DHHSPAPER.COM

20 PAGESFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010 VOLUME 38, NUMBER 6

Dana Hills High School

INSIDE TODAY

Read about the tournament,4

NEWS

News.......................2-7Feature...................8-9Centerspread.....10-11Opinion..............12-13Entertainment...14-15Sports.................16-20

INDEX

Ultimate Frisbee Joins Intramural

Sports

By Stephanie WrightOpinion & Sports Editor

SPECULATION SURROUNDS FIELD STUDY:DISTRICT PULLS SUPPORT

B A

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTSBoys Basketball

Concludes Winning Season

The field study will no longer be school-spon-sored in any way if it takes place, meaning Marine Ecol-ogy teacher Randy Hudson will be personally liable for students’ safety. Hudson has been advised against as-suming that responsibility by several friends, family members and lawyers.

Said Hudson, “Ev-eryone I’ve talked to about this has told me not to do it, but I know that what this trip does for the students is worth it.” He has not yet made a final decision.

Moreover, the trip would have to take place over spring break instead of during the third week of May, when it is normally

held.The district has offered

two reasons for its refusal to legally support the field study as planned: liability issues and teachers’ absence from the classroom.

Much as last year, when Mexico’s drug wars drove the school board to call off the trip to Baja entirely, the district does not wish to be held re-sponsible if anything happens to a student, according to Gail Richards, the school district’s Director of Secondary Instruc-tion.

In addition, Richards expressed concern regarding the loss of instructional time on the part of other teachers attending the trip, which was their chief reservation about the field study. Traditionally, Marc Degen, Dolores Dang, Jim Wil-son and Jack Dickmann have chosen to participate as teacher chaperones because they are

aware of the educational impact the field study has on students.

In the final agreement, the district said it would only allow the trip if it were done on the teachers’ and students’ own time as it is no longer “a school-sponsored trip” accord-ing to Jeff Bristow, CUSD’s insurance expert.

Hudson saw spring break as the only viable alternative. All other school holidays until the end of the year are too short to accommodate the long travel

time necessary to reach Las Animas Bay, the area of Baja that hosts the study. This has presented a host of problems in itself. Marine Ecology is com-prised exclusively of seniors, many of whom had planned to visit their future universities during spring break.

And SOCSA Choir stu-dents have a dilemma of their own. Their European tour, which has already been paid for, is also scheduled for spring break.

After moving the Baja field study to Catalina last year due to safety concerns, the school board has once again pulled its support from Marine Ecology’s an-nual field study, jeopardizing this year’s trip.

“Initially I was bummed because I wanted to do both, but then I real-ized that I was just choos-ing between two great va-cations,” said senior Julie Wickstrom. Wickstrom has chosen to go to Baja and will be refunded for the Eu-rope trip.

When asked if district officials had considered the difficulties the timing of the trip would cause students, Richards said, “no.”

photos courtesy of Randy Hudson & Google Images

Breaking Apart the Baja Issue:n If the trip takes place this year, it will not be school-sponsored.n For the past week, Marine Ecology teacher Randy Hudson has been talking with lawyers regarding the option of forming a com-pany so that his family won’t be at legal and personal risk. Hudson has not made a decision as of yet. n If the field study does take place, it will be on the students’ and teachers’ own personal time over Spring Break.n Not wanting liability if anything happens to students across the border while on the trip, the district is no longer supporting the trip.

Recap thisseason, 20

Check out Tyler’s review,

15

Seniors Brendan Hill, Ray Getz, and Nick

Kaspar lead the team to second place in the

South Coast League and CIF postseason play.

Spoon Hits Top 10 with TransferenceWith their seventh

album, Spoon delivers a unique collection of

songs that appeal to old and new fans alike.

JReady yourself for the first Ultimate

Frisbee Championship beginning in March and continuing into April.

A

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 2 THE PAPER

NEWSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

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For Dana Hills High School students only…If you buy one 8 oz. sized yogurt, we’ll

Treat you to one 8 oz. sized yogurt absolutelyFREE!

LOCATED IN OCEAN RANCH VILLAGE IIPresent coupon when ordering. One coupon per person. Not good

with any other offer. Toppings not included. Expires 3/2/10

June Special Election Called Off

By Salil DudaniCopy Editor

RECOGNITION OF TRUSTEES, SUPERINTENDENT,

AND CONTRIBUTORS:

BOARD OF TRUSTEESAnna Bryson, President

Ken Lopez-Maddox, Vice PresidentJack R. Brick, Clerk

Ellen AddonizioLarry Christensen

Sue PalazzoMike Winsten

Bobbie Mahler, Interim Superintendent

On Wed., Feb. 10, the Orange County Committee on School District Organization reversed its earlier decision unanimously and pushed back the date when voters could de-cide to make trustees’ constitu-encies smaller.

The highly politicized question of whether the public

will have a say-so before the next school board elections—a question THE PAPER has been covering since its birth at the start of the school year—is of-ficially over.

The Committee dropped the special June ballot on the same grounds it had approved it late in September—popular opinion.

Proponents of the spe-cial election had pulled their support, supposedly in order to save public funds, after the trustees moved to sue three

Support for the special election is pulled after legal action is threatened by trusteesAfter several months of invective dispute between petitioners and their supporters and the school board and its supporters, the final decision has finally been made: As the board urged, a special election to change the school

district’s voting methodology will not be held in June, and in the November general election of the board’s trustees, the status quo will be upheld. $400,000 will be saved due to the cancellation of the special election.

Locals Gather for Annual Taste of Dana

As is tradition every year, the ever-memorable and 14th annual Taste of Dana was held on Feb. 25 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the school mall.

Advertising “great food from the best local restaurants” and “a night of fun with fellow Dana Hills supporters,” the event was the main fundraiser for Grad Nite, a school-orga-nized celebratory event for se-niors on their night of gradua-tion.

“The goal of the night is for people to have fun and to spread the word about the gen-erosity of the local restaurants,” commented Janet Riphagen, a member of the Grad Nite Com-mitee.

Those in attendance en-joyed a smorgasbord of food from 18 different local eateries, four of which were new to the

fundraiser this year. Offering everything from

casual Mexican food to posh amuse-bouches to scrumptious sweet treats, restaurants present included Bad to the Bone, Wind and Sea, Z Pizza, Mario’s By the Sea, Cannons, Chronic Ta-cos, Brio, Brooklyn Boys New York Style Deli, Chapparosa Grill, Coffee Importers, Donna B’s, El Torito, It’s All About the Cake, Mahé, RJ’s Café, Salt Creek Grille, Selma’s Chicago Pizzeria, Sundried Tomato Café, and What A Dish.

Stated Riphagen, “Taste of Dana is an opportunity for parents to support seniors and restaurants in town.”

Tickets, which were ten dollars in advance and $15 at the door, entitled attendees to a sampling of each restaurant’s food, drinks, and desserts.

According to Grad Nite Committee member Cindy Fletcher, around 400 tickets were pre-sold, and 800 people total are expected to attend the event.

Between tasting gourmet treats and socializing with oth-ers, parents, students and locals alike were given the chance to bid in both silent and live auc-tions.

Local merchants donated items such as basketball tick-ets, spa packages, hotel stays, Dodger tickets, wine tastings and portraits for auction.

In addition to gift cer-tificates from restaurants and nearby businesses, larger auc-tion items also included Jimmy Buffet tickets, an El Niguel Country Club Golf certificate, a special event for 20 at Salt Creek Grille and a private Bliz-zard Entertainment tour for four.

Contributing to the fundraiser, students, parents, and teachers volunteered under the direction of the Grad Nite Committee.

“The kids, parents, and the school worked hard to make it happen,” added Fletcher, “We have put in 300 to 400 hours. It’s really incredible.”

Held in the mall on Monday, Feb. 22 from six to eight p.m., the junior social included a taco bar, an ice cream bar, a raffle, and Wii Just Dance. At six dollars with an ASU card and eight dollars without, over 60 people attended the ASU-organized event. There were, however, some discrepancies with the much-anticipated photo booth, which was previ-ously advertised. Students spent a majority of the night playing Wii Just Dance, a danc-ing game in which players imitate a dancer on the screen. Songs from the game provided music for those not participating. There were three winners for the night’s raffle: Madi-son Montgomery, Jake Rosen, and Trevor Cook, who won gift cards from Yogurtland, Jamba Juice, and Starbucks, respectively. For the last 40 minutes of the night, juniors competed in a limbo contest. The limbo battle came down to Trevor Scott and Shannon McNulty. McNulty prevailed after five intense minutes of pure limbo madness.

By Lexi CotcampNews Editor

photo by Rachel Albright

public agencies involved in the approval of the June election.The special election was never anybody’s first choice.

The petitioners original-ly sought to bypass an election and simply instate the change in enough time to apply to Nov. 2, when trustees Anna Bryson, Ellen Addonizio and Larry Christensen are eligible for re-election.

This could have been done had the board sought a waiver from the state, which it refused to do, calling it “un-

democratic.”Thus did the election be-

come necessary for those seek-ing immediate reform, but the board opposed that as well, cit-ing expenses as its chief com-plaint.

Allegations that the trustees oppose more local-ized constituencies in order to protect the large-scale elections that brought them into power were consistently denied.

The trustees, however, never conceded that they were opposed to a reformed system,

at each step of the way claim-ing to reject only the practicali-ties of making the change.

As a result of the board’s efforts, this Nov. the seats of the three aforementioned trust-ees will be determined at large, meaning that votes will be counted from the entire school district.

In addition, on the Nov. 2 ballot will be this issue of voting methodology, and if enough voters favor a change, the Nov. 2012 school board elections will be run such that

each trustee is selected by only one of seven areas within the district.

Regardless of whether there would be long-term sav-ings under a new system (which has been a major point of con-tention), the school district’s general fund will be spared what some have estimated to be over $400,000 this year now that there will be no special election.

This general fund is broadly utilized for various CUSD expenditures.

NEWSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 3

By Sara GoldCopy Editor

Oldies Night: At the Movies

Students Enjoy A Night of “Dancing in the Moonlight”

SOCSA’s Oldies Night 2010 took place on Sat., Feb 20 in the Porthole Theater.

There was a matinee showing at 4:00 p.m., followed by an evening performance at 7:30 p.m. Themed “Oldies Night: At the Movies,” this an-nual concert featured selected vocalists performing songs from the decades leading up to the 1990s.

Student singers were accompanied by a live band consisting of guitarists Nathan Longdon and Nick Papageorge and drummer Chris Bridges, all SOCSA alumni.

Also featured in the band

were pianist Ray Woods, back-ground vocalist/percussionist Sue Papageorge and bassist/vo-calist Tom Papageorge.

“Directing the SOC-SA Oldies Nights has been a chance for us to pass on what we’ve learned about live rock performing and help the next generation of talented singers feel the joy of playing live in front of an appreciative audi-ence,” commented T. Papa-george.

“Oldies Night gives students such an incredible and rare opportunity to per-form with a live band, which definitely helps with one’s own growth in musicality,” said se-nior Julie Wickstrom

Wickstrom played guitar for her solo number, “Heart of Gold.”

Explained Wickstrom, “Oldies Night has given me some of the best memories of my high school career because I get to perform with people I love and it’s totally different than all of the other SOCSA shows. I love being able to sing songs that I would normally lis-ten to at home with my friends and family. It opens so many windows to tons of different types of songs.”

“I liked how the program had a good variety of slow bal-lads and fast, upbeat songs,” said junior Mia McKown.

McKown continued, “One of my favorite parts was how the singers also got to watch everyone else’s perfor-mances and cheer their peers on. Oldies Night allowed stu-dents to support each other.”

By Gillian SleeEntertainment Editor

Committing to the schools of their dreams, seniors (from left) Brandon Howe, Nick Kas-par, Lauren Shute, Kathryn Gullickson, Kimmie Conner, Patrick Matchett, Blake Ahrold, Alec Sundly, Cole Guerin and Kyle Norman line up with coaches, parents, and adminis-trators for signing day 2010.

photo courtesy of Matt Reid

Thurs., Feb. 4, 2010, boys threw on their tuxes and suits while girls donned dresses and high heels just hours af-ter their final exams to attend ASU’s Winter Formal, “Danc-ing in the Moonlight.”

