02 April 2009 - Santa Margarita Catholic High School

 Santa Margarita Catholic High School THE
BLUEPRINT
THE
BLUEPRINT
Blueprint@smhs.org
VOL.21 NO.6
INSIDE
World News pg. 2
Is it Safe to Travel
to Mexico?
Features pg. 3
New Prom Rules
Health pg. 4, 5
Medical Anomalies
Sports pg. 6,7
Steve Fryer Interview
Em/Liv pg. 8,9
Big Dog on Campus
By Denise Fernandez and Melissa Zornig
Ever wonder what the
drug dog, Qwynn, actually
does and has to go through
f o r p r o p e r t r a i n i n g ? We
were lucky enough to interview the head of the
Interquest Detection Canines. Her name is Christine
and has been working and
running this program for 12
years.
Some basic information she gave us was that
Qwynn is trained to smell
odors of illegal drugs, alcohol, firecrackers, and prescription drugs. When the
dogs are on the job they’re
trained to find these products like a game. The dogs
search through the lockers,
cars and backpacks at random. Once they find something, of the odor they are
trained to look for, Qwynn
sniffs the subject again and
sits quietly. He is trained to
just sit there and not do anything about what he has
found. As a reward to what
Qwynn finds, he is given his
toy and is extremely happy
to know he did well.
Christine informed us
that she started to train
Qwynn when he was still a
puppy at 8 months. The dogs
usually take around 3 to 4
months to train until they are
fully ready to work on the
job at schools.
She also told us how
training a drug dog is much
more different than training
a seeing-eye dog. With seeing-eye dogs they are never
to be touched by the public
too much except for by its
blind owner. The reason for
this is because the seeingeye dog cannot be distracted
by anything other than helping their owners live their
life.
Drug dogs are also
taught not to be played with
a lot because the most fun
the dogs should have is on the
job looking for the odors they
should be looking for. Christine even told us, when she
takes Qwynn home with her
Disneyland
Entertainment pg. 10,11
Bamboozle
Opinion pg. 12
Pokeman
Special Section pg. 13
Technology
Qwynn sniffing lockers with Christine. Photo courtesy of
Fernandez and Zornig.
Qwynn, the drug dog, ready to go!Photo courtesy of
Fernandez and Zornig.
she never allows her inside
because she wants to always keep it “strictly business” with Qwynn. Qwynn
sleeps outside in a large kennel to rest up for another
long, busy day coming up.
We had the chance to
interview with Christine.
What do drug dogs
detect?
-Drugs, alcohol, medicines, and gun powders.
What do the dogs do
once it smells something?
-The dog will sit right
next to the back pack.
How do you train
them?
-They start out with a
cocaine toy and our trained
to sit once they smell it.
What age do they
start training to be a drug
dog?
-8 months.
How long does it take
to train them?
-1 to 3 months.
Around what age do
they retire and why?
-8 to 9 years old, usually due to arthritis.
Are they trained differently then seeing-eye
dogs?
- Ye s , d r u g d o g s a r e
trained to sniff drugs and alcohol, while seeing-eye dogs
are trained to guide people
who are blind.
Where does Qwynn
live?
-He lives in my backyard in a kennel.
Do you treat him like
a regular, playful dog off
the job?
-No, he cannot be in
the house having fun because he needs to learn that
his job is the most fun he will
have.
Do you use different
breeds of dogs?
-We try to stick with
the same breed because it is
a hunting dog.
How many different
schools do you go to?
- We g o t o m a n y
schools in 5 different counties.
Where do kids get
caught the most?
-Public schools.
Team Robot at World Competition
By Karysn Kraft
Campus Ministry pg. 15
Senior Pilgrimage
Campus Life pg. 16
Special Olympics
On behalf of the
SMCHS community, congratulations goes out to the
Santa Margarita Robotics
Team which includes members of SMCHS that took
part in the formation of our
very own SM robot, which
advanced to the Atlanta
First Robotics Competition
from April 16, 2009- April
18, 2009.
The robot competed
with over 42,000 high school
students and teams from
forty-eight states in the
United States, Brazil,
Canada, Chile, Germany, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Turkey, and the U.K.
Although the robot did
not receive any awards, the
accomplishment of going to
this prestigious competition
goes to Hailey Welch, Joe
Norman, Dylan Normandin,
S e a n B e e v e r, C o n n o r
Conzelman, Kevin Jain,
David Mittelstein, Mike Kim,
David Guevara, Tim Park
and Ryan Curran and Mr.
Gary Fox and Mr. Rennie
Stark, all is an award in itself.
Keep up the hard work
robotics team!
Robot made by SM students.
Photo courtesy of smhs.org.
2
WORLD NEWS
The
March of the Penguins is Coming to an End North
By Alexa Kosco
The South American
coast is usually one full of miles
of endless sand, crashing
waves, tropical night life…and
hundreds of dead baby penguins??? The sad truth is that
dead penguins have been washing up on the shore of South
American hotspots all along the
coast, including Brazil, El Salvador, Uruguay and Chile.
These dead penguins, mostly
young, have been swept from
Antarctica’s icy shores and
have been washing up along the
tropical beaches, leaving many
puzzled as to why this incident
is happening.
Seeing about a few dozen
penguins wind up dead on the
beaches is typically the norm
according to Brazilian coastal
protection agencies. However,
this past year has reached abnormally large numbers for
these poor penguins. A few casualties among these penguins
are unfortunately unavoidable… but hundreds of penguins
winding up on the same
beaches that many tourists
flock to annually?? This heartwrenching fact leaves officials
to conclude that global warming and continual climate
change is endangering penguins
everywhere.
Jose Marengo, a climatologist of Brazil’s National In-
stitute for Space Research and
a member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, points out that “sea currents are a reflection of wind
patterns. This winter has started
earlier and, so far, has been more
severe.” This means that the
common sea currents that penguins usually travel on are getting stronger and taking the birds
in different directions and at
stronger forces; which could potentially explain why these birds
are winding up on the South Atlantic coasts.
But why are the birds
crashing through the waves and
winding up on the beaches…
dead? This is what Marengo refers to as one of “the big holes
in climate knowledge” because
there is no scientific evidence as
to why the baby penguins are
dying in the first place. However,
there are many theories regarding the penguin tragedies including oil spills, rough seas, weak
babies, and pollution.
Pollution is lowering the
animals’ immune systems, and
increasing their vulnerability to
disease. Ocean currents are being affected and cyclones are
becoming more abundant,
strongly contributing to the uprising in rough sea conditions.
Many baby penguins are far too
By Becca Caraveo
weak to deal with these rough
conditions, which is endangering
their health. Oil spills have been
a major problem to the penguin
population for some time now and
the thousands of dead penguin
babies can certainly be credited
to oil pollution.
South Americans are
stunned by the uprise of the dead
penguins because locals as well
as scientists are still perplexed
about the cause for such a tragic
outcome. Although it may be global warming or pollution or rough
seas, we still don’t know for sure.
But although the cause of this
heart-wrenching dilemma is unknown, the reality is that these
penguins are still mysteriously
dying in ways that cannot be contributed to simply the cycle of life.
Penguins huddle together on a
piece of ice. Photo courtesy of
Google Images.
Mexico Has Been Declared More Dangerous Than the Middle East!
By Morgan Brutocao
For most of us, it is no longer
surprising to hear about the extreme outrage occurring in
Mexico. To the dismay of many,
it is in fact true that Mexico is no
longer acknowledged as a desirable vacation spot. Yet still there
are still some daring travelers that
are willing to take their chances
at making the trek to Mexico.
Earlier this year, I was actually thrilled to go to Mexico for
my first time, (Tijuana does not
count!). My plans were of course
to visit, what else… CABO SAN
LUCAS! Is Cabo not the ideal
location for a senior trip? I found
myself beginning to plan my first
trip without parental supervision,
several months before it was to
even take place.
Sadly, I had to remove this
getaway from my calendar ever
since the uproar in Mexico has
continuously escalated. Obviously, I am aware of the danger
present within the country and of
course I am grateful that my parents are concerned with my
safety. But am I the only soon to
be adult that would still be willing
to travel across the border? Apparently, I was the only one; after reading recent news reports,
I have become more than wellinformed of the drug cartels and
their malevolent plots. If you still
are not convinced or frankly just
do not care about what Mexico
has to offer you right now, I
strongly believe your reaction will
sway tremendously after learning
the following information.
What is occurring in Mexico
is presently known and/or referred
to as “The Mexico Drug War”.
This “war” involves conflicts with
drug cartels and the Mexican government forces. The drug cartels
have mostly been reported to be
using automatic assault rifles (AK47’s), hand grenades, and a surplus of other weapons. Consequently, the death toll in Mexico is
skyrocketing. At a House of Representatives investigation on the
federal law enforcement’s reaction to the brutality along the border, Representative John
Culberson of Texas stated that,
“there were more deaths in
Mexico than there were in Iraq.”
The death toll in Mexico during
2008 alone was 5,630 killed, totaling to a sum of 7,882 deaths linked
to the drug cartels since December of 2006.
The majority of Mexico is
experiencing the effects of the
current “war”. Baja California is
among the handful of states that is
enduring the most hardship. The
Mexican government is doing
what they can to stop the drug cartels but the drug cartels have repeatedly proven that the
government’s authority is simply
not enough to cease their activity.
Back to the topic
ofvacations, I personally went to
Palm Springs this spring break and
had the best spring break in all my
four years of high school. Although
Cabo seemed to be the ultimate
spot to be, I knew that I did not
want to walk on the fence, possibly exposing myself and other
friends to dangerous situations.
However, I do know some friends
that DID spend their break in parts
of Mexico and returned home
completely safe. I guess it all
comes down to where you plan on
staying while in Mexico and who
you are with (example: family).
We all can only hope and pray that
the drug war will soon come to an
end so that travelling to Mexico
can once again become a popular
destination for vacationers, especially those in Southern California.
Pole Melting
The dramatic loss of ice
in the North Pole is unfortunately a terrifying consequence
of global warming. This upcoming summer we can expect
the ice cover to be 1 million
square miles smaller than the
long term average. According
to the National Snow and Ice
Data Center, the ice extent is
declining by 2.7% per decade.
Satellites have been used since
1979 to observe the diminishing ice caps. This year the ice
caps have shrunk to 2.05 million square miles which is
equivalent to the size of California and Texas combined.
Mark Serreze, senior research
scientist at the U.S. National
Snow and Ice Data Center in
Boulder, Colorado, said, “The
sea ice cover this year has
reached a new record.. It’s
not just that we beat the old
record, we annihilated it.”
The arctic ice caps continue to keep melting under the
effects of the infamous global
warming and soon enough, it
is believed that there will be
no ice left in the North Pole.
The temperature of the water
is expected to increase this
summer, all while the ice is
melting. Thus, the freezing of
the water in the fall is only going to create very thin ice. A
German expedition on the Polar icebreaker, Polarstern, discovered that the center of the
ice cap is now only about three
feet thick, compared to six
years ago when it was 6 feet
thick. Ice-less summers are
expected to happen within the
next 20 years says Mark
Serreze. Some scientists even
believe that the North Pole
may be ice free by this upcoming summer, due to the dramatic warming of the climate.
