Trojan TimesVolume XXXVII, No. 5

www.trojantimes.org

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

By Kelli-Anne Hok.ho@trojantimes.org

Art can be expressed in more ways than one. May it be through writing, painting or photography, many use

Prestigious Gold Key awarded to Alayon, Guillenit to portray various aspects within and outside of their lives. Two MHS students have entered their art pieces to the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers’ compet-itive Hawaii Regional Scho-lastic Art contest and placed high enough to qualify them for the even more selective national competition. Along with over one

Two seniors place high in art contest, set to move on to nationals

thousand other students in the state, Seniors Kenneth Guillen and Nasera Alay-on entered the contest and were awarded as Gold Key

recipients, the highest honor one could receive regionally. Their works will be judged for the national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition to take place in New York City. “(The contest is) one of the most prestigious contests for fine art held. There’s no

SEE SCHOLASTIC, PAGE 8

Hawaii State Art Museum

Art pieces will be on display from Feb. 5 to April 2

MHS coordinates golf tournament fundraiser

No goals allowed:71Total goals scored in season

1011-1-0Number of consecutive years JV girls won OIAs

Season record

By Matthew Ambrosecchioand Caitlin Kellym.ambrosecchio@trojantimes.orgc.kelly@trojantimes.org

For the tenth straight sea-son, the JV Girls Soccer Team has taken the Oahu Inter-scholastic Association (OIA) title. However, this season was different from the past ten triumphant years. On top of the team going undefeat-ed throughout the season, no opposing team managed to score a goal on them at all.

SEE SOCCER, PAGE 12

The coaches prepare the girls for their first game of the season. The win was the start of an undefeated sea-son and lead the team to be OIA Champions.

By Kellie Kawamotok.kawamoto@trojantimes.org

On Jan. 20, MHS held its first annual golf tourna-ment at the Mililani Golf Course to help benefit the school’s athletic program. The entire community was welcome to partici-pate and overall, the golf tournament turned out to be a success with ap-proximately $11,000 being made, exceeding the origi-nal $10,000 goal. Athletic Director Glenn Nitta explained the purpose of the golf tour-nament. “We got cut like 60% and the story is for next year it’s going to be even worse,” he said. “So rather than waiting until next year to find out how much we’re going to get, we decided to be a little bit more proactive and try and raise some monies and see what we can get.” The tournament was meant to help get through the rest of this year and to hopefully start saving for next year already. Principal John Brum-mel elaborated that the

SEE GOLF, PAGE 11

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Lanai roof to be built by MHS students

MHS represented by APOLLOROCK in “Brown Bags”

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Name: John DoeJane Smith

By Kelli-Anne Hok.ho@trojantimes.org

The National Assess-ment of Educational Prog-ress (NAEP) has chosen MHS as one of the state’s public schools to provide them with 28 seniors, a sample size of the senior class, to participate in tak-ing their exams. Testing will take place at MHS on Feb. 23. “NAEP, or the National Assessment of Education Progress, is often called the ‘nation’s report card.’ It is the only measure of student achievement in the United States where you can compare the performance of students in your state with the performance of students across the nation or in other states,” according to the NAEP website, http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/. “(The seniors) will be chosen – not by us, we don’t get to choose them – by the NAEP group; they’re figuring out culture and ethnicity and sex and all kinds of stuff,” said Vice Principal Andrea Moore. Selected seniors will be tested on either civics, geography, U.S. history or writing. The NAEP will send a representative here to conduct the assessments of the selected seniors. All testing will be done through the computer, and the school will provide a quiet place for the students to take the exam. Results of the assessments will be made public approximately six months after testing is completed. According to the NAEP website, results will be provided for the populations of students, such as twelfth graders, and also groups within those populations, such as male students or Hispanic students. However, the NAEP does not provide individual scores to students or schools participating. More information about the NAEP can be found on their website at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.

Candy and “Sweet Dreams” at Sophomore Banquet Twenty-eight seniors to take NAEP exam

NewsFeb. 11, 2010

2By Jaclyn Knitter and Cyrus Takahashij.knitter@trojantimes.orgc.takahashi@trojantimes.org MHS sophomores can look forward to an evening of good food and “Sweet Dreams” at this year’s Sophomore Banquet, to be held at the Okinawan Center on March 5 from 5 to 10 p.m. Lately, students have undoubtedly spotted the eye-catching flyers posted around campus advertising the event in a way reminiscent of the “Cooking Mama” video game series. Sophomore Class Vice President Dana Katsura said of the theme, “I think that it’s whatever you make of it and we can turn this year’s theme into something wonderful.” Katsura explained that after the original selection chosen by a poll, “Ace of Hearts,” was thought to be too similar to “Casino Royale,” at the time one of the potential Junior Prom themes, the council made an executive decision and selected “Sweet Dreams” instead.

“I think that this theme is very colorful and interesting and I look forward to how they incorporate the theme into everything,” said Sophomore Preston Matsuo, who plans to attend the event. Speaking on this, Katsura mentioned that the theme will be applied to the decorations, activities and food, possibly including candy or sugar-themed centerpieces or buffet. Sophomore Class Corresponding Secretary Shayna Hokama explained, “This kind of thing takes a lot of preparation. (It takes)

a lot because we have to reserve the place a year in advance and get decorations, centerpieces, posters taken care of and all those kinds of things.” Despite the banquet still only being in the planning stages, students are already eagerly awaiting the event. “I’m probably looking forward to the food since a lot of people say it’s pretty good,” said Matsuo. Other than all the food the banquet has to offer, Katsura said, “I am looking forward to spending lots of time dancing

and just hanging out with my favorite people,” a sentiment definitely shared by others. In regards to what students can expect at the event, Katsura said, “Student talents, dancing, games and activities, food, pictures and the memories that they will take with them.” Sophomore Daniel Reis was selected to be the DJ and will be in charge of the evening’s music. With such an expectant sophomore class, the organization and preparations being done now are sure to pay off. “I wanted to attend Sophomore Banquet because it’s kind of like a once in a lifetime opportunity and it’ll be very memorable,” said Matsuo. Whether attending for the food, dancing or time with friends, Sophomore Banquet is sure to have something for everyone and students are bound to have memories of their “Sweet Dreams” for years to come.

(L to R): Sophomore Chad Uyehara, Seniors Andrew Miyasato and Christopher Hakoda, Science Teacher Namthip Sitachitta, Sophomore Tru Dang, Junior William Gaul, Senior Cyrus Takahashi, Sophomore Alec Pura, Senior Caitlan Webster, Sophomore Jessica Kawana and Senior Arielle Uejo.

By Bianca Sewakeb.sewake@trojantimes.org

Early Saturday morn-ing on Jan. 30, the MHS sci-ence bowl team met up with teams from all over the is-land to compete in the 17th Annual Science Bowl com-petition held at Honolulu Community College. “It’s about getting a lot of different schools togeth-er from across the state to compete using their knowl-edge in science,” explained Senior Cyrus Takahashi, the team’s captain. Twenty-four schools were split up into four di-visions. The Ahi Division included Baldwin, Hanal-ani, Iolani, Kealakehe and Waipahu High Schools; the Wai Division had Far-rington, Hilo, Kahuku, McKinley, Roosevelt and Sacred Hearts High Schools; the Honua division had

Kauai, Konawaena, Maui, Moanalua, Pearl City and Waimea schools; and the Makani Division was made up of Castle, Kaimuki, King Kekaulike, Mililani, Pu-nahou and Waiakea High Schools. Each team competed against the other teams in its own division. The teams, of four members each, went into different rooms where a moderator asked them science-related questions on topics such as biology, chemistry, physics, astrono-my, earth science and math. After competing in their division, each team went on to another round. “So who-ever (won) first, second or third place in a round rob-in (went) through double elimination and single elim-ination in the afternoon,” said Science Club Adviser Namthip Sitachitta, the sci-ence bowl coach. The top

three schools in each divi-sion had to continue compet-ing until there was a winner. The other twelve teams com-peted in a wild card compe-tition, where each team had thirty minutes to answer sci-ence questions together. After the competition, the top twelve schools were

recognized in an awards ceremony. The MHS sci-ence team didn’t place in the competition, but Sitachitta believes the team will do bet-ter in upcoming years. “The thing is, we only have (Taka-hashi) from last year who has experience. Everybody else is new,” she said. “Next

year I think we’ll be in better shape because, you know, the kids will have more ex-perience. They’ll know what to expect,” she added. Although the MHS sci-ence team didn’t place this year, the rookies hope to use their new experience to im-prove next year.

