colt quarterly - quarter 1

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Volume 3 Issue 1

QC

CONTENTS

Pg 5 Locked outThe new locks and locker distribution system has caused an abundance of rumors in the halls. Principal Adele Berg sets the record straight about why new locks were needed to continue to keep the lockers secure and in good working order.

By Rebecca Gigi

Pg 10 Blitzing for the Varsity BellAs a JV team, the now varsity boys’ football team shows promise for this year’s annual Bell Game. Their success story is chronicled starting from their freshman year to present.

By Ray Concepcion

Pg 16 Staff feature: Sharyn KinneyGet to know the new staff librarian in this article about Ms. Kinney and her first impression of El Camino along with her plans and goals for improving the library.

By Rebecca Gigi

Pg 17 Student Survival Guide: Going greenHelpful tips for students wanting to be more Eco-friendly by recycling, reducing one’s carbon footprint and buying earth friendly products.

By Catherine Tadina

5 10

Editor-in-chiefCatherine Tadina

Photo EditorKatrina Nolasco

Staff ArtistChristen Alqueza

Quarter 1 Editors

Managing EditorRebecca Gigi

Page EditorsMarcus Ismael

Ryan Kratsas-LoveKatrina NolascoMarivic Victoria

Contributing InternsChristen Alqueza

Paula EberleShannon Keach

Kayla KohlmeisterErin Lynch

Erika PorcunaRJ Refuerzo

Justin SanchezBisma Shahbaz

PhotographersRay ConcepcionMarivic Victoria

Online EditorCatherine Tadina

AdviserAdam G. McLearan

PrinterFolger Graphics

Hayward, CA

50Q

ON THE COVER

This year marks the 50th year of El Camino’s rich history. Scouring past editions of The Yearling yearbooks, the Colt Quarterly staff presents 50 facts from the school’s 50 years. From a mascot played by three people in the 60s to the sophomores up-setting homecoming in 2002, one will find facts both illuminating and entertaining.

By the Quarterly Staff

The big five-oh: Senior portraits from years past adorn the cover. Students from 1961 through 2009 are represented.

Volume 3 Issue 1October 11, 2010

Pg 13 50 years 50 facts

Pg 18 Locker issues overblownAlthough the new locker policies may not be popular with students, the Colt Quarterly explores the reasons for the change as well as supports the long-term benefits of the new system.

Editorial

Pg 22 Halo: ReachThe highly anticipated sequel to the hit first-person shooter franchise Halo hits the target dead on while adding exciting new features.

By Ryan Kratsas-Love

The Colt Quarterly is a news magazine dedicated to inform the El Camino High School student body and staff of the issues that affect the school and com-munity. We strive to publish each magazine with accuracy and journalistic excellence and provide a forum guided by the ethics of journalism. Our goal is to represent the voice, passion, and diversity of the El Camino student body.

We attempt to achieve journalistic excellence through thorough research, accurate reporting, and a structured editing process. All content is realized and produced by the Colt Quarterly staff.

For a copy of the Colt Quarterly’s editorial

policy please contact the adviser or editor-in-

chief.

El Camino High School 1320 Mission Rd.

South San Francisco, CA 94080

Colt QuarterlyMission Statement

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Colt Quarterly / Quarter 1 / October 20104

El Camino High School has met the milestone of breaking the 800 mark with its Academic Perfor-mance Index (API) of 801 for the 2009-’10 school year. El Camino ‘s API is an eight compared to similar

schools that score a six. El Camino now ranks number five in San Mateo County for academic performance on the yearly STAR tests.

An essay competition for U.S. History students is being held with the win-ner recieving a $30,000 scholarship. See Mr. Arias in room 21 for more infor-mation.N

EWS

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fs


A 30 inch natural gas pipeline exploded in the Crestmoor neighborhood of San Bruno September 9 at 6:11 p.m., eventually killing eight, injuring 20, and de-stroying 37 homes.

“It was a matter of or-ganizing chaos,” Sergeant Mike Toscano, a veteran of the South San Francisco Po-lice Department, and one of the first responders on the scene said.

“As soon as I arrived burn victims and someone with a stroke came to me for help.”

A thousand foot wall of flames was visible as far as Oakland as the fire started to burn out of control. Two hundred firefighters from all over the Peninsula respond-ed. Due to the explosion, water mains in the area

were destroyed, forcing firefighters to go nearly a mile away to find a hydrant. It took nearly two hours to shut down the gas line, leav-ing a constant fuel source for the fire.

“At times we felt like we couldn’t stop the fire be-cause there was no water,” Toscano said.

“Nobody ever ex-pected that the wa-ter mains would break.” By 10 that night, the fire was 50 percent contained, but continued to burn until about 11:45 a.m. the next day. At one point, airplanes were brought in to drop fire retardant on the fire, but the fire raged on, completely destroying homes in ap-proximately two minutes.

During this time, police officers and civilians were helping to move fire hoses and get water. “The fire-

fighters were getting de-hydrated, and two officers went to a nearby store. They asked for water and they gave us everything they had,” Toscano said.

Efforts to fully extinguish the flames continued well into the next day. Firefight-ing planes made continu-ous drops of water and fire retardant on the disaster zone. In the aftermath, all that was standing were the homes’ chimneys.

“It looked like a war-zone,” Toscano said.

One hundred people were brought to evacuation centers all around San Bru-no, wondering if their houses were still left standing.

Fifteen people were brought to Kaiser in South San Francisco for burns and smoke inhalation. Of those 15, three were in critical condition and had to be

transferred to San Francisco General.

Pacific Gas and Electric has taken full responsibly for the explosion. It is reported that the pipeline was nearly 60 years old. In response to this disaster, they have set up a 100 million dollar fund to distribute to victims of the fire.

During the firefighting ef-forts, not one 9-11 call was made for about six hours afterwards.

“It was like everyone de-cided to leave the police alone,” Toscano said. At around 11 p.m. Toscano and his team returned to the sta-tion and finished their shifts.

