Ms. Arroyo’s Empire State Marathon
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:14
Raphael Lu
Many people know Ms. Kellie Arroyoas a history teacher at AHS. Shehas been at AHS for six years andhas taught Psychology, Governmentand Economics, andis presently teaching ModernWorld History. She’s also theclub advisor of our school’sModel United Nations toboot. However, what mostdon’t know about her is thatshe is a runner.On Nov. 1, New YorkRoad Runners hosted theING New York City Marathon,a world-wide 42.2-km footrace. AHS’s very ownMs. Arroyo was one of theparticipants. Her fi ve monthsof training paid off when shewon a spot in the marathon after beingchosen through a lottery drawing.Out of 38,000 runners, she fi nished therace in 26,795th place with a time of04:33:08.When asked why she participatedin the marathon, Ms. Arroyo replied,“I love NYC and I love running. Ialso thought it would be cool to seeparts of New York I have never seenbefore, such as the Bronx.”The course loopsaround New York City.Starting from Staten Island,the runners ran overthe Verrazano-NarrowsBridge onto Brooklyn,along the edge of Brooklyninto the Queens, across QueensboroBridge onto Manhattan Island, up FirstAvenue, and halfway around CentralPark to the fi nish.During the race, Ms. Arroyo receivedencouragement from “a mannamed Eric with whom [she] had thesame pace. He began cheering, yelling,and encouraging the other runnersas he ran with them.” Sherecalled “how his encouragementcaused [the] whole group to pickup the pace.”Near the fi nish line, Ms.Arroyo felt that she was aboutto give up. She wanted “to cuther legs off” from pain, andit “hurt more for me to walkthan run,” so she had to keeptrucking on. At the end, sheswore, “I would never runagain,” but after seeing her“time for the half mark was1:58,” she said, “I changedmy mind and decided that I’dhave to do it again to reach mygoal of four hours.”To anyone else who planson running a marathon, Ms. Arroyosuggests “to listen to yourbody. Injuries are not worth it.”Ms. Arroyo plans to continuerunning in marathons and hopesto be able to participate in theSeattle marathon and Chicago marathon.
Horse in Arcadia: The Fast and the Furious
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:13
Raphael Lu
On Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, Santa AnitaPark hosted Breeders’ Cup. On the fi rstday, a series of 14 races showcased the besthorses from America, Ireland, Saudi Arabia,Dubai, England, France, and Japan.The prize money or purse, as equestrianscall it, of these races was a whopping 25.5million dollars.It was an event that allowed horseenthusiasts to rest and indulge in a day offood, relaxation, and family time. This yearthe United Service Organization (USO)commemorated the brave fi refi ghters whorisked their lives to keep us safe during theStation Fire. And for the fi rst time in history,a mare won a race against stallions.What makes this event even more significant is the fact that this was the fi rst timeBreeders’ Cup held their event at the samelocation twice in a row, not to mention thisis the fi fth time the event has been held inArcadia. Junior Winnie Hui, who attendedthe event, stated that this is because “theSanta Anita Race Track has upgraded itsrace track to a synthetic one which reducesthe risk of injury to horses and makes foran exceptional racing venue.” FreshmanAndrew Sun, however, believes this is“because Arcadia has a truly unique anddiverse environment... our spirit as a communityis one that overwhelms many people.”Whether it’s because of the racetrackor our excellent community, Arcadia, for sure, has made horse racing history.
