The Oracle May 2018

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

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THEORACLE Henry M. Gunn High School

http://gunnoracle.com/

Friday, May 18, 2018 Volume 55, Issue 8

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Elisa Moraes-Liu and Eric Epstein Sports Editors

An outbreak of vandalism has swept through campus in recent weeks. According to Principal Kathleen Laurence, the graffiti has mainly affected the school bathrooms, and the strong chemicals used to wash off the markings resulted in students being prohibited from using the facilities in the hours following cleanup by campus supervisors.

Other spots around campus have also been vandalized, according to Custodian Supervisor Luciano Hernandez. “It has been in the N building, the J building and the Village,” Hernandez said. “It has also been in the F wing where the lockers are.” There was graffiti on the side of the N building stairs on April 30, resulting in the area being closed off with caution tape to be repainted.

A trend of vandalism of this magnitude has so far been unheard of at Gunn. “There’s always been graffiti, but nothing really bad like this,” Hernandez said.

“Nothing like this has happened in my 20 years of being here, not to this extreme.”

The graffiti has included negative messages directed at Gunn administrators and the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) officials. “From what I read on the graffiti, it is targeting the admin, targeting the [school] board, maybe the board members,” Hernandez said.

Other than messages that were directed to the administration, the graffiti included a variety of drawings, jokes, poems and political statements, many of which were posted and circulated on students’ social media.

In one message, students protested against the Social Emotional Learning and Functionality (SELF) program by writing on a bathroom stall, “Your SELF is just causing pain, this class is a bore, to you, I implore ditch SELF or we’ll all go insane.” Other messages have included pop culture references such as “Star Wars is better than Star Trek.” The vandalism has also addressed concerns presented by the school regarding vandalism, including a message that said, “So how are we hurting people? Explain and we might reconsider.” Another calls Palo Alto a bubble, and says graffiti is a way to “pop” it.

VANDALISM—p.2

Rise of vandalism provokes school-wide response

On April 30, the N building wall was sectioned off with caution tape to be repainted.

Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Hallway fences expand to keep construction on schedule Joy Huang

Features editor

On May 10, the construction fences facing the K and L buildings were expanded so that only the hallway remained available to students. This was done to keep construction on schedule, according to Assistant Principal Tara Keith.

Throughout this school year, Keith has been working with construction company Alten and project management company fs3|Hodges to prioritize the needs of the students.

“When [the construction crew] asks about expanding fence lines and making adjustments, the conversation is always around how it will impact students in getting to class,” Keith said. “Sometimes the banging and the drilling are very disruptive to students at the K building when they are testing, so we ask them to pause and work on the other side.”

The overall construction progress is being completed on schedule, according to Keith. Out of two phases, Phase One is a renovation of the front portion of the Spangenberg Theater

and the addition of new choral and instrumental classrooms.

It is projected to be done by the end of August. The lobby area of Spangenberg will be revamped and the bathrooms will be made more accessible in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Phase Two is the Central Building Project, which is expected to be finished by the beginning of second semester next school year. The district would determine then whether to move in over winter break or during the summer.

The first floor of the Central Building will house the Student Activities Center, two Makerspaces, which are workplaces for people, and classrooms for journalism, yearbook and graphic design, according to Keith. On the second floor, there will be counselor offices, a wellness center and classrooms for positive psychology and psychology, yoga and Living Skills.

Junior Karly Hou is happy with the progress of the construction over the school year. “You can really see all the work they have been doing and how quickly the project is

coming along,” she said. “It’s actually pretty cool because a lot of students weren’t expecting them to do so much in this amount of time.”

However, junior Patrick Gersh feels that there should be more workers. “In 1931, the Empire State Building was constructed in one year and forty five days,” he said. “I would expect that in 2018, a building with a hundred fewer floors would take less time to construct.”

In addition to the Spangenberg renovation and the Central Building project, there are also other projected construction projects on campus; Gunn plans to update the sound system in the Bow Gym after AP testing is done.

During the summer, there will be a City of Palo Alto project on Charleston and Arastradero in order to make the entrance of Gunn more ADA-accessible and safe. There will also be football field renovations, where a new sound system, pressbox and scoreboard will be added to support the school’s soccer teams after the football season starting next school year.

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News

Administration investigates vandalism across campus VANDALISM

Sophomore Heather Aurora sees the graffiti as a form of protest. “Students are fed up with administration and they don’t have any other way to unleash their anger,” she said.

“I know students who have tried talking to the administration and voicing their complaints and nothing ever really changes, so at this point people just resort to writing stuff on the bathroom walls.”

According to Aurora, complaints have stemmed from discontent regarding teacher treatment toward different groups of people. “The administration is treating different groups of people differently,” she said. “In the environment here teachers will treat different students differently if they don’t have good grades regardless of what they really know about the student’s life.”

However, not all students support the vandals’ actions.

“I’m kind of disappointed in Gunn students who have done the vandalism,” junior Drew Stanley said. “I think we can do a lot better and I’m disappointed that we’re destroying our campus and hurting our learning environment.”

Campus Supervisor Jorge Sanchez shares Stanley’s sentiment towards the vandalism. “I’m mostly sad that people want to vandalize our beautiful campus that we have here,”

he said. Sanchez also feels that the steps taken by the vandals were not constructive and that there are better options for people in the vandals’ positions to voice their opinions.

The administration has recognized the discontent of students reflected in the vandalism. “All behavior is a form of communication and it’s really clear that there is probably a subsection of students that feel that their voice isn’t heard,” Assistant Principal Tara Keith said. “I think one thing that can be done differently is to allow for more student voice and choice, and we need to do a better job in hearing from a cross section of students throughout campus, not just in the office.”

The administration is trying to find the students responsible for the vandalism, but is having difficulty due to the lack of evidence. According to Laurence, some of the messages left by the vandals address this. “There is some taunting in there about ’you can’t catch me because you can’t have cameras in the bathroom,’” Laurence said. “We do have video of the area but it’s dependent upon [knowing] what time it was to actually make the video any kind of useful.” In one graffiti message left by a student on the bathroom wall, they taunt, “You know it’s illegal in the state of California to put cameras in the bathroom. How are you going to catch us?”

Campus bathrooms were vandalized with messages written in

Punishment for vandalism can vary on a case-by-case basis. According to Keith, punishments can be doled out by going through the school or through the legal system. “If we are going to a route of going and pressing charges, then there will be some consequences through the police department and juvenile court,” Keith said. “In terms of consequences through the school, it would depend on the nature of the vandalism and the value of vandalism since we are driven by [education] code and want to be as restorative as possible.”

The administration is willing to hear student ideas on how graffiti can be prevented in the future. “I’m open to ideas,” Laurence said. “It’s really cool when you get the [student perspective] and the [adult perspective] together because then you got the really cool ideas and people who can say, ’Wow, that’s a great idea, let’s see how we can make it work.’ So I think partnering with the students is a really good way to resolve these kind of problems.”

As a short-term solution, Hernandez encourages students to keep a watchful eye on students participating in vandalism. “Everybody can help, even the students,” Hernandez said. “If they see somebody writing, they could help out the school, and that would be great.”

permanent marker, resulting in their closures.

Photos courtesy of Andres Bonilla, Janet Wang and social media

District renaming of middle schools sparks controversy Devon Lee

Tech editor

On March 27, 2018, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) school board voted to rename Terman and Jordan Middle Schools after Ellen Fletcher and Frank Greene, respectively. According to Palo Alto Online, this decision came with some controversy when the Recommending School Names Advisory Committee proposed the candidate Fred Yamamoto, a JapaneseAmerican Palo Altan who interned during World War II and later died in battle as a member of the U.S. Army's 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team. The problem arose regarding the surname because of its association with Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

According to School Board President Ken Dauber, this decision has been in the making for approximately a year and a half, starting when the school board decided to rename the two schools. This is due in part to the influx of public input to the district as a total of 1,500 name suggestions were submitted through electronic surveys, notices and paper forms sent out to parents and students.

Since approximately half of the student population of Gunn attended Terman Middle School, many students have expressed an opinion on this topic. Freshman Rishee Gupta, hopes that district decisions will include more student voice. “There should have been more student input because, ultimately, it’s the students who are attending

the schools,” he said.

Despite this slight hiccup, other students regard the renaming process as a success.

Freshman Arunim Agarwal believes that the district handled the situation in a proper manner. “I don’t think that there were many big changes that could have been made,” he said. “I think that the district tried to get as much input as possible and yet still do it in a timely manner and also get it done without too much conflict. Although some conflict happened, I think they did a good job of working their way around it.”

Dauber suggests that though the renaming was an overall success, diversity codes were violated during the processes. “I felt that the committee did a very good job, but they did not meet the district’s policy requirement of a committee that is representative of the community, and had no Asian American or Hispanic members,” he said.

One striking contrast in this change is the backgrounds of the former names and the new people representing the schools. It is commonly known now that Lewis Terman and David Starr Jordan were active members of the eugenics movement.

