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We’re Online @ my.hsj.org/ca/southsanfrancisco/thecq and coltquarterly.wordpress.com 7 8 BUDGET CRUNCH Q uarterly Volume 2 Issue 4 May 27, 2010

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Page 1: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

We’re Online @ my.hsj.org/ca/southsanfrancisco/thecq and coltquarterly.wordpress.com7 8

BUDGET CRUNCHQuarterly

Volume 2 Issue 4 May 27, 2010

Page 2: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

editor in chiefLauren Eberle

Photo EditorKatrina Nolasco

Art DirectorYasminE Mahmoud

EditorsQuarter 4

Managing EditorSteven Hansen

Page EditorsRebecca Gigi

Varsha RanjitCatherine Tadina

Brian Trinh

Staff WritersJeffrey Crisafi

Trecia CruzMarcus Ismael

Ryan LoveEmily McMonigleKamille Mercado

Michael Wong MaryJo Ubamos

PhotographersRay ConcepcionMarivic Victoria

Advertising DirectorRebecca Gigi

Online EditorCatherine Tadina

AdviserAdam G. McLearan

PrinterFolger Graphics

Hayward, CA

El Camino High School 1320 Mission Rd.

South San Francisco, CA 94080

The Colt Quarterly is a news magazine dedicated to inform the El Camino High School student body and staff of the issues that affect the school and community. We strive to publish each magazine with accuracy and journalistic excellence and provide a forum guided by the ethics of journalism. Our goal is to represent the voice, passion, and diversity of the El Camino student body.

We attempt to achieve journalistic excellence through thorough research, ac-curate reporting, and a structured editing process. All content is realized and produced by The Colt Quarterly staff.

The Colt Quarterly staff and adviser are responsible for all editorial decisions and will not submit to school officials prior to publication for review. School officials are not responsible for any ma-terials published in The Colt Quarterly but may be held liable for prior restraint or censorship. The adviser has the authority to review all materials prior to publication but does not have the right to censor. The adviser may give advice and instruct the staff on consequences to aid an informed and ethical decision.

The Colt Quarterly staff will not print any materials considered libelous, a material disruption of the school process, an invasion of privacy, obscenity, or copyright infringement. No materials will be run without attribution and anonymous sources will not be used unless no other credible source is found. Final editorial decisions about questionable content are made by a committee consisting of the editors, the adviser, and one rotating staff member. Any materials in question must be voted down by a majority decision.

The Colt Quarterly encourages submissions from its readers. Submissions will be held to the same editorial criteria as materials produced by the staff. Submissions will be rejected for con-taining unprotected speech and/or false “facts” or claims and may be suspended for substantial grammatical errors.

We The Colt Quarterly staff promise to follow The Colt Code of Ethics and strive for excellence in writing, representation, and timeliness of production.

Drafted by Sabrina Reyes, 2008-’09 Editor in Chief, ratified by The Colt Quarterly Staff October 2009

The Colt Quarterly Mission Statement and Policy Guidelines

Page 3: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

ON THE COVER

Pg 4 Top of the class

Hard work does pay off according to Class of 2010 Valedictorian and Salutatorian. They look back on their high school careers and how they got to the top. By Catherine Tadina

Pg 16 Things fall apart?With the current economic crisis, many are worried about how budget cuts will affect our already struggling district schools. The Colt Quarterly presents an economic analysis, how budget cuts will affect El Camino, and address rumors and student fears. By Steven Hansen

Budget Crunch: El Camino gets squeezed from all sides by the deep budget cuts that will affect the future of the district. Photo Katrina Nolasco

PG 4

Volume 2 Issue 4 May 27, 2010

Pg 10 Swinging for the fences

El Camino varsity baseball team comes out ahead of Sequoia High School with a 7-6 win. By Yasmine Mahmoud

Pg 15 The cost of senior yearThe highlight of a student’s high school experience may be their senior year, but at a price. College applications, Senior Ball, and much more adds to the laundry list of expenses. By Varsha Ranjit

Pg 22 El Camino students represent at Leadership retreatRepresentatives shed light on their weekly meetings and plans for improving and making a difference at El Camino. By Ray Concepcion

Pg 24 STAR test report leads to more support

With the budget cuts and emphasis on STAR testing, the pressure is on students to do well or face next year with extra classes for subject and testing support. Editorial

Pg 28-29 Sizzling summer movies

With summer reading and family vacations, summer may already seem a little hectic. But make sure to take a break to look out for these promising summer blockbusters. By Catherine Tadina

PG 10

PG 22

PG 24

PG 28

CONTENTSBUDGET CRUNCH

Page 4: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 2010

volunteeringschool

clubs

work

leadership

tutoring

4

@NewsI feel like I’m not the only one who de-

serves the [salutatorian] spot. There are other people who deserve the title too.”

-Salutatorian Jennifer Tu

Top of the class

By Catherine Tadina

2010 Valedictorian and Salutatorian share their experiences on working hard both in and out of school

Photo Marivic Victoria

Four years worth of exams, homework, and sacrifices have brought rewards to Priscilla Cheung and Jennifer Tu, who have risen to the top as valedic-torian and salutatorian, respec-tively, for the graduating Class of 2010. The valedictorian and salutatorian were chosen solely based on their weighted grade point averages.

Both top students are de-lighted that their hard work and studies have paid off. Accord-ing to Cheung, her self-mo-tivation and her parents have contributed to her success. “My parents have never been to col-lege, so this is a big deal for them,” Cheung says.

Tu says that her brother, as well as setting high expecta-tions of herself, compelled her to do her best. “My brother was always the one that inspired me. I always looked up to him, hop-ing I could be like him,” Tu says. “I knew I wanted to be at the top of my class and do best to be able to have success in the future.”

Cheung and Tu have showed earnest commitment to their school and their community.

Cheung is the vice-president of Colt Society and is a member of the ECHS Varsity Badmin-ton Team as well as Key Club, Interact Club, and CSF. She also spends time volunteering at the local library and holds a paid job as a math tutor. Tu, on the

other hand, is the ASB Treasur-er, the president of Key Club, and holds memberships in CSF, Multi-Cultural Club, Interact Club, as well as the ECHS Var-sity Badminton Team. In addi-tion, she held a part-time job at Hollister and also spent her

t i m e as a vol-

unteer at a local library.According to the two, there

is really no secret to being suc-cessful in school. “All it takes is studying hard, managing your time, doing all your work, and asking a lot of questions,” Cheung says.

Cheung and Tu will attend the University of California, Berkeley, during the fall. Cheung will major in Molecular Cell Bi-ology and subsequently go into graduate school. She plans to pursue a career in biomedical research after being inspired by her AP Biology class. A sum-mer conference she attended at Stanford University confirmed her interests in pursuing a ca-reer in the biomedical field.

Tu is currently undecided about her major but is heading towards the field of business. Afterwards, she plans on get-ting a job or going to graduate school.

Page 5: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 5

Walking out for wrong reasonsStudents walk off campus in protest of budget cuts and teacher layoffs in California schools

Between 50 to 60 students staged a walkout during lunch on Friday, March 5 in protest of teachers receiving pink slips and electives being cut due to the budget cuts being imposed on California schools.

As the lunch bell rang, many students began walking off campus and congregating in the parking lot and on the sidewalk on Mission Road.

In an attempt to keep students from leaving, the ad-ministrators talked to individu-als, persuading them to stay. “Various administrations were out in the parking lot and on the front steps telling students that it wasn’t safe and that they were making a bad decision, and there would be conse-quences,” Principal Adele Berg said. The students who walked out received three days of Sat-urday School as punishment for cutting class and defiance. Assistant Principal Sara Wet-teland was also present for the walkout. “I think having talked to some students deterred them from actually walking off that initially were going to,” Wette-land said

One of the first to walk off campus was sophomore

Christian Vasquez, upset to hear about El Camino bud-get troubles from his teachers. “I felt it was wrong that they would take away more money from us,” Vasquez said. From there Vasquez and a group of other students planned to go to South San Francisco High School to see if there were any others who had decided to leave campus, and get a large enough group to protest at the District Office. Their plan was unsuccessful.

Sophomore Jon Dominguez walked out after hearing that some of his favorite electives like dance and art were in dan-ger of being cut. “I wanted to

help protest against the budget cuts and do my part in saving those things,” Dominquez said.

Although most students said that they were walking out in protest of the budget cuts, administrators had different views about what the students motives were. “Most students were totally self-motivated and taking advantage of a bad situa-tion,” Berg said.

“There were other ways of handling the situation like writ-ing to the state officials, or to the school board,” Berg said. Students are encouraged to help make a difference through showing support and unity for El Camino instead of walking off campus.

