06 March 09-10 - Santa Margarita Catholic High School

 THE BLUEPRINT
Santa Margarita
March 2010
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
INSIDE
News p 1
New Mass Uniforms
World News p 2
Iran Nuclear State
Health p 3
Smoothies
Entertainment p 4
Coachella
Opinion p 5
Plastic Surgery
Karlie & Laura p 6& 7
Bamboozle!
Features p 8
Germany vs. America
Special Section p 9
Mr. Dunne’s Irish Jig
Sports p 10-11
Boys Lacrosse
Campus Min p 12
Special Olympics
New Mass Uniforms for 2010-2011
By Alisha Maline and Kelsie Ramirez
The BIGGEST rumor
around school...MASS
UNIFORMS?! This shocking rumor is true, after
speaking to Mr. Dunne, we
got the scoop on the new
uniforms. Mr. Dunne informed us that the uniforms, in fact, are not only
worn at school masses but
to another school events
including: assemblies, “big
events,” and other outside
activities where students
represent the school. Mr.
Dunne could not provide us
with the exact uniform
dress, but as of right now
thoughts of what the student body will be wearing
include a sweater vest for
both boys and girls, a grey
skirt for girls that will
touch the knee, with
matching or khaki colored
pants and cardigans for the
boys. Rumors have been
spreading that girls will
have to wear a dress, this is
not true. Many questions
have been brought up such
as: will seniors have to buy
these new uniforms?
Where did this idea come
paying a little extra for the
tie they will be required to
wear.
Last, but not least,
why has the administration
gone toward this decision,
and will there be more
masses in the future? Mr.
Dunne and the administration feel it would be more
respectful to our school,
family, and friends who
come to join us during
masses. More importantly
we will be showing our respect to God. There will not
be weekly masses but he
hopes in making masses at
least once a month.
Mr. Dunne says, he
“wants student and parent
involvement throughout
this process.” There will be
an online survey after Easter vacation, allowing parents to vote on what uniform style and combination
they like better. Everyone
will have a say in the new
mass uniforms. This change
will make us, as a student
body, more uniformed, respectful, and sophisticated.
ing wardrobes states,
“Working Wardrobes empowers men, women, and
young adults in life crises to
confidently enter the
workforce with career development and wardrobe
services. Our vision is to increase the self-sufficiency
of individuals through
community and corporate
partnerships. We believe in
serving our clients, volunteers and donors with dignity and respect; Transforming the lives of our clients through job readiness
and career development,
leading to self-sufficiency;
Engaging the power of
volunteerism; Building strategic partnerships; and Enhancing Working Wardrobes’ financial stability
through social enterprise.”
Thanks go out to all members of the Santa Margarita
community who donated
dresses this year! And remember, save your prom or
other formal dresses for our
annual prom dress drive occurring next March!
By: Emily Haines and Megan Murphy
If you had to eat one food
for the rest of your life, what
food would you choose?
“Go-Gurts!”
Garrett Parsons, Freshman
Stevie Ferraro, Sophomore
“Whatever Tungate eats for lunch.”
“Los Primos Cali Grande Burrito.”
Troy Pigneri , Junior
came in after peer ministry
went to them with this
idea, and asked what uniform styles that they liked
best. The administration
wanted full participation
from the peer ministry and
ASB classes. The peer ministry had gone to an outside
school function, meeting
with other schools and the
Bishop. Wearing our skorts’
and polo shirts’, the peer
ministry group of kids felt
messy and out of place.
Will the deans be issuing detentions during
lunches and break if we are
not in next years mass dress
code? Yes they will, if one
is not in the right mass dress
code, it is a deans dress code
detention. A 45 minute detention will be given to students who are not wearing
the right uniform.
We all know Westway
uniforms are very expensive,
so how much will these new
blouses and sweaters cost?
The skirts for the girls will
cost the same as the skorts
we already wear. The boys,
on the other hand, will be
Cinderella’s for Life Prom Dress Drive Success
Student Sound Off
“Matzo ball soup!”
from? Will there be punishments for not buying or
wearing them? How much
will it cost? And why does
the administration want students to wear a mass uniform?
Will the 2010-2011 Seniors have to buy the new
mass uniforms? Yes, this will
be a requirement for the entire student body, seniors
included. Mr. Dunne said,
“It would look odd if only
seniors were out of mass
uniform dress code.” Even
though seniors only have
one year left at SM, they will
be required to buy the new
uniform.
Where did this idea
come from? Peer Ministry,
ASB, and our own student
body came up with this unexpected decision. They decided that this would be a
more respectful and courteous way to dress for mass.
Senior, and peer ministry
student, Karina Gonzalez
said, “The administration
came in and asked us which
uniform combination we
liked.” The administration
Justin Malloy , Senior
As you have heard in
the mor ning announcements, we have been collecting gently used dresses,
shoes, and accessories to donate to the Working Wardrobes “Cinderella’s for Life”
event. This event allows underprivileged teens to pick
out their perfect prom dress,
an opportunity they would
not have without this organization. Thanks to the students of SMCHS, and the
community, we have collected over seventy dresses
this year! According to a
working wardrobes representative, “Throughout the
day, our beautiful guests attend empowering, lifechanging workshops and will
shop for the perfect dress —
complete with matching
shoes, purses, and accessories.” This was the fourth
year that Santa Margarita
has donated large quantities
of formal gowns, dresses,
shoes, and accessories. The
mission statement of work-
Seniors modeling dresses. Photo Courtesy
of smhs.org
Working Wardrobes Logo. Photo
Courtesy of google.com
WORLD NEWS
March 2010
Iran Declares Itself a Nuclear State
Tiger Woods Drama
On Febuary 11 th , 2010
(the 31 st anniversary of the
Islamic Revolution in
Te h r a n , I r a n ) , I r a n i a n
President
Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad proclaimed
that his country now has
“the capacity to make
weapons-grade nuclear fuel
if it chose to.” This directly
violates a treaty called the
Iran Safeguards Agreement
that Iran made with the
IAEA (International Atomic
Energy Agency) in 1974
concerning the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
Simply put, Iran swore to
the United Nations agency
thirty-six years ago that it
would only carry out
“peaceful nuclear activities
within its territory.”
Until recently, Iran had
vehemently assured the rest
of the world that its nuclear
research program was only
concerned with developing
alternative energy. As of
Febuary 27 th , Iran is now
displaying the proof of its
nuclear statehood by keeping its nuclear weapons
above ground. Some believe
that this is Iran’s way of
daring another nation like
Israel or the United States
By A.J. McCartney
By Lauren Gardner
to attack the facility. According to the New York
Ti m e s , s u c h a n a t t a c k
would most likely unify the
currently politically divided
country.
Since the supposedly
rigged 2009 presidential
election,
when
Ahmadinejad won a second term, a pro-democracy
movement has been gaining more and more political support. The primary
goal of the “Green movement,” so nicknamed because of the vibrant green
clothes worn by its supporters, is to get the government to, over time,
grant their people the civil
rights they are entitled to
in their constitution.
Iranian government
authorities have repressed
these rights and done their
best to portray the movement as a “dangerous
counterrevolution,” says
NPR. It has been reported
that members of the Green
party tried to assemble a
protest at the Feburay 11 th
government-sponsored
rally at Azadi Square, but
that members were beaten
by the Basij militia until
they were forced to disperse.
At the moment, there
isn’t much anyone can do
to stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons. According to John Remmell,
head of Santa Margarita’s
Model United Nations program, “The UN Security
Council could authorize the
use of force theoretically.
However, that is unlikely in
the near future. What is
more probable is a new
‘round’ of sanctions against
Iran. Specifically targeting
individuals and companies
involved with the nuclear
program.”
This means that,
through the United Nations,
other countries could
refuse to trade with Iranian
businesses until Iran stops
producing nuclear weapons. However, this could
unify Iran against those
countries and might only
make matters worse. For
now, the situation in Iran
will remain tense as governments worldwide strive
to find a solution.
Devastating Chile Earthquake
By John Migliaccio
A devastating earthquake with a magnitude of
8.8 hit the South American
country of Chile on Saturday,
February 27 th . This earthquake was far bigger than the
recent earthquake in Haiti,
but it was less deadly. The
death toll caused by this
earthquake has already risen
past 700 people, but it is expected to rise in the next few
weeks.
This earthquake occurred before dawn and
lasted for about three minutes. There was also an aftershock with a magnitude of
6.2 that was recorded 20 minutes after the initial earthquake. In addition, there were
also two more aftershocks
with magnitudes of 5.4 and
5.6 that followed the first aftershock. The earthquake
destroyed over 500,000
homes and millions of people
were left homeless. This
earthquake caused a 2.34 m
tsunami that hit the Chilean
port city of Talcahuano and
part of the Concepcion
conurbation.
2
Of the tsunami, Chile’s
defense minster said, “The
navy committed an error in
not alerting the tsunami.” He
admits that his navy made a
mistake by not alerting Chileans and that resulted in the
loss of life. This tsunami
caused serious damage to
port facilities and lifted a few
boats out of the water.
This earthquake in
Chile did not only cause a
loss of homes throughout
Chile and a large death toll,
but it also threw Chile into
complete chaos and disorder.
