Granite Bay Gazette » freshman

Freshmen adapting high school

Rachael Vasquez — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:54:46 +0000

While seniors are looking ahead towards college, freshmen still have another three years of high school to experience new activities and find themselves.

Sam Kim

Most freshmen at GBHS are average teenagers finding their way through high school by their own means and pace. Freshman Samuel Kim is a perfect example.

Though Kim has many junior and senior friends, he admits that most of his high school social life involves many of his freshmen friends. Together they break dance, and even participated in the lip sync together.

Since he was very young, Kim loved dancing and was amused by the sight of it.

His first inspiration was America’s Best Dance Crew and from there his friends guided him to his passion.

“I found the confidence to dance on my own but ABDC and my friends gave me my motivation to pursue dancing,” Kim said.

Through dancing, Kim has developed an active build.

“If you think about break dancing in a sports’ perspective, it requires a lot of athleticism,” Kim said. “At first, a break dancer may start out with underdeveloped muscles but after you progress, you’ll eventually develop the muscles needed to become advanced.”

Despite the fact that Kim isn’t the typical athlete, he’s just a normal active freshman making the most of his teenage years among the upperclassmen.

“At first you think that high school is going to be harsh because there are so many upperclassmen,” Kim said. “But after thinking that and experiencing the first part of high school, I just feel like a normal kid who will be a senior like everyone else one day.”

Colin Fitzgerald

Around campus, upperclassmen can usually be identified by their taller height and grown beards. By upon closer examination, one student with those features isn’t actually an upperclassman.

Freshman Colin Fitzgerald entered high school at 5 foot 10 inches tall with facial hair like his junior brother, Ian Fitzgerald.

Colin and Ian are the only males in their immediate family that have the capability of growing beards. Their appearance may be similar, but Colin differs from Ian by having straighter facial hair.

Since the end of seventh grade, Colin has been able to grow facial hair that gives him the allusion of being older.

“I first really noticed that people thought that I was older when I went to the Sacramento Anime convention,” Fitzgerald said. “I didn’t know that they would be shocked that much when they learned I was only 14.”

The benefit of having a beard to appear older is understandable, but that’s not the reason Fitzgerald keeps his beard.

“I admit that I don’t want to always look older but I am actually just (too) lazy to shave,” Fitzgerald said. “Also, facial hair keeps the wind from penetrating your skin and I’ve now come to think of my beard as a blanket on my face.”

Due to his laziness, Fitzgerald can be seen around campus displaying his beard with pride. Countless times classmates have approached Fitzgerald and commonly touched his facial hair like they’ve known him their whole life.

“After people touch my beard, they can then come to conclusions about my age or my appearance,” Fitzgerald said. “Some people say comments that are humorous like ‘are you a werewolf or Hugh Jackman?’ while others can be quite inappropriate.”

Seniors reflect on their growth and experience over their past four years

Rachael Vasquez — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:51:03 +0000

The journey from freshman to senior is a long and stressful one. But after the piles of homework and endless college applications, those scrawny little kids from four years ago have grown in more ways than one.

Phillip Vogeley

Senior Phillip Vogeley has been one of the most talented wrestlers that varsity wrestler coach Shane Dixon has ever taught. This year, Vogeley was one of 10 varsity wrestlers that have advanced on to the post-season.

However, Vogeley did not become the shining star that Dixon knows today until his last year of wrestling at Granite Bay High School.

Vogeley was a late bloomer.

He entered his freshman year of wrestling in the weight class of 103 pounds, and since then has progressed to wrestling in the 140 pounds. weight class. Only recently has he dropped down into the 135 poundss. weight class in order to compete beyond post-season.

Though his progression may have gotten off on a rough start, Vogeley isn’t ashamed of the physical progress he has made since his smaller freshman year.

“It’s just the normal development of my body,” Vogeley said. “I can’t complain especially since I’ve seen an improvement in myself in wrestling and outside wrestling.”

Since his freshman year, Vogeley has grown over 9 inches. Not only has his height and build changed since then, but also Vogeley now has the confidence in himself that he lacked before.