In recent years, eighth graders at Terman Middle School were assigned an essay arguing about the name change. As a former Terman student, sophomore Hannah Lee explains how informative the experience was. “I was at Terman [but] the name didn’t really affect me, and I only really learned about who Lewis Terman was when I was in eighth grade writing the essay about it,” she said.

Read the full story at gunnoracle.com

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

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Caroline Ro Managing Editors Megan Li Kristen Yee News Sohini Ashoke Ryan Li Tejpal Virdi Forum Jennifer Gao Liza Kolbasov Joshua Yang Features Julia Cheunkarndee Joy Huang Grace Tramack Centerfold Yael Livneh Chelsie Park Sports Eric Epstein Bridgette Gong Elisa Moraes-Liu Lifestyle Laurel Comiter Noa Rapoport Katie Zhang Online Stephanie Jackson Andrew Zhao Changing the Narrative Jamisen Ma Grace Williams Photo Editor Sofia Sierra-Garcia Graphics Editor Mina Kim

Staff Business/Circulation Ryan Manesh

Friday, May 18, 2018

District reviews safety policies after March 29 lockdown

partnership with the police department is amazing,” Conaway said. “Without their Forum Editor help we couldn’t be as efficient, and I think The Palo Alto Unified School District they would say the same thing; our collabo(PAUSD) and the Palo Alto Police Departration is what makes the process go quicker.” ment (PAPD) are working together to revise Perron also echoed Conaway’s thoughts and update emergency response policies on the strong partnership. “We also have an in light of the March 29 lockdown at Palo outstanding relationship with PAUSD ofAlto High School (Paly). The lockdown was ficials, including the staff members at all of initiated after a stolen phone was used our schools,” he said. “We routinely to report a planned school shooting review lockdown procedures with later deemed to be a hoax, according staff, and have annual drills as well.” to PAPD. According to PAPD, the March 29 The response to the incident has caller has not yet been apprehended. taken many different forms. On April “Our detectives are still investigating 17, PAPD held a training exercise the case, and we remain confident we on the southwest corner of campus, will be able to identify the suspect according to Principal Kathleen Lauand arrest him,” Perron said. rence. In addition, the police departPerron added that such calls are ment is in the process of reviewing not harmless pranks, but rather hurtstandard response procedures. “We ful and disturbing. “Hoax calls like always examine our policies and prothis are not only criminal in nature, cedures after a significant incident like but they also create a tremendous this as a way for us to identify ways Photo courtesy of Dylan Zou/Paly Voice amount of stress and anxiety for we can improve,” PAPD Captain Zach PAPD officers respond to threat at Paly on March 29. students, parents, school staff and the Perron said. “We remain 100 percent larger community,” he said. “They are committed to doing everything in fight. That’s the last resort.” completely unacceptable.” our power to keep our students safe.”

According to Conaway, “Run, Hide, Even though the threat was unsubstantiThe police department declined to detail Fight” was developed to give more power and ated, junior Elizabeth Salwitz saw it as exthe procedures, citing safety concerns. “We options to an endangered individual. “We’re emplifying the broader problems associated don’t publicly discuss our policies or tactics telling people that there are options,” she with gun control and emphasizing the need as they pertain to threats to our schools—the said. “It’s a tough call to make, because if you for political change.

Salwitz, the organizer publication of such things could jeopardize make that decision to stay put and hide 100 of Gunn’s #NeverAgain protest, strives to our response to future incidents by poten- percent of the time, it may not always work continue voicing her opinions.

“I’m hoping tially tipping off suspects to how we are likely out. But that’s a decision that has to be made to continue protesting with the rest of the to respond,” Perron said. in the context of the larger scope of things.” country,” she said.

“I think it is really powerAt the district level, there has also been Additionally, the district has remained ful when many different cities participate in a gradual shift in general safety policies. committed to adapting safety policies to the same cause.

This proved a lot of people’s “We were already in the process of looking each school site within Palo Alto, many with at our safety practices and procedures [this disparate environments. “We also work with points that this could happen anywhere, year],” Assistant Superintendent Yolanda a group called Keenan & Associates and that and that we need to take action to protect Conaway said. group [does vulnerabilities assessments], and our students, such as making it harder for The first step for the district has been to the purpose of these assessments is to see people to get their hands on an AR-15 [semiincrease readiness efforts under the PAUSD whether there’s any risk in the environment,” automatic rifle].”

At the end of the day, Conaway hopes Emergenc y Prepa red ness Com mit tee Conaway said. “[Keenan & Associates] will (PEPC). “[PEPC] is charged with looking at be walking through campus identifying students can grasp the importance of concrete safety policies. “When you are faced our practices for lockdown,” Conaway said. those areas we need to do better about.”

“We found that we needed to update some Despite the increasing prevalence of both with an incident, timing is everything,” she of our manuals to make sure that they’re harmless and real threats to schools, both said. “How fast you respond is extremely aligned with current practices. We want to the district and PAPD agree that a well- important. I've learned that when people are make sure our policies are directly aligned functioning relationship between them is prepared, they respond calmly and coolly with what the research says works really key to the safety of students and has enabled and they make better decisions." their response to be as fast as possible. “Our well.”

Joshua Yang

PEPC has also began to revise the traditional model of “lockdown” beginning this year. “[The model] used to be everybody inside locked down, and what they’re saying now is ‘Run, Hide, Fight,’” Laurence said.

“Students who are out on campus should run into [an open] room, if they’re out on the field, run off campus, [or] hide somewhere on campus. And then fight, if you really must

INBOX

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

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

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I would like to see features of Gunn electives or courses because other than the elective fair, which gives you a passing summary of the courses available, there is not much information given, and students just have to rely on asking their friends or upperclassmen.

—Angela Guo, 9 I like it when The Oracle criticizes Gunn admin or just the way Gunn functions in general.

—Milan Hilde-Jones, 11

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

Letters to the Editor, Comments and ideas for coverage may be sent to oraclegunn@gmail.com or posted on our Facebook page. These letters need not be from current students.

I prefer pictures over text, so I remember some articles were all text. I would like to see more graphics or pictures in The Oracle.

—Yinghui Sun, 11 I would like to see more short stories or poems that have to do with a specific subject. For example, a haiku or a pastoral would be a nice change of pace.

—Dickson Chung, 10

I wish there were more articles about pop culture than local news.

— Caleb Kim, 9

Tech Editors Natalie McCurdy Devon Lee Adviser Kristy Blackburn

I would like to see more polls in the paper where students can vote on different questions and topics.

—Nessy Leon, 11 —March 30, 2018—

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

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Forum

Minority representation in movies, media helps break down societal misconceptions

im aK in M

“Love, Simon,” “Black Panther” and “Wonder Woman” are some recent movies with good minority representation.

that positive female roles in the media help to empower women, which is inf luential enough to help one out Grace Tramack of nine women build up the courage to leave abusive relationships. Movies According to a 2002 study published by “Science,” teenag- such as “Wonder Woman” ers spend more time watching television than learning in a are important because they give classroom by the end of their four years in high school. Now, young girls and women the power to with websites such as Netflix, television and movies have dream bigger than the smaller roles Hollywood insists are become even more accessible and are continuously normal for them. Similarly, according to NBC News, even increasing in influence within society, openthough Latinos make up 17 percent of the population ing a great opportunity to break down in the United States, their representation in televilong-standing racial or gender stesion and media was at a mere 5.8 percent as of reotypes. However, members of the 2016. A major reason why movies and televiMembers of LGBTQ+ community, minority sion are so popular is because they develop groups and women are continucharacters that audiences want to relate the LBGTQ+ ally placed into minor roles and to and sympathize with. However, since community, minority are severely underrepresented movies with actors of different minority in the media. This disparity is groups in lead roles are more difficult to groups and women are not aligned with today’s many find than films with white male leads, it continually placed movements to break down stecan be harder for minorities to connect reotypes and improve inclusivewith these characters. This contributes to into minor roles. ness within our society. Increased the sentiments that many underrepresented representation in the media for ungroups have expressed about seeing a lack of derrepresented groups is important in thought being put into characters of their group order to build a sense of pride and identity, and an apparent bias toward straight, white male chardissolve prejudices and ultimately take another acters. Therefore, an increase of representation in the media step forward in creating a more open-minded community. will give underrepresented groups more chances to continue Increased representation in the media gives underrepre- to develop their own sense of belonging. sented groups a chance to feel a stronger sense of identity. AcAdditionally, movies such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy cording to a study by the Institute on Gender in Media started Rich Asians” have helped to subconsciously break down by actress Geena Davis, 58 percent of survey responses said stereotypes as well as decrease bias in society as a whole.

According to psychologists working on “Project Implicit” from Harvard University, University of Virginia and University of Washington to create tests researching hidden bias, watching television shows and movies can lead to the subconscious development of prejudice. Due to the importance of media in building perceptions of others, the media industry as a whole has a responsibility of using their influence in a positive and diverse manner that will break down stereotypes instead of creating new ones. More representation in the media for underrepresented groups doesn’t apply exclusively to adults, but to children as well. Children must be exposed to more diverse media at a younger age. According to “Project Implicit,” children as early as age three have already developed prejudices. By exposing children to increased diversity, a lack of stereotypes would become the new norm, therefore contributing to a more inclusive society.

