Batmazian. Half the 20 bags in the hands of the nominees had black t-shirts in-side, with a white “ H C ” s p r a y -p a i n t e d on the f r o n t . The se-niors who

had one of these t-shirts in their goody bags-- meaning they had been chosen for the Top 10-- put them on and ran out, one by one, to a cheering gymna-sium. All ten of the senior “royalty”--

An Independent Publication of Leigh High School

October 27, 2011Volume 50 Issue No. 1

Around the world in five days:Pictured in Longhorn: Junior Emily Bartel performs with the drumline on Oct. 21.

Sunna ThorkelsdottirStaff Writer (most of the time).

On Friday, the football players fi-nally got to play, greeting loud bleach-ers packed full of green and gold. For the whole week before, they had been getting plenty of appreciation from the cheerleaders, and now they were getting it from the rest of the school. Faces were painted, everyone was in their class colors, and almost everyone

was actually paying at-tention to the game. The cheerleaders, in a thoughtful attempt to show their appre-ciation for the football guys, started their ges-tures on the Wednesday before Homecoming week. Each cheerleader chose one or two players to “represent”- varsity cheerleaders represented varsity players, and JV represented JV. They got together and made

“jerseys” out of large, col-ored sheets of paper, each with the last name and number of the football player they were representing. On Monday, before school, the jerseys were hung up all over the fenc-es in the quad. On Tuesday, the team was surprised again with a breakfast treat of things like donuts and juice. Clearly the cheerleaders know how much teenage, male athletes en-joy food, because they surprised them with more of it yet again on Wednes-day, providing a pizza for them at lunch. Continued on page 3...

A Homecoming Week of international proportions

Carib Manor sends chills down Leigh’s spine

Blood, death, and cockroaches: A particularly gruesome history lesson or Leigh’s haunted house? The school’s haunted house will be running for its second year and will be hosted in the cafeteria on Oct. 26-29 from 7 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. as well as during lunch on Thursday and Friday for $6 on a student’s first visit ($8 for adults), $3 at lunch time, and $2 for repeat visits. Produced by the Drama Depart-ment and funded by Drama Club, the haunted house has opened its doors once again for all to see. The haunted house is named “Carib Manor” and three separate scripts have been writ-

Michael ReaStaff Writer

Togas, cat tails, tiaras, flannels, white, gold, green, and black; sound familiar? Leigh’s halls were filled with students dressed head to toe with spirit during the school’s 49th homecoming week: “Around the World in 5 Days”. “Homecoming is something you should cherish and go all out for,” said junior Emma Batmazian, a Leader-ship student. “The week is supposed to emphasize school pride and spirit…and get us pumped for the rest of the semester.” Batmazian is part of Cor-onation, the group in charge of all things Homecoming Court. Junior Jessica Hauck and soph-omores Daniela Czerny and Isa-bel Haggerty are also on Coro-nation. The Homecoming Court Top 10 were announced on Oct. 4, along with the theme of the whole week and each indi-vidual day’s theme. Backstage, the Top 20 were opening their goody bags, excitedly waiting to see who was on the Court. The Top 20 were chosen through a vote ahead of time by the entire class of 2012. Every senior was given a list of the whole senior class, where they voted for their Homecoming nominations. The top 10 girls and guys with the most votes became the Top 20 to represent their class. “Along the way, the students learn more about the Homecoming Court through bios and pictures that are used on the voting ballot[s],” said

Junior Josh Sayre catches the crowd’s attention at the

rally in the quad on Monday for “Mt. Rushmore Day.”

Seniors Nic Le and Brad Hartsell bust a move at the lunch rally on Thursday.

All photos by Sadie Williams

Above: Homecoming Court

makes a splash in the Quad

on Tuesday for “Great Barrier

Reef Day.”

Trevor Peterson, Taylor Shapiro, Dan-ny Davis, Calvin Cotton, Broderick Baker, Emma Canepa, Rachel Yankey,

Kelly Phillips, Zoe De-mertzis, and Katie Mc-Quarrie-- said they were “excited” to be in the Top 10- for many, it was something they never ex-pected, and mixed in with the excitement was surprise. All of the ‘chosen ones’ looked animated and lively as they waved and danced. On Monday, Oct. 17, Home-coming Week began with a bang. “It was a great experience as a freshman, because it’s fun to see the upperclass-men…enjoy homecoming,” said Mackenzie Daly, freshman class secre-tary/treasurer. Monday was dubbed “Mount Rushmore” day, and the whole school was filled with red flannels, white shorts, and blue sparkles. Tuesday was “Great Barrier Reef”. A few peo-

ple went all out; for example, junior Whitney Chrisman painted most of her body yellow and became Flounder

from the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid”. Next came Wednesday, “Colosseum” day. The night before, videos were circulating on Facebook: tutorials on

how to make a toga. Not surprisingly, a massive amount of students showed up Wednesday with bedsheets wrapped stylishly around their bodies. On Thursday, “Class Break-down” day, the students gathered from all four corners of the “world” to watch the rally at lunch, where Step N Dance and the Court Lip Sync performed. The Court’s routine got explosions of laughter from the stands, especially when the boys started doing The Ber-nie. They circled the gym, doing danc-es that related to each class’s theme for the day, with equally appropriate music

Food Challenge, page 12College 101, page 5

Freshman class officers, page 2In-Depth, page 9

ten by Jacob Gemette, Kimi Schiefer, and Maria Aguilar, meaning that each time you enter the haunted house the experience will be different. Carib Manor is intended to tell a story with a theme of cannibalism. As visitors progress through the house, they will visit several different rooms that reveal a part of the storyline. The tension is intended to be built up until it is eventually shattered at the end. “Last year we just threw [the haunted house] together at the last second in the middle of October. This year we started around the beginning of June and worked on it over the sum-mer,” said director Andrea Goeke. Once she and stage manager

Kristen Crooks finalized the major de-cisions on the haunted house, au-ditions were held on Sept. 27 with a no-cut policy, mean-ing that everybody who tried out received a role in the haunted house. By the end of au-ditions, over 60 people were signed on to act in the haunted house. However, on any given night, there will actu-ally be about 30 people acting in the haunted house so that actors can have breaks be-tween nights. Having co-pious amounts of students involved encourages people from different social circles to come since

many people may have friends or acquain-

tances involved in the haunt-

ed house, w h e t h e r they are u s u a l l y i n v o l v e d in drama, sports, or just focus on their aca-demics. Around the beginning of S e p t e m b e r, construction began. Art Club was given the task of help-

ing techni-cal the-

ater paint panels to set up in order to create the effect of a haunted house. Furthermore, a competition was held to provide artwork that would be nominated for promotional posters and t-shirts. Volunteers in the haunted house play dead bodies, hands reaching out of bookcases, people banging on walls, and crazed butchers. When actually performing, actors are requested to bring their own costumes if possible, otherwise costumes will be provided for them. Overall, the creators of the haunted house are attempting to or-ganize things so that there is variation, fright, and a story behind it. Whether or not they are successful in their en-deavors is left to the visitors to decide. “The goal is to terrify and titil-late the terrific students of Leigh High school,” said drama teacher Brian Ringsted.

Beware!

Photo of Bri Stromer by Kylie Brown

New coach in town, page 14

A “fresh” new start: David Shiao Ing, Matt Vargas, and MacKenzie Daly are the dynam-ic trio elected as class officers after a school-wide vote in September, who now hold the power to unite and rep-resent the future generation of Leigh: the class of 2015. The three freshmen joined the Leadership class just before Homecom-ing week. “The new officers are enthusias-tic, hard-working, and have stepped up to meet the demands of homecoming planning. They are handling their jobs very well,” said ASB president Danny Davis. When Ing, the president of the class of 2015, was asked what he was going to do to unite and make the high school experience a positive and enjoy-able one for his entire class, he said, “I am really going to try and get the fresh-man class exited and involved in spirit days and events so that we can all feel like we are a part of one big family or community.” Ing is one of three of the primary forces who are contribut-ing his efforts and time in the lead-er-

ship class to improve and prepare the class of 2015 for their 4-year residency at Leigh High. Matt Vargas, the vice president of the class of 2015, volunteered to announce and narrate the homecom-ing rally and reveal during lunch on Oct. 4, with junior Kendra Schultz. “Emceeing with Matt was a great experience because he really stepped up out of his comfort zone which is hard for a freshman to do in front of upperclassmen,” said Schultz, External Relations Senator. “I thought it was really fun to be silly and interact with the other kids in the gym, I just wish everyone had gotten a little more excited and pumped up about the rally itself,” said Vargas, about his first-time experience of not only announcing for a high school rally, but being at one. MacKenzie Daly, the secre-tary treasurer of the class, is contributing her ideas to the student government board, and is rep-resenting her class along with Ing and Vargas. “I know

MacKenzie worked

r e -

Matthew DuellStaff Writer

New freshman officers are elected to leadership

ally hard during Homecoming and mastered the Friday backdrop and made sure everything was done before she left,” said Schultz. Senior Zoe Demertzis, ASB vice president, said, “All three of them are hard-working and very enthusiastic! They have been contributing a lot to the class and, as far as I can tell, are enjoying it very much so far!” The atmosphere and community of the class of 2015 so far seems posi-tive and energetic. “I think [the officers] have helped by making people more excit-ed for high school,” said freshman Joe Rodriguez. Though they’ve only been at Leigh for a few months, it seems that the freshman class officers have already made a big impact on the morale of

their class.

Constructive CriticismFrom left to right: MacKenzie Daly, freshman class secretary-trea-

surer; David Ing, freshman class president; Matt Vargas, freshman class vice president

Pictured above right: The freshman officers raising class spirit for 2015 after their lip sync.

photo by Kylie Brown

profile photos by Jinny Jung

Michelle FitzsimmonsStaff Writer

On Sunday, Aug. 21, fences went up around the new lawns in the quad, kicking off this year’s construc-tion plans at Leigh. Students will be sure to see more and more caution and off limit signs due to construc-tion as the year goes on. The first con-struction project that began this past August were the new cement and trees in the quad. Fences were put up to protect the freshly planted grass and allow it time to grow thick enough roots to be able to survive the inevitable trampling of students. The fences are scheduled to be taken down on Nov. 19, which is 90 days from the day they were put up, but they might be taken down sooner depending on the development of the roots. Another construction project that will be going underway for this entire year is the solar project in the

parking lot. Leigh will be the next school making the change of install-ing solar structures in the district in order to save on energy costs, as well as help save our environment.

Throughout the year drop off routes will change according to the area the construction is taking place in, and students should pay close attention to

the student bulletin for updates. One student that isn’t looking forward to these updates is Amy

Unruh, who said, “I think it is a good idea to have solar panels, but I think it would be a better idea to avoid the parking problems in-volved with building the s t r u c tu re s , and instead save money by putting them on our school’s r o o f s . ” On Dec. 1 construction on rooms 1-10 is anticipated to begin. These class-rooms haven’t been touched since Leigh was established in 1962, and will be the last row of classrooms to undergo their first renovations.

Some teachers in this row have already moved into different class-rooms, while the rest will wait until right before the construction to move

Endless construction around Leigh campus is coming to a haltinto the other available classrooms.

After they are remodeled, classrooms one and two will become regular classrooms, room three will be for 2D Art classes, room four will be for 3D Arts, and room five is intended to be a Multimedia classroom. Two of the art rooms will have a back door that will connect to an out-side patio that will be built. The patio

photos by Kylie Brown

will be enclosed and equipped with kilns used for firing p r o j e c t s . “I am l o o k i n g forward to these rooms to be com-pleted, so all of our classrooms at Leigh can be nice,” said Gabby Eik. O t h e r rooms that will un-dergo con-s t r u c t i o n this summer are rooms 100, 200, and the caf-eteria. The c a f e t e r i a will be mod-

ernized and have many similari-ties to the cafeteria at Del Mar that was recently remodeled. These improvements to Leigh’s campus are the only construction plans in Leigh’s foreseeable future.

