The annual Associative Student Body (ASB) Blood Drive on May 21, in partnership with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) was canceled at the last minute due to a strike by UCLA nurses.

The UCLA nurses went on strike because of a union dispute, according to UCLA coordinator Cathleen Davidson. 

Unfortunately, the blood drive will not be rescheduled during this school year, according to ASB Blood Drive organizer Bronte Burnette (’13). 

“There are so many end of the year things going on, but there will be some this coming semester,” Burnette said.

Sydney Krasny (’15), who recently turned 16 and was thus able to donate blood, said she had been looking forward to donating at the Blood Drive.

“I was really looking forward to donating blood, because people who have donated blood prolonged my grandfather’s life while he fought cancer,” Krasny said. “I really was looking forward to my first real chance to be able to do that for someone else.”

Students were not the only ones disappointed by the canceled blood drive. ASB’s morale was affected too.

“It left us feeling frustrated as well as annoyed that we were getting the blame for the cancellation of this event because it wasn’t our fault,” ASB member Kelly Moreau (’15) said.

Students may not be able to donate blood through ASB at Samo, but there are still plenty of other opportunities to give blood.

“I would suggest to students who really want to donate [blood] to go the UCLA Ackerman Hall and donate blood in their center there,” Burnette said. “Also there are many other organizations, like Red Cross, that have blood drives throughout the community, at churches and even at Santa Monica Place.”

cdebeus@thesamohi.com

What you do on the weekend is entirely your choice, but is it really necessary to pollute my newsfeed with selfies of you smoking a bong, popping open a beer or worst of all — posting a poorly photoshopped picture of yourself with not-really-questionable items hidden beneath those oh-so-classy kittens? It’s no secret that yes, our fellow peers have a high propensity for alcohol and marijuana, but it’s still illegal. And my fellow students’ gravitation towards the substances is fine by me. It’s just the incessant updates on their new endeavors with drugs that are irritating.

Without even owning an Apple product that allows access to Instagram or having my own Twitter account, the amount of pictures I’ve seen would make anyone question Samo as a school and even our generation as a whole. Just through Facebook or the sly during-class share of a particularly scandalous post, I’ve managed to see countless pictures of our student body lighting up, passed out or just completely wasted.

There’s already the assumption that teenagers are nothing more than sex-crazed druggies — why back up this theory with real tangible proof? By all means, go ahead and fulfill that stereotype on your own time, just don’t share it with the rest of the Internet — it’s a big place.

Of all the people to show your pictures to, why choose the entire world? By posting them online, people who post these kinds of pictures of themselves are simply begging to be caught by the authorities, or worse — college admissions officers.

Getting caught by college admissions could screw up your only chance at your college of choice. No matter how quickly you post and delete just to brag about your amazing, beyond-cool life as a doped up teenager, those pictures will always be online somewhere; it only takes a second for someone to screenshot an indecent picture. Colleges are just waiting to dig up that kind of dirt on kids — it makes their job a lot easier.

“Admissions officers do check [students’] Facebook pages,” college counselor Julie Honda said. “If you’re a good kid and you get straight As and what not, why would you post pictures of yourself drinking and smoking? The same thing applies to a job, so can it affect you? Absolutely.”

Posting these pictures really is just a mechanism to brag about what you do outside of school. To show everyone how above it all you are by escaping the woes of high school life. You may as well be shouting, “I drink alcohol and smoke weed!” from rooftops and expecting people to see you as accomplished, rather than as a nuisance.

Bragging about a crazy weekend you may not even remember is pointless, when you think about it. If you don’t remember what you did last night, odds are, I don’t want to be privy to that information.

So by now some of you are probably wondering why I don’t just unfollow or de-friend these reckless classmates of mine and carry on with my life? The reason is that I care more about your intentions and the bigger-picture repercussions of posting the pictures than my annoyance at viewing them. This is about more than a single student’s irritation, it’s about what the acts could reflect about a whole generation.

The fact that high school students experiment with alcohol and drugs is widely known, and I’ll be the first one to openly embrace that truth. But Samo, while we may not be above the influence, we can definitely be above putting pictures up online that show just how influenced we really are.

(schetty@thesamohi.com)

Samohi Solar Alliance (SSA) will host the last Bike It! Day of the school year on May 22, aiming to promote bike safety through the help of various collaborations.

