The Oracle - February 2018

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Henry M. Gunn High School

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Monday, March 5, 2018

Volume 55, Issue 6

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

#NeverAgain:

Students gather to protest gun laws Janet Wang

Managing Editor

On Feb. 26, over 100 Gunn students and community members rallied before the start of school, chanting the slogan, “Gunn students for gun control” and holding signs with sayings such as “Remove guns, reduce deaths” and “Honk for gun control.” The group cheered as cars drove by, honking in support, and despite the heavy rainfall stood in solidarity as part of the nation-wide response to the Feb. 14 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Since the Parkland shooting, in which 17 students lost their lives, students across the country have been walking out and rallying in protest, calling for stricter gun laws and for political leaders to take action. This call for action has quickly spread across the country to the Bay Area, where students from Encinal High School in Alameda to Mountain View High School have begun to step up in solidarity for the cause.

When junior Elizabeth Salwitz heard about the Parkland shooting, she was saddened but not completely surprised. “It’s such a common thing in our society now, and the fact that it could not surprise people now is incredible,” she said. “It feels like it’s just something that happens in our society, and that’s something that is really messed up.” After seeing other students around the country take a stand, Salwitz decided that it was time to carry the movement to Gunn.

Salwitz gathered a few of her friends and started organizing the event, naming the rally #NeverAgain Gunn High School, according to their Facebook event. Despite seeing bigger movements organized in March and April, Salwitz emphasized the importance of taking immediate action. “I think a lot of people were saying that we should wait until then, but I’m thinking that we can’t just wait to push it back,” she said. “In our society, we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but if [there is] somebody else who is using their Second Amendment to take away those rights, it just doesn’t make sense to me how we could just be letting this happen and not do anything about it.”

For freshman Nicholas Ferguson, who attended the protest, the Parkland shooting put the reality of school shootings into perspective. “I decided it was time to change,” he said. “That could have been us, and we could have been the ones shot, and I don’t want PROTEST—p.4

J u n i o r C l a i r e S e m e ri a h o l d s u p a s i g n a t t h e N e ve r A g a i n p r o te s t .

Richard Yu

Administration investigates student locker room thefts Jennifer Gao and Nikki Suzani Copy Editor and Reporter

Throughout the course of January and February, several students have reported their valuables being stolen out of their lockers. The administration has taken measures to prevent future thefts by closing down the locker rooms during physical education (P.E.) classes and early after school.

As a result of the lack of communication between students and the administration about the locker room closures, students have waited outside the locker rooms on numerous occasions until a custodian arrived to unlock them.

Sophomore Mallika Parulekar was a victim of the recurring locker room thefts. She knows at least two people who also had their valuables stolen and believes that there are many more out there. Her computer was stolen and is yet to be found. “Unfortunately, it was because my backpack

wasn’t locked in my locker,” she said.

The administration is working closely with the police to investigate this issue. According to Principal Kathleen Laurence, they are continuing to try to find out who stole the items. “We have the investigations that we do, and we use the tools that we have available to find the perpetrators,” she said. “We’re working to find out who is doing it.”

Many students are upset about the locker rooms being closed during P.E. Freshman Payton Dick lost her lunch time because the lockers were closed when she returned from P.E. “ [On February 22] after P.E., every door to the girl’s locker room was locked, and it took 15 minutes to get in, which went into lunch time,” she said. “If I had a class after that period, I would’ve probably been late.”

According to Laurence, the instances of students waiting outside of rooms for custodians to unlock them should

not be occurring. “Their P.E. teachers should be walking in with them to unlock the locker rooms,” she said.

The administration didn’t send a Schoology message about the locker rooms being closed, causing confusion among students. “I think they probably should have put it on Schoology or [Titan Broadcast Network] somehow, to circulate it around because no one knows exactly why, and a lot of misconceptions are spreading about it,” sophomore Annabel Lee said.

Laurence apologized for not conveying the message to the public and said that it did not come to her mind.

Many students are pushing for teachers to ensure that the changes actually make the difference promised on paper.

Freshman Sachait Arun believes that the teachers should THEFTS—p.4

2

News

M o n t h ly h i g h l i g h t s : L o v e W e e k F e s t i v i t i e s “My favorite thing about Love Week is finding out who my love match is.”

—Lily John (10)

“My favorite thing is seeing the love match results because it’s interesting to see who you get matched with.”

—Sean Stephens (11)

“I like that it’s inclusive enough to cater to people who aren’t in relationships as well as people who are.”

—Natalia Katerina (12)

—Compiled by Paulo Frank Photos by Richard Yu

Small Learning Community creates World War I exhibit Julia Cheunkarndee Tech Editor

This year, the Small Learning Community (SLC) is putting together a World War I museum that will be showcased on March 15 in the staff lounge. This is the first year that the project has been run, and it was designed with the framework of SLC in mind.

SLC is a school-wide program that provides a close-knit group for freshmen. The program is made up of around 25 freshmen who are selected by lottery and move throughout their core classes with the same group of students, all while exploring certain themes and ideas through projects and exploratory activities. “We were noticing that a lot of ninth graders would come from small schools, and when they got here, they would kind of drown in the work and in the people and get lost,” SLC English teacher Kristen Owen said. “[SLC] was a way of trying to help the kids... make them more visible and connected to the school and to their peers.”

Since students in SLC rotate through their English, social studies and biology classes together, the World War I museum was created to incorporate aspects of all three subjects into one giant project. “We’ve always tried to teach historical concepts at the same time. In English class, I teach a novel that involves the historical content,

because we have the flexibility to do that,” Owen said. “But this time, [the project] incorporates biology. It seems to be really working well.”

The project is designed as a “pop-up museum” to be set up, presented and then taken down in one day. Students have been working in teams to create different exhibits that focus on certain aspects of the war. In order to incorporate biology into the museum, some booths are centered on topics such as chemicals used during the war and the human immune system.

SLC social studies teacher Brian Miguel hopes that the museum will allow students to become more familiar with their teachers and peers. “Hopefully the kids can grab at and feel some recognition within the greater school community,” he said. Since part of the program’s mission has been to connect freshmen to the school community, this sense of belonging that the project provides is crucial.

Not only does the project link SLC students to the community, it also teaches them teamwork skills and how to navigate larger responsibilities. “They know that there is a deadline, that there will be parents coming through and that teachers, students, admin and community members are coming to see their work,” Owen said. “Hopefully, it will give them a sense of pride, as well as a sense of ‘this is what the real world is like.’”

Research on the project is currently ongoing, with

deadlines fast approaching. The students usually work in half-period chunks during social studies and English, as biology has so much content to cover that fitting in work time for the project is difficult. As this is the first year that the museum has been run, it has been a learning opportunity for both students and teachers.

Since the project will be publicly presented, students pick up valuable skills in communication, especially in speaking with clarity to adults and strangers. SLC biology teacher Tim Aston feels that the responsibilities of working on a large project as a group will also teach the students how to work as a team. “For many, this will be their first group project that has more consequences,” he said. “They can’t just put it off like they would in middle school, or hope that someone else is going to save them or have a parent do it for them.”

Every project hits rough patches from time to time, and Owen is aware that some students may end up taking on more than they can handle. “We have some students who have really great big ideas, but they might be a little too big,” she said. “I’m worried that it’s not going to come together, and that it’s going to be March 12, or even March 14, and they’re going to realize they’re not going to be able to pull it off.” Despite the approaching deadlines, Miguel feels that students are having fun. He believes that the skills that the students learn are sure to serve them well into the future.

actually able to do it. It’s a wonderful experience, not only for the Rotarians but all of the teens that have participated have said good things.”

Prizes for the Rotary Speech contest were $100 for first place

and $50 for second place. Winners can earn up to $1550 in prizes by winning in each tier of the competition. Glanckopf hopes students use the money for educational purposes.

Palo Alto University Rotary Club winner Sophia Chiang won with a speech titled, “Have You Earned Your Tomorrow?” which talks about how contributions, no matter how big or small, can affect others’ lives. While all five of the contestants spoke about the same theme, her speech was somewhat different. “I wanted to tackle the whole theme, while others took a specific example or part of the theme,” she said.

In contrast to the other contestants who focused on community service, contestant Jenna Kaplan had an unique interpretation of the theme, speaking about truth. “I didn’t actually talk about my own experience, rather I wrote about the impact of the truth, whether the truth matters, and how speaking the truth either in large situations or in small situations does make a difference and what that difference is,” Kaplan said.

The contest made a lasting impression on Kaplan. “Being in this [contest] opened my eyes to what exactly [speech contests] look like, and I think [public speaking] is definitely something I will pursue,” Kaplan said.

The speech contest impacted Chiang's personal growth as well. “[Writing the speech] made me aware of what I was trying to do, and how I would make a difference,” Chiang said.

Students win first place at Rotary Speech contest Quinn Arbolante Reporter

On Jan. 24, juniors Anna Allport and Sophia Chiang won first place at the Rotary Speech contest. The contest was held by the Palo Alto Rotary Club and Palo Alto University Rotary Club and had the theme “Rotary: Making a Difference. What About Me?” Contestants had four to five minutes to speak and had to include a reference to the 4-Way Test, a moral code that Rotarians follow for personal and business relationships: make sure what you say is true, fair, builds goodwill and is beneficial to all concerned. No props, displays or prompters were allowed; however, they could have a 3 by 5 inch notecard.

There are four levels to the competition as well: local, area, regional and district.

According to Palo Alto Rotary Club representative Annette Glanckopf, the winners will continue by competing at an area level with first place winners from other clubs within the area.

The first and second place winners will then proceed to compete at a regional level in March, then the final district level.

Glanckopf says that all Rotary Clubs are encouraged to hold annual speech contests for high school students. “Well, this is sort of an international contest, so it’s not [just] our club that has done it,” she said. “We’re really proud of being

Photos courtesy of Annette Glanckof

University Rotary Club Youth Speech Chair Nancy Kaufman with speech winner junior Sophia Chiang (left); Junior Anna Allport shakes hands with Palo Alto Rotary Club representative Annette Glanckopf (right).

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Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Deiana Hristov Managing Editors Grace Ding Janet Wang News Sohini Ashoke Carolyn Kuimelis Amanda Lee Forum Caroline Ro Kaya van der Horst Kristen Yee Features Emma Chiao Chelsie Park Grace Tramack Centerfold Joy Huang Stephy Jackson Sports Paulo Frank Bridgette Gong Jack Mallery Lifestyle Megan Li Yael Livneh Katie Zhang Changing the Narrative Joanna Huang Photo Editor Richard Yu Graphics Editors Sherry Chen Jeffrey Yao

Staff Business/Circulation Eric Epstein Assistant Business/Circulation Ryan Manesh Copy Editors Laurel Comiter Jennifer Gao Liza Kolbasov Oracle/SEC Liaison Kaya van der Horst Graphics Artists Catherine Chen Tiffany Chen Mina Kim Nicole Lee Grace Liu Gary Wu Photographers Justin Hong Sofia Sierra-Garcia Max Wang Reporters Quinn Arbolante, Colin Jaeger, Chiara Jurczak, Devon Lee, Ryan Li, Jamisen Ma, Natalie McCurdy, Elisa Moraes Liu, Peter Oh, Noa Rapoport, Joyce Shea, Sophia Siegel, Nikki Suzani, Tejpal Virdi, Grace Williams, Joshua Yang

Monday, March 5, 2018

3

Teachers support proposed local housing plan Stephy Jackson Centerfold Editor

thereby providing for an estimated $14.7 million of the county budget.

This proposal is specifically significant to Palo Alto because, as cited in the proposal, Palo Alto has the highest jobs to housing imbalance in the county; teachers in the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) are struggling to afford the rising housing prices of the area.

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, the president of the Palo Alto Educators Association (PAEA) Teri Baldwin expressed the significance of this housing proposal for teachers.

“Palo Alto is known for its excellent schools and education, but the fear is we’re going to lose great teachers and struggle to recruit new ones because teachers can’t afford to live in this area,” she said.

“We have teachers who commute from Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Aptos and Dublin, just to name a

On Jan. 23, the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors discussed supervisor Joe Simitian’s proposal to build a 1.5 acre lot at 231 Grant Ave to accommodate around 60 to 120 teachers who work in the Santa Clara County. The Board of Supervisors did not come to a decision about the proposal; they are, however, looking for funding plans and more information about the request.

This project was proposed by Simitian in August 2016 when Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School hosted a meeting with 100 newly hired teachers. The group discussed the proposal and how to deal with Palo Alto’s exceedingly high price range for housing. According to RentJungle. com, as of January 2018, rent in Palo Alto costs around $3,244 a month for an apartment, whereas the median rent for the nation is only $1,234 a month.

