RTD

40

INSIDE: With and Without Juniors // The Necessity of Facebook // Thief-Proof Supplies

Meziah Cristobalstaff member

These are the changes proposed by the SanJoaquin RTD to take effect on January 1, 2012. None of these are final and will be decided by the Board of Directors this October 18, 2012.

Proposed Fare Changes

Cash Fares

All-Day3

Adult Student Discount10-Ride Adult Student Disabled Dial-A-Ride 10-Deviation31-Day Adult Student Disabled

$4.00Eliminate$2.00

EliminateEliminateEliminateEliminate$10.00

$65.00$40.00$30.00

AdultStudentDiscount1

HopperDial-A-RideTrolley2

Transfer

$1.50Eliminate$0.75$1.50$3.00EliminateEliminate

Passes

In an effort to cope with a shrinking budget, the San Joaquin Regional Transit District plans to recreate its fare structure to address financial issues and improve services

1Discount fares are for seniors, the disabled and Medicare card holders (with ID card)2This service is no longer provided3Weekend passes are going to be eliminated

Jan. 1, 2012 would not only mean the begin-ning of a new year, but also the beginning of a reconstructed fare structure for the San

Joaquin Regional Transit District (RTD). “The main reason for service changes is because

our overall operating funding has been reduced dramatically at three different levels: federal, state, and local,” said Nate Knodt, Service Development Manager for the San Joaquin RTD.

Knodt explains that RTD is a government-sub-sidized service. In other words, most of RTD’s op-eration costs are given by the government and only about 16 to 24 percent of their “profit” originates from cash fares and selling passes.

But because of the economic downturn, and with many consumers discouraged to spend mon-ey, RTD funding remains low despite the steady increase in costs to continue operation.

“Just to give a couple dollar amounts, our overall funding budget for this year comes up to about 31 million dollars. Three years ago, it comes up to almost 36 million dollars. So we have seen about a five million dollar reduction in just these three years,” Knodt said.

About 70 percent of RTD’s operating costs is used to pay driver wages, regardless of the size of the bus they drive. There are also other expenses such as tires and fuel.

“If I remember correctly, [RTD] spends [an estimated amount of] 2.5 million dollars on fuel,” Knodt said.

In order to better address financial issues, RTD formed a committee comprising of some of its employees, board members and bus operators to look for a more efficient way of serving Stock-ton.

“One, we are looking at ways to make our ser-vices to make more sense and help pay more for our cost of operations. And two, we have, for a transit agency of our size, a relatively complicated fare structure,” Knodt said.

With different fares for certain groups in addi-tion to the different types of passes for weekdays, weekends, 31-days, and for 10-rides, it is easy for RTD to come up with 30 different types of passes.

“Because RTD has to audit, change and main-tain those passes to the public, it takes a lot of time and money away from RTD,” said Nathaniel Ather-stone, Planning Manager for RTD, during an RTD Public Hearing regarding fare structure proposals.

Because of this, the fare committee suggested to eliminate certain fare types to simplify and cut

on administrative costs for RTD. Under this proposal, transfers, the student dis-count (except for the 31-day pass), 10-Ride passes and volume discounts would be eliminated.

RTD recognizes the possibility of customers lashing out due to the possibility of lost services, especially transfers.

“[RTD is] actually working on an exchange process that would be outlined before changes are adopted. [RTD will] make sure to inform the pub-lic clearly about these changes,” Atherstone said.

Another reason that these changes have be-come so complicated, Knodt said, is because RTD is trying to resolve situations without hindering operation.

“All of these changes combined are some of the biggest changes to ever happen in RTD since its founding in 1965,” said Knodt. “That’s how complicated this is.”

Volume 3, Issue 2

Reconstructing RTD

News

With the juniors leaving to the Delta campus for more than half the day, it’s

been difficult for everyone to interact with each other.

A majority of the juniors leave the campus by 11:48 a.m. (if not earlier) to catch the bus, leaving only the freshmen and sophomores on campus. This has made it difficult for juniors to partcipate in the club meetings of this school.

Key Club has recruited several students from the junior class, however due to sched-ule conflicts, it has been a struggle for them to attend the meetings because they are usually held during Lunch B. Some students are lashing out about this.

“I don’t actually feel like I’m in [Key] Club,” said Salina Phovixay (11). “I really want to attend at least one of the meetings, but my Delta classes are in the way.”