Although movies such as “Black Panther” and “Love, Simon” have increased representation, the industry has a ways to go. It is great that people have begun to recognize films that have expanded inclusion in the media, but the only way to truly solve this problem is to make these types of movies the new norm.

—Tramack, a junior, is a Features Editor.

Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Forum grading system based on participation unfairly penalizes students with anxiety

Friday, May 18, 2018 Staffer

Teacher shares experiences with participation grades

Sophia Siegel

Laurel Howard

In certain classes, the participation of students counts towards a significant percentage of their overall grade. Every time a student raises their hand, it is recorded, and every comment they make or question they ask is converted to points that are added or taken away from their grade. Participation-based grading induces a stressful classroom environment and should be altered or removed to benefit students.

Participation-based grading benefits only the small number of students who are comfortable with public speaking and are fully confident in themselves. The problem with this system is that for most people, high school is the peak of their insecurity. A 2010 study published by the National Institute of Mental Health found that approximately 31.9 percent of adolescents had some type of anxiety disorder. However, experts suspect that these statistics are a conservative representation of what’s really happening, since many people do not seek help for their anxiety. Participation-based grading creates a stressful environment for students with public speaking-related anxiety or those who might find it difficult to actively participate.

Certain departments are in favor of utilizing the system some teachers who use participation-based grading believe that classrooms are a space to practice and discuss when many students have no other place to apply their knowledge. They have noticed students who otherwise wouldn’t speak up trying to ask questions and develop their public speaking skills. In their eyes, participation-based grading is meant to encourage students to speak up and speak their minds, but it unfortunately has quite the opposite effect in the way it is currently set up.

Although these teachers list many positive impacts of the system, they have acknowledged that participation based grading can lower a student’s grade. This drop shows how participationbased grades could negatively impact students, especially when grades are meant to summarize their learning and development.

Leading psychologist Marilyn Price-Mitchell performed many youth intelligence tests while working at the Intersection of Youth Development, Leadership, Education and Civic Engagement and had astonishing results.

Students praised for their effort during class time performed 30 percent better than students praised for intelligence and accuracy. Participation-based grading robs classrooms of their space for students to comfortably ask and clarify questions, as it rewards students mainly for their knowledge, rather than their curiosity.

The participation-based grading system needs to be modified to benefit students. Just because a student is not raising their hand and sharing their ideas, it doesn’t mean that they are not listening and generating ideas.

Many students prefer to take notes and put their thoughts down on paper instead of sharing them with the entire class where they can be analyzed and criticized by their peers. However, active listening and note-taking are not criterion for participation-based grading.

Feeling pressured to speak out and raise their hands when they don’t feel comfortable doing so can heighten stress and anxiety for many students. Altering the participation-based grading system would improve the mental health of students and eliminate negative atmospheres in classrooms.

I will be the first to say that, as a teacher, I get a sense of inner turmoil when I consider participation policies in the classroom. Countless studies show that students learn more when they speak in class, regardless of their personality or learning type. Additionally, participation is important in creating a safe learning environment. As a student, however, I have felt firsthand the harmful effects that participation grades can have.

I have always been more of a listener than a talker.

I am introverted, which means that I draw my energy from being alone. I am also shy, which means that pulling attention to myself makes me feel very nervous.

For as long as I can remember, my report cards contained something along the lines of “I would love to hear Laurel speak more in class.” Throughout high school, college, and even graduate school, I received the consistent message that my participation in the classroom was simply not enough.

The most harmful experience surrounding participation happened in a discussion-based class.

The instructor explained that she would be handing out physical participation tickets for correct answers and volunteered thoughts in class discussions. To earn a full score, we would need to earn eight tickets over the course of the quarter. I knew immediately that I would struggle with this, but decided that I would do my best and even approached my professor to get feedback on my participation.

It quickly became clear that I would not earn enough participation tickets. Every time the instructor posed a question, a classroom full of hands shot up and I could not compete. More than ever, I grumbled that the world seemed to value extroverted people over anything that I had to offer. How could participating be so easy for so many people and yet so challenging for me?

On the final day of the quarter, the instructor announced that we would be celebrating our accomplishments by counting our tickets in front of the entire class. I was the only student who did not have enough, which I had to announce to the instructor in front of everyone watching. To this day, I cannot remember anything that I was supposed to learn in the class, only my frustration with the instructor.

It is true that communication skills are extremely important. Daily, I present information to students and collaborate with colleagues. To do this, I have learned to leverage my strengths as an introvert. I am used to listening to others, which means that I can often get a good read on how someone is feeling and respond empathetically. I feel anxious when I need to speak in front of others, so I outline my thoughts and practice to ensure that I say what I mean to say. I would not be able to do this had I not been pushed to participate as a student, and I am grateful to my teachers and instructors who helped to build my confidence and showed me that others value my thoughts and ideas.

Participating in class throughout my schooling ultimately helped me learn how to share my thoughts and be assertive in a group of peers.

It’s hard to define what good participation is or means. As a teacher, I need to provide opportunities for students to speak and maintain accountability for the work that I assign. Furthermore, if a student is not engaged, they are likely to become absorbed into their device. This distracts other students and implies to observers that the student does not care about those who are speaking. I do, however, understand that talking in front of others is easier for some students and extremely challenging for others. One solution that I have seen is to list ways in which a student might verbally or nonverbally show their engagement. By recognizing all forms of contributions, teachers can create a more inclusive space while still encouraging the development of important communication skills.

—Siegel, a sophomore, is a reporter.

Sofia Sierra-Garcia

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—Howard, a teacher, is a guest columnist.

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Forum

PRO

Should comedy news be considered real news?

Stephy Jackson News commentators and comedians are not new to the American political atmosphere. However, with the 2016 presidential election, these comedic political commentary shows, including “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” have shown a higher increase in viewership ratings compared to non-political talk shows. According to the New York Times, Jimmy

Fallon’s lead over Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on CBS has dropped from 364,000 to about 57,000 over the past year.

Many have attributed Colbert’s rise in viewership to “more political” content. As viewings for increasingly polarized comedian political commentary shows increase, viewers have started to see them as legitimate news sources. Though the purpose of these shows is for comedic relief, studies have shown that there has been a rising reliance on comedic talk shows as a source of news. This dependence on comedy news in the American voting population raises the question of whether or not comedian commentary shows are legitimate news sources. For the purpose of this article, “legitimate news source” will be defined as an organization that accurately informs the public. Comedian news is a legitimate news source because it reports accurate news. Relative to actual news networks, the presence of political bias does not discredit their reporting, and the addition of comedy does not nullify their content. When comparing comedic commentary shows to legitimate news sources in tandem with recent studies, evidence shows that comedic news is legitimate and should be considered as a trustworthy and reliable news source.

One of the primary arguments against the legitimacy of comedian news sources is the presence of political bias in their shows. However, this bias is not any different from that of traditional news broadcasts. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 63 percent of respondents associated “news organization” with cable news networks such as Fox News and CNN. Though to varying degrees, Fox News and CNN have an ever-present bias in their commentary of news, and according to the survey, 77 percent of respondants believe that the media “tend[s] to favor one side.” If we were to discredit all news networks because they expressed a political bias, more than half of U.S. news sources would be renounced. News networks with bias are still reporting the news whether or not they select certain stories to report or comment on current events that

favor a certain political agenda.

The next misguiding reason why one might argue that political comedians are not legitimate news sources is because of the “comedy” component of their shows. This crucial addition of satirical and humorous responses to current events is what sets these media sites apart from other news. This difference, however, does not delegitimize the news reporting aspect of comedian commentators. A good example of this is John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight.” Oliver hosts weekly shows on prominent and influential issues, ranging from immigration to the Iran deal. The show presents evidencebased and relevant information while integrating comedy into the commentary of these real-life events, demonstrating that the addition of humor into the presentation of facts does not delegitimize the facts themselves.

In an era where comedian political commentators and news sites continue to serve as a news source for a significant portion of the population (especially to those who are of voting age), these comedian news sites should be held to the same, if not higher, standards than those of news networks.

Comedian news has influence on American voters, and with that influence comes the responsibility to report accurate information. Because they have a significant influence over the political views of their viewers in the polarized political climate of today, comedian commentators should be held to the same standards of reporting accurate news as the journalists in already legitimized news networks.

Finally, it is crucial to bring up that the many arguments for and against the legitimacy of comedian news operate under a certain contrasting definition of a legitimate news source. In this day and age, with Facebook, Twitter and other political commentary sites inching closer and closer to encouraging the polarization of our nation’s politics, the definition of a legitimate news source has become more and more subjective.

—Jackson, a junior, is an Online Editor.

