The Oracle (Sept. 2009)

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

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Electric cars on the road pgs. 8-9

Smiles on campus pgs. 10-11

Volume 46, Issue 1

Linda Yu News Editor

The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) will be facing a $7 million budget shortfall over the course of the next two school years as a result of California’s $24 billion deficit.

Although PAUSD is a basic aid district, meaning it is funded almost entirely by local property taxes and is therefore usually minimally affected by state budget cuts, California recently passed a budget bill stating that all basic aid districts must make “fair share reductions” to help resolve the budget deficit. Thus, a $2.6 million reduction will be implemented this year, and a $4.4 million reduction implemented for the 2010-2011 school year.

The reductions are being made to categorical funding, which is money the state allocates to districts for specific uses in certain programs.

Due to the cuts, each program supported by state money currently has 20 percent less funding than it did in the 2007-2008 school year. For Gunn, this affected the class size reduction fund, which had previously been used towards minimizing class sizes in freshmen math classes and freshmen/sophomore English classes. “The class ratios were increased from 22 students to a teacher to about 25 students to a teacher,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

Despite the reductions, the overall effects of the cuts have been mitigated by stimulus funding from the federal government and money

Campus assesses mental health issue Sophie Cheng & Niki Mata News Editors

In the wake of three student suicides, the school community is emphasizing the need for action and is working to improve students’ mental health.

“We thought about it a lot, and we realized that to try and move on with the year without referring back to [the suicides] would imply that we had ignored the problem, which is totally not true,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

According to Likins, the suicides were not simply a result of academic stress. “I think a lot of people were trying to equate school pressure to the suicides, which was not the case,” she said. “Pressure and stress do not cause suicide, but they can and do exacerbate existing mental health problems.”

Likins hopes that the recent events start more conversations about how to deal with suicide and depression. “We want the spotlight to get off suicide and onto the mental health and well-being piece,” she said. “We want [the issue of mental health] to be talked about and not something to push under the carpet.”

ROCK—p.3

Permit #44 Palo Alto, Calif.

Fall sports in the zone pgs. 18-19

Monday, September 14, 2009

http://gunn.pausd.org/oracle

PA I D

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

from the district reserves. The enrollment for the current school year is also lower than what was predicted earlier this spring. “Actual enrollment is never known until around the second week of school, especially for the kindergarten and freshmen grades, because some people use the public school system as a space-holder and enroll concurrently in a private school,” PAUSD Co-chief Business Officer Cathy Mak said.

“The fact that the enrollment numbers ended up being lower than what was projected was definitely helpful.”

The number of class options at Gunn has also increased due to increased outside funding. “Two new classes have been added this year, a digital electronics class and an animation class, which were made possible with funds from the Palo Alto Partners in Education (PAPiE) organization,” Likins said. “We’re lucky to actually have been able to add on to student options while other schools are cutting back.”

According to the Budget Update for the 2009-2010 school year, however, a structural budget problem of about $5.7 million faces the 2010-2011 school year. “Next year will be the challenge,” Superintendent Kevin Skelly said. “We’re looking at property tax growth of almost zero, loss of federal stimulus funds and enrollment growth.” The district team, however, is prepared with a general approach to the budget issue, which, according to Mak, was anticipated as early as last fall.

“We need to reduce expenditures and increase revenue,” she said. “One way to go about doing this is to staff the classes tighter. We will try to BUDGET CUTS—p.2

Budget At a Glance:

This year’s fair share reduction: $2.6 million Next year’s fair share reduction: $4.4 million Graphic by Nathan Toung

City Council votes to narrow Arastradero Recently passed measure will affect morning traffic in 2010 Arjun Bharadwaj Reporter

On July 27, Palo Alto City Council passed a measure to create a hybrid configuration on the lanes of Arastradero Road. The council aims to complete the project by June 2010 and will attempt to curb traffic and commuter-related problems outside of Gunn High School directly before and after school hours.

The hybrid configuration will create a road where there are two lanes traveling in both directions of Arastradero from Gunn to Terman, which will merge into one lane past Terman to El Camino further down the road. The plan also installs various left turn lanes along Arastradero, creates a dedicated right turn lane for Gunn and widens the bike paths to improve biker safety.

The plan has been debated among members of City Council since 2003. A trial was initiated on Charleston Road in 2006, which convinced many members of the City Council that the lane hybridization would work.

Members of the school community and administration, however, have mixed feelings about the plan. Some students feel that the plan will hinder, not help, the already problematic traffic going to and from school. “Traffic on Arastradero has always been bad, but merging lanes would make it much worse,” senior Samvel Avagyan wrote in an e-mail.

Avagyan later added that the new configuration would

also affect people who use Arastradero to get to work.

“It would make it very difficult for the students to get to school on time and could cause people working at Stanford or other companies along Arastradero to be late,” Avagyan said.

Some students, however, feel that while the idea may have been misguided, there could be some positive aspects to adopting the plan. “Biking down Arastradero, to me, is somewhat dangerous,” senior Lindsay Maggard said. Maggard, who has been hit by a car while biking, usually does not bike on Arastradero, preferring to bike on alternative routes, and feels that although this would improve bike safety, the plan was ultimately not a good idea, as many people do not bike to school on Arastradero.

The administration has expressed discontent with the plan, despite the council’s adamant support of it. “The City Council did not appear receptive to hearing opposition to the proposal,” Principal Noreen Likins said. World Languages Instructional Supervisor Anne Jensen and Assistant Principal Tom Jacoubowsky attended the July 27 meeting, and both were concerned by City Council’s reaction to their propositions. “We had to wait until 11 p.m. for our issue to be heard on the agenda” Jensen said.

“They were surprised we were there to present a different viewpoint than the one presented by the Planning Commission.”

City Council plans to meet with the administration and staff on Sept. 17 to discuss the newly passed plan.

Kimberly Han

News

The Oracle

Jewish Community Center reopened

Digital Electronics course introduced

Electric car company relocates to Palo Alto

2

NEWS BITES

This year, electric car company Tesla Motors will be relocating from San Carlos to Stanford Research Park, which is a mile from Gunn. The move was decided based on Palo Alto’s financially strategic location. “It was easier for us to stay based in a great concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship,” Tesla Motors spokeswoman Rachel Konrad said. “For engineers, Silicon Valley is the epicenter of the global tech industry.”

The car manufacturing facility will offer around 150 new jobs for software engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, graphic designers and lawyers, among others. Tesla also will continue to offer internships to Stanford students.

Although it does not hire high school interns, the new corporate headquarters in Palo Alto plans to accommodate guided tours for students and teachers.

In addition to providing work opportunities, the new headquarters will indirectly benefit the school system. “It is likely that with more businesses, property taxes will increase and create more revenue that could ultimately provide more funding for Gunn,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

The move has been met with positive reactions. “I think it’s a good thing for Palo Alto,” Gunn parent and ex-vice president of Tesla’s Vehicle Engineering branch Malcolm Smith wrote in an e-mail. “They will have less than 200 people there, and it’s great for Palo Alto to be known as the clean tech leader.” Likins agreed. “I think it’s a very good idea that Tesla is moving in down the street,” she said. “It’s consistent with what I believe to be our community’s goal of becoming more technologically advanced and green.”

Tesla’s production line has several cars aimed for speed, eco-friendliness and passenger space. They offer the Roadster model, one of the fastest-accelerating sports cars in the world, and will release a seven-passenger sedan in 2011.

This fall, science teacher Bakari Holmes introduced a new class, Digital Electronics. In this course, students learn to build robots and electric circuits with the help of a computer software that simulates the product’s action and response in a virtual environment. This elective is a stepping stone towards a career in engineering, following “Project Lead the Way,” a program that promotes science and engineering education for middle and high school students.

The classes are currently held in the Student Activities Center and will move to the IA Building once the reconstruction finishes. The equipment was funded by Palo Alto Partners in Education, which was searching for a course in which students can learn and apply their engineering knowledge. “Digital Electronics can show how math and science are applicable for everyday life,” Holmes said.

Students get to dissect and discover how each part of the mechanism works. “A lot of electronic devices that people use are taken for granted,” senior Neil Bhateja said. “I want to know how they work.” In addition, students will learn how to create a portfolio containing instructions and the progress of creating a circuit.

Although Holmes loves the diversity of his students who show an interest in engineering, he wishes there was a mixture of genders. “I don’t have many girls [in my class] and that’s a problem I want to solve,” Holmes said.

The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (JCC) opened to the general public on Sept. 1. The JCC has finally found its home in Palo Alto after relocating many times. The architecture of the building’s new center has symbols that can be related to Israel’s history and it was also built with environmentally friendly materials.

This center boasts facilities and activities for people from all walks of life. The sports facility has a basketball court, yoga and pilates rooms, fitness rooms with brand new equipment and two pools: one indoors complete with water slides and one outdoors especially for lap swimming. However, the JCC is not only for the exercise-minded. The campus includes housing for seniors, a preschool and the Albert & Jane Schultz Cultural Arts Hall which will feature lectures and musical events.

In November, the JCC will open a Teen Center that will have WiFi Internet, games and lots of comfortable chairs for people to relax. Some programs the JCC will have available to high school students are a Youth and Government program where students will learn about how the state government works and a ski camp in Lake Tahoe during winter break for seventh to 10th graders. “We’re starting out slow, but as we get more feedback from teens we’ll hopefully add more programs,” Community Outreach Director Randi Brenowitz said.

The JCC further hopes to benefit the community by creating a place where people can gather, become more educated and healthier. “It is a very nice facility and I think the public will —Compiled by Regina Ahn, Jazreel Cheung and Yilin Liang

InClass schedule shortcut deactivated

Students sneak a peek at classes before distribution Emily Zheng Features Editor

Some students were able to get a sneak preview of their schedules through a shortcut on InClass before the school even handed out schedules. The Information and Technology staff, upon finding this out, immediately decided to remove the shortcut.

“The Gunn administration was not upset about students seeing their schedules,” Technology Coordinator Lettie Weinmann said.

“However, we share InClass with Palo Alto High School and all three middle schools, so what we see is what they see. Since the middle schools did not want their students Courtesy of http://k2.pausd.org to see schedules before they had The new InClass layout debuted this year, inadvertently giving been finalized, we decided that the best thing to do would be to disable students access to their new schedules before registration day. the Personal Information button.”

At first, the administration was administration was not worried we decided that it was best for stuunaware that students had access to that this would pose a potential dents to only see the final product.” their schedules early. “We found out threat to the security of InClass and Sophomore Vincent Yang was about the shortcut when students the students using it, but she does one of many students who used this came to the main office in early Au- believe that it may have set some shortcut to preview his schedule. “It gust requesting schedule changes,” students up with expectations that was really helpful to be able to see Weinmann said. “We asked them would cause disappointment later. my schedule online so I knew what how they found out what their “Student schedules are not finalized I would be expecting in the upcomschedules were, and they told us until the very last minute–the day ing year,” Yang said. “It’s always so how they had dug in to InClass to before seniors pick up their sched- much of a hassle to stand in line in find them.” ules,” she said. “The week prior to the morning and to wait to be handed The administration soon found this, counselors and administrators our schedules. I and many other that the shortcut was well known are working hard to move students students don’t understand why the to students. “News among students around to balance class sizes. staff would have taken the shortcut t r avels rea l ly Therefore, the down. In the future, hopefully we’ll fast, especially schedules that be able to just see our schedules news that is benwere posted online and not have to go to school eficial to everyo n I n C l a s s to pick them up.”

“The schedules one,” sophomore du r i ng t h a t Weinmann and Likins both that were posted Jack Kwan said. second week agreed that the possibility of setting on InClass during “Once one stuof August were up a system for students to see their dent found out not the ones schedules online sounds practical. that second week of how to find out handed out to However, there is no intention of August were not the their schedule st udent s on changing the way that schedules through InClass schedule pick- have been distributed. “Building a ones handed out to and told his or up day.” master schedule for 1,920 students students on schedule her friends, then L i k i n s and over 500 class sections is no easy pick-up day.” those people told agreed. “The task, and we need the flexibility to others, and evenschedules were make changes in the schedules right —Technology Coordinator still very fluid down to the last minute,” Likins said. tually more than Lettie Weinmann at that stage of “Also, this year we wanted to make half the school is informed of the planning, sure that all students cleared their this. So in a day or two, more than so nothing was completely set in book obligations prior to starting half the school already knew their stone yet,” she said. “To avoid people classes. Holding schedules is a great schedules.” having certain expectations about motivator for getting those books According to Weinmann, the what their schedules should look like, turned in.”

‘Fair share reductions’ impact Gunn

n BUDGET CUTS, from p.1

fill up the classes as best we can.”

The district will also make use of its “soft-hiring” system, in which a position is evaluated before it is filled.

“We’ll take a look at every opening, see if we can make any changes to the tasks or reassign the responsibilities, and ask ourselves if we really need to fill the position,” Mak said. “So far, there have been two positions that were held off.”

