Staff Writers

Valentine\’s Day is coming up! Baron Banner caught up with a few students to check out what they have planned for the occasion.

Baron Banner: “Are you looking forward to Valentine\’s Day?”

“No. Love doesn\’t exist. I hate people. Everyone should just go die. (Laughs) Just kidding.” – Silvia Tran (‘12)

“Yes, yes I am. (Smiles)” – Jacqueline Nguyen (‘12)

“I liked it better when my whole class was my Valentine” – Kimberly Do (‘12)

“Yeah, I\’ll have something [else] to look forward to.” – Alan M. (‘11)

“Kind of, because I might have a Valentine. And if I do, then yes, definitely!” – Paige Kukios (‘12)

“I\’m waiting for all the candy I get!” – Ashley Hua (‘13)

“LANY DAO is my VALENTINE!” – Kyle Le (‘12)

“Of course, but not because of Alex Nguyen… I don\’t love you!” – Tiffany Tran (‘13)

“Nothing, I\’ll be at home playing Call of Duty.” – Frank Nguyen (‘11)

“No, because there is point to Valentine\’s Day. If you really love someone, you wouldn\’t have to spend a lot of money just for one day to show the public. Basically, you don\’t have to make your relationship public just for one day.” – Aileen Nava (‘11)

“I am going to put a bunch of candles at my girlfriend\’s house.” Daniel Park (’11)

“I\’m not really looking forward to it, because it\’s a day before my birthday. Valentine\’s Day always overshadows my birthday!” – Justine Nguyen (‘11)

“I\’m looking forward to it because I have a hot date with Chace Crawford.” – Becky Nguyen (‘11)

After some poking around, I found that Buddhists have Bodhi, or the Day of Enlightenment on the 8th; the Persians claim Yalda, or Winter Solstice; Winter Solstice is also celebrated in Germany under the name Yule. The Taiwanese celebrate a secular holiday, the signing of their own constitution. Islam even celebrates this time of year, particularly on the 16th (this year anyway) a holiday called Aashurah. Even Hindus will celebrate with Diwali, or The Festival of Lights.

I\’m still sure there are many more winter holidays out there. The long list of celebrations taken into consideration, I suppose my teachers were right when they told me “Happy Holidays” was more correct.
Being more correct, I also suppose “Happy Holidays” is more considerate. It\’s truly the last item on the list that gets me. Why would anyone be offended if I said “Merry Christmas”? It is understandable that not everyone I meet will share my faith, but should I be limited- dare I say, verbally punished- for expressing my own beliefs?

I did a little wandering reporter work to find out. No one I found was offended by cross religious greetings. In fact, I found a lot more acceptance than I expected.

Tricia Voung (\’14), a non-Christian, commented that, “I grew up with people saying Merry Christmas. I didn\’t really take it offensively. I just kind of took it like have a good holiday.”

Komal Ram(\’11), agnostic, further added, “If you celebrate Christmas, then you should be able to say ‘Merry Christmas.\’ And it\’s not like they\’re saying Christmas is better than Hanukkah. They\’re just saying it\’s Christmas, and hey, I want you to have a good time.”

I talked to Kaleigh Bancroft (\’11) and asked if it would offend her if someone of the Hindu faith wished her a happy Festival of the Lights. She replied, “I\’d be like ‘What is that?\’ I\’d kind of be interested in finding out what it is.” It appears as though we have a little more religious acceptance of each other than we realized. To prove my point, Andrew Flores (\’11), Jewish, finished his interview view with “Merry Christmas!”

I think our younger generations, who have not yet encountered the full scope of human prejudice, can better understand my argument. At this time of year, it\’s not so much exactly what we say, but the feeling behind those words. Whether you wish me well for Bodhi or Aashurah, bid me to enjoy Diwali or the Winter Solstice, or even say to me “Happy Hanukkah” or “Merry Christmas,” I believe we all mean the same thing. Happy Holidays!

The Fountain Valley High School Star Testing Goal this year is to reach higher than 880. Are we going to reach this goal? Let\’s take a look at what the students have to say.

Michael Gelimas ('11)

Baron Banner: What did you think of star testing?

Michael Gelimas: It\’s stupid and the testing was so easy.

Greg S. ('12)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

GS: It was cool. Our teacher brought us in food and I think she prepared us well. She made it easier for us.

Uyen Tran ('13)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

UT: It wasn\’t that hard.

BB: Do you think we reached our target goal?

UT: I\’m not sure.

Adrien Chorn ('11)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

AC: It was super easy.

BB: Did your class give out any raffles or have any games?

AC: Yeah we had a raffle, but I didn\’t get  anything.

Debbie Pham, Josh Hammer, Julian Dinh ('13)

DP: It was short.

JH: I hated it.

JD: I fell asleep. The second part of the test was hard

BB: Did your class give out any raffles or have any games?

JD: Yeah we had a raffle. I won a gift card for starbucks.

Anthony Johnson (‘12)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

AJ: It was easy and boring.

BB: Did your class give out any raffles or have any games?

AJ: I lost all my raffle tickets.

Marcelo Murcia ('12), Gabriel Acosta ('13), Sean Talei ('13)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

MM: It took too long and the classes were way too long.

GA: It was horrible.

ST: And a waste of 12 hours.

BB: Did your class give out any raffles or have any games?

MM: No, we did nothing fun.

Joe Garcia ('11)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

MM: It sucked.

Kevin Kurz ('11), Lindsey Scott ('11)

BB: What did you think of star testing?

KK: I didn\’t take a math and science class this year. So I don\’t have any of those hard classes so it was really easy.

LS: I finished mine really fast. I have yearbook third period, so I just went on the computer afterwards.

