Silver sword: system to go online soon

BY WENDY YUNEWS

At the end of the last school year, former Aragon Academic Advisor Sue Barizon retired and passed on her managing duties with the Silver Sword Program.

In her absence, the counseling office’s staff currently faces a time of transition as they also prepare for a new online self-reporting point system. The new online sys-tem will replace the present use of forms and signatures to track points.

Academic Advisors Norma Lopez and Patricia Bruce have taken over responsibility of the program. However, since Lopez and Bruce are both still new to the program, Silver Sword Com-missioners Victoria Bunarjo and Elena Roldan, both juniors, have been helping out in the managing process and in the processing of points.

Despite major changes in roles, the program still continues to track and process student com-munity service hours and points into the Silver Sword Database like previous years.

This year differs slightly from prior years because the office staff will focus more on calculating the seniors’ points, so that those who qualify for the Silver Sword Award will receive them before graduating.

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BLACK STUDENT UNION DANCE COMPETITION

The Aragon Dance Team opens up the sixth annual Black Student Union (BSU) sponsored dance competition, featuring schools from all over the Bay Area. Turn to page 3 for the full article and more details.

BY PETER ZHANNEWS

Aragon students may find their AP experience a little dif-ferent this year. AP tests are no longer mandatory for Aragon stu-dents enrolled in AP courses, and the College Board is taking away the quarter-point deduction for incorrect answers on the AP tests.

In response to recent concerns voiced by parents, school admin-istrators in the San Mateo Union High School District are clarify-ing policies aimed at encouraging students enrolled in AP courses to take the corresponding AP tests. The official wording of Aragon’s

policy toward the AP tests will change from stating that students are “expected” to take the test to “strongly encouraged.”

According to the San Mateo Daily Journal, “Elizabeth Stone, a district parent and an educational consultant, brought the miscom-munication to the district’s atten-tion.” Stone said that every stu-dent she had talked to said they thought the tests were mandatory.

Parents met in October this year to discuss three main con-cerns. The first concern regarded summer assignments for AP courses. They discussed whether the assigned summer homework

was more essential or more for enrichment, and a few were con-cerned that their children could not make summer due dates in time because of vacation plans.

As Aragon Principal Pat Kurtz explained, “all of the teachers I have talked to are extremely flex-ible regarding summer assign-ment due dates and are willing to work with the student’s schedules. By the educational code, teachers have the discretion to assign work over the summer.”

As of now, no changes have been made to summer homework policy. Parents were also con-

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New AP testing policy sparks controversy

Aragon High School900 Alameda de las PulgasSan Mateo, CA, 94402www.aragonoutlook.net

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage PAID

Permit No. 782San Mateo, CA

Turn to the centerspread to see the broad range of risks

that students have taken.

Turn to page 16 to get an update on Aragon’s varsity

basketball teams.

KENAN CHAN

MARTIN CONTRERAS

WednesdayPhoto by Kore Chan

Tuesday

ThursdayPhoto by Danielle Tong

FridayPhoto by Kore Chan

Photo by Samantha Soon

50thWeek of rallies commemorates

anniversaryBY BRANDON LIUNEWS

On January 21, 1961, now only marginally more than fifty years ago, Aragon High School opened its doors to students.

Flash forward five decades. After coming back fresh from a three-day weekend, Aragon stu-dents began a 50th anniversary celebration for the school’s 50th birthday. To celebrate, students participated in a decade-themed spirit week, and a week of rallies was organized and held by lead-ership.

On the week of Jan. 18-21, students dressed up in the spirit of past generations with out-of-style clothing and fashion sense. On Tuesday, the decade spirit week began by bringing out the

60’s as Aragon students donned headbands, tie dye shirts, and groovy shades. 60’s music played from school speakers, and stu-dents traded their pop music for classic bands like the Beatles.

On Wednesday, the school shifted into the 70’s and stu-dents got the chance to pull out clothing from the disco era. Afro-wigs, mini skirts, and maxi dresses could be spotted around campus. At lunch, students heard music from the 70’s era pouring out into center court, like Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees.

Students became even more motivated for the 80’s on Thurs-day and took the opportunity get creative with neon. Girls and guys alike sported workout

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Wrapped in black garbage bags, students run around center court in an attempt to navigate an obstacle course featured in Tuesday’s rally.

The Aragon Improv Team, acting as the “Hillsdale Dance Team,” faced the Aragon Dance Team in Wednesday’s rally.

Students compete in the wet and slippery dodgeball game featuredin Thursday’s rally.

Leadership passes out free cake to students on Friday in center court to finish off the week of rallies.

02 NEWS volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

The prank that referenced a Supreme Court case covered in Mr. Corti’s government class catches the attention of students on their way to class.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1-cerned by the difficulty of the AP courses, suggesting that a third, intermediary honors track be cre-ated. “However,” explains Kurtz, “the school district does not sup-port this—we had a discussion of this years ago, and decided that it would be difficult to divide stu-dents into three tracks, and that we could provide more enrich-ment with a two-track system.”

Finally, parents were con-cerned with the perception that AP tests were mandatory for AP course takers, especially since the AP tests are expensive, costing $87 per test last year.

Explained Assistant Principal Jim Coe, “some schools ran into issues because they used the word ‘required’ to persuade students to take the AP exam. At Aragon, we always used the word ‘expected.’ Additionally, we offer financial aid for those who need it. No student at Aragon has ever been turned away from taking the AP test because of financial reasons.”

In the past, Aragon students enrolled in AP classes were told that if they failed to take the AP test for a particular course, their transcripts would be changed to indicate that they had taken a non-AP course instead. Coe notes that “even though we had this

policy on record, there was always a way ‘out’ that could be discussed privately with the teacher and I.”

“Although ‘strongly encourage’ is not as rigorous as ‘expected,’” he added, “we still strongly recom-mend students take the AP test. The AP test is an effective way to compare students from around the country. ”

It seems that most AP students are unaffected by this change. Ju-nior Rebecca Wysong, who is tak-ing two AP’s, supports the change, noting, “even though I’m taking the AP tests at the end of the year, if somebody really doesn’t want to take the AP test, they shouldn’t have to.”

Senior Timothy Chidyausiku, who is taking four AP’s this year, stated that “it is impractical to not evaluate your own performance in class after committing two whole semesters of work. I don’t think that this will affect many people.”

When asked if she thinks that more students will take AP’s because of less

pressure to take the AP test, Kurtz replied, “No, I think the course is more difficult than the test. I think most students want to see how they did.”

The true effects of this district-wide policy remain to be seen. Hillsdale High School Principal Jeff Gilbert predicts, “Most stu-dents will continue as usual and there will be a few who either see it as an opportunity to stretch themselves and a few who see it as a chance to work a little less and avoid the test.”

In addition to the school dis-trict’s changed stance on AP tests, the College Board has decided to drop its quarter-point reduction for incorrect answers on AP tests. A spokeswoman said that the changes will feature “an increased emphasis on conceptual under-standing and discipline-specific skills, resulting in fewer and more

complex multiple-choice questions.”

BY TAYLOR WESTMONTNEWS

On Sunday, Jan. 9, a large piece of graffiti was discovered beneath the “Aragon High School” main entrance sign near room 324. The district painted over the graffiti shortly after it was discovered. No one has been caught, although the matter is being investigated by the administration.

At the minimum, the perpe-trator of the graffiti faces a one to five day suspension and must pay for the paint and labor it took to clean the graffiti. At this time, the school has a few leads as to who the suspect might be, but does not wish to disclose specific informa-tion.

“I was really confused when I heard what the graffiti said, be-cause it just seemed really weird,” mentioned junior Victoria Patton.

The message of the graffiti, “Bongs hit for Corti” carries a connection to government and AP psychology teacher Carlo

Corti. In his government class, Corti

discussed the court case Morse v. Frederick. The case came about when 18-year old Joseph Freder-ick was suspended after holding up a sign that said, “Bongs hit for Jesus” during the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay.

He sued, saying his First Amendment rights were violated. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that school officials did not violate the First Amendment,

per the School Speech Doctrine, which determines whether cer-tain things may be qualified as free speech.

The graffiti not only violated the School Speech Doctrine by advocating for illegal drug use, but also violated Aragon’s school policy in that it vandalized school property.

Any individual with relevant information about the perpetra-tors should contact the adminis-tration immediately.

AP tests policy changes

BY TAYLOR WESTMONT NEWS

On Feb. 14, at Temple Beth El, Aragon singers and musicians will perform for an audience of approximately 275 people at the annual fundraiser Music from the Heart.

Music from the Heart is ef-fectively a cabaret, a form of en-tertainment featuring songs per-formed by small groups of people. Cabarets are distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables, dining

and drinking, watching the per-formance being introduced by an emcee. Both vocal and instru-mental songs will be performed.

The chamber choir will be present, and music director Da-vid Martin says that “the chamber choir will act as bookends- they will perform at the beginning of the event and the end of the night.”

Chamber Choir is expected to sing “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” from the famous Disney movie Cinderella.

This year marks the first time that Music from the Heart has taken place on Valentine’s Day.

Despite the fact that it always has a Valentine’s Day theme, it always took place during a weekday close to Valentine’s Day.

Prices have gone up from last year, due to the fact that this year’s event will be ca-tered by a professional local chef.

“In the past, the food used to be cooked by only Music Booster parents, but this year the music department is trying something different,” commented band di-rector Troy Davis.

Students need to come up with a singing or musical group on their own and audition. They also need to rehearse at lunch, and

have dress rehearsals in the weeks leading up to the event. In ad-dition, students who vol-unteer will take tickets and help set up.

“I think Music from the Heart is a pretty good way for someone who wants to perform, perhaps

for the first time, to do so

in a comfortable setting,” commented

sophomore Marie Mihara. Tickets are being sold now

until Feb. 8. Student tickets cost $28, and adult tickets cost $40. Buy them online or get an or-der form at http://www.music-fromtheheart.tk/.

Graffiti welcomes students on a cold Monday morning

Love and harmonies are in the air for Music from the Heart

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Bunarjo comments, “We are

still continuing the method that Aragon has been using in keep-ing track of students’ commu-nity service hours and points. For multiple years, this system has not affected graduating se-niors from get-ting their silver sword awards, so I doubt that seniors this year will be negatively affected either.”

To ensure that the Silver Sword Program continues to run smoothly, Barizon comes in pe-riodically to check in. She also comes in to work on setting up and converting the old system to a new online program that will use a website called “One Thing.”

Created by Aragon parent Mehar Mahal and two other fam-ily members, “One Thing” is a website that aims to inspire individ-uals to volunteer their time in communi t y services as it accurately logs and c a l c u -lates the amount of time one con-tributes to community service using a point system.

With this program, Ba-rizon explains, “We hope to achieve a more efficient and stream-lined way of keeping track of Silver Sword p o i n t s that is more in keeping with to-day’s technology. Students will be able to report their activities and services on-line without having to fill out paperwork and run around getting forms signed. Most importantly, our Silver Sword Commissioners will not have the laborious job of keep-ing track of points with a card

index and a deluge of paper reg-istration forms at the end of each semester.”

Unfortunately, when the pro-gram will be introduced remains unknown due to technical is-sues that are currently being ad-dressed.

On the prog-ress of imple-menting the online system, Barizon says, “This process has been a bit more time con-suming and la-borious as we try to work with

their system, which is more com-plex and sophisticated then our current needs require. However,

I feel that the extra time and effort we put in now will

benefit us in the long run.”

Though the program is

not quite ready, se-

niors will be instructed

on how to use the site and how

to register their points starting in February. Once the

program is all set, it will be made available for the

rest of the student body. For the remainder of this year

though, the office staff will con-tinue processing and tracking points through using traditional form submissions and entering points into the Silver Sword Da-tabase.

