BLUE & WHITE 4650 West OLYMPIC BLV, 90019 • 3rd ISSUE • May/JUnE 2014

Features Entertainment Sports OpinionPage 2 Page 3 Page 6 Page 7

by Michelle MendietaCopy Editor & Business Manager

On Friday, April 24th, LAHS seniors spent an en-chanted night in Santa Monica for prom. Held at Casa Del Mar, the ballroom reflected the prom’s theme, “An Enchanted Night on the Beach.” The centerpieces consisted of hydrangeas, roses, spray roses, carnations, and pur-ple stock, along with lit candles surrounding them. The flowers were individually selected by the senior council in order to create a bouquet that matched the theme exactly.

Amazing cuisine of the Casa del Mar restaurant provided an extra touch. Instead of a buffet like last year, this year’s Senior Council decided to create a more upscale feeling and provide

a single meal, consisting of 3 courses, all delivered by wait-ers. Prom also had an open soda bar. By the time the dessert came around, the students were super “turned up,” and could not wait to dance the night away.

The music was a mixture of genres which fit the students perfectly. Although Vanessa Lopez was not listed on the bal-lot, she still won Prom Queen, alongside her boyfriend, Mario Solorzano, who won Prom King. The dance floor was full all night.

Bianca De Carpio, Senior Council Vice President expressed her extreme satisfaction with the prom: “The venue was mag-nificent. The people that worked there treated us really well and the overall vibe was great!”

Los Angeles High School Senior Council was able to pro-vide its seniors with a first class Prom.

expected to facilitate better OUTCOMES

Redesigned SAT,

Mesa & Robotics

by Laura Strong Sports & Features editor

On January 4th, the Los Angeles MESA team went where no Los Angeles team has ever gone before- US FIRST Robot-ics. By February 23rd, Roman Robotics had to build a robot to pick up exercise balls and throw them into marked goals.

Roman Robotics compet-ed in the Inland Empire Com-

petition February 28th through March 2nd against forty teams. While they didn’t place, the team got good publicity.

Meanwhile, LA High’s MESA team hosted MESA Pre-lims on March 8th. During the competition, the Roman MESA team won over 10 medals, including all three places in the Prosthetic Arm Competition.

MESA competed April 4th at UCLA, with teams placing in second and third overall.

photo credit: Mr.Madali

ScheduleChange

On A Victory Lap

by Ryan BaluyutStaff Writer

On March 3, 2014, the College Board announced major changes to the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) to facil-itate better outcomes, expand op-portunities, and improve college-readiness among students.

Points will no longer be deducted for incorrect answers and scoring will return to the 1600 scale, with a separate score for the optional essay.

The redesigned test, beginning in 2016, will include evidence-based reading and writ-ing, math, and an optional essay.

The College Board ex-pects the test to be more inclu-sive, emphasizing class-based skills, rather than those only

acquired in preparation classes. Vocabulary will include

words more likely to be used in college; the math section will focus on concepts essential for college and career training, including problem solving, data analysis, algebra, and advanced math.

Khan Academy, a non-profit organization, will partner with College Board to provide free preparation materials for the redesigned test, allowing all stu-dents to access software designed to improve abilities.

On the College Board website, Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy stated, “We’re thrilled to collaborate . . . to level the playing field . . . making truly world-class test-prep materials freely available.”

by Michael Antonio & Priscilla MenendezStaff Writers

This fall, L.A. High returns to a six period a day, with a twist.

With no nutrition, students will be given breakfast in the classroom (BIC).

Two late-start days will remain, but not advisory.

Deciding on the new schedule wasn’t an easy task. Faculty had to take into account many different factors, including times for busses, nutrition, and staff development. Feelings are mixed about the change, among both teachers and students. Some say it’s for the better; while, others say it’s for the worse.

Prom2014

“Prom was amazing. Everyone looked very elegant. I apologize for blinding everyone with my video light, that’s the risk you take for going to prom. It was one of the most memorable proms I’ve attended,” said Mr. Moy.