As spirit week arrived, several juniors were unsure whether or not to participate in many

of the activities proposed by Student Council because of their busy schedule.

“[I didn’t participate in spirit week] because I got bigger things to worry about like finishing my assignments and homework, not planning out my outfit,” said Jasmine Singh (11).

It’s not just the class time being affected, but also the spirit of the school.

“[The freshmen] obviously did better than the other classes because we got the most points and most of us had the school spirit and dressed up,” said Carrie Huang (9).

While the other sophomores get to sleep in and come in at a later time, the few that come in early actually get to spend some time with the juniors. However, freshmen start class at a later time, only seeing a few juniors during a passing period.

“It’s fun [having class with the juniors and seeing them in the morning] because mostly all the juniors were really nice to me last year and I’m glad I get to have a class with them,” said Selena Lopez-Jimenez (10).

Although, juniors and freshmen barely get the opportunity to get to know each other. By the time freshmen come onto campus, the ju-niors are already in class, and by the time it’s lunch, juniors have already left to catch the bus. However, some juniors did get to meet freshmen during orientation.

“The freshmen I met this year are pretty nice to talk to and [are] friendly,” said Rita Valdez (11).

The few freshmen who do get the chance to interact with juniors feel more involved be-cause not everyone gets the opportunity to be with them.

“I feel more involved because I can make friends easier. I have an advantage unlike oth-ers. [Juniors are] really cool,” said Giovanni Fernandez (9).

For now, it seems like students who want to talk to the students in other grades will have to go out of their way to make an effort for time in their day-to-day schedule to make in-teraction between grades possible.

Aman Paneserstaff member

Dragons and Timberwolves connecting more The relationship between MCHS and SECA grows

What began as a heated rivalry between two early

college high schools in 2009, has continued to develop within the two years. Now, SECA and Middle College High School (MCHS) are extend-ing their relationship on a both positive and negative note.

“I can tell that we definitely get along more now than before. The MCHS students say we are pretty friendly and easy to talk to now, but before they judged us and thought we were snobby,” said Jasmine Singh (11).

For many SECA juniors at the San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC) campus, Shima Gar-dens, located behind the Shima building, has become a hang-out area where both schools spend their time together.

“The gardens help SECA and Middle College bond because it’s common ground. Both of our schools see that as a place to hang out and relax after class or even just as a nice place to do work,” said Andrea Diaz (11).

However, while SECA and MCHS have bond-

ed more this year through common ground, it hasn’t been as friendly of an inter-district re-lationship as it seems. Anger towards the other school has fostered on both sides leading to the students lashing out at each other.

“A SECA student threw something at the MCHS guys one day, and instead of just letting it go, we [some MCHS students] all went up to the fourth floor [of the Holt building] because of pride and almost started a problem that could have easily been avoided,” said David Ashaolu, MCHS junior.

Ashaolu explained that the SECA juniors who threw items at the MCHS students had no right to, since the MCHS students did nothing to pro-voke it. In a similar way, Singh explained that MCHS didn’t have the right to call SECA names like “Suca,” when the school’s juniors first ar-rived on the SJDC campus three months ago.

“We’re better than ‘suca.’ Our scores are pretty high. So I don’t see anything ‘suca’ about that,” said Singh.

In fact, both schools’ academic perfor-mance index scores (APIs) are the highest in

the San Joaquin Valley, increasing competition and conflicts between the two early colleges to see who ranks higher. While this competi-tion between the two schools will continue to foster, so will the relationship between them.

For now, as Ashaolu said, “our two schools have gotten off to a rocky start, because we have been wrapped up in trying to prove some impertinent point, that we all ignore the fact that if anything, our schools should be close acquaintances since we have so much in com-mon. The students in both schools have a great future ahead of them.”

Only the future knows the fate of these schools’ friendship. In time, the friends and experiences, both positive and negative, stu-dents have gained from each school will grow as they have already developed within the past two years.

“I see the two schools interacting more by the end of this year, a future with SECA and Middle College students becoming closer be-cause even while we’re different,” said MCHS sophomore Dina Zaro, “...We are so alike.”

