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Friday, December 6, 2013

Volume 51, Issue 4

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Girls’ water polo places second in CCS

California adopts new education standards Shawna Chen Reporter

WATERPOLO—p.16

Recently, California adopted the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) presented by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in an effort to align the English and math core standards in school districts across the United States. CCSS outlines the English and math capabilities students in each district will develop in order to prepare students for college and employment. Adjusting to CCSS will be an ongoing process for the next few years at Gunn, according to Assistant Principal of Guidance Tom Jacoubowsky. Core implementation will begin this school year but full testing implementation will be held off until the 2014-2015 school year. “[We’ll] be taking a look at the common core standards, at what the teachers are required to be teaching and then aligning their curriculum to that,” Jacoubowsky said. “It’s good to have this look at education in such a way that ensures the quality of education is benchmarked and measured throughout.”

According to the Common Core website, focus will shift toward analyzing non-fiction, as well as teaching writing, speaking and listening. Building on academic vocabulary, critical reading and literacy will also be a responsibility shared by all teachers. In math, CCSS concentrates on developing reasoning and problemsolving skills so that students can integrate a deeper understanding of the conceptual topics at each grade level. Standardized testing will also change under CCSS, with California transitioning from the former Standardized Reporting and Testing, known as the STAR test, to the computerized Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA). The SBA will assess a student’s capabilities by the number of questions he or she answers correctly and will adjust by providing more challenging questions as the student continues.

Jacoubowsky, however, does not believe CCSS will change much of Gunn’s curriculum.

“Honestly, I think Gunn is so far ahead,” he said.

CCSS—p.3

Photos courtesy of Butch Garcia

Measure D rezoning proposal fails to receive Palo Alto voters’ approval Leon Cheong

Forum Editor

On Nov. 5, Palo Alto voters shot down Measure D, a proposal put on the ballot in an effort to to rezone the empty lot on Maybell Avenue in order to build affordable senior housing. In the weeks prior to voting, the measure was highly publicized across the community; Gunn students experienced campaigning first hand, seeing picketers line up on Arastradero.

By the numbers

»

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The Housing Corporation (THC) was responsible for proposing and funding the project and its campaign. Established in 1970, THC has constructed 20 low-income household units ever since its founding. According to Executive Director Candice Gonzalez, Measure D was the first time in the history of the corporation that voters were involved with a senior housing project. “The city council had a unanimous nine-to-zero approval for our project in June 2013,” Gonzalez said. “But after the opposition initiated a referendum it went on the November ballot.”

Number of senior pop poll categories in final yearbook tally

14

There was noticeable opposition to the measure. Palo Altans to Preserve Neighborhood Zoning was one of the primary adversaries to the Maybell project. In an interview on KALW radio, group representative Joe Hirsch expressed his concern regarding traffic in the area. “We have four neighborhood schools,” he said. “About 4000 students come to this site everyday.” He worries about the traffic Measure D will bring to Arastradero, an already congested road.

Gonzalez, however, believed that the opposition

Number of days until the end of the first semester

MEASURE D—p.4

4

Number of videos released in 2013 as part of the TBN- Oracle joint venture

2

News

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City approves infrastructure plans

NEWS BITES

Lawrence Chen

Annual Turkey Feast returns for 39th year, raises over $5000 On Nov. 21, Gunn had its annual Turkey Feast. Started in 1974 by former Director of Student Activities Dan Sarouchan, the Turkey Feast allows students to share and enjoy an American tradition.

“It’s the only time I get to have Thanksgiving food so I’m going to be really sad next year,” senior Anh­-Tram Bui said.

Students had all the essentials for a turkey meal, thanks to the labor of 150 volunteers and many donations, which included 60 turkeys, 25 gallons of gravy, 100 pounds of mashed potatoes, 60 pounds of salad, over 100 pounds of stuffing and over 200 pies. This year, parent Donna Pioppi coordinated the Turkey Feast for her fourth and final year. “I love the Turkey Feast,” Pioppi said. “I really like to do this because when you guys are happy, it’s all worth it.”

Students and staff, as usual, enjoyed the food. “It was great,” senior Nicole Cahlander said. “I enjoyed the stuffing; it stuffed me full. The gravy was groovy, the turkey was gobblin’, and the mashed potatoes were smashing.”

Shireen Ahsan

New bullying reporting policies partially approved by district

After working with state and federal entities for the past 11 months, Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) has obtained partial approval for new bullying policies and complaint procedures. The old policies have been a large source of complaints for parents since last December, when an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights highlighted several flaws in Terman Middle School’s policy regarding bullying complaints.

PAUSD Superintendent Dr. Kevin Skelly hopes that the new policies create a more standardized method of dealing with complaints and reacting to bullying issues. “The goal of the policies is to be clear with families and kids, so they know how to address bullying issues in the future,” Skelly said.

According to Principal Katya Villalobos, in the new policies, students facing “protected” bullying issues, such as discrimination based on race, gender, religion and sexual orientation, will be assisted with first-tier protection. Reports of the event will be sent to a district compliance officer through a Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP). The UCP will then handle the students’ cases based on federally regulated procedures.

Conversely, students dealing with non-protected bullying issues, or bullying issues that have no clear intent, will receive less protection. Their complaints will be handled through the school.

Principals receiving those grievances are to notify parents and begin an investigation as soon as possible. There is, however, no requirement for the school to talk with students involved.

Although the new approach will change the way bullying cases will be handled by administrators, they do not change the process for students and parents who are reporting bullying issues. “These policies help us from a legalistic perspective,” Skelly said. “However, students and parents will still have to report all issues to teachers and administration, like they do now.”

Pooja Belur

News Editor

Two plans to improve the Internet throughout Palo Alto have been approved by the City Council with a 7-0 vote. The first plan is to expand Palo Alto’s 41-mile “dark fiber” ring to the entirety of the city. This will give both resid ents and businesses access to Internet speeds of over 100 megabits per second. The second plan is to install a complementary master plan for a citywide wireless system t h at wou l d provide the public with WiFi Internet access.

After this is implemented throughout the city, Palo Alto Unified School District will also adopt the plan. “We, too, will eventually go all-fiber in the district and at Gunn, probably sooner rather than later,” Principal Katya Villalobos said. “It’s the infrastructure we need and the Internet age probably isn’t going away.

It obviously is one of the most important technological innovations of the past 30 years.”

Earlier this year, the City Council unanimously brought up “tech-

nology and the connected city” as one of its top annual priorities and put the citywide fiber program at the top of the to-do list. Villalobos thinks that fiber will have few drawbacks. “I think it’s really important and I’m glad that Palo Alto has gone fiber,” Villalobos said. “We are in Silicon Valley so it makes perfect sense to me why we

Jasmine Garnett

would want that type of infrastructure to support not only our industry but our community. It allows for greater speed and access to information and obviously, from an education standpoint, we are very fortunate that our community has afforded technology in our

schools.” The committee tasked to research the program predicted that the newest fiber master plan would cost anywhere from $100,000 to $350,000 depending on how much environmental review needs to be administered on the city. The city’s dark-fiber reserve will provide funds for the project and as of last summer, it had a balance of $15.3 million.

Meanwhile, the wireless plan for the city is estimated to cost roughly $3 million to $5 million to install the program citywide.

The wirel e s s system would piggyback well on the fiber plan as the WiFi can benefit from the highspeed Internet that fiber provides.

Both plans were passed easily as plans have been in place since 2008. In 2008, Palo Alto signed to design and build a citywide fiber system, but construction stopped in 2009 when insufficient funding collapsed the operation. Previously, the city has also applied for federal grants for project funds and for Google’s citywide fiber program that ultimately ended up with Kansas City, Kansas.

Advisory Board takes up Toys for Kids program

peers to donate or influence the adults in their lives to donate.”

TAB decided to take on the responsibility because of its The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) will take on Toys for commitment to serve Palo Alto. According to Lewis, TAB Kids, a program which provides underprivileged kids with focuses on further enhancing the community by serving as toys in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, after the retire- links between teens and the community and implementment of original director Rob Steele. TAB plans to maintain ing programs for the youth division of Palo Alto. “Part of the program’s fundamental structure, while adding mecha- our mission is service to the community of Palo Alto, so nisms to increase the number of donations the program it seemed like a good fit,” she said. “We need a home for receives. According to TAB co-president Aren Raising- this incredible program that’s been around for a long time, hani, TAB will set up because it really donation bins in local impacts kids in the schools and police and Bay Area.” Accordfire departments, and ing to Raisinghani, it will request that loTAB was given the cal organizations and job because of its business donate durreliability and effecing the holiday season, tiveness. “Mr. Steele while raising awareis passing the proness. “We plan to margram over to our ket this drive more efboard, as he feels Teen Advisory Board co-president Aren Rasinghani that TAB is a good fectively than it’s been marketed in the past: organization to pick we plan to use social media, posters, flyers and word of up the cause and to help expand the program to further mouth so that many people become aware of the drive and [the program’s] success,” he said. we obtain numerous donations,” he said.

Raisinghani also believes that dedicating the board to a TAB Advisor Jessica Lewis is Steele’s colleague in the wider scope of activities will positively impact TAB. “Not Community Services Department of Palo Alto, and she only will our members be able to lead a drive to make a hopes to supplement the program’s methods after many positive impact on underprivileged children, but the drive years of success under Steele. “[Toys for Kids has] been also further legitimizes our organization and further exaround for 31 years and the program overall is well-orga- pands our influence,” he said. nized, so we want to maintain the same efficiency the proSteele started the Toys for Kids program in 1982, modgram had during its existence, but still to shoot to exceed eling it after the Toys for Tots program founded by the the number of toys that are provided,” she said. In addi- Marines. However, Steele felt that the donations from Toys tion, Lewis believes the board’s influence among youth is for Tots drives mainly went to children part of larger, more another factor that will contribute to exceeding a goal of recognized organizations instead of benefiting children in distributing 2000 toys. “Because we are the Teen Advisory smaller, local organizations. He founded Toys for Kids to Board, our members are able to connect with the youth, give children in these smaller communities gifts for the so we hope to see an increase in youth donation,” she said. holiday season.

According to Raisinghani, TAB will reach out to mulRaisinghani encourages students at Gunn to donate tiple organizations affiliated with the youth to inform a as many toys as possible to help the underprivileged chilnew generation of donors. “Teen influence is important,” dren in Palo Alto. “We want to continue this program and he said. “In order to maximize our donations, it’s important its success over the years, so that we can continue putting to get teens involved, as teens can donate, influence their smiles on the faces of children,” he said.

Kush Dubey Reporter

“Not only will our members be able to lead a drive to make a positive impact on underprivileged children, but the drive also further legitimizes our organization and further expands our influence.”

News THEORACLE 780 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 354-8238 www.gunnoracle.com

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Catalina Zhao Managing Editors Mitch Donat Lucy Oyer News Cooper Aspegren Lawrence Chen Nabeel Chollampat Forum Ben Atlas Leon Cheong Klaire Tan Features Rebecca Alger Chaewon Lee Danielle Yacobson Centerfold Rachel Lew Stephanie Zhang Sports Pooja Belur Alvin Wang Erica Watkins Entertainment Sam Acker Misheel Enkhbat Noa Livneh Photo Audey Shen

Friday, December 6, 2013

Gunn implements Common Core curriculum standards the curriculum. “[They] will hopefully improve our instruction to incorporate more in-depth investigation, real-world applications and making math seem more relevant to students,” she said.

Trigonometry and algebra will not undergo drastic changes, and while the approach to geometry will alter, the biggest change will arrive with the return of

ment and precision will also play a larger role in science, Hawes said.

