The Oracle- November 2017

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Palo Alto Unified School District Henry M. Gunn High School 780 Arastradero Rd Palo Alto, CA 94306

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Henry M. Gunn High School

http://gunnoracle.com/

Thursday, November 9, 2017 Volume 55, Issue 3

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Athletics department, administration respond to complaints about girls’ locker room closure Joy Huang

Centerfold Editor

On Aug. 25, female athletes found signs outside of their locker room that read: “Girls’ locker room closed at 5:15 p.m. today for varsity football game.” The Lynbrook football team would be occupying the girls’ locker room, and the female athletes had to take their belongings from their lockers before the room closed. This trend continued for the Sept. 8 game.

After seeing the visiting football players fill up the girls’ locker room aisles before 5:15 p.m. and overhearing one football player scream an expletive at a freshman girl on Sept. 8, cross country athlete senior Tjasa Kmetec informed the administration on Sept. 11 how the female athletes were affected by the boys’ usage of the locker rooms.

Assistant Principal Pier Angeli La Place promptly responded by contacting Athletic Director Curtis Johansen to implement a different plan. “This an equity issue,” La Place said. “I do not believe that a male sport should supercede or [be] given more value or importance than girls’ sports. Which is what I told [Kmetec].”

The administration took immediate action, and the visiting football teams were directed to use the Titan Gym boys’ locker room instead of the Bow Gym girls’ locker room for the next home game on Oct. 13 (a game later cancelled) and every subsequent game. On Oct. 20, a Schoology message informed the student body that the girls’ locker room would be closed for the Homecoming football game, but according to Johansen, the message was incorrect and the locker rooms were not closed that day.

Johansen says the visiting team used the girls’ locker room in the beginning of the season because Titan Gym locker rooms only have one bathroom and are too small for the visiting teams, which usually consist of 30 to 40 players.“The idea initially is that we have a bigger space for a lot of people coming in, and that would be the case of any team, male or female,” he said.

Another reason to separate the two football teams is to prevent any complications that could happen. “Sometimes visiting teams are well-behaved people, but sometimes you can have a few bad apples,” Johansen said.

La Place said that the reason is understandable because placing the home and visiting team in the same space may cause supervision issues, so she and Johansen discussed creating a plan that would give the two football teams separate spaces while not affecting female athletes.

Johansen said that his intention was to be a good host for the visiting teams. “We’re never trying to make it so that one group is being prioritized over another; it’s not what we stand for,” he said. “We stand for trying to make sure everybody had what they need to have.”

La Place believes that this issue was caused by the lack of awareness. “I want to say that I think it was with the best of intentions; I don’t think that our Athletic Director or anyone else [was] intending for this to be an unfair situation,” she said. “Almost always, institutionalized inequalities are done without awareness of the potential impact.”

Johansen and La Place plan to continue communicating with coaches to make sure that the visiting teams will use the Titan Gym locker rooms.

According to La Place, who is in charge of athletics and equity, the original plan had the potential to violate Title IX. “Whether it violates the law of Title IX or not, I definitely think of it as an equity issue that has to be addressed,” she said. “It’s something that we have to be aware of and change.”

The NCAA’s website states: “Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a federal law that states ‘No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.’” The website also states that when Title IX is applied, “[it] requires the equal treatment of female and male student-athletes in the provisions of...locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities…”

On the days when the girls’ locker room closed early, some female athletes’ performances were affected, as they could not access their lockers and changing space after practice. For Rufer, the early closure meant she had to cut her workouts short. “When the locker rooms closed early, I had to run a shorter distance so I would get back before they closed,” she said.

LOCKER ROOM—p.3 Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Removal of clerical positions to affect teachers, students Stephy Jackson

Centerfold Editor

At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, the Palo Alto Unified School District announced that certain support staff positions would be eliminated due to a shortfall in the district budget, and a reallocation of funding from Partners in Education (PiE).

According to Principal Kathleen Laurence, at the end of the 2016-17 school year the district had Gunn and Paly cut one full-time equivalent (FTE) position from the classified staff (uncertified and non-teaching staff such as department secretaries and tech support). In addition to that one position, 2.25 other FTE classified positions would be eliminated due to PiE’s decision to shift funding to three areas: Wellness and Support, Visual and Performing Arts and science, technology, engineering and math. Laurence

was able to request a one-year grace period that postpones the 2.25 classified staff position cuts until sometime this spring.

Principal’s Secretary Martha Elderon believes that classified staff help promote the wellbeing of teachers and students. “We want to support the teachers—that’s what the classified workers do, which is not just for our benefit but really for the benefit of the students because it helps lighten the teachers’ workloads,” she said. Elderon explained that most of the work done by clerical staff is logistical and organizational planning, and she feels that there would be consequences if classified staff positions were eliminated.

“If we aren’t there to support the teachers, then they get stressed and as a result, students don’t get as much teaching time from them,” she said.

According to Elderon, staff cuts only exacerbate the workload of individual departments. “The result of last

year’s cut was that we lost our science and social studies secretary and the remaining secretaries need to fill in, so it is detrimental to the departments,” Elderon said. The remaining position cuts were postponed when enough funding was found to pay the salaries of classified staff positions until spring 2018.

Science department Instructional Supervisor Laurie Pennington has been directly affected by the loss of the science and social studies secretary. According to Pennington, the district cut a full-time clerical position from both high schools. “There were other positions that had been funded by money from PiE funds that were no longer going to be funded,” she wrote in an email. “Because of that, a number of secretaries had received notices of layoff; however, when the district decided to let [the school] STAFF CUTS—p.4

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News

MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS: HALLOWEEN HARVEST “I liked this event because I get to see all the cool costumes, and I get to play spike ball with my friends.”

“It’s nice to have days that give you excitement and fun energy and it's nice to go on the quad….It's really nice to have that enthusiasm and childish passion.”

—Xuanyi Wang (10)

—Valerie Rutenburg (12)

“I really liked this event. It showcases how creative everyone at Gunn can be. Plus, it’s just plain fun.”

—Ben See-Tho (12)

“I enjoyed this event because of spike ball and it’s really fun to play with my friends.”

—Michael Iglesias (10)

—Compiled by Stephy Jackson Photos by Richard Yu

Administration, staff, students examine disciplinary system

problem-solving and it has the student’s best interests,” La there should be some automatic fix in Infinite Campus, Place said. where it sends an automatic message to the students after Recently, several students caught with vape pens on cam- three tardies,” Moyer said. “I honestly think that it needs to Despite many recent changes on campus, such as the pus have been punished in accordance to the handbook. An be done at that level; I feel our human power isn’t enough construction project and the bell schedule, Gunn’s disci- anonymous student source who was caught vaping thinks to enforce [the tardy policy]. You could end up spending plinary policy has remained relatively the same throughout that the school followed the handbook policy correctly in so much time doing that, and even though it’s important, the years. The policy on suspension and expulsion has seen their situation. “I was immediately suspended, and they that’s time that you’re not prepping the lesson or grading.”' virtually no change from 2013 to 2017. In addition to suspen- did say that if I was caught again [with illicit substances], A less common punishment, the referral, is reserved for sion and expulsion, the school enforces minor disciplinary I would be expelled,” the source said. “I think one thing violations in student behavior such as inappropriate elecaction, such as meetings with counselors or administrators they should do is to not intimidate the students as much tronic use or disruptive behavior in the classroom. Moyer and calls home to parents. and try to help them,” they said. “I feel like they tried to has only given out one referral to a student throughout her The various protocols of the discipline system are enu- intimidate me a lot and they made me feel really bad about 20 years of teaching. “I have given out a referral to a student, merated in the Student Handbook. Most of Gunn’s disci- what I did.” The student also emphasizes that the school but it was a very long time ago,” Moyer said. “The student plinary code is based off administrators maintain a had a bit of an outburst and overturned a stool,” Moyer said. national and state educatight grip on the drug use However, Moyer was not exactly sure of what happened to tion protocols. According situation on campus. “I the student once she issued the referral. to the handbook, there are think that people don’t reSpecial Education teacher Lynn Tabuchi gave a referral to “It is completely misguided that we send kids to the twenty seven behaviors, alize there will be serious a student this school year. Before the referral we conferenced office for punishment. In reality, it’s a form of educasuch as academic dishonconsequences for having with the student, and we tried to set up a plan and assist the tion and learning.” esty, bringing a weapon to drugs on campus,” the student, who was warned many times and wasn’t able to —Assistant Principal Pier Angeli La Place school and fighting that anonymous source said. follow those warnings,” Tabuchi said. Tabuchi was content could lead to suspension.

“They think that they’ll with how the office and their new administrators handled The administrators that never get caught. I thought the situation. “Yes, I was happy with the follow through and are responsible for student discipline, Assistant Principals I would never get caught, I was very discreet about it, but I communication that the office gave us,” Tabuchi said. “This Pier Angeli La Place and Tara Keith, note that the main still got caught.” was my first time giving a referral [at Gunn], so I didn’t repurpose of discipline is not to punish students but rather According to the attendance section of the 2016-17 ally know what to expect, and they definitely gave us that to educate students about their decisions. “It is completely handbook, Thursday school is the most common method feedback.” misguided that we send kids to the office for punishment,” La of disciplining students with an abundance of tardies: five However, not all teachers utilize the referral. A staff Place said. “In reality, it’s a form of education and learning.” tardies or four cuts both lead to it. If a student continues member, who wishes to remain anonymous, wasn’t sure According to the administrators, discipline is not something being tardy or cutting class, the student is referred to a that there was an option to give a referral. The teacher had used arbitrarily. “We don’t go around waving the handbook School Attendance Review Board. The handbook states that an extremely disruptive student last year. “Students were and finding kids to discipline,” La Place said. “If you come this board primarily deals transferring out just to get to the office, it’s because you made a decision that impacts with correcting school ataway from him.” Instead you or other people.” tendance, but it notes that of contacting the admin Still, there are instances where the administrators have the board will refer the stuvia referral, the teacher “What I’d like to see is a more defined way to handle to proactively handle situations before they get worse, such dent to the juvenile justice directly talked to them in this situation. When the student doesn’t respond to as when a student is consistently cutting class or showing up system if needed. the office. The teacher was whatever actions the administration takes, there late. “We take action by talking to a counselor,” Keith said.

Although the latter conleft unsatisfied with how needs to be more severe repercussions.”

“We might also talk to the teacher, parents and students sequence is not so comlast year’s administration —anonymous staff member about this issue.” La Place emphasized that this is not pun- mon, the former, Thursday handled the situation. “I ishment in the traditional sense, but instead communica- school, is more prevalent. know [the school admintion that helps the student resolve their problem. “It’s like Junior Koh Suzuki, who attended Thursday school last istrators from the 2016-17 school year] called him in," the year due to tardies, says that Thursday school is staff member said. "I know they talked to him and suspended mostly a work period. “You go to the classroom,” him a couple of times. Nothing really got accomplished in Suzuki said. “You go there and sit there. The terms of helping me to straighten out what’s going on in the teachers take roll. You work on your homework classroom. [The student’s] behavior did not change in any most of the time.” way,” the staff member said. The staff member wishes for Despite the Gunn handbook’s explicit tardy the school to have a more structured protocol in regards to policy, it is often hard for teachers to carry out the consequences that are given to misbehaving students. the consequences that come with excessive tardi- “What I’d like to see is a more defined way to handle this ness. “I think the tardy policy is really difficult situation,” the staff member said. “When the student doesn’t to enforce,” English teacher Ginny Moyer said. respond to whatever actions the administration takes, there Moyer believes, however, that there is a simple needs to be more severe repercussions.” solution to this issue. “I have often thought that This school year, students may notice a police car parked Eric Epstein and Andrew Zhao Business Manager and Tech Editor

DISCIPLINARY—p.3

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

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

Staff

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Girls’ locker room closure raises equity questions LOCKER ROOM Senior Maia Foelsch, a female player on the football team, lost her space to change before her games. “I have to change in the parking lot— I change in my car a lot,” she said. “It’s kind of embarrassing in some ways because sometimes people see me changing, including my teammates. They will walk past and give me weird looks or something like that because they don’t know that the girls’ locker room is closed.”

