Remembering Ryan Carter|03Romney relative on religion|14

The Country Girl takes top awards|23chroniclethe

All-American

Franklin High School • 900 N. Resler, El Paso TX 79912 • 915.833.2696 • Volume 19, Issue 5 • April 2012 • fhschronicle.com

continued online coverage at fhschronicle.comcover photo by Danielle Zaragoza

in fullBaseball faces

off with Montwood in game that could determine district

title see page 29

SWING

02news

As the school year hits the final stretch, students begin to prepare for the future. Ac-ceptance letters, as well as rejection letters, from colleges have been distributed, leaving students able to decide which direction to take their lives in after high

school. Several academic and athletic competitions are also coming to an end.The school was stunned by the loss of junior Ryan Carter, who passed away on March

4. Students and family gathered to commemorate his life in the courtyard by holding a candlelight vigil on March 9 (pg. 3).

Our Mormon students alerted us that there was a mistake in our “Conspiracy Calendar” last issue. In response to our story, senior Joseph Glade wrote a letter to the editor describ-ing the discrepancies with the article. For that we apologize, and consequently we are featuring our Mormon community in a story which describes a day in a life of a member of the LDS Church (pg. 14).

In response to our article “Republicans should embrace Paul, the true conservative,” junior Edgar Llamas wrote a letter to the editor. His letter describes why he disagrees with our reporter Carlos Hogan’s stance on politics (pg. 10).

Several sports have completed strong seasons. The girls’ varsity soccer team completed another successful season by finishing as district champions (pg. 28). On the baseball diamond, the varsity team looks to repeat as district champions (pg. 30). Several athletes at the school have seen their hard work come to fruition as they sign their letters of intent to continue competing at the collegiate level (pg. 30).

As always, we seek stories. If you know of events that deserve coverage in any medium, stop by W100 and share your ideas. You may also email your thoughts to fhschronicle@gmail.com or call our office at 915.833.2696. —Mauricio Casillas, Natalie Felsen and Me-gan Cahalan, editors in chief

volume 19, issue 5, April 2012

about this issue

on the cover Starting at second base, senior Tyler Crupper hook slides around the base so the catcher doesn’t get him out. “Jacob Mena hit a ball into left field, and I assumed that there would be a play at the plate, so I had to hook slide around the base to make sure that the catcher couldn’t put a tag on me,” Crupper said. “I ended up scoring, and Mena ended up on first base. We put up nine points against Coro-nado, for a final score of 9-1.” Currently, the Cougars are in second place in district, behind Montwood. They will meet up with the Rams again on Sat. April 14 at Montwood. Today, they play against Bel Air. photo by Danielle Zaragoza pain for gain Listening to music, junior Veronica Diaz, a third-time donor, distracts herself while blood is drawn from her arm. The spring blood drive, held April 5, is always well attended. “On a scale from one to ten, the pain was probably six, just because I really hate needles,” Diaz said. The drive collected 350 units of blood for community use. photo by Sara Washburn

the chronicle staff

Student publications guard freedom of the press as a right of people in a free society. It carries with it freedom and responsi-bility to discuss, question and challenge actions and statements of the student body, administration and public figures. Student journalists hold the right to speak unpopular opinions and the privilege to agree with the majority.

The Chronicle is a public forum of speech that is produced by students of Franklin High School once a month. Bylined columns represent the writer’s opinion while editorials are designed to per-suade, warn, criticize, inform or inspire.

Letters to the editor must be signed and may be edited. The editorial board reserves the right to refuse any letter or adver-tisements that are not in the best interests of the school. Views expressed in editorials are not necessarily those of the administra-tion, newspaper staff or journalism advisers. Further information may be obtained by calling 915.833.2696, 832.6600 or going on-line to our website www.fhschronicle.com.

freedom of the press statement

| NATALIE FELSEN | editor in chief, news| MAURICIO CASILLAS | editor in chief, sports

| MEGAN CAHALAN | editor in chief, entertain.| OCTAVIO LOPEZ | head photographer

| DANIELLE ZARAGOZA | head photographer| ALEKSEY ZEBROWSKI | opinions editor

| NICOLE ROSEN | features editor| CAMILLE CYR | design editor

| HAE RIN MA | business manager| LISA BIBBO| business manager

| AILENE AGUIRRE | reporter| CELESTE SCHULTZ | reporter

| DESIREE BALCORTA | reporter/photographer| DIEGO MENDOZA | reporter| DJ CUTHBERTSON | reporter

| EMILY FELSEN | reporter| HAEWON MA | reporter/cartoonist| JACQUELYNE BEVERLY | reporter

| JAQLYN ALDERETE | reporter| JEN TELLEZ | reporter

| JENNIFER MARTINEZ | reporter| LAUREN JIRON | reporter| LINDSEY JIRON | reporter| MELISSA RUTTER | reporter

| MICHAEL GONZALEZ | reporter| NATALIE GOMEZ | reporter/cartoonist

| NATHAN NUNEZ | reporter| VALENTE ARELLANO | reporter|BILLY FREYTAG| photographer

|KRISTINA GASPAR DE ALBA | photographer| SARA WASHBURN |photographer| CODY MCAFOOSE |videographer

| DIEGO MENDEZ |videographer| DANIELLE CHAIDES| cartoonist

| JAI TANNER | adviser staff 2011-12

03news

After breaking piggy banks and digging through wallets to

pay for AP tests, students are now preparing for testing which will take place May 7-11 and 14-18.

However, the number of students participating in AP testing has decreased significantly due to the cost of the AP test, which increased from $58 to $90 this year.

AP Coordinator Maria Pizana says that although the price might seem high, it is the norm for most students nationwide.

“The price has not gone up. The state just stopped issuing a $30 subsidy that it has issued for the past 10 years,” Pizana said. “It is a set price nationwide, and it is up to the individual state, school district, and school whether to subsidize that

price. We are not a title one school, so we do not receive any additional funds.”

Many students who wanted the challenge of an AP test but could not afford it found aid through the fee waiver offered to students with free and reduced lunch, which lowered the cost to $7 for the first three tests.

“Out of the approximately 600 AP tests, less than a hundred were paid by fee waivers. Usually the turnaround for getting an answer back from the food and nutrition office

is about two weeks, so I emailed all the AP teachers and hand delivered the free and reduced lunch applications,” Pizana said. “I did get a couple answers back on time for the registrations.

Andrew Capindo, who is taking five AP tests without a waiver, did not let the cost of the prices keep him from the possibility of college credit.

“I felt a bit angry about the increased fees, but once I found out that is how much it normally costs and the cost of the tests

far outweighs how much I could save on tuition, it made me a little more at ease about costs,” Capindo said.

AP Art teacher Barbara Antebi said the price change directly affects her students, who work year long on their portfolio which will be submitted in May for the AP test.

“Only about 50% of my students signed up for the portfolio submission. It is unfair, especially since they changed the rules at the last moment,” Antebi said.

| NATALIE GOMEZ | reporter, cartoonist

Lack of funding causes rise in AP testing fees

A sea of purple and red fills the court-yard, illuminated

by the glow of candles scattered throughout. Tears flow, as stories and laughs are shared as friends and family remember junior Ryan Carter in a candle-light vigil held on March 9.

Carter was born on January 16, 1995, and he passed away from compli-cations of tonsil surgery on March 4. He is survived by his mother, Voncile Carter Richardson; his brother, Reginald Carter; his sis-ter, Regina Cook; and his grandparents Betty and Earl Stewart.

Though Carter had only attended Franklin since his freshman year, he made a deep impact.

“I’ve never cried so much. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with losing someone I loved so much,” junior Monica Lobera said. “We’re all doing our best to keep ourselves together. It’s beautiful how the class of 2013 is growing closer through this. The amount of respect everyone had for him is unbelievable.”

Carter played corner-back (#3) for the jv football team and was a big fan of the University of Alabama. It was his goal to win state in football his senior year and eventually play for the NFL.

“He played with heart. No matter how tough foot-ball was, he always gave it his all. Whenever he got knocked down, he popped right back up,” junior team-mate Jeremy Rodriguez said. “No matter where he

| MAURICIO CASILLAS | co-editor in chief

Huddling in a circle, junior Ariana Gutierrez lights a flame at the candle-light vigil held for Ryan Carter. At the vigil, held on March 9, friends and family shared favorite memories of Carter. Above: In the upstairs west hallway, friends decorate Carter’s locker. photo by Desiree Balcorta

Ryan Carter

would go or what he was wearing, he needed to have his Alabama sweater on.”

In memory of Carter, ju-niors Emiliano Salayandia and Rodriguez created pur-ple shirts, decorated with a number 3 wearing a crown. The crown is used to rep-resent Carter’s nickname “King.”

“He got the name ‘King Carter’ because the day he passed away, his mother explained that she named him Ryan because it means king,” Lobera said. “His middle name is Christian because his mother wanted to make sure that he was a Christian one way or an-other.”

Sophomore Alexa Good said Carter was an unfor-gettable friend.

“He always had a way of making anyone smile. When you were feeling down he would always try to put you in a better mood. He was like a big brother to everyone,” Good said. “I can still hear his laugh and imagine his smile. I know he is up Heaven right now watching over us.”

Carter was laid to rest in Lawn Haven Cemetery in Theodore, AL on March 12. The loss of Carter is some-thing that Lobera will carry with her for the rest of her life.

“I’ve learned not to take anyone for granted because you never know how soon their time will come. Tell your family and friends you love them every single day,” Lobera said.

Dressed in purple and red, students hold up the letter “C” in honor of Ryan Carter. Purple was Carter’s favorite color, and red is the main color for the University of Alabama, his favorite college team. photo by Desiree Balcorta

In the center of Ryan Cart-er’s friends, his mother, Voncile Carter Richardson, expresses her gratitude to-wards all the students who gathered in memory of her son. She is surrounded by junior Monica Lobera, se-nior Felix Obi, sophomore Dejon Strayhorn and senior Chinedu Nzekwe. photo by Desiree Balcorta

See Testing continued on p. 6

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05news

With name change, GSA becomes official organization

After more than a year of waiting, GSA formerly known as GLASS, has been approved by the district

as an official organization.In order for the club to be approved,

the name had to be changed to GSA( Gay Straight Alliance).

The approval came months after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter in June to schools around the nation alerting them to their obligations under the Equal Access Act.

Duncan wrote that the act “requires public secondary schools to treat all student-initiated groups equally, regardless of the religious, political, philosophical, or other subject matters discussed at their meetings.”

Further, he stressed that GSAs create a climate of tolerance.

“Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) and similar student-initiated groups addressing LGBT issues can play an important role in promoting safer schools and creating more welcoming learning environments,” Duncan said.

Sponsor Adriana Baxter said the difficulty of getting the club approved lay with the district, not the school.

“After about a year of waiting for approval, Daniel Rollings, a representative from BGSAC (Borderland Gay Straight Alliance Coalition), helped us put together a packet which was basically like a GSA kit,” Baxter said.

This kit included the letter from Duncan and was sent to Associate Superintendent of Secondary Schools James Anderson, who is in charge of approving clubs for the district.

“Ms. Gasway was all for it,” Baxter said.

“It’s just the district who was dragging their feet. They never said anything [one way or the other].”

According to the GSA press release, strong, well-supported GSAs can have a major impact on the education environment and possess the power to transform individuals, school cultures, and educational institutions.

“There are advantages to having GSAs in schools,” Alonso Muñoz said. “They provide an environment of acceptance and give a place where people can feel like they belong. They also have the ability to influence school administration by making changes to schools’ policies and they also remind teachers to create safe learning spaces for everyone.”

The alliance with BGSAC, along with the name change, granted district approval, which allows the group to serve food at meetings and fund raise.

Although the club now has more privileges, such as the opportunity to fund raise, participate in school functions, have t-shirts made and announcements read, and Baxter says the club is not quite the same.

“We liked the original name because it suggested something pretty and fragile,” Baxter said. “I miss it.”

Muñoz, founder of the Franklin chapter of GSA, on the other hand, says that this name change has re-energized the group.

“The club has definitely had a positive effect. It’s more hardcore, which is a good thing,” Muñoz said. “We now have money and sponsorship.”

With the recent approval of the club, Muñoz has plans for the future.

“I hope to get more involved with the school, reach out more, and make the club bigger,” Muñoz said.

| JAQLYN ALDERETE | reporter

Standing president of GSA, Alonso Munoz talks to audience about future club plans. “We have new mem-bers now and we had a GSA intern come in,” Muñoz said. High school GSAs have existed for more than a decade and now there are more than 500 nationwide (www.gsanetwork.org). GSA meets every other Thurs-day in room S142. For more information, contact Ms. Baxter or Muñoz. photo by Kristina Gaspar de Alba

Student Council took multiple awards at the annual District IX Spring Conference held on March 1 and hosted on campus.

Four types of awards were distributed, including the DIX Scrapbook award, TASC (Texas Association of Student Councils) Sweepstakes/Outstanding Student Council, NASC (National Association of Student Councils) Gold Council of Excellence, and scholarships at the district and state level. The school chapter of student council took home the majority of these awards.

StuCo took superior in the DIX Scrapbook award, the highest rating, for their scrapbook, designed by junior historian Lauren Hadjimarcou and student activities manager Lisa Thompson.

“I feel relieved,” Hadjimarcou said. “All that work paid off. I enjoyed incorporating the theme ‘Make Your Mark’ into it, because I was able to use stickers from different countries and world-themed paper. It turned out better than I thought I could do.”

They were recognized as a TASC Sweepstakes/Outstanding Student Council, a distinction the group has received yearly since 1998.

“I’m actually in charge of putting together the notebook that we send in for the sweepstakes award,” senior and president Rion Thompson said. “I thought it showed that our school is very well rounded in every aspect of our student council as a whole.”

Student council received the NASC Gold Council of Excellence as well.

“Fewer than 100 high schools in the nation receive this award,” L. Thompson said. “This is our fifth year to be recognized.”

As an officer who has attended multiple NASC conferences, Rion Thompson said that the award is one of high caliber.

