Features Page 2:

Dinner Tables Around the World

Season of Woe

Features Page 3:

Controversial Corner:Affirmative Action

Opinion Column:Carbon Copies:

Not Cool

Features Page 4:

Once Upon A Holiday

You Just Got Hustled!

Winter Break

FeaturesPage 6:

Continued Controversial Corner

Continued Opinion

Continued A Christmas Beat

Sports Page 7:

New Season: New Sport

Winter Sports Schedule

Page 8:The American

Nightmare

Arts & EntertainmentPage 5:

Fashion Phases: Pea Coats

Band Spotlight:The people

Flashlight Funnies

Table of Contents

Salinas High School Established 1882December 2010

A Christmas BeatDesiryn Gonzalez

Fundraiser Director

Tradition is the way in which cultures ex-press their values and customs in celebrating to-gether with loved ones. Many families’ traditions usually include story telling. There are many holi-day stories; yet in our culture, Christmas ones seem to be the ones most commonly told. Some of these embraced Christmas stories include: A Christ-mas Carol, The Story of Santa Claus, A Christ-mas Story, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

A Christmas Carol In the eighteenth century Charles Dick-ens wrote A Christmas Carol. The story was writ-ten during a time when Christmas tradition was being forgotten and changing. The tale begins on Christmas Eve seven years after the death of Eb-eneezer Scrooge’s business partner Jacob Marley.Scrooge is a greedy and stingy businessman who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, or charity. After being warned by Marley’s ghost to change his ways, Scrooge is visited by three other ghosts who show him different scenes of his life. The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christ-mas Past, takes Scrooge to the scenes of his boyhood and youth. These scenes cause Scrooge to discover his gentle and tender side by reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to several scenes. They see places such as a joy-filled market of people purchasing food for Christmas dinner, the family feast of Scrooge’s poor clerk Bob Cratchit, a miner’scottage, and a lighthouse among other sites. These places were all shown to Scrooge in order to inflict a sense of responsibility on him. The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows

Scrooge the visions of the future so he learns and acts upon what he has wit-nessed. Scrooge’s own grave is re-vealed as neglected and untended to. Finally, Scrooge wakes up Christ-mas morning with joy and love in his heart, and then he spends the day with his neph-ew’s family. He also, anonymously sends a prize turkey to the Crachit home for Christ-mas dinner. Scrooge became a different man overnight. He then treats his fellow men with kindness, generosity, and com-passion. In the end he gained a reputation as a man who embodies Christmas spirit.

The Story of Santa Claus Ever wonder who the jolly old man, Santa Claus, is and how he came about? Well, this is one interpreted story of Old Saint Nick. Once upon a time, a man named Nicholas lived in the village of Patara during

the third century. His parents died when he was young, so he used all of his inheri-tance money to give to the needy and the sick. He dedicated his life to serving oth-ers and he became the Bishop of Myra. Under Diocletian, the Roman Emperor at the time, Bishop Nicholas was imprisoned for his faith. He died December 6th. This day came to be known as St. Nicholas Day. Many stories and legends continue to be told about the deeds done by St. Nicho-las. Amongst many of the stories told, one is about a poor man with three daughters. In the days of the third century, a young woman’s father had to offer something of value to a man so that the young man would marry his daughter. A better gift would give the woman a better chance of finding a good husband. Without a gift, a woman was unlikely to mar-ry. Unfortunately, this poor man’s daughters were going to be sold into slavery because he had no gifts to offer. Mysteriously a bag of gold appeared in their home at three dif-ferent times. The gold provided what they needed for offerings to their future husbands. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes so that Saint Nicholas would place gifts in them. This is why we think of Santa Claus as a gift-giver. “Santa” means “Saint” and “Claus” means “Nicho-las”, thus us referring to him as Santa Claus

See Stories Page 6.

Community Watch To all the students that were inter-ested in participating in the Pizza Factory Winter Whiteout Blacklight Dance, we have some unfortunate news. Last Wednes-day night outside the restaurant during Sal-sa Night (held by Pizza Factory) a couple of culprits decided to hold up a customer and robbed him of his belongings. An em-ployee of Pizza Factory saw this after he left his shift and flashed his car lights at the criminals, as soon as they noticed they were being watched they ran from the crime scene. Ernie, the restaurant owner, stated that the Blacklight dance would have to be canceled due to the risk of a crime happen-ing again. The suspects are still unknown but a full investigation is in progress. As of that day any type of event being held after work hours will be canceled until further notice. The Flashlight and Pizza Factory would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

-The Flashlight

The Flashlight Staff would like to thank Ms. Gannon for allowing us to use her room for our layout.

From the Editors Desk One year ago, December 14 2009, The Flashlight was resurrected and released to the pub-lic. Many controversial discussions about The Flashlight’s first issue were heard all throughout the school. Criticized for bad grammar, wrong sentence structures, and ect, The Flashlight had nonetheless reborn with a bang. Now one year later, The Flash-light has grown and evolved, becoming apart of Sali-nas High School and making staff and students eager to read a fresh new copy. Well celebrate The Flash-light’s one year achievement in this months issue. I have seen The Flashlight become a great successor to its previous year. The Flashlight (as a whole) has grown so much, from a small 8 staff member club to a full 20 staff member class. Over the year, The Flashlight has been know to be “scandal-ous” and has given the staff and students something to talk about amongst the halls. Whether the discus-sions are positive or negative toward your newspaper, The Flashlight has remained optimistic. The Flash-light accepts criticism and we look forward to hearing

from all of you. We look to improve your news-paper with every issue we release. With that, The Flashlight has changed drastically to please the au-diences that admire The Flashlight. We now use a three draft editing process along with a new pro-gram to create our layout. Every day we learn new things and improve not only your paper but our skills as journalist. The “New” Flashlight, now one year old has always been my first priority, and though we may have had some bad mistakes, the staff and I have always given our best. I am happy to be apart of The Flashlight and have been for one year now. I hope that you (the audience) are grateful to have this wonderful establishment we have here at Sa-linas High School. The Flashlight will always be around for the years to come, all that matters is how you treat it.

