Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

8
fountain valley highschool 17816 bushard st. fountain valley, ca 92708 volume XXX, issue 2 monday, nov 14, 2011 www.baronbanner.com index T rick or… Tracker? That’s right tracker. Trick or Tracker is a cell phone app, especially designed to keep track of where children are going when they are trick or treat- ing. However, the app is not simply limited to Hal- loween. In fact, Trick or Tracker is one of many apps that have the ability to keep track of children, or anyone else for that matter. Other apps in- clude MobileMe and Look- out Mobile Security. They all serve the same purpose: to follow where a child (or another person) is with a simple touch of a button. - -Sadaf Qadir- - staff writer Where Will Technology Take Us Next? >> News (2): Trick or Tracker New Girl - -Jackie Liu- - staff writer >> Entertainment (4): New Girl T he Fountain Valley Roy- al Regiment reached the midpoint of their season on Halloween weekend after taking their tour to St. George, Utah. The band struggled through tough competition against 32 other bands from different states, with their fi- nals performance taking 8th place. However, their slight disappointment was over- shadowed by a standing ova- tion in response to their work on the field. The Royal Regiment is of- ten portrayed as a top tier or- ganization through dramatic BBN clips and positive gen- eral consensus by the public in football game performances. Unfortunately, these are often misrepresentations. When compared with other bands on a state level, Fountain BAND: FVRR performing at the Bell Game - -Jeffrey Wang- - staff writer Behind the Scenes of Band >> Sports: Band news sports opinions entertainment 2 3-6 Sept: Seniors of the Month Jeffrey Wang and Quinton Dang Oct: Seniors of the Month Christine Tran and Melissa Casiano >>Bell Game SPORTS SECTION (4,5) >>ItrIya Cafe Review Entertainment (8) A New Classic: Edison Assembly - -Jeffrey Wang- - staff writer >> News (2): Assembly+Gallery PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Rose Ratzlaff >>Edison Assembly Gallery News (2) F riday’s spectacle detract- ed from the traditional assembly format. Initially preparing an ambitions out- door assembly, Fountain Val- ley’s ASB obviously wanted something different. “We wanted to do some- thing completely different and we thought it’d be an awe- some way to get more stu- dents involved,” says Cindy Nguyen (’12, ASB Assembly Commissioner). “One assem- bly would make the school feel more unified and brought together.” Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned. The one year that the ASB decides to implement their new idea, the rain gets in the way. Nonetheless, even through tough weather con- ditions, the show must go on. In this case, a pep rally in the gym proved to be a successful alternative for the infamous Edison Week pep rally. The slew of makeshift pro- cesses began with Mr. Hertz- feld’s announcement after the Pledge of Allegiance that an indoor assembly will take place. Another announcement for all band members to report in followed afterwards. (The original plan was for band to play only if the assembly was outside.) These minor deci- sions before 3rd period served to further hype up the event. On first entrance into the gym, students were in for a set of surprises. The seat- ing arrangement consisted of the home side of the stands, chairs, and spots on the floor. The lights were on. The band stood against the wall playing their loud tunes behind the football players. Nathan Moss’ (’12) voice directed the crowd in chant. For once, FVHS students were listening to a real voice during an assembly, not a pre- recorded automaton. Unlike past assemblies, students were not mere spectators amid the assembly action. Instead, they were motivated to cheer along and interact. The next series of perfor- mances remained similar to those of other assemblies, N ever underestimate the power of Zooey De- schanel and her freak- ishly large eyes. As a bunch of crappy new fall shows begin to get canceled, New Girl con- sistently delivers with ratings. In fact, the most recent epi- sode pulled in 9 million view- ers, surpassing Glee. Zooey Deschanel did so well in 500 Days of Summer playing the unattainable hip- ster girl that FOX has decided to give her her own show where she can do just that. If you haven’t seen New Girl, don’t. It is basically a half-hour long parade of Zoo- ey Deschanel being cute. If you like her, then you will like her show. But if you don’t, stop reading this article now. The writers of New Girl have concocted a story where- in Deschanel’s character, Jess, 7 8

description

Published November 14th, 2011

Transcript of Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

Page 1: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

fountain valley highschool

17816 bushard st. fountain valley, ca 92708

volume XXX, issue 2

monday, nov 14, 2011

www.baronbanner.com

index

Trick or… Tracker? That’s right tracker. Trick or Tracker is a

cell phone app, especially designed to keep track of where children are going when they are trick or treat-ing. However, the app is not simply limited to Hal-loween.

In fact, Trick or Tracker is one of many apps that have the ability to keep track of children, or anyone else for that matter. Other apps in-clude MobileMe and Look-out Mobile Security. They all serve the same purpose: to follow where a child (or another person) is with a simple touch of a button.

- -Sadaf Qadir- -staff writer

Where Will Technology

Take Us Next?

>> News (2): Trick or Tracker

New Girl- -Jackie Liu- -

staff writer

>> Entertainment (4): New Girl

The Fountain Valley Roy-al Regiment reached the midpoint of their season

on Halloween weekend after taking their tour to St. George, Utah. The band struggled through tough competition against 32 other bands from different states, with their fi-nals performance taking 8th place. However, their slight disappointment was over-

shadowed by a standing ova-tion in response to their work on the field.