“Although NASC is a national group, there are other countries involved, too,” Rion said. “Irvin won this award as well, so it really shows how hard El Paso schools work to help improve our communities and world as a whole.”

| JAQLYN ALDERETE | reporter

StuCo earns state, nationalhonors

Pizana, who oversees the AP registration process, has taken note of the decrease in the number of students taking AP tests.

“I did see about 180 fewer students sign up,” Pizana said. “I know it is a sacrifice for famillies, but if you can manage that high price I would definitely say it is worth it if you compare college tuition.”

Despite the costs, Antebi said students should still consider testing because of the challenge and ultimate reward that it offers students.

“The importance of the [AP Art portfolio] submission is about the process in creating the portfolio, photographing digital images, learning how to do research, defending the work, and being able to verbalize the content. These are skills that students will use throughout their lives.”

For many students wanting to tackle multiple tests, the term quality over quantity may hold true.

“My advice for people taking multiple tests is to really consider which ones they would need for college and will help their way towards their major. Don’t waste money for a test you are not prepared for at least ready to study a lot for,” Capindo said.

Testing continued from p. 3

06news

Wearing their medals from the UIL District com-petition, sophomore Emily Felsen, senior Natalie Gomez and junior Nicole Rosen are three out of seven participants that will travel to Lubbock for regional competition. “I am so pleased that Nata-lie and NIcole are going; I think they have a real chance to qualify for state,” adviser Jai Tanner said. photo by Lauren Bagg

UIL-prom conflict presents problem for participants| LINDSEY JIRON | reporter

Following the March 24 UIL district 1-5A academic competition, 12 students have qualified to advance

to the Apr. 21 regional competition at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. How-ever, only seven students will travel to regionals, as regionals coincides with another school event: prom.

“When I heard about the conflict, I was practically speechless. Many peo-ple have the capacity to advance to re-gionals, and a handful for state from our school,” senior Kan Ito, who competed in mathematics and science, said.

Debate coach Kim Falco, who is the campus UIL academic team coordina-tor, spends much time preparing her stu-dents as well as organizing competition entries and details. Falco, though dis-mayed, understands the decisions that many competitors made.

“I was saddened by the realization that many of our best competitors would not get to compete at regionals,” Falco said. “Most high school students would choose prom, and I don’t blame them for doing so.”

Falco said that, due to the conflict, some coaches had to tweak their strate-gies.

“I, and some of the other coaches, played our best kids, even though we know they won’t be going to regionals,” Falco said. “Some coaches have chosen to play younger kids that could advance if they win.”

Social studies and current events coach Carl McCaig said that planning around prom was a learning experience.

“My initial reaction was that students in the events had to commit to regionals

if they wanted to do UIL. I have since re-alized that probably was a bad plan and will do things differently in the future, such as recruit from the freshman and sophomore classes,” McCaig said. “It is a bit more challenging than I had an-ticipated. You just need to play the hand you are dealt.”

Accounting1st • John Bohle2nd • Kristina SmithCurrent Issues1st • Natalie Felsen3rd • Rion ThompsonEditorial Writing1st • Aleksey Zebrowski4th • Diego Mendoza MoyersFeature Writing1st • Natalie Gomez2nd • Nicole Rosen6th • Megan CahalanHeadline Writing1st • Natalie Felsen2nd • Hae Rin MaLD Debate3rd • Efren RayosMathematics2nd • Parisa FallahProse1st • Ani MangoldPersuasive3rd • Aleksey ZebrowskiSocial Studies2nd • Emily Felsen

Skills USA competitor advances to nationals| AILENE AGUIRRE | reporter

Senior Carli Richardson is a state champion after win-ning first place in the SkillsUSA cosmetology quiz bowl state competition, held on March 22-24 in Cor-

pus Christi.SkillsUSA partners students and teachers to ensure

america has a skilled workforce. Eric Winkelman, director of CCTE, said it’s a program where students test their skills.

“SkillsUSA is a leadership CTSO [Career and Technical Student Organization], where students compete in leader-ship contests as well as skills competitions in their pro-gram,” Winkelman said.

Only first place winners in SkillsUSA advance to the next level. However, in Richardson’s division, there is no national level of competition.

“It’s really exciting winning state, knowing that our team was the best in Texas,” Richardson said. “I only wish we could move on to nationals.”

Richardson studied daily prior to state.“To prepare, everyday at cosmetology we would prac-

tice buzzing in and answering our questions,” Richardson said. “Our teacher would test us over our questions. We had practice competitions against the other CCTE quiz bowl team, and I studied questions during my free time.”

Richardson hopes to become licensed in cosmetology, and in spite of its rigors, she says her work has paid off.

“This will definitely help me when I take the test to get my cosmetology license, because I will know more of the questions,” Richardson said “Also, just the experience of practicing and competing is really beneficial.”

Styling her sister Heidi’s hair, senior Carli Richardson uses some of the techniques she has learned at CCTE. photo by Sara Washburn

Sitting on a bus on the way to Dallas for competition this weekend, junior Alonso

Muñoz goes over his presentation speech countless times. Muñoz, who is in FCCLA, has qualified to the state competition as a repre-sentative of The House of Cortez.

“The House of Cortez is a branch of FCCLA at CCTE,” Mu-ñoz said. “We do community service projects, the major one being the Penguin Parade at the Salvation Army. The main differ-ence is that FCCLA at CCTE goes to competitions, unlike the one here at Franklin.”

At regionals, which took place on February 3 in Lubbock, most of the service projects teams con-sisted of two people; however,

Muñoz competed solely under the Chapter Service Project Dis-play event.

“My event consisted of a 10-minute speech with a display board to go along with it,” Muñoz said. “It was nerve-wracking, but I felt confident.”

Despite competing in the event alone, Muñoz said hard work was key to his success.

“I knew a lot about our service project, which was the Penguin Parade,” Muñoz said. “I was on stage [with four other teams] and one of the officers was announc-ing all the places one by one until House of Cortez was left.”

Muñoz is prepared for the up-coming performance at state.

“State competition is harder.

UIL

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Muñoz advances to state in Dallas

Only top teams advance and there is more competition. They also have the chance to improve their speeches,” Muñoz said. “The regional conference sends you a copy of the rubric that the judges used. From there, I try to see what I can improve on and practice what I want to say.”

| JENNIFER MARTINEZ | reporter

Proudly displaying his first place re-gional plaque, junior Alonso Muñoz will compete at state this weekend. “Getting first place was really empow-ering,” Munoz said. “I had a lot of dis-advantages compared to other teams. It feels great to be top dog in the re-gion. photo by staff

07news

Playing piano in Jazz II for two consecutive years, junior Nathan Cas-tillo is optimistic about the jazz season. “We’re all very excited at how great we’ve done this year,” junior Nathan Castillo said. “When the summer rolls around, we’re going to want to do even better.” Both jazz ensembles earned perfect scores at the festivals. photo by Desiree Balcorta

Jazz band earns first divisions

Sounds reminiscent of 1960s swing fill the air as Jazz Band I concludes its finale, “The Heat’s On.”

The audience stands in ovation, and the echo of applause reverberates through the Lee Ross Capshaw Auditorium. The audience’s approval was shared by the judges, as jazz band earned perfect scores at the EPISD Jazz Festival.

“At EPISD, we earned straight first divisions. The [judges’] comments to the group were enthusiastic. At the Hanks Jazz Festival, the band has to score an 80 and above to earn a first division,” Beach said. “We earned a 90, 92, and 93. This was not only good enough for first division, but also ranked us high enough for third place which is the band’s highest placement since 2003.“

Beach believes those who attended the contest were blown away with the band’s performance.

“Everyone at the contest was impressed with the band, especially people that have been hearing us for years,” Beach said. “They all said the same thing; best group we have had in years.”

Along with first division trophies at EPISD and the Hanks Jazz Festival, scholarships were awarded to three Franklin students, including senior trumpeter Jordan Rivera.

“This is the best jazz season we’ve had in a very long time,” Rivera said. “We had so much success because we all wanted to be playing. We’re all people who really love the music; dig it and such.”

Assistant band director Daniel Allen also felt accomplished with his jazz group.

“The performance at the Hanks Jazz Festival was the best they had done all season. The band did exactly what I had asked them to do which was to make each performance better than the previous one,” Allen said.

Along with Jazz 1, Jazz 2 received a solid first division ranking and placed 6th out of 9 non-varsity bands, an improvement from last year’s placement of 8th.

After a sub-par marching season, the success of the spring program has lifted spirits and raised morale among Star of the West’s members.

“We’re all very excited at how great we’ve done this year,” junior Nathan Castillo said. “When the summer rolls around, we’re going to want to do even better.”

Overall, the band directors were satisfied with their students.

“I was pleased with the attitude of the group, how hard they worked, and their enthusiasm for the music and the band in general,” Beach said.

| story by STAFF |

Holding children’s toys, a guitar and an album portfolio to represent their Independent Studies projects, seniors Karla Estrada and Mireille Olivo enjoy the opportunities that the class presents. “Writing an album was never something I sought to accomplish in my lifetime, but I am incredibly happy that I did it,” Olivo said. The students have been working on their projects throughout the year. photo by Sara Washburn

Composing songs, creating a com-fortable environ-

ment for hospitalized children and compiling knitting patterns for lit-erature. These are some of the projects that absorb the time of three Inde-pendent Studies students.

“The first task is com-ing up with a project that is realistic and can be ac-complished in a school year. Then there is a long list of paperwork you must complete to get your proj-ect approved and started,” senior Karla Estrada said. “I was able to find my men-tor quickly, and from there I gained the responsibility of having frequent meetings to stay on the same track.”

Estrada is one of ten up-perclassmen taking the In-dependent Studies course, a class requesting students to create and execute a project pertaining to some-thing relevant, then present it to judges. After deciding on a project, the students are guided by mentors.

For her project, Es-trada decided to launch a non-profit organiza-tion helping hospitalized children through Uni-versity Medical Center.

“I met a woman and her daughter on a plane going to the Ronald Mc-Donald House in Dal-las, and I thought it would be nice if we had a program to support ill children,” Estrada said.

Estrada’s project calls for

collecting toys, sacrificing time and advocating for vol-unteer recruitment to bring the desired outcome of the project: joy for the children.

“Throughout the year, I only completed a few things on my agenda,” Estrada said. “I was able to collect toys, raise money, and settle down the meetings with any-body who got involved.”

Along with Estrada, se-

nior Mireille Olivo was inspired by elements around her when creat-ing her project, a com-plete studio album.

“For my project, I have compiled about seven songs for an album reflect-ing issues prevalent in the El Paso community,” Olivo said. “I have composed, written and recorded ev-ery song on my own.”

Olivo says the most dif-ficult process of her project was composing the music.

“Songs are incredibly hard to compose for me,” Olivo said. “There are so many different parts in a song, None of that exten-

sive effort is noticed when you are listening to music.”

Through her project, Oli-vo says she has learned valu-able lessons when it comes to appreciating the efforts of musical composition.

“It has showed me how difficult music is to make,” Olivo said. “I appreciate every musician more be-cause of this project, espe-cially my mentor, [Guitar teacher], Stefan Schyga.”

Senior Lisa Moya also ap-preciates the work of a cre-ation based project. For her Independent Studies proj-ect, Moya has compiled a knitting pattern book, say-ing she drew the inspiration from her favorite pastime.

“I got the idea as a ju-nior. I love knitting and I’m hoping to design knitting patterns,” Moya said. “I am going to have a knit to-gether later this month and then I’m completely done.”

Moya concurs the most rewarding aspect of com-pleting her project is the sense of accomplishment and hopes to be pub-lished in a knitting journal.

“I have a book to my name now,” Moya said. “After this year, I want to submit the pat-terns for publication.”

Despite the obstacles, the three seniors are grateful to have been a part of the In-dependent Studies course.

“It is an absolute re-lief to have the major-ity of my project done, but for me, this is just the beginning,” Estrada said.

| NICOLE ROSEN | features editor | LINDSEY JIRON | reporter

Students create programs, masterpieces through course

I have composed, written, practiced to death and recorded every song pretty much on my own. • Mireille Olivo, senior

08news

Three FBLA students qualify for nationals, only one to attend| JENNIFER MARTINEZ | reporter

Wearing their first-place medals, seniors David Tomblin, Nicholas Sundin and Carlos Hogan feel pride in their success. “I was exhilarated to be a member of such a talented and intellectual team,” Hogan said. “Winning was great, but I had no doubt my teammates could pull through.” photo by Lauren Bagg

Waking up after a continuous set of buzzing, se-

nior John Bohle stares in disbelief at the LED phone screen filled with congratu-latory text messages. Bohle, who competed at the state FBLA competition in Hous-ton from March has quali-fied for nationals.

Bohle, who placed first in Accounting II and will compete over Memo-rial Day Weekend, was shocked by his results.

“I woke up to congratu-lating texts and thought they were joking, but when Mrs. Poe told me, I was ex-cited,” Bohle said.

Bohle said the state com-petition brought on a real challenge.

“I felt at a disadvantage against my opponents at state, because no-body had competed against me for regionals,” Bohle said. “The state competition was, in a sense, my first true competition.”

Senior Grace Mihalyov said the state com-petition was higher since there were more competitors than there were at regionals.

“The state competition is harder. The con-ference is also a lot bigger,” Mihalyov said. “At district, we meet in a small auditorium, and at state, FBLA takes over an entire hotel. There are thousands of high school students.”

The pressure to do well was an obstacle for Mihalyov, who competed alongside her part-ner, senior Ace Vargas, in Emerging Business Issues.

“We would take a few minutes to prepare by ourselves, then we would come together and rehearse,” Mihalyov said. “With my few minutes of alone time, I focused on calming my nerves. I reminded myself that the com-petition was important, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we didn’t win.”

Despite her nerves, Mihalyov was surprised at the successful outcome of the speech.

“I was shocked that we placed to go to nationals,” Mihalyov said. “When they an-nounced the results, there was a huge pause before they called our names. It was really dramatic!”

