ALEX MIKHAILPOOR

Volume 81 No. 7 February 25, 2011Volume 81 No. 9 April 26, 2011 tornado-times.com

hoover high school est. 1929Flags twirl high 11

651 Glenwood Road, Glendale, CA 91202 | (818) 242-6801 ext. 11202

insi

de

Previously closed since Au-

gust due to renovations and

the state budget crisis, the

Glendale Department of Motor Ve-

hicles branch on Glenoaks Blvd. re-

opened yesterday.

The City Council pressured

state officials since December to re-

open the branch due to complaints

about the massive traffic the clo-

sure caused to other nearby

branches.

Dymond McRae (’11), who

was at the Glendale DMV yester-

day, said that the reopening saved a

lot of time because he did not have

to go to Pasadena for an ID card.

Officials announced late last

year that the branch, which had

been scheduled to reopen on Nov.

1 after a two-month $900,000 ren-

ovation, was one of three offices in

the area to be closed indefinitely

due to limited staffing resources.

The renovation includes new

self-service machines for renewing

licenses, heating and air condition-

ing, flooring, furniture, signs, and

fencing upgrades.

Students took driving tests in

neighboring cities and it was diffi-

cult to memorize the different

speed limits and streets. “It made

the test harder as it made me focus

on more obstacles,” junior Medvin

Baghasarian said.

The Glendale branch is going

through a shuffling of staffing and

statewide budget cuts proposed by

Gov. Jerry Brown, including trans-

ferring $71.6 million from the

DMV to the state’s general fund.

According to the DMV, the

new staff is manned by 45 full-time

and three part-time employees and

all are highly trained for the job.

The Glendale DMV serves

281,000 transactions annually

which include permits, licenses,

and registration of cars.

Glendale DMV reopens its doors

ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES

Gloria Hong is in the 6.9%6.9%

accepted into

Earlier this month, students from Clark Magnet and Hoover managed to get

their hands on the stock cards that the district uses for report cards in order to

forge report cards. Because of this, the schools had to reprint the third quarter

progress reports onto different blue cards instead of the original green and white and

send them out later than scheduled.

“I think if students would spend time studying, they wouldn’t have to spend so

much time figuring out how to forge report cards,” Principal Jennifer Earl said.

As for the consequences, the suspected students will have to deal with the law

and the district.

“I’m proud of the collaboration between the district and Clark and Hoover in

discovering [this], finding out who it was, and isolating it quickly,” Earl said.

The district is investigating the best precautions to be taken in order to prevent

this from happening again, especially when grades are to be submitted.

“Even if my grades were bad and I wouldn’t want my parents to know about it,

that’s going too far,” Nick Bassirpour (’11) said.

MEAGAN KNIGHT

Read her story and personal tips on pg. 2HARVARD: Later last month, senior Gloria Hong was accepted into Harvard with a full scholarship.

Hong visited the university campus over spring break.

Students caught forging third quarterprogress report cards

AUGUST: The Glendale DMV branch on Glenoaks Blvd., closed since

August due to renovations and the state budget crisis , reopened yesterday

after complaints about traffic the closure caused to other branches. People

waited in line yesterday for the reopening.

6Viva la vida in Europe JB play preview 8

HARVARDHARVARD

the

Measure S, the $270 mil-

lion bond for the GUSD

schools, passed on April

5 with a 69 percent of the vote, well

above the required 55 percent

needed to pass.

The money will provide safe

and modern school facilities, and

technological upgrades in several

classrooms.

The Glendale Teachers’ Asso-

ciation (GTA) spent $40,000 fight-

ing the bond and supporting school

board candidates Nayiri Nahabe-

dian and Ingrid Gunnell. However,

that paled in comparison to the

$160,000 spent on the “Yes on S”

campaign that supported the in-

cumbents, Nahabedian and Mary

Boger.

Nahabedian received the most

votes, with 10,560 out of the 43,711

total. Boger received the second

most votes at 8,761.

According the Glendale News-

Press, GTA President Tami Carlson

did not support Measure S because

“the district will not guarantee that

they will funnel the proposed $19

million into class size reduction.”

Because the bond has just

passed, no specific plans have been

made yet for changes in this cam-

pus.

“The Board has discussed a

number of times that upgrading

Hoover’s football/soccer field is a

high priority, so that could be one

of the first projects to be consid-

ered,” board member Christine

Walters said.

Also, Councilwoman Laura

Friedman became the city’s first fe-

male mayor in over a decade after

being unanimously elected by her

colleagues.

Glendalians vote yes on Measure SMEAGAN KNIGHT

timestornado

“Rise and shine, honey,”

your father says. Al-

though your neigh-

bors are still asleep, you stumble

out of bed and flick the switch on,

squinting at the sudden flood of

light. The digital clock blinks in

red: 12:00 a.m., midnight. Right on

time, you think, and you open your

textbook to study until morning.

This has been the daily sched-

ule of senior Gloria Hong.

“Late at night, there are fewer

distractions, like phone calls from

friends or Facebook notifications,”

Gloria said.

Club officer responsibilities,

string quartet rehearsals, editor du-

ties for the Korea Daily student

newspaper, and volunteer shifts at

the Glendale Health Free Clinic in

addition to maintaining her 4.5

GPA sometimes meant only three

hours of sleep after school, but in

the end, it paid off.

On March 30, Gloria received

an e-mail congratulating her ac-

ceptance to Harvard University. A

few days later, the university in-

formed her that she would be

granted a full four-year scholar-

ship.

Gloria is among the 2,110 ac-

cepted out of 30,489 applicants this

year, the highest recorded number

of applicants in Harvard history.

