The Stampede Edition 3 - Manteca Unified School District

THE
STAMPEDE
MHS Journalism February 2016 3rd Edition
Should R-rated films be allowed in a film class?
With the addition of two film based classes on campus the question that remains is:
Should R-rated films be allowed? On Tuesday, February 16, some of our Manteca High students
addressed the School Board in regards to potentially changing this district policy which bans the
showing of rated R films even with parent consent. The students spoke on behalf of their Film
Composition and Literature class alongside their teacher Ms. Kekke. They stood for the revision
of this policy in order to benefit the overall learning environment for that class. They argued a
variety of points including: viewing film as a modern day art form, the system of film ratings and
their reflection on today’s society, and most importantly how these films contribute complex
themes that spark discussion and analytical thinking.
Films are a modern day art form which captivate literary elements in a cinematic light.
One student declared that: “An art class with censored art is an art class without merit […] the
same should be same for a film class”. Film is an art form brought to us on the silver screen and
this form of media censorship essentially strips the artist of their work. The PG-13 ratings that
these “appropriate to view” films are to be capped at simply do not provide that raw uncensored
message that the writer and director intended on providing.
The rating that these films are being judged by at times do not correlate with the opinion
of modern day society and parents. It is not difficult to see that our society today is extremely different compared to decades ago. As the years have passed we as a society have grown increasingly
tolerant to certain aspects of film and media. One student vocalized her belief by stating how she
believes “Our society has changed and is more tolerant of language and violence when it is within
certain parameters”. The adult nature that these films are accused of having has a lesser negative
impact on our society. Mostly because these uses of language, and other seemingly graphic content have become the “norm” of this day in age.
But one of the most important arguments for the revision of the current policy is how it
would benefit the students learning environment. This class emphasizes the importance of noticing literary elements and complex themes in cinematic masterpieces such as in films like “The
Shawshank Redemption” and “Blade Runner”. Ms. Kekke has handpicked each and every film
that was shown in her class because she believed that they held educational merit. And that’s
what should be important right? We should be focusing on what the film does for the class rather
than the ratings that they were given based on scene and word count.
Their efforts proved not to be futile when they grabbed the attention of Trustee Michael
Seeyle who asked what could be done in order to get this issue put on the agenda. Yet Board President Romero who does support the idea of some R- rated films being included in the curriculum,
does not support the idea of students be able to watch just any R-rated film. Romero expressed
her hesitancy toward this by stating: “I, for one, still consider you children and if I can keep you
in a bubble for a little bit longer than I will […]”. There is much debate on this subject of R-rated
films being included in the film class’s curriculum. So this issue with be revisited by the board
Interview with Mrs.
Norton
On Tuesday, February 2, Mrs.
Norton’ s wallet and phone fell
out of her purse, and a student
named Brichelle Sutherland
found it and returned everything untouched. She found it
when she was walking to the
office and it was right next to
Mrs. Norton’s car. Brichelle
then returned it immediately
after she found it. When asked
why she didn’t keep it, she then
stated that she finds it disrespectful to keep something
that’s not theirs.
BREAKFAST
Apple Oatmeal Walnut
Grab-and-Go
Muffins
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup grated apple
½ cup yogurt or sour cream
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs. coconut oil
1¼ cups flour
2 ½ tbs. baking powder
½ tea. baking soda
2
The Poll Posse asked
105 students and 5
staff members if they
eat breakfast before
school. 35 students
said yes and 70 students said no. 4/5
staff members said
yes (for shame Mr.
Lee, for shame).
Being a high school
student myself I realize sleeping for an extra fifteen minutes is
amazing but setting
aside that time for
breakfast is important. After all,
breakfast is the most
important meal of
the day. “Breakfast
provides you with energy and nutrients
that lead to increased
concentration in the
classroom” (jhsph.edu).
My sister recently
taught a healthy baking class to teens.
The apple oatmeal
grab-and-go muffin
recipe is great for
busy students. You
can make a batch and
freeze them. Take
one out each morning and microwave
for quick breakfast!
Let’s start breaking
the fast Buffs!
By: Lauren Dedmon
ALEX MRAZ
SPORTS SCORES
MHS senior, Alex Mraz, has been wrestling for two years now. He
says his “biggest inspiration is [his] grandma” who passed and so he
dedicates this season to her.
Before each match, Mraz likes to pump himself up by listening to
The Ink Spot.
“We are like family. They’re my brothers and we got each other's
backs," he says about the team. Besides wrestling, Mraz is a four year
in JROTC, and currently taking a class for admission of justice. He
loves wearing his outfit and wrestling because the coaches taught him
so well. “My best moment in wrestling was my first tournament with
Escalon. I won my first match: first round, thirty seconds."
After high school, Mraz has plans to join the army. If says he likes
training, he will stay. If not, he'll leave after the first four years.
2/12/16 score: EU vs
MHS
Though he looks forward to this plan, he will miss his “favorite teachers, TOP, our JROTC instructor, TOP Walker, Ms. Cleminson, Mr.
