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March 2, 2010
Raphael Ghieuw Sien
Asking a date to prom can be intimidating, but it is not as scary as it seems. All it takes is careful planning and guts. This may sound a little confusing, but most girls like to be asked in a surprising, but not embarrassing way.
Senior Jason Liu asked senior Htoo Htoo Lu to junior prom last year. Liu placed flowers in Lu’s locker and asked her to prom at lunch.
“It’s the tradition [which guys ask girls to prom],” Liu said.
Liu also said being nice is the key to ask a girl to prom.
Senior Angela Chu didn’t initially plan to go to junior prom last year, but her best friend senior Alex Gilham planned a surprise for her in math teacher Mark Clevenger’s room. Gilham initially asked Chu on the phone and after receiving a “green light” from Chu, Gilham proceeded to surprise Chu with red roses in Clevenger’s room. Chu was surprised when she went into the classroom and saw Gilham in the front of the classroom asking her to prom.
“I thought it was cute at the time. I pulled him out [of the room] and hugged him,” Chu said.
A “green light” from your prospective date will be different from person to person. It may range from a “yes” to a small hint like “maybe,” or even a smile from her or his face. Once you get a “green light” you should plan something big to ask her or him. It is important to make your date feel special and surprised.
Too many suspicious actions, such as walking in a really slow phase or having your friends leading your prospective date to a different route around school, can blow the surprise.
If you haven’t received a “green light” from your prospective date, you might want to ask her or him privately. It gives the girl a chance to reject you privately. It might be embarrassing, but it’s not as bad as getting rejected in public or going to prom with a girl who doesn’t want to go with you.
“If I don’t really know the guy, I’d probably want him to ask me privately,” Chu said.
It might be a tradition for a guy to ask a girl to prom, but it is certainly fine for a girl to ask a guy. Guys like to be asked by a girl to prom because it is special; not many girls have the guts to do that.
“Not many girls would [ask a guy to prom],” senior Alexander Kerelsky said.
Even though it is customary for a guy to ask the girl, it would definitely makes his job easier if a girl asked.
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February 4, 2010
Anterpreet Kaur
Interact Club is preparing for its annual Elegant Affairs Community Event to be hosted Feb. 12. Unlike other community service events, this event offers the volunteers double hours. The volunteers will be completing only six and a half hours from 5:00 to 11:30 p.m., but they will be awarded 13 hours.
“We will be helping out with various tasks during the dinner. This event is a little dressier than some of other events: black pants for males and black dresses for females are required,” senior Interact president Angela Chu said.
However, she knows many female volunteers will instead wear dress pants, so there is not much stress over attire.
Furthermore, the volunteers at Elegant Affairs will get free food.
“Usually, the event coordinators are extremely generous, and we get pizza and desserts, which the cooks prepare at the place. So, it’s bound to be good,” Chu said.
Freshmen are especially looking forward to volunteering at Elegant Affairs for their first time.
“My friends and I are already planning on carpooling to the event, and what we are going to wear,” freshman Homaira Anwari said. “I have volunteered in a few places before, but we never got double hours. I think [the double hours] is the greatest motivation to attend.”
Previous volunteers said that the challenge definitely comes with being able to stay up that late at the event.
“By the end of the event, I was extremely tired and felt really lazy,” previous Interact Club treasurer Avtar Josen said. “But, at the end of the day, it was totally worth it for the thirteen hours of community service.”
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January 27, 2010
Alejandro Montalvo
Not many know that an entire sub-culture exists around the writing and reading of fan fiction. Fan fiction is the writing of stories based on characters and situations from popular fiction. This opens up possibilities for scenarios involving fictional characters doing whatever the fan envisions. Publication isn’t the motivation to write fan fiction. Fan fiction is written by fans, for fans and for entertainment purposes.
“I think the reason people write fan fiction is because they want to explore the fictional worlds they enjoy on a deeper, more personal level,” senior Celina Cesena said.
But not everyone shares the same enthusiasm.
“I had a period of time when I read some InuYasha fan fiction, but they were pretty bad. The characters’ personalities were not really like the ones in the show. The writers make their own characters, but use the characters’ names and the story’s original settings,” senior Angela Chu said.
The stories written by fans range from Anime to Jane Austen spin-offs. “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is an adapted version of the original Austen novel with the addition of zombies.
Fan fiction writers can get into legal trouble. According to The New York Times, in 2009, a ruling by United States District Court Judge Deborah A. Batts permanently banned a fan fiction work, which featured a 76-year-old version of Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye.
Certain authors, however, have given their blessing to fan fiction spin-offs of their books. J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) and Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) have no problem with fans writing their own stories with their characters.
Fan fiction will continue to grow as more fans post their work on the Internet. If legalities do not interfere, fan fiction could be a start for emerging writers to showcase their talent.
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December 21, 2009
Anterpreet Kaur
The Train of Lights in Niles is one of many opportunities for people to get involved in the holiday spirit. During the holiday season, the Niles train is decorated with Christmas decorations and gives rides to people. Interact Club hosts volunteering events in Niles annually.
Students start volunteering at the Train of Lights Dec. 13. The club is anticipating a greater turnout this year as compared to previous years.
“This is my first year as an Interact Officer and I’m really excited about being responsible for an event in the holiday season,” club treasurer Rahul Kammath said. “So far, the coordinators said that the only tasks the volunteers will be responsible for are directing people to the trains and the buses.”
In the past the volunteers have received discounted train tickets to be used later on in the year.
“What I enjoy about this event is that students get to trade tasks with other volunteers,” club president Angela Chu said. “Students should really come to this event because it’s a great way to get into the holiday spirit. Usually the coordinator is very nice and buys us Bronco Billy’s pizza for helping.”
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