Issue of December 20, 2002
Vol. 86, No. 5
Click on a story link to view the story
News
Auditorium repairs ahead of schedule
KFC, Taco Bell coming across the street
Some Kinda Season! (Football playoff coverage)Opinions
Christmas: by any other name, it would not be as sweet
Christmas: by any other name, it WOULD TOO be as sweet
Fighting: it doesn't help a relationship at all
Fighting: it can make for a better relationship
Lying: why do we do it?
Read This (Column by Lisa Namnath)Features
Annual Christmas parade takes planning
Ho, ho ho: a day in the life of a Mall Santa
The logistics of Santa's big night out: how can he have time to deliver all those gifts?
Is Meat Murder? The Vegan/Vegetarian point of view
Santa 101: the history of St. Nick
To give or to get: that is the question
What's the best present to get? (Poll)Diversions
Holiday movie preview
Foo Fighters back with new CDSports
Girls Soccer begins new season
New coaches promise better teams
Girl's basketball coverage
Wrestling coverage
Auditorium repairs ahead of schedule; workers installing new heating and air
Julia Arenas
December 20, 2002Long overdue repairs on the air conditioning and heating systems have left the auditorium temporarily unavailable. In the foyer, the floors are being sanded and redone, and the walls are being painted. It may seem like a long time that the auditorium will not be in use, but it is for the better. The auditorium has needed these repairs for over 20 years.
If you're as anxious as acting teacher Stacey Jay, then the rest of the wait will add some tension to your life. It has been estimated that the auditorium will not be finished until the beginning of February. This may seem like a long time, but surprisingly the workmen are a bit ahead of schedule. As much as you can say "ahead of schedule," since Principal Jerry Almendarez, did not even know that the auditorium would be repaired.
As a public school, we get money, which is called Modernization Money, every ten years or so, and the school picks what ever repairs needed to be done that year. Last year, the money was used to put air conditioning in the classrooms. To us teens, it may sound loud, annoying and the work may seem slow, but in actuality the progression is going great. So those of you anxious to see the next play in the auditorium, you may just get your wish!
KFC/Taco Bell fast food outlet to move in across from school on site of old AM/PM mini-mart
Lisa Namnath
December 20, 2002If you look around Colton you may not see much change occurring, but plans are being formulated to change Colton every day.
Drive North on 9th Street off of Valley Boulevard today, and you might notice something completely novel to the City of Colton. Colton now has a one-way street heading west into downtown. This new innovation was brought on by, The Hampton Inn building a brick wall half way into the previously 80 foot wide, "H" Street. Permission for the construction was granted as part of the agreement reached between the city and the owners, the Inn wanted to ensure a proper quota of safe parking for its customers. The Hampton Inn is set to open in early 2003, the construction began in 1999, when the property and building were bought with the intention of renovation. Candyce Castleshort, a member of the staff employed in the Re-Development Department of the city, hopes "the reopening of The Hampton Inn will foster a sense of community and increase activity in the downtown area." It certainly will make the city look a little better when you look North off of Valley Boulevard.
Another new development is The Big League Dreams Sports Park, which is a replica of three major league stadiums throughout the country along with an indoor soccer plaza and restaurants. This park was originally set to be constructed where Frontier Town previously was, but an endangered fly was found living on the property, as of right now the developers are scouting other properties in the area.
The corner of Valley Blvd. and Rancho Ave. was once graced with the presence of an AM/PM gas station and mini-mart, often frequented by Colton High School students. It was demolished about a year ago, and has sat vacant since. This will not be the case for long, production is going on schedule to move the KFC/Taco Bell on the NW corner of the intersection of 9th and "H" streets, to where AM/PM once was.
Also in the fast food department, Wendy's will soon be making its debut in Colton. It will open on the corner of San Bernardino Ave. and Pepper Ave. in the same plaza where Food 4 Less just opened.
Some kinda season!
Paul Heredia
December 20, 2002The Colton Yellowjackets amazing season ended with a heartbreaking 21-19 loss against the Corona Panthers in the first round of CIF-Southern Section Division 5 playoffs. With the Yellowjackets fired up and a playoff win in sight, they came a yard short to keeping their playoff contention alive.
In the loss against Corona, Colton played a game that should have advanced them into the second round of the playoffs. Colton had 333 yards with 17 first downs, when the Panthers had only 257 yards with 12 first downs. Coach Harold Strauss said, "We made a couple of key mistakes and you just can't do that in a big game." Ras Bowen led Colton through most of the game, running right over Corona. He rushed for 144 yards on 23 carries and had five receptions for 87 yards. He scored three touchdowns, two that were passes from Quarterback Robby Pope. But it was two deciding fumbles by Bowen that led to two Corona touchdowns. Coach Strauss says about Bowen, "He just had an outstanding game. But, you can only do so much." While Bowen was going strong Pope completed 9-of-16 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns, but threw two interceptions.