‘Till Next time

Joseph Caballero, Editor-in-Chief

FeaturesDinner Tables Around The World

Sonia LopezSports Editor

Mistletoe, presents, family and the smell of pine, that’s when you know it’s Christmas time. Most people know the traditional American holiday customs even if you’re not American. Christmas is a popular holiday because of the gifts, family quality time and of course, holiday food. Thanks to the me-dia and other influences, we all know turkey, beef or ham have been the customary main course for hun-dreds of years and more to come. The side dishes everyone is used to include vegetables and mashed potatoes along with biscuits. The most common des-sert are pies; whether it is apple, pumpkin or pecan, they are a holiday favorite. Cookies and fruitcakes are also frequently found on dinner tables during the holidays. This is Christmas dinner in America. Although a great amount of our school’s population consists of Hispanic people, some people may not know that pozole, mole (mole-eh) and ta-males are the main course dishes served on Christ-mas Eve (Noche Buena). They may not even know what these dishes are. Pozole is pork or beef and hominy in red chile sauce and is often topped with cabbage, onion and lemon juice. Mole is made in different ways and varies on the different regions of Mexico. Some mole sauce is sweet and made with chocolate, and some is made spicy. This sauce is usually served with chicken and rice. Tamales are small amounts of beef, pork, or chicken with red or green chile sauce wrapped in thick layers of dough cooked in corn leaves. A Mexican Christmas dinner ends with atole (ah-tol-eh), a thinned hot pudding, buñuelos (boon-oo-eh-los), fried flour tortillas cov-ered in thick syrup, and sweet tamales, corn dough with raisins or other fruits. Cakes are also a part of the dessert menu just as in many other cultures. In the Philippine culture, a buffet style meal is ac-customed. In this buffet lumpia (loom-pee-ah), similar to the egg roll, lechon (lech-oh-n), a whole suckling ro

asted pig, ukoy (oo-koy), shrimp snacks, pan-cit (pah-nsi-t),noodles, arroz caldo (ah-rr-oh-z cah-ldo), chicken and rice soup, and chicken adobo (ah-doh-bo), seasoned chicken served with rice, just to mention a few, are commonly found. For the sweet course of the meal, cas-sava cake (cas-ah-va), made of cassava root, and biko (bee-coh), rice cake with cinnamon topping, are a few examples of what might be on the dinner table after the main course. Somewhere a little less common would be Australia. In Australia, it is summer during Christmas and although it is tradition to have a roasted turkey and a formal dinner, it is not bizarre to celebrate Christmas on the beach or at the park barbequing burgers, hot dogs or pork. Sea food such as prawns and lob-sters are also common holiday dishes. Here it does not have to be a Christmas dinner; it can be a Christmas lunch. Anything goes in Aus-tralia. Disregarding the dishes and customs, we can greatly relate to their desserts since they celebrate with pies, pudding and cakes. Unlike the informal customs of the Australians, the Scottish have a formal dinner. On a Scottish dinner table you can find turkey, roast goose, smoked salmon, roasted potatoes and stuffing made of bacon rolls and chipolata

A Philippine suckling pig (Lechon).

sausage served with gravy, bread sauce and cranberry jelly. It is also very common to have Christmas crackers at dinner and during tea time. After dinner they continue with pudding and Yule Log which is delicious chocolate cake. The Polish have a different view of Christmas dinner. Barszcz (bah-rr-sh-ch), a clear beetroot soup, or bigos (bee-ko-s), hunter’s stew, is served as the main dish. Bigos contains many spices and meats such as smoked pork, bacon and pork ribs. Uszka (uh-sh-kah), dumplings filled with mushrooms or minced meat, are served as a side dish. Uszka is not only a food but also the meaning for “little ears”. After din-ner piernik (pee-eh-rr-neek), honey cake with a chocolate glaze, and cwlbak (ts-vl-bahk), fruit cake, are the preferred desserts. Many places around the world share similar foods and customs. Who would have thought Americans and the Polish both en-joy fruitcake after the main course? In the end no matter what the culture or customs, everyone enjoys spending time eating with their loved ones. From main course to des-sert, have fun with friends and family. You never know what’s cooking up in your neighbor’s house. Try some new foods and relish your favorites. Happy holidays!

A Polish style soup (Barszcz).

Dominique PerezEntertainment Editor

It’s the ‘typical’ holiday attitude to be mer-ry, but for some, it seems that not even the festive decorations, stories, music and the weather can keep the depression away, whether it be from seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D) or the “Holiday Blues.”

