Teachers of the Sweetwater Union High School District still have no contract.

SEA, district fail to reach agreement



By Elma Gonzalez

With the old contract having expired on June 30, 2008, the Sweetwater Educators' Association (SEA)began to engage in negotiations with the district to settle on a new contract. However, as the bargaining process began, both the teacher's union and the district realized they had very different convictions regarding the new contract. According to SEA, the district did not appear to be bargaining in "good faith" and did not "take the process seriously"; they claimed the district embarked in "regressive bargaining" meaning the district’s proposals became less favorable as bargaining progressed, forcing the union to file a protest against unfair labor practices. The district responded by filing a countersuit against SEA for stalling the process, which has so far taken more than a year.

Among the several issues prolonging the process are the elimination of Montgomery High's 4x4 schedule, the proposed two-tier retirement system, and the establishment of a fair staffing ratio. As most of us know, Montgomery High was, until this year, the only high school in our district to have the 4x4 schedule or quarter schedule -which divided each day between 4 periods. When the decision was made by the district to impose a new schedule on Montgomery, SEA claimed the teacher's rights were violated. It was not the fact that they no longer enjoyed the advantages of the old schedule, but that the union was not consulted when the change was made. The district tells a different story. They assert the union was consulted, and that the only problem was that the change in schedule was not able to go through the whole 'formal process' because the MOH school year was rapidly arriving and the master schedule had to be made. As for the reason behind this change, the district claims it was made as an attempt to improve the students' scores and eliminate the school's PI status. Although this issue does not affect SOH directly, there are others like the 'staffing ratio' that hit closer to home.

According to the old contract, there should be a student/teacher ratio of 28:1; but how many times have we entered classrooms in which there are more than 40 students. Just two weeks ago, an AP Econ class consisted of more than forty five students, almost double the limited amount. Although, some decided to switch to some other class, an excessive number still remains. Now, you may wonder, how come the old contract is being used to limit the number of students per teacher? Well, the rules of collective bargaining state that the “old” contract must be enforced until the two teams come to an agreement. When the district was questioned about this their answer was that there were actually two ratios: the 28:1 ratio and the 176:1 ratio, which represents a full school day. In other words, the only restriction is having a limit of 176 students per day.

Another issue that stands above the rest is the implementation of the two-tier retirement system, a system that denies retirement benefits to new members of the district. Many teachers believe that this is unjust for new teachers. Although it may not seem to affect the students directly, if SUHSD does not offer the same incentives as other districts in San Diego; it would put SUHSD at a huge disadvantage when attracting new teachers. For the students, this would mean fewer teachers would be available to 'teach' at our district in future years.

Representatives of theSweetwater Union High School District state that they believe the main reason they haven't come to an agreement with the union is simply a difference in opinions. One example they gave deals with the teachers' salary; while teachers demand a raise to survive in the current recession, the district is undergoing a fiscal crisis that prevents them from doing so.

When entering the District website, one of the first news articles that appears is that of the district reaching an agreement with Sweetwater Employee Unions on new contracts. However, the agreement was reached with unions representing counselors, clerical workers, paraprofessionals and operations support, not teachers. Our teachers continue to press for a fair contract. When asked about a possible strike, a Union representative assured the Union was, "most unlikely to have such a drastic response," the top priority for the SUHSD teachers is of course " the students' education."

Hopefully, our district and teachers will compromise at the next board meeting on August 17, 2010.

Southwest Band is still recruiting new members.

