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Raven ReportVolume vi, Issue 2 1201 Brewster Ave. Redwood City, CA 94062 october 24, 2012

Sequoia High School

Opinion: Sports:Five Guys vs. In-N-Out JV football performs Haka

By LAUREL DEARBORN Sports Editor

Page 8

By the Numbersstudents ride their bikes to school each day.

Sammi Gembala makes sure her team is awake and in the pool at six in the morning. There is no time to fool around when you’re in the top division and facing water polo powerhouses. There is no time to waste when you’re trying to make it to your third CCS tournament in a row and seven seniors have gradu-ated. Every minute is precious.

Gembala, the second-year var-sity senior, helps her team from inside the goal, instructing and guiding them on towards op-portunities and openings that they cannot see on their own.

“As a goalie, you’re the eyes and

Propositions 30 and 32 will both be on the Nov. 6 ballot and directly affect the students and teachers of California.

Prop 30 proposes to temporarily increase income taxes, primarily on the rich, to prevent a $6 billion cut to California Education. It would also increase sales tax by .25 percent to prevent budget cuts from programs like Special Education.

“It won’t save education in California all by itself, but it’s a necessary temporary fix to lead to ongoing financial reform,” social studies teacher Marc Crownover said.

If Prop 30 is not passed, the Sequoia Union High School District will lose over $3 million in state funding in the middle of the year. Class sizes could increase, and there could also be fewer electives.

“Clearly [special education and electives] are not programs we are able to or want to cut, so we have to make it up somehow [by] looking at eliminating school days, [maybe] up to 15,” Superintendent Jim Lianides said.

Proposition 32 proposes to prevent unions from taking dues directly from their members’ pay checks, which could make administration difficult. It would also make it illegal for them to contribute to Political Action Committees (PACs) or to support a candidate. However, companies would still be able to contribute to PACs and campaigns.

“Organized labour would lose its voice over-night if this passed,” Crownover said. “[Propo-sition 32] would gut [union] finances, mute their voice and watch them wither.”

There are several opportunities for students to campaign for both of these propositions. Door knocking and phone banking sessions are being held by organizations around the state, and there is information in the Student Activi-ties Center about specific local events

“The more students out there, the more likely we are to convince people to vote. If we don’t care, why should they help us?”said junior Yaser Rodriguez, who has been involved in the Proposition 30 campaign.

Polls have shown support for Proposition 30 wavering around 50 percent, which is the majority needed for the initiative to pass.

“If Proposition 30 doesn’t pass and 32 does, school districts will be slammed, and they will have no voice with scared teachers who won’t support unions,” Crownover said. “Districts de-pendent on the state will be creamed, it will be a baseball bat to the head.”

Propositions hold high stakes for schools and teachers

Senior Gembala leads team from inside the netSammi Gembala mentors her team after being named the Bay Division’s Most Valuable Goalie last year.

Photo by mark bauhaus

By LILY HARTZELLFeature Editor

bikes can fit in the new bike rack.

the ears of the team,” Gembala said. “As much as it’s a team sport, there has to be somebody that’s going to be there and tell you what to see. You have to be there for your team and be able to back them up because you’re the last line of defense.”

Looking at the senior now, it may come as a surprise that Gembala al-most didn’t try out for the wa-ter polo team her freshman year.

“I ended up walking onto the pool deck to watch a water polo game [one day] and Coach Dave [Knochenhauer] said ‘why aren’t you in the pool?’” Gembala said. “He

told me to go get a green packet, fill it out and turn it in. I showed up for practice the next day.”

Knochenhauer still remem-bers that day and is thankful that he spoke up when he did.

“Our team was not very large and she was an-other person that didn’t drown and could swim,” he said. “She was

always athletic, so I knew she would be a good addition.”

Last year, during Gem-bala’s first season on varsity, she earned the title of Most

“When you win something like that it isn’t about just what you’ve done. It’s about the fact that you have a team behind you that trusted you.”

—senior Sammi Gembala

Deferred Action and Trust Act offer new opportunities to undocumented studentsBy GLENN BILLMANStaff Reporter

For undocumented students, re-lief from uncertain situations came in the form of Deferred Action, an-nounced in June.

It is designed to help undocu-mented students become temporary citizens, achieve higher education, and get work permits and driver’s licenses. However, some do not

think that the government is doing enough.

“I just want [the government] to help undocumented immigrants. We just came here. We give to the country, we aren’t taking anything away. We aren’t getting any help,” sophomore Alexandra Soto said.

Without Deferred Action and the DREAM Act, it is difficult for undocumented students to go to college or work legally.

“Over the years, I have seen [un-documented] students work so hard to be successful and to pursue their education, and then be denied ac-cess to college,” DREAM Club adviser Jane Slater said. “For these students, what is most unfair is that they did not make the decision to come to this country, their parents did.”

Deferred Action tries to address

Go to GEMBALA, page 8

Go to DEFERRED, page 2

75 86 Page 4

News2

Invisible Children came to Carrington Hall Oct. 3 to in-form students about Joseph Kony’s violent crimes in north-ern Africa and encourage them to join the cause.

Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that trav-els around northern Africa, kidnapping children and forc-ing them into an army. Kony’s v i o l e n t acts serve no clear political p ur p o s e except to maintain p o w e r . The mission of Invisible Children is to stop Kony and put an end to LRA violence.

The presentation urged stu-dents to take action by spread-ing awareness about Kony’s ac-tions.

“What if I told you [that you] have 24 hours to get out or I will kill you and your fam-ily’?” English teacher and Afri-cause adviser Justine Rutigliano said. “You can’t even imagine what it [is] like.”

Wilfred Okuli, a native Ugandan and Invisible Chil-dren representative, shared his life story during the assem-bly.

He is one of the many ab-ducted kids who has taken up efforts with Invisible Children as a “Roadie,” educating school groups about the importance of helping Ugandan children.

“Tell the world that our brothers and sisters are still in captivity,” Okuli said. “We are the generation of justice. My

Invisible Children inspires studentsBy CLAIRE BUGOSStaff Reporter

New clubs spark student interestBy SIMON GREENHILL and MATVARI MAHARAJStaff Reporters

Students crowded the quad Sept. 21 to learn about the 11 new clubs that have found their way onto Sequoia’s campus. Clubs vary from simple gatherings of friends with similar interests to in-volvement with international organizations.

The Sweater Club, which has been very popu-lar so far, will run clothing drives and fundraisers in order to provide the less fortunate with warmer clothes.

“People don’t need to be embarrassed to join a club that’s actually for a good cause,” said junior Carson Parodi, the club’s co-president.

The Fashion Club will work with the Sweater

Opportunity to meet with community colleges, UC, CSU,

private and out-of-state university representatives.

Presentations from University of California, California State

University and California Community College

institutions. Event will also include a Financial Aid workshop.

For questions contact:Sequoia Union High School District

650.369.1411 x2390Cañada College at 650.306.3493

“What if I told you [that you] have 24 hours to get out or I will kill you and your family? You can’t even imagine what it [is] like.”

—English Teacher Justine Rutigliano

Club to make sweaters and help with clothing drives.

The Sweater Club will meet every other Wednesday in P1.

Rise-Up Ghana is an international organi-zation that is fundraising to help build a clinic in the village Wli Todzi where people’s access to medical care is extremely limited.

“I didn’t know that it was so hard for people [in Ghana] to get just simple medical care,” said junior Julia Neish, president of Rise-Up Ghana.

Rise-Up Ghana will meet every Tuesday in Room 128.

A list of all of Sequoia’s clubs is posted on the school website with details on the clubs’ meeting times, locations and advisers.

arrived in the U.S. before they were 16, and are un-der 30, eligible for amnesty.

“My mom immigrated here because she wanted us to have a better education, and just wanted to be able to work, because in Mexico, it’s really hard,” an anonymous undocumented junior said.

At Sequoia, it is important for students to realize how difficult life can be for their peers if their im-migration status is unclear.

“[Coming from] a poor and humble family we don’t have a lot of the resources we need in order to have a smooth life. [It seems like] all these kids know they’re going to college, but I don’t. I’m not

DEFERRED, from page 1

brother tried to escape...[but they] caught him and he was slaughtered before us,” Okuli said, recalling what it was like in the LRA.

He spoke of how he escaped and survived in the jungle on what he could find. He was res-cued, and later came to Invis-ible Children.

“Wilfred was asked if he ever had to kill anybody and he wouldn’t answer. It was too personal,” Rutigliano said.

Invisible Children have a four-p r o n g e d program to help those like Okuli r e c o v e r after such traumatiz-

ing experi-ences, as well as to put an end to Kony.

This program includes Me-dia, Mobilization, Protection and Recovery.

When Okuli returned to school, he was granted a scholarship from the Legacy Scholarship Program, part of Invisible Children’s Recovery program. He will graduate with a college degree as a profession-al teacher in May.

“When I joined high school, I was devoted to the books...the word ‘ambassador’ inspired me to be the voice of the voiceless,” said Okuli who is now touring California, assuming the voice of the Ugandan people and asking students to take a stand against Kony.

Okuli’s parting words were; “We ask you to stand with us...to be our representative...My words of gratitude to you for offering your time, opportunity and intelligence to help us with this war.”

sure what’s going to happen,” an anonymous undocumented junior said.

The Trust Act was vetoed by Governor Jer-ry Brown on Sept. 30. If it had passed, it would have stopped the holding of suspected illegal immigrants while their fingerprints are sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The DREAM Club, and many other organizations, are fighting to improve immi-gration laws.

“When the DREAMers are able to live freely, without the fears and obstacles they en-counter on a daily basis, they will contribute even more to our society; financially, socially, professionally and educationally,” Slater said.

College applications getting you down?

Peninsula Young Writers can help!

Call Beth Harrison for personal statement coaching 650-743-1959 or email penwritelitpro@gmail.com

Freshmen visited college campuses Oct. 16 to get a sense of what college life is like. Photo courtesy of Eileen Bray

Economy

Education

Environment

Health Care

Miscellaneous

“We’ve got to make college more a�ordable for more young people. We can’t put the middle class at a disadvantage. We can’t price out folks who are trying to make sure that they not only succeed for themselves but help the country succeed.”