2 Features May/June 2014

California’s 2014 water year (Oct. 1, 2013 -­ Sept. 30, 2014) has been one of the driest in decades. By: David Solario

Staff Writer During a speech in Fresno, CA, on February 14, President Obama stated

“A changing climate means that weather-­related di-­sasters, like droughts, wild-­

are potentially going to be costlier and they’re going to be harsher.”

On January 17th, Governor Brown declared a drought state of emergency

take all necessary actions in response. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the entire state is considered “abnor-­mally dry,” and two-­thirds of California is in “extreme” to “exceptional” drought condi-­tions. A drought occurs when there are water related prob-­lems because of drier-­than-­normal conditions. Droughts occur over a period of time. They can take weeks, months, or even years before anyone knows a drought is occurring. As California’s drought continues, more farm-­ers are being forced to follow

than 80,000 farms. Califor-­nia’s agriculture uses around 80 percent of the state’s de-­veloped water. Nearly half of the country’s fruits, nuts and vegetables come from Cali-­fornia, a state that is drying up over time. Recent rains have helped a little. Economists say that it’s too early to tell whether the drought will affect jobs;; but, it’s likely as many as 20,000 will be lost as a result.

HAPPIEST place

Seniors’ Excitement Builds as Grad Nite Arrives

Great And

Perfect Ways to Help You Ace Your Finals

By: Claudia MendezCo-­Editor In Chief

-­proaching soon, let’s talk about making good study habits. Not everyone is great at studying;; that’s a fact. If you’re really trying to pass a

easy ways to pick up good study habits.

The biggest challenge is if you are easily distracted. To keep from getting dis-­tracted, turn your phone, and any other unnecessary devices, off. When you’re doing your homework, try to focus. Homework is intended to help you. Study hard because, if you don’t study, you can’t expect great results. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

In class, ask questions. Don’t be afraid;; teachers don’t bite. When you attempt to do the homework, it’s meant to strengthen your knowledge. It may seem like a burden now;; but, in the long run, it’ll pay off. Just because something is

impossible to do. Not only can you ask

questions, but you can go to tutoring. Many of the teach-­ers at L.A. High are more than capable of helping out. Some teachers, unfortunately, don’t offer tutoring, but there are other teachers who are willing to tutor students. You can also check Youtube videos. Some videos show step by step examples and you can always hit pause whenever you’d like. Obviously not all videos can be trusted;; but, it doesn’t take

actually help and which ones might confuse you or provide you with incorrect informa-­tion.

If you’re not one who likes to study alone, you can try forming a study group. Sometimes, classmates under-­stand certain topics better than you and can explain concepts to you, and vice versa. When working with friends, you can

other. In most areas, practice makes perfect. With a friend or friends, you can pair topics together. That way you’ll be able to remember things faster.

The real deal behind Cinco De Mayo!!

California

Cinco De Mayo

Drought

In

By: Adilene AlvillarEntertainment Editor

What is Cinco de Mayo? Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s independence, contrary to what many people believe. Instead, it is a celebra-­tion of the battle between the French and the state of Puebla in Mexico.

The battle was between Puebla and French. Puebla’s military was led by Benito Juarez, which they victori-­ously won in 1862. They fought against the French forces of Napoleon III. In 1861, Mexico declared war against the French. Soon after, the French invaded Mexico’s territory, Puebla.

Cinco de Mayo is

celebrated more in the United States than in Mexico because the cultures have mixed with each other. Puebla is usually the only area in Mexico that celebrates the holiday. It is celebrated through exciting festivals, traditional foods, parades all over the country, and Folklorico dances.

At L.A. High, the In-­ternational/ Ballet Folklolrico performed a show, which in-­cluded a variety of Folklorico dances, in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

Junior Alexis Ayala said, “It was an enjoyable performance! Students and teachers were able to go up on stage. That’s funny and interesting!”

By: Claudia Mendez & Priscilla MenendezStaff Writers

This year the seniors had a tough decision between Six Flags Magic Mountain and Disneyland. Ultimately, Disneyland came out on top. Seniors, who purchased their tickets for 90 dollars, and had the chance to buy a ticket for a guest, will arrive at 10 a.m. on May 24th to stay at the park until 3 am, the next morning, May 25th.

