Monthly Archives: September 2018

New Teacher Q&A: Ms. Carleen Carney

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by Lucas Agatep

MsCarney

Attention all Braves. In the third edition of our new teacher Q&A section, we sat down with new Bosco teacher Ms. Carleen Carney. Please welcome her to our community!

Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born in Northridge, CA and have lived in California my entire life.

Q: Where have you previously worked?
A: Before I became a schoolteacher I had my own business, making custom cakes and other desserts. I also taught sugar arts classes, from basic decorating skills to advanced pastry techniques.

Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: This will be my fourth year teaching.

Q: What college did you graduate from?
A: I graduated from Cal State Northridge with my bachelor’s degree in both linguistics and French. From Cal State Long Beach, I earned my master’s degree in linguistics.

Q: How did you come across St. John Bosco?
A: The company that hired me to teach ESL, The Cambridge Institute of International Education, was partnered with St. John Bosco High School to recruit and support international students, so that company placed me here at Bosco. I’ve taught ESL here for three years, but this will be my first year officially working for Bosco.

Q: What made you consider Bosco?
A: I was happy to have been placed here at Bosco, as I was raised Catholic, so the school already seemed familiar and welcoming to me.

Q: What are your particular hobbies?
A: I love creative hobbies! In addition to designing and making special cakes and cookies, I also love to sew. I make dresses and costumes, and I’ve also made props for a major motion picture (Gone Girl). I like to make mosaic art as well, and I also do face painting and henna art. Learning different languages is another hobby of mine!

Q: Do you have any siblings and kids?
A: I have two amazing brothers and two wonderful daughters.

Q: What is your personal taste in music and who is your favorite artist?
A: It’s difficult to choose a favorite artist, because I enjoy many types of music. My favorite genres are rock and classical, and I like to listen to music in the different languages that I’ve studied as well.

Q: What sport do you like and what is your favorite team if you have any?
A: I like baseball and the Los Angeles Angels.

Q: Currently what do you think of Bosco and your students?
A: I love it here because it feels like we are all a big family. My students are absolutely wonderful! It’s been a real treat getting to know them, and we have a good time in class.

Q: Compared to your prior school, what is different and similar to Bosco?
A: Here we teach academics, and at my prior school I taught sugar arts. My students were mostly grown women. In both schools, however, my students have been fabulous.

Q: Did you participate in any sports or clubs in high school?

A: I was in wind ensemble and jazz band in high school. My main instrument was the clarinet, but I also played sax and drums.
 

 

The Madden Shooting: Should We Be Debating Guns? Or Prescription Antidepressants?

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by Joshua Blake

Something had finally snapped within David Katz for him to hurt so many.

We hear over the news time and time again about mass shootings taking place all over the country more often then we should.

We had the Las Vegas shooting in October of 2017 and the Parkland school shooting in February of 2018. These two mass shootings combined took the lives of 75 people, leaving many more injured as well.

The Jacksonville Landing – Hosted Madden ’19 Tournament

On Sunday, August 26th, another mass shooting took place at a Madden ’19 video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Washington Post, David “Bread” Katz was the alleged shooter, leaving three dead and 11 people injured, as well as shooting himself at the end. Katz was proven to be mentally ill and on antidepressants, which is said to be the leading reason for why he committed this heinous act.

David Katz had an extensive history of dealing with mental health issues. According to CNN, Katz was receiving psychiatric treatment at the young age of 12 years old. He was prescribed psychiatric medication and saw several different doctors. A 2006 court filing stated that a therapist said Katz had once experienced a “psychiatric crisis.”

Katz had many incidents relating back to his mental illness as well, causing domestic disputes and having the police called to his residence on multiple occasions. Something had finally snapped within David Katz for him to ultimately hurt so many. Katz is just one of the many victims of mental illness to lash out and commit such horrible acts.

This mass shooting sparked yet again another debate on whether or not to ban guns in America. You have both sides of the argument, the more left-leaning people saying that the mass shooting took place because guns are legal and can be easily be acquired on the street.

Then you have people who lean towards the right side saying it was because the building that housed the tournament was a gun-free zone, therefore nobody had guns in the building to stop the shooter before he killed 2 people and injured many others.

