Post on 03-Aug-2020
All Hallows Student Newspaper January Issue
The Blue & White
“From the Dugout” By: Noel Vasquez ‘19 The junior varsity baseball team
officially finished their fall season on
October 14th, defeating Salesian High
School by a score of 5-4. They finished
undefeated, a great feat for a team to
accomplish. Even though I am a player
on said team, I thought it would be best
to get the opinions of the men who
managed the whole team: Mr. Bonilla
and Coach Carey. I had the opportunity
to interview them after school a few
days ago. Here’s what they had to say
about the team:
Noel Vasquez: How would you evaluate the prospects of the baseball team for the spring? Coach Mark Bonilla: We have a good
mix of freshmen and sophomores. On top
of that, they were all fighting for their
positions, so it allowed us to see the best
in these guys. We also had deep pitching
from our starters. The team had deep
chemistry as well. I can tell, seeing how
the guys got along.
NV: What do you believe to be the biggest potential problem for the team for the spring? Coach John Carey: If we lose players
due to grades, that could be a problem.
If we also have unexpected injuries, that
as well could pose a problem. If there
are players who develop bad habits, that
would not help the team chemistry.
MB: Selfishness is always a downfall for
teams. You guys care more about your
individual performance than the team
performance. Also grades. If we lose
some people because of grades and
academics, we could lose some depth to
our team.
What do you think allowed the junior varsity baseball team to go undefeated this fall? JC: Well, in the fall, it’s a lighter
schedule. We also had good pitching,
which helps a lot. And, of course, we had
baseball skills and abilities that, simply
put, allowed us to win.
MB: I think everything I mentioned
already. Guys were competing for spots.
Nothing is guaranteed on this team.
Everyone was trying to make an
impression. We worked together. We
tried to bunt, when we had to. We stole,
we hit and run a little bit, and so, all
those things were really important.
Final Comments
MB: I’m looking forward to a good
spring, so guys know they have to work
throughout the winter. We’ll meet soon
to talk about specifics for each player
and what they need to improve on. I’m
definitely looking forward to a good
spring. I think we’re really going to be
competitive and surprise some people.
The junior varsity baseball team appears
to be efficient. They should be ready for
the spring. The question is, can they
bring home a division title? We don’t
know. That is a question only the future
can answer. All we can do is cheer them
on. Go Gaels!
“Technology Combats Loneliness” By: Xavier Diaz ’18
In modern society technology has
become a part of our daily lives. For
example we might use our phones to talk
to our friends and family or check what
the weather is for the week. Recently
there has been plenty of talk about how
technology is making people less social
and some might even go as far as to say
that technology leads to loneliness.
Technology is a tool and it is up to us to
use it in the way we see fit. This makes
it an effective tool in the fight against
loneliness and to better communication.
Technology has many uses that allow it
to combat loneliness. Often the counter
argument to this is that technology such
as phones pull away our attention from
our friends and families with apps such
as Facebook, Kik, Skype, and Instagram.
As of 2016 Facebook had 1.71 billion
users, Kik had 300 million, and Skype
had 74 million. These apps with
moderation could easily be used to keep
tabs on family members and in fact
make you closer. They also allow you to
meet up with new people and continue
the interactions that you had at school or
the workplace making you feel less
lonely. Apps if used in moderation and
in ways that open up new social
opportunities will make you anything
but lonely. Everything can be bad if used
excessively. Those that say technology
makes us lonely are blind to the
struggles of disabled people. Text to
speech programs are what the impaired
use to communicate. It is this tool that
allows the disabled to be heard and make
friends.
Technology if used properly lets us be
social when we usually cannot be. Our
apps give us people to talk to when no
one is there. Our phones could make us
new friends or even find us the loves of
our lives. In order to do it right you have
to practice moderation. By using our
technology to set up events we become
more social. However we shouldn’t use
technology to replace human
interactions. With our technology we can
achieve whatever we’re aiming for. Even
if what you’re aiming for is just meeting
up with the squad.
“What Happened America?” By: Juan Morales ‘19
All predictions and polls pointed at
Hillary Clinton as the winner of the 2016
presidential elections. But this wasn’t the
reality, around 3:00am on November 9th
Donald Trump was confirmed as the
newly elected president of the United
States. Clinton congratulated him even
though it was a very hard move for her
because she was expected to win the
elections. The country has had mixed
reactions to the fact that Donald Trump
has become the president-elect of the
United States.
A lot of chaos has erupted across the
country, from Trump Tower in New
York all the way to California.
Thousands of people have staged various
protests in the months since Trump’s
election. Trump said of the protest, “love
the fact that the small groups of
protesters last night have passion for our
great county” through his Twitter
account. Clinton acted peacefully
towards Trump, expressing through her
twitter account that she would be proud
to work with him though his presidential
career.