Bike It! Day promotes biking and walking as an efficient alternative to fossil-fuel transportation. According to Amanda Bang (’13), one of three SSA presidents, the club has increased stress on bike safety this year. To increase safety, SSA is encouraging students to wear helmets.

Bang said ASB assisted SSA in publicizing the event with the help of Caitlin Smith (’15) and David Lin (’15) as co-heads of publicity.

“We have helped [SSA] promote the event by making posters [and] signs to put up around campus as well as making announcements to homeroom classes.” ASB adviser Bryn Boyd said.

According to SSA co-president Noah Rosenberg (’13) the club is also collaborating with various groups to improve Samo’s presence as a greener campus, such as the organization Safe Routes to School.

Rosenburg said that Samo is working to improve the access and safety of students that bicycle to school. Safe Routes to School will hold a meeting after school on Bike It! Day to discuss ways in which students can avoid using cars, and safely arrive to school on possible bike routes.

“[Safe Routes to School] is working on projects including on the Michigan Avenue Project, which is trying to turn [the street] into a bike [route] that will eventually lead past Samo all the way down to the beach,” Rosenberg said.

Bang’s goal is that this last event will get more students involved in SSA. The club wants to ensure that more students join the alliance because most of its presidents are graduating.

“We want to make sure that SSA has plenty of underclassmen involved to keep the club alive and thriving for years to come,” Bang said.

Rosenburg said that the alliance hopes to have Bike It! weeks and months next year.

“I’m hoping this last Bike It! Day will show people how easy and fun it is to bike to school in hopes that they will do it more often,” Bang said.

fbillington@thesamohi.com

Samo administration is undergoing large changes as the four new house principals for the 2013-14 school year have been selected.

The new house principals will be Weschester Enriched Science Magnets assistant principal Elias Brown, Beverly Hills High School assistant principal Kelly Tabis, who taught special education classes at Samo several years ago, Animo Locke Tech Charter High School principal Blain Watson and John Adams Middle School assistant principal Florence Culpepper.

However, according to H-House Principal Leslie Wells, the principals will not be able to discuss Samo’s future until the summer.

Tabis said she is excited to be returning to Samo.

“I absolutely loved my time teaching in Santa Monica and I am eager to engage with teachers, students and the entire community to help shape the future of our school,” Tabis said.

Culpepper hopes to continue to encourage students to look at the possibilities that their futures hold.

“I have high expectations for students and a strong belief that all students are capable of achieving any short or long-term goals they set for themselves,” Culpepper said. “Some students just need more guidance and support than others.”

According to a press release, Watson wants to bring an unwavering belief in all students’ potential to succeed and the priority to put students first to Samo.

Wells remembers working alongside Tabis when she was a special education teacher at Samo.

“I thought highly of her then and I anticipate that she’ll be a welcome addition to the faculty,” Wells said.

As a result of the new house principals, students will have to make adjustments.

“Except for the current students in my house, all other students will be working with new principals,” Wells said. “I anticipate that the ‘culture’ of some of the houses may change.”

cdebeus@thesamohi.com

The only thing you should be drinking is apple juice

Claire Goldberg
Staff Writer

Memory loss, car crashes, alcohol poisoning, fines that can amount to thousands of dollars and death. These are all very regular, very real results of drinking. Now does all of this seem worth it for one night of fun?

When I was eight, I promised that I would never drink before age 21 and I can now say that I’ve successfully kept that promise. Even though it seemed silly at the time, I now know that it was a good promise to make. I’m not saying that I’m little miss goody-two-shoes, I just know that I don’t have to drink to have fun. The majority of my friends has either tried it or do it regularly, which doesn’t always get my full approval. I always rebut their statements of “You’ve never tried it so how would you know?” and “You can’t say it’s bad until you’ve experienced it” with “It’s illegal, it’s disgusting and I don’t have to try anything to know that it’s bad.”

Getting drunk is bad for countless reasons, so let me just name a few: it is, as a matter of fact, illegal; it can be detrimental to your mental and physical health; if you get caught, let’s just say that the consequences are endless and as a person who has experienced drunk people, you act completely idiotic in front of everyone. It changes who you are and even alters what you think you are doing. You, as a high school student, need to focus on getting into college, not killing your brain cells.