The dance took place at the South Mesa NCO Club on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. From 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., over 800 students and guests enjoyed the music. Activities Director Ken Nedler surmised, “The attendance [of the dance] was slightly down from last year but dramatically down from past years.”

In previous years, at-tendance at Winter Formal was around 1200 students, but the reduction in attendance this year is mainly attributed to the poor economy. ASU attempted to combat this dilemma by re-ducing the bid price to be more affordable.

ASU’s sophomore class planned the night and provided a variety of treats, including candy from the local Powell’s Sweet Shoppe. Teachers and administrators chaperoned the dance. English teacher Tim Sampson concluded, “The dance was lovely as usual.”

The administration did not experience any behavioral problems at the dance. Assis-tant Principal Tim Hornig re-marked, “The dance went great. It seemed to me that Dana Hills students are getting it right.”

When commenting on the dance, Hornig mentioned his trademark, “this isn’t ‘Club Dana Hills.”’ After this year’s dance he feels, “All the face time [the administration] has put in is worthwhile, because kids are starting to get it.”

Around 9:30 p.m., the dance music temporarily came to a halt as the ASU sopho-mores announced the Winter Formal Court. Beginning the coronation with the underclass-men, the Freshman Prince and

Princess were Hayden McDan-iel and Emily Copp respective-ly; the Sophomore Prince was Alex Brown, and the Princess was Allie Gersten.

Following the under-classmen, the Junior Prince and Princess were Matt An-gioli and Bryce Dehring and the Senior Prince and Princess were Nader Moini and Chris-tina Maurillo. To complete the court, King Patrick Matchett and Queen Kimmie Connor were crowned.

Relaxing after finals, students enjoy the music during the annual Winter Formal. Held at Camp Pendleton Marine Base, the dance attracted 800 students in comparison to the 1,200 students in attendance last year.

photo by Emily Cullen

NEWSFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 4

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER

SOCSA Vibes to the BeatBy Gina ScottNews Editor

Frisbee Flies into Season

By Devin ValencianoFeature Editor

SOCSA presented its annual dance concert on Jan. 21-23. Each evening featured performances from members of SOCSA Dance Production and Dance Class. This year’s concert was entitled “Vibe.”

“Dance Concert is an almost completely student-run production. We choreo-graphed most of the numbers ourselves. I think that makes it one of the best shows SOCSA puts on,” commented sopho-more dancer and choreogra-pher Marisa Shimano.

“Vibe” showcased sev-eral different genres of dance, including contemporary, hip-

hop, jazz, tap and ballet. Shannon Sleeth even

performed a novice level Irish dance, which is a genre that SOCSA has not seen in recent years.

“One of my personal fa-vorite dances was the JV Pro-duction dance to Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ be-cause it was really different,” said Sleeth.

In addition, this year Dylan DelPrado, Marco Forte, Ramzi Jneid, Alex McDermott, Elizabeth Summers and Alissa Wilsey were able to do a cou-ples’ dance to the song “Dance with Me” by Frank Sinatra.

Each performance re-quired a great deal of prepa-ration. SOCSA started work-ing on the show about two months ago. The dancers were not alone, Brittany Longdon

and others also worked hard to produce the perfect show.

Stage Manager senior Samantha Bentson spent nu-merous late nights in the Port-hole Theater planning all of the lighting and sound cues.

“On Friday night, the lighting malfunctioned and Sam had to do all of the light-ing manually. She works really hard and we appreciate her so much,” said Shimano.

“Vibe” also featured some dances that SOCSA Dance Production has per-formed at past pep rallies, in-cluding “Blackout” from the musical “In the Heights” and “Time Warp” from “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Those in attendance at the Thursday night show got to see a special perfor-mance by the SOCSA parents.

Ten mothers and two fathers danced a disco number. Soph-omore Dance production member Lindsay Fiorentino’s mother was one of the disco divas. “It was funny, especially the dads,” said Fiorentino.

Many of the spectators at “Vibe” were pleased by the performances.

Junior Layne Francis, who saw the Friday perfor-mance, said, “My favorite per-formance was the ‘Pink Pan-ther’ tap number that Ramzi and Serene Jneid did togeth-er. This was the second SOCSA production that I have seen and I definitely enjoyed it.”

In addition, seniors Isa-dora Sharon, Jane Papageorge, Marie Noonan, Kylie Mcminn, Erika Citrano, Alissa Wilsey and Aubrienne O’Meara did their own solos.

Following the exciting conclusion of the ping pong tournament, students can look forward to an upcoming ultimate frisbee champion-ship taking place through March and April.

The exact dates are un-decided as of yet, but they will be chosen and announced soon.

This will be the first such tournament in the school’s history.

Teams started signing up on Tues., Feb. 16, and an estimated eight teams will be entered to vie for the glorious title of Ultimate Frisbee Cham-pions.

Junior Micheal Paul commented, “I’m really look-ing forward for some ultimate frisbee action.”

Commander of Intra-mural Activities Dylan Blanks senior explained, “Since the competition is new, there re-ally aren’t that many teams this year. People will see how awesome ultimate frisbee is and will sign up next year, though.”

Much like the ping pong competition before it, the tourney will gradually peel away the weaker competitors to reveal the raw talent that remains. Dylan Blanks will

organize a ladder to track the progress of the competing teams, which will be posted in the previous location of the ping pong ladder.

Unlike ping pong, how-ever, ultimate frisbee is played in teams, adding an entirely new dimension to the pro-ceedings. Students will be able to choose the members and names of their teams.

Blanks commented, “The team aspect will really add something to the games. I’m sure we’ll get some real competition.”

He continued, “We’re hoping a teacher team will get together. That always adds an extra level of fun.”

While there cannot be any returning champions to the fledgling tournament, some major players of the ping pong tournament will be attempting to translate their table tennis acumen into ulti-mate frisbee skills.

Among this multifacet-ed group is junior Trevor Scott, who said, “I didn’t do quite as well as I could have in the ping pong tournament. I see the ultimate frisbee champi-onship as the perfect form of redemption.”

Some competitors, on the other hand, feel their ping pong skills simply do not equate to ultimate frisbee tal-ent.

The events will most likely be taking place at the softball fields.

photo by Kevin Fuhrmann

Keeping in perfect form during “Yellow,” Jasmine Green, Gabby Mircovich, Elizabeth Summers and Marina Arruda stretch their arms to the sky.

NEWSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER PAGE 5

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

By Lauren BlackStaff Writer

Students Donate Blood to Save Lives

Dana Clubs Help Haitians in NeedBy Aralyn BeaumontNews Editor

As senior Loren Pearce rests, a nurse draws her blood, which Red Cross will distribute to various hospitals.

photo by Kira Olson

On Feb. 8, the Red Cross Bloodmobile visited campus once again to collect blood from student donors. Interested students able to meet a few particular requirements were excused from class to visit the Bloodmobile.

Last October, the blood drive collected 108 units of blood- enough to save over 300 lives. This month’s drive, how-ever, was on a much smaller scale, stationed on the blacktop as opposed to the gym. Despite the change, the Red Cross Club

still managed to collect 45 units of blood, which amounted to 125 lives.

“Although I wish we would have gotten more units,” said co-president senior, Carla Reyes, “I’m ecstatic that our numbers are what they are in such a small drive.” Senior Lani Vaill, also co-president, confirmed that the club had met its goal.

Everyone that contrib-uted to these numbers needed to satisfy a few conditions. Weight, height and medical history played a role in filter-ing donors, and once they were found to meet these require-ments, they would undergo a short, in-person health history

review and a mini-physical to ensure they were qualified.

A prick of the thumb was the final analysis to see whether or not the volunteer was able to donate.

Adequate sleep, healthy meals and ample fluids were recommended in preparation. Upon arrival, students were briefed on the day’s events be-fore they gave blood.

“It was really easy and not very painful,” Reyes guar-anteed. “Most students were frightened, but it was an incred-ibly positive experience.”

Senior Sunny Robinson was one of these students, say-ing, “I hate anything that has to do with needles, but this is the second time I’ve donated. It’s thirty minutes of your time to save three people. I think ev-eryone who can, should.”

Afterwards, students enjoyed a 15-minute recovery

Tues., Jan. 12 Haiti suf-fered from a 7.0 earthquake with a 6.1 aftershock, and America came to the rescue. While doctors, nurses and phi-lanthropists flew to the island, clubs at Dana Hills took the ini-tiative to take part in lending a helping hand.

The Change America Club is putting together health kits consisting of general toilet-

ries and sending them to Haiti through the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The idea came to the club’s president, freshman Kimberley Freden-burg, from her church youth leader.

The club’s first batch of kits was made through a gen-erous donation from Freden-burg’s parents. Although only 14 kits have been made thus far, Fredenburg believes that the effort is worthwhile.

“Even if we only make a few, it will still change people’s lives in Haiti,” she optimisti-cally stated.

The Serve America Club also took on the task of sending supplies to Haiti. From Jan. 28 to Feb. 11, the club collected donations of toiletries, food and first aid supplies. The Giv-ing Children Hope organization then took the supplies and sent them to Haiti.

The club presidents, sophomores Jessica Dinsmoor and Sam Wilbur, both agreed: “Every little thing helps.”

Their enthusiasm con-tributed to the active participa-tion from their club to donate items. Members of the Serve America Club were also given

the opportunity to receive club-required community service hours for their donations.

While certain clubs worked within themselves for the Haiti relief effort, others opened their effort to the entire school. For instance, ASU did a Soles for Souls drive in Janu-ary.

The shoes ASU collected were taken to Sports Chalet and then the shoes were sent to Hai-ti. Though the drive only lasted for a few weeks, ASU received between 750 and 1000 pairs of shoes for the drive.

“When I saw that Soles-

4Souls was doing a shoe drive, I knew that our school was the perfect place to start a collec-tion bin,” said junior Connor Angle.

“I was grateful that I got the opportunity to affect some-thing bigger than myself. I am very thankful for all the people who took the time to find their old shoes and donated them.”

Red Cross raised $75 for Haiti by selling white brace-lets that read “Haiti Relief Red Cross.” The bracelet’s are $3, and the club also collected do-nations in math teacher’s Jeff Prinz’s.

period, complete with sweets and refreshments to raise their blood sugar, which can often drop after blood is drawn. Stu-dents were free to socialize, lis-

ten to music and munch away on the provided snacks while regaining their strength.

But the best part about the day, according to Reyes,

was “seeing so many people coming in and out of the blood-mobiles and understanding how many lives we saved in just one day.”

Although on a smaller scale, the second blood drive of the school year was another success for the Red Cross Club.

The Red Cross Youth Chapter in Santa Ana informed senior Lani Vaill, the club’s co-president, along with senior Carla Reyes, that “the best way to help is with monetary do-nations.”

Red Cross hopes to be holding a bake sale within the next couple of weeks to raise additional money for the relief effort.

Even when the clubs at Dana have moved on to a new project, Haiti will still need aide. A little donation goes a long way; go to haitirelief.org to see how you too can help.

NEWSFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 6

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER

Biotech May Join Dana’s Science Curriculum By Stephanie ChengSports Editor

HMO Sophomores Embark on Field StudyBy Annie BubinskiNews Editor

Starting next year, a Biotechnology class may be offered on campus. Taught by Chemistry teacher Kristine Clarke, Biotechnology will be a cross between Biology and Chemistry and is intended to be taken after passing Chemistry.

Biotechnology offers students the opportunity to pursue a more focused branch of science and to take a class

that offers substantial hands-on lab experience.

“Biotechnology is the study and manipulation of liv-ing organisms and their build-ing blocks,” according to Clarke.

The class mainly focus-es on DNA, proteins and other organic molecules, and, as a result, the class will include many small-scale labs that al-low students to more closely analyze and understand vari-ous biological processes.

Clarke was inspired to create this class after working

in a biotechnology lab in San Diego.

Though not an AP class, Biotechnology will be a col-lege preparatory science class similar in level to Anatomy and Physiology, Physics and Science Research.

AP Chemistry student Claire Hirashiki stated, “Labs like the titration and precipitate prediction labs that we’ve done in class and the gel electropho-resis labs [that we will do] are not only interesting but also in-formative and helpful.”

