VOLUME 97, ISSUE 10 PHONE: (805) 966-9101 ext. 332 EMAIL: STAFF@SBHSFORGE.COM April 29, 2011

THE SBHS

FORGE

Whats InsideNews: Who got pink slipped this year?

Center Spread: Comfort zones at sbhs

SPORTS: Zandona leading Dons Baseball

The ones we overlook Heavy drunken joy fills the darkening downtown air as a

homeless traveler strips down until all that is left on his pale and unwashed body is socks. Some people look at him in dismay from across the circle in which we all sit. Children can be heard about and passersby are not scarce. Why he did it? Who knows. To prove something perhaps. But that doesnt matter. There he is. Naked. People laugh, people stare, people turn their heads and all of it is one big farce to this man. And yes, this is a man. An adult in his late twenties who is purposely lost in his own intoxica-tion. The id incarnate. After that night, I never saw him again. A few days after this, I asked a few questions and got to talking with a couple of homeless people, one of whom was a fifty-seven, soon to be fifty-eight, year-old man named Barry. The other was a twenty-five year-old young man who answers to the name Shmitty. I wanted to learn from these people and maybe form an idea of why they live this way. I know everybodys story is different, but the views and attitudes of these two men will have to do, if only to form a general idea. Despite the fact that both of these men are homeless, they each charac-terize a distinct type of homelessness. One of them is youth-filled, with a spark of adventure in him yet. And

the other not wanting, weary, of this lifestyle, living day to day with just enough energy to keep going. Perhaps the most obvious example of their differing attitudes is this: When I ask the two to tell me what their living conditions are, the old man says without hesitation, homeless, and made it very clear that living this way was damn near impossible. But the youth told me with a goofy grin on his face that his living condition is great outdoor livin, never allowing it to be referred to as homelessness, but rather, as houselessness. The two of them have lived on the streets for years. Shmitty three years, and Barry eight or nine, he cant really remember. There is a great difference in their age and it shows. Experience cannot be hidden and experience can-not be feigned. This is very apparent. Barry has an interesting past. He used to work and travel with carni-vals, the circus and rock festivals, which took him all over the US and most of Canada. I ask him what he occupies his time with now, and he responds, I read a lot...and the writing project that Im working on. Im trying to write a musical. That statement made the sign that he uses to get money make more sense. The peculiar sign has written, NEED $$ FOR OPYITE. Shmitty is very young. Not without experience, but with less so than the old man. He talks about the future

while Barry focuses on the present. Shmitty focuses on the things that can be changed and the ability to do so, It would be cool if there was some kind of thing set up for people that was, like, affordable, you know? Like, if you could pay five bucks and you have a campsite. They dont want people to not work, because

Daniel SolisStaff Reporter

if people dont work, then people do things like art and music. These things politically are going to eventually take down the existing system. These words want change like the youth of every generation. The gap in their age becomes even more

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Homelessness continues to be a huge problem in the Santa Barbara County.

Santa Barbara High Schools student artists put their best work on display at this years VADA show.

VADA show: all types, all kinds

The SBHS Visual Arts and Design Acad-

emy opened their annual art show this past week at the Ridley Tree Education Center, an off-site facility of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Students from 9th to 12th grades had the chance to display their years ac-complishments in a professional art show with extensive gallery space, refreshments, and many friends and family to appreciate the event. Mr. Barnett, the head organizer of VADA, estimates that most, if not

100% of VADA students were rep-resented in the show, from the room of self-portraits, to the dramatic displays of Seniors collections, such as Melanie Davis in the main Luria Gallery. Other participating teachers included Ms. Van Der Kar, and Ms McKee, along with English teach-ers Ms. Guss and Ms. Richter. Their English classes integrated art into their academic curriculum with proj-ects like Book Art, in which students used media of their choice (from

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Ellen Wirth-FosterStaff Editor

2EditorialsApril 29, 2011

Santa Barbara High SchoolRoom 74, 700 E Anapamu StSanta Barbara, CA 93103

Kelley Drechsler

Olivia Cusimano

Ryan Ebeling

Jessica Gaffney

Ruth Laraway

Mian Laurain

Claire Lindstrom

Amelia Marshall

Sierra McNeel

Ariana Mora

Aiyana Powell

Talia Quevedo

Felicia Rich

Edward Rodriguez

Saavan Sagar

Gabi Sanfranavicius

Ben Sheldon

Daniel Solis

Sophia Spann

Aidan Macaluso

Christian Perez

Olivia Walker

Editors

rEportErs

Stephanie Thornton

Aaron Martin

Tony Sandrich

BusinEss dEpartmEntKatie Joseff

thE ForgE

photography

Lorena Lomeli

Ellen Wirth Foster

Erika Turk

tEachEr advisor

Apathy- A word used to describe indifference, the lack of interest or

concern. Often a symptom of depression and PTSD. But, believe it or not, high schoolers can develop a different, but nearly as dangerous form of apathy. Youve probably experienced it; you come home with pages of homework and an essay to write, but you feel absolutely no interest or drive to even start it. Instead you sit down in front of the TV or com-puter, and whittle away time you could be spending working. Although I try not to, I can sometimes become apathetic towards school, I know in the back of my mind that I should be doing something; I just cant muster enough energy to actually care In my opinion, a lot of the lack of drive that kids feel in school is because of work

overload. Students who come home with a load of mindless work that takes hours to complete are less likely to actually care and become interested in the material then a student whose homework is a short, to the point review of things that they learned in class. Homework should be reinforcement of topics covered in class, not another whole 1 hour lesson. When students are given a work overload, they become apathetic to learning new things and are less interested in learning new things. When some students lose interest in school, its a different type of apathy. They turn in all their homework and do well in school, and thats the only thing they care about. They are goal-oriented instead of learning-oriented; more interested in get-ting all As then actually learning some-

thing meaningful that they will use in their life. I think all of us can relate to this. All of us have taken a required class, finished it with a fine grade, and then realized a year later that we had forgotten everything we learned. A lack of really caring about school can be easily disguised by good grades or test scores. But school can be much more fulfilling if you try to be interested in it. If you just finish those hours of homework, youll be surprised by how gratified you feel. And by asking questions and even researching things on your own, you can make your classes more interesting. Apathy is a common experience of high schoolers, but it can continue on through your whole life, so try to face everything you do with interest or care and it will benefit you in the long run.

Sierra McNeelStaff Reporter

Sometimes, you just dont care

A serious waste of my timealso had to choose between going to their city college classes or their high school classes. Also for those seniors with jobs it even messed up their work schedule. Many seniors didnt even go to class because they felt that there was no point and they were right. I know that it is important for people to attend so that the school can get money, but when time is being deliberately wasted because of a study hall, that is just nonsense. There needs to be some way to fix this. Not only was it a hard week to deal with for seniors but for all students and teachers as well. Some freshmen, sophomores, and juniors also have city college classes that

Im sure that I am not the only one that felt the frustration

of CST week. For one, the schedule was completely messed up. Many seniors, like myself, dont have a full schedule and thus get out early. People do this for a reason but apparently there was no consideration for peoples lives outside of school. Many of my fellow seniors as well as me were heard complaining about how much time was wasted during the school day. First of all, those of us that have mixed classes had to have study halls. This was a major waste of time because although some work did get done, not very much did. People

are at various times of the day. In addi-tion the fact that the CST schedule is not released until the week before the testing is inconsiderate of the teachers. Most teach-ers plan their lessons a lot in advance and thus CST throws them a curve ball they have to deal with. While I do understand that a classic response to this would be that it happens every year and thus teachers should anticipate it, it still messes teachers schedules up. To the administration; please do some-thing about this problem next year and try to find another way to tamper with the schedule that doesnt interfere in so many peoples outside lives.

Face to face no longer exists

Jennifer Navarro Guest Contributor

For the past year and a half, I have been trying to teach my

parents how to use Facebook. Every time they use it, they still call me over to their computer and ask me how to read their emails (which I have come to figure out actually means Inbox Messages). And every time, my mom complains about how some of her Facebook friends post status updates far too frequently. Why should I care about anything that goes on in their life? At first I just laughed. My parentsof course they dont get it! They dont have their social lives to worry about 24/7! But then I began to think. Why should I care? Every time I log onto Facebook, I see a number of statuses from people I dont ever talk to but am indeed friends with. These statuses range from complaints about their lives, to inside jokes with their friends, to yet another Rebecca Black reference, to, my personal favorite, deep song lyrics that they believe are relevant to their existence. Mixed in with these sta-tuses are various links that people posted on others walls, random recorded videos and, a strange new phenomenon, check-

ing-in, where a person can post where they are at and whom they are with. However, arguably the most important social aspect of Facebook is the pictures. It is a complete gateway into the lives of another person. It all starts with the per-sons expressive profile picture, of course. You can look at their mobile uploads, where you see difficult to decipher pictures of their weekends antics. Then theres their model pictures where they got their friends to take some really artsy pictures of themselves leaning against a tree in a questionable outfit. Sometimes there are even special occasions where you can stalk someones prom or Coachella pictures (even though I still dont understand what Coachella is). As I sit and scroll through 100 profile pictures of a girl I have never even talked to, I begin to come to a realization. There is no reason for us to care about another persons personal life. We spend so much time looking at and worrying about the pictures and updates of others that we forget where we are. Here I am, looking at this girls profile pictures and I can actu-ally feel like I know her. Yet, looking at my own profile, theres nothing on there

that accurately represents who I really am, yet in many cases it may be the way people believe they are getting to know me. At what point do our profile pages replace our actual personalities? I enjoy Facebook just as much as the next person, but at some point I think we may be a little too obsessed.