The week before Harvard no-

tified Hong of her admission, she

was anxious because the other Ivy

League schools she applied to had

put her on their waiting lists. As

soon as she read the e-mail from

Harvard, she shared the news with

her parents, Cindy and Sean Hong,

in tears of joy and relief.

“My mom and I were both

crying over the phone, asking

each other, ‘Why are you cry-

ing?’” Gloria said.

Gloria is most thankful for

her parents who acted as her

“one-on-one counselors” and

gave her guidance and tips they

learned from Korean education

newspapers. But according to

Cindy, all she did for Gloria was

“encourage her with compliments

and give her car rides.” Cindy said

her greatest hope now is for Gloria

to look after her own health in col-

lege.

As for Gloria, she plans to pur-

sue Human Developmental and

Regenerative Biology in the future,

and prepare to become a doctor.

Gloria said that after volun-

teering at the Glendale Health Free

Clinic, she realized that by being a

doctor, she can “help [the patients]

to the best of [her] abilities.”

Harvard University is one of

eight private institutions compris-

ing the prestigious Ivy League, oth-

ers being Brown, Columbia, Cor-

nell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale,

and the University of Pennsylva-

nia.

U.S. News & World Report

ranked Harvard as the number one

college in the nation in 2011.

Although attending Harvard

has been her long-time goal, Gloria

kept this aspiration to herself be-

cause “if you tell people you want

to get into Harvard and then not

make it, you would become self-

conscious.”

Her greatest challenge in

achieving this goal was balancing

her social and academic life, espe-

cially after her snack and lunch

times turned into “business hours”

for club officer duties.

Fellow Key Club officer and

friend Diana Han (’12) said, “she

was the best key club president we

ever had and an amazing friend.”

According to the Harvard ad-

missions office, the university

seeks well-rounded or “well-lop-

sided” students who show excel-

lence in a particular area.

Gloria believes the reason for

her acceptance was because her ap-

plication demonstrated that she was

versatile but never forced herself to

become well-rounded.

“[Gloria] always says so

calmly, ‘Yes, I can do it,’ and she

does it,” counselor Sirvart Moura-

dian said. “I guess that’s what it

takes to get into Harvard.”

April 26, 2011

Tornado TimesNEWS2

1. Learn the material in class/schoolright then and there. Go to your teach-ers during snack/lunch if you have anyquestions.

2.Show, not tell, on college apps whatyou did by being in that position of aclub/volunteer organization.

3. Never wait to prepare for SAT/ACT,to apply for scholarships, or to lookfor extracurricular activities. Start

now, it's never too early!

Hong goes to HarvardSE YEON KIM

Building a Harvard-worthy application

April 26, 2011Tornado Times

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Herbert Hoover High School

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Adviser

Cain BucklerTroy Jonic

Levon Ostakarayan

Editor-in-ChiefJoice Lee

Managing EditorDaphne Ong

Layout EditorAlex KaribyanCopy Editor

Linet MardyrosianNews EditorSeYeon Kim

Opinion EditorGrace Nsavu

Feature EditorArpineh Oganesyan

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Maryam SoormaMichael Yapujian

Brian Crosby

Staff Editorials

Alevel nine earth-

quake, one tsunami,

73 aftershocks, radi-

ation leaks, and over 10,000

casualties later, Japan’s

morale remains strong—a

fact that we can all learn

from.

Despite all the Japanese

people that have had to en-

dure dire circumstances,

there are no reports of loot-

ing, riots, and no Japanese

equivalent of Kanye West

going on television to say

that the Prime Minister and

government don’t care about

the people.

For those of you who

have not yet realized it, this

is a reference to the aftermath

of Hurricane Katrina in 2005

when conditions got so bad

that, as MSNBC reported,

the mayor of New Orleans

was forced to “order a crack-

down on looting.”

The Japanese have stuck

together in the face of all this

trauma in ways that many na-

tions can’t do even during

times of peace and tranquil-

ity.

There are people who

claim that their peaceful way

of handling the situation is

due to the nation’s racial uni-

formity. While there may be

some truth to this, it is their

societal beliefs that have kept

them so disciplined.

Rather than living by the

“me first,” individualistic

philosophy, Japan has a col-

lective society.

For example, Kyung Lah,

writing for CNN, reported

that the Japanese waited or-

derly in line for their rations,

and “at the front, which takes

hours to get to in some cases,

shoppers are limited to 10

food or beverage items. No

complaints, no cheating.”

They believe in putting

the group—the country—

first. And that is the most

valuable lesson from these

circumstances.

But their dignity doesn’t

just stop there. There are peo-

ple who have deemed last

month’s disasters as revenge

for the Pearl Harbor attacks

of World War II. Interestingly

when Hurricane Katrina

struck, there is little doubt

that there were no Japanese

people calling it an act of re-

venge for Hiroshima and Na-

gasaki.

Japan’s people serve as a

social example for not just

the United States, but nations

around the world. Their

calmness should make us

question how we have han-

dled ourselves in the wake of

natural disasters, government

failures, and, perhaps, even

personal failures. We tend to

victimize ourselves and

search for people to blame

and people to feel sorry for

us.

Yet we don’t want to help

the poor with socialized

health care and we refuse to

give up personal benefits

when trying to come up with

a national budget. Why? Be-

cause, unlike the Japanese,

selflessness is not in our vo-

cabulary.

What it all comes down

to is this: the Japanese have a

remarkable sense of commu-

nity. We can try to build the

safest, most earthquake proof

buildings on earth. Yet,

who’s to say that if disaster

struck, we would be able to

handle ourselves with dig-

nity?

The Japanese don’t fall through the cracks

Editors

Staff Writers

Photo/Graphics Staff

Opinion

There is a sense of unity and calmness that has allowed the Japanese people to han-dle the crisis with pride and poise that we can all learn from. The situation is terrible,but their conduct remains impeccable.

