The American Muslim Community Centers held a prayer service and community celebration at the Sanford Civic Center to mark the end of Ramadan Tuesday, August 30, 2011, in Sanford, Florida. (George Skene/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)
January 20, 2012
Ilma Husain
Early December, Lowe’s decided to pull its advertisement from the new TLC series, “All American Muslim”. The decision to remove it was due to the fact that many supporters of Lowe’s had very strong negative views on the show. The group most happy with this action was the Florida Family Association. According to them the show has “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” These people believe that an innocent show on the everyday lives of Muslims was deceiving because it concealed the “danger” that Muslims pose. Not only as a Muslim, but as an American I find this statement and decision ridiculous. Since when did the everyday life of a normal American family pose a threat to our country?
We have reality shows out there about everything these days. In my opinion, Jersey Shore poses more of a threat than All American Muslim. I don’t understand why people have a problem with a show on Muslims when the television has been airing material that has been damaging to our minds lately. The only excuse for such behavior can only be hatred and prejudice. The Florida Family Association believing that all Muslims are a threat to our country just shows how much prejudice still exists in the United States. The sad part is that people in our country (aka Lowe’s) decide to follow these kind of discriminating people instead of standing up for those being discriminated. How does an average American family pose a threat to American liberties? I have yet to find out. It makes you wonder when our country will finally start accepting others and get past its stubborn habit of judging without understanding.
Photo Credit: Hannah Eugster
Senior Haniteli Lousi waiting to get into the game.
January 6, 2012
Ricky Lang
The Washington Boys Basketball team opened MVAL league play with an exciting 67-57 victory against American on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The game went into double overtime before a winner could be decided.
The lead changed hands countless times in the first three quarters with both teams playing extremely well. With 2.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Huskies led 50-46 and American had two free-throws. The Eagles made the first free-throw but intentionally missed the second and dished the ball to Connor Tse, who drained a clutch three-pointer to tie the game at 50-50 just as time expired. The American fans erupted and even ran out onto the floor to celebrate the unlikely comeback.
However, Washington did not let this change of momentum psych them out. With time running out in the first overtime period, Washington Senior Pierce Romero stole the ball and attempted to dunk. But, the play was called back because American had intentionally fouled. Senior Matt Songponnopachon then headed to the line and sank two free-throws to tie the game at 54 all and send the game into double overtime. Now it was the Washington crowd’s turn to cheer. The Huskies dominated the second overtime thanks to a technical foul on the hot-headed American head coach, the muscle of Haniteli Lousi, and the scoring machine Matt Songponnopachon, who was a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line and ended the night with 22 points. The final score was 67-57 in favor of the Huskies.
“It felt great just to get the W. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us tonight,” senior Pierce Romero (18 points on the night) said after the game.
The chaotic overtime win makes Washington 1-0 in MVAL league play and 4-11 on the season. The Huskies have a bye on Friday, Jan. 6 but resume play at home on Wednesday, Jan. 11 against Newark Memorial.
Photo Credit: Yasmin Akbari
The Tak Fudenna Stadium ready for the homecoming show-down.
October 30, 2011
Shivanjali Sewak and Yasmin Akbari
School pride is abundant here at Washington, and Spirit Week only emphasizes our love for our school. However, we may be going too far this time.
The homecoming game against the American Eagles is here and tensions have been high. The “Battle of the Boulevard” game is arguably already the most popular game of the year, and with American as our opponent, excitement and spirit turned to anger and hate on both sides. The Facebook event page was shut down, seemingly because of the ugly words exchanged between students of both schools.
As responsible students, we need to question what kind of behavior is acceptable. It is not surprising that such an issue has risen, but students need to step back and re-evaluate their responses to rivals’ comments. We Huskies should have a higher level of respect for our fellow Fremont Boulevard-ians. This is not to suggest that we should suppress our pride. I am simply saying that when an American student posts something rude, don’t engage in an argument; time will tell who the better school is. As the saying goes, “haters gonna hate.” American students would not be so harsh with their words if they knew they had nothing to fear. Washington has obviously established itself as a school to be taken seriously.
Regarding the game, rumor had it that American students were going to print shirts with derogatory sayings and planned to wear them to our homecoming game. When asked about the rumors, Mrs. Paris could not confirm that the shirts have in fact been made, but did notify us that if students did show up at TAK with the shirts, they would not be allowed into the game. “We will not tolerate unhealthy competition,” she said. “We were the first school here. We invented spirit.”
Hopefully there weren’t any issues at the game. No matter what happens or what the outcome is, though, we will still have pride in our school, and nothing can change that.
Photo Credit: Mazher Ahmed
Madison Jeong (11) returns a serve while Alice Pham (11) stands ready at the net during Washington's girls' tennis game against Newark Memorial on Sept. 22, 2011.
September 28, 2011
Cyril Sambrano
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December 9, 2009
Kaylee Miu
The MVAL league opened Nov. 8 for Washington’s girls soccer team as they faced American at Tak Fudenna Stadium. The game ended in a tie. American started the game with a goal within the first two minutes of the game. The huskies quickly retaliated and worked the field. Juniors Paige Diamond and Tamara Achanzar scored one goal each, giving Washington a 2-1 lead over the Eagles. However, just as the girls thought they had sealed the win, an American forward player scored a goal in the last thirty seconds of the game, tying the game at 2-2.
“[Our performance] was okay for our first game, but we definitely could have beat American. We have a lot of room for improvement,” senior Julia Bartolo said.
This season, the varsity team added three freshmen players for a total of 22 girls and a new coach, Ron Shell, former goalie for Notre Dame de Namur University. With a 1-1-1 pre season record, defeating Hayward (1-0), tying Los Lamos (2-2) and losing to Livermore (0-2), the girls are ready to train hard to defeat rival Mission San Jose at Tak Fundenna Nov. 10. Losing 4-1 and 3-0 to Mission San Jose last season, the girls are ready to come back for a win.
