ALEX MIKHAILPOOR
Volume 81 No. 7 February 25, 2011Volume 81 No. 9 April 26, 2011 tornado-times.com
hoover high school est. 1929Flags twirl high 11
651 Glenwood Road, Glendale, CA 91202 | (818) 242-6801 ext. 11202
insi
de
Previously closed since Au-
gust due to renovations and
the state budget crisis, the
Glendale Department of Motor Ve-
hicles branch on Glenoaks Blvd. re-
opened yesterday.
The City Council pressured
state officials since December to re-
open the branch due to complaints
about the massive traffic the clo-
sure caused to other nearby
branches.
Dymond McRae (’11), who
was at the Glendale DMV yester-
day, said that the reopening saved a
lot of time because he did not have
to go to Pasadena for an ID card.
Officials announced late last
year that the branch, which had
been scheduled to reopen on Nov.
1 after a two-month $900,000 ren-
ovation, was one of three offices in
the area to be closed indefinitely
due to limited staffing resources.
The renovation includes new
self-service machines for renewing
licenses, heating and air condition-
ing, flooring, furniture, signs, and
fencing upgrades.
Students took driving tests in
neighboring cities and it was diffi-
cult to memorize the different
speed limits and streets. “It made
the test harder as it made me focus
on more obstacles,” junior Medvin
Baghasarian said.
The Glendale branch is going
through a shuffling of staffing and
statewide budget cuts proposed by
Gov. Jerry Brown, including trans-
ferring $71.6 million from the
DMV to the state’s general fund.
According to the DMV, the
new staff is manned by 45 full-time
and three part-time employees and
all are highly trained for the job.
The Glendale DMV serves
281,000 transactions annually
which include permits, licenses,
and registration of cars.
Glendale DMV reopens its doors
ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES
Gloria Hong is in the 6.9%6.9%
accepted into
Earlier this month, students from Clark Magnet and Hoover managed to get
their hands on the stock cards that the district uses for report cards in order to
forge report cards. Because of this, the schools had to reprint the third quarter
progress reports onto different blue cards instead of the original green and white and
send them out later than scheduled.
“I think if students would spend time studying, they wouldn’t have to spend so
much time figuring out how to forge report cards,” Principal Jennifer Earl said.
As for the consequences, the suspected students will have to deal with the law
and the district.
“I’m proud of the collaboration between the district and Clark and Hoover in
discovering [this], finding out who it was, and isolating it quickly,” Earl said.
The district is investigating the best precautions to be taken in order to prevent
this from happening again, especially when grades are to be submitted.
“Even if my grades were bad and I wouldn’t want my parents to know about it,
that’s going too far,” Nick Bassirpour (’11) said.
MEAGAN KNIGHT
Read her story and personal tips on pg. 2HARVARD: Later last month, senior Gloria Hong was accepted into Harvard with a full scholarship.
Hong visited the university campus over spring break.
Students caught forging third quarterprogress report cards
AUGUST: The Glendale DMV branch on Glenoaks Blvd., closed since
August due to renovations and the state budget crisis , reopened yesterday
after complaints about traffic the closure caused to other branches. People
waited in line yesterday for the reopening.
6Viva la vida in Europe JB play preview 8
HARVARDHARVARD
the
Measure S, the $270 mil-
lion bond for the GUSD
schools, passed on April
5 with a 69 percent of the vote, well
above the required 55 percent
needed to pass.
The money will provide safe
and modern school facilities, and
technological upgrades in several
classrooms.
The Glendale Teachers’ Asso-
ciation (GTA) spent $40,000 fight-
ing the bond and supporting school
board candidates Nayiri Nahabe-
dian and Ingrid Gunnell. However,
that paled in comparison to the
$160,000 spent on the “Yes on S”
campaign that supported the in-
cumbents, Nahabedian and Mary
Boger.
Nahabedian received the most
votes, with 10,560 out of the 43,711
total. Boger received the second
most votes at 8,761.
According the Glendale News-
Press, GTA President Tami Carlson
did not support Measure S because
“the district will not guarantee that
they will funnel the proposed $19
million into class size reduction.”
Because the bond has just
passed, no specific plans have been
made yet for changes in this cam-
pus.
“The Board has discussed a
number of times that upgrading
Hoover’s football/soccer field is a
high priority, so that could be one
of the first projects to be consid-
ered,” board member Christine
Walters said.
Also, Councilwoman Laura
Friedman became the city’s first fe-
male mayor in over a decade after
being unanimously elected by her
colleagues.
Glendalians vote yes on Measure SMEAGAN KNIGHT
timestornado
“Rise and shine, honey,”
your father says. Al-
though your neigh-
bors are still asleep, you stumble
out of bed and flick the switch on,
squinting at the sudden flood of
light. The digital clock blinks in
red: 12:00 a.m., midnight. Right on
time, you think, and you open your
textbook to study until morning.
This has been the daily sched-
ule of senior Gloria Hong.
“Late at night, there are fewer
distractions, like phone calls from
friends or Facebook notifications,”
Gloria said.
Club officer responsibilities,
string quartet rehearsals, editor du-
ties for the Korea Daily student
newspaper, and volunteer shifts at
the Glendale Health Free Clinic in
addition to maintaining her 4.5
GPA sometimes meant only three
hours of sleep after school, but in
the end, it paid off.
On March 30, Gloria received
an e-mail congratulating her ac-
ceptance to Harvard University. A
few days later, the university in-
formed her that she would be
granted a full four-year scholar-
ship.
Gloria is among the 2,110 ac-
cepted out of 30,489 applicants this
year, the highest recorded number
of applicants in Harvard history.