Sucharita Yellapragadastaff member

The missing piece to the puzzle10.13.112

Editors: Sucharita Yellapragada Josephine Espinoza Desiree Alcocer

Graphics Editors: Jonathan Kwan Angelynn Jose

Photo Editor: Karen Alvarado-Contreras

Web Editor: Christopher Crawford

Business Advisor: Richard Huynh

Staff Members: Jorelyn Calam, Meziah Cristobal, Sirenio Gonzalez, Cindy Munoz, Aman Paneser, Faviola Paz, Emily Wilburn

Advisor: Rachel West

The Wolves’ Chronicle newspaper is published quar-terly and distributed free of charge. Our newspaper is an open forum for free student expression. Student editors and reporters make content and style decisions with the adviser offering guidance. Editorials reflect the view of the entire editorial board and therefore are unsigned. Opinion columns reflect the view of the writer. Readers are welcomed to write letters to the editor. We will make every effort to print any letters as long as it is not libelous. Letters longer than 250 words will be edited. Unsigned letters will be printed only in unusual circumstances, and only when we know who the writer is. Letters may be brought to the newspa-per room, room 9, or emailed to wolveschronicles@gmail.com

Stockton Early College Academy (SECA) is in its third year as a dependent charter school in the Stockton Unified School District in Stockton, CA. We currently have freshman, sophomore, and ju-nior classes, with a population of 363 students. We are located at 640 N. San Joaquin St., Stockton, CA 95202.

Our newspaper is published by Herburger Publi-cations in Galt, CA and distributed for free to all students.

Go Timberwolves!

Editorial POlicies About us

The average person requires approximately nine hours of sleep. However, many of us don’t meet this vital requirement and thus we drag ourselves throughout our day. Most of us are up into the wee hours of the night completing our homework; if not, then it’s having to wake up for early classes or hav-ing to catch the bus. But the truth is that most of us procrastinate throughout our day, and thus leave the bulk of our homework for the last hours when in truth it could’ve been finished much earlier in the day.

The bulk of us are left lashing out at our teachers because we are so tired from the previous day that we can hardly focus in class. Then when it comes to tackling our daily tasks we barely have enough energy to do them to the best of our abilities. But that’s what we’re going to have to deal with until we reach a new campus.

With so many students on cam-pus, all of us are on strange class schedules. Freshmen and sopho-mores wake up later and end their classes at a much different time after the juniors, for the most part, whereas juniors get up an hour earlier and leave for San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC) at varying times. This strange alignment is due to our current overcrowding which will be solved with the upcoming new campus. So we just have to pull through this all so that we can say that we did it in the end.

In the meantime, this schedule has really taken a toll. Even the

teachers are complaining about the time frame because of the dif-ficulties it has on them. Other times they are left with little time to grade work or to assign the proper amount of work for us students to

ensure we get the correct amount of practice.

Some clubs even have a hard time meeting because juniors are off cam-pus and have no way of getting back to SECA from SJDC. Despite having a lot of free time between classes many juniors are bogged down by their homework. This is partly because many of the juniors don’t utilize all of their time to the best that they can. Likewise many sophomores and fresh-men have study periods to finish their homework, however, many of them are also staying up very late at night to finish work.

With so much free time during the day, we could effectively eliminate a large majority of our homework and thus give us more free time at home. With more free time we could sleep more and not have as much stress. And even if we still had homework at home the homework would go much smooth-

er if we wouldn’t post about it on Facebook so much. Most of us go home and complain about the hefty homework on social networking sites rather than trying to finish it. As of now many of us lack sleep, however if we were to better allot our time throughout our day we’d have a more manageable amount of work. Once we begin fully utilizing our time we’d have much more free time to sleep and do other things. Thus, we’d be less stressed and more relaxed despite the hectic schedule.

Congratulations to last issue’s word hunt winner, Jasmine Fredricksen! Be sure to look for the word of the issue in every article!

No rest for the scholarly-minded10. 13. 11 3Editorial

Wolves’ Chronicle Staff

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Yearbooks are still on sale. $70 for a book only and $75 for a package which includes the yearbook, nameplate, plastic cover, and autograph supplements. See Ms. West in room 9. Book sales stop on Dec. 16. Mark your calendars so you don’t forget to buy one!

Stockton Early College Academy

“Come and have loads of fun. Dance, chat, and dress up with your friends. Additional information coming soon.” Pre-order your tickets for $5 and $7 at the door. If you bring a guest please get a form from Ms. West in room 9.

SECA Student Council

We will be volunteering at the Dell’Osso Farms and will partici-pate at Fall Rally North. If you would like to join Key Club, you must submit three forms that you can get from the adviser, Ms. Kelly, or any other Key Clubber and a payment of $15 is needed as well.

