Inauguration � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6Olivia Kuljian Benefit � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7Library Renovation � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8-9Senior Lawn Remodel � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10History Night � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10Coach Rob Retires (almost) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11Consumer Electronics Expo � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13The Perfect Prom � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 14-15Feature Valentune Group � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16-17Winter Sports Update � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 18-19Alumni Recruits � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 21Freshman Tries Parseltongue � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 22Quinn Rice � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 23#Crocnation � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 24Steve Sheets on Prom � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25Valentine’s Day � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 27Netflix Opinion � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28Netflix Top 10 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29SPOTLIGHT: Megan Viña � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 30My Story: Dakota Goodman � � � � � � � � � � � � � 31Prom Royalty Nominees � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32

Box Briefs8th Grade Orientation: February 1Start of spring sports: February 4Megan Viña signing ceremony: February 4Junior Prom: February 9Presidents Break: February 18-22

Want to advertise or buy a mail sub-scription to the Pepperbox? Email Business Manager Hawken Ritter at ahs�pepperbox@gmail�com�

Make sure to us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AHSPepper-box

In The Box

Geena DamianErrol Funk

Steve SheetsKaitlin TuckerPatrick PaytonSam WinterJamie MaherDayna NaishJulia Sloan

Jonathan Dedekan

Editorial Staff ReportersGabe Schneider - Graphic DesignerHawken Ritter - Business Manager

Sam Freed - Media EditorBen McCreath - Media Editor

Grace Lovell - Art DirectorTami Conrad - Photo Editor

Aiyana Allen-Caldwell - Chief Photographer

Shea Lignitz - Copy EditorDay Robins - Online Editor

Elaine Cunha - Editor-in-ChiefForrest Lewis - Editor-in-Chief

Molly Salamunovich - Managing EditorAnna Nordquist - News Editor

Gillen Martin - Junior News EditorPiper Bazard - Junior News Editor

Sage Fanucchi-Funes - Feature EditorLauren McCoy - Sports EditorCalvin Ryan - Opinion Editor

Dakota Goodman - A&E Editor

AdvisorDisclaimerQuestions regarding editorial content of the Pepperbox should be directed toward its

Editors� Opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Arcata High School� Danielle Lehman

The Pepperbox would like to thank Western Web, based in Samoa, for printing our paper at-cost� Western Web supports student journalism throughout Humboldt County and has made publications like the Pepperbox possible for decades. We appreciate their dedication to keeping print media alive!

In the spirit of prom and Valentine’s Day, we featured one of the ArMack Orchestra’s legendary Valentune groups on this issue’s front cover. For the picture, graphic designer Gabe Schneider photographed the six musicians in the Pepperbox’s new chroma key photo studio and proceeded to edit the background in Photoshop to mimic a Rolling Stone-esque cover. Featured clockwise from top left: Matthew Zazueta, Morgan Mahan, Sonia Copple, Matt La-belle, Matt Craghead, and Carson McHaney.

From the Archives:

Editors’ BoxThe world didn’t end on December 21 (hooray!), so the Pepperbox is back with our fifth issue of the year, once again at

a lengthy 32 pages. With Junior Prom and Valentine’s Day on the horizon, it seemed unavoidable to produce a love-themed issue. Fortunately, at Arcata High, we have plenty of material to work with. Perhaps the paradigm of this sea-

son are ArMack’s very own, very talented, Valentune groups, so we assigned three of our best profile writers to cover some of Humboldt County’s greatest musicians (see page 16). Shoutout to Geena Damian for her incredible illustrations on the “Perfect Prom” spread and Paul Swenson for once again granting us permission to reprint his phenomenal sports banners, as well as the Spotlight’s photo of Megan Viña. For some strange reason, all this love in the air has made us Pepperboxers very hungry, and rumor has it our next issue may be food-themed. Prepare your eyes and stomach for issue six in early March!

Editors-in-ChiefForrest Lewis & Elaine Cunha

Behind the Cover:Originally published April 13, 1973

Elaine Cunha/PEPPERBOX

Quotable�“Condit! The snake’s biting me!”

AHS freshman Canyon Robins in reaction to being victimized by Tiffany, the 50-pound, six-foot Colombian boa constrictor that lives in Room 402.

”Congratulations, women can now go and get their limbs blown off�”

History teacher Dave Filippini discussing the concept of women joining live combat in his 1st period AP Economics class�

300Number of orange silicon wristbands purchased for distribution at 8th Grade

Orientation Day.

39¢Cost per printout the

Associated Student Body is paying for the school to

particpate in the Matchomatics survey

12 15Students who transferred to Arcata High School at the

semester mark (accurate as of

1/29/13)

Students who transferred out of Arcata High School at the

semester (most to Pacific Coast

High School)

“Oh shoot...I didn’t break it.”

Mathematics teacher Kay Wozniak after confiscating senior Hawken Rit-ter’s cell phone and accidentally dropping it.

“You guys should really read this poem with your eyes closed.”

English teacher Athina Lazaridis explaining how to truly understand imagery in poetry�

Promable�Can you name these local celebrities (see answers at bottom)?

Clockwise from top left: Mrs. Rosebrook, Mr. Navarre, Ms. Moore, Mrs. Zamboni

a bad mood.”English teacher Danielle Lehm-

an, who went to D.C. with her hus-band, agreed, “There’s a collective effervescence when you’re with 800,000 people to witness an event in history that is really inspiring and emotional.”

With the inauguration falling on the MLK weekend and follow-ing the recent 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, there was an eminent sense of history that accompanied the felicitous at-mosphere. Many of the witnesses felt that President Obama’s speech strongly emanated this dramatic setting: “During the inauguration I had goosebumps, especially during Obama’s speech,” sophomore Jesse Bareilles stated. “I thought it was really good, really groundbreak-ing.”

Others recognized the reactions of the people around them as con-tributing to their own experience. “We were surrounded by an ex-tremely large family from Ten-nessee... and when you sit next to someone who has experienced in-justice and inequity more than I’ll ever know in my lifetime, well,

It is a well-known fact in Hol-lywood that sequels are less exciting than their predeces-sors, but for the six individuals

from Arcata High who witnessed Obama’s second inauguration first-hand, the event was all but repeti-tive. The travelers kicked off their memorable weekend with several sightseeing tours and events.

The five on the Dalianes Travel group visited the Antietam battle-grounds, National Archives, Mount Vernon, Iwo Jima WWII memo-rial, Franklin Roosevelt memorial, National Mall, and “so many mu-seums, you couldn’t even count,” according to junior Tyler Courte-manche.

“Going to Arlington and seeing the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier was very interesting,” AHS English teacher Sue Buscher said. “That was very church-like; it was very somber. There are a lot of military people in my family, so for me it was very emotional to see that.”

History teacher Doug Johnson witnessed a question-and-answer discussion with Clarence Jones, a close friend, advisor, and draft speech writer of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Sitting to listen to him speak... and just being a part of it and feeling it was incredible,” Johnson described. Following the discus-sion, Johnson personally thanked Jones and touched him with “the same hand that shook Neil Young’s hand.”

In addition to the historical expe-riences, the group ran into the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. “We were walking back from dinner and their tour bus almost ran over a car, and they stopped and got out so we ran a block to take a picture with them,” German exchange student Scott Lengel recalled.

Of course, the climax of the trip was the inauguration itself. Many participants noted the significant presence of joy and excitement that marked the atmosphere of the event.

“It was really powerful,” Lengel said. “Everybody was just talk-ing about it and everybody had on Obama sweaters and hats and were waving flags. Nobody was really in

NEWS6 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

Students and staff experience inaugurationElaine Cunha

Editor-in-Chief

Photo courtesy of Sue Buscher Photo courtesy of Doug Johnson Photo courtesy of Danielle Lehman

listening to that speech was really powerful,” Lehman said.

Johnson agreed: “Seeing the people of color older than me... I mean, I can only imagine that it was pretty significant for them to wit-ness it.”

Despite the 20-degree weather, and the group’s half-mile proxim-ity to the stage, everyone seemed to truly enjoy themselves.

“It was very interesting, very different, and very patriotic,” Len-gel stated. “Americans love their country and it’s cool. It’s very cool to see.”

Above left to right: The high school group gathers in front of Mount Vernon. Doug Johnson speaks to Clarence Jones, friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Danielle Lehman poses with her husband at the entrance to the Inaugural Ball.

Forrest LewisEditor-in-Chief

Benefit raises thousands for Olivia Kuljian

Senior Blaire Floyd singing and signing “I Will Re-member” by Sarah Mclachlan.

Thousands of friends, fam-ily members, and support-ers in dozens of countries around the globe wore

green to commemorate Howard Kuljian, his wife Mary Scott, and their son, Gregory “Geddie” Kulji-an, who were swept out to sea near Big Lagoon in a series of tragic events last November.

