The Spectrum December 2010 Issue

View this document on Scribd

The December issue of the Spectrum is here! We wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! Look forward to some exclusive website stories over the break and we hope you enjoy this issue.

Be sure to leave some feedback and don’t forget that you can submit work and it may be placed in future editions of the Spectrum.

Important Note for those who didn’t go to Welcome Page

Heeeelllooo. Online Editor here.

I must remind you to head to the Welcome page as it introduces the Online Spectrum’s style of navigation.

The drop down to your right is the main part of it all.

Thanks.

Government Shutdown could throw wrench in plans

by Luis Mendez

Staff Writer

On March 4 we were expecting a possible government shutdown. This could have been deadly to our economy because many public services, as well as many federal employees, would have come to a halt. This stalling in our economic progression was due to the Republicans inability to come to a compromise with President Obama’s proposals therefore risking a government shutdown. The Republicans were willing to risk a government shutdown, until $61 billion were cut from this year’s budget. President Obama proposed bills to free us from the budget deficit that our nation is currently enduring. The president intends to rebuild our country by investing in our nation’s education, innovation, and enabling small businesses to grow and expand into the global market. However, President Obama’s plans were stalled due to the reluctance of the Republicans in Congress to accept the proposed bill. Instead of working together to improve our economy, the Republicans were uniting to shut our government down. The Republicans wanted to take money out of Medicare, out of Medicaid, and out of our country’s educational system. Our educational system was already crippled from the current budget cuts and cannot withstand another. If a government shutdown had occurred, many federal employees would have had their jobs put on hold. That means that they would have been sent home, unpaid and would have had find other means of providing for their family. Public services, such as park services and waste cleanup, would have ceased to exist. Many national monuments and museums would have been closed down, with their workers having to find other means of income. This is reminiscent of the government shutdown of 1995-96 during the Clinton Administration, in which over 1,000,000 employees were suspended and $369.2 million of tourist revenue was lost. But gladly, two weeks ago, this was prevented when the republicans finally decided to end the disputes and agreed on a record breaking $40 billion cut to the domestic and foreign aid appropriations. Leaving this another close call for the United States.

Don’t Go To College

by Jesusa Isidro

Opinion Editor

Is that whole thing about going to college and having a nice life full of some swell financial security becoming a myth?
You’ve seen the posters of the smiling college students, the ads about those nurses who went to school for like two weeks and instantly got jobs, all the facts and statistics- so what. Unless they modify all that for today’s economy, one should instantly question the validity of those claims.
Who actually replaces those things every year anyway? They’re outdated, and in these times incredibly untrue.
Everyone knows what they say: If you’re a high school graduate, you will earn X amount of money. If you obtain a college degree, you will earn three times the amount of money.
Read the fine print folks. That’s only possibly true if you actually keep a job that pays that much during all that time.
Higher education is supposed to be an investment towards your future. But now, when the economy can’t handle all the job seekers it needs to, schools are giving less financial aid to students, and students are looking to be tens of thousands of dollars in debt the second they get out of college – it’s just not smart.
Disregard this if you know you’re going to work in medicine, engineering, or business (the least liked choices by those thinking of going to college) because those industries are actually flourishing. The field you want to go to probably isn’t.
Twenty years ago, there was time and money to spare because even without a college education you could live a comfortable middle class lifestyle.
That’s not the case anymore. We are the first generation that is said to be living a lower standard of living than our parents. Failure is practically guaranteed.
Unless you’re rolling in dough, you will owe money when/if you graduate from college. If you start and drop out midway through, it’s even worse.
There’s a certain kind of person who knows when they’ve reached the apex of their educational careers. They don’t have the motivation to go any further, and that’s acceptable.
It may go against the sanctity of all school motivational posters, but not everyone who sets out to work hard on something actually works hard at it. So why keep up with the delusion?
Avoid the pitfalls of for-profit schools, but don’t go to a college and coast through it just because it might get you ten thousand dollars more per year than the next guy who isn’t going to spend thirty thousand dollars on a college education. And that guy will be working as a cashier.

China/Europe Trip an unforgettable trip

by Elena Silva

Staff Writer

2011 was an exciting year because Spartans went to Europe and China for spring break.

The Europe trip, which was chaperoned by Mr. Gonzalez, went to visit, Rome, Florence, and Paris.