The intention of Simitian’s proposal was to address the problem that teachers make up the “missing middle” of income receivers in Santa Clara County. Teachers earn too much money to qualify for subsidized housing from the state government, yet earn too little to afford the housing on the market. “Our Statistics from PAUSD Human Resources and Zillow economic prosperity is not widely shared in our communities, and because few places. This long commute takes a toll on our of an extremely limited housing supply, it is in- teachers’ quality of life and decreases the value of creasingly difficult for residents to live where they their salaries.” work,” Simitian said at the Board of Supervisors Many teachers at Gunn would be directly afmeeting on Jan. 23. fected by the proposal if it were adopted into counIn order to combat this dilemma, Simitian’s ty law. Social studies teacher Tara Firenzi lives in proposal for teacher housing in Palo Alto would Santa Cruz and spends at least two to two and a create housing for people making 80 to 120 half hours a day commuting to and from school. percent of Santa Clara County’s median income “I think it would have a very positive impact on of $102,191. Although the plan is open to all teachers at Gunn,” Firenzi said. “It’s very difficult residents of the county, it is specifically catered for teachers to give all that they want to give when to teachers. Simitian has confirmed that this they are held back by circumstances that actually construction project would be partially funded by prevent them from being on campus.” the reserves allocated by the Measure A housing Firenzi thinks that Simitian’s proposal is adfunds; approved by district voters in 2015, Mea- dressing a problem that goes beyond just teacher sure A increased the parcel tax in Santa Clara, housing. “I think that there’s a larger issue even,

which is that we need to pay teachers in all communities a living wage,” she said. “Hopefully that will allow people to live and work in their communities as teachers in a way that best supports that community.”

Firenzi sees teacher wages and their housing problems as “systemic issues,” but she believes that Simitian’s proposal is a step in the right direction.

“Teacher housing is an important way of addressing some immediate consequences of these disparities, and people should support allowing teachers to live in the communities.”

Similarly, English teacher Marjorie Paronable has been working at Gunn for two years and lives in East San Jose. She has to travel for a total of two hours every day to get to work, a commute which has taken a toll on her daily life. “That's my reality, and it's kind of sad that I just... I deal with it for now, and I just accept it because I care about my job and I care about being here,” Paronable said. “I think of what I deserve and I feel that teachers deserve way more than having to commute back and forth for that long.”

Paronable believes that Simitian’s proposal is vital for keeping high quality education in Palo Alto. “It's important because if you really care Mina Kim about education and having really good teachers, then you want to keep them,” she said.

Leaders of the PAEA have expressed support for Simitian's proposal. PAEA Vice President Marc Igler brought up the issue that teachers are not the only workers in Palo Alto that are subject to the high housing prices. “Finding housing for teachers is difficult; we also recognize that teachers are one of the many segments of the workforce in Palo Alto that cannot afford to live here,” he said.

Following the Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 23, the supervisors agreed to consult the school administrators of the districts and are currently searching for more ways to partner with schools to find enough funding to provide for the construction project.

INBOX 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.

I specifically enjoyed the Lifestyle page with the comeback of retro fashion. The pictures were cool and it was another interesting read.

The article about new education laws in California was another article I deeply enjoyed.

—Jackie Lu, 11 It's fine to have fun or silly articles about ongoing trends, but I feel The Oracle needs to tone down their support of them and reconsider the social implications of doing so.

—Edgar Hsieh, 10 [The Oracle should] make a pathway for students to submit work to The Oracle. There are a number of articles that I'd be interested in publishing.

—Jenna Kaplan, 11

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, 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'm a really big fan of the layout more than anything. The layout lets you read about everything quickly. I'd also like to see a model rocketry profile in The Oracle, if possible.

—Sam Schube, 9 I think guest columns would be fun (not just online but in the actual newspaper too.) Also, I feel like there haven’t been very many Changing the Narratives lately. I really liked them and would like to see some more!

—Clara Kieschnick-Llamas, 12 I'd want more recognition of student achievements in general. Some kids at Gunn are accomplishing amazing feats and they should be recognized by the school publication.

—Siddharth Jain, 11

The Oracle should definitely have more world or city issues that students can get involved in. I personally like reading about activities in school.

—Nadia Chlala-Lubbe, 9

Tech Editors Julia Cheunkarndee Andrew Zhao Adviser Kristy Blackburn —Feb. 2nd, 2018—

[The Oracle needs] more input from Republican students in political articles.

—PJ Singh, 9

The Oracle is the second place Best of the West winner at the 2017 NorCal Media Day

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News

Student-led protest calls for stricter gun regulations

PROTEST themselves advocating for change that to happen,” Ferguson said. “[The prohopefully means that the polittest] gives me hope that people are willical justifications for inaction ing to get up this early in the morning won’t hold their weight anymore.” and protest something that really matters.”

As students start approaching Senior Colin Dyson heard about the event legal voting age, Elizabeth Salwitz on Facebook, and ultimately decided to come says that although protesting is to support student voice. “I believe that there effective, students should regishas to be change, and since we’re students, we ter to vote to influence tangible don’t really have a say except for our voice,” change in the future. “Even if you Dyson said. “Everyone lined up across the protest and say that things are not street, and everyone was walking into the right, you’re saying that you have protest, and just hearing everyone honk for a problem with it, but you’re not agreement was definitely something that acting on it and voting,” she said. was good to hear, especially for us students.”

Ultimately, parents, students The emphasis on student voice and stuand community members share dent-led initiatives has been increasingly the same hopes for the future: reprevalent recently, though youth have been form gun laws and reduce gun-retaking an influential stance since the Civil lated deaths. Elizabeth Salwitz, Rights movement, according to The Atlantic. along with others, believes that In 1960, four African American students from there should be stricter gun laws North Carolina A&T State University initiand gun accessibility. “I don’t ated the Greensboro Lunch Counter sit-ins, think that people can just be able to a movement that gained support to protest walk into some store and buy a gun segregation at restaurants and sparked other because that’s basically what the civil rights movements across the country. shooter from Florida did,” she said.

Similarly today, student activism has been a “There are a lot of people saying critical part of calling for change in the Black that you need a good guy with a gun Richard Yu Lives Matter movement, Women’s March and Senior Nicole Nemychenkov joins peers to protest for stricter gun control laws. to take out a bad guy with a gun, now, gun control reform. A week after the but if the bad guy didn’t have the gun Stoneman Douglas shooting, a group called the Teens for to gain by change and represent maybe a new voice that in the first place, you wouldn't need to worry about that.”

Gun Reform, organized by juniors Whitney Bowen and we need right now,” he said. According to John Salwitz, stuMuller hopes that though the gun reform moveEleanor Nuechterlein from a D.C.-area high school, staged dents who voice their concerns may influence their parents’ ment has turned into a political issue, it is important a lie-in outside the White House in Washington D.C. decisions, perhaps causing them to rethink guns in society. to keep in mind the lives at stake. “In recent years, According to the Teens for Gun Reform Facebook page, Gunn parent Hayyah Muller agrees, adding that the after each mass gun violence tragedy, our attempts the goal of the lie-in was to “stand together in solidarity as power of student voice can sometimes outweigh the to begin a discussion about gun regulation have been the younger generations, and show our legislator that we political side of the issue. “There is a literal epidemic of labeled as ‘politicizing tragedy,’” she said. “I think demand reform in order to feel safer in our classrooms.” death by guns in the U.S.,” she said. “The mass shootings we are beginning to understand that this is not an For John Salwitz, who came to support his daughter, in schools and churches have caught people’s attention issue of politics or where each person lies on the poElizabeth, it is important for students to take part in ini- and have begun to terrify parents and community litical spectrum. This is a issue of life and death for tiatives that affect them. “I think [students] got the most members. To see people gathering to protest and kids our children and of what it means to live in America.”

STAFF CUTS

Administration responds to locker room theft complaints THEFTS be more aware of who is in the locker rooms when they’re locking them. “The thing is, sometimes I’m late because the coaches lock up and leave,” Arun said. “The students are the ones stealing during the school day, so closing the locker rooms when they’re still in there isn’t a very good idea.”

Parulekar believes that the administration’s decision to close the locker rooms in order to deal with these threats is viable, but there needs to be more done. “I think it’s good that the admin is taking precautions like locking the locker room during P.E.,” Parulekar said. “Additionally, I think we need cameras outside the locker room to see if anyone is leaving with a laptop suspiciously.”

According to Assistant Principal Jack Ballard, the administration is working with the district to install security cameras that would provide a better vantage point. "The ones that were built here and installed weren't installed with the modern traffic patterns in mind," he said.

Sophomore Audrey Xie believes that the best solution lies within the inner workings of the lockers, which sometimes allow items to be stolen easily.

“Maybe it’s time to look into locker renovations,” Xie said. “A person I know was robbed because their locker was bent, and even after locking it, people could still reach in and take things.”

Even with the precautions that the administration has implemented, Parulekar believes that students should still be locking their valuables.

“Everyone should remember to lock their backpacks in their lockers,”

Parulekar said. “It doesn’t take that much time, and clearly it’s important.”

The Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) added that it’s best to stop the problem before it can occur. “If students leave items, they should be locked in a locker, and bikes should be locked on the rack,” a representative from the PAPD said. “Don’t leave items unattended or unsecured.” He added that they investigate crimes at school. “We, like every crime, follow all leads, process all evidence and conduct interviews,” he said.

Some students have found it difficult to report their already stolen items.

“Since day one of P.E., [the teachers] have reminded us that they can’t do anything about it and can’t help us,” Arun said.

The PAPD said that the best way to report a theft is to go to a school administrator. Parulekar went through that process. “I went to the P.E. teachers, who told me to go to the office immediately,” she said. “I filled out a missing item form and talked to [campus supervisor Jorge] Sanchez about it.”

Others believe that the blame for valuables being stolen lies on the students’ shoulders for not locking up their materials properly. “I think that it is our own responsibility to lock our lockers,” Xie said. “The [administration] has provided us [with] a means to protect our belongings, and we just have to remember to use it.”

Laurence hopes that students will do their part to prevent thefts by locking laptops and cell phones in the P.E. lockers during class, watching out for other students' belongings by reporting suspicious details and noticing when the locker rooms are not closed properly.

News

Monday, March 5, 2018

5

Chamber orchestra, choir to perform at national level Chiara Jurczak Reporter

ends of the musical spectrum, including pieces from the romantic era, early baroque period and contemporary jazz.

“I want to show our flexibility and our ability to adapt to different [styles],” Lewis said. This eagerness to perform modern music as well as more classical pieces stems from Lewis’ goal for her students to become comfortable performing in all fields. “Nowadays, a professional musician may well land a symphony orchestra gig, but if they want to earn a living they will also need to know how [to] interpret pieces of Motown and, say, Jay-Z, with the same level of skills and interpretation techniques required for classical music,” she said.

sional string players, but also a chance for them to become closer as a group. “No matter what, when you take a trip like March holds much in store for the music department, this it really brings your group to the next level,” Ou said. with both chamber orchestra and choir performing for In a classroom four doors down, the choir is preparing national audiences. Chamber orchestra has been invited for their trip to Berkeley, where they will be hosted by to participate in the National Convention hosted by the musical radio station KDFC. American String Teacher Association (ASTA) in Atlanta, Earlier this year, the choir submitted two recordings to Georgia on March 7 through 10, while choir will travel to “Local Vocals,” an annual contest held by KDFC for local UC Berkeley on March 2 to record in Zellerbach Hall for the high school choirs. The contest gives the winner a chance radio show “From the Top,” which will air on NPR during to be broadcasted on national radio as part of a show called the week of April 30.

“From the Top,” which features talented young musicians ASTA’s conference is held each year in a different city from all across the country. in the nation with the aim of bringing together the The choir was chosen as one of the top three finalists best educators and string performers in the country by the station itself, but it was thanks to popular vote for three days of performances, clinics, master classes and the support of friends and family that it placed first. and celebration of their shared passion for music. OrChoir director Bill Liberatore says that he is very proud chestra director Sandra Lewis is a member of ASTA; of his students, and he praised their hard work and having attended one of these conferences in the past, dedication to the group. “It’s nice recognition that what she decided it would be good for orchestra students to they do here in class is really good work,” Liberatore stray outside of their comfort zone and compete with said. “They don’t put you on the radio for half a million students from all over the country. “Every year, we people if your musical product isn’t exceptional.” participate in our local area festivals, but because this The choir will be performing two pieces, one a is national, the grading and adjudicating is going to be high-energy South African song and the other a slowsteeper and tougher,” Lewis said. er, more melodic Irish piece. The students are looking According to Lewis, this conference is known for forward to the recording and are preparing to perform being highly selective, and the application process Amanda Lee for what will be their biggest audience yet. began almost a year ago for chamber orchestra. It The chamber orchestra rehearses after school in preparation for Not only that, the choir will get the chance to see started with the submission of an audio recording of their early March trip to a national convention in Atlanta, Georgia. what takes place behind the scenes and will take part a selection of pieces that showcased the orchestra’s in the production of a radio show, something that high skills, as well as letters of recommendations from music Her students, including sophomore Jocelyn Wang, feel school students rarely get to experience. “I just want to professionals who were familiar with or had worked with the same way. “We’re playing a very exciting Mexican piece have fun,” junior Paulo Idanan said. “It’s a constant goal the ensemble in the past. that is really fiery, and it’s just so thrilling,” Wang said. “I whenever I sing.” According to Liberatore, that is exactly The orchestra’s schedule for the conference is packed think it’s really fun that we’re also doing something outside what choir is putting the focus on: enjoying themselves. “I with a myriad of educational and entertaining events, but of what we have in usual classical music, like Beethoven don’t really care if there’s 100 comments online that say the highlight of the trip will be their performance in front or Mozart.” you’re great or 100 that say you’re not very good,” he said. of a panel of judges on March 10. Lewis and her co-director, This trip is not only a great opportunity for students to “I just want them to have fun and feel the excitement of Tiffany Ou, have prepared four diverse pieces that span all perform in front of a panel of judges and learn from profes- the performance.”