She added, “They re-

ally offered a more direct and hands-on experience in the class and helped to make theo-ries and concepts more realistic and applicable.”

Though labs are already a fairly important part of sci-ence classes, Biotechnology will further highlight the lab experience and the understand-ing that comes from the hands-on, direct learning.

In other words, students will be more directly involved in this class by not only carry-ing out labs, but also preparing the necessary solutions and

equipment and writing conclu-sions for them.

Assistant Principal Tim Hornig noted, “Kids take things they’re interested in, and they may have a simple interest in the show Crime Scene Investi-gation, see this course and be interested in taking it.”

Though the class is applicable to and includes methods used in forensic sci-ence, Hornig clarified that it will not solely be focused on forensics.

Michael Hatcher, a new Chemistry teacher on campus

this year, stated, “It offers stu-dents something different about science.” There is a wider range of science classes here than at the other schools where he’s taught at.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said.

Though already con-firmed and approved by the UC system, Biotechnology will be offered only if enough in-terest is shown.

See Clarke in room 821 if you are interested in being enrolled in Biotechnology dur-ing the 2010-2011 school year.

photo courtesy of Quest Diagnostics

Top row: Summer Quam, Alexis Allen, Emma Mattson, Daniela Bublick, Stefani Mc-Namme, Jessie Cincotta, Jordan Corredor, Mitchell Jansen. Bottom row: Megan Levine, Emma Keepler, Katrina Varela, Bayan Yazdi, Cristina Avila, Ben Ellison, Chole Virgil, and Brennan Calley,

On Wed., Feb. 10, 30 HMO students embarked on a trip to the Quest Diagnos-tics Laboratory accompanied by chemistry teacher Michael Hatcher.

The students, mainly in the HMO sophomore Chem-istry class, had the chance to get an inside view of the medi-cal testing facility. The mul-tiple laboratories process about one million samples of blood, urine, fecal and spinal fluid per month.

Manager Amy Osborne and various doctors greeted the students and gave them a tour of three facilities. The first was the initial processing facility, where the samples arrive either room temperature, cold or fro-zen.

There the scientists transfer them into smaller sam-ples. The students were able to view employees performing this process from inches away.

Afterwards, the group was led to a lab where the sam-ples are tested for testosterone or steroids. Using a mass spec-trometer, known as the “mass spec” that the students had learned about in class, the sci-entists examined certain ions and molecular weights.

The final lab that the students visited was the cy-togenics lab, where scientists separated chromosomes from human samples and analyzed them on computers.

Students watched dili-gently as the scientists worked on searching for the genetic problems within the arrange-ment of the chromosomes.

The students were al-lowed to get a hands on experi-ence by setting up a microscope

and view molecules just as the scientists did.

All individuals on the tour of the facility were re-quired to wear lab coats and follow standard lab procedures, such as keeping hair back and refraining from touching any of the equipment.

The field trip showed the medical lab aspect of the field and introduced the students to alternate occupations other than doctors and nurses. Students who attended could fulfill one of the four required field trips of the HMO curriculum.

The chemistry students also learned how the subject is applied to different jobs in the medical field.

Sophomore Jen Wein-berg commented, “There was some information that we haven’t completely learned about yet and advanced termi-nology, but overall we learned a lot about the process.”

NEWSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER PAGE 7

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Vijay Venkatesh In Concert: Alumnus Performs in PortholeBy Gillian SleeEntertainment Editor

Led by moderator Sgt. Mike McHenry, an Underage Drinking Town Hall Meeting took place in the Porthole Theater on Tues. Jan. 26. The Dana Hills High School PTSA collaborated with the National Council on Alco-holism and Drug Dependence - Orange County/Commu-nity Alliance Network to host the informational meeting. On the California Healthy Kids Survey conducted in 2008, 23 percent of CUSD ninth graders and 45 percent of CUSD eleventh graders were reported to have drunk alcohol within the past 30 days. At the meeting, numer-ous speakers presented facts, statistics and solutions to address the serious problem of underage drinking in Capistrano Unified School District.

Vijay Venkatesh as-tounded parents, students and alumni with his virtuoso per-formances of Chopin master-pieces on Mon., Feb. 8 in the Porthole Theater.

Tickets were $15 each, and all proceeds went directly to the SOCSA Foundation’s Capital Campaign Drive for the new 475-seat Dana Hills Per-forming Arts Center.

SOCSA Artistic Direc-tor and vocal music instructor Ray Woods opened the evening with a brief introduction of Ven-katesh and an announcement that SOCSA would be adding a piano class to its already multi-faceted program.

Woods went on to in-troduce Berenika Schmitz, a graduate of Julliard, Harvard University, the Royal Academy of Music in London and Oxford University. She will be coach-ing advanced piano to students in Commercial Music.

Schmitz spoke with gratitude, stating, “I want to thank everybody for welcom-ing me into the Dana Point community.” Schmitz is the Artistic Director for the Dana Point Coastal Arts Concert Se-ries, which will host a series of classical music concerts from February through May.

Following the introduc-

tions and announcements, Ven-katesh walked on stage looking dapper in a tuxedo and ready to play.

Venkatesh immediately brought the crowd to a hush as he began the Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39, in C# minor. His swift fingers and mesmerizing music garnered immediate applause.

After Venkatesh finished his first piece, he paused to discuss the meaning of other works that he would be play-ing. Venkatesh played six more works for a period of nearly

one hour. When Venkatesh

reached Ballade No. 1, Op. 23, in G minor, he spoke briefly about the significance of a bal-lad. He mentioned, “A ballad is a poem, and with every poem there is a story and it’s a mas-querade ball.”

Throughout the show, amazed audience members would compliment Venkatesh’s talents during the applause.

At the end of the concert the entire audience rose in tre-mendous applause. Venkatesh

recently qualified as a finalist in the Eighth National Chopin Piano Competition in Miami, Florida. He also composed and performed the original score for 2008 SOCSA alum Kevin M. Slee’s movie, “King of the Jews.”

When asked about his goals for the future, Venkatesh quickly responded, “In addition to performing, I also plan to go into Hollywood as a composer, possibly an actor as well. I have a new found love for writing music for films.”

An incredible piano prodigy, alumnus Vijay Venkatesh rises to take a bow upon the con-clusion of his piece. Venkatesh began playing the piano at the age of four and has since received many prestigious accolades for his talents. These include first prize from the India Heritage Awards Foundation in 2009 and a reception in Washington, D.C. in 2008.

photo courtesy of Vijay Venkatesh

photo by Emily Roulund

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 8 THE PAPER

FEATUREDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

“Shakira for SOCSA Dance.”- Brandon Ramirez, 9

“Tiger Woods for Sexual Education.”

- Matt DeWitt, 12

Survey: If you could have one celebrity as a teacher, who would it be? What class would they teach?

“Megan Fox for Anatomy and Physiol-ogy.” - Charlie Altuzarra, 10

“Simon Cowell for Choir.”

- Alex Blair, 10

photos by Emily Roulund, Emily Cullen and Andrew Oh

“Jesus for Bible Litera-ture.”- Vanessa Gamboa, 11

“Chris Brown for Rela-tionship Counseling.”

-Mia McKown, 11

Random Kid Spotlight:

Most Valuable Sports Mom Tells All

Tiemoko Ballo Spends Two Weeks in Africa

If you have ever attended a varsity football or basket-ball game, then you have

definitely seen Linda Hutchens. The Number One Fan has been a staple at all football and bas-ketball games since 1994.

“I come to all of the football and basketball games because they are my two fa-vorite sports,” Hutchens said. “I love the excitement of the game and the enthusiasm of the students.”

The last time Hutchens had a child at Dana Hills was her son Michael, a two year varsity basketball player. Al-though her son graduated over a decade ago, Hutchens has con-tinued to go to all of the games and maintains a spirit level that is unmatched by all.

Hutchens commented, “I am so loud at all of the games because I want the athletes to know how much I enjoy watch-ing them play.”

She also has no plans to change her attendance at games. Hutchens added, “I plan

on going to all of the football and basketball games until I am no longer able to.”

Her spirit does not go unnoticed by the crowd, the players, or the coaches on the court. Hutchen’s enthusiasm has also prompted a few people to create a Facebook fan page dedicated to her.

Hutchens added with a laugh, “Yes I’ve seen the page. I appreciate when I receive the positive comments. Hopefully it will help me gain some new fans.”

She is also quick to add that she has never been ejected from any games. “I never heck-le referees or opposing fans,” Hutchens said. “I just enjoy getting into the games.”

She cites her profession as being a sideline coach and “making signs to get students to come to the games and to make sure they wear blue and to be rowdy.”

Aside from being the Number One Fan at all football and basketball games, she cites going to Los Angeles Dodg-ers baseball games, as well as watching the Los Angeles Lak-ers’ basketball games on TV as her hobbies.

photo courtesy of Tiemoko Ballo

Abandoning Orange County conventions, Tiemoko Ballo (right) reconnects with his Afri-can relatives during his trip to Mali.

Perspective is sought after by a number of people throughout life. While

some fail in pursuit of it, oth-ers, like senior Tiemoko Ballo, who visited rural Africa for three weeks, gain invaluable insight through eye-opening experiences.

For the second time in his life, Ballo left behind the modern conveniences and comforts of Orange County in exchange for a unique, rustic experience in the country of Mali. In Mali, Ballo lived with-out several things—plumbing, paved roads, manufactured foods, even electricity—that seem impossible to survive without here in the bubble that is Orange County.

Ballo commented, “Life becomes very different without those things. And I had to live off bottled water, because the local water is really harmful for non natives.”

Although Ballo was able to find an alternative to lo-cal water, he was forced to go without American food. He ex-plained that all the food in Mali is organic, including meat, and that he found the taste to be starkly different from anything he had tasted before.

“All I wanted was a burger!” laughed Ballo.

One of Ballo’s most memorable and rewarding ex-periences on the trip was listen-ing to his grandfather’s Cold War stories. Not expecting to make a direct connection with something he had studied in the past, Ballo was surprised to hear first-hand, vivid stories that related and expanded upon his knowledge.

Also surprising to Ballo was the fact that he had many of the same interests as Malian teens despite living in an ex-tremely different culture, soci-ety and lifestyle.

“A cousin of mine from Mali had watched the televi-sion series “Lost” and “Prison Break” and owned several Kanye West CD’s,” stated Ballo. “I was surprised to see that these things had traveled so far.”

Learning aside, Ballo contracted malaria—a disease that runs rampant throughout Africa—towards the end of his trip. He was unable to go to a hospital because they are very unsafe in Mali; however, he did receive medicine that alleviated his symptoms and allowed him to recover from the illness.

Through visiting rural

Mali, Ballo believes he has “learned perspective, to view [his] own life in terms of what the world looks like, not what the OC looks like.”

Living without the luxu-ries he was accustomed to en-joying in Orange County was worth it for Ballo, because he not only learned about an en-tirely new culture, but he real-ized the importance of appreci-ating all he has—a lesson Ballo believes each has to learn on his/her own.

Ballo definitely recom-mends visiting Africa to any-one who wants to experience a different lifestyle, as it has a lot

to offer with a rich culture and kind people; however, he advis-es travellers to be open-minded about the country and prepared to do things unlike anything they have done before.

“And don’t stay in a ‘touristy’ part of Africa; go to rural areas. You won’t learn anything about culture in a five-star resort,” he added. “I think I got a lot more out of the trip than if I would have went to Hawaii or wherever it is most people go.”

Ballo definitely plans to visit Africa again, as he be-lieves the experience is “tough but rewarding.”

photo by Emily Roulund

Highlighted by her intense enthusiasm, Linda Hutchens has been cheering for our basketball and football teams since 1994.

By Tyler HartungSports Editor

FEATUREFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010THE PAPER PAGE 9

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

THE MAC, THE MYTH, THE LEGENDBy Elizabeth ChaddockOpinion Editor

You might’ve heard of Ms. Mac, the fun and energetic AP Govern-

ment and Politics teacher out in Room 919. It’s no mystery that Martha McIntosh is adored by her students for her passion for teaching and her commitment to advising the National Honor Society.

