december 2012 issue 4

Can’t we be proud of what we’ve done?

News A2 – A8

Voices A9 – A11

Second Look A12

Features B1 – B6

Sports C1 – C6

Green Screen G1 – G20

Early gradsStudents graduate early to pursue post-high school endeavors

A2

inside this issueThe ContractStudent-written and -directed play by Alex Chesebro

A3

Fall sports wrap-upGrizzlies end season with many successes

Is the end near?Rumors fly as end of the Mayan calendar draws closerB1

something

GRANITE BAY HIGH SCHOOL w 1 GRIZZLY WAY w GRANITE BAY, CA w 95746 w VOLUME 16 w ISSUE 4 w FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012

The GraniTe Bay GazeTTeC1B1

Headed to State!The Grizzlies struggled at the beginning of the year with three losses in four games, but now they’re ...

CoMMentaRy

lena [email protected]

Every 15 Minutes program impacts Granite Bay HighAnti-drunk driving simulation focuses on consequences

AcaDec team suspended for lack of coachProgram won 13 of last 14 county titles

Among the Grizzlies celebrating a NorCal title, left, are J.R. Calton, Justin Ramirez, Steven Graber, Taft Partridge and Kevin Blank, left to right. Johnny Cooley, above, scores one of his four touchdowns.

One GBHS family’s story

NorCal ChampsBY AUSTIN [email protected]

BY KRISTIN [email protected]

BY HAYLEY [email protected]

BY SYDNEY [email protected]

Westlake 24, GB 6Oaks Chrst. 48, GB 13GB 47, Vacaville 21Pittsburg 28, GB 27GB 42, Lincoln 14GB 45, Roseville 6GB 41, Rocklin 34GB 21, Del Oro 7GB 48, Woodcreek 13GB 38, Nevada Union 7

PlayoffsGB 52, Napa 0GB 56, Downey 20GB 37, Franklin 7

Section ChampionshipGB 35, Oak Ridge 23

NorCal ChampionshipGB 45, St. Ignatius 17

Senior Riley Carroll tries to shake her dead brother, senior Patrick Carroll, awake during the crash scene simulation.

Gazette photo /KRISTIN TAYLOR

After winning the county Academic Decathlon title 13 times in the past 14 years, Granite Bay High School finds itself without an AcaDec program. “Unfortunately what has happened is that one of the integral pieces, a coach willing to commit that amount of hours to work with our kids, could not be found,” GBHS principal

Mike McGuire said. Coaching an AcaDec team is an intense time commitment, according to teacher Anthony Davis, who stepped down from coaching after the 2010-2011 season. Davis started the AcaDec team at Woodcreek High School, coaching at Woodcreek for five years before coming to GBHS and coaching its team for eight years. While Davis enjoyed his experiences as coach, he now has two children and does not

have the time needed for AcaDec. “AcaDec takes a lot of time to coach it well and to have the (students) do well,” he said. AcaDec teams compete against other schools in ten categories – art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science and speech – all focused on the specific topic that is assigned that year. “AcaDec is an all-encompassing experience with many different academic aspects,” said senior Karmtej Cheema, who was on the team last year as a junior. “You learn things you

wouldn’t necessarily learn in classes at high school and you learn far beyond anything you’d be expected to learn (on a specific subject).” While Cheema enjoyed AcaDec, he is the only remaining member of last year’s team. The rest of the members were seniors who graduated last year; Cheema was the only junior on the team. While GBHS students may mourn the lack of an AcaDec program, they are not alone.

See ACADEC, page A6

The tarp is lifted from the accident scene in Granite Bay High School’s eighth Every 15 Minutes anti-drunk driving program since 1999, and for a moment there is a chilling, motionless silence. Senior Patrick Carroll lies on the hood of the car, bloody and exposed to a stone-faced crowd, killed upon impact. Beside him sits the driver, his younger sister, junior Riley Carroll, who must portray a hysteric and distraught

persona. The dispatch plays over the speakers and the action begins. Riley called out her brother’s name in desperation multiple

times and paced back and forth across the scene in frustration and confusion. Meanwhile, although perfectly still and lifeless, her brother was listening intently.

“The worst feeling about that was having my sister right next to me so upset and I can’t comfort her,” Patrick said. “That was the worst thing; having to just lay

there and do nothing while she suffered.” No part of the crash scene was

See PROGRAM, page A8

I often think back to the days of first-grade recreational soccer. There was one phrase that was

basically the team motto: ‘Try your best.’ Unfortunately, this concept has crashed and burned. We are living in a society where the goal is to never be satisfied with what we’ve done. There is always something more I can be doing. If I’m watching TV, well, there is probably homework that could be getting done instead. Not to say that being a loafer on the couch will get you anywhere in life. But at what point do you take a step back and admire what you’ve worked hard to accomplish? Sure, self-satisfaction gets you nowhere. You have to continue to push yourself in order to stay motivated and make even better strides. But it’s gotten to the point where we encourage each other to feel worse about ourselves when we aren’t as good as the next person. For me, and for every other high school senior, getting into college is a challenge. It shouldn’t be about getting the highest GPA, participating in the most extracurriculars or getting the best SAT score. It should be about being content with what we’ve done. I can easily say the best things that have happened to me during high school have happened by chance. Not necessarily by luck, but by keeping an open mind and constantly consulting with myself (and not the A-plus student next to me) on what it is I actually enjoy. Math has never been my favorite subject and probably never will be. But I have always had a passion for art. Does the fact that I’m not good at math make me a lesser person? In Harvard’s mathematics department, probably. But in my eyes, no. I really believe we are encouraged to live lives that aren’t our own. So when it comes to being satisfied, are we basing that judgment on what we want or what other people have accomplished and expect of us? A teacher recently told us about how he once taught with “no grades.” The jaws around the room all dropped. The thought of not being rewarded with praise for a good grade left me wondering, why would I work hard if there is no incentive to drive me? And then I realized that was exactly the problem. It shouldn’t be about what we get back, but what we put forth. And so when we are disappointed at the reward (or lack thereof) we need to reconsider what we took from the journey. Instead of looking at the future as a maze that consists of constantly trying to reach a higher score, I want to look at it as a way to become inspired by what I enjoy. So often, I hear people talk about their dream colleges – Stanford, Berkeley, Brown, Harvard ... the list goes on. Good for those people – they have something to act as a constant reminder of the possible reward. I, without a doubt, have aspirations and hopes for where I might end up. With about five more months left in high school, it’s hard to avoid thinking of what could have been different. I’m proud to say there isn’t much I would have changed, and I’m not saying we should go around gawking about how great we are. But sometimes, we’re our own most brutal critics.

*** Lena Eyen, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.

Tonight’s 8 p.m. state Div. 1 championship football game fea-turing Granite Bay against Long Beach Poly will be broadcast by the Comcast Sports Channel. Check with your cable or satellite TV provider for details.

Gazette photos /KRISTIN TAYLOR

Lori Ketchersid lost a daughter. All those close her, lost a beloved friend. Austin, who is now a senior at GBHS, and Lori chose to relive the tragedies they faced by telling their story at the memo-rial assembly for the Every 15 Minutes program.

***

See LOSS, page A5

“Austin (Ketchersid) heard the sirens, (on April 16, 2005) not knowing they were for his own sister,” Lori Ketchersid said. Those sirens are now among Austin’s most vivid memories That night, Kourtney Ketcher-sid was hit by a drunk driver. Austin lost a sister. His mother,

In the middle of the third quarter, Granite Bay High School was leading 31-3 against NorCal Div. 1 opponent St. Ignatius and coasting. On second down, St. Ignatius junior quarterback Rocco Dileo looked downfield for his receiver as he threw the ball into Grizzly territory. But instead of hitting his target, the ball was intercepted by senior Grizzly defensive back Aaron Knapp, who exploded down the field, with

his defensive teammates blocking for him, and scored a touchdown on what ended up being a 50-yard interception return. With the extra point, Granite Bay took a commanding 38-3 lead. And GBHS coach Ernie Cooper could

finally relax. “We’ve got this now,” coach Ernie Cooper said. “We’ve got this.”

* * * On Dec 7, GBHS squared off against St. Ignatius for the first ever California Interscholastic Federation Northern California Division 1 Regional Championship at California State University, Sacramento. The Grizzlies, coming into the game 11-3 and on a 10-game winning streak, had defeated Oak Ridge 35-23 a week

See FOOTBALL, page A7

Seasonal travelsWinter vacation alternatives in California

G10-11

News Granite Bay GazetteA2

Friday w December 14, 2012

Identification StatementGranIte Bay Gazette

PuBlIShed eIGht tImeS Per academIc year

c/o Granite Bay high School 1 Grizzly Way

Granite Bay, ca 95746Subscriptions: $25 per year/

$15 per half year

Sydney Kahmann, a junior, is the Gazette News editor.

***

Freshman event Cocoa and Cram on Tuesday

CORRECTIONSIn a story on page a1 in the november issue about the new broadcast and computer equip-ment in the media and IB Film lab, the story incorrectly report-ed that the lab and equipment upgrades all happened last spring and summer in anticipa-tion of the new IB Film class. In fact, the computer upgrades happened two years ago. the Gazette regrets the error.

* * * Accuracy is perhaps the most important fundamental of good journalism. It's the policy of the Gazette to correct all factual errors that are brought to our attention. Email us at: [email protected]

GBHS senior succeeds in national science contestGBHS senior submitted a research paper on safer PVC alternatives to the 2012 Siemens Competition.

Brian Wei

BY CHRIS [email protected]

the Siemens competition in math, Sci-ence and technology is recognized as one of the most prestigious high school-level competitions in the nation – and with good reason. Funded by the Siemens Foundation and administered by the college Board, the Siemens competition, in essence, encour-ages students to assume the roles of pro-fessionally trained scientists. Students receive the opportunity to conduct in-depth research projects at the

nation’s finest facilities and laboratories, occasionally leading to new, patentable discoveries. On Oct. 19, Granite Bay high School senior Brian Wei was selected as a com-petition semi-finalist for his submission involving safer, non-carcinogenic alterna-tives to polyvinyl chloride (PVc)-derived materials. as a preface to the project, Wei was selected to be a Garcia Summer Scholar, spending seven weeks at the Stony Brook university in new york – the research he conducted at the university eventually providing the basis for his project. the primary focus of the Garcia Sum-mer Scholar program, according to Wei, is an interdisciplinary field called materials science, which applies the properties of matter to various scientific and engineer-ing topics.

Wei, for instance, focused on research-ing polymeric nanocomposites that could serve as PVc alternatives. “the most important issues by far were (PVc’s) carcinogenic properties, the abil-ity of some varieties of PVc – especially those commonly used in children’s toys – to leach harmful chemicals into the en-vironment and the difficulty and expense of disposing or recycling PVc in an eco-logically responsible way,” Wei said. “my goal was to develop new materials that could eliminate these concerns – and fortunately, we were largely successful and have developed at least two materi-als which we are planning to patent in the near future.” according to Wei, the inspiration behind the entire project originally arose from his personal hobbies. “I use PVc on a regular basis, wheth-

er while modifying nerf guns, or while constructing various aquarium-related mechanisms,” Wei said. “I was wor-ried about the easily inhaled PVc dust and smoke that could be inadvertently generated when working with the mate-rial. I did some online research about the effects of these by-products and was surprised at their toxicity, espe-cially to PVc workers. at that point, I

See SIEMENS, page A6

wTommy Thompson and Sabrina Sabbagian, who both plan on graduating a year early, pose in a cheesy college brochure style.

Gazette photo /GRACE MOORE

Students graduate early and pursue their passions

Off to COLLEGE

high school students are often anxious to graduate, go to college and immerse themselves in the real world outside of the “Granite Bay Bubble.” a small group of juniors and seniors at Granite Bay high School can wait no longer and have taken steps to move on to the next stage of life by graduating early. as of nov. 27, seven students were on track to graduate early and had submitted the necessary paperwork. how-ever, this number could increase up until dec. 5 when a meeting will be held for all of the early graduates of the 2012-2013 school year. the requisites for early graduation are fairly easy to ful-


fill and require that students meet all of their a-G uni-versity of california admission requirements, talk to their counselor to verify they have all of the needed credits and write a letter to assistant principal cathy raycraft. the let-ter must include their post-graduation plans and their of-ficial request to graduate early. according to GBhS counselor carey Bussey, GBhS used to only require 220 credits to graduate as opposed to the current 260, so this is the main challenge that students face. Bussey said because of this, students who graduate half-way through their senior semester are more common than juniors who graduate a full year early. this year, at least two of the seven who are scheduled to graduate early are juniors.

GBhS junior tommy thompson, who has played and excelled at soccer for many years, has made the decision to graduate early in order to further his soccer career. he and his brother, senior tanner thompson, both have scholarships to play soccer at Indiana university. thomp-son was motivated partly to play with his brother in col-lege and partly from his aspirations to play professionally. “I’m just trying to get as much time as (I can) in college and then get to the pros, if possible,” thompson said. thompson seems to have a pretty good idea of what he will do with his future, and while his ultimate dream is to play soccer professionally, he also has a back-up plan. “I pretty much know what I’m going to do,” thompson

See GRADS, page A6

BY LENA [email protected]

For many Granite Bay high School seniors, the commute to and from school takes twice as long as it could without traffic. GBhS senior zoey Kenny said that while it usually takes her 10

minutes to get to school, the traf-fic can increase her commute to at least 20 minutes. While there is still a lot of un-avoidable congestion, assistant principal Brian mcnulty said there is a traffic plan that the school tries to enforce. “We try to get the traffic flow

from the south gate, up through the north gate,” mcnulty said. “People can still come in the north gate, and then students can turn right, and veer off.” considering the worst traffic is obviously before and after school, mcnulty said the administration is just trying to get the flow to move

as quickly as possible. “We are in a limited space (and) cannot change it,” he said. “So that’s been the plan for the last two years.” GBhS Student resource Officer deputy Joe herrick said what he looks for are safety violations. “It’s been like this since the

wWellington Way, the road in front of GBHS, is a county road, out of the school’s jurisdiction.

Gazette photo/KAYLYN O’DONNELL

school was built,” herrick said, “but the parents don’t have a place to pick up the kids without parking in (the red) area.” Since almost the entire front of the school is marked with red curbs, herrick said he avoids ticketing par-

See TRAFFIC, page A5

NAMES IN THE NEWS

sydney [email protected]

Brian Wei selected as Siemens Competition semi-finalist for project

Wellington Way traffic congestion doubles commute times, raises chance of car accidents

Cocoa and cram is an event designed to prepare fresh-men for their finals. and

what better way to do that than with hot chocolate and cookies? So freshmen, go study, drink hot cocoa, eat cookies and enjoy having relatively easy finals while you can. By the time you are all upper-classmen, you can nostalgically reminisce on the glory days of your carefree youth. cocoa and cram will be held after school on tuesday.

*** Freshman Maggie Bell won the varsity girls’ state cross country title on nov. 24 in clovis, ca. Bell then went to the nike X na-tional meet in Portland, Or on dec. 1. Bell placed 60th overall. after the nike X national, Bell ran in the Junior Olympics on dec. 8 in albuquerque, nm. She placed first in the youth girls’ 4K race. Trent Brendel, a senior, finished in tenth place at the varsity boys’ state cross country final.

*** Winter Ball is tomorrow. If you drive to a party after the dance, be sure not to drink and drive. remember the car-crash simulation of every 15 minutes? that could be you ... your last dance may be a tango with death.

*** there was a food fight last Friday. december is a cold, rainy month. and the cafeteria is now closed “indefinitely.” the phrase “out in the cold” now has a new, more-literal meaning.

*** every 15 minutes was held on dec. 6-7 on campus. the upperclassmen and staff members watched the pain and grief drunk-driving accidents can bring in both simulations and real life. the members of the living dead were: Alex Rocca, Cassidy Sissung, Tommy Thompson, Bryanne Cross, Jonah Poczobutt, Erica Peterson, Claire Ellinwood, Jackson Rodriguez, Jill Unver-forth, Weston Holt, Scott Allison, Chiyoh Arai, Rylee McKeon, Colleen DeYager, Kelsey Lynn, Nick Herrick, Justin Habashi, Kate Hurley, Dane Kelley and Jeff Gaebler. the students in the crash simu-lation were Beau Hershberger (drunk driver), Riley Carroll, Patrick Carroll, Vinnie Esposito and Renee Merchant. the emcees of the dec. 7 memo-rial service were seniors Jennifer Gilbert and Trent Brendel.

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay Gazette A3News

It passed, but will schools get the money?

On Nov. 6, Proposition 30 was passed in Cal-ifornia. The measure will temporarily increase the personal income tax on those earning more than $250,000 for seven years and increase sales tax by a quarter cent for four years. Eighty-nine percent of the tax revenues will be allocated to K-12 schools and 11 percent to community colleges. “I think there’s too much waste in govern-ment already, and when we give them more money, they’re just going to waste that,” said Marie Simmons, a Placer County resident. This is how most Placer County residents felt about Prop 30. In fact, 61 percent voted

California voted yes on Prop. 30, but Placer county was not in favor

BY NICOLE [email protected]

Gazette photo /HALEY MASSARA

ASB UPDATE

Student Government discusses upcoming dance – Winter Ball The Gazette talked to Kristen Hil-burn, Winter Ball head commissioner.

Gazette: What does your job entail?

Hilburn: I am in charge of creating the event and getting all the supplies needed for the event, along with chaperones, theme and decorations and DJ.

Gazette: Are there any new additions or changes to Winter Ball this year?

Gazette photo /SUMMER HAENNY

wKristen Hilburn, Winter Ball head commis-sioner, said ASB will not be mak-ing any major changes to Winter Ball.

Hilburn: Not as of right now.

Gazette: What message is student government trying to relate to stu-dents about Winter Ball this year?

Hilburn: We are really trying to encour-age a lot more people to go stag and to realize it’s not just a date dance, it’s for everyone.

Gazette: What attire are students ex-pected to wear?

Hilburn: It’s just a semi-formal. Boy’s wear nice pants and a shirt and tie and girls wear dresses.

–compiled by Nicole Bales

Granite Bay High School is renowned for being the best of the best in virtually every de-partment. With such high goals for each program director, it isn’t that often that students will get the chance to showcase their own, completely original work. However, every winter, the GBHS drama department ex-hibits a student-written, student-directed play that gives students the chance to not only become young playwrights and direc-

tors, but to completely let their creativity loose in an environ-ment that does not offer many chances for students to do so freely. Alex Chesebro, a senior, was given the opportunity to be the head director and writer of this year’s winter show, “The Con-tract.” “The Contract,” written by Che-sebro and co-directed by Chese-bro and fellow seniors Tomasina Tallerico and Abigail Schmalz, is about a group of workers at a failed security agency and how each of them ended up working

BY ALEXA [email protected]

wAlex Chesebro, Nikole Farler and Anthony Raddigan prepare for the January opening of “The Con-tract.”

Gazette photos/KAYLYN

O’DONNELL

Curtain Call: “The Contract”Senior Alex Chesebro writes and co-directs the winter play

against it on Election Day. “I think it starts from the home, if parents aren’t supporting the education system and en-couraging their kids and giving them a good foundation where they have an attractive envi-ronment to learn … I don’t think any amount of money is going to improve education,” Simmons said. If Prop 30 had not have passed, state educa-tion would have been cut by $6 billion for the 2012-13 school year. The Roseville Joint Unified High School District would have cut $505 per student, leaving RJUHSD with $5 million in cuts. “Unfortunately, yes, I do think (the cuts) would be detrimental,” Simmons said. “I think the students would be the ones suffering, but it

comes back to I don’t think, even if you throw in more money, they’re going to get better – it’s just they’re not going to get worse.” Helen Gallo voted yes on Prop 30 because she wasn’t prepared to re-budget increases in her son’s tuition at California Polytechnic Uni-versity at San Luis Obispo. She also sees the affect the limited budget has on her other son’s school, Sutter Middle School in the Folsom Cordova District. “There’s so much budget cuts there (and teachers receive so little money) and it’s dif-ficult even with the budget we have because we live in a community where parents really care about education, we’re more willing to make sacrifices out of our pockets to help the school,” Gallo said. She said the Parent Teacher Association or-ganizes drives and fundraisers to support elec-tives and the library, which is now only open

there. For Chesebro, “The Contract” was produced after countless hours in front of a computer screen, typing and backspacing away until reaching satisfaction. “I rewrote the entire script twice ... and throughout the process had to rewrite a lot more of it several times,” Chesebro said. The playwright of last year’s student-written show, UCLA freshman Sara Beil, had similar difficulties when writing “The Office.” “I spent a lot of late nights work-ing on the script,” Beil said. “I had

a few ‘oh crap’ moments when I wasn’t sure how I was going to tie (a particular) scene together and almost gave up on ‘The Office’.” Beil’s production ended up be-ing a huge hit and gave members of the community a chance to see what happens when students are able to use their own ideas and be their own supervisors. Although the writing process has consisted of much frustration and alteration, Chesebro was able to put out an original piece that at-tracted many students to auditions

See DRAMA, page A6

Gazette photo /SUMMER HAENNY

wJacob Wonderly, Darcy Stockel and Jacob Volinsky, from right to left, after bowling at Rocklin Lanes as part of the GBHS bowling club on Monday Dec 3. The bowling club meets at 3:30pm.

Bowling club strikes back with energy to spare

News Briefs

Registrar Kelley Zorio is Gran-ite Bay High School’s first clerical employee to ever advise a club. Her club is the new bowling club, a club well-suited for Zorio and her passion for bowling. “I love the fact that anybody can bowl,” Zorio said. “You can be missing limbs and you can bowl, you can be tall you can bowl, you can be short you can bowl, you can be anything and still bowl. That’s one of the things that I like about it, anybody can do it.” The bowling club is a prime ex-

ample of this, because many of its members are autistic. Through the bowling club, both Zorio and the students have learned life lessons and skills. “You can play a sport or do an activity and you don’t have to be super competitive,” Zorio said. “You might be getting some so-cial aspects out of it, (like being) part of a team. ... To see them grow that way has been a joy for me.” Zorio has not been the only person having a great time while

bowling, as many of the mem-bers have started to open up and branch out socially at their week-ly Monday outings. “It’s just really neat to see them get excited to go bowl,” Zorio said. “They’re just having fun and starting to make friends. Not only are they intertwining with kids from our school, but they’re bowling with others too. It’s re-ally neat to see them interact with a variety of kids.”

–by Sydney Kahmann

See PROP 30, page A5

wBrandon Dell’Orto encour-ages drivers to vote yes on Propo-sition 30 before the Nov. elec-tion.

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay GazetteA4 News

After more than a month of re-visions and reconsiderations, the controversy surrounding a new on-campus advertising policy has finally been put to rest. The updated policy, which was first proposed by the Roseville Joint Union High School District board of education on Oct. 9, would have banned printed adver-tisements – including those in stu-dent publications, like yearbooks and newspapers – that contained religious iconography, supported a political candidate or were oth-erwise deemed “unsuitable” for youths. As of Nov. 13, however, the new ad policy no longer mentions student publications at all, effec-tively removing any possibility of the district restricting student journalistic content. The ban on religious imagery

was also removed. The news comes as a relief to student publications advis-ers, including Granite Bay High School’s newspaper adviser Karl Grubaugh. “I’m not only satisfied,” he said, “(but) I marvel at the fact that our district was as responsive as they were.” When the first revision to the ad policy – the one that included student publications – was pro-posed, Grubaugh, along with other advisers around the district, expressed concern about potential First Amendment conflicts. According to him – and to Adam Goldstein, a lawyer working for the Student Press Law Center in Virginia – the policy as it was orig-inally written would have violated California Education Code 48907, a law that makes student-produced journalistic content immune to undue censorship or prior review. In other words, because adver-

tisements in print fall under Ed. Code 48907’s protection, they can’t be restricted against the wishes of student journalists on publication staffs in the district’s comprehensive high schools. This would become the subject of some contention between the district and both advisers and publication staffs, however, as the policy was updated before teach-ers had time to respond. GBHS yearbook adviser Ber-nadette Cranmer said she thought the entire disagreement could have been avoided. “I think it would have been use-ful,” she said, “if, when the district began to consider such a policy, they had invited the publications advisers from the district to have a discussion about it.” In an email interview, Goldstein said most of the ad policy’s prob-lems came not from the district’s original intent, but from the word-ing of the California School Board

Association policy the RJUHSD board used as a model. “The problem re-ally was that they started by looking to the CSBA policy,” he said, “which tries to say that free speech in California schools doesn’t include ad-vertising. But there’s no legal basis for that assumption. In fact, what little caselaw exists goes the other way.” After the potentially problematic portions of the new policy were brought to administra-tors’ attention, Goldstein, along with the district’s own lawyer, began revising the new policy to avoid infringing on student rights. Since the policy has been changed to comply with Ed. Code 48907, those involved with the revision process have been com-plimentary of the school board’s

flexibility. “The RJUHSD school board has been incredibly protective of stu-dent rights and respectful of those rights,” Goldstein said. “This blew up at Roseville because the school board has done such a good job for so many years of making students into citizens.” Grubaugh and Cranmer ex-pressed similarly positive senti-ments.

Cranmer said she felt the ad policy changes served as a low-risk test of the district’s ability to negoti-ate questions about the le-gality and appropriateness of free student expression. “Although this is painful, I do think it’s a good way to educate people about student press rights,” she said. Grubaugh was pleased with the district’s effort to compromise. “I felt like this was a terrific effort on (the dis-trict’s) part to respond to

the concerns of the people (teach-ers) on the ground, and to do so in a timely and effective manner,” Grubaugh said. He hopes the administration will run future changes by publications advisers ahead of time, he added. “It’s not that we win and (the district) loses,” he said. “It’s (that) student journalists win – and that’s to everybody’s benefit.”

