Volume 57, Number 8 San Gabriel, California Wednesday, April 25, 2012

MATADORWednesday, April 25, 201Wednesday, April 25, 201Wednesday 2

RTHESAN GABRIEL HIGH SCHOOL

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Individuality: The put-downs of others reflect their insecurities, no t you r worth nor capabilities.

OPINIONS

Page 4

C e l e b r i t y C o u p l e s : Exposing the inconspicuous i n t e n t i o n s

b e h i n d c e l e b r i t y dating.

ENTERTAINMENT

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Comparisons: Tall or short, height is not the determining f a c t o r i n h o w ath le tes perform.

SPORTS

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Fashion: Sophomores Miche l le Arana

and Ju l i anne Ochoa launch

their fashion l i n e — Va r Castel.

FEATURES

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Preview shows prom detailsJCC presents ‘A Moment in Time’ at the Disneyland Hotel.

Academic Pep Rally postponed and slightly alteredCalvin Hwang

To raise motivation and anticipa-tion, Project Star plans to offer more in-centives to further encourage students to strive for higher California State Testing (CST) scores. In the upcoming assembly on Friday, April 27, princi-pal Jim Schofi eld plans to recognize students who have made exceptional point increases and reveal the types of rewards that the program will offer for the students’ hard work.

Project Star has been around for a couple of years now, but has undergone refi nements every year. The program aims to help students understand what the scores they receive on the CST mean and what the numbers represent. The program also provides the students’ previous years’ scores and a conver-sion chart to allow students to fi gure out the number of questions they got right, which raises self-awareness for students to be motivated to perform well the next year.

In addition to the Basic English and Math scores, they have also included the Science and Social Science scores as well to give students a more precise overview of their CST testing. Teach-ers have been answering all questions about the test and providing test-tak-ing tips.

Over the years, San Gabriel has con-sistently increased its point gain. Last year, there was a 38-point increase and in the last four years, it has increased by a total of 111 points. It was also the fi rst year that the junior class broke the 800-mark. The interesting pattern of the CST is that each year, a class beats the score of the previous year. This pattern promotes a healthy spirit of competition.

Although seniors are not required to take the CST anymore, they are not excluded from any CST celebrations. The annual Star BBQ recognized the students who have increased their point gain by at least 10 points or have remained advanced in the majority of the test subjects. The BBQ is just one of the many rewards that the program plans to offer and the rest will be re-vealed in the upcoming assembly.

“All the things we’re [Project Star] doing are to thank the students for their hard work and to encourage them to continue working hard,” Principal Schofi eld said.

Lorraine Peng

Juniors and seniors bustled into the audito-rium during lunch on Tuesday, April 17 for the highly anticipated Prom Preview. Under the theme “A Moment in Time,” it was revealed that prom will be held on Saturday, May 19 at The Disneyland Resort Hotel.

Until May 1, tickets will be sold for $85 with ASB and $90 without ASB. Unlike previous years, this year’s Junior Class Council decided to offer procrastination tickets which are avail-able from May 14 through 18 for $95 with ASB and $99 without ASB.

“We thought that Disneyland is something different. It’s everyone’s dream,” Senior Class Council President Jamie Phan said.

Junior Class Council showcased a video to get people psyched up for prom. The video starred juniors Rachel Ma and Duke Lin as they journeyed through a typical love story. It featured a boy who goes through obstacles in order to ask the girl of his dreams to prom.

“We watched previous Junior Class Council videos, took their ideas, and added a twist,” Junior Class Council member Leon Chan said.

Senior Class Council presented the do’s and don’ts of prom in a skit in order to make sure that students know what to do when prom rolls around. The skit included points which included arriving on time, being prepared, dressing appropriately, organizing your rides, staying with your date, dancing appropriately, and asking early. Emphasis was placed on the importance of not dressing too casually but also not too formally.

“Go big or go home. It’s a special dance so it’s important to dress up for the occasion,” Senior Class Council member Joselyn Pham said.

To the surprise of both Junior and Senior Class Councils, cheers echoed throughout the auditorium in response to the announcement that prom will be held at The Disneyland Resort Hotel. The response was overwhelm-ing because the majority of the audience was elated at the fact that prom would be held at Disneyland due to popular belief that it would be too expensive.

“Initially I was not sure if I wanted to attend prom but after watching prom preview and seeing how the price is the same as last years, I am actually really excited to attend,” senior Brandon Huynh said.

In order to attend prom, it is necessary to pick up a permission slip from the student bank and get parental permission. Also available to those who want to bring a friend is the guest pass which is located on the back of the permis-sion slip. Both forms can be turned in now until Friday, May 18.

Lesl ie Tr inh

Thirteen Junior Class Council members pose in front of the Disneyland Hotel. Photos of JCC are used for posters and other advertisements.

2011 Junior Class Council featured a skit that ‘bashed’ other classes. In order to promote respect between classes, negative comments have been banned during the rally.

Photo courtesy of Clifford Photography

Photo courtesy of Ricky Wai, El Camino Real

For several years, the annual Aca-demic Pep Rally has taken place in May after AP testing occurred. Originally planned for April 20, APR was delayed until June 1 for reasons including relief for student councils and ASB. In addi-tion, ASB will host a single one hour long event instead of two 40-minute rallies. Along with the date swap, the location of the rally, usually in the Matador Arena, was changed to the Matador Stadium.

“March and April are especially

hectic months for students, and APR requires a lot of work, so the more time, the better,” Senior Class Council Co-Treasurer Brenda Lienh said. “In addi-tion to that, we also wanted to include everyone, and if it were to be on April 20, our FBLA team would be gone.”

Because of activities occurring in late April and AP testing in early May, the rally was postponed in order to en-sure that the entire student body would be present. Traditionally, APR, which praised students through awards such as the Renaissance, Phoenix, and Ath-letic Scholar award, was used to ask for

sponsorships from businesses. In order to avoid another possible

class battle, the class skits must go through different levels of approval before they are displayed. According to administrators, class skits can only be used to promote respective classes, and not stray away from any inap-propriate content that may instigate a fight. Though, with the Matador Stadium allowing students from each class to take seats closer to one another, this may prove to be a challenge for campus security if a hostile environ-ment do arise.

At Prom Preview on Tuesday, April 17, Junior Class Council with help from Senior Class Council announced the Prom Theme—‘A Moment in Time’—along with the location —the Disneyland Hotel.

Photo by Natalie Tran

eight is not the etermining

ect their

For the extended version of this article, visit the news section of The Matador Online.

provided for CST testsFurther incentives

Exposing theinconspicuous i n t e n t i o n s

and Ju l i anne Ochoa launch

NEWSNEWS2 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Grad Nite times altered due partially to parental concerns

Calvin Hwang

Major changes have taken place concerning Grad Nite for the Class of 2012 due to new policies enforced by Disney, which takes place on June 14, the day after graduation. In order to accommodate parental concerns, school officials now seek to re-schedule Grad Nite from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. Along with this swap, students will also only be permitted access to Disneyland because officials will close California Adventures to prepare for the debut of its new attraction, Car’s Land.

Originally scheduled to span from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., Grad Nite was later changed to go from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., allowing students to roam Disneyland and Disney California Adventures. However, teachers and faculty members understood that this would cause an inconve-nience for parents picking up their children, opting for a third time swap.

“[Disney] wants a lot more security. They want to take care of the park,” Senior Class Council adviser Nicole Manalang said. “That’s why we’re just following what Disneyland wants us to follow to make it the best experience for everyone.”

In previous years, Grad Nite tickets sold up until the day of the event; however, part of Disney’s new Grad Nite policy includes limiting these sales to nearly half the amount they were before. Seniors who want refunds may return tickets to the student bank, where their tickets will be placed on a refund list for other students to purchase.

Since students are only permitted entrance to Disney-land and not both theme parks, Disney has promised to reimburse students by presenting them tickets to go back to Disney California Adventures another day, which is good for about a year.

Disney also now requires that all seniors participating in Grad Nite attend a mandatory rules meeting with a parent, which will take place later in June. Seniors who still have questions about Grad Nite may ask in a meet-ing during CST testing on May 1.

Despite many new rules and policies, teachers speculate the day of Grad Nite to be an advantage for students, allowing them to access more rides since other schools will schedule their Grad Nite on the day that Car’s Land debuts.

MESA members place at RegionalsEight participants placed in the top ten at competitions at UCLA.

San Gabriel High School’s Mathematics Engineer-ing Science Achievement (MESA) team competed at the Regional level on Saturday, April 21, at the University of California, Los Angeles.

San Gabriel High School’s MESA was part of the CSU-LA region and competed against three other regions: CSULB, USC, and UCLA.

The competition started registration at eighty-thirty sharp in which the competi-tion started shortly after.

To encourage future engineers, scientists, and mathematician hopefuls, an Engineering and Sci-ence Fair was hosted at the competition. Various booths from many science groups and companies gave out prizes, presentations, and answered students’ ques-tions and comments. At one of the booths, sopho-more Steven Ho won a math puzzle mini-competition sponsored by Xerox and re-ceived a gift card. Northrop

Grumman Corporation, a leading global security com-pany that provides innova-tive systems, also made an appearance.

After competing in their events, students then gath-ered around for an awards ceremony. San Gabriel swept some competition categories with their hard work and practiced performances.

Sophomore Phung Chiu came in second for Solo Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus. For Team Math Quest Alge-bra II/Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus, sophomore Derek Dang, Jestin Ma, and Oscar Molina placed second. For 9th and 10th Mousetrap Car: Creativity, sophomore Tuan Lam placed first and also placed third in 9th and 10th

Jenny Bui

Sophomore Tuan Lam sets up his car to compete in the Mousetrap Car Race at the Regional MESA competition on Saturday, April 21 at UCLA. Lam placed third in his division alongside seven other teammates that placed at preliminary levels in their events.

Photo by Steven Ho

Assistant Principal promoted to District OfficeAfter six years, Ma leaves San Gabriel to become a District Coordinator.

In a quiet office in San Gabriel, a computer displays a faculty member ’s life story, his thesis: Asian-Americans in Leadership: efficacy, impressions, and the glass ceiling.

Assistant Principal Lindsey Ma has followed this road of leadership ever since he was inspired to undertake the path of an educator. Next year, he will be promoted to the District Office to be a Coordinator of Child Welfare.

“It’s what makes me tick. This particular calling came to me when I was [in high school],” Ma said.

Since then, Ma has taught grade school and gradually became receptive to middle school, and eventually, took the mantle to oversee secondary education.

“Teaching at elementary schools was great—it wasn’t formal and I didn’t have to wear a tie,” Ma reminisces. “I was actually not comfortable with public speaking.”