MHS science team competes in annual Science Bowl

Bianca Sewake | Trojan Times

NewsFeb. 11, 2010

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By Lauren Mottley Imagine water pouring down from the ceiling dur-ing class. That was exactly what took place on Jan. 22 in the H-Bldg. classrooms. A science experiment in H-206 caused a single sprinkler head to activate and flood at least two inches of water into the room before flow-ing down into the classroom below through the ceiling. The water originated from Science Teacher Chris-topher Johnson’s classroom. Johnson was giving a dem-onstration about the flam-mability of alcohol. “When we put the new table in, we put the new table directly under the sprinkler head so the heat coming off of the table went to the sprin-kler head,” stated Johnson. “There is absolutely no damage to the room whatso-ever. We mopped it up with paper towels and mops and things. No equipment dam-age and there is no technical damage or damage to the students’ work,” he said. Many students in the af-fected classrooms recalled

the experience firsthand. “A lot of my stuff got wet, including my backpack, my T-shirt and a lot of my as-signments and papers for my other classes,” said Ju-nior Brittney Acoba. Acoba was seated near the back of the classroom when the sprinkler was set off. “It was a lot of water. It was gushing up and the floors of the classroom were flooded in almost like seconds,” she said. Principal John Brum-mel was quick to respond to what took place in the building. “My first reaction was to know what caused the problem to begin with. That was my first question,” commented Brummel. “We want the building to be safe for the students and the teachers and we’re taking every step to make sure that there aren’t going to be any problems a year from now or two years from now.” First on the scene was Vice Principal Jamie Oshiro who took the lead in coordinat-ing the clean up. “He did an excellent job in making sure that there was no more

damage than was neces-sary,” said Brummel. English Teacher Janet Ward was the other teacher whose room was affected by the flooding. “I think the biggest damage is going to be in replacing the ceil-ing and the carpet, which they probably won’t, but it was pretty saturated,” com-mented Ward. “We only grabbed the LCD projector and the printer. Those were my two big things and I pointed to the white board and we have a flat screen TV on the wall and said, ‘What do we do with that?’ And someone said, ‘Pray.’ We just left it and we went to our students,” she said. The efforts of the staff helped to keep damage in the building to a minimum, with the main cleanup of the mess only lasting about an hour. “We’re making sure that it’s cleaned up in the correct manner,” stated Brummel. The cost of damage in the structure is estimated to be around $3000, but classes re-sumed in H-Bldg. on Jan. 26.

Science experiment sets off sprinkler in H-Building

Cleanup of the flooding that took place in H-Bldg. required the efforts of many on the campus of MHS. Damage was caused to the ceiling tiles as well as the carpet. “I’ve done this experiment before,” commented Science Teacher Christopher Johnson. “The only thing that changed was table position.”

Lauren Mottley | Na Mana o Poina ole

For the first time ever, MHS, along with the six other schools in the Mililani complex, chose to participate in the Shoeboxes for the Homeless project, which was sponsored by the Chinen & Arinaga Financial Group, Inc. Mililani students gathered a variety of items and filled up shoeboxes to give to the homeless in Hawaii. Junior Jenna Timas, project organizer, was pleasantly surprised with the results. “We had small boxes, but they were filled with really expensive things, really good things for the homeless.” Each Mililani school received $150 from Chinen & Arinaga for participating.

Compiled by Michelle Choem.choe@trojantimes.org

To the point

NewsFeb. 11, 2010

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New dining lanai to be constructed by MHS studentsBy Farah Schumacherf.schumacher@trojantimes.org

One of the most impor-tant aspects of eating is the dining area. The new lanai being built near the MHS li-brary hopes to give students a better place to enjoy their meals on a rainy or sunny day. Other than the cafeteria and the main lanai, the other dining areas are exposed to cold rain, glaring sun and strong winds. Though the base will be built by pro-fessionals, Industrial Arts Teacher Jeffrey Cadiz’s stu-dents will build the roof of the new lanai. This will be another opportunity for his students to serve MHS — in addition to building picnic tables and repairing various objects around campus. The idea for the new din-ing lanai came from the Par-ent Teacher Student Orga-nization (PTSO) last school year. PTSO Chairperson Denise Painter envisioned a place where students could sit and eat comfortably, in-stead of standing around in the sun or rain. After dis-cussing it with the other PTSO members, Painter pre-sented this idea to the School Community Council (SCC) and asked for help getting the money to pay for such a project. It was hard to con-vince the council to appro-priate funds for this project, with decisions being made about turf for the football field, wireless networks, the weighted student formula (WSF) and the school bud-get. After successfully ob-taining the necessary funds, Painter contacted a profes-sional concrete company to begin building the base and Cadiz to build the roof. Cadiz agreed and enlist-ed the help of his Building and Construction 1 and 2 classes and Honolulu Com-munity College Adviser Gilbert Santos. This proj-ect promises a reward for the time and effort spent to build the roof. “The students that are more knowledge-able about the construction process, that pass the year with a B or better … earn two college credits that they can use towards Honolulu Community College,” said Cadiz. The project is very

different than the usual proj-ects the students do. “We learn the different trades in construction through vari-ous projects,” said Cadiz. Cadiz’s Building and

The dining lanai is currently under construction. The base is being built by professionals, but stu-dents taking Building and Construction with Industrial Arts Teacher Jeffrey Cadiz will have a chance to build the roof. Construction is expected to begin in February.

Farah Schumacher | Trojan Times

Construction class is just one of many a student can take in the Industrial Arts Pathway, which focuses on the engineering and physi-cal part of careers within the

construction industry. This Career and Technical Educa-tion (CTE) class lets students explore careers in this path-way to help them decide what they want to do after

high school. Students who successfully complete the CTE pathway are eligible to apply for a cord, which they can wear at graduation. Cadiz’s Building and Construction classes built the brown picnic tables by the cafeteria, the sanding room in J-Bldg. and repaired the softball shed when it was burned down last year. “It’s good to know that the ad-ministration has confidence in my class so we can serve the school that way,” com-mented Cadiz. The lanai’s completion is highly anticipated, but the Building and Construction classes are unable to begin the roof project until the materials arrive. “I’ve not seen any materials come in,” said Cadiz, “(but hopefully) we’re going to start working on it in February.” Building this roof will al-low the students in Cadiz’s Building and Construction classes to get a “hands-on” experience with both pro-ducing quality work and serving their community.

NewsFeb. 11, 2010

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Trojan LifeFeb. 11, 2010

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By Farah Schumacherf.schumacher@trojantimes.org

The MHS Music De-partment spends the entire school year preparing for several concerts. However, this spring break, the Music Department will travel to Ja-pan and China, where they will share their music with their peers. They hope that this trip will not only foster international awareness and understanding of different cultures, but an appreciation for different kinds of music. This in mind, the Music De-partment hosted a Hawaiian Dinner Fundraiser on Jan. 23 to help defray the high costs of the trip.

Because the Music De-partment will be traveling internationally, the trip is rather expensive. “Each stu-dent is responsible for con-tributing his own weight for the trip, but we do have fundraisers – several fund-raisers to help them mini-mize the cost, one of which is this dinner,” said Music Director Bryan Hirata. “The

rough cost (of the trip) is about $3000 which includes everything except spending money,” he said.

The band fundraised the money by selling tick-ets at $10 each at the end of the winter break. Though the performances were free to the public, the ticket was good for one meal, which collectively raised money for the band. All money raised from this dinner is equally divided among each individual student, lower-ing their cost for the trip.

There were performanc-es from the String Ensemble, select groups from the Wind Ensemble and the Winter-line, as well as from Cen-tral Theatre Arts Academy

(CTAA), which previewed two numbers from its up-coming musical “Aida.” These included “Written in the Stars” featuring Juniors Andrew Baker and Charity Culp and “Strongest Suit” which was performed by the female ensemble.

“The musical is great! It’s a contemporary rock musical,” said CTAA Direc-tor Jamie Stroud. “It takes place in ancient Egypt and they have invaded Nubia and taken Nubian slaves and the Egyptian general falls in love with one of the slaves,” she said. Show dates for “Aida” will be April 23 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. and April 24 and May 1 at 2:00 p.m.

Although they did not

play the music they will be performing on the trip, the music department did per-form several pieces of music they have been studying in class. “We got our music (for the trip) in November and we’ve had practices every Saturday since December,” said Junior Taylor Yasunaga.

