Polytechnic School :: Pasadena, California On the Internet: polypawprint.com

Mark Loyola / The Paw Print

Vol. XXIVISSUE VIII

Diversity Day comes to Poly

Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles youth service organization founded in 1988, shared his moving experi-ences in a recent assembly orga-nized by the Men’s Service League.

Boyle spoke of the importance of kinship and reaching out to those in need. Boyle also clarified that the purpose behind service should not be to alienate the less fortunate but rather to unify the entire commu-nity within a “circle of compassion.”

With facilities in one of the nation’s most crime-ridden cit-ies, Homeboy Industries sup-ports at-risk youth with a variety of employment opportunities and free programs. Many of Home-boy’s beneficiaries are former gang members or recently re-leased convicts who have also dealt with alcoholism or drug abuse.

During his presentation, Boyle recounted personal stories of young people he had worked with in the past through Homeboy. Boyle remembered that one youth’s mother beat him so badly through-out his childhood that he had to wear three shirts every day in or-der to cover his bleeding wounds, a habit that he could not break even years after he had moved out.

Boyle recalled that another member who had recently be-gan counseling at Homeboy had asked Boyle why no business was willing to give him a job. At that time, the youth had a large, ob-scene tattoo across his forehead, as well as tattoos covering nearly every inch of his body. However, with tattoo removal treatment, he was able to eventually find a job placement with Boyle’s assistance.

Other stories did not end so happily, with former gang mem-bers slipping back into old life-styles or cycles of substance abuse. Boyle shared that he has buried over 100 of his Homeboy youth over the past two decades.

However, Father Boyle remains positive about the potential of Homeboy to bring positive change to the neighboring communi-ties of Los Angeles. Homeboy Industries began as a job training program called Jobs for a Future.

RIVALRY WEEK: The Seniors won the tug-of-war, which concluded the festivities on the fourth day of the annual Poly tradition.

Artist of the Issue: Heather Choi. See page 9.

March 16, 2012

Secretary Bryson to speak at commencement

MSL brings Boyle, promotes kinship

The AP Art class traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) to help mixed me-dia artist Cai Guo-Qiang in the installation of several of his pieces. In a meticulous process, the class worked with stencil and gunpowder in order to set up the exhibit.

Several years ago, Dominic Ng, the father of junior Rachel Ng, pur-chased a collection of artwork from Cai and was offered the opportu-

By LINA VADLAMANINews editor

OPINION L I F ESPORTSWhy you should watch March Madness, and who the Sports section thinks will win See page 8.

A look at what Hollywood has become. See page 4.

N E W SStudents bring dance to Hillsides. See page 3.

John Bryson, Secretary of Commerce, will be the class of 2012’s commencement speaker.

By NOAH KIMAssistant news editor

See ART, page 3

An analysis of the Kony 2012 movement. See page 5.

By LILLIAN MECUMNews editor

Secretary of Commerce John Bryson has been confirmed as the Commencement speaker for the class of 2012. A recent addition to President Obama’s cabinet, Secre-tary Bryson was sworn in to office last October.

Bryson graduated with a bach-elor’s degree in history from Stan-ford University and later earned a law degree from Yale. He went on to serve as a chairman of the Cali-fornia State Water Resources Con-trol Board and then as president of the California Public Utilities

Commission. He was Chairman, CEO and President of Edison In-ternational, the parent company of Southern California Edison, and was also a director of the Boeing Company, the Walt Disney Com-pany and Coda Automotive, Inc. He is a past trustee of the Cali-fornia Institute of Technology and Stanford University, and served as a director of both the W.M. Keck Foundation with USC and the California Endowment.

President Obama cited Secre-tary Bryson’s vast experience work-ing with American and foreign companies as the reason for his nomination for the position, saying

“by working with companies here at home, and representing Ameri-ca’s interests abroad, I’m confident that he’s going to help us meet the goal that I set of doubling our na-tion’s exports… John will be able to draw on decades of business experi-ence… That’s the expertise that will help us create new jobs and make America more competitive in the global economy.”

Bryson has strong connections to Poly – his four daughters, Julia, Jane, Ruth, and Kathleen graduated from Poly, and both he and his wife Louise served on Poly’s Board of Trustees.

By AVRA JULIANIStudent contributor

Poly will host its second Diver-sity Day on March 21st, focusing this year on topics of immigration and identity.

The concept of hosting a Di-versity Day stemmed from the Di-versity Task Force, an ensemble of Poly Board members, teachers, fac-ulty members and parents, in 2007. The first Diversity Day was held on April 3, 2009, when the Lower, Middle and Upper schools joined to explore the theme of the day, “The Power of Stories.”

Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs and organizer of Diversity Day Carmie Rodriguez said, “The intent was for Diversity Day to be a school-wide, daylong event which would serve as a reflec-tion of the work that Poly does on an ongoing basis in the area of di-versity and inclusivity as well as an incentive to keep the work going.”

Due to the success of the first Diversity Day, the event is now scheduled to occur every three years.

The day will begin with a key-note presentation from South Ko-rean immigrant and award-winning author, Helie Lee. As a political activist, Lee has written to raise awareness about human rights for North Korean refugees.

Students will then have the op-portunity to choose from either one full morning workshop or two 50-minute morning workshops centered on the idea of immigra-tion. The workshops will be taught by an array of teachers, students, parents and guest speakers.

nity to meet him in Houston at the opening of his “Odyssey” exhibit. When MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch offered Cai an opportunity to install an exhibit, Ng was able to set up a volunteer opportunity for the AP Art class.

“It was incredible just having a world renowned artist like Mr. Qiang to communicate with,” said Head of the Upper School Art Program Arnor Bieltvedt. “Just seeing him in action and learning from him made you feel as if you were an integral part of something

See BOYLE, page 2

See BRYSON, page 2 See DIVERSITY, page 2

AP Art climbs the “Sky Ladder”

A look ahead at Poly BaseballSee page 9.

Students in the AP Art class helped prepare Cai Guo-Qiang’s gun-powder exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Courtesy of Mike Babock

NEWSthe paw print2 March 16, 2012

BrysonContinued from page 1

Alumni host Service DayOver 70 Poly students, parents and alumni pitched in at the an-

nual Poly Alumni Community Service Day this past Saturday to assist worthy local charities.

Community Service Day was created by a group of Poly alumni who understood and believed in Poly’s long tradition of service to its surrounding community. Since 2001, Community Service Day has provided an annual opportunity for Poly participants to continue their education through helping others.

Alumni Relations Officer Irene Mason affirmed the importance of integrating days like this into Poly’s schedule, saying, “It’s impor-tant to become a responsible member of our community.”

One group of students, parents and alumni went to Hillsides, a foster home and school for abused children. These volunteers cleaned and refined Hillsides’ library.

Another group of volunteers visited the McKinley School and contributed to the “School Clean-Up Day,” while another group cleared non-native plants in Rubio Canyon, benefitting the Arroyo Seco Foundation.

The last Poly group was assigned to “babysitting” at Club 21, a place of comfort for children with Down Syndrome. Freshman An-nika Lars, who spent Community Service Day at Club 21, said, “The joy the kids brought us and the joy we brought them was clearly equal. Everyone got something out of it.”

The Middle School offered a different service opportunity. Eighth graders had the chance to clean up the La Casita Verde Pre-school for the second year in a row by partaking in tasks such as gardening and painting.

Andy Esbenshade ’90, who has actively participated in the Com-munity Service Day over the past ten years, said, “Working with Hillsides over the years through Community Service Day created a connection that led me to volunteer there even during times that were not sponsored by Poly. [Poly Service Day} is what gives people a jumpstart in community service and allows them to create ongoing opportunities with the various charities.” -Julia Wohl

Head of School Debbie Reed said, “When I approached Sec-retary Bryson about speaking at commencement, he replied that he would love to do it and would take a personal day to make sure that he would be available because he cares deeply about Poly.”

Bryson will be able to speak about his experiences in the busi-ness world and in clean energy re-search. He is currently working on foreign trade agreements – most notably with China – and promot-ing domestic businesses. He has stated his vision for the American economy to incorporate “support-ing advanced manufacturing, in-creasing our exports, and attract-ing more investment to America from all over the world.”

Commencement is a time to recognize and celebrate the senior class as a whole. Senior class Presi-dent Robert Lantry remarked that Bryson was a great fit as a speaker

for the class of 2012, say-ing “I feel he embodies our class because he is a hard working, successful person who in turn wants to do something good for the world.”

Senior class treasurer Taani Ahluwalia re-marked, “It is a priviledge to have someone from the current presidential cabinet speak at our com-mencement. I think there are so many people in our grade who are interested in global issues and pub-lic service who will enjoy hearing him speak and find his words inspiring.”

Reed noted, “Secre-tary Bryson’s experiences as Secretary of Com-merce and his work with President Obama will be very interesting to hear about. I expect that he will speak about public service and challenge students to become involved in and

Following the morning work-shops, another keynote presenta-tion will be given by Najla Said, who wrote and starred in “Pales-tine,” an off-Broadway production about Said’s identity as an Arab-American.

In the afternoon, students will have the choice of attending an additional identity workshop or an affinity group. Affinity groups will work to unite students through their common identities such as ethnicity, religion, gender and sex-ual orientation.

“This topic of immigration is

one we hear about all the time, espe-cially in the year before an election. Often the focus of immigration dis-cussions is on illegal immigration alone. We hope that on this day, [students] will have a chance to view the history and complexity of im-migration in all of its glorious and not so glorious moments and to hear stories from those who have come as immigrants,” said Rodriguez.

Junior Shelley Garg, a student organizer of the event, said, “The theme of identity allows for every-one to reflect on themselves and what about them helps to contribute to the diversity at Poly. The focus on this theme also encourages students to identify with characteristics that

DiversityContinued from page 1

BoyleContinued from page 1

Boyle encountered difficulties in finding local businesses willing to hire recovering gang members. Then, in 1992, Boyle converted an abandoned warehouse into Home-boy Bakery. The bakery, which is completely staffed with former gang members, created more employ-ment opportunities while encour-aging former rivals to work together.

Homeboy Bakery was only the first in a string of small busi-nesses that Homeboy oversees today. Currently there is a Home-girl Café & Catering, Homeboy Farmers Markets, Homeboy Mer-chandise, Homeboy Silkscreen & Embroidery and Homeboy Diner at City Hall. Each business of-fers stable jobs and supportive environments to individuals as they begin their transitions into contributing members of society.