The Royal Regiment is of-ten portrayed as a top tier or-ganization through dramatic BBN clips and positive gen-eral consensus by the public in football game performances. Unfortunately, these are often misrepresentations.

When compared with other bands on a state level, Fountain

BAND: FVRR performing at the Bell Game

- -Jeffrey Wang- -staff writer

Behind the Scenes of Band

>> Sports: Band

news

sports

opinions

entertainment

2

3-6

Sept: Seniors of the MonthJeffrey Wang and Quinton Dang

Oct: Seniors of the MonthChristine Tran and Melissa Casiano

>>Bell GameSPORTS SECTION (4,5)

>>ItrIya Cafe ReviewEntertainment (8)

A New Classic: Edison Assembly

- -Jeffrey Wang- -staff writer

>> News (2): Assembly+GalleryPHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Rose Ratzlaff

>>Edison Assembly GalleryNews (2)

Friday’s spectacle detract-ed from the traditional assembly format. Initially

preparing an ambitions out-door assembly, Fountain Val-ley’s ASB obviously wanted something different.

“We wanted to do some-thing completely different and we thought it’d be an awe-some way to get more stu-dents involved,” says Cindy Nguyen (’12, ASB Assembly Commissioner). “One assem-bly would make the school feel more unified and brought together.”

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned.

The one year that the ASB decides to implement their new idea, the rain gets in the way. Nonetheless, even through tough weather con-ditions, the show must go on. In this case, a pep rally in the gym proved to be a successful alternative for the infamous Edison Week pep rally.

The slew of makeshift pro-cesses began with Mr. Hertz-feld’s announcement after the Pledge of Allegiance that

an indoor assembly will take place. Another announcement for all band members to report in followed afterwards. (The original plan was for band to play only if the assembly was outside.) These minor deci-sions before 3rd period served to further hype up the event.

On first entrance into the gym, students were in for a set of surprises. The seat-ing arrangement consisted of the home side of the stands, chairs, and spots on the floor. The lights were on. The band stood against the wall playing their loud tunes behind the football players. Nathan Moss’ (’12) voice directed the crowd in chant.

For once, FVHS students were listening to a real voice during an assembly, not a pre-recorded automaton. Unlike past assemblies, students were not mere spectators amid the assembly action. Instead, they were motivated to cheer along and interact.

The next series of perfor-mances remained similar to those of other assemblies,

Never underestimate the power of Zooey De-schanel and her freak-

ishly large eyes. As a bunch of crappy new fall shows begin to get canceled, New Girl con-sistently delivers with ratings. In fact, the most recent epi-sode pulled in 9 million view-ers, surpassing Glee.

Zooey Deschanel did so well in 500 Days of Summer playing the unattainable hip-ster girl that FOX has decided to give her her own show where she can do just that.

If you haven’t seen New Girl, don’t. It is basically a half-hour long parade of Zoo-ey Deschanel being cute. If you like her, then you will like her show. But if you don’t, stop reading this article now.

The writers of New Girl have concocted a story where-in Deschanel’s character, Jess,

7

8

Page 2: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

2 News

This device works on phones that have GPS-like abilities. The way the devices work is that the tracking app is downloaded onto the phone that a person wants to track. From there, a person may track the location of the phone via internet or another smart phone. Some of these devices also allow the tracker to view call lists and texts also.

The apps also have “geo-fences” which make them more children specific. If chil-dren go out of a certain region, the parent will receive a text message notifying them. The main purpose of these apps is

to allow parents to keep track of their children, especially on Halloween.

One of the pros of this app is that parents don’t need to tag along with their children to know they are safe. The cons of this app are that the child you are tracking needs to have a phone and it depends on whether or not you think a seven-year old deserves to have a phone. It even seems as if more trust is in an app than in your children.

FVHS students have been asked to give their opinion on this app.

Emily Lam ’13 says, “If par-ents are attentive and respon-sible enough, they wouldn't need to keep track of their kids

>>Trick or Tracker Front (1)

APP: Trick or Tracker app from cellphone

on Halloween. What’s wrong with good, old-fashioned watching them? The only time I'd feel it's not lazy/inatten-tive for parents to use the app, is if they have 10 kids or some-thing. That’s too many to keep track of.”

Darcy Le '13 says, "I actu-ally think this is only useful in extreme emergency situations where a child runs away or gets kidnapped, it'll be help-ful to have a tracking device for investigators to search. But otherwise, no, it's not that great because it lessens the amount of trust between a child and a parent. Especially, if the parent calls the child to check up on him or her and thinks their child is lying."

PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Rose Ratzlaff

Edison Assembly Gallery>>Assembly

Front (1)but with a slight influence from the pep rally setting. The dance team battled it out against their Edison counterparts. Drum line dominated the floor as usual, but this time, layer-ing in an “FVHS” scream in their show. The football team engaged in the rug-by Haka, instilling fear and awe in the audience. These small quirks culmi-nated to an inspirational display in the gym.No one knew what was going to happen on Fri-day. It would be safe to bet that not even ASB it-self knew exactly how the assembly would turn out. There was no time for glit-tery effects or sparkling light shows, only the core

elements of the assembly were intact: the cheers, the numbers, the message. As it turns out, nothing more was needed.

