By Carmen Kelly

More and more children all across America have to deal with their parents’ decisions every day, especially regarding divorce and separation. “Divorce doesn’t have to be bad or good,” said psychologist Dr. Steven VanSchoyck,.

“Because my parents have been separated for so long, I have gotten used to having two different homes and just living with one parent,” said freshman Sachi Statz. Statz has adjusted to her  parent ’s divorce , but others don’t have it so easy.

“My parents were never really happy together. But the part that makes me really sad is that they never really told me what they were doing,” said freshman Christina Fernandez. “I knew that they were getting separated, but they never spoke to me about it.”

Whether it is with friends or other family members, children of divorce fi nd a way to let things out. “I recommend family counseling,” said Dr. VanSchoyck. “Family counseling can help ease the transition and ease the child’s feelings.”

Fernandez does not talk about her parent’  separation with them. But she does talk to other people to help her get through the tough situation. “My friends have really been there for me, and one of my best friends is in the same situation,” says Fernandez.

1,075,000 children under the age of 18 have divorced parents, according to the Americans for Divorce Reform, Inc. “Age defi – nitely affects how children react,” reported Dr. Van- Schoyck. “Older children are typically more aware of immediate affects, but the physiological challenge is equal among all ages.”

“[We were] not realizing that the children get hurt the most in the end,” said Nidia Iglesias, Fernandez’ mother.

Some say divorce isn’t all that bad; students have mentioned double the presents on holidays. To add to that, students fi lling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) who have divorced parents are only required to present the taxes for one parent, which in turn gets the child more money.

According to a poll taken at Miami Beach Senior High, 33% of the student population has divorced parents and 9% has separated parents.

Research has shown that divorce rates are reaching all-time highs . The proposed reason for this change is that women are less dependent on men for all things economic.

Each year, as many people get divorced as married (2.3 million). According to Enrichment Journal, a Catholic newsletter, the divorce rate in America for first marriages is 41%, the divorce rate in America for second marriages is 60%, and the divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%.

“When I married, I believed it was for the rest of my life,” said Iglesias. “I was willing and for a long time tried to work to keep my marriage, but it takes b o t h members of the marriage to make it work.”

Families everywhere have their problems. Some are separated, some divorced, but some are still together. “A lot of my friends are going through the same thing and a lot of my friends have parents that are still together,” said Statz.

By Nadine Goldberg

Fumbling for the off button on her alarm clock, a student reluctantly rolls out of bed. She guzzles down a cup of steaming hot coffee, hoping it will keep her awake through the long day to come. Like many of her schoolmates, this girl is making her daily attempt to replace the irreplaceable, by substituting caffeine for sleep.

In a survey of 92 students from Miami Beach Senior High, an overwhelming 84% saidthat they consumed caffeinated  foods or drinks. The average amount of sleep, however, was only seven hours – 1.5 hours less than the 8.5 minimum recommended for adolescents by the National Sleep Foundation.

According to the HealthConnect Clinic nurse at Beach High, Melissa Eisensmith, caffeine, which is found in tea, coffee, soda, chocolate, energy drinks, and even in some medications, is a toxic chemical.

When caffeine enters the bloodstream, the heart begins pumping faster to flush the chemical out, while water dilutes the offending toxin. This whirlwind of action causes the temporary jolt that caffei  -consumers experience. “It gives you a false perception of energy,” said Eisensmith. With a school day beginning at 7:30 a.m., it is not surprising that so many Hi-Tides take advantage of this side effect.

“Caffeine gives me the stamina I need,” said William Presswood, Psychology teacher and serious Coca-Cola drinker. “It gives me a little edge.” Presswood claims to drink two liters of Coca-Cola every day during the school year. Sophomore Michael Serra noted that caffeine gives him “that little boost to do my best in class and stay awake.”

The US Food and Drug Administration lists caffeine as a food additive “Generally Recognized as Safe,” when used in moderation, but it also produces negative effects. It increases blood pressure, and therefore the risk for heart disease, puts stress on the kidneys and adrenal glands, is a diuretic, and may cause anxiety and dizziness.

