Volume 50, no. 3

trailblazer22328 main st. carson, ca 90745

carson high school

volume 50, no. 3 december 5, 2012

The fifth annual Harvest Festival was held on Thursday, November 1 at theToberman Center in San Pedro.

[Harvest Festival] is for un-derprivileged children who cant go out trick or treating because their neighborhoods are not safe, saidAnusha Sadda and Denise Mercado, VCYC Chairs. TheVolunteer Chapter Youth Coalition has been conducting this annual eventspecifically for the purpose of making these children happy.

Sadda and Mercado, were in charge of organizing the event. They led committee meetings everyMonday in the main VCYC, located inTorrance, where they discussed ideas and planned the event. The Co-Chairs chose the booths and assigned a commit-tee member to managed one booth. Thecommittee also made calls for donations such as toys and other supplies for the event.

There were 15 booths available for the kids to interact with, such as the bowling alley, pumpkin decorating, face painting and bean bag toss, all operated by volun-teers. The most popular booths were the Dunk Tank and the Goldfish game where kids had a chance to win and bring home their very own little goldfish.

Bowling Alleyno, the Dunk Tank! 7 year-old Eduardo in a skeleton costume exclaimed when asked what his favorite booth was. I like the Photo booth, 5 year-old Jennaiah in a princess costume shyly stated when asked the same question.

see Harvest Festival on page 8

by Julia Cruz and Lawrence Dizon

copy editor and staff writer

FifthannualHarvestFestival

Finals Schedule: December 1o-14Monday

December 10Tuesday

December 11Wednesday December 12

ThursdayDecember 13

Friday December 14

Minimum DayPer. 1 8:00- 10:00 (120 min.)Nut. 10:00- 10:15 (15 min.)Per. 4 10:23- 12:22 (119 min.)



Minimum DayPer. 1 8:00-8:35 (35 min.)Per. 2 8:43-9:18 (35 min.)Per. 3 9:26-10:01 (35 min.)Nut. 10:01-10:16 (15 min.)Per. 4 10:24-10:58 (34 min.)Per. 5 11:06-11:40 (34 min.)Per. 6 11:48-12:22 (34 min.)

Per. 1 & 4 Finals Per. 2 & 5 Finals Per. 3 & 6 Finals

Carson Key club members fund-raised for Pediatric Trauma Pro-

gram as members showed off their spirit at the annual Fall Rally South on Saturday, November 10, at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Fall Rally a celebration of all the big things that we have accomplished. Among all these things we also get a chance to raise [money] for a greatcharity known as PTP, said Zhihui Ong, Division 19 Souths Lieutenant Governor. Members from 12 divisions within the

California-Nevada-Hawaii district met, had spirit sessions, and helped out a foundation known as Pediatric Trauma Program.

Pediatric Trauma Program wasestablished by the Kiwanis California-Nevada-Hawaii Foundation in 1994 . PTP develops local projects that help decrease the number of children who are killed and injured by trauma (cnhfoundation.org).

Carson Key Club is a part of Division 19 South together with Key Clubs from schools like Narbonne, North, Bishop,Redondo and Peninsula. Division 19 South raised a total of $6,700, withCarson contributing $1,000. The money was raised by selling Bobaloca drinks from early 2012 to the event and holding a car wash on Saturday, October 27.

see Fall Rally on page 8

Key Club doesmore than cheering atFall Rally South

by Mary Santomin

staff writer

VCYC member, Kaylin Michel, paints a little girls face at the face painting booth. Julia Cruz

Carson Highs Key Clubdonated to the Pediatric

Trauma Program in its annual Fall Rally.

Regular PD SchedulePer. 1 8:00-8:48 (48 min.)Per. 2 8:56-9:39 (43 min.)Nut. 9:39-10:54 (15 min.)Per. 3 10:02-10:45 (45 min.)Per. 4 10:53-11:36 (43 min.)Lunch 11:36-12:11 (35 min.)Per. 5 12:19-1:02 (43 min.)Per. 6 1:10-1:53 (43 min.)

2 trailblazerop/ed december 2012

By Justin Silva staff writer

trailblazer staff 2012-13 Editors-In-Chief

Karina Lopez & Francis Espina

News EditorDylan Angel

Opinions EditorThea Cabrera M.

