading BY IVANA PINOSTAFF WRITER

Books that capture the teen-age experience as truthfully as The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky are rare. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is con-sidered by many as a modern-day classic. Throughout the novel we are led by the protagonist, Charlie, who writes a myriad of letters to an anonymous reader. Charlie’s pessimistic view on life combined with his ambivalence towards it blend together to create a few dull moments. Other than the small gaps of boring conversation the book is far from dull. The overall plot of the story made this reader com-pletely enthralled within its pag-es. The story begins within the walls of a high school where a misguided teenage boy is just try-ing to figure out who he is. His his-tory of emotional outbursts and social awkwardness make starting high school just that much more difficult. Prior to beginning high school Charlie had one friend, Michael. Unfortunately, Michael commit-ted suicide while in middle school, leaving his best friend to continue on solo. Charlie’s hopes of seeing at least one friendly face in the hall-way are crushed when the people he thought he knew looked the other way when they saw him coming. Charlie does make one friend on his first day, his English teacher Mr. Anderson. Throughout the story, Mr. Anderson helps Charlie realize he has a true gift when it comes to writing by assigning him extra work.

Later, at a football game Char-lie notices one familiar face in the crowd, Patrick. Patrick is the class clown who is often mocked because of his sexual orientation and referred to as “nothing” by his peers. Charlie becomes close friends with Patrick who introduces him to his step sister Sam. Sam is a kind free-spirit whom Charlie soon becomes infatuated with. Patrick and Sam decide to take Charlie under their wing after re-alizing that he has no friends. They introduce him to Alice, Mary Elizabeth, and Bob, who all influ-ence Charlie in one way or an-other. Charlie’s Aunt Helen plays a key role in his life. He constantly has flashbacks of her, although as the story progresses he begins to unravel a memory he had subcon-sciously chosen to block out. Charlie decides not to tell his family about his recurrent black-outs so as not to worry them. With his older brother away at college, his older sister dealing with an abusive boyfriend and a possible pregnancy, and his par-ents who cannot handle the fi-nancial burden of therapy, Charlie keeps to himself. At the end of the book Charlie is at a crossroads when he realizes that all his friends would be grad-uating in just a matter of time, and he was just a freshman. This book is a perfect depic-tion of the high school experi-ence, a time when the mind is being shaped and fitting in is harder than it ever was. It is sure to please any reader who thumbs through its pages. THE TA

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Muse tours after sucessful album releaseBY CATHERINE TORUNOPHOTOGRAPHER

Spring into fashionBY BRIANNA RAWLSENTERTAINMENT MANAGER

Miami is known to be a fashion capital with a variety of events to attend. One event is Fashion Designers Expo (FDE) which is taking place April 18-20. FDE allows emerg-ing fashion talent to receive ex-perience as well as exposure while supporting a cause. Fash-ion Designers Expo and Miami-Dade County Health Department have partnered to advocate Aids Awareness through this 3 day fashion event. Miami Fashion Week fashion week is another popular fashion event happening in Miami March 20-23 at the Miami Beach Con-vention Center. Miami Fashion Week is celebrating its 15 year an-niversary and is also known to be the largest International and His-panic fashion event in the United States. Miami Fashion week will fea-ture entertainers, celebrities, and designers from around the globe presenting their collections in-

cluding women’s casual wear and evening wear, men’s wear, swim-wear and much more. In addition, Miami Metropoli-tan International Fashion Week (MMIFW) will be having its sec-ond annual fashion week, which will be taking place from April 25-27 at Soho Studios. MMIFW will feature day wear, evening wear, and swimwear. Some of the pro-ceeds will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Miami-Dade. An event happening in the com-munity is ”DRESSED TO KILL” pre-sented by Pure Heart Christian Center’s ministry, Women of the Word. This event will take place on March 30 from 4pm to 7:30pm at the Hammocks Clubhouse 9020 Hammocks Blvd. There will be guest speakers as well as dinner, dance performances, music, local vendors displaying their merchan-dise and a fashion show. Entrance will be free, although you must RSVP by calling (305) 969 7873.

English prog-rock band Muse have been playing for over a de-cade and have yet to release an unsuccessful album. Their latest album “The 2nd Law” was re-leased on September 28, receiv-ing mixed but mostly positive reviews and selling a whopping 1,400,000 copies worldwide. The main talk about T2L is the trio’s sudden experimentation with dubstep. Most fans were ap-palled at such news but once you give the album a good listen you begin to realize, “Hey, this is actu-ally really good.” The album proved to be their most varied so far, even being influenced by artists such as Mi-chael Jackson, Skrillex and Bono. The 2nd Law totals 13 songs, including singles “Madness” and “Survival,” which served as the official song for the London 2012 Olympics.

It’s safe to say that Muse left fans satisfied and, after announc-ing their North American tour dates, they left fans anticipating a typically dramatic and awesome concert experience that frontman Matt Bellamy provides. Years of band experience and T2L’s great tracks mixed together to make a formula for a perfect concert at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida on February 22nd. The crowd cheering for an en-core and waving their flashing phones at the stage was enough to prove that the concert was 10/10. The intense and precise perfor-mance from the band and most notably Matt was what made the live concert sound even better than the recorded album itself. Matt Bellamy’s unique falsetto voice did not falter once despite reaching almost impossible notes

Sara’s PandoraBY SARA CHAVESNEWS MANAGER

and simultaneously playing guitar or piano. The show had incredible detail, such as the eerie harmonica lead into “Knights of Cydonia” by bass-ist Wolstenholme playing “Man With a Harmonica” from the film Once Upon A Time In The West. Crazy lights, colored lasers and

video screens added to the expe-rience. The band kept it visually and audibly appealing. If you were dissuaded out of going to the show because of the new album, the show consisted of many older, more classic tracks such as “Starlight” or “Supermas-sive Black Hole.”

Can you match the celebrity with what they wore at the

2013 Oscars?

A) Channing Tatum B) Halle Berrry C)Amanda Seyfried D) Amy Adams E) Anne Hathaway F) Adele

A) B) C)

D) E) F)

Joey Bad*** The Underachievers

Lana Del Rey Marina & the Diamonds

Ellie Goulding The Xx

The Underachievers are Brookleyn’s newest rap duo, signed with Flying Lotus’s record label, Brainfeeder. Their debut mix-tape, Indigoism, has a distinct psychadelic feel.

