This Halloween weekend, the Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park held its 20th annual “Boo at the Zoo” event.

Hundreds of children crowded the fundraising event dressed up in their fun little costumes as they enjoyed a night of trick-or-treating, storytelling, and interactive animal presentations at the zoo.

This event draws hundreds of families in every year and serves as a fundraiser for the preservation of the animals at the zoo.

Kent Yamaguchi, the director of the zoo, says that Saturday night "Had the most attendance we've seen in a while. We had more than 1500 guests come."

Boo at the Zoo is an event directed mainly towards kids. Due to the fact that it is in the evening from 5:30 to 8 pm, most of the animals are fast asleep, and with most attractions closed, the event's purpose is a "family-friendly, merry-not-scary zoo atmosphere." Besides trick or treating stations located at every turn of the zoo, there were also educational animal presentations where families sat down to learn facts about some of the zoo’s animals.

There was a separate section for a slightly older audience, "Teen Scream", which hosted a haunted house "filled with thrills and chills," said Yamaguchi.

Though it may sadden some to know it, the animals residing in the zoo were not dressed up for Halloween.

The iPhone 4S is the next revolution by Apple. 

The 4S has the usual features of an iPhone, plus a few things that are unique to the 4S.

For starters, the 4S functions very smoothly compared to its predecessors. Web browsing and multi-tasking have refined and are much more user-friendly. Battery life is also very important in this era of smart phones, and the 4S can last approximately two days without charge. This includes any browsing, calling, or music playing you may be doing in that time.  

Now let’s get to that thing that makes this phone so different. Siri is a program that is connected to the internet and can be used to perform basic functions through speech. To activate it, you either hold the home button for three seconds, or hold the phone to your ear and speak. 

So far, Siri has been everything that Apple said it would be. It can pull up the weather, tell the date and time, can set reminders, and even send text messages for you. 

Siri is also capable of responding to certain phrases such as "Hello" or "How are you?" The only drawback is that to perform the previously stated functions, you need to use very specific commands and avoid phrases like, "Can you show me," or, "What is”, lest you activate a different command. This only slightly affects its usefulness and is likely to be improved in future updates.

Kennedy High School recently stopped giving students color coded ID's and notebooks.

The high school issued different colored ID's and notebooks to students based on each student’s CST (California Standardized Tests) scores. White was given to the lowest score range, while black was given to the highest.

Parents were outraged because they believed that it was discrimination based on CST scores.

Kennedy’s ID's and notebooks are very similar to CMHS/MS’s "Gold Cards."

The ID's and notebooks at Kennedy gave students free admission to games, discounts at school dances and local businesses, and could stand in a different lunch line, whereas CMHS/MS’s gold cards give free admission to home games and dances, and quicker access to nutrition and lunch lines.

In the past few years, Newport Mesa Unified School District has made a push to reduce D’s and F’s in its schools. NMUSD has been pushing this policy on administration, causing administration to force it onto teachers. This is causing teachers to change their curriculum, creating more work for themselves, by accepting late work, and letting students retest.

Honestly students, if you knew you could retest at any time, what would make you study diligently before the first test? The new system forces teachers to be very lenient with their students. This leaves teachers with one other option besides changing the curriculum: just merely changing their grading scale.

Both options are not exactly good ones and are causing teachers to drastically change their way of teaching and grading. It is understandable that the district wants its schools to have less D’s and F’s, but this system is not exactly helping students, it is giving them a break and making it easier on them. However, that does not necessarily mean that they will fix any of their grades.

The english, math, science departments on campus are looking to solve a few of these problems with after school ZAP and tutoring. 

This year's Knotts’ Scary Farm was very well done.

The costumes looked authentic and the make-up looked horrendous--in a good way of course. The mazes were almost outdone and the actors were very into their characters. The rides were fantastic as usual and some even had some decorations up to match a theme of the designer's choosing.

The eerie streets are the first thing that one notices when entering the amusement park. The general darkness combined with well-placed fog machines start to make shadows lurk in every corner and play tricks on your mind. Monsters roam the streets in costumes that could put some horror movies to shame.

Roaming actors put on a spooky façade corresponding to their costume. The park allows them to make jokes, loud noises, drag shovels, and even blow air on your neck. They can do almost anything they want to scare you, so long as they do not touch you.

Then there are the mazes which is one of the main points of going to this event. They all have special themes such as “Doll Factory”, where an evil doll-maker takes girls as victims and turns them into dolls, or "Virus Z", set in the small town of Pleasanton, where a zombie virus has spread killing numerous amounts of people--including children.

I thought the mazes were very well done this year and I liked that they changed some got creative in how to make us jump, for example by hanging over a wall and leaning down in front of you as you pass. However, in some mazes, I felt there were some key characters missing. I remember them being there last year so this was a bit of a disappointment. All in all, the mazes were very good.