“Much of [CCSS] we are already doing in To junior Grant Fong, the new standards many areas.” But Jacoubowsky also notes are a shift from teaching the subject to the benefits that will be obtained statewide teaching necessary life skills. “That’s an imas a result of implementation. “We have portant stance to take,” he said. “I personalan excellent education system here in Palo ly think in most cases the studying abilities Alto [but] some school districts don’t,” he and life skills are more important than the said. “Hopefully Common Core will align actual subject.”

However, Fong feels that everything, not just within a state but standardized testing will eventuwithin other states, too.” ally become obsolete.

“There’s no On the other hand, Jacoubowsky real way they can test these skills does foresee a possible drop in “The new core curriculum focuses on teachin a standardized way,” he said. standardized test scores in the “In this case, [standardized tests] first few years of implementing ing skills such as how to work with a partare basically useless.”

Even though the SBA. “It’s going to be a differner, how to research and how to formulate Fong acknowledges the academic ent testing experience for the stuyour own opinions.

In the long term, those rigor at Gunn, he believes students,” he said. “So if there used to dents will ultimately benefit from be 70 percent that scored advanced skills and those abilities matter much, much CCSS. “The new core curriculum [on the STAR test], it may dip more than the actual subject.” focuses on teaching skills such as down to 50 percent on the [SBA].” how to work with a partner, how But aside from the new standard—junior Grant Fong to research and how to formulate ized tests, Jacoubowsky does not your own opinions,” he said. “In perceive a major difference withstatistics and probability as a mathematthe long term, those skills and those abiliin Gunn classrooms. “As far as the actual ics course.

“When you think about most ties matter much, much more than the acinstruction, the preparation that kids are people, statistics and probability are probtual subject.” going to get, and as far as things such as While Gunn and California undergo SAT scores, where kids are going to college, ably the most useful mathematics that they learn,” Hawes said.

“So it’s a real positive CCSS changes, Fong hopes a balance can none of that is going to change,” he said. that [they’re] being emphasized in the stanbe reached in melding the current curricuAccording to math Instructional Superdards.”

However, the absence of revised lum with new core standards. “I think we visor (I.S.) Kathy Hawes, departments have CCSS textbooks will be problematic.

“Until just need to focus on looking at both and been collaborating to improve the quality the textbooks are written, it’s going to be not necessarily giving them equal weight of education across the boards. “Right now, challenging to really implement [the new but seeing the values in both,” he said.

I’m working with the other I.S.’s to lay out a standards],” Hawes said.

“But I think most Gunn students will actuplan on how to transition into the new proThe new standards will also encourage ally like these changes because it makes the gram so that students aren’t overwhelmed, teacher cooperation in developing student classroom more engaging and interesting.” so that we begin incorporating the key skills as a team.

“It’s not just English that’s Jacoubowsky, too, understands the significomponents of the standards,” Hawes said. [teaching] the [English Language Arts] cance of what CCSS will bring to the table “We’re taking our broad understanding standards,” Hawes said.

“Science will be but remains confident in students’ abilities [of the standards] and trickling it down to supporting technical writing, [and] social to adapt.

“We’ve been excellent before, we’re units, and from the units, trickling down studies will be supporting research-based excellent now,” he said.

“We’ll continue to be to lessons.” In math, eight new mathematiwriting.”

Mathematics such as measureexcellent.” cal practice standards have been added to CCSS—p.1

INBOX

Graphics Jasmine Garnett

Staff Copy Anuva Ganapathi Kavya Padmanabhan Tim Wang Tech Lisa Hao Roy Shadmon

The Oracle strongly encourages and prints signed Letters to the Editor and Comments. Comments are generally shorter responses, while letters are longer pieces of writing.

Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one.

Business/Circulation Erica Lee Shireen Ahsan (Asst.)

Matt Niksa (Asst.)

Regina Tran (Asst.)

Photographers Stephanie Kim Anthony Tran Graphics Artists Paige Anderson Alexandra Gong Anton Oyung Allison Paley Carolyn Zhou Dave Zhu Reporters Elinor Aspegren, Lena Campbell, Shawna Chen, Ian Cramer, Aayush Dubey, Kush Dubey, Yuki KlotzBurwell, Esther Kozakevich, Emily Kvitko, Christine Lin, Alex Man, Naina Murthy, Arjun Sahdev, Henry Siu, Justin Wenig Adviser Kristy Blackburn

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Letters and Comments may be edited to meet space requirements and the writer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Letters to the Editor and Comments and ideas for coverage may be sent to oraclegunn@gmail.com or posted on our Facebook page.

These letters need not be from current students.

I would like to see teacher editorials or funny stories from when they were in high school.

—Jayshree Sarathy, 12

I always like seeing survey results and personal profiles. Those are the most interesting to me, and the Entertainment section.

—Lindsay Maggioncalda, 10

I would like to see an article on dating advice for hopeless romantics.

—Danny-Tyler Downer, 12

The article I definitely enjoyed the most was the “You know you are on the ___ team when...” because, dear God, it is funny.

—Ensay Kim, 12

I would like to see more controversial topics regarding our school.

—Rishi Iyer, 12

November 8, 2013 I liked the focus on all types of music, as well as the very thorough article on college apps. The everyday acts of kindness was something I never thought about, so I thought it was a perfect addition to the issue.

—Katherine Berry, 12 I’d like to see a story about the pro’s and con’s of taking a gap year.

—Monica Liu, 12 I really liked all of the visuals and pictures but especially the honesty about Ms. Sanderson, since it needed to be talked about.

—Quinn Anderson, 10

The Oracle is nice because it lets the students know what’s happening at school.

—Kiley Lin, 11 It was very interesting, I liked the article on electronic music.

—Chloe Sorensen, 9 I liked how the details for every section were relevant and they never went off-topic.

—Saad Khadbai, 11

The comic is a fantastic new addition.

—Drew Brownlee, 12 The best part about this issue was the random acts of kindness page because it made me feel like lighting a nice pumpkin spice candle on a cold winter day.

—Anubhav Jaiswal, 12 I enjoyed reading William Copeland’s violin story, and I liked the coffee theme.

—Christine Chen, 11

I would like to see more Instagram food grams or just other Instagram kind of stuff.

That was really interactive.

—Jerri Zhang, 10 I thought the layouts were very creative and welcoming.

—Caroline Hu, 12

The Oracle is a 2013 NSPA Pacemaker Award winner.

4

News

reporter

M

Four teachers are participating in Stanford’s Massive Online Open Course (MOOC), a program devoted to helping students develop better and more informational conversations with peers.

According to math teacher Megan Stauffer, the MOOC’s Constructive Classroom Conversations course, which involves more than 6000 students, is a course for teachers that focuses on creating classroom conversations that allow students to gain more academically. “Student-to-student learning is especially crucial so that students can gain knowledge via conversations with peers, and so that they can become experts together by learning together,” Stauffer said.

According to math Instructional Supervisor Kathy Hawes, past studies have shown that students who explain concepts to peers are generally more successful at retaining information. “Students often don’t know how to get involved in class, but if they just build up concepts and answers collaboratively, they can gain a lot more from every lesson,” Hawes said.

Math teacher Michael Bautista added that in small classes, the potential for great conversations is particularly pervasive. “We hope that this course will help teachers learn new strategies to help students develop productive conversation skills within the classroom,” Bautista said. “In math, we’ll emphasize that the process of discussing a problem with peers is a valuable part of the overall learning experience.”

The Stanford MOOC has educators around the nation record classroom conversations, which are then transcribed and analyzed. According to Stauffer, the results provide educators with valuable information as classroom interaction is not usually perceived on such a detailed level. Bautista adds that the data is then used to give feedback to educators so that they can continually improve their classroom curriculums.

For more information regarding the course, visit https:// novoed.com/common-core.

‘planned community zoning,’” he said on KALW. MEASURE D—p.4 exaggerated the effects that Measure D would have He remarked that site regulations that have protected our community for decades could be wiped had on the city.

“Sadly, the referendum became about all of de- clean and would start with negotiations between velopment in Palo Alto rather than focusing on our the city and the developers.

Even though the fate of Measure D has been much-needed affordable senior housing project,” decided and set final, some citishe said. According to Gonzalez, the zens remain in uncertainty. project’s adversaries’ primary ar“20 percent of seniors in gument that it would have adPalo Alto are living at versely affected traffic was or near the poverty wrong. “We did a traffic limit,” Gonzalez study and found that said. “We have the project would over 500 sehave had an insigniors on the nificant impact waiting list on the neighof our only borhood,” she other sesaid. “In fact, nior site. out of all the It takes at realistic projleast five ects, affordable years to senior housing get a unit would have the there, and lowest impact in by then most traffic, parking have moved and schools. Some away or pass opposition who away. After recriticized the traffic ea v tirement, they study used outdated insu bo re a can’t afford to live formation from 1995.”

Dp the rop o t in expensive Palo Alto Out of Palo Alto’s 65,000 g osed to extend senior housin homes.” residents, only 11,000 ended Ultimately, Gonzalez reup voting. THC discovered that marked that she felt disappointed. “We they may have been an uninformed, vocal minority. “We have been hearing that many were supposed to be a progressive, open commupeople voted based on a lot of misinformation,” nity, but we turned our backs on needy seniors,” she said. Now, THC will have to push for other Gonzalez said.

Hirsch stressed the importance of considering projects. “The land will have to be sold to pay back the slippery slope that might come with passing all of our lenders,” Gonzalez said. THC is continua law like Measure D. “Almost any new develop- ing to pursue its goal of securing affordable housment that comes along now is under what they call ing for senior citizens.

An t ho ny T ra n

Christine Lin

Palo Alto voters deny additional senior housing

el ot .

Teachers participate in Stanford Massive Online Open Course

The Oracle, TBN launch collaborative journalism project Mitch Donat

Managing Editor

The Oracle and the Titan Broadcast Network (TBN) will be collaborating on future projects and stories in the form of a joint venture project. According to broadcast teacher Edward Corpuz, both programs have wanted to do this for quite awhile. “I’ve been working with [The Oracle adviser Kristy] Blackburn for the past seven years,” he said. “In our conversations, we always mentioned how what The Oracle and TBN do is very similar; we’re both journalists. I thought it would be a great opportunity for students to experience interdisciplinary work.”

At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, the first collaborative effort as part of the joint venture was launched, with all of the graduating seniors featured in the senior issue of The Oracle also featured in short videos created by TBN. The latest video was on the Gunn Orchestra and its trip to Chicago, news which had a corresponding story in the November issue of The Oracle.

Other projects in production include videos promoting The Oracle’s new Aurasma capabilities and a video corresponding to the college app stress story of the November issue of The Oracle.

While broadcast and print journalism are very different, they can both supplement each other, according to Corpuz. “The Oracle has the ability to have a lot more detail and research,” he said. “For broadcast journalism, the detail isn’t there, but it does provide

the audio and visuals needed to tell a story; it gives us many ways, it is still challenging to find a way to comanother angle.” municate between them both. “Both programs [TBN According to The Oracle News Editor Cooper Aspe- and The Oracle] have their own way of doing things,” gren, to make the collaboration smooth, the videos will she said. “Trying to know and work with both of them all be featured on specific TBN segments. “We’re air- is definitely challenging.” ing these videos in correspondence with the segments While some aspects of the joint venture are chalon TBN,” he said. “For example, we will screen the or- lenging, Campbell is still excited for the opportunity chestra video on ‘The Lifestyle’ show and an Auras- it presents to members of both the TBN staff and The ma promotion will more likely than not be aired on Oracle staff. “It’s a better way to experience journal‘Tech.’” Aspegren said one of the goals is to have the ism in the real world,” she said. “Today, journalism is framework of published The Oracle stories correspond blending all the different aspects of it together, includto the framework of TBN’s daily broadcast. ing video, print and more.”

