Henry M. Gunn High School 780 Arastradero Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 Palo Alto Unified School District
Discover classic legends and myths
Centerfold
p. 12
Volume 45
Get the scoop on the The Visit
Relive the week with a Homecoming recap
Features
p. 16
Homework ban implemented starting next winter break Jocelyn Ma
News Editor
Sharing your vacation stories after the holidays is a typical classroom activity, but an increasing number of “activities” from students are becoming “homework” or “projects.” The irony of the time called winter “break” has caused the school board to take action against an unfavorable arrangement for both students and teachers. After weeks of considering public opinion, the school board unanimously decided on Oct. 28 to push the 2009-2010 school year back so finals will be the third week of January instead of the second. The board believes that this change will encourage students to enjoy their vacations instead of worrying about the approaching exams. The board also decided to support stress-free winter breaks by implementing a new policy banning assigned homework during those weeks. However, it has been made clear that this is only a temporary solution to the problem. Board President Dana Tom has already stated that he supports a more controversial action. “I’m inclined to push for finishing the semester before winter break next time,” Tom said in a recent article in The Palo Alto Daily. The calendar change has elicited mixed responses from the student body. Student Site Council Representative Phil Park, who was present at the school board meeting, noted issues such as obvious loopholes that were brought to attention by the student body. Many seniors also felt that having finals after vacation adds extra pressure to their already hectic college application season. “I would rather have finals before winter break because that eliminates stress completely,” senior Rebecca Lee said. Response from teachers has been less than positive. The Instructional Council is protesting against the homework ban, arguing that it undermines teachers’ professional judgment. “The [Instructional Supervisors] have agreed to talk about the issues at their department meetings,” Principal Noreen Likins said. English Instructional Supervisor Paul Dunlap has decided to write a letter to the school board. “Whether or not that will have an impact is anybody’s guess,” Likins said. According to vice principal Barb Mitchell, the board plans to revisit the plan in 2010, when discussion about the effect of the calendar will occur. The board also plans to distribute surveys to collect data on the effectiveness of the changes in the final exam schedule and winter break homework policies.
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Monday, November 17, 2008
Issue 3
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Financial crisis affects student futures Sarah-Jean Zubair Copy Editor
With the economy’s current volatility, college-bound students have begun to wonder if the financial crisis will impact their plans for the future. But College and Career Center Coordinator Leighton Lang advises students not to worry about their college plans being affected by the financial crisis. “Universities have not
raised their fees,” Lang said. “Financial aid is available and lots of colleges are beginning to accept excuses for personal circumstances.” The U.S. Department of Labor has stated that the nationwide monthly layoff average has reached 84,000 jobs. Families who are impacted by unemployment and reductions in salaries may find it necessary to decrease the amount of money that can be invested in college educations. A census by the Federal Reserve
concluded that the total consumer debt in the United States of approximately $2.6 trillion. When proportionately distributed amongst all American citizens, that is about $8,500 per person. Those impacted by a combination of personal debt and job insecurity may find they cannot afford to take large loans to pay for higher education. According to a survey by MeritAid. com, a scholarship aid Web site, approximately 60 percent of 2,500 surveyed FINANCIAL CRISIS—p.3
Philip Sun
Students beautify Gunn campus Wen Yi Chin Sports Editor
An overwhelming turnout of students, parents and staff members gathered on Nov. 8 for Gunn Beautification Day (GBD), a three-hour event formally known as Gunn Pride Day sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Association. Volunteers arrived at 9 a.m., fully expecting to complete their share of work while enjoying the tables of breakfast pastries, and later, pizza. Parent coordinators Nancy Neff, Lori Shaffer and Andrea Ziebell all agreed that this year’s GBD was a success, thanks to the efficiency of the volunteers. “They were enthusiastic and came prepared to tackle difficult jobs,” Ziebell said. “They worked tirelessly for hours at dirty work like scraping gum off the pavement, and some kids wheeled big barrels of mulch across the campus.” For GBD, the coordinators compiled a list of about 14 tasks, which needed a work force of about 75 students. Jobs included,
but were not limited to, mulching, pruning, weeding, sweeping, picking up litter and planting. “[Our campus] is already pretty nice, but I think that we can always help out,” freshman Julia Ama said. Neff, Shaffer and Ziebell first solicited the input of staff members and the presidents of the service clubs to see what kind of jobs they would like to see done. Most of the teacher-requested tasks were added to the “to-do” list and completed on GBD. According to Shaffer, YCS/Interact senior co-presidents Jillian Du and Vivian Shen responded to their request with an idea to paint the large square benches on the quad. “[Neff] and I took the idea to Ms. Likins and [Assistant Principal Tom Jacoubowsky],” Shaffer wrote in an e-mail message. “It turns out that there is a district policy regarding painting around campus. Regardless, the project would have been beyond the scope of a three-hour GBD.” While most of the jobs stay the same from year to year, this year’s big project was planting and weeding on the hill by GBD—p.2
Obama makes election history pg. 2 Courtesy of Barack Obama
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The Oracle
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Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Libby Craig Managing Editors Noah Johnson Tenny Zhang News Beth Holtzman Jocelyn Ma Carissa Ratanaphanyarat Forum Maya Itah Jon Proctor Features Joyce Liu Niki Mata Centerfold Amarelle Hanyecz Amy Yu Entertainment Danielle Edelman Veronica Polivanaya Sports Aviel Chang Wen Yi Chin Mari Ju Copy Editors Sophie Cheng Emily Glider Sarah-Jean Zubair Photo Ivan Yong Graphics Brian Phan
Staff Reporters Melissa Chan Eugenah Chou Shaya Christensen Dana Li Joseph Lin Alvin Man Jeffrey Wang Bauer Wann Business Managers Anne Hsiao Ryan Tan Circulation Managers Ann Abraham Danielle Aspitz Photographers Matthew Lee Henry Liu Maverick Mallari Philip Sun Cosmo Sung Graphics Artists Dan Buckner Kimberly Han Nathan Toung Adviser Kristy Garcia
The Oracle is published by and for the students of Henry M. Gunn Senior High School. The unsigned editorials that appear in this publication represent the majority opinion of the editorial staff and The Oracle's commitment to promoting students' rights. The Oracle strongly encourages and prints signed Letters to the Editor. Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one. Letters may be edited to meet space requirements and the writer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the content. Letters to the editor and ideas for coverage may be sent to gunnoracle@yahoo.com. These letters and ideas need not be from current students. The Oracle publishes 10 issues annually. Subscriptions are $40/year.
Courtesy of Barack Obama
Campus looking for positive change after election Barack Obama becomes the first African-American in the White House Melissa Chan reporter
On Nov. 4, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president. As the first African-American man ever to be elected president of the United States, his success is a significant achievement for equality for all races, a battle once led by Martin Luther King Jr. that is still ongoing today. “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America,” Obama said in his acceptance speech at Grant Park in his home state of Illinois. In this historic race, Obama received a total of 349 electoral votes out of 538, significantly more than the 270 needed to secure the victory. When Eastern states such as New York and New Jersey began submitting their votes, the
candidates stayed nearly fifty-fifty in the popular vote, but Obama had a decisive lead in electoral votes. When Ohio contributed its sufficient 20 electoral votes to Obama, it was projected that Senator John McCain’s chances to win were diminishing. At 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Obama received enough electoral votes from the Western states, like California and Washington, to secure his lead. “This election is the first time I felt like I wasn’t voting for the lesser of two evils,” English teacher Jordan Huizing said. “I felt like I was voting with my heart and spirit.” The presidential election drew record voter turnout. “I am encouraged by the political participation.” U.S. government teacher Mark Weisman said, “It was awesome that so many people went out to take part in the system.” The Associated Press figures show that a
little over 123 million people cast their ballots in this election, with a voter turnout rate of 56 percent, surpassing the 122.3 million votes cast in the 2004 election. “It’s good that we are probably going to see a change,” junior Tarina Cooper said. Some Americans describe McCains concession spech as dignified, gracious and one of the best speeches he has ever given. “My friends,” he said to crowd of supporters in his home state of Arizona, “we have come to the end of a long journey.” McCain still has many supporters across the nation, taking 47 percent of the popular vote while trailing Obama by fewer than 10 million votes. “I am glad Obama won, but I still hold a deep respect for McCain,” sophomore Leonard Woo said. The country is expecting immediate action on many issues
from President-Elect Obama. “I think it puts America in the right direction,” senior Nora Boyd said. Expectations are extremely high due to President George Bush’s low approval rating. “I hope that [Obama] will improve the economy, war and break down some of the cultural differences that still exist in the world today,” English teacher Nicole Cohen said. Obama’s future plans will include not raising taxes for American families making under $250,000 annual income. Foreign policy is also a huge priority. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden hope to develop a trade policy that widens foreign markets supporting good domestic jobs. Obama plans to curb the spread of nuclear weapons by negotiating a global ban on the production of new nuclear weapon material. “[This election] makes me hopeful for us as a species,” Huizing
Student, parent volunteers give campus makeover n GBD, from p. 1
Arastradero Rd. According to Neff, they wanted to tackle projects that would have a “visible” outcome, meaning that the difference would be noticeable. Physics teacher Bill Dunbar initially requested the committee to refresh the Arastradero hill because it was overgrown with weeds. Previous plants had not survived and students tend to tread on them when they’re dropped off. In compliance with Dunbar’s request, Neff and Shaffer worked in conjunction with some experts from the California Native Plant Society to select low maintenance and sustainable plants. Every area of the campus received some amount of attention as students set about cleaning, from dusting keyboards in the Academic Center to washing the Fish Bowl. Almost every building on campus had its windows cleaned. According to the coordinators, they started recruiting volunteers on Oct. 1. There were about 100 volunteers this year, almost double last year’s number. “Last year, a lot of the kids who signed up didn’t actually show up,” Ziebell said. “But this year, all the kids who signed up appeared Courtesy of Charlie Chang to have followed through with their commitment, which is great.” Students, parents and staff rake leaves and hose on Gunn BeautiShaffer, who was in charge of stufication Day, organized by parent volunteers and service clubs . dent recruitment, asked service
clubs YCS/Interact, Key Club, Volunteer Club and the Environmental Club to help gather volunteers. She also attributed the increased attendance to the event created on the social networking site Facebook and the sign-up sheets in the Student Activities Center. “This is an important day for the students to take pride and become involved at a campus where they spend so much of their time at,” Ziebell said. For junior Jake Cherry, GBD was more than just cleaning up the school’s campus. “It’s a good excuse to hang out with friends and I didn’t have anything better to do,” Cherry said. The coordinators also got something in return from an event that mainly benefited the students. “[GBD] was such a success because we completed mostly all of the jobs,” Shaffer said. “And it was great working with all the kids who came out. We could have used more parent volunteers as team leaders as we had so many students coming out this year.” The coordinators urge students to be constantly conscious of their campus and its state of cleanliness. “[GBD] is also a way to show the kids how important it is to keep their campus clean on a daily basis,” Ziebell said. “It’s not a once-a-year kind of thing.”
News
Monday, November 17, 2008
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l c a i r c i s n i s a n h i i t F s home College aid still available despite nation’s severe economic downturn
n FINANCIAL CRISIS, from p. 1
high school seniors considered applying to less prestigious universities because of changes in personal monetary circumstances. “As of now, though I haven’t changed my official list of colleges, I have sort of reordered it,” senior Emily Foster said. “Going to a good UC for less than half the price of some of the private colleges elsewhere sounds much more enticing than it did before.” But Lang believes students should not let family financial issues impact their college choices. “Familial dynamics is definitely the most important factor in college applications in terms of finances,” he said. “But students shouldn’t let financial issues close the door on where they want to go.” According to the Director of Financial Aid at Stanford University, Karen Cooper, the financial crisis not only impacts college-bound students, but current college students who are dependent on financial aid as well.
Q&A with
Cooper said that school-awarded scholarships and grants could be altered in relation to any changes in a student’s personal circumstances. “Because Stanford’s scholarships awarded to students are based on need, as long as the student’s family’s financial circumstances remain the same, the amount of scholarship should remain the same from year to year,” she said. “Of course if the family financial circumstances change, a parent loses a job, for example, those new circumstances would be taken into account.” Because financial aid from individual schools is circumstantial, Lang said that he suggests investigating private grants and scholarships for financial aid in addition to applying to the school itself. “There are many different types of scholarships,” he said. “Not all of them are based on finances either, like merit scholarships. Students and their parents should definitely look into these before deciding on a university.”
Katherine Chi
student continue or expand those interests in college? “Passion” is a common buzz word, yet in many ways, it’s an apt one.
The Oracle: What is the first thing admissions counselors look at? Katherine Chi: Without question, public or private college, the most important part of the application is the academic record. The cumulative record is the best preindicator as to how a student will perform, so admissions officers review it carefully. This includes the courses a student has taken, number of years of each subject, grade trends, GPA, high school context, academic correlation to future major/interests and more.
TO: What kind of essay are colleges looking for? KC: The essays are the main opportunity an applicant has to speak directly in his or her own words directly to the admissions decision-makers. It’s a chance for colleges to know a student beyond grades, scores and checkboxes, and therefore, the essays can be invaluable in the application process. The best essays should capture the essence of the individual student; if I erase the name off the top of an essay and pass it around to that student’s closest family and friends, they should be able to identify the author immediately. Those essays—the ones that reflect a student’s genuine voice and self —are the best ones.
College Admission Counselor
TO: What is the aim for extracurricular activities? KC: Like the academic record, this is one of the few parts of the application that is cumulative, capturing an applicant’s extracurricular involvement over time. For the extracurricular record, the question is, “How will this student contribute to our campus community beyond the classroom?” In searching for the answer, colleges primarily look for commitment and depth of involvement. Is there one or more activities to which a student has devoted time and energy, what are the motivations behind those pursuits, and how might that
TO: You would expect a strong academic student to have strong scores. What happens when there’s a gap? KC: Colleges usually don’t get concerned unless the gap is significant, as they understand that tests are a one-day event. Some range and variance is to be expected, which is why students shouldn’t stress over a few points up or down. But if the scores are a lot lower or higher than the grades, that raises questions. Is this a terrific student who just
isn’t a good test-taker? Maybe the high school has overinflated the curriculum and GPA? Perhaps the student has a great deal of intellectual potential but is academically undisciplined or unmotivated? These sorts of issues, if applicable, are usually ones that students should address somewhere in their applications. TO: How do letters of recommendation help or hurt you? KC: Letters of recommendation add a valuable dimension to the academic record, as they provide more details to mere class titles and grades. From teachers, colleges can measure a student’s intellectual vitality and love of learning, whereas from counselors, colleges can understand the school community and where a student fits in at that school. As far as how many you should send, you want to be very careful. “Less is more” is the motto that students should follow, as you need to keep in mind that admissions officers are reading and processing a lot of information. A good rule of thumb is a “one plus” rule—not to send more than one additional recommendation beyond what’s required by the college. Also, if you’re going to send an extra letter, think carefully about what insights that recommender is going to provide that’s distinct and unique, compared to what’s already being sent. —Compiled by Danielle Aspitz
November 30 UC & CSU application deadline
December 15 Stanford early decision admission notification
January 1 Start submitting FreeApplication for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
March 1 CSU admission notification
May 1 UC & CSU admission notification
September 20 Foothill registration deadline —Compiled by Ann Abraham
Philip Sun
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News Mobile phones deemed a hazard Gunn holds mock election The Oracle
Studies reveal cell phone users are more likely to develop some cancers
Shaya Christensen Reporter
Students voted in a mock election on Oct. 30 that foreshadowed Senator Barack Obama’s sweeping victory in the presidential race. In the campus election, organized by the Youth Community Service (YCS)/Interact club, Obama’s victory was even more lopsided. He received 681 votes to Senator John McCain’s 74 votes. Among the other candidates, former U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney had 31 votes, Ralph Nader had 28, Bob Barr had 26 and Alan Keyes had 9. Students favored all but four of the propositions on the California ballot. Propositions 4 (abortion), 6 (criminal justice programs), 8 (same-sex marriage), and 11 (redistricting committees) were defeated. Proposition 1A, a bond measure funding a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, passed in the mock election as it did in the real election. Still, some voters were skeptical on the source of the fund. “In our current economic crisis, I don’t feel like we
have $9.8 billion to spend,” sophomore Holt Bowmer said. Many students did not vote on every ballot measure. “What surprised us was that a lot of people voted [on] Prop 8 but omitted the rest of the props,” junior YCS/ Interact president Vivian Shen said. The measure to ban same-sex marriages failed by a large margin in the mock election, but passed with 52.5 percent of the vote on the California ballot. Shen said the election was a chance to get students involved in politics. “It gives them the opportunity to show who they support,” she said. Only 839 students cast ballots. “Not enough people voted, which is my complaint about all elections,” social studies teacher John Fredrich said. But this year, a record number of voters cast ballots in the national election, including many new voters. Eligible students also had a chance to vote in both the real and mock elections. “I’m 18 and I got to vote [for real],” senior Michael Rowland said on Nov. 5. “I helped elect Obama!”
