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Basha High SchoolApril 2013 Issue 4 Volume 10
Communities remember Eddie Basha’s legacy
Grizzly GazetteThe
Sam Incorvaia ’13
Photo Editor
Eddie Basha speaks to a local crowd. Citizens fi ercely
connected with Basha’s sense of community.
Photo credit Tucsongrowup.com
“The hand of help has no color. The face of caring has no shape.
The language of love has no accent.”
Eddie Basha stands by the produce section of a Bashas’
grocery store. Many employees knew Basha well.
Photo credit Phoenix Magazine
also served the community through methods other than the grocery stores; Basha donated millions of dollars towards countless causes and private businesses. Furthermore, he valued Ari-zona’s educational systems and served as a member and three-time president of the Chandler Unifi ed School District. Aside from his entrepreneurial success, Basha was also known as a comedian and a prankster amongst his loved ones. On Saturday, April 6th, about 1,500 people gathered for Eddie Basha’s memo-rial held at ASU Gammage Auditorium in Tempe. His memorial a� racted various people in the community including Security Secretary and ex-Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, A� orney General Terry Goddard, av-erage citizens, and loyal cus-tomers. Although all these people come from diff erent lifetimes and lifestyles, the fact that they gathered to remember a single man proves that Basha created a powerful impact on peo-ples’ lives around him. Most writers may be able to speak for the community and proudly say that Ba-sha lived true to his mor-als. Knowing that the local Bashas’ grocery store was guided by a generous man, Arizona communities will look up at the bright red “Bashas’” signs and smile. Thank you, Eddie.
“He cared about the suc-cess of every student... He had a heart of gold.” On Wednesday morning, March 27, Principal Ken James announced a humble man’s passing to the students and staff of Basha High School. To various communities across the Grand Canyon state, this man was known as the owner of Bashas’ Grocery Stores and a phil-anthropic, compassionate human being. But to the population at Basha High, Eddie Basha was credited as the school’s namesake. An
Photo credit Basha Family
Arizona icon with a “heart of gold”, grocery magnate Basha passed away from congenital heart failure on March 26, 2013 after months of declining health; he was 75. A graduate from Chandler High School and a Stanford University alumnus, Basha already started in a direc-tion towards a successful fu-ture. Early in life, he learned the family grocery business with his father, Eddie Sr., and uncle, Ike. In 1968, Ba-sha inherited the fl uctuating family business and quickly spread from families’ lips as a household name. He
Senior Mitch Perrone wins the title of Mr. BHS 2013
Photo credit Sam Incorvaia
Photo credit Sam Incorvaia
Brianna Randazzo ’13
Editor in Chief
This year’s Mr. BHS com-petition was a record break-er and thriller for not only the audience, but for the contestants as well. With an audience of 600, the security on campus still had to turn away nearly 200 people. However, that didn’t keep Student Govern-ment members and contes-tants from cancelling the show. The show’s hosts, Cody Conrad and Zach Werlinger, opened with a humorous performance of their own to prepare the audience for the performances to come. The contestants were: Ian Villafuerte, Tyler Morgan,
Ronnie Querry, Gio Bruno, Dominic Cotroneo, Chris-tian Masters, Billy Ciccone, Alex Winter, Austin Dowell, Hayden Householder, and Mr. BHS 2013 winner, Mitch Perrone. Perrone and his backup dancers, the ‘Basha Beat Boys’ consisting of Parker Neff , Tanner Graves, Boston Whitlow and Isaac English, entertained the crowd with a routine choreographed by Bailey Waters to N’Sync’s “Bye, Bye, Bye”. All of the memorizing of routines paid off when he was re-warded a $200 scholarship at the awarding ceremony. First runner up was Ian Vil-lafuerte with Austin Dowell close in third place.