According to Aspegren, while the concept is simple One of the goals of the joint venture is to have in theory, actually making a joint program is difficult. promotional videos before each issue of The Oracle “We’re trying to releases. This meacommunicate sure, according to with each other in Aspegren, is to get “We’re trying to communicate with each a more effective students excited for other in a more effective fashion and fashion and make the release of the a streamlined effollowing issue. “Ofmake a streamlined effort so that it isn’t fort so that it isn’t tentimes, students too complicated to work between staffs. too complicated are surprised when to work between we distribute that This is more challenging than it sounds.” staffs,” he said. brunch,” Aspegren “This is more said. “We want to —The Oracle News Editor Cooper Aspegren challenging than change that for the it sounds.” future, so that we Another difficulty Aspegren mentioned is figuring feel like we’re more connected to the entire student out which videos are relevant to air on TBN. “That’s body.” the tricky part,” he said. “TBN has high standards for According to Blackburn, both TBN and The Oracle the kinds of videos that can be presented, so not just applied for the Out of the Box grant in 2013 to creany video can air.” Corpuz believes some ate a multimedia journalism program. This grant proof this coordination difficulty is due to gram was designed to help encourage interdisciplinary the difference in schedule, as TBN meets classes or programs on school campuses. Although the during zero period and The Oracle meets grant was not awarded to TBN or The Oracle, Blackduring F period. burn and Corpuz decided to see what progress they Additionally, there is a small over- could make with a joint venture. lap of students who participate in both Just beginning to take its stride, the joint collaboracampus journalism organizations. One tion looks promising for the future of Gunn journalof these students involved in both TBN ism. “I don’t think that we have a specific goal or The and The Oracle is reporter and TBN Oracle has a specific goal here,” Corpuz said. “It’s not Sports anchor senior Lena Campbell. She going to make TBN or The Oracle better individually, thinks that while TBN and The Oracle are but as a collaborative it will make the journalism proboth journalism programs and similar in gram at Gunn stronger.”

Forum

Friday, December 6, 2013

Newly passed social media eraser law ineffective Stephanie Zhang Think back to your eighth-grade self, posting your first “selfie.” Back then, you probably didn’t anticipate your friends digging it up four years later just to heckle your amateur duck face and crooked peace sign.

However, under the recent California SB 568 bill, the eighth-grade you can rest easy. Otherwise known as the “social media eraser bill,” SB 568 was passed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October and gives teens the ability to delete their social media indiscretions with the click of a button. While this law comes as a holy grail to those students who partied a little too hard last New Year’s, the advantages that it provides are nothing more than what websites like Facebook al-

ready offer. In addition, this law unintentionally highlights the stereotype of the reckless teen without encouraging teenagers to take responsibility for their mishaps and hinders their development into accountable and liable citizens.

While the law has good intentions, it lacks substance and a set of teeth to enforce true protection for teens. On social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, users are already given the ability to delete former posts.

The only advantage that this law provides is that it allows teenagers to select certain years and events in their social media history and delete them. However, it does not protect them from information and content posted by another user. Therefore, prominent problems that this bill means to target, such as cyberbullying and embarrassing posts, are left untouched.

This law fails to acknowledge that leniency does not

lead to responsibility. Giving teens a “clear history” button does not show that indiscretions have bad consequences for young adults. If armed with the mindset that they can simply delete inappropriate content on their profiles, teenagers will not take caution when deciding what content is appropriate to share with the public. In the absence of looming consequences, teenagers will not stop making reckless and impulsive decisions. This will only encourage teenagers to post more compromising information under the security that they can later delete it. The problem that arises is that while the content itself can be deleted, people’s memories of it cannot be deleted; between the time of posting and the time of removal, any number of people can view or save the post.

Not only does this law send a message to teenagers that actions don’t have consequences, but it also overlooks the fact that teenagers today

may not be as rash as many may think. In a recent study conducted by Pew Internet, 60 percent of teen Facebook users keep their profiles private, and most report high levels of confidence in their abilities to manage their settings. In addition, 70 percent of teens are Facebook friends with their parents. While there are highly publicized anomalies that contradict this data, this law comes off as redundant given the overall social media responsibility of teenagers. In addition, this law underestimates the responsibility that many teenagers actually have and exhibit. This seemingly trivial lack of trust has the potential to become extremely detrimental if teenagers do not believe that their authorities have confidence in them.

Teenagers today should be given the responsibility to learn the sensitive nature of social media.

—Zhang, a senior, is a Centerfold Editor.

Pop polls create overly competitive attitude Anuva Ganapathi

“Most likely to…”—the three most awaited words for first semester seniors.

The pop polls are arguably the most anticipated sections of a yearbook and are often the cause of much drama.

With a class of 483 students and only about 35 categories available, there’s bound to be both pride and disappointment—whether it is winning a category you aren’t proud of or not winning anything at all. No matter what the results are, chatter and gossip always accompany the voting process and convert the exercise into more of a pageant than a yearbook tradition. Pop polls should be a lighthearted way to remember your high-school personality, but instead they have turned into a competition that is taken too seriously.

In October, pop poll nomination forms are distributed to the graduating senior class. There are polls for just about every category—from “Most Attractive” and “Most Desirable” to “Most Unique” and “Worst Driver.” More than the polls themselves, it is the drama and the gossip associated with the voting that get students into a frenzy; just about every student wants to be nominated for something—regardless of the connotation or implication of the category. It certainly helps that no negative categories are allowed, and even questionable categories are inserted only in the spirit of fun and entertainment. The entire process provides for an atmosphere of lighthearted humor and anticipation; it also allows senior class members to bond and build some memories for the future.

Unfortunately, often times a “herd” mentality sets in: students vote for a particular person for a category simply

because everyone else is doing it, and the frenzy feeds on itself. As a result, the polls are not an accurate representation of any person’s fit for a category. Instead, they are a popularity contest; the people most heard and seen around campus tend to walk away with the votes.

Making the pop poll process anonymous would greatly help. The voting form currently requires students to put their names on it so the yearbook staff gets to see who voted for whom. This often hinders people from voting for whom they actually want to vote and instead forces them to feel obligated to vote for whom they are “expected” to vote.

Ultimately, though, pop polls need to be taken for what they really are: a lighthearted attempt made by seniors to blow off some steam as they deal with AP classes and college applications. It is important not to take the polls too seriously or to get too caught up in the implications of the polls. Seniors must remember to keep their priorities straight. After all, I’d look at it this way: it is much better to win “You’re Accepted” at the college of your choice than it is to win any pop poll category at this school.

—Ganapathi, a senior, is a Copy Editor.

5

Candidate hype meaningless Nabeel Chollampat I don’t care about Chris Christie, and I don’t care about Hillary Clinton—at least not right now. And unless either the governor of New Jersey or the former Secretary of State is involved in something of national relevance, political pundits shouldn’t care either. Yet for months now, cable news networks have shown an alarming interest in the possibility of a Christie vs. Clinton matchup in the 2016 presidential election.

It’s an understandable (though not quite noble) concept: pit two of the most wellknown politicians in the country against each other and you’ll see your viewing numbers skyrocket from those you’d see by reporting the boring, “normal” news.

Despite my credentials (being caught up on “The Newsroom”), I’m not the authority on integrity in broadcast journalism, but it’s clear that networks are at fault for sacrificing timely and relevant stories in order to boost their ratings. International spying allegations, tropical storms in the Pacific Islands and Obamacare are just a few issues that are more relevant and worthy of coverage; such stories should outweigh predictions of an election that is still three long years off.

Moreover, networks are shining a (presumably) unwanted spotlight on said candidates. For example, a recent TIME magazine cover portrayed Gov. Christie’s shadow with the headline “The Elephant in the Room.”

While a clever use of the GOP mascot, the headline also proved remarkably insensitive toward the governor—a negative byproduct of intense media scrutiny. Of course, media coverage is an occupational hazard, but politicians’ words are also now being scrutinized for possible “hints” of a presidential run. Instead of analyzing politicians’ actions for their merit, outlets unnecessarily try to portray their rhetoric for cheap and easy news. This false extrapolation is not only obnoxious but also representative of another possible breach in journalistic integrity.

Networks are not only failing to cover more relevant topics but promoting unreliable information as well: presidential predictions this early simply have no way of being accurate. After the 2004 reelection of President George W. Bush, media outlets widely speculated that the 2008 race would feature New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, then a New York Senator.

As we all know, this clash of the titans never came to fruition. Similarly, who knows who will be running in 2016? It could be Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, or even everyone’s favorite candidates, Anthony Weiner and Herman Cain. Whatever the outcome may be, the prospective candidacies are almost certain to fluctuate in the next three years, so the media would be better off avoiding the enterprise entirely.

Early political predictions represent, in my opinion, an alarming misstep in current television journalism. The trend is also only perpetuated: when shows boost ratings by way of long-range presidential predictions, other shows have no choice but to follow suit, creating a vicious cycle of uncertain reporting and media irrelevancy.

—Chollampat, a senior, is a News Editor.

Paige Anderson

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For

THEORACLE

bamacare On Oct. 1, the federal health insurance exchange was launched through healthcare.gov, sparking controversy after the website experienced a series of technical problems. In light of the issue’s national importance, The Oracle staffers give their opinions on the legislation’s merit.

Ever since it was passed in 2010, Obamacare has brought forth many differing opinions in t he United States. Open enrollment for t he hea lt h exchanges in Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, opened on Oct. 1. Although there have been questions over the effectiveness of Obamacare, it is a bill that is meant to help Americans and further progress in our country. Obamacare has positive qualities, such as the accessibility and affordability of healthcare, which many overlook.

Obamacare does not create hea lt h i nsu rance; it just regu l ate s pr iv ate h e a lt h i n s u rance. In other words, it helps to increase t he qua lit y, a f fordability and availabi l it y of pr ivate i n s u r a nc e . B e fore Obamacare was passed, it was harder for most people to get private insurance. Now, everyone is able to do just that. In addition, it improves

PRO the qualit y of Med ica re a nd Children’s Medicaid. For example, Obamacare closes the “donut hole” that caused senior citizens to not be able to afford their prescriptions. According to healthcare.gov, the “donut hole” is the drug coverage limit where seniors have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for their prescriptions.

Now senior citizens will also be able to go to wellness visits without being charged.

The point of universal healthcare is to open up the accessibility of health insurance, reducing the amount of disease and suffering that takes place in our country. There are 44 million people who are not covered by insurance right now. With Obamacare, those 44 million people will be given healthcare that they can afford. According to healthcare.gov, people can get lower costs on coverage and will be notified if they’re eligible for a plan with lower costs. In addition, each plan is required to offer essential health benefits, like doctors’ visits, preventative care, hospitalization and prescriptions. By making Obamacare a reality, we have taken a step to get the uninsured on a healthcare plan.

Because it is required, people have different options that they may choose from.

Over half of uninsured Americans can get free or low-cost health insurance. Unemployed people earning an income of $15,000 or lower annually are now eligible for healthcare coverage under Medicare. In addition, Medicaid is now extended to those who earn 133 percent of the federal poverty level. There are other options for people who cannot afford health insurance.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 81 percent of all individual policy-holders will be eligible for

income-based insurance subsidies. Obamacare is helping people who cannot afford to pay for insurance to still be able to be covered under the plan; depending on an individual’s income, they may be able to get lower costs on deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. They may also be eligible for Medicare.

One of the key benefits of the Affordable Care Act is that people with pre-existing conditions will still be able to join a healthcare plan. An insurance company will not be able to turn you down or charge you more money because of the illness that you have. According to healthcare.gov, once you have insurance, the plan can’t refuse to cover treatment for pre-existing conditions. Even if you have had a pre-existing condition in the past and were turned down, insurance companies are mandated to keep you under a plan.

Finally, young adults can stay on their parents’ healthcare plans until age 26. One in three young adults are uninsured, so by being able to stay on their parents’ plan, they will be able to be covered.