And thus, Ma did not give high

actively participating from day one after the transition to high school,” Ma said.

Every step of the way, Ma has progressed through the revolving doors of ambiguity and education—he has learned what leadership meant to him.

“What students need most are people around them that believe in them, gives them direction, hope, skills to accomplish values and beliefs,” Ma said.

To the left of his office displays a faculty staff-to-principal recognition award for his charisma and leadership in Hillcrest Elementary where the school transformed to a Blue Ribbon achievement institution.

“Leadership is not so much directing but helping others so their needs are met, and their strengths emphasized,” Ma said.

Scattered elsewhere are plaques from Marshall, a frame by Glazier Elementary, memories of Garvey Intermediate, and at the center of it all, San Gabriel, all culminating into the framework of his aspiration.

school or a position as principal much thought.

“But then I found myself as a principal after much insisting by my own teachers in college, and thanks to them, I’m here now, the person I am,” Ma said. “Now, I’m back to my K-8 roots, where it all began.”

Several mementos surround Ma’s office, suggesting an impact Ma had left, and the influences from the schools that kept the door of possibility open for him.

“I had a Literature professor in college; Alan Croffer was his name, and he told, ‘As long as the doors open, walk through,’” Ma recalls. In this point of his life, Ma’s pivotal moment had come.

In his six years of tenure at San Gabriel, Ma has attributed the Motivating Matadors (MoMa), the most recent of his inspirational moments, as one of the best in his career. Started as a freshman orientation, MoMa grew within three years into a year-long program.

“The mind set of the program is to have students engaged and

Mousetrap Car: Accuracy competition. In addition, senior Nathan Cheung and junior Eric Tran placed first for Mousetrap Car Incline. Finally, for the Speak Out competition, sophomores Jenny Bui, Steven Ho, and Sang Ngo placed third.

MESA’s highest level of competition concludes at the Regional Level.

Matthew Quach

In his office, Student Serv ices Assistant Principal Lindsey Ma assists sophomore Kev in Vuong . Ma founded the Motivating Matadors (MoMa) p ro g r a m t o h e l p freshmen adjust to high school life with number and guide them through their first year with help from their upperclassmen. Photo by Hana Ngo

NEWSNEWS 3THE MATADOR

Environmental Club tackles ‘Green Your School’ project

By taking part in a new project, the Environmental Club has found a new way to move students to act for an environmental cause. With the Green Your School project, students can fight for the environmental cause with both individual and collective goals. With the combined efforts of all Matadors, San Gabriel may even be able to earn the grand prize of $5,000.

“We [Environmental Club] found this project about a month ago, and we see this as a good opportunity to motivate students to make our school

Kevin Hu greener,” public relations officer Tiffany Duong said. The wide accessibility of the project enables all intuitive students to participate. The wide array of projects range from easy to difficult tasks, making the project flexible to different people with different levels of determination.

S t u d e n t s a re a b l e t o earn points for the school by completing, straight-forward tasks by simply adjusting computer settings to accommodate for energy saving or adopting the habit of turning off the lights when leaving the room. By banding together and seeking a collective

of the project extend to much further than just the school itself. Students who demonstrate extraordinary devotion may also be awarded scholarships of varying amounts, meaning that individual efforts will not be neglected.

It is not too late to contribute to the Green Your School project as the project is still relat ively new. Students interested in completing these individual and collective school projects can still sign up online at <http://www.dosomething.org/green-your-school>. As of now, 10 people are already signed up to help the environmental cause.

effort, students can also take on more challenging tasks, such as building a rain garden or convincing the school to fix leaking faucets. Those who complete these tasks must submit proof of such work via pictures in order to gain points for the school.

S a n G a b r i e l w i l l b e competing with other schools around the area for the $5,000 grand prize, but excluding the grand prize, there are smaller prizes that the Do Something foundation may award, including a $1,000 prize for the school with the most participants.

Despite this, the benefactors

Environmental Club members gather on Friday, April 20 to recycle papers in the hopes of winning the Green Your School Challenge.

Photo by Nana Akahoshi

Unsupervised multipurpose room generates food fight

Opened a few years ago, San Gabriel High School’s multipurpose room housed its first food fight during lunch on Friday, April 13. The room was initially opened for the presentations happening on that day and was coincidentally left unlocked by the administrators. Students had assumed that the room was opened for the purpose of providing shelter from Friday’s downpour, and thus were left unsupervised by school administrators or adults.

Started by an unidentified student or students, the fight began when people started throwing around ketchup packets and tater tots, and heightened when someone caused a milk carton to explode in the middle of the room.

“Everyone was surprised. I was one of the first ones out because I did not want to be a part of it. Everything just stopped, and I came back in,” junior Phong Quach said. “When I came back in, everyone was standing in the corners, and then all of a sudden, everyone was throwing tater tots and ketchup packets, and then everything started getting thrown around.”

The food fight was split into two parts; the first ended when the milk carton exploded and scared everyone out of the multipurpose room, and the second started when everyone filed in again. It took a few minutes after the start of the second fight for campus supervisors to notice the commotion. By that time, many students had fled from the scene.

“We were supposed to have our Friday National Honor Society meeting at the multipurpose room, but we went to Ms. Keller’s room instead because there were so many people there already,” NHS Vice President Jasmine Lee said. “I’m glad that we moved because that way, we had no part in the food fight and the members were safe and clean.”

Amidst the chaos of the unexpected food fight, some students were injured and suffered a couple bumps and bruises. A table was flipped over as well as a couple chairs that were used as shields during the altercation. A student also slipped on the wet floor while rushing out of the multipurpose room. The casualties include ruined clothing and unkempt hair. Many people left with rice in their hair, milk on their clothing, ketchup on their shoes, and orange chicken sauce on their shirts.

The administration is currently studying videotapes from the security cameras to figure out who started the fight, but the identities of the instigators are hard to determine because the room’s window blinds were pulled down.

“In retrospect, it makes me sad that our students made that poor choice. What happened could have had a student injured. I also realized that this event represented a small number of our outstanding students,” Principal Jim Schofield said. “It was partly our fault because the room was left [unsupervised] by an adult. [The administration] hasn’t decided on opening the multipurpose room for extreme weather conditions during lunch. It needs to be a privilege that’s earned back.”

Though the privilege of using the multipurpose room during collaboration days and lunch on rainy days and hot days is endangered, no other student privileges will be taken away. Despite the rumors, the administration will not take away prom, Toga, or any other student activities.

Week-long Denim Day celebrationSteven Ho

STOP organizes flash mob, pep rally, and fashion show to honor Denim Day.

STOP Club is organizing three lunchtime events near the pancake from April 23 to April 27 in order to raise awareness for the international event, Denim Day. There will be a club showcase on Monday, a jeans fashion show on Wednesday, and a special event on Friday. There will be live entertainment by various students throughout the week and efforts will be made to spread the word about Denim Day.

Denim Day is the story of an 18 year-old girl who was raped by a man who appealed to the court, claiming that the girl’s tight jeans meant that she must have helped him take off her pants and made the assault consensual.

There wil l be eight student organizations taking part in Denim Day: the Executive Board, Gay and Proud Supporters (GAPS), Herstory, Nutrition Network, Students Together Organizing Peace (STOP), Peer Counseling, Conflict Mediation, and Yes I Can.

“These c lubs wil l ral ly and support for the cause of anti-bullying, harassment, and sexual assault,” STOP club adviser Carla Fujimoto said. In conjunction with the STOP club, POV is

the organization that launches Denim Day in San Gabriel High, the Alhambra School District, and the community.

“Monday will be an introduction to the clubs that are interested [in Denim Day],” Kevin Cai said, the president of STOP club and a strong believer of Denim Day.

O n We d n e s d a y, t h e a c t u a l internationally celebrated day of Denim Day, there will be a fashion show event where all students may participate. “Students will design [their] jeans

to show support of anti-bullying, harassment, and sexual assault,” Fujumoto said. There will be three judges who will award winners based on originality, style, and message.

There will be an event on Friday 27 at the pancake, organized by the eight clubs and the Trevor project, an organization fighting teen suicide and harassment.

ASB, Yes I Can, Herstory Club, and STOP Club show their support for Denim Day by participating in a rally held at the pancake on Monday, April 23. Today at lunch a similar rally will be held to honor Denim Day.

Photo by Celine Dang

In an effort to win $5,000, Enviro engages in recycling and other energy saving tasks.

Christ ina Vo

For the extended version of this article, visit the news section of The Matador Online.

NEWSOPINIONS4 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

EditorialPerpetually Anxious

LaurenFukumoto

Like it really matters

April 12, 2012. Just another ordinary Saturday night for me. As usual, I’m scrolling through some not-so interesting Facebook posts and listening to Britney Spears. Current song playing? Track number twelve, aka “Overprotected” (the Darkchild remix, of course, because the original version bores me).

“I don’t need nobody telling me just what I’m gonna do about my destiny.

Nobody’s telling me just what I wanna do, I’m so fed up with

people telling me to be someone else but me.”

I had to replay that part of the song. And

replay it. And re-

Gaining success is the best revengeplay it once more. As strange as it sounds, listening to it made me realize that much of my life has been revolved around lis-tening to what other people think of me and what they want me to do.

I knew somebody that was run-ning for class council—someone I was extremely close to. I had helped him with campaigning, and surprisingly enough, I found myself enjoying the campaigning process. I told him that class council looked fun and that I thought it’d be a good idea if I ran. His response? “I don’t think you could. You kind of need to know people and have friends to do it.”

What was the implication behind this? Was he trying to get me out of ever run-ning for class council to prevent me from getting hurt if I got rejected? Or maybe he just really thought I had no friends.

Whatever the case was, I never picked up an application. I also didn’t pick up the next semester’s application. To this day, I still regret it. Not be-cause it meant I couldn’t be a part of class council, but because I let my-self be controlled by someone else’s

opinions.It has been a while since this

somewhat traumatic “you have no friends” incident, and I will blatantly admit that it still

bothers me a bit. Who did this person think that he was to tell me not to go do some-thing I wanted to do, and at the expense of hurting my

When it comes to the hardest deci-sions—the ones that define who we are—the fi ght or fl ight method comes into play. None of us really know what to do, who to be, or even how to act. The minute you think you’ve got the rules down, the game changes and you start from scratch once again. So after this pattern has played out a couple of times you fi nd yourself down on the ground, head between your knees, propped up against a wall, asking, “What do I do now? Where do I go from here? Does any of it even matter?”

