Volume IV Issue I

Est. 2006 October 2, 2009

and Hannah Morris gracing the stage dressed as the famed Mario and Prin-cess Peach. The Commissioners of Assemblies then proceeded to pres-ent our fall sports. While the effort in this portion of the assembly was commendable, the teams themselves were barely visible and failed to get the recognition that they deserved. Many teams complained about the lack of recognition, but thankfully none decided to act out during the assembly. Nevertheless, the effort throughout the rest of the assembly more than compensated for this mi-nor setback. The remainder of the assembly was fi lled with dances from our skilled cheer and dance teams, which were defi nite crowd-pleasers.

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A Mario Kart Homecoming

BY: OLIVIA HAYWARD & KRISTINE THOMASON

The Mario Kart themed Homecom-ing assembly certainly lived up to its vivacious theme, with extravagant decorations and themed music simu-lating the well-loved video game. The assembly began with Ryan Martinazzi

Edison Upsets No. 1 Ranked Servite, 23-9

BY: FARIS BARUDI, STAFF WRITER

The Edison Chargers defeated the previously unbeaten Servite Friars, 23-9 on Friday, September 25. Fol-lowing an emotional pre-game cer-emony in which Servite’s head coach Troy Thomas was honored with a plaque for raising money to help Luke Gane through his illness last season, the much anticipated match-up between the No. 1 ranked Friars and No. 3 ranked Chargers began.

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Servite Stunned, Edison Wins Big

Cracking Down, Are We Losing Freedom?BY: MATT NGUYEN & CASSANDRA OWEN

Just this year, our school has deemed it necessary to place omnipresent su-pervisors at stations on the perimeter of the campus to individually allow us to pass through the gates at certain

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A Glimpse of Russia, Page 5

ASB Update, Page 2

S.O.S, Page 3

Uruguay Vacation, Page 6

Cross Country, Page 6

Edison Administrator Checking ID’s

Edison football players celebrate stunning victory against Servite (OC Varsity)

Summer Travels and Homecoming Edition

South America Page 7

HOMECOMING (FROM -1-)Students were also entertained by creative dances from members of ASB dressed as Peach and the Shy Guys. Next, the Homecoming Court was announced. The freshman winners were Dylan Luther and Karly Freeman, the sophomore winners were Kyle Johnson and Hannah Kling, and the juniors were Faris Barudi and Me-gan Reza. Continuing with the Mario Kart theme, the senior nominees participated in a crazy action-packed (and rather hilarious) go-kart race around the gym to battle it out for Homecoming King and Queen. Shock-ingly, there was no winner of this epic bat-tle, and “Mario” had to resort to letting the mysterious Question Box reveal the iden-tity of the Homecoming King, football star Jordan Zumwalt. Unfortunately, before Peach could announce her replacement and Homecoming Queen, she was swept away by the notorious Bowser (played flawlessly by Mr. Boone)! A video camera followed Mario and the king on the heroic, trans-Huntington Beach quest for Peach, ending at the HBHS football field, where the Homecoming Queen would be an-nounced at the game later that night. Con-gratulations to Ashley Estrada for winning the title of Homecoming Queen 2009! This entertaining and exciting assembly led to an even more successful Homecom-ing dance (thanks to the planning of Senior Representatives Kevin Su and Chelsea Fitzsimmons). It was located at the K-1 Speedway in Irvine and continued the Mario Kart theme. Students could also

choose to play video games in the mini-arcade, or even live out their wildest Ma-rio Kart fantasies on the go-kart track, which was operating throughout the dance. Unfortunately, there were a few collisions on the track, and although there were no serious injuries, those involved were left quite shaken up. From the time the dance began at 7:30 with the arrival of bumping party buses and limos, the dance fl oor was packed. The venue was an excellent choice, and everyone had fun dancing on the multi-colored light cubes and showing off for the cameras, or just enjoying candy and lemonade on one of the many couches provided. Al-though the dancing never stopped, many students were disappointed with the DJ and his song selections. He failed to play many of the school dance favorites, and an anonymous attendee said, “They didn’t play any of my favorite songs! I was waiting for all the good songs they usually play, and instead I was stuck do-ing the Cha Cha Slide and the YMCA for 20 minutes.” Another complaint by many students at the dance was the ever-increasing temperature. The large fans were not enough to keep the boiling tem-perature to a tolerable level, and many had to resort to standing directly in front of the fans in order to avoid passing out, wasting valuable dancing time. Besides these minor disappointments, the Home-coming 2009 dance was a defi nite suc-cess after an equally triumphant Home-coming game against Servite.