Traffic cones line off areas of the student parking lot.

A warning sign is displayed in the teacher parking lot, marking off a construc-tion site.

Eight innocent lives taken in Cupertino shooting

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Lehigh Hansons Permanente Cement Plant in Cupertino, Shareef Allman, a disgruntled worker, opened fire on his coworkers. On Thurs-day, Oct. 6, Allman was lying dead in a Cupertino driveway. Allman’s attack came sud-denly during a group meeting at the company. Before the meet-ing came to a close, Allman left the office and returned with his firearm and began to shoot. Coworkers were taken by surprise, due to the fact that Allman had been working dili-gently the past couple of days. He had come in that morning acting cheerful and said his usual good mornings before go-ing to get a coffee. Everything seemed normal until All-man appeared with his gun and pulled the trigger. After the initial shoot-ing, Allman then continued his killing spree for the next couple of hours as an area wide man hunt began. Cupertino police went from house to house as the community waited in fear. All the schools and several busi-nesses in the area were closed. One of these schools was Archbishop Mitty.

Some Mitty students expressed a lack of concern at the situation. “It was actually kind of fun.

We just listened to our iPods and went on facebook and watched mov-ies,” said Mitty junior Alex Kirchick. While the students stayed inside their classrooms and shot the breeze, Shareet Allman was hiding out some-where in the streets of Cupertino. The

students had to stay inside their class-rooms from about 7:40 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at which point they were allowed

to resume their regular activities. Thursday, Oct. 6, Allman was lying dead in an unidentified person’s driveway. Initial reports said that Allman was shot dead by Cupertino Police, but a couple of days later the autopsy proved differently. Coroners concluded that

On Thursday morning, every football player received a “goodie bag” in first period. They were told it was anonymous, and even though in many cases someone nearby knew which

cheerleader it was from, it was kept a very big secret until the next day, Friday. “The football players really ap-preciated it and we couldn’t be happier. They did a really good job and made homecoming week a little more spe-cial,” said Gabe Davis, varsity quarter-back. The two teams, cheer and foot-ball, greeted each other with gifts on

Friday dur-ing the “reveal”, where the

players finally learned who had been behind all their personal gifts. The girls showed up with baked goods, and the boys showed up with flowers and gifts. “Mainly homecoming is about the football players, and I thought it was really cool to let them know we appreciated them,” said junior var-sity cheerleader Krystal Soltani. “I thought it was a great experience.” With that, the football play-ers faced off against Westmont High School. Students and parents alike

were squeezing their way onto the little space left on the bleachers, with plenty of people standing behind the bleachers or sitting on the ground at the bottom. Bubbly shouts of “V, V-I, V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!” were emanating from the cheer-leaders. Even people who weren’t at the game knew what was going on—a few who lived nearby could tell what

Homecoming, continued from the front page

Map of Cupertino area shows sites where recent shootings occured.

Sunna ThorkelsdottirStaff Writer

Around the World in 5 Days, the Homecoming theme for the week. Monday- Mr. Rushmore, Tuesday Great Barrier Reef, Wednesday- Greece, Thursday- Class breakdown (Freshmen: South-west Airlines, Sophomores: Safari Airlines, Juniors: Olympic Airlines, Seniors: Royal Airlines) & Friday- Class colors (Freshmen: white, Sophomores: yellow/gold, Juniors: green, Seniors: Black)

Photos by Sadie Williams

while Allman had been shot numer-ous times by police, the final life tak-ing shot came from his own hand gun.

“We didn’t know he shot himself until they did the autop-sy,” Sunnyvale police Captain David Verbrugge told the Mercury News. “In the split second it takes to have someone point a gun at you, they began firing and he must

have shot himself at that time.” After 24 hours of searching, the killer was no more. The community

could finally relax. “We’re just glad it’s over,” Cupertino resident Lisa Young told the Mercury News, “It’s been nerve-racking around here.” Police say that Allman was placing guns in certain locations for what they believed was his prepa-ration of a final standoff. People who once thought Allman to be a rational and caring person were in shock when they heard the things he did and how every-thing was so premeditated. Allman had a pre-vious record of making mis-takes at work and not owning up to them. Allman had been confronted before Wednes-day about his latest mistake which involved snagging wires with an overturned truck. This further irritated Allman who already be-lieved he was being targeted. “He thought everybody was after him,”

Mike Ambrosio a coworker of All-men told the Mercury News. “He wasn’t thinking no more.” Allmen had made up his mind and on that dreadful Wednesday, he lost control and ended up chang-ing the Cupertino area forever.

Sean HillerStaff Writer

happened just based on the volume of the screams coming from the stands. The night began with a victory for JV, but ended with a 26-20 loss by var-sity. However, students danced with just as much energy at the dance on Saturday night- regardless of the lights being on. Batmazian sums it up: “It is per-sonally one of my favorite events all

y e a r , and I c a n ’ t w a i t u n t i l n e x t year’s!”

Editors-in-Chief

Marissa Rodriguez, Kylie Brown

Section EditorsNews: Brianna Houston

Opinion: Caitlyn NurnbergFeatures: Amanda Cendejas

Sports: Zachary TatarEntertainment: Blayke Leach

In-Depth: Nanxi Tang

Visuals EditorKylie Brown

Online EditorsNanxi Tang, Christopher Wyman

Business ManagersChristopher Wyman, Nathan Keenan, Jeannie Ceglar

Copy EditorNicole Hamilton

Staff WritersRajashree Bahttacharya, Kylie Brown, Jeannie Ceglar, Amanda Cendejas, Mikayla Druhan,

Matthew Duell, Nicollette Eilia, Michelle Fitzsimmons, Dominic Guidry, Tiffany Ha,Nicole Hamilton, Sean Hiller, Brianna Houston, Katrina Jabbari, Jinny Jung, Nathan Keenan

Blayke Leach, Katherine MacQuarrie, Alassandra Marquez, Caitlyn Nurnberg, Kayla PavlicevichEmily Ransom, Michael Rea, Heyinn Rho, Marissa Rodriguez, Anna Schwarz, Adam Soret,

Chloe Tamaro, Nanxi Tang, Zachary Tatar, Julie Thompson, Sunna Thorkelsdottir, Andrew van Brunt, Joseph Vasquez, Thomas Viola, Makena Volzing, Luke Weinberg, Sadie Williams, Angel

Wilson, Kendra Wood, Christopher Wyman, Nikita Zakladnyi

Design StaffKylie Brown, Nicollette Eilia, Michelle Fitzsimmons, Dominic Guidry, Tiffany Ha, Sean Hiller, Katrina Jabbari, Katherine MacQuarrie, Alassandra Marquez, Kayla Pavlicevich, Emily Ransom,

Heyinn Rho, Marissa Rodriguez, Adam Soret, Chloe Tamaro, Julie Thompson, Sunna Thorkelsdottir, Andrew van Brunt, Joseph Vasquez, Makena Volzing, Luke Weinberg, Angel

Wilson

Visuals StaffRajashree Bhattacharya, Mikayla Druhan, Jinny Jung, Anna Schwarz, Sadie Williams, Kendra

Wood, Nikita Zakladnyi

Online StaffMatthew Duell, Michael Rea, Thomas Viola

AdviserElizabeth Nakamura

The Eleight is an independent publication of the Journalism class at Leigh High School. Its content reflects the opinion of the Writing Staff and does not necessarily reflect the views of Leigh

High School, its Board of Trustees, faculty, administration or student body.

If you feel that The Eleight improperly or insufficiently represents any part of the Leigh High community, or have any other questions,

suggestions or comments, please email Leigh’s Journalism class via the_eleight@yahoo.com.

Nicollette EiliaStaff Writer

Dominic GuidryStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of Tim Yankey

Get to know your 2011 Homecoming Court a little better

“I was thrilled, nervous, uncom-fortable, and hungry,” said senior Zoe Demertzis when asked how she felt when she found out that she had made top ten for homecoming court. De-mertzis will also be going all out on the spirit days throughout homecoming week. “Not see-ing anybody dressed up isn’t any fun,” says Demertzis . D e m e r t z i s never really pictured her-self being on homecom-ing court. “There was Lizzie McGuire to be watched,” said De-mertzis. W h e n asked to sum up her high school expe-rience in five words or less, Demertzis responded saying that it was “nothing to complain about.” Kelly Phillips was super ex-cited to find out that she had made it on to the homecoming court, but even as a child she had never really pictured herself as homecoming queen. “The only time I had heard about Homecoming king and queen was in movies, and I never pictured myself being like them,” said Phillips. Phillips claims that high school could be described as being “the best time of my life!” Phillips believes that being a part of Homecoming is about being well-rounded and involved. “If you make a name for yourself in high school then you’ve got a good chance of making it on the court,” says Phillips. Although he nor-mally doesn’t dress up for spirit days, you will be seeing Homecoming court nominee Trevor Peterson dressing up throughout Homecom-ing week. When asked to describe his high school experience, Pe-terson said it was “an adventure.” When find-ing out that he was on homecoming court Peterson said he “felt honored.” And although Peterson feels hon-ored to be on the homecoming court, “It’s not that big of a deal to me. It would be fun to win, but I’m not going to stress over it.” “I was never expecting it, and it’s a huge honor to be voted in by my peers,” said Homecoming court nomi-nee, Emma Canepa. “I think court is more based on well-rounded and in-volved students.” Canepa says that her high school experience was amazing and that she wouldn’t change anything about it. Although Emma almost always dresses

up for spirit days she never really goes all out, but in the case of Homecoming she definitely will be going all out. “I was in a state of disbelief and after it sunk in it was a good feeling,” said senior and homecoming court nominee, Broderick Baker when asked how he felt after finding out that he had made it on to the Homecoming Court. Baker had always wanted to be on Homecoming court, ever since his freshman year. “It looked like it would be a lot of fun to be on the court,” said

Baker. His main focus isn’t necessarily winning homecoming king but more just getting to know the other nomi-nees as well as being a positive role model. Baker’s first impression of the homecoming court was, “They are all really good looking as well as really nice people.” He also plans to be going

all out on the spirit days throughout Homecoming week. Either grabbing his stretchy neck skin or a controller to a video game with a mild case of Senior-itis, Home-coming nominee Calvin Cotton takes this year especially seriously. Cot-ton ranks this year as his hardest and most fun; in particular, he loves being on the court. Cotton remarks of his fel-low Top Ten nominees, “You couldn’t have a better group of students to rep-resent the school in my opinion. They are all great guys and gals.” Cotton can see himself as equally as every other guy on top ten and as the Homecom-

Senior Royaltying King, though he is still shocked he made it this far. After the popping sound of bal-loons and hearing his name, Home-coming nominee Taylor Shapiro ex-claimed, “YES!” Shapiro made his way to the group of fellow nominees. He described his high school experience so far as crazy, stressful, fun, and amaz-ing, and this year is definitely the most fun for Taylor. “I never saw myself on Homecoming court until a couple days before we voted. I’m pumped because

now I know at least a couple of people like me enough to vote for me.” Shapiro con-cludes that he can definitely see himself as King because it was made for him, and crowns look really good on him. “ I never imag-ined myself as Homecoming Queen because it has never been my goal

or anything; in the end it’s re-

ally just a label and the fame is fleet-ing”, said Homecoming Nominee Ka-tie MacQuarrie. MacQuarrie enjoys everyone on the court as they are all a great group of people. Her overall as-sumption of Homecoming Court is it’s based on popularity because everyone votes on their favorite, but at the same

time the things students do and are involved in are what make them popular. Throughout her stressful, hectic, fun, challenging and memorable experience in high school, she is extremely thankful for everything. “I was so excited!” said Homecoming nominee Rachel Yankey when de-scribing how she felt when she found out the good news. Yankey was always told she was going to be on Homecoming Court mainly because her sister was on it as well, but she herself has never seen herself on the court or as queen. She takes this fun and crazy year with the utmost importance, although her senior-itus is “Creeping in slowly”. She enjoys her experience with the rest of the court and said, “They are so much fun! I don’t really care if I get Homecoming Queen. I’m just happy I have the oppor-tunity to enjoy this.” “I am so excit-

ed to be on the court. It really is an honor.” said nominee Danny Davis. Davis describes homecoming as a mix between a Popularity competition and a contest of well-rounded students. He has never imagined himself on Home-coming Court before and can’t think of himself as Homecoming King. Davis takes on volleyball and Leighdership as his main activities. “I basically spend most of my life at Leigh,” said Davis. If he could have any pet it would be the pet he already owns, Magnum, his pet fish Rachel and Megan gave him, “I’m scared of all other animals…” said Davis.

