Author: Lilia Quevedo

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Gun threat spurs lockdown

Photo via Daniel Gatten

By Lilia Quevedo, Staff Writer

C.K. McClatchy was under lockdown on Wednesday, February 18th. A McClatchy student posted on a social media site that they were going to bring a gun to school and shoot students. Threats are not taken lightly, especially with the increasing amount of school shootings in the past three years. Someone alerted the school, and the lockdown was initiated during third period. The police arrived shortly and began to inspect the main building, in the end finding no weapon.

Due to the nature of social media, the whole story and numerous other rumors spread like wildfire. Within moments of the announcement that the school was under lockdown, students began to send text messages and Snapchats to each other, asking what was going on. In less than ten minutes, the most popular story of what was going on was that a student in Mr. Ho’s Physics class had been apprehended by the police because they were carrying a gun. They searched the backpacks of all of the kids in his classroom, and then the whole science quad. Whether or not this is true cannot be confirmed, since it is unlikely the administration will reveal any more than we already know.

It is still unclear who was involved or what really happened. “I heard it was a freshman, and he posted something on Twitter, like, he was going to blow up the school.” said Ariana Gomez (‘17).  There are some students who believed there were many people involved and that there was a bomb. Sergio Farias (‘16) commented, “I thought that there were multiple students involved, and that some of them were in the D-Wing and others in the main building. That way no one could escape.” In order to respect their privacy, faculty kept the name of the student who was apprehended for threatening the school a secret. The lack of information has created many rumors, even one that the whole thing was a set up.

There were many mixed reactions from students that experienced the lockdown. Joseph Buck (‘15) said, “I was in government during the lockdown. I didn’t really care ‘cause I got to miss class.”  Another student, Mark Lantin (‘16), laughed as he said, “Me and my friends just played ‘Halo: Combat Evolved’. We didn’t duck or hide or follow the drill.” There are some kids like Joseph and Mark who weren’t worried about the lockdown. This is probably because all the ones we’ve had have been false alarms or nothing too serious. There are other students, however, that were worried the situation would turn into a shooting. “I was scared because I heard the announcement repeating ‘Take cover! Take cover!’ which is [an announcement] I’ve never heard before,” recalls Grecia Huang (‘16). Thankfully, the school had reviewed and gone over the lockdown and fire drills several days before.

The staff was able to communicate effectively with parents and guardians about the lockdown, so there wouldn’t be any overly-worried adults coming to the school. They left voicemails and sent messages when the lockdown began and ended.

The best thing to remember from this experience is to participate in future drills like they are the real thing. It’s tempting to just go walk with your friends to the soccer field when there is a fire drill since you know there isn’t a real fire, or to watch YouTube videos or send Snapchats on your phone when there is a lockdown. And as surprising as it sounds, there are teachers who do not care as much as they should about what students do during drills. Hopefully in the future, a real drill will not be necessary again. At least now we know what to do.

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Game Review: Shadow of Mordor

By Lilia Quevedo

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is an action RPG video game for the PS4, Xbox One, PC PS3, and Xbox 360, set in The Lord of the Rings universe. It was released September 30th of this year and although it has its faults, it’s one of the better games made this year.

The game starts off with a long cutscene, giving the background of the game. If you’re not a big Lord of the Rings fan, then what the narrator says will not make any sense. You’re this guy named Talion, a Ranger who is guarding the Black Gate of Mordor, and you’re married with a son. You and your family want to move, but something is going on with your wife’s parents so you can’t (they don’t explain this very well). Then one day some Uruks attack the Gate and kill everyone, including your family. Then, this creepy guy called the Black Hand of Sauron casts some voodoo-like spell on you, and instead of dying when he cuts your throat, you get paired with a Wraith (a ghost elf), are resurrected, and become a badass fighter.

Up to this point, the game is great. It draws you in with an emotional cutscene and fantastic music. Then the real game begins.

If you’re like me and skip the instructions by pressing X and all the other buttons, you will have no idea what to do. Suggestion #1: read everything the game tells you to read. It will help you pick what quests to do. Right away, the game assigns you an Uruk Captain to hunt. He is way overpowered. If you attack him right away like I did, then all his reinforcements will come and it will be like 300 all over again. Oh, and other captains will come to his rescue, making it 100 times harder to beat the original captain. You can’t save the game before you fight them either. The game saves at random points and you can’t reload an earlier save. It’s like real life, no second chances.