CollegeBoard: now bringin’ SAT prep

to 8th graders

inEUNICEin

April 26, 2011Tornado Times

OPINION 5

Bring on the

pollution

Craigslist Confidential

GRACE NSAVU

Take a deep breath.

If you didn’t get lung can-

cer or break out in an asthma

attack, you have the Environ-

mental Protection Agency

(EPA) to thank.

At least for now.

The agency regulates and

aims to diminish emissions of

carbon dioxide from cars,

power plants, and oil refineries

as a means of tackling global

warming. Our ever-so caring

and oh-so impractical Repub-

licans held a hearing to pass a

bill that would take away the

EPA’s authority to regulate

greenhouse gas emissions.

Mmm. There’s nothing

like polluted air with a side of

dirty water.

With the budget deal that

passed earlier this month, the

House Appropriations Com-

mittee, which is in charge of

distributing funds, cut the

EPA’s budget by $1.6 billion—

16 percent of its annual

budget. What’s even scarier is

that if the majority of Repub-

licans had gotten their way, the

EPA would have been disman-

tled.

I understand that this is a

time of economic turmoil and

that the government wants to

save money, which involves

cutting appropriations to many

services, even the most impor-

tant ones. However, among

those programs that should not

be defunded, and definitely

not dismantled, is the EPA.

People could argue that

the companies would step up

and do the policing them-

selves. But when it

comes to business, let’s face it,

things like global warming

tend to be put aside. It is ex-

actly for this reason that this

agency was created.

This is a program that af-

fects everyone whether they

are rich or poor, young or old,

live in the United States or

don’t, and should be at the

forefront of our government’s

agenda. With less funding, the

agency will not be able to

carry out its job efficiently.

And were it to be dismantled,

there would be no one to po-

lice our air and water quality.

People’s health and well

being is more important than

the $1.6 billion the govern-

ment would save, especially

when it would have dire con-

sequences that, in the future,

would cost much more than a

billion dollars.

Losing control over Lent

MICHAEL YAPUJIAN

“I’m giving up fast food.” “I’m giving up

soda.” “I’m becoming a vegan.”

On one particular Wednesday at school, you hear

these peculiar proclamations from your friends sitting

next to you. Eavesdropping further, you realize that

your Christian and Catholic friends seem to be dis-

cussing what they have “given up” for the forty days

of Lent.

The practice of Lent, which starts on Ash

Wednesday (March 9) until Easter (April 24) is

marked with acts of penance, and in today's context,

the younger generation has been taught to sacrifice

worldly goods that range from favorite foods to cher-

ished T-shirts.

Although it’s admirable that these students can

give up items that are seemingly inseparable, it draws

me to question our society’s will power.

You can argue that the self-control presented by

the traditions of Lent shows that we really can live a

healthier life by giving up an idolatry of some form.

However, our true colors are revealed after the forty-

day mark, when we regress to our bad habits again.

As we all know, the things we give up are usually

just meaningless material goods; I haven’t heard of

one person who has stopped eating fruit. The truth of

the matter is, people don't truly sacrifice the most im-

portant things that allow us to function in daily life

such as water or corn (corn is found in absolutely

everything).

As an atheist, I have never practiced Lent, so I

just don’t understand why people can sacrifice things

for God but not for themselves. And then it hits me:

selfishness.

We are constantly pressured into bad habits

through television propaganda, the Internet, maga-

zines and newspapers, and, at times, even some of our

friends tempt us into eating a McChicken every now

and then. But the really appalling part of all of this is

that we know the harmful or addictive effects that

these things have on us, and yet, we refuse to stop eat-

ing MSG or checking our Facebook notifications after

every sentence written for an English assignment.

To many, this seems like a futile problem—so

what if I want to see how many people think I look

“totes hott” on my profile picture? But when further

analyzed, this overblown ego can really have a harm-

ful impact on not only ourselves individually, but on

our society as well. If you lack self-control while mak-

ing miniscule decisions such as sleeping late just to

watch a movie or starting your project the day before

it’s due, the choices you’ll have to make in life will

only get bigger and bigger, and your will power will

slowly dissipate.

According to Science Daily, when a person sees

another utilizing the powers of self-control, he is more

likely to develop his own willpower, and vice versa.

So next time you have to make a decision, make

a wise one so that a friend will follow in your lead,

and the chain will continue until every person in the

world knows that self-control is an attainable asset.

Then perhaps one day, my dream of a world with peo-

ple who can manage more than 40 days without Mc-

Donalds will come true.

Tornado TALKWhat did you give up

for lent?

TROY JONIC | TORNADO TIMES

Compiled by Edwin FloresCAIN BUCKLER | TORNADO TIMES

“My two obsessive indulgences:

Facebook and chocolate.”

Alejandra Flores (’13)

“I gave up soda to be healthier and

for my religion.”

Michael Melikian (’11)

“I gave up my iTouch.”

Hakop Keleshyan (’12)

ARPINEH OGANESYAN

One grilled chicken Panini with

mozzarella cheese, tomatoes,

lettuce, and onions, please–hold

the chicken and the cheese.

I love chicken because I’m utterly

repulsed by the taste of beef and pork.

So, ordering a chicken sandwich with-

out the meat is a pretty silly order, isn’t

it? Well, when you’ve given up animal-

based products for 40 days, it’s pretty

much your only option.

I’d never really given much

thought to the idea of Lent before. But

my sister recently embarked on an “all-

organic” food diet and thought giving

up meat, eggs, and cheese for 40 days

would “cleanse our bodies.” Being the

easily persuaded person that I am, I

caved in.