Although they qualified for nationals, Var-gas and Mihalyov will not compete in San Antonio.

“Because we placed second, EPISD will not pay for our trip,” Mihalyov said. “It would be way too expensive to pay our own way.”

Sponsor Janelle Poe feels that, although Mi-halyov and Vargas won’t be competing again, their success makes her proud.

“I am always proud of all the students, and I take no credit. They are the ones who research, write and study on their own,” Poe said. “Their willingness to strive to get to nationals helped them achieve their own success.”

TSA team heads to nationals| NATALIE FELSEN | editor in chief

After a first-place finish in the Tech Bowl divi-sion at the Technology

Student Association (TSA) state competition, held March 30-31 in Waco, Texas, seniors Nicho-las Sundin, Carlos Hogan and David Tomblin will advance to nationals in Nashville, Tennes-see, to be held June 21-25.

Sundin, the president of Tech Club and head of the Tech Bowl team, said the structure of Tech Bowl was multifaceted.

“TSA is an organization where, like UIL, you can enter into different types of competi-tions,” Sundin said. “Tech Bowl was pretty much a trivia game. At the state level, there’s a writ-ten aspect of it, and there’s an aspect that’s like Jeopardy.”

To qualify for the Jeopardy round, the team had to place in the top ten teams overall on the 100-question written exam.

“We placed second as a team, and Nicholas was the highest scorer overall,” Hogan said. “He scored a 92.4, he was the only person to get an A, so that really helped out.”

To prepare, the team reviewed a 400-question packet, contain-ing questions on subjects from energy to machinery.

“We were given a giant bind-er full of all the possible tech bowl questions,” Tomblin said. “On the bus ride there, we went through the binder and studied the questions.”

Bohle

Mihalyov

Vargas

For the first time in the same year, both pub-lications from Franklin High School have received Crown awards from the Colum-

bia Scholastic Press Association.Yearbook Pride received a Gold Crown, and

student newspaper The Chronicle received a Silver Crown.

“I am thrilled that our publications have been awarded such highly esteemed honors,” adviser Jai Tanner said. “It feels amazing to be one of only 22 national publications to receive such recognition.”

This is the third consecutive crown for Pride, but its only gold. The Chronicle last received a Silver Crown in 2009.

“We seek to provide a level of journalistic excellence in all areas--writing, reporting, pho-tography, editing and design–and these awards are a confirmation that is happening,” Tanner

said. “It is such an amazing experi- e n c e for students to be able to claim that they are on a nationally award-winning publication.”

The awards were announced at Columbia University in New York City on March 16. In addition to Franklin, two other El Paso schools brought home crown awards.

“Journalistically, El Paso is one of the stron-gest areas in Texas,” Tanner said. “Both Burges and El Dorado brought home Silver Crowns. We are happy for them, but we are elated to be the only El Paso school to bring home the gold.”

Pride has received its fourth consecutive Pacemaker award nomination from the Na-tional Scholastic Press Association. Results will be announced at the JEA/NSPA convention on April 15. The Chronicle has also been nominat-ed for the ILPC Star award, one of the highest honors in the state of Texas.

| NATALIE FELSEN | editor in chief

Yearbook earnsGold Crown

Hogan said their final round had a pressure-cooker envi-ronment.

“The team was very compet-itive, and we saw that they put a lot of effort into it,” Hogan said. “It was very intimidating, because the other team stud-ied, and you could tell they re-ally, wanted to win it. But ul-timately, the best team won.”

Tomblin credits their ability to balance their strengths and weaknesses for their victory.

“We worked well together,” Tomblin said. “Some of us didn’t do so well on the writ-ten part of the tech bowl com-petition. For instance, I did better on the test than Carlos, but he did much better on the buzzer than I did. So when we all got together, we were able to complement each other.”

Both Hogan and Sundin plan to continue to study engi-neering in college.

“I’m going to end up getting a minor in engineering,” Ho-gan said. “I’m going to the Air Force Academy, and part of their core curriculum is taking engineering classes in every engineering major they have there.”

While Tomblin does not plan to become an engineer, he said his TSA experience has taught him skills he can share with younger teammates.

“We’re definitely leaving the sense of pride that we were able to make it to nationals, to lead our team so far in such a short period of time, and we’ll be able to pass on these lead-ership skills to whoever might fill our shoes,” Tomblin said.

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10opinions

When at the height of its power, Mi-crosoft founder

and CEO Bill Gates retired, nobody could have fore-seen the company’s loss of power. Could this happen to Apple? It certainly could and did.

Only months after Ap-ple’s founder and CEO Steve Jobs passed away, Apple is showing signs of waning ingenuity. Apple’s unveiling of the iPad 3 last month falls far from short from genius. Apple is showing signs of techno-logical stagnation.

The iPad 3 is the first company product debut since Tim Cook replaced Jobs as CEO.

However, the iPad lacks any major changes in de-sign or technology. The iPad 2 quickly became popular because of its ma-jor improvements from the iPad. Buyers lined up to purchase the new or trade in the old. The iPad 3 (more like an iPad 2S), aside from an upgraded resolution

toaleksey zebrowski

and camera (standard to most upgrades), doesn’t compare to its predecessor, literally.

Meanwhile, technology competitors are catching up.

Only a few years ago, Ap-ple’s OS had few competi-tors. But things are different now. Amazon’s Kindle Fire boasts similar capabilities but can be purchased at a much lower cost of $200. The Android and Windows 7 market have also become prominent challengers.

Apple needs to take more risks and remain innova-tive. Jobs’ progressive and aggressive designs were what made the company great. Although Apple’s products will continue to make handsome profits, it’s only a matter of time until one of its competitors hits the jackpot. After all, who could have predicted Ap-ple would overtake Micro-soft so quickly?

If Mr. Cook really wants to follow in Jobs’ footsteps and preserve his compa-

on the news

What is your opinion on the contraception mandate given by the Obama administration?

VIEWSyour

Brandon Payne, 12

“Personally, I really don’t like it. For me religion doesn’t con-tradict with it. But, politically I think it’s the government over stepping its bounds completely. I think the government should have respect for the Catholic Church.”

“I believe health insur-ance is something that people need. Whether the government has a right to mandate is still up for question. I think the Catholic Church should provide family planning. Within my church’s dog-ma it is between the in-dividual and God, not the church.”

John Houze, teacherRion Thompson, 12

“I disagree. Churches are private institutions and should not inter-vene and tell them to contradict their reli-giously held beliefs. I’m an atheist and a social democrat but I think the government should still respect re-ligion.”

Mireille Olivo, 12

“It’s against everything my family and I were raised on. We were brought up in a society that was based off of separation of church and state. Obama is asking us to change the basis of Catholicism in hopes of being re-elected. The church is private and this move is unconstitutional.

When a bomb is placed in an area, at some

point, it will explode. Much like a ticking bomb, North Korea is in a critical state.

After the death of North Korea’s notorious dicta-tor, Kim Jong Il, on Dec. 17, his son quickly took his place. While US offi-cials have declared there are “no new concerns” regarding his succession, I disagree.

Little is known about Kim Jong Un except his approach towards North Korean troops. He is re-portedly a “military ge-nius,” having written a thesis at the age of 16 on military strategy. How-ever, North Korean myth and reality often emerge, so it is hard to place full faith in said facts.

At a young age and with no prior experience, it is highly unlikely that Kim Jong Un is capable of effectively ruling North Korea. Having been trained in politics for only three years, North Ko-rean officials will have a large influence on him. Therefore, his decisions

cannot be completely his own, making them more unpredictable.

In fact, a number of South Koreans are con-cerned that North Korea poses more of a threat. To prove Kim Jong Un’s capability as a leader, the South Korean government believes North Korea will execute a nuclear test lat-er this year or early next.

Educated at a boarding school in Switzerland, Kim Jong Un may have a more Western approach to politics but he does not practice it.

The biggest question the new leadership poses is, how will the North Korean government’s in-heritance of power affect its people and relation to other countries? Only time will tell if this ticking bomb detonates or is de-fused successfully.

The iPad 3 falls flat

ny’s lead, he should do the same.

Since Jobs became CEO in 1999, Apple began its Golden Age. All of Apple’s past products were truly revolutionary. The iPod changed the way we lis-ten to music, the iPhone changed the functionality of phones, and the iPad creat-ed an entirely new market.

If Apple wants to remain ahead of competition, it has to take risks. The once dominant cellphone maker, Motorola, failed to replace its once enormously popu-lar model, the Razor, with a more modern-like design and is still struggling to catch up. In the last decade, Microsoft was eclipsed by Apple’s sudden rise to fame. Luckily, it has made a re-spectable effort to catch up with its Windows 7 proces-sor and by teaming up with Nokia.

Apple has to be care-ful not to follow in Win-dows’ footsteps. It cannot afford to be afraid to bring in new innovation, because if it doesn’t, its competitors won’t hesitate to eat it up.

The Obama adminis-tration recently pro-duced a mandate

requiring private institu-tions, such as the Catholic Church, to provide free contraception. This issue should fall to constitu-tional judgement, since it oversteps governmental rights.

No matter what your viewpoint or political ide-ology you may attach to in this issue, people of all parties and political inter-ests need to cling to what should be the staple in any issue: the US Consti-tution. Where in the Con-stitution does it require a religious institution to provide any controversial service?

The government needs to know that it is not its position to tell any private institution or individual how to conduct their own life and habits, especially when it can’t seem to stick to the US Constitution. Contraception must be paid for by an individual, not an institution. Telling the Catholic Church that they have to provide a free service that they are opposed to by religious convictions is blasphe-mous. The Constitution establishes separation of church and state. The church shouldn’t have power in the government, nor should the govern-ment have control in the church.

North Korea: A ticking time bomb

The contraceptiveconundrum

| HAEWON MA | reporter, cartoonist

| CARLOS HOGAN| reporter

photo courtesy of apple.com

11opinions

Spring symbolizes new beginnings. As flowers bloom, so do ideas. This is evidenced by the Arab Spring, which is now one year old. One

would think that by now spring would usher in a season of peace in the Middle East, right?

Wrong.While the fighting has subsided in areas such as

Jordan and Tunisia, Syria’s protests have escalated into a full on civil war. The Syrian rebels are calling for President Bashar al-Assad to leave office, and like many power-greedy dictators, al-Assad is re-fusing to go. So how would they get him to leave? Once gone, who would rule in his place?

Down with the Tyrant?| EMILY FELSEN | reporter

Luke Hicks, 12

O

halltalkWho or what is

Nowruz?

Oscar Alvarez, 11

“A type of elf.”

Nowruz is the Persian festival cel-ebrating the New Year at the exact moment of the vernal equinox in spring. The name comes from Aves-tan meaning “new day/daylight”. www.ommatvahedah.blog.co.uk

Kim Falco, Teacher

P“The Persian New Year.”

Maria Pedraza, 11

Ariana Gutierrez, 11

O“The president of Persia.”

Zach Ferguson, 12

O“A city in the Middle East.”

Trevor Shorts, 12

O“A clogged toilet.”

O“A band.”

O“A girl’s name.”

A very likely option is that the president of the Syrian National Army, an organization which the United States recognizes as a legitimate represen-tation of the rebellion, would take over rule of the Arab state. Another rebel organization, the Free Syrian Army, could also rise to power. Consisting of defectors from the actual Syrian army, their leader Colonel Riad al-Assad would become leader if this became the case.

Then there’s the chance of al-Assad’s downfall coming from the inside. While the chance of a military coup is relatively small, the country’s tur-moil makes anything possible. This could bring about the most change–but also the most deadly consequences. Getting many strong-willed gener-als to agree on something is hard enough, but even harder is repressing the retaliation that this event is sure to bring.

Either way removing al-Assad from office is a monumental task. While the consequences of an overthrow could further strain the country, it is bet-ter than letting a tyrant rule.

In a sudden reversal of its repressive policies, the southeast Asian nation of Myanmar held parlia-mentary elections on Sun., April 1. The National

League for Democracy, allowed to run against the ruling military junta for the first time, won a majority of seats. President Thein Sein declared the elections successful and pledged to continue liberalization.

Where are the thorns beneath these roses?Unusually, they are nonexistent. While this would

normally be cause for concern, the West should be-lieve the front Myanmar presents to the world. Sup-porting its glasnost-like reforms would ensure that Myanmar’s liberalization solidifies into permanence.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the living symbol of Myanmar democracy, gained office for the first time through these elections. She has declared her intent to continue to cooperate with President Sein regarding reforms, a position Sein re-ciprocated amiably. Clearly, Burma is stepping away from military-enforced oppression.

To ensure these democratic tendencies stick

around, the West must reestablish diplomatic re-lations with Myanmar. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Myanmar in December, the first US envoy to do so since the junta took power. Frankly, there are benefits to both partners in this diplomatic normalcy. The US and other Western countries may invest in Myanmar’s rich natural resources, and Myanmar citizens will see their standard of living in-crease rapidly as foreign investment grows.

In an age where dictators would rather massacre their own people than allow freedom, it is refreshing to see a government so committed to progress. The West must suspend its disbelief regarding the gov-ernment’s motives, for there is no ground for doubt. Support Myanmar, and the world will gain another liberal democracy.

Bringing Burma

UIL collectively winning 1-5A

TSA winning first in state

One Act play advances to Area

Natalie Felsen being first ever FHS student to be accepted into Harvard

Lack of funding to send students to Nationals

Prom being held during UIL regionals

Lack of funding for fine arts state competition

Back

12 opinions

Romney and Rubio

the

With the GOP Presidential N o m i n e e

Campaign gradually coming to an end Republicans are still left with the same un-answered question. What will defeat Pres-ident Obama?

The answer is sim-ple.

Former Massachu-setts Governor Mitt Romney has to be the party’s presidential

candidate. His politi-cal and business ex-perience combined with his good looks and charm make him the ideal candidate to face Obama in No-vember.