ASB UpdateBY: MARIE CHENG, COMMISSIONER OF

COMMUNICATIONS

Summer has gone and the school year has arrived. While students around cam-pus scramble to fi nd their new lockers, new classrooms, or new parking spots, this year’s Associated Student Body (ASB) is also hard at work planning up-coming events. After organizing Home-coming, our ASB begins preparing for the anticipated Fountain Valley Week. Between writing scripts for assemblies and creating decorations, our members are also busy making dozens of posters that can be seen around campus. Mean-while, we are also putting together the fi nal arrangements for Club Rush, which will take place in the fi rst week of Oc-tober. In addition, we also have a Dress Drive planned as a school-wide commu-nity service event. Indeed, this will cer-tainly be a hectic month for ASB, but we love and enjoy every minute of it. However, one does not have to be part of ASB in order to participate in school activities. In fact, there are numer-ous chances for students to become more involved, whether it be joining a sport, a club, or choir. Not only does this pro-vide students something to look forward to during the day, it also gives people a way to meet new friends and get to know our school better as well. Moreover, in-dividuals who become involved with the school realize that they do not just go to Edison, they are Edison. It is the students which make up the school. The more stu-dents invest in the school year, the more

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2009-2010 ASB

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S.O.S: Welcoming Our Newest Students to the Charger FamilyBY: ERICA GLEASON, EDITOR IN CHIEF The fi rst day of freshman year can certainly be daunting. I have heard many tales of going to the wrong class, getting lost, or getting pranked by some sadistic seniors. Thankful-ly, Edison tries to counter such trag-edies by welcoming new students for a day of orientation during the week before school starts. This year, approximately 90 student orienta-tion leaders welcomed 600+ new students, mostly freshman. Under the direction of Mr. Strachan and Mollie Duner, S.O.S. leaders led groups of students in a day of games and other activities to acquaint them with Edison and prepare them for a successful and exciting year at their new school. The day of orientation really began two days before the actual event, when S.O.S. leaders met to prepare for and train each other for the arrival of the new students. De-spite the scorching weather and the temptation to enjoy the last precious days of summer at the beach, these dedicated leaders put forth their best

efforts in rehearsing the event and or-ganizing the materials for the day. When orientation fi nally arrived, the hundreds of new students were enthu-siastically welcomed by their S.O.S. leaders into the gym, where they par-ticipated in many fun ice-breaking ac-tivities. Among the favorite activities were the human knot game, a drawing activity, and some intense games of Ninja. During the group activities, the gym was fi lled with the sounds of anx-ious freshman voices nervously asking questions, as well as the occasional “hi-ya!” as leaders got their groups excited with their goofy Ninja moves. After the games, the new students were led on a tour of the campus to prepare them for navigating the confusing halls of Edi-son High School. The day concluded with free pizza for all participants, and the bowl was fi lled with the buzz of back-to-school conversation and the building of friendships as hundreds of students shared lunch together. New student orientation was a fun day for freshman and leaders alike, and many friendships were made even before the start of the school year. S.O.S. is just one of the many ways that students can get involved at Edison, and hopefully, as the year progresses, new students will feel welcome in this Charger fam-ily and will fi nd a way to get involved and give back to their school.

HOMECOMING GAME (FROM PAGE 1-)Following a blocked field goal re-turned for a touchdown, Servite had an early 6-0 lead. However, Edison went on to play a near-flaw-less game, thoroughly dominating the Friars. Matt Viles led the way, dissecting the defense with short-quick passes that kept the Servite defense on edge, while the Charger defense kept Servite from scoring an offensive touchdown. Next, Edison will go on to face another Trinity League opponent, Mater Dei, next Thursday night, October 1st, in another much-anticipated matchup of top teams. The Mon-archs will look to exact revenge from the Chargers, who defeated them last year. But for now, the Chargers will likely move up to No. 1 in the county rankings fol-lowing an enormous win over the Friars on Friday night.