The youth involved with Home-boy may also benefit from the vari-ety of support programs, which have expanded in recent years to include free counseling, education, tat-too removal and parenting classes.

Boyle also converted a convent into the Dolores Mission Alter-native School to give high school drop outs another chance to gradu-ate. There are currently 75 students enrolled at the school, which is

now known as Learning Works. The Men’s Service League

(MSL) learned of Father Boyle through their work with Homeboy Industries this year. In October, the MSL raised money for Home-boy through a school-wide Good-will drive for furniture, books, appliances, clothing and toys. Ad-ditionally, a winter poinsettia sale raised more money, allowing for a donation of $2000, which sopho-more Spencer Rogers presented to Boyle at he assembly. The MSL has future plans to continue fund-raising for Homeboy Industries.

Greg Feldmeth, co-advisor to MSL said, ““It was one of the most powerful assembly speakers I have ever heard, and many students have told us how much they appreciated his talk.”

Following the assembly, 400 au-tographed copies of Boyle’s book, Tattoos on the Heart: the Power of Boundless Compassion, were distributed to the student body through the generosity of Poly par-ent Vicky Rogers, who was instru-mental in bringing Boyle to Poly.

Freshman Maya Omori noted, “Father Boyle is living proof that compassion truly has no boundar-ies. His presentation gave me a new outlook on the gang epidemic right here in Los Angeles and about the power of giving a second chance.”

Every year, the English De-partment requires each student in the junior class to write, memorize and perform an original speech reflecting personal and profound interests.

Some juniors present their speeches during Morning Meet-ing in front of the entire high school, while others perform in front of their peers during lunch. This year, some even ventured into Old Town Pasadena, where they attracted small crowds of curious passerby.

“I find it fascinating that some of my peers had the courage to pres-ent their speeches to actual strang-ers,” said junior Christina McCarthy. “The wide variety of environments in which the speeches are given gives a unique flair to this assignment.”

Juniors have been presenting their speeches for the past few weeks, and their performances will continue throughout the month. These five to ten-minute speeches may con-sist of any subject matter, but every sentence must contain a rhetorical device, a style that is modeled after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“I found it funny when [Eng-lish teacher Laura Mar-ion] told us that our s p e e c h e s s h o u l d be as well written as Martin Lu-ther King’s s p e e c h , ” said junior Cather ine F i n n e y . “But as I t h o u g h t about it, I

Juniors give speeches around campus!e junior class presents original rhetorical speeches about contemporary issues.By RYAN HYONAssistant news editor

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Secretary Bryson, father of four Poly gradu-ates and former Trustee, will speak to the class of 2012 at commencement.

realized that we juniors truly have acquired the writing skills and cre-ativity to create the best written works in our lives so far.”

Topics have ranged from pro-posed solutions to our country’s extreme dependence on oil to the advocacy of public nudism. Juniors are encouraged to take advantage of such freedom with subject matter to fervently explore and express origi-nal ideas that truly matter to them. This provides students with the op-portunity to make a sincere differ-ence among their selected audience. Junior Courtney Foster explained, “This is the first assignment I’ve ever had that actually allows us stu-dents to create our own style, rheto-ric, format and subject matter in a truly original written work.”

Though many juniors fear the prospects of giving a relatively lengthy speech, the reward of de-livering a powerful message to oth-ers proves to be satisfying. “I think these speeches really empower us and provide us with an invaluable opportunity to speak to people and actually make them think rather than just listen,” said junior David Rodgers. “I felt really fulfilled after giving my speech knowing that I thoroughly expressed my original thoughts to an attentive audience.”

Anna Wohl/The Paw PrintJunior Olivia Treister gives her speech against the US Patriot Act on Arden Lawn during lunch.

they might not usually feel defined by. Part of what makes this theme so effective is that it provides a chance for everyone to reflect on their own situations while at the same time promoting a sense of community.”

Students can sign up for specific workshops and groups by filling out a form or submitting an online re-quest.

Junior Orianna Torres, a Diver-sity Day affinity group leader, said, “I think that giving students choices on the workshops will appeal to dif-ferent students’ interests. Diversity Day has the potential to be a big success in creating a more accepting community if people have an open mind.”

contribute to their community.”

NEWSthe paw print 3March 16, 2012

Steps for Change, a dance out-reach club headed by seniors Lau-ren Christopher and Mackenzie Lee and advised by Upper School Dance Program Director Cindy Montoya, coordinated the sec-ond annual Hillsides Dance Day to raise awareness for Hillsides, a nonprofit treatment and foster care facility for abused children.

Poly’s dance program first be-came involved with Hillsides two years ago, when dancers performed at a Hillsides fundraiser event. The Poly dancers were excited to have an opportunity to be able to reach out to the community to raise mon-ey for a worthy cause, and the per-formance was a success.

Montoya had been working with Hillsides for a couple of years to promote art in the children’s lives, and when the dancers were asked

A literary conference hosted and sponsored by the Archer School for Girls drew four Poly students last month. Junior Joe Bohlinger and seniors Harry Hodgkins, Connor McKnight and Lina Vadlamani were accompanied by Upper School English teachers Grace Hamilton and Charity Hume.

Hoping to inspire students’ natural curiosity, the theme of this year’s conference was “Literary &.” Students who wanted to be consid-ered for the conference submitted their work to Hamilton, who then sent the entries to the head of the conference.

Once accepted, students were placed in one of six panels: Po-etic License, Creative Writers Tell Their Stories, L.A. Stores, Gender Trouble, Women on Shakespeare or Shadows and Fog. This year, more than 30 students from Poly, Archer School, Buckley, Crossroads, Flin-

tridge Prep, Marlborough, Milken and Pilgrim attended the confer-ence.

Beforehand, students prepared an individual presentation to share with their panel and audience. They were encouraged to be creative with their topics and exhibitions and told to let their imaginations wander.

The students took these recom-mendations to heart and produced presentations including noir film analyses, a self-arranged folksong inspired by Jane Eyre and a com-parison of the punk rock movement with Puritans in Nathaniel Haw-thorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

Bohlinger and Hodgkins, who were both on the creative writing panel, took two completely differ-ent approaches to the theme. Their pieces were written for Hamil-ton’s Creative Writing elective class. Bohlinger composed a piece that envisions a day in the life of American author J.D. Salinger, who penned Catcher in the Rye and

Franny and Zooey, while Hodgkins shared a nonfiction memoir-like story about his own experience teaching his cousin how to ride a bike.

On the Gender Trouble panel, McKnight and Vadlamani both decided to draw inspiration from Egyptian novel Palace Walk by Na-guib Mahfouz, a book assigned in their AP English Literature and Composition class “The World’s on Fire.” The class examined issues of gender equality and religion in Is-lamic societies.

Each taking the perspective of the opposite gender, McKnight chose to focus on the gender rights and treatment of women in the Middle East, and Vadlamani ex-plored patriarchy as a self-perpet-uating system that traps men into confining roles.

After each presentation, mem-bers of the panel took questions from the audience, leading to a full-scale discussion. Although the stu-dents came from different areas and backgrounds, and most had never met before, they were surprised to find many similarities in their pre-sentations.

The conference gave students the freedom to explore ideas and bridge content and analysis. Ham-ilton observed that it is “a terrific way for students to share their work in a public forum and hear the great writing of other students in the L.A. area.”

Vadlamani reflected, “Going to the conference was truly inspira-tional. It was great to see the cre-ativity and depth of analysis in the compositions presented. The best part of the conference was listening to the work of such talented and in-telligent writers.”

Students attend Archer Literary ConferenceBy RACHEL HOANGAssistant news editor

Four Upper School students presented writing at the “Literary &” conference at Archer.

to perform again for Hillsides, the enthusiastic reviews from both the attendees and the dancers motivat-ed the GSL to co-sponsor the first official Hillsides Dance Day with Montoya.

This year, Montoya worked with Steps For Change co-presidents Christopher and Lee, as well as with ten volunteer dancers, to orga-nize the event. In the weeks leading up to Dance Day, which took place on March 4, Steps for Change members organized meetings and tutorials for learning the routines that the dancers would teach at Hillsides.

After a group warm–up, the Poly dancers split the group of kids into smaller groups to learn a cho-reographed hip-hop combination to the song “Bass Down Low” by Dev. Then, the dancers and Hill-sides kids formed a freestyle dance circle in which the kids were able to improvise and show off their moves from Michael Jackson imperson-ations to gymnastic routines and break-dancing.

Sophomore Victoria Peng, who volunteered at the event, explained,

Hillsides Dance Day tradition continues

By ERIN LEEStudent contributor

Steps for Change, a dance outreach club, organized a dance workshop for chil-dren at Hillsides, a foster care facility for abused children.

Junior Aria Griff in, senior Britt Gates-Kayyem and junior Rachel Ng were among the students who helped with the installation.

Courtesy of Mike Babcock

Joe Bohlinger, Harry Hodgkins, Connor McKnight and Lina Vadla-mani presented works at the Archer Literary Conference.

Courtesy of Jennifer Godwin-Minto

Courtesy of HillsidesThe Steps for Change dance outreach club sponsored the second an-nual Hillsides Dance Day, teaching the kids a hip hop routine.

spectacular. It was an unbelievable process.”

Cai Guo-Qiang is known for creating life-sized, abstract repli-cas using unconventional materi-als, such as gunpowder and taxi-dermy animals. One of his pieces, exhibited in 2004 at the Guggen-heim Museum, included several real cars and life-sized wolf sculp-tures suspended from the ceiling. Another piece, entitled “Head On,” utilized over a hundred wolf replicas. At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Cai cre-ated the famous “footprint fire-works” which lit up a path through the sky leading towards the Bird’s Nest stadium.

Rachel said, “I really enjoy Cai’s work because he’s such an innovative artist. No one has ever done work like his, and he always incorporates traditional Chinese symbolism with modern day tech-niques, mixing the east with the west, which is a growing theme in today’s society.”

