The White Brick WallsMystery of the white stains unraveled

Kennington Cungphotography manager

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- - index - -news & life (2)opinions (3)feature (4)sports (6)

entertainment (7)visual arts (8)

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vol XXVIII, issue III

fri, february 11, 2011

What is Tet you may ask? Well, for those who are unaware, it

is a Vietnamese word for Lu-nar New Year. Almost every-one with an East Asian back-ground celebrates Lunar New Year.

There are many ways peo-ple celebrate the New Year. It all depends on your culture, as people all over the world celebrate this event. But for most people, a Tet celebration entails partying and gathering around to eat delicious food, like eggrolls.

Baron Banner interviewed Mrs. Young, the Club Advisor to the Vietnamese Student As-sociation of FVHS, and asked

(Left) While in China, 2011 is cel-ebrated as the Year of the Rabbit, in Vietnam, it is celebrated as Year of the Cat.

>>Lunar New Year:Life 2

Senioritis:The FatalEpidemicA senior Baron’s perspective on an ever persistent epidemic

Komal Ramstaff writer

Barons, I almost didn’t write this article. I almost blew it off to watch TV, play video

games, or simply be unproduc-tive. And, why? Because I, like so many seniors, have fallen victim to the dreaded disease known as Senioritis. Here’s what you need to know about this horrible illness to protect yourself when it kicks in your Senior year (and if it already has, keep reading to find out how to return to your academic glory before colleges reject you).

What is Senioritis? Senioritis is what happens to Senior students, usually in their second semester, once they realize it’s their last se-mester of high school and they’re probably going to graduate very soon. For some, it’s brought on by the false sense of security of receiving a college acceptance let-

>>Senioritis:Opinions 3

Feb: Seniors of the MonthVincent Tran & Nicole Goehring

If you have passed by the red brick wall outside the history buildings recently you may have noticed something strange: our red brick wall is turning white.

Why is this happening? The answer lies in the re-cent torrential downpour

her about the traditions of Chi-nese New Year (Lunar New Year).

Mrs. Young explained, “Tet’ is a time for new begin-nings and intentions. Families sit down to feast on food of good fortune once the clut-ter of home, finances, and the mind is cleared for a time of reflection, recognition, and re-newal.”

‘Tet’ marks a fifteen-day cel-ebration beginning on the first lunar new moon of the year and ending on the full moon. It usually falls between Janu-ary 9th and February 23rd. And is considered one of the most significant of holidays for the Vietnamese people. Tet integrates themes of family, friends, home, and food. It’s a time to put resolution and respect to practice and seek fortune, prosperity, longevity,

Christine Vustaff writer

baronbannerfountain valley high school

17816 bushard st. fountain valley, ca 92708 - www.baronbanner.com

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Photo Credit: members.iinet.net.au

southern California re-ceived in early January. The non-stop rain dropped massive amounts of water onto Fountain Valley and is the root cause of the discol-oration of the brick walls. Water seeped through the brick wall and exposed

>>Stained Bricks:News 2

Photo Credit: Kennington Cung (‘11)In Memory ofMirranda ChurchAn unfortunate illness ends the life of a 2010 FVHS

alumnus student, and leaves her loved ones to mourn.

Brie Roche-Lilliotteditor-in-chief

Mirranda Church was any-thing but an average high school student. During

her years at Fountain Valley, she was active in sports, her classes, and any other social activity she could find. Teachers, coaches, and students alike were all drawn to her sweet, fun-loving personality and cheerful disposition. Mirran-da was a hard worker and put all her effort into any activity or task she was assigned; she had the mo-tivation and drive to push herself to her limits.

In athletics, Mirranda excelled. She participated in multiple areas of track, including the 100 and 200 meter. She also played on varsity softball for multiple years, where she made some of her closest friends. Close friend Allison Lang (11) says, “I remember last year we were at [softball] practice and she got hit in the face with a ground ball. But instead of stopping, she demanded another ground ball to fix her mistake and get better. She was such a tough person.”

She was also an active member of Baron Broadcast News, and she

First semester has finally passed and for seniors here at Fountain Val-

ley High School, it means one thing: relief.

My first semester of my se-nior year was like a slap in the face; sudden, and, of course, stressful.

Senior year is supposed to be the year to kick back and relax. That’s what everybody said. Sure, the year may be relaxing for those who limit themselves to three to five classes, ensur-ing a decent amount of time for themselves for the rest of the day. But for the rest of us, it’s nothing like that.

My fall semester involved applying to colleges and at-tempting to balance my classes and keep my grades up. I ap-plied to only private schools—intending to major in film pro-duction. And since my junior year was almost a complete bore with a minimized sched-

More Relief But Not ALLRelief...

Senior year dies down as first semester ends.

Michelle Doaneditor-in-Chief

>>More Relief:Opinions 3

>>In Memory:News 2

Tron Legacy:Movie Review

Entertainment (7)

Happy 2011Lunar New Year!