The China group, chaperoned by Mr. Griepenstroh and Mrs., Hernandez-Robinson and accompanied by Ms Fuller, and Mrs. Nieuwlandt, visited Hui’an, Beijing, Shanghai and Xian.

This trip, being Mr. Gonzales’ fifth time traveling to Europe with a group made up of Spartans, got to visit places such as the Coliseum, the Duomo, the Eiffel Tower, the Roman Forum, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre as well as other places.

The China groups first stop in China was at Hui’an to visit their sister school.

“My favorite part of the trip was interacting with the other students from the school,” said sophomore Lindsey Bull. “It was amazing how much they wanted to see us and talk with us and how nice they were and curious as well.”

Students got to interact with the fellow Chinese students and build friendships. At the sister school, Spartans got to tour the campus and visit classrooms that they were familiar with as well as have a whole day to get to know their Chinese buddy better on a boat trip.

Famous sights that the china trip group got to see include the Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, and the Terracotta Warriors.

“It’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s exciting to see things that I appreciate through other people’s eyes.” said Mr. Griepenstroh.

This was Mr. Griepenstroh’s first group travel to China.

Along with the adventure, the students got to experience the sense of freedom in both Europe and China.

“Well it’s freeing, because you don’t have someone there to watch your every move and tell you what to do and what not to do.” said Jocelyn Valencia, a junior, who went on the Europe trip. Even with the teachers around, students got the chance to roam around during their free time and experience the culture and environment on their own.

The next China trip will be in 2013, when students will travel to Hong Kong, Guilian, Beijing, and Hui’an to visit the sister school once again.

Other future trips with Mr.Griepenstroh and Mr. Gonzales include the Spain and Morocco trip.

The Neverending Story… will never end…

by Yevgeniya Masyura

Staff Writer

In 1979 a German writer, Michael Ende, published a fantasy novel titled, “The Neverending Story.”

As one might guess, the story never ends because the novel claimed to be a children’s tale is even more interesting if you read it as an adult and the little details your brain might not have registered as a child it will surely register now.

Most of you may know the title from watching the 1984 adaptation of the book. That one movie with the weird looking luckdragon:

This story can be considered an allegory to the modern literature. The boy walks into the world of Fantastica, which represents the world of imagination and fantasies, but due to the fact that few people expand their imagination Nothing ( the world with no imagination) is consuming Fantastica.

It still seems like a child’s tale, if not  for the dangerous adventures the main character goes through.

At first the boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, is simply reading the novel and learns about the main characters. But as Ende’s story progresses, Bastian becomes part of the story himself – he becomes the main character of the book he was reading.

Such a storyline represents an antroposophic view, which explains that spiritual world is accessible through direct inner development.

Apart from presenting to readers amusing, exciting, and breath-catching moments, the author also presents a more serious idea that exists both in the fantasy and the real world- moral ideals.

Auryn – a magical item about which there was a great deal of fuss and on which is written “Do as you wish” – plays a prominent role in the moral development of the characters and through which they learn the real meaning of the phrase.

If you like fantasy and plots that contain friendship, betrayal, mistakes, and danger, then you should definitely experience a children’s fairytale which will never end.

Disney’s Prom is well-done

by Elena Silva

Staff Writer

Disney’s new film “Prom,” directed by Joe Nussbaum, premiered on April 29.

“Prom” centers on the final weeks of the school year leading up to the senior prom. Along with the struggles of asking someone to be your prom date, and the drama of relationships, “Prom” is practically like every other high school movie out there.

The film centers around the high achiever, class president, Nova (Aimee Teegarden), and the bad boy on a motorcycle, Jesse (Thomas McDonell).

Nova is in charge of prom as well as other students in the committee, but after all the decorations burning in the shed, well, Nova is left on her own, for now.

Enter Jesse the bad boy, who is sent to help Nova with the ruined prom decorations. Naturally, Nova and Jesse can’t stand each other and constantly bicker over mundane topics, especially over the importance of prom. This can only foreshadow a future romance. There is even a moment when Jesse takes off his shirt to expose hardened muscles, to which Nova gasps.

Meanwhile, the guys at the school are asking the girls to be their prom dates in many interesting and imaginative ways. One gangly and shy senior, played by Nicholas Braun, goes on a quest to ask a girl, any girl, to the prom, but faces rejection repeatedly.