Over one billion mobile phones were sold last year, at a rate that some researchers deem to be dangerous. Studies conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) began a project in 2000 in 13 different countries to determine if there was a link between cell phone usage and four different types of cancer in the head and neck behind the jaw. The study traced the cell phone usage of over 6,000 cases of brain and neck cancer and compared this data with over 7,000 participants from the general population. It found that the cancer patients used their cell phones more frequently than the control group. Also, researchers determined that the cancer was more likely to appear on the side of the head that a patient generally held his or her mobile phone. T he cu r rent explanation for t he st udy’s re sults involves the r a d io f r e quency (RF) waves that cell phones emit. Televisions, radios and GPS devices all use RF waves. Cell phones use a frequency of anywhere from 300 to 3,000 megahertz, a high frequency when compared to other RF transmitters. These waves also come closer to the human head for longer periods of time than those in a GPS or radio. However, the radiation that the waves emit is non-ionizing, meaning that it does not have enough energy to affect atomic structure. Non-ionizing radiation has not been linked with cancer risks before, with the exception of ultrasound waves. Critics of the IARC study argue that it did not establish a causal relationship—only a correlation. However, the critics said that the correlation had some flaws. The patients were asked about their phone use over the last decade, but ten years before the study’s initiation in 1990, cell phones were fairly uncommon. While the first cell phone was marketed in 1983, it
was chunky and impractical. Even in 1990, mobile phones were large and unwieldy. There were only two million cell phones in use in the United States. The number of mobile phone users grew exponentially in the following years, but critics argue that the year the patient bought a phone ought to have been taken into consideration during the study. Another criticism of the study was the definition employed for “regular phone use,” once a week for six months. At the low level of radiation that phones emit, some doctors say the exposure is not strong enough to cause cancer. Additionally, researchers question whether patients can accurately remember how often they used a phone ten years prior. Supporters of the study, however, claim that the amount of time the par ticipants self-reported conformed to the national average. Despite the critiques, some Palo Alto families are placing restrictions on cell phone use nonetheless. Among them is sophomore Gregg Ratanaphanyarat, who has not been aln ou lowed to carry a cell T n t ha phone for daily, conversaNa tional purposes since. Fearing dangerous radiation, his parents did not allow him to purchase a cell phone until two years ago. According to Ratanaphanyarat, even now, he is only allowed to use his mobile phone on occasion. Despite his upbringing, Ratanaphanyarat does not plan on putting his phone away permanently because of the study. “I think using them once in a while is fine,” he said. Junior Brittany Cheng had similar misgivings about cell phone use. However, instead of limiting cell phone use, Cheng bought a Stealth Radar Shield sticker which, when placed on the phone, blocks radiation. “People ask me about it, but you don’t feel it,” she said. “It’s just a tiny sticker.” However, Cheng still prefers to protect herself. “Better safe than sorry,” she said. g
Emily Glider Copy editor
Student opinions replicate actual presidential election
Nathan Toung
Bi-annual disaster drill met with student reluctance and questioning Queries concerning procedures, safety and student participation arise after latest disaster drill Carissa Ratanaphanyarat News Editor
Disaster drills are supposed to prepare students for the worst, but some said that aspects of the procedures need to be changed to ensure better safety in the case of a real disaster. Gunn currently holds two disaster drills each year. The most recent drill was held on Oct. 17 when approximately 2,000 people evacuated onto the turf field. Faculty members, students and the administration all participated. Members of the first aid, search and rescue and transportation teams went through their roles and practiced completing procedures in preparation for a disaster. Some said that the drill went smoothly. “Given that students and staff do it twice a year, the students and staff did really well,” Assistant Principal Phil Winston said. However, following the drill, members of the staff and student body found aspects to improve upon. The administration, which was unable to make all students sit down, said that doing so in an actual disaster would be important. “It’s very difficult getting 1900 students to sit down,” Winston said. “[But] it makes it
easier for us to see what’s going on. It makes it more manageable.” Several students also voiced concerns that the school desks would not offer enough protection in a disaster. “I just ducked underneath,” junior Taimu Yamauchi said. “I didn’t have any problems, but a lot of people thought that the desks were too small, and there was gum underneath. The desks aren’t doing the job. When some people duck under the desks they have a head or leg sticking out. People would get injured.” Senior Phil Park agreed. “I know a lot of people who can’t fit under the desks because we’re just too big,” Park said. Assistant Principal Tom Jacoubowsky said that complaints may lie in the desk structure, but added that it cannot be helped. “Unfortunately, it’s how the desks are designed,” he said. “You just do the best you can.” However, other members of the administration dismissed the complaints, saying that students should follow instructions. “Duck, cover and be quiet,” Winston said. “[Students] are young adults and should act like young adults.” Others, like Yamauchi, worry that not having enough desks for everyone would
be problematic in the case of an earthquake. “We didn’t have enough desks in the room, so some people had to share a desk,” he said. However, social studies teacher Mark Weisman said that in the case of an emergency, students should not have to use the same desk. “Every student is supposed to have a desk,” Weisman said. “It’s a part of the district policy.” Being in certain rooms may also be a bigger threat than others when an actual disaster strikes. According to Jacoubowsky, classrooms such as the choir, band and engineering tech rooms can be more hazardous for students because of the lack of desks in them. “In a real disaster, we’re just going to have to use our best judgment,” Jacoubowsky said. However, Principal Noreen Likins said that the main purpose of ducking under the desks is to use them to protect a person’s head. “They say that what you should do is to cover your head as much as possible,” Likins said. “Yes, you want your arms and legs, but you want to protect your head more.” Likins also said that she thought that major injuries would only be sustained in a large earthquake. “In this building, it is
unlikely that there would be major injuries,” she said. “We’re single story, and the building tends to flex very well. Only a major, major earthquake might be more hazardous to students, like if the roof came down, or if you get a building collapse.” Despite this, some feel there needs to be a change. “We should think of something smarter,” Yamauchi said. “Getting a bigger desk might help. Or each classroom should have more desks than necessary.” Complaints about lacking student help in the disaster drill process have also arisen. For the past three years, students have not been a part of the crew helping out with the drills. According to Winston, who is responsible for preparing the school for disasters, many students have approached him asking why they were not involved in the process, such as members of certain medical or emergency clubs. “I gave a card to them, and told them to give it to their club president and to ask them to contact me,” Winston said. “But no one ever did.” However, Winston also said that the school discourages students from being involved in the rescue process. “We’re a little reluctant to let students get involved,” he said. “There’s a lot of liability in that. We’re just trying to play it safe.”
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Monday, November 17, 2008
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The Oracle
New turf introduces new hazards Expensive upgrade a disservice to entire athletic department T his past summer, Gunn spent $2.6 million remodeling its athletic facilities. Switching the football field from grass to turf, however, was a large step in the wrong direction. Although the donation is greatly appreciated, it could have been put to better use. We poured money into the new athletic facilities, but the turf fields are dangerous to athletes’ health and harmful to the environment.
Step out onto the new turf field during the summer, and one of turf’s drawbacks will become quite obvious—it’s blazing hot. On scorching summer days, the black pellets on the field soak up the sun and radiate the energy back as heat. According to a study at Brigham Young University, turf is 37 degrees warmer than asphalt and a staggering 86.5 degrees hotter than grass on sunny days. On one day, temperatures as high as 200 degrees were recorded on the turf—just 12 degrees more and any water on the field would start to boil. Apart from being incredibly uncomfortable to play in, intense heat can cause heatstroke, a dangerous and potentially fatal condition, as well as dehydration and heat blisters. While turf does allow the field to be used in the rain, its scorching heat may limit its playability during summer months. Turf is also physically more dangerous than well-kept grass. Knee and ankle injuries are common on turf because, unlike grass, turf does not rip when a pivoting foot gets stuck. Instead of tearing out the grass, all the stress is put onto the athlete’s joints, causing severe injuries such as torn ligaments and tendons. According to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, injuries occur 84 percent more frequently on turf than on grass. By switching the field from grass to turf, we are putting athletes in unnecessary danger. The new field was supposed to improve Gunn’s athletic department, but if
players get injured, they won’t be able to play no mater how nice the field looks. Synthetic fields may also carry longterm health risks. In many of the fields, lead chromate is used to dye the fields. Although this chemical is not dangerous while the turf is intact, ripping up the turf from day to day use can release some of this toxin. Exposure to lead—especially for teens, whose brains are still developing—can cause damage to the brain, leading to inhibited growth and learning problems. Although it is still not clear how much lead actually soaks out of the fibers, there is no need to take such a potentially catastrophic risk. We know that grass is 100 percent lead free, so why switch to something potentially poisonous? Supporters of turf argue that it increases the playability of the surface and is an environmentally conscious alternative to grass. While turf does offer a reliable playing surface devoid of the holes and bumps most high school grass fields have, turf’s “greenness” is debatable. Although turf does not require regular watering, during the hotter parts of the year it often necessary to water the turf to cool it for the safety of the players. In addition, the cleaners and disinfectants used on the turf to keep it safe can be just as, if not more, harmful to the environment than the fertilizers used on grass. Although it may seem peculiar, disinfectants are commonly used on turf to keep it clean. Turf is a paradise for bacteria because it is not a complete ecosystem like a field of grass. When players slide on turf, the field burns their skin just like a rope
The Opinion of The Oracle
Nathan Toung
burn or sliding on carpet would. Not only is this incredibly painful, but it also gives the plethora of bacteria living in the turf easy access into the body. If the wounds are not cleaned immediately, which is often the case, they can get infected and become incredibly painful as well as dangerous. Statistics and health risks aside, however, turf also fails on a more traditional standpoint. It simply doesn’t feel like grass. Something is lost when a field switches to turf—the fresh smell and soft feel of green grass is replaced by a bristly and dry plastic carpet, and it’s just not the same. Although switching the main field back to grass is not realistic, we must make sure that both lower fields are kept as lush, green, beautiful grass. For the health of athletes and for the love of the game, turf is not the answer. —Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the staff (assenting: 19; dissenting: 13)
NASCAR guzzles precious fuel Seniors need downtime Organization must curb irresponsible wasting
Joyce Liu
If you think that the Hummer H3 is the least environmentally friendly vehicle on earth, you’re wrong. Another car drives tree-huggers even more insane: a National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) automobile. Besides using up copious amounts of natural resources, the NASCAR association is inefficiently organized and r uinous to the environment. NASCAR needs to get with the times and take an initiative to make its race cars more eco-friendly. As resource guzzlers, NASCAR vehicles can be considered the arch enemies of Mother Earth. According to NASCAR, on a typical race weekend, a race car will use between nine and 14 sets of tires, while an average set of street tires is replaced approximately every three years. Each racing tire is $389 and can run for 150 miles. A normal tire, on the other hand, costs about $150 to $200 and can run for an average of 50,000 miles. Hence, an average NASCAR car uses up $17,894 each race weekend— and that’s only for the tires. Gasoline is an entirely different issue. For a race car to finish the Indianapolis 500-mile race, it must use 143 gallons of gasoline, assuming that achieves 3.5 miles per gallon. Now, if normal gasoline costs $3.50 per gallon, a car will use $500 worth of gasoline. However, gasoline for these cars will often cost more, because they need high-quality oil. When the cost of tires is added, the total is $18,394 per race car per weekend. $18,394 could be used
to help so many people—but it’s being spent for a plastic trophy. According to Sportscolumn.com, NASCAR vehicles are mostly unregulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The race cars do not have to have emissions control devices. If NASCAR created less pollution, it could significantly reduce our carbon-footprint. In addition, fans who travel to these races further contribute to the environmental damage. Although other sports fans also travel to watch their favorite teams, they do not drive all their way from their homes to watch athletes create even more pollution on the playing field. Most sports burn calories, not fuel. Along with hurting the environment, NASCAR is detrimental to our health. Kimberly Han The Clean Air Act of 1970 phased out the commercial use of leaded fuel, and required catalytic converts to be installed on new cars because of the harmful effects of lead released into the air. In 1996, it banned the sale of leaded gasoline. According to the EPA, lead in the air can cause serious effects such as mental retardation, behavioral disorders and permanent nerve damage. NASCAR, however, did not ban the use of leaded gasoline until February of last year. According to ESPN, after working with fuel-suppliers, NASCAR was able to make unleaded fuel compatible with NASCAR engines. The elimination of leaded fuel shows that as long as it makes an effort, NASCAR can truly improve itself and make it more eco-friendly. It is understandable that NASCAR is a pastime for many, but instead of wasting money on natural resources, NASCAR should look into making its cars more eco-friendly. Prius race, anyone? —Liu, a junior, is a Features Editor.
Danielle Aspitz As if the Gunn academic environment is not tough enough, seniors must also apply to college. For the entire first semester, students struggle to write essays and create portfolios while simultaneously maintaining a sky-high GPA. If that was all they juggled, perhaps they could manage, but most students also have extracurricular activities and sports to worry about. With no break, there is no way students can utilize their full potentials to create breathtaking applications. But if seniors had a week off dedicated specifically for college applications, the quality of both their applications and their work would rise. The best advice seniors get is “finish early” or “just get it over with,” but with so little time and so many applications becoming available only in late September, this advice is a mere fantasy, unreachable to even the most talented of students. Thus, when weighed against college applications, schoolwork often falls to the wayside. However, if seniors could get a week off from school during October to work on college applications, they could also create better applications and have more time and patience to spend on schoolwork. More students are applying to college these days, and the ac-
ceptance rate declines each year. Consequentially, the quality demanded in applications becomes higher and higher, and if the goal of high school is to get into a good college, Gunn should endorse any action that will raise the quality of students’ applications. In the end, Gunn benefits from sending its students to impressive colleges. Of course, many classes are a mix of seniors and non-seniors. During the week off, teachers could choose from a few methods of handling the absent seniors. The week could be spent teaching extra material that would be relevant to the course but not required. No homework, tests or quizzes should be assigned in these courses during the week. If the course is already short on time, the teacher could require seniors to attend afterschool workshops later in the year. If a class contains very few seniors, those students could make special arrangements with the teacher. Overall, seniors should not have to feel guilty or stressed about missing this week of school, and should be able to spend the majority of the week bettering their applications. If Gunn were to take this change into consideration, seniors would have a far higher chance of successfully finishing their applications and of attaining that high GPA they so desire. High school should give students a chance to put their best selves forward on this once in a lifetime chance to present themselves to colleges. —Aspitz, a senior, is a reporter.