When it came down to deciding where to have Grad Nite, seniors considered many factors. First, Six Flags does not allow attendees to stay all night, but Disney-­land allows a full 18 hours at the park. Six Flags has the crazy rollercoasters, whereas Disneyland doesn’t. Six Flags attracts teenagers and adults, while Disneyland brings in crowds of young ones with their parents. In the long run, Disneyland won because, after all, it is Disneyland. Who wouldn’t want a chance to visit the best place on earth?

Senior Nathan-­iel Webb said, “[It will be] one of the best nights of my life,

spending all day with my friends, turning up, and having a lot of fun. It [will be] one of the last times that I am going to be with my 2014 senior class. Prom was memorable and I plan on mak-­ing Grad Nite just as memorable. It’s going to be the best weekend ever . . . All with my closest high school friends!”

Many seniors wait with anticipation for the day to arrive.

Janeth Lopez, another L.A. High senior said, “Grad Nite is the night every senior looks forward to. [It is] one of the last days of senior year [that] you get to spend with all the seniors. What a [great] way to end senior year. I plan on going to the beach on Sunday and having a great weekend.”

With Grad Nite being next weekend, the anticipa-­tion grows, and Seniors are excited. Disneyland’s the happiest place on Earth, where memories are made.

Easy Study Tips

Photo Credit: Tumblr.com

on EARTH

3 Entertainment May/June 2014

Captain America:photo credit: guardianlv.com

The Fault in Our Stars

by Laura StrongSports & Features Editor

The Winter Soldier has been a ground-breaking story arc for both the Marvel Cinematic Uni-verse (MCU) and the Marvel 616 Universe, which is the main universe for Marvel comics. This is a spoiler full comparison between the two universes.Warning: do not read if you haven’t watched the newest movie.In both storylines, the mysteri-ous Winter Soldier is under the control of Captain America’s enemy, Hydra. He is also re-vealed to be Cap’s brainwashed best friend, James Buchanan Barnes, or “Bucky.”In the Winter Soldier movie, the focus was on the conflict between Cap’s black-and-white ideals and the shades of gray of SHIELD (the spy organiza-tion of which Nick Fury heads). The movie was a lot better than the comic book, in the way it showed how isolated Captain America (played by Chris Ev-ans) is from the rest of the world. The movie, however, didn’t do

a good job of showing the cre-ation of the Winter Soldier from the near-dead Bucky.The comic book arc (Captain America Vol. 5 Issue #8, 9 and 11-14) did a better job of intro-ducing the Winter Soldier and showing both the chase after the Winter Soldier (with guest ap-pearances from Iron Man and the Falcon) and the removal of Bucky’s brainwashing.If you’re looking for a story with a lot of self-mocking hu-mor, the new Captain America is the way to go. For a little darker and more haunted story, look for the Winter Soldier arc.

Book Reviews

Comic vs. Movie

The Winter Soldier

by Ryan BaluyutStaff Writer

New York Times bestseller, The Fault in Our Stars, is John Green’s newest literary master-piece. Time magazine calls it, “Damn near genius…one of the most genuine and moving ones in recent American fiction, an existential tragedy of tremendous intelligence, courage, and sad-ness.”

The Fault in Our Stars tells the story of sixteen year old, Hazel Lancaster. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was only thirteen and has always been sickly since then. Under the encouragement of her mother, she joins a support group for teens battling terminal diseases. Through the group, she meets new friends and stumbles

upon the charming and witty, Augustus Waters.

Augustus and Hazel soon became close friends. Despite their uncertain and likely-to-be-unhappy future, both try to live their life to the fullest--- hoping and wishing that when their time comes, they will be remembered.

The Fault in Our Stars tackles the universal themes of life: hope, love, happiness, sor-row and death. Funny, romantic, witty and beautifully written, this contemporary masterpiece is a must-read. Grab a copy and find out how love conquers all and how life doesn’t have to be per-fect to be extraordinary. Surely, this book would make you laugh, cry and then come back for more.

