2017

by 0 comments on "Abolish SAT-Emphasis"

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-AP Students and/or students who have taken the SAT

“It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself.  But he can put himself into such shape that when or if opportunity comes, he is ready.” -Theodore Roosevelt

For years and years, high schools across the nation emphasize the aptitude test known as the SAT.  There are those who have the necessary funds, those who know which direction to go in life, and those who are backed with the many scholarships they have earned who may just shrug off the difficulty that comes with nothing more than another qualification for college.  For many, however, comes its blatant needlessness.  There will be those who have an interest in vocational schools, those who work straight out of high school, or those who pursued an alternate route.  Why must they receive the same emphasis if it’s not of their interest?

The SAT, in a sense, is an unnecessary test that has burrowed its way into high school life.  Perhaps it wouldn’t be needless if something like junior college was not made available as an alternate route.  Junior college, otherwise known as community college, is arguably the most efficient and helpful way to get into any four-year university.  Unlike a generalized test such as the SAT, community college can provide students with a more specific goal for when they reach any of the local Cal-States or UCs.  This is imperative to those who have yet to decide what they wish to pursue in life, what they know they’re good at, and what they’re the most comfortable with since it provides an extended two years of experience and flexibility that isn’t limited to mandatory classes in high school.

In hindsight, passing the SAT, ACT, or any form of aptitude test can prove a student’s worth in college life.  However, in today’s society, debt has become the accepted snake that crawls up and down everyone’s spine.  It almost always begins with student loan debt.  As opposed to what the SAT promotes, unless the student pursued scholarships, they are walking into the loan traps set in place by a majority of colleges.  Why must a student pay for general education classes in a four-year college?  These classes do not favor their pursuit in their occupation whatsoever, yet they are still paying the full price for courses and semesters.  Why isn’t it advertised that community college also covers general education classes?  You can complete said classes for a fraction of the cost all while figuring out what career you want to pursue.  Not to mention that transfers have a greater enrollment rate than freshmen going in straight from high school according to the statistics found on universityofcalifornia.edu.

As mentioned before, unless a student has access to adequate funds and/or scholarships, the SAT should NOT be emphasized in high school life without the consultation of alternate methods.  Students should be aware and should know what they must endure if they decide to go directly into a four-year college directly from high school.

by 0 comments on "V/H/S: Viral Movie Review"

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“V/H/S: Viral” is a 2014 anthology horror film directed by Gregg Bishop and Justin Benson. It is the sequel to 2012’s “V/H/S” and 2013’s “V/H/S/2”. The plot of the film doesn’t follow the previous film. A group of teens who are obsessed with making viral videos witness an ice cream truck being chased through their neighborhood and record the chase with cameras to hopefully make it viral and become famous.

The film consists of three short films being played through someone’s phone whenever the ice cream truck passes by that person during the police chase:

“Dante the Great”

An unsuccessful magician named Dante is trying to make ends meet when he comes across a cloak that can make his magic more interesting beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

“Parallel Monsters”

Mainly told in Spanish, this short film centers on a man who builds a machine that opens up a parallel universe very much like his own. He and his parallel self swap universes for a few minutes with some major consequences he may never forget.

“Bonestorm”

A group of skateboarders travel to the Mexican border. They soon skate over a mysterious symbol on the ground and they find themselves in a fight for their own survival against an evil that they have accidentally unleashed.

 

The film was complete trash! The film was a little too short and none of the shorts were that interesting. “Dante the Great” was mainly a short documentary instead of a found-footage short. In “Bonestorm”, the camera shots weren’t good. The boys had two GoPros on their heads, one towards their faces and the other faced away. The directors could’ve taken the cameras that were facing them and there would’ve been less camera switches. In “Parallel Monsters”, the monsters were lazily created and not scary. Don’t watch this movie, unless you enjoy bad movies. What could’ve made the movie better would be that the boys who were chasing the ice cream truck could get into the truck and watch one of the tapes.

“Dante the Great” could’ve been found-footage like it’s supposed to be instead of a documentary. “Bonestorm” could have less camera switches. “Parallel Monsters” could’ve had more scary monsters in the parallel universe. One thing that also could’ve made the movie interesting would be that the glitch monster from the first film in the short “Tuesday the 17th” could’ve been the one behind the chase and videos going viral

2/10

by 0 comments on "V/H/S Movie Review"

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“V/H/S” is a 2012 anthology horror film directed by Adam Wingard and Ti West. Starring Calvin Reeder and Lane Hughes, the film is mainly about a band of crooks who are hired by their boss to steal a rare v/h/s tape from an old man’s home, but instead, they find a dead body surrounded by horrific tapes.