When I took Drivers Education, one of the lessons was about the cost if you get caught driving drunk. Hopefully you are aware that driving with even 0.01 percent Blood Alcohol Concentration will get you a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) ticket, and it’s not cheap. All together, we learned that the cost was over $10,000. That’s almost as expensive as in-state college tuition. Instead of taking one little sip of alcohol, you could go to college for a year.  Not to mention if you get a DUI, it could ruin your chances of even getting into college. Most DUIs are categorized as misdemeanors, however, if the circumstances are more serious a DUI can become a felony which most colleges require you to report.

If you do decide to drink, realize that there aren’t just short term effects. You won’t just have a hangover the next day. If you decide to drink, especially if you decide to drink often, you will have to pay for that decision. Not only could you die from getting in a car accident while intoxicated, but if you end up lucky and get home alive, you could end up with some pretty serious symptoms including brain damage, high blood pressure, liver disease and eventually even death. So next time you’re thinking about picking up the bottle, think again.

Another big issue with getting drunk is that it is literally and figuratively disgusting. I wish you could see me hit my head against the table as I type, thinking to myself “why are you doing this to yourself?!”Although I’ve never  had any of the heavy stuff, the Passover wine was enough for me to know that it’s bitter and gross. From the descriptions my friends have given me, hard liquor can’t taste any better. It’s also unsettling and upsetting to see how people act when they’re drunk: I don’t want to hold anyone’s hair as they throw up.

Lastly, you’re a teen. You are on your way to getting a degree, the job of your dreams, the perfect life. You just have to try. I’m not telling you to sit at your desk all day every day slaving away to graduate summa cum laude at Harvard, but I’m saying you need to work. When you get into college and turn 21, you can party all you want. Just make sure your Anthropology paper is done and you have a designated driver. Now is the time to be a kid, have fun and become who you want to be. Trust me, waiting until it’s legal will make it much more fun and, well, legal.

So next time you see a bottle of Jack Daniels on the counter at a party, think of the consequences. Getting drunk isn’t the way to get people to like you and definitely isn’t the way to forget your problems. Next time you are tempted to take a sip, play some scrabble, go on a hike, or hell, do your homework instead. But whatever you do, know that in the long run not choosing alcohol is the better option.

cgoldberg@thesamohi

Alcohol poisoning: The fatal Catch 22

Staff Writer

From jolly winter evenings spent inventing gumdrop adorned gingerbread men to sporadic desires for a plate of warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies, baking has long been a comfort for children and adults in need of some sugar-loaded, calorie-filled therapy.

Baking has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was one year old, my family moved from Nashville, Tenn. to Los Angeles. Overwhelmed by this great, big new city, my mom, sister and I would spend every single day baking chocolate chip cookies in our small apartment in LA. This created an atmosphere of relaxation and ease despite the stress of job searches and unpacking boxes. One of the earliest and best memories I have is of baking chocolate chip toffee cookies with my grandmother, mom and sister in Texas. Baking is universally appreciated for the warmth and happiness it brings, even to literary greats like Pablo Neruda in his “Ode to Bread,” and Emily Dickinson in her free time.

Ada Campagna (’13) started baking because cooking constantly surrounded her family, as well as for the enjoyment of  concocting original and delicious baked goods.

“My family centers itself around food so cooking has always been a big part of my life, but I started baking because I love the creativity and fun involved in making baked creations,” Campagna said. “I think I like making cupcakes more than other baked goods because they allow much more creativity than other desserts. For example, making banana cream pie cupcakes or s’mores cupcakes allows me to break down the flavors of one dessert and create a new one, which is a lot of fun.”

Juan Jose (’14) started baking as a young boy with his grandfather, who was a bread baker. Jose was also influenced to bake by his uncle because he is a pastry chef.

Katey Hobkirk (’13) has memories of baking with her family when she was young. After a while, she memorized the recipes to make them by herself.

“I distinctly remember making soda bread with my mom and chocolate chip muffins with my sister,” Hobkirk said. “My dad and I would make cookies every so often. We often had a giant cookbook that my sister and I would pick recipes from.”

Many precious memories are tied to baking. One of Campagna’s best memories is of baking with her grandmother in Mich. as a young child.