David Barber of the
University of Manitoba says,
“We’re actually projecting
this year that the North Pole
may be free of ice for the first
time in history.” The ice that
is pushing against the Canadian continental shelf should
survive this summer. This
pole is especially expected to
show the greatest effects of
global warming. As the water absorbs more and more
of the sun’s energy, the ice
will continue to melt. Unfortunately, 65% of the worlds
ice cover was lost this past
year. “Scientists say the
record loss last year was due
to a combination of warm
ocean currents, fluke winds,
and unusually sunny
weather,” according to the
National Geographic. These
unlikely conditions are not
likely to happen again, yet it
is possible. Just one of the
many consequences of losing
the ice in the North Pole is
the polar bears who live in this
region will either die or need
to be rescued before they did
so. Emperor penguins of Antarctica could find themselves
extinct if the sea ice continues to melt. TakePart.com
mentions how more storms
will be created as well as
higher water levels. There
are many books and websites
dedicated on how to do your
part during a time such as this.
Do your part and take a look
at the following websites:
NSIDC.org TakePart.com
NationalGeographic.com.
And who knows, by simply
promoting awareness about
the environment, you may be
able to save a polar bear.
The boundary between U.S. civilization and Mexican devastation
is merely separated by a fence.Photo courtesy of Google Images.
3
The Blueprint
April 2009
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
FEATURES
That Peeves Me Off! Literally
By Allison Le
Everyone has pet
peeves – everyone. Even if you
are Ghandi himself, you will still
have pet peeves. A pet peeve
is defined as a minor annoyance
that an individual identifies as
particularly annoying to them, to
a greater degree than others
may find it (this definition is given by Wikipedia because, as
Michael Scott[the Office] says,
“Wikipedia is the best thing
ever. Anyone in the world can
write anything they want about
any subject, so you know you
are getting the best possible information.” Do you agree?
Usually pet peeves
originate from childhood experiences that may have “scarred
you for life.” Having a pet
peeve is like having a virus. The
virus starts within your family,
then your friends, and then finally the entire world – until you
finally burst and flip out on
some random person that is
acting out your pet peeve. Here
is an article of comfort showing you that you are definitely
not the only one who has a pet
peeve.
The
website
[www.getannoyed.com] lists
pet peeves from seeing someone blink twice in a row to
someone singing a song they do
not know the words to. Here
are a handful of the little
things that bug us. Which one
is your pet peeve?
· Sick people who
cough near you /people who
don’t cover their mouth while
sneezing or coughing
· Noisy eaters
· People with bad table manners
· Vulgar talk at the dinner table
· Someone standing
over your shoulder reading
the computer screen
· How opening any
cheap electronic item these
days, requires cutting up your
finger with an even more
cheap and impossible to open
plastic molding covering
· People who ride their
bikes in the road when a sidewalk is right there (even
though they can’t ride on the
sidewalk)
· People who clear
their throats in a disgusting
way
· People that pop and
smack their chewing gum
· People who throw
cigarette butts on the beach
· Driving somewhere
and having the sun in your
eyes
· People who don’t pick up
after themselves
· Not washing hands after
using the restroom
· The toilet paper that rips
after you pull one sheet
· When you find a really
cute piece of clothing on the rack
and they have like twenty in size
XS, two in size 3X, and not a single one in your size
· People who will write
something borderline mean, but
then follow it up with a smiley face
:)
· People who refer to themselves in the third person
· Ice cream with freezer
burn
Well, if those bug you, then
these will bug you even more!
· When you will be talking
to someone, and their replies seem
to be limited to “ya”, “cool”, “ok”,
or “word”
· When you pull a string
hanging from your shirt and it
doesn’t break, but only becomes
longer.
· People who write “Keep
in touch!” in your yearbook but
never talk to you again.
· Saying “Let there be
light” every time any light switch
is flipped on.
· When there are no hot
dog buns left and you have to eat
your hot dog on a folded piece
of bread
· People who use the
phrase “110%” (or even more
% sometimes).
· When the host/hostess
at a restaurant totally underestimates how long a wait there
will be.
· When you score a goal
on yourself in foosball or air
hockey.
· Failing to take a backpack into account when turning or backing into people
· People putting their
feet out of car windows.
· When you bite into a
jelly bean and it’s a different
flavor than what you thought it
was
· When people take
healthy food and fry it up in
butter and eat it because it’s
“good for them”
· Singing along with the
music when you don’t actually
know the words.
· When you ask someone a simple, straightforward
question and the person spends
ten solid minutes rambling on
about everything in the world
EXCEPT the answer to your
simple, straightforward question
· People who leave the
door open when they go to the
bathroom
· People that don’t list
prices on websites, stores, and
infomercials
· People who always
have to be right and have the
last word
· When people continue
to stare after they ask you a
question, as if they need you to
expand more on your answer
· Annoying nervous
(forced sounding) laughs
· When you are hanging
out with someone and they make
plans to do something else right
in front of you
· When people scratch
their fingernails on a blackboard
These are only a few of
the many pet peeves that the
world undertakes everyday! Did
you find yourself saying, “oh my
gosh I hate that… and that …
AND THAT!” Well hello! You
are an easily irritated person,
nice to meet you. However, being an easily irritated person is
not a bad case in this scenario
seeing that all the pet peeves listed are the most annoying things
known to man. Well, lets take
this article to heart and realize
that the world is not perfect and
that you probably have done
half of these bad boys yourself.
Major Prom-a-lama Drama Yo!!
By Kenna Crouse
Prom is just around the
corner and there are a few
changes that have taken place.
You don’t want to be out of the
loop because disobeying these
rules will have some major consequences.
Juniors are now allowed
to go stag to the dance! So grab
some of your friends and go!
BOYS: don’t be afraid to ask
someone, every girl wants to go
and will be flattered that you
took the time to ask them and
impressed you had the courage
to finally do it.
There have been some
changes to girl’s dress code and
if you don’t follow these new
rules you will NOT get in! Just
follow these simple changes
and you will get in no problem,
don’t try to bend the rules because they are going to be strict
.How much would it suck to
show up at prom and not be able
to get in? A LOT!!
The following style of
dresses may not be worn to
Prom:
1) Dresses that come
above the knee.
less.
2) Dresses that have
plunging necklines.
4) Dresses with the slit
above the knee.
3) Dresses that are back-
The following style of
dress is permitted at Prom:
1) Dresses that have a
modest neckline.
3) Dresses that fall between the knee and floor.
2) Dresses that are strapless, single strapped or double
strapped.
Make sure you buy a dress
that abides by these guidlines.
Prom is going to be a great time
and it would be horrible to ruin
your night and not get into Prom.
There are so many great
options if you are having trouble finding a long dress. The
BCBG outlets in Carlsbad have
gorgeous dresses for great prices. Also checkout bluefly.com
for super buys on designer
gowns!
4
HEALTH
As the health page editors at a school with the motto “Caritas Christi,” it is important for us to share articles that reflect such
“true love for all people.” Not only is it interesting to read about people who are much different than ourselves, learning about
health anomalies will help spread awareness and allow us to embrace differences that make us unique. Hopefully, you will emerge
with a sense of respect, and more importantly love, for these people.
Sirenomelia “Mermaid Syndrome”
By Alyssa Wolpin
Mermaid syndrome: it is exactly what it sounds like. The scientific name for this condition is
sirenomelia. Sirenomelia is a very rare
condition, so rare that it only occurs in
one out of 100,000 births. A person
with sirenomelia has legs that are
fused together producing the same
look as a mermaid. A person’s feet
can stick out on each side (like fins)
or a person can have no feet at all.
Mermaid syndrome is a fatal disease.
There have been around 300
cases of children being born with
sirenomelia, only 3 cases in which the
child has survived. A child with
sirenomelia usually dies within one or
two days of their birth. It would seem
like the cause of death would have
something to do with the patients legs
being combined into one limb, but it is
caused by the abnormal development
of organs like kidneys and bladders.
There is no certain cause of
sirenomelia as of right now. Suspected
causes are the following: maternal
diabetes mellitus, poor prenatal care,
or possibly genetics. Prevention of this
syndrome would be to monitor the
glucose level during pregnancy.
The diagnosis for this disease can
be made during the mother’s first
trimester through a sonogram. The
only treatment after the child has
been born with this condition are
several surgeries.
There have been a few extraordinary cases of Sirenomelia.
Until TiffanyYorks, there had been
no survivors of sirenomelia. She is
now the oldest survivor at 20 years
old. Doctors told her parents that
she had little or no chance or survival. After Tiffany endured many
surgeries, her legs were separated.
At the age of three, Tiffany learned
to walk. What was once believed
to be impossible was defeated for
the first time.
The second girl to overcome
mermaid syndrome is eight-yearold Shiloh Pepin. Shiloh was born
with one partially working kidney,
no lower colon and no genital organs. Shiloh struggled with health
issues her entire life and received
Tree Man Infection
By Lindsay Mortenson
Dede Kosawa is a man who
suffers from probably the rarest skin
disease ever discovered. His arms
and legs are contorted with woodlike structures protruding from his
skin. He has become known as the
Tree Man of Indonesia. The structures were found to be common
warts caused by the HPV virus that
have grown at an extreme rate.
Researchers describe it as the “perfect storm” of all skin diseases, which
is when multiple viruses come together to produce one major defect.
Kosawa told American doctor, Dr. Anthony Gaspari, that the
warts started when he was a teenager after he cut his knee in an accident. They started out small, but
after a while his body was unable to
contain the virus and it spread
drastically. Now, in his mid thirties, the warts devour his arms
and legs in a branch like fashion
and are very heavy. He is unable to use his hands and has a
difficult time completing regular
activities. Unable to keep a normal job, Kosawa has resorted
to joining a local “Freak Show,”
and begging on the streets. It provides him with enough money
to support himself and his two
children.
After taking many tissue
samples, Gaspari did in fact confirm that the welts and warts are
from the very common Human
Papilloma Virus. Kosawa also
suffers from a rare genetic blunder in his immune system which
Tree Man before his many surgeries. Photo courtesy of Google Images
a kidney transplant a couple of years
ago. There were complications with
the surgery leading to urinary tract infection and a blood infection. But Shiloh
continues to fight against the odds and
is thankful for her second chance at
life.
Milagros Cerrón was nicknamed Peru’s “miracle baby”.
Milagros’ legs were fully separated on
September 7th, 2006. Milagros took her
first steps at two years old. But, doctors said Milagros would still need more
surgeries and 10 to 15 years fully recover.
More research needs to be done
to increase the survival rate of
sirenomelia and there are always ways
to help. Unfortunately, there are no
foundations currently benefitting
sirenomelia. If you are interested in
this
cause,
visit
www.madisonsfoundation.com , a
foundation created to support parents
and families with children with rare
diseases. Hopefully in the near future,
research will find a better solution to
help these unique cases.
makes him unable to fight against
the virus. The combination of the
two result in a turmoil of dermatology mayhem. Gaspari originally
thought that Kosawa might have the
AIDS virus due to a very low presence of white blood cells, however,
that turned out to be false and it was
determined that Kosawa’s condition
was even more rare. Despite his
unique immune system, he has
shown very good health throughout
his life and his family does not share
the same problems as he does.