SECA’s Key Club

For updates on the school newspaper, ‘like’ our Facebook page! Also, visit our website for more howling news at www.wolveschronicle.com.

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PhotosAny questions on homework or help in understanding the con-cepts for AP US History (APUSH) are posted here in this group. If you are a junior and would like to get help or discuss APUSH with others and have not yet been added into this group, then please search the group on Facebook and request to join.

AP US History Study

10.13.114 Social

They are a distraction. They are time consuming, unimportant and unneces-sary in the view point of many. Social networking sites are filtered by the dis-trict and are degraded by well-educated individuals.

“Ms. West and Nico [Brondial] came up with the idea to make a group [on facebook] to put stuff on there because of the weird schedule, we can’t actually meet,” said Maicy Her (11) about the ASB group.

The most used social networking site around is Facebook, which is noted as the home to teenage drama of some sort. Although Facebook is highly judged and is blocked by the school web filter, it is now used by clubs and other extra-curricular activities who are facing difficulties with the complex schedule for the school year.

“Our school has made Facebook groups,” said Arnelle Magandi (10). “Student Council [ASB] and Key Club both have private pages.”

Facebook has become more than just a social networking site for connecting with family, friends, and new people. Certain groups have been created on Facebook for help in certain classes or for clubs to communicate with each other outside of school.

“The groups are useful to me be-cause I know what I need to do for ASB and what events are coming up in Key Club,” said Magandi.

Facebook has many features such as pages, groups, chatrooms, event pages and many more. Out of the many fea-tures Facebook has to offer, groups are the easiest feature used by school af-filiated activities.

“Facebook groups are being made

so people can have easy access to info. that they may need to know and it’s an easier way for clubs adviser or officers to contact club members,” explained Magandi.

Also, being at the toughest school ever, the work load and situations faced daily are stressful to most so they lash out on Facebook.

“I constantly rant on Facebook espe-cially when I’m mad,” said Andrea Diaz (11). “I tend to let out my feelings, but never specify who I’m talking about or the situation; to not cause any prob-lems or drama.”

The anxiety of wanting to succeed in such a school and the fact that they may not finish all their work is quite stressful for students. So Facebook be-comes the place for comfort.

“I also go online to calm me down and make me see the brighter side,” said Diaz.

Facebook is also useful for home-work help.

Evangelina Solano Rosas (10) said, “I go on there and ask my friends [for help]. [I ask things like,] ‘I don’t know how to do #4’ [or] I comment on other people’s statuses and give them other people’s numbers for homework help [if they need it].”

Social networking sites are integrat-ed in today’s generation. It is quite un-avoidable. It has made a tremendous contribution to the not just business owners or professionals, but also to schools.

“In today’s society, everyone has a Facebook. Although it may sound in-formal to have a Facebook group [for educational purposes] it’s actually very helpful to everyone,” said Magandi.

Chat (Offline)

Upcoming eventsOct. 14 - No school for SECA, juniors are still required to attend their college classes at Delta

Oct. 15 - PSAT at SECA @ 8am

Oct. 21 - Family Fun Night: Bring your families and play games and enjoy each other’s company from 6-8pm in the cafeteria.

Oct. 20 - Drama 10 viewing of “Return of the Forbidden Planet” @ Delta College, 8pm

Oct. 28 - Video games at lunch

Oct. 28 - Halloween Costume Dance. Doors open at 7pm. Close at 10pm.

Mitchell Woodbury (10) com-mented on the new Facebook layout.“The new [Facebook] changes are way too much. I just wanna use it to talk to friends.”

Jasmin Sanchez (9) commented on the new sidebar on Facebook.“[It’s] dumb. I don’t want to be stalking people.”

Omar Carranza (9) commented on how people update a lot about their anxiety.“[It’s] annoying. I don’t need to hear about their problems and it’s not like anyone on Facebook can help them.”

Drew Carr (9) also commented on how people update a lot about their anxiety.“I would say most of the time it’s okay. I don’t have a problem with it at all. Some things they don’t need to post. A big problem occurs. It causes drama sometimes.”

Jorelyn Calam & Angelynn Josestaff members

NetworkiNg craziNeSS 10.13.11 5The benefits of having a Facebook account

10.13.116 10.13.11 7environmentGo Green, Save the Earth...Don’t Come to School?