A key element to the success of the pep rally was the lack of plan-ning. It not only prepared the audience with sur-prise and anticipation, but also made the act more or-ganic.

ASB may have only set out to unify students for Edison Week, but this assembly proved that a switch to the classic as-sembly set-up can get Bar-ons even more charged than the usual painted props and scripted jokes. How future ASB, student organizations, and teach-ers plan to top this assem-bly remains a mystery.

Page 3: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

SPORTS

The Barons boys' water polo team took on the Edison Chargers this

past Wednesday, Novem-ber 2nd. In their last game of the season the boys couldn't pull out the vic-tory as they lost 1-15.

The Barons started off the first period allowing

Edison to gain up a huge lead. The poor start was customary to the Barons season, only 30 seconds into the game the Chargers conceded their first goal. The Barons did manage to create some chances and fired 3 shots, testing a strong Edison keeper, but the boys could not convert. The rest of the first quarter

the Barons could not stop the barrage of the Charger offense allowing 5 more goals to end the quarter down 0-6. The last two goals coming in the last 30 seconds.

In the 2nd quarter the Barons played their best polo of the game. They tightened up the defense and pressed aggressively.

FV Water Polo Edison Week

- -Wade Sias- -staff writer

Unfortunately right off the drop the Barons gave up an easy turnover and Edison converted and easy breakaway. From then on though the Barons cleaned up shop in the back along with strong blocks from Chad Halstad ('14). At the 3:40 point the Barons went up a man on the power play and Shawn Carroll ('12) converted the Barons only goal of the game. The Barons had finally seemed to gain some resemblance of a fight but it was cut short with less than two minutes left by another Ed-ison goal. The game stayed a dismal 1-8 at the half.

Starting off the second quarter the Barons were hurt by another blunder of a turnover to open the quarter and with a little more than 1:30 in they gave up another. Only second after the goal the Barons were again thrown a big blow. Carroll, the captain and only goal scorer, was ejected from the game for rough contact. The rest of the quarter was littered with penalties by both

teams and Edison convert-ed 2 more to bring the tally to 1-11. In the final quarter of the Baron’s season there was very little hope for a salvation. Once again the Barons allowed an early goal, only to be followed by more Charger goals. The final score coming to a 1-15 loss for the Barons.

“There was no inten-sity, and we didn’t play smart,” Brandon Lacy ('12) summed up the game.

The Barons took too many penalties to give themselves a chance and routine to the season the Barons went down early and went down far enough to make it impossible to dig themselves out. The early plan to the game was to “press hard and to not foul” said Connor Hals-tad ('12); but the Barons allowed too many shots and could not control their tempers. The Barons ended the Sunset League 1-3 and placed 5th of 6 in one of the toughest leagues in Orange County. The boys ended the season with an overall record of 6-23.

With the last week of the Fountain Valley High

School Field Hockey of-ficial season over, the se-niors on the team only have memories to hold them of the FV field hock-ey moments in the past years. The Lady Barons ended the season with a strong determination and great teamwork.

On Tuesday, October 25, FV played a home game vs. Marina High School. Varsity played hard in the first half and it came out as a tie. Unfortunately, the Barons were scored on twice more and the ending score was a loss of 3-1. JV played after, determined to even out the score with the Marina Vikings. The jv team fought it out hard on the field and scored once. The Vikings unfor-tunately got in a goal with a short corner still in the first half, but within the next 5 minutes, the Bar-ons shot another goal and scored. In the second half, both teams came close, but neither scored, resulting in a Baron victory 2-1.

Two days later, the Field

Hockey team played their last game of the season at Huntington Beach High School. Seniors were con-sciously aware that this was their last field hock-ey game as Barons. And so varsity went onto the field ready to give their all to the last game before next year, or for some se-niors, the last official field hockey game of their life. HB came fast and furious, shooting on varsity goalie Alex Capuano (’12) non-stop, whom even stopped one goal by performing the splits in all her goalie padding, being a spec-tacular sight. The defense did a great job, especially senior Nichole Schwartz (’12), who noticeably con-tributed to the game great-ly. Unfortunately, the Var-sity team lost, 0-5. JV also did a wonderful job, being the first team to score on the field, and holding the upper hand, 1-0, during halftime. Unfortunately, the Oilers came back de-termined and scored three times, finalizing the score 1-3.

It was a roller coaster of a year for everyone on the team, but in the end, the Barons did not make it to the LAFHA playoffs.

Last Week for Field Hockey Season

- -Jessie Le- -staff writer

Girls Golf Ends on a High Note

The lady barons soccer girls have been prac-ticing hard every day

since the very first week of school. Although in the be-ginning of school, the girls were training hard by do-ing offseason fitness work-outs after school, the girls are now working hard with having tryouts to decide which girls will make each of the teams.

“We are looking forward to a victory this year and for a rank in the CIF league,” commented Scott Goldman, the new varsity team coach.

The lady Barons placed 2nd overall in league for the season. Lilia Vu

(’15) made it into CIF south-ern regional individual and win with a 4 under 70. The girls were 12-4 for the sea-son.