Dr. Gaspari is confident that
the virus can be cured by taking
regular doses of Vitamin A. He says
that Kosawa “may never have a
normal body again, but the warts
should reduce in size and he should
be able to use his hands. I hope to
improve his appearance and the
quality of his life. Kosawa can also
freeze off remaining smaller warts.
He has undergone several surgeries that have removed about four
pounds of his root like appendages.
Kosawa can now see the outline of
his toes and can somewhat use his
hands.
This medical mystery was
solved through the dedication of
many doctors and researchers.
Hopefully with more commitment
and perseverance, Kasawa can live
a like he did before this tragic virus
engulfed his body.
Milagros Cerrón nicknamed Peru’s “miracle baby”. Photo
courtesy of Google Images.
The Smallest Girl In
the World
Michelle Loftus
Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley
born February 13, 2003 seems
like a normal infant, with just that
information provided. What if
we told you that she weighed
just 2 pounds and 8 ounces?
Kenadie is one out of 100 people
in the world to be affected from
the disease of primordial dwarfism.
Doctors told Kenadie’s
parents that she will most likely
not make it through the night.
After eight months of continually defying doctors’ expectations, she was diagnosed with
primordial dwarfism. She will
not grow past 30 inches or weigh
more than eight pounds.
Kenadie is now 5 years
old and is able to run, laugh, walk,
and is beginning to learn how to
talk. Her parents are proud to
say that Kenadie omits a feeling of happiness to others and
that is her strongest achievement.
This is a disorder in which
growth is proportional but severely delayed, beginning in the
womb. Because this disease
originates so early, they have
very low birth weights. After
birth, their growth rate is stunted,
causing individuals with primor-
dial dwarfism to have a significantly lower stature and weight
levels. Primordial dwarfism results in some of the smallest
people in the world.
Some primary symptoms
occur in the womb. Pregnant
woman will notice that her
belly does not increase in size
over the time. This is because
of the failure of the fetus to
grow normally in the womb.
The baby is born extremely prematurely at only 35 weeks. After birth, the child will grow at
a very slow rate, with the head
growing the slowest. The joints
are looser, resulting in more dislocation of the hips, knees, or
elbows. Appearance will also
be altered among these individuals. They have distinct nose
and eyes, as well as abnormally
small or missing teeth. They
may develop scoliosis or high
squeaky voices.
Although this condition is
extremely rare, most of these
victims do not live past the age
of 30, being as there is no treatment for this disorder. Fortunately, the smallest girl in the
world, Kenadie, is able to live a
normal life style with the exception of her petite appearance.
Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley gives her father kisses. Photo courtesy
of Google Images.
5
HEALTH
A Dummies Guide to Safe Piercings
By Gaby Duva and Lauren Vargas
I Hate Hiccups!
By Adam Enochs
We know that many teenagers get piercings, so we thought it pertinent to pass along this useful
information. Piercings have been around for years and have cultural ties to Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Almost any part of
your body can get pierced. The most common types are ear piercings, but there are several different varieties of piercings. Not to
mention the many different types of jewelry such as plugs, studs, and bars, to name a few. Here are some things to think about
before you get any type of body piercing.
Factor these risks before getting the piercing.
· Infections which can be caused by hepatitis,
HIV, tetanus, bacteria, and yeast
· Allergic reactions
· Excessive bleeding
· Damage to nerves or teeth
Every person’s body is unique and healing time varies.
Here is a list of some expected healing times for
different piercings according to Center for Young
Women’s Health.
Pierced Body Part
Ear lobe
Ear cartilage
Eyebrow
Nostril
Tongue
Lip
Time it Takes To Heal
6 to 8 weeks
4 months to 1 year
6 to 8 weeks
2 to 4 months
4 weeks
2 to 3 months
Navel
4 months to 1 year
This girl is a veteran when it comes to ear peircings! Photo
courtesy of Gaby Duva
So now that you know some of the risks, the healing time, and you decided you really want that piercing, what’s next? Unless
you’re 18 or older, mom or dad is going to have sign for you and give consent. Finding the right piercing salon is also key. Ask trusted
friends or family members who have piercings for advice on a reliable location. Look around for things such as piercing license,
clean and sanitary work stations, clean gloves, and especially needle type. (Depending on the state, some piercers are required to
have their piercing license). Make sure that all the instruments are either brand new and disposable or be sterilized in pouches,
Center for Young Women’s Health. Always be sure to strictly follow the after care rules for whichever part of your body is pierced.
Good diet and exercise will help the piercing to heal. DO NOT move or play with your piercing-or you will suffer the risk of
infection. Remember, if you like it, leave it.
Breath of Hope Club Helps to Fight Cancer
By Aria Bendix
What started off as a
small idea in a club meeting
turned out to be a huge
fundraiser that collected thousands of dollars. On March
7, 2008 the Breath of Hope
Club held its first fundraiser at
St. John’s Episcopal School to
raise money for cancer. This
club is new on campus and
helps to raise awareness,
funds, and advocacy for a rare
cancer known as mesothelioma. As the president of this
club, I knew that I wanted to
make a difference for people
and families affected by mesothelioma, but I had no idea
how much of an impact I could
make! With one single
fundraiser, the club raised
$3,195, which will be donated
to the Mesothelioma Applied
Research Foundation to help
find a cure for this disease.
In 2006, when my dad
was diagnosed with peritoneal
mesothelioma, I knew my life
would not be the same. I finally realized, however, that
my eyes had been opened to
this rare and painful disease for
a reason. The world needed
to know about mesothelioma,
and I had to do something
about it, not only for my dad,
but for everyone who had
been affected by this disease
in some way.
The fundraiser was held
by Dance Dynamics, a local
RSM dance studio where my
sister attends and helped to put
this whole event together. By
selling tickets, baked goods,
and merchandise, my club was
able to help raise over three
thousands dollars for one
event, an incredible feat for
our first fundraiser! My dad
spoke at the fundraiser, telling the audience and the dancers to live each day to the fullest, since you never know
when it will be your last. I
know that my family and the
Breath of Hope club are making the most of each day by
helping to find a cure for such
a rare disease.
It is estimated, however,
that mesothelioma will start to
become more common in the
upcoming years, especially in
the state of California. One
of the primary causes of Mesothelioma is asbestos, which
were found in old buildings in
California and still have yet to
be removed in many of them.
Anyone who has been exposed to asbestos is in danger
of contracting this disease and
it may take many years for
the signs to even appear. Mesothelioma can be found all
throughout the body, so there
is no specific place to target.
Most importantly, since there
is no cure for this disease, all
funds collected must go towards finding this cure and
saving these precious lives that
have been forever changed by
mesothelioma.
There are few people
who know about mesothelioma
in California, or even in
America, but the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is a growing organization that is doing everything
they can to help. The Breath
of Hope Club supports this organization and hopefully,
through this fundraiser, the
community will be able to
spread the word about this
growing disease. It’s impossible to know if someone you
love or know will be affected
by mesothelioma, so start making a difference now! If you
would like to join the Breath
of Hope Club, please look for
our next meeting on ETV or
talk to either me or Ms. Warren in counseling for more information. To learn more
about mesothelioma or to donate to the foundation, visit
www.curemeso.org or you
can visit my dad’s page,
www.curemeso.org/
fundraising/kenbendix! This is
a cause that has touched my
heart and I guarantee that it will
touch yours as well. It is my
hope that you can realize, just
as I did, how easy it is to make
a difference in the lives of
people who are hurting and how
incredible it will be to see their
pain go away someday!
It’s the question on everybodys mind!
Photo courtesy of Google Images.
Everyone gets them. Everyone hates them. But what causes
these strange and obnoxious jolts
in our bodies?
Hiccups are caused by a
sudden contraction of your diaphragm, which separates your
lungs and stomach. This in turn
causes your vocal chords to close
suddenly, making that annoying
“hic” sound. What you eat can
contribute to your hiccups. Spicy
foods, soda and eating a large
meal very quickly can all lead to
a sudden outbreak. But how can
you get rid of them?
There are no over-thecounter medicines for a random
outbreak of the hiccups. This is
mainly because cases generally
don’t last longer than an hour.
Ask anyone how you can get rid
of your case and the response
will inevitably be the cure, followed by “I swear it works. Try
it!” Here are the most common
home remedies.
Holding Your Breath: This
is a widely accepted cure. The
logic behind it is that holding your
breath prevents air from escaping in the form of a hiccup. This
will not work though, because
hiccups have nothing to do with
air or your breathing.
Getting Scared: This oldest
trick in the book. The hardest part
about this is getting someone to
scare you while you’re expecting it. It may or may not work
since there is nothing triggered
by being scared that would stop
the hiccup; however people have
stood by this cure for years.
A few of the younger dancers
performing to raise money. Photo
courtesy of Aria Bendix.
Aria Bendix with her family after
the fundraiser. Photo courtesy of
Aria Bendix.
Pinching Your Nose While
Drinking Water: This is the only
cure used in my household.
Pinching your nose allows you to
stop breathing while the water
flows through your body relaxing your vocal chords and diaphragm- the causes of those
pesky hiccups.
These common cures have
all been practiced for years, and
whether or not they work all the
time they may work for you.
Next time you have those pesky
‘hic’s, give them a try!
6
2009
N O V E M B E R
Boys Baseball
MONTHLY
UPDATES ON
OUR FELLOW
Girls Softball
SM TEAMS
Girls & Boys Swim
SPORTS
Girls & Boys Track
Boys Golf
Boys Tennis
Boys’ Volleyball “Sets” Off the Season
By Camille Del Carmen
The Boys’ Volleyball team
has started off this years’ season very strong with victories left
and right. This years’ team is
considered a fairly “young”
team, consisting of five sophomores and one freshman with
three of the sophomores and the
freshman starting. This years’
team is lead by strong hitting senior, Tanner “Big Bird” Jansen
and in the middle, by sophomore
Spencer Buckley. These young
Eagles have been proven to be
quite victorious with the team
currently standing at 3-0 in league
with victories over Servite, Bosco
and Mater Dei with the win of 3
games to 1.
This years’ captain, Tanner Jansen, has committed to play
for the USC Trojans next year
and shares a few words about
this years team, “The good thing
about this years team is that we
push..When the other team
pushes us, we push back even
harder.” The boys were excited
to be heading off to Las Vegas
where they competed in a twoday tournament. “Vegas was a
lot of fun and we played the best
we could” says setter Taylor
Hammond. Our Eagles did a
great job in the tournament, but
unfortunately they had to forfeit
the last couple of games in order to rest up for the Orange
Lutheran game that had been
scheduled for the following day.
But due to the mourning
of our SMCHS community, all
games were canceled and the
game was rescheduled to after
break. The boys headed over to
Orange Lutheran on Wednesday the 22th, but were unable
to take home another victory.