In the fourth-quarter Pope went straight to Bowen for a 15-yard touchdown to bring Colton within two points. With a minute to go, Colton needed a two-point conversion to tie the game. So, Pope handed off to Bowen who was stopped inches from the goal line, as Colton was defeated.
Christmas…by any other name, would it be as sweet? Con
Heather Weppler
December 20, 2002Christmas, a holiday familiar to many of us. For many years in the past we have said "have a great Christmas break" but if you've noticed lately we say "have a great 'winter' break." In some ways I think that we should say "winter break", it shows that we're multicultured, but at the same time are we forgetting who this nation was founded by? One of the reasons people came from England to America was to spread Christianity. Not saying that Christianity should be the only religion to have holidays acknowledged, but I think we should honor those who founded our country.
There are so many things in this country that already have some Christian meaning behind them, such as money, the pledge of allegiance and the calendar. I think that we should keep the things that we have. We have so many conflicts in holidays that it would be almost impossible to please everyone.
People come to America to have freedom. We are defiantly a blessed country and we bless others by letting them come and live in our country. We give so much to minorities.n. Christmas will still be talked about and celebrated, although others don't participate. People will still be know and hear about it. Others will still feel left out on Christmas days when others are spending time with their families.
So what do we do then, get rid of Christmas all together?
Christmas…by any other name, would it still be as sweet? Pro
Narmin Shahin
December 20, 2002Over 60 percent of our population is made up of Christians who celebrate Christmas. While this is obviously the majority, what about the other 40 percent? Are we not going to acknowledge them? There are so many others that celebrate many holidays around this time. There is Kwanzaa, Hannukah, Ramadan, and winter solstice along with many others. They deserve the same recognition as any other holiday.
Every year we take the same two weeks off toward the end of December; it is known as "winter break"and it should stay that way. We do not take this vacation just for Christmas; there are so many other activities to be done around this time.
Being American means being open to diversity. We pride ourselves in the many people and different religions among us. Part of the reason we do this is because our country is founded on tolerance for all different religions and types of people. Everything around us cannot be done without including all people. We don't discriminate against any type of religion or people. So why are we going to show them such disrespect by not acknowledging their traditions as well? It is true there are more people who celebrate Christmas around this time than anyone else but it doesn't mean because they have more that all of us have to celebrate their holiday. It doesn't necessarily mean their holiday is the best or the only one
Does fighting with each other make a better relationship? Con
Ryan Rivera
December 20, 2002It seems that nowadays fighting has become very common in relationships, but is it good? I don't think it is because it all comes down to one thing in the end and that's trust. "I don't think there's any need to fight. You just have to have trust in that person," states senior Karen Ochoa. You can basically say you have nothing with that person if you can't trust each other, whether it is your girlfriend or boyfriend. I hear so many people say the same thing when fighting in a relationship comes up and really… it makes me laugh. They say it helps it because you get all your feelings and emotions out. Also that you don't hold anything back, but how can people say that it actually helps? I mean, aren't you supposed to do that in the first place and not hold anything back from each other? If the two people aren't open from the start, then that's when problems begin. If you really care about the person you shouldn't have to fight. Right? Yeah there may be an argument here and there, but sometimes it can become a problem. Senior Nicole Panek explains, "I think it's stupid to fight to keep a relationship going. You shouldn't have to fight to show what you mean to each other." One argument almost always leads to another and speaking from experience, a current argument always gets worse because past ones are brought up and can never be left alone. Fighting does not make a relationship better. Instead it shows that maybe you don't like each other as much as you think.
Does fighting with each other make for a better relationship? Pro
Claudia Gonzalez
December 20, 2002Fighting in any relationship helps get out what you really feel and what you really want in your relationship. It's also a better way to get to know each other beyond what you know about your girlfriend or boyfriend. You also bond more knowing what you really are deep down inside if you speak with the truth. Thinking you know the person you're being with just because they are with you, doesn't always mean you really know what they are feeling deep down. We could say, if you think you don't have any arguments between the two of you then it could get a little boring knowing the fact that you may think that you are too perfect for one another and that you don't have anything in common. Well, could it be because you don't speak the truth at that one point or it could lead you to an argument That is also another good way to communicate and knowing what you want and need in order to confide and make your relationship a better matter than it was before. But you have to remember that you may not mean all the things you say ; they could lead the wrong way and you'll regret later on in life; you might even lose the chance with being with that one special someone that you've liked for a while.You just have to say what you really mean and what you know that you and your other half will understand and make your relationship a better one than it was before. Fighting, is another way to express what you feel and what you need him or her to know what you're going through with them, and it also brings you together.
Majuana smoking to be legalized at Colton High
Narmin Shahin
December 20, 2002How do you like being lied to? You actually thought this was about weed didn't you? Well, it's not. I lied to you.