We spend our lives trying to fi gure out a way to make all of this easier. If we could fi nd a formula to eliminate heartbreak, detect the next person that’ll betray us, or fast-forward and fi nd out how our lives turn out in the end, that formula would sell out faster than the iPhone 5. As much as we fear that all of our efforts will end up wasted, none of us are willing to give up. As much as four hours of studying a night probably won’t increase my chances of getting into Columbia, I refuse to quit. There’s a pursuit involved. There’s a time when we convince ourselves that maybe, just maybe, we actually have a say in our future. That perhaps destiny isn’t in control of our lives, and the more effort we put in, eventually, there has to be some sort of payout in the end. We all hope for that, but that light at the end of the tunnel is seeming more and more like an oncoming train.

We’re always full of problems—to the point that it becomes taboo to talk about it because we refuse to admit that we “can’t handle it.” I won’t lie; I hate being vulner-able. It makes you feel weak, stupid, and ultimately powerless. But nonetheless, I am vulnerable. I think that acing a test will make a difference in the long run; that putting in that extra hour of studying will pay off the next day; and that being the hardest working person will ensure me future successes. I have no other choice. I have to be optimistic; it’s too brutal to admit that maybe I have absolutely no say in my future. What it comes down to is the willpower. Let’s say that there’s a 99% chance that my life has already been planned out by some deity and every move I make has been written in stone a thousand years ago; however, there’s also a 1% chance that I, and every move I make, leads me to a different future. Am I willing to keep going? Am I willing to give up that 1% chance just because the odds are against me? Of course not.

At the end of the day, I may have no control over my life, but I do have control over my attitude. Giving up and letting life get the better of me is not the way I operate. I will face life head-fi rst and be dragged out of the arena kicking, scream-ing, and with a dislocated shoulder before I fi nally call it quits. I, as most of you out there, am a fi ghter. No matter how many times I feel not good enough, there’s always a chance to prove myself wrong. And perhaps that’s the point. Not win-ning the battle, but having the audacity to keep fi ghting.

Reality check: Life isn’t supposed to be fi gured out. Anyone who tells you dif-ferent is either ignorant, lying, or selling something. So if that makes you mad, you have a choice. Are you going to lay yourelf down and let life close your coffi n, or charge, sword in hand, ready to prove destiny wrong?

Natal ie Tran

Nobody’s telling me just what I wanna do, I’m so fed up with

people telling me to be someone else but me.”

I had to replay that part of the song. And

replay it. And re-

looked fun and that I thought it’d be a good idea if I ran. His response? “I don’t think you could. You kind of need to know people and have friends to do it.”

What was the implication behind this? Was he trying to get me out of ever run-ning for class council to prevent me from getting hurt if I got rejected? Or maybe he just really thought I had no friends.

Whatever the case was, I never picked up an application. I also didn’t pick up the next semester’s application. To this day, I still regret it. Not be-cause it meant I couldn’t be a part of class council, but because I let my-self be controlled by someone else’s

opinions.It has been a while since this

somewhat traumatic “you have no friends” incident, and I will blatantly admit that it still

bothers me a bit. Who did this person think that he was to tell me not to go do some-thing I wanted to do, and at the expense of hurting my

feelings? Undoubtedly, this hasn’t been the only

time in my life something someone said or did to me prevented me from doing what I wanted. My ideas are constantly being shot down by others. People tell me that the things I desire to do are unrealistic. But at the end of the day, I have to remember that this is my life.

So what if somebody says I shouldn’t do something? Why must I attend to what he or she wants out of me? My life is what I want to make out of it, regardless of how big or small my decisions for it all. I don’t want to become someone’s image of what they believe I should be.

To the anyone who has ever told me that I am not capable of doing something, thank you. At the end of the day, it only motivates me harder to go forth with what I want to do. My life equals my own decisions. This is my game, and I make up the rules.

Gaining success is the best revengeplay it once more. As strange as it sounds, listening to it made me realize that much of my life has been revolved around lis-tening to what other people think of me

I knew somebody that was run-ning for class council—someone I was extremely close to. I had helped him with campaigning, and surprisingly enough, I found myself enjoying the campaigning process. I told him that class council looked fun and that I thought it’d be a good idea if I ran. His response? “I don’t think you could. You kind of need to know people and have friends to do it.”

When the fi rst milk carton was sent fl ying through the multipurpose room, pandemonium erupted. The sound of pouring rain mixed in with shouts of excitement and panic as students continued to throw their lunches at each other, littering a generally spotless room. The food fi ght that commenced on that Friday the 13th has come to not only symbolize the student body’s attitude, but the administration’s inability to recognize these attitudes.

A senior student was quoted to have said that the food fi ght was the “greatest, most fun thing that has ever happened” at San Gabriel. To all of our most recent memory, a food fi ght has never occurred in the past four years. But it happened now, and the administration’s response was less than cheerful. Amid talks of how we must keep our school pristine in reputation and (apparently) cleanliness, we see something else. This rebellious act of freedom, if only for a moment, was representative of how tightly controlled our school environment has become.

What the school has come to expect of its students is a well-behaved, everybody-love-each-other environment where we are supposed to hold hands in a circle and sing songs of friendliness. The senior panoramic picture, for example, was cancelled because of a few students’ complaints of not having a group.

Field trips have become stricter in regulation because they must be available and accessible to each and every single student involved. This restricted environment has done nothing but prevent our students from receiving a balanced high school experience—it can be compared to babying our students to believe that the world is

a nice place, when it really is not. In an attempt to promote an equal school atmosphere, the administration does not realize that pleasing an entire student body consisting of over 2,500 students is not feasible. Ultimately,there will always be a number of students that will be left out of any type of activity, event, or group.

Yes, the food fi ght occurred out of poor judgment. The motives behind the food-fi lled riot were scarce and unacceptable. Proper punishment should be expected and given to those who deserve it. But interestingly enough, there is a commentary that arises beyond the food fi ght that is indicative of how San Gabriel has changed to be a confi ned atmosphere. All that we can possibly gain from this incident is this: you only live (high school) once.

Illustration by Jelina Luu

Hungry for a little bit of freedom

Illustration by Jelina Luu

incident is this: you only live (high school) once.incident is this: you only live (high school) once.

Illustration by Jelina Luu

NEWSOPINIONS 5THE MATADOR

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The Matador is published monthly by the journal-ism staff of San Gabriel High School. 1,600 copies per issue are published at JEJ Print Inc. The opinions and views expressed in The Matador do not necessarily refl ect the beliefs of the entire staff or the Alhambra School District.

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Adviser

Calvin HwangCalvin Lam

Lauren FukumotoIrene HongSandy PengNikky Tran

Jenny BuiKatherine Pham

Steven HoMonica LamKarin Chan

Byron ToYadanar Oo

Matthew QuachChristina Vo

Hana NgoJelina Luu

Duyen DangNatalie Tran

Julianne TengLorraine Peng

Leslie TrinhNana Akahoshi

Celine DangBianca TranSteve Slagle

Reporters: Maggie Cheng, Debbie Dinh, Kevin Hu, Christopher Lan, Priscilla Liang, Marvin Luu, Rachel Ma, Oscar Molina, Brian Rios, Karen Rivera, Michelle Tu, Jenny Wu

MATADORTHESAN GABRIEL HIGH SCHOOL

www.thematadorsghs.com

801 Ramona Street San Gabriel, CA 91776

(626) 308-2281

Trying to offer comfort

“Tran”slating me

BiancaTran

“I’m cutting myself.” What? I don’t think I heard you correctly because that can’t possibly be right. Years ago, I thought cutting was the stuff of stories and emo kids because I couldn’t quite fathom the idea of such a thing. I guess I was under-exposed to that aspect of life because I was completely unprepared when my friend uttered those words to me all those years ago.

Before I go further, I should probably tell you that I am terrible with comfort-ing people. My arsenal of comfort words maxes out at “It’s ok,” “It gets better,” and “You get stronger.” If you don’t believe me, a couple months ago my friend told me her brother died, and I cringe at the memory of what I did, but me being me, I said “It’s ok.” That’s basically my default response to everything so I wasn’t able to stop myself before those words got out. I felt terrible after that. I mean, she was in tears before I said that.

The fi rst time a friend told me that she was cutting was probably in middle school and all I could muster back then was a measly “Oh” while I tried to mask my hor-rifi ed face. I suppose I responded in a nor-mal way by not telling authority fi gures and keeping it a secret, but it would’ve been nice if I could’ve said something be-sides spouting out logical reasoning in the place of comforting words. Thinking back, maybe that was just my way of coping and trying to understand why they would do such a thing to themselves. My reactions can’t be that traumatizing though since all my friends who’ve ever confi ded in me are still close friends with me today.

I don’t pretend that I’m ever going to understand people who suffer tragedies from death or suicidal problems, but I make an effort to. I’m pretty sure unless I experience it one day, I’ll always be on the outside looking in and so, I will have a distorted perception and never a clear understanding because I defi nitely am not in touch with my emotional side. Sometimes I wonder how I am still inept at this considering I’ve met more people than I can count with problems and I’m surrounded by people experienced with helping others. My only defense is that my friends choose to tell me despite knowing my track record.

Maybe it’s selfi sh on my part to want my friends to live and be better even though they’re suffering. I never really saw it that way; I just thought that I was doing what I was supposed to do- trying to encourage them to be happy and to stick around for a little while longer. One of my friends who’s been to the dark side and back stated that “it’s selfi sh of you to want them around just for your own happiness.” It shocked me then and it still does now, but I don’t think I agree with her.

I originally intended on writing this as a way to say everything I should’ve said over the years but I fi nd that after all this time, I am still at a loss for words. So I’ll say this instead—I can’t offer you words of comfort besides “It’s ok” and you’ll prob-ably have to endure awkward silences with me, but what I can offer you is an ear that will always listen whether it’s now or at three in the morning. And of course, I’ll always be there for you. All I ask is that you don’t hate yourself so much that you hate your birthday, because that’s the day the world celebrates you.

That irritating feel of my eyelids drooping slowly over the image of my teach-er’s lecture. I’m losing con-sciousness, and I know that it’s sleep that I’m missing.

In no time, the purple bags under my eyes grow bruise-like. I can’t help it though, since I can blame school for being my num-ber one cause of late night troubles; that should be a legitimate enough excuse.

But certainly not a real-istic excuse. As teenagers, staying up late is salmost natural. We find the most freedom when the day winds down to midnight, where our parents may be asleep and we have the freedom to do what we wish.

