Volume 58, Number 2 801 Ramona St., San Gabriel, CA 91776 Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Kather ing Montelon

Garvey parents voice issues about superintendent’s raise

Derek Deng

+

=$283,532

34 Garvey School District Teachers out of 250 were laid off at the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

Loc Duong spreads word as participant of Obama campaign

New Homecoming Court announcement creates support and opposition

Homecoming is not just a dance, not just a celebration, not just sweat. It is the crowning of two royal students, individu-als who are well known and recognized throughout the school. This year was unique, the election of San Gabriel’s homecoming court was done with only voting by students, compared to the pre-vious years of having teacher evaluations.

“The people who made it on Home-coming Court must have worked hard in some way in order to achieve their royalty and their efforts came with rewards,”

senior Katie Mai said as she discussed her feelings about this year’s election.

The overall situation is that Home-coming Court doesn’t consist of the top achiever in every A.P. class, or the person with the most volunteer hours, or even the people who are popular, though it is entirely possible for them to make it onto court.

Homecoming Court is made up of individuals who have left an impression on people, the affecting others to want to vote for them, people with an incredible aura of grace and respect.

Continued on Page 5

Sonny Hy Vanessa De La Rosa

Photo by Kathering MontelonGarvey Intermediate School teacher, Patricia Molina, answers parents’ and students’ questions regarding Garvey School District Superintendent Johnson’s raise in annual salary. Molina then informed parents about Superintendent Johnson’s undisclosed meeting at Garvey School.

Supt. Johnson’s annual income

Over three hundred parents and teachers attend-ed the October 4 meeting held at Bitely Elementary School regarding the Garvey District Superinten-dent Sandra Johnson’s raise. The meeting was then moved to Garvey Intermediate School’s auditorium in which the parents got to express their emotions and concerns to the members of the School Board of Education in a strongly voiced, opinionated meeting that lasted until eleven o’ clock at night.

Some parents were angered at the superinten-dent’s raise that will potentially affect the hard work and effort put into children’s educational success.

“I help my children fundraise so that they can give that money to the school, which should benefit my children by getting the learning materials they need. But how are they supposed to get the benefit of learning if the superintendent is getting all the money for her raise?” Maria Lima, a parent who has children who go to Bitely and Garvey school, said.

Parents were discussing what to do and with whom to voice their concerns.

Un-notified parents were not aware of the huge problem caused by not only the superintendent, but also the fallacies of other school board members of education as well. Parents had a lot of different opin-ions towards deciding what the next huge step they wanted to take. Some parents were satisfied with the recall, but others wanted to take it more seriously.

Tony Ramos, the president of the Garvey School Board of Education, was upset because he wanted parents to understand that some parts of the meet-ing have to be private although other parts of the meeting can be open to the public.

Among the crowd of parents and teachers in-cluded Garett Matsumoto who was a retired teacher

of the Garvey School District. “There are a lot of se-cret things going on with the school board that they are not letting the parents or teachers know about. A lot of things are happening behind closed doors, which it’s not supposed to. She’s supposed to dis-close that information to the public. We are entitled to that information. She’s doing a lot of things that if people heard about or knew about, they would be upset like you saw tonight,” Matsumoto said.

Garvey School District Superintendent Johnson said that board meetings have agendas that must be followed, and she did not think parents understood that. “I always want to talk to the parents. The board is going to have town hall meetings, and they’re go-ing to open it up to question and give everybody an opportunity to ask whatever questions they want.”

The school board of education wanted to show the parents their considerations by replying to the questions parents want to ask in the future.

Garvey parents are really dissatisfied about the problems the superintendent has caused by receiv-ing her raise when there is barely enough money for teachers and students to use money more wisely on school materials that are needed.

“At this time of crisis, the fact that Johnson is lay-ing off 35 teachers in our district, it gives more work for the teachers that we have at the moment, and it overlaps some of the classes,” Guadalupe Meza, a concerned parent, said. “For her to get a $40,000 raise is very unfair, and it’s not unfair for us as par-ents, but I think it’s more unfair for our children, because they are not getting the education that they are really supposed to get.”

Some parents and teachers exchanged informa-tion such as phone numbers and email addresses at the end of the meeting in order to organize future meetings to voice their concerns.

Homecoming. For some, the very mention of the word invokes reminiscent memories and exuberant smiles. For oth-ers, Homecoming reminds them of the disappointment and frustration they dealt with when they did not make it onto court. For me, it reminds me of how the school’s system has failed.

Traditionally, the school’s Homecoming Court is supposed to be a set of diverse students who are well-rounded, intelligent people with distinct personalities and interests. The students would be chosen

through an interview process in which teachers would select the students who show responsibility and qualities that the student body would look up to. But this year, Executive Board decided it would be better to disregard the interview pro-cess and elect court based on votes from students only.

“I thought the interview process was good. We wanted to confirm that all five boys and girls were good representatives with character and responsibilities,” teacher Catherine Burkhart, who used to be on the court selection committee, said.

Continued on Page 5

Within one of the largest and most active Democratic campaign head-quarters in the state of California, senior Loc Duong takes part in guiding fellow citizens to vote for the “right” person, whom he believes is Barack Obama. Staff members in the Demo-cratic campaign headquarters accept anyone who is interested in applying for an internship or just looking for vol-unteering opportunities. Duong first started volunteering at the Democratic Headquarters in September, and will continue his job as a volunteer until the election ends on November 6.

His family has long been grateful for the insurance company that pro-vides them with their health care. The health care law that was passed gave his family assurance that they would not get dropped by the insurance company.

Duong campaigns for Obama be-cause he bailed out the American Auto industry by loaning them as much as $80 billion. Duong further believes that Obama is the candidate because Obama supports social issues, such as gay marriage. So when he volunteers for the Democratic campaign Duong searches for voters who share the same philosophy as he does.

“I’m supporting him because of three main reasons: he passed the health care law; he helped the auto industry; and he [supports] the social issues I support.” Duong said.

Even though Duong is pro-Obama it is also important for people to vote.

“It’s the most direct way that regu-lar people can influence the govern-ment,” Duong said. “You have to vote to have your voice heard.”

Continued on Page 14

Photo by Derek Deng

NEWS 2 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

The anticipation of the presidential elections set the stage for the 49th District of California, which is currently holding their own elections for a candidate for Assembly.

The candidates running for Assembly are Republican Matthew Lin, and Democrats Edwin Chau and Mitchell Ing. Lin took the lead in the three-man race, leading the polls against rival Chau who had ranked second, while Ing had been eliminated due to poor performance in the primary elections.

As a current surgeon and business owner, former Mayor of San Marino, Lin is running for Assembly to help fellow citizens have the government work better for them.

Lin states that he has been able to keep local hospitals opened to patients because he believes that they deserve access to convenient health care.

As a former educator, Lin is committed to protecting school funding and keeping college intuition down.

“I’ll fight to create new jobs by simplifying the tax code to put the focus on job creation and providing tax incentives to employers who create new jobs,” Lin said in his mail advertisement, sent as mail advertisements to encourage citizens to register and vote.

Chau on the other hand, is an elected official for the Montebello Unified School District (MUSD), attorney, and Judge Pro Tem. He has been an official of the MUSD for the past 12 years.

Chau has been elected four times, and has served as the Board President three

With the upcoming election being only six of days away, there is much at stake. There is the more focused part, the race for presidency, and there is the proposition part. There are eleven propositions up for voting, ranging from increased taxes to the instatement of various penalties.

All of the propositions will affect Californians, but as much as ever, there will be a great amount of effects on students. Proposition 30 states that people making over 250,000 dollars annually will be required to pay a temporary higher personal income tax for the next seven years in order to help fund education. This proposition does not only affect the wealthier, though. All citizens living in California will also see a sales tax hike of .25 percent, raising the average sales tax rate in California to 7.5 percent. This proposition is looking to stop the current deep cuts in school funding. Senior and speech and debate member Hao Shi said that he thinks this proposition is “relatively fair because those making over 250,000 dollars can afford a higher tax rate.” A more radical form of this proposition is Proposition 38, which would raise most Californians’ income taxes for the next twelve years.

Proposition 32 will ban corporate and union contributions

to state and local candidates through payroll deductions. AP American Government teacher Raymond Gin said of Proposition 32, it is “an attack on how unions raise money…[they] raise money through payroll deductions, corporations do not.” The controversial part of this proposition is that it seems obviously biased towards corporations to donate money towards the candidates of their preference.

For new and responsible drivers, Proposition 33 will be a benefit. If passed, it would change the state law, allowing insurance companies to set prices based on whether the driver had previously carried auto insurance with any insurance company. For drivers who have history of coverage, they would be eligible for discounts. For those who have no history of prior coverage, they could be charged more for their auto insurance. Because this will affect all drivers, Shi said, “Proposition 33 promotes safe driving, extra care, and might incentivize teenagers and young adults to start driving earlier.” Although this proposition seems to be a favorable one amongst most safe and insured drivers, the opposing side believes that the discount for continuously covered drivers will lead to much higher additional costs for those who are not previously insured.

Although much of the student body cannot vote yet,

In an effort to influence people to vote yes on Proposition 30, “the schools and local public safety protection act,” and vote no on Proposition 32, the “paycheck protection initiative,” the Alhambra Teachers Association co-hosted a Town Hall meeting at San Gabriel High School on October 27.

The meeting took place in the auditorium at 6 p.m. Around 200 people, including parents and other members of the Alhambra Unified School District, attended.

Past President of the Parent Teachers Association, Dr. Marcia Wilson, began the meeting by introducing the other eight panel members: Dr. Laura Tellez, Dr. Teresa Montano, Dr. Roz Collier, Denise Jaramillo, Darlene Perez, Patty Scripter, Adele Andrade-Stadler, and Ethel Cisneros-Ortega. Wilson asked a question to the audience that explained the meaning of the meeting, “What can we do to keep our schools safe?”

Superintendent Dr. Laura Tellez gave an overview of the funding situation for the Alhambra Unified School District and schools. “Public schools have sustained cuts in excess of 18 billion dollars over the last five years,” she said.

President of the California School Employees Association, Darlene Perez, explained the deep impact cuts will make to employees and schools. Thus, she explained why people should vote yes on proposition 30. If Prop. 30 does not pass, an $8.8 million cut will affect employee salary and the school year will become shorter, Perez said. Member of the California Teachers Association, Dr. Theresa Montano, further explained why people should vote yes on Propostion 30 by explaining how it guarantees to stop tuition hikes for students. “In 2002, college students paid about $2,000 a year for an education. Today, they pay over $5,000. In just 10 years that tuition has climbed three hundred percent,” she said. Dr. Montano also explained why people should vote yes on Proposition 30 because it would bring about the Education Protection Act, which would safeguard money for schools.

The Education Protection Act puts 40% of taxpayer’s money into K-12 and community colleges and the remaining 60% would go toward the California State University system, the UC system, police, firefighters, social service, and other public services, she explained.

Dr. Roz Collier explained how Prop. 32, the “paycheck protection intiative,” is a “deliberate attempt by large corporations to mislead the public on how politics is funded.” She showed a video featuring the League of Women Voters, which explained why voters should vote no on Proposition 32.

Town hall meeting informs voters on propositions Lauren Kakazu

Four state propositions create potential effects on all California citizens

Later, from the California State PTA, Patty Scripter, explained how Proposition 38 would create a tax to fund education and early chidhood programs. She said the proposition will raise approximately $10-11 billion each year to education; 70% will go towards restoring programs, 12% will go towards teaching training and technology, and 18% will go towards supporting low income students.

Before the meeting concluded, the panel took questions from the audience, addressing the confusion between Propositions 30 and 38. If both propositions are approved, the initiative with the most votes will win, not both.

Michel le Tu

Prisci l la Liang it is vital that we take times to understand what gets put into the ballots that are being voted on. Shi said, “I would like the student body of San Gabriel to recognize offices beyond that of the national level and the high state level.”

SAVE to host mock voting pollChau and Lin campaign for district assembly votes

Student Advocates for Voting Empowerment (SAVE) and the History Department will be hosting a mock voting session in the Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) on November 2 for all San Gabriel High School students.

Sophomores, juniors, and seniors will spend their social studies period in the MPR casting their votes on propositions and the upcoming presidential election. The freshmen, who do not have a social studies period, are highly encouraged to go and cast their vote during lunch.

Afterwards, all the ballots will be collected and tallied. SAVE and the History Department will then calculate and present the results soon after.

“I look foward to this mock voting because I want to know what students are supporting,” senior Austin Lam said.

Through these mock polls, students can become more politically aware for the 2012 election.

