December 21, 2007

Page 16
December 21, 2007
Fear not bargain hunters, there are plenty of gifts you can buy/make for
just $5:
compiled by Richard Bowie
by Richard Bowie
My English teacher promised our class a field trip.
Not since the sweet, honeysuckled days of my youth in
Southern Australia have I felt such sheer exuberance. In
the midst of a gloomy, wintry, hellish season, with the
biting cold nipping at every nook and cranny of my young
body, the prospect of a field trip lifted my spirits to a
high unmatched by no other joy, not even at the birth of
my two young twin sons, Wimbledon and Ludwig. Furthermore, the field trip in question was to none other
than the Ontario Mills IMAX theatre, the Mecca of cinematic artistry. We were to watch the blockbuster hit
Beowulf in 3-D, as we had just finished reading the book.
All week I had walked around school with a newfound
outlook on life. No longer did untalented, pear shaped
women who had nothing better to do than to criticize my
column bother me. Had it been a week earlier, that pear
shaped monstrosity would have had to answer to the swift
justice of my fists. But my disposition was a whimsical,
fancy-free one, and as long as a field trip to the cinema
was in my horizons, nothing could have put a damper on
my parade. I was well prepared for our November 29th
field trip, I had saved all the tips I had accrued from
work, I requested all the classwork I was going to miss
from that day, I bought a new outfit for the occasion, I
arranged for sitter to come and take care of my extraordinarily rare pet macaw Frederica. I didn’t even eat for
four and a half weeks, that’s how excited I was.
Then something horrifying happened. My English
teacher Suzanne Miller told us that the field trip was
postponed until the 11th of December because the Board
of Education had to go over our request. Apparently because our tickets were $10, it became a national issue of
security, and a secret blood oath was required of the Royal
Colton Parliament. They lay my plans in ruins. Weeks of
saving, starvation and cherub-like merriment were all for
naught. I would have to wait for what felt like an everlasting sleepless eternity to see Beowulf. I cried out to
the heavens, “If I don’t end up going on this trip, I will
kill, sahmbodyyy!”
As I lay awake at night, chilled by the wicked frost
of loss, I asked, “Why? O Why hath the Board of Education stricken me with such a devastating blow? Had I not
led a life of charity and gentility? What wrongdoing had
I committed to deserve this?” I had to wait nearly three
agonizing weeks. I had to search every corner of my heart
to find the courage, nay, the hope to soldier on for a bit
longer.
Then, the day of reckoning dawned. It was Thursday, seven long days had passed since the day we were
supposed to go on our field trip. I thought it was going to
be a regular day, but I knew otherwise when my English
teacher had said she had bad news. The school board
held their clandestine meeting and apparently one
meddlesome board member went to go watch the movie
themselves over the weekend, and convinced the rest of
the group that it was unfit for us to watch, the nudity was
“borderline obscene.” Was it not supposed to be a monetary issue, concerning only fiscal scruples? Nudity was
not as frowned upon in 13th century Norway. It was a
part of life. The computer-generated nudity was enough
for us to take. Everyone in my English class is a senior,
all of us 17, some of us only mere weeks away from
being 18. My body still trembles with disbelief.
After hearing the news, I initially felt emptiness. My
heart was a cavernous void where no ray of light dared
dance. Then, when night fell, I lost all reason. I became
something I did not know, straddling the lines of what
was human and what was animal, a godless beast. I ended
up killing four school children and a mule.
Now I find myself embittered, disillusioned with
reality. To that board member, I implore, “Have you no
soul? No pity? You are no member of the Motion Picture Association of America. You think only of yourself
and I seriously question your judgment. Your avarice will
be your undoing, and you will never know true happiness.”
Packs of cookie dough:
Packs of cookie dough usually run anywhere from $2-$5. And you don’t
even have to bake them, because who doesn’t love raw cookie dough? A decadent
treat that’s sure to please, cookie dough is a holiday favorite!
($2-$5, Stater Bros.)
Keychain:
Ever find yourself losing your miscellaneous keys? Tired of having to look
all over the place for your different keys? Well have we got the...key! A keychain! A simple and effective way
to keep all of your keys in one spot, key chains are inexpensive gifts that serve you with convenience and
peace of mind.
($1-$5, Anywhere)
Magazine:
What did you do during SSR today? Read? Me neither! Well you can fix that by buying a magazine.
Modern Bride, the Smithsonian, Railroad Modeler Magazine, and Bovine Veterinarian all are top notch,
quality magazines that are $5 or less. More fun and colorful than any book you could ever find, magazines are
a sure fire way to get even the laziest of students reading.
($2-$5, Bookstores)
$10-15:
compiled by Rebecca Schisler
Target gift card:
For that picky friend you just don’t know what to get, a target gift card is just
the thing. This allows your friend to buy anything, ranging from electronics to
clothes. Give them something they really want for Christmas by letting them pick
it themselves!
($10.00, Target)
Deluxe scrapbook kit:
A wonderful way to remember and cherish times spent with your friends and family. The kit includes
a cover with a wood frame and an opening to place a special photograph. It also includes 10 scrapbook
pages with plastic sleeve protectors, six sheets of patterned vellum, embossed paper, and over 300 stickers.
($14.99, Target)
Zadro Z’ Shower Bug Radio:
Give your groovy friend this battery powered radio they can rock out to while taking a shower in the
morning. This FM radio is complete with four suction cups to stick to the wall and has a hanging rope.
($14.99, Target)
$15-20:
compiled by Susana Hernandez
T-shirts:
Graphic tees-for guys 12-18 who like to wear that kind of T. Clothes make a
statement.
($15.00, Virgin Megastores)
Britney Spears CD The Blackout:
Fans who have remained loyal to Britney through her trials and tribulations
and have been eagerly awaiting her comeback will be glad to see she’s back,
better than ever.
(15.99, Best Buy)
Flowers:
They’re always a great, sweet gift for anyone you want to make feel special.
(17.50, Stater Bros)
$20-50:
compiled by Kevin Miller
Clocky the Runaway Alarm Clock:
For the friend that is always late to first period, Clocky
the Runaway Alarm Clock is an alarm clock with wheels,
designed to roll off of its resting place while blaring its
alarm if the snooze button is hit twice.
($50.00, The Sharper Image).
Ear Warmer Headphones:
For the outdoor loving music hound, these headphones are the perfect gift. They fully cover the ears,
warming them while streaming tunes from any electronic device that can be hooked to.
($34.95, The Sharper Image)
Lomography Camera:
For the art lovers, this camera takes your picture and displays it in a grid of nine, with each one
artfully colored versions of the same photograph.
($40.00, Uncommongoods.com)
Mrs. Beasley’s Movie Tins:
For the one that loves sweets, Mrs. Beasley’s Movie Tins are in the style of classic film canisters
and filled with an array of delicious cookies.
($36.00, Mrsbeasleys.com)
Page 2
December 21, 2007
Page 3
December 21, 2007
Lunch time fights raise
questions about campus safety
Students and staff give “love”
to cancer patients
by Saige Downs
by Shawn Quintero
The issue of campus safety has been brought to the
forefront by a bottle-throwing melee that occurred during second lunch on November 29th.
What some students are calling “the riot” began
with a lunchtime fight that seemed to spark others. According to freshman Monica Quintero, “There was one
fight, that lead to other fights, which lead to the riot.”
Some students believe there were as many as nine
fights that lunch period, a rumor that was immediately
discounted by Assistant Principal Melissa Kingston.
“There were only three fights,” she said, “two of them
were [between] females and one [between]males.”
Kingston denies rumors that the fights were racially motivated: “The fights were because of a boy, which led to
other fights.”
But some students are sticking to their beliefs that
there were more than just those three fights. One student
says he personally saw two different fights in which the
students fighting saw Security and ran back into their
classrooms to avoid getting in trouble.
The fighting was quelled by campus security, who
felt they were able to handle the situation in a timely and
appropriate manner. “We got it situated and calm in a
matter of minutes,” said Campus supervisor Joe Montes.
But not everyone on campus agrees with that assessment. One student claimed that “security seemed as
though they didn’t know what to do or what was happening.” There were also charges that Campus Supervisors
were overly aggressive in putting down the disturbance.
Such assertions were immediately denied by School Resource Officer Todd Smith of Colton P.D. “The proper
procedures were taken, and everything was settled.”
Although the fights were quickly dispersed and the
students dealt with, the overall subject of how safe a campus we have here continues to be discussed.
One sophomore student, who didn’t wish to be
named, asserts “the school thinks this campus is airtight
safe, but it’s not.”
But Officer Smith disagrees. “We have many different types of methods for keeping the school safe,” he
says, “such as the Lanyard policy, locking up the gates,
having and understanding procedures, and keeping a
strong communication between the Police Department
and the school’s administration. There are over 3,000
students here and the security team hardly knows any of
the students, so it’s easier for us to use these procedures,
especially the Lanyards, to identify a student.”
It seems that while there were a lot of rumors about
the fights, the so-called “riot” of November 29th has given
the administration more ammunition in its battle to keep
the campus safe, most notably and visibly by the past
weeks’ constant enforcement of the Lanyard policy.
As for the rumors? Ignore them, says Kingston.
Quintero adds, “You shouldn’t believe stupid rumors. If you want to know the truth, go find it out.”
Trial-based pep rally proves to be success
by Divya Joseph
The trial-based pep rally held last Thursday
proved itself to be a success, says ASB director
Gloria Haldeman-Ramirez. “I am very happy
with the behavior of all the students, teachers,
ASB and Renaissance,” she says.
In the recent past, pep rallies were held
during lunch, and students would have to give
up their lunchtime to be a part of them. Thus,
many students chose their lunch over the rallies.
This time, however, ASB students felt that the
school was lacking spirit. So seniors Andrew
Venegas, Valerie Amador and Natasha Zahra
took this matter up to the school staff’s leadership committee. They asked that there be a pep
rally during class time that would enable more
people to show their school spirit. The adminis-
tration was supportive of this idea, yet there were
several members of the committee who were
against this. They said that it wasn’t necessary
because it wasn’t academics related. But ASB
was persistent, saying that school spirit is just
as important. Finally the committee approved
to have this rally as an assessment to base the
future of pep rallies.
ASB planned and organized the event well,
says ASB president Samantha Beltran.
“We worked our butts off and it was amazing,” says junior Megan Leen. The students
showed school spirit that many of the classes
didn’t even know they had. The applause and
screams shook the Hubbs gym like an earthquake. Ramirez says that though she doesn’t
know the results of the pep rally assessment she
feels positive about it.