Features EditorKate Masancay

Sports EditorMatthew Mata

Entertainment EditorSamm Streitfeld

Copy EditorsJames Copeland, Josh Cinco,

Julia Cruz

Exchange ManagerMariano Isaac-Garcia

Business ManagersClaudia Curiel, Cesar Oropeza

Photo EditorBridgette Jameson, Teresa Ortega

Computer TechnicianJordan Sayson

Staff WritersRichelle Acebedo, Vanessa Aragon,

Ivan Barragan, Demme Carter, Santino Chavez, Steven Crespo, Lawrence Dizon, Madel Flores,

Alexandria Herrera, Pamela Isidro, Alonso Jimenez, Fatima Larios,

Kyle Lee-Garcia, Ian Lina, Leony Mijares, Dakota Morales, Alexander

Noriega, Genesis Reyes, Cassan-dra Rodriguez, Justin Rojas, Mary Santomin, Justin Silva, Levaivaialii Tiliaia, Alexa Vazquez, Aldo Vega

Letters to the EditorHave any comments about the newspaper or anything happening in the school? Do you need your voice to be heard? Write a letter to the Trailblazer and have it published here! All letters to the editor must include the writers name and contact information inside Ms. Norths box in the Carson Complex office. The Trailblazer reserves the right to edit content for appropriateness and length. We also reserve the right not publish the story but rather have it posted online on our web site.

What are you doing during the holidays?

(Im) going dirt biking with some friends for the holidays !- Eric Estrada

The aftermath is going to include me in a food coma- Angel Alvarado

(Im) going to Bakersfield for Thanksgiving. (I) love spending time with family and friends!

- Stephany Garcia

This is my favorite time of the year; Im doing to eat a lot.-Karina Arguera

By Santino Chavez staff writer

Tis the Season to be Stressful

BY BRIDGETTE JAMESONComic based on speculation that during the day of the Presidential election results Mitt Romney did not

prepare a concession speech-- only an acceptance speech as President of the United States.

Perspective:Romneys Concession Speech

Americans Are What They Eat

The end of the year is here, and it is when the holidays kick in and the stress over gift giving begins. No matter what holiday you celebrate around this time, theres always some sort of gift giving involved. Preparing food for dinner itself is a gift offering. But speaking on a more materialistic note, soci-ety has made gift giving so essential and has promoted it in every way possible. Stores worldwide put up sales that have everyone crawling to their doors with consumers wallet in their hands. Come to think of it, a lot of the stress during this season comes from pressure and more on a personal level The stress all depends on what kind of person you are. You can be the type to not even bother to dwell on the subject of gift giving. You can be the type to care and give a little something, but only enough to say you gave someone something. Or you can be the type to actually put so much thought into your gifts and who you give them to. So ask yourself, which one are you? Christmas has been turned into a holiday thats all about presents and along with it, is the big fat man in a red suit with a beard and sack full of surprises. Santa Clause has been portrayed

as man whose generosity has had some influence on us and how Christmas is a time of giving. The holidays are something people want to make magical, something to remember and something better than the year before. And people have resolved this by giving items of some significance and/or money value that represents what many think is love. Theres the mental things

in your head: Is this good enough? Is it too cheap? Will they like it? And thats where the stress comes in. Everyone builds these expectations as a gift giver and gift receiver. Peoplefall under the pressure especially with days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday which consists of super good deals. If youre like me, I want to give everyone a gift, which actually means something to them. I am the perfect example of a gift-giving-stress-er. I think a lot of it has to do with the constant worry of how my loved one will react to my present. And at times the stress leads to giving gifts blindly, in a sense, not knowing whether the gift will be appreciated, sympathetically accepted, or just

disdained. All of these are factors of the big factor that is, well, gift giving. Its okay to stress. But just always keep in mind, its not always about the dollar value or the thought itself, but rather the holiday. Its about family and love, the real kind.

MARY SANTOMINBe grateful; not stressful.

