TROJAN TIMESTHURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009 Mililani High School VOL. XXXVI NO.7

INSIDE

Students have another successful year at annual CTSO convention

Mililani works to keep Asa’s dream of literacy alive

By Faith Brown and Cyrus Takahashi f.brown@trojantimes.orgc.takahashi@trojantimes.org

For the past five years a handful of nationally based competitive events clubs have participated in the an-nual Hawaii state competi-tion under the Career and Technical Student Organiza-tions (CTSO). This year was no different as the five clubs once again gathered togeth-er in the spirit of competi-tion and a mutual friendship based on the motivation for gaining life skills.

By Caitlin Kurodac.kuroda@trojantimes.org The senseless murder of Waianae High School English Teacher Asa Ya-mashita on Feb. 27 brought shock to everyone who heard the news. Her vigil and memorial service, held at Waianae High School’s cafeteria and Nu uanu Me-morial Park & Mortuary, respectively, brought thou-

Drafting class continues green trend, designs eco-friendly building

sands of people to honor her life and work. Her memory brought about action in many communi-ties to keep her message – “Reading and writing are essential tools that you will need to survive” – alive, and Mililani is not left out.

A driving force behind efforts to pass on Yamashi-ta’s message is English

Continued on page 3

By Kellie Kawamotok.kawamoto@trojantimes.org

Students of MHS have been known to take on proj-ects that are eco-friendly and beneficial to the community. The design and distribution of the eco-totes was a great success, for example, and continuing with this trend, Industrial Arts Teacher Ryan Masaki’s Drafting II class is designing a “green” porta-

Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA)

This year a variety of new competitive events opened up in response to the demands of those DECA members aspiring for a ca-reer in business rather than just marketing, including

ble that has the potential to be built into an actual build-ing.

Originally, the culminat-ing project for the school year was just to design a portable classroom for the Department of Education (DOE). The twist, however, was that the portable had to be environmentally-friendly. “Meaning materials that

Continued on page 9

Mock Trial team sweeps districts, states, advances

to national competition

Trojan Life | 9

accounting, public speaking and job interview. Accord-ing to Senior Kyna Naka-ma, Mililani Chapter presi-dent, “… If you compete for DECA, people are going to see that you know what you’re saying and we know that you are going to have that initiative to go out and get a job for yourself.”

For the 12 students who participated in the annual Hawaii State DECA Com-petition, tensions ran high through preparation and competition as students competed against up to fifty other contestants per event with added contenders from

another club called Future Business Leaders of Ameri-ca (FBLA), which is an orga-nization not offered at MHS. Despite these challenges, eight members placed in their competitive event.

“It really gave me a re-ally good experience to be one-on-one with the judges and to build up my strength because it is a lot of prepara-tion,” stated Freshman Mar-ci Nakamura.

To represent MHS, Junior James Dejong-Baskin will travel to Anaheim, CA with the Hawaii Delegation

Continued on page 2

Sports | 15

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Track and Field team enters OIAs with high spirits

The Nintendo DSi: A consumer’s guide to the world’s new-est handheld gaming

system

Features | 12

SkillsUSA members (Front row L-R) M.Matsumoto, D. Daranciang, C. Sale, K. Kong (Second row L-R) C. Shigeta, J. Takayama, K. Zane, J. Takata, B. Dumond, K. Vanek, M. Hayase, K. Nyuha, C. Liu, B. Tot-tori (Third row L-R) C. McGrath, K. Murakami, B. Baysa, J. Perkins, D. Kubota, H. Saenz, K. Tamaye, G. Kim, C. Nakabayashi, C. Noveloso, K. Arizumi, L. Saiki (Fourth row L-R) J. Sallot, T. Oshiro, K. Kawa-moto, J. Tansiongco, J. SemenkoHealth Occupations Students

of America members (Front row L-R) L. Mow, R. Wedge, S. Chung, J. Maligro, C. Fonacier A. Nakahara, J. Sandvig (Sec-ond row L-R) J. Sambrano, J. Lee, J. Simpliciano, B. Locqui-ao, F. Brown, D. Bongbonga, N. Yoshii, D. Mariano, B. Apo, K. Yoshimoto , B. Daranciang, B. Au-Stein, A. Matsumura

“It really gave me a re-ally good experience to be one-on-one with the judges and to build up my strength because it is a lot of preparation.”

-Marci Nakamura, 9

Amendment to math and science

graduation requirements

necessary

Editorials | 8

C6H1206 h(g(f(x)))Math + Science =

Less important?3p3n

Photo courtesy of HOSA Adviser Candance Chun

Photo courtesy of Brennan Baysa

NEWSAPRIL 23, 2009

CTSO (continued from page 1)to the National DECA Compe-tition from April 28 – May 2.

Family, Career and Com-munity Leaders of America (FCCLA)

DECAJob InterviewAmber Yonamine, 9 - 1st placePublic SpeakingMarci Nakamura, 9 - 1st placeJustin Bongco, 10 - 3rd placeAccounting ApplicationsJames Dejong-Baskin, 11 - 3rd place, finalist, medallionBryce Kaina, 12 - medallionRetail MerchantingWilliam Weisskopf, 12 - finalist, medallionMarketing Management, written examCasey McMahon, 12 - medallionBusiness ServicesLauren Fukuyama, 12 - medallion

FCCLACulinary TeamTyler Rosa, 12 - SilverKenton Kong, 12 - BronzeTiffany Quarto, 12 - BronzeKnife Cutting Team 1Amber Del Valle, 11 - Red RibbonEric Miyamoto, 12 - Red RibbonTyler Blackman, 12 - Red RibbonKnife Cutting Team 2Nina Hew Len, 12 - Red RibbonJoseph Anthony Lizama, 11 - Red RibbonCasey Walker, 12 - Red RibbonInterpersonal CommunicationsRobert Magata, 12 - SilverIllustrated Talk TeamJalene Carvalho, 12 - GoldMelissa Nakamura, 12 - Gold

FFACreed RecitationBryson Calma, 10 - 1st placeKarlen Oneha, 11 - 3rd placeAgriculture DemonstrationTaryn Chun, 11 - 2nd placeShawna Fujita, 12 - 2nd place

Bryson Calma, 10 - 3rd placeSean Iwamasa, 12 - 3rd placeOrnamental Plant IdentificationSean Iwamasa, 12 - 2nd placeLorelei Naholowa a, 12 - 2nd placeCorsage MakingStephanie Iwasaki, 11 - 3rd placeKarlen Oneha, 11 - 3rd place

HOSADental TerminologyBrandy-Shaye Au-Stein, 11 - 1st placeClinical SpecialtyLauryn Mow, 11 - 1st placeHuman Development and GrowthAllison Nakahara, 12 - 1st placeConcepts in Health CareJohn Sandvig, 10 - 1st placePharmacologyRebecca Wedge, 12 - 1st placeResearched Persuasive SpeakingFaith Brown, 12 - 2nd placeCareer Health DisplayChloe Fonacier, 12 - 3rd placeJenna Maligro, 11 - 3rd placeNational Recognition Program AwardShanyn Chung, 11Chloe Fonacier, 12Lauryn Mow, 11Barbara James and Presidential Ser-vice National Recognition AwardJade Simpliciano, 11Incoming HOSA State OfficersJenna Maligro, 11 - State PresidentLance Kishi, 11 - State Vice-PresidentShanyn Chung, 11 - State SecretaryLauryn Mow, 11 - State TreasurerOutstanding State LeaderJenna Maligro, 11National Officer CandidateJenna Maligro, 11

SkillsUSAArchitectural DraftingJordan Perkins, 12 - GoldBrennan Baysa, 12 - Silver

As an organization fo-cused on Family and Con-sumer Sciences (FACS) edu-cation, the Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Events tested mem-bers’ technical skills, though many also required partici-pants to exhibit their knowl-edge and leadership abili-ties. The FCCLA mission state-ment was exemplified at the convention by all members. “Leadership had to be dem-onstrated within your compe-tition regardless of what event you were doing,” said Senior Kenton Kong. “We can only learn and grow more from this experience so I would say that personal growth was definitely a factor.” Kong was a member of the Culinary Arts team and managed to earn a bronze medal. While this event along with others stressed practical skill application, other categories dealt with broader subjects. Interper-sonal Communications, for one, required participants to use their knowledge of FACS to strengthen com-munication, further demon-strating FCCLA’s emphasis on leadership. The convention did much more than assess members’ abilities. According to Kong, the purpose was to “give students a chance to find out what they are interested in and to see what it would re-ally be like, doing whatever it is (they) like.”

Future Farmers of America (FFA)

Despite being one of the smaller groups to compete, FFA members showed spirit and honest enthusiasm for

InternetworkingMallory Hayase, 10 - GoldDaniel Kubota, 12 - SilverJonathon Sallot, 12 - BronzePrepared SpeechKeynon Kong, 12 - GoldJob InterviewCarina Noveloso, 10 - GoldPromotional Bulletin BoardHeather Saenz, 11 - GoldCory Shigeta, 11 - SilverKrisha Zane, 10 - BronzeVideo ProductionJoshua Semenko, 12 - SilverTriton Oshiro, 12 - SilverRelated Technical MathJordan Tansiongco, 11 - Bronze

Statesman AwardKristy Arizumi, 10Ben Dumond, 12Grace Kim, 10Keynon Kong, 12Daniel Kubota, 12Casey Liu, 10Micah Matsumoto, 12Carina Noveloso, 10Kara Nyuha, 10Lauren Saiki, 10Cristina Sale, 12Jordan Takayama, 11Jordan Tansiongco, 11Kayumi Vanek, 12

CTE Showcase WinnersMagazine LayoutBrittany Martin, 11 - GoldSeiko Anzai, 10 - BronzeCD/DVDTranisha Carter, 12 - GoldMicah Yabes, 12 - SilverDanielle Daranciang, 12 - Bronze

“Leadership had to be demonstrated within your competition regardless of what event you were do-ing.”

-Kenton Kong, 12

“ ... It really allowed us to display our character as professionals with the way we were able to con-trol ourselves and stay on task when we had to.”