Compromise, after month-long controversyRevised district ad policy protects student press

BY HALEY [email protected]

Drama, speech and debate under new managementHolmes, Prichard leading programs once led by now-retired staff

This year, two of Granite Bay High School’s biggest programs, drama and speech and debate, are under the instruc-tion of new teachers. Kyle Holmes, who taught English last year, has taken over the drama program, and Robert Prichard has taken over the shining speech and debate program. These two programs used to be taught by Jim Prichard (drama) and Rita Prichard (speech and debate). “So far, the year has been off to a g r e a t s t a r t , ” H o l m e s s a i d . His highlight as the new dra-ma teacher was the fal l produc-tion, “You Can’t Take It With You.” “They made me very proud as a teacher and a director,” he said. One obstacle Holmes encountered when he began teaching drama in Au-gust was gaining his students’ trust. “I (was) the new guy, so they

were a little reluctant (to trust me) at first,” he said, “(but) eventually they did and they warmed up to (me).” Junior Perry Vargas, who h a s a c t e d under bo th Prichard and Holmes, said he en joyed both teachers. “Mr. Holmes … m a k e s drama a lot of fun,” Var-gas said, “(But his) approach at directing is different.” In his experience under Prichard, Vargas said Prichard would let students make their own choices, whereas Holmes is more hands-on. In the speech and debate program, Prichard is happy with the progress the

team has made so far in the school year. “Seeing the amount of work put in by a lot of the students, and the success

they have enjoyed has been very vali-dating,” he said. What Prichard has really enjoyed see-ing so far in the se-mester was the level of leadership dis-played by his more experienced debate students, and seeing his younger debaters develop over time. “I really like to see the more experienced competitors being

very … helpful to the ones that are less expe-rienced,” he said. “Seeing the leadership in the team has also been very … validating.” However, a continuing difficulty Prich-ard has encountered is encouraging his students to go over the gap between good

work and great work. “At some point, a student has to make a choice, to hone their craft to master, or to just accept … proficiency,” he said. Although he did say that that jump will happen eventually, he prefers it to happen sooner. In his few months bonding with the speech and debate team, Prichard notes that something he has learned from his students has been to increase his level of trust in them. “I’m still exploring … finding the right mix of accountability and freedom,” Prich-ard said. “I’ve learned to relax a little bit.” Overall, Prichard has been very p l e a s e d w i t h t h e p r o g r e s s t h e speech and debate team has made. Senior Tiffany Alunan who has been under the coaching of both Rita Prichard and her son, offers her insight on having her previous coach’s son as her new coach. One of the qualities that Alunan likes about Prichard is that he himself was in speech and debate when he was in high school. “He gives us a lot more individual-ized help, and he’s doing a really good

job managing the team,” Alunan said. The fact that Robert Prichard is the son of a former speech and debate coach is also advantageous. Alunan said his personality is very similar to Mrs. Prichard, resulting in a smooth transition in the program. “Our team’s been able to still do really well even after the legacy of Mrs. Prich-ard,” Alunan said, J u n i o r P a r m e e t S a h o -t a sa id he fee l s the same way. “It’s kind of like she never really left in the end, because it’s her son,” he said. “The same ideals are being strived for in the team.” Juniors Kritika Amanjee and Daisy Koch, both of whom have been under the coach-ing of both Rita and Robert Prichard, agree. As a result of having been in his students’ shoes when he attended high school, Koch said he can offer an enhanced perspective. “He helps the debaters see every point of view,” Koch said. “He understands the point of the view of the debater better rather than the teacher, or the judge watching the debater,” Amanjee agreed.

BY KIANA [email protected]

TRAFFIC: To ease congestion, CHP suggests new routesContinued from page A2

ents who remain in their car. Even though the school has control over a traffic plan, the road in front of the school, Wellington Way, is a county road and therefore the accident reports are out of the school’s jurisdiction. According to the City of Roseville website, accident history of an area is evaluated by comparing the “ac-tual” accident rate to the “expected” accident rate. If the actual rate is significantly and consistently higher (year after year) than the expected rate, then the city looks at engineering ways to reduce the actual rate. “If there is a traffic accident, as far as the investiga-tion of that traffic accident, it goes through the CHP,” Herrick said. “The Sheriff’s Department follows up with any crime regarding thefts, drug use, things like that ... But anything that’s traffic-related falls under the CHP’s authority.” In an email interview, CHP Officer Dave Martinez said the traffic and collisions at and near GBHS have been manageable to handle. “We have records of all reportable accidents in Placer County, Wellington Way included,” Martinez said. “Specifically for (the GBHS) area, right of way violations occur as well as distracted driving (and) in-attention.” Martinez said the Placer County CHP office is re-sponsible for hundreds of miles of freeway and coun-ty roads, including GBHS. “(T)he pick-up and drop-off times for (GBHS) is also our heavy commute time on the freeways,” Mar-tinez said. “Our officers are assigned specific beats, which also includes Granite Bay, however we do not have the resources to assign a uniformed officer just

to (GBHS).” Martinez said one of his major concerns is for both the parents and students he has seen talking and tex-ting while driving during the congested hours. “This is very dangerous while driving, especially when it’s crowded with several pedestrians and ve-hicles, not to mention illegal,” Martinez said. Martinez suggested alternate options for the regular school commute, in hopes of clearing up some of the problem. For students who haven’t had their license for a year, carpooling saves both gas and space on the road. For those who don’t yet have that ability, plan-ning a designated meeting place, other than the front of the school, would also work to alleviate some of the crowding. Steve Blank, a current resident of Silverwood, the neighborhood adjacent to the school, said that even

though the traffic is a burden, he has managed to work around it. “We’ve lived here 11 years and its just never been a major issue for us because it’s just 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon,” Blank said. “We always get (out of the house) before 8:30 and don’t forget anything (at home.) Otherwise we’d be waiting,” he said. In attempts to alleviate the problem, McNulty said school officials have introduced new ideas that could potentially help. “We’ve looked at having the (California Highway Patrol) out there, (but) they don’t have enough man-power,” McNulty said. “We have had meetings with Silverwood West (residents) and they have done traffic studies through

streets,” he added. “They had been thinking about putting in different crosswalks (and) stop signs, and (the current plan) is what they’ve come up with.” There are several small changes that could be made, and McNulty said he is aware of one change that could potentially solve the issue. “There is one other possible solution which would be a pick-up and drop-off ... on the south side of Eu-reka, where it splits into Wellington,” McNulty said. “But, we need to know whose property that is and if we can get an easement. So that is being looked at by the county.” Currently, the situation can only be improved with the help of both students and parents themselves. Martinez said both they need to have the right men-tality. “Everyone needs to have patience,” he said.

wTraffic in and around the GBHS parking lot is typically very congested, especially immediately before and after school. Gazette photo /KAYLYN O’DONNELL

I (was) the new guy so they were a little

reluctant (to trust me) at first, (but) eventu-ally they did and they warmed up to (me).

– Kyle Holmes, drama teacher

The RJUHSD school board has been incredibly protective of student rights and respectful of those rights. This blew up at Roseville because the school board has done such a good

job for so many years of making students into citizens.

– Adam Goldstein, attorney, Student Press Law Center

Your names.Your faces.

Your newspaper.Your website.


PROGRAM: Every 15 Minutes stirs emotions

wAbove, junior Riley Carroll is comforted by a Chaplain on the scene during the Every 15 Minutes crash simulation. Senior Beau Hershberger, right takes a Breathalyzer test.

Gazette photos /kriSTiN Taylor

Continued from page B1

how to act and what to say. She was told to say and do whatever she felt and let the moment consume her. “It was so natural when I started doing it,” Riley said. “As soon as they checked his pulse, I got out and the firefighter came over and everything from then on was totally how I would have reacted naturally.” The most heated moment of the simulation was when the driver of the second car and the person responsible for the accident, senior Beau Hershberger, was being put into the police car. Riley ran at him screaming and needed to be restrained by the chaplains comforting her. “I got taken to the back and was talking to the chaplains and I said, I’m so mad at Beau. I’m so mad,” R i l e y s a i d . “And they said, ‘Well, do what you would do normally.’ And I said I would charge at him. And they were like, ‘OK, do that.’” When Riley first learned she would have an acting role in Every 15 Minutes, she was initially more nervous than excited. “You are responsible for affecting your school and impacting them,” Riley said. “I’m apprehensive because (…) it’s really vulnerable to be crying and stuff like that in front of a ton of people.” Al though she was not completely confident going into the simulation, Riley left a powerful mark and relayed a bold message. “I thought it was really believable and it seemed sincere to me. I think how she responded was realistic,” senior Crosby Allison said.

The Carroll siblings were chosen as the victims in hopes that their tragedy would evoke emotion from a wide range of students, as they are extremely involved at GBHS. Riley is involved in cheer, drama and student government, and Patrick participates in water polo and is in the International Baccalaureate program. “We hoped the reaction to the Carrolls in the scene would personally touch the students in the crowd and make the connection that much stronger,” Every 15 Minutes commissioner Hailey Lederer said. “The Carrolls are both amazing kids, and so many people love them at our school.” What made Patrick’s “death” extremely unjust is that neither of the Carrolls say they have ever experimented with alcohol, making

them all the more innocent. “My brother and I don’t drink, so it would happen (when) we are coming home sober,” Riley said. “He’s my best friend, so we’re singing in the car a lot of the time and we have our music going (…) and I could totally see us just coming home

maybe late at night from a friend’s house and getting hit.” Although Riley abstains from the influence of alcohol, she said many of her friends go out and drink. “I think (the accident scene) is just going to make them more aware about their decisions,” Riley said. “This is going to help me to just keep doing what I’m doing and not make a poor decision or something like that.” In regards to her performance, Riley wished for her friends to take it seriously and learn the powerful message she was trying to convey about the repercussions of drinking and driving. Following the crash scene, the Carrolls were separated as Patrick was driven off to the morgue and Riley joined the walking dead. Patrick would be the last to join

the group, as the morgue was 30 minutes away and his body would have to be “processed.” “When we got there, they zipped (the body bag fully) back up and wheeled me out,” Patrick said. They even put me in the cooler where they keep the dead bodies.” Riley and Patrick’s reunion was a moment of final relief for the siblings. “You appreciate the people around you,” Riley said. “You appreciate your friends. You appreciate your family.” Both of the Carrols have been significantly changed after the events of Thursday and Friday, taking with them a valuable lesson out of a situation filled with grieving and pain. “It was just a great experience and gave me a new perspective on the issue of drunk driving,” Riley said. “I hope this first-hand experience encourages others to never do it, ever.”

LOSS: Ketchersids speak at Every 15 Minutes about their sister and daughterContinued from page A1

Kourtney was on her way home from work at a pizza restaurant in Rocklin. She was planning on meeting friends after work. As she crossed through the intersection of Douglas Boulevard and East Roseville Parkway, her Acura was plowed broadside by Joshua Bauser’s Ford Expedition Joshua Bauser, an ex-GBHS student, made choices that night, choices that changed a family’s life forever. He chose to drive after he’d been drink-ing. He chose to drive 82 mph. He chose to run a red light. “He deliberately drove around three lanes of stopped traffic,” Lori said. After the initial impact, Kourtney’s car was pushed into the landscaping of a nearby office building. Kourtney’s friends began to worry when she didn’t show up. They tried to get ahold of her and then heard the sirens as Austin did. They soon learned the crashed involved Kourtney. “By the time anyone was able to reach us, Kourtney had died,” Lori said. Lori and her husband Mark Ketchersid were out of town, when they received a call from their older daughter, Kimberly. “I didn’t answer in time and thought it was just a wrong number, Lori said. “When I answered, it was my daughter Kimberly who couldn’t speak.” Kimberly then gave the phone to a close family friend, and he told Lori of the ter-rible accident. He said, “Kourtney’s dead.” “I remember falling to the floor as my legs collapsed from underneath me, Lori said. “I dropped the phone, in shock, and was crying uncontrollably. “My husband was awake, but I could barely speak to tell him what happened.” Bauser was 21 years old at the time and his blood alcohol level about an hour after the crash was .08, the level at which a person is considered legally intoxicated. Marijuana was also found in Bauser’s car. Those choices Bauser made all led to the early death of 20-year-old Kourtney Ketchersid. Kourtney was a GBHS alumni. She graduated in 2002. But before that, she was a student at GBHS. She walked these halls, sat in the gym seats, even had many of the same teachers who teach at GBHS today.

She, like many seniors this year, was looking forward to attending Sacramento State University in the fall. “She was a happy little girl who grew up to be a beautiful young woman with a big heart,” Lori said. “She brought joy to everyone in our family and even to strang-ers.” Austin’s memories of Kourtney were dif-ferent, as he was 10 years old at the time. “I don’t remember much of my sister,” Austin said. “That’s either because I was only 10 when she died or because most of my memories are repressed. “But the few memories I do have of her, are filled with pure joy.” At Bauser’s sentencing in March 2006, Austin wrote a letter to Kourtney to be read aloud to the court. Austin was too overcome with emotion to read it himself, so his father Mark did it for him. He wrote: “Kourtney was a perfect ex-ample of how to live a good life.” He recalled her generosity in allowing him to borrow her CDs or movies or even play Super Mario Brothers with her, and he remembered laughing with her. His letter ended with the simple words “I miss Kourtney.” Neither Austin nor his mother were able to recall the letter he wrote to her. Austin only had two vivid memories of that time: the sirens, and the look on his father’s face after he told Austin of his sister’s death. “The next morning (after the accident) walking into my parents bedroom, seeing my mom’s face buried in her pillow, ball-ing, not even being able to look up and tell me what was happening, but the look on my dad’s face when he told me Kourtney had passed away,” Austin said. Lori faced any mother’s worst nightmare. “There have been days where getting out of bed was my biggest accomplishment,” she said. “I was in a coma the following year. Not being able to handle losing Kourtney, I became very depressed, very ill and had a seizure and went into a coma for a week. “The effects can be really different, so some of my memories of things aren’t there; I kind of remember a letter, but not for sure.” The sentencing hearing of Joshua Bauser in March 2006 brought tears to the entire courtroom. Bauser was also a student at GBHS from

1999-2001. Lori Ketchersid addressed Bauser di-rectly saying: “It may seem like the term of your sentence is forever, but just put it in perspective. Kourtney’s life on this Earth is over, and you still have many good years ahead of you. “You will one day have the freedom to live a good life – hopefully one that brings joy to others, like Kourtney would if she were still here. “I challenge you to live life as she would.” Bauser pleaded guilty to felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony drunken driving causing bodily injury and two enhancements of causing great bodily injury and death. He was sentenced to 9 ½ years of actual prison time and had to make restitution of $10,000 to the state victims fund. His last known whereabouts were at High Desert State Prison in Susan-ville. Attempts to contact the Bauser family were unsuccessful. Lori Ketchersid recalls some of the sentencing hearing. She remembers Bauser’s apology. “They were not very remorseful at all,” Lori said. “The judge told Joshua, when he was giving his statement, to sit down and be quiet be-cause he didn’t believe a word he was saying.” “He didn’t think Joshua was remorseful at all.” It took time for Lori Ketchersid to fathom the words to tell Bauser how his stupid be-havior had completely changed her family. “Though I haven’t been able to forgive him, I hope that he has learned from his poor judgment that night and realized the hurt and pain he caused my family.”

*** The Every 15 Minutes program is meant to prevent this from happening to another family. In the simulation, students and adult vol-unteers recreate a crash scene involving a drunk driver hitting another car. The drunk driver (played by senior Beau Hershberger) ends up going to jail. The other victims included senior Patrick

Carroll, senior Renee Merchant, junior Vinnie Esposito and junior Riley Carroll, who was injured. Throughout the day, students are taken out of classes every 15 minutes to join the “living dead,” a representation of the sta-tistic that every 15 minutes someone is in-jured or killed by a drunk driver, although that statistic has improved in recent years. All those students who joined the “living dead” and those who were involved in the crash scene were taken out of school and out of contact as if they really had died. In the funeral service held on Dec. 7, to honor the students who had died in the simulation, GBHS Principal Mike McGuire spoke. He described what had happened as a nightmare so awful, the only way to end it was to say ‘and then he woke up.’ McGuire said those deaths were so hor-

rifying, that it has to be a nightmare. “Thank God we can wake up,” he said. The Ketchersid Family didn’t get the luxury of simply ‘waking up’. “Sometimes I still expect to hear her walk through the door or get a phone call from her,” Lori Ketchersid said. “But I live with the real-ity that it’s never going to happen.” After McGuire gave his speech, Lori and Austin Ketchersid both spoke of their loss, bringing much of those in the audience to tears.

“I didn’t know Austin (Ketchersid), but his story is what got me (to cry),” said junior Amanda Miller. “Not everyone knew I lost my sister, but those who did always treated me normally, afterwards everyone was hugging me and it was nice everyone knew,” Austin said. Senior Marissa Latzen and Dalton France both know the Ketchersids and their story. “I thought (Lori and Austin) were so brave, and there is no way I could’ve done that if that happened,” Latzen said. Their bravery stems from their determi-nation to stop this from happening again, and to stop another family from going through what they had to go through. “I wanted to make sure everyone knew the dangers of it, and how it can affect any-

body, whenever, you never know when,” Austin said. “I never want to know the pain they went through,” Miller said. The Ketchersids’ speeches gave an entirely new perspective to the students at GBHS, showing exactly how drunk driving can affect a family. “I thought it was very touching and eye-opening, it gave an even more realistic view on the whole drinking and driving situation and showed how it affects the family,” France said. Kourtney’s death has forever changed the Ketchersid family. “It’s changed my life tremendously; los-ing a child is the hardest thing a person can live through,” Lori said. In her speech, she spoke of the little things she would do with her daughter like going to the mall, to lunch, singing to the radio, go Black Friday shopping or even when Kourtney would bring her a Snickers bar from work. She talked about how it was difficult to plan family vacations or family get-togethers. “It’s changed my entire family life, we’ve all gotten closer,” Austin said. Even though he doesn’t have many memories of his sister, he does know that she taught him to snowboard, play soccer, fish and introduced him to music. All of these are passions of his today. “Ever since she died, I’ve been follow-ing all of her passions that she spread on to me,” Austin said. Austin continues to keep Kourtney’s spirit alive by keeping up what she passed on to him. Lori and Austin both hope to use Kourt-ney as an example to others to not drink and drive, because things can go wrong in a matter of seconds. “Every day is a new day,” Lori Ketcher-sid said. “I (…) always hug my kids and tell them I love them and not take anything for granted.”

Ketchersid was killed by a drunk driver in April 2005 while driving to meet her friends after work.

Kourtney Ketchersid

i thought it was really believable and it seemed sincere to me.

– Crosby Allison, senior

i wanted to make sure everyone

knew the dangers of it, and how it

can affect anybody, whenever, you

never know when

– Austin Ketchersid, senior


DRAMA: Student Alex Chesebro writes original playContinued from page A3

and, according to the theater department head, Kyle Holmes, was as good as any published script. “The script is hilarious,” Holmes said, “and Alex (Chesebro), Tomasina (Tal-lerico) and Abby (Schmalz) are doing a great job at being professionals.” Originally, Holmes was hesitant to con-tinue the tradition of having the winter show be student-written. But after Che-sebro and his co-directors were able to prove themselves, he decided to take the risk of putting on something totally new. “When you have student directors, you don’t have the experience ... so there’s a concern in the quality of (the play),” Holmes said. “I have to approach any show that gets put on through my depart-ment as a producer.” Since rehearsals for “The Contract” began, Chesebro has been noticing ma-jor differences in directing his own show than a published work, and finds it both intimidating and exciting. “It’s a bit nerve-racking,” Chesebro said. “In the past I’ve always been un-der some sort of supervision, but now it’s pretty much all me with the help of Abby (Schmalz) and Tomasina (Tallerico), so I sometimes question whether I’m doing things right.” Though the show has only been in the works since the week following Thanks-giving break, “The Contract” is already off to a wonderful start and is expected to be very successful and enjoyable when it

SIEMENS: Brian Wei selected as semi-finalist in competition

ACADEC: GBHS team takes brief hiatus after years of county success GBHS principal said that the return of the Aca-demic Decathlon team is depen-dent on teacher commitment.

Mike McGuire

We are very proud to see a Grizzly

recognized as one of the (nation’s) top

high school re-searchers.

– Dong Wei, Brian Wei’s father

GRADS: GBHS students discuss their plans to graduate early

We’ve done so well (at the county

level) because we’ve been able to field great teams.

– Anthony Davis, previous Acadec

coach

Continued from page A2

said. “I’ll study business and play soccer and if I go pro, I’ll go pro and do business later, and if I don’t go pro, then I’ll do business right after college.” Although Thompson has his plans laid out and his priorities in order, it has not been his lifelong dream to graduate early – as he puts it, he simply just “went with the flow.” “I didn’t have any aspirations to do it my freshman and sophomore year,” Thompson said. “But then when I went to Indiana and talked to the head coach, he suggested it just as a possible option.” At the urgings of his brother and coach, Thompson finally made the decision to graduate early at the


knew something needed to be done, which led me to do research at Garcia. From the beginning, I was more inter-ested in doing the research than winning any sort of competition.” Wei was eventually led to participate in the Siemens Competition through his Garcia program labo-ratory partners, who had already entered the competition. He decided to start the project in collaboration with Meghana Bhat – a senior at the private all-girls school, Cas-tilleja School, in Palo Alto – who was also interested in research-ing nanocomposites. “It was great working with Brian,” Bhat said. “We would discuss ideas on the project and plan out what compos-ites we would create or test every day. He was really serious about the project, and it was great that we both wanted to work as many hours as we could in the lab to get progress on our research. It would definitely be nice to get the chance to work further in the research as a team, testing out more nanocomposites – a chance we didn’t have this summer since we both live so far from Stony Brook University.” By the time they had finished their re-search, however, the summer was com-

ing to an end – allowing Wei and Bhat only enough time to write a page or two of what would eventually be a 22-page thesis. This left the bulk of Wei and Bhat’s pa-per to be written during the school year, amidst a rigorous academic and extra-curricular schedule. “We don’t know how he managed to

navigate through these tasks in addition to the already rigorous senior academic and extracurricular activi-ties, let alone all the college application work,” said Dong Wei, Brian’s father. “That was remarkable and (will) definitely benefit him as he meets more challenges in his col-lege and (professional) life.” After participating in the Siemens Competi-tion, Brian decided to broaden his horizons –

submitting an entry to the Intel Science Talent Search competition. Although the preliminary results have not come back, Brian’s family is con-vinced that his work will allow him to go far in the world of science. “We are very proud to see a Grizzly recognized as one of the (nation’s) top high school researchers,” Brian’s father said. “We are sure he now has the con-fidence that his hard work could have ‘world-changing’ outcomes.”

end of his sophomore year. Although Thompson is excited to join his brother and play the sport he loves at the next level, he has experienced some downsides to graduating early. “I will be missing out on a bunch of memories that are going to be happening with my friends next year,” Thompson said. He is also disappointed that the administration will not allow him to walk with the junior class when they graduate next year. But Thompson maintains a posi-tive outlook and thinks that gradu-ating early now will really benefit him in the long run. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make in order to pursue my dream,” Thompson said. However, for GBHS senior Jas-

mine Habibeh, the benefits did not outweigh the drawbacks. Habibeh considered graduating early because she wanted to fol-low in the footsteps of her older brother who graduated early and said how exciting it was to be able to start his post-high school life at 17 years old. However, Habibeh felt that since she did not plan her schedule ac-cordingly, it would be too difficult for her to fulfill all of the require-ments by the end of the fall semes-ter. “It would be hard for me to gath-er all of the credits,” Habibeh said. Another downside was that Habibeh would not be able to at-tend Senior Ball, an event that she had been looking forward to. “I asked (the administration) and

they said that I would still get my senior portraits, but I wouldn’t get to go to senior ball,” Habibeh said. “I really wanted to go to that, and that’s also why I decided to wait until the end of the year. Sabrina Sabbaghian is another GBHS junior who is motivated to graduate a full year early. “I just really wanted to start col-lege … and I’m really excited to start working,” Sabbaghian said. “I already have my whole life planned out with joining my dad’s business, so I just wanted to get school over and done with early.” Her future plans consist of at-tending New York University or the University of California at Ir-vine. However, she is planning to go to a junior college for two years before moving on to a four year

university. Although Sabbaghian is not even 16 yet, she is very ambitious and knows exactly what direction she wants her life to go in. Sabbaghian’s dad is involved in web posting and has his own web business, and Sabbaghian would like to work for him. She is also passionate about fashion, and ide-ally she would like to attend NYU and double major in computer sci-ence and fashion. However if she attends UC Irvine, she would ma-jor in computers and continue with fashion as a side hobby. Sabbaghian will miss all of the close friends she will leave behind as she pursues her future. “When I’m in college I’m just going to (remember) walking on the Granite Bay campus, meet-

ing my friends (at) the same spot we’ve been meeting (at) since freshman year and knowing I’ll never be able to do that again,” Sabbaghian said. Although she does not want to leave her friends behind, she is ready to start the next chapter of her life. While these early graduates ac-knowledge there are some friends, teachers and events they will miss, they are willing to sacrifice them for experiences they might not otherwise receive as high school students. “I’ll be around more mature peo-ple and different kinds of people, and I’ll be in the world at a younger age than most would,” Sabbaghian said, “… I’ll have so much more time in my life to do more.”

opens the final week of January. “They’ve been doing a great job and it’s been coming along greatly,” Holmes said. “It’s going to be really neat to see how it will all come together once it finally hits the stage for the first time publicly.” Even with all the stress, second-guessing and constant worrying about whether or not the show will live up to its potential, Chesebro is still thrilled to be getting such a mature opportunity that most GBHS departments don’t of-fer. “I think we’re given some options for creativity (at school), but I don’t think a lot of students are willing to be cre-ative and put in a lot of time and effort to generate that,” Chesebro said. “The Contract” will open on Thurs-day, Jan. 31 and will continue through the following Saturday.

GBHS was successful last year because

each member had a unique contribu-tion and area of

expertise to share/teach to their

team.

– Brad Cordell, last year’s GBHS Acadec coach

wPerry Vargas and Riley Carroll, left, act out a scene from the play “The Contract.” Patrick Carroll and Anthony Raddigan, below, attend Monday afternoon practice.