“We kept up the strong effort until the very end at CIF,” said Jasmine Lieu (’12), captain of the varsity team, “I’m proud of my teammates for their low scores and dedi-cation. Next year, they’re go-ing to place 1st!”

Girls Soccer Preseason“This will be our year and my assistants and I will be working out hardest to make sure the girls are in shape before the season begins.”

Even though, the girls have just received their new coach, they could already feel the improvement in themselves to push harder. With more than 10 of the girls injured, the coaches are emphasizing the importance of taking care of pain and soreness from the long and hard workouts after school.

This year, the coaches were very pleased to find that many freshmen have decided to try out for the team this year. Over 30

- -Selena Yaghoubi- -staff writer

freshmen came out to the field on Monday to take an opportunity to join the team this year. “If I find a fresh-man player that has the abil-ity to play on the varsity team, I will move them onto the team immediately,” em-phasized Coach Goldman.

This Wednesday, the teams will be decided and positions will be filled. Al-though more than 60 girls have tried out for all of the teams, only 20 are expected to be on each of the three teams. To all of the girls that have tried out, good luck!

Girls soccer is a winter season sport, and the first team game/scrimmage will be held on November 22, 2011 against Corona Del Mar High School for all levels.

WATERPOLO: Nick Frens takes a shot on goal

BELL GAME EDITION

PHOTO CREDIT: Julie King

- -Angelica Yaghoubi- -staff writer

PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Rose RatzlaffGOLF: Captains Jasmine Lieu and Sally Kim

Page 4: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

FV BARONS

The Battle of the BellFVHS BARONS

1 0 0 0:- -Angelica Yaghoubi- -

sports editor

Barons Manage Well with Close Game

A win in the eyes of all supporters

The Barons NEVER give up!

VS

From the infectious spirit of the crowd waving yellow tow-

els to the sheer effort and solid playing by the foot-ball team, this night was unforgettable. Though the Barons didn't bring the Bell home, the close game against Edison was most telling and a sign of good things to come. The heart-breaking 14-10 loss in last Friday’s game doesn't re-flect the accomplishments of the varsity football team.

The first half was all Bar-ons; the band stunned the crowd before kickoff and the 10 points that appeared on the board for the visit-ing side. The defensive line stopped the starting Char-gers opening drive and the Baron offense took it back down field to set up for a 47- yard field goal scored by Derek Huynen (’13) with less than five minutes in the first quarter.

Early in the second

quarter, quarterback Chris D’entremont (’13) connect-ed with Wyatt Christenson (’13) for a 19-yard touch-down pass. An extra point added to the Baron's 10-0 lead .

Hopes of holding the Chargers scoreless was short lived when, late in the second quarter, with 41 seconds of play left, the Chargers scored their first points on a 20-yard touch-down pass. Leaving them just a field goal behind the Barons at halftime with a score of 10-7.

Yet, the scare by the Barons just didn't last the entire game, which went back-and-fourth as the Barons and the Char-gers shared possession of the ball. Though, as time unraveled, the Chargers scored a touchdown in the last quarter to push them up four points ahead of the Barons. Supporters chanted in unison “I believe that we can win,” an echo from the assembly earlier Friday af-

ternoon. “Out of the last

3 years I’ve played in the Bell Game, this one was the most intensive and closest battle,” said Huynen.

The game’s out-come fell short of the Baron's expec-tations, especially considering the halftime reading of the score board. Nevertheless, the team proved how resilient they have become. The Bar-ons successfully held Edison to just 14 points when they've been aver-aging 27 points per game this season.

Page 5: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

EDISON CHARGERS

The Battle of the BellEHS CHARGERS

1 40 0

The Barons NEVER give up!

VS

CARTOON CREDIT: Ryan ChuDESIGN CREDIT: Emily ChuPHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Rose Ratzlaff and Tue Duong

BELLGAME: Dereck Huyen #18 scoring the first touchdown

Page 6: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

SPORTS

It’s the best time of year, basketball season. Even though there’s no NBA

season, basketball still lives on in Fountain Valley.

The Barons are getting ready for the upcoming season with high hopes and an experienced squad which consists of six re-turning players. Last year the Barons hired alum-ni coach Roger Holmes, whom is in the Baron Bas-ketball Hall of Fame and

Boys Soccer Season Preview

- -Wade Sias- - staff writer

SOCCER: Wade Sias preparing to defend for the Barons

The boys' varsity soc-cer season this past year was very bit-

tersweet. The goal for the season was to get to the CIF playoffs like many other soccer teams in Cali-fornia. Though, the loss at Ventura in the first round of CIF was from a sudden death in over-time, which was certainly a heartbreak for the squad. Yet, there were many posi-tives to take from that sea-son and to bring into the upcoming season.

The Barons will only for-tunately lose a small group although each player was integral to the roster. The now sophomore class per-formed very well last year, Isaac Garcia ('14) received first team Sunset which is unprecedented for such a young athlete, and Joseph

No Lockout in Fountain Valley- -Nathan Nguyen- -

staff writeroriginally planned to re-tire, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to coach for his hometown. Even though the Barons under-went a huge change, hir-ing a new coach and im-plementing a new system, they made it into the sec-ond round of C.I.F play-offs.

However, this year, the Barons are entering the season with more certain-ty and a drive that will lead to many wins in the winter.

