(click on the comic to enlarge)

Seniors celebrate graduation at OCC.

June 7, 2010

By Brie Roche Lilliott, staff writer

Hopefully, you’ve been listening to your regular morning announcements so you already know all about our giveaway, right? If not, that’s okay. Here we have all the information you need to know in order to get your hands on a pair of tickets for Warped Tour on June 25 at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

You probably want to know some of the bands lined up first. Once again, Warped Tour has maintained a reputation for hosting some of the biggest and upcoming punk-rock, harcore, pop, and alternative bands. Well this year Warped Tour has a variety of bands from all genres planned. Some of the more popular, mainstream bands set up include Alkaline trio, All American Rejects, Four Year Strong, NeverShoutNever, Streetlight Manifesto, The Cab, and We The Kings.

Some older bands are booked as well, with 90s favorites like Sum 41, Reel Big Fish, Everclear, and the Dropkick Murphys. The classic bands bring a fun mix of older and younger generations enjoying the same music. Some upcoming bands that will be featured this year include Automatic Loveletter, Motion City Soundtrack, Pennywise, The Rocket Summer, and The VooDoo Glow Skulls. If you’d like to see the whole lineup, check out http://www.vanswarpedtour.com/warpedtour/bands.asp .

Now that we have you stoked on the lineup for this year, here is the easy way to win two tickets for Warped Tour. Simply, find someone in Baron Banner and ask them about tickets. It’s just a one-dollar donation per raffle ticket, and each ticket will be entered into a drawing. We have two pairs of two tickets, which heightens your chances! So just write your ID number on the back of a ticket and we’ll be sure to get a hold of you if you win! If you have any questions, you can ask Mr. Ziebarth in room 306.

The Baron Banner caught up with a new teacher on campus this year. We went and asked Ms. Fisher, a new math teacher, some questions about how her year went. Check it out.

Baron Banner: How was your first year teaching here?

Mrs. Fisher: I love it. It has been my best teaching experience in twelve years.

BB: What motivated you to become a teacher?

MF: I remember my seventh grade math teacher. My grandma was a teacher and it was just a talent for me. I love watching students grow and improve.

BB: Would you like to share your most memorable moment?

MF: I remember one student I had in an essential algebra class, and he was always struggling. Then all of a sudden, one day I saw him teaching other kids how to factor using the x-method. It was so cute, because he was using the same expressions that I used. At the end of the year, he came back and told me that I taught him that he could be successful in whatever as long as he tried.

BB: Are there challenges in teaching math?

MF: Yes. There are challenges in trying to understand what students have trouble with and keeping up with the school curriculum. I call it the art of teaching with improvising.

BB: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

MF: I love playing and walking my dogs around Mile Square Park. I love crafts like sewing and scrapbooking. I also love golf, studying religion, socializing and participating at my church. I also love camping and cooking!

BB: Quick! Random fact?

MF: When I was 16, I had an early paper route that I had to leave at 3 o’clock in the morning for. One night as I was driving, a moth suddenly hit me in the face. I jumped the curve and swerved into a tree. The city actually had to come and fix the tree the next day. (laughs) My family still picks on me about it.

BB: Are there any quotes you live by?

MF: My all-time favorite quote is from Yoda. “Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

BB: Thank you for your time!

MF: You’re welcome!

Senior Henry Trinh has a passion for history and politics. As an avid member of FVHS’ Model United Nations, Trinh serves as Secretary-General and teaches members more about the organization. He plans on majoring in history in college.

Baron Banner: Why do history and politics appeal to you?

Henry Trinh: Well, first I have to say I’m more of a history buff than a politician, but that doesn’t mean I’m an apathetic idiot. I do know what I’m talking about. History and politics are very closely related. A politician that doesn’t know his or her history is pretty much a traveler without a map. You really have no idea where you’re going. History is just plain exciting. All the wars, scandals, explorations, movements, etc. are all extremely interesting and not made up like in your English classes.

BB: What are your political views?

HT: I tend to be more of a conservative. I don’t support Obama on most of his policies. It’s all idealistic but no show. For example, within a week of his inauguration, he signed an executive order to close down Guantanamo Bay prison. Has it been closed down yet after a year? Nope. Obama is nothing more than a backseat driver.

BB: What has influenced you to develop those views?

HT: Most of my views are based on my studies in history. If you ask a person why we study history, she would usually answer that we study history because we should learn about our mistakes in the past so we don’t make them again. That is only half the answer. We should also study history because it shows us all the things we did right, so we can do it again. For example, Japan and Germany used to be our enemies, but today they are our closest allies. This is because we destroyed their countries and helped them rebuild. (laughs) That doesn’t really sound too smart, but it works. Iraq is probably going down the same path right now.

