Category : Op-Ed

28 Nov

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And the Mice Win the Race

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A long time honored tradition for physics students returned to Tesoro before the bell rang for Thanksgiving break. The annual mousetrap car project takes place every year in Mr. Gilpin’s class. Assigned back at the beginning of October, students were assigned to construct a car powered solely by a mousetrap. They were allowed to build their car using anything that pleased them; the only rule was that you couldn’t use a rattrap or a mousetrap car kit.

As the last class before Thanksgiving break began, Mr. Gilpin’s classes headed to the food court where they raced their cars against each other. As an incentive, the fastest car in the class received a 10% grade boost to their 100-point project. The car that was the fastest out of all Mr. Gilpins classes received a 20% grade boost. Mousetrap cars varied in shape, size, color, and design; some were made of wood and metal and even LEGOS. “My partner, Clay Eubank, and I were inspired by the brilliant physicist Galileo. We portrayed his trial and powered our car with ‘horse power’ (we put a horse on the car!). We definitely won most creative and had fun doing it!” says junior Chad Duncan.

The competitiveness between students increased as cars went further. Shouts, screams, and laughs could be heard from the food court. Overall, students had pride in the small car they created, and felt a sense of accomplishment when they would release that mousetrap and see their car travel. Excitement, fun, and science made the last day before a long awaited holiday that much better.

Filed Under: News, Op-Ed

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15 Mar

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Charlie Sheen: A New Low for Hollywood?

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Sheen has deteriorated from his original self to be the frightening man he was on his recent webcast videos.

Most of us are aware of the recent developments in the Charlie Sheen story. He is yet another celebrity to lose his mind, joining the ranks of role models such as Brittany Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and countless other celebrities who have gone crazy. However, Sheen is different. Sheen’s name has become increasingly well known over such a short period of time. He has  exploded- beginning as a precarious stick of dynamite, he is now an unstable and irrational ball of fire. But, really? What did we expect?

I will concede that Two and a Half Men was a seemingly funny and popular show. I enjoyed it at its best. However, Sheen’s salary was overwhelmingly excessive. According to ABC, Sheen made around two million dollars per episode. Even more outrageous, in an interview on ABC, Sheen said that he wanted a pay raise. A pay raise. Apparently, two million per show was not enough. At the beginning of Sheen’s break down, I wasn’t quite sure if he was really losing his mind. But when I heard this, I became sure that he is extremely close to the edge.

This is “cotton candy for the mind”. The obsession with celebrities and their lives is an empty sugar that weakens intellect. We need to feed our minds a balanced diet. Free of gossip and distractions. Sure, it is nice to unwind after a hard day’s work and watch some mindless television. However, an obsession with celebrities and irrelevant human beings can lead to the demise of the celebrities and of the people.

I don’t think Sheen is a new low for Hollywood, but rather, another low to supplement the countless others. If we keep placing importance on celebrity status, we will see more and more people like Sheen. All of this attention, positive or negative, has gotten to his head, and has lead to his demise.

Filed Under: Op-Ed, Outspoken Titans

09 Mar

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An arrogant attack against ASB

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With the recent beautifying additions to Tesoro, some students have begun to question ASB’s funding processes. However, many students are ignorant of the truth when they speak out against the recent projects ASB has successfully completed for the school’s tenth anniversary. ASB Director Ms. Zendner assures the students that the signs at the top of the hill are a symbol of school pride, a “celebration of ten years of treasure.” Although students seem to be angered by the sudden completion of so many projects at Tesoro, like the new signs, the banners on Tesoro Creek Road, and the marquee above the ASB office, they do not seem to realize the work ASB put in to make it all happen.

ASB has dreamed of signs since the school’s opening in 2001 and have fundraised for three years. The money from the signs came from fundraising (like Bowl-a-thons), PTSA funding, and leftover funds from senior class packages; thus, the signs are a senior gift from classes of 2010 and 2011. Now that the signs are placed, ASB is focusing on adding irrigation and lighting to the top of the hill so they can plant trees and shrubs, hopefully masking the water district building that so ominously introduced our school in prior years. As for the signs on the light posts coming down the hill, other than the “Welcome” and “TesoroShop.com” signs, they were paid for by the clubs they advertise, not by ASB. And the new marquee was fundraised for by ASB representatives from classes of 2012 and 2013, through events like Baja Fresh night.