Americans are what they eat? This is practically a rhetori-cal question. Majority all foods that people eat affect them as far as their appearance and health. Americans eat and eat and do they really think about what they are eating? Now, I feel as if people should think about the stuff they eat before they eat. Obesity is real! So many Americans are obese and unhealthy; they eat too much. Based on what people eat de-pends on their weight and health! If people continue to eat the same things on a daily basis, it wont do anything. If your favorite food is unhealthy, you will most likely get a negative outcome out of it. Most Americans question why they are obese and question how come they work and dont lose any weight. Sometimes after working out and eating healthy for some time, Americans soon

start to crave back their favor-ite fatty foods or even, Ameri-cans just get lazy and dont buy the right foods they need to bal-ance their routine of staying fit. Americans try to stay fit, but what does not help is when the media advertises fatty, unhealthy foods. Sometimes food can really become an addiction for people. When you eat foods and its your favorite, youll have to be able to say no, now I know many Americans tend to crave their favorite foods. Cravings and advertising can really have an impact on Americans road to lose weight and even stay fit. Americans are what they eat if you really think about it. Eat healthy stay healthy, stay eating fast food and fatty foods you will no be as healthy. Pus, another thing that can cause people to be obese, unhealthy and lazy would be the lack of regular exercise. In order to stay healthy even when eating healthy foods is physical activity. Stay active, eat healthy, live long!Americans really are what they eat.

By Tamia B. Hudson (representative essay from Ms. Ernagas Life Skills class topic)

3trailblazer op/eddecember 2012

By Mariano Isaac Garcia Exchange Manager

Okay: I can totally do this.

Senior Stress / Laid-Back Survey# o

f peo

ple

10

15

20

25

30

5

Hesitant: Publicizing my stress

Fidgety: Just sleep. Strained: About to strangle my cat.

Agonized: Waiting for 12/21/12.

Productive: Everything will be okay.

Robot: Ill force myself to care.

Snorlax: Im sleeping the night away.

Carefree: Nope. Not dealing with it.

Sloth: Ive been in bed for over 24 hours.

2625

31 27

48

116 10

2

Stress Level Laid-back Level150 Students Surveyed Total

from Nov. 8- Nov. 14

By Julia Cruz copy editor

Time Management? How are seniors supposed to man-age their time if some are taking AP classes, college classes, extracurricu-lar activities, working or are in a sport? On top of the school work, Novem-ber itself is a hectic month because its when UC and CSU applications are due. Where is a senior to start: study for the AP Psychology test that theyre tak-ing the next day? So we decide to start studying, but for how long? Oh! But dont forget to start on the personal statement that we need for my applications thats

due the next day! We still have to read and answer questions for my AP English class too! Yes - some seniors do have to live with this daily and yearly for differ-ent classes. Starting the work and con-tinuing to keep up with the progress of managing time, its crucial in order to di-vide time equally to do all the work left. I know the other commitments that people have, such as band, require hours of practice to reach the perfect note and song as a whole. Events like football games, pa-rades and competitions can take up a lot of hours. Then usually after such events, even I get exhausted and take a nap. Facebook, Tumblr, Youtube, Instagram

and Twitter makes it difficult to manage time and it cuts out time I would need to do school work. Access to these sites for a couple of minutes can steadily turn into hours. As soon as we know it, it is 10 p.m. and we still have to do two more essays. What a way to manage time. Occasionally, when this happens, there isnt much to do but to stay up late to finish the work. When I dont manage my time and work is still needed to be done, the consequenc-es are horrific. Im not the only one who goes through this. Sleeping late, waking up late, and even forgetting to do some homework because it just slipped out of mind happens to seniors occasionally

Oh, if only I can relive those days of being a freshman and not care about how I manage my time. I guess if my past self were to have saved a note through Facebook with a heads up about man-aging my time, then it truly can be like how it was three years ago. Well, time to put this aside and do more work.

7 AGREE0 DISAGREE

7 TOTAL

STAFF EDITORIAL:

CONTINUATION: I cant wait for thanksgiving, its my favorite holiday of the year

because you get to gather around with family and eat a lot!- Kevin Gonzalez

Im going to gain like 50 pounds. Im going to spend time with my whole family and have a big potluck.- Kevin De La Torre

Im going to spend it in my grandmas house. The family is going to get together and everyone will bring their own food.