Dr. Clark accepts responsibility for ELC mishap
by Divya Joseph
Several of Colton High’s seniors are enraged that they missed out on receiving an
ELC (Eligibility in Local Context) number because they say they didn’t receive the
informational call on the matter. Colton’s Head Counselor, Dr. Kenneth Clark, claims
responsibility for this error. “There is no excuse the students would accept, there is no
excuse I would accept,” says Clark. “I screwed up.”
This number gives you the privilege to early college application and often guaranteed admission in many UC schools. “It could definitely be the fine line in whether
a person gets into his dream school or not,” says senior Richard Alvarez.
Many seniors including many from the top five of the 2008 graduating class say
that it is the irresponsibility of the school, especially that of the counselors that they
missed out on this opportunity. “I think that the counselors screwed us over,” says
valedictorian hopeful senior Sarah Medina. Clark says, “I severely apologize to
those who feel that they were left out of the ELC list.”
The ELC forms were to be given before students went off on the summer vacation
last year but Clark says he forgot and when the records office reminded him, the
students were already on vacation. Then Clark says that Principal John Steven Coke
tried to help the situation by informing eligible students that the ELC number nomination forms were offered during the summer when school was off session.
The top 4% of the 2008 graduating class (about 26 seniors out of 690) were
eligible, according to the criteria’s provided by UC schools, says Counselor Myrna
Cardenas. The forms were an agreement signed by the parents and students that they
are allowing the school to send their information, such as transcripts, to colleges.
Since it was summer and many could be on vacation and thus cannot come to the
office, the counseling department allowed verbal agreements to be accepted, says
Clark.
109 Teleparent phone calls were made and only 10 people didn’t receive a phone
call because of an informed phone number change or their phone was disconnected.
Clark says that the way the Teleparent works is that if anyone hangs up in the middle
it will call repeatedly five times. He says that he has solid proof that all except 10
students received the call. Flores, who is at present number two of the graduating
class, says that this isn’t true in many cases, and even if they did call that it isn’t
enough; they should have found of other ways to getting in touch with students, such
as the mail. “This really says something about that our school puts into academics,”
says Flores.
After hearing all the complaints that teachers and students brought up, the school
provided the students who were left out wrongfully a letter, which was supposed to
be equivalent to an ELC number. But when Medina called the UC schools, they
denied it being so.
Clark tries to console and comfort these distressed and dejected students by
noting that ELC isn’t the only thing that UC schools look for but it is one category
along with well written college application, grades and good test scores on SAT or
ACT. “If someone didn’t get approved to a school it is not only because of ELC but
other factors,” says Clark. But for someone like Olivia Conboy who has worked all
her high school life for this explanation doesn’t calm her down.
The seniors say that though they can’t do anything now for them but they owe it
to the future generations to give them all the right that belongs to them.
Locks of Love is a fundraiser where you do not donate money to show your affection, you cut off ten inches of your hair and it will be turned into a wig for a cancer
patient.
Counselor Sharon Halter-Day started this fundraiser by announcing on November 30 that she had cut off all of her hair and shave her neck for the first time. In order
to donate your hair, you need the minimum of ten inches and the maximum of twelve
inches. If you do not have the amount that is necessary, Halter-Day asks you to help by
asking other people to donate their hair to Locks of Love. If you do have the required
amount of hair to donate, but you feel that your hair will be still too short, you have
until March 28, 2007 to donate your hair.
What if you have dyed your hair? If you have not bleached your hair, it will be
accepted. If your hair is bleached or has been, it will not go towards Locks of Love to
make wigs, but to make hair extensions used at beauty salons. Before you donate your
hair make sure that it is clean, and when you cut your hair make sure that it is tightly
secured in a hair tie so none of the hair will fall out and put it in some sort of bag. To
turn in your donation(s), there is a box in the counselors’ and the records offices.
When you turn in your donation, there will be papers that you will need to fill out.
One senior, Delanea Aguila, donates her hair every year, and on January 10,
2008 at the National Honors Society members meeting, she and English teacher Lucy
Tillema will sit down and donate their hair along with other students. “I like the fact
that my hair will go to towards children who don’t have any hair and it’s a great feeling
when I do it and that is why I do it,” says Agulia.
Halter-Day is currently trying to set up a day where students, teachers, and others
could donate their hair. Halter-Day’s goal is to get 100 locks of hair by March 28,
2007 and hopes that the love could be spread.
A NEW ‘DO-Counselor Sharon Halter-Day shows off her hair after
her donation to Locks of Love
Football finishes season with muddy
loss at CIF semifinals game
down the field over and over, but several drives
ended in fumbles, frustrating the normally efficient Colton offensive attack. “You can’t win
with eight turnovers,” Niess said.
Some felt the weather had a lot to do with
the defeat. The game was played in a continuous rainstorm. Although both teams had to contend with the elements, it seemed to affect the
Yellowjackets more.
Could the outcome have been different had
the game been played at Colton’s home field,
with its new artificial surface? “A lot of us believe so,” said Niess. “But it was not to be. We’d
already had two home playoff games and we had
to go on the road.”
Despite the sad ending, the Jackets look
back on a very successful season, one in which
they went farther in the postseason than they had
been in 25 years.
From staff reports
Colton’s Yellowjacket football team found itself in a place it hadn’t been in years: past the second round of the CIF playoffs. One more win, and
they would play for the finals. But it was not to be.
On a wet Friday at the end of November, the
Jackets saw their playoff dreams of a championship dissolve into the muddy, slippery, rain-soaked
Moreno Valley field as they were shut out by Canyon Springs 13-0.
“Turnovers killed us,” said senior linebacker
Kenny Niess. “Early in the game we turned the
ball over early on our own 20 yard line, and they
capitalized. After that, we stopped them defensively
pretty much the whole game, but we couldn’t get
going offensively.”
The Jackets found themselves able to drive
Upcoming Events
-Alumni Band Concert: January 17,
7:30 p.m., Whitmer Auditorium
-Winter Formal: “A Mid-Winter’s
Dream,” January 25, Orange Show
-Senior Ring Ceremony: February 5,
Whitmer Auditorium, 7 p.m.
-District Band Festival: February 7,
Whitmer Auditorium
-Band Ensemble’s Concerts: 7:30 p.m.,
Cafeteria; February 12
-“Evening of Jazz”: February 14, Whitmer
Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
December 21, 2007
Page 4
...not
sexual
predators
Bullies:
by Randie Ortloff
The world is made up of bullies, and teenage bullies are probably some of the
worst: they’re cruel, bored, and most of the time insecure so they have to put
someone else down. It used to be that just at school
bullies had the power and once the day was over
you could go home and not have to worry about it
anyone. Now with myspace, aim, and emails, bullies have more power than ever before. It is starting to look like there is no escape from them and
it’s time everyone faces the fact that the keyboard
has become a new weapon.
The most pointless of all bullies are the bullies that go to another school, live in another city
and sometimes even another state. Most of the time
they hate others based on their myspace “friend”
list. Remember, everyone can be connected on
myspace. This type of bully cannot see how you
really look in person, so they leave you messages
insulting the way you look in your pictures. This
bully is just plain bored with their own lives and you can’t let them hurt your
feelings, they don’t even know you and will probably never meet you. The best
thing is to be the better person and block them instead of responding back, it will
just make you look as immature as them. The insults to each other will go on and
on. If you don’t respond back the bully will get bored and eventually find someone
else to go after.
(please see Bullies, continued on page 5)
Human beings, or
Pepper Bough
A Colton High tradition since 1917
w w w.pepperbough.colton.org
Volume 91, No. 3; Friday, Dec. 21, 2007
by Patricia Delgado
Editor-in-Chief
Divya Joseph
Photography Team
Shawn Quintero, Maria Torres,
Kevin Miller
Page Layout and Graphic Design
Richard Bowie, Hannah Macdonald
Saige Downs, Patricia Delgado,
Rebecca Schisler, Cecilia Cabrera
Business/Advertising Manager
Patricia Delgado
Staff Cartoonist
George Rubio
Faculty Adviser
David Rainey
StaffW riters and Reporters
Richard Bowie
Cecilia Cabrera
Patricia Delgado
Saige Downs
Destiny Espinoza
Treasure Fortune
Gabi Gahr
Susana Hernandez
Jacob Lopez
Hannah Macdonald
Christine McLachlan
Randie Ortloff
Rebecca Schisler
Maria Torres
The Pepper Bough is published 8 times a year (approximately every four weeks, plus an end of the year Senior Farewell Edition) by the Journalism class of Colton High School,
777 West Valley Boulevard, Colton, CA 92324. Opinions expressed in the Pepper Bough in bylined stories are those of
the individual reporter, and not necessarily those of the faculty, administration, school board, or school district, and are
not to be construed to endorse or promote activities reported
upon. Opinions expressed in non-bylined editorials are those
of the staff as a whole.
All photos of school related activities are taken by Photo
Editor unless otherwise indicated. The Pepper Bough welcomes letters to the editor, but they will be printed according to space available and may be edited for space and taste.
Please submit all letters to the editor to adviser’s email:
David_Rainey@colton.k12.ca.us.
Some material used courtesy of the American Society of
Newspaper Editors Wire Service. Ads printed in the paper
are sold by fractions of a page. Call (909)580-5005 extension 2383 for advertising rates and deadlines. Long live a
free press. (www.splc.org)
Page 5
(continued from page 4)
by Kevin Miller
Remember back in elementary school, when each student was assigned a pen pal
to correspond with over a prolonged period of time? It may seem like pen pals have
faded into the past, but if you look closely it becomes very evident that they haven’t
faded into the shadows like it seems.
Although pen pals, much like snail mail, have waned in popularity since the internet
boom began to flourish, many social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook
allow users to connect with each other from anywhere in the world. In this age of
instant access more and more people are making friends from around the world and
corresponding with them regularly through text messages and the Internet, developing
deep friendships and getting a taste of foreign cultures. What many people overlook is
that this is, essentially, the same thing as having a pen pal.
Many people overlook this fact as a result of how close they become over a short
period of time. This easy access to almost anyone around the world has changed our
ways of thinking, but not always for the better. Many parents restrict their children
from using the Internet unsupervised out of the fear that sexual predators and the like
will attempt to exploit their children, and sadly this is sometimes true. All of this
negative media focused on internet friendships overlooks the good points of having
friends from far away, and it makes it difficult for the older generations to realize how
useful these are.