Lana Del Rey soundalike Marina & the Diamonds is surging on to the music scene with her fun electric pop. Electra Heart, her sophomore studio album, was number one across the UK.

Ellie Goulding and the Xx are so different, yet so alike, in that they both have such soothing voices and atmospheric electron-ic beats. The Xx’s second album, Coexist, is heavily influenced by electronic dance music.

If you like ... Then you’ll like...

The Drama Department Presents

April 10, 11 & 12

Entertainment The perks of reading BY IVANA PINOSTAFF WRITER

Books that capture the teen-age experience as truthfully as The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky are rare. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is con-sidered by many as a modern-day classic. Throughout the novel we are led by the protagonist, Charlie, who writes a myriad of letters to an anonymous reader. Charlie’s pessimistic view on life combined with his ambivalence towards it blend together to create a few dull moments. Other than the small gaps of boring conversation the book is far from dull. The overall plot of the story made this reader com-pletely enthralled within its pag-es. The story begins within the walls of a high school where a misguided teenage boy is just try-ing to figure out who he is. His his-tory of emotional outbursts and social awkwardness make starting high school just that much more difficult. Prior to beginning high school Charlie had one friend, Michael. Unfortunately, Michael commit-ted suicide while in middle school, leaving his best friend to continue on solo. Charlie’s hopes of seeing at least one friendly face in the hall-way are crushed when the people he thought he knew looked the other way when they saw him coming. Charlie does make one friend on his first day, his English teacher Mr. Anderson. Throughout the story, Mr. Anderson helps Charlie realize he has a true gift when it comes to writing by assigning him extra work.

Later, at a football game Char-lie notices one familiar face in the crowd, Patrick. Patrick is the class clown who is often mocked because of his sexual orientation and referred to as “nothing” by his peers. Charlie becomes close friends with Patrick who introduces him to his step sister Sam. Sam is a kind free-spirit whom Charlie soon becomes infatuated with. Patrick and Sam decide to take Charlie under their wing after re-alizing that he has no friends. They introduce him to Alice, Mary Elizabeth, and Bob, who all influ-ence Charlie in one way or an-other. Charlie’s Aunt Helen plays a key role in his life. He constantly has flashbacks of her, although as the story progresses he begins to unravel a memory he had subcon-sciously chosen to block out. Charlie decides not to tell his family about his recurrent black-outs so as not to worry them. With his older brother away at college, his older sister dealing with an abusive boyfriend and a possible pregnancy, and his par-ents who cannot handle the fi-nancial burden of therapy, Charlie keeps to himself. At the end of the book Charlie is at a crossroads when he realizes that all his friends would be grad-uating in just a matter of time, and he was just a freshman. This book is a perfect depic-tion of the high school experi-ence, a time when the mind is being shaped and fitting in is harder than it ever was. It is sure to please any reader who thumbs through its pages. THE TA

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ENTERTAINMENT

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Muse tours after sucessful album releaseBY CATHERINE TORUNOPHOTOGRAPHER

Spring into fashionBY BRIANNA RAWLSENTERTAINMENT MANAGER

Miami is known to be a fashion capital with a variety of events to attend. One event is Fashion Designers Expo (FDE) which is taking place April 18-20. FDE allows emerg-ing fashion talent to receive ex-perience as well as exposure while supporting a cause. Fash-ion Designers Expo and Miami-Dade County Health Department have partnered to advocate Aids Awareness through this 3 day fashion event. Miami Fashion Week fashion week is another popular fashion event happening in Miami March 20-23 at the Miami Beach Con-vention Center. Miami Fashion Week is celebrating its 15 year an-niversary and is also known to be the largest International and His-panic fashion event in the United States. Miami Fashion week will fea-ture entertainers, celebrities, and designers from around the globe presenting their collections in-

cluding women’s casual wear and evening wear, men’s wear, swim-wear and much more. In addition, Miami Metropoli-tan International Fashion Week (MMIFW) will be having its sec-ond annual fashion week, which will be taking place from April 25-27 at Soho Studios. MMIFW will feature day wear, evening wear, and swimwear. Some of the pro-ceeds will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Miami-Dade. An event happening in the com-munity is ”DRESSED TO KILL” pre-sented by Pure Heart Christian Center’s ministry, Women of the Word. This event will take place on March 30 from 4pm to 7:30pm at the Hammocks Clubhouse 9020 Hammocks Blvd. There will be guest speakers as well as dinner, dance performances, music, local vendors displaying their merchan-dise and a fashion show. Entrance will be free, although you must RSVP by calling (305) 969 7873.

English prog-rock band Muse have been playing for over a de-cade and have yet to release an unsuccessful album. Their latest album “The 2nd Law” was re-leased on September 28, receiv-ing mixed but mostly positive reviews and selling a whopping 1,400,000 copies worldwide. The main talk about T2L is the trio’s sudden experimentation with dubstep. Most fans were ap-palled at such news but once you give the album a good listen you begin to realize, “Hey, this is actu-ally really good.” The album proved to be their most varied so far, even being influenced by artists such as Mi-chael Jackson, Skrillex and Bono. The 2nd Law totals 13 songs, including singles “Madness” and “Survival,” which served as the official song for the London 2012 Olympics.

It’s safe to say that Muse left fans satisfied and, after announc-ing their North American tour dates, they left fans anticipating a typically dramatic and awesome concert experience that frontman Matt Bellamy provides. Years of band experience and T2L’s great tracks mixed together to make a formula for a perfect concert at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida on February 22nd. The crowd cheering for an en-core and waving their flashing phones at the stage was enough to prove that the concert was 10/10. The intense and precise perfor-mance from the band and most notably Matt was what made the live concert sound even better than the recorded album itself. Matt Bellamy’s unique falsetto voice did not falter once despite reaching almost impossible notes

Sara’s PandoraBY SARA CHAVESNEWS MANAGER

and simultaneously playing guitar or piano. The show had incredible detail, such as the eerie harmonica lead into “Knights of Cydonia” by bass-ist Wolstenholme playing “Man With a Harmonica” from the film Once Upon A Time In The West. Crazy lights, colored lasers and

video screens added to the expe-rience. The band kept it visually and audibly appealing. If you were dissuaded out of going to the show because of the new album, the show consisted of many older, more classic tracks such as “Starlight” or “Supermas-sive Black Hole.”