“It is now the second

split ('14) the entire season in goal with another young rising star Ryan Brown ('13).

This year’s senior class (Wade Sias, Ethan Morrow, Toshi Kimbara, and Eric Shearer) will likely become the core of the team. They are players with a good amount of varsity experi-ence who will help guide the team through the hard-ships as well as the high-points of the season and each game.

New additions to last year’s team include Travis Allison and Aaron Reeve playing their first year on varsity as seniors, Oscar Garcia ('13) who missed all last year after playing as a freshman and Mar-cello Ratinoff ('15), the lone freshman this year. Lead-ing theses players at the helm are coach Jason Smith who has coached nearly 20

Fountain Valley seasons with a career winning re-cord and many CIF appear-ances. Coaching alongside with him is David Sias, as assistant, and longtime as-sistant, Peter Dang.

The Barons' varsity teams are shaping up to be a real contenders for the top league spot espe-cially against Edison High School, who placed first last year, but lost a major-ity of its starting roster. All the elements of youth potential, as well as a solid and seasoned senior class all make the hopes for this year very bright.

There will be a lot ex-pected from the 11-12 Bar-ons varsity team and they have a great shot at not only getting the top spot in the competitive Sunset league, but also going far-ther than they did last sea-son in the playoffs.

Girls’ volleyball ended last Tuesday as our girls fought against Newport

Harbor. Despite their best ef-forts, the girls lost to Newport at the final game of 20-25. This season of girls’ volleyball has been an intense one. There hasn’t been one game where our girls went down without a fight. Seniors Nicole Pletkovic, Morgan Bilbruck, Kara Ramsey, Summer McCelland, and Ki-rah Pearson gave this final year their all, as they valiantly worked with the rest of the var-sity team to bring honor to the Baron name. In addition, we also have up juniors with up-coming talent that can lead the Lady Baron’s on to victory next year such as Nathalie Berardi-no, Laney Ehlers, and Courtney McClane. This year was a hard season where our Lady Barons

battled top ranked schools in the state like Huntington Beach. No matter how arduous or fe-rocious the opponent, our girls always got back up on their feet, ready to keep on fighting.

One of the highlights of the season was the girls’ game ver-sus Brethren Christian. Our Lady Barons wiped the floor with them and completely dom-inated them. It was a great way to start the season; however, af-ter that, our girls faced the best teams in their division, making it difficult to get to CIF. The low-est point of the season was the game against Los Alamitos. In a best out of five matches, they lost to Los Al three to none; the final score ended up being 15-25. At the end of the season, our girls tried their best and gave every game they had their all.

Summer McClelland was content the way she ended her final season her at FVHS and felt that overall the team did

Valley’s performances don’t quite reach the average skill level. The band’s show concept is no doubt a spectacular, but as an ensemble, the group has much to improve on.

Some members of the band also describe the organization as part of the best, but sub-par among the best. Most acknowl-edge that the group has poten-tial, but has yet to realize it.

“Some people just get it, and some people just don’t. This situation doesn’t help the group cause, which is the goal in marching band,” claims Ray Larzelere (’12), lead bass drum-mer who also marched in The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps this past summer.

At the Charter Oak Tour-nament on 10/15, the band won 5th overall, but 1st in

>>BandFront (1)

percussion, earning the cap-tion award. The imbalance in performance quality serves as a stumbling block to the band’s path towards excellence.

Despite their struggles, the Fountain Valley Royal Regi-ment remains one of the most successful organizations on campus. Their show, entitled “Monolithic”, features uncon-ventional concepts that lull the audience. The combination of music and visual techniques delivers a mysterious, mesmer-izing atmosphere.

Such a display must be ap-preciated live, as videos and recordings fall short in captur-ing the unique performance. The marching band’s next per-formance will be at the upcom-ing football game, and the last competition of their season is at Westminster High School on November 16th.

year with our new coach and we are much more familiar with what he ex-pects from us. Our team understands the amount of hard work that it must take to be successful and we are willing to do that,” said Jeff Law ('12) about their upcoming basketball season.

The first game is a scrim-mage against Woodbridge on November 21st at FVHS and the official season be-gins November 28th as the Barons enter the La Quinta tournament.

- -Johnny Nguyen- - staff writer

fairly well throughout the sea-son. She also stated that this was one of her closest years of making it league out of her four years playing volleyball.

" We battled and didn't go in with our heads down. We had a shot and made work for the ral-ly. We may not have won, but we did get some pride back and didn't let them walk all over us."

All in all, what the team can improve on this year is pass-ing and communication on the court. Our girls can be stellar on the curt during practice, but during the games, they let anxi-ety take the best of them. An-other skill that they could polish is talking on the court. Saying simple things like "I go", "Good hit!", along with comments and helpful critiques (not criticism) and largely improve their game play. Either way, great season ladies!(LEFT):Varsity girls ready to take it out of the court

Girls Volleyball: Final Report

BELL GAME

EDITION

PHOTO CREDIT: Julie King

Page 7: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

7OpinionsThe Gilded Class of FVHS

The prestigous Fountain Valley High School- -Adrien Ha- -

staff writer

Ask Cheryl is an enigma within an enigma within an enigma, and

she’s here to answer all of your questions. Just comment below to ask away, or friend Cheryl Harnett on Facebook. Write up your question and prepare to be dazzled.

