Devastating Loss Against Burroughs

Burbank High drove home with no trophy in hand after their Homecoming Foot-ball game loss to rival school Burroughs on November 1. With three consecutive wins since 2016, Burbank held their heads up prior to

thegame.The Bulldogs remained ahead for a majority of the game, but with an unexpected twist in fate, Burroughs worked their way up and grabbed the win in the last few minutes, final-izing the score to 29-28. Isaac Glover ‘20 rushed for an outstanding 185 yards, as well as scoring three touchdowns and 34

carries. Not to mention Brandon Peña ‘21, who made an unforgettable catch in the 2nd quar-ter to help extend our lead. Following the loss, Burbank High’s Varsity Football team’s ranking across the country has decreased by 477 places. Even with this loss, the school never hesitated to support their players.

On October 26, Homecoming Night, at ap-proximately 9:50 P.M, a head-on collision at the corner of Glenoaks Blvd and Walnut Ave involving four Burbank High students and a 27-year-old male occurred, resulting in no fatalities or serious injuries to the students. The unidentified 27-year-old male was left severely injured and taken to a trauma center for the time being, yet is cur-rently suspect for possessing

illicit substances in his car at the time of the crash. “Drugs and or alcohol may have, and very likely were factors in the collision,” said Public Information Officer Derek Green. “There will likely be a criminal case in this situation.” The crash left both vehicles damaged to varying extents. A section of Glenoaks in front of Burbank High was marked as a crime scene that night, but as of now has been cleared.

Violent Collision After HOCO

Burbank High School’s 2019 Political Debate challenged two students on opposite ends of the political spectrum, their ability to defend their beliefs. The debate was centered around three main top-ics for Democratic de-bater Vahe Tovmasian ‘21, and Republican debater Adrian Setaghayan ‘20 to uphold to their greatest degree, such as the valid-ity of Medicare for All, Student Loan Debt for-giveness, and the legacy of the Donald Trump presi-dency. The two leading topics had drawn to a close, leav-ing Setaghayan victorious after drawing in 140 audi-ence votes, to Tovmasian’s 80. “I was extremely confi-dent in my material.” said Setaghayan. “Overall, he (Tovmasian) is a good de-bater, he’s been my part-

ner for a long time, and it was an honor to verse him.” When it came time for the third and final debating topic proceed-ing the audience poll, Setaghayan had to depart from the podium for the rest of the night due to personal matters, resulting in his halftime substitute, Rafael Petrosian ‘21, to conclude the debate in his place, defending President Donald Trump’s legacy the last three years he has been in office. “I’ve been in speech and debate for a bit, I know the mojo, I know how to respond to people. I ap-preciate everyone coming out here, it was a success.” said Petrosian. The remainder of those enrolled in the Speech and Debate Club were con-tributors to the choosing of the three debate topics, as well as being present to watch the debate take place.

“ We brainstormed around seven or eight topics, and then they narrowed them down.” said Speech and Debate club’s director, as well as Burbank High English teacher Jason Lohr. “We didn’t want to do anything too controversial, but we did want to choose topics that would keep people excited.” “For as long as debates such as this take place, our union will remain strong.” said Andre Dionysian ‘21, one of two moderaters at the debate, during his introduction speech to the event. “Out of our many heritages, one American culture. Out of our nu-merous ethnicities, one American people. Out of many, one.”

Burbank High School’s 2019 Political DebateBy Christina Setikian

By Desere Navarro & Nicole Nunez

“Drugs and or alco-hol may have, and very likely were factors in the colli-sion”

“I was extreme-ly confident in my materials”

In This Edition H o m e c o m i n g G a m e , C a r C r a s h , P o l i t i c a l D e b a t e , Q u a d Q u e s t i o n , D r . C r o w t h e r P r o f i l e , S e n i o r D i t c h D a y , H o m e c o m i n g D a n c e , a n d m o r e !