“I believe that we do best when the middle class is doing well. And what I want to do is continue the tax rates — the tax cuts that we put into place for small businesses and families.”

“I'm not going to raise taxes on anyone, because when the economy is growing slow like this you shouldn't raise taxes on anyone."

“We've got to boost American energy production, and oil and natural gas production are higher than they've been in years. But I also believe that we've got to look at the energy sources of the future, like wind and solar and biofuels, and make those investments.”

"We face serious competitive challenges globally unless we become serious with getting prices of energy down. It’s a great opportunity for America to develop technology to lead the world in energy e�ciency and production.”

“A�er a century of striving, a year of debate, [and] a historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.” “America's health care is expensive because the incentives are all wrong -

for the patient, the doctor, the hospital, and the insurer. Health care can't function like a market if it doesn't have incentives like a market.

Fixing health care begins with �xing incentives."

“It is long past the time that we unleash the promise of all our young people and make the DREAM Act a reality.” “Improving our schools is critical to the future and[the] economy. Closing

the achievement gap in our schools is the civil rights issue of our time.”

Romney thinks that teachers should get better salary if their students are more

successful. Teaching shouldn’t be a job with union interference, but work where

students and teachers enjoy what they do.

Obama realizes the state of the economy and the toll it takes on the youth of today. Obama will make college more affordable, which will result in more graduates ready to participate in the workforce, and ultimately make the United States more progressive.

“�e key to successful schools is providing students with excellent teachers. We must recruit teachers �om among our brightest

students, pay them well, and provide them with excellent mentors. Accountability and school choice matter.”

Tax cuts for the middle class will result in the majority of Americans having more money to spend on consumables. In addition, the tax increase for the wealthy will benefit government run programs for lower income families and the elderly. Obama’s tax plan will stimulate the economy as well as benefit the poor.

Romney thinks the United States should lower taxes because if a person has

more money, he or she can spend more money, which will grow the economy. He doesn’t want to only raise taxes on the wealthy because by doing so, the

government is taking away hard earned money from people and

it discourages success.

These investments in renewable energy sources are crucial in protecting the future. America has a vast potential for domestic, sustainable energy. With investments in solar, wind and hydroelectric power, we can grow these industries and create thousands of new jobs for US citizens.

Romney thinks that the United States should utilize its natural energy resources. By

tapping into those resources, it creates jobs. By using our energy resources our GDP will

grow which makes the United States a stronger economic powerhouse and

it will allow us to lower our deficit.

Obamacare caters to both ends of the spectrum. Individuals who don’t receive health care through an employer are granted low cost health insurance. For families who receive health care through an employer, there are certain regulations that the insurer has to follow, such as keeping your child on the plan until he or she is 26 years of age or older.

Romney thinks that medicare is extremely important, but that an

induvidual should determine what his or her healthcare plan is.

Romney believes that a person should be able to buy his or her own insurance from the private

sector.

Romney will put funding towards programs to level the playing

field of all students, and create a stronger public school system.

The DREAM Act would encourage youth to be ambitious and embrace those academic challenges with their eyes set on a definite accomplishment: perma-nent citizenship. A student simply cannot be judged based on his or her status of citizenship and every hard working, meritorious student should have the chance to attend college.

Quotes by President Barack Obama Quotes by Governor Mitt Romney

Romney commentary by Staff Reporter Paul KiralyObama commentary and graphic design by News Editor Anna Dagum

Vote Nov. 6

Feature4

Female football player tackles gender barriersBy LILY HARTZELL and CARMEN VESCIAFeature Editor and Staff Reporter

“Do what you want to do in life. Follow your dreams.”

—Sophomore Rita Salama

This fall, female sophomore Rita Salama took the field as a defensive lineman for the otherwise all male JV football team. She had never played organized football before, but she ap-proached Head Football Coach Rob Poulos as a freshman with an interest playing. Rita is the first girl Poulos has coached at Sequoia.

What made you want to play foot-ball in high school?

“To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve loved it since I was little. I used to play football in the park with my

uncle, and we’d watch the ‘9ers.” How do the other players treat you?

“They’re all really nice and re-spectful. Some go really easy, like 50 percent. Sometimes it makes me mad that they go easy on me.The coach tells them to treat me like I’m one of them.”

What does your family think of you playing?

“The people on my mom’s side all say I should quit. They don’t want me getting hurt, and they think I should leave it as a guys’ sport.”

What do your friends think of you playing?

“A lot of them think it’s cool. A lot of them say they want to, but they’re too scared.”

How do other teams react when they realize you’re a girl?

“It’s hilarious seeing the other teams’ reactions. I always see peo-ple saying ‘Dude, that’s a girl’,”

Do you think other girls should try football?

“Other girls are scared at first, but I think they should try it. If they can go for it, go for it. Girls can do any-thing guys can do.”