Perrone wasn’t the only winner that evening; Chris-tian Masters won fi rst place for the junior class. Masters and ‘Santas Help-ers’ Cole Conrad, Carlos Mendoza, and Austin Good, did a reenactment of the Mean Girls’s “Jingle Bell Rock” dance. As the junior class winner, Masters was awarded a free yearbook, a free parking pass, and a free activity card. Billy Ciccone’s talent of caricature drawing of the host’s landed him a close spot in second place. Even after turning away hundreds, the show was still a complete success. In the end, $4,156 was made and donated to Basha in Nicara-gua. Photo credit Sam Incorvaia
The Grizzly Gazette
Basha High School
5900 S. Val Vista Drive Chandler. AZ 85249
(480)-224-2100 [email protected]
The Grizzly GGGGGGGaaaaaaazette
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5900 S. Val Vista DDDDDDDDDDDriiiiiivvvvvvvvvve Chhhhhhaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnndddddddddddllller. AZ 85249
(480)-224-2100 baaaaaaaaaaassssshhhhaaaaaaaaaaa.grizzzzzzzzzzzzlllllllyyyyyyggggggggggazette@@@@@@@@@@@ggggggmail.com
Seniors rec-ognize the achievements of their proj-ectsDani Schulze ’14
April 2013 THE GRIZZLY GAZETTE News Page 2
Editor-in-Chief
Brianna Randazzo ’13
Managing Editor
Athena Anima ’13
News Editor
Dani Schulze ’14
Sports Editor
Athena Anima ’13
It is the business of the Grizzly Gazette to provide unbiased news to the members of Basha High School and the
surrounding communities. The Gazette accepts letters and commentaries on all matters and reserves the right to edit
the material needed. All items submitted for publications must be signed. Views and opinions contained herein are
those of the author and should not be considered the opinion of the publication, the advisor, or any members of the
Chandler Unifi ed School District. The newspaper is public forum and supports the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution.
The Grizzly Gazette accepts letters to the editor on any topic. Please e-mail [email protected]
with corrections and suggestions. The Grizzly Gazette also sells advertisements starting at $40.
Like us on Facebook @ Basha High School Grizzly Gazette and follow us on Twitter @BHSGGazette.
News Editor
On April 8th, Basha seniors came together to recognize the monumen-tal ventures completed throughout the year and to compete for cash prizes for the top three projects at the Senior Project Showcase. Projects at the showcase ranged greatly in diversity, from issues on teen suicide to preventing hockey concussions. Third place was awarded to Andrew Kaye’s Engineering Fair, second to Tay-lor Kane’s Every Fifteen Minutes, and fi rst to Brooklynne Sundseth, Alex Cordell, and Mary Sulaiman’s Basha in Nicaragua. First prize was awarded $500 with second and third ge� ing smaller cash prizes. Each participant received a small gift card as a bonus. Some other well-known projects were Spread the Word to End the Word, Combat Cancer, and Fight Like a Girl. Senior Ali Steele completed her project on teen suicide and the ef-fects of bullying. “I made a bully club at Navarrete Elementary School for sixth grade girls,” said Steele. “We talked about bullying and self-image.” Steele’s favorite part of the experi-ence was ge� ing to meet the may-or’s wife, the fi rst women to begin the anti-bullying campaign. She came to Navarrete and gave a talk about bullying. On the other side of the spectrum, senior Zack Savage’s goal is to pre-vent future hockey players’ injuries. Like Steele, Savage has a personal connection to his topic. “I had a concussion when I came up with the project [idea], so I wanted to incorporate [that into] the project,” said Savage. Savage and a friend spent one hour on the ice teaching 22 kids safety techniques. The kids were split into two groups and taught separately. “[If there’s one thing that I want to happen from this project, it’s that] I’m hoping they will share what they’ve learned and put it into prac-tice,” said Savage. The goal of each senior project is to make a diff erence in the lives of others. The fi rst step in each proj-ect is to raise awareness in order to promote the cause. “It needs to be out there that there are issues about it,” said Steele. “It needs to be stated to people. I feel like there are too many people that are hidden and are not able to speak for themselves, so people need to do it for them, for other people who can’t talk. Hopefully [by] doing this, it will show people that it is okay to speak out.”