The Asian-American community celebrates both the Year of the Cat and the Year of the Rabbit.

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(Above, Bottom Middle and Right) Protests aimed at ending president Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule have raged for almost two weeks.

Photo Credit: http://www.abc.net.au

Unrest in Egypt:A Modern Revolution

Enraged Egyptian residents protest andexpress concern to rid of dictator-president.

Noushin Ahdootstaff writer

Dissatisfied and angered with the hardship that dominates daily life per-

petuated by the lawless and autocratic regime, Egyptians took their complaints to the streets.

Recently, the economic woes of the Egyptian middle class and working class have taken a turn for the worse as unem-ployment rates and food prices have sky-rocketed. More than 40% of the population live off of two dollars a day. Also, the culture of corruption and elitism created by Mubarak’s 30-year long dictatorship has greatly upset the struggling population. In addition, the re-gime has gone out of their way to stifle any sort of free speech

get with a horrendous human rights record as proof. In the past two weeks, Tunisian re-volts have also inspired Egyp-tians to act.

In response to these injus-tices, people took matters into their own hands spawning a populist revolution free of any religious influence. The crowds have been unified by a patriot-ic desire to oust Mubarak. On January 27, the Egyptian gov-ernment cut off the internet and cell phones in an attempt to quell the revolt; however, the masses would not be stopped. The next day, Mubarak sent the army to the streets of major cit-ies like Cairo (for the first time since 1985), but demonstrators could not be deterred. He also announced that he would be dismissing his cabinet, but he would remain in charge. In

addition, the government shut down Al Jazeera, an important news source. While crowds have not been discouraged and continue to demonstrate, brute and violent force, mostly at the hands of police and hired thugs, has been used against the protesters. One of the many videos to come out of the con-flict showed a clearly unarmed protester being shot by the po-lice.

The swiftness of the move-ment inspired by desires for change is prompting many to declare the unrest a revolution. Since Egypt is the largest Arab nation, this movement has the ability to spur pro-democra-cy movements in the Middle Eastern and Arab world. The world is watching as the Egyp-tian people fight for their free-dom.

Photo Credit: http://resources3.news.com.au

Photo Credit: http://trendsupdates.com

>>Stained Bricks:Front 1

salts in the mortar and brick that, once the sun came out, evaporated the water and left a thin layer of salt on the sur-face of the bricks. This process is called efflorescence.

Brick isn’t as solid as many people may believe. It’s actual-ly porous, full of tiny air pock-ets and microscopic caves. So the pounding storms saturated the wall with water, and as it pushed its way through it pushed salt particles out along with it.

Thankfully the discoloration of the bricks is temporary. Normally the salts will disap-pear in time, but a quick use of efflorescence treatment would begin breaking down the salts in a matter of hours.

So if you were worried about the rather alarming shade of white that was slowly invading the wall outside the 400 buildings, have no fear, the red walls will return to their natural color soon and all will be right, not white, with the world.

Photo Credit: Kennington Cung (/11)

(Below) The white salted stains on the walls are temporary.

Victims of Schedule Changes

On the first day of Febru-ary, frenzied and con-fused students were

spotted all over the Fountain Valley High School campus. Some sighed in relief, while others grimaced in disap-pointment. It was the start of second semester, and with new beginnings come new schedules.

Guidance specialists get daily requests from students who want schedule changes. Whether it is because of class conflicts, sports, or annoying teachers, the guidance special-

Second semester changes in student class schedulesproves unsatisfying for some.

Patricia Lestaff writer

ists try to help the students’ every need with a smile on their faces (or at least most of the time).

Not all desired schedules can be given to students, even if they incessantly beg their guidance specialists. “I re-ally wanted an art class, but I was told all of my classes were impacted,” says an unsatis-fied Baron, “I even visited my guidance counselor multiple times.” This problem has not been unusual for students, and what seems like a few simple class switches for our peers can be a hair-pulling task for the guidance specialists.

The population of FVHS peaks over 3,000 students, and they are all under the manage-ment of four guidance special-ists. Each guidance specialist is responsible for the sched-ules of approximately 850 stu-dents, all with different classes and activity interests.

happiness, and health.“I’m always settling old

debts, buying new clothes, and feasting to the family’s content. Chuc Mung Nam Moi. Happy New Year,” she continued.

Furthermore, it is a tradi-tion for the the adults to pass out red envelopes filled with money to younger children. These envelopes represent good luck.

It is also bad luck to clean on the day of the New Year

because it “[sweeps] out [not only] the bad luck, but the good luck as well.” So a good tip is to clean the day before Lunar New Year.

There are also certain ani-mals these cultures celebrate every year. An ancient story talks about Buddha and twelve animals who celebrated the New Year together: Ox, Roost-er, Boar, Tiger, Rabbit, Drag-on, Snake, Sheep, Horse, Dog, Monkey, and Rat. He named each year after one of those animals. Depending on that

>>Lunar New Year:Front 1

(Right) Red envelopes represents good luck. Photo Credit: www.jackiechankids.com

year, the person who was born on that certain year would re-ceive bad luck. For example, if last year was the year of the Dragon, the people who were born on the Year of the Dragon would receive bad luck for the rest of the year.