“We were a little disappointed, actually probably pretty dis-appointed,” said Bobby Ritter, Roseville High School’s AcaDec coach, “Granite Bay’s been a real powerhouse.” With GBHS’s history of winning the county AcaDec competition, the remaining county high schools with AcaDec teams (Lincoln, Roseville, Rocklin and Ante-lope) now lack their primary motivator. “Granite Bay adds a real competitive edge,” Ritter said. The winner of the county AcaDec competition, which has historically been GBHS, moves on to the state competi-tion. Without GBHS, other schools have an opportunity to go on to state. “We’ve done so well (at the county level) because we’ve been able to field great teams,” Davis said. “We just worked very hard to get the best people possible … the smart (kids) who could work well with other students.” AcaDec teams must have mem-bers with a variety of grade point averages, but especially a “strong captain,” according to Nick Jones,

a former AcaDec team member and GBHS graduate. The captain can then help stu-dents with sections that are harder for them and, if necessary, lecture to the entire team on challenging sections that the coach is not an expert on. But a captain is just one pieces of an AcaDec team. Teams are made of six to nine

students and di-vided into three leve ls based on a student’s non-weighted, academic grade point average: honors, scholas-tic and varsity. The scholastic and varsity mem-bers of the team are the biggest deciding factor between schools. “It is hard to get a good team,” Da-vis said. “The se-cret to an AcaDec

team is getting (to) the varsity level … those are the students who ... don’t do their homework, they don’t study and they’re typically the ones who do really well on a test, so finding those students is the challenge.” But underneath it all, to be on the AcaDec team, a student must be passionate about learning. “(It’s for) those students who ...

just like learning and would like to learn a little more than they do in the classroom,” Davis said. Bradley Cordell, the 2011-2012 AcaDec coach, describes the vital characteristic all team members have as an “intrinsic desire to learn.” Cordell had never coached an AcaDec team before last year, but his team kept up with GBHS tradition and won first place at the county competition. He believes his team was suc-cessful because of the close bonds between team members. “It’s essential to select a team which works well together,” Cordell said in an email. “GBHS was successful last year because each member had a unique con-tribution and area of expertise to share/teach to their team. (Team-mates) were willing to learn from others on the team as well.” But future AcaDec teams and coaches find themselves in a slightly more difficult position. “When I stepped down and hand-ed (AcaDec) over to Mr. Cordell,” Davis said, “he had the advantage of having a couple of students who remained behind and would kind of explain the craziness.” Once this year’s seniors gradu-ate, all student experience with AcaDec will leave with them. So if AcaDec is restarted, the new coach will have to start a team from scratch. “As those students ... gradu-

ate and there aren’t any students left behind to tell the story of AcaDec,” Davis said, “it would be difficult for the coach – not impossible certainly – but difficult in the first year.” How does Davis recommend building an AcaDec team to last? “I started with all sophomores ... that set the stage or sort of the platform for the years to follow,” he said. “Getting (it going) the first year is the tough-est, getting the program off the ground.” Having a rough start at the begin-ning, though, is only natural. “The first year or two, like (for) any other new coach, will be a learning year,” McGuire said. “The hardest part will then (be) be-ing OK with the hour commitment for the coaching and supporting of the kids.” Coaches should keep in mind that picking the right team mem-bers will help make the initial burden of starting up an AcaDec team much lighter. How soon AcaDec will be resumed and when students will resume competition is up to the

teachers. “We’ll try every year,” McGuire said. “We’ll ask anybody if they want to take this coaching on and Mr. Davis will explain (AcaDec). We’ll make a run at it again.” Davis, personally, thinks new teachers would be well-suited to the AcaDec coaching job, he said. “We have a number of new teach-

ers that we’ve hired over the last two years,” Davis said, “and I could easily visualize one or a couple of them doing it.” Coaching an A c a D e c t e a m does not have to be done by one teacher alone; in fact, having multi-ple coaches might be better. “It is advan-tageous to have more than one coach to he lp share the burden from a coaching

standpoint,” Davis said. “That was tremendous in having that kind of help from other teachers.” When students are preparing for the 10 different tests, it can be beneficial to have other teachers lecture to the team on their subject. “Getting other teachers on board to help with (subjects a coach does not know well) would be great,”

Davis said. “Having more than just one coach or having a co-coach situation is a great way to do it.” Students and teachers who want an AcaDec team should start plan-ning before the end of the school year, Davis said. “If there is indeed interest,” he said, “start talking to sophomores and juniors … and then begin the tryout process for kids in the spring.” By the time the school year ends, the new AcaDec topic is released, and the binders of materials can be ordered and distributed to students over the summer. “Hit the ground running when the beginning of the year comes in August,” Davis said. “Then you’ve got a chance to be a really competitive team. But you can’t start in the fall and expect to be competitive.” Unless students have too little time to prepare for the AcaDec competition, there should be no reason for them to do poorly at the county and state levels. “Our kids,” McGuire said, “are bright enough and hardworking enough to be competitive.”

Gazette photos /KAYLYN O’DONNELL

granitebaytoday.org Updated daily.


FOOTBALL: Grizzlies steamroll St. Ignatius

wJunior Luke Bussey, top, takes down an Oak Ridge opponent in the endzone in the section title game. Johnny Cooley, above, is tackled after another substantial gain against the Trojans. Taft Partridge, right, celebrates the NorCal victory with a fan.

Gazette photos /kRisTiN TaylOR


earlier in a tiring Sac-Joaquin Sec-tion Division 1 title game. The Wildcats, coming into the game 10-4, had narrowly defeated Bellarmine in the Central Coast Sec-tion Open Division title game by a score of 13-10. GBHS defeated Oak Ridge with its potent fly offense, and the Grizzlies planned to continue using their run-oriented offense in the NorCal game. “I was just hoping that we could just milk (our running game) for one more week,” Cooper said. Cooper was not disappointed, as the Grizzlies scored on their first two drives of the game. “It was a terrific start to the game,” Cooper said. It wasn’t just the Grizzly offense that was clicking – the team’s de-fense also proved troublesome for the Wildcats, wreaking havoc on the St. Ignatius passing game. Offensively, senior running back Johnny Cooley led the way for the Grizzlies, scoring a career-high four touchdowns. However, Cooley was quick to acknowledge that stats do not reflect the entire effort of the team. “For all of my touchdowns I had my teammates pushing me along – it was a team effort,” Cooley said. The Grizzlies led 24-3 at halftime, and then came out and scored anoth-er 21 third-quarter points and, after substituting liberally in the fourth quarter, only allowing two incon-sequential second-half touchdowns. As the fourth quarter was winding down, the Grizzlies started celebrat-ing, including chasing down coaches with coolers full of ice-cold water. Cooper, however, managed to avoid being drenched. After the game, Cooper was ef-fusive in his praise of the Grizzlies. “I’m proud to say that this is prob-ably the best group of guys I’ve ever coached,” Cooper said. The Grizzlies were scheduled to leave Thursday morning for Carson, in Southern California, where they will face Long Beach Poly at the Home Depot Center in the state Div. 1 championship game. The Jackrab-bits, 12-3, beat Clovis North 28-7 in the Southern California Div. 1 championship Friday night. The 8 p.m. game will be broadcast locally by Comcast cable. Similar to the Grizzlies, Long Beach Poly focuses heavily on the running game, so the match up be-tween two of the state’s best running offenses should be quite a show. Section Championship The Grizzlies faced Oak Ridge on Nov. 30 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 championship game at Sac State and won 35-23. The Grizzlies and Trojans have faced off numerous times in the postseason in recent years, with GBHS knocking out Oak Ridge 21-12 last year in the second round of the playoffs. Coming into the game, Cooper was fully aware of the Trojan’s strategy. “(Oak Ridge) can control the ball on offense (and) … our offset to (their offense) would be running the ball,” Cooper said. GBHS scored on its opening drive with Cooley completing the touch-down on a 5-yard run. However, a poor kickoff gave the Trojans an advantageous starting point, they drove down the field and ended up

with a field goal. Before the first quarter ended, GBHS scored again, this time on a 9-yard pass completion from senior quarterback Grant Caraway to senior Tony Ellison, to take a 14-3 lead. Both teams threw interceptions while near the opponent’s end zone, the first coming when GBHS sopho-more linebacker Cameron Smith made his first of two inerceptions. On the ensuing GBHS drive, Caraway threw an interception, but luckily for the Grizzlies, the error proved minimal. “Sometimes that is just the way football happens,” Cooper said. “It was unfortunate that we threw that interception so close to scoring, but (Oak Ridge) had just done the same, so it all evened out.” In the second half, Cooper was hoping his running offense would remain efficient and effective. Following Ellison’s 11-yard touch-down run that gave the Grizzlies a 21-9 lead, Cooper’s game plan shifted. “As soon as we were up (21-9), I told my guys that we were going to use the clock to our advantage. For the most part, we did just that,” Cooper said. Against Oak Ridge, the Grizzlies were led by senior fullback Taft Partridge, who ran for 235 yards on 11 carries. During the fourth quarter, Partridge put the Grizzlies up 34-17 with an astonishing 86-yard run that sealed the victory. “As soon as I broke through, I could feel that it was going to be a touchdown,” Partridge said. For Cooper, the victory was sweet, but just another step on the Grizzly postseason journey. “I’m just pleased that we won this

game tonight,” Cooper said. “It’s a great accomplishment to a great season.” Playoffs In the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Grizzly offense was unstoppable, and the defense was formidable. Granite Bay outscored three op-ponents by a combined score of 145-27 – including an opening-round 52-0 route of Napa, a 56-20 defeat of Downey of Modesto, and a 37-7 victory against previously unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Franklin of Elk Grove. In the first month of the season, however, Granite Bay was 1-3, with losses to two Southern California powerhouse programs in Westlake

and Oaks Christian and a disap-pointing 28-27 loss to Pittsburg of the East Bay. At that point, Cooper realized the Grizzlies needed get back to the basics of football. “I told my guys that we need to re-evaluate ourselves,” Cooper said. “The losses were tough, but we needed to look beyond that for the rest of the season ahead.” By focusing on football funda-mentals, the Grizzlies started what has become an 11-game winning streak, with a state championship at stake tonight. For Cooper, it all made sense. “When playoffs started,” he said, “we were on a roll and really fine- tuned.” It showed.

granitebaytoday.org


PROP. 30: Tax measure results in mixed feelings Continued from page B1

for two days a week. “You think about the library and you think it’s just books, but it’s not just about books,” Gallo said. “There’s kids who don’t fit in and don’t hang out with anybody at school (who) have that library as a safe place to go.” Electives, such as an engineering class her son takes, were threatened to be cut as a result of a tightened budget. The class needed $3,000 from the PTA to replace circuit boards, because they are not funded by the district. “We can only allot so many teachers so much money so we (discussed that) parents (may) need to chip out $100 every month to afford the class, so it’s affecting every-thing,” Gallo said. She said the electives offer an alterna-

tive for students who are not strong in core classes. “I don’t think we put enough money into our schools, because if we don’t give our kids a foundation, then how do they get bet-ter jobs?” Gallo said. Although most Placer County residents voted no on the proposition, 64 percent of GBHS students voted yes in a straw vote conducted in Jarrod Westberg’s Advanced Placement government class’s. One of these students, senior Meagen Beiler, who is applying to California State Universities at Sacramento and Chico. “It would be awful for the state schools and education everywhere because it would take money away,” Beiler said. Beiler’s mom, Kathleen Beiler, is a teach-er for the Eureka School District, and she also voted yes on the prop, so Beiler said that makes it an even more personal propo-

sition for her. “It’s important because it’s the future of our whole country, so I feel like it’s an easy answer because if we want to go anywhere and if we want to get out of the situation we’re in, we have to educate the youth,” Meagen said. Brandon Dell’Orto, a history teacher at GBHS and president of the Roseville Sec-ondary Education Association, said the dis-trict had saved enough money to get through the cuts without substantial changes, but the school still would have experienced cuts. “Probably (what the district) would have done is cut the budget by two to three mil-lion (dollars) by the time everything was said and done next year, and been ready to cut another two to three million the follow-ing year, which would have meant bigger class sizes,” Dell’Orto said. He said there were discussions of possibly

doing away with freshman sports because some sports and other programs have al-ready been cut. “Our district was getting ready to pretty sincerely batten down the hatches and see if we can weather the storm. With (Prop. 30) passing we now have the opportunity to hire some new teachers to make class sizes go down,” Dell’Orto said. “We now have the opportunity to help out teachers who haven’t had any cost of living advance adjustment in healthcare or regular cost of living (raise) for a number of years. (and) get ready to do different projects.” He understands why most residents voted no, but he said Prop. 30 was necessary. “We’re a country that was born being an-gry and pissed off at taxes, that’s where we started-we’re still there. Anyone who has to pay more is going to be frustrated and feel that it’s not fair, I understand how a big

chunk of our community would be frustrat-ed,” Dell’Orto said. The RSEA supported Prop. 30 and GBHS teachers including Dell’Orto campaigned on major streets both the day before Elec-tion Day and on Election Day, encouraging voters to support students. “I’ve seen the numbers, I’ve seen what they were getting ready to do and now that doesn’t have to happen,” Dell’Orto said. “Now the next interesting part of the story is what will they do with the money-will they actually get it to the schools?” Beiler said she believes the state will keep the money going to schools. “I hope (the state decides to keep the money going toward schools) because they know how important it is and Gov. Jerry Brown was advocating for it and he has a lot of power in the state so I think it will- (go to schools)- they need the money,” she said.

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A SectionGranite Bay Gazette

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Editors-in-Chief: Nicole BalesLena Eyen

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News Editor:Sydney Kahmann

Voices Editors:Emma GracykKiana Okhovat

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Voices

We are defined by the decisions we make and how we react to our consequences. and one major decision that we may all have to make is to put ourselves behind the wheel when under the influence. Granite Bay high School offers the Every 15 minutes Program to bring to the attention of students the graveness and horror of deaths caused by drunk driving. despite the program’s name, ever since drunk driving has been illegal in california, the number of deaths caused by drunk driving has, in fact, decreased. instead of every 15 minutes, a death is caused by drunk driving every 48 minutes. this amounts to approximately 30 daily deaths caused by reckless

driving. the amount of money spent on alcohol-related crashes is about $51 billion per year. texting while driving is also dangerous. california is one of many states that has forbidden using any handheld device when behind the wheel. this includes texting. in 2011 alone, 23% of car crashes were caused by texting behind the wheel. and what’s worse is that persons in the age group 16-24 were most likely to be on their phone when driving. driving is a responsibility. When operating a vehicle, all of your

focus has to be on driving safely, becuase anything can happen. Being drunk impairs that ability to drive safely, and when you are

on the phone, you take away that safety from yourself. When you text, you take your eyes off of the road. When you talk on the phone, 100% of you focus is not on driving. you may think it is, but it is not. Since we all live together as a unit, in society, our choices impact those around us, from people whom we might not be acquainted

with, to people we love and hold dear. Even if we are not acquainted with the people who are impacted by our actions, they have families and friends who are affected. Put yourself in their shoes. Once we choose to go down the wrong path, especially regarding something as serious as driving safely, there is no turning back. What happens, happens. nothing in the past can be changed. the indescribable weight of grief,sadness, anguish, desolation, and pain you can cause people through being irresponsible is inexpressible. and having to live with that burden, with that incredible guilt, is torture.

But that is nothing compared to the amount of affliction and unnecessary misery you caused to someone’s family and friends. Because if you kill someone in an accident, you have not only single-handedly taken the life of an innocent human being, but you have destroyed the family and friends of that victim. all of this, this never-ending misery, can never happen. But you can make the right choice. it truly isn’t that hard. it’s one of the easiest choices you will ever have to make. Why bother taking such a dangerous risk with you can guarantee your own safety through driving responsibly?

The consequences of our decisions can be horrific EDITORIALThe voice of the

Granite Bay Gazette

Views of rap music are generational

many hip hop listeners

claim that “hip hop is dead,” when, on the contrary, it is booming with suc-cess. although there aren’t rappers of dominance such as tupac, notorious B.i.G or nas, there are rappers who are making impressive noise in the rap world. artists such as Jay-z and Kanye West seem to have the entire rap culture at their fingertips, selling more albums and making more money than tupac or notorious B.i.G ever did. today, old-school rap listeners are looking to the modern culture for lyri-cism and are disappointed with the unin-telligent sound of the 21st century. yet these people need to realize that they can take the new-styled songs for

their worth, entertainment. modern-day artists such as chief Keef and French mon-tana aren’t necessar-ily lyrical geniuses, but rather approach their music a little dif-ferently. they try to perfect their deliv-

ery or their “flow” rather than bother with creating mean-ingful lyrics to impress their fans. Whereas old-school rappers would have proposed lyrics containing moral stories, nowadays rappers simply talk about money, women, drugs and expen-sive things. artists and groups such as tupac and

NWA posed as controversial figures throughout the ’80s and ’90s who sent meaningful messages about discrimi-

nation and racism. ironi-cally, today it seems that artists sit back and ride the wake that these old-school artists have created. One of the most promi-nent move-ments created by nWa was the nega-tive attitude toward the government and the

police. the releasing of the song “F--- the Police” by nWa was a ground-breaking moment in the world of rap music. When looking through videos of new-

school rappers, normally the top com-ment is contains something like, “this is why hip hop sucks!”

these com-ments usually come from a 40-year-old man, sitting behind his computer screen who wishes he could go back 20 years to when the “real” hip hop was be-ing made. controversy between both parties has been brewing for more than 20

years, and those who are considered to be “old-school rappers” were once the rap novices themselves.

*** Myles Slattery, a junior, is a Gazette staff writer.

Contrary to belief, rap music isn’t worsening, it’s instead a change of trend.

Guys aren’t the only ones who are filled with anxiety and angstWinter Ball from a girl’s perspectiveit is that time of year again

– when the music in stores becomes jolly, Starbucks

coffee cups change design and guys start bringing roses to school to ask that special someone to the dance. the anticipated Winter Ball is here once again. Or should i say the dreaded Winterball. it is not that i am against date dances. i enjoy dressing up fancily for a night and going out with a group of friends. if the music was better, i would probably even look forward to the dancing bit. it is the build up to this one-night dance that makes Winter Ball unpleasant. Winter Ball is advertised way in advance. Posters are put up more than a month before the actual date. these posters can make you very excited - and just as easily very frustrated. When I first saw these posters, i started to imagine the perfect guy and the perfect dress with a perfect night under the stars. as weeks went on and people were starting to get asked, i felt the posters mock me, reminding me of how i had not been asked yet. and then i realized how ridiculous it was to start fretting about not having a

date, considering Winter Ball was still a month away.

Guys might think girls have it easy. all we have to do is stand by and look pretty while the guy has to plan an elaborate way of asking the girl of his choice. On top of that, the guy faces possible rejection. What guys do not realize is the anxiety girls face. We stress over who we want to be asked by and then we must simply wait for our prince charming to

sweep us off our feet. and while guys fear rejection, girls fear rejecting. We fear getting asked by the wrong guy and then having to say no and hurt his feelings. at times i feel the asking is

a bigger deal than going to the actual dance. Guys go as far as making mock bulletins and ice sculptures to ask that special someone. When girls get flowers, all of her peers stop to “aw” and ask who she was asked by. i honestly love seeing all the creative ways students come up with in asking. it sparks change in a typical school day. yet sometimes i wonder if the build up to Winter Ball is a

bigger deal than the actual dance. at this time of year i notice there are three type of people – those who have no desire to go, those who will go no matter what, and those who will only go if that special someone asks. Some girls have no desire to waste the money on a one-time-use dress or the time on makeup and hair no one will truly appreciate since it is mostly dark at the dance anyway. Others plan on going no matter what – date or no date. in the end, does the guy really make all the difference? Perhaps going with friends is the best option. that way, no awkwardness occurs. While some may hope a relationship comes out of the

night, my experience has been Winter Ball is more of a night to show off and make memories with friends. Winter Ball is almost like a repeat of halloween but for teenagers. it is fun and interesting to see classmates in something other than t-shirts and jeans. Peers appear transformed. the month before Winter Ball is exciting and nerve-

racking. the asking breaks up the monotony of a regular school week. a sort of glowing hope grows in girls; if not asked today, maybe she’ll get asked tomorrow. While the dressing up, picture taking, food and dancing bit of Winter Ball, the anxiety leading up to the dance is truly exhilarating. and in the

end, who one goes with or does not go with is not a huge deal. Just enjoy yourself no matter what.

*** Emma Gracyk, a senior, is a Gazette Voices editor.

COmmENTARY

emma [email protected]

COmmENTARY

myles [email protected]

At times I feel the asking is a bigger deal than go-ing to the actual dance. Guys go as far as making mock bullitens and ice sculp-tures to ask that special some-one. When girls get flowers, all her peers stop to ‘“aw” and ask who she was asked by.

Controversy be-tween both parties has been brewing for more than 20 years, and those who are considered to be “Old-School rappers” were once the rap novices themselves.

Today, old-school rap listeners are looking to the modern culture for lyricism and are disappointed with the unintelli-gent sound of the 21st century.

What guys do not realize is the anxiety girls face. We stress over who we want to be asked by and then we must simply wait for our prince charming.

Gazette illustration /EMMA GRACYK

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay GazetteA10 Voices

Thumbs down: Homework… AP and Honors homework…

onthe BAY

HEARD

–Compiled by Hayley McAvoy

freshman

sophomore

junior

senior

staff

What is your fondest winter break memory?

“Getting presents.”

Bill NguyeN

“Going to San Francisco to go shopping.”

ShelBy McPhail

“Dinner with my family.”

corey coNSuNji

Sara NorthaM

“Having a white Christmas when I

was younger.”

johN MacleaNe

“Going bird hunting with my boys.”

Thumbs Up Thumbs Down

Thumbs up: One more week of school until Winter Break!

Thumbs down: One more week of finals, tests and finishing college applications.

Thumbs up: My older sibling is home from college!

Thumbs down: I have to share my car with her.

by Hayley McAvoy, green screen editor.

Gazette photos /SUMMER HAENNY

What began as a way to stop appropriation has spiraled out of control

Is ‘social justice’ really just?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Check your (insert adjective) privilege.

Now, I’m a purebred, blue-blooded Jewish liberal, and I’m content with that identity. I’ve attended my fair share of gay rights protests, I’m appropriately offended by whatever piggish bureaucrat’s off-color comments are making headlines this week, and I’ve preset a frequency to NPR on my parents’ car radios. But there’s this one nagging thought I keep having. It started as just a fleeting judgment, and gradually, as election season degenerated into the usual partisan bloodbath, it metastasized into a full-blown opinion. What I’m about to say is a liberal anathema. I’ve been holding it in for months now, but I confess: I’m sick to death of political correctness. For the uninitiated, the spidering, amorphous thing termed “social justice” (or SJ for short) can best be defined as a largely internet-based movement whose stated goal is the promotion of civil rights and societal equality for minorities. Its primary strongholds have traditionally been sites like Tumblr and Reddit, but its tactics and messages have gradually been working their way into the mainstream (remember Kony 2012?). At first, I, like a good little progressive, passively supported the SJ bloggers in their noble quest. All they required of me was the occasional ‘like’ or ‘share’ to make me feel morally superior. Photos of angry feminists holding signs to protest victim-blaming in cases of rape? Sure! Posts explaining how to address a transgendered person correctly? Great! A link to a fundraiser to help an oppressed group in some faraway country? There’s no way I’m donating, but hey, points for effort! That’s how it started, at least. Very benign, very well-intentioned. That

was before the real crusaders started popping up. Racism, sexism and the like are the biggest topic for a lot of SJ activists, and rightly so – you don’t need to be eight different kinds of minority to know there’s discrimination in the world. And so the more zealous preachers of the SJ cause have collectively figured out a way to delineate the truly oppressed from the mere complainers.

It’s a concept called privilege. You have it, I have it, and theoretically, everyone with a pulse has it. It’s anything beyond your immediate control that automatically gives you some kind of leg-up in modern society. You can have privilege for being white, for being male, for being financially well-off – all the things you might expect. But the deeper you go into the SJ world, the more nitpicky you are required to be

about your various privileges. Free of major illness? Health privilege. Think of yourself as a girl, if you’re female, or a boy, if you’re male? Cisgendered privilege. Able to read this sentence? Literacy privilege. I don’t mean to imply that having these privileges isn’t a genuine advantage in the world. But every minuscule thing that doesn’t make your life worse can be privilege. And the more you have, according to those on the crazier end of the SJ spectrum, the less your opinion should matter in any kind of political setting. I think I get what the intended point of all of this was, I really do. A disadvantaged female SJ activist – understandably, I believe – likely doesn’t want a middle-aged white

guy writing laws that decide who pays for her birth control. A person of Native American descent probably doesn’t love seeing hipster girls wearing feather headdresses like they’re some cute vintage hat, rather than a sacred symbol. Privilege was coined to help these people understand why what they’re doing might be offensive – and why they don’t have the moral high ground if they simply claim it

isn’t. But as the SJ movement spreads, so too does its message, and like an overblown game of telephone tag, with each manifestation, it mutates and distorts itself. There are so many ways to be privileged that it’s nearly impossible to account for them all – so if you try to discuss any vaguely taboo subject and you’re not the most mightily oppressed sad sack on the North American continent, you can expect to be told that you’re a bigot of some sort and to kill yourself. What began as a legitimate tool to fight appropriation and cruelty has very nearly become another way to spread it. It almost feels as though there’s this unspoken contest within SJ circles to see who can be the most underprivileged – that somehow, a non-binary pansexual demiromantic otherkin person of color’s opinion is much more valid than mine. Anti-racism has started to degenerate into reverse racism (which is still discriminatory), in these extreme little corners of the internet. Feminism is fermenting into misandry. The very same people who were once praised for their efforts to raise awareness about depression and anxiety are now told they can’t have it, because they live in nice suburbs and were born with the right genitals in the right spots. And this weird reverse-discrimination thing has trickled into the offline world, as well. I find myself panicking over my college applications because (on top of all the normal, GPA- or time management-related reasons) I’m not an especially sympathetic individual. It’s

not a pretty truth, but it’s the truth – if I weren’t ethnically boring or financially solvent, my chances of being accepted to a competitive school would be slightly better, ignoring all of my academic qualifications. That’s a scary thing, even for a liberal. My point is twofold. First, as far as the SJ movement goes: No one will ever take you seriously if you equate cheeseburgers to genocide and the “Are you a boy or a girl?” prompt at the beginning of a Pokemon game to erasism. Pick your battles carefully and knock it off with the hyperbole. The goal of all your campaigning and awareness-raising is still one worth fighting for, so long as you don’t let your ideology get diluted with useless antagonism. Otherwise, you can expect people like me – and internet trolls who are much, much less courteous – to simply mock you, rather than take the time to listen. And secondly, to people of the Real World – I know I’m going against the liberal grain by saying all of this, but just consider: are the scholarships, job offers, and the like that preferentially seek out the disadvantaged or underrepresented among us really less discriminatory? Or do they simply change the age-old pattern of rewarding those born into luckier circumstances into one that rewards the unlucky? I can’t answer that, but I have no more control over my demographics than anyone else, no matter their race, gender, orientation or yearly income. This is not a comfy place to be in. But I’d rather be honest, in all my disillusionment, than blindly reblog, repost or repin whatever SJ-related debate happens to show up on my screen. You don’t have to agree with me. Heck, I know a lot of you won’t. But so long as you really think critically – as long as you don’t let the mob-mentality of the Internet or the guilt-tripping and conformity of party politics squelch your well-meaning doubts – I’ll never respect you any less for it. I might be in the wrong, but at least I’m genuine in my wrongness.

*** Haley Massara, a senior, is a Gazette co-editor-in-chief.

Gazette illustration/EMMA GRACYK

But as the SJ movement spreads, so too does its message, and like an overblown game of telephone tag, with each manifestation, it mutates and distorts itself.

Commentary

haley [email protected]

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay Gazette A11Voices

Want your voice to be heard? Submit a guest commentary to [email protected]!

While some cheer when assigned group projects, others invariably groan

Are group projects still considered necessary?

“For this project, you’ll work in groups.”