Opinion Editor
Samantha Bouchal ’15
Entertainment Editor
Emily Santora ’14
Feature Editor
Jacqueline Soto ’13
Photo Editor
Sam Incorvaia ’13
Design Editor
Austin Reinoehl ’13
Adviser
Jasmeet Verma ’00
Staff Writers
Ronnie Querry ’13
Ryan Wright ’13
Katie Wright ’14
Ryann O’Neal ’14
Danielle Torres ’14
Marissa Roper ’14
Skylar Dunham ’15
Baylee Coppinger ’15
Natalie Dougherty ’16
Elijah Landeros ’16
Josiah Hall ’16
Human trafficking rises in local areaMarissa Roper ’14
Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Savannah Sanders
Savannah Sanders is a recovered victim of the human traffi cking industry.
Most people think of human traf-
fi cking as a foreign problem, when it
occurs all over the nation.
“I’ve worked with girls who live
near Basha High School, so hu-
man traffi cking is very local to your
school,” said Savannah Sanders, a
former victim of the human traffi ck-
ing industry.
Human traffi cking is the trading of
human beings; most commonly used
for the purpose of sexual slavery or
forced labor.
“As a 10 billion dollar industry,
human traffi cking is the third larg-
est crime. It’s a current problem in
places as close as Mesa,” said senior
Lissette Valle in her senior project
presentation conducted at Basha.
“It is a general issue that occurs in
the state of Arizona, but not so much
an issue in Mesa itself,” said Offi cer
Barry, at the Mesa Police Depart-
ment.
However, that is not what Savan-
nah Sanders, has to say.
Sanders, who is commonly reffered
to as Amira Birger, was introduced
into the human traffi cking industry
at a young age. She chose to use
a fake name to avoid confl ict with
her former “pimp”. She is just now
starting to use her real name publi-
cally again.
Prior to dropping out of high
school, Sanders had many issues
growing up, “Traffi cking was the re-
sult of someone molesting me from
the time I was six until I was 14.”
Experts say that 96% of human
traffi cking victims have a past his-
tory of sexual abuse.
Sanders became suicidal, began
drinking, cutting, and doing drugs.
She was introduced to the human
traffi cking industry by age 16.
“I was promised my own house
and my own car. I was told that I
could work for myself, only giving
a percentage of my income to my
pimp,” Sanders said.
According to Sanders, none of that
became a reality.
“Instead, I was held behind a couch
with no food or water. I couldn’t go
to the bathroom without permission.
I saw no money and had to work 16
to 17 hours a day with a quota of
12 to 15 hundred dollars.” Sanders
lived this way for nine months.
“I was then let go because of a po-
lice investigation. They didn’t want
to get caught with someone under
the age of 18,” Sanders said.
Sanders has taken her story public
and helps exploit human traffi cking
all over the Phoenix area. She guest
speaks at schools, charity events,
and fundraisers.
“The reason I speak out is because
I feel in order to prevent these things
from happening, we need to openly
tell our stories,” Sanders said, “Ev-
ery time I’ve told my story, someone
has disclosed their story of past
abuse.”
Sanders didn’t realize she was a
victim of human traffi cking until
eight years later.
“I realized it after seeing a defi ni-
tion of sexual slavery,” said Sand-
ers. “It gave me permission to be a
victim for once, when I had always
thought being this way was my
fault.”
Despite all the publicity that hu-
man traffi cking is receiving, the
matter still remains a problem.
“I don’t see human traffi cking
being resolved,” Sanders said,
“because bullying, eating disorders,
abuse, poverty, cutting, and drug
abuse would have to be under con-
trol before human traffi cking disap-
pears.”
Sanders’s advice to anyone expe-
riencing abuse is to tell a teacher or
family member until you get help.