Yes, Obamacare may not be perfect. Many users have been struggling to understand the website, but there are several other websites created just to help you navigate through the Obamacare website. After the Nov. 30 deadline, the website will start to work as planned. Although there were a few glitches in the beginning, everything is going back on track, helping to create a “covered” America.

—Padmanabhan, a senior, is a Copy Editor

Faces in the Crowd What is your opinion on Obamacare?

“Obamacare is a good idea, but it was over rushed and not well thought out.”

Lauren Shotts (9)

“I think that it is a step in the right direction because people need a safety net that allows them to be taken care of.”

Andrew Ku (10)

“Ideally, Obamacare is great. However, it’s costing jobs and causing people to lose their previous plans.”

Nitya Kasturi (11)

“As long as all people in the US are required to contribute to get care and all are able to get care as needed, it will be a good thing.”

Steve Ames (Physical Education) —Compiled by Elinor Aspegren

rum

Friday, December 6, 2013

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W hat is Obamacare?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as “Obamacare,” is a legislative overhaul of United States’ health insurance.

a.) Sets up state-by-state health exchanges through the website healthcare.gov with the goal of allowing competitive pricing by insurers.

Mandates individuals to either purchase insurance policies that include more comprehensive coverage or pay a fine.

b.) Shifts 15 to 20 million more people into Medicaid, a government insurance program for the poor, by increasing the maximum income allowed.

c.) Forces insurance companies to sell insurance to consumers regardless of pre-existing medical conditions.

d.) Provides subsidies to individuals in a certain income bracket so that they can more easily

afford insurance. Levies new taxes to help fund subsidies, including one on medical devices.

e.) Sets up an “Independent Payment Advisory Board” to decide how much doctors can charge for various treatments with the goal of cutting costs.

—Compiled by Ben Atlas

The initial attractiveness of Obamacare is indisputable.

Healthcare for uninsured Americans, higher insurance policy standards, better coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions and an online marketplace that offers a quick, easy way to browse policies are all features that the new healthcare system boasts. In March 2010, the government passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to enact these additions.

Given what the ACA promises to accomplish, it sounds almost too good to be true. This, unfortunately, may not be far from the truth. Recent reports on the ACA have revealed a host of problems during its rocky implementation. Though its goals are well-intentioned, the pathway to realizing them involves costs that are not worth the switch to Obamacare.

Firstly, the fact that health insurance has moved to an online marketplace (healthcare.gov) raises concerns about data security. Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) published an article categorizing healthcare.gov as a “web portal where personal information such as medical records, tax and financial information, criminal background and immigration status will be shared and transmitted between agencies, including the IRS, HHS, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration as well as state governments.”

Since citizens agree to post their private information as part of the enrollment process, these details can be shared more efficiently through the Internet, and citizens have no way of knowing what they will be used for. Released tax information, for example, could make citizens easy targets for tax discrimination. Overall, the online system allows greater potential for abuse of personal information.

However, citizens wary of Obamacare’s drawbacks will not be forced to pay for insurance. What they will have to pay is the individual mandate. This monthly fine amounts to about eight percent of the monthly cost for a typical insurance policy, arguably not a high enough cost to stop people from wanting to remain uninsured.

The incentive to purchase healthcare is further diluted with the ACA’s policy that insurance policies cannot be denied to any customer, even if he or she suffers from a

CON pre-existing condition that will cost the insurer more than the coverage price. Citizens thus feel no pressure to buy healthcare as a preventative measure because they can reduce expenses by purchasing coverage later.

Insurance operates on the principle that consumers will buy it as a pre-emptive strategy. The insurance provider can only cover future emergencies using revenue from healthy customers who pay monthly fees. If many citizens sign up for Obamacare only after they become severely ill or injured, the number of healthy individuals in the pool of consumers will decrease. This phenomenon, known as adverse selection, will cost the insurance companies enough to make them increase insurance prices—failing to meet the “affordable” aspect of ACA—or simply go out of business.

Furthermore, the high-quality insurance promised by the ACA may be unachievable. With adverse selection in mind, if the expected millions of Americans do not enroll in the online marketplace, insurance companies will be forced to raise prices or lower quality. ACA guidelines mandate the dissolution of insurance policies that fail to offer “10 essential benefits” which include outpatient care, better prescription drug coverage and hospitalization. If enforced, the guidelines clearly will benefit the uninsured. However, given the current situation, insurance companies may not have enough money to provide quality care, rendering the ACA’s “10 benefits” a superfluous formality.

Rushed decisions by the Obama administration have only exacerbated this problem. Poor communication between White House officials and the designers of healthcare.gov (CGI Federal and QSSI) led to the website’s premature opening and subsequent failure. As a result, only six people were able to sign up on the first day of healthcare.gov’s release. Media reports such as articles detailing the lack of doctors willing to work under Obamacare’s low-paying system paint Obamacare as a failure, an impression which could draw away potential buyers.

Moreover, when President Obama first introduced the ACA, he addressed concerns from already insured citizens: “If you like your current plan, you can keep it.”

Starting September, however, hundreds of thousands of Americans have received notices that their policies

have been canceled due to the same healthcare law. Pressured by ensuing outrage, Obama told the public in the same week that he would keep his original promise. In his haste to attract consumers, he instead presented an image of inefficiency and insincerity, depressing demand and public support for Obamacare.

Despite the ACA’s flaws, the Obama administration has adamantly insisted against repealing the law. Perhaps supporters of the law wish to see the time, money and effort spent constructing Obamacare to be put to use, at least until it is fully implemented in 2014. If the low demand for Obamacare is not addressed, however, keeping the law in place may eventually cause the government to lose even more money. To prevent this, the government must continue efforts to increase the number enrolled, a feat which could be accomplished by loosening imposed eligibility standards.

In using one piece of legislation to overhaul an entire healthcare system in such a short period of time, the government has taken on an endeavor so enormous that flaws are almost guaranteed. Though the Obama administration and lawmakers are currently taking steps to treat the effects of these issues, the search for the true cure for Obamacare’s ailments continues.

—Lew, a senior, is a Centerfold Editor.

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Features

THEORACLE

Aurora light sculpture unveiled at Palo Alto City Hall Lisa Hao

Tech Editor

Standing 30 feet tall with 4200 copper leaves and over 45000 LED lights, a tree sculpture now brightens up the Palo Alto City Hall King Plaza. This modern, metal weeping willow, named Aurora, will adorn the plaza for a whole year, thanks to two young Palo Alto residents, Julia and Sam Hirschman, ages nine and eleven respectively, and their dad, Harry Hirschman.

Not only is Aurora grand and robust, but it is also interactive and environmentally friendly.

Visitors can use the free network named “aurora” to control the different designs and colors of the zero-emission electricity powered lights for about 30 seconds a turn. Aurora lights up in a variety of colors, from rainbow to white.

The tree looks the best at night, when its lights illuminate King Plaza in front of the towering City Hall. Aurora will also become solar powered by the end of the year, making it even more energy efficient.

“Aurora is about the youth,” Mayor Gregory Scharff said in his speech during the Aurora Lighting Event on Nov. 16. Aurora was both inspired by and brought to Palo Alto by youth.

The artist, Charles Gadeken, drew inspiration from his daughter to create Aurora. “I wanted to make something a little more friendly and the idea was to try to make the most appealing thing I could for my three-year-old daughter,” Gadeken said. “This idea of making the ultimate fairy tree was kind of where I was going with this one.”

In 2011, Aurora was featured in Burning Man, an art exhibit in Nevada, which is where Harry and his wife first saw it. Almost right after the parents returned home, Aurora captured Julia’s and Sam’s attention. “Our dad was just flipping through all the pictures he had taken when Aurora caught our eye,” Sam said.

The children loved the exhibition, especially

the tree. They asked their parents if it was possible to bring it to Palo Alto because it did not have a permanent home yet.

Almost immediately, the Hirschmans knew City Hall was where Aurora should stay. “The backdrop of City Hall and the sculpture—they match perfectly,” Julia said.

Getting Aurora to City Hall would be more than a two-year process. First, the kids asked their peers to sign a petition to bring the sculpture to Palo Alto. “All the people that we asked to sign the petition [signed it],” Julia said. “A lot of the time they were really involved.” After getting the petition signed, the family pitched the idea to Palo Alto Arts Commissioners who gave them a spot in one of its public meetings.

In the meeting, the Arts Commissioners approved it, but with a condition. “The condition was that we raise the money on our own,” Harry said. The city has helped out with some of the fees, but the main bulk of funds depends on both the Hirschmans and Gadeken. “The city has waived fees and has covered fees for us but they aren’t contributing any money directing to the art itself,” Harry said. The family needed to fundraise $35,000 to provide for all of the different needs Aurora has to make it publicly safe, weather-proof and more environmentally sustainable.

By the end of the campaign on Nov. 26, more than enough money had been donated to keep the sculpture alive, allowing Julia and Sam’s dream come true. Julia and Sam’s persistent involvement in the project is an inspiration to older and younger generations alike. “It kind of inverts the normal relationship of things.

And then it creates a great experience for these younger kids,” Harry said, remarking on his kids’ accomplishments. Now anyone can visit City Hall and enjoy the dazzling Aurora because of the inspiration of these two children and the generosity of Palo Altans.

Anthony Tran

Q&AArtist of the Month:

Anthony Tran

Above: The interactive sculpture, Aurora, shines in front of city hall. Bottom: The branches of the tree are actually zero-emission electricity-powered lights.

sophomore Lydia Sun

The Oracle: Who or what got you started?

Lydia Sun: I kind of just remember always drawing, just ever since I was little. I never really got started. I guess I was just always just doing it. My first earliest memory of drawing something was in preschool. This girl came up to me and asked me to draw a castle, and that’s the first thing I remember about drawing.

TO: What is your medium/style?

LS: I draw mostly with colored pencils. I’ve never been into the whole exploring other mediums—not to sound like I am not open.

I’m not a big fan of watercolors. Watercolors are just not my thing. I’ve done a couple of things with pencils, markers—I love markers—and I think I did oil pastel at one point.

I’ve used charcoal before but I’m not a fan of it because it’s kind of messy.

Audey Shen

TO: Do you want to continue art in the future?

LS: Definitely as a hobby or as something to do in my free time. But I don’t think I’m looking for it as a job. I’m in the middle of a lot of stuff. So it is definitely something I can always fall back on when there’s nothing else to do or when I’m feeling creative.

TO: What do you want people to feel when they see your art?

LS: I want them to feel impressed, obviously, and hopefully inspired. If someone else sees your work and says, “Wow, that’s so awesome,” I don’t want them to put themselves down and say, “I feel bad about myself now.” I want them to say, “Wow, I wish I could do that and maybe I can do something like that to this level.”

TO: What’s your favorite part about drawing?

LS: I think it’s the finished result and being able to look at it and say “wow.” That’s pretty cool. And being able to see all your work put together.

TO: Do you have a common theme you typically stick with?

LS: Well, when I was little, I had this weird theme where I would make three-layered cakes with houses on it. And I drew like so many of those. I think what I like to draw the most is my dream stuff, like my dream house.

A little bit later, I think in middle school and onwards, I got a little more into copying things, like having a flower in front of me and drawing that. That’s fun because at the end you can compare how real it looks. That part is fun, but what I enjoy the most is drawing things from imagination.

TO: Why do you chose to do art?

LS: It’s just what I like to do. I’m not like the other person who does other hobbies. It’s just something I grew up with.

TO: Do you have any advice for beginners?

LS: Mess around. Not everyone is confined to one style like I am. Experiment with new things and don’t be afraid to look at other people’s drawings and get ideas from them. Be inspired and have an open mind.