The AP Art class worked on the main piece of the “Sky Ladder” exhibit, “Childhood Spaceship,” a large-scale piece that mostly con-sists of residue left after the ar-

ranged gunpowder is detonated. In an intricate, complicated process, the class created covers and sten-cils for the gunpowder. “Some of the stencils are extremely detailed, especially the laser cut ones, and we had to pick and cut out all the tiny pieces,” said Rachel. The members of the AP Art class were somewhat in control of the images put on the main piece and given a moderate amount of control over the placing of the stencils. “I was really sur-prised by how much control he al-lowed us to have,” said junior Aria Griffin, one of the volunteering AP Art students. “He was really nice, and you could really tell that he en-joyed working with us and appreci-ated our effort.” Being unfamiliar with explosives, the students were forbidden from handling the gun-powder, a privilege reserved for Cai himself. On Saturday, March 10, the art class gathered around the exhibit to watch Cai complete the piece by detonating the explosives.

“I think this experience was extremely eye-opening because I think one can’t truly enjoy a piece of art without having been through the process of creating it,” said Ra-chel. “This experience made me fully appreciate Cai’s art because now I understand how difficult and time consuming it is to create one of his pieces.”

ArtContinued from page 1

“It was so heartwarming to have some of kids who participated last year come up to us and say ‘I re-member you guys from last year! This is one of my favorite days!’” Dancers commented on how out-going and genuinely happy the kids were, even when they weren’t danc-ing.

A couple Hillsides boys taught the dancers some moves of their own, including the dougie, cupid shuffle, and jerk. Victoria Gu, an-other sophomore dance volunteer, said, “The kids’ enthusiasm was contagious. Some were really tal-ented and could dance better than we could! Such an experience is so fulfilling, seeing that they really en-

joyed it and look forward to it next year.”

Both the Hillsides kids and the Poly dancers are excited for the po-tential of the program. Lee com-mented, “It is so wonderful to see the Hillsides kids’ sense of pride and confidence in what they’re do-ing.”

Montoya also hopes to increase dance outreach by Poly dancers and has co-founded a non-profit organization, the Pasadena Dance Outreach Company, in which many Poly dancers participate. Montoya said, “We hope that the Hillsides Dance Day will continue to be an annual event for the Steps For Change club.”

Courtesy of HillsidesPoly dancers lead Hillsides children in a warm-up routine to Sha-kira’s “Waka Waka” before teaching the hip-hop dance routine.

By CONNOR MCKNIGHTChief online editor

OPINIONthe paw print4 March 16, 2012

Hollywood’s Creative VoidIn the modern era of crises and catastrophes, the rapid de-

cline of America’s most cherished industry has gone unno-ticed. A form of art has been defaced. The stars it boasts have dimmed. The epics have lost their firepower. Put simply, the movie industry has taken a hit; Hollywood is devoid of the originality it used to possess.

Now, you might naively believe that it takes an astro-nomical amount of creativity to churn out the 100 minutes of “cinematic gold” that make up a Hollywood movie. The elaborate plot. The flawless character development. The di-rector’s vision. The stunning visuals. Even the breathtaking performances.

But take a closer look at the industry we have today. How many times are we going to see a man in vibrant tights con-quer the same evil that continually threatens to destroy the world? What is the next horror movie from the 80s that needs a grislier rendition? How many reunions can the guys who make you rethink eating apple pie have? When is Nico-las Sparks going to run out of novels?

Of course, this problem stems from the fact that Holly-wood is a business. The big blockbusters that flaunt their su-perheroes are guaranteed to produce a profitable return. The studios focus on avoiding risk in the production process, so they look for pitches that feature an easily marketable idea that will fill seats. Hollywood is willing to let men like Nich-

olas Cage back into a leather jacket and onto a motorcycle if there is the potential for profit.

While modern technology and the astronomical price tags on the talents of A-listers have rapidly driven up production costs, studios have been willing to sacrifice the one thing that

set apart films in the early days of cinema: crafty filmmaking. No longer are the clever

screenplays, exceptional directing and masterful performances stealing the box office glory. Now, the next adventure of Op-timus Prime, featuring the Autobots taking on their slightly less colorful counterparts, threatens the $500 million mark.

The introduction of 3D has also allowed for this lack of creativity to be further relegated for cheap thrills. We have movies like Saw 3D which profits on the idea that the audi-ence can be vicariously tortured with saws and other sharp projectiles flying out of the screen. We have instances where residential stoners Harold & Kumar take down Santa Claus

while male appendages burst their way out of the screen. Someone even told James Cameron that it’s okay to re-release Titanic, if he takes the young love of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet to another dimension.

But how can we fix Hollywood? What can stop the wide release garbage that greets audiences every weekend?

Pessimistically, I will tell you that there is no concrete solu-tion. It seems that nothing can stop Warner Brothers from releasing their fourth rendition of Step Up, when no one could distinguish the last three. Hollywood even has the audacity to take the television show that saw the birth of Johnny Depp’s career and re-release it as a film with heartthrob Channing Tatum and America’s favorite ex-fat guy Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street.

The lackluster plots will always be put on an assembly line for production. The superheroes will always rise, the comedic sequels will always find a way, and that trivial love triangle will become the next chick flick.

This, unfortunately, is what Hollywood has become. But there is hope. The consumers still have power over Holly-wood. It’s time for them to use it. There are original, creative movies out there, lost in the flood of mindless blockbusters. Seek out the fresh ideas. Go see them. We, the people that purchase tickets, can take a stand. When looking up at that box office, you are choosing between creativity and drivel. As a man once said to his spider-like son, “Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.” It is time for you to make your choice.

Paws & Claws

Paws and Claws is a forum for students, teachers and inter-ested readers to briefly express their satisfaction or dissatis-faction with any issue concerning the Poly community. Sub-missions may be placed in the senior box of opinion editors, emailed to thepawprint@polytechnic.org or posted online through the Paws and Claws Facebook group. Anonymous contributions are not accepted.

Paws to all of the accepted Poly students. -Olivia Hudnut ‘12

Paws to the ASB for rivalry week.-Batoul Hamad ‘13

Paws to Baby Chau. -Nathan Hwang ‘12

Claws to UCLA for not making the NCAA Tournament/NIT. -Kyle Beerman ‘14

Paws to finishing the SAT. -Ryan Hyon ‘13

Claws to still having two weeks of school before spring break. -Isabel Sunshine ‘12

Claws to students not picking up their trash.

-Ms. Williams

How many times are we going to see a man

in vibrant tights conquer the same evil that continually threatens the world?”

Paws to two months left of school.-Rafaela Bustamante ‘12

Paws to the seniors for winning tug-of-war and to the freshmen girls for putting up a great fight. -Rafaela Bustamante ‘12

Editors-in-chiefHayden BettsAnna Wohl

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“An upper school publication of student news and views”

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Kony 2012 and the Dawn of Hope

In the span of the last week, Invisible Children’s “Kony 2012” awareness campaign has taken the world by storm. Racking up 70 million views in 7 days, K12 has become the fastest grow-ing awareness campaign the world has ever seen. Both lauded and mocked, the awareness campaign is a lightning rod for controversy, especially about Invis-ible Children’s use of donations (only 37 percent of the charity’s funds are spent on programs in Africa.) Count-less “memes” have sprung up across the Internet with satirical humor. “You do not simply,” one such meme declared, “destabilize a Ugandan warlord.”

Amidst the churning torrent of biting critics and aloof skeptics, those harping on “Kony 2012” miss the point. As K12 continues to raise awareness through social media, this onslaught of passion and emotion suggests one of the most important social developments in (perhaps) our lifetime--America’s youth discovering a sense of social activism.

On an even more basic level, K12’s success raises awareness for Great Lake countries embattled by militias such as Kony’s LRA. Though the LRA’s power may have waned since its heyday as a 30,000 strong army, the LRA continues to launch small but brutal attacks throughout rural Uganda. Other mi-litias, many utilizing Kony’s tried-and-true tactic of enslaving child soldiers, continue to plague many countries throughout Uganda and her neighboring countries, especially the Demo-cratic Republic of the Congo.

In addition, the fact that K12 developed purely through social media suggests that social media has the potential to organize political and social change in America just as it ignited youth movements overseas. Throughout the Arab Spring, Facebook and Twitter helped organize and sustain the youth’s appetite for political change. In America, K12 reflects our generation’s growing ability to organize into a cohesive movement through social media.

OPINIONthe paw print 5March 16, 2012

The $5 per Gallon Election: will Obama pay the price of rising costs?

Most importantly, the reaction to this awareness and the popularity of “Kony 2012” seems to signal something much bigger--those 70 million views suggest the dawn of a new age of social activism for America’s youth.

Of the hundreds of causes just as emotionally charged as “Kony 2012,” none have received the attention lavished upon

“Kony 2012.” Whether it be climate change or immigra-tion, youth refused to get up off the couch. Plagued by a history of inaction and disinterest, our generation seemed disaffected and pas-sive compared to the activist youth of the ‘60s.K 1 2 ’ s

strong emotional content has initiated a wave of empathy and compassion on a mas-sive scale. Facebook and Twitter reverberat-ed with the buzzing of soul-searching posts and Tweets. “Never knew of sorrow like this before,” a post on my News Feed read. “But I sure am going to do something about it now.”

Now, the question is if this raw emotion-al outpour can translate into concrete action. Will the couch potatoes actually get off the couch and plaster their neighborhood with “Kony 2012” posters? For such an action would contradict the meaning of the word “couch potato,” and more accurately reveal whether K12 is in fact dawn of a new age for social activism.

However, truth is that it doesn’t matter whether youth follows through on “Kony 2012.” Though this emotion may amount to no concrete action, those 72 million Youtube views have at least revealed that our genera-tion does, in fact, have heartstrings. Even if

K12 fails, the hardest step has been taken. “Kony 2012” laid the foundation for America’s youth to find their inner power to bring about concrete change for issues they care about.

Critics, lay aside your blades and torches to witness the beauty of K12’s feat. If couch potatoes caring only for simple carbohydrates and “Dance Moms” can find the depth to rally for a cause half a world away, anything is possible. Couch po-tatoes yesterday, online crusaders today, activists marching in the streets tomorrow. So give Invisible Children a hand for bringing this about, even if they do have an absurd picture of their founders brandishing AK-47s with the Ugandan army, Rambo style. They have done a brilliant job of raising aware-ness, and more than a few apathetic teenagers have now found a cause worth fighting for.