“Teachers being aware of the ef-
fects and symptoms of abuse, to
help kids, can have a huge impact
on the human traffi cking commu-
nity,” Sanders said.
Basha shortstop Jamie Westbrook prepares for MLB draftRonnie Querry & Ryan Wright `13
Photo credit Tim Hacker
April 2013 THE GRIZZLY GAZETTE Sports Page 3
Staff Writer
Jamie Westbrook (12) poses for the East Valley Tribune. Westbrook hopes
that he can fi nish his last season at Basha strong before focusing on the MLB.
“Probably when Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theis-
man’s ankle.”
“When Kevin Ware broke his leg playing against
Duke in the Elite 8.”
Andre Lopez ’16 Stephon Lumley ’13
After 4 years of varsity baseball and making a name for himself, Basha’s own Jamie Westbrook is projected to be drafted in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Westbrook is a two-time all-state shortstop with a career ba! ing av-erage of approximately .500 in his time at Basha. He verbally commi! ed to Pep-perdine University in Malibu, California the beginning of his junior year, and recently signed an offi cial le! er of intent this past winter to play there. However, those aspirations have simply become a fall back plan for Westbrook, as he is projected to be drafted within the fi rst 5 rounds of this year’s MLB draft. Scouts have been lined up on the fences and been watching from the bleachers at practically every one of Basha’s baseball games this year, scouting not only his perfor-mance, but his overall a! itude and demeanor. “I’ve talked to a lot of teams and it’s pre! y exciting,” said West-brook. “The main ones are the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Braves, Blue jays, and Pirates.”
Being looked at by pro scouts is primarily seen as an honor for anybody, but can sometimes be a grueling process. “I’m defi nitely extremely grateful for these opportunities, but it can be pre! y stressful sometimes,” said Westbrook. “Not only the pressure to do good, but also the ability to play loose and show no emotions in times of failure. The scouts look at every aspect of it all, and being able to bounce back from diversity and keep a positive a! itude is hon-estly one of the biggest things they observe.” After talking with multiple teams,
Westbrook has strong hopes and aspirations to stay home and play. This would consist of being drafted by the Arizona Diamond-backs and going through the minor league process in Tucson, Arizona before a! empting to make the of-fi cial roster in Phoenix. Westbrook has been in close con-tact with a D-Backs scout since this past summer when we played on a scout team under him. “The D-Backs would be my dream team to get drafted by,” said Westbrook. “It would be awesome to be able to play so close to my family and friends.”
For most prospects, one of the big deciding factors is the amount of money they sign for, especially when coming straight out of high school. Coming straight out of high school can be a big risk because it usually consists of abandoning any college plans. However, Westbrook isn’t fazed by the scenario. Even among such opportunities, he still plans to simply take on these next few months like a normal high school student, and enjoy the re-mainder of his time at Basha and home with his family and friends. “The draft isn’t until June,” said Westbrook. “So for now I’m just try-ing to take it one day at a time and enjoy my last month or so at Basha.” The Basha baseball team is looking to make playoff s for just the third time in school history, and West-brook plans to keep contributing to doing so. “My focus right now is to keep playing hard for our school team and help us make the playoff s and hopefully go on a big run,” West-brook said. The MLB draft will take place June 6-8, and if Westbrook gets drafted, he will be the fi rst ever in Basha’s 10 year history of athletics.
HEAR ME ROAR:
What is the worst sports in-jury you’ve seen?
Barbie without makeup: are social norms changing because of business?
College tuition costs limit students’ choices Politics spark debate on gay marriage
Samantha Bouchal ’15Opinion Editor
Emily Santora ’14
Entertainment Editor
April 2013 THE GRIZZLY GAZETTE Opinion Page 6
Samantha Bouchal ’15Opinion Editor
“I believe that [gay couples] should be able to do whatever
they want.”
“I personally believe that it’s re-ally not a big problem... The gov-ernment shouldn’t get involved.”