- Irene Rodriguez

Im going to Big Bear for the holidays to spend time with my family, I cant wait!- Matthew Aguilar

I will see no end to the food in front of me- Alvin Malabanan

The End of the World & SkeeterBy Aldo Vega staff writer

There once was a man in Texas named Skeeter. He was a doomsday prepper which means that he was preparing for the end of the world. He believed that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. For years he stocked his basement with Twinkies, Lays potato chips, Ca-pri-suns, and Coca-Cola-- the four most American products he could find. Skeeter built his own basement because he doesnt believe in outsourcing. He made it so that the basement could withstand any kind of weather or natural disasters, but because he didnt have any experience with con-

struction, it turned out to be really crappy (kind of like this story). He wanted to buy pepper spray and a shotgun to drive away any potential zombies, but he only had enough mon-ey to buy a BB gun and a can of whipped c r e a m . Skeeter was c u r r e n t l y unemployed because his last boss said that he had issues and he was crazy. His jar of toenails begs to differ. Pretty soon the end of the world was ap-

proaching and Skeeter felt prepared for what he thought was about to come. He locked himself in his poorly constructed basement with his BB gun

and his can of whipped cream and w a i t e d . On the day of D e c e m -ber 21st, an SUV crashed into Skee-ters home.

Skeeter ran out of his basement with the BB gun and saw a man stumbling across his living room. Skeeter was certain that

this man was a zombie so Skeeter fired the BB gun and the BBs went into the zom-bies mouth which ended up choking him. Later that day, the police arrived at Skeeters house. Skeeter was shocked to see another human being, however it turns out that the zombie that Skee-ter killed wasnt a zombie at all. It turns out that he was just a drunk driver that crashed into his house. Skeeter was cer-tain that the end of the world would come on December 21st, but the only thing that happened that day was Skee-ters arrest for voluntary manslaughter.

Skeeters... last boss said that he had

issues. His jar of toenails begs to differ.

A SATIRE:

Students were givent two lists, one for stress and an-other for laid-back, and they were asked to desig-nate the stage most true for

them.

4 trailblazerfeatures december 2012

Holiday cusinefor meat-lovers and vegetarians alike!

Makes 6 - 8 servingsCooking time: 3 hours & 15 min-utes

Ingredients:-One five-pound beef brisket with some fat on top-Black pepper-Salt-Three Tbls. oil-Two large onions, sliced-Three cloves garlic, chopped-3 bay leaves-One package dry onion soup mix-One cup water-One large can peeled & crushed tomatoes-Six whole medium potatoes, peeled-Six large carrots, cut into chunks

instructions1. Heat oven to 325 degrees2. Season brisket with salt &pep-per and sear in oil in a heavy b ot to m roasting pan until browned; remove4. Add the onions and sate until tender, add garlic until fragrant5. Add bay leaves and return meat to pan fat side up6. Place vegetables around meat in a roasting pan7. Dissolve onion soup mix with a cup of water, add canned tomatoes, mixing well. Add to roasting pan, pouring over the meat 8. Cover and cook three hours or until meat is fork tender9. Let the meat cool completely. Slice against the grain and reheat in the pan juices

jewish beef brisket Cranberry Bars with Chocolate Shortbread Crust

Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 30 mins9 servings IngredientsCrustcup all-purpose flourcup powdered sugar2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powderScant cup oats cup chopped almondscup butter, softened (I used salted butter because its what I had. If you have unsweetened butter, add pinch of salt)Fillingscup granulated sugar3/8 cup water12 ounces (1 bag) cranberries (fresh or frozen)2 Tablespoons juice (I would have preferred orange juice but I had an open jug of lemonade and it actually worked well)1 tablespoon butter

Instructions1. To prepare the crust: Preheat your oven to 350F. Butter an 8-inch square pan, line it with wax paper and butter the top of the wax paper. Set aside.2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, sift together the powdered sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt. Add butter, oats and chopped almonds and, using the paddle attachment of the mixer, mix the ingredients on low speed just until a soft dough forms; this will take less than a minute.3. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and spread out to the corners. If your dough is too soft, refrigerate it for a few minutes to make it more manageable. I rubbed my fingertips with a little butter to keep from sticking. Its also much easier to push and press the dough out from the cen-ter to the corners.4. Cover the dough with wax paper or foil and add pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the weights and cover and bake for another five minutes.5. To prepare the filling: Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then add the cranberries. Cook on med to medium-high heat until the cranberries pop, about 5-6 minutes. Add the butter and juice and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium low heat until the mixture thickens.6. The crust should be ready by the time the cranberries finish cooking. Pour the cranberries into the pre-baked crust and distribute evenly onto the pan. Place the baking pan back in the oven, raise the oven temperature to 400F and bake for another 15 minutes. I pulled the pan out of the oven when I started to smell the chocolate in the crust.7. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

This meat-lovers recipe wa

s provided by:

Chef Stephanie Kelly

This vegetarian recipe was p

rovided by:

lemonsandanchovies.com

by the daya holiday-ish calendar

dec. 9

- The last day of school!Have a grand winter break, folks!

dec. 14

- Hanukkah begins

dec. 21

dec. 24

dec. 25

dec. 31

Jan. 1

Jan. 7

- The end of the world.