Forum
Monday, November 17, 2008
7
PRO
CON
Will privatization improve education? Eugenah Chou
Danielle Edelman Education is a machine, churning out students to be used and abused by society. It is currently owned and operated by the government. The history of social programs is often sketchy, and many times public industries that are given back to private owners thrive under the new system. The privatization of schools has the potential to give lower income families better access to quality education as well as to encourage schools to improve curriculum through competition. Consider the benefits of private industries in general. While these companies seek profit, consumers usually benefit from their competition. When firms fight for buyers, they lower their prices or improve the quality of their goods. Private schools will follow this pattern as they compete for enrollment, lowering tuition costs and improving themselves. Currently, students are assigned to public schools based on the district. Public schools have little motivation to improve themselves because they are guaranteed funding from their state or local governments. Districts that receive funding from city taxpayers receive more pressure from parents to provide an exceptional program. Just as shabby storefronts are transformed by businesses, so too would privatized schools benefit from a corporate grooming. With “education businesses” already in existence, it is not hard to envision a world in which there are “chains” of schools. Although this sounds like another plot from big businesses, it would benefit schools in poorer neighborhoods. Because large private companies seek profit,
they will strive to make their schools attractive and academically sound. Unlike states, which must select which schools receive the most funding, private businesses homogenize product investment and quality. This means that schools in poor or unpopular neighborhoods will receive the same funding as those in wealthy ones. This would lead to improvement in the revamped schools’ communities. Currently, private schools are seen by many as a luxury and a waste of money. Some say that privatizing schools will force poorer families to settle for low-quality or religion-subsidized education. However, it is unlikely that state governments will let privatization run wild. There are already successful voucher programs in some states. Many claim that the aid given to families is not enough to cover a good private education. While this may be true now, a privatized system will have many good schools at various price levels. It is not in the interest of private businesses to market bad products, so even the cheaper schools will provide a decent education. In truth, the perks of public education do not reach far beyond the simple free-goods draw. It may not be wise to immediately overthrow the education system, but it would be wise for everyone to consider this: education in the United States is ranked near the bottom of international charts. This information indicates that change is called for, so why not privatization? It is time for the education machine to be returned to private hands. —Edelman, a senior, is an Entertainment Editor.
Privatizing our nation’s education system may sound like a decent idea, but if implemented in the real world, a theory like this will fall to pieces. Although the government hopes to increase competition between schools by giving students the power of choice, the sad truth of the matter is that while good schools will thrive, bad ones will fail miserably. Proponents of privatization promise a better education to all American students. They claim that with privatization, less qualified teachers will be eliminated, thus universally improving education. However, they fail to address the matter of a limited number of competent teachers. When supply can no longer meet demand, privatization encounters yet another problem: how are students to be selected? With a greater group of applicants, schools have more room to single out students who meet certain standards, including race or social status, for acceptance. This brings us right back to square one. To mitigate financial drawbacks, educational vouchers would be awarded to less privileged families for usage at schools of their choice, religious schools included. Opponents to vouchers claim that this ability violates the separation of church and state. Additionally, the vouchers’ values are nowhere near enough to cover the tuition of some elite private schools, therefore failing to eliminate the issue of money.
The basis of America’s success has always been its democracy, and effectively, group work. Currently, school boards in charge of directing the “going-ons” of public schools are made up of community-elected officials. The direct power of the ballot allows parents and citizens to influence change on local schools. Privatization will weaken this ability severely, specifically when it comes to finances and selection of school staff members. Power will instead be transferred over to private corporations, which are in charge of making decisions they assume will benefit families and students. However, when education becomes a matter of business, exterior factors like the success of the companies involved are counterproductive to the overall achievements of students. Although the general intent of privatization is positive, more effective changes can be made. Instead of flat-out firing inexperienced public school teachers, the training process and prerequisites for becoming a teacher in the first place should be enhanced. Also, more money should be directed towards designing top-notch evaluation tools, which would help identify learning disabilities in students at an earlier age. All in all, privatization would not only require further sacrifices to the education system, but would also be an inefficient way of achieving something that can be accomplished in less drastic steps. —Chou, a sophomore, is a reporter.
Brian Phan
New College Board test targets eighth graders’ pocketbooks
Dana Li The College Board does fairly well for a self-professed nonprofit organization. The company receives an application fee of $45 from the majority of the students in the country; that means some $85,000 a year from Gunn alone just for the SAT. But these are old facts, ones that Americans have already grudgingly accepted. Why the renewed interest now? Because apparently, the College Board is not yet satisfied. The College Board has recently released
plans for a new test: the Readistep, a bite-sized, two-hour version of the SAT, complete with writing, reading comprehension and mathematics sections. But wait, that’s not all. The targets of this new test? Eighth graders. According to College Board President Gaston Caperton, the test is a direct response to schools that requested a “tool that would help them determine before high school what measures should be taken to ensure that students are on the path to being college ready.” However, this argument would carry more weight if not for the existence of College Board’s PSAT and SAT tests, both of which cover the same three topics as those in the Readistep and serve the same overall purpose of ascertaining a
student’s preparation for college. Nationally mandated tests already cover Readistep’s other purpose of informing teachers on the subjects in which their students require more instruction. Clearly, the availability of other tests coupled with the lack of real demand for the exam raise questions about the College Board’s ulterior motives. At $10 a test, the cost of this “pre-pre-SAT” is not outrageous, but it is nevertheless a definite new stream of income for the company in a field that is becoming less and less popular amongst students and college admissions officers alike. Set against a backdrop of increasing public debate and decreasing university esteem, the College Board’s sudden introduction of the Readistep exam
to middle school kids strikes the critic as a near-desperate attempt to gain footing in a gradually shrinking market. More important than the College Board’s questionable motives, however, are the effects that the test will have on students. For eighth graders, Readistep treads a dangerous border between needless and downright detrimental. In today’s academic pressure cooker, a pre-college assessment test for middle schoolers will inevitably push the demand to achieve onto younger and younger students. An earlier standardized test would cause younger students to worry about college and prematurely sort these students into academic tiers. It is easy to see scores from the Readistep being used to separate students by projected ability, deter-
mining their admittance into high school honors courses. However, projected ability is a shaky subject on which to judge students; early sorting discourages late bloomers and limits students’ potentials. In the end, Readistep would ultimately distract middle schoolers from the very subject it seeks to assess: their studies. It is time for us to step back and reevaluate what it means to obtain academic success, and to what lengths we are willing to go to achieve it. If nothing else, perhaps now, we might at least make a conscious decision to drop some of our demands, our measurements and our evaluations, and simply let our eighth graders be.
—Li, a senior, is a reporter.
8 Prop. 8 denies Californians rights The Oracle
Forum
Fueled by lies, Prop. 8 violates the Constitution
Jessie Belfer The passage of Proposition 8 “eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.” If it had been defeated, same-sex couples in California would have continued to share the same rights as heterosexual couples. Many people supported the passage of Proposition 8 because of their religious beliefs. As a religious person, I am not one to judge the practices of any religion. However, these beliefs cannot be used to justify a constitutional amendment simply because America is not a theocracy. Our constitution requires the separation of Church and State. Proposition 8’s defeat would have had no effects on the rights of religious institutions to operate and to uphold their traditional definitions of marriage. Proposition 8 affected civil marriage, therefore it was an issue of civil rights, not of religious beliefs. Along with religious beliefs, proponents of Proposition 8 justified their position with a campaign of lies and scare tactics. The Yes on 8 campaign did not hesitate to stoop to any low in the hopes of herding more voters to their side.
One of their most common arguments was that California schools would be required to teach children about samesex marriages or that they would “teach homosexuality.” In fact, the California education code states that students should be taught “respect for marriages and long term commitments,” and does not specify that any philosophy on marriage be taught. Secondly, there is no way to “teach homosexuality.” Sexual orientation is an inherent trait, it cannot be taught or altered. I believe, as is stated in our own constitution, that all people are created equal and should share equal protection under the law. This is the doctrine that was upheld by the California Supreme Court on May 15th, 2008. Last May, the Court overturned Proposition 22, a proposition passed in 2000 that defined marriage in California as being only between a man and a woman. The Supreme Court decision was justified because Proposition 22 clearly violated the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. Passing Proposition 8 and eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry treats LGBT people like second-class citizens. The fact is, this is not an issue of “gay marriage”. It is a question of equality. And whether or not people who are in same-sex relationships should share the same civil protections under the law as members of heterosexual ones. Now that Proposition 8 has been
passed, same-sex couples have lost the many rights and legal benefits that are guaranteed with marriage. Same-sex couples in California are only allowed to enter Domestic Partnerships. Domestic partnerships are not the same as marriage. Members of domestic partnerships are not guaranteed the basic rights that married couples enjoy. Samesex couples must undergo a complicated legal procedure in order to secure the “family status” that is guaranteed in a civil marriage. Without this legal procedure, members of domestic partnerships are not guaranteed the authority to make life or death decisions for their partner or to retain custody of their children and inheritance of property if their partner dies. This is a gross disparity between individuals in terms of their civil rights as citizens of California. To deny these rights to loving couples and their families is nothing short of unjust and discriminatory. Although we have made great progress in the pursuit of equality over the last century, the passage of Proposition 8 proves that we still have a long way to go. People need to understand that marriage equality is not an issue of religious beliefs or irrational fears, but rather a simple question of human rights. It is our job to be the generation that effects this essential change in our country. —Belfer, a senior, is a guest writer.
Pull away from Iraq, invest in Afghanistan Emily Glider As the cost of the war in Iraq exceeds $600 billion, we must ask ourselves: what ever happened in Afghanistan? We have spent more money in the last two years in Iraq than we have ever spent in Afghanistan. Yet more soldiers died in Afghanistan this summer than in Iraq. The United States is not focusing its military efforts meaningfully; it needs to withdraw from the civil conflicts that plague Iraq and invest in ending turmoil in Afghanistan. Our presence in Iraq is counterproductive. The Iraq War technically lasted only 42 days, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, at which point the United States declared victory, and rightly so—it had control of the government and still does. But the current conflict in Iraq is a religious war between two sects with conflicting beliefs. The problem is a centuries old culture clash that has existed since Iraq’s founding. While slightly over 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the course of the war, around 92,000 civilian deaths have been documented. More of the conflict is between Iraqis than between U.S. troops and insurgents. Unlike international conflicts, civil wars originate from internal problems and historically, an external force cannot enforce peace indefinitely. The United States ought to take this lesson from its involvement in the civil war in Vietnam. By the standards of the Bush Doctrine, the United States had every justification to enter: Vietnam was mired in bloody political conflict that had already ousted two governments in three years. However, our presence proved fruitless. The war progressed nine years and killed over 50,000
Brian Phan
people. The United States cannot adequately suppress political discord across the seas. Not only is Iraq a hopeless cause, but winning would not serve any purpose. The primary target of U.S. military operations— guerilla leaders threatening the U.S. and other secular governments—had little connection with Iraq before our entrance. Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s dictator at the time of the U.S. invasion, kept tight security preventing terrorists and saboteurs from operating in the country. His power would have been compromised by a religious war. However, scandals surrounding our entrance, from prisoner abuse at the Abu Graib facility to indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay, have (not surprisingly) turned Iraqi sentiments against the U.S. This in turn has fueled increasing recruitment by terrorist groups. We are actively creating hostilities that make our own situation more perilous. However, we do have an opportunity to aid Afghanistan. Unlike in Iraq, where internal issues have spun out of control, 91 percent of Afghanis do not support the Taliban, ac-
cording to ABC News. While many Afghanis do not support U.S. presence, a vast majority do not wish to see a Taliban government. In Afghanistan, U.S. goals have the support of the populace. The Taliban have also been blatantly hostile to the United States. They have repeatedly refused to extradite dangerous criminals, including Osama bin Laden on two occasions. A government open to extradition is key to maintaining U.S. security; six of the top ten most wanted terrorists are in Afghanistan. Our government seems to be responding to something of a military sunk cost fallacy. We have invested too many resources, we have taken too many risks, we have put our international image at risk. We cannot afford to lose in Iraq. This is a mind-set typical of gambling addicts. We need to be rational and make decisions that are respectful of taxpayer dollars and soldier’s lives. This means admitting failure in Iraq and moving on to a more meaningful enterprise in Afghanistan. —Glider, a junior, is a Copy Editor.
Danielle Edelman As a senior, I suppose I am entitled to grumble every now and again about kids these days and how disappointing they are. What happened to the good old days when people said please and thank you on a regular basis? Did common courtesy go out the popularity window with boy bands and side ponytails? I wish I didn’t have to complain, but after finding myself in the polite minority one time too many, my patience is wearing thin. At the risk of sounding like the most uptight of grandfathers, I am sending out a plea to my fellow students to drop the attitude and pick up politeness. In elementary school we were all taught the importance of social niceties, so what happened to us since then? I think much of the blame can be laid on teenagers being accustomed to easy gratification. Gone are the days when kindergarten teachers patiently reminded us to say please and thank you for all services granted, but it seems that without the reminder, many students have kicked the habit. But even though many teachers and parents expect nothing more than the teenage attitude, most people in the real world are offended by a lack of “please,” and “thank you,” considering the statement to be a demand rather than a request. It will be much easier for students to elicit positive reactions and avoid ticking people off if they get back into the habit of social niceties. Another thing that bothers me is the way teenagers often react to simple, polite requests. I cannot count the number of times I have been trapped on the bus or in a busy walkway by a crowd of standing students that simply will not react to “excuse me.” Many times the best response you can hope for is someone giving you the stink-eye and moving a couple of inches over. I constantly have to prevent myself from snapping back that if they hadn’t been standing in front of the bus door or in the middle of the walkway in the first place, I wouldn’t be bothering them. It is rude and disrespectful to act as if a simple favor is equivalent to cutting off an arm. As long as the request is small and politely made, there should be no problem complying. In the end, I suppose all behavior comes down to what’s in and what’s out. It will be a sad day when respect and decency are considered uncool, and I desperately hope that it does not come to that. Despite my discontented ramblings, I still see a speck of courteous hope for our generation in the midst of the fog of rudeness. Every now and again, I do hear a “sorry” or an “excuse me,” and even an occasional “may I please,” and it is nice to hear something that makes me a little less angry and frustrated at the world around me. So please, give politeness a try. I promise it isn’t as lame as it seems. Thank you. -Edelman, a senior, is an Entertainment editor.
Forum
Monday, November 17, 2008
Extra material overloads brain
Teaching new material before quizzes is inefficient and stressful
9
Homecoming rules
Tenny Zhang Veronica Polivanaya You stumble into class late after pulling an all-nighter to catch up on your annotations, only to realize that today’s math quiz completely slipped your mind. To make matters worse, the quiz is at the end of the period and new information will be presented prior to it. Sure, you may have gained some extra time to cram, but your growing anxiety about the upcoming quiz and inability to concentrate will hurt you in the long run. Quizzes should be given at the beginning of a class period rather than at the end, because not only will it improve a student’s performance on the quiz but it will also bolster the uptake of new information into long-term memory. In a psychological phenomenon known as retroactive interference, subsequent learning may interfere with previous learning by overwriting or obscuring existing knowledge. In other words, learning new information will make it harder to access old information. This means that the lecture on the new material will simply cloud your thoughts and conceal all of the previous cramming pertaining to the quiz. In order to fully comprehend the newly-taught information, you must keep your mind on the lecture at hand and steer clear of diverging thoughts. However, this is easier said then done, as it is almost impossible to completely ignore thoughts about the upcoming quiz. Students tend to feel that every grade counts, no matter how little effect it will have on their overall grade. That being said, a student will simply become more uneasy as the quiz approaches and will concentrate more on worrying and counting down the minutes than on the lecture itself. Even if you could somehow block out all thoughts about the upcoming quiz and focus on the task at hand, retroactive interference would make accessing information pertaining
Students should not use insensitive, derogatory word Why do people use a word that demoralizes people with disabilities, hurts their family and is morally and literally incorrect? The word “retard” does just that and yet people continue to say it. People should pay more attention to the word “retard,” at least as much attention as “nigger” or “faggot.” As I walk around our campus, I hear “retard” thrown around like it is not taken seriously. But this is a very serious word. It demoralizes the handicapped by using what they are as a derogatory term. “Nigger” and “faggot” could
Brian Phan to the quiz an even more difficult process. It is a lose-lose situation either way, because you will either focus on lastminute cramming for the quiz and miss key concepts in the new unit, or you will concentrate on the newly presented information and as a result, decrease your chances of performing well on the quiz. There is no getting around it—students will cram before a quiz no matter what. Students rarely feel 100 percent prepared; there will always be that voice in the back of your head wondering if there was something you’ve either forgotten overnight or neglected to study altogether. Contrary to popular belief, cramming will not do you much justice without prior preparation. Your shortterm memory can store five to nine pieces of information for a duration of 20 seconds. So, although you may feel that you’ve committed something to memory for a minute, moments later, you most likely won’t be able to recall anything. Cramming does not build strong neural connections in the brain, and therefore will not help you in the long term. Teachers may feel the need to put off the quiz until the end of the period in order to have enough time to cover the new material. However, it is almost inevitable that a teacher would get carried away with the lecture, which in turn takes away valuable testing time from the students and causes them to
get you expelled but “retard” is almost completely ignored. Imagine having a developmentally disabled sibling. Your sibling has done nothing wrong yet they are ridiculed daily. How would you feel walking around school, hearing the word “retard” over and over again, knowing that people are saying it without thinking about what it means? Imagine being one of the few who understands and knows what it is like to live with a child with disabilities, trying to explain to people that they should stop saying the word “retard.” It is wrong both morally and literally to use the word “retard.” Morally people who
rush and make careless mistakes. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the lesson plan in mind in order to maximize time efficiency and steer away from such a calamity. By maximizing time efficiency, a teacher may switch around items on his or her agenda and put the quiz at the beginning of the period without worrying about running out of time. Another concern that teachers may have about giving the quiz at the beginning of the period is that students will turn to discussing quiz answers instead of paying attention to the lecture. Although that may be true, the chances of a student recalling a problem word for word are highly unlikely due to limited short-term memory storage. Students will be more likely to concentrate on the new material with the quiz behind them, and will recall less from the quiz after learning new concepts thanks to retroactive interference. That, in turn, will help towards preventing cheating because the intake of the newly-presented information will obscure memories pertaining to the quiz. So, students—if you’re ever offered the choice—take the high road and pick having the quiz prior to the new material; it will rid you of unnecessary anxiety and boost your chances of receiving that fridge-worthy A.