But, before Romney faces Obama, there are some things he has to do. He has to win over religious conser-vatives and ultimately draw some of the mi-nority vote away from

Obama. The only way for Romney to accom-plish this feat is for the Republican Party to select Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his vice president.

Marco Rubio is a well-liked and consis-tent conservative. He was elected mostly because of the Tea Party Movement’s in-fluence in Florida. Many conservatives adore and appreciate

| CARLOS HOGAN | reporter

his standing on issues, as well as his excel-lent record as senator in Florida. Currently Rubio is working on making a more rea-sonable and conser-vative version of the Dream Act. This move not only arouses con-servative appreciation but also the minor-ity’s.

Rubio is also a de-vout Catholic. His stance on important issues such as abor-tion will undoubtedly take some of the cath-olic vote away from President Obama. Rubio took a strong stand in the Senate against the controver-sial contraception is-sue that arose out of Obama’s cabinet.

Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants

and a native to the Miami area. His racial back-ground and family history will undoubtedly at-tract the minority vote for Romney. Diversity and innovation is the key to Republican victory.

The Republican Dream Team:

Political report cardVoters in Frankfurt elect Peter Feldmann as Mayor. Feldmann is first Jewish Mayor since the Holocaust. Frankfurt has a 1% Jewish population.

www.nh24.de

Athis month in the news...

Rush Limbaughs attacks Georgetown Law student for defending Obama’s healthcare.

www.webtrafficroi.com

“[Fluke’s] having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the tax-payers to pay her to have sex.”

F-Romney’s senior advisor, Eric Fehrnestrom, commenting on Romney’s tactic for the general election.

www.redstate.com

“It’s almost like an Etch a Sketch,” Fehrnstrom said. “You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.”

D

In the last issue of The Chronicle, Carlos Ho-gan advocated Texas Representative Ron Paul for President. There were good points about

the presidential candidate, but the article con-tained one sentence which stood out: “Conser-vatism is liberty.” Conservatism is liberty, really -- but only if you’re a dollar bill or a stock wait-ing to be traded. Sadly, this is the ideology ad-vanced by the majority of the modern Republi-can Party. Conservatism has slowly degenerated into the antiquated, repressive ideology that it is today, and tragically, it has dragged a large part of our government along with it. That large part is getting increasingly aggressive. There are three fields that Republicans where love to at-tack President Obama: the economy, social welfare/healthcare and personal freedom.

The right wing’s opinion on economy depends largely on the free market and unrestrained cap-italism. Capitalism has been proven to work, but only under regulation. If the economy is al-lowed to proceed with the kind of “regulations” Republicans would stick on it, we would have nothing short of Social Darwinism. The robber barons of the Gilded Age would be proud to see their beloved ideology return. President Herbert Hoover once said, “The problem with capital-

ism is capitalists.” Even now, he’s absolutely right, because the problem with Republicans’ brand of capitalism is Republicans themselves. Back in 2008, when the American auto industry was on the verge of crashing, the majority of the Republican Party staunchly opposed the bail-outs that President Obama planned to give the industry. Four years later, however, the bailouts did their job: General Motors bounced back, and reclaimed their crown as the #1 automotive company in the world.

Social welfare is disparaged without mercy by most Republican conservatives. Programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Obam-acare are often targets. Granted, the programs need reform, but not cuts. Republicans don’t like spending money, and that’s usually their defense for wanting to slash the programs. The nation does need to spend less money, but is it truly worth it if it leaves thousands of Americans without a safety net and without healthcare?

Lastly, there is personal freedom. Those two words are so politically loaded in the current bureaucratic situation, that it’s nearly impos-sible for liberals and conservatives to avoid heated arguments. Social conservatives oppose gay marriage, separation of church and state and abortion. America was founded on the idea that one could have true freedom. That being said, why do Republican conservatives insist on interfering in everybody’s personal lives? The country should be run on these words: “Don’t like it? Don’t get one.” Their three core beliefs regarding personal freedom revolve around

their inflexible version of Christianity, and all one can say to them is, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This will fall on deaf ears.

The Republican political repertoire is getting increasingly frightening. They have gone from a center-right party who was willing to compro-mise into a far-right party who constantly blares, “It’s my way or the highway.” The far-right Tea Party has driven the metaphorical Republican wagon into a wall, and their solution? To drive right backwards, to propel the country into a state of regression and outdated thinking.

Progress lies with liberalism. Progress lies with President Obama, and we will see him re-elected in 2012. I can thank the Republicans for one thing; however, their Committee to Reelect Barack Obama has done its job exceptionally well. –Edgar Llamas, 11

I just read your article talking about the differ-ent dates of Apocalypse predicted by people all over the world. I’m Mormon, and pretty

much all of the information posted in that article about Mormons is wrong. The only thing that you guys really got right was that you spelled Joseph Smith’s name right. If you really wanted to get correct info about Mormonism, there is a classroom full of Mormons in Mrs. Kendrick’s room at lunch. By the way, Mormons don’t even have a set date for the Apocalypse.–Joseph Glade, 12

In response to The Reasonable Republican column in Issue 4

In response to The Conspiracy Calendar in Issue 4

to the editor

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14features

| NATALIE GOMEZ | reporter

LDS members open up

Staying focused during Bible study, Baylor Rom-ney participates in one of many aspects of Mor-mon religion. “I was born into my religion, but I would choose it anyways,” Romney said. photos by Kristina Gaspar de Alba

Freshman related to Mitt Romney, teacher hails from nearby village

Walking around the unfamiliar halls of the Ninth Grade Center,

freshman Baylor Romney can’t help but miss his family, friends, the green trees and the flowing river of his hometown in Colonia Juarez, a predominantly Mormon community in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Now he is surrounded by strangers, desert heat and a readiness to face this new world.

Last August, Baylor, who is distantly related to presidential candidate Mitt Romney, along with his family, moved to El Paso.

“I was born in Phoenix, and I lived there for two years. Then I lived in Colonia Juarez for 12 years. I miss my friends, but I talk to them over the phone and on Facebook,” Romney said. “It was only my immediate family that moved over here, so I try to see it as a new experience.”

Colonia Juarez, one of two Mormon communities in

Chihuahua, was established in the early 1800s as Mormons searched for a place to colonize, free from persecution. Famous faces from Colonia Juarez include Mitt Romney and his family.

“Mitt Romney is my Grandpa’s cousin. I’ve never met him, but I support him as a presidential candidate because he is my relative,” Romney said.

However, Baylor is not the only individual in the Franklin community with ties to the colony where the Romneys once lived and continue to live. Spanish teacher Heather Kendrick was also raised in the same area in the neighboring community of Colonia Dublan.

“I lived [in Colonia Dublan] untiI I graduated from high school. [The community] is bilingual, so in elementary school I would go in the morning and I would do everything in English--math reading, writing, everything. Then in the afternoon

I would go in Spanish with a different teacher and I would do everything all over again,” Kendrick said.

As a teacher and a member of the LDS Church, Kendrick is naturally close to the Mormon students. Many gather, along with non-Mormons, in her classroom during lunch.

“Some come [into my classroom] and eat, some teenagers are more comfortable with adults than others, it just depends on the kid,” Kendrick said. “I personally feel like they’re my kids so when I see them do something great, I’m excited for them. Even if I don’t sit and have a conversation with them, I still see them every day, so I do feel a closeness to them.”

Baylor has found the closeness of the LDS community of students reassuring. “I was nervous [on my first day] because I didn’t know anyone, but it made it easier to know

| NATALIE GOMEZ | reporter

Shawls, sleeves, straps. Junior Maddie Westman keeps these three things in mind as she scrolls down the formal wear website, scrutinizing

each dress and considering it as a prom possibility. As each one fails to meet the modesty asked of Mormon dress standards, Westman sighs and continues her search.

“I’ll still buy a dress, but I have to find something to wear over it or buy a dress with sleeves. I got tired of wearing shawls all the time, so I’ve just been buying dresses with cap sleeves on them or a big strap,” Westman said. “I bought two dresses online, and they both have modest sleeves. If you just look up modest prom dresses there’s a lot of things that come up, but some are $400 or $500.”

As part of the Mormon faith, Westman chooses to follow the modest dress standards not only during prom season, but year round as well.

“We are supposed to be basically modest and not show a lot skin. We are supposed to wear shorts down to our knees, one piece bathing suits, and we’re not supposed to wear tank tops, have tattoos or a lot of piercings. It’s a choice, but it is strongly encouraged,” Westman said.

Being modest is only one of many values taught by the Mormon church, officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Family is at the top of this list and for senior Joseph Glade, one of the greatest priorities.

“Being LDS has definitely strengthened my family life. Every Monday night we do this thing called Family Home Evening where we spend time as a

family and do a fun activity like playing frisbee or some sort of board game, and then learn a lesson about the gospel that brings us together. It lets us take a break from our busy lives and see how each of us are doing,” Glade said.

Another aspect of LDS faith is attending seminary from 7:15 to 8:15, Monday through Friday. Although rewarding, Glade says it takes commitment.

“Going to seminary definitely does take dedication, but over time, you get used to it. There are mornings where it is super hard to actually want to get out of bed and start getting ready an hour earlier, but it is worth starting the day by going to church and learning about the gospel,” Glade said.

Being Mormon not only requires commitment to the Church, but commitment to the community as well.

“I really like the fact that service plays a big part of what we do on an everyday basis. From physically helping people with things like yard work and other service projects for the community to things like serving others by either being a good example for the people around you,” Glade said.

Because of the many aspects of his faith, Glade acknowledges the misconceptions that often arise.

“Many people think that we have a lot of wives and that we still practice polygamy. That practice was phased out a long time ago. Some people think that we are like Amish people, and that we live without any modern things. We have modern things

Top: Looking through scripture, Joseph Glade says that the mental and spiritual gains of being Mormon are worth the dedication. “There isn’t anything that I dislike about being LDS. I know that everything that is being taught is only for our benefit, and I’ve really grown to like everything we do,” Glade said. Above: Sitting together in a circle, sophomore students take part in Bible discussion during early morning seminary. pho-tos by Kristina Gaspar de Alba

other Mormon students,” Romney said. “[Colonia Juarez] is a very small town. The high school there is a privately owned LDS school. There’s no cussing, no one really does anything bad, except maybe ditch. [Kids] aren’t mean and don’t make fun of other people. Sometimes they do that over here. But here, there’s a lot more people,

See Mormon continued on p. 19

See Romney continued on p. 19

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Valentina Cifuentes’ heart stops beating when student

activities director Lisa Thompson announces the names of the students on the 2012 Prom Court. Every time a name was called, Cifuentes thought her chances of being on the court were quickly diminishing.

“Mrs. Thompson was calling out the names of other people and every time she did, I thought that I didn’t make it. I remember after hearing Gabriella’s name, I sighed and thought that was it,” Cifuentes said. “Then Mrs. Thompson announced that Chinedu Nzekwe and I were the 2012 Prom Queen and King! My heart pumped like 300 times within those few seconds.”

But the excitement continued, as Cifuentes and

her mother were whisked away in a plane, headed for a cousin’s wedding in Colombia for two weeks. When she returned, Cifuentes had three days to find the perfect dress.

“I traveled all over El Paso for three days, trying on dress after dress. It was very stressful and tiring, and in the end, I didn’t find a one the I absolutely loved. I had to borrow a dress from Gabriela DeLuca, who is a good friend of mine, for the the group pictures,” Cifuentes said. “Eventually, I ended up getting my dress from Ella Blu. I felt like a big weight was taken off my back.”

Lady-in-waiting Gabriela DeLuca, who had a little more luck when it came to finding her prom dress while on vacation, felt just as much excitement when her name was called.

Prom court2012

“I was very fortunate to buy my dress when I was on a vacation in Las Vegas. The ideal dress of my dreams just happened to be the first and only dress I tried on!,” DeLuca said. “I was ecstatic when I heard my name on the announcements! I was very surprised and thankful to be on the ballot and to receive the title lady-in-waiting is such an honor! Winning was definitely the cherry on top of a perfect high school adventure.”

When Chinedu Nzekwe heard his name called he couldn’t have been any more excited.

“When my friends found

out, they were jumping up and down. My mom actually started crying,” Nzekwe said. “It feels great; I represent my school by proving that other people from different places can also be successful here and with dedication and hard work, anything can be accomplished. I am keeping the Nigerian legacy.”

Nzekwe’s cousins Ifechi Nnduka and Omoye Usen were the 2011 Prom King and Queen. His cousin, Felix Obi, was Homecoming King.

Nzekwe isn’t alone in following in the family

footsteps. A handful of the members on the Prom Court are able to say that the royal blood runs through their veins.

“Three years ago my cousin Richard Quinn was a prince,” Luke Hicks said. “And two years ago my cousin Clarissa Quinn was the Queen.”

While not all of the members are able to say that, some are able to say that they hope this will be the start of a new legacy for their family.

“I am the oldest of my siblings,” DeLuca said. “So hopefully this will be the start of a legacy!”

Legacy

Surrounded by the court, Queen Valentina Cifuentes and Chinedu Nzekwe are flanked by Princesses Anna Laura Licon, Linette Montana, Kelsey Gilbert and Lady-in-Waiting Gabriella De Luca. On the right side of Nzekwe, Lord Brandon Payne, and Princes Joey Murillo, Bilal Kahmsi and Luke Hicks represent the male faction of the court.

|MELISSA RUTTER| reporter

ASEED OF

SUCCESS

HOPE is a seed planted in senior Mandy Barraza’s

mind. It is a vision stemmed from hopelessness and

grows like a rose from concrete. Though humble,

the seed breaks through and blossoms into bold

color and vibrant performance.

As part of an independent studies project,

Barraza, along with Fusion, performed in a free

admissions dance concert to raise money for the

Child Crisis Center on Mar. 23 in the Franklin

Theatre.

“I choreographed HOPE throughout the year,

and the pieces were speaking out on different

issues in our community such as addiction,

homelessness, violence and so on,” Barraza said.

“It was aimed at raising awareness and trying to

remind us that these issues affect people daily.”

