This fundraiser has been a tradition between the clubs for about 4 years now. Both clubs – NHS and OPS are both great clubs. NHS rewards those with high academic achievement, and OPS is a 100% non-profit club which raises money kids in poverty needing reconstructive lip surgery.

Rosie Toumanian (’12), co-president of NHS felt that “it was a successful night that has become a tradition with in the NHS community.”

The night also posed as a fun night out with friends and family as a celebration for the end of the first finals of the year as well as helping a good cause for both clubs.

Students and teachers alike (a certain teacher made an appearance with her kids) arrived at The Rinks/Anaheim Ice all bundled up ready for a fun night of ice skating, and they weren’t disappointed. Many participants learned to ice skate for the first time, while more experienced others got to flaunt their skills. Afterwards, as the ice skating session came to a close, Barons dropped by the snack bar to pick up nachos, hot chocolate, pizza, and other snacks to refuel.

Co-president of Operation Smile Victoria Le (’12) had a great time with her friends and club as well. “It wasn’t as a success as hoped [financial wise], but everybody had fun and every little bit helped, so overall, I guess it was successful in a way,” she commented.

Overall, it was a fun and beneficial Saturday night our for all, as Barons zipped across the ice, raising money for kids all around the world.

A typical festival complete with lanterns and varied shades of red

Legend has it that on the day of Lunar New Year, Buddha asked all animals to meet with him. Only 12 animals came (the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig), and those 12 were rewarded with having their namesake embedded in the zodiac forever. Seeing that the diverse group of animals characteristically encompassed most human personality traits, Buddha proclaimed that people born on certain years would inherit some the corresponding animal’s personality traits. People born in the year of the dragon, in particular, are assumed to be ambitious, innovative, courageous, and passionate. Notable historic year-of-the-dragon’s are Joan of Arc, Sigmund Freud, John Lennon, and two of our former presidents, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.

Other new year traditions entail the lighting of firecrackers, dragon or lion dancing, and overindulging in the color red, all of which are based around the bringing of good luck and eluding bad luck. Firecrackers are meant to scare the bad luck away with the loud noise and the crackling flames, whereas dragon/lion dancing and the color red (as can be seen in festive clothing and ‘red envelopes’) are both supposed to reap a harvest of good luck.

“One of my favorite things about Lunar New Year is how jovial everyone is everyone is wearing bright colors and there are reciprocal exchanges of laughter and good vibes,” Julie Vu (’13) comments.

The most important of all traditions is the gathering of multiple familes, related in some way or even unrelated. In the early periods of American history, Chinese immigrants would arrive with their families in search of opportunity. As the ideas of racial hierarchy were still prevalent in that age, the Chinese usually lived in outcast enclaves. Nonetheless, they were able to find a sense of community through Chinese neighborhood bonds, especially on the day of their Chinese New Year.

Through the course of time, people of all shapes, sizes, and colors have grown to be more open-minded about the equal beauty of all humankind. And most people in the United States (especially in Fountain Valley) are able to live peacefully and harmoniously with their neighbors.

While we dance to Asian folk music and wish each other joy and prosperity, let’s remember to celebrate our heritage and more importantly, our families. In the coming year, let’s not take for granted the incredible people in our lives and how ‘lucky’ we are to have them.

Best wishes for the new year, Barons!

Dancing it up at Pack the Gym

Pack the Gym was basically a cleaner version of the Aloha dance. The fact that there was a game before the dance made the dancegoers tone down their outfits a little, though for the most part it was females in tank-tops cut into oblivion paired with super tight skirts or shorts. The game was pretty lively, I didn’t really follow as I’m not a big basketball fan but watched in a kind of bemused fascination. It went by very quickly and with much enthusiasm from the audience. We won, obviously.

The dance itself was pretty magnificent. There was a raised platform where brave people could get crazy for everyone else’s viewing pleasure. The DJ was excellent; he mixed new hits with old favorites but kept it energetic and fun. Avid dancegoer Sarina Dayal (’13) noted, “He played songs that people actually knew and that you could sing and dance to, unlike those DJs that like try to mix everything up and just create horrible beats.”

Obviously, ASB can only control things like music and decorations; the overall mood is determined more by the students. In this case, the dancers seemed less focused on grinding than in previous dances, and actually took interest in “busting a move.”

Angela Nguyen (’13) commented, “The dance was a great girls night out… and a success.” She also found that there were a number of creepers and said, “They just should have danced with someone!”

BBN also was outside taking pictures of people who wanted to preserve the memory, and posted them in their flickr album.

I’m not saying it was completely g-rated. There were still guys on the prowl, there were still couples grinding, there were still gaggles of scantily clad teenage girls gyrating. But overall, it was another successful dance by ASB.