Boys’ Golf Swings at the Tee
By Emily McCartney
The varsity men’s golf
team has been hitting their way
to success since the start of their
season in February. As their season is coming to an end, their 72 record shows high hopes for a
good placing in CIF. Senior
Diwen Chen says, “We have had
a really great season and I’m
hoping that we’ll finish strong as
a team in CIF. I wouldn’t doubt
another CIF victory!” These
men will begin their CIF journey
after the league tournament on
Thursday, April 30. Their last CIF
win was in 2007, and another
clench for the year 2009 would
be an awesome way to end this
season. The varsity men’s team
consists of Nolan Clark, Diwen
Chen, Kyle Shimomura, Andy
Richard, Jordan Pierson, Steven
Remolacio, Kevin Dehuff,
Chandler St. Louis, and Andrew
Levitt. Senior Kyle Simomura
says, “This year’s varsity golf
team is one of the most diverse
teams ever with 1 freshman, 2
sophomores, 2 juniors, and 4 seniors and a multitude of personalities which combine to create
a really strong team”. The team
captain this year is senior Nolan
Clark. He says, “Out of the 3
years that I’ve been on varsity, I
am most proud to say that I am
part of this team. It is really an
honor to be the captain of such
a great team. I’ll miss this next
year”. Nolan is obviously very
proud of his team. Wish the
men’s golf team luck as they
enter into the league tournament
and hopefully a CIF win! Congratulations men’s golf on a great
season!
Andy Richard and Kyle Shimmy practicing their game. Photo
Courtesy of Emily McCartney
Captain Tanner Jansen believes
that they will be able to make a
comeback when the Lancers
come on to our own home court.
The following day, the volleyball
team redeemed themselves by
taking home a victory from St.
John Bosco. The team was led
by senior Tanner Jansen with 14
kills and sophomore Ryan Baine
with 13 kills. Junior Michael
McMahon contributed 16 digs
to the Eagles win. The Eagles
attempt to make their comeback
in what is said to be the biggest
game of the season, against
number 9th ranked in the nation,
Orange Lutheran. “It’s going to
be a tough one to win, but we
can probably beat them at home
if we get a good crowd to get
us pumped”, says Spencer
Buckley. So come out and cheer
on your Eagles, next Monday in
our very own gym!
Boys volleyball dominating Servite. Photo courtesy of Camille De
Carmen
Eagles’ Track and Field Soars
By Lauren Guidice
The Eagle’s track
and field team has had an impressive season thus far.
The boys started out
the season at the 13th annual
Eagle
Invitational.
Donnovan Sims, Dan
Whisnant, and Jimmy Martin
all won events. In the El Toro
meet, Scott Anderson came
in first in the pole vault and
Ryan Woods won the 3200.
At this meet, Scott Anderson,
Ryan Woods, Patrick Stege,
Derek Giemont, Daniel
Glenn, Robbie Costa, Matthew Graban, and Justin Potter all set personal records.
In the Irvine Track
and Field Invitational, some
of the selected competitors
were: J.R. Pascual, Connor
Prior, and Donnovan Simms.
The eagles did very well in
this very competitive meet.
In the first league meet
against St. John Bosco, first
place finishers were: Jimmy
Martin (400m), Donnovan
Simms (Triple & High
Jumps), JD Rocha (Discus),
Scott Anderson (Pole Vault).
Second place finishers were:
Donnovan Simms (Long
Jump), John Abowd (100m).
In the league meet against
Servite, top finishers were:
Donnovan Simms takes 1st in
the long, triple and high jump
and Daniel Glenn in the 400m.
Third place finishers were:
John Tilton in both hurdle events
(110HH, 300IH), John Abowd
(100m), Daniel Glenn (200m),
Mike Holcomb (800m), JD
Rocha (Discus), and Scott
Anderson (Pole Vault).
At the Surf City Invitational, Eagle milers Mike
Holcomb and Ryan Woods
both had incredible times of 4:36
Donnovan Sims racing for the long
jump. Photo Courtesy of SMHS.ORG
and 4:37. Scott Anderson pole
vaulted over 14' which is a
new personal record. This
places him amongst some of
the best pole vaulters in the
state . Simms took 3rd overall
in the long jump and 7th overall in the triple jump.
At the Mater Dei Meet,
1st Place: Donnovan Simms
took first in long, high, and
triple jump. Jimmy Martin took
1st 300IH hurdles. The 4x400
Relay team of Abowd, Glenn,
Stege and Martin were victorious.
At the Trabuco Hills Invitational, Jimmy Martin finishes 2nd overall in the 300m
hurdles with a new personal
record. Donnovan Simms,
Ryan Woods, Connor Prior,
and David Oram all had strong
performances.
At the prestigious
Arcadia Invitational, runners
Scott Anderson, Jimmy Martin and Donnovan Simms represented Santa Margarita.
The girl’s Varsity team
started off their season on
March 26 th. They defeated
Rosary 72 to 54. The girls
then put in a great effort
against Mater Dei. The girls
defeated J.Serra at both levels. Also, Junior Varsity and
Frosh/Soph have also had a
great season.
7
2009
N O V E M B E R
Boys Baseball
SPORTS
MONTHLY
UPDATES ON
OUR FELLOW
Girls Softball
Girls & Boys Swim
SM TEAMS
Girls & Boys Track
Boys Golf
Boys Tennis
A Tell All Interview with Steve Fryer
By Ryan McGuire
Do you get the Orange
County Register? Have you
ever been on OCVarsity.com?
Do you know ANYTHING
about high school sports? If so,
the name Steve Fryer has probably come up once or twice in
a conversation. So, if you are
still confused, Steve Fryer is the
sports editor for the Orange
County Register’s high school
sports program. Fryer has been
known to bash Santa Margarita
for our “lack of traveling”
(which is true) and he has also
been known to be on the negative bandwagon towards the
Eagles. I took it upon myself to
get the real truth of what he
and the whole group of writers
in the OCVarsity section about
S.M. Here it unfolds…
Ryan McGuire: What is
your true opinion about SM’s
sports program? Do you and/
or other writers think we are
overrated?
Steve Fryer: There are
three big factors that can determine success: coaching,
great parental support, and the
great traditions you have makes
you a true sports powerhouse.
[Mike] Jacot is a great coach,
he is truly something special.
And your basketball coach
[Jerry] DeBusk is always a
Coach of the Year Candidate.
You are in a very keen area,
very competitive.
RM: It seems like you
like to “bash” SM a lot in the
papers about how many people
we bring to our events. What,
in your opinion, is considered
to be traveling well?
SF: If they travel far, and
show up to away games decently, I would consider that
traveling well. I compare you
to [Long Beach] Poly, very
poor traveling on your farther
away games. Mater Dei and
Servite bring out a lot of their
alumni, SM doesn’t.
RM: Servite has this
“brotherhood” at their school,
and many of them attend sports
games. On top of the hyperadrenaline boys that attend the
games, their sister school, Rosary also brings out a lot of students. This is one of the times
when the opposite sexes get to
“mingle” thus giving them more
of an incentive to come out.
Therefore, Servite has even
more of an advantage compared to SM. So why is SM
compared to Servite when it
comes to traveling?
SF: Rosary and Servite
combine and act as one school.
It has always been a huge social event, even dating back to
my day (1970’s). The tradition
is very livid there. There were
no movie theatres around on
every corner back in the day,
so that was the place to be, and
it still is. They are one of the
most well known combining
schools in the state.
RM: Do you think it is
possible to travel too well?
Possibly overkill the event?
Most of us has heard of the
Mater Dei-Servite basketball
game fiasco. Your thoughts…
SF: It can be way over
the top at some times. Things
that happened in the basketball
game was unacceptable, and
when the media gets control,
it spreads like wildfire.
RM: Why does the size
of the school matter in what
division they play? SM has
right around 1,600 students,
and Servite has right around
880? Nobody cuts players.
Why is this?
SF: I’ve even had trouble
keeping up with the divisions.
They change all the time. Its
not longer: Division 1, Division
2, and so on. Some leagues are
now: the Sunbelt League, the
Trinity league, etc. People and
experts simply compare them
to D.1 caliber leagues now.
The main problem though is the
socio-economics. Private
schools enrollment is on the de-
Delaney led the team by breaking two records so far this season; they broke the Capo
record and our school record
in CIF.
The boys are doing really
well in league by owning
Servite and St. John’s Bosco.
They won first at the Capo relays as well and showed great
effort in CIF Relays by receiving the title of ninth overall.
The boys’ main goal is to have
at least 6 people place in CIF.
Mark Reese is already on his
way with a county leading time
of a minute and 2 seconds.
Mike Tran is slightly behind
with a 54.9 in the 100 fly, which
is 4th in school records. Tommy
Jancovich, Eric Martin, and
Alex Lavayen are the team
sprinters looking to make CIF
in the 50, 100 and Alex in the
200. Garrison Nauman went a
CIF time of a 57 and has been
continually dropping time. According to Mike Tran, The
main even is the 200 medley
where the “dream team” is
determined to break the ten
year school record and is less
than 1.5 seconds away. The
Steve Fryer speaks his mind. Photo Courtesy of google.com
cline, and therefore less talent
than before.
RM: Bering off Santa
Margarita and Servite for a
minute, what is your take on Saint
Margaret’s? They are a division
12 team (one division up on a 7
on 7 league) and yet they are a
D.3 quality team. They have won
over 40 games in a row, and they
play teams that seem to pull together a squad last minute.
Knowing some people from
there, the Tartans think they are
the hottest thing since sliced
bread. Your thoughts on that.
SF: Personally, I would
want to see them play a more
challenging non-league caliber of
teams. I would love to see them
play J.Serra. Let me give you an
analogy. If St. Margaret’s were
to play Santa Margarita, or any
team in the Trinity League, it
would be like a grown 40 year
old man playing a 10 year old
kid in a basketball game. First
to 20, it would be 20-0 in favor
of the man. The Tartans, in the
Trinity League, would be an
embarrassment, it would be no
contest.
After the interview, my
thoughts changed about Mr.
Fryer. He doesn’t really hate us
at all. In fact, after what I
learned, Steve actually is in high
compliment of SM. If you really
think about it, Santa Margarita
truly does have an AMAZING
sports program, and other
schools and counties are noticing.
Boys’ and Girls Swim Team Shocks Many Boys’ Tennis
By Karenna Soto
The Santa Margarita
Swim Team has shown their
immense skill and teamwork to
all those who come to watch.
Since the beginning of the season, the team has advanced
since their eighth standing. The
team has impressed everyone
especially since this year they
are such a young team due to
the fact that they lost most of
our seniors last year. Our school
stands undefeated in league
due to their defeat against St.
Joseph’s and Rosary by a considerable margin.
The girls stay strong by
working extremely hard in
practices and in meets. Their
unbreakable effort showed by
dominating in relays. The team
won first place at the Capo relays and Cannon relays and
placed sixth in CIF relays. Shannon Mack, Kellie Fecarota,
Alex Worthen, and Alex
boys are heading in the right directions; making their goals become accomplishments.
Come out and support your
eagles swim team as they compete against JSerra at 3:15 on
Thursday, April 30th.