Photo illustration by Sofia Sierra-Garcia and Joshua Yang

77 PERCENT OF AMERICANS BELIEVE TRADITIONAL MEDIA IS BIASED

63 PERCENT OF AMERICANS ASSOCIATE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS WITH CNN AND

CON

Graphic by Mina Kim and Joshua Yang

Sohini Ashoke

The popularity of comedic news has greatly increased in the 21st century due to the amplification of online and television news, as these serve as the primary platform for most comedic journalists. This has resulted in the increased replacement of traditional non-comedic news. Comedy news shows like “The Daily Show”, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” are extremely popular, serving as a primary news source for many people. According to Business Insider, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is the most popular “late night show,” with a record-setting three million views per day as of February 2018. Comedic journalism, by definition, is a type of media that conveys news in a comedic tone. While this may sound like an effective way to engage more people in staying upto-date on current events, comedic news often diverts from the true purpose of journalism: providing objective, accurate and informative content. Comedic journalism is problematic because of the inevitable bias that comes with incorporating humor with news.

The main issue with comedic news is how the focus and need for appealing to audiences goes against the primary goal of journalism. News, no matter what type of media it’s presented through, needs to be unbiased with its substance and composed entirely of facts. This has taken many forms throughout the centuries, from traditional print sources to more recent cable news sources. However, humor is inherently unobjective as it is based on individual taste, context and values. Humor is created by presenting what the general public finds entertaining. Therefore, it is not made up of facts and cannot be categorized as news. Most mainstream comedic journalists incorporate humor that appeals to one side of the political spectrum in order to keep their content appealing to their target audience. By prioritizing the enter-

tainment and political beliefs of viewers, comedic journalists sacrifice neutrality and the principle requirements of news in order to maintain popularity. For example, in a news video

by Stephen Colbert covering the United States leaving the Iran nuclear deal framework, the blatant political bias can already be seen in the title, “Trump ignores U.S. Allies, Leaves Iran Deal.” Without presenting any sort of background or context of the event, Colbert explains the event by bashing Trump and his actions with the deal. He offers no clear or impartial facts, and mixes humor marketed towards liberal ideology with the news. The few facts that are included are all chosen based on the desire to appeal to one political audience. Another example of bias in a mainstream comedic news show is John Oliver’s coverage of the 2018 Italian Prime Minister election, “Italian Election: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” In this news video, Oliver explains in the first minute how “Italy is in turmoil and dabbling with fascism and that should worry everyone.” While opinion pieces are a valid part of journalism, they only are when they are clearly labeled as such. For example, most newspapers have a section set aside for opinion pieces, creating a clear cut boundary to prevent any confusion. Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” is comedic news, therefore proving how the extreme bias of his shows is preventing the proper conveyance of facts. The bias in comedic news is problematic beyond just not being real journalism—it gives readers what they want to hear instead of what they should hear.

A common rebuttal against the notion that comedic news is intrinsically biased is that all news sources carry a degree of bias and that it is inevitable. While this argument is true, the extent to which a type of news can be biased to remain credible must be maintained. While human bias is unavoidable, it is important to keep in mind that the incorporation of humor (which is always biased) is not. Comparing the extent of bias between BBC and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” is completely ridiculous, as BBC is ranked as one of the most unbiased mainstream news sources as of today. Saying that the bias in comedic news is automatically justified due to the inevitability of bias is a childish argument, and problematically validates any blatant extent of bias.

Although mainstream comedic journalism is far from real journalism, it can be reformed to still include humor while

still being considered news. In order for this to happen, it is imperative that the facts of the news event are presented objectively, and the added editorialization and humor is clearly labeled as the comedic journalists’ own opinion. In current comedic journalism, the two are intertwined, leading to the lack of clarity about the facts of the event and preventing readers from forming their own perspective objectively.

The reforming of comedic news into real journalism should not be a publicity stunt, but so readers are given the opportunity to form their own opinions from facts. Without distinctive separation of opinion and news in journalism, the entire purpose of journalism becomes lost.

—Ashoke, a junior, is a News Editor.

Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Features

Friday, May 18, 2018

7

Self-taught musicians perfect instruments Math Teacher Dave Deggeller: Guitar Many students know their teachers inside the classroom, but aren’t aware of what goes on in their lives outside of teaching. For example, math teacher Dave Deggeller is a guitarist, something most students don’t know about him. He started in his early teenage years and has been playing ever since.

“I have always loved music and we had a guitar laying around, so I picked up the guitar and taught myself,” he said. Whenever he wasn’t able to figure out which note to play, he just looked it up in a chord dictionary.

When Deggeller was in college, he was the vocalist and guitarist of Dyn@mutt, a band he started with his friends. After he graduated, the band went on tour and visited more than 50 cities across the United States. Deggeller found touring fun but also very frustrating since no one knew of his band.

During many of their performances, only three people would show up in the audience, so their manager refused to pay them. “When we went on tour, we were not famous and so no one knew who we were,” he said. “Very rarely people came to see us play.”

Even though Deggeller has several bad memories from the tour, he still made many good ones.

“People often liked us, so meeting people after the show was kind of a thrill,” he said. “One time we played at a really small town in Texas, and after the show people thought we were famous and celebrities, so they wanted us to sign their guitar and take pictures with us.”

Many musicians have inspired Deggeller throughout his life to be the musician that he is today.

He was into alternative music and loved the band The Smiths when he was young. “The Smiths had a really gifted singer and lyricist and a super creative guitarist so they were really good from a singing and lyric point of view, but also from a guitar point of view,” he said. He soon became a fan of punk rock and started listening to the band, The Pixies.

Like many musicians, playing music has been a way for Deggeller to relax and destress. Additionally, he’s used it numerous times to bring people together. “If I’m at a party, I’ll pick up a guitar and everyone will start singing and it’s a great icebreaker,” he said. “It’s a good way to meet other people.”

Deggeller even impressed his now-wife with his guitar playing skills and convinced her to go on a date with him.

Deggeller’s advice for aspiring musicians is to learn the guitar early on, because that will solidify guitar as a lifelong skill. He also advises learning by ear, as he believes doing so has greatly benefited him over the years. “I’ve met a lot of musicians who, if there isn’t a music sheet in front of them, won’t be able to play a song, whereas I can play the guitar to any song because that’s how I taught myself,” he said.

Currently, Deggeller has difficulty finding time to dedicate to guitar due to his job and kids. However, even with his busy schedule, Deggeller hopes to continue playing and songwriting for the rest of his life.

—Written by Noa Rapoport

Jocelyn Wang

Freshman Anshika Agarwal: Ukulele Ask around campus to discover which instruments students play, and you’ll likely find that the majority of musicians have spent years practicing the piano, violin, clarinet or other commonly learned instruments. Freshman Anshika Agarwal, however, stands out from the crowd as a ukulele player.

A video of a popular Hawaiian ukulele duo called Honoka and Azita first sparked Agarwal’s interest in the ukulele three years ago. “They are absolutely amazing at playing the ukulele,” she said. “I noticed that the ukulele can produce a variety of sounds and textures, which means you can play virtually any song, and that really impressed me.” Her sister eventually bought her one for her birthday.

Not only does Agarwal play a unique instrument, but she is also self-taught. “I mostly learned the basic ukulele technique from websites and videos that have chords and tablatures for thousands of songs, which I reference to when I’m learning a new song,” she said.

Despite learning how to play the ukulele on her own, Agarwal has developed a strong sense of discipline in terms of daily practice. “Usually, I warm up by playing simple chord progressions and then I look up new songs to learn,” she said. “This takes up most of my practice time, because with each song, you need to learn the chords and their order, the strumming pattern and the general rhythm of the song.”

The main reason behind why Agarwal began playing the ukulele was because it gave her the freedom to play any song she wanted. “Whether it’s a classical song or a pop song with lyrics, I can try literally anything,” she said. “Also, by using different techniques such as muting and fingerpicking, you can really change up the style of the song and experiment with different variations.”

Agarwal has always been fascinated by Hawaiian culture, and she believes that the ukulele is a leading symbol of classical Hawaiian music. “[It] has gained popularity around the world because of its versatility as an instrument that can be adapted for a ton of different musical styles,” she said.

One of the biggest challenges Agarwal encountered while learning to play the ukulele was a technique called barring. “[It’s] when you take your finger and stretch it across the fretboard of the ukulele so that it covers a fret on all of the strings,” she said. “It was difficult for me because I don’t have the biggest hands so I really had to learn how to stretch my finger and place it at a certain angle to get a nice, clear sound out of the ukulele.”

While Agarwal has not competed in any formal ukulele competitions, she has found that the ukulele is a great way to entertain others. “I mostly play the ukulele in my free time and have done some informal performances for my family and friends,” she said.

—Written by Jennifer Gao

Sofia Sierra GarciaPhotos by Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Features 8 Students produce videos, share interests through YouTube Sophomore Camila Besprosvan: Camila Bes Vlogs With around 6,000 subscribers and an average of 350 views per video, sophomore Camila Besprosvan has kept her YouTube channel thriving for many years. “I started in the seventh grade but was very shy about it,” she said.

“There really wasn’t something that made me start a

channel; I just really enjoyed talking to a camera and eventually I decided to make videos for YouTube.”

On YouTube, you can find a multitude of YouTubers with unique styles of videos, but Besprosvan’s main focus is on fashion. “[I do] any sort of lookbook videos because I love fashion and with those videos I can really play with the editing and get creative,” she said.