In the midst of this trag-edy, the Red Cross set up a relief center and has re-ceived countless donations from people all around the state.

First responder to San Bruno gas line explosion and neighborhood fire describes ‘warzone’

Aug. 17

through

Nov. 12

October 2010 / Quarter 1 / Colt Quarterly 5

New

s !

The Colt Quarterly was awarded the NSPA’s highest rating of ‘All-American’ for the ‘09-’10 publication run.

New locker policy has students shouldering the burden

By Rebecca Gigi ger with students purchasing locks solely from El Camino, gives the school the opportunity of retrieving textbooks that students tend to leave in their locker during the sum-mer or when they leave El Camino entirely.

As for the reassignment of lockers, it was totally arbi-trary according to Berg although most of the freshmen are located in the Science wing. It is still being decided whether students will continue to have the same locker next year as they do now.

“Students will either keep the same locker for the re-mainder of their years in high school or remove their locks and come next school year, their new locker would be printed on their locator,” Berg said.

Students should also be aware that sharing lockers is no longer permitted. One name is assigned to each lock-er so no students should be sharing lockers since there are still many lockers that have not been assigned.

“I don’t see why sharing lockers is being discouraged, because we choose our locker buddies, therefore we trust them,” Bautista said.

Students should go to the main office to reserve their own locker if they are still sharing and are encouraged to speak with Berg about opinions or suggestions they may have regarding the new locker system.

OUT

With all the new changes that El Camino has recently undergone for the start of the new school year, students were shocked to return to school seeing that all lockers had been stripped of their locks.

“I was irritated with the locker situation, because it was such an inconvenience,” senior Danica Bautista said. “The entire process of getting a new locker was unorganized as well which made it more irritating.”

Students were asked to purchase locks from El Camino within the first week of school in order to be reassigned to a locker. All grade levels waited eagerly outside the door of 13B before and after school and during lunch to buy locks in a line that stretched down the hall of the first floor of the academic building.

The decision to have students buy new locks was not particularly an easy decision for Principal Adele Berg and the administration whose first thought was to replace the lockers completely, but due to recent budget cuts, that was not a feasible option.

“The lockers were in bad shape with the broken locks and hinges. We couldn’t keep up with the repairs and maintenance of the lockers so we decided to insert a plate so they could be padlocked,” Berg said.

By doing so, Berg believes that the lockers will last lon-

LOCKED

Key Club is holding a fundraiser at Famous Johnnys on October 6 in support of the San Bruno fire victims.

El Camino’s College/Career Fair will be held

October 11-16. Represen-tatives will be on campus on October 12 to answer student questions.

On October 29, Ms. So-brero’s AP English classes will be taking a fieldtrip

to watch a production of Hamlet on Alcatraz.

Vote for a chance to win $20,000 for ECHS at www.care2.com/schoolcontest. Voting ends November 12.

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Homecoming commotionStudents puzzled with “Golden Age” theme

while planners see new learning opporunitiesBy Marivic Victoria

The announcement of El Camino’s 50 th anniversary homecoming theme, the Golden Age of the Silver Screen, has been met with resistance and con-cern from students.

The theme was chosen by the Direc-tor of Student Activities Derek Padilla. “The theme was p r e s e n t e d

on my Facebook status, ‘Can anyone suggest a good theme because of our 50th anniversary something to honor our golden anniversary?’ and an El Camino alumnus gave me an answer,” Padilla said.

The theme represents the element of gold for the golden anniversary

and silver to represent one of the school’s

colors. As for the students’ opposition,

Padil la’s r e -

sponse for students is to learn. “This is school; homecoming is not always going to be on Disney. This theme will require students to research,” Padilla said.

As the theme requires knowledge of movies from the 30s through 50s, students were worried whether they would be able to put on a successful homecoming with such limited knowl-edge. “I don’t really like the theme because I never really watched any of the old movies,” freshman Christian Santos said.

The administration feels differently. “I like our theme. I feel it’s a learn-ing experience about an era they’re not familiar with and will be a good challenge for the students,” Principal

Adele Berg said.Other students viewed the

theme as challenging yet man-ageable. “The theme is defi-nitely not an easy one, but it’s nice to have a theme that challenges a class’ creativ-ity, because only then will

you find who really de-serves to win,” Senior Class Presi-

dent Charlene De Castro said. With upperclassmen already aware of how homecoming works gives them an ad-vantage over freshmen participating in their first year of homecoming. Al-though there were complaints, the theme was chosen for a challenge

and for students to rise up and prove how spirited and cre-

ative El Camino really is.Art Christen Alqueza


Help where help is neededNew strategic English and math classes created to improve test scores

By Marcus Ismael

In order to help academically strug-gling students, El Camino has imple-mented a new strategic intervention class system for the 2010-2011 school year.

The strategic class program is aimed at helping students who have struggled on the annual California Standardized Tests. Freshmen and sophomore English and Algebra I strategic intervention classes have been added and are held in two class period blocks to ac-commodate regular instruction as well as reinforcement and reteaching.

Last spring, El Camino along with the other schools in the state took the annual California Standards Tests. Stu-dents scoring basic and below basic were identified as needing a strategic intervention class to help those raise their test scores. This is done by re-

teaching and reinforcing learned con-cepts through regular classwork, writ-ing, reading and Algebra curriculum.

“We looked not only at standard-ized test scores but other academic proficiency data to choose the best classes for struggling students,” said Principal Adele Berg.

The intervention program is already utilized in all the South San Francisco middle schools and has been imple-mented for the first time at El Camino and South San Francisco High School.

This year, teachers Shannon Allen, Lisa Cresci, Tony Khoo, Sonny Lau, Stephanie Lopes, Demian Martens, Sevana Panosian and Annie Sterling teach strategic classes to freshmen and sophomores to help improve test scores as well as other academic is-sues.

“The strategic intervention classes are a great way to refine skills and

reinforce concepts,” sophomore English teacher Shannon Allen said.