Can you match the celebrity with what they wore at the

2013 Oscars?

A) Channing Tatum B) Halle Berrry C)Amanda Seyfried D) Amy Adams E) Anne Hathaway F) Adele

A) B) C)

D) E) F)

Joey Bad*** The Underachievers

Lana Del Rey Marina & the Diamonds

Ellie Goulding The Xx

The Underachievers are Brookleyn’s newest rap duo, signed with Flying Lotus’s record label, Brainfeeder. Their debut mix-tape, Indigoism, has a distinct psychadelic feel.

Lana Del Rey soundalike Marina & the Diamonds is surging on to the music scene with her fun electric pop. Electra Heart, her sophomore studio album, was number one across the UK.

Ellie Goulding and the Xx are so different, yet so alike, in that they both have such soothing voices and atmospheric electron-ic beats. The Xx’s second album, Coexist, is heavily influenced by electronic dance music.

If you like ... Then you’ll like...

The Drama Department Presents

April 10, 11 & 12

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rch 2013U.K. & Ireland

Music

Top Five Most Subscribed

Vlogs

Nerdy Shows

Comedy Film & Animation Gaming

OTHER FAVORITES: Michelle PhanFPSRussiaEpicMealtimeSean KlitznerJack Howard

Khyan1Chewing Sand

The1janitorKickthePj

TyrannosauruslexxxLiam Dryden

MilesJaiProductions

UnsolicitedProjecttheCompansArchives

ElmifyLaci Green

TheSwedishLadSwoozie06

DiCasp

• RageQuit• TheSyndicateProject• SeaNanners• PewDiePie• Hankgames• Tobygames

DoubleTruckBy:YaneliMontes,EmilyNieves,andNicolasZapata.

• ZeFrank• TylerOakley• Albinwonderland• JennaMarbles• GaysoftheWeek

1. Smosh2. RayWilliamJohnson3. NigaHiga4. JennaMarbles5. Machinima

• VlogBrothers• Vsauce• Crashcourse• Scishow• Nerdist• Geekandsundry• BigThink• MinutePhysics

• Danisnotonfire• Amazingphil• ItsWayPastMyBedTime• Crabstickz• BriBryonontour• Charlieissocoollike• Jacksgap• Yogscast• Itsamemyleo• Slomozovo

• PotterPuppetPals• TheMostPopularGirlsinSchool• StarkidPotter• TheAnnoyingOrange• TheFineBrothers

• Baratsandbereta• Collegehumor• ShaneDawsonTV• TheLonelyIsland• Tobuscus

• Freddiew• MichaelAranda• CorridorDigital• HowItShouldHaveEnded

• Boyceavenue• LindseyStomp• ChristinaGrimmie• Lukeholland• ColeRolland• EricCalderon• Nerimon

The Talon Recommends

The TalonwouldliketorecommendjustsomeofourfavoriteYoutubers.Someofthesechannelsoverlapcategories,likeNerimonwhofallsunderthecategoriesofU.K.&IrelandandMusic.Thesechannelswerepickedbytheirpopularityinbothournewsroomand

online.Eachchannelstandsoutforadifferentreason.Somefortheirhumorastheytalkaboutnormaleverydaysituations,somefortheirtalentwhetherthey’retalentedmusi-

callyorhandywithanimationsonacomputer,andsomeforthecommonsharedinterestsinpopularvideogamesorbooks.Whateverthereasonis,theseYouTubersstandoutandherewehaveclassifiedthemintocategoriestofurtherenhanceyourYouTubeexperience

withsuggestionsofchannelsthatyoumaylike.Enjoy! MyHarto

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rch 2013U.K. & Ireland

Music

Top Five Most Subscribed

Vlogs

Nerdy Shows

Comedy Film & Animation Gaming

OTHER FAVORITES: Michelle PhanFPSRussiaEpicMealtimeSean KlitznerJack Howard

Khyan1Chewing Sand

The1janitorKickthePj

TyrannosauruslexxxLiam Dryden

MilesJaiProductions

UnsolicitedProjecttheCompansArchives

ElmifyLaci Green

TheSwedishLadSwoozie06

DiCasp

• RageQuit• TheSyndicateProject• SeaNanners• PewDiePie• Hankgames• Tobygames

DoubleTruckBy:YaneliMontes,EmilyNieves,andNicolasZapata.

• ZeFrank• TylerOakley• Albinwonderland• JennaMarbles• GaysoftheWeek

1. Smosh2. RayWilliamJohnson3. NigaHiga4. JennaMarbles5. Machinima

• VlogBrothers• Vsauce• Crashcourse• Scishow• Nerdist• Geekandsundry• BigThink• MinutePhysics

• Danisnotonfire• Amazingphil• ItsWayPastMyBedTime• Crabstickz• BriBryonontour• Charlieissocoollike• Jacksgap• Yogscast• Itsamemyleo• Slomozovo

• PotterPuppetPals• TheMostPopularGirlsinSchool• StarkidPotter• TheAnnoyingOrange• TheFineBrothers

• Baratsandbereta• Collegehumor• ShaneDawsonTV• TheLonelyIsland• Tobuscus

• Freddiew• MichaelAranda• CorridorDigital• HowItShouldHaveEnded

• Boyceavenue• LindseyStomp• ChristinaGrimmie• Lukeholland• ColeRolland• EricCalderon• Nerimon