Cue the groaning from al-most every student in the class, and for good reason. I’m assuming that every teacher is taught to incorporate some sort of “group project” work into their curriculum. Don’t get me wrong, I believe whole-heartedly in learning to work together. In elementary school, the shy kids tended to break out of their shells when they could group together for a presentation on math multiplication tables. As said by many of my teachers in past years, these groups are supposed to teach you to be able to work with people when you’re older or be able to deal with people you don’t like. Group projects from fifth to eighth grade pro-vided a nice change in the usual classroom routine and instilled valuable negotiating and social skills. Maybe they are beneficial when we are younger, but as students get older group projects need to stop. The sound of the term “group projects” has struck a painful chord with me since freshman year. Most students are warned that the grades they

receive in high school will play a factor in getting accepted to college. With that in mind, I figured my academic perfor-mance would be something that I could control. But when group projects didn’t’ seem to die off after eighth grade, my bitterness began. For one thing, group projects are socialistic: a bunch of individuals get a grade based on what ev-eryone’s combined work quality was in the group. So, as my luck usually played out, my final grade wouldn’t be what I felt I earned. In high school, the idea of picking your own groups is a sin. Teachers assume students will get a worse grade because they will create a group with their friends and mess around. So apparently when the teacher puts together groups of strangers or acquaintances in all differ-ent categories of “academically able,” the grades

should turn out fantastic. Unfortunately for me, this has not been the case. I have been stuck with people who loved the idea of feeding off of a grade that someone else worked for. Some people realize that if they’re paired with someone who will do all the work for them, they can relax while they watch their GPA rise. On the other hand, the person stuck with all the work gets frustrated, all for a grade that both par-ties would “earn.” Some students want none of the work with all of the benefits. Personally, I want a grade that is all my own. I want my grade to be directly reflected by the out-comes of my hard work, not by a “joint effort.” How am I supposed to explain to a college that, although I met expectations in a class, I got a

lower overall grade because of a less-than-satis-factory group project grade? If there was a section entitled Which Classes Were Hurt By Group Projects on college applica-tions, then maybe it would be more reasonable to assign group projects. Some teachers have realized that group projects can be unproductive, and they cut them alto-gether. Others decide to vary the grading to make it a little more fair. My bad experiences have left me upset about any mention of “pairing up” in class. Save the grade-sharing for fourth grade math problems, not a class that could affect my future.

***Amber Les, a senior, is a Gazette sports editor.

Your name. Your Faces. Your newspaper. The Gazette.

Gazette illustration /CHASE EVANS

Commentary

amber [email protected]

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay GazetteA12 Second Look Second look

Every 15 MinutesUpperclassmen watch an alcohol-related car accident simulation

wFar left, junior Vinny Esposito is carefully moved from the destroyed vehicle to the ambulance. Senior Renee Merchant, left, sits motionless in the passanger seat following the fake collision. Speaking with an of-ficer, junior Riley Carroll, below, lets out grief-filled sobs over the death of her older brother, junior Patrick Carroll. Far below left, senior Erica Peterson, junior Tommy Thompson, junior Jackson Rodriguez and drama teacher Kyle Holmes stand lifeless watching the scene, maintaining their roles as “the walking dead.” Showing immense guilt, senior Beau Hershberger sits on the hood of the police car, observing the mess he has caused. Far below left, Riley screams at Hershberger angrily for murdering her brother. Assistant Principal Brent Mattix comforts senior Sam Myers following the simulation.

wGazette photosw Kristin Taylor

As Granite Bay High School reaches the halfway point of the 2012-2013 school year, freshmen and seniors

are beginning to see how high school has affected them. Ask any high school grad what they thought of high school, and you’ll get a completely different answer. This is because most high school students feel that high school is an individual experience – it’s difficult to share. These individual experiences end up shaping students as they transform from freshmen to seniors. The change from 8th grade to 9th grade is monumental, and freshmen are noticing the changes. “High school gives us a lot more free-doms,” freshman Joey Carlsen said. These freedoms open the door for learn-ing in new and innovative ways. “It’s much more straightforward and

(combines) learning and fun at the same time,” freshman Sonia Matheus said. Carlsen agrees that there is a greater con-nection between teachers and students. “The teachers act like people and less like drones that just (tell) you information,” he said. “It feels like you’re treated more responsibly.” New freedoms bring more opportunities for students to get involved. “I’m enjoying (high school) more than 8th grade because of all the activities you can do,” Carlsen said. Carlsen joined the drama club and also auditioned for the student directed play. “Even though I didn’t make it (after audi-tioning), it was really fun because I got to meet a lot of people,” Carlsen said. With over 50 clubs, a band and choir and 24 sports, GBHS offers numerous ways for students to get involved on campus. Matheus plays mellophone and oboe in the Emerald Brigade. “Being a part of a group with a wide va-riety of personalities and ages really helps

you grow as a person,” Matheus said. Personal growth has been a major part of the high school experience. “There’s been a lot of emotional growth and I think that’s all anyone can hope for – a chance to develop as a person and a student,” senior Taylor Reynolds said. GBHS senior Paul Zajac also changed as he went through high school, constantly growing as he tried different programs. “A lot of (freshman year) was spent trying to find myself and trying different activi-ties,” Zajac said. “Senior year I felt a lot more established and…able to get involved (to) set a great example for others.” Throughout his four years at GBHS, Zajac played water polo, participated in cross country and the swim team and is also a member of the Future Business Leaders of America club. He’s also worked behind stage in the theatre, helping with the sound and lights in school productions. Being a part of so many different groups on campus has opened Zajac’s mind to the many types of people at GBHS.

“I look at people more openly than I used to,” Zajac said. Carlsen also has seen his view change even in these past few months of high school. “I look at things differently and I don’t see everything as a joke,” he said. Upon entrance into high school, the stress levels of students tend to elevate due to the new environment. “I thought high school was going to be a drag,” Matheus said. “The teachers are great and the older kids are so welcoming.”

LifestyLeFriday w

B SectionGranite Bay Gazette

December 14, 2012

inside lifestyle

SAT Tip of the Month B3

Random Student B4

Random Club B4

College of the Month B5 B2

New club on campusThe Water Project raises money

B2 B3

As I grab my favorite pair of shorts from my dresser drawer, my day instantly

brightens. I pull the soft denim shorts over my waist and button them right above my belly button. With their faded mint green color and loose fit, they’re perfect for a casual day. I tuck my shirt in, slip on my Birkenstock sandals and head out the door. A few girls compliment me, and my confidence boosts a little as I embrace my coveted high-waisted shorts. I love high-waisted shorts. They’re belted at the smallest part of your waist (personally my favorite physical feature) and make your legs look longer. They’re also much more comfortable than those tight, skimpy short-shorts that need to be pulled down every time you take a step. I mean, who wants to walk around yanking down the shorts that have proceeded to reveal half their butt cheek? This is why I’m such a fan of the high-waisted variety. Now please don’t take this column to be a rant in regard to my feelings against short-shorts. I could care less whether you wear those or an ankle-length skirt. But I have to ask, what are you thinking when you put on those shorts? If you’re wearing them to impress boys, please don’t. I guess some would say the down-side to wearing high-waisted shorts would be that guys don’t find them attractive. Last week, as I sat working in my fourth period journalism class, I overheard a conversation occurring within a group of junior boys. They were complaining about how unat-tractive high-waisted shorts were. One boy claimed that they just weren’t flattering to a woman’s shape. Others said that they looked like a denim diaper, or that they belong in a mom’s closet. I’ll admit to the validity of the latter argument, because a few pairs of my shorts were originally stolen from my mother’s closet. But I think that makes them better. They were something that, before their wild popularity, you couldn’t get from any day trip to Target. I didn’t think much of the boys’ comments and returned the fol-lowing week in a different pair of high-waisted shorts. As I stood waiting for the bell at the end of a class period, a male classmate approached me. He didn’t bother with any small talk before informing me that, due to my current outfit choice, his opin-ion of me went down. The fact that this boy would even consider saying that about me sim-ply because of my outfit of choice is a bit disturbing. Judgments should not be made based on the style of shorts I wear. Simply because I’m embracing a trend that isn’t attractive to the opposite sex should not make me a better or worse person. I don’t think we should be ex-pected to value ourselves based on the opinions of other people. I’m going to wear what I feel comfortable in, whether or not it’s appealing to boys. I plan on continuing to wear my high-waisted shorts until I tire of them. They’re my favorite. That’s what fashion should be about – loving what you’re wear-ing, and holding on to that love despite the critiques from others. So ladies, pull your shorts up to your belly button if that’s what floats your boat. Amidst male grumbling, I hope that high-waisted shorts live on.

Winter Ball asking gets creativeBoys have unique ideas for asking their dates

Perfect Pinterest weddings Girls use the site to plan their dream day

GBHS is halfway done with the school yearStudents feel many different emotions as the first term wraps up

BY MADISON [email protected]

Carlsen is a fresh-man happy to be in high school.

Joey Carlsen

***Madison Touloukian, a senior, is a Gazette’s Lifestyle co-editor.

See HALFWAY, page B4

BY KEVIN [email protected]

It’s the end of the world as we know it – yet most people feel fine. As we approach the end of the year, the

country is in angst due to a myth, created by the Mayans, which says the world will end on Dec. 21. Many people write off the prediction as a fable, yet as the popularity grows, the ancient tale is be-coming a topic on every news station, website and newspaper. Due to it’s enormous popularity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration published a paper answering 10 frequently asked questions about the event. There was even a movie made about the decid-ing day, 2012, which featured the world falling to pieces as the super-rich bought into a safe escape. Despite all the influences from the Internet and television, many students at Granite Bay High School refuse to believe that the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a society who collapsed almost 1,100 years ago. “I don’t think (the apocalypse) will happen,” senior Marissa Latzen said. Latzen, confident that she will ease into winter break alive, is in agreement with many students in her class. Junior David Zech said he is not counting on the world ending in a week, but he is still inter-ested as to what will happen around the world. “I’ll watch the news (that day) and look for anything out of the ordinary to see if the world is really ending or not,” Zech said. Whether or not the world is bound to end, stu-dents at GBHS will be worrying for the first half of their day, when they are taking their final tests for two classes. If the world is in fact collapsing on itself, as the Mayans predicted, some students may decide to free up their schedule. “If it does seem like it’s going to end,” Latzen said, “I won’t go to school that day.” Senior Jeremy Ly agreed with Latzen, saying that he will just spend time with friends and fam-ily if the world really comes to an end. “I want to spend the rest of my time wisely,” Ly said. In spite of the lack of evidence to support an apocalypse, people all around the world believe in the prophecy. News website Reuters took a poll and found that one in seven people agree that the world will end before we reach 2013. All the chaos has caused some students at GBHS to wonder how society has believed such an un-imaginable prediction. “People believe it because the Mayans said it,” Ly said, “and they are just too gullible.” Zech also sees people as too naive, and said that he

Gazette illustration/LENA EYEN

See END OF WORLD, page B4

CoMMenTARy

madison [email protected]

Boys, let me dress myself

Sometimes it can be hard to realize that it’s the holiday season at school. At home, houses are decorated for the winter season and students can relax and enjoy the festive atmosphere, whereas at school, students are focused cramming to do homework and studying for tests. Because of this stress, the winter holiday is easily forgotten on school campuses. Luckily, there are still some school faculty members who enjoy decorating for the holiday season here at Granite bay High School. Helen Guzenski, the administra-tive assistant at the front desk, is one who enjoys decorating for the holiday season. It’s a festive time of year, and she likes the office to look welcoming and cheery. “I put a wreath on my little wooden bear that’s on the counter, I put some snowmen on a string and I sometimes have festive lights,” Guzenski said. “I also have another wreath that I hang on the window that says either Happy Holi-days or Seasons Greetings and I have a small Christmas tree.” Guzenski likes to decorate because she celebrates the winter season and enjoys the Christmas holiday. “People comment a lot of times on how nice it looks,” Guzenski said. “People in general are being very friendly towards it.” Spanish 3 and Spanish International Baccalaureate teacher, Anna-Marie Gonzalez, enjoys varying decorations each month to recognize as many holidays as she can, such as Eas-ter, Day of the Dead, Christmas, Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence. Over the years, Gonzalez has accu-mulated more and more items to add to her holiday decorations. “For Christmas I put out streamers that hang down that say ‘Feliz Navidad,’ and I have a tree,” Gonzalez said. “I try to stick with decorations that look Hispanic. For example I have chili pep-per lights, a Virgin Guadalupe, a manger scene and other Hispanic decorations.” Gonzalez believes that decorat-ing should be allowed anywhere in the school. Whenever she decorates her room, it makes her feel happy and spirited inside. “I know that my students love my decorations because they come in and

say in Spanish that they like it,” Gonza-lez said. English 9 and English 11 teacher Kay Bacharach, uses decorations that have either been handed down to her from another teacher or are items that she doesn’t use anymore at home. “This year I have a little light-up tree, some holiday tissue boxes, and I brought some Christmas lights from home,” Bacharach said. “The kids seem to like those the most because it some-what illuminates the room whenever I turn off the lights.” Bacharach has always liked deco-rating her classroom because while decorating at home is sometimes over-whelming and it takes a while to do, at school, it is quick and easy and confined to one area. Over the years, Bacharach has gotten a little more decorative and enjoys it more because of the positive feedback she receives from her students.

“(Decorating) certainly shows a little bit of me because I’m not real uptight,” Bacharach said. “I think decorating is just relaxed, fun, spirited and adds a dif-ferent type of element to class.” Honors English 11 and English 9 teacher Shannon McCann has made it a goal to decorate for every holiday, which she has never done before. Mc-Cann was also fortunate enough to receive numerous decorations from a prior teacher. “The decorations are all brand new to me, so when I pull them out, it’s almost like Christmas every time,” Mc-Cann said. “I’m buying some more as I go, so it’s almost become a game for me myself.” She believes that decorating is a bonus and helps to create a comfortable and homey atmosphere in the class-room. “I think I’m (decorating) because it uplifts my own spirits and when the kids come in and respond to it, it just makes

me happy,” McCann said. It’s always a nice surprise for students when the room looks totally different than it did the day before, and McCann believes that it’s all worth the effort. “I think it’s fun when the environ-ment changes so it’s not always the exact same thing all the time,” McCann said. “It’s a little more interesting to look at and I think that it makes the room feel warmer.” She believes that students need to focus on academics, but that they also need to be constantly aware of their atmosphere and surroundings. “If anyone wants to show their spirit during the holidays then I think they should be able to let their personalities shine however they want,” McCann said. McCann also believes that decorat-ing brings out the mom in her. “This is our home away from home, so I think we should make it as colorful

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay GazetteB2 Lifestyle

Funny new year’s resolutions For

2013

Switch my username to “password” and my pass-word to “username” just to make it harder for hackers.

Spend less than $1,724 at Starbucks.

Stop buying useless junk on Amazon. Everybody knows

that Quality Value Convinience (QVC) has better deals.

I will find the idiot that let the dogs out.

Create a full proof plan to sur-vive the Zombie Apocalypse.

Become a millionaire on Farm-ville.

Work on being less outwardly judgmental. People can al-

ways tell.

Drive closer to the speed limit.

Stop fantasizing about slamming on my breaks when a Porsche is

Stop making resolutions start-ing next year.

- Compiled by Summer Haenny

top Granite Bay decorates for holidays Students and staff adorn their homes with holiday cheer

Club fundraises to build well in Africa

Boys find dates for dance

Teacher heads ‘The Water Project’

Girls are asked to Winter Ball in creative and thoughtful ways preceding the December dance

BY THOMAS [email protected]

Dresses, tuxedos, limousines, high heels, photos and proud parents are some of the cornerstones of the Granite Bay High School Winter Ball. Perhaps the most important part of the Winter Ball experience is actu-ally asking that special someone to this extremely elegant dance. Some people just get the girl flow-ers and ask them to Winter Ball but other GBHS students went above and beyond to ask their dates this

year. “I did not want to just do (it in) a really lame way,” junior Zachary Boyle said, “I wanted to do a good job and make it special.” “So I went to the girl’s house and put a stick of butter on her doorstep late one night while she was asleep. I door-bell-ditched her, and when she opened the door and picked up the butter she was kind of confused. When she did not see anyone else she went back inside.” Boyle then ran up to the door, and then gave her a poster that said,

“Now that I’ve gotten you buttered up do you want to go to Winter Ball with me?” “I brought her roses and popcorn as well and it was really awesome,” Boyle said. Boyle and Sierra Panter plan to have an excellent time at the dance on Dec 15. While Boyle used surprise to make his date feel special, junior Parker Burman employed a “punny” style.


wspanish teacher Jill Cova has a box in her classroom for students to collect recycable bottles and cans to raise money towards the well.See WATER, page B4

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life-time.” This Chinese proverb is the basis of the new Gran-ite Bay High School club The Water Project. More than 1 in 8 people in the world don’t have access to safe drinking water and nearly 80% of illnesses in developing countries are linked to poor water and sanitation,

according to The Water Project Inc. The Water Project fo-cuses on raising money to build clean water sources in Africa. The club is formed underneath the non-profit organization The Water Project Inc. The Chinese proverb is the club’s motto because their vision is to build a permanent water source that will provide people in Africa clean water for years. “A lot of corporations in the world have been try-ing to send impoverished

world material things–food, clothing, things that don’t last long – and what happens is these people start to rely on this deliv-ery and they don’t work for it,” junior club presi-dent Anna Lim said. While materials such as food or shoes may only last for a couple days or years, a clean water source can last for generations. The club’s goal is to build a well in Africa, which costs $7,000. Lim hopes to raise $1,000 by the end of

BY EMMA [email protected]

BY TAMREN [email protected]

See WINTER BALL, page B5



Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay Gazette B3Lifestyle

StudentSpotlight

Gazette: How do you balance playing varsity tennis and taking Advanced Placement classes?

A: I go home, work through my homework and try not to get too distracted by TV. I also have fourth period off and I take athletic P.E., which helps to give me more time to work.

Gazette: Are you planning to continue tennis in the future?

A: I’m planning on playing tennis as a side sport, as in a club or intramural.

Gazette: Have you had to sacrifice many things with your busy schedule?

A: I’ve had to sacrifice hanging out with my friends a lot. I get to hang out with them more on the weekends, but other than that I’m just mainly with my tennis ‘family’ or my family.

Gazette: Do you regret taking AP classes while still trying to balance your social and athletic life?

A: I don’t regret taking them because they will help me with colleges, but they are time-con-suming.

-Compiled by Tamren Johnk

Tennis athlete strives for academic success

Marissa Hayes

Match the words in the first column with the definitions in the second column. Each chalk-board is its own separate game. Answers can be found on B5.

CollegeBoard SAT

un- Official SATThe

practice guide

1. Nascent

2. Loquacious

3. Jingoism

4. Egalitarian

5. Aspersion

a. Using words to stir up exaggerated patrio-tismb. Arrogantc. Concerned with coun-trysided. Talkative, using too many wordse. In an early stage of development

Chalkboard 1

6. Supercilious

7. Pugnacious

8. Ambivalence

9. Pastoral

10. Ossified

f. Equal, believer in equality

g. Become fixed and rigid

h. Negative feeling, damaging remark

i. Aggressive

j. Uncertainty; having mixed feelings

Chalkboard 2

- Compiled by Kristin Kurpershoek

If you really knew me,you would know...

If you really knew me, you would know that ... every female in my family is a nurse and that’s what I want to be.

If you really knew me, you would know that ... I’d rather go to Russia than Hawaii.

Madi Marzinik

- Compiled by Meghan Carlsen

Carli Kelly Cardin Baxter

If you re-ally knew me, you would know ... that I love computers.

Girls hunting for the perfect dressGBHS students search to find ideal formal attire for Winter Ball

BY MADDY [email protected]

About a month before Winter Ball, it seems, every girl frantically searches for that perfect dress. Granite Bay High School girls either bor-row, buy, shop online, or even go thrifting for dresses. The ideal Winter Ball dress varies from price to taste. What are the spending limits for most of GBHS girls? At school and home, some girls choose to shop online and order a few dresses and pick

their favorite. However, some girls solely go on the internet just to get an idea of what kind of dress they want or where to get it. Most girls want to look their best at their “night under the stars,” as the Winter Ball theme states, but how much is too much could vary from girl to girl. “Over $200 is a lot of money for a dress,” senior Megan Rutlen said. In certain events such as Junior Prom or Senior Ball, typically girls spend a little more dough on the dress. Especially with Senior Ball, it is somewhat more understandable to spend more time and

money on a dress in the eyes of those senior girls attending, as it is their last high school formal. Winter Ball, however, holds as a highlight of dances through out the year for all grades at GBHS. Being that it is the only formal dance of the year for most of the school, the cost of the dress for girls may not impact their Senior Ball spending. “Senior Ball is a special event and the dress is formal and long,” senior Colleen Deyager said.

See DRESS, page B5

weddings

Hayley McAvoy from ownewed.com

Hayley McAvoy from highestheel.tumblr.com

Hayley McAvoy from everythingetsy.com

Hayley McAvoy from stylemepretty.com

uploaded by Hayley McAvoy

Students publicize future wedding desires BY MEGHAN CARLSEN

[email protected]

Wedding planning – it’s a multi-billion dollar industry and the focus of millions of women from a very young age. And now girls have a new outlet for their creativity. The social network Pinterest has become popular among students over the past year and is an outlet for various creative ideas and pictures of health tips, exercise tips, fashion and home styling. However, one feature that is a big draw for many students is the ability to “pin” pictures to a “board” for future wedding ideas. Various cakes, dresses, flowers, rings, settings and photo ideas line the Pinterest “wedding boards” of

these current GBHS girls. Sophomore Erin Guy currently has a Pinterest “board” devoted to wed-ding ideas but understands the line between fantasizing about the future and the reality of her age. “Of course you’re going to dream about (your wedding day),” Guy said. “It’s that big day in your life but we also have a lot ahead of us like graduating, going to college and actually having a serious relationship in which you would choose to get married.” Yet, girls currently continue to fan-tasize and pin hundreds of ideas to these boards whenever they happen something they like. Having these ideas be at the tips of girls’ fingertips on their phones or computers makes weddings a rather frequent focus of theirs on a daily basis. “If (girls) see something that in-volves a wedding, they start to think about what they would like,” said sophomore Rachel Huntington, a fel-low wedding idea-“pinner.” This craze has been somewhat

limited to girls, which seems natural to some who feel wedding details are mostly worries in the minds of girls anyway. “I think about (weddings) prob-ably three times a week,” said avid wedding-pinner, senior Carly Flajole. “Boys probably never think about it unless they are in a relationship.” However some male students dis-agree with this mindset that only girls think about their future wedding. While the trend is highly accepted among girls, some boys haven’t even heard of the trend, such as senior Justin Habashi. “I don’t want to say (I think about my future wedding) a lot because that’s very anti-masculine,” Habashi said. “I think about my ideal wedding but I don’t … care about the details. I just care about the feelings behind it and hopefully who’s going to be there.” Toward the public display of one’s future wedding desires and tastes, such as on Pinterest, Habashi says he has mixed feelings. He explains that it probably feels natural for girls to

fantasize about their wedding days. “I think girls are raised off the idea of Barbie and … feminine mindsets (and they are told) that there’s some sort of pristine wedding (and) pris-tine Ken doll for you,” Habashi said. Habashi compares this type of daydreaming to that of guys admiring pictures of luxurious cars or guns. “I think the difference between them is that guys usually know they will never be able to own a $20,000 car and a giant gun or whatever … they like,” Habashi said. “With the girls, it seems like it’s something you can reach.” Flajole says she feels that the fan-tasy might not be so unobtainable. “My parents are still together and they’re in love, so, to me, … (when I see) the pictures, I say ‘Oh, that’s what I want and my parents have it too,’” Flajole said. “(But) I can see how (if) you think you’re wedding will (be a certain way) … it could hurt you when it’s not exactly per-fect.”

See PINTEREST, page B5

Gazette illustration/HAYLEY MCAVOY

Local families follow traditionsStudents share what holiday traditions their families value

BY AUSTIN [email protected]

It’s no secret that most people have Christmas traditions, but many students at Granite Bay High School have their own unique family traditions that are specific to their family. These traditions go beyond the mundane average family traditions of waking up going downstairs in your pajamas and opening presents by the tree. “My dad dressed up as Rudolph once and danced around the tree,” junior Eddie Leskauskas said. “That tradition has stuck with our family ever since.” Whether it is an accidental tradition that stuck or just a long family tradition, it is apparent that these quirky customs keep families closer. “It really keeps everyone close. We all have a good time and joke around,” Leskauskas said. Other GBHS families have

more active traditions where they all get involved in something together. “My family all jumps into our pool before we open presents and it’s kind of like our own polar bear club,” junior Jeff Gaebler said. Some GBHS families cook a meal traditional to their fam-ily heritage. Many families of Mexican decent cook tamales as a Christmas tradition. “My mom cooks tamales every year for Christmas,” junior Luke Chirbas said. Although not a different tradition to the Spanish commu-nity, many students at GBHS are unaware of the common tradi-tion that many Hispanic GBHS students’ families participate in every year. Other GBHS students’ families also cook other interesting meals for Christmas.

See TRADITIONS, page B5

For my special day...

Gazette illustration/CHASE EVANS


Random facts

One of 2,128 GBHS students is randomly selected every issue

A list of facts you will never need to know but always find interesting

Random club of the month

Make a Wish Club

–Compiled by Kristin Taylor

Sources:

http://www.allrandomfacts.com/

President: Senior Kelsey Green

Parker Boring, sophomore

–Compiled by Kristin Kurpershoek

Gazette photo /GrACE MOOrE

–Compiled by Grace Moore

Most lipstick contains fish scales.

It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world’s population is

drunk.

A man is 4 times more likely to get struck by lightning than a woman.

A cockroach can live for 10 days without a head.

‘Typewriter’ is the longest English word that can be made by using

only one row of a keyboard.

You’re more likely to die on your way to buy a lottery ticket than you

are to actually win the lottery.

A woman speaks about 7,000 words a day, while the average man

speaks a little over 2,000.

Gazette: Why should people join your club?People should join my club be-cause we help out the community by making a Make-a-Wish child’s wish come true.

What is the goal of your club?The goal of our club is to make one specific child’s wish come true, and we chose the wish of Bailey, who is a 7-year-old boy with a bone cancer. So our goal is to raise the $5,000 needed in order to make his wish of going to Lego Land come true.

What fundraisers have you put on this year? We have had three fundraisers so far. One of them was at the Habit Burger Grill, one of them was at Noodles, and then another one was called Super Stars.

When and where does your club meet?Our club (meets) once or twice a month in Mrs. McCann’s room after school on Wednesdays.

What is your favorite memory of this year so far?My favorite memory was from the Super Stars fundraiser, and it was really great to get so many dona-tions (…) and it was a really great feeling to see all those blue stars up in the office and know that people donated and cared.

What is your favorite color?Red.

What is your dream job?I don’t have a dream job.

If you could live anywhere, where would you live?I’m fine with where I live right now

(in Granite Bay).

What is your favorite class?Algebra II

What is your favorite movie?I’ll have to go with Space Balls.

If you could have a super power, what would you have and why?Teleportation because I (could) teleport anywhere and eavesdrop on anybody.