District’s RISE implements new Title IX initiatives Paulo Frank Sports editor

In recent months, our nation has seen unprecedented numbers of public figures receiving their retribution for years of sexual misconduct. Heightened national awareness, coupled with the Palo Alto Unified School District’s (PAUSD) recent issues surrounding the handling of a sexual assault case at Palo Alto High School (Paly), has spurred the district to reshape the way it talks about and handles sexual assault cases.

Interim Superintendent Karen Hendricks has assembled the Responsive Inclusive Safe Environment (RISE) task force with intentions of emphasizing education in the community about rights and responsibilities and promoting a culture in which sexual assault, violence and harassment are not tolerated, according to the district’s website. RISE meetings have been ongoing every couple of weeks since their first meeting in October. The task force is comprised of Hendricks, district office officials, parents and staff from both PAUSD high schools.

According to Assistant Principal Mike Heffner, the task force’s ultimate goal is to monitor how the district responds to issues in the future and to eventually expand its scope to all grades. “What the task force is really focused on is providing the support and learning for students, staff and the community to address the issues that we’re facing as a nation,” Heffner said. “The plan is for the task force to eventually expand to include a more sustained approach.”

RISE’s first schoolwide move has been to sponsor grade-level assemblies hosted by nationally renowned author and empowerment worker Anea Bogue. These assemblies, part of the “Building Healthy Relationships and Creating a Culture of Consent” series, look to ensure all students receive a common message. “Student Executive Council and other students [and] staff members will be meeting with [Bogue] to help her understand our student perspective in preparation for the assemblies,” Heffner said. “I hope that this [assembly] will start

to develop and enhance tools that already exist to respond to situations where we know something is not right.”

Additionally, throughout the month of February, Gunn and Paly held contests for students to create the best video public service announcements on healthy relationships and sexual harassment. The videos were made public for all students to view via Schoology. “It’s coming out of the task force, but it wasn’t defined by the task force,” Heffner said. “[Wellness Coordinator Lauren] Rocha in the Wellness Center really started thinking about this idea along with her counterpart over in the Paly Wellness Center.”

In total, four videos were broadcasted to the Gunn community. For senior Anton Lee, the contest was an opportunity to make an impact while using his preferred platform. “I wanted to make a video because it was an opportunity to showcase my abilities and I wanted to help spread awareness on the issue,” Lee said. “I wanted to take a different approach to sexual assault [in my video], so I had the female character be the one to initiate sex.” While sexual harassment is stereotypically thought of as affecting women, statistics from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network say that one in ten rape victims are male.

In addition to the video contest, the Wellness Center has made many tools available to students who want to engage more with RISE. After the assemblies on February 26 and 27, the Wellness Center held safe spaces and support groups through the rest of the week. “There will be additional conversations about actions students can take to get involved,” Rocha said. “Closer to May, it’ll be more action-oriented while recently things have just been education-based.”

In coming months, RISE will be implementing more structure to strengthen the community’s ability to react to

sexual harassment. Starting in early April and ending in May, Jackson Katz, a pioneer in men’s gender violence activism, will be working with the district to bring more information to students.

Heffner recognizes the severity of sexual harassment and the magnitude with which

it affects communities nationwide. “This is not a high school or a specific student population issue,” Heffner said. “This is a real issue that if we’re going to make some change, we all need to be talking the same talk. We’re addressing something that as a country we have got to face.”

Sherry Chen and Jeffrey Yao

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Gunn student culture fosters EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Oracle Course Selection Q&A Facebook group should not spread misinformation, propagate toxic culture Social media platforms nowadays have level or even introductory courses in order expanded to be used not only for personal to take a more advanced one immediately, enjoyment, but for educational purposes especially in math. The educational system and connecting with classmates as well. Last is built for students to take introductory year during the course selection period, a classes early on to discover their passions or Facebook group titled "Gunn Course Selec- interests, not to ignore course requirements tion Q&A" was created by students in order to and take as many advanced, Honors or AP inform their peers of the different classes as possible. Skipping lanes also allows classes offered at Gunn. It started for larger gaps to grow between students of out as a well-intentioned, indifferent economic classes, as students formative group that students from wealthier families inherently could post in if they had queshave a greater opportunity to pay for a tions, such as which English tutor or summer program in order to get elective to take or which art class ahead. Furthermore, enrolling in courses was the most enjoyable. Now, a in school is much more valuable than cramyear later, while the group is still sometimes ming a year’s worth of information during used to answer these questions, the focus has the summer. In general, students will gain shifted to allow toxic comments to consume much more from the class by taking it with students’ lives during an already stressful a qualified teacher at a slightly slower pace. time. This group has ultimately strayed from Not only is it more valuable not to skip, but its original purpose and is now the cause the notion of “getting ahead” creates an exof more stress and increased competition tremely competitive environment. Students due to false information, a skewed view of feel inadequate when they see everyone atclasses and a focus on showing off difficult tempting to skip and wonder if they should course loads. follow the example of their peers, even if it is The Facebook group has unfortunately not the right decision for them to make. become less populated with genuine quesAnother issue is that the Facebook group tions about classes and more about “flexing,” gives skewed views of classes and blatantly or showing off difficult course schedules false information. Some of the genuine quesand high grades or test scores. tions asked by rising upperclassmen Posts asking if taking five or have been answered by undersix Advanced Placement classmen. For those looking to The (AP) classes is reasontake a more advanced schedFacebook able, or students postule, hearing from someing their grades from one who actually took the group has other classes to get an same classes they are become more about opinion on whether considering is much "flexing," or showing higher course it will more beneficial, espeoff difficult schedules be easy for them to get cially considering most and high grades of an "A" in the following freshmen and sophomores higher course are far too simply don’t have the expetest scores. common. Rather than berience in these upper-level ing helpful, posts like these classes. Many of the questions create stress. Just as disturbing asked about AP or Honors courses as the question itself is the common answer— are responded to with students saying they that another student took a similar course found the classes to be easy, and rarely does load and it was completely “manageable.” anyone speak to the true effort and difficulty Not only does this response encourage people that accompanies such a high-level course. to take many more than the recommended When such questions are answered by those number of AP or Honors classes, but it also who have not taken the class, they tend to be lets the person responding subtly brag about based on common rumors and misconceptheir own difficult schedules, making others tions about that class rather than experience, feel worse about having doubts when signing further contributing to the skewed view of up for such rigorous courses. these classes.

In addition, these course loads may be AP and Honors courses are by no means manageable for one Gunn student but not intended to be effortless, and this point needs another, depending on how much time one to be publicized more on the group than it is. is spending after school on extracurriculars The courses bearing an AP or Honors title or after-school jobs. During the course selec- are all college level curricula, and for those tion process, it is common for students to be who do not excel in or enjoy the particular worried about their next year of high school, subject, the class will be all the more difficult. and the comments in the Facebook group A subject coming naturally to one student only cause more stress. Seeing their peers brag is no indicator of how easy or difficult the about signing up for more than four higher- course may be, as different students are strong level classes makes students doubt their own in different areas. The original intent of the choices and feel as though they cannot get Facebook group is not inherently bad. It does into a good college or succeed in life if they help students get a sense of how much work do not take five or six APs each year. must be put into courses or how enjoyable the In addition to boasting, it is not uncom- class will be. However, when the majority of mon for people to ask about skipping lower posts are screenshots of schedules with five or

six AP classes, students think that this is the norm at Gunn, and are more likely to load on more higher level classes than they actually want to take.

Besides offering a skewed view of the difficulty of classes, students seem unwilling to admit that they struggled in a class. At some point, rising sophomores, juniors and seniors need to be informed of the stressful aspects of the class so that they can truly consider the pros and cons of taking the most advanced classes. The culture of the group, however, discourages people who struggled or had a bad experience in a certain class from admitting it.

As a result, the boasting of difficult course schedules, skipping ahead of peers and offering a skewed view of classes increases the competition and stress levels for students at Gunn. As is the standard for most college discussions at school, if the majority of students are applying to top 25 schools and see each other taking numerous AP courses, then they are bound to sign up for them as well. According to the California Healthy Kids survey, 28 percent of juniors felt chronic sadness or hopelessness in the past 12 months. Signing up for rigorous courses simply because that’s what peers are doing negatively impacts students, because the chosen load could be one that is detrimental to wellbeing and mental health. It also negatively influences the overall culture at Gunn because kids may be working themselves to a state of exhaustion and depression.

This inherently toxic culture that has been manifested through the Facebook Course Selection Q&A group must be stopped now, before it becomes the legacy that this year’s students have left behind. As members of The Oracle, we are aware that some parts of our staff are contributing to the problem as well. The way information is spread about classes or course schedules needs to be changed. The admins of the Facebook group have changed the rules to require approval before posting and announced they would be deleting any comments they deem “toxic,” but this is only a temporary solution.

Students need to begin thinking about their own

course loads in terms of how much work it will be and compare it with the amount of work they’re able to handle, not with how much another Gunn student can handle.

In addition, we all must be mindful that not all Gunn students have the same goals.

Even though a “normal” Gunn student may take numerous AP and Honors each year, there are plenty of students who take regular classes because their extracurriculars demand more from them, or simply because they’re looking for a more balanced and enjoyable high school experience.

If students feel that they desperately need to discuss their specific schedule with a peer, it would be wiser to talk it through with someone they trust outside of the Facebook group.

The culture of Gunn as a whole will benefit from this change in mindset. If upperclassmen can prevent underclassmen from continuing this kind of toxic tradition, they can help shape the environment for all future classes.

Hopefully, they will not have to endure the same levels of competition and stress during the course selection period as this years’ students did.

—Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the staff (assenting: 35; dissenting: 2; abstaining: 4)

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skewed expectations, stress Students need to take initiative in changing school culture

Grace Williams When members of the Palo Alto community think of Gunn, many associate the school with difficult courses and students under constant stress. In the past, students have blamed the stress of school on teachers and parents, citing loads of homework and high expectations for grades and colleges as the roots of their stress. What our community does not realize, however, is that the students are mainly the ones who perpetuate this stress.

The constant need to compare classes and grades to their peers’ is one of the many ways Gu nn students are creating a toxic and stressful environment.

Many students blame teachers for giving out too much homework and not collaborating with each other on test and project dates. Hearing fellow students complain about their teachers and course loads perpetuates a never-ending cycle of students not realizing they are too contributing to this toxic environment. By complaining about classes and teachers, students are creating a skewed

view of the amount of work Gunn students have, when in reality, each person’s experience is relative.

There are other factors that may go into the amount of time spent on homework outside of class, and some students may not take these factors into consideration. Hearing their peers talk about how much work they have to do may cause other students to become stressed out because they feel that they are not doing enough work. Many students have also spoken out against the administrators by saying that they are not taking the right steps to reduce the stress in the Gunn community. This, again, is just students using a third party as the scapegoat for the stresses they themselves cause. When administrators are presenting information about selecting courses for the following year, they promote one piece of advice: only take two Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Many students choose to forgo this advice and load their schedule with four, five and even six AP classes. This “norm” of taking more than two AP classes feeds into the unhealthy environment at Gunn.

Upon hearing that their friends are taking multiple AP classes, students may feel inclined and pressured to take more than the recommended two. Students are in constant

If students continue to blame their parents and do not do anything to relieve their own stress, they are just making it harder for themselves.

competition with each other and choose harder classes to keep up with other students.

Administrators have tried to help prevent the amount of stress students experience. These attempts have not been as effective as they could have been because students decide to disregard their advice. Besides the tip to take only two AP classes, administrators have also encouraged participation in enjoyable extracurriculars and plenty of sleep. By participating in clubs, sports or music, students are able to let go of their stress and enjoy their time doing something they love.

Researchers and administrators advise students to get nine to 9.5 hours of sleep per night. According to the California Healthy Kids Survey, only ten percent of 9th and 11th graders at Gunn get more than nine hours of sleep per night.

Students are disregarding the advice to sleep more, a choice which can also perpetuate toxicity. Students brag about how little sleep they received the previous night because of the amount of work they needed to complete. Upon hearing this, other students may think this is what they need to do to get all of their work done. These skewed representations of Gunn students are what continue to hurt the school environment and add stress to students’ daily lives.

Parents of Gunn students have received false accusations over the years for pushing students too hard, thus creating stress to meet their parents' standards. Students blame their parents because they feel that they are pressuring them to take harder classes and get straight A’s to be able to get into the best colleges in the country. In reality, parents just want what is best for their children. In most cases, parents push their children because they know what they are capable of and want their children to succeed.

Students use their parents as a scapegoat for their stress because they don't know where else to turn. Students say that their parents made them take harder classes or more extracurriculars, when in reality this is mostly untrue. In most cases, students are the ones that are packing their schedules full of activities. Overall, the stories told by Gunn students paint their parents in a negative light, when in reality, parents care about their children. If students continue to blame their parents and not take steps to relieve their own stress, they are just making it harder for themselves. That stress will continue to build up and can lead to unhealthy and negative effects.

Though students’ stress will not fully disappear, it can be controlled by several steps.

Research has shown that extracurriculars and sleep limit stress. Other positive activities such as spending time in nature or with friends and family can also help relieve stress. Encouraging students to not share their grades, schedules or course loads is another way to help prevent unnecessary stress in the Gunn community. Regulating the Course Selection Q&A Facebook group and the posts that are shared can also limit the stress they are creating for themselves and their peers. By educating students on the stress they are creating for themselves through assemblies or lessons in Social Emotional Literacy and Functionality (SELF), students may become more aware of it and the effects it has on themselves Tiffany Chen and those around them.