As the support, love, and kind-ness continue to come in from our tight-knit community, the Arcata High School National Honor Soci-ety and Sunny Brae Middle School co-sponsored a dinner, dance, and silent auction on Sunday, January 27, for Olivia Kuljian, the surviv-ing daughter/sister. The event took place last Sunday at the Arcata Community Center from 6-9 pm.

Over 300 people from various walks of life came to celebrate the lives of these beloved community members and support Olivia. Chil-dren and adults of all ages gathered to listen to live music, watch im-pressive performances, and eat de-licious food provided by Mazzottis and Plaza Grill.

“Bill Chino and Joe Mazzotti generously donated a majority of the food” junior and event co-chair Alex Yeoman said, “so we had vir-tually no expenses from the event and all the proceeds could go to Ol-ivia.”

Over $4400 dollars were raised through the extensive silent auction that featured gift certificates, jew-elry, AAI art pieces, and clothing from almost 100 local businesses. “The silent auction took the long-est to set up, but it was the highest

revenue producer and it was great to see the community participate in helping out Olivia” junior River Sween, co-chair of the event, stat-ed.

Students from Sunny Brae Mid-dle School, with help from Princi-pal Lynda Yeoman, added to the fun with a raffle of several amaz-ing items.

The special performances began with Arcata High senior and close friend of Geddie, Blaire Floyd, singing and signing, “I Will Re-

member” by Sarah Mclachlan. Her beautiful voice stunned the audi-ence. “Her heartfelt performance touched many of those who at-tended the event to support Olivia,” senior Dakota Goodman, National Honor Society Vice President, stat-ed.

Following Floyd, Delaney Good-man and Ariana Atkins-Salazar from No Limits Dance Academy performed. Their dances inspired an enthusiastic round of applause from an awed audience. The Lone-

some Roses, a local two person band, took over after the dancers and played for the remainder of the event.

By 9 pm, the event was over and $8400 dollars had been fun-draised for Olivia through ticket sales, donations, a bake sale, raffle, and silent auction. “Overall we had a great turnout,” National Honor Society President Anna Nordquist, said. “It was amazing to see so many people come out to support a member of our community.”

Forrest Lewis/PEPPERBOX

NEWS February 1, 2013 | 7Pepperbox

NEWS8 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

Upcycling the library: Measure

Summer is beginning two months early this year, or at least it will for Harry Pot-ter, Bella Swan, and Scout

Finch. Starting in mid-May, the li-brary will be closed for renovations funded by Measure Q. The new li-brary will have a similar design to a university library. The idea behind the new library is to move Arcata High School’s students and teach-ers into a modern education: “We are working toward a 21st century library,” stated Principal Dave Na-varre.

Although new computers are not funded by Measure Q, there will be new technology in the library. “We are looking to move into the digital age as quickly as we can,” Navarre said. Both Navarre and Arcata High School Librarian, Jennifer Berube,

hope to get more iPads, laptops and other digital devices for students to use. Navarre hopes to have “differ-ent devices for the kids to get used to.” Eventually, he hopes to give every student access to a computer at school and home. “The goal of the district is that students will all have a device of their own within the next few years,” Navarre stated.

Another way that Arcata High is moving into the future is by em-bracing the movement toward wire-less learning. “We are looking at piloting a digital textbook in Span-ish, down the road,” Navarre stated. In the future Arcata High may have electronic books in all classes.

“We are looking into piloting electronic textbooks as a district,” Berube said.

The new library will also give students access to new technology for creating videos, watching pod-casts and editing other software. There is a special room for students

to use for multimedia projects and podcasts.

The renovated library will have two parts: a technology center where students can work on com-puters, and a main room with ta-bles, chairs, books and a café. The café will allow students to eat in the library and drink coffee or tea while reading a good book. It mirrors the design of university library where students can study in a relaxed set-ting.

The main room will provide an area for students to work together, and with their teachers. “The library will be set up a little bit better for presentation space,” said Berube. The main room is to be designed in a way that encourages collaboration. Instead of all the computers facing the white presentation screen there will be tables for students to sit at and work in groups. If the lesson re-quires students to utilize computers, laptops with wireless connections will be available for students to use.

Another perk of the new library will be the natural light. “There are going to be two sets of windows,” Navarre said. “The architects looked at sky lights, and they looked at up-per perimeter windows, and they settled for a lighting window where you’ll be able to look out on the quad.” The librarian is very excited to get the windows; she insisted that there be some form of natural light in the new library.

However, while this library is be-ing built, there must be an alterna-tive library where students can go to study, use a computer, check out a book, or print their homework: “There is a temporary plan to move it to room 401 which is presently

our health room,” Navarre stated. “We are going to move our health room to another location. The rea-son for that is because it used to be the Cedar Lab so it is all set up for the wiring for computers,” Navarre continued. The library computer center will functionally run out of room 401 at the end of this year.

“The physical part of the library, like the books and the furniture, will be in storage,” Berube stated. Though students will not have ac-cess to the 20,000 books currently available in the library, Berube plans to pick some books to keep out of storage depending on what lessons teachers will be teaching while the library is under renova-tions. There will also be a few select books for students to check out to read for entertainment.

Administration is working hard to make sure that the transition is smooth for students and teachers. “The closing hopefully will have minimal impact on classes because we are trying to move the lab some-place else,” Berube said. “We are also hoping to have a place that we can keep open at lunch.”

The library renovations are also coming in under budget. “The Measure Q funding for the library was 400,000 dollars, but we came in almost 50,000 dollars, if not more, under that. So a little over 300,000 dollars, to leave room in case there are other things that we didn’t account for,” Berube stated. “It’s the least expensive project on the Measure Q list.”

Although it is the least expensive project on campus, it should still have a noticeable effect on students’ education.

Anna NordquistNews Editor

The library as it stands now, awaiting renovation.Piper Bazard/PEPPERBOX

Q renovations continue at AHS

Photo courtesy of Dave NavarreThe floor plan for the new library building, complete with upgraded technology

NEWS February 1, 2013 | 9Pepperbox

NEWS10 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

Taking back the senior lawnJulia Sloan

Reporter

IIt’s underused, underappreci-ated and under renovation. For years now the senior lawn has been a beautiful space where

Arcata students can relax during lunch or break. Why, then, do so few students enjoy their time in this great Arcata High attraction? You may have noticed some students working on, or brainstorming about the square of area, preparing for an Extreme Makeover: Senior Lawn Edition.

The first step in this process for

Mr. Navarre was finding a group to spearhead this project. The custo-dians tore down the fence blocking off the senior lawn from the quad and hallway area, the Ag Bio class began to unite the small area by the quad with the rest of the senior lawn by pulling up the weeds and plants, and now Interact club is planning a renovation of that area which Mr. Navarre and the Interact members hope to have completed and acces-sible by the warm spring months ahead.

Interact plans to lay pavement down to create a kind of patio for the senior lawn: “We want a roof, so people have somewhere to go when

it rains,” said Interact member Oliv-ia Reynolds while we discussed the club’s plans. They plan on putting in some benches and picnic tables to give students a place to sit and relax and adding a few potted plants for decoration. Mr. Navarre is very excited to get this project going: “When I first came here I knew I wanted to do something with this space,” he said.

The project will hopefully be fin-ished by spring with Interact and Ag Bio working so hard. Next year, Interact plans on working on the lawn itself, not just the patio space they are creating.

“It’s such a peaceful area, and I

think it’s really underused, I’m there a lot and no one is ever around. I want more people to appreciate the senior lawn,” said Interact member Claire Appelmans. This renovation will hopefully attract more people to the lawn, both upper and under classmen. Some freshmen tend to be turned away from the relaxing area by the name “The Senior Lawn.” Despite this belief, anyone can go there; freshmen through seniors, so everyone should make sure to keep an eye out for the renovations to the lawn. It will take an amazing space and make it even better, more ac-cessible, and a place more people will want to hang out.

Making history for the second time

Want to become im-mersed in history? AHS history teach-er Doug Johnson

thinks so; on January 15, the Arcata High Library opened for its sec-ond annual History Night. Students from Jennifer Rosebrook’s and Johnson’s history classes gathered to share their History Day projects with each other along with other invited guests. Every year a new theme is assigned. This shapes the type of projects that are produced. This year’s theme, “Turning Points in History,” attracted a lot of atten-tion because of its wide range of topics. Each person got a chance to listen to student presentations and get in-depth information about the students’ project.

Having interviewed several par-ticipants throughout the night, the

Errol FunkReporter

reviews sounded good; “It was a well-organized event, there was in-formation pouring into the minds of students, and I hope something this fun continues in the future so stu-dents can enjoy learning about the past,” History Day Participant Lo-gan White said. Other students said that having a history night helped shine light on topics they never cov-ered in normal high school history curriculum: “We liked seeing what other students have done. This gave everyone a chance to throw a crea-tive twist on history which made the topics more visual and hands on,” History Day partners Ashlee Murillo and Annie Cory said.