-Brennan Baysa, 12

“I am very passionate about HOSA because it provides a lot of opportu-nities not only to guide you in the health care pro-fession you might want to pursue, but it provides leadership opportuni-ties.”

-Jenna Maligro, 11

“We learn a lot about ag-riculture and not a lot of people know how impor-tant agriculture is in ev-eryday life or are interest-ed in it … but it is very important to our lives. “

-Sean Iwamasa, 12

the various event topics the nine members competed in. FFA Adviser of eighteen years, Industrial Arts Teach-er Jeffrey Yamaguchi, spoke of the challenges his students faced. “I would say about half the contests involve public speaking, in front of adults, which for teenagers, is a very daunting task and if they can overcome that and come through success-fully they really ... benefit in terms of their self confidence and just being, I think, a little bit more developed.”

Senior Shawna Fujita, three-year member, agreed that the experience was ben-eficial. “I’m not a good pub-lic speaker so I wanted to gain more, like, experience and practice for the future,” she said. Also, students that com-peted were able to socialize with outer-island student representatives. The group was able to take away a greater knowledge and re-spect for the roles that agri-culture plays as an industry on other islands. Because of the strong relations between competitors, Senior Sean Iwamasa stated that the en-vironment of the competi-tion “was just really relaxed. … It is more like just do our best. It’s like a family thing like a bond.”

Health Occupations Stu-dents of America (HOSA)

With fewer competitors than last year, Mililani’s HOSA Chapter competed with a fierce determination to win. Preparation for the various events began in first semester, in order to com-pensate for the extensive amount of work. Despite this daunting task of prep-aration, members believe the work is worth it. Senior Chloe Fonacier, second-year

competitor, stated, “I think I can take away life skills from this and I can grow and benefit from it … I think I gained a lot more self con-fidence from it.”

However, even with this added confidence and deter-mination, the competitive environment among event contenders and judges was formidable. “You can feel the tension that like people want to win and that’s what gives you that drive feeling that makes you want to win. There was a lot of competi-tive air this year, more than last year, I think,” said Ju-

nior Jenna Maligro, HOSA state president and chapter vice president. Maligro further com-mented, “I am very passion-ate about HOSA because it provides a lot of opportuni-ties not only to guide you in the health care profession you might want to pursue, but it provides leadership opportunities.”

SkillsUSA

Members felt that de-spite the high tension during the competition day, nobody lost sight that it was a great opportunity and experience. Many believed that the con-vention was an excellent way to meet people who had a common interest. “Entering a drafting competition, you have to love what you’re doing be-cause you spend the entire day working on it,” said Se-nior Brennan Baysa, a first-time participant who earned a silver medal in the Archi-tectural Drafting category,

which involved generating floor plans and house de-signs. In addition to being one of the most intense cat-egories, Baysa believes that the nine-hour competition was certainly one of the lon-gest.

Besides drafting, the SkillsUSA members were able to participate in a num-ber of other categories cen-tered around their motto of “preparing for leadership in the world of work.” Ac-cording to Baysa, the con-vention “really allowed us to display our character as professionals with the way we were able to control ourselves and stay on task when we had to.”

Middle school students get glimpse of MHSBy Diana Thompsond.thompson@trojantimes.org

Every year, eighth grade students from Mililani Mid-dle School (MMS) shadow their high school mentors for an entire school day. CTE Coordinator Sheila-Ann Dagarag coordinated the middle school mentoring days to be “a good start for eighth graders to just basi-cally know what the school is about.” The process begins at the start of the high school year, when students in CTE courses begin to prepare presentations to be held at MMS in November. MHS students who are partici-pants of any of the six CTE

career pathways visit the middle school students on three separate days, one day per track, to present ac-tivities for the students and then invite them to also take part in a pathway when they arrive at MHS. The next step after the presentation is to have the middle school students shadow high school stu-dents who are in the re-quested pathway. There are always three shadowing days, like the presentation days, because of the middle school’s three track system. The first track, Kupono, had seven students visit on April 9. Laulima track will be on campus on April 30 and Malama track will be on

campus on May 18. The students are paired up with mentors through requests and through CTE compatibility. For Aron Okamoto, who decided to request for his older brother, Junior Jason Okamoto, as a mentor, he was interested to, “meet his friends, first of all, and seeing that he comes home with plenty home-work and stuff, I wanted to see why and see all the class-es he has.” Even though the shad-owing day gives a lot of information to the visiting protégés, the mentors also get a lot out of the experi-ence. Junior Lexi Kaneshiro, who mentored Breanne Hew, was able to see that, “we

The mentors and pro-tégés alike gained not only unique experiences through the program, but also friends and familiar faces to have for the next school year.

Asa Yamashita (Continued from page 1)

Teacher Lisa-Anne Tsuruda. “What else could I do to re-member my friend?” Tsu-ruda expressed. “I had to do something positive to keep her dream alive. ” Tsuruda made a flyer to spread information about Yamashita, her contributions to the Waianae High School Literacy Program and what others could do to help. She passed it around to the stu-dents in her classes. She also sent out the flyer to every sin-gle one of her e-mail contacts and even spread the word through Facebook. Eventu-ally, her flyers even reached people who live on the main-land. “You know that the word is out when you get it back from someone else or other people call you to ask about it and you never sent it to them at all!” Tsuruda said. MHS also had a book drive that ran until March 14, where students could donate books for teenagers to read. Borders Express in Mililani Town Center has also run their own large-scale book drive. They asked every customer if they would be willing to buy a new novel and have it donated in their name to Asa’s Literacy Li-brary. Tsuruda exclaimed, “There are so many boxes of books which have been col-lected that they’re going to run out of space soon in their cashier area!” The drive end-ed on April 12.

“I’m so happy that litera-cy is on the rise, but sad that it took her death to get the ball rolling. However, I know that (Yamashita is) smiling in heaven with all the positive things that have happened,” said Tsuruda, who added, “I know that she’s probably reading Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ in heaven right now!” To make a donation to the Yamashita family, write out a check to the Yamashita Fami-ly Fund and drop it off at any American Savings Bank. Do-nations to the Asa Yamashita Scholarship Fund can be sent to Waianae High School. The Asa Yamashita Scholarship Fund will finance a scholar-ship given to a graduating se-nior at Waianae High School who shows great growth in terms of literacy over the span of four years.

Surreal Senior Prom to be held at the “Nile”

By Preston Miyashirop.miyashiro@trojantimes.org

Seniors will travel to Egypt to spend “A Night on the Nile” all while not leaving a ballroom at prom. Senior Prom will be held on Saturday, May 16 from 6-11 p.m. at the Hil-ton Hawaiian Village, a first time venue for MHS proms. “(The theme) is unique and finding decorations that go along with it gives us a chance to be creative. It’s just something dif-ferent to look forward to,” commented Senior Paige Yenke, chairperson on the prom committee. “We will be incorporating

the theme by adding deco-rations such as a pharaoh, pyramids and palm trees,” said Yenke. Pyramids will stand in as the centerpieces. The committee has plans to have a water fountain to throw pennies into and custom-ized favors are planning to be ordered. “We’re gonna have white chocolate busi-ness cards with black writ-ing ... ” said Yenke. “We could have picked an easier theme that would have been a little bit more colorful to do but we’re making it work and it’s go-ing to be amazing,” said Se-nior Jeffery King, who is also a member of the commit-tee. With elaborate lighting

should be more considerate of them being new and stuff. So I think just hearing what she was worried about kind of made me more aware of that.”

On April 9, Kupono track enjoyed a day with their high school mentors. They lived as typical students for one whole school day, experiencing the different courses and even the food on campus.

Diana Thompson | Trojan Times

schemes the place should “appear really surreal,” added King. The committee put a lot of thought into the en-tertainment with students who enjoy the dancing at prom. They plan to have Mystical Sounds Produc-tions present, to whom students have already sent requests to for what songs they would like played. During dinner a band of MHS, the “Tree-top Romantics” will pro-vide the music. Senior Prom is still a work in process and is being put together with the thought of giving stu-dents a night that is dif-ferent from others.

honoluluadvertiser.com

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APRIL 23, 2009

NEWSAPRIL 23, 2009

New Social Studies class to be offered at MHSBy Elizabeth Spallae.spalla@trojantimes.org

A new history class will be added to the school’s 2009–2010 curriculum, which will allow students to expand their knowledge in more specific areas of his-tory. Social Studies Teacher Cynthia Tong will teach Ad-vanced Placement (AP) Eu-ropean History. The school wanted to ex-pand senior electives for the upcoming school year. The idea of having an AP Eu-ropean History class came about from interest in the topic covered in the World History class that MHS pro-vides. Students were inter-ested in that particular sub-ject and wanted to study it singularly. The class offers a

more detailed look into cul-tural art and the overall his-tory of Europe. “Students have requested this course from me for four years in a row but I was too busy with accreditation and department chair work to teach the class,” stated Tong. Tong has taught the course previously at Waialua High and Intermediate School. A guest lecturer in the AP European History course will be Vice Principal Jim Pe-tersen, who has also taught the course before at Aiea High School and Waialua High School. As another option, an Asian Studies course was also offered but will not be taught next year due to a lack of minimum student participation.

There is much confidence in the start of the new class. Students have shown much interest in the course and look forward to broadening their knowledge of specific details in European history. AP European History will count toward one credit. The course will be conducted be-fore regular school hours. The first two weeks of classes will be on Thursday and Friday from 7:00 - 7:50 a.m. and Sun-day from 1:00 - 2:40 p.m. The rest of the schedule is to be determined by student obli-gations.

Corrections Sincerest apologies to Hui Malama O Mililani for the inaccurate information reported in the March 19 issue of the Trojan Times concerning the Kaho olawe trip. Corrections will be made in an upcoming article.

Sincerest apologies to Vice Principal Jim Pe-tersen for the inaccurate information reported in the March 19 issue of the Trojan Times concerning the technological grant awarded to the school. Corrections will be made in the online edition of the Trojan Times.

