April 2008 - Taft Union High School

Taft’s very own
“wild and crazy
guy”
Page 3
Mock Rock
photo essay
Page 5
A look at
Spring Sports
Pages 6 & 7
The Gusher
Volume 95, No. 5
The Voice of the
Wildcats Since 1912
Taft Union High School, 701 7th St., Taft, Calif. 93268
April 18, 2008
Renaissance Rally celebrates
benefits of positive attitude
Science teacher Ryan Hickman and his son enjoy their moment in the
sun. John Hatten of Jostens awarded Hickman a school ring. Photo by
Carli Tweedy-Cross
King Mark Richardson leads his posse of positivity onto the stadium field.
Photos by Carli Tweedy-Cross
By Brianne Carroll
Sports Editor
The last Renaissance Rally of the
year was held in Martin Memorial
Stadium on Apr. 10 with the theme
of the actual Renaissance.
The “Ye Olde Renaissance Rally’s” main theme was that of positive
and negative attitude. It featured an
Evil Queen, played by Mike Cowan,
an Evil Princess, played by senior
Candyse Arney, and our school’s
“King,” played by Principal Mark
Richardson.
As students found their seats in
class-level sections, several members of the staff performed a dance
in which they whirled around with
different colored wigs and flags to
“The Safety Dance,” a hit for men
without hats in the ‘80s.
Next, Salvation Sefo and Cari Tuumalemalo performed an a capella
rendition of “The Star Spangled
Banner.”
After the song was finished, the
Evil Queen and Evil Princess came
out of their castle and proceeded to
explain how positive attitudes made
them sick and that they will spread
their negativity. As the trumpets
blared to announce the King’s entrance, the Evil Queen revealed their
plan to capture the King.
The King then rode in with his
knights and said that he had come
to celebrate a special group of people, the Top Cats. He then called off
their names and invited them down
to the field to drink and eat the feast
prepared for them.
Suddenly, Salvation Sefo and Jordan Bonner, the M.C.’s of the rally,
came out and announced that the
King had disappeared.
They then discussed their solution to finding the King; they had to
seek out a great scholar who could
tell them how to rescue him. After
slowly reading the clues off, they
announced the Scholar of the Year,
senior Matthew Griffing.
Griffing then came down to the
field and said they should have
games to seek out the greatest attitudes in the land to lead them into
battle and rescue our good King.
Then one boy and one girl from
each class came down to compete in
the medicine ball game. Each person
threw the medicine ball as far as they
Evil Queen Mike Cowan (at right) and Evil Princess Candyse Arney (in
blue) and their nattering nabobs of negativity harass the crowd.
could, receiving a certain amount of
points depending on which place
they came in.
The seniors came in first place,
the freshman in second place, the
juniors in third place and the sophomores in fourth place.
After the points were tallied, the
Wildcat Choir performed a song
called “Chalk.”
Next, Griffing decided to have
another game called the Q-tip game,
which was a jousting game where
the two competitors stood on a long
piece of wood and tried jousting
the other off. The juniors came in
first place and the seniors in second
place.
After the game was finished, the
Evil Queen and Evil Princess came
out with their group of negative
fools and stormed the field, spraying the crowd with Silly String.
Griffing then announced that he
felt negative and asked the M.C.’s
what he was to do. They replied by
telling him to consult the Teacher of
the Year.
They decided to have a fencing
match to uncover a clue about who
the Teacher of the Year was. The juniors came in first and the freshman
came in second.
After giving the crowd clues as
to who the Teacher of the Year was,
they announced that the winner was
science teacher Ryan Hickman.
Hickman then accepted his prizes and gave a short speech.
He then announced his plan to
meet the enemy head on. The M.C.’s
called the Evil Queen and Evil Princess out for a contest of “Yo’ Mama”
to free the King.
After the evil fools shouted insults to the good people and the
good people responded with nice
remarks, the Teacher and Scholar of
the Year said that greeting negativity with a smile and a kind word is
the way to happiness.
The Evil Queen and Evil Princess
realized that negativity just gets you
lost, and they decided to free the
King.
The King came out and announced the last game of the rally, a
relay race in which the sophomores
were victorious.
Hickman named Teacher
of the Year at spring rally
By Jessica Hall
Staff Writer
Ryan Hickman, a science teacher at Taft High for five years, was
named Teacher of the Year at the “Ye
Olde Renaissance Rally” on Apr. 10.
“I was very surprised I won,”
Hickman said. “It’s always good to
be well liked. My wife knew but she
did not slip up with the information
which was kind of surprising.”
The rally theme was based on the
actual Renaissance time period.
“It was a very good rally. It’s always good to see all the students
that are on Honor Roll,” commented
Hickman.
His students like him for a variety of reasons.
“He is a good teacher because
when you do not understand something he will sit down and teach it
again until you can ace the test,”
freshman Allison Jarvinen explained.
Freshman Jazmin CamrilloFlores simply likes him because “he
is cool.”
For winning Teacher of the Year
Hickman was awarded a ring, of his
choice by John Hatten of Jostens. He
has yet to decide what design he
will put on it, although he is thinking, “Maybe a little bling-bling.”
“Winning Teacher of the Year
was a nice honor. It was humbling to
know that the students support me.
But hopefully they are learning too
and do not just like me because I am
a nice guy,” Hickman said.
Matt Griffing wins Scholar of the
Year for his stellar academic work
Griffing played the role of the
young scholar in the Renaissance
Rally. Photo courtesy of Jim Carnal
By Lillie Gervacio
Entertainment Editor
To no one’s surprise, this year’s
Scholar of the Year was none other
than Matt Griffing.
“I was surprised, I had no idea”
he says. “Then I was like, ‘Dang, I
have to memorize the script.’ But
then I was like, ‘Sweet, I get a scooter.’”
Anyone who knows Griffing
knows that he is anything but ordinary. In past years he has been
known to wear kilts and to proudly
celebrate Pirate Day.
He loves to hang out with his
friends and play video games, and
he is on the swim team, all while
maintaining over a 4.0 GPA. Griffing is taking three AP classes this
year; he took two last year and took
Honors classes his freshman and
sophomore years.
His advice to students? “Just
work hard, pay attention and get involved,” he says.
Griffing explains that he studies
moderately and plans to attend Cal
Poly San Luis Obispo because it is
the only school in California that offers a major in aerospace engineering.