If we could just make those opposed to any form of internet communication realize that, much like pen pals in the days of yesteryear, these friendships allow a magical
window into the cultures of other, and having these friendships online actually allows
for a safety screen that snail-mail lacked. Unlike the hand written letters from before,
the internet doesn’t allow access to any form of address that isn’t freely given, and if
something does seem fishy about it you can always block them and never have to deal
with them again. So next time someone gives you guff about having a friend online,
just tell them that you’re using a pen pal to expand your cultural intake.
December 21, 2007
Fashion has surely been influenced by pop culture, the Not long ago I visited a department store in which I saw
media, and society since its existence. Political messages shirts promoting peace, anti war, anti drug, and other
like “Vote or die,” “Make love not war” or “Hugs not drugs” inspirational messages. But now that I revisited that same
have been printed and marketed on shirts that have been store, several of those shirts are now on clearance. Of
sold and worn world wide. It’s obvious that the idea that course the reason for this is, is that they are out of style,
these fashion companies want is to promote these consumer and no longer popular, but that is just the thing. One
friendly messages to their buyers. Using slogans that are minute it’s the new item, and the next it’s not. This is
popular, moral and politically correct creates a marketable fashion, hardly anything can be timeless anymore, clothes
product which attracts buyers. But the question is are these are constantly changing. But why must fashion compashirts just going to fill up the clearance rack after the next nies use what is in the media to get consumers like us to
big trend hits? Are these articles of clothing just meant to be spend money on their product? Why are we so attracted
a trend or timeless pieces? Are these
to these merchandise items,
influential messages just another
when we know they are just livfashion fad? Or are we just used as
ing off of us? Of course this is
walking advertisements, helping pronot only with shirts containing
mote someone else’s message to the
politically correct messages, this
world?
happens with everything that
It seems that every impact on
you can purchase. But why must
life is always taken seriously in an
we be used as billboards? Why
“unserious manner.” Events such as
are we used to promote somewars, political elections and others,
one else’s product? Well there
not only impact human kind, but evis no answer, but the fact that we
ery aspect of society, including fashsimply just are, and it’s kind of
ion. It seems that they impact so
terrible how we can’t change
much that we must show how we feel
that at all.
on our sleeve, car bumper, or
It seems that everything
through our online blogs. No matter
nowadays is changing by the
how we feel there is always a way to
minute, whether it’s upgrading
Paris Hilton sports a Vote or Die
express our emotions. But since they
and advancing technology, raisshirt, but is it for the right reason?
are so marketed in so many ways, it
ing gas prices, or even updating
seems that the issue is not that seriyour wardrobe. But it seems no
ous at all. An example: in the 2004
matter what is changing, we, the
presidential election, the hip-hop artist currently known as people, are the ones always being affected. Life is con“Diddy,” created a simple shirt for his Sean John clothing stantly shuffling and society and the media is affecting
line. The plain yet captivating shirt stated the words “Vote its path. Events such as wars, political elections and othor die.” Fans, Americans, registered voters and others sup- ers, not only impact human kind, but every aspect of our
ported the message and bought the shirt. But of course after lives, including what we wear. In reality our clothes are
that presidential election, no one supported the shirt. It what distinguish us; our clothes are what tell us apart
seemed as if our bodies were used as advertisements pro- from others; therefore, clothing companies use us to sell.
moting a message that was just used to gain fortune. Of course Obviously we humans are the ones who can buy, but at
that is the reason for everything people buy, while you lose the same time unintentionally sell.
money, someone else gains it. That is just the way life works,
We as consumers sell products by buying them. It’s
no matter what we buy, someone else will benefit, it’s inevi- a never-ending cycle of spending and gaining money.
table.
You can guarantee drama especially in High School. Friends getting friends in
drama will just lead to bullies and often people gang up on one person. This is the
same in cyberspace. Most of the time it is the girls who will leave other girls rude
messages and often threaten to fight them the next day at school. The next day comes
and it doesn’t happen, but over MySpace they threaten them again. It’s a cycle that
will never end unless you do something about it, in the real world, not online. Talk to
peer supporters, or a counselor, that’s what they’re there for. You should also try to
talk to them maturely at school, because you can’t end your problems through emails.
Nothing is better than talking in person.
The Internet and MySpace will never go away, but you can. You don’t have to
get on everyday and read what they have to say. Block the bully without even reading
what they wrote to you. Until people realize that they don’t look tough or cool threatening others online it won’t stop. MySpace is just a website, they are just mean messages, and that is really just words internet bullies put together to make themselves
sound cool. Just remember you won’t always have to deal with these bullies and
sooner or later than will leave you alone, nothing lasts forever. Always be mature,
online and off, and you’d be surprised how much trouble you won’t have to deal with.
Due to the growing number of teens opting
for cosmetic surgery, no one knows anymore
by Destiny Espinoza
Graduation time is one of the most important and
exciting times in our lives. A time where we take the
stand to become adults. A time where our mothers drive
us to the clinic the next morning to receive our new
breasts, that never fully developed the way we wanted
them to, right? Why? Because society has drained everyone to think beauty is small, slender and flawless-never bold, big with a few flaws under the skin. In reality, no one is perfect, yet thousands upon thousands are
signing up and getting in line to nip and tuck their problems away in their bodies varying everywhere from their
face to bellies and even toes. Many teenagers are becoming a victim to this idea of society.
In a BBC News poll, it was revealed that four in
ten teenage girls were considering plastic surgery by the
time they were eighteen. Only 8% were happy with their
bodies with a quarter saying they had suffered from an
eating disorder. Plastic surgery was once considered to
be used by aging women who wanted to look younger.
Now, increasingly, teenage girls are turning to surgeons
“
to perfect their bodies and in some cases even look similar to their most admired celebrity. Bliss Magazine editor Chantelle Horton stated, “The endless parade of thin
yet curvy, surgically-enhanced celebrities has made
young girls obsessed with their own normal lumpy,
bumpy bodies.” I believe this look-obsessed generation is to blame.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone
has some feature that no one else has. My definition of
beauty is having something that no one else has. When
people judge, it’s because they’re not satisfied with themselves and they use those with low self-esteem to build
up their own confidence. Many people confess that there
decision to receive plastic surgery was pressured because
boyfriends believed they’d look better with bigger
breasts, people would not make fun of them, even just
so they can look at themselves twice in the mirror.
Many people believe “if only if only I had a
body like hers,” or “if only I had muscles like his,” they’d
get what they want in life. Honestly, it’s ridiculous; plastic
surgery has become so big pretty soon even Barbie will
But the sad part was that my father didn’t even know
that I did not like ham. This proved to me that my father
and I did not have a close relationship when I was young.
”
by Saige Downs
In today’s world, it seems weird to teens when another teen says, “My parents are divorced.” Having divorced parents can be a positive or a negative thing
depending on what the situation was with the parents. But what is it like for the
kids? What is it like around the holidays? Holidays with divorced parents are not
easy.
I remember the first Christmas my brother and I spent with my father after
having been so used to a different tradition of the previous years. My father loved
it that I was at his house on actual Christmas day but when I got home, I heard
complaints from the whole family on how we we’re missed and how it was so
strange without us. I seemed to be out of place at my own father’s house. Another
thing that was awkward was eating honey-roasted ham for the first time, which I
ended up not liking. But the sad part was that my father didn’t even know that I
did not like ham. This proved to me that my father and I did not have a close
relationship when I was young. Having Christmas together was supposed to bring
family together but it showed us how far apart we really were. After that Christmas, I stayed with the tradition that I have always done.
I didn’t really understand how hard it was on my father not spending the
holidays with us until recently. My cousin (who also has divorced parents) was
gone for what seemed to be almost every important holiday for two years to go
visit her mother in Arizona. Again, my family did nothing but complain about
how they missed her and how she should be spending the holidays with them. My
uncle was of course very sad that she was gone but he knew that his daughter
missed her mother. I thought of my father and how lonely he was with out my
brother and I. It was the tradition that I did not want to break, not my fathers
heart.
To this day, I still don’t spend the holidays with my dad but the first thing
that I do on that day is tell him Happy Holidays and that I love him. You might
think that I am selfish for not switching the years between my parents but I like
tradition more than change. In exchange, I have vowed to my father that I will
take care of him and change his diapers when he’s old.
There are some kids who spend the holidays with their parents every other
year, or they don’t spend any holidays at all with them. Sharing holidays with
divorced parents is obviously terribly hard on the parents too hard, but maybe
what people don’t realize is that it’s very it’s hard on the kids.
be going under the knife. Besides the given fact that
plastic surgery has created beauty in the worst situations
dealing with people that suffer from cleft lip to healing
facial deformities keep in mind it involves many risks
and is not exactly guaranteed to be permanent or satisfying to what you want. All surgeries carry some risk.
And while plastic surgery can improve a part of your
body, it rarely improves your whole life. Make sure your
goals are realistic.
Why? It’s important to have realistic expectations
and cosmetic surgery cannot change your life or make
you 20 years younger.
Moreover, if you smoke or drink a lot, your face
has a higher risk of complications and the results from a
cosmetic procedure may not last as long as you’d like.
So it’s very important to have realistic expectations from
your cosmetic surgery procedure, it’s also important to
do your research on what you’re getting done and who’s
operating on you. Make sure your body is healthy enough
to receive surgery and make sure you have a good state
of mind.
Is it possible to love a computer more
than a human baby? The war wages on...
by Hannah Macdonald
What would you do without a computer? For most students this question evokes
horror; to think of no MySpace, Sparknotes, or Google would be inconceivable. Yet
computers became mainstream just twenty years ago and life was bearable before
without them. Before computers there were books made for research and games were
created for recreational fun. Will books soon become foreign to us; have they already?
Computers opened up a new world to our generation: the World Wide Web. With
a few clicks of your mouse you can get highlights on the book you were supposed to
read for your English and find the answer to
a math problem you were supposed to work
out for Algebra 2. You no longer need tutors
for what you cannot comprehend or something to occupy your time from morning to
night. These examples seem to support computers, but truly look at them.
The Internet is now a permanent staple
in the world, but is it bringing us more bad
than good? We are constantly misinformed
in the research we conduct, because for many
it is easier to post their information on the
Internet rather than publishing an informative book. It is now as simple as opening a
web page and you can fake, convincingly,
that you have read a book. There is no need
to buy movies or CDs when they can be
found on the Internet, costing millions for
those who work so hard to make them. Every step of life that is in the least bit difficult
is daily being solved. If you were to study
life in its whole is it not shown that you learn
from mistakes? The Internet is trying to make sure that you never make any. But
without mistakes can we ever really grow?