- Christmas Eve!

- Merry Christmas!

- New Years Eve

- Happy New Year!

- Welcome back!

According to the Mayan calendar, happy apocalypse!

Also known as the number one shopping holiday.

Good luck with writing 2013 on your papers!

What, Spring semester already???!

SAY WHAT?FILL IN WHAT THIS confused zombie-SANTA COULD BE THINKING ON CHRISTMAS EVE. THEN, DROP IT IN MS. NORTHS BOX OR SEND IT TO [email protected]

lemonsandanchovies.com

Chef Stephanie Kelly

The Jewish Festival of Lights for 8 days.

dec. 26 - KwanzaaA week celebrating African culture and tradition.

Who will you be kissing at midnight?

The Christian celebration for the birth of Jesus.

November is the month when the hairy creatures of the night come out to play. Well, at least, its the month when everyone transforms into a hairy creature to satisfy their hibernating needs. Pants, facial hair, and scarves become more frequent in our everyday lives as we inch closer and closer to the coldest time of the year. November is the month that officially marks the be-ginning of the chilly, winter season-- which means that its time to get cozy and warm. So what better way is there to celebrate this time of the year than to embrace your natu-ral self and to let yourself get all fuzzy and warm? Its time for No Shave November! Its time it to store away your razors and shaving cream and stock up on grooming materials. Although No Shave November seems to be something that males mostly take part

in every year, many females are starting to show eagerness towards participating in this silly holiday tradition. I personally know a few females who actually dont shave at all as a form of protest against gender roles. Although this motive is highly inspiring to me, it just isnt something I think I could ever fully take part in simply because of my personal choices. However, when Novem-ber came rolling around, I quickly saw this as my opportunity to make my statement, without having to confine myself to a per-manent decision. All I had to do was restrict myself from shaving for a full month. The first week was purely easy for me, especially because it was already cold, so I found myself wearing clothes that didnt need to expose my body hair. Then again, there were days in early November that were much warmer than usual, so since I refuse to wear pants be-cause I despise them, I found myself slightly uncomfortable when I thought of wearing a

skirt that exposed my legs, or sleeveless shirts that exposed my armpit hair. To get over my discomfort, I would simply laugh about it and tell my friends, its not long enough to make a statement yet! By the third week of November, I was simply uncomfortable with the feeling of having leg hair, (al-though the armpit hair was actually quite comfortable) so I wussed out and decided to pull out my razor and shaving cream that had been collecting dust for weeks. I did not choose to finally shave because I was concerned with what others thought, I chose to finally shave as a personal choice because I was becoming uncomfortable with the feeling. In fact, I was very vocal about participating in No Shave November during those first few weeks. I was blunt and talked about my progress and often made listeners feel a bit uncomfortable as they laughed a confused, I-dont-know-how-to-feel-about-this laugh.

It felt extremely gratifying to make such a bold statement... for about three weeks. Im even considering trying it once more, except permanently. Others may make snide remarks about it, or feel indifferent about my actions, but the important thing that I want everyone to understand is that EVERYONE GROWS BODY HAIR. So cel-ebrate the remaining months of the winter season by transforming into the natural, hairy creature that you are.