Yet the mystery that is Ms. Mac remains; we caught up with her and asked her about her life outside of Dana and her wealth of experiences with her Government classes. Here’s what we found out:

Q: What is your favorite thing about your job?

A: My favorite thing about teaching – as cliché as it

sounds – is the students. I love seniors. They’ve reached the age where it’s okay again to be silly, and yet they’re mature.

It’s fun to be a small part of their last year in high school and to be included on the ex-citement that surrounds their college plans. I love getting to sit in the front row at gradua-tion and being a part of the en-thusiasm.

I almost forgot – I get to talk politics with my own “cap-tive” audience.

I wear down my friends, so teaching allows me to do what I love with sharp and wit-ty high school seniors.

Q: What are your plans for your eventual retire-

ment?

A: Well, I’m still waiting for the appointment to

the Supreme Court. If not that, maybe Judge Judy needs a back-up. Maybe a run for the U.S. Senate. Is it too late? I don’t know; Robert Byrd is older than I am by at least three decades.

On a more realistic level, I see myself traveling, publish-ing a book on genealogy and, if I’m lucky, sailing the Trans pac – or maybe just the Newport to Ensenada race. I’d love to live in Catalina in an old family house that my great grandfather built, traveling to the mainland when I felt like it.

Q: What are the best field trips you’ve been on?

A: My best field trips would have to be the weeklong

field study trips to Washington, D.C.

Highlights would be

the special West Wing tour of the White House, seeing “the Oval” and the “Situation” room (not related to Jersey Shores), listening to Supreme Court oral arguments and witnessing three presidential inaugurations. My students would run up and down the halls of Congress, visiting members’ offices and trying to snag better seats for the inauguration.

Q: If you weren’t a teacher, what else could you see

yourself doing?

A: That brings me back to the Supreme Court and

the Senate – kidding, as that’s more than a long shot. I think I would’ve gone to law school and might be practicing law. Secretary of Education would be fun. Truly, teaching is prob-ably a lot more rewarding as this has been a great ride.

Q: Have you worked at other schools or taught

other subjects besides Govern-ment?

A: I’ve worked at Shore-cliffs Middle School

teaching U.S. History and have spent the rest of the time here at Dana Hills, the best high school!

Q: What personal activities do you like to do outside

of work?

A: I’m a genealogy fanatic. I hang at the National

Archives, go to the Family Center in Utah, DAR Constitu-tion Hall in D.C. and travel to little towns around the country to dig up old family records.

Q: What’s the coolest or strangest piece of gov-

ernment-related memorabilia you’ve collected over the years?

A: That’s hard. So many to choose from, and I’m

sure I’m forgetting something. In no particular order: my Spi-ro Agnew watch, my vintage FDR “no third term” button, my rhinestone Richard Nixon earrings and my autographed presidential card of his, my Jimmy Carter gold peanut necklace and his brother Billy’s can of Billy Beer, my Ronald

Up close and personal with one of our school’s most invaluable teachers.

and Nancy Reagan slippers.

Q: What has been your fa-vorite or most exciting

political event to live through with your Government class-es?

A: They weren’t necessar-ily “cool,” but they were

dramatic and eventful. Again, in no particular order: the Presidential election of 2000 where all 100+ seniors watched the election results together at a party at a student’s house.

The election was called first for Al Gore, then George Bush and then put on ice for

a month while Florida and the Supreme Court sorted things out. The impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson – kidding, I’m not that old – of Bill Clinton! The House and Senate votes on going to war in Operation Des-ert Storm and in Bosnia.

That was before TVs and computers in every classroom. I brought my TV from home, and we huddled around it and listened to the speeches and counted the votes. The con-firmation of Clarence Thomas was pretty interesting. Regis-tering seniors to vote!

“I love seniors. They’ve reached the age where it’s okay again to be silly, and yet they’re mature.”

-Martha McIntoshAP Government and

Politics Teacher

Gathered with her loving AP Government students, Martha McIntosh is surrounded by the president masks, bobble heads and soda bottles that her seniors have come to associate with her.

photo by Emily Cullen

CENTERSPREADFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010THE PAPER PAGE 10-11

Winter Formal

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

CENTERSPREADFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010THE PAPER PAGE 10-11

Winter Formal

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 12 THE PAPER

OPINIONDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

THE PAPER33333 Golden Lantern, Dana Point CA 92629

Rm. 708 (949) 240-9497 E-mail: dhhspaper@gmail.comWebsite: www.dhhspaper.com

Editor-in-Chief Pia BhathalNews Editors Lexi Cotcamp

Aly Vander HaydenAnnie Bubinski

Aralyn BeaumontSara Gold

Feature Editor Devin ValencianoOpinion Editors Stephanie Wright

Elizabeth ChaddockCenterspread Editors Andrew English

Ben LimEntertainment Editors Gillian Slee

Gina ScottSports Editors Matt McCreadie Jake Rosen Stephanie Cheng

Stephanie WrightTyler Hartung

Copy Editors Salil DudaniSara Gold

Advertising Sales Lexi Cotcamp Finance Manager Stephanie WrightSubscriptions Tyler Hartung

Jake Rosen Computer Technician Ben LimWebsite Manager Ben LimAdviser Paige Gilbert

Writers: Aralyn Beaumont, Pia Bhathal, Lauren Black Annie Bubinski, Elizabeth Chaddock, Stephanie Cheng, Lexi Cotcamp, Emily Cullen, Salil Dudani, Andrew Eng-lish, Sara Gold, Tyler Hartung, Marilyn La Jeunesse, Sam Lepore, Matt McCreadie, Jake Rosen, Gina Scott, Gillian Slee, Devin Valenciano, Aly Vander Hayden, Claudia Var-ney, Stephanie WrightPhotographers: Emily Roulund, Emily Cullen, Andrew Oh, Kevin Fuhrmann, Kira OlsonDistribution: Mrs. Gilbert’s 4th Period The Paper is published monthly throughout the year by Dana Hills High School newspaper students. Com-ments and editorial opinions expressed in The Paper are those of the staff and do not represent the position of Dana Hills High School, its administration, student gov-ernment, or that of the Capistrano Unified School District. Advertisements are not endorsed by The Paper.

It is the opinion of The Paper that...

By Stephanie WrightSports & Opinion Editor

By Lexi CotcampNews Editor

All of the traditional comfort as-sociated with reading a book has been thrown out the window with the invention of several different “eB-ooks.”

The Sony Reader, the Samsung eBook Reader, the Kindle and the iReader aspect of the iPad are all examples of a new technology that has simply gone too far.

What happened to the sanctity of holding a pa-perback and thumbing lightly through its yellow pag-es, cracking open the binding of a new hardback or even inhaling the smell of freshly printed ink on un-disturbed sheets of paper?

With these new electronic devices, there is no binding. There is no colorful cover art. There are no pages to turn. There is just a button you push or tap to “turn a page.”

The iPad does not sit evenly on a flat plane or fit comfortably in one hand like an old novel. There is no coziness associated with reading novels on a screen that your watering eyes have to squint at and your hands have to bear awkwardly.

MOST CLUBS MAKE NO CONTRIBUTION TO DANA

eBooks Devalue Novelty of ReadingSure, you can get your eBook in several differ-

ent colors or with a leather case and apps that allow touch-screen doodling. But what does that have to do with reading? Nothing. It simply strips literature of all value.

Moreover, with 3G and WiFi capabilities, these devices enable users to download virtually any title, anywhere, at any time they choose. Convenient, yes. The concept is obviously very agreeable to the lazier portion of the population, an exponentially increasing portion, unfortunately. But the implications are end-lessly negative.

Society has finally reached the point where peo-ple are unwilling to leave their homes and drive to a bookstore to procure a work of literature. They are too lazy to order a book online to be delivered directly to them only a few days later. They even refuse to pay to read a book online via their desktop or laptop.

It is worth noting that an eBook is precisely the same thing, except that it is physically smaller and a newer concept.

No, people are too consumed with convenience and following the “hot new trends” to work for even the simplest of pleasures.

Today, despite the ethics of hard work and long-term reward that we are taught to pursue even as chil-dren, everything is about promoting instant gratifica-

Remember those two blissful days at the beginning of the school year? The ones when you pushed through nearly 3,000 people, many of whom apparently forgot about the infinite powers of deodorant, in order to see what new and exciting attractions could be found?

No—much to your dismay (and probably mine as well), I am not referring to Disneyland. For those of you whose minds immediately raced to Knotts Berry Farm instead, I regret to inform you that the afore-mentioned stampede has no relation to Grandma Knotts or her fried chicken.

Rather, I am talking about the one and only, hopelessly chaotic, practically-the-highlight-of-your-school-year Dana Hills Club Rush.

Think back to when you frantically ran around the mall attempting to sign up for as many clubs as hu-manly possible. There were clubs like the Video Game Club, Amadeus, A.G.E.S, Clothes for A Change, Dia-betes Club, Gay/Straight Alliance and Philosophy Club, just to list a few groups enumerated on the school’s website. Do any of these names jog a distant memory?

In the off chance that some of these clubs sound vaguely familiar (as in you scribbled your name and email down on a list), it begs the question: have these clubs actually done something?

It seems to me that school clubs have been woe-fully inactive since their founding at the beginning of the year. While my eyesight is probably far from 20/20 vision, I find it quite hard to believe that I have missed seeing every bulletin announcement this year for the long list of clubs that I previously signed up for.

Though it is easy to see that a handful of notable clubs represent the obvious exception, I honestly fail to understand why the majority of clubs had done vir-tually nothing.

Seriously, one or two hasty meetings, a club pic-ture filled with all the random people in the immedi-ate vicinity of the bleachers and a few sporadic emails

hardly count as a club—unless, of course, that club specializes in wasting time.

Not to say that club presidents have it easy by any means. Most that I know are overburdened, time-pressed, type A busy-aholics as it is. Therefore, I hope you will understand that this, in no way, represents a personal vendetta or a “maniacal plot to overthrow clubs.”

Merely, I am slightly awed that of the 63 clubs at school, only a select few have actively organized and even fewer have consistently planned both meet-ings and legitimate events. After half a school year, I cannot help but feel that club activity has become stagnant.

For those of you who will retort that it’s nearly impossible to find time—I couldn’t agree more. How-ever, if you do not have the time to dedicate, do not put the burden on yourself in the first place. It’s that simple.

As for those who have decided to lead a club for the gold star on a resume—please review your kin-dergarten spelling. Last I checked, there’s no “I” in “club.” In other words, while clubs may be something that you choose to put on your resume, they should not be the vehicle to the Ivy League of your dreams.

Representing mega-academic hobbies, non-aca-demic pursuits and everything in beteween, clubs were supposed to be a way for students to meet and interact with others who share the same passion about a par-ticular area of interest; yet, they have seemingly be-come nothing more than an attempt to coerce students to meet during lunch.

Why not organize a club event that students are sincerely excited to attend or a meeting where students are interested in interacting with others who have the same hobbies?

Although I have no doubt that the burden of blame should rest on no one person, I remain skeptical of those in leadership positions (club comissioners in-cluded) who casually neglect their clubs and have ex-pected club members to simply accept the status quo.

However, for now, I am regretfully inclined to believe that a day with Mickey Mouse or Grandma Knotts would have been better than Club Rush after all.

We have all experienced overwhelming boredom in at least one class before. A common alternative to paying at-tention to a lecture, finishing an assignment or engaging in a class discussion is doodling. But before you draw on your desk because you’re too lazy to get out a piece of paper, think again. You could be arrested.

Last week, Alexa Gonzalez, 12, of New York was arrested by police for writing “I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)” on her desk in marker. De-spite being handcuffed in front of her teachers and peers and taken to the police precinct, Gonzalez is not facing any suspension for her alleged offense.

This incident, as well as others akin to her law-breaking activities across the nation raise serious questions about to what extent schools should implement their zero tolerance policy. Are schools and police departments over-reacting? Why aren’t teachers and administrators assigning school punishment? When is the appropriate time for the police to step in?