The Talon Recommends

The TalonwouldliketorecommendjustsomeofourfavoriteYoutubers.Someofthesechannelsoverlapcategories,likeNerimonwhofallsunderthecategoriesofU.K.&IrelandandMusic.Thesechannelswerepickedbytheirpopularityinbothournewsroomand

online.Eachchannelstandsoutforadifferentreason.Somefortheirhumorastheytalkaboutnormaleverydaysituations,somefortheirtalentwhetherthey’retalentedmusi-

callyorhandywithanimationsonacomputer,andsomeforthecommonsharedinterestsinpopularvideogamesorbooks.Whateverthereasonis,theseYouTubersstandoutandherewehaveclassifiedthemintocategoriestofurtherenhanceyourYouTubeexperience

withsuggestionsofchannelsthatyoumaylike.Enjoy! MyHarto

Opinions

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Better late than neverBY SARA CHAVESNEWS MANAGER Strict tardy policies are de-signed to improve students’ time-liness and reduce the amount of interruptions from late arrivals. However, the administration does not realize that they are in fact promoting the disruption of instructional time by requiring that students get a tardy pass be-fore they go to class. For example, if a student walks in a mere three seconds after the bell rings, they are forced to wait in line for a tardy pass, which can take up to 30 minutes with the large number ofstudents waiting in line. While I agree that each min-ute of class time counts, I don’t see how making students wait in a line for one minute, much less 30 minutes, ensures that they’re getting the most out of thattime. I’m not saying that administra-tion should not punish students for being tardy to class, but they should rethink the way they en-force the tardy policy. There is absolutely no point in administer-ing tardy passes, when we have

teachers more than capable of marking tardies themselves. What makes even less sense than the distribution of tardy passes is the hall sweeps that Ad-ministration has begun to imple-ment. The Administration really be-lieves that students can navigate the halls in five minutes. FBN has proven multiple times that it is practically impossible to get to class on time, given the size of the campus and the ridiculously over-crowded hallways. Maybe Administration should run the hall sweeps 20-30 minutes after class, when the real delin-quents are roaming the hallways and distracting hard-working stu-dents from keeping this school A-rated. I think it’s safe to say that the tardy policy is just a waste of time for the students and the admin-istrators, as well as a waste of resources. Perhaps the money spent on paper and ink for the tardy passes can be used for more pressing issues, like ensuring that there is paper towels and soap in the bathroom.

Letter to the Editor The major issue with [“Fifty Shades of Fan Crazy”] is the lack of research. If you’re going to make a satiri-cal piece about how generically crazy a whole bunch of people you don’t necessarily know, at least throw a little merit behind what you say. That way, it would be educational and not just af-fronting. First, “Twihards” does not equal “Twilight readers,” and Har-ry Potter readers aren’t all “Pot-terheads.” These are the extreme terms for cases of those readers who love these books. Second, Supernatural recently

won a “fan appreciation award.” If you’re going to harp about fans, at least properly address the big-gest fandom of the time; it’s not just “there.” It makes you sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about. You also make fans sound like mindless idiots. Our “rationale” behind liking something is ques-tionable? Does there have to be a rationale behind liking blue or pink or getting clothes to match? I don’t know what you’re trying to improve among the behavior of Bronies. When you segregate them as the weird of the weird, it’s attempting to subdue people into becoming

something that they cannot be. No one can change who a person is and what they like. Honestly, your article was hu-morous at times and did touch upon some crazed fans. I did laugh about the fanfictions and the very nature of the way they’re written; but with all of these positives, it was still, generally, very insulting. I know [fangirls] should blow it off--it’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things--but I’m not the type of person to blow off something wholly inaccurate that paints my friends in such a nega-tive light. I just want you to realize that even though your words were

funny, they affect others in a way that you may never see its conse-quences. It’s an article of written segregation. It has more power over any-thing I could say aloud, because it’s lasting, accessible, and dem-onstrates “reference” and “proof.” I know we should have thick-er skin about what people write about us, but we never thought we’d be struck this way, where we felt safe. We were caught off guard and flustered, but now we know better and we await your apology. --Cassia Hinds, SeniorFor the full text of Cassia’s letter, please visit The Talon nline.

*Insert catchy headline here*BY NICOLAS ZAPATAONLINE MANAGER

If you are reading this, there are probably only three categories in which you fall. You might be my editor checking for grammatical errors, in which case: don’t worry, I typed this on Word so your work is basically done. You might also be a student being forced to read this in an English class, in which case: don’t worry, just count to 100 while staring at each page and your teacher will think you’re actually reading. Or lastly, you might be my mother, in which case: hi mommy, look, I got half of a page all to myself! The school newspaper is some-thing that I have been involved with for my entire high school career, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. We publish four issues every school year, which seems like a lit-tle bit to anyone not familiar with

the process we go through to ac-tually make it. #TheStruggles Finishing the newspaper on time involves many afternoons

spent eating microwave popcorn and trying to get all the stories done. When we leave the class, it is dark out and we feel like recent-ly-released Chilean miners. It is a fun, yet extremely frus-trating and difficult two months leading up to actually seeing a physical copy of the paper.

And nothing is more disap-pointing than seeing our hard work covering the hallway floors of the school. I just ask that stu-

dents read them before throwing them on the ground. I sometimes wonder why students don’t care about the newspaper unless it of-fends someone or causes some sort of controversy. I guess I could write something now that would upset someone, so here it goes: “don’t you just

hate ********? I mean, they are so annoying and lazy!” I could honestly write anything at this point, I doubt anyone is still reading, including my editor. I re-ally love it when people comment on articles they read (whether by choice or otherwise) because it shows us that there are a few people who at least opened it. I’ve been told that my story didn’t meet the length require-ment for my page. I guess it’s not that easy to write for The Talon. Now please enjoy the Batman theme song as I attempt to take

up more space. Nananananana-nanananananana BATMAN! So if you have made it to the end of my (or any) story, thank you. Also, for those of you keep-ing track, still no dates, but I only say “you go girl” to myself on spe-cial occasions. Like when I finally finished writing this article.

‘‘ ‘‘

I sometimes wonder why students don’t care about the newspaper...

- Nicolas Zapata

son, or Jenna Marble. Because of their videos, each one has been given a series of opportunities in the real world.