Even with Barizon’s retire-ment, Aragon continues to keep the Silver Sword alive after 50 years and now readies the pro-gram for the next step into a more modern world of technol-ogy.

Aragon silver sword system to be upgraded

in efficiency

I feel that the extra time and effort we put in now will benefit us in the long run.”

-Former Advisor Sue Barizon

Visit www.aragonoutlook.net for more content!

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BY KATHRYN DEWITTNEWS

At the beginning of lunch on January 12, music blared from the loudspeakers like any other day. But senior Peter Zhan had a strange feeling as he walked out of the counseling office. Stopped suddenly by a crowd of students, faculty, and his own mother, Zhan’s premonition was confirmed; something was amiss. Within moments, Principal Pa-tricia Kurtz began a surprise award ceremony. She started by introducing Leroy Tripette of the Intel Science Program; Tripette explained that Zhan had been selected as a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search and presented him with an oversized $1,000 check.

Since 1942, the Intel Science Talent Search has identified some of America’s top mathemati-cal and scientific minds; some contest winners have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, and Fields Medals. Last year’s winner devel-oped a program to make space travel more efficient using the gravity and movement of plan-ets, allowing space missions to require less fuel.

Zhan’s microbiology project “Global Warming’s Impact on Living Organisms: A Quanti-tative Analysis of the Effect of Temperature on Bacteria” is rel-evant to what many scientists are researching. “I analyzed the effect of temperature on living organisms and compared that to the temperature effect on simple chemical reactions,” Zhan de-scribed. He explained that based on knowledge gained in his class-es of AP Statistics, AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, and AP Biology,

his completed calculations indi-cated that “life is much more sus-ceptible to global warming than a chemical reaction.”

Math teacher Andrea Gould and science teacher Katherine Ward, his mentors, had an easy job as Zhan took initiative and worked independently on his project.

For advancing to the semifi-nals, Zhan received $1,000 and Aragon High School also re-ceived $1,000 to help stimulate the growth of the science pro-gram in the school. Of the 1,744 contestants, 300 were named semifinalists by a panel of judges who are among the top scientists in their fields.

In attendance at the award ceremony were District Super-intendent Scott Laurence, School District Board Member Dave Pine, Aragon faculty, and Aragon students. Laurence praised Zhan after the ceremony, saying, “This is a proud moment for him, his family, and Aragon.”

On January 26, the Intel Sci-ence Program announced the 40 finalists that will go to Washing-ton, D.C. for a week in March to compete for up to $100,000 in prizes. Once there, the finalist can explain their work to the public, including scientists and govern-ment officials; they can also meet the other finalists, who share similar interest in math and sci-ence. The itinerary includes trips to politically, scientifically, and historically significant sites, as well as meetings with Members of Congress or other public ser-vants. A panel of judges decides the 10 winners based on inter-views with the finalist and their display of their research. Intel will announce the winners on the final night during a black tie gala.

Senior Peter Zhan was recognized on January 12 in center court for be-ing chosen as a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search.

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Mercy’s dance team show their attitude in a high-energy performance in Aragon’s main gym.

Christine McCaullife Middle School students proudly accept their first place trophy after their impressive stepping style performance.

BY JUSTIN CHINGNEWS

With the dawn of 2011, Ara-gon students experience the first winter formal that the school has seen in three years with the theme “Under the Neon Lights.” This last dance before Prom will be held in the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday February 5.

The dance, as the name sug-gests, will be held under colorful lights at the Hiller Aviation Muse-um. Tickets began at $20 and $25 with and without PAL respective-ly, and both rose by $10 this week.

Several rumors spread con-cerning the theme of the dance, the most notable being that the dance would be a “Sadie

Hawkins” themed dance, in which females are encour-aged to ask their partners to the dance. Though this was the theme for the 2008 winter formal, this aspect has been removed due to the isola-tion expressed by the Gay Straight Alliance and several administrators.

Students involved in the dance commit-tee welcome this change, alongside many others, includ-ing a larger facility to hold the dance. Leadership teacher Catherine Williamson says, “The winter ball used to be a dance in a small gym. It was a casual informal dance.”

Like other dances at Aragon, the winter formal has faced lo-gistical issues throughout the

years, which were re-sponsible for its three year absence. Ad-equate funding was

partially respon-sible for Aragon only holding three dances the previous year.

Dances them-selves are held primar-ily based on the budget and the availability of an appropriate facil-

ity for the dance. Williamson says, “If we break even, we [will] [hold a

winter formal] again.

It [also] depends on the booking of a room.”

However, students need not worry this year with better fund-ing and resources. Being held at a more spacious, off-campus site, Leadership hopes to attract at least 400 students this year to the dance. The new theme will make the cost of the dance less than it has been in the past with easier decorations. Froomin says, “Before it was just a winter-ized theme. Now [we are] going out-side that and creating a theme. It is a lot less expensive, but we are hoping for a better turnout.”

Visit www.aragonoutlook.net for more content!

03NEWSvolume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

Aragon student wins prestigious science award

Students await first winter formal in three years

BY BAILEY GODWINNEWS

The Black Student Union’s 6th annual Dance Competition occurred on January 22 in Ara-gon’s main gym. Teams ranging from four to twelve dancers from twelve schools participated in the competition against The Exprez-zion team, Aragon’s competing team. The Aragon Dance Team opened the show.

Sophomore Exprezzion dancer Gabrielle Tompkins says, “Seeing the competition last year made me want to do it; I love it. I think the event is the fun part.”

There were three judges in this year’s competition: Stephanie Fo-ronda, Ranier Castill, and Prin-cess Kennard, the dance instruc-tor of Brett Harte Middle School. BSU advisor Don Bush says, “We always pick judges based on if they have had experience in danc-ing before, or have taught dance at some point. We also have teach-ers judge occasionally.”

The theme of this years’ com-petition was: Which Celebrity Are You? Tompkins says, “For the theme, we decided to be our own celebrities.”

The winner of the competi-tion last year, Christa McCauliffe Middle School, participated along with several other teams from lo-cal schools around the district. Bush says, “Last year we had a re-ally good turnout; this might be the biggest one yet.”

The Exprezzion dance team consisted of six members, four of which competed. Tompkins

says, “We have two break danc-ers, an Indian dancer, and me. We [danced] to K-pop artist Shinee.”

Freshman breakdancer Akil Hamseth says, “Some of the moves we’ll be doing are the Cof-fee Grind, the semi-six step and the twelve-step. And another move we don’t know the name of, but we call it the ‘Original Munchie.’”

Dance teams undertake in-tense preparation for the compe-tition, Tompkins says, “We prac-tice two hours a day on school days, and four hours on weekends and days off.”

The competition started out with an assembling of all the teams together to dance to the Cha Cha Slide, by DJ Casper. The Aragon Dance Team introduced the performing teams, followed by Jazz Matazz Studio and Brett Harte Middle School. Freshman audience member Ria Patel says, “I came because it sounded inter-esting, and also the Aragon Dance Team is really good. I also wanted to see a lot of the other schools,

since I heard that their teams were really good too, but I like Aragon’s the best.”

Each remaining team from the competing schools performed afterwards. There were intermis-sions every three performances, in which one person from ev-ery school team would be called down to the floor and given ten seconds to show their moves. De-pending on how much applause a member got from the audience and how much spirit they showed in their dancing, the teams were narrowed down until four teams or so were left remaining. Of the cheering, Patel says, “You can see and hear the spirit from the schools.”

Unfortunately, there was a complication during the event: Aragon’s team Exprezzion’s CD wouldn’t play correctly due to a scratched disk. Nevertheless, the team managed to recover quickly, improvising and matching their movements with the unpredict-ability of the disc. They were later given one more chance to per-form with the fixed CD.

After last years’ winner, Christa McCauliffe Middle School, per-formed their dances, awards were given. Brett Harte Middle School won Most Enthusiasm, and the Spirit Award went to Weston Ranch High. Third place trophy went to San Mateo High School, Weston Ranch won second place, and Christa McCauliffe Middle School won first place for the sec-ond year running.

Co-captain of the Aragon Dance Team senior Andrea Ar-noldi summed up the event, say-ing, “It’s always fun. Everyone is spirited about their teams.”

Aragon dance competition attracts interest from around the Bay Area

04 NEWS volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1clothes and neon headbands in a variety of colors.

Freshman Marisa Jewett wore a hot pink outfit, complete with a headband, fanny pack, and leg-warmers.

However, there remained a perception that the spirit week was not receiving as much par-ticipation as expected.

Jewett was eager to wear Ma-donna-era clothing, but despite her spirit, many people did not dress up.

She says, “People need a rea-son to dress up. My middle school gave a prize for the grade that had the best participation, and everybody dressed up.”

This feeling seemed to carry over to Friday, as students and teachers alike found the 90’s theme difficult, and struggled to dress with a de-finitive style.

E n g l i s h teacher Victo-ria Daniel, who dressed up for the 70’s and 80’s days, says, “I think the 80’s were the most successful and students did a great job with the stereotypes. It was easiest to be resourceful and fun.” Daniel re-calls more successful spirit days like sports day and little kid day. She attributes the success to the fun themes, and the “accessibil-ity” for the students.

Leadership realizes that spirit is lacking because students are not motivated enough. In real-ity though, a school wide prize would be quite expensive and difficult to distribute.

Junior Allison Zober says, “We can’t give incentives, but we’ve learned that we need easier spirit days so people can dress up.”

The following Tuesday, the rallies began with a student from each grade participating in an obstacle course around

the school. After hopping, hula hooping, skipping, and garbage bagging, exhausted senior Shar-lin Waran rolled down the hill to come out on top with a vic-tory for the senior class of 2011. Although not many people watched, Waran says, “This event helped get more people tuned in for Wednesday.”

On Wednesday, the lunchtime event drew a much larger crowd of students, as people gathered around to watch the Aragon spirit squads.

To start, Junior Varsity and Varsity cheer squads drew cheers as they performed an initial rou-tine. Then, the Aragon dance team emerged victorious after they faced off against the “Hills-dale dance team” who was acted out by the Aragon improv team.

Thursday, teams of students competed in games of slip-n-slide dodge-ball in center court. For the final event, stu-dents attempt-ed to hit each other with balls

while sliding on a soap-covered tarp.

Finally, for the final celebra-tion on Friday, Aragon celebrat-ed with free birthday cake for all students. Leadership scrambled to accommodate the needs of the crowd of students who con-verged upon a cake-stacked table in front of the main office. Stu-dents carrying plates of frosting-covered cake was not an unusual sight by the end of the lunch period. As the cake slowly dwin-dled down and was eaten, Ara-gon commemorated its birthday one last time in the two weeks of celebrations. This celebration, however, is not likely to be Ara-gon’s last for its 50th birthday.

Tardy policy ignites debate

BY KIRA BRENNER

NEWS

Saturday school brings to mind the iconic image of the ac-tors in The Breakfast Club danc-ing on the library tables; Aragon’s Saturday school, on the other hand, aims to take a much more serious approach.

The new tardy policy at Aragon dictates that after receiving five tardies, the student must attend Saturday school. The four-hour sessions are held every Saturday. After the fifth tardy has been giv-en, the student in question must attend Saturday school at the end of the same week the fifth tardy was received, “If students come and speak to me in advance about a conflict, then arrangements can be made. Rescheduling is a possi-bility… it’s not etched in stone,” says Dean Michael Valmonte on scheduling conflicts with Satur-day school.

Despite any criticism that the new policy has faced, there is quantifiable evidence to say that the tardy policy has improved timeliness. In the fall semester of 2009, (August 17-December 18), 12009 tardies were recorded from 1131 different students. In the fall semester of 2010, (August 16-De-cember 17), 9614 tardies were recorded from 1102 different students. The number of tardies

went down by 2395 tar-dies and 29 less students were recorded as being late to class.