The Band & Color GuardAnnual Spring Concert

photo credit: Ms. Barry -Wald & Osamany Felipe

The Band and Color Guard Annual Spring Concert. ft. their 2013 Field Show!

by Mayra Carrillo Layout Editor

The Band and Col-or Guard Annual Spring Concert,

held on April 3rd and 4th, was a great success. It involved great music tunes from the band and beautiful dance routines from the color guard. Dr. Yoon pleas-antly introduced Friday’s night show, alongside Drum Ma-jors, Jesus Guardado and Zully Flores, and Color Guard Cap-tain, Arely Soriano; followed by Chemil Durant, who introduced the rest of the performances.

The Spring Concert’s theme was Artistry in Motion. The band played Erik Morales’s “Da Vinci,” Samuel R. Hazo’s “Blue and Green,” and Michael Sweeny’s “Earth Dance.” The Color Guard’s show, entitled “Haunted,” involved a lyrical dance to the songs, “Smash Into You” and “Haunted,” both by Beyonce. The guard used flags for both dance numbers, which was a nice twist and a unique way to show off their versatility and talent.

Success doesn’t come without dedication. The band had long hours of practice, nearly every day, after school. Throughout rehearsals, each per-son contributed a lot of energy and focus.

Trombone player Jose Ta-vares said,

“To have a good outcome, we have to work hard and prac-tice like champions every day. We aren’t just naturally great.” He laughed, “We are always on task, and, when it’s all set, we have fun with our music.”

The Color Guard put to-gether their show in only two weeks!

“We didn’t have three months, like we regularly do. We had some issues along the way and ended up only having two weeks to put an entire show together. That was an incredible way to put our skills to the test and the show turned out great,” said guard member Maria Buzo.

For only a small number of rehearsals, they performed a very good show.

A Color Guard Captain, Adilene Alvillar, said,

“We don’t always start out as great as we are. We have to learn numerous dances that include technique. It’s not just random danc-ing on a stage with 50 people. We learn how to do pirouettes, sautés, straddle leaps, and much more. It gets hard at times, but our Guard can ac-complish anything.”

Their hard work paid off, their hard work payed off, after all the are the champions of the LAUSD Band & Drill Team Championships and have been for the past 24 years.

It’s safe to say that this year’s annual Band and Color Guard Annual Spring Concert was a success. The students cheered for the outstanding per-formances. Let’s see what they will do next year!

The concert that had a positive attitude throughout the entire show left many speechless!

Night Concert!Corwin Theatre 7pm

Don’t Miss Out!

Confessions of a Dance-a-HolicCorwin Theatre May 21,22,23periods: 2,3,5,6

& Great Dances

Choreographed

by our own

STUDENTS!

photo credit: tumblr.com

Congratulations to our

2014Roman GraduatesWhere will some of our students be headed next school year? UC Irvine

Bianca De Carpio

“I know that it will be hard to achieve all that I want to be in the future, but it all comes with hard work and dedication. I am willing to take that challege.”

Brown UniversityJacquelin Agustin

“I’m excited for what college life has in store for me.”

Cal State NorthridgeNoemi Peña

“I am really excited for college, but I am also nervous. I don’t know what to expect.”

Cal State Los Angeles

Yeong Min Ko

“Pumped [up] to meet new people and hopefully try out for the base-ball team.”

UC Irvine Pearl Moro

“Wherever I go, I will be successful.”

Marines/Cal State LA

Mario Solorzano

“I have chosen Marines because I did marching music for 4 years and I would love to continue my music. I will use the G.I Bill to get into Cal State LA, majoring in music and criminal justice law.”

UCLACrystal Torres

“Graduating from L.A High isn’t the end, but the beginning of our new journey filled with many opportuni-ties and experiences.”

UC BerkeleyLaura Strong

“Whatever happens next year, I’ll promise you this, I’ll stay who I am. not a perfect student, but a funny person.”

UCLA Jessi Jeronimo

“I’m looking forward to the Bruin life.”

