ABBY MANSOURSTAFF WRITER

The long jumpers are all lined up. It’s time for sophomore Bran-don Ford to show what he can do. He steps up and begins to run fast-er, then faster still. He reaches the line and hurls his body as far as he can, leaping 20’8”. Ford and all the track athletes have been competing in meets for several weeks and they don’t seem to be slowing down.Coach Nathan Boyer has noticed athletes’ “desire to improve more.”

At the Jaguar Invitational on April 18 there were many shining moments for these hard-working athletes. Along with Ford’s and senior Yachi Fail’s third place finishes in the boys and girls long jump respectively, all of the relay teams competed well.Especially notable were the boys and girls varsity 4X400 relay teams at the Valley Center hosted invite.

The girls team, which consisted of senior Alex Wright and sopho-mores Lauren Hall, Alex Parks, and Alex Butler, pulled off a close win, beating Sweetwater High’s team by a little more than a second.

The boys team placed second with an impressive time of 3:32. The teams overall took third for boys and second for girls. With over 40 schools attending, this was an impressive fin-ish. This hard-fought victory estab-lished MC boys track as the league leader. The girls team is currently in second, just behind Westview.

Boyer credits some of this suc-cess on the hard work done in prac-tice.

“Practice is crucial,” he said. “It is true that practice is physical, racing is mental. We race well because we practice hard.”

With all the amazing perfor-mances the track team has turned in this season, it is hard for Boyer to pick just one to highlight.

“So many [athletes] have done such great things,” he said. “Brandon Ford has dominated his event this year, as have [juniors] Jacob Wood

and Erin Menefee, but many athletes have improved so much that it is im-possible to compare.”

The team only has one dual meet left this season, on May 7, against ri-val Westview at home. The last invi-tational, the Escondido Invitational,

takes place tonight.With only one invitational left

before leagues, and CIF starting on May 12, the team is looking forward to competing on a bigger scale.

“We should win leagues,” junior David Vasko, a distance runner, said.

SPORTS & ARTSwww.mcsun.org

FRIdAymay 1, 2009

MT. CARMEl SuN

B

RACHEL MARTINOPINIONS EdITOR

After ten years as the very successful coach of the varsity girls basketball team, Robin Blalock has announced that she will be stepping down as coach for next year.

It was announced last Tuesday in an email from the principal, Dr. Tom McCoy.

“It’s one of those things when there’s probably not just one reason,” Blalock said. “For maybe the past couple of years, I’ve kin-da thought about it. Teaching English here, I love, but it takes a lot of time and a lot of en-ergy and a lot of focus. And basketball is like another full-time job.

“So, it just became burnout almost, from constantly working and constantly giving, and never feeling like I had a rest or an opportu-nity to rejuvenate,” she said. “And in order for basketball continue to be really success-ful and continue to reach the levels that we’ve reached, it will require more energy and more energy. And I don’t feel like I have that energy necessarily to give.”

Still, the news came as a big surprise to many students and teachers.

It wasn’t a decision that Blalock made easily.

With her impending marriage and work-ing towards her master’s degree, she simply does not have enough hours in the day to de-

vote to teaching and coaching. Although she has thought about stepping

down for the past few years, the time was nev-er right until now.

“Something always brought me back,” Blalock said. “The girls, the enjoyment, you know, everything I love about the sport. And it was always like, ‘No, I think I got it in me to do another year. Nope, I think I got it in me to do another.’ And, I find, if you keep saying, ‘Well, I’ll wait until so and so graduates,’ well there’s always someone new to wait for them to graduate. It never ends. I get attached to them, and I enjoy working with them.”

Blalock realized that she just needed more time for herself and to devote to her family.

She plans to help whoever replaces her as var-sity coach for next year, but she wants the new coach to feel as though “it’s their program and their team.”

Although there are many things that Bla-lock will miss next year, there is one thing she will miss the most.

“I think one of the greatest things is I’ve had such a great opportunity to coach some of the neatest kids over those ten years, and I can think back to almost every single team, just the amazing girls that I’ve had, and the amaz-ing times that I’ve had,” Blalock said. “For me, that’s absolutely why I do it—to share my love of the game with them and to share the expe-riences with them.”

In the past ten years, Blalock led her teams to six CIF championships, winning five of them. They also won six league champion-ships.

“It takes a lot of hard work, and then just seeing them when they succeed and all of that which is magnificent,” Blalock said. “And there’s so many year after year, and what’s neat is it’s the same things almost year after year for me, but it’s new because it’s new to see it with them. And, so it’s kind of like if somebody were to say, ‘Well, you’ve already won five CIF championships,’ but it’s a different win every time because it’s that kid’s first, it’s that player’s first, and that’s why I did it for the amount of time that I did it.”

KEVIN LAGEENTERTAINMENT EdITOR

With just two meets left in the regular season, the MC swim team is still sporting a flawless record on all levels.

BOYSUnfortunately for the boys team, their toughest

competition is still yet to come. “In the past, Westview has always been a very

strong opponent on the boys side,” sophomore Nick Hefner said. “We realize we are not going to have an easy time with them, and we are training very hard to make sure that we can take them on.”

The team also realizes that the competition in CIF will be a lot stronger than anything they have seen thus far.

“Even though the season is winding down, we are still working just as hard every time that we get in the pool,” Hefner said. “We know that we have had it very easy this season and that we have a very good chance if we keep performing at our current level.”

GIRLS The girl’s team is still going strong, and they don’t

see any threats to their flawless record. “Canyon Crest and Westview should not be a

threat, at least as far as the girls team is concerned,” senior Taylor Bugg said. “Our chances of winning leagues is very good; our only main competition that we have to worry about is Ramona. As for CIF, there are definitely teams that are much tougher that we are up against, but the championship is no doubt within

our reach.”The team believes that they can take on anyone

that they face during CIF. Bugg thinks the main reason for their success is the amount of effort that they put into all their practices

“Not only is this team experienced in working hard and racing, but we have a lot of depth,” Bugg

said. “Every person on the team contributes and plays a role. We also have an incredible bond. We spend so much time together, and get to know each other very well. We are one big family that goes through every-

thing together, making our bond even stronger.”

DIVEHeading into the final weeks of their season, the

MC dive team notices a few potential problems for them in CIF.

“We know that there is tough competition that we have not seen this year yet, but I think that it drives us to practice that much harder,” junior Serena McClintick said. “If we had seen them we might be affected by that. By diving up to our own standards and no one else’s, whether they are higher or lower, we are guaran-teed to dive to the best of our abilities.”

McClintick appreciates the fact that they have had an easy time this season, but also realizes that it has negatively affected her season.

“Because dive is a lot about the mental aspect of sports, and is basically an individual sport I don’t think it [has affected] us to a large extent with regards to CIF,” McClintick said. “I do have to say though that meets are very fun when you get to talk to other competitors and right now are season is pretty boring because during the dive part, the meets feel a lot like practice.”

Blalock retires as varsity girls basketball coachMakes tough decision to leave team, focus on family

SARA SHANTzSTAFF WRITER

The boys volleyball team is still on a high from their close win against Poway on Thursday, April 16.

The game was very close. MC creamed Poway in the first and second games, winning 25-13 and 25-16.

Poway made a comeback and took the fourth and fifth games, winning 16-25 and 20-25. MC managed to come back, regain the lead and win the fifth game 15-10.

“We played a very good game against Poway, and they always bring our game up a level because of the intense rivalry that we have with them,” junior Bobby Luft said. “We all were just very focused, and really wanted to beat them because we lost to them in a tour-nament, and they were favored to win the game.”

The boys are dominating in the Valley League with a league record of 3-0.

“Our team has showed huge improvements in playing well as a team no matter who is on the court,” junior Nick England said. “There isn’t much to work on, sometimes staying more positive, but overall we are gelling well and we are playing extremely well to-gether.”

Luft feels like the new league is a bit of a blessing and a curse.

“Our old league had a lot of very good teams in it to push our game to the max, but I feel that the league we are in now is not as strong but with all the wins we have [it] is giving us the confidence that we need to do well in CIF,” Luft said.

They are confident about their chances of earning a second consecutive CIF title.

“I think that our biggest competition in CIF’s will be either Westview or Valhalla both are very good teams, but we have beat them both previously this sea-son,” Luft said.

Boys volleyball remains undefeated; dominates league with confidence

Swim and dive prepares for toughest matches

Robin Blalock (first left on the bench) looks on and coaches as her CIF championship team competes during the 05-06 season. This was one of five seasons in which Blalock’s varsity team won CIF. Melissa RoadMan | editor-in-chief

MaRy CaRMen Gonzales | photographer

Eric Mansour (12) races toward the finish line against San Marcos on April 23. The Sundevils won this meet, helping the boys remain unde-feated and keeping the girls in their second place position in league.

Individuals excel as track team leads league; relay teams shine

With the season in full gear, the boys lacrosse team is hitting a bump in their road towards CIF.

The boys started off stronger and more improved than in previous years, with more wins than they had their entire season last year, but they are now taking an unfortunate turn toward a losing streak.

The team has yet to claim a victory in league, and their overall record is now 5-8.

“We haven’t been playing as a team,” junior David Nauss said. “We just haven’t been handling pressure well. We need to improve on passing and catching under pressure.”

Their first devastating loss was against Mira Mesa, 10-5, on March 27.

“Our team needs to working on scoring early and defending a lead, instead of playing from behind and trying to come back and win,” senior

Joey Pospichal said.Since then, they were defeated

against San Dieguito, 7-3, Scripps Ranch, 13-4, La Costa Canyon, 15-2, Torrey Pines, 12-3, Great Oak, 14-5, and most recently Rancho Bernardo, 15-4.

“We weren’t properly prepared for those games, but we’ve changed our practicing so that doesn’t happen again,” senior Alexander Garoutte said.

“We could have done better,” junior Ben Wickeden said. “We didn’t play up to our potential.”

The team also took a hit when Nauss suffered a concussion during a recent game.

“I picked off a pass around midfield, started running down the field, and I saw a teammate across the field,” Nauss said. “I tried to pass it, but I got hit hard. My head hit the ground.”

With more determination, the team is hoping to turn it all around and start a winning streak.

