The Paw PrintVolume 9 Issue II October 2012Pioneer Valley High School

We caught up with Mr. Harmon and asked if he could spell the word “syzygy.” “Can you use it in a sentence?” It was a word of scientifi c origin. “Ahh… Scientists… A bunch of jerks,” Mr. Harmon scoffed. He attempted the word: “Z-X-Y-Z-R-G-Y.”

C lose, but so far off. “I had the “Y” right… But I put an “X” in there, didn’t I?” He back-pedalled. This was the challenge that two seniors, Francesca Carillo-Diaz and Haylie Ruiz, faced as they represented our school at the 20th annual spelling bee at the Elks on September 16. “I was anxious and wanted to get it over with,” said Francesca. Both students

were challenged with words such as “plebiscite” and “ecclesiastical.” Francesca spelled up to six devilishly hard words while Haylie spelled nine. “I died on the fi rst word,” said Haylie. To prepare themselves, they endlessly looked over many words in the dictionary. Their hard work paid off as Francesca placed ninth out of 27, and Haylie placed fi fth.

The Buzz on the Spelling BeeAlicia MoralesSTAFF WRITER

Francesca and Haylie (left to right) prepare to spell “connoisseur.”

Although, only hoping for a 5 point gain; Pioneer Valley raised CST scores by 15 points! We raised our score to 736! Ms. Herrera thanks the teachers for helping raise awareness about the importance of testing. She believes that our pool party also encouraged us to do better and will keep rewarding us.

“I am very proud of my students. I love being at PV, and I believe we can be on top,” said Ms. Herrera. A few years back, Principal Ringsted promised to dye her

hair if we broke the 700 point barrier. We scored above Santa Maria, and we are just a few points away from Righetti.

Would you be willing to do something if we reached 750? “Defi nitely! I’ll totally dye my hair teal if that’s what it takes. Anything!”

Janice MendezSTAFF WRITER

pool party time! tremendous gain on cst

Herrera all smiles after results.

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OppaGangnam

Style!Page 2

SlendermanPage 6

LaLlorona

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Photo by Donna Eschen

Mr. Magni gave three students a chance of a lifetime by taking them to UCSB to be a part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) conference this month. Jonah Mau, Xavier Aguilar and Edith Camacho, the three lucky students, took part on Mr. Magni’s summer science program and were taken to UCSB. “Jeffrey O. Henely, the owner of Oracle, was the guest speaker at the conference,” said Edith. Aside from meeting multi-billionaires like the

owner of Oracle, the students were also allowed to present their science projects.

“After we spoke to everyone we set up our projects,” said Jonah Mau, sophomore. “My project was testing the effi ciency of solar panels with the accompaniment of dirt.”

After they presented their projects, they were able to see the projects of

other guests at the STEM conference. “There was a robot that shot basketballs,” said Jonah, “and the only U.S. handicap telescope.” Only 500 people went to

this STEM Conference, so having students from PVHS attend was a real honor. “It is very powerful for the students to have this opportunity,” said Mr. Magni.

UCSB STEM Conference of the AgesAraceli Garcia

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

From left to right: Xavier, Jonah, Edith.