Since I never really liked to eat

meat in the first place, my experience

turned out to be much easier than I ex-

pected. But giving up cheese, especially

Armenian cheese, did take some adjust-

ing to.

The hardest part of being a vegan

is finding food you can actually eat, es-

pecially at school. I ended up spending

a lot of time and money coming up with

meals and dishes (mainly vegetable and

potato-based) during my first two

weeks.

Soon, it became second nature. I

automatically looked at the ingredients

label before all food purchases, bypass-

ing foods containing milk, eggs, or

cheese.

I definitely feel a change in my

body since embarking on this experi-

ence. I feel much healthier and less slug-

gish all the time since I don’t eat junk

food like Doritos, Hot Cheetos, Pizza

Hut, and Ben and Jerry’s anymore.

I thought I would jump right back

into eating like I used to starting yester-

day, but so far, I haven’t.

One, because I am afraid eating too

much of something I haven’t eaten in a

while may upset my stomach; two, be-

cause after not eating chicken for 40

days, the thought of eating it is as re-

pulsing as eating beef and pork.

Food is good. Healthy food is bet-

ter.

“I gave up eating chocolate be-

cause it causes acne.”

Lovern Mugol (’11)

One editor sacrifices animal-based products

Tornado Times6 April 26, 2011

Feature

Spanish Club visits Europe over Spring Break

The bus ride to Madrid took around four

hours. We all tried to get some sleep

during this excruciatingly long ride, but

were unfortunately woken up by our guide al-

most every hour, to show us historical land-

marks. Before arriving there, we stopped by

the Plaza de España to see the Miguel de Cer-

vantes monument.

April 10. Day 9: In the morning, we went

to the Palacio Real. We had seen the architec-

ture of several buildings in France and Spain

that were beautiful, but nothing compared to

this palace. Unfortunately, we were not al-

lowed to take photos inside.

By the evening, we were able to go to El

Sol, the best part of Madrid. It was a lively area

to shop in, and eat incredible food. In the

evening, we stayed out late to go to the Choco-

latería San Ginés to eat the best thing in

Madrid: churros dipped in dark hot chocolate.

The architecture of the Notre Dame

cathedral was extremely detailed, and like the

rest of Paris, sophisticated and beautiful.

At dinner, we met our tour guide, Laura,

who would be with us for the next nine days.

We had a common European dinner called

“flam.” It is basically a really thin pizza only

half a centimeter thick. While some people

enjoyed it, I personally thought it tasted like

a tortilla with mayonnaise and parmesan

cheese.

On day three, breakfast in Paris con-

sisted of croissant rolls and cereal with room-

temperature milk. I was disappointed to find

that the croissant rolls tasted identical to the

ones from Costco, but I was not complain-

ing…anything was better than flam.

We went to the Louvre museum after

breakfast, and took pictures by the inverted

MEAGAN KNIGHT

We arrived in the morning at 11 a.m.

at the Charles De Gaulle airport

where we converted our dollars to

euros and spent two hours waiting for our bus

to take us to the Mercure Hotel, the best of

the three hotels we stayed at during our trip.

At 3:30 p.m., we took the Metro,

which is like a subway, to the Notre Dame

cathedral. It is the most common and conven-

ient way to get around in Europe, even

though some stations are filthy and smell ter-

rible.

After a long night on the

train, we woke up in

Zaragoza, Spain. From

there, we transferred our lug-

gage to our tour bus, and drove

a couple of hours to what would

be our favorite city on the trip –

Barcelona. We stayed in a hos-

tel, a cheaper type of lodging

mostly found in Spain and His-

panic America. Although we did

not like it, we knew we would

not be spending much time in it

anyway.

Our first stop was Park

Güell, where Antonio Gaudí

lived and created his mosaic de-

signs. It was amusing to walk

through and be able to take pic-

tures of what we once saw in

our textbooks back home. In the

late afternoon, we were free to

roam around the city on our

own.

Of course, we went shop-

ping and were a lot happier with

the prices here compared to the

designer price tags in Paris.

MEAGAN KNIGHT | TORNADO TIMES

Antoni Gaudi’s houses

Eiffel Tower

Post office

Chicken paella

El Sol

pyramid. After that my friends and I de-

cided to go to Denon, the best section of

the three in the Louvre, and home to two

major masterpieces: “The Winged Vic-

tory” (a.k.a. Nike), and the “Mona Lisa.”

On day four, we were all excited to

have a bus tour for the beginning of our

day, because of all the walking we en-

dured through our first two days. We were

dropped off at the Arc de Triumph where

we walked up over 1,000 steps in the spi-

ral staircase to see the breathtaking view

from the landmark which is in the center

of Paris.

After climbing back down, we de-

cided to visit the Eiffel Tower. Because the

streets in Europe are not rectangular, but

instead trapezoidal, we got lost for a good

45 minutes. We finally made it to the

world famous tower – which is much

more stunning in person.

By the evening of the sixth day, we

had our bags packed ready for our

overnight train to our next destination:

Barcelona. We were all very excited to be

in a sleeper train, but when I found out

there were four people to a room, and the

room was so small that my arm span could

reach from wall to wall, all I could do was

laugh at the disappointing situation.

Opéra de Paris

.paris

.barcelona

.madrid

7Tornado Times

April 26, 2011 FEATURE

ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES

Elena’s excites the sensesEUNICE CHOI

Elena’s Greek &

RATINGS

1000 S. Glendale Ave.Glendale, CA 91205

After being seated in Elena’s Greek-

Armenian Cuisine, I immediately

noticed the heavy, meaty aroma that

permeated the warm air. The restaurant is

fairly casual and small, and has a family-like

atmosphere with its lopsided tables and

chairs cluttered tightly together. Somewhat

questionable white columns border a couple

of the walls, a weak attempt to have the cus-

tomers understand the “Greek” portion of the

restaurant’s name, while the “Armenian” part

distinctly stands out in the food.