The week before Harvard no-
tified Hong of her admission, she
was anxious because the other Ivy
League schools she applied to had
put her on their waiting lists. As
soon as she read the e-mail from
Harvard, she shared the news with
her parents, Cindy and Sean Hong,
in tears of joy and relief.
“My mom and I were both
crying over the phone, asking
each other, ‘Why are you cry-
ing?’” Gloria said.
Gloria is most thankful for
her parents who acted as her
“one-on-one counselors” and
gave her guidance and tips they
learned from Korean education
newspapers. But according to
Cindy, all she did for Gloria was
“encourage her with compliments
and give her car rides.” Cindy said
her greatest hope now is for Gloria
to look after her own health in col-
lege.
As for Gloria, she plans to pur-
sue Human Developmental and
Regenerative Biology in the future,
and prepare to become a doctor.
Gloria said that after volun-
teering at the Glendale Health Free
Clinic, she realized that by being a
doctor, she can “help [the patients]
to the best of [her] abilities.”
Harvard University is one of
eight private institutions compris-
ing the prestigious Ivy League, oth-
ers being Brown, Columbia, Cor-
nell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale,
and the University of Pennsylva-
nia.
U.S. News & World Report
ranked Harvard as the number one
college in the nation in 2011.
Although attending Harvard
has been her long-time goal, Gloria
kept this aspiration to herself be-
cause “if you tell people you want
to get into Harvard and then not
make it, you would become self-
conscious.”
Her greatest challenge in
achieving this goal was balancing
her social and academic life, espe-
cially after her snack and lunch
times turned into “business hours”
for club officer duties.
Fellow Key Club officer and
friend Diana Han (’12) said, “she
was the best key club president we
ever had and an amazing friend.”
According to the Harvard ad-
missions office, the university
seeks well-rounded or “well-lop-
sided” students who show excel-
lence in a particular area.
Gloria believes the reason for
her acceptance was because her ap-
plication demonstrated that she was
versatile but never forced herself to
become well-rounded.
“[Gloria] always says so
calmly, ‘Yes, I can do it,’ and she
does it,” counselor Sirvart Moura-
dian said. “I guess that’s what it
takes to get into Harvard.”
April 26, 2011
Tornado TimesNEWS2
1. Learn the material in class/schoolright then and there. Go to your teach-ers during snack/lunch if you have anyquestions.
2.Show, not tell, on college apps whatyou did by being in that position of aclub/volunteer organization.
3. Never wait to prepare for SAT/ACT,to apply for scholarships, or to lookfor extracurricular activities. Start
now, it's never too early!
Hong goes to HarvardSE YEON KIM
Building a Harvard-worthy application
April 26, 2011Tornado Times
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Cain BucklerTroy Jonic
Levon Ostakarayan
Editor-in-ChiefJoice Lee
Managing EditorDaphne Ong
Layout EditorAlex KaribyanCopy Editor
Linet MardyrosianNews EditorSeYeon Kim
Opinion EditorGrace Nsavu
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Brian Crosby
Staff Editorials
Alevel nine earth-
quake, one tsunami,
73 aftershocks, radi-
ation leaks, and over 10,000
casualties later, Japan’s
morale remains strong—a
fact that we can all learn
from.
Despite all the Japanese
people that have had to en-
dure dire circumstances,
there are no reports of loot-
ing, riots, and no Japanese
equivalent of Kanye West
going on television to say
that the Prime Minister and
government don’t care about
the people.
For those of you who
have not yet realized it, this
is a reference to the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina in 2005
when conditions got so bad
that, as MSNBC reported,
the mayor of New Orleans
was forced to “order a crack-
down on looting.”
The Japanese have stuck
together in the face of all this
trauma in ways that many na-
tions can’t do even during
times of peace and tranquil-
ity.
There are people who
claim that their peaceful way
of handling the situation is
due to the nation’s racial uni-
formity. While there may be
some truth to this, it is their
societal beliefs that have kept
them so disciplined.
Rather than living by the
“me first,” individualistic
philosophy, Japan has a col-
lective society.
For example, Kyung Lah,
writing for CNN, reported
that the Japanese waited or-
derly in line for their rations,
and “at the front, which takes
hours to get to in some cases,
shoppers are limited to 10
food or beverage items. No
complaints, no cheating.”
They believe in putting
the group—the country—
first. And that is the most
valuable lesson from these
circumstances.
But their dignity doesn’t
just stop there. There are peo-
ple who have deemed last
month’s disasters as revenge
for the Pearl Harbor attacks
of World War II. Interestingly
when Hurricane Katrina
struck, there is little doubt
that there were no Japanese
people calling it an act of re-
venge for Hiroshima and Na-
gasaki.
Japan’s people serve as a
social example for not just
the United States, but nations
around the world. Their
calmness should make us
question how we have han-
dled ourselves in the wake of
natural disasters, government
failures, and, perhaps, even
personal failures. We tend to
victimize ourselves and
search for people to blame
and people to feel sorry for
us.
Yet we don’t want to help
the poor with socialized
health care and we refuse to
give up personal benefits
when trying to come up with
a national budget. Why? Be-
cause, unlike the Japanese,
selflessness is not in our vo-
cabulary.
What it all comes down
to is this: the Japanese have a
remarkable sense of commu-
nity. We can try to build the
safest, most earthquake proof
buildings on earth. Yet,
who’s to say that if disaster
struck, we would be able to
handle ourselves with dig-
nity?
The Japanese don’t fall through the cracks
Editors
Staff Writers
Photo/Graphics Staff
Opinion
There is a sense of unity and calmness that has allowed the Japanese people to han-dle the crisis with pride and poise that we can all learn from. The situation is terrible,but their conduct remains impeccable.