According to junior Lorenzo Busalacchi, the team is working hard on improving their teamwork skills and playing hard to improve on their defense.

As well as working hard in practice, there are some things they need to improve on during games as well.

“We need to improve on being more focused throughout the whole game,” Wickeden said. “We need to keep our heads in the game.”

Despite their record, the team still has immense talent to offer.

Senior David Darling is currently ranked third in league scorers with 33 points scored, according to nctimes.com.

The team plays their fourth league game at Fallbrook, who is currently undefeated, today at 7:30, and the team has an optimistic attitude.

“We can easily win if we play up to our potential for all four quarters,” Nauss said.

It’s another tough practice for the MC swim team. And all you can hear is silence. The silence is caused by the exhaustion of the team. But out of the silence two boys, the varsity captains senior Chris Gallardo and senior Patrick Nowak, start singing to each other.

“I don’t wanna be no green beret,” one shouts to the other. “They only PT once a day,” the other replies.

Singing is just part of the way senior captain Patrick Nowak helps keep his team upbeat and shows his strength and determination.

“It’s a lot of fun but with added responsibility to keep the team in check and focused on training both in the pool and out of the pool,” Nowak said.

Nowak has consistently been a top scorer for the swim team, but training is not a piece of cake for him, especially during the three-month span of the high school season.

“I prepare in the pool by really swimming hard every day at practice,” he said. “I always imagine swimming against my competition and that motivates me to swim faster and train harder,” he said.

With the constant hard work, it seems as though there would be no motivation to continue and maintain these work habits, but Nowak finds a reason to come to practice and get in the pool every day.

“I’ve always told anyone who asked me ‘Why do you swim?’ it is because of the people I get to swim with,” he said. “The bonds that are formed and friendships that are made will definitely stay with me after I leave the swim team will still be there when I come back as an alumnus.”

Other motivations are the time drops Nowak is experiencing from meet to meet.

However, while motivation and temptation to be the best is always present in the back of Nowak’s mind, there are also disadvantages to the swim team experience.

“Some negatives are waking up at 4:45 for morning practice and being constantly tired and sore for three months straight,” Nowak said jokingly.

But after being on the team for three years, and rounding up his fourth, Nowak knows that the hard work will eventually pay off.

“The gratification of winning a race or CIF title is very rewarding after putting in a lot of hard work and time,” he said.

Playing lacrosse since she was in the eighth grade, junior Camie Chapatte is an expert in the game.

In fact, she got involved in it in a very unique way.

“I was sleeping over at a friend’s house, and she had to go to lacrosse practice, so I went with her to watch,” Chapatte said. “The coach told me he needed a sub so I just decided to play, and I really liked it.”

She loves lacrosse so much that she decided to stop playing her many other sports to continue to participate in this one.

“This is the first year that I am only playing one sport (lacrosse),” she said. “I quit soccer which I’ve played for 11 years, volleyball, and field hockey which I didn’t like.”

She simply enjoys playing lacrosse more than she enjoys playing any other sport.

“[Lacrosse] is a fast paced and high scoring game, whereas soccer

is low scoring,” Chapatte said. “I like to run and constantly be doing something.”

Playing on varsity all three years, Chapatte has topped the charts with scoring the most points in the league.

Although she leads the rankings with a total of 46 points, Chapatte is humble.

“At the beginning of the season, I didn’t really set myself a goal of a number of goals I wanted to get for the season because I didn’t want to let myself down,” she said while laughing. “So far I’ve been averaging four goals per game and I’d like to keep that up.”

Even though it is only her junior year, Chapatte plans on playing lacrosse in college and has a few ideas in mind.

“I’d like to play at Chico State or anywhere on the east coast because lacrosse is a bigger sport there, but Berkeley would be my dream school,” Chapatte said.

In the off season, Chapatte plays club lacrosse for the Element 5 elite team.

When she isn’t playing lacrosse, Chapatte just loves to hang out with her friends and go to the beach or the movies.

On the field, when Chapatte gets into game mode, she usually gets really focused in an almost meditative trance.

“I don’t really talk to anybody unless I’m saying something motivating,” she said. “I don’t think about anything but winning.”

May 1, 2009SportsB2 Mt. Carmel SUN

Nowak trains hard, leads as varsity captain Chapatte top scorer in league, lives for lax

QUICK HITSIf you had spent $100 on anything, what would it most likely be?Mexican food or Costco.

What is your greatest fear and why?Failure, because failure is not an option.

If you could own any brand of clothes, what would it be?Levi jeans.

What’s your weirdest food combination? (Example: potato chips and caramel dip)In-N-Out shake and fries.

What do you plan to do after high school?Navy.

Name one person or group of people that you admire.MCHS swim team.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?Breathe underwater so I could swim really fast.

What is your worst pet peeve and why?Stepping on “the MC.”

QUICK HITSIf you had spent $100 on anything, what would it most likely be?Go shopping.

If you could own any brand of clothes, what would it be?Free People.

What’s your weirdest food combination? (Example: potato chips and caramel dip)Popcorn with Parmesan cheese and garlic salt.

If you could un-invent one thing, what would it be?Myspace and Facebook. It’s a waste of time and people become way too obsessed

What do you plan to do after high school?Go to a D1 school and play lacrosse, become a 3rd grade teacher and varsity lacrosse coach.

What is your worst pet peeve?When people wear jeans with no back pockets.

If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why?Flash, from “The Incredibles,” so I could run down the field and score.

Sundevil Spotlight

PaTrICK NowaK

vaNdaNa bHaIrISTaFF WrITer

CamIe CHaPaTTe

NICole bUSTamaNTeSTaFF WrITer

Boys golf bears high hopes for finals

After a crucial victory against Valley Center, 202-216, boys golf has high hopes for league finals.

Sophomore Marc Herrmann thinks that the team still has a ways to go before they peak.

“I think our team isn’t usually as good in the beginning,” Herrmann said. “But after getting further into the season, everybody starts to play better.”

Coach Craig Racicot thinks that the team has been having difficulties playing their best this season.

“It’s been a struggle, we have not been on the same page at all,” Racicot said. “Rarely have we had more than two golfers at a time playing their best rounds.”

Despite problems with the players all playing their best, Racicot believes in his players.

“I’m still confident that we’ll be peaking at the same time,” Racicot said. “I think we’ll be able to do just fine. Everybody’s starting to come together.”

Racicot thinks that the senior players on the team have begun to realize that very soon their final season together will end.

“I think the five or four seniors that are actually playing are beginning to understand the gravity of the situation. This is the last time, coming up, that these guys will be playing together, for the rest of their lives, and I think they’re starting to understand that.

Herrmann attributes their current standing, 5-4, to the league change.

“Schools in the new league aren’t as good as they were before. We’re winning more matches than last year.”

Although the schools in the league are easier, Herrmann finds this season to be more competitive.

“It’s not as competitive, but in a sense, it’s more competitive because we’re playing against teams that are as good as us,” Herrmann said. “We have closer matches instead of getting smoked like we did last year. Now we’re fighting to win, instead of knowing that we were going to lose.”

deNNIS SUNSTaFF WrITer

Gymnastics tunes up, fixes slips, winsSenior Tina Wilhelm pulled down the

sleeves of her red leotard and took a deep breath before bounding into her complex floor routine. Wilhelm’s, and all of her teammates’, success has contributed to the MC gymnastics team’s undefeated season so far this spring.

Their latest meet against Poway resulted in a 217.925-201.675 victory.

“We all performed pretty well,” Wilhelm said. “It wasn’t our best meet. We definitely had mistakes and everything. All in all, every meet we just keep improving, keep getting closer, and it was a good meet. They’re very good…[but] they definitely weren’t our hardest competition.”

Senior Shelby Bruce won the Compulsory All-Around Award at the meet against Poway, and Wilhelm won Optional All-Around.

“It feels good,” Wilhelm said. “I just kinda compare myself to times I’ve done in the past. And as long as I’ve tried my hardest… It feels good to know that I gave it my all, and that it ended up to be good results.”

Senior Brianna Sims thinks there are

a few reasons why the girls keep improving every meet, including becoming closer as a team. Their practices have become even more intense as the season progresses.

“During practice we have been working very hard to stay focused, because many times the team gets sidetracked and it shows during the meets,” Sims said.

The girls have also been working on fine-tuning their routines.

“Basically, we’ve been working on getting closer and cheering each other on, fixing the small things, being consistent on our events,” Wilhelm said. “Little things like on floor, showing off your routine more, making it more presentable. Just staying on beam, and always practicing like

you’re at a meet, kind of. Just giving it your all, 100% at practice.”

A l t h o u g h gymnastics is an individual sport, the girls work best as a unit. During pasta dinners before meets and other social gatherings, Sims said, the team really gets a chance to bond.

“[The team gets along] very well,” Wilhelm said. “It’s very fun this year. We’re all just like one big family. We’re all friends. It’s really cool.”

raCHel marTINOPINIONS eDITOr

Boys lax learns from defeats, works hard in practiceCaTHy mCdermoTTCOPy eDITOr

ana alvarez | PHOTOGRAPHERJordan Blanco (9) competes on the balance beam apparatus during a recent meet against Poway. The team defeated Poway, keeping their undefeated record.

amanda stintsman | PHOTOGRAPHERIan Hooks (10) prepares to throw the ball in a recent match against Great Oaks. MC lost, 14-5. The team is 5-8 as of press time. GO ONLINe TO MCSUN.OrG FOr

exTeNDeD GOLF COveraGe!

CLICk ON MCSUN.OrG FOr COveraGe OF aLL Jv SPOrTS!

“ Basically, we’ve been working on getting closer and cheering each other on, fixing the small things, being consistent on our events.” - Tina Wilhelm (12)

HITTING LEADERS: Alix Johnson 37 Kellie Fox 32 HOME RUN LEADERS: RBI LEADERS: Kellie Fox 4 Kellie Fox 29 Nikki Barba 3 Alix Johnson 23 Alix Johnson 2 Nikki Barba 17 RUNS SCORED LEADERS: Maggie Doremus 28 Kellie Fox 27 Alix Johnson 27 STOLEN BASES LEADERS: Maggie Doremus 20 Ashley Romano 14 Alix Johnson 10 Alexis Derango 7

vincent pham staff writer

Unstoppable. That would pretty much define the offense

of the girls softball team these past weeks.They have put up double digit runs in five

out of their past six games. On top of that, their pitching has been lights out, recording three shutouts over that same amount of time, even forcing some opponents into the mercy rule.