use the word “retard” are violating the Gunn mission statement, “Be resilient, responsible, respectful contributing citizens”. By saying the word “retard,” you are not being respectful. One of the literal reasons the word “retard” is incorrect is that professionals no longer use the term. It is an outdated term because scientists have found out that disabilities are more than just being slow. Current words used to describe the handicapped are developmentally delayed or developmentally disabled. I hear people use the word “retard” to tell others that they are wrong or stupid. This is not what the word means; the word means
—Polivanaya, a senior, is an Entertainment Editor.
handicapped or slow. By using the word incorrectly you are showing those around you how ignorant you are. “Retard” is a word that should not be spoken in a time when it is no longer used as a medical term and whose main purpose is to insult others. Students and teachers should stop and think about the pain the word causes. The demoralization of the disabled, and the pain this causes their families should be paid more attention to. The word “retard” should be taken as seriously as any other racially or sexually derogatory term. —Freshman Michael Underwood
In the process of rehearsing the senior airband, members of the class of 2009 sustained damages from two car accidents, hand made dozens of graduation caps and received about 3 million bruises from our tireless efforts. All the sacrifices and hard work led up to the proclaimed “climax” of Homecoming Week—the Night Rally. The event, however, became more of a lowlight for me and other seniors when our airband received second place. The next day, as I attempted to recuperate from all the drama, my senior pride was again crushed when the sumo victory was ruled to the juniors, without sufficient explanation. Yes, I can go on complaining for hours, but that’s not my main purpose here. Now that the fabled week and all its festivities are long over, I only want to make some suggestions to the Homecoming scoring process that would benefit all students in the future, not just seniors. The most glaring ambiguity in the week is how the airbands are scored. Without debating who should have won first place, we should at least know why first place received first place, and why second place received second. The judging criteria should be made clear to students on the SEC Web site or in paper early on, not in a rushed introduction during the Night Rally. More specifically, I have always wondered whether theme or competition, style or substance is more important in determining the victor. The senior airband was a well-choreographed, nostalgic two-minute reflection on our four years at Gunn—I don’t know which routine would have deserved winning more, if “content” was a component on the scorecard. Yet, juniors present the argument that their routine was better executed and cleaner. While this claim may be true, the juniors should only have won if technical precision supersedes theme and content. Dedicated students deserve to know the reasoning behind the judges’ decisions—perhaps they should briefly announce their scoring, “American Idol”style. I have to confirm with myself that the first place wasn’t simply awarded on a whim. In addition to addressing airbands, clearer guidelines and judging in other games, like the sumo match, would also prevent repeated instances of indignation and anger in the future, because students would better understand the outcomes. And class of 2010, I’m actually thinking of your future well-being and conscience when I argue for more transparent rules, so let’s not get too riled up. All in all, I certainly wouldn’t describe Homecoming 2008 as a bad experience—rather, it was bittersweet and inconsistently great. We should think about improving future Homecoming Weeks so that they are entirely positive. In the meantime, I’m happy with the final outcome of Homecoming. My class has had its share of ups and downs, but in the end, I know you still wish you were a senior. —Zhang, a senior, is a Managing Editor.
10
Features
The Oracle
Teachers shadow students for WASC Joyce Liu
I
Features Editor
t’s the fourth class of the day—chemistry. The lesson for today is the periodic table. The teacher plays an interesting song about Mendeleev, but boy, I cannot concentrate. I find myself drifting. I am tired. No, these are not the thoughts of a student, but rather, the thoughts of a teacher.
During the month of September, 13 staff members each shadowed one student for a day as a part of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) evaluation process. Having staff members shadow students was another way for the school to assess its strengths and areas of growth, according to WASC coordinator Dawna Linsdell. WASC recommends strategies for the school to assess itself, including focus groups that staff, students and parents attend, student surveys, interviews and shadowing students. Staff members volunteered to shadow students and wrote reflections about their experience. Principal Noreen Likins, along with the guidance counselors, chose the students who were shadowed. According to Linsdell, they wanted to choose a variety of student schedules. The shadowing was supposed to be anonymous, but the students who were being shadowed gradually became aware of what was happening as the same teachers kept
on showing up in their classes. On Oct. 29, the 13 staff members and the students they shadowed met to discuss their experience. The teachers had a general consensus after shadowing their student: they were tired. “I learned that you really need to be 16 to do high school,” social studies teacher Deborah Sanderson said. “I gained a lot of empathy for students. It served as a good reminder for what they go through each day, and I was very tired by the end of the day.” Social studies teacher Katya Villalobos shared the same sentiments. “I was tired, and I didn’t even run the mile,” she said. The teachers followed their students’ schedules for the day and attended all their classes. Spanish teacher Sonia Stroessner found it hard to
Kimberly Han
sit for such a long time in each class and experienced the inconveniences that can occur during passing periods first hand. “When you have to go across campus in between classes, you have to fight the crowd,” Stroessner said. “Going from P.E. to the L buildings is very difficult, especially if you get lost.” Besides ma k ing their way through the halls, teachers also found obstacles in the classroom. Math and computer science teacher Josh Paley said that it was hard to maintain a high level of intensity for six periods. “By the fourth class I was tired,” he said. “I spaced out, and after 10 minutes I found that I had been daydreaming. It’s a really hypocritical thing. When I’m really tired I get cranky when students don’t pay attention. Yet, how do I
hold that against a student when I can’t do it myself?” Furthermore, English teacher Tarn Wilson said that she realized how missing school or just having an off day can make it hard for students to keep up. Despite learning about the difficulties that a student can encounter during a school day, the teachers also observed the interactions between students and teachers. “To be a student or teacher at Gunn, you have to be on all the time,” art teacher Mark Gleason said. Physical education teacher Steve Ames said he thought the variety of activities students did and were exposed to in each class was amazing. “I got to see a very different feel in a class with a substitute showing a video, silent debates in English and a very busy Special Ed class,” he said. “I took an Advil after the [Special Ed] class.” Paley said after going to four classes, he found that the teachers have very different approaches to teaching, and the classroom environments are different as well. “In AP Calculus [AB], the students were in clusters of four, doing work and helping each other,” Paley said. “It was a bit noisy, but in a good way. In AP Economics, the students were working on a practice test and it was really quiet until it was time to check answers. The environment was different and the expectations of the students were different.” After going to these classes, Paley said that he thought all of the teachers
were effective and would be happy to have them teach his own kids. The staff members who participated in the shadowing process said they were impressed by the students’ ability to stay focused and also by the teachers’ different approaches to teaching. Although the teachers gained insight on the regular school day of a student, a student’s life does not just include school. “If you really want to know about the students, you need to follow them around for the whole day,” freshman Vladimir Andersen said. “There’s a lot more than just school.” So what does the school get out of having staff members shadow students? The write-ups that the teachers wrote about their day will be placed in the WASC binder, which includes evidence that shows Gunn’s strengths and areas of growth. In January, the Action Plan will be finished. It includes the goals for Gunn for the next six years, as well as how the school is going to try and achieve these goals. Then, in March, a visiting committee from WASC will come on campus and evaluate whether or not the assessments made gauged our strengths and areas of growth correctly. And if all goes well, Gunn will obtain a six-year clear, and will not have to go through this process again for another six years. Nonetheless, the teachers found the experience intriguing. “I would recommend this exercise to all teachers—to walk a day in a student’s shoes,” Sanderson said.
Spotted Ivan Yong
Students wait in line to get their crêpes for Crêpe Fest, celebrating National French Week.
Cosmo Sung
Features
Singing for
Monday, November 17, 2008
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Tijuana Mari Ju
Sports Editor
featuring
Sasha Guttentag (12) SEC Community Service Chair
The Oracle: What is your job like? Sasha Guttentag: I act as the liaison between community service clubs and the student body, plan community service week and help plan the Turkey Feast. In addition to these tasks, I am also required to be a member of the Student Executive Council (SEC), which sometimes feels like a whole different job in itself. In SEC, I am responsible for contributing to meetings, participating in decisions and publicizing school-wide events. This year, I plan to make the Community Service Chair job get taken more seriously than it has in the past. TO: Describe a normal day in the SEC for your work. SG: A normal day in SEC starts with everyone gathering around the tables in the Student Activities Center to hear announcements and start discussions. Usually there is something to vote on, ideas to be heard or problems to be solved. Oftentimes, posters need to be made after class discussions. Typically, once a week, we have a semi-formalized class lesson from Ms. Hall. TO: Overall, would you say that Gunn does a good job of encouraging students to volunteer? SG: To be completely honest, I don’t think so— which is where I come into play. Because this is my first year on SEC, I have a lot of insight from the perspective of students who are not involved in student government. I would have never heard of service opportunities if I wasn’t involved in clubs, and I didn’t feel like doing service work was specifically encouraged by the student government or administration. TO: What is your biggest goal for the upcoming year? SG: Above all, I really want to publicize community service and increase communication regarding service. I want students to know that they don’t have to be involved in clubs to participate in service events, and I really want to get different service clubs interacting with each other, bouncing ideas off one another and learning from each other. I want students to feel like they can always hear about a service opportunity at school and be encouraged to participate. TO: What advice would you give to Gunn students who want to be more involved in their communities? SG: I would definitely tell them to just dive right in. There are service opportunities everywhere you turn—we live in an extremely wealthy community, but that does not mean that none of us need help. Every little thing counts, whether it’s donating a can of soup to the turkey feast or spending an entire weekend building a house with a nonprofit organization. You don’t need to have any prerequisites to do community service, and it is the most rewarding extracurricular you can imagine.
Every year the Youth Community Service/Interact (YCS) club sponsors a trip of 20 students to Tijuana, Mexico, over winter break. This year, the trip is led by seniors Hallie Douglas, Sasha Guttentag and Ari Parikh. The group will leave on Dec. 17 and return on Dec. 22. While in Tijuana, the students will build a house using concrete and other materials. “I’m really excited for this year’s trip—I think we’ll do a lot of hard work and really make a difference while having fun,” Guttentag said. According to Guttentag, the group holds a series of fundraisers to lower the costs of the trip. On Oct. 18, the group had a car wash at the 76 Station on San Antonio Road in Los Altos. “We had a pretty big turnout at the carwash, because all applicants for the trip were required to work it,” Guttentag said. The car wash lasted six hours and the group made $800, double what last year’s group made during its carwash. On Nov. 7, the group held Open Mic Night in the Student Activities Center (SAC). Tickets for the event were $5, and the group sold over 100 tickets. Additional money was raised through food and drink sales at the door. “We had a great crowd,” Guttentag said. “People came from Gunn and Paly and the SAC was packed.” Performers included two bands made up of Paly students—Furious George and Corner Street Light. Over 20 Gunn students performed at the show as well as a few faculty members. “Phil Park was one of my favorite acts,” senior James Barnett said “He made my heart melt with his cover of ‘Gravity’ by John Mayer.” According to Guttentag, the leaders of the trip are happy with their fundraising progress so far. The group still has two fundraisers remaining. “We require each of the students going on the trip to send out as many letters as they can to family friends asking for donations for the trip,” Guttentag said. The last fundraiser, another Open Mic Night, is scheduled for Tues, Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving Break.
Henry Liu
The first Open Mic Night of the 2008-2009 school year of was a success. Above: Gunn math teacher David Deggeller plays guitar with secretary Jared Pagan. Left: Paly junior Shawn Barry sings before the full Open Mic Night audience. Far left: Paly band, Corner Streetlight, performs.
Culture Night highlights diversity Sarah-Jean Zubair Copy Editor
On Nov. 21, students will gather in the Student Activities Center from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m for Gunn’s first Culture Night. The idea was proposed by the Student Executive Council (SEC) Diversity Commissioners with the intent to promote cultural diversity on campus through a monthly social event. “Each month, we will host one night dedicated to a culture,” junior Diversity Commissioner Teklehaymanot “TK” Yilma said. “We will [plan the evenings in collaboration] with the students at Gunn from that culture.” Senior Diversity Commissioner Ahmad Fayad said he hopes that the Culture Nights will expose students to different cultures and leave them more informed of other students’ various backgrounds. “The purpose of Culture Night is to raise awareness of other cultures,” Fayad said. “Hopefully students will learn and become more educated about other cultures to get rid of stereotypes.” The first Culture Night will focus on Indian culture. With assistance from the South Asian Student Association (SASA), the evening will consist of Indian food, dancing, music, fashion show and movie. “SASA [is] a big help and is also present and providing us with the music, movie and the like,” Yilma said. Attending Culture Night will cost five dol-
lars. Yilma said that student attendance, not money, is the main objective for the first Culture Night. The proceeds will go to the SEC. “We are not setting for a profit for this one,” Yilma said. “Its purpose is to spread diversity.” According to Fayad and Yilma, future Culture Nights will depend on the outcome of the first. Experiences drawn from Indian Culture Night will help the Diversity Commissioners plan other Culture Nights. “We don’t want to lose a lot of money from the Student Body account, so we will see how this one turns out,” Yilma said. “It’s just like a new artist coming up,” Yilma added. “Culture Night is very new; Indian Night is the first [Culture Night]. Every new singer comes up with a new song. They try to make it a really good song so that people would want more. Same with Culture Nights. We will try to start something really good so that people will like it and come to the other ones.”
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The Oracle
Once Upon A Time... The Oracle showcases timeless myths and legends from around the world. From past to present, these stories will continue to transcend the times.