The Homecoming court pictured together at halftime of the Homecoming game after Trevor Peterson and Kelly Phillips were crowned King and Queen.

Senior Rachel Yankey poses for the camera after the King and Queen coronation ceremony on Oct. 21.

Photo courtesy of Tim Yankey

The Eleight is an independent publication dedicated to honest, ethical, accurate and complete

coverage of the Leigh High student body and its surrounding community.

Dear Readers,

Well hello there! For those of you return-ing Longhorns, you might have noticed a few changes on the pages of The Eleight this month. With a new school year comes new Editors-in-Chief, and we’re very excited to show you our first edition of the year! Along with changes in the paper, we also have brand new website (www.theeleight.org) that we’d love for you to check out! As the weather cools down, so does the stress of the new school year. We’d love to hear your opinions, ideas for stories, or see any cool pictures you’ve taken lately. Feel free to submit anything to our email (the_eleight@yahoo.com) and we might put it on our website. (With credit to you, of course!) Now that Homecoming stress has come and gone, we encourage you to sit back, relax, and enjoy our October edition.

Your Editors-in-Chief, Kylie Brown and Marissa Rodriguez

half of admitted students. Your target schools are those where your statistics are in the top half of admitted stu-dents. Your safety schools should be ones where you well surpass the expec-tations of the school and you’re basi-cally guaranteed in. Make a list of your extracurriculars and things you’ve done in high school that you’ll want to men-tion on your application.

To apply to privates, you will probably use the Common Applica-tion. And for UC/CSU, you’ll have to make a separate account. Some privates choose not to follow Common Appli-cation (though most do), but for those, you’ll have to do your own investiga-tion and research! For privates, make sure to look into supplements, which are extra essays or questions that col-leges may require you to answer to ap-ply into a certain area of study. GET STARTED ON YOUR ESSAYS EARLY! You’re going to want multiple drafts and edits on it. Your first draft should be far from perfect,

Pregnant Athletes, Romantic Snake Dinners, and Darth Vader

What did the blonde say to her doctor when he told her she was pregnant? She asked, “Is it mine?” I am sure Amber Miller, a Chica-go-born and nearly 9-month pregnant mother who had started feeling con-tractions just minutes after complet-ing a 26.2-mile race on Oct.10 had a slightly different response to her abrupt stages of early childbirth.

The suburban Chicago woman, who slaved her way through 26.2 miles of agony while experiencing the won-derful side effects of her baby-to-be, including, but not limited to: abdomi-nal cramps, mild to severe back pain, congested nose, bloating, heartburn, increased headaches, swelling of the joints, joint pain, exhaustion, extreme hair loss, shortness of breath, and an overall discomfort while nearly 39 weeks pregnant.

To my surprise, Miller bore a perfectly healthy baby girl that night, who she named June, weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 14 ounces. The hurt and sadness that I had experi-enced while watching ‘The Notebook’ for the first time had reentered into the gates of my life once again after hearing that June, Amber’s daughter, may expe-rience learning or health defects later on in life. A single tear began to slide slowly and softly down my left cheek.

You don’t need to be a doctor to recognize that bobbing and bouncing your baby around while running for 6 hours straight probably isn’t the great-est thing to do to pump yourself up for giving birth, or the most beneficial thing to do for your baby’s health. Af-ter a day of being flustered and mad with this woman who chose to gamble away her baby’s health and future, I be-gan to recognize how extraordinary of an athlete and runner she is.

Truly, Michael Jordan’s average of 30.1 points per game, Jerry Rice’s 205 touchdowns, Barry Bond’s 762 home-runs, and Tiger Wood’s 16 World Golf Championships just doesn’t seem as great as running 26.2 miles while being on the verge of labor to me (opinion may vary). It would truly make my day to see Amber in mid-run on the label of my Gatorade or on the cover of my box of Wheaties rather than seeing Tiger Wood’s dejected face all over my pro-tein bars and energy drinks. To conclude, regardless of me be-ing initially upset with Amber Miller for potentially scarring her baby for life, our hopeless society needs more dedicated and driven people who will push through the turmoil and struggles to persevere and stick it out to the end

regardless of their situation.

In other bizarre news, on October 18 in the city of Sacramento (Sac-Town to all my homies out there) California, David Senk, a 54-year old male was re-ported to have barbarically taken, not just one, but two MAN sized bites out of a cuddlesome and delightful python snake. Senk was arrested on suspicion of “unlawfully maiming or mutilat-ing a reptile,” and booked on $10,000 bail. First off, as I see it, this man should be pampered and paraded through the streets of Sacramento atop an extravagant Disney float handcraft-ed by the finest and most prestigious float-makers of our day while being spoon-fed the new Captain Crunch Frappuccino from Starbucks.

David should not be shunned as fast as Britney Spears was after she de-liberately shaved her beautiful blonde locks off, and exposed her vast and de-lightful scalp to the cruel and unforgiv-ing world.

Instead, David Senk should be embraced and given the key to the city for his good and compassionate inten-tions to eliminate such a deadly and treacherous snake from the community of Sacramento. To conclude, I’m sure there is a very valid and legitimate reason as to why David Senk decided to sssssssssss-nack on a snake rather than staying home and watching another zesty and voluptuous episode of Jersey Shore like any normal person.

Perhaps it was David’s last night before becoming a vegetarian, or per-haps it was something on his bucket list that he can now joyously and contently cross off. The truth is, we just don’t know, and probably never will know… until his trial, which is scheduled to take place next month sometime. To conclude my lineup of strange and unimportant news, a man dressed as a Star Wars villain, Darth Vader, robbed a Chase bank in Setauket, New York on Wednesday, October 12.

First off, I would just like to say “kudos” to you Vader, for throwing yourself out there to the cruel and re-lentless world without your light saber OR inhaler. I applaud you, because robbing a bank takes a lot of backbone and cour-age, especially with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi lurking around every corner of the crime-infested streets of New York looking for desperate and low-life scuzzbags like yourself, Mr. Vader. Secondly, I hope you thanked your mother for constructing that ex-quisite and charming Darth Vader cos-tume while you participated in the first Wii Sport Olympic team in the base-ment of your parent’s house.

Be satisfied in the knowledge that your groin pulls will only ever be virtual, Vader. To wrap up, I think that robbing a bank is a pretty pitiful and scummy thing to do, and I hope justice will find you in your nerd cove and rain down on you like no other.

Next time I suggest you put your mind over Matt-er and check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Tackling college applications

“We normally meet down in the bowl, in our warm-up block, in sec-tions. If you’re not in your spot when the drum major calls us to attention, you’re late and owe either laps or lung-es,” said flutist Molly Coyne, “We form a visual block on the field…and do ba-sic marching exercises. We take it one set at a time. Then [the marching] is

put with the show music. For the rest of practice we run the different parts of the show.” With all the time and energy spent on practices, it can make it dif-ficult to manage a social and school life alongside band. “I honestly don’t sleep,” said Coyne, “On average, I sleep five hours a night and a nap after school when I can. With…homework, flute lessons, and friends, I need to take advantage of every minute I have.” “It’s mostly mental exhaustion that slows us down, after hours of the

same move…everyone begins to get lazy and make mental errors,” said flut-ist Evie Tran. But even with a few missed steps, the Leigh marching band still proves it-self to be a strong competitor, ranking 14th on the west coast in the Western Band Director’s Association. While rig-orous practices are a main contributor

to this success, what keeps the band functioning so well is teamwork. “We are like fam-ily,” said Tran, “We spend so much time together, and there are sometimes fights, but everything always works out in the end. I know I always have my section on my side if I ever need them.” Although Leigh has shown its capability as a competing marching band, winning competi-tions is not the top prior-ity of the program. “That’s what I really enjoy most about it: that I’m putting out

stronger people. They come through the program and leave better, stronger, more enlightened human beings,” said Royer. The Leigh High School marching band performs at every home football game at half time and had its first com-petition in Cupertino on Oct. 8. So, when you watch the marching band, remember that none of that perfor-mance would have been accomplished if not for a well-disciplined and dedi-cated group of students and instruc-tors.

Behind the scenes of marching band

Marissa RondriguezEditor-in-Chief

Makena VolzingStaff Writer

Photo by Marissa Rodriguez

Every Friday night at half time, in a span of about five to seven minutes, the Leigh High School marching band awakens the field in a medley of song. But most of the audience is unaware of all the effort that goes into bringing the halftime shows alive. Marching band shows are originally de-signed in April and May of the previous year. “Basically, the marching band shows, unlike a musical or a play, doesn’t just buy a package show that is redone every year,” said band director Suzanne Royer, “You want to do something that’s an original creation…You have to create and write your own [show].” From the moment the marching band re-vealed its 2011 theme of “Massacre at Glencoe”, the band students jumped right into practices and learning the drills, start-ing in the summer at band camp and then throughout the fall after school. Band members are required to attend class period on B-days as well as after school practices from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. In addi-tion, they must attend multiple “Super Saturdays” that run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. With so many hours dedicated to band practices, strict schedules are established to ensure productive prepa-ration for performances.

College applications are, no doubt, one of the worst parts about be-ing a senior. It’s a major source of stress during the last year of high school, and is the one thing that everyone has something to say about. But let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be. Every-body makes a big deal out of col-lege applications, but if you’re one of those people who wait till the last possible min-ute to start your essay and end up submitting your first draft while the server crash-es, uh…good luck! College ap-plications can be simple, with the right amount of time and the least amount of pro-crastination. First step in applying to col-leges is….choosing colleges! Just take an hour out of your day for a week to research colleges. You’ll want to con-sider how this college fits into your lifestyle, the city/area it’s in (do you want to stay in state? Or get far away from parents?), the major/college you’ll be applying to within the college, and how well the college fits you. This is where you’ll be spending the next four years of your life! You divide your selected colleges into three groups: reach, target, and safety schools. Reach schools are those where your SAT/ACT scores as well as your GPA ranking are in the bottom

but it should have the skeleton of your final essay in it. Your final essay should be one that is free of grammatical er-rors, flows well, and really shows who you are! Talk about something that is important to you and that you are pas-sionate about! Make sure to ask for teacher rec-ommendation letters (if required) AT LEAST two weeks early! That gives

them time to write a suf-ficient essay where they can really elaborate on what kind of person you are and write an eloquent essay. When they finish your essay, thank them for taking the time to write you a recommendation letter! Look into the statistics of the average accepted students of the schools you want to get into. If you feel that your SAT/ACT score is off par, you might want to con-sider retaking it. The ACT has an optional essay (but most colleges require you take it!), a science, math, English, and reading por-

tion! Figure out which test is best for you. Ultimately, don’t stress out too much. An acceptance or rejection doesn’t define who you are. Colleges are asking you to do the near-impos-sible: fit 17 well-lived years of life into 1000 words, a transcript, and a recom-mendation letter from someone whose known you for four years, maximum. If after all this work, you don’t get into your first choice college, here’s a piece of advice: College rejections are a lot like relationships- why would you spend time pining over the ones that reject you when there’s so many more out there?