By Elizabeth Spallae.spalla@trojantimes.org

Each year the Presi-dential Scholarship is presented to 100 students (50 boys and 50 girls) who scored the highest in the nation on their SATs. One student from MHS is in the running to receive this scholarship: Senior Lucia Mocz. From the selected

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nominees, three boys and three girls from each state will move on to the semi finals. In the end, the win-ning students will go to Washington, D.C. with the teachers who wrote their letters of recommen-dation. In 1964 the Presiden-tial Scholarship was cre-ated by the Executive Or-der of the President of the United States to recognize some of the nation’s out-standing graduating high school seniors. The pro-gram selects one male and one female from each state to be awarded with the Presidential Scholarship ...

Summer School Reminder Many freshmen like to take World History during summer school to free up an extra class for their following year’s schedule. Social Studies Teacher Amy Boehning would like to remind all freshmen planning to take World History as their summer school class that the completion of a Histo-ry Day project is required during that session. In the past, most students took the summer school class to avoid having to do the History Day project. A pa-per and presentation are required for each History

Day project and will be needed in order to pass the class.

Bathroom Modifications

In an effort to pro-mote the student body’s health, bathroom facili-ties around campus have recently been supplied with new soap dispens-ers. Both boys and girls restrooms have been pro-vided with this addition. Please refrain from van-dalizing these new bath-room necessities.

Compiled by Cameron Ogle

c.ogle@trojantimes.org

To the Point

Student receives scholar-ship nomination

All information reported in this article is accurate until April 17.

APRIL 23, 2009CHOSEN TROJANS 5

Chess Club checkmates Punahou, takes Team ChampionshipsBy Kelli-Anne Hok.ho@trojantimes.org

Several new clubs have formed this year, but one has recently taken first place in the Team High School State Championship. The newly established Chess Club de-feated schools such as Puna-hou and Pearl City and took the championship title. “We won the Team State Championship by half a point last year, just beating out Pu-nahou, and we didn’t even have an official school club,” said Senior Robert Lau, the club’s president. “This year we got a club running and I knew we had good chances of repeating (a win) so we trained hard …” To prepare, the club held daily practices. “We pre-pared by solving tactical puzzles and by visualizing pieces moving in combina-tions,” explained Lau. “I also instructed the team on opening, middle game and endgame strategies.” Junior Christopher Hakoda, vice president, added, “About a little over a month before the Championship, we extended our practice time and studied tactical positions …” All participating schools could enter as many players as desired but only the four

highest scores of each team were counted in the competi-tion. From MHS, three of the club members placed in the top six: Senior Robert Lau, first place; Sophomore Ryan Palomares, second place; and Senior Daniel Macalino, sixth place. The team’s total score was 15.5 points, 1.5 points ahead of Punahou, who finished with 14 points. “It was a great feeling to win and have our hard work be rewarded,” commented Hakoda, whose score was the fourth to be totaled in the competition. Although the Chess Club is only in its first official year, it definitely won’t be under-estimated as the underdog. With the state title in hand, the club is sure to have more success in its future.

By Angelica Sewakea.sewake@trojantimes.org

This year’s State Sci-ence Fair held various projects with a diversity of topics. The competi-tion was held at the Blais-dell Exhibition Hall from April 6-8, and several stu-dents from Science Teach-er Sandra Webb’s Gifted and Talented (GT) Biolo-gy classes participated in the fair alongside Senior Lucia Mocz, who placed first in the senior division. According to Fresh-man Ryan Mayeda, first place winner of the school-level competition, “This competition takes place each year because there are lots of ques-tions to be answered and investigated. Every year new information is found that hopefully can be ap-plied in the real world.” The competition deals solely with a student’s ex-periment, which involves “... gathering informa-tion from an experiment based on a hypothesis, examining the results and then sharing it with your peers,” Mayeda said. The State Science Fair in-cludes specific categories,

such as animal sciences, bio-chemistry, physics and as-tronomy and plant sciences. Students first became in-terested in participating in this competition because of their science teachers. Fresh-man Kellie Tomita, who re-ceived an honorable mention at the school level and chose not to progress further in the competition, explained, “... I think that (Webb) wants us to do the competition to get us thinking like real sci-entists so that we are able to continue helping out our community and other problems that take place after we leave this class.” In preparation for this event, students put a lot of time and effort into research-ing their topics and along the way faced diverse chal-lenges and obstacles. “Test-ing my algorithm, it’s really a pain,” said Mocz. “After writing thousands of lines of code and noticing that the whole thing crashed because you forgot a semi-colon at the end of a line... And there is no way to check the cor-rectness of an algorithm. There’s no ‘spell check,’ so I have to go through line by line to verify that every-thing is correct in terms of syntax and arithmetic ...”

Overall, many stu-dents have gained some-thing from this experience and are satisfied with their project. “... I am satisfied because it was a difficult task to do and just being able to actually finish it, you feel accomplished since you challenge your-self to figure out things that are actually useful, like how to solve commu-nity problems,” expressed Tomita. Mocz commented, “... I am happy with what I have accomplished. It reflects my application and dedication to math and science and also my enthusiasm for the sub-jects. This is just a begin-ning to what I will be do-ing in college and the rest of my life, and it is really fun.” As for Mayeda, he hoped to “... gain experi-ence because I may de-cide to do another project next year. If I gain experi-ence it will help make my project better next year.” Regardless of the out-come of the competition, students remained posi-tive and took this event as another learning experi-ence that they can apply to their everyday lives.

HEA awards nine exceptional writers, mathematiciansBy Diana Thompson d.thompson@trojantimes.org

Every year, the Hawaii Education Association (HEA) publishes “Write On, HEA!,” a book that contains award-winning student works in the subjects of English and Mathematics. This year, nine students from MHS placed. The HEA Creative Writ-ing Contest features four sec-tions, each with its own grade level division from K-12. Ju-niors Lindsey Carvalho, Me-lissa Monette and Michelle Choe placed third, first hon-orable mention and third honorable mention, respec-tively, in the essay contest. Freshmen Christina Lee and Nicole Keller placed second and third honorable mention, respectively, while Senior Wendi Fujino received sec-ond honorable mention in the

poetry contest. In the prob-lem-solving contest, Junior Kellie Kawamoto placed sec-ond and Seniors Mark Goya and Kyle Sawai received first place and second hon-orable mention, respectively.

Many of the entries were assignments for the students’ English and Mathematics courses. Because of this, they were never completed with the pure intention of garner-ing gold medals. “I didn’t

State Science Fair displays unique ideas and experiments

even really think about it much, so it was a nice surprise (to win),” said Choe. Fujino’s poem, on the other hand, was originally a form of stress re-lief. “My mom (was my in-spiration) I guess, because she was always bugging me about going away for college, like on the mainland and we always got into big fights over it, so one of my friends said, ‘Oh, why don’t you write a poem about it?’” said Fujino. The authors of the Eng-lish pieces felt that their sub-missions were of their best because they enjoyed writing them. “I hate when we have to do poetry that rhymes a lot,” shared Lee. Choe said, “I liked the fact that it was about something that I under-stood, but it wasn’t like anal-ysis or anything. It was like based off of personal experi-ence and I could write better

based off of that kind of stuff than I would if I was analyz-ing a book or something.” On the other side of the spectrum, the problem-solv-ing division, the only math section for the HEA com-petition, involved students’ projects that required them to rotate shapes on an axis by “(taking) the shape and (translating) it into the differ-ent quadrants,” according to Goya. Although the project wasn’t exactly a passionate subject of his, Goya still “(felt) good to actually win first at something, because I’ve never won first in anything before.” As evidenced by the HEA Creative Writing Con-test year after year, among other contests, MHS students continue to excel both at in-school assignments and at personal artistic endeavors.

“Yes, the survivors lived onBut so many were lostLost forever in the murky waterThrough those who were lostThe survivors lost half of themselves”

-Excerpt from Freshman Christina Lee’s poem, “Bloody Harbor”

“Understanding that even as the light dies away,

And as darkness replaces the sun,Paradise will never fade.”

-Excerpt from Senior Wendi Fujino’s poem, “Paradise Never Fades”

“This year we got a club running and I knew we had good chances of repeating (a win) so we trained hard …”

-Robert Lau, 12

APRIL 23, 2009CHOSEN TROJANS

Love for music takes Kalani Koa farBy Kelli-Anne Hok.ho@trojantimes.org

With a strong passion and love for music, the boys of Kalani Koa have come far from where they first began two years ago as a bunch of friends writing and play-ing songs for fun. Now, after their success in this year’s Brown Bags to Star-dom, the band has quickly gained fans and popular-ity throughout the state, and although they placed second overall in the more competitive contest, Band Champs, the boys have not wavered from their devo-tion to music. Despite their finish in Band Champs, Kalani Koa has continued to pull to-gether and do what they love most: playing music. “It’s a learning experience for the whole band and los-ing Band Champs makes us want to practice and get bet-ter even more than before,” said Senior Hideki Aoki, back-up vocals and key-

board. Senior Aukai Kekoa of Kamehameha Schools, the band’s lead singer, com-mented that, “I feel pretty bummed, but it gives us a reason to better ourselves.” As a result of Brown Bags and Band Champs, Kalani Koa has been asked to perform at many social functions including baby birthdays and graduation parties. “(The competitions helped to) get our name out there in the state and also to play on the news. It also helped us get more gigs from other people,” commented Aoki. Senior Shonn Rallita, drummer, added that, “We’ve gotten a lot of attention from news stations to people asking us to play at parties to people just flat out coming up to us asking us how to get our songs.” But to excel in anything, practice definitely makes perfect. The band tries to meet together weekly to practice but managing the time has become a problem

that the band has faced. “… Being able to get together and practice (is a problem) since everyone has a dif-ferent schedule most of the time,” said Aoki. Through everything, the boys have remained close, which is key to being able to perform as a team. “We learned to work with each other a whole lot bet-ter and our expectations of how we sound has im-proved as well,” comment-ed Aoki. Kekoa added that, “I’m most proud of how far we’ve come.” This upcoming sum-mer will be the peak of the band’s fame. Kalani Koa has received many requests to perform at a variety of occa-sions, but many of those re-quests have come from peo-ple asking for a copy of their songs. MySpace has been a helpful source of providing their fans with music; visit the band at www.myspace.com/kalanikoasofficial.