Zoe BrierGuest Contributer

Pregnancy can be received with uncer-tainty, fear, joy, and

countless other emotions. This introduction of a being that will love its mother uncon-ditionally is life changing. Although one of the most rewarding relationships, it comes with many trials as well. People of all ages struggle to pay for diapers and medical costs, feeding their babies, waking up at all hours, and give their children as much non-stop care as possible. Most of these parents are at the points in their lives in which they have careers, and free time to spend with their children. However, some women deal with their teenage years, schoolwork, high school social life, parents, and uncertainty about the future while also raising a child which relies on them 100 percent of the time. A number of SBHS students deal with just that every day. Each morning thirty-three girls, freshmen through seniors, drop off their children at the SBHS CalSafe Center while they at-tend classes. The goals of the center, locat-ed next to the staff parking lot, are not only to care for the children, but also to educate the mothers and fathers to keep family size the same and centralize their purpose as assistance to graduate. The girls who have gone through the center with the help of its directors, Judy Daniels and B.J. Lent, have had a 100 percent graduation rate. With the responsibility of a child come sacrifices. Adolescence is the classic time that one spends infatuated with one person: his or her own self. Each of the student mothers and fathers has had to, in many ways, give up being a teenager. Junior Anna-Ruth Martinez states that motherhood is hard, but it pays off [My baby] motivates me to be better in school. Although the responsibilities of mother-

FeaturesApril 29, 2011

Katie Pulverman Staff Reporter

Homelessness in Santa Barbara

hood can be time-consuming and difficult, Martinez is surrounded by support from her parents, her boyfriend, her friends, her boyfriends parents, and the school. This support allows her to raise her baby while simultaneously attending school and work-ing towards her goal of attending college after graduation. Pregnant Junior, Denise Guillen is due to have her son in July. One can empathize with the challenge that Guillen is about to face but she, also not knowing yet what motherhood is like is optimistic in prepar-ing for his arrival. She understands that it is hard having a baby in high school. It is going to be hard. In response she states that I know I cant do it. [I have] the support of friends, teachers, and family members. Like Martinez, Guillen seems to be motivat-ed by her baby. She firmly declares I want to provide him with something that I did not have. I want to be a good role model and a good example. Being a student mother--or father for that matter--is a challenge. These teenagers have to juggle their lives with the complete care of another human being as well. As reflected by Martinez and Guillen, staying in school and raising a child is an extremely difficult task, but can be done and even be motivat-ing with the support of family, friends, and programs such as the CalSafe Center.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1...apparent when the topic of the police arises. They havent bugged me at all here, says Shmitty. But Barry goes off on a rant when I ask him about living in Santa Barbara, Well, some of the stories you might have heard, about some of the homeless people and some of the cops may or may not be true, but in Ventura, they are bulls. They will beat you up. I ask him to elaborate, They wont just say move on. Theyll say move on, but theyll have their club out while theyre doing it. They will tow the car with you in it. Even in Carpinte-ria, there are some people that hide, and the police will scoop them up He seems to be finished but gets re-minded of some of his past encounters, I was in Long Beach when the Rodney King riots where happening. Me and a friend where trying to get out of a park with his car and cops kept coming and detaining us, not letting us leave. At one point, three of them showed up and were talking to my friend. They were about to jack him up like hes some kind of mafia king pin or I dont know what. All

I said was excuse me officer, and here comes the club. I say, Officer, put that baton back NOW! I am peaceful, sober, cooperative, and unarmed. And he was still going. So I say, Let me hold still while you break my ribs so you could pay for my college. and guess what? They all left. All this doesnt paint the most appeal-ing picture of homelessness. But per-haps the systems in place that help the homeless make their life easier. Casa Esperanza is too far away from down here, down town. Its a good idea though. It would be better if they grew the food, not mass-produced, says the young man. Maybe Barry has a different opinion, Those grant-grabbing poverty pimps can kiss my ass. Maybe not. This doesnt explain exactly what the main reason for homelessness is. But per-haps it has given those who are referred to as bums a past and a story. Maybe the people that others walk past everyday will be more that just a face and a sign begging for money. Perhaps, they will be viewed as a fellow human who just lives a bit differently.

Books, bills, and babies: life as a student mother

Another view of the CalSafe Center.

3

The CalSafe center provides daycare and other services for teen mothers at SBHS.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1...rainbow candies and hot glue, to pen-and-ink sketches, to embroidery and col-lage) to transform a book into a work of explorative, experimental art.Although no prizes were awarded to the outstanding students, Mr. Barnett explained that students jury their work, cooperating with teachers and peers to determine the content of the exhibition.

He clarified, Its not a competition, its an exhibition. Some students had fun naming their pieces, but unfortunately no titles were displayed in the gallery. However this hardly mattered, with such a variety of pieces to enjoy: Digital arts, painting, drawing, mixed-media, book arts, and sculpture were demonstrated in a variety of forms, to the delight of all.

Students show-case their art

Barry searches for his escape from homelessness by pursuing a copywrite deal.

429 de Abril, 2011

Ruben Solsedo 10th:En mi cuarto.

En que lugar te s ientes comodo?

Edgar Lara 10th: En mi casa.

Ben Perez 10th: En el bao.

Salvado Gonzalez 12th: En el parke.

La Forja

El reciente apunta-do director de SBHS para el ao escolar 2011-2012, John Bec-

chio, esta listo para adherirse a su nuevo puesto pero tambien a los desafos que vienen con eso. Una frase con cual frequente trata de seguir es hacer nuevos errores, cual l cree que significa que todos vamos a hacer errors pero aprendemos de los errors que hacemos y no los repetimos, el dice. En sosteniedo la rica tradicin de Santa Brbara High School, l espera acercarse a su posicin con una mente abierta y conquistar los retos que aparecen en su camino con la ayuda de toda la comunidad de Dons. Yo creo que los estudiantes son el cento de todo lo que hacemosy creo en la su-posicin de que los profesores y miembros del personal estn ah para hacer lo que

es en el mejor inters de los nios, dice el diector Becchio. El explica su filosofa en la educacin, sobre todo que va a organizar la escuela en torno a una base estudiantil. Mientras l toma las riendas como director, el Sr. Becchio cree que su tarea principal es apoyar a los maestros y miembros del personal que apoyan a los estudiantes. El siente que es una clase de personal de apoyo. Significa esto que no se cerrara la escuela o tomar medidas enrgicas sobre tardanzas? Por mucho que pone a los estudiantes en el centro de la escuela, l tambin espera la responsabilidad y el respeto de ellos. Si los estudiantes estn siendo responsables, afirma el Sr. Bec-chio, entonces el almuerzo no debe ser un problema. Del mismo modo, en respuesta a las cuestiones de tardanza: Si hay una campana, y se supone que deben de estar ah, entonces debe estar all , dice el Sr.

El Director Becchio se gradua a SBHS

Becchio. El alcance del Sr. Becchio de gestin, segn l, se triplicar cuando pasa de ser el director de la Secundaria a la Preparatoria. Estamos hablando de una organizacin de tres veces el tamao en casi todos los senti-dos, forma y manera en funcin del tipo de presupuesto, los miembros del personal, y estudiantes.A pesar de que la casa Dons nueva ser bastante ms grande de donde actualmente est, todava espera ser capaz de utilizar sus puntos ms fuertes, lo que l cree que son las habilidades de la personalidad y la comunicacin. Agaro mi energa de la interaccin con nios y as que realmente creo que todava encontrare el tiempo para estar en los pasillos, y estar al frente, ir a los juegos e interactuar con los nios. Si no puedo hacer eso me siento como que me estoy perdiendo un poco en el trabajo , el aada.