The Burbank BulldogBy Burbank Bulldog Staff

Photo by Nathan Castanon

Photo by Nathan Castanon

By Christina Setikian

Burbank High stu-dents held a Senior Ditch Day seven weeks into the school year, accounting for the loss of over $13,000 from the Burbank Uni-fied School District’s an-nual funding. On Friday, September 27 2019, ap-proximately 258 seniors participated in the first Senior Ditch Day of the school year, over 47% of the total senior class. “Senior ditch days are as old as time itself.” said Burbank High Principal Dr. Thomas Crowther. “Everyone’s initial re-

sponse was like “Already? Really?” The fact that it was in September and we were already having one was the surprising part.” The tradition of high school senior classes planning a ditch day during the school year has been around for close to a century, but the concerns of administra-tors began rising once they acknowledged the defi-cit of over $1,000,000 in BUSD’s annual budget. “Anything that looks like kids not prioritis-ing their education, or if it looks like they don’t “need the money”, that could be detrimental to

the cause.” said Crowther.Student absences ac-counted for the loss of $5,500,000 from the dis-trict’s annual budget in the 2018-2019 school year. This loss in question is one of the main contribu-tors to the larger class sizes Burbank High has been seeing over the past few years, and the firing of newly hired teachers.“When you put into per-spective the teacher sala-ries, extracurriculars, mu-sic, and sports, that’s a pretty significant effect.” said Debbie Kukta, BUSD’s Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services.

The BurBank Bulldog2 novemBer 2019

Quad Questions

“My favorite tv show is Survivor because I like to see different types of people and how they interact in a really bad setting.”

-Austin Kane ‘21

“I like Jane the Virgin because it’s just a really good show... I just like the show because it’s funny, and there’s romance!”

-Emily Hasunuma ‘22

“My favorite TV show is Gossip Girl because the characters really show great drama that brings them all together.”

-Stella Markland ‘20

“My favorite TV show is probably The Good Place because it’s funny and it kind of jokes around with the whole idea of death and what happens after you die.”

-Rene Harris ‘23

What’s your favorite TV Show?Q2

Senior Ditch Day Debt

By Leah Tahmassian

Martin Collazos, a Burbank High teacher for 23 years, has taught his students much more than psychology and Spanish. He has taught them the value of life and positivity. Though the UC Riverside alumni inspires his students in various forms, he mainly tells them their worth through his lessons. “You guys are like my kids,” said Collazos. “I look at you guys, and I just see the future.” He makes it clear that in the 56 minutes in which he is responsible for them, it is his duty to keep them safe and happy. A student walk-ing into his classroom cannot help but notice the abundance of collect-ibles ranging in various franchises, from Doctor Who to Stranger Things. Near his desk, a Yoda plush with bulging eyes, adorned with a tiny pair of Mickey Mouse ears. Just a glance from the polyester pupils wel-comes those to enter a new territory: a galaxy far far away. “It has, weirdly, helped me shape my life,” said Collazos. As a child, Col-lazos endured numerous surgeries to treat his heart condition, prohib-iting him from doing a lot of the same things as his peers, which led him to feel different. How-ever, when Star Wars

was released a year after his first operation, he immediately connected to Luke Skywalker and his journey of eventu-ally becoming an honor-able Jedi. After all these years, his heart still beats faster when new trailers are released, but now, due to his overwhelming kindness, students view him as the Jedi of Bur-bank High. Students have dis-played their gratitude for Collazos in many ways. In 2011, a few months after Collazos told a story about his wish to continue skateboard-ing, his students pitched in money to buy him a new skateboard, which served as a “thank you” for his kindness. It made him feel wonderful that students were touched enough to remember one story and give back based on it. Ennie Marie Ilasco, a 2019 graduate of Burbank High, previ-ous student of Collazos and of the Psychology , Club, is one of many students who found joy through the teacher’s constant empathy. When she would be having a bad day, Collazos would hand her a Cat in the Hat plush to keep as a source of comfort, and she would return it at the end of the day to thank him for his support. Ennie has contributed many days of her time to multiple organizations in support of mental

