“Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,” Although is song is sung at every major sporting event and concerts, few people in this country actually know the words to it.

_The Star Spangled banner has been around for nearly 200 years but I most Americans don’t even know that there are four verses. Or even the line that comes after “twilight’s last gleaming,” how is it that we can have more people going to college than ever before in our country’s history but only a limited number of people know our own national anthem?

One of the most famous mess ups of The Star Spangled Banner was when Christina Aguilera said the wrong line at Super Bowl XLV (45). The correct line was, “O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming,” but she said “what so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming.” She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and four Grammys but she doesn’t know the correct words to the national anthem.

The Star Spangled Banner was originally a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. The poem was then set to the tune of a song written by John Stafford Smith. And from this poem/song, the U.S.’s motto, “In God we trust” was chosen. In 1931 The Star Spangled Banner became the national anthem through a congressional resolution under President Hoover.

Most recently, Steve Tyler butchered the national anthem. Tyler was a part of a band called Aerosmith and is now an American Idol judge. He performed the national anthem at a Ravens vs. Patriots game and he sings as if someone just pulled his hair. He made the national anthem sound like nails on a chalkboard.

Even more ironically, Lauren Alaina, an American Idol runner-up, sang at a Packers vs. Lions game and paused in the middle of the song, forgetting the lyrics. An American Idol doesn’t even know the words to the American national anthem.

In today’s society, some stadiums prerecord the national anthem and then have the singer lip sync to it in order to not mess up the words. This practice is used at Fenway Park in Boston and many other places. 

In 2004, the government sponsored the National Anthem Project after a poll showed that two out of three Americans did not know the lyrics of the national anthem. They created national anthem day which is September 14th.

There is an ever-growing list of celebrities from Roseanne Barr to Michael Bolton who utterly destroyed the national anthem. Even an Olympic gold medalist, Carl Lewis, has messed up the words of the national anthem.

Hey there reader!  As you probably know, you're on the CMHS Equestrian right now.  (and if you didn't, well.. surprise!)  But something that you probably don't know, is that the Equestrian actually has a sister website called Pegasus.  Pegasus has gone through some tough times but now its ready to take flight with a shiny new pair of wings.

Managing Editor and Curator, Kelsey Armstrong, helped this project get back off the ground. 

"The new Pegasus will be highlighting one senior artist a month, and their artwork will be showcased on the front page." 

Just as Kelsey described, Pegasus will now be a place where Senior Artists can let their work be seen by a lot more then would normally be possible.  The showcase includes many pieces by the artist, a small bio, and a video interview of the artist. 

Behind the scenes, David Luong, the lead Web Designer, helps put all of this into action.  His technological skill and know-how is what gives Pegasus its image and keeps it running.  But other then these two, there's one person who is responsible for reviving Pegasus in the first place, Sarah Yuen.  Sarah's dream is to restore Pegasus to its former glory and to set a new standard for CMHS arts.  
    
This revamp was done because the staff felt that the site was losing attention as it didn't display the art as efficient as it could've and they needed something new and interesting to bring back the traffic, and hopefully, turn the eyes of CMHS back towards the arts.  While the website is still undergoing changes, expect a brand new home for any student's art.

This month, our first showcased artist is Mitchell Grandia and his collection of retro, abstract graphics and photos.  Check out Pegasus for the inside look on how he creates and takes his pictures.
http://cmhspegasus.weebly.com/ 

Many high school students know Dr. Howell as that humorous and helpful high school United States History teacher or the devoted Make a Wish club advisor, but little may know about his fulfilling life before talking about the importance of past presidents and coordinating the sales of lollipops. 

Dr. Jerry Howell was born in Oklahoma along with two younger sisters and a younger brother.

_"Oldest, best looking, smartest," joked Howell when asked his comparison to his siblings.
Born in Oklahoma, he was an 'Okie', constantly rejected by others and disliked by many as a result of his family’s migration from Oklahoma to California due to the terrible condition the Dust Bowl of the 1930s created. The Dust Bowl led to millions of acres of farmland becoming useless, and hundreds of thousands of people forced to leave their homes. In California they found economic conditions little better during the Great Depression than when they had left. 
    