When he was four years old,
Griffing saw himself growing up to
become a bread-cutter, but now he
sees himself working for Boeing or
Virgin Atlantic Airways.
So far, Griffing has received a
scooter from Renaissance and a
$1,000 scholarship from Jostens.
Page 2
News & Opinion
April 18, 2008
New webmaster brings crisp, clear look,
many new pages to TUHS website
Junior Gavin Bonner and sophomore Tylan Hoffman chow down in the
junior grub game. Photo by Jenny Gonzales
Spring Fling Week fun and
games amuse students
By Jenny Gonzales
Editor-in-Chief
As the younger sibling to Homecoming Week, Spring Fling Week is
packed full of activities and events
to take the students of Taft High into
their Spring Break.
Dress Up Days:
Monday started off the week
with the ever-popular “Twin Day,”
in which students dressed up in
pairs, triplets or even quadruplets
to show their school spirit and rack
up class competition points.
Tuesday’s
“’Grease’
Day”
brought back the 1950s, prompting
girls to wear poodle skirts and “Pink
Ladies” clothing and the boys to
dress like the “T-Birds” with cuffed
jeans and tight t-shirts.
Wednesday’s Trend Day allowed
students to creatively try out or
mock a trend for the day. Everything
from the cowboy look to the safari
look could be seen throughout the
halls.
Thursday’s Pajama Day was a
comfy way to wind down the week.
Some boys were even brave enough
to wear their long johns to school.
An extended lunch on Thursday
allowed students to enjoy the “All
4 Fun” inflatable toys on the San
Emidio lawn. The always-popular
“Adrenaline Rush” had a high attendance, ad did the first-time “Wacky
Seat Racers” attraction.
Barbie and Ken Day wrapped up
the Dress Up Days on Friday. Because of the preparations and excitement for Mock Rock, the number of
costumes was low.
Mock Rock
At T-minus two hours before
Spring Break, approximately 900
students and staff members packed
the Taft High auditorium to see the
annual Mock Rock show. This year’s
show, titled “Taft Request Live
(TRL)” was hosted by Carson Daly
(aka IT’s Billy Long). Nine groups
competed for the top prize of $300.
“The Jabbawockies,” Tala, Budda
and Ben Savaii, started off the show
with an energetic dance routine that
pumped up the audience.
Alex Hannah returned as Marilyn Manson to perform “Sweet
Dreams (Are Made of These).” He
made his debut as Manson at last
year’s show.
Next, seniors Lillie Gervacio,
Meeshell Jewell, Alexcia Perales,
Sarah Sandoval and Joe John Taylor,
juniors Carli Tweedy-Cross and Kalyn Valentine, sophomores Jordan
Cordova and Morgan Gallatin and
drama/dance teacher Kelly Morris
put on an upbeat performance of
the song “Ladies Choice” from the
Broadway musical “Hairspray.”
Seniors Dalton Botts, Andrew
LeClair, Aaron Howell, Wyatt
Lehman and Jesse Tafoya danced
their way into the females’ hearts
with a performance of *NSYNC’s
“It’s Gonna Be Me.” Their act featured a guest appearance by Larry
the Cable Guy (Donnie Baggs) after
the *NSYNC crew tried their hand at
the “Soulja Boy dance, which didn’t
sit well with ol’ Larry.
Back for their third Mock Rock,
Chris Spell, Jonathan Haroutunian,
Keith Lansford and Trimane Skidmore rocked out as the legendary
band AC DC. The group picked the
classic hit, “Back in Black” to mock.
Continuing the high-energy
spell, senior Noel Zarate got the
crowd dancing with a performance
of O-Zone’s “Numa Numa Dance.”
Seniors Kinsey Freeman, Jenny
Gonzales, Melissa Hoffman, Roia
Liljeroos and Ruby Moreno had the
crowd laughing with their performance of the Backstreet Boys’s hit, “I
Want It That Way.” Halfway through
the performance, the “boys” were
“booed” offstage by Carson. After a
quick costume change, the girls reemerged as the Spice Girls, finishing
continued on page 7
Webmaster Denise Stockton’s redesign of the Taft High home page,
with its many links to departments, is a pleasure to use.
By Jenny Gonzales
Editor-in-Chief
When Taft High students, facutly
and staff returned from Christmas
vacation they found a nice surprise when they visited the school
website. New Webmaster Denise
Stockton has been bringing new
and improved changes to the TUHS
website.
Before Stockton’s arrival, the
Teens don’t feel driven to get licenses at age 16
By Jessica Hall
Staff Writer
A surprising new trend that has
been steadily increasing is that fewer teens are getting their driver’s licenses at 16.
For many years, getting your license was a huge benefit of turning
16, but that is not the case anymore.
“Over the past decade the proportion of 16-year-olds nationwide
who hold driver’s licenses has
dropped from nearly half to less
than one-third,” according to the
Federal Highway Administration.
The reasons for this weird trend
vary. Tighter state laws and higher
insurance costs are two of the obvious explanations.
Another possibility is that the
number of local schools that offer
driver’s education has plummeted.
Photo by Jenny Gonzales
By Sam Gonzales
Features Editor
Over the years Taft Union High
School has always been a safe place
for students. Most have not had to
worry about intruders coming on to
campus or someone breaking down
the doors of the school. As the world
has changed, so has the need to secure our campus.
TUHS is now equipped with video cameras as security measures to
insure the safety of the students and
campus.
The administration decided to install security cameras around school
to deter students from participating
in inappropriate behavior. The most
recent incident of vandalism was a
soda machine being destroyed.
“We just wanted to protect what
we have,” explained Taft High Business Manager Chuck Hagstrom.
Principal Mark Richarson explains, “It’s a different situation at
this school. There are lots of doors
for people to be walking in and out
of.”
The fees to attend driver education programs top $300 at most
places, and a lot of families just do
not have that kind of money laying
around.
When parents do not mind shuttling their teens around, the teens
have no incentive to
obtain a driver’s license.
“I waited so long to
get my license because
I liked getting chauffeured around by my
dad,” senior Morgan
Blair explained.
The parents’ concern with their 16-yearold getting into a fatal
crash also contributes
to the factors that postpone a youth’s obtaining of their license.
Many teens delay getting a license
simply because of their crammed
schedule. But the price of gas, insurance and driver’s education are big
contributors to the recent epidemic
of non-driving teens.
Campus Life club offers Christian outreach
By Jessica Hall
Staff Writer
Some students are devoting their
free time to interact with others
who want to escape the typical high
school stereotypes.