Cal Poly PomonaNathaniel Webb

“When highschool is over, it wont be over. I am going to stay the person I am. College is just another step to making it.”

UCLA Emely Lopez

“Wherever I go...the limit does not exist.”

4 Culture May/June 2014 5

CSUNJuan Arresis

“Effort pays off soon or later.”

6 Sports May/June 2014

by Adilene AlvillarStaff Writer

LAHS Roman’s baseball team is the same squad as last year, minus Ernesto Asencio, 2013 graduate. Asencio brought a lot of leadership to the team, and led them to the playoffs. Un-fortunately, they lost during the first round of playoffs, against Huntington Park, last year. The team is confident that they will reach the playoffs again this year. This time, they hope to make it to Dodger Stadium for CIF Finals at the end of May.

There will only be one player returning next year, Jerry Villafuerte, first baseman. L.A. High is really counting on him to have a lot of leadership skills and commitment for this and next year’s season. #CountOnJerry is a trend on social media networks, supporting him during current games and upcoming ones.

Villafuerte, who has played baseball since he was a little kid, said, “When I was 4, I saw my father play baseball. So, it got to my attention that I should start playing.”

At age 12, Villafuerte attended the Red Sox Founda-tion Camp, for six weeks, in Boston, Massachusetts. He met star players, like Josh Beckett, who currently plays for the L.A. Dodgers and previously played for the Boston Red Sox.

“I’m a Red Sox fan and he played for them at the time, so he inspired me to never give up on

my dreams,“ said Villafuerte.Villafuerte’s teammates

motivate him to keep working hard. It takes commitment, lead-ership, and a positive mentality to achieve his skills.

“My future [goal] is really not to play in the major leagues. But, if there’s an opportunity, I will take it and try to play in the major leagues,” said Villafuerte.

Baseball: Run Romans, Run

A baseball dream that will go far past sucess.

(left side) LA High 2014 Baseball Season game. (right side) Pitching with the Travel Ball Team in 2008

by Andy SuhStaff Writer

The Los Angeles Romans’ track team has shifted gears to advance to the top of their game. On May 1st, our runners left Santee High School in the dust, by winning most of the meet. The team put all efforts into their competitions by always looking for a victory. Their suc-cess in the meet proved that our runners are ready and confident to take on whatever obstacles they come across.

The Roman track team practices every day, after school, and on Monday and Wednes-day mornings. Practice helps to improve their endurance and mentality during future races.

“I feel like practice helps us improve, so that we will be ready for our next track meet[s],” said Dajour Lariviere, sopho-more.

The runners also set their goals on the line and aim for ac-complishments. Hopefully, their season will end on an outstand-ing note, with everyone reaching their goals.

“I would be happy if everyone breaks their personal record,” said Coach Premier.

Just Keep by Terry Sa

Staff Writer

The LAHS Swim-ming team has been improving dramatically over the past years. The boys’ swimming coach, Coach Lee, said that there would be major improvements in performance and teamwork each year. He believes that next year, the team will even be better than this year. The girls’ swimming coach believes that this year’s swimming team is just as good as she expected. Mr.Lee also announced that there were some strong swimmers on the team.

The boys’ swim team have practiced nearly every day, and the practice has shown positive results. Their most recent game against Maywood High was totally in the Romans’ hands. Also, their game against Miguel Contreras High was a fairly easy win. As the Romans competed against other high

schools, the swimmers learned that winning isn’t the key to success; but, good teamwork will lead to a victory.

“The team’s goal isn’t only to win, but to achieve friendship,” said Mr. Lee.

Some major team players, including junior, Roberto Menen-dez, sophomore, Richard Yoo, and senior, Hansung Lee. Coach Lee has described his team as a family, and that friendship is the core of the team.

The girls’ swim team did not make any major improve-ments throughout their season. Putting aside the team, there are very strong players on the team, including Erandy Medrano, sophomore, Hannah Lee, junior, and Helena Mecias, junior. Even though the team does not have a big winning streak, their passion and dedication toward swim-ming is apparent. Coach Belsey describes them as a very hard-working team.