Dr. Howell and his family lived in a shed and were not able to move into a house until he was 10 years old.

_Although his mother "did not finish school" and was a single parent, she was constantly working hard to “go PTA meetings and put me in cub scouts which cost $178, she got me a letterman jacket and high school ring," commented Howell about the great effort his mother made to make sure he grew up with a great life.

He was a typical, well known, well liked guy in high school; the ASB president, homecoming captain, football and basketball player, he even won a "best athlete award". 

"Football was my saving grace, it’s what finally got me out of Greyson." 

Dr. Howell's passion for high school football enabled him to get a full-ride football scholarship to San Jose State. This passion continued even after college and Howell started assistant coaching college football at Claremont College. He then coached at New Mexico State where he met his wife of 44 years. After that he went to Eastern Oregon to Stonybrooke College and after years of traveling back and forth around the country and working hard in something that was very important to him, was told by his wife that he "needed to get a real job, she said you have all these shirts from all these schools but you don't really have anything, you need something more reliable."

After 35 years of college coaching and teaching a few college courses in 1993, as much as he loved being a football coach, he decided to change to high school football instead in 1999.

_"I could be fired anytime and didn’t make very much...my wife had always had more important jobs than I did but still moved for me, so when she said to stop I did."  
  
In 1999 he went to high school coaching with the Pacific Coast league and then began to coach for CMHS.

"We were League champs for years in a row."

Howell had a lot of great memories as a coach, "I would make the team sing the Alma Mater after game and they never understood why but they got used to it,"  and as a regular and AP United States history teacher receiving his doctorate recently.  
    
Howell now enjoys his life with his three "kids" his dogs, "[My wife and I] wanted kids but realized we would be terrible parents because we're never home." His dogs Jasper, Scarlet, and Dodger definitely do keep him busy "I just got Dodger and he is a great man but he is breaking my back; he left patches in the grass and got into the pipes and the planters." 

Dr. Howell , a previous college and high school football coach with a die hard work ethic now lives a "life of Fun and games, my wife and I now live in a retirement community. We compete in paddle ball tournaments and go to senior, senior Proms that have a play and a nice dinner and then a slow dance," adds Howell about his seniority.  

Dr. Jerry Howell is a great example of how there is much more to a person than meets the eye.

_People with their heads replaced by those of dogs. What will the people think of next? The new site is being called “female dogs” of Estancia and consists of pictures of people who are most likely kids from Estancia High School having their faces pasted over by the faces of dogs.

They are using Tumblr; a social network that can be used for blogs as well. Consider it a mix of Facebook and Twitter. It is mainly used to upload large files, such as pictures and videos, and share them with anyone on the web who is willing to go to their site. This feature was probably what made the maker(s) of this elaborate makeover plan to use the website.

As I stumbled over these pictures after hearing about it on the previous day, it did not sit well with me that most of the pictures had words of vulgarity with them. Let alone the fact that they are calling some people words which will not be uttered in this article. They should probably change the name of their group to something that will not lead them to being kicked out of the Tumblr system, or being attacked by the school on grounds of unnecessary language and profanity. 

But the pictures are pretty cute. If only they would make the dog faces more aligned with the bodies. The whole site seems to have been made by either one person who like photo shopping or a group of them who like it. There aren’t many pictures posted up, but the ones who are seem to consist of different people every time, so it’s easy to guess that they are using pictures of the whole community. Hopefully, they are asking permission from the people in these pictures before they post them or else they are going to run into some trouble with issues such as harassing.  They are obviously doing this for fun, unless it’s some wild scheme to get revenge; although I have to admit this is some weird form of vengeance. 

It only has pictures of kids that are believed to be from Estancia so far, but I doubt that they will stop there or if another school will copy their idea to an extent. I know that if my school had a site like this, I would probably give them a picture so that I could have a dog face. What would people say of me? Most would probably say “Hey, how did you make yourself look so good in this picture?” 