Besides the tip to take only two AP classes, administrators have also encouraged participating in extracurriculars students enjoy and receiving plenty of sleep.

—Williams, a junior, is a reporter.

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Forum

The Harm of e-cigarettes:

Appeal of e-cigarettes masks smoking risks, require same precautions as cigarettes

pear as slim flash drives. According to a Time companies are encouraging the opposite magazine article, people under age 18 can path. While there have been sucbuy e-cigarettes online, even in states cessful social movements and where it is illegal. taxes placed on traditional While conventional tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarettes are Joanna Huang and Joy Huang cigarettes tend to cater to adults, a loophole in the antiAccording to the NBC News published a 2014 nicotine system and survey by CDC researchers are renormalizing studies of Krysten W. Bold of While conventional tobacco cigarettes are increasingly be- stating that 68.9 percent nicotine use. ing stigmatized in society, e-cigarettes, commonly referred to of middle and high school An anti-e-cigthe Department of Psychiatry at as vapes or juuls, are seeing a rise in popularity. An e-cigarette students see e-cigarette arette campaign is an alternative method of consuming nicotine—the device advertisements: more than can help resolve the Yale University School of Medicine, uses electricity to turn liquid nicotine into a vapor that the half of students see adverdifficulties of pauser inhales. Colorful e-cigarette advertisements often claim tisements in stores, 40 perrental monitoring youth use e-cigarettes more than juuls to be a healthier alternative and boast their wide variety cent online and 36 percent and enacting imof flavors to especially appeal to younger generations. The on TV or in movies. With so mediate legislation. any other nicotine tobaccousage of e-cigarettes among adolescents is a growing issue much exposure to alluring eMoreover, reducing and should be scrutinized and regulated by society as much cigarette portrayals, teens may society’s demand for related product. as conventional tobacco. see the device as less stigmatized the product can deOn Feb. 23, the Palo Alto Unified than traditional cigarettes, when crease the advertising School District (PAUSD) posted an both types of cigarettes should be budget of e-cigarette update on Schoology expressing negatively viewed. According to the companies. The anticoncern regarding the rising Huffington Post, e-cigarettes are also used by tobacco movement usage of e-cigarettes and recelebrities popular amongst teenagers such demonstrates the effecquested the community to as Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruno Mars, Jenny Mctiveness of organized social be aware of the issue. In Carthy and many more. There are also Instagram movements against harmful PAUSD, 14 percent pages that have gained millions of followers by products: tobacco cigarettes of juniors have used just posting videos of vaping tricks. These used to be fashionable but now have e-cigarettes or othpages further enforce the idea that vapa bad connotation of being health hazer vaping devices, ing is trendy and “cool.” ardous and cancer-causing. The method according to the CaliAlthough the media plays a very used for America’s cultural shift away from fornia Healthy Kids influential role in our decisions, traditional smoking can be similarly applied to With certain Survey of 2015-2016. people should strive to make vaping. By repeatedly citing the health factors and leveragT he u s e of e their own informed opinions ing the strength of the anti-tobacco movement, the current e-cigarette models, one cigarettes has been on e-cigarettes. Even though normalization of vaping can be reversed for society’s benefit. steadily increasing e-cigarettes have fewer harm- Additionally, figures in popular culture need to stop normale-cigarette pod is equivalent to in recent years, esful chemicals than tobac- izing the use of nicotine in any form, and parents should also pecially among adco cigarettes, their health educate their children at a young age about e-cigarettes and users inhaling an amount of olescents. Accordhazards cannot be ignored. their harmful effects. ing to the Centers Nicotine is an addictive and A social movement is a speedy and persuasive way to direct nicotine equivalent to an for Disease Contoxic substance, no matter people away from e-cigarettes, but pricing is ultimately the trol and Prevention how it is consumed. With most powerful tool to control a buyer. Though stricter governentire pack of tobacco (CDC), e-cigarette certain e-cigarette models, one ment regulation may take time, the government should also usage among middle e-cigarette pod is equivalent to consider the consequences of not regulating this product. cigarettes. and high school students users inhaling an amount of nico- Potential regulation includes excise tax, state tax and strict tripled from 4.5 to 13.4 tine equivalent to an entire pack of to- health standards. percent from 2013 to 2014. bacco cigarettes. E-cigarettes are a way Some argue that e-cigarettes are used to quit smoking.

Youth use e-cigarettes more than to introduce teenagers into cigarette usage According to the Harvard Public Health Magazine, however, any other nicotine or tobacco-related and nicotine addiction. The latter can be espe- e-cigarettes do not carry an advantage over nicotine patches, product, with an estimated three million teen cially harmful to adolescent brain development and nicotine gum and lozenges or smoking-cessation drugs. users, according to the studies of Krysten can possibly lead to the The same source confirmed that most smokers who use eW. Bold of the Department of Psychiatry use of tobacco cigarettes. cigarettes for the reason of quitting appear to fail. at Yale University School of Medicine.

According to the NaImproving upon a bad product like tobacco cigarettes does Teens across the country are drawn tional Institute on Drug not automatically qualify as “good.” In addition to failing to to the appealing f lavors, trendy Abuse, a person addicted help smokers quit, e-cigarettes entice youth into smoking. imagery, low-odor and sleek deto nicotine may experience When the general public overlooks this fact, its health and sign of e-cigarettes. The flavors withdrawal symptoms such as productivity decreases. Readers now should scrutinize the include chocolate, strawberry, irritability, sleep disturbances, use of e-cigarettes even before a full-fledged anti-e-cigarette bubblegum and cherry, among anxiety, cognitive and attention campaign arises. others. In addition, certain deficits and depression. Rather than ­—Joanna, a senior, is the Changing the Narrative Editor models of e-cigarettes are facilitating the way from traditional and Joy, a junior, is a Centerfold Editor. easily concealable; they apsmoking to non-smoking, e-cigarette

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Health Impacts of Juuling: • Metal coils used to heat up e-liquid and turn it into vapor may contain cancer-causing chemicals such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde • "Smoker's cough" and bloody sores have begun showing up in teen vapors • E-cigarettes injure wound-healing cells called fibroblasts, impairing their functions Information from a "Science News for Students" article

Forum

Monday, March 5, 2018

9

juuling is the new 'Kool' 1988

2017

Photo courtesy of Tobacco.Stanford.Edu

Above: A 1988 advertisement from Kool for cigarettes shows a young woman smiling.

Above: A 2017 Juul advertisement features a stylish young woman.

Both advertisements, though in different time periods, display the glamor of smoking with depictions of “trendy” people. While the older advertisements have induced backlash from the public for stylizing cigarette use, more recent ones have yet to receive a negative response.

Faces in the Crowd

How do you think people perceive cigarettes differently from e-cigarettes?

“I think that they are both equally bad because they are both made by tobacco companies, and they both contain the same chemicals and tobacco.”

Adie Katzenelson (9)

“I think people who use cigarettes are damaging their health, while usage of e-cigarettes is better. It does not affect others but it is bad for the person.”

“Both contain toxic chemicals and do damage to your body.

Don't use them.”

Angxuan Li (10)

Rishi Sankar (11)

“E-cigarettes can have fewer carcinogens or bad substances, but they can still be as addictive and hazardous as regular cigarettes.”

Jun Han (12) ­—Compiled by Andrew Zhao

10

Features

Junior pursues passion for fashion through Instagram Elisa Moraes Liu reporter

Gunn Style Watch (@gunnstylewatch) is an Instagram account run by junior Dajiana Huang that features a variety of outfits and fashion styles from students. Each post includes pictures of what the student being featured is wearing, along with a quote and where the student got each piece of their outfit.

Huang has always had an interest in fashion, sprouting from when she first discovered the fashion community on YouTube in middle school. This interest led her to create the account in the beginning of her junior year.

“I thought this would be a good way to learn about other people’s personal styles and their perspective on fashion,” Huang said. “I don’t really want to accomplish much with the account other than just to showcase the diverse styles at Gunn.”

A lot of Huang’s inspiration for the account comes from blogs, including Tokyo Fashion (@tokyofashion) and NYC looks (nyc-looks.com). “I like to look at different street style blogs that showcase fashion from across the globe, which really inspired me to do the same for Gunn,” Huang said.

However, the journey of Gunn Style Watch didn’t begin there. A similar video version called Style Watch was piloted by Huang in her freshman year.

Ever since then, Huang has created six Style Watch video segments for Titan Broadcast News (TBN) in addition to the account. Although she loves both, Huang would like to remain focused on the Instagram account. “I’m focusing on producing content for the Instagram account now because it’s less stressful and time consuming than having to interview people on camera,” Huang said.

The most recent Style Watch video, which aired on TBN on Feb. 8, focuses on teacher style instead of students. It features four different

Gunn teachers, and they describe their high school styles and how it compares to their current style. “I knew I wanted to do a teacher’s style feature for a while, like since freshman year, but I never really got around to it since I didn’t know that many teachers,” Huang said. Running the Instagram account helped her achieve this goal.

“I was able to get a lot of student input by making a post on Instagram asking which teachers I should feature, which helped me narrow down the teachers I wanted to interview,” she said.

Huang posts on the Instagram account three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On these days, she finds people whose outfits look interesting and stylish to interview and photograph. When posting, Huang also makes sure to alternate by gender and grade. “I think it’s important to represent grade level and gender equally,” Huang said. “I also try to feature a range of different styles to add to this diversity.”

Being the admin of Gunn Style Watch has also helped Huang personally. “I struggle a lot with having to go up to people and talk to them,” Huang said. “So I feel like giving myself a set schedule of three people per week gives me an incentive to go out and meet new people, and I feel like I’ve definitely become more outgoing and easygoing as a result.”

According to Huang, there is no secret to being featured on GunnStyleWatch. “I’d just say that people should keep wearing what they like and what makes them feel good,” Huang said. “Regardless of whether they’ll be featured on Gunn Style Watch or not, if they just wear what makes them happy I feel like that’s the most important thing.” Additionally, Huang points out that not everyone can be featured. “I’m just one person and it’s hard for me to see every single person’s outfit every single day,” she said. “It’d be awesome if I could feature every single person at school, but that’s just not possible since I have a lot of other responsibilities and commitments, and each post takes a lot of time and effort to produce.”

Huang plans to continue running the account until she graduates but has not yet planned for what will happen to the account after. “I’m not sure if I’ll pass the account on after I graduate,” Huang said. “But it’s definitely an idea that I’m considering.”

As for Huang, her future plans are much larger than Gunn Style Watch.“I definitely want to pursue both photography and fashion later in life, maybe not in conjunction with each other, but I have considered going into fashion photography,” she said. “That’s a whole different playing field than Gunn Style Watch though.”

Justin Lee, junior: “I decided to wear denim on denim today because... well, I didn’t buy this jacket and these jeans together or anything, but they’re kinda the same color denim, and I thought . . .”

December 4, 2017

Sofia Sierra Garcia

Ashley Poon, sophomore: “When I was putting together my outfit this morning, I noticed that my pants had these little roses on the sides of them, so then I matched the rose socks with them.”

January 29, 2018

Photos courtesy of Dajiana Huang Graphics by Grace Liu

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Features

Monday, March 5, 2018

Sofia Sierra Garcia

Left: Seniors Thomas Burton and Kevin Huang work on the podcast in the library sound room. Middle: Burton and Huang record new episodes to be released every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Right: The co-hosts discuss plans for future episodes.

Senioritis podcast explores second semester senior goals Mosier recommended the podcast to her fellow seniors, complimenting the hosts’ questions. “If you have something or even if you don’t have something to say, you can be surprised,” she said. “The questions that they ask are really Seniors Thomas Burton and Kevin Huang have a unique take on the senior experience nice. They’re kind of probing. They will really get you to say at Gunn; they have created their own podcast called Senioritis discussing the subject. what you feel and there’s no wrong answers, so if you have an Episodes come out every Tuesday and Thursday on SoundCloud and feature various available FlexTime, you should totally go talk on their podcast.” seniors as guests.

To be featured as a guest on the show, seniors can message the SeThe podcast captures the unique experiences and perspectives of difnioritis social media pages or the creators directly. Burton and Huang ferent seniors through interview-style segments. According to its aim to feature everyone who wants to be on the podcast by the end of creators, it will serve in the future as an account of their high the semester. school lives. “I just want everyone to leave learning someThe podcast is named after the popular colloquial term “seniorthing about the people who are on the show,” Burton said. itis,” defined on their Facebook page as “an ebbing of motivation “Our class has a very interesting blend of people and it and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences and would be really cool to look back on this and have this relower grades.” Burton and Huang, however, have a greater meancord of who we were at the time.” ing for the word that they are trying to spread. “The idea of seHuang believes that underclassmen can take something away nioritis is that you slack off, but we think it’s more than that, and from the podcast as well. “They can lear n what the senior experience people can use it in a different way,” Burton said. “We’re trying is like, what things you can do and how the mindset changes over that to inspire people to do stuff. As well as underclassmen, we’re period of high school,” Huang said. trying to inspire them to take up projects and not be afraid of Senioritis debuted with its first episode, “Second Semester Seniors,” on what people will think. If you are passionate about something, Feb. 6th. The episode provided a general introduction to the podcast with you should just go for it.” its straightforward topic: being a second semester senior and its expectaBoth Burton and Huang have taken this message to heart and tions versus realities. shown it in their own project. To them, Senioritis is a way to stay Senior Madison Mosier was a guest on the first episode and found her active and creative through the slow, final months of high school experience enjoyable. “It kind of gave me a chance to reflect on what I had and to show everyone else that they can do the same. “[During] this done all throughout high school and what I want to use this last semester period, it’s really easy to just have nothing done, stay home, do the same to do,” she said. thing over and over again. So this is really important to me,” Huang said.