By JARRETT CROWELL and TY DEWES Page Editors

Battle of the burgers: In-N-Out and Five Guys face off

Let’s go to In-N-Out. Wait, Five Guys is closer. But In-N-Out is cheaper. But Five Guys has a soda machine with 127 different sodas.

Since Five Guys Burgers and Fries opened up in down-town Redwood City on Sept. 3, there has been debate over which burger joint is better.

We went to both restaurants and put them through five tests to determine which restaurant is the swankest, dankest and takeittothebankest.

Test 1: An evaluation of each menu.

With burgers, fries, milk-shakes and soda, In-N-Out has a somewhat vintage menu for those of you who prefer a sim-ple burger joint. The Five Guys menu is loaded with burgers, hot dogs, cajun fries, grilled cheeses, free toppings and soda from the fountain of all soda fountains. The Five Guys menu has more variety, but some cus-tomers feel more choices make it hard to decide what to order.

“The Five Guys menu is just a more complicated version [of the In-N-Out menu] with pickles and mushrooms,” soph-omore Raul Solorio said.

Despite this, we awarded point number one to Five Guys for the diversity of its menu.

Test 2: How much is it? An In-N-Out cheeseburger

costs around $2.15 and a Dou-ble-Double costs $3.15. Five Guys on the other hand is $3.99 for a Little Cheeseburger (one patty), and $4.49 for a Regular (two patties). For some, this may be way too much to spend on an after-school snack.

“[Five Guys is] way more expensive,” said senior Nickie Pucel, who works at In-N-Out.

Photos By Simon Greenhill

Five Guys offers unlimitted topping for all of its burgers.

“I probably won’t go there again. In-N-Out is like half the price.”

However, some argue that a Five Guys meal gives you more bang for your buck.

“While the meal may seem expensive, you get a full meal. The [Regular] burgers have two patties, the toppings are free and Five Guys give you more fries. It is worth the money be-cause it always fills you up,” said senior Karla Aviles, who works at Five Guys.

Nevertheless, we awarded In-N-Out point number two for its low prices.

Test 3: Location, Location. Five Guys is right next to the

movie theater, and the closest In-N-Out is off Veterans Blvd.

“They are both easy to get to,” Solorio said, “but Five Guys is closer to Sequoia.”

Five Guys wins the point if you’re on foot, but what if you are driving?

“If people are walking they

might want to stick with Five Guys,” Pucel said, “[However] it’s a lot more of a hassle to park at Five Guys. If people can drive, we think they would go the extra distance [for In-N -Out].”

This one was tough—we gave one point to Five Guys for proximity, and one point to In-N-Out for having the parking situation on lock.

Test 4: Service and Atmosphere.

Both Five Guys and In-N-Out were very kind in tak-

ing our orders. The food at Five Guys came quickly and we didn’t wait in line for very long; something that one may encounters at In-N-Out. Both restaurants have similar atmo-spheres—an almost ‘80s or ‘90s feel to them.

One argument for why the atmosphere at Five Guys is bet-ter is the interactions between employees and customers.

“At Five Guys, the employees talk to and joke around with the customers. At In-N-Out, there is not much interaction

between customer and employ-ee. At Five Guys, the customer is the #1 priority,” Aviles said.

We decided to award one point to each. They both have good systems and their staffs work together to get food out fast.

Heading into the last test, Five Guys and In-N-Out are neck and neck. Five Guys has certainly given Redwood City’s most coveted and well-known burger joint a run for its money.

Test 5: Taste Test. In-N-Out burgers are

unique because they use a spe-cial spread.

“For me it’s the buns and the spread,” Pucel said. “In-N-Out spread is like my favorite thing ever now, and I’m still not bored of it.”

Five Guys, on the other hand, has toppings on top-pings. The choices vary from grilled onions and jalapeno peppers to barbeque and hot sauce. They also have bacon cheeseburgers, and that bacon was c-r-i-s-p. Trust us, we know our bacon.

According to Annika Gal-liani, who also works at Five Guys, quality is of the utmost importance to the staff.

“At Five Guys, you’re getting quality food. We have a precise way of doing everything. The burger has to be perfect before we give it to a customer,” Gal-liani said.

So, who gets that last point? Who comes out on top?

We say if you’re going for simplicity, In-N-Out wins. The burgers are good, the prices are fair and the service is fast and smooth.

If you have the urge to splurge, go to Five Guys. They will give you your money’s worth with toppings and sodas galore. Just don’t get mad at us when you see your receipt.

Photo By Simon Greenhill

Rita Salama is a defensive lineman for the JV team and the first girl to play for Sequoia.

Opinion 5

By ARACELI EFIGENIOFeature Editor

Bikers and drivers share the roadBikers behaving badly

Whiz. Wave. Honk. Swerve. Cyclists get a lot of crap when they’re on the road and many motor-ists don’t know that bikers are lawfully given the same rights as drivers. Fear and concern for a cyclist’s s a f e -

ty is understandable. An-ger, contempt and finger-pointing, however, is not.