Campus Life is a Christian outreach club that deals with real life
situations that high school students
are going through. Math teacher
Josh Tofte and substitute teacher
April Heimiller initially approached
geography teacher Tim Greer about
reviving the club.
Video cameras installed as security measure and
to prevent inappropriate behavior by students
Some of the security cameras in the entrance to the main building.
website was maintained by English
teacher Caroline Schoneweis and
her HTML class.
“We only had one period to keep
up the website,” says Schoneweis.
“It was frustrating because we had
lots of ideas but no time to work on
them.”
The website has a sharp look
with different hues of blue and gold
that are easier to read. The most obvious change is the home page, with
its user-friendly menus.
“I like [it] says senior Katie DuBois. “It’s easier to get around on
it.”
Stockton has also added extra
links to the left-side menu, with the
addition of “Students” and “Parents” menus. Old links such as the
“About” section, “Departments”
and the Calendar of Events have all
had facelifts.
Although Schoneweis’s HTML
class is still responsible for the
“Sports” pages, the track coaches
have asked Stockton to create a page
for their team. The page has recently
been added to the website. Among
the track pages is a hidden picture of
an old track team member who can
still be seen around TUHS.
Even though the website looks
great, there is still work to be done.
Stockton is working hard to make
the site look more uniform with
each updated page. She is currently
working on a page for the library
that will be up and running soon.
Keep visiting the TUHS website
to see the upcoming changes and
additions.
Richardson thinks that the cameras will help students and others
do the right thing.
The cameras are constantly on,
and have a recording time of an entire month. They are located everywhere on campus.
“The cameras are not reviewed
unless there is a reason,” said Hagstrom.
The only people who have access to view the cameras are campus
supervisors Mary Miller and Kim
Fields, vice principal Rona Angelo
and the administration.
Parents would be allowed to review the tapes if they had a claim
and if the administration knew that
they had a student’s inappropriate
actions on tape.
The cameras are working extremely well so far.
“It’s amazing what technology
has done,” said Hagstrom.
The total cost of the camera system was $75,000.
Many people bring up the separation of church and state when they
first hear about Campus Life. Greer
explained that the program is indeed
Christian -based; they use scriptural
principles that students can apply in
their daily life. The club is completely optional and is run by students.
The program is a sanctuary from
the typical high school drama and
stress.
“People get together, and they
don’t have to act like someone they
are not, they can just be authentic,”
Greer explained.
They meet every Monday in
Greer’s room, where they participate in a variety of activities. At a
typical meeting they play a game,
watch movie clips and then take
time to discuss how they can help
improve not only the environment
but also each other. The games are
Greer’s favorite activity to run.
Currently there are 25-30 students involved in Campus Life.
Technically there aren’t any club officers.
Greer sums up the club
attitude:”You are who you are and
that is awesome.”
The Gusher
Taft Union High School
701 Seventh Street
Taft, CA 93268
(661) 763-2300
Adviser: Bill Wolfe
bwolfe@taft.k12.ca.us
The Gusher is a monthly publication of the journalism class at
Taft Union High School. The Gusher is an open forum for students, faculty and alumni of TUHS. The opinions and views
expressed in The Gusher are the sole responsibility of the staff
and do not reflect the views of either TUHS, the TUHS District, or the Board of Trustees.
Editor-in-Chief
Jenny Gonzales
Sports Editor
Brianne Carroll
Managing Editor
Megan Chappelear
Entertainment Editor
Lillie Gervacio
Features Editors
Samantha Gonzales
Lillie Gervacio
Staff Writers
Jessica Hall, Will Palmer, Britten
Smith, Carli Tweedy-Cross
Features
April 18, 2008
Page 3
“Jack of all trades” Cowan makes learning fun
By Jenny Gonzales
Editor-in-Chief
Mike Cowan has become a “jack
of all trades” at Taft High since he
first arrived in 2004. He balances teaching his
Spanish
and
as well.
“He’s very
getic,” says
ener-
students.
As if he weren’t busy enough,
Cowan has justs finished up his first
year of marriage to wife April. The
couple was engaged in 2004 and
finally made it official three years
later on March 3, 2007.
“Married life is better than I
could’ve imagined,” says Cowan of the past year. “I wanted
to be sure I was with the right
person before I got married,
and now I am [sure].”
A few months into
their marriage the couple moved to Valley
Acres with their four
dogs, Smokey, Leroy Brown, Isabelle
(Izzy) and Nathaniel (Natey Dog).
“It’s
nice
to have more
space
out
there,” says
Cowan of
his new
n
i
r e s i - Cowan “r
e
Photo
epres
to b
s
e
s by
p
en
o
AVID
classes with
coaching girls’
tennis in
the
fall
and co-advising the
freshman
class.
Cowan
started
at
Taft High as a
summer school
geography
teacher. When
he began teaching full-time, he
eh
ills. H onzales
k
s
taught three levels
g
delin
nny G
of Spanish. He curis mo hotos by Je
h
s
e
ic
.P
freshman
rently teaches two
pract someday
wan
s
o
d
C
a
AVID
student
Allison
levels of Spanish.
e
d
tora
Jarvinen. “He makes sure you unAlong with Spanish, Ga
Cowan has joined the
A V I D derstand the topic well.”
“He has fun ways to help us
team as one of the teachers for the
class of 2011. He says his favorite learn things,” agrees freshman Luke
Shelby, who is also in AVID
part of AVID is the challenge.
Cowan also spends time as the
“It’s a lot different [than teaching
Spanish],“ says Cowan. “Some days co-advisor of the freshman class
it’s exciting and some days it’s a bit with science teacher Ryan Heber.
While he enjoys the job, he wishes
more difficult.”
The students enjoy Cowan’s style there were more interest from the
Sun and Moon in Mexico
City.
dive Taft. He has also made jumps
out of a helicopter and a hot air balloon. He currently has 85 jumps.
Cowan also enjoys
spending
time
ridi n g
h i s
Harley. He
rides
his 2007
R o a d
King every chance
he gets.
S
o
what’s next
for the man
who seems
to have done
it all?
“A family,”
says
Cowan.
He and his wife
ting”
Jenny
Gonz
his n
ales
dence. “It
recently found
ew to
wn o
f resi
feels less cramped
out they’ll be
dence
, Vall
[than Taft].”
welcoming a new
ey Ac
res. Cowan this winCowan hopes someday to own
emus now that he has the property.