For some, it’s to accom-modate the homework procrastination that occurs earlier in the evening. I per-sonally prefer the late night because I focus better. These reasons all point to one fact: it’s ultimately our own choice to look and think like a walking zombie the next day at school, and we should make the effort to

Humility towards others

prevent it.Why is a matter of sleep

deprivation an issue? For one, sleeping in class refl ects horribly on your ability to pay attention in class; yes, I can admit in shame that I commit this crime more than once a day. I absolutely hate it, but I can’t wrestle control of my eyelids when they’re so heavy that I don’t have the strength to lift them. This is the result of going to bed at one or two in the morning. It’s even worse knowing that I could technically be in bed promptly at ten, if only I were to stay away from the evils of the Internet.

What’s more, a lack of sleep equates to a lack of energy. The level of social engagement you possess is signifi cantly reduced if you don’t have the conscious-ness to even talk to people. Trust my words. I have lost sleep, and been called a vegetable before.

It’s great that we’re hav-ing late night adventures, but it’s taking away the en-joyment of the day. Instead of engaging in the day’s activities, I fi nd myself walk-ing groggily to classes and speaking in dreadful mono-tones to everyone. For that,

I’m trying to make an ac-tive change in my sleeping schedule, and you probably should too.

No, re-ally, I’m try-

ing. I’m try-ing to fi nish writing this at 12 a.m.

A n d m y h e a d ’ s j u s t

commanding one thing: go to sleep.

Oftentimes when we achieve a goal by qualifying to that national speech tournament, winning that dance competition, or receiving that college acceptance, we feel the need to express our joy to our peers, but during our episodes of glee, we forget that some of our peers didn’t earn what we earned. As a result, those who did not achieve what they wanted are left to brace the cold feeling of failure and disappointment.

Unfortunately, this problem extends to much further than just a slew of college acceptances. On a daily basis, students, teachers, and administrators alike forget that the world does not revolve around them. Although psychology dictates that we shed our egocentric tendencies, remnants of such behavior can be seen everyday, and these tendencies are not only seen through achievements.

For example, when I receive unsatisfactory grades on my ex-ams, I whine and complain to my friends, but in my self-absorbed cloud, I forget that there are people who bear much lower scores than me.

When we neglect the fact that there are others around us, we may unintentionally hurt those we hold dear to our hearts. We all need to take a step back and consider the feelings of that friend you’re sharing your joys or sorrows with. Consider how they measure up compared to you and how they may feel when facing your rants and raves.

It’s perfectly fi ne to share your happiness in your shining hour, but please be considerate for others as well. You absolutely have a right to be happy, but don’t forget to be humble. Be sensitive to your friends and peers because despite whatever achievement you earn, what good is it to celebrate it on your own? Don’t hurt your cohorts and scare them away by gloating too much because what makes an achievement worth it is being able to celebrate it with those who you hold dear.

Hana Ngo

Calvin Lam

As a typical high school student who puts off her homework to the last minute, what is there to do? Why play games on OMG Pop, go on Facebook, or Tumblr, of course. Countless hours that can be spent on doing homework is spent scrolling through the pages of both sites, one fi lled with the updates of your friends’ social lives and the other fi lled with videos, songs, and images galore (cats, anyone?).

There’s one thing that’s become quite the trend though. Images and stories are constantly being reblogged and shared, and always at the end: something along the lines of “Like this if you have a heart!” Thanks, but no thanks. I didn’t click the like button, but I’m still alive. My heart is intact, alive, and beating. And if you’re telling me I’m void of emotion, then you’re wrong.

It’s absolutely useless to share these im-ages and stories just to let me know that I have no heart. Why don’t you get off your high horse and actually do something to prevent such issues from happening? Sure, it brings awareness, but really, you’re doing nothing. Volunteer to your heart’s content and help out, instead of be-ing a coward by staying cooped up in your room, feeling like you’ve made a difference by allowing the photos to spread.

Which reminds me, by sharing things that promote awareness, all of sudden ev-

eryone becomes a social activist. Take, for example, the viral video last month “KONY 2012.” It did bring Joseph Kony to the light after years of existence, but controversy as well. It also fl ooded my newsfeed too. I’ll admit I got caught up with the propaganda that played in, but realized my mistake. Now, I’ve managed to actually do my part in helping the community by volunteering as much as I can and donating my money to my charities. What have you done besides liking and sharing images and videos?

Sleep deprived

Kevin Hu

should make the effort to ing groggily to classes and speaking in dreadful mono-tones to everyone. For that,

I’m trying to make an ac-tive change in

h e a d ’ s j u s t commanding one

thing: go to sleep.

There’s one thing that’s become quite the trend though. Images and stories are constantly being reblogged and shared, and always at the end: something along the lines of “Like this if you have a heart!” Thanks, but no thanks. I didn’t click the like button, but I’m still alive. My heart is intact, alive, and beating. And if you’re telling me I’m

It’s absolutely useless to share these im-ages and stories just to let me know that I have no heart. Why don’t you get off your high horse and actually do something to prevent such issues from happening? Sure, it brings awareness, but really, you’re doing nothing. Volunteer to your heart’s content and help out, instead of be-ing a coward by staying cooped up in your room, feeling like you’ve made a difference

Which reminds me, by sharing things that promote awareness, all of sudden ev-

Illu

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tion

by J

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a Lu

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Illustration by Jelina Luu Illustration by Jelina Luu

Social activism under what terms?

NEWSFOCUS6 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Jel ina Luu

Don’t want to spend that $200 on that prom dress at David’s Bridal? Don’t want to pay too much for that tux-edo knowing that you may have to buy other accessories for your date? Instead of stressing out over the overpriced values of the attire, why not visit your local stores?

It is defi nitely diffi cult for girls to buy that perfect prom dress, but oh dear, the pricing is just insane! To solve this epidemic, lets turn towards the Westfi eld Santa Anita Mall, where we can fi nd a store known as Windsor. With various brands such as Betsy & Adam and Speech-less, Windsor has a wide selection of dresses with prices ranging from $50 to over $100. JCPenney and Macy’s provide beautiful prom dresses at a cheap price as well. Since there are many to choose from, any girl is bound to fi nd the perfect dress at a cost as low as $50.

What about the males out there? Well, if you don’t prefer buying a tuxedo for this one occasion, you can always rent a prom tux at a place called Friar Tux Shop, located at 125 North San Gabriel Blvd. You can choose from a variety of styles offered by Friar Tux with rentals starting at $59, without having to pay any sales tax, dam-age waiver fees or rush charges. The Prom Rep Program provides students the chance to get discounted or even free prom rentals.

There is one thing left on the list: corsages. You can fi nd your dates beautiful corsages at your local fl orist, such as the San Gabriel Nursery & Florist at 632 San Gabriel Blvd. There is a wide variety of prom fl owers in various colors to choose from. You can also customize your prom corsages to suit your own tastes. Prices may vary, but are relatively at a cost of $45 or more.

If you want to save some dollars, local stores like these can prevent your wallets from emptying out.

Two weeks before- Confi rm ride with limousine service- Order corsages- Have your tuxedo purchased or rented- Finalize prom plans with parents and friends

One week before- Pick up your tuxedo- Get a haircut

Two weeks before- Stick with one skin regimen- Get a dye job- Break into your shoes- Finalize prom plans with parents and friends

One week before- Wax and/or tweeze- Test out makeup looks and hairstyles

Going to prom for less

s * Leopard print and sequin dress with a removable train

* Fun, cute, and strapless dress with a poofy layered bottom

* Dark grey pinstripe suit

The day before- Wash your hair- Pick up corsages and refrigerate them

The day of- Shave- Style your hair

The day before- Wash your hair- Get a manicure and pedicure- Get a good sleep

The day of- Stay hydrated- Exfoliate and moisturize- Shave- Style your hair and makeup- Pack an emergency kit in your bag

Girls Boys

Photos and timeline by Natalie Tran

>>>>>>>> >>>> >>>>- Get a manicure and pedicure>>- Get a manicure and pedicure- Get a manicure and pedicure

Timeline to Prom

NEWSFOCUS 7THE MATADOR

As prom rapidly begins to ap-proach, it is normal for students to start panicking over what to wear and where to get it. While boys get to decide from various types of tuxedoes, for girls, the selection of dresses is much broader. Girls have to worry about color, style, and most importantly, price.

Over the years, non-profi t organi-zations like LA’s Prom Closet have been founded to assist girls in this ex-act situation. LA’s Prom Closet was established by Natalie Torres three years ago when she decided to do-nate her dresses from her high school days. At their annual dress giveaway event, any high school senior living in the Los Angeles County can apply to receive an invite to attend LA’s Prom Closet’s Dress To Remember on April 28 and 29.

All gowns that have been donated are dry-cleaned and then hung on racks for young women to choose from. These dresses are free to all students. After deciding on a dress, these young women can participate in self-esteem workshops and dis-cuss the alteration of the dress with one of the seamstresses. At the end of the day, accessories are provided to go with the dress, along with a “goodie bag.” Other organizations that provide prom dresses can be found through <http://donate-mydress.org/>.

proach, it is normal for students to start panicking over what to wear and where to get it. While boys get to decide from various types of tuxedoes, for girls, the selection of dresses is much broader. Girls have to worry about color, style, and most importantly, price.

zations like LA’s Prom Closet have been founded to assist girls in this ex-act situation. LA’s Prom Closet was established by Natalie Torres three years ago when she decided to do-nate her dresses from her high school days. At their annual dress giveaway event, any high school senior living

Two weeks before- Confi rm ride with limousine service- Order corsages- Have your tuxedo purchased or rented- Finalize prom plans with parents and friends

One week before- Pick up your tuxedo- Get a haircut

New methods to fi nd a prom dress

Jenny Wu

Prom cannot get any more optimistic. This year, it will be at the “happi-est place on earth.” Located at Disneyland Hotel and Resort on 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA, prom will take place on Saturday, May 19, from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. The name “Disneyland” should not alarm anyone since prom will not be in the theme park, but in a hotel near Downtown Disney. Upon arriving to the location, there will two grand staircases leading to a scenic view, fi tting for the perfect fairytale ending. There is a special opportunity that should not be missed for this year’s prom. Disneyland offers a chance to pull up in a limousine, so it is suggested for all prom goers to consider hiring one. Just about a forty-fi ve minute drive from school to Disneyland, Prom will be a cinch as long as the coin purse allows.

The happiest prom location on the EarthKarin Chan

Two people stand in front of a crowd of expectant attendants. The spotlight shines on the couple, and the room is spacious, including candles and dinner tables. Formal is the theme. The two look at each other and smile. It would be normal for them to exchange lips. Flowers adorn the area, and cars are parked outside. The occasion calls for large expenses and a big gathering. It’s

almost like a wedding reception.For all the prom dance is portrayed,

the idea is upheld as so. Attending any school dance is meant to be fun. Note “any.” The consideration of prom be-ing “any other dance” is taboo, and everything about the event evokes a feeling within students that it will be the single most moving milestone of their lives. It could happen.