Jenny Bui

Photos by Hana Ngo

times. During his tenure, API test scores in the MUSD increased by 160 points, and attendance rates had reached 95%.

“As Assembly Member, I will fight to protect our schools from cuts, improve academic standards, and create more opportunities for our children,” Chau said on his website.

Lin hoping to secure his lead with basketball player Jeremy Lin’s phenomenal catchphrase “Linsanity,” and Chau hoping to take the lead with the help of his fellow Democrat supporters will face off in November in order to head up to Sacramento.

The 49th District has not elected a Republican Assemblyman since the 1960s, and with Lin’s current lead, it is possible that the Democrat’s winning streak will be broken for this years district assembly election.

Dr. Marcia Wilson who was the moderator for the town hall meeting took questions from the audience as the panel of advocators answered their questions. The panelists also explained and advocated their propositions to spread awareness around the community and how certain propositions will affect students’ education.

Parents and teachers meet to discuss the effects of possible budget cuts to public education.

Graphic by Jenny Bui

3 NEWS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

Spirit Week boosts school morale

Due to a five-month battle with cancer, Martha Wu, 57, recently passed away on September 24, 2012. A former office manager of the Career Center, she worked with students all day long, processed work permits, and supervised the Career Center. Wu was well-known and liked by the staff and students she worked with. She would provide students with job opportunities and careers by working with a program called Workforce Investment Act.

“She provided the job opportunities for kids and really helped them with the WIA program to provide them with jobs. Martha was a great support for the school and the students in her class ,” Monica Marquez, a fellow staff member of Wu, said.

A creative and out-going person, Wu was involved in arts and crafts. She would meet up with other staff members and friends once a month to recycle milk cartons and craft the cartons into boxes.

“She loved to make arts and crafts. She would make

In order to increase school spirit, the members of this year’s Spirit Week committee chose events and music to appeal to diverse students. “I want to try to please everyone [in] any way I can. If you want to give us an idea, just tell us. You never know what might be used,” junior spirit committee leader Megan Molina said.

Lunchtime events, such as the donut eating contest and the scavenger hunt, were chosen to bring more new faces to the pancake rather than just having the usual participants. Also, the performance by musician Kara Aubrey and the “All That” Dance Competition helped to attract even more students than usual. This year, the winner of the dance competition was senior Henry Mak, who performed solo. The freshmen came in second, and the junior dance team came in third. There was no sophomore dance team this year.

There were many students who were supportive of spirit week events by wearing fun shirts and mustaches. “School spirit--an excuse to wear weird stuff,” junior Arthur Thai said on Toon Day, wearing a cartoon shirt.

Instead of what the Associated Student Body (ASB) had planned out , the lunchtime activities on Wednesday and Thursday were s w i t c h e d b e c a u s e more time was needed to prepare for the dance competit ion. The scavenger hunt appeared to be fun among the students as participants were required to compete in pairs and find items among the crowd such as an ID card with ASB or a hula hoop held by an ASB member.

“[I did it] to have fun. [It was] tiring, but fun. [It was] pretty cool. It was my first time,” sophomore scavenger hunt winner Rodger La said.

After the scavenger hunt, members of ASB surprised the crowd by dancing to the song “Gangnam Style” by Psy at the pancake.

Kristy Duong Many students in the crowd even joined the ASB members for fun. “We thought it was funny. We did it to get people’s attention and get [them] pumped up. It started with one person and [the rest of us] improvised,” sophomore ASB member Qi Guo said.

Even teachers participated in spirit week as Math Department teachers Amanda Blackwood, Nadyne Lapi, LuAnn Haslam, and Huong Tran wore matching jewelry and tiaras on Stunt-double day and mustaches on Mustache Monday.

“It was the beginning of the school year, and we thought it would be fun. It just helps to lighten the mood and it’s fun within the department with our collegues,” Lapi said.

The week came to a close with the Homecoming pep rally, where students discovered that the theme would be Pink Panther, as the Matador Marching Band played the movie’s theme song and students saw Matador Stadium filled with Pink Panther images. During the pep rally, there were performances by Choreo, Drill, Cheer, and Colorguard that were intended to energize students and the football team. Band was also supposed to perform their field show

for the pep rally, but they were obstructed by the backdrop.

That evening, many students, teachers, and alumni came to support the football team to d iscover that th is year ’s homecoming king and queen were seniors Dara Dan and Katie Mai. It was a very commemorative game as the Matadors won 49-0. The following evening, many students returned to school for the Homecoming dance. The evening p r o g r e s s s e d w e l l a s a t t endees t ook memorable pictures and danced in the Old Gym, while numerous school clubs sold food outside in order to raise funds.

T h e e n d o f t h e H o m e c o m i n g D a n c e m a r k e d a n unforgettable end to an extensive week of school spirit and pride.

Past ROP staffer Martha Wu passes awayTran Lam

Eager BTA students tour Cal Poly PomonaSandy Peng

To celebrate the Latino culture, various craft booths, music, food, and performances will all be held at San Gabriel High School on November 3 in commemoration of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Everyone is welcome to participate and make their own crafts such as cut paper, the process that involves cutting out patterns on colorful tissue paper. In addition, sugar candy skulls and “Eye of God,” which is bright colored yarn decorated on a frame of sticks, will also be included.

“Alhambra Latino Association, San Gabriel High School, and San Gabriel High School clubs are trying to get the community to come, because we will have Explorers from the police and fire department [participating], and we would like to have everybody invited to come and celebrate with us [through] the festivities we are going to have,” Beda Ramirez, part of the Alhambra Association sponsoring The Day of the Dead event, said.

Ted Olivos, hisory tacher at San Gabriel, will be performing at the event, and other bands and performers such as the San Gabriel High School Matador band, Aztec dancers, Festival Performers, Cali Caribe (Cuban, Cubans, Folk), will also be there to entertain the participants.

“We will be happy, and there will be lots of food and entertainment to enjoy,” Ramirez said.

Everyone is encouraged to come enjoy, celebrate, and learn about the different traditions being celebrated on the Day of the Dead. There will be performance, food, and art and craft booths for families to come and have a fun time.

Photo by Yadanar OoStudents, children, and adults enjoyed last year’s festivities at San Gabriel’s annual Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, celebration as participants embraced Latin cuisine, culture, and delicacies.

Dia de los Muertos honors Latin heritage

Kather ing Montelon

flowers and I would see her make baskets out of milk cartons,” Beda Ramirez, a co-worker of Wu, said.

Wu was promoted to Principal Secretary for Alhambra High School four years ago. Her fellow staff members were saddened by her absence, but because of Wu’s recent passing, they were stricken by the sudden news.

“ We b o t h s t a r t e d working in the Career Center in January 4, 2006. We knew each other the whole way so we saw each other regularly. I’m very, very sad [about her death],” Marquez said.

Wu was a cheer fu l person who always assisted students whenever she was able. Even when she was stressed out, she would still be happy and put on a smile.

“Martha was always there for students, always happy, and I never saw her angry or in a bad mood no matter how stressed out she was,” Ramirez said.

Funeral services for Martha Wu were held on October 5 and October 6 at Rose Hills, Memorial chapel, Whittier, with the attendance of her loved ones and fellow staff members.

Photos by Derek Deng and Hana NgoSan Gabriel’s Spirit Week included pep-filled events such as a performance by Kara Aubrey and a pep rally that encouraged the entire student body to demonstrate their school pride.

This picture was taken during Wu’s years as San Gabriel’s office manager of the Career Center. Wu’s cheerful personality shines through.

Photo courtesy of dignitymemorial.com

Visiting popular places like the Games Room, the 24-hour Computer Lab, and the rose garden, Business and Technology Academy (BTA) toured the Cal Poly Pomona campus on Wednesday, October 17. Led by Cal Poly Pomona students, BTA split up into three groups and during the tour, students learned about the campus. Students also participated in a Q&A session about impacted majors and the effects of Prop 30 on the college. At the end of the tour, students received a tour of a typical freshman dorm.

BTA split up into groups o n c e m o re b a s e d o n t h e i r interests: Business, Engineering, Management, or Apparel and M e r c h a n d i s i n g . M e m b e r s interested in business learned about the benefits of attending a Polytechnic university and its hands-on approach to teaching in the Col lege of Business Administration through a power point presentation. Current students and teachers in the College of Business Administration gave lectures about their experiences as business majors.

“[Cal Poly Pomona] was pretty interesting. The activities we did were interactive. I was interested in

their material science and was looking forward to seeing their equipment,” BTA president Derek Chau said.

While BTA members interested in business learned about the importance of networking, members interested in engineering viewed a power point presentation about America’s greatest works in engineering and competed against each other to build the tallest free standing structure using only pasta and marshmallows.

“ I t w a s e d u c a t i o n a l a n d informative,” BTA member Ken Hoac said. “I became more interested in the school after the field trip,”

SG alumna Barbara Wong, a part of Cal Poly Pomona’s culinary academy, gave a tour of the school’s hotel and restaurant to the group of BTA students interested in Management. Former BTA member Amy Liang led students who were interested in Apparel and Merchandising.

“The students got a lot out of the field trip. They got to see the aspect of campus life. The field trip made it desirable for the students to want to go there for college,” Galiazzo-Armenta said. “We got to see how Cal Poly Pomona ran the entire restaurant and behind the scenes of the hotel.”

With the amount of information and experience gained through this trip, BTA hopes to visit Cal Poly Pomona again next year.

NEWS 4 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

Janett Perales was a graduate of Cali-fornia State University, Los Angeles, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies with Multiple Teaching Options and her teaching credentials. Afterwards, she studied at Point Loma University, where she earned her Master’s degree in School Counseling and received her ad-ministrative and pupil personnel services credentials.

“I love being able to give students the opportunity to succeed because when [stu-dents] come into my office, I like to see be-yond their troubles. I want to learn why they [behave] the way they are and support them in any way I can,” Perales said.

Before Perales accepted her current oc-cupation, she was a counselor for the Al-hambra Unified School District’s Gateway to Success program. In addition. she was also a teacher at Martha Baldwin School for ten years.

“I accepted this job because I love work-ing with students and seeing the potential in every student and making sure they, too, see that. I want everyone to know that they can be successful,” Perales said.

When she is not helping students do their best, she is spending her time doing arts and crafts, such as scrapbooking and making cards.

A San Diego native, Ruben Mata graduated from San Diego State University where he earned his Bach-elor’s degree in Social Science. Mata continued onto National University where he received his Master’s degree in Educational Counseling.

“I enjoy working with students. I don’t like the discipline part, but I want to redirect their behavior into something positive and make a difference in their lives,” Mata said.

Mata worked with the Orange County Department of Education temporarily for three months as an ad-ministrator for foster youth services. Prior, he worked as a school counselor for San Marcos School District for seven years.

“I wanted to work with students again because with my previous job, I worked in an office,” Mata said. “I wanted to make a positive, direct impact in students’ lives and see their progression throughout their high school years.”

Whenever he has free time, Mata enjoys riding his bicycle around the neighborhood, and he also takes pleasure in watching historical movies.

Perales and Mata take on new dean roles

Week-long Thanksgiving is broken in halfMimi Lam

2012 November CalendarSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2

12

107654

11

3

8

1413

9

15 16 17

21201918 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

Normal Thanksgiving Break

New Thanksgiving Break

Photos by Nana Akahoshi

UC workshop discusses admission stepsJenny Bui and Derr ick Chi

Students piled into the Multi-Purpose Room as University of California, Los Ange-les (UCLA) representative and undergraduate admissions officer, Dominique K. Lightsey, started off the workshop with her background and a Powerpoint Presentation on the UC ap-plication process.

After taking an overview of how many stu-dents are actually applying to UCLA, Light-sey gave indepth admissions statistics and high school requirements information to give students an idea on how competive the appli-

cation pool can be.Lightsey then gave great emphasis on the

holistic review which all UC admissions pro-cess look at for undergraduate admissions. According to Lightsey, the holistic review of an application includes a balanced weight of extracurricular activities, school involvement, grade point average, SAT and ACT scores along with student profile. In addition, Light-sey also stressed the personal statement as the core of a competitive UC application.

“The personal statement is the flesh for all applications because it makes everything tie together,” Lightsey said.

After the hour long workshop was over, each student learned something new and was more confident to work on their college appli-cation.

Among the seniors at the workshop, was John Nguyen who also in the process of writ-ing his personal statement.

“I found that the workshop was very ben-eficial. I learned some new tips and tricks that would make my personal statement for UCs. Also, I found that Dominique K. Lightsey was very informative, nice and insightful,” senior Nguyen said.

UC applications are due on November 30.

Election Day

Halloween

Photo by Derrick ChiAdmissions officer Dominique Lightsey helps students write UC personal statements.