Courtesy of Bridget Ho Collin Jaeger Reporter

Senior turns inspirations into mobile applications Kristen Yee Forum Editor Applications are the lifeblood of phones. Silly selfies, frustratingly hard games, text messages and all other everyday functions people use phones for exist in apps.

Beyond just a mere consumer of these apps, senior Anand Chandra is also an app programmer.

His decision came on a whim in his junior year. “I was going to start getting into programming my own things, so I thought it’d be cool to make an app,” he said.

“You can have it on your phone and just pull it out and show your friends.”

In the beginning, Chandra was filled with ideas. He regularly practiced sitting down and throwing out ideas, often brainstorming ones he didn’t end up using, as a part of the creative process. “Ninety-nine percent will be garbage, but there’s going to be one or two ideas that are actually worth something,” he said.

The first app he created was at PalyHacks, an international 24-hour hackathon hosted at Palo Alto High School. There, he created an app called Spice Me, which gives substitutions for certain cooking ingredients if the user is lacking one in a recipe. For example, if a recipe called for a sweetener, the app might recommend options like cane sugar, brown sugar or honey. “[Spice Me] didn’t work that well, honestly,” he said. “However, it was a great experience, and it was cool even seeing it.”

After Spice Me, Chandra built Food Flare at TinoHacks, a two-day -hackathon hosted at Cupertino High School. Similar to Yelp, it locates restaurants within a selected range and offers information about it like address, hours and phone number. What differentiates Food Flare, however, is that it helps narrow down the number of choices. “Even with Yelp, when you open it, there’s 20 restaurants, and, sure, there’s a lot of information about it, but the point is that you can still be para-

lyzed by the number of choices,” he said.

To program his first official app, Chandra first needed more experience. He started by taking an online iOS development course by Stanford University called CS193p. The course included lectures and homework, but everything was free and accessible from home. “I did it during school,” he said. “I made time for it everyday, and it was something I was interested in, so it was easy to keep up with.”

Around this time, he started working on Chorely. He wanted to make money on the side while still getting through his schoolwork, and he was inspired to make an app. The app connects users with people who are willing to complete chores. The app also includes features such as a rating system for regular users to build credibility through the reviews of others.

Chandra’s latest app is on a different tangent, inspired by his experience playing the violin. HZ Intonation is a tuning app which allows musicians to record themselves and later check with the app’s tuning system to review portions that were out of tune. “You don’t have to be in full intonation-mode, and you can practice as if you’re actually performing,” he said. “It can also be helpful for beginners so that they can focus on a technique or something that they’re also working on without sacrificing information about their intonation.”

The path to programming apps was not an easy one.

Chandra had estimated the time needed for Chorely to be a couple of weeks over the summer, but it ended up taking much longer. There were also difficulties due to his initial inexperience in working with programming programs like XCode, an editor for iOS apps. “It’s all really linear in your head, but when you build, it’s anything but linear,” he said. “You think it’s going a certain way, but it might go ten different ways and you have to figure out which one to go with.”

To counter difficulties and receive feedback, Chandra

turned to online programming forums like Stack Overflow or to other people he knew. Stack Overflow helped with programming problems, while Chandra turned to his friends or family for app-design feedback. “It’s good to get [feedback] from people when you’re building apps because it can be easy for you to use since you know what you built,” he said. “You can make a button that’s relatively small and people might miss it even though you know it’s obviously there.”

So far, Chorely has about a thousand downloads while HZ Intonation, only having been on the market for a few weeks, has a little over a hundred.

In the future, Chandra plans to continue programming more apps. He’s tried web development, but nothing seems to speak to him as much as app programming does. “It’s probably a ‘me’ thing,” he said. “I just like something about it, and I’m still thinking of new ideas so I’ve got something I’m going to start working on.”

Sofia Sierra Garcia

Senior Anand Chandra shows off his latest application­, music app HZ Intonation .

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MUSIC vs. MORA Listeners should avoid music by artists who have committed crimes Laurel Comiter Whether or not they want to, musicians have an enormous influence on individuals and society as a whole. From The Beatles to Bob Marley to Tupac, artists have changed society through their music alone. Since music has such a strong influence over listeners, artists should aim to promote a positive and moral message. Musicians with criminal histories, however, have long been a part of the industry, resulting in a society that is accepting of their crimes rather than condemning them. Music consumers should not support musicians who have committed crimes, as listening to their music only boosts their fame and income, in turn increasing their negative influence on society.

The music industry has been held less accountable than other industries for the criminal behaviors of some musicians. For example, rap artist XXXTentacion has quickly risen to fame with the release of his album “17” in August 2017, despite his criminal record. Last October, he was charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment and witness-tampering. In spite of these charges, he remains a respected artist and his album stayed in the Billboard top 40 albums for three months, even after reports of his abuse. This mercy and forgiveness we give musicians is what separates the music industry from other industries such as entertainment or comedy.

When the New York Times published an article that accused comedian Louis C.K. of sexual harassment, for example, he faced massive backlash in a matter of days and was immediately denounced without question of his value as an entertainer. It is vital that, rather than excusing artists because of their music or talent, we condemn every musician that commits a harmful crime the same way we have started to condemn others in the different industries.

Hip-hop’s popularity is ever increasing, meaning the artists’ influence is also growing. A 2017 Nielsen Music mid-year report announced that hip-hop and R&B are responsible for 29 percent of all on-demand streams across the country. Due to its ever-growing popularity, we must recognize how our support allows these artists to profit socially and economically.

Since pleading guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, Chris Brown has won a Grammy for Best R&B Album, as well as 17 Black Entertainment Televsion (BET) Awards and BET Hip Hop awards, had five top-ten albums and has performed on various talk shows. Every time Brown comes out with new music, his influence grows. Every stream on his songs gives him royalties and bumps him further up the charts. Although each listen may seem to have only a miniscule effect, every individual who is listening is actively contributing to an artist’s profits and popularity. As a result of their popularity, artists like Brown are invited to make public appearances. This constant cycle of supporting an artist who has been convicted of a serious crime allows musicians to evade the repercussions of their actions; we are rewarding them by expanding their influence rather than punishing immoral artists.

Many arguments against not listening to these artists music seem to point out that not all of the charges are confirmed, or that the artist has had a hard past; these are all ways we use to avoid admitting our ignorance to their cruelty. But not listening to these artists doesn’t mean the end to music we love. There are plenty of alternatives when it comes to listening to music by non-violent artists. Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Logic, Russ and Post Malone are just a handful of the hip-hop artists to choose from. Some of them, such as Lamar, even aim to change society for the better by incorporating powerful messages into his music. In order to create an environment less accepting of criminal behaviors, we as a society need to make human life a priority over entertainment, even if that means condemning the artists we love.

—Comiter, a junior, is a Copy Editor.

Flickr

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Monday, March 5, 2018 Pixabay

ALS

Music serves as a source for expressing ideas, talent and passion. Some artists, however, have been convicted of unlawful behavior.

For example, Gucci Mane was convicted of murder, and John Lennon was convicted of possessing illegal drugs and accused of abusing his wife. Some other notable artists that have been convicted include Wiz Khalifa, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and many more who have made a name for themselves in the

music industry.

Despite being aware of some artists’ previous criminal, people continue to listen to their music and support their careers. They argue that an artist’s actions have no connection to their music, and people should decide what music they listen to purely based on what they enjoy. Others, however, believe that listeners promote and encourage the immoral actions of the artist by supporting their music.

People also claim that song lyrics are merely words and do not mean that the artists will actually act on them. Artists use their songs to express their feelings, perhaps even change society by increasing awareness of different issues. Music consumers are thus faced with an ethical dilemma of what they value: the music itself or the morality of their choices.

—Written by Peter Oh

Music should be judged by quality, not by artist Ryan Manesh

Music has a large influence on the world, but a lot of the time the music isn’t the only thing that influences listeners: the artists themselves do as well. Artists have grown to be role models for many of their listeners. Many people, however, tend to believe that this influence is harmful when it comes from artists who have been convicted of crimes. Some listeners are even pressured to shy away from these artists and are med for listening to their music. People, however, should not feel morally obliged to stop ning to music they enjoy just because of the artist’s actions or history. Listeners should rate the artist from their work and appreciate their music purely for what it is: a form of nd expression.

Many artists who have been convicted of crimes in the past have redeemed themselves by gnizing their mistakes and striving to benefit the community. Some artists grew up in rea where gang behavior was prominent, and didn’t have much of a choice other than to lve themselves in these gang-related activities. Now, some of these artists have turned from their old life and made philanthropic efforts. For example, Tupac Shakur grew up in e ridden Oakland, Calif. and served a prison sentence for sexual-assault charges in 1995.

However, according to Rolling Stone, Tupac established a foundation in 1994 to work to keep young people out of jail and to reduce “black on black” crime. Another institution founded by a convicted artist is the Shawn Carter Foundation, established by hiphop artist Jay-Z. This foundation’s goal was to provide scholarship opportunities for disadvantaged youth and communities. The foundation was successful and has paid out nearly three million dollars in scholarship funds, study abroad opportunities, counseling programs and college visits. Tupac and Jay-Z’s stories are examples of people who have changed their lives despite their upbringing and have helped thousands of others. It would be unfair for listeners to boycott these artists’ music simply because of actions in their past that were in part due to their difficult circumstances.

There have been, however, many rappers with criminal backgrounds who have

not redeemed themselves. This still shouldn’t discourage people from listening to their music.

There are many situations in which people support brands even though they are aware of the brands’ misdoing. For example, the technology giant Apple, had a huge controversy in 2010 after the harsh working conditions of their manufacturing workers were brought to light. It was revealed that workers lacked equipment and often worked 12-hour shifts for just over two dollars an hour. Yet the company is still one of the most popular in the world and maintains a huge number of supporters. If people can turn their heads to the actions of companies and brands, they should have the right to do the same for music artists.

Music is a creative output and should be appreciated because of its musical and lyrical beauty, regardless of the artist. An artist who is a good example of someone whose music gets attention despite his harsh history is singer Chris Brown. Brown has had multiple domestic abuse charges brought against him since 2009, including one brought by singer Rihanna. Yet the singer’s career has not plummeted due to the fun, upbeat, mainstream songs he releases.

When the artist released his song “5 More Hours” in 2015, the song still managed to exceed 370 million plays on Spotify alone and had another 225 million views on the video on YouTube. The millions of people who listened to Chris Brown’s song didn’t listen because they respected his character and the horrible way he treated women—they appreciated Brown’s music for the catchiness and the playful beat, which is what all listeners should have the right to do when they listen to music.

In the end, artists’ work should not be shunned based on their personal actions.

Many have redeemed the crimes they have committed; even if they haven’t, their character and personality should not be tied to their music. Listeners should listen to artists based on the quality of the music and not the quality of the artist.

—Manesh, a sophomore, is the Assistant Business Manager.

Sherry Chen and Richard Yu

14

Features Auto class builds Mazda Miata for 24-hour endurance race Joshua Yang Reporter Car racing—otherwise known as motorsport—has many diverse and competitive categories, ranging from American NASCAR racing to European Formula 1 Grand Prixs. However, the most grueling form of motorsport is the 24-hour endurance race in which cars drive 24 hours non-stop around a race track, attempting to complete the most laps. In some famous 24-hour races race cars travel more than 3,000 miles—enough to drive from Gunn to Times Square. This spring, Gunn Auto Tech is bringing their own race car to compete at the 24 Hours of LeMons race held in Sonoma, California on March 24 and March 25 with their modified 1990 Mazda Miata.

Granted, the race technical-

ly is not 24 hours long—instead, the event is split up over two days, with races held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

However, with this shortened time comes a caveat: all cars competing in the event must have cost less than $500 to buy and modify. At 24-hour races, the durability of the race car is just as important as the driver’s ability.

According to Auto Tech teacher Mike Camicia, the build process was meticulous and precise to ensure this durability. “Everything that had to be done to make this a race car we did,” he said. “The build process started with stripping out the entire interior, including the dashboard and all the wiring. We changed the shocks, the springs and the brakes.”

In addition, further modifications were made to ensure safety. These include adding a safety master switch to turn off all electronics in a crash, a roll cage, a fire extinguisher and a five-point racing harness.

The car is painted bright pink and has stickers all across its body. According to Camicia, this eye-catching bodywork is intended to fit in with a theme. “You have to have a theme, so this one became [modeled after] the Penguins of Madagascar,” he said. “If you watch their cartoons, there’s a little Barbie car that they drive around, and this is what this is supposed to be.”

Sofia Sierra Garcia

Students in Camicia’s Auto 2 class had less than a semester to prepare the car for competition season. Senior Andy Estrada has put countless hours into the building process of the Miata. “There are 17 or 18 kids in the [Auto 2] class,” she said. “It’s a pretty small class. All of us help with the Miata.”

Throughout the course of converting the Miata into a race car, Estrada and the other students have had to work around issues. When the car was originally given to Camicia, it had been in a front-on collision. “We had the class pull [off] the whole front of the car,” Camicia said. “We just pulled it all out and straightened it out and got it running.”

Estrada also remembers another incident with the Miata’s tires. “One of the wheels was stuck on so long it took us 20 minutes to get it off,” she said.