Given, writing on a desk is defacing property, much like graffiti, but it is hardly an offense that deserves similar punishment as full-fledged vandalism. If students can be ar-rested for writing on desks, then they can also be arrested for sticking gum under a desk or on a wall. Almost every student at school has committed a “crime” and deserves a trip to the police department because if you look around campus you’ll see that the majority of desks and walls are vandalized in some way.

In this tough economy, it’s understandable that money in public schools is tight and that taxpayer dollars are spent in order to provide a free education. However, resorting to arresting students in order to collect damages for small offenses with minimal monetary consequences is absurd. Requiring students to clean the desks they deface with simple soap and water would more than suffice.

If schools continue to involve the police in even the smallest of offenses as part of a zero tolerance policy, in due time they will have a pathetic fact to face— more stu-dents will be in attendance at the police station than in the classroom.

What Happened to the Principal’s Office?

Except for the few active organizations which have consistently held meetings and fre-quently planned events, a majority of clubs on campus have become a sad example of stu-

dent-run organizations and do little more than act as pointless filler in the club system.

n Re: It's Not Called Entertainment for a Reason

Of course being po-litically informed is vital, one way to do this is actually by paying attention to Glenn Beck. Although this program is partly for entertainment, Beck does not report the facts, whether MSNBC chooses to or not.

Even though CNN is slightly more honest when it comes to deciding which sto-ries they wish to cover, Glenn Beck never fails to expose the faults of both the Rpublican and Democratic parties.

I do, however, strongly agree that all viewers inter-ested in political beliefs must watch multiple news broad-cast stations when forming their own political beliefs.

They should also be aware that while Beck may have a strong political opin-ion, many other news stations have one as well. The only difference is that they pick and choose which stories to broadcast and which stories to merely sweep under the rug in an attempt to paint their peers in the best light.

-Nicole Kaemerle, 11

n Stop Dress-ing Like a Tool

It’s like I’m living in a hardware store or something. Everywhere I look, there’s a tool. I know this might sound a little superficial, but I’ve honestly recognized more tools lately because of what they wear.

I have absolutely no idea how current fashion trends get started. The cur-rent style seems to be “look-

OPINIONDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER PAGE 13

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

LETTERS POLICYPlease submit legibly written, signed letters to room 708 during second, and fifth period or to Mrs. Gilbert’s mailbox in the office, or to dhhspa-per@gmail.com. The staff reserves the right to delete or condense let-ters to meet space requirements or content restrictions. Unsigned let-ters will not be accepted.

Letters to the Editoring ironic,” though. It’s like, “I think I’ll wear oversized glasses to school today, even though my eyesight is fine. That way it’s funny because oversized glasses make me look ridiculous, though in reality I am not ridiculous. Wait a minute...”

Not only is this a state-ment that whatever you’re using to look ironic is ridicu-lous, but ironically it accom-plishes the exact opposite of what it was intended to do. No, I don’t think you look funny. You look like a tool.

This isn’t to say all trends are shallow and use-less, though. However flan-nels got into style is beyond me, but it was a good move. They’re warm and don’t make you stand out. I ap-prove of flannels. Coming from me, this isn’t much, but honestly, why dress in a way that you think people will judge you based on what you wear?

The general rule is people aren’t supposed to judge you based on what you look like, but when you’re trying to look ironic, all you’re doing is saying, “I’m dressing in such a way that people will notice and judge me based on what I’m wear-ing.” Because believe me, anyone who dresses some way just to get people to note them as “the one with the propeller cap,” has some serious rethinking to do on their part.

-Andrew Sy, 11

Reality Shows Glorify Teen Pregnancy

Beware of the Week Before Finals

Contemporary Music Industry Lacks Diversity

It’s the week before finals. We’re stressing out, making up missed assign-ments and throwing in some extra credit

to make that .5 percent cut off. For some reason, dur-ing these few crucial days in our high school career, teachers decide to assign essays and projects as well as tests. In the last week of the semester, we should be reviewing our past work, not being tested on new material. All testing advice tells students to review for the exam the week prior, but this is impossible when

teachers are cramming in last minute essays or tests.“I take a lot of time studying for those tests and

not enough time to study for finals,” explained senior Kathryn Gullickson. “It’s a loss, really.”

By studying for these other tests, we focus on only a small portion of the subject and not the entire subject as a whole. This means that we are insuffi-ciently prepared to take our final. We are not allotted the time to review the comprehensive subject matter, which cripples our ability to attain our desired final grade. Other students choose to study for the final and blow off reviewing for their other tests. Either way, we are compromising the future of our grade.

“Teachers are trying to sabotage us,” mocked

senior Carla Reyes. “In all honesty, though, they’re not only throwing us under the bus, but we’re pulling them down with us since they have to grade so much in so little time.”

And so the vicious cycle begins. Teachers stress out students because of all the tests, and then teachers become overwhelmed by the large amount of grading they have to do. Many teachers already complain about how much they have to grade at the end of a semester, so why make matters worse? We should be given tests at least two weeks before finals so we have ample time to review and get all the information needed for the end of the semester. This solution would be beneficial not only for us but for the teachers as well.

By Matt McCreadieSports Editor

A: While I can understand that shows like “16 and Pregnant”

and “Teen Mom” are trying to exhibit the harsh re-alities of unexpectedly getting pregnant as a teenager, other shows like “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” give an idealistic perspective on teenage pregnancy.

By Aralyn BeaumontNews Editor

By Aly Vander HaydenNews Editor

For the past three years, I have been sucked further and further backwards in musical history. My sound train has

made some pretty spectacular stops along its rhythmic path, taking me to every major soundmark between 90s grunge and 60s pop rock.

And, as luck will have it, my listening experi-ences have been shielded from the sewage music that clogs the ears of the masses today. I have successfully dodged the waterfalls of generic rap and gimmick-driven pop that inundated the noughties, making it un-scathed to year 2010.

But now I feel like a classical Greek artist, look-

ing with disdain at the Middle Ages and their poor ex-cuses for creative achievement. Watching the Gram-mys this year was a truly painful experience, not just because of low musical quality but also because of low musical diversity.

While the award show, from the live performanc-es to the nominations themselves, was disappointing in more than one way, it was the five best album nomi-nations that truly highlighted the musical flaws of our era.

Five mainstream compilations of sound pollu-tion received the top honors in the industry, and four of them are hardly distinguishable from one another. The cacophonic bilge from Taylor Swift sounds just as terrible as the catastrophes created by Beyonce, the Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga. The last album, an ef-fort from the Dave Matthews Band, is a rewind repeat

of everything they’ve ever put out.It saddens me to look back at the 70s, when art-

ists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Elton John could be nominated for best album in the same year.

It was an age when all genres were appreciated for their respective merits, a sharp contrast to today’s musical environment.

It’s not as if strong efforts from every genre weren’t released last year. John Frusciante put out a masterpiece alternative rock album, Wolfmother struck a perfect chord between hard rock and metal, Warpaint put out a smooth, slow effort that almost no-body heard.

Why don’t these people receive the recognition that people throw at Taylor Swift and her obviously fake voice?

By Devin ValencianoFeature Editor

Lately, there seems to be a rise in the number of television shows about teenage pregnan-cy.This television epidemic is a bigger problem now that teenage pregnancy rates in the United States are back on the rise, according to a recent New York Times magazine article. Aralyn and Matt weigh in with their respective opinions on this controversial subject in a

battle of the sexes.

M: Yeah. For example, the recent Lifetime mov-ie “Pregnancy Pact” is the worst example of

making teen pregnancy seem like a Hollywood fanta-sy. The girls in it purposefully become pregnant out of fear of being dumped by their respective boyfriends. Broadcasting dramas like these about a serious issue merely for entertainment crosses the line between helpful and hurtful.

A: I agree. It is not ethical to portray teenage preg-nancy as a happy-go-lucky experience like

these television shows are doing because teenage girls, like the Pregnancy Pact Four in Alabama, are going to think that having a baby while still a child is fun.

M: Agreed. But I think it makes more sense that the shows reflect the problem, not vice versa.

“16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” expose the re-alities of becoming pregnant in your teenage years in a sufficiently, yet not over dramatically, frightening way. Mainly, they aim to bring the issue of teen preg-nancy to attention and dissuade teenagers to take the risk through the new parent’s own words.

A: That aim evidently is not getting through to teen-age girls though. “16 and Pregnant” is already

in a second season, showing that too many young girls are still getting pregnant. Thus the birth control effect

“I think it makes more sense that the shows reflect the problem, not vice ver-sa.” - Matt

intended by these shows is not work-ing, and such programs need to get off

of the air so that pubescent girls sporting baby bumps look less normal.

M: But just because Americans find entertainment in others’ misfortunes does not mean that the

shows are not addressing the issue. Television is a sup-ply-and-demand business. Therefore, MTV and other stations would not have signed the shows if there was not a demand for that kind of programming.

A: That is completely unethical of MTV to air a show on the basis that it’s content is in high

demand, especially if that content is detrimental to the welfare of its audience. And America has not just shown interest in shows that focus on “others’ misfor-tunes,” because shows that idealize teenage pregnancy, like “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” get just as high ratings as the so called realistic ones.

M: I concede your point that “The Secret Life” does glorify teen pregnancy, but if we’re

playing a game of chicken-and-egg, it is illogical to suspect that the increase in pregnancies is a result of these shows. However, the shows that do in fact ideal-

“Thus the birth control effect intended by these shows is not working, and such pro-grams need to get off of the air.” - Aralyn

ize teen pregnancy should be taken off the air from a moral standpoint. Whether or not the pregnancies are caused by shows like these, the fact that they are on the air still exacerbates the problem.

A: You are right; correlation is not causation. It does need to be understood though that find-

ing out you’re pregnant at any time prior to finishing school and establishing a career is a deal breaker, la-dies.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 14 THE PAPER

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

ENTERTAINMENT

By Aly Vander HaydenNews Editor

HARD TO RESIST “VALENTINES DAY”

“Dear John”Lacks Spark

By Sam LeporeStaff Writer

“The Lightning Thief” Strikes Success

By Marilyn La JeunesseStaff Writer

For the past month thehallshavebeenabuzzwithtalkabout Nicholas Sparks’ latestnovel-turned-movie, “DearJohn.”Justabouteverygirlhasbeen dying to see the moviethat stars Channing Tatum(“She’s the Man,” “Step Up”)andAmanda Seyfried (“MeanGirls”).NicholasSparks,famousfor writing sappy, tragic lovestories,hadseveralofhisbooksturnedintomoviessuchas“AWalk to Remember,” “Nightsin Rodanthe” and, of course,“The Notebook.” It was onlyto be expected that his latestmovie adaptationwouldbe asromanticandmovingasprevi-ousones.TatumplaysJohn,astoicSpecialForcessoldierback intown to visit his father whileonleavefromthemilitary.Hemeets Savannah, a dreamy,wide-eyed girl who comeshome from college for break,andthetwohaveanimmediateconnection. When Savannah leavesforschoolandJohnissentoutin the field again the two prom-isetostayintouchbysendingeachotherlong,sappylovelet-terseveryday. After a year of painfulseparation they reunite, butJohn’s unwavering devotiontothemilitarypromptshimtoreenlist and keeps him awayfrom Savannah for years at atime. When he eventuallyfinds his way home things are

verydifferentfromhowheleftthem, and Savannah isn’t ex-actlywaitingforhimwithopenarms.WhileIwon’trevealwhatensues,itmustbesaidthatthehorrible, unsatisfactory endingdidn’t fit the rest of the movie at all. Having prior knowl-edge to of Sparks’ tendenciesto write tragic endings for hischaracters, I wasn’t expectinga happy ending. However, theconclusion to Dear John re-solved nothing and seemed tocomeoutofnowhere. I was hoping Tatumwouldbranchoutfromtheex-pressionless, unemotional act-ing seen from him in movieslike“G.I.Joe,”buthebroughtnothing new to the table in“DearJohn.” Seyfriedcamethroughinher performance, finally break-ingfreeofherroleasKarenin“MeanGirls”andprovingshe’smorethancapableofhandlingamoreadultrole.Sadly,heract-ingwasn’tenoughtomakeupforthefactthatthetwoofthemhad little chemistry anddidn’tmake a convincing couple inlove.Iwalkedintothetheaterexpectingtobemovedtotearswithin30minutes.Ileftattheendwithdryeyesanda senseofdisappointment. At first I thought that theremustbesomethingwrongwithme.Afterall,whodoesn’tcry during a Nicholas Sparksbook or movie? But the me-diocreactingandunconvincingendingmadeithardtogetintotheplot. In all honesty the bestpart of the entire movie wasseeing the rippedTatum with-outashirt.

photocourtesyofGoogleImages

“Percy Jackson & theOlympians: The LightningThief” is yet another novel-go-Hollywoodmovie.