Andrew McBurnett, ’16 Shannon Bittner, ’15
HEAR ME ROAR:
Do you support gay marriage? Why or why not?
As the school year comes to an end, many of Basha High School’s seniors are fi guring out where they would like to continue their educa-tion. However, a major problem stands in the way of ambitious students a� ending college: tuition costs. Beginning in elementary school, society drives students towards gaining a higher education. How-ever, how are students supposed to receive a college education when they don’t have the ridiculous amounts of money required to do so? The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that approximately 70 percent of high school graduates enroll in colleges or universities. One of the prevailing reasons for the lack of high school graduates a� ending college is tuition costs. Many highly intelligent and am-bitious students sadly end up in community college, because they cannot aff ord the high tuition costs. Also, students who do a� end large universities struggle to make ends meet with education and tuition. Loans, grants and scholarships certainly depress the rising price of education, but students are still left with mountains of debt upon leaving college. This debt has Basha students wondering if a college education is really worth it. “If you get a full-ride [scholar-ship], which would really help
lower the college tuition costs,” sophomore Kiarrah Holt said. It is true that most college students take up part-time or full-time jobs to help provide assistance to paying tuition costs. However, these jobs make balancing schoolwork more diffi cult. “The higher tuition goes, the more people will not be able to go to college, because they can’t pay for [the tuition costs],” said sophomore Jasmine Milsap. ”If students can’t go to college, then they have to take up jobs that they don’t want.” Some college graduates believe that working jobs to pay off tuition costs really deprives the students from experiencing college life. “You miss all of the social aspects and memories of college when you’re working. You don’t have time to make friends, and that’s if you can even fi nd a job,” Virginia State University graduate Will Are-nas said. Students continue to work hard in the hopes of gaining all the scholar-ship and grant money they can in order to make college less costly.
Each and every one of us grapples with how we are perceived in soci-ety on a daily basis. Each morning, we fret over what to wear, what to eat, how much to eat. A linger-ing question, though, lies in why we care about such things, which oftentimes seem (as in our choice of clothing) frivolous and unim-portant. Whether a shirt is blue or green seems, in perspective, to be altogether meaningless when considering the big picture. Why do we subject ourselves to such social torture, then, when we can easily see that such a� ention to superfi cial details amounts to nothing more than a waste of energy? The answer may lie in simple capitalism and our tendency to be subjected to its characteristic fl uctuations and infl uences. Take the example of beauty. We are all trained from a young age to accept a generic face of beauty, one that is devoid of wrinkles and misshapen
features and is perfectly symmetri-cal. Inner beauty is ignored, and we choose instead to judge individuals on the wrapper that encases their character rather than consider that which lies within. Businesses prey on and even create this image that becomes embedded in our minds, associating their facial creams, Botox, and makeup with the beauty of the somehow perfect individuals that grace the television screen in between TV shows. Small girls are brainwashed to believe that they
must look like Barbie upon reach-ing adolescence in order to have a chance at fi nding love or acceptance in society. Never do they see her plastic face without the adornment of layers and layers of (likewise plastic) makeup. The makeup remover needed to wipe this problem off of the face of America (where it seems most prev-alent, but is not the only country in which this phenomenon occurs by any means) is a potent one. Just as we are shocked to learn that Barbie
can, in fact, be rid of the makeup that makes her look so unrealisti-cally perfect, so also must society be shocked into a new perception of what it means to be beautiful. Com-mercialization of various concep-tions of beauty that materialize in a lab must be separated from what it means to be truly beautiful, and not just in the physical sense. We must learn to consider feelings, those meaningful things that are simply glossed over by magazine pages and product advertisements. Super-fi cial beauty fades even after count-less chemical treatments; perhaps if we learn to adjust our defi nition of what it means to possess beauty we will also elucidate the incredible number of people that would fi t this new defi nition in one way or anoth-er. In essence, by seeing our society (that is, Barbie) without the brain-washing goggles of commercializa-tion (her makeup), we will be� er our society and learn to appreciate the natural beauty that makes life so stunning.