Hitting the books will spare you some stress come application time.

photo by Kylie Brown

It Goes On

Just Another English Lesson

All hail the King and Queen

Kendra WoodStaff Writer

Photo by Tim Yankey

Homecoming Queen and King smile for the cameras moments after they are crowned.

Let’s talk about “The Scarlet Let-ter”. Now, don’t let that sentence turn you off…I promise this won’t be a lec-ture about the book. Yes, Hawthorne’s excessive verbiage and descriptive tan-gents about flowers and prison doors drive most of us crazy--this is a given--but there happens to be a much deeper meaning. And no, it isn’t “don’t com-mit adultery” or “sin is bad”. In fact, “The Scarlet Letter” has a lesson that all high schoolers should learn: judgment is just a waste. Oh, don’t act so appalled. We all judge others…even the best of us. Sometimes involuntary thoughts just creep into our minds, whether it’s mentally criticizing the girl with the bad hair day or the boy who runs slowly in PE. We can’t help it. It’s sim-ply human nature. But the actions that follow these thoughts are where the trouble starts. If you haven’t read “The Scarlet Letter” or aren’t in the eleventh grade or above, let me fill you in: Hester Prynne has an affair with this reverend guy named Dimmesdale, has a kid, and is forced to wear a scarlet ‘A’ so all the town knows she is an adulterer. Throughout the book, the Puri-tans in Hester’s town label her only as a representation of sin rather than a per-son. Due to their persecution, Hester inevitably becomes bitter and isolated.

Now here’s the scandalous part: Dimmesdale’s identity as Hester’s lov-er remains hidden, which seems like he’s going to get off easy. But really, he’s literally getting sick from hiding his sin. But he doesn’t confess his sin because he fears being judged and smirched by the Puritans as Hester is. He doesn’t want to face rejection by his peers because of his mistake. Maybe you didn’t know this, but we all are carrying our own scarlet let-ters around. Whether it’s embroidered on our shirts or hidden underneath layers, it’s still there. We all have com-mitted acts we aren’t proud of and have had to suffer some sad consequences. Name it, there is definitely something we’ve done that we just have to throw our hands up and say, “I screwed up”. And know what? That’s okay to do. It’s okay to admit you were wrong. It’s human even to make a mistake. Shocking, I know. So why are we so afraid to be imperfect, and not only that, but announce it? Because we don’t want others to reject us. But why should other people judge us in the first place? Their judg-ment is only invalid because they themselves haven’t looked in the mir-ror and witnessed their own scarlet letter. People are quick to judge their peers because they don’t want to rec-ognize their own faults. If we mock other people for their mistakes, maybe ours won’t be noticeable, right? This cycle is dangerous, and it is time to kick its butt. All it takes to end it, though, is some self acceptance. Go home, look in the mirror and tell yourself that it’s okay that you made a mistake. Tell yourself that it doesn’t make you any less of a good person to make one. Life wasn’t meant to have no imperfection, so embrace it already. Then realize when you look around and see others that they have their own baggage too. So don’t be so quick to judge them. Because judg-ing others won’t keep you from being judged. So unless you’re willing to sew a scarlet letter on your own wardrobe, don’t force others to do it. It’s not a good fashion statement anyways.

The Eleight: Homecoming King & Queen seemed like such a big deal to us as kids; did you ever imagine that it would be you someday?

Kelly Phillips: Homecoming king and queen was some-thing I only saw or heard about in the movies; I never imagined that it could be me one day!

Trevor Peterson: As a kid I knew it was a pretty big deal so I never saw myself as winning it in the future.

T.E.: They say it’s more of a popularity contest than any-thing else. Do you agree? Why or why not?

K.P.: It is a popularity con-test, but not in the sense that everyone thinks. It’s about making a name for yourself within your student body and staying involved. Also reaching outside of your core group of friends and getting to know all types of students.

T.P.: I think it’s definitely a popularity contest, but at the same time people are going to vote for who they respect, which is why top 10 and top 20 had some awe-some people.

T.E.: Think back to freshman year. Do you think the results would have been the same? Why or why not?

K.P.: I don’t think the results would be the same freshman year. In 9th grade I was involved in one thing, acrobatic gymnastics, and I spent almost all of my time with it. Nearly every week night was spent in the gym, so there

was no time to hang out with friends or spend time on school related things. Weekends were also spent in the gym so that meant no football games, or even dances. In addition to that, my person-ality was much different my freshman year. I was extremely shy and didn’t branch out as much as I should have. Once sophomore year came around, I became rather outgoing!

T.P.: The results definitely would not have been the same. I was kinda shy and not as outgoing as I am now. I would probably get like 3 votes.

T.E.: What was your favorite part of be-ing on the Homecoming court?

K.P.: Hands down, favorite part of homecoming court was getting to know the rest of the court, to a level

that I would never have gotten to inside the classroom. I love each and every one of them!

T.P.: Favorite part was doing the Homecoming Lipsync. Because I got to make fun of Katie a lot.

T.E.: Did you discover any kind of valuable advice or lesson throughout this

process?

K.P.: I discovered that big events such as this bring out different sides in everyone, and the most important thing you can do is react in the best way possible, your reaction is every-thing and really shows who you are as a per-son. I believe it’s really important to be grate-ful for getting into the top 20, top 10, and es-pecially king & queen. It’s not something that anyone should ever ex-pect, and I just want people to know how incredibly grateful I am that they voted to give me this honor.

T.P.: Mainly that it’s important to stay hum-ble and gracious for be-ing chosen. I was very honored that all the students voted for me to be king.

T.E.: Waiting for top 20, top 10, then the final choice to be an-nounced, what were your feelings and how did the level of anxiousness change?

K.P.: The level of anxiousness got low-er and lower each time! Being nomi-nated at first was something I really wanted, but throughout the whole experience, it became less about the title and more about the honor of be-ing there in the first place, regardless of the results. I was a happy camper from the start.

T.P.: When top 20 came out I was pretty surprised and didn’t think I would make top 10. And then when it was time to announce I was just happy to be there. I guess people like me more than I thought.

T.E.: Do you feel like you’ve accom-plished something that will make an impact on your life? Or is this just a con-fidence booster for you?

K.P.: It’s definitely a confidence boost-er, but I like to think that I accom-plished something! By that I mean staying involved and motivated to do my best in every aspect during my short 4 years here!

T.P.: It’s just a confidence booster re-ally. I know that I accomplished some things, but really its a booster more than anything.

T.E.: How do you think the planning for all the events and reveals throughout the Homecoming process went? What would you have liked to have added?

K.P.: The planning of all the events during this process was phenomenal, coronation and leadership and the reveal committee I thank you all so much I would not have changed a thing!

T.P.: Everything was perfect thanks to coronation and leadership. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Students’ struggles to manage their time is fre-quently caused by pro-crastination.

-Amy Spencer There’s no more elegant example of the cyclical self-torture of procrastination than the lyrics to a song from the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Our hero has a book report due. He sings in a halting, panicky monotone: “If I start writing now, when I’m not really rested, it could upset my thinking, which is not good at all. I’ll get a fresh start tomorrow, and it’s not due till Wednesday so I’ll have all of Tuesday unless something should happen...Why does this always happen? I should be outside playing, getting fresh air and sunshine. I work best under pressure and there’ll be lots of pressure if I wait till tomorrow. I should start writing now but if I start writing now when I’m not really rested, it could upset my thinking, which is not good at all.” Ring a bell? It’s a monologue we all experience in some form, an agonizing internal conversation that fells the best of us. And that’s where things start to get interesting: Procrastination is so relatable, so universal, because the human brain, it turns out, is wired for it. Science explains Charlie Brown’s seesaw sensibility as a fight that is sparked between two parts of the mind when it’s faced with a dis-tasteful activity: a battle of the limbic system (the unconscious zone that includes the pleasure center) and the prefrontal cortex (the internal “planner”). When the limbic system wins, and that’s pretty often, the result is putting off for tomorrow what could (and should) be done today. Here’s a bit more scientific backup, so you can stop blaming yourself (or your parents, your birth sign, the weather) and start chalking up procrastination to biology. The limbic system, one of the oldest and most dominant portions of the brain, is on automatic. It tells you to, say, pull your hand away from a flame—and also to flee from unpleasant tasks. In other words, it directs you to opt for “immediate mood repair,” explains Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Carleton University. The prefrontal cortex is a newer and weaker portion of the brain. It’s what allows you to integrate information and make decisions. “This is the part of the brain that really separates humans from ani-mals, who are just controlled by stimulus,” says Pychyl. The prefrontal cortex, located immediately behind the forehead (where we tap when we’re trying to think, dammit, think), gets the job done. But there’s nothing automatic about its function. You must kick it into gear (“I have to sit down and write this book report!”). And the moment you’re not consciously engaged in a task, your limbic system takes over. You give in to what feels good—you procrastinate. While understanding these mind games demystifies our habit of perpetually postponing stuff, it doesn’t cure the habit. The solution for procrastination is outsmarting it: You can trick yourself into productivity. How? Use anti-procrastination techniques that will fix the fight between the just-do-it angel and the pleasure-hungry devil in your head. No need to pick just one tactic. Have them all in your arsenal so you’re ready to handle whatever obstacle your battling brain might toss in your path.

Photo credit to Ben Revzin, Isabel Haggerty, Annie Jung In-depth designed by Jocelyn Shyong, Nanxi Tang, Kylie Brown, Marissa Rodriguez

via realsimple.com

via mayoclinic.com

Learn the biological factors that cause pro-crastination—and how to defeat them.

via college.gov

October 2011

Sleep is a very important factor in our everyday lives. We’ve all had the occasional late nights and seen the obvious effect that it has on us the following day. Not getting a sufficient amount of sleep can lead to a lack of focus and concentration, inability to pay attention in class, falling asleep at school, and overall nega-tive, short-tempered behavior throughout the day. But on the other end of the spectrum, sometimes we’ll get an adequate amount of sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, an “adequate” amount is a recommended 8-9 hours a night. When we are well rested, we wake up feeling energized and will go into the day with a positive attitude and able to stay focused throughout. Unfortunately however, only about 15% of teens get the rec-ommended 8-9 hours of sleep. Studies have shown that about 20% of adolescents fall asleep in class daily. “Almost all teen-agers, as they reach puberty, become walking zombies because they are getting far too little sleep,” said Cor-nell University psychologist James B. Maas, one of the nation’s leading sleep experts. Even so, sleeping is often regarded as a last priority for many high school students. Between home-work and social activities, sleep is simply last on the list.

There just isn’t enough time in a day for the average high school student. Waking up in the morning is a challenge in and of itself; then add homework assignments, hours spent on extra-curricular activities, and the all-too-often necessary all-nighters. Free time seems like a far, distant dream. Social life? Friends? What’s that? Most students question if adequate sleep, good grades, and a social life are even achievable. “I think it’s hard to manage all three be-cause some students don’t have a good way of managing stress. Stress is inevitable,” said senior Mike Kim. If it’s possible to balance all three, then why have so many of us decided that we are forced between all three aspirations? “We live in a busy world that’s fast paced and time consuming. Achieving all three can be done: I hang out with friends, I’m in all honors classes, and I have good grades. My family helps keep me focused,” said sophomore Kristen Haserot. With so little time on our hands, we have trouble managing our priorities. We ask ourselves what is more important, and we force ourselves to pick and choose. But the bottom line is that we don’t realize how im-portant time management really is. “Time management helps; I don’t watch television because I prioritize. You have to be focused,” said sophomore class president Josh Applebaum. Ultimately, learning to prioritize your time and manage your activities is a neces-sary skill for success.