Everyone has done it: you lie to your parents, teachers, and even friends. How many actually know what a lie is and why we are doing it all the time? A lot of us lie to keep ourselves from suffering the consequences of telling the truth. Some of us get so used to lying all the time that they don't know what the truth is anymore. We lie about everything, from our homework to our teachers and where we are going to our parents. We become so used to it that part of the reason we lie so much is because we convinced ourselves that what we're saying is the truth and there is nothing wrong with it. We all have our own reasons for doing it but most of us feel that we have to live up to everyone's expectations of us to the fullest. We don't want to let them down and that the truth will not be good enough for them.
But what we don't realize is that what we are trying to live up to is not realistic and that there is no reason to lie. We lie so much sometimes that we tell people things that make up a person that's not even who we are.
I know all of us have done this: hide the progress report as soon as it comes in the mail. Why do all of us do that? Our parents all know what we are capable of, and what our grades are. They know if we are the type of kids who do all their school work or not. The person you are hiding the progress report from will get it eventually so why don't we just take what's coming to us.
Here's another example: there is this girl I know who's just as intelligent as anyone else, but she is blonde. Everyone has placed her in that little mold, that stereotype that says, " blondes are dumb." Now she always acts like she's dumb and she has stopped trying at all her school work. She has let that lie take over her life and now she can't even remember what it was like to able to know how to do all your work. That little lie about blondes has taken her over as a person.
All guys have this way of making all their friends think they have gone all the way with a girl and so much more. When in truth a lot of them have only gone that far in their dreams and have no idea what it's like. But why can't they just tell their other guy friends that? Why do they feel that's what is expected of them? Many guys lie to their friends that way and soon enough start to believe it. In actuality they are just as innocent and pure as anyone else, but they feel they have to have gone that far with a girl to be known as cool.
Lying has taken over many of our lives and many of us don't even realize it is a lie when you are doing it. Some refer to it as "bending the truth" just to make themselves feel better about it. No matter how you want to look at it a lie is a lie. So next time you are about to tell someone something that isn't true think about it do you really have to lie?
Read this!
Lisa Namnath
December 20, 2002\This is the Christmas issue of the paper. Yes, I do realize that you probably already knew that, but I don't care. I figure most of you are going to get bored over break.
I mean of course in those little periods of time between partying, sleeping, last minute shopping, opening presents, returning presents, visiting relatives who you never knew existed, staying up all night, enjoying your freedom from school, wishing you were back in school, eating, avoiding eating the fruitcake (that those magically appearing relatives sent), you might just have some down time on your hands, maybe. I've decided that I am going to try to alleviate, (just so you know aleve isn't an actual word, it's a pill) some of your boredom.
Moving on, let's talk about something that is very Christmassy. Trees. Now what I'd like to know is, who came up with the bright idea that a tree sybolizes Christmas? Jesus was not born in or near a tree. As far as I know Jesus spent his life working with dead trees (carpentry), so the trees themselves have no reason to celebrate his birth. We use Coniferous trees, that stay green year-round, so maybe that has something to do with it. Maybe the tree means that love is everlasting?-Life is everlasting? Hmm.
Maybe we just needed a reason to make little tiny replicas of rocking horses, stuffed bears, fake flocked apples that shed little red fur, candles, and twinkly plastic balls. Or, maybe for some idiotic reason we already had these lying around, (who in the 1500s didn't have little tiny rocking horses just lying around) and just needed some place to put them. I don't know, I can't time travel. If any of you can eventually time travel, find out and then come talk to me right now and tell me. I have decided that time travel does not exist in the future, because I still don't know why they use trees. If for some reason it does and I am just being ignored by all of you time travelers, I hope you get coal and a Barney CD for Christmas. Grrr. Have a nice break.
Annual Christmas parade takes planning
Gabriel Jorrin
December 20,2002Once again the holidays are upon us, and this means parades, parties, and shopping till you drop. When parades are put on, do you ever wonder who's in charge to make this event happen at least once a year? As the members of the city council work effortlessly to keep the city running, they work hard to put on an annual holiday parade for the people who enjoy celebrating. We owe it to the efforts of the volunteers, city council and the sponsors who help put on the 27th Annual "Christmas in the Park" Parade.
The parade will be held on Saturday, December 14, at 10 am on "D" Street along with the 1st Annual "Christmas in the Park" Street Fair. Since mid October the Chamber of Commerce has been planning this annual event, and for them, have had a long and arduous task to look through applications and find sponsors. The Administrative Assistant of the Chamber of Commerce, Pam Gregory, explained the planning that goes into the parade. "First we send parade applications to old participants and inquiries. Then we make news releases about the parade in the hopes of getting more sponsors or businesses. We get at least 6 to 7 businesses, city departments the girl scouts, high school ROTC groups, and the school board. At least 60 entries are accepted which include 2 bands, decorated antique cars, floats, and dignitaries." She also noted how the entries are put in order. "The entries are put in the order starting with Chamber dignitaries, the city council, and following that floats and drill teams from local schools. Every entry gets a trophy for participating. It gets you in the spirit to see everything around you. It's really such an exciting day for everyone."