There’s a new kid on the block, competing now with the rest of the clubs at CMHS for your support, the Black Student Union. BSU has just recently been formed and with the wide variety of clubs on campus, there’s no shock that it would. With successful clubs already such as the Latino Culture Club and the Pacific Islander Club that celebrate the ethnicities and cultures of Latinos and Pacific Islanders, the forming of BSU will be no different. But the idea of having a black club came as a joke to its founding members.

“At the beginning of the year, me and a couple of people were joking around, saying we should have an ‘all black club’ and what not, and we were just joking. Then one day a girl named Kameron Hamilton told me that she wanted to start a club and asked me if I wanted to be president. And I asked her ‘What’s the club’s name?’ and she said ‘Black Student Union’ and I was like oh sure! Cause we had been joking around about it, so that’s how it started.” Said Tashi Hyppolite, president of BSU, when asked how the club came to be.

Even though the idea of BSU was thrown around, in all seriousness, they have important plans coming up.

“In February we’re planning this event, because it’s Black History Month. So we’re planning on doing a lot of stuff for that month. Something that shows the history of African Americans.”

The first meeting, as of now, has still not yet been set up, but they will meet every Wednesday. They’re supervisor is Mr. Lindfors, but they usually meet up in Mrs. Lindfors’ room. Everyone is welcome, especially since Tashi is still looking for a Treasurer and a Secretary for the club. If you have any questions about the club, you can always ask Tashi.

On any last words about the club, she said, “It’s gonna be really fun. Full of laughter, a lot of people should join ‘cause it’s going to be really fun. It’s bomb.com!” 

_Ever wanted some ramen close to home?  Well your wish has finally been granted!  The steadily growing chain of tonkotsu ramen, Ramen Yamadaya, has just arrived about three blocks from CMHS near Stater Bros.  Yamadaya has locations in Culver City, Torrance, Westwood and now, Costa Mesa.  Ramen Yamadaya is known for its variations of pork ramen bowls in generous portions and with unique taste.

_
Yamadaya is a good place for someone to discover ramen for the first time as Ramen is not the most “good-looking” food, and is difficult to eat for the first time. The selection is simple and easy to understand, so you will not be overwhelmed with choices.  Choices include:  a typical Pork flavored ramen, a Tokyo inspired soy ramen, a thick and fatty port ramen, and a spicy ramen that can be ordered with three levels of spicy.  To complement the easy selection, the service is always willing to answer any questions a newcomer might have.  

Although, while the selection is easy to understand, it is also pretty limited in choice of flavor, as Yamadaya only features pork ramen and these choices are just different variations of one particular flavor.  This is probably because it is the restaurant's specialty, but someone who goes there often could find themselves craving something new after a few visits.  In regards to atmosphere, Yamadaya is a typical family friendly environment and the restaurant's interior is also pleasing to the eye.  It features a rural Asia feel with “stone-like” tables and decorations to match.  Additionally, the restaurant is very spacious and very well laid out, so you can enjoy your big bowl of noodles without having to worry about bothering your neighbor.  Lastly, if all those noodles weren't quite enough to satisfy your appetite, Yamadaya offers a free side-dish of noodles or steamed rice to anyone who shows a Student ID.

Tony Nguyen says, “I’ve already eaten there twice and both times I left happy and full", and Sushil Bhakta praised, “That was my first bowl of ramen and it couldn’t have been better."

Overall, Ramen Yamadaya has a lot of potential as a distinctive local restaurant, but also a fair amount of room for improvement.

The Queen’s Bakery is a new bakery that recently opened up off of Baker and Fairview.

The Queen’s Bakery has some of the best cupcakes and sweets I have ever had. The cupcakes there are moist and the flavors of the frosting accent the cake very nicely. 

Sarah Yuen said, “The food is great but the feeling and the ambiance is adorable.” 

They have a wide array of flavors of cupcakes as well, flavors like chocolate, coconut, strawberry vanilla, red velvet, and chocolate rose-water. The chocolate rose-water tastes very floral. The cake tastes like flowers as well as the frosting and even the cute fondant flower on top of the cupcake. It is a little over-powering, making it hard to eat more than three or four bites. But those few bites are delicious.