Band needs you!
By Jasmine Straw

Man-oh-man, is band getting going! This week in band the students finally met the rest of their coaches! They have their new color guard coach, their high brass coach, their percussion coach, their low brass coach, and their woodwind coach who are all eager to get to work.
After a quick meeting on the senior lawn, Ms. Clark suggested a fun game. Everyone got chairs and sat in a circle. The person in the middle of the circle had to say "I like everyone in this band, especially those who....." finishing the sentence with something. The ones that do or like whatever the person in the middle said had to scramble to find another seat. Rinse&Repeat. Everyone had a lot of fun with the game and learned a lot about each other like who's played Final Fantasy games or first person shooters, even who liked a member's "ghetto-ness".
Tuesday everyone got to work. Work means WORK! Wind insruments worked on their attention, faces, and marking time. Every little detail counts. Judges can be really picky at times, so working on the basics is the best and only place to start. All the while, drum line was working on their warm-ups and getting to know their coach.
To fix the member's attention stance, the coaches had them go to the stage to see if they could roll their hips out so that the hole you make with the floor and the arch of your back go away. This proved a difficult feat, but after a while everyone got it. They then moved to the wall, the deadly wall, for some much loved wall sits, because those are everyone's favorite, right? To end the day everyone 'high fived' each other and stayed in the band room to get their stuff or just hang out.
On to Thursday!
Thursday proved to be the best day. Practice started at 5:00, so a lot of the members went home to eat or just stayed around school to hang out. Once practice started, it was really fun. It started out a little weird: they were made to do breathing exercises from a video that was made who knows how long ago, but everyone had fun with the silly thing and even danced to the music that was in between sections. After this they got to playing music.
Outside was our wonderful color guard and drum line. Each practices their own things. Color with tosses and attention, which included getting to know each other, and making nicknames for some of the guard members. Drum line started with their warm-ups and how to move with the drums on them.
Once the three groups were done doing their own things, everyone marched out to the football field to do more work. Stretching was an odd activity, having to do stretches that actually stretched them! But people had fun with a little dancing and jerking. After stretching the drummers left the group once again to practice more, leaving the guard and band to their own devices. Marking time, marching and attention.
The drummers joined us again for an interesting and hard activity, marching in a straight line across the width of the football field. Many times they messed up in the beginning, but it for even more frustrating when they made it half way there only to be told to go back. Even though it was hard, it was really helpful and a lot of jokes were made.
To end the day and the week of practice, they ended with a quick game of freeze tag! Who said you couldn't have fun? NO ONE!

Within the three weeks of school, band has quadrupled in size, this includes band, color guard, and drum line. But that doesn't mean we're done!
If you're interested in joining any of the three, stop by the band room at any time throughout the day and talk to Ms. Clark!

"We es muy bueno" - Micheal, the woodwind coach.

Senior lawn, the social gathering spot for countless raiders throughout the years, is now subject to change.

Senior lawn may disappear!

By Dwayne Codding

Due to Prop O, our school has received a considerable amount of funding to help renovate the campus's learning environment. This means that a two-story building, shaped like an L and complete with an elevator for the handicapped, is soon to be constructed over the senior lawn. This building is meant to replace several temporary which currently are in use , so indeed there will be benefits in this new construction.

Bu,t, what do our Raiders have to say about this? Is this construction really a good idea?

“Well, yes and no. That's not were I hang out but, at the same time, it's the SENIOR lawn...Well, I think its better than being in the trailers.” responded Kiana Aguan, a senior raider.

“I'm kinda on the yes and no because it's the senior lawn and why would the school take that away, right? Then again classrooms are important too” decided Sandra Madrigal, another senior raider.

Plans suggest this new building is meant to still attract Raiders, even though the lawn won't quite be the same anymore. Mr. Carpizo, Assistant Principal, spoke of the new building, saying “I hope that it will be the gathering spot for all the kids to hang out.”

HEY, RAIDERS! What do you think about this new building? Should it be built? Speak up and leave a comment with what you have to say about this.

Welcome back to an early school year

by Martin Zazueta
What's with the new calendar?

Pardon me for this sudden dose of reality, but "Calling all my fellow SOH Raiders!" Yes, we are back in school as of July 27, 2009 and school will end on June 4, 2010 (May 28, 2010 for seniors). And yes, I know it's frustrating to know that we had to had to rearrange 6 weeks of our summer, but it's not all bad. There are several benefits will come from this calendar modification.

As most of us may know last Fall the Sweetwater District School Board voted on standardizing the schools in the district into a single calendar, for about half the schools were in either a year- round, traditional, or as in Montgomery High's case a quarter system. Now with all those schools being in session and out of session at different times, energy, water, and other resources (i.e. school buses) were being used almost at all times of the year and made the transition of transferring from one school to another a lot more of a hassle than it should have been. Now, all the students in the district are in school at the same time. We must also not forget how much this will help AP and IB students prepare for their exams as well for those taking SATs and ACTs.

Let's focus on another significant benefit of this change, one that you probably care about the most. It is that most schools now have extended breaks( SOH being one of them), because of those 6 weeks that were taken from summer we will now have a 2-week Fall Break, a now extended 3-week Winter Break , and an also extended 2-week Spring Break. And of course we will also end early. This will also benefit any current and future graduating class for if they go into the UC system after high school they will start school around mid-September and it's similar for the CSU system, so that means a much longer summer before college begins, which give you more time for anything you may have wanted to do after high school like a trip or project. Who knows? Be creative.