“My brother and I were playing outside and found bushes full of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries,” Campagna said. “We ran inside, got two buckets and spent the afternoon picking berries. When we had picked enough, we came inside and went to our grandma to show her all the berries we had picked. She took us into the kitchen and told us she would teach us how to make berry pies. We made the dough together and helped her roll it out. We filled the crust with our hand-picked berry mixture, covered it and put it in the oven. To this day I have never made or tasted a pie that good.”

Aside from traditions, baking brings out a creative spark that many people don’t know they possessed. Megan Edwards (’13) has been baking her whole life, inspired by her mother’s creativity.

“My mom is super crafty and so I grew up making a lot of things, from random art projects to baking all the time,” Edwards said. “We used to go to my grandma’s house and I would spend the day with my sisters and cousins baking Armenian food. My favorite [were] these little bread rolls that we would literally make from scratch.”

I too, pride myself when I bake things completely from scratch. When I was in seventh grade, my older sister, who was then a freshman in high school, made cupcakes and cakes for her friends on their birthdays. Being a little sister, I was completely captivated with anything she did. I began slaving away in the kitchen just like she did, baking up various concoctions. Because of this inspiration my sister gave me, I have continued to bake all throughout high school and acquired a job at a culinary school called The Gourmandise School in The Market in the Santa Monica Mall. I will spend all day baking in the kitchen, being on my feet for hours until whatever I am making has been perfected and pleases me.

Campagna also tries to bake as much as she can, baking everything from pies to cookies to cakes to cupcakes.

“Baking is just something that makes me happy,” Campagna said. “I bake whenever I have a good enough excuse, so every holiday, birthday or special event you will see me holding something sweet. But I also bake randomly, like the other day, I felt like [eating] pie so I made a homemade crust, found some apples in my fridge and made apple pie.”

Not only did I begin to bring my friends sweet treats for their birthdays or on holidays, I also loved to bring goodies if I knew a friend had a bad day and needed to have that delicious smile sprinkled across their face. One of the sole reasons I bake as much I as do is to see these smiles from the unexpected surprise of a swirly, frosted cake of delight.  Baking is one of the many ways I show my friends that I care for them and will do anything to make them smile.

“I find that baking tends to only hold positive memories,” Hobkirk said. “When a friend is sad or stressed and I show up with cookies or fudge or something, their face lights up, making me really happy. It’s something for me to do that makes something delicious that I can share with other people and make them happy.”

Not only does it bring happiness, baking is also a way to let go of stress.

“I like baking because it soothes me,” Edwards said. “I always bake when I’m stressed and need some ‘me time.’ It calms me and makes me feel relaxed.”

Hobkirk thinks back to when she was younger, and her parents had just gotten into a big fight.

“It was a Sunday morning, the day after the fight, and my sister woke me up,” Hobkirk said. “My sister wanted to make breakfast for Mom and Dad and she wanted me to make muffins. She made eggs and toast while I made the first batch of muffins I had ever attempted. When we brought them the breakfast, everyone loved the muffins. It was a good memory because it seemed like even though the day before was pretty awful, everything just got a lot better and everyone was happy.”

One of the beautiful things about baking is that it allows you to lose track of time and be completely captivated by the activity. This past summer, my boss asked me to stay late after my shift to help her make a few items for the bakery. We made six loaves of pumpkin-cranberry bread, a hazelnut cake with dried, candied pears and creme fraiche caramel, a pistachio cream cake and a double batch of muffin batter. We ended up finishing cleaning up at three in the morning! Needless to say, my parents were not too pleased, but they were understanding, due to my obvious passion for the art.

Hobkirk realized that she loved baking when she started to bake with her friends and loved to see the reactions of others from the delicious tastes.

“I like baking in general but it’s always nice to make something with a friend,” Hobkirk said. “I started trying new recipes and inviting people over to help out and eat with me. I realized baking was awesome when I made my first lemon meringue pie — to this day my favorite thing to make — it just tasted heavenly. I would give away some slices and see how people would go back for more and how happy it made them.”

One of Jose’s fondest memories of baking is when he and his friend made red velvet cupcakes for a Spanish cooking video project.

“My partner knew nothing about baking which made it hilarious,” Jose said. “He didn’t even know how to crack an egg [properly].”

Baking and cooking have become some of my hobbies and my definite passion. I have begun to research culinary schools to attend after college and my plan is to become a pastry chef and own my own business involved with baking. No matter what happens, I know that baking will always be a part of my life, whether I teach classes at a culinary school, run my own bakery or simply make my family and friends treats galore.

