Diamond Bar High School - Taurus Yearbook (Diamond Bar, CA)

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rising to the top i ne club which rose to the top was the Junior Statesmen i of America CJSAJ f Debate Club. The JSAfDebate Club started out one year ago with only about fifteen members, but soon grew to over 65 members. The JSA! Debate club emphasized political awareness. They planned debates, conferences, and conven- l tions to get members more involved with the club. The con- l ferences lasted one day and the members had debates T thought talksf' which were open forum, and also had key note speakers. The conventions were overnight conferences which lasted i i either two or three days. The JSAfDebate club attended the l T Fall State convention on November 21-22. The convention i was held at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton and all members of T the Southern California region of the JSA! Debate club were invited to attend. A dance was held on Saturday night to get everyone acquainted and the key note speaker at the conven- T 0 tion was Senator Pete Wilson. The one day conferences are very exciting for all the members of the club because it brings members of different chapters of the club together to discuss contemporary issues i T and to promote political awareness, said JSA! Debate presi- dent Robert Altman. Overall, the club was a great success. l It's been one of the rising stars of Diamond i Bar High. The club was no where last year, but by leaps and bounds, we've come to the top, , concluded Altman. T i i , l '95s il l yt ,N '1 1 r-P WITH AUTHORITY - Vice President Araxi Kitsinian presides over a l J.S.A, meeting. The J.S.A. club met every Wednesday to vote on upcom- ing issues. l, THE J.S.A. TEAM - Paul Aguirre, Robert Altman, Sam Badawi, Kim l Benson, Rosie Bui, Helen Chang, Jeannie Chang, Darlene Chavez, Albert l Chen, Phillip Chien, Tony Chinchay, Alex Chiu, Sammy Chiu, Helen Choe, Lawton Chu, Sonja Chung, Mark Churchill, Julie Dekkenga, Louie Diaz, Marco Diaz, Jason Durand, Eunice Fajardo, Julie Hahm, Jim Hale, Donte Henry, Jeff Kier, Jack Kim, Araxi Kitsinian, Anika Lal, Christina Landolfi, Ann Luecha, Bridget McBratney, Robert Mendoza, Sejal Menta, Saundra Merletti, Kristina Nice, Jennifer O'Brien, Jia Oak, Chistin Oldham, Wanda Padilla, Nicole Phillips, Tim Pratt, Kathleen Rippetoe, Christina Rojas, Reem Shamieh, Debbie Smith, Alpa Soni, Craig Souza, Elaine Tedford, Phoebe Taai, Jim Tun, Joa Villanueva, Theresa Washeleski, Tisha Watkins, Dale Whitehouse, Bay Bay Wu, Connie Yang, Jo Yang, Po Jang. if NEXT ON OUR AGENDA - The president of J,S,A. Robert Altman, prepares the next proposition. New ideas were proposed at every meeting. jsafdebczteforgcmizations 77

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ga.:-. cn . ., in- l ii I lil i 4 THE LEGAL EAGLES - Advisor Kim Cleveland, Kathleen Rippetoe, Bay Bay Wu, Jeff Kier, Sandra Mereetti, Albert Chen, Wanda Padilla, Tim Pratt, Craig Souza, Cheri Eulau, Robert Altman, Jia Oak, Todd Babos, Tony Chemehay. LAST MINUTE PREPARATIONS - Seniors Robert Altman, and Wanda Padillia, rehearse their case. The legal Eagles club took lots of practice to perfect their case. AND FURTHERMORE - Senior Todd Babos practices pleading his case for an upcoming Mock Trial. Most of the Legal Eagles participated in this Mock Trial. Q tr W ,. 9.1: M4 .34 , If uilt or not? eal attorneys, judges, and bailiffs in a real courtroom trying an imaginary case. No, it wasn't divorce court, it was the mock trial of the Legal Eagles club. Legal Eagles was a new club on campus which was started by Kim Cleveland and senior Robert Altman. The idea for the club came from the Junior Statesmen of America CJSAJ Debate Club. I was pushing for this activity because I've had experience with the club at my old school, and I knew that with a lot of-hard work, we could do really great, said Altman, president and founder of Legal Eagles. The Legal Eagles concentrated on mock trials. The mock trial was tried at the Los Angeles Count Courthouse. To prepare for the trial, a real attorney, David Lopez, helped the students with all of the legal technicalities. The mock trial was a competition against other schools. A pro- secution from one school went up against a defense section of another. A real judge presided over the case and an attorney was present in order to rule over objections and other such legal matter. ,Q I think the club is going real well. Since we went through one competition already, we're go- ing to try to do it again, exclaimed advisor Kim Cleveland. 76 organizationsflegal eagles I l 9 5 ,, -un 1

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,gg i 4 L l l ,AUD l l . j ' l 78 organizationsfchess chess an one? he Chess Club was ready to make the pawns fly and the horses gallop. Having been in the PVCL tPomona Valley Chess Leaguej for three years, the Chess Club has been league champs for two consecutive years. The Chess Club was started four years ago by Rick Valencia, Biology teacher. l'm really happy with the way the Chess Club has been performing. The players really en- joy the game and the tough competitions. All of them are dynamic. Although the members played almost everyday in Mr. Valencia's room, it wasn't just all chess games. About once l or twice a month, the Chess Club was treated to In-n-Out burgers. One might ask, what does In-n-Out have to do with chess? Mr. Valencia commented, The hamburgers are just there to say, 'You're special'. I enjoy Chess Club because it's an intellectual game that's really very competitive. l thing DBHS is really lucky to have a Chess Club because for all the other schools that don't, they are missing out on a lot, said senior Young Lee. Many of the members worked hard, long hours to accomplish their difficult goals, but through hard work and determination, the success of winning was only, inches away. We worked hard and learned lots of moves that really helped us become a great team, mmmented Sumitt Verma. fl I YOU'RE DYNAMIC - say chess club advisor Rick Valencia. Valencia also taught biology and A.P. Biology. CHESS CLUB MEMBERS IN ACTION - Students play an intense game of chess. Chess club members usually brushed up on their chess during lunchtime.