Sophia SpannReporteroAna PerezTranductor

Al hablar de la brecha socio-econmi-ca de que tanto se habla en Santa Br-bara High, el Sr. Becchio afirma que de hecho tiene ideas para cerrar esa brecha. Acadmicamente hablando, la Secundar-ia ha sufrido formas similares a SBHS en respecto a la diferencia de logros. El Sr. Becchio comparte que cerr con xito parte de la brecha acadmica en la Secundaria, y considera, algunas de esas ideas sera digno de ver ms en la Preparatoria. Como comunidad, l ve potencial para cerrar esa brecha acadmica, y declara , combinado el conocimiento y el liderazgo que tengo. Creo que podemos cerrar esa brecha en el rendimiento. Las posibilidades para cerrar esa brecha acadmica incluye el aprendizaje professional de los equipos comunitarios y el perfeccionamiento de esa entrega de la instruccin de los maestros a los estudiantes. El Sr. Bec-chio espera animar a los altos niveles de comunicacin entre los maestros y sus estudiantes para crear un ambiente ms adecuado para el aprendizaje de diferen-tes materiales. Cerrando la brecha puede ser ms difcil de una manera no acadmica, no obstante, En trminos de social ... es un reto- espero con el cumplimiento de los diferentes grupos de estudiantes y obtener ideas acerca de cmo los estudiantes pueden llegar juntos, integrar ms ... llegando all y la construccin de relaciones con las personas que ya estn ah ... eso es realmente el camino . Adems con unir a esa divisin entre los estudiantes, el Sr. Becchio se enfrenta a esa tarea de ensamblar las prioridades Santa Barbara High School en el marco de un presupuesto muy bajo. Respecto a el presupuesto, l comenta, Creo que es un trabajo en equipo ... un cuerpo en el que se renen y revisan el presupuesto ... y despus de empezar a tomar decisiones en una forma ms colaborativa acerca de cmo gastar ese dinero y nos dirigimos a tener con ser creativo, lo s. Por lo tanto, cmo se humanizar nuestro nuevo director? Va a ser la nueva cara en la escuela, caminando con un radio y una barba de chivo, cometiendo errores nuevos, y alentando los esfuerzos comunes de nosotros Dons a cambiar nuestra escuela por lo mejor.

5April 29, 2011

News

The school boards search for new superintendent is onStephanie ThorntonStaff Editor

tendent, Dr. Brian Sarvis, who is set to retire at the end of this school year. The search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates aid-ed the board in compiling ideas from the community about what they would like to see in

The Santa Barbara

School Board has agreed upon criteria they will use in their search for a new superinten-dent. The new superintendent will replace current superin-

the next superintendent. The main point of the criteria is that the superintendent works to advance the mission and goals of the district, and can clearly articulate the Districts vision, mission, successes and challenges.

There is also emphasis that he/she works to make sure typically underrepresented voices, such as those of Latino families, are represented in local schools. Potential candi-dates will begin to be inter-viewed next month.

In one situation, Ms. Rapp, a 7-year English teach-er that has moved around the three high schools, has been rifd and now re-hired in a temporary position. Although in a temporary position, Ms. Rapp, still has her probationary teaching rights. She explains, Even though I got my tenure status taken away, I still have re-hiring rights for 39 months. After that I will become a temporary teacher that has to reapply and interview with the district each year. I got hired as a probationary teacher and could end up with less rights and security in the next few years than I started with as a first year teacher.

In the last month, pink slip notifications have been distributed to many teachers within the Santa Barbara School District and because of the gravity of the situation; even teachers high in seniority have received them. Below we take a look at some teachers

around school and their opinions on the pink-slips.

N o t s o p r e t t y i n p i n k

Ms. Barr, working as our school librarian since 1999, extends her concern for budget cuts from the Santa Barbara School District and unto the entire state of California: "The whole situation in the state of California... it's a Golden state and I feel it's not golden anymore. I love California and we have so much poten-tial but something's gone wrong." Ms. Barr dis-cusses education and assesses the situation as having potential, but being financially unable to act upon its possible greatness.

Ms. Barr

Ms. Porter, fifth year counselor and nineteenth year as an overall SBHS employee states, There are twenty-four counselors in the school district and they laid off ten of us. Caseloads for coun-selors are about 420 right now to one, and so theyre going to increase them to 698 to one. Larger caseloads for counselors imply there will be less chances to drop in without an appoint-ment and less time to develop a personalized relationship with your counselor.

Ms. Porter

Often, temporary teachers aren't aware of which specific teacher they are filling in for or whether or not they are hired with so-called "soft" money, leaving those teachers vulnerable to potential district abuse in hiring practices by not hiring to fill permanent teaching positions. One example is physics teacher Mr. Yale, who has been a tempo-rary teacher at SBHS for three years now. When asked which teacher he is a temporary for, he doesnt know.

Mr. Yale

Ms. Rapp

Ms. Barr

Mr. Yale

Ms. Porter

Sophia SpannStaff Writer

6Student life April 29, 2011

The Santa Barbara High School

band hosted our annual jazz festival on April 16th. 10 Schools were represented, competing in three divisions: Novice, Ad-vanced, and Heavy.Participating were our rivals, San Marcos and Dos Pueblos High Schools, but Santa Barbara High musicians didnt compete. Since it was our own festival,

that wouldnt be fair, said band member Gustavo Gus Rendon. However SBHS did rank high at last months Dos Pueblos jazz festival, with the Senior Quartet (Robert Harrell, Quincy Holland, Savannah Meares, & Nathaniel Taylor) coming in 1st in their division and the Big Band coming in 2nd. When asked how long theyd been practicing for the Saturday event, Gus said Forever! His

"Slip-Slidin' Smooth Jazz" takes over SBHS for weekend

Santa Barbara High School Jazz Quintet were runners-up in DPs festival, and on the 16th, de-stroyed the audience with their outstanding performance, said fellow band member Brendan Smyth. Emotional barriers were overcome. The SBHS Jazz Band will be performing at Disneyland on May 15th, so if youre in the area come out and support our DONS!!

Bottom left: The Senior Combo, (L to R) Savannah Meares, Robert Harrell, Nathaniel Taylor and Quincy Holland. Bottom right: Jazz Quintet, (L to R) - Brendan Smyth, Gustavo Rendon, Johnny Weger, Sebastian Martinez, Vittorio Di Novi.

SBHS Jazz Band under the Director of Mr. Charles Ortega.

Dear SBHS,

The school year is coming to an end and the seniors will soon walk down the hill and receive their diplomas, but there are still many exciting events coming up in the next few weeks! First a quick recap of our past events. We had a Quad Grub last Friday during lunch where we sold the Habit, Little Caesars, and El Sitio. That night, we also had our annual MORP dance, which took place in our hallways and features guest DJ, DJ Freeze. The dance was amazing and I didnt know so many people owned bright clothes! We have also recently held our annual Class Elections, which ended yesterday. The winners will be announced today during second period. Now for our final events of the school year: Our last Legisla-tive Meeting will be held on May 6th, at lunch, in the ASB room. You will get community service and food for attending, and dont forget to stop by and say good bye to Valeria Garcia! We will also be holding a Blood Drive on May 11th. It will take place all day in the gym, and in order to participate, you must be 16 or older and have a permission slip signed by your parents. And, of course, there is our main senior eventPROM! Prom will be held on May 21st from 8:00 to 11:30 PM at the Court-house Sunken Gardens. Students should park in the Senior Lot and then ride the trolleys over. The theme for the night is Dia-monds Are Forever: Casino Royale, (in other words, think casino night). Lastly, we have our graduation ceremony, which will take place at Peabody Stadium on June 2nd at 6:00 pm. Finally, seniors should pick up their Mortar Board booklet in the AP, Business or Counseling office if they havent received one already. The booklet contains all the information for the vari-ous senior events leading up to graduation. All prices are listed in the book and please keep in mind prices will change the second week of sales. Be sure to turn in all of the forms included in the mortar board in order to buy event tickets. Get excited for these last weeks of school and come to as many events as you can to enjoy your final month as a SENIOR!

Have a great last month of school everyone and stay classy SBHS! With Love,

David Lopez Activities Commissioner2010-2011

Ellen Wirth-FosterSenior Reporter

When the S.S. America set

sail from New York, so too did an entertaining story plot and humorous relationships between quirky characters. This is the setting for Santa Barbara High Schools spring musical, Any-thing Goes! After friends Reno Sweeny (Allison Lewis) and Billy Crocker (Geoff Hahn) say their good-byes as Reno sets sail for England, Billy sets his eyes on a beautiful girl named Hope Harcourt (Katherine Bottoms). Billy stows away on the luxu-

rious ocean-liner in hopes of winning over Hopes heart, only to discover that she is engaged to an English nobleman named Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Clayton Barry). While Billy tries to lay low in fear of being caught he meets some interesting friends including a second-rate gangster named Moonface Martin, and his accomplices Bonnie and Erma. Reno helps Billy try to break-off Hope and Sir Eveylns engagement after he discovers that they are marrying for finan-cial reasons. Emilio Madrid-Kuser, who plays Elijah Whitney in Any-

Mian LaurainSenior Reporter

thing Goes! says that his favorite parts of the play are the three kooky relationships going on, all at one time. And thats kind of what drives the show and makes it the funny comedy that it is. The plot thickens and so does your interest in what silly thing will happen next. Any-thing Goes! is an example of classic musical theater and it will keep you laughing and humming the catchy tunes for days! Otto Layman, the productions direc-tor, says that the play is a must see because it showcases one of the finest high school acting programs in the country.