Seasonal affective disorder is a con-dition where your mood changes with the seasons/weather. Half a million people who are diagnosed go into a stage of winter de-pression due to the lack of available sunlight. It occurs mainly during the winter season but it also proceeds during the year when the skies are overcast, and if indoor light-ing has been diminished. With some signs of daytime fatigue, anxiety and weight gain, many find themselves in search of treatment. Light therapy, the exposure to high intensity light, is thought to be the most effective rem-edy. It mimics the sunlight and alters brain chemicals to ease the symptoms. However, if ignored, S.A.D can progress into other se-rious issues like substance abuse or suicide. Unlike S.A.D, the holiday blues are short-termed and occur because of the festive atmosphere. “Even though there’s all these celebrations going on, you’re being haunted by this feeling of ‘I’m supposed to be hap-py’ but you’re not,” explained Erick Mu-noz (11’) who has previously dealt with the distress, “Its mostly a feeling of emptiness,

like feeling left out.” Any stress, unrealistic expectations, or the inability to be with fam-ily due to finances or divorce reasons can be the cause of such emotions. Although these feelings diminish after the season is over, they still hold the same symptoms as clini-cal depression; inability to think clearly, de-creased enjoyment in activities and a change in appetite and sleep. Erik explained that he’s resolved these issues by, “not thinking too much about what’s going on and by just being hyped on being alive.” The Medical Center of Maryland states the “do’s” and “don’ts” of how to manage the holiday blues with statements like, “don’t focus on what you don’t have, don’t dwell on the past” and “do something for someone else, and create new or different ways to celebrate.” Whether it be seasonal or long term depression, it should never be ignored. If you are dealing with any of these issues talk to someone you trust to seek help. Try to make the best out of this time of year and remember without going through pain, we cannot cherish how great happiness is.

Season of Woe

December 2010 The Flashlight Page 2

What is the worst Christmas present you have ever recieved?

Lexi Thorup (‘11)“A pair of cheetah

print pants.”

Wade Violini (‘14)“A happy meal toy.”

Page 3 The Flashlight December 2010

Features

The FlashlightSports EditorsSonia Lopez, Zachary Teeter

Entertainment EditorDominique Perez

Photography EditorCarolanne Garibay

Copy-write EditorsDavid Saucedo, Krystin Marks

Online EditorMichael Liu

Editor-In-ChiefJoseph Caballero

Associate EditorsBrian Horne, Kaitlin Sandoval, Lupita Uribe

Features EditorsBrittney Horner, Ricky Maciel

AdvisorMiriam Olivares

Business ManagerMiguel Jimenez

Fundraising DirectorDesiryn Gonzalez

Advertisement DirectorJaime Guzman

HistorianMichael Galmes

Staff ReportersIlsa Petersen, Lexi Swanston,

Kyle Tankesley

Brittney HornerFeatures Editor

Affirmative action affects every stu-dent at Salinas High. Whether a person is Caucasian or Asian, female or male, a senior or a freshman, religious or agnostic, from an affluent family or a poor background, affir-mative action affects his or her future success in the United States, particularly California. In an attempt to counteract a history of dis-crimination, the government has attempted to promote equality by giving special treat-ment to minorities when it comes to receiv-ing jobs and college admission. However, rather than leveling the playing ground, af-firmative action results in a different group receiving the advantage. This socialistic system does not stimulate growth. In fact, it is hardship—inequality—that pushes man to work hard, overcome the odds, and ul-timately standout as a strong individual. A major flaw of the system is that even after the initial discrimination has been eliminated, affirmative action is not easy to end. The CSU system is a perfect example: “underrepresented minorities” (previously Hispanics) still receive priority in registration despite the fact that they now outnumber the Caucasians; at CSU Long Beach, for exam-ple, almost 40% of the undergraduate popu-lation is Hispanic whereas only about 20% is Caucasian. At many California colleges, this unrelenting affirmative action leads to reverse

discrimination, which is when minorities re-ceive an advantage. “Affirmative action was never meant to be permanent” contends Su-san Estrich, a professor of law at the Univer-sity of Southern California who frequently appears on Fox News. Her opinion was ex-emplified back in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger which involved the admissions process at the University of Michigan. The case implied that affirmative action should not be allowed to continue and that the university should at some point implement a colorblind policy in admissions. Another important case in which the policy of affirmative action was questioned was in University of California v. Bakke. Bakke applied to Davis but was refused twice (despite his high academic per-formance) simply because Davis was trying to meet its quota of minority representation. America holds the belief that to discriminate by race is wrong, yet that is exactly what the University had done to Bakke. As John Ko (’11) states it, “Affirmative action is ‘justi-fied’ racism against the majority.” An exam-ple of the unfairness of the situation is when it comes to the top students in the graduating class. Paulina Hlavacek (’11) discusses the co-valedictorians Erin Gray (’11) and Kane Palacios (’11). She says, “Although they are both academically outstanding . . . Kane has a better chance of being admitted to the Ivies because he is a male and of Mexican descent.” Not only are majority groups dis-crimminated against, it is condescending to minorities to say they need affirmative ac-tion to succeed. Alan Keyes, a presidential nominee in the 2008 election, claims, “Af-firmative action patronizes American black, women, and others by presuming that they cannot succeed on their own . . .[it] does not advance civil rights in this country.” True achievement should not result from a hand-out; it should result from persistence and skill.