Event coordinators Rosebrook and Johnson gave their views on why they thought History Night is important: “It’s a chance for the stu-dents to see what others have done; it gives ideas for next year and al-lows students to be proud of what they have accomplished,” Rose-brook said. “This is important. Ten

times out of the year students are made to take exams; this allows stu-dents to pick a topic of their interest and get elbow deep in it,” Johnson added.

Once History Night is complete, the “cream of the crop” will have a

chance to display their projects lat-er in the month at the History Day exhibit at HSU. Then if the par-ticipants of that event place well, there’s an opportunity for them to move on to present their project in the state History Day venue.

Errol Funk/PEPPERBOXJuniors Mckayla Orlandi and Taylor McKenny show off their his-tory project at the second annual History Night.

NEWSFebruary 1, 2013 | 11Pepperbox

Coach Rob retires (almost)Patrick Payton

Reporter

Coach Rob, the man we know and love, has de-cided to take a time-out. He has taught high

school for a total of 36 years. The first 14 years were at St. Bernard’s and the next 22 have been here at Arcata High. Instead of a full-time retirement, Robertson is going for half- time. “I considered the idea of a full retirement; however, I am still thoroughly enjoying teaching and chose to go on half-time for two years instead,” he said. Robertson will be traveling all throughout the southwest United States on Geol-ogy field studies in his time off. The science department has hired a few replacements. Jason Simms, who is currently teaching Biology 1, is tak-ing over his Life Sciences classes. To teach Geology, the department has hired Alyssa Kell. She taught at Arcata two years ago and has taught science extensively in the San Fran-cisco Bay Area.

Not only has Robertson had a great teaching career, but he has also had an amazing coaching ca-reer. He coached 12 years of varsity football; two years as head coach at St. Bernard’s, and the other ten as an assistant.

Robertson is mostly known as a basketball coach. He coached bas-ketball for a grand total of 22 years between St. Bernard’s and Arcata High. He spent 14 years at St. Ber-nards and was head coach here at Arcata High for eight years.

Robertson has affected many students on campus. “He’s an out-standing indivudual,” senior Dustin Wallis commented.

“He is an adorable giant man-ba-by who loves rocks,” senior Anna Peters added.

“Everything he said was funny, It was my most enjoyable class this year purely because of Coach Rob’s enthusiasm for teaching,” sopho-more Zoey Buchanon said.

Robertson’s absence will leave big shoes to fill. “Everybody loves Coach Rob, and it will be impossi-ble to replace that, but I will try my best to bring a lot of positive energy to the classes,” Simms said.

The administration of Arcata High already misses Robertson’s smiling face.

“Just sitting around and talking hoops with him,” Dean of Students Tahnia Cambell reflected, “You could always count on his room be-ing open at lunch and you could go there and talk about basketball.”

“Coach Rob used to always tell you, ‘you’re the greatest,’” history teacher Eric Vollmers remembered. “So my comment about him is that he’s the greatest. When I first met Coach Rob I thought, ‘Okay, what does he want? Nobody’s that nice.’ But he is. He’s a gentleman and we don’t see enough people like him around anymore.”

Tami Conrad/PEPPERBOXCoach Rob teaching one of his final classes.

“Everybody loves Coach Rob, and it will

be impossible to re-place that, but I will try my best to bring a lot of positive energy to

the classes. ”-New Life Science teacher

Jason Simms

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is the geek’s equivalent of a fashion show. Many

of the world’s largest and most popular companies come together and display their new products for just three days in January. While some of these inventions may be reserved only for commercial or enthusiast use, many will be utilized by the general public. As media editors, we’ve selected this year’s best new technologies.

The YotaPhone is an Android device with a new twist. It has two screens: one on the front and one on the back. One side boasts a 4.3 inch LCD touch screen, slightly larger than the 4-inch iPhone 5 screen. This is protected by the brand-new Gorilla glass 3, an upgrade from the already popular and almost unbreakable Gorilla glass 2 that is equipped on many Android devices currently. The new Gorilla glass is a relatively small step in phone innovation compared to the YotaPhone’s backside, which contains an impressive Kindle-esque 4.3 inch electronic paper display. This e-ink screen is meant to replicate the look of paper, and it also uses much less power than a typical LCD screen. The ability to use the e-ink display will significantly lower the power draw, which will increase the phone’s battery life. The e-ink display is also good for browsing text pages

Consumer Electronics Show reviewSam Freed

Media Editor

Ben McCreathMedia Editor

and reading online material because if color is not needed, massive battery life can be saved. This move toward battery conservation is where the phone trend seems to be moving, as the current situation of smartphones requiring recharging after relatively few hours of use is a hassle. Though the complete e-ink display on the YotaPhone is rather extreme, it could lead to new screen technology on our mobile devices.

When flat screen televisions were introduced, people changed quickly in favor of better image color, bigger screen size, and better picture quality. Now, most new televisions are considered high definition. True high definition is considered to be 1080p, which simply refers to the number of pixels making up the image you see. The next step up from the standard high definition television of today is the near future standard, dubbed “4K.” 4K refers to the resolution in the same way 1080p is used now. It is approximately four times as many pixels as 1080p. Essentially, this will allow televisions to increase in size while still retaining or improving upon the image quality of previous 1080p high definition televisions. Many of these new televisions also use a new type of screen. Whereas previous screens generally used an LED screen, companies at CES are showing new OLED screens. These new screens will be more power efficient, produce a better picture quality, and be much thinner. OLEDs are also flexible, which could be the coolest new feature. At CES one of the most notable OLED televisions is the LG EA9800, a curved, 3D, and uber thin television. The television is approximately three credit cards thick at the

outermost edges and is classified as 4K. In the future, televisions will move to the OLED specification and the common household television will resemble those now being exhibited at the show.

Most of us have seen on sci-fi movies a group of leaders gather around a large holographic display and swipe their hands around to operate the display. While we may not have the holographic part just yet, there are now large touchscreen displays which multiple people can work on at once. Mitsubishi’s model claims 40 point touch detection, meaning you could have four people using all 10 of their digits and the touchscreen would recognize each and every one. The uses of such a large touchscreen display are many: a d m i n i s t r a t i o n could use it to plan new ideas or make flowcharts, teachers could use the displays as interactive visual aids, and, when nothing better is to be done, why not play a game of touch pong with a friend?

Intel set up a showcase of their new Perceptual Technology and it appears to be the next step forward from webcams and other motion technologies such as Microsoft’s Kinect. Intel uses an infrared emitter and receiver

as well as a normal webcam to capture information. What makes the IR camera unique from typical webcams is that it not only captures visual information but also emotion by way of detecting patterns in human expressions using heat signatures. Essentially, your computer could tell you how you’re feeling and then respond to your mood. It could tell if you’re enjoying a movie, and then could tell you if you’d enjoy a new movie based on your emotional cues to previous movies you have seen. It could sense that you’re bored and suggest something new. The possibilities for this technology are immense and will hopefully be implemented well in the near future.

&

NEWSFebruary 1, 2013 | 13Pepperbox

Up

Half-Up

Abruzzi .........................................707-826-2354Tomo ..............................................707-822-1414Renata’s Creperie ......................707-825-8783Plaza Grill .................................. 707-826-0860Mazzotti’s .....................................707-822-1900Sushi Spot ....................................707-822-1221Three Foods ............................... 707-822-9474Moonstone Grill ......................... 707-677-1616Folie Douce ................................. 707-822-1042Sushi Tao .....................................707-826-1988And the always perfect, home-cooked dinner

; Read the Pepperbox � Find a girl to ask � Ask for her parents’ permission � Match her dress � Make dinner reservations (see list) � Get a corsage � Shower � Shave � Learn how to tie a tie

Once a year, high school girls go into a frenzy of buying dresses, shoes, makeup, glitter, and all sorts of things you would find in a teen maga-

zine. What could cause this outrageous shopping spree, you wonder? Prom. What else?

A night of magic, dancing, expensive food, and flirtatious glances through the light of the disco ball. It’s every little girl’s dream, and now our

time has come to be a part of this night, to take pic-tures and make memories that will last forever. Now,

of course, with all this anticipation, we want the night to turn out just as wonderful as we’ve always dreamt it would be. So, from your favorite Pepperbox Pals, we’ve created a page of advice and ideas to help make this year’s dance the perfect Prom.

My Perfect Prom Geena DamianReporter

&

Dayna NaishReporter

Curly

Look for dresses with cinch-ing on the sides; this will create stronger curves for you.

Go strapless or one strap to show off your small shoulders and torso, and accentuate your top with sparkles or ruffles.

Get a fitted, lightweight dress to show off your figure, with a band to en-hance your hips.

Don’t wear spaghetti straps; instead, try to bring attention to your waist by wearing bright colors and patterns on the bottom half of your dress.