The Internet seems to be leading up to the death of many things like journalism.
Will people still buy newspapers when world news is updated constantly on web pages?
Maybe schools and teachers will die off since there are web-cams that that can connect you with your teacher without you having to get up and ready for school. Does it
seem such a far stretch that other forms communication would die too? No need for
school and work locations because of the glorious Internet and E-mail; why even
leave your house? This is the route our world is driving down and there is no block to
it. Maybe we will soon learn how to type instead of how to write and who am I to say
if that this is right or wrong. With every new year isn’t it a fact that our knowledge
grows, but are we really progressing?
December 21, 2007
Page 6
Page 7
December 21, 2007
Customize your gadgets with your favorite color!
Religious tradition, or pagan abomination?
Opinion/commentary
by Cecilia Cabrera
Today, Christmas is a very popular
holiday. However, as is often the case,
what is popular is not always right and
what is right is not always popular. Christmas means ‘mass for Christ.’ The name of
the holiday is much newer than the holiday itself. The customs associated with
Christmas, in one form or another, have
been celebrated for literally thousands of
years. ‘Christmas’ is just a new name for
an old holiday.
There are some beliefs that the customs that are associated with Christmas,
as well as the idea of a God being born
on December 25th, are of pagan origin.
One needs only look to at an encyclopedia or even many local newspapers in the
12th month of the year to find this to be
true. The real issue is whether or not we
should celebrate these customs. So what
is so bad about it? Is it just for the children? What should we be teaching our
children? Truth or lies?
The truth is that Jesus was not born
on December 25th. December 25th is the
birthday of nearly every pagan god ever
worshipped In fact, the pagan customs
associated with Christmas are clearly
written in the Bible. Paganism is something that is against the Bible. If we know
that the roots of Christmas are of pagan
origin, why do we still feel the need to
celebrate it?
All over the world, Santa Claus is
God to the children. Others say “Father
Christmas.” Parents purposely and de-
liberately lie to their children and tell them
that they should fear Santa Claus because
“he knows if you’ve been bad or good.”
These same parents also don’t tell the truth
to their children about the Easter Bunny
and Tooth Fairy. Then they wonder why
their children and are deceitful later on in
life.
So why do we feel it necessary to
continue with these beliefs. Is it tradition
or is it just lies? We all should reconsider
what we are teaching our future generations.
-- Get out and DO something this vacation!
by Treasure Fortune
There are a lot of things
you can do during Christmas
break instead of sitting at home
and being bored. You can go to
a lot of different places and
hangout with your friends, family, boyfriends, or girlfriends.
These are some things that
you can do during your Christmas break. You can go to the
theater and see the new movies
that were released for the holiday season like Juno, I Am Legend, The Golden Compass, National Treasure Book Of Secrets, and Charlie Wilson’s War.
These movies will be coming
out all month, so you go and
enjoy them.
You can also go to amusement parks like Six Flags,
Disneyland, Universal Studios,
Knotts Berry Farm, Sea World,
Raging Waters, Scandia, and
Ice Town. These places are
very cool to hang out because
you can have a lot of fun and
you can also get on rides and get away from home. That’s what everyone wants for
their Christmas break, right?
by Kevin Miller
by Jacob Lopez
Louie Rodriguez graduated from Colton High School in
1993, and now lives and works in Miami, Florida as an assistant professor at Florida International University.
Rodriguez was raised in the communities of San Bernardino and Colton. He attended CHS until 1993. Rodriguez
then went on to attend Harvard and graduated with a doctorate in education.
His current research involves the research in relationships in school reform, educational policy, and education as a
civil right, specifically as they
relate to student-teacher engagement and dropouts.
Rodriguez also teaches urban education, educational
policy and theory, and social and
cultural foundations in education at Florida International University.
Rodriguez has also written a biography that partly talks
about his experience here at CHS that will be put into the
CHS libary. He hopes to set an example to all
students,showing them anyone can achieve anything.
As time goes by more and more people are getting into the trend of customizing their possessions to stand out from others with the same product. Some people add stickers, some people add
rhinestones and some people take it a step further, getting their favorite things a custom paint job.
ColorWare, (www.ColorWare.com) a website that allows consumers to purchase various
electronic devices in the custom color of their choice, is a growing trend as more people discover it,
and it is a really unique way to stand out in a crowd. ColorWare offers customization on iPhones,
Sidekick 3’s, iPods and many other things, including computers and gaming systems. With ColorWare
you select a product that you want to either send in or order through the ColorWare company and
the site gives you a screen with a large image of said product and a choice of colors and controls so
that you can change the color on most parts of the product. For example, when customizing an
iPod, you can color the front, back, and scroll wheel with different colors of your choice.
With the trend of having eye-catching possessions growing exponentially, options like
ColorWare are a great thing. Although the prices are usually steep, it is oftentimes worth it. ColorWare
does an excellent job of coloring the products, using a unique, scratch resistant, high-gloss polymer-based coating that gives the finished product a brilliant finish. ColorWare was featured as the
108th fastest growing, privately held company of 2007 in the Inc. Magazine 500 list, and its popularity continues to grow as they take more products into their line of customizable goods. ColorWare
has been featured in many highly popular publications, including Vogue, Entertainment Weekly and
Style Magazine.
ColorWare works with a large list of private clients, many of them among the most notable
companies in the world. From DC Shoes to Mercedes-Benz, MTV to Pokemon, ColorWare has a
broad spectrum of clientele, which goes to show how reliable they are. Although the prices may be
steep, ranging from $75 to upwards of $2000, for purchasing the custom colored computers through
them, ColorWare is definitely a unique, admirable way to stand out from the crowd, and it is a great
gift to give or receive.
by Gabi Gahr
by Randie Ortloff
Did you ever wonder why Yogi the Yellowjacket is our school mascot? Did you know that the Coyote almost became our mascot?
“I went back every issue of the Colton Courier until I found the first
mention of the Yellowjackets,” said Scott Klemm, a retired Colton High
School history teacher who wrote the book Colton High: the First 100
Years.
Most students at Colton high are unaware of why we are the Colton
Yellowjackets. On October 2, 1926, our school’s mascot was officially
recognized as the Colton Yellow jackets.
“Donald Macintosh, principal and superintendent at the time, mentioned that during a game against Corona, both teams wanted red jerseys,” explained Klemm. “The league decided Corona would get the red
and Colton would wear the yellow with black arm stripes. The opposing
coach said Colton looked like yellowjackets swarming around, because
of all the yellow and black.So the name just stuck,” At one point the
school mascot could have actually the been the Colton Coyotes, but Yellow jacket was chosen instead, Yogi.
by Saige Downs
He cheers, he jumps, he shakes his behind and he is junior Aaron Gamboa, Colton High School’s
Yellowjacket mascot. He became the school mascot last year, he had to attend a meeting and a special
tryout just for mascots even though there were only three people. Gamboa made the tryouts and went to
cheerleading camp with all the cheerleaders. Gamboa had to learn a lot of complex moves. He says,
“Going to cheer camp made me realize that it is actually hard to be a cheerleader and this made me
understand what the cheerleaders go through.” In spite of this, he is very appreciative of the experience.
“Cheer camp was a different experience but it was a lot of fun.”
Gamboa recalls from last year that he remembers talking about wanting to be the school mascot and
how much fun it would be. Some laughed at his dream but now he has proved his friends wrong. Now
Gamboa does his cheers at all of the football games and will be cheering at the basketball games. At the
end of the year he will be trying out to be the school’s mascot as a senior.
Lately, it seems anyone can be a celebrity in Hollywood, with no talent needed.
Singing, acting skills, not required, get your picture taken and get invited to the hottest
parties on the nightclub scene, and if you’re really lucky, you can star in your own reality
show.
Hollywood sure isn’t what it used to be and you can thank Perez Hilton, Kim
Kardashian and Lauren Conrad in part for making it that way. Being famous has never
been so easy; just make sure you have these: connections, reality show, enemies, and an
Everyone talks about others behind their backs;
Perez Hilton does it in front of more than 8 million
viewers everyday. Little known by his real name, Mario
Lavandeira, and without family connections or rich parents, Hilton made it big in Hollywood all by himself.
His vicious, flat out offensive website PerezHilton.com
makes fun of anyone and everyone in Hollywood, Actors, singers, and athletes are all to be made vulnerable. His nasty offensive remarks about Hollywood’s
A-D list and their children have made Hilton many
enemies. The self titled “Queen of all Media” got his
own reality show What Perez Sez on VH-1, was a cohost on The View and has had countless articles written about him; it’s clear people love what he has to say
because you never know what it will be. No one can
deny he is well on his way to becoming a household
name for trash talking. Hilton is unstoppable, except
for maybe karma, which is very overdue.
outrageous personality (the crazier the better).
With any luck our talent less celebrities will have their 15 minutes of fame
over soon and a new batch of fresh faces will be their to take their place. In time
people won’t care about celebrity gossip, what the Kardashians are up to or
if Lauren Conrad will ever be friends with Heidi Montag again. Fame won’t last
forever and everything comes to end sooner or later. So in enjoy it, and in the
meantime go the walk down Rodeo Drive just to get your picture taken, all for
doing nothing.
Lauren Conrad, star of the popular MTV reality
show The Hills spends her days doing the following
things: interning at Teen Vogue, talking about how much
she hates Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, going out
to LA’s finest night clubs, and don’t forget the all important texting. Conrad, who has been featured on two
of MTV’s biggest shows, has become a pop culture
icon herself this last year. Gossip websites, magazines
and paparazzi all can’t seem to get enough of her. She
is photographed at Hollywood’s biggest parties frequently and has become even more popular when reports surfaced that The Hills is really scripted. With
her new popularity; she gained her own clothing line
and is the spokesperson for the makeup line “Mark.”
Conrad definitely proves that no talent is required to
have your own show; her success comes from just plain
luck, with her city, high school and friends being documented in the pop culture icon, Laguna Beach, the
rest is history. Judging by how many viewers watch
her show every week, it’s undeniable that people love
watching Conrad, it seems that watching her text never
gets old.
Former Paris Hilton sidekick, Kim Kardashian,
has gained a lot of things this year: her own reality
show, a Playboy cover, and more money (not that she
needed it). Born into a rich family, thanks to her late
father, she hit it big time when she was photographed
traveling with ex-best friend Hilton, which caused many
to take interest in this new socialite.