“Growing taller and growing up in general is such a social, emotional and physical change,” Vogeley said. “You become more confident when you’re older and bigger built.”

Shane Dixon has been able to work with Vogeley over the past four years as an assistant varsity wrestling coach. This past year, when Dixon stepped up to be the head varsity wresting coach, he was easily impressed achievements.

“Phil has always been technically sound,” Dixon said. “However, just this year alone he has just blossomed with an incredible athletic year.”

Overall, Vogeley has grown into the strong wrestler he is today.

“It just goes to show that if you stick with something you love and you’re not the most fearfully big opponent, one day your work will pay off and your body will catch up,” Vogeley said. “Trust me, it feels good when hard work pays off and you reach your goals.”

Kyle Howarth

Senior Kyle Howarth is not the typical senior and that’s because he wasn’t a typical freshman either. Coming into high school, Howarth was a few inches shy of six feet tall.

Due to his height, Howarth has been able to excel in sports year round, including soccer, basketball and volleyball.

“Being tall is such an advantage when you’re playing sports at competitive levels,” Howarth said.

Though being tall gives Howarth an advantage over his opponents, Howarth knows that he can’t only rely on height to compete.

According to Howarth, sports require a wider ability range.

“I’ve personally focused on developing skills rather than trying to perform by only brutal strength and height,” Howarth said. “With basketball and rebounding in particular, it’s mainly about determination and technique.”

But Kyle has regular day advantages that most of his fellow classmates don’t have.

“I’m fine with people mistaking me for being older if it only benefits me,” Howarth said.

For GBHS sports fan and coaches, Howarth’s height adds greatly to his athletic contributions.

“Kyle has embraced the skills like being a great defender, moving without the ball and rebounding,” varsity basketball coach Jason Sitterud said. “He does all the dirty work that no one wants to do for us and because of that he’s our team’s best rebounder.”

A take on the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Haley Massara — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:56:45 +0000

I really didn’t know what to expect.
I had dreamed it would be the politically-moderate Woodstock of my generation, a last-minute en mass pilgrimage of politically unified young people simply for the purpose of proving their own existence. It would be something I’d remember for the rest of my life, something they’d write books and make documentaries about for generations to come.
   But really, I just hoped the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear would be worth missing a day and a half of school.
   It was a crisp, DC morning, just the right mix of cool and temperate. As my parents and I made our way towards the National Mall, we noticed the pedestrian crowds beginning to swell. People with ironic protest signs began to walk alongside us.
   Before long, we had entered a swarm of hipsters, middle-aged activists and 30-something-year-olds, all migrating toward the Capitol. I felt as though I were part of some sort of comedic religious pilgrimage, united with thousands of total strangers by a common belief (and sense of humor).
   We wanted sanity. Or fear.
   By the time I’d reached the Mall, I was part of a human sea. People were wedged in as far as I could see – which wasn’t very far at all. Jumbo-Trons had been set up sparsely throughout the Mall, but it was clear from their positions that no one had anticipated a crowd so massive. I struggled to fight my way to a clear view of a screen, much less the main stage of the rally itself.
   People began climbing trees to get a better view, and the mob wildly applauded the first few who succeeded. The hip-hop group the Roots played a pre-show set, and Jamie and Adam, hosts of the show Mythbusters, helped organize the wave and a few chants.
   And, suddenly, on came Jon Stewart, followed by Stephen Colbert after he confirmed people had, in fact, attended. The crowd went ballistic – in a polite, moderate, reasonable way.
   The Rally itself was a quickly-paced event. After a brief, appropriately satirical benediction, Ozzy Ozbourne and Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) had a quick battle of the bands (“Crazy Train” versus “Peace Train, respectively). Both were eventually silenced by the O’Jays, who played “Love Train.”
   Stewart and Colbert then proceeded to give out awards for exceptional rationality or cowardice, which somehow lead into a patriotic duet/sing-a-long.
   After a couple songs by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crowe, and cameos by R2D2 and Kareem Abdul-Jabar, a huge paper-mache puppet of Colbert attempted to terrorize the crowd. (The “fear” part of the rally.) A montage of some of the most horrifically partisan news clips played over the Jumbo-Trons – scary indeed.
   Such insanity “killed” Stewart, and the crowd had to revive him via chanting. It felt a little ridiculous, sure, reminiscent of the viral video The Yes Dance. But I joined in anyway.
   With the Colbert puppet safely overwhelmed, Stewart gave his keynote. In all seriousness, it was a gorgeous, powerful speech, one of the most moving I’ve ever heard.   �
   “If we amplify everything, we hear nothing,” Stewart said, the joking tone in his voice now eerily absent. The crowd had gone completely silent; you could have heard a pin drop.
   Stewart summed up the rally’s purpose – which, until then, had remained abstract – with the last lines of his speech. His words echoed my sentiment perfectly.
   “Sanity will always be, and has always been, in the eye of the beholder,” he said. “To see you here today has restored mine.”