This all started with a pair of wins in a dou-ble-header on April 8. The first game was a 5-1 victory over Vista. Junior Alix Johnson got three hits and sophomore Breana Williams came away victorious, pitching a complete game. Reminis-cent of their first game against Vista, the girls jumped on the board early with runs in the first two innings. Sophomore Alyssa Abrenica be-lieves getting an early lead is essential to a team’s success.

“Our team’s greatest strength is that we usually start off strong with runs in the early in-nings,” Abrenica said. “And even if we don’t, we never give up or get flustered.”

In the second game of that day’s double-header, the girls picked up an easy 10-0 win over Mission Bay. Once again, they made a statement early in the game, jumping off with seven runs scored in the first two innings. Abrenica was the winning pitcher, allowing only one hit in the entire game. Junior Kellie Fox got two runs, three RBIs, and a triple. Junior Ashley Romano showed her quick instinct with three stolen bas-es in the game.Williams says the team’s mood is very relaxed, despite the very lofty expectations that were set even before the season started.

“All the girls get along very well,” Williams said. “Everybody has a big personality and it’s just a fun environment. The coaches [Cesar and Ruby Chavez] continue to influence and encour-age us to work hard.”

The team continued their impressive per-formance with an astonishing 13-0 shutout over Valley Center on April 14. The girls pushed all 13 runs across the plate in the first three innings. Johnson got three runs on three hits with three RBIs. Additionally, sophomore Nikki Barba, senior Maggie Doremus, and Fox all got mul-tiple hits in the game. Williams and Abrenica combined for nine strikeouts and pitched a no-hitter.

In perhaps their most dominating perfor-mance of the year, the girls win in a lopsided match against Oceanside, 22-1 on April 16.

Doremus and Johnson led the offensive pouring, combining for eight hits, and eight RBIs. For the record, 11 different players contributed to a season-high 21 hits in the game. Williams and Abrenica considers this their most memorable game so far as they ombined for a dozen strikeouts.

On April 21, the team’s next victim was San Marcos. The girls hammered them and breezed to a 10-0 win. A three run first inning and a seven run fourth inning put a crooked number that San Mar-

cos could never even come close to making up. Johnson picked up three more RBIs on three hits, including a double and Williams pitched a complete game and got the win.

Williams says the team prepared for their rivalry match against Westview by continuing to stay focused and stick to their game plan.

On Tuesday, the girls clobbered rival West-view 15-1. The outcome was never in doubt after the third inning, when MC was already up 12-0. With this win, the girls have put up an unbeliev-able 70 runs over just the past five games.

Their next game will be against Ramona, a team they beat 15-6 back on Mar. 31.

May 1, 2009Sports B3

Mt. Carmel sUN

Realistic goals set for boys tennisBaseball improving with each game; trust buildsKaveri gyanendra featUres eDitOr

A fresh mind-set and stronger bond has brought the baseball team to a realm of success.

With a total of eight wins under their belt as of Tuesday, the boys have a league record of 4-2.

During the Las Vegas tourna-ment over spring break, the boys went 3-1 overall and missed the semi-finals by a tiebreaker.

“We definitely deserved to be in the semis but I feel we did the best we could,” senior Colin Burke said. “I think the success can be attributed to our attitude going into Vegas. We had just came off a win and we’re riding high so I think we just kept that win-ning attitude going through Vegas and it’s stayed with us so far in league.”

In addition to being triumphant on the field, the Vegas tournament brought the team to a new level of friendship and understanding.

“The team got a chance to really bond and grow trust for each other,” Burke said. “During that tournament our team really started to click and people learned their roles and what they need to do to win.”

With the strategy and goals clear to the boys, league play has been rela-tively smooth sailing for the team. In the two games against Ramona, the team lost the first by two and won the second by two. Both games against Orange Glen were successful, the first one a win by seven and the sec-ond game a blowout, 9-0.

The first faceoff with Valley Cen-ter went well, as the boys won 5-4.

The second game against Valley Center wasn’t as successful as they lost 4-6, bringing their winning streak to an end.

The success has been sweet and the spirits have been high among the team.

According to Burke, the team has made no significant changes in their game play or their practice routines.

“There haven’t been that many changes at all really,” he said. “It was just a matter of time before things turned around and we played to our ability. We had the potential to be a great team and I think now we are starting to show it.”

Undefeated in league, girls lax is confident, motivatedvandana bhairistaff writer

Undefeated in league, and with an overall record of 9-1 as of April 29, girls lacrosse is off to a hot start. Almost every game they have won hasn’t even been close.

On April 1, the girls lost their first game to their rival, Rancho Ber-nardo, in overtime with a score of 10-13. Junior Carly Voris believes that the reason for this loss is the slow start in the beginning.

“We let them get three goals in the beginning,” she said. “We started off bad, and it’s hard to go from bad to good. We got it together at half time and made a comeback, but we fell short.”

Despite the minor setback, the girls aren’t giving up on their goal to win League. Junior Erin Menefee thinks that the team can still improve on many things.

“[We can work on] playing as hard as we can, and getting adjusted quickly during games,” she said.

While skills can carry one so far, junior Camie Chapatte and Voris do other things to get prepped for the game.

“Every game, I wear my zebra sports bra,” Chapatte said. “It brings me good luck!”

“I tie my ankle braces really tight so I can run as fast as I can,” Voris said. “I put my hair in braids so it’s out of my face, and I put lots of ice cubes in my water bottle and eat them during the game.”

Being one of the three captains,

Voris wants to use past games to mo-tivate the girls to keep improving.

“We should ask our team how much they want to win,” she said. “If we lose big games, they’ll learn from game experience to keep working hard.”

One of these big games was against another big rival, Valley Cen-ter, this past Monday, April 27, in the Sundevil Stadium. The girls easily won this game 9-5. Voris felt good about this game.

“I’m confident about the game,

I think that it’s going to be close,” she said. “I want to get people mad and fired up and into the game. It’s going down.”

The team had a game against Mission Hills (score not available during press time) in the Sundevil Stadium.

Upcoming games for girls la-crosse are today at Westview, a home game against San Marcos on May 4, followed by two consecutive away games against Granite Hills on May 5 and Ramona on May 6.

macKenzie LancesPOrts eDitOr

While most teams shoot for the number one spot at CIF or a League championship, tennis is aiming for more realistic goals.

We hope to finish 3rd in the league,” junior Wes Lowe said. “In the Valley League tournament we hope to get a few seeds and make a deep run to the finals. In the CIF tourna-ment, we are expect-ing nothing less than reaching the semis.”

T h e s e expectations may seem low, but after a rough pre-season, these goals are realistic.

“We had some tough losses to the top teams in the county like Torrey Pines at first, but we have played well in league play and beat some really good teams despite a few close losses,” Low said.

The team has had struggles this season including losing several matches in total games.

“I think that the hardest part about tennis is keeping morale or as our coach calls it ‘mental tough-ness,’” Jessie Liang. “If we can keep positive attitudes in the face of tough matches we can pull through with a victory.”

The team has a record of 4-5 in league as of April 28 and is 4-8 overall.

Even with this losing record,

the team savors every win, and ev-ery moment of the game.

“The most enjoyable thing about tennis is the pride you re-ceive when you beat your oppo-nent,” sophomore Justin Fan said. “I also enjoy the friendship and bond that we have as a team; we have fun while practicing and pre-paring for our next opponent.”

Teammates agree that the fam-ily like atmosphere is an important

part of the team.

L o w e , new to the team this year after moving here from Ohio

“ W h a t I like most about the team is our c a m a r a d e -

rie,” Lowe said. “We are always there for each other after a tough loss and always the first to con-gratulate each other after a great win. We help each other with our problems in our game and tell each other how to beat our next oppo-nent.”

Even though the team is close and the game is fun, competition can still be fierce.

“The hardest part of the game is stamina,” Fan said. “You have to endure under the scorching sun for three sets, battling your oppo-nent.”

With only three matches left in the regular season, the team soon hopes to reach for their goals at League and CIF.

ANA ALvAREz | PhotograPherBreana Williams (10) unleashes her pitch in the game against Westview last Tuesday, winning the game 15-1. The team has put up double digit runs in five out of their past six games, and the pitching has been incredible.

Andy Mah (10) swings into action, ready to smash the ball. As of April 28 the team holds a record of 4-5 in league and is 4-8 overall. Despite the rough start, the team still remains optimistic in achieving the goals that they have set for CIF and Leagues.

MATT COffELT | Photo editor

-Next Wed. at home -Next Tues. at home -Next Mon. at home -Next Tues. away -Next Mon. at home -Today at home against Oceanside against Orange Glen against San Marcos at Oceanside against Canyon Crest against Canyon Crest

UpCOMING SUNDEvIL GAMES

“What I like most about the team is our camaraderie. We are always there for each other after a tough loss and always the first to congratu-late each other after a great win.” -Wes Lowe (11)

Girls softball continues astonishing record; ‘strikes out’ all opponents

Boys Tennis Girls Softball Girls Lacrosse Boys Baseball Boys Golf Swim and Dive

May 1, 2009EntertainmentB4 Mt. Carmel SUN

Title: Parks and RecreationChannel: NBC

The fi rst few episodes of a rookie TV show often showcase raw talent, as well as some kinks that should be worked out.

Such is the case with NBC’s new comedy “Parks and Recreation”. The show mirrors hit TV show “The Offi ce”’s format in that it is fi lmed as if it were a documentary, when in fact it is completely fi ctional.

Well-known comedian Amy Poehler delivers performances that are no less than hilarious, especially with her use of facial expressions.

Poehler plays Leslie Knope, an overly-optimistic parks and recreation department member in Pawnee, Indiana.