health awareness, and she claims that she has Collazos to thank for a lot of the inspiration that has moved her to make the impact that she has. Collazos has more at Burbank High than his students and fellow staff members, since the love of his life, Tracey Col-lazos, is right down the hall from him. The two met at a language teach-ers’ conference in San Diego, Calif. It was in the hallway outside of an AP Spanish session where they discovered that while Martin Col-lazos was at Burbank High, Tracey Collazos’ mother was working there as well. They talked over coffee for an hour, and now, they still converse about teach-

ing plans at home every night. “We’re both nerds. Big nerds. I guess that’s probably pretty believable,” said Tracey Collazos. “It’s nice to have a husband who is also a teacher because that means that they re-ally know where you’re coming from at the end of the day.” The teacher’s definition of success defines who he is. “I find myself successful because I love what I do,” said Collazos . Since not every student has the pleasure of getting to experience a class with Collazos, he had some advice that can be dedicated towards every member

of the school, which, to no one’s surprise, is the same advice he recently gave to his two sons. “Be happy with what you have,” he said, emphasizing that en-joying and loving what you have is far better than wanting more. His remarkable personal-ity resonates within that statement; proving that Collazos is more than a teacher. He is a life-changer.

The Positive Force Our Galaxy NeedsPhoto by Michael Hess

The BurBank Bulldog 3novemBer 2019

By Andre Dionysian

Humans fear change . We a lways have . But as we have a l l come to accept , change i s inevi tab le , o f ten for the be t te r. In Augus t of 2019, as Burbank High School was once aga in dense ly popula ted , we found ourse lves faced wi th ye t another change . Over the sum-mer, Burbank Unif ied had subt ly announced the res igna t ion of Dr. Michae l Ber-t ram and begun, what many have specula t -ed to be , a panicked in te rv iew process for h i s rep lacement .

The change was so sudden, tha t the BHS School Safe ty P lan for 2019-2020 holds Dr. Ber t ram’s s igna ture . As the dus t se t t led , our new pr inc ipa l was se lec ted and in t ro-duced to the s tudent body shor t ly before the f i r s t day of school .

At age 41 , Dr. Thomas Crowther i s s ta r t ing h is 19 th year

in educa t ion . Or ig i -na l ly f rom the Dis t r ic t o f Columbia , as a ch i ld he never thought he’d end up a pr inc ipa l .

“ . . .you don’t rea l ly p ick your pa th , your pa th p icks you” . Sa id Crowther.

Af te r many years in the c lass -room, he saw school adminis t ra t ion as a “na tura l next s tep” . Wi th h is doc tora te in educa t ion , he be-came pr inc ipa l of Tol l Middle School for a few years , and as of now leads our school .

On Dr. Crowther ’s lengthy resume are severa l no-tab le inc lus ions , no t -ing he s ta r ted work-ing a t Burroughs High School as a Spec ia l Educa tor in 2000. Af-te r near ly a decade of teaching , he be-came Ti t le 1 Coor-d ina tor a t John Muir Middle School . His exper ience a l so spans across the res t o f Bur-bank Uni f ied , inc lud-ing becoming an A.P.

a t BHS a t and in te r-im A.P. a t John Bur-roughs High School .

Dr. Crowther i s undoubtedly qua l i f ied for the pos i t ion , on pa-per, and face to face i s no d i ffe ren t . In an in-te rv iew las t week , Dr. Crowther la id out h i s v iews and approaches to cur ren t top ics of in te res t , inc luding the vaping ep idemic as wel l as school sa fe ty.

In h is f i r s t year, Dr. Crowther doesn’t plan to in t roduce any rad ica l ly new pro-grams or change much to how the school runs day to day. At leas t for now, he has dec ided to more or less spend the year observ ing the opera t ions of BHS be-fore making any la rge changes . Al though, Dr. Crowther made c lear he would not s i t id ly for too long .