The cupcakes at The Queen’s Bakery are very heavy. They are not huge cupcakes but they are just packed with flavors and sugar that if you do finish an entire cupcake, you will be full for a while. That’s why I suggest splitting food with a friend, unless you get one of their many “mini” desserts.

Their red velvet is a very rich cupcake that had a nice simple frosting to help offset the taste of the red velvet. It was a little dry but still very appetizing. 

However, the strawberry vanilla cupcake was quiet opposite of the red velvet. The strawberry vanilla was very moist and the frosting was very strawberry flavored. The frosting tasted exactly like strawberry ice cream. It was one of the best tasting frostings I have ever tried. The real cupcake part of it wasn’t the focus, the frosting was, and you could eat the frosting all by itself.

They have more than cupcakes; they also have tiramisu, cake pops, opera cake, éclairs, cream puffs, mousse shooters, napoleons, and macaroons.

Their tiramisu, which is an Italian cake, is good. It was not the best that I have ever had but it is the best that I have found in Costa Mesa.

_
I tried their chocolate mousse shooter and it contained three different layers of chocolate mousse. The mousse was very light and fluffy. All the chocolate flavors worked well together and it was a very good mousse.

The opera cake, which is a type of French coffee sponge cake, was very nice. It tasted like coffee and then at the end you could taste a hint of caramel. The coffee flavor was not too overpowering and was lighter than most of the other options so it is good to have as an actual dessert.

They also make sandwiches and salads for lunch. I tried their turkey basil pesto, which is one of their more popular choices, and I can see why. The sandwich didn’t have too much basil and there were sun-dried tomatoes in it, which were a little tough, but they added a good new flavor to the sandwich. The turkey was thicker and the cheese helped to calm some of the flavor of the basil. I ordered a peach mango Italian soda with my sandwich and to my surprise the drink was actually very good. It tasted like Boba with carbonation.  

The atmosphere of the café is very girly and very welcoming. It has a lot of bright colors and feels very regal. It definitely invites you in.

I would suggest that everyone tries Queen’s Bakery because it is a cute bakery with pretty good food. Queen’s Bakery gets four out of five stars in my book.

Costa Mesa High Schools endangered species day, hosted my EMA academy, took place this past Tuesday at lunch in the senior quad. 

For those who don’t know what EMA is, The Environmental and Marine Academy is a specialized academy for students interested in careers in green industry, sustainability, marine science, and more.

_
Throughout the day, as students walked around campus, they saw animal footprints drawn with chalk on the pavement, and signs of the different endangered species about what you could do to help preserve and protect them. One of EMA Academy’s main focuses was to emphasize the fact that anyone, and everyone, could in some way help protect endangered species.

Mrs. Rasmussen said “I think it’s super important that students understand their everyday actions can help endangered species.”

_When lunchtime rolled around, the EMA Academy had their event set up in the senior quad. They had a spinner which consisted of different colors, and whatever color you landed on, you picked up a small square of paper that was your color. On that piece of paper was a question about how you could help save an endangered species, and if you were correct you got a lollipop. While this was going on, they also had a water balloon toss. This toss was called “Save the Species!” and each balloon had a different animal drawn on it. The winners of the first water balloon toss were Alexa Negrillo and Rudy Aguirre, and the second round winners were Cody Auterson, and Misael Ortega. After that point people were just tossing water balloons for fun. 

When asked her opinion on how the event went, senior, Raquel Friedmann responded with “I thought it was very successful, educational, and promoted endangered species awareness.”

"Who found the baby in their bread?" A question asked at this celebration had many intrigued with the tradition behind it.

The Spanish Department, headed by Mrs. Ayala participated in La Dia de Los Tres Reyes cultural celebration this past Friday. 