In Concepcion, Chile, it appears that there is looting
occuring. People who have
been devastated by the Chile
earthquake have been seen
walking and roaming the
streets of Concepcion, carrying goods like milk, toiletries, and other consumer
goods. This is truly a catastrophic image and a terrible
sequence. The Chilean government is also attempting to
end the looting and hoarding
throughout Chile by sending
over 10,000
troops to stop
the looting,
stealing, and
other terrifying
acts. This chaotic effect is a
result of the
desperations of
the Chileans
that were left
homeless because of the
catastrophic
earthquake.
Hopefully,
the Chilean
government
will be able to
end all the looting in Chile.
The Chilean
government requested international aid
from the U.N.
and countries
like the United
States who are
helping to restore this devastated nation.
Tiger Woods’ troubles in the
past months have been no secret,
but people are still unsure about
the facts. On November 27th ,at
2:25 a.m., Tiger Woods was involved in a minor car accident.
While he was pulling out of his
driveway, he ran into a fire hydrant and then a tree in his
neighbor’s yard. This car accident brought an end to the pristine lifestyle that he was leading.
A few days after
the accident, a woman came out
and said that she and Tiger had
an affair and that she had the evidence to prove it. There was a
voicemail on her phone left by
Tiger explaining to her that she
needed to delete his number from
her phone. She was the first of
fourteen women to claim that they
had had affairs with the world’s
top golfer.
Recently, Tiger has
checked himself into sexual addiction rehabilitation. He rented
a house outside the facility for his
wife so that she could make
regular visits to him. However,
there have been no reports of her
visiting him in the sexual addiction rehabilitation center.
On February 19th, 2010,
Tiger made a public apology from
Pointe Vedra Beach, Florida. He
expressed how sorry he was
for committing his irresponsible
actions. He explained that he
understands why everyone is
critical of him at this time. He
channeled his anger toward the
media saying he is appalled that
they would follow his children
to their preschool and stake out
there. Many people say that his
apology was worthless and
would have been better for him
not to make an apology at all. I
think he did a great job expressing his regret.
Tiger Woods has
done an enormous amount of
work for the PGA tour, charities, and his own foundation.
Sponsors such as Tag Heuer,
Gatorade, and Accenture have
severed ties with the world’s
number 1 golfer. Nike and Electronic Arts have continued to
endorse Woods. He has built
an empire with the TW golf
brand, he has established golf
as a global sport, and has won
over 70 PGA events including
14 majors. I personally don’t
think what Tiger did was right,
but he is human, like the rest of
us, and we all make mistakes.
March 2010
HEALTH
Hand Sanitizer: Friend or Foe? March of Dimes
By Alyssa Collica
Our generation today uses
a lot of hand sanitizer. You will
find them in every bathroom of
every school and hospital.
Some people even buy portable mini ones to keep in their
purses. The question is what’s
better? Using original soap and
water or using this hand sanitizer?
Research shows that
when you put hand sanitizer on
your hands, the viruses don’t
want to cling to the sanitizer. It
reduces the amount of viruses
that can cling to your hand, but
it does not kill them. When people wash their hands with soap,
dirt and germs get trapped in
the natural oils of the skin and
are lifted and suspended in the
water. Soap isn’t really capable of killing the germs, but what
soap is good for is lifting the
germs from the skin. An ABC
News Report tested alcoholbased hand sanitizers, antibacterial soap, and regular soap.
They found that alcohol-based
hand sanitizers were able to kill
more E. coli bacteria on hands
than either antibacterial or plain
soap. They also did not find a
significant advantage in using
antibacterial soap rather than
regular soap. In fact, there are
concerns that using antibacterial
soap will only produce stronger,
more resistant strains of bacteria. Hand sanitizer doesn’t only
kill the bad germs; it also kills the
good ones.
The food and drug administration recommends that
hand sanitizer be used in conjunction with soap and water. Hand
sanitizer is not a cleansing agent,
and it should not be used to replace soap and water. The best
time to use a hand sanitizer is
when you have come into contact with a contaminated surface,
and hand washing facilities are not
available. After using a hand sanitizer your hands are germ free.
However, your hands will be recontaminated as soon as you
touch anything, so the effect is
short-lived.
There is also a safety risk
involved with hand sanitizer, due
to the high percentage of alcohol. On average sanitizer contains
between 60-95% alcohol. Products with alcohol levels below
60% may actually be unsafe to
use as they simply move bacteria
around the hands instead of killing them. It is also shown, that if
By Rachel Hoynak
a child ingests even a small
amount of hand sanitizer, they
may experience alcohol intoxication or even poisoning.
People today have become
obsessed with hand sanitizer,
and are even starting to replace soap and water with it.
Our society needs to realize
that hand sanitizer isn’t as effective as soap and water and
we shouldn’t be using as
much of it as we do.
March of Dimes is
a non-profit organization
whose goal is to eradicate
birth defects. They focus
their money on paying scientists to test genetics and
parental health. According to March of Dimes
120,000 babies a year are
born with a birth defect.
Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death
in the United States.
March of Dimes helps people with these diseases and
has fundraisers to help
raise money to help scientists get a breakthrough in
the genetics of the people.
This organization also has
a march for babies walk.
The closest walk to our location is in Newport
Beach on April 25 th. The race
begins at 8:30 AM and is a 5.5
mile walk. To register for this
walk, you go to the March of
Dimes website, register, and
make a donation. This walk
will help raise money for the
newborn babies born with a
birth defect. The March of
Dimes is now contributing a
2.6 million dollar donation to
support three scientists on
their next three years of research. Even with this donation, March of Dimes is always in need of help and any
donations possible. The March
of Dimes website has information for concerned parents.
This organization is constantly doing research and trying
to get rid of birth defects.
Hand sanitizer is not as helpful or
sanitary as good old soap and
water. Photo courtesy of Google.
The March of Dimes works to help enrich the lives of infants. Photo courtesy of
Google.
Colorblindness The Magical Wonders of Tea
By Katherine French
Many people have a disorder called colorblindness
and others have a more mild
form of the disorder. Colorblindness is more common
for males because males have
only one sex chromosome
which allows them to be at
higher risk than women. It is
not impossible for women to
be colorblind, but the chance
is more scarce than it is for
men. People believe when a
person is colorblind they can
only see in black and white
which is called monochromasy. This is possible, but is
not likely.
There are many types
and degrees of colorblindness
that people can have. Acc o r d i n g t o
colorvisiontesting.com, all of
this depends on the retina
which is a neuro-membrane
lining the inside back of the
eye. The retina is made up
of several rods and cones.
The rods are what allow us
to see at night and the cones
By Caitlin Boyle
help us perceive color in the
day time. Cones, which allow
us to see color, have a light sensitive pigment, which is sensitive over a range of wavelengths. Our genes have the
coding for these pigments and
if the coding instructions are incorrect, than we will not have
the right pigments made and this
will result in colorblindness.
People who have normal
cones are able to see every color by using cones sensitive to
the red, green or blue wavelength of light. When someone
is colorblind one or possibly
more of the three sensitive pigments is shifted. One out of
twelve men and one out of twohundred women are born colorblind.
Colorblindness is a disorder that cannot be prevented. Many people who have it
can be completely unaware of
it. Although, many people live
with colorblindness and struggle with it they lead completely
normal lives.
Did you know that tea
is the second most consumed
beverage in the world other
than water? Tea is a drink that
has been known to be one of
the healthiest drinks for the human body. Even though many
people have heard this, is it really true? Which types of tea
are the best for you? What are
the benefits of drinking tea?
Here is the truth about various
types of tea.
Tea has been around
for ages, starting in ancient
china, and is still very popular
today. Teas range from iced
tea, green tea, to white tea
etc….Although they’re all different types of tea they all have
their own health benefits.
A c c o r d i n g t o
www.benefitsofgreentea.com,
green tea and other various
types of hot teas are possible
cures for cancer and may be
able to defend the body against
certain cancers. Green tea has
recently been proved to successfully defend the skin from
damage due to ultraviolet light
radiation. It can also boost fat
metabolism and reduce high
cholesterol levels. In chai tea,
the use of honey contains antioxidants that are known to be
very beneficial to heart health.
The antioxidants in the honey
can also ease sore throats, and
can fight bacterial infection in
some cases.
Why chooseArizona
green tea over another drink
like soda? The answer is this:
Soda contains large amounts
of sugars and calories.Arizona
green tea uses Splenda containing zero calories, to keep
its sweet flavors along with the
ginseng extract. Arizona green
tea has marketed their drink to
be an energy formula in a con-
venient way as a healthier alternative to drinking coffee or soda.Although it is much healthier to have
Arizona green tea instead of soda,
hot teas are more natural and more
soothing for your body.
ea is very useful because
it can even be used for things on
your body other than drinking.
Some interesting beauty tips have
been made using tea. For brunettes, you can use a rinse of black
tea to add a rich dark shine to your
luscious hair. For blondes, using a
rinse of chamomile tea will bring
out your natural highlights and give
you a new, fresh look. It can also
be used to wash your face because it acts as an astringent and
works well with acne.
Tea is believed to boost
the body’s defenses in many ways.
Therefore, drinking tea everyday
is very beneficial.
3
ENTERTAINMENT
March 2010
Taylor Swift Fearless Tour!