Fresh-MAN Cheerleader

Rachael Vasquez — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 20:59:01 +0000

Chavez helps lift flyer Sammy Hansen during cheer practice.

Every great high school is built on the foundation of strong school spirit. While some students at Granite Bay High School lack the enthusiasm, others attempt to achieve excellence through their activities. Luckily GBHS has freshman Alex Chavez, the new male cheerleader and he has exactly what the school needs to bring in more spirit.

After being involved in gymnastics and tumbling for six years in Rancho Cordova, Chavez has been cheerleading for two years. 2010 marks his first year on the GHBS cheer squad, being one of two male cheerleaders.

Though his tumbling skills make him a great cheerleader, Chavez wasn’t always satisfied with all the impacts that tumbling brought to his life.

“I got hurt on every event except floor, so floor was my only option,” Chavez said. “And you can’t compete like that.”

GBHS cheerleading coach Bri Larson said, “(Chavez) has one of the highest tumbling passes out of all seventy-five kids in the program, (doing tricks that) people generally take a long time to learn.”

While being talented in tumbling, Chavez has great strength as well.

“Guys are supposed to be more built for cheer and dance so their tumbling tricks bring so much talent to our team,” GBHS senior and cheerleading captain Brie Shimada said.

Senior captain Jeff Fehr is equally accepting of another male on the team.

“We (male cheerleaders) bring more strength to the team and (bring) a different perspective to people who don’t usually see male cheerleaders,” said Fehr.

Gymnastic skills and strength are not all of his admirable cheerleading qualities. Chavez also is a great person to have on the team.

“Alex is super friendly. All the girls get along with him (because) he’s just such a hard worker,” Shimada said.

Chavez has not only impressed his peers but also caught the attention of the varsity coach and assistant principle Brent Mattix. Both adults have seen what spirit components Chavez brings to the cheerleading and school.

“Alex always shows up to cheer early, gets out the mats, and helps out. (He’s a) total team player. He always has a positive attitude, which I think is super hard to do when you have people at school that make fun of you,” Larson said.

However, Chavez said that he has only received positive feed back from his peers and the community.

Mattix is mostly impressed by Chavez’s school spirit.

“Any time we have people that want to do great things and bring good energy and bring good spirit to the school we want to embrace it and celebrate it,” Mattix said, “It can only help us to have another male on the cheerleading squad.”

Though there are many hopes on him to raise school spirit, Chavez remains humble and his only concern lies in the well being of the squad.

“(I) just want (us) to get better and get past all the stupid drama that there already is,” Chavez said.

Chavez may be modest when it comes to the persona he has built but what he brings to the squad is undoubtedly a strong mentality.

“(I’m) usually one of the positive ones,” Chavez said, “(I say) just suck it up and keep going.”

After six years of gymnastic and cheerleading, his reflections exceed experience. However, every great athlete does not have a perfect history of experiences or a perfect mentality, saying he has admirable qualities only 99 percent of the time.

His bad experience, as with his tumbling injuries in Rancho Cordova, included another mishap at GBHS

“We were trying to do a stunt and Samantha Hanson came down with her elbow and kind of hit me. I thought I broke my nose,” Chavez said.