Werewolves walked among humans undetected for years Werewolves: bloodthirsty, they are transforming beasts living among us. One day, they pose as
any other civilian, but a full moon later they are living chaos. These killing machines are in modern and classic media books, movies, games and TV shows—from Jacob Black in Twilight to Wallace and Grommit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Ralph in the arcade game Rampage. But where did this idea of a wolf-man arise? The first recorded account of a true “werewolf” was about Peter Stubbe in 1519. As a 12-yearold boy, he was infatuated with making pacts with the devil. On various occasions, he attempted to contact the devil by chanting incantations while wearing wolf skins. Eventually, he went crazy and began hunting and eating people—even his own son. Whenever he hunted down people, he would wear wolf skins. Stubbe captured, tortured and killed 16 people before villagers beheaded him. Different cultures depict werewolves in both a positive and a negative light. In an old French poem, noble Bizuneh had to transform into a wolf every week. He also had a “magic coat,” which allowed him to transform back into a human. However, when he transformed into a werewolf, he kept his sanity as a human. The ancient Greeks believed werewolves originated from the cursed King Lycaon, who attempted to assassinate Zeus by feeding him human meat. However, Zeus caught Lycaon and cursed him into a wolf form. To the scientific community, the ancient “werewolf” was a person with rabies or congenital porphyria with symptoms like photosensitivity, red teeth and insanity. The reputation of werewolves has evolved into that of evil, hideous supermen. Modern werewolves have more advanced abilities, including unmatched speed, strength, endurance and immortality. The insatiable appetite of werewolves is only briefly satisfied by the blood of innocent human beings. However, like Superman, werewolves also have their kryptonite. The mere touch of silver burns their skin and silver wounds can kill even the seemingly invincible werewolf. The only known way to kill a werewolf is a wound to the heart with pure silver. —Joseph Lin
Santa Claus came to town, bringing presents for children
‘Tis nearly the season for presents and stockings by the fire. The iconic figure of Santa Claus will come back
once again. It is well known that the jolly man visits from the North Pole each year. But where on earth did this Yuletime figure first come from? The original Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra, now part of Turkey, in the fourth century. He was known for being kind and generous. While commercialism and tradition have made the round, red form of Santa Claus popular in the United States, many cultures have other Christmas figures. The Dutch recognize the bearded toy-bringer as de Kerstman, or the Christmasman. In Sweden, however, the Christmas figure comes in an entirely different form. The Tomten, a shy, gnome-like creature, brings winter tidings to families who leave a bowl of porridge on their doorstep. Santa Claus isn’t the only one who changes form around the globe—his convoy also gets a makeover. In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas rides a white horse, while in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, his steed is a donkey. Austria and Southern Germany have a scarier tradition. Nicholas’s helper is the Krampus, a horned beast who acts as Saint Nicholas’ foil, scaring children in the streets with rusty chains and sticks. In other parts of Germany, Knecht Ruprecht, a sooty chimney sweep, becomes Nicholas’ servant. In the Netherlands, Nicholas’ helpers are called Zwarte Piet (“Black Peter”) and carry chimney-cleaning tools while assisting the saint. In Slovak and Czech communities, Saint Nicholas is accompanied by the devil, but closely followed by protective angels. —Shaya Christensen
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Monday, November 17, 2008
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Vampires lured naive victims with their charm Vampires are mythological creatures who feed on the blood of the living. The
idea of a blood-sucking monster is prevalent in many cultures’ ancient beliefs and myths. The term vampire gained popularity after the growing amount of vampire superstitions in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Today’s modern vampire image is derived from 19th century European fiction, such as Irish author Bram Stoker’s Dracula. During this era, a vampire was described as a charismatic, sophisticated, pale and gaunt villain. The myth of vampires originated during the pre-industrial era as a method of describing the process of death and decomposition. People have even been killed because of accusations of vampirism. Additionally, throughout history, vampirism has been connected to the bubonic plague and the blood disease porphyria. Belief in vampires still exists today, and there are occasional “sightings” of vampires. Vampire hunting societies also remain. However, vampires today are more common in literature, films and television. The best-known vampire literature includes Dracula, which gave rise to modern vampire beliefs as well as Ann Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, both of which have romanticized vampire beliefs. In literature vampires are increasingly portrayed as human love interests rather than villainous horror characters. —Beth Holtzman
The Tooth Fairy exchanged children’s baby teeth for gifts
Some of us still remember the day we lost our first tooth, how we put it under our pillow and anxiously awaited
the arrival of the Tooth Fairy, only to fall asleep before she actually showed up. The myth of the Tooth Fairy, a human—sized female fairy who gives children gifts in exchange for their teeth, is present in Anglo-Saxon and Latin American cultures. Origins of the myth are not precisely attributed to a specific source, but scholars believe that the Tooth Fairy evolved from the 18th century French fairytale titled “La Bonne Petite Souris.” In the story, a tooth mouse helps the queen defeat an evil king by hiding under his pillow and knocking out his teeth. In many countries such as Italy, the Tooth Fairy is still portrayed as a mouse. In modern times, the myth of the Tooth Fairy has been warped and made into numerous films. Horror movies such as Darkness Falls and The Tooth Fairy portray the fairy as a murderous woman who kills children. In Hellboy II: The Golden Army, tooth fairies are small creatures that eat humans alive. The myth of the Tooth Fairy has been a part of the Anglo-Saxon world for generations and has withstood the test of time, albeit with modifications. The modern Tooth Fairy may be portrayed as deadly, but to thousands of children, she still represents the excitement that comes with losing first teeth. —Bauer Wann
Bloody Mary came out of the mirror with intent to murder Unlike some legends, the tale of Bloody Mary is no joke. With the proper incantations, she is known to
appear in a mirror to exact her vengeance upon the summoner. Though there are many versions of this legend, most agree that this present day tale originated from Queen Mary I of England. Historians nicknamed her Bloody Mary for her murderous nature and inexplicable miscarriages. In the mid-1500s, she was a very devout Catholic with an intolerant view of Protestantism, and during her reign she murdered many Protestant leaders in cold blood. During the course of her marriage to King Philip II of Spain, she had two miscarriages and later died from ovarian cancer. Her blood-stained hands and inability to bear children created the legend that in a jealous rage, she comes from the spirit worlds to haunt those who dare to call her. There are many different ways to summon her, though it is not recommended. The most popular method includes facing a mirror and chanting “Bloody Mary” anywhere from three to 100 times in a dark room, preferably with candles. Each successive incantation should get louder and the summoner should spin around in a circle 13 times while chanting. On the thirteenth spin, Bloody Mary is rumored to appear in the mirror and either mortally wound or cut up her victims, or drive them to insanity. —Jeffrey Wang
Brian Phan
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Features
The Oracle
How to: have a vegetarian Thanksgiving Beth Holtzman News Editor
As the family and food oriented holiday of Thanksgiving approaches, many Americans are already counting down the days until they can enjoy their holiday favorites: turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. However, many people who are vegetarian or vegan cannot eat all of the delicacies that Thanksgiving has to offer. Fortunately, for those who do not eat meat or dairy products, there are many alternative Thanksgiving options. The best known Thanksgiving vegetarian option is Tofurkey, which is a combination of tofu and beans made to resemble the appearance and texture of the traditional Thanksgiving staple, turkey. Although the edibility and taste of Tofurkey are debatable, it is still a viable option that is sold at most supermarkets and grocery stores. Other alternatives for vegetarians are the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes that are typically meat free, such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Additionally, stuffing and gravy can be vegetarian friendly if prepared with a vegetarian stock. To get into the festive fall spirit, vegetarians and vegans can also enjoy the many vegetables that are seasonal in
November, including root vegetables such as parsnips carrots, acorn squashes, butternut squashes and pumpkins. Squashes have many health benefits and nutrients that help prevent cell mutations and promote lung and general health of the body. It is recommended to pick out squashes with dull, hard rinds and to keep the squash at temperatures between 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Sweet potatoes are a regular meat alternative present on most Thanksgiving dinner tables. These fleshy orange root vegetables are rich in antioxidants and provide a great source of vitamins A and C. Sweet potatoes make a great side dish when pureed with butter and brown sugar or simply baked in the oven like a regular baked potato. Another popular Thanksgiving vegetable is pumpkin. Pumpkins can be baked, roasted, boiled and steamed. However, they are more commonly puréed and made into pumpkin pies, a classic Thanksgiving dessert. Additionally, pumpkins can be used in soups or in conjunction with other vegetables. In addition to vegetables, vegetarians and vegans can enjoy an array of fruit dishes as a substitute for turkey. Cranberries are a popular Thanksgiving supplement and have been found to protect against cancer and viruses. Historically believed to be eaten by
Courtesy of Flickr user ginthefer
Chefs prepare a vegetarian holiday meal filled with seasonal vegetables, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes and buttered bread. the Pilgrims and the Native Americans at the first Thanksgiving, these tart fruits are great in salads, sauces and baked goods.
Thanksgiving can be a festive and delicious holiday for everyone with enjoyable dishes, even vegetarians and vegans.
Students participate in Sim City Ryan Tan
Business Manager
On Nov. 5, economics teacher Dawna Linsdell’s E period class presented their large real estate development projects to a fictional city council. This was a part of the UrbanPlan program developed by the Urban Land Institute, the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and a team of economics and government teachers. According to its Web site, UrbanPlan teaches students about the economics involved in urban development. It gives students a hands-on experience in developing realistic land-use solutions to urban growth challenges. Linsdell’s economics students spent about four weeks working on this project. They had to form development teams and create a proposal for a fictional neighborhood in a fictional city called Yorktown. Yorktown is seeking a private real estate development team to propose and build a project that will revitalize the run-down part of town. In groups of five to six, students formed development companies
specializing in urban projects including residential, retail and office components. The companies’ goals were to reclaim economically depressed neighborhoods and cities as well as make a profit. In its proposal, the company had to include commercial areas, residential areas, dining, a local homeless shelter and other factors crucial to the city. Each group member had a different job, which included Director of Marketing, Site Planner, City Liaison, Neighborhood Liaison and Financial Analyst. Each member was responsible for overseeing a specific facet of the plan, such as researching the needs of the market, addressing government concerns, estimating the architectural and spatial impacts, determining whether or not the plan will be profitable and incorporating views of the residents. The project received positive reviews. “I would recommend UrbanPlan to other students, because it is so hands- on,” senior Jay Son said. “However, it did take up a lot of time. [It was] sort of unrealistic because the real ‘ pros’ take like 10 years. We were only given a couple of weeks. Despite that, it was an overall good experience.”
Philip Sun
Q&A with senior artist Katie Zhou lected and mine kind of evolved into this confus[ing] emotion. I tried to demonstrate that these locks are like puzzles, and that leads to confusion.
Ivan Yong
Economics students in Dawna Linsdell’s class present their urban layout plans to a panel of judges in Spangenberg.
The Oracle: What is the piece about? Katie Zhou: Confusion. At first it was just an exercise and art assignment, to just try and experience abstraction. We had to simplify an object that we se-
TO: How was the piece done and how long did it take you to finish it? KZ: It’s black charcoal. It took me about eight hours total. I drew the picture of the combination lock, and I Xeroxed it many times. Then I cut off segments of the locks and place them together to form one cohesive piece. That’s how I got my pic-
ture and drew a whole new one. TO: How does it represent your art style? KZ: I’m not much of a painter. I like working with dry materials, so I use charcoal. I also like simplified artwork so I used geometric shapes. TO: Who are your favorite artists? KZ: Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock. —Compiled by Bauer Wann
Features
Monday, November 17, 2008
Dynamic composer Sophie Cheng Copy Editor
For many people, becoming a successful musical composer is nothing but a distant dream. For Ian Zalles junior Ian Zalles, it (11) may well become a reality. Zalles first started his musical experience by taking piano lessons at age six. “I had seen people playing the piano before, and the black and white keys just looked tempting to me, so it was definitely my choice to start playing the piano,” Zalles said. Even though Zalles admits to his talent in playing the piano, he stresses the importance of musical creativity over competition. “Although I do in fact play in some piano competitions, they’re really not a driving force for me,” he said. “I don’t like all of the stress that comes with them and the competitive and negative atmosphere that sometimes seems to be present.” However, Zalles says he enjoys playing much of the repertoire required for these competitions. In his free time, Zalles enjoys composing pieces for orchestra and piano. He was first influenced into writing
songs by his father at an early age due to their shared love of music. Advanced Placement Music Theory teacher Bill Liberatore also placed particular emphasis on Zalles’ gift for composing original pieces. “I think that he’s extremely skilled,” Liberatore said. “He has natural talent as a composer– the compositions he’s come up with in class have just been extraordinary. I think I’ve accidentally referred to him as Beethoven once or twice before.” Zalles competes in two to three piano contests every year, mostly in the Bay Area. Recently, he placed second in the senior division for the Thera Rabinowitch Award competition, which was hosted by the Music Teachers’ Association of California. Zalles admits that his real forte is improvising pieces on the spot. “I really like improvisation,” Zalles said. “I never bothered to write down a lot of what I composed until recently. I would just sit down at the piano and improvise something for fun.” Zalles is considering studying music as a minor in college or possibly as part of a double major. “I know it’s something I’ll enjoy for the rest of my life,” Zalles said. “It’s not a temporary experience that will be lost throughout the years, because I will enjoy doing it for a very long time.”
Future recording artist Danielle Aspitz Circulation Manager
Singing and performing since she was a little girl, senior Chloe Fuller hopes Chloe Fuller to take her musical (12) talents on a journey t h r o ug h c ol l ege. Fuller described her parents as supportive. “They encouraged me toward theatre, but music was all me,” she said. She admitted that the college application process is forcing her to take a stance toward either music or theatre. However, she said both would still be a huge part of her life regardless of what she majors in. Fuller leaned toward majoring in theatre because it was a subject she could learn a lot about, whereas “music is an internal thing, it comes naturally,” she said. Fuller is also a part of the choir program. “Choir is amazing,” she said. “Mr. Liberatore is a genius. I thought I knew how to sing but I have learned so much.” Fuller comes from a family with a music background—her older brother plays the piano and her older sister sings—but her true inspiration comes from professional musicians and friends. Her favorite artists are Sufjan Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel and her friends, Gunn alumni Chloe Zelkha and Iris
Latour. According to Fuller, her friends are the most supportive of her music and a majority of them have their own musical talent to bounce off of. “We do talk about music a lot,” Latour said. “But I think it’s more about the effect it has on people and the emotions and feelings it stirs. The balance between melody and harmony and lyrics and the importance of each of them.” The group of friends plays together, practices and even sits around campfires in a full-on “jam sesh.” Two years ago, Fuller decided to teach herself guitar, and half a year later, she began writing her own music as well. She finds inspiration for her lyrics from her girlfriend, past experiences and literary or historical figures. She has written almost 20 pieces, but only shows them to her close friends. “The hardest thing is knowing when it’s done,” Fuller said. She admits that she was originally scared of writing her own music because it is so personal. But now, she says she could not be more glad that she is writing. “The best thing is creating something that’s monumental, that can’t be burned down,” Fuller said. Fuller knows music will remain a huge part of her life and hopes to foster her talent successfully. According to her friends, Fuller is very likely to sign her own record deal and share her musical talent with the rest of the world. “That chick can sing like nothin’ else!” Latour said.
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Music is a passion Alvin Man Reporter
Jun ior Jack ie Hwang has been playing and composing songs for the piano, guita r a nd violin Jackie since she was eight Hwang (11) years old. Last summer, she decided that she wanted to major in music and composition at the University of California Los Angeles, Caliart or Berklee College of Music. “[They provide] more freedom and they offer commercial music,” Hwang said. During the summer, Hwang interned at Electric & Musical Industries (EMI), a British recording company in Taiwan. Hwang became an intern through a recommendation by an acquaintance who listened to Hwang play before the summer. “I was referred to [it] by my father’s employer’s wife who is Tina Wang, a famous professional composer in Taiwan,” Hwang said. “She did the campaign music for the president of Taiwan.” While interning at EMI, Hwang’s main duty was to listen to all genres of music and create a 500-song playlist from one genre. Although this was a hard task, she said it helped her widen her views on music. “I had to listen to a lot of music and
even though I am very picky about songs I listen to, that task helped me broaden my musical tastes,” Hwang said. Hwang normally listens to pop, classical and orchestra music and she recorded an album of her favorite genres of music. In the span of two years, Hwang recorded forty songs she played and put them into her album. Junior Divya Narayanan, Hwang’s friend, described Hwang’s music as relaxing and a portal to a whole new world. “She displays a lot of emotion when she plays,” Narayanan said. “[It] makes you forget about everything else. [Her music] transports you into another world.” Hwang plays the piano, violin and guitar. She has been playing the piano for eight years, violin for six years and guitar for two years. She also entered one competition, the Gertie Mosse scholarship, on the piano. The Ger tie Mosse scholarship was founded by Gertie Mosse, the grandmother of a Gunn orchestra student who passed away due to cancer. Competition winners play a solo at Gunn’s spring orchestra concert. Hwang won the competition last year along with two other competitors. Hwang said she enjoys music because artists can reveal their feelings to listeners. “You take your emotion and give it to people,” Hwang said. “That’s what music is.”