Campagna has also considered a future in baking, however, she is open to many possibilities.

“All of my friends want me to open up a bakery,” Campagna said. “After I gave a cupcake to my science teacher, Ms. Song, on Valentine’s Day, she actually came up to me and told me I should seriously consider opening a bakery. But I have big ambitions and I don’t know if baking [will] fit in with my goals. But, you never know, maybe to earn some money in college I might open up an online store. But right now, baking is just a pleasant hobby.”

Edwards would love to bake as a career, however she doesn’t take the activity too seriously — she just bakes for the fun of it.

“I have this secret dream that I’ll own my own little cupcake shop,” Edwards said. “In reality, I think that [baking as a career] would make it too much of a job, and I like to bake because it takes my stress away — I don’t need it to be what I stress about.”

Hobkirk considered baking as a potential career, however she decided for the time being that she couldn’t see herself only pursuing baking. Still, she wants to take baking classes and would like to join a baking or cooking club in college. No matter her future with baking, Hobkirk has always felt a strong love of baking and will continue to bake throughout her life.

“Baking has always made me happy,” Hobkirk said. “It gives me something to do, something sweet to eat, something sweet to share and shows me that I’m able to make something out of nothing.”

emebane@thesamohi.com

Cappuccino Chip Cupcakes

Ingredients:
24 paper liners for cupcake pans
1/3 cup water
4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips or cracked roasted cocoa beans for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners and set these pans aside.
Place the water and instant coffee in a small glass liquid measuring cup and microwave on high power for 40 seconds. Remove and stir until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool for five minutes.
Cream the sugar and butter in an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring between each one. Once completely combined, add the vanilla and stir until mixed. Sift the flour, baking powder and vanilla instant pudding mix together in a large separate bowl.  Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk into the electric mixer and combine. Then add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Mix until smooth. Fold in one cup of the miniature semisweet chocolate chips.

Spoon or scoop batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. Place pans in the oven and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes. Once baked, remove pans from the oven and let cool for five minutes. Take the cupcakes out of the pan and let cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes before frosting.

Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and frost to desired perfection. Garnish with miniature semisweet chocolate chips or cracked roasted cocoa beans. Serve and enjoy!

Mocha Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup milk
1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee granules
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter at room temperature
2 ounces (1/2 bar) German’s sweet chocolate, grated
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon water, if needed

Directions:

Place the milk and instant coffee in a small glass liquid measuring cup. Place the microwave oven on high power until the milk is hot enough to dissolve the instant coffee, 30-40 seconds. Remove and stir until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and add the coffee and grated chocolate. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture has softened, about 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners’ sugar. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, about one minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about one minute more. Blend in up to one tablespoon water if the frosting seems too stiff.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup chilled shortening
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into a large bowl.

Cut the shortening into the flour mix with a pastry blender until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal.

In a separate bowl, mix together egg and buttermilk. Add to dry ingredients and stir well.

Knead briefly and place into a greased eight inch round pan or a greased nine inch by five inch bread pan.

Press down so the dough fills the pan, cut a slit or many slits in the top so the bread will not crack.

Brush the top with milk.

Bake 35-40 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup toffee pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375° F.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips and toffee.
Using an ice cream scooper or spoon, place dough in balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 10 minutes and let cool for two minutes.

Tahreem Hassan is a sophomore foreign exchange student who comes from Pakistan. She has been attending Samo since the beginning of the school year.

Life is all about change. Every day we have to face changes in our daily routine. Being an exchange student has been a major change in my life.

The exchange student is one who is willing to accept adversity and challenges without his/her own family members, travel to a different place with a diverse group of people and cope with a strange environment. It’s really hard and one needs a plethora of courage and flexibility. I am going through the same process these days. My name is Tahreem Hassan, and I am an exchange student from Pakistan, Karachi. I am living here in Santa Monica, Calif., with a great host family, and I am going to Santa Monica High School. I am here through YES (Youth Exchange and Study Program) sponsored by AFS (American Field Service). AFS programs are spread out with hundreds of fortunate students from different parts of the world coming to the U.S., and a number of students from the U.S. going to different countries.