Despite his injury incidents, Larson believes Chavez will be involved in GBHS cheer for his three remaining years.

Outside GBHS, Chavez is involved in coaching a variety of cheerleaders at different gyms as well as participating on the One Athletics in Roseville.

With his mixture of skills, qualities, experience and outside GBHS cheer activities, Chavez is clearly dedicated. Because of his involvement, Larson sees Chavez having a future after and beyond GBHS cheer, especially after his success so far this year.

At GBHS’s first school rally, there was negative school spirit in the air, even though Mattix mentioned that it was the same individuals who chanted and cheered. None of that affected Chavez once he displayed his talents.

“I was really nervous at first but it was really fun at the same time,” Chavez said. “It was just weird performing in front of friends.”

Getting a great start in school spirit makes Chavez a suitable hope for GBHS. His peers, coach and the assistant principle could not be happier with him displaying school spirit through cheerleading.

Chavez said “(Cheerleading) is pretty much for anybody if you’re really happy or if you have school spirit.”

Drowning in embarassment

Haley Massara — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:53:51 +0000

Give up.
I’m not going swimming. I never will. I don’t have a skin condition, and never mind that my disturbingly processed hair will dye the pool purple. I just plain old hate to swim.
This summer I was hounded by my friends to get in the water, but preferred instead to bake on the pool deck like the pathetic hydrophobe I had slowly become. What spoiled swimming for me?
The two weeks of hell so casually referred to as the Physical Education swim unit.
I’ll be honest here, and any of my former P.E. teachers will be happy to confirm: I am not a fan of that sporty state-mandated time waster I must endure for two terms of high school. I think P.E. eats up school budgets, does nothing to limit teenage obesity, and degrades those whose only crime was being born to uncoordinated, physically awkward nerd parents. But Arnold says we have to, so we have to, and I’ve come to terms with that.
What I’m upset about is the swimming unit, which tacks on a whole new level of humiliation to an already unpleasant class.
First and foremost, the swim attire. The vast majority of my peers are more than comfortable trotting around in public in their water-friendly undies, more confident with their own bodies than a shirtless Taylor Lautner at an all-girls boarding school.
But I’m not. Sue me; I’m a very modest person with a smattering of body image issues. It was a living nightmare for me, walking around half-naked in front of my classmates.
Imagine how difficult that would be if I was, say, anorexic. Take a second to think about how scary that would be.
Of course, there’s the pool itself. The Gulf of Mexico is cleaner. And it’s colder than the subdued expression of a kid who’s just taken an AP test. It’s not luxury aquatic fun. It’s a cesspool of bacteria, blood and Band-Aids.
The mandatory swim unit needs to end.
Now, I may be an abysmally bad swimmer, but some people aren’t, and I respect that. Some people actually, for some masochistic reason, enjoy the sport of swimming (for reasons other than watching me flail helplessly like a dying trout). They have every right to take the swim unit, if they want to.
What I propose instead is another option, like, say, running laps around the pool area (which my class did a couple of times), or using those expensive stationary bicycles (which my class never used last year), in addition to swimming. That way, I can keep my shirt on and still get a passing grade.
I understand there’s the challenge of supervision, and that my idea would require another set of eyeballs. But if the teacher’s aids or interns aren’t certified to watch the non-swimmers shoot hoops or walk in circles, they could be temporarily adopted by another P.E. class during the same period.
If nothing else, there should be the option to write a lengthy report on swimming, or get an independent swimming contract, or have the student sign away their firstborn child – there’s got to be some way around it. Not every school has a swim unit, and somehow they’ve survived without one.
It’s too late for me, but I’m writing this for the freshmen. The swim unit is unsanitary, inhumane and unnecessary. The P.E. program was established with the students’ best interests in mind, so let’s listen to them, shall we?
But, hey, on the bright side, if the swim unit persists, I’ll have a whole class of hydrophobic freshman to keep me company come next summer.