On another level of importance of this change was that thanks to this change the school district was able to save money and thus it helped out in balancing the budget which was a major issue in the Spring when it came to laying off teachers due to budget cuts.

In conclusion, I would like to wish you good luck on this upcoming school, and let's remember to make lemonade out these lemons that fell from a short Summer Break.

The Proposal, is an I do!

Sandra Bullock is one of the most likable and skilled comediennes in movies today, but she hasn't had a comedy hit since the first Miss Congeniality nine years ago. That's about to change with The Proposal, an engaging, well-crafted lark that proves "high concept" isn't necessarily a tired tactic.

Bullock also is talented enough to play convincingly against her genial image here as the proverbial boss from hell, Margaret Tate, a hard-driving New York book editor. Choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, Step Up) delivers a well-paced, highly attractive production. Summer audiences, especially the female segment, should have no hesitation accepting this "Proposal".

Peter Chiarelli's script borrows a page or two from The Devil Wears Prada in the opening scenes, as Margaret's fearsome reputation literally precedes her among her frantic office staff. Chief among these is her younger, underappreciated assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), who harbors his own ambitions to become an editor.

Margaret has been so focused on her career, she's neglected a few legalities and is suddenly informed that she faces deportation to her native Canada. Desperate to keep her job, she impulsively "confesses" that she and Andrew are engaged to be married. Andrew grudgingly agrees to the charade, on condition that he finally gets that book editor position.

The forced romance coincides with a major family celebration back in Andrew's hometown of Sitka, Alaska, where, Margaret discovers, the Paxton tribe is a very big, affluent deal. Andrew's mother, Grace (Mary Steenburgen), is warm and welcoming, but his formidable dad, Joe (Craig T. Nelson), who has always resented his son's rejection of the family business, is skeptical about this older woman in Andrew's life.

And then there's Annie, the outspoken and mischievous 90-year-old matriarch played with scene-stealing ebullience by TV icon Betty White. Also in the mix is Gertrude (Malin Akerman of Watchmen), the sweet, pretty Alaska girl Andrew abandoned for the big city.

Chiarelli's script mines all the fish-out-of-water humor of the business-dressed, cell phone-dependent Margaret's immersion in the more laid-back and sometimes downright odd culture of picturesque Sitka (actually doubled by towns in Massachusetts).

Starting the film as a borderline caricature of an unpleasant workaholic, Bullock convincingly peels back the layers of Margaret, revealing the pain behind her steely facade and the vulnerability that surfaces as she and Andrew get to know each other better amid the tense masquerade. By midpoint, we're actually rooting for this erstwhile office gargoyle.

It helps immeasurably that Bullock has tremendous chemistry with Reynolds. The former TV actor and Van Wilder cutup has been getting a lot of work lately but hasn't quite broken through as a star. The Proposal should remedy that.

He matches Bullock's comic timing note for note and conveys all of Andrew's frustration, exasperation and growing attraction to Margaret. (His remarkably fit physique also is a box office plus.) The situations might be formulaic, but the teamwork of the two leads brings them to sparkling life.

By Robert Garcia

Former decathlete now coaching SOH academic teams!

SOH academic teams prepare for victory


By Elma Gonzalez



The new 2009-2010 school year has brought many changes, one of them being the establishment of new coaches and advisers for the many extracurricular activities offered here at SOH. Among the many teams that received a new coach this year were the Academic Decathlon and League teams. As many are aware, SOH Academic teams have proudly represented our school in the county and state for several years. SOH Academic League has been recipient of Metro-Championship titles for more than 10 years; and the Academic Decathlon team has received more than 5 titles throughout this decade. This year Mr. Adam Orin, SOH physics teacher, has taken the challenge of coaching the team.

Raiders Digest was able to sit down with mr. Orrin and conduct the following interview.

Raiders Digest: How many years have you been teaching here at SOH?

Mr. Orin: Two years.

RD: So, why did you decide to coach Academic League and Decathlon this year?

MO: I think this program is important to the school. It is a powerful example of what students are capable of, and it also sends a message to the county that this school has amazing students!

RD: How has coaching the team been so far? Do you find it challenging?

MO: Well, yes, it is challenging. Doing something new is always challenging...

RD: Many students who wished to take AP Physics this year think you chose Decathlon and League over Physics? Is this true? If so, why did you make this choice?

MO: Well, at the time decisions were being made for the master schedule not enough students had signed up to take the class. Then, I was offered this coaching position and I decided to take it. It was too late when students suddenly began attempting to bring the class back...

RD: Did 'budget cuts' have anything to do with it?