— Compiled by Naina Murthy

Features

Friday, December 6, 2013

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Unique ventures let creativity run wild Drew Bent creates iPhone application Writing novels is Pooja Belur

not for everyone

Sports Editor

Not many high school students can say that they have developed an iOS app, but senior Drew Bent can. In seventh grade, the entrepreneur began an iPhone app development business, and he has created several apps since his middle school days. His apps include X-Ball, Imoticon and Pocket Game of Life. Most recently, Bent began creating AnyMeal, an app for people with dietary restrictions.

Over the summer, Bent attended an internship program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he met Michael Matias from Tel-Aviv. While talking, the two realized that both their families face dietary restrictions that made it difficult to eat out. They decided to create an app that could help guide people who had dietary restrictions such as gluten-free, vegan or lactose-free. “We both sat down and quickly designed an iPhone app with not only the restaurants, but individual dishes that [someone] can eat,” Bent said.

Many restaurants that Bent has contacted are aware of the growing population facing dietary restrictions. However, most have no way of publicizing the necessary information. To fill this void, Bent and his coworkers have had to individually contact every restaurant and ask for all of the essential nutritional information. Though the process is time-consuming, Bent also believes that it has been extremely rewarding. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been tough. I have school, I have sleep, I have AnyMeal, and [I] can really only do two of them,” Bent said. “However, what I have noticed is that I have no issues with working on the app, because I like it so much.”

Currently, AnyMeal has around 200 restaurants in its database, all of which are in the Bay Area. Each restaurant it features has three to four gluten-free or vegan dishes as well as options for other restrictions. The range is growing quickly, and Bent hopes to eventually make the app usable nationwide. His end goal is for a person to walk into any restaurant and with the click of a button, know exactly what they can eat. Bent hopes to eliminate any feelings of limitation a person with a restricted diet may have. “Our motto is AnyMeal, any diet, anywhere,” Bent said.

The app is currently in beta phase. It was recently submitted to the App store and is under review. According to Bent, the app is going to be completely free to guarantee that everyone has access to the information. Bent hopes to launch the full version by the end of December.

Klaire Tan

Audey Shen

Courtesy of Drew Bent

Top: Senior Drew Bent shows off his application on his iPhone. Bottom: “AnyMeal” accomodates a variety of diets.

Torsten Wendl’s truck runs on veggies Esther Kozakevich Reporter

Everyone is always complaining about gas prices going up, but very few people actually do something about it. Senior Torsten Wendl started making his own biodiesel fuel about two-and-a-half years ago and has turned the process into a hobby.

Wendl started off without any prior knowledge of the product or its making.

“Diesel prices were going up, and I heard some people talking about a process to make it yourself,” he said. “I browsed YouTube, searched up some things on Google and started doing it.”

Of course, the process is not quite as easy as pouring vegetable oil from the grocery store into the gas tank. The hardest part, according to Wendl, is getting the vegetable oil that is necessary to make

the biodiesel. Wendl gets the vegetable oil through a contract with a restaurant that gives Wendl waste oil it doesn’t need.

Although Wendl has the contract, getting it was difficult, since major gas companies do not want freelancers like Wendl making their own diesel.

Besides securing vegetable oil, the process itself is also pretty complicated.

Wendl and his friend, senior Neil Marvin, however, have it down to a science. “After getting the waste vegetable oil from restaurants, we use an elaborate processing machine that adds methanol and sodium hydroxide to make biodiesel, which can then be used to fuel any diesel powered car,” Marvin says. “Each batch takes two days to complete and we do about two batches a week equating to 80 gallons of product.”

According to Wendl, making his own biodiesel provides many benefits.

There is the obvious and most important one, which is that it is a lot cheaper than pump diesel. “The diesel we make reduces particulates from emission by about 35 percent,” Wendl said.

Not only does the handmade biodiesel have positive effects on the car, but it also helps Wendl make some extra money.

Although he does not plan on making the biodiesel on a commercial level, he is able to make some money off of it by selling it to a few regular customers as well as to construction sites. He is also able to sell some of the vegetable oil he gets from his contract.

After two-and-a-half years, making biodiesel has become somewhat of a recreational activity. “Making my own fuel has become a hobby of mine,” Wendl said. “I’m constantly striving to improve the quality of biodiesel and the power of my truck.”

Stephanie Kim

Senior Torsten Wendl’s biodiesel-fueled Ford pickup truck stands out in the school’s student parking lot.

NaNoWriMo. These letters are short for National Novel Writing Month, an unofficial, Internet-based writing “contest” that takes place each November. The whole idea of NaNoWriMo is disarmingly simple: turn out a 50,000 word novel in a month. Considering this and the fact that I couldn’t exactly get very far participating in Movember, I decided to take up the NaNoWriMo challenge last month.

Now, writing isn’t unfamiliar to me, and I’ll even admit that I’ve attempted to write a novel before. However, it was only a week into November when I correctly predicted that I wouldn’t be getting very far in this contest.

Starting from day one, I ran into obstacle after obstacle. In early November, I gullibly started off the challenge with a blank document and a good cup of tea. However, two sentences in, one of two things would happen.

One, I would quickly realize both sentences were completely worthless and then spend the next hour editing. Second, I would tell myself, “that’s pretty good stuff,” run off to take a break and then return three hours later to cold tea.

I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere because I didn’t have any idea where I was going.

This introduced my second issue: creating a plot. There were so many possibilities that I wasn’t satisfied with any of them. One day, I’d be telling myself that “thoughtful, dysfunctional family” would be the story direction to go with. The next day, I’d be dreaming up new realms with cities I could name after myself.

In the end, I decided just to run with all of them. I would write the stories I wanted and see which I liked the best. It’s now December.

The contest is over. And I’m left with three different stories that are each only 5,000 words.

Now, my clearly unsuccessful experience with NaNoWriMo may make the whole challenge appear to be hopelessly impossible. My failure wasn’t due to any issues with NaNoWriMo. The organizers set up the whole challenge quite well. When I signed up in late October, NaNoWriMo provided me with a medley of resources—updates, tips and a calendar outlining how to reasonably split up the 50,000 word quota—and forums to help discuss my novel-writing were always available. In fact, the whole process is so well-organized that the challenge of writing more than 50,000 words in a month actually seems feasible.

However, I will caution all future NaNoWriMo participants to make sure their November has enough time for the challenge. Better yet, wait until high school is over. There’s no more effective motivation to not write than deadlines for tests, projects and essays. In addition, NaNoWriMo participants definitely shouldn’t be expecting a publish-worthy novel to be produced in the span of November. Rather, participants should look upon the contest as an experience to familiarize themselves with consistent writing (around 1,667 words a day). It’s much better to lower your standards and head into the challenge just seeing what you can do. If you expect a decent novel to come out of NaNoWriMo (like I did), you’ll just end up with random, halfwritten drafts that won’t live past November.

—Tan, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

10

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12

Features

THEORACLE

Senior Emily Wang Fluorescent Proteins

Senior Emily Wang recently won the status of Siemens regional finalist for her research project on fluorescent proteins and the benefits they present in medicine.

Wang has been interested in science for as long as she can remember. “I’ve always been really curious,” Wang said. “I have always been asking questions.”

Wang has been participating and competing in science fairs since elementary school. In her first science fair, she noticed that many people at her elementary school suffered from bad eyesight. As a result, she decided that she wanted to create a robot that would improve the way kids read.

“By paying attention to all the problems in society, I’ve found that there’s so much to learn and many different ways we can help out,” Wang said.

In Wang’s freshman year, she found out about the Siemens Competition. “I’ve always been really passionate about science research,” Wang said.

To enter the competition, Wang engineered fluorescent proteins and ended up creating the brightest monomeric fluorescent protein known to scientists to date. “I developed a bright fluorescent protein that essentially illuminates disease pathways, allowing researchers to see small biological changes at a molecular level,” Wang said.

“For my project, I constructed libraries of protein mutants through random and site-directed mutagenesis. Then, I screened the libraries for enhanced photostability,

Sophomore Jason Huang Simplifying Computer Science

This year, sophomore Jason Huang received the semi-finalist award for the Siemens competition. He and Palo Alto High School junior Joseph Chang were recognized for their work in the field of computer science by cracking the code to improve the way computer scientists recognize characteristics in chain softwares.

Huang and Chang were inspired to simplify the material they were learning in their high-school math classes, including prime number schemes and sequences, through a computer program. They compiled numerous algorithms and computed lines of code in order to consolidate these fundamental ideas into relatable forms. According to Huang, computer scientists and analysts would benefit by using this refined method to simplify the way people see values and develop them.

“Binary trees are used to code for any online chess games,” he said. “It is also used as a more efficient way if you want to find a specific number in a list of numbers and can also be used to code for social networking sites.”

The two partners started their project in January of this year, and they worked on a regular basis throughout the summer.

Huang believes their adequate preparation and dedication contributed to the overall quality of their project and their ultimate success in the Siemens competition. “Together we first scheduled times to work, which helped us use our talents in a more efficient way,” Huang said.

brightness, and performance in FRET-based calcium biosensors.”

Now that Wang has made it into the next stage of the Siemens Competition, she is continuing to work on her research with even more ambition. “I am trying to develop a red fluorescent protein to compliment the green protein so they can work together in biosensors,” she said.

Wang worked with Doctor Jun Chu and Professor Michael Lin from the Stanford University Department of Bioengineering.

According to Wang, Lin provided her with what she needed for her research, whether it was materials or advice. “I was really lucky to have such a supportive mentor and professor,” Wang said.

Wang also founded the Research Science and Invention Club, which aims to make research more available to students. “I started the research club so any student can have the opportunity to experience the research and invention process,” Wang said. “We help mentor students through different science and engineering competitions.”

According to Wang, she does not plan to stop at the Siemens competition and would like to do bioengineering in her future.

—Erica Watkins

Senior Julia Chang Regenerative Medicine

This year, senior Julia Chang was named a semi-finalist in the Siemens competition for her research report, titled “Improvement of Cleft Palate Repair: Molecular Mechanisms Surrounding Facial Growth.”

For Chang, the daughter of two doctors, science has always been a topic of interest.

“I love knowing just the ‘how’ of things,” she said. “It’s why I like biology so much.” Her interest soon grew into a passion and she began conducting research in laboratories around the area.

Supervised by lab mentor Jingtao Li, Chang began studying regenerative medicine and craniofacial morphogenesis at a laboratory in the Stanford Department of Surgery. The research that led to Chang’s success centers around children born without hard palates at the top of the mouth. Cleft palate is a facial defect that can be fixed by repair surgery, allowing children to speak. But surgery disrupts the growth of the area and often leaves children with a retruded maxilla, or upper jawbone. To discover what causes this growth inhibition, Chang examined bone and cartilage formation. “Our paper really focuses on making a difference in

The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology aims to recognize students for outstanding research projects on science conducted during high school. The competition is funded by the Siemens Foundation and administered by the College Board.

On Oct. 18, 2013, the names of the semifinalists and regional finalists, which included four Gunn students, were released. On December 10, 2013, the individual and team finalists will be notified and given scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

In addition, Huang thinks that their effort was also an important factor in their success. “Even though we were pretty relaxed while we were working, it was still extremely challenging,” he said. “My partner and I put in a lot of time and work and we are pretty glad to see that it paid off with the semifinalist spot.”

Because of the complexity of the project, Huang and Chang broke their time up by first creating a solution for organizing data schemes. They then figured out how to input it through computer language. “Often times we found ourselves working with a lot of scratch paper because we couldn’t just mentally come up with an answer,” he said. “We would plot data trees and try to determine which nodes of the tree had a certain value.”

Huang hopes to carry on with this project and seek new opportunities in the upcoming years in the fields of science and math. “I plan to participate in more science competitions in my high school years to keep challenging myself and exceed [in] my academic potential,” he said.

—Kush Dubey

Senior Neel Guha Search Engine

Like many of his peers, senior Neel Guha joined a study group on Facebook for the class Chemistry Honors his sophomore year. However, the study group did not just help him with the science course; it sparked the research project that ultimately earned him status as a 2013 Siemens Competition semifinalist.