In the fi rst episode, Leslie (Poehler) has a dream: to fi ll an abandoned pit and build her dream park. With the help of co-worker Tom (Ariz Ansari) dreamy city-planner Mark (Paul Schneider) and community member Ann (Rashida Jones), Knope starts to plan out her dream park.

Although the plot is interesting and brings potential for humorous situations, I feel that this potential isn’t fully reached.

Although the writing and delivery of lines are perfectly decent, it seems as though it just misses the mark. Scenes that had the potential for side-splitting hilariousness left me disappointed and still thirsting for some good humor.

“Parks and Recreation” is on NBC on Thursdays at 8:30 and although the fi rst episodes were somewhat of a let down, I believe that after the show gets rolling for awhile, it could work out the kinks and become a genuinely successful comedy, so tune in.

-Abby Mansour

Restaurant: Spicy PickleLocation: Poway

Sometimes in a restaurant nothing on the menu gets your taste buds tingling.

However, that could never be the case at Spicy Pickle in Poway.

The Spicy Pickle has award-winning panini sandwiches, salads, soups, subs, and pizzettis, with many different combinations available.

If none of the items on the menu strike your fancy, you can build your own panini and pizzetti.

Choose one type of meat and cheese, but add as many spreads and toppings as you like for only $6.95.

My favorite dish is the adobe panini. It contains mesquite turkey, fresh mozzarella, green peppers, corn relish, and chipolte mayo.

Also on the menu, the “Double dilly-do combo” lets you choose half of any panini or sub with any soup or salad for only $6.75.This restaurant is so unique because they give you so many options. You can either choose a set sandwich on the menu, or add whatever ingredients you want. Sometimes choosing your own meal is cheaper than purchasing off the menu.

The Spicy Pickle believes that their food should be as unique as their customers, and that you will fi nd eating there will be anything but ordinary. I agree.

This restaurant has a friendly feel with a bustling kitchen and a bar style seating arrangement.

In the middle, there is even a table shaped like a pickle!

I recommend the Spicy Pickle to anyone who wants a unique, enjoyable dining experience.

This distinctive eatery will make you come back for more. After all, the Spicy Pickle slogan says it all with, “What you want.” You can try out this exceptional dining experience at 13305 Poway Road.

-Alison Ashworth

Sundevils display skills in MC’s Got Talent

Zakharia snags second with snazzy piano performance

MELANIE DICKINSONSTAFF WRITER

The next few weeks will usher in a season of live music from genres across the board. On May 8, Flo Rida and Soulja Boy will share the stage with the rest of the 93.3 lineup at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre. The next day, OK Go will rock the House of Blues.

In two weeks, The Shins will grace the SOMA mainstage. And Flight of the Concords is even playing a sold out show

at UCSD’s RIMAC arena

on the 20th. Cricket Amp in Chula Vista, being

among the largest venues in the area, has booked the most colorful array of artists. Some of them will include the All-American Rejects, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, the Fray, and Nickelback.

Incubus is also lined up to play with Duke Spirit the day before Rancid and Rise Against (July 10).

The San Diego County Fair has even adopted “Music Mania” for its theme this year, and will celebrate all types of genres “from rock to country to big band,” and feature scores of live musicians from its

opening on the day after school ends. There will be about 10 tribute bands,

as well as the original B-52s and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, on June 25 and July 3, respectively. Kelly Clarkson will also play the Heineken Grandstand Stage on July 5.

The local FM 94.9 is hosting their annual Independence Jam on June 7. The Indie Jam comes from a tradition of strong lineups and nice venues. Two years ago, it featured Interpol, Kings of Leon, and Spoon at Southwest College. The year before, it included the Flaming Lips and We Are Scientists.

This year’s “Coastal Invasion” boasts a lineup including the Black Keys, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric, and Dead Confederate playing at Oceanside Pier’s Plaza Ampitheater.

Summer Slaughter will also come to SOMA again this year. Ten bands will perform in front of a crowd of metal fans of all ages on June 27.

There are countless other shows (Matisyahu, Taylor Swift, Offspring, Slightly Stoopid, Snoop Dogg) to fulfi ll your music needs in these coming months, and to help distract from next

week’s AP Exams.

Famous bands scheduled to play in San Diego this summer

“I’ll Tell You Later” effortlessly grooves into third place spot, scores fi fty bucks

Ilog crowned champion for beatboxing skillsKYLIE BARANOWSKICENTERSPREAD EDITOR

“MC’s Got Talent was my chance to redeem myself… to myself.”

Three hundred dollars and one great beatboxing performance later, Junior Leo Ilog is ready to take on any competition.

But he wasn’t always this confi dent.“I’ve done two performances before MC’s Got Talent,

and I thought they weren’t that great but I believed that I could’ve done better,” he said.

But admittedly, this wasn’t his only inspiration.“Plus I saw the ‘YOU CAN WIN $500’ posters hanging

up everywhere, so I just had to do it,” he said.Ilog’s passion for beatboxing began four years ago. “I’d have to say it started off with me trying to copy

sounds of drums and instruments,” he said.“Then one day I heard Rahzel, Godfather of Noise beat

boxing on MTV, and I also heard some others on YouTube.”The competition was steep, but Ilog persevered. “With all of the great talent out there, I was unsure of

what was going to happen,” he said.“Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the other acts myself,

because we had to wait in the Choir Room, but a lot of us were giving small demonstrations of what we could do. I was amazed that MC’s got talent.”

For his performance, Ilog took famous songs and added his own twist. He quickly became a crowd favorite. In the end, he took fi rst place in a rush of excitement.

“The best part of winning was knowing that I was able to entertain the audience,” he said.

“I never really knew I could do such a thing. It’s also satisfying knowing I have something to look back to in future.”

Ilog has one bit of advice for aspiring performers.“Time, patience, and perseverance are the keys.”Even with his victory, he still appreciates all the help he

received along the way.“Thanks to family and friends who support me,” he

said.As far as the future, his outlook is bright.“If I see any windows of opportunities, I’m fl ying

through them. Defi nitely.”

ADITI PAISTAFF WRITER

His fi ngers fl owed through the melo-dies of many modern and popular songs, from Taylor Swift to Coldplay. Picking up speed at some quicker songs and slowing down with a few classical pieces, the piano set he performed caught the attention of his audiences. As one judge commented upon his conclusion, he “held the audience throughout the entire piece”. Senior John Zakharia played his way to second place in the fi rst annual MC’s Got Talent, on April 3. Zakharia started playing in seventh grade as an extra hobby. “I wanted to try it, to play for fun,”

Zakharia said.” I enjoy playing songs to people. It keeps me busy.” Unlike most performers at the com-petition though, Zakharia stopped learn-ing and performing piano a year after he started. “I only did it in seventh grade,”Zakharia said. “I practiced by myself af-ter that.” As well as practicing alone, Zakharia uses the world wide web to look up new songs that he wants to try and practices them in his free time. He uses his piano knowledge to learn alone and practices only when an opportunity presenting free time arises. “Whenever I fi nd time, I will play,” Zakharia said. “It relaxes me.”

In terms of compet-ing, Zakharia only went to a few recitals to per-form. Outside of his formal training, MC’s Got Talent was the next public performance that he participated in. “I thought it would be a good challenge to see if I could win,” Zakharia said. In the future, he plans to go to SDSU and use his skill of piano to help him fi nd a good part time job. “I want to play piano in college,” Zakharia said. “Maybe at a bar or a restaurant.”

SEAN WILLIAMSSTAFF WRITER

The dance group I’ll Tell You Later won third place in this year’s MC’s Got Talent.

The group, which includes nine members, formed together under this name for the event, but has been dancing together since their freshman year.

The members are seniors Ronald Jay Palustre, Erwin Ingua, Matt Magallanes, Geoff Barba, Bryan Alvarez, Jojo Zapata, Jay Caparino, Justin Divina, and Carl Gallardo.

“As friends, we’ve been together since freshman year,” Alvarez said.

“About three weeks before it started, we decided to make this group to show off our talent,” Zapata said. “Our group’s name is I’ll Tell you Later because we couldn’t think of a name.”

The group creates all their own routines and practices almost every day.

“We do this for fun, but we also do a lot of stuff like dancing at Samahan,” Zapata said.

The group pulls inspiration from many things, including each other.

“We get most of our inspiration from just performing, all of our mentors, and dance teachers that we’ve had throughout the past, and all the alumni that have taught us,” Ingua said. “They’ve taught us a bunch of different styles and choreography. They’ve helped expand our dance knowledge.”

“I think it just brings us together,” Alvarez said. “It gives us an outlet to show our talents and what we can do.”

One of the main reasons they came together so many years ago was just to have fun.

“We like to represent that we’re not just some people at this school,” Zapata said. “We actually do

stuff.”Even though they originally came together to

have fun, the group dances a lot at different events.“Last year we got together and did a Pokemon

theme for Air Bands and we got fi rst place for that,” Zapata said.

“This year’s Samahan has been one of my favorite memories,” Alvarez said. “We got a standing ovation for that.”

“I always like dancing for Samahan,” Ingua said. “We usually have a good melody of dancing.”

May June JulyTaylor Swift (May 24)

The Virgins (May 22)

(Aug 22)

Paramore (May 22)

NOFX (Aug 22)

AugustFor a complete list of dates, prices, and venues, see MCSUN.org

(Aug 22)

(July 23)

Bad Religion (Aug 22)

O� spring (June 3)

Snoop Dogg (July 25)

MATT COFFELT | PHOTO EDITOR Jojo Zapata (12), Erwin Ingua (12), Matt Magal-lanes (12), and Jay Caparino (12), are a part of “I’ll Tell You Later,” which got third place at MC’s Got Talent. Fellow members include Ronald Jay Palustre, Geoff Barba, Bryan Alvarez, Justin Div-ina, and Carl Gallardo.

Rancid (July 10)

(July 23)

MARY CARMEN GONZALEZ | PHOTOGRAPHER John Zakharia (12) was praised for his medley.

MARY CARMEN GONZALEZ | PHOTOGRAPHER Beatboxer Leo Ilog (11) took home $300 for fi rst place.

Sundevils display skills in MC’s Got TalentIlog crowned champion for beatboxing skills

KYLIE BARANOWSKICENTERSPREAD EDITOR

“MC’s Got Talent was my chance to redeem myself… to myself.”