By Rebecca Gigi

Walk it out: Students decide to walk off campus towards the BART station during lunch on March 5.

Pho

to A

mee

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buge

ith

Do you plan on going to Grad. Night?

NEWS

P

O

L

L

S

News BriefsYes

40%There will be no school on May 31 in observance of Memorial Day.

Drama Night will be held in the Little Theater on May 28 at 8 p.m.

The Summer Reading List for all grade levels is now posted on the school home page. There will be no excuse for those who do not complete the as-signment.

Grad night tickets will be sold in front of the caf-eteria June 1 and 3. Tick-ets are only $30 and pay-ments must be in cash and a signed waiver form to receive a ticket.

The ECHS Choir won first place in the Music in the Parks Festival on May 15.

The ECHS Jazz Band won first place (Division II) in the Chabot Jazz Fes-tival on March 6.

Senior Graduation will be held in the Big Gym on June 4 at 7 p.m.

The last dance of the-school year, Do you Remem-ber, was cancelled due to too few tickets bing sold by the deadline.

The third annual Strike Out Aids game was held on the ECHS diamond on May 21, at 3:15 p.m. for AIDS awareness.

No- Cost Yes- Going with friends No- other obligations Yes- support committee

39%17%

23% 21%

Reasons for attending or not attending?

No60%

Yes40%

*238 seniors polled

Page 6: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 20106

Workin’ at the car wash: Seniors Steven Dea, Josh Overton, and Patrick Ting participate in fundraiser on March 20 for Grad. Night.

By Varsha Ranjit

Grad. Night has been a long-held El Camino tradition: a chance for seniors to get together at one event before they go their separate ways after graduation.

The Grad. Night committee has been hard at work all year in preparation for this event, yet the lack of student participation has become a hindrance to the progress of planning the night as a whole.

The committee, so far, has interviewed several companies and entertainment ser-vices for Grad. Night. This ensures that tickets are affordable for the class being one of the main issues they face, and the number one reason why students may not attend.

Senior Vivian Hoang shared that she will not be attending Grad. Night for this particular reason.

“I don’t want to spend a lot of money on one night when I could spend it on something else,” Hoang said. “I’m going

on vacation and I plan on spending my money there instead.”

This year’s Grad. Night has changed in that one of the major reasons why tickets

may be lower is because of the location of the event.

Buses, which, for previous Grad. Nights, increased prices dramatically are now not needed because the event will be held on campus.

The committee’s number one obstacle is the lack of student participation.

“So far we have had about four fund-raisers, however, student participation has been low,” teacher and head of the Grad. Night committee Nadia Oskolkoff said.

These four fundraisers, consisting of two bowling nights, a carwash, and a pan-cake breakfast, have helped the committee raise funds, yet they still aim to be fiscally smart when making their decisions.

“It’s for them… and we want the tickets to be lower,” Oskolkoff said, “It’s sad to say, but it may be the last time they are all together as a class.”

The ultimate goal of the Grad Night committee is to provide the senior class of 2010 with an entertaining evening with their fellow classmates as their high school career ends.

All these efforts are put forth not only to make Grad. Night more enjoyable for graduating seniors, but affordable, as well. However, it will only be possible with a sig-nificant change in student participation.

Grad. Night Committee eager for student participationStudents express excitement and apathy for this year’s

Graduation Night celebration

Pho

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atri

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olas

co

“It’s sad to say, but it may be the last time they are all

together as a class.”- Committee member Nadia Oskolkoff

Page 7: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 7

Spring Fling wilts

By Trecia Cruz

New dance event Spring Fling scheduled for April 9 was cancelled due to a lack of student interest.

“Since we didn’t sell enough tickets by the time we were supposed to, we had to cancel it,” Freshman President Nicole Banadera said. Leadership had to have at least 50 couples attend, but-they only got 28. Some students weren’t happy with the attire agreement which some thought would be hard to follow or couldn’t agree to, such as no strap-less dresses for girls and boys couldn’t wear sneakers. Some people were either too late to buy the tickets or didn’t want to go through all the trouble of finding a date, which was needed to purchase a ticket.

Spring Fling is a new event organized by

upperclassmen for the freshmen and soph-omores so that they can also have some-thing fun to attend during prom and ball

season. “It would be good fundraiser that would help out the underclassmen financially,” Rafael Lumang and Shar-maine Bautista said.

Tickets were being sold around mid-March for twenty dollars per couple. Students were excited to hear about the Spring Fling and were eager to buy tickets, but excitement disappeared as the event approached. After the cancel-lation was announced, refunds were is-sued the week of April 12.

As for next year, Leadership will attempt a Spring Fling again. “There will definitely be a Spring Fling next year and this time it will be controlled

by the junior officers,” Sophomore Presi-dent Sharmaine Bautista said. By then, they hope to make it and success.

Senior panoramic protestPortrait retaken in the gym after tradition upsets students

By Marivic Victoria

The Class of 2010 panoramic photo, scheduled for March 25, was rescheduled after a conflict broke out over the tradi-tional set up of the photo.

Following tradition, the cheerleaders took their place in front, followed by the football players, leadership, stu-dents with senior sweaters, and the rest of the class. Students began to protest the arrangement, causing the organizers to cancel the photo for the day then eventually re-scheduling to address the protest.

As the advisors and teachers began to organize the group, students spoke out against the tradition. Many argued the ar-rangement of “cliques” being prominently displayed in the front.

Neither the advisors nor the administra-tion could calm the students down, result-

ing in everyone being sent back to class. Before the panoramic was rescheduled for April 15, 2010, the seniors took a survey on how they think the picture should be taken. The majority of the seniors ended up vot-ing for the tradition that originally began the protest.

A change was instituted to take the pic-ture in the gym with the students sitting on the bleachers so all could be seen equally. “The new panoramic was fair because it wasn’t by height and we were able to sit with our friends,” senior Paula Gagui said.

At the second attempt, the faculty and staff managed to organize the students

better. “With the new panoramic in the big gym, I think the class looks more organized and there was a better representation of the class of 2010,” Director of Student Activi-ties Derek Padilla said.

The cheerleaders took their place in front, followed by football players, leader-

ship, and with a new change, sports attire that included all players of any sports through-out the year to acknowledge the other hardworking groups besides the football team and show the diversity of the class. “The sports attire was a nice

contribution. Being able to be a part of that was cool, showing that you’re different from everyone else,” swim team member Earlyn Eleria said.

Many seniors felt the cancellation of the first panoramic may have been a waste of time in the first place. In the end, seniors seemed to be happy with the changes and the compromises that were made.

Art Yasmine Mahmoud

“With the new panoramic in the big gym, I think the class looks more organized and there was a

better representation of the class of 2010,”-Director of Student Activities Derek Padilla

Lack of interest by underclassmen causes Spring Fling cancellation

Page 8: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 20108

photo news

1. Ecology Club member freshman Ashley Bowerman pulls weeds in the Garrett Memorial Garden in celebration of Earth Day (April 22).Photo Katrina Nolasco

2. Junior Krystal Lai accepts her Student of the Month Award for math at the April 21 House of Representatives meeting.Photo Katrina Nolasco

3. Charlene Solis shows off her senior spirit on stage at lunch during Rent-A-Senior on March 26.Photo Katrina Nolasco

2

1

3

@News

Page 9: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 9

4. Seniors Charlotte Miller and Kayla Christenson peform during the Spring Play The Crucible on April 17. Photo Katrina Nolasco

5. Freshman Justin Vasquez gets interviewed by the MADE represen-tative on March 26 in the Teacher’s Lounge.Photo Katrina Nolasco

6. Senior Earlyn Eleira plays the clarinet during the Spring Concert May 6 in the Little Theater.Photo Marivic Victoria

7. Senior Justin Igama performs during the E.Y.E. Showcase on March 26.Photo Marivic Victoria

4

5

6

7

Page 10: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201010

wSports

News

Concession stands/Food boxes & afterschool sales

Company sponsorships

Dinner nights @ school/Takeovers

Elegant Evening tickets

57%

Which type of fundraiser for sports do you think is the MOST effective?

24%7%11%

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Sports

Swinging for the fencesBy Yasmine Mahmoud

The El Camino varsity baseball team defeated Se-quoia Tuesday May 4, 2010 with a close score of 7-6.

Sequoia’s Davenport made a miraculous slide to third after hitting a ground ball- shortly after Sequoia’s Baxter struck out, bringing El Camino to bat.

The first hit by senior Roman was not foretelling of the results of the game. Consequently, a weak hit from senior Anderson and an equally weak hit from ju-nior Rios placed El Camino in a less than average be-ginning. However, Roman quickly turned the tables by rallying El Camino’s feeble start with a triple to center.