By Steven Gould
By Sammy Armstrong
Taylor Swift is one of
the most famous pop/country
singers in the world. Everyone has either listened to her
music or heard her name.
Taylor began singing when
she was a baby and was determined to enter the music
industry at the age of eleven. Her debut single, “Tim
McGraw”, was released in
mid-2006 at the age of sixteen. She later released her
self-titled album on October
24, 2006. Although she was
out on the charts, very few
people knew what a phenomenon she would become.
Taylor Swift has become extremely popular
within the last year. She released a new album called
Fearless that has several
number one hits from “Love
Story” to “You Belong With
Me”. Along with this album,
she released a deluxe edition
of Fearless with six new
songs. On January 6 th , 2010
Fearless was claimed the top
selling album of 2009 by
Billboard.com. She was nominated for eight Grammys this
year and won four of them,
one of them being Album of
the Year which is a huge hon-
Bad Company 2: Battle Time
or. Swift is the youngest
person to ever win this
highly acclaimed award.
Not only has she made
the top music charts she
has also hit the movie
charts with her new movie
Valentines Day. Although
she is not much of an actress she was adorable in
this movie. She conquered
a singing career and now
accomplished an acting career. With all of this great
success at the young age
of 20, Swift has a lot more
to achieve
Swift recently began touring for her Fearless album which began on
F e b r u a r y 4 th. T h i s t o u r
comes to California in
April, but all the tour dates
are sold out. If you want to
go hopefully you have
some special connections
to get tickets!
The amazing Taylor Swift is heading
out on her Fearless tour. Photo
courtesy of Google.
APRIL 10
APRIL 11
APRIL 15
Fresno, CA
Save Mart Center
San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Los Angeles, CA
STAPLES Center
APRIL 16
Los Angeles, CA
STAPLES Center
Schedule courtesy of the Taylor Swift website
EA Games has turned the
heads of many gamers when they
announced the arrival of their hit
game Battlefield Bad Company.
Now EA Games is coming out with
a new game called Battlefield Bad
Company 2. This game has been a
part of the amazing franchise, Battlefield. The franchise Battlefield
is a set of games that are usually
focused on large, online multiplayer
battles, with the help of vehicles as
well as team-based war combat.
Battlefield Bad Company 2
has started off the year with new
and improved gameplay. The game
has been updated with the latest
weapons, vehicles and tactics. The
new vehicles in the game allow for
all-new multiplayer tactics in the
warzone. This ensures that it will be
the most realistic vehicle combat
experience to date. This game has
taken warfare to new heights with
the updated DICE, Frostbite engine. Players can now take down
entire buildings or create their own
view points by blasting holes through
cover. In Battlefield Bad Company
2 there will be no place to hide! Players have the ability to blow up or
run over any building they want. This
can be helpful if you need to find a
new way into a building and clear it
out. The vehicles give players an extra advantage toward the war ef-
fort. A good example of this
is the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) which can give
your team a good advantage
of finding out where the other team is. EA has introduced
new gameplay with the help
of squads. Now players can
spawn on your squad to get
straight into the action and help
the war effort. With four distinct character classes, dozens of weapons, several gadgets and specializations, players have over 15,000 kit variations to unlock and master.
The four main character
classes consist of: Assault:
(assault rifles), Medic: (machine guns), Engineer:
(smg’s), and Recon: (sniper
rifles). My personal favorite
class is the Medic. When I
join a squad I am the most
important person in it because
I go out to the front line and
revive my teammates.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 can be played on Xbox
360, PS3, and PC. This game
came out on March 5th and
can be purchased at any local game store. Be sure that
you don’t miss out on the most
realistic, up-to-date game!
NFL Free Agency: Who Will Make the Cut? Nicholas Spark’sThe
By Kyle Geoffrion
By Daniela Huebner
The NFL off-season is
already off to a great start because free agency has started.
Free agency is when the players
that have expired contracts with
their teams are free to go out and
sign with any other team they
wish. Many big names including
hometown favorite LaDanian
Tomlinson, and others such as Julius Peppers, Brian Westbrook,
Thomas Jones, and Dunta Robinson are among the premier players.
Free agency started on
March 5th and some of the top
players are creating news. Julius
Peppers, the ex-Carolina Panther,
is now a Chicago Bear after signing a six year deal that was not
cheap. The beloved running back,
Ladanian Tomlinson signed a two
year deal with the New York Jets,
which is ironic because the Jets
were the team that knocked the
San Diego Chargers out of last
season’s playoffs. The ex-Minnesota Vikings running back Chester Taylor, having played behind
arguably the best running back in
the NFL for the past two seasons,
still has fresh legs and looks to
contribute for his new team, which
is also the Chicago Bears. Tho-
4
mas Jones the ex-jet is now a
Kansas City Chief which will
bring more offense to their team
as he will pair up with the up
and coming Jamaal Charles.
The best free agent cornerback,
Dunta Robinson is now a member of the Atlanta Falcons. Dunta is hoping to be the final piece
to their defensive puzzle. The
premier safety of this years free
agency class, Antrell Rolle, who
spent his last four years with the
Arizona Cardinals after being
their first round draft pick, is
now a New York Giant. This is
huge for the Giants and the contract worth 37 million dollars
they gave him makes him the
highest paid safety in NFL history. Another Arizona Cardinals
player has also departed; Anquan Boldin was traded to the
Baltimore Ravens which is a
gigantic plus for them since they
have needed a go to receiver
for quite some time now. The
pretty well known quarterback
Brady Quinn impressed in his
days at Notre Dame, but now
in the NFL has done nothing
spectacular at all for the Cleveland Browns, which caused
them to trade Quinn to the Den-
ver Broncos.
With many free agents still
yet to sign because it is very early,
plenty of talent is out there for
teams looking to improve. Along
with the start of free agency come
trades. No big name trades (except for Boldin) have occurred yet,
but some that are being speculated would bring surprise to many.
The hot and controversial topic of
Michael Vick is also settled, he will
stay with the Philadelphia Eagles
for at least one more year.
Free agency so far has lived
up to expectation, it is interesting
and very unpredictable. In the coming months leading up to the NFL
season many more players will be
switching teams and looking to
contribute. The free agency period ends the sixth week of the NFL
season which gives teams loads of
time to decide on what decisions
to make. The New York Jets and
Chicago Bears are arguably off to
the best start this year and are not
done yet. The NFL draft is also
going to take place on April 22nd,
but this, however, is a whole other
story. Look for this upcoming 20102011 season to be full of surprises
and excitement with teams having
many new looks.
F r o m t h e N e w Yo r k
Time’s best selling author,
Nicholas Sparks, comes the
latest and greatest novel in his
fifteen crowd-pleasing collection of books. In The Last
Song, Veronica “Ronnie” Miller, is forced to spend a summer with her dad in a small city
in North Carolina away from
her home in New York City.
At first, she is angry and rebellious; refusing to acknowledge her dad’s presence, resentful of the fact that he had
walked out on her and her
family so many years ago. As
the novel progresses however, Ronnie lets her guard down
and begins to fall in love with
the local heartthrob, Will
Blakelee (who is beyond adorable). It is through these experiences that Ronnie learns to
come to terms with life, love,
and death; opening herself up
to a world of love she never
thought existed. A truly unforgettable story, The Last Song,
is definitely a story that needs
to be read.
Last Song
In addition to being
a best selling author,
Nicholas Sparks is also
a successful screenwriter. When writing the
script for the movie, he
wanted to ensure most
of the elements in the
movie correlated to
events in the novel. As
the trailers illustrate, The
Last Song is an extremely moving story.
Although people
may not particularly like
the fact that Miley Cyrus
is playing the role of
Ronnie, she does an incredible job at jumping
out from her Disney shell
and portraying a fantastically emotional character. The on-screen romance between Miley’s
c h a r c t e r a n d Wi l l
Blakelee is not one to
miss. The Last Song hits
theaters on March 31 st,
and by the looks of it, is
sure to be a crowdpleaser.
March 2010
OPINION
School Punishments for Internet Posts? I Say, YES!
By Niki Genthe
It’s eleven pm on a
school night. You keep telling
yourself, just fifteen more minutes online and I’ll start my
homework… Fifteen minutes
suddenly morphs into hours.
Now it is three am, you’re
wiped out, and you still have
tons of homework! Sound familiar? We have all experienced
this to an extent at one point in
our lives. The internet’s powers are massive and it is hard to
resist its electric temptation.
It goes without saying
that western society is practically slave-driven by the worldwide web including celebrity
gossip blogs, pirating music on
LimeWire, keeping personal
diaries online, and big social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal, Habbo,
Xanga, YouTube, and
MySpace. I want to address a
recent issue that has become a
prominent problem in our techsavvy generation. Should we be
held accountable at school for
what we post online? I say,
yes. But when faced with this
question, students have had
varied answers.
According to senior
Holli Hitzeman, “Our personal lives should not be the
school’s business.” I know
you would like to think life
outside of school is separate
from Santa Margarita; however privacy does not exist,
especially online. Senior Sean
Summer states, “We signed
a school contract. It’s the
truth.” He is one hundred percent correct. Students, I recommend you take a quick
peek at your planners on
page forty-five, “Actions on
or off campus that can detrimentally impact the school’s
reputation [including its faculty, staff, administration] can
result in disciplinary consequences…” Not only are
there detailed school rules in
regard to what we do on
school. Colleges and businesses actually hire people who
go on social networks to see if
you might be detrimental to their
image. This is completely legal!