Photo by Jasmin Ramirez

Features2Who Made That? Paw Print

Staff675 Panther Drive, Room 321

Santa Maria, CA 93454(805) 922-1305 x5321

email: afeher@smjuhsd.org

Advisor:Arnold Feher

Danny Dearborn

Editor-in-Chief:Araceli Garcia

News Editor:Reinard Bermudez

Features Editor:Monica Ramirez

Centerspread Editor:Joanna Herrera

Sports Editor:Alex Contreras

Creative Editor:Ariti Tadeo

Entertainment Editor:Ray Ando

Opinion Editor:Kyle Giesmann

Photo Editor:Josue Rojo

Staff Writers:Jim EliginoRose Anaya

Jonathan HonradaAylin Lopez

Janice MendezAlicia MoralesAliyah Morales

Breanna MorenoJasmin Ramirez

Alisa SantanaSara Segovia

Alexandra TorresLuis Vasquez

Araceli Vasquez

Ray-Ban Wayfar-ers were designed in 1956 by Raymond Stegeman. The design was radically differ-ent from the norm of the time period. Other than the classic trapezoid shape, they were the first glasses to use a plastic frame. Through the 1950’s and 60’s, the Wayfarer design was very popular as it offered a new, dangerous look with a large masculine frame. The Wayfarer design saw little luck during the 70’s and by 1980 they were on the chopping block. The sunglasses’ fate was reversed in 1982 when Ray-Ban signed a $50,000 a year deal with Unique Product Placement of Burbank, California, to place Ray-Bans in movies and television. Over a period of five years, the glasses appeared in over 60 films and TV shows per year.

Tom Cruise’s wear-ing of Wayfarers in his 1983 movie “Risky Business” marked the beginning of the Wayfarer phenomenon. 360,000 pairs sold that year. That’s a 342,000 jump in sales from the 18,000 sold in 1981. By 1986, after ap-pearing in “Miami Vice,” sales totaled $1.5 million.As the 90’s began, the frames again became unpopular, and Wayfarers were out-competed by other frames. Soon, vintage Wayfarers were selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. In 2001, the Wayfarers went through a redesign, adding new colors. Currently, Wayfar-ers popularity is at a new all-time high. In 2010, Katy Perry wore a pair of black Wayfarers in her music video “Teenage Dream.” Bruno Mars also sported Wayfarers in his music video “The Lazy Song.”

Kyle GiesmannEDITOR

Ray-Ban Wayfarers

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Wayfarers are an integral part of The Blues Brothers’ outfit.

“Heyy, Sexy Lady”

“Gangnam Style,” the new craze song that you don’t understand 90% of the time yet you still can’t help but dance like a manic to whenever you hear it, is beginning to be one of the most popular songs in the world. “It’s such a vibrant song you instantly feel like dancing,” said Vincent Bucayu, senior and K-pop fan. “Gangnam Style” is the Korean pop song made by the bombastic South Korean pop star PSY. “Gangnam” is a Korean neologism mainly associated with upscale fashion and lavish lifestyle associated with trendsetters in Seoul’s Gangnam district. The Gangnam district could be called the Beverly Hills of Korea. The first verse of its lyrics translate to: “A girl who is warm and humanly during the day/ A classy girl who knows how to enjoy the freedom of a cup of coffee/

A girl whose heart gets hotter when night comes/ A girl with that kind of twist.” Although the song satirizes the fashion and trends of the Gangnam district, the song talks about “the perfect girlfriend who knows when to be refined and when to get wild.” The song was released on July 15, 2012 and debuted at number one on the Gaon Chart, South Korea’s national record chart. The music video has been viewed over 295 million times on YouTube as of September 27, 2012, and was recognized by Guinness World Records as the “Most Liked” video in YouTube history. “I’ve heard it over 30 times now,” said Vincent. With its catchy beats and its ability to make a stupid-looking dance cool, the song is like the Korean version of LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.” “Gangnam” is even comparable to slang terms “Swag” and “YOLO,” and its fame is expected to be worldwide by the end of the year.

Reinard BermudezEDITOR

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Water Polo players take a rest from the water to goof aroound.

Can You Tell Whose Staches These Are?

Opinion 3

People who read the “Paw Print” should know who this “Enigma Eligino” is: me, Jim Eligino. So, what am I like? To fi nd out, I decided to interview the one person I never interviewed: myself. However, since this is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, for those of us who don’t speak Spanish), I decided to interview my own ghost, via time machine, in the year I’d die of old age: the year 2088. (key: ELIGINO – the interviewer: me, “the writer me”; GHOST – the late Jim Eligino of 2088; the cool-speaking, relaxed (and dead) version of me; “the ghostly me”.)

ELIGINO: So, what’s it like?