Shannon Mack swimming to the finish. Photo Courtesy of Karenna Soto
By Karsyn Kraft
Boy’s tennis is off to a
great start this season! The
boy’s team defeated Foothill 126 and Irvine, 10-8, along with a
Northwood defeat, 13-5. With
league games beginning on
March 24, the boys came out
victorious over first match of St.
John Bosco, 17-1. Our boys
team has also beat Orange
Lutheran 11-7, but fell to Mater
Dei 13-5. Santa Margarita is
4th overall in the Trinity League
standings with a record of 2-1
(will change). This years boy’s
varsity team is coached by
Doug Williams, with assistant
coach Clark Hyman. Upcoming Trinity League games include
Mater Dei on April 28, Orange
Lutheran at home on April 30,
and ending the league season
with a match against J Serra on
May 4. Possible CIF games are
to be played starting May 12.
8
The Blueprint
April 2009
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Emily & Olivia
Emily Misses Disneyland Adventure
By Olivia Staffon, Karsyn Kraft, and Karlie Borzansky
Last Friday, Olivia, Karsyn,
and Karlie went to Disneyland for
a media conference. Emily could
not come because she was sick.
So, we arrived an hour and a half
late after trying to find the
“Disneyland Resort Esplanade”
(what even is an esplanade??).
Apparently, there is no resort and
its some 400 feet gap between
Disneyland and California Adventures. We got a sweet media host,
named Amy, to guide us to the
place of the media presentation.
The presentation was a mock talk
show with various Disney executives explaining what is to come
in the summer at Disneyland.
This summer, Disneyland is celebrating “Summer Nightastic,”
which will showcase new shows
and new lights, including the new
and improved Electrical Parade,
Pixie Hollow Enchantment, a
bolder “Fantasmic”, a night-time
dance club in Tomorrowland, and
an innovative firework show.
The presentation of the new firework show was something else,
to say the least. The passion that
the presenter showed for this
firework show was abundant.
He basically performed the
whole firework show through
the motion of his spirit fingers. It
was the best presentation we’ve
ever seen. Then after a break for
food, we went to a “round robin”
conference in which we met six
Disney executives to ask them
questions. It amazed us how much
The two kids in the back somehow got us to the front of the space mountain
line. Photo courtesy of Olivia Staffon.
We got cupcakes at the conference!
Photo courtesy of Olivia Staffon.
This sure look like a real street behind us, doesn’t it? It’s not. Photo
courtesy of Olivia Staffon.
Top 12 Things to do in an Elevator
By Lauren Hundley and Kelsey Hummer
Have you have been
bored in an elevator? These
are some of the top 12 ways
to make things go from awkward to extremely awkward.
1. Stare at another passenger for a while, then ann o u n c e , “ Yo u ’ r e o n e o f
THEM!” and move to the far
corner of the elevator.
2. W h e n a r r i v i n g a t
your floor, grunt and strain to
yank the doors open, then act
embarrassed when they
open by themselves.
3. Stare, grinning, at another passenger for a while,
and then announce: I’ve got
new socks on!
4. When the elevator is
silent, look around and ask is
that your beeper?
5. G r i m a c e p a i n f u l l y
while smacking your forehead and muttering: “Shut up,
all of you, just shut UP!”
6. C r a c k o p e n y o u r
briefcase or purse, and while
peering inside, ask: “Got
enough air in there?”
7. Say “I wonder what
all these do” and push the
red buttons.
8. H o l l e r
“Chutes
away!” whenever the elevator descends.
9. Pretend you are a
flight attendant and review
emergency procedures and
exits with the passengers.
10.
Hold
the
doors open and say you’re
waiting for your friend. After a while, let the doors
close and say, “Hi Greg.
How’s your day been?”
11.
Stand
silently and motionless in the
c o r n e r, f a c i n g t h e w a l l ,
without getting off.
12.
W h e n
there’s only one other person in the elevator, tap them
on the shoulder and then
pretend it wasn’t you.
Awkward.....Photo courtesy of
Google images.
all of these managers love their job
and work on a day to day basis with
so much passion for what they do.
We were informed during this session about a special deal that
Disneyland is offering this summer.
From early July to late August,
southern California residents are
able to visit both Disneyland and
California Adventure three times
over this time period for only $99!
Seeing that a one-day park hopper
ticket is $95, this is a really great
deal you should all take advantage of! As for the rest of the
day, it was time to play. We
were able to walk right onto
all the __ attractions when we
flashed our awesome VIP
press passes (actually just
given fast passes, but who
needs to know?). We met a
sweet “cast member” (the
word they use for an employee) who jumped over a
rope and almost fell over in order to get Karlie an “It’s my
first time at Disneyland” pin
(she has a season pass). We
also hit up the Mission tortilla
factory to get some free torti-
llas, which were nasty as they
were corn instead of the desired
flour. We met some hunks in plaid
shorts and Hollister tees with kSwiss tennis shoes, and immediately knew they were from the
east coast. We made friends with
them because they had a pass to
get us to the front of the line of
Space Mountain; Liv worked her
“I’m going to Harvard magic”
and Karlie pulled the “It’s my first
time at D-land card.” It worked.
After a three hour search for ice
cream, we were finally fulfilled
of our desire and it confirmed that
Disneyland is the happiest place
on earth. Amen I say to you.
sin. My husband and I
moved out to California
eight years ago.
7. Do you prefer
reading to your babies
or singing?
-I read books everyday to Ella, but I also sing
to her. Most of the time
we just make up silly
songs, but if she had her
choice in music it would be
the Foo-Fighters- she’s a
big fan.
8. How long have
you been married to
your husband?
-My husband I have
been dating almost 15
years, but we’ll be married
for 9 years on June 3 r d
(same as the baby’s due
date).
9. Where do you
like to take Ella on the
weekends?
-Ella loves Dave and
Busters and the San Diego
Zoo. We also spend a lot
of time at the local park
and hanging out with
friends.
1 0 . Wo u l d y o u
rather vacation by your-
self or with your kids?
-It depends on what and
where the vacation is- there
are definitely times when
having Ella along makes the
trip so much more exciting.
Who is That Baby Momma?
By Kevin Avjian
Mrs. Stewart, expectant mother, gives us the exclusive on her life outside of
Santa Margarita!
1. How far along are
you?
-As of this week, I’m 35
weeks along (a typical pregnancy is 40 weeks). I’m due
June 3 rd .
2. Do you know the sex
of the baby and if so, boy or
girl?
-We did find out this time
(we didn’t with Ella), it’s another girl!
3. Do you have a name
picked out for the baby?
-Yes, but it’s a secret.
4. Do you have any
other kids, and if so, what
is their name and age?
-We have a three year
old daughter named Ella- she
is very excited to be a big sister!
5. How long have you
worked at Santa Margarita?
-This is my 8 th year at
Santa Margarita.
6. Have you always
lived in California? If not,
where else have you lived?
-I’m a native of Wiscon-
How cute are Mr. and Mrs. Stewart
with Ella and another girl on the way?!
Photo courtesy of Mrs. Stewart.
9
The Blueprint
April 2009
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Emily & Olivia
U-G-L-Y, You Ain’t Got No Alibi, You Ugly
By Paige Glasser, Carly Rivera, and Clark Taylor
Have you ever seen an animal and just thought to yourself,
“That is probably the scariest and
most nasty looking creature I have
ever seen!”? Well if you haven’t
ever reflected upon this, we are
here to do it for you. We have
narrowed the animals down to
what we find to be the most horrific land animal, sea animal, and
pet. Really, we are not putting
these beings down because we
love all creations of God. We’re
just curious as to how these living
things were created and what their
purpose is.
After doing some intense
research on looking for ugly animals, we came to the conclusion
that this large nailed, furry, almost
eyeless, with finger-like tentacles
for a nose creature is the most
hideous. You may be asking yourself what is this strange sounding
thing? It’s called the Star-Nosed
Mole.
According
to
livescience.com, the Star-Nosed
Mole can grab its prey and eat it
all in under a quarter of a second!
So you better watch out for those
22 finger-like tentacles ringed
around its nose. Actually, this
creature is harmless to humans,
for it feeds on insect larvae and
small worms. It is nearly blind,
and uses its strong senses of the
nose to detect where things are
in their pitch black and underground habitat. These moles
reside in marshes and swamps
from Canada to Georgia, and are
extremely hard for humans to
catch a glimpse of. The StarNosed Mole is definitely the ugliest land animal, and its not too
far away!
As for the ugliest water
animal, it is definitely, the
Blobfish. It lives off the coast of
Australia and can be found in the
deep water. It has no muscle and
has a similar density to water so
it floats through the dark depths
of the ocean. It is by far the ugliest animal in the water and possibly in the whole world. It looks
like white jello mixed with throw
up with a drawn on nose. I am
pretty sure it has trouble mating
with itself. Luckily it lives in such
deep water it is very hard to find.
If I were this fish I could not look
at myself in the mirror. In water
it looks more normal than it does
out of water but it is still one of
the ugliest animals in the world.
There are a lot of pretty
ugly animals in the world. How-
ever, you can’t go wrong with
dogs…or can you? Most of us
believe that all dogs are cute. I’m
sorry to say that Sam, voted as
three-time champion of the annual
Sonoma-Marin Fair “World’s Ugliest Dog” contest, might change your
viewpoint on dogs. According to
Snopes.com, the Associated Press
described Sam as “The tiny dog has
no hair, if you don’t count the yellowish-white tuft erupting from his
head. His wrinkled brown skin is
covered with splotches, a line of
warts marches down his snout, his
blind eyes are an alien, milky white,
and a fleshy flap of skin hangs from
his withered neck. And then there
are the Austin Powers teeth that
jut at odd angles.” If this description isn’t enough, then listen to what
his owner, Susie Lockheed, said
upon adopting him. According to
MSNBC.com, “Lockheed said she
initially was terrified of Sam when
she agreed to take him in as a rescue dog…his appearance repulsed
her then-boyfriend and prompted
the man to break up with her.” It is
sad that Lockheed lost her boyfriend because of Sam, but come
on…wouldn’t it kind of creep you
out if your significant other owned
this dog? Also, if Lockheed were
You Go Here?!
initially scared of Sam, then
why would she adopt him?
People usually buy dogs because they’re so cute! However, as Sam soon became famous, Lockheed became very
attached to him. Unfortunately,
just short of his 15th birthday,
Lockheed had Sam euthanized
after a veterinarian told her
Sam’s heart was failing. According to MSNBC.com,
Lockheed went on to say, “I
don’t think there’ll ever be another Sam…Some people
would think that’s a good
thing.” However, Susie
Lockheed grew attached to Sam
and still even sleeps with his favorite stuffed-bear he picked up
and carried home one day.
Truthfully, we do not hate
these animals, they’re just plain
ugly. We don’t know them on
the inside though, but I bet they
have extremely beautiful personalities. Just look at Sam, he has
a good sense of humor about his
looks. In the end, we all need to
remember that everything is
beautiful inside and out…except
for sometimes.
Mmmm yeah. Photo courtesy of Google images.
THE BLUEPRINT
By Kristen Pons and Lauren Meech
1.)Name and Grade?
