State of the School

by Ilan Ben-Meir, Senior Class President.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the state of our school is rising. Last year was a year of transition, with an incoming principal, and outgoing ASB advisor, and a less-than-perfect student government. Now that things have begun to settle, I can report with confidence that, while this year will have its challenges, it is sure to be better for us and our school than the year past.
First, I would like to share with you my impressions of my first week as a part of Samohi leadership. This year's leadership is not like the leadership of years gone by. While past years were distant and isolated, this year's ASB is approachable, inspired, and eager to hear ideas other than their own. Any feelings you may hold about ASB ought to be reconsidered. I am not saying that leadership is fixed, only that in my opinion it finally has the potential to live up to its promises and responsibilities. Whether or not it does depends on you getting involved and making your voices heard. I assure you that as long as I am around, you will have at least one advocate, and based on my impressions of the rest of the class, I believe you will always have many more. In short, I'm asking that you give leadership a chance this year, and in turn, I promise that I will always be honest with you about what I see. For now, though, things actually look pretty good.
So the good news is that your government may finally do what you want it to. The bad news, as I'm sure you've heard, is that Samohi has lost its public parking. On Tuesday, the city council voted to make the streets south of Pico and west of Lincoln permit only during the school day. While this may sound like terrible news, enough students came to the meeting to protest this turn of events that the mayor has instructed the city to look into solving our parking problem, possibly by opening the new parking structure on 4th Street to students. This is an ongoing process, and if we want the best results, we all need to make sure the city knows how we feel. I'll keep you all posted on this as it develops.
As its only the 5th day of school, not much else has happened. We're already planning the first pep rally, which you can be sure will be the first of many. We're also going to have a magazine drive, which is a great way to get people you know to give the school money. It turns out dinner for prom was bought five years ago, but we're trying to find other ways to make tickets less expensive. As always, your thoughts are appreciated, and you can always email me at ibenmeir@gmail.com or call at (310) 909-3739. Until then, stay funky.

Varsity Football vs. Hueneme

by Josh Miller.

The Vikings beat Hueneme by a final score of 46-21.

Game Notes:

• QB Ryan Katz threw for 255 yds with 2 TDs. He also had 4 rushes for 46 yards.
• WR Jon Dunn caught 7 passes for 120 yards with 2 TDs.
• RB Vince Lawrence rushed for 62 yards on 13 carries with 3 TDs
• CB Chrisitan Ross intercepted 3 passes in the FIRST HALF.
• LB Taylor Wright returned an interception for a TD in the second quarter.

Next Up:

Palisades High; Friday 9/7, 7 pm, Santa Monica College (Corsair Field)

Back to School Brawls

By Dexter Horthy.

Are you guys serious? I have been on campus for less than a week and already I have witnessed 3 fights. Is someone honestly reading his English Syllabus thinking, “man, I have to fuck that guy up today…”

…!?!??!?!

How are you that pissed off? Are you honestly so outraged as to knock somebody out based on 4 days worth of conflict? Fighting is not only immature and a waste of everything, it is detrimental to our school’s purpose. It sends a message that this isn’t a place of education, but one of violence and pain. Now, I’m not going to argue that school isn’t painful; but honestly, come here to learn. I’m not telling you never to hit somebody, but I implore you, fellow students, to curb your aggression for the 7 hours a day you attend Samo.

On another note...

As we reset our alarm clocks after 2 months of dormancy and renew our bus passes, here are some simple words of wisdom to lift your spirits. Enjoy!

"You send your child to the schoolmaster, but 'tis the schoolboys who will educate him."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire."
--William Butler Yeats

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught."
--Oscar Wilde

First Day Choir Thoughts

by Matt Kramer.

I am in the choir at Samohi and on the first day of class, Mr. Huls, the choir director, excitedly told us that we now had air-
conditioning. He mentioned that the music building was one of two or three other buildings at Samohi to be air-conditioned. While I am all for improving our school's music program, and dedicating money and resources to it, I do not think thousands of dollars should be invested in air-conditioning while our teachers are underpaid and classes are often overcrowded. Maybe it's just me, but I think we ought not worry about the temperature in one our classrooms at Samohi until we can ensure that every student has a desk to sit in.

Theatre Update

by Zac Geoffray.

The Samohi Theatre Department has announced its first two shows:

Little Women & Bye Bye Birdie

Auditions are after school on September 17, 18, and 19 in the Humanities Center. Bring a one-minute monologue for Monday, a one-minute musical theatre song for Tuesday, and dancing shoes for Wednesday. Callbacks on a later date.

All Your Bass Are Belong To Us - Join RWS

by Salonee Bhaman (current RWS member) and Lauren Feldman.

As students, we've all attended at least one SAMOHI event – whether it be an assembly, film festival, convention, or even a pep rally. These events usually go down without a (major) hitch, with near perfect audio/visual synchronization to aid the plethora of extremely interesting presentations and events occurring throughout SAMO. But the success of these events is really owed to the people who don't get much credit for them at all: the people who work for hours setting up the technology to make them possible. Remember the last pep rally you attended? Well, maybe not, seeing as it was quite a while ago thanks to our beautiful artists in '07. But while you were busy cheering yourself hoarse and/or laughing skeptically at those around you, the chances are you didn't notice the small but capable army of students slaving away on the corner of the stage amid a large tangle of wires.

Next Friday, the silent workforce behind SAMO's audiovisual crew holds their first recruitment rally of the year. Running With Speakers (RWS) is a great opportunity to become more involved with your school and your peers, learn the ropes of theatrical lighting and sound, rack up community service hours, and gain access to many events RWS is in charge of. In addition to the knitty gritties for resumes and applications, Running With Speakers is also a valuable camaraderie-building experience. After all, it is highly doubtful that you'll find such a rare combination of sarcasm, huge work ethic, chronic lethargy, begrudging affection, awkward yet endearing techies, and half joking spurts of abuse all melded into one convenient organization. So on Friday, September 21st, we urge you to come by the science quad to sign your soul away and join us for the year.