According to Guha, the helpfulness of the Facebook group influenced him to explore the possibility of programming an automatic search engine for specific contexts, such as a high school course. “The group . . . offer[ed] a forum for classmates to help each other and share resources related to the course,” he said. “I began to think of how such study groups on social networks could be leveraged for students. More broadly, I wanted to build a tool that would better enable students to utilize the wealth of the web as filtered by the group.”

The finalized project’s goal was to alleviate the problems that students and others face while researching on the Internet.

These problems include irrelevant results,

these people’s lives,” Chang said. “They don’t really get the chance to fix the retruded maxilla and this causes speech aberrations.”

In her study, Chang followed the development of the midpalatal suture, a growth site of the maxilla, in mice during the embryonic period as well as the early stages of life.

According to the executive summary of her report, she soon “discovered that cartilage formation precedes that of bone and that the fate of cells responsible for sutural growth is determined before birth.” She conducted simulations of cleft palate repair surgery and thus observed the post-surgery healing process of the mid-palatal suture. “We found that cell death increases after surgery, the teeth become misaligned, and the suture becomes narrower,” she stated in her executive summary.

“Maxillary bone growth appears to be stunted after surgery, similar to the growth inhibition observed in human patients.”

With her findings, Chang believes that treatments can be refined to prevent growth arrest of the maxilla through manipulation of genes involved in suture development.

Laboratory research has become a regular part of Chang’s life. “I want to be a doctor, so getting to do research about surgery is a really great opportunity,” she said.

The solution to the problems presented in her report may be far off, but Chang believes that her paper stood out because it is an effort to improve lives. “It does something to help people,” she said. “And that’s why I want to go into science, to help people.”

—Shawna Chen results targeted at the wrong audience and results from non-authoritative sources.

Guha’s final product was able to correctly identify sites useful for research 85 percent of the time when tested with searches focusing on Advanced Placement United States History material and medical information for doctors. Side-by-side evaluations with Google also showed that history teachers and doctors preferred information from Guha’s search engine over information from Google 90 percent of the time.

Guha started researching how to program his search engine the summer after taking Chemistry Honors, and he decided to enter the Siemens Competition later on.

“I have friends who had participated in previous years and I’d already done the research, so I thought I might as well try,” he said.

Though Guha’s original intent was to utilize social networks, such as Facebook, to create specialized search engines, the idea ultimately turned out to be unfeasible. “The biggest challenges were when my methods didn’t quite achieve the results I’d hoped for,” he said. “I’d then have to go back and rethink the way I was approaching the problem.” Nevertheless, Guha continued his research and was able to successfully create his search engine.

Overall, Guha described the project as being “a great learning experience.” “I had a lot of fun and I had the opportunity to think, design and iterate different versions of a solution to a problem,” he said. “After doing it, I know I’d like to continue doing computer science research.”

—Chaewon Lee

Features

Friday, December 6, 2013

13

Junior magician duo mystifies with card tricks Emily Kvitko Reporter

“I want you to take this card, memorize the face, letter, number, color, suit, appearance,” junior Luke Chui said as he began a card trick. “One, two, three.” In the blink of an eye, junior Victor Kao pulled out the jack of hearts from his wallet. Through their practice, the boys invented their own signature trick: the KaoChui.

Anthony Tran

Junior Victor Kao shuffles his cards, letting them fall from one hand into the other.

Kao first encountered card tricks on the streets of China. “I saw a street performer, became really interested and bought some tricks and gadgets,” he said. Although he took a break from the hobby when he started freshman year, he returned to it this past summer.

Ne we r t o t he trade, Chui picked up a deck of cards over this past summer in between shifts at work. “I just did some magic,” he said.

By performing together all of the time, the two have built on their friendship and partnership. They hold practices in the library and Academic Center after school.

They also sometimes pop out t h e i r cards in class and during breaks. “I get the deck out at lunch for special performances sometimes,” Chui said.

According to the boys, training is the key to success. “Practice a lot,” Kao said. “Anyone can do it, really, all it takes is practice.”

In fact, they rehearse for an hour every day.

Advocating creativity and consistency, Chui and Kao keep their secrets hidden. “We can’t reveal the tricks or else it’s not magic anymore,” Chui said. On the flip slide, Kao is willing to share his ideas with a few members of the card-magic world. “I only reveal secrets to an aspiring performer,” he said.

“But I never reveal to someone who wants to know just for the sake of knowing.”

On their list of tricks-to-learn is magic that will take your speech away, literally. “We want to learn more advanced micromagic— cool stuff like that,” Chui said. “Magic that happens so quickly no one can notice it; it’s so discreet.” Kao, however, also loves where he is now with his cards. “I want to just keep doing what I’m doing: performing for everyone, learning new techniques, and creating my own,” Kao said.

Fifty-two individual cards, 13 values, four suits and two colors make up a standard deck of cards: the key implement for the KaoChui stunt.

“Card magic is the best kind of magic, because with just a simple deck of cards, there are unlimited possibilities,” Kao said.

Both boys believe that this type of magic contributes to pleasure, stress-relief and education. “It’s fun, it’s relaxing and it teaches a person patience and discipline,” Chui said. “Card magic has a nice soft touch to it with lots of finesse.”

When they perform tricks, the boys witness many unexpected and interesting reactions. “Most times, people just start laughing and cracking up,” Kao said.

Chui used his talent to take a novel approach to asking someone to Homecoming. He composed a card trick and presented it to her. Luckily, his idea was a huge success. “She had a huge smile on her face,” he said.

Anthony Tran

Junior Luke Chui lays out a deck of cards on the table to perform a magic trick.

The boys’ peers are always fascinated by their magic. “I’m usually shocked, and then really confused,” junior Savannah Klein said. “It’s really entertaining.” Though she sees their tricks weekly, Klein continues to be impressed. “I never know how they do it,” she said.

Kao ultimately sees performing magic tricks as a way to bring joy to others. “To the spectators, [magic is] something that’s unreal, something that shouldn’t be possible,” he said. “ It gives them hope. As long as I can just make them happy, you know, that’s the point of magic, right?”

14

Sports

THEORACLE

New Coaches Winter sports kick off strong Wrestling

Varsity Basketball Brandynn Williams

Goals for the season: “Even though we lost some amazing athletes from last year, we have strong underclassmen this year,” senior Cadence Lee said. “I think we’ll do pretty well this season.”

“

I love cheering on my teammates at tournaments and meets. The wrestling environment is so supportive.

—senior Cadence Lee

Stephanie Kim

Senior Cadence Lee pins her teammate on to the ground during practice.

Girls’ Soccer

1. Favorite food is steak.

2. Favorite place to visit is Southern France.

3. Hobbies include basketball and golf.

4. Was born in Washington.

5. Likes to dance hip-hop.

Anthony Tran

Assistant Wrestling

Stephanie Kim

“

We can focus less on scores and more on improving our skills, gaining confidence and having fun on the field.

—senior Ming Ming Liu

Senior Camille Shrager focuses on kicking the ball across to a teammate.

Boys’ Soccer

Dennis Chan

1. Went to the Rhode Island School of Design.

2. Wrestled with Wales College as an assistant coach.

3. Is a freelance sculptor.

4. Majored in illustration.

5. Graduated from Gunn in 2008.

Stephanie Kim

Memorable Moment: “Scoring my first goal,” senior Ming Ming Liu said. “Many times, I came very close by hitting the goal post, but then during one scrimmage my sophomore year, I finally scored and I jumped in the air; I was so excited.”

Goals for the season: “This year I think we’re going to play really well,” senior Paco Covarrubias said. “We only lost two seniors so we have a lot of team chemistry already. We have great players returning from last year and JV has provided us with some solid players. We’re looking to improve and do well in the El Camino League.”

“

I was proud of how the team played together in our first game against Saratoga, which we won. I hope that it only gets better from here.

—senior Paco Covarrubias

—Compiled by Misheel Enkhbat, Alex Man and Alvin Wang Anthony Tran

Senior Tejas Kannan dribbles the ball down the field to dodge his opponents.

Girls’ Basketball

Boys’ Basketball Stephanie Kim

Audey Shen

Freshman Georgia Hake drives past the opponent’s defenses to go for a layup.

Senior Alejandro Navarro attempts a jump shot during an after school practice in the gym

Memorable moment: “Winning CCS was the best memory from last year,” senior Lena Bacon said. “It was a great feeling because people were doubting us. It was great knowing that our hard work paid off.”

Memorable moment: “I really like our coach this year; he teaches us a lot about life lessons,” senior Nabeil Kizilbash said. “Once, he talked about his friend in prison; that was probably one of our most interesting practices. I’m looking forward to a fun season this year.”

Sports

Friday, December 6, 2013

15

Is It Beneficial for athletes to undergo juice cleanses?

Yes Matt Niksa Juice cleansing, a dieting fad, has become a unique way for both guys and girls to cleanse their system of toxins. Juice cleanses can range from a few days to several weeks and are governed by only one rule: no solid foods. Instead, you are limited to naturally produced juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A juice cleanse may be more appealing to someone who is overweight or would like to incorporate more vegetables into their daily life, but I believe the juice cleanse is also a worthwhile diet for athletes to try.

For starters, any athlete knows that getting equal servings from each layer of the food pyramid is essential to living a healthy, energetic lifestyle. During their sports’ season, athletes are encouraged to eat greater amounts of chicken and other meats to build muscle, but they lose the vegetable and fruit aspects of their diets. Juice cleanses are beneficial because juice provides essential vitamins and minerals.

Athletes receive a serving of vegetables and

more nutrients than a regular serving without becoming too full. Dieticians also show that juices’ antioxidants help improve the immune system and lower blood pressure. Having a strong immune system increases an athlete’s endurance, allowing him or her to stay longer in the game.

A key part of an athlete’s life is spent offseason. Everyone is recovering from the past season’s wear and tear, and some athletes are just trying to heal their injuries. Eating a steak or a high-calorie meal is not helpful because athletes have stopped conditioning and are thus unable to burn the calories. A juice cleanse would be most helpful to an athlete’s recovery.

According to Stephen Harrod Buhner, author of “The Fasting Path,” “fasting stimulates a more than twofold increase in insulin binding protein,” which increases lean tissue development, muscle regeneration, bone strength and energy levels. Sometimes eating less does more for the body and allows the lean muscle to work its way back into the fray. Most importantly, a juice cleanse will help the athlete detoxify his or her body from harmful toxins or fats and to allow the immune system and pa ncreas to heal.

NO Danielle Yacobson “Diet” is no longer a four-letter-word. Instead, dieting has become a fad commercialized on reality TV shows like “The Real Housewives” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” where an episode rarely goes by without the mention of body image or losing weight. Social media is no better, with sites like Tumblr promoting images of girls with dangerously thin bodies and tips on losing weight quick. The latest trend has been a juice cleanse, a regimen in which the dieter will only drink juice specified by his or her dieting plan for an extended period of time. This type of weight loss is not only impractical in the long run, but dangerous to one’s health, mind and body, especially for an athlete.

The myth of the juice cleanse is to rid the body of toxins and built-up waste that accumulates over time. Many cleanse recipes call for different portions of various fruits and vegetables for each meal throughout the day for a certain period of time. For example, the Lemonade Cleanse calls for the dieter to only drink a recipe of lemonade

Paige Anderson and Carolyn Zhou

mixed with a cayenne pepper spice for a week.

Undoubtedly, a week drinking pure juice will show a difference on the scale, but as soon as an individual begins to return back to his or her old eating habits, the weight will return, often with an additional few pounds.

From a biological perspective, if someone goes without subsistent food for a long period of time, when the person starts to eat again, the body will go into “shock” mode and start to stock up on all the food it can get. The person’s metabolism has been deprived of “real” food for so long that it starts working slower and processing the food less efficiently.