The film is a collection of five short films that one of the crooks watches with the dead body while the other crooks search the house for the rare v/h/s tape:

“Amateur Night”

Three friends buy a pair of video glasses to make an adult film. They bring back one girl to their hotel room with them, but it is soon revealed that the girl isn’t really “human”.

“Second Honeymoon”

A couple having their second honeymoon in the Grand Canyon are documenting their trip while being stalked by a mysterious killer.

“Tuesday the 17th” 

Four college friends are going to the woods with their new friend. All seems to be going well, then there’s a killer in the woods. Not your average killer. This one only appears as a tracking error on their camera so it can’t be filmed properly.

“The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger”

This short is filmed from an old Skype conversation. A woman is talking to her boyfriend who’s away on business, then she thinks her house is haunted. Soon after, she discovers a mysterious lump on her arm. Is she safe?

“10/31/98”

It’s Halloween 1998. Four friends dressed as a teddy bear (nanny cam), a Marine, a pirate, and the Unabomber, respectively, are on their way to a Halloween party. But they choose the wrong house. After exploring the empty house, they find some men and a woman in the attic performing an exorcism. Before the friends can try and escape, the house unleashes a deadly poltergeist on everyone.

 

The film was a good movie, not bad or great, just good. It did reveal some scary monsters that not very many get to see in movies. Some of the shorts were too boring and the movie itself was a little too long. The second short “Second Honeymoon” could’ve had some more action in it to make it more interesting and some more backstory between the couple and the killer. The third short “Tuesday the 17th” was full of cliches, but the only good thing about it was a killer itself. One thing that would’ve made the movie a big twist would be that at the end of the fifth short “10/31/98” the boys could survive and then they could be mentally traumatized and they become the crooks who broke into the house to watch the tapes.

6/10

by 0 comments on "V/H/S/2 Movie Review"

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“V/H/S/2” is a 2013 anthology horror film directed by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett and is the sequel to 2012’s “V/H/S”.

The film  mainly stars Michael Lawrence Lavine and Kelsey Abbott as two private investigators who go searching for a missing college kid and find a collection of v/h/s tapes in his home instead.

The film contains four short films that  one of the investigators watches while the other searches the house for the college kid:

“Phase 1 Clinical Trials“Image result for vhs 2 movie

A man was recently in a car accident and he gets an ocular implant with recording chip in it and he begins seeing spirits in his home. After seeing some weird activity in his home, a woman who can hear the activity but can not see it, gives him a message he may never forget.

 

“A Ride In The Park“Image result for vhs 2 movie

A man biking through the fictional Gold Stone State Park mounts a GoPro camera on his helmet and gets turned into a zombie and we are given a first-person shot of what a zombie does. Contains: bloody images, gore, and violence that’s not for the faint of heart.

 

 

 

“Safe Haven”

Image result for vhs 2 movie

Four friends are in Indonesia making a documentary about an Indonesian cult isolated from society and during their interview, the cult unleashes its terrifying truth on everyone living there and the documentarians.

 

 

“Slumber Party Alien Abduction“Image result for vhs 2 movie

The title says it all! A group of young friends and teenagers are having a sleepover and they are suddenly abducted by aliens one at a time while a GoPro mounted on their dog records it all.

 

The film was a major improvement over its predecessor. The shorts were entertaining, have a lot of violence and gore and provide plenty of good scares. It provides the same plot line as its predecessor with it being a bunch of shorts being watched by someone. The plot also doesn’t make sense just like the first movie, but it’s not meant to make sense. The plot is a bunch of short films being played that have no real connection to each other. What could’ve been done to make it more interesting would be that the people who are investigating the home, one or more of the short films could have one of them in it and can reveal some backstory about them and how they got to where they are at the house now.

7/10

http://movieweb.com/

Alien-Goatdemon-Zombie-Ghost – A Review Of V/H/S/2

 

by 0 comments on "Circle"

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“Circle” is a 2015 science fiction/drama film directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione. The movie stars Michael Nardelli, Julie Benz, Carter Jenkins, and so many more. The film is about fifty random strangers who wake in a dark room arranged in one large circle with no way to escape. They soon learn that every two minutes, one of them is killed by a mysterious device in the middle of the room. They eventually learn that they get to choose who gets to die next by voting, starting up discussions about life and personal values of deciding who is the one person who deserves to live.