“I’ve been to
ter.
In anticipation, Cowan and his AP Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Ec“I’ve seen and
students chose the names of Fancy uador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argen- d o n e
enough now that
Pants and Carl for his future pets.
tina, Uruguay, Brazil and Tupman,” I’m ready to settle down and have a
Before settling down, Cowan says Cowan, ending his long list of kid,” he says.
was quite an adventurer. He has travels with a laugh.
Whatever comes next for this
traveled around the world and has
Now that Cowan is a bit more set- fun-loving teacher, he’ll be sure to
seen many interesting places like tled, his travels have decreased, but approach it with the same charisma
Machu Picchu, the lost city of the In- his thrill seeking remains unabated. and energy his students get from
cas, in Peru and the Pyramids of the Cowan is an avid skydiver at Sky- him every day.
Renaissance class promotes academics
and positive attitudes on campus
By Megan Chappelear
Managing Editor
More online content
produced by girls
By Will Palmer
Staff Writer
Most young people who create content on the Internet are not
“white-and-nerdy” males; on the
contrary, a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found
that they are usually teenage girls.
An example of this is Martina
Butler, a 17-year-old San Francisco
girl who, for three years, has been
recording an indie music show, Emo
Girl Talk. Her first sponsorship, from
Nature’s Cure, an acne medication,
was reported in 2005 in Brandweek,
a marketing trade magazine. She is
the first teenage podcaster to receive
a major sponsorship, and since then,
more than half a dozen companies
have paid to be mentioned in her
podcasts, which are posted every
Sunday on www.emogirltalk.com.
“I’m not surprised because girls
are very creative,” she told the New
York Times. “Sometimes we’re more
creative than men. We’re spunky,
and boys....” She laughed and said
no more.
Girls are also the main authors of
blogs on the Internet, according to
the Pew study. As teenage bloggers
nearly doubled from 2004 to 2006,
almost all the growth was because
of the increased activity of girls on
the web.
Despite all of the computer
know-how among girls, in 2006 they
still accounted for fewer than 15 percent of students who took the AP
computer science exam, and from
2000 to 2005, there was a 70 percent
decline nationwide in the number
of incoming undergraduate women
choosing to major in computer science.
People who study computer science say that there are several reasons for women opting not to take
computer classes: there are often no
female role models, introductory
classes are a bore and it is difficult to
work past the stereotypes that men
are better suited to the sciences than
women.
Although girls are more likely to
post blogs and create online content,
boys are more likely to post videos.
Zach Saltzman of Memphis told
The New York Times that his friends
like to post short videos of sports
and original films on the internet,
as well as using their Facebook accounts. He, however, doesn’t post
any videos.
“It really never interested me
and I don’t have time to keep up
with it,” he said.
Some studies imply that boys
are most likely to post videos because they like to impress people
instead of using blogs or other “confessional” outlets, since boys are
taught to be non-confessional. For
example, boys who snowboard or
do other sports, like Zach’s friends,
like to post videos showing off their
athleticism. They are more naturally
inclined to show off, and girls are
more likely to describe themselves
on things like social networking
sites and blogs.
Whether girls’ increased creation of online content will spur an
increase in professional careers involving computers is yet to be seen.
Taft High’s Renaissance program
is an organization designed to promote academics and positive attitudes.
“Renaissance is built around two
words,” says advisor Greg Goossen,
“recognizing and reviewing.”
Renaissance organizes two rallies per year, one in the fall and one
in the spring. The purpose of these
rallies is to recognize students with
Honor Roll, GPA improvements of .5
or more and especially Top Cats, students with a GPA of 4.0 or above.
Also, the fall rally recognizes
the Most Improved Student and the
Classified Staff Member of the Year.
The spring rally honors the Student
of the Year and Teacher of the Year.
Students who have been nominated by staff are also recognized
for positive attitudes.
“If we recognize positive behavior then the people with good behavior will continue to, and others
will want to,” says Goossen.
During the Renaissance class,
students try to keep the campus
covered with positive signs. They
also use this time to plan the rallies
and design “attitude” shirts. Renaissance is also in charge of final
exemption forms for students who
earn silver or gold cards, based on
L-R: David Coker, Jason Crawford, teacher Greg Goossen, Kristen
Alvarado, Candyse Arney, Budda Savaii, Salvation Sefo, Leslie Hoffman, Alayna Hoffman, Labrea Collins, Chelsey Coke, Haley Coker, Cari
McMillan, Robyn Rowland and Ashley Campbell use their 4th period
class to produce the Renaissance Rallies. Photo by Megan Chappelear
their GPA.
Renaissance also solicits business partners in order to increase
ties with the community.
Frequent lunchtime activities
are also sponsored by Renaissance.
They have held karaoke and Guitar
Hero contests in the quad, and they
are planning on having Airband and
Rockband.
The Renaissance team has recent-
ly decided to create a “2007 Valley
Champions” football calendar. They
will be selling them as a fundraiser
for their next rally for $10 each.
“It’ll be fantastic,” said Goossen.
“Everyone in the world will want
one. Or at least everyone in Taft.”
This busy group of students is responsible for much encouragement
and positive recognition of TUHS
students.
Overanalyzing social problems leads to anxiety in teen girls
By Kalyn Valentine
Staff Writer
According to a recent article in
the Los Angeles Times, new research
has revealed that, “Constant teenage
venting over crushes, popularity or
other personal problems may lead
to anxiety and depression in girls but not in boys.”
Researchers examined whether
depression or anxiety increased
the odds that students would discuss problems obsessively. Results
showed that boys and girls with
emotional difficulties were more
likely to dwell on their problems.”
Junior Shelby Miller under-
stands. “I kind of agree with the article. Sometimes after I talk about my
problems I feel worse than I did before, but sometimes it doesn’t make
a difference.”
Amanda Rose, assistant professor of psychology at University of
Missouri, said, “Girls got caught up
in a ‘vicious cycle’ in which depression or anxiety spurred rumination,
which in turn led to increased depression or anxiety.”
TUHS psychologist Mark Shoffner is not surprised by the results,
saying “I don’t suggest that people
not talk about their issues, but in
certain instances over-thinking situ-
ations may cause you to become
overcritical of yourself or expect the
worst, even before it happens. Also,
I do a lot of work with students with
emotional problems, and usually
they act out in way, become reclusive
or hide their problems with a smile.