Students have varying opinions on the policy itself. Freshman Nicole Horita says, “I know that it makes most people want to be late less. [The policy is] semi-success-ful in that it has turned some people off of being late to class, but there are still the same people who will always be late.”

In reference to Sat-urday school, English Teacher Victoria Daniel says, “While I wish re-percussions were more immediate and students served detentions the same day, there are com-plicating issues. I realize that it is not practical or doable.” Daniel says, “I

think that getting the parents to be involved in the process would be extremely beneficial.”

Many say that Saturday school is not enforced for all students who should attend. Freshman Paige San Felipe says, “I’ve heard plenty of friends say that they have just not gone to Saturday school and they have definitely been late five times before.”

E n g l i s h Teacher Me-lissa Perino says, “Most kids will make an attempt to be on time... The policy has not changed repeat offenders.” Perino has spoken to some of her regularly late students. Perino says, “I have heard that some stu-dents have not actually attended a Saturday school they were as-signed to, and when the punish-ment isn’t enforced it sends out the message to kids that it’s okay to be late again.”

Some of the students who don’t attend Saturday school might be missing the session because they are genuinely not aware of it. Many have found that checking the status of their tar-dies with the new policy is cum-bersome and somewhat unclear. Freshman Liam Berryman says,

“I don’t know how many tardies I have; I don’t particularly like the tardy policy because it can be confusing.” Berryman says that he has tried to check before, but he cannot figure out the exact num-ber of tardies he had with all the different online systems.

A worrisome Saturday school development for many teachers is that if the full punishment is not enforced then the student might be less inclined to make an effort to be on time to their class. Peri-no says, “I have also heard that students have been let out early [from Saturday school].”

Berryman thinks that some teachers may have given him a few chances, “I have probably been late to class more than my teach-ers have given me tardies for.” When teachers do not follow the policy for the first few violations, it can encourage students to take the policy less seriously, which will lead to more tardies.

Junior Tyler Anderson says, “I have been assigned to go to almost every Saturday school since the beginning of this year.” As a regular student of Saturday school Anderson says, “I have got-ten nothing out of the experienc-es. I don’t feel more [inclined] to be on time.”

Students had a variety of re-actions in terms of the overall successfulness of the new pol-icy. Junior Quin Rogers says, “I feel like [the tardy policy] hasn’t stopped

the problem and it is ineffective.”Although some faculty mem-

bers and students at Aragon still feel that the tardy policy can be improved, administration was successful in decreasing tardies by a little over five percent from the fall semester of 2009 to the fall se-mester of 2010.

Valmonte says, “The new tardy policy has been very successful. The proof is when the bell rings and there are not a lot of students standing around [center court].”

Valmonte says that the policy is working because, “A policy is only as good as its execution; oth-erwise, it is just a policy.”

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“A policy is only as good as its execution; other-wise, it is just a policy.”

-Dean Michael Valmonte

Aragon’s birthday receives two-week

celebration

Members of Aragon’s spirit squad watch alongside other students as the Dance Team concludes their performance in center court.

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Visit aragonoutlook.net for updates on future “50th an-niversary” commemorations!

“We can’t give incentives, but we’ve learned that we need easier spirit days so people can dress up.”

-Junior Allison Zober

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05ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTvolume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

LAYOUT BY JANICE PANGBANNER PHOTOGRAPH BY MARCELLO E.

06 FEATURES volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

BY CHRISTINE KALIFEFEATURES

MySpace, Twitter, Tumblr, Formspring, and Facebook. There is no doubt that social network-ing has evolved tremendously over the past few years to a point where these sites seem to domi-nate society today.

Facebook has revised its entire site, added new features and ap-plications, and even updated all of its users to its new profile. Some of these changes may be making it even easier for complete strangers to access personal information, including a recent feature added that allows users to update their location status, which appears on their Wall and friends’ newsfeeds.

“I personally don’t use the location [feature], but I’ve seen other people [use it]; its popped up, and I find that a little too per-sonal, a little unnecessary,” says freshman Annika Ulrich.

“I mean if you choose to do that, then it’s up to you,” says junior Dustan Li, taking the in-different route when it comes to Facebook applications.

The locator feature is not the only thing adding to the privacy dilemma affecting Facebook us-

age.“I thought it was kind of

creepy. I don’t want to know ev-erything there is to know about someone,” says senior Hannah Hibbs about the ‘See Friendships’ option.

Sophomore Shantell Montuya says that she does not have a Face-book account “because I know there’s a lot of drama happening on there, and I don’t want to be in it.”

The fear of being overexposed on the Internet has grown along with all of these recent changes. Students are more aware of how these networking sites have affect-ed their daily lives. “I deleted [my Facebook] because we watched a movie in Economics class about how it’s basically taking over the world and how extremely acces-sible it is becoming for anyone to see anything about you. It creeped me out,” says Hibbs.

While some are not as ready and willing to call it quits with Facebook altogether, they are still finding reasons to resist its evolu-tion. “I don’t like how Facebook changes things. It just makes ev-erything too complicated to re-learn,” Hibbs explains.

When discussing the new pro-

file, junior Stacy Ozorio says, “I like the old one better. This one, I think, displays too much of your information on the top.” “I don’t really use any of the applications. I just like to have quick contact with a wide range of people,” ex-plains Ulrich. She says the reason she has a Facebook is “because I know our class events like our fundraiser was announced on [it], and I felt like it was kind of necessary to keep up with current happenings.”

Others love Facebook for its easy access to friends. “A lot of the time people don’t have texting and I’m not really a phone caller for little things. And now people are on Facebook all the time, so it’s easier to contact them,” Ozo-rio explains.

Ultimately, the issues of pri-vacy are at the discretion of the users, and what may appear to be an unnecessary disclosure of information to one may appear critical facts to another. The topic of whether this social networking site has created a stalking evolu-tion merely depends on how one wishes to utilize their Facebook.

BY JACK HERRERAFEATURES

College spirit can be a de-termining factor for some high school students when it comes to picking a college. Others, how-ever, are as opposed to this con-cept as the Cardinal opposes the Trojan. As with all matters big and small, Aragon students were more than willing to let loose on their opinions of the value of school morale.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to get out of their com-fort zones, and makes way for some really great new experi-ences,” says sophomore leader-ship student Keaton Moe. “Spirit relinquishes stereotypes and brings people together under a common goal. It’s the pride that unites you and the [student] next to you.”

Moe sees spirit as vital in col-lege. “Traditions and customs [in college] create a tighter knit community. You become part of a bigger idea, and that’s what ev-eryone wants, right?”

For some, spirit and sports aren’t the most important fac-tor in choosing a school. “I first looked for academics, but if they had a particularly good athletic program it was a big plus,” says senior Nichole Kwee. “I’m mainly going to Rice University because it has a very good engineering program. They don’t have an of-ficial water polo team but they do have a club water polo team. They actually have an inner tube water polo team which sounds like a lot of fun.”

Some students do not care about ratings or the competi-tive level at all. “[College Sports] aren’t important, because a col-lege is made for education,” says sophomore Dominic Vercelli.

However, senior Danielle Mc-Sheery shares a different view. “I don’t plan on playing in college but I really enjoy watching sports as a spectator,” she says.

Aragon alumni and Brown University student Julia Borden looks back on the effect school spirit had on her college deci-sion. “For me, school unity and spirit are very important, but I’m not an avid sports fan,” says Bor-den.

While school pride was a factor in Borden’s search for schools, she expresses that the aspect of school pride transcends the sports. “When I started searching for schools, I wanted a school where I could have that school pride, but where the pride was more for the quality of the education instead of the quality of the sports program.”

“…Once I got to Brown I dis-covered that although I hadn’t thought I’d be interested in sports, going to games is a great way for the school to come to-gether and celebrate our pride,” says Borden.

School enthusiasm can be seen as a fantastic form of cama-raderie and friendship, or it can be seen as a roadblock on the road to success. It all really comes down to what one goes to college for. Does one go to enrich the mind, or the body? To train the body, or exercise one’s wit? Ara-gon students cheer for both sides of this argument yet realize that a mixture of both can lead to a ful-

filling college experience.

Spirit in Sports

LUNA LYNCH

Facebook evolution: from efficient to eerie

CHENWEN HWANG

BY ANTHONY LUFEATURES

Winter: the season of Kleenex, sore throats, and empty seats in class. The cold is as common as it is annoying, affecting many students at least once every year. When faced with the all-too-familiar virus, the conventional wisdom says to sleep and drink plenty of water. While many students simply wait it out, and some turn to their medicine cabinet for help, others have different ways to com-bat the cold. Have a look at some of these.

Junior Osama Miro “Chai tea, with ground up carrots.”

SeniorHaleyKilroy“Hotorangejuice.”

Junior Jonathan Pan“I drink orange juice. By the gallon.”

Sophomore Gabrielle Tompkins “Special tea with waiora.”

Kick the “achoos” to the curb

Senior Kyle Kim“My grandma has me drink a mix-ture of lemon juice and honey. It’s actually more of a shot of lemon

juice, and then you lick salt.”

EMILY YIP

Please visit aragonoutlook.net for more articles and photos.

Junior Hunter Muxfeldt“Lemon honey tea and ginger raw. Cut it up and chew on it . . . or put chunks in some tea.”

07FEATURESvolume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

BY PANIZ AMIRNASIRIFEATURES

Faced with unlimited op-portunities, discovering the right career proves to be a mind-numbing challenge for many. Although researching careers or speaking to those experienced in their trade can be helpful, they are not the same as having a first-hand experience.

In addition to providing behind-the-scenes views of interesting careers, intern-ships also bring those that take part in them one step closer to finding their future career.

While internships often introduce students to jobs they want to pursue, they can also eliminate jobs students are no longer interested in. Some stu-dents still apply for internships regardless of their cons.

“I had to work eight hours a day and I was always tired af-ter working,” says senior Stephan Chan. “The job itself wasn't really boring--I think c o n c e n t r a t i n g and always doing something pro-ductive just makes one tired after a long day.”

Chan interned at a biomedical-research company called Cordis/Conor Medsystems last summer.

“[The positive aspect of] the internship was learning new things, and talking with my co-workers. I enjoyed gaining new skills and knowledge that would help me complete certain tasks, and gaining knowledge that could

help me with my daily life . . . I had a lot of fun talking to [my co-work-ers], learning about certain invaluable les-

sons that could help me in the fu-ture. They were very kind to me, and helped me greatly with a lot of the projects I was assigned.”

Junior Anna Olson, who in-

terned at Stanford University’s Department of Cellular and Mo-lecular Physiology this past sum-mer, says, “Working in a lab envi-ronment with such a high degree of independence was new to me, and it had its pros and cons. Get-ting up somewhat early every day each week was a bit of a con, given that it was summer vacation, but my schedule was pretty flexible; overall, it wasn't bad.”

Olson adds, “I enjoyed work-ing under my supervisor, Dr. Mi-tra, and knowing that I was con-tributing to her project was quite fulfilling. The highlight of my efforts was probably being listed as one of the authors on a poster that she presented at that year's

Gordon Research Conference on Synaptic Transmission.”

In addition to looking them up online or hearing about them through personal connections, students can use school resources to find internships to apply for.

“[One way] you can go about finding them is looking on the Naviance Family Connection website. Under the college tab, look for “enrichment programs” on the left hand side, then type “internships” into the search bar. Also, in the office, when we get information on internships, Mrs. Walsh always tries to advertise,” says College and Career Advisor Lauren Tezak.

As the two are quite similar,

volunteering can serve as an alter-native to interning; however, the experience may not always be the same.

“[If you’re] interning, your hours will be set and you’ll be working there just like you would for a job. Volunteering is a bit more lenient as far as your time goes,” says Tezak.

Available for a vast variety of careers, internships are a great opportunity to achieve a practi-cal experience regarding possible future jobs.