A solitary water bottle lies on the floor. Numerous pairs of feet walk by. Numer-ous pairs of eyelashes

glance down. But no hands stoop down to pick it up, little less recycle it.

With numerous technology companies, such as Google, modifying themselves to help the environment and the persistence of the media in streaming “reuse, reduce, recycle” calls to action, it comes as a surprise that many teenagers continue to reject the simple changes in their life that could lead to tremendous transformations for the envi-ronment.

“Most [teenagers] just don’t care, or they don’t know how bad things are, [they think] there isn’t any reason to take any action,” said Jose Peguero (10).

Many teens would agree with Peguero on this as many don’t know the severity of the greenhouse effect, primarily, or how they can help out. They know recycling is an option, but beyond that many come up blank. The media gives a vague overview of how teenagers can help, but for many students specific ideas would prove more useful as many teenagers otherwise will not go out of their way to find out.

“I try to recycle as much as I can, and when no one’s looking, I pick stuff up from the ground and then throw it away,” said Priya Patel (11). “I also carpool with my friends to places we’re going to. It’s not much and I wish I could do more to help out my environment, but I honestly don’t know

what else I can do. I know I can help clean public places, but I can’t just get on the street and start picking stuff up, it’s a little awkward. Even if I could do these sorts of things, I just don’t have time for it.”

Especially with teenagers in this school, a hectic schedule can be a considerable impediment to helping the environment. Having to juggle school work, a developing body and health, along with a social life tends to make helping the environment the bottom of a teenager’s list.

“If too many things are going on at a time, people only think about their problems and so “go-ing green” just becomes an unnecessary problem that they can avoid,” said Peguero.

Not to mention that many teens don’t even con-sider helping the environment because they feel the difference they would make would not be great enough. After all, many students would think, sav-ing the earth is not their sole responsibility.

However, say one student recycled one lone bottle of water, this insignificant and minuscule act certainly didn’t save millions of joules of en-ergy, but according to National Geographic Kids, one recycled bottle water saves enough energy to keep a 60-watt light bulb going for six hours. Just imagine the effect if that one student inspired other students and those students inspired others. It would be a domino effect for the environment if every student in the school recycled one bottle of water.

“Just like collecting pennies earns you a decent amount of money,” said Peguero, “every small ac-tion will lead to big difference.”

Josephine Espinozastaff member

Ms. Wang only prints out

one set of tests for all her

six classes, recycles, and

like all teachers uses Jupi-

terGrades.

Eayrs makes a positive impact

on the environment by taking

recycling home that students

throw away. He also tries to

minimize his use of water.

How they’re making a difference...

how much carbon we emit?

78 %

16%

6%

SOLUTION #2: Lights can be

turned off when not in use

SOLUTION #3:Less paper can be

used

SOLUTION #4: The blinds/shades

in rooms can be used instead of lights

SOLUTION #1: Teachers can use

the web more often

Editor’s Note: When we were brainstorming ideas for

this issue, the topic of the environ-

ment came up. we began to wonder how

our school affected the environment,

whether it was positively or negatively.

We decided there was no better way to

find out than to collect data from our

students and our school to calculate our

carbon footprint. we used that to deter-

mine how much we would help the environ-

ment if we all didn’t come to school.

A carbon footprint is the total impact a certain building, organization, company, etc. has on the environment. It is calcu-lated by the total sum of greenhouse gas emissions (better known as fossil fuels), specifically carbon dioxide (CO2). These emissions are the products of the combus-tion of fuel containing carbon such as coal, oil, and natural gases. The release of these carbon emissions into the atmo-sphere significantly disturbs the tem-perature of the Earth, warming up its surface. Thus, it comes to no surprise that these carbon emissions are said to be the cause of the greenhouse effect,

also known as global warming.

WHAT IS A CARBON FOOTPRINT?

Based on information gathered about the school and similar buildings it was found that the building releases a total of 1040 tons of CO2 per year. The school emits its most in heating and electricty. the seccond bigest contrubuter is paper products. A pound of CO2 is equivalent to 298.1 Pounds of CO2 gas. This, compared to the American average of 20 tons per years is actually a good average. Though this is a good average there are some ways that we, as a school, can improve. First of all, the school can use less paper and more teachers can use online homework submission.The school can also start recycling the paper waste that would still be produced instead of throwing it away. If we can help lower the school’s carbon emis-

sions then we can have a greener tomorrow.