However, Camicia believes all the hard work pays off at the race, a festive atmosphere full of drivers and mechanics. “[24 Hours of LeMons is] a zoo,” he said. “It’s like Mardi Gras. It’s like Burning Man. It’s like Halloween goes racing. It’s pretty fun, especially at night. There’s a lot of people working on their cars, and there’s a lot of people partying.”

Alumnus Micah McElravy also echoes Camicia’s sentiments. McElravy was a former student in the Gunn auto tech program and takes turns driving the car in races with other Gunn alumni and Camicia. “About 90 percent of the teams have no chance of winning anything, but it doesn’t stop people from going just as fast as they possibly can on track,” he said. “The whole event is much more about having fun than trying to be first out of 180 teams on [the] track.”

Last December, the Auto Tech program participated in a similar 24-hour race with the same car and finished in 30th place. Since then, Camicia and his team have modified the car further. Camicia hopes these modifications will give the Miata a further edge over competitors. “I’m hoping to do better than 30th overall,” he said. “We’re hopefully making the car better, and we’ll find out—we’ll find out [at] this next event.”

McElravy is not as eager to make predictions about the race. “I’ve learned never to expect anything in racing,” he said. “The trick is to go fast, have fun and keep the car in one piece.”

Left: Auto 2 students work on building the car in Gunn’s auto tech garage in preparation for the December race.

Bottom: The finished Mazda Miada, ready to race.

Fun Facts: • • • • • •

Platform: 1990 Mazda Miata Engine: Stock 1.6 liters Carburetor: Fuel Injection Transmission: Stock 5-speed Rear End: Torsen Posi Traction Paint: Perky Pink

Left: The car raced for the first time in December 2017 at theS o n o m a--Ra c e way; Gunn was 15th in class and 30th overall.

Photos courtesy of Gunn Auto Tech website

15

Features

Monday, March 5, 2018

Artist of the Month: senior Vincent Bouyssounouse The Oracle: How did you first come up with the idea for your artwork?

Vincent Bouyssounouse: I do a lot of these abstract faces, but it all really stemmed from how I used to copy my favorite cartoon characters. I was really into that because they’re really expressive of emotions. So it evolved from that, and I started adding my own style to it.

TO: How did you first get into art?

VB: I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. You do so many arts and crafts projects in elementary school, and that was just my thing; I was really into it, so I just continued to draw. My family was supportive of it, and I really enjoyed doing it.

TO: How did you decide to make stickers out of your art?

VB: I wanted a way to be able to share my art with people, and it’s kind of weird to just give out printed photos of what I’ve drawn. Stickers are really cool because you can put them on anything. There’s a big community of artists on Instagram who draw on stickers, trade and mail them to each other. So I kind of found that and knew that I wanted to do that. I actually don’t do stickers that much right now, but I’ve gotten a lot of designs printed, so those are cool. And my friends really like them, so they encouraged me to keep doing that.

TO: What would you say inspires you in your art?

VB: I’m inspired by a lot of different artists—a lot of minimalist and abstract [artists], a lot of French artists.

What inspires me in general in art is the connection you can have with your audience and how you can relate to someone on a really deep level. You can’t really do that through many other mediums. You can do it through music, or writing or visual arts. That connection is really cool to me, and I want to be able to connect with people like that.

TO: What would you say the artistic process is like for you?

VB: I pretty much never use pencils anymore, I don’t know why. I guess I moved to pen a while back and really liked it, because it forces you to think more about lines you’re making, whereas with a pencil, a lot of times it will be a lot sketchier and you’re not thinking as hard. With a pen, you’re committing to every line that you’re doing. I pretty much always listen to music and most of my drawings aren’t planned out beforehand; I just kind of go with the flow and see where it ends up.

TO: Do you have any future plans with art?

VB: I’m definitely looking for an art-related major at one of the UCs here, but I haven’t decided on anything at this point. I’m looking at design, industrial design or graphic design, but nothing decided on yet.

Photos by Sofia Sierra Garcia

—Compiled by Liza Kolbasov

Debate team dominates regional, league tournaments Eric Epstein Business Manager The debate team continued their successful year when a large number of representatives placed highly at their last two debate tournaments. In the James Logan Invitational in Union City from Jan. 13 to 15, five of the teams of students made it to the octo-finals round, and juniors Arjun Prabhakar and Siddharth Jain went on to win the whole tournament. On the weekend of Jan. 27 at a league tournament, Gunn sent 11 teams, three of which won all four of their rounds, according to club president senior Carolyn Wang.

The recent tournament success for the debate team is quite indicative of the growth of the program as a whole.

According to Wang, in the last few years, the team has established itself as a program comparable to the other perennial debate powerhouses in the region. “In our league, we have a few other schools like Bellarmine College Preparatory, Archbishop Mitty and Leland High School, which are generally schools that rank statewide and nationwide,” Wang said. “These are very successful programs that have been around for a very long time. What’s really great for us is that recently, we’ve been able to compete on a similar level to them, despite not having the same resources.”

The influx of debate members has made the team more successful. “[Gunn Debate’s] recent success has been pretty great,” policy debate captain junior Jamie Hamilton said. “A lot of teams have been doing well; we’ve gotten a lot more members, and they’re a lot more dedicated too... overall it really helps the team out.”

A few years ago, the debate team had only a handful of members. “[In the 2014-15 school year], we had around six people on the team, and we’d practice in the library after school until they kicked us out at five,” Wang said. “Now we have an advisor, which is a really big step for us.”

Math teacher Diane Gleason became the club advisor in 2015 when she saw that team members were in need of transportation to tournaments. “When I started with speech and debate, they had an advisor pretty much in name only,” Gleason said. “There were maybe 10 students involved, and they pretty much did everything on their own. They really needed chaperones, so I agreed to help chaperone, and I got hooked in.”

The debate team also puts more responsibility on the club members compared to other schools’ teams. “I think we’re a lot more student-run than other [debate] clubs,” Prabhakar said. “Other clubs spend a lot of money on coaches and whatnot. We don’t really have the resources for that, so instead we have students train other students.

I think it’s worked out pretty well because we have a leadership team that does a lot of work compared to other schools where the coaches would do that work.”

Jain also feels that the team is unique in the bond between teammates. “I think the Gunn debate team is really tight-knit,” Jain said. “Even though we’re a big team, everyone knows everyone on a first-name basis. That just makes it a lot more cohesive as a team, and we celebrate our victories together and rally from our low points or defeats.”

The members of the debate team feel that participating in the club offers many positive benefits. “I used to hate talking to people and talking in front of people, and debate has really taught me that you might have to stand up there and argue a point that you don’t necessarily agree with or believe,” Wang said. “It’s your job to convince the person sitting in front of you, it’s your job to communicate with your partner and to advocate for your side. I think a lot of people could learn from that, and they’re skills that people will need at some point in their life.”

Hamilton also feels the benefits of debate spilling into his everyday life. “It’s a lot easier to stand up in front of a room and give a presentation,” he said. “In classes, I am never worried about the way I’m going to sound, my pacing, getting nervous and using filler words. I’ve just gotten so much practice; it’s really helped me in so many ways.”

Photos courtesy of Carolyn Wang and Arjun Prabhakar

Left: The varsity debate teams won 3-1 after the League Three competition at Los Gatos High School. Middle: Sophomores Mallika Parulekar and Claire Cheng pose with their trophies after a tournament. Right: The debate team is triumphant after the James Logan Invitational in Union City.

16

Sports Photo by Max Wang

Max Wang

Junior Daniel Wybraniec pushes the pace on offense with a ferocious jump at the net as he prepares to send the ball careening back with a forceful spike.

Boys volleyball kicks off first ever season with fiery start Caroline Ro cerebral volleyball,” boys volleyball coach Matt Brostch said. nor drawbacks with their skill. Saga, for example, has played Forum Editor Despite the variations that make boys volleyball more for the Academy Volleyball Club Team for three years.

This spring, Gunn introduced its first ever boys volleyball of a physical endeavor than a mental one, Kachenko has also spent years cultivating team, coming a few years after the sport’s addition to the Kachenko believes that the psychological his volleyball skills as a hobby, playing “Our big goal is to win Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL). aspect of boys volleyball is crucial and not beach volleyball during frequent family SCVAL and NorCal diviSome of the varsity boys volleyball athletes believe that to be underestimated. “Half of volleyball is trips to Cancun, Mexico, enabling him to sion.” the addition of a boys team reflects the gradually changing just getting in the right place and moving hone his abilities as a player.

—Senior Daniel Kachenko female-dominated nature of the sport. “Boys volleyball is your feet to the right position, and I think Because many of the varsity team making its way into the sports world,” varsity player fresh- [it’s] amazing how even though my skill members have had experience playing on man Joseph Saga said. set isn't as good as [the other players], I can still contribute club teams, the players have high hopes for their first seaBoys volleyball teams, however, have existed at neighbor- greatly by just getting in the right place at the right time,” son. “Our big goal is to win SCVAL and NorCal division.” ing high schools and as a club sport for years, allowing many Kachenko said. “I tried out for the team with zero profes- Kachenko said. of the athletes to support other teams and compete outside sional volleyball experience, and it’s incredible how much Likewise, Brotsch has also seen promising levels of inof school. “Growing up, other high schools had boys vol- positioning it takes.” dividual skill and teamwork emerging so far in their pracleyball teams as well, and [it was] always cool to root them As this is the first boys volleyball team at Gunn, Brostsch tices, indicating a promising and groundbreaking season to on,” varsity player senior Daniel Kachenko said. Gunn and and his team have had little to work with in terms of equip- come. “There’s a lot of talent here so it’s just a matter of getPalo Alto High School are actually the last two schools in ment and uniforms, which posed some administrative chal- ting them to play together and we’ll have two teams—both the SCVAL to add boys volleyball teams to their sports pro- lenges. Volleyball nets, for example, had to be newly ordered [varsity and junior varsity]—and I think both will be comgrams. as the existing ones were old and in poor condition. A few petitive,” Brostch said.

The few key differences between girls weeks into the season, new uniforms had and boys volleyball have to do with net to be ordered as well. “There are some chal“Boys volleyball is makheight and the team’s approach to the lenges that come with just getting a proBoys Volleyball Upcoming Schedule ing its way into the sports sport. While the standard net height for gram off the ground to begin with,” Brotsch world.”

-March 7, 6:30 @ Fremont high school boys is 2.43 meters, the girls said.

—Freshman Joseph Saga net height is slightly lower at 2.24 meters.

Due to overlaps with the girls and boys -March 9, 6:45 @ Kings Academy This difference causes a boys volleyball basketball practices in February, the team game to be slightly more focused on hitting the ball harder also had to juggle with inconvenient practice times, some-March 12, 6:30 @ Menlo-Atherton to get it over the net, while girls volleyball places more em- times playing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. or before school. “Febphasis on positioning and strategy. “That’s not to say that ruary’s the crazy month, and that’s the same way out on the -March 14, 6:45 @ Eastside College Prep guys aren’t the cerebral type, but they really just want to hit field,” Gunn Athletic Director Curt Johansen said. it hard where girls want to place the ball and play more of a The players, however, seem to have made up for these mi-

Photo courtesy of Daniel Wybraniec

The boys volleyball team celebrate their first game of the season and comfortable 3-0 victory against Tennyson High School in at Hayward, California.

17 Students find excitement, adventure in mountain biking Sports

Monday, March 5, 2018

Noa Rapoport reporter

While some students relieve their stress from school by baking, reading or shooting hoops, some manage it through mountain biking. Mountain biking is the sport of riding bicycles off-road and over rough terrain using a specially designed bike. It is a popular sport in the Bay Area as there are many locations for students to mountain bike.

Mountain biking terrain can be found in Pearson Arastradero Preserve, the Baylands, China Camp State Park or Santa Cruz. All of these areas have different levels of difficulty, ranging from beginner trails to the most advanced.

The Pearson Arastradero Preserve is easily accessible from the highway and offers a trail of easy riding on a dirt road. It is mostly a wide road with some sections of steep hill.

The China Camp State Park has a great view of the bay and a well-maintained trail. Santa Cruz has more than 37 trails and is a great place for students to improve their mountain biking skills.

Senior Sonny Christofilis started the sport because it was very popular where he previously lived. “In my hometown of Aptos, it was something absolutely everybody did at some level,” he said. “My neighbor Gabe showed me around Nisene Marks State Park and the late Post Office Jumps.” Christofilis has been mountain biking for eight years and still continues to this day because of the supportive community that surrounds him.

“It's an unbeatable way to get outdoors with a top-notch racing community and trailbuilding organizations,” he said.

One of the reasons people love mountain biking is because it is not a typical sport.

According to senior Will Jackson, there is nothing else in the world like mountain biking. He has been riding for years ever since his friends convinced him to do it.

Mountain biking, however, also comes with many difficulties and hardships. According to Jackson, many injuries can occur when biking on the terrain. “When you fall down it shreds all of your skin,” he said.

For both the average per-

son and the rider with years of experience, the injuries and learning curve are huge in the dangerous sport. "Unlike our friends on the road, the slightest margin on the trail can make or break your year,” Christofilis said. “We don’t have guardrails or signs or pavements. When you crash, you actually go down.”

Mountain biking has been a very memorable sport for both seniors. Cristfollis’s favorite memory from mountain biking is when he rode from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and biked up Santiago Peak, a southern mountain in Orange County.

Jackson’s favorite memory is when he acquired the scar on his arm. “I was starting out and went way too fast and crashed,” he said.