Dia de los

Muertos

SAVE Voting

UC and

CSU apps due

College App Help

College App Help

College App Help

College App Help

Family time has shrunk as Thanksgiving break was com-pressed to a four-day weekend, from November 22 to 25, instead of the former one-week vacation. This truncation might help the district since the school still retains its 180-day requirement. “The reason for the shortened Thanksgiving break was because the district changed the school calendar back to Au-gust,” union representative Robert Johnson said. “The semester would end at Christmas so the students will have a better chance at success with their [winter] finals. It would be more efficient for the students.”

Due to the students’ lack of re-laxation time, some students pre-fer the [former] one-week holiday. “[I think] it’s unfair since it would be like any other school day,” se-nior Christopher Nguyen said. “It should be one consecutive week, but I will try to organize my week-end.”

Other people do not mind hav-ing a four-day weekend. Sopho-more Sharon Lac knows the im-portance of her family, but the shortened holiday does not stop her from spending time with her rela-tives. “I usually have a Thanksgiv-ing dinner with all my relatives at my grandma’s house. It would take up two days because I would spend one day at my mom’s side and the other at my dad’s,” Lac said. Since

she is already close with her family, Lac does not need this particular break to show it. “It is a daily habit for me to hang out at my cousin’s house. If we had one week off, we would have gone on a trip togeth-er.”

Some students would prefer the four days regarding their academ-ics. “[It would be a good change because] we will not forget what we just learned in class. If it was one week long, [the materials we covered] would not be fresh in our minds and we won’t remember everything,” sophomore Star Bo-jorquez said.

This upcoming Thanksgiving break contributes to our early start and early release school schedule. It would keep intact seeing as how the finals would be taking place before winter break and CSTs would be starting earlier as well.

In addition to all the homework and feasting, Black Friday is thrown into the mix. Many people attend this event. Sometimes it is an op-portunity to spend even more time with the family. “I go Black Friday shopping with my whole family and we would hang out,” sopho-more Samantha Khou said. “My family means the world to me, and I would not be able to go without them.”

Although the students will only have a two-day extended weekend, many will manage their time and enjoy what they have.

Deadline for SAT Deadline

for ACT

Cel ine Dang

Ruben Mata

Janett Perales

Student Services hires Janett Perales and Ruben Mata as San Gabriel’s two new assistant principals.

Daylight Savings

Time

Minimum Day

Los Renom-brados

Assembly

5 OPINIONS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

New method of choosing court replaces interviews

Monica Lam

Being an older sister

Editorial

Teachers do not have any legitimate reason to be biased in electing Homecoming Court; they too want a court that is diverse and well-represents the school.

“Homecoming Court should represent our school, what we’re about. I think that’s very important,” Burkhart said.

Cecilia Revilla, the adviser for Executive Board, said that the process of selecting court was different because students complained that other schools do not do teacher interviews, and they thought it would be better for students to choose.

In reality, it was unfair for students to have all the power to decide who was to be on Homecoming Court. Undeniably, some students are more popular than others. Students vote

only for their friends, while people equally as intelligent and inspiring are completely overlooked. By having court elected by the

student body, we are basing court solely off how they act outside of the classroom.

That is why I felt a sense of vexation to see that out of all the candidates, not one on court

was Latino.Students who made it onto court were not

undeserving of the honor. I am certain that they are all intellectual people who have amazing per-sonalities and aspirations and set great examples

for the student body. My greatest concern would be the fact that our school is not equally represented, and that students who are not as popular as others do not get the recognition they deserve.

Each year about 300-400 students vote for Homecoming. That is a less than twenty per-cent turnout. To ensure that students partici-pate in voting, it would be more convenient to vote in English classes. That way, we can obtain a Homecoming Court that actually

represents all of the school population.

After a long humid day, the sound of trickling rain starts to lightly fall. The pavement begins to turn into a sea of polka dots from the rain drops. After a long dry spell, the smell of the hot concrete rises from the ground. I love rainy days. It gives me comfort and signals the start of the cold season; however, it intrigues and confuses the small little child next to me.

“Jie Jie,” he calls to me as we stand un-der the tiled patio as shelter from the rain.

“What’s the matter?” I answer back.“Why is water falling down from the

sky?”A big smile begins to form on my face

as I ponder on the answer to his question. His mind is full of creativity and imagina-tion. It makes me wonder what he would answer if I asked him this question, and so I did.

“What do you think?” I ask as I sit down on the stairs of the patio.

“Is the sky crying? Did the airplanes hurt the clouds and turn it black?” he questiones me, even more alarmed than before. His eyes starts to widen and he begins to show his sad frown, the one he makes before he starts crying.

“No, don’t worry about it. That isn’t the reason why it is raining,” I said as an effort to console him.

“Then why?”I love it when my baby brother would

ask me questions. It gives me a chance to explore his mind and see a small glimpse of the tiny world that revolves around him. Even though I was no longer a tod-dler, I am able to relive childhood through his questions. Of course I didn’t tell him the whole procedure of why it rains, but I did tell him little stories to keep his imagi-nation running. I don’t want to destroy his creativity with realism.

It was at that moment when I thought back to when he was first a baby. On the day he was born, I became an older sister again. But this time, it was different. We were separated by a 13-year difference. I felt as if I had so much I could teach my new baby brother compared to my other two brothers that I grew up with. I wanted to be the perfect role model that I thought I could not be with my other siblings. Be-ing a new big sister was something I was ready for. I have always loved children, especially babies. Their innocence cap-tured my heart.

“Monica, can you help me wash the bottles and put him to sleep?” my mother asked me after my brother was born.

“Sure,” I answered. Taking care of a newborn was always a strenuous job; however, it did not stop me from refusing my mother’s plea for assistance. I stood by her and I wanted to lessen the stress she had to go through. She just gave birth to a living being. It’s only right to let her rest.

He started to grow up fast. Even so, I love to spend every day talking to my curious brother. His mind roams free without limitations. I envy his thought and creativeness that he has within him. It just wasn’t time for him to realize the true answers to the questions he asks me.

This is when I realized, right there on the step of the patio, that I sought to protect and keep him the way he is now as a toddler. Even though the day when he discovers the real reason to why it rains comes, I will always consider him my ‘baby’ brother.

They did not force their friends to vote; their friends wanted to vote for them. That is what Homecoming Court is made up of; remarkable students who are seen as people who have tried to become everyone’s best friend; students who have tried to be friendly to as many as possible; or the students who have taken every opportunity to meet people and establish a reputa-tion for themselves.

“I think teachers shouldn’t be interviewing candidates because the students are the ones who should choose court,” sophomore Ethan Ly said while speaking about the removal of teacher opinions.

Students choose their Executive Board with-out teacher interviews; students elect Toga court without teacher interviews; Prom court is decided completely based on votes; yet Homecoming was the only one with teacher interviews. Teachers are respected, but even the best have their faults. Like Achilles and his heel, teachers also have a weak point; the fact that they do not know each student personally. The truth is: teachers favor students whom they have experience with. Whether consciously or unconsciously, teachers will always choose the candidate for Court that the faculty mem-ber had experience with and give them an advantage.

Opportunities for a variety of students are available, and Homecoming Court is one of them. Ultimately, being on Homecoming Court should stay a strictly student-body election. Choosing somebody whom the entire school sees as someone who deserves to be King or Queen is far more fair than electing someone whom many of the student body do not know.

As students and young adults, we place our faith in the educators who have dedicated their lives to enriching ours. However, when that faith is disregarded and we are left be-trayed by the very people we were taught to trust, our very values are shaken and restructured. We have educators like Garvey School District Superintendent Sandra Johnson and Garvey School Board Members Tony Ramos, Janet Chin, and John Yuen to thank for this.

After 34 teachers and seven staff members were handed layoff notices last June, the Garvey School Board voted 3-2 in favor of a $40,000 raise for Superintendent Johnson. This raise not only adds to her $148,516 annual salary, but also to her $113,532 annual retired teachers salary. At a time when Garvey School District teachers have not been given a raise for five years and the Garvey School District budget has been cut by a staggering $2.1 million dollars, is it anything less than appalling to see this waste of funds and abuse of power? The greed and unethical behavior showcased by the highest members of that district has drawn comparisons to the infamous Bell County Scandal of 2010. And Superinten-dent Johnson’s ‘if you knew the whole story you would feel differently’ excuse does not change the facts.

Teachers at Temple Intermediate School protested the raise by boycotting on Friday, September 28, and we here at The Matador, stand in full support of them. They are the educa-tors we owe our successes to, as well as the adults we have

come to respect. Yet, they are also the ones most affected by this decision. When the teachers see their dedication to their students rewarded by layoff notices and the Superintendent enjoying a salary that officially puts her into the category of the nation’s top 1.5%, a change must be made.

We can only hope that the teachers and parents who pro-tested at the school board meeting at Garvey Intermediate on October 4 will be sucessful in their efforts to recall the Board Members and hold a vote of “No Confidence” in the current Superintendent. They remain the only hope, as it has become appar-ent that we cannot trust the School Board Members or the Super-intendent to give up the money or power on their own.

Superintendent takes raise, cuts from schoolsSilence of the Lamb

Continued from page 1 column 1 Continued from page 1 column 2

Illustration by Jelina Luu

Illus

trat

ion

by A

nnie

Hua

ng

Above illustrations by Jelina Luu-Sonny Hy -Vanessa De La Rosa

Illus

trat

ion

by A

nnie

Hua

ng

OPINIONS 6 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

N/A

Admit it. At some point in life, we have all had that moment where we were merely one click away from searching up the details of a celebrity’s life. It is so engrained into our everyday lives that it is hard to resist the urge to continuously search and read. So there should not be anything strange about this sort of activity, right? Wrong.

The temptation to be updated on the latest news, gossip, and scandals of the entertainment world has been spreading like a disease ever since the ‘90s, when “Entertainment Tonight” and People magazine provided celebrity news to the public. With increased recognition through the media, we are provided with the opportunity to gain more access into the private lives of the famous. However, this kind of power may prove to be too much of a luxury for the average individual.

It is true that most of us are preoccupied with the entertainment world. There are some of us who want to learn more about this world, but there are others who seek much more – the celebrities themselves.

There are fans out there whose obsession with a particular celebrity overshadows their own lives. From the popular Twilight series to the Korean pop groups, obsessed fans have gone to great lengths. Some fill their rooms with an immense number of posters, cardboard cut-outs, albums, and who knows what else they managed to obtain. And there are others who would buy a plane ticket to fly to the other side of the world just to hear a

I am afraid to go to bed on a daily basis.I feel like I have too much to lose if I miss out on another

one of One Direction’s twitcams, follow-sprees, sweepstakes, or major news. Therefore, despite the dark circles under my eyes and the ticking of the clock, I can still be found in front of my laptop screen, watching yet another interview and talking animatedly into my phone, while frantically ranting on Twitter and Tumblr along with thousands of strangers whom I call my friends. Though I often blame them for ruining my life, they have brought happiness into my life, have been giving me something to look forward to every day, and created a place where I feel like I belong.

“Celebrity worship, at its heart, seems to fill something in a person’s life. It gives them a sense of identity, a sense of self, and it feeds a psychological need. [Therefore], younger people, who are still establishing their identities, are more susceptible to celebrity obsession,” James Houran, a psychologist with the Southen Illinois University School of Medicine, said.

Unlike most normal teenagers, fangirls are portrayed as someone who is always devoting their free time writing endless fan-fictions, draining their money on merchandise,

celebrity’s voice, catch a glimpse, and breathe the same air. I know these fans want to achieve their dreams of meeting those they worship, but this kind of obsession needs to be stopped – or at least limited.

According to Eric Hollander, a professor of psychiatry at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, as sourced from CBS News, the fans’ focus on a celebrity is replacing the focus that should be on their own lives. Some of the problems associated with obsession include depression, anxiety, and lowered self-esteem.

“I love Korean dramas, [especially the] celebrities. They represent my ideal partner, looks-wise. Sometimes I decide to stay up until 3 a.m. to watch my dramas instead of studying for a test the next day,” Celina* said.

Not only do I find it creepy that certain individuals would go to such great lengths for a celebrity who may well be out of their reach, but I also find it quite scary how their obsessions may potentially harm their emotional and physical stability.

This is reality unfortunately. These obsessed fans should try to the best of their abilities to minimize their actions. Whatever method that works to vary from their fascinations, should be applied. For example, hobbies can be one way to keeps themselves preoccupied. After all, we as human beings need to focus on our own lives instead of dwelling in a fantasy world.