And truly, the food is wonderful, which

is poorly represented by the dining experi-

ence that harbors lagging, sub-par service.

Warm lighting welcomes people when

they enter and more noticeably, the meshing

of various voices–most of them abundant

with praise for the food. You can’t help but

become expectant for an excellent meal.

However, to get seated is a difficult matter

when Elena’s is full of other customers

which is most of the time. The waitresses

will not be shy about yelling across the room

to each other, throwing out options of mov-

ing already seated people around, or mashing

tables together to accommodate larger parties

that have entered. Very inconvenient.

Nevertheless, once seated, a look at the

menu will revert your initial thoughts about

whether it was a mistake to come to Elena’s

because the food is tantalizing and full of

promise. It will be easy to figure out what the

plates look like because the menu has gener-

ously placed pictures to illustrate for the peo-

ple unfamiliar with the food.

To start off, Armenian pickled cabbage

called toorshi comes alongside the basket

filled with large slabs of pita bread and indi-

vidual plastic containers of garlic butter

spread. The toorshi is pink and sour, plentiful

in quantity and well suited to being eaten

alongside the main meals.

Pita bread is versatile in being a wrap

for the meat or simply being enjoyed with a

dollop of the strong, salty garlic spread,

which helps to zap the initial edge of hunger.

One puzzling thing is the lack of plates. Un-

less you specify you would like plates, you

will have to place your food on your napkin.

Entrées come cozily partnered up with

the choices of buttery, long-grain rice or

French fries, strong lentil soup or a light,

lemony salad. I would recommend going

with the rice, as it is prepared in its own Ar-

menian way. As for the soup or salad deci-

sion, it is completely dependent on your

personal preference. The soup, although ap-

petizing, does not merely flirt with flavor –

it packs a punch and could even be over-

whelming. The salad, on the other hand, is

light and fresh, but might quickly become too

bland for you to continue enjoying with gen-

uine relish.

However, there is no need for strenuous

decision-making when it comes to the core

of the meal because everything is assuredly

amazing.

The chicken shish kabob is just fabu-

lous. Sprinkled with herbs and spices, the fat

chunks of chicken just stream out meaty

juices when you bite into the mind-boggling

tenderness. A suggestion: eat the kabob with

the grilled onions served alongside it and Ar-

menian rice, because the result is a marriage

of savory and delicious.

The grilled salmon is rich in flavor, the

tender fish separating into big flakes of soft

and mellow pieces.

If you love wraps, then stuffed grape

leaves, or dolma, are a choice to consider be-

cause it is Armenian-style ground beef

wraps. Dark green grape leaves are wrapped

tightly around a mixture of vegetables, rice,

and ground beef, immersed in a yogurt sauce.

Soft and marvelously flavorful, the stuffed

grape leaves are unique, plump and large in

quantity.

And if you thought, “What could be bet-

ter?” then there is an answer: combination

plates.

Perhaps you would like lamb, but also

have an irresistible desire to try the lulu,

which is an Armenian-style kabob. Or maybe

after hearing raves about the chicken, you

want that, but lulu still cries for your atten-

tion. Simply order the half lamb – half lulu

or half chicken – half lulu plates. Thoughtful,

no? With lamb that is layered with a wealth

of spices and is fantastic in texture, you will

be forgiven for wanting this along with the

magnificent lulu that is a powerful character

of robust flavor.

For dessert, consider baklava, which is

a turn from the Armenian taste and a small

dip into the Greek. It is a pastry made with

thin layers of dough, filled with chopped nuts

and honey or syrup. Similar to a sweet, crusty

croissant or pie, baklava is flaky and richer

than sweet, yet very delicious. You can also

go down the path of getting a cup of Greek

coffee, which is earthy and heavy-bodied.

Whether you are willing to go to the

restaurant in person or enjoy the food in the

comforts of your own home through free de-

livery, Elena’s food seems to have hit the

mark of excellence and is worth trying out.

CHEW ON THIS!1 32

4 5

1. Pita Bread *Free*

2. 1/2 Shish - 1/2 Lulu$8.25

3. Grilled Salmon $9.99

4. 1/2 Shish - 1/2 Lamb$9.99

5. Stuffed Grape Leaves$8.99

Armenian Cuisine

food:

service:

Entertainment

April 26, 2011Tornado Times

8

J.B.—his initials are known around the

world. No, they do not stand for Justin

Bieber (sorry to those obsessed 14-

year-old Beliebers who thought this article

was about him). Instead, they stand for the

new upcoming advanced drama class pro-

duction “J.B.,” written by Archibald

MacLeish, premiering on May 13 at 7:00

p.m. in the auditorium, with a $5 student

and $10 adult admission.

So who is J.B. you may ask? To put it

simply, he is a man of Biblical proportions.

The play revolves around a Bible char-

acter, Job, played by Michael Yapujian

(’12), and his internal struggle regarding his

faith.

MacLeish reinvents the story of Job by

modernizing it; instead of setting it up in the

desert lands, he places the setting in a circus

tent which helps the audience comprehend

the outlandish characters the story intro-

duces.

I mean who would be able to relate to

J.B., a messiah from God? Instead

MacLeish’s play includes more pertinent

characters like Zuss (God), Nickles (Satan )

and Sarah (Job’s wife), portrayed by seniors

Sophia Brady, Ethan Fleitas, and Katy

Gneier, respectively.

“By having Zuss be a portrayal of God,

and having a man be the cause of another

man’s misfortunes, it’s easier for audiences

to comprehend the storyline,” Brady said.

