Many girls (and, somewhat surprisingly, boys) went to see the film purely for popular actresses Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson, as well as the intense and chaotic partying scenes. Much to the audience’s dismay, this movie is not at all what it seems.

The trailer for the movie distorts the film’s actual content–it appears to be one giant party when, in reality, it’s wildly confusing and all too graphic. It is all “sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll.” There is absolutely no plot whatsoever and I can safely say I heard the redundant phrase, “spring break forever,” enough times to last a lifetime.

Though the few critics who enjoyed the movie said it was an outstanding representation of the teenagers of this generation, I have to disagree. Most teens–and I do mean most, seeing as obviously there’s a few rebellious college students that break this barrier–do not go on a spring break trip to Florida and wind up killing 15+ people, then leaving and acting like nothing even happened. The beginning of the movie is indeed relevant to some teens, with the scenes of drinking and dancing on the beach, but after the first 20 minutes or so, it all goes downhill.

Not only is it a misrepresentation, but the film also places a disrespectful view on women. Director Harmony Korine portrays the four college girls as sleazy teens who enjoy robbing people and clinging to any guy that comes their way. These characters set a fictional and unfair stereotype on teenage girls. As far as the reality of the teenage generation goes, Korine’s perspective is false and offensive.

The movie in itself was extremely uncomfortable. Throughout the film I was forced to look away from the screen, cringe, burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all, and stare while thinking to myself, “what is actually going on right now?” When the movie finally ended (much to the audience’s relief), everyone walked out, turned to each other and said, “do you understand what just happened?”

By far, “Spring Breakers” is the weirdest movie I have ever seen. Both inappropriate and idiotic, it got way too much public attention from its trailer, setting up high expectations, only leave audiences tremendously let down. This movie is definitely rated R for a reason. So, if you do decide to go, don’t go see it with your parents. Talk about an awkward situation.

While most of the nation watched the story unfold through social media on TV April 15th, for several La Costa Canyon students the events of the 117th Boston Marathon hit much closer to home.

“My sister goes to Boston College,” senior Rebecca Hammock said. “She was volunteering kind of down there by where the bombs went off, but she had actually just left before that happened.”

Meg Shepro, La Costa Canyon alumna and Boston University freshman, had similar luck that day while volunteering less than a mile from the finish line and leaving just before the bombings.

“Everyone was pretty scared and freaked out,” Shepro said. “We attempted to call friends but cell phone service for making calls was shut off, adding to the stress. I didn’t go back to my dorm that night for fear of being outside.”

Fear and anxiety spread throughout the nation after learning about the blasts.

“It was really scary because whenever something like that happens in your area–like when the fires happened for us–it obviously freaks you out. It’s like ‘That kind of stuff doesn’t happen near me,’” Hammock said.

Other runners at LCC who weren’t at the marathon can relate especially to the experience.

“It really scared me; it almost felt like it was a lot closer than it was,” junior Alex Fromme said. “It’s on the opposite coast of here, but it really felt a lot closer because I am a runner.”

Even more stressful for the Boston area were the days following the bombings.

“The few days after the bombings everyone was just in a gloom, and it was taxing on a lot of people,” LCC alumna and freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Julia Heyman said. “It was an emotional week for a lot of people.”

After a two days, two suspects were named at large on Wednesday. On Thursday night, the two suspects attacked an MIT police officer and stole a car, resulting in the death of the first suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. It was a tense Friday as Boston police officers pursued the second suspect, until finally news came of the capture of the second suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

“For hours people ran around the streets cheering, and everyone ran to the Boston Commons to celebrate,” Shepro said.

April 15th will be a day to remember, not only for the lives lost and the injuries suffered, but for the people who stepped up to help those in need.

“It’s going to have a big impact on the city of Boston, the way 9/11 affected New York,” Hammock said. “It’s horrible what happened, but it’s also kind of inspiring the way that people reacted and can come back from something like that.”

The Boston bombings certainly sparked fear across the nation, and most students agree that it is impossible to completely prevent future attacks.

“Twenty-six point two miles is a lot of area to protect, so there really is no way to predict this,” Fromme said.

A shining light in this moment of darkness in United States history is the corps of helpers who came to the aid of the injured after the explosions.

“We can’t live our whole lives just being on edge all the time, because that’s no way to live,” Hammock said. “People are always going to do bad things and there will always be good people who help when that kind of thing happens.”

Despite the attack of that afternoon at the marathon, Boston is a city that can pick itself up again.

“It puts a lot into perspective about how we will get back up after this huge tragedy,” Heyman said. “How we put back the broken pieces and how we stay strong and resilient is much more important than the actual event that happened.”

