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Wednesday January 12, 2011

“Yallah” - A quick look at the news - “Newsbite” announces a new school dance in the works.[A3] - Seagulls take over the courtyard following lunch. [A2] - Senior Ami Wulf writes about Keystone, college applications and the pressures of senior year. [A3] - Sam Seder gives a lens into the world of a rower on a nationally ranked crew team. [A2] - Wikileaks raises questions about free speech, the right to privacy, and legal rights in the digital era. [B1] - Opinion: An argument against Freudian Pyschology by David Conneran. [A3] - Bad weather devastates El Salvador. [B1] - Finding inspiration in Panama over winter break. [B2] - China is manipulating their currency, see how they’re doing it and why it matters [B1] + much more

Weather Hi: 59˚

Lo: 47˚

San Francisco: More clouds than sun. Highs in the mid 50s Oakland: Considerable cloudiness. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 50s. Marin: Same as Oakland. Peninsula: Mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 50s and lows in the upper 40s. Source: The Weather Channel

Columns

Inside One of America’s Top Crew Teams

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Voice of the Students

Volume 2 Issue 4

Moodle Crash Fault of Technology MOST JCHS STUDENTS PREFER FINALS TO BE That Was Not Fully Integrated By Micah Fenner

On December 3, something went awry in the little-visited server room behind the office of IT Associate Josh Goffstein. The information that was conveyed to Mr. Leonard Stern, who is the front end of Moodle for the faculty and students was that, “I was told it was a hardware malfunction. The server that [Moodle] was on crashed.” However, most students were not aware of this information. Moodle had experienced several temporary outages before and this was just assumed by most to be an extended outage. This change was not as much of

Students React to JCHS’ Disciplinary Actions

a problem for many as it may have seemed. Jake Rosenberg (’14) said that, “It was better for classes. It made teachers give clearer instructions and let us ask about homework at a time when they could answer us.” Others were just not affected, such as Ari Goldberg-Safir (’13) who said that he noticed only approximately one-third of his teachers using Moodle. He hoped that as a result of the outage he would “see teachers have a renewed willingness to use [Moodle].” Maddy Zacks (’11) saw the unavailability of Moodle as an annoyance. “When the server crashed, I wasted a lot of time going to my teachers to

By Shai Tabb

Continued on A3

HELD BEFORE BREAK By Elijah Jatovsky

Last year the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) decided to move first semester final exams to before winter break. Rachel Norton, an SFUSD Commissioner, said that the change was made because many of the SFUSD’s 55,000 students take classes concurrently at City College so the change was made to synchronize the district’s scheduling with City College’s. She further explained that, “students felt they would be better prepared for their exams before winter break than Continued on A2 after.” An FAQ released by the SFUSD stated that, “with final exams and papers completed prior to the winter break, our secondary students can truly rest without the pressure of finishing assignments or studying for tests and return refreshed for the new semester.” First semester final exams at JCHS occur after break due to scheduling issues among other factors. JCHS begins the school year later than schools that place finals before winter break, because it does not want to cut into the last few weeks of summer when many JCHS students are still traveling or at camp. But in a hypothetical world where there was a choice of having finals before or after break, what would be the right decision? Wikipedia A survey of 79 JCHS students litical commentary of his other found that 43 percent preferred more upbeat and percussive finals as they are now, after break, albums. He writes about several while 57 percent said they would issues rather unrelated to each like them before winter break. other, which probably has to do The general consensus derived with the fact that Simon does from the comments of students in not set out to create a specific favor of finals after break was that message, as he puts it, “it just while studying and the relentless comes out that way.” knowledge of upcoming finals deOne of the tracks, “Questracted from the overall relaxation tions for the Angels,” a song of break and the two-week break about people searching for provided a much needed time for meaning in a confused world, studying. As one student wrote, mentions Jay-Z the hip hop art- “finals after break makes your break ist. He alsodwells on a few war worse, but will probably make related issues including a neph- you do better on your finals since ew serving in Iraq, a Vietnam you will have more time to study.” veteran who deals with post Students preferring finals bewar life, and Martin Luther fore break explained that winter King Jr.’s assassination, which break should be just that. “It’s is not war related but holds a called winter BREAK. The opsimilar impact when heard in a erative word is break. We students song. Simon spent over a year humbly request a BREAK, not a on some of the songs writing, two-week long study hall...” wrote crafting them to his liking, in a a disgruntled student on the survey. small cottage near his home in From the point of view of Connecticut. Simon still utilizes