Another aspect of the budget deficit concerned the possibility of reopening Garland Elementary School, which the board members recently decided against. According to an interview with Skelly on Palo Alto Online, there is a $1.4 million delta between opening and operating a school versus renting the school out. In the same article, the other members of the school board agreed that they preferred to take the “fiscally conservative approach.”

Specific actions have not yet been cemented to cope with the issues for

next year, but the district team, PAPiE, PTA and employee groups will be working together in the coming months, making sure to place the avoidance of layoffs as a high priority. Likins stressed that the goal of the school administration was to cut without necessarily hurting programs. “In the coming year, as a school, we will decide where to make cuts and how to make them as painless as possible,” she said.

Skelly agreed and remains optimistic. “We’re a smart team, and we’ll get our arms around it,” he said.

News

Monday, September 14, 2009

3

ROCK attempts to reinforce community Students form ROCK To help bring students together, seniors Esther Han and Joyce Liu created the student-run support group ROCK (which stands for Reach. Out. Care.

Know.) at the end of last year.

“Last year, the community really came together and looked out for each other, so Joyce [and Esther] wanted to capitalize on and maintain those feelings,” Likins said.

ROCK is similar to a peer counseling elective offered in the past known as Peer Helping. “[We chose the name ROCK] because a rock is always there for support when you need it,” Han said. As part of the ROCK program, students can sign up to be “rocks,” or mentors who are willing to talk to other students in person, through e-mail or by phone.

Lists of available mentors will be posted around the campus by the end of September, and students can talk to them at any time. According to Han and Liu, meetings between rocks and students will be held to a code of confidentiality unless someone expresses suicidal thoughts.

While Liu cautions that ROCK is not a long-term solution for the issue of students’ mental well-being, she believes it will help people to open up to one another. “It will at least get people talking,” Liu said.

“I think it’s a beginning step. My goal for [ROCK is to make] people understand that they can speak to people Adolescent Counseling Services (650) 424-0852 on campus who care.”

Liu emphasizes that “evKARA (650) 321-5272 eryone can be a rock for someone else.” Han adds that ROCK is not in fact Family and Children’s Services (650) 326-6576 a peer counseling group, and is instead meant to be Center for Living with Dying (408) 980-9801 a casual group to encourage students to reach out to one Suicide and Crisis Hotline (650) 494-8420 another. “Most people want to help, but just don’t know Teenline/Crisis Intervention (408) 279-8288 how,” Liu said. By encouraging casual conversation, Alcohol and Drug Hotline (650) 573-3950 Liu hopes ROCK will help remove the stigma of “I need help” and instead shift the LGBTQ Youth Support Hotline (415) 865-5555 focus to creating a positive community environment.

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (408) 270-8182 RO C K wi l l a lso extend its focus to suggesResources are also located on the Guidance Web site and in the Main Office. tions for academics. “At the Elective Fair, we hope to

n ROCK from p.1

Counselors from Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) introduced themselves on stage at the opening assembly held Sept. 1 to offer support for students affected by the recent tragedies. “We want students to really see us as people who can help them through this time,” ACS Director Roni Gillenson said. “We’re separate from the academic counselors and teachers and are here more to offer emotional support for students.”

Gillenson encourages students to make use of ACS. “It’s incredibly stressful to be a student at Gunn and to be a teenager, and with a lot of tragedy occurring recently, it’s hard for everybody to deal with it,” she said.

The Student Executive Council (SEC) is working with the administration to help create an environment where students can be more open with counselors. “We made it our primary goal for this year to close the gap between students and staff,” senior Student Body President Daljeet Virdi said. SEC will check in with the administration throughout the year.

The administration plans to hold workshops on the issue of mental health for both students and teachers. It will also bring in speakers to talk with students outside of instructional time and possibly during optional assemblies throughout the year. According to Likins, these plans have not yet been finalized.

Both Likins and Gillenson stress the need for students to break the “code of silence” if a friend expresses suicidal thoughts. “A student can be suicidal one day, but if someone helps them get through to the next day, and the next day after that, then their feelings may eventually change,” Gillenson said. “It’s important to break that confidentiality [and tell a trusted adult] so that the person doesn’t feel like that forever.”

Community Resources for Students

Andrew Lee

have a table out so that people can come to us for advice about classes,” Han said.

Liu is working with the administration to get peer counseling training for rocks and anyone else who wants to learn. They will be meeting with Linda Silvius and Barbara Varenhorst from Project Cornerstone about starting a Peer Helping training program at Gunn later in September.

ROCK is unique in its approach of forming a communal network between students. “There’s just something about when students come together and say, ‘Let’s do something,’ that makes it much more effective,” English teacher Paul Dunlap said. Gillenson agrees. “[Students] listen to and are more affected by each other, so when they form a group like this, it can become the most powerful support,” she said.

Freshman Barbara Kandek, however, believes that it is also important to communicate with adults. “I suppose that students do feel better when talking to others of, or close to the same age, and are more comfortable talking about their problems with their peers,” Kandek said. “But sometimes you need an adult’s point of view on the things you’re going through because it’s like a wake up call. Sometimes we younger people don’t notice that the things we are worrying about really are small things.”

Students interested in learning more about ROCK can visit their Web site at http://www.rockatgunn.wordpress.com or contact them at rockatgunn@gmail.com.

Opening assembly kicks off year, engages students Carissa Ratanaphanayrat Managing Editor

The Student Executive Council (SEC) started the year with a bang after receiving positive feedback for their organization of this year’s first assembly held on Sept. 1. “I thought it was awesome,” senior Priya Ghose said. “I think that it’s probably one of the best assemblies I’ve seen.”

SEC members also applauded themselves for the positive response. “It’s probably the best opening assembly we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Student Activities Director Lisa Hall said. Senior Student Body President Daljeet Virdi, who is serving his first year on the SEC, agreed. “I thought that it was a success,” he said. “It was engaging and informative.”

According to Virdi, students and teachers generally had positive feedback with the exception of some negative comments concerning the theme “Fisherman’s Wharf.” “Some people don’t like the theme,” Virdi said. “[But] I think that they were too fast to judge it.”

The first assembly traditionally consists of skits, introductions to certain faculty and SEC members and a video unveiling the Homecoming theme. This year, SEC had a week and a half to prepare for the assembly, which was

more time than they had in previous years. According to senior Student Body Vice President Scott Baer, extra time and effort paved the way for increased student approval.

“We planned [the assembly] more than previous years,” he said. “We spent more time working on the skits. We wanted to start the year off on a good note.” Hall agreed that extra preparations helped with the running of the show.

“We spent a lot of time practicing public speaking skills and rehearsing our skits,” she said. “The SEC and I were trying to make it run more professionally.”

According to Ghose, SEC’s efforts were not overlooked, and the skits were one of the assembly’s highlights. “I thought that they got the point across,” Ghose said. “They were really funny because they had new skit ideas.”

Students also agreed that the Homecoming video, which revealed this year’s theme to be “Through Time and Space,” helped with student ratings. “I really liked the sense of humor,” Ghose said. “[I liked] the green screen, and the script. It was fresh, new and funny. The movies in the past years kind of copied each other.” Senior Videographer Mark Monroe, who scripted, shot and edited the video in five days, agreed, saying that the large amount of effort put into the short time frame showed. “[Making the video] was

really stressful,” Monroe said. “It actually all came down Monday night. [But] it’s much better than last year’s.”

Monroe, who was also one of the videographers last year, said that part of the reason this year’s video was more lauded than previous years is because of the SEC members.

“Everyone was super easy to work with,” he said. “Everyone had more fun.”

Working as the only videographer this year rather than collaborating with a partner, according to Monroe, may have also helped with the video. “It’s much better [working alone], and it makes more sense to me,” he said. “I was more organized.”

Some say that this assembly will affect how students perceive future ones. “I’m likely to pay attention instead of bringing homework or something to do,” Ghose said.

Ghose also had some advice to the SEC. “Keep [the assemblies] humorous,” she said. “Don’t redo assemblies.

It’s kind of repetitive.”

However, Baer said that SEC has little control over the content, though it will try to make assemblies more interactive. “Generally, we get to choose what we want to have in the first assembly,” Baer said. “We don’t get to choose the overall topics covered in others.”

4

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New course teaches international politics Social Studies Department offers honors credit for Model United Nations Alvin Man

Editorial Board

Centerfold Editor

Editor-in-Chief Jon Proctor

The Model United Nations community at Gunn has just expanded from a club to a full-fledged class. Already an established program in southern California, Gunn has added honors United States History and Model United Nations (USH/MUN H) to the course catalog. “In this class, students learn how to be a diplomat in the world,” social studies teacher Lauren Cory said. “They learn about the role United States plays in global politics, and the perspectives of different countries pertaining to international problems.”

Unlike other history classes, USH/MUNH focuses primarily on international politics and global issues. “I think students want to learn about international politics,” Cory said. “It is just that sometimes it is hard to get the information.”

Students taking USH/MUNH are required to attend three meetings designed to model real United Nations meetings.

The meetings, which are hosted by MUN clubs, run from Friday to Sunday at colleges around the Bay Area. These conferences replace final exams, but students do not have to win an award to receive a high grade. “To receive a good grade, students must be cooperative, sincere and be able to present the issues of their country well,” Cory said. Some students may find going to the conferences a better

Managing Editors Joyce Liu Carissa Ratanaphanyarat News Sophie Cheng Niki Mata Linda Yu Forum Eugenah Chou Sarah-Jean Zubair Joseph Lin (assistant) Features Henry Gens Emily Zheng Tiffany Hu (assistant) Centerfold Sophia Jiang Alvin Man Entertainment Melissa Chan Lucia Christensen Sports Wen Yi Chin Kevin Gao Annie Shuey Copy Editors Nicola Park Hannah Schwartz Alice Yu Photo Henry Liu Graphics Nathan Toung Web/Tech Kimberly Han Multimedia Charlie Chang

Staff Reporters Regina Ahn Arjun Bharadwaj Colin Chen Jesse Klein Yilin Liang Mati Pluska-Renaud Divya Shiv Annie Tran Lisa Wong May Wu Business/Circulation Managers Jazreel Cheung Anne Hsiao Elaine Liu Photographers Victor Kwok Alan Phan Melissa Sun Graphics Artist Kimberly Han Andrew Lee Adviser Kristy Blackburn

The Oracle is published by and for the students of Henry M. Gunn Senior High School. The unsigned editorials that appear in this publication represent the majority opinion of the editorial staff and The Oracle's commitment to promoting students' rights. The Oracle strongly encourages and prints signed Letters to the Editor. Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one. Letters may be edited to meet space requirements and the writer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

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experience than taking a final exam.

“We get to test our skills and what we learned in class in a challenging situation,” junior Isabel Giovacchini said. “It is not just like memorizing facts for a final. Conferences force us think on our feet.”

At the conferences, students are divided up into different committees such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization. In these committees, students are given a problem, such as stopping cyber violence or arms trafficking, and they search for a solution. “At the club, we only met Henry Liu once a week to discuss problems, so Social studies teacher Lauren Cory engages stuwe did not have much time to prepare dents in a discussion about worldwide issues. for conferences,” junior Sam Rusoff said, “However, with the class, we get four days Despite being an honors class, there are no to meet and more time to prepare.” prerequisites for USH/ MUNH. “This class is for To understand current international and kids who want to participate, enjoy role-playing domestic problems, Cory has her students look and public speaking and have a desire to make the at different points in history that addresses the world a better place,” Cory said. The class does topic, and wants her students to obtain informa- charge a fee of $50 for costs of the mandatory tion from multiple perspectives. “I am trying to conferences. “I did consider the fee, but I later teach [my students] that they can get information felt that [the experience] was worth it,” junior from different international sources so that they Catherine Wu said. Students find the difficulty understand that there are different perspectives of the class just right. “The class doesn’t have as expressed and learn to put themselves in another much of a workload as APUSH, but it’s just as person’s shoes,” Cory said. challenging,” Giocacchini said.

Pathways open doors to college for students Melissa Chan

Entertainment Editor

College Pathways, headed this year by new guidance counselor Monica Espinoza, aims to offer increased support to students who are at the college entry level and are in traditionally underrepresented groups on college campuses.

“As a district we have recognized the need to do a more effective job of preparing students and supporting students, so that when they do graduate from high school, they will be equipped to make that choice if they want to go to college,” College Pathways program leader Ruth Malen said.

College Pathways was developed last year by counselor Myesha Compton with help from the district office. It primarily focuses on students who are underrepresented in terms of applications and acceptance into four-year colleges. “There is a lot of concern about the huge potential that isn’t being tapped and used and brought on in the way that it should,” Principal Noreen Likins said.

The program aims to address the nationally recognized gap between minorities such as Latino and African-American students and their White and Asian counterparts. According to Likins, the achievement gap at Gunn is relatively narrow, but its mere existence is unacceptable.