The band usually con-ducts this type of fundraiser for every trip they go on to encourage students to at-tend the trip. “The music department goes on a trip every other year and basi-cally, what we try to do is share our music with the rest of the country or inter-nationally,” Hirata contin-ued. “We’re also planning a school exchange in China so that we can share our music with the students of China and we’ll be able to inter-act,” he said.

Despite the cost of the trip, support from the com-munity and a will to share and learn about different kinds of music will help the students achieve their goal of sharing their music internationally.

From the land of paradise to the land of the rising sun: band fundraiser

ASMHS President Matthew

Lai

Hey Trojans! Wel-come to 2010! Are you excited? I am! I am ex-cited to see what the fu-ture has in store and the new things I’ll learn. My council and I are very eager to do some cool, new and exciting things with you guys, so keep an eye out for those up-dates. With a new year and semester ahead of us, let’s start it off right! LET’S ROCK IT! One event that we recently had was the Brown Bags to Stardom competition on Jan. 8. Congratulations to APOLLOROCK who moved on in the compe-tition. They represent-ed MHS with pride! We also had the MHS Sen-ate Meeting on Jan. 26 in the cafe. Please don’t forget that the next meeting will be on Feb. 23 during period one in the cafe. And on Feb. 6 we had our annual cam-pus beautification. We have some up-coming events planned out this month: Today we are having our an-nual Olaloa Valentine Senior Prom at the Ola-loa Retirement Com-munity with the other schools in our complex.On Feb. 20 we will be participating in the Mililani Complex Char-acter Counts Fair (for-merly known as the Wellness Fair) at the Mililani Town Center. This year the theme is “Pursuing Victory with Honor.” If you want more information about this cool and fun event, please stop by B-105 or tune in to the morning bulletin. Well, this concludes my monthly update. I hope you’re just as excited as I am to see what is in store for the rest of the year. Please continue to listen to the morning bulletin for the latest updates on events. Study hard! GO TROJANS!

Watch this story online at TrojanTimes.org

By Noah Perales-Estoestan.perales-estoesta@trojantimes.org

For two nights, on Jan. 8 and 9, Central Theatre Arts Academy (CTAA) members lent themselves to the production of “The Actor’s Nightmare,” the directorial debut and Senior Project product of Senior Shelby Benson. The play details a young man, portrayed by Senior Daniel Lyons, trapped in his own nightmares about being shuffled from play to play, not knowing any of his lines and drawing fire from his character’s dream-world co-stars. Benson’s production marks the second time a student has had the opportunity to helm his or her own production as last year, Alumna Michelle Motoda took on the responsibility of putting together her own play, “SCUBA Lessons.” Benson, a regular performer in CTAA’s plays, said she was inspired by the success of Motoda’s show and decided to direct

her own because of the shift in roles it represented for her. “I thought it would be kind of cool if I swapped roles and became a director and directed my own play,” she said, continuing, “(Motoda’s) directing kind of helped me ... build up my own kind of thoughts of what I’m supposed to do (and) what I’m not supposed to do.” Among the supporting cast were Seniors Angelica Buenconsejo and Rachel

Gregory, Junior Francis Empeno and Sophomore Angela Olson. Gregory, who also appeared last year in “SCUBA Lessons,” noted that the production was challenged by the scheduling of rehearsals. “We didn’t actually start rehearsals until really close to winter break and the show was supposed to be the weekend that we got back, so we had to figure out stuff all over winter break,” she recalled.

Still, Benson felt that her play was a success on multiple levels. “In the end, when the show turned out as good as it was, I was really happy,” she said. But before the play even premiered, Benson found herself satisfied with how her cast and crew responded to her direction. “When I would tell my cast to fix something that I really wanted them to fix and they would do it, and I’d just be like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly it.’ Like, I felt like I was helping them,” she explained. Audience members reacted positively to the play. Senior Carolyn McLane said, “I thought it was really good … I think all the actors put an equal amount of effort into it as they would if it was a big production, and I think it was equally as entertaining as a big production.” Following the successful completion of and positive reception to “The Actor’s Nightmare,” Benson can now add the title of director to her extensive list of theater credits.

Senior Daniel Lyons’ character finds himself on the receiving end of a slap from Sophomore Angela Olson’s character.

Noah Perales-Estoesta | Trojan Times

Benson directs ‘The Actor’s Nightmare’

Trojan LifeFeb. 11, 2010

7APOLLO rocks Brown Bags, wins first at school, third at states

By Noah Perales-Estoestan.perales-estoesta@trojantimes.org

During the month of January, the musical act known as APOLLOROCK participated in the Brown Bags to Stardom talent show, coming in first place at the school-level contest on Jan. 8 and third place at states on Jan. 30.

Senior Katelyn Asato, acting activities chair for ASMHS and the school-level Brown Bags show coordinator, elaborated on the nature of the competition. “Brown Bags to Stardom is a talent competition that all Hawaii schools are able to participate in, from elementary school, middle school and high school,” Asato said.

Four acts participated in the MHS show: Senior Ann Marie Arbuckle sang D.H.T.’s ballad “Listen to Your Heart,” Senior Daniel Quenga performed Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be,” the band Critical Alliance performed an original piece entitled “Sorry, Goodbye” and APOLLOROCK performed their own original song “Plastic People.” APOLLOROCK was named the show’s winner and was chosen to move on to the next stage of the competition.

Senior Kiara Thomas, APOLLOROCK’s vocalist, said of the band’s school routine, “Our performance

Sophomore Matthew Haywood and Senior Kiara Thomas of APOLLOROCK perform the band’s original song, “Plastic People” on the B-Bldg. stage for the school-level talent show on Jan. 8.

was actually our best so far. We’ve only actually performed a few times (but) everything was cool. The sound was better – the best we’ve had so far. And this is one of the first times in a while that I haven’t gotten hoarse on stage, so that’s an accomplishment.”

Judges felt that multiple factors contributed to the success of the band’s performance. English Teacher Steven Schick, one of several of the talent show’s judges, commented, “(For me, it was) stage presence, smoothness of the performance (and) I thought they had … a really, really good song.”

Winners from the school-level talent shows were initially set to perform at the Neil Blaisdell Arena in February, which, according to Thomas, was what the band looked forward to most. “We got in (Brown Bags) because we heard that the winner of this competition got to go to the Blaisdell. And that’s really – that was like our main goal … ‘Cause, like, I’ve seen John Legend play at that stage since I’ve been here. And, I mean, to play on the same stage as one of my role models (would have been) a blessing. And I know everyone else (was) in love with the idea of playing at the Blaisdell too.”

Changes made to the competition’s program,

however, resulted in the next stage of the competition taking place at McKinley High School on Jan. 30, where APOLLOROCK again performed “Plastic People” and placed third, ending their run in the Brown Bags competition. Senior Christopher Blackwell, lead guitarist, said of the band’s efforts, “I thought we put on the best performance, but … we were competing for states, (so) there was a lot of pressure.”

Despite the McKinley performance marking the end of APOLLOROCK’s involvement with Brown Bags, the group does intend on continuing to pursue other opportunities until at least graduation, after which point college plans will leave the band’s future uncertain.

German foreign exchange student adjusts to MHSBy Michelle Choem.choe@trojantimes.org

Switching into a new school is difficult for many, especially when switching in at the middle of the year. Luckily for Junior Annika Behm, she is able to handle the change and is adjusting to life at MHS, which she describes as interesting and different. Behm comes from a small town in Germany and is staying at MHS until the end of this school year as a part of a foreign exchange program called Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI). She began attending MHS in January as a junior, and is currently enrolled in geometry, chemistry, English, ACCP, band and U.S. history. There are many differences between Hawaii’s and Germany’s school systems. “(School in Hawaii is) totally different from Germany’s schools, so it’s very interesting for me,” Behm noted. “It’s much bigger, many more students … In Germany there’s no lunch, and school ends at one. And periods are different from here, because there are six periods a day and they are only 45 minutes. And you have to take twelve periods a week, so you have (a period) only twice a week or three times.” Along with the differences in schooling, Behm also had to face the language barrier. “I think the first day was the language problem, because I couldn’t understand the topics … especially in geometry and chemistry. But now it’s okay – it’s going along,” Behm said. Starting school halfway through the year also posed some challenges to her. “It’s been a little difficult, because you miss a lot of things,you can learn it, you learn the topics … It’s a little difficult,

Junior Annika Behm

Allison Hazlett | Na Mana o Poina ole

but it works,” she said. Behm has managed to successfully adapt to these differences and is currently trying to enjoy her new life in Hawaii. Behm has many plans for the rest of her stay in Hawaii. “I want to do sports, but I don’t know what I want to do … Running or something like that in a few weeks,” she said. She also has other aspirations for her stay in Hawaii. “I want to see the island,” Behm exclaimed. Behm has already seen a small part of Hawaii, swimming at the beach once and visiting Haleiwa. She also spent a few days in Maui. Behm wants to visit the North Shore and Pearl Harbor and Haleiwa again, since it was raining when she went. The thing Behm misses most about her life back in Germany is her friends and family, but she manages to stay in contact with them through Skype and Facebook. She is staying with a host family during her time at MHS, along with another MHS foreign exchange student, Sophomore Abdul-Kareem Fanni. The host family has two kids of their own as well, ages eleven and eight. Behm will certainly have a new and different experience here at MHS. Hopefully during her stay on this island, she will enjoy the many different pleasures the island has to offer, and will take these experiences back with her to Germany at the end of this semester.