Mocz’s research earns semifinalist rank in Intel Science Talent SearchBy Caitlin Kurodac.kuroda@trojantimes.org

Talent searches aren’t just for singing and acting. Since 1942, the Intel Science Talent Search (STS) has been offering students across the nation the opportunity to showcase their own original research to professionals in the science field and honor-ing the very best. Senior Lu-cia Mocz, who has already garnered a number of pres-tigious science awards, de-cided to enter the Intel STS with her research on compu-tational cancer identification and was able to advance up to the semifinalist level. “I entered because it is another opportunity to showcase the research I have worked hard on for now across multiple years,” said Mocz. “It is also really fun to have the chance to meet students across the na-tion interested in math and science like I am and also

to receive feedback on my research from scientists. It is a precursor to what I will be doing the rest of my life: conducting research, publi-cation, getting critical feed-back from a scientific review committee and finally to share my findings in a sym-posium.” The entry process con-sisted of many steps. The first and biggest part was conducting an original re-search. Mocz’s project fo-cused on computational identification of cancer. In addition to conducting re-search, Mocz was required to write a number of essays on topics such as her interest in science and the qualities of a good scientist. Finally, she needed to submit recom-mendations from her science teachers and mentor. According to a press re-lease by the Intel STS, a to-tal of 1,608 students from 36 states, the District of Colum-bia, India and South Korea

entered the contest. From those entrants, 300 were chosen as semifinalists, and from that group, 40 were chosen as finalists. The final-ists traveled to Washington, D.C. during March to com-pete for scholarships total-ing $530,000. The top winner from the final 40 received a $100,000 scholarship from the Intel Foundation. Mocz was one of the 300 semifinalists chosen in Janu-ary. “I am glad I received this opportunity, to be a semifinalist in any of these specialized science fair com-petitions already is a great honor,” expressed Mocz. “I feel it reflects the applica-tion and care I took to com-plete my project. So ... I feel great.” Even as the school year winds down, Mocz’s drive and determination for her work in science is as strong as ever.

Young’s students enter annual French Language CompetitionBy Francis Empenof.empeno@trojantimes.org

On March 14, students from World Language Teacher Norma Young’s French classes entered a statewide competition at the University of Hawaii at Manoa that tested their understanding and comprehension of the French language. This is a national exam and is given annually, sponsored by the American Association of the Teachers of France (AATF). This year there were 17 students from Young’s class who competed at the high school level for the exam against students from all other public schools. The exam consisted of 40 minutes of written work followed by a 20 minute listening comprehension section. The questions are based on French literature and culture. “It’s like a proficiency exam,” said Young. “I’m just happy that they bothered to participate

because it’s on a Saturday at the University of Hawaii in the morning.” Several students placed high compared to those from other schools. Sophomore Kelly Stinefelt placed second in Level 1A; Sophomore Kaitlyn Kelley placed third in Level 2A; Junior Leelynn Harris placed second in Level 3; and Seniors Lia Nakao and Julia Cramer placed second and third, respectively, in Level 4. Nakao was surprised that she placed second in her level. “It was a little nerve-racking,” stated Nakao. “I was surprised and I didn’t expect that.” Those who scored high will be given an award at a banquet at the Hale Koa Hotel on May 9, which is open to all participants of the exam. With the awards given from the banquet, those who even participated in the competition will be receiving a certificate of consolation from Young as a sign of appreciation.

Photo courtesy of Ka ohu Detwiler

(Above) Left to right: Seniors Kupono Detwiler, Hideki Aoki, Au-kai Kekoa, Shonn Rallita and Ka ohu Detwiler and Maui Nama-hoe. (Below) Kalani Koa performs their song “Somebody to Love,” the piece that they perfomred in Brown Bags, at the 2009 Band Champs competition. The band went on to place second overall.

Photo courtesy of Ka ohu Detwiler

The Trojan Times is a monthly production of

the Newswriting staff of Mililani High School

95-1200 Meheula Pkwy., Mililani, HI 96789

Editor in ChiefCaitlin Kuroda

Assistant EditorDiana Thompson

Sports EditorFaith Brown

Layout Design Manager

Elizabeth Spalla

Web Design ManagerCyrus Takahashi

Business ManagerArianne Cablay

Maintenance ManagerPreston Miyashiro

AdviserMr. Christopher Sato

PrincipalDr. John Brummel

StaffFrancis EmpenoKelli-Anne Ho

Kellie KawamotoCameron Ogle

Noah Perales-EstoestaAngelica Sewake

Trojan Times

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.

Letter to the editor

To voice an opinion or any concerns, feel free to submit a letter to L205 or to c.kuroda@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.

Math, science overlooked by DOE graduation requirementsBy Noah Perales-Estoestan.perales-estoesta@trojantimes.org

Technological develop-ment occurs at exponential rates, as does human depen-dence upon these develop-ments. As American society rushes to hone its higher-level analytic skills so that it can better understand and utilize these advancements, the people of Hawaii cannot afford to be left behind. It is imperative, then, that the Department of Education’s (DOE) standards-based learning system facilitates an environment conducive to the mastery of these skills – an environment that re-quires four rather than three years of math and science to graduate. Today, more than ever, math and science courses are of colossal significance. As Science Teacher Vanessa Humphreys, who instructs the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology course at MHS, put it, “When I think about some of the jobs that the stu-dents want … a lot of them do require higher-level sci-ences and I think having that fourth year will give them that competitive edge or that extra practice to help them be successful in col-lege.” This ideology may not appear to be applicable to ev-ery individual at first glance. For example, one who wish-es to pursue a career in graphic design would need little extra preparation in the way of math or science for college or their careers. Fur-thermore, students might also find the higher-level math and science courses available at MHS daunting and, for that reason, may see more threat than benefit in enrolling for them in their senior year. Analytic Geom-etry and Physics would be two examples of higher-lev-el math and science courses that are often perceived as difficult and as jeopardizing to grade point averages by students. But it must be remem-bered that the value of math and science in the worlds of today and tomorrow are not diminished by a student’s

preferences and are certainly not diminished by how dif-ficult the classes themselves are. The DOE’s current list of graduation requirements, however, with its under-em-phasis of these two critical subjects, does not reflect this significance and should be amended so that it does. A student currently needs six elective credits to graduate – the same collec-tive number of math and science credits needed. Stu-dents also need four credits of English and four of so-cial studies to graduate but the reasons for which math and science are just as ad-vantageous as English and Social Studies bring up the question of why the credit requirements are unequal. Math and science are surely of no less importance than other required classes. What is especially odd is that a variety of higher-level math and science classes are available for students to reg-ister for once they complete the prerequisite classes. It’s just that the fact that four math and science credits are not required for gradu-ation causes the subjects to be taken for granted by those who, understandably, would rather enroll in elec-tive classes that tend to be easier and more fun. Consider a freshman who enters high school in Algebra I and Physical Sci-ence, successfully progress-es up the math and science hierarchies to pass Geom-etry and Biology in sopho-more year and, in his or her junior year, can essentially complete his or her math and science education at Al-gebra II and Chemistry. A single year more of study in both areas could do so much for this student. Taking Physics and Trigonometry in this person’s senior year would not only demonstrate to colleges a sense of moti-vation but would directly benefit the student in terms of knowledge that might be critical for their intended ca-reer. Similarly, registering in an AP math or an AP science class could provide them with a firmer background in higher-level concepts and in

the case of science, possibly expose them to similar-cali-ber technology, before they even enter college to begin learning about them. There are also a plethora of non-specific benefits this student could gain by con-tinuing his or education in high school math and sci-ence beyond the mere three credits required. “… It’s not just learning facts. It’s the teamwork aspect, the effec-tive communication, writing essays, that are also a major benefit to help them be suc-cessful later on in their col-lege careers or just in their general careers,” Hum-phreys said. Now consider this same student forgoing all of these opportunities – giving up, essentially, all of these ben-efits – for a fourth or fifth elective course. Taking into account what can be gained, it’s an unfortunate consider-ation, isn’t it? But what is equally un-fortunate is that the current list of graduation require-ments does not obligate students to have the benefits these classes offer for a fourth year. For seniors, the current list of graduation require-ments put math and science in the same light as elective classes which, because of their relative facility, are ob-viously more appealing to the typical student. It is for this reason that Junior Grace Lim, who is registered for AP Chemistry and Calculus in her senior year, believes, “If we were to take out (a year) of something, it shouldn’t be math and science ... Maybe it could be other courses like ... some elective classes ...” The importance of math and science – espe-cially in today’s day and age – cannot be understated. Preparation for the future must begin now and can-not be let up until mastery and competency in the con-cepts necessary to under-stand how the world works and will work is achieved. The DOE’s current gradua-tion requirements, though, seem to overlook this detail and, for that reason, require amendment.

APRIL 23, 2009

EDITORIAL

ASMHSPresident

Leanne Sunahara

Finally the time has come … the last quarter of the year! First, I would like to introduce to you the new ASMHS coun-cil. The President for next year is Junior Matthew Lai and our Vice President is Freshman Marci Naka-mura. The two secretaries are Junior Kayla Soga and Freshman Sharmaine Lee. Treasurer is Junior Vivien Lam. The Historians are Sophomores Taylor McK-eague and Jesse Sakuragi. Homecoming Chair is Junior Eleanor Ko, Pub-licity Chair is Sophomore Christina Otte and Pep Rally Chair is Sophomore Arianna Denson. Mililani will also have one of the Hawaii State Student Council representatives from Central District, Junior Nicole Manzano. Congratulations to your 2009-2010 ASMHS offi-cers! We participated in the Central District’s Preschool Play Day at Mililani District Park on April 17. This was a time for all the Central District high schools to come to-gether and participate in a joint service project. Thank you to the volun-teers who participated from our school. I am sure you all made a lot of new friends. This coming Satur-day is the Class of 2010’s prom. This year, it will be held at Dole Cannery from 6-10 p.m. I am sure the girls all have their dresses ready and I hope the guys have their tuxes ordered. Juniors, I hope this night is spectacular for all of you. Have fun! Wrapping up the school year, I am sure se-niors are having thoughts of transitioning from high school to college. I am sure they all know where they are going to school and are almost set to gradu-ate. Underclassmen, en-joy the last few weeks of school and get ready for summer. Everyone, enjoy your fourth quarter!