AP Stats Chp. 4 -60% of students say that grades and a social life matter more to them then sleep-64% of students be-lieve that it is possible to achieve all three goals-Average number of hours of sleep for a Leigh student is 6.3, for the general population is 8.5, and the adequate amount is 9.25

c (see graph)

The key to good grades—do your home-work.

You have to get your priorities straight.

Take time to relax and listen to mu-sic or play games or whatever you do after long periods of homework; it helps increase focus and energy.

Have con-fidence in yourself.

Learning a balancing act

Oft-dismissed “good night’s sleep”has its benefits

Made by Paulina Luckiew

icz

via National Sleep Foundation

Don’t take on more than you can handle.

Make a carefully considered decision about what to com-mit your time to. Quality, not quantity, is what matters.

Take advantage of small in-tervals of time, e.g. between classes,to accomplish some-thing.

Focus on your pas-sion.

Identify the different require-ments for each class, e.g., some classes are lecture-based and some classes are more interactive.

Procra s t ina-tion is usually only worth it if it’s for sleep.

On test days, be relaxed. Don’t stress or freak out, you’ll do worse.

Instead of wasting time ago-nizing and procrastinating, just do it!

Stay organized. Make a sched-ule, and stick to it.

Get enough sleep; don’t go to bed late.

If you really have too much to handle, recognize which tasks are the most important and which can be put off until another day.

Tips by Marko Vojvodic, Nanxi Tang, Jocelyn Shyong, Marissa Rodriguez

hours of sleep obtained

leigh students, population, adequate amount

Complainers Anonymous

Homecoming: Nathan Keenan

Staff Writer

Themes have just been an-nounced, outfits are being made, and tension is high to see who the Homecoming Court is. The sur-prise is unseen as some of Leigh’s most well known seniors run out in front of the crowd. Homecoming is a popularity contest, but isn’t that already known? The title of Homecoming King and Queen does not hold any responsibility per say, but it is a way to raise school spirit and crown two seniors to lead their year in a blaze of glory and loud noises. It seems to be common knowledge that Leigh’s biggest and baddest seniors get nominated for the honor; and un-like Class President, there are no re-quirements that are needed to fulfil any real duties. That is not saying Homecom-ing is unimportant. The event raises school morale and allows the stu-dents to dress up in accordance to the

unique theme each year. But the high-light is the crowning of Homecoming King and Queen, and honor bestowed upon two seniors based upon “popular vote.” But there are some that feel it is not just the top dogs that get elected to court. “I feel like the homecoming court is mostly a popularity contest. However this years court does have some quieter people in it which I think is nice because they get there chance to shine in the spotlight as well. I believe that just because you don’t feel com-pletely comfortable to be loud in front of the student body and get noticed, you can still make it onto Homecom-ing Court.” says Junior Dominique Clements. Clements is in Leadership and her insight into the topic of popu-larity shows that maybe Homecoming is more than a popularity contest. There is a chance for people at Leigh who don’t get as much exposure as others to be put in the limelight. This is one of the most important rea-sons Homecoming is so popular, see-ing people you might not know much about it a new perspective. Homecoming means differ-ent things for different people. Some could say it’s popularity that mat-

ter, others could say it’s just those who people want to see shine. But what’s important is that choice lies directly in the hands of the senior class. They elect who they want to represent them in the glori-ous week that Homecoming encompasses. It’s impossible to know what every person thinks when choosing the Homecoming Court, but they do seem have a similar pattern over the year. The unveiling is usu-ally not much of surprise, be-cause people know the most popular would make it. The fact that it is not very shock-ing shows that people expect these nominations to be based on who is most liked. There is no problem with having a popularity contest run Homecoming; in fact, it’s tradition. The biggest and baddest Seniors get to be crowned and treated like royalty, at least for one dance. Homecoming raises school spirit and gives the students a reason to be excited for the coming year, and self elected

leaders show that the students still do run Leigh.

Does popularity rule the school?

The teacher pops in an educa-tional video during class. Predictably, the room fills with mumbled com-plaints. Things like, “This is so point-less”, “Kill me now”, “This is why I hate this class”, radiated throughout the classroom. If you know me at all, you’re probably aware that I question nearly everything, and in my mind, there is no such thing as over-analyzation. So, naturally, instead of spend-ing the following time watching the video, I spent that time thinking. Initially, my thoughts about watching this video were just about the same as the majority of the class-room. I expected that I would find myself hardly escaping the urge to sleep. I expected that I’d find myself resting my head on that hard speckled desktop I’d become so familiar with, courtesy of three years of stale edu-cational videos, the most recent ones probably being from the early 90’s. Instead, I connected this series of events to form a question. Why do we, as high school students, complain so much about school? Why do we com-plain so much about something that our life essentially revolves around? High school can be tough, the people in it can be cruel, and the work-load can be a little much. Staring at your computer at midnight attempt-ing to write a report that’s due the next day that you should’ve done about a month ago, is a situation many of us have become a little too familiar with. To say that your average high school student is stressed is a bit of an understatement.

Nonetheless, with a little bit of effort, it’s all manageable. In the end we know it will all be worth it. Yet many of us still complain like there’s no tomorrow. It’s com-mon logic that complaining gets you absolutely nowhere, so why do we do it? Some of us crave sympa-thy, and others simply need to vent. Popular high school venting techniques include- but are not lim-ited to- any of the following: rants on Facebook about the ridiculous amount of homework given and the limited time in which we have to complete it, verbal rants that we force our friends to listen to, and rant-ing via the one and only, ironically trending hipster-esque blog; Tumblr. But rarely do we think about the educational opportunities that we are given are unreal, even with the constant dispute over California’s

somewhat lacking educational systems. With teachers there to help us every single day, the internet, and the privi-leges we are given, we have all the tools and capabilities to achieve incredible things.

The idea itself is a little cliché, but how often do we actually stop to think about it? We all know that the direction of our lives truly depends on our education, but do we ever stop to think about the opportunities we are given, in comparison to many of the truly unfortunate around the world? I read a book recently titled “Say You’re One of Them”, by Uwem Ak-pan. The novel is a series of true stories about a variety of people in different regions of Africa. The first story re-ally struck me as significant when pondering the subject of education.

The story was of an impoverished family living in a hut. The parents lived a day to day struggle to provide for their children. They worked endlessly in an attempt to send one of five chil-dren to school, in hopes he wouldn’t share the same destiny as his parents- poor and uneducated. In order to do so, their 12 year old daughter was a prostitute. She sacrificed herself every night, and she would come home and give what little income she made to pay for a uniform and supplies for the young boy who was trying to go to school. This barely scratches the surface on the extremes that some people must endure in order to get minimal, preliminary schooling. We can’t even begin to feel what these people feel, because chances are, most of us have come close to even somewhat experi-encing what some of these people have to go through. While we complain about wak-ing up at 7 in the morning, having to stay up late to finish homework (usually because we procrastinated), and watching an educational video, we fail to realize that some peo-ple would kill to be in our shoes. Everybody complains; we’re only human. Correction: We’re only teenagers. There’s nothing wrong with venting when stressed. However, instead of taking our education for granted, we should learn to embrace the struggles. In the end, it is all for our own benefit. So the next time you catch yourself on the verge of a complaint or two, try a new approach and in the words of artist Robert Cook, “Say and do something positive that will help the situation; because it doesn’t take any brains to complain.”

Photo by Chris Banuelos

Homecoming King and Queen Tony Santana and Angela Santoro from 2007 after getting crowned smile for the camera.

Photo by Danielle Baldelomar

2010 Homecoming King and Queen Lauren Weber and Larry Donald smile for the camera

Photo courtesy of Tom Yankey

The 2010 Homecoming court looks on during a lunch time rally.

Just JabBy Katrina Jabbari

So it begins... Senior year. Here it goes. Aug. 25 marked the beginning of the end of my high school career and my “child-hood.” 2011 is the last year I’ll have before I’m an adult… AGH. I can’t stand to see the word “adult” in print when it applies to me. Me, an adult? It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know what I want to be when I’m older or where I want to live, I don’t know where I want to go to college, I don’t even know what I want to major or minor in! I was going to make this column about clichés and/or quotes, but then I decided this would be much more comical- ranting about the things that are on my mind always seem funny to outsiders because my thinking process is so ridiculous. You see, I’m what you would call an over-analyst. I over-analyze everything- every situation, person, event, outcome, quote, action. I can’t help it. I used to blame it on being an emotional teenage girl, but I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m just absolutely insane. And I’m happy with that. I put way too much on my plate but I love everything I do, so I guess there’s no helping that. I’m in leader-ship, link crew, SOS, CSF, and jour-nalism. Outside of school, I have a full-time boyfriend and part-time job. Homecoming week was the deadliest of all school weeks. I may only have five classes, but when you have to make seven hundred homecoming posters, plan lunchtime rallies, practice for lip sync, meet deadlines for your journal-ism article and column, and plan for the ordering of senior sweatshirts and prom for your class, stress tends to get the best of you. But you know what? I wouldn’t trade any of this for the world. I’ve made the best of my high school career as far as I’m concerned. My freshman year was okay, but I always felt like something was missing. When I joined leadership, I fi-nally felt at home. I got involved in school and did better academically. I pushed myself to meet new people and try new things, and gained so much pride in my school. Being behind the scenes of a lot of the things that go on at Leigh has made me see how amazing our school really is. I think that’s why I get so offend-ed when people aren’t school-spirited. I understand that some of the dress-up days are hard to participate in and that some things may seem “stupid”. But you know what? If you make the best out of the opportunities you’re given, all you’ll get in return are lasting laughs and memories. We have such a great school. It excels in academics and athletics com-pared to almost any school in our area. Our marching band is the absolute best and most talented in our district, no matter what anyone else says. And sometimes these things go unnoticed. People only see Leigh for what it looks like on the outside. So what, it hasn’t been remod-eled since the 1960s? It gives it a his-torical feeling in my opinion. We’re the only school with a football bowl and it’s freaking legit. Our new quad looks bomb. See the things about our school that are positive. We have some of the best stu-dents and opportunities at our school, but it’s up to you to make the best out of what you’re being given. Like the

Leigh vs. Branham game… can I just say I’m still obsessed with that game? Seriously, the school spirit and morale during that week was priceless. I feel like Leigh united for the first time since I have been a student here that Friday night… and props to Robby Cabri for making his Ford Explorer into a long-horn and leading the caravan to Bra-nham. You’re awesome. One of my absolute favorite quotes is “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” –Lou Holtz Now this guy’s got life down to an art. If you’re having a terrible high school experience, that’s your fault whether you want to admit it to your-self or not. And if you’re having a great high school experience, congratula-tions. You’re awesome and make the best out of life. There should be more people like you. Freshmen have four years to make Leigh great for them. Take pride in the school you’re at, guys. High school is what you make of it. The same goes for sophomores, who are awkwardly in the middle of being not-freshmen, yet not-upperclassmen. Juniors need to make the best of this year to set the tone for their senior year. It all starts now. And, as for my fellow seniors, this is our last year. I know that I blow up our “Class of 2012” facebook page like there’s no tomorrow, but I have good reasoning behind it. I want this year to be amazing and memorable. I know it can be, but it’s not just up to me. It’s up to you, too. I can plan prom and design sweatshirts and plan fund-raisers with Jiwon and Shannon, but you guys are the ones who have to get excited and involved in everything go-ing on. It’s your last year before you go off to college (or whatever you’re do-ing after high school). Although some of you may use this as an excuse not to care, my take on it is this: Why not make it the best year you’ve had in high school? This is the year we’ll share with our grandkids when we’re over the hill, the one we’ll have pictures of hung up on the walls in our homes years from now. It’s time to make the best of this year. I’m gonna do it all- get involved in school, make bank, find my dream job, meet new people, apply to col-leges (four down, only a few more to go!) and make the decision of where I want to go, plan the best prom Leigh’s ever seen, and most importantly... “I’m gonna live like it’s the end of the world. 2-0-1-2.” ;) Are you? COME AT ME SENIOR YEAR. (And lastly, this column is dedi-cated to Ryan Nguyen, a.k.a. Eggburnt, because I no-buttered.)