You might think you are safe with
your “pseudo-privacy settings”
on Facebook; however that is
not the case. Ever heard of
hacking? You need to triplecheck yourself before you post
online because this can easily
ruin your future college aspirations and careers.
On various social networks, we have the option to
list where we go to school, join
school networks, and take part
in “hilarious” fan sites such as
“You Know You Go To SM
When…” Sure. It might be fun
at first to talk about some of the
special advantages an SM student has over others, such as
the delicious school food and
higher educational opportunities. Sophomore Jameson
Sansone exclaims, “You can
only take it so far. There is a
point you shouldn’t go past.”
Fellow students, where do we
draw the line between appropriate and slander? Senior
Sean Andrews claims, “Because of Freedom of Speech,
people should be allowed to
say what they want.” Correct,
the First Amendment protects
our right to have and state our
opinion but this does not give
us free reign. It is not all sunshine and smiles, my friends!
You cannot make false accusations about a person without
substantial proof; otherwise
you are committing the act of
deformation which is also mentioned in the school planner.
Disciplinary punishment aside, we also need to
take into account the emotional
impact negative things posted
online can have on us and the
people we talk about. Whether
we admit or not, the things we
say hurt more than physical pain
and stay with us longer. Think
before you type, Eagles!
By Denise Fernandez and
Melissa Zornig
In our world today,
plastic surgery seems to be
the new fad. From regular
housewives to major
celebrities, everyone is getting
it. Whether it is nose jobs,
breast implants, liposuction,
Botox, etc., men and women
are trying to meet society’s
standard of perfection.
Men and women
usually get plastic surgery at
an older age to try and make
themselves look younger. For
example, on the show that
everyone knows, Real
Housewives of Orange
County, there are fifty year
old women who try to look
like they are twenty. Nicole
Kidman is another example.
People age for a reason, and
it looks more obvious when
someone is trying to look
younger. These people are not
fooling anyone!
Followers of today’s
fashion fads that keep up with
the younger look get plastic
gracefully over the years.
They all look the age they
should. They also have a
sense of self-respect and
contentment with themselves.
These are the type of
celebrities that more people
should look up to.
Plastic surgery should
only be meant for people who
truly need it. For example, if
someone breaks their nose
and needs to get it put back in
place. It should not be for
people who want larger
Twenty- year old, Heidi Montag, before and after pictures.
breasts, a shapely nose,
Photo courtesy of Google.
bigger lips, skinnier thighs, a
surgery to make themselves looked more natural. Now
smaller stomach, and all the
look, to what they think, is
you cannot even recognize
rest of the plastic surgeries
more beautiful. Take Heidi
the once innocent girl from
people are making excuses
Montag for example. She is Laguna Beach.
for.
twenty three years old and
Even Hollywood’s
God created you to
got ten surgeries done in
stars have decided to kick the look the way you do and to
one day! That’s twenty four knife to the curb and let
age throughout a lifetime. He
hours, SM students! Not
nature do its work.
did not want you to look fake
only is it obvious that she
Celebrities like Diane
and young your whole life. If
got the surgeries done, but
Keaton, Clint Eastwood, and you need to lose weight, it’s
now she looks like a fake
Jack Nicholson have all gone simple: get off your lazy butt,
Malibu Barbie. Before the
the opposite route of their
and get a membership to 24
surgery she was prettier and peers and have aged
hour fitness.
Although plastic
surgery can be very costly,
many people who get the
procedures done cannot just
stop at one. If they fix one
thing, they want to fix
another. This can run up your
bills and be a huge waste of
money. Why don’t you spend
your money on things that
matter more in this world and
in life than you looking fake?
Once again, Heidi Montag is
a perfect example for this and
pretty much for everyone.
She told People magazine
that, “For the past three
years, I’ve thought about
what to have done. I’m
beyond obsessed.” She
cannot even control herself
when it comes to the thought
of ,“I have to keep looking
perfect.”
It’s truly sad to see
what our society has come
to. What’s going to stop you
from getting more plastic
surgery in the future?
Nothing.
cyber-space, but California
and various other states have
recently passed laws as well.
As of January 1, 2010, California school officials cannot be
legally penalized for suspending or expelling students due to
cyber-harassment and cyberbullying.
We symbolize the
school no matter where we are,
what we are doing, or what we
are saying. Take a moment and
think about it from a business
perspective. SM is the employer and we are its employees. If we do something to
negatively place our beloved
“employer” in the limelight, they
deserve the right to “fire” or
discipline us. Sophomore Katie
Fernelius agrees, “The school
has the right to protect its image because we represent SM
online, including Facebook!”
You need to realize that
negatively posting online has the
potential to create worse problems than getting disciplined at
Frankenstein? Oh No, it’s Just Heidi Montag!
5
March 2010
SOCO is Back in
Action at Bamboozle!
By Taylor Razzano
People have been
waiting for this day since
their break up in 2006.
Something Corporate announced that they will be
performing for the first time,
since their breakup, at Bamboozle Left, on March 28.
December 2009 was one of
the most exciting days for all
Something Corporate fans.
This was the day they announced they will be performing together again.
SoCo’s last performance was
in October 2006, where they
played at a Jack’s Mannequin
concert.
Something Corporate started in 1998 in Orange
County, California. Their last
performance consisted of
band members Andrew
McMahon, Josh Partington,
Kevin Page, and Brian Ireland. Many know McMahon
from his latest band Jack’s
Mannequin, and from his
awesome recovery from
Acute Lymphatic Leukemia.
Something Corporate has been a hit from the
day they started. “If You C
Jordan” was one of SoCo’s
most successful hits, which
hit 29 on the Alternative
Songs chart. There three studio albums consisted of
Ready…Break, Leaving
Through the Window, and
North. “Konstantine” was
one of Something Corporate
most popular hits and still is
today.
The Bamboozle Left
music festival is to be held
on March 27 and 28. It will
take place at Angel Stadium
in Anaheim. Each day consists of many different bands.
The two favorites of the first
day are AFI and Angels &
Airwaves. And of course, the
most popular band of the
second day is Something
Corporate. A two day pass
cost $82, and a one day pass
is $45. This would be a great
birthday present, or just a
kind gesture, to get a ticket!
Something Corporate has not finalized their
set list for Bamboozle, but
there are rumors going
around that they have been
working on new songs. Hopefully they will play all of their
hits! Many hope to hear
Konstantine, but Andrew always refuses to play it. Maybe
it will be a lucky day, and we with many talented bands!
can all hear it again.
GO TO BAMBOOZLE
I highly recommend LEFT!
everyone to get tickets and
go to Bamboozle! It’s going
to be an amazing concert
Coachella 2010:
The Concert of the Year!
By Roman Spinosi
Coachella is one of
the largest, if not the
largest, three day music and arts festival in
Southern California. It
consists of many different works of art and
musical genres such as
Indie, Rock Alternative,
Hip-hop, and Electronic. Coachella Valley
or Indio Valley is a large
valley south of the San
Bernadino Mountains,
about 20 miles from
Palm Springs. The
three day concert starts
6
on April 16 and continues on to the 18. This
music festival hosts
some of the greatest
artists in the music ind u s t r y. T h e r e h a v e
been many artists who
have performed at this
event in the past such
as: Pearl Jam, Red Hot
Chilli Peppers, Rage
Against the Machine,
Daft Punk, Madonna,
and the list goes on
and on this year.
Coachella has
many great headlining
artists such as Jay-Z,
Lcd
Soundsystem,
Benny
Benassi,
Deadmau5, and Passion
Pit all on the first day!
The complete and updated line-up can be
found on the Coachella
w e b s i t e
(Coachella.com). Many
artists are making their
comeback at Coachella
2010. Artists such as the
Specials, Shy & the
Family Stone, and the
Gorillaz (who Kyle
Eckert is dying to see)
will be the bands reuniting this year. The
festival has five main
tents or stages every
year including, the
Main Stage, Outdoor
Theater, Gobi Stage,
Mojave Stage, and the
Sahara Stage, where
most of the artists will
be
playing.
At
Coachella, the organizers are supposedly
bringing back their
earlier creation, an all
night dome or tent that
has djs playing all
night, even after the
artists in the line-up are
finished!
The Coachella
festival will be an
amazing experience,
but it is pretty expensive. A three day pass
starts at $296 and are
continuing to go up.
One day passes are not
a v a i l a b l e t h i s y e a r,
leaving you with the
only choice, the quite
costly three day pass.
But with this amazing
line-up, isn’t it worth
it?
March 2010
Turn Your Closet Castoffs into Cash!
By Natalya Kadziauskas
Fun, funky and yes,
cheap; Buffalo Exchange is an
experience in itself. Walk into
this hip hangout settled in The
Lab, a shopping district off
Bristol Street in Costa Mesa,
and you will see hangers full
of men’s and women’s clothing that can be found at
shockingly low prices. Clean
out your closet and get a
whole new wardrobe in exchange.
At Buffalo Exchange,
clothing and accessories are
bought, sold and traded directly with store customers.