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Musical talent runs in the fam-ily for Matt Craghead. Craghead started playing music at the young age of six, learning guitar from his dad. He later picked up the electric bass in 5th grade and the stand up bass in 8th grade. For this year’s Valentunes group, Matt will return to the guitar, adding dynamic melody and chords to back up his fellow musicians.

Craghead, a sopho-more, enjoys orchestra, especially “playing with other musicians and learn-ing.” He is also influenced by alternative bands such as Mumford & Sons, Ra-diohead, and the Civil Wars. “I listen to my dad too,” re-sponded Crag-head when asked about his musical interests. Some musical endeavors outside school have included playing in alt. rock garage bands, and jamming at open mics with his dad and brother.

Among the members of Madrigal choir who are also in orchestra is Morgan Mahan, talent-ed singer and musician. Mahan, however, is capable of playing several different instruments, in addition to the one she plays for ArMack. “I started playing piano when I was seven, oboe when I was 12, and I started playing bassoon when I was 15,” Mahan said.

Due to her incessantly modest nature, she chooses to leave out the fact that she has the voice of a song-bird. Picking up an instrument so quickly is no small feat, and Mahan did it almost effortlessly in order to save the lower wind section for the ArMack orchestra when the former members graduated. Mahan looks

Trumpet player Matt Labelle has a face that is prob-ably unfamiliar to you - that’s because Labelle is one of the few members of the ArMack Orchestra that does not actually attend Arcata High. A senior at Mack, Labelle has been play-ing the trumpet since he was in fifth grade. “I love the trum-pet because it’s brassy and awesome and loud,” Labelle said. When he’s not trumpeting around, Labelle is a champion table tennis player, and also competes on the McKinleyville High track team. But his main passion is definitely music. “I actu-ally want to be a music teacher,” Labelle confessed, “With an instrumental focus. I’m not so sure about the performing side, but I definitely want to continue playing the trumpet.” One of his favorite things about his instrument is that the music written

for the trumpet is awe-some. Labelle loves to play fanfares, sym-phonies and movie soundtracks, “and the trumpet always has the commanding part,” he

added. “Go brass!”

to singers and songwriters for inspiration, though she enjoys playing clas-sical opera pieces for ArMack performances. ArMack is her one and

only, as she does not take part in

any outside musical

groups. That is just how she

likes it, even though the early mornings start to take their toll. Her motivation stems from the maestra. “I like getting up and seeing Carol’s bright smiling face in the morning. I’m actually seri-ous though, I like

seeing Carol’s face,” Mahan said with a grin.

Mahan’s Valentune group is sure to be one of the top musical ensembles of the year. Arcata High is in for a treat.

It’s Valentune SeasonStarting with piano at two-years-old and flute

at seven, sophomore Sonia Copple has been pursuing a passion for music. She brings her talent and lifelong love of music to the Ar-Mack Orchestra, which she has enthusiastically been a part of since her freshman year. This year, Copple will be focusing on her vocal skills, act-ing as a vocalists in her Valentunes group.

Copple has a broad spectrum of influences, ranging from singer/songwriters such as Regina Spektor, to modern musicals and classical pieces. In orchestra, she enjoys playing music from well

known operas and plays, and putting her own expression into the

ety of mu-sical activities including playing music for theatre and participating in a flute choir.To calm pre-perfor-

mance nerves, Copple has an interesting tech-nique: “If you eat a ba-nana, then it slows down your heart so you get less nervous.”

This “warm up” ritual reduces stress and anxiety, and helps in preparation for a concert or recital.

Along with everyone in her group, Copple is excited for the upcoming Valentunes per-formances, “Just buy valen-tunes, buy from one of the people in our group.”

Sonia Copple and Matt Craignhead written by Piper Bazard. Morgan Ma-han and Carson McHaney written by Molly Salamu-novich. Matt Labelle and Matthew Zazueta written by Grace Lovell.

music, “I like it when we get past the playing of the music, and everyone knows their parts really well.. when it’s more about the musical phrasing and expression instead of just [learn-ing] the notes.” Outside of orchestra, Copple

engages in a vari-

COVER from the

Carson McHaney. Sophomore. Musician. A man capable of playing rare instruments such as the nose flute, gypsy mandolin, and his prized possession, the violin. Although he tells the general public that he picked up the violin at age three, there are rumors he came out of the womb with a violin in his tiny, infant hands, already practicing perfect posture. McHaney is not only the Concert Master in the ArMack Orchestra, but he also plays first violin in the Eureka Symphony and All Seasons Community Orchestra, as well as grac-ing a few jazz combos with his presence. McHaney attempts to practice at least 120 minutes a day. “Excel-lence is a lifestyle,” he stated matter of factly.

McHaney is widely renowned as a first rate musician around campus, but he is actually a jack of all trades. “I also enjoy drawing, any art in general, high quality food, sick roller coasters, musicals, and foreign films. I also like to skate once in a while,” McHaney said.

Although not on an official sports team for Arcata High, the child prodigy reveres the unique talents of sports such as cricket and curling. When asked if music was in his future life plans, Carson McHaney was quick to respond: “If my rapping career does not take off, I’ll prob-ably get a minor in business and a major in musical

performance.” If you have not yet had the pleasure of meeting this young Mozart, I would highly recommend it. You will not be disap-pointed.

Trumpet player Matt Labelle has a face that is prob-ably unfamiliar to you - that’s because Labelle is one of the few members of the ArMack Orchestra that does not actually attend Arcata High. A senior at Mack, Labelle has been play-ing the trumpet since he was in fifth grade. “I love the trum-pet because it’s brassy and awesome and loud,” Labelle said. When he’s not trumpeting around, Labelle is a champion table tennis player, and also competes on the McKinleyville High track team. But his main passion is definitely music. “I actu-ally want to be a music teacher,” Labelle confessed, “With an instrumental focus. I’m not so sure about the performing side, but I definitely want to continue playing the trumpet.” One of his favorite things about his instrument is that the music written

for the trumpet is awe-some. Labelle loves to play fanfares, sym-phonies and movie soundtracks, “and the trumpet always has the commanding part,” he

added. “Go brass!”

Matthew Zazueta was deeply immersed in a very intense game of Counterstrike - “The Big Game” as he called it when I sat down to talk to him. He asked me if I minded talking while he finished the game, because the terrorists were winning. That same dedication and determination to succeed is what earned him the coveted spot of first-chair oboe in the Armack Orches-tra, one of the lead tenor singers in both Madrigal Choir and Chamber Choir, and a place in what might be considered the Valentunes Group of all Valentunes Groups (although I heard there is an all-brass group that is pretty darn rocking).

Zazueta has been playing oboe and singing for four years, and said that

“Orchestra and choir are my life; that is how I live.” His passion for music can be summed up with the song

“Growl,” and ac-cording to his good friend, Miles Bac-chus, in his spare time Zazueta “might create anime music videos, maybe.” Za-zueta says he “hon-estly doesn’t listen to music,” but to get ready for Valentunes, the singer will sit around for an hour and listen to music on his iPod. “Lately I’ve been listening to vapor-wave, seapunk, and a bit of shoegaze here and there to get pumped up,” he confessed. Upon hearing that the other musicians in his group like to eat bananas before performing, Zazueta re-plied, “Oh, that too, but actually, I’m more of a kale guy.”

TIGERS CONTINUE TO LEAD THe PACK

The freshmen girls have won both their own tournament and South Fork’s JV tournament. Their overall record is 18-3 and in league they are 4-1. They continue to work hard and are looking to take down the only team they’ve lost too, Mckinleyville, today at 4:30pm at AHS.

In their preseason, the JV girls dominated the Novato tournament, taking first place. Their overall record is 13-3 and their league record is 4-1, with one loss to Mckinleyville. Come out to support them tonight at 6pm while they take on their rival Panthers in the Tiger Den.

The varsity girls have a strong group of returning seniors this season and have been putting them to use. The girls have an intimidating overall record of 14-3 and only one league loss to Eureka - a league record of 4-1. They will be seeking their revenge on the Loggers next Wednesday, February 6th at 7:30pm, their Senior Night, at AHS. Come cheer them to a victory!

The wrestling team has been fluctuating in numbers but seems to have found a solid group that is primed for competition. Many of the wrestlers hope to place in the HDN league tournament, and then go on to sections.

Arcata’s freshmen boys deserve a round of applause for their hard work this season. With a league record of 5-0 and 16-0 overall, they are the only Tiger team to go undefeated. They plan to continue bulldozing through their competition, especially Del Norte at their last home game, on Thursday, February 7th at 4:30pm at AHS.

The JV boys are looking to clench their league title and seem to be well on the way with a league record of 4-1, 17-3 overall. In their preseason, they snagged first place in the Fortuna and St. Bernard’s tournaments and are more than capable of winning the rest of their games. Their final home game will be Thursday, February 7th at 6:00pm against Del Norte.