Katherine MacQuarrieStaff Writer

We’ve all heard the reminders time and time again. No freaking al-lowed. Dance appropriately. Use your best judgment and discretion. Dance like you would in front of your grandma. We’ve all heard of the 45 degrees rule, too. But hey, this isn’t math class. So are they really going take out pro-tractors and carefully measure each and every one of us? In our school planner, the ad-ministration attempts to clearly convey its tolerance, or in this case, the lack thereof, for our “inappropriate dancing styles.” “Dance styles which are pro-vocative or offensive to the adult chap-erone are not allowed and students who insist on dancing in this manner will be removed from the dance and

Nanxi TangIn-Depth/Online Editor

denied the privilege of attending future dances”. What they are clearly referring to, is the relatively recent dancing phe-nomenon that has spread across Amer-ican high schools known as grinding, or more colloquially, freaking. If you’ve ever been to a dance at Leigh, it’s clear that Leigh is just anoth-er high school that has succumbed to the pulls of such provocative dancing styles. Last year, however, a new dance policy involving wristbands was imple-mented at Leigh. Students entered with a wristband and if were found dancing inappropriately, got it cut off. The second time around, students were sent out. “So many people complained about freaking, students complained, so we did what a lot of schools do. Still, the complaints are about two to one, with twice as many people saying

that we need to have a harsher dance policy,” said dean Pam Hoult. However, not surprisingly, the many Leigh students express the op-posing opinion. “I think people should be al-lowed to dance how they want to dance...[But] I can understand why the admin is so strict about our danc-ing because ...some of it isn’t entirely appropriate.” said junior, Tara Feria. “I do think that the dancing is appropriate but to a point. Let kids be kids. It’s high school!” said Stephanie Mcdowell It’s high school, and what’s the point of dances, except well, to dance? Nobody’s holding you at gunpoint to attend, or even to dance. Everybody has a choice whether to dance or not – if you don’t want to, then apply com-mon sense: just say no!

Love is in the air at Leigh Love is in the air at Leigh High School. New rela-tionships are bloom-ing and sparks are flying. We are young, so naive in-fatuation and hor-monal impulses are hard to ignore and I guess I can un-derstand that. But is this something students really need to share with the en-tire student body of Leigh High School? Surely it would be more appropriate to find a private place to express that at-traction toward each other. Sure, every-one has the right to express themselves. This is not a mat-ter of who’s with who, rather a matter of whether or not making out in front of peers is complete-ly necessary. We are happy for you. We are happy that you found someone to spend lunch with. Someone to revolve your high school dra-ma around. Someone to take away all your young freedom. But personally, the second most see tongue, they are

no longer happy but disturbed. Please

notice that everyone is avoiding walk-ing by you because it’s extremely un-comfortable to watch people you don’t

know (or do know, for that matter) grope and lick and stroke each other on school campus. In our student plan-ner it is clearly stated on page 7 under “Inappro-priate Displays of Affection”, “Mature indi-viduals do not display their af-fection for one another in pub-lic. A simple hug or “peck on the cheek” is an appropriate dis-play of warmth and friendship; “making out” is not. We ask that students not embarrass them-selves, their boy/girlfriend or oth-ers around them by saving their affections for a private time.” Well , there you have it folks. Save your necking for a later date. A ma-jority of us don’t want to be at

school as it is, so please don’t make it any harder on us.

Photo by Mikayla Druhan

Two seniors display their affection for one another. Photo by Jinny Jung

Wristbands: Leigh’s personal handcuffsLeigh students feel restricted with the tough rules when it comes to ‘freaking’ at dances

Freshmen gather in a circle at the Homecoming dance, trying to stay mindful of the strict rules being enforced.

could stand: Everything But the Kitch-en Sink. So we saddled up our steeds, loaded our pack mule, and made our way to the unknown land that was Walnut Creek. After many moons and various obstacles, we arrived at our des-tination. There was a fire in our bellies that could only be quenched by dairy. We chose from a wide variety of different ice creams to devour, ranging from the heavy “On like Donkey Kong” to the seductive “Snickerdoodle”, and mixed

with pounds of fudge, whipped cream, and three whole bananas.

Seconds later, we were faced with

Christopher WymanBusiness Manager/Online Editor

Adam SoretStaff Writer

Andrew Van BruntStaff Writer

Blayke LeachEntertainment Editor

We all scream for ice cream!Three Eleight staff members participate in an all out dairy challenge

Netflix hits the rewind button, reverts changes

Do you like big scoops of ice cream melting in your mouth? Well hang on to your noodle because the FOOD CHALLENGE IS BACK! Some challengers are new, some are old, all are ready. Or so they think. My name is Blayke Leach. Three hundred and sixty five days ago I em-barked on a expedi-tion of grand pro-portion. My quest was not an easy one. I set out to find and assemble the ulti-mate team of hungry gentlefolk. After scouring the grottoes of Malaysia, scuba diving to the darkest, smelliest depths of the ocean, and repelling down the face of Mt. Everest, I discov-ered two strapping young lads with bellies capable of wonders you can only dream of dream-ing of. After months of strenu-ous training and preparation, my recruits were ready. Iron Belly Adam Soret and Little Piglet Andrew Van Brunt took blood oaths to assist me in my quest to consume all things food. The day finally came when an ice cream goblin from the San Francisco Creamery presented us with a challenge only we

“The Abbey” in Santa Cruz

This month’s featured music scene is one of the area’s best-hidden venues: The Abbey. This coffee shop, which gets its name from the fact that it is attached to a church, is located just over the hill in Santa Cruz. Right off of High-way 1 near the edge of UC Santa Cruz, the Abbey is a regular host to open mic n i g h t s , a c o u s t i c nights, and local per-f o r m e r s . Though it appears to be small on the outside, when you walk in, you will be amazed by the amount of seat-ing space there is. While sitting on one of the many couches, bench pews, or tables, you can admire the work of lo-cal artists that they have on the walls.

The Abbey is a great place to go if you are looking for a laid back atmo-sphere to study, get some coffee, listen to music, or just hang out, and stays away from the generic feel of Star-

bucks. Though it is connected to a church, the music isn’t exclu-sively Chris-tian, and the baristas make everyone feel welcome. Over-all, the Abbey breaks free from the Star-bucks mold and brings together an eclectic group of people, art-ists, and mu-sicians, and with events every week-end, chances are there is s o m e t h i n g

that you’ll be interested in.

The Abbey350 Mission StreetSanta Cruz, California

Andrew Van Brunt and Adam Soret admiring the ice cream sundae.

Andrew Van Brunt and Adam Soret devouring the ice cream sundae.

Result of the intensity of the ice cream.

Food challenge participants before the challenge.Photos by Sadie Williams

the towering death conceived from the mind of the dirty ice cream ogre. Eight scoops of cold fury stood in our way, towering in what was literally an old fashioned sink; we only had one chance to take this beast down. We sat down, tucked our hankies in our col-lars, took off our caps, grabbed two spoons each and swan dove into the milky sea of no return. Soret was first to strike, spoon first. He went straight for the Mint Chocolate Chip, his sweet tooth getting its fix. Van Brunt came next, eating anything in his path, while doing everything in his power to avoid the evil death that was the banana. I managed to at-tack the creamy monster from one side and put a nice dent into the abdomen of the fiend. The ice cream just kept coming, dripping and plopping to the tray be-neath. The cold hit first, even before the taste, freezing the innards of our esophagus and sending shivers down our spines. Next came the brain freeze, acting as the iceberg that sank the Ti-

tantic (too soon?). Time seemed to slow down to a freeze as our bodies were not too far be-hind. With nipples erect, we ate and ate, our bodies grow-ing more and more numb as the seconds ticked by. All of a sudden, Van Brunt spewed a substance more slippery than snot on a glass doorknob. The banana slice ambushed his taste buds, which caused a chain reaction of utter de-struction. The mess was a distraction to everyone in the

restaurant, creating a hazardous and dangerous eating environment.

At the same time, Soret could be heard from miles away with his yelps of displeasure. He had been seduced by the sweet temptress of all things Jamocha. He danced with her sweet caramel swirls and ca-ressed the cookie dough embedded within. But then, just as soon as she had arrived, she left, and he was left alone with nothing but her memo-ry. The more we ate, the sicker we got, until nothing was left except the looming doom of chocolate. The “Choco Lovers” ice cream rav-aged our every being. The mighty Little Piglet Soret turned to see Iron Belly Adam curled in a ball mourning the loss of his coffee maiden. He

let out a ferocious bellow, screaming to the gods, “WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US?!” The only soul brave enough to devour the cocoa bean madness was I. I pecked at it like a vulture on its prey, over and over until it was no more, and sucked the remains of the creature dry. Finally, the beast was conquered, leaving the three competitors too food drunk to ride our stallions home. So I called up the only acquaintance I know that owns a horse trailer, Sadie Williams, loaded up the mares, and began the journey. Satisfied with the victory over our ice cream troll nemesis, we sat in quiet content. Our first battle was a success and we welcome any more challenges that you may have. Give us your suggestions at www.theeleight.org.

The Eleight: 1 Food Demons: 0

visual by Nikita Zakladnyi

After the recent mishandling of a price increase, Netflix again surprised millions of subscribers by first making a decision that had customers every-where disgruntled, and then later re-versing it. The rental com-pany known for the con-venience of its system planned on splitting off into two separate com-panies. One -- still hold-ing the name “Netflix” -- would offer the online streaming of movies and TV shows. The second one would go by the new name “Qwikster” and would offer the DVD delivery service. “I thought this was pretty dumb. I didn’t even like Netflix in the first place,” said freshman Galen Dregan. The purpose of the company’s decision to split was in preparation for when watching movies from a disk is no longer prevalent. Apparently this trend, according to Netflix’s adjust-ments, is on it’s way out. “We remain convinced that the splitting of our services was the right long-term strategic choice,” read the mass e-mail to investors. Though the company’s reasoning

for changes was meant to be beneficial in easing transition from one media trend to the next, it displeased many of the video subscription service’s 24.6 million clients. If customers had wanted to have both streaming and DVDs, they would have to pay for them separately. This

would have raised prices 60 percent. “That’s really stupid because the reason everyone likes Netflix is the cheap prices and the delivery,” said se-nior Lacey Collins. Netflix’s stock value took a dive of 53 percent, and they are expected to lose approximately one million more subscribers than originally predicted. On July 25, it was expected that the DVD service would have 3 million customers, streaming would have 10

million, and 12 million subscribed to both. Instead the company is expecting 2.2 million with DVD, 9.8 streaming, and 12 million both. A near 13,000 posts bombarded Netflix’s Facebook and blog pages sug-gesting the video service was being greedy and suggesting the loss of their

business and that of oth-ers. CEO Reed Hast-ings recognized the disap-pointment at large. “Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to re-gain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help ex-plain actions.” Finally, after their gargantuan loss of busi-ness, the company decided it would be best to con-form to what the public was begging for.