Since the girls’ bathroom is in the girls’ lockers room, Foelsch sometimes had to wait or use the boy’s bathroom. “It’s kind of just demeaning, and I don’t feel comfortable using the guy’s bathroom often because there are guys in there,” she said.

Her lack of locker space meant the loss of not only a changing space and bathroom, but also of a space for herself to reflect on her games. “After the game, sometimes I just want a space to myself and to sit because a lot of players do that,” she said. “I just kind of want to be left alone after a game, say if we have a bad loss o r something, but I don’t have that space so I just have to manage on my own outdoors.”

Kmetec felt that the needs of the football team, which mainly consists of males, were placed above those of female athletes. “I don’t think that the girls’ locker room should ever be considered a backup for the boys,”

DISCIPLINARY near the front office more often than usual. The police officer driving this car is Bradley Young, Gunn’s school resource officer that has been assigned to campus. Although he is a police officer, Young is not sent in to deal with any of the disciplinary issues mentioned above. His work is unrelated to the officer that has been assigned to campus. “I am not involved with punishing students,” Young said. “I only get involved in punishment if the California law code is violated.” Instead, Young is more focused on talking to and advising students. “I get called to talk to somebody,” Young said. “Or there is a issue at a student's home that interferes with the school. My role is to handle things at school that relates to the California law.” Young has multiple reasons for his increased

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

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I also liked the text about the conservative club and the sexual assualt investigations, because they are both important things that students should know.

Oracle/TBN Liaison Ayala Tzadikario Oracle/SEC Liaison Kaya van der Horst

—Yonatan Maor, 10

Graphics Artists Catherine Chen Tiffany Chen Mina Kim Grace Liu Gary Wu

Adviser Kristy Blackburn

presence on campus. He believes that the school resource officers should interact with students more and build a trusting relationship with them.

“Like other police officers, I have tools on my belt,” Young said. “But I also need to have a trusting relationship with students. There has to be a working relationship.” This way, students are now more willing to talk to him as he is familiar instead of being a stranger. “If you never seen me or talked to me, you wouldn’t want to talk to me if something happens.

But if we’ve spoken, we’ve seen each other and said hi, then if you have to talk to me, you would talk to me.” Young said. Another reason he gave is that his presence can avert potentially harmful situations. “My presence on campus is a deterrent: If somebody is intent on making a bad decision, they may not do it if I’m around” he said.

INBOX

Assistant Business/Circulation Ryan Manesh

Tech Editors Julia Cheunkarndee Andrew Zhao

Kmetec said. “The girls’ locker room is a safe space for young women. It should never be considered some place where when there are too many boys they can go to.” She said that she felt degraded as a female and that letting the visiting team use the girls' locker room is not what Gunn stands for. “The bottom line is, it’s really important for us to be respected as full-fledged athletes, scholars, members of the community,” Kmetec said. “Things like this really tear that down and change the game. It is putting the male athletes above the female athletes, and that’s something nobody is aiming for.”

Foelsch also thought that this was an equity issue. “I’m trying to play a sport, and I should be treated equally,” she said. “I work just as hard as the guys; they even get their own team room with their own personal locker rooms, so I deserve a space to change and a locker space just as much as they do.”

La Place encourages students to communicate any concerns they have to the administration so a Gary Wu sustaining solution can be implemented. “We are talking about people’s lives, and the unfairness of something that is embedded in a system that is inequitable just has to be addressed,” she said. “I see my work as educating people, bringing it to people's attention, and working to solve these issues, so that we are always moving toward a greater inclusion and equity.”

Discipline system poses benefits, disadvantages

Business/Circulation Eric Epstein

Photographers Justin Hong Sofia Sierra-Garcia Max Wang

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I enjoyed reading the spread on students' religions because it was interesting to learn about beliefs and traditions in the student body.

—Clara Kieschnick-Llamas, 12

October 13, 2017 I loved the article about sexual assault case at Paly. I didn't know a lot about it and now I do. It was something no one would talk about before because it's stigmatized, but this article really helped "open up" the topic.

—Hanlong Fan, 11

I would like to see more stories featuring student projects —Ember Lin-Sperry, 12 I enjoyed reading the spread on students' religions because it was interesting to learn about diverse traditions in the student body.

—Lauren Priest, 11

The one about the money displacement was definitely memorable and the back page with the recipes and art projects.

—Alla Abolhassani, 11

It would be interesting to see a wider array of political opinions represented.

—Charles Swaney, 11

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

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News

Q&A with Interim Superintendent Karen Hendricks

Courtesy of The Paly Voice

The Oracle: How will you assure the community that things are in good hands during this transitional period?

Karen Hendricks: The feeling of transitory leadership can be unsettling for people and I really understand that. Something I’m trying to do is provide consistent communication to people through weekly updates and through getting out and talking to people at school sites or in departments. I’m also trying to be responsive in terms of emails and questions that are coming my way. I might think some of the sense of security will hopefully develop by virtue of the fact that people will know that my background is a good match for this role, and that I have a huge commitment and a huge heart for what has happened to students. As people experience that, hopefully they’ll start to feel a sense of security in knowing that emailing the district is possible with a really strong infrastructure in terms of departments and site leaders. As long as we all stay focused together on what’s important, we should help schools, teaching, learning and really providing the best experience we can. I think that people will start to feel that things are not only stable and steady, but also moving forward on behalf of the District.

TO: How well do you think your previous experiences in varying school districts have prepared you for this position as superintendent?

KH: I think my professional background has prepared me very well for this position.

I’ve had an opportunity to work in schools from elementary all the way up to high school, and I really enjoy working with students at every level of education. I’m very familiar with students of different age groups. Most recently, I served as Interim Superintendent of Carmel Unified School District. I had a parallel experience there, where I stepped into the role on an interim basis and was able to provide continuity to help the district move forward in a time of transition.

TO: What are you most looking forward to as the new superintendent?

KH: I’m looking forward to being able to help maintain all the good opportunities students have, as well as positive environment for students to learn in. This entails lots of supporting teachers and staff and administrators to help students to have the best possible experience. I’m excited about getting out to the school sites, getting to know you and other students, and really just becoming immersed in the work

TO: What has been the most difficult part of your transitional period?

KH: The most challenging part for me was the month of October, when I remained the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and also took over the Interim Superintendent role. I was responsible for the function of both offices, both of which are busy and critical positions to be in. That was the greatest challenge, since I was trying to make sure that I was managing the work of both departments with integrity and keeping on top of the needs of both departments. Fortunately, we do have somebody in the Human Resources office now; we have an Interim Human Resources Assistant Superintendent, Anne Brown. She is wonderful.

TO: What is the job of the new sexual assault task force?

KH: Right now we have one initial meeting of Responsive Impactful Safe Environment and what we will be doing is really in phases. We’re addressing accountability measures, and starting by developing a strategic plan for the high school age group first in terms of what we want to see happen to support the students on campuses. We are working right now on elements of the strategic plan for high schools, and by January to March, we will be moving that down into the middle school range with the goal of being able to focus on elementary sites—fourth and fifth grades—by the end of the school year. We have a small group of initial participants in the task force. Right now, they are in the district office, Gunn and Palo Alto High School because we’re focusing on the high schools. As we work to move forward, we're looking for opportunities to define the work and to broaden input and include more participants. This may lead to work groups and we're going to be inviting input on specific elements of the strategic plan. Student voice is critical, because that's going to be very important in terms of the experiences that students are having.

TO: What would you like for the Palo Alto Unified School District and Gunn community to know?

KH: I hope that [people in this community] know that I’ve been in education since 1988. All of those years have really given me a firm commitment to doing good work on behalf of kids, and you will see me very relentless in that focus. I work hard, I’m dedicated and I’m a listener in terms of what students need to support their experience here and the options they want to have in the future. I’d like people to know that my commitment is right here. I live in the area, I’m a part of the community now and I want to be an asset to the community in every sense of the word.

—Compiled by Kristen Yee

District budget shortfall causes school to cut clerical positions STAFF CUTS take another year to figure things out, they allowed us to continue with all positions but one FTE clerical. The FTE clerical position with the staff member of the lowest seniority was eliminated. The one with the least seniority happened to the be science, social studies and career tech-ed secretary." Pennington explained that the cut greatly increased the workload of the remaining secretaries. “They added social studies to the [responsibilities of the] secretary who manages the world language department and language lab and they added science to the [math and English] department secretary’s job,” she said.

Teachers and staff have been protesting the budget cuts at School Board meetings.

Science teacher Maria Powell went to a School Board meeting on Oct. 6 to express her concerns about the consequences of the cuts. Powell spoke about the classified staff as critical to the functioning of the school. “The proposed cuts to Gunn’s classified staff demonstrates a gross lack of understanding of the fundamental tasks required to keep the school functioning,” she said at the meeting. “If your plan is for the job tasks of these classified positions to be shared among the administrators and staff that remain, the educational programs will suffer. Students will suffer.”

Powell is more specifically concerned about the repercussions of the potential cuts of the Attendance Secretary and Academic Tech Specialist positions, who keep record of attendance and assist with technological problems.

“Reducing a position in the attendance office while eliminating a whole academic tech specialist threatens to reverse the progress that’s been made,” she said.

Language Lab Secretary Kristine Ludemann is one of the staff members who could potentially be cut. As Language Lab secretary, Ludemann assists in any technological needs of students and teachers in the language lab and ensures that lab activities run smoothly. World Language Instructional Supervisor Liz Matchett emphasizes the important role Ludemann plays in helping world language teachers with their lessons involving technology. Matchett, along with other world language teachers, attended multiple board meetings to discuss their concerns regarding the language lab and to challenge the true necessity of the staff budget cuts. Matchett believes the way staff found out about the cuts was handled poorly. “We never knew exactly when the cuts are were going to be made until at 2 p.m. on the last day of school. It was really badly done.

I can’t ever remember in all my years of teaching being so angry,” she said. “It felt really bad…so I started going to board meetings, writing letters and rallying people to show people what everybody does and the support system that we have in place—we have an amazing support system.”

Ludemann’s current role is to watch over all students in the Language Lab and provide students and teachers with the technological resources they need. “It’s used all day long,

and it's open for students to come any time to make up work,” Ludemann said. “So if there’s not a person there to monitor it, it’ll be closed for students’ use.” Matchett and Ludemann outlined some of the problems that could arise without a lab secretary or no Language Lab at all, such as a lack of audio resources during AP testing or a back-up for tech support when teachers need help in the classroom with Chromebooks. Without a staff member in the Language Lab, teachers may have to send students to the Testing Resource Center (TRC), a solution posing difficulties, according to Matchett. “The problem with that is that the TRC is not always open, and the person there doesn’t have all the equipment to support the students for the things that we do and the way that we do it,” she said. “It’s going to take us backwards from where we are.”