Students’ educational sneak peek of the futureBRIAN BARCH

BY SAM ALAVIFEATURES

Senior Ella Riffenburg walking around with her order form con-taining pictures of the Tagalongs and Samoas can only mean one thing: it is Girl Scout cookie sea-son.

Girl Scout cookie sales are quite common in middle and elementary schools, but finding members of Girl and Boy Scouts in high school can be a bit more difficult.

Freshman Girl Scout Cristina Ashbaugh explains, “There are

fewer and fewer older girl scouts just because people think it is lame. For some reason, they think it is not cool to be in girl scouts after elementary school. I don’t view it as uncool, so I don’t mind,” she says.

Not only are there proud Girl Scouts at Aragon, but many boys also remain Boy Scouts in high school as well. Sophomore Boy Scout Thomas Bebbington, who has been doing Boy Scouts for about five years, says, “When peo-ple think of Boy Scouts, they usu-ally think of Cub Scouts, badges, and silly uniforms so I don’t usu-

ally go around telling people I do it.”

Sophomore Boy Scout Der-rick Leong, who is the leader of his troop says, “I want to continue so that I can get my Eagle Scout Rank. Usually, people they laugh at me when they find out I do Boy Scouts, but if they find out from seeing my first aid kit, they usu-ally respect me,” he explains.

“I continued [Girl Scouts] be-cause I did not see any reason to quit. I attend camps and group activities, and although most people I tell think that I am weird, it is worth it,” says freshman Erin

Hull. However, Girl and Boy Scouts

aren’t for everyone. Junior Nicole Gilbert was once a Girl Scout but quit in fourth grade. “I didn’t like the environment of my troop,” she explains. “The kids would play pranks on me and I did not enjoy it.”

Similarly, soph-omore Kevin Dw-yer says, “I quit Boy Scouts when I was younger because it wasn’t really for me. Since all my friends quit, going to meetings became less fun.”

But not all students have the same experience as Gilbert and Dwyer. Freshman Girl Scout Emma Mamis explains, “I have made some really amazing friends at the Girl Scout camp I do every summer. I would not have met these people if I hadn’t continued Girl Scouts.”

Most students who continue doing Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts find it fun and appreciate the last-ing memories.

“Two summers ago, we went to London and Paris as a troop. One of my favorite memories on the trip was when one of the girls got stuck on the tube and our fearless leader ran to the train door and started screaming at the locals to help her get the door back open,” says Riffenburg.

Mamis, who has been a mem-ber of her Girl Scout Troop since first grade, says, “I have had so many amazing experiences with

my troop. Every year, I go to camp which is lots of fun. A couple years ago, we went outdoor rock climbing and did a ropes course which was one of the best experi-ences I have ever had.”

Ashbaugh ex-plains, “We do many things like service projects. One of the other girls in my troop and I completed our Silver Award

which requires 50 hours of work that goes to a service project. We did a fun run called ‘Jog In The Fog’ last February for all ages. It taught me many things that will help me later in life. That’s anoth-er benefit of Girl Scout.”

Bebbington agrees that a lot can be learned from Boy and Girl Scouts and many unique expe-riences can be had. “There are things I would have never done if I hadn’t continued Boy Scouts,” he says. “For example, I did this event called Klondike where we went up to the snow and built snow shelters and did activities in the snow. If I had quit Boy Scouts, I would have never had an experi-ence like this.”

Although seeing tons of Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts roaming the hallways in high school is rare, it seems as though there is no one reason a person chooses to par-ticipate or not. No matter what the experience may be for any in-dividual, when those Girl Scout cookies come around, who can complain?Freshman Emma Mamis helps young Girl Scouts with her troop on World Thinking Day.

PHO

TO CO

URTESY O

F EMM

A M

AM

IS

Growing up and continuing the tradition: boy and girl scouts

“I have made some really amazing friends at the Girl Scout camp I do every summer.”

-Freshman Emma Mamis

For more articles like this and web-exclusive content, please

visit aragonoutlook.net.

“I enjoyed gaining new skills and knowledge that would help me complete certain tasks . . .”

-Senior Stephen Chan

it was worth it to stayin the US because I met amazing people, including an amazing violin teacher who improved my skills tremendously. Without taking

risks, life would be boring and I might miss the biggest

chances and

1Was cut from the high

school basketball team in 10th grade, went home,

locked himself in his room and cried

4Producer told her she

was “unattractive” and could not act

3His first book was rejected by 27 publishers and he consid-ered burning the manuscript,

but the eventual publisher sold six million copies2

Lost his job, failed in busi-ness, girlfriend died, had a

nervous breakdown, defeated for Senate, defeated for Con-

gress, defeated for Vice-President

Walt Disney

Dr. Seuss

Even celebrities

sometimes take unsucessful risks.Try and match up these noteworthy

figures (birds) with their failures (clouds)!

RISKY BUSINESSFormer U. S. President Jimmy Carter once said, “Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” As teenagers of the modern era,

we are surrounded with opportunities and innovations that exceed even our wildest imaginations. If we make smart decisions and take the right risks, we might just surprise ourselves with talents and skills that we never thought we had!

Money makes the world go

round. This is especially true in

the high school environment, where

students are getting their first taste of the

financial world. Some students depend on

their weekly allowance, and others delve into

after-school jobs. No matter the income, every

student learns how and how not to manage their

finances. Economic risks can range from entering

the stock market to buying a first car. Reckless spend-

ing could end up with a student that can’t even afford

pizza with friends, while thoughtful spending could

save thousands for a great college education.

Economic Risks

Signing up for the right classes,

not studying for a test, joining

study groups – these are just some of

the ways that Aragon students and high

school students in general take risks every

year, semester, and day at school. Students

have to make more and more decisions that

supposedly impact their future. Today, academic

risks come with the annual class sign up form, with

the day-to-day battle of homework over Facebook,

with the teaming up of friends to study for a test.

But how effective are these risks? Are they worth it?

Are students taking them for the benefit of their own

education or for the promise of acceptance into col-

lege? Aragon students have their own opinions on these

matters and have taken their own academic risks, some

that were worth it, and others they live to regret.

“I start-ed smoking in

middle school be-cause most of my friends did. I got hooked and

started smoking everyday, and this caused my grades to drop tremen-

dously, and I even dropped some extracur-ricular activities and sports. I eventually forced myself to quit, and I learned that it’s not always about what my friends do,

it’s about taking care of myself.”-Anonymous (11)

“I tried out for the basket-

ball team in my freshman year, hop-

ing that I would make it. I put all my heart

into the tryouts, and I prepared and got into shape by

working out for days a week for 1-1.5 hours. In the end, all my

efforts ultimately paid off, and this experience made me believe that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.”

-Ashley Mah (12)

TEEnAGE risk-taking statistics

Many of the risks that teenagers take in high school are usually attributed to delinquency and experimentation. Some have lasting consequences that are gradual while others have more immediate

effects that dramatically alter the future of an individual, usually for the worst.

A study conducted on the “Silent Epidemic” facing the American public school system found that every 29 seconds another student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million

American high school students who drop out every year. In fact, there are nearly 2000 high schools in the U.S. where 40 percent of the typical freshman class leaves school by its senior year. While

the statistics are certainly startling, an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Education found that the status dropout rate actually declined from 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2008.

Teenagers in high school are highly susceptible to being exposed to alcohol and various controlled substances for the first time. In 2007, the U.S. Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had a survey that collected information about the issue from high school students. They found that 8 percent

of teens smoke frequently and 75 percent of high schools students have tried alcohol. About 38 percent of teens have tried marijuana at least once

and around 19 percent of teens currently use marijuana.

Aside from these bad forms of risk-taking among teenagers, some choices that are made are not necessarily as dire or severe in

nature. How teens spend their money and where they obtain it from has a tremendous impact on the product market of American

society. Teens report spending an average of about $19 in a typical week, according to the Charles Schwab Teens and Money

2007 Survey Findings. Only 7 percent of teens report not spending any money in a typical week. As far as the discrepancy

between genders goes, they found that girls are more likely than boys to report getting

money from a job (60 percent vs. 46 percent). However, the survey also showed that

teen girls spend more money in a typical week than boys do (about

`

$21 vs. $18, respectively).

“In 7th grade, I had to

choose wheth-er to go back to Japan for the rest of my school career

or to stay in the United States because my dad’s job required

him to return to Japan. By choosing to stay in the US, I risked many things, like

my future, my family’s economic problems, and my fa-

ther’s stress (because he would have to quit his job), etc. I think

opportunities of my life.”

-Mizuki Takagi (11)

Imagi

ne a G

lee-es

que ste

reotyp

ical

footba

ll play

er and

a chee

rleade

r enga

ging

in a t

roupe

of sin

ging m

isfits.

Risky, h

uh?

In fac

t, high

schoo

l is fil

led with

studen

ts who

take th

ese typ

es of

social

risks

every

day. F

rom

making

new fri

ends to

going

to ne

w place

s, ther

e

exists

a near

ly infi

nite n

umber

of po

ssibil

ities fo

r high

school

studen

ts to g

et invo

lved i

n thin

gs out

side o

f their

comfor

t zone.

Howeve

r, the

proble

m arise

s when

studen

ts

engage

in ac

tivity t

hat is

too ris

ky and

too d

angero

us, th

e most

obviou

s exam

ple be

ing dr

ugs an

d alco

hol. T

he cha

llenge

is to

not su

ccumb t

o thes

e tempta

tions,

and t

o take

the r

isks th

at are

worthw

hile a

nd will

pay of

f in th

e end.

These h

ealthy

socia

l risks

can

includ

e findi

ng new

friend

s, aski

ng oth

er stu

dents o

ut to

dances

and

dates,

and i

mmersing

into

volunt

eer work

. Taki

ng the

se ris

ks will

transf

orm yo

u into

a more

socia

lly-act

ive in

dividu

al and

will gre

atly

help y

ou in

later

phases

of lif

e. So r

each o

ut and

take

them!

it was worth it to stayin the US because I met amazing people, including an amazing violin teacher who improved my skills tremendously.

Matching

Answers

1. Michael Jordan

2. Abraham Lincoln

3. Dr. Seuss

4. Marilyn M

onroe

5. The Beatles

6. Walt Disney

ARAGON HIGH SCHOOL

Dr. Seuss

TheBeatles

MichaelJordan

Abraham Lincoln

Marilyn Monroe

5Turned down by a

recording company say-ing “We don’t like their sound and guitar music

is on the way out”

6Fired from a newspa-

per because he “lacked imagination and had

no original ideas”

“I decided to take AP US History and Calculus BC, my first AP cours-es, even though English isn’t my first lan-

guage. Initially, I regretted my

decisions because I got Cs in both classes (which dragged down my

overall GPA), but in the long run, I realized that

I had made a good decision because the colleges that I applied to liked to see that I was challenging

myself.” -Zhili Wang (12)

Academic Risks Signing up for the right classes,

not studying for a test, joining

study groups – these are just some of

the ways that Aragon students and high

school students in general take risks every

year, semester, and day at school. Students

have to make more and more decisions that

supposedly impact their future. Today, academic

risks come with the annual class sign up form, with

the day-to-day battle of homework over Facebook,

with the teaming up of friends to study for a test.

But how effective are these risks? Are they worth it?

Are students taking them for the benefit of their own

education or for the promise of acceptance into col-

lege? Aragon students have their own opinions on these

matters and have taken their own academic risks, some

that were worth it, and others they live to regret.

Socia

l

Risks

“I start-ed smoking in

middle school be-cause most of my friends did. I got hooked and

started smoking everyday, and this caused my grades to drop tremen-

dously, and I even dropped some extracur-ricular activities and sports. I eventually forced myself to quit, and I learned that it’s not always about what my friends do,

it’s about taking care of myself.”-Anonymous (11)

“Once, I got in a

huge fight with my mom over $20. I had two

choices: I could either give the $20 from my mom back to

her, or I could get kicked out of the house. In the end, I got kicked out, and from the

experience, I learned to be more understand- ing with my family.” -Jesse Fields (10)

“I was on

the JV Aragon B-ball Team and I had just finished my game when one of my friends invited me to drink. I went

back to the gym and got caught. I was suspended for a day, took a drugs and alcohol class, and

got kicked offthe team too.”