5trailblazer featuresdecember 2012 Twas a No Shave November

Karina: take a hot shower.Francis: drink hot cocoa

Ital Vibes is a fairly new Car-son-based reggae band, but it theyhave already established themselvesas a force to be reckoned with. Mauri-cio Ruiz, saxophone player, and Thomas Rivera, trombone player, are dedicat-ed musicians who have been playingtheir main instruments for seven years. The band formed a year and a half ago, roughly, starting out jamming justtomakemusic,saidMauricio,asenioratCHS. The group has already gone through a number of names, the first being Vibes

Alive,thenHighTides,andnowItalVibes. Asaband,theyhaveevolvedtre-mendously; they had their first show at the 2011ASAbanquethereattheCarsonHighSchoolMPR,andsince thenhavesharedthe stage with bands like The Wailers. Their influences? Mauricio quickly responded, Well of course its going to be Bob Mar-ley, and also that he personally listensto a lot of jazz and funk. Thomas, on the otherhand,saideverythinginspiresme,evenifitisoutsideofhisgenreofmusic. The music writing is not a fixed process, but Mauricio comments, its usuallyMark,ourkeyboardist,orKenne-dythatcomesupwithlyricsforthesongs.Usually though, someonehasabass lineto start off and people just start collabo-

ratinganditjust formsinto onesong. Atthat point,the songis far fromf i n i s h e d .The two a g r e ethat they are all constantly addingto and changing their songs, whichThomas calls upgrading the music. Music, despite how big itis in both of their loves, occasion-ally needs to come second; they alsohave to balance their time with schooland their girlfriends (cute, right?).

When asked how he balances his time, Mauricio laughed while re-sponding, I dont manage my time. They just keep on mov-ing forward and evolving as musi-cians and students. Spread our musicand get our message across, is whatthe friends of six years hope to do.

6 trailblazerentertainment december 2012StudentSpotlight:ItalVibes

Carson students, Thomas Rivera (left) and Mauricio Ruiz (right) join together in a reggaebandtoexploretheirloveformusic.

Teresa OrtegaRivera and Ruiz showing off their band shirt.

Teresa OrtegaCarson-basedreggaeband, Ital Vibes.

by Teresa Ortega photo editor

Crespos

CritiqueTOP FIVE ALBUMS TO LISTEN TO BEFORE YOU DIE

by Steven Crespo staff writer

5. The Rolling StonesSticky Fingers (1971) Who doesnt know The Rolling Stones?! They have great blues influences and catchy gui-tar riffs. My personal favorite songs are Wild Horses, Brown Sugar, and Bitch. This is a great album to listen to, from theircatchy opening riffs to the vo-cals of the famous Mick Jagger.

4. Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin IV (1971) This album contains the bands most famous songs like Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Going to California andtheir most well-known, signa-turesongStairwayToHeaven.

3. The Beach BoysPet Sounds (1968) The inspiration to this album was to make a greaterpsychedelic album than The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Their most

known love song, Wouldnt It Be Nice, is on this album.

2. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon (1973) This remains to be one of thebest sellingalbums in theworld. With the plain and sim-ple album cover , space-sound-ingbeats,andlyricsaboutmentalstates, Pink Floyd proved they were way ahead of their time. The twofamoussingles,MoneyandTime/Us and Them represents time-tripping, psychedelic rock.

1. The Beatles Abbey Road (1969) The last recorded and probably the most tightly con-structed Beatles album. It opens up with John Lennons catchy song Come Together, that ac-tually describes each Beatle. The climax of the album is the 16 minute medley of mul-tiple short McCartney songs.My personal favorite isOh! Darling, written and sung by Paul McCartney.

Listen: enjoy music before you die.

Black Student Union celebrates talent

Black Student Union (BSU) Open Mic welcomes all students who carry any tal-ents from to perform in the Multi-purposeroom (MPR) during lunch. These open mics are held once a month, depending on howthe audience responds to the performers. When the audience is supportive, Ms. Harris , the head of BSU, approves an-other month. BSU members go from class to class, in hopes of finding students willing to sign up for a live performance. Although somestudents are shy, the BSU members encour-age students to express their hidden talents. Duringtheshow,studentspreformsolosinging,groupsinging,singingwithinstruments(such as the guitar), and there are comedians as well. The audience thoroughly enjoys the perfor-mances. BSU member, Avory Robinson said, Each

year it gets better; more and more people come. Taylor Walker, also a BSU member, said, Itwas a good turnout becausemost peo-ple are shy. Many people are apprehensivewhen they go up on stage, yet they still havethe courage and are brave enough to do so. I thought Open Mic turned out well. Itwas upbeat, entertaining, and an overall suc-cess.Iencourageanyonewhohastalent(wheth-er it is hidden or not) to attend these events so that everyone can be aware of such talents. Students should also take advan-tage of the free opportunities, such as openmic, that the school offers. Talent can be any-thing: beat boxing, dancing, reciting origi-nal poems; talent can even be analyzing andannotating syntax in less than five minutes! Talent can literally be inside any-one; you just need to have the passion. Andalways remember, when someone goes upto perform, show your respect for their tal-ent, and theyll show respect for yours.