Tandoori Night food review

Haley Massara — Tue, 25 May 2010 21:30:24 +0000

On 1420 East Roseville Parkway, a few blocks from Sunsplash and down the street from In-N-Out, lies a departure from the humdrum of suburban chain restaurants. Its only advertisement is its unassuming neon sign, reading simply, ‘Tandoori Night’. But the ever-present crowd of locals and foodies – and the smell, my god, the mouth-wateringly vibrant smell of the place – speaks to its greatness.
Tandoori Night specializes in Indian and Pakistani halal cuisine, and if I can emphasize one point about them, it’s this: they cook some of the freshest food around, bar none. And they’re proud of it. As you order, you’re given an unobstructed view of their largely open kitchen.
Moments after I walked in, I watched a cook pull a massive skewer of chicken out of a tandoori (high-heat) oven, slide the still steaming hunks of meat from the metal, deposit them into a takeout box and hand it over to an eager customer.
This was pure torture as I am a vegetarian, but thankfully, their meat-free entrees were more than enough for me.
All in all, my family and I ordered samosas (dough stuffed with vegetables), pakoras (which are like small veggie fritters), chana masala (garbonzo beans), briyani (vegetables in spiced rice), saag dahl (lentils and spinach), paneer makhani (mild cheese cubes in sauce) and garlic naan (flatbread).
I also sprang for the mango lassi, which is like a tangy yogurt milkshake. They go great with spicier dishes, or so I’ve been told; I drank the whole thing in about a minute. Be warned – they are addictive.
The appetizers – the samosas and pakoras – came quickly, an had obviously not been pre-prepared. The pakoras were delightfully crunchy, and I recommend them with a drizzle of sweet tamarind sauce for a bit of zest. The samosas were rich, but not so much so that they dampened my appetite – rather, they enticed it.
When the rest of my order came, the portion sizes were staggering. I had to arrange the plates so that every spare square inch of space was used. But the food’s quality,
I’m pleased to report, didn’t decline with its quantity.
The chana masala was a surprise favorite of mine, as its texture was creamy and its flavor savory yet delicate. The biryani was excellent, heavy on fresh veggies and relatively light on excess oil. The saag dal was delicious, too, spicy and filling. My least favorite dish had to be the paneer makhani, as it tasted more heavily of tomatoes than I had expected, but the paneer (cheese) itself had a pleasantly chewy texture. The garlic naan served as the perfect side dish to everything, well-suited to sauce-dipping.
By the end of it all, I was so full that I dreaded standing and left with a hefty bag of leftovers.
Tandoori Night is, without a doubt in my mind, the best Indian cuisine in the Roseville-Granite Bay area. Their food is fresh, their service is quick and their prices are almost absurdly cheap for what you’ll get.
If you, like me, grow tired of the same old burger and fries, Tandoori Night offers a delightful culinary escape.