“I learned hella quick how much solid control and knowing your limits is important to biking, and it basically set me up to always be mindful about

the next root or rock or turn coming up.”

Jackson said this memory helped him learn to push himself when mountain biking.

Both seniors hope to continue mountain biking in their future. Christofilis hopes to continue riding everyday and to eventually compete in world cup venues.

Sherry Chen

Bay Area provides a variety of mountain biking settings Sherry Chen

Easy: Baylands Park

Located near Shoreline park, this trail provides scenic views of the Bay Area. It is also notable for its convenience: it is a ten minute drive from Palo Alto.

People looking for a more demanding course, however, will be disappointed, as the trail is mostly flat.

Hard: Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is the largest mountain in the Bay Area, so there are numerous ways to advance up the mountain. All of the trails include gorgeous views of the Bay Area, but are not for the fainthearted. A beginner would be better off walking than biking here.

Easy: Coyote Hills These hills are not a place one would go for a strenuous workout. This easy ride, however, is an ideal place for beginners. As a bonus, the scenery here is fantastic— complete with views of the Bay Area, various wildlife and a Native American settlement.

Graphics by Sherry Chen and Jeffrey Yao

Intermediate: Arastradero Loop One of the few city-managed preserves that allows mountain biking in almost all trails, the Arastradero preserve has 10 miles total of trails. It is an excellent place for beginners, with some areas for the interested expert. Beware when it rains though: the trails become inaccessible.

—Compiled by Andrew Zhao

18

Sports

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: The Oracle: What inspired you to start swimming?

Sebastian Cai: I started swimming after the 2008 [Beijing] Olympics when I saw Michael Phelps win eight gold medals.

I was in China at the time, and I really enjoyed watching him and I really wanted to swim, so I started swimming as soon as I got back from the Olympics.

TO: What is the biggest life lesson you have learned from swimming?

SC: The biggest life lesson I’ve gotten from swimming is that success does not come easy, and the harder you work, the better you do. Sometimes people will do well for a race or two if they do not work hard, and sometimes people will work really hard and not have a good race, but in the end, the harder you work the better you are.

TO: What’s your favorite part about swimming?

SC: My favorite part about the sport of swimming is racing. The water doesn’t care about how you feel or if you’re tired. It’s up to you to win and when there’s a guy next to you, you know you have to beat him. It is the best just to chase him down and try to win.

TO: What’s your all-time favorite memory from swimming?

SC: My favorite memory from swimming is from last year.

Our team made States, and we traveled as a team and our relay placed eighth, which wasn’t the best, but it was pretty good. We were also one-tenth of a second away from breaking the school record, and [Gunn] ended up placing third in all of the state, which was pretty cool.

TO: What do you like about Gunn swimming in particular?

SC: I really like the coaches and my teammates and just the atmosphere of Gunn swimming. We have a legacy of being a pretty strong swim team in the past few years with the girls winning Central Coast Section (CCS) in 2012 and the guys winning a couple years ago. I really think that we can swim fast and win CCS this year for both girls and guys.

Junior Sebastian Cai, Swimmer

TO: Which person has been the biggest inspiration and role model for you as a swimmer?

SC: My swimming idol is Michael Phelps—he’s obviously the greatest swimmer to ever live—but one of my personal heroes is Michael Lincoln, who graduated from Gunn last year. He’s the hardest worker I know, and he now swims in college and will definitely do great things in swimming.

TO: What are a few of your pre-race and pre-meet rituals?

SC: Before some of my biggest races I will prepare for weeks in advance just thinking about one race and watching old videos of my idols swimming those races. I also like to visualize my race and I have a small ritual behind the blocks and make sure to stay loose by stretching and listening to some hype songs.

TO What advice would you give to anyone who is considering trying out swimming or has just started swimming?

SC: I would say, “Just try it!” It might not be all fun and games all of the time, but in reality if you want to be good at anything you have to be willing to work hard. A lot of people say they don’t want to do swimming because it’s boring, but I can tell you that once you get on the team and make a bunch of friends, you enjoy going to practice every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. It’s a great sport.

TO: What do you believe is the biggest challenge for you as a swimmer?

SC: The biggest challenge for me as a swimmer is to stay focused every single day. Some people don’t think it’s a sport and some people look down on it, but I think it’s definitely one of the most challenging sports you can do, and I just have to remind myself everyday that I have to keep working harder.

TO: What are your future plans for swimming?

SC: My goals are to swim in college in Division One. I want to make it to the Olympic trials in 2030.

—Compiled by Eric Epstein

Courtesy of Sebastian Cai

Sports

Monday, March 5, 2018

19

Sports fans express support for Bay Area rival teams Senior Herman Singh Seattle Seahawks

Like many other sports fans, senior Herman Singh looks forward to the times when he can sit back on the couch and watch a football game. Unlike the majority of the Bay Area, who are fans of the San Francisco 49ers, Singh roots for their main rival, the Seattle Seahawks.

Singh's loyalty to the Seahawks is partly due to their great teamwork and player dynamic. Cooperation and seamless play execution are all factors that unite the athletes.

“I think the team works really well as a unit,” he said. “All the players have really good chemistry, which allows them to be so successful.”

Supportive fans play a large role in the success of their team; players are more motivated to perform well with an enthusiastic audience on the sidelines. For Singh, the energetic and dedicated fans are another aspect of what that makes football so enjoyable and being a loyal follower of the Seahawks so gratifying. “The fan base is very vocal, and during games they’ll be super loud at the stadium,” he said.

“There’s just a lot of energy surrounding the team, which is really cool.”

Junior Abe Sachs Cleveland Cavaliers

With the Golden State Warriors based just across the Bay Area, it’s no wonder blue and yellow seem to be the most popular colors here. While most local basketball fans root for the Dubs, junior Abe Sachs, who has been a Cleveland sports fan all his life, wears his Cavaliers (Cavs) shirt with pride.

Sachs’ unwavering love for Cleveland sports started at a young age. Having grown up in Cleveland, Sachs’ dad taught him everything he knows about basketball, football and baseball. Although he’s never lived in Cleveland himself, Sachs has always felt a strong connection to the their teams. “When I was little, I thought people around here liked the Cleveland teams because that’s how I grew up,” he said. “I thought everyone liked them—they’re our team.”

One benefit of being a Cavs fan that Sachs enjoys is the sense of camaraderie and joy. Cleveland is a city rich in sports culture, and Sachs believes that their fans are more mellow than most. “I feel like a lot of the Cavs fans are more dedicated to their team, and they don’t hate other fans as much as [fans] around here [do],” he

Junior Brenda Cornelio Los Angeles Dodgers

Amidst the sea of orange that is AT&T park on a San Francisco Giants game day, caps colored in Los Angeles Dodger blue stand out from the crowd. The Giants versus Dodgers rivalry has been a large part of Major League Baseball since its creation. While most baseball fans in San Francisco wear orange, there is still a community of Dodger fans, including junior Brenda Cornelio.

Cornelio has been a Dodgers fan since she was six, discovering a connection with the Southern California team through her frequent visits to Los Angeles to visit her family. Cornelio's family is divided, with her mother and father being fans of each other's rival teams. “Although my mom was a Giants fan, I felt a stronger connection to Los Angeles and decided I wanted to support the Dodgers with my dad,” Cornelio said.

However, being a fan of the rival team comes with a price, as the Dodgers have not been especially successful in recent years. “I always get hate for being a Dodgers fan. Of course it isn’t to an intense extent, but it’s always fun to hear ‘They haven’t won a single World Series since

Because he lived in Seattle for many years before moving to Palo Alto, Singh has never really found a real reason to support the 49ers, as he has f eels that he isn't actually from the Bay Area. Singh notes that it can be challenging to live in the Bay Area as a fan of a rival team. There are times where he feels stranded in a sea of 49ers fans, but the rare occurrence of meeting a fellow Seahawks fan can make his day. “There’s not a lot of other Seahawks fans around here, but when you find one other person who likes the Seahawks, it’s great,” he said. “You have a connection with that person.”

Singh’s favorite players are NFL stars Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman. In previous years, the dynamic pair tore up the NFL, but recently the team has been struggling.

The Seahawks are currently rebuilding their team, but Singh knows that they’ll become better because of it. “They’ll come out of it on the other side looking really good and really strong,” he said. “The core of the team is still there. This season didn’t go as well because of so many injuries, so when everyone’s back healthy and fit, I think they’ll do really well.” The Seahawks currently hold the edge on their Bay Area rivals, last winning a Super Bowl in 2014, while the 49ers are trophyless since 1995. ­—Written by Joyce Shea said. After the Cavs won the NBA championship in 2016, Sachs and his family visited Cleveland, and many were surprised to see a California kid supporting the Golden State’s rival. “In Cleveland, it was pure happiness,” he said. “Everyone was just overjoyed that they had won because for my dad’s entire life, they had never won anything.”

Although nothing is better than watching your team take home a win, Sachs has noticed that recently it has been more stressful to watch the Cavs play. The team has had several major changes within the team. With the recent addition of quality players, the Cleveland Cavaliers have developed into a top side in the NBA. These recent years are an anomaly: it wasn't always this way in Cleveland. “It used to be low-stress watching Cleveland because they were never contending for a championship or anything,” he said. “Having a good team makes it a little more stressful to watch a big game. It’s less about excitement when they win and more about stress when they don’t.”

No matter how outnumbered he may be, Sachs will always support his team. “If I’m going to some sort of party where everyone’s going to be rooting for the Warriors but they’re playing the Cavs, I’ll go in my Cavs shirt—to cheer for my team,” he said. ­—Written by Carolyn Kuimelis

1988,’” she said.

Regardless of how the team does, Cornelio supports them for reasons besides winning. “Although they haven’t won a World Series since I’ve been alive, I admire their passion and willingness to grow as a team regardless of whether they win or not,” she said.

Cornelios support of the Dodgers also brings her closer to her family in Los Angeles, serving as a reminder of her fond family bonding memories. “It’s always great to watch them play and because most of my family lives in Los Angeles, we all bond watching Dodger games either at their stadium or just by FaceTiming while watching,” she said.

Brenda’s favorite player to watch is Justin Turner, who has been a key player on the team since 2014. Not only does she support him for his playing abilities, but also for his personality. “I like how well he has fit into the team and how he has been performing,” Cornelio said. “But on a less serious note, he’s so funny...he doesn’t feel the need to keep up a professional persona.” They may not be the most successful franchise, but Cornelio sticks with her Dodgers. ­—Written by Natalie McCurdy Graphics by Grace Liu

Photos by Max Wang and Justin Hong

20

Sports

Ultimate Frisbee team unites students from area Yael Livneh Lifestyle editor

into tryouts. When I joined that’s probably the most fun I’ve had.”

The season officially begins in the The disc whistles past junior Itay Chang as he passes it to spring after fall tryouts, but the rest another jersey-clad teammate; players sprint down the field, of the year is spent training for tourflicking the frisbee in zig zags across the grass as they laugh naments.

The four-day, match-filled and joke during another Saturday practice. This is a typical weekends have a reputation to be day for Gunn Control, a local coed Ultimate Frisbee team. rough, especially since Gunn Control The sport is simple: each game runs to 13 points, ending plays alongside high-level college teams either in a hard time cap or in a winning team. Typical such as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s SLOgames last about an hour, but CORE and UC Berkeley’s Black can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour Out. “We go to a couple college and a half. Once a tournaments, and those are a “We go to a team hits seven lot of fun because we get to couple college tournapoints during a play high level Ultimate. It’s ments, and those are really match, halftime is a lot more intense, so all fun because we get to play called and the the athletes on the field are high level Ultimate.” game pauses. If the sprinting harder, work—senior Brandon game surpasses the ing harder,” Chin said.

Chin time cap and the “We have to step up our teams are tied, the game, and it’s really nice game shifts into over- because we get to see how drive: teams must score a tie- we stack up against higher breaking point that decides who’s going home a winner, level Ultimate. We have to called the universe point (sudden death). “Universe point push ourselves, and we actually match is super intense," Chang said. “It’s hella hype.”

Despite bearing only Gunn’s name, Gunn Control has attracted players from all over. Woodside High School, Palo Alto High School, “It ’d be great to Terman Middle School and Foothill College get more girls to come have all lent students to the team’s roster. out to summer pickup and Many players join with little to no experitryouts!” ence, learning how to throw backhands and —homeschooled student flicks on the job. “I actually never really Cara Burnks thought about Ultimate Frisbee as a sport before until my brother joined, and then he would always try and push it on me,” senior Brandon Chin said. “[He’d] try and get me to throw with him, so that’s how I had experience going

Jeffrey Yao

up pretty well against them.”

Despite the team being coed, it remains predominantly male. Cara Burks, a homeschooled student, found out about Ultimate through some friends on Aragon High School’s team who thought she might enjoy Frisbee. This year is her third on the team, and Burks is one of three captains responsible for leading the other teammates throughout the season . “I came in as a freshman girl on a team made up predominantly of upperclassman boys,” Burks said. “I loved the game and enjoyed practices, but as you can imagine, I felt pretty intimidated. Since at the time there were no returning girls or female coaches, I had no idea what my ceiling as a player looked like. I never would’ve imagined that in two years I would be a captain.”