“ I f the h igh-es t a im of a capta in were to preserve h is sh ip , he would keep i t in por t forever.” , Crowther sa id , quot -

ing I ta l ian phi loso-pher Thomas Aquinas . Whi le there may not be sweep-ing changes or exc i t -ing new programs for whi le , Dr. Crowther has made i t no secre t tha t he in tends to dea l with our school ’s most press ing i ssues , head on . Whi le address-ing the vaping ep i -demic , he ment ioned new in i t ia t ives , by both the school and Burbank Unif ied , to be t te r in form s ta ff .

Many teachers have noted tha t such programs are ex t reme-ly benef ic ia l and are hopefu l they wi l l as -s i s t in the f igh t aga ins t vaping . That in con-junc t ion wi th a new approach to d isc ip l in-ary ac t ion were among the var ious new ways Dr.Crowther hopes wi l l reduce the number of s tudents tha t vape .

Anna LeMaster, an engl i sh teacher a t BHS, has known Dr. Crowther for many years . LeMaster re -

ca l l s tha t Dr.Crowther as her son’s for-mer Vars i ty Basebal l coach a t JBHS. She expressed an opt imis-t ic v iew of the pr in-c ipa l ’s leadersh ip“He has a l ready been here . He knows where BHS has been and where i t needs to go .” Sa id LeMaster.

The Pr inc ipa l rece ived h is Bach-e lor ’s of Ar ts a t Cal -S ta te Los Angeles , h i s M.A f rom Azusa Pa-c i f ic Univers i ty, and an Ed. D. f rom USC.

Change i s a l -ways d i ff icu l t , as we fear tha t which we don’t know. As we ge t to know our new pr in-c ipa l , i t i s impera t ive tha t we keep an open mind . Dr.Crowther has many years of exper i -ence in educa t ion and wi l l no doubt do h is bes t to apply tha t ex-per ience to our school . IC Analy t ics shows the pr inc ipa l po l l ing a t an 89 .5% approval ra t ing . I f tha t ’s any in -d ica t ion , Dr. Crowther i s o ff to a grea t s ta r t .

Meet Dr.Crowther

Homecoming Dance T w i n k l i n g l i g h t s , l o u d m u s i c , a n d a p o s i t i v e a t -m o s p h e r e e n g u l f e d t h i s H a v a n a N i g h t a s p a r t y g o e r s d a n c e d t h e i r s c h o o l w o r-r i e s a w a y d u r i n g t h e 2 0 1 9 s c h o o l y e a r ’s H o m e c o m i n g d a n c e .U p o n e n t e r i n g t h e d e c o r a t e d g y m s p a c e , t h e g l o w o f a t u n n e l c o n s t r u c t e d o f t w i n -k l i n g l i g h t s d i d n ’ t f a i l a t b e i n g t h e s t a r o f t h e e n t r a n c e . H o r s d ’ o e u v r e s w e r e a v a i l a b l e a l o n g w i t h t h e m e d d r i n k s , s u c h a s n o n - a l c o h o l i c m o -j i t o s . T h e d a n c e f l o o r h o u s e d a c o u n t l e s s n u m b e r o f b o d i e s s w a y i n g t o t h e b e a t o f

t h e d j ’s m o d e r n p l a y l -i s t , w i t h s o m e S p a n i s h i n s p i r e d s o n g s a d d e d i n t o f i t t h e t h e m e . “ I ’ m h a v i n g a r e -a l l y g r e a t t i m e , t h i s s e e m s t o b e t h e b e s t H o m e c o m i n g s o f a r. ” S a i d A r p i S h a h n a z a r i a n ‘ 2 1 . H o m e c o m i n g ’s a t -t e n d a n c e f o r t h i s y e a r w a s a t a r e c o r d h i g h , w i t h a l m o s t 1 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e i n t o t a l . T h i s n u m b e r m e a n s t h a t t h e a p p r o x i m a t e $ 1 3 , 0 0 0 c o s t t o s e t u p t h e d a n c e w a s r e i m b u r s e d b a c k i n t o t h e s c h o o l a l m o s t c o m p l e t e l y.H o m e c o m i n g 2 0 1 9 , w a s “ a r e a l l y b i g u p -g r a d e ” s a i d S a s k i a R u b i n ‘ 2 0 . “ T h e m u -s i c s e l e c t i o n w a s m u c h b e t t e r a n d t h e e n e rg y o f t h e c r o w d