MO: That was also a factor. There can only be certain number of classes offered.

RD: I know it has only been two weeks since you began coaching, but which do you enjoy more: Academic League or Academic Decathlon?

MO: They are very different from each other. Incomparable! They are just at very different dimensions!

RD: And is it true you were a decathlete during your high school years?

MO: Yes, I actually won second place in the speech part of the competition.

RD: Did being part of the program help you in any way later in your life?

MO: It definitely helped me develop more confidence. It also helped me in college. The knowledge and study skills I acquired while in the team were very helpful. It felt like I was going to college with an advantage...

RD: Ok, my last question. Why would you recommend students join Academic League and Decathlon?

MO: #1- It is a great experience and it prepares you for college.
#2- It is a good place to meet like-minded people.
#3- It is a good/ fun way to contribute to the school.

Twitter Sweeping the Nation!

Do you tweet?

Everyone can tweet, but have you noticed the many tweets that have been happening everywhere? I know I have, recently many celebrities and people tweet almost any possible place they can, even if it's via cell phone, or internet cafe. People can even tweet from their iPod Touch. Twitter is a new website just like Myspace which swept the nation off its feet and now Twitter is doing the same. Just recently everyone gives there news on twitter. Paula Abdul tweeted "I will not be returning to American Idol." We get updated about celebrities faster than the news. People spend more time on Twitter now than they do Myspace. Even video bloggers use it such as iJustine, Sxepgil, Shaycarl, and KassemG. The parodies of Twitter videos are also raising for example.

Example:



Twitter: Will it be the next big thing like Myspace? Answer us at sohnews@yahoo.com!


By 'Tech Guy' Robert Garcia.

Horoscopes!

Aries: You’ll accidentally stumble upon the secret of the Dim Mak Death Touch this Thursday- which, as luck would have it. Is your first day as a massage therapist.

Leo: From Thursday forward, your name wil be mentioned every time flaming corn dogs rain down from the sky.

Sagittarius: This week’s smorgasbord of nudity and bullfighting will erase all the remaining doubts about your ability to be a network TV programmer.

Taurus: The residents of Tulsa will make you pay for every dollar of damage you’ve caused, but they’re not heartless, so they’ll let you keep the bison.

Virgo: There are, in fact, good and evil twins, but a greater range of moral Choices is available to you as a sextuplet.

Capricorn: The prosecuting attorney will be ruthless, relentless and efficient in exposing your crimes. But at one point you’ll be able to see right down her blouse.

Gemini: The little black dress is an instant sophisticator--slimming, elegant, and timeless, but you’d be better off going with something flame-resistant this weekend.

Libra: Demented surgeons will drive a half-inch steel rod through your cheeks and attack it to a water skiing towrope, but unfortunately, they’ll lose the bet that made them do it in the first place.

Aquarius: Today is a positive day today for you, Later you should find your self filled with wealth, but a random car will appear while your in class and hit you. Don’t worry you won’t die but you have a math test the day after.

Cancer: Running for mayor might not seem too realistic, but just wait until they get a load of your new suit.

Scorpio:Things will be back to normal in a couple of weeks, but your current tick infestation is just the beginning.

Pisces: The stars foretell your life continuing in much the way it always has for the next few months.

San Diego needs to conserve water.

If you like it then you should put a lid on it

By Martin Zazueta

The title of very article will most likely make you reminisce on Beyonce's hit song, "Single Ladies", but it helps illustrate a good point. We as San Diegans must do our part to deal with the water shortage that's facing California, by setting examples ourselves and promoting water friendly behavior.

We must not fret over the large-scale problems or become pessimistic about the issue, feeling that we will never be able to make the huge difference we wanted. In times of peril we must look confidently towards the future, finding that any improvement no matter how small is a major improvement as opposed to no improvement.

There's an idea I would like the readers to remember, it was aired on a 'Going Green' episode of My name is Earl, and it was that one should not “think locally, act globally” but should instead “think globall, act locally”. This simply means that we dont have to change the whole world to make a difference: just by merely changing ourselves and our surroundings we can make a difference. And water is one of those little things we can change about ourselves that can have an impact. We may not realize it but there many and very simple actions we can do to save water, for example:

• Shorter Showers: we all enjoy long showers and need them but do we really need 20 minute showers? Just by cutting back on showers by couple minutes will help us save a large quantities of water, because the average shower head uses 5 gallons per minute (http://www.deq.state.ok.us/mainlinks/uls/newsletters/ULSnews1.pdf.). So by cutting back lets say 5 minutes in the shower we can up to 25 gallons of water per day, 175 per week, 750 per month and 9,125 per year and it would be 18,250 if you cut down to a 10 minute shower.