Tech Companies “Green” Advantages

All products are:Lead-FreeBFR-FreePVC-FreeMercury-FreeArsenic-Free-Glass

Total:14.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

average query uses about 1 kJ of energy and emits about 0.2 grams of carbon dioxide

Cloud computers

Windows 7 built in power saving

THey recycle when pos-sible

Google

Apple

Microsoft

West makes a positive

impact on the environ-

ment by riding her bike to

school instead of driving.

Jones uses the LCD projector

instead of printing out cop-

ies, thus uses less paper, and

when she does she uses both

sides.

OUR SCHOOL’S CO2 FOOTPRINT

Bringing justice to schoolWho should you watch out for this year?

10.13.11 8Tribunal

Karen Alvarado-Contrerasstaff member

JusticesOscar BerberJacob Crone

Josephine EspinozaAndrea Fua

Alyce Gomez-DawsonRichard HuynhVanisha Patel

Alexander SalcedoIsabelle Tham

Madam Recorder - Thuy Tran

“I am a juror. I give my opinion. If I have any questions for the ones being accused, then I ask them. I also do the recordings for the cases. I record what is said and if they plead guilty or not guilty.” - Thuy Tran (10).

Prosecutioner- Bailey Salemme“It’s my job to interview the person who has referred them [the accused student], as well as other people who may help me provide evidence for the case. I’m looking to convict (if the person is guilty) and the de-fense attorney is looking to poke holes in my case to get off. My job is to provide as much evidence to the justices in order to make fair decisions.” -Bailey Sa-lemme (11).

Justices“Justices hear the case as it is presented to them by the attorney’s from an unbiased position and then having discussed their view points with each other decide on whether the defendent is guilty or not. If proven guilty we decide on the level of honor code violation and a cor-responding punishment.” -Josephine Espinoza (11).

Defense - Alejandro Maya Defense gets the other side of the sto-ry, what the students have to say. It has to be a fair shot.

Chief Justice- Priya PatelChief Justice runs the show and sign off on cases. She keeps everyone on track. She also is the head of tribunal.

What is Tribunal? Tribunal is a “peer court” in which the members study cases that are reported by teachers and other students to decide if an accused student is guilty or not. The members also decide on a punishment for the ac-cused if they are found guilty. All deci-sions are based on the Honor Code; they do not lash out at students arbitrarily. Cases are assigned a level of severity on a scale of 0-3. Zero being minor and three being the most severe and can result in expulsion.

Lonely backpack. It’s a thief’s invitation to help themselves. Many SECA students m i g h t

think it’s a no-brainer to take care of their school supplies and personal belongings, but it can be very easy for a thief to find their way into someone’s backpack. In just a split second, belongings can be gone, and gone for good. Avoiding theft can be easy to do in a few simple steps. “[I take precautions] because I have my phone and cal-culator in there and other school supplies like homework I don’t want to lose,” said Gabriela Bar-raza (10). The crime rates are at a high due to economical hardships so taking precaitions to protect valuables could be a smart op-tion, The risk of getting valuables stolen is higher for juniors, as they’re on the Delta College campus.“I worry mainly in the quad (the cen-tral area of the delta campus) because there are a lot of people there and it would be hard to tell who could have stolen [my backpack] if someone stole it,” said Ruben Salas (11).

There is a new company named iSafe, and they specialize in selling backpacks with alarms. This is something no other backpack company has done before. When an unwanted stranger ap-

proaches you, all you have to do is pull the hidden cable on the backpack strap, and the alarm goes off instantly, warding off all types of malicious people, and attracting attention to get help. The company

aims these backpacks toward protective parents who are worried about their kids walking home alone.These backpacks are not only popular among protective parents, but among celebrities such as

Drew Carey, Leah Remini, and Joey Fatone as well. With trendy designs to choose from, the backpack will be envied by all. It’s almost too bad they won’t be able to steal it! Although the iSafe backpacks are not used by anyone at SECA, there are those who would be willing to buy one. “I most definitely am willing [to buy a backpack], I will be more secure and I won’t have to worry about someone stealing from me,” said Cindy Lopez (10). Sure, the iSafe backpacks have an alarm to pull to ward off strang-ers, but they cannot prevent from theft when the backpack is left alone.There is no specific product that will help with keeping valu-ables safe. It’s the responsibility of

the owner to keep their belongings from being stolen.

So until technology invents something better to protect valuables, students will have to learn to take especially good care of the possesions they carry everyday.