Ho, Ho, Ho!
Ashley Ellison and Sandy Brown
December 20, 2002Wayne Turman is one of several Santa Claus's at the Inland Center Mall. He has been a "mall Santa" for two years. It all started about three years ago when Turman shattered four bones in his right foot and he didn't want to shave until his foot was completely healed. After his foot was healed, his wife didn't mind his unshaved face and he started to like it too, so he never shaved his face again.
Then one day he and his wife were shopping in the Montclair Mall when a lady by the name of Mimi asked my if he could be their Mall Santa. He dislikes driving all the way out to Montclair, so he applied to the Inland Center Mall Santa position, since it was closer, and he got the job.
So, what are kids asking for from Santa this year? This year, he notes that the hot toys for the little girls and boys are Playstation 2, the Barbie Cooking Set and the Barbie Car.
In the past two years he has had a lot of interesting things happen to him; for example, many adults have sat on his lap to tell him what they want for Christmas, but only once has a child confronted him and accused him of not being the real Santa Claus. Children do ask him on a everyday basis if he is the real Santa Claus though. The funniest thing a child has ever asked for was a real unicorn. "There are some times when I dislike my job. It is sad when the one thing a child wants is impossible, such as when they want their family to get back together, or when they ask me for a new pair of shoes and I look down and they really need one, and you know there family can not afford them."
Outside of being Santa Claus Turman is a regular guy. He owns a computer software business and is a substitute teacher. Turman plans on being a mall Santa for the next two or three years. "I try to take being Santa Claus seriously. I enjoy all the kids, and we are never allowed to promise them anything."
How can Santa actually deliver all those gifts on Christmas Eve?
December 20, 2002We all know you've been wondering about this all your lives, so as a public service during this holiday season, the Pepperbough attempts to answer the burning question...
Can Santa actually deliver all those gifts that children believe he delivers? How is that possible?
We at the Pepperbough, with a little help from calculations made by engineering students at the University of Tennessee, have calculated the logistics of Santa's big night out, in order to provide the answer once and for all to the burning question. The following are believed to be certain speed and payload performance criteria for Santa's sleigh. But before we begin, it is important to note that our calculations have been modified slightly based on a number of assumptions:
1. Santa delivers no gifts to naughty children. There is a tradition in some areas of the world that a naughty child receives a lump of coal. That would change the calculations slightly.
2. Only one Santa distributes all of the gifts. Multiple Santas could reduce some of the extreme values calculated below. However, the US Military Defense Sheild regularly reports only one sleigh tracked on their radar screens each Christmas Eve from the North Pole. Therefore, we are assuming that there's only one Santa.
3. There is only one family per household. We make this assumption for ease of calculations.
4. The percentage of households in which there is at least one child who has been not naughty, but was nice, is 90%. Again, this is an estimate, albeit an optimistic one. We at the Pepperbough like to think this is true.
5. Santa loads all of the presents before starting his journey. i.e. he does not return to the North Pole periodically to reload. This is probably correct, because U.S. Military radar stations have never reported any return and repeat trips.The following statistics were used to determine the amount of time Santa spends per household:
Number of children in the world (humans under 18 years of age): about 2.0 billion.
Percentage of children whose parents are Christian: 33%.
Number of destinations for Roman Catholic and Protestant families: 173 million. (The remainder are Eastern Orthodox locations which Santa would handle in his second trip on January 5th.)
Average number of children per household: 3.5
Maximum number of children who might receive gifts from Santa: 667 million.
Total number of destinations where Santa delivers gifts: 156 million.
It is a given that Santa cannot arrive until the children are asleep. Some people suggest that he starts to distribute presents in each time zone at perhaps 9 p.m. local time, finishing within an hour, and then moves one time zone to the west. But that is a higher level of performance than is really needed. He could take longer in each time zone, as long as the entire job was finished comfortably before children woke up in the last zone. Assuming that the children sleep for 7 hours, this gives him 31 hours (or a total of 1860 minutes, or 111,600 seconds) to finish all deliveries. Therefore, the average number of homes to visit per second would be around 1,400. This only gives him about 715 thousands of a second in which to decelerate the sleigh, land on the roof, walk to the chimney, slide down the chimney, distribute the presents and retrace his steps.
There are a number of adjustments in these calculations that need to be made for special circumstances. These include the following:
Santa's competitor "Befana" distrubtes gifts in Italy.
Santa distributes some gifts on Boxing Day (December 26th) to poor children in Australia, England and Ireland.
Santa distributes some gifts in bulk quantities to orphanages, children's hospitals, etc. before Christmas.
"Sinter Klass" distributes some gifts on December 5th to children in Belgium, Germany and Holland.Taking all these variables into consideration, then the average number of homes Santa would conceivably have to visit per second on Christmas Eve is only perhaps 1,000. He would therefore deliver gifts to about 500 million children.