Crossing the too thin line

Haley Massara — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:24:48 +0000

“Morgan”, an anonymous former Granite Bay High School freshman who transferred schools, remembers when she realized she had an eating disorder. She was 12.
“I was anorexic, and then I became bulimic. I didn’t eat for almost a week. Then I started to freak out, so I went through bulimia for two months. I started getting really sick. I actually ended up in the hospital, because I wasn’t having anything in my stomach.
“It was scary. You don’t eat anything, but your mind starts to eat you, because it’s so hungry. It starts to make you insane. You’re mad at everybody. Your insecurities eat you alive, and you don’t think you’re beautiful. You just want to keep throwing up and (feeling) horrible. It’s just a really, really scary state.”
Eating disorders – dangerous fixations on weight and food – are estimated to affect 11 percent of high school students, according to the National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders (ANAD). They are some of the most common – and destructive – mental illnesses facing teenagers today.
Anorexia nervosa, one of the two most common eating disorders, is typically defined as severely restricting one’s own food intake – including starvation – and an obsession with weight and calories.
Bulimia nervosa, the other common type of eating disorder, is characterized by cyclical binging – eating abnormally large amounts of food – and purging, either by forcing themselves to vomit or by abusing laxatives and diuretics.
It isn’t uncommon for anorexics to delve into periods of bulimia, and many have experimented with other diet methods. But an eating disorder is more than a diet – it becomes an obsession.
“Most people assume that someone struggling with an eating disorder is just vain, seeking attention, or let a diet get out of control,” said Jennifer Lombardi, Director of Admissions at Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program.
But that simply isn’t true, Lombardi said. In reality, eating disorders are serious health problems, which can wreak havoc on both the body and the mind.
According to Lombardi, teens with eating disorders can suffer hair loss, osteoporosis, organ damage and even death by cardiac arrest.
But the physical aspects of an eating disorder are just scratching the surface of the problem.
“Typically, students with anorexia, if they look at themselves in the mirror, even if everyone else thinks they’re skinny – or too skinny – they still see themselves as fat,” GBHS psychologist Angela Sanchez said. “Their vision of themselves has become distorted, and they think they look fat, even though everyone’s telling them, ‘you’re too skinny.’”
This need to be thin is a common denominator for many eating disorders, particularly bulimia and anorexia.
“We live in a highly toxic culture that focuses on weight and appearance,” Lombardi said. “Imagine challenging yourself and your friends to not talk about weight or dieting, or to refrain from saying anything negative about your appearance for the next week. It won’t take long to see how difficult that is.”
The hypocrisy of popular culture is also to blame, Lombardi added.
“We view ads every day that tell us that we need to buy something in order to ‘fix’ something about us that’s wrong, and then we tell kids and teens to ‘just love yourself.’”
Though eating disorders are stereotyped as a purely female affliction, as many as 10 to 15 percent of documented cases are in men, according to ANAD. Men are also less likely to seek treatment, Lombardi said, due to the misconceptions about them.
Eating disorders cause emotional trauma not only for the sufferer, but for their family and friends, as well.
“Steve”, an anonymous GBHS senior, recounts his friend’s struggles with an eating disorder.
“She just always thought she wasn’t hungry – that’s what she told us,” he said. “We tried to tell her, ‘You need to eat,’ and she always said, ‘I’m never hungry, though.’ Then we made her see her doctor, and her doctor was the one who told us (her diagnosis).”
“I used to stay up at night, worrying about her, praying for her,” Steve said.
Though the vast majority of people living with eating disorders will need professional help to recover, the best thing a friend can do to help is to gently confront the bulimic/anorexic about their concerns, according to Sanchez.
Lombardi advises helping the ill person to “break the silence” surrounding the condition.
“The person struggling may get mad, deny it or even cry, but imagine how you would react if a friend was suicidal,” she said. “Would you sit quietly by, saying nothing because it made you uncomfortable? Hopefully not. Eating disorders are … life threatening. They should be viewed with the same seriousness and importance.”
The anorexic or bulimic should also seek psychotherapy, as well as medical attention, Sanchez said.
If treated within the first year after developing an eating disorder, the odds of recovery are more than 75 percent.
Steve’s friend is in that majority: she has recovered.
“People get eating disorders because they have such low self-esteem,” he said. “Other people tear them down so much. I wish I could just show people that your words actually do have such a big effect on people.”
***
Morgan now considers herself recovered.
“I started doing kickboxing, so I lost a lot of weight from that, and I just feel a lot better about myself.
“(My friends) say, ‘(Morgan), you’re always beautiful, you were never really fat. They never should have called you that.’ Of course, I didn’t believe them, but I am glad I made it through that, and I’m never going to have to go through that again.”