See BCC Page 6

Maciel and Horner in the Controversial CornerAffirmative Acton

OPINION COLUMN: Carbon Copies: Not CoolLupita Uribe

Associate Editor

Why fit in when you can stand out? In high school, there are many little cliques and trends that teens want to be a part of, and they feel like they need to change who they are to be ‘cool’, but that is not always true. This isn’t written to preach, but people have to learn to be okay with who they are and not feel like they need to be just like anyone else. Through my past three years at Salinas High, I have noticed that a lot of people are willing to compromise who they are just for a little popularity. It should not be that way. People need to stand up for what they believe in a lot more. Next time you hear some one make a rude co mment, don’t just laugh and try to fitin; correct them and let them know that what

they’re saying is not right. If every-one takes the risk of being an individual, then maybe Salinas High would be a bet-ter place (than it already is of course). Though some people go a little over-board and try too hard to be different, being an individual is not always a bad thing. One of the coolest things anybody can do is be themselves. If you go to an interview, the employer will look for the person who stands out most, not just in skills, but with their at-titude as well. Yes, in high school it is a bit intimidating to be the person that stands out, See Opinion Page 6

Ricky MacielFeatures Editor

Whether most would like to admit it or not, the fact remains that the American lifestyle has always been tougher for people with minority status – this historical fact goes all the way back to the early founding of America. Since the first non-English im-migrants came over looking for a place to start a new life, Americans have relegated these minorities to the bottom rungs of so-ciety and left them to toil, all while basking in the profitable glory of cheap labor. It was deemed okay to exploit the minorities this way back then – at least, by the standards of those in charge. Times changed, though, and with the coming of the civil rights movements came a controversial new idea. Affirmative action was brought about by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It is essentially a way to reverse the past op-pression of minority groups by offering aca-demic and employment opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach for them, and to encourage them to perform better so that they too can have important roles in society. This system empowers students from underprivileged backgrounds to suc-ceed against the odds they face, and in ef-fect levels the playing field. It eliminates white dominance of school populations

See RCC Page 6

Features

Kaitlin SandovalAssociate Editor

Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Rudolph and presents, we see these figurines portrayed in stores, buildings, movies, shows, streets, and about every-where during December, and even before then. Some people recognize Christmas like a kid recognizes a McDonald’s happy meal. It is almost subconscious, but there are many other celebrated holidays other then Christmas that fall in the winter season. When asked students about different celebrated holidays, one student replied that the holiday Kwanzaa (an Af-rican heritage holiday) was a Jewish celebration. In the United States, it seems odd with all of the diversity; people are still in the dark about the different holidays. POSADAS [Poh-Sah-Duhs], is a traditional Mexican celebration that consists of family, neigh-bors, and friends getting together to re-enact Joseph’s [Jesus’s father] search for a room at an inn. A fam-ily from the neighborhood will offer a night at their home for Posada where people carry candles and statues of Joseph and his donkey to the house, when there they say prayers and have a fiesta with piñatas and a feast. This celebration continues for eight days starting on December 16th through the 24th and tak-ing place in different families homes. Miriam Me-drano (’11) celebrated Posadas in her past in Mex-ico. She says the best thing about Posadas was the food such as tamales, pan dulce, and champurrado.

KWANZAA [Kwahn-Zuh], cele-brates African culture, the values of family, and humanism. It is a seven-day holiday that begins on December 26th and ends on January 1st. During these seven days, seven principles are discussed for each day. The seven principles discussed are unity, self- de-termination, collective work and responsibil-ity, collective economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. After each principle is discussed a candle gets lit in a kinara, where assemblies of symbols are arranged on a table such as the African flag. On the sixth day of Kwan-zaa a feast is held for family and friends and on the following day presents are given. CHANUKKAH [Hah-Nuh-Kuh], also known as The Festival of Lights, is a Jewish holiday that lasts for eight days which starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. Chanukkah is celebrated because of the miracle of the oil burning in a menorah at the temple for a continual eight days, when it was only suppose to burn for one night. During the eight-day celebration, families get together every evening to light a candle in a menorah. The menorah is a candleholder that holds nine candles, four on each side of a shamus [the middle candle] that is used to light the candles every night starting from the right. When the candle is lit blessings are

recited in Hebrew, and gifts are attributed which sometimes lasts for all eight days or for only one. A traditional game that is played can be dreidel, which is a spinning top with Hebrew words written on its side where people play for coins or chocolate. RAMADAN [Ram-Uh-Dahn], is a Muslim holiday that lasts for an entire month. During this month, it is a time for spiritual purification, self-sacrifice, prayer, and fast-ing. Adults and adolescence fast from sun up to sun down every day until the month is over. This means they have to wake up early in the morning to eat a well breakfast to get them through the day which is called a sahur, and when the sun goes down, fam-ily will get together for prayer and eat a delicious meal called the iftar. Ramadan ends with a three-day festival called Eid ul-Fihr, which means the feast of the break-ing, to break the fast. The month long fast-ing brings them to a higher spiritual state. Even though there are many different holidays, one thing has always stayed the same, celebrating these holidays with loved ones such as family and friends. Enjoy the holidays.

ONCE UPON A HOLIDAY

Krystin Marks Copy-write Editor

The most famous sign during the holidays is “ON SALE NOW”, especially during the Christmas season. Parents and many people are running around trying to find the perfect gift to give. The best bonus is when they find that item you have wanted for awhile with that “ON SALE NOW” sign attached to it. What they think to be a good deal, is actually no deal at all. During the holidays, stores raise the prices of all the popular gift choices.

just for a big bird you’ll never get. Shoe stores have “buy one get one half off sales”. Catchy as it is, one pair is always more than the other. Did you ever notice why you pay full price for the more expensive pair and half off one is the cheaper pair to begin with? Of course not, you were too busying thinking about what a great sale it was. Then there are those famous “going out of busi-ness sales”. Loads of people go rushing in there buying stuff just because that store will never be there again. It’s pretty convenient how a month or more after, that store is still there and that “going out of business” sign just magically disappears. Well guess what, in all of these incidents you just got hustled! This is happening more and more every year. Those stores are trying to squeeze every cent out of your pockets. My advice is, shop with awareness next time. Other wise you will get hustled!