CollegeBoard: now bringin’ SAT prep
to 8th graders
inEUNICEin
April 26, 2011Tornado Times
OPINION 5
Bring on the
pollution
Craigslist Confidential
GRACE NSAVU
Take a deep breath.
If you didn’t get lung can-
cer or break out in an asthma
attack, you have the Environ-
mental Protection Agency
(EPA) to thank.
At least for now.
The agency regulates and
aims to diminish emissions of
carbon dioxide from cars,
power plants, and oil refineries
as a means of tackling global
warming. Our ever-so caring
and oh-so impractical Repub-
licans held a hearing to pass a
bill that would take away the
EPA’s authority to regulate
greenhouse gas emissions.
Mmm. There’s nothing
like polluted air with a side of
dirty water.
With the budget deal that
passed earlier this month, the
House Appropriations Com-
mittee, which is in charge of
distributing funds, cut the
EPA’s budget by $1.6 billion—
16 percent of its annual
budget. What’s even scarier is
that if the majority of Repub-
licans had gotten their way, the
EPA would have been disman-
tled.
I understand that this is a
time of economic turmoil and
that the government wants to
save money, which involves
cutting appropriations to many
services, even the most impor-
tant ones. However, among
those programs that should not
be defunded, and definitely
not dismantled, is the EPA.
People could argue that
the companies would step up
and do the policing them-
selves. But when it
comes to business, let’s face it,
things like global warming
tend to be put aside. It is ex-
actly for this reason that this
agency was created.
This is a program that af-
fects everyone whether they
are rich or poor, young or old,
live in the United States or
don’t, and should be at the
forefront of our government’s
agenda. With less funding, the
agency will not be able to
carry out its job efficiently.
And were it to be dismantled,
there would be no one to po-
lice our air and water quality.
People’s health and well
being is more important than
the $1.6 billion the govern-
ment would save, especially
when it would have dire con-
sequences that, in the future,
would cost much more than a
billion dollars.
Losing control over Lent
MICHAEL YAPUJIAN
“I’m giving up fast food.” “I’m giving up
soda.” “I’m becoming a vegan.”
On one particular Wednesday at school, you hear
these peculiar proclamations from your friends sitting
next to you. Eavesdropping further, you realize that
your Christian and Catholic friends seem to be dis-
cussing what they have “given up” for the forty days
of Lent.
The practice of Lent, which starts on Ash
Wednesday (March 9) until Easter (April 24) is
marked with acts of penance, and in today's context,
the younger generation has been taught to sacrifice
worldly goods that range from favorite foods to cher-
ished T-shirts.
Although it’s admirable that these students can
give up items that are seemingly inseparable, it draws
me to question our society’s will power.
You can argue that the self-control presented by
the traditions of Lent shows that we really can live a
healthier life by giving up an idolatry of some form.
However, our true colors are revealed after the forty-
day mark, when we regress to our bad habits again.
As we all know, the things we give up are usually
just meaningless material goods; I haven’t heard of
one person who has stopped eating fruit. The truth of
the matter is, people don't truly sacrifice the most im-
portant things that allow us to function in daily life
such as water or corn (corn is found in absolutely
everything).
As an atheist, I have never practiced Lent, so I
just don’t understand why people can sacrifice things
for God but not for themselves. And then it hits me:
selfishness.
We are constantly pressured into bad habits
through television propaganda, the Internet, maga-
zines and newspapers, and, at times, even some of our
friends tempt us into eating a McChicken every now
and then. But the really appalling part of all of this is
that we know the harmful or addictive effects that
these things have on us, and yet, we refuse to stop eat-
ing MSG or checking our Facebook notifications after
every sentence written for an English assignment.
To many, this seems like a futile problem—so
what if I want to see how many people think I look
“totes hott” on my profile picture? But when further
analyzed, this overblown ego can really have a harm-
ful impact on not only ourselves individually, but on
our society as well. If you lack self-control while mak-
ing miniscule decisions such as sleeping late just to
watch a movie or starting your project the day before
it’s due, the choices you’ll have to make in life will
only get bigger and bigger, and your will power will
slowly dissipate.
According to Science Daily, when a person sees
another utilizing the powers of self-control, he is more
likely to develop his own willpower, and vice versa.
So next time you have to make a decision, make
a wise one so that a friend will follow in your lead,
and the chain will continue until every person in the
world knows that self-control is an attainable asset.
Then perhaps one day, my dream of a world with peo-
ple who can manage more than 40 days without Mc-
Donalds will come true.
Tornado TALKWhat did you give up
for lent?
TROY JONIC | TORNADO TIMES
Compiled by Edwin FloresCAIN BUCKLER | TORNADO TIMES
“My two obsessive indulgences:
Facebook and chocolate.”
Alejandra Flores (’13)
“I gave up soda to be healthier and
for my religion.”
Michael Melikian (’11)
“I gave up my iTouch.”
Hakop Keleshyan (’12)
ARPINEH OGANESYAN
One grilled chicken Panini with
mozzarella cheese, tomatoes,
lettuce, and onions, please–hold
the chicken and the cheese.
I love chicken because I’m utterly
repulsed by the taste of beef and pork.
So, ordering a chicken sandwich with-
out the meat is a pretty silly order, isn’t
it? Well, when you’ve given up animal-
based products for 40 days, it’s pretty
much your only option.
I’d never really given much
thought to the idea of Lent before. But
my sister recently embarked on an “all-
organic” food diet and thought giving
up meat, eggs, and cheese for 40 days
would “cleanse our bodies.” Being the
easily persuaded person that I am, I
caved in.
Since I never really liked to eat
meat in the first place, my experience
turned out to be much easier than I ex-
pected. But giving up cheese, especially
Armenian cheese, did take some adjust-
ing to.