Los Angeles vs. North Hollywood

phot

o cr

edit:

Ter

ry S

a

SOFTBALL

by Mayra CarrilloStaff Writer

After winning league, and making it to playoffs last season, the softball girls were back and ready to win. This year, most of the girls from last year’s Varsity and JV teams returned, in ad-dition to a couple of new ninth graders. The returning Varsity players were Oneida Solorzano, Adriana Bax, Vanessa Lopez, and Emily Munoz.

This season started on March 10th and the softball team was more-than-ready to win. Try-outs were held in late January, and the girls were told if they made it into Varsity or JV. Softball practice is from Mon-day to Thursday, from seventh period to five p.m. Sometimes, if necessary, the team practices on Fridays.

“Our goals are the same every year - have a winning

season and hope we can win league, but, most importantly, make playoffs,” said Coach Sergio.

When it comes to play-ing ball, the girls play home games at Queen Anne, which is a couple of blocks from the school.

On May 6th; the girls traveled to Legacy High School for an away game. On May 8th, the girls played against Santee, at home, where Varsity and JV lost. The last game of the season was on May 13th against Elizabeth High School. The Varsity team won with a score of 20 to 16. The JV team won, as well, with a score of 13 to 11.

Now, with the season over, both Varsity and JV ended up with 5 wins and 9 losses. According to Coach Sergio they are not sure if they made it into the playoffs, but they will know soon.

photo credit: Mayra Carrillo

season is here!

Tennis ReadyThe tennis team is back and better than ever!

by Dalia Calvillo & Andy SuhStaff Writers

Many new players have been added to the team by Mr. Ha, tennis coach, and they look better than ever.

“Practice helps us get physically ready for our games. It improves our skills,” said Marco Barajas, Varsity Captain.

The tennis team practices every day, for an hour before school and for two hours after school. Practice among the team develops better communication and teamwork, allowing the boys to play their best during their games.

“The tennis team has grown the second year, and this time, the single players are stron-ger because of the return players; while, the double players are new sophomores and ninth graders. Hopefully, the boy’s tennis team will make it to the playoffs,” said Ha.

With this new and im-proved team, they look to repre-sent the L.A. Romans.

“Baseball is like a stress reliever for me. I started playing baseball because it runs in the family. I started at age 5.”

ANew WayOf Life -Jerry Villafuerte

√

Swimming

7Opinions May/June 2014

Earth Photo Cedit: Osmany Felipe

Earth Day - a day to stop the damage we are doing to our planet.

By: Osmany FelipeStaff Writer

According to the Earth Day Los Angeles, an envi-ronmental organization, the results of the massive oil spill in 1969, in Santa Barbara, CA, and the student’s energy for the anti-war movement, in-spired former senator, Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day. He realized that, if he could strengthen the student’s en-ergy with a developing public awareness about air and water

pollution, it would strengthen environmental protection onto political agendas. He persuaded Pete McCloskey to serve as his co-chair. Nelson also convinced Denis Hayes to become National Coordina-tor. The three men coordinated the first Earth Day, which led to the construction of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In 1990, a group of eco-friendly leaders asked Denis Hayes to arrange another big movement. This time, Earth Day went world-

wide, encouraging 200 million people, in 141 countries, to protect Earth and lift environ-mental issues onto the world stage. On Earth Day, inter-national events show support for the environment. First observed on April 22, 1970, in San Francisco, CA, Earth day now occurs internationally. Every year, over 150 different countries, including America, join together in celebration of Earth Day. Earth Day is a day to appreciate nature and learn

new ways to protect our en-vironment. If each of us does just a little bit, together we can help make a huge difference. You may just feel so good about helping the environ-ment, that you’ll be able to make every day Earth Day. One of the many things to do during Earth Day is to plant trees. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air and add to the amount of oxy-gen in the air. They also create shade in the summer. People who make it an annual event may have enough shade to drastically reduce home cool-ing costs within a few years. Recycling is also another eco-friendly practice. There are a shocking number of schools and workplaces that don’t recycle. Just think about the amount of squandered paper that could be recycled! Earth Day is the time to stop thinking about it and start acting up. You can request colored containers marked “RECYCLE” to place next to the other trash cans or deter-mine other solutions. Find a few friends to back you up on this task. LAHS has been recog-nized by some as an unclean school. We can change that by using the recycling bins in classrooms, not littering around campus, and reusing materials whenever possible. Protect and keep our school clean, as well as our entire planet. It is the prime time to reduce our environmental impact. Reduce, reuse and recycle.