Barraza used the show to emphasize the equality

of humanity.

“I was trying to remind people that we’re all

human beings, and we need to care about our

neighbors. We can’t just turn a blind eye and only

think about ourselves,” Barraza said.

Barraza appeared in one solo piece about

addiction and choreographed the dances to

represent various issues. A piece entitled Concrete

Angel was most poignant, Barraza said.

“Concrete Angel portrayed [the theme] the

most,” Barraza said. “It was about child abuse and

Sarah McCammon was the dancer representing an

abused child. There was a group who represented

people and earth, and physically, they saw what

was going on and maybe they felt for her, but they

didn’t think they could do anything about it, so

they didn’t. I was just trying to show people that

we should be helping.”

After raising $560, Barraza along with Fusion,

plans to deliver the donations on a big check to the

Child Crisis Center.

“It was very successful,” Independent Studies

teacher Rachel Anderson said. “She got it all

together on time, she raised the money, had her

own fundraiser for the costumes. The programs

and all the posters were extremely professional.

The performance was a professionally quality

product which was what it was supposed to be.”

Starting early, Barraza held a meeting in

December to discuss practices. In January, the

performers met every Sunday for about three hours

up until the show to practice, though much of the

planning was done by Barraza independently.

“I advised her when it was necessary, but she

didn’t need much advising. She knew exactly what

she wanted to do. She got it all done on her own,”

Anderson said. “She’s obviously independent,

driven, motivated and very mature. It takes a lot of

maturity and work to be able to do what she did.”

With the help of mentor Tessie Hernandez and

advisor Anderson, Barraza did most of what came

to be a success.

“Something about Mandy was that when I first

met her she’s always been very self- directive, very

self-led and very self-motivated. She’s always had

a vision to lead and to choreograph and to create,”

Hernandez said. “During my time with Mandy I’ve

seen her do that at an accelerated level. She’s just

truly blossomed. I always saw the initial seeds and

now she’s just blossomed.”

After creating a successful benefit Barraza

says it won’t be the last.

“In college, I plan to major in business and

dance, but I want to have a studio so I could

keep putting on these shows all the time. This

was a good way to get started,” Barraza said.

Barraza continues to accelerate in and out

of the classroom and inspires others to do the

same.

“Honestly, she inspires me to be a better

teacher because she’s at a level that’s so high that

she actually challenges me,” Hernandez said.

“She challenges me and she makes me value

high school kids more. You underestimate high

school kids and you think ‘oh they’re in high

school’ but she makes me think ‘no they’re not

just in high school’. They want to be challenged,

they yearn to be professionals at something, and

they want to be good at something. She chal-

lenges me as a teacher. She inspires me.”

Taking a final bow, the audience applauds Blithe Parsons, Sarah McCammon, Karen Lopez, Mandy Barraza, Araceli

Valdez, Britian Powers and Kelsey Gilbert for their ending performance in a free spirited dance. photo by Lauren Bagg

| CAMILLE CYR | design editor

Dancing in a solo scene, Barraza

performs to Hope for the Hopeless.

“Everyone came together for an

amazing cause and everyone who

was involved, who helped behind

the scenes, who participated in the

performance really did make a dif-

ference and gave people hope,”

Barraza said. photo by Desiree

Balcorta

Getting ready back-

stage, senior Sarah

McCammon and

Hannah Camacho

celebrate a moment

before going on for

her solo piece as an

abused child in Con-

crete Angel. photo by

Lauren Bagg

Executing a slide, front line dancers Britain Pow-

ers, Araceli Valdez and Kelsey Gilbert put their

dance skills to the test in the number, Hope for the

Hopeless. photo by Desiree Balcorta

Student raises donations for Child Crisis Center

18features

With rolls of red and black duct tape, stacks of

post-it notes and human tape sculptures, Advanced Placement Art students decorate the front entrance of the school as part of a social intervention.

The idea behind the installation featuring the question ‘How do you define yourself?’ emerged as the students’ brainchild, as art teacher Barbara Antebi says that the class desired to get across a message.

“For the last several years, I have asked my AP students to create an intervention to help people understand that art making is much more than just decoration,” Antebi said. “Over centuries, it has been a catalyst for social change. This idea fit perfectly into the installation that they created.”

AP Art students prepared for about three months prior to put all the components together for the intervention, including the use of mirrors, notes, markers and tape.

Senior Natalie Gomez took on the role of leader and says that everyone’s hard work is evident in the entire art intervention.

“The whole project felt like a lot to tackle at first, but the fact that everyone did their part was what really made it come together,” Gomez said. “All aspects of the intervention, no matter how small, played a major role and served as pieces to a greater puzzle. Each human sculpture, for example, is made with clear tape to symbolize how we should see past judgment, past what is skin deep, and accept the person for who they are.”

The students’ goal behind the art intervention was to raise self-awareness for the way students view and treat one another, and Gomez says she hopes to see a positive reaction in other students.

“We are all in the midst of one of the most important phases in our life. Whether you are trying to fit in, blend in, or stand out, it’s hard to figure out your purpose and to feel comfortable in your skin,” Gomez said. “Our intervention is a reminder to stop and think for a minute about who we truly are, how we treat others, and how we see ourselves.”

Along with Gomez, senior Vanessa Sagredo hopes the message makes

an impact on her peers. “I hope that people can

watch their words because they hurt everyone, but also try to believe in themselves and not let others tell you how to be,” Sagredo said. “Learn to love yourself and believe that you have the power to do what you dream of, don’t let anyone bring you down.”

Though Sagredo says the intervention worked well as a whole, she also says that certain components of the installation were more prominent.

“Everything was there to create an impact, the post-it notes, sculptures and tape on walls, but the sculptures created the most impact because they show the reality of what words can do,” Sagredo said.

Senior Blithe Parsons also played a role in designing the sculptures. Parsons says that not only did she relish the process, but she also learned from it.

“The whole process was extremely cathartic,” Parsons said. “Next time I call myself ‘fat,’ I’ll remember these tape sculptures. And hopefully, I will think twice about how I am defining myself.”

Even when the post-its and sculptures of the intervention have disappeared, Gomez hopes that its message will remain thought-provoking.

“We all fight the same battles, we all have the same struggles, we all want to know that we matter. We have to stop judging each other and letting ourselves be defined by others’ judgments,” Gomez said. “You have to define who you are. It is not until you do this that you can make peace with your inner conflicts and stop the exterior conflicts that we create with each other.”

Tape, post-its and sharpies Art intervention addresses social pressure

Applying the final details to a tape sculpture, se-nior Ilse Herrera, along with other AP Art stu-dents, stay after hours to assemble the interven-tion. The students’ cho-sen inspiration revolves around the theme that asks the question of ‘How do you define yourself?’ photo by Nicole Carleton

Top middle: Writing social stigmas, senior Natalie Gomez puts finishing touches on a sculp-ture. photo by Nicole Carleton Middle: “I decided to take a word for each tape sculpture and allow it to be the ‘motif’ for that sculpture,” senior Blithe Parsons said. photo by Blithe Parsons Bottom left: Contemplating her reflection, junior Alex Armi-jos is one of the AP Art students who participated in the interven-tion. photo by Natalie Gomez Bottom right: Reacting to the intervention, students take in the visuals upon arriving at school. photo by Blithe Parsons

| LAUREN JIRON & LINDSEY JIRON | reporters

19features

Japanese animation fans meet daily

Bingo!’ cries out sophomore Kristen Jimenez. Groans

emanate around the room, as members of the Anime Club clean off their trivia bingo cards and begin a new game.

It is Thursday during lunch and the recently formed club is playing an-ime bingo in which char-acters from anime shows take up the spots on tradi-tional bingo cards and are covered with a token ev-ery time its name is called out.

However, this is not the only activity that occurs in the cartoon-based club.

“A few Thursdays ago, we did Japanese cuisine,” sponsor Adriana Baxter said. A few of us brought in Onigiri, crepes and other stuff so we had a big spattering of food. It was very enjoyable.”

Formed in the winter semester of the 2011-2012 school year, the an-ime Club is a student-led organization that meets

daily after school and Thursdays during lunch in room S142 to watch Japa-nese animation television shows and participate in anime trivia activities. The club has roughly 20 mem-bers and two co-presi-dents, and strives to be a safe haven for those who share a love of the colorful cartoons.

“Every day after school, we have a different type of show. Monday’s is ac-tion, Tuesday’s is girly stuff (we don’t have many boys come for the girly stuff), Wednesday’s is comedy, Thursday’s is psychologi-cal or creepy and Friday’s is free-for-all, usually dra-ma,” Baxter said. “Now because of this club, I’ve probably seen 12 different anime shows that I have never seen before.”

Besides watching the anime shows for pure enjoyment, Baxter also watches for unconven-tional aspects of the Japa-nese culture.

“I watch through [the

shows] at home just to make sure there’s nothing questionable. It’s a chal-lenge sometimes because Japanese culture and American culture is some-times a little different on what we consider taboo,” Baxter said. “For instance, Japanese culture may con-sider some violence to be taboo, while we would have no problem with it. For American culture, plain nudity would be ta-boo, while in anime it’s considered to be OK. We have to be careful, but we’ve been pretty good about keeping it standard to American tastes.”

Many members joined because they wanted to be around others with similar interests.

“This was one of the places I knew that some-one like me would fit in,” sophomore Riley Renger said. “I’ve always been a fan of anime and was al-ways wanting to be in an environment where peo-ple take it very seriously.”

| NICOLE ROSEN | features editor

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On Thursday, April 19, the anime club invites the public to come and get a taste of the organization and some Japanese cuisine while they are at it. Some items they hope to offer are:

onigiri daifuku japanese crepes

Holding up a banner for the club, president Paola Camacho, Dennis Sipe, Jenna McCartney, Anna Prats, Alex Angeles, vice president Kristal Rivera, Riley Renger and Destiny Barrera regularly at-tend the after school meetings. The members typically watch various anime cartoons, play anime bingo and sell Japanese treats. photo by Natalie Gomez

like the next guy. People also think the LDS religion is like a cult, but we are just a church with nothing to hide,” Glade said.

Westman does not let other students’ misunderstandings phase her and instead focuses on surpassing the stereotypes placed on Mormon women.

“We believe that women have a divine responsibility to be mothers. Men provide for the family; women are supposed to support the men. But my mom works; she doesn’t want to be a stereotypical stay at home mom. I want to be a psychologist or journalist,” Westman said.

Glade also looks to the future, keeping in mind the values instilled by his religion.

“I will more than likely be going to BYU (Brigham Young University) if it is the right thing for me to do. I also plan to start serving on a two year mission trip starting this October where I will be teaching people about the Church in the place I am called to go,” Glade said. “Being LDS means that I need to always try to do my personal best. My friends who know I am Mormon help me with that because they expect me to do the right thing,” Glade said.

plus there are more opportunities.”

Kendrick agrees. “For Baylor, he goes to

church and meets these kids on Sunday and so instantly he is part of things that are happening,” Kendrick said. “If you go to church here and then go to Boston, for example, they’ll have the same lesson. It’s standardized. It’s like you’re going home.”

This steadfastness is what offers Kendrick comfort, even when she is faced

with the unease that the future might sometimes bring.

“[My religion] makes me happy. That’s not saying that I don’t have problems; life is hard. Everybody’s life is hard. But I know that I can pray and receive comfort, and that if I am trying my best to live out what I believe in, things are going to be okay. Even though I don’t have a clue what is in the future, at least I can feel this comfort,” Kendrick said.

Romney cont. from p. 14

20features

Talk

Senior Chelsea Nnebe took first place at the Talent Show perform-ing “Hiding My Heart” by Adele. “Sometimes when people win things there’s a bunch of drama and disagreements but thank you to everyone supporting me,” Nnebe said. photo by Danielle Zaragoza

Set at the unique venue of the War Eagle Mu-seum in Santa Teresa,

the Military Ball will be the main event on April 28 where JROTC will toast to a successful year and dance the night away.

“It is a celebration of the year,” Master Sergeant Jesus Del Rio said. “We toast to the President and the com-manders of the military forces, hold a ceremony for the POWs and MIA sol-diers, and also wish a fare-well to the seniors.”

For the Military Ball, each of the six flights

chooses a princess. This year, senior Brandi Martin was nominated as Queen by the corps.

“It’s a great honor to represent JROTC as the Queen,” Martin said. “Al-though it’s my first year, I love this program and have put a lot of time and effort to be the best I can be for the other cadet.”

The ball is a time where cadets enjoy the evening through formal events.

“The evening consists of a social hour, dinner and dance. As with any ball or prom, the cadets get to

socialize with one another and dance until they drop,” Major Todd Parsont said. “Additionally, they get to celebrate the tradition and history of the Air Force and embody the military ethos.”

The night not only cel-ebrates the progress of the cadets, but is also a way to thank the instructors.

“Sergeant Del Rio has a passion that is greater than anything I have ever seen for the Corps of TX-9410,” Martin said. “He goes out of his way to teach us life lessons that make each and every one of the cadets a

Gathered on the grand staircase at the Camino Real, JROTC prepares for the annual Military Ball held at the War Eagle Museum. They are led by Queen Brandi Martin. photo by Lauren Bagg

| LAUREN JIRON | reporter| LISA BIBBO | business manager

| HAEWON MA | reporter, cartoonist

With a comfortable yet swift walk, senior Chelsea

Nnebe waves at the crowd as enthusiastic cheers ring throughout the gym. She stops at the center of the floor and belts the first line of “Hiding My Heart” by Adele.

“I work hard on every performance I do so it’s cool to be rewarded,” Nnebe said. “Every performance is a communication with the audience. I want to get the message of the song across; it’s sharing a story really.”

Nnebe achieved her objective, taking home the top prize.

“I rarely perform, so I sieze the opportunity,” Nnebe said. “My favorite artists are Amy Winehouse, Adele and Whitney Houston. Those three inspire me.”

Following Nnebe, the band Summer Wind placed second, and senior Larisa Lopez placed third performing “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera.