According to TRC Coordinator Dennis Ochoa, the School Board is discussing reducing the hours the TRC would be open, a decision which would directly affect support staff who work there. During the last week of school last year, Ochoa received an email addressed to about 15 other staff members at Gunn about the possible eliminations of staff positions. “It was a little scary because I’ve been here a while, and I never thought it would affect me personally, but that’s when I started thinking ‘I’m not safe,’” he said.

Ochoa believes staff and administrators should address the issue as soon as possible. “It’s one of those things that we should talk about now, but we are currently pushing it away hoping that it will go away,” he said.

According to Elderon, the administration can not do much about potential consequences of losing classified staff. “They say their hands are tied because of the district,” Elderon said. “They’re doing the best they can to preserve as many jobs as they can.” Elderon feels that the Tiffany Chen and Jeffrey Yao budget cuts are affecting the morale of the classified staff members. “It’s bad because it makes every classified staff member feel insecure because our jobs are at risk,” she said.

Pennington says that there are unexpected consequences of these budget cuts. “It’s jobs and it’s people that are attached to those jobs...I think that the difficulty is that they decide to make budget cuts in the district and they don't know [that cutting some of the support staff at a district level] would end up affecting us greatly,” she said. The effects of the cuts are leaving some teachers and staff members frustrated and afraid; however, Matchett has hope in the community. “I believe the community wants to support the teachers in what they are trying to accomplish with their students,” she said. She also emphasized the importance of spreading awareness of the potential effects that the budget cut could have on Gunn. “Start to notice the support system that's in place for you, and imagine if that wasn't there how that would be for you and then decide if you want to do something about it,” she said.

Forum

Thursday, November 9, 2017

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Makeup should not be restricted by gender of gender-neutral makeup, as makeup artists like Patrick Star Gender roles and societal views on makeup also varied from and James Charles have gained popularity through social culture to culture in different centuries. It was not unusual for media. Because makeup’s gender assignments men to wear makeup in ancient Egypt, Rome or Elizabeare socially constructed, there is really no than England. In Egypt, kohl eyeliner was commonly reason for men to not wear makeup. worn by men and women to communicate wealth Makeup should not be worn to imand status. In first century Rome and England, Chelsie Park It is press others or to conform to beauty men were known to stain their cheeks red and common for standards; makeup should be worn lighten their skin with white powder. For RoBright lights illuminate the model’s face and upbeat to feel good about yourself and to man men, red-stained cheeks communicated men to wear music pumps in the background. The model is applying feel comfortable and empowered power and status, while in England, pale skin makeup in South makeup with exaggerated facial expressions, as expected of in your own skin. Covering up a was a beauty standard. However, since the VictoInstagram beauty gurus. Except it’s not the “usual” beauty blatant pimple or brightening up rian era, makeup has become viewed as frivolous, Korea. tutorial: the model is male. In recent years, gender roles have those dark eye bags can give oneself an vain and girly. These ideas have pervaded much been redefined. With the acceptance of same-sex marriage inexplicable amount of confidence, and of western society for centuries, and men who wore in the United States, Germany and Columbia, and the in- who’s to say that confidence boost should makeup were persecuted. Because beauty standards creasing openness of the LGBT community, socially be reserved just for women? Everyone has vary from century to century and culture to culture, constructed gender roles are losing their rigidity. a right to do what makes them happy, even the social construct of makeup is constantly However, it’s not yet completely acceptable for if it goes against societal standards. changing. We should take advantage of men to wear makeup. Makeup is a form of As long as no one is getting this fluid nature and make genderless Makeup self-expression and therefore should not hurt, is it such a big crime makeup “normal.” Men wearing be labeled as off-limits for any gender. for a man to highlight makeup should not be shamed; they should not be Makeup is viewed as something his cheekbones or curl should be accepted, and this goal labeled as worn to impress others and often has his lashes? can be achieved through advertisa feminine connotation. While it may Additionally, gening that markets to all genders. off-limits for be common for women to feel pressured der roles vary from Empowerment and happiness is any one to wear makeup to live up to societal country to country. In for all genders. If a man feels conbeauty standards, men are pressured to South Korea, it is common fident covering up acne spots with gender. not wear makeup, and many view it as girly for men to wear makeup on concealer, does it matter whether he or unmasculine. However, there is not a set television and in daily life. Actors is “manly” after applying this so called rule created by the universe that assigns makeup and actresses alike wear foundation, “feminine” makeup, as long he is happy to women and condemns it for men. Instead, societal eyeliner and eyeshadow on television. In fact, even and confident? expectations have created these restrictions on makeup, comedians, who are not held as highly to beauty standards, —Park, a junior, is a Features Editor. fashion and beauty. Recently, there has been a shift in favor never fail to have some touch-ups in a salon before a shoot.

Empowerment and happiness are for all genders.

Richard Yu

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Forum

overachievement breeds

Silicon Valley fosters an unhealthy competitive environment Grace Tramack Students have plenty to be proud of—awards, grades, extracurriculars—and graduating from a nationally ranked high school is an achievement in itself. However, with Gunn being located in Silicon Valley and having a close proximity to Stanford, a bragging culture is inevitably formed. Comparing SAT or ACT scores, grades and number of Advanced Placement classes is the norm at Gunn, breeding an unhealthy and unreasonable standard of competition that promotes perfection. Gunn’s bragging culture is toxic, as it hinders one’s ability to pursue personal interests, causes students’ self-esteem and sense of belonging to diminish and creates a dangerous cycle of boasting achievements.

By advocating this culture of overachievement, students are pressured to prioritize "impressive" activities or classes over their own passions. Palo Alto prides itself on being a diverse community, but diversity in extracurriculars and hobbies is not as publicly promoted. Due to a clear focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at Gunn and generally in the Silicon Valley, passions such as art, music or the humanities are often seen as useless to one’s future and of less value than STEM activities and clubs. Being interested in STEM is great if that is one’s passion, but adapting to the mentality that it is the only worthwhile pursuit can be detrimental to one’s emotional or mental state and overall success in life. It is of much greater value that students participate in activities they truly enjoy rather than partake in activities they feel pressured to do. According to the 2016-2017 California Healthy Kids Survey, only 31 percent of ninth graders and 36 percent of 11th graders at Gunn agree that they try hard at school because they are interested in their work. By bragging about a

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difficult class schedule or internships with more STEM values, students at Gunn undermine the importance of happiness through self-improvement in activities they love and replace it with those they believe will look better on their college application.

A not he r c on s e quence of constant bragg ing is t hat it causes students’ confidence and sense of belonging to waver.

Ha r va rd Un iversit y Neuroscientist Diana Tamir conducted an experiment about how talking about oneself and one's experiences is a rewarding practice.

People who participated in her experiment were more likely to talk about themselves, even if it meant forgoing money.

The culture of celebrating achievements here at Gunn manifests itself in the habit of comparison and boasting the highest score on a test or quiz. It teaches students that in order to feel pride, true satisfaction in one’s accomplishments must come from superiority over others, when in reality it should come from our own pride in our accomplishments. An unrealistic standard of perfection set by bragging peers causes those who receive lower test scores to begin to doubt themselves and their belonging in a school of such high achievers.

Finally, this culture is dangerous because the more it is perpetuated, the more it becomes part of daily life at Gunn. People start to discuss their accomplishments, and,

feeling defensive and inferior, others retort with their own successes.

Instead of being genuinely excited for the achievements of their peers, students’ first instincts are to boast about t hei r ow n i n order to prove themselves just as successful. Students are often left feeling doubtful of the value in their own performances and begin searching for validation through bragging. In the end, however, nobody benefits from these actions.

Instead, those who are not as vocal about their accomplishments feel left behind, and tension and resentment between students grows.

The toxic bragging culture at Gunn inhibits the ability to pursue personal interests, causes self-esteem to decrease and creates a dangerous cycle that is ultimately dangerous to the wellbeing of students. While it is important to take pride in accomplishments, boasting excessively to friends and peers is destructive not only to their confidence but eventually to one’s own as well. It is more beneficial to everyone to be mutually happy for each other’s successes, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

31 percent of ninth graders and 36 percent of 11th graders at gunn agree that they try hard at school because they are interested in their work.

—Tramack, a junior, is a Features Editor.

Forum

Thursday, November 9, 2017

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harmful bragging culture 45 percent of ninth graders and 46 percent of 11th graders at gunn scored high on whether they felt adults at their school had high expectations for them.

20 percent of ninth graders and 18 percent of 11th graders scored Low on whether they felt academically motivated.

Habit of comparison distorts self-worth Staffer

10 percent of Gunn students get the required nine hours (or more) of daily sleep.

­Statistics from 2016-2017 California Healthy Kids Survey

Katie Zhang “Hey what did you get on your test last week? It was so hard! Ugh!” This type of dialogue is often heard around Gunn. We at Gunn have a bragging culture around academics, extracurriculars and self-care. Many times, people say that they are fine on the outside, but in reality they are not.

For instance, one may appear completely calm on a superficial level, while they are actually frantically trying to keep up with the demands of life.

In my day-to-day schedule, I attempt to ensure that I don't compare myself with others. However, whenever it comes to a big test grade coming out, it is a struggle not to compare myself to other people. Usually, when a test grade comes out, people immediately go to their classmates and ask each other, "What did you get?" or "How did you do on the test?" For instance, after the first Advanced Placement Biology test grades came out, one of my friends came up to me and asked me how I did. Before I could state that I wanted to keep my grade private, she told me what she got, and she began to complain about her poor performance. After she told me what she got on the test, I felt more embarrassed about my test grade since I realized that I did far worse than her. This encounter caused my self-esteem to drop because I felt that because she got a higher test score, she was better than me.

Not only is there an academic bragging culture, but there is also a bragging culture revolving around the amount of self-care one gets. Occasionally, my classmates or friends will complain about how sleep-deprived they are. Once they finish their discussion about their sleep-deprivation, they ask me how much sleep I got last night. In one situation, I was very reluctant to answer because they had only gotten three hours of sleep, while I had slept for nine. I felt embarrassed to tell them because I felt like I didn’t have enough extracurriculars and classes to deal with.

This problem affected me because I felt like I needed more stuff on my plate, so that I could have more things to talk and rant about with my friends. People try to cram in everything they can every waking hour to make themselves seem more successful, but what comes with this constant cramming is the lack of time people have to take care of themselves. The reckless assumption that less sleep and more extracurriculars equates to success is a false one and should not be advertised out loud.

After all these experiences, I've realized that everyone has their own way of doing their activities. The results are all different when the process to reach the end is different. When I compared my test grade with other individuals, I did not realize how different studying habits or number of extracurriculars could affect their performance on the test. I have my own way of studying, and other people may have their way of studying, so the outcome will be different.

Thus, I realized that comparing myself to other individuals is pointless because the way that I reached my result is different than the way that someone else reached theirs.

—Zhang, a junior, is a Lifestyle Editor.

Forum 8 Snapchat generalizes beauty standards

Sohini Ashoke In our current day and age, Snapchat is undoubtedly one of the most relevant social media apps out there, especially for teenagers. In fact, it is the second most used social media app for teens according to the Associated Press-National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. A common feature, introduced in 2015, is the concept of a “Snapchat filter.”