Spr ing musica l se t s sa i l

The recent ASB Quad Grub attracted students of all grades, who ate food from local restaurants and played soccer on the lawn. The event also coincided with the final day of Green Week, an effort by the SBHS Green Club to promote sustainable practices around school. In the third picture from the left, Green Club president Tao Antrim announces raffle winners while members Ivy Hirsch and Bianca Badham look on. Students could earn raffle tickets all week by walking to school or bringing reusable water bottles.

7Student life April 29, 2011

Recently, three stu-dents from

Santa Barbara High competed in the Santa Barbara Teen Star event. Teen Star is a competition reminiscent of American Idol wherein contestants perform solo singing performances with the

hopes of gaining recognition for their talents. In the case of Teen Star, the winner was given the opportunity to record with Dorn Carnadella and was eligible to win a trip to Montenegro. About 150 contestants were selected to be interviewed and then asked to perform a song. From there,

Aiyana PowellStaff Reporter

Santa Barbara students dominate Teen Idol competition

Here are a couple of helpful hints for succeeding on this years AP tests! Follow these instructions and WITHOUT A DOUBT you will be dripping in 5s.

AP Testing Tips:

1. Arrive ten minutes early to the exam. Wake up early so you dont have to hurry or get yourself in a panic that morning.

2. Do a moment of silence just prior to beginning the exam. This will help you get focused, and calm your haggard nerves.

3. Practice timing prior to the exam. Know the test structure and time period for each section.

4. Trust yourself. Your instincts are usually right.

5. Use the process of elimination. It really works!

6. Dont be afraid to guess! This year, the AP board eliminated the guessing penalty so you have nothing to lose.

7. If youre taking a test that requires a calculator, make sure it has been pre-approved.

8. Write neatly. If you dont, the AP graders will get annoyed and might be less likely to give you high scores.

9. On the multiple choice section, check every ten questions to make sure you havent mis-bubbled.

10. Most importantly, be nice to Hazel! She holds your fate in her hands...

Getting prepared for this years AP testsAiyana PowellStaff Reporter Schedules

Monday,May 2

Tuesday,May 3

Wednesday,May 4

Thursday,May 5Friday,May 6

Week 1 Morning: 8 A.M. Afternoon: 12 P.M.Chemistry

Environmental Science Psychology

Computer Science A Spanish Language Art History

Calculus ABCalculus BC

English Literature and Composition Japanese Language and Culture Latin: Vergil

Chinese Language and Culture

German LanguageUnited States History European History

Studio Artlast day for Coordinators to submit digital portfolios (by 8 p.m. EDT) and to gather 2-D Design and Drawing students for the physical portfolio assemblyTeachers should have forwarded students' completed digital portfolios to Coordinators before this date.

Monday,May 9

Tuesday,May 10

Wednesday,May 11

Thursday,May 12Friday,May 13

Week 2 Morning: 8 A.M. Afternoon: 12 P.M.Biology

Music TheoryPhysics B

Physics C: Mechanics

United States Government and PoliticsComparative Government

and PoliticsFrench Language

English Language and CompositionMacroeconomics

World History Microeconomics

Statistics

Human Geography Spanish Literature European History

Afternoon: 2 P.M.Physics C: Electricity

and Magnetism

ten contestants were chosen to advance to the final round; a performance at the Santa Barbara High School Theatre on April 8th. Senior Geoff Hahn, junior Allison Lewis and senior Savan-nah Meares were all selected to advance to the finals, and were consequently given the chance to

showcase their talents in front of a large audience including judges Kenny Loggins, Jimmy Mes-sina, J.R. Richards and Catherine Remak. SBHS Senior Savannah Meares was voted into the top three for her performances of "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green and "No

Floods" by Lady Gaga. Of her performance, Savannah said "before going on I was a little nervous, but once I got on stage I just had a blast!" Teen Star Santa Barbara was a success for Santa Barbara High students, as well as an entertaining and inspiring showcase of Santa Barbara talent.

Where do you feel most comfortable?

Tessa Ortega, 10:With friends.

Nathan Gibson, 11:At my house.

Junior Zarrinaal, 11:At church, or volunteering

at a homeless shelter.

Gustavo Rendon, 10:At school.

Aaron Cruz, 11: In the bathroom.

The Mobile Caf is a new restaurant on

wheels at SBHS. This innova-tive idea was implemented by the Santa Barbara School district with the purpose of providing an accessible, healthy lunch option for students. Menu items include carne asada tacos, Caesar salads, chile verde burritos, 100% beef

hamburgers, homemade salsas and tortas. Every meal is served with a side of fruit/vegetables and comes with either water or milk. The meals are high-quality and nutritious, but are offered at inex-pensive prices. For students with Free/Reduced lunch, a meal will usually cost about 40 cents. Students have reacted extreme-ly positively to The Mobile Caf.

One student, Sierra Wilson said that the Mobile Caf is better than the cafeteria because it is fresh and friendly. Sespe Miller said he likes the caf because it is cheap and good. Its healthy and delicious menu items paired with its convenient location near the flagpole make the Mobile Caf an accessible, nutritious lunch destination.

Aiyana PowellStaff Reporter

Mobile Caf providing healthy lunches

The Mobile Caf can be found here at SBHS during lunch.

8April 29, 2011

Finding the comfort zone

After seeing our parents divorces and our friends breakups, why do we keep setting ourselves up? Its the great mystery: why we fall in love, and

put everything else aside for one person, one relationship. Whether they feel the same way about you doesnt change the strength of your feel-ingsjust the thought of them is enough to cheer you up, to make life seem new and worth caring about. And if you are lucky enough to connect with that person, you hope for any contact at all, whether it be holding hands on a perfect day, or fighting until 2 am, crying and pouring all your energy into so many silent bitter texts. Acting this way is not weird, or stupidits what we all do to stay in our comfort zoneto find comfort when life is hard, or to let out our anger when weve been quiet and accepting for too long. What a relief to spend time with someone who speaks your own language, instead of the hyper-babble of obsessive parents, or the flippant pleasant-ries of shallow acquaintances. Its so much easier to build your romantic relationship (real or imaginary) rather than deal with the other, more frustrating issues of family, school, and life in general. However, in every relationship there is a balanceon one side is independence, the things you do by yourself or with your other friends, your personal goals and beliefs, your opinions. Your responsibilities. On the other side is codependence, the things you share with your partner, such as time, interests, mutual friends and shared goalsmaybe hopes for the futureAlso included are your opinions about your partner, and his or her opinions about you, such as Youre beautiful or Lazy, get off the computer and

Ellen Wirth-FosterStaff Editor

Relationships: love is a balancing act

It was the very end of sixth grade and a boy she had liked all year no longer wanted

anything to do with her. She was crushed, and in an effort to cope, impulsively cut herself. For this SBHS senior girl, this one pre-teen moment was the beginning of years largely dominated by her cutting habit. She didnt cut herself again for the next few months, but then, a friend of hers revealed some of her embarrass-ing personal secrets to their classmates. After this, she withdrew almost completely from her friends, and began feeling overwhelmed by school. I would come home from junior high every day and just go to sleep, she says. It was also around this time that her mother returned home- having been in jail and a psychiatric center for the previous few months- increasing her feelings of confusion. She began cutting often, and it became her one source of comfort. It was just a way to calm down. I would get so out of it, almost comatose, she says. But then, I would see the blood. It would make me come back up to the surface. It was how I comforted myself when I was feeling bad. This way I could have something to justify my self-pity; a real pain. Excessive cutting continued throughout junior high, but once she reached high school, it slowed down. She would cut every once in a while, but it became less and less frequent as she re-connected with some of her childhood friends, who were adamant about their dislike of her habit. They made me realize I could deal with my pain in other ways besides creating a scar. I started thinking, Why do I want to hurt myself? she says. She has not harmed herself in two years, but does still feel haunted by it, especially recently, when she noticed scars on her friends arms. Im afraid I introduced her to it. Thats my biggest regret, that I might have started her on it, she says. Another SBHS student, who has only been clean from self-harm for a very short while, points out that she was unable to acknowledge the seriousness of her situation for a long time because she was constantly comparing herself to others. I would think well look at her she has it worse off than I doI dont need to tell anyone [about my problems] because Ill feel stupid. You have to realize that your pain is as bad as anything; if its bad to you, its bad. It made it a real thing when people finally stopped saying its all going to be ok. You need someone to tell you youre not ok to really put it in your head, she continues. Both girls strongly believe in seeking therapy when struggling with these types of issues. For any form of depression, you should have a counselor. It doesnt matter what its because of or aboutpain is pain, one says. I think its also really important to tell your teacherslet