In addition, the strategic algebra classes have been split by gender because research shows that gender-divided classes are more successful as students are not distracted by the op-posite sex.

“This year a few classes were re-served to be co-ed to study the ef-fectiveness of gender-split classes, but next year all strategic classes will most likely follow the gender-divided mod-el,” Berg said.

Seperate but focused: Girls from Ms. Lopes algebra class and boys from Mr. Martens algebra class focus on their assignments in new gender-divided strategic classes. Studies show that students struggling in math perform better in gender divided classes.

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New Strategic ClassesMs. Cresci -----------------Strategic Algebra 1Mr. Khoo ------------------Strategic Algebra 1Ms. Lopes ---------Strategic Algebra 1 (girls) Mr. Martens ------Strategic Algebra 1 (boys)Ms. Panosian ----------English Strategic 1CP

Ms. Sterling ------------English Strategic 1CPMs. Allen ----------------English Strategic 2CP


Photo 1. Senior Francisco Brosas shares the mic with Senior Kerry Beard during Senior Sunrise August 27.Photo Katrina Nolasco

2. Homecoming winning seniors Nico Bustos and Nikki Montes perform in the senior homecoming lunchtime skit Sept. 30.Photo Katrina Nolasco

3. Sophomores Mark Formalejo and Mia Celedio perform dur-ing the Homecoming Rally, helping the sophomores to their sec-ond place victory October 1.Photo Ray Concepcion

4. Band students work together during the band car wash Sep-tember 11 in the El Camino parking lot.Photo Katrina Nolasco

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News

5. Senior Nina Stevens and administrative assistant Tez Petaia take a break to talk during the annual Day in the Park Septem-ber 18.Photo Katrina Nolasco

6. Senior Dontae Catlett competes in an impromptu dance-off during the Kick-Off Rally August 27.Photo Ray Concepcion

7. Freshmen Anton Maralit and Darlene Mamaril check out the different club booths during Rush Week August 13-17.Photo Ray Concepcion

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JV FOOTBALLRECORD 2-1

9/11 v. WashingtonWIN

9/18 v. LincolnWIN 30-6

9/24 v. JeffersonLOSS 22-30BO

X Sc

ores

Blitzing for the Varisty Bell and seasonBy Ray Concepcion

For the past two years, El Camino’s junior varsity football team has emerged victorious in the annual Bell Game. Although this year’s seniors lost the baby bell as freshmen with a score of 8-24, as sophomores they came back strong with a score of 26-7. With the help of this year’s ju-nior class in the 2008-’09 season. The class of 2012 football players led the ju-nior varsity team to victory

last year with a final score of 35-0. Now with play-ers from both of last year’s teams together, the varsity team is primed to dominate and bring back the Bell to El Camino.

“This year we’re varsity and we’re hungry for the Bell. JV Bell Games showed us how much stronger we are as a team and I hope that pays off this year,” junior wide receiver Brian Maranan said.

For the past few years El Camino varsity has had trouble keeping their defen-

sive line intact. The team has been working diligently to strengthen their defense and junior Joseph Armijo thinks it might not be a problem this year. “Last year all I remember thinking was ‘Where’s the D-line?’ but I think the main problem was that they didn’t really trust each other. This year we’ve been working on trusting each other more as well as tackling and I think that in the end, it’ll take us way farther,” Armijo said.

The varsity team has

even participated in trust exercises that have lead to them becoming more united as a team and strength-ened their chemistry as a whole. Hopefully these trust activities foster a sense of pride and unity. The varsity team coaches feel that the most effective way to win a game is a great defense and a decent offense.

Based on the El Camino JV team’s history against South City, it seems as though El Camino has a good chance of bringing the Bell back to El Camino this year.

Class of ‘11 as freshmen

8 - 24 LOSS

35-0 WIN

Class of ‘12 as sophomores

Class of ‘11 as sophomores

26 - 7 WIN“This year we’re varsity and we’re hungry for the Bell”

GIRLS’ TENNISLEAGUE RECORD 6-39/21 v. Capuchino

WIN 5-29/22 v. Oceana

WIN 7-0

9/23 v. HillsdaleLOSS 3-4

V. FOOTBALLRECORD 2-1

9/11 v. WashingtonWIN 21-14

9/18 v. LincolnWIN 45-14

9/24 v. JeffersonLOSS 21-42

2009 V BELL

16-37 LOSS

Class of ‘11 as juniors

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High hopes starting a boys’ volleyball teamBy Katrina Nolasco

For what seems like too many years, El Camino stu-dents have attempted to start their own boys’ volley-ball team. In the Bay Area and many other states, boys’ volleyball is just as common as girls’ volley-ball. In recent years, efforts to start a boys’ volleyball team has met obstacle after obstacle, yet progress has been made.

Jesse Vincent, 2010 EC graduate and current col-lege volleyball player, is among the many that’ve made attempts to attract attention to the sport. “I was the first to push for the team,” Vincent said. Although Vincent’s attempt went farther than others, he was unsuccessful. Although getting a team formed while at El Camino is at-tractive to many interested parties, there were, and still

are, several challenges that have yet to allow the poten-tial team to get moving.

“Our main downfall was a coach.” Vincent said. “The only one we were able to find wasn’t able to train us in time.” Finding a person qualified enough to coach the players wasn’t so easy. No matter how focused and determined he was, Vincent couldn’t find any volunteers.

Now that Vincent has moved on to college, it was time to pass the torch to an-other person willing to try and finish the job. Junior Nixon Macapagal was also involved in Vincent’s vol-leyball efforts. Also a vol-leyball player, Macapagal took it upon himself to pick up where Vincent left off. “There’s not as big a prob-lem with finding a coach,” Macapagal said. “We’re more concerned with finding a league that’ll let us play.”