Procrastination: taking over your life

Sometimes procrastination takes over our lives like a virus does to its host cell. Of   course, we face the consequences in moments of despair and cramming. Of course, if you had started studying three weeks ago, it would have been beneficial; but since you didn’t you are now desperate for any ways to save yourself.

You’ve already heard all the clichéd tips: get off of the internet, study in a quiet place, go to the library. But none of that stuff is helping at all. You find yourself back at your computer after two hours of failed attempts at studying.

The first thing you ask yourself is why are you putting off studying? Usually it’s because you feel overwhelmed by the plethora of work that you have. Take five minutes to arrange which finals are more important and which are not (meaning they will not have much effect on your grade even if you fail). After that set aside an hour for each subject, with one ten minute break everywhere hour; basically you are studying for 6 or seven hours in row, yet switching subjects each hour. The reason this for this is so that you do not get bored and completely give up or get distracted. Once you have studied all the subjects for an hour, take a longer break and start the 6-7 hour studying session again.

In actual studying, it is too late to reread all the chapters, but if you are a fast reader and can understand what you are reading, go ahead. For the rest of us, it’s a good idea to just read over any notes you have. Another good idea would be to divide up each subject into major topics and make sure you fully understand them. If you have study guides, definitely go over them. Redo homework problems for math. If you go back and cannot complete a homework assignment, chances are you need to go over that material. There are always chapters that you fully understand and those that you don’t. Don’t spend as much time on what you already know (if you can remember it after 5 months, chances are you won’t forget it in three days). Essentially, go over the stuff you forgot, go over homework, and study review packets or study guides that your teachers have, hopefully, provided for you.

On Tuesday night, simply study for the subjects you have the next day. If you have extra time, or if your subjects on that day are easy, or you don’t have finals in those classes, only then should you be studying other subjects. By then it is too late to continue cramming. Focus on the next day more than the whole week. If you didn’t get distracted, you should be going over the last couple of chapters.

Remember not to study all night (with any luck, you won’t have to) and eat a good breakfast. If you feel as if you haven’t studied enough, don’t freak out. At that point, there will be not much that you can do about it. Your best hope is to pretend you know everything, take a deep breath and take the final. Defeat procrastination. Happy Studying!

The Pink Ribbon Club is holding its Applebee’s Pancake Breakfast next Saturday, January the 28th.

“This is the first year we’re doing the event,” says club president Mallory Mackey. “We’re really excited.”

The event will be held from 8am to 10am, with club volunteers working as servers. Each ticket costs $10, and profit will be donated to the breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen For the Cure.

Unlimited pancake, eggs, sausage, milk, juice, and coffee will be served.

“It’s definitely for a good cause,” assures Mackey.

So grab your friends and family and head over to the Applebee’s, 18279 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, near Ralph’s for a delicious post-finals breakfast for charity!

See any Pink Ribbon club member to buy tickets or contact event coordinator, Nichole Schwartz at nichole577@verizon.net.

Just recently, I dined at Casa Inka with a party of friends to celebrate the coming of my birthday.  This offered quite a unique dining experience, and the staff was very accommodating of our plans.

The restaurant was very open and spacious, allowing us plenty of room to seat our rather large party of seven comfortably.  Our server was extremely welcoming and helpful, not only providing excellent service, but also engaging in our friendly bantering when one of my friends could not pronounce one of the items on the menu.

Casa Inka definitely lived up to its claim that its chefs had mastered the art of Peruvian cuisine.  The Paella was definitely the restaurant’s best dish, being absolutely delicious – rich with just the perfect degree of creamy; the rice and seafood was all brought together in a heavenly mix of herbs and spices.

Made with just as high standards, the Cau Cau de Mariscos was a beautiful blend of seafood and potatoes served warmly atop white rice.  The Calamari and tartar sauce serves as a great starter or even as a good meal for someone who might not eat as much.  The Saltados demonstrated the fusion of both worlds – traditional Peruvian cuisine served with rice and French fries, a combination which worked surprisingly well.

The one fallback of Casa Inka is the tipping policy.  For parties of six or more, a steep 18% gratuity is automatically added to the bill, and for even larger parties, a 20% gratuity, instead of allowing patrons to tip traditionally in accordance to the quality of their service.

Casa Inka is located at 8610 Warner Avenue, near the intersection of Newland and Warner.  Hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m, and Sundays, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.  For more info, call: 714-847-7555.

Pesto Linguini

Seafood Saltados

Calamari

Cau Cau de Mariscos

Paella

Lomo Saltados

FVHS ASB

On Tuesday January 17th during SSR, ASB will be conducting a student survey in order to assess student satisfaction.  The survey will consist of three open ended questions which students may answer voluntarily.  All responses will be kept anonymous and ASB will later analyze the results.