-Danielle Hurtado (11)

“I ran away from home in the middle of the night

on my bike. I ended up in Pacifica at 3 A.M. and after a while, I decided to turn back. I returned home at 5 A.M.

and I just went straight back to sleep. Al-though this experience seems insignificant, it

had a great impact on my perspective. I realized that I take a lot of things for granted; I live in a very nice, small, and safe world with a warm home and lots of food, and I should

appreciate these privileges of my life.”

-Clayton Nagle (10)

“Dressing up for spirit days at Aragon isa huge risk.”

-Kalie San Felipe (12)

“[One risk I took was in] 8th grade

when I came out... It’d be just as hard going through it again. At the time

[of coming out], I was a nervous wreck. And now, I’m happy all

the time. I learned [that] I am who

I am.”-Andrew Perotti (11)

“I threw

a party once when my

parents were out of town.

It was risk because I knew I would get

into a lot of trouble if I got caught. One of my friends told her mom, who is

best friends with my mom, so her mom ended up telling my mom. She didn’t talk to me for a few days after that inci-dent. Although there were consequences, I learned that sometimes the payoff is

worth the risk.”-Laura Joyce (12)

TEEnAGE risk-taking statistics

Many of the risks that teenagers take in high school are usually attributed to delinquency and experimentation. Some have lasting consequences that are gradual while others have more immediate

effects that dramatically alter the future of an individual, usually for the worst.

A study conducted on the “Silent Epidemic” facing the American public school system found that every 29 seconds another student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million

American high school students who drop out every year. In fact, there are nearly 2000 high schools in the U.S. where 40 percent of the typical freshman class leaves school by its senior year. While

the statistics are certainly startling, an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Education found that the status dropout rate actually declined from 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2008.

Teenagers in high school are highly susceptible to being exposed to alcohol and various controlled substances for the first time. In 2007, the U.S. Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had a survey that collected information about the issue from high school students. They found that 8 percent

of teens smoke frequently and 75 percent of high schools students have tried alcohol. About 38 percent of teens have tried marijuana at least once

and around 19 percent of teens currently use marijuana.

Aside from these bad forms of risk-taking among teenagers, some choices that are made are not necessarily as dire or severe in

nature. How teens spend their money and where they obtain it from has a tremendous impact on the product market of American

society. Teens report spending an average of about $19 in a typical week, according to the Charles Schwab Teens and Money

2007 Survey Findings. Only 7 percent of teens report not spending any money in a typical week. As far as the discrepancy

between genders goes, they found that girls are more likely than boys to report getting

money from a job (60 percent vs. 46 percent). However, the survey also showed that

teen girls spend more money in a typical week than boys do (about

`

$21 vs. $18, respectively).

“In 7th grade, I had to

choose wheth-er to go back to Japan for the rest of my school career

or to stay in the United States because my dad’s job required

him to return to Japan. By choosing to stay in the US, I risked many things, like

my future, my family’s economic problems, and my fa-

ther’s stress (because he would have to quit his job), etc. I think

Center Spread by Rebecca Hu

10 OPINION volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

THE ARAGON OUTLOOK:

Mission StatementThe Aragon Outlook staff

publishes a monthly newspa-per created for the students to express themselves on issues of interest and importance to them and to provoke thought and discussion within the Ara-

gon community.

AdviserScott Silton

Co-Editors in ChiefPhilip Dimaano

Daniel Fu

News EditorsOlivia Bocanegra, Sabrina

Imbler and Ryan Yu

News WritersKira Brenner, Justin Ching,

Kathryn DeWitt, Bailey Godwin, Landon Hart,

Brandon Liu, Andrew Lyu, Heimana Vaea, Taylor Westmont, Wendy Yu,

Peter Zhan

Features EditorsAlice Bebbington, Alina

Polishuk and LuShuang Xu

Features WritersSam Alavi, Paniz Amir-nasiri, Will Eckstein, Jan Marini Galabay, Camille Halley, Derek Han, Jack

Herrera, Christine Kalife, Wassim Khemici, Anthony

Lu, Jason Mai, Sangwon Yun

Photo and Technology Editor

Eric Torres

Photo StaffersKenan Chan, Kore Chan, Martin Contreras, Casey Fitzgerald, Alyssa Lim,

Kayla Solomon, Samantha Soon, Erika Wang

Arts and Graphics EditorJanice Pang

Arts and Graphics StaffersBrian Barch, Chenwen

Hwang, Luna Lynch, Yuzo Makitani, Natalie Palter,

Emily Yip

Center Spread EditorRebecca Hu

The Outlook would love to hear from you.

Visit us at:www.aragonoutlook.net

or:E-mail us at:

aragonoutlook@gmail.com

Have thoughts about an article on

The Aragon Outlook?Do you believe we

misreported on something?

Write a letter to the editor.

You can submit a let-ter to us in the follow-

ing ways:

1. Send us an email through our form on our website at AragonOutlook.net.

2. Email us directly: aragonoutlook@gmail.com

3. Type or hand-write your letter and submit it to the publications office, room #136.

We look forward to reading your letters!

May brings us closer to a re-lieving summer break, yet carries with it the dreaded AP exams. Previously, taking AP classes at Aragon came with the expecta-tion of students taking the corre-sponding AP test. Though there were exceptions to this widely ac-cepted regulation, most students did take the exams in May as mentioned by Peter Zhan’s article on page 2.

Recently, the San Mateo Union High School District adopted a new policy stating that students are no longer required to take AP exams and can still receive the GPA boost for any AP classes they are taking. However, even though the district has lessened the im-portance of AP exams, students should not excuse themselves from these exams in May.

One of the main reasons that students take AP classes in the first place is to acquire college credit. In order to receive credit for these classes, students need to take and pass the AP exam in order to show their competence and achievement in the subject area. Colleges want to verify that students understand the college-level course work through these

AP exams. Though colleges do look

at students’ grades in their AP courses, the AP exams are a more standardized medium for the colleges to evaluate students’ achievements. Not taking the AP tests simply defeats the purpose of taking AP classes in the first place. The AP exams are indica-tors of the culmination of a year’s hard work.

A recent article published by The New York Times showed that taking tests is actually more ef-fective than some other studying techniques. The journal Science “found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than student who used two other methods.”

They also tested the two other methods of studying the mate-rial and drawing diagrams of information they had learned. Although these two methods are more popular, they were proven less useful by this experiment. Thus, AP tests may improve stu-dents’ ability to learn class mate-rial and benefit them for college

courses in the future.Some students protest the ob-

jectifying of their competence to a single score by not taking AP tests, but the SAT’s and ACT’s are still standardized tests required by colleges.

With the growing competition of college acceptance, students cannot beat the system. After going through the college appli-cation process, many seniors see the advantage of acquiring college credit for AP classes by taking the test because those who pass cer-tain AP tests can receive credit and get ahead in college.

AP tests can pose a financial burden to some families with the high cost of $87 per exam, but fi-nancial difficulty should not stop a student from taking them. Both the federal government and Ara-gon offer extensive financial aid for AP tests. The price may be reduced to as low as $5 for finan-cially qualified students.

Even if students do not meet the federal requirements for aid, Aragon can provide scholarships as long as there is a reasonable ex-planation for the financial hard-ship.

“Know thyself,” assistant prin-

cipal Jim Coe says to the students who plan on taking AP courses in upcoming years.

AP course selection is an im-portant and collaborative deci-sion made by the student, parents, counselors and teachers. Students should go into these AP classes in August with no surprises regard-ing the course content and work load.

All AP teachers at Aragon are qualified educators whose cur-riculums are approved by the College Board and if students correctly prepare for the test, then no one should go into the exams expecting failure.

For some, it may seem futile to take a test they know they are not going to pass. But who’s ever heard of a perfect life without any mistakes? Sometimes, we need to go that extra mile and not be afraid to fall because we can stand up stronger.

As high school students who have to deal with more than just AP classes and managing a life, we often feel stressed out. But maybe 20 minutes less a day on Facebook will make all the difference. So, have some faith, study a bit, and give those exams a try.

BY SANGWON YUNFEATURES

Here’s some food for thought. Sport Illustrated recently re-

ported the average salary of eleven different positions in professional football. Quarterbacks made the most, with an average salary of $1,970,982, while tight ends and punters made the least at an av-erage of $863,414 and $868,005 respectively.

Overall, the calculated average salary of a professional football player came out to approximately $1,191,513. Major League Base-ball was able to top this number, though, with the Major League Baseball Player’s Association web-site reporting that the average sal-ary for a major leaguer in 2009 was $2,996,106.

These numbers serve to give rise to a question that has been asked in one form or another for many years: do professional ath-letes (and celebrities for that mat-

ter) make too much money?

A poll conducted on the website Helium reported that 2,331 of the 3,721 responses, or approximately two thirds, voted “yes.” Looking through the impassioned articles arguing in favor of this stance, a num-ber of notable points seem to be held in common throughout.

A number of pro-ponents to this posi-tion noted that these individuals oftentimes served as role models

for the posterity of America, yet they frequently offered examples of such behavior like intoxicated driving, domestic violence, drug abuse, and use of illicit perfor-mance enhancing drugs.

Others furthered the idea that they did little, yet received such enormous compensation in comparison. In addition, an indi-vidual does not realistically need millions of dollar in order to live within reasonable comforts.

Many have argued that the sal-ary of individuals such as doctors, teachers, firefighters, and police officers, pale in comparison to that of professional athletes and celebrities. The fact that these public servants are more often than not overworked and under-paid while these individuals are arguably under-worked and over-paid faces immense criticism and controversy.

Additionally, some people have pointed out that many of the aforementioned individu-

als do not contribute anything meaningful to society. Rather, they stand to represent a loss through their well-publicized il-licit activities (the cast of Jersey Shore signed a contract in which their current salary of $10,000 per episode increased to $30,000 per episode in 24 episodes of the third season).

Yet, in many ways, the char-acter of these individuals holds little relevance as to whether they “deserve” the salary that they re-ceive. In the end, that astronomi-cal number merely reflects the market value of the services they provide.

Who, then, is the source of the demand?

Inevitably, the finger of blame is eventually directed to the con-sumer. The consumer who av-idly follows every sport offered on television and never misses an episode. The consumer who buys the overpriced merchandise bearing the logo of their favorite sports teams and buys the prod-ucts endorsed by various teams and players. The consumer ulti-mately feeds the perpetuation of the vicious cycle.

With this, it follows that these institutions would eventually starve to death without the con-sumer. For the strong proponents who denounce this particular inequity, they should consider directly addressing their fellow citizens and actively seeking out a social reform. Doing so would fo-cus the energies for change at the root of this “inequality.”

In the end, the people who receive these grossly dispropor-tionate salaries get what they get, like the vast majority of people.

Beyond whether this is right or wrong, it can be more basely seen as something that just is.

For the people may persist in arguing that “it’s not fair,” I would refer them to Charles J. Sykes who can happily notify them exactly how he feels about fairness.

The Million Dollar Dilemma

AP exams and why you should take them

BY DEREK HANFEATURES

IntroductionKorean New Year is

called both Solnal and Gujeong. It refers to New Year’s on Feb. 3 this year, based on the lunar calen-dar, and it is a three day celebration. In Korea, some Koreans also celebrate New Year’s on Jan. 1, known as Sinjeong.

Korean-Americans nor-mally celebrate Sinjeong, but Gujeong is very well known and celebrated by many Korean-Americans. Most of the traditions that are performed during Gu-jeong are also performed on Jan. 1.Clothes

During Solnal, it is traditional to dress up in traditional Korean clothes called hanbok.