This is a face-altering program that can make a multitude of changes; some of these include dog features, a smushed face or transforming the user’s face into various animals. However, these filters come at a price, as they distort beauty standards and are harmful and inadvertently racist.

Snapchat filters are problematic because they promote and enforce the current Eurocentric standard of beauty, creating unachievable beauty standards. Snapchat has also used offensive filters such as blackface and yellowface.

The history of a Eurocentric standard of beauty dates back to European colonization. Now, no matter what part of the world you are in, the prevalence of a Eurocentric standard of beauty is unavoidable.

Whether one is watching a “Fair and Lovely” commercial in India or seeing naturally dark-skinned celebrities like Beyonce being blatantly whitewashed in magazines, this disgusting and racist standard has become globalized. It also stems from a racist value that the white race is superior in intelligence and attractiveness, another viewpoint stemming from early European colonization. The reality is that this standard of beauty is extremely damaging to people of color. While Snapchat filters are not a direct cause of racism, their popular whitewashing filters are subtly furthering racist beauty ideals.

The most popular Snapchat filters, or the conventionally “pretty” ones, are racist because their effects change one’s facial features to common Caucasian characteristics. These changes include lighter skin, slimmer noses, pinker lips and cheeks and lighter eyes and hair. Filters like the dog, f lower crown, gold butterf ly, heart crown and kitten are all created for the sole reason of enhancing the Snapchat

user’s physical appearance and alter an individual’s features to uphold a standard of beauty only held by one race. Snapchat should not be promoting this conventionalized Eurocentric standard of beauty; they are an extremely influential app and should use their power to change systemic issues instead of promoting them.

Anot her problematic issue among Snapchat filters is their anime filter and the Bob Marley filter. The anime filter was extremely and indisputably racist as it thinned the user’s eyes and depicted the stereotypical Asian face. The Bob Marley filter, released on April 20, 2016, was a blatant usage of blackface as it darkend the user’s face in order to represent Bob Marley, a Jamaican musician.

Snapchat filters can also be detrimental to people who fit the Eurocentric standard of beauty. Most of the “pretty” or conventional features listed before also alter user’s features in other ways, such as face slimming, lip plumping and teeth whitening.

These changes only reinforce the message that one needs to modify their appearance in order to be perceived as attractive.

The truth is that social media and advertisements in our lives play a big role in the way we view ourselves and what we consider to be attractive or not. According to a Teen People Magazine survey, 69 percent of young girls said that the media was the most prominent factor in determining their self esteem in terms of their physical appearance. Snapchat, being the second most common social media app used among teens in the United States, has a very direct impact on how users feel about themselves. When all of their popular and conventional filters promote one Eurocentric standard of beauty, they isolate users who do not conform to that standard and can cause them to feel bad about their outer appearance.

An alternate solution to fix the problematic and racist filters Snapchat has is to change the conventional and popular filters to include changes that don’t promote one beauty standard. Instead of making the dog filter about lightening skin and eyes, Snapchat should focus on making the filter keep basic facial feature the way they are. This will in turn promote the new message that you don’t need to alter your face into an unrealistic standard to send a snap. ­—Ashoke, a junior, is a News Editor.

Photo Illustration by Jeffrey Yao and Emma Chiao

Faces in the Crowd

Have you ever seen a racially offensive Snapchat filter?

“Yes, they lighten skin and make eyes bluer...which indicates that traits from one ethnicity is thought of as more beautiful than having traits of other ones.”

Anika Lakhani (9)

“I can’t remember any racist filters from Snapchat. None of my friends have ever used any filters that would be offensive in any way.”

“No, but people can use them in racist ways. Once I saw someone captioning a picture with a filter with small eyes, saying, ‘When you’re Asian.’”

Will Markevitch (10)

Ava Liu (11)

“Last 4/20 they had a blackface filter for Bob Marley, and I think people got offended.”

Tolga Beser (12) ­—Compiled by Jennifer Gao

Features

Thursday, November 9, 2017

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Students celebrate Thanksgiving with unique traditions

Tiffany Chen

Junior Karly Hou

Senior Maddy Kaplan

Junior Siddharth Jain

Thanksgiving fun can be expressed in many different forms. For junior Karly Hou, Thanksgiving comes with a traditional get-together with family and friends involving Chinese food and Nerf gun fights. “All the families always gather together, eat Chinese food, sing songs and the kids play,” she said.

For Hou, Thanksgiving is a time to get together with people who she doesn’t get to see all year. On Thanksgiving, she gets to catch up with childhood friends. “It’s the one time of the year when we all come back, and it’s like, ‘you grew so much taller since last time I saw you!’” she said.

Although for some, Thanksgiving is a celebration of the history of the United States, Hou’s family sees it simply as a holiday for spending time with loved ones. “I guess since my family doesn’t have that much history in the U.S., Thanksgiving doesn’t have the same amount of historical significance to us,” Hou said. “It’s more that we’re still thankful for everything we have, and we celebrate with our friends and our neighbors.”

Hou has many fun memories of her Thanksgivings through the years, including the Nerf gun wars they would always have, with a team of girls playing against a team of boys. “[The boys] were coming in, and they were behind this door.

There was this tiny crack, and I shot it through the crack and I hit this guy in the nose,” she said.

“I was pretty proud of myself.”

These stories are what make Thanksgiving special for Hou. For Hou, Thanksgiving is a fun event to look forward to every year and a time to catch up with friends she rarely sees. “It’s really cool because we’ve been doing it for several years with the same four families that grew up together,” she said.

Ask most people what they’re doing for Thanksgiving and you’ll hear something along the lines of eating turkey, and pumpkin pie and giving thanks. For senior Maddy Kaplan, Thanksgiving with the family means football, christmas trees and music by The Mamas and Papas.

Kaplan’s mother’s side of the family, the Actons, hail from central Ohio, where many traditions in her immediate family stem from. Every year they come together to watch the Ohio State vs. Michigan college football game, covered head to toe in Ohio State’s colors of scarlet and grey. “The rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University is known as perhaps the biggest in college football,” Kaplan said, “Being in a room full of people all screaming about the same thing and being so fixated is really cool, especially because very few people care about the rivalry in California.”

The Kaplan family doesn’t stop at football to truly get into the holiday spirit. The day after Thanksgiving, they haul ornaments out of their grandmother’s attic and carefully unwrap them while jamming to playlists full of The Mamas and Papas and The Beatles. The tradition comes from Ohio as well, where each of her mother’s four siblings has a personal, handmade ornament decorated with their name. “They would take pictures as they all hung their specific ornaments on the tree every year, and once my mom moved to California they would keep her ornament off the tree until she could come home so she could put it on herself,” Kaplan said.

Traditions aren’t only passed down through the Kaplan parents. “When I was younger my brother and I would make fake trees for centerpieces in class. Each colored leaf would have something different written on it that we were thankful for,” Kaplan said. “I always got really into it and would make my family add their own leaves during the meal, but we’ve scrapped that now that we’re older and just go around saying things we’re thankful for.”

While most people spend their Thanksgiving feasting on turkey and mashed potatos with family and waiting in lines in front of shopping malls, junior Siddharth Jain and his family decide to spend the day giving back to the community. “Usually Thanksgiving is about what you have, but our family is more of what don’t other people have,” Jain said. He usually volunteers at the Veterans Hospital because he has a badge, and his family serves food at the food bank or the local temple. Once, Jain had a 24-hour volunteer shift at a food bank—a tiring yet enjoyable experience.

“While we while we have enough, we want to help other people who don’t have all that we have, and this is a way of giving back to the community,” he said.

Jain recommends volunteering on Thanksgiving to other people because it broadens one’s mind and helps others.

“I was [volunteering] in San Jose, which is not as affluent as Palo Alto,” he said. “I was able to see how members of the working class carried on their daily lives, and it’s really helpful to get another point of view.”

This tradition started when his family moved to California in 2000 because they thought they had enough and that it was time to give to the community. “I think of [Thanksgiving] as a day where I can forget about my own needs and worry about others,” Jain said.

—Written by Liza Kolbasov

—Written by Joy Huang

—Written by Yael Livneh

Photo courtesy of Karly Hou

Photo courtesy of Maddy Kaplan

Photo courtesy of Siddarth Jain

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Cente

Student Entrepreneurs cultivate innov

BEAM students l Senior Matthew Skowronski runs clothing business Joanna Huang Changing the Narrative Editor

Senior Matthew Skowronski started his online store, Tranquil Clothing, three years ago during his search for a meaningful undertaking. “Basically I wanted to just do something—I felt like I wasn’t really doing much. I was doing extracurricular activities, but it wasn’t very interesting to me,” Skowronski said. “I just started designing on the computer and eventually that just turned into creating clothes.”

Tranquil Clothing’s simple website features T-shirts, hoodies and hats in a variety of styles personally designed

by Skowronski. His goal is to have the clothing appeal to a diverse group of people, and he advertises through Instagram posts.

Skowronski did not receive any formal mentoring for his business. He appreciates how his entrepreneurial experience taught him to work independently. “I feel like [starting a business] is a really good way to learn, because you have to do everything yourself—you’re kind of forced to, because if you get help from other people then you kind of fall behind with your own skills,” he said. “If you do everything yourself—every part of a business—then you learn a lot, because you learn how to put a website together and how to advertise and all that. That’s really good for real-world uses.”

Skowronski finds the Gunn community highly supportive of student entrepreneurship. “I feel like there’s a lot of encouragement to do things like [start a business] and a lot of people who actually do it,” he

Max Wang Max Wang

said. “So there’s a lot of people you can go to for advice and help.”

Due to his time spent individually working, however, Skowronski emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivation. “[Starting a business is] kind of really self-motivated, like you have to really want to do it yourself,” he said. “I feel like if you really want to make your own company, it really comes from you.”

In the future, Skowronski intends to start another business, along with majoring in business or economics. “I can see myself making other similar businesses, but not sticking with this one because this one was more like a project just so I could learn a lot and how to build a business in the first place,” he said. “I’m happy where I got with it, but I feel like in the future I would move onto other ventures.”

His advice to aspiring student entrepreneurs is to just do it. “A lot of people are like ‘oh, I should do this’ or ‘what if I did this?’” he said. “But why don’t you just do it and see what happens?”

Liz

Co

Among the traditional math classes offered Math (BEAM), an application math course starte on teaching students about entrepreneurship and their newly acquired knowledge to internships or pr Florea first started BEAM as a way to satisfy the Gu students and parents say two things: how does math ap it applies, and why isn’t there a business course offered the program, Florea hopes to teach students math and bu to give back to the community.

According to BEAM Chief Executive Officer senior Mink ties to create their own projects. “[Students are] thrown into real life application,” Kim said. “I think that’s the most impo BEAM began as a lunchtime club with five students in it. with several companies. Since its creation at Gunn, the class h Netherlands and Mexico. The curriculum, developed by Flore PricewaterhouseCoopers, focuses on skills necessary for stude According to BEAM and math teacher Toni Smith, who sta parts that provide different areas of business knowledge. “Stud how the two are combined,” Smith said.

These skills aide students in seeing the practical side of ent then implementing it, there’s a lot of steps in between havin Kim said.

The class works to provide students with knowledge tha learn different aspects of business, such as entrepreneursh projects with students in other parts of the world that tak an idea for a business.