Later in the game Se-quoia’s Mauldin swung, arriv-ing at first, but was quickly thrown out at second when Brown hit a grounder. Elliot’s hit traveled far and a player slid, but he was thrown out after the close call was ex-amined. Eastman went up to bat, but was swiftly thrown out ending the inning.

During the next inning, junior Knud-son managed an inside the park homerun with nobody on. This began a streak of successful hitting by notable players Jona-than, Eclavea, and Kelly. Then Knudson

hit a home run, sending everyone on base to home. In addition, Roman’s hit gave the team two more runs.

Both teams began the seventh inning by constantly tipping the ball, causing the seventh and eighth innings to move fairly quickly. Later in the inning, Roman’s hit a quick double, driving in two more runs.

During the seventh inning, Sequoia’s Davenport got tagged out before reaching

first base to the chagrin of his teammates. Teammate Kocian hit a foul tip, Baxter re-ceived a no tag, and Mauldin was finished with a strikeout to retire the side.

Sequoia finished strong, but they ulti-mately couldn’t overtake the Colts, who squeaked out a close 7-6 win.

Swing away: Varsity player Jonathan Contreras takes a swing at a fast ball during the El Camino-Sequoia match on May 4. Photo Katrina Nolasco

*238 students polled

EC’s varsity boys squeeze out a close 7-6 win over Sequoia

Page 11: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 11

Springing for the win

Sports Briefs

Congratulations to The Boys’ Varsity Tennis for maintain-ing their undefeated 10-0 re-cord in league!

Number four singles varsity tennis player Alex Lopez re-mained undefeated in league and was awarded second team all league. Number one dou-bles Alexander Cauguiran Jr. and William Mulchond also entered the 2nd round of PALs.

While there will be no active sports during the summer, conditioning for fall sports will begin on June 5th.

El Camino’s Badminton team played against South San Francisco May 6 at home, los-ing 7-11.

The Badminton PAL Tour-nament began on May 22nd. Swimming PALs ended May 15th. All schools with swim-ming squads participated in PALs for individual swimming events.

Swimming CCS began May 21 through May 22, and was held at Santa Clara University.

Congratulations to Badmin-ton players senior Queenie Kwong and senior Vincent Cheah for advancing to PAL Finals. Congratulions to soph-omore Danny Chan and ju-nior Nausherwan Muham-mad, the doubles team, who will also be advancing.

This year the JV cheerlead-ers placed first at Cheer Na-tionals and became the Grand National Champions. The var-sity cheerleaders, however, did not place, but they learned im-portant values.

The JV cheerleaders com-peted at Golden State Spirit Association’s Nationals (GSSA Nationals) in San Jose on March 20. First place went to the squad by default, but the team still had to score baseline points to qualify. With roughly 2-3 hours of practice a day, the JV squad was able to acquire more than they needed and were given the championship title for their division.

“We worked really hard and put in tons of practice time, dedicating ourselves to our rou-tine and our goal to perform well as a team, which made me have high expectations for the squad. We knew that we could do very well if we continued to stay focused,” JV co-captain-and sophomore Iris Tobar said.

The JV girls felt that their victory was not only due to

their skill and effort, but also to the strong family-like bond in their squad.

“ E v -ery squad works hard and puts in endless amounts of hours into their rou-tine, but I think what made us d i f f e r e n t was that we don’t look at a each other like teammates. We’ve bonded so much that we see ourselves more like sisters,” sophomore Jeanine Cerdena said.

The varsity cheerleaders, however, were unable to place in the Super Large Varsity Di-vision in the USA Cheerleading Nationals at the Anaheim Con-vention Center on March 25-

“Every squad works hard and puts in endless amounts of hours into their routine, but I think what made us different was that we don’t look at each other like teammates. We’ve bonded so much that we see ourselves more like sisters.”

-JV cheerleader Jeanine Cerdena

By MaryJo Ubamos

Elevation Time: Varsity cheerleaders Anna Perez, Janella Ravina, and Crystal Claudio boost Flyer Vicki Alvarez to the top during cheerleading practice. Photo Marivic Victoria

*238 students polled

EC’s squads find success at Cheer

Nationals

28. Going up against 27 other competitors, they still viewed this competition as a victory in many ways.

“We didn’t win the title, but we did win the chance to come to Anaheim and compete against other great teams that we were able to learn from,” varsity cheerleader senior Chris-tina Smith said.

Page 12: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201012

El Camino’s swim team finished their season against Terra Nova High School on Thursday, May 6, at the home of the Ti-gers. The El Camino varsity girls continued their winning streak by claiming another victory, finishing their season with a 7-0 re-cord. Varsity boys lost their meet, finishing with a 5-2 record good for second place in league.

The first event, the 200 Medley Relay, was in-tense as the varsity girls from both schools were neck and neck. One El Camino team placed first while the position for second was a close call be-tween Terra Nova and El Camino, but Terra Nova was able to pull ahead on the final lap, putting the second EC team in third place.

The varsity 400 Freestyle Relay was a proud moment for the El Camino varsity girls. The team of sophomore Danica Al-fajora, junior Hazel Panopio, senior Kath-erine Panopio, and sophomore Rachel Lam took first place and qualified for CCS, with less than three seconds to spare.

In the 200 Individual Medley, El Cami-no’s three swimmers, senior Shelbi Camp-bell, junior Hazel Panopio, and sophomore Magdalene Cheung, pulled ahead of Terra Nova from the very start, placing first, sec-ond, and third respectively. Sophomore Rachel Lam, junior Rachel Mineses, and ju-

nior Angelica Macrohon placed first, third, and fifth for EC girls in the 50 Freestyle. For the 100 Butterfly, EC varsity girls, Shel-bi Campbell and Magdalene Cheung, swam ahead of Terra Nova to the top two spots. Alfajora claimed first place while Mineses took fourth for El Camino in the 100 Free-style (four laps). In the 500 Freestyle (20 laps), EC varsity girls’ Lam pulled ahead of the game from the start, gaining more than

a lap’s advantage over Terra Nova’s second place swimmer.

The following event, the 100 Backstroke, concluded with the top two slots taken by EC junior Hazel Panopio and sophomore Danica Alfajora. Terra Nova’s Varsity Girls claimed first place in the 100 Breaststroke, but EC freshman Mackenzi Campbell took second place for El Camino’s team.

The 200 Medley Relay for varsity boys was a tight race for first, with senior Nicho-las Reinke closing in on Terra Nova in the last freestyle lap, but missing first place by a fraction of a second. Terra Nova varsity boys splashed to first while El Camino took second and fifth place.

In the varsity boys 200 Freestyle, sopho-more Andrew Tallett placed second and senior Maverick Concepcion placed fourth. El Camino’s sole varsity boy for the 200 Individual Medley, freshman Daniel Hu, started in third behind Terra Nova’s two boys but propelled to first place on the last freestyle lap. The quick-paced 50 Freestyle concluded with Reinke in second place and junior Randy Mancilla in third. Reinke, ju-

nior Brendan O’Neill, and Concepcion took second, third, and fifth places for EC boys in the 100 Freestyle. Terra Nova’s varsity boys claimed first place in the 100 Breast-stroke, but El Camino’s Hu took sec-ond place for El Camino’s teams.

El Camino varsity girls won by a

count of 114-60, while Terra Nova varsity boys won by a count of 111-54.

Overall, the swimming season was suc-cessful for the El Camino team. “The team as a whole worked hard. Our JV girls and varsity boys have done well, considering their teams are small. Varsity Girls have maintained their title as undefeated league champions, with this as their fifth year,” swimming coach Lindsay Pinell said. As for the prospects for CCS, coach Jeff Vitalie commented, “Congrats to Nick [Reinke], Shelbi [Campbell], and the varsity girls 400 Freestyle team.” CCS took place on Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22, at Santa Clara University.

EC’s varsity girls swim to victory against Terra NovaBy Kamille Mercado

Splitting Water. Varsity swimmer Krystelle De Leon makes a splash as she glides through the water during swimming practice. Photo by Katrina Nolasco

Page 13: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 13

Boys’ Baseball BadmintonGirls’ Softball

Boys’ Tennis SwimmingRecord

Girls’ Varsity: 7-0

Boys Varsity: 5-2

PALsGirls’ Varsity placed 1st and Boys’ Varsity

placed 3rd

Varsity Record11-1

El Camino v. Menlo Atherton April 29:

8-7

fourth Quarter Sports*Scores current as of May 20*

Record: 10-0 (undefeated

in league)

Accomplishments:

#1 Singles Brian Kyaw and

#2 Singles Joseph Faustino

went undefeated in league

and were awarded 1st team

all league

AwardsRob Roman and Ste-ven Knudson earned

the Co-MVP title

JV Record11-3

Varsity Record4-8

JV Record3-6

AwardsSelina Rodriguez and Elaina Revilla earned

the Co-MVP title

El Camino v. Burlin-game April 8:

8-7

Record2-12

Page 14: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201014

VCampus

Life VCampus

Life

$ The CosT of

Senior year may be the most important and most memorable year of high school. But there is a price tag attatched to the

product of your years of effort.