Logan
B o r z a n s k y,
Freshman
2.)As a freshman,
how many detentions have
you received already?
12
3.)Miley Cyrus or
Hannah Montana?
Hannah Montana
4.)Will Ferrell or
Adam Sandler?
Will Ferrell
5.)Cash
or
Gift
Cards?
Cash
6.)If you could be one
animal for the rest of your
life what would it be and
why?
Tiger, because they are
awesome
7.)What’s your favorite thing about Santa
Margarita so far?
Our amazing pepsquad!
8.)Just Dance or
Poker Face?
Poker Face
9.)Ribbon Twirling or
Steam Room Yoga?
Steam Room Yoga
10.)School Food or
Packed Lunch?
School Food
11.)Denim or Corduroy?
Denim
12.)What are you
most looking forward to
sophomore year?
All the dances and ice
hockey
13.)What’s your favorite Pokémon and why?
Squirtel, because he
makes funny sounds.
Faculty Advisor
Ms. Rhodes
Rhodese@smhs.org
Campus Ministry Editors
Lauren Giudice
Kyle Richter
Editors in Chief
Emily McCartney
Olivia Staffon
World News/Health Editor
Gaby Duva
Co-Editor
Lauren Vargas
Managing Editor
Samantha Toth
News Editor
Samantha Toth
Features Editors
Alexis King
Laura Schmeltzer
Entertainment Editor
Ross Kirkbaumer
Sports Editor
Allison Acevedo
Co-Editors
Ryan McGuire
Brian Sanvido
Opinion/Editorial Editor
Alex Worthen
Co-Editor
Niki Genthe
Campus Life/Photo Editor
Lindsay Mortenson
Logan playin’ it cool with his goggles
in science class. Photo courtesy of
Karlie Borzansky.
Special Section Editors
Parris Wells
Alyssa Wolpin
Beginning Staff Writers
Kevin Avjian
Aria Bendix
Karlie Borzansky
Kevin Clark
Camille del Carmen
Caitlin Doud
Adam Enochs
Denise Fernandez
Amanda Figueroa
Katelyn Finneran
Paige Glasser
Kelsey Hummer
Lauren Hundley
Ross Kingsley
Alexa Kosco
Allison Le
Lauren Meech
Dean Navarro
Elizabeth Pinner
Kristen Pons
Caroline Rivera
Polina Romashkova
Amanda Rooth
Derek Smith
Karenna Soto
Noelle Sumner
Cheyane Swarbrick
Clark Taylor
Cody Webster
Jake Whelan
Kevin Witt
Melissa Zornig
Advanced Staff Writers
Julia Boyle
Morgan Brutocao
Becca Caraveo
Caroline Christ
Kenna Crouse
Spencer Feldmann
Nicolette Fernandez
Kerri Hall
Amanda Kiepe
Ashley Kotero
Karsyn Kraft
Michelle Loftus
Melissa Merrill
Lauren Rodriguez
*Comments and editorial opinions expressed in The Blueprint are
the staff’s and do not represent the position of the school, its
administration, faculty or students.
The Blueprint welcomes your comments and questions at
Blueprint@smhs.org.
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ENTERTAINMENT
What’s Hot This Month
Bambozzle Left 2009!!!!
By Melissa Merrill, Amanda Kiepe, and Nicollete Fernandez
Saturday, April 4 th ,
started the two-day music festival known as Bamboozle Left.
The Bamboozle festival originated in New Jersey, and has
now migrated to the west coast.
Over 100 bands played at the
third Bamboozle Left festival on
six different stages. In order to
avoid sound conflicts between
bands, the stages were spread
apart on both ends of the festival grounds. Merch tables lined
the pathways to and from all six
stages. We had the pleasure of
seeing a countless number of
bands play on both days of the
show.
To our surprise, a large
amount of kids arrived at the
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
grounds before any bands began to play. After we waited in
the mile-long line to get into the
festival, we headed to the main
stage to watch The Cab. The
crowd danced and bounced up
and down as the band played
the fan favorites “I’ll Run,”
“Bounce,” and their unique
cover of Rihanna’s “Disturbia”.
. After passing the merch
tables and some band signings,
we caught Hey Monday’s set.
The female-fronted band ran on
to the stage as they played the
upbeat rock song, “Run, Don’t
Walk”. Hey Monday’s performance and the head banging of
singer Cassadee Pope mirrored
the stage antics of Paramore.
The band concluded their energetic set with “How You
Love Me Now” and their hit
single “Homecoming”.
Next we squeezed our
way to the front of the stage as
a rush of girls attempted to get
as close as they could for the
next band, nevershoutnever!
After waiting half an hour with
no personal space whatsoever,
nevershoutnever! appeared
on the stage to the sound of
screaming fan girls. Christopher
Drew opened his set with his
current single “Happy”. His
happy and feel good guitar and
ukulele rhythms attracted
people walking by and breathed
life into the audience. His rendition of The Beatles’ “I Want
To Hold Your Hand” made the
performance memorable. To
finish his entertaining set, Christopher played the popular
“Bigcitydreams”.
Nevershoutnever!’s performance was definitely one of the
highlights of the day.
Before we went to watch
the Rancho Santa Margarita
based band, Stick to Your
Guns, we stopped by a merch
table to meet Hey Monday.
While we waited in line, we listened to the catchy music of
All Time Low as they played
on the main stage.
Like most of the people
who were at the festival, we
raced to the main stage in the
hopes of seeing Metro Station. Even though we could
barely see the members of the
band, we enjoyed the live show.
Metro Station’s set featured the
upbeat and dance inspired
songs “Disco”, “Shake It”, and
“Wish We Were Older”. We
finished our day with the
heavier bands Parkway Drive
and Haste the Day.
Next we made our way
over to the two main stages to
catch the end of Shwayze’s
set. Cisco and Shwayze really
got the crowd going, especially
the girls. The pair concluded
their performance with
“Buzzin”, which definitely left
the crowd with the reminder
that summer can’t get here fast
enough.
Saosin took the
stage next, and put on an
awesome show (which is
very typical of them). Compared to their phenomenal
show last November at UCI,
their Bamboozle performance wasn’t as energetic
and crazy and didn’t quite
meet our high expectations,
but they put on an awesome
show nonetheless and even
treated the crowd to a few
new songs off of their upcoming album.
After Saosin, we
split up to see The Used and
A Skylit Drive. The Used,
which many people across
the internet have deemed
“The Best Band of the Day,”
always put on a fun show that
really gets the audience involved and makes the mosh
pit brutal. They have an
amazing sound that is so loud
that the bass has the power
to make anyone’s ribcage
shake. At times it even gets
hard to breathe!
While waiting for
Taking Back Sunday, we got
to see Thrice. Thrice, an
amazingly talented band, put
on a musically great show,
but sadly did nothing memorable
that made them stand out from
the pack.
Taking Back Sunday,
the last band we caught on Sunday night, left us with one of the
best memories of the weekend.
They performed hits from their
past albums like “Cute without
the E” and “Liar,” and even
threw in a couple new songs
from their upcoming album.
But
it
was
during
“MakeDamnSure” that the
crowd was left stunned. Lead
singer Adam Lazzara is known
for his wild stage antics like
swinging 20-ft long microphone
cords around his neck, but for
this show, he took it all to a new
level. Halfway through the
song, he climbed the column
supporting the roof of the stage
and hung upside down by his
legs and sang from 20 feet
above the stage.
The Bamboozle Left
was a fun-packed, memorable
weekend of music’s best acts,
and will definitely be a yearly
ritual for us, just like Warped
Tour. Make sure you join in on
the fun next year when the festival hits the west coast again!
Human or Dancer?
By Cody Webster and Dean Navarro
In the entertainment
world, the lyrics have been stirring
up much controversy. Here are the
words to a controversial song by
The Killers called, “Human”. Read
over the words carefully and try to
find the true meaning. “I did my best
to notice, When the call came down
the line, Up to the platform of surrender, I was brought but I was
kind,And sometimes I get nervous,
When I see an open door, Close
your eyes, clear your heart, Cut the
cord. Are we human or are we
dancer? My sign is vital, my hands
are cold,And I’m on my knees looking for the answer, Are we human
or are we dancer? Pay my respects to grace and virtue, Send my
condolences to good, Hear my regards to soul and romance, They
always did the best they could,And
so long to devotion, It taught me everything I know, Wave goodbye,
wish me well, You’ve gotta let me
go. Are we human or are we
dancer?
My sign is vital, my hands are
cold,And I’m on my knees looking
for the answer, Are we human or
are we dancer? Will your system
be alright, When you dream of
home tonight,
There is no message we’re
receiving, Let me know, is your
heart still beating? Are we human
or are we dancer? My sign is vital,
my hands are cold, And I’m on my
knees looking for the answer. Are
we human or are we dancer?
You’ve gotta let me know
Are we human or are we
dancer? My sign is vital, my hands
are cold,And I’m on my knees looking for the answer. Are we human
or are we dancer?”
The other day Dean and
I got into a half an hour argument
when this tune came on in my car.
This song not only has lyrical confusion, but the title is confusing in
itself. In September of 2008, it debuted on the radio and became a
hit and was on the Top 10 on iTunes
downloads. We both agree this song
became popular very fast and we
have caught ourselves singing it in
the shower on multiple occasions.
Dazed and confused, people
were listening and singing up a
storm without even knowing the
true meaning of the lyrics. This
started an online controversy of the
origin of the song and how the
words go. First, the first line of the
chorus was questioned whether or
not it is, “Are we human or are we
dancers”, or “Are we human or are
we denser”? Truthfully neither of
these titles is correct. The way it
goes is, “Are we human or are we
dancer”. After the lyrical confusion
was out of the way there were questions on the true meaning. People
used Google like water, and read
whatever blogs there were about the
matter.
When the media got involved, they too started asking questions. They went to The Killers directly and asked them to clarify the
lyrics. No direct answer was given
and they said a statement would be
made on their fan website within a
week. The website states that Flowers (the lead singer) is singing, “Are
we human or are we dancer” and
said it was inspired by a disparaging
comment made by Hunter S. Thompson. The fans were upset about
the confusion but most of all The
Killers. Flowers goes on to say, “It’s
supposed to be a dance song, [the
beat] goes with the chorus...If you
can’t put that together, you’re an
idiot. I just don’t get why there’s confusion about it.” After these statements were made people still did not
The Killers guitarist sings “Human”. Photo courtesy Google images.
know what it meant, but was still
growing in popularity.
After listening and reading very carefully, Dean and I came
to the conclusion that words sometimes speak differently depending
on the listener. We both believe that
when Flowers says, “are we human or are we dancer” he is asking, do we let ourselves control our
own lives and make decisions on
our own and live life without a plan,
or are we puppets or “dancers” on
a string letting other people control
our every motion. If you like to dance
this is not trying to put you down
and say that you are not human. But
when you dance you just go through
the motions without taking a second
look at anything. Everyone has the
choice to decide if they want to be
“human” or “dancer.” We hope this
has cleared up any confusion on the
matter. The next time the song
comes on listen to the words with a
new mind set.