Bring in your former favorites
to trade for some new rags or
grab cash on the spot! Their
ever-changing inventory includes designer labels, vintage, jeans, current basics
and one-of-a-kind items.
You’ll also find brand new
merchandise and accessories
for a price that can’t be beat!
On a Sunday afternoon,
Buffalo is buzzing with eager
customers ready to exchange
their closet castoffs. Inside,
everyone acts like kids in a
candy store on a treasure
hunt for the perfect new
piece of clothing. Guys are
flipping through walls of cool
graphic t-shirts and hoodies,
while girls are grabbing merchandise for a new spring
wardrobe. One of the managers from Buffalo Exchange,
Matt was on the spot to humanize the resale shopping
experience and explain the
dos and don’ts.
Natalya: What do you
look for when evaluating a
seller’s items?
Matt: We are looking
for clothes in good condition,
no tears, rips or stains. The
most current trends are things
we like. Bring in clothes that
you would wear. We pick
clothes by season, so right
now in March we are look-
Women and the
Weather
By Ross Kingsley and Clark Taylor
Women are extremely
interesting. Has anyone noticed? Their moods are always changing and they seem
to change with the weather.
Has anyone else noticed that
on some days women seem to
shine and others they’re dull?
I’m just saying that
women’s moods and actions
seem to change as much as
the temperature. I wonder if
there is something to that. So,
once again, the immortal,
journalistic, tandem, team,
also known as Ross and Clark
put in the man hours to give
you the scoop.
We did a little research
around school and there was
not one girl who disagreed
that 75 degrees is the ideal
temperature to be looking
shiny and sunny. This is because it is cold enough to keep
them comfortable and their
skin full of color, but warm
enough to allow them to wear
more summer clothing. Also,
ing for Spring and Summer
pieces. In other words, don’t
bother bringing in your winter
coats until later, perhaps in Fall.
Also, we don’t want to
overload our inventory. If we
have many pairs of designer
jeans in one particular size,
chances are you are better off
waiting a few weeks to sell us
your jeans. If you aren’t certain about bringing over any
particular item, then you can
give us a call. Otherwise, just
stop by with your bags and
we’ll see what we can do. If we
take your items you get 50%
towards store credit or 35% in
cold hard cash.
N: What should people
do to maximize their chances of
selling everything?
M: They should definitely
wash their items before hand.
Someone brought in twelve
bags at one time, and we only
took one of her twelve bags. Be
selective and pick pieces that
are in good shape over
hauling in your whole
closet.
N: How many bags
do you estimate are
checked on an average
day?
M: It depends, but
we probably go through
around 150 bags on average each day.
N: What’s the strangest thing you’ve come
across during a buy?
M: This guy brought
in a jacket that had eighty
dollars in one of the pockets, and a girl traded in
some jeans that had her
high school class ring in the
pocket.
N: How do you
handle situations like that?
M: I gave the guy his
money back, which was
the right thing to do. Apparently the class ring had been
lost for quite some time, so
the girl was ecstatic when I
found it, and she gave me a
hug saying I was her hero.
N: What’s the best
thing you’ve ever scored on
the clock?
M: Someone traded in
this brand new leather jacket
with the tags still on it. It was
by one of my favorite designers and my size! Every now
and then I’ll buy something
for myself. Some employees
do however buy for themselves, everyday!
If you have clothes sitting in your closet, then what
are you waiting for? Why not
turn your closet castoffs into
cash or find a designer dud
for a price that won’t make a
hole in your pocket. As for
me, I have just turned in some
old jeans for some new spring
shirts that I did not have to
splurge on.
THE BLUEPRINT
Faculty Advisor
Opinion/Editorial Editors Advanced Staff
Writers
Ms. Rhodes
Niki Genthe
Kevin Avjian
Rhodese@smhs.org Brian Sanvido
Adrielle Castro
Editors in Chief
Special Section Editor
Chanel Collins
Karlie Borzansky
Kyle Richter
Caitlin Doud
Laura Schmeltzer
Denise Fernandez
Campus Ministry Editors Amanda Figueroa
Features Editors
Samantha Goff
Alexa Kosco
Julia Boyle
Emily Haines
Allison Le
Katelyn Finneran
Kylie Hargreaves
Entertainment Editor News Editor
Meghan Harman
Caroline Christ
Karsyn Kraft
Kelsey Hummer
Lauren Hundley
Sports Editors
Health Editors
Ross Kingsley
Lauren Giudice
Lauren Guidice
John Migliaccio
Ashley Kotero
Caroline Christ
Megan Murphy
Paige Parsons
Carly Rivera
Karenna Soto
Robert Taylor
Cody Webster
Kevin Witt
Melissa Zornig
a sunny 75 degree climate allows the women
to soak up the UV index
of 4 or 5. Therefore, this
allows them to tan or
“bronze” for that extremely desired but very
cancerous Brazilian tan.
In the rain, girls
tend to flock to warmer
climates such as the indoors
or
local
Starbucks’. These
places are ideal for the
females looking for shelter and a hot cup of tea.
These places also contain an
atmosphere far too feminine
for your average male to hang
in. The indoors offer the girls
a retreat from not only the
weather but from the pursuing adolescent boy crowd. Of
course, when the sun comes
out again, the women flock
to the beaches and outdoor
malls like the dehydrated
flock to water.
I hate to compare them
to animals, but it seems their
migration periods resemble that
of a Canadian swan. They head
away from their favorite places
during the winter and return
during a warmer time. They can
also resemble the common
North American Brown Bear.
They feast on berries and other
delectable sweet treats when it’s
warm and disappear for months
at a time during the colder
months.
Begining Staff Writers
Samantha Armstrong Stephanie Stamos
Madeline Sykes
Caitlin Boyle
Bailey Turk
Alyssa Collica
Sophie Turner
Megan Couch
Jennifer Whisnant
Kaitlyn Dally
Breanne Wiekamp
Carson Driscoll
Evan Edwards
Kathryn French
Lauren Gardner
Kyle Geoffrion
Steven Gould
Rachel Hoynak
Daniela Huebner
Natalya Kadziauskas
Mackenzie Kaus
Dustin Lane
Alisha Maline
Andy McCartney
Michael Meyer
Christopher Popovec
Kaitlin Propeck
Kelsie Ramirez
Taylor Razzano
Roman Spinosi
Alexia Stamos
So, what is the point
of this nonsense and sense?
Why have we done the research and formulated hypotheses? Well, it is just to
point out how women respond to the weather and
how it reflects their mood.
One can say it is to benefit
the male race. However,
one can say more accurately that it is to provide
clearance to a “cloudy”
topic. So, boys as you patrol
the beaches on the rainy day,
expect nobody other than
your fellow boys. They have
made haste to their hidden retreat.
Thanks to us, it is no
longer hidden. Enjoy the information and use it to your
advantage! BOOM!
7
FEATURES
March 2010
Germany vs. America
By Katie Dally
We all dream of visiting Europe and seeing the cultures other than the United
States. Besides obvious differences like language, you would
be surprised to see that many
things are very similar to the
United States. I asked my
friend, sixteen year old Marco
Rüger, questions about living
life in Germany.
One major difference
between Germany and
America is the school system.
For example, kindergarten is
not required in Germany, but
about 70% of children attend.
At age six, kids must attend
Grundschule, which is the
equivalent to our elementary
school. After Grundschule,
students can move on to
Germany students posing for the camera. Photo courtesy of Katie
Dally.
Haptschule, Realschule, or a
Gymnasium. Haptschule is the
lowest track of education that
ends in grade nine; in which students prepare for occupations,
and often start their professional
career with an apprenticeship at
a vocational school. Realschule
is the intermediate school which
ends in grade ten. Students receive Mittlere Reife, similar to
a high school diploma at the end
of Realschule. The final option
is a Gymnasium which ends in
grade twelve. In the last year at
a Gymnasium, students take the
Abitur, which is a final exam that
enables them to attend a university. Marco is in grade ten
of a Realschule in Southwest
Germany. He has classes Monday through Friday, from 7:30
A.M to either 11:45 A.M or
12:30 P.M.
Another comparison
between the United States and
Spring Fever: Catch it!
By Elizabeth Pinner and Caitlin Doud
Students beware! Although ‘Spring Break’ is merely
weeks away, the evidence of the
spread of Spring Fever is apparentthroughoutthecampusofSanta
Margarita. Student’s attentions are
beginningtoshifttowardtheirplans
of spending their break tanning at
thebeachorskiingdowntheslopes
of Park city, rather than their impossible test next period.
Now that second semester is in action, some Eagles have
noticed that their grades have been
slipping. Lazy students are losing
their focus each day, when they
shouldactuallybeworkingontheir
college plans. Claire Cranston
(sophomore), struggles with the
constant need to balance her work
load and teacher’s expectations.
“It is getting harder, becauseteachersaretryingtofiteverythinginbefore spring break.”
‘Spring Fever’ can be
compared to a minor case of
8
Senioritis, which requires motivation to overcome the struggle of
“taking after-school naps instead
ofdoinghomework”(junior,Niko
Heller).As Katie Murphy (sophomore) says, “dreaming of the days
of just pure relaxation.” For seniors, graduation sometimes
works as a distraction and causes
students to lose motivation.