Mandatory Expenses

College applications . . . . . $60-90AP Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$86Cap and gown orders . . . . . . . $40

With final and last minute tests, appli-cations, as well as celebrations, senior year is both the busiest and the most costly year for students. The cost of college applica-tions can be from $90 to $280, depending on the number of colleges a student applies to. With the growing competition seniors face when it comes to college, many stu-dents are applying to more schools to en-sure backup options. The CSU system re-quires a $55 fee per application, and $60 for the UC system. Private college fees start at $90 and only go up. Although fee waivers are available, not every student is eligible. Senior Trina Marco paid $110 for nine col-lege applications even with the help of fee waivers and a few free applications.

enior Year

Optional Expenses

There are also “optional” senior expenses such as graduation parties and yearbooks, which are just as pricey as the mandatory expenses. Senior Ball is an op-tional expense, yet, it is also regarded as a rite of passage in high school; an evening in which the entire senior class can enjoy a last formal event together before gradu-ation. The majority of these expenses are simply memorabilia and celebrations held to honor the graduating class, yet, they do come at a cost.

Other expenses seniors face include cap and gown orders as well as memorabilia such as senior portraits, senior sweatshirts and yearbooks. Many of these purchases are somewhat mandatory, particularly cap and gown orders. Caps and gowns them-selves are around $40, and a set of senior portraits could cost anywhere from $40 to $500, depending on where students pur-chase their pictures. Being that it is the last year of their high school careers, many seniors will want memorabilia to remem-ber the moments they experienced in high school.

Senior Ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $180+Yearbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $90Senior Portraits . . . . . . . . . . . $40-500

Although senior year can be a year full of excitement and nostalgia, it can burst wallet seams. Senior year as a whole can cost more than all students’ previous years of high school combined. With col-lege preparation, senior events, and gradua-tion, senior expenses seem to be one of the final, unavoidable hurdles of senior year.

3 college applications . . . ..$180-2702 AP Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $172Cap and gown orders . . . . . . . . . $40Senior Portrait package . . . . . . $100Senior ball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $180Yearbook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $90

TotalExpenses

Grand total: $762

By Varsha Ranjit

Art Yasmine Mahmoud

Page 15: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 15

The CosT ofWith the Class of 2010 soon to graduate, many are curious where their fellow seniors and friends will be this time next year. The following are a just a few of the many who will be

leaving in the fall in pursuit of a higher education. Whether it be a community college or UC, local or out-of-state school, trade school or a four year university, El Camino students are taking

their education seriously and making their school proud.

Rey Toledo has been admitted to the US Air Force Academy on a full scholarship amounting to $414,000. A full time AP/Honors student and Vice President of the Senior class, Toledo began his application for the scholarship during junior year. “I’m really looking forward to [participating in] all the programs that they offer like airmanship and parachuting in addition to the curriculum,” Toledo said.

Vincent Cheah will be attending UC Berkeley in the spring semester with the aid of the Daly City-Colma Chamber Educational Scholarship of $1,000. “I worked very hard [for the schol-arship], and I’m really grateful for the oppurtunity,” Cheah said. Cheah, a badminton player and AP student, was also admitted to UC Davis and UCLA, but chose to attend Berkeley to study microbiology.

Megan Yuen, who received a $1,000 scholarship from the South San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, will be starting school at SF State in the fall of 2010. A member of the El Camino Girl’s Varsity Basketball Team, Yuen is ready to get a start on double major of psychology and biology. “I look forward to growing up and becoming more independent,” Yuen said.

Christopher Hatzistratis, a member of the Boy’s Varsity Football Team, received a $700 schol-arship from the friends of Skyline and will be attending Skyline College in the fall. “[My goal] is to transfer to a good college, like a UC, for mechanical engineering,” Hatzistratis said. Hatzistratis will be entering Skyline with an emphasis on engineering so that he can work through all of his general education classes.

By Lauren Eberle

Aston Arcega has been accepted to Arizona State University in Tempe, Ari-zona. Arcega, who has received a four-year $12,000 scholarship, is planning on majoring in political science. “I think seeing the other side of America would be most beneficial [for my major],” Arcega said on his reason for choosing an out-of-state school. Arcega also plans on joining either the NROTC with a Marines option or Platoons Leadership Training during his time in school.

El Camino seniors take significant steps towards college life.

Senior Colleges

Page 16: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201016

LFeature

LFeature

APARTF A L L

?

THINGS

The ins and outsof El Camino’sfuture

by steven han

sen

Page 17: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 1717

F A L L?

The ins and outs

With the current economic woes and district wide

budget deficiencies, the landscape of El Camino is going to be changing significantly. While the

administration is doing all they can to keep certain

aspects of El Camino stable, the budget deficit

cannot be completely circumvented, leading

to a change in teaching staff, classes offered,

requirements, and other changes that will

undoubtedly make next year at El Camino feel a bit

different.

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly

Page 18: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201018

the budget &

sports

The South San Francisco Unified School District is facing a deficit from $3.6 to $7.25 million in its General Fund through the 2011-2012 fiscal year and, with no help in sight from the state, reductions must be made across the board.

The district is approaching the problem with a three part system of budget reductions, with each part primed to trim about $2 million off of the deficit. The first part is poised to address general reductions not necessarily impacting students directly, but the second part includes several key reductions that will have a direct impact on El Camino students. The third part is still pending, and is expected to consist of anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million in reductions, depending on need.

The district also spent roughly $30,000 on a feasibility study and consult for the purpose of putting a parcel tax up to vote. A parcel tax is a tax applied to all taxpayers in the district, regardless of their use of SSF schools, solely for the purpose of funding education. The study indicated potential voter support for a parcel tax of $68 for five years on the November ballot, with 71% of those polled supporting a $65 parcel tax. There is also strong voter support for a $144 million bond measure to maintain and update educational facilities in terms of physical structure and supply.

Further, nine out of ten voters indicated both “retaining teachers and protecting academic programs in local schools” and “providing safe, well-maintained classrooms, labs, and public school facilities” to be “extremely” or “very important” – more important than preventing local tax increase. 62% of those polled thought favorably upon the District’s provision of a good education, while only 14% had an unfavorable view.

One of the most pressing financial matters concerns the Tax and Revenue Anticipatory Notes (TRAN) loan, which the district is actively pursuing a “line of credit” with. TRAN is a loan instrument which allows for the borrowing against anticipated future tax revenue when

One common misconception regarding the school’s belt tightening regards sports. While many students assume that sports will automatically be the first to go, sports here at El Camino are self-sustained, with each coach in their respective sport handling fund-raising for their athletes. The only previous school as-sistance for sports came in the form of buses, but that ceased two years ago, with coaches depending on vans and drivers.

The sports departments have also considered a self-pay plan for athletes, but not all coaches want this. Currently, athletic departments are funded through a variety of ways involving athletes selling items, while boosters also play a large role in supporting sports.

taxes

funding

the District’s revenues – which won’t come from taxes until December – don’t coincide with their monetary needs. The District can borrow up to $15 million with this program, which it must pay back by the end of the year, expectedly with December’s tax revenue, assuming the revenue matches money borrowed. If the District doesn’t explore this option they could be out of money by October 2010.

This is especially important given the results of April’s tax revenue of only $7.2 billion, which fell short of the Governor’s January budget projection of $10.2 billion. Going into April, actual receipts have consistently outpaced projections, putting the state ahead of the budget estimate by $2.7 billion. April’s meager returns – a $3 billion shortfall – effectively wipe out that advantage the state had going in, meaning education cuts are largely going to remain the same as established in January, barring a drastic shift in fiscal policy elsewhere.

Monetary

concerns

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 2010

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May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 19

summer

class-sizeintervention

The Midpoint Program, which was an eighth grade intervention program for students not meeting district guidelines for ninth grade, is now being eliminated. In its place, El Camino will be offering intervention class-es for students struggling with math and English.

These intervention classes effectively act as a second math or English class, and are dependent on both the students’ performance in their math or English class and their performance on the math and English portions of the STAR test.

Summer school also was initially a topic of conten-tion among the District. “We almost didn’t have it be-cause of budget concerns,” Principal Adele Berg said. However, Berg worked tirelessly with South San Fran-cisco High School principal Mike Coyne in an effort to convince the district about summer school’s impor-tance to students – both those who are credit deficient and those who need to get classes out of the way for dedicated electives.