There are several different conventions to bring together all these different types of You-

Tubers with those who watch their videos. Later this month, Playlist Live will be happening in Orlando featuring people like Jack & Finn Harries, DailyGrace, SMOSH, and so many more. YouTube has the power to con-nect people all over the world through something as simple as videos. The truth of the matter is YouTube is no longer just a web-site in which people post videos of parodies or people falling. It’s moved past the computer screen and become a large part of today’s society. It’s no longer just on the Inter-net; it’s interactive now.

It’s no laughing matterBY YANELI MONTESPRINT MANAGER A big drug bust, a shooting, a murder, even schools and movie theaters have become no strang-ers to the headlines. But just be-cause nothing seems to surprise us anymore, that doesn’t make these crimes any less serious. It’s sad when people are so immune to these situations that they think it’s acceptable to make jokes or inappropriate comments. In the recent event that oc-curred blocks away from our school, what started as a drug bust turned into a shooting, a fire, and hours of police search as they attempted to find three fugitives. This situation, which presented a serious danger to many individ-uals, was taken lightly by many, and treated as a joke as if it was no big deal. No, we don’t live in the ‘hood’ and what happened is no laughing matter. If something like this were hap-pening in your neighborhood, you should be worrying a little more about your and your fam-

ily’s safety instead of laughing and kidding around about the situation. Instead of filling up every pos-sible social media site with ri-diculous comments about how Kendall is the ‘hood,’ take the time to realize the severity of the situation. You don’t know how many peo-ple could be at risk, and maybe next time we won’t be as lucky. Maybe an innocent bystander could be maimed or even killed. We’re fortunate to live in a community where we have a large police force looking out for our safety. Although things like this will always happen in the most surprising of places, we don’t have to fear for our lives every moment like people who actually do live in the ‘hood’ do. In those neighborhoods, theft, murder, and other gang related activities are daily occurrenc-es. We should be grateful that crimes like these rarely affect us and learn to take these things se-riously.

Looking back, YouTube was that website you’d visit out of bore-dom or when you were in the mood for some cute cat videos. Now YouTube is a community of its own full of vloggers, musicians, beauty gurus, gamers, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It’s insane to think people who started off sitting in a room, talk-ing to a camera are now consid-ered “celebrities” among most young adults. YouTube has become a plat-form for many of the celebrities we know today. Musicians such as Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson, and

YouTube: not just a website

Greyson Chance have all been discovered through YouTube and blown up overnight.

Beyond the music, vloggers have also gotten major attention. A good example would be people like Nigahiga , RayWilliam John-

BY BIANCA PEIRO AND KATIA FERNANDEZOPINIONS MANGERS

Opinions THE TA

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Better late than neverBY SARA CHAVESNEWS MANAGER Strict tardy policies are de-signed to improve students’ time-liness and reduce the amount of interruptions from late arrivals. However, the administration does not realize that they are in fact promoting the disruption of instructional time by requiring that students get a tardy pass be-fore they go to class. For example, if a student walks in a mere three seconds after the bell rings, they are forced to wait in line for a tardy pass, which can take up to 30 minutes with the large number ofstudents waiting in line. While I agree that each min-ute of class time counts, I don’t see how making students wait in a line for one minute, much less 30 minutes, ensures that they’re getting the most out of thattime. I’m not saying that administra-tion should not punish students for being tardy to class, but they should rethink the way they en-force the tardy policy. There is absolutely no point in administer-ing tardy passes, when we have

teachers more than capable of marking tardies themselves. What makes even less sense than the distribution of tardy passes is the hall sweeps that Ad-ministration has begun to imple-ment. The Administration really be-lieves that students can navigate the halls in five minutes. FBN has proven multiple times that it is practically impossible to get to class on time, given the size of the campus and the ridiculously over-crowded hallways. Maybe Administration should run the hall sweeps 20-30 minutes after class, when the real delin-quents are roaming the hallways and distracting hard-working stu-dents from keeping this school A-rated. I think it’s safe to say that the tardy policy is just a waste of time for the students and the admin-istrators, as well as a waste of resources. Perhaps the money spent on paper and ink for the tardy passes can be used for more pressing issues, like ensuring that there is paper towels and soap in the bathroom.

Letter to the Editor The major issue with [“Fifty Shades of Fan Crazy”] is the lack of research. If you’re going to make a satiri-cal piece about how generically crazy a whole bunch of people you don’t necessarily know, at least throw a little merit behind what you say. That way, it would be educational and not just af-fronting. First, “Twihards” does not equal “Twilight readers,” and Har-ry Potter readers aren’t all “Pot-terheads.” These are the extreme terms for cases of those readers who love these books. Second, Supernatural recently

won a “fan appreciation award.” If you’re going to harp about fans, at least properly address the big-gest fandom of the time; it’s not just “there.” It makes you sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about. You also make fans sound like mindless idiots. Our “rationale” behind liking something is ques-tionable? Does there have to be a rationale behind liking blue or pink or getting clothes to match? I don’t know what you’re trying to improve among the behavior of Bronies. When you segregate them as the weird of the weird, it’s attempting to subdue people into becoming

something that they cannot be. No one can change who a person is and what they like. Honestly, your article was hu-morous at times and did touch upon some crazed fans. I did laugh about the fanfictions and the very nature of the way they’re written; but with all of these positives, it was still, generally, very insulting. I know [fangirls] should blow it off--it’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things--but I’m not the type of person to blow off something wholly inaccurate that paints my friends in such a nega-tive light. I just want you to realize that even though your words were

funny, they affect others in a way that you may never see its conse-quences. It’s an article of written segregation. It has more power over any-thing I could say aloud, because it’s lasting, accessible, and dem-onstrates “reference” and “proof.” I know we should have thick-er skin about what people write about us, but we never thought we’d be struck this way, where we felt safe. We were caught off guard and flustered, but now we know better and we await your apology. --Cassia Hinds, SeniorFor the full text of Cassia’s letter, please visit The Talon nline.