According to Eisensmith, the effects vary from person to person. “Everybody’s different,” she explained. Factors like weight and size   termine an individual’s level of sensitivity to caffeine.

 These negative effects are deterrents to junior Nestor Estrada. “I do not intentionally [consume caffeine] because I know it’s bad for you,” he said.

Caffeine also poses the risk of dependency. According to Eisensmith, when regular consumers try to kick the caffeine habit abruptly, they often experience withdrawal symptoms , the most common of which are  headaches. Presswood admits a dependence on a regular dose of caffeine. “I usually don’t drink a lot of caffeine in the summertime because I don’t need to, and I get headaches, and so that’s really difficult sometimes,” he said.

According to Eisensmith, caffeine might temporarily relieve tiredness, but sleep has unique mental, physical, and emotional benefits that the replacement does not provide. Putting it simply, she stressed, “You shouldn’t need caffeine to keep you awake.”

By Wendy Goya, Kristeen Pawly, and Margaret Cohn

The new uniform policy this year doesn’t mean that students can’t express themselves with their clothing choices. There’s nothing in the dress code that says that students have to shed their individuality as they cross the threshold onto campus.

There are some basic rules that must be followed to steer clear of the security guards: on top, it’s a white, red or gray tshirt or polo shirt; below the belt, it’s either jeans, black twill, khaki, or cargo pants. But beyond the basics, students are left with plenty of space to make their uniforms stylish and fun.

Students are allowed to wear any sweater or jacket they like, as long as the sweater can be taken off to prove that a uniform shirt is underneath. Hi-Tides can accent their uniforms with jewelry, footwear or other accessories, but don’t get carried away: what gets you past the security guards is one thing, but you’ll still have to watch out for the fashion police.

Here are some Do’s to make your uniform stylish and some Don’ts that make your uniform inappropriate and just plain ugly…

By Miriam Kolker and Alex Rodriguez

Claire Austin, senior, was awarded the prestigious Miami Herald Silver Knight Award last month. A former editor-in-chief of The Beachcomber, Austin won in the Journalism category for establishing the Quill and Scroll’s paper recycling program at Miami Beach Senior High.

“I wasn’t expecting to win at all,” she said, “I’m still surprised.”

According to the Silver Knight website, “the purpose of the Silver Knight Awards program is to recognize outstanding students who have not only maintained good grades but have also unselfishly applied their special knowledge and talents to contribute significant service to their schools and communities.”

Austin established the recycling program after seeing the amount of paper that was being wasted throughout Beach High. As a journalist whose job relies on writing and paper, she thought it would be wise to conduct the project through Quill and Scroll, the writing honor society. After receiving approval from club advisor Nina Duval and activities director Marysol Rivero, Austi  put the program into full swing.

“I Googled ‘sanitation in Miami Beach’ and got in contact with Larry Roth,” Austin explained. Roth, former school board representative in charge of sanitation came to Beach to help launch the recycling program with Austin.

Once the program was established, the next step was collecting boxes to distribute to classrooms. Duval suggested gathering the cardboard boxes stocked in the supply room, which worked out successfully. “It sort of grew from there,” Austin explained.

Austin was thankful for the experiences she had with Journalism, and claimed she gained a lot. “Everything I did to earn it [the award] made me have to be very diligent,” she said, “and ready to face people who weren’t ready to support a new program.”

Austin currently writes online for the blogs Outloud and Daily Candy. She is attending Georgetown University in Washington D.C next year, where she will be studying International Political Economy. As for the whole experience, Austin said, “it gets people to start a good thing.”

Miami Beach Senior High’s other Silver Knight nominees were Stephen Byrnes, Yvette Ramirez, Leanna Rodriguez, Neymi Orozco, Talia Robledo-Gil, Ryan Cabana, Ashley Casal, Caroline Kaine, and Juliana Crump.

By Maria Guzman

Through the years, Miami Beach Senior High has seen countless students come and go, but there are legendary teachers that remain in the memories of students and alumni. Unfortunately for Beach High, some of the “staples” in the school’s history will leave the newly built halls of the school and move on to bigger and better things.

