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We Change With You
Issue 2
Santa Ana, California
November 2016
The Scoop on Broadway’s Dirt
The pile of dirt.
Photo by Ryan Porter
Lily Williams
Editor-in-Chief
For as long as current
OCSA students can remember, a huge tract
of dirt has sat across
Sycamore Street from
the Tower. A painted
green fence emblazoned with the words
“One Broadway Plaza
- The Tallest Building in
the History of Orange
County” surrounds the
dirt.
This is decidedly not
the tallest building in
Orange County. That
title currently belongs
to 200 Spectrum Cen-
ter, a 323-foot-tall office building in Irvine.
Real estate developer
Mike Harrah hopes to
change that.
Harrah’s referendum
to build a 37-story
skyscraper in Santa
Ana was approved in
2004, then cancelled,
then reapproved in
2005. Construction has
been stalled for over
10 years, due to the
2008 recession as well
as lawsuits against the
city of Santa Ana by
Harrah’s company,
Caribou Industries.
For the first time, real
ground has been broken at the site. A pit, 25
feet deep, has been
excavated to prepare
for the skyscraper’s
foundation.
Foundational structure has been slated to
last for a year. Harrah
expects the project will
be completed within 28
months.
Harrah was the original property owner
of some of OCSA’s
buildings, including the
Tower and the Webb
Theatre. At its Grand
Reopening, Symphony
Hall was rededicated
as the Michael Harrah
Symphony Hall to recognize his help in improving the facilities for
OCSA’s use.
Dean of Facilities and
Supervision Michael
Ciecek said the property sits where “the first
version of senior parking was actually located.”
“This by far is the most
work that we’ve seen
done in a long time,”
said Ciecek. “Eventually, someday, if [construction] happens,
that’s going to significantly impact foot traf-
fic and vehicle traffic.
It’ll just be a completely
different environment
around here...we just
have to be aware of
it.”
“It’s a little mini Matterhorn across the
street,” said AP Language teacher Pamela
Smith, who has taught
at OCSA since before
the building was approved. “It seemed
to happen overnight.
This is the most serious dirt-moving that
they’ve had as long as
I’ve been here. I imagine something’s going
to come of it.”
“Usually when something is happening
across the street, we
get some kind of update from admin,”
Smith continued. “I haven’t heard anything.”
Colleen Happ, an English teacher, remembers when the property
was still a senior parking
lot. She agreed this pile
of dirt is the biggest
she’s seen so far.
“Previous times, it’s
See Dirt on p.5
Useful and Mandatory: OCSA’s College Fair
Lily Williams
Editor-in-Chief
As college application season starts heating up, OCSA held its
inaugural College Fair,
representing over 110
colleges, universities
and arts conservatories.
High school students
and their parents spoke
to admissions representatives at booths
and breakout sessions,
which covered topics
like community college
and financial aid.
Classical Voice seniors also had the
opportunity to perform
audition repertoire in
front of a panel representing five voice
programs, including
the Royal Conservatory
of Scotland and USC.
“For the heads of
those departments,
many of them became
very interested in certain individuals [that]
would be a very good
fit for their programs,”
said Dr. Maria Lazarova,
director of the Classical
Voice Conservatory.
“The heads of the
programs were so impressed with the level
of our students that
they said if there were
some individuals who
really wanted to apply,
but couldn’t fly out [to
audition], they would
consider using a video
recording of their application.”
“This was super helpful because it gave me
a sense of preparation
of what real college
auditions are going
to be like,” said senior
Sehee Park (CV), who
performed at the showcase. “It was more of a
trial and error thing so
I know what to expect
and how to present
myself.”
All high school students were required to
attend the main college fair event, which
was held in lieu of that
Thursday’s conservatory blocks.
Junior Joshua Chang
(PD) added “It’s very
useful for people who
actually have no idea
Cartoon by Emma Lu
See Fair on p.5