*name has been changed

or out stalking celebrities. Most people do not quite grasp the concept of fangirling

and wrongly accuse fangirls of being creepers when instead these girls are merely showing support for something or someone through ecstatic outbursts of emotions. “It [fangirling] is exciting. It feels like adrenaline is pumping through my veins,” sophomore Justine Pham admitted, “It just makes me so happy.”

As human beings, we are compelled to do things that we enjoy, and we enjoy doing things that make us the happiest. Thus, it is only logical that we show our support to the things or people that we truly feel passionate about. “So in other words, we love celebrities because they are an integral part of culture. They have made it in the worldview we are so entrenched in. By worshipping them (to an extent), we feel as if we are participating in this hugely important cause/belief system. And that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, like our life matters.” Nathan A. Heflick, a researcher at the University of Kent, said.

A lot of the teenagers today are doing far worse things than stalking celebrities and having emotional outbursts every now and then. So what is so wrong about supporting something that you are compassionate about? I mean, most of the things that these girls do are not particularly illegal

Fan-girls need to understand their limitations

Being a fan is not an obsession; a fan shows dedication and commitment

Jel ina Luu

or delinquent in any way. In fact, these girls are just like any other teenager out

there who has a passion, dream, or goal. “Supporting what I truly care about and making an effort into trying to reach a simple dream kind of inspires me in a way to strive for my goals in the future,” sophomore Raegan Hesse said. Despite the misassumptions from many others, these girls believe otherwise. “This is not an obsession, it is dedication,” Hesse declared, stating the rightful reason behind their actions.

As a fangirl, I personally agree that this particular group of teens can be rather annoying, overly dramatic, and emotional people—most of the time?—sometimes. Everyone has a different way of expressing their feelings; unfortunately for these girls, their way of expressing their emotions seems to have given others the wrong idea.

“[The reason why] other people do not like the things that we do is because they do not have the same interest[s] as we do, so they will not be able to understand our feelings and the reason behind our actions,” Junior Amy Phung said.

Remember that time when you really wanted to win homecoming court, beat a certain school in a sport event as a team, ace that one math exam, or have your crush to acknowledge your existence? Throughout your entire life, you have tried your best in order to achieve a particular goal. The only thing that these fangirls have ever done is try.

Annie Huang

Illustration by Annie Huang

Illustration by Jelina Luu

The Matador highly encourages responses in reaction to issues discussed in the paper. Submit comments as a letter to the editor, signed (anonymity is guaranteed if requested), to H-2, Ms. Kim’s mailbox or the library.

The Matador is published monthly by the journalism staff of San Gabriel High School. 1,600 copies per issue are published at JEJ Print Inc. The opinions and views expressed in The Matador do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the entire staff, the school, or the Alhambra School District.

Editor in ChiefNews Editors

Opinions Editors

Focus EditorLife and Art Editors

Sports Editor

Features Editor

Copy Editors

Photo EditorArtist

Business Managers

Website Editors

Blogs ManagerPhotographers

Adviser

Lauren FukumotoJenny Bui

Steven HoMaggie Cheng

Monica LamNatalie TranDerrick Chi

Debbie DinhMarvin Luu

Oscar MolinaSandy Peng

Julianne TengChristopher Lan

Priscilla LiangJenny Wu

Hana NgoAnnie Huang

Jelina LuuJohn TruongIrene Hong

Chelsey TranCeline DangYadanar Oo

Karen RiveraNana Akahoshi

Derek DengSonny Hy

Jennifer Kim

Reporters: Tran Lam, Kaleen Luu, Brian Rios, Michelle Tu, Crystal Wong

7 OPINIONS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

Assistant Editors: Vanessa De La Rosa, Kristy Duong, Annie Huang, Lauren Kakazu, Mimi Lam, Rebecca Lei, Jelina Luu, Marvin Luu, Kathering Montelon, Jenny Wu

Words will never hurt

Yadanar Oo

N/A It’s wrong to judge sexual preference

T h r e e w e e k s a g o , I found myself in

infatuated with somebody. It was greater than the typical crush I would have on celebrities where

I w o u l d simply set the current heartthrob

asmy desktop background picture or incessantly “retweet” every Tweet and “like”

every Facebook page. As this “infatuation” faded, I

realized that it was a complete waste of my time and slapped myself for the asinine me and became my old self; a goal oriented, no-nonsense girl. Still, as I lurk around the halls of San Gabriel, I still see this “love epidemic” at an incurable stage. This so called “love” in high school, where students adamantly insist that they have found their other half, only hurts them mentally, physically, and most importantly, academically. After all, love really is a fallacy.

Stage 1: Boy Meets Girl. What begins as a simple and innocent note passing, flirting in the lunch line, or intense eye-contact during passing period, leads to the love bug bite. Stage 2: Becoming Facebook Official. Any relationships for teenagers are not official until they are Facebook official. Teenager’s public display of a virtual “married to: insert name here” has created no respect for privacy. At this stage, most people think they are happily in love and spend every possible moment together. Finally, Stage 3: The Breakup Horrors. The worst and most unbearable stage since I myself have been affected by its effects. Some of my friends at this stage become my enemies because they ignore everything around them and just

“What is a boy doing in here?!” the girl with the ponytail yelled.

I looked around the girl’s restroom and didn’t comprehend who she was referring to because I saw no boy in my sight. I scanned the restroom from the end to the beginning of the line and saw that everyone’s eyes were fixated on me.

It took me a few more seconds until I realized that the girl was referring to me and I stupidly stood there not knowing what to do. My friend eventually came to the rescue and said, “Relax everyone. She’s a girl.”

No, I didn’t change my gender if you were thinking of that. The girl with the ponytail was simply dumbfounded because of my short hair. My hair was short as most of the boys’ in the school. Throughout elementary school, other students made remarks about my hair as jokes and initially, I laughed with them.

I eventually became sick of hearing those jokes. There was a time when I felt like I could never be pretty and desired for long hair.I never cried or let these comments affect me because I knew better than to dwell on those negative comments.

Looking back now, it’s amazing to see how superficial values were. However, what bothers me is that these standards still exist today. It irritates me when I see students at school becoming affected due to others’ negative comments about how they look.

Candidly speaking, I thought twice about sharing this very personal experience. Did I want the whole school to catch a glimpse of moments in my life that I never wanted to revisit? As a senior counting down to the days of graduation, I realized that there were countless numbers of people who I didn’t expect to get bullied have been bullied.

There were so many seniors I looked up to last year due to their academic and extracurricular achievements. When I had a chance to know them more, I found out that they had been bullied before as well: a boy getting bullied because he played too often with girls and another boy who was made fun of by others because of his dsylexia.

They always looked so strong to me and always knew what they were doing that I didn’t think they had ever gone through any of these experiences.

I think that’s why people who are bullied these days don’t want to seek help. They feel as though there is something wrong with them if they do seek help.

Most adults urge students who are bullied to go seek help, but contrary to those beliefs, I personally think that the only way a person can build self-esteem and overcome these negative experiences is to get through it on their own.

I’ve heard people say that they felt like there was something wrong with them if they went ahead and sought help. People only bully you because they themselves have insecurities. People only talk about you behind your back because they are jealous of you. The important thing to remember if you are ever a victim of verbal or physical bullying is to know that you are far too superior than them in so many ways to let their comments affect you. Don’t ever even think about harming yourself because of someone’s comments.

I remember using gay slurs when I was in middle school. I never understood the ignorance behind those words and the hurt I could’ve caused until I became more educated about LGBT issues.

The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual , and Transgender) community has become a popular target for public scrutiny and bashing in the most recent years. Why? Simply for just being the LGBT community. For some horrible and ridiculous reason, many people in our world disregard members of the LGBT as any part of society. My question is, since when did sexual orientation determine whether a person deserves to be treated like a person?

These people who have narrow-minded views about LGBT’s often believe that there is something “wrong” with the person. Common excuses these people make to justify this so-called wrongness include saying how unnatural it is, or how these people are simply confused with themselves. Personally, I find these views to be extremely insensitive and hurtful.

It is so demeaning to members of LGBT, because it hurts the morals of those who feel like they are too unorthodox to fit in with the rest of society simply because of their sexual preferences. The members of the LGBT community are human beings just like you and I, people are capable of feeling the same happiness and pain that one should feel.

Telling someone that you are not allowed to love the person that you love because it is not okay with society’s so-called standards of “normalcy” is a barbaric way of thinking. The members of the LGBT community are people too. Rather than allowing them to be shunned from the rest of the world, we must come together and support one another, with all differences aside.

Natal ie Tran

A relationship can harm people and their grades

Jenny Bui mope day in and day out. Grades start to fall, Facebook profiles are publicly changed to “single,” and the “ex’s” name is engraved into a tombstone ready for funderal.

The most baffling issue that I see as a result from these stages is the academic performance of the student in a relationship versus one not in a relationship. San Gabriel High School’s student psychologist, Art Pangilinan, gives his professional opinion on this issue. “I think it’s healthy for students as long they have reasonable bounds. Some relationships can affect school work because some students get distracted by being too much in love.”

The flirtatious text messaging in class, and weekend dates take away the time for students to become productive and enrich their life with something that will help hone their craft when they get older. Students should realize that the “love” or “connection” they have at the age of 16, does not mean anything because the lessons learned during the time will not benefit them when they need to do what matters most in their life which is getting a higher education, taking care of their family, or finding the most suitable career.

People should wait until they are old enough to have the maturity needed to find love, not dilly-dally over their Facebook profiles. My friends might say that I’m cynical and heartless, but the reason is simply that I am a human being who is selfish. Selfish in the fact that I do what benefits me the most which is loving myself and doing what is best for me instead of focusing on a “love” that is constantly walking on thin ice.

“

“

“

“

The Matador BullringWhat is the best Halloween costume you have ever worn?

“A dog because people kept petting me.”

Illus

trat

ion

by J

ohn

Truo

ng

Illus

trat

ion

by J

ohn

Truo

ng

“Chucky when I was seven because I was short.”

-Monique Lucero, 12th grade

-Johnny Ly, 9th grade

“Super Santa Assassin. I found a Santa hat and a toy rifle in the back of my mom’s car so I just

wore it. “

-Devin Chang, 11th grade

“A cheetah because they are my favorite animal. They are fast, slick, and smart.”

- Julie Phan, 10th grade

FOCUS 8 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012THE MATADOR

Bullying has become a major epidemic in our nation’s society,

particularly within students. Every day, new stories of victims

emerge, while many more suffer in silence. Because of this,

people everywhere are now taking a stand against this issue

and are becoming the voices for the silent.

Photo illustration by Sonny Hy and Natalie Tran

one encounter gives a glimpse of bullying

Kathering Montelon

school district kicks off anti-bullying campaign

To kick off a district-wide anti-bullying campaign, “Without You, Who Am I, as We All Have A Hand in Every Child’s Success,” the Alhambra Unified School District and the City of Alhambra Police Department hosted a rally at Alhambra High School on Monday, October 22. The rally featured former professional athletes Steve Yeager (Los Angeles Dodgers), Willie Gault (Chicago Bears), Greg Townsend (Los Angeles Raiders), and Matt Vanderbeek (Dallas Cowboys). The campaign is also a fundraiser for “Gateway to Success”, a district program that provides free counseling to students seeking help.

The fundraiser is a competition between high schools, where clubs within each high school will attempt to raise the most donations for the cause. Prizes will be given out, including sports memorabilia. Contributors to the fundraiser will also receive vouchers to restaurants, including Chipotle and Olive Garden.

To donate, log onto https://login.safekidzone.com/alhambra/

Natalie Tran

Class is almost over and Jazmen* fears walking outside. As Jazmen exits, she notices a group of kids fol-lowing her. The bullies get closer to her and say that she should watch her back.

“[The bullies] told me not to be alone because if they saw me by my-self they were going to do something to me. This was very threatening to me,” Jazmen said.

The bullies’ words stayed with Jazmen and she could not stop think-ing about them.

“I was scared – I wasn’t really sure whether to report this to the office or not. So I go to the office and report what had just happened to me a moment ago, still being frightened,” Jazmen said.

She was advised to be with a group of friends, at least with someone else and never alone.

It is afterschool. Jazmen is on her way home, not sure how to talk about this to someone, although she really wanted to confide in someone.

“I talked to someone at home about what the bullies said to me, and that person’s response was for me to just go to a different school, if I wanted to. I told the person I really didn’t want

to do that yet,” Jazmen said.Jazmen did not want to move to

a different school because it would affect her emotionally. She would not be able to have contact with the friends she used to hang out or talk with

“Whether the bullies keep bother-ing me or not will determine whether I stay at this school. If it keeps hap-pening constantly, I [will] have to move from school but, if they do stop I [can] continue going to this school,” Jazmen said. “I just have to be very careful about where I hang out and not be by myself.”