That’s when they put it “on sale”, mak-ing it the exact same price it was in the be-ginning or more. Stores make you believe you just saved a lot on money but, in real-ity, you just got hustled, played, and taken for a sucker. An anonymous source was asked what their best deal was this season and they replied, “I just bought a Toshiba high-def laptop for $349.99. I really savedsaved some money, because it originally cost $399.99.” What they didn’t know was that just a month prior to the sale, that laptop’s actual price was really $299.99. Wow! That is some savings. Did you just get hustled? Then there are also those false ad-vertisements in the newspaper. Grocery stores have ads saying free turkey with ev-ery purchase. Many people don’t read the fine print, which states your purchase has to be more than $100. So, you go in there buying a few things you don’t even want,

You Just Got Hustled!

Lexi SwanstonStaff Reporter

Winter break, an escape from reality for three whole glorious freedom filled weeks. School, teach-ers or homework, words that never once cross our minds while daydreaming in class of what adven-turous memories we want to make, over the next 21 days. Whether you’re planning to see the world, score time with friends or simply sleep in; winter break is clearly in our youthful eyes. Erik Munoz (‘11) has al-ready planned his three weeks saying, “I’m going on tour from San Francisco to San Diego with my band, ‘The people’. Hours in a van full of equipment, our talent and four Mexicans. It’s going to be gnarly.”This is the time where everyone grows up. People change, lives change and the outlook on life ex-pands. Pause it and enjoy every second of this break, whether it’s your first year or your last. Bring out the bucket list, call up old friends, and

spend time with the family. CJ Ulrich (’11) knows exactly what he’s doing for winter break, “Snowboarding in Dodge Ridge with my family and friends. I’ve been waiting all year for this, I can’t wait.” Create some amazing stories this month whether your pwning at the new Call of Duty, traveling the world, or uploading crazy pictures of that party the other night to your Facebook…the one’s your friends are going to kill you over. Life is being written as we speak; make sure its some-thing we want to read this winter break.

Winter Break

“...like a kid recognizes a McDonald’s happy meal.”

“I’m going on tour from San Francisco to San

Diego with my band...”

Page 4 The Flashlight December 2010

December 2010 The Flashlight Page 5

Arts & Entertainment

The Flashlight welcomes your talent, feel free to stop by room 704 and drop off your own comic, art, cartoon, poem, etc. We also accept them digitally throught facebook at Facebook.com/TheFlashlight or email us at SHSTheFlashlight@gmail.com. Please submit your work in pen.We look forward to seeing what the school campus provides to The Flashlight.

Flashlight Funnies

Carolanne GaribayPhotography Editor

As winter approaches, students of Salinas High are beginning to layer clothing to keep warm and pea coats have been popu-lar choice among our boy and girl cowboys. While you may be thinking pea coats are a warm way to look classy and stylish, did you also know that these coats were beneficial and sometimes even unifying throughout history? Pea coats originated during the 18th century and were first worn by European navies. Now days these fashionable coats are worn not only to keep us warm, but for style as well. According to ehow.com, “the word “pea” comes from the Dutch term ‘pij,’ which was the name of the cloth used to make the coat.” Pea coats were originally made of thick and heavy material known as pilot cloth, (p-cloth) which later became p- coats, which kept the soldiers warm in harsh weather. Ranging in style, “the original pea coat was made from thirty ounce wool.” This wool was made to be durable for heavy rain and extreme weather. The pea coat also came in one color, which was dark navy blue. It was designed to keep every part of the body from the neck to the waist warm, and had decorative buttons (about eight) along the torso. The buttons were usually of wood or brass and often had a symbol such as an anchor crested in it. Changes, including fabric and color, had to be made to make more practical for every day use. Through out the hallways of Sali-nas High, and as the weather gets colder and colder each day, the students are be-ginning to layer. These coats remain a popular choice because they fit in almost any setting whether it be casual or formal.

Fashion Phases: Pea Coats

Micheal GalmesHistorian

“The people” are a pop punk band from Salinas, California that was formed in early 2010. Their current lineup consists of guitarist/vocalists Sean Schively and David Molina, Drummer Erik Munoz (‘11), and bassist Ramon Montes. “The peo-ple” are heavily influenced by artists such as, “The Beatles”, “The Rolling Stones”, “Bob Dylan”, and “The Strokes”. Overall, the band has an energetic, upbeat sound that clearly resembles 1960’s pop.

The band plays all original songs that according to drummer, Erik, pertain to “what troubles the female kind.” The band feels their writing style is most clearly evident in their song, “No More No Less” with lyrics such as: “I’ll take your last breath and breathe it for you; I’ll take away your little fears and fear them for you”. Currently the band plans to embark on a Californian tour that kicks off in San Francisco 17th, and ends in San Di-ego on January 5th. They are also hoping to be scheduling local dates for February 2011.