Having consistent communication with viewers is both thrilling and exciting to Besprosvan. “The best part is being able to talk to people all over the world,” she said. “I get

comments from people in Italy, Turkey [and] India and it’s really amazing.”

The most impactful interaction Besprosvan had was when she received a message from one of her long-time viewers. “One time a viewer direct messaged me on Instagram saying that she is from Chile and she really likes my videos,” she said. “I used to live in Chile, and after talking a little with her we both found out we went to the same elementary school and she knows all of my old friends.”

Besprosvan’s commitment to YouTube was accompanied by numerous challenges along the way. “Sometimes people can make you feel like you’re not going to get anywhere and discourage you,” she said. “It’s hard to focus on why you make videos when people tell you what you are supposed to be doing or why you’re not successful.”

For a few of Besprosvan’s videos, she plans out when she has the time to film and edit. However, whenever she gets bored, she often spontaneously decides to film a makeup tutorial, or just talk to a camera and be herself.

When she doesn’t know what videos to post, Besprosvan reaches out to her viewers and subscribers for suggestions. “Mostly my viewers request videos for me to do and I kind of put my own twist into them or whenever I’m thinking of something cool I think how would I turn this into a video,” she said.

As a YouTuber with several years of experience and progressive successes, Besprosvan has valuable advice for aspiring YouTubers. “Don’t stress about views and subscribers,” she said. “If you really enjoy making videos you will find happiness in simply filming and editing, not in numbers.”

—Written by Katie Zhang

Graphic by Mina Kim Photos by Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Junior Yinghui Sun: ChronoYinger Take a quick look at ChronoYinger and you’ll notice two things: that most of its videos are about Counter Strike Global Offensive (CS:GO), a multiplayer first-person shooter video game, and that it is a popular YouTube channel with 77,346 subscribers. A closer look at a video reveals that it is a compilation of professional CS:GO players’ best plays. These videos give off the impression that they were made by adults. In reality, the ChronoYinger channel is run by junior Yinghui Sun, who has devoted hours every day to nurture his YouTube channel.

Sun’s original motive for launching the channel was to make some quick money without getting a full-time job. “During one Thanksgiving, I was broke so I could not buy anything during Black Friday,” he said.

He published his first viral video, which he titled “FLUSHA-VAC - CS GO PRO PLAYS #1.” The video is a compilation of CS:GO clips with several edits mixed in, currently holding over 600,000 views. Sun describes how he structured the video to attract potential viewers. “There is fire, a circle [and] a meme with the spitting cereal guy in the thumbnail,” Sun said. “That is eye-catching in my opinion.”

Sun’s channel took off through these videos: he started with 1,000 new subscribers every month and reached around 13,000 subscribers every month during his prime. “One of my videos blew up and eventually more people came and came,” he said.

Today, Sun has a team of three to produce videos. Sun serves as the team’s manager, working alongside a designer and an editor. When Sun has a video idea, he will send it to the editor to compile the video and the designer to create the thumbnail. Finally, Sun takes what the editor and designer has made, makes sure the video meets his standards and publishes it onto the ChronoYinger channel.

Recently, Sun has been making several changes to his channel. Originally, most of the content posted on ChronoYinger were compilations of CS:GO games. Now, Sun focuses on making higher quality videos. Consider the recent video titled, “S1mple plays wingman with a cute girl,” which features a humorously edited interview. Since the conversation was in Russian, the editor typed in a funny “translation” on the bottom. “People appreciate small edits like the ‘unofficial translation’ at the bottom,” Sun said.

Another video featuring humorous edits was one published on April Fools’ Day. The edit consisted of “giving away” a nonexistent CS:GO weapon, and having people comment “Happy April Fools, sorry! Hopefully y’all are having a great Easter,” to enter the giveaway.

Money-wise, Sun generates money from advertisement, revenue and sponsors. Sun estimates that he makes around $1 for every 1,000 views, but he has to pay his team $90 for every video. To improve his net profit, Sun obtained sponsorship from various CS:GO websites. The sponsor pays a fee and Sun includes them in one of his videos.

ChronoYinger is not Sun’s only channel. His second channel, titled Best of Fortnite Funny Moments, is mostly composed of Overwatch (another shooting game) videos.

Both are relatively popular; this channel currently has 55,421 subscribers.

—Written by Andrew Zhao

Cente

Personality tests provide en are personality tests valid in Judging one’s character?

NO

9

YES

Eric Epstein

Tejpal Virdi Reflecting on personal characteristics can help us understand how one interacts with the world, and personality strongly indicates performance in a variety of domains. To be clear, this is not referring to the comical “personality test” you might find on social media, but instead a deeply researched model known as the Big Five test that can reliably predict personality traits.

Very few tests within the social sciences are as widely accepted and have as fundamentally thorough of an assessment of personality as the Big Five Personality test.

In fact, this five-dimensional model has shown that nearly all factors of personality will fall into just five distinct groups. The test has achieved consistent, replicable and reliable results, and the model has been relevant since 1990 without being disproved.

Personality tests have already been successfully implemented in a variety of areas.

In jobs, the five traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability) can reveal a lot about a candidate’s competency in a position. For example, an introvert will not be happy in tasks that require a lot of social work, while someone who is not very open-minded will not thrive in jobs that require creativity.

Although these are just averages—which are subject to deviations—general trends in personality traits can help one pick the most fitting career.

Certain scores on personality tests have also shown links to mental illnesses. A study led by Richard Zinbarg, a professor in psychology from Northwestern University, showed that people low in emotional stability may suffer from anxiety or depression, and people extraordinarily high in extraversion have been associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Zinbarg’s results showed links between certain genes and traits, knowledge of which can be extremely beneficial since genetic testing is more invasive and less developed than personality testing.

Indeed, we are more complex than a personality test score. Some test-takers may be biased in their responses by trying to find the “correct” answers rather than being objective, resulting in inaccurate results. But the point is to use these tests as a supplement to one’s current life. After all, they can reveal very important information about how someone will live their life, and have the capacity to make significant positive change if utilized correctly.

—Virdi, a junior, is a News Editor.

Catherine Chen

Anyone who has casually surfed the internet recently is sure to have seen zany personality quizzes on Buzzfeed or Facebook that determine a quiz-taker’s personality by comparing it to that of a character, celebrity, food item or really anything else that will get clicks. Although these quizzes are just lighthearted fun with no real implications, the same cannot be said about professional personality tests. Professional personality tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving test and the Big Five Personality Test are questionnaires that attempt to classify and analyze the subject’s personality and mental disposition. They often have many years of research behind them, and their results carry heftier ramifications. However, these tests should be taken with a grain of salt, as they can influence emotional growth and do not accurately predict how a person will act in the long run.

People naturally change their personality and temperaments over the course of years, or even months. If people think they are supposed to act a certain way in accordance to their result on a personality test, they will end up leading a cookie-cutter life and become stagnant.

Although personality tests are thoroughly researched and have significant backing from the scientific community, the results should not be used to evaluate or predict a subject’s long-term behavior.

In addition, the strategy of using these tests as a criteria for hiring employees has declined greatly in the last few years. According to the Cut-E Global Assessment Barometer released in 2016, 70 percent of the surveyed companies in 2012 used personality questionnaires for assessing their employees. By 2016, that percentage dropped to 24 percent. This sudden decrease in the use of personality tests is not at all surprising. The most popular personality tests were not designed to be used to evaluate possible employees, nor to assess how a subject will fare in the workplace. Moreover, it is likely that a potential employee would intentionally stray from the answers that they actually identify with and pick those that are perceived to be the more “correct” or attractive answers.

When used in the incorrect situation, personality tests can inhibit personal growth. People who use professional personality tests to either test themselves or evaluate other people should be wary of their implications and keep in mind the tests’ intended uses.

—Epstein, a junior, is a Sports Editor.

10

erfold

Friday, May 18, 2018

ntertainment, introspection Why are personality quizzes so enticing?

From Buzzfeed quizzes that have been viewed over 20 million times to Facebook quizzes that let you know what kind of potato you are, personality quizzes have become a focal point of entertainment in the 21st century. Besides these silly and often inacurrate Buzzfeed and Facebook quizzes, personality tests actually backed by the scientific community provide more insight into people’s traits. One of our school’s classes, Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology has students take scientifically verified personality tests and analyze their merits.

In compliance with AP Psychology curriculum, social studies teacher John Hebert requires students to take specific tests during the course in order to understand the concept of social psychology and the credibility of tests that arise from it. “They take personality assessments to learn the concepts of personality and validity,” Hebert said. “Scientists need a smaller set [of personality descriptors for the tests], and they were able to find one using factor analysis to look at things that are coordinated with each other and put them into five dimensions of personality, known as the Big Five.” The Big Five descriptors include extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and emotional stability. In order for a test to be valid, test-takers must be able to find concrete evidence of each descriptor in the test.