As I mentioned before, I come from Pakistan, a wonderful country with every resource and necessity of life. It is located in the center of the Asian continent, and it is surrounded by four of the most important countries in the world: India, Afghanistan, China and Iran. Pakistan is a land of natural beauty; we have five rivers, mountains, plateaus, valleys and the second highest peak of the world: K2. It is mostly an agricultural country with 50 percent of its economy based on cotton, wheat, rice, maize, tobacco, sugar cane, vegetables and fruits. It produces surplus amount of crops every year that are imported by other countries in Asia. It is a developing country, and a large amount of work is taking place to make it a prosperous land. In fact, there are a number of talented people that will take it to the height of prosperity and development. My homeland is special for every Pakistani because after a long struggle and fight with Britain and India, we won it. Prior to our independence 65 years ago, Pakistan was a part of India until the British took over the sub-continent and ruled for over 100 years. British ruling was based on injustice. There were two important religious groups living in the sub-continent: Muslims and Hindus. Both peoples realized that they wanted their own country and wanted freedom from British slavery. After a long struggle, they got their own countries where they were allowed to follow their rituals and customs. Muslims got their homeland after losing thousands of precious lives. On Aug. 14 Pakistanis celebrate our independence day to remember the sacrifice those before us made.

It’s true we are not perfect — we have crime, but crime is in every corner of the world. Criminals are everywhere, but in Pakistan they have more freedom to break the law because Pakistan is not fully developed, and so therefore we don’t yet have a strong backbone. Pakistan is a newly born country. It has just been 65 years since Pakistan got independence, and 65 years is a short time to develop a country. Surely Americans can relate since your country got its freedom from Britain only a little over 200 years ago. But we certainly have strong hearts and minds and a powerful younger generation, like me, that will lead Pakistan.

Now that I have shared something about where I come from, I would like to show how my journey has opened up my eyes about where you come from. It has been four months since I moved here and the exchange program has helped me remove misconceptions and learn about this country. In the beginning it was hard to adjust in a new environment with new people. Everything was really different: food, language, dresses, religion and customs, but I love everything that has been a change because as AFS says: “Nothing is better or worse, it’s just different.” I celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas for the first times in my life, and my time celebrating these events was remarkable. Would you believe I left cookies and milk for Santa and he left me a thank you note in my language, Urdu? It was so fun to learn new traditions and to meet new people every day. My family also celebrated my festival “Eid” with me; it was a great time too. It felt good that people are curious about my customs and want to know more about them. I got so much respect and love from the people here, so it just took two or three weeks for me to adjust completely. The hardest part for me was schooling. Schools here are remarkably different from Pakistan. Studies are easier here, but Samo is colossal. In Pakistan I was a student in a private school with only 300 students, and here there are 3,000 students, so it’s a massive difference. In the beginning, making friends was hard, but I am so happy that I made so many friends on the first day of school. Also, things never are stagnant; they always change. So now my life is wonderful.  Everything is so different:  school, family and friends. Things are just the way I always wanted, a great family and a huge group of loving friends.

Although I miss my country, Pakistan, and family sometimes, I know I will never get this unique experience again, so I am making the most of it. Even though there’s so much diversity here in Santa Monica, I still believe that teenagers here should take part in exchange programs so like me they can open their eyes to a whole new world and hopefully create future leaders who are committed to world peace.

 eic@thesamohi.com

Ben: With a look of white Jewish boy meets laid-back rapper, Ben Brady (’14) exudes an aura of free spirit and carefreeness. He puts his unique and non-uniform ideas into what seems like a large and complex machine in his head and pumps out lyrics for his songs. He has the ability to create these pieces of art out of what seem like a few words or simple concepts.

Having started writing music in fourth grade, Brady’s perspective on rap has developed through the years. He was inspired by and around music, typically Hip-Hop played by his father. As he grows older, he is now motivated and influenced by rapper Pharrell Williams, but specifically his ability to mix art and music into a unique style while always achieving something new and different. Brady translates his motivation into raps about his personal philosophies and spiritual ideals along with exiting events and milestones in his life that he believes people can relate to.

Brady releases his music on Sound Cloud, a website that puts together a community of artists and bands that share their music. This allows him to share his music with other artists and listeners, getting feedback and comments on his work. It’s fast, easy and helpful for Brady to make his upcoming songs with new ideas.