The idea of having higher entities in

the play makes it more “impersonal” to au-

diences since not everyone has the same

faith.

The audience is going to feel more in-

volved in this play because the seating will

be on stage. Yes, that is right, audience

members will be sitting under an actual tent

to make the play more realistic and enhance

the actor’s performances.

As for the actors, they have had no

problems working on the production. Since

the play is being produced solely by ad-

vanced drama students, all of them have had

at least three years of acting experience.

Yapujian explains that it is easier to

“interact and make connections” with his

cast since they have all known each other

for years.

Drama adviser Dave Huber is excited

for the premiere of the performance. Since

the cast was limited only to those in the ad-

vanced class, the roles were “laid out” for

him, but the decisions for the lead roles were

“much more difficult due to the accumu-

lated talent” in the class.

With only a month to put on the pro-

duction, they have been in rehearsals Mon-

day through Friday going over their scripts

and characters.

“Memorizing the script is only a frac-

tion of what we have to do to put on the

play,” cast member Vicky Jimenez (‘12)

said. “We also have to memorize [our] stage

directions and the interactions our charac-

ters have with each other because it is not

spontaneous.”

Sirvard Ogtanyan, Yapujian’s mother,

is “expecting great performances” from the

cast.

She has seen many of the cast members

act before, and believes that they are going

to be as “passionate as they’ve been before.”

So even though this J.B may not be

reciting “Baby, Baby, Baby, Ohh” the per-

formance is sure to be worthwhile.

EDWIN FLORES

No more trials for J.B.

PLAY: Michael Yapujian (’12) and Katy Gneier (’11) rehearse for the spring play, “J.B.” It is an adaptation of the story of Job, premiering on May 13.ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES

May 13, 14, 19, 20, 22$5 student tickets$10 adult tickets

Auditorium7:00 p.m.

9Tornado Times

April 26, 2011

Spirits and monsters have enthralled

human minds since the dawn of time,

stimulating the senses as one sees a

shadow, or the fast movement of a silhou-

ette in the corner of the eye.

"Ghost Adventures," a Travel Channel

show, is available both on DVD and Instant

View, and is a good alternative to quirky

comedies and typical dramas most of us

look for.

The show is about three friends who go

around the U.S. in search of the scariest

places in the country.

Now you might think that this is just

some typical horror show where they try to

go to an old abandoned hospital to try and

contact the dead…well, that is not all they

do.

There is a catch; they are locked in the

establishment until dawn, and, yes, they ex-

perience “trippy” paranormal activities.

One of the hosts was so scared, he jumped

from the second floor of an abandoned

hotel.

The show is rather unique in the way

that it is just the three of them. One acts as

the cameraman, the other as hosts in the

abandoned locations. This adds to the au-

thenticity of the show, although subjective.

They also use static cameras besides the

handheld ones, because it is impossible to

record every angle while moving.

The group also uses innovative devices

that supposedly detect what a spirit wants

to tell them, via the likeness of the voice of

Stephen Hawking. And believe me it is kind

of scary when a device randomly blurts out

the word “die.”

The belief of the paranormal is still

based on our personal discretion, but

"Ghost Adventures" will surely give you a

hair-raising experience.

COMEDIC FAILURE: “Your Highness” sinks to new depths of crassness while barely managing to entertain.

It premiered on April 8.

Viewpoint

Whether you love him or

hate him, you’ve defi-

nitely seen a lot of him.

That charming smile. That gender-

blurring haircut. That two-toned

hoodie you saw and considered

buying. Yes, I am of course talking

about the cultural phenomenon that

is Justin Bieber.

Rising from YouTube obscu-

rity to international pop star, Bieber

has made millions cry, half out of

blinding love and devotion, and the

other half out of mourning over our

increasingly plastic and generic

music industry.

The people who market the

music of stars like Justin Bieber and

Lady Gaga are completely in tune

with what the average person wants

to hear when they turn on the radio.

Simple, but melodic hook-filled

pop music. Those who find such

music too mainstream usually will

listen to less commercialized, “real”

music on their iPods (or Zunes if

you’re too cool). It’s for this reason

that I don’t hate artists like Bieber,

because there are many people who

do enjoy his music, even if I’m not

among them.

My hate is entirely reserved for

another recent phenomenon. I’m

hesitant to name any names, but I’ll

provide you with a single hint; her

name rhymes with ‘Webecca

Wack.’ Yes, I am so very unfortu-

nately referring to the Internet sen-

sation “Friday,” a song that

deserves none of its now 90 million

views. In case you’ve been hiding

under an especially large rock over

the past few months, or have been

too proud to watch it, “Friday” is

without a doubt the worst song ever

made.

Rebecca Black, only 13 years

old, is about as remarkable as a but-

ter knife. The producers used what

sounds like the highest intensity

auto-tune on the market to trans-

form a 13-year-old girl’s already

awful voice into an even more

awful 13-year-old robot girl’s voice.

The melody and background

music itself, although heavily an-

noying, are nothing in comparison

to the song’s claim to fame: its awe-

inspiring lyrics. Rebecca Black can

be referred to as a modern day

Socrates, as her song features one

of the most thought provoking

questions of our age.

Upon seeing her other annoy-

ing friends drive up in a convertible

with only one available seat in the

back, she utters the incredibly deep,

“Which seat can I take?” Besides

the atrocious lyrics, some of which

I absolutely refuse to mention, the

song also features tacky and obvi-

ous green screen work, and a terri-

ble and out of place rap verse from

the song’s 50-year-old producer,

who creepily happens to be going to

the same party as Rebecca and her

posse.