As things have pro-

gressed with girls’ volley-ball coach, Macapagal was then left with the matter of figuring out who their oppo-nents would be. Involved in boy’s sports, math teacher Sonny Lau is well aware of the boys’ struggles. “Since boys’ volleyball isn’t recog-nized in the PALs, it’s hard for us to find people that we can actually play.” Lau said. The only districts that El Camino would be able to play against are high schools in San Francisco or San Jose. This creates prob-lems with transportation and funding.

Senior Andrew Reid, for-mer Serra High School vol-leyball player and current supporter of EC boys’ vol-leyball has been working alongside Macapagal in or-der to form the team. “Since finding people that actually had past experience was hard, it’s now harder to find fundraising.” Reid said.

Although there are plenty of boys interested to form a team, it’s difficult for Macapagal and Reid, to find boys that actually have had enough vol-leyball experience outside their P.E. classes.

Although they’ve proven to play well, it’s hard to tell whether or not they’ll be able to compete against trained players like Reid and Macapagal. Reid and Macapagal have made a good amount of progress to say they might actually be on the verge of start-ing a team. For now, they’ll stick to drilling and training alongside the girls’ team as they’ve been doing this sea-son until they gather the ma-terials necessary to finally have a team of their own.

JV VOLLEYBALLRECORD 1-2

9/25 v. Lincoln LOSS 23-25

9/28 v. Capuchino WIN 25-21

9/30 v. Terra NovaLOSS 20-11

V. VOLLEYBALLRECORD 2-1

9/21 v. JeffersonWIN 25-16

9/25 v. Lincoln LOSS 2-1

9/28 V. Capuchino WIN 25-20

CROSS COUNTRYSept. 25. Westmoor Invitational

Boy’s JVBrandon Cabeza and Jeremy Jimenez both won medals in the Boy’s 2.4 mile

Boys VarsityMario Rousannov won a medal in the Men’s 2.4 mile

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50 FACTSYears


Feat

ureL

50 YEARS50 FACTSFacts

Years

Fifty years ago, in September 1961, El Camino High School opened its doors for the first time. Since then, El Camino has

flourished over five decades, giving birth to timeless school traditions and ultimately being named the “Most Spirited School in the Bay Area.” To commemorate El Camino’s Golden Anniversary, The Colt Quarterly staff presents 50 memorable moments illustrating 50 years of El Camino’s history.

Exploring the roots of El Camino’s Past

Fact 1 Before El Camino High School was built, the land used to be a duck farm...


On September 29, 1961, El Camino High School

held its first pep rally.El Camino’s mascot stood on

four legs and was played by

three different people.

El Camino’s first exchange stu-

dent, Rapeeman Pirigapan-

sakul, came to South San Francisco

from Thailand.

El Camino’s annual “rent-a-senior” was

1960soriginally named “slave auction”.

Gym seats were made of wood instead of plastic.Vice principals were assigned

students according to the stu-

dents’ genders: a Dean of Girls and a

Dean of Boys.

El Camino had “Twerp Week”

wherein students dressed up in

wacky clothing, acted like “twerps”

and performed homecoming-style

skits in the courtyard.

El Camino held a Christmas dance

every December called the “Kris

Kringle” dance.

El Camino was official-ly finished being built

in its fourth year, 1965.Three EC boys who construct-

ed a bison head from fossils

they found in the hills behind Westbor-

ough received national attention and

won numerous science fair awards.

The epochal rivalry between El Camino

and South San Francisco High School began in 1967.

Jim Stoney’s ‘Exobiota’ gar-

nered national attention; he

EC had a girls’ fencing team

in ‘75.

EC held an annual school

BBQ in the courtyard.

During Homecoming, students used cars and

real floats in ‘76.

Mr. Arias was coach of the

“C” boys’ basketball team

in ‘81.

The New Wave punk rock

trend hit EC students in ‘81.

Current wrestling coach

Cliff Lentz was team cap-

tain of the ‘83 wrestling team and

was named outstanding wrestler.

The Dancing Decades Rally

was held on February 11,

1983 to promote a dance-a-thon and

those who participated went on to the

TV 20 Dance Party the next week.

A Table Tennis Club was es-

tablished in ‘83-’84.

In January 1983, teacher

and coach Owen Kasheva-

roff died after a 30-year career at

EC.

Famous ‘80s singers Go West and Eric Mar-

tin performed as EC won “The Most Spirited School in the Bay Area”.

In ‘86, Mr. Simondi was the

Mock Trial team adviser.

Exchange students from Ja-

pan and Sweden attended

EC in’86.

The National School Safety

Center ranked ECHS in the

top 10% of high schools in the US.

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26

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31

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3

4

9

67

8

10

13

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1516

29

30

32

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363738

39

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1980s

35

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ECHS also placed in the top

5% of schools with the low-

est school-wide dropout rate.

In ‘93, the EC High School

Varsity Volleyball Team was

co-ed.

In ‘95, EC won the Bell Game for the first

time in decades.EC had Friday Night Live,

a statewide program that

participated in community service

was recognized by NASA for exper-

imenting under conditions similar to

those of outer space.

The school newspaper was

originally named El Caballi-

to, published every three weeks with

Changing Tides, a literary magazine.

In 1967, lunch milk only cost a nickel.

The Scream Team was

originally named “The Yell

Team”, consisting only of male par-

ticipants that cheered along with the

all girl “Pon Poms”.

EC’s “Block C” supervised

the school and rallies, assisted at ath-

letic and school social events, similar

to today’s Leadership class.

El Camino had a girls’ gym-

nastics team in ‘71.

In 1970, the Senior Class went to Germa-

ny.Basketball uniforms were

very different in the 1970s.

Boys wore very short shorts.

In ‘70, EC’s varsity water

polo team went undefeated

6-0.

In 1973, EC had a ski

club.

The El Camino Show Troupe

from the ‘60s to ‘70s re-

ceived numerous local and national

awards.

An inter-class track meet

was held in the spring of

1973. Students from all classes com-

peted against each other.

Telecommunications Club in

‘75: A precursor to ECTV?

and leadership conferences.

EC had a homecoming tro-

phy that was awarded to the

winning class.