Everyone already
knows how to cure this case of
‘Spring Fever:’ sleep more, study
more, and manage your time better. Despite tireless efforts of conquering the fever, some have realized that mustering
up
enoughmotivation this close to
Spring Break
seems nearly
impossible. Senior, Nick
Whelan states,
“Motivation and I aren’t friends, I’ll
just put it that way.” At times, it
seems that what should be utilized
as an incentive turns into indifference.
Although Spring Fever
seems nearly impassable, focusing
on your bright future rather than a
break that is shorter than two weeks
is more beneficial. Our cure for this
potentially harmful sickness is focusing on what the future holds,
rather than slacking before
‘Spring Break.’Although it may
seem impossible to do, this year
will soon come to an end and
now is our time to shine!
The spring break getaway you’re dreaming of. Photo
courtesy of Google.
Germany is modes of transportation. The driving age in
Germany is 18, but that is no
problem for the people there.
Buses and cabs are extremely
expensive in Germany, so
Marco uses other common
means of transportation like
bikes and trains, or rides from
his parents.
Where the differences really begin to fade is in
the everyday lives of teenagers. In his free time Marco
hangs out with friends, goes
to parties, and goes on the
computer, just as we do. He
also likes to play guitar and
hang out outside. When
spending time with friends
Marco says that they “chill at
his house or go to the park.”
One major similarity
between Americans and Germans is the music we listen to.
Though there are popular
German artists like Rammstein,
Die Toten Hosen, Die Ärzte,
and Beatstakes; the popular
music for German teenagers is
hip hop and pop. Right now the
number one song in Germany
is Tik Tok by Ke$ha followed
closely by artists like Lady Gaga
and Rihanna. Some of Marco’s
favorites on the other hand, include Bob Marley, Nirvana,
and Metallica. Marco says that
“We Germans don’t only listen
to ‘German music’; traditional
music is out!”
Even though we are in
two different hemispheres and
nine hours away, American and
German teens are essentially
the same. We may live millions
of miles apart, but as teenagers
in the modern world, we all
share the same sense of humor,
music taste, and ideas of fun,
regardless of where we live.
Night Out On the Town
By Chanel Collins
Have you ever run out
of fun things to do on the
weekend? It happens to everybody from time to time!
Next time you’re not sure
what to do, here are some
things to remember.
1. Rancho Santa Margarita
Lake/ Starbucks- We live
right next to a beautiful lake,
and what better way to enjoy
a spring afternoon than to take
a walk and get some
Starbucks afterwards?
2. Go to an Irish pub (like
Patsy’s)- It makes for a fun
date night because the atmosphere is relaxed and fun! Plus
they have games you can play
and great food.
3. Original Pancake HouseGet up early and have breakfast at this yummy pancake
diner.
4. Bake- Go to the store and
buy cake mix and frosting
(funfetti is the best!) to make
a cake or cupcakes. It’s awe-
some to make as an afternoon
snack.
5. Disneyland!- If you’re lucky
enough to have a Disneyland
pass, it’s a really fun way to
spend the day. If you don’t
have a pass, Downtown Disney
has concerts in the House of
Blues every night and great restaurants, so check it out. (P.S.
If you do community service at
a specified location, you can get
a free day pass to Disneyland!)
6. San Diego- Take the train to
San Diego to enjoy downtown.
You can drive there and spend
the day at Sea World.
7. The beach- Go shopping
down by the beach. It’s going
to start getting warmer outside
soon, and the beach is a great
place to spend a sunny day.
Next time you’re
bored on the weekend, don’t
just sit at home! Go out with
your friends or date and try
something new and exciting.
SPECIAL SECTION
March 2010
St. Patrick’s Day With Mr. Dunne
By Michael Meyer
A s St . P a t r i c k ’s
holiday grows near; what
better person to ask what
it means to be Irish on
this beloved day, than
our very own Mr. Dunne!
As I walked in to Mr.
Dunne’s office, the first
thing I noticed was all of
his Irish collectibles. It
was easy to see that he
was very proud of his
heritage.
Being of Irish descent myself, I soon
learned that Mr. Dunne
and I share many of the
same Irish traditions that
I have grown to love over
the years. The first thing
is letting everyone know
that you’re Irish on St.
Patrick’s Day. While Mr.
Dunne always dresses up
as a leprechaun on March
17 th, I grew up to know
that I should not step out
of the house without my
green on. Another similarity that we both shared
was eating corned beef
and cabbage on every St.
Patrick’s Day! I myself
must admit that it was an Patrick’s Day is very dif- We have adopted it here
acquired taste over the ferent in Ireland than it is as a more festive holihere in America. In Ire- day in which we often
years.
like to have parties, celebrate traditions, and
practice Irish customs.
Having grown up in
Chicago, Mr. Dunne is
very familiar with all
things Irish. It turns out
that he is a huge fan of
Notre Dame, a college
in South Bend, Indiana
known as the Fighting
Irish. He also shared
that his Uncle was a
Catholic Priest! You
know that you’re Irish
when you have a relative
who is a Catholic
Priest! Fortunately, we
both have that in common.
Thus far, I have
not been lucky enough
to travel to Ireland. Mr.
Dunne visited there
when he was young and
Photo Courtesy of Michael Meyer.
had the opportunity to
Something I learned land it is known as more see the town where his
from Mr. Dunne which I o f a r e l i g i o u s h o l i d a y ancestors were from. I
don’t think many people w h e r e f a m i l i e s g o t o learned that his family
k n o w i s t h a t S t . church and praise God. originated from County
How Did St. Patrick’s Day Start?
By Breanne Wiekamp
St. Patrick’s Day is
celebrated on March 17.
There are many people
that do not know the
meaning of this day or
how it started. St.
Patrick’s Day is the day
of St. Patrick’s feast, and
the anniversary of his
death in the fifteenth
century.
Some may ask, “Who
is St. Patrick?” He is the
patron saint of Ireland,
and one of the most
widely known saints of
Christianity. He was not
Irish or born in Ireland,
but he played a huge role
in the building of Irish
heritage, and spent most
of his years preaching in
Ireland. In a sense, St.
P a t r i c k ’s D a y s t a r t e d
when he died. The first
celebration was held in
the United States on
March 17, 1762 when
Irish soldiers in the En-
glish military marched
through New York City.
The wearing of the
green is a global event.
In Ireland the wearing of
green is considered to
be a religious symbol.
To many of us here In
the United States, it is
merely looked at as a
day to wear green and
pinch people who do not
wear it. Why do we wear
green? Green is the primary color of Ireland
and, we wear it in
memory of Ireland and
the work St. Patrick did
there.
Many parades take
place on this day for the
celebration, such as the
St. Patrick’s Festival in
Dublin. Ireland has
taken advantage of this
day to attract tourists,
and it has been very successful. Close to one
million people partici-
pate in the march of this
parade annually. This day
has become a holiday for
them to symbolize their
pride.
In addition to this, St.
Patrick’s Day has acquired
many facts, symbolisms,
and myths about St.
Patrick himself. Some of
these symbols are the leprechaun and the shamrock,
which have become very
common on this day. A famous myth about his
preaching is that he drove
the snakes out of Ireland;
however this did not actually
happen.
Irish
homelanders say that that
one would not be able to
find a single snake in the
entire land.
Make sure you wear
green this St. Patrick’s
Day, and make Mr. Dunne
proud!
Laois which is southwest of Dublin. On his
trip to the town he
learned that it had a very
low population and that
it was relatively smaller
than it had been in previous years. His family
traveled over to America
during the great famine
as did mine. This famine caused many families to move to America
in search of a better life
and higher paying employment. Although his
family has lived in
America for several
generations he is still
75% Irish.
Tr u t h b e t o l d , I
must admit that I am
probably 65% Irish at
best. After all, my last
name is Meyer and not
Dunne. However, on St.
Patrick’s Day, I’m 100%
Irish. You can count on
the fact that I will always
claim my mother’s heritage on lucky St.
Patrick’s Day!
The Mystery of Leprechauns
By Bailey Turk
Every year when St.
Patrick’s Day comes around,
the first thing that comes to
people’s minds is leprechauns. A number of questions pop into ones head that
could use some answering.
For instance, where did this
legend come from? What do
leprechauns look like? And
the most popular one, do leprechauns even exist?
History.com states
that the original Irish name
for
Leprechaun
is
“Lobaircin,” meaning “smallbodied fellow.” According to
Irish legend, leprechauns are
aloof and unfriendly. They
are said to live alone and
spend their time making
shoes. The Leprechaun is
known to look like a little man,
wearing all green, with red
hair, and a beard. Prior to the
20th century, it was generally
agreed that the leprechaun
wore red and not green
clothing.
They have been
known to be waiting at the
end of a rainbow with a pot
of gold. But why is it that no
one has been able to find
one? This is because if one
has the opportunity to catch
the leprechaun, he has to
keep his eyes on him at all
times. But be careful, leprechauns are known for their
sneaky tactics, and can easily trick you into looking
away. If the captor looks
away the leprechaun will
vanish, and all hopes of getting their treasure will be
lost.
Whether or not leprechauns exist is up to one’s
own beliefs. People have
claimed to have seen actual
leprechauns. The most recent sighting was in Mobil,
Alabama. A video of this encounter is even posted on
YouTube, as evidence of their
existence. So this St.