Paul Simon: Stil Got it After All These Years

Some Students Find System “Harsh,” Others See it as Essential Many students wonder, when there is gossip or a rumor about students being disciplined by the school, what really goes on behind closed doors. Students wonder about the disciplinary actions that the school takes in the aims of making our community a stronger one. Not everyone thinks the school’s actions are always the right ones though, which sometimes happens when students do not understand the full situation; some disagree with the actions taken against students who may have wronged. The students and parents interviewed for this article, that requested it were granted anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject and the potential for repercussions resulting from their being interviewed for this article. One sophomore said, “I don’t necessarily agree with what the school does, but I think it depends on the case. Personally, I’ve never had to go through the [disciplinary] process… so I don’t know if it’s comfortable for the students or not. I just think some of the things the school does to punish [are] harsh.” Another student countered that, saying, “what they’re doing to the students isn’t just for the student who got in trouble to learn what they’ve done wrong, but to set an

get hard copies of all the worksheets and assignments,” Zacks said. Students were not the only ones affected by the outage. Mr. Iggy Gurin-Malous had entered all of the quizzes for his Comparative Religion class into Moodle and when it crashed, he lost everything. Ms. Rae Goodman had assigned a project for her biology class that was to be turned in on Moodle the day of the failure, and extra work was required for her to collect it. Although Moodle initially experienced a bumpy start, it was soon relied upon and utilized by many

The Musical Great’s Newest Studio Album Retains His Voice Through His Signature Sound and Depth of Content Paul Simon, the guitarist of the famous 60’s folk group Simon and Avrumy Garfunkel, is Reissberg scheduled to release his 12th Music studio album Review in April 2011. This is an exciting release to look forward to for all music appreciators, especially Paul Simon fans. Unlike Graceland, an album that was inspired by South African township music that helped fuel the anti-apartheid movement, So Beautiful or So What is a work that Simon describes as a more melodic and harmonic sounding record, yet still possessing the social-po-

Continued on A2

The Observer

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tens of Seagulls Flock to Courtyard, Eat Students’ Leftovers By Evan Fenner Many may wonder why after the end of lunch a giant swarm of birds descends on the courtyard. Office Manager David Joseph said that they come because of the food. “People put their lunch trash in the trashcan[s] outside, and the seagulls go for it.” The trashcans are not the only problem though. Mr. Joseph explained that people tend to leave lunch trays and food outside after lunch, which attracts the seagulls as well. This is not a new problem. JCHS alumnus Josh Steinberger remembered them, and said that, “literally every single day they were there,” and that even though the bushes were a tripping hazard, the seagulls were worse. “You run into a bush... and the seagulls just laugh at you.” Many people are unaware of the problem, responding with “What?” or “Seagulls?” or “I never noticed,” when asked about it. However the problem still exists. Mr. Joseph suggests students bring their food trash from outside to the proper indoor trashcans. He said, “it’s not that people shouldn’t eat outside, people just need to take care better of their space.” Last Tuesday a segul actually made it all the way into the commons according to Mr. Joseph. Birds inside of buildings can pose various problems for maintenance staff so that incident certainly underscored the urgency for students to stop leaving out food.

Finals Continued from A1

Paul Simon

the JCHS administration, Registrar Alexis Wright explained that it is all about balance. If the administration saw that there was a significantly greater benefit featured on one of the songs. Continued from A1 to the school in having finals before What’s interesting is Simon’s intricate guitar chords that break, they would switch the policy. apparent connection with cercreate textures of sound which Ms. Wright said the most incontain popular indie rock acts of are simply unique to his style of our time. Bands such as Grizvenient aspect for the administration playing. His voice, still supple, zly Bear, Spoon, and Vampire of having finals after break has to yet gentle and soothing, does Weekend all appreciate Simon’s do with colleges. Colleges are ready not sound like it has changed at music even to the extent of reto start reviewing senior applicaall since he was a young musitions before JCHS goes on break. cording their own covers of his cian. How does he maintain To not have first semester grades songs. Chris Bear of Grizzly such a voice at the age of 69? Bear recorded some drum parts until the second week of January is Quitting smoking and drinking for Simon’s new album. Simon tough on the administration because certainly helped, but it is also of the rush to send the grades off may even consider himself a evident that he is a hard worker type of indie act. At the mature to colleges that have been waiting when it comes to his music. It for a month to receive them. “It’s age of 69, he self finances his is no question that he poured sessions at his home studio. Al- a little dangerous territory to… go endless hours of tinkering into though very accomplished, he on break for two weeks and then this album but he was not alone finds himself going back to his come back and be focused and… in the effort either. roots of songwriting for this new ready to take finals [on] material Phil Ramone, who proalbum. Simon’s appeal to the that you had before break. It’s also duced many of Simon’s sevenyounger generation appears not nice to just wrap up something and ties records, including Paul to be short of outstanding, and then go on break.” Ms. Wright said. Simon, There Goes Rhymin’ this is not surprising considerMIT alumnus and current Simon, and Still Crazy After ing his socially conscious lyrics mathematics teacher at Balboa All These Years, co-produced and upbeat attitude. Check High School, Michael Ferraro, ofSo Beautiful or So What. The out his newest single “Getting fered a teacher’s perspective after two arranged for Simon’s wife Ready for Christmas Day” having recently experienced the and daughter to record harwhich has already been released monies on some of the tracks. and is available on iTunes. Bob Dylan is even said to be

school district’s switch in policy. “I prefer this schedule to what it was in years past since it was always difficult to get classes back on track and ready for final exams after having a multi-week break.” However, he continued, “…this year seemed more stressful for teachers leading up to final exams. The lead-up to the holiday season is busy for a lot of people, and writing, proofing [and] evaluating exams during that time seemed harder than in the past. The true test will be how things flow next year after we’ve already done one year with this new schedule.” But the finals schedule does not necessarily need to be so black and white. Ms. Wright explained that JCHS used to conduct finals in a different fashion. Finals would begin the Friday after winter break and roll over into the next week. This meant there was one or two days of rest/study time between each final, but the old system also cut short the “review week” by one day. Ms. Wright believed that in a “hypothetical world, if finals were ever moved to be before break… [this system] would alleviate some of the stress of having finals right before break.”