The film was long-awaited by devoted fans ofthe Percy Jackson novels.Themythologicalworld thatHollywood creates on thebig screen may completelydestroy a loyal fan’s visionof Rick Riordan’s legendaryworld.

In the movie, a trou-bled teenage boy, PercyJackson, finds himself in the middle of an imminent waramongst the Olympian godsof Greek mythology. OnceinductedintothesecretworldoftheGods,Jackson’sworldflips upside down—or, in this case,right-sideup.

By learning that heis a demigod (the child of agodandamortal)thestrangehappeningsinJackson’slife,suchashisteachertransform-ing into a monster, begin tomakesense.

Throughouttherestofthe movie, the audience fol-lowsJacksonacrossAmericaonhisquesttosavehismoth-erfromthedepthsoftheUn-derworld, find the lightning thief and ultimately stop thewaramongsttheGodsbeforeitbegins. Since the Percy Jack-sonnovelshavebeenon the

best seller list for over twoyears,Ifeeltheneedtoaddressall ends of the audience spec-trum so that each level of thenovel’s fanbase isattended tothoroughly. For those unfortunatesoulswhohaven’thadtheplea-sureofreadingthePercyJack-sonseries,thechancesareyouwill absolutely enjoy the epicmovie.Ithasalltheexcitementyou could ask for, and, betteryet, youwon’t noticehow thenovel’s original storyline wasaltered to fit the requirements ofthecompetitiveHollywoodmoviebusiness. For those of you whoread the books and now wishor think you’re a demigod, Ihighly recommend not seeingthemovie.Youwill beutterlydisappointedandwasteallyourtime pointing out the modifica-tionsthescreenwritersmadetothestory. You will then proceedto do nothing but complain toyour family and friends abouthowHollywoodruinedyetan-other good book, cut out yourfavorite scene or made thecharacters look different thanyouimaginedthemtobe. Intherarecasethatyouare an uber-obsessive fan ofthese books, you might evenblog about the flaws in the movie. Ifyouareanover-obses-sivefanwhoreadsthisreviewandstilldecidestoseethemov-ie,knowthis:nonovelcanes-capetheHollywoodmake-overunscathed.Getoverit. Ontheotherhand,ifyou

have read the books, enjoyedthem, but are not an over-ob-sessive fan, then the moviewon’tbeasdisappointingasitwould be if you were the die-hard fan previously described.You might find an occasional flaw in the movie’s plot, but it won’t completely destroy themovieforyou.

All biases aside, themovie genuinely satisfies the craving forweekendcinema.It has action, adventure, theoccasionalcornyjoke,agoodsupporting cast and somepretty impressive special ef-fects. Overall, it was a rela-tively pleasant escape fromtherealworld.

photoscourtesyofGoogleimages

Before seeing “Valen-tine’sDay,” Ihadmy reserva-tions. I amnotopposed to theactualholidayoranything,butI was merely expecting a pre-dictableplotwithoverlychar-ismaticlovers.Leavingthethe-ater,however,Iwasthoroughlyimpressed. “Valentine’s Day” tellstheintertwininglovestoriesofadiversegroupofLosAngelesresidents ina“LoveActually”typemoviestyle. The star-filled cast in-

cludes celebrities such asBradley Cooper, Jessica Alba,Anne Hathaway, Kathy Bates,George Lopez, Topher Grace,Jessica Biel, Emma Robertsand Jennifer Garner. DirectorGary Marshall (“Pretty Wom-an,” “PrincessDiaries”) deliv-ersanothersweetandentertain-ingromanticcomedy. The movie is filled with Marshall’s typical cute, heart-warming moments as well asa witty humor with fluid story telling. “Valentine’s Day” isa total crowd pleaser with itsclichéendings;howeverifyouareacynicalsinglepersonthenthismovieisnotforyou. Themovieismorethan

your typical boring romancestory because it displayed theepitomeof love’s truecompli-cations. The film was less about Valentine’s Day and moreabout the problems that sur-roundlove,suchaslosingyourvirginityandproposing,whichwashighlycaptivating. Centered around florist andshopownerReedBennett,(Ashton Kutcher) the charac-ters experience their first loves, youthful crushes and old flames as they go through their ownValentine’sDay. Though there is hardlyanytimeforcharacterdevelop-ment with the various couplesdominating the screen, their

own quirks and personalitiesarestillabletoshinethrough. The movie representseachstageofloveinaperson’slife, which makes the charac-terseasilyrelatabletoallofitsviewers. Whether you are ayoungteenager,adultorseniorcitizen, singleor ina relation-shipyouwillbeabletoconnectto at least one of the charac-ters. After all of their down-falls and setbacks, the char-acters finally reach their own happy ending. Willy (TaylorLautner) and Felicia (TaylorSwift) are even consistentlyecstacic throughout the entire

film because of their teenage ignorance. The film leads the audi-enceintoallsortsofunexpect-eddirectionsinthecharacters’journeys.Withoneboyfallingfor an older woman, a naked,guitar-playing teenageboybe-ing caught by his girlfriend’smother and two other menturningouttobegay,themovieneverwasadullmoment. All of the actors andactresses play their roles flaw-lessly, except for Swift, whotook her “stupid high schoolgirl” role a little too far. Let’sjust say that she will not bewinninganyAcademyAwardsanytime soon. Lautner’s ap-

parent cockiness and stupiditywerealsoprominentandirritat-ingthroughoutthemovie. “Valentine’s Day” isfilled with amusement, tears andmanysurprisesasthechar-acters reach midnight on Feb.14. At the movie’s closing,all of the characters come to-gether for a final and conclu-sive scene similar to the film “Crash.” In the end, all of thecharacters reach very unpre-dictableendingsoftheirown. The movie’s generalhappy ending is as hackneyedasredrosesandchocolates,butit was still lovable and deli-cious.

Percy Jackson

ENTERTAINMENTDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER PAGE 15

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

By Aralyn Beaumont News Editor

St. Vincent Shines at the El Rey

Spoon “Transfers” to a New Level of Music

“Who I Am” Reveals Jonas’ Potential in Music

Dana’s Picks vs. Actual ResultsStatistics compiled using approximately 500 student surveys

THE RESULTS* Record of the Year: “Use Somebody,” Kings of Leon. * Album of the Year: “Fearless,” Taylor Swift* Best New Artist: Zac Brown Band* Best Rock Album: “21st Century Breakdown,” Green Day* Best Contemporary R&B Album: “I Am...Sasha Fierce,” Beyonce* Best Country Album: “Fearless,” Taylor Swift* Best Rap Song: “Run This Town,” Jeff Bhasker, Shawn Carter, Robyn Fenty, Kanye West and Ernest Wilson * Best Electronic/Dance Album: “The Fame,” Lady Gaga

28.1%of students picked “You Belong with Me” as the Record of the Year. In a close number two spot was “Use Somebody,” which took home the Grammy. 31.6%of students chose “Fear-less,” the eventual winner as Album of the Year.

46.2%of students voted MGMT as Best New Artist. The Grammy was awarded to the Zac Brown Band which was only picked by 11.1% of students.

51.7%of students thought “I Am...Sasha Fierce” was the best Contemporary R&B Album of the year. As expected, Be-yoncé won the Grammy.

73.8%of students picked “Fear-less” as the Best Country Album of 2009. Taylor Swift beat her fellow country competitors to the Grammy.

24.1%of students chose “Day N’ Night” as the Best Rap Song of the year. However, “Run this Town,” which received 21.8% of the vote, was awarded the Grammy.

40.4%of students chose “Party Rock” by LMFAO as the Best Electronic/Dance Al-bum. “The Fame” followed in second place in Dana’s picks, but Lady Gaga took home the Grammy over LMFAO.

By Elizabeth ChaddockOpinion Editor

Spoon has been in this business for a long time. After 17 years of playing together, the quartet based out of Aus-tin, Texas, has finally mastered it’s formula for success: write catchy, raw alternative rock songs that will keep fans hap-py, even if it means not having mainstream success.

Despite failing to con-nect with the mainstream, Spoon has been able to crack the Top 10 with it’s past two al-bums, 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and this year’s wonderfully put together Transference.

The first single, “Writ-ten in Reverse,” is an upbeat ode to a lover complete with off-beat guitars and stop and start drums, as well as “oooo-weee” background vocals. This track gives a good summary as to what most of the album is all about: songs that sound like they were crafted in five min-utes but still leave you hum-ming them later on.

While the rest of the songs on Transference lack the immediate punch that “Writ-ten in Reverse” provides, all of them are worth a second listen.

Although the band’s style of music has not changed, a sharp divergence from lyri-cal content is apparent. Mostly known for his vulnerable and expressive songs, “Got Nuffin” marks one of the most optimis-tic songs that frontman Britt Daniel has ever written (“And

I got nothing to lose but dark-ness and shadows/ Got nothing to lose but bitterness and pat-terns”).

“Is Love Forever?” and “The Mystery Zone” are both some of the better songs on the album, bringing slightly differ-ent sounds to Transference.

“Is Love Forever?” is a thundering remembrance of of Daniel’s youth that main-tains its feel through powerful drums, high guitar chords and Daniel’s echo of the resounding question to his listener, “Is love forever?”

“The Mystery Zone” is another jaunty tune that will have its hooks implanted in your mind for days after listen-ing to it.

The X-Factor of the band is without a doubt keyboardist Eric Harvey, who provides a piano sound on almost every single song on Transference, something that has been miss-ing from most alternative bands for quite some time now. This provides Spoon’s songs with a unique quality that isn’t offered by many, giving each track a fresh feel.

While Spoon will contin-ue to be one of the most under-rated bands on the rock scene, don’t let this turn you off from their work. Spoon’s complex-ity, masked by their brilliant simplicity, is something that is lacking in an era of over-pro-duced sparkly pop music.

Brand new fans and die-hard Spoon lovers alike will enjoy what Transference has to offer, and we all hope they can continue to deliver.

Pop in this record, and you might think you were lis-tening to a new John Mayer or Kings of Leon album, but, like it or not, “Who I Am,” released Feb. 2, is from a Jonas Brother.

The youngest of the trio, Nick, has ventured into a solo project titled Nick Jonas and the Administration, appropri-ately titled due to his nickname, “Mr. President” (he has always been the leader of the band de-spite being the youngest).

Something that most people don’t know is that the Jonas Brothers started with a failed solo album from Nick that later grew into the Jonas Brothers trio.

Nick has always been the musical prodigy of the fam-ily, starring on Broadway at the age of six, making a solo album in 2004 and writing or co-writ-ing virtually all of the Jonas Brothers songs.

With “Who I Am,” Nick comes full circle from his origi-nal failed solo venture to an al-bum rich with influences such as Elvis Costello, Prince and Stevie Wonder. The idea for this project came about when Jonas was on a break from tour-ing the world with his brothers, writing songs that were “stylis-tically not right for the Jonas Brothers.”

Thus, the Administra-tion, comprised of three mem-bers of Prince’s New Power Generation as well as music

producer John Fields, was born. But rest assured, the Jonas Brothers are not breaking up!

Listening to the album, it is definitely different from your typical Jonas Brothers songs like “S.O.S.” or “Burnin’ Up.” Jonas shows a new musi-cal direction that may appeal to a more adult crowd. Recorded with minimal overdubs and ef-fects at the famous Blackbird Studios in Nashville, the album has a raw, bluesy rock sound.

In the album’s first sin-gle, “Who I Am” Jonas shows a more sensitive side as he pleads, “I want someone to love me for who I am,” and complains about the “madness” of his life. This song is the clos-est to Jonas’ former pop sound, with its catchy hook and repeti-tive lyrics.