Three hundred dollars and one great beatboxing performance later, Junior Leo Ilog is ready to take on any competition.

But he wasn’t always this confi dent.“I’ve done two performances before MC’s Got Talent,

and I thought they weren’t that great but I believed that I could’ve done better,” he said.

But admittedly, this wasn’t his only inspiration.“Plus I saw the ‘YOU CAN WIN $500’ posters hanging

up everywhere, so I just had to do it,” he said.Ilog’s passion for beatboxing began four years ago. “I’d have to say it started off with me trying to copy

sounds of drums and instruments,” he said.“Then one day I heard Rahzel, Godfather of Noise beat

boxing on MTV, and I also heard some others on YouTube.”

Title: The Soloist Rating: PG-13

Watch it with a box of Kleenex. “The Soloist” is an obvious tear jerker from the very beginning.

It is the story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a schizophrenic Julliard prodigy living out of a shopping cart on skid row.

He is discovered by a struggling columnist for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.), who recognizes Nathaniel’s potential for a story.

The fi lm follows Lopez and Ayers through their fi rst year together as Lopez traverses the dangers of the streets to cover Ayers’ progress.

Although the focus is intended to be on Ayer’s journey, Downey takes center stage with his powerfully raw portrayal of a journalist torn between just doing his job and allowing himself to relate personally to the homeless he surrounds himself with.

However, Foxx is not to be discounted. He throws himself into Ayers’ psyche, heartwrenchingly expressing the effects of mental illness on the life of the lonely musician.

Arguably the most impressive trait of the fi lm, however, is the breathtakingly edgy cinematography that grabs the viewers’ and pulls them deep into the ghettos of the drug and starvation ridden streets of L.A. The music of Beethoven, Ayers’ idol, laces every scene, making it impossible to escape the invisible character of the music which at one point is expressed in Fantasia-esque bursts of color.

Despite a lack of fi nality, “The Soloist” works beyond a slightly predictable plot onto a product that masterfully portrays the reality of homelessness, loneliness and the power of a friend.

-Sarah Carrigan

EVOLUTION OF ENTERTAINMENTMay 1, 2009

Entertainment B5Mt. Carmel SUN

KEVIN LAGEENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

We zoom in on a quaint little house. The parents are cooking dinner in the kitchen; the children are out playing in the yard and around the house. As the time nears for dinner to begin, the family assembles around the dinner table. The conversation is polite and about each family member’s day. This scenario is impossible, right? No family could be that perfect, it would be too boring. Well in actuality, this scenario was the basic plot of many of the most popular television shows of the 1990s. Whether it was “Full House” or “Boy Meets World,” all of the family sitcoms were at least loosely based around the premise of the perfect family. Flipping through the channels these days, one notices that television

producers have begun to take a different approach to catching the viewers’ attention. The predictable plots from the days of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” where Will messes up and eventually learns a lesson have been replaced with the sexual innuendos and crude jokes of “Two and a Half Men.” Another fairly new aspect to television is the reality TV show. In the ‘90s, the only reality shows you could fi nd would be shows like “COPS” or eventually “Survivor” whereas now it is almost impossible to fi nd a channel without any supposedly “unscripted” television. Also new to television is the crime show craze. It seems that every week there is a commercial for the newest version of “Law and Order” or “CSI.” Many of these shows fail in their fi rst couple of weeks because the plots are too familiar, we’ve just seen it too

many times before. A main difference between television now and television in the past, is the length of time the shows actually last. The reason these new television shows come on every week is because all the other shows fail after a couple of episodes. Nowadays, it is not all that uncommon to see a show for three episodes and then never hear from it again. For example, have you ever heard of the show “Sophie?” You haven’t? Thats not surprising considering it lasted only fi ve episodes before getting canceled. Back in the ‘90s however, the shows lasted for a lot more seasons, like “Friends” which lasted 10 seasons, or the medical drama “ER” which just recently fi nished up its 15 and fi nal season. From family values to crude innuendos, television has certainly come a long way.

Family values disappear on TV,exchanged for cruder humor

Title: 17 Again Rating: PG-13

Mike O’Donnell, like anybody, has his regrets. When he was in high school, he thought he had everything: a girlfriend, popularity, amazing talent for basketball, and the promise of be-ing recruited to play in college.

However, an unexpected preg-nancy instantly dashed all of his dreams to bits, and 20 years later, he is still haunted by the thoughts of what his life could have been.

All he has now is a house in sub-urbia, a couple of average teenage kids, and a wife who is divorcing him, so when he mysteriously becomes 17 again, he jumps at the chance to redo everything.

He starts by enrolling at the high school his son and daughter go to and trying to fi t in by dressing exactly like K-Fed, which, as you can imagine, goes over really well.

It gets progressively more hilari-ous from there.

While he still focuses on being the basketball star he always wanted to be, Mike (Zac Efron and Matthew Perry) also tries to befriend his kids and awkwardly win back his soon-to-be ex-wife. None of his family mem-bers realize that it is him, which makes for some very interesting scenes.

This movie is everything you would expect it to be. It is funny and enjoyable but generally predictable.

Any diehard fans of Zac Efron should be satisfi ed, however, consid-ering the opening scene is him playing basketball without a shirt on.

If you’re looking for something to make you think, this is defi nitely the wrong movie for you. But if you are in the mood for something light, fl uffy, and entertaining, go see “17 Again.” It’s worth the ten bucks.

-Erica Byerley

JORDAN UGALDESTAFF WRITER

The chirp of a lark, the voice of a singer, and the strum of a harp all share one thing in common.

They can all be expressed forms of music, which is defi ned by Webster as the art of sound that expresses ideas and emotions.

Since music has existed before recorded history, the origins of music are unknown.

However, the oldest song known in existence was discovered by a professor from UC Berkley who translated the notation written in Cuneiform found in Mesopotamia. The professor estimated that the song dated back to about 2,000 B.C.

Since then, various cultures have developed musical styles, but the most relevant styles to America have come from European culture.

Music in Europe began becoming well known with the advent of printing during the Renaissance.

From there, music progressed into the Baroque era, which often incorporated multiple melodies that sound different independently, but collectively sound harmonious.

It was in this era when many notable musicians began to arise, such as Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi.

After Baroque came the Classical era, which consisted of, for the most part, a distinct melody with a distinct accompaniment.

Musicians such as Haydn (the “father of symphony”) and Mozart were prominent musicians of this era, with Beethoven leading the transition from the Classical era to

the Romantic era.This period was characterized by music becoming

more emotional and expressive, with the composers of the time including Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

The Romantic era ended in the early 20th century, and since then, musical tastes have grown and diversifi ed.

With the invention of the radio, CDs, fi le sharing websites, and YouTube, musical ideas are spreading and evolving faster than ever.

And since musical instruments are easily accessible, a larger number of musicians exist than before, creating more musical genres than thought possible, such as rock and hip-hop.

Rock began between 1950 and 1960 fusing blues, jazz, and country to lead the way for musicians such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

Since its inception, rock has branched out into metal, with bands such as Metallica, and pop rock, with musicians such as Elton John.

Hip-hop began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s and mixed together a beat, usually synthesized, and spoken rhyme.

The fi rst hip-hop recording is generally credited to the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” and since then hip-hop has grown to include “gangsta rap” including musicians such as Snoop Dog.

Classical compositions still remain popular today, but people have made that music their own, with one guitarist’s rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

Canon in D is a major (a composition from the Baroque era) garnering over 50 million views on YouTube.

Music changes from harps to hip hop

Movies evolve over the yearsNICOLE BUSTAMANTESTAFF WRITER

In 1888 the fi rst fi lm was cre-ated, it lasted a grand total of two seconds and the subject of the fi lm was people walking in a garden.

This fi lm gave way to a new era of art form called the movie.

In 1929, the movie “Wings” won the Academy Award for Best Picture; it was the only silent movie to ever win a Best Picture award.

The silent fi lm era or “Age of the Silver Screen,” essentially made up every movie released until the invention of the vita phone sys-tem.

That ended the age of silent movies.

This invention led to the cre-ation of movies with sounds, which during the silent fi lm era were called “talkies.” Most everyone in the world has come to cherish these.

The very fi rst movie that in-cluded sound was called “The Jazz Singer.”

From here, movies continued to progress.

In 1930, the Academy Award winner for Best Picture was “All

Quiet on the Western Front,” a movie many Sundevils will have seen their sophomore year.

The next major break-through in motion pictures was the use of Technicolor.

The Technicolor motion pic-ture corporation was found in 1914; however, was not majorly put into use until 1922.

It was used in popular musi-cals such as “Singing in the Rain,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and even ani-mations like “Snow White.”

Today movies are made all over the world in all different genres and languages.

Occasionally, foreign fi lms make their way into the U.S. and of-ten become highly successful.

Of course, fi lms such as these have subtitles that run along the bottom of the screen for the dura-tion of the movie.

However, for the movie watcher who doesn’t mind reading the dialogue foreign fi lms can prove to be a pleasant experience.

Another genre of fi lm that will occasionally become successful is animation.

We all know that animation

among kids is always a big hit, but every so often Disney or Pixar make an animation movie that is a hit with all ages.

Recently, “Monsters vs. Aliens” a fi lm about, well, monsters fi ght-ing aliens. It had a mix of comedy for children and adults.

Most modern, animated, fam-ily fi lms tend to incorporate com-edy that only the parents or adults would understand.

Science fi ction movies have re-cently taken off and continue to get better as technology advances.

Movies such as the “Star Wars” series have become popular with a major following.

“Star Wars” has even gone so far that there are various Star Wars Celebrations in countries all the way across the globe such as Japan and different countries within Europe.

All genres of motion pictures have evolved throughout the years, dramas have become more dramat-ic, action movies more realistic, and horror fi lms gorier.

Whether the evolution of movies is a good thing or not, it is up to the viewer as it is in every art form.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THEBEATLES.COMThe rock band “The Beatles” were the driving force of rock and roll and have inspired many of the popular bands today. Rock music is just one of the many forms music has taken through the years.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BABBLE.COM In this classic scene from “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy and the gang make it to Oz for the fi rst time. Classic movies such as this have become some of the most beloved movies of all time.