Moodle Continued from A1 Of the JCHS students surveyed, 14% more students preferred to have finals before break than after.

Life on a Competitive Crew Team The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines rowing as: the propelling of a boat by means of oars: the action of one that rows or the sport of racing shells (boats). For me, rowing is far more It was hard drive manufactured by Seagate, like the one above, Sam Seder intense and time that failed, causing Moodle to crash. consuming than Rowing in this definition tem was “ultra-low risk” and there dle crash was just a speedbump. Marin suggests. In rowwas no reason for it to have failed. Now that Moodle has been reThe chances that it was going to stored to service, it has been given ing, there are two different seasons. crash were so low that Mr. Gruen a dedicated server, for which Mr. The fall season includes 5000 said he would have put his personal Gruen has written special software meter “Time Trial” races, while the banking and financial information so it can be backed up along with the spring season comprises 2000 meter on the drive. “It’s just bonkers,” school’s ten other servers. The other “Sprint” races. Competitive rowers generally train ten months per year, he said, adding that it was like “an servers run JCHS email, account30-40 hours per week, and gear all asteroid hitting the parking lot.” ing software, the grade book softtheir hard work toward a single six Unfortunately, because Moodle ware and the school’s telephones. minute race at the national chamwas only capable of backing up to Even if Moodle crashes again, its pionships. The Marin Rowing the drive that it was stored on, when data will be recoverable from four Association is the club that I have it crashed, everything was lost. Not different places. Hopefully teachers been fortunate enough to train even the professional data recovery will not take the shutdown as a rea- and compete with for the last three company, which JCHS sent the son to be wary of the system. Jenny years. I have been on the Varsity drive to, could get any of the infor- Klonoff (‘12) believes that because Squad for the past two years, where mation off of the drive. This meant of the shut down, “teachers have I have competed in races across teachers had to re-upload all of been forced to rely on [Moodle] the country against teams from all their course material once the sys- less and may lessen the way that it around the world. Last year, our tem came back up. Head of School is used in the future.” Teachers and boat had a strong end to the season Rabbi Howard Ruben understood students alike should realize that with a silver medal at the National the frustration that this might have Moodle is back and stronger than Championships in Cincinnati, OH, and this year we hope to go back caused, saying that duplicating work ever, and that there is less to worry and build on last year’s success and is something that should always be about now than there was before. take the title! [Anyone interested avoided. However, he felt as though in rowing or in buying JCHS Crew in terms of JCHS’ new utilization apparel should find me at the of technology this year, the MooPB&J Table at lunch]. Stock Photo/iStockPhotos

teachers. However, after the crash, the question has become whether its lack of reliability is a cause for worry. The Observer was able to get an interview with IT Director Tony Gruen, though much of it was unable to be published. The story begins in 2009, when JCHS made the decision to start using a different underlying database which meant they would no longer be using NetClassroom. Aside from switching databases, NetClassroom had other problems that the administration felt warranted a new system. Although it was loved by students as a way to access both assignments and grades, it was exceedingly complicated to retrieve information from the database. While the school was searching for a new service to use, Public Folders was utilized, but was an unwieldy system that could not do everything the faculty had hoped it would do. Moodle is a free and open source, which means that anyone can be a part of the development team. Because Moodle and NetClassroom were both primarily ways for the teachers to communicate with students, the decision on what program to use was considered an academic decision. Mr. Gruen purchased two brand new hard drives from Seagate which were rated to last for four million hours. When the crash occurred, they had been running for just a little more than 3,000 hours. He said that the sys-

A day in the life of a rower: 4:00am: Wake up in the dark. Pull on thermals. 4:30am: Eat breakfast including protein shake. Traffic lights aren’t even working yet. 5:00am: Arrive at boathouse. 5:15am: Warm up and launch the boat - Row into the bay past San Quentin inmates cheering and hitting pots and pans against metal fence. 7:00 am: Practice ends. Rehydrate. 7:15 am: Eat second breakfast. Rush to pick up car pool. 8:15 am School begins ... Lunch: Eat three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread while in line at the salad bar. Stop eating when 8,000 calories have been consumed. 4:00: Afternoon practice includes cross-fit training, weight lifting and yoga. 5:00: Row on water: practice technique and build endurance.