HALFWAY: High school leads to personal growth and acceptance in students Experiences in this new environment varied from student to student. “Even though we’re in high school we’re still freshmen so (we’re) still looked down upon,” Carlsen said. He hopes that when he reaches senior year, he will embrace the new freshmen. Most of all, seniors look back on their

freshmen year and are positive that they’re maturity has grown in leaps and bounds. “I’d like to think I finally know who I am and what I want,” senior Jordan Powell said. Reynolds agrees and is thankful of the time she’s had to grow as an individual. “These four years have shaped who I am now, and I like that person,” Reyn-

olds said. While they’re all appreciative of the memories and knowledge they’ve acquired throughout their four years, seniors are thrilled that they’re halfway done with their last year. “Another semester of high school feels about right, to be honest,” Reynolds said. “Any more and I think I would go insane.”

END OF THE WORLD: GBHS expresses some doubts about the Mayan theory he thinks people just want to believe in myths in general. Whether they believe it or not, there is no general consensus of how the world will react on Dec. 21. “I think one side will be screaming at the other ‘I told you so’,” Zech said, “and everyone will be angry.” Ly, agreeing with Zech, said he thought that many people will freak out and go to their underground rooms and hide, but the sane will live normally and not change what they do. Reed Klaeser, a junior at GBHS, took the opposite path and

foresaw a much less destructive future. “I think the school will let the 21st pass,” Klaeser said, “without much of a fuss.” Junior Faiz Khan said he thinks most people will act normal, but he is interested to see how everyone reacts to something as small as rain. As fascinating as Dec. 21 has become, most students at GBHS are not buying into the prediction. “I think most people will just go on with their lives like normal,” Latzen said, ““but many people (easily) believe in whatever society tells them.”

WATER: Spanish teacher leads new club to help community in another country

the year. Lim and junior Loyce Chin’s original intent was to make a club based on art and use their passion for a good cause. After researching good causes, Lim realized the club’s focus needed to be more on the cause, and art would be incor-porated. “Art is great and at GBHS it’s actually very profitable,” Lim said. According to art teacher Myron Stephens, GBHS art students sold over $9,000 total in artwork last year. The club contacts lo-cal businesses interested in showing student artwork. If a student receives a commission or a painting is sold through a business contacted by the club, then 15% of all proceeds go to-wards construction of the well in Africa. “We are trying to promote all sorts of creativity and arts, including music,”

Chin said. “It’s not necessarily limited to painting and visual arts.” The Water Project meets in Spanish teacher Jill Cova’s room Thursdays to discuss fundraising opportunities

and ways to raise world awareness. Some fundraisers in the making include a car bash (where people pay to beat up a car), an art walk and a Habit fundraiser. With administrative approval, a coin box is planned to be set up in the cafeteria. “Instead of getting an extra cookie, people can put in a quarter (to go towards the well in Africa),” senior treasurer Justin Habashi said. ”If the entire school (par-ticipated), like we do with

the Ripple Effect, (we) could make a change (that) would be good.” The club also hopes to have an Aware-ness Day for their cause, with possibly a guest speaker and art auction. Currently, the club has recycling bins set up in ten classrooms on campus.

Each bottle recycled is worth five cents. The money made by recycling goes towards the well in Africa. Since the club is formed underneath The Water Project Inc., results are able to be seen and the purpose of each dollar is documented. “Pictures are taken, they tell us about what’s going on and they do follow up checks to see if it’s being successful,” said junior vice president Stephanie Chu. While the club is still in the beginning stages of establishment, they hope that media and administrative approval will lead to further awareness. “If you teach him how to fish, which is the building of the well,” Habashi said, “then he’ll (drink) for a lifetime.”

Cova is the club adviser for The Water Project Club.

Jill Cova

We are trying to promote all sorts of creativity and arts, including

music

– Loyce Chin, GBHS junior

Your names. Your faces. The Gazette.




Friday, December 14, 2012w The Granite Bay Gazette B5Lifestyle

Continued from page B3; The un-Official SAT practice guide answers: 1. E, 2. D, 3. A, 4. F, 5. H, 6. B, 7. I, 8. J, 9. C, 10. G

Who: 24,977 students

Where: Corvallis, Oregon

Tuition and Fee Cost: $22,212

Acceptance Rate: 77.7 percent

U.S. News Ranking: #139

School Colors: Orange and black

Mascot: Benny Beaver

Athletics:• OSU has had nine previous stu-dents who have won a gold medal in the Olympics• Oregon State University is part of the NCAA I athletic conference.

Academics:

• In 2008, more high school vale-dictorians enrolled in Oregon State University than any other college in the state.• They have a #1 academic ranking in conservation biology, forestry, wildlife science and agriculture science.

• OSU offers more than 200 under-graduate programs.

Campus Life:• There are more than 300 clubs and activities.• Nine types of housing are offered at Oregon State University. • They experience 147 rainy days per year on average and the aver-age low temperature in January is 32 degrees.

Fun Facts:• OSU’s biggest football rival is University of Oregon.• Maraschino cherries were in-vented at OSU.• Oregon State University was originally an all-boys school.

- Compiled by Maddy Harris

Oregon State University

College of the Month:

Gazette illustration/THOMAS TAYLOR

-Compiled by Summer Haenny

how to...

Make a Holiday hand-wreath1. Trace your hand on different colors of construction paper.

2. Cut out the handprints.

3. Glue the pinky finger to the thumb of the hand to the right and the left.

4. Continue gluing so that all of the hands form a doughnut shape.

5. Hang it on the front door for all to see.

Gazette illustration/TAMREN JOHNK

TRADITIONS: Families are drawn together by their typical holiday customsContinued from page B3

“My family every year cooks up a Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, gravy and stuffing,” junior Blaise Nasri said. Every year, Nasri and his family also go up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to find their own Christmas tree rather than having an artificial one.

“We have gone and gotten a tree for as long as I remember,” Nasri said. “It just feels more like Christmas to us with the smell of pine in our home.” Some families also get together every year to participate in their own reindeer games. “Everyone in my family gets together and we all participate in family games that we have done

for years,” Leskauskas said. Leskauskas emphasized how much this tradition brings his family together during the holiday season. “We play an assortment of games but we are never playing to beat one another in competition.” Leskauskas said. “We are playing to have a good time and rejoice with our loved ones during the

holiday season.” Other than the traditional fam-ily meals or games, some GBHS families like to spread the holiday cheer to their neighbors. “The week of Christmas, every night, my family goes out and sings Christmas carols to all of our neighbors,” said Nasri. Nasri also made a point that spreading the Christmas merri-

ment to his neighbors also keeps his family close and involved in the Christmas spirit. “We all have a good time out there singing,” Nasri said. “(It) makes us all feel really close to each other and makes (us grow) closer to the neighbors by spread-ing the Christmas cheer.” Whether it be by singing, play-ing games or cooking a meal that

is not traditional with the Christ-mas holiday, it is evident that all these unconventional Christmas traditions bring some GBHS families closer together. The little quirky customs become a part of their Christmas spirit. “Sometimes we even give my dog a little bit of blueberry muf-fin,” Gaebler said, “if he has been particularly nice this year.”


In order to cater to this special event, some spend less on a Winter Ball dress to save for the future. Usually, short, less-formal dresses are worn to Winter Ball every year, making Junior Prom and Senior Ball dresses more expensive. On average, it seems as though most girls wear a different dress whenever they attend this dance through their high school career. After the dress comes the expense of possible makeup, hair, nails, and, for some, the spray tan. Not all girls choose to get their hair done; some may have their friend or mom do it for them. Curling, straightening, or styling your hair for a dance does not necessarily need to be done by a hair dresser. For example, senior Elise Leben asked one of her good friends, senior Tiana Teunissen, to style her hair a couple hours before the dance. By having Teunissen do her hair, she has elimi-nated the cost of getting her hair done all together. “My expenses for Winter Ball were very low, (mostly) because I did not have to get my hair done,” Leben said.

Now and again, girls love having a day of being pampered and relaxing before the dance. Under these circumstances, if there’s a budget to uphold yet a certain hairstyle is desired, the Citrus Heights Beauty College offers to do hairstyles in a range of $20 to $40, depending on the length of hair. Having acrylic nails seems to be a popular trend in the past and this year for Winter Ball prepara-tion. Some students who cannot afford the price of such nails can always do an at-home mani-pedi party with friends. Painting each other’s nails and pampering them-selves, while watching a festive holiday movie, has also been known to be a fun pastime for girls before Winter Ball. Some people argue that it is the date that impacts how much the girl pays for preparation. If the date is someone they’re interested in or a boyfriend, some girls are more willing to pay the big bucks for that perfect dress, rather than if the date is just a friend. “No matter who your date is,” Deyager said, “girls will always try to look their best.”

DRESSES: Students go through different sources to prepare for dance

PINTEREST: Girls’ outlet to fantasizeContinued from page B3

Habashi says he doesn’t feel this trend is all bad, however, because these types of profiles of likes and dislikes can show a lot about a person. “There are some people who you never knew would be that high maintenance but then you look at their Pinterest and they have like a $20,000 dress (picked out),” Habashi said. “And then there are those people who want the cute little beach-side resort kind of weddings and (then I would) know that I have some chemistry with them.” Habashi, Flajole, Huntington and Guy agree that weddings can become governed solely by what the bride-to-be favors. “I think it’s kind of weird how it’s just automatic that boys have no say (in their wedding),” Flajole said. “I think they should have they’re dream wedding too.” Habashi reasons that this ideal Pinterest wedding trend makes it more difficult for men to have a say in the planning of a wed-ding if and when a couple reaches the point of marriage. “If your partner ever disagrees (when) you have been wanting something from childhood and you have picture-Pinterest proof of it (then) it might lead to some strife in the future,” Habashi said. He does however feel such a public display of someone’s tastes can help a guy out when trying to figure out things a girl likes such as flowers for a school dance. He feels it’s like a wish list and especially helpful to men who are on their way to get-ting married so that they are able make the decisions that would make their bride-to-be happy without having to ask her. Flajole assures that the “wedding board” she’s created on Pinterest is not a serious undertaking and more for entertainment than anything else. “It’s fun to look at and just imagine your own wedding but I can see why boys think it’s weird because we’re still in high school,” Flajole said. “I don’t have my wedding planned. I just like to look.”

WINTER BALL: Original and creative gestures presented to invite students to attend the formal dance as their dateContinued from page B2

“A bunch of friends and I were hanging out. One of the girls there was the girl I wanted to ask to Winter Ball.” junior Parker Burman said. “I waited for a little while, searching for my perfect opportunity. When I found a lull in the conversation I brought out a pack of gum and offered it to everyone there, including the girl I was planning to ask. “She accepted it, expecting nothing but a piece of gum, but when she unwrapped it she found a piece of paper that said—will you ‘gum’ with me to Winter Ball? “She almost did not notice the paper and was about to eat the piece of gum!” Burman used a sly pun to get his date, junior Ken-

nedy Bell to go with him to Winter Ball. His plan was very simple but it got the job done in a cute way. Burman’s success shows that one’s plan does not have to be super extravagant. A smart, simple way works just as well. In contrast, senior John Haff went the an extreme route for his last Winter Ball. “This year I thought I should go all out,” Haff said. “I wanted it to be intense, funny, and super cute all in one.” Haff is one of the many people who work on the Granite Bay Today school bulletins, so he put that to good use. “Basically I did a mock bulletin that only showed for her class. The Bulletin had Mr. Weidkamp giving me this job of finding a Winter Ball date super quickly.”

Haff said. “The video shows me scrambling around and then it shows me opening the door to her classroom, but I was also opening it in real life. “It was pretty crazy,” Haff said. “It’ll be my third Winter Ball so I’m pretty excited.” These three brave students used a range of tactics to get their special ladies to go with them to Winter Ball. Boyle used surprise tactics to shock his date into going with him to the dance, Burman used some sly and simple comedy to convince his date that he was the one, and Haff went big and intense for his last year of high school. These students used every trick in the book to get their dates to go with them to Winter Ball. These young men worked hard to get their dates.



ChristmasDISASTERS

BY AMBER [email protected]

During the holiday season, families can usually expect warm gatherings with their loved ones, possibly with a nice meal and gifts to add to the occasion. Other times, a family may run into some mishaps that they can only hope won’t become new traditions. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, a safety certification organization, one the most common holiday “disasters” is fire-related. Each year, more than 400 Americans are killed from holiday season fires. Some causes include faulty Christmas lights, artifi-cial and natural Christmas trees catching fire, candles, and various kitchen-related causes.

Megan Zabrowski, a senior at Granite Bay High School, had a very personal account of how fire can alter holiday plans. “On Christmas night, my dad was cooking prime rib on the outside barbecue,” she said. “But everyone in the family was inside for a while, without realizing that the meat had lit on fire with flames spewing out of the grill.” Her family’s dinner was ruined, and they couldn’t find a replace-ment meal since all the stores were closed for the holidays. “We ended up having to repaint the entire back of the house (be-cause of the fire),” Zabrowski said. Although her night seemed to be ruined, it was “memorable” to her and her family. This kind of disaster can be avoided if families take the pre-cautions necessary to have a safe holiday. ROSPA advises that when using

the stove or fire to cook, one or more people should always

be in the room. Also, natural

Christmas trees should always be well-watered, to prevent the dryness that can lead to easy ignition. According to ROSPA, the most common cause of injury during the holiday season is because of high falls while putting up decorations. But not all holi-day chaos can be caused by a common fire or injury in the home. Other times, a traumatic ex-perience can lead to a not-so-jolly day. “Four years ago, my fam-ily

GBHS students reminisce on holiday fiascoes was out of town and

neighbors were watching our Chihuahua,” senior Kylie Harris

said. The Harris family received a

phone call on Christmas Day from the neighbors.

“They told us that our dog had been eaten by

a coyote,” she said. In contrast to

Zabrowski’s in-cident, Harris’s

didn’t leave a funny

memory in its

wake. Because of the tragic news, Harris says that it was her “worst Christmas ever.” Another GBHS senior, Emily Rocha, seems to have had some bad luck over the years during this fes-tive time. “When I was one, I got ahold of some tinsel and started choking on it,” Rocha said. Her mother ended up having to call 911, and the fire department showed up. “From what they tell me, a fireman saved my life,” she said. But her most memorable, and quite “awkward,” memory came when her grandma had a change of heart. “Before Christmas, my grandma had told the family that she wanted to make it through the holidays with her boyfriend, and then break up with him,” Rocha said. The boyfriend came over to her grandma’s on Christmas Eve. Every present was opened except for a very large box for her grandma. “The large box had a bunch of

little boxes inside of it, and as my grandma opened them, they got smaller and smaller,” Rocha

said. “Everyone in the room was silent, because we figured it

was a ring.” When her grandma opened the

ring box, her boyfriend was silent because of the obvious lack of

excitement in the room. After more uncomfort-

able silence, the topic shifted to dessert. “They obviously broke up after the holidays, like (my

grandma) planned,” Rocha said. “But it was definitely one awkward and memorable Christmas.”

Gazette illustration/HAYLEY MCAVOY

After a strong and successful season last year, many of the returning players for Granite Bay High School girls’ volleyball team looked to build upon that season and carry the lessons learned to this year’s season. As the season began, the team had high goals for themselves. “We really wanted to prove ourselves to everybody because [we’ve always been underestimated,” senior defensive special-ist Kiah Drongesen said. For coach Jamie Ingram, the team’s chemistry was superb. “These girls got along great on and off the court…they wanted to win for each

SportSFridayw December 14, 2012

C SectionGranite Bay Gazette

Anticipating my final year of volleyball After four long years of waiting, I’m finally going to be playing the sport I love as a senior. Sure, I was on the boys’ varsity volleyball team last year, but I didn’t get to play much. Instead of taking Athletic P.E. like the rest of my teammates did, I was an editor for the Gazette, and there was noth-ing wrong with that. But this year will my chance to finally compete at my fullest ability. As the preseason conditioning ap-proaches, I can’t wait to get back in groove of high school volleyball. However, previous excitement and enthusiasm has met its fair share of doubts and uncertainty. Will volleyball win another sec-tion title despite the tough competi-tion this year? Will the season live up to my own expectations? Regardless, my answer is the same for both questions: I don’t know and I don’t care. All I know is that I’ve already been a part of varsity volleyball from the moment I first got here at this school. Back when I was on the freshmen team, all three volleyball teams went to Nevada Union High School for league play. After the freshmen and junior varsity game concluded, my parents consequently could not attend the game so I was going to be taking the school bus home with whoever else had to. Because of this, I would be stick-ing around for the varsity game. I remember that I was sitting on the very top of the NU gym bleach-ers when coach Bruce Honberger waved to me and pointed towards the benches, telling me that he wanted me to sit with the team. Me? You want me? You want the shaggy-haired brace-face kid to come sit on the varsity bench with the rest of the varsity team? I couldn’t have been more over-whelmed at that moment. As the game went on, I remained at the bench, watching in amaze-ment as the team swept the Miners in a clean 3-0 victory. I remember telling myself after the game had concluded that I would one day come back here, next as a senior and would hopeful-ly inspire a freshman on the bench, just as the seniors on that team did. The following year, I got pulled up to be on the roster for the varsity team, a tradition that happens every year for the volleyball program. Sadly, we got knocked out in the first round of playoffs against Oak Ridge High School. My last year, which was the thrill of a lifetime as the boys’ varsity volleyball team dominated in league and in tournaments across California. You see, even though my senior year of volleyball hasn’t techni-cally started, I’ve been living in that realm for my entire high school career. So I don’t really care that much about winning the section title or whether or not the season will be as fun as I hoped. Like I said before, those types of things don’t really have any impor-tance to me. All that I want to do is finish off my high school sports career the same way I started it: with a smile.

Grizzly fall sports dominate league play, qualify teams and players for postseason BY TREASA HAYES

[email protected]

Grizz Quiz C2

Rising Star C2

Sports Briefs r C3

Athlete of the Month C5

Benefits of Athletic P.E.Sports who require fourth period class have more time to practice, prepare for games.

C2

Pre-conditioning at GBHSMany sports involve workouts long before the regular season begins.

C3

Winter Sports PreviewGirls’ and boys’ basketball , wrestling look to have a successful season in the weeks ahead.

C4

Gazette photo /KATE HURLEY

inside sports

said. In the games against Saint Mary’s High School and the tournament at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz the team experi-enced emotional battles throughout the matches, something that stayed with the team for the remainder of the season. “The extra energy and passion gave them the extra spark to give them wins,” Ingram said. Kate Hurley has been playing girls’ vol-leyball for many years, and she says that this year’s team was the most close-knit unit she can recall. “I have never felt so close to a team as I did this year. We treated each other with respect, love and support” Hurley said.

Soccer, volleyball shy of section titles

other.” Senior Megan Zabrowski agrees with Drongesen in regards to the teams’ efforts on the court. “We were [always] playing for our teammates [on the court],”Zabrowski said. In addition to the team’s chemistry, the team also saw new young faces make a name for themselves, such as sophomores Brooke Hershberger and Libby Deters. “Being sophomores, Deters and I still have two more seasons of high school volleyball,” Hershberger said. “So getting to experience varsity level will definitely help for the seasons to come.” With such a tremendous season, the team earned a rank of 25th in state against the top teams in northern California.

In addition to their state and local rank-ings, the girls’ ranked second place in the Sac-Joaquin division, an achievement the team was proud to earn. “We really pulled together to work on each goal we set for ourselves,” Drong-esen said. Besides the talented young players on the team, Ingram really admired the teams’ personal strive for excellence. “Skill and technique are obviously important,” Ingram said, “but passion is huge.” The players along with Ingram say that this year was focused heavily on determi-nation and chemistry. “If you don’t have the determination to win, then you’re not going to be very successful,” junior Cally Chamberlain

On Saturday November 24 Granite Bay High School’s very own freshman Maggie Bell won the Division II Girls meet at the CIF State Cross Country Champi-onship race in Fresno. The win was only fitting con-sidering her race record. Bell has had a dominant season on the

Runner was also victorious at the Junior Olympics

See BELL, page C5

wDuring a cross country meet, freshman Maggie Bell, cen-ter, runs to-wards the front of the pack. Bell recently won a state cross country champi-onship and also a race at the Junior Olympics

Courtesy photo /GRANITE BAY

TODAY

BY ZACH [email protected]

cross country trail. After having a stellar SFL season, Bell ran in the sub-section meet but only gave it a minimal effort, just trying to qualify. “I finished 21st overall,” she said. “I wanted to save our energy so I just did a [light] run.” At sections she finished first, with a time of 18 minutes and31 seconds. It was an excellent show-ing for her and she was proud with her endeavor. In addition to that win, she also qualified for the state meet. “It was amazing that I got that far,” Bell said. “I trained during the summer and during the season almost everyday with the team.”

Freshman Maggie Bell wins Division II cross country title

The state meet was held at Woodward Park Course in Fres-no, which covers 5,000 meters of grueling hills, unsettled ground, and endless opportunity for the 200 female athletes. Bell finished the race with a time of 17 minutes and 28 seconds. With that time, Bell got her name put in the record books. She become only the fifth area girl to win at the state meet, the third fastest freshman of all time in the 26- year history of the race, and GBHS’ second female state winner besides Caitlin Chock in

See ATHLETICS page C3

wIn the SJS section final on Nov 10, senior Charlie Gunn, left attempts to shield the ball from a Jesuit player. The Grizzlies lost the match 5-0. The girls’ varsity volleyball team, above, strategizes during a team huddle.

Sports at GBHS helped prepare for change BY NICOLETTE RICHARDS

[email protected]

As fall sports come to a close, players have finished a season full of hard work, expectations, and games. These are not your average athletes and they don’t go to Granite Bay High School – at least anymore. They are Division I athletes, either freshmen getting their first glimpse of what’s to come, or veterans completing another year. See COLLEGE, page C5

Unique wintertime sportsGBHS students paricipate in athletics outside of school despite the distance

BY NIKI [email protected]

Hockey, skiing and ice skating are all sports students associate with activities during the winter, but for some Granite Bay High School students, they are more than just joyful tidings, but rather a competitive lifestyle. Junior Rebecca Halwachs has done competitive figure skating since she was six years old, and has taken this fun wintertime hobby to a whole new level. Competitive figure skating entails rigorous training with long

hours of practice and commitment that rivals any other sport, which can affect a teen’s educational and social life. “We go out of state (for competi-tions), so I usually have to leave for a week and miss school and fall behind (in my classes),” Halwachs said. “It affected my social life more when I was younger because I was at the (ice skating arena) five times a week and couldn’t hang out with anyone because I didn’t have time.”

See WINTER, page C5

GBHS alumni play collegiate athletics

For alumnus Max Vogt, who graduated in 2012 and plays tennis for Bryant University

in Smithfield, Rhode Island, college athletics has not disap-pointed. Vogt is already experienc-ing immense success, winning the Northeaster Conference Player and Rookie of the Month awards. Off to an impressive start, Vogt is still realizing his reality. “Everyone was telling me there is nothing like playing a

sport in college,” Vogt said, “but I didn’t realize how great it was until I was able to do it.” Besides him enjoying his own

CoMMentARy

austin [email protected]

*** Austin Downs is a senior sports

editor for the Gazette.

I didn’t realize how great (college athletics) is until I was able to do it.

– Max Vogt

GRANITEBAYTODAY.ORG

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay GazetteC2 Sports

Sean Brown

GrizzQuiz

Most memorable mo-ment of 2012?

Favorite holiday food?

Who is your favorite NBA player?

Home Alone or Elf?

What do you really want from Santa this year?

Wrestling Boys’ BasketballScott Romuk

Boys’ BasketballJacob King

Girls’ BasketballKatrina Reeves

WrestlingAlex Cooney

A Kings’ winning record

Isaiah Thomas

Elf

Pumpkin pie

Breaking my back

Everyone in the world to experience happiness and love

Tyreke Evans

Elf

Cookies and milk

Signing to play Division I lacrosse for SDSU

Plane ticket to Colo-rado to ski

Isaiah Thomas

Home Alone

Pumpkin pie

Spring Break in Cabo with my bros

My two front teeth

Derrick Rose

Elf

Stuffing

Senior Ball last year

Shoes

Evan Turner

Elf

Christmas cookies

Spring break in Newport

Composed by Brad Wong

Is athletic P.E. worth the time and effort?

If you’re serious about your sport (...) I think (athletic PE) is a

necessity.

– Frankie Cervantes, varsity athlete

Despite some Granite Bay High School varsity teams practicing upwards of four times a week, many varsity athletes train every day in athletic physical education. Recently, more and more athletes have been taking athletic P.E. with their team-mates and coaches to get a leg up on the competition. As the popularity has grown rapidly, so has the intensity of practice, which begs the question: is it too much? “I’ve done the after school practices and the athletic P.E.,” junior Frankie Cervantes said, “and there’s definitely a difference in the intensity and coaching style.” Cervantes, a varsity water polo player in the fall and varsity swimmer in the spring, has done athletic P.E. in past years and is intent on taking it every year he is on a varsity team. Swim is not the only sport, though, that uses athletic P.E. to give its players an edge. The boys’ basketball team at GBHS uses its hour and a half as effectively as possible. “(Athletic P.E.) gives (the team) a chance to get a little more practice in,” junior Spencer Palmer said, “(but) we also watch film and go to the weight room.” Palmer and the other varsity basketball players appreciate the fact that they don’t have to take time after school to practice when it is more convenient to practice during school, and many athletes agree. “I like how after school I still have

time to do things,” Cervantes said, “as opposed to having to practice after school.” Not only does it help athletes for extra time and practice, but athletic P.E. also helps in preparation. “It’s a really good way to prepare for the season and it balances out my tough academic schedule,” junior and varsity corner-back Luke Bussey said. Bussey noted that athletic P.E. was a great way for him to get back in shape and ready for the football season. Palmer also said how helpful athletic P.E. is to the basketball team. “Some schools don’t have athletic P.E.,” Palmer said, “and that gives us an hour and a half each day of more practice than them.” The extra practice may have played a factor in helping the Grizzly football team make it to the Sierra Football league championship this year. The question is not whether or not the athletic P.E. program is effective, as many athletes believe it is, but whether

or not it will be mandatory to var-sity athletes in the future. “I don’t think it should be mandatory,” Cervantes said, “but if you’re serious about your sport (…) I think it is a necessity.” As the competition to get into college and impress the scouts ris-es each year, serious athletes need

to put in as much work as they can, even if they have to take a lighter class load in order to practice. Many athletes are happy to lose their fourth period to go play the sports they love, but some don’t want to put in the extra time. With such a re-cently successful boys’ basketball

program, Palmer thinks that the high expectations that come with success make better basketball players. “If you want to play a varsity sport,” Palmer said, “then you need to be willing to practice during 4th period.” Whether or not athletic P.E. is required in the future, the effect on the players will stay the same. “I think in the long run,” Palmer said, “it will really help our team.”


Players talk about benefits, how it impacts teams


wFrankie Cervantes plays in a game during the earlier water polo season, when he had athletic P.E.