The hardest part of being a vegan
is finding food you can actually eat, es-
pecially at school. I ended up spending
a lot of time and money coming up with
meals and dishes (mainly vegetable and
potato-based) during my first two
weeks.
Soon, it became second nature. I
automatically looked at the ingredients
label before all food purchases, bypass-
ing foods containing milk, eggs, or
cheese.
I definitely feel a change in my
body since embarking on this experi-
ence. I feel much healthier and less slug-
gish all the time since I don’t eat junk
food like Doritos, Hot Cheetos, Pizza
Hut, and Ben and Jerry’s anymore.
I thought I would jump right back
into eating like I used to starting yester-
day, but so far, I haven’t.
One, because I am afraid eating too
much of something I haven’t eaten in a
while may upset my stomach; two, be-
cause after not eating chicken for 40
days, the thought of eating it is as re-
pulsing as eating beef and pork.
Food is good. Healthy food is bet-
ter.
“I gave up eating chocolate be-
cause it causes acne.”
Lovern Mugol (’11)
One editor sacrifices animal-based products
Tornado Times6 April 26, 2011
Feature
Spanish Club visits Europe over Spring Break
The bus ride to Madrid took around four
hours. We all tried to get some sleep
during this excruciatingly long ride, but
were unfortunately woken up by our guide al-
most every hour, to show us historical land-
marks. Before arriving there, we stopped by
the Plaza de España to see the Miguel de Cer-
vantes monument.
April 10. Day 9: In the morning, we went
to the Palacio Real. We had seen the architec-
ture of several buildings in France and Spain
that were beautiful, but nothing compared to
this palace. Unfortunately, we were not al-
lowed to take photos inside.
By the evening, we were able to go to El
Sol, the best part of Madrid. It was a lively area
to shop in, and eat incredible food. In the
evening, we stayed out late to go to the Choco-
latería San Ginés to eat the best thing in
Madrid: churros dipped in dark hot chocolate.
The architecture of the Notre Dame
cathedral was extremely detailed, and like the
rest of Paris, sophisticated and beautiful.
At dinner, we met our tour guide, Laura,
who would be with us for the next nine days.
We had a common European dinner called
“flam.” It is basically a really thin pizza only
half a centimeter thick. While some people
enjoyed it, I personally thought it tasted like
a tortilla with mayonnaise and parmesan
cheese.
On day three, breakfast in Paris con-
sisted of croissant rolls and cereal with room-
temperature milk. I was disappointed to find
that the croissant rolls tasted identical to the
ones from Costco, but I was not complain-
ing…anything was better than flam.
We went to the Louvre museum after
breakfast, and took pictures by the inverted
MEAGAN KNIGHT
We arrived in the morning at 11 a.m.
at the Charles De Gaulle airport
where we converted our dollars to
euros and spent two hours waiting for our bus
to take us to the Mercure Hotel, the best of
the three hotels we stayed at during our trip.
At 3:30 p.m., we took the Metro,
which is like a subway, to the Notre Dame
cathedral. It is the most common and conven-
ient way to get around in Europe, even
though some stations are filthy and smell ter-
rible.
After a long night on the
train, we woke up in
Zaragoza, Spain. From
there, we transferred our lug-
gage to our tour bus, and drove
a couple of hours to what would
be our favorite city on the trip –
Barcelona. We stayed in a hos-
tel, a cheaper type of lodging
mostly found in Spain and His-
panic America. Although we did
not like it, we knew we would
not be spending much time in it
anyway.
Our first stop was Park
Güell, where Antonio Gaudí
lived and created his mosaic de-
signs. It was amusing to walk
through and be able to take pic-
tures of what we once saw in
our textbooks back home. In the
late afternoon, we were free to
roam around the city on our
own.
Of course, we went shop-
ping and were a lot happier with
the prices here compared to the
designer price tags in Paris.
MEAGAN KNIGHT | TORNADO TIMES
Antoni Gaudi’s houses
Eiffel Tower
Post office
Chicken paella
El Sol
pyramid. After that my friends and I de-
cided to go to Denon, the best section of
the three in the Louvre, and home to two
major masterpieces: “The Winged Vic-
tory” (a.k.a. Nike), and the “Mona Lisa.”
On day four, we were all excited to
have a bus tour for the beginning of our
day, because of all the walking we en-
dured through our first two days. We were
dropped off at the Arc de Triumph where
we walked up over 1,000 steps in the spi-
ral staircase to see the breathtaking view
from the landmark which is in the center
of Paris.
After climbing back down, we de-
cided to visit the Eiffel Tower. Because the
streets in Europe are not rectangular, but
instead trapezoidal, we got lost for a good
45 minutes. We finally made it to the
world famous tower – which is much
more stunning in person.
By the evening of the sixth day, we
had our bags packed ready for our
overnight train to our next destination:
Barcelona. We were all very excited to be
in a sleeper train, but when I found out
there were four people to a room, and the
room was so small that my arm span could
reach from wall to wall, all I could do was
laugh at the disappointing situation.
Opéra de Paris
.paris
.barcelona
.madrid
7Tornado Times
April 26, 2011 FEATURE
ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES
Elena’s excites the sensesEUNICE CHOI
Elena’s Greek &
RATINGS
1000 S. Glendale Ave.Glendale, CA 91205
After being seated in Elena’s Greek-
Armenian Cuisine, I immediately
noticed the heavy, meaty aroma that
permeated the warm air. The restaurant is
fairly casual and small, and has a family-like
atmosphere with its lopsided tables and
chairs cluttered tightly together. Somewhat
questionable white columns border a couple
of the walls, a weak attempt to have the cus-
tomers understand the “Greek” portion of the
restaurant’s name, while the “Armenian” part
distinctly stands out in the food.