This month we are bringing back last year’s Hungry Mav winner, East Coast Pizza, to face off two new pizzerias that weren’t in commision last competition. Let’s see if the champion can handle the heat or if it’s time to get out of the kitchen.

Winner: 13 votes

Stone Flats-Flatbread Pizza

272 N. El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024

(760) 479-0167

“The first bite was delicious,” junior Jackson Cowart said. “A soft explosion on the way into the body,” he added, as he exposed his poetic side. This little stone flat pizza “looked especially appetizing and the spices looked appealing,” sophomore Claudia Mathews said. She also remarked that “the first bite was overwhelming with flavor and the sauce is full of spices.” In the end it looks like use of spice and a great sauce won the Hungry Maverick for Stone Flats.

Second Place: 4 votes

East Coast Pizza

2015 San Elijo Ave., Cardiff, CA 92007

(760) 944-1599

East Coast Pizza lived up to its name, being branded “the most traditional pizza” by junior Devon Whitlam. This pizza roused cries of “tastes like New York” and “reminds me of my trip,” so if anyone is looking for an authentic New York slice, this is the place to go. However, last year’s champion did fall down to second place. The majority of tasters weren’t quite as pleased with it this year, with comments like “mediocre,” “way too greasy” and “gross” commonly expressed regarding this pizza.

Last Place: 3 votes

Crust Pizzeria

3263 Camino De Los Coches  Carlsbad, CA 92009

(760) 944-1111

Having a location so close to campus has done this pizza no favors in finding its way to the hearts of MavLife staffers. Getting only three votes, this pizza seemed to be universally disliked. Although its crust was “sweet and fluffy” according to junior Megan Mineiro, the grease that drowned the pizza was a deal breaker. The taste of the cheese was overpowered by basil and “fennel” (which is the key ingredient in black licorice) according to freshman Cooper Gee.

According to dayofsilence.org, this event is “a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools” with the intention to “encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment of LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT.”

However, in previous years the Day of Silence (DOS) has come across as being overly aggressive. For this reason, the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club leaders were considering not celebrating the DOS this year.

“We weren’t entirely sure that we were going to do the Day of Silence,” junior and GSA vice president Colin Kirkwood said. “People who were very supportive of the cause didn’t want to participate or didn’t like it because it was very aggressive.”

Junior and GSA president Laila Al-Shamma explains the effect of students forming a circle in the student center, a way of participating in the DOS that has been used in the past.

“It’s supposed to send a message of love and compassion, but it really seemed very aggressive,” Al-Shamma said. “It created a lot of tension and uncomfortableness between people that are standing there and the people they are looking at.”

GSA leaders have been working diligently to alter the impression of the DOS and spread awareness of its purpose.

“I was communicating a sense of unity and using the Day of Silence to bring awareness to the LGBT youth on campus so that everyone can have a harassment-free, discrimination-free place of education,” Salazar said.

The DOS has become controversial due to the fact that it does involve frequently disputed political issues about sexual orientation. However, GSA advisor and Director of the Instrumental Music Department Carissa Mattison explains that this event is not so much about beliefs as it is about behavior.

“It’s not about changing anybody’s beliefs,” Mattison said. “It’s about focusing on the behavior that we should treat each other well.”

Even though behavior such as saying “That’s so gay” and “You’re so gay” may seem harmless to some, its impact is painful.

“Words are very hurtful,” Salazar said. “People are taking that back home with them and in the middle of the night when they’re kind of going through their day, those are the things that are echoing in their heads.”

Although most students at La Costa Canyon may never witness harassment or assault on campus that results in bodily harm, discriminating words are just as much bullying as any physical abuse.

“A lot of people would say, ‘Where’s the harm? No one is getting hurt,’” Salazar said. “But words leave emotional wounds, not just physical wounds.”

The purpose of the DOS is to demonstrate how this behavior silences LGBT students.

“[Day of Silence] is meant as a day people are silent to draw awareness to the silencing effect of discrimination but also to our culture that makes gay or questioning teens feel like they can’t be themselves,” Al-Shamma said.

Many GSA members and participants in DOS consider themselves allies.These individuals are not LGBT themselves, but actively accept and support their LGBT peers.

“The majority of our club are allies – straight people that are supportive,” junior and GSA Secretary and Treasurer Grace Halverson said. “We want everyone else to see that we’re someone that you can come to to talk about anything.”

Having successfully communicated the DOS on campus with their less aggressive approach, GSA leaders look forward to its positive influence.

“The long term impact is when LGBT students on this campus see that they are supported, that there are students on this campus who want them to come out and be who they are and be expressive about it,” Kirkwood said. “This a campus where they can be safe and not have to worry about being bullied or harassed.”