Generally those students don’t want
to talk; they would rather keep to
themselves.”
In the end, it might be best for
girls who are obsessing over a problem to talk to a professional therapist instead of talking it to death
with friends and either getting nowhere or digging an emotional hole
they can’t get out of.
Page 4
Features
April 18, 2008
April 18, 2008
Features
Page 5
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Sports
April 18, 2008
Track & Field team, larger than ever, eyes league title
By Sam Gonzales
Features Editor
There’s a cool breeze in the air,
the runners are set, the smell of gunsmoke fills the air and the runners
are off. Ladies and gentleman, the
2008 track season has started.
Head coach Paul Martinez is
looking forward to this year’s track
season. After winning last year’s
SSL championship, the track team is
hoping this year will be even better.
With a whopping 95 athletes, this
team is already turning out to be one
of the biggest track teams in TUHS
history.
“With the size of our team, it’s
hard to give attention to each individual athlete,” says Martinez. “But
we have a great coaching staff, so
someone is always there to help. We
have a very strong coaching staff
and strong athletes, and I believe we
will defend our SSL title.”
The track team is a young one
this year, with many newcomers,
many freshmen, 12 first-time soccer
players and two first-time track athletes, Dalton Botts and Karlie Twisselman, who are also playing baseball and softball.
However, many of last year’s
athletes have returned, including
sophomores, whose class is consid-
ered to be “the heart of the team.”
The coaches this year are Steve
Sprague, Ryan Hickman, Wendy
Berry, Peter Lango and Martinez.
The team’s first meet on Mar. 1
against Fowler High School was a
complete success. The team gained
a lot of confidence. Senior Dalton
Botts dominated the 100 meters, senior and top thrower Carey Tuumalemalo is already throwing better
than last year and sophomore Juliana Campos has already qualified
for Valley in the long jump.
“I’m excited,” commented Campos. “Already qualifying leaves a lot
of room for improvement.”
The home meet against Arvin
was another Taft win. Since the meet
was at home, it gave local supporters
a chance to see how much stronger
the team proved to be than Arvin at
all four levels.
Twelve schools showed up to
Taft’s Invitational on Mar. 15. The
throwers and the runners did especially well. The Wildcats performed
better than ever before, earning
more medals than they ever have.
“This year is going to be an awesome year for track,” says fourthyear team member Tuumalemalo.
“The girls are going all the way.”
Taft’s biggest threat this year was
thought to be Shafter, who had won
SSL eight years in a row until last
year. Taft competed against Shafter
on Mar. 26, winning all four levels,
and if that weren’t enough, the team
set 90 personal records.
“I feel like I did real well,” noted
junior runner Juana Espinoza. “I
beat my time.”
Martinez thinks Tehachapi will
be their main competition this year.
However, the team is confident and
secure for this year and even the
next couple of years.
Taft went to Wasco on Apr. 2 and
again dominated. After observing
this meet, coach Sprague became
convinced that the girls will double
their score.
“Our girls are very strong,” commented Sprague. He mentioned
Tuumalemalo, Espinoza, Megan
Thompson, Katie Swope, Bryanna
Bacot, Chesney Doak and Juliana
Campos as some of the standouts on
the team.
“When the majority of these girls
become seniors, the team will be untouchable,” Sprague added.
The team competed against Bakersfield Christian on Apr. 9 at Cal
State Bakersfield, finishing the day
with great times. They also did stupendous job in field events.
Taft will participate in the Foothill Invitational on Apr. 25 before
heading into the SSL championships.
Top left, senior Tina Erdei. Top right, senior Lucas Schulz. Bottom
right, junior Loren Kolb. Bottom right, the boys run the hurdles.
Photos by Lillie Gervacio
Swimming and diving team has high hopes
Freshman Devin Capela shows
his form. Photo courtesy of The Derrick
Boys’ golf off
to best start
in 12 years
By Brianne Carroll
Sports Editor
“We are off to the best start in the
last 12 years,” Coach Mike Goodwin
says of the Taft High boys’ golf team
this season.
The team has won the last two
tournaments in which they have
participated, including an SSL tournament in which they beat Bakersfield Christian High School by two
strokes and Tehachapi by merely
one.
“Tehachapi and BCHS are our
biggest competitors,” says sophomore Cole Adamo. “Their teams are
both pretty consistent.”
Twenty-one boys came out for
golf this season and although they
are a pretty young team, they are
very strong and have high hopes for
SSL.
“We have the best golf team Taft
has seen in a really long time,” says
senior Kurtis Rawls.
Goodwin says that some of the
standout players right now are Rawls, Blake McPherson, Nick Ellington
and Michael Taylor.
“Rawls, who moved out of state
for a year and decided to move back
for his senior year is huge for the
golf team,” explains Goodwin.
“My favorite part of golf is getting out there with all of my friends
and having fun,” says freshman
Devin Capela. “It’s great to get out
of school to do what we love.”
All the players agree that this
season is the most fun they have
ever had playing golf.
continued on page 7
Sophomore Paige Schoneweis is one of the standout swimmers this
year. Photo by Sam Gonzales
By Sam Gonzales
Features Editor
As spring sports season is kicking into gear, the Taft High swim
team is creating waves and hoping
to gain a league title.
Head coach John Usrey has high
hopes for this season.
“I’ve got a positive outlook. We
have many returning swimmers
from last year,” he said.
The team expects a number of
swimmers on the girls’ side to do
well in league.
Female standout swimmers include lone senior Megan Chappelear
and sophomores Paige Schoneweis,
Kasey Stuntebeck and Kylie Rawls.
Male standouts are Clayton
Dudley, Matt Griffing and Wyatt
Lehman.
Sophomores Nick Hickernell
and Mike Hagstrom have been a
surprise to the team this year, as has
Lehman.
“Wyatt has really stepped up his
game this year,” commented Usrey.
This year the team is faced with a
much smaller girls’ team.
The goal for the team is improved
times.
Stuntebeck has high hopes for
the season which include more
swimmers making it to Valley and
dedication from the team.
Senior Wyatt Lehman brings experience to the team.
Photo by Sam Gonzales
The team’s stiffest competition
will continue to be Tehachapi.
Senior Fabian Taute is confident
about this season.
“We’ve had our ups and downs
but we have potential,” he said.
Overall, the season has been easy
going so far and the swimmers are
having a lot of fun.
On Apr. 3 the team traveled to
BCHS to defeat the Eagles for their
first league victory.