Clinton hasn’t spoken about her future in
politics, but she is very thankful for what
her supporters did for her. “This team
has so much to be proud of. Whatever
happens tonight, thank you for
everything” said Clinton through her
twitter account. It was a historic election
for America. Trump winning makes him
the first president with no political
background. Trump has said that when
he gets into office this month he will no
longer attempt to put Clinton in jail. A
lot of sources have pointed to that as one
of Trump’s first moves but whether or
not he will pursue this is unclear. The
people will have to wait for him to get
into office.
“From Gum Shoe to Gael” Reporting contributed by: Ernesto Mannon ’18 & Joel Gradanski ‘18
Throughout their high school years
many students wonder what it might be
like to be a part of the F.B.I. or any other
law enforcement agency. Luckily, here
at All Hallows we have a teacher who
was an agent F.B.I. prior to working
here. Most of the students here at All
Hallows are unaware that he worked for
them as an agent in New York. Curiosity
has overtook these two reporters and we
went to find out why Mr. Gomez or
Agent Gomez left the F.B.I. to come
work with high school students in the
South Bronx.
Agent Gomez actually started his
government career working for the IRS,
before transitioning to the F.B.I where
he began working in 2003. Obtaining a
job with the Bureau is difficulty. There
are a series of exams you must pass to
qualify for a position. First, You must
take a written exam, a physical exam,
and a psychological exam with a
polygraph. Before any of this is
completed they thoroughly check your
past to assure you haven’t done nothing
illegal. Finally, you have to go through a
panel interview. All of these things can
take anywhere from one to two years to
complete for a regular person, but for
Mr. Gomez it only took six months!
Only 20% of Applicants are accepted.
Mr. Gomez said “ The F.B.I. is a very
difficult job the acquire even if you meet
some of these demands.” Despite these
obstacles Mr. Gomez became Agent
Gomez
He started his F.B.I. career working for
the Organized Crime Division. The cases
he worked on were the famous Gambino
& Bonanno mob families in Brooklyn
and Staten Island. He had an amazing
time in the F.B.I but the job required an
extensive amount of time. These long
hours and time away from families has
given this government position one of
the highest divorce rates, for Mr. Gomez
that option was not worth the risk.
Another challenge that led Mr. Gomez
to leave the F.B.I was the constant
moving from home to home as a result
of station transfers. Though he didn’t
finish his life as an F.B.I agent, he loved
every moment of it. This is what life was
like for an F.B.I agent who now works at
All Hallows.
“ISIS Praising Its ‘Hero Soldier’ Claim Responsibility for Istanbul Attack” By: Jesse Abarro ‘18 On New Year’s Eve, minutes after 2016
had ended, two gunmen went inside a
night club in Istanbul, Turkey, and
opened fire. There were 39 people that
were killed in the attack. It is the first
terrorist attack in 2017. After the attack
in Baghdad the following day, the
Islamic State claimed responsibility for
the attack.
The reason why Turkey is prone to any
attack is because of its geography. It
neighbors include countries such as Iraq,
Iran, Syria, any many Muslim countries
that are under attack by the Islamic
State. Most of the people that were killed
were teenagers, according to the New
York Times.
On January 4th, Turkish authorities
announced they had identified one of the
assailants in the attack. Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced
there was a suspect, but did not his/her
name due to ongoing investigation. The
White House condemned violence
towards innocent people. At the Vatican,
Pope Francis asked for prayers for the
victims of tragedy and for the end of
terrorism.
The attack in Turkey is the first attack in
2017 conducted by the Islamic State
since December 18th Bombing of the
Church in Cairo Egypt.
“Stradivarius’ Secrets Finally Revealed” By: Stephen Moore ‘18 Antonio Stradivari was one of the most
amazing violin, cello, and viola makers
of all time. As his name suggests,
Stradivarius is an Italian from a small
town called Cremona. Also in this town
was another legendary woodworker
Giuseppe Guarneri set up shop as well.
Well why should I care about any of this
backstory? What’s so special about
them? Well, both Stradivarius and
Guarneri made instruments that have
perfect tune, amazing sound, and
superior craftsmanship that even today
we can’t recreate. Or at least that was the
case until know. Scientists have found
out their secret which has been buried
for more the two centuries, and it is the
wood, unsurprisingly.
The scientist took wood shavings from a
Stradivari and tested it. They found in
the fibers traces of copper, aluminum,
calcium, and other elements. So now we
know they treated their wood with some
metal solution to help its sound; another
thing they found was that 25% of the
water content had gone out of the wood.
How they found this out was by burning
the wood shavings. This tells us
something, that they specially dried the
wood to help its resonance, tone, and
pitch. Something else they found was
that due to the low percentage of water
in the few Stradivari and Guarneri
violins, violas, and cellos that still exist,
their makeup is unstable and they will
soon lose all of their sound thanks to
this.