On to the rides. Classics like Xcelerator and Silver Bullet were thrilling as ever. The Log Ride and the Calico Mine Ride were changed into Halloween themes. The Log Ride was turned into the haunting story of Sleepy Hollow, and the headless horseman shows up repeatedly . In the Calico Mine Ride, the theme was changed from last Halloween’s spider theme to "The Invasion Beneath." The theme shows involves an alien invasion going on below the surface.

This year's Knotts’ Scary Farm event could have been improved, but I loved it!

Jonathan “Fluffy” Elias dreams of becoming a professional NFL player. It makes sense. He is tall, large, and tough looking. The person he aspires to be, though, is a little unexpected.

“The person I look up to most is my mom. She’s a survivor.” Seven years ago, Fluffy’s mother fought and beat breast cancer. Fluffy thinks about this and her every day.

A pink mouth guard, pink cleats, a pink Mohawk and his mother’s pink bandanna are all worn not with the idea of a joke in mind or to seem like a momentary supporter but to display his lifelong commitment to support the fight against breast cancer.

“When she says, 'Fluffy I like your hair,' it means more to me than when anyone else says it.”

To Fluffy, his pink mohawk is more than just a cool hair style, it’s something that ties him closer to his mother and other women with breast cancer.


Fluffy’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was ten.  This forced him to mature faster than some of his friends.

“I never played outside or went home and played video games after school, I knew I wasn’t going home to a normal household I was going home to my mom who was sick and needed help with getting food, getting out of bed, getting dressed and I was always there for her.”

All this work and hardship made him appreciate his mother and perhaps that was what made him both tough and ‘fluffy.’ The empathy he shows is beyond his years.

“My mom is my best friend... I’m a true momma’s boy... If I could I would have [gone through] the disease for her, the seven years of chemotherapy, the pain, all of it."

Jonathan plans on getting a tattoo in recognition of his mom which will be a pink breast cancer ribbon with his mother’s name and a heart in it surrounded by an angel wing on either side, tattooed on the left side of his arm which is the side in which his mother was diagnosed with cancerous cells. “She’s my guardian angel, no matter what she’s always there for me and I want to always be there for her no matter what.”
           

Elias is a big man with an even bigger heart, which explains why he is so known as “Fluffy”. He ends with mentioning how much he supports the awareness of breast cancer as well as the women affected by it, “I want people to know that there is a man out there who is honored to wear pink in support of breast cancer and who cares about it, I also want to say to them don’t give up, always fight to live another day.” And for those who may not be personally affected by anything like this to remember “to never take life for granted.”


Fluffy's experience with his mother's cancer has only made him stronger, more determined, and more loving, “Every time I get on that field and am doing sprints, I look down at her bandanna and my cleats and say to myself 'I can finish these sprints and push myself because she pushed for seven years, she’s a fighter and I love her for that!”

This past week was Red Ribbon Week. But does it work?

The largest drug prevention campaign in the entire U.S., it began after the death of a police officer, Enrique Camarena. 

He went undercover with the Mexican police to investigate the police corruption by the drug lords. He was abducted and his tortured body was found one month later. His friends started Red Ribbon Week to try to stop the illegal trafficking of drugs and to inform the community about staying drug free.

Many people have lost their lives in the drug war, yet somehow the drugs still get into the U.S. I am thankful for those people have put their lives on the line and they will always be remembered for what they did for this country.

None the less, if teenagers want to do drugs, they will do drugs. 

Making them illegal will only make teenagers want it even more. Teen-hood is the time to be rebellious because in the future they won’t be able to…at least not without harsher punishments. 

Teenagers are using this time now to get it out of their systems and experience everything they possibly can to create lasting memories that will fill them in their old age.

Trying to restrict teenagers often has the opposite effect. A teenager might sign and say that they will never do drugs, but then turn around and do drugs because they can. It’s also a way for them to give authority a big slap in the face, which teenagers love to do.

Of course teenagers should be informed about the down side of doing drugs and be informed of other ways of dealing with their problems. But in the end, it is a teen’s choice to try drugs or to live a drug free life. There is no need to have an entire week set aside to try to get teenagers to not do drugs.


All photos by Angel Fisk

Magic. An illusion. It has been described as such by those who cannot comprehend what is happening before their eyes. What is happening is known as quantum levitation.

A very thin disk of sapphire, coated with yttrium barium copper oxide, is dunked in liquid nitrogen until its temperature is about -300 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes the disk able to conduct electricity without resistance or loss of energy, making it a superconductor.

When an object transfers from its regular state to its superconducting state, it consistently gives off magnetic fields from its interior, leaving only a thin layer on the surface. This is known as the Meissner effect. Superconducting objects are also diamagnetic, meaning when an outside magnetic field is applied to it, it will exert a magnetic field of its own to counteract the outside field, locking it in place.

In the linked video, you will see that some of the researchers at the Tel-Aviv University have created a track of magnets in a large circle. When they place the superconducting disk above it, it locks into place. This occurs because the fields oppose one another, but there is still some of the magnetic field that gets through, and creates what is known as flux tubes. These tubes move, but the superconductor tries to stop it, which makes it appear to freeze in mid-air. The disk can be tilted at different angles, can be suspended both right-side up and up-side down, and can be sent flying around the track.