Rockband to rockstar Dana Li Reporter
For most people, that first dream job, conceived over crayons in kindergarten or hatched on the teleDavid Oh phone with a child(12) hood friend, is inevitably completely different from the career one aims for in high school. For senior David Oh, however, not much has changed. “I’ve wanted to be a musician ever since I was little,” Oh said, “I thought like, ‘Oh, it’s just a dream, but about two years ago, I started writing my own music and my guitar teacher and my friends said it was good, so I started to think about it again.” Oh imagined someday growing up to play in a band. Unlike all those dreamers out there however, whose only exploits into rock stardom are likely to be confined to jamming on the popular Rockband game, Oh is taking practical steps towards his goal. With three years of piano and clarinet experience, one year of choir and another three years of guitar and bass, experimentation in music has dominated much of Oh’s childhood. Currently, Oh’s preferred instrument, the acoustic guitar, is the one which he uses most in his musical activities. Oh divides his time between writing
and composing songs on the guitar and attending weekly lessons in Berkeley with his teacher, Cas Lucas, who helps to critique his work and joins him for some simple experimentation on playing as a band. Unfortunately for Oh, the slow road to success is not all fun and Guitar Hero games. There are hefty challenges ahead, but Oh is aware of these hurdles and has no delusions of instant grandeur. “First you have to play underground shows,” Oh said, “Hopefully, you’ll gain a lot of underground fans. Then, once you’ve got some popularity, you send your recorded stuff to labels and see if they like it.” This description, Oh admits, is still a simplification of the difficulties in an “all or nothing” business. In his opinion, the benefits outweigh the possible hardship. For him, music is not simply a means to an end, but a genuine interest. “I have a lot of thought processes, but they’re hard to express,” Oh said, “I guess music for me is a way to organize my thoughts.” Later, he added, “I would like to write my own songs. I’d like to have other people to appreciate my music.” In all honesty, Oh concedes that success and fame are not just pleasant bonuses to his pursuit of musical expression. “It’d be kind of fun, I guess,” Oh said, “You know, kind of a cool experience, instead of the usual desk job.” And when asked where he wanted to be in ten years? “Successful,” Oh said.
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Features
The Oracle
Snapshots from “Hit The Road�
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HOMECOMING 2008 1
5 Homecoming Week 2008 brought out the best of Gunn: class spirit, sportsmanship and fierce competition. The quest for victory during the week was tough. Students saw a multitude of fierce battles and close margins of victory. In all aspects, it was just plain Gunn, a group of 1900 crazy-spirited students doing their best to try and achieve absolute victory. And in the end, because everyone came together, everyone was a victor.
Clockwise from top left: (1) Sophomores compete in Stuff-a-Bench. (2)Seniors fight to win the tug-o-war. (3) Junior Spencer Jones and Senior Phil Park sumo wrestle at the Day Rally. (4) Freshmen struggle in the ten-line-pass. (5) Gunn defeats Cupertino at the Homecoming Game.
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Photos by Chris Bien, Audrey Ho, Maverick Mallari and Kevin Yang
Entertainment
Monday, November 17, 2008
Pumpkin Flan
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The Oracle’s own superchef Jon Proctor gives your Thanksgiving table pizzazz
1 cup sugar for sauce 2/3 cup sugar for custard 6 whole eggs 3 cups milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup mashed pumpkin
Jon Proctor
Cook one cup of sugar over medium heat in a small sauce pan. The sugar will slowly melt and turn brown. Stir to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once all the sugar is melted and a dark-amber color, pour the sauce into a baking dish and spread the sauce around on the bottom. Although it is hard now, the sugar will melt and form a sweet sauce. Next, whisk all of the other ingredients together and pour the mixture into the coated pan. Fill a larger baking pan with water about an inch deep. Place the flan pan into the water bath. Put both pans into the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Roasted chestnuts are a classic holiday treat. You can pick them straight from the tree at Skyline Chestnuts.
Zesty Cranberry Sauce
3 cups cranberries 1 tablespoon orange zest 1 cup sugar 2/3 cup orange juice 1/3 cup water 2 tablespoons Grand Mariner orange liquor 1 cinnamon stick
Roasted Chestnuts Score chestnuts and then roast them at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Once they come out of the oven, put the hot chestnuts in a brown paper bag to cool for around ten minutes. This will make them much easier to peel. Once the chestnuts are cool enough to handle, peel the shells off. It is important to take the shells off while the chestnuts are still warm because later they are much more difficult to remove. Chestnuts are great plain or sautéed with butter in a pan and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until all the cranberries pop.
Pomegranate Chicken Salad 1 cup diced and cooked chicken or turkey 1 medium avocado 1 small pomegranate 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro 1 tablespoon mayonnaise 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion. salt & pepper to taste Mix all the ingredients together and serve with bread or crackers. The pomegranate adds a delightful crunch and this recipe is a great way to use up leftover turkey after Thanksgiving!
Make it fresh: Pick it yourself Jon Proctor
Forum Editor
If you want to enjoy the delicious taste of fresh chestnuts, you’re going to have get out of your chair and pick them yourself. Skyline Chestnuts, a family-run orchard in La Honda, is the perfect place to enjoy a winter afternoon picking chestnuts and conversing with friends. According to orchard manager Donna Johsen, the trees were most likely planted by a group of Spaniards over 150 years ago and have been growing delicious chestnuts ever since. When picking chestnuts, look for the shiniest nuts possible, because as the nuts age they become dull. The fresher the nuts are, the better they taste. A perfectly ripe chestnut is firm, but gives a little when squeezed, kind of like an almost ripe avocado. At the beginning of the season around October, most of the chestnuts have to be picked out of pods on the tree, but by this time of the year, ripe chestnuts can be found right on the ground. Skyline Chestnuts offers five different breeds of chestnuts, each with its own unique taste and texture. One of Johsen’s favorites is the American chestnut, which is very sweet and fairly small. The other varieties include Italian, Spanish and Chinese breeds as well as one that has not been identified as of yet. Because of the large diversity available, first-time pickers are encouraged to collect a varied sampling so that they can decide which type they like best. Skyline Chestnuts is open from 9 a.m. until dusk seven days a week until Nov. 23 and the price of the nuts is $5.25 a pound. Also, even if you can’t make it up to their orchard, you can still enjoy the wonderful taste of fresh chestnuts; their farm often sells chestnuts at the Sunnyvale and Los Gatos farmers markets.
Skyline Chestnuts Phone: 1-408-395-0337 Address: 22322 Skyline Blvd. Hours: 9 a.m. - dusk until Nov. 23
Nathan Toung Photos by Jon Proctor
18
Entertainment
The Oracle
Buy more with less
Shop ‘till you drop
Pick and choose from a variety of holiday sales this Thanksgiving
Maya Itah Last year, I bought my prom dress at a thrift store for $16. My parents didn’t cut my budget, and what’s more, I wasn’t making some kind of statement about the futility of spending hundreds of dollars for one night. In fact, I was fully prepared to go where few teenage girls have hesitated to tread: I was prepared to splurge. But after scouring the racks of countless high-end stores, I realized that I found the prettiest dress at Buffalo Exchange. Common assumptions about the nature of thrift stores would dictate that I looked like a haggard old lady at my junior prom. Well, shockingly enough, I didn’t. And I have photographic evidence. Thrift stores get a bad name, and it’s easy to see why: the Goodwill on El Camino, for one, smells like a unique combination of dust and sour milk—not exactly an environment that makes you feel attractive. We have come to expect more than just clothes from stores. Just look at Anthropologie: much of its rising popularity stems from the fact that shopping there is an experience. Still, you generally have to drop around $100 to get that experience. As for Goodwill? I’ve found cute things there for five bucks. Maybe it’s my Judaism speaking, but at the end of the day, I like the feeling of having saved some money. People forget that not all thrift stores are created equal. Consumers who don’t want to skimp on atmosphere should visit the Haight-Ashbury district; although the area is more commercialized than it used to be, it still provides visitors with an old slice of 60s time warp. As for the stores themselves, you have to know where to look, but the search is an experience in itself—one that isn’t manufactured to the masses. While I don’t want to rob potential shoppers of the fun of asking semi-inebriated homeless people for advice, I would suggest visiting Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads. Buffalo is fantastic for off-beat clothes; some pieces may seem intimidating, but if worn right, they can boost any wardrobe without overwhelming it. Crossroads, on the other hand, is great for things you’ve eyed at other shops but haven’t been willing to pay for. Both stores retain a tiny bit of that thrifty, musty smell, but I’d take them over Macy’s any day—at least they don’t send me into perfume-induced comas. Of course, I’m not saying people should purchase their entire wardrobes from the Salvation Army. Occasional splurging is understandable, and if you have certain limits, that’s also fine. But if you’ve assumed thrift stores aren’t for you, consider a few rules to go by. One: don’t get discouraged too fast, and think of the search as a journey rather than a means to an end. Two: if you like something but aren’t sure if it’ll work, try it on—you’ll likely be surprised. Lastly: if you do happen to stumble across your future prom dress in a thrift store, toss away any inhibiting stigmas and go for it. In the world of thrift, price does not necessarily indicate quality. I should know—I later found out that my prom dress originally cost a whopping $200. Score. —Itah, a senior, is a Forum Editor.
Sudoku Special Answers on pg. 20
It’s easy! Just fill in each hexagon with the numbers one through six. Be careful— they overlap! Courtesy of http://www.saachsentext.de
Black Friday usually marks the start of the holiday shopping season and many stores offer major price reductions on certain items. This year, Black Friday falls on Nov. 28. As Thanksgiving approaches, newspapers will be posting ads about their sales. Web sites are also a great source of information about which deals certain stores have to offer. Look out for major sales on electronics, clothes, bath products and toys. Aeropostale, for example, will have 50 percent off everything in their stores and will open at 6 a.m. Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Stores are having a Midnight Madness Sale between midnight and 10 a.m., offering 20 percent off every item for customers who spend $150 or more. Bath & Body Works also has a Black Friday offer selling VIP bags with over $100 worth of products for just $15 with any $40 purchase. Nordstrom, Best Buy and Mervyn’s are notorious for their blowout sales on Black Friday and will be posting their ads online in the near future. Make sure to check your favorite stores to see what outrageous deals they may have in store this Black Friday.
Nathan Toung
Unleash your inner bargain-hunter with these money-saving tips Sales hit stores every so often, but not always when we most want or need them. There are many stores in the Bay Area, however, that will appeal to the everyday or one-time bargain-hunter year round. Whether they are chain stores or single boutiques, here, one can find a variety of goods at
Nathan Toung
marked-down prices. Chain stores such as Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross offer a wide range of products, from household items to apparel for all ages. These stores are a good option for shoppers looking to emulate high-fashion trends because they also offer many designer brand items, such as Miss Sixty and Juicy Couture, at incredibly marked-down prices. The bargains are generally very comparable to, and usually better than, the sale prices that occur only occasionally at larger chain stores. Many lesser-known chain stores and thrift stores exist that also sell unique items hard to find elsewhere. At Tuesday Morning, located in several spots around the Bay Area, one can get a myriad of bargain goods any day of the week. The store offers everything from kitchen items to bed and bath products to food. Fortunately for shoppers, the bargain hunts and wide variety of shopping goods don’t end here—The Shop in Menlo Park, a thrift center run by the Palo Alto Junior League, receives new shipments of everyday items weekly, such as clothing for men, women and children (often with designer labels) books and houseware. So if you are ever in desperate need for a last-minute gift, or simply want to find the best deal possible on personal items at any time of the year, don’t neglect the variety of reasonably priced goods that bargain stores have to offer.
Hit up a nearby boutique to splurge on pricey items this winter For a shopper who is willing to pay the price, clothing boutiques are an excellent alternative to department and chain retail stores. The number of boutiques, or small shops offering unique designer clothing, in Palo Alto and surrounding towns is quickly growing. Here, The Oracle features two local, lesser-known boutiques: Leaf & Petal and Romi. Leaf and Petal is on California Avenue, the lone clothing shop in the area. Leaf & Petal seems to be geared toward a slightly older crowd based on the array of business suits and toy bins for children in the back, but nonetheless has much to offer. It has a large array of jewelry (though some items exceed $400) and carries four brands of jeans, including Paige and True Religion. The customer service is phenomenal; the women seem to be best friends and constantly try to include you in their conversations without being too nosy. There are also complimentary vanilla cookies and hard candy by the cash register. However, some of its simplest items seem overpriced—leggings are $62. Returning clothing for store exchange is only permitted for a very short time after the purchase. Overall, Leaf & Petal is a great place for looking around and passing time, but you may not come out with any big purchases. Only five minutes away from Leaf & Petal is Romi, another small boutique located on Emerson Street close to Fraiche Yogurt. It has an exceptionally nice interior, with plush white carpets, black couches and spacious dressing rooms. The best feature Romi offers is that the entire upstairs loft is dedicated to simple T-shirts and tank tops arranged by color. Romi carries numerous designers in this section, including C & C, Zooey and other lesser-known brands. One can spend hours in this area, as it has a very private feel and offers many variations in color and style of a simple cotton shirt. Despite this attraction, Romi does
Nathan Toung
have a few shortcomings. Its jewelry selection is fairly small, and while it offers darling gold bracelets for a relatively low price of $50, the rings are extremely bulky and impractical. The shoe selection is also very limited, though just a few doors down from Romi is In Her Shoes, another boutique specializing in footwear. The customer service at Romi is mediocre, and no returns are permitted. However, Romi does hold sales frequently—it always seems to have racks ranging from 25 to 75 percent off, and on special holidays like Labor Day it will feature storewide sales. —Compiled by Libby Craig, Amarelle Hanyecz and Niki Mata.
Entertainment
Monday, November 17, 2008
19
Fall production takes on darker tone
The Visit aims to make viewers think deeply about morals and final message Niki Mata Features Editor
Senior Ben Bowmer (left) and sophomore Catherine Volpe (right) gaze in awe with sightless eyes. The Visit premiered Nov. 13, and is showing through Nov. 22. Marverick Mallari
Set in the small, rural town of Goodland, Kansas, this year’s fall play, The Visit, drew viewers in for an entirely different kind of theatrical experience. The Visit stars senior Maev Lowe as main character Claire Zachanassian, a woman who was born and raised in Goodland. It takes on a much darker, unpredictable tone compared to the comedic productions of the past, and is a tragic comedy, according to junior Leilani Graham. “As an audience member, the characters and themes grab your attention because they are so relatable,” Graham said. “The characters are forced to make life-altering decisions by addressing their human instincts, self-control and ideas of justice, characteristics that we as individuals and as a community experience.” The play, directed by theatre teacher James Shelby and co-directed by senior Annie Fox, takes place in post-depression 1934. The audience could relate to the plays major themes. “It’s a story about materialism, hypocrisy and revenge,” Shelby said. In the story, Zachanassian gets pregnant from a shopkeeper named Anton Shill, played by junior Austin Lewis. This was Lewis’s first play in which he got a leading role. “I get to work with people I’ve wanted to work with for a long time,” he said. “I’m excited because it’s such a powerful story. I’m also excited because it’s one of the most difficult plays I’ve been in. It’s going to take a lot of dedication and deter-
Anticipated movie, Twilight, in theaters soon Anne Hsiao
Business Manager
Courtesy of http://www.imdb.com
The internationally bestselling vampire romance story, Twilight, is opening in theaters on Friday, Nov. 21 and is receiving much hype from fans everywhere. Twilight is about an 17-year-old girl named Isabella (Bella) Swan who moves to a town called Forks to live with her father. She didn’t expect much from an “inconsequential” and “gloomy, omnipresent” town that she was forced to visit until the age of 14, but that was before she met the mysterious
ten Collegetop Essay Topics That Don’t Exist 10. What is your biggest pet peeve? 9. How cool do you think Superman is? 8. Describe every positive quality of our college in order to feed our ego. 7. Describe the most attractive person that you’ve ever seen. 6. If you could go to our college, but you were roommates with the person you dislike most, would you still come? 5. Which one helps you think better, Gatorade or Powerade? 4. What are your guilty pleasures? 3. Channing Tatum or Orlando Bloom? Discuss. 2. Jessica Alba or Jessica Biel? Discuss. 1. Talk about the best recreational party you’ve been to and how it has affected your life. —Compiled by Matt Lee
Edward Cullen. Unbeknownst to Bella, Edward, along with his entire family, is a vampire. Although their relationship is rocky at first, the two soon find themselves falling in love. However, a relationship between a vampire and a human is unknown to the world because of the dangers involved. Everyday, Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles. Soon someone is after Bella’s blood and the Cullens’ must risk everything to save Bella. Kristen Stewart is cast as Bella Swan with Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), as Edward Cullen. Peter Facinelli plays Carlisle Cullen, the adoptive father of the family. Cam Gigandet plays James, the leader of a nomadic vampire clan who wants to kill Bella. Based on the film’s previews, critics and fans alike have perceived the film both positively and negatively. Some fans are ecstatic with the film because of its apparent similarities with the book. Overall, the plot of the movie keeps close to the book’s. However, other fans are critical of the casting. Some believe Stewart was not “Bella” enough, not stubborn, clumsy and sarcastic. Other fans are just cautious of the movie because they believe that in general, vampire movies just don’t work because vampires are described as perfect, nonhuman and angel-esque. Despite the questions surrounding the movie, there is no doubt that Twilight is a highly anticipated movie that will attract many viewers nationwide.
mination on my part.” After Shill denies getting Claire pregnant, Claire runs away from Goodland. She then meets a wealthy man in the oil business and returns to town 30 years later as the richest woman in the world. She agrees to help rebuild the town with her newly acquired wealth under one horrible condition, and the town must decide whether or not to accept the condition. The play centers around the stipulation made by Claire and how it affects the townspeople. Are the townspeople willing to sacrifice their dignity and morality for this horrible provision? Viewers will get to see each character and the town transform continuously throughout the play. “It’s really kind of a scary play,” Shelby said. “Everybody seems like a good person, but they make some really bad decisions.” The running date, which was Thursday, Nov. 13, was also rather important for the play, as it opened after Election Day and in a time when the economic crisis within the town of Goodland has some relevance to our current economic situation. “This year hopefully the audience will emerge with bigger questions, especially as they already are asking them about the economy and the election,” Shelby said. Unlike previous comedic productions such as Scapino, one of the key motives of this play is to provoke deep thought among viewers. “When you’re in a show where everything is realistic you play the characters as they normally would be,” Lowe said. “But for this play, there is a bigger picture. It’s important that you really take the final message into account.”