Kiara Thomas, 12 — VocalsChristopher Blackwell, 12 — Lead GuitarMatthew Haywood, 10 — Rhythm GuitarRyan Alexander, 12 — Bass guitarDanielle Vitarbo, 12 — Percussion

Members

Discography

“Plastic People”

Chosen TrojansFeb. 11, 2010

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By Caitlin Kellyc.kelly@trojantimes.org

The works of Shakespeare can often be seen as intimi-dating to students because of their large contrast with modern works. However, a group of students took on a challenge and competed in the Shakespeare Competi-tion sponsored by the English Speaking Union (ESU) on Jan. 12 in the MHS Library. Senior Shelby Benson took first place and will now continue on to the state competition. In sec-ond and third place were Ju-nior Lucas Bender and Senior Angela Kawamae, respective-ly. In the Shakespeare Com-petition, competing students must research, select and perform twenty lines of a monologue or sonnet from a

Shakespearean play without the use of props or costumes. Central Theatre Arts Acad-emy (CTAA) Director Jamie Stroud organized the compe-tition at MHS and explained its purpose. “It’s basically just a celebration of the English language and one of the ways they do that is through Shake-speare. So (the ESU) sponsors this competition and a kid will perform twenty lines of Shakespeare and they’re graded on their voice and un-derstanding and movement as well,” she said. Winners from the school competition will go on to compete at the state competi-tion. Then the winners of the state competition will go on to participate in the national competition in New York, where the winner will receive a full tuition scholarship to the British American Drama Academy’s “Midsummer Conservatory Program” in

Oxford, England. English Teacher Holland Henderson, one of the judges of the Shakespeare compe-tition, believes that it was beneficial to participants. “It gives them an insight into the characters and into their mo-tivations and relationships that they might not get just by reading the plays,” she said. Stroud agreed, saying, “I think any exposure to Shake-speare is a good idea because it’s different. And when kids read it, they have to think dif-ferently, and I think it can be very challenging. Plus there’s also the acting element in-volved and communicating what the character is doing, what the character is feeling and the character’s experi-ence.” It was also a nice way for students to be able to come out of their shells. “I remem-ber that last year there were only eight people who did

By Caitlin Basilioc.basilio@trojantimes.org After making two videos that he entered into two different weeks of the Tim Tam Slam Video Contest, Junior Brandon Tacadena fi-nally triumphed on Dec. 18. His videos won the contest’s grand prize of $10,000, plus $1,000 in one of the preliminary weekly rounds. The contest was sponsored by local radio station Krater96 and required contestants to make a video promoting Tim Tam cookies. Students had the choice to enter this con-test and could enter more than one video. “It was a five week contest so they could pick which week to enter and could enter ...

Benson takes first place in Shakespeare competitionthe competition but this year there were like thirty so I was rather impressed,” Bender said. Benson’s winning mono-logue came from the play “Macbeth,” in which the character of Lady Macbeth is praying for the strength to force her husband to murder King Duncan. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is a pretty cool monologue; it’s going to be hard but I think if I can do it, it’ll be good,’” explained Ben-son. Though Benson has been acting for six years, she still felt anxious on the day of the performance. “I was really nervous. I was sitting there and there was a lot of people because normally there’s only a few. Last year, I went and there was maybe six or seven. But there was maybe twenty or thirty this year so I was nervous that there was a lot of people, and a lot of them were really good,” she said. But she did feel that her pre-vious productions helped to prepare her for that day. Benson will be perform-ing in the state competition at Orvis Auditorium on Feb. 20.

Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor

heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry ‘Hold, hold!’

- Excerpt from Lady Macbeth’s monologue

“”

Tacadena slams video contest

Read on attrojantimes.org!

Senior Shelby Benson

monetary awards given but what happens is if you go to an art school, as in college … a lot of times those schools will give any winners from the scholastic art contest a scholarship, so that’s one of the key prizes,” explained Fine Arts Teacher Ruth Rav-ina-Koethe. “It’s really pres-tigious to have one because it’s very competitive and it’s really hard to win,” she said. There are fifteen differ-ent categories open for sub-mission. Guillen entered in the drawing category, while Alayon entered in the paint-ing category. “The piece is of a fellow friend named Jon Carlmark, you might recognize him. Whether it be from his fun-ny antics or that Sequoia tree on his head we call hair,” explained Guillen. “I took a picture of him with a point and shoot camera on an or-dinary day so I could get an

image of how he looks like on a daily basis.” “I entered the painting category, though my piece wasn’t a traditional paint-ing or like the other entries,” said Alayon. “My piece was entirely made of spray paint. Just layers and layers of sten-cils.” Her inspiration came from a photo taken by one of her favorite artists, Dirk Mai. “It’s kind of difficult to explain without seeing the painting, but it’s basically this blown up photo of Dirk in a random, run down gro-cery mart. I just loved the detail in the picture that I conveyed to the canvas. Ev-erything from Dirk’s tattoos to the ‘we card’ sign,” she said. Guillen and Alayon’s pieces will be on display at the Hawaii State Art Mu-seum from Feb. 5 to April 2, along with other works that placed throughout the mid-dle school and high school divisions. The award ceremony will be held at the museum on Saturday, April 3 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

ScholasticCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Brandon Tacadena’s essay above the influence

By Camille Marsdenc.marsden@trojantimes.org

In Junior Brandon Ta-cadena’s sophomore year, he submitted an essay for a competition sponsored by CreativeCommunica-tion, a corporation that focuses on encouraging writing in children and teens. Tacadena’s essay was named one of the top ten entries and won him publication in an anthol-ogy and a fifty-dollar sav-ings bond.

The contest had an open prompt – the com-petitors simply had to write about something

that was important to them in less than 250 words. “(In my) sophomore year, (Eng-lish Teacher Jeni) Nishimu-ra, said that we’d get extra credit for entering,” said Tacadena. His essay, entitled “Above the Influence, Below Social Status,” focused on life in high school and how he felt that “high school is ac-tually much like a caste sys-tem. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or whether you’re a good person or not; all that matters is popularity. Your image amongst your peers determined your class status within this social sys-tem.” His essay focused on how many high school stu-dents mistakenly liken drug use with popularity. His es-say read, “I remained above the influence and although I may not have gained popu-larity, I became something of much more value. I became someone of integrity, some-thing popularity could nev-er amount to.”

Tacadena was sur-prised to have won. “Hon-estly, when I received the news from (Nishimura), I was shocked. I mean, I wrote this essay for noth-ing more than extra credit and it just resulted into something that I would have never imagined. It was a surprise because out of thousands of essays, my own piece was a top ten pick in the entire nation. It was probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever ex-perienced,” he said.

“Something interest-ing about the contest, I was the only student from Hawaii who’s essay was chosen,” said Tacadena. .

Tacadena’s participa-tion in the essay compe-tition was rewarding not only because of the prizes he won, but because he was able to present his opinions on an issue of great importance to him.

Junior Brandon Tacadena

Trojan Times

The Trojan Times is a monthly production of

the Newswriting staff of Mililani High School

95-1200 Meheula Pkwy., Mililani, HI 96789

To voice an opinion or any concerns, feel free to submit a letter to L205 or to k.ho@trojantimes.org. The Trojan Times re-serves the right to edit let-ters as they see fit. Please type your let-ter and clearly state your name, grade level and pe-riod one class.