ENTERTAINMENT
What’s Hot This Month
Wolf Like Me
The Coachella music
festival is a three-day concert
located at the Empire Polo
Fields in Indio, California. On
April 18, my friend Erica and
I had the opportunity to experience a day of the legendary
music festival.
We started off the day
by witnessing Billy Talent.
Having witnessed their insane
rocking before, I was not surprised to see them going crazy
on stage. Their performance
of “Red Flag” really got the
crowd going.
We were super excited for Paolo Nutini’s performance. It is truly a pleasure watching a band perform
that is clearly having a good
time: it can make a huge difference in the experience
when the performers are smiling and dancing while they
play, rather than just going
through the motions.
We then got some
food and sat down for
Michael Franti and Spearhead. Alternative Reggae is
not usually my style of music,
but, looking around, it was
evident that the crowd was
having a good time.
I was incredibly excited to see TV on the Radio,
and they did not disappoint. It
takes a lot to make me dance,
and TV on the Radio gave me
no choice but to get my
groove on. The band sounded
almost exactly like their album
and the performance was a
lot of fun. They were very
enjoyable act to watch with
one of the biggest audiences
of the day.
Being a huge Blink182 fan, I needed to see
Trv$DJ-AM (Travis Barker
of Blink-182 and DJ AM). I
cannot even describe how incredible it was. AM remixed
many classic songs (including
“Enter Sandman”, originally
of Metallica, and Queen’s
“Bohemian Rhapsody”) that
the entire audience knew,
while Travis drummed to
them. The tent was a huge
dance party and everyone
was having an incredible time.
Electric Touch was
next on our list of must-see
bands. There is nothing like
being right in front of the
stage watching a band you
Summer Concerts
- &More
By Elizabeth Pinner
really love. They put on a
great show and had excellent
dance moves.
M.I.A was next on the
list. This was the only performance I was unhappy with.
With her first post-birth gig, she
performed only a few songs,
which did not impress. She was
rambling on for most of the performance and it was clear that
the audience did not enjoy her
set.
Finally, it was time for
The Killers. They are my favorite band, so we weaved our
way through the crowd and finally made it near the front.
Opening with “Human”, they
commanded the stage and the
attention of the vast crowd.
Brandon Flowers is an amazing performer and continues to
impress me with his stage
presence and his effect on the
crowd. They played a variety
of older and newer songs.
Closing with a powerful performance of “When You Were
Young” really ended the day on
a high note
Day two of
Coachella was unbelievable. It
was one of the best days of my
entire life, and I cannot wait
until next year’s festival.
With spring in full bloom, it
is time to start your annual spring
cleaning and trade in those ‘last
seasons’ to new stylish fashion
trends for this year’s spring. Although there are many hot fashion crazes springing up in widely
read fashion magazines, some
well-liked fads are transitioning
over to the spring season. Flannel shirts, skinny pants, oversized
cardigans, and Pocahontas-sy
styles are still popping on fashion runways. However, new
trends that are appearing in world
renowned fashion shows are receiving a lot of buzz and are absolutely closet-worthy.
Popular trends for this
spring are conveniently geared
to all different types of girls.
Vivid brilliant colors, such as yellow, blue, and pink were known
to brighten up the majority of the
runways. Other lady-like prints
that can range from butterflies
to watercolor floral are perfect
for spring’s dresses. Girly girls
should take advantage of this
new fad, along with sheer clothing layered with sold tanks.
For those boho-chic girls,
a collection of strong tribal clothing is a definite must have for
your closet makeover. Feather
earrings, suede vests, and moc-
casins are still fashionably acceptable for spring. This necessity has
been seen last season, but is still
developing into an even hotter
trend for this spring season.
And finally, stealing flannels
and oversized jackets from your
brother or boyfriend’s closet is
for a legitimate reason. Runaway
shows featuring styles by Ralph
Lauren are proof of the fact that
men’s trends are crossing over
to the women’s fashions departments- with a small feminine
twist, of course. Spring is the season of blossoming, so go restock
your closet with the array of new
trends that will transform you into
a new (or revised) you.
Photo courtesy of Google images.
By Spencer Feldmann and Lauren Rodriguez
The
Mayercraft Carrier!
Summer is fast approaching, school children will be able
to frolic, homework free,and
teachers will go back to their
“lives” as bus drivers, bouncers,
librarians, or whatever teachers
do over the summer . With so
much free time this summer, why
not dust off that old CD collection, and break out the Blink 182
and No Doubt. In case you have
been spending all your waking
time doing homework, allow us
to break the news, Blink and No
Doubt are back. Yes, back as in
playing, touring, recording and
whatever else they can come up
with. Blink 182 has officially announced their reunion and a tour
coming in summer 2009. Yes, this
summer. Their last album, self
titled, Blink 182 was released in
2003 and would be the last album because of the hiatus. At the
most recent Grammys, the three
members, Delounge, Hoppis and
Barker(NAME SPELLING
CHECK) announced they had
resolved differences and truly
were back. While exact tour
dates have not been announced,
this band started in Southern California will surely make the rounds
locally, giving you plenty of opportunities to see them play. Another SoCal classic, No Doubt,
John Mayer. 2,000 fans.
Cabo San Lucas. Me. This
lethal combination is called
the Mayercraft Carrier.
Last year I went on this
cruise. Although I had an incredible time, I never got to
meet John. So I was determined to meet him/make him
mine this year on the MCC2!
This year, we left on
th
my 18 birthday! This was
definitely my chance to find
John except for a few problems: bigger boat, more security, and more crazed fans.
The ship set sail on March 27
from Long Beach. John
kicked off the day by coming
out onto the lido deck in a
mini sailors outfit and performed a special acoustic set.
He sang both older and
newer songs.
During his intense
acoustic performance I,
wearing my “It’s my 18 t h
Birthday Mayer Me” shirt,
yelled at John and pointed to
my shirt. In response I got
the best “Happy Birthday”
I’ve ever received in my life,
from my favorite person in
front of 2,000 people,
Youtube it, and I was dying.
will start the tour shortly, and has
several dates in the area. Because singer Gwen Stefani
broke off to pursue a solo career, tragically No Doubt hasn’t
played a show or released an album in the last five years. Luckily for us, No Doubt will be touring this summer with Paramore,
and possibly Katy Perry. Other
big concerts to look forward to
this summer are Coldplay, Taylor Swift, The Fray with Jack’s
M a n n e q u i n
We have devised a calendar so that you can plan out
your summer concerts:
No
doubt
with
Paramore special guest: Katy
P
e
r
r
y
The Fray with Jack’s
Mannequin - Tuesday 7/28/09
Chula
Vista,
CA
Taylor Swift with Kelli Pickler5/22/09 Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA. Or 5/24/09 at San
Diego Sports Arena in San
D i e g o , C A .
Coldplay- 7/18/09 at the Home
Depot Center in Carson, CA
Blink 182- not posted yet.
Warped Tour- 6/26/09Pomona Fairplex
Electric Daisy Carnival- 6/
26/09-6/27/09- LA Memorial
Coliseum
-Music
Spring Forward into New Fashions!
By Lauren Giudice
- Movies
By Caroline Christ
After this, OAR performed
in the lounge and Gavin
Rossdale finished the night
with an amazing performance which included his
hit song, “Love Remains the
Same”.
My sister and I got
special tickets to John’s
sound check… this was my
chance. Once we got inside, John was standing on
the stage nonchalantly with
Stratocaster in hand. He
played with the full band for
an hour. I made my way up
to the stage with my hat and
picture to be autographed
quivering in my hand. He
was right in front of me, the
John Mayer, only a foot
away! I tried to say something, but nothing came. As
he was signing I looked up
at him and I finally said it,
screeching “I love you John!
It was my birthday yesterday!” He handed me my
stuff and looked at me, saying these beautiful words, “I
know, I remember”. After
that it gets a little fuzzy because I’m pretty sure at that
moment I fainted and my sister had to smack me. Later
that night, John performed
his last show of the trip and
showcased his amazing guitar talents.
I had the best birthday/week of my entire life!
My dream of meeting John
came true! On my 19 th birthday, you can be sure that I’ll
be sailing with John on the
Mayercraft Carrier 3!
One of the many performances of
John Mayer. Photo courtesy of
Caroline Christ.
12
The Blueprint
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
April 2009
OPINION
Blast From The Past! Pokemon Is Back!
By Brian Sanvido
Game Boys, trading
cards, Pokemon, and yoyos.
We are all familiar with these
f a d s o f t h e p a s t . L a t e l y,
these fads have made a
comeback. Yoyos have been
popping up around campus
and some students are even
striving to start a yoyo club.If
you look around, you will see
people with Game Boys playing Pokemon.
They are trading and
b a t t l i n g w i t h e a c h o t h e r,
building their status in the
Pokemon realm. But what is
the reason these games are
popping up around campus
now? To better understand,
I dusted off my Game Boy
and started playing Pokemon
Fire Red version.
After I started playing the game, I was re-addicted in ten minutes. Right
from the beginning you have
a choice of three starting
Pokemon. You raise and train
these creatures to help you
battle trainers. You recieve
badges after defeating Gym
Leaders. After collecting
these badges, you may challenge the Elite Four to beat
the game. The game can
be played thousands of
ways and you can capture
so many different Pokemon making the fun never
ending.
I found myself up at
night playing the game
while lying in bed. Also, on
my plane rides over spring
break I was training my
Pokemon. It was only once
other friends of mine also
decided to start playing
again that real fun began.
My friends and I
started arranging battles
during passing periods and
Pokemon! Gotta catch ‘em all! Photo courtesy of Google
XM RADIO ROCKS!
By Kevin Witt and Derek Smith
Don’t you hate it when you’re
listening to the radio and the same
song repeats every ten minutes?
Well my writing partner and I dislike
it very much. We also cannot stand
all the commercials that play on the
FM radio.
Through our experience with
radios, we have concluded that XM
radio (AKA Satellite Radio) is definitely the best. . AM Radio should
not even be allowed to be thrown in
to the mix because of all the nitwits
that are allowed to have talk shows.
AM radio offers little entertainment value. The reception is
very poor, and talk show hosts are
either hit or miss. There is no reason
to listen to the AM except for sports
fans and political junkies. For everyone else, the AM radio is merely a
collection of boring talk shows and
static.
FM radio offers some entertainment value. There are a few
good stations left on the FM 102.7,
98.7, 105.3 and 106.7. However,
these stations will play a popular song
to the point where you don’t even
like it anymore. In the morning, FM
has talk shows like the AM, but FM
talk shows are significantly better be-
various times during school.
It was motivation to play and
get your Pokemon the best.
Also, trading these
Pokemon was a big factor.
Each of these creatures has
a weakness, and you must
have Pokemon that can exploit these weaknesses. For
example, a fire Pokemon is
very weak against water
Pokemon, so you want one
good Pokemon of every
kind.
To understand why
other students started playing, I sat down with a fellow
junior, Dustin Lane, to dis-
cause they have a pop culture
theme. We sometimes find that the
FM radio has some exciting components, but it has not achieved the
completeness that XM Radio has.