by Claudia Curiel business manager

Cross country, track and swim are three of the sports, CHS junior, Michael Guevara has found a strong passion for. Theres really not a better sport. It just depends which one you have a passion for, he says. This is Michaels first year on the cross country team. There were no tryouts, but even before considering it, he knew he wanted to do this. A friend of his, Ruben, who had graduated, told him about swim season during his 10th grade year. Ruben had suggested the sport to help his performance in swim. It was a lot of work, but despite all the constant shin splints and the ex-tensive amounts of running, this is a sport Michael finds worth while. Michael states how hon-orable it is to able to handle three sports that revolve around endur-ance, courage and integrity. Gue-vara has these traits and more, ac-cording to Frances Castellon, a fellow cross country team member. Michael is so good at what he does and at the same time, hes funny and cracks a lot of jokes. Hes just so pas-

sionate in the sport, Frances states. When Michael not taking lap after lap or working out, hes play-ing basketball, football, even ping pong! When hes bored, he puts in hours of reading or power nap-ping. On top of all of the sports, Guevara also has his academics and social life to set separate time for. Well, I guess you kind of just learn as you go on through the year. Even though practices do take up a lot of time I can still find time to manage. Luckily, cross country and swim are in two sep-arate semesters. he explained. Cross country is a sport that doesnt normally get the spotlight like football or basketball, but when asked to give advice to anyone want-ing to join the team, Guevara replied with an honest, genuine answer. Join and dont be scared. A lot of the time, people dont do something due to fear. If you can put in the work, then its all good cause you can only get better from there, he says. Michael portrays the image of a player who has not only just a strong backbone, but a strong heart. His pas-sion shows in his play and passion is something one needs to have to excel in anything. He is the epitome of the saying, It doesnt hurt to try.

7trailblazer sports

Carson High Fall Sports Records

december 2012

By Ian Lina Staff Writer

Every Player Has a Story By Justin Silva Staff Writer

Carson High Schools cross country, track, and swim team member Michael Guevara poses for his spotlight

Richelle Acebedo

GIRLS tennIS(Varsity)

vs. narbonne 3:4 (L)

vs. Rancho 7:0(W)

vs. Gardena 4:3(W)

vs. Washington 7:0(W)

vs. Banning 5:2(W)

vs. San Pedro 6:1(W)

@ Rancho 6:1(W)

@ Gardena 4:3(W)

@ Washington 7:0(W)

@ Banning 3:4(L)

@ San Pedro 7:0(W)

PLAyoff GAMeS (SeeD #8)@ narbonne 4:3(W)

vs. Palisades 0:7 (L)

footBALL(Varsity)

vs. Santa Margarita 72-0 (L)

vs. Centennial 45-24 (L)

vs. narbonne 26-20 (L)

@ San Pedro 28-0 (W)

vs. Washington Prep 53-0 (W)

@ Gardena 42-7 (W)

@ Banning 49-0 (W)

PLAyoff GAMeS (SeeD #4) vs. Roosevelt 15-7 (W)

@ Birmingham 33-14 (W)

@ narbonne 12-39 (L)

GIRLS VoLLeyBALL(Varsity)

@ narbonne 3-1 (W)

vs. South San francisco 2-0(L)

vs. King Drew 3-0 (W)

vs. Gardena 3-0 (W)

vs. Washington Prep 3-0 (W)

@ Banning 3-0 (W)

vs. San Pedro 3-0 (W)

vs. Chadwick 2-0 (L)

vs. Cerritos 2-0 (W)

PLAyoff GAMeS (SeeD #4)vs. Marshall 3-0 (W)

vs. el Camino Real 3-1 (W)

vs. Palisades 0-3 (L)

vs. = Home Game@ = Away Game

8 trailblazernews december 2012New Faculty Members at Carson Complex

byRichelle Acebedo staff writer

by Karina Lopez and Demme Carter co-editor-in-chief and staff writer

Chau Nguyen, Computer Technical Support, fixes many of the technical problems around the school.