The skills that students learn through entrepreneu ing to Florea and Kim. “Well, first of all, if [studen with that for the rest of [their] lives,” Kim said, c for hospitals. “But it’s just basically the skills try that again in the future. It’s just anothe Even for students who do not choose t edge that will help them regardless of t better at three essential skills: creative tions. “I think… entrepreneurship projects in high school, it kind of forces you to become better at t BEAM is unique in that it a global level, working on proje you could say BEAM is like level because the students create joint startups,” Florea Linkoping, Sweden, and a s each other’s different start work together on the same The course’s central idea and give back to the comm many of Gunn’s core val Florea said. “Everybody together. So, let’s all be in a product or service th our community.”

erfold

vation and creativity

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Thursday, November 9, 2017

learn skills for the future

za Kolbasov

opy Editor

d at Gunn, one stands out: Business, Entrepreneurship and ed in 2014 by math teacher Cristina Florea. This course focuses d the real-life applications of math, as well as letting them apply rojects. unn community’s needs. “Throughout teaching here, I’ve heard both pply to the real world and what can we do to show the students how at Gunn when Palo Alto is in the Silicon Valley?” she said. Through usiness in a way that would help them in their futures and enable them

ki Kim, students learn the most through the unique hands-on opportunio groups in the second semester and made to do these projects that have a ortant part of BEAM.” Over the past three years, it has expanded into a full-time course working has spread to schools worldwide, including in Germany, China, Sweden, the ea and two of the largest professional firms in the world, Ernst & Young and ents to create their own startups and put them into practice. arted teaching the course along with Florea this year, the course is split into dents are learning about all aspects of business, as well as mathematics and

trepreneurship. “[Entrepreneurship] is not as easy as having a good idea and ng a good idea and turning it into something that can make you money,”

at will help students complete these steps. “BEAM is a class where students hip, business strategy, marketing, and finance, and get to collaborate on ke BEAM course,” Smith said, adding that many students already have

urship and courses such as BEAM are incredibly applicable, accordnts] make something really good right now... [they] could continue citing the example of a student who invented disinfecting plastic s, to try new things and see if you’ll succeed or not, and then… er experience that will give them guidance,” he said. to pursue a future in business, BEAM can provide knowlheir profession. Entrepreneurship allows students to get e thinking, problem solving and giving good presentap, and joining the course or doing entrepreneurship f forces you to think about these three things, and them before you leave high school,” Florea said. llows students to explore entrepreneurship on a Max Wang ects with people from other countries. “I guess e global entrepreneurship at the high school worldwide collaborate and could possibly a said. “Who knows, maybe a student from student from Oaxaca, Mexico, hear about tups and they would want to continue to e startup.”

Bridgette Gong a of working together to complete projects Sports Editor munity on a local and global level echoes lues. “Gunn is a very close community,” “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” These words by violence, such as a loss of self esteem and immobility. With an urge cares about each other. We’re all in this Mahatma Gandhi resonated with senior Sarika Saksena as she to help improve their situation, Saksena quickly took action, leading n this together and work towards creating built her organization, Ujala, from scratch. to results that changed thousands of lives for the better. “I learned the hat helps other people and gives back to Ujala aims to help underprivileged women in India build their simple art of candle making and started to hold workshops for women wealth and security by supplying them with skills that reap great to learn this income-generating skill,” Saksena said. “Now, as CEO and financial benefits, such as candle-making. “Ujala holds candle- founder of Ujala, we’ve taught candle-making to over 1000 women in making workshops for underserved women living in slums and New Delhi and surrounding rural areas.” rural villages with proceeds from candle sales going back to the Saksena appreciates the meaningful relationships she’s formed with craftswomen and supports them until they are able to run their own people from all across the world over the past six years of her involvebusinesses,” Saksena said. ment. “What is most fulfilling for me is when the craftswomen show With the help of these services, women can learn to become more me their favorite lipsticks or school backpacks for their daughters all self-reliant and financially independent. Ujala also goes one step further purchased from their own money which was earned through candlein keeping these women informed about the basics of health, hosting sales,” Saksena said. In addition, she also sees entrepreneurship as workshops that inform them of the importance of proper hygiene, an outlet for her passion and spirit. “My profession allows me to be sexual health, environmental responsibility and taking action to make myself and I absolutely love how it has helped me in achieving a global a change within the community. mindset,” Saksena said.

The organization is only growing as its workshops continue to Though the development of Ujala seems swift and unhindered branch out. “Ujala hopes to reach the millions of disadvantaged from the outside, Saksena did have to overcome several obstacles with women in India by setting up Skype stations in the villages and diligence. “Communicating with the staff members remotely while slums to teach candle-making remotely,” Saksena said. attending school in the U.S. was a challenge as it required weekly calls The beginning of Ujala was an emotional one, in which to plan the workshops and resolve any logistical or operational issues,” Saksena—then a middle schooler in New Delhi, In- Saskena said. In dealing with certain challenges, Saksena was able to dia—met six women who sought her grandparents’ develope new skills, such as time management. guidance and support about physical and emoWith her own entrepreneurship story of a “business-come-true,” tional abuse from their husbands. They Saksena urges self motivation and confidence. “No vision is crazy or were not the only ones, however, unattainable,” she said. “Most importantly, seeing the world through and Saksena became aware of a compassionate lens presents many opportunities to bring about a the difficulties faced by change.” victims of domestic

Senior Sarika Saksena starts organization for women in India

Graphics by Sherry Chen and Jeffrey Yao

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Features

Q&A with Work Experience Coordinator Meri Gyves The Oracle: What kind of laws protect student workers?

Meri Gyves: We have labor laws for minors and children under the age of 18. They were established in the 1930s. California has very strict laws to protect children from working too many hours. You must have a break, and you must be paid minimum wage. For meal breaks, you must have 30 minutes if you work more than five hours and get a 10-minute break for every three hours.

TO: What specifically is the law trying to protect workers for? The number of hours? The kind of work?

MG: They’re protecting children for safety reasons and rest. Young children can’t work after a certain amount of hours and they are allotted breaks by law. And if you are 14 or 15, you can only work three hours a day, and 18 hours a week during the school year. If you are 16 or 17, you can only work four hours a day, up to 28 hours a week; if you are in a Work Experience or Work Study class, then your permit would say eight hours a day, 40 hours a week. We don’t want kids to work that long because school comes first, but they are allowed to work over that four hour limit if you are in a work program.

TO: How do you get a work permit?

MG: The first process is you have to be told you’re hired. Then you come in and get a Work Permit request form. You can download a work permit from the Palo Alto website or take one from the Work Experience office, which is in room E-3. You have to put your full Social Security number on the form. You fill out the top part of it, the employer fills out the middle part and signs it and the parents sign it. You have to put your full phone on the form, not your cell phone number. I get them all the time that aren’t filled out correctly or the handwriting is not discernible. If their Social Security is imported incorrectly, that’s the way it is for your first job, and that’s the way it goes into the Social Security system. It’s important that you write as clearly and legibly as possible.

In California, minors (anyone under 18) must give their employers a work permit before starting work. Employers can get fined if the State finds out they hired a minor without a work permit.

Employers are required to give you a 30 minutes break every five hours of work and at least 10 minutes of break time for every four hours worked.

Students need to be at least 14 to take on most jobs.

TO: What steps should students take for resolving issues like this?

MG: I feel the best policy is to be in a Work Experience program where you have a teacher being diplomatic and handling any problems between the employer and employee that may arise in the workplace and handling any labor law related questions. Often, it’s better to have somebody who’s qualified to do that, like the Work Experience teacher. I feel the most important aspect when you begin working is that you get a work permit. That makes everyone legal.

TO: What kind of resources does the work experience office have?

MG: We have a file and Naviance has summer jobs. If you’re in the Work Experience class, I do help students find jobs. But the Job Fair, which is March 8 on the Quad at lunch, is when employers are here and students can get great summer and volunteer jobs. Another important thing that students don’t understand is community service.

There’s a misconception that you need a 100 hours to graduate from high school, which is against the law. You cannot require a 100 hours to graduate from a public high school. Living Skills can require 15 hours of community service because it’s connected to a class, but there’s no requirement for community service hours to graduate from any public high school at all.

—Compiled by Amanda Lee

You cannot be fired or punished for making a complaint with the state labor commissioner, making a claim for workers’ compensation benefits or filing a grievance about unsafe working conditions.

Learn your worker rights

If you are fired or laid off, your employer must pay all of the remaining wages owed to you.

As of 2017, Palo Alto’s minimum wage is $12 an hour and California’s minimum wage is $10.50 an hour.

Statistics courtesy of the Work Experience Office

TO: Do you think many students understand that they have these rights?

MG: Some students don’t know they have these rights, and some employers don’t understand the importance of the need for the rights for students and the importance of having a work permit. Some employers hire students without a work permit, leading to working students over hours, working them too late, and/or working them alone in an establishment, and that’s not safe. They’re closing up at night with nobody there except the student, and I think that’s very dangerous for potential robbery. Students should be protected by an adult employer. Anyone who owns an establishment should always have an adult there at night and not have somebody under 18 working alone.

For each minute you are late, your employer can deduct the equivalent amount of pay in

dollars from your wages.

Minors under 15 cannot work as an employee without a work permit.

Regarding federal versus state labor laws, the more severe law is the law you should obey.

students who are 16 and 17 can work a daily maximum of 4 hours, Monday through Thursday.

Graphics by Grace Liu and Catherine Chen —Compiled by Amanda Lee

Features

Thursday, November 9, 2017

13

Sofia Sierra Garcia

students express themselves Through Makeup Sophomore Ben Truong From the back, the 5 foot 2 inch sophomore blends into the bustling sea of students trying to make their way to class. From the front, however, it’s hard to walk past him without admiring his glowing skin and radiant aura: it appears as if a celebrity is walking among us. What sets Ben Truong apart from most boys are his wizard-like makeup skills—his extensive daily makeup routine includes foundation, bronzer, blush, highlight, brows and mascara.

Truong’s interest in makeup started with a rejected gift he gave to one of his friends at the end of eighth grade. “I got my two friends Kylie Jenner lip-kits and then one of them didn’t want her lipstick; she only wanted the liner, so then she gave it to me,” he said. “I started wearing it sometimes and that’s how I started getting into makeup.”

The experimentation with lipstick sparked his interest in trying new products, and led to a trip to Sephora with his mom. “My mom got me brushes, and then I also got contour,” he said. “At first I thought, ‘I don’t need contour or fake eyelashes’ but then I tried them and really liked them, so it kept building.”

Although Truong makes his natural-looking glow appear effortless, it can take him multiple tries to perfect the look. “Sometimes it’s a good brow day, and some-

times it’s not, so it’ll take me longer to clean them better with concealer which can be very frustrating,” he said. While some teenagers wake up with barely enough time to make it to school on time, Truong makes sure to set time aside for his makeup routine. “When I actually want to do my makeup, it takes around an hour or an hour and a half in the morning,” he said. “But a daily routine is more like 45 minutes so I wake up around 7 a.m. and then rush.”

Initially, Truong turned to YouTube for inspiration and tricks to perfect the art of makeup. “I just watched a lot of videos to improve my technique,” he said. “I really like Michael Finch, he’s my favorite YouTuber.”

Truong has had the opportunity to meet various famous YouTube stars, including Patrick Star, at a makeup convention this summer called Gen-Beauty. The convention consisted of multiple meets-and-greets and booths that gave out free or discounted makeup.