The varsity boys have been quite the dominating force in the Big 5 this season, as well as out of the area. Their league record of 4-1 and 15-5 overall has set them up for a good opportunity to play in the Niclai tournament and have a deep run into the North Coast Sections. Get up to the AHS gym and honor the team and their seniors at their last home game next Thursday, February 7th at 7:30pm.

This season the cheerleaders have grown much closer than in the past and competed earlier in the year at Sonoma State. They will continue to cheer loud and proud, and be sure to keep an eye out for a local competition in the near future! Photos courtesy of Paul Swenson

Page designed by Lauren McCoy

AHS alumni on sports in college

I absolutely love it be-ing on the swim team

here; our team is great. I ex-pected it to be hard training and racing Division 1, but I have had a pretty easy time adapting to the harder train-ing and weights. I am very excited for this season. We have a good shot at at win-ning championships this year where I am going to try to final in the 100 and 200 butterfly. We had our first travel meet against Univer-sity of Arizona a few weeks ago, and I placed fourth in the 100 fly and 200 fly, which I was really excit-ed about because they are expected to be the fastest school in the United States this year at NCAA.

I love living in Hawai'i, it's the best decision I've ever made in my life and I wouldn't want to go to school anywhere else. The team is great, and I love the school... It also does not hurt being able to go to the beach in between classes.

Erin McNulty Tom Witzel Aedan StranahanSavanna Nickols Joe Mayer

I’ve gotten to know Coach Kinder and the players, and all of them are very hard working and nice, while I’ve found a lot of other schools don’t have the team chemistry that Humboldt has. Also, at this level, ev-eryone is extremely strong and tough. There is so much more physicality, it blew me away. I’ve really had to teach myself that you’re expected to perform when you have nothing left in the tank. The level of profes-sionalism that we are ex-pected to hold ourselves at is higher too. When coach is talking, you have to stand a certain way, you have to be dressed the same every day, and you're expected to always represent your uni-versity with pride. The mi-croscope we are under is 10 times larger than the one in high school. It's basically like you're at college to play basketball, and the time it takes up is immense. It re-ally wasn’t that hard of a de-cision; Humboldt basically made it for me.

I'm at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. When they contacted me I wasn't sure about coming all the way over here, but they of-fered to pay for a visit so I accepted and as soon as I got on campus I fell in love with it and knew that this was where I belonged.

I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy being this far from home, and I do miss my family. But there is so much always going on that I don’t really have time to think about it. I love my soccer team and I’m so glad that I have them as a family to help me through my hard times. I always just try to look at the bright side. And I think I’m doing good be-cause I have the best grades I’ve ever had, which is weird!

I love all my classes and my pre-med program is going well. The school is basically everything I ex-pected. My teammates are wonderful. They are so helpful and everyone is really close. It’s different than high school just be-cause it’s a completely dif-ferent level. At first it was rough, coming into practice and just getting dominated by these older girls in their third or fourth year. But I have already improved and learned so much that now I feel like I am right up there with them. I know I will continue to grow with the help of my great team-mates and awesome coach. We are currently ranked third in North America but we are hoping to be #1 this year and it is looking very likely!! The season has just started and will continue into February. I am enjoy-ing my time at Simon Fra-ser and being a part of such a great women's wrestling team has been amazing so far.

The soccer season went well this year. At the beginning of the season I fractured both my fibulas so I was out for the whole season, but I redshirted (withdrew from playing in games) so I saved my eligibility. I will play next year though, and when we start our spring season. Holy Names is ok; I'm doing well in all my classes and was very well prepared for college. The Bay Area is really cool but the school itself is pretty boring. All the people are really cool and we have a lot of international players on our team. My roommate is German which is cool.

Interviews and Photographs compiled by

Kaitlin Tucker

SPORTSFebruary 1, 2013 | 21Pepperbox

Freshman attempts Parseltongue, failsDay Robins

Online Editor

“You know when a cat bites you? It felt like that, but more in-

tense,” freshman Canyon Robins said, recalling the story behind the fading bite mark on his right hand. On January 9, Robins fell victim to Tiffany, the 50-pound, six-foot Co-lombian boa constrictor that lives in Room 402.

I remember hearing the news and laughing out loud. “Typical fresh-man,” I thought to myself. Despite my lack of sympathy, I couldn’t help but wonder: why exactly did the boa bite? And why my brother?

I interviewed Canyon Robins, famed Biology 1 teacher Cindy Condit, and freshmen bystanders Ivy Ricca and Triston Pigg for the answer. “All evidence points in different directions, similar to the Biology 1 CSI lab final,” Robins stated.

Each witness shared stories with little in common but their conclu-sions were all the same: “Don’t pet the snake.”

Robins recalls the event occur-ring at the end of 4th period biol-ogy. “Triston and Ivy started freak-ing out because I was petting the snake...and then Triston yelled, ‘Oh he’s petting the snake!’” Robins said. “Actually, I was about to pet the snake.”

Ricca seems to agree with Rob-ins. “Triston was like, ‘Ah, don’t touch the snake, man!’ and I’m like, ‘Ah, don’t touch it!’” Ivy recalled. Condit leaves out names in her ver-sion of the story. “...somebody for some reason hit the cage and then

she bit,” she said. Pigg seems to agree with Con-

dit’s story. “Ivy didn’t scream, but like, yelped...and she sat back on the desk, and I think it made a bump that kinda rattled the snake cage,” he continued. “Some people say I touched Canyon—like, grabbed his hand or something,” Pigg said sus-piciously. “I didn’t, it was Ivy.”

Condit was on the other side of the room during the event, but re-members hearing a scream, the gen-der of which was unknown. “They all sound the same,” she explained.

Robins recalled the speed of the snake as being “snake-like.”

“Once it was on his hand, he didn’t really freak out or anything,” Pigg said. “It was on there for a good five minutes,” Ricca added.

“I’m pretty sure it was closer to like 30 seconds…maybe 40,” Rob-ins clarified.

During that time, he remained calm and motionless. “That was pretty much all I could do,” he said. Neither Pigg nor Ricca were of any use. “I just stepped back and watched for a while,” Pigg admit-ted. “I was pretty freaked out be-cause I don’t like snakes.”

“Condit eventually came to the rescue,” Ricca stated. Robins recalls the disinfection as the most painful part. “Before it got washed, Condit wrapped it in paper towels, but they were the school paper towels, so...they didn’t absorb anything,” Rob-ins said.

We may never know who exact-ly caused the commotion. “Condit thought it was my fault,” Pigg said, “but after class I told her it was Ivy.”

Ricca is an easy target. “Some people have said that I pushed Can-yon in the snake cage and held him there,” she said. “Condit also said it

was all my fault because I scream like a little girl,” she stated.

“It was one of those odd circum-stances where everything came to-gether at the same time,” Condit explained, distributing the blame. “We always want to blame the ani-mal, but we need to think about how we’re behaving around animals,” she continued. “That’s the whole message behind all of this.”

According to Condit, Tiffany at-tacked out of fear. “The only reason they bite is if they’re feeling threat-ened...[Canyon’s] too big to eat,” she explained. “Snakes aren’t like dogs, they aren’t meant to be pet.” Both Ricca and Pigg agree. “Don’t go near the snake. Like, stay away,” Ricca said. Pigg added, “Don’t pet snakes. Canyon was stupid.”

There are many upsides to this event. “Everyone now knows that they don’t have big fangs and that they’re not poisonous,” Condit stated.

“I already knew that boas aren’t venomous,” Robins said. “But I didn’t know you have arter-ies in your hands.”

Robins is one of three people in school history bit-ten by the snake. “They’ve all been times when she’s defending herself against a dumb teen-ager,” Condit said. Robins may have

pulled a 99% on his Pineapple lab, but when it comes to common sense, he’s a typical freshman boy. “I don’t want to place the blame on anyone,” Robins said, which loose-ly translates to, “it was all my fault.” He confessed later that week, “I re-alized that it’s a sign of intelligence not to pet the snake.” I think Tiffany would agree.

Though the truth is lost in the clash between Colombian boas and curious freshmen, one thing’s for sure: Canyon Robins is an unlikely candidate for Slytherin House and is certainly not a “Parselmouth”--one fluent in the language of snakes.

Photo courtesy of Sophia YamasFreshman Canyon Robins has since forgiven Tif-fany and is ready to resume Parseltongue lessons.

FEATURE22 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

A day in the life of Quinn RiceSam Winter

Reporter

J ust by looking at him, it is im-possible to realize the bizarre personality quirks that define Quinn Rice. He appears an

average high school student, and a passionate basketball player with an abnormally hairy visage. But if you speak with him just once, your perception of him will change for-ever. As JV boys basketball coach Isaac Gildea explains it, “If Quinn realized his potential, he could be running this country.” Senior Will Taylor describes Rice more blunt-ly, “What the [expletive] can I say about Quinn Rice? He’s the weird-est kid I’ve ever met.”