Band Spotlight: The people

Submitted by Michael Liu (‘12)Submitted by Elizabeth Contreras (‘12)

The Hot Spot This Winter(no pun intended)

Sharks Ice at San Jose1500 S 10th St, San Jose, CA 95112

If you like having fun at “cool” places, then this is just for you. Every sporting activity related to ice is featured here. They provide skating lessons, figure skating of all types (viz. free style, ice dancing, synchronized teams etc.) and ice hockey. Sharks Ice also plays host for different events like parties, birthdays etc. Check out this URL to view their schedule and pricing for winter recreation ice skating: http://www.sharksiceatsanjose.com/assets/public_skating/SharksIce2010HolidayIceSchedule.pdf

Answer at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/sudoku/sudoku_answer.shtml (Puzzle #1)

December 2010 The Flashlight Page 6

FeaturesBCCContinued from page 3 Besides its effect on middle-class Americans who are neither poor enough to receive aid nor rich enough to pay their own way, affirmative action is not necessarily the best way to help people at a disadvantage. Students admitted on this basis are often un-prepared to compete at the rigorous schools to which they were admitted. Newsweek admits that “As the minority population in the U.S grows, low college graduation rates become a threat to the nation’s prosperity . . .” Minorities may be entering college at a greater rate than ever, but their graduation rates are a sad tale. Simply eliminating the competition does not guarantee minority suc-cess; in fact it may set them up for failure. Allocating special treatment results in a lack of need for Americans to push them-selves. Rather than allowing the U.S. to fall to a system of government handouts, Ameri-cans must provide jobs, college entrance, and government assistance (social and fi-nancial) on the basis of merit, not on the ba-sis of situations beyond a person’s control such as skin color and family background.

OpinionContinued from page 3

but once you’re gone and out of high school, people that were not afraid to be unique, or weird, will be the ones that are remem-bered. The rest will just blend into the gen-eral stereotype of your old graduating class. I have spoken to several graduates from Salinas High, and most tell me that they wish they had gone a little crazier in high school and had not cared so much about what others thought of them. “People become so obsessed over trying to be popular, that they forget who they really are and become someone they truly aren’t,” says Summer Schultz (’10), a recent graduate. Although being a unique character exceeds the importance of your fashion choic-es, having your own fashion makes standing out so much better. Don’t get me wrong, following some trends is okay, but only if you’re truly in-trigued by them, otherwise it is as if you’re be-coming a carbon-copy of someone elseThere is a difference between being the ugly duck-ling that becomes a beautiful swan, and the girl with natural beauty that cakes on her make up to look like a ‘cookie cutter teen queen’. Girls, you shouldn’t feel like you have to be someone that looks perfect or straight of the magazine; boys like you a lot more when you are yourself and you let your natural radiance shine. Boys, believe it or not, most girls are more attract-ed to your personality than the kind of pants you wear, or how low you sag them. Just be-cause everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean it is a good thing (i.e. promiscuity). Fitting in is not as fun as standing out. “Be the first of yourself, not the clone of someone else.”

RCCContinued from page 3

and ensures that there cannot be any white favoritism in the student selection pro-cess – which was the norm before the civil rights movements. It is not, however, a crutch. By implementing affirmative action, minor-ity candidates such as women or colored races can have their socioeconomic dispari-ties put aside and be boosted up to be com-pared equally against, say, a rich white male. How is a system that creates a situ-ation where people from two different races can be compared equally unfair in any way? Short answer: it isn’t. In fact, by broadening the selection range, companies and schools are benefitting everyone. A diverse back-ground helps to create a well-rounded per-son, while surrounding somebody by the same type of people all of his/her life can leave the person tunnel-minded. To create more cultured environments, schools desire a minimum percentage of each racial group within their campuses, and a balanced mix is doubtful to happen purely on its own. The admittance process must be manipulated to a certain degree to achieve this desired diver-sity, and that is the sole role of affirmative action. If not used effectively, a single race could take up the majority of the student body.

A close example of this happening would be UC Berkeley. During the 1999-2000 school year, the Asian population comprised 45.2% (www.goldsea.com) of the entire student body. A single ethnicity almost dominated the school’s population, and this can be at-tributed to the fact that Berkeley, being a public school, can’t be very picky about who it admits. The supermajority wouldn’t ex-ist if there were some sort of filter, and the university would be more open to different types of cultures. This, however, is not the case, because ever since the Bakke ruling against UC Davis, people cry foul over af-firmative action in any UC. Aside from di-versifying the school/workplace settings, affirmative action serves to compensate minorities for literally hundreds of years of oppression, slavery, and generally unfair treatment (although in plenty of cases, “gen-erally unfair” can be a huge understatement). Affirmative action can be viewed as a charity service for the peoples that America left at the bottom of society for so long, and now wish-es to fully integrate into society. America was founded on principles of racial equality, and after over two centuries of cruel mistreatment to those with “lesser” status, affirmative action is a way to redeem our founding principles and compensate for countless injustices per-petrated on an innumerable amount of people.