Fast forward a year and Kardashian is now the star
of E!’s hit show, Keeping up with the Kardashians,
which chronicles the daily lives of Kardashian and her
many siblings. The premiere episode drew 7 million
viewers and only increased as the season progressed,
E! announced that there will be a second season. Just
because reality TV fans love her doesn’t mean the critics do. The New York Times has written: “The
Kardashian show is purely about some desperate women
climbing to the margins of fame, and that feels a lot
creepier.” Kardashian seems to be copying Paris Hilton,
with the parting, famous last name and television show,
let’s just hope that Kardashian is smart enough to stay
out of jail.
by Hannah Macdonald
They are humans just like us, but they have certain talents that seem to set them
apart. Celebrities are idolized in our culture, yet they are not perfect. This past year
has presented us with the multiple mistakes made by the “celebrities” in the spotlight,
perhaps proving their similarity to the average person.
I have to start out with the number one butt of jokes, Britney Spears. What a year!
She starts out the year in her marriage with Kevin Federline [K-Fed] and pops out a
couple of kids. Well, who could’ve guessed it; the marriage is closely followed by a
divorce. With that Spears shaves her head, (see picture, right) gets a few tattoos, and
beats up a car with an umbrella. Normal right? Next, numerous rumors, photos, and
videos are leaked exposing her parenting skills or lack thereof. She drives with her
babies in her lap, lets them fall out of their highchairs, and leaves them to go out and
party. Hit her baby one more time? Now this may be normal for inexperienced mothers, but since she is in the public eye these incidences resulted in the loss of custody of
her two sons. Whilst all of this happens she still manages to drop a CD, literally drop
since it quickly fell to the bottom of the charts. She also had time to embarrass herself
on the MTV Video Music Awards. 2007 will most likely go down as the year of the
death of Britney Spears, what can I say, it was toxic.
For more parenting drama there were two dads who reigned supreme: Alec Baldwin
and David Hasselhoff. Baldwin recorded an appalling message to his “pig” of a daughter
and Hasselhoff tried to eat a hamburger obviously drunk, while his daughter filmed it.
Who do you think is having the Best Year Ever?
Lindsay Lohan follows right behind Spears in the celebrity name to use as a punch
line. This poor girl wound up heading to rehab at the end of her year, maybe the death
of her career. What I want to know is how did this 20-year-old actress got to drink at nightclubs?
Does being a “star” give you an all-age-access card to drinking even though the federal law sets the age at 21?
I think that 2007 should go down as the year for no
mercy, for Paris Hilton that is. This year is the first time I
have ever seen a celebrity go to jail for their wrongdoing.
Speaking of jail or killers-who-got-away-with-it or whatever, what about O.J. Simpson? I don’t know about you, but
if I got away with a double homicide I would lay low and
enjoy life. I would not, repeat, would not release a book
titled If I Did It. Through that stupidity he got himself sued
by the family of one of his victims and a permanent level of
disgust from all of the American people.
The Miss America winner, Tara Conners was caught
drinking and then she was accused of having a drinking problem. Conners, how dare you drink while over the age of 21
and in America where drinking is not illegal! Through that
stunt she started the vilest feud of this year if not of all time,
Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell. This was portrayed
on almost every live television network including The View,
Larry King Live, and Good Morning America. I love this year.
Celebrities are just people who have a job with a few extra perks. They are known by everyone
and are followed, but do these examples sound like perks to you? Who am I to say that these mistakes are average are not? All I can say is that it was fun to watch these mistakes publicly portrayed.
it makes me feel so much better about my life. Thank you celebrities for the year of 2007.
by Gabi Gahr
The October 2007 California wildfires were a string of wildfires that began burning across Southern California on October
20. At least 1,500 homes were destroyed and over 500,000 acres
of land smoldered from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.-Mexico
border. Nine people died as a direct result of the fire, 85 others
were injured, including at least 61 brave fire fighters. Nine hundred thousand people where displaced that’s the most in
California’s history.
The fire caused power outages and more urgent water conservation. In result to all the catastrophes, the government became involved. President Bush ordered federal aid to assist with
the fires. The fire not only destroyed homes but it ruined the air
by Kevin Miller
I walked briskly into the San Bernardino Target and grabbed
a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows off of its display
shelf. It was 8:46 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. At 10:34 p.m. that
night, I closed the cover on the book, and along with it; I closed
the cover on the most important part of my life: my childhood.
I wasn’t alone in this, though. Junior Hannah Macdonald,
and Stephanie Marchand, a girl many upperclassmen would
remember, shared this moment in time with me. To express how
important Harry Potter is, I will share with you a little glimpse
into that fateful day. Marchand and I carpooled, purchasing the
seventh Harry Potter together and reading it in the parking lot
of Grand Terrace’s Pico Park. Marchand and I had parked next
to each other and read in our respective cars, occasionally calling out in surprise or dismay as we got further along into the
book. At noon that day we trekked, and by trekked I mean drove,
to the Colton Public Library, where we found fellow Potterverse
fan Macdonald hiding in the far stacks of the library.
Being the emotional roller coaster it was, we made quite
the disruption in the library with our cries of jubilation. The
librarian threatened to kick us out, so we did our best to contain
our emotions. Eventually we went our separate ways, and we
finished the book on our own time, each one of us feeling the
pain of the characters we had grown up with each loss, the joys
of our pen and ink friends with each triumph, and the fear they
felt when it seemed all hope was lost.
It may sound crazy, but to us it made sense. The thing is,
we weren’t alone in this. On that day thousands of people, kids
and adults alike, wept as they read through the final adventure
with the fantastical wizards they had grown to love over the
by Randie Ortloff
The race has yet to officially begin but you can already be sure this upcoming year presidential election is going to be an extravaganza. The elections are a little less than a year away and you
can already feel the excitement coming from the 2008 candidates. With more than a dozen candidates up for the job, you
can’t deny two of them have already begun to stand out and
become household names. The front runners, Hilary Clinton and
Barack Obama of the democratic party have already made it
seem as it is a two way race. Yet only one will get the democratic
vote and the other may just be America’s new president.
Hilary Clinton, former first lady and New York senator has
already stood out as a front contender. Clinton, who is married
President Bill Clinton, has proved that she is serious about the
job. Clinton is one of the most, if not the most popular contender for president. With her beliefs and thoughts about the
direction America should be going, it’s no wonder Clinton has
made a couple of enemies--one being her biggest opponent,
Obama himself. If Clinton becomes the first American female
presidents it brings up another big question: what will Bill Clinton
be called? The first lady will be the president and the former
president will then be in the role of first lady. The answer will be decided over the next 11 months.
You’ve probably seen him either chatting to Tyra Banks on her talk show or dancing with
Ellen DeGeneres on hers. Barack Obama seems as though he
cannot be stopped. Obama is already the front runner in the Hollywood crowd and it doesn’t seem to hurt in the polls that the
Senators
most powerful woman in show business is on his side. Barack is
Barack Obama
not stopping there; he has even reached out for the younger vote
and Hillary
with appearing on MTV. What the future holds for Obama is
Clinton
still unsure, whether he will get the democratic vote or not seems
to change every day.
Predictions for president are flying left and right theses days
but all of that will stop November 2008 when for the first time
in eight years, America will have a new president. Changes will
in no doubt come for the USA along with a new commander in
chief. Questions will be answered soon and your leader for the
next four years will be decided. Even if your not 18 and able to
vote encourage those you know to, after all you will be spending 1,460 days with your or someone else’s candidate.
by Jacob Lopez
quality which had effect on many people. The air quality was
so poor in San Diego city attorney Michael Aguirre began to
urge that San Diego to consider a whole city evacuation.
The fires had numerous sources. Several were set off by
power lines damaged by the high winds. The Buckweed fire
was set by a ten year old boy who admitted to accidentally
setting when playing with matches. He was not charged for the
incident. The San Bernardino fire was reported as having been
intentionally caused; the suspect was shot and killed at the scene
by state authorities, he was a 27 year old man from Arizona, he
was spotted around San Bernardino University campus. On
November 9, 2007 was the last fire that was fully contained 19
days after the series of fires started.
years. As we finished the epilogue, a part of our life boarded the
Hogwarts Express with little Scorpius and James, being spirited
away and forcing us to move on.
Although at first we were afraid, knowing we would never
again be waiting anxiously to find out how our favorite heroes
were doing, but soon we realized the beauty in it. Harry Potter
was a magical journey, and it was so influential that there is
even a species of dinosaur named after the book (Dracorex
Hogwartsia) on display at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. With two more movies to go and the promise of an eventual
Encyclopedia of Harry Potter, this phenomenon is far from over.
Every truly dedicated fan will reread Harry Potter for years to
come, eventually passing the addictive adventure on to younger
relatives or children, and will never let go of the magic.
If you aren’t one of the Potterverse fans, chances are you’ve
at least heard of it. Created by J.K. Rowling, to whom the character of Harry Potter had first materialized on a train, the series
is one of the most popular children’s book series in the world,
and has been credited with spurring a generation of readers.
Prior to the success of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling had been
an unemployed single mother, and now the success of her books
has catapulted her to be the 136th richest person and the 13th
richest woman in Britain.
Although you may not consider it to be important, the finale of Harry Potter in June 2007 is certainly one of most influential things that has happened this year, and as such it deserved
a spot in this list of important events of this past year.
Video Games, computer, gadgets, ipods, movies, cell phones, the next generation is upon us. Welcome to the year
2008.
Those of you who don’t have an iphone yet, but wish to get one may be in luck. The new 3 GB iphone is set to hit
store shelves early 2008. Currently the iphone runs on AT&T’s 2.5G network. The phone does not have the capacity to
run on the company’s faster 3GB network.
Another hot item from Mac is the new iTablet. This device is going to be geared to people who already have Macs,
so no, this is not going to be a full-fledged computer. The iTablet will be running a specially designed version of Mac OS
X Leopard. People will able to control their computers over the internet from a remote location, video conference over
the internet, and will also be able to beam files to other Macs or iTablets wirelessly. It has yet to be confirmed weather
or not this will be a Mac-only product.
Some of the movies that are lined up for the 2008 year have been anticipated longer than the freshmen of CHS have
been alive. Movies like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull, Watchmen, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Star
Trek, Rambo, and Speed Racer have been in our culture for many years. Lets not forget The Dark Knight, The Incredible
Hulk, Iron Man, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Chronicles of Narnia 2: The Prince of Caspian, Horton Hears a
Who!, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cloverfield, and Bond 22.
As for video games, gamers have Halo Wars, Grand Theft Auto IV, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Star Wars: Force
Unleashed, Ninja Gaiden II, Burnout Paradise, Mario Kart Wii, Final Fantasy XIII, and Ghostbusters to look forward
too.