w a s i n c o m p a r a b l e t o t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r s . ” I t t u r n e d o u t t o b e v e r y m e m o r a b l e f o r i t s q u a l i t y. T h e l i v e -l i n e s s o f t h e d a n c e f l o o r m a d e p e o p l e w a n t t o j o i n a n d h a v e a t i m e o f t h e i r l i v e s . “ T h e l i g h t s a t t h e e n t r a n c e m a d e m y h e a d s p i n , a n d I a b s o -l u t e l y l o v e d i t ” s a i d A n n a K o j a y a n ‘ 2 1 . Ty p i c a l l y, t h e c l a s s o f 2 0 2 0 a p -p e a r e d t o b e m o r e w e r e i n v o l v e d c o n -s i d e r i n g i t w a s t h e i r l a s t H o m e c o m i n g . A f t e r e n d u r i n g o v e r t h r e e h o u r s o f d a n c -i n g , s t u d e n t s ; m o s t l y g i r l s , c o u l d n ’ t w a i t t o f i n d a p l a c e t o s i t a n d r e s t t h e i r f e e t a f -t e r s u c h a l o n g n i g h t .

By Maria Harutyunyan & Emma Manning

Tw i n k l i n g l i g h t s , l o u d m u s i c , a n d a p o s i t i v e a t m o -s p h e r e e n g u l f e d t h i s H a v a n a N i g h t

Photo by Michael Hess

The BurBank Bulldog4 novemBer 2019

As the rate of younger generations be-ginning the experimenta-tion and use of vape and Juul products continue to rise , new dangers aren’t failing to rise with them. Most as of late, a vaping-related wellbeing emergency has brought about many respira-tory illnesses over the United States, including multiple deaths, as per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “We’re seeing youngsters with no other medicinal issues who accompany hacking and brevity of breath, and when we do a X-beam and CT check, we see indications of aggrava-tion in the two lungs,” said Dr. Humberto Choi, a pulmonologist and ba-sic consideration expert at the Cleveland Clinic. “The best exhortation I could provide for any-body is to quit vaping by and large.” Vaping alludes to the demonstration of breathing in and breath-ing out the airborne, or vapor, made by a vap-ing gadget. A vaping gadget incorporates a mouthpiece, a battery, a warming segment, and a cartridge that contains the e-fluid or e-juice. The e-fluid is a mix of nicotine, flavorings, and different synthetic sub-stances. Vaping gadgets can likewise be utilized to vaporize THC, the psychoactive concoction

in cannabis, by supplant-ing e-fluids with canna-bis-mixed oils. The battery in a vaping gadget controls the warming segment, which warms up the e-fluid, otherwise called vape juice. Subsequently, the gadget produces wa-ter vapor. Clients breathe in this vapor into their lungs. The CDC is work-ing with the state and nearby wellbeing offices to research the ongoing episode of lung sick-ness related with vaping. As of September 2019, 380 instances of this lung disease have been accounted for from 36 states and one US re-gion. Subjects in all the announced cases had a background marked by vaping. Be that as it may, other vaping dangers are better comprehended. Nicotine is the essential substance in both con-ventional and electronic cigarettes, and it has appeared to build the danger of malignancy, coronary illness, stroke, lung illnesses, diabetes, and incessant obstructive respiratory infection. Alongside nico-tine, vaping fluids con-tain added substances, for example, propylene glycol and glycerol. These harmful synthetic concoctions have been connected to malignancy, respiratory sickness, and coronary illness.