Orange County Top 101. Edison2. Mission Viejo3. Servite4. Los Alamitos*5. Fountain Valley*6. Orange Lutheran7. Mater Dei*8. La Habra9. San Clemente 10. Newport Harbor** Teams Edison Still has to play(Mater Dei - Week 5)(Newport Harbor - Week 8)(Los Alamitos - Week 9)(Fountain Valley - Week 10)www.edisonchargerfootball.com

Edison’s S.O.S leaders welcome the incoming freshmen

ASB UPDATE (FROM PAGE 2)rewards they will receive at the end of their four years here. While academics always remain a prior-ity, there are always opportunities for students to enrich their high school experience throughout the year. Let’s make this year more than just another school year--let’s make this year something memorable, and something great, because we aren’t just students, we are Chargers.

CRACKING DOWN (FROM PAGE 1)windows of time during school hours. Confronting each individual student with a disconcerting glare, even the boldest senior loses their composure. No lunch pass sticker on the ID card, no passage, no exceptions. The stu-dents were required to fi ll out a form with their parents’ signatures stating that they may leave campus to “go home” for lunch, and they may then obtain a sticker to be placed on their ID card (for which we receive an au-tomatic detention if we don’t have it on our person at all times). I can only wonder why, when we turned in our off-campus permission slips at registration, they didn’t give us our sticker then. It appears that this simple solution would present such a hassle for the administration that it would be inconceivable to do so. Rather, the student, at the mercy of the attendance offi ce, is engulfed in the maw of the crowds that shove

"What harm is a little sticker?"

their way through the lines to ob-tain the small green piece of paper secured to our identifi cation with Scotch tape. As the Principal de-scribed it, as we pass through the gates, we “hold it up like at Sam’s Club, I mean Costco, and it’s much easier as you go by to be like, There’s a sticker, there’s a sticker…” (Math Hallway, 2nd Period, 9/8/08). Now this public institution has been com-pared, by the Principal herself, to one of those massive superstores that is the hallmark of American society, where everything and everyone are counted and processed in bulk, where the individual’s senses of worth and independence are disregarded so that heightened profi t and only minor ex-ertion can fall back into the hands of the management. Quite unsettled, I thought that this new restriction, the new sticker on our ID card, and all the new hassles and regulations that were established as a result of it, just another step toward eventual total domination. This running motif of institution oppressing the individual has existed since the founding of so-cieties. We may wonder what other injustices will be compounded onto the students of Edison High School that they must stomach without pro-test or representation. Proportional to its size, Hun-tington Beach has one of the lowest crime rates in the beautiful U. S. of A. The managers of Edison High claim that the inner-city style fenc-ing is there for two reasons: to keep the students in, and keep “suspicious persons” out. If this were an inner-city school with genuine cause to fear the safety of the students against the Crips, Bloods, Yellows, Purples, Greens, or whatever colorful menag-erie of gangs that are currently roam-ing the violent streets outside Mos-simo’s and Juice It Up, then fencing

us in would be justifi able. However, since clearly it is more likely that a student will be injured from slipping in a hallway than being in the middle of some non-existent wild gang brawl, everyone can deduce that the protective barricade has one true purpose, “to keep the students in”. Appar-ently, the words prison and school are syn-onymous, with their authoritarian guards and their enveloping fortifi cations. The school also wants to reduce the ditching and truancies that occur daily by monitoring our movement about the school, yet as young adults, we should be learning the consequences of our impulsive and immature desires to cut class, instead of being “sheltered from temptation”. If we ditch, incurring a truancy, then it’s our loss, it’s our Saturday School. If we forge a note, then we may escape the work and attentiveness that is required of us that day, but we will never learn that day’s lesson in class. That lesson could be a quintessen-tial part of the test that would follow in the coming days or even something that we are expected to know in our future careers. Our administrators’ intentions are well-meaning yet badly-executed; kids need to discover that there are consequences for their badly calculated choices, preferably now when they have a chance to rectify their decisions, rather than when the alter-native in the adult world is imprisonment or heavy fi nes. Late last year, during a student-ambassador meeting I attended, they told us that they would be constructing the new gates and monitoring all the school’s exits, including the parking lot. While they don’t seem to be monitoring the driveways at the moment, at least they made the parking lot just a little more chaotic by closing one of the two vital exits by the track. Complete-ly extraneous, this choice by the heads of Edison has accomplished one thing, am-plifying the likelihood of an accident by confusing drivers. And, at least the rowdy underclassmen trapped on campus can run a little wilder with most of the supervision sector uselessly guarding the border.