For Summer Wind, coming in second was gratifying.

“I was very happy, especially coming in second place after Chelsea,” vocalist senior Jason Casper said. “I thought it was a compliment because she was very good. I was proud of my band

and how we performed.”Summer Wind’s

selection, “Me and My Shadow” by Frank Sinatra, was especially significant to the singers, Casper and senior Jordan Rivera.

“When Jason first told me about the song, I thought that it was pretty dumb, but I started listening to it more,” Rivera said. “As the year progressed, he and I became best friends. That’s what the song’s about. A guy and his shadow: his shadow being his best friend. That became our song. It’s something that only he and I do.”

Lopez chose to perform to challenge her abilities.

“This is my senior year. I need to get out there and do more things,” Lopez said. “You only have one life to live, so you make the best of it. I sing in choir, I’m in theatre, and I plan to perform in college. I figured if this bothers me, I don’t deserve to go on.”

Overcoming nerves played a large role in Lopez’s performance.

“As more acts went by, my breathing got really shallow, I was drinking tons of water, and making bathroom breaks,” Lopez said. “I couldn’t stop speaking and babbling.

Once I got out there, I was like, ‘Okay, being nervous isn’t going to help you.’ So, I tried to be calm, smile and laugh, and it worked out.”

Although Casper did experience nervousness, he says preparing for the performance was difficult.

“I’m always the one to get nervous, but once I got up there, I felt calm and ready,” Casper said. “Trying to get everybody to practice was definitely a challenge. We never had a rehearsal where it was the whole band, it was always just small sections.”

Rivera also agrees.“Forming any band is

hard,” Rivera said. “All the people we have love to play jazz. It was easy to get them all there, but having so many people was a challenge, such as finding places to rehearse. It presented some challenges but nothing that we couldn’t get over.”

Overall, the performers enjoyed their experiences.

“The show was tons of fun, I’m glad I did it, no regrets,” Lopez said. “I’m really happy about the results. I hope they keep doing the Talent Show each year and that the talent keeps getting better and better.”

to theTalent

better person.”Although this evening

marks the end of the road for the seniors, Del Rio bids them good luck for the fu-ture that lies ahead.

“I want to wish them the best,” Del Rio said. “I hope for the best endeavors and for them to be successful under goals that they have put in place.”

Senior Larisa Lopez (top) performs “Beautiful” by Chris-tina Aguilera. Lopez placed third. Summer Wind vocalist Se-nior Jason Casper (middle) placed second. Junior Ryan Norton (bottom) performs “These Moments” by Antoine Du-four. photos by Danielle Zaragoza

Talent show brings out dance, song once again

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22features

Maryjane

photo by Desiree Balcorta

| CAMILLE CYR | design editor

2011 Medical Marijuana Laws

wikipedia.org californiapotblog.comdesign by camille cyr

The marijuana sticks to six-year smoker *Guillermo Chavez’s fingers as he begins to separate

the weed from the stem. He packs the pieces into a brightly striped and stained tobacco pipe. His fin-ger covers the hole on the side of the pipe, and while he lights the mari-juana, he inhales the herb to hold in his lungs. He then passes the pipe.

Chavez says he doesn’t worry much about the illegal nature of his activities, and he isn’t alone. Forty percent of American stu-dents have tried marijuana by the time they get to college ac-cording to The New York Times.

Chavez maintains that smoking is, for him, simply recreational.

“It’s not a necessity,” Chavez said. “I’m not going to die if I don’t have it. It’s just a stimulant to the brain that makes me feel ‘high.’ I can still act [like I’m sober], though.”

The simple access to marijuana contributes to its usage among stu-dents. In most cases, marijuana is sold through word of mouth. The street corner drug dealer has faded, and now most students find their suppliers from other pot smokers.

At schoolFranklin, like any other high school

in America, is not an exception.“I’m not going to sit here and tell

you drugs are not a problem. They are a problem at any high school,” assistant principal Marc Escareno said. “One of the things that we’ve been tasked with by the state is to try to make the school as safe as pos-sible and to be a drug-free zone.”

Based on the last three years, Escareno says that roughly 20 stu-dents are caught with drugs yearly.

Eupohoria & behavior“It’s not bad; it’s what gives you

the anti-nausea and the appetite for cancer patients, but it also gives you euphoria which is what most people get hooked to,” pharmacist Ray Verma said. “Psychologically, it’s addicting but physiologically, I don’t think it’s really that addictive.”

The high levels of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which determines the drug strength in the plant, contributes to its downside. Evidence has shown marijuana could weaken the immune system and may affect the reproduction cycle in both men and women. While some marijuana users tend to have difficulty focusing with-in 24 hours after usage, Chavez finds it to be a stress reliever, and says it actually helps him focus.

“At school, I usually act the same. Sometimes, I’ll even want to work more. I just feel zoned

into my work, and I’ll even get it done faster,” Chavez said.

Normally, first time users tend to feel nothing at all, as the THC has not built up in the body. Others experience dry mouth, increased heart rate, distorted perceptions, a dreamy sense of well-being, and relaxation that causes illusions.For a chronic user like Chavez, the effects are more immediate.

“It doesn’t even take long to kick in, anywhere from one to five min-utes. Depending on how many hits you take, you can tell from how normal you were to how you are now,” Chavez said. “It just brings a lot of thoughts to my mind.”

Medical marijuanaThere are 16 states that allow

the use of marijuana medically, most requiring a license of certain conditions diagnosed by a doc-tor. Some states have even tried to make it recreational. Legisla-tion to pass the recreational use of marijuana was attempted first in Washington in early 2011 but was unsuccessful. Colorado awaits de-cision to pass legislation in April.

“Medicinally it has its uses,” Verma said. “It’s fine as long as they don’t make pharmacist sell it because usually it leads to harder drugs and I don’t want to be the gate-way to them using harder drugs.”

According to CNBC, the mari-juana market is worth about $35-$45 billion a year. Some people, like trainer Sean May, believe that the US does not legalize the drug for revenue purposes.

“I think that the only reason why we keep it illegal is that incarcera-tion is such a big business, pris-ons are such a big business, DEA, and ICE are big businesses and by legalizing it, it would cut down part of that and we’d have to lay off some things in those fields,” trainer Sean May said. “From what I’ve seen, it seems to make you lackadaisical and lethargic. I don’t think you are going to per-form as well as you can during an academic event or to take a test.”

The listMany students like Chavez say

the school has a list of suspected drug users and dealers that is used to

crack down on the crime, however, Escareno says the list is mere rumor.

“We’re always listening for peo-ple to tell us, and we’re always looking out for stuff like that,” Escareno said. “There is no list per se; however, names always come to us, and we’re always open to investigating those areas.“

Chavez recollects ways he sees the school track down marijuana users.

“They’ve been bringing the dogs around the cars to see if someone’s car smells like weed, and the teachers send down stu-dents that they believe are high,” Chavez said. “They can’t catch everyone, obviously, but they’re going to catch a few people.”

Escareno says the administration is cracking down on the drug prob-lem with the help of the community.

“We take advantage of Crime Stoppers because anyone can call Crime Stoppers and leave an anon-ymous tip and we investigate that and if it all comes out it can lead to an arrest,” Escareno said. “We’ve actually used that with success.”

Methods, like sending stu-dents to alternative schools such as Raymond Telles Acad-emy, are used to crack down on the drug problem in Franklin.

“Never has anything good come out of it. I’ve seen people who have thrown away their lives be-cause of the criminal side. I’ve seen people who have wasted time because they had to go to Raymond Telles, kids who’ve lost friends to drugs,” Escareno said. “There’s not a year that goes by that we don’t lose somebody to it.”

The controversyWhether the herb is being

praised or prohibited, the usage still remains controversial.

“Some are convinced that mari-juana is worse than cigarettes chemically for you, which I dis-agree with 100 percent because the types of chemicals they put into cigarettes whether its arse-nic, nicotine, or formaldehyde,” May said. “All those things are man-made chemicals that can bring cancer derivatives. A natu-ral grown cannabis plant grown from dirt, even with a high con-centration of THC, isn’t bad at all.”

Exploring the many sides of the marijuana issue

States with decriminalized

States with both medical

States with legal medicalmarijuana

marijuana possession laws

marijuana and decriminalizationlawsStates without legalization

* name has been changed

alan jackson04.17pan american center

23entertainment

upcomingevents

chevelle04.23 tricky falls

Exceptional acting, set, lighting merge in The Country Girl

Some people go through drastic mea-sures in order to protect the ones they love, whether it be enduring a lifetime

of unhappiness or hiding the pain of de-feated dreams. This theme rings true in The Theatre Troupe’s recent One Act play, The Country Girl, written by Clifford Odets.

The play centers around Frank Elgin, a washed-up actor who has a chance to make a comeback when Bernie Dodds asks him to be the leading role in his new production. As the plot unfolds, the cast and crew quickly learn that Frank is strug-gling with an alcohol addiction that could jeopardize the outcome of the play, and maybe damage a few relationships in the process.

Senior Quinn Lara’s performance as Frank Elgin was ultimately outstanding. The way his character transitions from vulnerability to caddishness exemplifies Lara’s ever-growing range of acting skills. As Frank went from a “cunning drunkard” to a man sensitive to the effects that ac-company the mental disease of addiction, it is clear that his title of Best Actor at UIL was truly deserved.

Senior Casey McCool, who played Frank’s wife, Georgie, and senior Patrick Garcia, who portrayed Bernie, also deliv-ered excellent performances. Though the on-stage chemistry between the doggedly devoted wife and the upstart director felt stilted, perhaps this is because Georgie is so cut off from her emotions.

McCool and Garcia establish the con-stant bickering throughout the majority of

the production in the most genuine way, creating a strange, yet intriguing connec-tion between the characters.

This is a huge contrast compared to the codependent relationship that consists of Frank and Georgie, yet another aspect that intrigues veiwers. McCool does a excep-tional job demonstrating the lengths Geor-gie goes through in order to redeem Frank.

The specific details of the production also made it one worth remembering. The minimal set added to effectiveness, am-plifying the strong purity of emotions. The costumes replicated the classic attire of the 1950s flawlessly. As usual, the lighting was spot on, varying from soft pools of light to specific spotlighting.

The plot had ample time to development in 40 minutes; the struggles that the Elgin couple and the rest of the cast endure have the capability to captivate audiences from start to end.

Odets’s characters ride a rollercoaster of emotion in this particular production, which contains hidden lies in every cor-ner. The Troupe brought this concept to to the stage, and they honestly couldn’t have done it better.

Overall, the Theatre Troupe checked ev-ery box with The Country Girl. From the superb acting to outstanding technical de-tails, it’s a performance that has the poten-tial to continue to advance from the area competition this weekend in Midland. The Theatre Troupe could indeed see its first trip to the state competition in Austin in May.

| MEGAN CAHALAN | editor in chief

In an intense scene, Bernie Dodds (senior Patrick Garcia) converses with Frank (senior Quinn Lara). The Theatre Troupe advanced to the Area One Act Play competition in Midland, with senior Casey McCool taking Best Actress and seniors Michael Lara and Patrick Garcia taking All Star Cast medals. Seniors Matt Miranda and Michael Medrano won Honorable Mention All Star Cast, junior Kristen Sondgeroth won Best Stage Man-ager, and sophomore Madelyn Ingram received Best Sound Tech. photo courtresy of Lauren Bagg

| JOCELYN DEL TORO | reporter

Photography classes exhibit work

Photography teacher Krista Avila is excited about the first annual Photography Art Show, held at the Women’s Club of El Paso. The show features the

work of over 60 photography students.“I wanted to do this show for the students; I wanted

them to be proud of what they’ve done throughout the year,” Avila said. “It has pushed a lot of them to take better pictures and complete their portfolios, so I hope what I get out of this is that once its done they feel really accomplished and really proud to stand by their photos.”

Many of the photos are documentary-style pieces.“Some of the pieces are character portraits. There is

a big variety of photographers. There are some skating shots, some sports photography,” Avila said.

Junior Andres Salcido has three photographs in the show, including a character portrait of a friend.

“I was checking my settings and I asked a friend (Kyle Odom) to do a couple of test shots. When I saw it, it surprised me,” Salcido said. “Ms. Avila liked it because you could see my reflection in the eyes. I was wearing a red shirt and it looks like his eyes are all red.”

Salcido says he will be at the show, but is nervous.“I am a little anxious; I hope my photos speak for

themselves,” Salcido said.Junior Sidney Lopez also has three photographs in the

show, including one of her grandfather, Max Torres.“He just passed away in March. At his birthday on

October 1, we suspected that this would be has last,” Lopez said. “I was new to photography, so I wanted to play around with the camera and thought this was a good opportunity.”

Her grandfather had a stroke earlier in February, and Lopez said that he had changed after that.

“This photo reveals his sense of humor and his gentle nature,” Lopez said. “In some of the photos, he looks sad, but in this one, he is the grandpa that I remember.”

Lopez is grateful that she took the photo.“I did the slide show for his funeral, and this was the

main photo,” Lopez said. “These are his most recent photos, and we gave copies to the family.”

SOUL

Capturing her grand-father’s image a few months before he died, junior Sidney Lopez is grateful that she pho-tographed him at his last birthday party. Lo-pez said that she has become historian for her family, and she will serve as senior class historian next year.

Sometimes the best photos are accident, as junior Andres Salcido said. In this photo of his friend Kyle Odom, Salcido was checking his settings when he snapped this shot.

24entertainment

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The world will be watching.This slogan has been plastered on

every Hunger Games poster across the world. The much hyped movie adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s best-selling novel has hit theaters and has exceeded all expectations, becoming the highest grossing non-sequel film on its opening weekend. Only sequels to the Harry Potter series and The Dark Knight surpassed The Hunger Games.

The series is set in the country of Panem, set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian society, is ruled by the Capitol. Each year, as a reminder of a past rebellion, the Capitol forces each of its 12 districts to reap one young man and woman, known as tributes, to participate in the ultimate reality show: the Hunger Games, a bloody fight to the death until only one tribute remains--the victor.

The heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), volunteers to take the spot of her younger sister during the Reaping. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), who has held a secret love for Katniss since they were kids, joins her as tribute. They later play up their romance in the arena in order to win over the crowd and get sponsors.

Although there are hints of romance in the film, that is not what it is about. The Hunger Games is about life and death and the survival of humanity, not first kisses.

Lawrence is able to capture Katniss’

fearless independence and owns every moment, but it is her heart wrenching scenes with fellow tribute, Rue, that carry her performance over the top. Hutcherson is also able to distinguish himself as the charming, charismatic and love struck boy.

The Hunger Games also boasts a well-developed supporting cast such as Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Lenny Kravitz. All of which delivered spot on performances of their beloved characters.

Though Lionsgate only allotted $78 million for production, director Gary Ross manages to bring the book to life on the silver screen. With only minor details lost, The Hunger Games becoming the third best opening weekend of all time, garnering $155 million domestically.

The violence in the novel is not as prominent in the movie; however, the bloodbath scenes in the arena are graphic enough to make any moviegoer cringe.

Through the addition of several scenes, the movie was able to stay true to the book while standing on its own. Also, the audience gains insight as to what goes on behind the arena in the Gamemakers’ control room and the districts, which foreshadows the second film in the trilogy.

Ultimately, The Hunger Games is a movie for all ages and genders. It satisfies the audience’s appetite while leaving them with a hunger for the sequel or a second trip to the theater.

Odds in favor of The Hunger Games| LAUREN JIRON | reporter

Representing District 12, Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) introduces Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as tribute during the Reaping. photo courtesy of thehungergamesmovie.com

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25entertainment

Say Anything redefines rebellion in new album| MEGAN CAHALAN | editor in chief

Punk band Say Anything has recent-ly sparked a controversy within the genre’s community with their fifth

studio album, Anarchy, My Dear. How-ever, despite all of the negative buzz sur-rounding the band’s fandom, the album is undeniably addictive; it’s a compilation that sings of rebellion in the most original way.

“Admit It Again” continues to spin the angsty web the band began to form with their second album …Is a Real Boy, add-ing to their previous song “Admit It.” The lyrics are perhaps some of the most rugged lead singer Max Bemis has ever written; the song is just further proof that Bemis is one of the best lyricists of our generation.

“Peace Out” shows no sign of re-hashed elements, with tranquil Renais-sance themed sounds throughout the song. Though the idea sounds strange at first, it all molds together to create such an infec-tious hook that undoubtedly makes it one of the best tracks on the album.

The songs that feature Bemis’ wife, Sherri Dupree of the band Eisley, can only be de-scribed as magical. “So Good” shows that Bemis surely knows how to write a ballad and “Overbiter” creates a dance-worthy beat that reels in listeners. Upon hearing the way Dupree’s haunting vocals blend

with Bemis’ raw tone, it becomes clear that the two were meant to be making music together.

The ending track, “The Stephen Hawk-ing,” is simply seven minutes of phenom-enal songwriting. Bemis’ vocals reach new heights as he belts out lyrics such as “If you’re the sun, I’m a black hole,” bringing the album to a powerful close.

Long time Say Anything fans have been bashing the album because of its newer, more mellow sound. But to say that the band has gone “soft” would be unfair. Yes, the band’s sound has changed since Bemis married Dupree, but that doesn’t necessar-ily indicate that the band’s musician-ship is suffering. It simply showcases the fact that the band, and its members, have grown.

Bemis explores a whole new concept to his songwriting, and while it may not be as punk and gritty as their debut album, Base-ball: An Album by Say Anything or ...Is A Real Boy, it still contains the same spiteful tone cemented to Bemis’ blunt lyrics that makes Say Anything such an iconic team in the punk industry.

Originating from Los Angles, punk rockers Say Anything formed in 2000. They signed to their first record label, Doghouse Records in 2003.. photos courtesy of Alternative Press

It’s been five years since Wincing the Night Away, the Shins’ third full-length album, and not much has changed in the band’s sound, even with changes in

instrumentation and song structure (the band has added electronics and slight experimentation to its sound).

Whether it be James Mercer’s infectious voice, the loopy chord progressions signature to their sound, or heartfelt lyrics that piece it all together, the band has a constant style that hasn’t diverged much in their entire career.

That’s definitely not a bad thing. The Shins’ fourth album, Ports of Morrow, is a comfortable and easy-to-swallow version of the style they’ve mastered. The al-bum is light on variety but heavy on musical prowess. It is listenable, controlled, and emanates a feeling of retrospection that coincides nicely with the music.

The first song, “The Rifle’s Spiral,” might be the most adventurous on the whole album. With powerful gui-tars and a plethora of background sounds, it is an enig-

matic opener full of sounds that are barely there, but si-multaneously essential. The song is as perplexing lyrically as a Shins song can be, ringing “You’re not invisible now. You just don’t exist.”

“Simple Song” is an anthe-mic track, reminiscent of songs

that brought the Shins’ original fame (“So Says I,” “New Slang”) and arguably the best song of the album. It is hazy nostalgia placed upon a slightly negative experi-ence. Using subtle swirling electronics and background vocals to add more smooth melody, the song lives up to expectations as the album’s first single.

The title track, “Port of Morrow” is a relaxing tune, but it sounds somewhat out of place with the rest of the album. It is listenable and opaque, like much of the CD. At six minutes long, at a point, it seems to drag on, but is full of enough interesting melodies to get by, despite its radio non-playable length.

Although it might not reach the artistic heights of Chutes Too Narrow, Port of Morrow fits nicely snug in the Shins’ list of achievements. It is accessible, melodic, and safe; not breaking ground by any means, but surely a great album.

The Shins triumph with first album in half a decade| NIKO SCHYGA | reporter

photo courtesy of blogspot.com

Darksiders II takes place shortly after the ending of its predecessor, where gamers will now take control of Death, one of the Four Horsemen. Arriving in a frenzy, Death looks to restore his broth-er’s name as he embarks on his quest for an-swers. This single-player action-adven-ture will offer all new cities and dungeons for those brave enough to explore.

Tasked with tracking down the source of a dirty bomb taking

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06.26

Will Ferrell, never one to self-efface, runs to the garishly lit spotlight in the Spanish-language Casa de Mi

Padre. The movie is a hilarious take on the telenovela and spaghetti western genres.

In the movie, Ferrell stars as Armando Al-varez, heir to a large ranch in Mexico. All is going well until his younger and better liked brother Raul shows up with his new fiancee Sonia. Raul has recently come into some money through some shady businesses. That, coupled with Armando’s feelings for Sonia and the looming threat of a drug war further embroil the ranch in discord.

Ferrell is in his element as a man-boy living life out on the ranch he loves. He throws him-self with zeal into his role as he happily flubs his surprisingly good Spanish or loses face in front of his family and friends. His acting is over-the top, which is perfect for this movie.

Newcomer Genesis Rodriguez, who plays

26entertainment

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‘Casa de mi Padre’ unique take on film

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| EMILY FELSEN | reporter

The All-American Rejects return to music scene with Kids In The Street| VALENTE ARELLANO | reporter | NIKO SCHYGA | reporter

For the recording of Kids In The Street, The All-American Rejects invited a handful of background vocalists to sing on the record, including British singer/songwriter Mika. photo courtesy of popcrush.com

After the first few seconds of listening to “Someday’s Gone”, you can hear drastic changes in the sound of The

All- American Rejects. Their fourth studio al-bum, entitled Kids In The Street, brings forth a mix of synthesizers and unusual electric drum kits, summing up to a refreshing new tone ev-eryone can blast through their speakers.

The Rejects’ unfamiliar change in style could very well upset die-hard fans looking forward to the commonplace, bubblegum rock they’ve heard in the past. However, this album has thrown open a gate for a new col-lection of music lovers.

The fourth track on the album, “Heartbeat Slowing Down”, could best be described as the most atmospheric on the record. The song sends the audience into a somber solace while keeping the energy Kids In The Street kicked off with. The song has the kind of power to bring emotion out of the listener, and for that reason, it proves to be one of the best tracks (if not the best) on the album.

On the brighter side of the spectrum, “Bee-keeper’s Daughter” flashes back to AAR’s

previous records. A scratchy rock guitar and punching horns mix into a catchy pop rock feel. The lyrics tell a story of a careless wom-anizer; a theme that typically triggers a fe-male’s loathing hatred for the male gender. However, the melodic harmonies and bright music transform mad thoughts into good feel-ings.

The retro vibe of “Fast & Slow” adds yet another sound to the blend. This is the kind of music the cool kids sported in the eighties along with their big hair, one-strapped bag-gies and neon everything. The muted picking of the background guitar leads into a delayed pre-chorus reminiscent of A Flock of Seagull’s “I Ran (So Far Away)”. It compliments the flow of the record perfectly.

AAR’s discovery of different effects on this album produces a wide range of genres. It’s difficult to condense these 11 tracks into one word, but to put it simply: it’s captivating. The fluid emotions swinging through the tracks significantly show the progressive change of The All-American Rejects, and in this case, change is good.

the fiancee of Raul and damsel in distress So-nia, is also a standout actress in the film. A telenovela veteran, she knows exactly when to turn up the charm, the heat or whatever desirable quality that the scene calls for.

Yet while the movie is entertaining, one cannot help but get the feeling that the movie can only be fully appreciated if one has grown up with the Mexican culture. Many elements of the movie recall telenovelas, such as the use of obviously fake props and even product placement.

The movie, with its low-budget special ef-fects and vintage look, makes for a unique ad-dition to the box office.

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28spor t s

Boys’ varsity soccer beats Coronado in final game

Lady Cougars fall in Area championship game

Advancing the ball up the field, sophomore Robert Gutierrez dribbles past the Coronado defender. Gutierrez scored the game winning shootout to give the Cougars a 2-1 win over the T-birds. photo by Danielle Zaragoza

Ending the regular season with a 2-0 win over rival Coronado, the Lady Cougars soccer team clinched the

district title with a near-perfect 15-1 record.

The Cougars then moved on to shut out the Amarillo-Tascosa Rebels 5-0 in the bi-district championship for the second consecutive year.

“It showed the other teams that we can blow teams out in playoffs, not just in district,” junior defender and captain Yadira Valdez said.

The team had two goals by sophomore forward Emily Ortiz and a goal from senior midfielder and captain Cynthia Buraczyk in the first half, but struggled with off sides infractions and missed opportunities for goals.

“We struggled with them in the first half just like we did last year, but we made some adjustments at halftime and started playing a lot better,” head coach Scott Gilmore said.

In the second half the Cougars came out firing on all cylinders, with one goal by freshman forward Samantha Tapia and junior forward Daisy Perez within one minute of each other. Tapia then scored an early goal in the second half putting Franklin up 5-0.

“In the second half our forwards started making better runs and getting the ball over the top,” Gilmore said. “We used our speed to make good runs and put the game away.”

The Cougars’ (15-1, 24-2 overall) single loss in the regular season came from the second ranked Socorro Bulldogs just after a mid-season loss of players which forced adjustments in the team.

“Kids stepped up in loo of those players that weren’t there,” Gilmore said. “We lost the players two days before playing Socorro, so we had to put people in spots they weren’t used to, but they really stepped up and we got the goals [we needed].”

Following the bi-district championship, the Lady Cougars looked to take down the Arlington Colts for the Area title, but fell short, losing the match 2-1.

“We didn’t start off strong, and we weren’t all there,” junior goalie Daniela Chacon said. “We didn’t go through the motions and we were playing scared. ”

Despite the loss, the team still looks back positively on the season.

“I’m so proud of my team, I would never have chosen any other girls to play with,” Chacon said. “All the trials this team has gone through this year have made us such a stronger team, and I can’t wait until next season.”

Buraczyk, the team’s only active senior, is happy to end her high school soccer career on a high note, with a bi-district title.

“The season was crazy and there was a lot of problems, but we came through and showed how strong we are by winning a district title,” Buraczyk said.

The boys’ varsity soccer team endured a season full of injuries and last-minute losses. However, they were able to close out their season on a high note by beating rival

Coronado 2-1 in shootouts on March 26.The Cougar win eliminated the Coronado T-birds from

playoff contention. Two of the Cougars’ (8-15 Overall, 4-10 District 1-5A) four district wins came against the T-birds.

“The season didn’t go as expected but at least we were able to sweep Coronado. It may not have made up for the season as a whole, but it’s good to have the bragging rights,” senior defender Adrian Gonzalez said. “It’s sad because it was my last game for Franklin, but it was really good to end it on a positive note.”

The game was back and forth in the first half, but neither team was able to capitalize on their opportunities. Midway through the second half, however, the Cougars struck first. Senior midfielder Diego Valdez broke past the T-bird defense and was one-on-one with the goalie. He chipped the ball over the keeper, and it hit off the crossbar and went in for the goal. The Cougar lead did not last for long. In the closing minutes of the game, Coronado was awarded a free kick just outside of the penalty box. T-bird captain and midfielder Jorge Bilbao curved the ball into the right post of the goal and tied up the game at 1-1. The game ended in a tie and went into shootouts.

In shootouts, Valdez, junior defender Ali Montoya, and sophomore midfielder Robert Gutierrez were all able to score. Junior goalkeeper Daniel Alvarado was also able to save two shots, to give the Cougars the win.

“It was incredible to be able to score, especially in my last high school game,” Valdez said. “Being able to beat your rival team both times in your senior year is great. This was the first time we did that in about four years so it’s good to be able to get that accomplishment.”

Despite the two wins over Coronado, the team was still not able to break a four-year playoff drought.

“At the end of the season I had a completely different team than I did at the beginning. At one time I had eight players injured, and one game I had five players miss because of a cold. All those missing players made the games a lot harder. But a lot of the games were close, coming down to one goal or to shootouts. It was just a bad situation,” head coach Gilberto Montes said.

Montes is optimistic for next season because he will have a large portion of the team returning next season.