At the Taft High Boys’ Invitational on Apr. 5, the Wildcat girls placed
fifth while the boys took second.
Stuntebeck had impressive results
by winning two races. Chappelear
came in with the next best results by
finishing third in the 100-yard backstroke. For the boys, Hagstrom finished second in the 50-yard freestyle
in 24.41, while Tyler Garrison placed
second in both the 200-yard IM and
the 100-yard breaststroke.
On Apr. 10 they hosted Tehachapi, with the girls coming out of the
water short, losing 104-77. The boys
defeated the Warriors 100-83.
“This was a big win for the boys.
They need to take first at the All-SSL
meet to have the championship outright,” commented Usrey.
“We look strong and we will be
strong if we put the time and effort
into it,” Usrey noted.
Boys’ tennis off to a winning start, led by Terry and Patton
By Carli Tweedy-Cross
Staff Writer
Above, senior David Chu works on his backhand.
Photo courtesy of Jim Carnal
Right, senior Robert Terry during a recent practice.
Photo by Carli Tweedy-Cross
Game. Set. Match. Taft boys’ tennis team wins. The boys are defeating their opponents left and right.
Tennis got off to a great start with
their first match against Highland, a
6-3 win, although they went on to
lose their next two matches, against
Redwood 4-2 and Liberty 5-1.
The boys bounced back to win
their next seven games in a row. After going 3-0 in a tournament, they
lost to East and Centennial. Taft also
suffered another loss against West,
5-1. At this point the boys were 8-5,
and the South Sequoia League season was about to begin.
League play began strongly with
victories over Wasco 7-2, Shafter 7-2
and Arvin 6-3. The first league loss
was to Bakersfield Christian, 8-1.
Taft returned to their winning ways
against Tehachapi 5-4 and Arvin 90.
The boys struggled for the second time when they faced the tough
Bakersfield Christian squad, losing
again, 8-1.
In their most recent game, Taft
beat McFarland 8-1. Currently
they’re in second place with a league
record of 6-2 and an overall record
of 14-7.
The top players this year include
Fabian Scheifele with 22 wins, Robert Terry with 19 wins and Kenny
Patton with 12 wins.
Sports
April 18, 2008
Page 7
Varsity baseball team confident as SSL season begins
“We have learned a lot from the
mistakes we have made already,”
says senior James Hiracheta about
their loss to Granite Hills.
After the loss, the Wildcats won
three more games, beating Frazier
Mountain twice and Bakersfield
Christian once, to make their overall
record 4-1.
Before heading off to the Selma
Tournament, Taft was defeated 6-1
by Bakersfield Christian on Mar. 13.
Taft came out of the Selma Tournament on Mar. 17-19 with a 2-1 record.
The next game Taft won a pitcher’s duel with Tehachapi at home
1-0. Taft’s only run was scored by
Twisselman in the bottom of the
third on a sinlge by Kindred.
After this close game to Tehacha-
pi, the Wildcats lost to Wasco 2-0 on
Mar. 28.
Taft traveled to Arvin on Apr. 1
and came out victorious with a 5-2
win over the Bears. Botts was 3-for-4
while Kindred and Twisselman both
went 2-for-3. Pitcher Matt Davis
struck out eight batters.
The next game was a big win for
Taft, defeating Shafter 14-4 on Apr.
4.
With a strong team and plenty of
determination, the Taft varsity team
has high hopes for winning SSL.
“I think we have a really good
chance at winning SSL this year,”
says Robertson.
Botts agrees, saying, “We have
a better chance at league this year
than any of my four years in high
school.”
A Wildcat prepares to put an opponent’s pitch into play during a recent game.
Photos by Brianne Carroll
By Brianne Carroll
Sports Editor
The varsity boys’ baseball team
looks strong with many talented
players returning to try to snag an
SSL title.
Seniors on the team are James
Hiracheta, Dalton Botts, Jeremiah Twisselman, Tommy Halphin,
Dylan Niblett, Jesse Simmons and
Travis Newman.
“Our entire team has shown
improvement from last year,”
says Head Coach Dave Robertson.
“We’ve gotten a lot stronger.”
Senior Dylan Niblett took a year
off from baseball last year to run
track but has decided to return. “I
decided to play baseball this year
because I missed it,” he said.
The Wildcats have many promising younger players including junior
Austin Kindred, who was a starter
on the varsity team last year as a
sophomore, and three sophomores,
Blake Emberson, Clint Jorgenson
and Brian Parsons, who played on
varsity last year as well.
“It’s difficult to critique the team
this early in the year,” says Robertson. “Most players are being asked
to play many different positions.”
Taft’s first game was at home
against Morro Bay on Feb. 29 and
marked the beginning of the Taft
tournament. It started out slowly
for the Wildcats when Morro Bay
scored eight runs early on, but Taft
began to gain momentum later in
the game.
“We came together well as a
team,” said senior Dalton Botts, who
plays center field.
The Wildcats came from behind
to beat the Pirates 12-9.
Their next game, at home against
Granite Hills, was Taft’s first defeat.
They lost a close game 3-2.
A Taft baserunner tries to avoid being run down by a Morro Bay player
in their recent game, which Taft won 12-9.
Varsity softball aims for Valley championship
By Britten Smith
Staff Writer
Boys’ Golf
continued from page 6
“The coaches are awesome,” says
Rawls.
Goodwin likes his players as
much as they like him.
“We have a bunch of great kids.
I look forward to practicing with
them every day,” he says.
Since most of their players are
younger, the team has great prospects for the next few years.
“We have a young team, so watch
out for the upcoming years,” says
Adamo.
After talking first place in their
first SSL tournament, Taft came in
third in their second tournament,
just behind BCHS and Tehachapi.
The next three SSL tournaments
have repeated this pattern, with
Taft remaining in third place behind
BCHS and Tehachapi, their toughest
competitors.
At this point Taft is in third place
in SSL with 34 points, while Tehachapi is in second with 42 points
and BCHS is in first with 44 points.
“We’ve been playing good golf,
along with BCHS and Tehachapi,”
says Goodwin. “Every tournament
there are only 6-10 shots separating
first through third place.”
With all of the talent on the team,
Goodwin says, “I believe we have
a good shot at winning SSL and a
good chance at making it to Valley.”
With the softball season now in
full swing, the Lady Wildcats are
beginning to get the feel for the season-like atmosphere and are hoping
to get past the obstacle they stumbled on last year, a loss in the Valley
championship tournament.