Jazmen only got bullied this one time and is glad the situation did not escalate.

“It is common to get bullied, but bullies should consider that the people they make fun of are humans and that they have feelings too. It’s not a game because there are victims of bullying that take it seriously and they go to a point where they actually kill themselves,” she said.

Jazmen would really like for all of the bullies to stop because they might take it as a game, even though it is not. She wants everyone to under-stand that bullying is not tolerated anywhere.

*name has been changed

9 FOCUS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012THE MATADOR

bullying provokes distress and anxiety to its victims

Derek Deng and Oscar Molina

Since the start of the 21st century, there has been a significant increase in the amount of bullying occurring in school environments. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ website, bullying is defined as “unwan ted, aggres-sive behavior among school-aged children, that involves a real or perceived power imbalance and is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.” Bullying has reached a point where it is no longer a minor matter, but a widespread war that must be ended.

“We live in a complicated world where there are enough external factors to make our lives dif-ficult,” teacher Melissa Bishop-Magallanes said. She is currently working on her doctorate degree to bring insight and thoughtfulness to people dealing with a global community as well as global cosmopolitism.

Bullying is broken down into three categories: verbal, social, and physical. The first involves saying or writing mean comments to or about someone. The second involves degrading some-one’s reputation or relationships. The last form of bullying involves hurting someone’s body or possessions.

“[As part of the school], we have to take an active role in stopping bullying,” Art Pangilinan, the school psychologist, said.

The two main reasons people become bul-lies are that it empowers them or they do not

know how to appropriately communicate their thoughts. However, there are more unfortunate cases in which people are bullies just because “they get a kick out of being mean,” Pangilinan said.

Most of the students who become victims of bullying are LGBT youth, youth with dis-abilities, and socially isolated youth; howvever, it is not completely limited to these groups. The 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System revealed that 20% of high school students were victims of bullying.

Bullying is detrimental to victims and their overall characters. Victims tend to feel depression and anxiety, change sleeping and eating patterns, as well as suffer academically. Every day an aver-age of 160,000 students miss school because of the fear that they will be bullied.

“We do not need to add to the human strife that we endure on a daily basis,” Bishop said. “We need to have communities that are there to support each other.”

Sometimes people will say comments without thinking, but it is important that we all try to restrain ourselves and think about what we say before actually saying it. The only way for bully-ing to stop is if everyone has a stable and sound foundation, so that there will be people with more friends and less bullying.

“Bullying would [be] less likely to happen the more you know each other,” Bishop said. “You know who [they] are; they are real people.”

“When someone says something as if they’re joking, they don’t realize how much it really hurts,” said freshman Amy Pham as she recounted her experience with cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is when someone is at-tacked, harassed, targeted, or humiliated by another person through the Internet or through any usage of technology. It involves the targeting of an individual by a group or another person.

“Cyberbullying, and bullying in general, is bound to happen. It depends on how you handle it,” said junior Simon Lu.

Lu has experienced cyberbullying from the popular blogging website, Tumblr, where anonymous users disrespected his deceased family members and his life. He was told “to go die.” Messages like these are often sent anonymously. Cyberbullying can be as direct as “kill yourself” or as indirect as “go away fatty”; even when you are jok-

ing with your friends, it can still hurt someone despite the fact that you are “joking”.

AUSD Director of Gateway to Success Dr. Laurel Bear explained why people cyberbully, “It may be an assertion of power, they may feel that they are untouchable in cyberspace, they can hide who they are, or they feel a sense of ability and strength more so than face to face,”

Dr. Bear explained the many things that make people want to cyberbully, but they are not lim-ited to only those reasons. She talked about how cyberbullying has many implications for the at-tacker and can be charged with the punishment permanently stamped on your record. She spoke of bullying and its consequences. Dr. Bear went on to speak of how the penal code can be applied, with recommendation to expulsion or suspen-sion. In extreme cases, Dr. Bear went on to say that students who cross the line may face drastic punishments such as arrest.

“I felt insecure and had nowhere to go. I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone around me,” said Michael Reyes*. He was able to overcome his insecurity, but was still upset with being cyber-

bullied. The effects of cyberbullying vary, but there is a recurring theme: the permanent damage to someone—which could lead them to commit sui-cide. What someone says has a subconscious effect on their mind, such as if your friend was joking around about your appearance, they would make jokes about it and you would laugh it off, but inside you would think if that was what they really think and see you as. Threats and insults don’t hurt you physically, there are no bruises or cuts, but they scar you inside for an unhealthy amount of time. It hurts you in a way that it will stick with you for your entire life, as a constant reminder about how “worthless” or “useless” you are. Think about your own experience with the Internet, posting on Facebook or reblogging on Tumblr. Do you ever think about how the other person will feel when reading your comment about them?

Ultimately, we cannot stop people from cy-berbullying. What we are capable of is to spread awareness about the effects it has on not only the student body, but also on society.

Michelle Tu and Sonny Hy

social media and celebrities stand against bullying

“The Web is what you make of it.”Google Chrome’s catchphrase appears on the screen after a

heart-warming video of It Gets Better, an anti-bullying project.Social media has proven to be a large component in today’s

society and now, with the trend of bullying finally starting to become a big issue in present time, the media has proven to be one of the strongest advocates against bullying.

Anti-bullying organizations, such as It Gets Better Project and GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), help spread knowledge and tolerance towards others, while showing teens the positivity that awaits them in life.

Bullying, however, does not limit itself only to the LGBT com-munity, but also affects the average person. It jumpstarted organi-zations for the prevention of bullying, such as the Trevor Project, StandUp Foundation, and Stop Bullying. They all strive for one message: acceptance and kind treatment toward each other.

Celebrities such as Demi Lovato, Ellen DeGeneres and even President Obama have voiced their strong resentment towards this issue and their determination to put a stop to this epidemic.

“This [referring to teen suicides] needs to be a wakeup call to everyone death rate is climbing…and these are only the ones we hear about, what about the ones suffering in silence?” Ellen DeGeneres said in a video for anti-bullying.

Just this year, an array of shows/movies showcased the harms of bullying such as: “Cyber Bully,” “Glee, and the documentary “Bully”.

Thanks to the Web, more and more teens have found hope in themselves to live for better days.

Debbie Dinh

*name has been changed

Do you believe bullying has gone too far?

43% - Yes, but it would be difficult to be able to end it

42% - Yes, it is damaging and we must find ways to make it stop

10% - No, it all depends on how the victim handles the situation

5% - No, kids will be kids and being bullied is a part of growing up

“There are more suicides around the world. Cyberbullying has people saying a lot of mean things online.“

-Ky Truong, freshmen

“There have been more suicide rates because of Facebook. I think it hurts more than real-life bullying because

everyone will know about it.“-Jenny Trang, sophomore

“Bullying hasn’t gone too far because I haven’t seen anyone

bully anyone else this year.“-Jennifer Venture, junior

“Bullying has gone too far and bullies need to know what it does to other

kids.“-Lyri Miranda, senior

the world wide web enables cyberbullying to emerge as the newest form of bullying

Quotes compiled by Derek Deng and Mimi Lam

125 students polled

NEWSLIFE & ART 10 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

As October takes in full swing, so are the veterans of the U.S. Billboard, topping the charts with their newly re-leased singles. Putting an end to their hiatus, four of mu-sic’s biggest stars are back with refurbished tracks and a taste of music outside the box.

Stylistically taking on a different approach, Taylor Swift depicts the frustration of rekindling the flame with a lover again in “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” through a pop perspective. Lyrically, Swift stays true to her country roots and witty style, even adding spoken-word interludes between verses, but the song ul- t i m a t e l y possesses a catchy, radio-friendly t u n e . In her upcoming album, “Red,” set to be released on October 22, Swift diverts from her g u i t a r - b a s e d work and un-dergoes a mu-sical change of identity to describe her period of emo- tions.

“All the different emotions that are written about on this

Favorite artists return with hit singles from new album releases in October

‘The Bad Seed’ stage crew share their experiences

album are all pretty much about the kind of tumultuous, cra-zy, insane, intense, semi-toxic relationships that I’ve experi-enced in the last two years. All those emotions-spanning from intense love, frustration, jealousy, confusion, all of that-in my mind, all those emotions are red. You know, there’s nothing in between. There’s nothing beige about any of those feelings,” Swift said in a Google+ web chat.

Bruno Mars, on the otherhand, debuted his first single, “Locked Out of Heaven” from his forthcoming album, “Un-orthodox Jukebox,” due December 11. Known for his unique tone, Mars delivers the song with thick bass runs and a gran-diose chorus, giving off a more funky, and tasteful vibe than his previous works. For this album, Mars took his time in the studio to focus and refine every song. “It

took us a while on this one because we really wanted to make sure it was the best it could possibly be and [to] keep shocking ourselves,” Mars said in a Rolling Stone interview. “I really had a much better vision of exactly what I wanted to do this time around.”

As for her James Bond theme song, “Skyfall,” Adele records a brassy and soulful tune for the upcoming twenty-third spy film. “I was a little hesitant at first to be involved with the theme song for ‘Skyfall,’” Adele said in a released statement. “There’s a lot of instant spotlight and pressure when it comes to a Bond song.” Released in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of “Dr. No,”“Skyfall” finds itself as part of history.

As for Maroon 5, who released “Overexposed” back in June, debuted the album’s first track, “One More Night.” Mixed with a blend of Pop, Rock, and Reg-

gae, the single talks about the inability to untangle from an argumentative rela-tionship. The frustration can be felt

by this toxic love song as the band experiments with their style

of anthemic melodies. With all these artists experimenting new sounds and vocal

abilities, be prepared for the next hit song to be released by a radio station new you.

Mimi Lam and Lauren Kakazu

Julianne Teng

‘Mean Girls’ illustrates the hostility of modern high school environments Sonny Hy

Photos by Derek Deng

“I was terrified of high school because of the fear of being backstabbed or betrayed. It made me think twice of my friends and whom I could trust,” freshman Judy Tu said as she reflected on the movie Mean Girls, a film that has affected many teenagers.

Mean Girls is a sarcastic satire of high school society. Cady Heron enters high school,anticipating friendly girls and a safe environment, but is instead confronted by the Regina George and her drones, Gretch-en Weiner and Karen Smith. The film is an award-winning comedy and a critical com-

mentary on high school culture.“The movie was reality; backstabbing,

sneaky fighting, revealing Halloween costumes, lying, and shadiness that all shaped my idea of high school,” senior Alondra Chavez said.

The movie portrayed highschool as a hostile enivornment, and it affected many who watched the film. Throughout the film there are events that demonstarate this hostility that is evenident in high school culture such as untrustworthiness and backstabbing. The cruelty of the film reinforced the idea of betrayal. The con-cept of untrustworthiness is seen daily,

with students gossiping and bullying each other.

“It made me realize society was the ulti-mate judge,” junior Kristy Nguyen said.

The need to become who everyone else wants you to be and to conform to soci-ety is seen throughout Mean Girls such as when Cady Heron begins to fail all of her classes, but adapts to the “plastic” lifestyle and achieves popularity, abandoning her-self and becoming an alternate being. When

Cady lost her former friends they had realized how different she became, it is similar to when people accuse others of joining the “hype” or changing.

The film acts as a representation of not only high school society and its negative aspects, but also what students expect when they enter high school. The movie helped lay down the foundations for the concept of what high school is to our gen-eration.

www.fbcoversking.comMeans Girls premiered in 2004 and continues to be the most quoted movie of all time in our generation. It starred actresses from left to right Lacey Chabert, Rachel McAdams,Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Seyfried.

Top left: The main stage set for the fall play. Bottom left: Junior Helen Chhea memorizing script with senior Jacqueline Morales Bottom right: Senior Linh Phong, junior Julie Pham, senior Jacqueline Morales, and junior Helen Chhea in the dressing room preparing for rehearsal.

Audiences of the play left the Little Theater in terror.

“[I would] most definitely rec-ommend people to watch the play,” junior Gibson Loc said. “It starts slow, picks up on the story line, and then grabs people’s attention.”

However, it didn’t become over-night. Stage crew, actors, actresses, make-up artists, and the director had to work hard in order to make it all happen.

The actors and actresses had to learn how to speak the lines correct-ly according to the time frame and the character of their role. Junior Julie Pham did additional research about the time frame in order to get her character’s accent just right.

“My character is Miss Fern who is very prim and proper. She likes having everything in place,” Pham said. “That is from my own inter-pretation. When I read the lines, I have a sense of her being strict and

stern. She is not so loose.”Other actors, like Freshman

Emmanuel Maresca, had to learn different techniques to use, like tongue twisters, in order for their lines to sound clear when they per-form. “Before the show, we have to do vocal warm-ups and tongue twisters. It helps not to slur our words together,” Maresca said.