Because most incoming ninth graders will be going into Algebra 1, Algebra .5A and .5B were easy courses to remove from the docket, helping this year’s summer school fit within the parameters of the budget. Junior English, however, is another course that was removed from this year’s program, which features the same class sizes as last year, despite some courses being removed. The eligibility for summer school remains the same as it has in previous years, with incoming credit-defi-cient seniors taking top priority to ensure that they’re on track for graduation, with juniors, sophomores, and freshmen lacking credits taking precedent respective-ly. Priority then shifts to those in dedicated electives, such as AVID and performing arts, who need to take care of courses ahead of time in order to keep their respective courses in their schedules.

solutions As California’s economy struggles – 12.6% unem-ployment across the state – and education money is cut, one also has to wonder about the twice defeated proposed oil taxes California has seen in the last 20 years, with the last one’s failing due in great part to a whopping $150 million campaign by oil companies.

California is the only one of the 22 major oil states (and the third-biggest producer in the country) that doesn’t tax drillers for every barrel of oil taken out of the ground. The most recent attempt for California to impose an oil tax, Prop 87 in 2006, failed despite a maximum tax of 6%, which still pales in comparison to other states’ oil tax, such as Alaska’s 25%. Had it passed, even that 6% tax would’ve generated over $1 billion in 2009 and over $2 billion in 2008 for Califor-nia – money that would do the state good, given the current dire financial straits.

Class sizes in grades six through twelve will see an in-crease, leading to a reduced number of sections, result-ing in the loss of approximately five teaching positions at El Camino. The increased class sizes will impact the number of elective courses than can be offered and in-crease class size, including those that have traditionally been left small, such as English Language Learners.

school

possible

reductioncourses

Curriculum

concerns

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly

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The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201020

Next Year At El Caminostudents’ biggest fear for next

year due to budget cuts

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“I fear that the future generation of El Camino students will be less well rounded due to the removal of certain elective classes I find effective in real life.” - Marlo Castro, Senior

“I fear about the budget cuts and loss of teachers, plus the state is raising the needed recommendations for tests and college.” - James Escoto, sophomore

*238 students polled

“Sports are being cut”

Rumor v. Reality

FALSE

“Class size increases”

TRUE “Extra math and English classes”

TRUE

“Mr. Arias, Mr. Simondi and Mr. Cresta are leaving”

FALSE “Art electives are being cut”

TRUE“Clubs are being cut”

FALSE

Factual or not, word travels fast in high school and, accordingly, a lot of misinformation and speculation has been filling the halls for months.

Sports are self-funded and will continue as usual.

Classes have been cut, which will increase certain class sizes especially freshman English.

Students who aren’t performing up to standards will be placed in extra intervention courses.

Local retirement homes will still have three vacant spots next year.

Clubs are self-funded. How-ever, clubs without sufficient activity are having their club charters rescinded.

There is going to be a reduction in the amount of art electives available, though no program is being completely cut.

Page 21: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 21

Thank you for your year of support!

The Peninsula Press Association’s 2009-10 winner for General ExcellenceQuarterlyNext Year At El Camino

Page 22: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201022

Student

LifeVStu

dent

LifeV El Camino Students Represent

at Leadership Retreat

Twice every year El Camino students, along with the high schools of the Jefferson Union District discuss and explore school issues through Daly City Parks and Recreations Teen Leadership Challenge (TLC) retreat.

TLC is a weekend retreat where the selected school groups get together to discuss the various problematic aspects of school life and brainstorm ways to improve—or complete-ly get rid of—these problems. TLC has a fall retreat for junior and senior high school students and a spring retreat for fresh-men and sophomore students.

“I was among the group that started TLC back in the day and it’s kind of amazing to see how much the program has grown and changed,” retreat leader Angela Waters said. The origi-nal TLC retreats were designed to take all sorts of “leaders” in the Daly City high schools and

turn their influence into a posi-tive thing. “When we started TLC our community was go-ing through a dark time. We thought to ourselves ‘hey, this is our community and is it the kind of place I want my kids to live’, so we designed the plan to take all of these gang lead-ers, class officers, and basically the most influential people we could find at a high school and help them learn to use their in-fluence to make the place we live better,” Waters said.

More than a decade later, the goals of the founding Daly City Parks and Rec. group have been achieved and the TLC’s direction has been changed to help the community in a differ-ent way: through bettering our schools.

Here at El Camino, the latest freshmen/sophomore group came to the consensus that the STAR tests were the big-gest issue at school. “A lot of people don’t take the tests seri-

ously and most of them aren’t aware that it hurts our school,” sophomore Ron Anthony Hur-ley explained. Hurley, as well as the EC TLC group, believes that they can work with the pre-vious TLC groups to spread the facts about STAR testing.

Along with their group ad-visors Shannon Allen and Joc-elyn Pascoe, the TLC group designed “RESPECT” t-shirts to remind students to respect themselves as students as well as respect their school by doing their best on the STAR tests. On April 27th group rep-resentatives Eileen Paguio and Angelina Cowan accompanied Allen and Pascoe to Daly City’s City Hall to present their action plan at the Recreation Commis-sion meeting. At the meeting Paguio and Cowan gave a status update on what their group has done, and their future plans. If you would like more informa-tion on the matter, talk to any of the TLC group members.

Get Involved: Summer

Programs

Not sure what to do this summer? Start with volunteering or attending a summer camp. Not only is attending a summer camp an outstanding opportunity, but it can prove to be a noteworthy experience. Volunteering enables you to make a difference in your community.

The National Student Leadership Conference is a summer program in which students can attend camps based on their interests or possible career choices. The focuses on these camps range from Journalism and Mass Communication to Medicine and Health Care. The camps take place at a variety of colleges including UC Berkeley, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and more.

Students interested in earning community service hours may sign up to volunteer for many different summer programs in South San Francisco. For example, students can volunteer to supervise childrens’ day camps, coach beginning swimmers, as well as assisit in landscaping throughout the city.

Need some extra help with SAT test preparation? Education Unlimited offers an online program for high school students to improve their reading and problem solving skills in order to be prepared for the SAT.

By Marcus Ismael & Varsha Ranjit

3. Education Unlimited

1. NSLC

2. SSF Park and recreation

By Ray Concepcion

Pho

to R

ay C

once

pcio

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Leading the way: TLC advisor Ms. Allen and representatives Angelina Cowan and Eileen Paguio prepare to talk about plans and ideas for the school made by the group.

Page 23: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 23

Seniors Speak Out“What is your proudest moment? Biggest regret?”

“When I won second place in Men’s Singles in the PAL Badminton Championships. It stood as a culmination of all my hard work and dedication.”

-Vincent Cheah

“Joining ASB. I’ve been able to really help my school, balancing my time between leadership and academics. But the experience was definitely worth it.” -Kevin Longboy

“Participating in all of the school musicals whether it be in the cast or the orchestra. Those memories were priceless and will be cherished the most. I made the greatest friends there.”

-Camille Espiritu

“I think the proudest moment in my high school was finally realizing the person who I am now.”

-Veronica Estrada

“Not participating in the lip sync rally dance. It was amazing and fun to see so many of my fellow classmates up there dancing their hearts out.” -Marlund Estacio

“Underestimating myself. Give anything and everything your all. There is no limit to what you can achieve, with determination and heart anything is possible.” -Alyssa Alfonso

“Never joining the soccer team. I love the game, but I always felt I was too busy and was afraid to join something where I knew no one.” -Zane Hatfield

“I regret not joining any sports or many clubs. I wish I hadn’t been so shy and had attempted to meet and open up to more people.”

-Jasmine Gomez

Pro

udes

t M

om

ent

Biggest R

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__

Page 24: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201024

Opinion

GOpinion

GEditorial

No longer should STAR test answer sheets be used as a template for pretty bubble designs and patterns. Due to poor testing results, the school district has made secondary support classes mandatory for those who fail to meet proficiency in either math or English. My question is, why has a plan like this not been installed already? With the threat of double classes hanging over students’ heads, more students will have to take testing seriously and work to meet those higher goals needed by the dis-trict to dig itself out of program improve-ment.

For those who just don’t care about testing or feel it does not affect them, the school schedules and resultant issues from double classes can serve as the fire under students shoes to get them testing. Any student who fails to meet testing goals in

school diploma with the new class struc-ture, but they would be ineligible to apply to a four-year college.