Patrick’s Day, be on the look
out because you never know
when you might find a leprechaun.
9
SPORTS
March 2010
Boys Baseball Boys Volleyball Victory
By Dustin Lane
Spring is back and so is a new coach, but the team has
the American pastime, baseball. really bonded well and is enjoyComing out of a season with thir- ing their time as a team. The
teen wins and fourteen losses the team is beginning to play out of
Eagles are looking to improve. league games and tournaments
The team has thirteen seniors to prepare for the always tough
who are full of leadership and Trinity League. They have won
experience. Last season they their last two games with a one
fell short of making the CIF play- hitter from Kyle Richter and a
offs, but the hunger of these re- two-run homer by Cody
turning players to succeed is Webster. They continue to
overwhelming. With two play- strive for improvement and are
ers already committed to top- looking forward to another seanotch colleges, Kyle Richter son and the possibility of mak(University of Southern Califor- ing CIF. They are taking it one
game at a time.
nia) and Wesley Van Boom
(Brown University), the team
is not lacking star power.
The team has also acquired a new head coach,
David Bacani. He has brought
a new sense of spirit to this
team. Not only have they become excited for their season,
but the entire team even went
out of there way to go to the
girls soccer CIF games. This
just goes to prove the new
foundation of teamwork and
support that Coach Bacani encourages. A lot of times it is
hard for players to get accustomed to and work well with Wesley Van Boom batting. Photo
courtesy of SMHS.org.
By Chris Popovec
The spring sports season
has begun, this means that another season of boys volleyball
is under way. The boys will look
to equal their league title from
a year ago and play through
changes that have taken place
involving the coaching staff.
Losing Coach Jeff Urhig will
definitely be a very huge challenge; But Brian Cottriel is
ready to fill Coach Urhig’s
shoes. Coach Bryan Cottriel
was hired as the new Santa
Margarita boys and girls volleyball coach because of his success at both Newport Harbor
and Great Oak High School of
Temecula.
Coach Cottriel seems
more than ready to continue the
success that has been established by previous coaches and
players. In terms of the players, the team is more than ready
to begin another run to a league
title and possibly a CIF championship. Led by Captain
Michael McMahon, the boys
are poised to challenge some of
the best teams in Orange
County for the CIF prize. With
a high concentration of junior
Swim Team Success!
By Karenna Soto
According to the Santa
Margarita website, our swim
team has been ranked Top 10
in Orange County every year
since 1993. Coach Ron Blanc
states that, “we should have an
excellent team this year. We
are the defending league
champions on both the boys
and the girls varsity and our
goals are to defend our title.
The boys team will be young
as we only have five seniors.
However, we have some very
talented underclassmen that
should provide for a great year
and a bright future. The girls
team should be extremely
good. We have eight seniors,
many of which have been on
varsity for a long time. We
have won the league title 10
years in a row on the girl’s side
and hope to make it 11 this
year.” This year the girls swim
team is led by Seniors Julia
Brown, Kassandra Smith, and
Bailey Wilson. These strong
leaders are leading the girls on
the right path, trying to win the
11th league tittle. The boys are
led by Seniors Garrison
Newman, Brian Mauer, and
Rugter Choquehuanca.
10
The team is off to a great
start! Both the boys team and
the girls team have been practicing with a “good attitude”.
All of the hard work that they
are putting in showed in their
first relay meet Saturday,
March 9th at Villa Park. Swimmers of the meet, Senior Sarah Tennis and Junior
Mackenzie Beck helped lead
the girls to win first place. The
swim team did a fantastic job
against Laguna Hills Wednesday, March 10 th. All levels
won at this meet. Transfer stu-
dent Carina Carballo broke a
school record for the JV team.
She swam the 50 free, 26.06
seconds fast. The girls have
been doing great so far this season. They got first place in the
Canyon Relays and tied for 4th
with El Toro. Even though the
boys have a young team this
year, they are still putting up a
fight; they got 5th place at the
Capo relays. The swim team
will face Esperanza here on the
Santa Margarita pool deck
Thursday, March 18. Go
Eagles!
Shannon Mack swimming to victory! Photo courtesy of SMHS.org.
talent, this young team is hoping high school of San Diego on
th
to establish a resume of success March 12 to compete in a very
for years to come. Junior Spen- crucial preseason tournament.
cer Buckley believes that his The eagles defeated Harvard
team is ready to contend for the Westlake, Corona del Mar, and
title. The boys have been train- Long Beach Poly to secure three
ing since the winter sports sea- straight wins. A successful run
son and have shaken off all the in this tournament will propel the
eagles to the start of trinity league
rust from their break.
th
The boys traveled to play which begins on March 25
Loyola on March 2nd and put up against Jserra.
a strong fight against one of
California’s best high school
Volleyball teams. The boys
were swept in three straight
sets but made the scores close
in each set. It is very rare that
two championship caliber
teams have met so early in the
season, but the eagles will
grow from this experience.
On March 5th the boys earned
their first victory of the year
with a road win at Edison. The
boys won the match in five sets
and were very proud of their
hard fought victory. On March
10 th, the eagles swept
Woodbridge in their first home
game of the season. The boys
easily took all three sets and
sent the visitors home quickly. Mike McMahon leading the team to
The eagles travelled to Poway victory! Photo courtesy of smhs.org.
Boys Varsity Tennis
By Amanda Figueroa
The Boys Varsity
tennis team’s season officially began during the first
week of March. Their first
pre-season match was
against Sage Hill High
School on Tuesday, March
2nd and they were victorious. The team has five senior players this year: Gavin
Krogius, Pike Hughes,
Shawn Lee, Gianni
Z u c c o l o t t o , a n d Ry a n
Christiansen.
They are already
showing signs of having a
very successful season.
Coach Clark says that this
year they “have the strongest singles lineup they have
had in a long time.” With a
strong doubles lineup as
well, the team should be well
on their way to winning
many more matches this
season.
On Thursday, March
18th, the team has their first
home league match against
rival JSerra. And for the first
time ever, the boys varsity
tennis team will play against
Tesoro High School at home
on Monday, March 22nd.
Another date the boys have
to look forward to is Thursday, April 22nd. They will
leave for the Invitational
Tournament in Ojai, which
will continue on until Saturday, April 24th. The boys
definitely have a lot to look
forward to this year, and
hopefully will come out with
another league victory.
Captain
Gavin
Krogius says, “The team has
really bonded this season.
Our trip to Palm Springs solidified our team spirit. We have a
lot of potential and have an excellent chance of winning
league.”
March 2010
Lady Eagles CIF Basketball
By Evan Edwards
The Lady Eagles won in
the CIF-SS semifinals against
Bonita of La Verne on Saturday,
February 27th at Tesoro. The team
was lead by Melissa Zornig with
25 points, 8 steals, 4 rebounds, and
4 assists. After trailing in the middle
of the second quarter 15 to 13, the
girls were able to make a run, causing turnovers and making shots. The
Eagles led 25 to 19 at half time. The
Eagles’ physical defense throughout the game caused an incredible
23 turnovers. The Lady Eagles finished off the Bearcats with a final
score of 57 to 43.
On Thursday March 4th, the
Eagles played Muir of Pasadena in
the CIF-SS finals at Mater Dei High
School. The girls finished off the
Mustangs with a score of 52 to 39,
winning their first CIF title since
2005! The Eagles were led by
Melissa Zornig with 19 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. The team was
also led by center Elise Lorenz with
14 points and 9 rebounds. Winning
the title gave the Lady Eagles a place
in the CIF State tournament.
Denise Fernandez says, “I’m
very proud of the girls and how far
we’ve come. We’ve been working so hard and are now going for
the state title.” The Eagles had their
CIF State opener at home against
Monroe of North Hills on March
9th. Melissa Zornig scored 26
points, helping the team win 71
to 46. Melissa made all 6 of her
3-pointers in the second half. The
team was also led by Denise
Fernandez with 15 points and
Elise Lorenz with 11. The second round of the playoffs was on
Thursday night at home at
6.
Melissa Zornig says, “As
long as we stay focused, we can
definitely win another championship.” The Eagles had a close
game Thursday night, March 11th,
against Buena. The final score
was 42 to 39. The team was led
by Melissa Zornig and Elise
Lorenz, Melissa scoring 17 points
and Elise scored 9. On Saturday
March 13th, Elise and Melissa
had another big scoring game
in the quarterfinals against
Bishop Amat. Melissa had 28
points, finishing her high
school career with 2,441
points, the 4th most in Orange
County history. Elise was the
second leading scorer with
12. Unfortunately, the Eagles’
season was ended early, losing 58 to 48. The team finished with an overall record
of 26-7.
Boys Lacrosse
By Katelyn Finneran
The boy’s lacrosse
program has been working hard since summer to
come out and show us
what lacrosse is. Lacrosse is a fairly new
sport here at SM, but it
is starting to grow rapidly. Their hard work and
dedication has paid off in
the past, and I’m sure
they will have no problem living up to expect a t i o n s t h i s y e a r. T h e
team is led this year by
Captains Matt Dolan,
Ronnie Pisano, Frankie
Berry, and Adam Enochs.
The Eagle’s are “stacked”
this year, with eight seniors who will be leading
the way. Two of which,
Jordan Leivois and Justin Malloy, have already
signed with Mesa College in
Colorado.