StoriesContinued from page 1

A Christmas Story The Bible tells of how Christmas night came about. According to the Bible, Christ-mas is the night that Jesus was born. A couple, by the names of Joseph and Mary traveled on a long journey to Bethlehem. Mary bore a child whose name would be Jesus. There was no room for the traveling couple at any of the inns in Bethlehem. With no other options, the couple found a stable where the baby would be born. In the same country were shepherds watching over a flock. An angel of the Lord appeared to those shepherds and told them not to be afraid and that that night Christ the Lord was born and could be found wrapped up in a manger. The shepherds spread word about their experience. A few days later the Magi (or the three wise men) followed the star to where Jesus had been born. They went bear-ing gifts of myrrh, frankincense, and gold. According to this story in the Bible, it is be-lieved that the child, Jesus, born this day is the Son of God and savior. An image of what this night appeared as can be displayed through the nativity scene. The nativity scene usually includes the shepherds, the Magi, and some-times the animals. “Christ’s Mass” means “The Lord’s Supper”, which was consid-ered to be the most important part of Christ’s birth; therefore came the name “Christmas”.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a children’s story by Dr. Suess. It was writ-ten with a rhyming scheme. It was pub-lished as a book by Random House in 1957.The Grinch is a fictional, green, catlike crea-ture with a heart “two sizes too small.” He lives in a cave on snowy Mount Crumpit just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max. From his cave high at the peak of Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Who’s preparing for Christmas and all the festivities. The Grinch becomes envious of the Who’s happiness. He makes plans to go into the town and deprive them of Christmas. The Grinch then steals presents, holiday ham and decorations from all the homes of the Whos. However, in the end he discovers that despite his success in stealing all the Christmas presents and decorations from the Whos, they still continue in the festivities in the same manner as they normally would. He realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. His heart then grows three sizes larger. He returns all the presents and trimmings. As a result, the Grinch is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos. Tradition is what brings togeth-er people and communities.Stories con-tinue to be passed on throughout gen-erations as a part of traditon. Happy Holidays and remember to show the spirit!

Richard Retamoza (‘11) (Left)“A seven inch salami.”

What is the worst Christmas present you have ever recieved?

Kennedy Gordon (‘14)“A pair of wool socks.”

Mitchelle Bough (‘12) (Right)“A pair of yellow fuzzy slippers.”

Tyler Batchelder (‘13)“A stuffed lightening the wonder dog.”

“He makes plans to go into the town and deprive them of Christmas.”

Page 7 The Flashlight December 2010

Sports

Sonia LopezSports Editor

Goodbye football season and hello basketball season. Fall is over and winter sports have begun. Back in mid-November the agitation about upcoming try-outs was felt amongst friends on campus. Toward the end of November all teams were set and ready to practice for their pre-season games and tournaments. Unsure of what the winter sports are? Well, they are boys’ and girls’ basketball, wrestling, and boys’ and girls’ soccer. The most popular winter sport on campus is basketball. Boys and girls bas-ketball have great coaches and have put together teams that are sure to bring home Wins. Frankie Rog-ers (’11) explains, “Our team is looking good this year. We’re taking it one step at a time and hoping for the best.” Let’s support our cowboys, along with the cheerleaders, in hopes of achieving their goals.

hard, practice and diet to win their match. The team is well on its way. “There are lots of new freshmen, but enough veterans for the varsity team to do good this year. I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of wrestlers going to CCS,” says Isaac Her-nandez (’12). Good luck wrestlers and hope-fully there will be more supporters this year. All of our teams have set high goals. They have been, and will continue to work hard throughout the season in order to under-take their aspirations for this season. There’s nothing a team loves more than a roaring crowd, other than the sport itself of course. This is the season to show your purple pride and support each of our teams in their fight for victory. Good luck, and go cowboys!

Although it is uncommon to see many Salinas High students supporting the soc-cer teams, it is the most popular sport in the world. Soccer is a fast-paced game full of intensity, contact and excitement. Both boys and girls did great last year and are optimistic for this season. Brianna Pacis(’11) says, ”This season we are still a great team like last year, even though we lost a couple of players that graduated, but I’m really excited for this year, which is my last, but I know we are going to have fun, play hard, and win.” It would be great to see more cowboys get out and encour-age our teams to accomplish an exceptionally successful season for both boys and girls. Last but not least, we have wres-tling. Some students are surprised to find we have female wrestlers. Wrestling is not just a “boy sport”. Both boys and girls work

New Season: New Sports

Winter Sports Schedule

DATE VS. LOCATION TIME

12/21NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY

CASTRO-VILLE 7:00

1/5 PALMA SHS 7:001/7 ALISAL ALISAL 7:001/14 ALVAREZ SHS 7:001/19 SAN BENITO HOLLISTER 7:001/21 NORTH SALINAS HIGH SHS 7:001/26 GILROY SHS 7:001/28 PALMA PALMA 7:002/02 ALISAL SHS 7:002/9 ALVAREZ ALVAREZ 7:002/11 SAN BENITO SHS 7:002/16 NORTH SALINAS HIGH NSHS 7:002/18 GILROY GILROY 7:00

Airsoft and Paintball Community Club is looking for members!