For Truong, makeup serves as a unique form of expression. “I see makeup as an art form where your face serves as a canvas,” he said. “It makes me feel a lot more confident.”

—Written by Kaya van der Horst

Photo courtesy of Ben Truong

Sofia Sierra Garcia

Junior Olivia Stanghellini Junior Olivia Stanghellini has been involved with Gunn’s theatre program since her freshman year and is now the official theater makeup artist. She is also a crew member who participates in stage tech, and does all three activities backstage during showtimes.

Stanghellini’s passion for theater stemmed from watching a previous Gunn theater show, “Anything Goes.” Watching the show helped her discover a new interest and desire to take part in theater. “I watched ‘Anything Goes’ in eighth grade, and thought it was cool that high schoolers could put together that show,” Stanghellini said. “I wasn’t even interested in theater but I was impressed, which made me want to join in and try it out. I was just like amazed at what [Gunn theater] was able to put together, and was inspired by that.”

Before getting involved with theater makeup, her initial passion for makeup came from high fashion: she was drawn to how it opened a new perspective for her on the subject of makeup and beauty. “I started seeing a lot of really artistic runway makeup in magazines and online, and I thought that was really interesting and cool because I never thought of makeup being like clothing, or like something that artistic,” Stanghellini said.

“I never thought you could change makeup up until I started seeing it in high fashion.”

When it comes to managing her many activities with theatre, Stanghellini feels that the process and expectations can be overwhelming. “It can be very stressful and definitely difficult,” Stanghellini said. “There is a very high standard of how the show should go.

Jim Shelby has very high expectations for us and how he wants things to be.”

The creative aspect of makeup draws Stanghellini in and was a factor in her deciding to work in the entertainment or acting industry in the future. “I think that I definitely am more interested in entertainment than real world work,” Stanghellini said. “I like theater because it’s kind of pretend and fun, and I get to be creative.”

She has also expressed her desire to move around and be physically active while working in makeup or entertainment. “I would be happy with a job in entertainment and a job where I can walk around, since I’m kind of restless,” Stanghellini said. “Something even like the MAC [a makeup brand] counter sounds awesome, since I could work with makeup and move around.”

Stanghellini’s favorite aspect of doing theater makeup is how she can create characters and change people through makeup. “I think it’s the transformation [of the makeup process] that really draws me in,” Stanghellini said.

She finds the entire process of doing stage makeup to be an enjoyable activity. “It’s fun—it’s really really fun,” Stanghellini said. “I think that whole process is kind of relaxing for me too. I feel like one of those people in the sped-up makeup videos you see, and the end result is always so cool.”

—Written by Sohini Ashoke

Sofia Sierra Garcia

14

Features

Student performers share skills, aspirations K-Pop dancer, pianist Hannah Huang

Photo courtesy of Hannah Huang

As a dancer, pianist and YouTube sensation, junior Hannah Huang has been surrounded by music for most of her life. She started dancing at only 4 years old at Pacific Ballet Academy. “Dance has been a part of my life for so long, it is crazy to try to think of my life without it,” Huang said. Dancing, however, was not always a passion for Huang. “I used to want to quit ballet and I used to beg my mom to let me quit, but with time I realized that I really enjoyed it, and I am really happy that she didn’t let me quit,” Huang said. “As a little kid it felt hard trying to achieve what my teachers wanted, which is the mix of perfect technique and artistry. There is no way to really achieve that perfection so there were times when I wanted to just stop reaching for it.”

Huang believes that striving for improvement created a lot of challenges, but working to overcome setbacks has helped her grow as a person. “As a dancer, there are very hard physical demands that you have to meet to be able to advance in things like ballet,” she said. “I remember when I was younger I felt that I was not flexible enough, so I would stretch every single day to get more flexible.

I also constantly work out outside of ballet class so I can improve my strength and do the really hard combinations.”

Last year, Huang started dancing in YouTube videos covering K-pop groups’ dances with Stanford dancers; one of these videos has reached around 55,000 views. “For the video, I had to learn the part of one of the people in the K-pop group and then recreate it and perform it with the entire group,” Huang said. “Creating the video was not as stressful as I thought it would be because they are not just doing one take; [they] are doing multiple takes. Then you have practices beforehand and practices with the videographer so you feel really prepared.”

Huang also started playing the piano at age 4, though unlike ballet, she was passionate about it from the very beginning. “My older sister played piano, and I always heard her playing and thought it was so cool,” Huang said. “I would go to the piano after she played and just bang on the keys, and then I begged my parents to give me piano lessons. The teacher originally didn’t want to take me, but he saw how much I wanted it so he started teaching me anyway.”

Huang believes she started to really love playing the piano when she got a new teacher that looked past the mechanics of playing and made her delve further into the emotion and the complexity of her pieces. “I think that I love playing the piano so much more now because expressing the music can be really challenging,” she said. “Just playing the notes or having good technique is one thing, but making sure that what I am playing sounds like music and not just notes is exciting.”

Similarly to dance, Huang decided that she wanted to share her work on the piano, so she started doing piano covers and uploading them to her Instagram at least once a week. “When I play a cover, I am mostly doing it by ear—I don’t have any sheet music in front of me,” she said.

Huang believes that both dance and piano have made a significant impact on her life. “From dance I learned how hard you have to work to be able to advance in anything and piano has definitely taught me to listen to people and music in a totally different way,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade either of those for the world.”

—Written by Ayala Tzadikario

Q&A with rapper Jibran Hamady The Oracle: When did you start rapping?

Jibran Hamady: I started rapping Sept. 24, 2017 and I started rapping when I found out about the equipment Gunn has in the library. I just fell in love with going in there and I started rapping and it just turned into one of my passions I found.

TO: Who or what inspired you to start rapping?

JH: I started rapping so I could start to express what’s going on inside, like my feelings, and tell people and show them in a creative way what’s going on and what needs to change and what needs to happen. The first few rappers to inspire me were Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, because if you listen to their lyrics, really listen, it’s just pure genius. I just fell in love with the way they rapped, so that’s what made me decide to rap like them.

TO: What is your favorite part about rapping?

JS: My favorite part about rapping is probably when I finish writing the music, I write down a punchline. After I write down this punchline, I get to look at it and think to myself, “Oh, wow, this is good. I just wrote the sickest line ever.” It’s just super surprising that when I go into the studio and finally rap it into the mic, how good it sounds and how cool this all is.

TO: What is your creative process?

JS: So the first thing I do is I go with my cousin or with one of my friends and we make the beat and get a nice flow. Then, I sit down, put my headphones on and listen to the flow about 200 times, sometimes closer to 300 times. After that, I go into what I call my “inner feels” and just start rapping and writing, finding words that rhyme that make sense and that create a whole story.

TO: How do you deal with people giving you hate?

JS: When people give me hate, I simply laugh and tell them to just wait and see. I have heard a lot of people laugh at my album and tell me that it’s a joke or think it’s funny. When I hear this I just go straight to my notebook and start writing about hate. When my album comes out, the people that hated on it will be able to see exactly where I wrote about them.

TO: What are your plans for the future in regards to rapping?

JS: I want to become famous; I want to become big; I want to have concerts. But my goal, maybe next year—of course only if this takes off and my album does well—is probably to have a huge concert in the middle of the Gunn field with me standing right on the big “G,” and have every single Palo Alto school come. We are going to all bump together, me and all of my guys, bumping this place like crazy.

TO: What is the name of your upcoming album?

JH: My album is called “A Penny For Your Thought,” and it’s projected to be released on Nov. 11.

—Compiled by Laurel Comiter

Photo by Sofia Sierra Garcia

Sports

Thursday, November 9, 2017

15

No

Yes

Are the advantages of super teams fair game in the NBA?

Eric Epstein

Ryan Manesh

For the 2017-18 NBA season, many superstar basketball players joined forces to create team rosters chock-full of ridiculous talent and stardom, dubbed “super teams.” This phenomenon has likely sprouted in response to the Golden State Warriors assembling a squadron of superstars who are closer to an all-star team than an NBA franchise. The Warriors, led by four of the top 20 players in the entire league, according to ESPN, cruised effortlessly to an NBA championship last season, leaving the rest of the NBA in the dust.

This past offseason, a certain few NBA teams have tried their best to catch up with the Warriors by cramming as much star power as they could onto their respective 12-man rosters. A frenzy of blockbuster trades and reality show-caliber drama ensued while these teams scrambled to build the squad with the best chance of toppling the Warriors from the NBA summit. Overall, these super teams are beneficial for the NBA because they increase the league’s popularity, encourage non-competitive teams to build for the future and maintain the competition across the league.

Super teams increase the NBA’s entertainment factor and popularity. When immensely popular superstars team up with each other, they tend to draw loads of excitement and astronomical television ratings. According to Sports Media Watch, in the 2016-17 NBA regular season 25 of the 29 most-watched games featured either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Golden State Warriors games, two of the most infamous super teams in the league. Super teams are almost always polarizing and controversial, boosting viewership not only for the excited fans, but also for those who watch the super teams in hopes of them being upset. At the end of the 2016 season, when the rise of the super teams began, the NBA signed a lucrative $24 million television deal, according to ESPN. The television companies that are on this deal are undoubtedly salivating over the marquee matchups and the colossal ratings that the league’s super teams will be sure to draw up this season.

With six or seven rosters dominating most of the starpower and talent in the league, there are a significant number of teams that have no legitimate chance of contending for the championship. In the long term, this system benefits the NBA, as it encourages the teams at the bottom of the standings to “rebuild” their rosters in order to become more competitive for future seasons. Many rebuilding teams are Sherry Chen stockpiling young players, draft picks and other future assets: once the current super teams disintegrate, a new wave of competitive teams will ensue. This rotation of talent and dominance around the league will ensure that each team will at some point have a realistic chance of competing for the NBA title within the next five to 10 years.

A common belief about super teams is that they drastically reduce the competitiveness and the parity of the NBA—however, this is not true. The NBA has never been and never will be the college basketball March Madness tournament, which is known for its upsets and overall unpredictability. Going even deeper, out of the 71 years that the NBA has existed, the most successful five teams own a combined 49 of the championships, and the top two franchises alone have won a staggering 33 of them. Parity in the NBA has always been an afterthought, and super teams do not inhibit the competition across the league any further.

The NBA has had super teams in the league for decades. A few of the strongest examples have been the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors, 2007-08 Celtics and 2011-12 Miami Heat.

According to basketball-reference.com, the Warriors had 73 wins and nine regular season losses in the 2015-16 season. Out of 30 teams, only nine teams beat them, and the nine teams that won against the Warriors actually lost the other three times they played. These teams have been controversial to the league and to fans for a long time because they ruin competitiveness, decrease the chance of weaker teams causing an upset, shrink the market for smaller teams and franchises and often result in excessive spending.

Super teams minimize some of the competitiveness of the NBA because players are no longer working for a championship ring, but instead just joining a top contender. The most famous modern example is probably Kevin Durant’s move to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016-17 offseason. Durant took the easy way out by joining a team that had already made it to the finals the year before and was probably going to do it again. This free-agency pickup was insane and shocked many, as many people thought that Durant would have stayed with his already top team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were knocked out in the Western Conference Finals by the Warriors. This trade caused a lot of controversy and made many people lose their respect for Durant because he joined the Warriors for an easy chance at a ring.