Cutting: more than skin deepStephanie ThorntonStaff Editor

them know youre going through this. Not as a pity plea- but school can be the cause of so much anxiety, they should know where youre coming from. Its also not at all a shameful thing to take anti-depres-sants. A lot more people do it than you might think. Once you get the dosage right and everything, it can only help you and the people around you, the other student adds. Coping methods that the two now utilize vary greatly. One, at the recommendation of her therapist, squeezes an ice cube in her hand for a short while when she feels the urge to harm herself. The other helped herself recover by writing her bad feelings on her skin with a red marker. You can see it, and its sort of like blood, but it isnt, she says. She continues that she makes sure to do something productive and keep herself busy now whenever she feels upset. When youre really unhappy and feel like theres nothing for you to do you want to pull yourself out of it. One way is by cutting but the other way is by actually doing something. Mindless physical labor is good. Helping other people is good. Feeling useful is very importantbut homework sucks because you have to think too much, she says. The best long term solution that they both point out, however, is building relationships with friends and family. They acknowledge that deep guilt came from knowing that their actions were hurting the people around them, and that these relationships now help them from hurting themselves. I want to keep my body clean. If you love someone, you dont want to show them your scars. You want to be beautiful and you want to be cleanYou want to be a good person, she continues. You have to be able to find something in your mind thats I shouldnt do it because of this, the other one adds. For her, its usually family members, but she hopes in the future her reasons can be more directly about her feel-ings, rather than those of others. For these two girls, they now realize the warning signs they could have seen in themselves before the cutting began. They urge others to watch for feelings of isolation, withdrawal from activities one once enjoyed, and stark mood swings as warning signs of destructive behavior. Numerous resources are available through the school and the community for those dealing with self-harm or other forms of depression and anxiety. School psychologist Christina Aguirre-Kolb, as well as all of the staff of SBHS are available to talk to students throughout the day. The local organization SAFTY, which works with teenagers all throughout the county, keeps a 24-hour hotline at 1-888-334-2777. Further information and help is also available through aHA! and can be found at their website, www.ahasb.com.

Sometimes it seems that because I have opportunity, the achievements I make are less meaningful than those who have

less opportunity in life. Such an idea is uncomfortable to deal with. I was beginning to fill out college applications last week and I began to feel anxious and worried about possibly not being accepted by colleges. My nervous-ness did not stem from lack of AP classes I had taken or what places Ive volunteered for, it came from having to fill out the household income and individual race check boxes. If the accomplishments I was able to list for myself were then paired with a household income of $25,000 or less, my achievements would seem so much greater than paired with the actual household income of my family. And what about the checkbox place-holding a minority race, or even English as a second language? If I was able to check that box, the classes Ive taken and places Ive volunteered at would seem of so much more value than they are.

Moving up in the pecking orderSophia SpannStaff Reporter

With this realization, I was forced to confront the dif-ferences between those of less privileged circumstances and myself. Is it a reality that people of less fortunate circumstances have a greater likeliness to impress the readers of college applications? Im not bashing my op-portunities or stating that the life I live is one uncom-fortable to me, I am merely noticing that the difference between two students who are achievers is not the effort in which they put in, it is the circumstance of which they are in. Although we have no way of controlling these factors, colleges deem them the boundary lines for which our accomplishments sit in. How does anyone understand the mixed feelings that come with judging a person based upon the merit of their circumstance? From a simple task of marking or not marking certain boxes, I was forced to face the admittance that even in the comfort zone of my life, at times, things can be uncomfortable. So, in essence what do I do with these feelings? How do I combat my insecure feelings that being myself wont be enough?

For many college-bound students, the stress of college applications can seem overwhelming, like hungry seagulls pecking at your lunch.

Friday afternoon routine: pick up little brother from school by blasting girl music and hanging out of the car screaming muf-

fin pie to him. Then, drive like mad to get through after school traffic to get home and grab the nearest chocolate available in the house. Escape into my room and ignore everything and everyone as the TV flashes pictures before me for the next two-three hours. Correction, it flashes pictures as I sit for two to three hours and ponder calling the commercial numbers to donate a dollar to a child in New York or Africa, or send a penny to the nearest homeless shelter, or volunteer for Red Cross. Friday afternoons have become less of a luxury and more of a stress session. Why are all these people going hungry? Who made them that way? And why, in the world, do they keep having kids who then go hungry? Why? Its uncomfortable to watch the commercials of grandfather looking figures asking you to donate some cash as they walk through mobs of children with swol-len stomachs. It makes me wonder, are those grandfather figures getting paid to walk through swollen kids? What if a percent of their paycheck went to starving children? Would that have an impact? And what about those commercials where kids hold up signs that read, Im hungry or My dinner came from a gas station. Who wants to deal with that? The idea of children going hungry is uncomfortable in itself. Let alone the concept, its even more painful to grasp the making of these commercials: cameras exploiting the hunger stricken lives of these people.

Sophia SpannStaff Reporter

The discomfort caused by comfort

Santa Barbara High School students cope with the pressures of high school and adolescence through creating various individual comfort zones. While these comfort zones can promote healthy habits, they can also lead to self-destructive tendencies. Finding a place that is safe

from the stress and anxiety of high school is a difficult but crucial task.

9April 29, 2011

Jessica GaffneyStaff Reporter

Finding the comfort zone

Now I dont want to com-plain or anything, as, on the whole, Ive had a pretty carefree and easy life, but Ive gotten

smacked pretty hard a couple of times by problems and its been hard to figure out where to turn. Fortunately, all those times I had an outlet for my stress and strife: athletics. Since I was of the age to have problems, Ive played various sports starting with soccer, transition-ing to swimming and water polo while still running cross country and finally throwing shot put and discus. Strangely, each of them provided a different type of relief when times got tough. Theres something about running as hard as you can for as long as you can with no true destination or plan that is so freeing its unbelievable. Whether it was fam-ily or relationships or even school work that was caus-ing me trouble, I knew that I could lace up my running shoes, tie my hair in a ponytail and just let my legs push me to nowhere. Theres nothing like feeling the wind in your face and the lactic acid build up in your body. Even the pain feels good. It allowed me time to think, but not too hard, since I had to pay attention to my run and keep pushing forward. Even after I finish running, the endorphins kick in and keep me feeling happy for the day. With water polo and swimming the escape was far

different. Instead of a freeing feeling, it was more of a focus on the task at hand and near exhaustion that helped me escape my troubles. Waking up and getting out of bed at five in the morning four days a week to lift weights and then swim, in the outdoor pool, in the dead of winter, alone is enough to force a persons problems on to the back burner, but add school and then another two and a half hour practice onto the end of the day, and you have yourself a recipe for someone who doesnt even have time to consider outside life. I dont think there was ever a water polo practice that wasnt brutally difficult. We were pushed extremely hard, and when we played that showed. However, water polo forced me to put the rest of my life on hold. Whether that made it easier for me to function is debatable, but it certainly helped me escape my problems. While I am relatively new and not very skilled at throwing shot put and discus, it has been somewhat of a relief for my problems, but thats mostly due to the so-cial aspect. While heaving a heavy object is certainly a release, socializing with many different people is a great way of helping my problems and having fun. Basically, as far as Im concerned, had I not done athletics, I wouldve been much more stressed and my problems wouldve seemed a lot bigger than they were. Being able to release my emotions in this way was re-ally a benefit.

Track and field athletes find comfort in exercise and in being among their teammates. Photo credit: Mia Owens

A craving for acceptance

come outside! or Does this make me look fat? The hardest part is balancing your needs with your desire to make the relationship work. That is, keeping your ability to enjoy life on your own, while still spending time with

your significant other, and working around obstacles such as jobs,

parents, and schoolwork. Sometimes it seems the

universe is on your side, everything is smooth sailing, and at other times everyone is against you, pushing you apart from the person you want most to see. The efforts to reach each other and stay close despite obstructions can drain your energy and time, so that in staying to-

gether you are causing your-self problems such as low grades, little sleep and bad

moods, or isolation from your friends and family, until the

big question comes up: Is this all worth it? Is what we have

valuable enough for me to stay? This is the reality check, the pain-

ful truth that assails us eventually no matter how well we hide, and deny it.

It is like taking the temperature of your relationship, seeing if you are actually still

comfortable with that person, or if you have strayed away from what brought you together

in the first place. The important factor in making this decision is:

is my relationship healthy? Am I doing anything to disrespect my partner, or do I feel disrespected? What

can I change in my behavior that would make them feel safer and happier, and what can I ask them to do for me?

Even if you are not in a romantic relationship, treating each other with respect is integral to friendships as well. Just

being aware of how you are treating your friend or partner is a step towards more considerate behavior. And this is the best

way to stay away from abusive, disrespectful habits and keep your relationship comfortable, and comforting.