A pipe bomb explod-ed during the ‘90 Bell

Game, blowing away parts of the scoreboard at Clifford Field.

In ‘96, EC won the Bell Game for the second

consecutive year. Ms. Elder was the adviser for

the Class of 2001

The Sophomore Class of ‘04

won homecoming in ‘02.

Youtube star Michelle Martinez attended El

Camino from 2000-2004.In 2001, Lawrence Lim in-

dependently raised $760+

for those affected by the 9/11 trag-

edy as a sophomore.

Class of 1996 alum-nus Kurtis Ming won an

Emmy Award as a newscaster for KOVR-TV CBS13 Sacra-mento.

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14

1516 19

20

23

39

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4344

4546

1970s

24

25

2122

17

2000s48

49

50

47

1990s


Staff Feature: Sharyn KinneyBy Rebecca Gigi

Along with the new teachers, text-books, and lockers at El Camino this year, the library has once again gone under another change with Sharyn Kinney as the new librarian. Since her family relocated from Pennsylvania about a year ago, Kinney has taken some time in order to get settled but is no stranger to the world of education.

“Prior to moving, I have had an ar-

ray of experience of education includ-ing chemistry, earth science, and drop-out prevention teacher,” Kinney said.

Kinney has always enjoyed working with high school students and due to El Camino’s evident school spirit and supportive faculty, Kinney knew that EC would be a “good fit” for her.

“When I heard the booming music in the courtyard on the first Friday of school, I realized that this school has a lot of heart and pride,” Kinney said.

As the librarian, Kinney’s job is to provide instructional support to both faculty and students by making all available resources accessible while creating and inviting space so that all feel welcome.

Kinney already has plenty of goals this year that range from immediately reorganizing the library to providing better access to library resources. “My long term goals include streamlining the process of acquiring a public li-brary card so all students have access to their local library holdings,” Kinney said.

Kinney says that since all public library card holders can utilize elec-

tronic resources form any computer with internet service, the amount of information available through online databases expands tremendously so that students can use throughout high school and later on in life.

As for hobbies, Kinney playfully ad-mits that all her other responsibilities outside of school keep her extremely busy but admits that she shamelessly watches reality tv while doing house-work. “From my teenage daughter’s busy schedules, taking care of our home, and finishing my Master’s de-gree leaves little room for anything else… except watching a Phillies game,” Kinney said.

Students Speak Out:What is one rumor you’ve heard about El Camino?

By Erika Porcuna

“A girl died in the bathroom near room 43. I’ve been near the bathroom, but I never went inside. It doesn’t scare me though.”

-Freshman Ricah Lucero

“El Camino was built on top of a cemetery. It makes sense since there’s so many cemeteries around here.”

-Sophomore Keith Wong

“We’re the most popular school in the Bay Area and we’re the most rec-ognizable because we have the most school spirit.”

- Junior Naomi Teodosio

“Freshman Friday. It’s when all up-perclassmen put freshmen in trash cans and torment them. I wasn’t scared since Link Crew told me it wasn’t true.

-Senior Danielle Lucas

“When I heard the booming music in the courtyard on the first Friday of school, I realized that this school has a lot of heart and pride.”

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October 2010 / Quarter 1 / Colt Quarterly

Life

U

1. Recycle.That means

putting that plastic bottle, can of juice, and piece of paper where it belongs—in the recycling bin, not the trash bin. This is probably the easiest, yet the most overlooked way of going green, and it takes the least amount of work. The Ecology Club does the rest by sorting, processing, and sending the bottles to the recycling plant.

Recycling makes a huge difference. Plastic bottles that are not recycled end up in landfills. Plastic bottles can be melted down and used to make a new bag, a kayak, or a polyester sweater.

Reuse paper! Print your essays on both sides, and make the m a r g i n s nar rower to print on fewer pag-es. Save all the paper-work you’ve accumulated for the whole year and send it to the recy-cling facility. Use the back sides for scratch paper or build a paper-ma-che out of it.

2. Betteryet,useareus-ablewaterbottle.

Although it may be inconvenient to bring your

own water as opposed to buy-

ing bottled water from the vending machine, it is healthier,

cheaper, and more eco-friendly to use a reusable water bottle. The plastic used in bottled water contains car-cinogens that leach into the drinking water. Preferably, use an aluminum or steel water bottle.

Moreover, since tap water is more regulated, it contains less pathogens than the unregulated bottled water companies. Urge your parents to buy water filters if you don’t have one yet. Although it may be a bit costly in the beginning, you’ll save money in the

long run.3. Buy eco-friendly mer-

chandise.Buy products from companies

that are eco-friendly—for in-stance, copier paper made out of recycled materials (look for those that are FSC certified or endorsed by the Rainforest Alliance), or clothes that are 100% cotton. They may be a

little on the expensive side, but the po-lar bears will appreciate it.

4. Cutbackonthegas.Reduce your carbon footprint by

cutting back on gas usage. Carpool with your friends, use pub-lic transportation, bike, skate, or walk to school. Or if you have to, ride a mule to school. It’s actually beneficial for upperclassmen to walk as it’s a way of keeping

oneself physically fit. Even teachers do it—biology

teacher Dave Jordan, English teacher Adam McLearan, and social studies teacher Mike Zozos regularly bike to school.

5. Conserve.Usealittlelessofev-erything.

Unplug your appliances after you finish using them. Even if your ap-p l iances are off, k e e p -ing them plugged still con-sumes a little elec-tricity. Unplug your laptops and cell phone chargers as soon as they have finished charging; don’t leave them plugged for the whole day.

Use less water every day, and al-ways turn off the faucet when not in use.

Imagine melted polar ice caps, disappearing polar bears, toxic air, and rising sea levels. Imagine no clean air for future generations. Any of this could be prevented if we make slight yet significant changes to our lifestyles. Going green is a trend that’s taking over society—for the right reasons. Here are some ways how El Camino students can be eco-friendly despite their busy schedules.

