THEMOORNEWSPAPER.COM ISSUE 9, VOL. 104TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

ALL-AMERICANHALL OF FAME

Teen Financial Literacy:Full Financial Fallout?JOSEPH NEY-JUN ANGELA YANG Staff Writers

In the United States, April is also known as ‘Financial Literacy Month,’ a time for Americans to educate themselves or brush up on their financial literacy. April has long since passed, but high school students and other young adults are often reminded that they need to manage their money well to save up for their futures.

Many high school gradu-ates have to take out loans and apply for financial aid to be able to pay tens of thou-sands of dollars for their higher education. Statistics published by the College Board in 2013 found that the average tuition fee for a public four-year college was roughly $21,706, while pri-vate four-year colleges cost $29,056.

Not all high school gradu-ates will be managing their finances for their higher edu-cation however. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis-tics, only 66.2% of high school graduates attend college. Becoming 18 places new financial responsibilities upon graduates who move out on their own. They now must manage their taxes, income, budget

for bills and necessary expenses. Misman-agement of their finances can incur legal repercussions for mistakes such as using the wrong paperwork or even slight mis-calculations.

In this time of economic uncertainty, it has been a growing concern that many

high school graduates lack the basic skills and knowledge to manage their finances. A 2011 survey of high school seniors spon-sored by Capital One, a U.S. based bank holding company, found that only 38 per-

cent of the seniors felt comfortable about managing their finances independently.

“When people go to college, [they] tend to overspend and think their parents are going to [manage their finances] for them,” sophomore Raymond Huynh said.

In the same survey on college seniors by Capital One, it was found that 87 percent of students get information about financial manage-ment from their par-ents, but only 19 per-cent have created a budget plan for their future in college.

Ultimately, many believe that financial education should be a requirement to grad-uate high school. “I don’t think high school graduates are able to handle their own finances because even though they are done with their high school education, it does not mean that they were taught

money management, [which] usually helps in the future with personal finances,” sophomore Nikki Tran said.

MOOR graphic by SIMON ZHAO

College Fair Held at San Gabriel HighDIANA LINews Editor

On Oct. 17, the sixth annual district College Fair, which was held at San Gabriel High School (SGHS), welcomed high school students to explore a variety of post-graduation options.

The fair hosted over 60 col-leges and universities, vocational schools and military services. The variety allowed high school stu-dents to find their niche and de-cide which institution is best for their futures.

“[T]he College Fair helps these kids see the different options they have after high school, and lets them talk to college [representa-tives] face-to-face,” U.S. Army representative Sergeant Morrel said.

The Matador Arena and Gyms were packed with students and parents, but students were still able to navigate and find booths that interested them.

“[The fair] was organized very

well, and it was easy to find spe-cific colleges,” senior Meghan Hui said.

Among the attendees were students from Alhambra, Mark Keppel and San Gabriel High Schools. Some of these students, such as AHS senior Aaron Ro-bles, sought information regard-ing community colleges.

“My grades throughout high school were mediocre, so I don’t qualify at the UCs and privates which have the programs that I desire so I’d rather go to a com-munity college,” Robles said.

Other students are consider-ing enlisting in military services, such as the U.S. Army, Navy or Marines.

“It’s more adventurous than other jobs and it builds charac-ter,” AHS junior Rommel Tun said.

Aside from higher education institutions and military services, the College Fair also had non-college booths, such as Alhambra Education Foundation and the Princeton Review. The Alhambra

PREPPING FOR THE FUTURE: Colleges from around the country help inform students of possible interests.

MOOR photo by YIBEI LIU

Latino Association (ALA), which is an expanding non-profit orga-nization that is committed to pro-moting cultural awareness, was also present at the fair.

“We’re here to promote col-lege education and to let students know that there is a way to get fi-nancial aid and for them to apply for scholarships,” ALA President Teresa Ybarra said.

In the Small Gym, several showcases took place, includ-ing SGHS Culinary Arts, Medi-cal Careers Academy and Wood Working. These showcases high-lighted students’ work in their respective fields; for example, several students worked with ma-chinery during the Fair to demon-strate their woodshop skills.

Ultimately, College Fair is there for students to learn more about colleges and whether they should pursue higher education or should consider alternate paths in life.

“There [are] a lot of colleges and a lot of opportunities,” SGHS freshman Marilyn Nguyen said.