Expensive clothing doesn’t make discrimination acceptable

Haley Massara — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:25:09 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present for your consideration: The Abercrombie Debate.
Is it wrong to deny a qualified person a job based purely on looks?
I was asked this question on St. Patrick’s Day, during my first period English class. And one of the most passionate debates I’ve had in years erupted onto the floor of that classroom, the remarks flying faster than Apolo Ohno in a wind tunnel.
The question in question gets its name from the infamously pricey Abercrombie and Fitch clothing company, which prides itself on an image of manufactured perfection.
Large images of mostly naked half-starved college students are plastered upon every wall of their storefronts, air cannons blast cologne into shoppers’ eyes and one pair of jeans costs about as much as James Cameron’s home computer.
It’s no secret that I am no fan of the brand, their gleefully shameless self-promotion or disgustingly beefed-up poster-boys (or girls, for that matter). Abercrombie is the Jillian Michaels of the fashion industry: self-obsessed, expensive and armed with the uncanny ability to make me feel fat.
But I digress; this is not about Abercrombie, those four syllables of pure evil.
It’s about discrimination, and what exactly that is in a corporation-dominated, culturally numb 21st century American workplace.
Much of the Abercrombie Debate centered around the recent firing of a young, stylish Muslim employee, whose religious headscarf didn’t fit with the company’s disturbingly stringent “Look Policy.”
The employee has decided to sue for this blatant injustice, and I say more power to her. Sue their $200 acid-wash jeans off. Prove a point – that discrimination is never OK.
But an honestly shocking number of my peers disagreed, saying that, since a Muslim headscarf probably wasn’t part of the Abercrombie Spring Collection, she should forgo the job and look for some place less bigoted.
I say no. All obvious religious discrimination aside, how dare a company turn a perfectly good employee away based on an article of clothing?
And racism may be one thing, but even if the case rules in the Muslim employee’s favor (which it will – legally, Abercrombie must make provisions for employees’ religious needs), where do they draw the line?
Would they turn me away, too, if I showed up for an interview wearing my Star of David necklace and with my hair dyed purple?
Would they turn away the world’s best customer service rep because she wore a size XL, or had a visible tattoo?
Would they? Almost certainly.
But should they?
No. No excuses.
And to those of you who will say that Abercrombie merely has an image to uphold, that shouldn’t matter if you’re folding shirts or working the cash register.
Prejudice is prejudice, whether it’s by the color of your skin, what’s printed on it, or what’s pierced through it.
Abercrombie, you have no right to turn applicants away if they have a working frontal lobe, just because they aren’t the prettiest cake in the bakery. You don’t just get to pick and choose by comparing human beings to your mannequin-like mold of perfection.
I wish I could tell you that Abercrombie is the only company guilty of this crime of superficiality, but they are merely the greatest example.
No matter what your style is, no matter which fashion buzzword you’ll use to describe the pair of shoes you’re wearing, you don’t need to give the vultures at Abercrombie any more of your mall-bound cash.
If you value your individuality, shop somewhere else.
***
Haley Massara, a freshman, is a Gazette staff writer.