Teachers involved in College Pathways meet on a monthly basis to discuss students’ progress in their classes. By pooling their knowledge,they can develop better teaching strategies for their classes. The students also receive resources and advice to help them pursue successful high school and college careers.

The program also includes efforts to reach out to the parent community of these minorities. Parent seminars have been hosted over the years to help acquaint parents, especially those who have not attended college, with what it takes for their children to get in.

The initial group of 24 students who started Pathways last fall are now entering sophomore year. This year the program is picking up a new group of 21 freshmen. “We will be working with these students and trying to make sure they continue to move in the right direction,” Likins said.

Although evidence of the program’s progress will not come immediately, Espinoza

remains hopeful. “It’s a long term thing,” she said. “With programs like this, you can’t really judge it right away, but we’ll see it when they’re seniors and they get hopefully all the acceptance letters to whatever colleges they choose.”

Another program, College for Every Student, takes a different approach to the same issue. It targets upperclassmen who will be working with mentors from Ernst and Young

and receiving added support with resources and college visiting opportunities.

“Just by raising our awareness and making sure we are doing what we can to get the students on the right pathway to college, the right courses, to maximize that, that’s really the goal of the project,” Malen said. “It’s not changing the nature of classes or of the student’s high school experience, other than increased support.”

Forum

Monday, September 14, 2009

5

Arastradero transformed into one-lane armageddon

Faulty city plan seeks to bring automobile traffic down to a standstill to improve pedestrian safety

P

eople will generally concur that the Arastradero-Charleston corridor is quite a mess to navigate during the early morning commute to school or work. The Palo Alto City Council, realizing the flaws in the corridor’s current state, intends to implement a solution starting this year that will make this stretch of road safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

In addition to added safety, this plan will decrease morning traffic congestion and reduce average speeds while maintaining existing commute times. The solution that theoretically enables these benefits consists of decreasing the number of lanes on the road from four (two running in each direction) to three. It is a novel concept, but one that is rather wanting for sound logic. The best solution, one completely congruous to the belief system of the Council, would be to do away with all those troublesome roads. Vehicle traffic would be eliminated in one fell swoop. Commutes would certainly be safer, but then the City Council would be faced with woes of congested sidewalks due to our devotion to achieving a zero-carbon emission bubble.

First, however, the details of this utopian solution must be examined. The three-lane “hybrid” road will for the consist of “a three-lane cross-section from EI Camino Real to Donald/Terman, including one travel lane in each direction, a wide striped median and left turn pockets at intersections,” according to the City Council report.

The Arastradero-Charleston corridor is about two and a half miles long and carries commuters to 11 schools. The total cost of this plan, which includes installation of road medians, traffic signals and lighted crosswalks among other amenities, will be a sizable $6.2 million, according to the City of Palo Alto.

Despite its admirable aims, the entire plan is completely ridiculous. Arastradero sees an average of 18,300 cars pass through it each weekday. According to TJKM Transportation Consultants, the volume of cars peaks to over 1,000 every hour in the morning.

Reducing the number of lanes will only lead to greater traffic congestion than before. The proximity and slower speed of traffic will likely increase the incidences of road rage and bad driving, both of which produce an unsafe environment for all commuters—drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. Simply put, if more cars are placed in a smaller area, the likelihood of an accident

District decisions dissected Sarah-Jean Zubair From overcrowded classrooms to often unpalatable cafeteria food, student complaints about Gunn abound. A popular grievance is that suggestions and opinions about these matters are not heard. But students often overlook the impact they can have on Gunn decision-making. The most major decisions are made by the Site Council and Facilities Planning Committee, collaborative groups that include district officials, administrators, faculty and students. At each Site Council and Facilities Planning Committee meeting, appointed student representatives are supposed to express student opinions about various campus affairs. It is thus unfair to say that students do not have an outlet through which the district can learn of their opinions.

Take, for example, the football field. Students’ complaints about the field’s potholes and uneven surface were amended through an anonymous donation for a new turf field.

Perhaps a turf field was not the best solution to student athletes’ woes, but at least they have no worries of turning their ankles in unexpected holes and depressions. Reasonable student complaints are addressed by the administration to the best of their ability. All school systems have flaws, and it is

impossible to please the entire student body.

Addressing those complaints takes time and money, money that has often been allocated for a particular purpose and cannot legally be spent for any other reason. For example, if a measure granting money for a school’s construction fund is passed, it cannot be utilized for purchasing textbooks. When the school is simply unable to remedy various complaint-worthy aspects of the campus due to constraints out of its control, students should step back and try to be patient.

Constructive criticism and suggestions are helpful to the various school and district committees in deciding which problems should be addressed. But reiterating the same point while the school is in the process of addressing that particular problem is unnecessary. Instead, students should appreciate the positive actions that have already been taken. For example, rather than continuing to complain about Kimberly Han shabby classrooms, students should realize that that particular problem is slowly but surely being remedied through the current reconstruction of the Industrial Arts building and the plans to replace portables with classrooms in actual buildings.

Continuous criticism of the school’s shortcomings will not accelerate the process of fixing them. Rather, it makes the student body look ungrateful. Students ought to put aside their impatience and try to take a more optimistic view of decisions made by the various school district councils.

—Zubair, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

increases exponentially.

The reduction in lanes will force a greater bulk of the traffic flow onto residential streets, which will make mornings more dangerous for all commuters.

It fails to take into account the parents that must continue along the corridor to get to work after they drop off their children.

Reducing lanes and backing up traffic will make this already difficult feat neigh impossible.

Even though the plan is advocated as a means of increasing cyclist safety through wider bike lanes, it still falls short of meeting its goal. There are safer bike routes to the campus via the pedestrian path from Georgia Ave. Bikers always have the right of way when biking from the Georgia entrance to the bike cages. However, if bikers choose to use the Arastradero entrance, they will still be faced with incoming traffic going into the drop-off area and parking lot for staff and students. Therefore, they must have a heightened sense of caution, where-

Nathan Toung

as if they used the Georgia path, they could easily cruise into the bike cages.

Taking into account the tremendous cost of the plan and its adverse effects upon commuters, this plan should be promptly dismissed. Allocating such a large amount of precious city funds to increase traffic and overall frustration with the ArastraderoCharleston corridor is just irresponsible and wrong. Hopefully, the next time the City of Palo Alto goes back to the drawing board they will find a better way to use the millions of dollars residents entrust in them.

—Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the staff (assenting: 38; dissenting: 0).

Trafficking needs to stop Emily Zheng Americans often view slavery as a thing of the past—something that has long ago been abolished. But the terrible truth is that slavery is more prominent today than it ever has been before. According to the 2009 State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, human trafficking is currently the world’s fastest growing industry.

80 percent of those victimized by transnational trafficking are women and children. Each year, according to the International Labor Organization, some 1.2 million children are trafficked for the purposes of labor and another 1 million are in the sex trade. In many nations, some police’s corrupt presence is a source of insecurity.

In 2000, the Office of Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) of the U.S. Department of State was created.

Since then, G/TIP has provided tens of millions of dollars worth of grants to organizations around the world.

However, with the rapid increase of sex trafficking around the world, there is now an even more dire need for raising the G/TIP Office’s budget. Unfortunately, the President’s budget this year did not increase funding; he requested approximately the same amount as President Bush did for 2008. This is simply not enough.

It is not possible for the U.S. to fight the growing rate of sex trafficking without additional funding. Organized action must be taken.

This is where the Child Protection

Compact Act of 2009 (CPCA) comes in.

If enacted, the CPCA would authorize an additional $50 million over three years for the G/TIP. For the victims of trafficking, this funding would mean the difference between life and death.

This groundbreaking legislation seeks to eradicate child trafficking by focusing on assistance and collaboration with eligible countries. Many of these countries have passed anti-trafficking and labor laws to combat modern slavery. However, there is not always the means to enforce these laws.

The lack of enforcement of such laws continues to leave children unprotected.

The CPCA would help implement antitrafficking laws in targeted countries by providing them with technical assistance and training. These target countries are ones who have shown a level of political will to fight human trafficking, but lack adequate resources and the capacity to follow up with survivors The bill is the work of Rep. Chris Smith (republican) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (democratic). The very fact that this conservative republican and liberal democrat have teamed up says something good about the bill and the issue it addresses. Protecting children from trafficking and exploitation is something that members of Congress across the political spectrum agree on, and is an issue that needs to be immediately addressed.

If the CPCA fails to be enacted, millions of children around the world will continue to toil in bondage and forced prostitution.

What separates child sex trafficking from other forms of illegal trade like drug and weapon trafficking, is that it involves destroying the lives of millions of young and innocent girls. As a nation that cherishes justice, we must not let this happen.

—Zheng, a junior, is a Features Editor.

Forum 6 Merits of health care proposition debated The Oracle

Joyce Liu The new Obama administration is finally bringing the U.S. health care system under scrutiny. The broken system is inefficient, has wrong intentions and is too costly. The price Americans pay for this hole-ridden system is more than just money—it’s American lives. The newly proposed bill is a step in the right direction to combat the ills in the health care system and ensure that Americans receive the treatment they need.

The United States spends about 17 percent of its GDP on health care, significantly more than how much other industrialized nations spend. Even France, which was deemed by the World Health Organization to have the best health care system in the world, spends nearly a quarter less on health care than the U.S. does.

Furthermore, not all Americans are covered under the current system, and quality health care is not guaranteed.

In the United States, a “fee for service” model rules the health care industry. Under this model, doctors are paid for each service that they provide for the patients.

The more office visits patients make and the more tests a doctor performs, the more money the doctor will earn. Because of this, simple greed prevails. Why help Joe Six-Pack with his cholesterol problem today when one can ask him to come back another day, take a blood test, and then come back another time to get a follow-up? These visits mean more profit for doctors, but delayed treatment and higher costs for poor Joe. The proposed bill plans to combat this inefficiency by eliminating the “fee for service” model. Instead, doctors would receive a fixed salary regardless of the procedures they perform. In fact, the Mayo Clinic, a medical treatment and research center, already uses this model and pays its doctors a fixed salary. According to research by Dartmouth College, the Mayo Clinic spends 28 percent below the national average on treating its patients. Not to mention it also provides

world-class quality care.

Obama’s plan seeks to follow in the Mayo Clinic’s steps of emphasizing preventative medicine. Although it may not significantly reduce government ­ spending on care, it allows Americans to take control of their own body, Nicola Park resulting in them leading healthier lifestyles. The new system aims to nip problems at the bud, which can Americans have always valsave many patients from the agony ued freedom of choice as an of a terminal illness that could have inalienable right. However, the been prevented by early detection. healthcare reform Obama is Another loop-hole lies in the proposing will actually limit realm of health administration. our health care options. UniAccording to an estimate by versal healthcare sounds great in the McKinsey Global Institheory, but the way Obama plans to tute, “health administration meet reform demands is questionable. and insurance” accounted The fine print of the new plan indicates for up to 21 percent of the restrictions in choice of your own plan estimated total excess as well as on rewards for healthy spending in health care. living. We are in desperate need of Opponents of the bill reform, but there are other ways to characterize it as a Big change the system that will preserve Brother maneuver and the rights of the people. claim that the governThe gover nment underscores ment will take control of the freedom to choose your own American lives and decide plan—with a catch. According to whether we live or die. Sarah CNNMoney, the government will Palin described Obama’s require that Americans purchase health care plan as a “downinsurance through “qualified” plans, right evil” on her Facebook which include a mandatory list of page in early August and benefits that each plan must have, wrote that Americans “will including substance abuse services, have to stand in front of mental health benefits and preObama’s ‘death panel’.” Sorry scription drugs. This means, for Palin, but this simply is not example, that an individual with true. The government will no substance abuse problems must not decide whether or not a still pay for care as a part of the patient receives euthanasia plan. Not only is it unreasonable or not. to force patients to pay more than Furthermore, Americans necessary when one of the reasons who are satisfied with their curfor the new bill is to reduce costs, rent health care program can it is also inadequate to generalize keep the same provider. The plans to one-size-fits all, or in this case, a government is merely providing government packaged plan fits all stratean option for those who cannot gy. Obama also promises that we will be afford health care. According to able to keep our plans, but the fine print the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly indicates that in some cases if we change 46 million Americans, about our original plan in any way, we’ll have 18 percent of the population to resort to a “qualified”plan. under the age of 65, were without Americans will also no longer health insurance in 2007. The be rewarded for healthy living. The government provides Medicare reform calls for community rating in Nathan Toung for people over 65 and the disabled, which all patients pay the same rates reand Medicaid, for certain low-income gardless of age or current health. This means families and individuals only. that younger people, who usually have lower incomes and fewer health requirements than —Liu, a senior, is a Managing Editor. older citizens, have to pay the same rates. This

CON

PRO

President Obama seeks to meet reform demands with insurance plan proposal

CURRENT SYSTEM: o Roughly one in 16 workers are insured by their employers

o $ 4.4 trillion dollars: projected health care costs by the end of this year

o Insurance premiums have doubled since the year 2000

o 80 percent of the uninsured are in working families

o Inefficiency and poor quality costs the nation around $100 billion every year

o 45 million Americans lack health insurance

—Park, a junior, is a Copy Editor.