Point guard hopes to have future success

Sophomore Colin McHale is tak-ing the basketball court by storm as point guard for Granite Bay High’s Junior Varsity team. This prodigy has been playing in his element of basket-ball for 8 years, and is only 15 years old, already proving his skill and commitment to the sport at a young age. Adding his attri-butes of leadership and commitment, McHale is a signifi-cant part of the GBHS JV basketball team.“He’s a good leader,” teammate Connor Milnes said, “On and off the court he’s a good team-mate and a good guy.” As the season kicks off, the JV boys are 3-1 in the standings and prospects look positive for the hard working team. McHale has greatly enjoyed his experience on the GBHS basketball team so far in his high school career.

Varsity basketball player proves himself “I like how everyone likes each other and the coaches,” McHale said.Milnes agrees, “The team has a really good chemistry.” In the beginning, playing in high school was just to stay physically fit and have fun, but now this sports star feels his skills have solidified and is aspiring

to play in col-lege after his high school experience. With his commitment to the team, one would think this young athlete would have a hard time holding his grades up, but

this is no issue for McHale. However, he does feel “it’s only going to get harder” as the years go on, and may pose as a problem once he reaches varsity. That being said, it does not daunt this basketball boy. “I am committed and feel we are go-ing to be amazing just as long as we put in the work,” McHale said.

On and off the court, he’s a good teammate and a

good guy.

– Connor Milnes, teammate

BY NIKI [email protected]

wColin McHale dribbles the ball down the court in a recent Varsity bas-ketball game. He plays point guard.

Gazette photo /LUKE CHIRBAS

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay Gazette C3Sports

Winter sports gain edge in preseason

BY BRAD [email protected]

GBHS enthusiast Chase Pedone finds second family


Many teams practice early in the year

Many Granite Bay High School student athletes have been prepar-ing for the upcoming winter and spring sports by preparing them-selves in preseason training and athletic P.E. The GBHS basketball team has been training since the summer for the upcoming basketball season. “Preseason training helps us work out the kinks in our team so we are ready when the season starts,” player Brendan Gonzales said. Along with preseason, the varsity basketball players take to go to an athletic P.E. during their fourth period as we, in order to get an early start to the practice. “We don’t just practice during athletic P.E. we also go over plays, and get some team chemistry go-ing,” Gonzales said. The basketball team also has the chance to work together during the off-season, which a lot of other teams don’t get the chance to. The Grizzly boys hope this work will give them a head start for the rest of the season.

“I think it definitely give us a huge advantage,” Gonzales said. “We aren’t just playing basketball we are in the weight room two to three (days) a week, and most other teams do not do that.” Another sport that is getting started on preseason training is the track and field team. They started training Oct. 29 and will end on Dec. 17. The preseason track practices are open for anyone to come out and participate. This way, prospective student athletes have a great opportunity to practice and try a new sport. “We are hoping for more kids to come out and practice it is a great way to get started this season,” Coach Jackie Nasca said. The preseason track practices consist of a team warm-up of a one mile run. Then the team does dynamic stretching and abdomi-nals exercises. After the warm-up the team breaks up into two groups, either a sprint work out or a hurdles and jumper workout. “The preseason workouts are really giving me a head start on the season and when the season

starts I won’t have to worry about getting into shape, but just making my times faster,” junior Dante Weeks said. The preseason work outs also gave the junior varsity team last year a big advantage and they ended up going undefeated and won the league championship. “The track practices could be really helpful to athletes who plan on participating in track this year,” Nasca said. According to coach Nasca there are also athletes who could be coming to the preseason practices and are not showing up, even though attending is very helpful for the upcoming season. “The preseason practices are very beneficial for the athletes that will come out and participate in the practices,” Nasca said. Nasca also believes that it could put the team in much better shape for the upcoming season. “If more students plan on being part of the track team, we’ll have a stronger group to come out and practice in the preseason prac-tices,” Nasca said. Preseason practices for all the GBHS sports make a big differ-

ence on the court and the track when it comes to be faster stronger because it puts athletes in better shape. “All the practice and time the team has spent together has really

wMany winter sports teams, like boys’ varsity basketball, have been training for their sport long be-fore the actual since, in this case since the middle of the summer.

Courtesy photo / Conner Christie

made us a lot closer and helps our play out on the court,” Gonzales said. The athletes at GBHS agree that preseason training gives them an upper hand on the competition for

the upcoming season. “With all the practice I have been putting in, I get more and more excited for the upcoming track season,” said Tyus Obregon GBHS track athlete.

Senior Chase Pedone can be seen at almost every football game – taking ac-tion shots from the sidelines. But Pedone is much more than a pho-tographer for GBHS sports. While he isn’t in full body paint or yelling at the top of his lungs, he’s had a history of being a dedicated fan. Pedone initially joined The Tribe with original founders and GBHS alumni Bobby Stuckey and Grant Dechert. From joining, Pedone immediately found a sense of community and made some new friends along the way. “I really hit it off with fellow sports fanatics such as Steven Graeber and Grif-

fin Powers,” Pedone said. Because of his positive experi-ence, Pedone has decided to keep up his school spirit, which wasn’t much of tough choice. Pedone, who played a multitude of sports through his childhood and in high school, has sports revolve around his life. “The Tribe is a once in a lifetime op-portunity: you either do it or you don’t,” Pedone said. As Pedone is almost done cheering as a

GBHS student, he wants to make sure there is still a quality fan base. He finds The Tribe relatable to bench pressing. “You have to keep on rais-ing the bar and keep on adding weight, or in this case, people to make for a good unit,” Pedone said. The aspect Pe-done loves most about The Tribe is the cohesive-ness one can find on and off the field. “I really like how a fan base takes a lot of individuals and combines them into one supportive group,” Pedone said.

Senior pushes others to show their support for fellow students in sports

From this group, Pedone has found many benefits, not just for the athletes, but also the members. “We all need someone to go to the game with and cheer on the team,” Pedone said, “be-ing in that environment is just unbelievable.” Going to ever y game, home and away, can become a big commitment for some, but is no obstacle for this fan. “What’s kept me coming back to support each and every game is helping the team get the win,” Pedone said. He believes that as long as he is making a positive impact for the athletes and the end result of the game, he’ll never stop rooting on his Grizzlies.

“I don’t care about how cold or hot it is, how hard it’s raining, or whether I have to stand for hours.” Pedone said. “It’s solely important to me that I contribute to the

has only had positive experi-ences as a fan after joining The Tribe sopho-more year.

Chase Pedone

The Tribe is a

once in a lifetime opportunity: you

either do it or you don’t.

– Senior Chase Pedone

team morale.” Pedone has no doubt enjoyed his years as a dedicated GBHS fan and wants to encourage others to experience the same. “Students should become a fan for one thing and one thing only,” Pedone said, “they ought to come out and show their school spirit.” Besides the presence The Tribe has in the stands, their effect is off the field too. “The Tribe is a family and anyone who goes to GBHS can be a part of that fam-ily,” Pedone said.

Continued from page C1

“We worked together as one.” With such a memorable season, Hurley hopes next season can bring a similar result. “I hope next year we are all as close as we were this year,” Hurley said. “We are losing several seniors, but hope-fully incoming (junior varsity) players have the same mindset as the rest of us.” Senior Chandler Awalt also realized the impact the team’s chemistry had on their season. “Everyone on the team strives for the same (goals) and relies on each other to get the job done,” Awalt said. With such a powerful bond, the girls were able to battle through thick and thin. “This type of selflessness is rare to find in great players...that’s what made us excel,” Zabrowski said. However, the team also shared their fair share of struggles. Red cards on more than once account and disci-plinary incidents stifled the team all throughout the season. The team’s first goal was to win the Sierra Foothills League, which they did. The next goal in line was to reach the section finals, which all the girls knew would be a difficult task. “All of my teammates and I knew that that would be hard to do,” Zabrowski said, “but we played every game with the intentions of making it to (University of California) Davis.” After losing the section final, the team morale was low and the girls never expected to make it to the North-ern California Championships. “We kept playing hard and it all paid off when we made it to that champion-ship,” Zabrowski said. While Ingram coached in a very stern style, she was glad the girls were still willing to stay committed. “I am very fortunate to have had 14

girls that gave up a lot of free time and worked hard to have a very successful season,” Ingram said. Despite their tough loss in their re-match against St. Francis, the team still held their heads high and was proud of their season accomplishments. “We were more than a team,”Hurley said. “We were a family.”

Boys’ Soccer The Granite Bay High School varsity boy’s soccer team was quite success-ful this year, finishing the season with a 20-4-1 record. The team ended the season as the fifth ranked team in the state, and 52 in the country. The Grizzlies’ season ended with a loss to Jesuit in the Sac-Joaquin Sec-tion Division 1 Championship by a score of 5-0, a disappointing end to an otherwise successful season. “We just didn’t play that well to begin with, they got an early goal, and from there we just couldn’t catch up,” senior Mat Fisher said.

Girls’ Golf The GBHS golf team had a great season with powerhouse senior Paige Lee concluding her last season. The team finished second place in league, and made it to the Masters tournament. (Paige Lee) usually shot under par. She was a beast (this season),” senior Chiyoh Arai said.

Cross country Cross country had a terrific season full of team and individual accom-plishments this year. The girl’s team qualified for state at the Sac- Joaquin Section Championships and the boys just missed qualifying for state by just one spot. Senior Trent Brendel capped off an outstanding career at GBHS winning league finals for the second year in a row. He also won subsections for the

second year in a row and finally after coming up short the past two seasons he won the Section Championship. “I had a fantastic final season of cross country at Granite Bay with lots of firsts for the team and myself,” Brendel said.

Girls’ Tennis The tennis team won the section championship to cap off an undefeated season. The section title win marks another consecutive section title win for the girls’ in their career history. “We had a really deep team and our doubles were (much) better than the other teams (in the league),” senior Ashlyn Howes said.

Boys’ water polo The Granite Bay Grizzlies varsity boy’s water polo team had a very successful season. They finished 21-4 overall and 12-0 in league to win the Sierra Foothill League regular season championship. They came close to winning the Sac- Joaquin Section championship but fell short to Davis High School in the championship game. “Davis High School was just a better team than us,” senior Nathan Pinkney said.

Girls’ water polo The water polo team had a solid sea-son and one to be proud about. They ended up with a 16-7 record which was good enough to qualify the team for the section playoff. Unfortunately they lost in a heart breaker in the first round by 1 goal in overtime to Lodi High School to of-ficially end their season.

*** Granite Bay sports journalism staff-ers Blake Allen and Cevin Meador contributed to this report

Granitebaytoday.org

ATHLETICS: Fall sports come to an end

wBoys’ soccer finished second in the Sac-Joaquin Section, along with many other teams that either made it to playoffs or were league and section champions.


SPORTS BRIEFSBoys’ basketball

The boys’ basketball season is underway with preseason games in full swing

The team has successfully managed to maintain a posi-tive win/loss ratio in their first seven preseason games against a wide variety of high schools

Girls’ basketball

Freshman Daeja Black cur-

rently leads the team with most points, scoring a total of 90 points in their first five preseason games

The team hopes to gain experience from their preseason games which will translate over to regular league games

Football

Senior Johnny Cooley scored a career-high four touchdowns in the CIF

Division 1 NorCal cham-pionship game to lead the Grizzlies to their 45-17 victory over St. Ignatius Preparatory

As the football season con-cludes tonight, the Grizzlies have scored an average of 36 points per game and a total of 273 rushing yards per gam-

-Compiled by Austin Downs

Your names.

Your faces.

The Gazette.


Winter sports have high hopes for seasonsPlayers put confidence in their teams to build for success

BY MYLES [email protected]

With football coming to an end, Granite Bay High School looks forward to its winter sports program. Boys’ and girls’ basketball and boys’ wrestling are what GBHS students can anticipate for the next few months. All three teams are excited to start and have high expecta-tions because of the confidence at As for the varsity boys basketball team, already with preseason win under their belt, plan to keep their momentum rolling as the season pro-gresses. “This season should be really good, we got a lot of good players and great talent on the team, as well as great coaching,” junior Aidan Naughton said. The Grizzlies plan on making a run this year, ultimately hoping to play at Sleep Train Arena.

“I think this team could go far into the playoffs,” Naughton said, “if we play to our potential we have a serious chance to do big things.” The varsity team features re-turning senior, Jacob King, who intends to have a lot more success on the court then the team did last year. “We are much more developed

and disciplined compared to last year,” King said. The varsity basketball team is not only the one expecting an accomplished season, but also at junior varsity and freshman levels. With freshman and junior varsity teams also open-ing their season with wins against Kennedy High

School, both teams see themselves achieving great things this year. While confidence on the court is apparent, it is also found in the stands, amongst The Tribe. “This season is going to be sick,” Junior Jackson Rodriguez

said, “The Tribe will be stronger than ever.” As for the girl’s basketball teams, a similar state of excite-ment is present. Freshman Nina Johnson was skeptical at first, but has eventu-ally realized her team’s talent. “Our first tournament as a team was horrible, but now that we have practiced together we have really improved,” Johnson said. In addition, the wrestling team has high hopes for their season even without several key players.

“Even though like fifteen of our guys aren’t going to be able to practice until the football season is over, I think this will be one of the better seasons GBHS has had in a while,” Junior Alex Cooney said. The GBHS wrestling team features senior Sean Brown who is expected to place within the top twelve in the state. “This is definitely going to be one of the most exciting seasons for me [and the team],” Brown said. Although wrestling isn’t the

most viewed sport among the GBHS students, The Tribe plans to be present during big matches this year. “I am definitely going to the match against Del Oro, and I am pretty sure the whole Tribe will be there also,” Rodriguez said. The fall sports season has been wrapping up with an abundant amount of success from several teams. Overall, sports fans and athletes alike are looking forward to another season of success.

This is definitely going to be one of the most ex-citing seasons for me [and the

team],

– Senior Sean Brown

Above, senior Anthony Pedersen takes a shot in one of their first games of the season. Below, girls’ baskteball player Brenna My-ers gets ready to work on her dribbling skills during a practice. Both teams are expecting overall exciting seasons this winter season.


Friday, December 14, 2012 The Granite Bay Gazette C4Sports

ROCKY WIDNER NBa/E/GETTY IMaGES and THE SaCRaMENTO KINGS

Friday, December 14, 2012 w The Granite Bay Gazette C5Sports

COLLEGE: Graduates participate in sports at college level across the country, building off of the GBHS experiencepersonal experience, Vogt has dis-covered the positive camaraderie of a team environment. “The atmo-sphere is great; it is a place I know I want to be in, and everyone work-ing extremely hard and this helps motivate me to achieve my goals,” Vogt said. Even though Vogt attended GBHS, he prepared for college athletics on his own, after playing only one year on the high school team. “Unfortunately, tennis does not recruit from high school so I

decided to focus more on the in-dividual tournaments that college coaches follow.” Vogt said. “The four years when I was in high school were the times I trained lo-

cally with many of my friends who were doing the same thing.” Tennis is a soli-tary sport at the junior level, but Vogt has found that playing as a Bulldog has pro-vided him with a new family. “As a team we are very close-knit and sup-port each other through a variety of things.” Vogt said. “The team is on the fence

constantly cheering you on during every match. I am much more motivated now to perform to the

best of my abilities as a result of the great atmosphere I am in.” Matt Kasner, a GBHS alumnus who graduated in 2011, plays tight end for the Stanford University football team and has had an en-joyable experience thus far. “From the first day I stepped on campus, I felt like I was a part of the team,” Kasner said. While he has found a great sense of community to be a col-legiate athlete in, Kasner has discovered the commitment of being a football player at a highly ranked school. “Playing itself can become tir-ing; the practices can become tax-ing on the mind and body, as well as the commitment to meeting times and lifting,” Kasner said. He also has found that the game itself is much different than it was for high school. “The pace [of the game] is expo-nentially faster,” Kasner said. “Ev-erything happens in the blink of an eye and if you aren’t prepared, it’s

Continued from page C1 going to blindside you.” Despite the rigor of practice and play, Kasner feels he was best prepared for a place like Stanford because academic and athletic expectations were also high in high school. Ultimately, he believes this environment in high school is what helped create an easy transi-tion into college. While Kasner undoubtedly values his time in high school, there’s one thing that stands out at the college level. “Being part of a college team is like being part of a business team trying to address a problem,” Kasner said, “it happens so fast and everyone must be firing on all cylinders in order to be a success.” Karli Pedone, a junior at Seattle University and plays girls’ volley-ball, shares a similar view on the intensity of the collegiate level. “My team and I are here for the same reasons and want the same thing, which makes the chemistry on the court amazing.” Pedone

Granite Bay High School junior Jennifer Manduca has ex-celled on the school basketball team ever since she arrived as a freshman. According to the GBHS girls’ varsity basketball coach An-gel Delgadillo, Man-duca had the ability to play on the varsity team as a freshman, but was instead put on the junior varsity team due to the lack of players who tried out for the younger teams. Manduca proved her skills and knowledge of the game as starting point guard for the JV team and her sophomore year she moved up to varsity.

Manduca has played basketball for ten years and has yet to grow tired of it. “What motivates me to play is my love of the game. I love practicing and working

out because it makes me better and it’s something I enjoy,” Manduca said. Manduca’s life has always centered around basketball, and she hopes to continue playing in college at Gonzaga University. Delgadillo knows her capabilities and has faith that she will be hearing offers in the near future. “(Manduca’s) hard work, attitude and pas-sion for the game give her a chance to play at the next level,” Delga-dillo said. “It will not

be easy, but if she continues to play like the past several years, recruiters will take notice.”

Despite mediocre win-loss records for the GBHS team in the past, Manduca has always managed to stand out. According to Delgadillo, Jen has earned numerous MVP and All-Tournament awards her first two seasons, and was even an honorable men-tion in the SFL as a sophomore playing up on varsity. This is a tough feat, as the honorable mention award is voted on by all of the varsity coaches in the SFL, an extremely competitive league. But for now Manduca is focusing on the impending basketball season. She has high hopes for this season and believes that the team will be more suc-cessful than last year. “We’ve all been working really hard and we now have Athletic P.E. (to give us more practice time),” she said. Manduca’s passion and love of the game is a key component of her success, and these qualities are evident when she talks about basketball. “(Basketball) is more than just a game to me,” she said, “it’s my life.”

Jennifer Manduca shines at girls’ basketballJunior has been on varsity team since sophomore year



wJennifer Manduca, above, demonstrates her dribbling skills during a girls’ varsity basketball practice.

Competitive ice skating, although ste-reotyped as a winter sport, is all year, with different competitions for levels and sections such as footwork, artistic and comedy. Junior Sabrina Sabbaghian, who skated competitively until she was twelve, can relate with Halwachs after also dealing with the pressure of com-petitive skating at a young age. “I still miss it,” Sabbaghian said, “but it was a lot of work and takes a lot of energy and time.” Despite the amount of commitment to their sport, the two agree it is well worth the hard work and effort. “Ice skating was the best part of my childhood,” Halwachs said, and plans on continuing skating for the rest of her high school years. Along with figure skating, hockey and skiing are winter sports that go to competitive extremes. GBHS graduate Devin Davis skied competitively throughout his high

SNOW: Hockey, skiing are among the popular wintertime activities

school career, involving consistent vis-iting of our nearby Lake Tahoe slopes, and racing on courses that daunt even experienced skiers. In spite of the distance Davis had to travel in order to ski competitively, the pleasure and sense of fulfillment received by skiing outweighed the commitment required. “It made high school more exhilarat-ing, competitive skiing is really fun,” Davis said, “There’s nothing more exciting than laying it all out on the line and winning or failing.” In addition to these wintertime sports, the most inconspicuous and least referenced to on the west coast is hockey. Sophomore Parker Bishop, who has been competing since the sixth grade, currently plays for Capital Thunder Youth Hockey Club, a traveling com-petitive hockey team that is ranked third in the state and takes on other hockey teams across the nations. As starting defender, this sophomore

physically rivals seniors in build and athleticism, which is convenient for a sport that is “fast paced (and) aggres-sive,” and permits slamming people into walls. Over winter break Bishop and his team will be traveling to Vancouver for a significant game in the season to keep their standings in top three teams of California. With the amount of traveling for his club team, Bishop displays great commitment to this major wintertime sport, but says it is definitely worth all of the traveling. “It gives me a break from school and takes my mind off things,” Bishop said, “I get to escape on the ice.” These wintertime sport stars take hard work and commitment further than most, enduring the cold and pain that the snow and ice bring in the win-ter competitive sport world. “I got into it from a friend,” Bishop said, “but stayed because I like work-ing hard and being with the team.”

Continued from page C1

in the 26- year history of the race, and GBHS’ second female state winner besides Caitlin Chock in 2002. Bell also won all league this season, an outstanding mile-stone. “(The awards) are a huge hon-or. I never thought that I could do so well, but I’m happy I did.”Bell’s milestone season accom-plishments act as an indicator that her dominance is only the beginning. Bell hopes to continue with this momentum into next season and throughout her high school career. She is a very promising star and only has a bright future ahead of her. When asked if she had the Olympics in mind for her en-couoraging career, she blushed and with a humble smile said, “Maybe someday.”

BELL: Runner has a very strong future aheadContinued from page C1

Everything hap-pens in the blink of an eye and if you aren’t pre-

pared, it’s going to blindside you.

– Matt Kasner, Stanford football player

GBHS graduate currently plays boys’ soccer at Stanford University.

Ty Thompson

said. “I grew up playing on sports teams with my friends but that doesn’t even begin to compare to playing in college.” Pedone was unsure if she was ready to play at the Division I level and has found her angst was not in vain. “I knew it was going to be tough but I wasn’t necessarily expecting a full time job.” Pedone said. “The gym is my second home. Actually, I am at the gym more than my home.” Similarly to Kasner, Pedone has found reassurance through her high school training that has aided her on and off the court. “High school definitely prepared me. There is much more of a work load in college but I learned how to be efficient, stay organized and manage my time in high school,” Pedone said. Another athlete of Stanford University, GBHS graduate Tyler Thompson, realizes how big of a gap there can be between high

school and col-lege. Luckily for him, his club soccer team comprised of many college players, which he says pre-pared him well for college soccer. “I expected college to be a very physical game, and it has been. The players use their bodies more, shielding the ball better than I would have expected. Every team gets a ton of pressure on the ball, making it difficult to play,” Thompson said.

Granitebaytoday.org

Read the

Gazette: The

GBHS source

for news

Friday December, 14 2012 w The Granite Bay GazetteC6 Sports

AT A GLANCE

FootballUpcoming Games:wToday – 8 p.m., Division I State Championship, TBD Home Depot Center, Carson

Boys’ BasketballUpcoming Games:w1/2 vs. Fairfieldw1/4 vs. Jesuitw1/8 @ Oakmontw1/10 vs. Roseville

Girls’ BasketballUpcoming Games:w1/3 @ Oakmontw1/8 @ River Valleyw1/11 vs. Rosevillew1/16 vs. Del Oro

WrestlingUpcoming Matches:w11/20 @ Mesa Verdew1/9 vs. Nevada Unionw1/16 @ Rocklin

Stats at a

Glance

Gazette photo /LUkE CHIrBAS

Gazette photo /krISTIN TAyLOr


w Above, senior Johnny Cooley finds his way through the St. Ignatius defense and tumbles into the endzone in the Nor-Cal championship game Friday, Dec. 7. Left, head coach Ernie Cooper celebrates alongside his players after winning the Section title Friday, Nov. 30. Below left, junior Connor Ferguson and freshman Parker Mortensen struggle for the best position while wresting during a practice on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Below right, senior Vince Milo tackles his Oakridge opponent to the ground in the Section Champion-ship game. Senior Daniel romero shoots a basket, far below left, on Tues-day, Dec. 4 in the game against kennedy. Far below middle, the cheer team performs a stunt, and juniors Emily An-dress and Courtney Nash catch senior Julia Periolat in a free fall. Junior Julia Bermudez pivots while trying to find a team-mate during a practice on Wednesday, Dec. 5.


Gazette photo /krISTIN TAyLOrGazette photo /krISTIN TAyLOr


The Gazette’s arts and entertainment guide December 2012

green screen.Winter

TravelGuide

page 10-11

Call of Duty vs. Halo 4Page 9

Winter FashionPage 12

Holiday Gift GuidePage 16


December 2012calendar.

In recent light of the election, one aspect of the Californian mindset stands out through the new progressive taxes.

With the passing of Proposition 30 (increased income taxes for people who make 250,000 or more) and the defeat of Proposition 38 (increased progressive taxes for all incomes), California voters have solidified their support of higher taxes – that is, as long as they don’t have to pay them. As many of future college students rejoice in the security of a cheaper University of California education, severe affluent households in the community most likely received one cut from the double-edged sword that is Prop 30. If either parent makes over $250,000, a family will actually lose money on Prop 30, even if they children who currently attend or plan on attending a UC school. Disregarding the increased sales tax that also comes with Proposition 30, my frustration comes from the morality of increasing income taxes on the top 3 to 5% of California taxpayers. The California university-level financial system has taken the brunt of the recent recession, and governor Jerry Brown realizes that something has to be done. He proposed a number of progressive bills that eventually ended up becoming Proposition 30. The basic idea is that education costs are rising, and someone has to pay. That someone, however, provides the source of my discontent. Logically, it makes sense that those who actually use the UC education system should bear this financial burden. I get it; no one wants to struggle with these rising costs, but, all things concerned, it is only fair that those actually involved in the UC system should pay.

Instead, voters have chosen to target the wealthy minority, reflecting a one-sided, selfish mindset. It’s easy to point fingers at the rich and greedy. But if education costs are rising, those people who still want access to it should have to pay for it. It’s easy to tell ourselves that millionaires don’t need another Lamborghini or Hawaiian vacation home. Maybe that is true. But I don’t believe it’s fair to decide for the rich that they must pay for my education simply because it seems as though they can. At this point, one might reason that if education is so important, any proposition increasing its funding would have already passed. To them, I recollect Proposition 38. Proposition 38 also increased funding for education (albeit at the elementary level), and failed with a miserable 73 percent rejection. Why, one might ask? Simply because it increased income taxes for everybody, and people do not want to pay higher taxes. They just want them to pay higher taxes. What Prop 38 tells me is that California voters seem to be voting for one

reason, and that is to save money for themselves as individuals. They are not thinking about their mothers, fathers, neighbors or friends. They are not questioning values/morals or deciding on what is right for the good of their state. Herein resides, in my opinion, the flaw with American politics. It seems to boil down to what will save them money, even if it means screwing other people; in this case (and in most cases), the wealthy. Progressive taxes stem from the mindset that the rich have more money and should therefore pay more. But that already happens in a flat tax, when a percentage of income is taken from all citizens. My opinion stands that all taxes should be flat and that progressive taxes are in fact, unfair. The rich should pay more money, but not more of a percentage of their income than anyone else. With progressive taxing, you’re taking a larger percent of an already higher income, so it’s somewhat of a double whammy. I urge you to look at the idea of progressive taxes as one of the past, born out of ignorance and an unwillingness to increase one’s own taxes.