$5 per gallon gas may be the most important yet ignored factor of the 2012 election. Historically, when gas prices have gone through the roof, voters have wanted change in the White House. People will recall 1976 as the final days of the Ford Administration. Some attribute the loss in his race for a second term as being a result of pardoning Richard Nixon, oth-ers to his negligence towards the pressing issue of the Cold War. The reality: Ford’s presidential career ended as a direct re-sult of the 1976 oil embargo imposed on the U.S. by their Middle Eastern rivals. American citizens had become alarmed by the prospect of losing the product that had literally been fueling the nation for a century, and they selected a new man to fix the problem. Unfortunately, that man turned out to be Jimmy Carter. Needless to say that his tactic of advising Americans to bundle up in light of price hikes in the oil market went over poorly. Both presidents saw them-selves in and out of the White House after one term. In 2012, energy has attracted a similarly critical importance.

The facts: the United States currently consumes more than 29,000 terawatt-hours of energy a day. And although the green-energy movement has lowered America’s dependence on fossil fuels, 37 percent of U.S. demand for energy is still met with oil. Unfortunately for the United States, the price per barrel of crude oil keeps rising, driven by the dual factors of the increased demand from China and other developing nations and the increasing unrest in the oil-rich Middle East.

To be fair, the Republican candidates do not appear to have given the issue much traction – yet. For the most part

these presidential contenders have called for more drilling in Alaska, offshore and on federal lands, and for increased transportation networks, including the Keystone XL pipe-line from Canada. But these solutions do not guarantee in-creased oil supplies in the U.S., only on the world market. The Democrats argue that domestic drilling does not come close to meeting the U.S.’s insatiable need for oil and can

have detrimental environ-mental consequences.

While the Republican candidates may not yet be contemplating solvency to the energy crisis, the man who promised change al-most four years ago has failed to bring America a solution. On the one hand, President Obama has tried to preempt the

issue by opening drilling in Alaska and in the Gulf, begin-ning in 2010. But ironically, that might cost him support among environmentalists and other core liberal supporters who lament that he did so without any new safety regula-tions. On the other hand, Obama has most recently said that drilling “is not a strategy to solve our energy challenge.”

The President’s solution is to push for federal programs and tax incentives, which promote increased fuel efficien-cy and alternative fuel solutions. But the free market has not supported these remedies, as the recent failures of both Solyndra’s solar panels and GM’s Chevy Volt painfully dem-onstrate. So the President’s solution to the oil crisis will likely require decades of highly subsidized, taxpayer-fund-ed alternative strategies, which will do nothing to alleviate America’s immediate pain at the pump.

The current oil crisis is only made worse by our deteriorat-ing relations with Iran. At the worst possible time, the Mid-dle East is becoming dangerously destabilized. As a radical Islamist regime, Iran presides over the enriching of its own uranium, as its neighbors--namely Pakistan--obtain nuclear weapons. And finding stalwart allies in the Middle East con-tinues to be difficult for the United States.

Guided by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the United States has joined with NATO and other American allies to isolate Iran from international trade and to subdue any nucle-ar programs in the works. Not surprisingly, it turns out that economic sanctions are a two-way street. While Iran now suffers from frozen assets in banks that have aligned them-selves against the theocracy, the United States, Britain and their allies must endure the cold truth that an energy short-age is at hand. And as more and more Americans turn down their thermostats, the Obama administration will be put on the hot seat.

Increasingly, as Americans contemplate the effects of the administration’s green-energy solutions and its policies in the Middle East, they will be doing so in the cold of their own homes. The question will inevitably be: have the last four years of energy policy worked? With gas approaching five dollars a gallon, many of the commodities Americans have grown to rely on will be out of reach, and America will be left to stand on one leg as its crutches are hastily removed. Carpooling, bicycling and walking would become necessities, particularly in megalopolises such as New York and Los An-geles. Similarly, as homes become more expensive to heat, people would have to pay for better efficiency, or transfer to a more modest lifestyle. What to expect in the aftermath is still unclear, but one thing is certain: maintaining the pre-oil crisis lifestyle would become a luxury reserved only for those few who could afford it.

By HENRY BROOKSStudent contributor

How social media can inspire a generation

The president’s solutions to the oil

crisis will do nothing to allevi-ate America’s immediate pain at the pump.”

At long last, it seems the fire of

compassion and social activ-ism has been kindled.”

By SEBASTIAN HARTStudent contributor

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

LIFEthe paw print6 March 16, 2012

ChessFischer-Petrosian, Candidates match (game 7), 1971

By SAMUEL PULIAFITO Features editor

Bobby Fischer died in 2008 at the age of 64. Last Friday would have been Fischer’s 69th birthday. Fischer was the quintessential chess player. He was a prodigy possessed by a maniacal, single-minded drive to win the World Championship, a goal he ultimately achieved in 1972. And after winning, almost on cue, he took a turn toward madness. But for all of Fischer’s disgusting, and really, trag-ic hatred his story always ends back where it started: with the chess.

In 1971, at the Candidates Match in Bue-nos Aires, Fischer met Tigran Petrosian, his final competitor before proceeding to the World Championship. Petrosian, who died in 1984, was famous for his solid, defensive play.

Prior to the match, both sides exuded con-fidence, with Fischer telling the press, “I am the best player in the world, and I am here to prove it.” And Fischer probably had rea-son to do so. He had just won 19 consecutive games against two of the strongest players in the world.

After six rounds, including one in which a fuse was blown in the auditorium and the lights went out and another in which a stink bomb was set off in the back of the audito-rium, Fischer was leading 3!-2!.

Fischer develops the seventh round slowly and positionally, in a style similar to Petro-

sian’s. Fischer playing White, in his normal fashion, opens with the King’s pawn that leads to a Sicilian, Kan variation. On move eight, Fischer plays c4, which sufficiently threatens Petrosian’s unsupported pawn center. By 10 . . .exd5, Petrosian’s queenside flank is al-most entirely empty of pawns or developed pieces. Petrosian, perhaps out of desperation, plays 12 . . .Qd7, offering a queen exchange. Fischer ignores the offer in favor of putting

Petrosian/Black

Fischer/WhitePosition after 21. . .Bd7

WhiteFischer

1. e42. Nf33. d44. Nxd45. Bd36. Nxc67. O-O8. c49. cxd5 10. exd511. Nc312. Qa4+13. Re114. Nxa415. Be316. Bc517. Bxe7

Sicilian DefenseBlackP’sian

c5e6cxd4a6Nc6bxc6d5Nf6cxd5exd5Be7Qd7Qxa4Be6O-ORfe8Rxe7

White Fischer

18. b4 19. Nc520. f321. Re522. Nxd7+23. Rc124. Rc725. Re226. Kf227. f428. Kf329. Ke330. Kd231. Ree732. Rf7+33. Rb7

BlackP’sian

Kf8Bc8Rea7Bd7Rxd7Rd6Nd7g6h5h4f5d4+Nb6Nd5Ke8Nxf4Resigns

8rZ0Z0j0Z7s0ZbZpop6pZ0Z0m0Z5Z0MpS0Z040O0Z0Z0Z3Z0ZBZPZ02PZ0Z0ZPO1S0Z0Z0J0

a b c d e f g h

his rook onto the more open e file.At move 16, Fischer wisely goes after

Petrosian’s dark-squared bishop, leaving the light-squared bishop responsible for pawn protection, a terrible burden.

Fischer plays Nc5 at move 18. Knight to c5 leaves White with a good bishop, but Black obtains a well-supported, albeit small, pawn advantage in the center: 18. Nc5 a5 19. Nxe6 fxe6.

By the 22nd move, Petrosian’s bishop is the central piece of his entire position and is thus severely limited in terms of mobility. Fisch-er’s knight, on the other hand is positionally strong, allowing him powerful combinations in few moves. That’s why the next move is so remarkable. Fischer plays Nxd7, exchang-ing his good knight for his opponent’s bad bishop. But the move allows Fischer to tie up Black’s queenside position and win a round he was already well in control of.

After two more rounds, Fischer won the match after more than 42 combined hours at the chess board.

Bobby Fischer in his youth.Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Rivalry Week in Pictures

Mark Loyola / The Paw Print

LIFEthe paw print 7March 16, 2012

Across1. Jansen with a photographic memory4. High or low beach feature8. Spanish face12. Sticky or packaging, i.e.13. Gandhi or Mao’s home 14. Type of atmospheric gas16. Jurassic and Cretaceous, i.e. 17. Large political group18. Where Andy Samberg wears his flippy floppies

19. What you find in the pound21. Common learning disorder23. Honey hoarders25. Facial ailment27. Apple software29. Happy container company?30. Commonly torn knee part (abbr.)31. Leading techie (abbr.)34. Pitch type37. Sandwich provider38. Pub drink

39. Complaining fish?40. Cylindrical instrument41. You can shoot it out of a gun or roll it with a stick42. Dwight Howard _______ “Superman”43. Sandwich alternative45. Grand Wailea or Hilton Head, i.e.47. Big clock48. Waiter’s bonus49. Ship part50. Back, to a sailor 51. Puppies or Kittens, i.e. 52. Some linking verbs55. _______ retentive 58. Get60. Small #5 Down62. He’s got the bare necessities 64. Destiny66. Street blocker67. Gandalf ’s instrument68. Armenian city69. One, to Caesar 70. Unique musical compositions (abbr.)71. Controversial Broadway musical72. A month in Spain

Down1. A la _______2. Asunder3. Recycling club4. Caps Lock neighbor5. Summer vacation locale6. Part of LED7. “To _______ his own”8. Johns Hopkins program9. Some Middle Easterners 10. Pasadena Marathon, e.g.

Crossword by Matt Rossi and Allan Wu

Artist of the Issue: Heather ChoiBy MACKENZIE MARCOTTELife editor

Hailing from a family of artists, it comes as no surprise that senior Heather Choi has found her niche in the studio. However, what may come as a surprise to many is that she only recently began pursuing art in an aca-demic setting. Armed with the fundamen-tals she picked up from her freshman year drawing and painting class, as well as with a substantial amount of natural talent, Choi be-gan painting classes in the summer of 2009. Approaching art with a focus and dedication beyond her years, Choi enrolled in six-hour classes at a private studio in La Habra on Saturdays and during school holidays. Al-

most as quickly as the pieces--mostly done with acrylic paints, her favorite medium--were completed, various organizations began awarding her with their highest honors.