Quinn’s morning starts at 6:27 a.m. sharp, when he awakens to his phone alarm blaring Tech N9ne. He jumps out of bed and immediately sends personalized pictures to five different people. He chooses these pictures and their specific recipi-ent the night before. Of the five in-dividuals who receive photos on a daily basis, Quinn will only reveal the identity of two: Will Taylor and Andrew DeHart, both of whom re-fuse to comment on the nature or content of the photos. “I can’t tell you. It’s not Pepperbox friendly,” DeHart remarked. He continued, “But they start my day off right. He

sends them really early so I wake up to a good old picture from Quinn.”

Rice carries out all his morning routines accom-panied by mu-sic played di-rectly through his phone’s speakers. He occasionally dresses in pajama pants that are sup-posed to look like jeans, but he always wears his loafers. When ques-tioned why he wears loaf-ers every day, he answered, “I have 30 reasons! Com-fort—that’s the first 10. And number 11 is style…and that’s about it.”

Every single day, as the bell rings signaling the end of fourth period and the begin-ning of lunch, Quinn is the first person out of his German 3 classroom, and into the hall-way. He crosses into the hall while yelling “Yeah!!! Spring break!!!” It is unclear as to why he does this. Se-nior Alex Edge, a member of Rice’s fourth period class, remarked, “He says it every day. Every single day. I don’t understand it.” Rice declined to com-ment on his motive by responding, “I’m not your answer slave.”

On some oc-

casions, Quinn has been known to drive his Roadtrek Camper to school, packed with a power gen-erator and a flat screen TV. He ac-tivates his iPhone’s personal Wi-Fi hotspot and proceeds to play Call of Duty: Black Ops II online, all while in the comfort of his car, parked in the school parking lot at lunch.

Quinn is notorious for approach-ing random strang-

ers and engaging them in conver-sation where he asks extremely

obscure and of-ten inappropriate

q u e s t i o n s . “I’m ba-

s i c a l l y friends

w i t h Jim

[Hogen] the custodian. We’ve gone to lunch,” he said.

Although he is a junior amongst nearly all seniors, Quinn has be-come an extremely valued member of the boys varsity basketball team, and has formed a unique relation-ship with Coach Alan Schmidt.

“I’ve personally seen Quinn ask Coach to dinner at Carl’s Jr. at least four or five times. I don’t think they’ve gone yet,” said start-ing center Cameron Wallace. A talented shooter and frontrunner for the most inspirational player award, Rice has become an indis-pensable part of the team. Start-ing point guard Hawken Ritter de-scribed Rice’s contributions to the team by saying, “Quinn is the glue that keeps our team together. He is irreplaceable and we would not be the same without him.”

Although the actions he makes on a daily basis may range from peculiar to downright bizarre, it surely leaves us to wonder—should we be more like Quinn Rice? Are his peculiarities desirable and ulti-mately beneficial qualities? Soph-omore Gillen Martin believes so. “Everyone should be more like Quinn Rice. The world would be a better place.”

And now a message from Quinn Rice himself: “Megan, will you go to prom with me?”

“What the [expletive] can I say about Quinn

Rice? He’s the weirdest kid I’ve ever met.”

-Will Taylor

FEATUREFebruary 1, 2013 | 23Pepperbox

OPINION24 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

Shoutout to #crocnationGillen Martin

Junior News Editor

&

Molly SalamunovichManaging Editor

A supposedly humor-ous tweet stated: “The problem with Crocs is that people wear them.”

These words stab deep into our hearts, and the hearts of Croc-enthu-siasts around the world. The storm of judgement and hate against Crocs is becoming far too fierce. Websites such as ihateCrocsblog.blogspot.com and other Croc downers must be terminated with the help of some Croc love. Some Croc praise.

Personally, we find the Croc’s appearance eye pleasing, a perfect combination of dorky elegance and carefree beauty. Crocs are the shoe version of someone who is flawless without trying. Opposing Crocs are all the hateful comments insulting their appearance; even comparing them to birth control. If their outer looks don’t personally please you, ask yourself, have you given Crocs a try? As cliché as it sounds, do not judge a book by its cover. It is the inside that counts with Crocs.

Sure, we might have been skepti-cal of the rounded clog toe and the holey design; temporarily blinded by the taboo of judgment surround-ing the footwear. It took us only one step wearing Crocs to fall in a state of unconditional love. Step-ping into a Croc is like dipping your foot into a little slice of heaven. A heaven of foam, rubber, and plastic comfort that perfectly supports and cushions each curve of the foot. A Croc offers the beauty of not hav-ing to break in a shoe. They seem to melt right onto your foot, conveying a sense of security and acceptance.

“You’re not an old lady garden-ing or a baby on the beach,” is the famous line from the movie Fired Up dissing Crocs. No, we are not either of those. We are simply peo-ple who love having comfortable feet. Who doesn’t?

As an athlete, there is honestly no feeling more magical than taking off tight, suffocating shoes after a hard practice, and slipping achy feet into some cushy, breathable Crocs. They offer the ultimate level of support yet the holes allow essential air cir-culation. The pivoting strap allows a whole range of motion. When seen across the top of the Croc, you know that the owner is lounging or taking part in little physical ac-tivity. This is the “coolest” way to rock those Crocs. When the strap is positioned directly behind the heel of the person, you may be sure that some serious athletics are about to take place. We ourselves prefer the lounging style, as it is more com-fortable. There is absolutely noth-ing more lovely than spying those neon Crocs across the gym, our little rays of sunshine, and slipping them onto your aching limbs.

Another beautiful feature of Crocs is that there are so many di-verse types: Croc wedges, Croc flip flops, and Croc boots. The compa-ny’s bounty goes far beyond foot-wear as well; even to sunglasses and warm hats. With prom coming up, we find ourselves hoping to see fellow Croc-lovers repping some dressy Croc wedges to that fairytale dance.

Crocs to school, Crocs to prac-tice, Crocs around town. Anytime is a great time to slip on a pair of Crocs. And yet every single time we wear them in public we feel judged, shunned, and utterly ostracized. People need to understand that Crocs shouldn’t be worn to feel at-tractive, or stylish. They should be worn for comfort, and for the love of the shoe. Crocs aren’t a fashion statement, they’re a lifestyle. A lifestyle of carefree comfort.

The hate must end. We are con-fident that one day, the world will awake from their ignorance and see the shining light that is the beauty of Crocs. The question is, how long will this miracle take? To us it doesn’t matter, for we swear that our love and appreciation for Crocs will endure. #Crocnation

Tami Conrad/PEPPERBOXTwo dime pieces rockin’ crocs.

“Are they those plas-

tic shoes with the little holes in them?...

Spooky....”

“I have a strange and unusual conglomera-

tion of good feeling to-ward crocs.”

-Sophomore Ryan Ghisetti

-Health and P.E. teacher Jeff Boydstun

“What are they? What’s a croc? ”

-Sophomore Tasha Babich

I have always imagined prom kind of like how it is in Na-poleon Dynamite. Glitter ev-erywhere, slow songs, the

smell of one thousand different kinds of perfume, and that famous pink punch. I'm sure everyone has thought about going or has gone to their high school prom. Well, I haven't.

Going to prom is one of the high-lights of a school year. It's that one night where you get to dance on top of the world with that one girl, a night to make her your Juliet. So, Romeo, why haven't you been to prom? Simple, no one would go with me. After asking every girl I have ever had a crush on and a half, sixteen girls so far and yet they all had the same sad excuse and I had the same disappointed expression every time. Lost and unfulfilled. Every prom I tell myself, this is the

year, this is your chance, but that same answer always knocks on my door. Why? Am I scary? Do I smell bad or something? Who knows, but this year I don't have another chance. I don't have another year to make up for the last three years just to make that girl feel like a princess for once. I don't have next year to try again. I don't want to sit at home, day dreaming about crap that doesn't actually matter. I don't want to look back and wish things had been different. I want to dress all nice and whatnot. I want to buy her a bomb dinner. I want my pic-ture with her. But most of all, I just want to show her an amazing night.

I still have doubt that this year could be the same as the last three. Not going, for all I know, could make me think the rest of my life, why didn't I go to prom? In good hopes, this year could be different, if that one girl says no than I'll live with it. I'll just continue my life and move on, but if she says yes, then rest assured she will have an awe-some dinner and an epic night, but most of all she will have my head spinning, heart beating out of my chest. Abigail black, you have made my year.

Juliet, will you dance with me?OPINION

February 1, 2013 | 25Pepperbox

Steve SheetsReporter

Abi and me at the tree fort in the Redwood Forest, 150 feet above the ground.

Jonathan Dedekam/PEPPERBOX

I don’t want to look back and wish things had been different. I want to dress all nice and what not. I want

to buy her a bomb dinner.

The truth of Valentine’s DayDakota Goodman

A&E Editor

You have been corpora-tized. Everyone who participates in Valen-tine’s Day has been

bought by the Hallmark idea of Valentine’s Day. You have become one of the many mass consumers in America.