Mock Trial takes on homicide case at nationals Green portable (continued from page 1)

By Kellie Kawamoto k.kawamoto@trojantimes.org

Bringing honor to MHS, the Mock Trial team made it to the National Mock Trial Competition. The team beat out Hawaii Baptist Acad-emy (HBA) in the Regional Competition and Kauai High School in the State Competi-tion, which is a first in MHS history. The team is now un-dergoing much preparation to take on an entirely new case in court. The national competition will be held in Atlanta, GA from May 6 - 10. The case is centered on a homicide in New Echota, GA, an imagi-nary small town. A woman, Ashley Dougherty, is accused of killing a man named Philip Newton during an argument. Dougherty is being accused of murder and felony murder. “The felony murder charge is a little different, and that’s our team’s biggest hurdle right now,” said Junior Sarah Nishioka. To prepare for the case and its many challenges, the team had to start by cutting its members because the num-ber of students that can go is limited. “We (held) tryouts to cut our twenty-member team down to nine people,” said Junior Jacob Garner.

(the students) use are environ-mentally-friendly or recyclable materials,” Masaki explained. The class was split into four groups and each had to draw and present an original design. The students were given certain requirements but for the majority of the proj-ect, they were entirely on their own. “… We just gave them specifications of what size the building needed to be and what height, and they came up with everything else.” Ma-saki said. Masaki’s class has a part-nership with Honolulu Com-munity College Instructor Norman Takeya. Once the project designs were ready to be judged, Takeya contacted three judges, one of which is the head of the DOE Facilities, Duane Kashiwai. Kashiwai and the other judges chose one design as the winner. The exciting part, though, was that Kashiwai proposed the idea of making the winning design a reality. “… He told us … if we want-ed to move forward with the project, he’d be really happy to assist,” Masaki said. The entire class is now in-volved in drawing each part of the building with hopes that Kashiwai will approve the portable to be constructed. Se-nior Brennan Baysa was a part

Senior Project showcase an “extravaganza”By Noah Perales-Estoestan.perales-estoesta@trojantimes.org English Teacher Lisa-Anne Tsuruda described the first-ever MHS Senior Proj-ect showcase as an “extrava-ganza.” Held on the night of April 9 at the MHS cafete-ria, the two-hour event was marked by magnificence. Attendees found themselves encircled by Senior Projects of the highest quality, an art show that doubled as a ben-efit for the Defend Oahu Co-alition and Keep the North Shore Country and a bake and used book sale conduct-ed by National Honor Soci-ety (NHS). As the 112 students of Tsuruda’s who completed a project can attest, the work leading up to the showcase was arduous. Ultimately, each student presented his or her work to a panel of

Also, as a part of the try-out process, the students had to decide which witnesses and lawyers they wanted to be. “Basically they had to develop questions for these roles,” said Mock Trial Ad-viser Amy Perruso, “and (on Friday) we (had) to go back and develop a theory of the case, try to look at all of the evidence put together and figure out how we’re going to argue the other side.” The team is fortunate to have professional assis-tance. The help of Attorney Coaches Stephen Hioki and Monica Suematsu is a huge advantage because of their law school education. “... The team’s attorney coaches … provided invaluable guid-ance,” said Senior Amy Hunt. “We would have a lot of dif-ficulty without them.” A lot of practice has to be dedicated if the team expects to do well in the competition. “The law is the most impor-tant part of Mock Trial, but only (Hioki) and (Suematsu) have been to law school, so we students have to try and put the law into terms we can understand,” Nishioka explained. “That means we have to talk about it a lot with each other, practicing objections and responding to objections. Occasionally

we’ll object when out of the courtroom!” The entire team is ea-ger to compete in the na-tional competition in the next month. “I think we’re all really excited and a little surprised ... because we were the underdogs all the way,” Perruso said. Nish-ioka added, “To be going to nationals is absurdly awe-some and a once-in-a-life-time opportunity.” Sharing the same enthusiasm as the others, Hunt said, “I feel like our team has worked hard so we deserve a chance to celebrate and have fun. But we do know making it to nationals is a great honor and because this is a na-tional competition, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to do well.” The Mock Trial team can owe its achievements to all the time and hard work they’ve dedicated. “(Our team has) given up so much of their time and sanity to help us prepare an amazing case and present it at the competitions. They are the reason that we have done so well,” said Garner. The team can only continue with their efforts in hope of finding success in the na-tional competition.

judges on March 14. Five of these projects were selected for presentation at the show-case: Speech Pathology by Senior Elizabeth Andres, All Natural Art by Senior Faith Brown, Hand Drawn Art by Senior Ben Dumond, Build-ing Bridges by Senior Jordan Perkins and Natural Pho-tography by Senior Diana Thompson. Brown, Dumond and Thompson’s art products were incorporated into an art show/sale coordinated by Senior Isabel Romero. Romero’s art show was just one element of her own Se-nior Project, which involved supporting the environmen-tal activist groups Keep the North Shore Country and the Defend Oahu Coalition. Proceeds from the art show, as well as those from baked goods and those from the used book sale, were donat-

ed to the organizations. Sev-eral members of the Defend Oahu Coaltion were present at the event with a wide va-riety of merchandise. For-mer Coalition Chair Mark Cunningham said, “We are just incredibly honored that (Romero) … wanted us to

have this opportunity to showcase who we are. And there’s the possibility that some of the proceeds from the art sale or the bake sale … will be helping to support our organization.” Also in attendance were two members of the Board of

Education. Board Member Ei-leen Clarke said, “I’m kind of surprised to see so many peo-ple here and I think it’s great that the community and par-ents and families are support-ive (of) the Senior Project.” Board Chair Garret To-guchi also commented, “I enjoyed it because we get to see how the policy that we adopted gets implemented and I’m impressed that they did their Senior Project in just five months and the quality of work that came out of it looks excellent.” The showcase also in-cluded a performance of “Glide and Be Free,” a song written by Senior Emily Cadiz and performed by the band Treetop Romantics, as well as an informational pre-sentation about the project from Curriculum Coordina-tor Lisa Kaneko.

of the group who designed the winning portable building. “I think that it’s an amazing op-portunity and honor,” Baysa said. “... As we found out that one of our designs, one of our dreams, could come true, it’s a feeling that can’t be grasped with words.” Senior Jordan Perkins is also hopeful that the building will become a reality. “With small modifications and addi-tions of environmental friend-ly products this portable could possibly be in schools soon and set a movement for other schools to start creating these types of portables,” he said. While this project is re-warding for the community, it is also rewarding for the students themselves. “… The opportunity itself is a reward-ing gift. Not many high school students can say they worked on a project that has the poten-tial of being approved by the DOE for future construction,” said Perkins. All that’s left is finishing the drawings and submitting them to Kashiwai for approv-al. Getting the opportunity to be a part of a project that could potentially become a re-ality is highly notable and the students can only continue to work hard in hopes of making this dream come true.

On the night of the showcase, Senior Elizabeth Andres presents her Senior Project, displaying speech impediments.

Arianne Cablay | Na Mana o Poina ole

APRIL 23, 2009TROJAN LIFE 9

“Island” musical presents new aspect for Tri-School

Student creates contest, inspires writers

By Faith Brownf.brown@trojantimes.org

In a different twist to the semiannual play production, this quarter’s Tri-School is preparing the musical “Once on This Island.” “I wanted to do some-thing different,” said Tri-School Director Jamie Rolf-smeyer. “This is a one-act piece and it is all probably 98 percent song. There is not a lot of speaking and it pro-vided an opportunity for the kids to use a different tech-nique of storytelling. So it is a different style. The kids kind of change into animals and trees and breezes and become the rain.” The script for the play is founded on the novel “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy and presents a parallel to the classic story “The Little Mer-maid” by Hans Christian An-dersen, only these characters are made up of Caribbean islanders. It is a story of love gained and lost, jealousy and grief. “It is basically just for all viewers, kind of like a Dis-ney. It is a really good family, all-around play,” stated Se-nior Michelle Motoda, who plays Andrea Deveraux, the jealous fiancee, a main char-acter.

Because the play is a mu-sical, the cast and crew are faced with the daunting task of learning the dance cho-reography and all the songs while balancing regular school work and maintaining their acting skills. Despite these different tasks, the cast holds that it is actually beneficial. “All of the cast is more involved like ensemble and everybody. So you can’t tell who (the leads are) anymore,” said Motoda. Also, performing with a new approach are the dozen members of the MHS Orchestra, including Band Directors Bryan Hirata and Derek Ka apana, who will be performing with the band and Band Director Erik Kubota, who will be con-ducting. Rolfsmeyer com-mented on the presence of the instructors with the stu-dents in band. “Putting pro-fessionals, people who really know what they are doing, in that kind of situation is really helpul for the kids in music … It encourages them to play with more confidence thereby ... the whole sound is better.” The band will be featured in a more open way this year and will play in view of the audience as a part of the cast and will possibly be dressed

in costume attire with decora-tions also added to their vari-ous instruments. In previous productions the band was used as a hidden asset to the side or behind the scenes. In this production, ac-tors are also dealing with the new challenge that comes with an unusual role. Sophomore Matthew Ambrosecchio commented, “Well my character (Ar-mand, the father of the male lead) is kind of mean

and I am not very mean. I think I am a nice person, but since my character is more on the harsh side, it was a challenge to portray that.” To overcome this, he, like many performers, de-veloped a method. “Some-times what I do is close my eyes and try to think of what the character might be thinking of and try to step into their shoes and react the way that they would.” Many actors agreed that the

extensive musical numbers affected the time it took to fully embody their character. Junior Shelby Benson, who performs as a storytell-er and also in the ensemble, stated of the musical, “One of the most interesting parts I would have to say is the ending but I can’t tell that to you guys. You’ll just have to come and see it.” The play runs on two consecutive weekends, May 1-2 and May 9-10.