By Catherine Tadina

Art Christen Alqueza


The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 1 / October 201018

Opi

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PO

LLMany changes mark El Camino

High School’s 50th anniversary: from new strategic classes, to staff changes, to new locker policies—even down to the way our teachers take attendance, where we go if we get injured before or after 11:30 a.m., to the overall aesthetic of this newsmagazine. How-ever, most of these changes have gen-erated more criticism than praise from students this school year.

The new locker policies seem to be the biggest source of contention among ECHS students, who found that upon their return to school after sum-mer, every lock from every locker in the school has been removed. As a re-sult, students are required to pay seven dollars for a lock and are reassigned a locker—which is, for some people, inconvenient. Students who chose to take an unused locker without school consent and brought their own locks to school subsequently had their locks cut off and their belongings relocated to the office for pick-up.

The school could have dealt with the locker redistribution in a more orga-nized manner instead of surprising stu-dents then compelling them to pile up en masse in the hallways after school. Instead of making students buy locks, the school could have just loaned the locks to students for the school year much like loaning books. The school could have given preference to seniors, who are not only further burdened by this unnecessary expense amid AP

tests and college application fees, but are also left with extra locks after graduat- ing high school. Even if all of this did not happen, no matter how the school dealt with the locker situation, the neces-sity and practicality of replacing old school lockers is i nev i tab le and cannot be overlooked.

Let us consider the rea- s o n s that prompted this locker policy change in the first place. The school decided to remove the old locks from all the lockers because they were prone to breaking, leading to numerous thefts. Instead of the inconvenience of having to call a person to repair or replace a lock every time one breaks, it is simply more efficient to replace them with newer, more durable, student-owned locks. S i n c e

students have to pay for these locks, they are compelled to take care of them, as opposed to school-loaned locks. Although it is inconvenient, the reason why the school wants students to use the school-issued locks instead of our own locks, even though they can be of the same brand and model, is that school officials need to be able to easily open lockers for search and seizure operations for security rea-sons—which, in the grand scheme of things, makes sense. They also want to aid students just in case they forget their combinations or if a lock breaks.

In addition, it is a good idea for ev-ery student to have their own lock and have the assurance that only they (and perhaps their locker partner) know the combination to their locker—the of-fice only has the key to opening your locker, not the combination. To those

who want their own locker, this is the chance to have one all

to oneself; to those who do not want to pay for a seven-dollar lock can split the costs with multiple parties. In the end, the benefits out-

weigh the costs, and the reasons should

quell the com-plaints.

Locker issues overblownE D I TO R I A L

Is the new locker system problematic?

What would be the best solution?a. Loan out locksb. Give seniors priorityc. Have notified students over the summerd. Distribute in a more organized system

21%NO

79%YES

a. 33% d. 34%

b. 18% c.15%


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st1cks_@nd_s+0n3s...By Marivic Victoria

Your locker neighbor overheard their locker neighbor that overheard their friend that your physics partner has been telling everyone that you smell like sweat and rotten eggs. Im-mediately everyone posts this news on their Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr as the latest gossip.

Although social networking may seem like a great way for teenagers to be part of the “in- crowd”, there are dangers that come with posting your status. Attached to having an ac-count on any social network, either be-ing a victim or a silent witness, being a part of the social networking world will eventually lead to witnessing cy-ber bullying.

Cyber bullying has become a new

way for students to intimidate one an-other. Posts dealing with how ugly, stu-pid, or embarrassing someone may be has become the new way students can bully without directly interacting with one another.

Being a part of such activities only displays how teenagers can be unin-telligent and irresponsible. Although you are dying to post your status, think twice and use common sense. The best solution would be to try sharing it with your journal or even better, don’t share it at all.

Creating an account for Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr is a great way to keep in touch with friends and fam-ily but to post gossip with the intent of hurting someone else is stupid and a waste of time. As for Formspring, be aware for no matter what, there will

always be those teenagers who just love to create conflict. Don’t make a Formspring or any social networking account if you know you’ll be hurt by the statements that people may post.

You can help prevent cyber bul-lying by not participating in it. There are no wins in cyber bullying, so don’t be that person who puts themselves in a position of having that burden on their shoulders because they know they were a part of hurting someone’s feelings.

Although we were taught that “sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you”- they do hurt. Next time you feel like posting something mean think twice, it’s not go-ing to do anything but hurt people and make you look bad.

Pho

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Ray

Con

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LETTERSt o t h e e d i t o r

By Marcus Ismael

During a typical school day, stu-dents experience six 50-minute peri-ods and are restricted to a curriculum that can fit into that limited time. In classes like P.E. and science, a portion of class time is spent on preparing for the class. Over a period of time, this prep time takes up time that could be used for the lesson itself. What if there was a way to eliminate wasted minutes?

Block scheduling is beneficial in lab classes where setup takes up a large amount of time. Block scheduling re-quires no additional costs, staff or time

to the school and is easy to implement. Regular, non-lab classes like English, History and Math can follow the regu-lar schedule, yet performing arts, P.E. and science classes benefit from block scheduling considering prep time. Not only is time continuously wasted, but also many students simply need more time to learn in certain classes.

There are several ways to struc-ture this type of scheduling. One is to reserve certain days of the week for the block schedule. The benefit is that time is made for lab experiments or other elective procedures like cooking in foods or developing film in pho-

tos. On days without block schedul-ing, more classes can be fit in for a shorter amount of time, making space for tests or projects. Another plan is the 4x4 model where days have four, 90-minute long periods. This allows the academic year to be compressed and allows a student to take sequen-tial classes (i.e. Algebra I and Alge-bra II) in the same semester or year; impossible in a regular schedule.

Block scheduling is a flexible plan that adapts to students’ learning paces and provides opportunities to maximize instructional time. It is the answer to a more effective school day.

Tales of an average, observant 21st century teenager

with Katrina Nolasco

C O L U M N

B L O C K

It’s difficult to believe that once one turns 18, under the law, one is consid-ered an “adult” and is expected to make good life decisions. In actuality, many 18 year olds can be some of the most immature, irresponsible people to ever walk the face of the earth.