Editor in ChiefKelli-Anne Ho

Assistant EditorCyrus Takahashi

Sports EditorKellie Kawamoto

Copy EditorNoah Perales-Estoesta

Business ManagerLexi Kaneshiro

AdviserMr. Christopher Sato

PrincipalDr. John Brummel

StaffMatthew Ambrosecchio

Caitlin BasilioMichelle ChoeJames GeorgeCaitlin Kelly

Jaclyn KnitterCamille MarsdenLauren MottleyLanden Muasau

Ryan RustynFarah Schumacher

Bianca SewakeCheyenne Young

The mission of the Trojan Times is to publicize events,

share in the successes of students, promote the hard

work of the faculty andcapture the dedication of

organizations.

School-wide cheating policy needed to preserve integrity

Of the many academic crimes students can commit, cheating is likely the most prevalent and most severe in a high school environment. The fact that plagiarism on papers and dishonest test-taking occurs frequently, however, does not invalidate the idea that such activity is ultimately an offense against the integrity of both the stu-dent engaging in the act and, by extension, that of the en-tire student body. Because of these far-reaching implica-tions, an active effort in the form of a comprehensive school-wide cheating policy must be made to combat the ideology that justifies cheat-ing and to instill a sense of integrity in students.

The problem with cheating Cheating is primarily a violation of honesty and the consequences for it beyond high school are significantly more severe. “If people don’t get caught at things, they will continue to do (them). And the thing is, once you start looking at (the) col-lege arena, the ramifications are powerful,” said English Teacher Lisa-Anne Tsuruda. The typical response of col-leges to cheating is expul-sion. Similarly, in the pro-fessional world, plagiarism is widely regarded as theft, and both it and cheating (consider a professional ath-lete who uses steroids) are punishable by law. It is necessary, then, that students get up to speed on how seriously cheating should be taken, whether it’s copying a friend’s home-work, sneaking notes into a test or plagiarizing an es-say from something off the internet. A school that has developed a dishonest repu-tation is looked upon poorly by the community and also

by colleges because cheat-ing demonstrates to society a disregard for the values of character and responsibil-ity. And any school is at risk of giving off such an image without responding severely enough to those who would benefit from cheating. Tsu-ruda asked of such individ-uals, “How could you say a person without character de-serves to be a school leader? Deserves to be an athlete? Deserves to be valedictorian and represent our school?”

Cheating at MHS MHS currently adheres to the policy on cheating es-tablished by the Board of Ed-ucation (BOE), which does not actually forbid an honor code, but does limit what consequences can be im-posed on students. Teachers, therefore, have the power to use any of the consequences described in the policy, such as the taking away of credit on a plagiarized assignment, but cannot pursue punish-ments of greater severity, such as the removal of cheat-ing students from a class. But herein lies the dou-ble-sided problem. Students, for one, only understand the consequences of cheating inconsistently, especially when response to the act varies among teachers. More importantly, though, this discrepant understanding of the consequences is linked to a sketchy conception of what it means to take responsibil-ity seriously. On the other hand, teachers are power-less to facilitate this kind of understanding in their stu-dents without a clear and accessible construct of aca-demic ethics to back them up or enable them to exert harsher punishments where they are appropriate. Therefore, what is neces-sary for a more comprehen-sive response to cheating is a school-wide policy.

Moving forward with a plan Ideally, the school-wide policy would emphasize not so much the potential con-sequences for cheating but would instead promote the idea of responsibility and in-tegrity throughout the stu-dent body. But, according to Social Studies Teacher Amy Perruso, before such a policy could even be put into effect, a proposal with administra-tive backing would have to go through to the BOE. “I think it is conceiv-able that we could apply to the Board of Education for an exemption as a trial, as a model,” said Perruso. “And I think that at Mililani, at least the teachers, we really have a sense that what we’re doing here (is) slightly different. So I think that within that un-derstanding, it’s completely conceivable that we could do something like an honor code. And I think that other schools would jump on it in a heartbeat,” she said. For the proposal to be of any relevance to students and their learning, efforts for it must be mobilized by students themselves – not teachers, parents or ad-ministration. Senior Carol Nordman shared, “It’s the students that are cheating, so of course they need to be involved in the discussion. I mean, it can’t be something that comes straight from the administration, otherwise students would never re-spect the rules.” Granted, the develop-ment of the proposal itself would, preferably, be a col-laborative effort between all members of the school community, but because stu-dents are the ones to whom the policy would apply and who would be on the receiv-ing end of potential benefits and punishments, it is ab-solutely essential and only fair that they be part of the decision-making process.

Deliberation between students, parents and fac-ulty members would have to result in the formulation of a proposal that garners enough support for it to be submitted to the BOE. “You have to be in agreement and get people’s input and that’s so important. It cannot just be like, ‘We want to do this, period’ and boom, we’re go-ing to do it, because people aren’t going to buy into it,” Tsuruda said. The ideas she and Per-ruso have about what the policy would entail exem-plify the different ways it could be approached; both agree an honor board that addresses cheating should be formed, but both have different visions for how it would function. Other fac-ulty members, students and parents, no doubt, have dif-ferent thoughts about what this kind of policy would involve; thus, it is critical to the policy’s success that each of these opinions comes to-gether to form an agreeable proposal.

The ultimate goal In order for students to acquire a firm grasp of academic responsibility, the school must make its belief in responsibility’s importance known while also imposing serious consequences for disregarding it. Achieving this goal requires participa-tion from every part of the school community because only through collaboration can an adequate solution be born. Attempts at meeting the extraordinarily high demand for achievement in school and society cannot be al-lowed to compromise hones-ty. Therefore, if school really is an institution of learning, then this is one lesson that everyone must have a hand in teaching.

EditorialFeb. 11, 2010

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By Noah Perales-Estoestan.perales-estoesta@trojantimes.org

C&CCFeb. 11, 2010

10

Your path to success starts at UH West O‘ahu.Apply today for the fall 2010 semester! The priority application deadline is April 1.

454-4700admissions@uhwo.hawaii.eduuhwo.hawaii.edu

Find UH West O‘ahu on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

Applications! If you have not turned in any applications yet, please see Mrs. Yamamoto or Ms. Kato as soon as possible. There are still opportunities available to you. Procrastination will narrow your options, so come in and see one of us today.

Submit Scholarship/Award Letters to C&CC If you have received a scholarship or financial award from a school or organization, forward a copy of it to C&CC, whether you are accepting it or not. We will add the information to our year end report, and you will be recognized in the graduation program.

Scholarships Posted on Edline Check Edline or our bulletin board for the latest scholarship listing. Any scholarship money that you receive means less money out of your pocket.

FAFSA – Financial Aid The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) provides the foundation for the college financial aid process. Colleges, including community colleges and many scholarship foundations use the report generated by the FAFSA to evaluate an applicant’s financial need. You must file the FAFSA even if you seek only grants or subsidized loans. Request for forms or complete the form online at www.fafsa.gov. Filing your FAFSA online results in quicker need evaluations. Each college has a deadline and most aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so file your FAFSA today!

Don’t Forget Your Thank You’s! As this year is quickly coming to an end, don’t forget to send a thank you note to the teachers and/or counselors who helped you submit letters of

recommendation and school report forms.

SAT/ACT College Entrance Exams Underclassmen, especially juniors, should sign up now for the SAT or ACT. Sites and dates fill up very quickly, so plan accordingly. Go to collegeboard.com or actstudent.org to sign up for the appropriate test. Our school’s CEEB code is 120-197.

SAT Prep Class Spring Break 2010 SAT prep classes will be held at MHS from March 15-19. Cost is $120. Applications have been mailed home, or are available at the attendance office or C&CC. Visit www.SATtest-prepHI.com to register online.

Running Start The Running Start program is a unique partnership between the DOE and the UH system. It allows public high school

juniors and seniors to attend college classes while earning both high school and college credits. Come to C&CC for more information, or visit www.hawaii.edu/runningstart.

College Planning Appointments Be proactive and make an appointment to discuss post-high school plans. Appointments can be scheduled during the school day, before school or after school. Contact Mrs. Yamamoto to schedule a student and/or parent appointment.

May 1 – Reply to Colleges May 1 is the universal reply date to colleges. This is not a postmarked deadline, so schools need to receive your enrollment plans by that date. Most schools will request for a final transcript as well, so don’t forget to submit your transcript request.

Letters of Recommendation Juniors should be thinking about their college plans and start doing their research. Some colleges require a letter of recommendation to be submitted as a part of their application, so students should start thinking about what teachers they would like to ask.