Assessments were constantly altered in order to be as standardized, reliable and valid for all test-takers as possible. “When personality tests first hit the scene back in the 1940s and 1950s, social personality psychologists really got into devising personality tests, validating them on a standardized group and applying it to a lot of people and ty-

pologies,” Hebert said.

Hebert also often has his students take a test known as the Values in Action Characteristics Core Test. “This test allows people to find the best parts of themselves,” Hebert said. “Maybe they might not have the personality trait that they necessarily wanted, but you might find out that you’re kind to others, for example, and you can work on showing your strengths and valuing yourself.”

Positive psychology is founded on the belief that people want to live meaningful and fulfilling lives, cultivate what is best within themselves and enhance their experiences of work, love and play. Taking the assessments helps enhance the idea of positive psychology and allows people to focus on benefiting and improving themselves by using test results.

In today’s world, personality tests, even unreliable ones, are taken a lot. According to an article written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) psychologist Sherry Turkle, this occurs because people want to believe that human nature is quantifiable and “get a read on themselves” by following the idea of narrative personality, the idea that humans make sense of their lives by organizing events into more understandable storylines. According to Hebert, some people also take tests to waste time. “I think young people are a little bit more prone because they haven’t really formed their complete identity—there’s a lifelong search for identity,” Hebert said. “If you [go off to college and] become a different person then maybe taking these tests is somehow helpful, but unless it’s a serious test that’s been validated it’s probably just more an expression of, ‘Gee, I don’t know who I am.’”

Freshman Malik Fuentes also agrees that personality tests are simply a fun activity to him. “I think they’re fun and engaging to do when you’re bored and you figure out, ‘Hey man, this is entirely untrue,’” he said.

A common argument against personality tests is that they are unreliable, but this is simply untrue. According to Vox, 40 percent of test-takers get a different result on the Myers-Briggs test when taking it the second time. Hebert believes that this does not occur because the test is flawed, but rather because personality does not always tend to the extremes that the test has set. “[The lack of consistency] in personality tests might have more to do with the fact that personality can trend towards the middle rather than that the test is inherently flawed,” he said. He added that when taking reliable tests multiple times, students can expect their result to average out and remain consistent, as long as the test includes the Big Five.

Despite the researched reliability of tests like the Big Five, the internet has changed the way personality tests are regarded. Many are created by amateurs on sites like Buzzfeed and Facebook, or with goals more malicious than simply intriguing you to click on a link. The FacebookCambridge Analytica data scandal involved the collection of personally identifiable information of nearly 87 million Facebook users. Data from users was allegedly used to attempt an influence on voter opinion for certain elections.

“Sometimes, they’re just trying to collect information from you like Cambridge Analytica did... they got their information by having people take personality tests,” Hebert said.

“It might just be an attractive way to collect demographic information.”

—Written by Nikki Suzani

“This test allows people to find the best parts of themselves. Maybe they might not have the personality trait that they necessarily wanted, but you might find out that you’re kind to others, for example, and you can work on showing your strengths and valuing yourself.”

“I think young people are a little bit more prone because they haven’t really formed their complete identity—there’s a lifelong search for identity.”

—Psychology teacher John Hebert

—Psychology teacher John Hebert

“I think they’re fun and engaging to do when you’re bored and you figure out, ‘Hey man, this is entirely untrue.’”

—Freshman Malik Fuentes

Sports

Friday, May 18, 2018

11

Swim coach departs gunn to test new waters people improve.” a coach who values perBesides helping the swimseverance and effort mers polish their technique, above skill level, alAfter six years with the Gunn swim team, Accornero also taught team lowing all swim" I wor k wi th head coach Kyle Accornero is leaving his members valuable lesmers to improve. these student position to move on to new ventures and sons that they will carry Although it opportunities. through all aspects of is not yet clear athletes on a daily Accornero plans to look for a coaching their life. For Lu, Acwho w i l l bebasis. That's a hard position at the college level. “Whether that’s cornero’s coaching has come the head thing to walk away local or—more than likely­—out of state, you driven her to work tocoach next year, cannot work with high schools and work wards reaching her aspiAccor nero befrom.” with a college,” he said. rations. “In my experience lieves that the team Throughout his time coachwith Kyle, I learned will continue to excel ing here, Accornero has a lot about pushing regardless of who their helped the team through myself, specifically new coach is. “It doesn’t attention to detail. towards goals that I set,” 100 percent matter who’s on Thanks to his dedishe said. the deck; it does 100 percent mat“It’s not cated coach i ng, A c c o r n e r o a l s o ter who’s in the water and what necessarily about the swim team has helped all team mem- they’re doing, how they treat who's in charge. I t’s been able to reach bers—regardless of each other and how they new records. “My abi l it y—to ref i ne go about their day-to-day about how they’re doing freshman year, their swimming and [life],” he said. things, how they treat t he g uys won cont r ibute to t he Several students, howothers, and why they [C e nt r a l C o a s t team. “He hasn’t ever ever, are still upset about Sectionals (CCS)], complained about how losing their head coach do things.” and that was a pretty you’re not swimming fast next year. “I think it’s big deal, since Gunn enough,” senior Aaron Ba- going to be a huge loss hadn’t won in a while. And bian said. “He only cares that for our team, and I think last year, both girls and guys you give your effort and try to do everyone—not just me—is did really well at CCS,” junior Jackie everything right on the pool deck rather very sad about the loss,” Lu said. “I think he’s helped a lot of than in the pool.” Babian sees Accornero as sophomore Devan Singh said.

Liza Kolbasov

Forum Editor

“I just hope that we’ll be able to find someone that will be able to fill in Kyle’s footsteps and give the program what it deserves like Kyle did.”

Accornero will miss the swimmers he has gotten to know over his years at Gunn. He has admired t heir development both as individuals and as athletes. “Working with [the student athletes] on a daily basis is a hard thing to walk away from,” he said.

Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Freshman swimmer qualifies for french national swim team Chelsie Park

Centerfold Editor Last fall, freshman swimmer Melanie Julia qualified for the French National Swim team. While she is not technically on the team, Julia is on the list of high-level athletes who have a fast enough time to join the national team if they choose to do so.

Julia decided to try swimming in middle school when her Physical Education (P.E.) teacher suggested that she take up the sport. “In P.E. in sixth grade, my P.E. teacher was like ‘Oh, you should do swimming’ because we had swim unit,” Julia said. “So in June of that year I went to go see a bunch of teams and all of them put me on the wait list because I was super slow. Finally one team was like ‘okay you can be in our leisurely group’ and so that’s what I’m counting as my first year [of swimming].”

Julia was able to improve quickly, and in just two years she had already made her first national cut, meaning she was

able to participate in nationals. “No one expected it,” Julia said. “I just made the cut by a few hundredths of a second.”

Encouragement from Julia’s coach urged her to push herself, eventually resulting in her qualification for the French national team. “My coach said, ‘if you could make it into the final, that would be nice,” Julia said. “I ended up making the final, and I made it to the podium. Then in October I get an email saying that I’m part of [the list of qualified athletes].”

However, the distance between France and the United States poses some issues when it comes to Julia’s ability to actually participate in competitions.

Although she qualified to swim in the French nationals, the meets are held in France so she would be required to travel to France in order to compete. According to Julia, it would be too difficult for her to make the international commute during the school year.

Besides distance issues, Julia sustained shoulder and knee injuries just two years after taking up swimming.

Unfortunately, her injuries are permanent, but that does

not prevent her from striving to meet her goals. “Since I’m a breaststroker, these [injuries] can be bothersome,” Julia said. “But I just swim with it anyways and sometimes I have to do physical therapy. Overall, I try to ignore it because I have goals that are pretty important [that] I really want to achieve, and if I just keep thinking about those goals, I’ll push through at every practice.”

For the time being, Julia will continue to swim for the Gunn team. She recently swam for the Titans in the 2018 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) championships, where she placed sixth in both the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard Individual Medley, according to College Swimming.

Despite her achievements, Julia is more interested in pursuing medicine rather than a professional swimming career. “I want to be a doctor,” Julia said. “I’m thinking of swimming [competitively] more than being paid for swimming because I just love to do it and I don’t need to be paid to keep going.”

Photo courtesy of Melanie Julia

12

Sports

Students coordinated summer soccer team for youth players Laurel Comiter Lifestyle editor

Unlike most high school students who either attend a summer camp or work as camp counselor, juniors Micah Alon, Malia Jefferson and Valerie Ruelas started their own. Kids Soccer Summer Camp (KSSC) ran last summer from June 19 to 23 at Greer Park and accepted all genders from ages 7 to 10 regardless of skill level.

The three girls all share a common passion for soccer, having played on Gunn’s teams, and decided to spread their knowledge of the game by coaching local kids. “We started KSSC because we all love soccer in general and [running this camp] would be something new and exciting we could take on,” Jefferson said.

The mission of the camp was to provide an exciting opportunity for younger players to improve a variety of soccer skills, including passing, dribbling and shooting.

The idea came to them in late March of their sophomore year when they were looking for a way to make money and keep busy over the summer. “I thought of starting this camp because I love being around kids and I’ve been a camp counselor before for the past few summers, but I wanted to come up with my own camp and see if I could be successful,” Ruelas said. “I have two younger siblings so [they] made it easier to find kids who wanted to join.”