Mr. Nguyens office can be found in Carson High Schools library. He spends his time taking care of Carson Highs computers and he also makes sure that the schools network is running properly. Mr. Nguyen successfully fixed the schools recent internet access problem on November 28 and 29.

He has been working for LAUSD for a total of 11 years. Mr. Nguyen was the Computer Tech of Huntington High School for five years before deciding to move to become the new tech support at Carson High He didnt choose to move, but it was the district that decided to move him. In Mr. Nguyen free time he still spends his time working on computers; he also enjoys playing the guitar and playing the piano. Mr. Nguyen has an interest in computer pro-gramming and is currently taking some classes on programming for different software. In fact, at his house he has

his own custom server to access. He says, My work is basically my hobby, which is what I enjoy.

Victor Borrayo, the plant manager, is in charge of the whole facility, from set-ups and repairs to aiding and assisting. If something needs to be fixed, he is the guy to call. He is the one who decides whether to call a professional or have his crew do the job. Borrayo just recently moved to Carson High on July 27, 2012. He says, I wanted a challenge; I used to work at a middle school, so moving here was a step up. The position usually requires extensive management training, therefore, moving to a bigger campus of approximately 3,000 students is a bigger responsibility. I knew some of the staff here so I thought coming was not bad, he added. Outside of his work Victor likes to go out to the desert to ride his ATV and camp out with his kids.

Free popcorn, nachos and lemonade were available for everyone throughout the event. These snacks and refreshments, as well as the toys and other necessi-ties that made this event possible, werefunded by donations and fundraising events of VCYC according to Heather Ramirez, the head coordinator of the VCYC.

There were 20 Carson Highvolunteers who worked with West, Mira Costa, Torrance and Bishop Montgomery High School volunteers to make this event happen. Besides the children, thevolunteers had fun too as they interact themselves with the kids.

I participated in Harvest Festivalbecause I love working with underprivi-leged childrenthe memories can beeverlasting, AMA senior Jennifer Garces stated when asked why she participated in the event. What I like best about it was meeting new people and spending a day with kids; making their day and ending it with a smile is worth it, she added.

Harvest festival was once again a successful event thanks to the VCYC.

Harvest Festivalcontinued from page 1

Fall Rallycontinued from page 1

Lieutenant Governors from the 12 divisions were auctioned together with Cali-Nev-Ha district officers to add more funds for the PTP donations. Division 19 South, raising the most money for PTP, auctioned two LTGs and three district of-ficers. It was a pretty great sight to see everyone cheering when we pushed the bids up high. It was also pretty amazing and funny when we saw the other Divi-sions faces drop when they saw how much we had raised for Pediatric Trauma Prevention, said Ong.

Carson High students represented the Beastie Bunny, Division 19 Souths mascot, as they cheered their hearts out during spirit sessions. The division com-peted with over 12 other divisions in the big spirit session.

[It] being my last Fall Rally, it just made me glad how unified and spirited our division and school really is, CHS se-nior and Carson Key Clubs co-president Neiron Penalba concluded,

Paul Farbman, the teacher-librarian, has been doing his best tobenefit students trips to the library.

Mr. Farbman has been making many improvements to the library by bringing in more graphic novels which will stimu-late reluctant readers as well as making the kids brains grow; many kids are now visiting the library more than ever. To att-ract these students to come often to the library he says, I want to provide books and magazines that they want to read.

Mr. Farbman used to be the teacher-librarian at Andrew Carnegie Middle School for 20 years. He has been a librarian fora total of 25 years, but never wanted to be a librarian, he says. Mr. Farbman states how he wanted to teach the use of tech-nologygot into library for media. In 2011 and over the years of teaching, Farbman was nominated for Carson Teacherof the Year by the mayor, and in 2012l, received a Platinum Apple Award for Excellence of Teaching by UnitedTeachers Los Angeles. Aside from working as a librarian, he enjoys being president of the South Bay ArcheryClub, [and] a lot of rock climbing, and Farbman even says that he is looking forward to snowboarding this season.

Left to Right: Big Sib Justin Silva and Lil Sib Janine Acosta bond in the 7th Annual Big Sib, Lil Sib event.

Big Sib, Lil Sib Mixer

KatherineMendoza

Mr. Borrayo was too busy helping the entire complex. Can you guess

who he is on campus?

by Jordan Sayson computer technician

Volume 50, no. 3

Documents

Transcript of Volume 50, no. 3