Knauss, and must of all, Coach Varnum!"
2 weeks ago score: CC vs
MHS
BY JAMIE SUMNER
AND BREANNA
HAYES
Boys Basketball
57-34 (Win)
2 weeks ago score: CC vs
MHS
54-53 ( Win)
Last weeks game
2/24/16: El Capitan vs
MHS
70-53 (Loss)
Girls Basketball
2/12/16 score: EU vs
MHS
64-48 (Loss)
61-47 (Win)
Last weeks game
2/24/16: El Dorado vs
MHS
58-47 (Win)
EDITED BY JESSICA IBE
3
AcaDec Article
Academic Decathlon 2016
Manteca High’s Nerd Herd put up
a hard fight at this past weekend’s
Academic Decathlon competition,
held at Lathrop High School on
Saturday the 6th.
The team worked tremendously
hard all year to regain their firstplace title from last year. This
year’s topic was India, and the
curriculum covered essentially
every subject: Art, Music, Science,
Literature, Mathematics, Economics, and Social Science, all relating
to India. In addition
to the focus on each
individual topic, every team member had to create a prepared
speech. These speeches were
memorized by the eighteen starters and delivered the previous
weekend along with an interview
and an impromptu speech.
This year’s starting team was split
into two divisions (nine members
on each team, making a total of
eighteen starters). The team is
split into three different levels:
Varsity, Scholastic, and Honors.
Division 1 Team
Varsity: Tony Escalante, Praveen
Jose, Rafael Calzada
Scholastic: Adam Collins, Isaias
Mata, Michelle Turner
Honors: Jessica Tang, Gavin
O’Malley, Kassandra Diaz
Division 2 Team
Varsity: Jodbir Mahal, Ashley
Lopez, William Maddox
Scholastic: Rubel Dehal, Julian
Sanchez, Katherine Nguyen
Honors: Naveen Jose, DeAngelo
Caldera, Logan Cope
While the team fell just points
short of winning first place overall,
Manteca High’s AcaDec team won
first place in the Super Quiz category of the competition, and third
place overall.
And of course, the individual medal winners contributed heavily to
the overall success of the team:
starters Praveen Jose, Tony Escalante, Adam Collins, Isaias Mata,
Rubel Dehal, and Michelle Turner
all walked away with individual
medals in specific categories. And
some of the team’s alternates,
including junior Jackey Tang, were
able to achieve medals in certain
categories as well.
Returning starters and seniors
Kassandra Diaz, Gavin O’Malley,
and Jessica Tang all ranked in the
Top 20 among the overall starters;
Jessica landing in 4th place and
Gavin following in 5th, Kassandra
not so far behind in 14th place out
of 161 starters total. Starters
Naveen, Isaias, DeAngelo, and
Praveen all ranked fairly high
among the Top 50 starters.
Congratulations to Mr.
McCullough and the entire AcaDec
team on their accomplishments in
this year’s competition.
Contact Mr. McCullough in S-1 if
you are interested in joining next
year’s Academic Decathlon team.
Help lead the Nerd Herd to excellence in next year’s competition.
Manteca High School scored
3rd place for overall and 1st
place for Super Quiz at the
35th annual Academic Decathlon. The competition was held
February 6th at Lathrop High
School. The competition is
split into two phases. The individual testing phase and the
Super Quiz. Both of these
scores are added together to
get the overall score for the
team. Medals are also given
out to competitors based on
their individual test scores.
Tracy High School won the
overall competition with
44,486 points, then in 2nd
place Middle College with
40,678 points, and in 3rd place
Manteca High School scored
40,345 points. In the Super
Quiz part of the competition
Manteca High School shared
1st place with Tracy High
School. Manteca High’s Division 1 starters won a total of 19
medals and Division 2 won a
total of 3 medals.
Written by: Praveen Jose
Edited by: Tyler Miloslavich
Michelle Turner, Editor
4
HEALTH CAREERS
It’s that time where you should to start thinking about which classes you would like to take for the following school year. If you’re interested in learning about the medical field, our Health Careers ROP program may be something you should consider. In the program you will learn over 300 medical terms that
professionals use in the healthcare environment every day. You will also practice various patient care
procedures such as bathing, maintaining oral hygiene, making beds (occupied & unoccupied), positioning bed-ridden patients, and transitioning from wheelchair to bed, etc. Once you have been taught
these skills you will be given the opportunity to use them at Doctor’s Hospital of Manteca. This program
has helped hundreds of students decide what they would like to do for the rest of their life without
having to make any financial commitments as you would in college. “Having this class available to me
has helped me decide what I want to do for the rest of my life, and I’m very grateful for that” –Jennifer
Moreno, ROP student. Ms. Behler is the instructor for the program. Her classroom is located past the
field houses in room ROP-5. She is very open to students coming in to ask any questions they may have
about the ROP program or the medical field in general. You may also contact her at cbehler@musd.net
-Emilio Gonzalez, Michelle Turner
Provided by 2015-2016 journalism class