“I feel [wearing a hanbok] goes back to my roots and it makes [New Year’s] a lot more traditional,” soph-omore Jinny Yang says. “As a Kore-an-American I feel like I’m rep-resenting my Korean heri-tage by wearing them.”Traditions

While wearing the col-orful hanboks, one must make a deep bow to their elders such as parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. This bow is called sebae. During the traditional bow, the words “saehae bok manhi badeu-sayo” are said. This tradi-tional statement translates into “please receive many blessings during the new year.”

“During the bow, boys have their right hand

up, and girls have their left hand up,” says sophomore Sewon Kim. He also adds that “Our ancestors did [sebae] too and we do it right now so I’m proud of that.”

After the traditional bow, elders reward the bow with money. Food

“We met up with fam-ily in one house and we ate rice cakes and bowed to our grandparents, uncles and aunts,” says junior Pe-ter Moon about New Year’s Day on Jan. 1 last year. “Then we got money f r o m them. The children went out

and played and the

adults stayed in and talked.”

Tteok, which are lucky Korean

rice cakes, are eaten during this time. It is also customary to eat tteok-guk, or rice cake soup.

“It feels like I get one year

older eating tteok-guk,” Kim says.

“I feel motivated af-ter I eat tteok-guk,” says Yang. “I feel that tteok-guk strengthens me.”Games / Activities

Korean folk games are also popular during this time. Some traditional games that are played dur-ing this time are yootnori, a board game which involves stick tossing, jegi-chagi, which is similar to kicking around a hacky sack, kite flying, and a game of rid-ing on a seesaw.

“When my family meets for New Year’s, adults and

children mostly play separately. But when we

play yootnori, it’s differ-ent,” says senior Min-Jung Lee, “It’s a time where all family members, young and old, … enjoy… time together. We break into teams by families and we get all intense. Sometimes we bet money.”Tradition vs. Modernity

On the 15th day of the new month, which is the day of the first full moon, the Lunar New Year is ushered in with a ritual called Jishin Balpgi. It is a traditional folk festival that grew out of many collec-tive village activities from over 4,300 years ago. Dur-ing this ritual, gongs and loud drums are played to clean villages and cast away evil spirits.

The purpose of the fes-tival is to usher in peace, health, and prosperity for the New Year, and let people renew personal and community ties.

“I enjoy the tradition,” sophomore Jaehee Park says of Korean New Year, “It deals with pride be-cause it’s my eth-nicity’s tradition. Celebrating it means you care.”

Korean New Year is a time where family can mingle, bond, and look forward to the upcoming year. It’s a time where many blessings are given and because of these blessings, one can live a prosperous and abundant life.

11FEATURESvolume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

BY JAN MARINI C. GALABAYFEATURES

IntroductionChinese New Year this

year, which is the year of the Rabbit, starts on Feb.

3, 2011. It is not like the traditional Ameri-can New Year. Junior Stephanie Lin says, “We usually celebrate

it for three days or less.”Moreover, every year

in the Chinese calendar is paired with 12 different animals, with the rat being the first. The “shengxiao”, or Chinese zodiac, relates to the animals and their

presumed personalities. Junior Siv Vuch

Wu says, “I was born on the year of the rooster. I’m supposed to be organized,

responsible and a deep thinker.”Traditions

Senior Tai Wu explains, “Before the actual occa-sion, people clean up their houses because it sweeps away the bad lu ck. And we also take off the old

stuff before the New Year comes.”

People decorate their houses with col-orful streamers and

bold colors like red and gold which signify wealth

and happiness. Freshman Jansen Yan adds, “We put out signs to drive out spir-its and bring good luck. We also prepare…bowls of chocolate coins. It signifies

wealth.” Other than fixing

their homes for the year to come, most people, especially those in Asia, cel-ebrate the festivity

with their neighbors. Ju-

nior Lucy Wu, who experienced

Chinese New Year in Cam-bodia, says, “We see every-thing in red like in front of the houses. Music will be loud from house to house and people will gather and [use] firecrackers.”Clothes

In addition, wearing the traditional Chinese dress is also customary. Senior An-dreana Grant, who partici-pates in Chinese New Year just to experience the fun and excitement, shares, “We used to have Chinese outfits. I have…a tradition-al silk dress.”Games / Activi-ties

One of the most recog-nized activities is the parade with its well-known Dragon Dance.

Yan says, “Just seeing the lion dance for the first time was really ex-citing…there are a bunch of people in the parade and all are excited. [It is] just a really good mood overall.”

Games and other in-door activities also add some fun. Yan adds, “My grandparents play Mah-jong, but I don’t.” Lin says, “We watch special shows like performances or talk shows, or we play with a few dice.”Food

Traditional Chinese New Year food, either by its appearance or pronuncia-tion, symbolizes old cher-ished beliefs. “We must have fish. The Chinese pro-nunciation of fish means abundance and we eat it

last,” says junior Eric Ho. “We also have rice cakes. It symbolizes rich, sweet life.”

On the other hand, Lucy Wu’s celebration is bigger. She says, “We will have three days in a row to give thanks to God. We will have chickens, cans of so-das, seven vegetable dishes with meat call ‘Jab Chay’ and fruits.”Gifts

Siv Vuch Wu says, “The adults give us red enve-lopes with money in it.

The words on the enve-lopes mean luck. Then, we go out and spend it.”

Traditions vs. Moder-nity

However, Ara-gon students, who have experi-enced the age-old

traditions in Asia conclude that it is different from the celebration here in America.

Lucy Wu says, “It’s more fun [in Cam-bodia] because it is

like a national holiday. Here, during Chinese

New Year, my parents still need to go to work and we still have school. Also,

I have fewer relatives here so it is just a small gather-ing.” Senior Martin Young says, “Chinese people are becoming adjusted to the American culture, [so the celebration is less tradi-tional].”

Chinese New Year is a celebration full of trea-sured traditions and be-liefs. It is a time for the families to get together and give thanks to the blessings of the ending year. As the New Year begins, people are given a second chance to change, to be hopeful and to be happy.

A comparison of Chinese and Korean New Year

EMILY YIP

THE WAY BACK: a movie review

BY JACK HERRERAFEATURES

Peter Weir’s newest film “The Way Back” is based on the book “The Long Walk” by Slavomir Rawicz and stars Jim Sturgess, Colin Farell and Ed Harris. It is a collage of ruthless elements: the unmerciful hand of Joseph Sta-lin and the unflinching Siberian Gulag, history’s most atrocious prison system. But most of all, it is a gut-wrenching image of the power of this planet’s magnificent landscapes.

This impressive, though im-personal, narrative follows the in-credible journey of five escapees

of a Siberian Gulag. The five men trek for weeks through the horri-fying Siberian wasteland to reach the Mongolian border. Along the way, they acquire a tagalong; a Polish girl played unsophisticat-edly, but still impressively by Sao-rise Ronan, who develops a close relationship with “Mr. Smith”, an American who was taken pris-oner by the Soviets. The escapees decide to cross the Gobi Desert, then the Himalayas, and finally to escape to India.

While this harrowing 4000 mile journey may inspire strong emotional reactions, the charac-ters themselves are disappoint-ingly underdeveloped. One gets

the feeling that the movie must have been severely gutted to fit into its 133 minutes, because many of its highly potential scenes are cut down and skimmed over. Characters that could have easily blossomed into fantastic vessels of the ruthlessness of the journey are forced to remain distant, and seemingly unfeeling, leaving the audience unsympathetic to the amount of suffering endured by the five men.

That being said, the acting was superb for the amount of char-acter given. Ed Harris remains unsmiling throughout the movie, and embodies the escapees’ will to live, something that resonates

with the audience for days after watching the movie. Jim Sturgess comes the closest to being emotional enough to reach out to the audience, by refusing to leave anyone be-hind in the gulag, declaring that “If they die, they die free men.”

While “The Way Back” fails to reach its full potential to reach out and shake the audi-ence, the pure power of this awe-inspiring trek through magnificent, although ruth-less, environments is enough to suggest watching this im-pressive testament to endur-ance and camaraderie.

To see a preview of “The Way Back”, go to aragonoutlook.net

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12 FEATURES volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

BY CAMILLE HALLEYFEATURES

“It’s kind of nice when you marry your best friend,” says Aragon teacher Jennifer Condon about her fiancé, Alan, who she plans to marry this summer.

Condon isn’t the only Aragon teacher with a significant other with whom to spend this Valentine’s Day. In fact, she is just one of the many Aragon teachers who are in a relationship, whether it is with somebody they met this year or over two decades ago.

“We met in April… we’d been dating and were happy,” Condon con-tinues. “We’re both addicted to sushi,” she says, adding that they plan to marry in a Japanese tea garden. “We’re both Jewish. It’ll be like a Jewish-Japanese culture wedding.”

Condon’s fiancé, a doctor, is set to move to San Mateo after finishing school in Or-egon. In addition to “lots of similar inter-ests”, Condon and her fiancé come from similar backgrounds. “We’re both from really similar families,” she says. “His mom was a teacher like me, which is really cool.”

Just like many student couples at Ara-gon, some teachers found love while they were still in school. “We went to the same college,” says Spanish teacher Giselle Hunter, who met her husband while they attending Mary Washington University in Virginia. “He played baseball and I played lacrosse. We met through friends.”

Environmental Science teacher Amy

Schwartz also met her eventual husband while attending college, in her case at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. “The first time we hung out…I went to a mu-tual friend's apartment and watched the Summer Olympics there,” says Schwartz. “Jim--my husband--was there and kept on making jokes and making me laugh. Our relationship grew out of the friendship we formed on that day watching the Olympics together.”

Other Aragon teachers used modern technology to find true love. “We were

online dating,” says Holly Dietz about her husband. Dietz says that, initially, she was skepti-

ca l about online dating. “It can be a little weird...At first I was like, ‘I’m never dating on-line.’ I was totally prejudiced against it,” she admits.

“I had signed up on two sites. There was more of an ob-

scure one; it was really bad. I couldn’t figure how to shut it down,” she says. “But,

randomly, my [future] husband contacted me there.”

History and P s y c h o l o g y teacher Jim Smith met his wife while working at a restaurant known as The Gatehouse in Palo Alto and later followed her to Cornell University. “I was a bar-tender and she was a waitress,” he recalls. “It was love at first sight.” Smith and his wife have been married for 27 years.

History teacher Ron Berggren says, “I

met my wife on the Fourth of July. Our families knew each other, but we didn’t.” Both families had cabins in the Santa Cruz Mountains. “They think they set us up,” he says of the couple’s parents, “but they didn’t.” In the begin-ning, the couple faced a major roadblock. “The prob-lem was, I was still [ l i v i n g ] on the East Coast and I had to go back in about three weeks,” Berggren explained. “She thought she’d never see me again.”

The two carried on with a long-distance relationship for some time. “I could call from New York for cheap rates after 11,” Berggren remembers. But, they eventually were reunited. “A couple of months later I sent her plane tickets.” They

were engaged at Christ-mas.

English teacher James Daniel is nearing 15 years of marriage with his wife, Victoria Daniel, also an

Aragon English teacher. “She was a

student teacher dur-ing my first year,” he says.

“Her master teacher told me about a ‘cute student teacher’.”

At first, however, Mrs. Daniel al-ready had a boyfriend. “I asked her for a drink and we ended up staying out for seven hours.” They remained friends for

some time until, “[they] finally decided to become more than friends at a [restaurant] called Cha Cha.” Three years later, the cou-ple became engaged when he proposed in Jamaica.

His wife remem-bers it clearly.

“He dropped the ring in the sand when I was not looking, then p r e t e n d e d

to just spot it. He said that

someone must have lost their

ring and I bought it hook, line and sinker,”

recalls Mrs. Daniel. “Then he said it looked like his grandmother's

ring, and I was still clueless. Then he got down on one knee and asked me.”