This year’s Lunar New Year fell on February 3rd, the year of the Rabbit in China and Year of the Cat in Vietnam. Happy Lunar New Year folks!

was often found after school work-ing diligently on editing and per-fecting her clips. Mirranda also be-came a member of Red Cross club and attended nearly every event.

Regardless of what the class was, Mirranda’s teachers loved her dedication and positive at-titude towards any challenge she faced. But despite all of her ac-tivities and responsibilities, Mir-randa didn’t let her stress show. One of her teachers, Mr. Kols says, “She sometimes appeared over-whelmed with everything and looked so tired in the morning, but she never complained and just keep going…She persevered and was very resilient.”

Since her graduation last year, she attended Arizona Community College and supported herself by working two jobs part-time. Mr. Kols says, “She showed interest in pursuing a career in athletic train-ing.” She planned on attending Arizona State University next year to continue her studies.

Unfortunately, on December 29, 2010, this inspirational young

>>In Memory Of:Front 1

woman passed away. A series of immune deficiency diseases had infected her body, and she was comforted by her family and loved ones. Her passing left many close friends at Fountain Valley heart-broken and distressed.

Mirranda’s memorial took place on January 5, where hundreds of friends, old teachers, and family members attended and mourned her passing as they reminisced about their wonderful memories with her. Close friend Sarah Hay-dock talked about their fun trip to Arizona together and how much fun they had “tubing together and yelling ‘I’m loving it!’ at the top of our lungs… she just honestly loved her life.”

Mirranda’s presence at FVHS, as well as her outside personal life, left an impact on any student she met. She was a bright, cheer-ful girl with so much to offer and such potential to excel in anything she set her mind to. “Something we can learn from her,” says Mr. Kols, “is ‘the world meets nobody half way....if you want something, you’re going have to work for it’. And that’s exactly what she did.”>>Schedule Scrambling:

Baron Banner Online

This is the time of year when every couple can go out for a nice dinner

and snuggle up while the sin-gles stay at home and mope about how lonely they are. It’s Valentine’s Day!

There’s really no point to this “holiday”. It just gives everyone a reason to feel bad about not having a significant other to spend time with. What’s the point of having a day where you’re supposed to have a good time with your “other half”? Aren’t you sup-posed to do that everyday?

Valentine’s Day is an un-necessary holiday that gives people reason to spend mon-ey on useless things like choc-olate or the ubiquitous Valen-tine’s Day card. If you’re in love with someone, shouldn’t you be spontaneous and give them something nice once in a while to show that you care? It’s as if you were say-ing, “Oh, it’s a national love holiday! I’ll go out and get you some flowers and a card on this one day so you don’t yell at me.” That’s prob-ably what many dating guys think when February comes around.

Valentine’s Day is useless. If a couple waits around for February 14th to come along to do something special, they might as well just break up.

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ter, in which case the victim feels as though they don’t need to care about high school anymore. For others who never cared about school very much to begin with, Senioritis comes from their inher-ent laziness and is built up with the knowledge that once they’re 18, they won’t even have to go to school. So they’re simply waiting it out until their birthday. It can also happen to Seniors who plan to go to junior or community col-lege next year, as their grades in high school will have little to no impact on their admission to those colleges.

This sneaky disease will over-take us in our weakest moments,

like when you get a D on a math test and remember you don’t need to pass the semester to graduate. You mull on the thought, look at your math textbook and then fo-cus your efforts on other things, like Call of Duty or Infamous.

But, Barons beware! Senioritis can definitely mess with your plans after high school. People who stop studying in high school and then attempt to pick it up again in col-lege, (which is much harder than high school), will have a hard time. Not to mention, colleges can take away your admission status if they see you blow off your senior year. The B average student who gets straight D’s in their senior year sounds like someone who’s not exactly hard-working, not the

>>Senioritis:Front 1

Single? You’re not alone. This message goes out to my fellow Barons re-

questing that table for one, the solo walkers on the beach, and the lone wolves shopping at South Coast. In other words, people who are just as single as I am. I’m here to remind you that (1) it’s not the end of the

world and (2) being single is actually quite bearable.

In fact, doesn’t FVHS offer a class for people like us? Oh yes, there it is on page 25 of the handy dandy Course Guide: Singles Living. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see any Couples Living course. And do you know why? Because we’re special and our esteemed school board acknowledges that.

I know that spending al-most every day in the ultimate breeding place for teenage hormones (a.k.a. high school) doesn’t make being single eas-ier. And the stigma is that it’s not cool. Frankly, you’re going to feel that same pressure no matter where you go. It’s just

Christine Transtaff writer

Valentine’s Day vs.SAD: Singles Awareness Day

Because not everyoneis gifted with a lover on thisannual romantic holiday...

a stupid fact of life.But let’s get one thing

straight: being single does not spell forever alone. Nothing you do at this age spells out forever, so why insist on some-thing permanent? There is ab-solutely nothing wrong with having a significant other, but the same can be said for the ex-act opposite. You can go wher-ever you want to go, say what-ever you want to say, dance with whoever and no one can tell you otherwise – singledom is freedom, my friend.