In this IssuePage 3

Music reviews

Page 5Popular social

networking sites

Page 6&7Food reviews:

Sushi

Page 14Things to see and do over

break

Page 13Pre/post

Winterball plans

Page 10&11Winter travel

guide

Page 12Winter fashion

Page 9Call of Duty

vs. Halo

Progressive taxes

Page 18&19Movie reviews

Page 20Sports-a-rama

The voter hypocrisy of greed and misplaced blame

decemberMONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAYSUNDAY

Gazette illustrations/ALEXA ZOGOPOULOS and HAYLEY MCAVOY

19

Winter Ball

Winter Concert

811

Every 15 Minutes

Winter Break

Every 15 Minutes

Santa’’s Helpers

Page 15Christmas

treesPage 16

Gift guidePage 17

Holiday movie hall of fame

FINALS3,4

Winter Concert

13 14FINALS

1,2

Commentary

joey [email protected]

17

I don’t believe it’s fair to decide for the rich that they must pay for my education simply because it seems as though they can

It’s not often that I’ll find myself listening to what may be considered an “indie” album. Usually I can’t handle the soft

voices and melodies that make up current hipster soundtracks—but surprisingly, I’m a fan of Metric’s Synthetica. Metric’s lyrics and celestial tunes make the album pleasing to the ears, and also refreshing since the tracks don’t all have the same beat as every other modern song of this genre. While listening to the first track, “Artificial Nocturne,” I was feeling pretty skeptical about the album. Though not a bad song, “Artificial Nocturne” is too repetitive. It also has way too many of the “ooohhh”s and “ahhhh”s that make me want to rip my hair out when I hear other indie rock songs that primarily consist of these annoying harmonizations. But I was able to stand it, and I’m glad I decided to soldier through the rest of the album. The following tracks had much better beats and somehow managed to be soothing,

yet with powerful lyrics at the same time. The second track, “Youth Without Youth,” is the most popular single on the album, and with good reason. The song is about kids who never actually get the chance to experience youth to the fullest extent, having lost their innocence far too early. “Youth Without Youth” is made up of well-thought out lyrics and a great tempo, but what makes it so unique is the ‘60s organ played by using a homemade pedal found on Craigslist that almost gives off the sound of a synthesized drum. The organ is heard throughout the rest of the album, and definitely adds intensity to the light voice of lead singer Emily Haines. Tracks three and four, “Speed the Collapse” and “Breathing Underwater,” both have slower rhythms than the previous track, but are still high-energy with the blaring background instruments that create a powerful beat. Track five, “Dreams So Real,” is where the album begins to form its celestial vibe. Floating through space seems like a real

possibility with this song blasting through your headphones. Unfortunately, the following track, “Lord Kitten,” is not up to par with the previous songs on the album. Maybe it only seems this way because it’s such a dramatic change from the intensity of “Dreams So Real,” but “Lord Kitten” lacks intensity and the momentum prevalent in the other tracks. “The Void” wasn’t exactly satisfying either. Again, I was unimpressed by the lukewarm lyrics and absence of passion in the song—but, I still kept my faith in the last four tracks. “Synthetica” reminded me why I was enjoying the album baring its title so much in the first place. Heavy guitar riffs mixed with light piano playing somehow created a wonderful blend of serenity and heaviness that forms the album’s theme. Though the final three tracks felt weak, the album as a whole is a pleasurable listen and continues to show that the sound of Metric is easily distinguishable, in what is usually a genre with very few sounds to it.

Page 3December 2012 music.

Skip to: Taree

SEVEN FOUR/ REPUBLIC

EPIC RECORDS

B+Skip to:

Youth Without Youth

GIANT STUDIOS

BWiz Khalifa O.N.I.F.C.

Metric Synthetica

BSkip to: Medicated

Synthetica by Metric was released on Nov.

20.


Soundgarden King Animal

Soundgarden is one of the many Seattle grunge bands who skyrocketed into the popular music

scene in the early 1990s. 2012 marked 24 years since the band’s first album was released. Soundgarden’s peak of popularity came in 1994 with the release of the album Superunknown, which featured songs such as “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman.” The album was one of the top selling albums in America that year. King Animal does not deliver a classic Soundgarden hit, but it does hearken back to the style of Superunknown, something the band’s two previous releases were unable to accomplish.

The album begins with “Been Away too Long,” a hard-rocking song that sounds like an imitation of AC/DC. After the first few tracks, the mood of the album takes a step away from the metal-like sound that Soundgarden has put out in the last decade to the band’s grunge roots. The song “By Crooked Steps” serves to remind listeners that they are in fact listening to Soundgarden, and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The song showcases the distinct vocals of lead singer Chris Cornell as well as a traditional Soundgarden guitar riff. “A Thousand Days Before” sounds as though it could have come directly from the 1994 album. Its distinct guitar intro and chorus follow the same formula as many of Soundgarden’s biggest hits.

The song “Taree” shows the strong influence of Cornell’s experience of touring with the band Audioslave. Both the guitar riff and main verse mirror Audioslave’s style, while the chorus and brief guitar solo are unmistakably Soundgarden. King Animal is definitely an attempt by Soundgarden to get back to their roots and try to recapture their ‘90s success. While Soundgarden will likely never recapture their popularity after the release of Superunknown, this album is the best they have put out in almost 20 years, and that deserves some credit. There seems to be no end in sight for Soundgarden, and if this album sells well, it is unlikely that the band will split up again.

Though Wiz Khalifa’s second album, O.N.I.F.C isn’t exactly a lyrical master, it is entertaining.

Catchy choruses and stimulating beats makes O.N.I.F.C a hit amongst most high school hip-hop listeners. The whole album features neat hooks and psychedelic melodies. While listening to O.N.I.F.C, you have to keep an open mind. If you’re expecting deep lyrics and inspirational dialogue, I suggest you avoid this album, because Wiz Khalifa will simply disappoint. Although I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Khalifa’s album is mindless enjoyment, you definitely don’t have to use

your brain to enjoy his songs. With featured artists such as 2 Chainz, Juicy J, Pharrell and Akon, O.N.I.F.C definitely flaunts some star power. The first song on the album, “Paperbond,” is a fan favorite along with “Inititiation (feat. Lola Monroe)” and “Medicated (feat. Chevy Woods and Juicy J).” Most of the beats have a somewhat airy feel to them, with synthesizers and edited vocals. Unfortunately, for those of you who love dancing music, this album is not right for you. It mostly consists of slow-paced tracks meant for relaxing and chilling with your friends. As a fan of his older music, I think there

really aren’t any old-school styled songs on the album besides maybe the most popular song, “Work Hard Play Hard.” It’s an overall solid album, yet it does feature a few horrible songs. “Fall Asleep” is an example of this dreadfulness. The song is best described as simply weird. With a flat-out weak baseline and creepy hook, let’s just say that you will not catch me listening to this song for a second time. Although the album gets a little slow towards the middle, it progressively gets better by the end. Khalifa saves the best for last with the song “Medicated (feat. Chevy Woods and Juicy J)”, which has a tranquil hook, a catchy chorus and intricate lyrics that make a great end to a decent album.

O.N.I.F.C. by Wiz Khalifa was released on

Dec.4.

BYJONAH [email protected]

BY ALEXA [email protected]

King Animal by Soundgarden was

released on Nov.12.

December 2012 Page 4current.

Techno Jeep is a video where Youtube star Smith and his fellow musicians create a

whole song only using different sounds from his Jeep.The channel, JulianSmith87, creates all sorts of comic videos, However it takes a more serious approach to this video, creating a masterpiece with just a Jeep. The video starts with Julian testing some sounds with a Jeep. After that, all the other participants assume their positions all over the car. The “song” starts with simple sounds which create a cool beat, but once they start the car, the song gets more upbeat and intense. The idea for the video is very creative and is like nothing most people have seen before. The video, especially

during the door solo, is an incredible display of creativity. The viewing public agrees, judging by the fact that the video has almost 150,000 likes and has been seen almost 10,500,000 times, with numerous cooments about the quality of the video.

Youtube Video of the Month

Bike Race is an exhilarating racing game by Top Free Games. Bike Race has gone viral at

Granite Bay High because it allows users to race against their friends on a variety of courses. Bike Race allows you to play 72 solo courses, and adds eight new courses once they are built. The player must get at least two out of three “stars” on each level to get to the next eight levels. The beginning eight levels are simple and most achieve three stars on each level, but the last eight are almost impossible to master quickly. In the multiplayer mode, players can race against their friends on random levels. This mode is what attracts most of the people to play the app. The multiplayer mode creates a great way to race against your friends and is by far the best thing about the application. The app shows your win-loss record against your competitors and can also record your best time for each course.

As the player beats solo levels and gets wins in multiplayer, they can unlock more bikes which have different abilities. For example, the last bike to be unlocked, the ghost bike, allows the player to go through the course without failing unless they fall off of the map. Not only is the app very popular at GBHS, but it is very popular around the world and has 4.5 out of 5 stars in the app store.

iPhone App of the Month BY KEVIN BURNS

[email protected]

and

JULIANSMITH87/YouTube

TOP FREE GAMES

Julian Smith and his band use his jeep to make a techno song

How long have you been painting? Since I was a freshman. I took basic art my freshman year and then I have been taking Advanced Art ever since.

Which artists inspire you the most to paint? Some contemporary artists and definitely Mr. Stephens because he’s our teacher and he shows us new techniques on how to paint

What style of painting do you use the most? I do a lot of graffiti art so that’s more of my style.

What do you enjoy most about painting? I just like being able to express myself by painting whatever I’m feeling at any time.

Are you planning on pursuing art in the future? Maybe. I will definitely try but I think it will be more of a hobby in the future.

Jessie Myers BY TAMREN [email protected]

Artist of the Month

Gazette photo/KAYLYN O’DONNELL

COMPILED BY NIKI [email protected]

Trend of the month

Winter months mean more and more layers, and sometimes that can stifle a girl’s sense of style—but not this year. The ultimate fashion trend for December is jean vests, an edgy but practical look for the cold season. These cozy and casual wardrobe items are perfect for making that simple long sleeve or sweatshirt look like the ultimate fashion statement. “I like them because it creates a cuter outfit,” senior Carly Flajole said.” They look good over sweatshirts so you can be stylish and (still) comfy.” This trend mixes things up from the usual jacket, hoodie or sweatshirt pattern some people cling to during the winter season. Stores are pushing even more edgy looks such as jean vests with studs, distressed fabric, crystal buttons or fur lining.

“I like when they are distressed, and I love studs,” Flajole said. “I’m all for the edgy look this season.” Jean vests can also be a thrifty style choice as well. It is cheap and easy to go into your mom’s closet and dig out a dated-looking denim shirt she’s been holding onto, and turn it into a trendy jacket. If denim still doesn’t appeal to you, Glamour Magazine’s fashion “Do’s” say that faux fur is fabulous, too. Fur vests are the ultimate look for those fearless few, and an easy way to stay cozy during the cold months. Paired with slim cut bell bottoms and some suede booties, this look will make the winter months a little less drab and a little more fab. “I personally wouldn’t wear them,” Flajole said, “but they look good on some people.”

Your Nam

es, Your Faces, Your

Newspaper, The Gazette Granitebaytoday.org

Artist of the Month Jessie Myers stands with her newest painting

December 2012 the web

Almost all Granite Bay High students are familiar with Twitter and Facebook and frequent these social media websites. But what do GBHS students do when these two main websites are not enough to satisfy their social media cravings? Where do they go? This desire for a change of pace has driven many students to delve into new regions of the web in search of a site that suits their specific needs. Junior Jacob Smith found his fix with the comprehensive music blog, Hype Machine. “Hype Machine is a blog of blogs” Smith said “It combines all the trending music blogs into one website.” Smith said. The website tracks many trending music blogs and determines which selections of music are gaining popularity particularly fast, and promotes them. Hype Machine makes it easy for users to find trending music in their favorite genre, or explore the new music scene in general. The focus of Hype Machine is to track and promote trending music, thus giving the site its very appropriate name. “It also leads people to new blogs,” Smith said. Hype Machine is a great tool for finding new music and is a great jumping pad for exploring other music blogs.

Reddit is another eccentric social media site that has reached a small, but devoted crowd of students. Junior Armin Anderson is a long time “Redditor” and self-proclaimed seasoned veteran of the site, having garnered more “total karma” than all of his other Redditor friends combined. Reddit users can make “posts” to smaller Reddit communities, known as subreddits, for the judgment of their peers. If other Reddit users decide to “upvote” the content, the initial post may make it to the front page of Reddit, a proud accomplishment. Furthermore, each Reddit user may pick and choose which “subreddits” they would like to appear on their front page, making Reddit fully customizable. “It is good that you can change the classifications of what you want to see,” Anderson said. “There are subreddits like ‘ask reddit’, ‘ask me anything’, ‘today I learned’ and ‘face palm’. My personal favorite is the ‘best of reddit’ subreddit.” These features make Reddit ideal for users who would like to condense their web experience into one, comprehensive “front page of the internet.”

Hype Machine

Reddit

Tumblr is also a popular social media site amongst the hip crowd at GBHS. Junior Christi Trovato is an avid Tumblr user, despite the website’s refusal to include the letter “e” in its logo. Trovato was first introduced to the site by her friends and has since become enthralled by the variety of material the website offers. “You can pretty much find whatever you want on Tumblr,” Trovato said. Tumbling, as it is commonly known, is a great way to stay entertained at boring times during the day. “I sometimes go on Tumblr in class when I am bored,” Trovato said. While Tumblr may come with the stigma of being a website for hipsters, it can be personalized to suit the specific tastes of any user.

Tumblr

The Sites to SeeFavorite websites of GBHS students

food. December 2012

The Gazette staff samples sushi restaurants

As a sushi advocate, Mikuni Kaizen caught my attention with its well-known name. The original Mikuni, founded in 1985, has been one of my favorite restaurants since I was very little, so it made me wonder what ‘Kaizen’ was all about. Walking in, the atmosphere is in complete contrast to the busy and bustling environment of a normal Mikuni. Mikuni Kaizen gives off a more relaxed atmosphere, with dim lighting and a more open dining space. The front dining area is vast, and offers a more private meal experience paired with high ceilings and a back room separated by a row of beads. Until 4 p.m. each day, a lunch menu provides cheaper combinations of rolls and tempura that go well with the three whole pages of specialty tapas that Kaizen has. As opposed to the original Mikuni, Mikuni Kaizen has a wide variety of appetizers that provide an option for any palette.My waiter informed me that the barbecue albacore (with red or white sauce) was the customer favorite. I ended up ordering the Albacore (with the red sauce) and the crispy Gyoza as my appetizers.

The crispy Gyoza (very similar to a fried potsticker) was fantastic, but the portion size was disappointing. Given just three small pieces at about seven dollars, the potstickers weren’t worth it. For my entrée, I decided to get one of Kaizen’s specialty rolls, called a Train Wreck roll. The Train Wreck roll came out beautifully plated and prepared. The eel, tuna and avocado provided a great accent to the tangy sauce that covered the roll. It was definitely my favorite dish of the whole meal. For dessert, I had chocolate mochi. It put the finishing touch on a great lunch. Overall, Mikuni Kaizen proved to be a great alternative to the original Mikuni restaurant.However, it is just as expensive and unfortunately, not as good as the original.

Reviewer’s Grade: B

BY AMBER [email protected]

My experience at Sumo Sushi was forgettable and left me wanting much more than it offered, despite the high prices on almost everything. When I arrived to the crowded Safeway parking lot, it took me about five minutes just to find a parking spot. When I walked into the restaurant, I noticed that there were no customers and I found out I was the only one who would be there for the entire 45 minutes I was there. In the restaurant they were playing some weird music that was very loud and distracting. The only entertainment available was some humorous pictures and paintings of sumo wrestlers on the wall. For my first roll, I got the simple California roll. A California roll is a roll filled with crab, avocado and cucumber and has a seaweed and sticky rice cover. It is one of the more popular sushi rolls in the United States, and can be found in almost every sushi menu. The roll was mediocre at best, and the only redeeming quality was the soy sauce which masked much of the taste of the dry crab and overpowering avocado. For my second roll, I got the King Roll, which is made of fried shrimp, cucumber, avocado and crab meat, with an outer layer of rice and seaweed. The roll was a little bit better than the California Roll. Despite the improvement, the roll was average and did not warrant another order. Finally, for the last order, I bought an order of mochi, a traditional Japanese dessert. Mochi is a rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded to form the outer cover of an ice cream ball. This was by far the best item, but when I got

it, the waitress told us we had to eat it quickly because it would melt soon. They said that it was made when the sushi rolls were made and then sat out 30 minutes while I ate my meal. Finally, when I asked for a drink, they charged me five dollars extra. When I asked them why, it took them five minutes to figure it out and charge me the right price. Overall, my experience at Sumo Sushi involved mediocre food, bad service despite no other guests and an overall underwhelming job by the restaurant.

Reviewer’s Grade: C-


Akebono

Akebono Japanese restaurant is a very plain restaurant. The boring layout of the restaurant matched very well with the food they served, simple and boring. The biggest downside to Akebono is the ambience. It feels like you are eating in a boring cafeteria with white walls and no lively surroundings. The tables were also sticky, which I found slightly disturbing. It made me think that a messy toddler ate there before me and they did not feel the need to clean the table up afterwards. One of the best parts of eating there however that was the service was incredibly fast. The waiter was also very friendly and made me feel right at home when I walked

in the door of the restaurant. The food however, was just okay. First, I ordered the tempura which came with two pieces of deep fried shrimp and assorted veggies. It was all good the shrimp was cooked perfectly it was just very plain. For my main roll I ordered an Awesome Roll, which turned out to be not so awesome. The roll wasn’t bad it was just lacking that factor that makes you say wow. The Awesome roll was shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, seared salmon, and fried onions on top. The second roll I ordered was the Akebono roll. The roll was a refreshing change of pace from the Awesome; it had seared tuna, avocado, white fish, and a questionable shiso (minty herb). The shiso was a little overwhelming and took away from the flavor of the other ingredients in the roll. Akebono was an overall good restaurant with friendly

staff and decent food. The most disappointing part of Akebono was the lack of ambience and the cafeteria type feeling, yet the outstanding service and good food makes up for the boring ambience. The only negative point of the restaurant is the boring ambience, which in my opinion should not be a selling point in deciding whether or not to go Akebono. The food at Akebono was all good it was just lacking something to take it from good to amazing. The food was just rather boring. I would not necessarily recommend going to Akebono, but my overall experience was not bad.

Reviewer’s Grade: C


They See Me Rollin’

Mikuni Kaizen Sumo Sushi

Gazette photo /LUKE B.F. ChIRBAS

Gazette photo /KEVIN BURNS

Sumo Sushi is located off of Douglas Blvd. next to Chipotle

Mikuni Kaizen is located in the fountains next to Boudin

Mikuni’s sushi chefs are masters of their craft. They use traditional Japanese methods with an American twist to create the best sushi I have ever had. Mikuni is a sprawling establishment with plenty of seating at tables or at one of its two sushi bars. The décor is a mix of traditional Japanese paintings and modern table tops and granite sushi bars. Together, they give the restaurant a very vibrant and modern feel. The atmosphere is a very important facet of the restaurant experience. However, the most important part is the food. The Vegi-Ten roll was crisp and delicious. When I took my first bite, my mouth was filled by the various tastes that burst upon my tongue. The smoothness of the fresh avocado, the spice of the onions, and the beautifully crafted special sauce put this vegetarian roll in my top ten favorite sushi rolls ever. Mikuni chefs managed to make a delicious vegetarian option for those who choose to avoid eating meat. This variation is very impressive. Next out of the kitchen was the incredible roll. This toasted Tuna roll, which was served hot like the Vegi-Ten roll, included avocado, but that is where the similarities stop. This roll focuses on indulging the fish lover. Spicy tuna, shrimp, white tuna and masago (fish eggs) make up this incredible combination of delicious foods. The roll had a smoky taste to it, because of the toasted tuna on top. The roll was delicious, but of the three I ordered, I did not think it was worth the steep price of $14. The next roll is my all time favorite, the

Train wreck roll. The chefs managed to take individual things that alone sound repulsive, such as chopped eel, and put them together to make the best roll outside of Japan. The roll is sweet at first taste but then the eel and the seared tuna give it a more complex taste, reminiscent of steak. Finally, you reach the center of the giant roll, a crunchy tempura shell that surrounds the sweat shrimp on the inside. The roll varies from sweet to gamey and complex. The Train Wreck roll is a fantastic dish that everyone should have the pleasure of enjoying. Enjoying the Train Wreck roll might be out of the question for some frugally minded patrons because the roll costs a whopping $16. This is unfortunate, but it is worth it. Mikuni deserves a lot of credit for providing a superior quality product as opposed to many other sushi spots in the Granite Bay area. Therefore, I think Mikuni is allowed to charge the rates they do for the vast majority of their food offerings. Mikuni is a delightful restaurant that serves delicious, high end, sushi that is perfect when you are not the one paying the bill.

Reviewer’s Grade: A

Page 7eat.

Blue Nami is an affordable, yet tasty sushi restaurant, which offers not only raw fish, but also a good time. Located off of Eureka Rd. by Costa Vida, Blue Nami is a small restaurant full of flat screen TVs and Japanese decor. Everyday, one can expect to get “50% off” of their rolls. The “50% off” menu offers a large variety of sushi and is arguably one of the most popular spots among the Granite Bay High student body. One downside for Blue Nami is its small portions. Each roll has about 8-12 bites of sushi that won’t even hold over an adolescent boy for one hour. The sushi roll of choice for me is the Jack #2. This roll has shrimp, crab, avocado and tobiko, and is a fan favorite among GBHS students. Unfortunately, the menu does not offer highly exotic rolls.

For those who don’t exactly like raw fish, there are a few alternatives. Blue Nami offers variations of teriyaki, from your average chicken teriyaki to salmon or beef teriyaki. There is also a tasty vegetarian option, the vegetable tempura.

One of the main reasons this restaurant is so popular is its long hours. Thursday through Saturday you can see Blue Nami’s lights on from 11:00 am all the way until 1:00 am. Even Sunday through Wednesday, you can dine at Blue Nami from 11:00 am to 12:00 am. Blue Nami is a highly accessible restaurant for high school students because of its tasty sushi, cheap prices and long hours. The greatest reason for this restaurant’s success is the incredibly cheap prices. As a frugal student, I take great appreciation in low prices, and Blue Nami offers these small costs. Blue Nami is a great restaurant because it is affordable yet still tasty. Overall, my experience at Blue Nami was superb, and I recommend you to enjoy this cuisine for yourself if you haven’t already.

Reviewer’s Grade: A

December 2012


Mikuni is located next to Century 14 movie theater in Roseville

Mikuni

Blue Nami

This Month’s PicksThe Gazette Ranking Panel samples dishes from each of the five restaurants this month and ranks them accordingly.

BY THOMAS [email protected]

#5 Sumo Sushi- Sumo sushi is too expensive for the quality of sushi that they offer.

#4 Akebono- Akebono is lacking in atmosphere and is very inconsistent with the quality of their food.

#3 Mikuni Kaizen- Mikuni Kaizen carries a Mikuni price tag without offering the same experience, putting it in third this cycle.

#2 Mikuni- While Mikuni offers arguably the best tasting sushi around, it is incredibly expen-sive for high school students. Go with your parents to avoid the hefty price tag.

#1 Blue Nami- Blue Nami also has great tasting sushi but at a much more reasonable price. In fact two filling rolls can cost as little as $10, making Blue Nami the supreme sushi restaurant.

Gazette photo /MYLES SLATTERY

Blue Nami is located off Eureka Rd. next to Costa Vida

December 2012 gazette.

Your faces.Your names.

The Gazette.

December 2012 game.

In the gamer world, two first person shooter franchises rise above all others, Call of Duty and Halo. Published and owned by Activision, the Call of Duty series has sold over 100 million hard copies world wide. The Halo franchise, which is published by Microsoft and primarily developed by Bungie, is a multi-billion dollar science fiction video game. These games can be played on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and the Playstation Vita. The most prominent factor in these two games’ success is the online multiplayer option. More than 20 million people utilize this multiplayer option every day between the Xbox and Playstation 3 consoles alone. With Call of Duty Black Ops II and Halo 4 releasing within the same month, Granite Bay High students have argued on which game is better. “CoD is so much better, it is way more fun,” Junior

Austin Allegra said. “Halo is too slow and doesn’t take any skill.” Even though there are Halo skeptics, some still enjoy the science fiction shooter more than CoD. “Halo is better because it is more technical and not as easy to play,” junior Parker Burman said. Where multiplayer is one of the most played aspects, campaign (the non-multiplayer part of the game involving a storyline), also plays a large role in the overall success of a first person shooter game. “Generally, Halo has a far better storyline then CoD, but Halo 4’s campaign wasn’t that good,” Burman said. Within one day of release, Call of Duty Black Ops II sold $500 million worth of games, merchandise, and online game benefits. To put these sales into perspective, the highest grossing movie this year, Marvel’s the Avengers brought in about 600 million dollars after two weeks. Although Halo 4 didn’t make half of the amount

Black Ops II did, with a mere 200 million dollars, up until the release of Black Ops II, Halo 4 held the top spot for the biggest U.S. entertainment launch of the year. Halo 4 sales put the franchise over $3.38 billion worth of lifetime sales. “The only thing I hate about Call of Duty is how addictive it is, I will want to play a couple games and the next thing you know you are playing for hours,” Allegra said. Over 1.6 billion hours of online game play have been logged in Modern Warfare 3 since its 2011 release. That is about 182,527 years of pure playing time for just one of the franchise’s games. “Call of Duty is so fun because you can play with your friends and talk to them online,” Allegra said. Financially speaking, CoD is the more successful franchise as a whole, however both industries have made their mark on the industry.


FIRST LASTAcTIvISIonGazette photo /FIRST LAST343 STudIoS

December 2012Pages 10 and 11 explore.

Mendocino

Drive Time: 4 hours

Why you should go:

Santa Cruz

Drive Time: 3 hours

Why you should go: Santa Cruz is the perfect getaway for people looking to escape the monotony of winter in Granite Bay.

Northstar at Tahoe

Drive Time: 2 hours

Why you should go:

Northstar is a popular ski resort located nearby Lake Tahoe, and a day trip spent skiing or snowboarding there with friends is sure to be a blast. GBHS junior Laurel Teague points out, however, that the slopes are not particularly challenging for advanced skiers. In addition to its beautiful white slopes, the resort features a mountain-top restaurant and plenty of other opportunities for shopping, dining and spending time with friends by a warm fire. “Out in the middle of nowhere, there’s this caboose. (People) can cook tea ... or hot chocolate (for themselves). It was snowing outside, and there was a little fire ... it was just so adorable,” Teague said.

San Francisco

Drive Time: 2 hours

Why you should go:

Apple Hill

Drive Time: 1 hour

Why you should go:

Anyone who hasn’t gone before really should. A visit to Apple Hill is a long-standing local tradition and a refreshing diversion from our snow-free town. “Make sure to try the caramel apples,” said GBHS junior Suneet Narwan. The destination is famous for the varieties of pies and dessert apples made on-site.

