On a chilly November 4th night, a crowd began to line up outside the Hollywood Palladium. The Deftones, a hard-rock/metal band, after releasing their critically acclaimed debut album, Adrenaline, released their second album, Around The Fur. The Deftones have embarked on a two month, 24 city tour in support of their new album.

The Deftones took the stage at ten. The crowd cheered, guys in the audience took off their shirts, many rushed the stage, as Tami Heidi from 106.7 KROQ introduced the band. However, Heidi was greeted with drunken Boo's and middle-finger salutes by many. The Deftones kicked off their set with the first track off their new album, "my own summer(shove it)." The Deftones set consisted mainly of songs off their new album and a few songs from Adrenaline such as, "7 words" and "bored." Finally, around midnight, the band closed out their set with, "be quiet and drive(far away)."

The other hard-rock band at the show was Quicksand. Their sound was very similar to TOOL, but with the vocals stuck in high pitch. At other times, it echoed the vocals of the band Unwritten Law. The powerful drumming made the songs forceful and packed with pure, raw, loud energy.

Surprisingly, the warm-up band, Pitchshifter, was actually very good. Pitchshifter's sound was a cross between The Prodigy and KoRn. The sound was very heavy, similar to KoRn in that aspect, but fast with studio effects, relating to The Prodigy. The songs were full of energy, the vocals had the accent of late `70's English punk, and the crowd loved it. Of course, the moshing stirred up and was actually encouraged by the lead singer of Pitchshifter. The show was great even if one isn't a big fan of metal. On a scale of 1 to 10, this show was a definite 10. You can catch The Deftones once again when they support Black Sabbath on certain dates of their Reunion Tour.

By Leonard, H.

On November 24, 1998, Thomas Jefferson High School students and teachers alike contributed to the holiday spirit by donating one pint of blood. All day long, potential donors were screened and interviewed. Those who were eligible would then lie down for half an hour or until a pint of blood was donated. Especially during the holidays, blood banks across the nation suffer shortages of blood. The problem is severe in Los Angeles, where blood banks most often resort to shipping-in blood from other blood banks because donations aren't enough. There is a certain level at which most blood banks must stay above and if they get dangerously close to falling below that level, the blood bank most often publicizes their plight in hope of receiving more donations. However, there are many restrictions as to who may donate blood, ranging from age and weight, to body piercing.

Many students that wanted to donate blood but couldn't because of their age or their weight. Students had to be at least 17 years of age and weigh over 110 pounds. If a person used any sort of narcotics within the past six months, they couldn't donate blood. A person who has ever used intravenous drugs or that is gay can't donate blood. If a person has a body piercing that is less than six months old, that person would not be allowed to donate blood because of possible infection. All of these issues are dealt with in an interview with a possible donor, which is meant to determine the risk factor of a particular donor.

The Thomas Jefferson High School Marching Band is under the new direction of Mr. Alvin McKinney. After Mr. Riley's departure from the band six weeks ago, Mr. McKinney has been extraordinary in keeping the band together and aiding the band in learning new songs. The marching band is also directed by Drum Major, Jesus Mendez, a senior. Lately, the band has been moved up from their Division 1 ranking to Division 2 and recently attended a competition.

The band attended the1998 Band and Drill Team Championships at Wilson High School. Despite the hard work and effort the band put forth, the band finished in fifth place out of eight competing schools. Since the band competition, the band has since gone to the Griffith Park lighting show. The lighting show was a great success and the band has had the pleasure of playing at a lot of assemblies. The band has come a long way. During the years of 1994-`96, Jefferson didn't even have a band. What we have now is not only special to Jefferson High School, it should be special to students.
 

Thomas Jefferson H.S.