If you feel lonely, chances are you’re not even really alone. The best thing you can do is spread that good vibe all around. No one said you have to concentrate it all on one per-son. So compliment your moth-er on her new shoes, give your best friend a bear hug, buy a cute puppy – just do whatever you can to let that love out. Love isn’t something that de-creases by being shared.

On February 14th, ditch the carton of pistachio ice cream and breathe in that beautiful single air. Round up your fel-low single-ers on Valenti— ex-cuse me, Singles Awareness

Day and catch a flick. (Pref-erably one where the couple doesn’t end up together.) And if you’re feeling really brave, send a nice bouquet of flowers to yourself. (No one else has to know the truth.)

Being single not something to be ashamed of, in fact, you ought to embrace it while you can. The point is to not let it get you down, because it’s most likely not going to last forever. And if that doesn’t console you, just think, February 14th is only one teeny, tiny day. A blip on the radar of your life.

Besides, I have faith in you, my fellow Baron. Trust me, your Facebook relationship status won’t be saying ‘single’ forever. Remember, you could find that significant other any-where – college, the movie theater, even your local Wal-greens. (Because nothing says romantic like two people grab-bing the same tube of tooth-paste at the same time, right?)

Just keep your eyes peeled. In the mean time, I want you to have a wonderful Singles Awareness Day. So, let’s go out there and be single togeth-er, shall we?

Anna Nagabayashistaff writer

William MaiStaff Cartoonist

Is this lover’s holiday worth celebrating?

ule I should have given my-self this year instead, I decided to add in a few more classes I should have taken the previ-ous; a foreign language class and a science class.

I remember during the sec-ond semester of my junior year, I harassed my senior role mod-els consistently. What classes should I take? Is this class to stressful? Too hard? A given? How much time does this ac-tivity take? I wanted the perfect schedule that would be appeal-ing on my college resumes, and, at the same time, wasn’t too overwhelming or too dull. But I also wanted a zero period and a 7th, theater. So I set my sched-ule officially and I was satisfied with the following for the rest of the summer: 7 classes.

However, procrastination and lack of time-management tortured me. To my underclass-men out there, there is one sim-ple rule you must follow—start your essays in the summer.

Every year, seniors are told that advice by their respected alumni friends, yet most end up working on their essays last minute or too late into the school year. And the fact that no one prepares you for the col-lege application process puts a lot more pressure on you, the applicant, and your family, than truly needed.

In “brief”, this is my college application experience: I turned in all my online applications, whether for Common App or a different online host, all on the day of the deadline. I turned almost all of my film portfolios the day of or late (at least post-marked). I sent in the wrong portfolio for one of my colleges (I sent in a portfolio for screen-writing versus film production) and had to make another one and send it in after the scholar-ship deadline; however, it was sent on the day of the regular deadline. But luckily the essays for the incorrect major proved beneficial for other college ap-plications and scholarships. I failed to talk to Ms. Michaela

Wakeman regularly and turn in the teacher reports for her letter of recommendations for me—and have up to this day, become too intimidated and ashamed of myself to approach her again. I also ended up ask-ing my teachers for my letters of recommendation on the last week before my first college ap-plication was due (Chapman) for early decision.

Let’s just say my college application experience wasn’t pretty…

Worst of all, I didn’t real-ize how much work I would have in my extra cirriculars as a senior versus as an under-classman, whether I had high positions already or not. That promoted lack of time-man-agement and dedication to a lot of negativities; punctuality for deadlines was a big demerit.

Luckily, now that the stress of keeping my grades up and college applications are now over, I can breathe once more. I can’t get relax completely like the rest of my senior class, some of who have started dropping

their classes or transferring out to an easier course (AP to regu-lar). As tempting as that might seem, (utter relaxation for the last semester of my senior year), I have to resist. I did make some adjustments, however.

All there’s left to truly worry about is scholarship applica-tions and anticipation for those college acceptance or rejec-tion letters pouring in slowly through April.

My goal for this semester is punctuality, motivation, and responsibility in keeping up my grades, keeping up with finan-cial aid deadlines, extra curric-ular deadlines, and building up my artistic resume with film, design, and writing, especially with film festivals coming up.

Overall the pattern that was and I predict will be my senior year as a whole is as follows: fall to winter, a climatic stress pattern; winter to spring, cool-ing down; spring to summer, freedom.

I can’t cool down too much just yet. But one thing is true: more relief.

>>More Relief:Front 1

type of student colleges want.So, how can students protect

themselves from Senioritis? For starters, don’t get lazy! It’s too late to change your 2nd semester schedule by now, so if you’ve got a heavy class load, hang in there and stick it out because it’ll prob-ably be worth your while.