People everywhere are lament-

ing the decline of the music indus-

try because the Rebecca Blacks of

the world are famous. The truth is,

this “decline” is entirely our fault,

and in our hands to reverse. It’s

pretty obvious that the makers of

“Friday” crafted the song to be as

awful as humanly possible, and thus

as popular as possible. They knew

what kind of comments it would

stir, and we as a music listening

public took the bait and blogged,

and reblogged, and reblogged until

“Friday” became the viral sensation

it is today.

If we took more time and effort

to spread that amazing, but obscure

song we just discovered, our news

feeds and radio stations would be

filled with music made by people

with actual musical talent. To those

who complain about Rebecca Black

and her undeserved fame, stop fuel-

ing the fire with your groans and try

to spread some real music for a

change.

The mood has struck, you need a movie; and

fast. You’re looking for something classy, artis-

tic, meaningful, and something your whole

family can enjoy. I think I’ve just stumbled upon a

film that’s the exact opposite of what I just described.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about “Your High-

ness.” A part of me believes I just watched the worst

movie of all time, yet another part of me feels like it

achieves greatness for that reason. It is apparent, and

slightly ironic given its name, that “Your Highness”

sinks to the lowest depths of film comedy once you

realize most of the jokes revolve around a certain part

of the male body, with most of the punchlines sound-

ing like they were written by a few stoned and gig-

gling nerds in junior high.

The plot revolves around the lazy and hard-par-

tying Thadeous (Danny Mcbride), who lives in the

constant shadow of his much more dashing and heroic

older brother, Fabious (James Franco). All is well and

merry until Fabious’ beloved fiancee is kidnapped by

an evil wizard who intends to steal her virginity when

the two moons align in order to summon a dragon or

something. Yeah. It makes about as much sense as it

sounds, but the plot is just barely tight enough to

work.

The movie feels more like a fantasy film than a

comedy, with its heavy use of special effects. While

creative, some scenes are pretty corny and cheap look-

ing, so at times you feel like you’re watching one of

those lame made-for-TV movies on the Sci-Fi Net-

work. A part of me feels like this was intentional, but

even so, it wouldn’t quite make up for it.

Featuring an uncharacteristically big-named cast,

the performances in this film can be interpreted rather

differently depending upon your perspective. To the

more classy, art house-type critic, the actors are

merely phoning in their ridiculous lines with their

quick paycheck in mind. However, to other, more

open-minded, probably more immature audiences, the

actors appear to be having a pretty good time up on

screen.

Most of the performances are humorously bad,

including the always stunning Natalie Portman, whose

British accent is equally stunning. She plays the cliché

“strong/independent” woman warrior Isabel, whose

parents were slaughtered by the same dude who kid-

napped Fabious’s fiancée. This essentially makes her

a more annoying Batman, which offends me on sev-

eral levels. I can’t quite tell whether this is a case of

a good actress acting badly on purpose, or a good ac-

tress just acting badly.

I hope Danny McBride, who co-wrote the film,

recognizes that he wrote his own character to be pretty

unlikable. Most of the lame jokes come from him, and

I feel like his performance was the least desirable of

the whole cast.

His bowl-cutted manservant, Courtney (Rasmus

Hardiker), on the other hand, stole many a scene with

his charming lack of intelligence and hilarious facial

expressions; hopefully, this role nets him more work

in the future.

The best performance ironically comes from the

actor who appears to put in the least amount of effort.

James Franco, fresh from his Oscar-nominated per-

formance in “127 hours,” delivers a rather... interest-

ing performance in “Your Highness.” I’m not one to

jump to any conclusions, but I’m pretty sure he was

high during most of the shooting, which isn’t neces-

sarily a bad thing for viewers.

He delivers his lines with all the energy of an av-

erage sloth, and the constant threat of breaking into

giggles is pretty obvious. Normally, I would describe

this as totally unprofessional, but in this case it kind

of works. I found his deadpan and apathetic style very

entertaining, albeit pretty ridiculous.

It took me a while to realize that what makes

“Your Highness” awful also makes it somewhat beau-

tiful. It’s a “so bad it’s good” type of film of the high-

est order, and I would recommend it to any person

who is willing to leave his brain at home for a while

and share some immature, but satisfying laughs with

a friend.

DANIEL MASSEY

DANIEL MASSEY

Source: Stuber Productions

EDWARD NADURATA

We we we so annoyed

TROY JONIC | TORNADO TIMES

Taking a ghostly adventure

Film Review“Your Highness” reaches new lows

Source: ARK Music Factory

ENTERTAINMENT

Spring: the time of year when

school athletics halts to a

standstill. With fan favorites

such as basketball and football

long gone, much of the enthusiasm

with sports has retired.

Not this year, though. The

boys’ varsity tennis team is shap-

ing up to be one of strongest, well-

put together teams the school has

had all year.

The boys’ varsity tennis team

has always been highly competi-

tive and was only one game away

from making playoffs last year, an

honor which goes to the top four

teams in league.

As far as league games go, the

tennis team has one of the best

records of any team this year, with

8 wins and 6 losses. Coach Julie

Hoppe and her team have confi-

dence that their losses will not in-

crease.

The first game of the season

against Burbank was the first seri-

ous match of the year that any

member had competed in and, as

Hoppe put it, the team “went in

blind.” Hoppe was unsure of whom

to pair in the doubles teams, result-

ing in a loss, but only by a small

margin, with a score of 83-82.

After a few matches, the team

realized who worked well together

and it felt assured that its current

doubles teams were “solid”; the re-

match against Burbank turned out

much differently with a win of 10-

8.

The next matches against

Crescenta Valley and Pasadena tal-

lied easy victories, scoring 11-7

and 18-0, respectively. Hoppe did

not consider CV and Pasadena as

threats in the preliminary playoffs

and in their rematches, the boys’

varsity tennis won with scores of

13-5 and 17-1.

