Shark Attacks by Esmeralda Mendoza

            You are enjoying the fresh, cold waters at a beach, when you feel a smooth, hard object touching your skin. You don’t mind cause you think it is nothing. Little do you know, that “nothing” was a shark, and you’re about to fall prey to a shark attck. There are over 100 shark attacks a year that happen worldwide.

            There are three sharks that are considered dangerous near humans and one of them is the tiger shark. Tiger sharks usually live in tropical and temperate waters, especially common around central Pacific islands. They tend to stay in deep waters, but it does move into channels to pursue prey in shallower waters.

            In October 2003, a tiger shark attacked 13 year-old Bettheny Hamilton, an American surfer. The shark bit off her arm near her shoulder. Later on, a large tiger shark was hung and killed; Based on its size and bite pattern, it was presumed to be the shark which attacked Bethany.

“I have been to Santa Cruz beach and its beautiful but I am afraid to swim in the beach, knowing the waves can drown me or a shark can attack me,” said an anonymous female Breakthrough student. While staying close to shore is okay, those who swim further out are in danger of being attacked.

            

Why do boys think they’re better than girls at sports? by Esmeralda Mendoza

Many boys feel that they are better than girls just because of gender and other reasons. Girls hear that boys are “naturally” stronger and faster, all the time. Boys and girls can be well-matched rivals in many sports.

To begin with, one of the most commonly male-dominated areas is being able to play sports with boys. Boys won’t take a girl seriously unless they’re the best player. The costs to a girl playing with a guy are higher than simply getting laughed at and called names. Also, a woman’s body supposably isn’t made to function correctly while participating. Apparently, if girls play with boys they lose their femenity.

Boys have many excuses to not let a girl play like “But you’re fragile”, or “Then you’ll go crying to your mom if you get hurt.” If they do let you play, they play hard until they get what they want which is for a girl to quit. Boys judge girls after seeing them play one time (without you trying). However, it is important that people don’t blame it all in guys because girls are drama queens as they say. For them it’s not worth it getting dirty or sweaty.

Many girls that were interviewed and asked “Why do you think boys think they are better than girls?”

 “Well, most likely to get a girls attention and show off how good they ‘supposably’ are,” said an anonymous source.

Another girl answered, “I think they descriminate our gender just because we have a different body but we dedicate our life to a sport and put more effort than they do. For them its just like an instruction and the “Oh yeah this is easy, so I’m the best but no its more far beyond than the word easy.”

Boys at Hillbrook were asked the same question, and their answers were a little bit different. “Maybe because we’re stronger and have the ability to do more things. We can also stand the pain more.” You may not agree with some opinions but this is a problem. There should be equality between boys and girls.