“I started the season with only one senior starting so basically the whole team is coming back next year. They will have a full season of experience and I look forward to a good season next year. I’m proud of my players for sticking together and finishing strong,” Montes said.

| MAURICIO CASILLAS | editor in chief

| DIEGO MENDOZA-MOYERS| reporter

Dribbling the ball downfield, sophomore fullback Margie Olivares passes a Tascosa defender and looks for teammates down the field. Franklin went on to shut out the Tascosa Rebels 5-0 in the bi-district championship. “In the second half we started making our touches and we started working and playing the way we usually do,” Valdez said. photo by Desiree Balcorta

29spor t s

As they approach the halfway mark of the season, varsity baseball

is poised to make a push towards capturing their second consecutive district title.

The Cougars (21-3-1 overall, 7-2-1 district 1-5A) were at one point ranked third in state, but after two straight district losses to Montwood (ranked No. 6 in state) and Eastwood, they have dropped in the rankings.

“It’s been a decent season, but disappointing because we lost to Montwood and Eastwood. We didn’t play our best games and we’re better than what we’ve played so far,” senior third baseman Gabe Alvarez said. “Montwood is our biggest challenge, because they are the closest team to us talent-wise. “

In both of the losses, the Cougars’ pitching was spot on, only giving up three runs total. However, their offense struggled.

“Both of those games were really good pitching battles,” senior designated hitter Eric

Vasquez said. “We just didn’t execute on two plays and they just came back to bite us in the butt.”

Since then however, the team has been able to bounce back from the losses by winning four straight games, including a 9-2 win over Coronado.

“We’ve been struggling as of late at the plate, and I think that this game [against Coronado] put us back on track. It will get us going again,” head coach Andy Powers said. “Every win is crucial in district, especially this year. Everybody’s playing well, and beating each other. This win keeps us in the hunt, and it’s a good momentum booster that we can hopefully spring board off of.”

Fifteen players from last year’s Area Champion baseball team returned this year. Vasquez believes that this team has the potential to surpass last year’s success.

“Last year’s team did really well, and I feel that we have an even better team this year,” Vasquez said. Our team’s execution is

our biggest strength. If we need a bunt, we’ll get the bunt. If we need a steal we’ll get the steal. If we don’t execute, then teams beat us. But if we do execute that means nobody can stop us. We can be state champions.”

The Cougars will face off against Montwood on April 14. This game will likely determine who will be the district champ.

“We haven’t reached our full potential yet. We’re about to get hot, and our bats are going to come alive, so we can start making some runs,” Alvarez said. “The only way we can lose again is if we beat ourselves.”

As a senior, Vasquez wants to end his career with the team at the pinnacle of high school baseball – as state champions.

“I want to go out with a bang. This is the last time I’m going to play with all of these guys,” Vasquez said. “Right now I don’t foresee myself playing college baseball. I just want to finish my career on a high note–with a state championship ring on my finger.”

Varsity baseball compiles 21-3-1 overall record at halfway mark

of district season

| MAURICIO CASILLAS |editor in chief

Spring sports add an additionalopportunity to highlight both players and coaches. Here are some of our recent

standouts.

Senior José Favela signs to Howard Junior College,baseball

Senior Eddie Torres signs to EPCC,baseball

Senior Guillermo Trujillo signs to Oral Roberts University, baseball

Senior Felix Obi takes gold at the Texas Relays in Austin

Senior Jacob Sotelo signs to EPCC,baseball

Senior Joseph Camacho signs to EPCC, baseball

Senior Manny Lopez signs to UTEP, track & field

Senior Jacob Mena signs to Western Texas College, baseball

Head wrestling coach Jesse Almodovar is named El Paso Times Coach of the Year

Coach Patrick Brown is awarded the head football coaching job at AndressHigh School

Varsity tennis sends six to regionals

This weekend, six tennis players will

compete at the regional tournament in Lubbock.

At the spring district tournament, Ricardo

James won the boys’ singles title and Adrian Rovner finished second.

Lindsay Osborn won the girls’ single title and Jazmin Colling finished in third place.

Clarissa Colling and Cecilia Brookshier finished second in girls’ doubles. Tommy Burciaga and Ian Smith finished third in boys’ doubles, but won the playback to qualify for the regional tournament.

“We qualified more players for the regional tournament than we have in years,” coach Samantha Isaac said.

Top: Returning in the ball, junior

Adrian Rovner is in the boys’ singles fi-nals against fellow

Cougar Ricardo James. James

won the match, so Rovner came in second. photo

by Adrienne Allen Bottom: In the

finals for the girls’ singles champion-

ship, junior Lindsay Osborn defeats rival T-bird Lisa

Garcia. photo by K. Gaspar de Alba

James

Throwing a curve ball, senior pitcher Guill-ermo Trujillo looks to strike out the opposing Coronado batter. The Cougars defeated the T-birds 9-2; Trujillo has compiled a 4-1 record and 0.54 ERA. Tru-jillo was the only Texas pitcher to be named a first team Louisville Slugger Pre-season All-American. photo by Danielle Zaragoza

| EMILY FELSEN | reporter

30spor t s

As she walks down the hall in athletic pants and her blonde hair

pulled back in a bun, few would suspect that basketball coach and special education teacher Lauren O’Neill, who so modestly dressed, is actu-ally a competitive bodybuilder.

Typically working out five times a week, O’Neill says her drive comes from her desire to prove others wrong and defy her own body.

“Growing up, I was the skin-ny kid that could eat and eat and would never gain weight. My nickname was Twigg be-cause I could not put on any muscle. I worked out like cra-zy, trying to gain weight for college basketball, but was told over and over that I did not have the genetic makeup to put on very much muscle mass,” O’Neill said. “I am the kind of person that when told I cannot do something, I become even more determined to do it.”

O’Neill began her search for a workout plan at age 13 and found a plan that requires her to work 10 muscle groups

per week and is dependent on phases of muscle building.

“I lift weights five days a week. I work two major muscle groups each time, and always a section of abs. I keep my pace up only resting for a few seconds to get water, and this keeps my heart rate up for the entire 90 minutes to two hours that it takes me to finish. Be-cause my heart rate is high, and I am moving the entire time, it is extremely taxing and allows me to actually burn fat while building muscle,” O’Neill said. “It literally crucifies the muscle groups I am working and only allows me to work that group once a week.”

After finding a successful workout program, O’Neill ex-plains that nutrition and exer-cise are equally important for overall health. She also firmly believes gaining nutrients from the right foods is crucial.

“Throughout all of last school year, I was preparing for a national qualifier compe-tition. I was consuming 3500 calories a day, and it was criti-cal that those calories come

from the best sources to feed muscle growth. I had to make sure my protein intake was ad-equate and that my carb con-sumption was coming from the correct sources,” O’Neill said.

After years of hard work and dedication, O’Neill re-flects on the rewarding feeling she has received from defying the temptation of steroids and those that said she could not build lean muscle mass.

“The mental aspect and dis-cipline that it takes to do some-thing like this without the use of steroids is by far the hard-est and most rewarding. Be-cause I have chosen hard work and long term dedication to achieve my goals, it takes so much more time, continued dedication and discipline,” O’Neill said. “Not many peo-ple are mentally tough enough to diet and push their bodies to the limit it takes to do this naturally. I may not be the most talented but I know there are few who can match my mental toughness.”

Basketball coach involved in the world of body-building| DIEGO MENDOZA-MOYERS| reporter

Competing at a regional qualifying bodybuilding competi-tion, Lady Cougars’ basketball coach Lauren O’Neill works out five times a week for two hours each workout. “Tim-ing is also key for food intake when you are looking to feed muscle, so I was eating every two and a half to three hours. It took a lot of research and planning. It really be-came a science for me,” O’Neill said. Though she is not competing now, she plans to continue in the fall. photo courtesy of Lauren O’Neill

District swim meet pool closes, EPISD seeks new venue

With the Tigua Recreational and Wellness Center in Socorro being shut down,

the district will now have to find a new venue to host the district swim meet.

For 11 years, Tigua’s Recreational and Wellness Center hosted meets for competitive swimmers with the area’s only Olympic-size pool. An entertainment center will be built in its place.

“The decision to close the pool was made by the Tribal Council of the Pueblo,” Governor of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Frank Paiz said. “It was a business decision that I personally had to deal with.”

Paiz felt that the cost to sustain the pool was the main reason that it closed down.

“The pool budget in the past 10

years was a little over $5 million, the utilities for a year were a quarter of a million plus overhead and repairs,” Paiz said. “The fees that were charged to utilize the pool from schools and events were barely enough to pay our utilities for a month and a half.”

In the past, the pool at Tigua was a venue for the area’s annual high school district swim meet.

“Tigua was the only facility that would hold the number of swimmers and fans for the large meets hosted in the area,” EPISD athletic director Ken Owen said.

Owen said that the district is currently looking for an alternative way to host the meet for next year.

“Options are to downsize the large meets scheduled each year and host them at city facilities,

break the meets into girls and boys and have them swim on different days, or limit the number of fans that are allowed into facilities at swim meets,” Owen said. “It’s a major issue for the swimming community.”

Swim coach Polly Perry agrees that shutting down the pool brings

a new set of problems.“Tigua was the biggest pool

to host swimming meets, and speaking specifically for high school swimming, we wouldn’t be able to have invitationals, and we don’t know what we are going to do about districts,” Perry said. “That will be a big issue for next year.”

Watching the swimmers for the last time at the Tigua pool during district, Coach Polly Perry had never anticipated that the pool was shutting down. “We didn’t hear any rumors until a week before district and we didn’t believe the rumors at first, but when we talked to an official at district, an official confirmed it,” Perry said. photo by Lauren Bagg

|CELESTE SHULTZ| reporter

31spor t s

Boys’ varsity track on quest for district gold

Jumping over the hurdle, junior Andreas Langer races towards the finish line during the Coronado meet on March 30-31. As a team, the Cougars narrowly lost to Coronado by 19 points overall. The district meet will begin on April 10 at the SAC. photo by Danielle Zaragoza

Going into districts this week at the SAC, the boys’ varsity track & field team has the opportunity to take the district title, a feat hey have not accomplished

since 2010.Despite having lost several athletes, head coach Kelly

Hady expects the team to wrap up the season with a win.“I expect the varsity to win districts,” Hady said. “We

should win as long as everything goes well. We’re going to lose some points with Manny Lopez [not racing] and we lost one in the pole vault, so I’m hoping we can recover from all that and still come out with a win.”

The boys’ varsity team has been consistently placing in the top three. At the Coronado Invitational on March 30-31, the team came in second to Coronado, 119-138. Hady said that for the team to win they must defeat El Dorado and Montwood.

“When we went up against them we beat them, but they’re coming along strong and with our injuries and our grades, I think that kind of affected us.” Hady said. “I’m worried going against those two schools. Its going to be tough.”

Senior Christian Haack said he has been working hard to help contribute towards the district title. At the Coronado meet, Haack took third in the 400m and first in the 4x200m and 4x400m.

“I’ve been coming out to practice every day, stretching, working hard and ultimately striving towards our goal,” Haack said. “I want to get first in all three of my events: the 4x200m, the 4x400m relays, and the 400m dash.”

The team has been preparing for months. Senior Gilberto Castaño, who took first in the 400m dash at the Coronado meet, is confident about the team’s potential performance.

“The training has all been power training, but now we’re focusing on speed. It should help a lot to drop my time,” Castaño said. “I’m feeling really confident. We’re going to kick butt at districts. Nobody is going to stop us.”

Leaping over the hurdle in the El Paso High meet, senior Alexis Morrell looks to finish the race strong. In the meet, the girls out scored Jefferson High school 189-107 to take first place. The team will look to use their momentum in the district meet which begins on April 10. photo by Michelle Arreola

Girls’ varsity track prepares for districts

Coming off of a first place finish at the El Paso High meet, the girls’ varsity track team looks to continue their success at the District track meet on April 11-13.

“The El Paso High meet was no challenge for us. We won almost every race and our relays swept by at least 50 meters,” senior runner Alexis Morrell said. “Districts is going to be at a much faster pace and we are going to have to push ourselves these next two weeks at practice.”

The girls scored 189 points, while second place Jefferson High School scored 107. They took first in nine different events.

“We became a family. Everyone supports each other and we all share the common goal to win districts,” junior runner Krizia Acosta said. “We know what we want and we’re working together to achieve it.”

Acosta says that her main goal is to qualify for regionals.“I ran a 2:20 at the El Paso High Meet and I hope to run faster at districts,” Acosta

said. “It’s a lot of hard work and dedication that is involved. I run everyday, even on weekends. I want to feel the pain because that’s when I know I’ve worked hard.”

Varsity golf team sends two golfers to regionals

Finishing third in district, both the boys and girls golf

teams will send a golfer to Lubbock.

Senior Luke Hicks and junior Sheena Patel will both compete in

the regional championship on April 18-19. They are the first golfers to make it past district play since 2009.

“The competition’s tough so I’m going to play my best and see what happens,” Hicks said. “I’m going to practice longer now, this week. I’m probably going to be practicing until dark every day.”

Hicks placed sixth overall at the district meet, after shooting an 82 and 76 respectively.

The girls team finished in third place in both the Far West Texas Golf Classic and the Lady Cougars Tournament. The boys have found similar success, winning the Chapin Invitational and placing second at the Cathedral Invitational.

Junior William Van Order says that the key to success in golf is mostly mental.

“I try to maintain a positive attitude,

Driving the ball off the tee, junior Sheena Patel follows through with her swing. photo by Lauren Bagg

because once you let your frustration get the best of you your odds of playing well are basically zero,’ Van Order said.

Junior Ashley Price believes that golf comes down to a team effort.

“Many people think golf is an individual sport, but at the end of the day all of our scores come together. If we’re not on the same level then we don’t do well,” Price said.

| NIKOLAI SCHYGA | reporter

| ALEKSEY ZEBROWSKI | opinions editor

| MICHELLE ARREOLA | reporter

| DIEGO MENDOZA-MOYERS| reporter

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