Reasons for vegetarianism vary

Haley Massara — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:29:15 +0000

GBHS senior Aarya Venkat has never tasted meat in his life.
“It’s hard to avoid,” Venkat said, “in the sense that I see people eating meat everywhere, but it doesn’t really bother me too much.”
Venkat, a vegetarian, isn’t allowed to eat anything that needs food to survive, which includes domestic livestock as well as fish. He still consumes eggs and milk products, though, as long as the animal they come from has been fed a vegetarian diet.
“People often ask me why I can’t take off the pieces of meat on a pizza or some other type of food,” Venkat said. “(I can’t) because the oils and ingredients must be vegetarian as well.”
Instead, Venkat requests meatless versions of common cafeteria fare, such as beef-free taco salad.
Venkat is one of over 7.3 million vegetarians living in the United States, and that number is steadily increasing. As the health benefits of vegetarianism are becoming clearer, many Americans are choosing to forgo flesh in favor of plant-based fare.
Though Venkat is what is commonly known as a “vegetarian,” there is an entire spectrum of vegetarian diets. The most common of these include lacto-vegetarians (milk but no eggs), ovo-vegetarian (egg but no milk), pescetarians (vegetarians who also eat fish) and vegans (who will not consume any product of animal origin).
Some varieties of vegetarian – vegan, in particular – can be quite restrictive, eliminating much of the typical American diet. So why go veg?
“All of us would be much better off if we eliminated all animal products from our diet,” said GBHS teacher Kathie Sinor, who researched low-meat diets before becoming a pescetarian.
In an effort to lower his cholesterol, Sinor’s husband has recently taken up veganism. Since animal products are a major source of cholesterol, removing them completely could be an alternative to taking cholesterol-lowering medication, Sinor said.
Laura Ryan, a product consultant at Sunrise Natural Foods, said that factory-farmed beef products – common in burgers, steaks and ground meat– are substantially higher in fat than organic, grass-fed beef.
“Milk and meat used to be considered diet products,” Ryan said. “Now, if you’re on a diet, you shouldn’t have those products – way too much fat.”
What’s worse, many factory-farms treat their cattle with growth hormones and antibiotics, which are then ingested by beef consumers, Ryan said.
But factory-farming itself can be a reason to go vegetarian, as sophomore Jessica Sheeketski said she believes.
“I have been for animal rights my entire life,” she said, which drove her to cut out meat from her diet.
Factory-farming has been a notorious target of animal rights groups such as PETA, who encourage vegetarianism as a boycott of the meat industry.
But Sheeketski, like many ex-meat-eaters, still occasionally faces temptation.
“It’s mostly the smell,” she said. “I can walk past a barbecue or grill and (think) ‘ That smells good’, but then I’ll see it, and (think), ‘Eww, nevermind.’”
But, aside from withstanding meat cravings, the only thing a person needs to become vegetarian is dietary know-how.
“If a teen eliminated meat and simply continued to eat the other foods in their diet, they would definitely be nutrient deficient,” Sinor said.
“(A student should) educate (themselves) about diet and nutrition. Make sure (they) know how to get the necessary protein … and what foods to combine to get the necessary amino acids.”
Vegetarians-to-be should also avoid processed food, and should wean themselves off of meat, Sinor said.
“For the (non-vegetarian), I’d recommend … just cutting down on red meat, (rather) than becoming a full vegetarian,” Venkat said. “It would probably be a healthy alternative that’s not as difficult.”
Vegetarianism is worth the sacrifice, according to those who have made it.
“I have much more energy,” Sheeketski said. “I love exercising and going to the gym. I’ve lost weight, and it feels great.”

Hot Tub Time Machine review

Haley Massara — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:21:24 +0000

For me, a child of the mid-90’s, the 80’s hold the same glamorous, long-ago mystique as the Victorian Era. I am constantly surrounded by reminders of that glorious decade and it fascinates me – so radically different yet so eerily similar to my own time.
   On that note, what Hot Tub Time Machine lacked in maturity it made up for as a period piece.
   Quintessential 80’s songs played almost constantly in the background and every actor, from the cartoonish leads to the most insignificant extra, was decked out head-to-toe in vibrant 80’s gear. Visually, it was a time trip.
   The script, however, was like a 100-minute long Saturday Night Live skit: goofy, outrageous and unabashedly stupid.
   The premise of the film is self-explanatory: three best friends and a kid, one hot tub, two decades reversed. There were a few trite subplots, but fortunately they were pretty forgettable.
     The hot tub itself, using a classic time-travel cliché, worked in such a way that any action taken by characters in the past would affect the present.
   Thus, much of the movie centered around reliving that 1986 evening exactly as it played out 20 years ago. Funny premise, right?
   But a tragic amount of the film’s comic potential is wasted on juvenile sight gags and groan-inducing vulgarity, which I just don’t find funny. Fake bodily fluids abound.
   Ultimately, the chemistry between the four lead roles – John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke – was what saved the film. The foursome’s constant bickering and playful insults were reminiscent of my own friends and were genuinely fun to watch.
   The cast was able to take an inherently mediocre script and inject enough life into it to keep me entertained, which they definitely deserve praise for.
   The only real problem I had with the casting was Duke, who looks about 14 but buys alcohol – a lot of alcohol – legally. It’s hinted at through the film that he should be looking for a job, but seriously, how old is he? It really bothered me for some reason, and was never really explained.
   But overall, Hot Tub Time Machine was exactly what the previews would lead you to expect – silly, predictable and enough fun to justify buying a ticket. It wasn’t an earth-shaking film by any means, but hey – if the 80’s proved anything, it’s that people can appreciate a little mindless fun.