How far does the Big Guy have to travel? Assuming that Antarctica is essentially uninhabited, and ignoring the various inland lakes, the total inhabited land on earth is about 79.3 million square miles. Assuming that the destinations are evenly distributed over the available land, the average distance between destinations is on the order of 0.71 miles. Total distance traveled would then be around 111 million miles - a little longer than the distance from the earth to the sun! And you think you had a long way to drive to Grandma's.
And how fast would those poor overworked reindeer (you know, Rudolph and his buddies) have to pull that sleigh? 111 million miles over a 31 hour interval works out to about 3.6 million miles an hour, or a little under 1000 miles a second. Of course, some time must be taken to decelerate the sleigh to a stop, for Santa to deliver the presents, for him to return to the sleigh and for the sleigh to accelerate back up to cruising speed. The latter would be on the order of 2000 miles a second. Engineers estimate that at this speed, air resistance would cause the lead reindeer to absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second. (We here at the Pepperbough, being journalists, not scientists, are not familiar with the effects of such a high energy loading. However, we intuitively feel that poor Rudolph would be converted almost instantly to charcoal. )
How about his payload (all those toys must take up a pretty big sack!) Let's say that the weight of the average toy is around 2 pounds. The sleigh would thus have to carry about 1 billion pounds (or 500,000 tons) of cargo for the 500 million children. At perhaps 0.2 cubic feet per toy, the payload would occupy a space of 100 million cubic feet.
To summarize, in order to get his job done on one night, Santa would have to visit perhaps 1,000 homes per second. The average speed of the sleigh would be on the order of 3.6 million miles an hour. (This would be a sufficient speed to allow travel to the moon in about 4 minutes, assuming the reindeer could hold their breaths for that long.) The acceleration and deceleration loads on the reindeer, Santa and the sleigh would be astronomical. The sleigh would have to carry about 500,000 tons of cargo, many times the weight of the Queen Mary. The sleigh would have to carry about 100 million cubic feet of cargo, about equal to 4,500 homes.
There remains only two logical explanations for these incredible figures:
1. Santa Claus does not exist, except as a symbol or a myth. Some adults believe this, but most young children do not.
2. Santa Claus DOES EXIST; and he has magical, mystical powers. This is part of the Santa tradition: We've all heard that from his location at the North Pole, he sees the children when they are sleeping He knows when they are awake. He knows when they've been bad and good. He can even wriggle down chimneys. With the Big Guy, anything is possible (if you believe).
So, be good for goodness' sake! And a Merry Christmas from the Pepperbough staff!
Is meat murder?
Nick Taylor
December 20, 2002Would you eat your puppy for dinner? How about your kitten for lunch? Of course not. But you probably eat the flesh of pigs, cows, and chickens without even thinking about it. Our society deems this acceptable, but there are those who don't see the difference; they believe that using any animal for food or other purposes is wrong. They are known as Vegetarians and Vegans. Their ideas are based around one simple belief: animals are not our natural resources; they are not here for humans to do with as they please.
There are two slight but significant differences between Vegetarians and Vegans. Vegetarians do not eat meat but continue to use dairy products like milk, cheese, and butter. They also continue to eat eggs and in many cases use leather, wool and other animal-derived products. Vegans, cut out the same things as vegetarians but also do not use leather and products tested on animals
Animal based by-products are used in everything from the coating on a picture to the sugar you use which has been whitened by using bone charcoal from animals. Most cosmetics are tested on animals along with household cleaners like floor wax, Windex, and even bleach.. Many people believe that animal experimentation only involves testing new medications to see if it would help a person with a chronic disease live longer and more comfortably. It is true many good things have come from the testing on animals, for example breakthroughs in areas such as AIDS research, vaccine development, studies of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, cancer research and the safety testing of new drugs and products. The argument that most vegans make is based around the number of animals killed and the cruel testing methodology. For example, in 1999, 49,000 primates, 4,000 cats, 180,000 dogs, and 12-15 million rats and mice were killed or severely wounded in these tests. A specific example vegans use to show the uncalled for nature of testing was a 1986 a test preformed on a Dog that was tied to a machine that pumped cigarette smoke directly down its windpipe through a plastic tube to see if in fact cigarette smoke could be linked to the disease Emphysema, (and, in fact, it was.) Then there's the Driaze test, in which they lock an animal down using a special stock and force chemicals down in the animals eye to see how long and how much of the chemical it would take to blind that animal.
People argue that in milk and egg farming, animals are not killed, so what's wrong with drinking milk and eating eggs? But a vegan would argue that these animals, while not killed, are abused for our benefit. In the case of most dairy farms, cows are given special hormones and/or continuously impregnated so that they will continue to produce milk. Usually once a cow reaches a certain age and has been producing milk for a number of years she will become (for lack of a better word) dry. Once a cow is unable to produce milk anymore she is of no use to a diary farmer and very quickly sold of to a slaughterhouse.