In the blink of an eye...you’ll be ready to cry.Cindy Munozstaff member

10. 13. 11 9

Whose backpack will be stolen? Be careful with your belongings, or you will soon find yourself lashing out in anger.

Feature

On Friday, Sept. 30, freshmen and sopho-mores spent lunch playing Rockband. Student Coucil has organized the activity for every month in order to create more F.L.U.F.F. (Family. Leadership. Unity. For. Fun.).

Also on Sept. 30, Ansel Eayrs took his phys-ics class to TheTech Museum at San Jose. The students had a blast seeing principles of physics in action. They even had the chance to create their own models of rollercoasters.

The bed of nails, which was created by the physics class, was tested on Monday, Oct. 3. Students volunteered to test out a law of phy-ics. This was a safe activty for the students to enjoy.

What’s going on around SECA when you’re not looking?

Photo credit: Jorelyn Calam Photo credit: Meziah Cristobal Photo credit: Faviola Paz

Forget 3-D. Going back to basicsA movie many have seen already being put in three-dimensions

10.13.1110 OpiniOn

Watching The Lion King 3-D may have been great fun as it brought back child-hood memories. As the movie played in theaters for two weeks, it topped the box office charts the whole time. However, this movie has been out for a long while already.

The Lion King was origi-

nally a movie people fell in love with. It consisted of a story about a young lion, who lost one of his parents at a young age, which made him feel as if he had no one to look up to. The story has been heard before, but why watch it; only to bring back childhood memories on the big screen, while it has been released for about 16 years.

People are able to see Simba and his friends, like Timon and Pum-baa, come at them in 3-D. Making the movie three-dimensional was unnecessary as it was something many have already seen before and it can be seen on a T.V. screen at home.

Recently, more movies have been made in 3-D because the director

may believe it creates more of an effect on the audience. But it only takes more money from the audience’s pockets, which is not some-thing many want at the moment.

Of course, there are some who are big fans of a series of movies, like “Harry Potter,” who would love to see their favorite characters

up close and in their face. However, if the creator of the movie wanted to make a profit, why

would he want to redistribute a movie that was already popular before?

It is pleasant to see technol-ogy has improved and has become

unlike anything we have seen before, but 3-D movies have been blown over the

top as they have started to target movies we have seen before.

Many have lashed out online, wanting more classic mov-ies in 3-D, like “The Little Mermaid” or “Tarzan.” Even many known directors would like to make their movies made into 3-D, like Steven Spielberg and his movie, “Jurassic Park.”

However, this tends to weaken the content of the movie because many know what to expect from the movie and may lead the audience to not want to pay the full price of the ticket to see it.

Desiree Alcocerstaff member

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“I like 3-D movies. The fact that it pops out at you, makes it more interesting.”- John-Matthew Sinco (9)

“3-D movies give a good incentive in developing technology further. It isn’t a bad thing. ”- James Aaron (10)

“[3-D movies] seem more realis-tic. You feel more involved in the movie.”- Shearaz Khan (11)

Different opinions about 3-D technology. . .

10. 13. 11 11PoP CultureThroughout the

years, imaginative people have tried to picture what the

world would look like when they were dead, gone, and rotting in the ground.

Some expressed it using science fic-tion, others by questioning the di-rection society was heading in. So, according to films and books from long ago (and from not-so-long ago), how far are we on the timeline?

Are we rapidly hurtling toward doom? Are we prospering more than ever? Check out how today’s real world compares to what authors and film-makers thought it might become.

Emily Wilburn staff member

The Future In Movies: Where Are We Now?

George Orwell, in his book “1984,” predicted that our world would be one where every action would be closely scrutinized for signs of disloyalty to the government and “Big Brother.” Today, basic privacy rights are still respected. But watch out in public: security cameras are everywhere, although to prevent shoplifting and robbery rather than “thoughtcrime.”

According to the “Back to the Future” movies, by 2015, we won’t have to worry about keeping roads in good condition: four years from now, cars will fly and use gar-bage as fuel. Sadly, mad (and not-so-mad) scientists haven’t figured out how to make cars fly yet, but alternate fuel sources--like electricity, hydrogen, and biodiesel-- are becoming more popular and efficient, so why not garbage?