Relationships: love is a balancing act

In high school, many teens struggle with their self-image and feel incredible pressure to fit in. This constant struggle

with appearances often leads teenagers to take ex-treme measures to try and find a comfort zone with their body.Dr. Hara Marano from Psychologytoday.com states that, More than 90 percent of those who develop bulimia or anorexia, or some combination of the two, are young women in their teens and twenties, and most develop the disorder in adolescence. I struggled with my eating and I didnt find out about my eating disorder until after I was well into my habit, says an anonymous 23-year-old girl who had an eating disorder through high school. Her eating disorder did not only affect her body and her attitude, but it also brought distress and con-fusion to her family and friends. Bulimia and anorexia are both eating disorders that are caused by a lack of self-worth that translates into an obsession with becoming thin. Anorexia is characterized by a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, which often escalates into self-starvation. Bulimia involves binge eating and then purging through self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse. As previously stated, many eating disorders begin in high school and can plague the victim for the rest of their life. Oftentimes, a misconstruction of societal val-ues or familial pressure can propel an individual into an eating disorder. In high school, many teens struggle with their self-image and feel pressure to fit in. Consequently, many high school students con-stantly struggle with how to deal with peer pressure, and this can cause them to struggle when building self-confidence relating to their body. Their eating disorder can become an unhealthy comfort zone, or a scapegoat for other feelings of inadequacy. Low self-esteem is often the root cause of eating disorders. Self-esteem has to do with how much you value yourself or how much you feel youre worth, says sources from Teenadvice.com. Self-esteem not only affects how comfortable we feel in our own bodies, but how much we enable ourselves

When you cant hide, you can runOlivia CusimanoStaff Reporter

to do and to think. Author and self esteem experts report that, 71 percent of teenage girls believe they are not good enough. Everyone has trouble trying to feel comfortable in his or her own skin, and some teens translate this discomfort into an obsession with body image. When extreme measures are taken in order to become thinner there are certain risks and health conditions involved. Some lasting effects of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia include heart defects, hor-monal changes, neurological problems, anemia and an increased probability of osteoporosis. Becoming comfortable with your body can be a struggle, especially in high school. Teenagers who abuse their bodies through eating disorders face risks of lifelong physical and neurological damage, so we should all focus on creating a healthy, nondestructive comfort zone that will help build self-confidence. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, visit the SBHS counselors office or seek help through a parent or close adult. Only you can decide what is comfortable for you and your self-image.

Finding comfort around friends during times of trouble is a nonviolent way of treating ones emotions.

It seems the intimate exposure of the poor, hungry, and home-less has caused our society to be almost numb to shocking images and reports of these people. How many of you have seen commercials as the ones described above and asked your parents about it to receive a sympathetic response, yes, but one of passiveness. I mean, people are dying of hunger, and the norm response is to flip the channel rather than jump up and scream,

emergency! In our society today, it is hard to know exactly what

to react to because of the prevalence of fraud and misconception. Sometimes no one can really tell you if your hundred dollars of hard earned money will actually be used to feed a child or used to supply better camera equipment for the commer-cial producers?

I think I have life made, and I dont mean to com-plain about the reappearing hunger commercials, I

am simply surfacing the issue of hungry people. It is hard to imagine what hunger is, moreover take

action to deal with it. Is the problem one of necessary action, or is it to find a legit way to comfort ourselves when

the realistic world drones across our clean cut lawn and bangs on our front door? Maybe its simply to be okay with living middle to upper middle class life, and getting to know your own carbon footprint more intimately. Knowledge seems to be the root of power in America; through the value of comfort, and for the sake of NOT feeling the need to freak out every time hunger commercials flash across the tube, I think it is ok to be comfortable with yourself.

The discomfort caused by comfort

Santa Barbara High School students cope with the pressures of high school and adolescence through creating various individual comfort zones. While these comfort zones can promote healthy habits, they can also lead to self-destructive tendencies. Finding a place that is safe

from the stress and anxiety of high school is a difficult but crucial task.

10

PerspectivesApril 29, 2011

Edward RodriguezStaff Reporter

Sophia SpannStaff Reporter

How do SBHS students deal with break-ups? We look at a girls and a guys perspective on the endings of high school relationships.I once heard that it takes a guy three full weeks to realize he

misses his ex-girlfriend. Three weeks! When Ive gone through a break up, its taken me all of three minutes to miss my ex. What can someone ponder in three weeks time before actually missing the person theyre not with anymore? For me, after a break-up, pictures, clothing, and any symbol of him are trashed, deleted, or shut away from obvi-ous view. And now, in the technological era, text after text, email after email, and voicemail after voicemail also have to be deleted. Its exhausting! Not only do you have to change your Facebook relationship status, but you have to race like mad to erase the notification of your status change. If not, dozens of sympathy messages appear and then the awkward conversation between you and your exs friends begins. Even if you know its coming you have been drifting apart for awhile theres no way to know what feel-ings will stir inside when he says those dreadful words, We have to talk. Out of human nature, out of emotion, out of a search for comfort, we, as girls, take our emotions and look for a new place to

relocate. After the initial shock, maybe a hobby, a new guy, or even a parade of indi-viduality will subdue our emotions for the time being; we simply deal with the deck of cards we make for ourselves. It would be nice to know what to do next, but the fact is no one does. So, lets say that we do prepare a little, and we do experience a surge of control, and we as the girl are the one crushing our guys heart? What then? Not only do we have the break up talk, we have the pre-break up talk and the post-break up talk. I have been in this position a few times, and its as though I try to set things straight, but at the end of the con-versation were making a plan to hang out again! Sometimes, its the sheer fear of letting go of someone rather than a specific individual that scares us when we consider breaking up with a guy. No matter what support people around you give, no matter what you tell your-self, break ups can be really upsetting in fact they ARE really upsetting. Know that everyone goes through them and do your best. Although you may not be in control of the entire situation, you are in control of YOU.

After being given the task of writing about relation-

ships, I quickly realized that it would be difficult to write anything without my former girlfriends thinking it was about them. Thankfully most of them hate me any-ways so there isnt really much I could say that would worsen their thought of me. From my experience, relationships, and in particular breakups, are the easi-est ways to ensure that your high school life will be riddled with awkward hellos and desperate attempts to avoid your former girlfriend or boyfriend. As in the movies, there is almost always a part in the break up speech where someone says that they should still be friends. For me this has always seemed near impossible. I mean, how can one ever hope to just be friends with someone whove they shared their inner most thoughts and countless pas-sionate embraces with? I dont under-stand how people could go from saying I love you one day to just being pals the next and act as if nothing ever hap-pened or mattered. There are those lucky types of men

who go through girls like nothing and seem to have a new girlfriend every other month, but unfortunately, I was not one of them. Every relationship I have ever been in, I have been serious about and tried my best to make work, but when it goes south as things tend to do, it is always the guy that gets blamed whether it was his fault or not. When a man breaks up with a woman, he is called a fool and told he made the wrong choice while the woman is praised with compliments by people saying she can do better. It makes no sense to me that when I get broken up with no one comes to my rescue or tries to boost my self esteem. It could be that it is just me who feels this way, and my flawed personality has caused my failed love life. However there are few who can say that a break up is easy and ultimately if you are willing to invest your time into someone then you should be prepared to face the even-tual repercussions of breaking up. For those of you who have broken up with someone and gone on to become the best of friend I tip my hat to you but everyone else should be prepared for the worst. Good thing its only high school.

Bring on the neon In all honesty, I've been looking forward to MORP for at least the

past two months. I had my clothes put together over a month ago and organized group plans about three weeks prior to the big day; I was nothing if not prepared. I wanted everything that night to go perfectly, and I wanted to have the best time possible. Even though the night didn't necessarily go as I had planned, it could certainly be described as eventful. When I arrived, the dance was exactly what I had expected it to be; it was a little crowded and very loud, but totally bearable, and I was so ready to rush it right to the front with my friends. Then I must have turned around for 10 seconds tops to say hi to another friend, when suddenly I lost my entire group. This worried me for a little while, but I wouldn't let it keep me down. I was deter-mined to enjoy myself, so I found a good friend of mine and danced with him for a while. This is when things started to get a little more hectic. While dancing with my friend, the pushes of the crowd slammed my head into the walls of the main hall several times, to the point where I felt a little dizzy at irregular intervals. Despite this setback, I continued dancing. That is, until my friend "traded me" with some guy I'd never seen before, and I danced with this stranger for the next 20 minutes or so, while at the same time trying to stop his wandering hands from groping me. Rest assured I was not all too happy with my friend following that incident. And then came the first of many shutdowns. The effect of the green laser lights was diminished by the bright white glow of the fluorescent hallway lighting, and everyone's sweaty, half naked bodies were exposed in full view. This brought an entire-ly new meaning to the phrase, "everything looks better in the dark." The shutdowns were all caused by the violent pushing , pulling, and crowding of students to get as close to the DJ as possible,