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A Glimpse of Old and New Russia

BY MEGAN KABRE, ASST. EDITOR

These days, the connotations with old and new Russia prompt one to think of a multitude of things. Many automatically think of the powerful Romanov family, some are spell-bound with thoughts of the glorious Bolshoi Theater of Ballet, and oth-ers are still dazzled by the intricately hand-crafted Faberge eggs. Regard-less of everyone’s controversial opinions about Russia, St. Peters-burg is truly a majestic city in which old architectural beauty still thrives in the midst of a bustling metropolis; one which I was fortunate enough to visit in July.Halfway through my Baltic Sea ad-venture, I spent two days in St. Pe-tersburg, exploring eight of the most popular sites within the city. Our mid-morning departure for the city from our cruise ship was at fi rst un-welcoming with a steady shower of rain ready to spill over some rather threatening gray clouds. However, all was forgotten as we approached the Peterhof Palace, built upon the

order of Peter the Great in 1714. The Peterhof, often called the “Russian Versailles”, takes royal dwellings to an entirely new level. Elegantly built over one kilometer of land, the lemon yel-low building, ornamented with white panels and arches, brings “exquisite” to an entirely new meaning. The French-inspired building is surrounded by the almost painfully detailed 17th century imperial gardens. Amongst the com-plex rows of trees, the Grand Cas-cade Fountain lies in the center of the entrance. The breathtaking fountains include a massive amount of gold stat-ues continually spewing water, which leave no less than a stunning vision in one’s mind. The interior of the palace is just as dramatic, with gold chandeliers hanging from the elevated sky blue col-ored walls, once again mimicking the Château de Versailles. Surprisingly, the Peterhof includes many other cultural aspects which were very fashionable at the time. Chinese art, furniture, and pat-terns are visible in many of the “apart-ment rooms” of the palace, designated for the lad of the house’s liking. The Peterhof was one the highlights of my stay in Russia, only second to the fasci-nating Winter Palace. While I was sure nothing could top

The Grand Cascade Fountain of the Peterhof Palace

the magnifi cent Peterhof Palace that I had seen the previous day, I was proved wrong as I spent four hours inside the walls of the infamous Winter Palace, a former residence of the imperial family. The external view of the Winter Palace is an immense sea-green colored build-ing with white panels and gold embel-lishment. The fi ve-hundred foot long palace contains an astounding number of bedrooms, 1,057 to be exact. Addi-tionally, it includes four hundred en-tertainment areas, dining quarters, and dancing halls, all with opulent crystal chandeliers ready to illuminate the rooms. Having just studied the devas-tating history of the Russian Revolution four months prior, I was amazed by all the fi ne details that the tour guide men-tioned about the tsar’s reign, as well as the brutal torment that the common public was forced to endure. The reality of millions of people starving just out-side such a glorious building was heart-breaking to hear about; especially as a teenager who has been engrossed by Romanovs’ lifestyle. By far, my experi-ence there has been one of my favorites within Europe; not as overwhelming as the Vatican, but with an extensive art collection in the Hermitage that rivals the Museo del Prado, in my own opin-ion. Clearly, a visit to St. Petersburg is simply a must for anyone who is ready to be mesmerized by Russia’s past, or even for an easy afternoon overlook-ing the Neva River, munching on some traditional pirozhki and blini from the market.