Entering the Eyes and Ears of Enigma Eligino

“Meeting the Enigma’s Ghost”

Jim Eligino: STAFF WRITER

Everyone dresses up in their spooky costumes with their candy bag at the ready. Finally, after a successful voyage of knocking door to door, they have collected enough candy to make their local dentists rich. Everyone celebrates Halloween, enjoying every last minute of it. But really, what’s so great about it? The holiday everyone should be psyched for is right around the corner. Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Unlike all that expensive and useless shopping done to ‘properly’ celebrate Halloween, El Dia de Los Muertos is something everyone can do. This day is a day to honor the ones people have lost. This holiday actually has a meaning. On Dia de los

Muertos, those with deceased loved ones spend the whole day remembering them. They make altars of their favorite foods and write them poems. Some families even put out an extra blanket and pillow for the deceased in their honor. This holiday shows so much love being given to those we have lost. Halloween is just

a celebration of candy. Indulging yourself with candy in a goofy costume. What is it, really?

On Halloween, people run around in the most ridiculous costumes at night, hoarding candy while others go pulling stunts to scare others. What is the point of this? Halloween is just a waste of time. Maybe people should not spend the night getting sugar high and stay home with the family, respecting the ones we lost.

Photo By Josue Rojo

GHOST: What?ELIGINO: It.GHOST: “It”?ELIGINO: “The Paw Print” – what was it like, writing for them?GHOST: Oh. It worked with me. We had our good times.ELIGINO: OK. So, I’ve heard rumors about you that you’d lost your writing edge. Is that true?GHOST: No. I was simply at rest when I was your age, and I can’t really write; I’m dead.ELIGINO: Oh. Also, I want to get this straight – when you published your very fi rst ar-ticle for “The Paw Print”, did you actually fall asleep under one of the desks?GHOST: Yes. I like sleeping.ELIGINO: (laughs.) That’s very funny there, Jim. One thing I seem to notice is that

you speak very little. Why is that?GHOST: Well, it relates to the time I went to Finland, and when it comes to speak-ing, you can tell the whole story, or like some famous Flying Finns (famous Finnish people, for our PV faithful), you can summarize the story. For me, it’s easier to just say it the short way.ELIGINO: OK. One last question: do you think that it’s a bit strange for one person to interview his dead self?GHOST: Yes. Yes, it is.(both laugh)ELIGINO: Well, Jim, it was nice knowing you. Thanks for this interview.GHOST: No problem, Jim. It’s always a pleasure being interviewed by a likewise soul; and in this case, liter-ally!

Halloween Vs. Dia de Los Muertos

Araceli GarciaEDITOR IN CHIEF

Stache Attack!!!#1 #5#2 #4#3

See page 8 for answers...

Photo By Josue Rojo

Center4“I’ve seen enough hor-ror movies to know that any weirdo wearing a mask is never friendly.”- Friday the 13th

Horror movies have always been the best movies to watch. They are always keeping you at the edge of your seat, always making you want more. Some people hate them in the beginning but love them at the end. It’s even better though to watch them on Halloween night, when your mind is at its most wicked. Halloween night is always the scariest night of the year, which makes it the best night to watch them. People love getting a little scare on Halloween night, which makes them go watch horror movies. “I love watching horror movies on Halloween night because I get the chills of my life, which is the whole point of Halloween,” said Stacy, PVHS student.

The central theme of Halloween is being scared a little, so why not go watch a horror movie? Some of the best horror movies to watch on Halloween night would have to be The Human Centipede, The Human Centipede 2, IT, The Collector, The Strangers and many more. After you see The Human Centipede, you will never see anything the same. In The Human Centipede you will notice that anything is possible these days, as long as you have the skills for it. The Human Centipede will give you the chills of your life throughout the whole movie. The Human Centipede will always be one of the most terrifying movies anyone can possibly see, so why not go watch a horror movie on Halloween night to get the scare of your life?

