It’s about the big meal pp.8-9 Food is a focal point for teens all year round by Zeetz Jones at http://flickr.com/photos/78695167@N00/306197417 The Armijo Signal Armijo High School, Fairfield November 2012 Volume XVII, Issue III Superband earns #1 in NorCal Marching, music, showmanship, auxiliary outscore all others Why vote? By Angela Balolong By James Zheng Staff writer Copy editor The cheers of proud Indian spirit Voting has always been a echoed in Antioch as the Armijo Superband strong tradition in the United States. swept the Delta Band Review on Saturday, This nation was founded on the basis September 29, claiming it as “Indian terri- of democracy and the right to vote, tory”. The band won sweepstakes in all five and spurred by the inability to vote – categories: marching, music, showman- or “taxation without representation,” ship, auxiliary, and overall. This meant de- as our founding fathers called it. Many feating Golden Valley High School who had nations have followed America’s lead remained undefeated for over seven years. into the 21st century. Nevertheless, And that was only the beginning. the United States remains the oldest “Armijo High School Super Band is democracy in the world. now #1 in Northern and still top 10 in Califor- Because voting is one of nia!!! I’m so proud of these kids!!!” said Ms. America’s strongest traditions, it is Louise Jacob, band teacher. imperative that we, the next gen- “I was very excited to start my senior year off undefeated,” said Jhaynehl Fortale- eration, participate. Voting is not a za. “The moment we stepped off the compe- right; it is a privilege. Many countries tition line, I got chills and instantly knew we around the world are still ruled by did an amazing job. It’d be so awesome to be dictators or totalitarian governments. undefeated for the whole year because band Wars are fought for the right to vote is such a big and impactful part of my life.” The Armijo Superband has been earning high praise in the last couple of and lives are lost for the right to cast On the morning of Saturday, Octo- months for their talent and precision. ballots. Just recently, during the “Arab ber 13, as the band prepared to leave for the Photo by Ms. Courtney Howell Spring,” several North African dic- Franklin Band Review, director Ms. Jacob tatorships, including those in Egypt, stated that the year’s outcome would be determined by the day’s competition. The Armijo Superband strived to Libya, and Tunisia, fell to the people. maintain its title as the reigning top marching band in Northern California and succeeded. They won over other Blood was spilled across the Sahara, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (FSUSD) bands, like Fairfield High and Rodriguez High, and returned from yet to the people it was a small loss the competition with music and overall sweepstakes trophies, representing Armijo High School well. They won by compared to their gain: the right to a mere .2%, but it was enough to keep the band in front. vote. Throughout history, the right of The band earned 944 out of 1000 points the following weekend at Santa Cruz. “Unfortunately, we had an citizens to participate in government inspection judge that didn’t like out pant lengths so he deducted 3 points which left us with 991 points. When you has been hotly debated and fought place the decimal point in our score becomes 94.1 Golden Valley without any penalties got a 94.2. We won March- over. ing Sweeps and Guard Sweeps but lost the Grand Sweeps by .1%,” said Ms. Jacob. One vote out of the hundreds At the end of that performance, the band was still number 1. “This is our year,” Ms. Jacob said. of millions of ballots cast during each national election may not seem like a Where to earn community service lot. Many people do not vote because By Caleb Rounsavall they hold this erroneous opinion. In Sports editor actuality, every person’s choice makes a huge difference in the ultimate out- Oftentimes, students find themselves searching for opportunities to volunteer, but they also find them- come of a race. For example, look selves perplexed as to where and how they should. Fortunately, community service projects and volunteer- at the hotly contested presidential ing opportunities are everywhere and can fit any schedule. No matter how busy life may seem, making time election of 2000 between George W. for the community is something that anybody can do. On the Armijo campus, many clubs such as the Youth Bush and Al Gore. The determinant of Peace Initiative, Key Club, and National Honor Society facilitate volunteering projects; however, the commu- the victor came down to the state of nity service opportunities that are