History of Hallow’s EveDEREK WUStaff Writer

Halloween is a holiday that many Americans celebrate and enjoy. However, Halloween was not invented by Ameri-cans; the holiday was created by the Celts 2000 years ago in modern day Ireland. The Celts thought that Nov. 1, the begin-ning of winter, was associated with hu-man death and the day before, Oct. 31, the ghosts of the dead would come back to Earth and cause trouble with crops.

In order to prevent these ghosts from causing trouble, the priests of the town would build a bonfire, burn crops and animals and wear costumes made from animal heads during the celebration and sacrifice. In modern times, most of these traditions practiced have faded, but the tradition of dressing up in costumes still lives on.

However, some believe that Halloween is a fading tradition in Alhambra, even if it was once a popular holiday.

“Halloween is a great American pas-time that’s slowly dying out in Alhambra, because I don’t see as many trick-or-treaters coming out as I used to,” junior Kenny Huynh said.

Many Americans have celebrated Hal-loween as children and some think that is the reason why Halloween is still a na-tional Holiday.

“Halloween is more of a tradition cel-ebrated and enforced by Americans who celebrated it as children,” junior Michelle Leung said.

MOOR graphic by SIMON ZHAO

TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS SURVEYED: 639

DEBORAH CHENCopy Editor

Cheating is a prac-tice that is extremely common among stu-dents. Many students witness their fellow peers cheating on a test or quiz, and their next possible course of action could be to notify a teacher. However, this men-tality of doing the right thing might change if the person cheat-ing is a friend. Though it may be easy to overlook a friend’s cheating, the right thing to do would be to notify the teacher.

Many argue that no one likes a tattletale and that it would be best to let a friend’s actions slide. Nev-ertheless, it will only benefit that friend if they are caught for their wrongdoings, because cheating on high school tests is very different from cheating in the real world.

In the real world, there are no second chances. A person cannot keep on taking the “shortcut” in life; they have to eventually ma-

BARRY CHEUNGStaff Writer

Have you ever witnessed someone being called an offen-sive name just because of their race? Racism is exemplified throughout today’s society, ei-ther for humorous or offensive purposes. Some are oblivious to the fact that they have made a racist comment, since such com-ments are used so commonly that it has become second nature. However, racist humor needs to end now because it harms our society physically and men-tally, even if it seems harmless.

A majority of the people who use racist jokes do not understand that they could impact someone emotionally, even though they are just “joking” around. Telling an African American to steal is not funny. It shows a sense of ig-norance and support for what so-ciety deems to be the stereotype of all African Americans where it poses an unfairness to those who do not meet these perceived generalizations. While the com-ment is racist within itself, just

thinking the comment and using it in a joking manner shows racist characteristics. These harsh, of-fensive jokes are not only cruel, but shows support for racism.

According to George Davey Smith, a professor of social medicine at Bristol University, racism is considered to be a vari-able in research on the health dif-ferences between different races. This is due to the stress caused by having their identity reduced to a joke. It affects those people men-tally in certain circumstances by causing them to have depression. People have even committed suicide because of the depres-sion held in after constantly be-ing told an offensive stereotypi-cal statement about their race.

For racism to end, racial jokes need to disappear as well. They are not funny if people are get-ting hurt and physically dying because of them. The only thing that racial jokes do is portray our ignorance and obliviousness we have toward each other when we are all human beings, where col-or is not a differentiating factor.

ture and deal with their problems, no matter how daunting the task may be. As people become adults,

o t h e r s will have c e r t a i n expecta-tions of t h e m . No lon-ger will they be coddled. For ex-ample, if someone

cheated their way through high school, their chances to succeed in college would not only de-crease, but their chances of mak-ing it far in life would also dimin-ish. Sure, if someone “rats” out their friend, that friend will get in trouble with the teacher and their grade will drop. However, learn-ing not to cheat in high school is preferable to the alternatives, since cheating in college leads to expulsion and cheating in the workforce can result in a pink slip.

In addition, it is unfair to other students who have stud-ied and prepared for the test in

advance, especially if there is a curve. Why should the students who actually studied for the test be the ones receiving the lower grade? Once students start cheat-ing, they might start to rely on it.

According to a survey of 40,000 U.S. high school students in 2011 by Josephson Institute of Ethics, over half of the teenag-ers surveyed stated that they had cheated on a test during the last year and 34 percent stated they had done so more than twice. In addition, it was also found that one in three students admit-ted to utilizing the Internet to plagiarize an assignment, but these actions will only serve to harm these students in the future.

Society is heavily dependent on the results of exams to deter-mine who receives a certificate in their profession and to determine who is capable of completing cer-tain jobs or tasks. If someone is falsifying this information, they cannot be trusted. Would you feel safe if your doctors cheated to pass their medical exams? If your teachers cheated on their Cali-fornia Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) Placement exams?