What we’re listening to this month
1. “Love by Numbers”—Ash Wednesday 2. “Only Shallow”—My Bloody Valentine 3. “Annie Waits”—Ben Folds 4. “The Blues are Still Blue”—Belle and Sebastian 5. “Yankee Bayonet”—The Decemberists
6. “Mother’s Little Helper”—Polyphonic Size 7. “The Book Lovers”—Broadcast 8. “Panda Panda Panda” —Deerhoof 9. “Scientist”—The Dandy Warhols 10. “Nine Million Bicycles” — Katie Melua —Compiled by Danielle Edelman
20
Entertainment
The Oracle
Thriller twists through the USSR
Child 44 pursues a child murderer in a socialist regime that denies that crime exists
Maverick Mallari
Amy Yu Centerfold Editor
“Since Maria had decided to die her cat would have to fend for itself.” From the first sentence, author Tom Rob Smith conveys the sense of oppression and hopelessness of the citizens targeted by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) government in 1933 in his book Child 44. Smith’s book is loosely based on the true story of Andrei Chikalito, a serial killer who was executed in 1994. Then the narration switches, focusing on a small family in the
same town who is fighting for their survival. The first chapter is a small introduction to what life was like living in squalor, in the shadow of fear of the government. But later on in the book, this opening scene serves more than setting the mood; it is key to the entire plot of the novel. The book then jumps ahead twenty years to Moscow in 1953 where “there is no crime” is a motto of the government. In the beginning, Leo Demidov, the main character, is part of the State Security Force, or the ex-secret police. At first, he acts as the antagonist. His job consists of blindly following his orders, arresting and killing when necessary. Demidov is sent to convince, or threaten, the family of a dead boy to believe that his death was an accident, in an attempt to “preserve the peace.” But when Demidov is put under surveillance, and when his wife is accused of being a spy, he finds himself no longer safe behind his governmental status.
Rowling brings out the “Bard” Melissa Chan
He does not believe there is a murderer on the loose until he stumbles over a few dead children whose bodies are found in the same condition as the boy in Moscow. Demidov links the murders and realizes that the boy murdered in Moscow was the 44th child to be murdered, and he certainly was not the last. But because the government refuses to acknowledge the existence of a murderer and will capture anyone who believes otherwise, Demidov must find and capture the criminal on his own, with no one beside him except his wife Raisa. As the story progresses, human morals are intensely tested when it comes to survival. In the USSR that Smith has created, betrayal of friends and family is not surprising. If someone makes even the slightest of wrong moves, they could be reported and would find themselves being arrested. The fear of death hovers over everybody. Eventually, Demidov learns that not everyone is will-
ing to sell their soul for their own benefit. As he and his wife flee from their pursuers, they find help and shelter with strangers who risk their lives to help two people they have never met before. The novel is narrated in third person, and the dialogue is not written as quotations, but rather in italicized bullet point form. The way the dialogue is written contributes to the overall haunting and detached effect Smith seems to want to portray, along with the paranoid fear the citizens of the USSR had of their own government. Smith probes into the seeming irony of the Soviet government’s purpose: to give the citizens life without fear, while the threats of the Gulag and of execution keep the citizens wary for their own survival. Despite some Russian words thrown around occasionally, the language and writing is easy to follow. The plot itself jumps around from city to city, day to day, and it is important to
Relaxing reads provide reflection Sophie Cheng
Reporter
J. K. Rowling made the news once again last year when one out of seven hand-written copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was auctioned off for $8 million. It was unclear to the countless die-hard Potter enthusiasts worldwide if the text would ever be made available to the public. However, on Dec. 4, fans will be able to purchase mass market hardcover copies of the highly anticipated novel at bookstores across the nation. The book, which is based on the eponymous one that Dumbledore gives Hermione in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will contain five fairy tales including The Tale of the Three Brothers and Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump. They are written in the style of Aesop’s fables, with a darkness associated with Brothers Grimm. In partnership with Amazon.com, Rowling has decided to offer a special treat for fans. Amazon will be the exclusive vendor of a special edition designed to replicate the original. There will only be 100,000 copies released. This edition will be bound in leather and embellished. Also included with the collector’s edition are ten prints of Rowling’s illustrations, an exclusive reproduction of Rowling’s handwritten introduction and a velvet bag embroidered with Rowling’s signature. The Tales of Beedle the Bard will be published by The Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), a registered charity co-founded in 2005 by Rowling and Emma Nicholson, a member of European Parliament. CHLG is a charity that pursues a better life for vulnerable children. All proceeds from both editions will go to the Children’s Voice Group, a campaign run by CHLG. It campaigns across Europe for millions of children and teenagers growing up in unacceptable conditions. Whether you are a witch, wizard or Muggle, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is sure to be a magical read.
Copy Editor
Ever encountered a problem in your life that you couldn’t solve, no matter whom you consulted? Perhaps you should try reading a self-help book. Teenagers turn to these self-help books for advice, the want for improvement or the feeling of insecurity in their lives. The Oracle staff takes a look at some of the most common self-help books for teenagers.
Don’t Sweat the Small Richard Carlson, author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, Stuff for Teens published this book specifically for overstressed teenagers. He maintains by Richard Carlson an older mentor’s tone while introducing stories of various teenagers, List price: $12.95 particularly those who have found inspiration by volunteering in their communities. Readers will be inspired to go out and join in activities similar to the ones detailed in the book.
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen List price: $14.95
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Sudoku Special Answers Solve the puzzle on pg. 18
keep track of where events are taking place. Along with being part thriller, part romance and part historical fiction, the novel is essentially a mystery of sorts. Who is the killer? And mostly, what does he or she gain from killing children in such a grueling way? There are many other characters that Demidov and Raisa encounter that are so perverse and infuriating that they make the murderer seem like the smallest of threats. Although the novel is a riveting page turner, some of the themes explored, hinted at and mentioned are strange, even disturbing. A boy obsessed with yellow, people resorting to cannibalism for survival and the cruel murdering of children are just the beginning of a list of incongruities. This book is definitely for those who are looking for an excellent read, but be aware that there are some fairly graphic descriptions, and it might not be the best book for the squeamish.
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The Chicken Soup for the Soul series is a well-known compilation of inspirational short stories for audiences of all ages. It premiered with the original Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, offering motivational advice by teenagers for teenagers, as well as contributions from guest writers. Topics covered in the first book include relationships, friendships, families and dreams. As the back cover of the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul advertises, this book “will become your good friend: one who understands your feelings, is there for you when needed and cheers you up when things are looking down.”
The 7 Habits of Highly Adapted from his father Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly EfEffective Teens fective People, Sean Covey applies the seven habits for achieving true by Sean Covey interdependent effectiveness (“be proactive; begin with the end in mind; List price: $15.99 put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; synergize; and sharpen the saw”) to teenage experiences. This book includes stories by Sean Covey himself, as well as other teenagers who have used the seven habits in their own lives. By following these seven habits, readers should be able to achieve a state beyond independence called interdependence. Chocolate for a Teen’s Originally Chocolate for a Woman’s Soul, this series is centered on Soul life stories for young women written by women during their teenage and by Kay Allenbaugh middle age years. The goal of these stories is to “make you laugh and cry, List price: $17.95 [to] provide humor to something you might be taking too seriously or [to] be your companion as you seek answers to your own hurdles.”
Sports
Monday, November 17, 2008
21
Bringing sports out of the shadows
The Oracle goes off campus to get the scoop on guys’ lacrosse and volleyball Sophie Cheng Copy Editor
Boys’ Lacrosse
Nathan Toung
Junior Nick Ciesinski has been playing boys’ lacrosse since sixth grade with Palo Alto’s only club team, the Tomahawks. “I would definitely recommend others to join it,” Ciesinski said. “We also just got a new head coach recently, so the team will be improving.” The Tomahawks is a Santa Clara Valley Club program that places students on different teams based on age and skill. Athletes practice three to four times a week at night and play games during the weekend. The Tomahawks use Gunn facilities as their home field, requiring them to schedule around Gunn’s sports teams. “Club teams usua l ly don’t practice as often as high school teams, not five days a we e k , a n d you’re paying a lot of money just to play,” Athletic Director Chris Horpel said. “Therefore, they’re not as adamant about being s o committed.” B oys’ a n d girls’ lacrosse have several differences. “The rules are similar, and you have the same goal and use the same stick, but boys’ lacrosse has more equipment and more contact,” Ciesinski said. “It’s a lot more hard-hitting.” Male lacrosse players are required to wear helmets, gloves and shoulder and elbow pads for extra protection against physical contact, while females are only obligated to have mouth and face guards. One prime example of the difference between girls’ and boys’ lacrosse is the racquet used by players during games. “The stick for boys’ lacrosse has a deeper pocket, so you can throw faster and carry the ball
more easily,” Ciesinski said. “The racquet for girls’ lacrosse is required to be more shallow, making it harder to catch and hold the ball. The deeper pocket for boys’ lacrosse helps keep the ball in the stick when it’s hit, so it sort of evens out because there is more contact in boys’ lacrosse.” Many Bay Area high schools have started to include boys’ lacrosse due to its increasing popularity in the West Coast, despite traditionally being an East Coast sport. “A lot of schools are forming boys’ lacrosse teams, so the club teams have started to close down,” Ciesinski said. However, because of the recent field construction, Gunn is unlikely to have the space for boys’ lacrosse in the spring. “The grass fields, which are known as the ‘lower athletic fields,’ are being grown the old-fashioned way...from seeds,” Horpel said. “Consequently, these fields will not be ready until after our spring sports have ended their seasons. Although we have the new stadium turf field, it has to accommodate girls’ and boys’ track and field as well as girls’ lacrosse. There are six teams between those two sports that have to work out a schedule on our one field.” Ciesinski encourages athletic boys looking for a challenge to take up lacrosse. “It’s not as violent it’s sometimes portrayed to be, but there’s definitely a lot of physical contact, ”he said. Ciesinski supports the possibility of including a boys’ lacrosse team at Gunn. “I think having a Gunn boys’ lacrosse team would be awesome,” Ciesinski said. “There’s definitely enough people to make a team, and I think it could have a lot of potential. It would also be a great thing for the fans to check out, because right now, no one really knows about boys’ lacrosse.” Sophomore Edward Meyer, a teammate of Ciesinski’s on the Tomahawks, agrees with him. “I think [boys’ lacrosse should be offered at Gunn] because a lot of people are starting to discover how amazing of a sport it is,” Meyer said. “It’s going to keep growing and growing.”
Boys’ Volleyball
Junior Etienne Melese has been playing volleyball since he was one year old. “I originally played beach volleyball,” Melese said. “I actually hated indoor volleyball for the first few years, but then I started to get into it and I eventually joined a club.” Melese played for the Bay to Bay boys’ volleyball team, which is based in San Jose, for two years. After helping them place fifth in the 16 and Under Open Division of the 2007 USA Junior Olympic Boys’ Volleyball Championships, he left to join an adult Industrial Volleyball League team called Ice. Melese supports the idea of forming a boys’ volleyball team at Gunn. “The main problem would be funding, because boys’ volleyball is not as well known,” Melese said. “I think we should get a petition going to see how many people would be interested in playing, and then if there’s enough [prospective players], we could form a team. I would be willing to petition for a team, but I don’t know where we would get a coach.” One obstacle to acquiring a boys’ volleyball team would be the lack of facilities. “Right now, it’s impossible for [boys’ volleyball] to be offered at Gunn because we don’t have the facility for it,” Athletic Director Chris Horpel said. “We have one gym that our badminton team should be able to start using in late January, but our gym must also accommodate five Gunn basketball teams. If boys’ volleyball were offered, it would be in direct competition with badminton, which has four teams. However, with our growing enrollment and the recent bond measure that passed last June, there are plans to build a second gym which will ease the scheduling issues that now exist.” Horpel also considered the problem of boys’ lacrosse and volleyball competing with other sports for athletes, with 581 students participating in spring sports offered at Gunn. “If we wanted to start a boys’ lacrosse or boys’ volleyball team right now, we would probably end up taking athletes from some of our other spring sports,” Horpel said. “Stealing athletes from other sports would not work well because we don’t really have enough athletes to fill all of our current spring rosters.” There are high schools in the Bay Area that have boys’ volleyball teams, such as Wilcox and Los Gatos, but, according to Melese, Palo Alto high schools are unique for not having a boys’ volleyball team. Boys’ volleyball is also offered as a Central Coast Section sport and is part of the Santa
Clara Valley Athletic League. However, girls’ volleyball coach Raudel Perez believes t here is enough interest at Gunn to form a boys’ volleyball team. “I think it would be very in-
teresting to see a boys’ vol l eyball team at Gunn,” he said. “I’ve never coached a boys’ volleyball team before, but I know it would be completely different from coaching a girls’ team.” Even though Gunn does not offer boys’ volleyball as a team sport, many college students have the opportunity to play on a boys’ volleyball team for their college. “I think playing volleyball is an important skill for people who think they don’t have a sport,” Melese said. “Colleges also offer boys’ volleyball, so it’s not like they’ll never have the chance to play it again.” Melese encourages boys interested in playing volleyball to join a club team. “I think people should join a volleyball club team if they want to play, because they can learn cooperation skills and the rotation,” Melese said. According to Melese, boys’ and girls’ volleyball is mostly the same, with the same rotations, but different strengths and levels of competition. Although men’s volleyball exists, many people still think of volleyball as a women’s sport. “I think volleyball is widely accepted as a girls’ sport, and Gunn is no exception to that,” Melese said. “The fact that we don’t have a boys’ volleyball team only serves to feed that generalization.”
Faces in “What sport would you like to see at Gunn?” the Crowd: “Guys’ volleyball in the winter because it is hella fun and I know lots of guys who play.”