Coach Juan Camarotti, College Assistance Program counselor Dr. Jon Page, Social Studies teacher Gerald Klein, Librarian Patricia Felts, Physical Education teacher Leslie Granberry, and Science teacher Charles Bellman will all be retiring at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

“I don’t want to retire, but I have to,” said Camarotti, looking back at 29 years of work. “I’ve got the best job in the world.”

Over the years, these educators have acquired memories to last a lifetime.

According to Felts, “the sight of the new library when it opened in January” was one memory that she will never forget. Page, ever the humorist, responded that “this interview” would be unforgettable for him.  

“The students” seem to be the most common answer the retiring teachers gave when asked what they would miss the most.

These teachers have inspired many, just as they were inspired to first teach. “My mother was a teacher,” Granberry said, “so I copycatted her. My father was a farmer, so I definitely didn’t want to do that”.

According to Camoratti, he was inspired to teach at age sixteen by an elementary school teacher he met.

“Students have taught me a lot, not only about them, but about myself. I’ve learned a lot about myself through teaching,” said Felts.

A teacher’s job is never easy. Students keep teachers on their toes, forcing them to expect the unexpected. According to the retirees, even though the journey was hard at times, each of them would do it again.

“Absolutely,” said Page, “I think that it has been a really wonderful experience, and that the students and I have mutually benefited in a lot of ways.”

Although the teachers unanimously agree that they will miss their Hi- Tide family, they all have gr  t things ahead. Granberry plans on spending time with his grandchildren, while Felts plans on traveling and resting.

The halls of Beach High, its classrooms, the library, and the office will not be the same without these extraordinary teachers occupying them, but the memories they have made with the school and its students will last for years to come.

By Maria Guzman

Freshman Gabriela Lins plans to bring a peace garden to Miami Beach Senior High next year. The garden will consist of a frame in the shape of a peace sign, complete with benches and, flowers and plants.

“It is going to establish peace and promote being an environmentally friendly school,” said Lins.

The garden was inspired by a sixth grade community service project Lins participated in when she attended Treasure Island Elementary. The garden she planted then still remains to this day.

Lins suggested the idea to FBLA sponsor Tonya Alvarez, and submitted plans for Principal Rosann Sidener to approve.

“I was extremely impressed with Gabriela’s idea,” said Alvarez, “especially since it came from a ninth grader who’s only been in the school for less than a year.”

The garden’s ultimate location will depend on the progress of the new building’s construction, but current plans point to the area that will open up once the gym is demolished.

The garden will not only promote peace in the abstract, but will host a new peer  mediation program proposed by junior Brittany Bruce.

“We have the recycling program and now the peer mediation program is starting, and the peace garden will tie it all together,” Lins said.

“I think it’s an incredible idea,” commented Alvarez, “so good that even the city of Miami Beach is giving her an award.”

By Wendy Goya

ASPIRE!

ASPIRA is not just a club at Miami Beach Senior High, but a national nonprofit organization that dedicates itself to educating and developing leadership skills in the nation’s Latino youth . The name “ASPIRA” comes from the Spanish verb “aspirar,” to aspire.

“ASPIRA is a great club because it helps you in many aspects of your life that one can carry throughout into the future,” says club historian Kristeen Pawly, a junior. “Not only that, but your social skills improve and the lessons taught are worthwhile.” Scholarships are available to members, and club advisor Yeney Rodriguez teaches them about financial aid, and evenarranges college tours.

The club has 30 members, but according to President Mapi Piña, a junior, only a few people actually attend meetings. “Other members have other things to take care of such as after school jobs, night school, or sports,” she explains. Piña is looking for ways to better accommodate everyone’s schedule.

The organization was started in 1961 by Dr. Antonia Pantoja and a group  of Puerto Rican educators. ASPIRA has spread throughout the United States, especially in New York. The club has been a part of Beach High for over six years.

“All the members are great people and we all get along,” Piña says. “There is no need to be shy; we don’t discriminate or ridicule anyone; we’re not only a club – we’re a family.”