where the music was the loudest. The crowd was angered at the administration's interruptions, but begrudgingly did as they were told and spread out so the dance could continue. Then, as the lights went back down, chants of "SWAG" filled the air, and everyone started raging it once again. But the crowd refused to quit. With every shutdown and warning to spread out and stop pushing, the swarm of students just returned to its original state of frenzy near the speakers. Even I was pushed over onto the floor in the middle of the enormous crowd once, my only refuge being the hand one responsible friend to whom I am very grateful. I was careful not to lean against the walls for support anymore though, since they were covered with sweaty handprints that generously reflected the bright rave lights. Then suddenly rumor spread around the dance that the cops had arrived, and a frantic search for friends who were in no state for a police encounter ensued. One final shutdown led to the conclusion of MORP 2011 roughly half an hour before the scheduled end, as administrative faculty found the dance to be "too hectic." The crowd of students cleared, and I gathered with my friends to discuss the nights most memorable moments. Among those was one friend getting a fat lip via elbowing, and another getting straight up slapped in the eye by a girl. In addition to those, two boys outside the dance actually got in a fist fight over another friend of mine, and several friends, of course, lost their belongings. I, however, was amid the people who had thoroughly enjoyed themselves at MORP. With two interruptions by the police, several temporary shutdowns, and the constant push and pull of the ever-growing crowd, MORP is certainly not for the faint of heart. It can be easily described as a three hour rollercoaster ride through very loud music, intoxication, and raging teen hormones at their extremes. My MORP experience was grimy, sweaty, loud, and even painful at certain parts, and yet I loved every minute of it.

Olivia WalkerStaff Editor

11April 29, 2011

Welcome to our third issue of The Hippie Corner, where we will be giving you the

down low on all things music, excluding actual musicals. Now, you dont have to share our taste in music to read this page, but it is not recommended if you are a wet, moss-covered blanket who doesnt like having any fun. This page is your backstage pass to a good time where we will cover everything from awesome local bands you just have to check out, to how to have

Gabi SafranaviciusStaff Reporter

a killer concert experience. Of course we will also have our Hippie Hell for all you haters who feel the need to defend

mainstream, and lots of pretty pictures for the rest of you kids who are a little bit scared of words. We will

also have the yay and nay on all the coolest ven-ues with tips and specifics on each one, including SoHo, Muddy Waters, Velvet Jones, and the Santa Barbara Bowl. Our ultimate goal at the Hippie Corner is to convince you to grab some friends,

go have a good time, and listen to some new, hip-ster proof, local music.

Going to a concert should be an enjoy-able experi-ence to look forward to; but not ev-eryone knows

how to have

a good time. Here are a few

essential tips in order to emplify your

experience. When reflecting on my favorite con-cert adventures, I notice that the people whom which I attend the concert with are the ones that have the greatest ef-fect on my overall impression of the event. A whole night can be ruined solely by having one Debbie Downer in at-tendance. Knowing who to bring with you to a concert, or any event for that matter, can make or break the situation. Make sure that you bring someone who you enjoy being with (obviously), but most importantly you want someone who has the same comfort level as you. The getting along part isnt too hard

Saavan SagarStaff Reporter to decode. Why would you willingly

go to a concert with someone you dont like? As far as comfort goes, a good ex-ample that comes to mind is, if you go to a concert with someone who doesnt like to dance but you do, you will either be forced to not dance even when you want to (hell on earth in itself), or you can awkwardly dance alone while they stand there looking like they were just diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Hopefully if you are with the right people you can appreciate and enjoy the music to its full potential, and you may even have a good time despite the music if you are with the right people.

Ben SheldonStaff Reporter

Levi Hayden: DrumsAdam Rasmussen: Piano, Synth, VocalsShane McKillop: Bass, VocalsChris Lynch: Lead Vocals and Guitar These four local Santa Barbararians quickly evolved from kids in a garage to local celebrities. In the earlier days of the band, they played small shows at coffee shops, later progressing to larger venues such as SoHo and Muddy Waters. After recently being signed with well-known in-die label, Richard Swift, this synth infused indie band is in the middle of a 28-day tour across America.

Clay Pigeon is a ska punk band from the United Kingdom. They are pretty old school but mix it up with some beat boxing and some stellar saxophone. Clay Pigeon is an upbeat band for almost any occasion. Their songs are filled with soul and power. I have been listening to this band for quite some time and they do not get old. Whether you are having a terrific or a terrible day Clay Pigeon will improve it. They have released two full albums, Time Wont Cease and Blackout. They are a great band and I strongly suggest that you check them out.

Hailing from the metal and hardcore hotbed of Sweden, Anchor bring a heavy, aggres-sive hardcore sound with howled vocals and devastating mosh parts, but not without its speed and urgency, taking cues from bands like Trial, Judge, Strife, and Have Heart. Members have done time in Damage Control and Set My Path, and their mes-sage is one of compassion and awareness, as the band follows the vegan straight edge lifestyle. I have seen these guys play before and they put on one crazy show. Their front man is six foot five and the most energetic frontman I have ever witnessed.

Pros:Large outdoor patioServes dinnerDancing spaceGood locationGood soundAccommodates a variety of genres Cons:Food is expensiveService can be poor Side Notes:Soho is a bit more structured in many ways, which is good for some people and for others who dont like it; if you can manage to ignore it its a great venue.

Pros:Welcoming atmosphereGood serviceFriendly staffOutdoor PatioNice set up Cons:Small indoorSmall patioOverall small Side Notes:The size of Muddies can make the experi-ence more intimate, which you can decide for yourself if you like or not.

Pros:Dance spaceSmall and intimateFriendly staffGood location Cons:Not amazing soundA bar, so not always under 21 Side Notes:Lots of great bands come here. Although the set up is a little awkward, some make it work and it is a great venue.

The dish on local venuesSaavan SagarStaff Reporter

Pros:Supply with bigger bandsGreat Sound Cons:ExpensiveNot very personable serviceNot a very intimate experienceAssigned seating (unless you can afford the pit) Side Notes:From personal experience, the Bowl is a good place to see a bigger band if you have wanted to see them for a while and dont want to drive to LA. Dont go if you are interested in discovering a band.

Whats the big deal about liking mainstream music? Honestly, could someone please explain to me why thats such a bad thing? Why does that make you a poser, or somehow less creative than people with other musical tastes? I dont see whats so problematic about it. And really, if you think about it, mainstream music is only mainstream because many people enjoy it. There must be a reason why so many people enjoy it; it must have some good musical qualities,

or at the very least be somewhat catchy. Is it wrong for liking songs that many other people happen to like as well? Is it so bad to take pleasure in songs that are catchy, or just have a pleasing melody? If mainstream music is so bad then why do so many people listen to it anyway? Maybe its because it isnt really so bad after all And as for people who claim that listeners of mainstream music are posers, have you ever considered that

maybe its you whos the poser? You try so hard to avoid listening to the music you attack as lame, so you avoid it at all costs. But really, by going out of your way to avoid music that you claim is bad (even though you dont REALLY listen to it) arent you making yourself the fake one? So for all you readers out there who would attack me as an unoriginal poser, I just listen to what I enjoy the most. If doing what I want to do really makes me a poser, then so be it.

September 18, 200912Entertainment

Felicia RichStaff Reporter

April 29, 2011

Jane Eyre is a recently released movie that is set in the early eighteen

hundreds, and tells the story of a young governess falling in love with her much older, and somewhat dangerous master. The heroine, played by Mia Wasikowska, is a young, plain but very bright girl named Jane who, after the death of her parents, is forced to live with her very vile aunt. The movie begins when she is ten years old and shows how she is abused by her aunt and cousins. Even when situations are not her fault, she is still blamed for them all. One day her aunt decides she has had enough of her "petulant" niece and sends her off to a school for young girls train-ing to be governesses, despite Jane's pleas against going. She goes to this strict school and is treated with the same abuse and coldness. When she is older, she gains a job as a gov-erness to a young French girl whose mother is recently deceased leaving her to the care of her father, Rochester (played by Michael Fassbender), who has little tolerance for children and is often away from his home on business. As Jane spends her days teaching and helping this young girl, she sees little of the master of the house, until he arrives and she meets him in the most unexpected

way. Thus begins their intriguing yet subtle relationship, both constantly aware of the dangerous territory they lurk in. Little does Jane know, however, that as she is falling for her much older boss, he is hiding a deep dark secret that could very well destroy what they have together. Usually, its hard to keep viewers interested in a love story when the main relationship is not as big and dramatic as the usual Hollywood one, but director Cary Fukunaga certainly manages in Jane Eyre. As far as casting goes, Wasikowska does a great job conveying the conservative, yet strong and smart character of Jane. Both she and Fassbender are good-looking, but dont have the runway model good-looks that we often see in these types of movies. The scenery too was striking, noticeable even in the most dramatic scenes, when the characters are usually the focus. The camera angles were perfect, but Fukunaga could have more thoroughly explained this richly written story; the layout of the movie --many flashbacks-- made the plot confus-ing at times. Still, its hard to tear your eyes away from the many suspenseful and passionate moments. The emotion in the movie is diverse and rich; the rawness is apparent in every scene. So whether youre an avid reader of novels or a chick flick fan, Jane Eyre really is a must-see.