And truly, the food is wonderful, which
is poorly represented by the dining experi-
ence that harbors lagging, sub-par service.
Warm lighting welcomes people when
they enter and more noticeably, the meshing
of various voices–most of them abundant
with praise for the food. You can’t help but
become expectant for an excellent meal.
However, to get seated is a difficult matter
when Elena’s is full of other customers
which is most of the time. The waitresses
will not be shy about yelling across the room
to each other, throwing out options of mov-
ing already seated people around, or mashing
tables together to accommodate larger parties
that have entered. Very inconvenient.
Nevertheless, once seated, a look at the
menu will revert your initial thoughts about
whether it was a mistake to come to Elena’s
because the food is tantalizing and full of
promise. It will be easy to figure out what the
plates look like because the menu has gener-
ously placed pictures to illustrate for the peo-
ple unfamiliar with the food.
To start off, Armenian pickled cabbage
called toorshi comes alongside the basket
filled with large slabs of pita bread and indi-
vidual plastic containers of garlic butter
spread. The toorshi is pink and sour, plentiful
in quantity and well suited to being eaten
alongside the main meals.
Pita bread is versatile in being a wrap
for the meat or simply being enjoyed with a
dollop of the strong, salty garlic spread,
which helps to zap the initial edge of hunger.
One puzzling thing is the lack of plates. Un-
less you specify you would like plates, you
will have to place your food on your napkin.
Entrées come cozily partnered up with
the choices of buttery, long-grain rice or
French fries, strong lentil soup or a light,
lemony salad. I would recommend going
with the rice, as it is prepared in its own Ar-
menian way. As for the soup or salad deci-
sion, it is completely dependent on your
personal preference. The soup, although ap-
petizing, does not merely flirt with flavor –
it packs a punch and could even be over-
whelming. The salad, on the other hand, is
light and fresh, but might quickly become too
bland for you to continue enjoying with gen-
uine relish.
However, there is no need for strenuous
decision-making when it comes to the core
of the meal because everything is assuredly
amazing.
The chicken shish kabob is just fabu-
lous. Sprinkled with herbs and spices, the fat
chunks of chicken just stream out meaty
juices when you bite into the mind-boggling
tenderness. A suggestion: eat the kabob with
the grilled onions served alongside it and Ar-
menian rice, because the result is a marriage
of savory and delicious.
The grilled salmon is rich in flavor, the
tender fish separating into big flakes of soft
and mellow pieces.
If you love wraps, then stuffed grape
leaves, or dolma, are a choice to consider be-
cause it is Armenian-style ground beef
wraps. Dark green grape leaves are wrapped
tightly around a mixture of vegetables, rice,
and ground beef, immersed in a yogurt sauce.
Soft and marvelously flavorful, the stuffed
grape leaves are unique, plump and large in
quantity.
And if you thought, “What could be bet-
ter?” then there is an answer: combination
plates.
Perhaps you would like lamb, but also
have an irresistible desire to try the lulu,
which is an Armenian-style kabob. Or maybe
after hearing raves about the chicken, you
want that, but lulu still cries for your atten-
tion. Simply order the half lamb – half lulu
or half chicken – half lulu plates. Thoughtful,
no? With lamb that is layered with a wealth
of spices and is fantastic in texture, you will
be forgiven for wanting this along with the
magnificent lulu that is a powerful character
of robust flavor.
For dessert, consider baklava, which is
a turn from the Armenian taste and a small
dip into the Greek. It is a pastry made with
thin layers of dough, filled with chopped nuts
and honey or syrup. Similar to a sweet, crusty
croissant or pie, baklava is flaky and richer
than sweet, yet very delicious. You can also
go down the path of getting a cup of Greek
coffee, which is earthy and heavy-bodied.
Whether you are willing to go to the
restaurant in person or enjoy the food in the
comforts of your own home through free de-
livery, Elena’s food seems to have hit the
mark of excellence and is worth trying out.
CHEW ON THIS!1 32
4 5
1. Pita Bread *Free*
2. 1/2 Shish - 1/2 Lulu$8.25
3. Grilled Salmon $9.99
4. 1/2 Shish - 1/2 Lamb$9.99
5. Stuffed Grape Leaves$8.99
Armenian Cuisine
food:
service:
Entertainment
April 26, 2011Tornado Times
8
J.B.—his initials are known around the
world. No, they do not stand for Justin
Bieber (sorry to those obsessed 14-
year-old Beliebers who thought this article
was about him). Instead, they stand for the
new upcoming advanced drama class pro-
duction “J.B.,” written by Archibald
MacLeish, premiering on May 13 at 7:00
p.m. in the auditorium, with a $5 student
and $10 adult admission.
So who is J.B. you may ask? To put it
simply, he is a man of Biblical proportions.
The play revolves around a Bible char-
acter, Job, played by Michael Yapujian
(’12), and his internal struggle regarding his
faith.
MacLeish reinvents the story of Job by
modernizing it; instead of setting it up in the
desert lands, he places the setting in a circus
tent which helps the audience comprehend
the outlandish characters the story intro-
duces.
I mean who would be able to relate to
J.B., a messiah from God? Instead
MacLeish’s play includes more pertinent
characters like Zuss (God), Nickles (Satan )
and Sarah (Job’s wife), portrayed by seniors
Sophia Brady, Ethan Fleitas, and Katy
Gneier, respectively.
“By having Zuss be a portrayal of God,
and having a man be the cause of another
man’s misfortunes, it’s easier for audiences
to comprehend the storyline,” Brady said.