Some angry students are under the impression that the money we pay for dance tickets goes to activities and additions other than the dance. This is not true. As Chase Keller, ASB President, said, “ASB does not have some safe in the back of the room that we go to for all the things we want to do. We fundraise; we raise the money to do the things we think the school or the students will benefit from.” This year, Winter Formal dance tickets started at just $40. San Juan Hills High School, who had their Formal at the same location a week before to Tesoro’s, started with ticket prices $10 higher than Tesoro and their final prices topped $100. You can bet that Tesoro’s dances have better equipment and sound systems than a new school like San Juan Hills. Yet students complain about the high ticket prices for dances, while failing to realize for what they are actually paying. The money you pay for a dance ticket goes directly toward the cost of the venue, security for the night of the dance, the DJ company, lighting and sound systems rented for the dance, food and drinks. All of the money ASB raises from selling tickets goes directly to the dance. If there is a surplus from ticket sales for one dance, ASB either upgrades certain items (like this year, ASB ordered Cinnamon Productions for food for Formal) or they save the money for the next dance in hope of making that dance better than it has ever been before (or lowering ticket prices, which is often why Sadie’s tickets are so cheap). Never will your dance ticket money be used for beautification projects or new marquees. Ticket prices start low and are raised weekly in order to encourage students to purchase tickets early so ASB can know how much security to request. While some students are frustrated when tickets sell out, they do not realize that while ASB would love to find a venue that fit all students at Tesoro, like the Honda Center, the cost of such a large venue would be too large and would cause an extreme rise in ticket prices.

Everything ASB does is well planned; everything done is done for the improvement of the school, for the good of the students. So before you criticize ASB and their actions, Titans, you may want to get all the facts. ASB welcomes you to walk into the ASB office to address your concerns, or you can attend their weekly meetings on Wednesdays during third period where they discuss upcoming events and projects. And, Tesoro, let’s stay classy.

by Carly Bresee

Filed Under: Op-Ed, Outspoken Titans

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07 Mar

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The Largest “Inside Job” in American History

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One billion. One billion people tuned in to watch the Academy Awards on Sunday night. While many people were anticipating the winners of best picture, best actor, or best supporting actress, I was anticipating the winner of best documentary. The winner, of course, was Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson. During his acceptance speech, Ferguson made a quick comment that I found extremely shocking. He humbly approached the podium, apologized for his following comments, and said that not one perpetrator in one of the largest financial fraud scandals in American history was prosecuted.
Last semester, Mr. Harnett’s AP US History class went to see the documentary for extra credit. Most students went in anticipating a boring movie with whiny economists. However, any student that didn’t walk out of that movie angry must have fallen asleep halfway through. 20 trillion. 20 trillion dollars was fraudulently earned by only a few corporations, crippling the global economy. Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, and a few other massive banks tore apart the economy.
The main point the film makes is that these “too big to fail” banks controlled a large portion of the economy. These banks brought down the economy through financial fraudulent trading with extremely dangerous bonds called Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO). These CDOs were formed with your money. These bankers were gambling with your money. The mortgage on your house, the loan on that new truck, both were consolidated along with hundreds, sometimes thousands of different loans into one bond: a CDO. Anticipating these loans to fail, bankers took out insurance on the CDOs called Credit Default Swaps (CDS). The largest supplier of CDSs was AIG. Eventaully, when the CDOs failed, AIG was required to give CDSs to the banks and inevitably, AIG failed.
Ferguson makes a subtle point in the movie. These bankers are mostly men. Middle to old aged men. They are extrememly compulsive. Drug use, prostitution, and many other crimes were prevalent in the wealthy environment these men inhabited. Ferguson suggests that we should prosecute the bankers for these crimes first. It’s one way we can get them. However, not one single person has been prosecuted. I think, as it is also subtly suggested in the movie, that there is a large amount of conflict of interest within the government. It had been infiltrated by these corporate banks. Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary in the Bush Administration. Henry Paulson led the deregulation of the financial industry which caused these “too big to fail” banks.
This is not a ‘Democrat’ issue. This is not a ‘Republican’ issue. It is completely bipartisan. We need to stop the argument. We can’t blame immigrants, or former President Bush, or any innocent bystander. The true culprits are these bankers. Corrupt and greedy, they single handedly destroyed the global economy, and they must go to jail.