Also, get your homework done first, and then go out and enjoy yourself. Many teachers under-stand how seniors are and pur-posely assign less work. They’re trying to look out for you, so be appreciative! I know that many of us like to work as little as possible, but the reality is that the more you work, the more benefits you’re likely to receive. So, let’s fight this epidemic Barons, and remember,

Photo Credit: http://hunternuttall.com

Your eye is asunglass-tinted window to your

soul. Your brain is large. Let’s spend

an eternitytogether. Bite me.

-Ana

Kyle Le,You have themost amazing voice! Onev ofthe mostbeautiful peoplein this world!

Dear Anna,If you are

drowning, I’d throw myselfin to save youand do CPR on

you with my suit.Love, Jon

Kathy,A message to you,

I’m stuck to you like glue, andno one else

can be my boo,but you.

Love, Jeff Chang

Amanda Tompkins,You are the most

beautiful girlI’ve ever seen.P.S., this isnot Bryan.

I love you Goldilocks,

you’re the best girl

in the world.

AnthonyYaghoubi,

Be my Valentine.Anonymous

Flirty

BUDDAHGIVE ME A GOOD GRADESI NEED AN A IN APUSH

REFRIDGERATORALLIGATOR

CHEESEGRATORVALENTINE’SCALCULUS

LITERATUREORECOCIOUSSOLILOQUYLIPIDZATION

Hey Jennifer,I love you

sooooo much!!!Have a great day (:

Love,Jaqueline

DearBFFL,

You’re theamazingest

in so many ways!

Anthony Y.

DP,You’re my favorite

person in the wholeentire world.

(You’re even betterthan pandas!)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

TD

As they say,all’s fair in

love and war.Happy

Valentine’s Day, KL ♥

Eddie!Bro, what’s up!

I’m bored in Mathclass as I write this.

Happy Valentine’s Day!Love you!

Love, PMS

Hey Cole!Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope it’s fun for you.I wuv you, like a lot!

Love, PMS

Tyler,The spaces

between yourfingers are meanto be filled with mine.From your Lover

Smalls.I enjoy everymoment with you. Without you by my side, I won’t be the person I am today.

Angelica,Shannon Brown

is the most godly creature toever touch

a basketball…P.S. Ronaldo is mine!

Love, C. Brown

L.T.P.N,You are the greatest

best friend that a guy can ever have and I

hope that you have a great Valentine’s Day.

Surprise!Vu Nguyen

Dear My Togi,Horse yawning bear, Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you!Love, Amanda

Fantastic five.Together forever.Happy Valentine’s

Day Breanna,Brittany, Kelsey

& Jocelyn. Love, Camille

Dear Joshy K,from Tangy to Maru

The cat, to ourdaytime adven-tures, you’re my best friend. ILY.

Love, Camille

JOY CHEN,If you fall,I will catch you.I’ll be waiting.Time after time. Anita Mann

Christine,you make me feel like my head is about to burst when I talk to you,but I love you! ♥–Annie.

Tiff,Happy Early

Birthday!I hope you’re not

sad becauseyou’re finally 18!

Have anamazing day!

MY TRANwishes you,

Jennifer Dangto have an excellent

Valentine’sEVERYDAY!

xoxo143 gnarwalls.

tumblr.com

Molly,Thanks for sticking with me all the way

through high school! Best friends for life!

– Jocelyn

Tiffany Tran!You’re so cute!

–Wei Yan

love grams4

love grams 5

NicolePletkovic,

I love the way your hair falls, you make

my heart melt.I love you!

-Secret Admirer

Me gustaChristine Le!

–Trisha D.

Monique McGhie,

You’re beautiful, smart, andtalented.

Everything a girl should be.

–Secret Admirer

Kevin Romano,Tus ojos son muybonitos y tú tienesel pelo elegante.Tú eres hermoso.

Tanner Brown

KW,Roses are red,

violets are blue. Hope you have a

Happy Valentine’s Day, because

I will too. –Anonymous

Dear Yuryo,I just wanted to

tell you thatI love you andyou’re loved.

–Secret Admirer

Roses are red,violets are blue,God made mebeautiful, but

what happened to you?

TNMy love for

you burns likeCharizard’s tail...

JN

JNIf you were aDementor, I’d

become acriminal just to get your kiss.

TN

Roses are red,violets are blue,Christine isa sweetie,

but not so much

you.

Nikki Nguyen,I love you.

Pretend I am John O’Callaghan andaccept my love

confession.♥ Love, your

Secret Admirer

I love you, Holly,You’re the best

sister in the world.–Secret Admirer

I love you Goldilocks,

you’re the best girl

in the world.

Dear Hannah,I love you Wifey!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Can’t wait to

see youthen!

Love,your

BFF (:

Dear Hannah, I love you so much.

You have made my year so much better.

I love you babe.♥ Love,

Your BoyFriend

JACKY TRUONG!