Another argument given by egg eaters is that chickens are not killed by producing eggs in hatcheries. But what is done is much worse then death--chickens are forced into small tight cages and made to produce endlessly. Many eggs are sent to hatch so that this farm can have more chickens to produce more. Once hatched the chickens are sifted through and when they find a male chicken it immediately has its neck broken and is thrown into a dumpster. This is because male chickens cannot produce eggs and egg farms already have their males.
Vegetarians and vegans are thought of as being weak and thin due to their lack of eating anything with protein, which we all know can and does help the building of muscle. Although vegetarians and vegans do not get protein from eating meat they get plenty of protein from vegetables such as beans, lentils, peas, and peanuts, which are very high in protein. While on the health topic, meat is the leading cause of heart disease Meat consumption is also directly linked with America's overweight problem, as beef and pork are very high in cholesterol and saturated fats.
What about calcium, which is an essential nutrient, most often found in milk? Most vegans drink calcium-fortified soy milk which has just as much calcium as a glass of cow's milk.
Many celebrities, musicians and athletes are publicly announcing that they are vegetarian or vegan. The list of proclaimed vegetarians and vegans includes Natalie Portman, Cameron Diaz , Woody Harrelson, members of Rage Against the Machine, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, members of Incubus. professional BMX rider Taj Mihelich and professional skateboarder Geoff Rowley.
Vegetarian and vegan beliefs are becoming quite popular as people are becoming more and more compassionate towards all living creatures. People are beginning to realize that we as humans do not have some god given right to enslave the animals and do with them as we please. Should we be allowed to destroy millions of animal lives so we can save a few human lives? Should we be allowed to eat another animal just because we want to?
Vegans and vegetarians do not think so but what do you think?
Santa 101: The real history behind the famous mister Claus
Marisa Cortez
December 20, 2002St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kriss Kringle: these are a few of the many names of Santa Claus. He has become the most dearly loved of Christmas symbols and traditions. The image of the jolly old man flying in a sleigh pulled by reindeers and leaving toys and gifts for every child is known throughout the world. But are you up on your Santa Claus history? Where did he come from, and how did he come to represent Christmas, gifts, and giving?
The history of Santa Claus starts with a man named Saint Nicholas. He lived over 1600 years ago and was a Bishop of Mayra in Asia Minor, which is now Turkey. He was a man known for his generosity and wisdom. Legends tell of him coming from a wealthy family and giving all his money to the poor. He was also said to possess magical powers. St. Nicholas died in 340 AD and was buried in Myra.
In the late 11th century, religious soldiers from Italy took the remains of the saint home with them. A church was built in honor of him and was visited by many Christian pilgrims from all over the world. They took the legend of St. Nicholas back with them to their native lands. As the story spread it began to change and take on characteristics of each country.
In Europe during the 12th century a day of gifts and charity became known as St. Nicholas Day. Germany, France, and Holland celebrated December 6th as a religious holiday and gave gifts to their children and the poor.
The American version of St. Nicholas evolved into a jolly old man described as a plump Dutchman. Innocent tongues eventually slurred Saint Nicholas into Sant Niklas then to Sante Klas, and finally, Santa Claus. In the 1860's a cartoonist drew a picture of him for a magazine. This image became instilled in the minds of American people. It slowly began to stretch around the world. Still people obtained their own customs and traditions about this man.
For example in Germany, St. Nicholas has an assistant, which accompanies him in delivering gifts. The good children receive presents and the bad ones, are punished by the assistant with a rod. In Italy they have a good witch named La Befana, who dresses in all black and brings gifts to children on Epiphany, January 6th. In many Spanish countries such as Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and South America, children wait for the Three Kings to bring presents on Christmas. England has Father Christmas, and in France, it's Pere Noel. But regardless of the country, the basic idea of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, remains the same. It's the thought of a person who gives gifts and shares with others.
To give or to get: that is the question
Sara Robbin
December 20,2002Christmas is all about spending time with your family and getting presents. Most teenagers want expensive gifts like stereos, TV's, play stations and most of all CARS! While the others wish for Christmas in June so their present could be being able to graduate. Its too bad Santa doesn't make special deliveries during that time of the year.
Some people just want to be able to give for the holidays. There are a lot of unfortunate people out there who have no family or even a home to live in so they go to soup kitchens and stay there just so they can have a nice home cooked meal. If you compare these people's lives with yours, you feel lucky because you can celebrate this holiday with your loved ones. Usually you don't think about these things, but the least you can do is be thankful for what you have.
Most couples don't think of Christmas as a holiday, but also as a special occasion. For English teacher, Ms. Valdimira Chavez, it is an occasion for something big; " I want my boyfriend to get me an entertainment system," then she continued with, " I'm going to get him a stereo system so we can put it inside the entertainment system."
You can also say that people look forward to this holiday because it is time off from school and work. Basically, it is the best time to go out, get to sleep late, and wake up when you think you are ready to wake up.
What is the best Christmas gift to give to someone?