Another reason competitiveness is brought down is that the more superstars that are on a team, the less chance there is of a weaker team beating it. If a team like the Warriors only had players like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, and these two players underperformed certain nights, there would still be a bit of a chance to beat their team. But teams that have more than two all stars, like the Warriors who also have Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, are very hard to beat.

In addition, super teams make the market for smaller teams even smaller than they already are.

People are less likely to watch a game with fewer all stars or good matchups. Therefore, some of the smaller teams in the NBA play fewer games with national television viewership, causing them to fall even more behind super teams in terms of exposure and money.

An example is that in the 2015-16 season, the Warriors average ticket price was $79 and the average Kings ticket price was $47; this $30 ticket difference can add up and is a lot of money that one team would make over the other. Also, teams would be making less money due to a drop in the amount of tickets sold and viewers watching.

Owners would realize that they would not be making much of a profit and may even sell the team. If a new owner is not found, then certain teams that have been in the league for decades may slowly disappear.

Many super teams acquire players through excessive spending. The soft salary cap and luxury tax of the NBA allow richer teams to acquire better players by just paying them to come instead of actually raising and training a player. This spending diminishes the competitive balance. Currently, if the NBA wanted to build a contender, they would have to tank their records for a few seasons and acquire a few high draft picks, or just spend way over the salary cap in player contracts. Super teams prove to be an incentive for franchises to put all their bets on established players instead of promoting competitiveness through new talent.

—Epstein, a junior, is the Business Manager.

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

Faces in the Crowd

How do you feel about the new All-Star Game format?

“I think all stars should be chosen by the fans, but I’m excited for the game. I think it will unique.”

Adam Simler (9)

“I think the All-Star format is unfair and doesn’t give lesser known players a chance to shine.”

Aileen Han (10)

“I really just love watching basketball, so I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

Jack Chen (11)

“I like the old system because you can compare the conferences and see the competition.”

Scott Kuhnle (12) —Compiled by Yael Livneh

16

Sports

Students participate in unconventional sports Spikeball

Fencing Freshman Joshua Yang grips a purple-and-green hued, metallic saber blade in his hand, his knees bent and his back completely vertical. As soon as the referee puts his hands together, he lunges, grazing his opponent’s mask and scoring a touch.

Yang has been fencing since the age of 12, training in the Cardinal Fencing Club at Stanford. Yang’s writing tutor was the one who first introduced him to fencing. “She recommended that I pick up a unique sport and told me to either go into fencing or ballroom dancing,” Yang said.

As a student athlete, Yang finds it imperative to balance school and practice, as he dedicates around ten hours per week to fencing. “Fencing is a very mental sport, and you can’t go to practice burned out from the school day or stressed about homework,” he said. “You just have to set it all aside so you can put all your concentration into fencing.”

For Yang, the mental aspect of fencing is the most enticing component. “When you’re going backwards, you’re on defense, always looking for an opening in your opponent, but when you’re going forwards, you have to be careful and not allow your opponent to parry (block your blade) or counterattack (hit someone while simultaneously going backwards),” Yang said. “Fencing is called physical chess for a reason, and that’s one of the reasons I love fencing as a sport.”

Fencing is considered an uncommon sport, with only around 100,000 active fencers reported in the United States.

This number pales in comparison to the 26 million basketball players in the country, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. “Because fencing is a relatively smaller sport, the community is closely connected,” Yang said.

Junior Jake Humble passes the ball to his teammate, who hits it down onto the net and scores the eleventh and winning point for the team. This is spikeball: a sport composed of four players, two teams and one net. Spikeball was first introduced in the 1900s and has gained popularity in the past few years. Similar to volleyball, each team has three touches and loses if they are unable to hit the ball back onto the net, which is small and circular and is placed on the ground.

Humble started playing three months ago after discovering the sport at a professional-amateur joint event. “My cousin was getting married and he showed me the game at his bachelor party,” he said. “We had this athletic Pro-Am event and spikeball was one of the events.” Since then, Humble continued with the sport and now plays it as a recreational activity. “It’s really a one-of-a-kind sport that involves a lot of different movements and skills,” he said. “It’s just a really fun game to play with friends, and that’s mainly why I keep playing.”

Although he has only been playing for three months, Humble has seen himself improve tremendously. “I wouldn’t say there’s practice,” he said. “You get really skillful with the game just through playing other people.” Humble’s favorite part of the sport is the competitiveness and team aspect. “As a team, it’s probably more about communication and being on the same page,” he said. “If one person makes a mistake, your teammate has to be there to back you up.”

However, according to Humble, the team aspect is also a weakness, as only four people can play at a time.

Humble encourages everyone to give spikeball a chance. “I would say to try it out, it’s really fun,” he said. “All you need is four friends.”

Max Wang

Courtesy of Joshua Yang

Crew

Archery

Ro we

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i nL lv i fA yo

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Archery is a sport that requires dedication, skill, patience and consistent effort. Sophomore Thomas Rowe has been shooting for seven years and loves everything about the sport. Rowe has spent a lot of time on archery fields mastering his technique.

Rowe started archery in elementary school. “I have done archery for about seven years,” he said. “Every year since I was 8 years old during the summer, I have done archery and I still love it.”

Rowe’s main inspiration was the best-selling book series “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. “Katniss Everdeen was my main girl,” he said. “Just reading about her shooting those arrows was truly inspirational and really drove me to try out the sport.”

The young bowman enrolls in a yearly archery summer camp at Stanford. “It’s really fun and it really helped me learn and achieve my dreams in following Katniss’ footsteps,” he said.

It has not been all easy for Rowe, however. He has had some big hurdles to overcome and some pretty gruesome injuries to show for it. When Rowe was at his camp one year, he had an unfortunate accident. “I once shot myself in the foot.

It was kind of painful,” he said. “I was just trying to cock the string back, but for some reason, I looked down and just released the arrow straight into my foot.” However, Rowe was able to overcome these obstacles and persevere.

Rowe feels the most fulfilled when he is able to achieves a long term personal goal. The satisfaction of hitting the center of the target never fails to disappoint. “When you just sink that bullseye from 30 meters out, it’s great, it’s truly amazing to accomplish that,” he said. ­—Compiled by Emma Chiao, Julia Cheunkarndee, Jennifer Gao and Ryan Manesh

Co ur

ur Co

Pushing through the pain, junior Alvin Li and his team maneuver their oars to propel their boat swiftly through the water. They are competing in crew, a team rowing sport that has risen in popularity over the years.

Crew is a test of endurance and mental fortitude, but for Li, the teamwork aspect is the best part of the sport and is what drove him to further pursue crew.

Li began the sport during his freshman year after being encouraged by his sister. “She was at college, and all the crew guys said a lot of good things about the sport, so she said I should try it out,” he said. Now, Li is part of a team of 40 people and attends intense practices every day after school for three hours. “The pain is the hardest thing,” Li said.

“People black out and throw up every single day.” The combined effort and spirit of his team, however, serves as a great motivator to persist through the pain.

Li rows with seven other team members. His position on the team is starboard, or someone that rows on the left. “There’s three total positions,” Li said. “There’s starboard, there’s another one where you row on the right called port. There are also positions where you row on both sides, which is called sculler and you row with two oars.”

Occasionally, Li’s team will travel together on team trips to different racing competitions. For Li, these experiences provide not only significant and enjoyable ways to compete, but the opportunity to develop meaningful team bonds. “Just training together and rooming together is a lot of fun,” he said.

At the end of the day, Li’s sense of team camaraderie makes him eager to return. “The sport isn’t that great; no one likes doing it because it’s a lot of pain, but it’s worth it,” he said.

Sports

Thursday, November 9, 2017

17

Stay fit with alternative methods of exercise Grace Tramack Features Editor

For many people, hitting the gym and returning sweaty from head to toe is their worst nightmare. And while it’s important to remain active, those who dread exercise may believe it’s impossible to stay fit without it. However, there are still plenty of ways to maintain a healthy level of fitness even if the mere thought of typical forms of exercise, such as running or weightlifting, causes you anguish and distress. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, getting lots of sleep and choosing alternative activities are the keys to staying physically fit.

Being aware of your daily diet will take you a long way. A critical aspect of diet is making sure your plate is loaded with fruits and vegetables, along with the appropriate amount of protein and fats. Many people try to experiment with crazy cleansing diets or become over-occupied with calorie counting, but in many situations it is not necessary. Simply being mindful of what and how much you are consuming and continuing to actively make healthy alterations to your diet is the key. Keep in mind that the right amount of nutrients and food energy needed can vary from person to person.

In addition, staying hydrated can help reduce overeating. According to LiveStrong, a site dedicated to promoting ways to lead a healthy life, when the body hasn’t had enough to drink, it becomes tired and wants to eat more to gain energy. Therefore, the brain often mistakes hunger for thirst. Consuming eight ounces of water per day can help the body remain hydrated and less likely to eat out of boredom. Both maintaining a balanced diet and frequently drinking water can help maintain fitness.

Another way to ensure a healthy lifestyle is by getting plenty of sleep. Balancing extracurriculars and schoolwork

Jeffrey Yao

means most students sacrifice their sleep to compensate for time. According to an article by USA Today, sleep deprivation leads to an increase in ghrelin, a hormone which controls feelings of hunger, because your body needs to cover the extra energy needed to stay up longer. By getting an appropriate amount of sleep every night, the body will be more well-rested and active throughout the day. Avoiding sleep deprivation can help in remaining fit.

An inevitable part of staying fit, unfortunately, is still being active. Exercise doesn’t have to mean lifting weights or going to the gym, however. Rest assured that if you are incredibly against exercise, there are still plenty of other options. For example, yoga helps with not only physical health, but also mental health; although it is still challenging, there are many different types and classes based on ability and desired difficulty level. Participating with a friend can make sessions less daunting, too.

Alternatively, going on walks, bike rides or hikes with friends help keep the body active. They don’t have to be challenging routes, and will still burn calories and develop muscle. Something as simple as an afternoon walk with your dog can do the trick. There are plenty of hiking and biking trails around the Bay Area to choose from, and even just biking instead of driving to your next destination is a great option. These alternative ways to stay active still count as exercise, but are not the typical, regimented workouts that can be discouraging.

Keeping a balanced diet, staying hydrated, avoiding lack of sleep and finding alternative ways to stay active are all important for living a robust lifestyle. By finding friends who struggle with the same hatred of typical exercise, it is easier to develop a mutual support system and hold each other accountable in striving toward personal health goals. If you find yourself avoiding the gym at all costs, you are not alone.

But this hatred towards hours on a treadmill or 20-pound weights most definitely does not have to be a deterrent to your fitness, so keep pursuing different ways to keep that body in check.

18

Lifes

Hypebeast fashion trends Hypebeasts should be respected, not shunned Caroline Ro Forum Editor To each their own, we say, when it comes to art. Self-expression has grown to be more respected by today’s youth, and is generally given its proper space and freedom in whatever way it decides to manifest itself.

With the rise of hypebeast culture, however, this same respect and acceptance is not as evident. The definition of hypebeast culture really depends on who you ask—for some, it just means someone who’s into streetwear and urban fashion. But more often than not, being a hypebeast carries a negative connotation.

Hypebeasts have come to be portrayed as unoriginal slaves to “hyped up” trends, hence the name. They’re stereotyped as people who like to stick Supreme logos on as many surfaces of their body as humanly possible, often to impress others or in hopes of bettering their social status. To put it shortly, they get a bad rap.