Whether or not the guns are the problem, there is a much bigger problem at hand that no one is really talking about. That problem is the use of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs. Most of the time these, mass shooters are mentally ill and the antidepressants they use takes away all their distress, leaving them alone in an emotionless state.

David Katz was one of these mentally ill people and shown to be on these antidepressants. According to Kelly Brogan M.D., the use of these drugs promotes suicidal and homicidal tendencies.

Also, according to the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, 36 school shootings have been committed by those under the influence of antidepressant drugs. Therefore, these drugs have basically caused 172 injuries and 80 deaths and should not be given to any patient of any kind, due to the results we have had in the past.

This unfortunate event is just one of many recent mass shootings caused by antidepressants. These drugs completely wipe out all emotions from the user. Someone without empathy to see the value of a human life will not hesitate to kill anyone they see who they feel who has wronged them in any way.

We can stop these shootings from occurring, but we need to be aware of the cause of these terrible acts. We need to shift away our focus from debating on guns and start debating on antidepressants and how they have become more dangerous than any gun you could ever own.

 

A+E: Fortnite’s Slow and Lingering Demise

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by Nick Hernandez

The end of Fortnite’s Season 4 was highly anticipated. The live “Rocket Launch” and the unveiling of the “Visitor” skin left countless players speculating as to what might happen in Season 5.

The giant rift in the sky that exponentially grew led to many theories and at the start of Season 5 players found out what all the hype was about.

Upon updating Fortnite, players were greeted at the Battle Royale game menu with an ominous desert gas station loading screen. When they joined in-game, the mini-map showed various new “Points of Interest” across the updated world. Such spots included Paradise Palms and Lazy Links, which were new to players and left many enthusiastic for what was to come.

Many weapons, items, and general nerfs and buffs were new to those entering into Season 5 and all were generally excited to see what was to come.

Although there was much hope for the future, Epic Games decided that before advancing any further, they would tweak some things currently that they felt were problematic in the game.

In general, many players were becoming bored to play after multiple months of the games success. In March, April and May of 2018, the Fortnite community and its number of players were at its highest peak.

Following the movie release of “Avengers: Infinity War,” Marvel partnered with Epic Games to bring the “Thanos Infinity Gauntlet” game mode to players. However, despite their surge of popularity, the game really began to “fall off” at the start of summer.

Fortnite was ultimately killed off by its own creators. Developers ruined popular gun strategies and made others far too strong. The community was discouraged when spamming became the new meta and many favorite landing spots got replaced.

Firstly, Epic Games took it upon themselves to end shotgun use completely, making each guns individual effectiveness almost nothing. They went as far as to stop players from using more than one shotgun at a time, ending the “Double-Pump” strategy, which angered many pros.

Epic then released 2 submachine guns that many immediately deemed overpowered. With SMG spam becoming a factor in everyday play, players began taking and using these weapons over shotguns, even using 2 at a time. The SMGs were excellent at destroying builds and eliminating players at close range.

It came as sad news however when a hot-fix was implemented and nerfs were placed on these guns to make them less useful, just as players began to adapt to the new meta. Ultimately, these guns became less used in the process due to their decreased damage at range and the inaccuracy of the guns overall.

Although there were many additions into the game, most players saw them as unethical and unneeded. There were too many updates at one time and gamers began to grow unhappy. The developers ruined game and weapon mechanics leading to the loss of interest of its player base, and putting Fortnite in its current unfavorable state.

 

RECAP: St. John Bosco 52, Mililani 14

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by Ethan Piechota

The St. John Bosco Braves dominated their opposition for the third straight week, defeating Mililani High School from Hawaii 52-14 and showing why they are the clear number one team in America.

The number one ranked quarterback in high school football goes to St. John Bosco High School. Braves junior standout DJ Uiagalelei was unstoppable last night, completing 26-32 passes for 373 yards and SIX touchdowns. Uiagalelei threw as many incompletions as he did touchdowns, which is just absurd to think about.