Hello, college bound high schoolers, you are about to embark on a journey. This is of course known as the college application process. This is not a journey for the weak minded, and I know well my-self since I got into Harvard (Early Decision). Some of you will succeed and be accepted to the university of your dreams, but many of you will have those dreams crushed to smithereens by a tractor made of your inadequate grades and SAT scores. Hopefully, my advice can aid you before you press submit sometime in November, December, or January. (Did I already men-tion that I got into Harvard?) Dear Cheryl,

My parents want me to get a 2500 on the SAT, but I told them that this is impossible! -How Can I Be Better Than Perfect? Dear How Can I Be Better Than Perfect,

All you have to do is tell your parents that you are incapable of getting such a high score. Recieving a 2500 on the SAT is very difficult, but it is by no means impos-sible. And by difficult I mean its about as hard as finding

an elderly man dressed as a parrot in eighteenth century Botswana. I mean we can't all be perfect. I received my perfect score on the second time I took the SAT. The first time I took it I received a 2390, but I rarely like to disclose such a low digit. Just know that not everyone can do well on the SAT, and that's okay( or whatever you want to keep telling yourself). Dear Cheryl,

My dream is to attend Harvard, but do I get in with a just a 4.0 weighted GPA? -Harvard HopefulDear Harvard Hopeful,

Getting into the best school in the world is in no way an easy task for most. And let me start off by saying that I was quite an anomaly at Harvard because of my stats. During my freshman year of high school, I took AP Physics and took several theoretical psychology classes at the local junior college. I also worked in a psychology institute from seventh grade through my senior year. For my sophomore and junior years, I took all of the AP classes offered at my school because my IQ is "ridiculously high". Senior year, I only took college classes. I gradu-ated with a cumulative GPA of 5.6 and received numer-ous young scholar awards. Please note that the average Harvard applicant is much more accomplished than I am. So my advice is to go above and beyond and you might accepted! Unfortunately, not

everyone is allowed to call the Harvard Yaaad their home, nor able to say that they are among the smartest people in the country, nor able to wear a cute crimson sweater with the university's emblem without looking like they're trying too hard. Harvard is a great school on all accounts, and it would be a shame not to get in. As for your less than stellar GPA, it never hurts to dream! Confidence, even false confi-dence, is the first step. Dear Cheryl, Have you ever studied abroad? If so, how was the experience?-Trying to TravelDear Trying to Travel,

Yes, I actually did study abroad in Mexico. Let's just say that I learned, ate, and loved a lot. Just remember not to take any invitations to scale any gorges from "geology pro-fessors", they just want to sell you alpaca farms even though everyone knows that alpaca's are useless. Also, say no to anything donkey related. Remember to be open minded to other countries! Dear Cheryl,How can I afford tuition for college? Everything is so expensive. -Starving Student Dear Starving Student,

We all know that the econ-omy is in terrible shape and things are far from getting any better. College is very expen-sive, but that's why there are these things called parents. Just ask daddy to cough up some dough and you're set! Dear Cheryl, How do I get into Hogwarts? -Mo Muggles Mo Problems Dear Mo Muggles Mo Prob-lems,

Hogwarts is a fictional place and it is impossible to attend a school that does not exist. Hopefully that has cleared up any remaining childhood delusions you still clinging to post juvenescence.

“Fountain Valley High School is committed to maxi-mizing the learning, growth and development of every student.”

It is the not-so-well-known mission statement of Fountain Valley High School, and while it may not be famous, the staff here at our school has done its best to follow through.

At Fountain Valley, there are over 20 different Ad-vanced Placement courses are offered, and with a dis-trict-high of 52 classes each day, it’s obvious the school supports higher-level stu-

dents. Upon closer inspec-tion AP courses may not be as great as they may first ap-pear.

On AP courses, Princi-pal Herzfeld responded, “I think it’s a great opportunity for students to get a taste of college-level coursework, the highest level curriculum that we can offer, and to see just how many students can manage that and maximize their growth and their learn-ing development.”

The darker side has been spotted by students, how-ever. It seems as though AP courses do not focus on learning; rather, AP courses are geared more and more toward test-taking.

Kevin Nguyen (’13) com-plains, “The students are not learning, but merely cram-ming for tests only to forget about it with the approach of another test. This process does not allow students to achieve their full potential, to be creative, to explore and learn.”

Travis Allison (’12) adds, “AP teachers mainly teach for the AP test. They don't necessarily teach for learn-ing, but so that you remem-ber the information that will be on the test.”

So how could AP courses “maximize the learning” of every student if they don’t actually focus on learning? If not for the sake of learning,

then why do students bother to enroll in AP courses at all?

“Most kids in AP classes take them for the G.P.A. boosts, for the college admis-sions and applications, be-cause everyone knows that it’s extremely competitive,” says Kaitlyn Ha (’13), add-ing, “It’s kind of sad to think that kids have to sometimes take classes they don’t exact-ly want to take, you know?”

Students enroll in classes so that “AP” can be printed on their transcripts. These classes should perhaps be referred to as gilded classes. While it is true that they do provide some benefits to stu-dents, there is a cost.