An Ultimate Frisbee team existed in the area before Gunn Control under a different name, but disbanded years earlier. The current team was refounded during the 2015 season and has thrived since, winning the state championship in 2017. Burks hopes more people, especially girls, will give the sport a try. “This year we competed in the new mixed division in the fall. Mixed means the ratio of boys to girls on the field is 4:3 or 3:4,” Burks said. “We had to borrow more girls from other teams in order to fit the correct ratio, and it was hard to integrate them in last minute. I’d love to have a mixed team with just players from Gunn next year, so it’d be great to get more girls to come out to summer pickup and tryouts!”

Lifestyle

Monday, March 5, 2018

21

Explore local attractions, city culture rket

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Create It d Coundio nestled in Town an stu in kal w a is It s, te Crea t your own ceramic in pa n ca u yo re he and try Village w your artistic creativity sh ea nl U . es as nv ca d glass an occasion, or gifts for any sort of al on rs pe n, fu te ver. ea cr l mug to cherish fore ea id ur yo ith w lf se treat your

Peninsula Creamery The Peninsula Cream ery Dairy Store & G rill was established in 1923 an d has been serving Pa lo Altans ever since. Customer s can come in weekda ys between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. an d Saturdays from 8 a.m . to 3 p.m. to enjoy a variety of sandwiches, burgers and salads.

What the family-owne d shop is most know n for, however, are hand-scoop ed milkshakes that co m e in a variety of flavors from classic vanilla to co okie dough.

Photos by Max Wang Background by Sofia Sierra Garcia Graphics by Yael Livneh and Jeffrey Yao

—Compiled by Megan Li

22

Lifestyle

Staffers overcome obstacles Emma Chiao: Painting My dad was a skilled painter from a young age, and the walls of our house prove that fact.

My first encounter with the art form was when I was in second grade, and my dad attempted to teach me how to paint. We took our time in the backyard, breathing in the fresh air and letting our inspiration flow onto the paper. After a few hours, the results were complete. While his masterpiece reflected techniques and strokes that created a lifelike cherry blossom tree, my dreary page was a blob of pink: my attempt at a self-portrait in which I had bled the colors of my skin and lips together. After that initial failure, I decided that painting was not the right path for me. However, when I was presented once again with the opportunity to refine my long-forgotten painting skills with the help of “The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross” video series, I gladly accepted.

The first step was to gather my materials.

I managed to dig up my dad’s old palette and paintbrushes, but I was lacking a canvas and a full color spectrum of acrylic paints. To make up for those, I decided to use paper and blend the paints myself. I set up my paper on an easel on my outdoor patio and chose the Bob Ross video with the most views, “Island in the Wilderness.” However, almost immediately, I ran into obstacles and made mistakes. My first error was mixing the acrylic paint with water; this blunder created a watercolor effect, something I wasn’t looking for. Although Bob Ross

Devon Lee: Diabolo My goal was simple: learn how to do five new tricks with the diabolo, or the Chinese yo-yo, in three weeks. The diabolo is a small hourglass balanced on a string strung across two wooden sticks, and one can perform tricks and moves by bobbing the sticks up and down. This task was going to be a challenge since I had never played with one before. Additionally, I tend to stray away from new experiences, such as trying out a new hobby. Nevertheless, I formulated a plan: I figured it would take me two days to learn how to juggle the diabolo, and then I would learn one new trick per day. I was off by a long shot.

The first challenge was to obtain the toy. I eventually came to the conclusion that nobody on campus owns a diabolo, so I resorted to Amazon. The diabolo would be coming in one week, giving me enough time to prepare a strategy.

Before learning any tricks, I had to learn how to spin the diabolo while maintaining speed and equilibrium. After almost a hundred tries, I still could not do it consistently. So, I consulted the internet, but could not find a video that focused solely on the techniques for rolling a diabolo. I asked my brother for help since he was experienced, and he showed me how to sustain balance by moving the right stick forward or backward depending on which direction the diabolo was tilted. After that, I could easily juggle the diabolo without stopping, a significant step in the right direction.

The first and easiest trick is the simple throw and catch. At first, I completely failed. I underestimated how hard it was to launch the diabolo

in the air, place the string directly parallel to the center of the spinning hourglass and stick the landing in only a matter of seconds. My initial failures gave me some doubts, but with some experimentation, I concluded that the easiest way is to catch it relatively high in the air, making sure it is perpendicular to my body at all times. Slowly and surely, I got the hang of it, which gave me a huge boost of confidence, since I had proved to myself that I could successfully complete a trick. Although most of my attempts were fails, I didn’t let it discourage me. Every time I got the diabolo to land, it was even more gratifying since my countless fails seemed to finally paid off. Over the course of the next week, I learned several new tricks and techniques: the elevator, circles, through the legs and cattails.

If you can keep the diabolo stable, build up speed and have correct body position, any trick can be pulled off with enough practice. For example, in order to perform circles, one must master the throw and catch, since it is a continuous motion. The move requires precise timing and skill; by repeatedly catching the diabolo at the top of the string, rolling it across the string and flinging it up in the air, the diabolo can roll forever.

By the end of the three weeks, the diabolo taught me several lessons. Whenever you try something new, you must fail before you succeed.

Also, approaching a challenge with a growth mindset teaches you that any obstacle can only be tackled through patience and dedication.

—Lee, a freshman, is a reporter.

gave clear instructions and tips, I had to pause the video for minutes at a time to catch up with him. It seemed that my materials and lack of previous experience were hindering my progress. For example, while Bob Ross had three shades of blue at the ready, I struggled to mix my colors. While he easily switched between several brushes, I hurriedly rinsed off the same few brushes. As the video continued on, however, it became easier and easier to follow Bob Ross’s instructions while also catering to my own skill level.

After two hours, I finished my painting in an extra 1.5 hours in comparison to the 25-minute video. Despite my struggles, the end result wasn’t completely horrible. Instead of a beautiful, realistic oil painting, I had painted more of an impressionistic scene.

While I may not have gotten the knack of painting nature scenes with vivid details, I am grateful for the enjoyable journey. Rather than feeling upset over my failed painting, I had the chance to learn in a calming way on a sunny afternoon. My only regret was not having all the required tools to make my painting easier and more successful. In the future, I will definitely paint to one of his videos again. Finally, I would like to thank Bob Ross for his undeniable mastery and the ability he has to help anyone paint at least a coherent image.

—Chiao, a senior, is a Features Editor.

Lifestyle

Monday, March 5, 2018

23

in order to learn new skills Jamisen Ma: Soccer Juggling During dinner one night, my eight-yearold brother proudly announced that he did 67 juggles in school that day. A bold thought flashed across my mind: I decided that I would beat my brother at soccer juggling in three weeks, even though I had never juggled before. I told myself that if my brother did it, it couldn’t be that hard.

When I was in elementary school, I played basketball, soccer and tennis, but I quit soccer because I thought it was boring. Now, I realized that was a terrible decision because it would have helped me immensely with my footwork in tennis. Therefore, trying to learn how to juggle wasn’t just an attempt at trying to best my brother’s record: it was also a way to improve my tennis skills.

Trusting the process was key to accomplishing this task because I had to be persistent and hard-working. Practicing every day was essential because it helped build muscle memory. I started that night after I was done with my homework, juggling with my brother’s soccer ball. I planned to do 100 juggles each day, regardless of the amount of time needed.

On the first day, I could only do one or two juggles, and I soon realized that my assumption that “juggling is not so hard” was completely wrong. Achieving mastery of foot-eye coordination was hard because this was the first time I’ve practiced this skill since playing soccer in fourth grade. Suddenly, I felt that beating my brother was impossible. He would regularly do 40 juggles each try, and I could

still only do four or five after the first week.

According to my brother, he practiced every day for over a year to be able to juggle 20 times consistently, so only having three weeks seemed like trying to grow a tree in a month.

My foot also got swollen, probably because I had terrible technique. I could never get control of the first juggle, so I had to run and try to recover the ball. I watched some YouTube videos of proficient jugglers, and they juggled over 100 times flawlessly, making it seem like it was a piece of cake. They gave suggetions such as kicking the ball high, which didn’t work because I would either kick it into the ceiling or in a random direction. Another piece of advice was to use your head for more control. This was by far the worst advice I’ve ever received because I got dizzy and felt slight pain on the top of my head.

Also, this didn’t even help my juggling: every time I used my head, I would mess up on the next juggle because I couldn’t see the ball.

In the second week, I could do six juggles consistently; in the third week, I could do eight. However, I was nowhere close to the goal of mastering juggling a soccer ball or beating my brother.

At the end of the third week, I finally grasped that one has to be persistent and perform the motion repeatedly to achieve muscle memory, and that determination is necessary to conquer the challenges that come with learning a new skill.

—Ma, a freshman, is a reporter.

Chelsie Park: Embroidery From a very young age, one of the phrases that I heard the most from my parents was, “Are your hands for decoration?” In their eyes, I did not possess any fine motor skills whatsoever. I struggled to learn how to use chopsticks, struggled to sew in home economics in middle school, struggled to use scissors and struggled to open jars and packages. I was not trusted to hold a knife until eighth grade, when my mom decided it would be a good idea for me to know how to peel and cut fruits and vegetables. She eventually gave up trying to teach me.

So, why am I trying to learn how to embroider?

Well, because it looks cute. Google “embroidery” online, and you’re met with thousands of edgy and aesthetic patterns and pictures. I thought that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be too impossible for me to achieve that as well. Perhaps my fine motor skills had ripened with my age.

My mom used to embroider all the time, so I knew we had at least some of the necessary materials at my house. I did some digging around and found an embroidery hoop, a needle and some different colored threads. Before actually trying to stick the needle anywhere, I looked up tutorials on YouTube and found a channel called HandiWorks that had a 12-minute video showing 10 basic stitches. I figured it would be a good idea to try out these stitches before picking a design, so I stole a white T-shirt from my brother, cut it into squares and fit one into the hoop. Then came the most difficult part of the whole process: threading the needle. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get the thin black thread through the needle’s narrow hole. Fortunately, my mom came around, threaded

the needle for me and then proceeded to lecture me on how I was wasting my time.

Finally, I was all set to actually begin embroidering. The basic stitches lived up to their name—at least up until the first three stitches. All the stitches looked so simple, but looks can be deceiving. When I actually tried to do it, I started getting confused, so despite all my knowledge on mitochondria and matrices, some of the stitches were a little hard to wrap my head around. Still, I managed to finish all the stitches, though it took quite a bit longer than I would like to admit.

Now I was ready to level up to an actual design.

I spent too much time on Instagram looking for a feasible design, and the majority of that time was spent ooh-ing and ahh-ing at intricate designs I could never dream of accomplishing. But I finally found a cute dog design that appeared challenging enough. However, it was actually very easy; I only applied about three of the basic stitches I learned and after outlining the shape of the dog with pencil before actually stitching, it was fairly simple to fill in the outline with stitches. There was one thing I had overlooked, though: it was incredibly timeconsuming. If you’re looking for a mind-numbing activity that requires just enough of your attention that you really can’t watch Netflix while doing it, then embroidery is for you.

After too many hours of hardcore embroidering, I was finally finished, and the final product kind of made me wonder if all the time I had spent on it was really worth it.

—Park, a junior, is a Features Editor.

Photo Illustrations by Sherry Chen, Justin Hong, Sofia Sierra Garcia, Max Wang and Gary Wu

24

Features

Art Therapy offers outlet for students, adults What is art therapy?

“Art therapy, in my perspective, is any type of creative experience that a student or anyone can engage in that helps them relieve stress and is a relaxing kind of therapeutic experience, so that can be anything from painting, to coloring; we even have a sand tray in here where you can make sand objects.”

—Wellness Outreach Worker Lauren Rocha

Senior finds peace in coloring books Senior Lauren Yu started going to the Wellness Center last semester to relax and use the coloring books. Now, she goes regularly throughout the week. “It helps take your mind off of whatever is bothering you while also helping you to create something,” she said.

Yu believes that coloring is not only a good stress-relieving activity, but also a rewarding one. “I feel like coloring creates a balance, because it’s a mixture of really repetitive mechanical motion that you don’t have to think too much about, but at the same time, you choose the colors thoughtfully, and you have to be careful and you have to think about it as well,” Yu said. “It’s a creative way, rather than destructive, to express what you’re feeling and alleviate anxiety."

Yu advises people seeking to try art therapy for the first time to relax and not worry about making mistakes. “If you get caught up in the perfection too much, then you won’t really get the full value of coloring a piece,” she said.

Photo courtesy of Lauren Yu

Wellness Center provides relaxing activities In the Wellness Center, students can choose from a variety of activities offered: reading, drinking tea, eating snacks and participating in art therapy. According to Wellness Outreach Worker Lauren Rocha, the Wellness Center has the supplies for students to color, paint and engage in other calming art projects. “On the wall here, we actually have watercolor [paintings], and we like to put the watercolor paints out and just like occasionally let students do that here," Rocha said. "We got a lot of feedback from students last semester that they really enjoyed that and they found it really relaxing. It’s kind of a positive distraction.”

While engaging in art therapy can be a self-guided activity, Rocha says that therapists also use it with their clients. “There are formalized therapies that trained therapists use, and it’s usually specialization, and that therapist has some kind of certification,” she said.

According to Rocha, art therapy is a good way to relieve stress because it is a unique and creative outlet for students to unwind with. “It’s a different form of engagement than I think we typically do,” she said.

“We’re connected to technology or learning from normal textbooks. And it’s a different part of your brain that is stimulated and helps you kind of distract from the other business of life.”

—Compiled by Amanda Lee

Graphic by Sherry Chen