That’s where high school sweet-hearts write a chapter of adolescent love to come to a happy end.But that’s not the true purpose of prom. The

dance is not a marriage proposal, but it is the chance for students to stand on the horizon of adulthood. The dance is a rite of passage—it’s senior year, like every other college- or future-bound event. Any important occasion will be a nerve-racking process, but abiding to the do’s and don’ts is all that’s needed. Prom has those ground rules, and so does every other dance. In a way, since it’s the last dance in high school, the hype and excitement are justifi ed.

Let’s just say that prom is a big deal for the purpose of memories. Not

memories of hesitation which leads to regret. Memories of enjoyment that a yearbook can invoke and bring forth laughter and fond recollections. The unspoken words of prom only tell of expectations to have fun.

That’s all. Nowhere is it required for an individual to fulfi ll certain pre-requisites in order for prom to truly be complete and thus enjoyable. There also exists the counterpart to the for-mal occasion, anti-prom, only without all the formalities and expenses. The catch? It is not prom at all.

Prom is simply a memory

will not be in the theme park, but in a hotel near Downtown Disney. Upon arriving to the location, there will two grand staircases leading to a scenic view, fi tting for the perfect fairytale ending. There is a special opportunity that should not be missed for this year’s prom. Disneyland offers a chance to pull up in a limousine, so it is suggested for all prom goers to consider hiring one. Just about a forty-fi ve minute drive from school to Disneyland, Prom will be a cinch as long as the coin purse allows.

New methods to New methods to fi nd a prom dress

est place on earth.” Located at Disneyland Hotel and Resort on 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA, prom will take place on Saturday, May 19, from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. The name “Disneyland” should not alarm anyone since prom will not be in the theme park, but in a hotel near Downtown Disney. Upon arriving to the location, there will two grand staircases leading to a scenic view, fi tting for the perfect fairytale ending. There is a special opportunity that should not be missed for this year’s prom. Disneyland offers a chance to pull up in a limousine, so it is suggested for all prom goers to consider hiring one. Just about a forty-fi ve minute drive from school to Disneyland,

arriving to the location, there will two grand staircases leading to a scenic view, fi tting for the perfect fairytale ending. There is a special opportunity that should not be missed for this year’s prom. Disneyland offers a chance to pull up in a limousine, so it is suggested for all prom goers to consider hiring one. Just about a forty-fi ve minute drive from school to Disneyland, Prom will be a cinch as long as the coin purse allows.

* Dark grey pinstripe suit * Fancy white suit along with a light blue vest and bowtie

* Flowy ruffl ed strapless turqoise dress

The day before- Wash your hair- Pick up corsages and refrigerate them

The day of- Shave- Style your hair

Photos and timeline by Natalie Tran

Matthew Quach

NEWSENTERTAINMENT8 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Image courtesy of www.americanrockscene.com

From the creators of “Lombardi,” a Broadway biography of legendary football coach, Vincent Thom-as “Vince” Lombardi, “Magic/Bird” is set to follow the rivalry and behind-the-scenes friendship of two leg-endary basketbal l players, Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” John-son. This intense com-petition between Bird and Magic is widely known as “showtime,“ although it is more cmmonly used by the Lakers. Despite the outside criticism of a fan base in opposition of either Celtic green or Laker gold, a sense of kinship develops between the pair, sug-gesting two very dif-ferent men who view the world in the same way.

The ninety-minute one-act play opens with an engaging conversation between the two ex-players, though never going in depth with background childhood stories of Bird (played by Tug Coker from “The Offi ce”) and Johnson (Kevin Daniels from “How I Met Your Mother”). Instead, the premise focuses on material in the professional ri-

valry that endured into a lasting friendship. Relying on the NBA to provide footages of actual games projected as the backdrop, the

Broadway play reverts back to the trend of just a plain “movie” docu-mentary with no script involved. Basing on the facts, the alternative championship footages between the Los Ange-les Lakers and Boston Celtics throughout the 1980s of 13 years of action across various locations with concise and condensed scene proves to be suffi cient to transition each pic-ture smoothly due to limited actual court movements.

Primarily, true ac-tion takes place as John-son dials a phone call to Bird regarding the for-mer’s 1991 retirement announcement, and ultimately his contrac-

tion of the HIV virus. The widespread stigma Johnson had faced during that time was not fully explored throughout the play, and the racial friction in notable Boston, hometown of the Celtics, is minimally mentioned. Driv-ing away the negative aspect, the heart of the play is portrayed as Bird extends his regards to Johnson from the former’s mother to join them at home for lunch after the two fi lmed

a Converse commercial. This exchange between the two super-

stars reveals an immense amount of detail as their upbring-ings are related and they parallel the humility and humbleness in large families, a father ’s lesson to son, and more s i g n i f i c a n t l y, compare and con-trast in their person-al ethical principles. An undeniable bond begins to materialize as Bird suffers from an in-digenous back pain shown through a series of painful downfalls. Regard-

less, sentimental moments shared between the two provide not only the knockout of s t e re o - typical, arrogant athletes,

but a sensation of what it means to stand apart

from the crowd and be honorable stars

for those who still admire.

A s o f n o w, “Magic/Bird” is

only showing at the Longacre Theatre in New York City, New

York, but with a long-standing and loyal fan base, it looks like a world-wide enterprise is about to emerge inthe entertain-ment industry.

‘Magic Bird’ brings back ‘showtime’ to BroadwayJul ianne Teng

to the hologram’s creators. Digital Domain Media Group created the holographic image by “piecing together physical characteris- tics and movements from performances before

the rapper’s death,” according to The Week.

The process included do-ing voice-overs to achieve

the effect that Shakur was actually speaking to the au-dience and interacting with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

However, the hologram is trickery. According to CBS News, Chief Creative Officer of Digital Domain El Ulbrich said, “This is not found footage. This is not archival footage. This is an illusion.”

It is an illusion, indeed. It is actually a two-dimen-sional image that has been projected on a 30-foot-by-13-foot transparent screen on stage. According to The

Daily Beast, the screen was angled in such a way that the audience could see Tupac, but not the screen. Shakur’s hologram delivered uncanny performances of his songs “Come with Me,” “Gangsta Party,” “Hail Mary,” and a few other fan favorites.

Upon arriving to the stage, Shakur asked thousands of fan “what the f***k is up, Coachella?” Many people were astounded by the jaw dropping and unbelievable per-formance, but not all were fans of it. Others felt that this performance was too eerie for their taste.

According to Leah Collins, “The whole thing seems downright creepy.” Others felt it was disrespectful and criticized whether it was appropriate to conjure up a hologram of someone who was deceased.

“Perhaps Tupac would have hated Coachella or despised the line up,” a person commented on a post in The Inquisitr. “It just seems nonconsensual to have a dead man perform on stage in such eerie like-ness.”

Photo courtesy of www.eurweb.com“Magic Bird” offi cially opened on Broadway on Wednesday, April 11, a 90-minute play describing the lives of basketball legends Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California featured many famed stars in their setlist, but many people anticipated the revival of Tupac in holographic form.

Photo courtesy of www.startrident.com

Image courtesy of www.wetpaint.com

by “piecing characteris-from

the rapper’s death,” according to The Week.

The process included do-ing voice-overs to achieve

the effect that Shakur was actually speaking to the au-dience and interacting with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

However, the hologram is trickery. According to CBS News, Chief Creative

Many fans were shocked after 20 year old American Idol contestant Colton Dix-on left the competition after receiving the least number of votes, fi nishing seventh place. Dixon had never faced any risk of elimination since he never appeared in the bottom three contestants, but after he was eliminated, the judges, fans, and fellow contestants were all shocked to see Dixon go home. Dixon performed a rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” which was criticized and praised by the judges, particularly the stern commenta-tor Jimmy Iovine. However, his strong performances and perseverance made his elimination all the more unexpected.

Considering that the judges used their last “save” to keep Jessica Sanchez in the competition, many upset fans felt that Dixon deserved to stay in the competi-tion instead. Since Dixon has a very large Christian fan base, his performance of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance“ may have lowered his votes severely.

“I should have stuck with something I connected more with, just for what I stand for and who I stand for. I think that lost me a lot of votes,“ Dixon said. However, in no way does Dixon show hostility to-wards Lady Gaga, since he had decided to perform his version of her song in the fi rst place.

Interestingly, Dixon had never planned to audition for American Idol; he had auditioned last year with his sister Schyler Dixon, who urged him to audition alongside her. However, only Colton had made it past auditions, and he had made it to the top 24 contestants. When he was eliminated last year, Ellen Degeneres asked Dixon to perform on her show in order to showcase his true talent.

However, when only Schyler audi-tioned this year and Colton provided her support, the judges were the ones who encouraged him to audition as well, and they both had made it past the prelimi-nary rounds and Colton had survived as one of the top seven contestants.

“I have to apologize. I wasn’t myself last night,” Dixon said after receiving the news that he was eliminated. He hinted that he would continue on with his mu-sic career by stating that he will take the judges’ criticism in mind when making his record. Many have claimed that win-ning American Idol does not guarantee nation-wide success, and similarly, losing American Idol but coming close is a bet-ter path to stardom.

This is definitely not the end of Dixon’s career. Dixon has done covers of many songs and some of his videos have gained hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. Dixon has met with Chris

Daughtry, who inspired him to keep writing songs and work on a debut album.

Even though Dixon had gained 51 million votes on the night of his performance, that was not enough to save himself, yet

those millions of fans will surely support

Dixon in whatever he pursues.

Karin Chan

Steven Ho

to keep writing songs and work on a debut album.

Even though Dixon had gained 51 million votes on the night of his performance, that was not enough to save himself, yet

those millions of fans will surely support

Dixon in whatever

American Idol contestant Colton Dixon was eliminated on Thursday, April 19 after performing “Bad Romance“ by Lady Gaga.

Dixon’s startling vote-off is a start to stardom

Tupac is revived at Coachella 2012

Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre have outdone themselves yet again. This time, they have resurrected the deceased Tupac Shakur for a concert at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Fes-tival. Performing in Indio, California, the two rappers and Shakur’s holo-gram graced the stage on the fi rst weekend of Coachella on Sunday, April 15. This legendary performance including the late Shakur, who died more than 15 years ago, overshad-owed other anticipat-ed headliners such as Radiohead and The Black Keys.

With the help of special effects pro-duction house Digital Domain, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre were able to construct an image of Shakur onto the stage that was able to move, rap, and re-spond to them. The project cost 100,000 to $400,000, which is “affordable” according

Left image courtesy of www.mtv.comRight image courtesy of www.cambio.com

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog managed to create a hologram of Tupac that performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, April 15. The projection of Tupac could interact with the crowd.