Already, 2008 is shaping up to be a promising year. Keep your eye out for these most anticipated movies and
games.
by Destiny Espinoza
Michael Jackson is releasing a new
edition of his past greatest top chart album Thriller early this upcoming year. The
release date is rumored to be set around
Feb 12 by epic/Legacy recordings. The
new Thriller is also going to include remixes by Kanye West. Akon, and Will.i.am
along with 1982 never released material.
The unreleased tracks on the record are
For All Time, which has been personally
mixed and mastered by Jackson along with
the original Billie Jean demo and the rarities Someone in the Dark and Carousel.
The new songs include Michael Jackson with featured artists Kanye West remixing Billie Jean and Will.i.am changing up the beats with The Girl Is Mine and
P.Y.T. The album also features Will.i.am
and Akon joining Jackson in the new version of Wanna
Be Startin Somethin’. The rest of the tracks on the 25th
Anniversary Edition include songs
Baby be Mine,
Beat It, Human
Nature, and The
Lady in My Life.
Alongwith
this hit album there
is a bonus DVD including
the
Thriller, Beat It
and Billie Jean videos, plus Jackson’s
performance of the
latter cut during the
1983 NBC special
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.
by Treasure Fortune
This summer, students are on their way to travel Europe on the EF Tour “Essence
of Europe” Eurotrip for 17 days. This trip is the brainchild of English teacher Lucy
Tillema and is her second year planning this trip. You don’t have to have good grades
and you don’t need to have perfect attendance to attend. Your parents are even invited
to go and they will be a chaperon will you enjoy the experience.
If you would like to talk to Tillema, she is located in room 351. She would love for
you to go and have fun with her and other students.
The first day will be spent on an all night flight across the Atlantic. While you’re in
Europe you will be led by London EF through a walking tour of Germany, Heidelburg,
Munich, Venice, Florence, Paris, and London. While you’re in Germany, you will see
the house that Anne Frank was hiding in during WWI1.
You will be leaving Friday, June 20th and returning Sunday, July 6th. You will be
departing from Ontario, CA. The cost for this trip is $3,428 for students. The subtotal
for adults will be $3,918. It covers everything that you do in Europe such as the 15 over
night stays in hotels, the tour director, the seven sight seeing tours, and trains for transport.
December 21, 2007
Page 10
THE NEXT BIG THING:
The Sounds of Animals Fighting, Daft
Punk, and Cage are all music artists ready
to shake up the music scene.
by Cecilia Cabrera
by Jacob Lopez
After increasing tensions between the
Writers Guild of America and the Alliance
of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the WGA, took action on November
5th, 2007, the WGA went on strike.
Late Night talk shows were immediately affected and were forced to air reruns. Production of some T.V. shows such
as Lost, 24, and Heroes were affected as
well. Lost, having only eight episodes
done, is still expected to start airing its
fourth season in February. Heroes has now
been forced to end their season early, and
the show 24 is being postponed.
Desperate Housewives is now scheduled to finish filming its latest episode
because it had run out of scripts, along
with The Office. Sitcoms that will stop the
cameras include Back to You, The New
Adventures of Old Christine, Til Death,
Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half
Men and The Big Bang Theory.
The decision to go on strike was
unanimous. The WGA called for demands
that AMPTA (The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) wouldn’t
give them. Some of these demands included provisions for internet distribution
in any new contract. As things stand, studios are selling their product through the
new medium of the internet for which
there are no provisions really in the current contract for writers to be compensated
for. However, AMPTA wanted to put off
the issue of the Internet business for three
years because it’s so new and they’re not
clear how it will work. Other demands are
that reality and game show writers are to
be covered under the new agreement. In
other words, the WGA wants reality and
game show writers to be covered on contract with these new agreements with
AMPTA. However, AMPTA wants their
say in it too.
AMPTA is demanding withholding
royalty payments until the studio makes
back its investment. Under the current
agreement, royalties are paid on a project
right away. AMPTA want to change this
to a more fair system where royalties only
begin to be paid after a project has recovered its investment. In other words, if a
movie cost $53 million to make, then the
royalties on that movie will only be paid
out after the producers have made back
their initial investment.
Movies have yet to feel the full impact. If the strike doesn’t end before Jun
30th, 2008, a fellow union known as the
Screen Actors Guild will initiate a strike.
Then, with both SAG (the Screen Actor’s
Guild) and WGA on strike, it’ll bring a
total halt to movie production.
This strike has been predicted to last
through half of next year. Then on June
30th, 2008, other guilds will join the WGA
and they’re hoping for AMPTA to be
forced to rule in their favor.
Writers have not gone on strike since
1988, when the walkout lasted 22 weeks
and cost the industry more than $500 million.
Great-unknown bands are pretty much a rarity these days. We are surrounded
in a world where everyone thinks they are the next best thing. But in reality not
everyone is going to be the next John Lennon or Michael Jackson. But recently
some musicians have come forward to change that for us. The trick is finding them
before they’re done being great or unknown or both.
Such as Daft Punk, a duo, consisting of Paris house musicians Guy-Manuel
de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The duo is considered one of the most
successful electronic music collaborations of all time, both in album sales and in
critical acclaim. After Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house
movement in France, other artists such as Air,
Cassius and Dimitri from Paris began to receive a similar amount of attention. The mysterious French duo has never revealed their
true identity, wearing various types of masks
to cover their real faces in interviews and concerts. The media-shy duo has nevertheless become an absolute phenomenon on the 90’s
music scene. Daft Punk has not only put
French techno on the map but convinced music fans around the world that they are here to stay.
Another artist we should keep our eye on is Cage Kennylz, an American hiphop artist from Middletown, New York. He is known for his acid rap horrorcore
lyrics, inspired by his experiences in a mental institution as a teenager. He is also
notable for a short-lived feud with rapper Eminem. Cage’s latest album, Hell’s
Winter, released on September 20, 2005, showed how Cage has cleaned up his act,
turning his back on drugs, and forgetting the typical rap vocabulary. This resulted in
a mature and intelligent, although still emotional album, which pointed towards a
very personal direction for future work. In a recent interview with PopMatters magazine asked what was new about the album, and he replied, “There’s nothing fake in
it. It’s not about money and cars. So it’s different from most hip-hop.”
Last but not least we have The Sounds of Animals Fighting, an experimental/progressive rock band incorporating many musicians, including members from
bands such as Finch, Rx Bandits, Circa Survive and Chiodos. They have a unique
and odd sound. As we are aware Tsoaf are not worried about what’s new and hip on
the music scene, they are just about the music. All of the parts of the album, Tiger
and the Duke, were recorded individually and each member was only able to hear
the part they contributed to the album so this is what makes them different from
anything around.
So the next time you go look for what’s hot on the music charts, steer clear of
what’s big and go for something that’s original and real.
Stephen Colbert is America
and so can you!
Book review by Rebecca Schisler
You may know him from his hit T.V. show The
Colbert Report on Comedy Central or from his recent
campaigning in the 2008 presidential election. His name
is Stephen Colbert and if you don’t know him chances
are you don’t know his new book; I am America (and
so can you) in which case you should slap yourself.
Colbert’s comedic humor is clearly expressed in his book
as he addresses such issues as race, religion, homosexuals and the elderly and their collection of social security. Controversial and outspoken Colbert expresses his
opinions on these manners and writes, “You may not
agree with everything Stephen says, but at the very least,
you’ll understand that your differing opinion is wrong.”
While reading this book I nearly died of laughter
on several occasions. His humor may offend some, and
at points I found some of his subject manner down right
insulting, however, the good in his comedy outweigh
the bad in the controversy. Fellow reporter and Colbert
fan junior Kevin Miller says, “His numerous digs at
homosexuals were the most pleasurable things I have
ever read, even if I disagree with them completely. But
the truth is, it IS ‘our father who art in Heaven, not our
father who art in Kevin.’ Who is me.”
Not only does I am America (and so can you) contain humor in the form of text, Colbert ads fun little activities in his fun zone. Activities such as celebrity matchups, word finds optical illusions and more. The book
also includes stickers, clever comedic side and footnotes,
witty diagrams and pictures along with a red ribbon to
be used as a bookmark attached to the book. The many
diagrams offer Colbert’s advice on matters he finds important, such as a picture of the abstinence bases and
the Jesus train timetable.
I highly recommend this book for those in search
of a good laugh. Its controversial topics are overshadowed by the humor Colbert addresses them with and
can be enjoyed even by those that do not share his beliefs or opinions. Colbert himself recommends this book
saying, “[Its] a great read! I laughed, I cried, I lost 15
pounds! I cannot recommend this book highly enough.”
And I myself agree with him. Buy I am America (and so
can you) and fill your life with joy today.
December 21, 2007
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Pepper Bough
Calendar
in wide release on
Christmas Day
and
12/30 @ the Gibson
Amphitheater
Last NHS Rosebowl
event 1/1/08
Back to school
1/07/08
End of first semester
1/25/08
Page 11
Concert review by Kevin Miller
A thousand spectators stared in impatient wonder as
the lights dimmed on stage. Just moments before the crowd
had been roaring with excitement as they watched David
Beckham, dressed in his most obviously metrosexual mahogany brown sweatervest, purchase a cotton candy. Nobody had noticed the Galaxy soccer teams most talked
about player until he had
called Jorge, the good-natured cotton candy man,
over to his seat and subsequently attracted the attention of every person in
the packed Staples Center
arena. Of course Beckham
would be there, showing
support for his beautiful
wife Victoria Beckham
(also known as Posh), for
soon after she would be
singing in front of a gigantic crowd with her old friends, the Spice Girls.
Spotlights focused on stage, signaling the appearance of the girls all of these fans had come to see: Posh,
Ginger (whose locks were no longer the same festive red
her fans had grown to love), Scary, Sporty, and Baby Spice
rose from the abysmal black stage, all sparkles and joyous
grins. Suddenly a tune began, then the girls opened their
mouths and emitted something that, to the adoring fans,
sounded much like a heavenly chorus signing: “When your
feeling sad and low, we will take you where you’ve got to
go!”
Suddenly the crowd, unable to hold back their joy,
erupted in raucous applauds and shrieks as they began to
sing along.
To my left a woman in what appeared to be three
foot tall platform boots made from the finest pleather in
the land danced to the music, to my right a young man in a
short brown dress slammed it to the left (obviously he was
having a good time), as the choreographed dance routine
reached its climax.