Community College

Community College is Better Than What People Think

By: Michelle MendietaBuisness Manager & Copy Editor

For seniors, the end of high school is approaching fast. Some will go on to four year universities; others will attend a community college. Upon hearing “community college,” many have negative associations. But, is it really that bad?

The statistics may give them a negative reputation; but, whoever is determined to finish their education will do so, no matter the school. Com-munity college has its perks because of its affordability, convenience, and open admis-sion. Some use community college as second chance to prove themselves.

Los Angeles Commu-nity College currently offers a scholarship that covers two years of an all expenses paid tuition; students must meet certain requirements to apply. Going to a four year college, straight from high school, is not as important, as long as you’re taking the appropriate steps to get where you want in life.

Anthony Santana, USC Upward Bound advisor, proves the assumptions of attending community college, wrong. He attended Santa Monica Community College before transferring to the University of California, San Diego. He is currently attend-ing USC for a Master of Arts of Economics.

Santana says,

“[Commu-nity college] is a great place to redeem yourself if you aspire to improve your life and give yourself a sec-ond chance.”

Do not feel discour-

aged if your college plan did not go accordingly. With determination, you will get where you want to in life. If school is a burden because of financial cost, give community college a chance. It’s a viable option.

School Schedule Survey By: Camille Jackson,

Micheal Antonio, & Pris-cilla MenendezStaff Writers

“Let’s just say I voted for it, I like to see my students every-day.” -Ms.Lombardi

“It sucks!”- Matthew Espy

“It’s lame because the teach-ers are going to give us more homework and I won’t have enough time.”- Magaly Mar-tinez

“I prefer it because the sched-ule allows for continuity in the delivery of instruction to the students.”- Mr.Davis

“Math is one of those subjects that you really need to practice and be exposed to everyday in order to get good at it. This schedule provides the opportu-nity for that.”- Mr.Ireland

“It will honestly have a nega-tive effect on the students per-formance”- Student Response

“It might help students educa-tionally, by giving them more class time.”- Student Response

What the students and teachers had to say about the new bell schedule.

Day

80% of students disliked the new bell schedule.

20% of the students liked the new bell schedule.

“I dedicated my entire year to get where it is now, and more importanly, it was harming the teachers and diluting the students education. I am about educating the students.”- Mr. Sharf

“I think it [BIC] will not only take away from instructional time, but also waste food and money on kids who won’t eat the food anyway.” - Student Response

“[The schedule changes] won’t help students, instead it will raise the ditching rates. Stu-dents have trouble attending classes they don’t like...it will lower the chances of gradu-ates”- Student Response

8 Infocus May/June 2014

Artistic/Digital Photography

Little Spring By: Anonymous

Lightnin’By: Emily Melchor

Blurred MemoriesBy: Priscilla Menendez

Leadership Updates The Council decided to adhere to Roberts Rules in voting matters. This means that a motion carries if the majority of members present, approve it. This does not count abstentions. (9 in favor, 0 appose, 1 abstention)

Los Angeles High School will be inviting Longwood Area Neighborhood Association to meetings, only if Dr. Yoon approves it. (9 in favor, 0 abstain)

During the meeting, it was decided that for the new bell schedule next year, students will have nutrition only until BIC is established at school. (9 in favor, 0 oppose, 1 abstention)

Summer Professional Development was approved for teachers here at L.A. High. (10 in favor, 0 oppose, 0 abstain)

Late starts for teachers will be May 21, May 28, June 2, and June 4. (8 in favor, 1 abstention)

FresnoBy: Anonymous

The last updates where as of April 24, 2014.