For more information about Tupac’s ressurection, look online at http://thematadorsghs.com

Image courtsey of nytimes.comKevin Daniels from “How I Met Your Mother” plays Magic Johnson on the left and Tug Coker from “The Offi ce” plays Larry Bird on the right. They are both rehearsing for the Broadway show, which is currently only playing in New York.

NEWSENTERTAINMENT 9THE MATADOR

a l b u m o f t h e m o n t h

Commentary: The true motives of celebrity romantic relationships

Images courtesy of www.macys.com

Jason Mraz

Photo courtesy of amazon.com

“Love Is a Four Letter

Word”

After his hit single, “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz fi nally comes out with a new album “Love Is a Four Letter Word.” This album was released on April 17 in the United States but released a day earlier in the United Kingdom. The album features 13 songs, also including a hidden track, “I’m Coming Over.”

Right after releasing “I’m Yours,” Mraz went straight to writing his album. He collaborated with other songwriters such as Michael Natter, who helped write “I Won’t Give Up.” All the songs on the album were written by Mraz except “The Freedom Song,” which was written by Luc Reynaud. After two hard years of working and collaborating, Mraz was fi nally able to fi nish the album.

A majority of the songs in the album are mostly melodies that are soft, although there are some tracks that include an upbeat rhythm.

Mraz wanted to center all the songs on a medium tempo to keep it slow and peaceful. “It’s not a de-parture in the sound of the genre in any way, it’s just different tones, different textures. Musically, I think people are going to like it. It’s personal. It’s melodic. And it’s mellow,” Mraz said during an interview about the album.

“Love Is a Four Letter Word” includes fi ve pre-released tracks: “The World As I See It,” “I Won’t Give Up,” “The Freedom Song,” “93 Million Miles,” and “Everything Is Sound.” The fi rst offi cial pre-re-leased song is “I Won’t Give Up.” This track received much attention, grabbing the eighth spot on the U.S. Billboard 100 when it was released. It is also the fi rst track on the album to have a music video that has already received 3.5 million views. The song starts off with the guitar as the main instrument. Throughout the whole track, the slow beat shows off exactly what Mraz wanted in his album. The other pre-released songs were released as lyric videos.

After the album’s release, many critics had posi-tive views about the songs. One critic named Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic particularly favored Mraz’s album, giving it a four out of fi ve stars.

Although the album was just recently released, Mraz will surely be able to reach another four letter word, fame.

-Monica Lam

When I open my home page onto Ya-

hoo, I often see articles about the most re-

cent and interesting occurrence

in a celebri-ty’s life. I’m

not usually interested

in w h e t h e r person A got a new

tattoo or if X looks better in

the same gown than Y or if Z was spotted wearing the most unap-

pea l ing leopard print pants.

Likewise, I am not usually one to question nor judge other people’s relationships especially when it comes to celebrities but recently, several couples have popped up on the news repetitively that I just can’t ignore it anymore.

Unable to control myself, I would read these articles and then I reach a point when I question whether they are dating one another to seek attention from the paparazzi or because they truly love each other.

Recently, the reality star Kim Kardashian was spotted with a new beau, Kanye West, not long after her offi cial divorce from ex husband Kris Humphrey. They both stated that they were in “love” with each other.

I remember just several weeks ago when Linsanity was in town, Kim was spotted tweeting to Jeremy Lin about a date. And now, Kanye West. I’m not really a fan of the Kardashians or West but this just made me question the true intent behind their reasons for dating each other.

When conversations about celebrities come up in school comparing who wore a certain dress better, I tend to ignore it because I don’t want to judge people that I don’t even know personally. But sometimes what they do matters to me especially these days where teenagers look up to them and try to emulate their ways—whether good or bad.

Another example is singer Jennifer Lopez who also moved onto dating one of her backup dancers, Casper Smart after a couple days from her offi cial divorce from ex-husband Marc Anthony. On Smart’s 25th birthday, Lopez bought her boyfriend a white Dodge Ram truck.

It is none of my business what these celebrities do but when stories about them keep popping up onto my home page a billion times, I can’t help but read them and ultimately judge them. Sometimes, the things that happen in the Hollywood world are not necessarily “good” and might be sending the wrong message, especially to teens these days.

Yadanar Oo Debbie Dinh

Oh, look! Taylor Swift has a new single out. I wonder who she broke up with this time. One Direction fl irting with Selena Gomez? Well, I guess there goes Justin Bieber’s relationship. Zooey Deschanel’s divorce? More like Death Marriage for Cutie.

These are only a few failing relationships in the world of fame and stardom, and I’m sure most of you can prob-ably name fi ve more off of the top of your head. After all, the most common complaint—and the juiciest gossip—is about the short lifespan of celebrity couples, like the 14-month marriage of Katy Perry and Russell Brand.

I hear it all the time: “Celebrities only date for the at-tention and promotion.”

Instead of mindlessly criticizing their relationships, how about we take a second and just step back a little? Try to look at them for what they really are—human.

Celebrities are under the scrutinizing eyes of the public 24/7. While some of us love or hate the air they breathe, you cannot ignore the fact that, at the end of the day, they are just the same as us. Yes, they have bigger houses and fabulous hair, but is it really justifi able to say that their values for love isn’t the same?

The universal want for all people to have someone who will give you the security that even when life utterly sucks, there will still be a shoulder to cry on.

But it’s hard for celebrity couples to engage in that kind of committed relationship with their hectic schedule. Awards show. Music video. Recording studio. Interview with E! News. How damaging it must be to fi nd that their lover is on the other side of the world touring or fi lming the next “America’s #1 Movie.”

Now, I’m certainly aware of some ridiculous relation-ship decisions, like the famous 72-day marriage of Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears’ 55-hour marriage in 2004. I’m also aware of the lucky ones like Jay-Z and Beyonce (10 years) or Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson (20+ years), but notice how these celebrity relationships kept themselves hidden from the public eye. And be let’s be honest, who here knows who Rita Wilson is?

For the celebrities who are less fortunate, the pressure of the media and the anonymousness from the Internet makes relationships that much tougher.

Even the thought of asking people to stay out of famous people’s private life is preposterous and as impossible as slamming a revolving door. So instead, as a possible al-ternative, let’s not rejoice in a pretentious and unfair evaluation of a ce-lebrity’s love life, especially when they’re just trying to balance them-selves between the magical world of enter-tainment Narnia and the real world of, well, a regular o’ closet.

Starring megastar mentors, big businesses, fashion, and fi erce com-petition is NBC’s new fashion reality show, “Fashion Star.” Aspiring de-signers convene to design their most fabulous pieces, which will be then displayed on the runway and critiqued by consultants Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie, and John Varvatos. The show is truly worth tuning into because major retail partners H&M, Macy’s, and Saks Avenue can choose to buy the highly fashion-able pieces, and put them up for sale in their stores or online sites.

With each episode, competition becomes increasingly high as de-signers are eliminated for failing to meet standards. The goal of the de-signers is to have their piece bought by any of the three stores, and at the end of the season, the remaining designer

would have a collection worth $6 mil-lion in the three partner stores.

Some designers have had more luck than others, such as Sarah Parrott, who

petition is NBC’s new fashion reality show, “Fashion Star.” Aspiring de-signers convene to design their most fabulous pieces, which will be then displayed on the runway and critiqued by consultants Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie, and John Varvatos. The

H&M, Macy’s, and Saks Avenue can choose to buy the highly fashion-able pieces, and put them up for sale

With each episode, competition becomes increasingly high as de-signers are eliminated for failing to

Rachel Ma

‘Fashion Star’ gives designers a chance to shinehas sold a total of fi ve pieces, one in every of the fi rst round. Her designs include a bright blue blazer, a sleek shift dress and wide palazzo pants, among others, which are being sold at H&M starting at $19.95.

Macy’s tends to attach a pricier tag on their products, going into the

one-hundreds’ range, and Saks Fifth Avenue hikes the price even

higher, some almost hitting $400, refl ecting its usual high price ranges. Even with such pricey tags, clothing sales have still been strong with pieces selling out quickly, although show receptions have not been as positively received.

Australian model and business-woman Elle Macpherson hosts the reality show and notes its success can be partially attributed to its highly wearable pieces that can be bought with just a simple click online or a trip to the mall.

These three designs were bought by Macy’s and now sold online on their website.

slamming a revolving door. So instead, as a possible al-ternative, let’s not rejoice in a pretentious and unfair evaluation of a ce-lebrity’s love life,

to balance them-selves between the magical world of enter-tainment Narnia and the real world of, well, a regular

When I open my home page onto Ya-

hoo, I often see articles about the most re-

in a celebri-ty’s life. I’m

in

tattoo or if X looks better in

the same gown than Y or if Z was spotted wearing the most unap-

pea l ing l eopard Illustration by Jelina Luu

Illustration by Jelina Luu

NEWSSPORTS10 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

B A S E B A L L

VARSITY4/17 vs. Alhambra 6-12 L4/19 vs. Hoover 4-14 L

JV4/17 @ Alhambra 14-4 W4/19 @ Hoover 6-12 L

S O F T B A L L

B O Y S T E N N I S

VARSITY4/10 @ Mark Keppel 2-11 L4/17 vs.Montebello 0-22 L4/18 vs. Mark Keppel 2-1 W4/20 @ Montebello 3-5 L

JV4/10 vs. Mark Keppel 2-12 L4/17 @ Montebello 1-21 L4/18 @ Mark Keppel 0-10 L4/20 vs. Montebello 0-14 L

FROSH4/10 vs. Mark Keppel Cancelled4/13 @ Mark Keppel Cancelled4/17 @ Montebello 2-12 L4/20 vs. Montebello 0-19 L

B O Y S V O L L E Y B A L L

VARSITY4/14 Kennedy Tournament Third Place4/17 vs. Alhambra 3-0 W4/19 vs. Bell Gardens 3-0 W4/20 vs. San Marino 3-0 W

JV4/17 vs. Alhambra 2-0 W4/19 vs. Bell Gardens 2-0 W4/20 vs. San Marino 2-0 W

C O - E D S W I M M I N G4/12 vs. Alhambra 4-0 W4/17 vs. Gabrielino 0-4 L

Wrestling goes against all odds

4/20 vs. Montebello 0-19 L

C O - E D B A D M I N T O N

4/10 @ Polytechnic 18-3 W4/12 vs. Mark Keppel 9-12 L4/17 vs. Pasadena 16-5 W4/19 @ Alhambra 15-6 W

C O - E D T R A C K

4/12 vs. Alhambra 2-2 W4/19 @ Schurr 1-3 L

6-12 L

4/20 vs. San Marino 2-0 W

VARSITY4/17 @ Alhambra 0-6 L4/19 vs. Schurr 1-13 L

JV4/17 @ Alhambra 0-16 L4/19 vs. Schurr 1-10 L4/19 vs. Schurr 1-10 L

4/10 @ Polytechnic 18-3 W

1-3 L

4/12 vs. Alhambra 4-0 W

15-6 W

The other team is serving. The ball fl ies across the net. The passer skins his knees as he digs the ball. The setter sprints there just in time to set it to a hitter. Once he sees the set, the hitter accelerates and powers the ball into the open areas of the court.