I LOVE YOU!!! (:

HAPPYVALENTINE’S

DAY! ( :

I LUB YOU,MAI KHANH

NGUYEN,LAN TRAN,

AND PAULINENGUYEN.

From:Victoria Doan

Hi TWC!You are the cheese

to my macaroni,the chocolate in

my milk.Love, MN ;D

HappyValentine’s Day!

Ruby, I love you!Happy LunarNew Years,

every buddy!

>>Love Grams:Visual Arts 2

Andrew,Julie & Jackie,

Because you’reall MAGICAL.And I didn’t buy

you one last year.

MV

Hi Robert Varon!Just wanted to tell you

that you’re the most amazing boyfriend

Ever.Just saying.

I loves you!

Dear Toyen Le,I lust you! 25/8.Be my valentine

instead of Steven!?Love,

Your Forever& Always

Dear Maria, Nhi,Kelly, Farina,and Khanh,

Love you all,

–Katie Tran

My loves~You all know who you are. See the beautiful

future we’ll share?

Embrace it!Embrace my

endless love!!–Denise

To anyone reading this:

Please save me.Anna Nagabayashi has

captured my souland is holding

me captive,

save me.

Dear Jon Loi,

You have nice hair

– Anna N.P.S. Tu made me

write this

DearDenise Cho,you may go to adifferent school,but you’ll alwaysbe in my heart.

HappyValentine’s Day!

Andrea!Never gonnagive you up,Never gonnalet you down,Never gonnarun aroundand desert you.

love grams4

love grams 5

FRee BBQ

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

10:30am - 2pm

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Senior Day

January: Athletes of the MonthSteven Ryan & Alyson Yoshinaga

Girls’Water Polo

- - - - -Team Records

Overall 1-1-0League 0-0-0Home 0-0-0Away 1-1-0Neutral 0-0-0

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Girls’ Soccer- - - - -

Team RecordsOverall 1-3-0

League 0-0-0

Home 1-1-0

Away 0-1-0

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Boys’ Soccer- - - - -

Team RecordsOverall 4-1-0

League 0-0-0

Home 3-1-0

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Boys’Basketball

- - - - -Team RecordsOverall 15-10-0League 4-5-0Home 4-2-0Away 3-4-0Neutral 8-4-0

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Girl’sBasketball

- - - - -Team RecordsOverall 8-17-0League 1-8-0Home 5-10-0Away 2-4-0Neutral 1-3-0

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At a Glance...Resource: www.maxpreps.com

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Boys Basketball has been an exciting sea-son so far, with a 15

– 9 overall standing and 4 – 4 in league, spectators have had a hard time predicting if they’ll be watching a win-ning or a losing game.

The boys aren’t an over-

all powerhouse, but they haven’t necessarily stooped to the point of total school-wide embarrassment. We have a young varsity with immeasurable amounts of talent, so there is always room for improvement.

Earlier this month the Barons played the Oilers and lost 56-32. The Barons

Boy’s Basketball:A Potential Season

Barons play well but have much to improve upon

after defeat to HBHS Oilers

kept up a pattern of staying six to eight points behind the Oilers, with the excep-tion of the last ten minutes of the game, where the Bar-ons dropped back further and never recovered.

Noteworthy players in-clude senior Zach Matar who scored ten, sophomore Tanner Trounce with eight

Tharadet Manstaff writer

points, and junior Zack Richartz who hit an impres-sive three-pointer.

The Barons had many good shot opportunities, but their shots were hitting the back of the rim or lip-ping out instead of swoosh-ing right into the net.

This week the team wrapped up league play with games against New-port Harbor and Los Alam-itos. The scores were un-avaible at press time, but here’s hoping our fabulous Barons finished out the sea-son strong.

Girls Baron water polo played on Wednesday, Feb. 10th, as they put up valiant efforts against Edison. Edison

won 10-6, and took the Baron’s league slot in CIF. Fortunately, Barons still managed to re-ceive a wild card to CIF prelims due to their winning record.

Senior, Nicole Gohering commented be-fore the game, “It has been a hard season. Our coach was fired and everything has been chaotic. The last game, our Edison match, is something we’ve been loking forward to all season. It was our last game for a team full of seniors, It determines if we go to CIF or not.”

Before the Game, the girls’ league record was at 2-2. They lost to Newport Harbor (15-3), and Los Alamitos (7-4), with wins against Marina (15-3), and Huntington Beach (9-5). With this additional loss to Edison, the final season record was 3 losses and 2 wins.

Even with this loss, our girls stayed strong. Senior, Lindsey Catron saved 5 goals, junior, Kayla Robert scored 2 points, senior Katie Stewart scored 2, senior Deandra Van Houten scored one, and junior Jennifer Lightbody scored one as well.

Nicole mentions again, “It’s too bad we lost, but I’m proud that we played a really tough game. This season has been really cra-zy, and I’m glad we’re still getting a chance to go to CIF.”

This has been the third consecutive year that the girls have received a wildcard slot to CIF.