The rehearsals and production began two months earlier in prepa-ration for the opening night. “We started off building the stage set. Then we provided props for the ac-tors so they had something to work with while rehearsing,” senior Car-ol Ma said. The tech crew worked behind the scenes on the develop-ments the audience do not really see. They put everything together such as the light and sound effects and help with the actor’s costumes between scenes.

For backstage video coverage and additional reporting, visit http://the-matadorsghs.com/

From left to right: Maroon 5 (PJ Morton, James Valentine, Adam Levine, Micky Madden, Matt Flynn), Adele, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars return this fall with their new hit singles and album including Taylor Swift’s “Red.”

Photos courtesy blogspot.com, freeworldorder.com, latimes.com and taylorswift13.com

11 LIFE & ART WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

Pitch Perfect premiered on October 5 and garnered postitive reviews from Rotton Tomatoes, Metacritic, and CinemaScore. It was based off a book with the same title by Mickey Rapkin and starred actress Anna Kendrick.

The Matador rewards ‘Pitch Perfect’ the seal of approval

Annie HuangRating: 4

Maggie ChengRating: 3 ½

Hana NgoRating: 4

Although the events are quite random and don’t really fit in with the plot, “Pitch Perfect” was an entertaining and funny movie. The ac-tors’ sense of humor made up for the poorly written plot; their quirkiness and weirdness made the movie so much more interesting. The singing and dancing parts added more fun to the movie than just the regular scenes. I absolutely love the ending and I thought Fat Amy (Priscilla) was “ACAwesome.”

Rebecca LeiRating: 4

“Pitch Perfect” is basically the collegiate version of the hit television show, “Glee”. The movie has it all - complicated romance, misunderstandings, and last, but certainly not least- new takes on current songs. While I don’t think that the movie quite lives up to the marketing it received, it certainly did a excel-lent job in providing laughs and the musical numbers were wonderful. All in all, “Pitch Perfect” is a great movie, with genuinely real actors and brilliant musical numbers. Prepare to be pitch-slapped!

A movie filled with humorous jokes, “Pitch Perfect” provided me with laughs for the dura-tion of the film. Anna Kendrick, who played the main character Beca, a freshman and part-time singer/DJ adjusting to life in college, acted well to demonstrate a talent for singing and a creative mindset for music. Stars of the movie delivered funky, mash-up takes on songs Though “Pitch Perfect” wasn’t close to perfect, it was a nice comical filler to pass time.

When I first heard of “Pitch Perfect,” I thought to myself “Oh goodness, ANOTHER High School Musical?” But the commercials won me over and in reality, “Pitch Perfect” hit all the right notes for me. While the plot is pre-dictable, this movie is quite the crowd-pleaser with its one-liners, “I can see your toner from here!” Along with that, the movie had a great cast, especially Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson). Let the singing and laughing begin.

KCON evokes mixed feelingsTran Lam & Kaleen Luu

Excitement took over as thou-sands of exhilarated fans gathered on October 13 for the first Korean convention in the United States. With their hearts full of anticipa-tion, attendees had high hopes that they would be enchanted by a dynamic and thrilling experience.

“I do feel grateful for KCON […] just to be able to give in-ternational fans like us an op-portunity to fangirl and fanboy together and be relatively close to our idols,” Karen Ho, 14, from Mark Keppel High School said.

Hosted at the Verizon Am-phitheatre in Irvine, it managed to attract an audience across the country, even pulling in several fans from the Philippines. Most attendees showed support by donning shirts with their favor-ite singer(s), with some even stretching and going the extra mile by cosplaying as various idols.

Though initially filled with high spirits, the originally promising event had most attendees feeling ultimately disappointed by the organization. Many people were not able to obtain an autograph from an idol group due to the last minute changes to arrangements.

“[The staff] deceived us into thinking that everyone attend-ing KCON [would] be getting [autographs] from the artists.” sophomore Thao Vi Phan said.

Hopeful attendees purchased

merchandise under the impres-sion that they would be able to have them autographed, but were hit by the announcements that they would need a voucher to permit them to have their items signed. Enraged and in disbelief, jilted fans resorted to stalking and harassing the employees.

Some fans began blaming the overly excited, wild fans for the chaos. “The messed up stuff came from the attendees not the staff; they mobbed peo-ple for vouchers like vultures,” Tim Ngo, an attendee, said.

Although the convention was a disappointment to many, the concert made up for its disor-ganization. Fans who attended the concert were left in awe due to several electrifying perfor-mances by their favorite idol groups. Performing groups in-cluded B.A.P, EXO-M, 4minute, VIXX, Nu’est, and soloist G.NA.

Special guests such as AJ Rafael, Daze47, and Dumb-founded were also invited to perform during the concert.

“KCON was hyped up for the past few months, promising things that it could not give. The concert, however, did reach, if not exceed, my expectations,” sophomore Fran Lam said.

Dedicated to establishing a mutual connection among people around the globe who share the same love for the Korean cul-ture, KCON achieved this goal with an incredible experience, although not quite what most people expected. “KCON for me meant getting to interact with oth-ers who enjoy K-POP and make new friends. KCON is probably one of the best things I got to experience,” Jalona Ho, 15, from West Covina High School said.

All in all, though KCON left many fans in dismay with its empty promises, the event was saved through a breath taking concert, in which fans were able to wave their colorful light sticks in the air and cheer for their idols.

“Hallyu” is a Korean phrase used to describe musical artists with global recognition.

Photo courtesy of 2.bp.blogspot.com

Photo courtesy of kpopstarz.com

‘Green Earth’ serves hearty vegetarian food

“ P i t c h P e r f e c t ” r e c e i v e s 4 o u t o f 5 M a t a d o r s

Vanessa De La Rosa

Originating from a deep passion for vegetarian cooking, “Green Earth” promotes a healthy lifestyle by serving a wide variety of 100% vegan fusion cuisine. The venue is a family-owned restaurant that hopes to share their love for vegan food with the world.

“Lots of different people come here every day. [They’re] mostly people with health problems like diabetes because vegan food is a lot healthier than regular types of food,” waitress Anastasia said. “Other than that, [they] range from fit people who want to stay in shape to hip teens [who] simply think it’s cool to be vegan. Others just come for the tasty food.”

The menu consists of dishes from a diverse list of places such as America, China, Italy, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam. I ordered

the “Joyful Salad”, which was comprised of chopped romaine lettuce, “soy chick’un”, tomato, avocado, cucumber, edamame, sweet corn, organic quinoa and generously sprinkled tortilla strips on top. The portions were large and filling; the vegan re-placements not lacking at all in taste or quality.

All of the dishes containing chicken use an alternative called “chick’un,” a soy substitute for vegans that does not differ greatly from its original other. As an alternative to beef and meat, “Green Earth” uses substitutions like Portobello mushrooms and many other alternatives that are both delicious and healthy. At the side of each item, they have symbols marking which dishes contain substances such as gluten as a key to ensure that custom-ers know exactly what they are ordering.

“It’s like stepping into a whole new world of food,” junior Bev-erly Mendoza said.

The restaurant itself was en-veloped in earthy tones with soft,

classical music playing in the background. The dim lights and soft colors establish a comfort-able and tranquil atmosphere. People go, day after day, looking for a place to relax with hearty, beneficial food. The owners of the establishment wanted to create a place for committed vegans look-ing for great food while showing compassion towards animals because nourishing, vegan food is often difficult to find. They also wanted to help reduce one’s carbon footprint, which is what the name “Green Earth” was derived from.

Their goal is to be organic and to use organic ingredients whenever possible. Their take-out materials are also all biode-gradable, from the paper boxes to the utensils.

With their distinct food and alternatives, “Green Earth” hopes to share not only their passion for vegan food, but also the idea that food can still taste great and nourishing without the use of non-organic substances that are often harmful to one’s body.

This “Joyful Salad” is filled with organic and healthy ingredients such as quinoa and edamame. For more information about menu options, visit www.greenearthveggie.com

Green Earth Vegan Cuisine is located on 37 South Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena.

Photo courtesy of Green Earth

Photo by Vanessa De La Rosa

SPORTS 12 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

VARSITY10/2 @ Mark Keppel 11-7 W10/4 vs. Montebello 17-1 W10/9 vs. Alhambra 14-4 W10/11 @ Schurr 13-5 W10/18 vs. Mark Keppel 9-9 L10/23 @ Montebello 16-2 W

JV10/2 vs. Mark Keppel 15-3 W10/4 @ Montebello 15-3 W10/9 @ Alhambra 14-4 W10/11 vs. Schurr 17-1 W10/18 @ Mark Keppel 10-8 W10/23 vs. Montebello 14-4 W

G I R L S T E N N I S

G I R L S V O L L E Y B A L L

F O O T B A L L

VARSITY10/2 @ Mark Keppel 3-0 W10/4 vs. Montebello 3-0 W10/5 @ Laguna Hills 0-3 L10/9 vs. Alhambra 3-0 W10/11 @ Schurr 3-0 W10/13 vs. SG GAB Tornament 2nd10/16 @ Bell Gardens 3-0 W10/18 vs. Mark Keppel 3-0 W10/23 @ Montebello 3-0 W10/25 @ Alhambra 3-0 W JV10/2 @ Mark Keppel 2-0 W10/4 vs. Montebello 2-1 W10/5 @ Laguna Hills 2-1 W10/6 @ Whittier Tournament 4th10/9 vs. Alhambra 2-0 W10/16 @ Bell Gardens 2-0 W10/18 vs. Mark Keppel 2-1 W10/20 vs. SG GAB Tournament 7th10/23 @ Montebello 2-0 W10/25 @ Alhambra 2-0 W

FRESHMAN9/29 @ Santiago Tournament10/2 @ Mark Keppel 2-0 W10/4 vs. Montebello 2-0 W10/5 @ Laguna Hills 2-0 W10/9 vs. Alhambra 2-0 W10/16 @ Bell Gardens 2-1 W10/18 vs. Mark Keppel 2-0 W10/23 @ Montebello 2-0 W10/25 @ Alhambra 2-0 W 10/27 vs. SG GAB Tournament 2nd

C O - E D C R O S S C O U N T R Y9/26 @ Legg LakeVarsity Boys 5thVarsity Girls 6thFrosh Boys 6thFrosh Girls 5th

VARSITY10/5 @ Schurr 15-16 L 10/12@ Montebello 41-48 L10/19 vs. Mark Keppel 49-0 W10/26 vs. Bell Gardens 19-26 L

FRESHMAN10/4 vs. Schurr 10-21 L10/11 vs. Montebello 41-48 L10/18 @ Mark Keppel 20-22 L10/25 @ Bell Gardens 6-46 L

With a final score of 49-0, the San Gabriel Matadors defeated the Mark Keppel Aztecs at a packed Matador stadium during the annual Homecoming celebrations.

San Gabriel started off the first quarter with an incomplete pass to wide receiver Gabriel Larios in the end zone. The Matadors broke their dry spell when wide receiver Ste-ven Garcia ran to the end zone from the first and ten, giving his team a 7-0 lead.

Within the middle of the quarter, two con-secutive fumbles by San Gabriel were made when wide receiver Isai Fernandez dropped the ball off of a pass and running back Joseph Mayorga dropped the ball during a fourth down.

The Matadors proceeded by scoring their second touchdown when Fernandez caught a pass from quarterback Marqus Valenzuela at the 30 yard line, making the score 14-0. A third consecutive touchdown was scored when wide receiver Maurice Le made an in-terception off of an Aztec pass and ran it back to the San Gabriel end zone, which gave the Matadors a 21-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, a successfully executed screen play made way for Larios to score a touchdown, making the score 28-0. An-other touchdown was scored when Fernandez caught a 30-yard pass from Valenzuela, giving the Matadors their fifth consecutive touch-down with a score of 35-0.

Matadors triumph over the AztecsJohn Truong

In the final quarter of the game, Mayorga recorded his single touch-down of the game, making way for San Gabriel to have an uncontested score of 42-0. This play proceeded with kicker Anthony Gomez’s final touchdown of the game for the Matadors, making the score 49-0.

In the final minutes of the game, lineman Pedro Rodriquez made his return to the field after not having been able to play for a season after season-

ending concussions. He recorded his first tackle of the season.

“It feels good to play again after not being able to play for so long,” Rodriguez said.

The Matadors defeated the Aztecs 49-0, giving the team their first win in Almont League play.

“We played better defensively,” Coach Jude Oliva said. “We took ad-vantage of the fact that we were more athletic than [they were].”