Araceli Vasquez EDITOR

Spread 5 La Llorona, legend

or myth? For years children have been terrifi ed by La Llorona (the crying woman). There are two versions to this legend.

Version One: There was once a widow with children who wished to marry a rich nobleman. The nobleman, however, didn’t want to raise another man’s offspring

so he dismissed her. Determined to have him, she drowned her children in a nearby river. When she told the man what she had done, he was shocked and rejected her. She soon realized the crime she had

committed and went to the river, in search of her children. Realizing that she lost them, she killed herself. Now her spirit wanders along the river. People say they’ve seen her walking around, weeping and searching for

her dead children as she cries out, “Oh hijos mios.” Version Two: The beautiful Maria was so beautiful; she thought she was better than everyone else. When she

was a young woman she wouldn’t even look at the men from her village. Then, one day, a handsome and wealthy man rode into the village. So, natu- rally she did everything pos-sible to get his attention. Before long, they were married. At fi rst, things were fi ne and they had two children. After a few years, however, the man grew bored of Maria. He would be gone for a long time. And when he returned home, it was only to visit his children. He talked about setting Maria aside to marry a woman of his own wealthy class. The more her husband ignored her, the more Maria resented her sons for receiving his attention. One night as Maria was strolling with her children on a pathway along the riverbed, her husband came by in a carriage with an elegant woman sitting beside him. He stopped and spoke to his children, without as much as a glance at Maria. After he left, Maria’s anger grew. She threw the boys into the river! But then she ran down,

reaching her arms out for them, to no avail. The next morning, a traveler brought word to the villagers that a beautiful woman lay dead on the riverbank. That’s where Maria was found, and where she was buried.

On the fi rst night that Maria was in her grave, the villagers heard strange crying down by the river. It was not the wind, it was Maria crying, “Donde estan mis hijos?” Where are my

children? On many dark nights they saw her walk along the river crying for her children, and so they no longer spoke of her as Maria.

They called her La Llorona, the weeping woman.

La Llorona Attacks AgainJanice Mendez

STAFF WRITER

Some people are for-tunate enough to be born on Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or perhaps some other holiday involving foods and gifts. But others, have the luck to be born on the day of the wicked.

They get to be born on Halloween itself. Instead of enjoying traditional ugly Christmas sweaters, they get to dress like vampires or ghouls and not be judged. They stuff their gullets with candy galore. I am one of them.

I was born on a day that celebrates all things that go bump in the night. The possessed and ghosts are my brethren. Halloween is without a doubt the most fun holi-day of the year. Sometimes you can even get cute little nicknames. When I was born

Rose AnayaSTAFF WRITER

Born Wickedmy abuelito (grandpa) called me his brujita (little witch). It never offended me because he said it with love. On my birth-day I get to wear whatever I want. It allows you to be a totally different person. And yes, most importantly, you get presents on Halloween if it’s your birthday! Getting pres-

ents on a day when people usually only get candy or dress up, being able to open gifts and spend time with family, is icing on the cake. Everyone in America celebrates Halloween; so remember, when you’re celebrating Halloween, you’re also celebrating my birthday.

Photo by Jasmin Ramirez “Oh hijos mios!!!”

Entertainment6 There is a man who wears a sleek black suit. He has no eyes, but is always watching. He has no ears, but he always listens to your cries. He has no nose, but he can smell your fear. He has no mouth, but they can always hear him calling. People call him a monster, a demon, a ghost. Me, I call him a hero. On a dark summer night a ten year old boy was walking home listen-ing to LMFAO and sagging his pants. He carried a bag of stink bombs and was throwing them at the houses in the neighborhood. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a man standing in the middle of the street. The boy heard a voice in his head telling him to come closer. As the boy got closer he noticed the man had no face and was extremely tall. The boy screamed “YOLO!” and was taken by the mysterious man, never to be seen again. Each year the people in the neighborhood dance in the street singing, “Thank you