The boys opened
their season on Friday
th
March 5 on
S M ’s
home
field. The boys
went out strong
and showed everyone
how
Eagles Softball Soars
By Lauren Hundley
Coach FitzPatrick
and his 2010 girls varsity softball team have
high expectations this
season. The Varsity team
consists
of
senior
Meghan Harman; Juniors
Michelle Duncan, Amy
Letourneau, Cat Mann,
Kellen McNamara, Catie
Monnahan,
Amanda
Reiss, Maddy Sykes, and
Krista Ury; Sophomores
Kelly Christensen, Jessica Daulton, Nicole
Delgado,
Rachel
Dellefield, and Danielle
Reiss. The girls are also
led by assistant coaches
Mike Monnahan and
Alycia Beresford. This
year’s team captains are
Meghan Harman, Catie
Monnahan, and Amy
Letourneau.
Catie
Monnahan states , “Dur-
Varsity Song placed first in the
pom division at the King of the
Bleachers Cheer and Dance
Competition Feb. 28 at Cal
State University Long Beach.
Girls soccer made it all the
way to CIF semi-finals. They
were undefeated in and won
Trinity League.
hard they have been
practicing. The final
score was 17-1! Ten
players got their
chance to add to the
victory! Servite got to
see first hand how well
our team is this year.
The Eagles defeated
the Friars on Wednesday, February 10. The
final score was 10-5,
great job boys! On Friday March 12, the
Eagles took on the
Mission Viejo Diablos
on SM’s turf field. The
boys started out strong
with 6 goals in the first
quarter and with a final
score of 14-4. Way to
make a lasting impact
SPORTS
in the beginning of the
season!
S e n i o r Ta n n e r
Yuhas says, “I am really
looking forward to this
season. We have a very
good team and I see us
going far in CIF”. The
boys have high hopes for
this season and will do
very well if they keep up
the hard work they have
giving.
The boys host
JSerra for their second
league game of the year
a t S M ’s t u r f f i e l d o n
T h u r s d a y, M a r c h 1 8 .
Come out and support
the boys this season!
ing pre-season we
started out very shaky,
but after working extremely hard we have
started to pull together.”
Amy Letourneau
also states, “I believe if
we work our hardest and
have fun we will have a
great successful season.” These girls have
been one of the top softball teams in Orange
County. Three of the returning girls made first
team all league. Amy
Letourneau one of the
first team all league
player also ended up being the MVP for the
league as well as the offensive player of the
year.
Meghan Harman
(senior) has signed with
Loyola Marymount Uni-
versity
and
Amy
Letourneau (Junior) has a
verbal commitment with
Northwestern University.
A lot is expected from
these girls
Coach
FitzPatrick states, “this
year we are awaiting the
return
of
Amy
L e t o u r n e a u . H o w e v e r,
Danielle Reiss and
Danielle Palmquist are
filling the void. I think
Meghan Harman, Catie
Monnahan, and Amy
Letourneau are great
team leaders. I believe if
we can hit, we will win.”
Meghan Harman states,
“We’re a very young team
and it took a while to get
things going but now
we’re finally starting to
play together and as long
as we hit, we should do
very good.”
Girls Lacrosse
By Samantha Goff
The girls lacrosse
team started off their season in Pasadena at the Rose
Bowl Tournament on March
6th. They came out of the
tournament winning their
bracket. The team looks
strong and in basically full
strength, only losing two
key players. The team now
consists of five seniors, six
juniors, and five sophom o r e s . C o a c h J e n Va n
Alstine said, “The most important group of girls to
help lead the team will be
these five seniors”. The
seniors that she is talking
about are two captains,
Erica Henson and Jordan
O’Connor, Caitlin Viar, and
Lauren Giudice. The team
is also led by Junior Hope
Blain. They have a very
promising year ahead of
them. They played Mission
Viejo on Monday March 8th
and came out with a victory.
They won 10 to 6. There
was a strong showing from
the team. Goals were scored
by Adrienne Anderson,
Caitlyn Viar, Carlie McNiff,
Erica Henson, and Melina
Soll. The girls faced Laguna
Hills on Friday March 12 th
at Laguna Hills. The girls
dominated them in a 19-10
victory. Their current record
is 4-1. The girls are strong
on both ends of the field in
offensive and defense. The
defense is lead by senior
Lauren Giudice in the goal
and the offensive by
Adrienne Anderson, Brianne
Richards and Madelin Williams to name a few. Their
next home game is on Saturday March 20 th against
Corona Del Mar and their
first league game is on
We d n e s d a y M a r c h 3 1 s t
against Mater Dei.
Photo courtesy of smhs.org
11
CAMPUS MINISTRY
March 2010
The Saint Patrick
By Carson Driscoll
Many people see
St. Patrick’s day as a day
full of green, four leaf clovers, and leprechauns,
but they never think
about the actual Saint
who started the holiday.
Saint Patrick was born
around the year 385, in
Scotland. Around the age
fourteen he was taken by
a raiding party to Ireland
to be a slave and to herd
and tend sheep. While he
was kept as a slave, he
p r a ye d t o G o d. A t a ge
twenty, he had a dream
from God telling him to
escape from Ireland by
going to the coast. At the
coast he found sailors
who took him back to
Britain, where he was reunited with his family.
He had a second
dream where the people
of Ireland begged him to
come back. He became
ordained as a Bishop and
returned to Ireland
spreading the Gospel. He
lived in poverty, but trav-
eled all over Ireland converting thousands of people, even K ingdoms. He
also built many churches.
He used the shamrock to
explain the Holy Trinity,
and it has been associated with the Irish ever
since. Saint Patrick converted many people with
his messages about the
love of God, and performed many miracles. He
served God until he died
on March 17, 461. Although he died his ideas
of God still live today,
and are celebrated
through the wonderful
holiday of St. Patrick’s
Day.
SM Will Host the Special Olympics !
By Mackenzie Kaus
Being born different
does not set limits on greatness.
The Special Olympics is a time for
talented individuals to come together and be a part of a team.
This program goes year round and
gives children and adults of all
ages an opportunity to be confident, and to spread happiness
with their family, friends, and
community. This is a complete
non-profit competition and provides those people with intellectual disabilities to show what they
can do. Eunice Kennedy Shriver
began these games in 1963 as a
day camp for people with intellectual disabilities for a time of
physical fitness and fun. She then
organized the first Special Olympics games in 1968 where one
thousand athletes competed
from the United States, Canada,
and France. The first Western Regional Special Olympics was on
July 26, 1969 at the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum. Nine hundred athletes participated from all
over. On July1, 1995 the Special
Olympics was split into two sepa-
rate chapters, the Special Olympics Northern California and the
Special Olympics Southern California. Santa Margarita will be
holding our own Special Olympics on March 19th. This will give
SM students an opportunity to
coach, assist and cheer on these
participants in many ways. Ser-
vide busses for the participants of The Special Olympics.
Because of the budget cuts
there is not enough money for
transportation to this event.
SM would like everyone to
help in every possible way that
they can. Come sign up for the
SM Special Olympics today!
vice hours will also be provided
for each student that participates. This year SM will be asking for $15 from each student
that contributes to this event.
The money will be going to pro-
Easter is On its Way
By Allison Le
Everyone prepare
yourselves the day is coming. The day you can finally
have that cup of Starbucks,
go back on Facebook (or
stay on longer than thirty
minutes), or have that cupcake you have been craving – April 4, 2010. You may
ask, ‘Why is this date the big
day?’ Well wake-up everyone it is Easter!! Although
this day is considered the
God send to those of us
craving what we gave up
for Lent, it is always more.
Easter is the day in which
Catholics celebrate the resurrection of The Lord, Jesus
Christ. Easter originated as a
Pagan Festival that was actually called Easter. In Western Christianity, Easter marks
the ending of Lent, a 40-day
period of fasting, repentance,
moderation and spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter. Easter, most importantly,
is a time to appreciate our
family and friends and the
blessings God gives us everyday. Here are some interesting facts about Easter:
The Easter Sunday Service is the most attended service in the church all year.
In the old days pretzels
were associated with Easter
because the twists of the
pretzel were thought to resemble arms crossing in
prayer.
The name Easter owes
its origin from Eastre, the
Anglo-Saxon goddess who
symbolizes hare and egg.
The date of Passover
is variable as it is dependent
on the phases of the moon,
and thus Easter is also a
movable feast.
Here are some more
fun facts:
Easter always falls between March 22 and April
25.
During the Easter sea-
son, Americans buy more
than 700 million Peeps making Peeps the most
popular non-chocolate Easter candy.
When taking a bite into
a chocolate bunny, 76% of
Americans prefer to bite off
the ears first. 5% eat the
feet first and 4% eat the tail
first.
The first chocolate
eggs were made in Germany in the 19th century and
remain one of the most
popular Easter candies today.
The exchange of eggs
for Easter dates back to a
springtime custom older
than Easter itself in which
eggs were given as a symbol of rebirth in many cultures.
After Halloween,
Easter is the biggest candy consuming holiday.
In the catalogue of
kids’ favorite Easter foodstuff, Red jellybeans occupy top most position.
The initial baskets of
Easter were given the appearance of bird’s nests.
12