Ryan Teranishi (9)
“Mini golf. We have golf, but mini golf is more challenging because it has obstacles. More people will join because it is so fun.” Sweta Bhattacharya (10)
“I want guys’ volleyball because we are one of the only schools in the Peninsula that doesn’t have it.” Kevin Yang (11)
“Hockey. Because people love hockey and we don’t even have a field hockey team.” Bertie Cannon (12) —Compiled by Joseph Lin
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The Oracle
The battle between fitness and health
Sports
Yesian takes gymnastics underwater Wen Yi Chin
Sports Editor
Carissa Ratanaphanyarat With an increase in the number of steroid abuse cases and extreme diets, many weight loss methods are now considered unhealthy. The latest fad, which consists of starving yourself and excessive exercising, also known as crash dieting, is an alarming trend that shows a lack of results and takes a huge toll on one’s health. Many health physicians recognize crash dieting as a dangerous way to lose weight. Not only is crash dieting dangerous, it is also ineffective in weight loss and it can lead to mental health problems, nutrition deficiency and organ damage. It is common knowledge that energy is derived from sleep, exercise and the consumption of different foods and beverages. Without food and especially with extreme amounts of exercise, the athlete burns too many calories, thus negatively affecting his or her performance drastically. Diet pills, a fast but dangerous method of dieting, cause painful cramping and can can affect blood pressure and metabolism. Their negative affects on metabolism completely diminish the point of using the pills in the first place. Another troubling but growing trend is anabolic steroid use. These drugs present a different problem. Many athletes use steroids as a shortcut to gain muscle faster, rather than the “traditional” way by exercising correctly and gradually building muscle. Steroids may make users more buff, but they also give the person physical features of the opposite gender due to increased amounts of testosterone. I don’t know about the other ladies out there, but I think that a beard is certainly not for me. Permanent stretch marks may also appear, and teens’ worst nightmare, acne, will also start developing on the abuser’s skin. Balding and stunted growth will also be added to the user’s list of worries. Aside from altering one’s physical appearance, abusing these drugs can also lead to liver tumors and heart diseases. Emotional problems may also develop, such as major mood swings. Though some of the side affects of steroids do not appear until years later, when they do start breaking the waves, you will have moments of regret. Logically speaking, why would you use steroids when you could just build more muscle by exercising correctly? In a way, using steroids is just an excuse for an athlete to cut corners. Besides, the risk of being caught by a coach or the school administrator negates the convenience of using steriods. The punishment for drug usage includes being kicked off of the sports team, guardian notification, counseling and suspension—and a burn on your permanent record. Having to resort to extreme measures is not necessary to be physically fit. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating the right kinds of foods and a balanced amount of exercise controls a person’s weight and muscularity with no negative side effects. So the next time you are considering skipping another meal or asking your friends for steroids, opt for some fruits and veggies instead. —Ratanaphanyarat, a junior, is a News Editor.
For many athletes, a moment of decision arises when injuries force them to choose between playing or quitting. For junior Alexandra Yesian, however, injuries forced her to abandon an eight-year career in gymnastics, and jump back into the athletic world of synchronized swimming. Three years ago, Yesian’s doctor advised her to quit gymnastics because of overwhelming back problems. Due to overuse, she developed a stress fracture in her back and a compressed disc a year later. After she decided to quit, Yesian was originally thinking about joining water polo, fencing and even ballet until her mother discovered the possibility of synchronized swimming on the Internet. Last year was Yesian’s first year since joining the junior synchronized swimming team at the Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swimming Club, a 30 to 45 minute commute from Palo Alto. When Yesian made the switch from gymnastics to synchronized swimming, she noticed the differences between the two, but she doesn’t regret choosing a new sport. While she still has problems with the compressed disk, they are somewhat reduced because the water provides a medium of support. “In gymnastics, there is an immense amount of pressure on your body as well as yourself to perform well,” Yesian said. “But synchronized swimming is just as intense with the bonus of a reduced risk of injuries.” “My favorite thing about synchronized swimming versus gymnastics is that Alexandra is not scared of synchronized swimming,” Yesian’s mother, Charlotte Reissmann wrote in an e-mail message. “She can get really cold in the winter when the pool is not heated right and it is dark and freezing. Then I think I must be crazy to let her swim in weather where I walk around in winter boots and a big parka. Bottom line is that Alexandra enjoys synchronized swimming much more than she enjoyed gymnastics.” Yesian practices six days a week for three to four hours each practice. Even though the official season only starts in January and ends in May, synchronized swimming is a year-round commitment. “Sometimes it is hard being with the
Courtesy of the Yesian family
Junior Alexandra Yesian and The Santa Clara Aquamaids pose in competition. Chronic back injuries from gymnastics forced Yesian to switch sports last year. same girls everyday but we still have to work together as a team,” Yesian said. “But you’ll have to deal with the girls who always fake injuries or fuss for no reason.” Additionally, Yesian had to work extra hard to catch up with the more experienced athletes by attending extra practices. She will take part in her first competition with the team this season. The Santa Clara Aquamaids has a reputation for producing Olympians, sending four of its girls to the Beijing Olympics this summer. Yesian’s coaches are also previous Olympians and Olympic coaches. “Coaches are definitely strict about attendance and discipline, but they’re really just trying to help you be the best you can be,” Yesian said. However, Yesian’s two time Olympian coaches are not her only support. While her friends try to spend as much time with her despite her crazy schedule, she says her number one fan is her mother. “I support her by telling her she can do her sport as long as she wants to, and that she can quit any time she has had enough,” Reissmann wrote. “I also work for her club’s Bingo Hall at least 6 hours a week to raise money for training and team travel.” About three months before the season starts, the girls start to learn the choreography for the routine. During “land drilling,” the moves are shown on land. These moves can include hybrids (kicking your legs out of the water in different ways), lifts, hand movements, back flips
and moving through the water in artistic ways. The goal is to practice the routine on land before trying it in the water. “Synchronized swimming is not water ballet,” she said. “I like to think of it more as water gymnastics.” According to Yesian, synchronized swimming is an underrepresented sport for which the general populace has many misconceptions. “People think that all we do is stand at the bottom of the pool and dance around,” Yesian said. “That’s completely untrue. We train just like a water polo team, but instead of strategies we have choreographed dances. We’re just as athletic as other sports, but with an artistic element.” While Yesian’s current goals include establishing better communication with her team, she also considers being recruited for synchronized swimming. Currently, Stanford University has the best synchronized swimming team, and her ultimate goal would be to swim at that level. “In order to be recruited, I need to work hard to become better so that I can be worthy of such an honor,” she said. However, Yesian states that there are many other options and she would not mind swimming for college club teams. Yesian has a word of advice for all those thinking of joining synchronized swimming, or any other intense sport for that matter. “You have to be really motivated and determined to go to the practices, finish your homework and still manage to have a life,” she said.
Football team reflects on season Jeffrey Wang Reporter
On Friday, Nov. 7, the football team lost its last home game against Santa Clara, leaving them at 1-8 overall for the season, not including their game against Lynbrook on Saturday, Nov. 15. Though, according to some team memberes, the team may not have lived to its full potential, coach Matt McGinn said that the team showed improvement throughout the course of the season both on the offensive and defensive line. “We have been able to execute plays offensively and the running backs have been promising,” McGinn said. “Defensively, we were pretty consistent with linebackers and the defensive line. They were undersized, but they used their techniques very well against bigger and more athletic teams and kept us in a lot of games. Some of our younger players were able to make significant contributions to the team.” One of the team’s highlights of this season was its Homecoming game victory against Cupertino, 21 to 10 on Oct. 24, in which junior third string quarterback Yash Patel made his star appearance. In the third quarter of that game, Patel managed a 92-yard dash to score a touchdown for the Titans, putting them
in the lead. “Patel stepped in during the second half of the Cupertino game and has done a great job since then,” McGinn said. “It was good to see us come from behind to take the lead and finish strong.” According to senior cornerback Matt Bordbari, one of the team’s problems this season was a lack of commitment. “I believe we were skilled and had potential, but there were some consistency and player issues, because not every player went to practice everyday and gave it his all,” Bordbari said. “I love my teammates, but with more initiative, we could have finished stronger.” However, sophomore running back and linebacker Josh Jackson said that what the team may have lacked in records, they made up for with spirit. “I was happy about our attitude towards playing football,” Jackson said. “Even though we were down, we never gave up.” As for next season, Bordbari said the team hopes to attract larger crowds to the games and raise school spirit to boost the team’s morale. “We have very talented players, so please bring your friends and come,” he said. “You will not be disappointed.”
Sports
Q&A with
Monday, November 17, 2008
JJ Hones & Jillian Harmon Stanford Basketball Players
The Oracle: Where are you from? What high school did you attend? JJ Hones: I am from Beaverton, Oregon and attended Southridge High School, which is a public school about 5 minutes from my house. Jillian Harmon: I am from Lake Oswego, Oregon and I went to Lakeridge High School. TO: How did you get your start in basketball? Hones: I started basketball in second grade when my parents signed me up for a YMCA team. Harmon: I have played basketball ever since I can remember. There are pictures of me dribbling a basketball around when I was five years old. Nobody in my family knows how I got into it so young because nobody else in my family has played basketball in the past. TO: How is college basketball different from high school basketball? Hones: [C]ollege basketball is so much more intense and everyone on the team was the best player on their high school team, so everyone is very skilled and determined and extremely competitive. Harmon: It is awesome playing for Stanford. I always wanted to come here and play basketball. It is different because of the time requirement—basketball takes up a lot of almost every day of the week. Also, the competition is much tougher. Everyone is big and strong and [was] usually the best players on their high school teams. TO: What would you suggest for players who are looking to continue a sport in college? Hones: If you want to continue to play a sport in college, you need to realize that you are going to have to make sacrifices that your peers may not be making. Instead of hanging out with your friends every night or every weekend, you may need to be getting extra skill work in. [M]ake the sacrifices now in high school so that you can reach the level that you want to get to. Also, make sure to set
realistic expectations. If you’ve never played basketball before, don’t assume that you can pick it up and then suddenly play in college. Harmon: I would suggest that they don’t have to specialize too young. Play a bunch of other sports while you can in high school, because once you get to college you will only have time for one. But also, work hard at that one sport while you are playing it. TO: What advice would you give high school athletes in general? Hones: Practice hard, but practice smart. Like I said earlier, you can be in the gym as long as you want, but sometimes that is more counter-productive than productive. Harmon: To enjoy your time in high school. College is fun but completely different than high school. Enjoy everything now and do as many activities as you can. College is awesome as well, but you want to have a great experience at both. TO: What has playing basketball taught you? Hones: Playing basketball has taught me about pushing myself to the max. There is always something extra stored up in you that you can use when things get tough. Harmon: It has taught me how to deal with adversity. Nobody has ever had the “perfect” basketball game. Not everything is going to go your way in life, so it’s how you deal with those situations and move forward. TO: What is the best advice you have ever recieved? Hones: This is very cliché, but have fun! If you are doing something that you don’t love, it is going to be difficult to push yourself and really improve if you don’t like what you are doing. Harmon: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” —Compiled by Shaya Christensen
Photos courtesy of JJ Hones (left) and Jillian Harmon (right)
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Sports
The Oracle
Lady Titans hope to repeat last season’s success Wen Yi Chin & Alvin Man
Sports Editor & Reporter
With an unprecedented record of 26-3 last year, the girls’ varsity basketball team is now working towards an equally strong season. The team recorded the most wins in Gunn’s sports history. The varsity team includes seniors Rimona Cartun, Tamar Cartun, Jasmine Evans, Taylor McAdam and Sophie Shevick. The team only lost one starting player, Neva Hauser, who graduated last year. Junior Rachael Clark and seniors Ali Maggioncalda and Marie Volpe moved up from junior varsity (JV) to varsity this season. Over the summer, both the varsity and JV teams attended three different tournaments across California. In the San Diego Classic, a tournament that featured over 100 varsity teams across California, Gunn was able to win four out of five games to place in the top 20 overall. “The tournaments are definitely great practice for the season,” Clark wrote in an e-mail message. “[They] helped me bond with the team and get used to playing at
the varsity level.” The team also participated in tournaments held at Sacramento and Stanford University. They got a chance to scrimmage teams in the De Anza League at the Stanford tournament. According to Evans, it was also here that the girls won against Wilcox High School, by over 30 points. “Wilcox was the only team that beat us last year,” head coach Sarah Stapp said. “We lost to them three times, and all by really close scores. They’re also in the same boat as us because they only lost one starting senior.” While the team has yet to sit down and formally discuss their goals, winning the league championship and beating Wilcox are on the “to-do” list. “This season we need to be even more aggressive and be ready to press the entire game,” Stapp said. “We need to score off of the turnovers we force. We’re so athletic that we can literally scare people.” One of the major changes this season will be the absence of Hauser, who according to Evans, was a valuable asset to the team. “Neva was definitely a very
crucial player last year,” Evans wrote in an e-mail message. “Not only could she easily score from the paint but she could just as easily hit a three [pointer]. She was very versatile and a great team leader. Also, her sense of humor always made practices so much more fun.” One of the advantages of having a team consisting of mostly returning seniors is the established connection and experience. “I’ve coached them for three years, so as seniors, they know what I want,” Stapp said. “They already know a lot and they have the experience—they’re game ready.” The Lady Titans will be placing an emphasis on defense and physical fitness during practices in order to match last year’s record. “Last year we took pride in it and want to continue the success we had,” Evans wrote in an e-mail message. One of the team’s major assets is their speed. “We are overall a lot faster than a majority of the teams we play, which helps us defensively and allows us to run up the floor easier and get easy baskets,” Evans wrote in an e-mail message. This year, the team will be participat-
ing in many tournaments, both locally and nationally, throughout December. They will attend the Burlingame Tournament, the Pinewood Tournament and the Orlando Florida Tournament, where the Titans will get the chance to play a variety of teams across the United States. Practice games against Carlton High School, Sacred Heart Preparatory and Mills High School have also been scheduled. The home game against rival Palo Alto High is on Jan. 23 at 6:15 p.m. “I expect all the girls to be in practice everyday and leave all their troubles at the door,” Stapp said. “Their troubles are still going to be there after practice, so it’s no use being distracted by them. I only ask them to give me as much effort as I give them.” Come cheer on the Lady Titans at their first league game against Saratoga High School on Tuesday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m.
High expectations for Titans Aviel Chang
Sports Editor
With the football season ending and winter approaching, all signs point to the boys’ basketball season starting again. This season, the Titans believe they can not only win the De Anza league but also Central Coast Section (CCS). Last season the Titans posted a 16-10 record and were awarded a first-round bye in CCS. However, Gunn fell short of its ultimate goal losing 53-47 to the Westmont Warriors in the quarterfinals. “We let that game get away from us,” senior Max Minowitz said. “There were so many opportunities to put the game away and we just couldn’t do it.” The varsity team features eight returning seniors: point guards Mike Shubat and Ryan Miller, shooting guards Nathan Ma and Minowitz, small forward Kyle Perricone, centers Gus Brennan and Avery Reiss and power forward Stephan Castro. In addition, Chris Redfield reprises the role of head coach for the Titans. With only four players from last year’s team having graduated, the team expects to continue to succeed. “We still have a lot of the same guys from last year,” Perricone said. “It’s going to be good for team chemistry and we should be able to get out to a fast start.” With the first preseason game against Oak Ridge High on Nov. 22 fast approaching, the final 12 to 13 man roster will be determined in the coming week. “Whatever the final roster is going
to look like, we should have a similar if not better team than last season,” Perricone said. Players believe that the bench’s success will determine how far the team will go. “It’s all about depth,” Minowitz said. “The most important thing for the team is for everyone to succeed in their respective roles. It’s not just about one person; every player has to contribute.” With the De Anza Division featuring schools such as Cupertino, Los Gatos and Palo Alto (Paly), the team recognizes the tough competition they are facing. “We play in a really good division,” Castro said. “There’s the possibility of losing on any given night if we don’t always play our best.” After losing to Paly both at home and away last year, the Titans hope to avenge their losses this season. “Of course every game matters, but Paly is a whole different story,” Ma said. “Beating Paly, especially at home, is one of our biggest goals this season.” The home game against Paly is on Jan. 23 and the away game is on Feb. 13. After last year’s disappointing loss in CCS, many players have high expectations for the upcoming season. “I don’t want to say that we have been underachieving, but there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement,” Perricone said. “All of us are pumped for this season and really believe that we can go far in CCS.”
Maverick Mallari