Compiled byCollege and Career Counselor

Denise Yamamoto

Important Upcoming Dates

April 7 ASVAB Testing

April 10 ACT Test

April 22 National College Fair

May 1 SAT Test

June 5 SAT Test

June 12 ACT Test

By Caitlin Kellyc.kelly@trojantimes.org

The definition of “team”hasalwaysbeenaclearonefortheMHSGirlsVarsitySoccerTeam. The members’ abilitytoworktogetherledthemtoavictoryonJan.29overKalaniHighSchoolandtheirsecondconsecutive Oahu Interscho-lasticAssociation(OIA)title. Although the team fin-ished off the season with animpressive 15-0 record, theroadto theirsuccesswasnotaneasyone. During the OIA semifi-nals against Kaiser, the girlsaccomplished a narrow vic-tory after double overtimeandashootout.“Thatwasaninsaneand intensegame.Wehave been working on ourPKs(penaltykicks)foracou-pleweekssoI’mgladthatev-erybodyscoredoffofourPKsandnobodymissed,”saidSe-niorChelseaMiyake. With the momentumgained from their win,Mililani triumphed over

Kalani with a score of 3-1.“Itwasawesome just tofi-nallyhaveithappenandtofinallybedonewith it andhave won,” Senior SashaMoscatellosaid. For some, there wasmoreontheline,forthiswinwould complete four yearsof consecutive victories. “Ifeltreallygoodbecauseit’smy fourthOIAwin, so ev-eryyear I’vewonOIAs; soit’sagoodfeeling,”saidSe-niorAshleyDeguchi. The next step for theteam is the state competi-tion.Mililaniwill be goingontocompetewithKalani,Kapolei, Moanalua, PearlCityandCastle,alongwithschools fromthe Interscho-lastic League of Honolulu(ILH). “I thinkwe need to gointostatesashardaswecanand not think of anythingas easy for us because it’sgoingtobesomuchharderthanwhowe’vebeencom-peting against so far,” Mi-yakesaid.

This team’s positive at-titude and work ethic hasalreadytakenthemtogreatheights. “We want to beatthe ILH teams because ev-ery year we get close, butthenthere’salwaysoneILHteam that beats us out, sowe’regoingtotryandgetasfaraswecan,”saidMosca-tello. Team chemistry hasbeen one of the most im-portantfactorsintheteam’ssuccess. “We always haveteam bondings and I thinkourcaptains– they leaduswell,”saidDeguchi. Miyake agreed, saying,“I thinkasateamwewereso connected and we justgot along as a team betterthananyotheryearsofar.” It isclearthat theunityof the teamand theirposi-tiveattitudehasledtotheirsuccess. The state competi-tionbeganonFeb.3,andthefirst match for the TrojanswasonFeb.4attheWaipioPeninsulaSoccerComplex.

Freshman Tierra Reyno (left) and Senior Sasha Moscatello (right) kept the ball from Kaiser’s defenders in the semifinal game. The team’s diligent work throughout the season showed on the field that night.

The team celebrates after winning an intense semifinal game which culminated in double overtime and a shootout. The girls then went on to compete in the OIA championship game.

golf tournament wasmeanttooffsetthedeficitthat came with the statebudget cuts. “…We feltlike if we were going tooffer the same programsforkidsandtrytodothesamethingwe’vedoneinpastyears,weweregoingto have to fundraise andcome up with additionalmoney somehow, other-wisewecouldn’thaveallthe programs. And thatwasonewaywethoughtwould help our studentathletes,”Brummelsaid. The golf tournamentitselftookmonthsofplan-ning and preparation.Flyers went out as earlyas Aug. 2009 and con-tinued togooutupuntiltheweekbeforethetour-nament; it was also an-nounced through Edline.The tournament requireda minimum number ofparticipants to enter, soeach sports team wasasked to submit a three-manteamtoplay. Brummelsaidthathisfavorite part of the tour-namentwas“just the fel-lowship with everyoneelse there. Therewere 51teamsrepresented,whichwasagreat turnout.AndI think just the fellow-shipandtellingeveryone,‘Thank you for support-ingMililaniHighSchool’sathleticprogram.’” The tournament wassponsored by numerous

organizations who do-natedgoods.Forinstance,a company donated Ga-torade and water for re-freshmentsandFritoLaysdonated chips togowiththe participants’ lunches.General Mills donatedenergy bars and anothercompanydonatedPepsi. Thereweremanypriz-es offered for the partici-pantsat thedinnerat thegolf course’s restaurantat the end of the tourna-ment, including griddles,ricecookersandrice.Par-ticipantsalsoreceivedgiftbags that included moredonated items like foodcoupons, a Trojan GoldCardandlittlesnacks. All in all, both NittaandBrummelfeltthatthetournamentwasasuccess.Theyhopedthegolftour-namentwouldbecomeanannual event dependingontheturnoutofthefirsttournament.“Ithinktheyprobablywill(continueit)because it was a successandeverybodyenjoyeditsomuch,”Brummelsaid.Nitta also explained howthe athletic departmentput a lot of effort intomaking this year’s golftournament really enjoy-ablesothatpeoplewouldwanttocomebackinfol-lowing years to supporttheprogram. Withthesuccessofthisyear’s tournament, MHScanexpecttostarthostingannual golf tournamentsto fund the athletics pro-gram.

VarsityGirlsSoccerwinsOIA titleforsecondstraightyear

SportsFeb. 11, 2010

11GolfCONTINUEDFROMPAGE1

CaitlinKelly|Trojan Times CaitlinKelly|Trojan Times

CaitlinKelly|Trojan Times

SportsFeb. 11, 2010

12

Matthew Ambrosecchio | Trojan Times Kaitlyn Kelley| Na Mana o Poina ole

Mof the MonthTrojan

By Matthew Ambrosecchiom.ambrosecchio@trojantimes.org

As any school athlete knows, keeping a good GPA is the key to staying in the game and off the bench, which is exactly why Senior Amber Ogata makes an extra effort to stay on top of her school work. Her passion to play on the Girls Varsity Basketball Team not only drives her to perform to the best of her ability ev-ery game night, but to stay on the team. Her deep commitment to school pays off with ev-ery basket she makes on the court, and she makes a lot of baskets. Close friend and teammate Se-nior Khyla Alcantra com-mented on Ogata’s admi-rable skills, saying, “Her three pointers and her dribbling” are her stron-gest feats on the court. Even Head Coach Patrick Basilio commended her for the three point shot. “Normally, the farther you get from the basket the percentile drops. For her, (the three pointer) is pretty much her money shot,” Basilio said.

But Ogata didn’t excel

overnight. She has been playing basketball from a young age and worked very hard this past summer to improve her skills. “The way that she adjusted herself from last year to this year served as a huge motivation for the rest of the team,” Basilio said. “I think they see what hard work in the off season can do … they actually see the fruits of her hard work paying off,” he continued. Ogata’s dedication is a perfect testimony for any aspiring athlete, an example of perseverance paying off. She wanted to encourage them to “always have a positive attitude and listen to what the coaches, and other people, have to say,” but most importantly, “to never give up, because nothing is impossible.” Undoubtedly, Ogata is a skilled basketball player with a bright future open to her. Regardless of where she goes from here, her demonstration of dedication to her athletics will leave an impression of diligence on many.

“That’sprobablyafirst,”said Head Coach Natalie Hirata of the team’s per-fect record. She attributed the team’s accomplishment to their solid defense. “(We had) a good core of defense; they defend well, they pass well, which helps in our transition to offense,” she said. Hirata continued to compliment the team’s con-trol of the ball, saying, “(The defense doesn’t) just blast the ball out into the field;(they) pass it to our mid-fieldersandtheycanworkitfrom there.” Those smooth transi-tions from defense to offense helped the team in scoring over 70 goals this past sea-son. “(The defense) spreads the other team’s offense up, which creates gaps that they can pass balls through and do combination plays,” ex-plained Sophomore Aman-da Thomas, one of the team captains. She continued to elaborate on all the drills and techniques used and the time and effort that was put into learning all of it. “We had a lot of hard practices; we had set plays … We conditioned, we had carb nights, we did a lot to prepare for (this sea-son),” said Thomas. Mental preparation also played a substantial role in the record-setting pace of the team. “One thing that I tell the girls to do is to vi-sualize, to think about the positive stuff of the game – what they’re going to do,

SoccerCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

how they’re going to be suc-cessful. I try to get them to do that a little bit at home just like a few minutes, on the bus, when we get to the field. It’s that mental pre-paredness that they’re not used to doing, because they got the physical part down from practice and every-thing,” Hirata said. While much of this sea-son went into building the girls’ skills individually, the team also spent time grow-ing closer as a family. “(My co-captain and I) feel that if we got the team to grow closeroffthefieldwe’dplaythat much stronger on the field,”saidThomas. With events like slee-povers and a Christmas party, the team bonded as the season went on. “It worked,” said Sophomore

Kayla Wright. “There was a lot of chemistry together anditshowedonthefield.” With hallmarks of team-work, dedication and effort, the team has much to look back on this season. “I’m just really excited that we pulled it off,” exclaimed Thomas. “From the beginning of the season to the end we were a revamped team,” she said. Hirata also commented on the success of this season: “I am just really proud of (the team). I don’t think they re-alize just how proud of them I am.” Thegirlscannowreflecton the lasting legacy they have left on MHS with sat-isfaction, for their unprec-edented feat of an untar-nished season will endure for years to come.