“There is no such thing as a one-man team,” Coach Chris Kwan says. This saying resounds in the minds of the boys varsity volleyball team amidst the shouting of the other team and several calls for the ball. Since volleyball requires a maximum of three plays on the ball before it goes over the net, it is impos-sible for one player to do it all, with the exception of the occasional freeball. In order to gain a point, the most ef-fective pattern is to pass, set, and spike. Teamwork is highly emphasized in volleyball be-cause every player makes a difference. Every player on the court sees the ball from a different angle.

The boys varsity volleyball team reached their peak last year. With setter Johnson Diep, middle hitter Harrison Tang, outside hitter Kevin Quach and passers Genton Mo, Mi-chael Tran, and Harmon Luu, the boys dominated volleyball in the San Gabriel Valley.

After a two-week hiatus from their last league game against the Montebello Oilers, in which they won 17-1, the Matadors played the opposing reigning Almont League Champ Alhambra Moors on Tuesday, April 17. The Matadors got off to a slow start in the fi rst round, and were unable to retaliate in the seceding rounds.

Most of the starters were outplayed by the Moors, except for doubles three team of Fangyou Xie and Edward Chen. They beat the Moors’ doubles three team in an intense tiebreak, resulting in a 7-6 (7-5) win. “Considering it was their fi rst time

However, most of the team consisted of seniors who have since graduated, leaving only outside hitter Richard Zheng and middle hitter Timothy Luu as the only returners. Last season, the boys swept every school in league 3-0, and was undefeated in Almont League.

The team carried on their success into CIF Finals, but lost to Santa Monica High School. In a lucky draw, the boys re-ceived a chance to play in the State Finals, seven hours away, against Division 1 Buchanan High School. “Every game was intense, it wasn’t easy making it into finals. Although we didn’t win, it felt good know-ing that everyone was there cheering for us,” Zheng said.

Volleyball has never been a popular sport in the U.S. compared to basketball and football, and this proves to be true in high schools as well. In fact, some high schools do not even have boys volleyball teams. Critics claim that vol-leyball isn’t a masculine sport and that it is only a girl’s sport. Because of this, volleyball suf-fers the occasional drought of players.

Like last year, several play-ers quit their junior year before moving up to the varsity level due to personal reasons or inability to handle the inten-sity and pressure of the sport.

Zheng and Luu were the only varsity returners from last year’s team. The rest of the current varsity team consists of players who moved up from JV. The setter, also known as the quarterback of the team, was changed two times before Coach Kwan decided on ex-passer Stanley Yong.

They are currently 5-1 in league and 7-1 overall. The team struggled against Montebello last Tuesday but are gaining their strength back with the return of captain Zheng. He was previously

injured due to a critical ankle injury. A starter for the varsity team since sophomore year, Zheng racks up a majority of the points in a typical game. Since his return, the team has redeemed themselves against Alhambra 3-0 and Bell Gar-dens 3-0.

Despite their loss against the Oilers, the team is still contending for fi rst place in Almont League. The rest of the season looks bright for the Matadors, as they prepare to take on the Mark Keppel Aztecs at home tomorrow.

Volleyball looks for another title run

Tennis vies for playoff spot despite 1-3 league recordplaying together, they actually played really well,” Coach Steve Akiyama said. They just kept the ball in play for the most part.

Aside from the Matadors’ doubles three team’s success, the rest of the start-ers did not fare so well. Doubles two team Peter Lau and Jackie Moc lost two tough tiebreaks, 6-7 (1-7) against the Moors’ doubles three and 6-7 (2-7) against the Moors doubles two.

“We were like one or two points away from playing well,” Akiyama said. Sin-gles two Rocky Truong beat the Moors’ singles three 6-1, but lost against singles one and two players.

“Since both the singles two and three

players are considered the best in the league and are both ranked, I think most of our players were making mistakes that beat ourselves,” Akiyama said.

The Matadors followed the Moors game with their last non-league match of the season against the Hoover Tornadoes on Thursday April 19. The Matadors lost the match 4-14. Considering it was a non-league match, Coach Steve subbed out most of the starters after the fi rst round.

“Most of the bench players that were subbed in played well,” Akiyama said.

With Hoover being in a strong league consisting of a powerhouse team, like Arcadia, this game provided to be a good tune-up for the Schurr game on Tuesday. “Truong struggled throughout because he kept overhitting,” Akiyama said.

Holding a 1-3 record in the fi rst half of the league, the Matadors hope to avenge their early season losses and fi ght for a playoff spot. Doubles teams of Peter Lau and Jackie Moc and Gordon Loc and Ivan Gong are still in contention for seeding in league preliminaries on May 4.

“We are currently one match behind Schurr, so beating Schurr would give us the hold of the tiebreak,” Akiyama said. “With a straight out win we would be ahead of them.”

In hopes of getting some more wins out of doubles, Coach Steve paired Aron Hayes and Fangyou Xie as the team’s doubles one.

“This new modifi cation takes pressure off the other doubles players, resulting in a more dominant doubles team,” Coach Steve said. “It is now just up to the singles guys to get games.”

The Matadors will face the Mark Keppel Aztecs at home tomorrow. “They have supposedly been a much better team from our last meeting, in which we lost 5-13,” Akiyama said. “This game is going to be crucial for us to make the playoffs.”

Singles two player Rocky Truong hits a forehand winner in a matchup against Hoover’s singles two at home on Thursday, April 19. Truong lost his set 0-6, and the Matadors lost against Hoover, 4-14.

Photo by Hana Ngo

Byron To

Sandy Peng

Photo by Hana NgoSetter Stanley Yong tips the ball in a close attempt to clear the net against a Moor outside hitter on April 17. The Matadors won 3-0, and are currently 5-1 in league.

NEWSSPORTS 11THE MATADOR

FROSH2/03 @ Montebello 28-192/07 vs. Alhambra 38-40

Swimmer Stella Liang plans to make waves at CIF Maggie Cheng

Height never falls short in sportsOscar Mol ina

Throughout the history of sports, height has always been regarded as an advantage, but people never truly acknowledge the abilities of “shorter” athletes. Short people are usually thought of as weaker, but in reality they have ad-vantages in certain sports that allow them to surpass tall people.

Senior varsity pitcher Jona-than Coleman is an example of an athlete gifted with height; he stands at a height of 6’1”. “I feel [that with my height] I have more accuracy and power when pitch-ing,” Coleman said. How-ever, he felt that his height didn’t really affect his batting. On the other hand, Bryan Perez, the 5’5” junior varsity shortstop, said that being shorter limits his strike zone, thus causing him to get walked often. In most cases, shorter people excel in sports requiring physical stamina, balance or fast reaction times. However, tall athletes are better when it comes to sports needing greater mobility and agility. Gabby Chavez, a sophomore on the varsity softball team, is only 5’0” so she occasionally has trouble catching high balls that pass over her on fi rst base. At a height of 5’8”, junior varsity athlete Anna Gomez does not struggle with the same issues. Gomez feels that her height gives her a better batting range and, un-

like Chavez, allows her to easily catch high balls. Although height is a physical advantage, inner confi dence can down-play that advantage.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Chavez said. “You just need to walk with confi dence and think you’re just as good as they are.”

In track and fi eld, height also plays a dramatic role in how runners

perform. Being 5’4”, fresh-man sprinter Alvin Lam has to take small strides, but rather than slowing him down, he is able to speed up because he has less air-time. Junior

mid-distance run-ner Megan Thai is

also 5’4”. Although her height is the av-erage for women,

Thai is one of the tall-est female runners on the team. Her average height gives her the leg-

type that can keep long constant strides for distance races, but also the type that is suited for speed.

In the end, it is not about height, but about how much you work. “The more you underestimate me, the faster I run,” Lam said. Athletes have to push them-selves to be good, and if their height is a setback, then they learn to overcome it because in the end it is about competitive spirit.

It all started in the Montebello Oilers’ bleachers. A pair of freshmen twins runs and a coach notices their potential.

“They’re going to be a successful duo,” goes through the Montebello coach’s mind. During the next three years, spectators wintessed their growth as runners on the track, but it was at San Gabriel where the Tanwongprasert twins, Adrian and An-drew, transferred schools and took on the Matador mantle.

The cross-country and track and fi eld teams, as a result, welcomed the two runners as vital parts of the program. Men of few words, the Tanwongpraserts would render observers speechless after blazing down the track with outstanding perfomances. Now in their senior year, Adrian and Andrew have distinctively branched out to different events and found their own niche in those specialized events.

Running the 400 meter in track, Adrian contem-plated the physical and mental aspects of the event. Holding the fastest time in the Almont League for the 400 meter, Adrian has a 50.0 personal record (PR). He started out at 59 seconds in freshman year, whittling down his time year after year, and has his sights set on League champion and CIF.

Taking on the 400 meter as well with a current PR of 53 seconds, Andrew has gone through a similar growth, but everything changed for him in his senior year when a 16:05 minute three-mile qualifi ed him for CIF Prelims. He expects no less during track sea-son, where he plans to run the mile, 800 meter, and the two mile. Though rooted from and connected by their athletic endeavors, the Tanwongpraserts have defi ned their own running styles, Adrian in the sprints and Andrew in the distance.

Ever since the age of fi ve, Stella Liang has been a natural born swimmer. Liang began to swim with her mother and was in a swim club for a few years to gain the skills she has today. Joining swim was a must for Liang to continue her swimmer roots from childhood.

Even as a young girl in 2007, Liang won fi rst place in breaststroke at her swim club’s competition. Swimming is the only sport that has captured Liang’s interest, since she can easily focus in the water and concentrate on nothing else but winning.

Just as a freshman on the varsity girls swim team, Liang has already become a qualifi er for CIF, along with her specialty, the breaststroke.

Through much support from her swim teammates and friends, Liang has been able to gain the confi dence and perseverance that she needed to be a CIF qualifi er.

“They are always there for me and are my moral and emotional support for every swim meet. My team will always support me,” Liang said.