Slendy!” for the great deed he performed. All across the globe Slenderman attacks all sorts of pesky children. On a cold winter night a thirteen year old girl blasted One Direction on her stereo while her parents were away. As she made a duck face for her facebook page she saw a tall man standing in front of her computer. She

said, “OMG, someone hit you with the ugly stick!” When the parents returned, they found their daughter gone. The friendly neighborhood Slenderman had struck again. People have created a game in honor of Slenderman’s heroic deeds. The game is called Slender

and is free for download so everyone can enjoy the hero-ics of Slenderman. You play as a young girl in a forest collecting pages from Slen-derman’s previous victims. Can you collect all the pages before Slenderman brings you to justice? Want to watch Slenderman in action? Search for Slenderman on YouTube. Let this be a lesson to all: behave, or else Slender-man may pay you a visit.

The iPhone 5 is finally here.Design The new iPhone 5 has finally been upgraded to a 4 inch screen instead of the 3.5 inch screen. The moment you first pick up the iPhone 5, you will be amazed at how light it is. It is 18% lighter than the iPhone 4S. Apple calls it the “lightest” phone on the planet. A new dock connector of-fers a number of advan-tages over the older 30-pin dock con-nector used on every Apple iPod, iPhone and iPad. It has become a 19-pin dock con-

nector. It has become revers-ible, it won’t break as often, and above all, it needed to be done. The new speakers on the iPhone 5 are amazing. They are crystal clear, and they project insanely well. They don’t just get loud, they get loud without distortion. Apple’s new trio of micro-phones — yes, there are now

three micro-phones on the iPhone 5 — really help with noise cancellation, They also help when you’re recording a video since your phone’s back is point-ed to the sub-ject, not the microphone you talk into when you’re

on the phone. The iPhone 5 also in-cludes the new apple earpods made to fit in all human ears.

The speakers inside Apple EarPods have been engineered to minimize sound loss and maximize sound output. Internet 4G LTE has finally arrived on the iPhone 5. If you don’t know what that is, it is basically the next big thing for speed. Although, it is very limited to only several markets depending on where you live and which carrier you are on. Apple has finally included Wi-Fi support in the iPhone 5, and this allows you to connect to super-fast wire-less networks. This phone will make your Wi-Fi look bad. Or at least, it did that to my iPhone. iPhone owners mak-ing the switch will notice that staying on LTE versus Wi-Fi might actually produce faster results...of course, at the ex-pense of paying more. Videos will load instantly, syncing to iTunes wirelessly will be twice as fast, downloading apps, loading WebPages — you name it — all faster than you know it.

Slenderman: The Man In The Suit

Luis VasquezSTAFF WRITER

Ray AndoEDITOR

iPhone 5: Better, Lighter, Faster

Looks good on the outside,but evil on the inside.

The revolutionary Apple earpods.

The iPhone 5 is lighter than it appears. A new design to the iPhone 5.

Photo courtesy of Google

Photo courtesy of Google

Photo By: Jasmin Ramirez

Photo courtesy of Google

Creative 7

My life is like the Harry Potter movies. It is magical and adventurous. I like fighting evil powers like my teachers. I also have two best friends. One is named Ray and many other people. We like going everywhere to-gether and uniting our forces to become a great group of

My Life Is Like...

Recycling A New Art Style

Ariti TadeoEDITOR

Ariti TadeoEDITOR

wizards. Also, there are many deaths in my family like Harry’s family. I also go to school and learn things with lots of jerks like Draco. I’m dumb like Ron, but still pretty charming. I also have a pet like Harry, but instead of an owl, it’s a bunny that hasn’t died… yet?

So, what show or movie is like your life?

Monica Ramirez, junior

“To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk,” -Thomas Edison.

Paintings, sculptures and fashion all have a special meaning when seen by the artistic eyes of a human. And just when it seems that our new generation has lost all creativity, a new artistic inspiration was born, touching the hearts of idealists every-where. The new style is called “uncycling”.