PLAN PROMISES TO:

o 1.5 million families lose their homes due to health care expenses each year

o In the past four years, the number of uninsured Americans increased 60 percent

is unfair because it puts a certain group, in this case, the younger generation, at the butt of the deal, and will have to pay a price disproportionate to their conditions.

In a Gallup poll published on Aug. 12 this year, 49 percent of Americans say that they disapprove of Obama’s handling of healthcare policy, while a lower 43 percent say they approve. Americans clearly want healthcare reform and have pushed the government to make it a priority, but the results of this poll show that this particular plan is unsatisfactory. In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey in March, more than 80 percent of Americans said they were content with the quality of health care they received, but satisfaction with the cost was 52 percent. This shows that there is not as much wrong with the quality as there is with cost.

One word sums up how to reduce costs without reduced quality—competition. A study by the American Medical Association revealed that a single insurer held more than half of the market in 56 percent of America’s 314 urban areas at the time. Because the insurer has a monopoly in these populous areas, they have more leeway to demand higher prices from their customers. An article in CNNMoney provides some ideas for ways out of the fracas. By expanding the healthcare market and stirring up some competition between insurers, insurers would lower prices to attract consumers, and healthcare would eventually become more affordable. This idea is great not only because it will maintain the quality of health care and drastically reduce prices, but also because insurance companies will no longer place power in the hands of private companies but in the power of the people, furthering our American ideal of power to the individual.

Not only is it an issue that some people lack health care, it’s also a problem that Americans pay drastically different prices for the same treatment. A healthy 30 year old pays $960 a year in Kentucky for full coverage in sharp contrast with the $5860 paid in New Jersey.

By allowing insurers to advertise and sell policies beyond their states’ borders, the cost of healthcare will homogenize among the states so all Americans pay the same price for the same coverage—it’s only fair. It’s time for the country to overcome state borders and bridge the gap of healthcare costs at the cost of insurance companies.

We should focus on tweaking the infrastructure of the current system. Reform has to be undertaken without the sacrifice of our freedoms.

o 133 million Americans have at least one chronic illness

o Eliminate uncessary expenses o Prevent insurance companies from coverage discrimination o Assist small businesses in providing insurance for employees o Provide a public health insurance option for the uninsured Information courtesy of http://www.barackobama.com —Compiled by Eugenah Chou

Forum

President must prioritize demilitarization White house balances national security and international policy

Eugenah Chou The topic of nuclear weaponry is often considered taboo. Taking the first steps in ending nuclear proliferation is a clear opportunity for the United States to demonstrate its diplomatic leadership, and to take a monumental step towards improving its global relations. In order for international security to be maintained, nuclear weapons must be safely eradicated. This, of course, will not be easy, and requires complete international commitment.

The whole point of nukes is that they are capable of immediate, indiscriminate killing. They are a representation of swift and efficient modern day warfare. That’s all right in concept, but nuclear weaponry also present irreversible risks. Despite the billions of dollars the word has spent upgrading its weaponry arsenals, accidents have happened in the past. Big ones. According to Greenpeace, around 50 nuclear weapons have been lost at sea and remain lost.

There are too many dangers, too many what-ifs and too many unpredictable circumstances to calculate. The terrifying fact that enough weapons exist to easily demolish the world several times over, makes abolishment a top issue.

In this age of “going green” and fighting pollution, the problem of light pollution is often overlooked in lieu of fuel-guzzling cars and deforestation.

Light pollution, by definition, is “the adverse effects of artificial light.”

Seemingly inconsequential due to its intangibility, light pollution has detrimental effects on both humanity and the natural environment.

Lighting constitutes 25 percent of energy usage worldwide. Extra lighting in places such as public buildings is simply unnecessary, resulting in the waste of large quantities of energy and contributing to the excessive amount of greenhouse gases emitted each day.

For example, in Australia, public lighting is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, making up 30 to 50 percent of the total emissions daily.

Large amounts of artificial lighting also have negative effects on human health. These drawbacks include headaches, stress, anxiety and fatigue.

All of these symptoms have also been shown to increase the chance of heart disease. Several studies have also speculated on the possible increase in breast cancer risk due to less melatonin, a sleep-produced hormone that acts as an antioxidant and plays an important role in both the immune system and sleeping-

Society skews social norm

Melissa Chan

Nathan Toung

But why the U.S. and why now? Because waiting and waiting for another country to take the initiative will lead to more dangerous accidents.

In 1968, the five major powers of the time period (the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France) and nearly 200 other countries committed to the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. Well, that was about fifty years ago. Today, around 28,000 potent bombs still exist. When you consider that a single bomb is capable of leveling a major city, it’s clear that acceptable progress has not yet been made. The big problem is that while a majority of countries have committed to nuke abolishment, most major nuclear powers are holding onto their weapons for status and safety purposes.

Few solid attempts have been made to actually stop the construction of more

nuclear weapons. The global attitude towards nukes must be changed now, before it’s too late. All that needs to happen is for nuclear powers to submit to this idea. These tensions bring about harrowing reminders of the Cold War, in which peace was maintained by a crucial balance of power between the Soviet Union and the United States.

What makes nuclear weapons so dangerous is how powerful they are, how many exist and most importantly, how little has been done to completely abolish them. President Barack Obama is willing to make a necessary change. What he needs is the nation to back him up. Holding on to these weapons will provide momentary security, but in the long run, nuclear weapons invite catastrophe.

–Chou, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

Environment blinded by complacency Sarah-Jean Zubair

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Monday September 14, 2009

waking cycle. Light pollution also decreases the amount of contrast in a nighttime setting, resulting in poor nocturnal vision.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, a n i m a l s ’ life cycles depend on the natural pattern of day and night. Disturbing this pattern results in behavioral changes and confusion. For example, migratory birds can become disoriented by lights, resulting in skewed navigation and even death, usually caused by crashing into skyscrapers and other large buildings. Even baby sea turtles are impacted by light pollution—they become confused by the excessive glare at night and are unable to find their way to the ocean.

Besides the direct health and environmental impacts, the problem of light pollution must be remedied simply for the fact that it eliminates one of nature’s greatest beauties: the night sky.

If one tries to look up at the night sky in the middle of a city, it is impossible to experience the soulful sense of loneliness that comes with being faced with an endless starry darkness. To be overcome by the sensation that one is so small in the vastness of the universe is poetic and inspiring. It is a wondrously liberating feeling that none should be deprived of.

In most large cities, artificial lighting’s encroachment upon the night sky has already taken its toll—the stars are virtually invisible amidst the glare of gaudy neon and fluorescent lights.

The International Dark Sky

Andrew Lee

Association, an organization that advocates the elimination of light pollution, has proposed multiple solutions to remedy the problems caused by light pollution. These include using timers and sensors on public buildings to reduce unnecessary light usage and changing the manner in which lighting is directed so that the rays are less intrusive.

The government should not allow light pollution’s impalpability to mask the glaring consequences excessive artificial lighting has. In the same way the problems of smog-emitting cars and industrial smokestacks have been addressed, light pollution must be brought to the forefront of the government’s efforts to go green.

–Zubair, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

I enjoy nice restaurants, good food and the soft music. I do not enjoy rude waiters who botch my orders and treat their mistakes with indifference. In most cases, waiters are tipped whether or not they deserve the tip. As the tip is generally a reflection of the level of the service received, diners should feel comfortable not leaving a tip if the service is poor.

Tipping has turned from gratitude for good service to a necessity. In our current system, both good and poor service receive similar rewards. This just doesn’t make sense in a capitalist society like ours.

China, India, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia are just a few places around the world where tipping is not a tradition. In Japan it is considered rude to tip as it implies that servers must be paid extra to do their job.

Many waiters I have encountered in my life have failed to meet my expectations of service. There are many great waiting staffs out there, don’t get me wrong. But there are also those who are not as great as others.

In a recent trip to Japan over the summer, I had a very different experience with waiters. I would say that my experience was pretty well-rounded. I stayed in hotels with ratings from one to five stars and ate at a diverse range of restaurant-authentic and fast food.

Every waiter, concierge and bellhop I encountered was attentive and courteous.

At restaurants we were greeted with warm smiles, prompt service and polite bows. And there was no gratuity added just because our party was eight or more. We actually used the bellhops in our hotels knowing that we wouldn’t have to pay them an extra two dollars per bag for pushing a cart into an elevator and wearing a little hat. My dad was so happy to be able to use a competent concierge who gave advice based off of how much she wanted to help make our stay better, rather than how many adjectives they could use to make their pockets a little bit fuller.

As it is considered rude to tip in Japan, not a single one of them was tipped. Why is it that exceptional service is taken for granted in Japan while substandard service is tolerated and even rewarded here in America?

While in Japan they receive a steady paycheck, in America waiters are often paid below minimum wage and supplement their income with the tips. This does give us more of a reason to tip, but it is still not an excuse for poor service.

Tipping is always optional. For large parties, the “mandatory” tip is added because in many cases, the server had to give up several other small tables, which compute to a lower tip overall. However, all tips are always optional, even if the word mandatory is put in front of it, you still don’t have to pay, as was clarified in a 2004 case that took place in Long Island, NY, where a man won his case after he was arrested for refusing to pay the requested tip.

So next time you go out to eat or stay at a nice hotel take a second to think of how much of a tip your waiter or waitress deserves and do not hesitate to give them exactly what they deserve.

—Chan, a junior, is an Entertainment Editor.

8

Features

The Oracle

Tiffany Hu and Annie Shuey Features Editor and Sports Editor

What do a 2009 Tesla Roadster, a homemade “self-balancing scooter” and a 1990 Honda CRX have in common? It’s simple: all are electrically powered and were featured at the 37th annual Electric Car Rally & Show on Aug. 29 presented by the Electric Auto Association – Silicon Valley Chapter (EAASV).

In its fifth year at Palo Alto High School, the Electric Car Rally & Show aimed to showcase electric vehicles and dispel common misconceptions regarding them. “This is a public information event educating the public about why electric cars are so great,” President of EAASV Jerry Pohorsky said. “It’s to let the public know electric cars exist and [that they] are real cars.”

In addition to showcasing these vehicles, the event offered free rides in rare electric cars such as the Tesla Roadster and the TZero.

Steve Casner, the owner of the Tesla, has been driving electric cars since 1998. To him, electric cars are about more than just environmental friendliness. “I grew up wanting a Porsche, but once I could actually afford a Porsche, I decided that I wanted a Tesla instead,” Casner said. “Teslas combine a Porsche sports car ability with electric car efficiency.”

According to Casner, Teslas are also more natural to drive. “It doesn’t lurch, but it still has plenty of power and the brakes definitely last longer,” he said. “I’m extremely content with it.”

Casner charges his car nightly and it can reliably go up to 200 miles on one charge.

Besides electric cars, there were many other modes of transportation that ornamented the electric vehicle scene. Engineering aficionados such as Mike Phillips showed off their own homemade devices. Phillips constructed a vehicle which he described as a “self-balancing scooter.”

The scooter goes three hours per charge. While it cannot be driven on the road, Phillips enjoys cruising around in it and taking other people for rides. “I made it mainly because I already had the

electric hardware in my combat robot,” he said.

“I [also] wanted to make it for the technological challenge.”

Gasoline-powered cars turned into electric ones were one of the highlights at the event. Engineer Hanif Gangji, who believes that one of the most crucial parts of promoting electric cars is to appeal to the youth market, showcased his self-converted electric car. Along with a friend, Gangji converted a 1990 red Honda CRX into a fully chargeable electrically powered car. “[I chose to go with] the Honda because it looks beautiful,” Gangji said.

“Electric cars should be sexy and that’s how it can appeal to a younger generation. They’re the perfect example of modern cars.”

Even though it took two years to build, Gangji said that it was worth it. “It’s good fun,” he said.

He says that he hopes to continue to experiment with cars.

Solar vehicles, which were also showcased at the event. “I always tinkered with [the solar energy] field,” solar vehicle owner Jerrold Karmin said.

His solar vehicle, registered as a motorcycle, can be powered by 48, 72 or 144 volts.

Of the hundreds of attendees, there were plenty of positive reviews. “[The Electric Car Rally and Show] was informative and fun,” Los Altos High School sophomore Chuck Kuo said. Kuo was a student volunteer at the event along with two other Los Altos High students.

Charlie Cobb, an avid attendee of electric vehicle events, agreed. “People gain awareness at these events,” he said. “Most people don’t know how normal electric vehicles look.”

According to Cobb and many others, environmental awareness is becoming more and more of a priority in people’s eyes which makes alternatively powered vehicles a field of endless possibilities.

“This is the future,” Sybil Cramer, parent liason for Los Altos High School Green Team, said.

“Many of these [electric] cars can go long range without charge.”