Ashley Ellison
December 20, 2002Fifteen Colton High School students were interviewed, with one important question in mind: What is the best Christmas gift to give to someone? Here is what they had to say.
"To spend just a special day with someone special even if you do not spend any money, that is the best gift you could ever give."
-Shawn Noble, senior"Something that is meaningful, unique and expresses how you feel."
-Tacey Edstrom, junior"A trip to Hawaii."
-Delmy Diaz, freshman"The best gift a girl could give to me is her self… you know."
-Dorian Bruce, junior"I would like to buy Trey Temby a Judge."
-Travis Boyd, sophomore"Something special, unique, and from the heart such as a collage of pictures from the past year of all the good thing times we shared."
-Jessica DeLaRosa, junior"Something the person will always remember."
-Amanda Carlstrom, sophomore
"A lot of their favorite singer or band memorabilia, such as posters, shirts and beanies."
-Dana Lugo, junior"Unconditional love!"
-Steven Gastauer, sophomore"I do not know what is the best gift to give, but the best gift I ever got was an older magazine of Cher. I am a huge Cher fanatic and I started crying, and thank God my grandma also put napkins in the gift. It was the coolest thing."
-Sarah Garcia, junior."One time I made my boyfriend (Adam) Christmas pajamas and they had reindeers on them and he wears them everyday. That means I care about how he looks when he sleeps."
-LeZette Urista, senior"To spend the day in the mountains."
-Jeff Slaczka, senior"A vacation."
-Cydney Chavez, sophomore"Tool tickets."
-Mark Torres"A million dollars!"
- Regina Limon, freshmen
Holiday Films coming to a theatre near you
by Victor Valdez
Dec. 20, 2002
It’s that time again. Time for the two weeks of freedom we have all been waiting for. A fun filled vacation of sleeping in and being cold. What? You have no plans? Why not go and have a laughs and maybe scares at your local movie theatre.
One movie you can go see is “Gangs of New York” with the return of actor Leonardo DiCaprio to the big screen. Directed by heavyweight Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver) this highly anticipated movie is about the immigrants who came to America around the 1850’s and battles that waged between them. This movie is set to release on December 20.
The next movie called, “Catch Me If You Can” stars none other than every one’s favorite actor, Leonardo DiCaprio and veteran movie actor Tom Hanks. At the age of 17, Frank (DiCaprio) became the most successful bank robber in the history of the United States. Tom Hanks plays Agent Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent trying to catch him. Frank Abagnale, Jr. (DiCaprio) worked as a doctor, a lawyer and as a co-pilot for a major airline - all before his 18th birthday. Agent Hanratty (Hanks) made it his prime mission to capture Frank and bring him to justice, but Frank is always one step ahead of him, baiting him to continue the chase. Opening on Christmas day, the buzz that this will be one of Director Steven Speilberg’s best movies ever..
Number three on the list is “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” starring Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore and George Clooney, also included in this line up is old pal Fred Savage from “The Wonder Years”. This movie is a fictional story about the life of The Gong Show’s host, the creator of The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game. It’s also about the time he spent as a CIA assassin. Coming to a theatre near you on December 27.
This one’s for the kiddies or the young at heart. “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” is animated and stars the voice of “Party of Five’s” Lacey Chabet. The movie is based upon the popular cartoon on Nickelodeon. In this adventure Eliza is out in the Serengeti playing with baby cheetahs, then poachers steal ne of them. She has a dream that tells her how to save them, and so , but not before she loses her power to talk to animals. The Nick flick opens on December 20.
These are just some of the holiday movies you can see. You can see a classic story revised, Pinocchio, by Roberto Benigni, who brought you “Life is Beautiful.” This is not the Disney version, but promises to still be a classic. Have a good break and see you at the movies.
Foo Fighters back again...
Heather Weppler
December 20, 2002This new Foo Fighters CD One by one was not as good as I thought it would be. When I first put it in, and listened to it, it sounded really mainstream. As I listened to it more I started liking it more. The vocals are the same as the last, Nothing left to lose, on some of the songs. Over all the CD was pretty good (with extra emphasis on the "pretty"). I found that after listening to it a few times, you start to appreciate the sound more. I would recommend barrowing a friend's before you go out and buy it. A few good songs were Low, Disenchanted lullaby, and Lonely as you. It was a good CD but I kind of expected more out of The Foo Fighters.
Girl's soccer begins new season with all hoping for league title
Nicole Miller
December 20, 2002Colton girls soccer has a reputation for being the best. Can they live up to these high expectations of many? According to Varsity coach Mario Mendoza, "The team is looking very strong. Some of last years players came back with a winning attitude and a desire to win." So far the team has played four games, with a record of 1-2-1. Mendoza also commented " I have been trying different players in different positions. I will have a solid line , up by the time season starts." The team has nine returning players. The captains are Nicole Miller (senior) and Krista Hinshaw (junior). The totals by class standing are six freshmen, seven sophomores, five juniors and four seniors.