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The Enormous Winter PalaceHermitage Museum

One Step AheadBY: JOOHI KASLIWAL, STAFF WRITER

As one of the most successful programs on campus, the Boys and Girls Cross Country team kicked off their racing season with a tremendous start at Mt San Antonio College on September 12th! On a Saturday morning, our cross coun-try team raced a grueling two mile course in the intense heat against forty other teams from various parts of California. This course required not only skill and athleticism from our athletes, but also extreme endurance which is vital in bat-tling the hills and successfully complet-ing the race. With Maddy Herpy’s quote in mind, “Don’t stop believing even when you have succeeded,” a stellar performance was given by sophomore

Lauren Grego, fastest female Charger of the day with a time of 12: 47, placing 38th out of the 815 girls racing that day! Further accomplishments include junior Dominique Gilpin and sophomore Alix Qeenenville who have placed them-selves on the Edison Girls All time list for this “Fastback Shootout” race. The Boys Cross Country team was lead by senior Matt McElroy, defending Sunset League Champion and a top state performer. He was the fastest runner of the day with a time of 9: 41, setting high hopes for his upcoming season. Matt Thiede and Justin Wood were also amongst the top performers on the Boys Cross Country team, placing in the top forty of their race. Overall, Chargers placed tenth out of forty teams. Congratulations and good luck on the upcoming season!

Uruguay VacationBY: ABBY KERFOOT, STAFF WRITER

Uruguay isn’t exactly the answer most people are expecting when they ask where you went for summer vacation.But it’s the answer they’re getting from me and Zach Daus this year.We went to Montevideo, Uruguay at the beginning of August and each lived with a family there for three weeks. We took four hours of Spanish classes a day; but more importantly we had to rely on our Span-ish the whole time we were there to get by. Our host families didn’t speak any Eng-lish, either, so we were able to experience total immersion. I emphasize this because the main reason for the trip was to improve our Spanish. Montevideo, along with Buenos Aires, is the home of the tango; and I was lucky enough to have a professional tango in-structor as my host mother. She was in-credibly friendly. She took me, Zach, and two women from Brazil that we met there to watch her perform in a restaurant. In my last week there she gave me and a girl from Connecticut a free tango lesson, and put us in touch with a friend of hers who teaches salsa. Though dance is not a particular in-terest of mine, it was exciting to see this expression of local culture fi rsthand. One characteristic of Uruguay that sets it apart from all other countries in the Americas is its complete lack of an indigenous population. This is because the European settlers entirely wiped out all the natives. I found it almost reassuring to hear that there was at least one country that had committed more egregious offenses against its aboriginals than the United States. Uruguay may be most famous for two things: excellent beef and excellent beaches. I know at least some of you are now convinced that it must be heaven on earth. Cows outnumber people three to one, and Uruguayans eat steak ten to

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Edison 2009-2010 Boys Cross Country

2009-2010 Girls Cross Country Team

URUGUAY (FROM PAGE 6)twelve times a week on average. We ate at el Mercado del Puerto, a legend-ary building fi lled with parrilladas (res-taurants devoted exclusively to serving fi rst-rate meat.) You may have seen it on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show “No Reservations” last year. Uruguay’s most famous bal-neario (beach town—think Avalon in Catalina) is Punta del Este, a town about two hours by bus from Montevideo, the capitol. It is the summer destination for South America’s richest and most cel-ebrated stars, as well as affl uent Europe-ans and Americans looking for a warm beach vacation between December and March. Zach and I went with our Brazil-ian friends to Punta del Este, where we saw the famous hand statue pictured. However, I was more interested in Uruguayan culture than any of these famous places. For example, there are a number of ferias (open-air artisan mar-kets), the most famous of which is la Feria de Tristán Narvaja. Every Sunday morning, one of the biggest streets in the country is packed with people selling ev-erything from leather goods to antiques to pirated video games. They even sell ani-mals: people had labrador puppies shiv-ering in cardboard boxes and were selling them for only about $5 each. Another cornerstone of Uru-guayan tradition is mate, an herbal tea served in a hollowed-out gourd and drunk

through a silver straw with a fi lter at the end. It is also drunk in Argentina and Paraguay, but the custom has a little twist in Uruguay. The people take their drinks with them everywhere they go and refi ll it with a thermos carried somewhat awkwardly under one arm. On multiple occasions I saw signs out-side public buildings warning that they did not allow you to bring in food, drink, or mate—as though mate constituted a class of its own. I loved my time in Uruguay. I was able to improve my Spanish dras-tically, and to see life in another hemi-sphere. I think it has helped me to con-sider events in a more global context, and to realize that people are essentially the same no matter where you go.