The JV Girls Soccer Team was off to a good start at their first game against Leilehua on Dec. 12. Sophomore Chale Wise shows off her skills against her opponent.

My FBCC,

You ladies are my backbone. Thanks for all the love & sup-

port! I love you!

-Alyssa Perales

Stacy Starfish,

Thanks for everything. You’re exquisite and very

fresh :) I love you!

-Alyssa Perales

My Angel,

I’m so lucky to have you in my life. Happy Valentine’s Day.

I love you.

-Andrew Benitez

Allen,

Will you be my Allentine?

-Nikki Kawahara

All my bestest frens,

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you have a good Feb.

14 and love you guys!!

-Dawne Yamamoto

William Otte,

Happy Valentine’s Day! Thanks for starting off my new year with a smile on my face :)

-Jessica Antonio

To all the single ladies,

“Guys try to get deeply imbed-ded in the fine fibers of your bed-sheets. I’m trying to find and de-fine the fibers of which your mind

speaks.” Gemineye

-Spencer Sword

Mapu Infiel,

Thank you for being an awesome friend! I love you! Keep being overly extremely

awesome!

-Holli Holmen

Colorguard & Winterguard,

I love you all! You guys are all my homeboys and girls!

PERFORM ALL OUT!

-Mapuana Infiel

Michelle Choe,

Love ya very much! Hehe :)

-Nicole Ehara

Chad Garcia,

Sweet Pookie Bear, my heart melts from the heat of our undying love. The way you cried watching Twilight saying I’m your Bella. I can’t wait for our future to-gether & our eight kids. I love how you

are so sensitive and compassionate. Can’t wait to marry you; I DO!

-Melissa Fernandez

Zubin Dodhi,

If food never rotted, I’d send you a platter of sushi in the shape of a

heart. Happy Valentine’s day!Can’t wait till you come home!

-Kelli Yamane

Kristen Sawada & Allison Hazlett,

To my two “psycho” friends in 5th period. You guys crack me up. Tell me how the psychos are when I

leave. Love you!

-Leelynn Harris

My fellow Kumon co-workers,

You guys are half the reason why I love coming to work all the time. I’ll miss you when we all graduate.

Love you!

-Leelynn Harris

The Trojan Times Staff,

Thank you for beingsuch a loving family.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

-Jaclyn Knitter

The Trojan Times staff & the Na Mana o Poina ole staff,

I love having you guys in my class! You made my senior year filled with craziness and laughter. Thanks for

putting smiles on my face. :)

-Leelynn Harris

Timothy Tyler Cain,

The perfect words never crossed my mind, ‘cause there was nothing in there

but you.

-Jaclyn Knitter

Farah Schumacher,

From middle school hula to SSC, we have been through a lot. I can’t wait

to visit you in California! Let’s blast “TIk tok” tonight!

-Leelynn Harris

By Kelli-Anne Hok.ho@trojantimes.org During February of last year, I was able to amuse my single self by poking fun at Valentine’s day in an an-ecdote for the Trojan Times. In response to my words against what has become a shallow occasion, one per-son remarked to a mutual friend that, “That girl defi-nitely doesn’t have a boy-friend.” I remember feeling quite offended. I could sense

waves of sympathy from those with a Valentine for those without one. Clearly, such sarcasm would only derive from single, sad peo-ple like me, and single, sad people, like me, need the comfort from those lucky to be “in love” because there is no way we could possibly be happy. But how do single, sad people be happy? The an-swer is obvious: get a boy-friend. Having one of them se-cures you with roses, candy,

a stuffed animal, balloons, a poem, etc. The best part? Walking out of class with a huge smile, disregarding the half dozen other girls with similar objects in tow (thank society for being so efficiently mass productive). If you’re lucky, you may even get taken out to dinner (at least restaurants come in variety). But find your own ride, sweetheart, since more than half the guys in school don’t drive. But despite such chal-lenging dating circum-

stances, one other thing that always seems to mass pro-duce around February is the couples in school. I truly as-pire to be part of this group one day because I want to happily (and slowly) walk to class with my boyfriend, joined at the hip and block ing all the single people an-grily walking behind us on the sidewalk. Such romance would open so many doors. Not literally though, since we’ll nonchalantly canoodle right in front of each others classroom door, yet again,

blocking all the angry single people. I love Valentine’s day. What was I thinking last year when I complained about the superficiality of this so-called day of love? It seems I have been blind this whole time. In fact, I wish Valentine’s day was on a Monday, that way I could show off my (imaginary) boyfriend. “Imaginary,” be-cause obviously, I definitely do not have a boyfriend.

Boyfriends good for a single day only

My Angus,

Please stay.

-Karen O.

Codey,

I’m so happy that I’m still in love with you. Thanks for making the memories we made special. I LOVE YOU and I ALWAYS WILL. Never

forget that!!!

-Amanda

Eugene Santos,

I like you like a fat kid loves cake!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

-Britney Corrales

Taylor Sinn,

Once in awhile, right in the middle

of our life, love gives us a fairytale.

Taylor Sinn, you are my fairytale.

-Kawika Barabin

FeaturesFeb. 11, 2010

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You can almost always expect a roman-tic comedy to surprise you with a ridiculous song and dance. One scene in “The Proposal” includes Margaret, played by Sandra Bull-ock, dancing and singing Lil Jon’s song “Get Low.”

Every romantic comedy has this element, and it usually is the main characters’ first or last kiss in the movie. In “Shrek,” Shrek shares a true love’s first kiss with Fiona in her ogre form to remain as ogres and live happily ever after.

Even in the movies, couples often have a certain song that usually has some under-lying meaning that makes it special to both parties. Like in “Hitch,” Albert showed off his dancing to Hitch to Usher’s “Yeah!” Al-though the two aren’t a romantic couple, they often role-played a couple to help Al-bert get with the woman of his dreams.

We can always rely on romantic comedies to let the characters have a fairytale ending. In “27 Dresses” Jane was always the bridesmaid and never the bride. She meets Kevin, though, and after their up-and-down conflicts, they fall in love and happily marry in the end, which gives Jane her ‘twenty-seventh’ wedding dress.

With every good romance movie, there is always some sort of departure where

the couples must part (temporarily, of course), to add to the drama. In “The Princess Bride” Buttercup and Westley say goodbye as Westley sets sail to seek fortune so he and Buttercup can marry. But Buttercup later finds out that West-ley’s ship was attacked and believes him to be dead and their farewell permanent.

Saying goodbye

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Couple’s song

Funky music

Whenever a happily ever after doesn’t happen, the one who needs advice (help-ful or not) always turns to someone who offers words that can be commonly found in a for-tune cookie. Take “P.S. I Love You” for example, where Holly’s mom told her that “someday this all has to end” when Holly continues to mourn over Gerry.

Clichéd relationship advice

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The perfect kiss

The happy ending

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elements that every romantic comedy needsbreak ups & makeups:

By Kelli-Anne Ho and Kellie Kawamotok.ho@trojantimes.orgk.kawamoto@trojantimes.org

ith Valentine’s day around the cor-ner, we’ve compiled ten elements that every good romantic comedy

needs to have. We reviewed ten movies chosen by your fellow MHS students and featured some scenes to show examples of our ten elements. Be aware that these excerpts include plot spoilers. But these movies will make great dates for you and your special someone this Valentine’s day!

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Of course, what is a romance without the corny lines. Take “500 Days of Summer” for ex-ample. When Summer finally ends it with Tom, he gets up to leave but she begs him to stay, say-ing, “You’re still my best friend!” As original as the movie may be, it still has that typical element.