Matthew GellerStaff writer

When most people think of Judaism, they think of Fiddler on the Roof. While prayer shawls, or tallits, are a part of the Jewish faith, that is simply the first and very shallow layer of an ancient religion and way of life.

Judaism is a very old religion, and is considered the most

ancient of the current monotheistic religions, or religions that believe in only one god. In fact, most of the great religions of today have roots in Judaism.

For Jewish senior Ben Reed, however, Judaism means something far simpler than that.

“It’s the idea that you should treat everybody the same, and treat everyone respectfully,” Reed said. For Reed, Judaism also had a close connection to family.

“To me, it’s a lot about coming together and experiencing things as a family,” he said. At a recent holiday, Passover, Reed’s family came together to eat the Passover Seder. “Seder” means “order” or arrangement” in Hebrew, and is held to celebrate the freeing of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. Reed said that his family had “a little prayer service” at his house as well as the meal.

Judaism has many other holidays such as Hanukkah, which starts on the 25th day of Kislev in the Jewish calendar.

Other holidays in the Jewish religion include Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement.”

Judaism has its own calendar, thus the Jewish New Year. The blowing of a shofar, or ram’s horn, is a long-standing custom during Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is a few days after the New Year. Known as the “Day of Atonement,” it is a day on which to atone for past misdeeds.

It is a day of fasting, and, in Reed’s word, the chance to begin again with a “clean slate.” Wearing white is a customary tradition on Yom Kippur.

The religious text of Judaism is known as the Tanakh. The text held sacred to Judaism is more or less the Old Testament in the Bible. Christianity and Islam originated from Judaism the birth of Christ and the seventh century respectively.

However, the religious aspect is actually only a part of Judaism. This has been noted by scholars, who say that Judaism is as much a culture or race as it is a religion.

This mix of religion and culture has resulted in the Jewish people being known as an ethnoreligious group, an ethnic group unified by a common religion.

Since about the 8-6th centuries BC, there was a Jewish diaspora, or scattering of the Jewish people across the world.

This was due primarily to the conquering of the Jewish homeland by various empires, and today the 13.2 million Jews of the world live mainly in America, Europe, and Israel. These descendants of the ancient religion keep thousand year-old customs alive. An especially well-known tradition is the bar mitzvah, a coming of age ceremony. In the Jewish religion, the passage from childhood to adulthood occurs at age 13. For Reed, the hardest part about the bar mitzvah was not the ceremony and service, but learning the Hebrew language.

“It was difficult...learning to read a different language,” he said. On the other hand, he thought that the challenge was definitely “a good experience.”

“It’s not about salvation or the afterlife,” Reed said. “It’s a religion based on living your life to be the best person you can.”

FeaturesB6 Mt. Carmel SUN

Sarah Carrigan

From the End of Heaven

“When saw we thee a stranger?”

Homeless people are every-where. No seriously, it’s like I can’t escape them. Last issue, a fellow SUN staffer posed as a “hobo” for our undercover center spread piece. That got the ball rolling. Since then, I have unintentionally had some sort of run in with homeless culture sev-eral times a week.

The book I’m reading described how the author got to know the beg-gars that lined his morning commute. I saw no fewer than seven straggly sign holders as I went about my day to day life. In church we discussed at length the best way we can help serve these individuals. I reviewed a film on a homeless cellist in the Entertain-ment section of this issue.

Do you see what I’m getting at?They. Are. Everywhere.I think it’s an omen. Maybe it’s

just me. Either way, I’m not sure what to do about these nameless neighbors.

Who knows where they come from, what their background is, and the kind of life they’ve lived? Are they are where they are because of some fault of their own or did life just…happen?

One of the many times that the course of my existence crossed with a reminder of theirs was subtle, just a song on the radio. But the lyrics were profound given my recent ponder-ings. They describe a cool night on a bridge. One man, perhaps someone like you or me, is considering jump-ing. The other, a homeless man, talks him down. He reminds him that in many ways, they are not so different.

“I’ve had my moments…/I was second to none/ Moments when I knew did what I thought I couldn’t do/…Looking at me now you might not know it, but I’ve had my mo-ments.”

Like I said, I have no idea how to respond when I get stopped beside a person with their makeshift sign that describes the state of their current moment.

“Homeless.” “Will Work For Food.” “Vietnam Vet.” “Just a Little Bit Helps.” “Ninja’s Killed My Fam-ily…Need Tae Kwan Do Lessons.”

Behind every sign is a story. Maybe the person holding it is a scam artist or an addict. Or maybe not. Maybe my dollar will be spent on beer. Or maybe not. I don’t know. All I’m sure of is that I don’t want a starving person on my conscience. Especially when I think of the words of a friend, “I love bums. They’re so humble.”

Does this mean I always give something to the man outside my car window? No. In fact I hardly ever do. Doesn’t mean things can’t change. Perhaps I’ll keep some Mickey D’s gift cards in my wallet or something. Free food at its finest.

On a happier note let me tell you the best of my newly acquired home-less stories.

In Seattle, there is park along a place called Elliot Bay. The shoreline is protected by large, rough, unat-tractive granite blocks.

In the bushes sleeps a young man in a small tent. Half Mexican, half black, he refuses to be pho-tographed. Says he’s in the witness protection program, or is afraid one of his wives will recognize him. He is proof that aliens landed and made a few mistakes. He even claimed to be the lovechild of Condoleezza Rice and the president of Mexico.

Out of these rocks he builds art. Started doing it out of boredom, but it caught on and now it’s how he makes a living. He builds something and knocks it down at the end of the day after reciting a poem to it or something.

He has something I don’t have, can’t have: The memory of his mo-ment, when he looked at a pile of ruble and saw…art.

May 1, 2009

ReligionS Judaism holds deep history of worship, old religious practices

lauren hallStaff writer

“Like the song “Colors of the wind”, I believe that trees and rocks and grass all have a spirit, a soul, and a name,” junior Courtney Hedgecock said.

Hedgecock’s views are unique, although her position is not.

She, like many other teens today, has a different set of beliefs than the rest of her family. More and more teens are exploring new religions and new paths that may differ from their parents.

Young people have also tended to rebel as they begin to taste freedom.

“My parents support different beliefs but I don’t really tell them what I believe in,” Hedgecock said. “They don’t really have a religion.”

Some who have different opinions prefer to keep to themselves because it gives them peace of mind.

“I don’t talk to my parents about religion and I don’t go to church with them. We usually just keep quiet about it,” sophomore Nick Heffner said. “I’ve gotten into two arguments with them about it but I think they know that I’m going to be agnostic and that’s that,” Heffner said.

Heffner is athiest, while his family is Presbyterian.

Because teens seemingly have so much more freedom and independence nowadays, the choice of religion is usually solely up to them.

“APEC made me open my eyes and think about religion,” Heffner said.

Heffner believes that religion was made up by the human mind in order to keep people from revolting and causing problems.

For some teens their religion is the other way around.

They are Christian while their parents are not, or at least the parents take a less active role in learning about Christianity.

This leads to teens finding a family within the church or possibly a club at their school, or maybe even influencing their parents to take a more in depth look at their religion.

And even those who aren’t Christian still respect the beliefs of those who are.

“I like some aspects of religion,” Heffner said. “I like how it [religion] makes people better people and gives people a reason to do good things for each other and I like the idea of karma for Buddhism. But otherwise I have my ideas and that is that.”

AgnosticisM: dIFFERENT VIEWS:

laura SluSSerStaff writer

“I’ve had a hard life in my past, and I used to pray to God every day for something good to happen,” a freshman said. “…it never happened, so I guess it’s either He doesn’t exist, or He doesn’t really care.”

She went on to say that because of her family life, she lost her faith and became an atheist.

“My dad used to be an alcoholic, and he used to be very neglectful, and I wished that he would actually care, and it never happened,” she said.

Being a very diverse school, MC’s students em-brace almost every type of religion, including none at all. However, the reasons behind their beliefs vary from person to person.

Senior Jonathan Smith has a very academic ap-proach to his beliefs.

“Well, I’m an agnostic, mostly because I haven’t exactly put the time into studying scripture, but for the most part because I cannot prove or disprove the existence of God…” Smith said. “There’s really nothing more than that.”

Another agnostic, senior Jin Yao, jokingly said that going to church is “too much work.”

“Some parts of it [the Bible] are just too hard to believe,” Yao said.

Some MC agnostics and atheists have more political reasons for their beliefs.

“…Some of the religions are kind of ridicu-lous, because they do condone discrimination like all the gay rights stuff,” senior Kristin Ciullo said. “I know not everyone’s like that, but there are some people out there.”

Although they didn’t believe in it, there was a recurrent respect for religion and the Bible from the atheists interviewed.

“I’m not going to bash the Bible in any way on the matter, because there are very clear ideological and moral aspects to it...” Smith said. “I believe that everybody should be moral, and, for that reason alone, I ought to take a look at the Bible.”

Being part of a more quiet demographic, few felt discriminated against.

“As long as I don’t talk about religion [no one discriminates against me],” Ciullo said. “…they can believe what they want to believe, and I believe what I want to believe.”

“All these groups [on campus] are tolerant of each other,” Smith said. “There haven’t been any religious arguments… on campus; no heads have been chopped off or anything like that, so we’re good.”

Although there are many different types of atheists and agnostics who have different beliefs at MC, it all seemed to boil down to one question.

“I can’t prove that there’s a god out there, and obviously if no one’s seen it, how do they know?” Ciullo said.

Protestantism: Some students prefer Protestantism as more relaxed branch of ChristianityJordan uGaldeStaff writer

For some people, Protestantism has been re-duced in history textbooks to just a few pages de-scribing the Protestant reformation with Martin Lu-ther and John Calvin.

However, the few pages describing Protestant-ism in textbooks is nothing compared to the size (66 books) and wisdom of the Protestant Bible which, according to sophomore Carlos Rivera, contains the guidelines of what it means to be a follower of Christ.

“I would say [being a Christian] involves following the Bible as a guideline to life which leads to a balanced and prosperous life,” Rivera said.