Travel Club Goes To South America

BY: ZACH DAUS, STAFF WRITER

Several months ago, I remember Mrs. Carpenter, a recently retired Edison Eng-lish teacher, telling me about her Zimba-bwe adventure. After hearing her accounts of past school trips, and this one in partic-

ular, I quickly decided that I had to go on her upcoming Peru and Ecuador summer trip. While it may not have been as life-threatening as her previous trips, Peru and Ecuador was defi nitely one of her most memorable and did not disappoint any of the group members’ high expectations.Leaving LAX at one in the morning, we arrived at Peru’s bustling capital city con-fused and exhausted. Luckily, our group was in the hands of one of the world’s best travel tour groups, and we were quickly bussed from the airport to our ho-tel, located in the upscale neighborhood of Mirafl ores. Home to many of the city’s top hotels and luxurious apartment com-plexes, Mirafl ores overlooks the Pacifi c Ocean from a one hundred foot tall cliff. That evening we met with Mr. D’Brot, whose visit to see his Peruvian family happened to correspond with our time in Peru’s capital city. A native Peruvian, Mr. D’Brot gave us advice on how to cross the suicidal Lima streets and pointed out the neighborhood’s main areas of inter-est. The following morning we left the Peru-vian coast for Cusco, where we explored the Inca ruins and native Andean culture. While in Cusco, we learned how the Span-ish colonists destroyed many aspects of traditional Peruvian culture, including the temples and famous palaces of the Inca royalty. At the same time, however, many elements of traditional Andean culture remain in cities like Cusco and the sur-rounding countryside. While in the central Peruvian mountains, we also were able to visit one of the world’s most famous ar-cheological sites, Machu Picchu. Located on the precipice of an Andean mountain peak, Machu Picchu is evidence to the awe-inspiring cultural and technological advances of the former Inca Empire. After our journey through Peru’s Inca past, our group traveled north to Ecuador, where we visited the Galapagos Islands. Shortly after our fi rst expedition on the is-lands, it became apparent how such a

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SOUTH AMERICA (FROM PAGE 7)place could help infl uence the creation of a theory as momentous as evolution. Each of the islands represents a distinct ecological habitat, with desert ecosys-tems to tropical forest ecosystems all being located just a short distance away from each other. From the Galapagos, we returned to mainland South America for one last time to visit the capital of Ecuador, Qui-to. After spending two nights in Quito, we returned back to southern Califor-nia not only more knowledgeable about other cultures, but more knowledgeable about one the world’s greatest scientifi c discoveries. Knowledge was not the only thing we gained, however. Leaving our sheltered suburban homes, we were able to develop a new worldview that gave us a sense of what it means to be part of this multi-cultural planet.

THE BOLT 2009-2010 STAFF

Erica Gleason - Editor in ChiefMegan Kabre - Asst. Editor in ChiefJosh Francis -Layout ManagerAlex Barbarian - Distribution ManagerTina Nguyen - DistributionAllyson Bach - Financial ManagerLottie Frick - AdvertisingMarina Ahn - AdvertisingAlina Carnahan - AdvertisingMarie Cheng - ASB Liaison, Staff WriterCassandra Owen - Staff WriterMatt Nguyen - Staff WriterOlivia Hayward - Staff WriterKristine Thomason - Staff WriterCecilia Walker - Staff WriterJoohi Kasliwal - Staff WriterZach Daus - Staff WriterAbby Kerfoot - Staff WriterMatt McEachern - Staff WriterFaris Barudi - Staff WriterShannon Nye - Staff WriterLori Chlarson - AdvisorRyan Hayes - Online Administrator

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