As gay marriage sparks heated debates in politics and on a number of social media web sites, many Basha students fi nd themselves considering and defending their opinions on the ma� er. Whether they are vehemently against the concept or ardent supporters, those with an opinion on gay marriage are being challenged as of late from both sides. Many social media web sites have served as an outlet for the proclamation of students’ views, with a Facebook event encouraging supporters of gay rights to change their profi le picture (among other phenomenon). Some students agreed with the prospect of legalizing gay marriage, stating that the issue did not direct-ly aff ect them. “Love is love, and if you love someone it shouldn’t ma� er if you’re gay or not,” said sophomore Jasmine Milsap. Junior Ma� hew Sparrow agreed, stating that gay marriage was a prospect not to be countered. “If you don’t agree with gay mar-riage you are a bad person… [who will] forever stand on the wrong side of history and your bigotry and ignorance will hopefully die with you,” said Sparrow. Other reasons for support had a political basis.“I think [gays] should have full rights,” said junior Esteban Ji-menez. “It’s ridiculous that this
is still going on in the US after all the other civil rights movements. People who are against it are clearly on the wrong side of history.” A few students agreed with this viewpoint, seeing gay marriage as harmless. “[Gay marriage] should be legal because it doesn’t hurt anyone,” said Phil Stansberry. Other students, however, dis-agreed with gay marriage for moral reasons.“I don’t think [gay marriage] is right. In my religion, God made men and women perfectly for each other, so it’s not right for a woman and a woman or a man and a man to be together,” said freshman Natalie Dougherty. Sophomore Jacob Moylan agreed. “[Gay marriage]separates mar-riage from procreation, which is the purpose of [heterosexual] mar-riage,” said Moylan. Whatever their views, however, students were faced with defend-ing, discussing, and evaluating their opinions in the wake of the larger-scale political discussion. This intra-school debate is a microcosm of the large-scale political variety that has been occurring as of late in Arizona. That debate, which recent political events have spurred has allowed for many Basha students to truly ponder and evaluate their views on gay marriage itself as well as its implications, a process that has doubtless ben-efi ted many. Photo Credit www.fi nancingfutures.com
Photo Credit www.mashable.com
Cancer patients stand up against cancer at fashion show benefit
Growlin’ with the CubsJacqueline Soto ’13
April 2013 THE GRIZZLY GAZETTE Feature Page 7
Feature Editor
HEAR ME ROAR:“Inner beauty is personal-ity; outer beauty has an
expiration date.”
“Inner beauty is be� er, because it never goes out
of style.”
Brianna Thibodeau ’14Cienna Taylor ’14
How do you feel about outer beauty versus inner beauty? Is it
one in the same?
CUSD students helped by Fans Across America
Where do you think the sun
goes at night?