ASB Activities Director, Quinton Dang, said “the survey is one of our ways to try to reach out towards our students and listen to their voices, to see what they want and what they like and don’t like. We know that there are always certain people who would tell us upfront, but quite frankly, there are a lot of students who aren’t comfortable doing so, so we never get the right feedback. We’re hoping this survey will allow students to freely express themselves.”

ASB plans to take the results into consideration for improvements in the future.

Students helped donate over 1,000 cans

The spirit of giving was alive and well this holiday season. Many of the clubs on campus were hosting various donation drives and the students at FV were not shy in giving. Among the drives, Economics Club hosted its annual Holiday Canned Food Drive before break from December 1st through December 16th. The food drive was regulated to first period classrooms across the FV campus.

Stater Bros. generously donated brown paper bags to the cause and the members of Economics Club went to work setting up the food drive. The grand prize was a donut party for the classroom with the most cans in weight.
Needless to say the Barons took pride in their giving and raised a grand total of 1,016 cans over the two week period! A phenomenal number of cans which have all made their way to a local food shelter in Midway City, named American Family Housing. Bags and even boxes full of cans came into almost every classroom throughout the two weeks. Mrs. Chaicharee’s first period and Ms. Ro’s first period were the top two classes of the food drive, although Ms.Ro took away the prized donut party.

When asked how her class accomplished the feat she replied with surprise “I just asked the kids how many cans they thought they could bring, they said 5, and they all seemed to bring 5.” Judy Kampaman from American Family Housing was very ecstatic about the donations “This will help so many people, thank you so much.  Our pantries really needed to be restocked.”

FVHS filled the shelters pantry over the holiday season.

Economics club worked hard behind the scenes to put on the canned food drive, Julie King CO-President of Economics club commented “We hit some roadblocks on the way, but with the help of ASB, the students, and the teachers of this school, we were able to help a lot of people.” The Barons and the Fountain Valley Community will bring hope and satisfaction to many needy people. The Holiday Canned Food Drive was very successful and a great benefit to our community.

Pictured: upstanding citizens of America's youth

We live in the era of a technological revolution, an age in which new gadgets and tools are at the tips of our fingers. As teenagers, we were born into a time of change and invention, and as a result, the Internet is a feeding ground for youngsters like us.

Innovative websites like Facebook and Tumblr have become popular amongst high schoolers for multiple reasons. Facebook is an easy, convenient way for students to socialize, connect with friends, or take care of virtual farms. Tumblr is a forum of artistic expression through photos, graphics, or memes.

Recently, a new website, “Drunk Freshmen”, has materialized out of nowhere, and can be described as the mutant lovechild of both Facebook and Tumblr. “Drunk Freshmen” is a Tumblr blog, but the creator of the site takes pictures off students’ Facebook pages, many of which depict underage kids participating in drug and alcohol use. The website creator also receives anonymous pictures or submissions through e-mail or the Tumblr messaging system.

Students from FVHS sometimes appear in these pictures, although many  others are also  Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, or Edison students. The website has generated tons of hits and has become popular quickly. Over the course of a few days, “Drunk Freshmen” has accumulated numerous followers and gained hundreds of likes on their Facebook page. (Yes, they even have a Facebook page.)

A comparable incident occurred last year, although it mostly targeted FVHS students and sparked a public service announcement from BBN. While not as widespread as the “Drunk Freshmen” craze, its intents and purposes were very similar. Both websites posted images of students being negatively portrayed in a public manner.

Truthfully, it may be difficult to combat this legally. Anonymity is protected under the laws of our country. Furthermore, Facebook owns any pictures uploaded to the site. This includes any beauty shots you took of your cat or photographs of a family camping trip. Technically, when you post a picture to Facebook, you are giving up all copyright control of such material. Websites like “Drunk Freshmen” are hovering in the gray area of Internet law.

But instead of arguing the lawfulness of it all, let’s try and learn a lesson or two. “Drunk Freshmen,” despite its promotion of drug and alcohol abuse and the over sexualized nature of today’s youth, is still an expression of free speech. It may be lacking in social awareness or any sense of human decency, but it sets a good example for the rest of us, and serves as a warning for the types of boundaries that the Internet offers.

Don’t put incriminating photos on the Internet. Make sure these pictures never even come close to a computer. Instead hide them in a metal lockbox underground or under a boulder in an abandoned forest. Leave decoy photos for your enemies to find.

If you have already posted “Drunk Freshmen”-esque photos to your Facebook profile, don’t publicize them. Secure your Facebook pictures. You never know who might look at them – your stalker, a future employer, or a vindictive foe ready to print out duplicate copies.

Technology has been a blessing for our generation, but for the unlucky few, it may just be their downfall. The only way to stay safe is to take extra precautions for privacy, and to not let Internet obsession get to your head.