Its most challenging matches

were against Arcadia and Bur-

roughs, in which there was a sub-

stantial loss with scores 15-3 and

11-5, respectively. Hoppe was not

vexed by this loss because each

year, Arcadia and Burroughs are

almost guaranteed a spot in play-

offs.

The BGD home match was not

so easy either and Hoppe asserts

that the team’s strength is on sin-

gles, while Glendale holds a myr-

iad of skillful doubles teams.

Although the team lost 12-6,

she hopes to come back in the next

game with a strategy called “stack-

ing the doubles” in which stronger

singles players are placed in a dou-

bles team. The rematch will take

place at home on Thursday so

Hoppe predicts that “our boys will

have home court advantage and

feel more pumped up and ready to

succeed.”

The success of the team has

been attributed to the chemistry be-

tween players.

“We are like a family and I

consider my teammates like broth-

ers,” Sage Berry (’11) said.

Hoppe’s coaching has also

been a significant factor in prepar-

ing the players for sets.

“Coach Hoppe has trained us

mentally and physically to perform

at our best in league,” said fresh-

man Oleg Simonyan. “She turns

underdogs into champions.”

With its victories against Bur-

bank and CV, the tennis team has

almost gained its position in this

year’s playoffs.

Tornado Times10 April 26, 2011

Sports

Drinking our

games away

On Edward’s

EDWARD NADURATA

Defense

OVERHAND: Singles player Oleg Simonyan (top) and doubles

player Vardan Adzhinyan (bottom) hit the ball during the March 17

match at Glendale High School. With 8 wins and 6 losses, the team

has a promising spot to finish at the top of the league.

CAIN BUCKLER | TORNADO TIMES

ASHER LANDAU

With a few weeks left

until the end of the

spring sports sea-

son, most teams are preparing

to compete against their rival

schools, anxiously waiting for

that decisive moment that will

make their season memorable.

Not unless your school

cancels the rest of your season.

Last week, the Burroughs

High School baseball team,

which was third in the Califor-

nia Interscholastic Federation

Pacific League, was disbanded

and its season canceled by its

principal due to underage

drinking.

On a trip to Arizona two

weeks ago, one of the coaches

served beer to 11 players,

which resulted in their firings.

What coach would ever

serve minors liquor? There are

laws and rules set in place and

this is clearly a misdemeanor.

Many kids in our school,

whether we admit it or not, see

drinking as a leisurely illegal

activity.

The decision of ending the

season with only two weeks

left seems unfair to many, and

I agree, but it is far more im-

portant that we follow the rules

imposed by the law.

When questioning the de-

cision of Burroughs’ adminis-

trators, remember that a crime

is a crime. The team members

are at fault to succumbing to

underage drinking and must

accept the repurcussions of

their mistakes.

You just got served

April 26, 2011 SPORTS

Complete bliss struck Cameron

Doran (’11) after the April 15

away game against Glendale.

Striking out 11 batters and only allow-

ing three hits, Doran led the varsity

baseball team to a 5-3 league win.

Doran joined the team his fresh-

man year and was placed on the JV

team. The next year, he was promoted

to varsity, and eventually became a

captain.

“Cameron is someone I can always

depend on for any situation,” team-

mate Thomas Alchermes (’12) said.

“He doesn’t back down.”

His baseball career started at the

age of 4 when his parents enrolled him

in the Jewel City Little League. He

also played on travel ball, an elite

youth baseball team, for five years.

His highlight was when he was

chosen to play in a tournament in 2006

in Copperstone, N.Y. where he was

able to experience the life of a profes-

sional baseball player by playing two

daily games for two weeks against 89

nationwide teams.

“My favorite thing about baseball

is being able to just be between the

lines,” Doran said. “When you are on

the field, nothing else matters.”

The biggest motivation to keep

playing on the team is looking forward

to playing baseball after high school.

Seeing many of his friends play col-

lege ball and being able to see them

“eat, sleep, and breathe baseball” has

always been his dream.

He plans on continuing baseball at

a junior college. From there, he hopes

to transfer to a four-year college and

play there.

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

DAPHNE ONG

Tornado Times11

ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES

ALEX MIKHAILPOOR

FLAGS PLACES AT NATIONALS

ALLEN AU | TORNADO TIMES

As emotions ran high, flags flew

strong as the school’s pep

flags made a final and lasting

impression at Nationals late March in

Anaheim. Tears were flowing when the

team fin ished and was rewarded with

its trophies.

The team earned second place for

one flag routine, third place for two

flag routine, and the overall sportsman-

ship award.

“Placing at finals was my goal the

entire year,” captain Aneeka Atwal

(’11) said. “However, winning the

sportsmanship award meant the most

to me as people not only observed our

skills as a team, but also our personal-

ities.”

The team accredited the strong

family bond and the goal of placing as

the main reason for being successful

this year.

The team practiced “anywhere and

anytime [it] could find a place with an

outlet for [its] boom box,” Atwal said.

Atwal believes the team will be

even better next year and has high

hopes that “the team can be National

Champions.”

The team still has its biggest show

remaining, the Pep show occurring

May 27 in the auditorium, where the

seniors will perform for the last time.

“We’ve been training day in and

day out all our high school lives for

this,” member Stella Yi (’11) said.

April 28, 29 April 305:15-7:30 9:00-3:00

FLAGS: (clockwise from topright) Captain Aneeka Atwal displays her enthusiasm toward the

crowd. The team keeps its poise during its one flag routine last month where it placed second.

Soo Lee catches a flag during the two flag routine in which they won third place.

Pep flag tryouts in small gym

12 April 26, 2011Tornado Times

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