Some Protestants, such as sophomore Brad McAuliffe, believe that there is much more to being a good Christian than just following the words that are written in the Bible.

“The purpose of being a Christian is to serve a moral life and tell others the truth of Jesus,” McAu-liffe said. “The entire concept is to be as Christ-like

as we can.”According to McAuliffe, Protestantism and

Catholicism are relatively similar, but his reason for choosing to be a protestant is that he finds Protes-tantism to be more relaxed.

Also, the Protestant belief is that one gets into heaven solely through faith that Jesus died and rose again for humanity’s sins, or “sola fide,” as Martin Luther would say.

Sophomore Matthew Maynard agrees that the Protestant branch of Christianity is more relaxed which is his reason for choosing it over Catholicism.

“I don’t think there’s much difference in faith, but there’s more possibility to study and grow in your faith in Protestantism since Catholicism is often more rigid,” Maynard said

Understandably, like with any other belief sys-tem, some people will have their doubts concerning the faith aspect of Christianity.

Maynard suggests to those who have any doubts to watch or read “The Case for Christ” which is a true account of how an atheist tried to disprove Christianity and ended up becoming a convert in the process.

St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church is located on Pomerado Road in Poway, and started May 24, 1959. This church contains important historical artifacts.

Mary CarMen Gonzalez | PhotograPher

Parents and students share differences of opinion regarding their religions

The Temple Adat Shalom, located in Poway, is a Reform, egalitarian Jewish community in North County. This temple has served the community for more than three decades. They celebrated their first community Seder in 1975. The upcoming events on their calendar include Mother’s Day brunch, Yom Ha’atzmout, a men’s golf club tournament, and a men’s club car rally. Jewish people celebrate many holidays here throughout the year, including Yom Kippur.

MC students identify with not believing in any religion; experience acceptance from peers

worldOF THE

allison roGers | PhotograPher

Continued from last issue

May 1, 2009Features B7Mt. Carmel SUN

AP Testing Survival Guide

PARESH DAVEWEB EDITOR

No two students share the same approach to studying. Sophomores Joe Choi and Laura Li, juniors Caitlyn Heid and Taehee Han and seniors Jennifer Anderson and Sammie Daman-houry offer different perspectives as they join 609 other MC students in preparing for next week’s AP tests.

THE FORMATIVE MONTHS(AUGUST-MARCH)

Choi, taking Art History and European Civilization, compiles notes all year for both classes. The outlines he completes for APEC and the fl ashcards he makes for APAH become April study-guides.

Rather than fl ashcards for APAH, Li takes notes in her review book alongside the images.

In AP Literature, Damanhoury makes re-view cards for each of the novels she reads. She can review them for the literature-based free re-sponse question on the AP test.

To study for Government, Anderson lists and defi nes main ideas for each unit based on online video reviews. AP English Language teachers fi ll Heid’s mind with vocabulary words throughout the year to make it easy for her to get through hard passages on the test.

CRACKING OPEN THE REVIEW BOOKS (APRIL)

“I don’t know exactly how much my friends are studying or if they are studying at all,” Choi says, “but I think AP tests are really important to me and I want to pass them.”

By the end of the month, he ramps up nightly studying from 30 minutes to multiple hours. He keeps in mind that when he’s not studying, someone out there probably is. And on test day, that person will be more prepared.

At his mom’s urging, Han reads Princeton Review books for his classes all day during April weekends with highlighter in hand. The studying continues weeknights after he fi nishes homework until bedtime.

“Read the chapter, review it, take the prac-

tice quizzes, see what I get wrong, and review the sections I missed,” Han says of his method. “The books focus on what is most likely on the test, so it’s a lot easier than going through a whole year’s worth of notes.”

Last year, Han took AP Biology, AP Chem-istry and APEC, passing all of the AP tests, so there might be some value in his method com-pared to Choi’s. Han credits after school Chem-istry reviews for allowing him to pass that test.

“The review sessions were a defi nite ben-efi t for those who actually went,” he says. “The free response process became a lot more clear after those.”

With only AP classes, Heid doesn’t have to study much outside of class time.

“We get enough work in class with practice essays that I’ve grown as a writer and had a big improvement in a month,” she said.

Li, who uses the Barrons review books, also chooses to study with a group. Their meet-ings at libraries and houses comprise of going over old APEC Powerpoints, vocabulary lists and crosswords. Juniors tell her to worry about

the AP essays. Next year, she plans to warn sophomores to study earlier than she did.

HEADING TOWARD THE TEST (MAY 1-3)

Han, taking Physics (Mechanics), US His-tory, English Language and Calculus AB, feels set for everything but Physics by this point be-cause of the amount of review he has done in class as well as at Calc Camp.

“It gets repetitive in those classes so you remember a bit more,” he says.

BEING A GOOD TEST TAKER OR CRAM? (THE NIGHT BEFORE)

Many go online this night to post Facebook statuses unsuitable for print. Many also plan to stay up as late as needed to fi nish studying.

Only Anderson has heard and heeds the advice of AP Calculus BC teacher Ken Matson. He tells his students cramming stresses out the brain and doesn’t help with the test.

The next day, all of them hope their pre-ferred study methods pay off.

MACKENZIE LANCESPORTS EDITOR

You either know it or you don’t. No one can absorb an entire year’s worth of information in 24 hours or less. The day and night before the AP test are not the time to cram. They are the times to sleep.

The weeks leading up the AP exam weeks are some of the most stressful in a high school stu-dent’s life. The fear of biased graders or seeing ma-terial that was never taught are two of the biggest fears.

The way serious students combat these fears is through intense amounts of studying. Some stu-dents even go into a virtual lockdown where they will not leave their houses, in order to focus on studying.

Sacrifi cing a social life is a common occur-rence for AP students.

Although it is important to study for the tests

for the weeks and months leading up to test day, the night and weekend before is not a time to cram.

The College Board suggests that getting ample amounts of sleep is the best way to prepare for a test the night before.

On the morning of the test, when you hope-fully awake bight-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to test thanks to your full night of sleep, breakfast is essential.

A fi lling morning meal will keep you awake and alert throughout the whole test.

Staying awake during the test is important be-cause the exam is timed and there are no re-takes. Just because you can sleep through class and get an A doesn’t mean you can be drowsy during the test and still ace it.

The night before the test is crucial for a suc-cessful score. Don’t stress out about the grade, but don’t try and cram.

Just sit back, relax, and reap the rewards of the previous weeks studying.

Good night sleep before AP tests more effective than cramming

MC students use variety of methods to prepare for AP tests; some methods prove more effective than others

LAUREN HALLSTAFF WRITER

Three days, eight hours, 38 minutes and fi ve seconds. The student stares anxiously at the countdown on the computer screen, biting her nails as her hands become slick with sweat.

With the APEC exam only three days away she desperately needs to start cracking down on the books, but is distracted by her many other classes.

For many AP students at MC, the AP exam week is the most dreaded of the year.

“The past few months have been full of cramming,” sophomore Nina Zhu said.

These tests are the cause of much grief, and many lonely hours sitting around reading through old, hardly legible notes.

For some students, the months before the tests are spent on a strict day-to-day schedule of studying and reviewing, while others repeatedly decide to put it off until only a few days before.

Both methods of studying are very stressful although only one really works.

And with the constant stress of maintain-ing good grades in other classes, and the coming end of the school year, the stress can often be too much.

Some see tutors during this time to help keep things on track, while a few students even have tape recorded lectures that they listen to repeat-edly, making studying a lot easier.

But everyone reacts to stress differently.“It has affected my life in many ways,” Zhu

said. “It sucks having to study for AP tests and work in my other classes and have extra curricular activities after school.”

Much of the stress can be caused by home environments and parental pressure.

“My mom said that if I don’t pass the AP test I have to pay her back for it,” a senior said.

This stress is usually benefi cial unless the per-son starts worrying about stress instead of actu-ally studying.

And then there are always the people who be-come so overwhelmed, that they give up from the very beginning and decide to wing it.

“I don’t really study for them. I just take them and hope for the best,” a senior said. “I fi gure that I’ve made it through the entire class so I must have picked up something.”

But for those who have studied and paid at-tention all year, the best one can do is go home, listen to music, put your feet up, read the book, and hope that your brain will soak up as much as is necessary.

AP testing, parental pressure, other classes causes stress for MC students

‘Don’t Blink’

Melissa Roadman

Smiling gets me through the days

Smiles. They come in all shapes and sizes. Big smiles, crooked smiles, even evil grins. They can tell you so much about somebody and their mood.

Someone once told me to smile at people, because it could brighten their day. So, I decided I would try it out.

My neighbors were working out in their front yard and their daughter came running toward my house. I smiled at her; she promptly stuck her tongue out at me and ran away.

One of my favorite artists, Sandi Thom, has an album titled “Smile…It Confuses People.” I defi nitely agree with this.

I was walking through the hallway one day and saw someone who looked really upset. Hoping it would cheer her up, I simply smiled. I’ve never seen such a confused look in my life. She looked around and I could hear the thoughts in her head, “Ummm, why is this girl smiling at me?”

I didn’t want to confuse her, or creep her out, I just meant to give her a little joy in her day. Oh well.

Even though I haven’t had much luck with strangers, I can tell what my friends and family are thinking by their smiles.

I fi rst started noticing smiles after my niece smiled at me for the fi rst time, and it was a real smile. I had never seen such a genuine smile in my life. I knew she was truly content sitting in my arms. It was different than any other smile I had seen before. Despite the lack of teeth, her chubby cheeks had never looked as happy to me as that moment. I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

There are the times when your friend comes up to you with a smile from ear to ear.

It’s a distinct smile, one that almost tells you exactly what happened—“I just got asked to Prom,” or “I totally just aced my math test,” or “You’ll never guess who I just talked to!”

Then there is the smile that is totally painted on someone’s face to hide the pain they are feeling.

My parents have different smiles, and I’ve become fairly familiar with them.

There is also the truly happy smile that means “Yes, we did something right raising her!”

Or, the “If this is what she wants...I don’t agree but I guess we’ll let her do it.”

I know the “yeah, that’s what I thought…I was right” smile. (That’s defi nitely one of my least favorites).