Being in program improvement is a major downer. Faced with the monumen-tal task of dealing with these challenges, administrators and teachers are doing ev-erything they can to try to keep schools running and students improving. Class pairings based on testing is a result of their efforts to help students improve in the face of such adversity. Hopefully, just the threat of two periods of math or English will encourage students to strive for improve-ment alongside their teachers. By taking the STAR tests seriously and staying on top of schoolwork, students can avoid double classes, more easily meet college require-ments, and help the district reach the profi-ciency levels they need.

either English or math will be placed in two English classes and/or two math classes the next year. Additionally, if they fail to pass at least five of the six health and fit-ness tests mandated by the state, they will have to take an additional year of PE. If a student is continuously unable to meet pro-ficiency levels and pass health and fitness tests, their sophomore, junior, and senior years could all follow the same basic struc-ture: two English classes, two math classes, PE, and either history or science. If art and health can be taken care of during fresh-man year, the student could still pass high school with the help of the summer school program (which has been greatly reduced due to budget cuts).

The new support classes would put the STAR test on the “Exams Needed for Col-lege” list. A student can receive their high

STAR test report leads to more support

Do you like, dislike, or feel unaffected by the new reading period changes?

Dislike

Like

Unaffected

8%29%

63%

*283 students polled

Class SchedulePeriod 1: EnglishPeriod 2: More EnglishPeriod 3: MathPeriod 4: More MathPeriod 5: PE, againPeriod 6: STAR test consequences

This test doesn’t matter. I

wonder what’s for din-ner tonight...

I’m so tired! I’ll just

bubble in a picture!

One year later...

Art

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May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 2525

A problem many students face is the choice between acceptance and success. To be accepted is to be liked by one’s peers whereas success is the achievement of goals. Sure, it is possible to attain both, but when teens get caught up in the fast-paced social life of the “popu-lar” student, some tend to forget what’s truly important. Some forget that “success” does not mean being the most well-liked, popular kid in school. When students spend more time working towards the “classic high school ex-perience” than on actual schoolwork, it’s easy to see how so many lose focus and fail to remember the real reason they are in school.

The average high school “dream” is simple. You have to be “cool” and have enough “style” in order to be liked by peers. If ever you accomplish that, then you’ve con-quered the teenage hierarchy… right? The issue is that other goals are more important than being accepted. To be honest, this game we call “high school” can be very superficial. Before dedicating oneself to a life filled with nothing but parties, hanging out, and messing around, consider the future. Is being accepted by everyone (most of whom don’t even matter to you personally) ever going to help toward getting into a good college? Is dedicating your time to becoming one of the most popular kids in school really going to matter in the real world? Honestly, those people won’t even be there when actually facing the world.

Now granted, being accepted by peers can, at times, very beneficial. Having plenty of friends can make it easy to get along with everyone. The problem with this is that people choose friends over school work. Being able to focus on work and keeping up with classes is the real reason that kids are in high school in the first place. Instead of hitting the road with friends, try get-ting that project done beforehand. Before getting on the

phone and calling up a friend, maybe finish up that math assignment first. Having loads of friends is, in fact, great. Just don’t let it get in the way of finishing high school with flying colors.

Being successful in school is difficult. It takes dedi-cation and a focused mind. To be a good student is to know how to prioritize and learn how to resist temptation. It’s never a good idea to focus on shop-ping for the prom when those 30 pages still haven’t been outlined for history. Before watching a movie or hanging out with friends, finish the four chapters that still haven’t been read for English. Keeping a focused mind and concentrating on school is the best way to be successful both in and out of high school. It’s never a good idea to ignore homework for a night out with

the group. Because, in the end, what really matters? A student’s future will never depend

on how many friends they had or how many parties they were invited to in high school. What really mat-ters is how well they expressed themselves as the best student they could possibly be.

Conquering high school doesn’t necessarily mean being liked by everyone, although it’s very easy to think that way. Conquering high school simply means be-ing a good student. In the real world, no one is ever going to care how stylish your clothes were or count how many people thought you were cool. The ones who chose to handle high school in a more reason-able fashion are the “big shots” in society. The fact of the matter is that in order to guarantee a good life after high school, a student striving for success needs to show people how awesome a student they chose to be in high school. Because, in the end, that’s always the best path to follow. Photos Katrina Nolasco

Katrina Nolasco

vs.A student’s future will never depend on how many friends they had or how many parties

they were invited to in high school.

Page 26: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201026

By Marivic Victoria By Rebecca Gigi

High school relationships give students a chance

to experience the support and feelings of love provided by a partner.

While feeling the pressure of school and life, a significant other can ease the tension by showing their support through times of stress. Receiving this support can help a student feel more relaxed.

A simple text message, voice-mail or e-mail from a significant other can take one’s mind off of troubles and become more relaxed to. Just having some-one there walking you to class, drawing you a simple art piece to show their appreciation, giv-ing you your favorite cookies n’ cream chocolate bar, or sacri-ficing their sleeping hours for those endless night phone calls, all come down to a happy re-lationship. Having trust in the relationship can also help make the relationship grow. By trust-ing each other, there will be no need for jealousy or paranoia.

While schedules begin to fill up with classes, work, and other outside activities, a sig-nificant other can be there to help assist when needed. By sharing similar experiences to-gether, students in relationships can help relate to each other’s stress, finding it easier to relax by knowing they’re not alone. Having the same subjects can let couples help each other by studying together, tutoring each

other, or even proof reading each other’s English essays.

High school relationships may not stand equally with a marriage, but they’re a good stepping-stone to the outside world of maturity. Acquainting yourself with someone else can lead to under-

stand-ing of what dat-ing in the ‘real world’ may be like. High school relation-ships also let you make and learn from mistakes. By knowing what is and is not acceptable, you can help distin-guish right from wrong. Being able to make a boyfriend or girl-friend part of one’s world but not the center of it hinges upon first being their friend.

Being able to learn how to work with another person, to gain trust and put trust in that person as well, to be able to just be there for that other person, can be very beneficial for later in life. Many may agree that these relationships are over-rated and shallow, but they are still good to experience. These partnerships teach highschool-ers the life lessons crucial for building relationships in the outside world.

ith homework, clubs, sports, and

family responsibilities, throwing a relationship in the mix can cre-ate unneeded problems. High school relationships add stress, pressure and more responsibil-ity onto teens that they might n o t be ready

t o han-dle.

T h e o p p o s i t e

sex is hard for anyone to under-

stand. If adults have a hard time finding that

“special someone,” students shouldn’t get their hopes up

that “Mr. or Ms. Right” will be their lab partner in Chem. Stu-dents worry too much about looking good or acting to im-press that certain someone, and many times the person in question isn’t even interested. With so many students putting on an act, disguising who they really are, it is no wonder that the majority of high school re-lationships that actually survive the flirting stage tend to be su-perficial.

Once in a relationship, even the most confident person can become jealous and suspicious. Pretty soon, asking the boy next to you about a math prob-lem can turn into a huge argu-ment with your BF about how

you were “checkin’ the other guy out.” The constant need of wanting to be with the other person and isolating oneself from your peers can also ruin lasting friendships and leave one alone when things don’t work out.

Relationships can also harm one’s schoolwork. Studying for a history final and ignoring all texts to focus on studies can cause a significant other to think you’re ignoring them. Hours pass by as you try to cool their nerves and before you know it’s midnight and you’re only on chapter two. I forgot where it said that being in a relation-ship causes you to miss out on a quality education.

Let’s not forget to mention the “s” word. Teenage preg-nancy is a huge problem. It can cause students to miss out on their education and the rest of their lives due to unprotected sex. The pressures of sex cause students to drift away from academics and hit the sheets with someone they barely even know. Before you think about “going all the way” with some-one, take a second to think about the future if things don’t go as planned.

So before you decide to make your newfound relation-ship official and call yourselves a couple, think of this: Can you handle the added stress and pressure of being in a relation-ship?

) )Pro

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May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly 2727

Opinion Column

Parental Advisory?

Aside from being entirely un-constitutional and ridiculous,

[banning video games] would be akin to outlawing alcohol simply because those under the legal age

can often acquire it.

Which, by the way, we tried. Prohibition didn’t work out too well.

From rock ‘n roll music to television to video games, society seems be adept at passing the buck and labeling various en-tertainment mediums as reasoning behind all kinds of irresponsible, dangerous, and unpopular behavior. People haven’t done so without due reason, of course. It’s just that their reasonimg doesn’t coincide with fact and common sense. They’ve done so as an act of scapegoating – doing everything possible to avoid the true mat-ters at hand in favor of blaming everything on something else.

Most authors of literary merit taught today in school were banned at some point in time, from Faulkner to Salinger to Brad-bury to Twain to Steinbeck. The popular-ity and expansion of various entertain-ment mediums, which often made a point to evolve and offer material with intent of shaking up the status quo, simply made it all the easier to point blame.

It’s true that there is content not suitable for children or even young adults, but isn’t the United States, by principle, against censorship? Yet many people are pushing in that direction with complaints about content in entertainment that is clearly labeled “Adult” and intended for such a group.