Beckett agreed: “If a guy in a garage can [make an electric vehicle], imagine what [kinds] manufacturers can make.”

Photos by Jonathan Yong

Features

Monday, September 14, 2009

9

Victor Kwok

In the school’s parking lot, seniors Eric Schmidt and Matthew Stephens sit on their custom-made cars that they built from scrap cars in their free time.

Seniors reconstruct old scrap cars Eric Schmidt: 1976 MG Midget Annie Shuey

Sports Editor

The last school day of sophomore year for senior Eric Schmidt was an eventful one: it was also the first day he drove his car to school. Schmidt doesn’t drive just any car—he drives a 1976 MG Midget, a sports car that he found in a scrapyard in East Palo Alto and converted from a gas-guzzler to an electric vehicle. Schmidt’s interest in converting the car was sparked by his enthusiasm for cars. “I love old cars,” Schmidt said.

“I’d always wanted to fix up an old car.”

Schmidt bought the car in March 2007, and it was his summer project to get the engine to run electrically. “The batteries, the controller and the motor are the most important components,” he said. Schmidt chose to use batteries made of a lithium polymer.

“They’re very energy-dense,” Schmidt said.

He ordered the batteries and a kit to help him convert the car from China online. The delivery took six months.

According to Schmidt, driving an electric car has multiple advantages. He doesn’t pay for gas and it is quieter than gas-powered cars. Schmidt charges his car nightly, and it safely drives 40 miles per charge. “It’s really a fun car to drive,” he said.

However, driving his car has its downsides. According to Schmidt, the 40-mile range can be a bit of a nuisance. “Also, sometimes pedestrians don’t hear the car, and they just walk out into the street,” he said.

With a car that stands out from the crowd, Schmidt gets his share of questions from the public. “People ask me if it’s fully electric, and if I put a little gas in the car every once in a while,” he said. “When people think of electric cars, they think of hybrids. It can take a little explaining to sort it out.”

Q&A with

Matthew Stephens: 1974 Porsche 914 Mati Pluska-Renaud Reporter

Though his love for cars hasn’t been extended to attending automobile shows, senior Matthew Stephens decided to build his own vehicle. “I enjoy working on cars,” Stephens said. “I like to get my hands dirty and build something.”

Stephens first saw the car, a 1974 Porsche 914, at a repair shop that his father frequented. He asked the mechanic for the cost and was told that the vehicle was being sold for $250 because of its rundown condition.

“At first I had no idea what I was doing,” Stephens said. “But the whole process was good.”

Stephens and his dad stripped the car down at their home and sent the body off to have all the dents pounded out and painted.

Then they took the engine to another me-

chanic and together, they rebuilt the whole thing. It took three years to renovate the car.

Although it took him a long time to fix up the car, Stephens says that building cars is a passion of his but not a possible future career. “It’s just not the job for me,” Stephens said. “I’m more interested in mechanical engineering than working on cars. It is, however, a great hobby.”

The hardest part for Stephens was rebuilding the broken engine. “At first I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “But now, the maximum speed is around 105 mph.”

Stephens is unsure if he is going to use his Porsche in the future because of college placement. “Whether I take my car to college will depend a lot on where I go,” he said. “If I stay in California then yes I will probably bring it with me, but at this point I’m not sure.”

Mike Camicia Auto Teacher

The Oracle: Can you describe the auto class here at Gunn?

Mike Camicia: Auto goes through all of the basic systems in your car (the brakes, the suspension, the engine, etc.) The class Mike Camicia shows you how they work and how to repair them when they fail. We also talk about safety, fasteners, how to purchase a car, car events etc.

TO: What is your own personal interest with cars?

MC: I was a mechanic for 28 years. I started playing with cars while I was in high school (Sunnyvale High). I am an SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) National Champion race driver. I’ve been on TV and set a lap record at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. I am also a high performance driving instructor and have taught several other National Champions how to win. I am also involved with several car clubs, particularly the [North California] Shelby Club.

TO: Why did you decide to teach this class and how long have you been teaching it?

MC: I’ve been teaching here for 12 or so years. The dealership work got kind of stale and De Anza College had asked me to teach there. I ended up here because they were between semesters and I wanted something to do.

TO: What is the best part of working with cars?

MC: One of the best parts of working with cars is the personal reward of accomplishing something and seeing a plan come together. You have to use your brains and hands to solve a problem. And creating something new out of nothing is awesome.

TO: What do you want students to get out of through taking auto?

MC: An interest in the automobile, perhaps as a hobby, maybe as a career, or just the ability to diagnose something that is going on in regards to their car to stay safe and save a few bucks.

—Compiled by Emily Zheng

Palo Alto Rowing Club, the original Palo Alto crew program, has produced many athletes who have received scholarships to some of the best colleges in the USA. We have both Head Season (Sept/Nov) and Sprint Season (Nov/ May). No experience? No problem! It’s not too late to join. We accept novice boys and girls from grade 9 through 12.

Come on…be the best athlete and scholar you can be and add crew to your college application. Visit our website at www. paloaltorowingclub.com or contact our Program Director, Lynn Gardner at 415-990-0604.

10

Cente

The Oracle

Amusement from misfortune Lucia Christensen

FML. I know you have all looked at it. Laughed at it. Maybe even posted one yourself. If not, at least you know what it is.

So, why do we read FML? It’s funny. It’s painful (but not for us). And sometimes we’ve been there, right? It’s called schadenfreude, a German term, which, according to my friends from musical “Avenue Q,” means “making me feel glad that I’m not you.”

Does all this sound familiar? It probably does. That’s because schadenfreude is nothing new. People have been laughing at others forever. But there’s a new fad stemming from this old sentiment.

What I’m talking about is the other side of it, where it’s not just one person laughing at something he or she sees. On a Web site like FML, each person is posting his own misfortune for the world to read. Each person wants others to take pleasure in his or her pain.

It seems kind of counter-intuitive. When someone trips, many people would brush themselves off, carefully look around and breathe a sigh of relief that nobody saw it. Now, these same people run to their computers and post a story about it for the world to read.

This phenomena of putting ourselves out there is not so new either.

Take the “Real World” series for example. People voluntarily sign up to party, have sex and throw up on screen. Not exactly humble. Or healthy for the participant’s—or the viewer’s—self-esteem.

That’s why with FML, our Internet world has made a breakthrough. My point? People are realizing that their own pain is funny.

So they’re sharing it in a healthy way. They’re anonymously letting others laugh at them as a way of laughing at themselves. It’s great! It makes people more amiable. It makes situations less embarrassing.

It makes people happier as a whole.

This whole FML phenomenon is a confidence boost. People of the computer age are now learning to laugh at themselves and to let others laugh at them. Maybe the sharing makes the situation more comfortable. The situation suddenly doesn’t seem as terrible when it’s made someone else happy, does it?

In a world where we share our interests, favorite movies and relationship status with everyone we know (and some we don’t), it’s not too much crazier to anonymously share our embarrassment so others can enjoy a schadenfreude moment.

And from the other side of the fence, sure it’s rude to laugh at someone else’s misfortune, but it’s only human nature. Plus, they posted it, so it’s okay to let it bring a smile to your face.

So, excuse me while I read the latest posts and smile at our human foibles.

—Christensen, a junior, is an Entertainment Editor.

"We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same."

—Anne Frank Happiness is the emotion that spreads smiles,

laughter and hugs. The Oracle dives into life's journey towards the Pursuit of Happiness.

n u d o r t A h e s e W m orld a G

Many games and activities share similarities worldwide. However, children and adults also play a variety of unique games for amusement. This cultural entertainment lets us experience a medley of happiness. The Oracle highlights some cultural games around the world as a way to nurture happiness for people of all ages.

In Korea, during the Lunar New Year, many families come together to enjoy a traditional game, Yut-nori. It is a game that requires a cloth placemat with four sticks that act as dices. The players throw the sticks up and see how they land. By looking at whether the sticks face up and down, one can determine how many steps to move. The first player to reach the destination wins.

In Ghana, a common game children play is Da Ga, or boa constrictor in English. In this game, one person, the boa, is surrounded by the rest of the players who cannot enter the “home of the boa constrictor”. The child in the middle tries to touch the players surrounding him without leaving his marked perimeter. If he touches a player, the player will join the middle group. The game will continue as the boa increases in size until one player is left outside. The last child standing is the winner.

Queimada is a popular game, similar to dodgeb by children and adults alike in Brazil. In the g separated into two “living” teams. The game is divided in half. At both ends of the field, there a Each group’s cemetery is located behind the oppo tory. Both teams have to nominate one team mem in the cemetery. To start, the “dead person” throw team across the field, and then the “living people” the opponents in hopes of “burning” them with it. I an opponent, he or she must go to the group’s cem ends once all “living” members of a team die.

erfold

Monday, September 14, 2009

11

Happiness, here we come Joyce Liu

Calculating Happiness What Makes You the Happiest?

Friends Family Recreational Activities

Eating Shopping

State of Happiness

Content Ecstatic So-so

ball, that is played game, players are played on a field are “cemeteries.” osing team’s terrimber to be “dead” ws the ball to his ” throw the ball at If the ball touches metery. The game

Sad Unhappy

How Do You Express Your Happiness?

Talk/Laugh a lot More Active

More at Peace Focus

How Do Your Spread Your Happiness?

Laughter Smiles Hugs

Facebook

Singing

—Compiled by Alvin Man and Sophia Jiang

Many people say “ignorance is bliss.” I beg to differ. Sure, you may feel “happy” when you are not faced with the woes of the world, but that is certainly not bliss, which means “complete happiness” according to trusty old Webster’s. “Ignorance is bliss” simply connotes that by staying ignorant, one is only escaping the truths in life, and as daunting they may seem, one can coexist with these realities and still keep one’s happiness.

Identifying and accepting the realities of life as we know it give us a full understanding of what’s going on. Although the realities of life do not come fun-sized like Halloween candy, recognizing these realities will help us determine our actions to change these situations for the better, which will help us on our journey to contentment.

One day in English class, my English teacher quoted Hamlet saying, “there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” I cannot think of a better non-clichéd quotation to express the same sentiment.

Eliminating all thought is quite impossible and a bit too 1984; but applied to the topic at hand, “thinking” is exactly what differentiates optimists and pessimists. We often accept many unfavorable situations because they are forced upon us. However, we have the power to decide if the situation has some sort of positive implication or if it’s the start of a steep fall into the abyss. It’s all in our heads. We can, as optimists, anticipate the best possible outcome and try to do something about changing the status quo; or, we can, as pessimists, expect for the worst and get engulfed by the negativity.

Nonetheless, being happy 24/7 isn’t the right answer either. Those people actually freak me out a bit. If people feel happy all the time, they never experience any other emotions. Therefore, are they experiencing real happiness? If they are putting up the pretense of being happy, they must bury many feelings inside themselves.

Sure, there are some of those more not-so-happy emotions that we’d like to avoid such as gloom, fear, anger and disappointment; but those emotions are what make joy, enthusiasm, love and amazement feel even sweeter. It’s like having ice cream after tasting PTC paper (if you can taste it, that is). In addition, positive-thinking doesn’t only benefit you—your happiness triggers a chain reaction that can affect people up to three degrees of separation from you. It’s true—Harvard studies back me up on this one.

I shall pass one of my mantras to you; “accentuate the positive, and eliminate the negative.” I know, I know, it’s so shamelessly sappy, but you’ll have to admit it’s so true at the same time. Here’s what I think will help us all on our journeys to bliss. Accept adversity. Look for positive implications (even the slightest ones). Focus on those implications; and if there are none, karate-chop that adversity in half so that you can stick it in your back pocket to make a nice cushion and let the ride begin. Happiness, here we come.

—Liu, a senior, is a Managing Editor.

top ten ways to be happy 10. Be active and get off your butt: play a sport or go running.

9. Sing loudly to your favorite song, and dance like no one’s watching.

8. Share a smile or laugh with someone.

7. Meditate, reflect, or pray to the god of your choice.

6. Give hugs! Show people you care.

5. Don’t let anything get you down.

Bounce back.

4. Do a good deed for someone.

In Europe, one game people love to play is Fox and Geese, 3. Live in the moment­—breathe, an ancient board game that is played on a board with holes in a relax. cross shaped formation. In this game, one player, representing 2. Hang out with people that the fox, tries to eat the other players, the geese. The objective of make you feel happy. the geese is to try to imprison the fox by surrounding it. These 1. Be yourself. characters are represented by pegs. If all the geese pegs cir—Compiled by Regina Ahn cumscribe the fox peg, then the geese are victorious. However, if the fox peg jumps all the geese pegs, the fox is the champion.