6:45: First dinner 8:00: Second dinner 11:00: Set alarm for 4 a.m. Fall asleep before head hits pillow.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Observer

Opinion: Just Say No to Freud! F

reudian psychology: a term that everyone at this school knows with at least a passing familiarity. But why? What benefit is there to studying a sometimes baseless theory and pretending that psychology stopped changing after Freud and his student Jung died? None. While the pseudo-academic field of literary criticism

This is not a news article. This is purely an opinion piece reflecting the opinions of the writer. Space constraints sometimes neccesitate that The Observer place opinion pieces on other pages.

may pretend that Freud was right about everything under the sun in order to reinterpret works of fiction, such an approach ignores the evolution psychology has gone through in the many decades since his death. Nowadays, even psychoanalytic therapy (formerly classically Freudian) has changed, and many therapists use more evidence-based practices such as cognitive or behavioral therapy instead of psychoanalysis. In cases of severe depression, for example, cognitive therapy is usually recommended as the most effective treatment. In addition, medications such as antipsychotics and antidepressants address the biological side

Max Halberstadt/Public Domain

Sigmund Freud

of mental health in ways that “talk” therapy cannot. Limiting our understanding of psychology to Freud and neo-Freudians needlessly misinforms us about the mind and the field of psychology.

While psychologists today frequently disagree, there is some consensus among them. Schemas, which are categories that the mind sorts information into, are among some of the universally accepted ideas in psychology that are nonFreudian. While some of his ideas such as the rationalization of actions have been accepted, Freud’s work as a whole is not as well regarded. To inform students that Freud’s work (and the work of neo-Freudians) is the sum of all psychology is beyond inaccurate; it’s dishonest and shameful. Such a notion should have no home at JCHS - David Conneran (’11)

Life, The Universe and Everything/Talia Beck

Newsbite Joint JCHS/Kehillah Dance Planned: Knesset Executive for Student Life Micah Fenner (‘12) announced that he is organizing a dance with Kehillah Jewish High School to occur sometime within the coming months. The dance would occur at a location somewhere geographically in between JCHS and Kehillah. Plans are tentative, as a location still needs to be found and final details need to be ironed out with Kehillah. Students have expressed interest in having a joint dance. Fenner intends to keep the student body informed as plans progress. For more info: mfenner@jchsofthebay.org

Discipline Continued from A1 example for other students and create a really safe, nurturing environment, one without bullying or cheating.” Of course students have a lot to say about how they think the school should operate, but so do the parents. One mother of a JCHS student said, “From a parent’s perspective, we are extremely pleased with the way we see the school handling disciplinary issues. It appears that much thought and consideration for both sides is taken into account. That judgment is rooted in ethics and great values.” Many parents had positive comments about how the school handles these situations. A lot of students were apprehensive to talk about the issue, not just due to its sensitive nature, but because they themselves may have had to go through these tough conversations with the administration. One student said, “I have gotten in trouble at JCHS before, but because it was just me, and not a group, the punishment was done in silence, which I really appreciated.” She was obviously pleased with how her situation was dealt with, but went on to say, “when groups of kids do get in trouble, it is so public and... emails and letters embarrass not only the students that did wrong, but also the victims of their wrongdoings.” A student who has gone through the school’s discipline process first

hand, as part of a larger group, senior Brody Paul, says that “emails… just cause additional drama and problems as well as inviting parents and the rest of the community to be part of an incident that should not be public.” In the past, Head of School Rabbi Ruben has often stressed the importance of making the necessary healing that follows acts of behavior resulting in discipline, an essential communal process. Sophomore Ari Goldberg-Safir echoed complaints of other students when he said that his impression was that the school has been “generally harsh” when it came to disciplining

Hell Part 1:

Take a few ‘JCHS strolls’ around the school and chances are you’ll hear juniors complaining about how their lives are filled with work. This may be true, but few students seem to understand that junior year is not to be as feared as senior year. Not even close. Senior Noah Goldstein expressed

lege applications are so squeezed in between JCHS-required work that it is hard to believe that teachers understand what the students are going through. Perhaps the scariest part of the senior equation is that the year isn’t even half complete – and it won’t be getting any easier. Ariel Platt, the thoughts of Ami Wulf who graduated from JCHS in 2008, many in his grade when he stated that claims that second semester senior Dispatches senior year “was year is even harder than first semesFrom Senior the equivalent of ter because of “the combination of Senior Thesis and Keystone.” Platt’s junior year with Year views aren’t far-fetched; in the 2009 academics but on top of that we have college apps and Keystone.” Because yearbook, one “You know you go to JCHS when…” was “The hardest incoming seniors think they’ll be able part of your academic career is second to relax during the year, it comes as semester senior year.” a great shock to find their expectaIn this author’s opinion, the tions shattered. Even senior Sophia Illustration by The Observer most surprising thing is the lack of Wilkof, who was warned as a junior of an insurrection in his grade. Maybe students. “But without having full the academic rigor to come, said that the class of 2011 feels so close to “I had no idea it was going to be this information I cannot say,” he said. “I graduation that we don’t see any point don’t know the full story on any of the tough!” The ever eloquent Martin in complaining, or maybe somewhere disciplinary actions JCHS has taken, “Baj” Stillman said that Keystone deep-down we recognize that the so I cannot give you a fair quote.” and Senior Thesis, when placed on extraordinary amount of work we Goldberg-Safir then qualified his top of college applications and an are assigned may help us deal with statement further, possibly getting at enormous amount of class work, was whatever college may throw at us, one of the hardest things for students “so un-dude,” and pointed out the a fact wholeheartedly supported by to do when it comes to evaluating abnormality of JCHS’ large number of Platt. The best we can do for now is graduation requirements. how the school handles behavioral isto warn younger students of what’s to The grievances of the eversues: separating their own day-to-day come, and to prepare ourselves for the forays into what they see as unfair complaining class of 2011 shouldn’t semester from Hell, part II. discipline, with the underlying issues be taken lightly. As Wilkof points out, at stake when the school administra- “there’s no regard for the fact that we This is not a news article. This is tion is compelled to take serious ac- have to plan our futures right now.” purely an opinion piece reflecting the tion. “I was kicked out of Talmud In many ways, Wilkof, a high-ranking opinions of the writer. today, so I’m pretty biased,” he said. member of Knesset, is correct. Col-