Now, don't start putting hover-boards on your Christmas lists just yet. Quantum levitation can only be achieved by having a superconductor like this. Until a superconductor can be created that doesn't need to be -300 degrees Fahrenheit or colder, you probably won't see them mass produced anytime soon. Regardless, it's quite a fun little experiment, isn't it?

This emerging meme of “I wear a _____ now. _____ are cool.”, was inspired by the long-running show, Doctor Who.

This long-running series has gathered a large following; therefore, any hit line on the show will likely make it's way onto the internet.

The original line was used by The Doctor, (the main character of the show, who happens to be from an alien race known as Time Lords, and who travels in a time machine designed to look like a police box.), when one of the other main characters asked him about his bow tie. He responded with “Bow ties are cool” and an inquisitive stare, almost questioning the character as to why they thought bow ties weren't cool.

Apparently, a month after the episode aired in the UK, one of the menswear retailer chains saw bow tie sales increase by over 90%.

There is a Facebook page under the name “Bow ties are cool”. That page has over 14,000 likes, as of October 15th, 2011. Later episodes had The Doctor use variations of the line to describe “uncool” things as “cool”. Such items included fezzes, stetsons, and bunk beds. One can only imagine what new things will be deemed “cool” by The Doctor...

Pictures and videos taken from:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/11th_doctor_1222.jpg
http://www.dwamag.com/media/10254/jokesbig.jpg
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/078/e/8/the_doctor_and_his_stetson_by_dh001-d3c1d45.jpg
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_le86f5XKb21qbr9qko1_500.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaigYRAItZs

 Pro by Nakita Rico

            Recent polls on the significance and overall worth of Make-A-Wish continue to be nearly even though the remarkable organization does nothing but work to “enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

            The Make-A-Wish club at Costa Mesa High School has just finished collecting the donations for the well-known and truly remarkable organization whose main goal is to provide children with illnesses and terminal diseases a chance to make their wishes and dreams come true. Though the club on campus continues to show its support for the inspiring organization, many others cannot seem to understand its great importance and worth in the lives of these young patients.

            This non-profit organization has been around since 1980 and continues to grant the wish of an ill child every 40 minutes in the United States. The innocent and unsuspecting children that are referred to in this program are able to enjoy life and receive a quality of life that they are not able to enjoy on a daily basis. Between battling the horrible symptoms and side effects of their illness, whether it is life threatening or temporary, attending various appointments, being in countless surgeries and constantly taking countless prescription medicines and drugs, these kids have at least earned a chance for something to go exactly as they planned for once.

            So many of these children wish for the simplest things that many people can partake in every day or reward themselves with regularly, such as a going shopping or spending a day at the zoo. These wishes, though accompanied with more broad and definitely harder to accomplish wishes, are fulfilled every day for children that want nothing more than to be able to spend a week, day, or even a moment to experience what other ‘normal’ children get to experience every day.

            Yes there are some families that see this organization as a paid vacation and there have been incidences of children that were not citizens of the United States applying for the program and having their wish come true, but just because there are a few people that take advantage of the program, doesn’t mean the organization itself is not a life changing program that gives experience to so many unfortunate kids who just want that pink playhouse or to finally be a superhero.

            Overall, if nothing else is to be said about this foundation, one thing everyone can agree on is that the unfortunate event of an innocent, defenseless child being stricken with an illness or terminal disease is nothing to debate about It touches the hearts of all, and this organization is doing its best to comfort the hearts of the children that are put in this situation.

Con by Kayla Javier

            Make-A-Wish is wasting your money!

            Sure, I applaud Make-A-Wish’s efforts in raising money for sick children. Some of my close friends are Make-A-Wish members. More people should be as involved in helping others as Make-A-Wish members.  I know for a fact that Make-A-Wish members at CMHS do so much more than pass around that guilt box for spare change. They have car washes, sell lollipops, and participate in Club Rush among other things.

            That being said, Make-A-Wish is a waste of money. Make-A-Wish spends thousands and thousands of dollars a day making children’s "wishes" come true. I think that the money could be better spent on finding cures for these life threatening diseases.

            I know someone with a life threatening illness. One of my friends was granted her wish about six years ago. At the age of twelve, her wish was a puppy and she got one. Tootsie was a long haired miniature Dachshund, which can cost up to $1,500. Also, Tootsie, as cute as he was, cost her parents even more money for food and care alongside her hospital bills. And let's face it; a dog adopted from the pound would have made a twelve year old just as happy.

            The rest of her wish money was spent on a shopping spree. A twelve year old doesn’t know what to do with a hundred dollars let alone all the money that she got. She spent it all on clothes that don't even fit her anymore.

            How did this really better her life? She started college recently, but is struggling in her classes as she’s often in the hospital. If her wish money had gone to curing cystic fibrosis, she might be just like any other college freshman right now.

            Maybe Make-A-Wish could compromise and spend half of its money on research and use the rest for wishes. Would you rather give a child a day of fun or a lifetime of happiness?