Stanford-bound senior wide receiver Colby Bowman finally had the breakout game he needed to get his season going, catching seven passes for 130 yards and three of Uiagalelei’s six touchdowns. Bowman, a recent Brave of the Issue on our site, put on a memorable display last night for all Braves fans to see.

Senior slot receiver Jake Bailey had another productive game, catching seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. Bailey and Uiagalelei have really appeared to be on the same page in the passing game so far this season, which is a great sign for the Braves the rest of the way through.

Senior running back George Holani ripped off an electric 80-yard touchdown run for Bosco’s offense to begin the game, and the Braves didn’t look back from there in rout to scoring 52 points and running and passing all over Mililani’s defense.

Defensively, Bosco’s top-ranked and highly powered unit got off to a shaky start, allowing Mililani to move the ball and find the end zone on their first drive of the game. However, the unit cleaned up their act and sacked Mililani quarterback Dillon Gabriel seven times, four coming from defensive end Cole Aubrey and two from linebacker Spencer Lytle.

Just about the only downside to the Braves huge victory was the amount of penalties they were called for, 21 to be exact. That is too much for such a well-coached and disciplined team and the Braves will look to clean that up as the season progresses.

Bosco’s national championship run is in full swing, and the Braves will look to move to 4-0 on the season next week against Paramount High School at Panish Family Stadium.

Life of a Brave: Stanford-Bound Colby Bowman Helps Lead Bosco’s National Title Run

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by Caleb Wiley

DjDf8-NVAAAQQPr.jpg-largeColby Bowman transferred to St. John Bosco High School after his freshman year and immediately fit into the winning culture at Bosco on and off the field.

Bowman heard about the Brave football powerhouse not only from all the friends he had going to the school, but also through playing against (and getting beat by) Bosco during his freshman year at JSerra.  

“After playing against Bosco my freshman year, I knew right away what school I was going to next year. The way they played like a team and with passion really caught my attention,” said Bowman.

Bowman started playing football at the age of six and fell in love with the sport from day one. Ever since then, he dreamed about playing the game professionally and realized in 7th grade that Stanford University was where he wanted to go to further his academic and athletic careers. When he received a full ride scholarship to Stanford this past year, he did not hesitate to verbally commit to the school and become a Cardinal.

“Once I got the offer, it was over […] it really feels like a family there [at Stanford]. Also, the combination of academics and athletics is something you can’t find anywhere else,” Bowman said.

Bowman will without doubt be a great fit at Stanford. He matches the skill he demonstrates on the field in the classroom, earning a 3.5 GPA or higher all through high school. 

“My parents have always pushed me to give it my all both on the field and in the classroom. I’ve also always cared about my academics because football ends one day.”

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Aside from his academic skillset, his skillset on the field is something that the number one nationally ranked Bosco football team is going to heavily rely on this season. His 6-foot-2, 191-pound frame alongside his game-changing speed make him a really tough guard for any defensive back in the Trinity League.

“Colby’s a deep threat that we can depend on to go and make big plays for us,” said senior outside linebacker Ralen Goforth.

Alongside his talents in football and academics, Bowman also has the will to lead others and bring players closer together on his team. He leads by example with his knowledge and wisdom from all the years he has played the game. Also, he cares for everyone on the team no matter the role of the players.

“He shares his experience and passes it down to the younger guys. Whenever someone is down, he is right there to bring them back up. It’s something I admire from him,” said Goforth.

Being the top-ranked team nationally, the Braves will need Bowman’s understanding of the big stage and the bright lights, especially younger players once league play begins.

“Every single game you have to bring your best because teams are going to bring their best to try and beat you. Our brotherhood is at a high point right now and we have to stay together as a family,” said Bowman.

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Photo by Robert Casillas, Daily Breeze/SCNG

With college in his sight, Bowman is always thinking about his near and long term future.

“I see myself graduated from Stanford and waking up to a job I am passionate about. I see the NFL as a bonus.”

Even though he is excited to finally go to the college of his dreams, Bowman will miss the times and memories he made here at Bosco. When the time finally comes to say goodbye to all his friends, he said it will be tough for him.

But in his last season here, he would like to go out and bring a national title to the school. He wants to leave everything on the field and be a part of something great in his senior year.

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