The video game industry is among the most recent scapegoats, with critics citing the abundance of violence, highlighted by the immersive nature inherent to the me-dium. However, the video game industry has a more stringent rating system in place than the film industry – anything outside of violence that passes in an R rated film would warrant an “Adult Only” rating in the video game industry. All of the ele-ments that critics of video games complain

about reaching the children are contained in titles clearly labeled “M” (For Mature), and are not sold to those under the age of 17.

Yet, still, the video game industry is con-tinuously vilified, with some propositions as extreme as an outright ban on video games.

A s i d e f r o m b e i n g entirely uncon-

stitutional and ridiculous, doing so would be akin to outlawing alcohol simply be-cause those under the legal age can often acquire it. Which, by the way, we tried. Prohibition didn’t work out too well.

It’s hard to be-lieve that politi-cians, lawyers, and interest groups have nothing better to do than try to censor entertainment instead of focusing on far more pressing political is-

sues that are facing our country today – it’s like Obama and other politicians weighing in on how college football needs playoffs. It’s all well and good, and for those of us that follow sports, it’s a rather big issue, but that’s something for politicians to bother addressing when we’re in a period of eco-nomic soundness, not borderline depres-sion. What would be a better use of the aforementioned people’s time is to try and pass legislation to enforce good parent-ing, because that’s where a root of the true problem lies.

My proposal is modest, a novel concept.

Instead of parents complaining ‘R’ mov-ies made their child into a sociopath, how about actually monitoring the entertain-ment they’re exposed to? I don’t doubt be-ing a parent is remarkably difficult, as well as monitoring what children are exposed to in this day and age. However, with the amount of TV-babysitting that occurs, it’s hard to believe that parents are keeping themselves informed with their child’s en-tertainment.

I’m not here to refute that children shouldn’t be exposed to Scarface. But blaming Scarface when a kid goes on a violent rampage is downright irresponsible because of two

things: 1) Sca r f a c e is mar-keted to-wards a mature, a d u l t audience

that can recognize the differences between movies and reality and 2) If a kid reaches a point where he or she feels the need to

commit violence, then se-rious warning signs were clearly being missed.

Parents shouldn’t be able to simply blame the

villain of the hour on the behavior of their kids because one of their many responsi-bilities is being aware of and filtering those villains in a way they deem acceptable for their kid’s level of maturity. Further, politi-cians, pundits, lawyers, religious zealots and others shouldn’t simply be able to ride the coattails of popular, unfounded uproar and gain reputation or publicity on no merit of their own – especially when they have far more pressing matters that should be at-tended to.

Tr-HANSEN-dental musings with Steven Hansen

Page 28: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 2010

SizzlingSummer Movies

By Catherine Tadinaof 2010

This 2010 film is a remake of the 1980s television

series. The A-Team follows the story of four

elite soldiers who were sent to jail after being framed for

a crime they didn’t commit. After escaping from prison,

they work as soldiers for hire to prove their innocence.

The movie features an enticing cast. Liam Neeson plays

the cigar-smoking John “Hannibal” Smith, Brad Cooper

(The Hangover) plays the suave Templeton “Faceman”

Peck, Sharlto Copley (District 9) stars in his first

Hollywood movie as the “Howling Mad” Mur-

dock, adding humor to the mix, and

mixed martial artist

Quinton “Ram-

page” Jackson

is set to play

the tough “Bad

Attitude” Bar-

acus, originally

played by the

p o p - c u l t u r e

icon Mr. T. In

addition, the

action scenes—

high speed plane

chases, defibril-

lating ambulances,

skydiving in tanks with

parachutes—are enough to

make your head spin.

tHe A-teAM (Jun 11)

Sylvester Stallone makes a comeback to the

spotlight in this movie with Jet Li, Mickey

Rourke, and Dolph Lundgren, with appearances from

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Need I say

more? This action movie features an ensemble cast of

action movie veterans from the 1980s and 1990s with

enough explosions and guns to make your summer

even hotter. Sylvester Stallone plays Barney

Ross, the leader of a band of mercenaries

who are hired to depose brutal dictator

General Gaza of the small, South Ameri-

can island of Vilena. However, when the

team arrives in Vilena, they find themselves

betrayed when they uncover darker se-

crets behind their mission. They are

forced to leave the island, sacrificing

one life in the process. Determined to

make things right, Barney convinces

the team to return to finish things

once and for all.

Because Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is pro-

duced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean

movies), this action-adventure film is sure to be as epic.

Although Prince of Persia is based on a popular video game

of the same name, one can still expect the movie to be as

enjoyable despite having little or no background knowledge

of the video game. Jordan Mechner, the series creator, says

they’re “taking some cool elements from the game and us-

ing them to craft a new story.” Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback

Mountain, Donnie Darko) plays Dastan, a street rascal who

is adopted by the king as his son after showing prowess

in battle. With the help of Princess Tamina

(Gemma Arterton), they embark upon a

quest to secure an ancient dagger from

wealthy nobleman Nizam (Ben King-

sley) that is capable of unleashing the

Sands of Time, a powerful gift from

the gods that can reverse

time.

PRiNCe OF PeRsiA:

tHe sANDs OF tiMe (May 28)

tHe eXPeNDAbLes (Aug 13)

28

Reviews

&Homework

Hanging out with friends

Stay at Home

Work

10

What do ECHS Students plan

to do during the summer?

Summer school

Travel

Volunteer

Sports Conditioning

Extracurriculars

Unsure

0Number of Students:

*241 Students Polled

Page 29: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly

Sylvester Stallone makes a comeback to the

spotlight in this movie with Jet Li, Mickey

Rourke, and Dolph Lundgren, with appearances from

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Need I say

more? This action movie features an ensemble cast of

action movie veterans from the 1980s and 1990s with

enough explosions and guns to make your summer

even hotter. Sylvester Stallone plays Barney

Ross, the leader of a band of mercenaries

who are hired to depose brutal dictator

General Gaza of the small, South Ameri-

can island of Vilena. However, when the

team arrives in Vilena, they find themselves

betrayed when they uncover darker se-

crets behind their mission. They are

forced to leave the island, sacrificing

one life in the process. Determined to

make things right, Barney convinces

the team to return to finish things

once and for all.

Twilight fans have something cool

to look forward to in this hot

summer weather as Bella, Edward, and

Jacob will be back in the Twilight film

series’ third movie Eclipse, sched-

uled for June. In Eclipse, Seattle

is plagued by a series of myste-

rious murders, which Edward

believes is being committed by a

new vampire with an uncontrol-

lable thirst for blood. Meanwhile, a

malevolent vampire has come back

to Forks to seek revenge on Bella. As

Bella and Edward graduate from high

school, Bella is forced to choose between

her love for Edward and Jacob.

eCLiPse (Jun 30)

Because Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is pro-

duced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean

movies), this action-adventure film is sure to be as epic.

Although Prince of Persia is based on a popular video game

of the same name, one can still expect the movie to be as

enjoyable despite having little or no background knowledge

of the video game. Jordan Mechner, the series creator, says

they’re “taking some cool elements from the game and us-

ing them to craft a new story.” Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback

Mountain, Donnie Darko) plays Dastan, a street rascal who

is adopted by the king as his son after showing prowess

in battle. With the help of Princess Tamina

(Gemma Arterton), they embark upon a

quest to secure an ancient dagger from

wealthy nobleman Nizam (Ben King-

sley) that is capable of unleashing the

Sands of Time, a powerful gift from

the gods that can reverse

time.The Last Airbender is an adaptation of the first

season of the Emmy-winning Nickel-

odeon animated TV series, Avatar: The Last

Airbender, which takes place in a world where

people, “benders”, can control the four ele-

ments: Water, Air, Fire, and Earth. The Fire

nation wages a brutal war against the oth-

er nations in an attempt to control the

world. Hope for peace rests in Aang,

the Avatar, who has the power to

control all four elements. With

M. Night Shyamalan—who

is known for directing eerie

movies such as Signs and

The Happening—directing

this heroic adventure

movie, the results

may be interesting.

tHe eXPeNDAbLes (Aug 13)

This long-awaited third installment of

the much-loved Toy Story series is set

ten years after the second film. Andy is now a

young adult about to go off to college, causing

Woody, Buzz, and the other toys to worry

about their fates. When Andy chooses

to keep Woody and tries to store the

other toys in the attic, the toys go to

Sunnyside Daycare Center where they

will be of better use to other kids. Life

seems great for Andy’s toys at the daycare, but

when they find out that Andy is looking for

them, they decide to search for their former

master. During an escape attempt, Buzz gets

damaged, and the other toys try to fix him by pressing

the ‘reset’ button on his back. Buzz comes back to life,

but only hilariously speaks in Spanish. Will the toys be able to

get back to Andy?

tOY stORY 3 (Jun 18)

29

40 50 6010

Art Catherine Tadina

20 30

tHe LAst AiRbeNDeR(May 28)

Page 30: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 4 / May 201030

Jo h n Ban-

ville’s The I n f i n i t i e s

wittily reveals what it means to be human and probes the mysteries of humanity, all from the perspective of Greek gods.