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Not Another Black (and Blue) Friday
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:12
Jasmine Wu
While people normally associate BlackFriday with the offi cial start of Christmas shopping,most don’t think of it as “that-one-day-everybody-went-so-crazy-over-sales-that-an-employee-was-trampled-and-killed.”In case you don’t remember,on Nov. 28 lastyear, at 4:45 a.m., shopperswent out of controloutside a New York Wal-Mart. The 2,000-personcrowd pressed againstthe sliding doors, whicheventually gave into theweight and shattered.The mob swarmed thestore, scrambling to pickup bargains. They didn’tnotice that employeeJdimytai Damour wasthrown to the ground,trampled, and killed.After a man hadbeen killed and others seriously injured, offi cialsushered people out of the store. Onecrowd control expert said therewas abso- lutely noexcuse for the shoppe r s ’ behavior:“ I t ’s ignorance. But the consequence is human life.”But what can be done to prevent a similarincident? Some asked why the accident happenedin the fi rst place, while others wonderedwhere security was during the madness. Severalwitnesses said that the police came once in awhile to check on the growing crowd, but werenowhere to be seen afterwards.Granted, thepolice in that areawon’t be making thesame mistake again,and security aroundthe nation will learnfrom past mistakes,but perhaps Wal-Martwill put some newcrowd control strategiesinto use, such asreducing the “competition”to get inthe store. SophomoreJenny Wei agreed andsaid, “A single linewould eliminate anytrampling, and wouldbe a fi rst come, fi rst serve basis.” Wal-Mart hasproposed extending store hours to remain openall 24 hours, but two cities have already rejectedthe proposal.So if you can’t think of anything to doover the break, head over to any retailer,as they are almost certain to have aBlack Friday sale of some sort. Don’tworry too much about crazy crowdsgrowing out of control though, becausemany retailers are determinedto make sure you have your sales along with your safety.
Raising the Bar: National School Standards Go Up
Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:11
Alex Ethridge
As AHS students, we pride ourselves onour ability to juggle diffi cult courses as wellas handle academic competition. We take APclasses, participate in the performing arts,lead and organize clubs on campus, competewith our teammates, and even write for thisnewspaper because we believe that is what itmeans to be a high school student. So if theseconstitute the average high schooler, why aresome schools across the nation allowing theirstudents to pass with sub-par standards?Many states in America are setting theirschools’ curriculum at low standards so theycan say that their students are performing attheir grade level requirements when they arein fact not. The Obama administration seesthis pattern across the nation and is attemptingto persuade all states to adopt the sametougher standards for their syllabi. Secretaryof Education Arne Duncan stated, “We’re lyingto our children when we tell them they’reprofi cient, but they’re not achieving at a levelthat will prepare them for success once theygraduate.” Although the federal governmentcannot impose an education standard on thestates, Duncan is offering millions in federalgrants to encourage states to assume one.Many argue that states should be raisingtheir standards to help U.S. students competewith those of foreign nations, but according tothe White House’s Education Department report, more states have lowered standards ratherthan raised them. Speculation on this topichas suggested that many states have loweredtheir schools’ curriculum in order to abide bythe 2002 No Child Left Behind Act more easily.One uniform concern, however, is the inconsistencyamong state curriculums, and howone student’s performance cannot be accuratelycompared to another’s from a different state.While this question occurs across the nation,there is a defi nite difference in what is expectedof AHS students than what is expected ofstudents of other schools. Most schools near Arcadia follow a similar curriculum of the basics,but differ in aspects such as pressure, competition,and available courses. At AHS, it’s commonto see students competitively comparingscores with friends’, or secretly ranking themselvesamongst classmates based on grades. Wepressure each other to do well because we arepressured by our community to be the bestin everything we do, and this results in ourschool’s admirable achievements.Other high school students deal with thesame stresses. Junior Phoebe Feldsher of LaSalle High School stated, “some groups arecompetitive with grades, but we’re not pressuredto take AP classes.” Sophomore JasperRyden of Flintridge Preparatory said, “Myschool’s curriculum is really rigorous.” Thesame can be said about AHS. “Going to acompetitive school like AHS is good becauseit prepares us for college,” said sophomoreMadeleine Barnes, but added that “it’s badbecause kids are practically killing themselvestrying to pass classes.”The concept of a nation-wide academicstandard has both its benefi ts and consequences,which will differ with every schoolunder its curriculum. Regardless of whathappens in the future concerning educationalstandards, AHS students will continue to workunder the standards we set for ourselves, becausethat’s what we do best. After all, if they can do it, why can’t we?
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