Drivers seem to believe that the road belongs solely to them, and that bicyclists are a mere

h i n -d r a n c e w h o d o n ’ t have a place in our car-d r i v e n s o c i e t y. In truth, we’re al-lowed to be in the m i d d l e of a lane, on ma-jor roads a n d s o m e -t i m e s even on

freeways. Granted, this also means that we must follow the same laws as mo-torists do and that we can be ticketed for running a stop sign, a stop light or breaking any other law on the road.

At Sequoia, approximately 70 peo-ple ride their bikes to school every day,

whereas over 150 drive themselves. “[People in cars] don’t real-

ize how scary it is to be on a bike with all these cars whizzing by,” freshman Abigail Wang said.

Driver’s road rage not only flusters bikers, it creates an even more danger-ous situation. While motorists need only pass a cyclist and be on their way, many panic, get unreasonably an-gry, start blaring horns and swerve.

“I get honked at a lot. I’ve been yelled at before and I’ve almost got hit by a car twice,” junior Claire Harkola said.

In addition, it is terrifying to have a driver creep behind you for blocks be-cause they’re too afraid to pass - not to mention dangerous. Remember what you

learned i n D r i v -e r ’ s Educa-t i o n , a n d

gently steer around us. Cyclists are aware of cars and most will do their best to stay out of the way.

“Sometimes, there’s at least 20 feet of street next to me and [cars] follow behind me, and I’m like, ‘Go around!’” Harkola said.

Sure, we do things you may not expect. We swerve. We forget to use hand signals. We roll through stop signs. But remember, it doesn’t take much to send us flying off the road. Besides, how often do drivers make mistakes? How often do they for-get their turn signals, run through a red light or cut other drivers off ?

Cyclists help our society save gas, money and often time.

“If I drive, it takes me at least a half hour to get home, so I don’t gain that much time by driving,” said Com-puter Science teacher Cameron Dodge, who bikes to school most days.

So, instead of flipping a biker off as you drive by, remember that they are one fewer car in between you and home, and turn that one-fingered salute into a polite wave.

M e n a c -ingly riding on their two-wheeled con-t r a p t i o n s , they glide with con-

viction in their eyes. You hold your breath and pray to the car gods that no one will lose their lives. You decide to pass them and your heart palpitates uncontrollably. Relief washes over you.

W h e t h e r you’re a driver or simply a pas-senger, we’ve all been there.

Some bik-ers just don’t seem to understand that bike lanes are meant for bikes and that stop signs are for everyone on wheels.

I’m not saying that all bikers are annoying and completely incompe-tent. It is only a selective few who rebel against society’s well-thought out ways of protecting bikers.

Bike lanes are like mini-roads, specially designed for single-file bike riding. Sometimes bikers de-cide to ride side-by-side in packs like an environmentally friendly motor-cycle gang. One bike may be small enough to drive around, but an en-tire pack? That requires driving so slow it could make a snail sneer.

“I was driving on a one lane street once, and there was a pack of 50 bik-ers. I had to trail behind them all the way home,” junior Nick Chang said.

Unlike the white bike lanes, stop signs are bright red and prominently state in capital letters “STOP.” You’d think it would be hard to misunderstand.

“I don’t understand the thought process of a biker when they’re like ‘I’m just gonna gun it; I don’t care.’ It’s not safe for them or anyone on the road,” senior Kevin Castro said.

Contrary to popular biker be-lief, drivers cannot immediately stop their cars when a biker crosses in front of them. Quite the op-posite happens. Bikers can die.

If more precautions were taken, then fewer bikers would be in biker heaven.

I understand that helmets destroy all hope for a good hair day, but they are essential to keeping biker’s heads from getting squished. Unless you are a genie who recently escaped from a bottle or a titanium robot with an indestructible head, wear a helmet.

Lights, reflective tape or having anything relatively g l o w - i n - t h e - d a r k on your bike when riding at night is also a good idea.

“One time I was driving, it was dark, but I had my lights on, and right as I was gonna go, a bike with no reflectors passed me,” junior Kate Elliott said. “You really need to put a light on your b i k e . ”

C a r s are large machines that kill and bikes are small, air-bagless v e h i c l e s that will lose a fight a g a i n s t a car.

S t o p signs, bike l a n e s , and hel-mets are there for a reason.

“Just follow the rules of the road,” Castro said. “You’re less than 200 pounds compared to a two ton vehicle. You’re not gonna fare well in an accident.”

By SIMON GREENHILL and LILY HARTZELL Staff Reporter and Feature Editor

Scoot over, gas guzzlers

Video games such as “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2,” “Halo 4,” and “Assassins Creed 3,” are some of the most anticipated violent video games of this year.

Many people question what effect these video games have on the minds of youth. Some believe the effects are positive and others think they are nega-tive.

“There are many studies that show that video games cause violence but there many stud-ies that show that they don’t lead to violence,” psychology teacher David Weyant said.

Video games can offer youth a handful of positive effects.

Violent video games may not be a danger to high school studentsBy CARLOS GARCIAStaff Reporter

Video games help players think more strategi-cally and gain problem solv-ing skills as players think for themselves and what their next move should be in the game. Many games such as “Diablo” or “Starcraft” make players constantly think of how they should approach a problem and defeat their enemy.