Valentine’s Day is my baby sis-ter’s birthday. I love that day for my own reasons. For most of the coun-try Valentine’s Day is a holiday to buy crappy chocolate and red roses for the person they love. Americans tend to forget the significance of this day in history and companies use that to bring in disgusting amounts of money in a single day.

Amount of money spent and ri-diculous gifts:

Some people consider Valen-tine’s Day to be the biggest spend-ing holiday of the year. Although the last couple years have been hit by recession and the US may fall off the fiscal cliff, consumers have not made changes in how they “buy their love.”

Surveys are conducted annually by the National Retail Federation to predict and report spending for this one day out of our entire year. Whereas some spenders know what they are buying months in advance, others wait until the last minute to buy overly priced flowers, candy, balloons, chocolate, stuffed ani-mals, or any material item that may show affection towards a loved

one. If consumers are scrambling to find the perfect gift all they have to do is Google ideas for Valentine’s gifts. There is an abundance of in-formation on the Internet. I found last-minute gifts for the Astrologi-cal, eReading, Cat-loving, Wander-lust, Committed, Stressed, Healthy, High-Tech, Link-lovin’, and the Offbeat and Fun-Loving Valentine. A Cat-Loving Valentine would love a Boxie Cat Litter Home Delivery Service with a month’s worth of cat food.

All of these ideas may seem ex-tremely important when someone is panicking at the last minute but just stop and think about buying or making something that will make a memory or actually mean a lot in the future.

Christmas spending versus Val-entine’s Day:

17.6 billion versus 35.3 billion,Valentine’s Day involves fancy

diamonds, huge wedding proposals, and elaborate dinners. On Valen-tine’s Day some couples will spend up to $500 on dinner alone. The average person, according to the NRF, will spend about $126.03 for their Valentine’s Day festivities. In comparison, the biggest spending holiday is Christmas. Even though there are not as many diamonds be-ing purchased, consumers like to acquire TV’s and cars. On average, parents will spend $271 per kid on Christmas and about $750 per fam-ily.

Ridiculous numbers:4 million – expect to be proposed

to 6.1% - expected increase in res-

taurant spending$147 – average cost for a New

York couple’s dinner

8 billion – Sweethearts candies produced

$60-$80 – price of a dozen red roses

10 ways to say “I love you” with out spending a fortune:

1. Homemade dinner2. Handmade card3. Something symbolic of an in-

side joke4. One red rose for the receiver

to dry 5. Artwork – parents love their

children’s creativity put on display6. Send a Valentune7. A walk on the beach 8. Write a poem 9. Send them a package of baked

goods10. Give them a giant hug and

tell them how much you love them everyday

How to actually celebrate Valen-tine’s Day:

February 14 is commonly known as Valentine’s Day but it has several other names. The day filled with red hearts and gooey love stories is also known as Saint Valentine’s Day and the Feast of Saint Valentine.

1. Fall in love with a jailer’s daughter

Historically, this day is a celebra-tion for the Christian Saints named Valentine or Valentinus, three men who were martyred by the Christian Church. The first Saint lived in third century Rome and performed wed-ding ceremonies for soldiers who were not allowed to marry under Emperor Claudius II. Saint Valen-tinus was persecuted under the Ro-man Empire and sentenced to death. Another version of the story is that Valentine helped Christians escape from the brutally harsh Roman pris-

ons. While Saint Valentine was im-prisoned he fell in love with the jail-ers’ daughter. Before his execution he wrote the original Valentine, a farewell letter to her that was signed “from your Valentine.”

2. Dip a goat hide into blood.The date of Valentine’s Day has

not always been February 14th. Originally the Feast of Saint Val-entine was celebrated on July 6th for the death of Saint Valentine. Historians claim that the Christian church decided to place the feast in the middle of February to Christian-ize the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. This pagan holiday was a fertility festival for the Roman god of Ag-riculture, Faunus, and the founders Romulus and Remus. During the celebration priests would sacrifice a goat and strip the hide to dip into blood. These hides were used to make women and crops more fer-tile for the year to come. At the end of the day, all of the young women placed their names in an urn to be paired with the city’s bachelors for a year. The pairing often resulted in marriage.

3. Write a love letter like Chau-

cer.Valentine’s Day has not always

been associated with romantic love. In the Middle Ages, under the in-fluence of Geoffrey Chaucer, the celebration of courtly love flour-ished under the code of chivalry. In France and England people also believed that February 14th should be a day for love because it was the beginning of the birds’ mating season. After Chaucer, Valentine’s Day evolved into a day to articulate one’s love. By the 19th century, val-entines turned into mass-produced greeting cards.

OPINIONFebruary 1, 2013 | 27Pepperbox

OPINION28 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

Calvin RyanOpinion Editor

Netflix: The power hungry dictator

I remember the days of sun-shine, greenery and warmth. I remember the days before Netflix. Before Netflix, I never

knew that I could literally stay in-side for an entire day and be con-tent watching hours upon hours of shows, only to feel kind of guilty and sort of cheated, like I was tricked into wasting my day. With that logic, Netflix is like a street hustler who has absolutely no sym-pathy for my daily plans, who is phenomenal at memorizing scripts and impersonating actors, and who also bills me $7.99 a month. The morning after Netflix is like a bad hangover. You look around your couch with glazed eyes and a mas-sive headache, surrounded by pop-corn and trash, unsure of the details of the night before.

I ask myself questions like “How long has it been dark outside?” or “I can watch just one more, right?” way too often. Honestly, in the amount of time I have spent watch-ing movies and shows, I could have

Beverley Hills Chihuahua has noth-ing on them. I’m pretty sure it’s se-cretly just an hour and a half long Taco Bell promo.

Another of my issues with Net-flix is its movie suggestions, like really Netflix? The Backyardigans? What do you think I am, an 8-year-old? I’m going to list a few of my supposed “watched” shows on Net-flix. The very mature and complex Phineas and Ferb, followed by the movie My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, The Land Before Time,

Sam Freed/PEPPERBOXCheck out that sparkling diamond necklace. That’s just how I roll.

probably become fluent in Rus-sian; maybe Swedish too. The way our world is progressing, I really wouldn’t be surprised if we started holding some kind of Netflix tour-nament. I don’t even know how that would work, but people would fig-ure out a way. Who would even get the grand prize? The person who was the laziest? Sounds like a lose-lose situation to me.

In a way, Netflix is a plague— the plague of convenience. It’s just too easy to lose your resolve and succumb to the black hole of Net-flix, a seemingly endless supply of mindless entertainment. I feel like I should go through an obsta-cle course in order to even get to my TV just so I won’t be tempted. Probably the best thing about Netf-lix is its selection of shows. Let’s be honest, they have a pretty terrible movie selection. It’s like playing a game of “which B-rated movie do you want to suffer through to-night?” where pretty much no one ever leaves satisfied. Probably the worst movie I’ve seen on Netflix has got to be Beverly Hills Chihua-hua. There is nothing redeeming about that movie. Animals that can talk? I definitely have never seen that before. It’s probably the most unoriginal concept ever produced. Have you heard of Cats & Dogs? Dr. Dolittle? Homeward Bound?

I feel like I should have to go through an obstacle course in order to even get to my TV just so I won’t be tempted.

then comes Dora the Explorer with her cousin Go Diego Go! I’m start-ing to think that they’re just screw-ing with me now, because I definite-ly have never watched any of those shows nor do I think anybody in my family was watching them. Actu-ally, scratch that, apparently it was my sister who watched The Land Before Time. She’s 21. But maybe I was unfair, It’s actually a pretty le-git movie. Dinosaurs that can talk? That’s definitely more badass than chihuahuas.

The best films of Netflix Sage Fanucchi

Feature Editor

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)IMDB rating: 8.2, won 4 OscarsStarring Paul Newman and Robert Redford Rotten Tomatoes: 89% tomatometer, 90% liked it Cry-meter: Dry-eyed Genre: AdventureFood That Goes With: Cornbread and chiliClassic western following the leaders, Butch and Sundance, of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang. Another gang begins to follow them wherever they go, so they have the idea to, “Go to Bo-livia.” Wonderful sound track. I enjoyed the quality of the film. It kept me wanting to watch more.

The Graduate (1967)Starring: Dustin HoffmanIMDB: 8.1, won an Oscar Rotten Tomatoes: 88% tomatometer, 90% liked itCry-meter: Dry-eyedGenre: DramedyFood to Eat: Classic popcorn and fountain soda College-graduate Benjamin Braddock, while trying to decide what to do with his life, is se-duced into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, and in turn, falls in love with her daughter. It has some dark undertones, but is a very well-done film. The soundtrack is all Simon and Garfun-kel and Paul Simon. I loved this film because it is slightly strange, and there are very well-done and iconic scenes. It made me laugh and was powerful at the same time.