Filed Under: Op-Ed, Outspoken Titans

24 Feb

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The ACLU Settlement and Tesoro

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While we all like to believe that the actions of our school, with regards to the required purchase of books, workbooks, and other study supplements, costly athletics fees, and prerequisites for taking Advanced Placement classes, are legal, students may be uninformed. Certain prices, fees, and payments at Tesoro are actually optional, despite numerous strong urgencies for students and their families to pay up.

At the beginning of the year at registration, with parents standing by clutching their checkbooks and ballpoint pens, there are opportunities for students to purchase their own textbooks and foreign language workbooks. Perhaps it is not stressed enough that these opportunities are just that: opportunities, optional opportunities. The school administration stresses this point, but they are unaware of some of the pressure students receive from certain teachers to purchase their own study supplements. Though most students would prefer to have their own workbook to write in and study from, the same workbooks are available for loan in the school library. If the student would prefer to check out a foreign language workbook rather than paying for his own, he can check it out and in with the rest of his textbooks. Also, while it does not seem to be a problem at Tesoro, other high schools have experienced issues in English classes, whose teachers require students to purchase their own novels. If any teachers at Tesoro have the same requirement, know that this is illegal. Because Tesoro is a public school and thus offers students a free education, it cannot require students to purchase any of their own books.

The Tesoro Athletics program is a fierce one; we have strong athletes, competitive teams, and powerful Boosters for each of our programs. But regardless of the competition in each program, every student at Tesoro has the chance to play. Since the administration turned fundraising responsibilities over to the Boosters, the integrity of fundraising for teams has begun to slip. Said Dr. Daniel Burch, Principal, about legal fundraising, “Groups are looking for ways around [it] instead of honoring [it].” As a result of the dwindling economy, fundraising has become more difficult for programs, so they have made fundraising a requirement to play. With required ‘fundraising fees’ and payments for ‘spirit packs,’ the price to play becomes expensive. However, many (if not all) programs forget to share that all payments to play are optional. If you cannot afford prices for spirit packs, scholarships are available, but fundraising is not a fee. Athletic programs at Tesoro need to realize the illegality of their actions and fix it before it becomes more of a problem. Still, if the people want to see Tesoro continue their reign of premier athletics programs, the community needs to stand behind these programs and help them by participating in fundraisers and donating to teams to keep them afloat.

Finally, a certain contract in AP English Language and Composition has created a scene at Tesoro. The contract, signed by students and parents at the beginning of the year, required that students take (and pay for) the AP test as a prerequisite for taking the class. In other words, to take the class, you needed to pay $92.00 for a test. This could be taken further to mean that a student was required to pay $92.00 to take a class provided by a public high school during school hours on the campus. Public school education is supposed to be free, so this contract is not a legal contract. (The contract has been made void in the last week.) While some argue that because classes at colleges could range anywhere from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars, $92.00 is a great deal for college credit. However, with the rising competition in high school and college and the economic problems these days, fewer colleges are offering credit for high AP test scores. Still, if a student wants to take an AP test but his or her family cannot afford it, the school offers scholarships, but perhaps this is not known widely enough among students. (If you cannot afford to take any AP tests, but you do wish to take them, see Ms. Lisa Wada in the Guidance Office.) While the cost of the AP test is high, none of the money goes to Tesoro. Capistrano Unified School District does receive $5.00 of the $92.00, but this money is used to fund on-sight testing, supplies and professional proctors. Above all, the administration emphasizes that these tests are provided for students as an option, never a requirement.

To conclude, while the administration at Tesoro seems to be handling the ACLU settlement with ease and all payments are legal, students and their families are not always receiving all the information when they are asked to write another check. Tesoro High School is a public school, and therefore every student’s education is free. Some students have been able to participate in activities due to generous donations from the community. “You’d be surprised how many students are on scholarships,” said Mr. Sean McNamara, Vice Principal. While there are certain things the school can require payment for (like transportation fees and prices for school lunches or field trips), books are not a required purchase, athletics are open for all students to participate in, no matter their family’s financial need, and AP tests are options, not requirements.

Filed Under: Op-Ed, Outspoken Titans

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