“Every one of the leaders seated here will tell you that losing one of their men, one of their young women, is personal,” Gurganus said. “And it stays with you. It stays with you the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if you are a corporal or whether you are a general.”

At Camp Pendleton on April 11, 2013, 86 fallen soldiers who had given their lives in service were honored. Their names were read aloud, as a man walked forward to hang 86 dog tags of the servicemen who had been lost in the last year. While each dog tag bearer walked forward, the name of the hero was read and the bell tolled in a moment of solemn, silent honor of each lost life.

The monument itself was a battle cross featuring boots, a rifle and a helmet to symbolize the soldier who no longer exists to fill them.

This ceremony was a first, in which, the service men and women from all countries serving in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, as opposed to only Americans as most memorial services put on by the marine force.

Army Brigadier Stuart Skeats, a British officer, spoke on the bond between the U.S. Marine Corps and the United Kingdom Military, as well as the other countries they served alongside. This bond had been forged in the the sands of Helmand, one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

“Even though we are sometimes separated by a common language, because we have shared together the blood, sweat and tears or righteous endeavor in pursuit of a just cause,” Skeats said.

But on campus some students question the rigorousness of this “just cause.”

“Every time I see soldiers [deployed] I know that they are going to be in danger in one way or another,” sophomore Christopher Brown said. “It makes me feel in a way indifferent. I don’t see why people would through their lives away when they know that one, literally homemade, bomb could end their life.”

Brown went on to talk about the purpose of the US fighting in Afghanistan.

“It is both beneficial, but it also hurts the us because it cost a lot of money, and it costs lives overseas that are sometimes innocent. [Despite that] they are keeping extremists at bay.”

But no student fails to feel respect towards the service men and women themselves.

“It is a lifestyle not a lot of people chose to go through but I choose it,”   Stephen Francis said.

However, us watching about the wars on television, and in newspapers fail to grasp one thing.

Service men and women enlist for their own reasons, patriotism, responds to threats, or a number of other things. But what keeps each one fighting is the people standing next to them.

Baker has been wrestling since seventh grade, and due to his extra effort he recently made a large jump this year from the 152 pound weight class to the 182 pound weight class.

After winning the San Diego section at 182 pounds, Baker began to prepare for his journey to nationals.

“During season I was doing a lot of hours per week but took a little break from that,” Baker said. “Then I was just doing specialized training sessions with me and my old wrestling partner, Paul Head, who just placed at college nationals.”

The extra training proved to make a noticeable different in Baker’s performance.

“He made a lot of progress and went to a lot of off-season tournaments to get better,” teammate and senior Zach Vann said.

Due to his extra time spent working out he defeated Malik McDonald from North Carolina to capture the championship.

“I was pretty psyched [to win Nationals],” Baker said. “I won by eight or nine points. I went the whole match.”

After being recognized on a national scale, Baker has begun to receive interest from many college wrestling programs.

“A lot of colleges have shown interest such as Princeton, Brown, Duke and Stanford,” Baker said. “I haven’t been near committing. I may in the summer, because I am going to some camps and some other big tournaments.”

Baker is also being recognized by other wrestlers on his team.

“He stayed in the zone and he knew what he had to accomplish [at the competition],” sophomore Cole Marting said.

After winning the biggest event of his wrestling career so far, Baker looks forward and hopes to become even more accomplished next year.

“I would like to win the California state tournament next year and hopefully win Nationals,”

Baker said.

This goal is one his coach believes he is capable of reaching.

“He has good composure, he rises to the occasion, and he

According to The Departments of Education website, all students in California must take the STAR. Students with disabilities along with students who speak English as a second language must still take the test.

According to principal Kyle Ruggles, the API for La Costa Canyon last year was 816, putting LCC at number 18 out of approximately 100 different schools in the San Diego area.

“People view the API differently,” Dr. Ruggles said. “I think most would agree that the STAR test is not perfect. However, it is the only measure we have for academic performance and our community views it as important. I just want our scores to truly represent the hard work of our students.”

A school’s Academic Performance Index (API) has become an important number in the community and according to the California Board of Education, much of that score is based on STAR test results.

“Yes, the test is important for the image of the school because if your school has a higher API it looks better,” junior Brock Oury said.

The STAR test affects the way a school looks from the outside. A high score represents hard work by the teachers and students.

“The results of this high-stakes test are public information,” Dr. Ruggles said. “Others can see our scores and I want our scores to represent the abilities, work ethic, and aptitude of our student body.”

Sophomore Ashley Walters agrees that the STAR test is important but also thinks that it has more of an effect on the school than on the students.