the observer “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Martin Luther King Jr.

World

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato

Wednesday, January 12, 2010

WikiLeaks Raises Questions of Free Speech in the Digital Age By Jake Rosenberg

If you’ve been listening to the world lately, you have probably heard the term WikiLeaks or the name Julian Assange. What is it? Who is he? Why is everybody so concerned? Julian Paul Assange is an Australian hacker and web activist. He had hacked into numerous institutions at a very young age and in 1992 was taken to court for unlawfully obtaining information from organizations as high up as a group in the Pentagon. He pleaded guilty to 24 charges of hacking and was released for good behavior. In 2006, he founded a website called WikiLeaks.org. WikiLeaks is classified as a whistleblower website. Wikileaks states its “primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behaviour in their governments and corporations.” People with official documents containing secretive information release or “leak” these documents by sending them to the website. The website then publishes these documents on its homepage or forwards them on to a news source, all the while keeping secret the identity of the person who gave them the documents in the first place. The U.S. government and many other governments around the world have laws that can punish the release of classified government documents with jail sentences, but because the people at WikiLeaks are not the ones that are releasing the documents, merely publishing them, they are not legally liable. WikiLeaks has had a short but drama-filled list of leaks in the past, including manuals for operating at the U.S. Guantanomo Bay detention facility, documents pertaining to illegal activities of a Swiss bank in the Cayman Islands, and information from Sarah Palin’s personal Yahoo account. What has lead to the recent surge of publicity for Wikileaks is the release of the U.S. government diplomatic cables. These cables are communications between 247 U.S. embassies around the world and the CIA. WikiLeaks released these documents to five major international newspapers, including The New York Times and The Guardian. All of these documents can be read on their respective websites. These cables, written in the period between December 28, 1966 to February 28, 2010, contain criticism and speculation on various international events and world leaders, actions in the War on Terror and information about intelligence and counter intelligance actions the US has taken. The published cables now num-

Summary WikiLeaks.org has released confidential documents from the United States government. Dfjk Xi\ dle[Xe\ Ylk some have been eye-opening. K_\i\ _Xj Y\\e X [\YXk\ in America over whether Wikileaks’ release of the documents is protected as free speech or whether Assange should be arrested.

ber 220 out of the quarter of a million WikiLeaks says they have. They intended to release them in batches over the course of many months. In response to speculated federal and actual corporate censorship of the CIA cables, the internet terrorist/anarchist group Anonymous showed support of WikiLeaks by attacking and bringing down numerous websites, including the Swiss post office and banking companies, Mastercard and Visa.

Reactions around the world vary greatly. Some consider Julian Assange to be an anarchist who attacks diplomatic relations between countries. Others consider him a hero, likening the release of the CIA cables to that of Daniel Ellsberg’s 1971 release of the Pentagon Papers. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “let’s be clear: This disclosure is not just an attack on America’s foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity. Now, I’m aware that some may mistakenly applaud those responsible, so I want to set the record straight. There is nothing laudable about endangering innocent people, and there is nothing brave about sabotaging the peaceful relations between nations.” After the release of these documents, the CIA created a Wikileaks Task Force, or W.T.F. No matter how one feels about the whole matter, the W.T.F is sure to be a problem for WikiLeaks.

China’s Renminbi Manipulating the World

White House

Obama mingles with foreign leaders at the G-20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea. Obama met with Chinese Premier Hu Jintao during the economic summit. By Elijah Jatovsky

What would happen if the JCHS lunch program decided to expand to more schools? This could have more of an effect than one might think. To expand to more schools, the program would have to make more food. By making more food the program could make its food cheaper, which would make it more appealing to a greater amount of schools. Other

Bad Weather Conditions Wreak Havoc in El Salvador By Aviva Herr-Welber Over the recent winter break, you probably ate a lot. Whether it was hot chocolate or fish and chips or you name it, someone in our school probably ate it. A big part of spending time with our families often includes enjoying special foods, and it’s something Tikkun we do every year. Yet there are many families who can’t afford to share large, festive meals with those they care about, and might not even know if they’ll be able to eat at all. This is currently the case for many poverty-stricken families in rural El Salvador, and a recent weather crisis in their area has made the condition even more deplorable than before. For these families in remote areas, meals are a far cry from the supermarket luxuries that are the status quo for