*Insert catchy headline here*BY NICOLAS ZAPATAONLINE MANAGER

If you are reading this, there are probably only three categories in which you fall. You might be my editor checking for grammatical errors, in which case: don’t worry, I typed this on Word so your work is basically done. You might also be a student being forced to read this in an English class, in which case: don’t worry, just count to 100 while staring at each page and your teacher will think you’re actually reading. Or lastly, you might be my mother, in which case: hi mommy, look, I got half of a page all to myself! The school newspaper is some-thing that I have been involved with for my entire high school career, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. We publish four issues every school year, which seems like a lit-tle bit to anyone not familiar with

the process we go through to ac-tually make it. #TheStruggles Finishing the newspaper on time involves many afternoons

spent eating microwave popcorn and trying to get all the stories done. When we leave the class, it is dark out and we feel like recent-ly-released Chilean miners. It is a fun, yet extremely frus-trating and difficult two months leading up to actually seeing a physical copy of the paper.

And nothing is more disap-pointing than seeing our hard work covering the hallway floors of the school. I just ask that stu-

dents read them before throwing them on the ground. I sometimes wonder why students don’t care about the newspaper unless it of-fends someone or causes some sort of controversy. I guess I could write something now that would upset someone, so here it goes: “don’t you just

hate ********? I mean, they are so annoying and lazy!” I could honestly write anything at this point, I doubt anyone is still reading, including my editor. I re-ally love it when people comment on articles they read (whether by choice or otherwise) because it shows us that there are a few people who at least opened it. I’ve been told that my story didn’t meet the length require-ment for my page. I guess it’s not that easy to write for The Talon. Now please enjoy the Batman theme song as I attempt to take

up more space. Nananananana-nanananananana BATMAN! So if you have made it to the end of my (or any) story, thank you. Also, for those of you keep-ing track, still no dates, but I only say “you go girl” to myself on spe-cial occasions. Like when I finally finished writing this article.

‘‘ ‘‘

I sometimes wonder why students don’t care about the newspaper...

- Nicolas Zapata

son, or Jenna Marble. Because of their videos, each one has been given a series of opportunities in the real world.

There are several different conventions to bring together all these different types of You-

Tubers with those who watch their videos. Later this month, Playlist Live will be happening in Orlando featuring people like Jack & Finn Harries, DailyGrace, SMOSH, and so many more. YouTube has the power to con-nect people all over the world through something as simple as videos. The truth of the matter is YouTube is no longer just a web-site in which people post videos of parodies or people falling. It’s moved past the computer screen and become a large part of today’s society. It’s no longer just on the Inter-net; it’s interactive now.

It’s no laughing matterBY YANELI MONTESPRINT MANAGER A big drug bust, a shooting, a murder, even schools and movie theaters have become no strang-ers to the headlines. But just be-cause nothing seems to surprise us anymore, that doesn’t make these crimes any less serious. It’s sad when people are so immune to these situations that they think it’s acceptable to make jokes or inappropriate comments. In the recent event that oc-curred blocks away from our school, what started as a drug bust turned into a shooting, a fire, and hours of police search as they attempted to find three fugitives. This situation, which presented a serious danger to many individ-uals, was taken lightly by many, and treated as a joke as if it was no big deal. No, we don’t live in the ‘hood’ and what happened is no laughing matter. If something like this were hap-pening in your neighborhood, you should be worrying a little more about your and your fam-

ily’s safety instead of laughing and kidding around about the situation. Instead of filling up every pos-sible social media site with ri-diculous comments about how Kendall is the ‘hood,’ take the time to realize the severity of the situation. You don’t know how many peo-ple could be at risk, and maybe next time we won’t be as lucky. Maybe an innocent bystander could be maimed or even killed. We’re fortunate to live in a community where we have a large police force looking out for our safety. Although things like this will always happen in the most surprising of places, we don’t have to fear for our lives every moment like people who actually do live in the ‘hood’ do. In those neighborhoods, theft, murder, and other gang related activities are daily occurrenc-es. We should be grateful that crimes like these rarely affect us and learn to take these things se-riously.

Looking back, YouTube was that website you’d visit out of bore-dom or when you were in the mood for some cute cat videos. Now YouTube is a community of its own full of vloggers, musicians, beauty gurus, gamers, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It’s insane to think people who started off sitting in a room, talk-ing to a camera are now consid-ered “celebrities” among most young adults. YouTube has become a plat-form for many of the celebrities we know today. Musicians such as Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson, and

YouTube: not just a website

Greyson Chance have all been discovered through YouTube and blown up overnight.

Beyond the music, vloggers have also gotten major attention. A good example would be people like Nigahiga , RayWilliam John-

BY BIANCA PEIRO AND KATIA FERNANDEZOPINIONS MANGERS

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Sports

Senior Samantha Diaz travels from half court to the basket trying to maintain control of the ball for her team while also managing the team’s plays.

Photocredit: Foxmar Photography

Girls’ BasketballThe Girls’ basketball team

has had a great season this year with 13 wins and 11 losses.

Senior Susan Taghioff and sophomore Kamaria Johnson lead the team’s individual player stats. Taghioff averaged about 10 points and 8-9 rebounds per game. Johnson averaged about 8 points, 2 steals, and 7 re-bounds per game.

The hardest opponents for the team have been Lourdes, South Miami, and Miami High; they have been the toughest teams to beat this year; losing to Lourdes on three different occa-sions.

The season’s best games were against Southwest and North Miami Beach. We beat Southwest with the final score of 55-30. . They beat North Mi-ami Beach with a final score of 55-25.

They also beat Reagan with a final score of 56-25. The de-fense did their part by holding back Reagan from scoring a lot throughout the game. In the last quarter Reagan only scored two points. It was an incredible win for the team.

The overall view of this sea-son is that the team has grown and is progressing well. Even though their star player, junior Tabitha Gonzalez, was out for the whole season with an injury, the team was able to prevail in their season. The team has had a great season this year and hopes for a better one next year.

“Next year we want to win Districts, and the champion-ships,” Coach Laz said.

This has been one of the most successful years for the girls bas-ketball team in Ferguson history.