“MTA’s Leader is Retiring” By: Jaren Mendez ‘18
The MTA’s greatest achievement has
happened and their leader is retiring. Mr.
Prendergast has been a part of the MTA
business for many decades, and has been
head since 2013. Since then he was able
to do great things, one of his biggest
achievements was opening a new
subway line on 2nd Avenue.
This has made things much easier for
people who have to take trains through
the upper east side of Manhattan. One
daily rider even commented this week,
“For the first time in like a year I finally
got a seat on a 4 train and no fights
broke out”. Already the train has eased
the amount of people getting on the 4
trains and has made transit life better for
people around the city. The Governor of
New York has even said Prendergast is
“an extraordinary public servant” and
also called his work “superhuman” and
“a beautiful accomplishment”.
Overall we can see how Prendergast’s
work has given him the right to retire.
He was able to successfully pull off an
almost impossible work task. He will be
forever known for this great
accomplishment and now he’ll retire, lay
back, and admire his fantastic work.
“El Baile de el Perrito” By: Bryan Ortiz ‘18
The song “El Baile de el Perrito” is from
my Dominican heritage and I have
always heard it at parties when I was
little. My mom even told me that I
would go to the floor and start dancing
when they played it. I didn’t know a
thing about Bachata or any other dance
at the time but she told me that by
looking at me anyone could tell I liked
that song a lot. Also when I was little I
had cousins and friends who would play
with toys or sleep, but I was the kid who
would watch every step the people
dancing the Bachata were taking. I
always felt connected to Bachata like it
was a part of me and who I am today.
Many people might argue that Romeo
Santos, Prince Royce, and many other
Bachata artists are better than Antony
Santos but the old style that Antony has
is what makes him different from any
other artist. I especially connect with this
song.
Antony Santos is a famous Bachata and
Merengue singer. Antony Santos had a
different style from all the other
Dominican singers that everyone liked.
Listening to one of the songs from
Antony Santos just makes you want to
get up and dance. The song, “El Baile de
el Perrito” is actually one of Antony
Santos’ merengue songs. The
instruments used in a typical merengue
song are the accordion, bass, guitar,
guiro, and tambora which is a drum. The
guiro is also used sometimes in bachata
and is one of my favorite instruments
because of the sound it makes. Antony
Santos even says it in his song that he
has a different and unique style that no
one has heard of before.
“Oakland Fire” By: Kevin Perez ‘18 In Oakland, California there was a
massive fire last month which killed 36
people. It was deemed to be too unsafe
and unstable for emergency workers,
which put fire officials’ search on halt.
Melinda Drayton, battalion chief for the
Oakland Fire Department, said that
crews stopped searching overnight after
noticing that a wall at the back of the
building was leaning at an alarming
angle. They had to stop because it is a
safety hazard to have people in a
building that looks like it's about to
collapse. The officials believe that the
fire started at the back of the warehouse
but Drayton says “we are no closer to
finding the cause.”
This warehouse fire was one of the
deadliest in recent U.S. history.
Firefighters worked a lot that weekend
searching through debris and waste to
recover victims, many of which have
been charred beyond recognition. On
Monday, officials said that eleven of the
36 victims have been identified for sure.
This deadly fire started at about 11:30
p.m. as partygoers gathered on the
second floor to listen to a music group
called Golden Dona. The band played on
a dance floor of about 2,500 square feet.
No one really knows how the fire began,
whether it was an electrical cause or
something else but officer Johnna
Watson, spokeswoman for the Oakland
Police Department, said that the answer
wouldn't come anytime soon.
Letters to the Editor The Blue and White is now inviting readers to participate in the conversation. Have a question or comment about something you’ve read here, or something you would like to find in these pages? Email us at ahblueandwhite2016@gmail.com TO THE EDITOR:
I read with interest the article,
"Clash of the Titans" by Willmore
Saldana in the October issue of The Blue
and White. In celebrating the epic battles
between Brady and Manning, Mr.
Saldana hit upon a potentially interesting
idea (at least it seems so to this reader)
for an interesting and regular feature in
future numbers of The Blue and White.
Why not include a "Clash of the
Titans" feature in every future Blue and
White? The world is filled with just such
clashes every day, and they extend far
beyond the playing fields. Music,
politics, business, entertainment,
religion, social justice: each and every
day adversaries from these arenas (and
many others) square off to advance their
causes, their beliefs, their ideals. Who
better than the ace reporters of The Blue
and White to chronicle these battles and
to interpret them for the benefit of their
loyal readers?
Whether you choose to take this
humble editorial advice or not, do keep
up the good work, and the steady stream
of well-crafted and thoughtful pieces
coming.
FLEET STREET, ESQ. Los Angeles