Athena Anima ’13
Managing Editor
Fans Across America completely opened my eyes to the poverty in our community. George Macedon, one of the cofounders of Fans, informed me and my partner Austin Reinoehl that there are over 430 full-time homeless students in the Chandler School District alone. At Basha, there is a rough estimate of about 35 students that go to school full-time, yet don’t have their own bed to sleep in at night. This foundation is fairly new- it was only founded in 2011. Through Fans Across America, I met the founder, Bruce Petillo, and George. They have been so helpful in the process of doing this project, and they also managed to introduce me to their biggest success story, Jacob Bello. Jacob intrigued me from the start. A senior at Hamilton, the fi rst time I ever saw Jacob
Seniors Jessica Lister, Brianna Randazzo, and Dominic Cotro-neo have outdone themselves, by orchestrating a beautiful benefi t for four incredible girls locked in a ba� le against cancer. The Com-
bat Cancer fashion show was held on Apr. 10, at the Chandler Cen-ter for the Performing Arts, and raised nearly $2,000 to contribute towards treatment for the four patients featured in the show. The Combat Cancer Fashion Show was about more than just
Jacqueline Soto’13Feature Editor
funding a cause; it was about inspiring people to embrace life’s challenges by living in the mo-ment and staying true to them-selves. Every participant in the show expressed a genuine zest for life, as each told the story of their diagnosis, their treatment, and the healing process. By the conclusion of the show, there was not one person in the audience who had not been touched by the strength of these amazing young women. Additional inspirational aspects of the show, included a musical performance of the song “Li� le Talks,” as well as a total of three dance numbers all dedicated to those who have been aff ected by cancer. The musicality and tech-nique of the performances were incredibly moving, as they beauti-fully described something deeper than words can express. The per-formers utilized the arts of dance and music to illustrate the picture of resilience and encouragement. Each performance held a spe-cial meaning for those who have experienced hardships and trying times; as they embodied what it means to never give up in the face of impossible circumstances. It was a beautiful scene to be-hold, as the Combat Cancer girls stru� ed confi dently down the runway, adorned with ball gowns and sparkling smiles. They are not victims; they are fi ghters. Through the Combat Cancer Fashion Show, they exemplifi ed what it means to be truly beautiful.
Cheyenne Cable graces the runway
with her escort and smile in tow.
Survivor Holly Flint sparkles on
stage alongside her loving family.
The bond between this father
daughter duo cannot be broken by
the effects of cancer.Cancer patient Ashley Hooke exudes confi dence and strength on stage.
“The sun goes down, down, down.”-James, 4
“It comes up when
it’s morning.”
“It goes down and then it sleeps.”“It goes down and
then it goes up.”
-Adrian, 4-Kenzie, 3
-Keaton, 3
was from his senior picture that George showed us while we were touring what is called the Fans Locker room. This is where all the donations are located- from toiletries and clothes, to backpacks, school supplies and lap tops. I met Jacob in person after we agreed to meet up for lunch at Red Robin. My fi rst initial thought when I met him was, “this kid cannot have gone through the things that I heard,” but after talking to him, I realized that the cliché to not judge a book by its cover proved true. He’s a jokester, but still manages to be serious at the same time. While being a full-time student, Jacob also works full time and still juggles a social life, which is something that I admire a lot about him. I know I will never fully understand Jacob and what he’s been through, all I know is that his story has opened my eyes to what can happen in a small, well-off town like Chandler, AZ.
Photo credit Jacqueline Soto
Photo credit Jacqueline Soto
Photo credit Jacqueline Soto
Photo credit Jacqueline Soto
The rest of the movie is a sequence of intense action scenes, where Ban-ning fi ghts back against the Koreans and also discovers the second part of their chilling plan to terrorize America. “I really enjoyed the movie,” said senior Zach Denney. “The action wasn’t too over the top like some movies and they made most of it believable.”
April 2013 Entertainment Page 8THE GRIZZLY GAZETTE
“Counting Stars, because it is catchy, has inspiring lyrics. Over-all, it makes me fell very happy.”
“Counting Stars, because I like how it starts mel-
low and gradually becomes louder.”
Chris Whitacre ’15 Griffin Phillips ’14
OneRepublic’s Native pleases fans
HEAR ME ROAR:
What’s your favorite song off On-eRepublic’s new album? Why?