BE A FRIEND, LEND A HAND!

The Best Buddies Organization, an international not for profit group dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities, recently opened a chapter at Miami Beach Senior High.

In 1989, Anthony Kennedy Shriver founded the organization after seeing that people with mental and physical disabilities did not have the same opportunities to socialize as much as people without disabilities. Shriver wanted to make an impact. He set up the organization to provide opportunities for one-on-one friendships that would help to develop self-esteem, and improve a handicapped citizen’s outlook on life.

Senior Jesse Mocha, president of Best Buddies, oversees the activities everyone else is doing. She really enjoys knowing how the handicapped kids feel when they have a friend.

“… [The kids] feel happy and recognized instead of feeling ostracized. They say they finally feel like someone cares about them and are glad they can count on their friends,” Mocha says.

Mocha feels that not enough students participat  in the group’s activities. According to her, many students make excuses without realizing that Best Buddies is about making friendships. By joining, students can change the lives of others and gain something more than just a friend.

“The Best Buddies Organization opens up your eyes to the problems [the mentally handicapped] really face,” freshman Kevin Seamon says. “Having a friend really makes them feel that we’re all the same.”

Best Buddies is dedicated to community service as well, meaning any member that attends group activities earns service hours and college credits.

By Ariela Zuniga

At first glance, the frizzy, haphazardly shaped mullet, antique aviator glasses, and slashed, fringed Metallica t-shirt appear to be a bad Halloween costume mistakenly worn after the holiday. This “Ozzy Osbourne” reincarnation is Sebastian Hoyos, an eccentric, rock-loving, animated ninth grader at Miami Beach Senior High.

Hoyos is known as the hilarious, free-spirited rock star trapped in Ozzy Osborne’s slurred and profane vocal cords. New to Miami Beach, Hoyos lived the first fifteen years of his life in Colombia learning English from beloved American sitcoms such as “Everybody Loves Raymond” and of course, the MTV reality show “The Osbournes.”

Today, he can be seen in the school halls rocking slashed jeans and causing comical ruckus among all of his peers. Mention the name “Ozzy Osborne” and students of Beach High will snicker while the amusing mental image of him stimulates even more laughter.

Sebastian Hoyos: You’ll have to delete several parts of what I’m saying here.*
Beachcomber: What grade are you in?
SH: Do I have to answer that? I plead the Fifth Amendment.
BC: How old are you?
SH: I’m fifteen, turning sixteen soon, on the 20 of November… I’m going to get a tattoo for my birthday, you know – the album cover on Theater of Pain of Motley Crüe.
BC: How long have you been dressing this way?
SH: Well, you see before it was worse… It was flashier, you know? But I sort of tone it down to come to school. I leave the platform shoes at home and I put some regular blue jeans on and a black shirt and I’m ready to go.
BC: Have you been listening to rock since before you moved to America?
SH: I’ve been listening to bunch of [stuff]*, but mainly rock, you know, rock all day. It’s not just the music, it’s the idea – you know? That’s what I like.
BC: Do you always wear your sun glasses to school?
SH: Well, I always wear the glasses, period. Because first of all, people don’t want to know what I’m looking at, and second of all, people who are with people don’t want to know what I’m looking at…
BC: How do your parents feel about the way you carry yourself?
SH: My dad is cool about it because he lives in Colombia, but right now he’s doing business in Spain. My mom, well she’s got her doubts but she’s cool with it most of the time.
BC: I see makeup behind your sunglasses. Do you wear eyeliner all the time?
SH: Oh, I’m wearing [it] today; I was going to say I wasn’t wearing any. Not all the time. You see, girls here in America are [messed]* up in the head and they like to put makeup on me so I just leave it on as long as it lasts.”
BC: When did you get your earring?
SH: Oh, that was Thanksgiving. I remember it because I told my best friend to stick a needle, just drive it into my ear, and he said he had never done it before… He grabbed my ear and then he goes – BOOM!Straight through his finger, like two inches! I thought, ‘[forget]* it. If that’s what you’re going to do to my ear then [forget]* it!’ So I went to Mosh Pit and got it pierced for $50.