But if fashion is art and art is objective, why do we not apply the same principle of respect when regarding hypebeast fashion? What makes hypebeast culture different? What makes it the thing that everyone loves to hate?

A lot of the stigma probably has to do with brands. Brand names and logos, most notably Supreme, Stüssy, A Bathing Ape and Anti Social Social Club, are undeniably integral parts of hypebeast culture. In fact, many staple pieces from these brands display their logos in large, bold, remarkably readable print. It makes sense that this would rub some people the wrong way; a lot of these brands aren’t cheap, and these large logos often make the wearer seem pretentious, like they’re flaunting an expensive price tag.

These brands, however, represent more than just a hefty pricetag. “Each brand has its own connotations,” senior Matthew Skowronski said. “If you buy a certain brand, you’re buying into that brand’s mentality and what they believe in. You’re essentially saying, ‘Yes, I support that.’”

During the 2016 presidential election, for instance, streetwear brands like Brain Dead, Supreme and Bianca Chandon actively voiced their opposition to Donald Trump on social media. A Supreme x Molodkin “Donald Trump” t-shirt surfaced on eBay, priced at nearly $23,000 and depicting a blurred and bright red image of the president-elect at the time. Other well-established brands have even designed clothing pieces that make political statements

on a variety of topics. Russian designer and brand Gosha Rubchinskiy, for example, designed a T-shirt with the Chinese and Russian flag printed next to each other, commenting on Sino-Russian relations. Supreme also released a T-shirt denouncing sexism and racism, while Off-White’s 2015 fall/winter collection was said to have been inspired by the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris earlier that year. Perhaps what many regard as an obsession with brands may have more to do with an alignment and support of certain political and social values.

And then there’s the individuality aspect of it. For most, hypebeast culture is strongly linked to unoriginality and fad following. “It has negative connotations, because anytime we bring up hypebeast you’re thinking of the twelve year olds or the [people] with the NMDs [shoes] and everything,” senior James Stewart said.

For the most part, hypebeast brand names aren’t as important to wearers as they seem.

“For me personally, it’s not as important what brand it is, more that I see that it’s quality and something that is unique and something that I can see an outfit with,” sophomore Katherine Skowronski said. “It’s less important to me that you see a label on the shirt.”

With the prevalence of hypebeast and street fashion of rap culture, many hypebeasts are also accused of copying rapper style icons, rather than expressing themselves and being unique in their fashion.

It’s important to note, though, that the tie between rap and hypebeast culture is only one example of the inherent and inseparable relationship between the media, pop culture and fashion. Fashion, by definition, is based on trends and style aspects, which are in turn shaped by society. If we are meant to champion fashion as a means of self-expression and creativity, who are we to say that hypebeast culture doesn’t fall into those categories? Hypebeast fashion is Gary Wu just as capable of reflecting one’s character and identity as the most avant-garde, abstract branches of fashion and art are.

Despite how this truth is invalidated by onlookers, proclaimed hypebeasts still strive for individuality in their style. This notion that hypebeasts lack creativity is acknowledged within its community, and even pushes individuals to adopt a clearer personality and uniqueness in their clothing. “First, [I became interested in hypebeast culture] because it was really different… But now… everybody’s doing the same thing, [and] it’s less special,” Matthew Skowronski said. “I try to search for things that are unique and different and haven’t been done yet.”

Ultimately, how someone decides to present themselves to the world through fashion is a form of self-expression, and in order for people to feel confident and comfortable with who they are, they should be given the freedom that they are entitled to. “I think a part of [fashion] is how comfortable I feel looking at myself and being around other people,” senior Nathan Siu said. “I’m not trying to impress other people, but if I feel more comfortable with the way I look, then I’ll feel more comfortable in general.”

HOW TO FLEX ON ‘EM

In order to fully immerse yourself in the hypebeast culture, you must know how to truly and unoriginally flex on ‘em. Whether it’s spending a ridiculous amount of money on sunglasses or a tee-shirt or referring to your Swatch watch as your “ice,” boosting your clout (swagger) is no joking matter. Follow these simple steps to become the best hypebeast you can be and flex on every hater you encounter.

Know your real from fake.

Sometimes, the clothing isn’t enough. In order to be the best hypebeast out there, it is important to go above and beyond the competition. Don’t be afraid to take things to the next level. One way to boost your clout higher than the rest is to always play bad music. Armed with a fully charged iPhone, Beats Pill and the newest Lil Pump tracks, no hypebeast could ever out-hype you if you are constantly blasting jams. Do it in the halls, during Flex Time or in the middle of wellness yoga; there’s always a place for bad trap music.

You know when someone’s “Supreme” is fake, and you’re not afraid to call them out. If you want to be a true hypebeast, you gotta be able to spot the real from the fake. And how would you know whether that swagboost piece is fake? Either you already have it or you already tried to get it. And what to do when you spot a fake, you may ask? Let it fire you up inside. Channel your inner hypebeast and let them know you can see their dupe. Call them out in front of their friends, teachers, peers and families. Make sure they never fake flex again: not on your watch.

Dress like every day is a contest.

Fend off the haters.

Fashion is what you live for. Clothing is the most important thing and you make it clear to everyone. It doesn’t matter if your Supreme, Palace and Bape match; it only matters how much you are flexing them at a given time. When the new collection drops, make sure you’re the first in line to cop the freshest pieces.

As a hypebeast, you may receive some judgement from those who wish they were you. Posers are on the lookout left and right, searching for ways to drop your swag levels. Remind yourself to embody the best you you can be. Brush off of their mean comments and simply remind yourself that they just don’t got it.

And what’s it you ask? It’s just it. And they don’t got it.

—Compiled by Laurel Comiter

2) James Stewart (1

Be extra.

19

style

Thursday, November 9, 2017

shape hip clothing culture

Which high-end brand are you?

1.) Pick a modern celebrity: A) Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson B) Taylor Swift C) Johnny Depp D) Beyoncé Knowles

4.) What do you do in your free time?

A) Talk about your tough game against St. Francis B) Binge an entire season of a Netflix Original show C) Pose constantly—your entire life is a photoshoot D) Drive around in an expensive car

7.) Pick a Hogwarts House: A) Hufflepuff B) Gryffindor C) Slytherin D) Ravenclaw

2.) Pick a movie: A) “Baywatch” (2017) B) “Mean Girls” (2004) C) “OJ Da Juiceman: Got Juice?” (2009) D) “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013)

5.) Pick a president to visit a waterpark with: A) John F. Kennedy B) Richard M. Nixon C) Theodore Roosevelt D) Ronald Reagan

8.) Favorite campus hang-out spot?

A) The football track B) The amphitheater C) The Acorn Lounge D) Off campus

3.) Pick the perfect vacation souvenir: A) A skateboard from South America B) A fake French accent from Paris C) A hand-carved Australian boomerang D) A chilled ice-cube from Canada

6.) Pick a cool clothing item: A) A simple shirt for skating with your boys B) An expensive, oversized hoodie C) A pair of sweet, round glasses D) A side bag worth someone’s college tuition

9.) Pick a classic American novel: A) “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger B) “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald C) “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck D) “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain

Mostly A’s: Stussy. You think that you’re the hippest, coolest athlete—unlikely.

Mostly B’s: Supreme. You care about what others think but overcome the haters.

Mostly C’s: Tranquil. You’re a homegrown person who appreciates the finer things.

Mostly D’s: Gucci. You are pretty cool and stylish, but no one would admit it to you.

—Compiled by Jack Mallery Graphics by Mina Kim

ow Matthew Sk ronski (12)

(12)

) Katherine Skowronski (10

iu Nathan S

Justin Hong

20

Lifestyle

S kincare must-have s cre ate re v itilization se nsation

BioDerma

Glossier

Skin Cleanse

Balm DotCom

Skincare can’t always be sexy. Sometimes you just need a product that will get the job done.

BioDerma’s purifying cleansing solution comes in several different varieties, each suited to a certain skin type. Whether you have oily or dry skin, BioDerma’s formula will provide a soothing cleanse perfectly tailored to you. At $7 for 100 ml and $15 for 500ml, this product is perfect for both your skin and your wallet.

As a brand, Glossier is the perfect gateway into the world of skincare: it’s practical but not clinical, and its one-size-fits-most model means it’s easy to start your routine right away.

BalmDotCom is a staple in any Glossier fan’s toolkit. Although it is mostly used as a lip balm, the balmcan also dot away any dry, flaky spots elsewhere on your skin.

The most exciting part is that it comes in a range of flavors and tints, from cherry to coconut to birthday cake. Although $12 may seem like a lot for balm, its quality makes it worth the price

Milk

Eye Cooling Stick

Glossier

We’ve all seen the stock photos of a lady with cucumber slices on her eyes, seemingly in a deep, relaxing bliss. With Milk’s Eye Cooling stick, you can treat yourself to a spa eye treatment anywhere. Even after an all-nighter—or a long, tiring day of school—a quick dab with this stick will leave you feeling instantly refreshed. The price tag might put you off—and, admittedly, this product is not part of an essential skincare routine—but if you feel like pampering yourself for $24, you won’t regret it.

Priming Moisturizer A critical aspect of a good skincare routine is a good moisturizer, and Glossier’s Priming Moisturizer will not disappoint. Light yet soothing, this moisturizer will revitalize your skin without making it feel greasy or heavy. In general, this is a good moisturizer to reduce redness and even out skin tone. Although a bit on the pricey side at $22, this product is a good investment.

—Compiled by Deiana Hristov Graphics by Mina Kim Photos by Justin Hong

Face mask novice searches for perfect product

Yes to Tomatoes

Lush

TonyMoly

This mask harnesses the restorative duo of tomato and charcoal to reduce oil levels and absorb dirt out of the user’s pores. While applying the mask, my face was subjected to a feeling of thick clay being smeared across my skin followed by a stinging sensation. This thickness persisted as my masking session continued; by the end, my face was feeling quite dry. The after-rinse proved to be the selling point of this mask; my face felt more sensitive to the warm water—pleasing in a very refreshing way. After that, the first splash of cold water I gave myself was quite possibly the most invigorating thing I’ve ever experienced and I couldn’t help myself from enjoying a sixth and even a seventh splash.

What drew me to this mask was its bright blue pigment. I find blue to be an extremely refreshing color, and paired with the lemon scent wafting out of the bowl, I just couldn’t resist. A problem I had, however, was how chunky the spread was. This mask contains granules of what I presumed to be rice, which were extremely rough to smear across my face. The issues didn’t just stop there. While on, the mask started to feel dry and the bottoms of my nostrils began to itch, and when washing it off, the roughness proved to be an obstacle once again. One good thing I can say is that after all was said and done, my face felt smooth and incredibly fresh.

This mask was the only true mask I tried; the actual mask consisted of a face-shaped sheet of paper that had been soaked in an aloe solution. It was slimy to touch but the easiest mask overall to apply. All you have to do is align your eyes, nose and mouth with the respective holes and you’re set. At first the mask stung a tiny bit but, as the paper stuck to my face, it remained surprisingly cool and not too restrictive. The best experience came at the end, though. The feeling of peeling off the paper was extremely enjoyable to me, and I definitely felt like my skin had been completely renewed and rejuvenated with moisture.

—Written by Paulo Frank

Photos courtesy of Paulo Frank

Background photo by Richard Yu