In the beginning, I was skeptical as to how the Spice
Girls’ reunion tour would be, but once Scary Spice had
danced provocatively atop a ladder, I knew it would be
one of those moments in life that will never be forgotten.
All around me and my fellow reporter, Junior Rebecca
Schisler, hoards of fans screamed and danced as they
watched one of, if not the most popular musical groups of
the ’90s dance together again in front of us.
As the show went on, each girl performed a solo,
pleasing the crowd to no end. Ginger, the once-delightfully redheaded, bilingual spice girl, was hoisted up by
her crowd of dancers and spun around as she sung, her
surprisingly fit body being displayed to the crowd.
I was surprised to find this to be such an enjoyable event, with their main theme being girl power, but
the presence of the amiable, beautiful Spice Girls was
enough to end any doubts I had as to their talent. As they
sung what most of the crowd
thought was their final song, one
of the spice girls said “I think
we forgot something,” and with
those words the crowd exploded, screams and hollers
coming from every member of
the audience, for we knew that
they were going to perform another song. The lights dimmed
for a moment, and soon there
were dancers on the stage, performing an intensely well choreographed routine. A few minutes into the dance the girls reemerged from backstage
in what had to be the sparkliest, most frighteningly blinding outfits I had ever seen.
The Spice Girls were surprisingly good, bringing
with their reunion a sudden surge in affectionately reminiscent thoughts of the ’90s. They proved themselves to
be well worth the steep ticket prices of $80 or more, and
the entourage they brought with them was frighteningly
impressive. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, close personal friends of Posh Spice, have been spotted attending
their concerts, along with David Beckham, of course,
and many other high profile celebrities that are in the
Girl’s inner-circles. Sadly, only a few choice fans that
were selected in an internet raffle were eligible to purchase tickets to their concert, and Ticketmaster sold out
of tickets to their concert frighteningly quickly.
Although the Spice Girls had disbanded long ago,
they were never far from the hearts of their fans. Their
music still played in various stores, most notably being
played to patrons Victoria’s Secret, who are the exclusive retailers of the Spice Girl’s Greatest Hit CD, and
select songs were still proudly displayed on the Myspaces
and iPods of adoring fans everywhere. After such a long
hiatus, the reunion of this gang of girls that had once
ruled the charts all across the globe has drawn the attention of thousands, and although only a select few of their
fans got to witness them in concert anyone can tell you.
It was by far the most marvelous moment anyone could
have hoped to experience.
Delightful crepes leaves a
party in your mouth!
by Kevin Miller
There are many restaurants available for people
to choose from, but these days it seems increasingly
difficult to find one that has an interesting selection of
food at an affordable price. Enter Crêpe D’lite & Swirls,
an affordable food joint with an uncommon specialty.
Crêpes, which are often described as very thin
pancakes, are typically filled with various fruit fillings
and rolled, or folded, for consumption. At Crêpe D’lite,
they fill their crêpes with a variety of foods, from
avacado to gelato, which make them taste marvelous.
Although the combination of meat and crêpe may
sound awkward to some, it is actually a delightful romp
for taste buds to take as a vacation from the usual, bland
food we’ve become accustomed to. Along with the interesting selection of food, Crêpe D’lite has an amazingly enjoyable atmosphere, friendly workers and an
array of quaint artwork.
The tables, each with some unique feature such
as being suspended from the ceiling or being a large
tic-tac-toe board, are unique and add to the great
atmosphere of Crêpe D’lite.
The food is broken down into two categories:
sweet, which is their selection of dessert filled crêpes,
and savory, which is their selection of heavy foods
such as meats, cheeses and vegetables. Some customers call it Subway meets Coldstone, but worlds
more interesting. Junior Alex White, who frequents
Crêpe D’lite, says that the food is “like a party in
[her] mouth,” and many patrons agree with that statement.
Surprisingly, the prices are almost as good as
the selection, so you can get a combination of sweet,
savory and a drink for under $20 easily, and the portions are very large (the lowest price is about $3.50
per food selections for the basic choice). If you’re
looking for a new, unique place to enjoy a lunch
with friends, try Crêpe D’lite and Swirls, which is
located on Hospitality Lane, Ste. B.
Page 12
Please support our sponsors!
December 21, 2007
Right across the street from Colton High!
by Destiny Espinoza
909-423-0831
Hamburger $1.55
Double burger $2.49
Cheeseburger $1.79
Double Cheeseburger $2.89
Chili Cheeseburger $4.99
Combo Burger $4.29
Double Burger combo $5.29
Combo Cheeseburger $4.69
Double Cheeseburger combo $5.49
Combo Chili 1/2 lb Cheeseburger $6.99
ice cream and shakes are sold as well
ALL COMBOS INCLUDE:
FRENCH FRIES & SMALL DRINK
10% Discount to all
Colton High!
Page 13
December 21, 2007
by Richard Bowie
Colton High is home to countless clubs. From Student Peace Coalition to Fever Dance Club, from Biological Sciences to Believers Club, from Drama Club to
Chess club, there is somewhere for almost every type of person. One club, however, is rapidly gaining momentum, becoming what seems to be the one of the most
heavily populated clubs on campus...Well, off campus. I’m talking about the “Stater
Bros. Employees Club.”
Walk into any Stater Bros. Supermarket any time school is not in session, and
you’re almost guaranteed to find a CHS student. Over 25 students in the senior
class alone are part time employees at Stater Bros. But what makes Staters such a
magnet for job seeking students? “Getting paid, to be quite honest. It makes working all worth while,” says junior Rebecca Schisler. Just like any other job, the
motivation behind working at Staters is the almighty dollar. The more hours worked,
the more money that’s raked in, especially with California minimum wage rising to
$8.00 staring January 2008. According to senior Ray Sabala, the hours get piled
on. “I work usually seven days a week, sometimes six if I’m lucky. Five to eight
hours a day and sometimes I get closing shifts on school days. So I’m there unti1 1
a.m. sometimes, but I’m not complaining, the money is good.”
Another similarity is that as a Stater Bros. employee, you must pay dues. Union
dues, that is. It is a requirement that you must join the union within 30 days of
getting hired, or your employment will be terminated. Says senior Chad Souice,
the union is overall a good thing, “They protect your working rights and help you
out if you’re in trouble. They do take around $6 from your paycheck but still it’s
pretty cool.”
Stater Bros. is the place to be if you’re looking for low priced, high quality
food. They also have extensive meat, produce and service deli departments and
don’t forget their hot bakery, with all of the warmest, most sumptuous treats you
heart could ever imagine. And if you’re looking for a job that pays well, offers a
great union and will enhance your social skills, Stater Bros might be the place for
you.
Walk the Dead, a fusion rock band, consists of lead vocalist Isiah Ruiz, drummer Gabriel Garcia, guitarist Adrian Cordero, and bassist CHS senior Alfredo
Contreras. Cordero and Ruiz met while in a previous band, Alien Vomit, back in
2005, which lasted less than a year because the drummer, Ricky Martinez, decided to leave the band. Cordero and Ruiz later experimented with acoustic projects
for about a month before meeting friend and now member Contreras and Ruiz’s
cousin Garcia. With two EP demos already released (Dead Skin Cells and Crumble
into the Sea) this unsigned band is getting ready to make it big time and is a group
you should keep an eye on.
Formed in the Spring of 2006, the band titled themselves Walk the Dead
Walks before dropping it to the shorter Walk the Dead. With lyrics strong and
upbeat, their music has a funky and psychedelic feel that will have you grooving
like Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez Lopez. The group experiments with different
beats that are ‘original,’ as singer Ruiz says, “There are not many bands like us out
there right now.”
Not afraid to speak the truth in most of his songs, Isiah gets his writing inspiration from real life experiences and stories that piece well together. Whatever the
case, it always comes out with a well-ordered story line and a tune that’s different
from the popular hardcore music scene, and you’ll be surprised to discover just
how easy it is to relate to most of their music.
From their recently released demo, Crumble into the Sea, Ruiz wrote “My
Inspiration,” a song about a girl in his life that shared a beautiful experience with
him while in love. Ruiz sings about how he loves her so much he is willing to fight
with everything he has to prove he loves her and only her. Another song released
form Crumble into the Sea, “27 Club Funk Song,” is jumpy and gets the audience
on their feet as Ruiz sings and grooves about how partying and living too fast will
have you dancing on the fingertips of death and dying at the age of twenty- seven.
An example of harsh times in the nineteen-year-old singers life, Ruiz writes a very
special song titled “Few Friends,” that is a more serious song from the group
about never letting go and sticking it out to the death with a close best friend.
Walk the Deads demos contain nine recorded songs all together and with
eleven unrecorded songs. Ruiz is still writing and working out new material so,
keep an eye and ear out to listen and view this young upcoming bands journey to
make it to the top. The band plans on touring in different areas once members
Garcia and Contreras graduate later this year. Check out their myspace website
www.myspace.com/deadskincells to listen to their demos and view upcoming
shows.
Residential and Commercial
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no signs of stopping. Having just completed her CSU
by Richard Bowie
applications, she has made the steps to keep dance in her
As children, our parents aspire for us to grow up life by choosing dance as her college minor. Though she
and become doctors and lawyers. But for seniors is choosing to major in Psychology in college, her future
McKenna Corder and Sara Archuleta being doc- aspirations for dance remain.
tors or lawyers warn’t a cre“With a minor in
ative enough outlet. Dance
dance, there is no real adis their love.
Let’s Dance- Seniors Corder
vantage, but you defiand Archuleta show off their
“I dance because it
nitely learn more. I’m exmoves
keeps me in shape,” says
cited for classes but I reCorder, “The people around
ally want to teach dance.”
there are amazing. It also
She hopes to become an
teaches me the meaning of
instructor at Dance Dicommitment.”
mensions.
Corder takes classes at
Like Corder, senior
Dance Dimensions PerformArchuleta has been dancing Arts Center. There, both
ing since a very early age
she and Archuleta practice
and is another student at
jazz, tap, and ballet dances.
Dance Dimension. She
“In jazz class we work
took a break from dance
on dance combinations and
this summer to be a part
our technique. In ballet it is
of the Varsity Volleyball
very mellow and we work on
team, but is excitedly rebody placement. Tap is all
joining this January.
about your feet so you get
“I’ve missed danctired really quickly.”
ing with [my friends from
Corder has been dancing for ten years and shows the studio] for so long that I feel like something is miss-
ing,” says Archuleta. But now that volleyball season is
over, she will have more time after the holidays.
But to her, dance is much more than just movement.