On the contrary, “Rose Garden” and “In The End” are slower, John Mayer-esque songs, filled with falsettos and metaphors. “Vesper’s Good-bye,” a sorrowful love story inspired by a James Bond film, also has a slower tempo.

The rest of the album has an upbeat 70s rock feel with more powerful, gravelly vocals.

With “Last Time Around” Jonas shows his Ste-vie Wonder-inspired roots with funk guitar and vocal hooks.

“Stronger (Back on the Ground)” has a vocal hook, and may draw on Jonas’s gospel background with messages of strength and a desire for “some-thing deeper than I’ve found.”

Jonas keeps the presi-dential metaphors going with

By Tyler HartungSports Editor

titles like “Olive & An Arrow,” “State of Emergency” and “Conspiracy Theory” (which is about none other than aliens) and nods to his brothers in a soft rock cover of the Jonas Brother’s song “Tonight.”

Although this is a new direction for Jonas, it is not entirely new, the songs on this album are similar to solos that Jonas has penned for the Jonas Brothers, such as “A Little Bit

photo courtesy of Google Images

Singing to cooing fans, Nick Jonas takes a bold step for-ward with his solo album.

Longer” and “Black Keys,” which he played on his short promotional tour with the Ad-ministration in January.

More than anything, Nick hopes that people will “listen to it with open ears.” For a 17 year old, he has standout song-writing and musical abil-ity to pave a path in the adult music world, even if he loses some of his younger fan base in the process.

Swift Halts Grammys’ Good VibrationsBy Stephanie WrightOpinion & Sports Editor

An incredible duo, Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John, opened the music industry’s biggest night with a collabora-tion that is sure to be one of the most remembered in Grammy history. Pink sang a beautiful rendition of “Glitter in the Air,” wet while performing acrobatic stunts over the heads of the audience. In addition, several powerful performers, including Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion and Usher, sang a memorial to the infamous King of Pop Mi-chael Jackson.

There is no denying that this year’s Grammys will be a hard act to follow, except for one performance. This one will live on as well but not for its glory and greatness, mainly be-cause it didn’t display either of the former. The performance is Taylor Swift’s duet with Stevie Nicks. The teenaged country/pop star made Nicks, a living legend, sound terrible. After her performance in the new feature film “Valentine’s Day,” we are left questioning if Swift actually has any talent aside from writing simple, catchy love songs.

Even more baffling is the fact that Swift won four awards at the Grammys fol-

lowing her horrendous, off-key appearance, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Fearless and Best Female Country Vocal Perfor-mance and Best Country Song for “White Horse.”

While maybe deserving of awards for Fearless– and that’s a big maybe– there is no explanation as to how she could have won Best Female Country Vocal Performance when she embarrassed herself on national television the same night.

The biggest winner of the night, and the most deserv-ing, was Beyoncé. She earned six awards, including Song of the Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best

R&B Song for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” She also won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Halo,” Best Traditional R&B Vocal Perfor-mance for “At Last,” and Best Contemporary R&B Album for I Am…Sasha Fierce. Beyoncé also performed her hit song “If I Were A Boy,” which was one of the best received perfor-mances of the night. Her energy and strength on stage was what made the act so profound, as well as the juxtaposition of the sweetness of her demeanor and the power of her performance.

Other big winners of the night were Lady Gaga and Kings of Leon, with two and three Grammys, respectively.

With a voice as beauti-ful as her visage, Annie Clark captivated the El Rey The-atre on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles. Clark’s band, St. Vincent, has not seemed to take a break from touring since it’s May 2009 re-lease of their second album Ac-tor. The follow-up to Marry Me received rave reviews, and the shows in its honor continue to amplify the record’s prestige.

After the opening per-formance of Wildbirds and Peacedrums, a mediocre and strange band from Switzerland, the venue was full and ready for the main attraction to take the stage.

The spooky yet heav-enly harmony that opens “The Strangers” echoed through the venue as St. Vincent com-menced the set. Quickly the song takes on warped, fantasy-like noises as Clark placidly sings to a lover who is spiraling downhill.

“Save Me From What I Want” maintained a whimsical atmosphere while “Laughing with a Mouth of Blood” took on a more original approach with its calm verses and a catchy chorus.

“Actor Out of Work” and “Marrow” brought out the heavier side of St. Vincent with its denser use of guitar chords and wind instrumentals; never-theless, Clark remained poised throughout the faster paced songs. The more even tem-pered songs, “Just the Same but

Brand New” and “The Bed,” exhibited Clark’s soft, melodic voice perfectly.

The masterly perfor-mances of “Jesus Saves, I Spend” and “Your Lips are Red” from Marry Me were a treat for those who loved the band’s first album, not that Ac-tor ventures far from the sound of Marry Me.

A highlight of the eve-ning was Clark’s cover of “These Days,” a song per-formed by model/singer Nico in the late 60s. Clark’s resonant and bird-like voice mirrored Nico’s but took on a more feminine tone, creating a pret-tier version of the song, in my opinion.

“Black Rainbow” re-sembled the initial songs of the evening with its fanciful ele-ments and melodic harmonies juxtaposed with an eerie and intense climax.

The band then left the stage for the lull proceeding the traditional concert encore. Upon return Clark rhetorically asked the crowd, “You didn’t really think we had left did you?”

For the first song of the encore, Clark returned without her band, and she effortlessly held the stage while performing a stripped-down version of the Beatles’ “Dig a Pony.”

The band came back on stage to end the night with “The Party” from Actor. The deceptively peaceful sound of the song was ironic under the depressing lyrics, and as Clark sang of a failing relationship coming to an end, she brought her set at the El Rey to a close.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 16 THE PAPER

SPORTSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

By Jake RosenSports Editor

WRESTLING WINS LEAGUE, GOES 4-1Winning league for the first time since 2003, wrestling ends San Clemente’s six-year streak and sends eleven to CIF

For the first time in sev-en years, wrestling has claimed the title of South Coast League Champion, and timing could not have been better consider-ing the recent decision to form the new Sea View League for next year.

The team racked up 175.5 points at the Feb. 6 tour-nament held at Aliso Niguel. The win broke San Clemente’s six-year winning streak, who took third with 143 points.

“It was nice watching San Clemente take third af-ter they beat us earlier in the season,” stated junior Austin DeVone.

Seniors Seena Foroutan (103 pounds) and Shane Sa-valle (145 pounds) and DeVone (160 pounds) each won their respective weight classes. They moved on to CIF Individuals on Feb. 20 at Whittier High School along with eight others.

“We smash domes, Dolphin style,” commented Foroutan bluntly. “We don’t have time for losers. We are the champions.”

DeVone, who was ranked second in the county for the 160-pound weight class, was

seated either second or third in the CIF-Southern Section Indi-viduals. The top five wrestlers

from CIF move on to Masters, where DeVone is was seated sixth. The top nine from Mas-

ters move on to State, which takes place Mar. 5 and 6.

“I’m training harder

now than I have all year,” said DeVone before CIF. “So if all goes well, I’ll be going to State.”

Unfortunately, DeVone did not qualify for Masters. However, Foroutan and junior Bryan Seefried placed fourth and Savalle placed fifth.

The team as a whole was ranked eighth in the county be-fore last weekend’s CIF Team Dual Meet at Los Alamitos, where they were eliminated by Righetti in the first round 59-18. Righetti went on to lose to Laguna Hills, who won first in the tournament.

“We donked on Mission hard,” commented DeVone concerning the 43-19 win over Mission Viejo on Jan. 28.

“The Mission dual was key because if we had lost then we’d have no chance at win-ning league,” said White.

The team rallied behind Abedi, who after being injured by his opponent, came back to win with a technical pin. The two faced off again at league finals, where Abedi beat him again after the Mission oppo-nent had been scolded by the judge for wrestling illegally.

The team beat Tesoro by a slight 36-33 margin on Jan. 21. Down 33-30 with one match remaining, McNaughton had to win if the team had any chance of winning league. He

photo courtesy of Tony Tribolet of xpsphoto.com

Defending a single leg, senior Glenn Cooper placed at league finals and moved on to CIF Individuals at Whittier High.

Seena Foroutan (Sr.)Weightclass: 103

Ryder White (Sr.)Weightclass: 112

Cruz Merritt (So.)Weightclass: 119

Bryan Seefried (Jr.)Weightclass: 125

Glenn Cooper (Sr.)Weightclass: 130

Jordan Toavs (Jr.)Weightclass: 135

Shane Savalle (Sr.)Weightclass: 145

Austin DeVone (Jr.)Weightclass: 160

Cole Thompson (Sr.)Weightclass: 171

Kamron Abedi (Jr.)Weightclass: 189

Jordan McNaughton (Sr.)Weightclass: Heavyweight

CIF Qualifiers:

SPORTSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER PAGE 17

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

By Claudia VarneyStaff Writer

Water Polo Wins First CIF Game in History

The lady Dolphins had already made history by the time they played their second CIF game on Feb. 20 against Laguna Beach. They lost 17-6, ending their season with a 17-10 overall record.

Placing second in the South Coast League, with a 3-2 record after beating Mission on Feb. 11, the girls are more than ready to end their season on a satisfactory note.

Their head coach, Ryan Mock, expressed how proud he was of his team, saying, “The girls finished their season strong getting their first CIF win in school history. They finished on a great note. The team’s chemistry really came together this year.”

On Feb. 18, in an intense CIF match held at Capo, the Dolphins met their match- Mira Costa. The Dolphin side of the stands was packed with cheer-ing supporters led by senior Cooper Griffiths.

Throughout the entire game, the girls played head to head, tieing at the conclusion of almost every quarter. They

tied at the conclusion of the fourth quarter and then went into overtime.

In the second quarter of overtime, the ladies looked like they were going to avoid the sudden death round and win the game with a score of 7-6. Yet Mira Costa ensured another grueling round with their in-credible goal while the clock was in the single digits.

With ten seconds left in the sudden death round, Junior Colleen Mcnaught broke the 7-7 tie with her winning goal. The Dolphins beat Mira Costa 8-7, giving them their first CIF win in Dana’s history.

On Feb. 12, the girls lost 11-4 to San Clemente in the SCL championship finals, ce-menting their impressive rank of second in league. After scor-ing their first goal in the first quarter, they kicked into high gear during the fourth quarter, scoring three goals and not let-ting their opponents get a single goal more.

The lady Dolphins played a critical match against Mission in the SCL champi-onship semi finals on Feb. 11. After their frustrating 12-11 loss to Mission on Feb. 4, they again met head to head winning 4-2.

This guaranteed them

at least second place in league and sent them to CIF.

On Feb. 4, the lady Dol-phins played against Mission Viejo in their final and most exciting league game. After fin-ishing the fourth quarter with a 9-9 tie, the game went into overtime, which ended with yet another tie. The teams then played a sudden death round, in which Mission scored one last goal.

Junior Colleen Mc-Naught was unable to score a single goal in the entire game because she was so heavily guarded. Mission dropped into set and kept two girls on her for the entire game to ensure that the lefty shooter was prevented from doing any damage that could cost them the game.

McNaught was satisfied with the team’s amazing sea-son, saying, “We had a huge turn around; we’ve been grate-ful to have an awesome coach and with that we’ve combined hard work and determination to come out on top this season and finally reach our team goal… CIF.”

Jessie Ashton was simi-larly happy with the way her final season on the team ended, saying, “I’m proud of our girls. We went from second to last to second in league in one year.”

285Steals

277Goals

167Assists

160Saves

League inReview

photo by Emily Roulund

Celebrating their Round One CIF victory, head coach Ryan Mock jumps in with the lady Dolphins as they howl with excitement and smile for the cameras.

photo by Emily Roulund

Eggbeatering out of the water, junior Dani Styles works to take a shot at the goal over the head of her opponent.

SPORTSFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 18 THE PAPER

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

By Matt McCreadieSports Editor

Soccer Closes with Respect, Improvement

By Matt McCreadieSports Editor

February has proved a difficult month for the boys soccer team. Enduring three losses against Aliso, Mission Tesoro on the fifth, ninth, and eleventh, respectively. Only Mission shut us out, and against Aliso we scored one goal more than in the last match up with them.