—Compiled by Jazreel Cheung

12

Features

The Oracle

Seni

or r esto res H ann Fren ah Pl a

ch c Cop nk-Schw y Ed ar t z In Jun astle i t or e with senior Jill ia a

out s p l r he o ica i r n e u m J th A u o S in ar t z

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n g to hav roup of s Du trave le tuden e an e ts fro d to centr x tion, al m a ro a vill perience of a l age c und t France was n i a h f lled etim ew ea Du a r Chateau Saint Ger e. 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They w one cook ghts was all fr aid. “Eve around th e e to ge an n tho om d e cultu t by t speakin re all de d a dish iffe ugh lea res fied g , we all ac rent place we in rned how through g a word licious.” from o s g ted l i roup. ke on and s places ou crucial it estures an f French b T he ” is to e uniomet ut wa t d s i t r a ns d g e of speak i m es s r o up l to re a t t s o h i u w a t r e s. “I rviva nothe a s no was nova U.S.,” b d t r i l t i e n l ffic went Du s .I li m it g t he stand aid. “ anguage ed on what got used t ult to co Altho villag adventu castle. “W m o t h t m h e Du yw e fa un i ugh res es e to th would als ere saying ct that I co cate, it w baske , made c to nearb ose i o hig as y he es e ts and u h ldn’t alf th nter hly ,w pe hiked unde e rto a n ove “ ople to pa ested. “I recomme time.” rticip nd th earby Expe woul a e r helps iencing t te in some d most de experien la. he cu ce you g t fi h nitely i ng lik atema lture row a u G u e n r i t in ge hi s a pe dren rson.” its rawes s,” she sai o chil t t form d. s d a really um re Meldr s et up ia, r Ind h J os A ssi all ove worked wit ,” Nath s tan eph Lin u r H e I t y s p ] n t a t Fo [ bu Tiffa Fe ature t rum on ch Many ted jus n the Edi t nt Gurga a a c e t o l h s t i or s o i a f , w u a t r i v r s A ss d o a D o at t h e I n p v t n I i e A j h d f l . o t i h i o d n y E t i i e h l w g a c a w s . t a n i b H r e p e o k a j o D H f c n c I r i w s a ’ e o r i ever, n st a n o s p it a l. e vaca ng ris t me the A Nath Delhi, the lthough st h h g “ s t c i k i t o i o m m w th n r societ h e e ng A owne e wa s wh O n e umme r even sel f ies ar eir own liv , like juni s when outsid harsagon. schools, bot ool, teachi . s r , e e o n a r m d o or es to ch und th er e d fJ o id and d Hong For so dvent u re o hi Nath, it her lu n help d Irene lage o gon has tw the Disha S g,” Nath sa e l i i n w v v n o o a u e r l nch rw ld u Unive iffere ith nin room m5 o n, arsa ath or R nt rsity V nteered at . in ord ithin the s va cat i y. For juni summer, N r erty, Jh “I worked w s every mor ranging fro re t t h e ick h e . e t e r t o s h e r e f s t e n m i w N r e t n v e m a o inaria r dog, idst o disco l three. Th ssociat ion re progr to the stud with stude t’s] parents ” she accompan n Hos ational Tai f y a I a r l d n t n o A d o a h h e y w f s n p e y i e s t a n i ically mean red for t he (A I D). “Be to Engli et and work t of [the stud school ever sh,” , her a coming ty tal in Taip an ta infringem id. “Despi o i e s e l n t d t e p e l m o e t o i g e l t n t nt te h y resu i n p e h M nt volun and E lted in mpt to avo oon warni n wi olicy, the s on hosp elopm I really wa Nath Nat years old. “ se to come v h e t a D e t n i y M o s id h ow g e of th b I ndia’ knew that le visiting,” ith to 12 rs. They ch s in Hindi, e stor ringing he the typho . n ig her sick do ner staye rking w i I c e o o i b m h r , h d r k g s t n u w o t r w a . n c s t b o o e s “ b , l k a a v o a l I r w fter er se ser ar ri Iw the to wo e ere art w would k nowing learn anted unteer out of the typhoo ved in Kao to the rganiz that h veral best p st udent s] w nd soon e h t do vol specially w er helped o ation and said. h n K , er s a b h h aohsiu iu e th Ie th f [t he lities n iz o Nat said. ng for it, I couldn ng, i Despite a euthanize dog said. “ my grandfa a local orga ojects Na ccording t s. “E ach o nct persona he most d. ’t n ll four d t t A ti pr o h ays” H get “ Taiwan, H her exper st uden ir own dis t str uck me —they A f ter kids, s teer job wit ]. [AID] has e o i T h o enc e t n h n g e y a e g h n h p h t h only t ia p lu w it t he t y K a o h s i u hing I as one reg s , with ath said. “W ke them ha my vo eached [Ind t t h n e n e r p g t e r h f ret ip N re Ir ma dif take t oon, Hong wa s h it b duenoug was not wo gretted ab . unds,” you could before e o r l .” g u d h f y k e r e c t w o h r n we ba sily Taipe high-speed as able to future and I plan king there ut for gra and po r un a ow ea i for h l , o t r ” o a was h ke anything w valuable it takes to ally s i g l h o ba e said er inte back ng Unive ta ho . in the rnship ck to effort can go a re lf r didn’t rned both s h i c t u y e . “[I w m at the Natio “I lea ly is, how ontributions t about mys o r ked nal r ea l e a lo all c y life Veter Taiwan U ] at the cation nd how sm “It taught m between m ally i n a r ia n H niversity . re st la fou r o schoo y,” Nath said tark contra ate, which vice d a ys, n i spital for s a un er t e s w r h o t g c f i d n l n d s o a b e e l t y,” H u es hou r o ghligh thers l rtance of p ise for AID wo r k ng said. W s a o and hi d those of o a p r m d i . n i ng t hile fu n he u re here style a e realize t ath plans to n in the fut “e nj o H m o o y N g d e a e d s ar t a l k i n ng ng.” help peop nteeri unteer at Jh g to u l o l v e wit h sa me n and return to vol e r the d l i t i n a king c te the ch daily. and are of rests a nd H d a o n e a l g touch a eers n ce s ing ev mentioned nimals.” o l u nt g s a n d d a a e v n s tory d t w n Kimberly Han a hile s h son he wa about N at h g Hong’s covolunteers help treat a dog. u o r s th ­—Photos courtesy of respective students

r Junio in s e h c tea dia n I , i Delh

Junio as vet r inter erinar ns ian in Taiwa n

Features

Monday, September 14, 2009

13

Teacher Steve Ames and Eric Ledgerwood Look-a-likes: Physical Education Teacher Steve Ames:

I think this is my 16th year at Gun n. I teach Physical Education 10th grade. this year.

SA: Very tough food question as I enjoy variety. I do pretty well at liking almost everything. I like white and blue individually and red, black and white in a combination.

SA: I enjoy board games, some video games, technology, puzzles, and lots of outdoor activities and cooperative games. I’ve always enjoyed playing various sports including badminton.

SA: I have had students walk up to me and ask me to explain a chemistry question and not until I actually start answering do they realize I am not Mr. Ledgerwood.

How many years have you been teaching at Gunn and what class do you currently teach?

What is your favorite color, food or movie?

What are some of your hobbies, interests and favorite sports?

Do people say that you look similar t o eac h ot her ?

What do they say?

Science I.S. Eric Ledgerwood:

This is going on my eig ht h f u l l year teaching at Gunn. I’m teaching Chem ist r y Honors this year.

EL: I have always loved the movie Bladerunner.

Growing up, I also enjoyed the original Star Wars trilogy.

EL: Raising kids, involvement with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, photography, researching, writing and philosophy. I played varsity tennis while in high school, rowed for the UCSD freshmen crew team, but have since enjoyed bicycling 10 miles a day.

EL: At first I would joke about it, but now I go out of my way to see how long I can get people to talk to me as if I was Mr. Ames. I got Mr. Christensen for about 45 seconds a year or two ago.

—Compiled by Mati Pluska-Renaud

Graphic by Andrew Lee

Q&A with Facebook graffiti artist junior Evelien de Greef The Oracle: How did you first get involved with Facebook graffiti?

Evelien de Greef: I started one or two years ago. At first I just doodled on it, but people started saying I was good at it, so I got into more detail.

TO: What is your favorite piece and why?

EG: I generally like the more recent graffitis I’ve drawn and uploaded to Facebook more, such as the humming bird, because they tend to be more detailed than the older ones. On average, I would take about two hours for each drawing. I also submit my graffitis to the “public gallery” where everyone in the Facebook world can see them. So far a total of about 40 graffitis have reached the week’s tops.

Courtesy of Evelien de Greef

TO: Can you tell us more about your fan page?

EG: I get a ridiculous amount of friend requests from so many people I don’t know because they have seen my graffiti. I would say so far I’ve gotten a total of about 500 of these requests, which has definitely been crazy. I’ve gotten hundreds of comments and inbox messages too. I even received a job offer, which was totally random. Some guy wanted to hire me to work for his company regarding

drawing a design or logo for his Web sites. I started a fan page on Facebook for my graffiti because of so many friend requests that I had no idea what to do with.

TO: How did you develop your skills?

EG: I didn’t take art classes except for ones required in school, like Art Spectrum. I suppose it come naturally. Art runs in my family, although they’re more into painting and drawing, while I took my interest into computer art. Drawing graffiti also comes through practice by drawing it a lot, and my skills gradually get better the more I draw.

TO: What tools do you use?

EG: I use a tablet, which is basically a mouse in the shape of a pen. I also use a picture for a reference and I zoom in a lot. I like graffiti because I can save paper, access colors easily and use the undo button.

TO: What’s your inspiration?

EG: Well, most of the things I draw are requests from friends, but I basically like to draw everything. Art has been and is a major part of my life. I like making people happy by drawing graffiti for them—it’s a hobby.

—Compiled by Nicola Park

14

Entertainment

The Oracle

Joseph Lin Forum Editor

When faced with a problem, we often seek peer review. In school, teachers usually insist on having undivided attention.

However, on the internet, there are a series of question and answer sites meant only for peer review. In these communities, people are welcome to ask almost anything, with subjects ranging from urban rumors, trivia, math problems, philosophy, or how-tos to personal relationship advice. These sites have participants who, with their tidbits of knowledge, are able to help out the average Joe with his or her problems. Two of these communities include Yahoo! Answers and Two Cans and String.

One of the most popular Q and A sites is Yahoo! Answers. The site has an easy, user-friendly layout, which divides the home page into separate sections. It has different parts for subjects and recent questions. On the left it lists subjects stretching from Arts to Yahoo! Products, and the top three steps to be part of the Yahoo! Answers community. The most popular questions, the best answers and even the top contributors are also displayed. There are also site moderators who make sure inappropriate postings do not remain online. Unlike many other

sites across the web, Yahoo! Answers has active users, which gives a sense of bonding.

After asking a question, it took only a short amount of time to receive a series of answers. The answers to my question were diverse: from the strict uptight answers, to abbreviated language and slang. In an instant after asking your question, you are able to see the opinion of different people around the world, or find factual, scientific answers based on hard evidence. Yahoo!

Answers’ atmosphere is cooperative and somewhat fun to play with, allowing the user to feel relaxed while on the site.

Yahoo! Answers displays several other ways of drawing people closer within this interglobal society. Yahoo! Answers offers both a Blog led by the top editor of daily Q and A column Ask Yahoo!

Mike and a forum page, open to all of the public as a stirring pot of comments, opinions and suggestions. With both the forum and the blog, Yahoo! Answers uses this element to once again draw the community closer.

Two Cans and String is less userfriendly. The layout is primitive and there are not as many options. The possibility to do anything seems limited. On the home page, there are only two different buttons: Ask and Answer, which you can access only after registering to the

site. After selecting the answer link, the format is less efficient. On the screen lie two buttons: Send and Get Another Question. You are unable to select which questions you desire to answer because the site automatically redirects you to another random question. After sifting through questions for a few minutes, I encountered many ads about special new music videos on YouTube, and a variety of crude statements and questions.

After asking a question, it took a relatively long time to receive an answer. The most depressing fact about Two Cans and String is that the bottom right corner shows a counter for the amount of active user s, wh ich seems to never rise above twenty. Different users of Two Cans and St r i ng were less than professional experts. The answers received were abbreviated and profane.

Unlike Yahoo! Answers, the forum base on Two Cans and String is not very active and, like angry YouTube users, the opinions and ideas tossed around are less than friendly. The format made me feel hyper individualized, making me feel like a single individual in comparison to the community like the one that Yahoo!

Answers supports.

Graphic by Nathan Toung

Graphic by Andrew Lee

Entertainment

Monday, September 14, 2009

Fall premieres on the CW The CW Network’s new lineup includes three new shows

15

Love is not a movie

The Beautiful Life

Courtesy of http://i84.photobucket.

Instead of watching Tyra Banks eliminate models every week on America’s Next Top Model, viewers can now watch the drama not shown on screen. Ashton Kutcher produces a brand new drama about the tough life of models called The Beautiful Life (TBL). He addresses the behind-the-scene reality of the cut-throat competition models go through to reach the top.

Raina Mayar, Sara Paxton, Chris Andrews and Benjamin Hollingsworth enter the modeling industry. Raina impresses the modeling agent and soars to the top, replacing former hot shot Sonja Stone, played by Mischa Barton. Chris however finds less success and lands a place at the bottom of the model food chain.