She sees it as a personal growth tool.
“I dance because it’s something that I love to do,
and I learn so much more than just how to move,” says
Archuleta. “It teaches me to have patience with other
people and how to be helpful when someone else isn’t
catching on as quickly. I learn about teamwork and chemistry which are really important, or else the whole dance
won’t look good.”
Archuleta has also applied to colleges with dance
as her minor. Her aspirations are aimed toward Hollywood. She wishes to move to Los Angeles to get more
experience with the entertainment industry, saying that
she wants to go to castings and auditions in order to familiarize herself with the process.
“Maybe a choreographer, but what I really want to
do is get behind the scenes and eventually be the one
who runs auditions for music videos, events and musicals. Almost like a casting director.”
Creating art with nothing but your body is a feat
that not just anyone can do. Dance takes a tremendous
amount of work, patience, ambition, discipline, and above
all else, practice. Colton High School is the home to two
dedicated, talented young ladies who’s futures are as
bright as the stars they aspire to be.
Page 14
December 21, 2007
Wrestling gears up for successful season
by Maria Torres
The team is tied, and the last match will determine the winner, every second counts
as in a squint of an eye the match could be won or lost. All of a sudden the referee starts
the count down with only fifteen seconds left for the match, one, two, three, Pin!
The crowd stands up stomping their feet and clapping their hands as the referee holds
the winners hand up in the air. The other team stands in disbelief as they see the score
of defeat. Wrestling season is back with Varsity returnees seniors Anthony Carvalho,
Trevor Pack, Shane Bidney, junior Edgar Sanchez, and sophomore Dannon Savage.
During the summer the returnees participated in the wrestling summer program
AAU with the help of Coach Elliot Diaz, who is currently an assistant coach. This
season also brought the surprise of a new head coach, Tom Caldwell, who is also a
teacher at Colton High School. Coach Caldwell has high expectations for this year,
saying, “I think the team will place 2nd or 3rd in league this year, I also expect senior
Trevor Pack to make Masters or even State.”
This year the wrestling team will be wrestling in the San Andreas League (SAL.)
On December 8th Colton had a tournament at Lake Elsinore High against nine other
schools. Colton took 9th place at the tournament. On December 14th and 15th Colton
hosted the Christmas Classic, a tournament that’s been hosted by Colton hosted for
more than 25 years. Twenty-six schools arrived at the tournament with the same goal,
to take home first place. “ My goal is to make state this year,” said Pack, who took 2nd
place at the Christmas Classic this year at the 160 lbs. weight division. Bidney took
6th place at the 152 lbs weight division. This year Colton didn’t place at the Christmas
classic.
December 21, 2007
Page 15
WWE Wrestling hits local area
with a vengeance
San Bernardino show plays to
packed house of Wrestling fans
by Maria Torres
On November 4, 2007, Cal State San Bernardino
was packed with a crowd that was bloodthirsty for action. WWE came down to San Bernardino for a house
show at the Cal State Coliseum. There was a full card of
many wrestlers that are usually seen on WWE TV but
there were also others that wouldn’t be shown on televi-
Other assistant coaches are Ricardo Gonzales, Adrian Silva, and Vicente Polanco
who have all been past Colton high wrestlers. The San Andreas League (SAL) will
begin on January 2, 2008.
Boys Soccer looking to improve
by Saige Downs
Last year, the Varsity boys soccer team lost over half
of their players due to them being seniors and graduating. So far they already have a record of 3-1-5 . They
won a tough match at the December 3, 2007 game against
Rim of the World with a score of 3-0 with Varsity captain senior Jose Rincon making two of the goals. Rincon
says, “This season is having a slow start but the team
hopes for a great season this year and go to playoffs.”
On December 14th they played against Beaumont
High School but they were defeated with the score of
1-0. Senior Richard Alvarez recalls, “It was too bad
that we lost, but hopefully we will be doing better the
rest of the season.”
The Varsity team at played at Rancho Verde High
School at 3:15 yesterday afternoon, but results were not
available at press time.
If you are interested in going to one of their games
during the Christmas break, on December 26th they will
be part of the San Gorgonio Tournament against Serrano
High school at 8:30 a.m. and Indio High School at 11:00
a.m. For more information, you can check out Colton
High’s website for game information.
sion until later on. The coliseum was packed, tickets were
sold out and many sad faces were left behind without a
chance to watch this show. The doors opened at 4:00
p.m and people started rushing through to either get to
their seats or get some of their favorite wrestlers merchandise. They had various things such as shirts, hats,
and belts, to glow sticks for everybody to buy and show
their support to their favorite wrestlers.
The show started at 5:00 p.m with a ten-bell salute
to the late great Fabulous Moolah who died two days
before this show at the age of 84 after a lung surgery.
There then was the national anthem played over the loud
speaker to salute the flag.
The first out was RAW General Manager William
Regal, who started by running down the aisle and jumping into the ring, this caused a warm reaction from everybody. Soon after he introduced the crowd to his opponent. His opponent was developmental wrestler and
So Cal resident Atlas DaBone, who got a big pop from
the crowd even though no one had ever seen him on television before.
The match started off with Regal dominating, then
with Atlas getting quite a few good moves in, after that it
went back and forth with Regal getting the pin after a
running knee to Atlas head.
Carlito vs. Hardcore Holly. Most of the match was
dominated by Hardcore, in the end it was the Alabama
Slama by Hardcore that
gave him the win and
Carlito a huge whiplash..
Next up was the Russian
Vladimir Kozlov vs. the
high flyer Brian Kendrick.
Brian held his own much
of the match but Kozlov
won with a inverted torture
rack backbreaker, some
good flying by Kendrick
though.
The next match was
a triple threat tag team
match for the World Tag
Team Championship. It
was Shelton Benjamin and
Charlie Haas vs. Cade and
Murdoch vs. “Hacksaw”
Jim Duggan and Super
Crazy. Duggan and Crazy
Got a good reaction from the crowd with the “Hoooo”,
“Siiiii” chant with the crowd loving it. Lots of mat wrestling and some good high flying sports by Benjamin and
Super Crazy. Lance Cade got the win after Benjamin hit
a superplex off the top rope and Super Crazy, and Cade
took advantage of it to get the pin.
Up next was cocky but kind of cool Mr. Kennedy,
vs. the grandson of a plumber Cody Rhodes , son of wrestling legend and Hall of Famer The American Dream
Dusty Rhodes. From what I saw of the match it was pretty
good. I went to get some food from the stand and missed
the finish but I heard Cody got the pin. Next up Maria
Kanellis was tossing out shirts when she was interrupted
by Santino Marella who ran down Stone Cold Steve Austin and his movie The Condemned.
They then left to make room for the next match for
the women’s championship with Mickie James vs. the
champ Beth Phoenix. I was still in line trying to get food
(which by the way I think Cal State needs to wake up the
people there because the line never moved), so after
waiting a half an hour I left to get back to my seat to see
the finish with Beth beating Mickie for the win and retaining her title. Next was the Co-main event for the
WWE Championship of Champ Randy Orton vs. the man
that never met a risk he didn’t take, the Intercontinental
Champ Jeff Hardy. The match was great with hardy flying over the ropes twice to crash onto Orton on the outside. The finish saw Orton try for a RKO only for it to be
reversed by hardy for a Twist of Fate only for it to be
reversed back to a RKO by Orton for the pin and retaining the WWE title.
Next up was the final match pitting “The Game”
Triple H vs. “The Samoan Bulldozer” Umaga in a “No
DQ” match. Back and forth the match went, with Triple
H getting his head rammed in the corner by Umaga.
Umaga then tried again but with the steel steps behind
Triple H so add the extra dash of pain to it, only for
Hunter to move out and Umaga crashes and burns into
the steps. Then followed by the Pedigree on the steel
chair for the win with Triple H as the winner. Lots of
“DX” chants and chops after, with Triple H entertaining
the crowd with some funny jokes with a guy that came
from England followed by the chant that can’t be printed
on this paper.
All in all great show with WWE announcing they
will be back in Anaheim and L.A. in February.
Death of Dr. Pepper: Troupers put on dinner theatre, a first for CHS
by Divya Joseph
I was sitting at a table trying to eat
my dinner peacefully, despite the company
of a smug Lt. Colonel Percy Blunt who
jaded me with long tales of his army days.
A few people stopped by asking for lost
loved ones: a lawyer asking for his uncle,
a Dr. Pepper with wandering eyes, asking
for his wife, and three loony sisters, all
searching for their husbands. I was thinking to myself that these occurrences were
sure looking peculiar, when I was interrupted by a loud noise like that of a gun
shot. Dr. Pepper came in from outside
oozing blood; he was shot! I knew immediately that this wasn’t going to be any
ordinary day.
The Death of Dr. Pepper, a dinner
theater presentation held by Trouper’s
club, captivated its viewers through its
characters interaction with the audience
and vice-versa. The audience feeling like
one of the characters themselves spent the
night figuring out who the murderer of Dr.
Pepper was. The actors loved the interface with the audience, say Gabriell
Darter, Kristen Romos and Mary
Skates, who played the suspected loony
sisters.
The actors say that the event for them
was a growing experience, for they had to
think on their feet because each member
of the audience would react and respond
differently when they would interact with
them. “Every time we went to a table we
had something different to say,” says
Romos. The actors say that they impro-
vised a lot with the script and the props as
the show went along “About 50% was
made up at the moment,” says Derek
Gonzalez (Dr. Pepper). Skates says that
the balloon that they popped to imitate the
sound of a gun shot at the 6 o’ clock showing wasn’t present at the 1 o’ clock showing so they all gathered around and
shouted out the word ‘bang.’ The blood
(also know as spaghetti sauce) that oozed
out of Dr. Pepper was a last minute idea
as well. But they pulled this all off well,
says Troupers club advisesr and director
Renee Fegan, “I know they could have
done better but for their first time they did
really well,” she says.
The Death of Dr. Pepper was the first
time that Troupers have held a dinner theater presentation and the first time that a
whole event was planned, directed and executed solely by the members of troupers
with very little help from their advisor
Fegan. Fegan says that the club was brainstorming of more ways to raise money for
themselves and the community, when
someone suggested a dinner theater presentation and they all loved the idea and
further decided to give half their proceedings to the Southern California’s fire victims. “This is something we give to the
community because the community gives
to us everyday, ” says Adam Ghovayzi.
Seeing how well they pulled this one
off, how much fun they had doing it, and
how close this event has brought the club
members to one another and the community, the club has unanimously decided to
make this an annual event.