The game was made with a Nemesis System Engine which  tracks past actions in the game and changes how the characters react to you later on. For example, if you burn an uruk and leave them disfigured, then they will come after you later on. Though Nemesis makes the game more interesting as an interactive experience, it creates difficulties that some gamers could do without. For example, if you are killed by an Uruk, they become a captain which makes them stronger. If an Uruk who is already a captain kills you, well….you do not want to mess with them later on. Also, if you don’t play all the time then the captains will be replaced by new ones. The only way to get rid of them is to do all of the main quests–and there are four of them to complete at the same time.

Overall, the game is pretty good. No game is perfect, but this one certainly comes close. It may be challenging, but what’s a game without some obstacles to climb over? Now excuse me while I go kick some Uruk butt.

Graphics: 8/10

Gameplay: 9.2/10

Music: 8.5/10

Rating:9/10

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The Evolution of Halloween

By Lilia Quevedo, Staff writer

When I was a kid, trick-or-treating was the highlight of October. I loved to wear all sorts of costumes, like cat outfits and witch dresses. Back in elementary school, all everyone cared about was how scary you looked. When I got to middle school, everything changed.

There are a ton of scary, Halloween-related movies out there, many of which feature a party where all of the high school kids go to so they can drink and pass out. Then some scary monster or murderer comes, killing the mood (pun intended). In these parties, what everyone wears—more specifically the girls—is pretty much the same: a tight piece of cloth that covers as little of the body as possible. If you want to be a sailor, here is a miniskirt and a tube top for you to wear. If you want to be a nurse, here is a dress that shows your butt if you bend one inch. But wait—if you’re a guy and want to be a sailor, you can buy long pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt! What? Yes, you’ll actually be a realistic sailor.

What the media portrays clearly reflects what the stores sell, too.  If you’re a teenager/young adult, good luck trying to find a costume not labeled as “sexy.” The days of looking scary for you are over. Remember, though, this is only applies to you if you’re a girl. Even little kids costumes might raise a few eyebrows among parents. Of course, you can always find Bucky the Winter Soldier costume replica online that actually looks like the real thing–if you’re willing to pay $300, that is.

Why is it that women continue to wear these costumes? There are tons of articles and rants online that talk about how these sexy outfits should not be sold any more because they degrade women and objectify them. While that’s true, no matter how many petitions there are, no matter how many protests and anti-sexy Halloween campaigns there are, the Halloween companies will never stop selling those sexy nurse costumes. Society has conditioned women to be “sexy and beautiful” so much that some women don’t even question the costumes. They wear it because everyone else is wearing it. If everyone stopped wearing the costumes, then maybe the companies and the world would realize how degrading they are. There’s nothing wrong with showing off your body, though. If those are the kinds of costumes you want to wear, go for it. What’s not right, however, is the belief that those are the only things women should wear. Don’t just give women one option, give them many. Sell an Assassin’s Creed Costume that isn’t only made for men! Sell a real-looking nurse outfit, not just those skin tight mini dresses that look nothing like what the workers wear.

Don’t stuff all women into one category—give them a choice.

 

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To the World Series

By Lilia Quevedo, Staff writer

The World Series. One of the biggest events in the United States, in which two baseball teams from opposite leagues compete for a trophy made of silver, and rings emblazoned with diamonds. To get there, each team must play over 100 games and win the most out of their division. If they don’t make it, there’s always next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. Most of the time the winners are your A-class teams, like the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. Every now and then, however, the underdog comes out on top.

The San Francisco Giants have beat all odds once again, going to the playoffs for the third time in five years. They won the World Series for the first time in 52 years in 2010, shocking every announcer, non-believer, and especially the anti-Giants announcer Joe Buck. They did it again in 2012, sweeping the Tigers in the World Series. The Giants started off great this year, but after a mishap by Romo, the team just went downhill. All hope was almost lost, but then came September. They stepped up their game and won the Wild Card for the National League against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The first playoffs opponent for the Giants: the Washington Nationals. Game 1 was on October 3, and it was an exciting one. The first game of playoffs is always a crucial one. The pitchers were Peavy for the Giants and Stratsburg for the Nationals. The game started off slow until the Giants scored one run in both the 3rd, 4th, and 7th innings. All seemed well, until Peavy allowed two runs with two outs in the seventh inning. Thankfully, he was able to end the two-out rally and the Giants relievers and closer Casilla were able to win the game with a score of 3-2.