They attribute the success of the camp to its price and atmosphere. “This camp is a lot more affordable and [has] a lot less intense environment because it is run by high schoolers,” Alon said.

While teaching the campers various technical and game skills, Alon and Ruelas gained some knowledge as well. Ruelas feels that the camp introduced her to skills important in a work-

ing environment, while still allowing her to have an enjoyable summer. “It ended up being super fun, it helped me become a lot more patient and learn about what it’s like running your own camp or business,” Ruelas said.

Alon also believes the camp exposed her to the responsibilities of the real world. “[Running this camp] was a serious learning opportunity because I was in charge of what I wanted to happen, so I couldn’t rely on a boss to do it if I got lazy,” she said. “It was a good experience to learn how to reach a target audience with different marketing strategies, make a financial plan, make a schedule and just normal counselor skills like handling the kids and their parents all week.”

Although they are unsure if the camp will take place this year, they had positive feedback from former campers. “Past campers have communicated that they would participate again if we decided on a date,” Jefferson said.

Top right: A camper practices new skills on the field.

Bottom left: Junior Micah Alon and campers cool off.

Photos courtesy of Valerie Ruelas

Top: Juniors Micah Alon, Malia Jefferson and Valerie Ruelas smile for a picture.

Bottom: Coordinators and campers pose for a team photo.

Sports

Friday, May 18, 2018

13

Staffers search for promising local gyms

Chiara Jurczak

Ryan Manesh

Yael Livneh

As fitness continues to evolve and new workout trends emerge every day, it has become crucial to find a gym that not only provides basic equipment, but also makes you enjoy the overall workout experience. The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (JCC) campus on Fabian Way manages to meet that need, thanks to its state-of-the-art equipment, experienced staff and wide array of other amenities to offer to its members.

After one short—yet somehow excruciatingly long—climb up the stairs, you will reach the fitness center. This relatively large gym features a variety of easy-to-use machines as well as some more complex ones for the more experienced and adventurous gym-goers who know how to balance against a wall without falling flat on their face. This diverse assortment of options allows for a lack of lines as well as an opportunity for members of all fitness levels, from couch potato to marathon runner, to get a good workout. The equipment is clean—except for the inevitable sweat droplets and uncomfortably warm seats that all fitness establishments boast—but members are usually considerate enough to wipe the equipment with towels provided at the entrance. The space is quite spread out and has tall ceilings, which help all of the unpleasant smells waft up and out of the room.

A large part of why the JCC is such a pleasant environment is the people working there. Between the personal trainers, janitors and other hard-working members of the staff, you are sure to have as agreeable a time as you can at a gym. If you are in need of a little help or motivation to get started or simply improve your fitness journey, you can choose from many personal trainers at the JCC. All of the trainers have different backgrounds and certifications, making it more likely for you to find one that fits your needs. The trainers do their best to get to know you and your habits to come up with a personalized plan that you won’t have too much trouble sticking to.

A membership at the JCC will not empty your wallet, and they offer family discounts. However, it is a little pricier for the extra facilities and services other than the gym. These include—but are not limited to—an indoor kid pool, an outdoor (heated) adult pool and free classes such as cycling, cardio kickboxing as well as various types of yoga.

With over 400 locations scattered throughout 18 states, 24 Hour Fitness is one of the largest gym chains in the country. For a membership fee of $29.99 a month, the gym offers a variety of activities ranging from yoga to pilates, in addition to access to the gym workout facilities. Recently, in search of a potential gym, I visited 24 Hour Fitness in Mountain View.

Upon first impression, the facilities looked clean and calm, a place where it was easy to workout. A more thorough tour of the facility revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the gym.

The first thing that hit me was a stale stench of plastic and old rubber that lingered throughout the entire building. The facilities also smelled strongly of chlorine, which was given off by the indoor swimming pool.

Although the odor took some getting used to, I was impressed by the superb collection of treadmills, ellipticals, step machines, exercise bikes and other cardio machines, many of which faced the outside parking lot. This view offered a nice change of scenery from the gym. The placement of the equipment, which provided a view of the outdoors through large glass walls serves as good motivation to keep using the machinery.

With a variety of machines out-of-order, the gym quickly became crowded toward the early hours of the evening. Despite this, I appreciated the large amount of options and variety when it came to workout equipment. Furthermore, the equipment seemed new and in good condition with features for entertainment including personal television sets with access to a plethora of channels.

While the staff was accommodating, they were at times impersonal. Nevertheless, I was impressed with what the gym had to offer in terms of it's facilities. With a kids club, basketball courts, swimming pool and dance and spin studio included, this is a very family-friendly facility that is a good source of fun and exercise for people of all ages and athletic capacities. The wide variety of studio classes was extremely impressive, with classes ranging from Aqua Zumba to Kickboxing. At 24 Hour Fitness you can stick with methods tried and true or branch out to new areas of fitness.

From busting out the iconic dance moves to sweating up a storm at the gym, the name “YMCA” is one that resonates with all of us. On Ross Road in Palo Alto, we have our very own branch of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), complete with a lap pool, full gym, sauna and even a Kid’s Club.

I first checked out what they call the Wellness Room, a weight and exercise room stocked with every machine you could possibly desire. Big floor-to-ceiling windows span two of the four walls, flooding the gym room with a calming natural light. Treadmills and ellipticals are lined up in rows, touting adult gym-goers jogging at healthy paces.

The atmosphere at the YMCA is professional and clean and has a certain local charm to it. The staff is friendly and the locker rooms are roomy—though they have been known to be targets of petty theft.

The YMCA features two pools: one large lap pool and a smaller pool designated for children and aquatic exercise classes. The pool building is large and well lit and boasts direct access to locker rooms from the deck. The water was surprisingly warm and required no frantic swimming to help acclimate me into my groove.

Other than pleasant sports facilities, the YMCA offers several programs for local teens or young adults to get involved with the community. The Reach & Rise Mentoring program connects adults over 23 years old with youth in the area who are at risk, whether it be low self-esteem, family problems or poor academics.

The YMCA also has fantastic volunteer programs, gathering people from the community to help “The Y” teach classes, coach teams and manage committees.

The Ross Road YMCA is a wonderful place to work out, swim, take classes and volunteer. With impeccable facilities and a very friendly staff, the only concern is leaving your stuff out in the locker room for extended periods of time. Luckily, they do have lockers and it’s something that can be looked past if you’re searching for a local, non-profit gym. The actual campus is very small, but has plenty of parking and is surrounded by trees filled with chirping birds. Membership to “The Y” is not too expensive and financial aid is offered. You can even grab a free trial to check out the place before you decide to subscribe a membership. The YMCA is a lovely place to not only to =get fit but also to give back to the community.

—Jurczak, a sophomore, is a reporter.

—Manesh, a sophomore, is the Business Manager.

—Livneh, a junior, is a Centerfold Editor.

Graphics by Nicole Lee and Grace Liu

Lifestyle

14

Which summer activity should you do?

1.) Are you an indoors or outdoors person?

A) I always appreciate the beautiful aesthetic of nature B) I dabble in both fields C) Sunlight physically pains me D) The cocoon of my bed is all the solace I require

2.) What do you find most rewarding?

A) Planning the weekend functions B) The ever-changing bell schedule C) Being schooled (obviously) D) Clubs

3.) What do you like to do in your spare time?

A) Sleep. Just sleep.

B) Walk your dog C) Cram for your test the next day D) Go to the mall

4.) Where do you like to go?

A) Run through the six with my woes B) I don’t have spare time—every day is leg day C) Bury my face in an open book D) Anywhere I can go hard in the paint

5.) Who do you like to spend time with?

A) The lovers and the haters B) Just the lovers C) My fellow Titans D) Me, myself and I

6.) What do you like about school?

A) Peaking in high school B) Getting my ideal summer body C) All A’s, because B stands for “below average” D) Flexing

Mostly A’s: Take a road trip. With all that time on your hands this summer, why spend it here when you can explore what’s beyond? Pack your things and go where your mind takes you, because your summer is bound to be an adventure full of wild discoveries and pretty sights.

Mostly B’s: Host a pool party. You’re looking to unleash all that pent-up energy once finals are over, so make it a blast and cannonball into the pool with all your best friends! It’ll feel great to be active and in control again this summer.

Mostly C’s: Continue going to school. The school year may be done, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss it over the summer.

If this past school year didn’t teach you everything, here’s your chance. Enroll in a summer class you find interesting, or just learn for the sake of learning.

Mostly D’s: Be a productive member of society. Get ahead on your road to adulthood and find a job this summer.

If you don’t mind putting in the work, you’ll have a really nice edge on getting all the things you want with that sweet salary heading your way.

—Compiled by Laurel Comiter and Collin Jaeger

Graphics by Grace Liu and Mina Kim

Bucketlist to beat summer boredom

Want to get in a little exercise while having fun? Try paddle boating at Shoreline Lake! Though it may be tough, it’s always fun trying to figure out how to work together with friends or family to turn the boat around.