June 6th is the traditional day in Latin American countries, especially Mexico, in which a party is hosted to recognize the coming of the Kings. This day is often viewed as the end of the 12 days of Christmas, because it is exactly 12 days after Christmas and ends the two month holiday celebrations.  This day commemorates the arrival in Bethlehem of the three Wise Men: Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar who followed the Star of Bethlehem, bearing gifts of gold (oro in Spanish), frankincense (incensia in Spanish) and myrrh (mira in Spanish) for the baby Jesus.

Traditionally children anxiously await waking up on January 6th to find toys and gifts left by the Reyes Magos (The Three Wise Men).  In some regions, it is customary to leave out shoes in which gifts may be given by the visiting Wise Men.  

The Dia de los Reyes is usually celebrated with a merienda (a light supper) consisting of hot chocolate, and the "Rosca de Reyes," which is a huge oval sweet bread with dry fruit, decorations, and sprinkled with sugar on top. Inside the bread, there is a ceramic doll which represents Baby Jesus.  

Although this Tres Reyes celebration did not include gifts, it did include the passing on of knowledge and Latino culture from Mrs. Ayala, Ms. Davalos, and Mr. Olier about the history and importance of this date. It also included the great thrill of students each receiving their share of the Rosca de Reyes (Ring of the Kings) in which some of them found a baby Jesus inside. In Mexico, whoever finds a baby Jesus in their piece of bread hosts the last party of the holiday celebration and makes tamales for everyone in attendance. Alejandra Olivarez, a freshmen student in Ayala's Spanish for Spanish Speakers class was one of the first to find a little surprise while enjoying her bread.

The coloring, songs of the Holy Kings in the background, and the three Piñatas filled with candy also added to the cultural experience of the night. 

"It was an interesting cultural experience," commented Olier, while attending his first cultural celebration since being a part of the CMHS Spanish Department teaching Spanish 1, 2, and 3. 

Ayala and Davalos commented saying, "There were a lot more people that came this time compared to La Dia de Los Muertos, but the real party in May (Spring themed Spanish Camp) will be even more fun." 

" I learned that there was the oro, the mira, and inscensio (gifts given to baby Jesus by the Three Kings)," commented Berenice Cervantes while her friend Maria Rojas added "I liked the rosca and the Pinata." 

Alyssa Rosenthal, a 9th grade student in Davalos Spanish class, along with Mary Alban, a student in Davalos' AP Spanish class both stated they liked the "food and the extra credit." 

Whether it was the piñata or the points that drove the students to want to participate in this event, overall "it was successful and a fun experience for everyone," concluded Davalos.

“There was the Rose Bowl and the Rose Parade; it was really a celebration for New Years.” This statement from history teacher, Mrs. Olguin, expressed how she felt about the fact there wasn’t a lot of kids at school on the Monday after our holiday winter break. “I didn’t care so much they weren’t here so I didn’t plan [on moving ahead with lesson plans.]”

_A lot of questions were sprung up under the issue that students in the Newport Mesa Unified School District had to attend school on Monday, January 2, 2012. The reason being, that day was considered a federal holiday. Banks, and many stores, and companies were closed. 

According to one of Mesa’s math teachers Mr. Poveda, all teachers were given many year-long schedules to choose from. These calendars included holidays to take off, when to start, and when to end the year. Since the school year has to have a certain amount of school days. The calendar most agreed upon was where we were scheduled to have school on Monday. If we had no school on Monday, all staff and students would have attended the day after Halloween, which most remember, we had that day off.

_According to an article in the Daily Pilot regarding the subject, “The district's calendar committee went back to the table and made a recommendation to the district to take Monday off and add a school day elsewhere. The classified employees union agreed to the change, but an agreement couldn't be reached with the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers.” Apparently this federation of teachers “ran out of time” to change the calendar.

The school wide attendance on Monday was drastic compared to any other school day this year. An approximated number of 900 students out of about 1,750 students at Mesa were absent. Overall about 76% of elementary and middle school students and 82% of high schools were at school. While about a quarter of the teachers were even absent. Poveda goes on to express that teachers had no excuse not to be at school.  

That fact that this issue was observed in 2010 and could have been resolved, poses an even bigger problem.