By Diana Thompsond.thompson@trojantimes.org

Last school year, Senior Daniel Furumura was in-spired to challenge students to create literary pieces that were nothing short of pow-erful through a writing con-test he hosted and funded himself. In an effort to make the contest annual, he’s mak-ing improvements to what he calls MHS Wordplay. “I want you to find your reason to write. All of us have something we need to express. What better way than with words?” This was the last stanza of Furumura’s call to all of his peers over MySpace, and it was enough to garner roughly 20 entries to judge for his 2008 contest. Senior Jason Sikorsky wanted to answer Furumu-ra’s call last year and sup-port his friend’s contest. “I actually love writing, but I

only do it out of inspiration ...” he explained. Sikorsky wanted to put himself into his piece, particularly how he moved from Korea. Then he remembered the trench warfare of World War I, and constructed a poem. “Ev-ery aspect and detail in this poem speaks metaphori-cally from my experience ...” Sikorsky wrote as an in-troduction to his piece. His feelings, emotion and pas-sion for the subject earned him $100 cash. Furumura began his contest humbly, judging ev-ery entry, funding the prize money and awarding the winner himself. Furumura plans to expand the con-test by judging alongside a team of readers and seek-ing sponsorship in order to give away more prizes to the first, second and third place winners. “After submission, the

entire lot of entries will be judged by … Sikorsky, and myself. Five to ten … pieces will be selected to go on for a second round of judging. The second and final round of judging will be done by MHS English teachers who have generously volunteered to help me and perhaps by an English professor from the UH Schools System,” ex-plained Furumura. Although Furumura hasn’t received word back from potential sponsors, his contest has gotten a lot of positive attention from stu-dents. The last day for submis-sions was on April 17. All entries are open to the public through the MHS Wordplay MySpace account, www.myspace.com/wordplay09. The pieces will be judged during the first week of May and winners will be an-nounced shortly after.

APRIL 23, 2009TROJAN LIFE

Sophomore Francis Empeno and Freshman Niki Badua of Moanalua High School rehearse their in-terpretive dance for one of the numbers entitled “Part of the Human Heart.” Badua plays Ti Moune, a village peasant who falls in love with Daniel (Empeno), a wealthy grand homme.

Diana Thompson | Trojan Times

APRIL 23, 2009FEATURES 11

Show sweet appreciation with personalized grad favorsBy Kellie Kawamotok.kawamoto@trojantimes.org

Planning a graduation party takes a lot of time and work – you have to decide on the location, food, enter-tainment, guest list and of course, party favors. Person-alized gifts make the best fa-vors. To ease the party plan-ning a little, here are some favor ideas that your guests won’t forget.

Fortune Cookies Probably the most cre-ative way to tell your guests “thank you” is inside a for-tune cookie. Oahu has its own shop that can make fortune cookies and per-sonalize the message inside. Ishiharaya Plantation Tea Cookies in Waipahu special-izes in making senbei, which is what fortune cookies are made of. You choose what you want the message inside the fortune cookies to say. Each cookie costs fifty cents if

you want them to wrap each cookie individually. But if you don’t mind packaging the cookies yourself, each one costs twenty-five cents. Call 671-3175 to place an or-der on these cookies.

Cookie Lollipops Ordering food can be a hassle when you have to deal with shipping, handling and rush delivery fees. To avoid this, simply make your own treats. One fun idea is to turn your favorite cookie into a lollipop! Sugar cookies are probably the best option, but any recipe you desire is fine. All you do is roll the cookie dough into a ball and stick a tongue depressor (the wooden sticks with rounded ends) into the edge of the dough until the tip is in the center. Flatten the dough a little but keep the shape as round as possible. Keep in mind that the dough balls should be relatively large for a bigger cookie.

Bake the cookies for however long the recipe calls for. Let the cookie cool com-pletely before decorating it with frosting and sprinkles and whatever you want. For distribution, wrap the cook-ie in a clear cellophane bag and tie with a pretty ribbon.

Rice Krispies Bouquet If cookies aren’t exactly your thing, another easy treat to make are your own Rice Krispies. One batch of Rice Krispies calls for three tablespoons of butter or margarine, a bag of regular-sized marshmallows and six cups of Rice Krispies cereal. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat then add the cereal and stir until it is well-blended. Use a buttered spatula or wax paper to press the mixture into a 15” x 10” x 1” pan. Let it cool slightly then use cookie cutters coated

with cooking spray to cut out whatever shapes you want – stars, hearts, flowers, etc. You can even dip your shapes in chocolate. Stick half of a skewer (like a long toothpick) into each cut-out shape. You should come out with what looks like a Rice Krispies lollipop. You can arrange several of these lollipops in a large plastic cup. Just stuff the cup with Styrofoam or that green florists’ foam to keep the lollipops in place. Put a layer of shredded Eas-ter grass or tissue paper to hide the foam block. Cover the entire bouquet with a clear cellophane bag and tie together with a nice, decora-tive ribbon.

DIY Diplomas If you’re not into the whole food approach, a cute and versatile party favor is a little diploma made with pa-per and ribbon. Parchment-colored paper probably looks the best, but you can

use whatever color or print you prefer. Cut the paper into 3” x 6” strips then roll them up and tie with a rib-bon. If you write inside the diploma before you tie it up, you can it use it as a party game. For example, you can write a list of questions about yourself like, “What is my favorite color?” or “How old was I when I broke my ankle?” The guests have to guess the right answers and whoever gets the most cor-rect, wins a prize (like a gi-ant cookie lollipop or Rice Krispies bouquet, perhaps). Graduation party fa-vors come in many different choices that are relatively easy to get. You can personal-ize the gifts you give by cus-tomizing your favorite treats or by making your own. Ei-ther way, your guests will definitely find your favors original and unforgettable.

By Francis Empenof.empeno@trojantimes.org

With the turn of a new century, anime conventions have sprouted and grown in number across the country Kawaii Kon, Hawaii’s own anime convention, brings to-gether all fans of Japanese animation, manga and video games alike. This year Kawaii Kon was held at the Hawaii Convention Center from April 10-12. There were many events and happenings that occured within the three days that made up this premier event.

Cosplay Cosplay, the art of dress-ing up as a character, is the most common practice that takes place at Kawaii Kon. Fans dress up as their favor-ite anime characters and video game characters. Almost all of the people who attend Kawaii Kon arrive in cosplay, some for all three days. Seniors Kay-umi Vanek and Jazmin Torres dressed as Dita from “Cho-bits” and Anna Kyoyama from “Shaman King,” respec-tively, while Junior Lauren Mottley cosplayed as Yoruichi Shihouin from “Bleach.” Se-nior Anthony Ragil visited the convention as Dante from

the popular video game se-ries “Devil May Cry.” Ragil stated, “The way I look at it is that when you’re there, even though you’re there and cos-playing and all these things, nobody will judge you. No matter how bad it is.”

Voice Actor Panels A handful of voice actors from various anime came and held a Q&A segment with fans. The Japanese guest for this year was Shinji Aramaki, the original creator and direc-

tor of “Appleseed” and part of the production design of “Fullmetal Alchemist.” Amer-ican voice actors Laura Bailey, Caitlin Glass, Brina Pallencia, Illich Guardiola, Vic Mignon-gna and Travis Willingham also came and talked to fans about upcoming projects like the dubbed version of “Ou-ran High School Host Club.”

Concert Traditionally, on the sec-ond evening of Kawaii Kon a band from either the US or Ja-

pan that performs. At Kawaii Kon 2009, the concert featured not one but two Japanese groups. Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, a popular all girl rock band, played first. The Emeralds, a three-man rock band from Yokohama, Japan, followed, making this their second ap-pearance in a row.

Artist Alley, Dealers Room &Video Game Room The Artist Alley at Kawaii Kon is a place where people can sell their own original art

pieces and craftwork. The Dealer’s Room in-cludes vendors both locally and internationally that spe-cialize in anime goods. Rang-ing from plushies to apparel, the Dealer’s Room at Kawaii Kon has it all. This year there was a wide selection of ven-dors, ranging from local an-ime stores like Mecha Hawaii to shops like Yes Anime, lo-cated in the heart of San Fran-sisco, CA. The Video Game Room is always set up with almost ten plasma screen televisions and various video game consoles that differ in genre. This year the Circle, a local community of gamers sponsored the Vid-eo Game Room and allowed the Kawaii Kon visitors to play with their consoles. The Circle also hosted tourna-ments for “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” “Left 4 Dead” and “Street Fighter 4,” in which the winners received prize money and video game re-lated prizes.

The convention wrapped up with closing ceremonies Sunday evening. With Kawaii Kon 2009 successfully over, the event planners are look-ing ahead to next year’s.

By Diana Thompsond.thompson@trojantimes.org

Who knew that within two decades after the release of the Game Boy, the world would be presented with a slim and sleek folding device with two screens, two cameras, pristine speakers and endless possibilities? On April 5, the DSi was released in America, selling at a price of $169.99, packed with features that are sure to entertain.

The Main Menu & Controls Turning on the DSi, there is an obvious difference compared to the former DS and DS Lite. The entire home screen has been changed, utilizing a side-scroll menu. The top screen features pictures taken with the cameras. The menu has 31 spaces for games and features that can be downloaded via wireless internet connection or Wi-Fi for free or purchased at the Nintendo DSi Shop. The controls still look similar to those of the DS Lite. The power button has been moved back to the front of the system, but instead of on the top left corner, it is now at the bottom, to the left of the touch screen. When held down, this button will cause the system to turn on and off. When pressed quickly in the middle of a game or app, the system returns to the main menu, an improvement from the older handhelds

which would require the user to restart the system. Also, the volume controls have switched to two buttons (+ and -) on the side of the console.