The school’s “it” couple even have some drama when the girlfriend, Jordan (Kylie Bunbury) catches her boyfriend, the sports star, Tyler (DeVaughn Nixon) cheating on her with underclassmen Simone (Danielle Campbell).  All the while Simone is staring to develop feelings for her chemistry lab partner, Lucas (Nolan Sotillo).

The film ends with the traditional Disney ending, the happy ending. Everyone ended up with a prom date, Lucas end up with Simone, and Nova and Jesse kissed – not to mention that the sports star/prom king, Tyler, got the ending he deserved, which was no girlfriend.

So in the end, it really “doesn’t matter who you’ve been for four years … were all the same at Prom.”

Manga is gaining popularity

by Elena Silva
Staff Writer

The Japanese comic, otherwise known as manga, has caught the interest of many people, including in America. It began around the 11th century by a priest who had a whimsical sense of humor.

The priests in the cartoons were portrayed as mischievous rabbits, and monkeys doing silly activities. In the 19th century, Katsushika Hokusai first began to use the term “manga” (as it is known as today).

In the 20th century, the western culture began influencing and intermixing with the Japanese ideas for the mangas. Now, not only is it a part of the Japanese culture, but it is the past time of many teenagers and adults across the world.

There are various types of manga, varying from shonen (the boy manga), shojo (the girl manga), seinen (the men’s manga), josei (the womens manga) and kodomo (the children’s manga).

There are also manga from korea known as Manhwa, which is drawn differently from the Japanese manga. Examples of mangas include Naruto, Death Note, Bleach, Hellsing, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece, Inuyasha, Hana Kimi, Skip Beat, Fruits Basket, Rurouni Kenshin and Dragon Ball Z.

Many of the mangas also influence T.V shows in japan. The cartoon version of it is called Anime. Dragon Ball Z and Fruits Basket are examples of anime as well as the examples provided in the article.

There are also shows that involve actors, like novelas, known as live actions. For example, Hana Kimi is a well-known live action that is based on the manga, which stars many attractive young males like Shun Oguri, Toma Ikuta and Hiro Mizushima.

Mangas are a source of reading material that entertains the audience. Ranging from different genres, one can indulge in a romantic comedy about Mizuki and Sano, or jump into an adventure full of action with Naruto and Team 7 in Konoha.

They are sold in various bookstores including Borders and Barnes and Nobles. They can also be read in websites online like manga.animea.net and mangafox.com.

Manners = Sexist?

by Nataly Angeles
Staff Writer

Are manners sexist? The reality is that there is no accurate way of telling. For today’s society is based on the manners set forth by a sexist culture, where women had to be treated with delicacy due to their inferiority.
All our literary studies are classics, most depicting our society’s sexist background. In today’s society there are many different types of peoples, sexists, racists, feminists, or just courteous, which makes this job hard to perform.

We cannot determine whether someone is sexist against us or not just by judging a single action the individual performed. We have to take in consideration the overall attitudes this person performs toward, not just one, but both genders, and even the tone of voice they use.

Even then, there are different levels of sexism the person could fall under.

The first step is to analyze the person’s attitudes toward the two genders in general not only toward two individuals of different sexes.

For example if the person seems to always ignore one gender’s opinions, suggestions or needs over the other’s you can assume this person has sexist views.

Another thing one have to take into consideration on this individual’s analysis is their tone of voice, for example let’s say that this person is sexist against women, the person will most likely always lower their tone of voice while speaking toward women.

For sexists tend to lower their tone of voice to the gender they find inferior to them.

Now these are only assumptions made from sexist behaviors. They cannot accurately determine sexism.

Although in the point of view of many feminists, manners can seem a bit sexist. There is a certain point when manners just start to seem sexist rather than courteous, such as is always letting the girl enter a building first, never raising the tone of voice to a woman and so forth, for although, to many these actions may seem as pure courtesy and manners this is only a superficial view of the situation.

Because we have to look at the real facts, this is called chivalry because its true purpose is to impress a girl and get her to marry you and have your children; yes the true purpose of it all was procreation of the human species.

Now don’t get me wrong and think that I am saying everyone does it for that exact purpose, but the fact is that this was chivalry’s original purpose.