The 2009 movie “2012” only had to look three years ahead for inspiration, to the year the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world. Scientists will apparently discover that a new physics phenomenon will cause the earth’s crust to break apart, creating dangerous earthquakes and enormous fault lines, and triggering a gigantic volcanic explosion in Yellowstone National Park. We’re almost done with 2011, and no startling revelations about neutrinos or plate tectonics have appeared in the head-lines. There is, though, lots of hype and guesswork about the upcoming year.

In the “Matrix” movies, humans are trapped in a fake world, when in reality they are being farmed for use as power to keep the machines that control them running smoothly. As for the present, there may be times when we feel like slaves to technol-ogy-- running to fetch a charger, constantly checking our phones for new messages-- but at least we don’t have plugs implanted in our nervous system.

“Minority Report” predicts a world 43 years from now, in which crime is detected in advance and stopped before anyone gets hurt. The characters interact with tech-nology such as gloves instead of computer mice, instant identification based on the retina, and kiosks in each store that offer personalized customer services. Although we don’t have those gadgets, we do have similar ones: many video game controllers (the Wii, for example) have motion sensors, Facebook has recently developed a form of face recognition software, and tons of companies set aside a budget each year, first for extensive market research and then for advertising campaigns based on their findings.

The 2009 movie “Avatar” finds humans settling an alien world called Pandora and having trouble coexisting wth the native species. Some objects that appear in the movie are simply souped-up versions of today’s tools-- helicopters, bulldozers, and holograms. However, the science required to sync two bodies with the same brain is not in the near future. And, with the end of the shuttle program, it looks like we won’t be sending people into space, either-- scientists will be studying alien worlds from home instead.

In “Fahrenheit 451,” the government has become totalitarian and oppressive, and a fireman’s job is not to destroy fire but to create it by burning books, which are illegal because they spread dangerous ideas. Thankfully, our society has kept all our constitutional rights, and although some books may be banned by angry parents’ groups, they aren’t destroyed. In a twist of irony, though, less and less actual books are being produced due to the popularity of inventions like Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Nobles’ Nook.

“2001: A Space Odyssey” supposedly took place ten years ago, and revolved around the idea of an independently thinking computer system known as HAL. In the movie, HAL decides to make its own choices, controlling the humans instead of the other way around, and communicating with them as well. Computers can’t really carry on a conversation in real life, even a decade after the imagined space journey. “Artificial intelligence” is still just a concept; however, technology is becoming more and more advanced. For example, there are now programs called “chatterbots” or “chatbots” that can simulate conversations. So the next time you’re feeling lonely, don’t lash out. Search for a chatterbot to keep you company.

THE END IS NEAR

Photo courtesy of San Joaquin RTD

I n a rush to get to DELTA three students run to

the Bus40 express stop. With their hearts beating fast from the exhaustion of run-ning, the students wait for the bus to ar-rive. They enter the bus calmly, relieved that they will make it to DELTA on time. They didn’t realize they would soon be taken off the bus for not having their bus passes.

Being fined around $380, three SECA students were taken off the RTD bus and explained why they were getting fined.

“I got fined for riding bus40 without a pass, ironically I was waiting for a pass but I became impatient and decided to go,” said Daymian Villapudua (11).

Students may not be aware that the ex-press buses do charge and on occasion bus-es are stopped to be inspected for pre-paid passes.

“After getting the ticket, we were told that we were able to get back on the bus, but I called my mom instead. Just so she at least has time to think about it and not take the anger out on me and because I was not going on that bus again. At first, I think she didn’t believe but when she saw the ticket, she got mad. When I got home from Spanish, I expected a long lecture but no. All my parents did was make fun of me,” said Anissabel Diaz (11).

Parents may lash out for having to pay $380 for a bus ride that is a simple $1.25, in this case free for SECA students because the school provides bus passes. Knowing

they had an expired pass students still went on the bus.

“We took that bus because it was faster and I like getting to school early, just for the heck of it and we couldn’t wait for bus 80 because one of us had class at 11:30 that day,” said Diaz.

Students may be offered a chance of community service to pay off this $380 fine

“I can’t really do anything to pay it off. It’s about a $380 fine. And my mom already told me she wasn’t going to, so I’m

going to do com-munity service,”

said Diaz.S t u d e n t s

s u r e l y learned a valuable les-son about riding the bus and life.

“Yes, noth-ing is ever

free,” said Vanes-sa Palomares (11).

The endTailIgnorance costs SECA students $300-380The community service they do after can be priceless

Sirenio Gonzalezstaff member