Basic Features The DSi may be slightly longer than the DS Lite, but it is also slimmer. The sound quality is slightly clearer and the screens are brighter and larger than those of the previous DS systems. The DSi comes with two styluses that are slightly longer than those for the DS Lite but keep the same style and shape. The DSi has an SD Card reader in order to transfer files such as pictures and music between itself and a computer or camera, similar to the Wii console. The SD Card can also relieve a stuffed DSi of its load, because the DSi comes with

an option that allows pictures and sound files stored in the system to be transferred onto the card, meaning that memory for the system can simply be purchased whenever needed. The one major drawback about the system is that, unlike its other DS counterparts, it lacks the ability to play Game Boy Advance (GBA) games, forcing anyone who wants to play GBA games to go back generations.

Camera & Sound Features The DSi features two cameras: a camera facing the user and a camera facing what’s on the other side of the DS from the user. The exterior camera is a three megapixel camera, while the inner camera is only 0.3 megapixels, however, if used with proper lighting, the resulting pictures can come out

very clear. Pictures can be saved on both the system and on an SD card. The handheld itself can store around 400 images, and 1GB of SD memory holds about 750 pictures. What’s really being talked about isn’t just the cameras and their capabilities, but what you can do with the pictures while or after taking them. The DSi comes with many different editing tools to turn a plain and ordinary picture into so much more. Another nifty tool is the Nintendo DSi Sound application and with the clearer speakers, the sound comes out sharper than with previous models. There are several ways to play with this feature of the new handheld. First, the user can record up to 10 seconds of sound using the microphone. Sound

files can also be taken from SD cards if they’re in the correct format. This sound can then be altered by making it a lower or higher pitch and by making it faster or slower, which in itself can be fun. The user can also change the actual voice of the sound.

DSi Shop The DSi Shop, like the Wii Shop Channel, connects to the Internet and allows you to download free or purchasable content to your DSi. The range of content includes new applications and new games. The DSi comes with 1000 points that can be used. Every 100 points is equivalent to around a dollar. Point cards and credit purchased by use of a credit card can be used to allow the user to do some online shopping, just like with the Wii console. A free internet browser, powered by Opera, is available for free download through this feature and it works a lot like internet browsing with cellular phones. Also, upgraded applications can be purchased at the time that they are available.

So if you find yourself nodding your head in approval over the features of the DSi, then maybe the cost is worth it. Or maybe you’ll just want to wait and see what’s in store with the next generation handheld.

By Angelica Sewakea.sewake@trojantimes.org

Graduation is creeping upon nearly 600 seniors. In a month, high school will end and they will move for-ward onto new chapters. But before any of that hap-pens, make a bucket list of what to do in order to have a complete high school expe-rience.

Make your own prom The anticipation of be-ing asked to Winterball, Ju-nior Prom or Senior Prom is often nerve-racking and sometimes disappointing if the one person you want to go with rejects you. But what happens now when the end of the year has come and you were too late in de-ciding whether or not you should attend those events and regret missing them?

Get a group of friends and create your own version of Winterball or prom. It may be toned down from the ac-tual events, but at least you get the experience of dress-ing up, eating, dancing, taking pictures and most of all, spending a night with friends. If this fails, there is hope to go to a social func-tion with someone else, so start making friends with those underclassmen before you graduate.

Confess your undying love As we all know, high school consists of on and off relationships. Although it may seem like it’s too late to begin anything at this moment, remember that it’s better late than never. You can tell that special someone through a letter or simply by approaching him or her in person. What’s the harm?

that we did our homework on time with no procrastina-tion. It really wouldn’t hurt to do it once before gradua-tion day.

Be the bigger person Life is too short to be holding grudges. Gradu-ation is right around the corner and it’s the last day everyone will be together in one place. Be the bigger per-son; forgive and forget the conflicts and disagreements that may have happened and come to peace with yourself and that person who most likely used to be a good friend of yours, regardless of what the outcome may be. It’s better to try than to do nothing at all. Keep striving to move forward because af-ter May 31, you may never0 get the chance to resolve these issues.

Create an online profile What’s great about our generation is that it offers a wide range of technological ways to communicate. Ad-vancing from letters to tele-phones and from telephones to cell phones we can now even keep in touch through personal websites. As many of us know, the famous MyS-pace and Facebook profile sites are great ways to ex-press yourself while keeping in touch with good friends you may not be able to see again after graduation.

These are just a few ideas that you could con-sider to add to your own personal list of things to do before graduating, and who knows? Maybe you would actually enjoy completing these tasks while benefiting from that personal feeling of accomplishment.

Senior bucket list: Things to do before graduation

APRIL 23, 2009FEATURES

brings endlessentertainment,

possibilities

The worst he or she can do is say “no” and if that’s the case, you’ll only have to bear with the disappointment for a month or two and before you know it, you may never see that person again.

Do your homework on time (without procrastinating, for once) The majority of us have spent high school careers complaining about the amount of work we have been given and waiting until the very last minute to turn that assignment in, maybe even asking for an exten-sion. Although it may be dif-ficult due to senioritis, think about how completing our homework on time without procrastinating will affect us 10 or 20 years down the line. Many of us by then may have children and at least we can honestly tell them

Bachelor and Associate of Science degrees available in:· Professional Aeronautics· Technical Management

· Aviation Maintenance ManagementConvenient Evening Classes in 7 Teaching Locations on O’ahu

Worldwide Online Classes also Available or a Combination of Both

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OFFICE LOCATIONSAirport Training Center 838-1435 honolulu.airport.classroom@erau.eduHonolulu Center (Hickam AFB) 422-0835 honolulu.center@erau.eduKaneohe Center (MCBH) 254-2106 kaneohe.center@erau.eduSchofield Barracks 624-2334 schofield.barracks@erau.edu

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Experience individual attention in classes under 25 students

Graduates Recruitedby Marriot to Microsoft

Senior Announcements Graduation is right around the corner! Here are a few end-of-year reminders:• May 1 is the universaldeadline to letschoolsknowwhether you are accepting their offer of admission or not.Thisisnotapostmarkeddeadline.• Turn in any scholarshiplettersthatyouhavereceivedto be recognized in the gradu-ation program.• Turn in your final tran-script request, if the collegeneeds your final grades. Ifyouareascholarshipathlete,you also need to send yourfinal grades to the NCAAClearinghouse. You can dothis now and the registrar’s officewillholdyour requestuntil your final grades areposted.• Be sure to turn in yourhealth clearance information(TB test and MMR shot re-cord) to the school youwillbeattending.Youwillnotbeabletoregisterforyourclass-esuntilthisiscomplete.• Still undecided aboutwhat to do after graduation? SeeMrs.YamamotoASAP!

Other AnnouncementsRunning Start Good news for interested Running Start students. Lee-

wardCommunityCollege isofferingaspecialsummerses-sion thatwill run from June15 - July 24. The applicationdeadlineforthisopportunityisMay18,socometoC&CCfor an application, or visithawaii.edu/runningstart for more information.

Work Permit Students who need awork permit need to applyonline at www.hawaii.gov/labor.Theywillneedtopro-videanemailaddressandthelastfourdigitsoftheirsocialsecurity number.

National College Fair – April 30 TheNationalCollegeFairwillbeheldonApril30attheNBC Exhibition Hall. Takeadvantage of this opportu-nity to meet with representa-tives from visiting schools.For more information, visitwww.nacacnet.org/NCF.

Juniors! Juniorsshouldbegettingreadyforsenioryear.Remind-ers:distribute/collectStudentEvaluation Sheets, updateyourresume,takeatleastoneSATorACTtest,makeanap-pointment with your alphacounselor, request for lettersof recommendation (if ap-plicable) and research your

schools. Make an appoint-mentwithMrs.Yamamotoifyouneedhelpwithyourcol-legesearchorifyouhaveanyquestions. Get a head start for your senioryearwithusefulinformationfromTheCollegeAdvisor,Inc.

Jump Start the College Applica-tion Process Summer is a great timefor rising seniors to get a head start on college applications.All high school students,however,canusethesummertobeginpreparingforthecol-legeadmissionsprocess. This might mean devel-oping interests you don’t have time to explore duringthe school year. Sign up foracourseatacommunitycol-legeinasubjectthat’snotof-fered at your high school. Ifyou’re interested in history, volunteer at a museum. Ifyou’rethinkingaboutbecom-ing a veterinarian, get a job(paidorvolunteer)atanani-malhospitalorshelter. Keep a journal. Thinkabout what’s important to you and how you see your fu-ture.Thiskindofself-assess-ment will help you identifycolleges that will be a goodmatch.You’llalsohavemate-rialtouseinyourcollegeap-plicationessays.

Prepare for the SAT orACT. Reading newspapers,magazines and books willbuild your vocabulary andincreasecomprehension.BuyTheOfficialSATStudyGuideor the ACT Guidebook andtakeapracticetesteachweek.If your schedule is packedwith AP classes, sports andextracurricularactivitiesdur-ing the school year, summermight be the best time for a testprep course. Youmightalso wish to review for anyneeded SAT Subject tests ifthesewillberequiredbythecolleges to which you’ll ap-ply. Seniorswhohaven’tfinal-ized their college list shouldresearchprospective schools.Most colleges have lots ofinformation about programs andstudentlifeontheirweb-sites. Contact alumni fromyourhighschoolwhoattendcolleges you’re interested inand ask what they like anddon’tlikeabouttheirschool. If possible, visit collegesthatsoundinteresting.Whileyouwon’t seemany collegestudents,especiallyonsmall-er campuses thatdon’t havesummer sessions, there willbeotherhighschoolstudentsvisiting, and you can checkoutfutureclassmates.Asum-mer campus visit doesn’t

trulyconveywhattheschoolislikeduringtheschoolyear,butyoucanalwaysreturntotheschoolsafteryou’readmit-ted,tositinonclasses,spendthe night in a dorm, eat in the dininghallandgetarealfeelforcollegelife. With research, comes in-formation.Informationneedsto be organized. Summer isthe perfect time to set up a filingsystemtokeeptrackofcollege brochures and appli-cations. This is also the time tocomplete one applicationthatcanserveasaprototype.Getting all your academichonors,extracurricularactivi-ties and community serviceonpapernowwilllowerthestress levelwhenyou’re fac-ing the UC application inNovember.Startingyourap-plication essays earlymeansyou’ll have time to rewritethem and make sure you’resubmitting your best work.The Common Application(used at about 350 colleges)willbeavailableatwww.com-monapp.org by the beginning ofJuly. Start researching schol-arship opportunities. Manywebsites, including www.fastweb.comandwww.schol-arships.comofferscholarshipsearch engines. For informa-tionaboutfinancialaid,www.finaid.orgisagreatresource. Everytaskthatgetsdonenowmeansonelessthingtoworryaboutlater.Butit’salsoimportanttotaketimeforfun.The college admission pro-cesscanbestressful,andthebestwaytoavoidburnoutistogiveyourselfpermissiontospend some time doing what-everyouenjoy.