BB: Did your class give out any raffles or have any games?

LS: Yeah, I didn\’t win anything though even though there were five people in my class because yearbook has mostly seniors.

By Angelica Yaghoubi & Sarah Kari, Staff Writers

NBA Basketball season is coming to a close, playoffs must take place before the season is over.. This determines who is the NBA league champion. Top teams such as Magic, Cavaliers, Lakers, and more are a few of the 16 teams that is in the running to win.

With Lakers dominating the league last year, we want to know which team you think will win this year?

Camly Tran (\’11): Girls are like M&M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwFqudGac8

James Le (\’10): Wingstop “Atomic Wings”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5wssJmUv9c

Henry Trinh (\’10): Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfRaWAtBVg

Zawar Jafri (\’11): David After Dentist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs

Megan Pace (\’10): Potter Puppet Pals in “The Mysterious Ticking Noise”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

Sean Dylan Nguyen (\’10) Drug PSA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWuLsxQcnc4

Linda Doan (\’10): Draw With Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjZ6VkLuCM

Chinese New Year is just around the corner! Baron Banner caught up with a few students to check out what they have planned for the celebration.

Anderson Nguyen (‘11): “My family and I are getting together for a picnic. I\’m expecting a lot of money.”

Thuy Nguyen (‘10): “I\’m going to the Tet Festival for 3 days in a row to help out in the decoration committee.”

Roger Zheng (‘10): “For Chinese New Years, I\’m sleeping, and working, and eating, and getting money because that\’s what Asians do.”

David Nguyen (‘10): “I\’m probably going to spend time with my family, and help FVHS Red Cross by volunteering at the Tet Festival.”

Linda Doan (‘10): “I\’m celebrating by going to the Tet festival!”

Ann Doung (‘10): “I am performing a traditional Vietnamese dance at the Tet Festival.”

Kelly Dang (‘12): “I spend time with my family and go to my relatives\’ houses for money.”

Kevin Huynh (‘10): “I plan to eat a lot and get some money.”

Eva Lee and Jackiee Hong (‘10): “We\’re going to the Tet Festival to get money.”

It’s that dreadful week of the year again: finals week. Students around campus cram a whole semester’s worth of information for that one final test that can determine their grade. The Baron Banner went around campus and asked students about their thoughts on this. Check it out.

Jordan Platt (’12): “I want a lot more sleep and a lot less studying.”

Danielle Tran (’13): “I’m not excited for it. I’m really tired. I’m stressed out because it’s pretty much study or fail.”

Erene Demian (’11): “I’m stressed because there’s a lot of information to cram.”

Loc Dang (’12): “I think it’s difficult because I have a hard time managing my time, so it’s kind of hard for me. I’m scared I’m not going to do well.”

Adrienne Pham (’10): “It should be pretty easy because I’m smart. My grades are too solid to change so I’m not worrying much.”

By Hassan Rassmy, Staff Writer

Ryan Rhodes, Junior, Edison High School

BB: How do you think the game will turn out?

RR: I think it’ll be a tough competition for the bell, but due to past experiences, I believe Edison will rise up to the challenge, and be victorious.

John Mroch, Junior, Edison High School

BB: Is your school, Edison, excited?

JR: Our school is totally amped for the upcoming game, we have tons of school spirit, and our school is currently celebrating Fountain Valley Week.

Charley Watson, Sophomore, Edison High School

BB: How do you think this year’s bell game will turn out?

CW: I think that it will be a dandy, funfilled, and sports-minded game, I’ll be there to pass out flowers.

* sarcasm

BB: “How did you like this year\’s homecoming?”

Noelle Nguyen (‘12): “Homecoming was really fun and the music was a lot better than last year. The venue was really spacious in my opinion and everything was set up really well.”

Leticia Guerrero (\’10): “It was really, really fun and I had a great time. It was a lot better than sophomore year which was the last time I went. The theme was pretty awesome and I had fun.”

Ryan Zait (\’12): “It was fun and there were a lot of cool cars there and I had a fun time. I liked this year\’s theme but although I thought they could of made it more obvious what the theme was.”

James Le (\’10): “I like homecoming a lot this year. The DJ was better and the smoke machine broke and it was pretty bad. It was very hot but other than that it was a very great experience; it was my first time going to homecoming.”

Chris Allen (\’11): “There was hap down in the beginning which was boring. It was ten times as bad as I thought over the hap down. I had to throw away pack of gum and precious breath mints. The place was tiny and there were a bunch of guys that were standing guard in front of all the cars. You could not hear each other talk The music was good except they played “Miley Cyrus” which I refused to move a muscle except my frown. Overall, I liked the mist that came down from the vents.”

Sean Nguyen (\’10): “It was fun, I loved the fog machine. The theme was pretty awesome “Under the City Lights” and this year was a lot better than last year because last year at the Discovery Science Center, I felt like a 10 year old with all the weird objects. This year was cars and everything, pretty sweet rides in there.”

Jennifer Hoang (\’11): “It was really fun. I though it was a new experience because it was my first homecoming. I thought the theme was really interesting and the cars were really cool. I really liked the lighting, the fog, and the music.”

Amanda Nguyen (‘12): “It was really fun and I really had a good time. The dancing was really fun and all the fog machines. There were refreshments on the table. The music was really good; it made me like just want to get on the stage and WOOOH. The theme was okay because it was typical high school theme.”

With school starting, and progress reports coming out soon, the Baron Banner went out to ask students how they felt about their grades coming home.

BB: With progress reports coming soon, how do you feel about your grades?

Annie Bui (\’13): “I feel good about them, getting straight A\’s.”

Chase Edwards (\’12):

Katelyn Sonetti (\’11):

Cody Ridens (\’10):