TBL shows the modeling world and the drama involved.

There will be heartbreaks, betrayal, guilt, joy, sorrow and much more. If you are tired of watching the same drama-filled shows, you will be entertained by TBL. Tune in to CW on Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. to watch this sweet new drama.

Vampire Diaries Love. Drama. Vampires. This brand new show similar to the popular book series Twilight will enchant viewers when it hits the CW this fall.

This show brings an exciting twist to the popular vampire book series, Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith.

Vampire Diaries takes place in Mystic Falls, VA. Seventeen-year-old Elena Gilbert, played by Nina Dobrev, has just experienced the death of her parents. Elena struggles through the school year until she meets her love Stefan Salvatore played by Paul Wesley, who is revealed to be a century-old vampire. As Elena and Stefan’s love increases, Stefan’s brother Damon Salvatore, played by Ian Somerhalder, recognizes Elena, who looks exactly like Stefan’s previous love from a century ago. He tries to steal Elena’s heart just as he did before, starting a battle between Stefan and Damon over Elena’s heart.

If you are a fan of vampire love stories, or love stories in general featuring a handsome man, you’re in luck. So finish all your homework and turn on the CW on Thursdays at 8 p.m.

Courtesy of http://knowfirst.wordpress.com

Melrose Place

Courtesy of http://www.fanpop.com

Sudoku

Do you wish that your favorite 90s shows were playing now? Then you’re in luck because the CW is remaking the 1990s show Melrose Place—a show filled with drama beyond your imagination. Each episode brings a new twist to the old show, or for those who have not watched the former Melrose Place you will be shocked and stunned.

Melrose Place is about several different characters and their lives.

They become intertwined together with hidden affairs, blackmail and betrayals. Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) is the landlady of a beautiful Spanish apartment in Los Angeles. She starts an affair with David Breck (Shaun Sipos), her tenant. Ella Simms (Katie Cassidy) betrays Sydney, which destroys their relationship, and threatens to ruin Sydney’s job as well. Violet Foster (Ashlee Simpson) discovers a bloody body in the apartment’s pool, and thus the drama begins.

Melrose Place, which premiered on Sept. 8, features a different taste of drama than other CW shows such as Gossip Girl and 90210. If you enjoy being sucked into the complicated problems of betrayal, lust, greed and envy, tune in to the CW every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. for an exciting episode.

—Compiled by Alice Yu

Courtesy of websudoku.com

Wen Yi Chin I’m your self-professed hopeless romantic. What can I do? I fell in love with the very first once-upon-atime and was forever hooked by the happily-ever-after. Here’s the catch to all those fairy tales and happy endings: they’re not real.

Do yourself a favor and throw any whimsical hope you have about love out the window right now. I bet you actually didn’t, right? The truth is that it’s not easy to dispel notions of love. The saying mind over matter has absolutely no ground in this area.

I’m breaking my own heart by saying all of this; but what can I do when the facts are so glaringly obvious? No matter how many Prince Charmings I’ve drooled over on-screen, I’ve yet to see one ride around the corner and sweep me off my feet.

Now, I’m not trying to sound like a desperate single lady, but here’s the ugly truth: chick flicks are fake, and they corrupt the minds of hopeless romantics like me. Romances, romantic comedies, fairy tales and basically any form of a story not based on a real life story are the product of many imaginative, lonely and softhearted minds. Imaginations do what they do best—dream big. Needless to say, they aren’t true representations of what love in real life is like. There are scores of people, including my friends who constantly nag me to stop living on Cloud Nine, who can testify to the unpredictability and ferociousness of love in real life.

What’s the side effect? You could argue that chick flicks are merely a source of entertainment, a chance to laugh at the stupidity of on-screen couples without feeling the pain yourself and a way of adding a little bit more love to the world. Granted there are people who don’t get what the big deal is about chick flicks.

There are also the other bunches of people who, despite knowing how unrealistic these movies are, can’t help but be drawn to these love stories over and over again.

But all that aside, the point is that chick flicks encourage girls to wait for their Prince Charmings. If they never realize that Prince Charmings don’t exist, then they just might have to wait forever. Chick flicks also breed damsels in distress—people that we could really do without.

Girls might expect a guy to sweep her off her feet in times of distress, but remember that friends and family are rock solid. Guys, not necessarily so much.

Love m ight ma ke the world go ‘round, but this shallow heart wrenching chick flick certainly won’t take you anywhere. So, cheers to all the rince Charmings—just don’t come near me.

—Chin, a senior, is a Sports Editor.

16

Entertainment

The Oracle

Weathered leather: Birkenstocks endure through the changing seasons.

Take wings: a shoulder bag replaces the age-old backpack.

A place for all things small: Hand sewn pockets give this shirt an edge.

Shine on: Summer is fading, but the hot colors of a metallic bag keep the spirit alive.

Chameleon-style: Bold black and white blend into the surroundings, but stand out from the crowd.

Glamour and grace: this elegant ring catches light and eyes.

Photos by Henry Liu Answers from page 14

Photos by Lucia Christensen, Henry Liu and Melissa Sun

Minor cords: Classic black buttons and pockets detail this vest.

Time warp: These sleek shoes bring the past into the present.

New iPod hits markets Nicola Park

Copy Editor

A p p l e re l ea sed t h e newest version of the iPod nano last Wednesday, the fifth generation.

It adds a variety of features to the basic MP3 function. Equipped with a built-in video camera, recorder and voice memo, The iPod nano can be used to document life at the push of a button.

It the nano comes in nine different colors and a 2.2-inch screen. It also comes with a built-in radio, allowing you to pause live stations and rewind for up to fifteen minutes.

The iPod Nano comes in 8GB and 16 GB models and costs $149 and $170 respectively.

May Wu

Reporter

Nathan Toung

Unmatched Knowledge Thoroughness & Integrity Superior Marketing Skills Unsurpassed Service Invincible Spirit Superlative Results

Boys Like Girls’ new record smashes its way to the top On Sept. 8, early morning passionate fans rushed into stores to purchase the newly released album, Love Drunk, by Boys Like Girls. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those crazed fans but instead found my music off of iTunes online.

Their top single, “Love Drunk,” was highly received and even appeared on VH1 top 20 music videos. Some YouTube users claimed that “Love Drunk” seemed too similar to “Somebody Told Me,” by the Killers, but the song does have differences in the mood of the song and the singing. The two songs both have their own unique qualities that make them good songs to rock out to.

But rocking out shouldn’t just be limited to one of the tracks included on the latest album. These eleven songs have new, distinctly different feelings.

“She’s Got a Boyfriend Now” and “Heart Heart Heartbreak” are almost as good as “Love Drunk.”

“Love Drunk” lends itself to more private rock-out sessions on the stereos. Their fresh songs generally carry a more upbeat tune compared to their last big hit “Thunder,” and if you prefer a moderately slow song, there’s always “Someone Like You” and “Go”.

Throughout the album, most of the songs have been warmly received. There were only a few that were a little iffy. One of them, “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” didn’t hit the right chords.

Most of the songs will eventually grow on listeners after awhile.

Courtesy of boyslikegirls.com

Boys Like Girls’ new album shows a separate face of the band as they lean towards styles more like those of Fall Out Boy and The Killers than their previous styles. “Love Drunk” is almost like a documentation of their improvement as a band.

The songs are jazzed up and totally catchy which causing the need to dance around or burst out singing. This release should quiet complaints about the lack of new songs to listen to.

They will be on tour this fall­­­—you can see them on Oct. 23 at Warfield in San Francisco with fellow artists Cobra Starship and The Maine. But make sure you can sing along with them because this CD is one you don’t want to miss.

Sports

Monday, September 14, 2009

17

Favre’s retirement dilemma gets old

Divya Shiv Reporter

What happens when karate, tae kwon do and jujitsu are rolled into one? They become a new sport called Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is a relatively new sport that is quickly becoming popular within the United States and on campus. Competitors from different martial arts backgrounds are allowed to compete for the MMA championship. These championships are known for having few rules and letting just about anything go, which can become dangerous for those participating in fights. However, it’s not solely a sport for the brave and mighty—it’s for everyone.

“MMA seems like it would be violent, but it’s not,” junior Nick Talbott said. “It’s very calming and stress-relieving.”

Students can use MMA to release their anxiety by fighting and doing exercises. MMA also helps students see things in a new light, which can be useful when solving a problem or just during day-to-day events. “I feel like at the end [of class] I come away with new knowledge,” Talbott said. “Not just about how to fight, but how to look at things differently.”

In classes, students learn how to box, grapple and how to fight both while standing up and lying down. At West Coast Karate in Palo Alto, the facility Talbott attends, students with varying levels of experience learn MMA from skilled instructors. Classes are held everyday from 7 or 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“It’s a way to stay out of trouble,” junior John Farhat said.

Farhat has been taking MMA classes for a year and looks forward to the daily classes. “It’s different each day; some days we play Thai boxing, a game that’s a mix of muy thai and boxing, and other days we learn things like grappling,” he said. Students are generally taught in group lessons, but are able to request private lessons if desired.

However, some people are not as enthusiastic about MMA as Talbott and Farhat are. “[MMA] will certainly gain more

popularity but, and I hope I’m wrong, someday someone’s going to get badly hurt or killed for the championship,” U.S. Studios of Self-Defense’s Karate Instructor Gary Flickinger said. Flickinger believes MMA is a rough sport that has caused many injuries, but acknowledges that professional fighters are paid for the risk they take depending on the outcome of their match. Fighter salaries can range from $3,000 to $250,000 per fight, but “there are so many MMA fighters that by the time you’re 26, 27 or 28 you are already too old to compete.”

Though MMA can be a short-lived career, Farhat believes it’s more useful to know than other forms of fighting. “It trains you both physically and mentally,” Farhat said. “[MMA] is like a chess game. If someone does something you have to be able to counterattack.”

Whether or not MMA is a stress reliever or a deadly sport, sophomore Arielle Greif encourages people to take classes for the purpose of learning self-defense. “We live in a bubble,” Greif said. “People are going to move [all around the world] and in those places people are not going to be so nice. Even four months of training is reassuring.”

In the fighting ring, MMA goes beyond self-defense and becomes entertainment. MMA is broadcast through payper-view television and is a popular sport to watch. Its payper-view buy rates have become higher than those of boxing and it has gathered a crowd of fans that follow professional MMA fighters’ every move.

The rapper Ice Cube and the International Fighting Championship (IFC) have even launched a new television channel devoted to MMA called My MMA Network. It is broadcast on Ice Cube’s Internet Television, UVNTV.com.

Spike Television has also broadcas a new reality TV show about MMA called The Ultimate Fighter. Due to partly the publicity and partly the public appeal, MMA is carving out a place for itself in mainstream America.

-

How to: Do a roundhouse kick

with junior John Farhat

Step 1: Keep your feet underneath your shoulders. Take a step forward using your front foot while pointing it at a 65 degree angle.

Step 2: Lead with your hips and protect your face with your arm.

Step 3: Throw your right hand down and kick. Make sure you follow through with your kick and don’t stop in the air.

—Compiled by Divya Shiv

Annie Shuey I consider myself an extremely indecisive person.

I’m capable of deliberating for hours in the mall which t-shirt I want to buy and I am always the last person to decide what to order in restaurants. I have, at times, referred to myself as “the most indecisive person in the world.” But recently, I’ve demoted myself, and given that title to Brett Favre.

Favre, the longtime National Football League (NFL) quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, was the epitome of a franchise quarterback. He was a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and led his team to two Super Bowls and a ring. In Favre’s sixteen-year career with the Packers, he made ten Pro Bowl appearances. He was also one of my favorite football players because of how he acted off the field, in addition to his prolific passing. No player in the NFL was linked to a franchise as closely as Favre was to the Packers.

However, in recent years Favre’s monumental legacy has been considerably tainted by his inability to decide if he wants to return to the league for another season or not. A personal decision has turned into an annual media circus complete with tearful press conferences filling up the entire offseason. I’m sick and tired of hearing about Favre, and I’m speaking with legions of football fans here—the circus needs to stop.

Favre needs to come to a final decision and stick with it.

Favre set off the retirement alarm in Jan. 2006, and every offseason since has been increasingly Favre-filled. However, the Favre circus only went from being a sideshow act to center stage in Feb. 2008, when Packers head coach Mike McCarthy implied the organization had moved away from veteran Favre and was ready to start backup Aaron Rodgers. Favre announced his retirement the following March, and McCarthy rebuffed Favre’s interest in coming out of retirement soon after. After a highly publicized battle of words between the Packers organization and Favre, the diva quarterback was traded to the New York Jets, where a pick-happy Favre led the Jets to a pedestrian 8-7 record. The Jets released Favre in April, 2009, and on Aug. 18, he signed a one year, $12 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

I was angry at Favre at the beginning of the saga for his tendency to pop up in every “news flash” on ESPN in season and out, but now I’m more saddened that such a talented athlete has been gripped by a Hollywood-esque need for attention. Favre can’t go a week without making headlines, and I’m convinced that one of the leading reasons he has returned is to simply keep his name in the news.