Against Capo Valley on Jan. 29, the excitement and craziness of the previous game was gone. In the overall uneventful match up, the boys tied 0-0. Considering the last game Dana played against the Cougars, holding them to a scoreless game is improvement from the 1-3 loss we suffered previously.

However, the boys pulled through against the San Clemente Tritons with a big 3-2 victory. Possibly the most exciting game of the entire sea-son, on Jan. 27 the boys came together and conquered with finesse.

In the first half, both teams had several shots on goal. The Tritons put themselves on the board with an early lead, but the Dolphins stuck back quickly with a drive down the field.

Fighting for survival, senior Chelsea Brigham tries to steal the ball from Aliso offense.

Facing Tesoro, the girls went back and forth between seeming defeat and domina-tion. Continuous running up and down the field tired out both teams, evidenced by in-creasing turnovers. The result was a scoreless tie.

On Feb. 8, the girls faced Mission Viejo on Dia-blo territory. While Mission senior varsity players were being awarded merit for their contributions to the team, our Dolphins practiced tirelessly before the game, shots on goal mostly. However, they probably could have practiced more.

Within the first ten min-utes, the Diablos already had two scarily close shots on goal under their belt. Dana defense had left the net far too open, but the Diablos were, luckily, unable to take advantage. It was starting to look like Mis-sion would control the pace of the game, but things don’t al-ways fall apart that quickly.

Right then, as the crowd of parents quieted down in disappointment, there was an upsurge of excitement for us. One of the girls broke loose, and with two diablos by her

side, she bolted downfield. If only that one Mission player had not tipped the ball oh so softly, seemingly only with her big toe, pushing it just out of reach, Dana would have scored. Instead, a goalie wearing black and red picked up the ball, took a stagger step and drop kicked it to her team member on the blue side of that rectangular battlefield.

“Go to the ball!” the spectators shouted alike: coaches, sidelined players, parents bundled up in blankets and sweatshirts. While I didn’t know what this phrase meant, I could infer from the playing that it meant something impor-tant. The girls lost 0-1 because they didn’t “go to the ball.” I guess the ball came to them. Well, it did at least once- in their goal.

Against Capo and Aliso, the girls played monotonous games, tying 1-1 and 0-0, re-spectively. The goals took place in both halves.

The girls faced San Cle-mente on Jan. 26, unknowingly, to endure a long and strenuous game. Despite best efforts, and several promising drives, the girls lost 0-1.

Looking back, it is hard to imagine a lack of team cam-raderie, since even in these last losses, the girls were fully com-posed.

The girls wrapped up the season with a respectable placing, but missed the mark at earning a coveted CIF spot. We recap the final games of this underdog

story, one now with a rosy hue thanks to a big win against San Clemente.

Using some fancy footwork, freshman Matt Chasman works to maneuver past the opposing defense.

Then, the two were in a stalemate for the remainder of the half. Some 20 minutes later both teams had scored again, making it dead even, 2-2.

In the final five minutes of the game, in a heated strug-gle, a Dolphin forward broke free and darted downfield. The pressure was on but the San Clemente goalie came up too soon, giving us the perfect open target. We won 3-2.

But this was much more than a win. This was the first win for this underdog team against a truly formidable op-ponent, proving that Coach Compeon’s faith in his team has instilled confidence in his players.

The boys continued their unfortunate losing record against Tesoro on Jan. 22. With only one major possession, the dolphins lost 1-5. The com-posure that the team has been trying to build all season long slipped in this disappointing loss.

Overall, Dolphin defense was the demise of the season. While scoring a respectable 25 goals throughout league play, the boys allowed nearly three times that in their own net.

However, towards the end of this less-than-perfect season, predictions of improve-ment for next year have been confrmed.

photo by Emily Cullen

photo by Emily Cullen

SPORTSDANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOLTHE PAPER PAGE 19

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

photo by Emily Cullen

With poise and form, senior Lauren Shute makes a free throw in the girls’ game against Capistrano Valley.

By Stephanie ChengSports Editor

Girls’ Basketball Wins League, Makes History

On Feb. 20, the Dol-phins were defeated by Canyon Springs 79-46 in their second CIF game. Despite strong per-formances from senior Lauren Shute, who scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, ju-nior Katherine Chastain, who grabbed nine rebounds, and junior Kristi Nishihara, who scored a three-pointer, it was not enough for the girls to emerge victorious.

The girls still closed the season triumphantly, winning their first CIF game against Temecula Valley and emerging as South Coast League cham-pions for the first time in Dana Hills history.

In the girls’ first CIF game of the year, the Dolphins triumphed over Temecula Val-ley, defeating them 55-39. With two three-pointers by Nishihara, one by junior Haley Nordbak and another by junior Alyson Ward, and 13 rebounds by Shute, the girls not only gained an early advantage but maintained it for the entirety of the game.

Coach Taryn Commins commented, “The girls have come so far from the beginning of the season, and I couldn’t be happier for the girls and for the school. Hopefully this is the first of many more successes for them.

“Teamwork and effort have definitely allowed us to come this far this year. We’ve become a more solid, cohesive

team. Despite strong individual performances, they’ve learned to play more as a team and less only as individuals. ”

The girls defeated Teso-ro on Feb. 10. Shute scored a total of 21 points, and junior Olivia Winokur grabbed eight rebounds. The girls led by a narrow one point margin in the first quarter and swept through the remaining half, beating Tes-oro by an eight-point margin, winning 50-42.

On Feb. 8, the Dolphins competed against the Mission Viejo Diablos. The girls once again gained an early advan-tage, scoring 25 points in the first quarter and maintaining the lead for rest of the game, winning 57-33.

Winning 64-50, the girls defeated Aliso Niguel again on Feb. 5. Shute led the Dolphins once more, scoring 21 points, and Ward shot a three-pointer. The girls gained an early ad-

vantage in the game, with a lead of 20-17 in the first quar-ter, and remained ahead of the Wolverines for the rest of the game.

The Dolphins lost 43-52 to Capistrano Valley on Jan. 28. With a slow start, the girls were unable to regain their mo-mentum; though they tied and outdid Capistrano Valley in the second, third and fourth quar-ters, they could not make up for the loss in points from the

beginning of the game. Regardless, the girls

played admirably, with Shute scoring 15 of the total points and Nishihara scoring two three-pointers.

Defeated 43-53 their sec-ond time playing San Clemente on Jan. 26, the lady Dolphins were unable to perform as well as they had the first time. Wi-

photo by Emily Cullen

New coach Taryn Commins gathers the girls and helps lead them to the school’s first bas-ketball league victory.

nokur scored 13 of the team’s points, while Nordbak scored 12 and Shute, Nishihara and Winokur each scored a three-pointer.

Though the ladies began the game with an impressive 12-4 lead, the girls were unable to maintain it for the remainder of the game, culminating in their ultimate loss.

SPORTSFRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010PAGE 20 THE PAPER

DANA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL

Basketball Closes Season in CIFBy Tyler HartungSports Editor

Despite the boys’ bas-ketball team finishing short of its’ goal of a second consecu-tive league title, the team had a solid 20-8 overall record, 7-3 record to finish league play this season, and ended the year ranked No. 9 in the county.

“We really thought we could win league again but we just came up short,” senior Brendan Hill commented.

The boys earned a sec-ond-place finish in the no-toriously tough South Coast League, the only league in Southern California, along with the Trinity League, to have all of its teams qualify for CIF competition.

Unfortunately, the sea-son came to an end in the sec-ond round of CIF play against Santa Monica High School. This marked the second con-secutive season that the Dol-phins have made a second round exit in CIF.

“As a team we felt that we underachieved this year,” senior Hill said. “But from an outside view, we were picked to finish fourth in league but we ended up much higher than that. One of our goals was 20 wins and we reached that this year.”

After their first round victory against Redlands East Valley, Dana lost the coin flip that determined whether the game would be played at home or at Santa Monica.

Hill commented, “If we had played at home the game would have been closer. May-be we could have even won. Playing at home in CIF always helps.”

The team fell behind early and never came within closer than ten points.

From the beginning of the game the boys ran into a buzzsaw and were blown out, 63-39.

CIF play began on Feb. 17, with the Dolphins taking on Redlands East Valley.

Redlands East Valley got off to a quick start in the first quarter, but the Dolphins ex-ploded for 23 points in the sec-ond quarter, and went into the

locker room up by a dozen. “Our bigs Kyle [John-

son] and Nick [Kaspar] played really well,” Hill stated.

Barring a few runs from the opposing team, the boys were able to maintain their comfortable lead. Junior fan-favorite Jeremy Bass provided 11 points thanks to some sharp shooting, prompting chants of “BASS BASS BASS!” from the home crowd.

The game ended in a 70-59 victory for the Dolphins, with Hill and Getz scoring 22 points each. Hill also rounded out his double-double with an astounding 13 assists.

“Ray [Getz] and I were

also able to get into the paint and score too. Dylan McDaniel also played great defense the whole game,” Hill said.

The team’s final league game was against Tesoro, where they had the opportunity to lock up at least a tie for sec-ond place in league.

The Dolphins came out and grabbed an early lead over the Titans but found them-selves leading by only one at

halftime.“We just didn’t play

very well for almost the entire game,” senior Ray Getz said. “Especially in the second half we didn’t play our best.”

“We just had to battle the

entire game,” Hill added. “We started attacking the basket and playing more aggressive.”

After a slow third quar-ter in which they saw their lead dissappear entirely, the boys roared back in the fourth quar-ter thanks to some strong team play. They outscored the oppo-sition 18-8 in the final quarter, and found themselves victori-ous 49-41.

The team’s 7-3 South

Coast League record was good enough for second place. The team was second only to Mis-sion Viejo, whose impressive 9-1 record won the league title.

“If we were in any other league we probably would have

won,” explained Hill. “It says a lot about how good our team was.”

“It made us constantly stay on top of our game,” Getz added. “We knew we couldn’t afford to make many mistakes in such a tough league.”

On Feb. 9, the No. 7 Dolphins traveled to Mission Viejo, in a game that would de-cide if the team would share the South Coast League title with

49-41Tesoro

42-40MissionViejo

League Scoreboard(7-3)

53-54Aliso Niguel

58-68Capo Valley

37-58San Clemente

53-57Tesoro

52-67MissionViejo

45-51Aliso Niguel

47-45Capo Valley

51-46San Clemente

Mission.“They scouted us pretty

well, and we just didn’t play our best,” Hill commented.

The teams were locked in a close game early on, as both teams had a score of 17 at

the half.“Our tough defense is

what kept us in the game even though we didn’t win,” Getz said.

The score remained close in the third quarter as well, as Mission held onto a slim 29-28 lead.

No. 6 Mission Viejo led by four points in the final sec-onds, but Hill made a three-pointer with just two seconds left to cut the Diablos’ lead to one at 41-40.

However, the Diab-los were able to put the game away at the free throw line on the next play after the Dolphins committed a quick foul.

The team had no answer for Mission’s tough defense, as leading scorer Getz was held to only one point.

“They ran a triangle-on-two [zone] defense and double-teamed me for pretty much the entire game,” Getz added. “We just couldn’t break through.”

In the previous game, the boys suffered another dis-appointing loss to Aliso Niguel on the road, a team they had previously beaten.

“They just made plays and we didn’t,” Getz said. “That’s all it comes down to.

Although Getz had 19 points and Hill had 12 assists, the team could not avoid a last-second defeat to the Wolver-ines, ending the Dolphins three game winning streak.

“We missed free throws down the stretch,” Hill stated. “That really came back to hurt us.”

After a close victory against Capistrano Valley in their previous meeting, Dana dominated for most of the Jan.29 game, and came out on top with a 68-58 win.

A highlight of the game was Getz going five for six from the three-point line and finishing with a jaw-dropping 31 points to lead the team.

On Jan. 22, the boys hosted the Tesoro Titans in an-other league game in which the Dolphins came out victorious.

Again led by Getz, who scored 20 points, the Dolphins held on to a slim lead for most of the game, finishing the road victory with a score of 57-53. Senior Kyle Johnson also had a solid game with 16 points.

photos by Emily Cullen and Tony Tribolet of xpsphoto

photos by Tony Tribolet of xpsphoto

Brendan HillNick Kaspar