Right outside of Half Moon Bay in Pescadero, CA, there is a strawberry farm that allows you to pick your own box of strawberries and eat them—perfect for anybody who enjoys fresh produce and a cute Instagram picture at the same time.

Looking for new scenery in the Bay Area?

Then take a trip to the Pulgas Water Temple on Cañada Road, right off of Interstate 280.

The small white monument is surrounded by tall green trees and a turquoise pool. Not only is it a great place for a picnic, it’s also the perfect spot for a summer Instagram photo— #nofilterneeded.

Blast off to another dimension at the arcade, Area 151, in downtown Los Altos. You can enjoy new and old arcade games while competing with friends to win tickets and prizes.

The fountains on Stanford University’s campus are not only beautiful, but double as mini swimming pools on a hot summer day. There are 25 different fountains on campus that vary in size and shape. Many are perfect places to go swimming, or to just stick your feet in while taking in the view of the campus.

The Farmers Market in downtown Palo Alto is a fun and leisurely place to go any Saturday morning.

You can find fresh fruits, flowers, jams and much more. Looking for another farmers market? Head over to California Ave. on Sunday for even more organic goods.

West Wind Capitol, the old-fashioned drive-in theatre in San Jose, is the perfect setting for a fun date night. The only things you need: a car, some yummy snacks and a couple of blankets in case it gets cold.

—Compiled by Grace Williams

Background graphic by Mina Kim

Lifestyle

15

Friday, May 18, 2018

Local cheesecake options to explore Sa f

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Elisa Moraes-Liu

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Cheesecake-lover laments closure of downtown Cheesecake Factory

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The res tau seating rant had ver yq an medium d some nice uick and effic ient ser outdoo sized, a rs vi ing wa s bland t $5.99, but t eating. The s ce, with lots o h li f e and di c Howev d not r taste was no es of cheesec indoor er, the t e a s s worth ke wer weetne emble more t the c e the ss o ole Despite rable. In addit f the berry to normal taste ost. The fillpping m of chee ion, th the tast e se e, Le B ade the oulang crust was pe cake a cake. rfectly er’s che li ttle bit bu esecake earns a ttery and swe et.

3/5 as w ell.

—Compiled by Natalie McCurdy

Graphics by Grace Liu and Mina Kim

Recently, it was announced that The Cheesecake Factory in downtown Palo Alto will be closing down on Saturday, May 26.

The restaurant has been serving customers at this location for over a decade, and throughout that time it has been by far one of my favorite restaurants.

Whenever my family or friends come to visit from Brazil, the first place they want to go is The Cheesecake Factory. The restaurant holds an incomparable fame in Brazil, where the chain does not have any locations. Brazilians long for the delicious cheesecake, and it is the most famous American restaurant there. The first thing that happens after we pick my family up from the airport is a trip to the downtown Cheesecake Factory, a place that now holds dozens of precious memories.

The Cheesecake Factory is undeniably the epitome of American food; it presents mouth-watering, oversized and caloriefilled options for every appetite. The “Super” food section on their encyclopedia-sized menu has options ranging from avocado toast to a vegan cobb salad. Meanwhile, underneath the “Cheesecake” heading you can find over 35 varieties of heavenly cheesecakes. Regardless of what you choose, there’s no way to go wrong. The menu presents over 250 dishes—which always provided me with plenty of variety as a picky eater—and all of them are delicious. In my opinion, nothing can compare to the the delicious Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake or the gargantuan GlamBurgers.

Addionally, The Cheesecake Factory has always been one of my favorite places to hang out with my American friends. The environment is lighthearted, with a friendly waitstaff ready to serve their outstanding dishes to you. Its location right in the heart of downtown Palo Alto makes it the perfect place to grab a snack, whether you’re just strolling through or shopping in the plethora of stores. The wait time is also extremely low, since the venue is so large. Often, especially in that area, restaurants have limited seating which requires reservations in advance. The little to no wait time has always come into convenience during unplanned meals.

The staff at The Cheesecake Factory will also never fail to make you smile. Everyone seems so pleased to be working there, creating an incredibly welcoming environment. Although many of them will be moved to other Cheesecake Factories around the area, others will be left unemployed. It is sad to think that the downtown location closing means saying goodbye to such a friendly waitstaff.

Cheesecake Factory’s large space also creates the perfect place for birthday parties. Every time I go there, I always hear a table loudly singing “Happy Birthday” somewhere in the restaurant.

I myself have attended quite a few of these parties throughout my life. The long tables comfortably fits a large group of friends, and the delicious cheesecake serves as the perfect birthday cake.

There are also a variety of appetizers and snacks to choose from on the menu that provide for perfect party food.

The Cheesecake Factory’s closure brings sadness to regular customers like myself. Most places have a much more limited selection of dishes, with far less delicious cheesecakes to choose from—or none at all in most cases.

Now, the closest Cheesecake Factories are located in Hillsdale Mall or Valley Fair, both of which are simply too far away to be of any convenience. They also don’t hold the memories made at the downtown location which I am now forced to say goodbye to. If you are looking for a satisfying meal, The Cheesecake Factory is no longer a place to turn to. There also won’t be a way to DoorDash dishes, since all other locations fall far outside of the delivery range to Palo Alto.

The closing of the restaurant marks the end of an era, but regardless it is exciting to see what will replace the 375 University Ave. location.

-Moraes-Liu, a sophomore, is a Sports Editor.

16

Features

Departing staff members say their goodbyes The past ten years have passed by so quickly! I am so grateful for all the wonderful experiences I have had, from the courses I have taught to the amazing students and colleagues I have worked with. I will always remember this place as more than just a school—it’s the place where I found my calling and where I found my wife. What I will miss most is the community that exists here. The way you care about each other, include each other and support each other is extremely special—never lose it.

Sincerely, Christopher Bell Technology Coordinator

en the three ts at Gunn have be en om m e rit vo fa My sure to be icals I had the plea us m nt de stu rhe teac ul and the aderie was so joyf ar m ca e Th . of rt a pa dance routines... “teachers” for our e th e er w s nt de stu urse another ir play. And of co fa as w t ou ab rn tu the students in as my wonderful w t en om m e rit favo hear kudos on hen I would only w e, nc rie pe Ex k Wor ing at work!!! they were perform b jo us do en m tre the nfromapalyvintsrock #lovegun de tu #s ob yj em #lov er ouloveinyourcare king’69 #dowhaty Meredith Gyves Work Experience

myself, as well want to keep reminding I , nn Gu at r yea th 18 As I finish my wonderful place this is. ts at Gunn, what a truly as my friends and studen ng, but this pales in moments of sturm und dra Sure, we’ve had quite a few ool: interactions sch at ing everyday occurrences are also blessed comparison to the uplift We ff. and staff with sta ts, den stu d an ff sta ts, among studen much guaranteeing lture and languages, pretty with a rich diversity of cu t like you. e at Gunn with people jus that you won’t spend tim s place!

I’m really going to miss thi John Hébert Social Studies Department

career. Alwas my first w la , w o n k u arding, I often As many of yo f my work were very rew ts o d I couldn’t though aspec as missing, an searching, w g in h et m so ler much sou felt as though at it was. Aft h tion— w ca t u in o ed p in in quite p d career n co ld se a e u purs ow that wou I decided to ow exactly h n k e t th n’ d id te d I es lly, t sugg though initia and who firs sb u se h n y o m sp as re w l teacher. My take shape. It t a high schoo g in m o l, it turns ou ec b f idea o insane?!” Wel u n yo o re so s “A A : te knew myself. was immedia , better than I e m ew new that I had n k e that h at Gunn, I k e er y h m g in in h g ac n viously missi as I started te l that was pre al ank you to d n Th u t. fo en , ct in fa d fulfillm an n o ho have si as p y, t—it is you w en se re work life—jo p d an dents, past e. You are cr all of my stu lifetime for m a f e— o er re ca e nate and wis made this th g, compassio in ir sp e! in in t, ag an ative, exuber an you can im you more th s is m l il w I and rds, Warmest rega baum Ellen Feigen artment English Dep

Photos by Melissa Ding, Sophia Lu and Sofia Sierra-Garcia

Twenty-two ye ars ago, I joined the Gunn staff. taking time off After to be at home w ith my two daug found that I m hters, I issed the comra dery of commun in my previous ity work position, the D irector of Planne hood in Walnu d Parentt Creek. The G unn community to me because appealed I particularly en joy working with teenagers and pa staff, rents. Collabora tions about the uses of technolo best gy to promote teaching and le are what I will arning miss most. In ad dition to learni technology, I en ng new joyed getting to know the Gunn nity by attendin commug the staff-stude nt musicals, ch ing at Camp Ev aperonerytown and su pporting my da school activities ughters’ and graduation s. I also enjoye the talent exhibi d seeing ted, on both side s of the curtain, Gunn musical in and theater prod uctions. I treasu experiences su re my pporting teache rs, students and efforts to secure parents in a safe and heal thy future. Bes all, going forwar t wishes to d!

Darlene Feldst ein Technology Dep artment