Compiled byCollege & Career Counselor

Denise Yamamoto

Important Upcoming Dates

April 30NationalCollegeFair

May 2SATTest

June 6SATTest

June 13ACTTest

APRIL 23, 2009

New doubleheader policy puts strain on players, coachesBy Cyrus Takahashic.takahashi@trojantimes.org Starting this season, the Varsity Baseball and Softball teams have been facing the added challenge of playing doubleheaders. The doubleheader games follow either the twilight-night or “classic” rules. Ac-cording to Junior Andrew Benitez, third baseman, this means that “Right after the first game is finished, the next one begins.” As such, spectators will not have to pay twice to gain admittance to both games as is the case in day-night doubleheaders. The decision to switch to doubleheaders was made by the Oahu Interscholastic As-sociation (OIA) as a way to reduce transportation costs. Though this would seem-ingly benefit the schools, sticking to the policy has been difficult. “Some games are split due to SAT or ACT testing dates or if individual schools have conflicts due to prom or other school func-tions,” said Head Coach

Track and Field keeps positive in preparation for the OIAsBy Angelica Sewakea.sewake@trojantimes.org

The Track and Field team is progressing into the Oahu Interscholastic Asso-ciation (OIAs) with deter-mination and perseverance as they begin to carry out intense practices with posi-tive attitudes. They have re-cently completed a total of five meets. The girls team racked up 93 points, car-rying them to first place, while the boys team earned 77.5 points, putting them in second place overall. Practices consist of week-ly gatherings from Monday to Friday from 4–6 p.m. The track practices include, “... two warm up laps around the track, then we gather on the track and stretch out as a team with the captains up front ...” explained Se-nior Kenton Kong, who pole vaults for the team. He added, “Once we have stretched out we head to the eight lanes and warm up some more with several dy-namic stretches our coaches

Mark Hirayama, who re-called having to split two doubleheader games each for such reasons. Though playing double-headers would appear to be more efficient, the policy has its drawbacks. “Fatigue is probably a main concern,” said Benitez, commenting on the strenuousness of playing

two games in rapid succes-sion. However, he feels con-fident that their coach has gotten the team into good enough shape in prepara-tion for the doubleheaders. Junior Jason Okamoto, sec-ond string for left and right field, also believed that the doubleheaders test “not only the players, but also the

coaching staff, too” and that the doubleheaders do not of-fer much leeway for injuries. Senior Glenelle Nitta, right fielder for the Varsity Soft-ball team commented, “… towards the middle of the second game, everyone be-gins to get tired and by the time the game is finished, everyone’s muscles are sore

and that can cause major in-jury.” However, like Benitez, they feel there has been an adequate amount of condi-tioning to prepare. While Nitta understands the reasons behind the poli-cy, she feels that the people who created the policy were not taking the players into consideration. “They are so worried about saving money that they don’t think about the health of each athlete,” said Nitta. Hirayama understands the problems facing play-ers and said, “Players at this level are not really used to playing two seven inning games, physically and men-tally,” though he personally does not mind the policy. “It makes the game more of a chess match. You have to prepare more players to ac-commodate (for) the addi-tional innings.” Despite the added stress this policy has created, it seems the Varsity Baseball and Softball teams have trained hard enough to meet this challenge head on.

have instructed us to do ... Meanwhile, other practices are being conducted by our jumping athletes, throwing individuals and pole vault-ers ...” In preparation for the OIAs, the practices have be-gun to specialize and identify the strengths of the team that has qualified many students to advance into further com-petitions. “... To help us pre-pare, we go through running workouts Monday through Wednesday and concentrate solely on specialties — such as — other aspects of track such as starting blocks, jumps, hurdles and throwing on Thursdays ... We also have daily meetings to address notable events, grade checks and other things that should be brought to the team’s at-tention,” expressed Senior Aaron Ibrao, who partici-pates in long jump events. Right now, the team is focusing on increasing their different strengths and overcoming obstacles that involve inexperienced par-ticipants. “I think one of the

biggest challenges we have is that we have such a young team ... ” mentioned Senior Lei Ann Chun, who partici-pates in the hurdle events while also taking on the re-sponsibility as the girls team captain. “Being the only girls sprinter captain, it’s hard to work on what I have to do and help everyone else at the same time. Another challenge we face is all the injuries we have,” she expressed. Chun also explained that although they often face challenges with injuries the coaches have stepped in and provid-ed workouts and ways to rest their bodies. The team’s strength lies in their character and out-look on challenging their opponents, “Our strength is that we aren’t afraid to run against any team in the en-tire state of Hawaii. We are prepared and ready to face any challenges any team can give us,” stated Kong. On the other hand, Ibrao believes that it’s the size of team that gives them their edge. “Our strength is our depth. Be-

cause our team is a moderate size, we have many people that could easily fill in for in-jured runners. For example, in the boys 4 x 100 meter re-lay, we had to make a change in the roster ..., ” explained Ibrao. Determined and work-ing toward the OIAs, the track team remains positive

and continues to dedicate themselves to the many practices. “I’m not sure what the outcome of OIAs is go-ing to be. But as long as ev-eryone tries their best, that’s all that matters and all I can ask for,” Chun expressed. Staying hopeful and moving forward, the team will not disappoint, win or lose.

In preparation for the OIAs, which will take place on May 2, Se-nior Lei Ann Chun practices going over hurdles for her events.

Angelica Sewake | Trojan Times

Senior Shonn Rallita, pitcher, warms up his arm by throwing with his partner across the field. Cyrus Takahashi | Trojan Times

APRIL 23, 2009SPORTS 15

I N T E R A C T I V E

horoscopes Because fate willalways be inevitable

Aries(March 21 – April 19)The fourth quarter has be-gun and I bet you think it’s going to be easy. But beware because if you take it too lightly it may just turn into your worst nightmare. Even worse than the one about the toi-let not being able to flush.

Taurus(April 20 – May 20)Your goal for this month is to get outdoors and spend some time in the sun and maybe play a little rugby on the side to toughen you up. Get away from your computer screen and rise from the dust of your basement.

Gemini (May 21 – June 21)Suddenly you will want to do a word puzzle. And look, two puzzles are con-veniently there for you above. Become a pro at puzzles so eventually you can develop a sophisticted mind to control the uni-verse.

Cancer (June 22 – July 22)Taking care of a pet tyran-nosaurus rex has been trou-bling you lately. Or if you don’t own one, maybe you have a little brother or sis-ter as a pet instead. What-ever the situation, just re-member that when you do good deeds they will return to you. Go and take care of your pet, make sure they are well-groomed and fed.

Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22)If you were walking through Waikiki over spring break, you must have seen home-less people. You probably thought about doing some-thing nice, like buying them a McMuffin sandwich from McDonalds or getting them a snazzy bow tie. You prob-ably gave your entire wal-let. And for that the gods up above are now pleased.

Virgo (Aug. 23 – Sept. 22)For the rest of the school year you are only allowed to use one bathroom stall in

the entire school. You can’t use any other one, other-wise something will hap-pen. Also, when crossing the street don’t walk ahead of any penguins. They might be offended that you walk faster and bite you.

Libra (Sept. 23 – Oct. 22)The next big purchase you need to make is a water slide. Even if you don’t own a pool, a water slide could be useful, especially if you have a bunk bed. Anyway, what you need to be careful of is not penguins crossing the street but making sure you only step on the white lines. Pretend the black is lava like you did when you were younger.

Scorpio(Oct. 23 – Nov. 21)Since “Twilight” has come out on DVD you must have watched it at least ten times by now. Now your mission is to see how long you can go without even looking at the DVD cover. If you can go longer than two weeks you’ll

be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And if you can’t last more than a day you have phengophobia – go look it up, then see a psychiatrist.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21)Do you realize that you have a problem? Ask your friends and they’ll know what I’m talking about. Avoid any falling objects from the sky. This means you’ll have to walk with your eyes looking up at all times, even when indoors. Promise me you absolutely won’t get hit by a cow.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19)Sorry, but the stars have told me that something unfor-tunate may happen to you within the next two months. You will either have a bad hair day, fall downstairs or wake up to find yourself ly-ing on a humpback whale. But to counter your fate, staying away from apples and being a compassionate neighbor may help.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18)You need to embrace your “go green” person-ality. By the end of the year you will have to re-cycle at least $100 in cans and plastic bottles. Glass bottles don’t count. And don’t try to cheat be-cause I’ll be watching to see if you make a trip to the Reynold’s Recycling truck at Town Center.

Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20)I suggest that you invest in an iTouch because one day it may save your life. Like the day you didn’t have a lightsaber, there’s an app for that; or when you couldn’t find your way back home, there’s an app for that; and for that recent event where you needed to learn how to use chopsticks – guess what! There’s an app for that too.

Compiled by Preston Miyashiro

p.miyashiro@trojantimes.org

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Compiled by Preston Miyashirop.miyashiro@trojantimes.orgTo find the answers, go online! www.trojantimes.org

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