The main map shows the location of El Salvador in Central America, and in the world as a whole.

so many of us. The majority of male Salvadoran citizens in rural places are farmers that work almost every day of the year, twelve to fourteen hours a day, to grow the food that their families will eat. Corn and bean farming is the only type of work available in the communities, and a good harvest for one such farmer will yield enough corn and beans to feed his family for that year. In addition, farmers might As the holiday season winds down The Observer brings to you the first have some percentage of their harvest left over which they can then sell “Tikkun” feature. Tikkun features are articles intended to bring attention for two or three hundred dollars, an amount of money that allows for the to the plight of the needy across the world and here at home. The articles purchase of basic necessities. Women in rural El Salvador also work long provide oppurtunities for us to give donations to the organizations helping grueling days, from sunrise to sunset, providing meals and performing all aid those covered in the articles.

Wikipedia

the household tasks that keep their families running, without any electricity or appliances. Even the preparation of a tortilla takes several hours and requires an immense amount of work. This past year, weather conditions turned the lives of poverty-stricken rural Salvadoran families into an even harder struggle. During El Salvador’s rainy season, devastating hurricanes ripped through the country, and several months of terrible drought followed them in September, October and November of this past year. The farmers in the remote communities were suddenly faced with the fact that their entire bean crop and 60 percent Continued on B2

schools’ lunch programs would not want to be put out of business, so they would begin making more food to make their food cheaper as well. What would result would be a mass increase in food production by San Francisco lunch programs, which would create an excess amount of food and could bankrupt some of the lunch programs. This is in essence what the global currency war is. A currency war begins when a country starts a process called Quantitative Easing (QE). QE is the process of a country deciding to print more money, which makes its products seem cheaper. A country will do this as an attempt to stimulate its economy. The reason commodities seem cheaper after QE is because, for example, when you own a $20 bill in America and America prints more money, your $20 bill now seems to be worth less because the bill is now less of the total sum. The reason it only seems to be worth less but in actuality is not, is because the $20 is still worth $20 after QE in the American market. However there are now simply a greater amount of them, which creates the feeling of them being less “rare” and therefore less valuable. JCHS alumnus and current Columbia University MBA graduate student Shmulick Fishman explained that QE has a large psychological effect on a country. “The psychology of [QE] is way more powerful [than the math] because items start to feel cheaper.” So what kind of effect does QE of one country have on a global scale? Earlier this year the United States’ Federal Reserve began printing more money in an attempt to stimulate the economy and decrease unemployment. When America dilutes her currency by making more if it, America’s products, or “commodities,” seem less expensive, which attracts more Continued on B2

The Observer

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Currency Continued from B1

Wikipedia

This chart shows the value of the Chinese Renminibi to the U.S. Dollar from 1982 until 2006. During this time the Chinese economy has grown, while their their currency has been devalued.

China who are artificially lowering their currencies. This process would mean that when China buys $1 billion of U.S. bonds, the U.S. would sell off $1 billion to

“balance” out the situation. This would mean a more even equation of buyers and sellers of the bonds. While countervailing currency intervention would be an aggres-

El Salvador Having seen the devastating effects of the corn and bean crisis in the past of their corn crop had been utterly de- few months, Ms. Gilbert knows that stroyed by the hurricanes and drought. it affects even more than just feeding As a result of what became a virtually the farmers’ families. Even before the nonexistent harvest, farmers were left weather disasters that struck the area, with no way to provide any food for many citizens of El Salvador couldn’t their families. They can’t buy corn get to a hospital when they were sick and beans from other areas because and didn’t have the means to pay for the prices per pound have risen draany kind of medication. For many matically since the hurricanes, and are young people in the rural areas, a high continuing to rise even now. There school education is nothing more than are no paying jobs besides farming a wish; attending school beyond the available in these areas, and the big ninth grade involves a cost of roughly cities of El Salvador are already fifty dollars a month, practically imovercrowded, and have high unempossible for many farming families that ployment rates. Farmers are faced with earned an average of a dollar a day the grim prospect of finding a way for before the hurricanes and droughts. their families to survive until their next If problems such as medical care and harvest in August of 2011. education were significant in years Jennifer Sklar Gilbert, a young past, they now seem insurmountable. woman who grew up in Tiburon, Gilbert says that when she asked California, can give an insider’s look Salvadorans what people could do to at the situation as it continues to dehelp them, they simply asked her to velop in El Salvador. Ms. Gilbert is “just tell the people over there about the international relations coordinator us. Tell people over there what’s hapfor Fundahmer (Fundacion Hermano pening to us here.” Mercedes Ruiz), a Salvadoran-run But how can we help people in the nonprofit organization that works middle of a crisis in a place that seems against poverty in these rural comso removed from our world? JCHS munities through the creation of sister could become a sister community to communities, programs in educaa Salvadoran High School and help tion and development, scholarship more young people get educated. opportunities for Salvadoran youth, Maybe, too, the accounts of ternutrition programs, and education for rible poverty in El Salvador can be a youth groups to help citizens better reminder of something else: there are understand their rights. During the people much closer to home, people in corn and bean crisis, Fundahmer has the Bay Area, that face the question been providing corn and beans to of how they will feed their families needy families in exchange for hours every day. Two weeks ago, I didn’t of work on beneficial projects for know anything about what was going their communities. Gilbert has been on in El Salvador. Even though living in El Salvador and working for I’ve been hearing it my whole life, I Fundahmer for the past year, and will finally see how true it is: my own full continue to do so in the coming year. refrigerator is far from something to be She says that working in over 30 very taken for granted. poor communities in remote regions of the country has helped her to see Address a check to RISES, life from a new perspective. She also putting FUNDAHMER in the comments that “the people in the com- subject line. munities feel like my family members. Send the check to: They are so warm, loving, and take RISES/P.O. Box 327 me in so enthusiastically.” Allen Park, Michigan 48101