Circle’s setting is extremely simplified; taking place in a single room. 50 people are placed into a circle facing each other. In the center of the room is an ominous black orb which stares back into the eyes of the occupants of the room. Around the orb are triangular selectors, one for each occupant of the room. Each contestant of the Circle uses their hand to vote for a person to kill. Each vote is only known to the person who cast the vote. While visually, Circle is nothing special, it’s location allows it to focus on it’s core message and plot.

As the movie progresses, the occupants in the room die out while also discussing the different stereotypes and manners of human interaction. The 50 people cover very significant life topics like: racism, gay marriage, contributing to society, children, pregnant women, religion, immigration, etc… As well as the topics discussed in the movie, the 50 people in the room represent a different type of member of our society such as: an Army man, a pregnant woman, a child, a one-armed man, a Spanish-speaker, a rich man, a minister, an atheist, etc…

While it’s discussions are shallow at best, it’s addressing of the issues is refreshing in movie industry that is obsessed with recreating the old instead of creating something new. Deeper analysis of the movie’s plot reveals commentary about the prejudges of society, mob mentality, fear, mortality, and democracy. One example of this would be the reactionary methods with which the contestants vote with. Instead of using the a logical approach, the contestants reacted to fear tactics and mis-information. The overall feeling seems to echo the 2016 elections.

Overall, the movie is a very simple, creative, and horrific movie. Some characters could be more developed and the ending could have been more anonymous so the watcher doesn’t know who the real winner of the circle was. I liked this movie and recommend it to high school students to teach them valuable lessons they will need to learn in real life.

Wyatt Fortin: 8.5/10

To close, I personally found the movie to be quite refreshing. The movie’s message, while ham-fisted at times, is conversation starting. It’s study of the human condition along with it’s quick pacing allows it to explore a wide range of topics in a short amount of time. It’s simple and good for what the film makers were working with and beats a lot of high budget films that have come out recently in terms of plot and meaningfulness.

Josh Garde: 4 pies out of 2 ducks

by 0 comments on "Privacy at School"

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The popup shown on the Guest network

As a student at Corona High School, you’ve probably experienced a little popup whenever you’ve connected onto the Guest network whenever you try to connect to a website like Google. Tapping on “Cancel” refuses to load the website, but clicking on “Continue” gives the district the opportunity to take a peak at your messages, emails, and social media accounts.

Corona[H][S] is HTTPS secured
Most websites use something called HTTPS. Basically, it’s a form of encryption for websites that ensures that your information is kept confidential between you and the website. This confidential information may include usernames, passwords, and other personal information. You can tell that a website has HTTPS by looking at the address bar.

There’s an example of this on the right. The problem is centered around the Corona-Norco Unified School District firewall and the district’s need to block certain websites. The district firewall takes this HTTPS connection and put’s itself between you and the website. This is to ensure that no blocked websites such as YouTube are accessed, however, an arrangement like this is also regarded as a form of malicious attack. By putting a third-party between users and websites, personal information can be easily accessed, read, and saved. Because of this, regardless of who is performing this intrusive act, your information is at risk.

While the district has a comprehensive usage policy for teachers, students, and administrators using their equipment, they do not have a written privacy policy for handling the personal digital information which they can see on a day-to-day basis. As a result, the safety of your your information and how it is handled is completely unknown. This information could be your email addresses, your usernames, passwords, social security number, drivers license, bank account information, etc. In contrast, Google, a company usually associated with immense privacy invasion in the name of better targeted ads, has a quite comprehensive privacy policy. It contains information about the information they collect, how they collect it, why they collect it, and your options as a consumer for disclosing that information. The same is true for Corona[H][S], the website you’re currently reading, which also maintains a privacy policy for the benefit of our staff and readers.

When pressed for comment, Brian Trudy, director of Network & Infrastructure for the CNUSD, stated that:

Due to the highly confidential nature of this information, we cannot provide comment on this information. Our information technology department strives to provide the highest level of security to ensure a safe and productive learning environment for all students.

It’s a bit ironic that the district’s policies and procedures are protected under a veil of confidentiality, but personal information, which is meant to be confidential, isn’t?

So what can you do? Use your own devices. Create your own wifi hotspots and share with friends. Refuse to use any internet connected district equipment – this includes the laptops, the tablets, the desktops, etc. It’s a tough compromise, but it’s necessary if you want to protect your information.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
– Benjamin Franklin.