Jane Eyre movie interpretation a must-see

Mia Wasikowska portrays Jane in the 2011 rendition of the novel Jane Eyre.

Stranded in an end-less sea of blue sky and barren landscape, you are marooned

on an island of light, fire, rhythm, and an all-encompassing sense of belonging. Only at Burning Man could one experience such anomalies of our normal lives, all the while surrounded by the inhospitable Black Rock Desert. This city that rises from a dried lake bed just once a year not only greets one with the most memorable week of their life, but transcends the depreciation of time, altering the state of ones existence in its grandeur. For those who are not up to date on elec-tronic music and art festivals, Burning Man is everything that Coachella isnt...and ev-erything it is. It is a collaboration of 55,000 attendees from all over the world, who come together on a dried up lake bed (the Playa) in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. In other words, Burning Man is a giant festival, fea-turing dozens of elaborate music venues and hundreds of works of art scattered amongst the event site. Nothing is quite the same. A giant wooden man, who is eventually burned to the ground in a fantastic spectacle of lights, stands upon a platform (100 feet in total) in the middle of the settlement. He is surrounded by a circle of randomly ordered works of art and miscellaneous contraptions. I cant help but remember the time I sat atop a six-foot high stool, not a person around, punching the keys of the typewriter that a passersby had previously left senti-ments on. Or the time I walked through a slanted wooden maze, more intricate and grand than the imagination could fathom. Upon the walls were tens of thousands of notes to lost loved ones. I had never experienced such candid expression in my

life and I was humbled to my core. Thus, rather than encompassing the articulation of a few artists, like that which is common at other vaguely similar events, Burning Man is truly a collaboration of all who attend. And those who attend are unlike those of the real world. Many hold day-to-day jobs but, come late August, transition to the Burning Man way of life for the one week they have waited for all year. Their free-spirited nature and hospitality is contagious, and even as a skeptical, unnerved Playa-virgin last year, I quickly greeted the liberation from confor-mity with open arms. It was not until my first night that I un-derstood the extraordinary spirit of Burning Man. I rode a bike with my brother, sister, and their various assortment of quirky friends to the edge of the encampment ring that surrounds the inner circle with man and the art n stuff. We were studded with a plethora of lights, and extravagant outfits. I wore gold tights, one dressed as a cook with a spatula in hand, and the rest were decked out in an hour and a halfs worth of dress-ing up. Still, we were noobs compared to the rest. At this moment I caught my first glimpse of the magnificence of the place. The edge of the ring that surrounds the inner circle, that where the massive musi-cal festivities are held, looked like the Las Vegas strip on crack. Lasers streaked across the sky, the pulse of hundreds of different speakers took me aback, and the spectacles of fire and lights were something of science fiction. But I will not elaborate, for I do not pos-ses the literary mastery to accurately and completely detail the sensory explosion that Burning Man entails. I can merely marvel in my memories and sit and wait for next year.

Burning Man r ises f rom the deser tCasey SlaughtGuest Contributor

Credit: IMDb

April 29, 201113

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D I F C I LF C I L M E D I O

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Dear Ryan,My Birthday is coming up and I want a car. I need a thousand bucks quick. What do you suggest?-Haley

Dear Haley,You know what to do. Dear Ryan,Im a senior girl and I have 5 possible prom dates. None of them know about each other, what should I do?-Honeybee Dear Honeybee,What exactly is the problem here? Five happy guys, and one very spoiled youtake them all!Dear Ryan,You are the sexiest man alive. When are you and me going to happen?- Your admirer Dear Admirer,Never. Get a life.

Dear Ryan,So, Im a junior girl and I really like this boy in my grade. When he texts me he seems to really like me, but when I talk to him he seems awkward and totally stand offish.What should I do?- Mixed Signals Dear Mixed Signals,In front of a page with no sound but a scribble, no eyes upon you but those stuck to your face, and no one in the audience to make fun of you, there is no pressure at all. But, talk is cheapThoughts may never see the light of day and actions may never see a frilly gilded page in history, find someone who can do both.

Hidden ObjectsFind:beach ballskate board a slice of pizza

a forkice cream Cone a straw a comb

Ruthie Laraway

Descifrar las Palabras

14April 29, 2011

Jessica GaffneyStaff Reporter

Pitcher Perfect

Stephanie ThortonStaff Editor Coming off two

shut-out wins over San Marcos

this past week, the Dons baseball team defeated Dos Pueblos this past Tuesday 7-0 in the first of three games with the Chargers this week to decide the Channel League title. The two teams, who were both undefeated in league prior to Tues-days game, also met Wednesday and will meet again this afternoon. Danny Zandona pitched the Tuesday game against the Chargers, which was his third shutout in recent weeks. Col-lin Dewell hit a two-run homerun and a double in the game, and Spencer Fraker added three runs for the Dons.

The team also recently traveled to the Anaheim Lions Tournament, where they met some of Californias toughest teams. Thats where we got three out of our four losses, so we were playing really good teams there, says Zandona. That really helps us prepare for league. In Anaheim we faced really tough pitching, so it makes league pitching seem easierI think thats why weve been scoring so many runs. The Dons finished the tournament with a 13-1 win over Bountiful, Utah and since then have won a string of high-scoring games. They then defeated Thousand Oaks 9-5, and Buena 10-0 and then 11-5. Last week, they defeated San Marcos 10-

0, and then 2-0 two days later. Were really hitting well this year. Its definitely one of our strong points, con-tinues Zandona. Two of those games, the win over San Marcos and the win over Buena were also shut-outs for Zandona. Ive been working really hard. I think it has something to do with my three and a half years of varsity experience. Hes recently made a slight change in his pitching motion, which he believes has helped a lot in recent games. Ive dropped my arm slot a bitabout four inches. Its really made a differ-ence; its easier on my arm and adds a little more velocity and movement to my fastball.

After league finishes up the team will head to CIF, with the ultimate goal of making it to the finals, which are played each year at Dodger Stadium. We want to play at Dodger Stadium, thats the main thing everyones working towards. We think its possible; we were ranked first a couple of weeks ago, says Zandona. Last year, the teams season ended with a close loss in the CIF quarterfinals against Yucaipa, something Zandona says has been in the teams mind for most of this season. Thats a memory that fuels us this year to really work hard, he says. We really want to go deep in CIF.

Danny Zandona pitches in the recent game against Channel League rival Dos Pueblos.

The SBHS boys volleyball team has re-cently shown their true

talent and come out victorious multiple times in the past month, especially during their trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. The Dons (15-8) have also battled through eight games in ten days, including three Chan-nel League matches. The team traveled 2,845 miles from home in order to play some of the best teams in the nation at one of the most beautiful places in the world. The boys had a good time. They surfed, played some beach volleyball, and we all went to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, said Head Coach Chad Arneson. The boys first game was a tough loss to home team Punahou High School, cur-rently ranked fifth in the country. How-ever, they came back ready to fight for a win the second day, and defeated their opponents Iolani High School 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23. Alex Biedul led the team in kills with twelve, followed by Casey Slaught with ten, and Holden Ploch with nine. The Dons offense stepped up and demonstrat-ed its skills, while the defense held up its end with newly appointed libero Nick Clark tallying a game high of ten digs. Slaught was awarded the impact player of the match for his outstanding effort. Just two days after returning from Ha-waii, the team dominated the Dos Pueblos Chargers at home in their third Channel

League match of the season. A familiar face returned to the team, as senior middle Clifford Anderson was welcomed back to the court in his first appearance this season since dealing with injuries. Anderson, who will be attending UCLA in the fall, contributed hugely to the teams success with seven kills and eight blocks.He adds depth and a confidence factor to our team, said Coach Arneson. Biedul had a game high of eleven kills, including one duo block with Anderson that was a vital play near the end of the game. Both Slaught and Ploch had another impressive match, totaling nine and six kills respectively. On the defensive end, Clark illustrated his talent by tallying six-teen digs during the game. Nine days later the team defeated another league opponent, the Buena Bulldogs, at home for their Senior Night. The match ended quickly as the Dons beat the Bulldogs with an extraordinary score of 25-14, 25-19, 25-19. Mark Outwater, one of the teams six seniors, had an outstanding performance and led the team with twelve kills. Fellow team mate and senior Kyle Aronson also contributed six kills, two aces, and two blocks to the teams success. Playing so many games in such a short period of time has helped the boys vol-leyball team make great progress in the past few weeks as they reach the end of the regular season and head into playoffs.

Aloha Dons

15April 29, 2011

Camille Wissman, senior co-captain of the varsity swim and dive

team, has found her passion through swimming.