This season, the girls came out with 21 league goals made, most of them made by noteworthy players such as seniors Katie Stewart, Marisa Young, Caitlyn Verdugo, and Nicole Gohering, juniors Jennifer Lightbody, Kayla Robert.

Girls’ Water Polo:Season ReflectionA great year ends after Barons

fail to make it to CIF

Camille Linares-Reedsports editor

(Above) The Varsity Girls’ Water Polo team stay strong, despite loss.

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Tron: Legacy Movie Review

An imaginative look into the futuristic cyberworld, Tron: Legacy was among the more

popular movies to come out of the box office last holiday season. It of-fered moviegoers a captivating uni-verse to explore, one of neon lights, sleek outfits, and revving motorcy-cles. Its special effects are dazzling-ly innovative, with heavy utilization of 3D and computer generated im-ages. Unfortunately, this cinematic treat for the eyes becomes tedium for the mind. Introduced with poor dialogue and emotionless charac-ters, Tron: Legacy disappoints with its sluggish performance.

Tron: Legacy is the offspring of Tron, an arguably mediocre film released in 1982, known for being among the first film to use comput-er generated imagery. The origi-nal film was directed by Steven Lisberger, who hired a tech-savvy team to bring his futuristic vision to life. After collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures, his “masterpiece” was born. The one shining aspect of the film is the idea of a virtual world inside the computer. The movie introduced something ab-stract and unfamiliar, giving Tron the “it” factor. Fast forward almost thirty years later, and other than coming off as a flashy spectacle, Tron: Legacy, is unable to have any of the gripping effect presented by the original film. Advanced tech-

nology is already omnipresent and tangible in the twenty-first century, so Tron: Legacy’s cyberworld is not an alien concept. The film’s special effects splurge only made it beauty pageant-worthy at best. The mon-ey should have actually been spent on hiring decent writers.

The dialogue was unmemorable and lackluster, which is unfortunate since the plot itself is quite interest-ing. Main character Sam (Garrett Hedlund) hacked into a computer and is then transported into a uni-verse called the Grid that his father, Kevin Flynn, had secretly created and can’t get out of. He finds his father after twenty years of unex-plained absence, which is when his father explains his whole dilemma of being trapped in the Grid. The fa-ther-son relationship between Sam and Kevin failed to appear mean-ingful; for a son who lost his father at five, Sam’s reunion with Kevin seemed rather distant and casual. There was no balance between the quick-paced action, character devel-opment, and dialogue. In turn, the plot and characters fade in the Tron: Legacy’s background, forcing spe-cial effects to pick up the slack.

The cutting edge visual effects gave computer generated images a feeling of reality. The beginning appears dull with conventional 2D filming, but once Sam enters the Grid, the dimension is shifted to an otherworldly setting that still retains some earthly qualities. The programs, although stoic, have a

human-like facade. The characters of Clu and the younger version of Flynn are computer generated, but camouflaged perfectly with actors that didn’t have computer altered appearances. The architecture and construction of the Grid’s layout is identical to that of Earth’s, but with some futuristic twists added. The disc duels between Sam and the Grid’s programs were the most riveting moments in the whole film. There was a Gladiator-inspired grand battle, except programs are decked out in taut leather outfits and equipped with ricocheting discs. The duelers’ motorcycles had spine-chilling engine groans that added some technology flare and completed the engines’ macho look.

Movies with Tron: Legacy’s killer graphics are rarely released, but its poor plot makes it lost in the shuffle of other forgettable films. Tron: Legacy is essentially a regurgitation of Avatar, that it initially garners awes for revolu-tionary special effects, but is fol-lowed by disappointed scoffs at its cheesy, unoriginal lines. Tron: Legacy will not be in the league of sci-fi cinematic giants like War of the Worlds and Star Wars, al-though it makes such an effort to be one. The film rightfully rests on a dust-covered shelf, wedged between other mediocre releases; Tron: Legacy is no more than a mildly tolerable watch to cure late night boredom.

Patricia LeStaff Writer

You know them well. Snow White, Belle, and Ariel. They have something you do not have: a

man. But don’t dwell on the fact that you will be forever alone, take the ini-tiative, go out, and find your prince charming with inspiration from these Disney leading ladies.

ArielSo you are filled with teenage angst,

what a better thing to do with your frustrations than to give up your abil-ity to speak for a Vegas-type wedding to some dude you don’t know? The important thing isn’t that you don’t know him, its that you know you love him. The little mermaid has taught us ladies that we have to change our spe-cies and leave our families in order to find true love. After three days of zero words said between you and your man in shining armor, you’re sure to get hitched.

Snow WhiteThe fairest of them all has taught

us the importance of doing nothing. Step one: go out and get yourself a posse of short old men with facial deformities who will do anything for you. Everyone loves a gal who can exploit the labor of others while she spends time singing with anthropo-morphic animals. Remember it’s a good idea to take fruits from question-able people. “Why should I take food from strangers?” asks the eager stu-dent. Well young Padawan, you are supposed to be nice, not stupid. After a short blackout, some random prince you’ve never met will take you to the land of double rainbows and uni-

corns. Not regular boring unicorns, but the slightly creepy talking ones who recite Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance backwards.