From what I’ve seen in class, most 18 year olds don’t take their respon-sibilities seriously. For the most part, they’d rather fool around than focus on the task at hand.

What determines a person’s ma-turity level, anyway? How does one magically morph from a carefree 17 year old to a sensible adult in just one day? It’s not possible.

With 30 being the new 20, the 21st century is a tricky time for all age groups. Perhaps 18 is the new eight. Does that mean everyone should feel free to act ten years younger than their actual age?

Restrictions based on age are prevalent in teen life. A 16-year-old can’t watch a restricted movie, buy a rated “M” video game, or even get a license without taking driving school unless they’re 18. Most people would say age restrictions exist because they

don’t want younger people to become exposed to certain things. Well, if they’re going to be exposed to these things later on, despite their age, what’s the difference?

Most people, if not all, are judged by their appearance or how old a person looks. In our society, one isn’t judged by their heart or mind but by how old they appear to be. Take the restricted movie scenario. One will usu-ally get carded if they look younger than 17. But, what happens when a 15 year old looks 20? Any 16 year old can evade any movie security guard if they are tall and have a beard. What’s the point of the age restriction then?

With age comes different lev-els of trust. People tend not to take

a person’s opinion seriously if they’re an “adult”. It doesn’t matter if they’re the smartest kid in the town if they’re only 15, people won’t really care. A person’s mindset doesn’t really change from 17 to 18, so should an 18 year old be trusted more? I can’t even tell the difference between juniors and se-niors sometimes. They all pretty much just act the same – immaturely.

It seems our families bring us up to be dependent and needy. Due to this teens these days have no clue how to survive and make their own decisions. In some cultures, children are mature at 12. But in the U.S. we have six extra years, yet we fill them with ignorance, laziness and junk food.

People learn and mature at their own pace. Just because someone’s 17 doesn’t mean they can make better decisions than a 15 year old. Some people are getting treated unfairly just because they’re too young on their birth certificate. If only people could just see how the mind of a person actu-ally works – maybe then all those ma-ture 15-year-olds would get the credit they deserve and immature 18 year olds would just grow up already!


LETTERSt o t h e e d i t o r

By Ryan Love

Every year, students try and bet-ter prepare themselves for their future by going to school. They go through six 50-minute classes a day. Some would argue that is an inefficient method of teaching and that block scheduling is more effective. But, in actuality, normal scheduling is the superior form of education that not only is more hands-on and focused, but it forces students to grasp instruc-tional material at a faster pace.

Block scheduling has several flaws to it. Classes are held every other day, therefore students don’t retain

information as well as they would if an everyday schedule was in effect. Core classes like math benefit from daily practice. In certain cases of block scheduling, classes can last up to four hours, which greatly exceeds the attention span of an average student. This results in less attention from stu-dents and more watered-down mate-rial in order to maintain the students’ interest, causing comprehension prob-lems and making remedial review more necessary.

AP classes are essential to a stu-dent’s development, and are severely affected by block scheduling. Some schools that have adopted block

scheduling have AP classes that last the entire year, as opposed to most block schedules, which allow for a class to be packed into one quar-ter. Therefore, AP classes restrict the amount of classes a student can take at once. This can lead to high school lasting longer than four years be-cause students have not earned all their credits.

For students, block scheduling is full of classes that seem to last forever. Halfway through the class, students go into a trance and lose focus on what’s being taught. I know this from person-al experience. It’s a useless and over the top way of instruction.

S C H E D U L I N G

Dear Colt Quarterly Staff, I love El Camino. I don’t know

how many other people feel like this but there’s seriously something com-pelling about this school. Would I be biased if I say Elco’s special? IT’S NOT JUST ANOTHER SCHOOL! Every day, there is always something to laugh about. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the quirkiness of the substitute or the stupid ridiculous things you and your friends have been doing, it’s hilari-ous, you laugh. The staff is wonder-fully delightful. I mean, sure, a couple of beautifying projects wouldn’t hurt – but then again, there’s no place like home. I love going to school. It might seem kind of nerdy to you, but I really like learning new things. I love being able to challenge myself and take on risks that can only make me a better person. Elco’s something else.

Mikka Yamamoto, sophomore

To whom it may concern: Overall, The Colt Quarterly

is very informative and entertaining. However, I suggest including articles that people can relate to. Personally, I enjoy reading any book or article that somehow is parallel to my life. Social, physical, emotional issues that are discussed in articles are interest-ing. Even a page on home life and how to cope with personal issues would be fun to read. In no way am I bashing the school newspaper. The newspaper is always well-written and is definitely interesting.

Samantha Arban, sophomore

Dear editor,My feelings toward El Camino High

School are warm and loving and I ap-preciate everyone who attends this school. But my concern is how students take everything that is done for them for granted. For instance, everyone wants better rallies and more partici-

pation in class activities but they never realize the work and sleepless hours that go behind the scenes to get ev-erything done and organized. I have a new found respect for people who take charge and lead our school to success.

We are known as the “Most Spirited School” but when you walk through the halls you would double guess that no-tion. Does everyone go to homecom-ing or school dances? I never get any positive feedback on how I tried to improve a dance or a rally. All I ever hear is that it wasn’t good and that it was stupid. If it was stupid then why didn’t you take a stand and make it better. I just really wish students would open their eyes, participate and get their voice out there.

We have only four years to make this school our school, make a change, and make El Camino the way we want.

Avasinita Kumar, senior

The Colt Quarterly / Quarter 1 / October 201022

The geniuses at Bungie have done it again with the newest and final installment in the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach. Because previous in-stallments of Halo are not only considered some of the greatest first-person shoot-ers of all time, but some of the best games of this gen-eration, the expectations were overwhelmingly high. Fortunately for Bungie, they not only met those expecta-tions, but exceeded them on all levels.