Continued from B1

sive method in ending the currency war, more diplomatic solutions have been raised. There was the Plaza Accord, where in the 1980s world economic leaders

- It’s a Beautiful Life -

Exploring More Than Coral Reefs & Engineering Marvels: Finding Meaning in Panama By Ariel Applbaum Whilst in Panama and Colombia over winter break, I experienced many spectacular things. I snorkeled in the great Panamanian reefs, seeing fish and coral the likes of which usually only make appearances on the silver screen. I rode in an eight-seat motor boat in the dead of night, no lights even to guide the boat captain, feeling very much like a Navy Seal on a top secret mission. I visited the Panama Canal, which is considered to be one of the seven Wonders of the Modern World—and with good reason: connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans with man-made rivers made to rise and fall in order to get huge cargo ships out of one ocean into the other. In Colombia I visited Cartagena, a beautiful colonial walled city and fortress which was named a Unesco World Heritage site. One might expect that these or similar experiences I had on my trip to have been the best part of my vacation. The best part of my trip, in fact, was getting bitten by sand flies. This is not because I’m a masochist, but rather because at the same time that I was being bitten, so was my

father (no I am not a sadist either). The reason this proved to be the best part of my trip is because my father (pictured below) and I decided to walk back towards our boat together, leaving my older brother, sister and mother to examine the starfish on Star Beach. This gave us the opportunity to have a long, heartfelt, and inspirational talk that our busy, workfilled, non-vacation days just wouldn’t permit. We talked about life in general and assessed aspects of my life from both his and my perspectives. We talked about my academic life, spiritual life, and goals. This allowed my father to give me his thoughts and advice on how to better myself. I will never forget the warmth, connection, and inspiration I experienced. This is my own personal, recent example of finding inspiration in unexpected places. The thought I want to leave you with is this: value every opportunity, be open to new experiences even when they are not the ones you anticipated, and always look on the bright side of a situation -- even if you are getting your tuchus bitten.

Applbaum Family/Courtesy

buyers to American products. This makes other countries worried that less of their exports will be bought so they start applying QE to their currencies. Mr. Fishman explained that when other major world economies see the U.S. implementing QE, “things feel differently to them and that’s what creates this slippery slope where [when] we do quantitative easing, they want to do more quantitative easing.” This situation is what a “currency war” is. Countries have tried to establish a precedent so other countries won’t harm their economies by lowering prices through QE. The International Monetary Fund was established in 1945 specifically to ensure that currency wars did not happen. China has not been following the rules. China has been buying U.S. bonds, bank notes from the U.S. Government promising that China will receive a set amount U.S. dollars at a later date, in massive quantities. A Financial Times article reported that China has been buying the equivalent of $1 billion a day worth of bonds for the past five years. When China does this they attach their currency (the Renminbi) to the dollar, meaning their currency depreciates along with that of the United States. Doing this creates their own sort of QE for their currency. The more bonds they buy, the less each bond is worth. Therefore, when it comes time to collect on their bonds, they’ll receive a dollar that is worth less and less. This ensures that the Renminbi is consistently devalued, even as the Chinese economy is booming (something that would normally make a currency gain value). Economists have estimated that the Renminbi is 20 percent lower than it should be. There is a debate among economists as to whether a currency war has a negative effect, or any effect at all, on the world economy. Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman argues that unless countries begin buying each other’s long-term assets, “a situation with countries buying large amounts of each other’s currency to lower their own, would be harmless but also pointless.” Mr. Fishman believes that mass dilution leads to bankruptcy. “If you keep doing it, what happens is that you start bankrupting yourself and… on a world stage you can start just bankrupting everyone because if everybody’s buying each other’s paper then the paper’s backed by less and less valuable economies because they’re so diluted. You’ve really created a lot of… public sector debt.” A method called countervailing currency intervention has been recommended by some economists to counterbalance countries like

sat around with wine and cigars and solved currency issues. While recent meetings like the G-20, a summit of leaders from the world’s largest economic powers, have been unproductive, some recommend that the powers take a lesson from the Accord and end the currency war over wine and cigars. Mr. Fishman believed that, “to be quite frank the only solution is to stop spending as much as we do – just stop printing more dollars.” So what does all this mean? Well, next time you are standing impatiently in the lunch line, think of how the spread of the lunch program to more schools and the lowering of its prices could kick off a mass San Francisco lunch programs’ dilution of food cost, which could bankrupt everyone. Hopefully that will be enough to chew on before you reach the front of the line.