Since sophomore year, Choi’s artwork has garnered four top awards, as well as three hon-orable mentions. In 2010 Choi left her first competition, the Federal Junior Duckstamp Contest, with a winning entry. “The Circle of Life” was chosen as the cover of the calendar published from the competition as well as the banner piece for the month of May.

Junior year, Choi’s success continued with her piece “Bright America” winning first place for California’s 45th district in the an-nual Congressional Art Competition. Top submissions, including Choi’s painting, were

This painting, entitled “The Sky is Falling” is one of Choi’s personal favorites. Courtesy of Heather Choi

displayed at the Capitol building in Wash-ington, D.C. for one year.

In the final year of her high school art ca-reer, Choi has thus far been awarded honors from two competitions, the Scholastic Art Competition, where her self-portrait entitled “Cornucopeia” was awarded the Gold Key for the Los Angeles region and her two paintings “(Dis)satistfaction” and “The Sky is Falling” received honorable mentions, and the Shape Up! College of Mount St. Joseph’s annual art contest, where she took both first and second places as well as one of the two honorable mentions.

When asked about artistic inspirations, Choi responded that she finds muses in un-usual daily encounters, such as old photo-graphs or bizarre splashes of color. Recently,

Taani Ahluwalia / The Paw Print

she began experimenting with incorporating puzzle pieces into her art, as well as themes, such as addiction. She notes that since fresh-men year, her art has become more serious and meaningful: “I always try to include some kind of hidden message for the viewer to de-code,” she said.

Although acrylic and canvas are her pre-ferred forms, Choi has participated in ceram-ics, enameling and now silk painting during her time at Poly. As she plans for the next four years, she says that she is looking for-ward to further developing her craft by pur-suing a major in either studio art or art his-tory. If her past is any indicator, Choi’s art career, in whatever direction it may take her, will no doubt be followed closely by success.

11. Head or stomach follower15. Aliens (abbr.)20. Ivy bulldogs22. Richard, informally 26. Train alternative28. Word shouted in a bullfight 29. Measure of a country’s economic prosperity30. Soccer position, briefly31. _______ Alto32. What drunks do to words33. Congregate 34. Result of blood coagulation 35. Poly 8th grade hangout place36. Turkmenistan’s neighbor 37. Mickey’s magical, multiplying foe40. Kanye’s genre41. Host of Poly’s second yearly dance43. Common texting acronym 44. Stravinsky’s The _______ of Spring45. Pixar’s Remy46. “Old McDonald had a farm. ____-O”49. Beach objective50. Airborne51. Box52. Solitary 53. Restaurant papers54. Plant part55. Automobile accident prevention sys-tem (abbr.)56. Alliance of North American and Eu-ropean countries (abbr.)57. “_______, poor Yorick.”59. At a distance61. _______ Bag Steve63. Some prepositions65. Slow, talking tree

The artist at work.

LIFEthe paw print8 March 16, 2012

Burgers around townThe Paw Print’s finest food columnists hunt for Pasadena’s best hamburger

CONNAL’S by Daniel Leon Nearest Location: 1505 E. Washington Blvd.A good burger joint offers delicious burgers, but the best burger joints around Pasa-dena have great fries to go with them. A childhood favorite of mine, Connal’s, serves the best fries I have ever tasted. A small order of thick-cut fries is enough for a meal, and that’s saying something coming from a Triple Kingburger Champion. Connal’s is a classic burger stop with everything from burgers, sandwiches, gyros and hot dogs to creamy shakes and malts. For a fair price, you can enjoy one of Pasadena’s oldest gems at Connal’s sandwiches.

WOLFE BURGERS by Daniel Leon Nearest Location: 46 N. LakeSelf-acclaimed as “The Best Little Burger Joint in Pasadena,” Wolfe Burgers serves high-quality food at a fair price. As well as having delightful hamburgers, Wolfe Burgers stands out because of its delicious breakfast specials, which includes pancakes, “woofles,” omelettes and breakfast burritos. Our very own Mr. Feldmeth described Wolfe Burgers as his “favorite breakfast place in Pasadena.”

THE DOG HAUS by Daniel Leon Nearest Location: 105 N. Hill Ave.Overshadowed by the selection of gourmet hot dogs, the burgers at The Dog Haus deserve your attention. The Freiburger, a Dog Haus specialty, is one of the most unique burgers I’ve ever tasted. Served on slightly toasted Hawaiian rolls, the Freiburger consists of cheese, fries, coleslaw, a fried egg and the juiciest patty in Pasadena. As The Dog Haus gains popularity around town, look for their many mouth-watering hotdogs, but don’t forget about their underrated burgers.

THE COUNTER by Audrey Chai Nearest Location: 140 Shoppers LaneIf you have ever dreamed of designing your perfect burger, The Counter should be your next stop. Self-described as “the 21st century’s bold answer to the classic burger joint,” The Counter offers customers over 312,120 different burger combinations. From a beef patty to a chicken breast, from feta to Gruyere cheese, The Counter offers a plethora of ingredients to jump-start the customer’s creativity. Each ingredient, whether traditional or exotic, is freshly prepared and consistently tasty. Industrial décor and popular music complement the restaurant’s modern approach to burger building. The Counter also offers great salads, crisp sweet potato fries and classic fried dill pickle chips.

HAMBURGER HAMLET by Audrey Chai Nearest Location: 214 S. Lake Ave.Opened in 1950, Hamburger Hamlet quickly became a Hollywood landmark with celebrity regulars like Ronald Reagan, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Short and Dorothy Malone. A half-century later, the company has expanded their casual American dining experience throughout Southern California. Large booths, wood furniture and classic rock and roll music create an old-school feeling in this cozy family restaurant. The “Marilyn Burger,” named after one of the founders, is dressed up with avocado, jack cheese and Dijon mayonnaise. While burgers continue to be the chain’s specialty, the expansive menu offers a variety of differ-ent items, including gourmet soups, outstanding garlic fries and delicious sand-wiches. Stop by the Hamlet for a good taste of American comfort.

PIE ‘N BURGER by Audrey ChaiNearest Location: 913 E. California Blvd.Ever since it opened in 1963, Pie ‘n Burger has been employing the same recipes, products, methods and even one of the original chefs. Walking through the doors sometimes feels like you’ve stepped into a different era, with their Formica counter, swivel stools and familiar cooks and waitresses. With a small-town feel and quality food, this restaurant truly embraces the ideas of tradition and the simple plea-sure of a fresh burger and warm pie. Said to have some of the best burgers in the Los Angeles area, Pie ‘n Burger serves up well-done juicy burgers topped with their homemade thousand island dress-ing. When paying a trip here, eating a slice of pie is a must. The flaky crust and warm filling pairs best with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream and is the perfect ending to a meal.

B-MAN’S by Daniel LeonNearest Location: 3007 Huntington Dr.It’s as easy as ABC. Avocado, B-Man’s Teriyaki Sauce and Cheese. B-Man’s serves the best teriyaki burger in Pasa-dena, complimented by crisp crinkle-cut french fries. On the outskirts of Pasadena, B-Man’s may be more familiar to people from Arcadia, San Marino and San Gabriel, but any and everyone in the San Gabriel Valley should try this refreshing blend of teriyaki and ground beef.

BOBBY’S PLACE by Daniel LeonNearest Location: 680 E. Walnut St.Formerly known as Rick’s, Bobby’s Place is tucked away one block north of Pasa-dena’s entertainment and shopping hub on Colorado Blvd. Bobby’s serves classic hamburgers of all sizes. While my per-sonal favorite item at Bobby’s Place is the Spuderito, a burrito filled with fries and cheese, their hamburgers are no pushover and were rated #1 in Pasadena on Yelp. The classic atmosphere adds to the experience of a good old fashioned American meal.

BURGER CONTINENTAL by Daniel LeonNearest Location: 535 South Lake AveWhat can you buy with three dollars? Three candy bars? Six games of Pac Man? Twelve gumballs? I’ll tell you what you can buy with three dollars: a burger, fries and a drink, in-cluded in Burger Continental’s Poly Special. I know there are some skeptics out there; many complain about the price in-crease of the Poly special from two dollars to three dollars. But this problem is fixed with one simple fact: the quality of the food has improved drasti-cally. One year ago, I would not even think about including Burger Continental in a list of Pasadena’s best burgers, but re-cently the restaurant has really stepped up its game. Although the best part about this burger lies in the thrifty price, the burger does not disappoint and the variety of fries--cross-cut, crinkle-cut, thick and regular--are perfect complements.

FATBURGER by Daniel LeonNearest Location: 743 N. Lake Ave.The only thing I don’t like about Fatburger is the name. People gen-erally don’t want to go to a place asso-ciated with fat, but all should enjoy the delicious burg-ers at Fatburger. I am a big fan of Fatburger because of their juicy patties and unique sweet pickles. You may not know that I regard Fatburger as one of the best drive-thru burger joints in Pasadena, even above the acclaimed In-N-Out.

opportunities, specifically by exposing them to tougher competition and by putting them in more direct contact with college coach-es. Since it is a year-round program, if one chooses the Academy, he or she may not participate on a varsity school team in that sport because of CIF rules. For players who choose the Academy over their high school teams, it is a means to an end--the end being college soccer and perhaps a spot on the national team. For a school team, it may mean the best soccer players in the school can never be part of the program.

The Academy’s policy creates two major dilemmas. First and foremost, the academy essentially forces young players to put all of their chips on one number—and a risky one, at that. Due to the intense level of commit-ment, many Academy players find that their academics almost inevitably take a big hit, of-

By ANNA WOHLEditor-in-chief

Putting the student-athlete first: how Poly is getting it rightOPINIONthe paw print 9March 16, 2012

Movie Review: Citizen Kane Revived

This year, the San Luis Obispo Inter-national Film Festival managed to do what Orson Welles must have thought—way back when in 1941—to be impossible. The board members of the film festival managed to convince Steve Hearst, great-grandson of the famous and infamous William Randolph Hearst and Vice President of the Hearst Foundation, to show Welles’ film, Citizen Kane, at the Hearst Castle.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this monster of a movie, which is considered by many to be the greatest American film if not the greatest all-time film, Welles “loose-ly” based his character Charles Foster Kane on W. R. Hearst, the newspaper mogul and failed politician of the time. Hilariously, the woman introducing the film emphasized that Kane was not Hearst and that this was not a biopic about five times.