XM radio is the way to
go despite the subscription fee. It
has commercial free talk, music,
and sports. XM radio is far superior to both the AM and the FM
because it cuts out the most annoying part of the radio, commercials.
Through our recent experiment my partner and I have
concluded that AM radio needs to
have less commercials and the talk
show hosts need to be more qualified. FM radio, even though we
like music, needs to have better
music.
We hate it when the same
song plays three times within ten
minutes (KIIS FM is the worst offender of this annoying trait). It’s
like listening to nails on a chalkboard. XM radio is flawless; yes
we both agree it is
“flawless”.There are more entertaining talk shows and much better music. Overall XM radio has
no contest, so listen to XM radio…
cuss the secret behind
Pokemon’s second coming.
Blueprint: Why did
you start playing Pokemon
now?
Dustin Lane: I was
inspired by the creation of
a new game.
BP: Do any of your
friends play the game too?
DL: Yes, some do. I
only play with the ones who
want to be the very best
though.
BP: Do you trade with
these friends to better your
lineup?
DL: I tend not to trade
with any of them because my
Pokemon are far too superior to theirs and my lineup
can not become better.
BP: Do you battle these
friends then?
Dusin Lane: Yes, I do
not too often though because
I destroy them with my powerful attacks and it hurts to
see my friends fear me.
As you can see,
there are many reasons that
Pokemon has sprung up
around campus. It could be
the new version, Pokemon
Platinum, that was recently
released. It could be friends
are playing and students
want to join in on the game.
The only thing that is for sure
is that this game fun.
Anyone who plays this
game will tell you it is fun and
addicting. Its fun because
other students are sharing in
on the game and this creates
a Pokemon community. If
you own the game, I suggest
that you go home and just
play for a little. You will find
yourself locked in a world of
Pokemon that creates endless fun.
13
The Blueprint
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
April 2009
SPECIAL SECTION
TECHNOLOGY
BRAINWASHED!
mainstream of society and keep up
with its demands, you are going to
be trampled.
Technology has not only had
an effect on our minds and the way
we think, but has had an effect on
newspaper companies worldwide.
According to writer Duncan Riley
from “TechCrunch” website, newspaper revenue decreased $42 billion
in 2007. This was the biggest recorded revenue drop for the U.S.
newspaper industry. With this being
said, more and more businesses are
now turning to the internet and modern technology to voice their product and get themselves known.
So as for students, what can
we do? Well, although we should not
stop using computers, watching television, and playing video games, we
should start challenging our brains a
little more and prepare ourselves for
the future. As Greenfield stated,
“Wiring classrooms for Internet access does not enhance learning”.
With that being said, let us not become a bunch of technological robots, instead pick up a book because
the world demands more than just
our ability to use a computer. The
world demands brainpower and our
ability to adjust to whatever comes
our way. Sure our world will continue to invent crazy devices and express new ideas, but if we don’t continue to be unique and use our own
minds, we will lose the essence of
character and intelligence which humans are constructed upon.
The effects of technology on
our generation.
By Ross Kingsley
For as long as humans
have been around, technology
has improved all aspects of society. No matter how advanced
the technology has been, anything new that is introduced into
society has had some effect on
the pace of life and the pace at
which things get done. So, what
is technology? According to
“Dictionary.com”, technology
can be defined as, “the branch
of knowledge that deals with the
creation and use of technical
means and their interrelation
with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure
science”. However it is really a
collection of new inventions or
ideas that alter the normal
rhythm of everyday life.
Technology has always
been a part of our lives and impacted what we do. Advances
in technology have helped us in
many fields such as: medicine,
the military, automobiles, computers, and especially the
internet. However, as good as
technology may seem, it is actually more harmful than some
of you may think. This is hard to
believe because so many good
things have come about by it,
but it is actually taking away
from what humans are meant
to do: think. Patricia
Greenfield, a professor of psychology and director of
Children’s Digital Media Center in Los Angeles, has done a
study on how the rise of media and technology have impacted the minds of nearly everyone these days. As she
stated in an article in “Science
Daily”; “Reading for pleasure,
which has declined among
young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and
engages the imagination in a
way that visual media such as
video games and television do
not”. The way in which people
are successful is not their reliance on technology and fancy
new devices, but how they respond to problems they encounter and how they think on
their feet. However, it is also
believed that all of our modern technology and media is
not completely bad for us either. “By using visual media,
students will process information better. However, most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for
Avid TV watchers. Photo courtesy of Google images.
reflection, analysis or imagination” states Greenfield. Although
we may think getting news and
information via the internet is going to benefit us more than anything, it is actually going to make
our analysis and ability to think
decline drastically. Through
reading for pleasure, Greenfield
states that, “Studies show that
reading develops imagination, induction, reflection, and critical
thinking, as well as vocabulary”.
A study conducted in
1942 states that people’s visual
performance and ability to react to things in their environment
declined steadily from age 25 to
65. However, in 1992, there was
really no difference between
someone that was 25 and someone that was 65. So, if technology
has negative effects on us, why
are businesses and people doing
so much better than they did back
in the 1920’s? Well, it’s because
so many people rely on technology. The business world and the
way humans do things is all run
off of and dictated by the use of
technology. People have become
used to going to the internet or television to find their news and looking to search engines and machines
to get the work done faster. But
can you really blame them? Society demands a fast paced life. If
you cannot stay on your feet in the
INTEXTICATED
By Alexa Kosco and Camille del Carmen
6,473. As shocking as it
is, that the average number of
text messages that most teens
send each month. Texting messaging is taking over the lives
of teenagers and has become
a main component of most
teen’s daily rituals. Checking
your phone the minute you
wake up, texting all throughout
science class, and sending messages instead of doing homework are all normal habits for
students these days, but obsessive text messaging is becoming an a major problem for
teens all across the nation. For
Example, there was a case in
Wisconsin in February, when a
14-year old girl was caught
texting in class and refused to
hand her phone over. She was
arrested for “disorderly conduct”; for disrupting the class
and refusing to obey to the
teacher. Even when she was
obtained by the cops, the teenager refused to give up her
phone and kept it safe in her
pants. A female officer later
retrieved the phone from her
“buttocks area” and confirmed that she had sent a
text message to her father.
Bail was set at $298. Not
only was she publically humiliated in front of her peers,
but being arrested remains on
her permanent record and
have a possibility of affecting her future. Maybe a detention or Saturday school,
even being suspended would
be more appropriate for this
case, but really? Being arrested? Now that is pretty
harsh.
These days teens
rarely make phone calls because their favorite means of
communication is texting of
course. A women in Mississippi got fired for texting on
the job, and a teen in Maine
got her license provoked
while texting and crashing.
She was fined $137, but now
many states have new laws
restricting texting while driving.
Text messaging is also
the backbone of many teen
relationships. Boyfriends and
girlfriends are often attached to
their phone, busy communicating with each other all throughout the day. Texting can keep
their relationship alive, or in
some cases break it apart. The
infamous “Text Message
Breakup” is all too common
throughout many teenage relationships, and texting might even
hinder couples from getting to
know each other beyond the
phone. However text messaging still remains an all too prevalent fad that has swept over the
lives of teens everywhere.
The addicting cell phone.
Photo courtesy of Google
images.
Texting is addictive on any phone. Photos courtesy of Google images.
COMMON SIGNS OF
PHONE ADDICTION:
1. TXT lingo: You understand AND utilize
the following text phrases: lol, brb, g2g,
wuts ^, nbd, rofol, c ya, lylas, ily, l8r,
OMG...
2. Texting Withdrawals: You feel a sense of
depression when you don’t have access to
your phone. When it’s not with you, your
phone is constantly on your mind and it’s all
you think about.
3. Social Isolation: You ditch your friends
for your phone or text your friends when
you are sitting right next to them. Your best,
and most important friend is your phone.
15
The Blueprint
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
April 2009
CAMPUS MINIS RY
The Senior Pilgrimmage: A Time for
Reaffirming Faith
By Alexa Kostco
SMCHS Hosts the Special
Olympics
By Polina Romashkova
“What was the most rewarding part of the Senior Pilgrimmage?”
Austin McAnena- “The most rewarding part was understanding Jesus’ sacrifice for us as we
walked 14 miles to the mission for Him.”
Allee Campbell- “The best part for me was that I walked for Kaydee, my sister.”
AJ Cruz- “I would say bonding with those around me on the pilgrimage, also arriving was a
pretty cool feeling.”
Natalie Hamill- “The most rewarding part was the feeling of accomplishment when you reached
the mission.”
Lauren Donaghy- “The best part was forming closer bonds with classmates through a shared
experience.”
Amanda Haynes- “The most rewarding part of going on the pilgrimage was walking in Mark
and Zach’s memory.”
Christina Holzmann- “The most rewarding part was walking in honor of Mark and Zach, and
talking to people I’ve never talked to before.”
Chloe Manese- “The most rewarding aspect was pushing myself to finish the entire 14 miles for
God because it was a sacrifice in itself, especially at a time of mourning and reflection that our
community was experiencing.”
Students having fun with their athlete partners
On Friday, April 3rd, SMCHS held the 4th annual Special Olympics on our football field. The event was organized by
Campus Ministry and was made possible by both adult and student volunteers. Athletes from 9 schools throughout Southern
California arrived at our campus and were greeted by volunteers. The athletes were paired up with volunteers, who took
them to their events.
First, the opening ceremony was held, where all athletes from the 9 schools marched as they carried signs with their
school name. Prayers were said, followed by a word by our
principal, Mr. Dunne. Each school then prepared for their races
by stretching.
After each race, the athletes received ribbons according to their place and got a chance to stand on a podium and
have their names announced. The students that volunteered built
bonds with young athletes. The experience helped SM students
feel like they were a part of something bigger than themselves.
Aly Pizzurro, a sophomore who participated in the event
Seniors tired after the long journey
reflects on her experience, “The special Olympics was both fun
Kayla Saadeh- “For me, the most rewarding part was being able to accomplish something and touching experience. Just being able to see my athlete’s face
together as a class…especially with everything that happened this year. I think it really brought us when receiving their awards was rewarding enough, and I cantogether.”
not wait until next year!” For those of you who didn’t particiTori Salvatore- “Accomplishing a 14 mile walk and burning so many calories and being able to pate, make sure to sign up next year! Just listen for sign-up dates
walk so far because the destination was beneficial to my own journey in religion and finding around this time next year, and be a part of this extraordinary
God.”
experience.
Ashley Wilson- “Walking with the whole senior class and meeting new people.”
Jenna Dato-on- “The most rewarding part was knowing that the senior class accomplished
such a difficult task with so much joy, spirituality and determination.”
Nicole Costa- “The most rewarding part was walking for Zach and Mark. It was a great way
for our class to join together in a prayerful environment.”
Nicole Johnson- “Bonding with friends and the sense of accomplishment that we all went through
it together and realizing we made I through 14 miles.”
Jordan Bellow- “It gave me an opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.”
We Remember...
Zach Raffety
December 15, 1991- April 7, 2009
Mark Motley
July 23, 1990- April 7, 2009
16
The Blueprint
The Student Newspaper of Santa Margarita Catholic High School
April 2009