Game 2 was not for the weak of heart. In the second inning, the pitcher Hudson allowed the Nationals to score one run.The Giants played eight scoreless, hopeless innings. It was the ninth inning when the miracle happened. All of the Nationals fans were standing up, thinking their team was going to win. Then the National’s closer, Zimmermann, walked 2nd baseman Joe Panik. There were already two outs so everyone still figured the Nationals would end the game cleanly. But catcher Buster Posey had other plans, and he singled, advancing Panik to second base. The two-out rally would not be ended, because at that point 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval hit a double and Panik scored, tying the game 1-1. Buster Posey decided to take a risk, and ran all the way from first to home plate, but the umpire called him out. Had he been called safe, the game would not have gone to the 10th inning. Or the 11th. Or to the 18th. But it did, and after 18 heart-stopping, nail-biting innings, the Giants first baseman Brandon Belt grabbed yet another win for the Giants with a home run, ending the game at 2-1 and breaking the record for most extra innings in a playoff game.

The third game was in San Francisco and it was the last game the Giants needed to win to clinch the NLDS. The game started with an inspiring speech by WWE star Daniel Bryan, ending the speech with Hunter Pence’s “Yes! Yes! Yes!” back from 2012. Neither team scored for six innings. It looked like the game was going to go extra innings when the Giant’s pitcher Madison Bumgarner made a big mistake. He tried to throw a sacrifice bunt to third but the throw was wild, causing Sandoval to miss the ball and allow two runs to score. The Nationals added two more runs after that, and the Giants almost rallied in the 9th, but Washington won the game 4-1.

On Tuesday, the Giants did it. They scored two runs in the 2nd inning. In the 7th, the Nationals tied it up. The Giants would not lose this game. It was their home field and all of their fans were waving their orange flags. With one out in the 7th inning, Joe Panik singled on a line drive to left field. Buster Posey singled to center field, advancing Panik to 3rd.  All the pressure was on the Nationals pitcher Aaron Barrett. He pitched and walked Hunter Pence. The bases were loaded with only one out, and one of the Giant’s biggest hitters was at bat. Barrett threw the ball..and the pitch was wild. Panik stole home, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead. That run was all the Giants needed, because their outstanding pitching staff managed to prevent the Nationals from scoring the rest of the game. Signed baseballs were given away, players high-fived fans, and there was a huge celebration in the dugout.

The Giants next stop was St. Louis. After four nerve-wracking games against the Nationals, the Giants made it to the NLCS. For the St. Louis Cardinals, they had an easy-breezy time thanks to a not-so-good postseason pitcher Kershaw and a consistent pattern of nearly always hitting in runs in the 7th inning. For the second time in five seasons, these two teams must compete against each other to earn a spot in the World Series.

Game 1’s winner could be determined early in the game. Pitcher Madison Bumgarner for the Giants dominated for 7 ⅔ innings, not allowing a single run. Their three-run-lead they earned from the second and third innings gave room for their closer Casilla to end the game smoothly, allowing the Giants to take a 1-0 lead in the NLCS.

In Game 2, both teams had to work hard to score a single run. The Giants’ pitcher Jake Peavy allowed only two runs, but was replaced by Jeremy Affeldt in the 5th inning. So was the Cardinals’ pitcher Lance Lynn. When it was the top of the 9th inning, the Giants tied the game due to a wild pitch by Trevor Rosenthal which allowed Pinch-runner Matt Duffy to score. The Giants’ hope of winning, however, was crushed when Kelton Wong of the Cardinals hit a walk-off homerun off of the closer Sergio Romo. The series was tied 1-1.

The one loss did not diminish the Giants’ spirit. The player’s determination enabled them to win three straight games at home. Game 3 was won by the Giants in the 10th inning due to an extraordinary sacrifice bunt by Gregor Blanco and a bad throw by Cards reliever Randy Choate. Game 4 was won smoothly with no extra innings and a final score of 6-4. Finally, in Game 5, left-fielder Travis Ishikawa showed the Giants we wasn’t going to retire any time soon. The game was tied 3-3 in the 9th inning when he hit a walk-off homerun, clinching the win for the Giants. He was the first Giants player to do that in a postseason game in the past 40 years.

Now it was time for the Giants to go to the World Series. They had gotten this far, and they wouldn’t stop fighting until they won.