For an athlete, sustaining a consistent weight is crucial. Not only do many sports favor a certain body mass, but the athlete must be aware of his or her body at all times. On a juice cleanse, the body is going through a drastic change and being deprived of its normal food intake, a situation that can cause serious consequences when engaging in strenuous physical activity.

Furthermore, a serious athlete must have a consistent intake of protein to build and repair

Dieting is a common but possibly harmful way to help your body lose weight. It’s incredibly hard to lose weight at a healthy rate without lowering metabolism or even experiencing dizziness or other side effects. The juice cleanse is not for everyone, but it is a truly fantastic way to keep an athlete in shape. It may be hard for the mind to get used to a diet of just juice, but the first couple of days are always the hardest. Once you have mentally adjusted to the juice diet, your body will begin to feel more relaxed and cleansed from the toxins of your daily meals.

Weight begins to be lost at a constant rate. The metabolism is still at a healthy level. Once you reach these stages, the juice cleanse has finally taken effect and you can start to feel good about your body.

—Niksa, a junior, is an Assistant Business Manager

muscle.

Healthy fats a nd carbs are necessary to have the energy, both mental and physical, to perform demanding exercise.

Although some juice cleanses may advocate that their regimen incorporates all these elements into their recipes, it is highly unlikely that the portion will be healthy or large enough for athletes. The lack of these necessary ingredients in an athlete's diet will only decrease his athletic abilities and leave him tired and hungry.

Some sports, like dance or gymnastics, often require their participants to lose weight in order to reach their full potential. Many resort to drastic diets, now including juice cleanses. It is important to realize, however, that this method of weight loss is not sustainable or healthy. Eating disorders arise after athletes make a drastic change in diet and lead to many other health and psychological implications. While “juicing” in itself may be beneficial when supplemented with regular meals throughout the day, cutting out all other food will leave athletes weak and unfocused. Juices can provide a nutritious source of vitamins and nutrients, but it cannot replace other major elements of a person’s daily diet.

—Yacobson, a junior, is a Features Editor

16

Sports

THEORACLE

Girls’ water polo finishes with a splash Klaire Tan

Forum Editor

On Nov. 23, girls’ water polo played against St. Francis High School in its first ever Central Coast Section (CCS) championship game. The game, which took place at Santa Clara International Swim Center, ended with St. Francis Lancers defeating the Titans 9-2.

Going into CCS finals, the Titans were aware of the challenge St. Francis posed. According to co-captain senior Rachel Wong, the Lancers is reputable for its elite defense, especially its goalkeeper, Katherine Moore. In order to take on St. Francis, the Titans focused on changing their overall approach in the finals game. “We knew that St. Francis is a really good team and that they have some really strong field players and a really strong goalie,” Wong said. “Going into the game, we were hoping to win by playing strong defense first and then going out on offense and trying to take more strategic shots.

Scoring three goals in the first quarter, St. Francis held a strong lead throughout the game. Midway into third quarter, the opponent still maintained a 6-0 advantage. According to co-captain senior Caroline Anderson, Gunn was still receiving opportunities to shoot, but players were simply failing to Goalie Sam Acker reaches out to block a shot in Gunn’s make successful shots. “Even though St. Francis was scor- CCS final game of the season against St. Francis. ing, we were still getting opportunities to score. won a CCS [semi-final] We just weren’t finishing before or the finals before. them,” she said. “We took Now, we’re regarded as one a ton of shots that didn’t of the best public schools go in. They were capitalizin the area.” ing on their opportunities Both captains credit to shoot.” this season’s success to the Despite the disadvanteam’s work ethic. From tageous start, the players the start, the players remade sure to keep their solved to reach CCS finals co-captain senior Rachel Wong and make school history. calm. “We didn’t panic after the first quarter,” “To [make it to finals], we coach Mark Hernandez said. “We knew that they weren’t knew we would have to work harder at practice, not like the shutting us down, and we also knew that they weren’t getting coach forcing us but ourselves, individually, motivating each everything that they wanted,” coach Mark Hernandez said. other to practice harder and stay focused,” Wong said.

“Our approach is to take it minute by minute, play by play, In matches, Gunn stood out through its emphasis on deto really sustain the moment. In the minute, we talk about fense. “We’ve always focused on the importance of defense, ‘what’s important now?’” and how we must play as a unit on defense before we can look After multiple saves by Moore, Anderson managed to to attack on offense,” Anderson said. break through in the third quarter to score Gunn’s first two In addition, Anderson added that the team also benefited goals. However, St. Francis held on strong to score three more from key players who returned this year after improving goals in the last quarter, finally ending the game at 9-2. greatly over the summer. “[Senior] Gabby [Bethke] is known Despite the team’s loss at CCS championships, this year for her speed, but not only her speed now. This year, she also is the furthest the girls’ water polo team has ever gotten in stepped it up on shooting from the outside and was putting CCS. In addition, this year’s water polo season is Gunn’s most away some really crucial goals,” she said. “Our goalie Sam successful ever as the Titans delivered a solid performance Acker also improved a lot over the summer, and she did very in both the De Anza League and CCS. “This season has been well this season.”

Gunn water polo’s [most successful] season so far,” Wong With this season over, the Titans are now focused on next said. “We only lost one league game, and we won our league year. The team will lose five senior players and will have to championship.” start new. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board and Since past seasons, girls’ water polo has steadily improved, do things over again,” Hernandez said. “We’re losing a lot of from qualifying for semi-finals in 2011, quarter-finals in 2012 talent, a lot of speed, a lot of experience, a lot of length and and eventually finals this year. “It’s vastly improved,” Her- a lot of strength. We lose a lot, for sure, but we like our core. nandez said. “We’re now a three-time defending champ. We’d We like our returning core. They’re experienced. And perhaps never won the [league] championships before. We’d never most importantly, they know what it’s like to win.”

“To [make it to finals], we knew we would have to work harder at practice, not like the coach forcing us, but ourselves, individually, motivating each other to practice harder and stay focused.”

Photos by Audey Shen

Senior Gabby Bethke swims the ball across Santa Clara International Swim Center’s pool to score a goal.

Look for the Aurasma symbol to watch videos of Gunn sports on your smartphone Step 1: Download Aurasma from the App Store or Play Store.

Step 2: Tap the “A” at the bottom of the phone screen, tap the search icon, and search for “GunnOracle” to follow the account. (You will only need to do this once.)

Step 3: Look for the Aurasma symbol at the bottom left corner of an article/photo in The Oracle.

Step 4: Tap the middle icon at the bottom of the screen and hover your phone/tablet camera over the photo. When a purple spiral appears on the screen, the video is loading and is about to play.

Dance team loses ability to compete Christine Lin Gunn’s administration has installed a new rule prohibiting the Titanettes, the varsity dance team, from taking Gunn’s name after basketball season. Despite continuing performances at various school rallies and events such as Clash of the Titans, the dance team is no longer considered a sport once basketball season ends. However, because the Titanettes are not allowed to be affiliated with Gunn after February, the team is also unable to attend competitions, which occur in March and April, to represent Gunn. This makes the team unable to continue its success from last year— the team placed first at its first-ever competition, and sixth at USA Nationals. Although the new rule’s intention was not to prevent the team from competing, its effects and certain circumstances have done so.

As a senior captain who has accompanied the team on its ascent to success, I find this situation highly disappointing. The dance team is self-run, so each and every member has dedicated countless hours towards the continual improvement of the team.

Most of us have cut back on our other extracurricular activities and commitments in order to fully contribute to the team, greatly diminishing our involvement in other dance studios and sacrificing valuable homework hours to choreograph, practice and plan all of our performances. We are willing to give up our time because the team’s development is extremely important to us; only through perseverance and devotion can we work towards making Gunn proud.

The majority of the high school dance programs in the area have been in existence for a long time, while the Titanettes was formed a mere five years ago. We have come far in these five years, and it was only through unending dedication and persistence that we were able to make a name for ourselves in the dance world. As with any other entertainment complex, it is difficult to burst into an arena full of experienced competitors, but we put in the sweat and tears to make ourselves known in the competition world so that people can associate Gunn with more than just academics. We have succeeded in gaining recognition in the local dance community already, but we aspire to be known nationally, not only for ourselves, but also for Gunn. By prohibiting its team from competing, Gunn is missing out on the opportunity to build a strong dance program comparable to those of schools such as Monta Vista, Homestead and Lynbrook.

Withdrawal from competition ushers in the loss of the opportunity for us to showcase our skills.

Every sport requires hours upon hours of practice and drilling as preparation for its meets and games; competitions are our games. Competing grants the team the chance to push ourselves past our limits, as well as display the technique that we have worked so long on. Competition also allows us to view other teams, to learn from their successes and failures and to ultimately improve our program and team.

We trust that the administration has its reasons for putting in place this new rule, but we are also crestfallen that we do not get the opportunity to compete, improve and reach for greater heights. The dance team has been a crucial part of my high school experience, one that not only allowed me to pursue what I loved, but also gave me the chance to continually strive to be the best that I can be. The team has become a family to me, and I hope to leave it as a family for scores of dancers to come. The dance team has become my legacy, the legacy of all of the seniors who stuck with the team through the supervisor changes and captain resignations. The team gave all of its members the chance to create something for ourselves, to take action and make our dream a reality.

But our silver lining has now disappeared. Now, Gunn as a school has become disadvantaged because the dance team cannot compete and become the best that it can be.

—Lin, a senior, is a reporter

Sports

Friday, December 6, 2013

17

Siblings bond over shared sport

Josh and Mack Radin Junior Mack Radin and freshman Josh Radin have played a variety of sports, but they both enjoy playing football.

Mack played flag football in middle school and used that experience to play tackle football for the junior varsity team during his freshman year. He won both the First Team All League and the Most Improved awards in the same year.

Mack is currently on the varsity team and considers himself to be a strong player.

According to Josh, he was moved by Mack’s performance and decided to play for the junior varsity football team in his freshman year. He says he has always looked up to his brother. “He set high standards for me and portrayed an extremely determined and motivated work ethic for me to live up to,” Josh said.

Both brothers believe that football helped their relationship with each other. Mack says that he does his best to support Josh by helping him improve more and “tackling him often as a way to toughen him up.” He believes that his guidance has helped Josh become a great athlete and a dedicated football player. “I feel that I prepared him to be a solid football athlete,” Mack said.

Senior Michael Abramovitch and freshman David Abramovitch feel that wrestling “can help you [for] the rest of your life,” as both brothers hope to improve in the coming years.

Michael has been wrestling for about five years. He used to play baseball in middle school until he broke his arm. After leaving baseball, he entered wrestling believing that it was a good sport for him to dedicate himself into. “Wrestling got me into good shape and helped me develop a good work ethic,” Michael said.

Having been a wrestler for three years, David claims that wrestling is a lot about motivation within the team and within oneself. His coaches have helped him understand that wrestling is “up to the individual to really work hard and go beyond the expectation.”

Michael and David also like how wrestling “makes [one] tougher and productive.” According to Michael, wrestling is not always about size or efficiency, but about hard work. “Success depends mostly on how much work you put in, not how big you are,” Michael said. “[Wrestling] makes you more of a disciplined student and teaches you to deal with adversity in all aspects of life.”

David and Michael Abramovitch

Lin Lin and Ming Ming Liu

Whether it is dribbling, passing or shooting a ball, senior Ming Ming Liu and sophomore Lin Lin Liu both believe that soccer has always been “a sport that was bound to be most exciting.”

Ming Ming says her favorite sport is soccer. She has played soccer since she was five years old as soccer is a form of exercise that is unique.

As the younger sister, Lin Lin says to have always looked up to Ming Ming. However, Lin Lin also enjoys playing soccer because she believes that “it’s more than just running; it’s about everyone cooperating as a team to work towards a main goal.”