As the game begins, you assume the roll of Noble Six, a Spartan Mark III sent to a task force called Noble Team. Upon their arrival, Noble Team is dispatched to a relay station that went offline. They quickly discov-er that a hostile alien force, The Covenant, has begun an attack on the planet Reach, the strongest military out-

post in the United Nations Space Command. For gam-ers that have played the previous games, you know what happens. But for ev-eryone else, lets just say it doesn’t end well for Noble Six or the UNSC.

A new addition to the Halo franchise is space com-bat, which is only available in one mission, and only for a short time. But the short time that you are in space, it is a compelling experience that is hard to forget. You do everything from battling it out with Covenant fighters in dogfights to dropping in and destroying an enemy flagship systematically from the inside. It feels like you are playing a Star Wars game, and I say that with absolute adoration.

Another regular feature in the Halo franchise, Forge Mode has been greatly

expanded and improved. Basically, forge is a map creator/editor. You can create and edit nearly ev-ery aspect of the map. Not only that, but it is a fantastic sandbox mode where you and your friends can just get lost for hours in its im-mense customization. The first time I played Forge with my friends, we were in the same game making forts and towers for three hours.

Firefight is another solid returning feature in the game. Originally introduced in Halo 3: ODST, Firefight is basically a survival mode where you and your friends are pitted against endless waves of covenant troops that gradually get stronger as things progress.

Now for the absolute best aspect of the game- matchmaking. In the past, matchmaking, or online

play, has been an addicting and intense part of the Halo franchise, but now, it is even better than ever. Now fea-turing a class selection sys-tem, there is an absolutely perfect blend of balance and action that will make you refuse to put the con-troller down.

Every second of the game is action packed and abso-lutely stunning. Graphically, there is hardly a game that can match the cinematic cutscenes and environments that populate the various parts of the game.r

Halo: Reach is one of the most impressive and im-mersive games of the de-cade. If you do not own it, buy it. If you don’t have an XBOX360, put this maga-zine down, go buy one, and get this game. Yeah, it’s that good.

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Wingstop By Ray Concepcion

Early September brought joy to Daly City residents as the popu-lar San Carlos restaurant Wingstop opened a new location in the Westlake Shopping Center. I decided to check it out and I must say I now understand what all the fuss was about.

I ordered the ten-piece combo meal which comes with a choice of two of their nine chicken wing flavors. The combo also includes a regular size side and regular drink. I decided to get the cajun and lemon pepper wings to get a balance of spicy

and savory. They were a delicious blend of saltiness and tanginess. They were complimented by the hon-ey mustard dipping sauce, which really brought out the lemon flavor while re-taining its sweetness.

Tossed in hot sauce, the cajun wings are topped with a dry spice rub. The staff suggested I try it with the ranch dressing and I was happy to oblige. The dressing complimented the spice from the sauce and the dry rub perfectly, which had my taste buds going wild.

All in all, the meal was amazing. Wingstop earns 5 out of 5.

Hands All OverBy Rebecca Gigi

Grammy award winning music group Maroon 5 has done it again with their third studio album Hands All Over, joining forces with AC/DC and Def Leppard producer Robert “Mutt” Lange to create a highly different sound that fans will definitely notice and enjoy.

In this album the band has experimented by add-ing different styles of music to this pop album, ultimate-ly adding to its toe-tap-ping and catchy choruses that will keep your finger pressing repeat. Guitar and keyboards are empha-

sized which will also catch the listener’s attention. The lyrics on this album defi-nitely stick to leader singer Adam Levine’s obsession with women both past and present so if you’re not into hearing about chasing love then Maroon 5 is not your type of band.

Overall this record is amazing. I enjoyed almost every minute of it. If you aced a test or wrote a good essay, treat yourself to this album. I know you’ll find at least one song that you’ll end up download-ing on your iPod. Hands All Over gets four of five stars.

DevilBy Catherine Tadina

When I walked into Devil, I expected the worst. The impact of Shyamalan’s soiled reputation from his previous flops was already palpable the moment I stepped into the theater: there were 10 or so peo-ple at most.

The premise of Devil is basic: five strangers get stuck in an elevator and strange things start to happen. One-by-one, the people in the elevator die gruesome deaths. NYPD Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) first conducts a background search on the five people to find which

one of them is the murder-er, but realizes that these deaths are caused by The Devil. In Bowden’s investi-gation, the dark pasts of the five strangers are in-terconnected.

For a film with a very basic plot, the creators of Devil surely found a way to make the movie a little more interesting, The ending was a “twist end-ing” typical of Shyamalan thriller movies.

The ending was fulfill-ing, but everything that preceded is snooze-wor-thy. Shyamalan’s use of the “twist ending” proves that maybe he has not lost his touch. Devil earns a 3 out of 5.

Hunger GamesBy Katrina Nolasco

In Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, protago-nist Katniss Everdeen, nar-rates a story that revolves around love, hate, life, death and the fate of hu-manity.

The story follows the story of Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl that ends up becoming a trib-ute to play in the Hunger Games. She and 23 other tributes are forced to par-ticipate in the ultimate fight to the death on live televi-sion. For Katniss, survival comes naturally and defy-ing death is no problem for her. However, in order

to win, Katniss has to kill each and every contender playing the game.

The book doesn’t fail to stay sus-penseful. It’s very easy to get pulled into the story and fairly easy to relate to Coliin’s charac-ters.

However, it can get very brutal. The violence can be pretty un-bearable for immature audiences. Most teenagers can handle it.

The Hunger Games is a constantly suspenseful, clever story. I give it 4 out of 5.

Ratings

K E Y :D Excellent!Strongly recommend

:) :| :( >:(Good

RecommendedAverage

Some will like some will not

Not GoodNot recommended

Awful!Avoid at all costs

:) :)

:| :D

Halo:Reach

colt quarterly - quarter 1

Documents

colt quarterly staff

new staff librarian

new system

staff feature

new locker policies

camino student body

exciting new features

locked outthe new locks