Upperclassmen and the more experi-enced swimmers on the team have taught Liang different techniques when competing and set a steady motivation factor in Liang’s mind. Liang has also cited Ms. Cognetta as a huge supporter of her success.

“Ms. C has really pushed me to become qualifi ed for CIF and to keep working hard at practice,” Liang said.

With an average time of 1:18 minutes for the 100m breaststroke, Liang still hopes to continue improving to reach a time of at least 1:17 minutes. The breaststroke, which is her favorite stroke, has allowed Liang to enjoy swim practice each day. Working hard and training at every day of practice has also contributed to Liang’s success as a freshman, as well as leading lanes for relay events.

Liang’s commitment to swim has beaten out all the rest of her negativity and ner-vousness before meets. As a swimmer with a huge competitive drive, Liang is always pressured to improve her time of 1:18:01 minutes.

The only thing on this swimmer’s mind while she is swimming is winning.

Being a freshman swimmer qualifi ed for CIF has some intimidation on Liang. “CIF is intimidating since so many juniors and seniors are going and I’m only a freshman going to CIF for the fi rst time,” Liang said.

Passion, support, commitment and con-fi dence have all contributed to Liang’s suc-cess, even as a freshman. Liang also hopes to win CIF by her senior year, all the while continuing to train hard and improving her time in the next few years.

Senior varsity pitcher Jona-than Coleman is an example of an athlete gifted with height; he stands at a height of 6’1”. “I feel [that with my height] I have more accuracy and power when pitch-ing,” Coleman said. How-ever, he felt that his height didn’t really affect his batting. On the other hand, Bryan Perez, the 5’5” junior varsity shortstop, said that being shorter limits his strike zone, thus causing him to get walked often. In most cases, shorter people excel in sports requiring physical stamina, balance or fast reaction times.

dramatic role in how runners perform. Being 5’4”, fresh-man sprinter Alvin Lam has to take small strides, but rather than slowing him down, he is able to speed up because he has less air-time. Junior

est female runners on the team. Her average height gives her the leg-

type that can keep long constant

Photo by Hana Ngo

Photo by Hana Ngo

Tanwongprasert twins make strides toward league fi nals and CIF berth

Matthew Quach

Freshman Stella Lilang is a CIF Qualifi er in the 100m breaststroke, fi nding support from her team and coach Tammy Cognetta to be extremely helpful. She hopes to make a record of 1:17 minutes for the current season.

Shown above is Adrian Tanwongprasert running the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay against Alhambra on April 12. Andrew is the third leg of the relay. The varsity boys’ mile relay time is currently 3:35 minutes. The Tanwongpraserts hold the fastest times in their specifi c events in the Almont League, the 400m and 800m.

Photo by Hana Ngo

Illustration by Jelina Luu

NEWSFEATURES12 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Need help in the fashion department? Sophomores Michelle Arana and Julianne Ochoa know a thing or two about clothing. In fact, Arana and Ochoa are about to launch their new vintage fashion line Var Castel in the near future.

Ever since they were younger, these two cousins enjoyed playing dress up and putting on fashion shows for their relatives. At the young age of 12, Arana and Ochoa received their fi rst sewing machine and began experimenting with fabric cloths. Little did they know that a couple of years later they would begin their own fashion line.

“My dad asked me what we were going to do with all of clothing that we were making and said that he would help,” Ochoa said.

A couple of months ago, Ochoa’s father said that he would help by investing money. At the moment, both Arana and Ochoa’s parents are assisting by buying fabric for Arana and Ochoa to create more items of clothing.

Currently, Arana and Ochoa’s art school friends are supporting their clothing line by finding people to model their clothes or helping design the website.

All items in their current line are inspired by a vintage look;

Tell Mewhat’s theWORD.

Famous hallway quotes,Volume Twenty-nine

“I need to study for my man test tomorrow.”

-Student referring to Mandarin class.

-Teacher talking about an online math resource.

“I’m going to check out Mr. Calculus.”

“I’m walking on fi re.”

-Student wearing heels.

“When they say ‘get in shape’ for college, they don’t mean round.”

-Teacher’s advice to seniors.

“I don’t understand why everyone uses YOLO after every sentence.”

-Student referring to the phrase “you

only live once.”

All quotes overheard by The Matador

staff.

“Birthdays are the only time when you can spit on a cake and everyone else eats it.”

-Teacher sharing insight on

birthdays.

Nikky Tran

Christ ina Vo

Jenny Wu

Ochoa and Arana work toward opening a fashion store The two cousins, Ochoa and Arana, create vintage style clothing for their upcoming store.

Disease haunts students after release of college admissions

Counting sheep up until 3 in the morning

A “disease” that hits almost ev-ery senior in high school, college, and graduate school, senioritis is a colloquial term used to describe the loss of motivation towards academ-ics and school-related activities.

The number of senioritis cases typically peaks after the release of university admission notifica-tions for seniors. The symptoms of the illness include truancy, loss of motivation, procrastination, exces-sive apathy, indecisiveness, lack of studying, and chronic sleeping in class.

Though it is called “senioritis,” the illness can also affect other classes by instilling fear and infl u-encing underclassmen to ignore their studies too.

“Seeing someone so successful

Insomnia. We all have it once in a while. It is that feeling of restlessness; no matter how many sheep you count or how many cups of warm milk you drink, you just cannot seem to fall asleep. It’s found in every ethnic-ity, every culture, in both genders, and at all ages. But why do we have it? Is it stress? Anxiety? Depression? With high school students, the most sensible explana-tion would be stress from school work.

Insomnia is part of the Circadian Rhythm Sleep disorders family. There are many different causes of the inability to sleep. Scientists say that it can be due to something as sim-ple as too much caffeine or there can be an underlying cause, be it stress, anxiety, or fear. Insomnia can be treated, but there is a different solution for every case of insom-

nia. For students, dramatic shifts in sleeping patterns can cause insomnia. For instance, a large amount of homework can cause sleeplessness because the body’s internal clock is not yet used to a vast change.

“I want to sleep at night but I can’t. I just stare at the ceiling and count the dots. I think I have insomnia because I’m stressing about school,” senior Jahao Tran said. “I take short naps after school but even when I have my eyes closed, I’m still half awake.”

A student’s way of life is an enormous factor in his or her sleep schedule, which can often lead to

insomnia.“I hate not being able to sleep at night because

then I’m tired in class, but I’ve learned to deal with it,” sophomore Mark Lieu said.

Insomnia in students can cause students to miss classes or fall behind in their studies. It also

produces irritability and causes students to lose focus in class. A bedtime ritual is one of the

most common answers to insomnia because it teaches a person’s mind and body to sleep.

They say that laughter is the best medi-cine, but the second best medicine should be

sleep because a nap can relieve stress.

get senioritis gets me worried be-cause that would mean that I can easily catch it as well,” junior Ei-leen Fung said. “I’m afraid that my grades are going to drop, and that could affect my college admissions, because they might think that I’m unfocused and easily distracted.”

The most serious consequence of senioritis is the revocation of university admission. Universities and colleges employ the tactic of releasing provisional acceptances to combat senioritis.

These provisional acceptances are only promises of holding a slot for the student even after he or she submits his or her Statement of Intent to Register, and will be fi nal once the student meets certain criteria.

Schools like University of Cali-fornia, Los Angeles require admit-

ted seniors to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA with no D or F grades, or an excess number of C grades. Seniors who get their admissions revoked could lose their chance of going to their dream college right after graduation.

While there is no cure for senioritis, stu-dents can still fi nd ways to relieve the symptoms. For some, a jolt of real-ity can bring them out of their madness, while for others, getting a job can br ing them out of their apathy.

The support of friends can be crucial to the recovery process.

“Since I’m getting senioritis pret-ty badly since second semester, my boyfriend always keep me in check. Having a buddy system helps com-

bat an evil like seniori-tis,” senior Lisa Cheah said. “And [thinking] about my dream col-lege slipping away from my hands be-cause of getting bad

grades is defi nitely a wake up call.”

Though avoiding senioritis at all costs is a long shot, it is the only tried and true solution to the age-old

tradition of American high school seniors.

there can be an underlying cause, be it stress, anxiety, or fear. Insomnia can be treated, but there is a different solution for every case of insom-

A student’s way of life is an enormous factor in his or her sleep schedule, which can often lead to

insomnia.“I hate not being able to sleep at night because

then I’m tired in class, but I’ve learned to deal with it,” sophomore Mark Lieu said.

Insomnia in students can cause students to miss classes or fall behind in their studies. It also

produces irritability and causes students to lose focus in class. A bedtime ritual is one of the

most common answers to insomnia because it teaches a person’s mind and body to sleep.

cine, but the second best medicine should be sleep because a nap can relieve stress.

to their dream college right after

While there is no cure for senioritis, stu-dents can still fi nd ways to

ity can bring them out of their madness, while for others, getting a job

their apathy.

Having a buddy system helps com-bat an evil like seniori-

tradition of American high school seniors.

however, rock and alternative music also play a large part in their cre-ative process. Arana and Ochoa like to develop clothing that they think allows a person to express their own style.

“What a person feels comfortable in, like fl owing skirts or large shirts, is the thing we try to put in our line,” Ochoa said.

The clothing they create comes not only from their perspective, but also from their friends’ point of view. People that Arana and Ochoa see walking down the street give them inspiration to create different types of vintage clothing.

“I feel like everyone bases their clothing choices off other people,” Ochoa said. “It’s not really copying, it’s more like getting inspired by seeing those around you.”

Anything can inspire Arana and Ochoa’s fashion line. While their favorite colors are black, red, and white, their choices of fabric are more of neutral colors.

Although their line will depend on where they get inspiration from, they prefer to have fabrics that are light, but not bright.

Once their line becomes more notorious, Arana and Ochoa hope to launch a large store that will last in the future. Arana believes that anyone can get help from others to follow their dreams. The start of their line will symbolize the fact that anyone can achieve their dreams if they act upon it.

“We want to show other people that if two 16-year-olds can start a business, other people can, too,” Ochoa said. “If you set a goal for your life, and you go for it, anything can happen.”

“I want to eat your backpack.”

-Student craving food over an in-n-

out backpack.

1. Using brightly lit devices an hour prior to bed can cause insomnia due to the emission of light rays.

2. A recent survey showed that 40% of women and 30% of men experience insomnia.

Illustration by Jelina Luu

Illustration by Jelina Luu

Their store will also feature different kinds of jewelry such as these bracelets and rings.

Julianne Ochoa (left) sports vintage bracelets and Michelle Arana (right) wears a vintage styled top.

Info courtesy of www.healthadel.com

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