At the start of his talent and performing in a small room being the only white boy rapping, Brady felt he had something different to bring to the table. He is always vibing out with his headphones in one ear, hoping to promote this form of art to others who need to express themselves with certain feelings and emotion. Brady believes rap is a lifestyle and a poetic art form. He thinks rapping can serve as an outlet to “lose yourself” and let loose.

Benz music is Brady’s rap alias. On Sound Cloud (soundcloud.com/benz-music) Benz has released 11 tracks in total. On his page he has achieved roughly 5,200 plays in total.

As a rapper Benz music fits more into the realm of alternative hip-hop than the genre’s mainstream counterpart. His beat selection is musical in essence, often incorporating classical instruments such as the piano and violin or samples from Jazz. In addition to this some of his tracks include periods without rapping, instead containing singing by female vocalists or just raw instrumental for the listener’s analysis and dissection.  All of his selections are original productions; notably he works closely with friend and peer Skyler Young (’14) , or Skyman, for his instrumentals.

His lyrics consist largely of personal experience, beliefs and aspirations, which make his songs seemly like a loosely-threaded but highly enticing story. He strives to remain grounded in everyday life, rapping about progression as an individual by analyzing personal faults and focusing on improvement. His desire to succeed within the music industry is apparent on every track, commenting frequently on the current state of hip-hop music and his future place in it. He is consistent with his rhyming patterns and sounds more comfortable and natural when recorded.  His songs are too dense, lyrically and instrumentally, to be fully comprehended and appreciated with a single listen. New gems of cleverness and insight are revealed with each additional listening of a track, and this only benefits Benz by beckoning listeners to come back.

On stage, Benz is focused. His movement, while not aggressively energetic, is calm and collected and energy is mentally devoted to provide flawless recitation. He is backed only by his instrumental which is outright ballsy and artistic; he is confident enough to ensure no performance slip ups and is so meticulous and thoughtful in lyric creation that he needs no extra vocal backing. He could probably recite all of his rhymes in his sleep.

Atlee: Atlee Gallimore (’13), while seemingly more shy and reserved, his passion comes out through his singing and music. Atlee lives on freestyling; if someone gives him a beat and a crowd, he will not hesitate to burst out into song. Poetry was Gallimore’s fountain of inspiration. His complex yet meaningful lyrics with similes and plays on words are inspired by Tupac Shakur’s poetry and music. He focuses on the process of writing and performing music; Gallimore writes multiple drafts of his music before he is satisfied with the result.

He lives a life of eat, sleep and rap. He creates and writes his music in his studios, and, taking his passion one step further, creates music videos. You can tell how engrossed he is by music through his music videos on YouTube or by simply listening to it.

Viewers throughout Los Angeles and beyond watch Gallimore’s videos. Gallimore uploaded his first YouTube video, “I’m A G” over one year ago and received unexpected praise and acknowledgment. His first public display of rapping got him hooked as he describes the “priceless” feeling of getting positive feedback for his hard work. Gallimore felt that YouTube was the best way to spread his material fast but also the best way to gain a fan base from viewers other than Samo students.

Gallimore strives to show a new style in the rap world. He wants to be known as the rapper who is versatile and unique but who can relate to his viewers in multiple different ways.

At just 18 years old, Gallimore is already releasing music that naturally fits into hip hop’s mainstream, American culture. His hub of distribution lies on YouTube, channel name AtleeTV, where 10 freestyles and two original songs have granted him approximately 31,200 total views.

In March 2012 he released his first, twelve track mix tape “Built to Last,” via hotnewhiphop.com. Like his freestyles on YouTube, Atlee’s beat selection is familiar to any modern hip-hop listener. Featuring productions popularized by industry giants such as Drake, Tyga, French Montana and DJ Khaled, Gallimore uses these instrumentals to back his own personal talent. In a live performance Atlee is dominantly energetic with his movement and shouting serving to stimulate the audience. He is more focused on self-promotion, dropping single verses over a variation of beats in order to provide a varied display of his talent. Additionally, he raps over his own pre-recorded vocals to ensure a smooth show.