The whole scene at the Hearst castle is quite an odd, exhibitionistic one—very pre-sentational. Without actually explaining any of Hearst’s politics or business strategies, the docents of the tour managed to banally show his immense riches and the masses of art he collected and displayed to showcase his wealth. This idea of presenting Hearst’s riches and material legacy completely con-trasted with Orson Welles’ film, which de-picts the corrupt Kane, the dissolute Kane, the battered Kane. This particular juxtapo-sition of the indictment of Hearst and the glorification of Hearst was especially jarring after watching an incredibly cheesy introduc-tion film, entitled Hearst: Building the Dream,

created to show his majesty. The experience of watching the number

one film on the American Film Institute’s list on a big screen is unimaginable, not to men-tion the location. On a smaller screen, the cinematographic achievement is noticeable but not so blatant as it is on the large IMAX screen of Hearst Castle. This film was one of the first to use the method of having mul-tiple narratives to tell a story, not only giving a more interesting plot but also giving Welles the opportunity to experiment with different cinematographic tactics for each act.

Every single technique employed by Or-son Welles is amplified a thousand times. For example, the scene of Kane’s political down-fall shot from the floor (the cameramen dug trenches in the building to shoot from that angle) makes Kane and Leland both ap-pear bigger in stature. This scene was the first shot of its kind and is monumental in status. Another scene that, while observable on a smaller screen, is not comparable to the experience on the large screen, is the scene in which Kane and Susan Alexander (Doro-thy Comingore) are fighting over her career and she declares her hatred of singing. The lighting here is so effective that Comingore’s entire face disappears except for her eyes, glinting in the darkness. The collective gasps of wondrous “wow’s” and “oh my God’s” were heard throughout the entire theater.

Unfortunately for movie lovers every-where, this magical experience will probably never happen again. Nevertheless, I encour-age each and every one of you to watch Citi-zen Kane, a beautifully filmed movie that has earned every right to be in its number one spot.

The U.S. Soccer Academy recently an-nounced that, starting in the fall of 2012, the Development Academy program will be ex-panding its season to run from September to June. For those unfamiliar with the Academy, it is an elite soccer program designed to al-low young players to train and compete at the highest possible level, with the ultimate goal of molding the next generation of players for the U.S. national team. Since its formation in 2007, the Academy program has forced play-ers and their families to make a difficult and potentially life-changing choice: Academy soccer or high school soccer?

It is unlikely that many Poly athletes will ever face this decision. However, this issue represents an extreme version of a familiar pattern that frequently arises in youth sports in California: sacrificing invaluable experi-ences to achieve an elusive end.

Like many extracurricular programs, the Academy gives players access to exclusive

By MADDY MENDELLStaff writer

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Las Tensiones Político-Sociales du-rante la segunda República EspañolaBy ORIANNA TORRES Student contributor

Con anterioridad a la segunda república española (1931-1939), existía en España un gobierno monárquico encabezado por el Rey Alfonso XIII. Éste era un sistema de gobi-erno donde sólo una minoría tenía todo el poder, por tanto, la mayoría de los ciudada-nos no estaba representada en las decisiones del gobierno. La mayor parte de la población vivía en el campo; eran campesinos y traba-jadores, mientras que la minoría eran ricos, de buena posición social y tenían todo el poder político. Con el paso del tiempo, las tensiones entre la élite –mayormente aris-tocrática— y el pueblo fueron aumentando, así como el descontento de los ciudadanos con el monarca. Tal fue el malestar de la población, que el doce de abril de 1931, el almirante Aznar convocó elecciones locales para satisfacer a los demócratas y a los repub-licanos. Los partidos republicanos y socialis-tas ganaron y pidieron el fin de la monarquía. Así pues, tras la marcha de Alfonso XIII al extranjero, se constituye la Segunda Repúbli-ca española. La república fue establecida bajo un gobierno provisional dirigido por Niceto Alcalá-Zamora. El gobierno se propuso es-tablecer una transformación social, política, y económica de la sociedad que incluían la reforma agraria, la iglesia, el nacionalismo, el sufragio universal, y la separación de poderes. La república comienza con grandes cambios y termina en medio de conflictos internos y externos.

La Segunda República Española intentó

renovar el país y crear un gobierno donde todas las clases sociales fueran representa-das y tuvieran una voz en el gobierno. Dos ejemplos de sus objetivos políticos fueron la reforma agraria así como la reforma re-ligiosa y educativa. En cuanto a la reforma agraria, pensaron redistribuir la riqueza en el país al repartir la tierra. España era esen-cialmente un país agrícola. En el sur había enormes propiedades privadas en las cuales trabajaban jornaleros que no eran dueños de terreno. En el norte, los granjeros tenían fin-cas pequeñas que no eran económicamente viables. La mayoría de los españoles trabajaba en el campo. El trabajo de jornalero era un trabajo regido por la época de siembra y los sueldos eran bajos. Las familias terratenientes eran ricas a base de las haciendas que tenían y también eran ricas porque los sueldos de los jornaleros eran bajos. Con la reforma agraria, los grandes propietarios latifundistas no solo podían perder muchas de sus tierras sino que también la legislación sobre el trabajo y las zonas de trabajo los perjudicaba. Una de las reformas que introdujo la república fue que a los jornaleros tenían que pagar por ocho horas de trabajo. Esto significaba que durante la cosecha ganarían sobretiempo. El problema que surgió fue que los jornaleros comenzaron a trabajar más despacio para ganar más. Otra de las reformas introducidas por el nuevo go-bierno, fue la creación de una ley de términos This piece won a writing contest held by the Spanish Department. To read the rest of this piece, as well as the other submissions, visit polypawprint.org.

ten closing the door to top colleges. The second issue is that the unique experi-

ence of playing sports in high school—while not for everyone—is completely lost. Players who choose to play at the Academy level—or in equivalent programs for other sports—miss out on the opportunity to represent their

schools and to involve themselves in their communi-ty on mul-tiple levels. On a team d e s i g n e d for recruit-ing, the re-ality is that

each player is out there for him or herself, reducing the sport’s ability to cement bonds and to provide a sense of a larger community.

As student-athletes who fall across a wide spectrum of participation—from the rare few who only play their sport at a high level out-side of school, to those who play three sea-

sons as Panthers—it is important to recog-nize that Poly and other schools in the Prep League, which encourage participation on school teams rather than an exclusive club experience, are getting it right. With limits on season durations and encouraged partici-pation in multiple sports, our current system doesn’t overemphasize any one thing at the expense of another.

Our athletic program has seen huge suc-cesses in recent years, with several teams reaching the CIF finals. However, this year, both girls volleyball and girls waterpolo fell in the finals to teams comprised of almost all club players. There’s no question that our approach means we don’t always win--a fact that may exclude certain people from being attracted to our school. But by avoiding re-cruiting, Poly has chosen a more thoughtful path and has created a culture that is funda-mentally pro-student. We as students--and as athletes--should not only acknowledge our school’s deliberate approach but also should take advantage of the opportunities that it presents to us.

This issue represents an extreme version

of a familiar pattern: sacrific-ing invaluable experiences to achieve an elusive end.”

SPORTSthe paw print March 16, 201210

March madness bracket predictions from The Sports Section staff

By KEVIN CHUOpinion editor

Ten reasons why you should watch the NCAA Mens Basketball tournament

Wikimedia Commons

It’s that time of year again… March Madness is finally here (not to be confused with the month angry Poly students find out about college acceptances/rejections). For those of you who are already basketball buffs, those of you with no idea what March Madness is, and those of you who know about it, but don’t care too much for it here are my top ten reasons why you should tune into the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

1. Harvard Harvard? No, this is not a typo.

Harvard has earned a tournament berth for the first time since 1946. Along with the craze surround-ing that one Harvard-alumni kid by the name of Jeremy, I’m sure Harvard will be under close scru-tiny this year by all onlookers. Al-though I don’t see them getting very far in the tournament, Har-vard will nonetheless be a fun team to follow.

2. “DEE-FENCE!”This all-encompassing “word”

basically summarizes what March Madness NCAA Men’s Basket-ball is all about. The intensity level by far surpasses any regular sea-son NBA game as these college kids have much more on the line -- not just an already-guaranteed multi-million dollar paycheck.

These guys play for their alma ma-ter, respected coaches, fellow stu-dents and families. Playoff college basketball is generally played at a slower pace, placing much more emphasis on defense and spirited passion that we will fortunately all be able to witness.

3 . “ C i n d e r e l l a Teams”

Every year, there are the “Cinderella Teams” that demand your attention and utmost respect. The “Cinderella Teams” come from the most unexpected schools and show off super-star performances from the most un-likely of all players. Two years ago, that team was Butler, coming one half-court fling shy of an incred-ible upset of Duke and the cham-pionship. Last year it was Coach Shaka Smart’s Virginia Com-menwealth Rams, who upset the #1 seed Kansas Jayhawks to reach the Final Four. Who will it be this year? Watch and find out.

4. Indiana’s return to the na-tional spotlight

Indiana, for those who are not too familiar with basketball, has a rich basketball history that is most famously seen through the 1986 movie Hoosiers, which depicts one aspect of Indiana basketball culture. Since the Bob Knight era,

the Hoosiers have unfortunately struggled and have had four coach changes in the past decade. This year, they have finally rejuvenated their program, led by freshman Cody Zeller, and have earned 15th

in the Associated Press national rankings.

5. Battle of the BrothersWith the likes of multiple

brothers surfacing in this year’s tournament such as notables Tyler and Cody Zeller (North Carolina and Indiana), Mason Plumlee and Miles Plumlee (both Duke), and Phil Pressey and Matt Pressey (both Missouri), we have the op-portunity to witness some relat-able, family oriented basketball.

6. Anthony Davis’ unibrowIf you haven’t seen it already,

please do yourself a favor and Google “Anthony Davis’ unibrow.” Not knocking the Kentucky star’s game in any way (Davis is an ab-

solute monster all over the court), Davis simply has a hilariously hid-eous unibrow that cracks me up every time I see it. In fact, I am quite convinced that the Kentucky coaching staff encourages Davis to

keep his uni-brow in tact, purely to serve as an intimi-dation factor against other teams.