When Favre breezes in and out of franchises like he did with the Jets, he destroys the team dynamic and undermines the importance of teamwork that can take years to fully mend. The Jets are now adjusting to the third quarterback in as many seasons, and have a new head coach to top it off.

By signing with the Vikings, Favre could emerge as the leader of a ready-built team with a legitimate shot at reaching the Super Bowl. For three years, the team has been one solid quarterback away from being an elite team, and fans are hoping Favre will be the one to change this. I’m not so sure. Favre is no longer a 28-year-old MVP: he is 40, and a recent bicep surgery puts his downfield gunslinging in jeopardy.

Favre has fallen into the tantalizing “one more year” trap that accomplished athletes including Michael Jordan have succumbed to. For the past 18 Septembers, all Favre has done is suit up and play football. Obviously, it’s difficult for him to sit at home in Mississippi reading about training camp and offseason workouts and not be a part of them. The first football-free season is the hardest, but Favre just needs to rip the Band-Aid off.

Hold on to your hats, Minnesota. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

—Shuey, a junior, is a Sports Editor.

18

Sports

The Oracle

1

1:

Junior Kiana Choroski jumps high to spike the ball into the opponent’s court, effectively ending the point.

2

3

4

2:

Junior Leon Sung pushes himself through the rough course to train for the cross country Alumni Meet.

3: Varsity one singles Allana

Booth follows through after ripping a forehand against her Pinewood opponent.

4: Junior runningback Josh

Jackson stiffarms his Lincoln High School defender during the opening game.

5:

Senior Thanh-Ha Nguyen stretches to catch the ball during practice.

6: Sophomore

Tyler Wilson weaves through a throng of defense find himself with an open shot towards the goal.

5

6

Photos by Henry Liu and Melissa Sun. Football photo courtesy of Jeff Dean.

Sports

Monday, September 14, 2009

The boys’ varsity team is set to dominate the De Anza division this year with a group of strong and skilled players. The two new coaches, Scott Foster and Brian Rieben, bring experience and energy to the season. “So far they have been really great and I believe they’ll help us get pretty far this season,” junior Benjamin Hendricks said. Along with the new coaches, the team has lost only one player and has a strong starting six.

Rigorous conditioning helps players prepare for games against top rivals such as Los Gatos High School, Los Altos High School and Palo Alto High School. “Los Altos has a junior national member, as well as a strong background of players,” Hendricks said. “Paly still has one strong player who could possibly be very strong, depending on how he can lead his team.”

Other teams in the De Anza League have lost numerous starters in their lineups and that gives the Titan squad an advantage over them. The opposing teams, weakened by their losses, may find it harder to face the well-trained and experienced Gunn team. “We are one of the few teams in the league to have lost very few starters,” Hendricks said. “Additionally, we now have the best pool in the league. I’m really excited for this year.” The team is preparing for their first home game against Los Altos on Sept. 29.

Last year, the boys’ varsity football team went 2-8, but this year they are looking for more success in the El Camino League. New head coach Bob Sykes and an almost entirely new coaching staff hope to bring about some new changes. “I’m looking forward to bringing some excitement to Gunn football,” Sykes said. “We need a lot of student support. We are trying to change the atmosphere of the whole program. We need the kids to believe in themselves.”

Sykes has a good feeling about the upcoming season. “I’m positive about what we are doing,” Sykes said. “There is a lot of desire from the kids and I see a lot of athletic ability.”

The football players’ desire to win will help them become a dominating team, and according to Sykes, they have some advantages as well. They are fast on both offense and defense and that combined with the will to win should help the squad win more games this season.

According to Sykes, school support will also push this team to even greater heights.

“These kids are playing for all the teachers and students, so the more support they get, the better,” Sykes said.

Q&A with

Riley Weinmann

Sports Commissioner The Oracle: What does the Sports Commissioner do?

R i ley Wei n ma n n: It’s a part of Student Exe cut ive Cou nci l and I help publicize the sports teams by Riley Wein- doing rallies. I try to link the sports teams mann (12) with the student body.

I also keep the student body updated on the sports.

TO: What do you plan to do differently then past Sports Commissioners?

RW: Well, I don’t really know. I know Rachael [Fleischmann] made a lot of changes to the position. Before it was just sort of “support Gunn, beat Paly” but she made a budget for each sport and I want to continue that.

TO: How do you think the new facilities will impact this year’s sports season?

RW: It will be great to finally have some water polo and swimming home meets and games. Also in the last two years we have gone from having one of the worst athletic complexes in the area to one of, if not, the best.

TO: What are some of your goals as Sports Commissioner?

RW: My goal as Sports Commissioner is to help get the student body to support the sports teams. I want to make this an enjoyable year for everyone.

TO: What is your part in planning the rallies?

RW: I planned half of the rally you saw on Friday, but they’re not all going to be by pool. A lot of people have been upset that the only sports that get rallies are football and basketball so I’m trying to help change that. We’re going to have a fall sports rally, a winter sports rally and a spring sports rally so everyone who plays sports can get a rally.

TO: How m uch work for Spor ts Commissioner do you do outside of school?

RW: Depending on what is coming up, I work a couple hours a week, probably a lot more once stuff gets going.

TO: Do the Spirit and Sports Commissioners work closely together?

RW: Yeah, Maayan [Dembo] and I work together a lot.

—Compiled by Jesse Klein

19

Last year the girls’ varsity water polo team went 8-11 under coach Aileen Delaney.

With a new coach at the helm and a batch of well-trained and eager girls looking to dominate the De Anza division, this season will bring a whole new year of competitive and exciting games for the fall as the girls power their way to Central Coast Section.

Coach Mark Hernandez, who coached boys’ water polo for eight years will be instructing the girls’ team this year. “They’ve had the same coach for eight years so they’re used to things being done a certain way, and I do things very differently,” Hernandez said. This new signing, however, will not be a huge change to the girls according to senior Alex Lincoln. “Many of us are familiar with his coaching style from the swim season and his positive attitude, and approach to coaching will really help the team this year,” Lincoln wrote in an e-mail. “I, personally, am very pleased that he is part of the team this year.”

Girls’ water polo will be facing some challenges during the course of their games.

Hernandez believes this group of girls shows the makings of an excellent team that could only get better and better. “They work hard, learn well and compete intensely,” Hernandez said. “They are my favorite girls in the world.”

With new varsity head coach Kevin Hwang from Archbishop Mitty High School, the volleyball team is starting the season with fresh changes and renewed determination. The squad finished an annual retreat that took place just before the start of the school year with the goal of helping the players and coaches connect.

According to Hwang, his main goal is to create an environment that allows his players to learn, compete and grow as both volleyball players and individuals. Huang said the team has many players with club experience that adds to their talent, but he believes that experience is not the team’s greatest strength. “I think the strength of this team is that they are a team,” Hwang said. “All of the players work hard and are doing their best to learn.”

The team is preparing for their first home game against Los Altos on Sept. 29.

The girls’ varsity tennis team plans on smashing their way to success in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) El Camino division. The team’s goal is to pull themselves up to the De Anza division that they competed in last year and to keep their team spirit pumped throughout the whole season.

According to junior Roxanne Rahnama, the squad’s strengths lie in their strong support and unity. “We get along really well and support each other at practices and games,” Rahnama said. She believes they are working hard to focus on conditioning and learning strategies, which will enforce their skills.

Their first game was against Palo Alto High, and although Gunn did not win, the team believes they were strong and solid in their performance. The Titans are looking forward to their next game on Sept. 8 against Los Gatos High School, where they will play a team in their own division.

In the past, the cross-country team has proved to be one of the strongest in the Central Coast Section. This season their goal is to match their previous successes and to qualify for and place well in the state meets.

According to head coach Ernie Lee, rising athletes and newcomers such as junior Erin Robinson and sophomore Loubna Faiez have made a strong and immediate impact on the varsity team. The team offered optional training over the summer that helped them jump right into the season when school started.

Lee said the squad has had a strong start and their only setback is the lack of freshmen that have come out to practice. After finishing a strong alumni meet on Sept. 10, the team is preparing for Stevenson Relays on Sept. 12.

—Compiled by Elaine Liu and Lisa Wu

20

Sports

The Oracle

What is Physical Therapy?

Physical therapy is offered almost everywhere as a service to promote physical strength to individuals enduring injury, disease, aging or other strains. The goal is to offer guidance to improve one’s general health and ability to move and function. Various fields that use physical therapy include sports, geriatric, neurologic, orthopedics and pediatric.

The hands-on approach of physical therapy is flexible and fitting for the patient. A therapist will usually meet with a patient to gain a full understanding of a his history and problems before developing a diagnosis and goal. After that, the therapist sculpts a plan to best fit the patient which can include therapeutic exercise and training. Techniques such as stretching, massaging, strengthening exercises and even electrotherapy, ultrasound and temperature manipulation can be utilized to help the patient.

One may want to seek the help of a physical therapist for work on flexibility, endurance, coordination or balance to help ease one’s pain and improve one’s condition.

senior

Jasper Dean by

Aug. 14 was a fateful day. The first of eight double days, means it’s time to truly buckle down and work our tails off.

Unbeknownst to me, the football gods had something much different in mind. It comes time for lineman pits. Mano a mano, this Physical is what football is all about. Today I’m going heads with team therapist heffalump Alex Sutherland. Great guy, great football player, but Maureen he is somewhat ginormous. He falls on my poor knee, torquing Lipa it inward, and all that goes through my mind is “oh s---!” It has officially been diagnosed for now as a sprained MCL, between The Oracle: How many years have you been in the business? grades 1-2 (3 being a full tear). We are still awaiting the results Maureen Lipa: Twenty eight years — took seven years to become a physical of my MRI, but the MCL is the lesser known ligament brethren therapist however. of the ACL, conveniently located on the inner part of one’s knee.

Since then, I have spent the majority of my waking hours TO: What are the worst injuries or illnesses you’ve seen? rehabbing, rehabbing, rehabbing. Painful as it was, thanks to the ML: The hardest cases for me were always young people with terminal amazingly wonderful patient, knowledgeable and occasionally disease. I remember in particular a 9-year-old boy with a spinal cord even saint -like Lynn Castro (when she isn’t absolutely sick of me tumor who experienced a lot of pain after surgery. We worked and reverts to Jasper’s personal slave driver), I have made a ton of together on a lot on relaxation techniques like guided imaging. progress in recovery. Just for the record, much thanks to Liz Rea That’s when you use word pictures and have someone follow and the “Lynn-tern” Carlos who have put up with me far too much your descriptions to relax. for zero compensation. We actually calculated the other day that since the injury I have spent over 100 hours working endlessly in TO: What do you enjoy the most about the job? that training room. That 12x10 little ice box is my home.

ML: The one-on-one interaction with the patient.

I have to add though, it says a lot about Gunn kids when Like all jobs, a lot of what I do is repetitive, but 1) Put the person on a comfortable surface. the primary hang-out spot on campus is our training room. Litevery individual is different so you have to erally. You’d be shocked at the dozens that populate that small, recognize who they are and adapt your 2) Warm up the back with thumb pressure by overheated room the minute the bell rings. Chaos does not quite behavior to get the best outcomes and putting your hands on both sides of the spine simuladequately describe it. Either we always think we’re hurt or are cooperate with the person. taneously. Start from the lower back and move up all just convinced cripples are so damn cool. Or maybe Lynn and her the way to neck. powdered Gatorade are just that awesome.

TO: How satisfying is this job on a scale from 1 to 10?

3) Gently knead the neck and shoulder area with your thumbs.

A typical workout for Dean: ML: At least a seven or - terminal knee extensions which straighten and extend eight.

4) Start on both sides of the spine and slide your palms in opposite - isometric contracts which involve sitting and contracting quads directions outward to the sides of the back. Start at the lower back - “forced flexion” which pressure is applied to force flexing in legs area and move up to the shoulders.

- leg balancing on a dynadisk - cardio work 5) Knead the fleshy muscular areas at the top of the shoulders, mid-back - kareoka aka grapevines area and above the hips to loosen the tight muscles for relaxation and stress - heating and last but not relief. least, pounds upon pounds of ice.

Singled Out

Give a great back massage

6) Use your thumbs to put pressure on the hard or tight areas, often called knots.

7) Move your fingers in semi circles on the back while applying a little bit of pressure along the muscles that are close to the spine and around the shoulder blades.

8) To warm down and commence the end of the massage, start by putting your hands on both sides of the spine simultaneously and apply some pressure. Begin to decrease pressure after a minute or two.

Tip: Remember to pay attention to your partner’s comfort level and do not apply too much pressure to the spine.

—Compiled by Colin Chen, Kevin Gao and Annie Tran Graphic by Kimberly Han