Featured Image Credit: Sarah Klockars-Clauser 2010; Licensed under CC-BY-SA

by 1 comment on "Reminiscing the Memes"

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Memes have been around for quite some time even before any of us were born, let’s start out with the memes from middle school you guys know exactly what I’m talking about. The rage faces, that was the first ever meme for me I don’t know about you guys but that’s how my preteen years went by, creating bottom text memes with rage faces trying so hard to be funny those were real good times even the comic strips were pretty funny even to this day they’re pretty funny.
Moving on, I’m pretty sure we’ve all seen the word boss when talking about something “cool”, that word went on for a while it was pretty annoying but hey that’s how us kiddos were, always following the trends, we would always use that word either in making the meme or commenting about it and now our “intelligent vocabulary” expands from there to even more interesting words.
Next, we have the adorable “doge” memes honestly I don’t know how to explain that meme it was pretty funny and the word doge should be self-explanatory for all meme lovers I thought it was a corgi but turns out it’s a shuba inu which is a breed from japan, super adorable and very lovable.
Next, do you guys remember that alien guy, on every single picture of that alien guy it would say “ayyy lmao” I didn’t think it was that funny but it sure is fun to say to friends, family, teachers, or your dogs. I would count that as a meme since it was pretty popular for quite a while.
Everyone who has social media knows about “pepe” he was everywhere! literally his face changed to every single mood that is possible it was always easily relatable, he was pretty much an ugly version of Kermit but sadly RIP to pepe the meme died down kind of fast and we then moved on from there to greater memes.
Now we have come to the present, filled with many offensive and “triggering”, basically what started this whole “edgy” phase of memes was “harambe” I despised him greatly he was only funny for a week but then everyone on social media took it too far and I was completely tired of it, so sad. From then on there are a huge variety of offensive memes that many of us find humorous but sometimes people take it way too far, well keep on enjoying the memes and keep bringing laughter to the world.

by 0 comments on "Superbowl 51"

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As any American sports fan knows, the Super Bowl is one of the largest events in sports yearly, with millions of people tuning in to watch the big game and countless parties being thrown. It is very common for people to place bets on the yearly game, with some people even just watch it for the hilarious commercials. This year was the 51st annual Super Bowl, and the stakes were high as ever due to the extreme competitive nature of the sport. As always it was played by the best two teams in the league, one from the AFC and one team from the NFC conference. This year the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, Green bay Packers, and the Dallas Cowboys were all contenders in the playoffs but all fell short of playing on the biggest stage of their careers. At game time fans eagerly await for the first kickoff and normally talk trash to one another throughout the game.

 

Hopefully your favorite team made it all the way this year, but maybe not. Probably not. In the NFL you can never predict what teams are going to make it to the final game, as anything can happen. Teams that typically do really well sometimes have a bad season, and vice versa with teams that typically do not. It is so hard to predict who will make it in fact, many people go to Las Vegas to place bets, and your odds can sometimes win you up to 20 times your wager! This year the game was played between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons, with the Patriots coming out victorious in overtime with a score of 34 points to the Falcons score of 28. The game was a very good one to watch as the Falcons started off strong with a very large lead going into halftime, most expected them to continue and win the game, but giving five time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady time to make a comeback was their biggest downfall.
Going into the playoffs some of the fan favorites to win the championship consisted between the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland raiders whom respectively were able to achieve a record of 13 wins and 3 losses for Dallas and a record of 12 wins and  4 losses for the Oakland Raiders. However, anything can happen in the NFL and it has been shown year after year to have different outcomes, and this was one of those years.

by 0 comments on "Black Mirror"

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There is a fifth dimension beyond that of which is known to the average viewer, it is a dimension as vast as space and timeless as infinity, it is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. It lies between the pit of man’s fear, and the sanity of writers. This is the dimension of hellish imagination- it is the Netflix original series some call, Black Mirror. 


The science fiction program by Charlie Brooker offers a darker, more modern take on a much loved classic, The Twilight Zone. With 3 seasons and counting, Black Mirror has left audiences of all ages speechless; wanting more, more, and more of this unique viewing experience that can only be described as bizarre. However, like most shows, the first season is the most important in order to really get a sense and feel for the overall layout. Each episode stands alone and are not related by plot nor character, the only similarity is the common way in which each problem stems from the innermost realms of the human psyche. Season one tantalizes viewers with scandalous and risqué themes in multiple alternate universes where every person has their memories stored from birth, where a population of adults must live monotonous lives for a chance at false fame, and where a world leader must follow through with degrading terrorist demands. Each episode dances on the edge of reality, just close enough to home so that a real fear lingers- could all of this really happen? Black Mirror encompasses thrills for all; if one dares to watch.