When I was younger, I was that one kid who constantly feigned illness in order to avoid school days, consequently whining when-ever my attempts failed. Thus, I quickly became best friends with the phrase “life is unfair.”

Though I no longer try to avoid school, I’m still reminded of the phrase on a daily basis. It was one of the first lessons I learned in life, teaching me that one cannot have everything a preferred way. How-ever, the lesson I learned then has been misconstrued into the les-son I see being reinforced now.

Just the other day, I debated against my father about the ethics of solely relying on networking for employment. He argued that if per-son “A’s” relative or friend is re-sponsible for hiring new employ-ees, it’s ethically unacceptable for them to hire person “A” over person “B”, a complete stranger who was more qualified than person “A.”

While his mindset may have been understandable, given the cur-rent cut-throat job market, it is also unprincipled. His reasoning was that because life is already unfair, it’s acceptable if people act unfair-ly in order to gain an advantage.

However, instead of evening the playing field, what this mind-set does is promote an immoral approach to life. We become in-creasingly accustomed to using this fact of life to excuse our cal-lous decisions. Though we may be rewarded for our insensitivity, we also give away a piece of our own morality with each deci-sion. The choice varies depend-ing on the person, but our deci-sions in turn decide who we are.

IN the RICE BOX

Excuses, ExcusesOLIVIA CHEUNGEditor in Chief

REBECCA ZENGStaff Writer

In 2022, four people from around the world will set forth on a one-way trip to Mars as part of the Mars One project. Currently, there are approximately 100,000 applicants, with 30,000 from the U.S, who are ready to travel to Mars. However, why are people who are living a comfortable life on Earth choosing to abandon ev-erything to be on Mars forever?

Before the journey, the four astronauts will also undergo eight years of strenuous train-ing to prepare for their new life on Mars. Every two years, they are required to be isolated from the world to test how they re-spond to living with the other three candidates. The journey to Mars itself is also an uncom-fortable one. Imagine spending seven to eight months in a space-craft with only dried or canned food, exercising in a confined

space to maintain muscle mass and drinking recycled urinated water. Sure, floating in space suits sound like fun, but leaving everything behind for a “better life” on Mars seems to be a con-tradictory statement within itself.

One commonality of the appli-cants is their love for Star Trek and Star Wars, believing that their ex-perience would be similar to sci-fi movies. According to CNN, Sean Holt of Australia says he has to go on this mission in order to “es-

cape aliens” who are seeking him.According to the Daily Mail,

the mission is estimated to cost $6 billion and the money is planned to be fundraised by documenting their training on Earth to colo-nizing the Red Planet through a reality T.V. show that is to be funded by anonymous sponsors.

The application fee is $38 and is open to anyone over the age of 18. Nevertheless, would you leave everything on Earth for a one-way trip to Mars?

Tattletale: To Tell or Not To Tell? A Joke Gone Too Far

One-Way Tickets to Mars Are One-Way Tickets to CalamityMOOR graphic by SIMON ZHAO

Hanging Over the Edge of HalloweenBRIANA THAI Staff Writer

What do teachers call “the worst day of the year”? The day after America’s biggest candy holiday, Nov. 1 Have you ever woken up the day after Halloween and thought, “Man, I

should not have eaten all that candy last night!”? If you have, you probably know what the Halloween Hangover is: being sick from eating too much candy.

Nobody likes waking up and having the urge to throw up from all the Skittles that were eaten the night before. It is probably one of the worst feelings experienced of the year. What

is really upsetting about that is, most of us tell ourselves to eat less candy compared to the year before, but each year, the candy in our Halloween buckets successfully weaken our defenses.

The Halloween Hangover is appalling on the students. We come to school with stomachaches and hallucinations in our head from the candy. In our heads, and some out loud, we think, “Why am I even

here?” and “Just give me more candy!” Yet we still make the same mistake every year. The Halloween Hangover does not affect just us students; it affects the teachers as well. Teachers

take a lot of time to calm all the students down, and when they do, they will not really have everyone’s attention. Sorry teachers, the sugar rush just gets to us!