Austin Reinoehl ’13
Design Editor
After composing chart-topping hits for artists like Adele, Gavin DeGraw, and Beyoncé, Ryan Tedder and Co. are back to create one of their own. It’s been three years since the release of their last record, Waking Up, and over 5 years since the release of the worldwide, triple-platinum hit, “Apologize.” Since the success of that single, the Colorado band have certainly quite a bit to live up to, and their new album, Native, is hoping to reach the bar they set for themselves so many years ago. Filled with 14 new hits and 3 acoustic recordings, Native, reminds us why we all fell in love with OneRepublic back in 2007. It’s tough to pinpoint a single genre with the band, but in the end it doesn’t ma! er because whether it is rock or pop, OneRepublic is consistent and powerful in terms of sound and lyrics. Even though Tedder has shown his talent and love for big anthems, it would be beyond
diffi cult to make Native stand out in a crowd of pop records by simply making the sound “bigger.” Instead Tedder brought in his greatest strength: the ability to write a catchy hook. Native explodes with hooks from the lead single released last august, “Feel Again” to the upbeat “I Lived” and “Counting Stars,” to the heart-wrenching “Burning Brides,” there is a surplus of radio-worthy moments on this album. At times I would fi nd myself singing along and clapping to more upbeat tracks like “If I Lose Myself” and “Life in Color” or swaying to the slower jams like “Can’t Stop” and “Preacher”—which is Tedder reminiscing about his grandfather. Native, however, is not without its drawbacks. The biggest disappointment I had was the group’s lack of the cello, which was featured in their biggest hits and helped, set the fi re to their success. Also, there seems to be a slight lack of originality, many of their songs like “Preacher” and “Something I Need” sound like Coldplay and Train. That being said, OneRepublic’s new record has something to off er.
New movie, Olympus Has Fallen, addresses tension between US and North KoreaRonnie Querry ’13
Staff Writer
Out of the mirage of action movies that came out this spring, or are lined up to premiere this summer, Antoine Fuqua’s Olym-pus has Fallen strikes most close to home; in terms of nationalism and current events. The action-thriller relates to the current tension between the United States and North Korea. Although most of the modern tension has been overseas, nu-clear warfare talk, the plot of the movie takes a twist that results in a direct a! ack from the North Koreans on Washington DC and the White House. After detailed planning and preparation, the Koreans man-aged to eliminate secret service, breach the White House, and take the president (Aaron Eck-hart), hostage in his own bunker; all before US armed forces could respond. “It was an intense movie,” said senior Brandon Roselius. “But I still think it was a li! le unrealis-tic how they managed to take the White House, which is probably the most protected building in the world.” After “Olympus has fallen,” which is secret service code for the White House has been taken,
ex-special forces agent Jason Ban-ning (Gerard Butler) goes into ac-tion. Banning managed to get in the white house unharmed and unseen as the North Koreans were raiding it. Banning has a bruised reputation, after being involved in an incident early in the movie where he was able to save the president, but un-fortunately lost the fi rst lady.
Gerard Butler plays Jason Banning in Olympus Has Fallen, where North
Korea attacks the White House.
Photo credit Olympus Has Fallen
After it occurred he was banned from the president’s cabin. He is looking to repair his reputation and move on from the past tragedy. With his special-forces training and knowledge of the White House, Banning is the best hope that Amer-ica has left.
How does this fi ctional movie relate to current events and tension between the US and North Korea? For years the, steps have been taken to resolve the nuclear warfare confl ict between the US and North Korea. “I feel the only way they would
try to a! ack us is through nuclear warfare because they are too much of cowards to ever try anything like in the movie,” Roselius said. Even after nuclear threats from North Korea like the one on April 3rd, US analysts still strongly pre-dict that no a! ack on the US main-land will take place. However, it is a diff erent story for the US Pacifi c Islands (Guam and Hawaii), as well as our allies who are much closer to North Korea, such as South Korea and Japan. US military forces have been on high alert and defense in the Pacifi c ever since the threat. The Pentagon has also placed a “missile defense system in the Pacifi c,” CNN writer Yong-Ho Kim states. In order to aid South Korea, the US has placed a naval fl eet on the coast of both Koreas, in preparation to immediately respond and a! ack if North Korea strikes. Tension has been through the roof with North and South Korea ever since their separation and creation of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which was created to buff er tension between the two countries. The talk about nuclear warfare continues each and every day, but no big events have occurred yet that would require America to step in. As of right no++w, the US plans to continue to defuse the situation and
take steps to reducing the tension.