Many games now allow play-ers to be physically active. The Xbox 360 now offers the Ki-nect, which makes players have fun while exercising.

Many people used to play alone creating social problems, but now Microsoft and Sony have created social networks to go along with their games. Xbox Live and the Playstation

Network allow players to com-municate with their friends. They can play games together ,talk to each oth-er, and even meet new people. This has made it easy for players to stay connect with each other become social.

According to an article that was written by Jeremy Adam Smith, he stated that that University of Texas conducted a survey on 1,491 students. They found that those who played games, and those who didn’t still spent the

same amount of time with their family and friends.

Video games are frequently criticized for their violent content, people believe that movies and television as well have an ef-fect.

“I used to watch Criminal Minds--it’s the most sickest thing you can get on television,” junior Journey Manning said. “So I guess that can help create sickness in a mind.”

Others say that video games

don’t create aggression. Some people stay calm.

“I don’t get physically mad, I just tell myself that I could have done better,” junior Larry Godinez said. “It’s nothing like raging.”

Some people know how to control themselves when it comes to playing video games.

Many parents worry that grades suffer due to video games, but others know how to keep up with their studies and still have some free time.

“I usually do homework, then play video games,” Man-ning said.

There are many possible ef-fects that video games may leave on the minds of young people.

Unless you are a genie who recently escaped from a bottle or a titanium robot with an indestructible head, wear a helmet.

Drivers seem to believe that the road belongs solely to them, and that bicy-clists are a mere hindrance who don’t have a place in our car-driven society.

Photo by Araceli EfigenioDrivers and cyclists battle daily for space on the roads.

Halo 4 is due to come out on Nov. 6.

6 Opinion

Sequoia SaysWhat are you going to be for

Halloween?

“A nun because I wanna walk like one.”—Sophomore Dylan Habecker

“An orange. I like fruit.”—Sophomore Jordan Hurwitz

“Mr. Ton-Tho.”—Junior Gareth Wang

“Me and my best friend are gonna be grandmas together.”

—Senior Yesenia Andrade

—Compiled by Araceli Efigenio

Corrections: In Issue 1, The Raven Report incorrectly reported the number of students in the freshman class. As of October 2012, there are 455 freshmen. Math teacher Donald Hoban was left out of the new teacher feature.

Sequoia High School

Raven Report2012-2013

Editor-in-Chief Hanna BolañosOnline Editor Caroline Lempert Sports Editor Laurel Dearborn

Feature Editors Lily Hartzell Araceli EfigenioNews Editor Anna Dagum

Page Editors Erick Castro Jarrett Crowell Ty Dewes

Staff ReportersAngie Calderón Anthony Dufour Becca Melmon

Brianna Escobedo Cam Rebosio Carlos Garcia Carmen Vescia Claire Bugos Dalia Jude

Glenn Billman Jamie Guaspari Jenna Paliughi Kyle Shea Lorna Wake Matvari Maharaj

Nayeli Garcia Paul Kiraly Sabrina Villanueva-Avalos Simon Greenhill

AdviserKim Vinh

Mission StatementThe Raven Report strives to provide Sequoia High School

with informative, engaging and relevant news. The staff will exercise integrity and adaptability while promoting justice

and transparency through professional reporting about the school, the community and the world.

Letters to the EditorThe Raven Report welcomes letters to the editor from students,

parents, or community members, sent to Room 308 or by email to ravenreport09@gmail.com. Letters must include the writer’s

full name and ID number, and the staff reserves the right to edit for space and style.Find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ravenreportTwitter: @ravenreport

Staff Editorial

“Did you see Obama’s ‘bored face’?”“Do you know that Mitt Rom-

ney is going to cancel Big Bird?”“Obama’s lapel pin was

much smaller than Romney’s.” Very astute observations indeed. It is very encouraging to hear

our student body buzzing about the 2012 presidential candidates. The content of their conversa-tions; however, is another story.

Debate season occurs in the month before the election and it is debatable (ha) whether or not de-bates will actually clear up enough issues to sway voters in one direction or another. Those already committed to a candidate will most likely stay committed. Debates are thus usually seen as an opportunity for the can-didates to romance the undecided.

Ninety-nine percent of the Se-quoia student body is probably under 18, and will not be voting this fall. However, if students were eligible to vote, the specific reasons for their potential voting decisions might be difficult to pin down.

If someone under 18 feels com-mitted to a presidential candidate, it is most often the candidate their par-ents support. Or, it may be the candi-date who behaves in the least moronic way. Students, and perhaps most vot-ing adults, as well, may know nothing about the candidates past what color tie they wore at the latest debate (usu-ally a very eclectic red or blue). But this November, we will be asked to choose the leader of our country for the next four years. Whether you are an Independent, Green Party mem-ber, Republican or Democrat, a legal

Make the Change:From ignorant to informed

voter or not, you better be informed.You may be wondering, “if I can’t

vote, why should I care?” Well, even though voting season is a little ways off for most of you, it’s never too early to start preparing. Ac-cording to the United States Cen-sus Bureau, only 53 percent of the voting age population voted in the 2008 presidential election. Only half of our country cared enough to make their way to the polls four years ago. It’s not that hard to vote.