7 . P o w e r -house teams Syracuse and Kentucky

Both of these teams are the “favorites” of the tourna-ment, despite

the famously erratic and unpre-dictable nature of March Mad-ness. Nonetheless, the balanced offensive and defensive presence of both Kentucky and Syracuse, led by Anthony Davis and Kris Joseph respectively, will get the chance to prove to the nation who deserves the national championship come April 1.

8. Watching Duke loseNow I can’t be the only one, but

I absolutely despise the Blue Dev-ils on the basketball court. Maybe it’s Coach Krzyzewski (I can’t even pronounce his name) and his em-barrassing scarlet glow. Maybe it’s the likes of annoying players Ryan Kelley, the Plumlee brothers, and

alumni Nolan Smith. Whatever it may be, I simply want to see Duke lose – it’s as simple as that. Hope-fully those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about will share this hatred with me once you wit-ness one of Duke’s games.

9. Cheering for the home teamNow that UCLA basketball is

done for (at least for this year), we need a new team to fill UCLA’s shoes and to give us a home team to root for. Fortunately, we can cheeron the San Diego State Az-tecs, led by Jamaal Franklin. Hope-fully the Aztecs will fight their way to victory in a few games. An-other notable home-team is the St. Mary’s Gaels (Moraga California), which qualify as a potential “Cin-derella Team” this year. If anything, at least follow the California teams playing for glory this year.

10. Predict, Watch, PaydayIf my previous nine reasons

didn’t convince you to watch March Madness 2012, the uni-versal language of money will. If you’re looking for some easy (de-pending on how lucky you are or how much time you’re willing to commit) money, do some research on this year’s tournament, fill out a bracket, and enter some sort of bracket pool. If your predictions are accurate, you’ll win yourself some money -- it’s as easy as that. So clear out your remaining March plans, appointments and commit-ments, and make way for March Madness 2012!

KentuckyKentucky

KentuckyUConn

Wichita StateWichita State

Indiana

UNLVUNLV

Baylor

Notre Dame

DukeDuke

Duke

Duke

Duke

Michigan StateMichigan State

Michigan StateMemphis

New MexicoNew Mexico

Davidson

Murray State

MarquetteMarquette

Marquette

Michigan State

Virginia

MissouriMissouri

KansasKansas

GeorgetownGeorgetown

SDSU

Michigan

SDSUMichigan

MichiganCreighton

UNCUNC

Ohio StateOhio State

Ohio StateFlorida State

Florida StateTexas

HarvardHarvard

Montana

Southern Miss

SyracuseSyracuse

Duke

Georgetown

Georgetown

Final Four: Duke, Ohio State, Georgetown, Michigan State Winner: Duke

After reaching the Sweet 16 last season, the Duke Blue Devils are poised to take the national title this season. The team has the raw tools to win the title, with freshman guard Austin Rivers leading the way with 15.2 points per game. The Plumlee brothers, Mason and Miles, are monsters on the boards, recording 9.3 and 7.0 rebounds per game respectively.

But the two main reasons I’m throwing in my lot with the Blue Devils are their hall of

Even President Obama will be f illing out a tournament bracket.

fame coach Mike Krzyzewski and junior guard Seth Curry. Krzyzewski’s immediate impact cannot be stated enough. The famed coach led Duke to the title two years ago and also led the US Olympic Basketball team to gold in Beijing in 2008. His experience and strategic decision making is the best in the business, if not in college basketball history.

On the playing side, the 6’2” Curry, who is NBA point guard Stephen Curry’s younger brother, averaged 13.4 points per game this season, and has two college basketball years under his belt. The Duke Blue Devils have what it takes to claim the national title.

Syracuse

Ohio State

Ohio State

SPORTSthe paw print March 16, 2012 11

By CHARLES PATTERSONAssistant sports editor

Defending CIF champion baseball team starts season, goes 2-2 in Arcadia Elks tourney

With initial successes and a new head coach in Jordan Inufuku, the boys volleyball team anticipates a winning season. It has recorded wins against Temple City, Santa Monica, St. Genevieve, Flintridge Prep, and Whittier Christian.

The previous CIF semi-finalists hosted Temple City in their first home match of the season. The competition started off evenly matched. However, the Temple City Rams defense proved to be no match for the relentless Panther offense, as Poly won the first game.

The Panthers continued to de-fend their home court in the sec-ond game, shattering any prospect of a Rams comeback.

Despite losing the third game, the Panthers came back to win the fourth game and the match.

Outside hitter and senior Mi-chael Saeta led the team with his experience and leadership, contrib-

By HUNTER WORLANDStudent contributor

Led by Saeta and Woolway, boys volleyball takes third in Providence Tournamentuting 29 kills to the victory. Saeta’s consistency on the court earned him CIF Division 5 Southern Section Player of the Year in 2011.

Fellow senior and four-year var-sity player Colin Woolway added eleven kills to the team’s total of 46. The senior duo accounted for 86% of the team’s kills in the previous season.

Woolway, while noting the im-portance of the senior backbone of team remarked, “When it comes to winning the Prep League and making a deep

playoff run, it’s the other guys who are going to have to make key plays, and we know they can do that.”

The team hopes to contin-ue to capitalize on its depth and unity as it moves forward in the season. “Every-one expects big things for this team,” Saeta said. “We may have some new players on this team, but every-one is learning at an amazing rate and we are com-ing together very quickly.”

The Panthers began non-

Swimming and diving teams fall to Pasadena Tennis cruises to early 3-0 recordBy IAN MCKNIGHT Sports editor

By OLIVIA TREISTERStudent contributor

This spring, the varsity swim-ming and diving team returns the pool with a big splash. Whether examining the intense workouts in the pool or the close relationships of teammates, one can see that the teams have a strong season ahead of them. The girls side is especially primed to improve on last season’s 6-3-1 record as it returns upper classmen including juniors Annika Lenz, the reigning CIF Champion in diving, and Justine Cheng, as well as seniors Michelle Miller and Hannah Grotzinger.

The girls team began the season with a decisive win over La Salle, though inn the second meet of the season, the boys and girls both fell by narrow margins against Pasade-na High School. Freshman Henry Brooks led the Panthers with wins

in the 200 medley and the 100 backstroke with times of 2:25.95 and 1:10.40 respectively, and Kelly McGee won the 100 butterfly at a 1:00.68 clip. Even with these great performances, the Panthers fell, 84-82.

The girls team also fell to Pasa-dena, losing by a score of 93-76. Poly won the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay, as well as a few individual events. Cheng won the 100 butterfly at 1:02.10, Grotzing-er won the 100 freestyle at 1:01:41 and sophomore Caroline Harvey won the 50 freestyle with a 27:08 time. On an individual level, sev-eral swimmers put out solid per-formances, but the team could not win in a collective effort.

This year, coaches Jess Berger and Charlene Beerman have the swimming and diving team capital-izing on practice time. The train-ing not only has the team working

to improve their speed and tech-nique in the water through swim sets, but also has the athletes do-ing dry land activities to improve endurance and overall strength and conditioning.

The team members also have time to enjoy themselves and bond during practices and at meets. Ju-nior Jaclyn Cole said, “We are a family,” and junior Mara Veitch commented, “The swim team pro-vides a very close and supportive environment that motivates its members to both work hard and enjoy themselves.”

With hard work and strong re-lationships, the team hopes to go far. Hopefully, with the help of the experience team members and the hard working coaches, the boys and girls swimming and diving squads will make a ripple in the Prep League and in non-league competition.

The boys tennis squad has be-gun the season on a good note with an impressive 3-0 record. With consistent contributions from their most experienced play-ers, the Panthers have won each of their matches by substantial mar-gins. Recently, the group defeated Pasadena High School by a 14-4 score.

In the season opener against South Pasadena High School, the team beat the Tigers, 14-4. The squad then won against La Salle High School in the second matchup of the year without much of a contest, recording a score of 15-3. Sophomore Sachin Puri, who went 3-0 in doubles play in the match, commented, “We have a solid team this year, and I believe that our opening matches against

South Pasadena High and La Salle reflect the teams strength, which I hope is carried on to future match ups.”

In singles play, freshman Henry La Soya went 3-0 and junior AJ Singh posted a 2-1 score. On the doubles side, sophomore Matthew Johnson and Puri went undefeated.

The team’s success stems from the senior leadership provided by senior Matt Rossi. Rossi has been a vital member of the tennis team since his freshman year and has given the squad solid performanc-es. The team looks for him to be a leader and mentor for the younger members of the group as the sea-son gets underway.

With big league games looming into view, the squad hopes to con-tinue their non-league success into Prep League play and compete for the title.

Returning to the diamond after a year of offseason, the boys varsity baseball team has high hopes as they return one CIF championship stronger. Forming an amazing run in the 2011 postseason, the squad came away with Coach Wayne El-lis’ first title at UC Riverside. Last year, Poly benefited from one of the strongest baseball teams it has seen in years. Although the arms of Jordan Kutzer and Brian Hol-man, as well as the bats of Hunter Merryman and Matt Saeta will be missed, experienced returners as well as some key underclassmen will keep the team strong in the coming season.

The Panthers began the season with a 12-6 loss to Alhambra in the opening game of the Arcadia Elks tournament. Errors plagued both teams, but the Panthers could not overcome an early deficit. With a 2-2 record, the team has

some work to do be-fore league play next week.

Optimistic at the outlook of the season, senior pitcher Davey Fees commented “I think we’ll be able to have a lot of suc-cess this year. There is no doubt that we lost some key play-ers on offense and on the mound, but last year was the best team Poly has ever had. We have a lot of young guys that are good ball players, and we’ll play solid fundamen-tal baseball like we al-ways do and that will bring us the success that our program has always had.”

Ellis, manager and head coach, who reached his 400th win last year in the Poly program, exempli-

fies this optimism. “We have a nice team and we are anxious to defend our league championship,” Ellis explained. The team has already had some success, with a strong

14-2 win over El Monte, and a 8-5 win over Montebello.

A large contribution to these wins came from talented under-classmen, whose skill has aided

the squad in its wins. Sopho-more David Orndorff, a strong hitter and pitcher, is excited to play on the varsity team so early in his high school career. He commented, “We have a nice blend of seniors, juniors and sophomores. The seniors have really made the newer players feel welcome, and also keep ev-eryone loose and relaxed. I think the team will surprise people this year.” Orndorff has pitched in two games so far this season.