According to AP Spanish 4 teacher, Mr. Yarnton, “This year alone we have a record number of teacher referrals for students to the support

specialist where kids are just overstressed.”

Perhaps it is not the cours-es which need to be fixed, but the idea itself. Students can end up applying so much pressure on themselves to succeed, without actually re-alizing what it means to suc-ceed. What is more valuable, getting a good grade in an AP test or expanding your knowledge in a class you en-joy?

There is still time in our lives for us to do pointless things in-stead of learning. It is definitely not the time to burn ourselves out with college-level courses before entering college.

Mr. Yarnton reminds us all, “You’re kids, you’re supposed to be kids, you’re supposed to go out and have fun.”

- -Cheryl- -

Let’s Go to College

#3

PHOTO CREDIT: Tyler Rose Ratzlaff

- -Noushin Ahdoot- -editorial editor

The Joy of Campaign AdsHermain Cain and Ed Lee grace

beautiful campaign ads this election season

It begins once again. That sea-son of pain, triumph, humor, and money. This is of course

the beginning of a new political season, the race of 2012. With ev-ery political race, politicians try to appeal to the hearts, minds, and most importantly, the pockets of Americans.

Turn on the television, or go searching on Youtube and you shall find a video titled "Now is the time for action!" with over 1.5 million views. You will see a rath-er old gentleman who identifies himself as Herman Cain's chief of staff, Mark Block. Truly, what the man says doesn't matter, it's what he does at the 40 second mark that grabs your attention and forces you to audibly scream and/or laugh. Why has he suddenly start-ed smoking? Where did he get that cigarette from?

Then, out of nowhere, appears the head of Herman Cain. He gently shifts his neck to view the audience and begins to make the slowest attempt at smiling in the history of mankind as the most inspirational song in the universe plays. By this time, tears should be streaming down your face, and there should be remnants of your brain splattered on the floor be-cause your mind was just blown. And then you are left with noth-ing but the memories of one of the greatest political ads in history. While critics have seen this ad as a campaign in favor of smoking, I believe that there is a much larger metaphor. Clearly, Cain is trying

to show the American people that he is going to smoke up the com-petition and kill you with sheer awesomeness. While you may not like the fact that the super pow-erful Koch brothers are funding Cain, or his immigration policy, we can all agree that this ad was beautiful.

This is not the only campaign ad that has garnered Cain some at-tention. "He Carried Yellow Flow-ers" is a video just as beautiful as the latter, albeit slightly more con-fusing. The video begins with a jingle that sounds like it was taken off of Microsoft Office Powerpoint and was titled "Countrysong1". In cowboy-esque font, read the words "There was a time in Amer-ica, when a man was a man..." to give you the sense of how terrible this country is now that men are no longer men. (They're ducks.) This alarming message is then followed by "and a horse was a horse..." What has happened to the America that we knew and loved?

The "real man" cowboy rid-ing on the horse slides into town where he has a confrontation with an anachronistic black cowboy. They start to fight, and then some-body shouts "cut" and you realize everything you know is false. This has been a movie set.

Mind blown? I think so. So if you have not already done so, watch these campaign videos and revel in their beauty because in an abysmal political world where money matters more than the wel-fare of the American people, we all need a chance to laugh at our candidates who too often take us for granted.

CAMPAIGN: “I am Americaaaa, one voice united WE STAND!”, Hermain Cain

PHOTO CREDIT: http://cache.gawkerassets.com/

Page 8: Baron Banner | Volume XXIX, Issue II

8 Entertainment

Itriya Café was just re-cently opened in Sep-tember at Diamond

Jamboree. This place is all about Italian-Korean food fusion; Spaghetti and Ssaam. I just so hap-pened to be a fan of both cuisines, so I decided to take a trip down to Tus-tin and try this place out.

Perfect for lunch and dinner, Itriya Café has grown popular for their variety of spaghettis, which they call the “Spa-ghetti Revolution.” They are also known for their Ssam, a Korean dish consisting of marinated meat, rice, and vegeta-bles, wrapped in lettuce, and Taconini, Itriya Ca-fé’s take on a Panini taco with Korean meat.

During my visit, I was able to try out the Crispy French Fries, the BBQ Short Rib Ssam, the Spicy Pork Taconini, the Beef Bolognese, the Aglio e Olio, and the Clams Von-gole. The meal started off strong with the fries as an appetizer. The fries

were served with a melt-ed cheese sauce on the side, but it is safe to say that it was unneeded. The fried were perfectly cooked and seasoned; it had the ideal ratio of crispiness to fluffy, po-tato center.

Then came the main dishes, which were shared family style, all very pleasing. The BBQ Short Rib Ssam and the Spicy Pork Taconini tasted very similar with sweetly marinated pork and the Itriya Café slaw. The Beef Bolognese had a savory tomato and beef sauce that was seasoned completely, but the noo-dles were a bit bland.

Although the Aglio e Olio was fairly dry, it was packed with fla-vor from the parmesan cheese, red pepper, and garlic. The Clams Von-gole was the star of the meal. The sauce was so flavorful and the clams were cooked to perfec-tion. Such a simple dish, but gave the most satis-faction because of how well it was made.

I t r i y a C a f éI have experienced the“Spaghetti Revolution!”