The Lady Wildcats started the
season in stride by defeating South
High. They entered the Leadoff
Tournament on Mar. 2 with confidence and finished 2-2, defeating
Bakersfield Christian 5-1 and South
8-2, and losing to Garces 13-0 and
Tehachapi 10-2.
The standouts of the Leadoff
Tournament were Ashley Young,
who went 3-for-4, Sarah Johnson,
who went 4-for-7 and Angela Dickard, who went 2-for-2.
The next tournament the Lady
Wildcats entered didn’t turn out as
well as they had planned. At the
conclusion of the Bakersfield High
School Tournament, the girls had
lost all four of their games.
The lost their first game against
Porterville, 6-4. The lost again to
Delano, 6-2, followed by losses to
Garces and Foothill, 6-0 and 8-3, respectively.
On Mar. 11 the girls played their
last game before a two-week break
against Highland High. The girls led
7-1 early, but were not able to keep
that lead and eventually lost 13-12.
The Lady Wildcats’ first home
game of the season was against
Golden Valley on Mar. 25. All the
excitement would soon fade as they
fell to Golden Valley 3-1. Golden
Valley’s pitching was just too much
for Lady Wildcat hitters, as they
were only able to muster two hits
the entire game, coming from Morgan Blair and Karlie Twisselman.
Next for the Lady Wildcats was
Senior Roia Liljeroos during a recent softball practice.
Photos by Britten Smith
Senior Ashley Young practices
her pitching skills.
Spring Fling Week
continued from page 2
Next Issue:
Spring Sports
Season Wrap-Ups
and
Lots of Great Photos
the Wasco tournament, where they
played five games and went 3-2. The
girls lost the first game 9-8 to East
High, won the second against Golden Valley 5-1, and then beat Shafter
and South High by the same score of
7-2. The girls dropped the last game
of the tournament to Bakersfield
John Usrey as a dysfunctional Britney Spears and Eric Newton as the
helpful Dr. Drew drew laughs at Mock Rock. Photo by Britten Smith
up their act with their popular song,
“Spice Up Your Life.”
Metallica was next on the stage
with seniors Robert Abonce and
Shane Casteel’s performance of
“Enter Sandman.” They kept the
crowd’s energy up by taking some
of their performance into the audience.
Closing out the student performances were seniors Brittany Barlow, Kelsey Burch, Brianne Carroll,
Janay Caudle and Jessyca Espinoza
with Christina Aguilera, Mya, Lil’
Kim and Pink’s remake of “Lady
Marmalade.”
While the judges tallied votes,
Christian 6-4.
The following game was against
Coast Union High, with the girls
winning by a huge margin, 24-1.
After a slow start, with a 3-9 record, the girls turned it around and
won four of their last five games to
bring their record to 7-10.
the staff group performed an upbeat
mix of popular songs from the musical “Grease.” Gary Rennie and Wendy Berry stole the show with their
humorous gender-bending showcase as Sandy and Danny.
The winners were announced
next: “Hairspray” took first place,
followed by the Backstreet Boys/
Spice Girls, with *NSYNC taking
third place.
Many students agreed the show
was a success.
“I loved it,” said senior Candyse
Arney. “Everything was awesome.
There was a good variety of everthing.”
“Everybody really knew their
stuff,” agreed senior Megan Jaske.
“It was pure entertainment,”
Page 8
Entertainment
April 18, 2008
Book Reviews: Hot tips for
spring and summer reading
Senior Dominic Carino, junior Monika Manuz, sophomore Anthony Carino, senior Robert Abonce and
drama teacher Kelly Morris rehearse their lines. Photo by Lillie Gervacio
Drama students prepare Once Upon a
Mattress for spring play presentation
By Carli Tweedy-Cross
Staff Writer
Senior Alexcia Perales and junior
Konr Smith work on a scene.
Photo by Lillie Gervacio
This year’s spring musical,
Once Upon A Mattress, is off to a
great start, with the cast already in
place. The story is a delightful version of a child-hood story, The Princess and the Pea.
In the musical, Sir Harry
(Kinsey Freeman) and the expecting Lady Larkin (Monika Manuz)
are determined to get married, but
before they can, Prince Dauntless
(Eric Schertz) must first be wed.
Queen Aggrauain (Alexia Perales)
diminishes the hope of any princess
looking to marry her son. When Sir
Harry brings back a Princess Winnifred (Melissa Hoffman) from the
swamps, Dauntless is in love.
To crush the young princess’s dream, the queen devises her
most difficult challenge yet: to see
if Winnifred is a “true” princess for
only a “true” princess, is fit to marry
her son. To prove this, the queen
places a pea under 20 mattresses
because a real princess would be
sensitive enough to feel the pea.
The audience and cast are left with
the same question: Will she feel the
pea?
The musical’s director is
drama teacher Kelly Morris, and
the Vocal Director is choir teacher
Amanda Locke.
“I think it’s going to be really great,” said Morris. “It’s really
funny, so I think we will have a great
turnout.”
Listening Station: Three impressive new CD’s
DethKlok
The DethAlbum
By Will Palmer
Fictitious metal band DethKlok
may not be a real “band,” but their
music is as good as any real band
can make, and maybe better. Based
on the TV show Metalocalypse, The
DethAlbum has taken the individual
episodes from Season One, lengthened the song each episode is based
on, and re-recorded them.
The real musician behind the
album is comedic genius Brendon
Small. Acting as vocalist, lead and
rhythm guitarist, and bassist, Small
mixes in his sarcastic sense of humor
to give every song lyrics that can be
described either as hilarious or extremely stupid.
The DethAlbum deals with traditional metal fare (Norse mythology,
being “brutal,” etc.) and twists them
into something that is hilarious and
yet still a pleasure to listen to. The
album has some real talent behind it
too it to, with Strapping Young Lad
drummer Gene Holgan behind the
double bass kit. Throw in a special
appearance from the London Philharmonic, and you have one of the
best-selling “death” metal albums to
date. Good luck getting the “Duncan
Hills Coffee Jingle” out of your head
after listening to this one. Warning:
Explicit lyrics.
The Mars Volta
The Bedlam in Goliath
By Lillie Gervacio
Luna Halo
Luna Halo
By Lillie Gervacio
Big-haired lead singer Cedric
Bixler-Zavala’s voice, the mix of music and the exceedingly long songs
make Mars Volta’s latest release,
The Bedlam in Goliath, an attentiongrabbing album.