Old renowned mathema-tician Adam Godley is veg-etating on his sickbed after a severe stroke. His dear fam-ily surrounds his bedside: his son Adam, whose sud-den shock of his vegetating father brings him to a state of restlessness; his daugh-ter Petra who is psychologi-cally distraught; and their stepmother Ursula, whose relationship with the chil-dren is bland at best. Adding

to the mayhem are the gods meddling with the Godley’s affairs: Hermes, the inquisi-tive and omniscient narrator; Zeus, whose sexual lust for young Adam’s wife wreaks havoc; and Pan, whose wis-dom renews old acquain-tances.

The Infinities is clearly a must-read for Greek mythol-ogy fanatics who are inter-ested in godly meddling. The book also evokes profound ideas on the philosophy of life, death, emotions, eternity, and time. However, if you’re not a fan of mythology, you’ll definitely be lost in what seems to be digressions into irrelevance.

Overall, this novel de-serves a 4 out of 5.

It’s easy to surmise why El Zocalo, an El Sal-

vadorian restaurant located along El Camino Real in the Winston Manor Shopping Center, was overflowing with customers.

I started my meal off with an order of cheese quesadillas and a side of Chimole, a mildly spicy and chunky salsa which added some ‘pizzazz’ to the dish. For the main course, I ordered the two cheese enchi-lada verde with a side order of pupusa’s ruelta. My enchiladas, which came with with rice and beans, were topped with spicy green sauce and filled with perfectly cooked cheese. The rice was exquisite and full of flavor, perhaps the best rice I have ever tasted.

The pupusa’s ruelta, which included a pickled cab-bage-like concoction called gordita, were very flavorful yet a little greasy .

Although the only item on the dessert menu was empanadas, that was okay be-cause I felt that my appetite had already been fulfilled by my dinner. The prices of the dishes were very reasonable, which was surprising due to the good quality of the food. The cost of my overall meal was $12.00. I would recom-mend this restaurant to any-one who likes a very casual atmosphere and traditional El Salvadorian food. El Zo-calo earns a 4 out of 5.

Ra y -mond

v. Raymond, Usher’s new album released on March 30, 2010, features fourteen new songs, of which three are radio singles. Since this was my first time listen-ing to songs from the R&B genre, the songs weren’t very appealing at first. But after the second try I started to get a feeling of the music, mak-ing me sing along with the rhythm. After the third try I started to really understand the deeper meaning in Ush-er’s songs.

The album was pretty funky with good beats. Ush-er’s voice matches the rhythm and beat for the song, but at times his voice doesn’t go

with the music. After lis-tening to “OMG (featuring Will.I.Am)” for the first time it made it made me want to sing and dance along with the song. One song I liked the best is “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).” Whenever I listen to this song, I would get a feeling that when he sings, he puts a lot of effort and energy to the song to make it sound good.

The rating I would give this album is 4.5 out of 5. I took away half a point be-cause the album is confus-ing at times. Nevertheless, the songs were pretty good to listen to. The rhythm and beats make the music enjoy-able, even for a first-time R&B listener.

In Iron Man 2, Robert Downey Jr. suits up

once more as Tony Stark and Ironman to take on the government, a mid-life crisis, alcoholism, and a deadly new enemy. Stark’s health is en-dangered by the very object keeping him alive as he spi-rals into self-destruction.

The new technology and gadgets in the sequel are ex-citing and the CG animation is well-done. The visual ex-perience is excellent; the Iron Man animators create awe-inspiring fight scenes with enough jaw-dropping explo-sions. Additionally, humor is no stranger to Iron Man, al-lowing for a few good laughs throughout the film. The in-troduction of the new char-acters—particularly Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash—makes

Raymond v. Raymond review the movie

more inter-esting and enjoyable.

Yet Iron Man 2 isn’t without its flaws. At times throughout the movie, the plotline seems incoherent and sometimes nonexistent. There are also mistakes done with the casting: I felt Don Cheadle wasn’t fit to replace Terrance Howard’s Rhodey character, and there were-too many new characters to keep track of. While the CG fight scenes may be great, the movie relies too heavily on them.

Iron Man 2 is a great film to see this year. Whether you choose to see it in a theater or save it for DVD, you will not be disappointed. I give Iron Man 2 a 4 out of 5.

Iron Man 2 review

The Infinities review El Zocalo review

By Marcus Ismael

By Michael Wong

By Brian Trinh By Emily Ann McMonigle

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Page 31: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4

May 2010 / Quarter 4 / The Colt Quarterly

By Steven Hansen

Pho

to P

aram

ount

Pic

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s

Resonance of FateResonance of Fate, the lat-

est venture by famed Japanese RPG developer Tri-Ace is a bit of fresh air for the genre, managing to provide a fresh, unique experience in both its gritty, steampunk set-ting and complex, strategic gameplay. The game is not without flaws, but they aren’t the expected missteps caused by slips into cliché.

The world in Resonance of Fate is dying due to misuse and abuse by humans who have, ac-cordingly, crafted an enormous tower in which they can live safely. Still, after further abuse, the tower itself, which is sec-tioned off based on class, with the most upper class citizens living at the peak, starts becom-ing unsafe as well.

The story centers in on three characters in the middle class–Vashyron, the eldest, Zephyr, the angst-laden youth, and the adorable Leanne–hunters who make their living as hired hands doing all kinds of odd jobs to

land some cash. However, de-spite the potential of the set-ting and characters, the plot never comes to fruition, being told through melodramatic oc-casional flashbacks that ulti-mately take a backseat to the gameplay. The flashbacks also contrast starkly to the game’s present, which is unbelievably silly and weird to a point where it could be a turn-off to many people.

The gameplay has a some-what steep learning curve, even for those experienced in the RPG genre. It feels complex initially, but optional tutori-als begin fleshing out the in-tricate battle system, in which characters all wield guns and grenades. Characters are navi-gated, in turns, around a battle field littered with a number of enemies, using machine guns to inflict “scratch damage”, which can then be turned into direct damage with handguns.

“Hero Attacks”, which ex-pend one “hero gauge”, send characters running in a straight line, where they can attack mul-tiple enemies multiple times over in an incredibly stylized,

cinematic fashion. Aside from doing more damage, they are integral to posi-tioning characters around the battlefield in a strate-gic manner. Do so prop-erly, and the characters

can unleash an even more devastat-

ing “tri

attack” in which all three char-acters attack simultaneously, for as long as its gauge allows.

There is also an incredible level of customization to the game. Guns need to be fitted with the best custom parts to ensure victory, while the char-acters even have several dif-ferent outfit types, each of which has countless detailed articles of clothing possible for wear. There is also a moderate amount of level grinding nec-essary, as the game’s battles are consistently challenging and, often times, incredibly tense.

Exploration takes part on a large, grid-based world map that spans the entirety of the tower that people inhabit, as opposed to typical world map systems. While not offering much to look at, unlocking new portions of the map by placing hex pieces is addicting, adding another level of completionism for those looking for it, includ-ing worthwhile sidequests and challenges.

As enemy types are recycled and certain areas are retreaded, even the unique, thought-pro-voking gameplay can drag on a bit, making battles occasionally feel less important and more of a slog. There are also moments of sporadic difficulty increase, leading to frustration, most often occurring at the end of dungeons where very high-leveled boss battles occur. At the same time, the latter chapters in the game throw a strange wrench into the sys-tem in occasionally removing one of the

main characters, negatively af-fecting the flow and feel of the game. It’s a strange devolution of the combat, and incredibly frustrating.

Despite the strong steam-punk setting, not all aspects of the game received the same lev-el of detail as character clothing and certain towns; the actual dungeons are often bland, of-fering little in terms of variety so not to clutter the battle-field, yet simultaneously offer no variance. The voice acting, similarly, is hit-or-miss, rang-ing from good to serviceable to annoying, while the soundtrack has that same level of inconsis-tency.

Resonance of Fate is a breath of fresh air for a genre that is currently seeing little but fan service and overused clichés. The unique, high-octane game-play, which blends a traditional turn-based system with strat-egy, more than makes up for occasional blandness and the lack of a cohesive narrative–so long as you’re willing to put in the grind required to make it through.

Photos IGN.com

Page 32: Colt Quarterly - Quarter 4