Linebacker Eric Alvarez runs the ball as lineman Eddie Escobar blocks an Aztec defender. The Matadors came out victorious with a score of 49-0.

Referees utilize flags to make game-changing calls

Our team is running down this side of the field. I swear they were running the other way just a while ago. The referees blow their whistles and the players stop and seemingly wander around the field. The game starts again. All of a sudden, our side of the field starts cheering wildly. The guy running with the ball is clear and everyone from the opposing team is aiming to take him down. Someone from our team jumps onto a guy that was gaining onto the guy with the football. He makes it past the last line. Touchdown! Wait, the refs are blowing their whistles and holding a… is that a banana peel?

“Why are there banana peels on the field?” “That’s the penalty flag, Dummy!” Well first and foremost, there are more terms to football than

just ‘touchdown’ and ‘penalty’; and it is penalty, not foul, that is for baseball. Teams and players can be penalized for a number of things. We, as viewers, can tell when the ‘yellow banana’ is tossed onto the field. The big numbers on the field are the number of yards. Both teams are trying to gain yardage toward their goal and score points.

Remnants of the big homecoming game can still be found around campus from the posters and streamers to students’ stories. Belong-ing to a school that houses a CIF finalist team, we have much to be proud of but also more to be confused about. The homecoming game predictably came and passed with excitement and enthusiasm. Some people went to support a friend, while others went because they are interested in the game. Some last few went because they had no choice due to an extracurricular. Despite anyone’s reasons for going, it would make it more worth your while if you actually understood a bit.

Our varsity football team consists of 51 players but only 45 can be dressed at a time. Only 11 players from each team are on the field during a play, but they aren’t all useless as I had first thought they were. It turns out, the 51 player-team is split into three sub-teams: Offense, Defense, and Special teams. These sub-teams are rotated depending on what is happening on the field.

The Special team does the kick-off and the one-point conver-sion, or just the extra point after the touchdown-scor-ing school scores. That is when they kick the ball into the fork-like structures called field goal posts. Kick-offs start the game. The offensive team is up when we have the ball to try to score points. When the other team has the ball, the defensive team is up to, well, defend.Whichever team has the ball is marked on the score board next to the points; a vi-tal piece of information to know as a viewer. Do not be the last person to know when you are watching the CIF finals.

Each game is divided into four quarters and three time outs are al-lowed per team every two quarters.

Laying out the basics of football

Photo by Derek Deng

Illustration by John Truong

Joseph Mayorga jolts forward with an exploding first step and easily gets past a Baldwin defender; he sees two others and spins out of the way. Mayorga is clear for take off; he sprints to the fifty, the forty, the thirty, the twenty, the ten, touchdown! Cheers fill the stadium and one can barely hear the whistle that calls it all off; a flag is visible on the forty-seven yard line, which yields the generic sigh and confused shrug from most of the students and parents in the stands. Some even begin to boo and yell in frustration.

For the first six games of their season, the varsity football team has had great games with huge plays made by quarterback Marqus Valenzuela to get his teammates open for clear paths to the end zone only to have their efforts crushed by a little yellow flag.

Have referees done more than just officiate games? Do their numerous calls affect the way we enjoy the game of football?

It seems like sometimes we get some [calls], and even a couple tonight,” Coach Oliva said, “I tell the guys there are things that we can’t control in a football game so we just have to plug through it.”

Though the referees are not a huge part of the game, they may make certain calls that may hurt a team in a critical part of a game. During the last game at Schurr, confusion over an unsettled posses-sion left the whole team jumping and celebrating as San Gabriel walked off the field, angry and unsure

of what just happened.Feelings like these

have not been limited to a single game but have also affected the

Matadors throughout their entire preseason

so far. However, San Gabriel has chosen to keep playing on despite the unfair calls. Varsity football refuses to “make any excuses” for their execution of plays during in game decisions.

Referees may make the right calls most of the time but should not be throwing yellow flags left and right. The penalties disturb the flow of the game and ruin teams’ mental-ity to win. This issue has grown to be quite frustrating since the referees seem to know only one penalty: holding. Offensive line Phillip Bercera said, “Sometimes the calls can hurt us, and some-

times they can help us out. We con-tinue to give our best every night.”

Chelsey TranMarvin Luu

Illustration by John Truong

13 SPORTS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012THE MATADOR

My knees are bent, and my platform is set. My partner whom I typically warm up with passes the ball to me. The ball is out of my reach and rolls away from me. “Ball! Ball!” I call out to a teammate. She looks at me, then looks at the ball, and kicks it in the opposite direction.

I have racked my mind over and over trying to ascer-tain why somebody would do such a thing. What goes off in a person’s mind where he or she would think making someone’s life miserable is okay? Since when did acting like a bad teammate become acceptable? I realized that these acts of poor sportsmanship not only appear physically but also verbally.

Often, in an intense match or game, we forget how to demonstrate good sportsmanship. “Shake it off!” “Let’s go (insert name)!” “Come on (insert name!)” When we shout these phrases to our teammates, we unconsciously think that we are cheering them on, but in reality we are not. These hurtful phrases are so overused, they have lost its meaning. Rather than words of encouragement, they are verbal exhibitions of frustration -- frustration towards our teammates.

“Sometimes when you do something wrong, they [team-mates] don’t teach you how to correct it; they just yell at you,” a senior football player said. “They make fun of you, push you around, and call you names to the point where it’s not even funny anymore.”

Teammates should learn to leave their emotions off the court because it can negatively affect team chemistry.

“There are people that don’t try or put in as much effort as everybody else, and that makes us look bad as a whole when we’re performing,” a senior cheerleader said.

It is imperative for players to get along, especially in team sports, because it affects the team’s performance as a whole. Team chemistry is a game changer. It is what makes a mediocre team -- a great team. For example the Lakers, who reached another height in 2000 under the leadership of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’ Neal. However, the highly skilled team fell short oftheir potential because of issues in their team chemistry. Although Shaq and Kobe worked well together on the court and even secured three consecutive NBA championships for the Lakers, the two players did not always see eye to eye. They failed to get along and would have heated arguments in the locker room. Shaq and Kobe even went so far as to bashing each other in public. Shaq was eventually traded to the Miami Heat to put an end to the constant animosity.

A team composed of bad teammates is a team with bad team chemistry. Team chemistry doesn’t exactly mean you have to like everybody on the team and be best friends. Athletes should treat their teammates the way they would want to be treated, with respect. I believe that if teammates get along off the court, they are more likely to get along on the court.

Brian RiosSandy Peng

Lack of team cooperation leads to downfall

Since head cross country coach Ted Brock retired last year, the team was left with a vacancy for this position. Soon after Robert Hernandez and Yvonne Lopez stepped forward to lead the team in the 2012-2013 season.

“I love to run, and [when I took this position] I hoped that I could help the team grow this passion,” Head Coach Lopez said.

Lopez began her running career as track runner at San Benito High School in Hollister, California. She was able to continue her experience with running groups at Long Beach State and USC. To this day she still trains and participates in marathons and half-marathons. Lopez served as assistant coach from 2008 to 2010.

This year marks Hernandez’s ninth year of coaching, although it is only his first year at San Gabriel.

“I liked that the San Gabriel team was a good group of kids who came out consistently to summer practices,” Assistant Coach Hernandez said.

Oscar Molina His interest in running took flight when he joined the cross county teams at Montebello High School and ELAC. Prior to coming to San Gabriel, Hernandez was a coach at Rosemead and Paramount High Schools.

“I want to make sure everyone is at a competitive level,” Hernandez said.

Both coaches are looking forward to sending senior varsity runner Marcos Solis to CIF prelims as an indi-vidual qualifier. At the last Almont League meet he placed 7th with his new personal record time of 17:18 in a three-mile race. Solis will need to place 6th in order to qualify.

Lopez admires of the team’s dedication of being able to come out everyday and run for an hour and a half.

“I am really impressed with the number of runners there are, given that they are involved in so many activi-ties,” she said.

Despite long days of work, Hernandez and Lopez are always able to come out and use their optimism, energy and dedication to coach the team through successful practices.

New Assistant Coach, Robert Hernandez, prepares the cross country team for the Apache Invitational at Arcadia Park on October 26. Hernandez works alongside new Head Coach Yvonne Lopez.

Drenched in sweat and sore muscles kicking in, Matador athletes finish another day of hard practice. However, rather than ending their day with a good night’s rest, homework awaits them. That’s one thing all students of San Gabriel have in common. While others balance club activities with their academics, Matador athletes balance their sports on top of all that. With all their energy placed into their workouts, it’s a wonder as to how these Matadors handle it all.

In order to participate in any activity the requirement is a minimum of a 2.0 G.P.A. Some students go beyond and pile on their stress with AP and honors classes, while using sports to relieve it, such as senior Mora Ung. “When I’m stressing over academic classes and grades, tennis is like my stress reliever, though it takes some time away from studying,” Ung said. “I try to finish [as much] homework during school hours, so I don’t pile up at night.”

In order to ensure you are spending just the right amount of time for both commitments: 1.) Know your schedule. The best way to keep track of this is using a calendar/planner. It’s imperative to know what’s going on both in classes and on the field. 2.) Take advantage of your free time. 3.) “If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” By this I mean is that if your grades start going downhill while your dedication to sports escalates, cut down on that and make school your priority, as academics should always be a priority.

“It’s always school first,” junior Eddie Escobar said. “I always find time to do my work before and after games, whether it’s during sixth period or right when I get back from a game or practice.”

While balancing sports and academics is indeed important, what you need to do beyond that is to balance your time for your friends, your family, and ultimately yourself.

Photo by Derek Deng

New cross country coaches lead the team to League finals

“It is the characteristic of the magnanimous man to ask no favor but to be ready to do kindness to others.” Ar-istotle. As was the case when Shirley Pollack, then head coach of varsity girls’ volleyball asked Larry Kanow, then head coach of varsity girls basketball, to take the reins of her position. It was no mystery why Pollack considered Kanow as coach; Kanow’s coaching experience and knowledge of volleyball qualified him as a befitting option. The daunting task of coaching basketball, swimming, and volleyball along teaching seemed quite overwhelming even for Kanow. In an attempt to sway Kanow, Pollack told him to acknowledge her offer as a favor, Kanow would accept and thus would unfold a new journey in his life. “It was very time consuming but I managed to balance coaching and teaching,” Kanow said.

The very characteristics that mold Kanow were brought out by a youth filled with sports. Growing up, sports played a monumental role in Kanow’s life. He participated in basketball, swimming, and football. In high school Kanow would find a passion for volleyball and would make the varsity team. “Growing up, everyone knew how to play volleyball; they had prior experience before try-outs. When I made the team, I was excited and proud that I made varsity,” Kanow said.

For Kanow, it was neither about accolades nor trophies but gaining valuable lessons from sports. The very lessons that Kanow garnered in his adolescence have helped him throughout his life. “I learned about commitment and dedication to fulfill obligations. Being in a sport disciplined me,” Kanow said. With more than a few feats under his belt, Kanow has the same goal every year: to exceed expectations and go further than expected.

Students attempt to balance stresses of sports and a full school schedule

Illustration by John Truong

Hana Ngo

Throughout the years Kanow inspires girls varsity volleyball

FEATURES 14 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

From fine art to animation, Lawrence balances talent with passion as a substitute

Tell Mewhat’s theWORD.

Famous Hallway quotes,Volume Thirty-one

-Teacher talking about toilet paper.

All quotes overheard by The Matador

staff.

“What do you do if you’re a twin on ‘Stunt Double Day?’”

-Teacher talking about twins.

“If it’s good enough for your butt, it’s good enough for your nose.”

Most people cringe at the thought of a 6-hour car ride. Not only is it a waste of natural resources, but it is also time-consuming and possibly dan-gerous, a reason why Californian voters endorsed the vision of a high-speed rail, to be achieved by borrowing $9 billion to build and plan the nation’s first high-speed train network.

The high-speed train is expected to contain 800 miles of track, with up to 24 stations. Accord-ing to the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), the trains “will travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in under 2 hours and 40 minutes, at speeds of up to 220 [miles per hour], and will interconnect with other transportation al-ternatives, providing an environmentally friendly option to traveling by plane or car.”

The rail is expected to bring about “tens of thousands of good, family-supporting jobs for California — jobs not just to build the trains and the train line, but also to operate and maintain it.

And there’s more — hundreds [of] more jobs will be created for suppliers, restaurants and other businesses along the route,” as stated by the CHSRA. It is also expected to improve the movement of people, goods, and services with its phenomenal speeds.

However, economical benefits will not be the

only advantages a high-speed rail can provide. Because the train will be powered by sustain-able and renewable resources, smog and air pollution levels are expected to lower.