Mrs. Daniel had been waiting for that moment for some time. “I was certain he was going to ask me on my birthday the previous year and I watched every move he made that night with the expectant eye of a girl about to be engaged. When he didn't ask, I was devastated and I vowed never to get my expectations up again. That's why I was so clueless.”

The two married in June of 1999. “We were married…at a family friend's gor-geous Hillsborough estate. A garden wed-ding--it was lovely. I wasn't nervous--I was so excited. I knew it was right.”

From friends to fiancées, to love at first sight, meeting the person you want to spend the rest of your life with comes about in many ways. Although some sto-ries are more unexpected than others, the stories of these teachers have a happy end-ing in common.

BY JASON MAIFEATURES

Many people still are not sure about what they want to be when they grow up while still in high school. Some stu-dents at Aragon have dreams of becom-ing a chef. They have been inspired by the joy of cooking.

Nutrition teacher Susan Hontalas, says, “Around 95 percent of the popu-lation has worked in the food industry before.”

For many students, their interest in the culinary profession began in their own homes. Senior Rey Montes, a stu-dent chef at Aragon, first learned how to cook at home with the help of his mother.

Two years ago, a guest speaker from Astaria, a local restaurant in downtown San Mateo, came to talk to Aragon stu-dents during Career Day. Montes, who was interested and had a talent for cooking, asked to work there. Within a week, he was hired and has been work-ing there as an assistant pastry chef and line cook ever since.

During the weekdays, Montes works in the pastry department, which pre-pares desserts for the week and any upcoming parties. Montes says, “[A] part of my job is to plan future desserts with the pastry chef for the upcoming menu.”

“I had to deal with all the craziness that happens in the kitchen whenever there is a huge party in the banquet room and you have 200 reservations on the book on a Friday and Saturday

night.” He has learned to adapt to that because “if your game is off then you’ll start messing up.”

Montes plans to go to the City Col-lege of San Francisco and then hopes to become a chef.

Like Montes, senior David Tocchini also wishes to attend the City College of San Francisco for their focus on cu-linary arts. He says, “If you want to be a chef or someone similar to a chef, you have to love cooking. If you don’t, it would be really difficult to work your job if you don’t like it”.

Tocchini has worked part time at Carpaccio, Spiedo, and other local res-taurants around San Mateo. Tocchini says, “You can work to prepare for the culinary profession. To cook, you don’t need a diploma or anything. And also,

you can cook at any age.” Senior Erica Bass is a baker who oc-

casionally makes desserts for friends and family. Bass says, “I just watched my mom and grandma as I was grow-ing up and they kept teaching me things along the way. I currently take the Gour-met Foods class here at Aragon. In addi-tion, when I was younger, I took a group cooking lesson class with my friends for my birthday party.”

Unlike Montes and Tocchini, Bass does not plan to go to culinary school. Bass says, “ I have thought about it, but I decided to go to the University of Oregon instead. I might want to do something in the nutrition field, like a dietitian.”

Bass enjoys making cookies, but her best dish is brownies. The best thing about cooking for Bass is that “you can eat what you make and make other peo-ple happy with my food.”

Senior Nicole Beck enjoys cooking savory foods. When she grows up, she wishes to be a personal chef or a pri-vate chef for families. She likes making macaroni and cheese, pizza, and pasta. Beck says, “I think chicken parmesan is my best dish.”

For many chefs at Aragon, their as-pirations began in the kitchens of their own homes. Now, they have taken their interest and passion into professional restaurants, the Aragon campus and hearts of people around them.

So, how did you two meet?

Cooking up careers at Aragon Resolutions: one month later...

BY ANTHONY LUFEATURESWith 2010 having come and gone, 2011 ushers in a clean slate and a fresh set of commitments. A month later, some people have found that the changes come simply with resolve and determina-tion. However, some find the process of changing habits to be somewhat challenging. Here are a few personal experiences from fellow Aragon students:

Student: Senior Sharlin WaranResolution: “Stop eating fast food.”Stuck to it? No: “It’s hard... I al-ready failed it.”

Student: Junior Irving ChenResolution: “To cut back on soda and be more optimistic.”Stuck to it? Yes: “It’s actually kind of hard, I’ve developed an addic-tion to soda and it’s really hard to stay away from it. Being optimistic

is a bit easier.”How? “Whenever I see a soda can, I automatically reach for it, but then I step back and take a bottle of juice or water.”

Student: Freshman Casey ChengResolution: “My New Year’s reso-lution is to be a little nicer to my sister.”Stuck to it? Yes: “It’s a little hard, but I’m starting to get used to it.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY SCHWARTZ

PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM SMITH

COURTESY OF JE

NNIFER CONDON

Senior Rey Montes pipes butter on to a baking sheet at Astaria, where he works as a line cook and assistant pastry chef.

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To read more interesting articles, check out www.aragonoutlook.net

13PHOTOvolume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

Cornell Glee Club:Photos by Kore Chan

The conductor of the Cor-nell Glee Club, Scott Tucker, shares his excitement with both his students and the Ara-gon students at the Memorial Theater on January 7, 2011.

Ben Veit (middle) and Dan Kuhr (left from middle) perform the song “Teenage Dream” as part of a group led by student Ian Goldin.

Aragon students join the Cornell Glee Club for a final song, a South African folk song.

Aragon choir students sit onstage as the Cor-nell Glee Club performs one of their choir arrangements during their Aragon visit.

For more photos from this, as well as other Aragon events, check us out online

at www.aragonoutlook.net!

14 SPORTS volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

Sports conditioning behind creating better, faster, and stronger athletesBY HEIMANA VAEANEWS

Many winter sports are well beyond the starting line, yet al-ready there are numer-ous athletes preparing for their upcoming spring sports. Some of these include track and field, softball, base-ball and swimming.

Conditioning pro-grams are being run by the coaches and athletic supporters of Aragon. Condi-tioning is basically training that involves exercises focused on making athletes quicker, stronger and less prone to physical injuries while play-ing during the season.

Sophomore Sally Hosokawa describes the benefits of track and field condition-ing saying, “I run after

school every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It helps me to get back in shape before my season starts.” She hopes condition-

ing helps her to reach her goals and says, “I want to improve my speed and definitely stamina.”

The spring sport of softball is also pushing its players to join

the all-important condition-ing program. Sophomore Kay-lyn Mejasich describes the usual conditioning routine with her

t e a m m a t e s and says, “We usually start off with s t r e t c h i n g , take a long jog around the whole school, do these really hard drills and some-times sprints. Then, we hit the workout room and this usually takes up an hour.” Some of these drills involve shuf-

fles and butt kicks.As a new member of the Ara-

gon athletic community, Coach Carrie McLaughlin is currently helping manage the softball con-

ditioning program with both freshman and sophomore players. She says, “I want the girls to just step up in being in shape instead of just sitting around in winter. We do a lot of stretching, some running and we work on agility and stamina.” Coaches see the ef-fects of team bonding during the conditioning program and hope that what chemistry develops out-side of the playing field also helps the chemistry on the playing field.

Although it may be enjoyable, conditioning is not all fun and games. Sophomore Kerri Su says, “I am conditioning because I par-ticipate in long jumps, hundred meters and relays. We have to run hills and those are always hard. Even though it takes up my time, in the end I think it’s all worth it.”

Conditioning requires a hard working person determined to de-vote time and effort into becom-ing a better athlete. If this person decides to take that particular road of preparation, all improvements, greater skills and quickness will act as evidence of one’s hard work.

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Senior David Tocchini leads a pack of runners during a conditioning session in preparation for the upcoming track and field season.

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Senior Gina Hazelton conditions with her teammates in preparation for the upcoming softball season.

BY JUSTIN CHINGNEWS

Following the trend of new freshman teams in Aragon’s sports, a new freshman boys’ bas-ketball team was created this year. The team hopes to accommodate and nurture rising young athletes at Aragon to becoming experi-enced veteran players.

A rising number of freshman basketball teams in surrounding schools helped to spur the cre-ation of Aragon’s freshman team. Coach Hosea Patton says, “It was actually being questioned [why we didn’t have one]. Most schools had [teams] last year. We didn’t plan for one originally.” Parents inquiring about a freshman team after tryouts this year helped in making this team a reality.

With limited resources and funding, the team faces some set-backs, most notably the lack of a league and very limited practice times. Because of this, the fresh-man team will not be playing in any quads or games alongside Aragon’s upper division basket-ball teams. Patton says, “We only practice two times a week. There was no money for the freshman program.”

In spite of these problems, Patton strives simply to provide

experience and a place of im-provement for players who can hopefully rise later on to Aragon’s higher level teams. He says, “A lot of them came from just playing on playgrounds without referees. We want them to have the funda-mentals.”

Similarly, the freshman play-ers remain undeterred by their limited resources, hoping to draw as much out of the experience as possible. Freshman Michael Chi-ang says, “It is like AYSO; like a youth basketball team for fun. It is more like getting more experi-ence; [like moving] to the next level and helping the teams out.”

Though the team meets only twice a week, they practice just as vigorously as the junior varsity teams, those that Patton serves as an assistant coach to. Patton says, “I mirror a lot of what the junior varsity teams practice on. We work on individual’s skills and specific skills at practice.” Though wide ranges of skill are covered during practice, Patton tries to en-sure each player receives enough attention towards basic skills such as passing and shooting.

“Improvement from each player individually – [we] want to see overall that we improve,” says Patton.

Freshman Basketball Muddles Along:Despite limited resources available, experi-

ences prove valuable for freshman team

The freshman team focuses its defensive and offensive moves. Although the team practices only twice a week, they gain substantial experience.

BY LANDON HARTNEWS

Last season, both girls and boys soccer varsity teams made it to CCS and the girls’ varsity team won the CCS Division II title. With these accomplishments in mind, the expectations coming into this season are very high.

The girls’ are competing in the tougher PAL Bay Division this year. Their record of 2-2-2 has put them in 5th place. Although there are some returning players from last season’s team, most of the team is new and they have a different focus this year.

The girls’ team co-won the CCS title last year and one can expect just as much, if not higher expectations this season. Aragon teacher and five-year girls soccer coach, William Colglazier says, “A lot of people will be making comparisons of this year’s team to last year’s because of the suc-cess we had. But we have differ-ent players and dynamics so that’s not what we are doing. I believe in this squad even more than last year. Right now we are just trying to achieve our potential, and we are finding out what that is right now.”

As far as goals go, Colglazier said, “Our goals change every day. We just like to stay in the moment and focus on that.”

R e g a r d -ing last sea-son, Colgla-zier continues, “Last year, we had some good breaks and were able to win. I be-lieve that good teams are made through win-ning, but great teams are made through facing adversity. Right now we are fac-ing adversity and is why I believe we can be a great team this sea-son.” The team will look to build on what was accomplished last year during the spring semester.

The boys’ varsity team is also coming off of a successful last sea-son, going to CCS. Their expecta-tions are high, but they are taking it day by day right now.

Junior Carlos Cardenas says, “Our chemistry at the beginning of the season was bad. But as the regular season started, it got bet-ter and we are looking to win more now.”

The boys will be looking to win in the PAL Bay Division this season. Junior Jacob Engler says, “We had a slow start, but picked it up by the regular season. We want

to pick ourselves up after defeat and get back on a winning track.”

The girls and boys varsity sea-sons are underway and both are optimistic for a successful season.

ERIKA W

AN

G

Senior Juan Gomez passes the soccer ball away from a Menlo-Atherton soccer player at a home soccer game held on Jan. 12, 2011.

Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer Teams:High expectations up ahead for both teams as they look back and move forward to CCS

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Junior Stevie Herrera passes the soccer ball towards one of her teammates across the field away from Carlmont High soccer players at a home soccer game held on Jan. 18, 2011.