*Expletives deleted at request of interviewee

By Carlos Morales

Justin Cormier has left quite the impression on Miami Beach Senior High in his four years as an English teacher. Students have described him alternately as “awesome,” a “favorite teacher,” and “violent…but in a funny way.”

Everett Lima, junior, had Cormier in his freshman year. “I looked up to him as a freshman and it was the only class in which I didn’t fall asleep,” he admitted.

 Perhaps it is his sarcastic nature that keeps his students on their toes.“I like to threaten people with physical violence,” Cormier said jokingly. “Generally, I tell people I’m gonna jump kick them in the throat. Sometimes I tell people I’m going to remove their spleens…a lot of threats. That’s the only thing that works.”

According to students, Cormier makes his classes exciting, and he constantly has them on the edge of their seats. “I like that he makes [class] fun and entertaining,” said freshman Julia Rovetto.

Before teaching, Cormier held a long list of jobs. The way he tells the story, he’s been a stock boy, a bus boy, a   dishwasher, a cashier – and even an ambassador to the United Nations.

“I spent a lot of time in close personal contact with [former UN Secretary General] Boutros Boutros Ghali,” he boasted with a smile, “so I wasn’t generally just associating with the common people.

Of all the jobs, real and imagined, that could have molded Cormier’s attitudes about life, it was his service in the National Guard that left a lasting impact. As a sophomore in college Cormier found himself out of money, so he decided to join the National Guard. According to Cormier, “you go to army boot camp. Then, when you get out of boot camp, you go into a unit of the National Guard and …practice army stuff.” Cormier served one tour of duty in Iraq before moving to Miami Beach.

As an English teacher, Cormier says he feels the strains of the FCAT, and is saddened by the fact that he isn’t able to teach to his curriculum as much as he would like to. His favorite teaching moments are when he sees the light bulb going off above a student’s head, owing the student has really learned something.

 “I think that [the FCAT] is being used horribly incorrectly,” he explained. “The way we study for it is stupid – it narrows what we teach.”

Nowadays, Cormier enjoys reading books, cooking meat loaf and “counting pennies.” He spends his free time with his friends and wife, who will soon graduate with a Ph.D. in Legal Psychology and who hopes to become a college professor. “P.S,” he added, at the close of his interview, “I’m like Weiss…but sexier, I’m like a sexy Weiss, and I know a lot less about geography.” Andy Weiss, Scholars Academy Lead Teacher, declined to comment about either his sexiness or his geography skills.

By Roberta Roberts

On Tuesday, January 15, 2008, Andrew Jesus” Agudelo announced to his fifth period acting class that Thursday would be his last dayat Beach High. Agudelo claimed that he was  dropping out because he didn’t have enough credits to graduate, and because his counselor had told him he “wasn’t going to make it.”

In reality, he had earned all of the credits that he needed by the end of the first semester, which allowed him to graduate “early,” although the super-senior had been at Beach High for more years than any student in attendance could remember. Agudelo graduated in a private ceremony on January 22.

“I just wanted to hear everyone tell me how stupid I am for dropping out and not trying anymore,” he said, explaining the deception.

Agudelo is part of a legacy at Beach High. His brother and sister came to the school in 1994, during their tenth grade year, and graduated two years later. “My sister was on the principal’s honor roll and the yearbook staff,” Agudelo recalled, “and my brother attended groups such as C   and detention… You know, for me, it’s a mixture of good and evil. I go to CSI once in awhile but I also keep my grades up.”

“I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve been waiting for – for a long time. After I graduate, I’m going to take a year off but… I’m going to work for the Ultra Music Festival and a French restaurant on Ocean Drive.” Ultimately, Agudelo plans to go to college, return to his native Colombia, and pursue a career as an aviation mechanic.

To all his remaining friends at Beach High, Agudelo shouted “7- 1!” a ubiquitous reference to 71st St. “One man does not defy existence,” he said. “Can’t stop, won’t stop.”