BB: What do you think of the other side?

HT: I believe that the liberal side does put up a strong argument but like I said earlier, all talk no action. We can’t be the greatest nation in the world without stepping on other people. That’s just how life works.

BB: Who is your favorite U.S. president?

HT: Andrew Jackson, hands down. He was probably the Chuck Norris of his time. People would say that Jesus was just another Andrew Jackson.

BB: What do you think of Obama’s healthcare bill?

HT: Two words: class conflict. The people who want cheap health care are the people not paying for it, and the people who don’t want it are the ones paying for it. It’s the classic war between the haves and the have-nots. Your side depends on your situation. I will probably never be rich, but I hate the idea of someone else paying for a product that I’m using; that’s why I’m not supporting this bill. Canadians come to this country to get specialized medical operations because we have them. You get what you pay for. That’s life. That’s the free market!

BB: What does the government need to do to improve our economy?

HT: The government can help ease people’s suffering and a safety net isn’t a bad idea, but for the most part, historically the private sector has always done a better job at producing things at better quality and more efficiently. There should be some government intervention to stop unethical business practices, but too many regulations can also be a bad thing.

Amanda Hsu, Guest Writer

This Wednesday, May 26^th, the FVHS Red Cross Club hosted its second annual blood drive in the gym. Working closely with Orange Coast Memorial Hospital, the club collected a total of 198 pints of blood, which helped 594 people (each unit of blood has the potential to save three lives).

Any students 17 or older were permitted and legally allowed to donate, with the proof of ID and parent signature. Approximately 215 Barons signed up prior to the event. FVHS Red Cross Co-president, David Nguyen (’10) says, “In my four years as a Red Cross member, this has been the most successful blood drive. Apart from the backlog issue, the efficiency of FVRC’s blood drive has improved every time, and since this is my last blood drive, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day. “I feel that the blood drive is vital to our community. It gives a sense of service to students,” says Club Advisor, Julie Chaicharee.

Having just selected the Red Cross board for the upcoming school year, this year’s board, passes the torch off to a promising young group: Carrie Ly (‘11), Brittany Chau (‘11), Becky Phan (’11), David Vu (’11), Tiffany Le (’11), Tiffany Do (’12), Stephanie Le (’12), Andrea Liu (’13), and Julie Vu (’13).

The FVHS Red Cross Club continues to expand on campus, in hope of raising awareness about community involvement, disaster education, and humanitarian relief. The board would like to thank all volunteers and donors for making the event a huge success.

Here are the Coronet Award Winners for the 2009-2010 school year:

Publications

Joanne Vo

Business Education

Daniel Resnick

Consumer and Family Studies

Danielle Salerno

Foreign Language: French

Jennifer Luong

Foreign Language: Japanese

Timothy Le

Foreign Language: Spanish

Vivian Tran

Vocal Music

Ruth Kim

Social Studies

Sabrina Syed

Instrumental Music

Kate Gasparro

Performing Units

Kelela Batinga

Language Arts

Amanda Hsu

School Service/Leadership

Kim Ngai

Mathematics

Pinting Chen

Theater Arts

Hanna Davis

Visual Arts

Michael Huynh

Tim Randol

Science

Thang Nguyen

Athletics: Girls

Cynthia Fascella

Athletics: Boys

Kyle Middlebrooks

Duo-Finalists

Jay Chitoor

Danica Fascella

Jamie Maddux

Hoa Mai

Loren Tengan

Prix d’Honneur

Kate Gasparro

George Tran

Principal Herzfeld and his wife recently had a baby girl. With that in mind, this was the perfect time for a Q&A about his daughter and the school year.

Baron Banner: First of all, congratulations on your daughter. How is she doing?

PH: She is doing great right now.

BB: How has life changed for you and what has been the biggest change ever since your daughter has become part of your life?

PH: Well there’s the obvious physical change of waking up in the middle of the night with her, but what has really changed is my perspective of the world. Having her in my life has given me a renewed sense of responsibility, especially being able to love her this way.

BB: Now for a quick change. This question is rather general but what is your overall impression of this year? What do you think was the greatest highlight?

PH: I honestly believe we had a really good year. The greatest highlight for me was probably Every Fifteen Minutes. Being able to see the juniors and seniors connect to the speakers and what they had to say was a very powerful moment. I think it made a really big difference.

BB: If there were one thing you could change about this year, what would it be and why?

PH: Well there were many individual problems this year. Some students lost their parents. Many parents lost their jobs, and the list goes on. Obviously we wish that didn’t happen. It would have also been nice to win the bell back but that is not as important as the individual problems that came up this year.