Hell breaks loose when the Prime Minister of England is forced to make a life changing decision. The princess is held hostage, and the only demand made by the anonymous kidnapper is that the Prime Minister must perform an illegal sexual act… on live television. As the clock begins to tick down faster and faster and the suspect nowhere to be found, he must choose: the princess or his reputation? Watch as motives and public opinion shape the fate of a politician. Will he save the princess? Is it really his responsibility. Watch episode one of Black Mirror to find out.



Utopia isn’t always what we dream it will be, especially for this odd man and woman in a very dystopian future. Workers (Citizens? Slaves? People?) spend their days in a facility running on treadmills to earn enough points to survive. Entertainment is provided via television, and the girl is finally given the chance, and enough points, to try out for her favorite game show. However, nothing is as it seems in Black Mirror, and her audition turns into the opportunity to either go back to the monotonous mindless drudge she’s been living in her whole life, or become a pornstar. Forget what you thought you knew about the future and delve into this all too possible reality in episode two of Black Mirror.



The human brain can be compared to a supercomputer, what with its ability to store and present information when needed. But like all aspects of a human, it is flawed; memories fade or become twisted and unreliable. Follow a man as he revisits past moments with help from a microchip placed in the brain at birth. The technology is so commonplace in this alternate universe and appears useful in some ways. But with great power, comes great responsibility. And with great technology, comes life-changing mistakes. Some memories are meant to stay hidden and buried forever, what would you do if you could never forget? Is this technology a blessing or a sick and twisted curse? Decide for yourself as you watch episode 3 of Black Mirror.

Black Mirror is rated M for mature. This rating comes from sexual themes, some language, and a creepy vibe overall. The questions and implications that arise from viewing may make some feel uncomfortable, but if one is intrigued by the occasional spine chilling scene, by all means this show is for them. 10/10 recommend this show and all future seasons. Happy Watching!

by 0 comments on "Bring Your Own Device"

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            The 2017-2018 school year will bring new freshman, new sports teams, and the beginnings of a system that will shape the classroom and make it continuously harder for poor students to keep up with the curriculum. Bring your own device (or BYOD) is the new program coming to Corona High School next year which will make every student responsible for bringing a computer or a tablet to school. While this contradicts the school’s anti-phone and anti-distraction position it has maintained for the past few years, the administration is confident that having technology and the ease that comes with it available to students will outweigh the risks involved in bringing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of machinery to a high school.

Having every student within access of internet and programs like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel is not without its merit. The practicality of BYOD means that families would be responsible for the technology gap in public schooling, making for classes that are more efficient and engaging. And the concept leads to the possibilities of whole new avenues of learning that would not be possible before. Technology makes tasks more engaging however mundane they are, and if staff can translate that to learning then school will become the institution that it thrives to be.

However, the sad reality is that the program is doomed to fail or at the very least hurt a lot of students learning to succeed. The immediate issue that most people are familiar with is the thefts and damages that these devices insure. It won’t be very surprising when students’ laptops are stolen or broken on campus. The office has said that they will not be taking any legal or personal responsibility for these losses. Assistant Principal Jeyan Danesh states that, “We won’t take responsibility for these devices but we encourage students to report stolen property and keep the serial code on the back of the machine so we can identify lost or stolen devices.”

But the most serious issue that will arise is the aspect of the monetary strain it will put on the families of Corona High School, especially the ones will multiple students here. To expect every family to pay hundreds of dollars for a device is unrealistic and creates a gap between those who can and can’t afford high end devices leaving poorer students forced to use the increasingly substandard laptops provided by the school. This also brings up the question of bringing the aspect of paying for better learning. Although this is a common thing in society with the existence of private and charter schools it has primarily stayed vacant from public schooling.

The BYOD program opens up a pathway for wealthier students to spend more money on fancier software and machines and increase the wealth gap in schooling.  The purpose of public schooling is to create an equal learning environment for all children. But if only wealthy families have access to better technology than that creates an unfair advantage and directly goes against the point of public schooling.  “…this is a common issue with no real solution but is outweighed by the benefits of the program,” said Mr. Danesh. With no concrete answers to these pressing issues we have to ask if the school is prepared to handle a shift to technology of this scale. 

Finally, the Assistant Principal goes on to say, “…We and District are still in the planning phase of the program, and that there is a lot of careful planning going into it.” Most information is not set in stone but it will most likely start with just 9th grade and then expand to more grades. So prepare for the new program as well as the benefits and challenges that come with it.