On Oct. 10, Netflix sent out yet another e-mail to its subscribers an-nouncing, “for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netf-lix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs”. In hopes to quell a raging storm of clients, Netflix will return to their original plan and stay as one company with both online streaming and the DVD delivery service.

Netflix’s price change results in decrease in stock and a loss of customersSadie Williams

Staff Writer

Photo by Nicole HamiltonThe Netflix headquarters, just outside Los Gatos.

provided much needed comic relief throughout most of the film. What was refreshing about Randy’s being there was the fact that something happened while he was on screen. My opinion of the Paranormal Activity trilogy remains unchanged; the plot isn’t fantastic, the characters are two-dimensional, and the films hold little to no suspense. Collectively, Paranormal Activity is eerie at best, with an occasional startle. Cinemati-cally, the supernatural events portrayed were well-executed, but predictable. The worst thing about the series is how boring it is; I was unable to even laugh at how terrible it is, unlike other bad horror movies. Three years later, Para-normal Activity still leaves me unim-pressed.

theflicks

ME CUS IM SWEET!

Maddy Kirsch

Staff Writer

YAY MOVIE!

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Andrew Van BruntStaff Writer

Paranormal Activity 3Kylie Brown

Editor-in-Chief

In the year 2009, I recall all of the hype surrounding the new super-natural horror film, “Paranormal Activ-ity”. All that was to be said about the film were things such as, “It was the scariest movie I’ve ever seen!” I decided that I had to know what all of the hubbub was about. Upon watch-ing “Paranormal Activity”, I was dis-appointed. The Paranormal Activity trilogy is famous for its use of “home video” footage of paranormal events within the victims’ household. In the first installment of the series, a couple

comprised of a man and woman whose names escape me have close encounters with the paranormal. The man in the relationship sets up cameras around the house to capture the bizarre coin-cidences on film. A Ouija board and a demon-posessed body later, one of the two main characters dies. In my opinion, the movie held absolutely no suspense. This was due in part to most of the scenes dragging on

for what felt like eons. In b r i e f , it was b o r i n g . Paranor-mal did not have much in the way of a plot. I literally began to

fall asleep over the course of the movie, not to mention get nauseous from the shaky footage. And then along came “Paranor-mal Activity 2” in 2010. Paranormal 2’s plot ties into the first one by intro-

ducing nondescript female lead A’s sister, nondescript female lead B. “Paranormal 2” is actually a prequel to

Paranormal, and

Footloose

No dancing? Against the law? What kind of town bans dancing? And getting pulled over for listening to music in your car is “disturbing the peace”? Dean Pitchford, the author of 1984’s “Footloose” introduced viewers to a town such as this, known as Beau-mont. The town itself is quite conservative. After a long night of partying, dancing, and young, re-bellious fun, five senior students of Beaumont High head home. At the peak of their night, unfortunately they’re all brutally killed in an ac-cident just alongside the city limits on Crosby Bridge. From then on, dancing and inappropri-ate music (according to town council) are to be banned altogether, that is, until Ren McCor-mack, played by Kevin Bacon in 1984 and Kenny Wormald in 2011, moves into town. The recent version of the film in-troduces Ren, three years after the ac-cident, moving into town to live with his uncle and his family. Little does he know, the town of Beaumont is very unlike his home in Boston. Minor detailed changes were made between the original “Footloose” and the new “Footloose” to create a much more modern vibe for its new audience. Does it matter that the origi-nal Ren was from Chicago, and the new, from Boston? In simple terms, no, absolutely not. Both are from big cities in the Midwest and east coast that al-low Ren to stand out and be perceived as the new smart-mouthed, witty, sar-

castic kid, who doesn’t seem to fit in with these conservative country West Virginians. While the writers stuck with the bright yellow Volkswagen, the dances in the movie have been trans-formed quite a bit. When Ren and Arielle Moore, his love interest, originally played by Lori Singer and now Julianne Hough, first meet, the characters now seem to have bigger personalities: not only their attitudes, but in their dancing, as well. The scene begins in the park-ing lot of the town’s most “happenin’”

restaurant. In both, the managers are looking out for the kids’ best interest and providing them with a safe place to dance and have fun. The new “Footloose” incorpo-rates greater diversity in the actors and music choices. In the 1984 version, there are no black people. The 2011’s dance scene, however, opens with the music of David Banner, a well known hip-hop artist. Not only are different races integrated, but various styles of dance are displayed as well, providing the film with variety and intriguing rhythm, which the original does not have. As Ren and Arielle show off their moves and compete for the spotlight,

they then make their way towards each other, dancing and making the rest of the world seem nonexistent. Together they’re magnificent, catching every-ones’ eyes…including Arielle’s father, the priest. To Arielle’s astonishment he simply says, “Your mother didn’t think you had enough money.” No punish-ment by the state was carried out, but was displayed by each father. In the first movie, he displays displeasure, but in a politically correct manner, by

not causing a scene. In the new version, he also displays displeasure, but in an assertive “you know you’re in trouble” sort of way. All in all, greater emotions are evoked in this new version of Footloose through each character’s personalities. This scene is vital to the whole movie’s purpose. Ren’s reaction to what just happened, between Arielle and her father, leaves him con-fused and distraught. Ren wants to fight, to rebel against the au-thorities. To make a dif-

ference in this town, he’s going to have to use those big city street smart skills to find a way to persuade the town to legalize dancing. Can he do it? It’s as if Pitchford completely threw out his twenty seven year old screenplay and started all over from the beginning again. Teaming up with Craig Brewer to re-write the script was a clever move for Pitchford and together they brought life to the new Footloose. Go see it; whether or not you’ve seen the first, you’ll be taken over with satisfaction of the thrilling, on the edge of your seat excitement.

Real Steel

Directed by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

Directed by Shawn LevyDirected by Craig BrewerBrianna Houston

News Editor

Inspired by the short story “Steel” by Richard Matheson, Hugh Jackman stars in a heartfelt movie about a fa-ther and son relationship that grows throughout the film through their love of robot boxing. At first, the content of the movie seems a bit r idiculous, but some-how Steven S p e i l b u r g uses robot boxing in a way which makes it not just seem realistic, but cool and in-spiring to the audience. T h e movie is set about 15 years in the future, and follows Charlie Ken-ton (Hugh Ja c k m a n ) , an ex-boxer who never got his shot to live up to his full potential. Now, years later, he’s a robot boxer hustler who’s making money any way he can through robot boxing. After losing a big fight with high stakes, he is forced to ditch town and avoid paying all of his debts. That’s when Charlie’s sister-in-law and her financially successful hus-band drop off Charlie’s long abandoned son Max (Dakota Goya) for him to take care of during the summer while they go to Italy. At first the two do not get along at all, but through their love

for the sport, they’re brought together in an evidently successful way. There underdog journey starts when they find an old robot in a junk yard named Atom. Although the ro-bot is only a training bot, it some how is able to not only take tons of hits but is able to dish out some nasty haymak-ers as well. Atom is the cohesive glue to their father-son relationship and through that they discover a friend-ship between them that they would have never thought possible. Soon, Charlie gets his shot at a comeback

that he has a l w a y s d r e a m e d of. T h e m o v i e consisted of many touching moments, such as the strong bond be-t w e e n Atom and Max. F r o m the mo-ment Max first dis-covers the robot a strong re-lationship blossoms, but there

were a few downsides. For example, right from the beginning of the movie you could already tell where it was going. Particularly in one of the first scenes the father and son interact in a way which was unoriginal and ob-vious; how many times have we seen a movie where hostility turns to love? Even though the movie was very pre-dictable, it still plays out in a way that is thrilling and keeps you wanting more.

SPOILER ALERT

C-

B B+

visual courtesy of screenrant.com

visual courtesy of http://www.movienewz.com/

visual courtesy of stardusttrailers.com

visual courtesy of collider.com

is an account of mysterious on-goings with the second couples’ infant. “Para-normal 2” had some redeeming quali-ties, such as the cameras being set up in the fashion of security cameras, which saved me from nausea. Some of the scenes were somewhat praiseworthy, but “Paranormal 2” still ceased to impress. Naturally, after two horrors of horror films, I had decidedly low ex-pectations for “Paranormal Activity 3”, the latest installment of the Paranor-mal Activity series. It had an interest-ing first three minutes. The intro of the movie is the same as the second movie, in which the characters place a box full of old VHS tapes in the basement. The tapes are never viewed in “Paranormal 2”, so they are shown to the audience in “Paranormal 3”. This is actually an allusion to Paranormal, where the fe-male lead revealed having a connection to the paranormal since childhood. The tapes have recordings from 1988 on them, when the two sisters from the first two movies were children. The younger of the two had an “imaginary friend” named Toby, who was a demon the whole time. Golly! Everything following the intro-duction was as boring as I had expected. At one point, the male lead, Dennis (his name was hard to forget), a wedding videographer, sets up his cameras. One of the cameras is set up on the base of a fan, so that it would create a panoram-ic apparatus. This was by far the most

terrible thing about the entire

movie. The fan moved so slowly to either side of the room that any sus-pense that could have existed didn’t. I couldn’t believe how long most of the scenes dragged on; it felt like about five minutes of the movie was actual mov-ie, and the other 69 minutes were just fluff. The story is actually decent. The female lead’s mother is part of an all-women’s demonology cult that possess-es young girls with demons. At the end of the movie, the female protagonist is killed by the aforementioned demon, Toby, and her mother kills Dennis with demon powers. It was a tragic ending, indeed; but unsurprising. The most redeeming quality of the film was Dennis’s wedding vid-eographer sidekick, Randy. Randy

Q: Compared to Branham, are there any differences in the style of football?A: Same style I brought to Branham in the past few years on offense and defense. Athletically, Leigh has always been superior to Branham and I hope that holds true.

Q: As a coach, what are some expectation you have for the team this year?A: I expect us to compete for a cham-pionship. We plan on winning, winning the right way, and the way we do that is working really hard in practice. We expect to compete in every game. Our schedule is really tough this year in the B league, but we can compete with

any team we play.

Q: Are there any games in your schedule that

you’re looking forward to playing in?A: I look forward to playing every team we have in our schedule. Every team poses its problems, every team does good things with the ball. I know we play Branham on their Homecoming, so that should be interesting with me being a teacher there. But that should be a fun one to go over and play them. Then Westmont is coming here for our Homecoming, so that should be fun.