15SPORTSvolume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

Coached by Cheryl Anderson, the girls’ swim team of 1973 kept an undefeated record for the seventh consecutive year. The girls won each of their meets with no less than 40 points. “The spirit was high during each meet, especially when they attained each victory,” reflects Anderson.

ARAGON SPORTS IN THE LAST 50 YEARS

1973: Girls swim team continues seven-year undefeated record

1973:

Aragon has first water polo team; both JV teams take PAL title and Varsity places in sec-ond place at PAL tournament

In 1973, Mid-Peninsula league included water-polo for the first time. The team was coach by Ara-gon graduate Randy Cort. Both the varsity and the junior varsity teams did well; the frosh-soph team only lost one game to Mills, whom they later beat, and took the league championship. The varsity team also had a success-ful season by taking second place in the league, losing only against Hillsdale. Sophomore player Bob Lewis was deemed “Most Valu-able Player” in the league.

1978:Both the varsity and junior varsity teams in 1978

were Aragon’s first girls’ field hockey teams to enter the district’s league, thus being the only competitive sports team at Aragon without a boys’ team at the time. The junior varsity team assumed a successful first season and went to first place in the Mid-Pen-insula leagues. However, the varsity team lost all five league games.

First girls’ field hockey team at Aragon wins first place in Mid-Peninsula league

In 1980, Aragon announced its first girls’ flag-football team. The varsity team suffered three loss-es, but won an important victory against their rival team, Capuchino. The junior varsity team finished with a win-loss record of 1-4, and stood 5th place in the Mid-Peninsula league.

The girls’ cross-country frosh-soph team won the PAL championship title and many of the girls placed highly in several invitations. Sophomores-at-the-time Tarisha Bal and Anna Lee received the second and third place medals, both in the frosh-soph divi-sions.

1980:

2000:

2006:

2010:

First girl’s flag foot-ball team announced

Girl’s cross country team wins PAL title

Last gymnastics team at Aragon High

Girls’ varsity soccer team wins CCS tournament

1982:Boys’ swim team players qualify for CCS, top three groups in the Mid-Peninsula League

Even in the beginning of the season, members of the boys’ swim team were already qualified for CCS, thus foreshadowing a successful season. The team’s workouts ranged from 3,000 to 6,500 yards per day, or about two to four miles per day. The team was one of the best teams in several years, and the group was among the top three finishers in the Mid-Peninsula league.

“The girls’ team did well this year,” says Aragon alum and ex-cross-country player Nicole Portley. “We were undefeated 8-0.” The team was composed of one senior, one junior, three sophomores, and two freshmen. By the end of the season, they were second place in the PAL, eighth place in CCS and sophomore-at-the-time Nicole Portley was in the top five to compete at the state meet for CCS.

1983:Boys’ basketball earns PAL title

Coached by Mr. Bolin, the boys’ basketball team cap-tured 1st place in the district play and continued their winning streak against Mills, beating them with a score of 42-41, earning the title of the PAL.

1988:Girl’s cross country team has undefeated season; place sec-ond in PAL

1998:Golf team wins PAL championship

The team consisted of 24 players, most of whom were new to the sport and lacked experience. After beating Menlo-Atherton, the team won the PAL championship. “The beginning of the season was tough with the course being underwater,” says Coach Jim Daniel. “But we had hope.”

“Gymnastics at Aragon is a really low-key sport,” says Aragon alum and ex-gymnastics player Weila Xie. “Many people at Aragon don’t know that the school even has a gymnastics team.” Despite not being well-known, the team ended Aragon’s gymnastics legacy on a high-note after having placed second in CCS the year before, and sixth place two years before the gymnastics program ended.

With Coach William Colglazier, the Aragon’s girls’ varsity soccer team beat Burlingame High School last year. It was the first time for any PAL team to beat Burlingame in three years. On top of these victories, the team won the CCS championship. “The CCS champion-ship game was like everything coming full circle,” says Aragon alum Sarah Jacobs. “When we were freshman, we made it to CCS semi-finals, which was the first time in Aragon soccer history. Winning CCS was like finish-ing what we started four years ago.”

BY WASSIM KHEMICI, FEATURES

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The many firsts, triumphs, and close calls with Don sports in the last fifty years.A look back at some of the most significant sports successes and follies in Don history.

16 SPORTS volume 50, issue 05February 3, 2011

BY WILL ECKSTEINFEATURES

Through the years, the Aragon wrestling team has boasted seasons of success. Coached by three former Aragon wrestlers, the staff is any-thing but short of experience.

This year, the team is fairly bal-anced between new and returning wrestlers, some of whom have four years of wrestling under their belt. First year wres-tler and junior Sam Stukov says “At first it’s kind of intimidating. There’s some intense condi-tioning, but then it gets fun.”

For the returning wrestlers, getting back into the routine helps to improve their skills.

Head coach Steve Ratto points out, “I think they’ve improved. It’s about getting the most practice time. The more you’re there the better you’ll get and, as you get deeper into the season you’ll learn more. As you come back year af-ter year, it becomes easier, since you’re learning the same moves and perfecting them.”

Perfecting a move takes time. A wrestler can learn the footwork of double-leg take down, but

might then have to practice following through and finish-ing with a pin. In-tense drilling and repetition of moves all go into a solid wrestling prac-tice.

The team’s record has been improving as well. Although they lost their first dual meet 45-36 against Capuchino, the team im-proved, losing by only a single point to Oceana High School.

The next week, Aragon faced off at Mills High School, a school Aragon had beaten last year. His-tory repeated itself this year as

Aragon took a victory of 40-37 clinching the win in their last match with first-year wrestler Jeremy Goldberg pinning his op-ponent.

The victory was not guaran-teed from the start, as Mills won the first two matches by pin. Nev-ertheless, Aragon followed up with senior team captain Conor Stanton defeating his opponent. Later, third-year wrestler and ju-nior Brian Barron defeated his opponent by pin and an eight point lead.

Senior and four-year wrestler Edgar Moreno beat his opponent in the third round, making his record now 4-3. Moreno com-ments, “I’ve been wrestling for about four years. So it’s going as I expected, win a couple matches

lose a couple. We’ve been working hard during practice.”

The practices before a tourna-ment or before a dual meet can sometimes focus on tech-nique revision or simply con-ditioning to lose that extra pound before weigh-ins.

“It’s just physical conditioning. We just do a lot of running and a lot of pushups,” says second-year wrestler and sophomore Victor Gomez.

It is equally important for a wrestling team to have someone for every weight class so that they aren’t forced to forfeit a match.

This year, they have managed to fill that gap of weight class-es without too many holes in the lineup. The moves and strat-egy for weight classes change as you go up the scales.

“They are definitely differ-ent moves. We’ll teach a move and give the informa-tion that says, this is probably a move for lighter

guys because as a heavier guy it might be too much work or too

hard to lift up the guys leg. When you’re wres-tling 285 pounds, you’re not going to go for a guy’s leg and try to pick it up in the air but if it’s a 125 pound wrestler, it’s going to be a lot eas-ier. It’s more of an issue of ‘is this move better

suited to a certain weight class?’” says Ratto.

With PALS just around the corner, the team will see more challenging opponents to face. However, their improving pro-gram and balance of skill sets they will be going in well-prepared.

Wrapping up a successful wrestling season

Battle to stay afloat in Bay Division BY ANDREW LYUNEWS

Aragon basketball faces diffi-culties in the Bay Division.

As the basketball season draws to a close, the boy’s varsity team picks up its first league win in a face off against South San Fran-cisco. Overall, both the boy’s var-sity and girl’s varsity teams have faced a tough season in the Bay division. This year marks the first year Aragon’s boys are playing in the Bay division, and they are certainly feeling the heat. Mean-while, girls have struggled with a dwindling team plagued with injuries.

Just two years ago, the Penin-sula Athletic League rearranged the divisions for basketball. Rather than having divi-sions organized by locality, divisions were separated by skill level. Last year, the boy’s team’s excel-lent performance pro-moted them from the Ocean division to the Bay division. The Bay division is the most competitive of the three divisions. The girl’s team has been in the Bay division since the league reorganization.

This year, however, Aragon Boys are strug-gling in the higher division. On January 21, A r a g o n boys lost to Menlo

Atherton. Several three-pointers shot by Max Liebergesell and Trevor Lahoz kept the boy’s team in contention throughout the first half. The second quarter ended with just a four point defi-cit, leading to a final score of 21-17 for Menlo-Atherton. T h r o u g h o u t the second half, how-e v e r ,

M e n l o A t h e r t o n

picked up speed and brought the

game to a close. The final score was 69-33 for

Menlo-Atherton. On January 28, the boy’s

team played South San Francisco and earned their first league win. The game was tight until the

third quarter where Ara-gon picked up a nine point lead. Senior Byron Ng sunk two

three-pointers, quickly placing

Aragon ahead. During the fourth quar-ter, however,

South City shuffled their

way to a 50-50 stalemate with 36

seconds left in the game. In the end, the hero was senior Ala-folau Etu who raced down the court to se-cure two free throws, and thus a victory, for Aragon. The final

score was 52-50. O n e

of the key dif-ficulties for the Aragon

boy’s was the loss of senior Aaron Eder due

to injuries. Boy’s Varsity Coach Arjuna Manning-Laisne says “We had to rearrange all of our play-ers and try out new players for point guard because we lost Aar-on.” They have a record of 1-5 in league play, with an overall record of 6-14.

Difficulty due to injuries is a story the Girl’s Varsity team has heard all too often. What was originally an eleven person team dwindled down to seven with

the injuries of senior Van-essa Smith, senior Jackie Sutow, and junior Make Ahoia. Consequently, the girls have had difficulties in rearranging positions as well as keeping up their stami-na. Despite maintain-ing a lead throughout their game against Bur-lingame High School on January 26, the girls lost steam during the fourth q u a r t e r . Burlingame scored their winning shot in the last eight seconds of the fourth quarter.

In response to team limi-tations, Sutow says, “We just don’t have enough people on the bench right now.” Their league re-cord is currently 0-6.

On January 28, the Varsity Girls played San Mateo ending with a loss. Still, the girls brought a tough game against San Mateo. Senior Felicia Dito often made quick steals and passed to junior Justine Kubo who made easy shots in the key. Sophomore Chanel Joyce no-tably made great rebounds, and freshman Alyssa Mangaoang con-sistently wowed the crowd with

her spot-on three point-ers. The girl’s team, how-ever, was unable to defend against San Mateo’s star

player Grayce Ujihara who racked up almost half of San

Mateo’s points—twenty two in total. Overall, the game against San Mateo held no victory for

Aragon. The final score was 55-37 for San Mateo.

Although Aragon’s teams have faced a tough sea-

son, future seasons look promising. Coach Mainning-Laisne says, “The

big thing about this year’s team was improvement. This team has improved more than any team I’ve

coached during my five years at Aragon.”

Girls Varsity Coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble strikes a sim-

ilar note. Almost half of the Girls

Varsity team is actu-ally composed of un-derclassmen. She says “Because we’ve had so many injuries, we’ve

given the younger players much more

playing time. And with that, by next year,

they will have much more experience.”

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“As you come back year after year, it becomes easier, since you’re learning the same moves

and perfecting them.”

-Coach Steve Ratto

“At first it’s kind of intimidating. There’s some intense condi-tioning, but then it

gets fun.”

-Junior Sam Stukov

Senior Conor Stanton puts a wrestler from SMHS into a front head lock SMHS wrestlers lack a team, and thus practice with Aragon wrestlers.

KAYLA SO

LOM

ON

KAYLA SO

LOM

ON

KENAN CHAN

KENAN CHAN

Stanton demonstrates a tilt, a wrestling tactic, on his SMHS partner dur-ing a joint practice that gives SMHS wrestlers a chance to train.