Candy is the most common association to Halloween. After Halloween, most chil-dren experience the Halloween “hangover,” the result of excessive candy consumption. However, those who suffer from diabetes cannot consume a lot of candy. Diabetes is a metabolic disease caused when the body cannot produce enough insulin, which elevates glucose levels in the blood. According to American Diabetes Association(ADA), .026% of people under the age of 20 have diabetes. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in early adulthood and is also known as the insulin-dependent diabetes. Type 2 diabetes develops when cells do not react to insulin and is more common in overweight and physically inactive people. On the other hand, while diabetes is an obstacle for children who wish to enjoy Halloween, candy may not have to be completely off limits to them. Parents of

children who have diabetes can count the carbohydrates in the collected candy and incorporate them into their child’s meal

plan. This way, their child can enjoy candy without having too much sugar. Another alternative is pur-

chasing fun-sized candy. But sometimes, people forget that Hal-

loween is more than candy. It is about celebrating and dressing up. Anyone can enjoy Halloween.

PUMPKIN CELEBRATIONSHELLEY LIN Staff Writer

The holidays can cause people go overboard, whether it is Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July or Halloween. Candies contain food dyes that affect the consumers’ behaviors according

to The Center for Science Interest. Research done in the United States, Canada, England and Australia state that the behaviors that have been affecting people are attention deficits, irritability, restlessness, sleep disturbance,

aggression and hyperactivity. Sugar is the essential cause of the hangover, so how can we prevent ourselves from catching it?

There are ways to prevent a hangover the next day. Rather than becoming hyperactive by stuffing your empty stomach with sugar, a suggestion would be to eat before trick or treating. Another way to limit the

amount of consumed candy per day is to be distracted from the candies and eat healthy foods that are easily obtained from local grocery stores. Halloween is an enjoyable holiday because of the candy,

but we must also have self control.

HALLOWEEN HANGOVEROct. 31 is the day children

clothe themselves in outlandish outfits, demanding candy from strangers. After haunting

hours of hoarding various candies, superheroes transform into monsters on Nov. 1, America’s Halloween Hangover. Every candy

consumed contributes to the many behavioral changes, especially attentiveness. Knowing a few prevention tips would be helpful because although we were always told not to take candy from

CANDYCOMAJACQUELYN

LOI

JENNY LEEFeatures Editor

Staff Writer

MOOR graphics by

GEN THIPATIMAand SYDNEY LI

strangers, we know we all do on Halloween.

Varsity Football Team Claims Victory Over Rivals at Homecoming Game

NATE GARCIASports EditorSIMEON LAMStaff Writer

As the crowd cheered viva-ciously, the Alhambra varsity football team stormed the field after winning their first game of the season against their cross-town rival, the Mark Keppel Aztecs, on Homecoming night.

“We have improved in all phases of the game and con-tinue to get better each week,” Head Coach Eric Bergstrom said.

The game began with the Az-tecs receiving the kickoff. How-ever, the Moors defense came out strong, forcing a punt immedi-ately. With their first possession of the game, Quarterback Nick Giambalvo threw his first of five touchdowns in the game to wide receiver James Giambalvo. The following possession, the Aztecs came right back with a touchdown of their own. A missed two-point conversion gave the Moors a 7-6

lead at the end of the first quarter.In the second quarter, the

Moors defense shined as they forced three punts and a turn-over by the Aztecs. In addition to their defense, the Moors also scored an additional two touch-downs to end the first half. Nick Giambalvo’s second and third touchdown passes were thrown to wide receiver Jacob Holguin. With a comfortable 21-6 lead, the Moors headed into halftime.

The game escalated quickly in the third quarter with the Az-tecs recovering an on-side kick. However, the Moors struck back right away, coming up with an interception the next play. With an opportunity to score, Nick Giambalvo led the Moors down the field before passing for his fourth touchdown of the game, this time to tight end Joshua Da-vila. The Aztecs then punted once again, giving the Moors the ball. However, the Aztecs returned an interception for a touchdown soon after. The score was still in

favor of the Moors with a score of 28-12. After the kickoff, Nick Giambalvo drove down to field to throw his fifth and final touch-down of the game to wide receiv-er Arwendo Tendean. This touch-down almost put the game out of reach with the Moors leading 35-12 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, both teams competed back and forth. The Aztecs scored a touchdown midway through the quarter, cut-ting the deficit to 15 points. How-ever, it was too late in the game as the Moors slowly ran out the clock, ending the game at 35-20. The Moors, maintaining a record of 1-6, were thrilled to get their first win of the season.

“In our previous games, the majority of our team was pretty upset about losing. However, [our] coach encouraged us to do better next time, and we did. After winning our first game, we were all loud and ecstatic. It was a wonderful feeling,” junior wide receiver Simon Poon said.

