Theft puts damper on theater’s plans

Ian Black
Staff Reporter

For the second time in two years, the theater department has been the victim of a robbery. It was obvious to the head of the theater department Otto Layman, that the robbery was premeditated. “It was obviously planned, and specific things targeted ... except from those things stolen from my office.” The thefts occurred just weeks before SBHS production of Beauty and the Beast which begins performances on May 9.

The list of stolen items is long and includes a projector, a power amp, microphone equipment, computer monitors, a laptop, and a DVD player.

The thefts have greatly affected the theatre department. “We’re trying to pay for a big production, and represent SBHS in Scotland in August and the loss of $17-18,000 worth of equipment is hard to overcome,” lamented Mr. Layman.

According to Mr. Layman, the robbers went through great lengths to steal the items in the theatre and his personal office. The thieves scaled the wall behind the MAD Academy and climbed onto the roof. From there, the thieves pried open the metal grate that covered the window into the dressing room. Then they entered the little gym, and forced open an old door that connected the little gym to Mr. Layman’s office. While in his office, they stole two monitors and a laptop.

Leaving Mr. Layman’s office, they entered the theatre through the big double doors at the back of the little gym, climbed up to the balcony, and stole the projector, power amp, and DVD player. The thieves even used a pair of bolt cutters they found in Mr. Layman’s office to cut the bolt on the sound cabinet and take the microphones.

To prevent this from happening again, Mr. Layman assured his students that “we are installing cameras and will have 24/7 surveillance of the theatre, and all doors into and out of the theatre.”

But more than anything, Mr. Layman feels “violated” and “betrayed,” since he believes that people within the school stole from not just the theatre but also The Forge and the Yearbook.

He finds that although many of the students at SBHS would never do such a thing, the fact there are some that do, “hurts [his] soul knowing we share the same school.”

Mr. Layman is unsure of how exactly the theatre department will purchase new equipment because “we just bought most of the items two months ago to upgrade the system.”

Staff Editorial: Bathroom behavior not to high school standards

A lot of insane things happen at this school. Morp, for instance, is a night most students will probably look back on in 20 years and wonder what they were thinking by wearing three-foot long tube socks, pink spandex, and not much else. And that’s not even talking about what the girls were wearing.

But the latest bit of nonsense comes down from the administrative pipeline in the form of a memo sent to teachers from the assistant principal’s office. It stated that due to the smearing of excrement on the walls of boy’s bathrooms in the 60s wing and the English building, these restrooms were going to be threatened with closure.

The mental breakdown is certainly not on the part of our school’s administration. Instead it lies on the part of the clinically insane students who feel it’s amusing to play with their poop. Wrapping your mind around that image is hard enough. These are the kinds of things teachers told us not to do in second grade, and even then most of us had the sense not to do so. Then imagine ninth or tenth, maybe even 11th or 12th graders, finger painting in the bathroom.

Guys on this campus already have a hard enough time without having more bathroom closures. Girls bathrooms outnumber ones for boys approximately 2-1. And it continues to be a mystery as to why there’s toilet paper on the ground on all of them by 8:30 on most mornings.

To those boys who do not appreciate restroom facilities on campus, do us all a favor and if you must play with your waste, do it in your own bathroom. Then it won’t be the responsibility of our janitorial staff and other students’ problem to deal with.

Forge writers win awards at national convention

The Forge, an award winning student newspaper. So says the staff box on the Perspectives page.

On April 18, six members of The Forge proved once again that statement to be true. I congratulate this year’s newspaper staff as a whole and especially six outstanding journalists who have proven they can be successful in one of the most competitive atmospheres of journalism.

At the national spring convention hosted by Journalism Education Association / National Scholastic Press Association, the six students pitted their skills against more than 1500 students (just a portion of the 4500 students who attended) who participated in the competition phase. Seniors Wendy Echeverria (Voice editor), Zac Estrada Rosales (News and Photo Editor), Danny Langhorne (Editor in Chief), James Yee (Entertainment editor), and juniors Minerva Peralta (Sports Reporter), and Maria Vallejo (Sports editor), attended the convention and competed.

Individual recognition was given to three of them: Danny Langhorne and James Yee earned honorable mentions in commentary and editorial writing, respectively. And Zac Estrada Rosales won an excellent award in news writing.

It takes a great deal of courage to walk into a room full of up to 300 people and pit personal writing skills against other. These Forge staff members did just that.

To sit there, to try to write a perfect story by hand, completing the story and not giving up makes each Forge member who attended and competed an awesome journalist.

Within the three day conference were competitions in every aspect of journalism / media / communication. The structure of the writing contest is a timed, two hour long writing experience. Each competitor needs to listen to a speaker for about 30-40 minutes. Questions are allowed for about 15 minutes to supplement the fact sheet that each student is given. All writing is by hand and must be finished in the time allotted. No breaks are given and if instructions are not followed, the entry is disqualified. The judges are a mix of journalism advisers, professional journalists and college graduate students and professors. There are moderators who, as in any writing test, monitor the situation

This competitive tradition dates to the earliest beginnings of The Forge, as evidenced in our archives. The Southern California Journalism Education Association has a writing and scholarship competition every year. On that organization’s permanent Sweepstakes Trophy, The Forge is listed many times as the winner.

Individual recognition is not the only criteria for being “award winning” Forge. Every year, The Forge sends six representative issues are selected and submitted to the be critiqued and judged by The National Scholastic Press Association and Columbia (University) Scholastic Press Association. Once again, The Forge was awarded a Gold Medal from the CSPA and First Place from NSPA.

I am so proud of them.

-Ruth Bartz
Adviser to The Forge since 1985.

Opinion: Are seniors still awake this late in the year?

Ian Black
Staff Reporter

The same thing is on every senior’s mind: Why am I still here? Right after the end of spring break, school seemed like a formality and senoritis was more infectious than it had ever been.

It is almost impossible to pay close attention in class because most seniors already know their plans for next year, and are looking toward a future of bigger and brighter things. It’s hard to see the point in homework and assigned reading while imagining about how great it will be to graduate.

I know for many students, the one thing holding their attention is the quickly approaching AP tests taking place throughout May. But after that, who knows what’s going to happen.

For many students the year’s workload is over after that time, and class time is nothing more than card games and movies.

The administration threatens consequences for not going to class such as being prevented from going to prom and walking down the hill during graduation if a student has too many unexcused tardies and absences.

But realistically, this isn’t going to make much of a difference. Seniors are still going to come to class late or often not at all because as graduation closes in, they just continue to care less and less.

But for all the seniors out there, just remember there are only twenty-four academic school days left on the year. If we have toughed it out for fifteen and a half quarters, one more half quarter is nothing.

If anything, try and enjoy the last days of high school because you will never get them back. And who knows, maybe ten years from now you will the miss the lack of responsibility and stress that comes with being an adult. I know it’s hard to have this kind of mind set because of all the obvious advantages that come with life after high school, but life comes at you fast, and it won’t ever be the same.

I say keep looking forward to finally getting out of high school, but in the meantime, enjoy your last moments of adolescence.