Uncycling is the art of using recyclables and trash to make a meaningful piece. It became popular because there were endless creative ideas.

“Garbage is free, so there is no reason for trash not to be able to become beauti-ful,” said Mr. Karamitsos, art teacher.

The great thing about uncycling is that it’s cheap and it promotes eco-friendly art. It has helped many people see the good that comes from recycling. Also, people don’t

have to keep buying supplies when they can use scraps of previous projects.

“It looks nice. It makes a lot of things from reusable items,” said Lizz Duran, junior.

There are many peo-ple and museums that collect this type of art. There seems to be no end on where to find uncycling. The increase in its sudden popularity brought this art form into the internet lime-light.

Only two human-made structures on Earth are big enough to be seen from outer space: the Great Wall of China and a landfill in New York.

Picture by Jasmin Ramirez

Art by Mr. Karamitsos. Picture by Jasmin Ramirez

Sports8

The drop of water dipped into its enormous pile of friends that appear to be one and at once together. The blue friends move over and under with every maneuver a person takes around them. But there surfaces a conflict, a competition of some sort, intense with every opposition. Teal & black and green & yel-low fought for a striped ball. In an instant Alex Mandujano grasped the ball and with a back-hand throw scored a goal, shutting up the St. Joe's fans. Even for water, water polo is fun. PVHS junior varsity and varsity water polo played against St. Joe’s on Tuesday, October 9th. Water polo is practicing vigorously to get

Have you met 18-year-old Codie Corbin? He is one of the fastest runners at Pioneer Valley High School, finishing the 100-yard-dash in 10.9 seconds. That’s one second off Usain Bolt’s record-setting run in the 2012 Olympics. Codie is a part of our varsity football team as well as track team. Codie’s older brother inspired him to start playing football when he was a little boy. He has played football for about 6 years, but he wishes he had started when he was a bit younger, so he could’ve had more knowledge about the game. His favorite sports are basketball and football, which he has great interest in. “Without Codie we don’t know where our varsity team would be right now. He’s amazing!” said Diego Millian, senior. Codie suffered an injury during football season when a Templeton linebacker hit him right in the knee. He was out for about a week. He couldn’t stand not being able to practice. When he returned in a game against Lompoc, he re-hurt the exact same knee. He got lucky and did not tear a ligament. His favorite high school football play was when he returned a punt against Atascadero all the way into the end zone. The crowd went crazy. “I am really going to miss this school. It had been a wonderful high school experience,” said Codie. His plans after high school are to go to a 4-yr college, then become a fireman. We won’t forget you either, Codie!

ready for more games to come. “Our coach pushes us hard at practice, and tells us what we need to know. He tries to be the very best coach like no one ever was. To catch us and make us go to practice is his real test. To train us is his cause,” said Johnson Pham, varsity. Their game against St. Joe's was suspenseful. Zach Kemmet made a signifi-cant amount of goals through-out the game. Currently Manny Garcia has an injury and is not playing temporarily, but is there to help any way he can until he can play again. “Some of my goals for this year are to make C.I.F., stay dedicated, work hard, and just have fun with

my teammates this season,” said Manny, varsity. Junior varsity is re-working the way they play since many of them have got-ten hurt. J.V. did well in their match and can’t wait for their next one. “J.V is doing well, but we need to change the way we play because many of our players are getting hurt,” revealed Zack Donaldson, junior varsity. P.V. lost to St. Joe’s but were significantly close to getting the win. Varsity water polo made a school record six wins, and won their first Pac 7 league game against Atas-cadero on October 16. Water polo’s next game will be on October 31.

Waterpolo Breaks Record

Alex ContrerasEDITOR

Up Close with:Codie Corbin

Aylin LopezSTAFF WRITER

Photo by Alex Contreras

Photo from PVHS website

1) Edgardo Cervantes 2) Mr. Grimm 3) Mr. Ramos 4) Mr. Wonell 5) Jose Lopez