Harold and Maude (1971)Starring: Ruth Gordon and Bud CortIMDB: 8, 2 Golden GlobesRotten Tomatoes: 85% tomatometer, 92% Cry-Meter: Teary eyedGenre: Cult comedy, romanceFood to eat with: Ginger pie and tea Heartfelt coming-of-age tale. Harold, around 20, who has a dark sense of humor and fakes suicide and attends funerals for fun meets cra-zy Maude, who is turning 80 that Saturday. Soundtrack done completely by Cat Stevens.This film has made me laugh and cry every time I’ve seen it. It has a dark sense of humor, but can be appreciated. It really does emphasize that age doesn’t matter when it comes to love.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)Starring: Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight IMDB: 8, won 3 OscarsRotten Tomatoes: 90% tomatometer, 86% liked itCry-meter: FountainGenre: DramaFood to eat with: Leftovers Jon Voight decides to move to New York to become an escort for a rich woman and meets Dustin Hoffman. The movie follows their des-titute life and Hoffman’s dream to travel to Florida. It is a sad film, but it really touched my heart.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)Starring: Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet IMDB: 8.4, won best original film Rotten Tomatoes: 93% tomatometer and 93% audienceCry-Meter: Chopping onions statusGenre: Romance, drama, dark comedy, scifiThis movie makes me cry and laugh, in the best way possible. Their relationship is like the epit-ome of an indie couple. Brutally honest film.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)Starring: Harvey Kietal, Tom Roth, and Mi-chael MadsenIMDB: 8.4Rotten Tomatoes: 96% tomatometer, 93% liked it Cry-meter: Dry-eyedGenre: Thriller, dramaFood to eat with: Nothing, lots of blood.Very well-done gangster film. There is a lot of blood, so if you don’t like watching violence, I wouldn’t suggest it, unless you enjoyed films such as Goodfellas or Casino.

Clockwork Orange (1971)Starring: Malcolm MacDowell, Patrick Magee, and Michael BatesIMDB: 8.5, nominated for 4 OscarsRotten Tomatoes: 91% tomatometer, 92% liked itClockwork Orange is a notable cult classic. Ev-eryone should watch it at some point in their lives. However, it is a very dark film.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)Starring: Drew Barrymore, George Lopez Rotten Tomatoes: 95% tomatometer and 92% audienceIMDB: 9.8, won 10 Oscars, top rated film on IMDBCry-meter: Whiney bark Genre: Children’s, drama, comedy Food to eat with: Tacos (from Taco Bell) Wow! I have never enjoyed a film as much as Beverly Hills Chihuahua. It made me bawl and laugh. It touched my heart. I feel like a new per-son. I highly suggest taking your time to watch this film filled with talking Chihuahuas.

Do you ever find yourself blindly wandering through the plethora of B-rated films, won-dering if you will ever find a movie worth your time? I took the liberty to find films that I found worth my time. Watch them before they disappear.

A&EFeburary 1, 2013 | 29Pepperbox

SPOTLIGHT: Megan Viña

Life30 | February 1, 2013 Pepperbox

On signing with DI CSU Bakersfield

Arcata High goalie Me-gan Viña will sign to play Division I soccer at CSU Bakersfield next

Monday, February 4th, at 6pm in the AHS Library.

Pepperbox: So Megan, how long have you played soccer?Megan Viña: I’ve played since I was six, I’d say. I started playing goalie in like Under 12’s, maybe eighth grade, but I never really played goalie in high school until senior year.

Why not in high school?Well we already had a solid goalie and our team needed forwards, so I didn’t really think much of it.

What’s your favorite thing about playing goalie?Well, goalie is the most stressful position, I think. You’re the last defender, so it really depends on you to not let the ball go over the line, but I really like it because it’s a big adrenaline rush. When you make those big saves, you don’t forget about it for the whole game and so each save you make pumps you up for the next one.

What are you going to miss about Arcata High soccer?I’m going to miss our family and how close we were, but I also think that’s going to carry on in college because that’s what the team has told me so far. I’m going to miss all my teammates that I’ve played with since I was like five. It will be the first time playing without Kat [Rocker Heppe] and Day [Robins].

What other sports have you played at Arcata High?I played three sports - soccer, basketball, and softball my fresh-man and sophomore years. With softball, I, well, I probably could have played softball in college, too. Coach Cheek from HSU was really interested, and that was kind of tempting because they were the na-tional champions, but I prefer soc-cer and basketball. So then I didn’t play softball the next two years so I could focus on soccer and bas-ketball because those were the two that I wanted to play in college.

How did you decide between playing soccer and basketball in college?Well, honestly, I thought I was going to play basketball in col-lege, because I had never played goalie in high school so I didn’t really know how I compared to other people. It was hard because I had to send a lot of emails to coaches from the same school for basketball and soccer and trying to see what basketball tournaments I could go to that didn’t conflict with soccer tournaments. It was hard trying to juggle them.

How long were you talking to Bakersfield?Well, after our Sections game I sent them the video of my game, and they called me twice, and re-ally said they were interested, and they invited me down to go try out with them. And I went down after a basketball tournament, and tried out, and then after that they invited me into their office and offered me a scholarship, and I just really liked it. But when they called me and said they were from Bakersfield, I

was like, “No way! I’m never go-ing there!” but then it turned out to be a really great fit.

Why was it a good fit?The players were just really nice and foccused on soccer, and the coaches were really young and they really want to make an impact on the school. The fact that they kept saying they don’t want people who will just end at college ball, they want people who will contin-ue on and maybe play at a profes-sional level. Another cool part about Bakersfield is that all the athletes get to stay in apartments with all the other athletes on campus. They also don’t have a football team so soccer is their main event in the whole town. Their games are at night and the whole town goes. It’s pretty cool. Most of the games are going to be live streamed on the internet and a lot of them will be broadcasted on TV like Fox Sports.

Did you ever think you would play Division I?No, I mean, my dream was always to play in the WNBA, so I knew I wanted to play as high up as I could, but I didn’t actually think I would ever make it to DI.

What advice do you have for future athletes looking to play college sports?I would advise them to start talking to colleges as soon as they’re in high school, start looking at where you really want to go and email-ing them and making sure they know your name. And make sure

they go to all the ID camps because then they know you’re interested in their school, and they can see you play. The showcase ID tourna-ments don’t really do anything un-less the coaches already know who you are. Also, don’t limit yourself, really keep your options open. I mean, I really had no idea I would end up at Bakersfield.

Anything else you’d like to say?Well, I’d really like to thank all my coaches I’ve ever had - not just soccer, but basketball and softball

and volleyball (in middle school) because they’ve taught me to not dwell on my mistakes and to be more of a leader. I also want to thank all my teammates because with-out them, I’d never be able to be where I am now.

Elaine CunhaEditor-in-Chief

Photo courtesy of Paul Swenson

Dakota GoodmanMy Story

I have been majoring in the unafraid my entire life. Ever since I can remember I have been dancing. I love dance, it

is my way of expression. With the movement, I can dance out nasty feelings on a bad day or highlight happy emotions on a good day.

I went through junior year with four AP classes, dancing six days a week. I was exhausted and the week of AP testing was production week. Second act opened with a thirteen-minute contemporary ballet Pointe piece. Thirty seconds after I ran on stage, I heard two pops after landing a jump. Knowing something was seriously wrong; I danced for three more minutes before I collapsed be-hind the wings trying to keep back the tears threatening to destroy my makeup. I danced on a torn ACL, meniscus and slightly torn PCL for ten more minutes. When the cur-tain fell, I hobbled off stage hoping that I had imagined the last thirteen minutes. As my adrenaline faded and walking was close to impos-sible, I prepared for my solo, ready to dance until reality set in.

Saturday May 19, 2012 I went to see my muscle activation therapist with a completely swollen lower leg. He predicted I tore my ACL but told me not to lose hope, that there was a possibility of it being a mi-nor injury. For the next three weeks there was a blur of doctors appoint-

ments, physical therapy, and MRI’s. By the end of the third week it was confirmed I had severed my ACL from the bone and destroyed my meniscus. Surgery was scheduled for the next week, three days after I would turn seventeen.

Right as my three months were up, my friend who tore her ACL two years ago re-injured herself. There have been people telling me throughout this journey to be care-ful not to re-injure myself once I can dance again. Now more than ever, I think about every step I take because the thought of another nine months rehabbing would tear me apart.

I never realized how much one part of my life could mean to me. After seven months not being able to fully dance or fully perform any physical activity, all I want is to be back in that studio. I had decided the summer before junior year that I would be accepted to ABT’s new-est program. To reach a goal and have it taken away was the hard-est part of being injured; ABT was unjustly ripped from my fighting outstretched arms. Not only was my summer at an incredible dance program taken away, now I cannot audition for college programs ei-ther. Although this injury has taken away so many aspects of my life, it has taught me patience and remind-ed me why I dance.

On tearing her ACL, PCL, and meniscus

Life February 1, 2013 | 31Pepperbox

I was never afraid of surgery. I was in a state of shock and couldn’t process the magnitude of my injury.