BY LAUREN MITCHELLSTAFF WRITER

Mar

ch 2

013

The track and field team has been a great success for both the boys and the girls this year. The team has many strong ath-letes that add a lot to the pro-gram. The girls’ team’s success is mainly because of key runners such as sophomore Kamaria Johnson, senior Rachel Licea, sophomore Lauren Gavulic, ju-nior Katrina Santiago, and se-nior Vanessa Soto. Sophomore Kamaria Johnson broke the girl’s 100 meter dash record, while Stephanie de la Guarda, Lauren Gavulic, Rachel Licea, and Ka-trina Santiago all broke the girls distance medley relay. On the boys’ side, senior Pablo Espitia broke the record for the boy’s pole vault. Both the boys and the girls look to go far in contention as they have already won the West

Kendall Championship. The team defeated the Braddock Bulldogs, the Sunset Knights, and the Varela Vipers. “Compared to traditional Fer-

Track & FieldBY JUSTIN SANCHEZSTAFF WRITER

guson teams, we’re way stron-ger on the girl’s side state-wide as compared to the boy’s side, but this trend has been similar for the past couple of years,”

Head Coach Ryan Raposo said. The girls have already won two other major invitation-als. With the boys winning third place out of 20 other schools and the girls win-ning first place, the teams are well on their way to re-gionals. “Our teams will continue to perform well this sea-son,” Raposo said. The team’s overall goals would be shooting for a repeat of a double District Championship, shooting for top three Regional perfor-mances, and the ultimate goal is sending a number of

athletes to the State Finals once again. “They’re a very hard working group of athletes and the team’s success is a direct result of all their collective efforts,” Raposo said.

Junior Mathew Raposo races past the opponent to take the lead and finish the race. Photo Credit: Jorge M. Rodriguez

BadmintonBY LAUREN MITCHELLSTAFF WRITER

So far this year, the badmin-ton team record is two wins, three losses, and one tie. Top players to look at include Boys’ single stars David Velazco and Jim Sae-Jung. Both players are 5-1 individually. The purpose of badminton is to hit the shuttle with the racket so that it passes the net and onto the opponent’s court. Whenever this is done, a rally has been won; win enough rallies, and a player wins the match. Once the shuttle touches the ground, the rally is over. In this respect, badminton is not like tennis or squash, where the ball can bounce. A player must hit the shuttle only once before it goes over the net, even in doubles. Badmin-ton is not like volleyball, how-ever, where multiple players can touch the ball before sending it back over the net. The coaches realize that it is crucial to make sure the rookies

know the basics of the game. “The focus for this year is to set the foundational prowess in the athlete’s knowledge and comprehension of fundamental skills, to build understanding of the technical techniques and tactical aspects of the game, and to foster continued growth and improvement in all first-time athletes,” Coach Richard Lopez said. There are five “types” of bad-minton. They include Boys’ sin-gle, Girls’ single, Boys’ double, Girls’ double, and Mixed dou-bles. With only three returning players, the badminton team consists of only rookies who are learning the ways of the game while coming together as a team. Although the badminton sea-son has just started, the team is happy with their success so far. The players are very highly mo-tivated and excited for their up-coming matches.

“The outlook for this year is positive as athletes are pro-gressing well, and are geared toward district success/GMAC contention.” Coach Lopez said.The team will close out the sea-son on April 25th.

Spring Sports Home Games

VARSITY BASEBALLDate Opponent TimeApril 2 Columbus 3:30April 9 Sunset 3:30April 11 Miami 3:30April 12 Westland 3:30 Hialeah

TRACk & FIELdDate Opponent TimeApril 3 Coral Park/ 3:00 Coral Gables/ PalmettoApril 20 4A District 15 9AM

BoYS’ VoLLEYBALLDate Opponent TimeApril 2 Coral Park 3:30/5:00April 15 Coral Gables 4:00April 16 Varela 3:30/5:00April 23 Killian 6:00/7:15

BAdMINToNDate Opponent TimeApril 10 Palmetto 3:00

BaseballBY JUSTIN SANCHEZSTAFF WRITER

The varsity baseball team has managed to maintain a winning percentage the entire season. With a record of 8 wins and only 4 losses, the team has kept their district hopes alive.

“The team has gotten stron-ger, and they have been playing at a varsity level since sopho-more year. With the amount of chemistry they have, the team has increased its motivation compared to prior years,” Coach Howard Cuervo said.

Some players this year that have really improved are senior Victor Morell (pitcher), senior Chris Medina (third base), senior Carlos Tapia (left field), junior Christopher Bec (center field), and senior Jose Brito (catcher).

With this year’s team, the

coaches are hoping to win the district championship and ad-vance to state competition. The coaches are satisfied with the hitting and pitching of the team as of this point.

Senior Carlos Tapia rips the leather off the ball, as he prepares to round the bases. Photo credit: Catherine Toruno

“The bats have really come into effect these last couple of games,” Coach Cuervo said.

The coaches have already be-gun rebuilding the team for next year. They are trying to promote

sophomores to the varsity level.

“We are going to need much experience to help us move in the right direction,” Coach Cuervo said.

The team has accom-plished two important wins against rivals the Braddock Bulldogs and the Southwest Eagles. The team defeated the Bulldogs on February 21st and the Eagles on February 28th. The team did lose one key game against the Co-lumbus Explorers on Febru-

ary 26th. The team will have a chance to avenge their loss on April 2nd when they play the Ex-plorers again.

“Our main goal this year is to stay focused through the entire season, and try to make it the best season ever, especially for the seniors,” Coach Cuervo said.

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Sports

Senior Samantha Diaz travels from half court to the basket trying to maintain control of the ball for her team while also managing the team’s plays.

Photocredit: Foxmar Photography

Girls’ BasketballThe Girls’ basketball team

has had a great season this year with 13 wins and 11 losses.

Senior Susan Taghioff and sophomore Kamaria Johnson lead the team’s individual player stats. Taghioff averaged about 10 points and 8-9 rebounds per game. Johnson averaged about 8 points, 2 steals, and 7 re-bounds per game.

The hardest opponents for the team have been Lourdes, South Miami, and Miami High; they have been the toughest teams to beat this year; losing to Lourdes on three different occa-sions.

The season’s best games were against Southwest and North Miami Beach. We beat Southwest with the final score of 55-30. . They beat North Mi-ami Beach with a final score of 55-25.