Researchers have addi-tionally discovered that diacetyl, a compound used to enhance some vape juice, may cause a condition called “pop-corn lung,” the scarring and block of the lungs’ littlest aviation routes. What’s more, an exami-nation found that some normal synthetic con-coctions used to season vape juice could harm endothelial cells. These are the cells that line the veins and lymph vessels. Moreover, special-ists have accepted that long haul introduction to the harmful substances in e-cigarette vapor, for example, nickel, tin, lead, benzene and form-aldehyde, could build the danger of malignant growth. An examination distributed in the diary Pediatrics discovered considerably expanded degrees of five cancer-causing mixes in the pee of adolescents who vape. Thus, improved probabil-ity of malignant growth may demonstrate to be one of the most note-worthy vaping wellbeing dangers. “Individuals need to comprehend that e-cigarettes are con-ceivably hazardous to your wellbeing. You’re presenting yourself to a wide range of synthetic compounds that we don’t yet comprehend and that are likely not sheltered.” said Michael Blaha, MD, MPH, executive of

clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease Organizations configuration bundling to improve the intrigue of vaping for adoles-cents. For instance, vape cartridges are accessible in sweet, organic prod-uct, and pastry flavors, similar to donut, cotton treats, crusty fruit-filled treat, chocolate, cherry, “Belgian waffle,” “straw-berry milk,” water-melon, bubble gum, and so forth. Furthermore, marks of “vape sauce” look like sweet wrap-per structures, similar to Jolly Ranchers and Blow Pops. What’s more, orga-nizations advance vaping with battles that intrigue to adolescents. Vaping gadgets are simpler to escape guardians than cigarettes. They don’t emit a lot of smoke as customary cig-arettes. Additionally, in contrast to conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are scentless or have a sweet smell, as well as vaping gadgets regu-larly looking like pens or thumb drives, so it’s simpler for adolescents to utilize them without getting caught. Vaping takes ac-tion for more medication use and fixation. Vaping makes it almost certain that adolescents will start utilizing different medi-cations other than nico-tine. One examination

indicated that 25 percent of young people who use e-cigarettes advanced to smoking pot. Different in-vestigations show that teenager vaping prompts cigarette smoking. One investigation pursued 2,500 ninth-grade under-studies from 10 Los An-geles secondary schools. The individuals who had utilized e-cigarettes in any event used to be bound to begin smoking cigarettes inside the fol-lowing year. Additionally, teenagers who vape are taking in considerably more nicotine than they would get from custom-ary cigarettes. E-ciga-rette clients can purchase extra-quality cartridges that have a higher cen-tralization of nicotine. Or on the other hand, they can build the e-cigarette voltage so they breathe in bigger measures of va-por. Truth be told, some e-fluid items contain about 50 milligrams of nicotine for each mil-liliter of fluid—multiple occasions the milligrams of nicotine in a cigarette. High school vaping has become the norm, but the wellbeing of those who do vape present a genuine risk for themselves and their chances at life in the future.

By Desere Navarro Up in Smoke: Vaping Kills

Comic by Leah Tahmassian

The Burbank Bulldog publishes approximately seven issues per year. All final editorial decisions are made by student staff members.

Opinions represent the views of their authors and do not reflect the position of Burbank High School, Burbank Unified School District or advertisers.

Letters to the editor, corrections, advice column submissions, story ideas, and any other feedback is always welcome.

editorofbhsnewspaper@gmail.com

StaffC. Setikian, S. Yoon, I.

Danielyan, L. Manvelyan, L. Tahmassian, C. Choi, V. Kevorkian, C. Nicklaus, P. Hovsepian, H. Poghosyan, M. Hess, N. Castanon, O.

Al-lssa, A. Dionysian, G. Avetisyan, R. Branda

Trujjillo, E Ghazaryan, N. Hahn, V. Hakobyan, M.

Harutyunyan, C. Lovejoy, E. Manning, M. Mina, S. Nalbandian, D. Navarro, N. Nunez, M. Perlas, G.

Pimental, R. Ruacho

AdviserCasey Palomo