- -Annie Pham- -staff writer

PASTA DISH#1: Beef Bologne

What also stood out at Itriya Café was the décor. There are spaghetti mu-rals and sleek tables. The restaurant is very open and has a nice outdoor seating area. The wait-ers are very attentive and friendly; I even got to talk with the owner for a bit. Itriya café has a great atmosphere and of-fers a variety of delicious fusion dishes. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Come try out the “Spaghetti Revo-lution!” Pleasant eating!

PASTA DISH #2: Short Rib Ssam

PASTA DISH #3: Clams Vongole

Diamond Jamboree

Center2740 Alton

Pkwy Irvine, CA 92606

Come to Itraya Café at

I can easily say that The Drowsy Chaperone is THE best show I’ve ever

seen at APA (Academy of the Performing Arts)…and APA has produced some top-notch shows. This re-view would go on for pages and pages if I touched on every amazing aspect of the performance, so I can only name a few.

The actors were exqui-site (as always) and fully developed each individual character. There was not a single character, or actor for that matter, I was not fond of. I was at the edge of my seat the whole night, taking in everything I could. Every line drew laughter from the audience, every scene in-cited thunderous applause. I had to constantly remind myself that these were not professionals, but mere high school students. How could it be?

The stars, Elizabeth

Romero (as Janet Van De Graaff), Devin Cortez (as Robert Martin), and Gar-rett Brown (as the Man in the Chair), shined so bright! With her amazing singing voice, Elizabeth could be on Broadway this very minute. Devin is obviously comfort-able in the role of Leading Man. Garrett provided so much in the comedy depart-ment- a major force in the musical. Along with these three, every single member of the cast achieved so much in just one performance and definitely proved they have talent. I can see each and ev-ery one of them going on to bigger and better things in the world of Musical The-ater.

The costumes were spot on and truly captured the glamour of the 1920s. The set design effortlessly con-veyed the various locations and made the stage unrec-ognizable. And I can’t forget about the premise. An old man in a chair sits to the side

and “watches” the perfor-mance with us. You see, we are listening to and watch-ing the soundtrack of his favorite musical. Through-out the night, he “pauses” the music, and therefore the play, and adds commentary. With every pause, the actors froze; with every rewind, the actors moved back and replayed the scene; and with every skip, the actors repeated their lines. This was simply entrancing.

I really wish it had a lon-ger run because I would def-initely see it again. These are some of the hardest work-ing kids I’ve ever seen. They deserve all the recognition in the world. If you’ve seen them perform, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, check out their website (www.hbapa.org) for upcoming shows. Make sure you all attend their next produc-tion: Leading Ladies from November 17-21; I know I’ll be there!

Drowsy Chaperone is a Hit at HBHBHS Academy of the Performing Arts’ production of hit musical

- -Rosie Toumanian- -staff writer

>>New GirlFront (1)

moves into an apartment in-habited by three guys, who are initially confused about hav-ing such a quirky girl in their midst, but grow to love her despite her craaazy antics, and decide to guide her through all of life’s trials and tribulations. Gee golly!

What these guys really should be doing is teaching Jess how to be a normal hu-man being. In the first episode she tries on a pair of overalls, thinking they are acceptable attire. Who does that? No one outside of 1994 does that. And yet, Jess still manages to look cute and charm everyone into thinking she is just “socially awkward,” no big deal.

Which brings me to my next point: Zooey Deschanel being socially awkward is not socially awkward at all. Socially awk-ward is fist-bumping some-one’s outstretched high-five. Socially awkward is laughing at a funeral. Socially awkward is showing up at Sears to have studio pictures taken of you and your pet turtles. Zooey De-schanel’s version of social awk-wardness is speaking in corny British accents and singing theme songs. That is not social awkwardness. That is an ador-able person being adorable.

Or, in her case, adorkable. An awkward person

wouldn’t look like Jess. They wouldn’t wear over-sized glasses or have lots of flowing brown hair. If that were true, we would all look like Zooey Deschanel, and that would be a

problem, because then I would be forced to punch everyone in the face. An awkward person is awkward for a reason: they have weird teeth and wear the same clothes everyday and overstep personal space boundaries. Megan Fox can dress like a hipster and belt out Elton John but it won’t make her awkward and unique any-more than writing “inspira-tional quotes” beneath your profile pictures on Facebook makes you seem deep to any-body but your stupid friends.

The writers want us to fall in love with their “alternative girl,” and lie awake at night wishing we could be as quirky and adorable as her. But alas, we cannot. Because to be the “New Girl” you have to be flat, one-dimensional, and static. You may not, under any cir-cumstances, have major flaws or show character develop-ment.

“New Girl sucks,” I said on several occasions.

“I hate New Girl,” I also said.

“New Girl is the worst show ever,” I said again.

Then my friend asked me, “When is it on?”

“Tuesdays at 9/8 central on FOX,” I replied, “but they’re on hiatus until November.”

My friend looked at me. There was a moment of real-ization. “You watch it, don’t you?” she asked.

Okay. So maybe I do watch New Girl. Regularly. But that doesn’t mean I don’t spend every second of it despising Zooey Deschanel and her sun-shine-y face and huge glasses, because I do. Really, I do.