The idea of having higher entities in
the play makes it more “impersonal” to au-
diences since not everyone has the same
faith.
The audience is going to feel more in-
volved in this play because the seating will
be on stage. Yes, that is right, audience
members will be sitting under an actual tent
to make the play more realistic and enhance
the actor’s performances.
As for the actors, they have had no
problems working on the production. Since
the play is being produced solely by ad-
vanced drama students, all of them have had
at least three years of acting experience.
Yapujian explains that it is easier to
“interact and make connections” with his
cast since they have all known each other
for years.
Drama adviser Dave Huber is excited
for the premiere of the performance. Since
the cast was limited only to those in the ad-
vanced class, the roles were “laid out” for
him, but the decisions for the lead roles were
“much more difficult due to the accumu-
lated talent” in the class.
With only a month to put on the pro-
duction, they have been in rehearsals Mon-
day through Friday going over their scripts
and characters.
“Memorizing the script is only a frac-
tion of what we have to do to put on the
play,” cast member Vicky Jimenez (‘12)
said. “We also have to memorize [our] stage
directions and the interactions our charac-
ters have with each other because it is not
spontaneous.”
Sirvard Ogtanyan, Yapujian’s mother,
is “expecting great performances” from the
cast.
She has seen many of the cast members
act before, and believes that they are going
to be as “passionate as they’ve been before.”
So even though this J.B may not be
reciting “Baby, Baby, Baby, Ohh” the per-
formance is sure to be worthwhile.
EDWIN FLORES
No more trials for J.B.
PLAY: Michael Yapujian (’12) and Katy Gneier (’11) rehearse for the spring play, “J.B.” It is an adaptation of the story of Job, premiering on May 13.ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES
May 13, 14, 19, 20, 22$5 student tickets$10 adult tickets
Auditorium7:00 p.m.
9Tornado Times
April 26, 2011
Spirits and monsters have enthralled
human minds since the dawn of time,
stimulating the senses as one sees a
shadow, or the fast movement of a silhou-
ette in the corner of the eye.
"Ghost Adventures," a Travel Channel
show, is available both on DVD and Instant
View, and is a good alternative to quirky
comedies and typical dramas most of us
look for.
The show is about three friends who go
around the U.S. in search of the scariest
places in the country.
Now you might think that this is just
some typical horror show where they try to
go to an old abandoned hospital to try and
contact the dead…well, that is not all they
do.
There is a catch; they are locked in the
establishment until dawn, and, yes, they ex-
perience “trippy” paranormal activities.
One of the hosts was so scared, he jumped
from the second floor of an abandoned
hotel.
The show is rather unique in the way
that it is just the three of them. One acts as
the cameraman, the other as hosts in the
abandoned locations. This adds to the au-
thenticity of the show, although subjective.
They also use static cameras besides the
handheld ones, because it is impossible to
record every angle while moving.
The group also uses innovative devices
that supposedly detect what a spirit wants
to tell them, via the likeness of the voice of
Stephen Hawking. And believe me it is kind
of scary when a device randomly blurts out
the word “die.”
The belief of the paranormal is still
based on our personal discretion, but
"Ghost Adventures" will surely give you a
hair-raising experience.
COMEDIC FAILURE: “Your Highness” sinks to new depths of crassness while barely managing to entertain.
It premiered on April 8.
Viewpoint
Whether you love him or
hate him, you’ve defi-
nitely seen a lot of him.
That charming smile. That gender-
blurring haircut. That two-toned
hoodie you saw and considered
buying. Yes, I am of course talking
about the cultural phenomenon that
is Justin Bieber.
Rising from YouTube obscu-
rity to international pop star, Bieber
has made millions cry, half out of
blinding love and devotion, and the
other half out of mourning over our
increasingly plastic and generic
music industry.
The people who market the
music of stars like Justin Bieber and
Lady Gaga are completely in tune
with what the average person wants
to hear when they turn on the radio.
Simple, but melodic hook-filled
pop music. Those who find such
music too mainstream usually will
listen to less commercialized, “real”
music on their iPods (or Zunes if
you’re too cool). It’s for this reason
that I don’t hate artists like Bieber,
because there are many people who
do enjoy his music, even if I’m not
among them.
My hate is entirely reserved for
another recent phenomenon. I’m
hesitant to name any names, but I’ll
provide you with a single hint; her
name rhymes with ‘Webecca
Wack.’ Yes, I am so very unfortu-
nately referring to the Internet sen-
sation “Friday,” a song that
deserves none of its now 90 million
views. In case you’ve been hiding
under an especially large rock over
the past few months, or have been
too proud to watch it, “Friday” is
without a doubt the worst song ever
made.
Rebecca Black, only 13 years
old, is about as remarkable as a but-
ter knife. The producers used what
sounds like the highest intensity
auto-tune on the market to trans-
form a 13-year-old girl’s already
awful voice into an even more
awful 13-year-old robot girl’s voice.
The melody and background
music itself, although heavily an-
noying, are nothing in comparison
to the song’s claim to fame: its awe-
inspiring lyrics. Rebecca Black can
be referred to as a modern day
Socrates, as her song features one
of the most thought provoking
questions of our age.
Upon seeing her other annoy-
ing friends drive up in a convertible
with only one available seat in the
back, she utters the incredibly deep,
“Which seat can I take?” Besides
the atrocious lyrics, some of which
I absolutely refuse to mention, the
song also features tacky and obvi-
ous green screen work, and a terri-
ble and out of place rap verse from
the song’s 50-year-old producer,
who creepily happens to be going to
the same party as Rebecca and her
posse.