The captains are excited to get started on this year's season "I have a lot of hope for our team this year and we will live up to our reputation," says Hinshaw. Overall the team is doing very well with their new coach this year and they hope the best for their season. "I feel fortunate to be coaching a very fine group of ladies. I feel the team will go far in league play," says coach Mendoza.
New coaches promise better teams
Sandy Brown
December 20, 2002Winter sports have started and Colton High School has gained three new Varsity coaches: Varsity Girl's soccer, basketball, and water polo. All of these new coaches have new and different plans to help lead these winter sports to victorious seasons.
Girls soccer, previously coached by Roy Nix, is now being coached by Mario Mendoza, who is also an English teacher here at Colton High. Mendoza says of his new position, "I really like being here at Colton High, all the players are great and show leadership skills, I believe we can achieve anything." After being a long time member of the community, Mendoza decided to coach the Girl's Varsity Soccer team here at Colton. "After coaching five years at the college and club level, I was up for a challenge," said Mendoza, who is a veteran coach of over 10 years. Mendoza believes that there is a lot of talent on the team, and that there is an excellent chance for them at the top spot. He is ready and willing to do all he can to lead the Girl's Varsity Soccer team to the best season possible.
Girls basketball, previously coached by Chris Burner, is now being coached by science teacher Scott Sunderland. He decided to coach the girls basketball team because he was up for the challenge and the job was open. This is his sixth year in coaching and he is ready to make it his best. Sunderland said, "My father showed me that girls could achieve the same ability level that boys can." He believes that throughout the season there are going to be some hard steps forward and some hard steps back, he believes that there is always a learning process. Sunderland says, "I think people will be surprised by the end of the season of what we can do, I hope everyone comes out and supports us as much as possible."
Girls varsity water polo, previously coached by James Vickers, is now being coached by Shannon Welch. Welch is a Colton High School alumnus who played girls water polo while she attended Colton. Welch helped coach the boys water polo team during their season, and when Shannon heard that the girls coaching spot was open, she decided to do it. She also coached during the summer and taught people how to swim. She loves the sport and hopes to make the season go well by working on better shots and placing the ball.
Where there's a will, there's a way.....Girls Basketball begins season
Sara Robbin
December 20, 2002This year is a whole new year for the girls' basketball team. Along with a new coach, a new program has been developed. Varsity Coach Scott Sunderland said that he saw potential when he first walked into the gym. When he was asked about his expectations for the year he replied with, "make improvements, be competitive in a game at the end, and have shot to win." According to senior varsity player Paula Kassouf, "the change in the program is very good and there have been many improvements in the players and coaches, we work more as a team and our outlook is greater than last year's." So far the team has gotten themselves into tournaments for more practice as well as having additional practices on early Saturday mornings to prepare for league. The difference from last year to this year is the plays, and with these new plays they think that they will achieve the unexpected. On the road to playoffs Colton will have to face Fontana High today at 6:30 p.m. in MacIntosh Gym. Last year Colton beat Fontana at their home for the first time in history. Today Colton will try hard to defeat them at our house also for the first time. Most of the members of the team are most excited to play San Bernardino because every year they've been the underdog, but this year the tables have turned. Junior Fallon Richards explains how there is only one person on San Bernardino's team that is really good and if she is shut down, then the whole team is shut down. Richards continues with a quote that explains how she feels… "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
Wrestlers take high hopes to the mat
Ashley Ellison
December 20, 2002Coach Joe Trevino has very high expectations for 2002-2003 season. "I truly believe no other team works as hard as we do, so we generally will get what we deserve this season, which is going all the way." He feels that Colton Wrestling team will be battling Cajon for the San Andreas League title, we will qualify for the CIF wrestle-off and that half of the wrestling team will qualify for individual championships.
Last year Colton finished second in league. Five guys qualified for the CIF championships, but no one placed in the top six, so they lost in the first round to the eventual CIF champions.
"I have a very hard working group of kids this year. With help of Coach Luis Blanco we will end up doing really good this season," Trevino commented. There are many wrestlers to keep your eye on this season. Some of them include Greg Ferrer, who has been wrestling six years prior to High School, Binyam Woldemarian, Robert Precie, Andrew Rameriez, Abel Ortega, Dane Corder, Jesse Palomino, Audrey Detreville and Michelle Graff. Graff is currently ranked number two in her weight class. She placed second in the state and sixth in the nation last year.
In the first wrestling match of the season, Colton finished in seventh place out of 16 schools at the AB Miller High School tournament, held on December 5 and 6. Colton hosted Pacific High School, on December 12 and the Pirates rode away on their bus, unhappy, since they lost, 45 to 31. The Colton Wrestling team will be hosting the annual Colton Christmas Classic, today at 3:00 p.m. and tomorrow at 9:00a.m..
The weekend of December 27-28 the wrestling team will be attendeding the Upland Varsity Tournament, which begins at 10:30 a.m on the 27, the times for the December 28 are still unannounced.