offered in these clubs often conflict with the hectic schedules of high school Florida and its 25 electoral votes. The students. No problem! There are always community oriented programs that are flexible in their volunteering media initially said that Bush won the opportunity schedules. state and thus the election but after The Heather House is a nonprofit organization that focuses on empowering the homeless, mainly all the ballots were counted, he had women and children, who have been abused or neglected. They have helped over 10,000 individuals in the only a 300 vote lead, which, in a large past decade and you can be a part of the impact that this organization has made state like Florida, warrants a recount. by volunteering. You can sign up on their website at heatherhouse.org. The recount garnered no clear result TABLE OF CON T EN T S At the Solano Library, volunteering opportunities are endless. Every job and was eventually ended by the U.S. from organization to book delivery to basic training of computer literacy can help. Supreme Court. Thus, every single News 1, 3 These jobs can give people the resources that they need to educate and enter- vote in Florida was pivotal. Editorials, etc. 2 tain themselves. In recent years, voting num- Senior News 4 The Society for the Protection against Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of So- bers have been on the rise. In the lano County provides volunteering opportunities for those who enjoy working People 5-7 elections of 2008 and 2004, over 63 with animals. People who are at least 16 can meet at 2200 Peabody Road on the Center Spread 8-9 percent of eligible Americans have Clubs 10 Continued on page 11 - Continued on page 14 - Sports 11-13 Cast a ballot Where to serve Entertainment 14-16 2 Editorials, etc. What are Armijo High School students grateful for? By Celeste Flores Saldivar Staff writer Students are grateful of many things like fami- lies, homes, live and more, but what else are Armijo High School students thankful for? A handful of students were asked and this was their reply: Shoppers have rushed for Friday deals for well over Jasper Sthakenraad (grade 9) a century, as is evidenced “My iPhone 4s, it’s pretty self-explanatory.” in this photo from 1905. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:EatonsCrowdsToronto.jpg Gabriel Vigil (grade 9) “I’m grateful for fireworks and sexy ladies, because they’re both fun to look at.” Editorial Bryce Nielson (grade 9) Only calendar day named a color “I’m grateful for being the Freshman Class treasurer; it’s been a cool experience so far.” Besides knowing Christmas is closer, what do most people look forward to after Thanksgiving? Black Friday. Stores everywhere throughout America open at 5 a.m. (or Guliana Giglianone (grade 9) earlier) and herds of people rush in through the doors to get bargain prices on Christ- “I’m grateful for money and dance, because I like both.” mas shopping. Many camp outside the store the night before so that as soon as the (Giglianone has been dancing for six years with Bliss store opens they are ready to barge in. The reason why people go through all this is be- Dance Co.!) cause of the great deals stores give. For example, some stores sell a 60” flat screenTV for only $800 to the first 100 customers (usual price? $1,100). Deals like these attract Haylie Simmons (grade 10) many people because they can only be found once a year. Another good thing about “I’m grateful for make-up and hair dye, without it I’d be a Black Friday is that it brings a lot of profit to stores since so many customers start early ginger. ‘Ginger Swag!’” Christmas shopping. But is everything about Black Friday good? Not at all. Some bad things about Black Friday include the following: waiting in heinously Gaby Goldstein (grade 12) long lines to pay, getting only a couple of hours of sleep, workers having to stay late Gabriela is grateful for her iPhone, “it’s my life.” “She’s on after work to clean up the mess that is double the size of messes normally made, and- it 24/7” says younger sister Samantha. sometimes- having to go back to return the items you got for a good deal because of a manufacture defect. Jacob Travis (grade 12) Researchers have discovered that many of the items with bargain prices are “I’m grateful for being in anime club, it’s cool.” from this season and are soon going to be out of date. The top things researchers have said to not buy on Black Friday are toys, top TV brands, calendars, Christmas decora- Anthony Martinez (grade 11) tions, jewelry, game consoles, winter apparel, and watches; typically the most common “I guess books, drawing, and wood, you know so I can things people buy.