People everywhere are lament-
ing the decline of the music indus-
try because the Rebecca Blacks of
the world are famous. The truth is,
this “decline” is entirely our fault,
and in our hands to reverse. It’s
pretty obvious that the makers of
“Friday” crafted the song to be as
awful as humanly possible, and thus
as popular as possible. They knew
what kind of comments it would
stir, and we as a music listening
public took the bait and blogged,
and reblogged, and reblogged until
“Friday” became the viral sensation
it is today.
If we took more time and effort
to spread that amazing, but obscure
song we just discovered, our news
feeds and radio stations would be
filled with music made by people
with actual musical talent. To those
who complain about Rebecca Black
and her undeserved fame, stop fuel-
ing the fire with your groans and try
to spread some real music for a
change.
The mood has struck, you need a movie; and
fast. You’re looking for something classy, artis-
tic, meaningful, and something your whole
family can enjoy. I think I’ve just stumbled upon a
film that’s the exact opposite of what I just described.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about “Your High-
ness.” A part of me believes I just watched the worst
movie of all time, yet another part of me feels like it
achieves greatness for that reason. It is apparent, and
slightly ironic given its name, that “Your Highness”
sinks to the lowest depths of film comedy once you
realize most of the jokes revolve around a certain part
of the male body, with most of the punchlines sound-
ing like they were written by a few stoned and gig-
gling nerds in junior high.
The plot revolves around the lazy and hard-par-
tying Thadeous (Danny Mcbride), who lives in the
constant shadow of his much more dashing and heroic
older brother, Fabious (James Franco). All is well and
merry until Fabious’ beloved fiancee is kidnapped by
an evil wizard who intends to steal her virginity when
the two moons align in order to summon a dragon or
something. Yeah. It makes about as much sense as it
sounds, but the plot is just barely tight enough to
work.
The movie feels more like a fantasy film than a
comedy, with its heavy use of special effects. While
creative, some scenes are pretty corny and cheap look-
ing, so at times you feel like you’re watching one of
those lame made-for-TV movies on the Sci-Fi Net-
work. A part of me feels like this was intentional, but
even so, it wouldn’t quite make up for it.
Featuring an uncharacteristically big-named cast,
the performances in this film can be interpreted rather
differently depending upon your perspective. To the
more classy, art house-type critic, the actors are
merely phoning in their ridiculous lines with their
quick paycheck in mind. However, to other, more
open-minded, probably more immature audiences, the
actors appear to be having a pretty good time up on
screen.
Most of the performances are humorously bad,
including the always stunning Natalie Portman, whose
British accent is equally stunning. She plays the cliché
“strong/independent” woman warrior Isabel, whose
parents were slaughtered by the same dude who kid-
napped Fabious’s fiancée. This essentially makes her
a more annoying Batman, which offends me on sev-
eral levels. I can’t quite tell whether this is a case of
a good actress acting badly on purpose, or a good ac-
tress just acting badly.
I hope Danny McBride, who co-wrote the film,
recognizes that he wrote his own character to be pretty
unlikable. Most of the lame jokes come from him, and
I feel like his performance was the least desirable of
the whole cast.
His bowl-cutted manservant, Courtney (Rasmus
Hardiker), on the other hand, stole many a scene with
his charming lack of intelligence and hilarious facial
expressions; hopefully, this role nets him more work
in the future.
The best performance ironically comes from the
actor who appears to put in the least amount of effort.
James Franco, fresh from his Oscar-nominated per-
formance in “127 hours,” delivers a rather... interest-
ing performance in “Your Highness.” I’m not one to
jump to any conclusions, but I’m pretty sure he was
high during most of the shooting, which isn’t neces-
sarily a bad thing for viewers.
He delivers his lines with all the energy of an av-
erage sloth, and the constant threat of breaking into
giggles is pretty obvious. Normally, I would describe
this as totally unprofessional, but in this case it kind
of works. I found his deadpan and apathetic style very
entertaining, albeit pretty ridiculous.
It took me a while to realize that what makes
“Your Highness” awful also makes it somewhat beau-
tiful. It’s a “so bad it’s good” type of film of the high-
est order, and I would recommend it to any person
who is willing to leave his brain at home for a while
and share some immature, but satisfying laughs with
a friend.
DANIEL MASSEY
DANIEL MASSEY
Source: Stuber Productions
EDWARD NADURATA
We we we so annoyed
TROY JONIC | TORNADO TIMES
Taking a ghostly adventure
Film Review“Your Highness” reaches new lows
Source: ARK Music Factory
ENTERTAINMENT
Spring: the time of year when
school athletics halts to a
standstill. With fan favorites
such as basketball and football
long gone, much of the enthusiasm
with sports has retired.
Not this year, though. The
boys’ varsity tennis team is shap-
ing up to be one of strongest, well-
put together teams the school has
had all year.
The boys’ varsity tennis team
has always been highly competi-
tive and was only one game away
from making playoffs last year, an
honor which goes to the top four
teams in league.
As far as league games go, the
tennis team has one of the best
records of any team this year, with
8 wins and 6 losses. Coach Julie
Hoppe and her team have confi-
dence that their losses will not in-
crease.
The first game of the season
against Burbank was the first seri-
ous match of the year that any
member had competed in and, as
Hoppe put it, the team “went in
blind.” Hoppe was unsure of whom
to pair in the doubles teams, result-
ing in a loss, but only by a small
margin, with a score of 83-82.
After a few matches, the team
realized who worked well together
and it felt assured that its current
doubles teams were “solid”; the re-
match against Burbank turned out
much differently with a win of 10-
8.
The next matches against
Crescenta Valley and Pasadena tal-
lied easy victories, scoring 11-7
and 18-0, respectively. Hoppe did
not consider CV and Pasadena as
threats in the preliminary playoffs
and in their rematches, the boys’
varsity tennis won with scores of
13-5 and 17-1.