You all know someone who can vote. So even if you can’t, you can en-courage the other 47 percent of the country to do so. Each candidate in the presidential race has his strengths and weaknesses. But weird facial ex-pressions and how much they sweat on camera are not strong indica-tors of their ability to run a country.

You as a student should be watching debates, listening to the radio or reading the newspa-per (heaven forbid) to learn about the candidates and their policies.

You will all be eligible vot-ers soon enough. Don’t grow up to be the person who only knows Romney’s favorite color of tie.

In four years, when most of you do get to vote for the next President, your decisions should be based in fact. You need to have an understanding of the issues, not appearances. And don’t worry if you find yourself float-ing with Ohio in the undecided boat.

It’s better to be awash and float-ing among the issues, than decid-ing to jump onto one candidate’s side, just because you didn’t like the size of the other guy’s lapel.

Cartoon by Hanna Bolaños

Sports 7

By ERICK CASTROPage Editor

Cross country uses fleet feet at first night meetCross country attended its first night

meet of the season in Loomis, CA on Oct. 6—the Del Oro 4000 Invitational.

According to Coach Andrew Hutchinson, he has always been inter-ested in attending a night meet, and he found out about it from the head track coach at Westmoor High School.

“This meet is the type of meet that will be a big power boost for our team,” Hutchinson said. “It’s re-ally going to boost morale, it’s go-ing to bring us together, it’s going to give us the good vibes that we need to continue to have a successful season.”

The team drove the 2.5 hours to Loomis in a charter bus, also a first for the cross country team. There, the cross country competed against 14 other schools, includ-ing Westmoor, beginning with a race at 6:00 p.m. and ending with the final race of the day at 8: 58 p.m.

“I thought it was one of the best meets of my life; I won a medal, I beat my rival, I scored as one of the very top 18,” said sophomore Charlie Utecht.

Normally, cross country meets be-gin early in the morning and end mid-afternoon. Most cross country tracks span an average of three miles. The night meet was Sequoia’s first experi-ence with a track shorter than average.

The practice before the meet, the team had a track workout and worked on speed. Despite this, there were almost no differences in how the team pre-pared for the meet. Motivations dur-ing the meet, on the other hand, varied.

The promise of In-N-Out after the meet kept senior Julia Pokorny energized during the meet. How-ever, more motivations were present.

“The coach also promised us that Channing Tatum would be at the end with his shirt off,” se-nior Claire Morrison said.

Morrison and Pokorny, among

others, ran very fast during the meet.The night meet also allowed for

Sequoia to take advantage of many opportunities. According to junior Chris Hunter, who did not run at the meet, but still went with the team, the location allowed for the Sequoia team to meet different teams they would not normally compete against.

“[Meets like this] get a lot of ex-citement. Everyone was looking for-ward to this meet all year, so it was really cool to finally do it. Also, be-ing on the bus and coming to In-N-Out builds a lot of team unity

and bonding,” Hunter said. Despite the long drive and late

time, many cross country runners, in-cluding Utecht, Morrison, Pokorny, and Hunter, look forward to more opportunities to attend night meets.

“The more that we grow and the bet-ter that we get, I would like to keep hav-ing unique meets,” Hutchinson said.

The team celebrated their first night meet afterwards by driving to an In-N-Out in the area and closed the night out by purchasing burgers for the entire team before driving home.

The SHS Purple Peo-ple, the latest addition to the cheer team, pumped up the crowd’s spirit as they made their football game debut on Sept. 7.

Head Cheer Coach Stacy Morell came up with the idea for the new mascots and sopho-more cheerleader Sarah Gilbert’s mother made the three costumes. Cheerleaders wear the costumes and dance around in them to excite the crowd and get them interested in the game.

The purple people will always be present at football games along-side Rooty the Raven.

They will also per-form at cheer compe-titions and possibly at basketball games.

All members of the cheer team are excited to see Rooty and the purple people perform alongside one another.

“I think its good to have the purple people and the mascot because the more school spirit the better,” Gilbert

said. “They are differ-ent and they do differ-ent stuff. The mascot hangs out with the people while the purple people jump around with the cheerleaders.”

Many students also seem to enjoy the perfor-mances of the mascots.

“I love the purple people. They really know how to get the crowd excited and bring out every one’s school spirit,” sopho-more Rachel Paul said.

According to senior Jesus Camacho, who

By DALIA JUDE and BECCA MELMONStaff Reporters

Purple people pump up crowd

Three cheerleaders wear SHS mascot purple and white uniforms at the first football game.

Photos By Erick Castro and Simon Greenhill

Sophomore Jeremy Woodbury jumps over a hay bale against a runner from Bellarmine while the varsity boys team shouts out “for Narnia” at the start of the race in Loomis at Del Oro High School.

performed as Rooty the Raven at the Sept. 7 game, the best parts about being a mascot are interacting with people and making kids smile.

He can tell people enjoyed the raven mascot costume be-cause they cheered and screamed when he came out. People espe-cially liked when he was with the cheerleaders.