All romantic comedies have some sort of drama that unfolds between the cou-ple so that it doesn’t exactly feel like a

comedy anymore. To keep it comical though, a humorous character continuously shows up throughout the movie and acts as a comic re-lief. Take “50 First Dates” for instance. Henry’s local friend Ula always appears throughout the movie to crack funny jokes.

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Cheesy lines

The constant, weird character2

The plot for many romantic comedies circle around a lie, and this usually leads to the climax of the movie. In “She’s The Man,” Viola deceives everyone into thinking that she’s her brother to play on the boys soccer team, including her hot roommate, Duke, whom she falls in love with.

What you don’t know, can’t hurt you

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Movies in the order chosen by MHS students:1. The Proposal 2. 50 First Dates 3. 500 Days of Summer 4. P.S. I Love You 5. Hitch 6. 27 Dresses 7. She’s the Man 8. 13 Going on 30 9. The Princess Bride 10. Shrek

Screenshots taken from original DVD.

At the end of the movie, the main char-acter experiences an epiphany and from this, a happy ending is usually

spawned. In “13 Going on 30,” geeky thirteen-year-old Jenna wishes to be 30 in order to help her become popular. Eventually though, Jenna realizes what’s more important to her.

Character epiphany

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logging: The new way classes communicate

By Bianca Sewake b.sewake@trojantimes.org

ith more people staying connected through online social networks such as Face-book and Twitter, the shift in technology is being made. Since more interaction is being done online, this is changing the way work is being done in a classroom. Blogging is becoming the new way for teachers and students to get more work done and continue discussions even after the school bell rings. “It’s much easier for students to turn in work there and discuss amongst themselves

and between me and (Vice Principal James) Petersen when we’re on the blog,” said So-cial Studies Teacher Cynthia Tong, who co-teaches Advanced Placement (AP) European History with Petersen. “It’s a lot easier for me to read it and a lot easier for us to talk freely about it. The other thing we do is we post all the homework to the blog and that means no one has to photocopy anything. We post all the notes to the blog and we can discuss notes as we go along through the discussion,” she said. Junior Justin Bongco, a student in the AP European History class, likes how blog-ging is being used. “Blogging allows collaboration,” he explained. “With collaboration, students are able to maturely help each other and (arrive) at correct answers or correct objections.” Social Studies Teacher Amy Perruso observed that blogging also allows students to open up more in discussions. She said, “Students get to reflect and ‘talk’ to each other about historical and political questions in ways that are serious, but still connect to their real lives. And students who think deeply, but are not as verbal in class, have a chance to share their ideas and insights.” Blogging can also be a way to get more instruction time in for students. English Teacher Lisa-Anne Tsuruda said, “It could save a lot of time where we’re so tied into classroom time. And how do we buy time because of furloughs or whatever? We need to buy time in some way. Plus the kids are able to do it on their own time, when they’re comfortable with doing it.” Students seem to like the idea of being able to do their work on their own time. “Overall, I think it’s a positive thing because it’s not as conventional as things like essays or formal assignments that you have to print out and turn in,” said Senior McKenna Dooley. “Generally, it seems a little more flexible and a different, interesting way to discuss books or other assignments where we can express our thoughts in a less formal environment,” she stated. Each teacher uses different blogging sites and makes use of them in different ways. Tong uses wikidot.com and posts assignments and notes for her students who can submit the assignments back through the blog. However, there is one setback. “It’s just a blog. No pictures, no video,” she said. Perruso uses Nicenet and PB wikispaces.com. Nicenet is used for blogging, where she posts assignments and where students can turn them in before the due date. Tsuruda also uses wikispaces.com and blogger.com. “So we have this wiki and I do the assignments on that and what happens is each of my students linked their personal blog to that page,” she explained. “So they can click on each other right there and it takes them. We got some kids, like they follow each other. They’re like little fans of each other.” After using blogging, teachers and students have noticed changes. “Students are a lot more prepared for class and they’re a lot less tired,” said Tong. “They’re not always busily working on getting the notes. They’re actually engaged in the discussion a lot more because they’re on the blog.” Bongco has noticed his grades have improved. “I feel that my grades improved just because the fact that rather than being completely independent, I’m not necessarily rely-ing on my classmates, but we help each other out and we mutually benefit one another,” he said. Perruso feels that students get to open up more to each other. She said, “I think the students in the class know each other better (and I understand them better) as a result of blogging. And students become more confident, after using the blogs, about sharing their ideas in class. It helps break down walls.” All agree that blogging should be used in other classes as well. “I would recommend it for other classes because I think it’s a good way for students to read each other’s opin-ions and their thoughts,” said Dooley. “Also, students can comment on each other’s blog entries so it’s easy to get feedback on your own writing and tell your classmates your thoughts on theirs,” she said. After seeing how blogging has improved the work of students, these teachers will continue to use this technique, which will give the students more instruction time and further encourage them to exchange their ideas and opinions.

BENEFITS:More class time. Teachers and students can continue discussions outside of the classroom.

Flexibility. Students can turn in work through the web when conve-nient, as long as it’s before the due date.

Easy to share. Teachers and students can post pictures, notes and videos for everyone to see.

Fast feedback. Students can easily get instant feedback on their work from classmates.

Open discussions. Students are able to open up more and share their ideas and opinions.

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BFeatures

Feb. 11, 2010

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BLOGGING SITES:

blogger.com

lifetype.net

nicenet.org

wikidot.com

wikispaces.com

wordpress.com

InteractiveFeb. 11, 2010

Aries (March 21 - April 19)Two men in bunny suits will approach you direct-ly after school today. Tell them the name of your 6th grade English teacher and they’ll give you a hug.

Taurus(April 20 - May 20)A little less cool than Aries, your destiny concerns a cake and two bagels. Don’t look now, the monkey just took your backpack.

Gemini (May 21 - June 21)It’s been 17 days since 17 days ago. Ponder this fact and when you get the an-swer, give the President a call. He has something to tell you.

Cancer (June 22 - July 22)Facebook and Myspace are going out of business. Only you hold the key to the fu-ture of Internet social life. FaceSpace.

Leo (July 23 - Aug. 22)Warning! This month is Throw A Banana At A Leo Month in 32 countries. Watch your back for now, just in case.

Virgo (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22)You may begin to have dreams about life-sized checkers pieces eating your shoes after a famine in their native country, Checker-slovakia. This is just a rare allergic reaction to your excessive Algebra habits.

Libra (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22)As part of a new spy intern-ship program for Huggies, you may notice your toilet paper go missing. Bring an extra roll.

Scorpio (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21)Next week will be the cold-est Hawaii has ever experi-enced. Wear snow clothes covered in sticky notes (for protection from the wolves).

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21) Watch your step when walk-ing through the snow next week. Rare Egyptian Frog-Plants have sprouted due to the sudden climate change.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)Recent studies have shown that breathing oxygen over a period of 136 years is fatal. Hold your breath until our next issue comes out.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18)The waves are perfect right now! Tell your teacher that the National Aquarius Soci-ety gave you permission to go surfing today.

Pisces (Feb. 19 - March 20) Invest in everything! A cosmic shift concerning the distance between Jupiter’s moons will cause every stock in the world to increase by 362 points next week.

Compiled by James Georgej.george@trojantimes.org

Horoscopes Read It, Find It, Solve It

ACROSS4. The band will be going to Japan and ______ over Spring Break6. The PTSO chairperson7. The theme of the Sophomore Banquet10. The number of seasons running JV Girls Soccer Team has won OIA11. The sport that may start having annual tourna-ments at MHS12. Senior ______ Ogata is able to balance both grades and basketball

DOWN1. The Shakespeare Competition was sponsored by _______ 2. A Junior foreign exchange student3. The Varsity _______ Team has moved on to state competition5. The teacher who accidentally caused the H-Bldg. flood8. Junior Brandon ______ participated in an essay competition sponsored by CreativeCommunica-tions9. _______ for the Homeless – a project to give sup-plies to Hawaii’s homeless

Answers to Crossword Puzzle

Has anyone shown up yet?I think they’re all

at the school dance.

I hate Valentine’s Day, all the parties and events are for couples only.

when you can celebrate Singles Awareness Day.

You know, you’re right! I am a proud, single, individual.

Amen brother, we should totally throw a single’s only party,

it will be so much fun

Singles Awareness Day is S.A.DBy Matthew Ambrosecchio

P�t who needs Valentine’s Day,

Eight2TwoBy Jayna Kitazaki

School DazeBy Matthew Ambrosecchio

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