You can always count on the
Mars Volta to produce music made
up of many different and distinct
elements, proven by “The Widow,”
from 2005’s release, Frances The
Mute. This song quickly became
overplayed that year, as will “Soothsayer” off of this new album.
The nearly ten-minute long
“Soothsayer” features a lengthy orchestral introduction. The music may
creep you out a bit, and if it doesn’t,
the story line will. The song tells a
tale of reincarnation and a demonic
haunted Ouija board. Fans can play
an online game in which they can
“see” this story more clearly.
Other standout tracks on the album include “Ileyana” and “Goliath,” which push the boundaries of
alternative music.
Bedlam in Goliath is beyond alternative. It is indeed something
else entirely. If you like At the Drive
In and Tool, you’ll like The Mars
Volta. If you’ve never heard them
before, don’t start with this album,
which is not as good as their previous three albums. Try starting with
their most mainstream album Frances the Mute.
The self-titled release by former
Christian band Luna Halo is everything that you want to hear and then
some.
Almost seven years after their
last release, the alternative band no
longer sounds dense and moody but
shows a hint of indie, and although
they aren’t a “Christian” band anymore, many of their lyrics portray
religious influences, like in the song
“Untouchable.”
The opening “Kings and Queens”
is very catchy and lively, especially
the chorus: “C’mon! C’mon!/ I think
you’re so special/ What would it
take for me to get to you?/ Lets take
a chance, can’t wait any longer/ We
could be the envy of the kings and
queens/ The kings and queens.”
The third track, “Medicate,”
features strong riffs, but “I’m Alright” outshines every song on this
record. Nathan Barlowe sings his
best, sounding somewhat like Thom
Yorke of Radiohead and Matt Bellamy of Muse. The band also plays
its best and produces a musical energy similar to that of 80’s band the
Smiths. The song switches from a
normal beat to a fast beat throughout the song.
Even though Luna Halo might
be under the radar at the moment,
it won’t be long before they reach
the top and earn the popularity they
well deserve.
Holly Black has created a teenoriented series, A Modern Faery’s
Tale. The first in the series, Tithe
deals with a sixteen-year-old, Kaye,
who has spent her whole life playing with faeries she thought she had
imagined.
When Kaye returns home to
New Jersey after being gone for nine
years, she finds that her imaginary
friends were anything but. Kaye has
spent her whole life feeling like she
didn’t belong, and she now knows
why.
The story has a dramatic plot
with a cruel twist, which just may
cost Kaye her life. The feuding faery
courts need a human sacrifice, and
they are looking at Kaye. After tricking a faery out of his name and falling in love don’t make the matters
at hand any easier for Kaye, she
struggles with her friendship with
her old friend Janet, and the longing
for her new faery crush Robien.
Black knows how to get her readers hooked, and uses Tithe to entice
them to read the next book, “valiant,” which tells a different tale,
with a few references to “tithe.” The
third book, “ironside,” ties both of
the books together in what is the
most dramatic tale of all.
This series is a must-read for any
teens who have ever felt like they
don’t belong.
-Carli Tweedy-Cross
Love is the most commonly discussed topic in the world. Yet how
much do females really know about
the subject and about finding the
“man of their dreams”?
Curtis Sittenfeld considers this
subject as she explores all its aspects
and the journey to true happiness in
her novel The Man of My Dreams.
The novel begins with Hannah
Gavener at the age of fourteen. She
is staying with her aunt and uncle
for a while because her mother and
father are going through a difficult
time. Her father kicked our Hannah,, her mother and her sister in
the middle of the night, and Hannah’s mother couldn’t keep both of
them at the same time, so Hannah
was sent to her Aunt Elizabeth’s.
The book shows Hannah’s transformation from viewing every relationship as perfect to seeing that
each relationship is flawed. Eventually, she realizes that that is not necessarily a bad thing.
In the beginning of the novel,
Hannah is a naïve teenager who is
obsessed with the lives of the rich
and famous. The story then fast-forwards into her first year of college,
where she meets Jenny, with whom
she experiences her first party.
Hannah’s bumpy four years of
college consist of her falling in love
with Henry, who is dating Hannah’s
pretty yet mischievous cousin Fig;
finding a therapist who continues
to be part of her life for many years
to come; and realizing she no longer
wishes to maintain a relationship
with her stubborn, arrogant father.
She eventually moves from
Philadelphia to Chicago for Henry,
whom she continues to be in love
with, knowing in the back of her
head that the relationship she longs
for may not work out.
“It’s not irresponsible for you to
take a chance,” Hannah’s therapist
tells her on her decision to move to
Chicago.
After she moves she realizes that
the man she moved for didn’t quite
love her like she had hoped. She decides to move to Albuquerque, New
Mexico.
In the end, she realizes that although she is alone, she has found
how to be alone and happy.
Sittenfield said in an interview
about the book, “I think it’s more of
an achievement to learn to be happy
on your own than to snag a man that
makes you happy...that realization is
very liberating.”
-Brianne Carroll
Digital Fortress is a fast-paced
novel that is difficult to put down.
This is easy to believe because the
author is Dan Brown, who also
wrote The Da Vinci Code and Angels
and Demons.
In this novel you enter the lives
of the National Security Agency’s
top cryptographer, Susan Fletcher,
and her fiancé, David Becker. Susan’s boss, Trevor Strathmore, has
called her in on her day off and told
her the worst news she could imagine: the billion dollar code-cracking
computer, TRANSLTR, has found
an unbreakable code.
Ironically, the creator of the code,
Entei Tankado, was fired from the
NSA years before. Everyone thought
he was crazy when he began to warn
the NSA about his unbreakable code.
Not possible, or so they thought.
Entei calls his code Digital Fortress, because it will keep the NSA
from reading emails. He posts
Digital Fortress on the internet in
a downloadable version for worldwide use. All people need is the
passkey to unlock Digital Fortress.
This pass key also can stop the
code if the NSA can get it first. Entei is selling it to the highest bidder.
The NSA’s first thought is to have
him killed, but it is crushed when
Entei says that he has a partner who
will release the code for free to the
entire world, but only refers to him
as North Dakota.
Digital Fortress will keep your
mind racing till the very last sentence, and then the very last page
will make you wonder when Brown
throws in a code of his own. This
book is well-written and is nothing
short of amazing when it comes to
techno-thrillers.
-Carli Tweedy-Cross