• Another thing we can do (though it will probably wont be as easy) is not to wait for the hot water, for again every minute the shower is on we lose 5 gallons, so if you have the will power to encourage yourself to get used to cold water (I mean we live in America's finest city and it is summer , do we really need a hot shower in the morning or at night when our the weather will be nice and warm?)

That is all for now, but there will be more to come on water tips and actions we can all take to help out with the water crisis, and always remember if you like it then you really should put a lid on it.

SOH band recruits new members

EXTRA EXTRA BAND LOOKING FOR MEMBERS!


Writer: Jasmine Straw

Marching band and concert band: don't think it's for you? Well, why not? It's for anyone with a passion for music. You might ask why you would want to join such a group, and I'll give you the answers.

Band class is that place where you make friendships and bonds that'll last a life time, not to mention the good memories. All of the marching competions and concerts serve as bonding time, along with practices, fundraising, and trips to various places. And when I say trips, I mean TRIPS! With our new motivated director, we will have even more opportunities than you could ever imagine.

Don't know anything about music or marching? No problem! With out marching coaches, woodwind coach, brass coach, drum coach, and the encouagement of other students you'll learn in no time!

Have sports? Ms. Clark is willing to work around your sports so that you're still able to do your athletics and still be able to enjoy being in band.

Still think you're not cut out for it? Just stop by the band room and talk to one of the students, the teacher, or one of the coaches, and I'm sure you will be convinced that you can do it.

BAND IS AWESOME.

Crossing Over:What would you do for a Green Card?

New film explores immigration problems

By Elma Gonzalez


"Every day thousands of people illegally cross our borders... only one thing stands in their way. America."

With this tagline, Crossing Over joins the great number of films that deal with the issue of immigration to the United States. Written and directed by Wayne Kramer (also known for making Running Scared), the movie is a series of vignettes connected by one ambition: to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The movie's structure is very similar to that of Crash, Babel, and Traffic and shows a great deal of promise in its trailer. Unfortunately, just like many other Holywood films, Crossing Over fails to live up to its expectations. Unlike its three predecessors, this film is predictable and at times characterless.
Although it includes influential actors such as Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, and 'Across the Universe' star Jim Sturgess, the film surprisingly lacks the action and excitement big blockbusters usually comprise. Instead this film is a drama that consists of an intricate plot that deals with the horrors and obstacles faced by immigrants -specifically Koreans, Africans, Iranians, Australians, Mexicans, and Jewish/atheist Britons- to the United States.
Regardless of the unwieldy final product, Crossing Over does leave the audience with a message that deals with the present, dysfunctional system management of immigration in the United States.
So, before you go ahead and watch this film, keep in mind that this is a slow drama; it has no action or comedy. However, if you enjoy watching films that leave you something to think about, take 113min of your day to check it out!
Personally, I enjoyed watching the film even though it was short of action and comedy, two very important factors in that characterize my ideal films.

Extra Info:

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, some strong violence and sexuality/nudity.

Parents Guide:

View content advisory for parents

Runtime:

USA:113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Latest transformers movie a dud...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction action film which was released on June 24, 2009 in North America. It is the sequel to 2007's TransformersTransformers series. and the second film in the live action series. Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg return respectively as director and executive producer, while Shia LaBeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. The film introduces many more robots and the area has been expanded to numerous countries, most notably France, Jordan and Egypt. The plot revolves around Sam, who has been having visions of Cybertronian symbols, getting hunted by the evil Decepticons under the orders of their long-trapped leader, The Fallen. The Fallen seeks to get revenge on Earth by finding and activating a machine that would provide the Decepticons with an energon source, destroying all life on the planet in the process.

Despite poor critical reception, Revenge of the Fallen achieved the highest Wednesday opening gross in history, bringing in $62 million in North America alone and close to $100 million worldwide; this is also the second-highest opening day gross of all time, behind only The Dark Knight's $67.8 million. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is currently the highest grossing film of 2009.

Despite its success at the box-office, the only reason this movie was somewhat enjoyable to me was that I watched it with my friends and we kept making fun of everything that was happening. We laughed at everything, including the little kids’ -who shouldn't have been watching it- snicker at every little swear word or distasteful hint. If the movie had not been blasting my eardrums with blaring noises in the endless action sequences, I would have surely fallen asleep during the 3 hour long movie.