“I don’t think it affects the students as much as it reflects how well the teachers are teaching,” Walters said.

Senior Jack Revell believes that the STAR test significantly matters to the school.

“It affects us because a school with a higher API looks better than a school with a lower API, and the better our school performs the better it looks on a college application,” Revell said.

Freshman Dean St. Martin thinks that a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast have a direct effect on a students’ performance.

“It helps your brain work better and that makes you a healthier, smarter person,” Martin said.

Dr. Ruggles hopes that all students will put forth their best effort on the STAR tests.

I will do anything I can as a principal to raise academic achievement,” Dr. Ruggles said. “I just want students to do their very best because these scores do count for something. We owe it to our community and our future students.”

Most recently, however, Beiing housed another type of competition–the WMTC (World Mathematics Team Championships) in November of 2012. Individuals from numerous countries with advanced math skills put their talent to use and competed with both their team and on their own in multiple rounds of intensive math equations within a time limit. Junior Gabriel Aldaz was given the opportunity to venture across the globe and compete with other people from all over the U.S. in this particular championship.

“They gave each person sets of three problems each with ten minutes to finish those problems and after five rounds, whoever has the best score wins the [individual] competition.” Aldaz said. “But there are also team rounds. Each team [consisting of 6 people] is given a set of 20 problems with 40 minutes to complete them together.”

Both in and outside of school, Aldaz continuously uses his math ability. He is a member of the “San Diego Math Circle” club where he meets with others every Saturday. The club is instructed by a different math professor each week.

“The only reason why I was on the team was because the guy who created the Math Circle created the U.S. team [that was competing in Beijing],” Aldaz said. “He took people, including myself, from the Math Circle first, then he asked other people [to come] that had math competition rankings from across the country.”

Aldaz is currently enrolled in Calculus D as a junior at Torrey Pines High School because it isn’t offered at LCC. He leaves his English class a little bit early each day to make it to TPHS for his afternoon math class.

His math teacher from last year, Michelle Anderson, speaks highly of Aldaz’s work ethic and eagerness to do well in all his subjects, not just math.

“He’s just brilliant,” Anderson said. “He picks up on things quickly and is highly motivated. [He] came into class as a sophomore [because he] skipped honors-pre calc.”

It is quite uncommon for a student of Aldaz’s age and grade to be enrolled in such a high level math course. Despite his age, he has proved to be mature and inquisitive.

“He was a leader in class of mostly seniors and is self taught, and an amazing student,” Anderson said. “He always wanted to learn in-depth and know the “why” of a problem versus just a solution.”

Junior Ryan Urzetta, a close friend of Aldaz’s, praises him for his hard work.

“He’s basically good at anything he picks up–instruments, any AP class,” Urzetta said. “He takes all Advanced Placement classes and still does really well in them.”

As a team, Aldaz and the other participants left the competition winning sixth place in the world. Not only did they have the opportunity to compete in a worldwide competition, but also had the experience of traveling to another continent and culture. Besides the day of competing, they had two days of touring their environment.

“On the first day of tour we went to the Summer Palace, and the Forbidden Kingdom,” Aldaz said. “That was really cool. The second day of the tour we went to the Great Wall. That’s up in the mountains so it took the whole day. The food was great, too.”

“You have to have a relationship with each particular student and you need to know where each one is coming from and try and figure out what makes them tick so you can make the context and what is being taught work for each person,” Teague said. “You have to know how to motivate each person.”

Teague’s ability to motivate students and help keep them interested is why the La Costa Canyon teachers voted him Teacher of the Year for 2012-2013.

“He makes learning fun and he keeps us entertained throughout the whole class,” sophomore Abby Rivera said.

Teague’s colleagues think that he is very deserving of his win.

“He is a great teacher, he cares about kids, and he does a good job teaching,” Spanish teacher Ryan Guista said. “I think if we put out a teacher of the year where students voted on it, he would still win it.”

Teague tries to create a learning environment that makes every student feel comfortable.

“The first day of school, there were freshmen who you could tell were super intimidated but they all came to love him,” junior Jazzie Jackson said. “You can tell new kids love him because he makes them feel comfortable.”

Students in Teague’s classes learn while having fun.

“Mr. Teague actually taught me so well in Spanish 1 that I took a test and skipped Spanish 2, and went to Spanish 3 with him,” Jackson said.

Teague has not only taught Spanish to his students but life lessons as well.

“He has just made me look at life differently,” sophomore Trent Sherman said.

Teague’s passion for teaching has helped him connect with students and keep them interested in class. He has tried to not only teach, but make lasting imprints on the students he teaches.