Its most challenging matches
were against Arcadia and Bur-
roughs, in which there was a sub-
stantial loss with scores 15-3 and
11-5, respectively. Hoppe was not
vexed by this loss because each
year, Arcadia and Burroughs are
almost guaranteed a spot in play-
offs.
The BGD home match was not
so easy either and Hoppe asserts
that the team’s strength is on sin-
gles, while Glendale holds a myr-
iad of skillful doubles teams.
Although the team lost 12-6,
she hopes to come back in the next
game with a strategy called “stack-
ing the doubles” in which stronger
singles players are placed in a dou-
bles team. The rematch will take
place at home on Thursday so
Hoppe predicts that “our boys will
have home court advantage and
feel more pumped up and ready to
succeed.”
The success of the team has
been attributed to the chemistry be-
tween players.
“We are like a family and I
consider my teammates like broth-
ers,” Sage Berry (’11) said.
Hoppe’s coaching has also
been a significant factor in prepar-
ing the players for sets.
“Coach Hoppe has trained us
mentally and physically to perform
at our best in league,” said fresh-
man Oleg Simonyan. “She turns
underdogs into champions.”
With its victories against Bur-
bank and CV, the tennis team has
almost gained its position in this
year’s playoffs.
Tornado Times10 April 26, 2011
Sports
Drinking our
games away
On Edward’s
EDWARD NADURATA
Defense
OVERHAND: Singles player Oleg Simonyan (top) and doubles
player Vardan Adzhinyan (bottom) hit the ball during the March 17
match at Glendale High School. With 8 wins and 6 losses, the team
has a promising spot to finish at the top of the league.
CAIN BUCKLER | TORNADO TIMES
ASHER LANDAU
With a few weeks left
until the end of the
spring sports sea-
son, most teams are preparing
to compete against their rival
schools, anxiously waiting for
that decisive moment that will
make their season memorable.
Not unless your school
cancels the rest of your season.
Last week, the Burroughs
High School baseball team,
which was third in the Califor-
nia Interscholastic Federation
Pacific League, was disbanded
and its season canceled by its
principal due to underage
drinking.
On a trip to Arizona two
weeks ago, one of the coaches
served beer to 11 players,
which resulted in their firings.
What coach would ever
serve minors liquor? There are
laws and rules set in place and
this is clearly a misdemeanor.
Many kids in our school,
whether we admit it or not, see
drinking as a leisurely illegal
activity.
The decision of ending the
season with only two weeks
left seems unfair to many, and
I agree, but it is far more im-
portant that we follow the rules
imposed by the law.
When questioning the de-
cision of Burroughs’ adminis-
trators, remember that a crime
is a crime. The team members
are at fault to succumbing to
underage drinking and must
accept the repurcussions of
their mistakes.
You just got served
April 26, 2011 SPORTS
Complete bliss struck Cameron
Doran (’11) after the April 15
away game against Glendale.
Striking out 11 batters and only allow-
ing three hits, Doran led the varsity
baseball team to a 5-3 league win.
Doran joined the team his fresh-
man year and was placed on the JV
team. The next year, he was promoted
to varsity, and eventually became a
captain.
“Cameron is someone I can always
depend on for any situation,” team-
mate Thomas Alchermes (’12) said.
“He doesn’t back down.”
His baseball career started at the
age of 4 when his parents enrolled him
in the Jewel City Little League. He
also played on travel ball, an elite
youth baseball team, for five years.
His highlight was when he was
chosen to play in a tournament in 2006
in Copperstone, N.Y. where he was
able to experience the life of a profes-
sional baseball player by playing two
daily games for two weeks against 89
nationwide teams.
“My favorite thing about baseball
is being able to just be between the
lines,” Doran said. “When you are on
the field, nothing else matters.”
The biggest motivation to keep
playing on the team is looking forward
to playing baseball after high school.
Seeing many of his friends play col-
lege ball and being able to see them
“eat, sleep, and breathe baseball” has
always been his dream.
He plans on continuing baseball at
a junior college. From there, he hopes
to transfer to a four-year college and
play there.
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
DAPHNE ONG
Tornado Times11
ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES
ALEX MIKHAILPOOR
FLAGS PLACES AT NATIONALS
ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES
As emotions ran high, flags flew
strong as the school’s pep
flags made a final and lasting
impression at Nationals late March in
Anaheim. Tears were flowing when the
team fin ished and was rewarded with
its trophies.
The team earned second place for
one flag routine, third place for two
flag routine, and the overall sportsman-
ship award.
“Placing at finals was my goal the
entire year,” captain Aneeka Atwal
(’11) said. “However, winning the
sportsmanship award meant the most
to me as people not only observed our
skills as a team, but also our personal-
ities.”
The team accredited the strong
family bond and the goal of placing as
the main reason for being successful
this year.
The team practiced “anywhere and
anytime [it] could find a place with an
outlet for [its] boom box,” Atwal said.
Atwal believes the team will be
even better next year and has high
hopes that “the team can be National
Champions.”
The team still has its biggest show
remaining, the Pep show occurring
May 27 in the auditorium, where the
seniors will perform for the last time.
“We’ve been training day in and
day out all our high school lives for
this,” member Stella Yi (’11) said.
April 28, 29 April 305:15-7:30 9:00-3:00
FLAGS: (clockwise from topright) Captain Aneeka Atwal displays her enthusiasm toward the
crowd. The team keeps its poise during its one flag routine last month where it placed second.
Soo Lee catches a flag during the two flag routine in which they won third place.
Pep flag tryouts in small gym
12 April 26, 2011Tornado Times
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