ANHAYTE GUAJARDOStaff Writer

With the fall season coming to an end, the girls’ golf team has seen some improvements in their games, hoping to send some of their athletes to the first round of California Interscho-lastic Federation (CIF) prelimi-naries. The girls currently hold a record of 2-3, as they won their last match against Arca-dia High School on Oct. 21 at the Santa Anita Golf Course.

“They have improved in ev-ery aspect of the game: driving distance, chipping, hitting and putting. I am very proud of how much they have accomplished,” Head Coach Luis Brambila said.

Although the girls have most of the techniques down, Bram-

bila explains that golf is a never ending learning process and there is always something to im-prove on, such as keeping one’s head down to hit the ball straight, learning one’s strength and knowing how hard to hit the ball.

“Even though I have been playing golf for a long time, there is always something I al-ways try to improve on every time I play, because there are new challenges in every hole,” freshman Yaneli Guajardo said.

Hoping to encourage more girls to come out and play golf next season, the girls empha-size that golf is a sport that, once one begins to play, it is hard to put down, and even though the sport can be dif-ficult, it is a stress reliever and a great learning experience.

MOOR photo by SHANNON KHA

Girls’ Golf Striving for a Positive End of League

AHS Athletes Don Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

MOOR photo by SHANNON KHAFRIDAY NIGHT STRIDE During the Oct. 18 AHS homecoming game against the Mark Keppel Aztecs, determined quarterback Nick Giambalvo attempts to surpass his opponents in order to make a touchdown. The AHS team later succeeds with a winning score of 35-20.

KEEN EYES During the AHS girls’ Oct. 21 golf game against the Arcadia Apaches, sophomore Amanda Beeal begins her fifth hole by hitting the golf ball with great distance.

MOOR graphic by SIMON ZHAO

JV Girls’ Tennis Ends Final Rally in SeasonWESLEY TSAIStaff Writer

As the JV tennis team fin-ished their last game against the Montebello Oilers, they began to prepare for the following season. After working hard, the JV tennis has ended their season with a record of 5-11.

Corresponding to that, the team has grown through-out the season. Their last game was on Thursday, Oct. 16. The battle was tough, but the Moors ended up falling short from victory. Playing 16 games, the Moors learned many lessons and how to use them in real life situations.

“Winning or losing is never a big deal when it comes to com-

petition because tennis is all about having fun. I met a lot of girls that influenced me to be-come a better person and they were always there for me when I needed them. I would say it’s not

really about tennis anymore; it’s about the teammates you bond with every day,” junior doubles substitute Gina Huang said.

The Moors will continue to have

practices during second semester, focusing on conditioning, foot-work and volleying. The Moors will be practicing on Wednes-days with optional Saturdays.

“A few of my girls are ready to move up to varsity, depending on how they improve [during the second semester]. The two important things about being in varsity are footwork and hitting hard. To be in varsity, you need to volley, and that’s integrated with footwork.

“Hitting harder is just off working in practice

to become a better play-er,” JV Coach Bill Yee said.

With the benefit of practic-ing before season, the Moors are preparing mentally and physi-cally for next year’s season .

“I met a lot of girls that influenced me to be-come a better person and they were always there for me when I needed them.”

Gina Huang

KAYIU WONGStaff Writer

The clique in “Mean Girls” may only wear pink on Wednes-days, but the entire month of October is dedicated to “think-ing” pink. Many are aware of the seriousness of breast can-cer, but education towards prevention and treatment is still prominent. On campus, athletes sporting pink bows and socks represent AHS’ own cancer awareness movement.

Pink attire represents taking a stand to honor cancer sur-vivors and to further support breast cancer research. See-ing the volleyball team huddled into a circle of match-ing pink socks and the Cheer team practicing in bright pink T-shirts have both been popular sights around AHS this month.

To soccer player Dilene Soto, for example, this month personally motivates her because it celebrates her own family members’ suc-cessful fights against breast cancer. Pink headbands, cleats, shorts and bows are what Soto describes as “a meaningful way of support.”

On another note, wearing pink to tennis player Jona-than Ngo has made him more proactive on the court and in-formed toward supporting cancer awareness. Ngo promi-nently wears pink shoes and carries around a pink bag to exemplify that it is the color to have as an athlete this month.

“Even though you may not be directly contributing, the moral support is there. [By] supporting a cause like this, stu-dents display their passion in their own way,” Ngo said.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is all about joining to-gether to help, support, educate and embrace women who have breast cancer. Pink means more than just a color, but rather, vibrancy and hope. Therefore, sporting pink attire is a prevalent movement taking place among AHS’ athletes.

MOOR graphic by GEN THIPATIMA