BelleYour father has been taken pris-

oner by a large hairy creature. What to do? Fall in love with him of course! Don’t be afraid of him even when he threateningly calls you to dinner. Belle teaches us that love knows no bounds especially when the guy (or beast) is filthy rich. The story is also an excellent example of Stockholm Syndrome. Don’t worry about how your relationship will be perceived by the pitch-fork wielding townspeople because eventually he will transform into Fabio. Seriously, it would be too weird if you actually married the werewolf knockoff, you are much too pretty for that.

Beauty and the FabioAnd Finally, Success! Let the sing-

ing animals serenade us as the credits roll and you revel in your havppily ever after moment (however long that second lasts). rah rah ah ah ah caught in a bad romance...

DISCLAIMER: This is not, absolutely not, a sarcastic article.

Your guide toa Disney Romance

An UnrealisticPerspective

Noushin Ahdootstaff writer

(Above) Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Does the film remake give justice to the classic 80’s flick?

Let me start off by say-ing that if you didn’t like Linkin Park’s previous al-

bum, Minutes to Midnight, you most definitely won’t be able to appreciate A Thousand Suns. In many respects, it strays almost as far away from the band’s clas-sic albums, Hybrid Theory and Meteora as possible. The over-all sound and message of their music has evolved drastically since their the first album, and even since previous release.

A Thousand Suns is Linkin Park’s artistic venture, and makes many highly current and political statements. The album opens with apocalyptic refer-ences as a female voice sings the line ‘God save everyone. Will we burn in the fires of a thousand suns?’ and immedi-ately tells us what the album was named for. The seventh track,’Jornada del Muerto,’ which is Journey of the Dead in Spanish, is a song in Japanese. The Japanese lyrics translate to a haunting refrain of “lift me up” and “let me go.” The lyrics are revisited in ‘Catalyst’ and sung in English. ‘Wretches and Kings’ begins with the voice

Linkin Park’s first new albumin almost four years.

A ThousandSuns Review

Marie Nicholscartoonist

of Mario Salvo, giving his fa-mous ‘bodies upon the gears’ speech, and spirals into a rap song about the oppression of the government. ‘Wisdom, Jus-tice, and Love’ is a remixing of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. It calls out against war as King’s voice is distorted into the symbolic sound of a robot.

Even with just these small snippets, it is clear that the al-bum is a piece as a whole, and not a collection of songs. As proof of this intent, Linkin Park has released the album as one continuous track on iTunes. Musically, it is as varied as it is thematically unified. As I said, the album opens with a female voice pleading for salvation. Th album ends with acoustic sounds, and encompasses ev-ery faucet of music in between, including rap, metal, and even a screamo piece in ‘Blackout.’

A Thousand Suns is a beauti-ful culmination of Linkin Park’s growth as a band to date. It is an artistic piece, not a commer-cial album meant for listeners to pop into their car stereo and sing along with. Sadly, main-stream listeners are very dis-pleased. Many scathing reviews have been released, with one of the writers, Jared Ponton, going

so far as to say that Linkin Park has “destroyed itself beyond a shadow of a doubt, hammering the final nail into its own cof-fin.” By fighting the mainstream expectation, Linkin Park has ap-peared to have committed com-mercial suicide in the name of artistry. Few people appreciate Linkin Park’s efforts to grow and spread their wings, not just as another band, but as an artis-tic entity. I agree with the writer on reviewrinserepeat.com, any great band that desires to stand the test of time, “must be fluid, maturing with every album, changing their sound, explor-ing new territory,” as Linkin Park has been doing just that.

For those who will argue the album is too drastic, too far from their roots, Chester Bennington told Rolling Stone “This time we realized it doesn’t matter what the songs sound like. If we like it and it comes from us, it’s Linkin Park.” Here’s to Ben-nington- A Thousand Suns is five out of five stars.

(Above) A Thousand Suns album artwork.

(Above) Disney’s Tron Legacy, a movie meant to left in the dark.

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“ROBOTS” - Valentine’s Day: William Mai (‘11), Staff Cartoonist

Untitled:Tharadet Man (‘11)

“Valentine’s Day”: Marie Nichols (‘11), Staff Cartoonist

“Tell medarling, do

wish we werein love?

All the time.”

“Here’s towhere we wentand where we’ll

go and to mewhispering

again and again:

I love you...”

I fell for you thefirst time youcalled mea Neanderthal.HappyValentine’s Day!

SingleAwarenessDay for us,Kristine! I don’t know if that’sa good thingor a bad thing.

Dear My Babe. I’m craving an ice cream & cerealconcoction. You’re the best.

Love,your babe.

>>Love Grams:Feature 4

Untitled:Anh Dang (‘12)

Colored bySami Yerunkar (‘11)Flick of the Heart: Leeanne Terry (‘11)