In Defense of the Raiders

Leigh High School is an ex-tremely diverse campus, with stu-dents from so many different walks of life. But for the last ten years, one of these groups has been the butt of more jokes, and the target of more op-pression than any other. That group is Oakland Raider fans. For ten years these people have faced strife, hard-ship, and disappointment the likes of which would break the spirit of most men. Raider fans have held on, de-spite being laughed at and belittled for a full decade. And now it seems like they finally have hope. Oakland sits at 3-2 this year, and they have one of the best-looking teams in football. Running back Darren McFadden leads the league in rushing yards, and does not look like he has any inten-tion of slowing down. For the first time since losing the Super Bowl in 2002, the Raiders have an extremely legitimate chance at making the play-offs. With all of this you would think Raider fans would be dancing in the streets. Yet still they are looked down upon. When my New York Jets lost to them in Week 3, I had at least a dozen people come up to me and tell me how bad my team must be to have lost to the lowly Raiders. No one seems to understand that the proof is in the pudding. The Raiders’ pair of losses for the year came in an extremely close game against the Buffalo Bills, and a game against the New England Patriots that came down to the wire as well. Both of these teams have 4-1 right now, and are playing great football. The Raiders at least put up a great fight in both contests, and certainly look like the best team in the Bay Area. Now in Week 6, Campbell was

injured while sprinting for a first down vs. the Cleveland Browns. This is defi-nitely an unfortunate setback for the team, but I do not feel it is one that they cannot overcome. Kyle Boller, their backup quarterback, managed to put up 100 yards while going 8/14 af-ter stepping in to fill Campbell’s shoes. With Campbell saying he will be out for around 6 weeks while he recov-ers from surgery to repair his broken collarbone, and in response Coach Hue Jackson dealt a first round pick in 2012 and a second round pick in 2013 to ac-quire Carson Palmer from the Cincin-nati Bengals. Palmer has held out this year, refusing to play for Cincinnati and demanded a trade. With the Andy Dalton putting up good numbers for the Cincinnati offense, the Bengals felt confident enough to trade away Palm-er. This trade works out well for the Raiders, as Palmer has a good history with Jackson, who was his offensive coordinator at USC for two years, and the wide receiver coach in Cincinnati for three. Palmer has already traveled down to Oakland to begin learning the Raiders’ offense, and I think he will prosper. He has a good learning opportunity with the upcoming Bye week, and the sooner he starts build-ing a rapport with Oakland receivers Darrius Heyward-Bey, Louis Murphy, and Denarious Moore. With the Raid-ers’ current weapons, plus this new ad-dition, it could be a bright future for Oakland. I feel like Campbell just isn’t as talented as Palmer as a quarterback, and also lacks the leadership quality. Judging by the hefty price tag he came with, the Raiders are probably going to stick with Palmer long-term, which is definitely a major improvement. Palmer may have struggled in recent years, but that was with a lackadaisical Bengals offense. If Palmer does prove to be the quarterback the Raiders need, their offense could become one of the top units in the league. Their running game is already a force to be reckoned with, and if you couple it with a pow-erful passing game, it could be a huge step forward for the team. So Raider fans rejoice! A playoff run could very well be in your future, and a new era may be dawning! It’s been far too long since the Raiders have had a winning season, and this has been a long time coming. Good luck Raider Nation, I am certainly pulling for you.

You may have seen him on the field coaching our Varsity football team to victory or in your seventh pe-riod P.E. class. I’m talking about the new Varsity football coach, Kyle Padia. I had the opportunity to sit down with the coach and ask him a few questions about himself, his life, and this year’s football season.

Q: So you went to Leigh, correct?A: Correct, I graduated in 1998.

Q: Did you play on the football team here?A: Oh yeah, I played Quarter-back.

Q: What did you do after high school?A: I went to West Valley and played football there for two years, then trans-ferred to Northern Illinois University and got a full scholarship to play quar-terback there.

Q: Why didn’t you go to the next level in football?A: In my first game as a starter at Northern Illinois University, I got hit and tore a cuff and had two shoulder surgeries. Needless to say, I don’t throw very well anymore.

Q: What did you major in when you went to Northern Illinois University?A: I majored in Physical Education to become a P.E. teacher.

Q: When did you first decide to become a high school football coach?

A: When I played here at Leigh and from when I finished my playing career, I knew I want to become a P.E. teacher and football coach. My dad was a foot-ball coach my whole childhood, so I was used to that and knew I wanted to become a head football coach.

Q: How long did you coach at Branham High school before coming here to Leigh?A: I coached there for three years.

A new face on the football field

Zachary TatarSports Editor

Photo by Jinny Jung

Kyle Padia joins the Leigh sports roster as the new varsity football coach

The Extra Point

New coach Kyle Padia has led the Leigh Longhorns to a 4 - 3 record, including an impressive win over the A-league Santa Teresa Saints.

Photo by Zachary Tatar

Coach Padia speaks with quarterback Gabe Davis at a game against Del Mar, where Leigh kicked off their season with a 40 - 12 win.

Three well-rounded fall sport stars define girl power at Leigh High School, with their great athletic skills and contagious personalities. Maddy Fama, Lauryn Saunders, and Rachel Kuhn are three amazing people that we have the privilege to attend school with. Maddy Fama, sophomore for-ward on varsity field hockey, is a star on field. She has been playing field hockey since the summer before freshman year and loves it. “The team this year is very strong, it is in A league which, [makes it] dif-ficult because of all the hard teams that we have to play”, says Fama. Being on the team has introduced her to some of her closest friends and she has gotten close to many sopho-mores and juniors. Outside of her sport, Fama hangs out with friends, is involved in her church, and is very big on family. “I’m a pretty average girl,” said Fama. When it comes to school, she prefers the subjects Spanish and Chem-istry.

“I like Spanish because I feel I am fairly good at it and enjoy Chemistry because of the experiments that we do in class”, said Fama. Through the scientific mind set she had as a child, she has grown to want to major in a medical science. Still undecided, Fama is looking into becoming a nurse or a massage thera-pist at New York’s Syracuse University or at Sacramento State University. She hopes to play field hockey in college as well. Lauryn Saunders, junior outside hitter on varsity volleyball is a real ath-lete. Saunders began her volleyball journey in the 6th grade and through all those years, is still playing today. She loves the thrill of competing and hitting the ball, or “killing the ball” as she calls it. Players on varsity practice rough-ly two hours per day. So far they are 3-6. “It’s a roller coaster ride so far, but it’s coming together,” Saunders said about this year’s season. On the court Saunders is compet-itive and intimidating, but off of it, she is a caring person. In her free time she is involved with serving the community.

She is a part of Young He-roes, an or-ganization in San Jose, which exists for the purpose of help-ing the commu-nity in different ways. S a u n -ders not only

plays volleyball but a l s o basketball and softball. She only plans to play softball in college, though, due to the softball scholarship she received sophomore year from UC Davis, where she wishes to major in Sports Medicine. Saunders claims to sleep with her softball bat. Rachel Kuhn, senior varsity cap-tain on the tennis team, puts a lot of time into her sport. Not only does she practice Mondays and Wednesdays

and have games Tuesdays and Thurs-days, but she also plans team bondings and team dress-up days. She says that being captain is very time consuming. She and Rachel Stein are varsity co-captains. The Leigh varsity tennis team consists of 4 singles and 3 doubles. Kuhn is number 2 on singles. Kuhn has beaten her last year’s record. This year Kuhn has 4 wins and 3 loses so far, with high hopes for the games ahead. Kuhn’s favorite subject was Biol-

ogy Honors last year because she really liked the teacher, Jessica Prouty, and she says

she likes to learn about Biology. Outside of school, Kuhn hangs out with friends and is involved in her church youth group. “I like to have fun and I’m a posi-tive person and I’m kind,” Kuhn said. After high school, her top three college choices are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, and Chapman University, where she plans to major in Sports Nutrition.

Where, oh where, did all the underclassmen go?The varsity cheer team lacks a variety of grade levels in its ranks

Emily RansomStaff Writer

Caitlyn NurnbergOpinion Editor

To say that changes have been made to the cheerleading team here at Leigh this year would be an understatement. Not only are the ladies not competing this year, but fresh-men and sophomores are not al-lowed to be on the varsity game team. Last year there were eleven underclassmen on the Varsity Cheersquad, and every single one of those girls got to compete in nationals, and cheer at Friday night football games. This year due to the fact that the team is not competing, the administra-tion has decided that only up-perclassmen will be allowed on Varsity, and all underclassmen will be on JV even if they were on Varsity the previous year. “I feel like this new rule has brought [us] closer together as not only a team but as up-perclassmen, because on varsity we are cheering for students our own age, and in most cases our friends.”said junior Alicia Blumstein. This new policy is receiving mixed feelings from the students here at Leigh. Many students agree with the fact that since they will not be compet-ing, and are only going to be cheering at games, it is okay that only juniors and seniors are on Varsity. Although this is a popular thought there are also

the select few that feel that even if you are an underclassmen, if you are good enough for it you should be able to cheer on Varsity. Just because they are not going to be going to any competi-tions this year does not mean that they have to be on JV if they are considered to be at Varsity level. “[I don’t think it’s fair] because JV and Varsity have always been about

skill level, not age. And I know I can do harder stunts than I am doing now,”said sophomore, and former Varsity cheerleader, Autra Namvar. Although there is much con-troversy over the change in rules, Leigh’s cheer team is just as good as ever. With all of the upperclassmen cheering on the varsity football team, and all of the underclassmen cheer-ing the JV team, it brings a sense of unity over our school because when you think about it, they are cheering for their peers. When varsity cheers they are cheering for the juniors and seniors, and of course the super freshman/sophomores. They are cheering not only for the school but for their classmates, people they know and have known for the past three or four years. The same goes for JV. So in the end, does it really mat-ter what team you’re on if you are accomplishing the same thing: giv-ing the football team that extra boost they need to score that win-ning touchdown?

Photo by Rajashree Bhattacharya

Underclassmen cheerleaders root for the JV team at the Homecoming reveal rally on Oct. 4.

Athletes of the Month:

Maddy Fama Lauryn SaundersRachel Kuhn

Photo by Angel Wilson

Photo by Anna Schwarz

Photo by Tiffany Ha

October 26-31: Haunted house

October 27: Volleyball 6:30 @Leigh vs. Willow Glenn

October 28: Football game @ Leigh vs. Andrew Hill

October 28: Field hockey 3:20 @ Los Altos

October 31: Halloween

November 1: Volleyball 6:00 @ Leland

November 1: Common Applica-tion for Early Decision applicants due

November 1: University of California applications may be submitted

November 2: Tennis tourny1:00 @ Mt. Pleasant

November 2: Football 7:00 @ Leigh vs. Saratoga

November 3: Tennis tourny1:00 @ Mt. Pleasant

November3: Volleyball 6:00 @ OakGrove

November 4: Football 3:30 @ Leigh vs. Gilroy

November 10: Minimum days- 12 week grades

November 11: Veteran’s Day Holiday

November 23-25: Thanksgiving Day Holiday

November 30: Last day to submit University of California applica-tions

Nanxi TangIn-Depth/Online Editor

Mikayla DruhanStaff Writer

A: “I’m doing the

Haunted House, so I’ll

be comin’ through wearing that attire with my two other divas James Eakes and Andi Goeke.” -Melissa Baxter, senior

A: “Minnie Mouse.” -Heidi Figueroa, sophomore

A: “I don’t usually dress up, but this

year the student service center’s theme is the 1980’s. Some staff refuses to dress up

because of em-barrassing personal

times in the ‘80s.” -Rick Hayashi, Dean

Boom, Roasted: The presidential can-didate’s intellect, or well, lack thereof… Vote for Perry for the 2012 Republican candidate! His intellect and outstanding aca-demic record distinguish him as the ultimate candidate to run our god-blessed nation. Just because he wasn’t meant to be a veterinarian simply means that he was born to be president! A “D” in organic chemistry? Who cares! His “C” in U.S. History clearly affirms the fact that he was born to be presi-dent! And that “D” in Principle of Econom-ics? That hardly matters as we have the larg-est, booming economy in the world! Besides, Economics is a hard class! A “D” is by far

a superior achievement, clearly the brilliant work of a future president. Perry understands the urgent need to change the current attrocity that is the Su-preme Court. Congress must certainly have the right to override Supreme Court decsisions with two-thirds vote. Why didn’t the founding fathers think of such genius? Perry will be the one to change the entire dynamic of our Grand Old Party. Together, we will unite as one to make sure all girls are vac-cinated against the public menace that is the Human Papillomavirus. Together, we will put an end to the homosexual agenda, an end to the rampant baby killing, and an end to an in-dependent Supreme Court. Together, we will change the world. Clearly, Rick Perry is the Ameri-can president for the American people.

Where’s Hayashi?

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