They also beat Reagan with a final score of 56-25. The de-fense did their part by holding back Reagan from scoring a lot throughout the game. In the last quarter Reagan only scored two points. It was an incredible win for the team.

The overall view of this sea-son is that the team has grown and is progressing well. Even though their star player, junior Tabitha Gonzalez, was out for the whole season with an injury, the team was able to prevail in their season. The team has had a great season this year and hopes for a better one next year.

“Next year we want to win Districts, and the champion-ships,” Coach Laz said.

This has been one of the most successful years for the girls bas-ketball team in Ferguson history.

BY LAUREN MITCHELLSTAFF WRITER

Mar

ch 2

013

The track and field team has been a great success for both the boys and the girls this year. The team has many strong ath-letes that add a lot to the pro-gram. The girls’ team’s success is mainly because of key runners such as sophomore Kamaria Johnson, senior Rachel Licea, sophomore Lauren Gavulic, ju-nior Katrina Santiago, and se-nior Vanessa Soto. Sophomore Kamaria Johnson broke the girl’s 100 meter dash record, while Stephanie de la Guarda, Lauren Gavulic, Rachel Licea, and Ka-trina Santiago all broke the girls distance medley relay. On the boys’ side, senior Pablo Espitia broke the record for the boy’s pole vault. Both the boys and the girls look to go far in contention as they have already won the West

Kendall Championship. The team defeated the Braddock Bulldogs, the Sunset Knights, and the Varela Vipers. “Compared to traditional Fer-

Track & FieldBY JUSTIN SANCHEZSTAFF WRITER

guson teams, we’re way stron-ger on the girl’s side state-wide as compared to the boy’s side, but this trend has been similar for the past couple of years,”

Head Coach Ryan Raposo said. The girls have already won two other major invitation-als. With the boys winning third place out of 20 other schools and the girls win-ning first place, the teams are well on their way to re-gionals. “Our teams will continue to perform well this sea-son,” Raposo said. The team’s overall goals would be shooting for a repeat of a double District Championship, shooting for top three Regional perfor-mances, and the ultimate goal is sending a number of

athletes to the State Finals once again. “They’re a very hard working group of athletes and the team’s success is a direct result of all their collective efforts,” Raposo said.

Junior Mathew Raposo races past the opponent to take the lead and finish the race. Photo Credit: Jorge M. Rodriguez

BadmintonBY LAUREN MITCHELLSTAFF WRITER

So far this year, the badmin-ton team record is two wins, three losses, and one tie. Top players to look at include Boys’ single stars David Velazco and Jim Sae-Jung. Both players are 5-1 individually. The purpose of badminton is to hit the shuttle with the racket so that it passes the net and onto the opponent’s court. Whenever this is done, a rally has been won; win enough rallies, and a player wins the match. Once the shuttle touches the ground, the rally is over. In this respect, badminton is not like tennis or squash, where the ball can bounce. A player must hit the shuttle only once before it goes over the net, even in doubles. Badmin-ton is not like volleyball, how-ever, where multiple players can touch the ball before sending it back over the net. The coaches realize that it is crucial to make sure the rookies

know the basics of the game. “The focus for this year is to set the foundational prowess in the athlete’s knowledge and comprehension of fundamental skills, to build understanding of the technical techniques and tactical aspects of the game, and to foster continued growth and improvement in all first-time athletes,” Coach Richard Lopez said. There are five “types” of bad-minton. They include Boys’ sin-gle, Girls’ single, Boys’ double, Girls’ double, and Mixed dou-bles. With only three returning players, the badminton team consists of only rookies who are learning the ways of the game while coming together as a team. Although the badminton sea-son has just started, the team is happy with their success so far. The players are very highly mo-tivated and excited for their up-coming matches.

“The outlook for this year is positive as athletes are pro-gressing well, and are geared toward district success/GMAC contention.” Coach Lopez said.The team will close out the sea-son on April 25th.

Spring Sports Home Games

VARSITY BASEBALLDate Opponent TimeApril 2 Columbus 3:30April 9 Sunset 3:30April 11 Miami 3:30April 12 Westland 3:30 Hialeah

TRACk & FIELdDate Opponent TimeApril 3 Coral Park/ 3:00 Coral Gables/ PalmettoApril 20 4A District 15 9AM

BoYS’ VoLLEYBALLDate Opponent TimeApril 2 Coral Park 3:30/5:00April 15 Coral Gables 4:00April 16 Varela 3:30/5:00April 23 Killian 6:00/7:15

BAdMINToNDate Opponent TimeApril 10 Palmetto 3:00

BaseballBY JUSTIN SANCHEZSTAFF WRITER

The varsity baseball team has managed to maintain a winning percentage the entire season. With a record of 8 wins and only 4 losses, the team has kept their district hopes alive.

“The team has gotten stron-ger, and they have been playing at a varsity level since sopho-more year. With the amount of chemistry they have, the team has increased its motivation compared to prior years,” Coach Howard Cuervo said.

Some players this year that have really improved are senior Victor Morell (pitcher), senior Chris Medina (third base), senior Carlos Tapia (left field), junior Christopher Bec (center field), and senior Jose Brito (catcher).

With this year’s team, the

coaches are hoping to win the district championship and ad-vance to state competition. The coaches are satisfied with the hitting and pitching of the team as of this point.

Senior Carlos Tapia rips the leather off the ball, as he prepares to round the bases. Photo credit: Catherine Toruno

“The bats have really come into effect these last couple of games,” Coach Cuervo said.

The coaches have already be-gun rebuilding the team for next year. They are trying to promote

sophomores to the varsity level.

“We are going to need much experience to help us move in the right direction,” Coach Cuervo said.

The team has accom-plished two important wins against rivals the Braddock Bulldogs and the Southwest Eagles. The team defeated the Bulldogs on February 21st and the Eagles on February 28th. The team did lose one key game against the Co-lumbus Explorers on Febru-

ary 26th. The team will have a chance to avenge their loss on April 2nd when they play the Ex-plorers again.

“Our main goal this year is to stay focused through the entire season, and try to make it the best season ever, especially for the seniors,” Coach Cuervo said.

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