Atlee’s freestyles are songs without a centralized lyrical topic, not songs with unwritten and unrehearsed lyrics. On tracks, he is predominantly a punchline rapper. His voice is smooth and suave, serving to build his witty lyrics up and follow through with a clean cut delivery. Throughout his music, his flow is uniform and doesn’t change in pace. Commonly, his subject matter is persistently about his swag, apathy towards haters, money, personal arrogance and Los Angeles. On songs with softer instrumentals, such as his “Diced Pineapples Freestyle,” (since removed from his channel) he supplements a motif throughout his music regarding female relationships, and the heartlessness that often exists within them. Additionally, he is a self proclaimed gangster, not in a gang related sense but rather a cool interpretation of the term, evident in his initials being A.G.

cwohrle@thesamohi.com
bweiss@thesamohi.com

With Samo’s 203-237 victory against Culver City High School on April 10 the boys’ golf team continued to advance in the standings being 6-3, and 3-3 in Ocean League. Their patch of success has caused several players to examine their futures in golf and for many, college play looms.

​According to team members and brothers Jose and Alex Sepulveda (’13), they both became interested in golf through their parents.

“I have been golfing for about ten years now, but I began seriously working on my game about five years ago,” Jose Sepulveda said. “Both my dad and grandfather played golf when I was little, so I would go out with them. I grew to like it and continued to play.”

Unique to his brother, Alex Sepulveda also saw the entrepreneurial advantages of the sport.

“[Golf] is a great sport to know how to play especially if you are planning on going into a business career later in life,” Alex Sepulveda said.

According to team captain and eight-year golf veteran Ryan Hicks (’15), his inspiration came via arguably the most well-known golfer in the world, Tiger Woods.

“I was inspired to play because of watching Tiger Woods on TV,” Hicks said. “I started golfing when I was eight years old, and have been golfing competitively for four years now.”

According to Hicks, although he is an underclassman, he is seriously considering pursuing golf at the college level.

“I want to play in a Division I program and stay in Calif.,” Hicks said.

Likewise, team member Vito Sipila (’13), hopes to continue golfing after his time at Samo.

“I am planning to try out for the [golf] team at UCLA in the summer,” Sipila said. “[To prepare] I have been playing in the school matches and tournaments, but plan to practice a lot over the summer. UCLA recruits most of their players, so the tryout will probably include a lot of players trying for a few spots. I am happy to have a chance.”

While the team will not advance any further in CIF, Sipila will continue in the individuals bracket.

akummer@thesamohi.com

Emma Gardner is a junior who is involved in Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial, tennis, choir and Site Governance. She is a frequent contributor to The Samohi.

One of the rarest things observed in conversation is a pure, unadulterated pause. We live in a fast-paced, mercurial society where silence is not merely scarce, but alien. Nature abhors a vacuum – silence. Those who can learn to master a well-placed pause will find a conversational weapon in this.

I discovered this tactic by accident, the result of my own awkwardness. I took a class at Princeton last summer. Upon completing the class, my peers and I were told we would receive our grades by mail within one week. After three agonizing weeks, I still had not received my grade, and resorted to calling the main office. Once I was on the phone with the right person, I asked about my grade.

“Nothing I can do,” came the response. “Our policy is clear. Everyone waits for their grades to come in the mail.” I was stunned into momentary speechlessness, not used to being so flatly refused.

The aggravated voice, which I soon recognized as the director of my program, grumbled, “Well, we normally don’t like to do that over the phone…” I was about to respond with a monologue of my reasonable expectations and, subsequently, the program’s unfulfilled promises, when I chose to delve way outside my comfort zone, and wait.

I said nothing. I knew he was an awkward guy, and figured that if I put the burden on him to respond, I might be able to get more out of him than with the contentious criticism I always seemed to fall back on. After another few seconds of awkward phone silence, his opposition crumbled: “I — I guess I can look up your grade manually… What did you say your name was?”

The lesson here is more than just that with a strategic pause, you can get your grades out of a recalcitrant registrar’s office: it is that silence can have a manipulative effect. With those who are conditioned to fear silence  or who may be ill-equipped to deal with an awkward pause in a conversation — this is an excellent device to employ.

Our Western mentality of instant gratification indulges this need for perpetual noise. We subconsciously feel the need to fill the silence with sound. Charles de Gaulle, who led France during and after World War II, wrote, “Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.”

The only time society condones silence is when one is read his or her Miranda rights. Don’t wait until a police officer advises you to remain silent to protect yourself — selectively use silence now to win arguments, to get other people to “incriminate” or reveal themselves, and to force a manipulative awkwardness.

We students should add the strategic pause to our debate tool belts.

eic@thesamohi.com