Energy efficiency is expected to improve — the rail only uses one-third of airplanes and one-fifth the energy of the family car (derived from ADDENDUM/ERRATA to Final Program EIR/EIS for the Bay Area to Central Valley Por-tion of the CHST System, California High-Speed Rail Authority, June 2008, S-11).

“I haven’t heard about [the rail] before now, but it sounds really cool,” sophomore Michelle Hau said, “It [would] be really great because we could save time and energy.

The usage of the rail will also bring about community benefits. CHSRA claims that a high-speed rail would cause cheaper, faster and more convenient travel connected to local public transportation.

They also stated that the rail will bring “re-vitalized communities and economic develop-ment around new transportation terminals” and “enhanced public safety due to separation of tracks and existing roads and highways.”

Even though it will be costly, California state Senator Tem Darrell Steinberg believes that the high-speed rail will be well worth the price.

“You can pave farmlands with new roads and blackout skies with airplanes but the air

we breathe will be no better than a tailpipe,” Steinberg said, “This project brings an infusion of energy into rural areas of high unemployment and provides relief for urban traffic gridlock. Most importantly, it’s an investment in Califor-nia’s future.”

With time,the rail might actually be saving us money. The CHSRA projects that the system will “alleviate the need to spend more than $100 billion to build 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of new freeway, five airport runways, and 90 departure gates.”

“No economy can grow faster than its trans-portation network allows,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement sup-porting the legislative vote. “With highways between California cities congested and airspace at a premium, Californians desperately need an alternative.”

Having a high-speed rail will also put Cali-fornia’s rail system ahead of those of the other states. “Not only will California be the first state in the nation to build a high-speed rail system to connect our urban centers, we will also mod-ernize and improve rail systems at the local and regional level,” Richard said.

As of now, the rail is due for construction in the near future, but a specific date has not been determined.

High-speed reduces travel time from SF

Duong persuades undecided voters to aid Democratic Party

Duong’s role is to inform the public that the presidential election is approaching by calling residents in the blue and red areas – the blue being more Democratic-populated areas and the red being majority Republican voters – and persuad-ing them to vote YES or NO on the propositions.

“If they, the people, are voting for Obama, then we give them a few proposition[s] that are impor-tant in their states. If [voters] for

With her initial dreams of working for Disney in mind, Gay Lawrence, who is now a designer for animation studios and a substitute teacher, has finally found her haven. After ac-complishing her dream, she recalls her experience.

Her love for the arts stems from the fact that “it’s a way of self expression— visually, with the hands and the eye.”

Lawrence, who got her start working for her step-father as a draftsperson, admits, “When I was hired, I knew nothing about it.”

Having worked with him for two years, her experienced proved to be valuable. It was where she accumulated her experience to be able to build her port-folio, and dive into animation.

She juggled being between a draftsperson by day, and by dusk, a clean-up artist. After submitting her first portfolio Lawrence suddenly found herself in the world of animation when it was accepted by the Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.

Although Lawrence claimed she was a very shy person, she majored in theatre, with a minor in art.

“I always felt at ease in front of people because I expressed myself, [and] I could use myself as a tool […] I loved art, but it was not all exclusive. I also wanted to experience acting,” Lawrence said.

She attended the College of San Mateo

for two years before transferring over to Califor-nia State University, Northridge, at which Law-rence ultimately decided to graduate.

“I felt like Northridge had more to offer for me,” she said.

Lawrence’s journey through film making and animation was influenced by the works of Ronald Searle, Dr. Seuss, Edward Gorey,

and Tim Burton, all of whom she said were her, “biggest inspirations.”

“I wasn’t sure what kind of an artist I was,

but these experiences made me realize I loved background design— the landscapes, the mood.”

Although Lawrence has worked on numerous produc-

tions, including work from the famed Walt Disney Anima-

tion Studios, and more re-cently, Cartoon Network, only several projects she

has contributed to hold a place in her heart.

“I think Mulan was my most beautiful achievement, with the snow, the city… I feel proud about it,” Lawrence said.

Aside from working on mov-ies and substituting, Lawrence also has a passion for teaching her own art classes, where she can connect to her students through their mutual love for art.

Over the past seven summers,

Photo courtesy of www.calwatchdog.com

Mitt Romney, then we say thank you and hang up the phone,” Du-ong said. “If they are undecided, then we try to persuade them to vote for the Democratic ticket.”

Duong volunteers in a profes-sional environment, where there is a wall of resident phone numbers, with people that are busy making phone calls and people who are inputting data.

The office is very busy and loud most of the time. At times, he gets responses that are rude and sometimes he hears nice words,

but in the end he believes that he is volunteering there for a reason.

“It’s the end of the campaign and the final push so they let us go,” Duong said.

Duong usually tries to go the Democratic Headquarters at least two days per week, but having four AP classes makes it hard to keep to that goal.

Sometimes, he has to sacrifice days of volunteering to complete any unfinished homework and that would mean missing out on days where they get to go canvas houses.

“I got a call saying that there will be a great canvassing event but I’m going to take the ACT that day, so I feel like I’m missing out on that.” Duong said.

He dedicated his life to something he enjoys and even feels accomplished by fighting for what he believes in.

Rebecca Lei

Kaleen Luu

“It ain’t easy being white.”

-Teacher talking about history.

“This is America! In America, you don’t go on your knees for anybody.”

-Coach talking to player.

she has taught animation classes about character and background design at the South Pasadena Educational Foundation.

Lawrence also has her own urban legends language arts class, where she has her students try their hand at writing their own urban legends, basing them off actual historical facts.

“I hope that the arts will continue to be sup-ported at this school... I feel like it’s not just an extra-curricular activity [or a] craft, [but it] helps the intellectual and emotional processes in the self expression of every student.”

“OMG. You’re such a stacker.”

-Student trying to call another student

a stalker.

-Student presenting a project.

“If a seagull flies over the bay, does it become a bagel?”

-Student telling a joke..

“Wait until you go to college and meet smart squirrels.”

-Teacher talking about college.

Artwork courtesy of www.gay-lawrence.blogspot.com

“My baby is uneven.”

Phot

o Co

urte

sy o

f ww

w.w

orda

ns.u

s

“How fast can you draw a donkey?”

-Student asking a question.

Continued from page 1

15 FEATURES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012 THE MATADOR

O’ what

a night-

mare

It was raining ex-tremely hard during a football game, and my dad sent me to buy a few snacks at the nearby stands. When making my way there, the most dread-ful thing happened to me. I was trying to im-press a girl I liked, and instead, I slipped. Ev-erybody, and I mean every single person, turned to see if I was alright after my mas-sive fall. To my dis-may, I looked up only to find that she was laughing at me.

M y f r iend once told me a joke and I laughed so hard that I farted.

I was invited to a graduation once, and I needed a school identification card to attend. Thanks to my brilliant memory, I had forgotten ex-actly what I needed; however, I still had my ticket so I tried to walk in anyway. When I reached the entrance, the usher said “Oh, don’t worry, children 12 and under get in for free.” And

One time I took a big bite out of my cheeseburger, and a humongous blob of ketchup landed on my inner thigh. Of couse, I decided to wear l ight grey jeans on that day so I tried to wash the stain away without anyone noticing. But, my hawk-eyed friend spotted me instantly with my obvious sign of discomfor t and asked, “Did a bird

-Student eating lunch.

-Student attend-ing a military gradu-ation.

-Student trying to impress a girl.

-Student not ex-pecting a large noise

to burst out.

From superstition to friendly family outing, October 31 marks a tradition

Universal Studios’ celebrates 22 years of horror with new mazes

Before Halloween became known for dressing up as your favorite storybook character or as a traditional witch or vampire, this holiday was not only a time of celebration, but also superstition. Acccording to Peter Tokosfy, an assistant professor of the Department of Folklore and Mythology in UCLA, it is thought to have originated further back in time to a festival of ancient Ireland known as Samhain. Hal-loween was originally a festivity in which people lit up bonfires and lanterns while wearing masks and costumes to ward off roaming monsters or the undead.

One of the earliest Halloween traditions was “All Souls Day,” a day devoted to praying for the souls of the undead. Besides the practices of All Souls Day, people also traveled door-to-door offer-ing prayers for the dead in exchange of treats. Mumming, a custom consisting of marching in costumes and chanting rhymes was later added in as a tradition. Halloween has always been a night of mys-tery and superstition. Friendly spirits visited houses where people set places for them at the dinner table and left treats on doorsteps as well as the side of the road. Candles were also lit to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.

Most students from San Gabriel High School believes that they have outgrown Halloween. But to some students like senior Shaneen Lin, the holiday means just as much as it did when she was a little girl.“ My sister makes Halloween treats and she shares half of them with me so I can share some with my friends,” Lin said. “It’s like a Halloween tradition since we don’t like scary movies. We just hang out with each other. We’re very close.”

Although Lin and her family do not participate in passing out treats to trick-or-treaters, she likes to go to Pasadena to trick-or-treat. The people are really nice there, and their candy is the good kind of candy. The people in my neighborhood usually pass out the nasty ones.”

Besides Lin, junior Brian Velasco has enjoyed Halloween ever since he was little. “[Halloween] is fun because it’s a good time to have fun, dress up, and go crazy.” Even though Velasco does not dress up at school, he dresses up at night when he goes trick-or-treating at San Marino. “My favorite costume I have ever dressed up as is Spiderman.”

Over time, Halloween became known more as a family-based and child-friendly tradition with events such as trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving. Even though the events in Halloween evolved and became more modern, the celebration of this holiday is just as popular as it was back then.

Terrifying. Horrific. Utterly unbearable. Universal Studios has been the home to plenty of the greatest mazes in history, bringing more and more hor-ror fans to the park each year. This year, guests may experience new mazes like the Monsters Remix, Silent Hill, The Walking Dead Inside, AMC’s Terror Tram, and the Chainsaw Massacre: The Saw is the Law. Universal’s lineup has evolved over the years, taking huge strides forward in bringing new experi-ences to guests every year.

According to HHNCRYPT.com, the first ever Halloween Horror Nights took place in Orlando, Florida in 1991 under its lead promo: “Dying For A Good Halloween Party?” The park had not established a name for the event and simply called it “Fright Nights,” which lasted for only three days (October 25, 26, and 31), closing considerably early at 12 a.m. The favorable gore and blood that guests enjoy so much today was not evident in the 1991 Fright Nights. In fact, the only monsters that may have been found around the park were the original classic horror icons such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and Beetlejuice.

The very next year, the event was renamed “Halloween Horror Nights.” Although it was similar to the first year’s design, the second Halloween Hor-ror Night (HHN) proved that the park was willing to continue its brand for years and years to come.

In 1997, HHN’s modern horrors began to take shape. Park hours extended to two more hours and new mazes and monsters were introduced to the park. Under the theme “Frightmares,” Universal began to incorporate killer clowns, evil magicians, and the very new “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adven-ture,” a show that combined humor and gore in order to provide relief to those who were too scared. Up until this day, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure” has continued to live on.

The HHN brand made the big jump into strong themes and background sto-ries in 2002 under the “Islands of Fear” gig featuring “The Caretaker.” The year after introduced “the crazy director Paulo Ravinski,” who became obsessed with abusing and hurting his actors. For the park’s 16th birthday four years later, “The Caretaker” and Ravinski joined a psychopathic killer named Jack and an old woman referred to as “The Storyteller” in one park’s strongest years during the event. Ticket prices sky-rocketed, jumping up to $49.95 per person.

From 2007 on, the park invested in movies and abandoned their original themes. Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface were the three characters first introduced in the park’s “Carnival of Carnage” Overall, Universal Studios have prevailed in creating new ideas for one of their biggest events of the season.

All stories submitted by The Matador

staff.

All Illustrations by John Truong

Crystal Wong

Marv in Luu

Comic by Annie Huang

FEATURES 16 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 THE MATADOR

Homecoming 2012

Photos compiled by Hana Ngo, Derek Deng, and Ryan Luong, El Cam

ino Real.

4

5

1. Princess Katie Mai opens the box, revealing the red rose crowning her as Homecoming Queen. 2. Princes Leon Chan and Constant Chi raise King Dara Dan after his victory. 3. Cheer ends the pep rally with their spirited performance and their half-hitch pyramid formation.

1

2

3

6

7

-Captions by Hana Ngo

4. Center Michael Diaz prepares to hike the ball against the Mark Keppel Aztecs. 5. Junior Ryan Duong dances as the Pink Panther. 6. In unison, Colorguard swings their flags to a medley mixture of Pop, Rock, and Dubstep. 7. Emulating off the film “Black Swan,” the Drill Team performs their routine.