Another of my least favorite smiles is a fake one. Everyone can tell it’s fake. Sometimes I just want to smack the smile right off their face.

My absolute favorite smile ever is the laughing smile. It’s when you are truly so happy and have just cracked up from the best joke ever.

One smile that I am very familiar with is the “I defi nitely just ate it and totally embarrassed myself but whatever, I’m an idiot” smile. That one frequents my face very often.

Whatever the smile it is, they can tell you so much about what is going through a person’s head.

I fi nd smiles very contagious, just like laughter. If you see someone smiling, it’s almost impossible not to share in their joy. Life is worth celebrating, and smiling is one of our ways of doing that.

There are 13 muscles needed to smile, and 33 needed to frown, according to the Washington Post. To me, that makes it obvious. It’s way more important to smile in life.

Regardless of which type of smile it is, smiling is important and can be infectious. KELLY FAN | STAFF WRITER

MATT COFFELT | PHOTO EDITOR

TEST TAKING STRATEGIES

for multiple choice 1. Read the question very carefully! You will have an idea as to what the correct

answer is BEFORE you even look at the choices.

2. You are allowed to write on the AP Exam- Do It! Circle all EXCEPT questions.

On tough questions, cross out choices that you can eliminate.

3. Make sure you read all of the possible answers. Many times a question may

require you to � nd the best answer.

4. This is a timed test. If you come across a really tough question, make a

mark next to it and move on. You can always come back to it later if time

permits. 5. Remember the 1/4 point penalty for incorrect answers. If you are unable to eliminate ANY of the choices, you should skip the question.

*ACCORDING TO KRIS HIZAL

May 1, 2009FeaturesB8 Mt. Carmel SUN

KAVERI GYANENDRAFEATURES EDITOR

Being 18 comes with many rights, from being able to check yourself out of school to voting and getting a tattoo. As many Sun-devils cross into their 18th year, more and more tattoos are being seen around campus. Senior Cynthia Stanley has three tattoos, a bird between the bottom of her neck and the top of her back as well as two paw prints on her foot. She got the bird on her neck a day after her 18th birthday.

“At fi rst my parents were a little iffy and they told me it was my decision and entirely up to me but once I talked to them they de-cided to support me and decided to pay for it as my birthday present,” Stanley said.

The bird represents many different things.

“The wings of the bird represent the wings that brought me into the world,” Stan-ley said. “I have Stanley and Diaz written in because they are my parent’s last names and represents both sides of my family.”

Senior Sammie Damanhoury got her tattoo when she was 16. It is a sun with dif-ferent shades of yellow and orange in it.

“I decided to get this because I wanted something simple like a moon, or stars, or a sun,” Damanhoury said. “Something simple that I know I would like for, well, forever; not just like a phase of my life.”

Since Damanhoury was still underage, an adult had to be there with her.

“My dad had no problem with me get-ting it, but I had to convince my mom to let me get it but once I did she was all on board,” Damanhoury said. “She was the one who actually went with me to get it done.”

Senior Stacy Deal has butterfl ies on her back/shoulder and a cross with “faith” writ-ten on her foot, both with color in them.

She got them done at Good Neighbor Tattoo in Escondido.

“It was a little pricey,” Deal said. “It was $100 for my foot and $200 for my shoulder. It’s worth the money though.”

Stanley’s tattoos cost $60 for the paws on her foot and $100 for the back tattoo.

“My dad’s friend from work recom-mended the place for me to get it done and before I got it done I went to the web-site deviantart.com, which has pictures of anything and everything,” Stanley said. “I would type in random things like “tree” or

“bird,” and from there I would look at the images and decide what to do.”

As far as being worth it, all say that the pain isn’t killer, it’s endurable and also worth it.

“It feels like baby kittens scratching,” Deal said. “It was more painful when I didn’t see it but when I was looking it wasn’t that bad. The coloring hurts more, because they have to go over the lighter colors many times.”

“It’s like a burning and tingling hot feeling,” Stanley said

Damanhoury also said it wasn’t very painful.

“It actually didn’t hurt as much as I thought it was going to because he ap-plied the dye in increments of 10 sec-onds,” Damanhoury said. “Sometimes it felt like pressure, but there were moments where he hit a nerve just right and it stung. But overall it wasn’t that bad.”

Tattoos, which are techni-cally a wound to the skin, take about two weeks to heal.

According to Stanley, if it’s a big tattoo, it must be cleaned four times a day, with plain soap. There is also a special ointment or lotion which is applied once or twice a day. If it’s a small tattoo, “dry healing” procedures are taken; just washing it will do.

Deal recommends not going in the sun af-ter getting a tattoo.

“Defi nitely do not go swimming for about two weeks after you get it done,” Deal said. “And I recommend A&D ointment and make sure to stay out of the sun. You should also get the sunscreen which prevents the tat-too from fading.”

Although tattoos may be costly, painful and a lot of work to take car of at fi rst, every per-son interviewed said they would unquestionably get

another one. “Its funny because after the

artist was done with my tattoo he said to me “Welcome to your new addiction,” Da-manhoury said. “It’s very true because I defi nitely plan on getting another one.”

MC students go under the needle

KAREN MICHELSTAFF WRITER

Over the past several millennia, tattoos have been used for a variety of reasons. Dating back to the fourth to fi fth millennium BC, Otzi the Iceman was found with approximately 57 different carbon tattoos. In the western world, the derivation of tattoos comes from Polynesia, and the practice of “Tatu” that became popular among European sailors.

Today, tattoos are most commonly used to express religion, faith, emotions, beliefs, or even membership in different groups.

“I do it for myself,” alumnus David Corcino said. “A lot of people think it’s stupid to get tattoos, but every time I look at it I get the motivation that I need to fi nish my day.”

Corcino has several different tattoos on his left and right arm. On his left he has the Chinese symbols of hope, happiness, faith, and love, and on his right he has the name of his uncle who had passed away in the beginning of his sophomore year.

“My uncle was like my second dad,” Corcino said. “It really affected my entire family when he passed, so I kind of felt obligated to get it for him.”

Tattoos may be commonly used as a memoriam for deceased loved ones, but they

can also be used for many different reasons.

“The bio-hazard sign refl ects all of the stress and hardships that go on in my life, and the trinity stands for God always being there for me,” senior Matthew Robinson said. “I got this tattoo because I’ll always have my faith, and it’ll always mean something to me.”

Robinson is a devoted Christian and under his right arm he has a tattoo of a bio-hazard sign mixed with the trinity sign of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.

“I got this tattoo like right after my 18th birthday,” Robinson said. “I plan on only getting Christian tattoos, like a couple bible verses that really affect me, and also the names of my kids’.”

Since the beginning of its creation, tattoos have been used to express emotion, faith, knowledge, and other important symbols.

To this day, it continues to remain as one of the most popular forms of teenage expression.

Meanings behind tattoos represent various life events

SARA SHANTZSTAFF WRITER

Tattoos aren’t just for big, burly bikers that spend all of their time in pool halls. Some MC teachers have tattoos too. MC American Literature teacher Timothy Calver has not just one, but two tattoos. The fi rst is of a large sun with a Chinese symbol inside standing for love, peace, and honor. The second is Chinese let-tering that either stands for “equal” or “Chicken Fried Rice.” Calver isn’t quite sure. The pain for each person is different, but for Calver, it wasn’t that bad.

“They actually went too deep for the sun as it required a lot of black ink,” Calver said. “I don’t re-call it being a pleasant experience, but not too bad. I was just bummed that I couldn’t surf for two days af-terwards as it can ruin the tattoo.”

Calver doesn’t regret getting his tattoos but he is a little bored of them. Calver likes tattoos but he considers tattoos in certain places tacky.

“But never get a tattoo around the neck or above the collar. Noth-ing says ‘I love going to jail’ better than a neck tattoo.”

MC ceramics teacher Cretia Luck also has a tattoo. Luck got her tattoo, located on the inside of her right ankle, when she was just 17 years old. The tattoo is of the face of an orange tiger with green eyes and a yellow fl ower below it. Some people get tattoos just for fun, but Luck’s tattoo has meaning to her.

“I think that every person has some sort of animalistic parts of their personality,” Luck said. “To me the tiger signifi es strength, mys-teriousness, and speed. These are all parts of my personality that I think coincide with the tiger. I added the fl ower years later to make it more feminine.”

Luck doesn’t regret getting her tattoo but sometimes she does wish she could cover it up, specifi cally

on her wedding day. Luck wouldn’t object if someday her kids wanted tattoos but she would make sure that they aren’t’ something her kids would regret.

“I would [let my kids get tat-toos], although I would like to know what they were getting beforehand so that I could make sure that it was not something that was ‘trendy,’” Luck said. “Trends ALWAYS go out of style and I wouldn’t want them to regret it.

“Also, I think it is very impor-tant to have meaning to something that you do to your body for life,” Luck said. “Also, I would want to make sure it was not boyfriend/girlfriends name…that is the worst mistake you could ever make in the tattoo world.”

The fi rst time around, Luck wasn’t very careful about the tattoo parlor she went to.

“A really freaky guy that was kind of weird did the tiger in this old neon green, dingy building,” Luck said. “Nobody ever asked for ID or anything and the place was full of what I now consider to be possibly homeless people. I never checked to see if the facility was clean. I was too hung up staring at the weirdos, but he did take the nee-dles out of plastic…that was good enough for a 17 year old.”

The second time around, Luck was much more cautious about where she got her tattoo done.

“The second one I got at a re-ally upscale place that was spotless and by this time I was aware of the sanitary needs of getting a tattoo...,” Luck said. “The place was clean and the equipment was sanitary, a much better option than my fi rst.”

Although Luck doesn’t regret her tattoos, she doesn’t want any-more tattoos either.

“I don’t think I would ever get another one,” Luck said. “I have grown out of that phase and have much more important things to spend my money on.”

Calver, Luck reveal personal tattoo stories

ALL PHOTOS BYAMANDA STINTSMAN | PHOTOGRAPHERSTACY DEAL (12)

CYNTHIA STANLEY (12)

SAMMIE DAMANHOURY (12)

NATE ROSS (12)

MATT ROBINSON (12)