Also optimistic about the season is sophomore Zack Bern. “Although the team has lost many seniors from last year, this year’s seniors have picked up where they left off. Being a younger player, it’s nice to have skilled respectable leaders to look up to, whether it’s advice on the field or in the dugout.

With our combination of skill and leadership, I think many oppo-nents will be surprised at Poly’s yet again strong lineup.”

Courtesy of Jennifer Godwin-MintoSenior leadoff hitter Logan Beerman (left) connects during the win against Montebello while senior Chris Ward (right) winds up to throw a pitch earlier in the game. Beerman is hitting .312 on the year while Ward has ten strikouts in only eight innings pitched.

Harry Templeton / The Paw PrintSenior Colin Woolway elevates for the spike. Woolway is second on the team in kills.

league play in the Providence Tour-nament, where the squad took third place. The team opened the tour-nament with an easy win against Santa Monica, (25-16, 25-21) and a victory over. St. Genevieve (25-7, 25-14).

With two wins on their back, the Panthers proceeded to the semi-finals of the tournament, facing Chadwick. The Dolphins asserted their control of the match in the first game, defeating the Panthers

(25-9). In the second game, Poly’s offense rallied a comeback, tieing the match 1-1. In the final game, the Panthers failed to hold off the Dolphins, falling to their Prep League adversary in a 2-1 defeat.

The Panthers’ loss brought them to the third-place match against their rivals Flintridge Prep. The team bounced back from their loss against the Dolphins and finished the tournament in third.

PANTHER SPORTSthe paw print 12March 16, 2012

Junior Brooke Edwards’ athleticism, focus and determination have made her a crucial member of the Poly track and !eld team over the past three years. Head Coach Christopher Schmoke has expressed high hopes for success on the girls side this year, and Edwards has stepped up to help guide and maximize the potential of newer members of the team.

"e poise and gentle con!dence with which Brooke carries herself sets her apart from other runners. However, Edwards is also a !erce and competitive athlete on the !eld of play. In the !rst track meet of the season at Occidental College, Edwards competed well against strong opponents. Despite a rocky start in the 4x100 due to shaky hando#s, Brooke maintained a positive attitude going into her oth-er events. She raced to a time of 1:04.5 in the 400-meter race, and !nished the grueling 300-hurdles heat with an impressive time of 49.71.

Sophomore Noel Askins, who is a part of Brooke’s 4x100 relay team and also played with Brooke on varsity soccer, admires her teammate for her character and all-round athleticism. Askins comments on Ed-wards’ passion as an athlete, “Brooke brings a lot of spirit to the team and is very disciplined in what she does, staying calm and focused on the objective, and always giving 100%. I always feel comfort-able working with Brooke, as she exudes con!dence and demonstrates exceptional skill.”

As the season continues, Edwards continues to work hard wiht her teammates to improve her times as she prepares for League Finals and CIF.

Natalia Sanchez-Nigolian

Athlete of the Future

Brooke EdwardsManny MedranoDavid Hong

Male Athlete of the Issue Female Athlete of the Issue

Perrin Lang / !e Paw Print

Now that winter season has concluded, talented athletes from the spring emerge. One of these athletes is junior golfer David Hong. A skilled member of the varsity golf team since his freshman year, Hong has the natural talent and drive that has taken him to new heights as an athlete.

Sophomore teammate Willy Mo$y comments, “David has showed great leadership early on this season, and the team is coming together and rallying around his strong play. His focus and drive on the course is impressive, and continues to elevate his play.”

Hong has keyed to Panthers to two early season victories this season. Hong shot a 42 in Poly’s 213-242 win over Temple City and a 41 against Pasadena High School in a 211-256 victory. His consistently strong play has been crucial to the team’s early success.

With nine-hole scores in the high 30’s, Hong performed well last year as well, even shooting a rare double-eagle in a regu-lar season match. "e Panthers need him to continue his strong play throughout the year.

With upcoming rounds versus Buckley, Milliken, Flintridge Prep and Webb, the Poly varsity golf team hopes to press for-ward together under the leadership of Hong and other upper-class leaders and swing their way into the postseason and into CIF.

Charles Patterson

Freshman Manny Medrano, though in his !rst year on the golf team, has already begun to make an impact. In the second match of the season against Temple City, Medrano shot a three over par 39, and helped the squad to an overall 213-242 victory. "is was the best Poly showing of the match and shows Medrano’s skill and talent in the sport.

Senior leader Victoria Morgan comments on Me-drano’s strong start, “Manny has really stepped up this year; he has so much potential that I think will continue to show as the season unfolds. For Manny, golf is not even a year round sport as he also plays soccer and ran cross country. His ability to pick up a club during golf season after not playing in the fall and winter and post his recent scores shows just how much natural talent he possesses.”

In a recent match against Pasadena High School, Medrano posted a score of 40 at Brookside Golf Course, good enough for four over par and the best score for Poly for a second straight match.

Although it is still early in the season, Medrano has quickly become a consistent player on the golf squad. He has been a solid addition and still has time to improve. Along with Poly’s other more experienced players, Me-drano hopes to lead the Panthers in an attempt win the Prep League title.

Ian McKnight

After a successful 2011 season, which included a Prep League championship on the boys’ side and a solid showing in the CIF "nals meet, the Poly track and "eld team looks to continue its success this spring even after losing an experi-enced senior class.

“Even though we lost most of the athletes who really de"ned this team last year, I’m really excited for the group we have now,” said ju-nior runner Hunter Palmentiero. “People came out in larger numbers

By IAN MCKNIGHTSports editor

Track and Field team looks to gain experience and improve before League Prelimsthan we ex-pected [this year] and we have a huge group of ath-letes with raw talent. Both the boys and girls teams had a great showing at our "rst meet, and with a little training, we de"nitely have another shot at a league title.”

After "nishing second in the race last year, Palmentiero hopes

to capture the league title in the 400-meter heat. Also return-ing with previous success for the

boys team are ju-nior hurdler Jake Zelek and senior thrower and sprint-er Nathan Ham-ming, who both won league titles last year. Sopho-more sprinter Noel Askins commented, “I think we have a really strong group of people on the track and "eld team on both the girls’

side and the boys’ side. With great runners and solid "eld competitors I see real potential for both teams

as the season progresses.”For the girls team, the Panthers

return sophomore long distance runner Evan Gancedo, who almost won a Prep League title last year and had a competitive showing in the CIF "nals. Askins added, “Our middle to long distance team also shows great promise due to Evan, [sophomore] Diana Matthiessen, and [juniors] Katie Wardlaw and Julia Blanco.”

Before League Prelims, the track and "eld season has three more meets hosted by Poly, Flintridge, and Webb. Both the girls and boys are working hard to perform well in these meets in preparation for the Prep League "nals.

!e Poly golf team has gotten o# to a strong start to the season with a 2-1 record. Led by fresh-man Manny Medrano, junior Da-vid Hong, sophomore Willy Mo$y and senior Victoria Morgan, the group has earned early victories over Temple City and Pasadena High School.

!e Panthers had good out-ings from Hong and Mo$y, who shot a 38 and a 42 respectively, in their opening match against South Pasadena at Almansor Golf Course but the team fell, 203-211. In their second match against Temple City, Poly had four of the top "ve scorers and cruised to a 213-242 victory. Medrano paced the team with a three over par 39, Hong shot a 42, and Mo$y and Morgan both shot a 43.

By CALEB LEESports editor

Top golfers carry team to victoriesWith a solid core of quality

players, the Panthers are hard to beat when everyone shoots well. In their 211-256 win over Pasadena at Brookside Golf Course, Poly’s home course. Medrano led the way again with a 40, Hong and Mo$y followed with 41, and Morgan shot a solid 42.

Hong commented on the team’s early season victories: “As we move onto the thick of the regular sea-son, it’s essential for us to work as a team. Although golf is largely an independent sport, all our scores add up and so every shot counts. In our two victories, we really pulled through together and made our shots count.”

!e Panthers will need a con-sistent "fth scorer to step up and keep the Panthers competitive with strong schools. Seniors Kelsey Kawana and Matt Liu hope to "ll

this role, while junior Aria Gri%n, sophomore Stephanie Pham and freshman Max Chau are also im-proving well.

Hong sees that the team has the potential to do break through this season. He commented, “Every-body has been working really hard to hone their skills and going out on the course to practice has helped tremendously. Coach Babcock has provided great advice and encour-agement while Coach Shepherd has been essential in developing our new players. We have a really strong group this year and I think if we can continue to do that, we can be league champions!”

!e Poly golf team has a com-bination of talent and skill that will take them far this year and hope-fully to a league championship. !e youth on the team will also anchor strong teams for years to come.

Poly’s softball team has gotten o# to a solid start to the season, with close wins in non-league play over Alverno and San Gabriel Mis-sion and a shutout win over Pasa-dena. Only a single run decided each of the "rst three games.

!e Panthers jumped out to an early lead against Pasadena and never looked back, winning by mercy rule, 16-0. Senior Heather Choi pitched well in the victory.

After leading for most of the game, the Panthers squandered a 6-5 lead in the last inning against Los Angeles Baptist. Freshman DeeDee Logan was 2-3 with a run batted in and gave up two runs in four innings pitched. Choi had a run batted in but also earned the loss on the pitching side, giving up

By CALEB LEESports editor

Softball crushes Pasadena, is 3-1four runs in over two innings. Se-nior Julia Tsai and freshman Becca Hanel both had two hits in the los-ing e#ort. !e Panthers had won their "rst two games to start the spring season.

In the 1-0 win over San Gabriel Mission, Choi tossed a complete game shutout and faced only two batters more than the minimum. She struck out seven hitters and walked none. Tsai, who is batting .727 on the season, went 3-3 in the game.

In the 6-4 win over Alverno, Tsai led the way again, going 3-4 with a run batted in. Sophomore Kelly Berg had two doubles and two runs batted in and Choi came through in another complete game victory. With many underclassmen contributing to the team, Poly soft-ball hopes to compete for a strong record in the Prep League.

Perrin Lang / !e Paw PrintHarry Templeton / The Paw Print

Harry Templeton / The Paw PrintJuniors Joseph Bolinger and Michael Caughron (left) run in a long distance race at Occidental College while junior Jake Zelek (right) jumps over a hurdle.