They began to play competitively about three years after getting hooked on soccer, and both joined the varsity team. “It is interesting to play with everyone on the field,” Ming Ming said. “We all have really distinct personalities.

“Everyone is funny in their own way and whether you’re with the whole team or just one person, you’ll always have a good time.”

—Written by Aayush Dubey Photos by Stephanie Kim

18

Entertainment

THEORACLE

D e s i g n e r v e r s u s d i s c o u n t fa s h i o n The Oracle staffers junior Emily Kvitko and sophomore Yuki Klotz-Burwell model two versions of one outfit.

Leather jacket

Necklace

3 T-Shirt

1

Leather jacket

1

Necklace

2

2 3 T-Shirt

Skirt

4

Skirt

5

5 Tights

6

6 Boots

4

Tights

Boots Photos by Anthony Tran

Designer Option 1. Macy’s — $70 2. Urban Outfitters — $20 3. Urban Outfitters — $18

4. Urban Outfitters — $32 5. Nordstrom — $12 6. Boutique 9 — $159

Total: $311

“My outfit was made up of expensive, brand-name clothes to demonstrate how a cheaper version could be easily compiled through smart shopping.”

Discount Alternative 1. Target — $25 2. Brandy Melville — $16 3. Target — $12.99

4. Urban Outfitters — $5 5. Target — $5 6. Kohl’s — $34.99

Total: $98.98

“I was really impressed by how fashionable my outfit was.

It really opened my eyes and made me realize how much I spend on clothing.”

—Compiled by Yuki Klotz-Burwell and Emily Kvitko

Gunn Illustration Club presents an original holiday comic

Arman Iranmanesh

Entertainment

Friday, December 6, 2013

No-spend November proves difficult Danielle Yacobson

Not spending money in November seemed like no big deal.

So I wouldn’t go out with friends as much during lunch. I could definitely cut down on my coffee expenditures. Plus, I had a point to prove. What did I really need, anyways?

It all started when junior Noa Livneh and I got into an argument about who spends the most money.

Noa, who makes spontaneous and pricey purchases, argued that my small spendings each day added up to more. I, on the other hand, doubted that my daily coffee runs and lunch outings exceeded her shopping sprees.

I soon came to realize that this “experiment” was easier said than done. Every time I was with a group of friends and the question of what we should do came up, getting food was the conclusion we arrived at about 90 percent of the time. I craved coffee in the early mornings before zero period and definitely did not have enough time or energy to make some at home. After a bad day at school, all I wanted was to treat myself to

some frozen yogurt, but I was reminded that my spending would be tracked.

I proposed cooking but that required buying ingredients.

The price to go ice skating at the Winter Lodge increased by at least two dollars since last year and going to the movies is as expensive as a dinner. That being said, I did both, largely because I didn’t want to sacrifice my social life for the bet.

In total, I spent $78.07 during November, and this was while trying to save money. I’m reluctant to think about what my total would have been if I had mindlessly spent money as I had done before.

Noa spent $75.86 and (by a slim margin) won the challenge.

Looking back, I realize how truly privileged I am. I have the means to go out and get myself Starbucks anytime I want or buy myself a new pair of shoes when I deem my closet to be “empty.”

Spending constantly on little things can only go so far, because the little things start to add up faster than you would expect. I spent an average of $2.60 each day during the month of November, a relatively insignificant sum in the grand scheme of things, but which ultimately added to a notable decrease in my bank account.

—Yacobson, a junior, is a Features Editor.

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” rises above the pitfalls that typically befall action-packed sequels. Jennifer Lawrence returns as Katniss, who, after winning the Hunger Games in controversial fashion, must fight to the death with previous Hunger Game winners as part of a quarter-centennial “Quarter Quell.” Rather than revert to the formula that brought its 2012 predecessor more than half a billion dollars at the international box office, “Catching Fire” manages to provide a exhilarating burst of artistry that can satisfy theatergoers who read Suzanne Collins’ novel and entertain those who didn’t. As a result, don’t be surprised if you leave the multiplex comparing the visceral effects of “Catching Fire” to those of “The Empire Strikes Back”. Maybe “Catching Fire” isn’t totally a classic on that level, but it’s definitely worth the admission price.

1. Dance 2. Philz 3. Starbucks 4. Philz 5. Philz 6. Fraiche 7. Philz 8. Philz 9. Ice Skating 10. Fraiche 11. Starbucks 12. Philz 13. Catching Fire 14. Starbucks 15. Thrifted Vest Total

$10.00 $8.00 $1.50 $3.00 $3.00 $5.00 $3.00 $3.00 $12.00 $3.45 $3.69 $3.00 $13.75 $3.69 $6.99 $78.07

Average amount spent a day

$2.60

Anton Oyung

“Dallas Buyers Club” Jean-Marc Valée’s “Dallas Buyers Club” builds off intense, highly developed and committed performances to become one of the most emotionally powerful films released this awards season. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ron Woodroof, a ranch-hand homophobe who unwittingly contracts HIV. Reluctantly joining forces with a transgender woman (Jared Leto in his first film role in four years), he launches a service that provides unapproved yet effective drugs to others affected by the virus.

The film illustrates the horrors of the AIDS epidemic as potently as any other cinematic work of art. But “Dallas Buyers Club” distinguishes itself most through the stellar performances of McConaughey and Leto. Leto, in particular, would be snubbed if he does not receive an Academy Award for his role.

“Delivery Man” Commercialism causes Ken Scott’s “Delivery Man” to deteriorate into a standard Vince Vaughn comedy. What renders this a tragedy beyond the normal scope of comedic duds is the fact that the film builds off a premise that could actually be considered creative. When Vaughn’s character finds out that he fathered 533 children through sperm donation, he seeks to befriend just about all of them despite the advice of his friends. It might be preferable for Gunn students to instead rent “Starbuck”, the Canadian comedy directed by Scott that serves as the basis for “Delivery Man.” It does not look like that film was burdened as much by the requirements of the Hollywood studio system, and a rental would cost less than the box office price too expensive for a movie like “Delivery Man”.

19

Remixed: I get the “best of both worlds”

Sam Acker Let’s just say that my family does things a little differently for the holidays. People may think that we are slightly weird, but it seems perfectly normal for me to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Everything about the two holidays seems to blend together. The Santa that comes to my house on Christmas Eve rocks a red and white fuzzy Yarmulke, and we leave him challah next to the bed. Being in an interfaith family, I get the best of both worlds. I get to light Hanukkah candles to “Jingle Bell Rock.”

In all seriousness, I have to admit it is pretty nice to celebrate my most beloved holidays in the span of less than a month. I have spent every year during the holiday season unpacking our Christmas tree ornaments and our dreidels.

Splitting up the season between two holidays might seem confusing to other people, but to me, it’s all I’ve ever known. My Judaism comes from my mom’s side of the family, while my Christianity comes from my dad’s. Although I identify myself as a Jew, my family values our unique identity, so we continue certain traditions that my dad grew up with.

Buying and decorating a Christmas tree is an event that I look forward to every year, and while Christmas for others may have a religious aspect, I view it as an opportunity to spend time with my family and learn about my culture. My family always wakes up on Christmas morning and spends the whole day together. It is a day that reminds us of how crucial it is to save time for family.

Hanukkah holds more of a religious meaning for me because I have grown up going to synagogue and practicing the Jewish faith. The differences between these two holidays are what make them so interesting to me.

The most important part of these holidays for me is not the religious aspect. Spending time with my family and honoring our culture and ancestors is what makes the season special for me. Whether my family is gathered around the menorah or the Christmas tree, we are together, and that’s what matters.

There are many benefits to celebrating not one, but two winter holidays. People always ask me if I get double the presents, and while I might get slightly more than others during this season, my family has a fair way of splitting up the gifts. During Hanukkah, we receive small gifts every night. Many times these are books or hair ties—the necessities. Christmas is our opportunity to receive gifts that we wouldn’t normally buy for ourselves.

I’ve gained a deep appreciation for the traditions of these two holidays. I love Christmas songs and I can never get them out of my head during the winter, while every Jew knows that Hanukkah is severely lacking in that department. Hannukah is known for its numerous delicacies: latkes and jelly-filled donuts are oil-laden lumps of heaven that I devour in an instant.

These holidays have their own distinct traditions that I have come to love. I am thankful that my parents decided to include both holidays from their childhoods, because I have learned to love where I come from and all parts of my identity.

I don’t know if Santa is Jewish, Christian or even religious. What I do know is that he probably likes his fair share of sugar cookies as well as latkes.

—Acker, a junior, is an Entertainment Editor.

—Written by Cooper Aspegren

20

Entertainment

get creative for the holidays Four simple “do it yourself ” projects that make great holiday gifts Lip balm

Gift basket option #1

Ingredients:

•1/2 teaspoon beeswax •3/4 teaspoon shea butter, mango butter or a combination •3/4-1 teaspoon oil that is liquid at room temperature (like aloe vera oil, peppermint oil, olive oil or sweet almond oil) •2 vitamin E oil capsules (optional) •2 to 3 drops food grade flavor oil (optional) •Microwave safe container •Small sterile lip balm container

Inside the basket: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Chocolate and marshmallows DVD of “Rush Hour” and “Rush Hour 2” A pair of socks Headphones Protein powder

Lena Campbell

Directions: 1. Gather all the ingredients you will be using to make your lip balm.

2. Combine all ingredients, except flavoring, in a microwave-safe container.

3. Place the container in a microwave and melt in short bursts until it is completely liquid (this should take a minute or two). In between melting bursts, stir ingredients lightly to help evenly disperse the heat.

4. Add flavoring if you decided to use it.

5. Quickly, but carefully, pour the melted ingredients into a sterile lip balm container. It will set in about ten minutes.

You’re now ready to try out your lip balm!

—Lena Campbell

Henry Siu

With the holidays just around the corner, many of you guys are probably stumped on what to give your friends. Here are couple of heartwarming items that will definitely touch any bro’s heart.

This range of gifts will surely show much you care and understand your male friend. Chocolate and marshmallows for roasting s’mores, the first two ”Rush Hour” films to laugh about, a pair of socks to keep him warm for the winter, headphones so your friend does not have an excuse to use yours, and protein powder to enjoy.

—Henry Siu

Gift basket option #2 Inside the basket: 1. A nice letter 2. A delicate necklace 3. Chips, sour patch watermelon or chocolate 4. Candles from Bath and Body Works, perfume, a scarf, sweatshirt/sweater or beanie 5. A classic watch, some ribbon hair ties and shades

Polar Express Hot Chocolate Ingredients: (makes about 8 cups) •1.5 cups of heavy cream •1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 oz) •2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips •6 cups of milk •1 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions:

Regina Tran

1. Combine ingredients in a large pot.

2. Stir regularly for 30 to 40 minutes until the chocolate is fully melted.

Emily Kvitko

Time to get real: the holidays are approaching; your shopping list is growing and your heart is glowing. Here are some affordable, treasure-worthy items that qualify as perfect gifts for every type of female friend on your agenda.

—Emily Kvitko

I love a good cup of hot chocolate, but until recently, I’d never tried anything other than traditional cocoa. On a recent afternoon, I was in the mood for some hot chocolate, but I wanted something a little more unique than the usual hot chocolate powder mixes. I came across the Polar Express Hot Chocolate recipe and decided to try it because it is said to be inspired by the movie, and the ingredients looked interesting. I had never used condensed milk when making hot chocolate before. This is something that I wouldn’t recommend drinking on a daily basis because of the ingredients, but I think it is fine for special occasions. The Polar Express Hot Chocolate is fairly sweet, as is hot chocolate in general, but since you use bittersweet chocolate, it’s not as sweet as you would expect.

—Regina Tran

Dave Zhu