Looking for a place to go during winter break? The Gazette has you covered with some of California’s quintessential winter escapes.

BY GRACE [email protected]

Winter Travel Guide Mendocino, a picturesque town on the northern coast of California, is a great place for outdoorsy families to visit year round. There are plenty of hiking opportunities as well as challenging sea caves and rivers nearby for experienced kayakers and ambitious photographers. Going through the wilderness surrounding Mendocino might be just the cure for anyone who feels they have seen it all.

San Francisco has something for everyone, and the short drive makes it an easy but awesome day trip. It’s a good idea to plan a trip to San Francisco in time to enjoy some of the city’s exciting winter festivals and parades.

These fun things include taking pictures in front of the countless gigantic Christmas trees, ice skating with friends and enjoying a warm cup of coffee amidst the city atmosphere.

“I loved seeing the parade at night,” said GBHS junior Christi Trovato. “My family (also enjoys) all the … buildings decorated and all the fun stuff to do.”

Aside from touring the host of colleges in the area, the beaches of Santa Cruz offer some refreshing escapes for those willing to venture out into the cold. Despite the chilly weather, Santa Cruz has some excellent spots for surfing, even for beginners. The boardwalk, lighthouse, nearby missions, quirky museums and seaside restaurants located in the town all provide both adventure and relaxation for those who wish to get out of the wind.

GOOGLE MAPS

NORTHSTAR AT TAHOE

Gazette photo /GRACE MOOREThe charming characteristics of San Francisco are appar-ent on the city’s streets.

A snowboarder launces off of a ramp at Northtar Ski Resort at Tahoe.

fashionista. November 2012

Winter FashionInsight into staying warm while still being in style for the cold weather

Winter is upon us, the time where girls at Granite Bay High School get to dress in warm scarves and

comfy sweaters. This winter fashion season, knitted infinity scarves seem to be quite popular. Infinity scarves are both cute and comfy. They can keep you warm at some of those cold Friday night football games. As far as keeping you toasty on rainy school days, handmade thick headbands are always a good go-to for keeping your ears warm. Along with headbands, another accessory that seems to be in fashion every year is colored or silver rings. Girls can wear rings all year round but lately it appears as if people have been

wearing them more often than not. Open-back sweaters are also a current fad. These types of sweaters may not keep your back warm, but are very modern and trendy for girls at Granite Bay High School. Aside from actual clothing, combat and knee-high boots are the latest footwear for the winter fashion season. Neutral-colored boots such as black, cream, grey and brown are particularly popular, mostly because they are easy to match with jeans and other types of clothing. Furthermore, colored knee-high boots are not hard to find. Some girls, such as senior Elise Leben, choose to go on the wild side and purchase purple-patterned boots from TJ Maxx. Any type of color or boot is accepted this holiday season.

Scarfs, rings, headbands, open backs and boots can be both cute and functional for the cold winter season.

Gazette photos /maddy harrisGazette model /ElisE lEbEn

by maddy [email protected]

It’s that time of year again.

In fact, some may even call it the most wonderful time of the year. Winter is the season for Granite Bay High School’s annual formal dance, Winter Ball. The idea of a traditional date dance has faded away. The concept where a boy picks up his date in his car, takes her to eat at a nice restaurant and then stays all night at the school dance is long gone. Instead, many GBHS students find themselves more focused on their group’s plans before and after the dance, in hopes of making a night to remember. Most people try to make the most of one night and pack in as many activities as they can. Typical plans for a fun-filled night include dinner, friends and many opportunities for pictures. Last year, GBHS senior Shannon Menard got ready with her friends, then the whole group met up to take pictures. After enjoying dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, they went to the dance. Then, they topped off the night with bowling until one in the morning at Rocklin AMF Lanes. Most people do the typically get ready together, take pictures with their dates and go to dinner, but plans often vary from there. Senior Natalie Gonzales began her night just like Menard, but after the dance, she and her friends hopped back on their limo and went to look at Christmas lights in Dovewood Court and other neighborhoods that their driver personally knew of. Gonzales also has a unique tradition where she invites all of her friends back to her house where they eat an early-morning breakfast together. Other students know that going to breakfast after the dance is a popular choice after dancing off the calories from dinner. Mel’s is a popular restaurant for post-GBHS activities any time of the year and is especially busy on Winter Ball night, according to junior Nicolette Pinkney who went to Mel’s after the dance last year. Deciding on plans for Winter Ball revolves around one key aspect – the group. It can be difficult to find a cohesive group of people who will all get along and allow for a drama-free night. Trying to incorporate both your date’s friends and your own can also be tricky if you come from different circles of friends. “I think I would rather go with a smaller group that I am close to, just because I would know everyone,” Gonzales said. Gonzales also thinks it is important to know the people

you are with, because

you know their boundaries and how responsible they are. She believes it is

easier to get caught up in the whirlwind and become involved in a bad situation if you are with a big group of people that you are not familiar with. However, Pinkney offers a different perspective. “I think (I would rather go with) a big group of people, because then you can meet new people and there are so many people to talk to, so it’s interesting the whole time,” she said. Party buses and limos are popular means of transportation for GBHS students, and many Winter Ball plans consist of riding around in them for hours after a quick pit stop at the dance. Oftentimes party buses have a more negative perception than limos as a hotbed for underage drinking and crazy partying. “I know I’m not allowed on a party bus, so that has affected past Winter Balls,” Gonzales said. “I just think it’s a bad idea, because I already know what’s going to happen and I think my mom does too, so that’s why she doesn’t allow it.”

Other people do not see much of a difference between party buses and limos and think that the people you surround yourself with will have the biggest impact on your Winter Ball experience. “I don’t really have an opinion on party buses,” Menard said. “Either that or a limo – they are both fun.” Although all of these grandiose plans can add up in terms of expenses, you will be left with lasting memories. “You get to meet new people and have fun with your friends,” Pinkney said, “and we all deserve a night out.”

December 2012 planning. Page 13

What to do about

Winter BallBY KRISTIN [email protected]

nothing to do. December 2012

Winter things...

in Granite Bay.

“Disney Street,” a popular attraction to both local residents and visitors, is a collaboration of homes down a long, stretching street that all display Disney-themed cutouts and decorations, such as Mickey Mouse and friends, The Little Mermaid, A Nightmare Before Christmas and many more. These are presented on the locals’ front lawns and houses for the entertainment of people driving past and have become so popular that the street is only used for the procession of onlookers during this time of year. So if one night before Christmas you feel a little bored and a little in the spirit of things, then pile some friends into a car, turn on the holiday tunes and drive down Disney Street for a creative Christmas time experience. Disney Street is located off of Cirby.

Similarly, Granite Bay’s own Hidden Lakes Estates, a neighborhood tucked at the end of Douglas Blvd., makes a magical experience of luminaries on Christmas Eve that has become a tradition for families in the area to partici-pate in and enjoy. Senior Jake Peterson is one of the participants in this tradition and has insight to the process. “A truck dumps a pile of sand at the (hidden) lake in my neighborhood, and everyone picks some up, orders bags and candles,” Peterson said. “And make the luminaries, filling the bags and spacing them perfectly for the ultimate lighting effect. The displays of luminaries and lights winds all the way through the entire area, alongside the roads, and has become such a beloved annual feature to the region that residents attempt to never disappoint. “We (Hidden Lakes) have done it very year (…) rain or shine,” Peterson said. The attraction is a perfect “after Christmas dinner” treat, that young children adore and adults appreciate. “The real troopers walk in the cold,” Peterson said, “be-cause it looks way better than from a car window.” So if you feel a little full of chocolate after Christmas dinner, bundle up, go down to Hidden Lakes and walk off the meal while watching a beautiful display of holiday cheer.

Looking for some festive entertainment? Bayside Church off of Sierra College Blvd. is hold-ing their annual “Christmas at Bayside” show. This year’s event will involve appearances from America’s Got Talent Lincoln Brewster, The Silhou-ettes and Le Petit Cirque, followed by a Christmas service afterwards. Local resident Mary Webb has attended the shows every year and expressed awe for their won-derful performances. “It’s great entertainment for the children. The Silhouettes performance was amazing; they made incredible shapes and forms and danced through-out,” Webb said. Dates and ticket information can be found on the Bayside Church website.

Local Starbucks cafés also provide seasonally appropriate drinks such as peppermint mochas and pumpkin spice lattes to keep you warm and festive during these select months. “I love the peppermint mochas,” says senior Blake Lewis, “they are like Christmas in a cup and taste amazing while keeping me warm.”

Disney Street

Bayside Church

Hidden Lake Estates

Starbucks

BY NIKKI [email protected]

Activites special to the cold season.

November 2012 in granite bay.

Christmas Tree

Guide

Page 15

BY SUMMER [email protected]

A look at some of the best places to get the perfect holiday centerpiece

As the holiday season draws close, many people are trying to find a quality Christmas tree without all

the drama of driving all over Northern California to find the tallest,

largest and cheapest Christmas tree available. Koyama Tree Farm

9027 Barton Road Granite Bay CA

1.9 miles from Granite Bay High School.

This is the closest farm to GBHS. They open during

the first two weeks of December, so it’s

perfect for all the early birds.

Any tree that come from the Koyama Tree

Farm are certified organic.

Trees from the

Koyama Tree Farm are

perfect for any

families that want to

get their trees

early

and also want to be organic as possible during

the holiday season.

Crystal Creek Tree Farms

2019 Cable Road Camino, CA

39.0 miles from GBHS. Since Granite Bay is a highly populated area not a lot of tree farms are

located close by. So

to find the perfect tree, it may take all day. Crystal Creek Tree Farms are located 39 miles from GBHS. The drive should take around an hour. Located in El Dorado County off of Highway 50, the Crystal Creek Tree Farms offer many different types of trees and wrapping on-site. The farm will be open every day until Christmas.

Hootster Farms

7120 Sierra View Place, Loomis, CA 95650 6.3 miles from GBHS. Located in Loomis just off of Cavitt Stallman Hootster Farms, it is on 15 acres of family owned land. Hootster Farms has over 1000 trees to choose from, ranging from three to 10 feet tall. Hootster Farms offers five different species of trees to choose from, including Douglas Firs, Sierra Redwoods and Monterey Pines. Hootster Farms are open Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 am to dusk and on Fridays by appointment.

Snowy Peaks

30100 Foresthill Road, Foresthill 95631 For busy families that want to buy local food while they are shopping for the best tree, Snowy Peaks may be the best option. Located in Foresthill, Snowy Peaks offers a variety of Christmas trees as well as

local produce, including blueberries, herbs, peppers, seasonal vegetables and tomatoes. Snowy Peaks is open Friday through Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. They offer on-site sales and tours around their property. From GBHS, the drive should take about 14 minutes. Snowy Peaks is a good option for people who want local, but still quality, Christmas trees.

Artificial Trees

Artificial trees are the best alternative to real trees if you, or any family members, are allergic to pine. If you just don’t want the hassle of going out and getting a Christmas tree, then an artificial tree my be the best option. Many department stores like Target and Wal-Mart sell cheap artificial trees that can be easily stored for future use. Artificial trees are also good if you don’t have a green thumb and are not able to keep a tree alive until Christmas or if you don’t want to be constantly cleaning all of the pine needles off of your floor. If you don’t want the hassle of a real tree, an artificial tree is the best alternative. Gazette illustration/HAYLEY MCAVOY

December 2012Page 16 culture.

GiftGuideHolid

ay

Every year it seems that an increasing amount of people just prefer money or gift cards over more traditional Christmas presents.

Sophomore Kat McGrail prefers gift cards and money over anything else because they allow her to go on a winter shopping spree.

“Some people get unwanted presents from their family members that you know you will never wear or use ever again,” McGrail said. “It’s nice because with a gift card, you get to use it and go pick out whatever you actually want.”

Call of Duty Black Ops II, FIFA 13, Halo 4 and Assassin’s Creed 3 are just a few of the most popular video games that have recently been released.

“FIFA 13 sounds like a pretty good soccer game,” junior Jeff Gaebler said. “It’s fun to hang out with your friends and compete with them whenever you play a video game.”

Because of their action-packed features, these newly released video games have attracted many GBHS students to play them with others.

As technology evolves, most Granite Bay High School students are dying to get their hands on the latest and greatest.

Because of its new and improved features, the new iPhone 5 is becoming increasingly popular among GBHS students.

The iPhone 5, being the newest iPhone out, lures teenagers to want the latest technology. Even though it is closely similar to the regular iPhone 4, more and more GBHS students desire to have it, and it has become the most popular item around school.

Other GBHS students have put a new car on their Christmas wish list.

Ever since junior Julia Beck got her license, she has wanted a car of her own. She believes having her own car will give her much more independence.

“I really want a Range Rover,” Beck said. “A new car would give me a lot more freedom.”

Other GBHS students are hoping to receive concert tickets under the Christmas tree.

With the many upcoming concerts in 2013, sophomore Crystal Yabes has high hopes to get concert tickets to her favorite boy band at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on July 31.

“I’m obsessed with One Direction,” Yabes said. “I’ve always wanted to see them live.”

Other popular concerts in 2013 include Carrie Underwood, Maroon 5 and the Zac Brown Band.

BY TAMREN [email protected]

iPhone 5

Gift Cards

Car

Video games

Concer t tickets


December 2012 Page 17culture.

WARNER BROS. UNIVERSAL WARNER BROS.

Christmas movie

BY JOEY [email protected]

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a stop motion film depicting the heartwarming

tale of Rudolph, the famous red-nosed reindeer. Everybody knows the legend of Rudolph. Born in the North Pole with a strange red nose, he must overcome the adversity of being different. Isolated by his abnormally red nose, Rudolph ends up using it as an advantage by lighting Santa’s sleigh ride on a foggy Christmas night. Immortalized through song, this narrative is renowned by children and adults alike. The film itself was originally a television special that aired in 1964. It is done in claymation, which is a stop motion style of animation involving clay figures. This gives the piece a very timeless and nostalgic feel. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is truly one of those animated works that evokes emotion in a way that no live-action film can. It’s definitely a Christmas classic and a must-watch for anyone who’s yet to see it.

Classic movies that are sure to bring out your holiday spirit

RANKIN/BASS

Hall of FameThe animated classic, How the

Grinch Stole Christmas, tells a story of how an angry hermit

comes to terms with his hatred of the holidays. As an angry, disgruntled creature, the Grinch dwells alone (with the exception of his dog Max) in a cave above Whoville, a merry, spirited town that gets especially joyous around the holidays. After trying to “steal” Christmas from Whoville, the Grinch realizes that, even though he successfully robs the town of presents, the Whoville Christmas spirit continues to thrive stronger than ever. As one of Dr. Seuss’s most famous works, this movie was originally made in 1966 and has since been re-done in 2005. Although the earlier version is far more popular than its remake, the 2005 live action adaptation still retains the notable stylization of the animated film. With a heartening plot line, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a feel-good movie perfect for the Christmas season.

As part of the National Lampoon series, Christmas Vacation

follows the Griswold family on a comical journey through the holiday season. The movie pokes fun at typical holiday ventures and exaggerates the stereotypical family tendencies of yuletide gatherings. The Griswold family lives in Chicago, and Clark, the family’s father (played by Chevy Chase) loses his Christmas bonus due to a greedy boss. Determined to still have a merry Christmas, Clark goes to great lengths to please his family. Standout scenes include when Clark takes his family into the forest to obtain the perfect Christmas tree and when he elaborately decorates his house with excessive Christmas lighting. Whether one is a Christmas enthusiast or a comedy aficionado, a Christmas Vacation is a must-see on both accounts.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is arguably one of the most popular and moving

Christmas movies of all time. This film, which was the debut of Peanuts-inspired TV specials, does a great job of incorporating the values and morals of Christmas with classic Charlie Brown comedy and charm. Going through the trials of finding out the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown gets depressed after hearing that Christmas is about nothing more than gifts and commercialized tales of Santa Claus. After confiding in his friend Linus, Charlie finally discovers the true meaning of Christmas. For many fans, it also stands as a nostalgic reminder of the earliest of the Peanuts-inspired TV specials. After its success, the series went on to produce a Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Years and even two other Christmas specials. A Charlie Brown Christmas is a holiday classic that’s fueled by good morals and inspiring tales.

grade: B+ grade: A grade: A- grade: A

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dreamworks studiosopen road films

Rated: PG-13

By: Maddy [email protected]

Rated: PG

By: Thomas Taylor [email protected]

Rated: R

By: Mary Haney [email protected]

Rise of the Guardians is a completely new and interesting take on familiar stories from our childhood. It is a re-

imagining of classic characters done correctly. Rise of the Guardians, most importantly, is a fun and interesting animated movie. Rise of the Guardians is aimed at pre-teens and does a lot to appeal to this demographic incorporating fun slapstick humor and entertaining visual gags. However some of the themes of the movie, like being forgotten and overcoming loneliness, also apply to adolescents and even some adults–thus widening the acceptable audience for this movie to all ages. The story revolves around young Jack Frost, a character you may have heard of already. Frost is the minor divine being who is responsible for those enchanting winter days when children frolic outside in the snow. Alas ,Frost has been forgotten by the children of the world. Therefore, when he is invited to join the likes of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny (do not mistake him for a kangaroo!), The Tooth Fairy and the Sandman to be a “Guardian” of the believers, he is a little skeptical. Fortunately, this odd assortment of heroes rallies together to fight the Boogeyman, also known as Pitch Black. This quest serves as vehicle to allow Frost to develop into a kind and caring adolescent who learns to cooperate with others, becoming more relatable to teenagers. The most impressive piece of the entire movie, however, was the animations and voice acting. Voice acting helped to deliver this more edgy Santa (words I never thought I’d type) and lent an interesting twist to the Easter Bunny as an Australian. The animations were spectacular for Jack Frost and his friends, but the enemy horses-type characters were not very intimidating, again weakening the battle scenes. This re-imagining of classic children stories is still an amusing and interesting child’s and adolescent movie. Unfortunately its potential is stunted a small amount by weak battle scenes. Rise of the Guardians did make me believe, just for a second, that Jack Frost was real.

New movie Red Dawn is a remake of the hit 80s film in which a small town in Washington is invaded by North

Korea and it becomes up to the town to start a revolution. The film starts out centered around a broken family residing in the relatively small town of Spokane, Washington. The two siblings of the family, interestingly enough, had two brothers whose actors were Chris Hemsworth (Jed Eckert) and Josh Peck(Matt Eckert). Now, don’t get me wrong, Josh Peck made for a fantastic sensitive older brother to portray himself in Nick’s Drake and Josh, but watching him try to be a serious war leader was painful to say the least. The movie begins with older brother, Jed, returning home from time served as a marine. We later find out that it was due to their mother’s death, that Jed left to become a marine to find himself instead of helping his father and younger brother sort through their emotions during the difficult time. Just a few days after his return, their small town is bombed and raided by North Korea who immediately begins to turn their community into a series of camps. Only a few children made it out, the Eckert brothers, and a few other locals that were able to hop into the bed of their truck. Unsure of where to go from there, they decide that the only reasonable thing left to do would be to would be to form a group to fight back to avenge their deceased mother and recent father as of the war. They encounter many obstacles and turn their main goal into killing their community’s new North Korean leader. Ridden with clichés, the journey leads brothers to mend the bonds that broke all while fighting for their parents and homes. While the film definitely had potential sprinkled throughout it, it’s apparent need for clever catchphrases and overused ideas was very much a let down. Red Dawn would probably make for a good movie for younger video game obsessed boys and girls to gawk over, with mild violence and references to the video game Modern Warfare. Overall, while I wouldn’t consider it worth the $10.50 it costs to sit through a movie, it may be worth a $6 Tuesday or a Redbox rental.

Breaking Dawn Part 2, the last movie of the Twilight Sage, did not disappoint. Being a Twilight fan like myself, I found

the movie to be witty and possibly the best out of all four of the preceding movies. The most recent Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn part 1, did seem to interest me quite as much as this one did. If you did not read the book, there are many surprises to come while watching this film. Breaking Dawn is full of action, romance and fantasy. Contrary to popular belief, this movie is not just for girls. While seeing the movie, I saw just as many guys as girls. Without giving anything away, this movie begins with Bella’s start in her new life as a vampire. Along with this transition, comes her and Edward’s responsibility of having a child, Renesmee. This child is no normal human, in the eyes of the Volturi, she is a threat to society and appears as an abomination. Bella and the Cullen’s prove their protection for their family by rounding up vampires for a battle against the Volturi. One of my favorite parts about this movie was how Bella and the rest of the Cullen clan showed their will power and strong belief in each other. Even if you’re not a vampire fan, this movie has a spin of wolves with it. Especially if you are a fan of Taylor Lautner with his chiseled body and masculine figure, then it seems worth paying $5 on Tuesday movie nights. Telling much of anything else, to me, seems like it would ruin the thrill and excitement of the movie. Much to my surprise, this saga ended with a bang. After seeing the credits once it was over, I felt a sense of sadness that this series is now over. The everlasting romance story between forbidden love and the twisted secrets are now over. If you are a fan of action/adventure and romance, then I would highly recommend seeing The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.

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Page 19December 2012 film.

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mangolia picturestouchstone pictures

Rated: PG-13

By: Kiana [email protected]

Rated: R

By: Chris Pei [email protected]

Rated: PG-13

By: Austin [email protected]

Silver Linings Playbook – a quirky, comical tale about the trials of living with a mental illness – follows a bipolar 34-year-old man’s struggle to

re-integrate into society following a eight-month stay at a sanatorium. The protagonist (named Pat Solitano in the film and Pat Peoples in the novel) eventually finds his “silver lining” in life through the curative, unifying spirit of football, reconciliation with his friends and – most importantly – a second chance at love. With a cast packed full of big-name actors and actresses – namely Bradley Cooper (who plays Pat), Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro – the film allows for an interesting blending of acting repertoires and character interpretations. David O. Russell, the film’s director, was especially liberal when it came to adapting the 2008 novel (by Matthew Quick) into a screenplay – understandably so, as first-person narratives often leave much to reader interpretation. That being said – the choices of the director end up altering the narrative into an entirely different story. What was once a diary-like account of events – driven by daily happenings and observations –became an archetypal romantic comedy, with a small twist, that follows an overly rigid plot progression. The pivotal, most disappointing difference between the novel and the movie is this: the major incident responsible for Pat’s bipolar episodes is revealed within the first 15 minutes of the film, whereas it’s not revealed until at least two-thirds of the way through the novel. This dramatic tension – the way in which the protagonist’s psyche was gradually unraveled – was the only device that encouraged me to trudge past the novel’s painfully simplistic prose. Without it, the film is sadly relegated to being a half-hearted, almost-too-cliché romantic comedy. While the novel did indeed have its funny, romantic moments, the film relies on them to drive its plot – forcefully adding comedic relief and a sense of catharsis while the focus on the characters’ struggles is pushed to the side and eventually neglected. The Silver Linings Playbook certainly doesn’t provide any profound insights into mental illness, nor does it succeed in being a memorable romantic comedy. Where it does succeed – or where its “silver linings” lie, if you will – is in merely being a feel-good movie, one that elicits thoughts about family, love and positivity. At the very least, it is a slightly stirring, if not moving, film.

Steven Spielberg is already one of the most talented directors in history, and with his most recent release Lincoln he

has really outdone himself. Lincoln follows the last months of The Civil War as our 16th president Abraham Lincoln tries to pass the 13th amendment to abolish slavery. Actor Daniel Day Lewis does a phenomenal job playing the soft spoken Lincoln. As the film follows Lincoln through his political life, it was incredibly interesting to see the parallels between 19th century politicians and the modern day politicians. Lincoln also employs of his fellow republican politicians to convince the democrats of dire need to pass the amendment. Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) throughout the whole movie is in support of Lincoln and his desire to pass the 13th amendment. Thaddeus delivers a speech to Congress that moves a lot of them and opens their eyes on the subject. The film also goes in depth into Lincoln’s personal life, showing him as Lincoln the husband and father not the president. The movie shows Lincoln with his children trying to balance his personal life with his life as commander-in-chief. If you are interested in watching Lincoln because you think it will be full of action, you will be sadly mistaken; however Lincoln has some of the most phenomenal acting I have ever seen. Daniel Day Lewis hits a home run with his role as Lincoln and sells everything about it. When watching the movie, I thought I was seeing the Lincoln, not an actor. I would recommend Lincoln to anyone because of its brilliant acting and an incredible plot. I have never seen a better historical film that shows an accurate depiction of what happened without putting me to sleep. Lincoln is an excellent film, and if anyone is contemplating seeing it, stop thinking and just go– you won’t be disappointed.

Playing for Keeps was a good, bad movie. As confusing as that may sound, that is the only way I can think of to describe it.

Now, please don’t get the wrong idea. A good bad movie doesn’t mean that the movie was bad, because it wasn’t. However, it wasn’t an Oscar-worthy masterpiece. It was simply an okay-film that served its purpose: numb entertainment. Now, I must admit, I was disappointed. I was hoping for a qualitative family-friendly film. I expected the film to at least be good. After all, it had a great cast, including Gerald Butler and Jessica Biel. And, the trailer seemed intriguing. Unfortunately As the film progressed, the impression of it began to gradually degrade. And that was mainly because of how the producers decided to conclude the films. What upset me about this film was how cliché and predictable it became. I had hoped that the film would be original. In truth, this film was like a better version of Life as we know it. The plot of Playing for Keeps was fairly simple. A retired soccer star George (Gerald Butler) is trying to adjust to his new life, starting with trying to win back his wife, Stacy (Jessica Biel) and his son. What made the film fall into the ‘good’ category of bad films was its numerous, very humorous sub-plots. That’s what essentially made the film durable and enjoyable. There were many endearing scenes and lots of comedy as well. My critiques mainly evolved around the predictable plot line, and a lack of clarity in the dialogue between the actors. The camera action was also shaky in the first third of the films, causing a feeling of tension and stress in the viewer. My final critique regarding the film was Gerald Butler’s driving. I’m not sure if his character was supposed to be like that, but I identified his driving as reckless, another contributing factor towards my stress in the beginning of the film, you felt he was going to crash at any moment. However, the film did please, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light movie.

silver

linin

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film district

December 2012decades.

Dark ShadowsIn Theaters

The Rise of the Guardians

Playing for Keeps

Silver Linings Playbook

Red Dawn C- B

C+ C+Lincoln A

ABreaking Dawn: part 2

Sports-a-rama

Gazette photo /Kristin tAylor

See pages 18-19 for reviews

Senior cap-tain Joey Long celebrates the senior victory, seniors Dennis Mathew and Jake Weatherholt em-body their char-acters from Mean Girls, senior naveen Chawi dominates in mu-sical chairs over freshman Maggie Bell, junior owen Mcniff gets into character as Willy Wonka, sopho-more Kristen Hilburn dresses as sharpay from High school Musical accom-panied by her ‘brother’ ryan, sophomore nick Dumke.

1st- seniors2nd- sophomores

3rd- juniors4th- freshmen

december 2012 issue 4

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