The APCC is a club for those who play airsoft and paintball and creates a

way for players to come together and organize games and trips to major

events Contact either Tyler Dunn or James

Frye if you are interested in signing up

Gabrie

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negasd

esign.co

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Boys Basketball Girls BasketballDATE VS. LOCATION TIME

12/20NORTH MONTEREY COUNTY

CASTRO-VILLE 7:00

12/23 SEASIDE SEASIDE 7:0012/30 SKYLINE OAKLAND 5:001/4 NOTRE DAME NOTRE DAME 7:001/6 ALISAL SHS 7:001/13 ALVAREZ ALVAREZ 7:001/18 SAN BENITO SHS 7:001/20 NORTH SALINAS HIGH NSHS 7:001/25 GILROY GILROY 7:001/27 NOTRE DAME SHS 7:002/1 ALISAL ALISAL 7:002/8 ALVAREZ SHS 7:002/10 SAN BENITO HOLLISTER 7:002/15 NORTH SALINAS HIGH SHS 7:002/17 GILROY GILROY 7:00Boys Soccer

Girls SoccerDATE VS. LOCATION TIME1/11 PALMA PALMA 3:301/18 ALVAREZ ALVAREZ 3:301/20 NORTH SALINAS HIGH SHS 3:301/24 ALISAL SHS 3:301/28 GILROY SHS 3:302/1 PALMA SHS 5:152/7 ALVAREZ SHS 3:302/9 NORTH SALINAS HIGH NSHS 3:302/11 ALISAL ALISAL 3:30

DATE VS. LOCATION TIME1/6 CARMEL CARMEL 3:301/10 NOTRE DAME SHS 3:301/14 ALVAREZ SHS 3:301/19 NORTH SALINAS HIGH NSHS 3:301/21 ALISAL ALISAL 3:301/27 GILROY GILROY 5:152/4 ALVAREZ ALVAREZ 5:152/8 NORTH SALINAS HIGH SHS 3:302/10 ALISAL SHS 3:302/18 GILROY SHS 3:30

DATE VS. LOCATION TIME12/15 ALVAREZ SHS 5:301/12 PALMA SHS 5:301/19 GILROY GILROY 6:301/25 ALISAL SHS 5:301/26 ALISAL SHS 5:302/9 NORTH SALINAS HIGH NSHS 5:30

Boys/Girls Wrestling

What is the worst Christmas present

you have ever recieved?

Peyton Olivarria (‘13)“A wall plug-in air freshener,”

December 2010 The Flashlight Page 8

give warmthalways classic

Always a step ahead SERVICE • STYLE • FIT944 S Main St at Romie Ln • Salinas • 424-3466 • joypers.com • Extended Holiday Hours

FeaturesThe American Nightmare

Jaime Guzman & Michael LiuAdvertisement Director & Online Editor

America is renowned as a land of oppor-tunity. High school students see the future ahead with optimism and confidence, some with a full-set determination for achieving a dream life while others drift forward hoping for the sort of com-fortable living they have gotten used to. How-ever, exactly how can our generation achieve the dreams of success we have come to expect in soci-ety? What goals should we really be focusing on? However, the concept of the American dream is not obtainable in this day and age and the dreams and life we wish to accomplish may be unfulfilled. The term “American dream” was first coined, in 1931 by historian, James Truslow Ad-ams, in his book, The Epic of America, saying the American dream was “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for [everyone].” The traditional, ac-cepted course of success in our modern-age soci-ety is simple: do well in high school, go to a pres-tigious and well-respected university and graduate, then find a lucrative job that will begin an illustri-ous career. “Students wanting to keep up and have a chance of getting into a good school have to be ‘well-rounded’ which means they have to participate in five extracurricular activities, play a varsity sport,, volunteer in the community regularly, get a part-time job, and on top of that maintain a GPA of 4.1 or higher,” says Brittney Horner (’11). “As if the GPA doesn’t speak for itself, we have to take the CSTs, SAT, AP tests, Subject tests, the list goes on and on.”

The burden of over-achievement gives rise to high, sometimes unrealistic, expectations of the future. “A lot of teenagers come out into the real world with delusions of entitle-ments and instant gratification,” says Ri-cardo Maciel II (‘12). “They don’t realize how much competition is really out there in the world these days.” The struggle to stay ahead in life is also heightened with the ad-vent of globalization. American kids, con-tent with their already existing lifestyles, will grow up having to live with emerging young populations from developing coun-tries hungry for jobs and seeking the same ambitions as their peers in America. With a declining economy and decreased standings in secondary education, the rosy image of success that’s portrayed in our country seems to be getting harder and harder to achieve. While there are plenty of teenag-ers with a vision of their future plans, there are plenty more who don’t. “I’m pretty sure most of the kids here don’t give a crap about the future.” says Patrick Russo (’12). “I mean c’mon bro we’re just stupid teenagers.” Ac-cording to the Education Research Center (EPE), the percentage of students graduat-ing high-school in California is at 68%. The percentage of people graduating universities in 4 years is 57.2% while the rate at 2-year institutions hovers at just 30.5%. “I think students slack off for coolness. They don’t want to be reminded of what they should really do in school,” said Mrs. Bernasconi.

“Our society doesn’t admire intelligence much these days and for them [students], it’s their way of being fun and exciting.” When we look at America, much of the debate on improving the state of education has been focused on spending and improving test scores. Yet while these parts of education reform are useful, a bigger problem lies within the actual student. “It’s really all about personal motivation,” says Anthony Sarmiento (’12). “If the person doesn’t care, all the money and state-of-the-art technology isn’t going to do much to help.”Numerous books, movies and shows have the American dream as a plot device with even a play and a song having been named after it. The Great Gatsby critiques the American dream as a false hope, and in The Jungle, a character arrives in America to achieve the American dream but fails at achiev-ing it as he falls victim to numerous mis-fortunes. In this day and age, with a higher living standard than ever before and an in-dulgent culture engrained in our society, the misfortunes of our generation has become whether or not we are willing to shape the future ourselves or to let the future shape us.

“They don’t realize how much competition

is really out there in the world these days.”