To see these new mascots, come to Se-quoia’s Friday night football games and show your school spirit.

Photo By Stacy Morell

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Sports8

By ANTHONY DUFOUR and SABRINA VILLANUEVAStaff Reporters

The Haka: the new pre-game ritual for JV football

“Ka mate, Ka mate. Ka ora, Ka ora. Ka mate, Ka mate. Ka ora, Ka ora. Te-nei Te Tangata Puhuruhuru. Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra. Upane, Upane. Upane, Kaupane. Whiti te ra!” the team says as they perform their dance.

The song means, “It is death, It is death. It is life, it is life. It is death, it is death. It is life, it is life. This is the hairy man who caused the sun to shine for me again. Up the ladder, up the ladder. Up to the top. The sun shines!”

Sequoia’s JV football team is per-

forming the tribal Haka dance be-fore their games, which gets the team pumped up and ready to play.

The dance was taught by sopho-more players Tyler Ikeda, Ha’angana Etu, who learned it in the Poly Club last year, and Fangupo Moeaki, who learned it from his uncle.

The team performed the dance for the first time on Sep. 21, against Mission-SF.

The dance gives the team an energetic feeling and gets them more focused on the game.

“It puts us on that level where it’s game time. Nobody’s ner-vous; the fear is gone.” linebacker

Varsity volleyball takes first placeBy JAMIE GUASPARI and JENNA PALIUGHIStaff Reporters

Due to vigorous prac-tices, high skill level and great teamwork, Sequoia’s girls varsity volleyball team achieved first in the gold bracket of their most recent tournament at Irvington High School on Sept. 22.

Although they lost to Irvington, they still man-aged to win the most games in their bracket, earning them a spot in the cham-pionships. They beat Al-

and offensive lineman Etu said.The Haka is a traditional Maori

dance that originated in New Zea-land, performed by men and wom-en during special occasions, to ac-knowledge great achievements, and other entertainment purposes.

The “All Blacks” rugby team be-gan doing the dance in 1888 main-ly to intimidate their opponents.

JV Head Coach Camer-on Farris approved the sugges-tion, but with two requirements.

“It’s gotta be good, and we’re not gonna do it in front of the other team,” Farris said. “We’re not gonna try to intimidate them, because some-

times when you face the other team, it can be seen as bad sportsmanship.”

With painted faces, up-beat spirits, and game faces on, they hustled out to the field.

“If we’re willing to learn this dance to show our opponents and audience, it shows that we’re willing to do any-thing to win,” offensive and defen-sive lineman Antonio Arellano said.

The team won the game 32-19.“I thought it was really cool that

everybody did it,” Farris said. “It wasn’t a requirement, it was just something the players lead. [And] it wasn’t about doing it for the other team, it was about doing it for us.”

GEMBALA, from page 1 Most Valuable Goalie in the PAL Bay Division by a unanimous coaches’ vote.

“When you win something like that it isn’t about just what you’ve done. It’s about the fact that you have a team behind you that trusted you,” Gembala said. “We didn’t necessarily have the best record in our league, but for all the coaches to notice that we worked well together as a team and that, for me, I was able to hold the team together

varez, Fremont Christian, Aragon and Newark Me-moria in the tournament.

Their determination, ef-fort, and willingness to suc-ceed is what drives this team to victory.

The team practices ev-ery single week day, except days when they have games.

To the girls it’s just one as-pect of many that helps them preform as well as they do.

“[Practicing] helps us bond; it helps us work to-gether on the court,” fresh-man Sarah Swinnerton said.

from the back and make sure that we were all together, it was a huge accomplishment for me.

Gembala is excited to lead the Cherokees again this year because the team is younger.

“In a game, you’re this leader and this demanding figure in the pool, but in practice you have to be a teacher,” Gembala said. “As a goalie, you can see when someone is doing some-thing wrong because you’re always looking at everybody all the time. You have to give feedback and you have to know how to give it in a positive way.”

The team is looking to reach CCS again this year even with new additions to the team.

As you walk by the pool, you’re sure to hear Gem-bala’s voice over the whistles and banter in the water, tell-ing her players to drive, wing out, call for the ball and get their hands up on defense.

“She has become a sec-ond coach,” Knochenhau-er said. “She’s decisive, she leads the kids well, and has a good idea or what is hap-pening in the field which is what good goalies can do.”

Girls tennis serves up strong end of seasonBy ANNA DAGUMNews Editor

Sequoia High School’s girls tennis team wraps up the fall season Oct. 23 at Oceana. As of Oct. 16, the team was 5-2 with a PAL tournament in sight.

“if we close out the rest of the season, we’ll get sec-ond place in our division.” said varsity singles player

Sarah Ciambrone. “and it’s pretty solid right now.”

The tennis team is cur-rently in Ocean division, the highest division in the Peninsula Athletic League.

As of two years ago, the team acquired a new coach: Phil McKenney.

“The team has been a lot better than it has been [in the past],” Ciambro-ne said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Students gathered at Carrington Hall on Oct. 11 to watch the Giants vs. Reds game.Photo by Alsace Patrone

Photo by Sabrina Villanueva