The Observer

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Letters

The Observer

RE: “Boise’s WAC” December, 9, 2010

est. April 2010 Jewish Community High School of the Bay Executive Editors

Staff Writers

Contributing Writers

Arno Rosenfeld (’12) Elijah Jatovsky (’12)

Evan Fenner (’13) Micah Fenner (’12) Aviva Herr-Welber (’12) Jake Rosenberg (’14) Sophie Navarro (’12) Alex Preneta (’12) Shai Tabb (’13) Talia Beck (‘12)

David Conneran (’11) Sam Seder (’12) Ami Wulf (’11) Avrumy Reissberg (’11)

Maura Feingold printing Karie Rubin faculty adviser Maddy Zacks copy editor

Photography Daniella Kesel (’13) Shai Tabb (’13) Evan Fenner (’13)

Obama Has Abandoned “Principles” O

nce Obama’s presidency began, he quickly started getting attacked by conservatives. Never did Obama come out and defend what he was doing. The economy was getting better, taxes were getting lowered, the War in Iraq was winding down , and yet Obama’s approval ratings were taking a nosedive. Barack Obama, the practiced orator who had captivated America with his speeches during his campaign, was unable to communicate what he was doing to help the country. During the healthcare debate, Obama was incapable of explaining that Public Option was not socialism and that the government was not taking over anyone’s healthcare. Before Fox News and the conservatives got hold of the argument, over 60% of Americans favored the Public Option. Obama sat idly by while the conservatives convinced America that the government was “shoving healthcare down our throats,” and the Public Option died. Then came the midterm elections. Shock of all shocks, after Obama spent two years allowing the Democrats to be painted out as unAmerican socialists, they got destroyed at the polls. Or, as Obama wanted to describe it, they got “shellacked.” Instead of taking the election as a chance to reaffirm that his administration was rooted in liberal values, he capitulated. He waved the white flag of surrender. He threw true liberals under the proverbial bus. What on earth possessed him to use the word “shellacked,” eludes me. “Destroyed,” “wiped out,” “decimated,” any of these would be acceptable terms for what happened. What happened was the complete and utter destruction of years of work and millions of dollars spent electing Democrats all across the country. The exact system that had allowed him to be elected, had been obliterated, and all he could muster was that the Democrats certainly had been... shellacked? Then came the tax cuts. Early in Bush’s presidency, Bush and his cronies decided it would be a good idea to give tax cuts to the “American people” (25 percent of these tax cuts went

“[T]hank you, Obama, for explaining to me... why you won’t stand on your principles.”

Despite their loss, Boise State is a team that deserves respect and should be taken seriously. In the past three years, they have played seven ranked teams, winning five of those games. They only played at home in two of those games, playing at home is a serious advantage in college football. They would be playing more ranked teams if not for the fact that other teams are afraid to schedule them. In the past three years, Boise’s gone 37-2, but never made it to a national championship. This is because they play weak teams in their Western Athletic Conference. They are moving to the Mountain West conference to prove that they can win in a more challenging conference. When they announced their plans to move, some current Mountain West teams fled for greener pastures. I am not saying Boise deserves a national championship, but they deserve the chance to qualify for one. As long as BCS conference teams continue to run and hide instead of facing Boise State, Boise deserves my sympathy. - Ben Feiner (’12)

The Apathy Must Stop JCHS students seem largely apathetic and uninformed about politics, whether the issue is the midterm elections or the attempts by the US to prosecute Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks. What people don’t seem to realize is that these issues actually matter. When there’s a debate over taxes, that’s something that will directly affect your family and you. When the moral integrity of our country is compromised by forcing gay people to choose between lying or getting booted out of the military, it makes you look bad as an American citizen. By ignoring politics and the news in general, JCHS students set a precedent for themselves that will lead to either not voting or voting without a full understanding of the issues. If people really want to ignore what little change they can make in the world and waste their votes and their voice, they shouldn’t live in a democracy. - David Conneran (‘11) Letter policy: The Observer welcomes letters from all readers. Letters should be emailed to Observer. JCHS@gmail.com. Anonymous, libelous, and inappropriate letters will not be published.

Advertising: For information on advertising in The Observer, please email Observer.JCHS@gmail.com, subject line: Advertising. The Observer welcomes ads of interest to JCHS students that fit our decency standards. Rates vary. White House

to the wealthiest Americans). Due to some technicalities they had to allow the tax cuts to expire in 2010. During his campaign, Obama assured voters that he would continue the tax cuts for everyone making less than $200,000, but he wouldn’t allow the tax cuts for people making above that number to expire. Only two percent of the country makes over $200,000 a year, so Obama was promising that 98 percent of the country would get to keep their tax breaks. He knew that if he allowed the top two percent to keep their tax breaks, the country would have to go into $750 trillion of debt over the next few decades. The Republicans, though, had different plans. The tax cuts were set to expire on December 31, 2010, at midnight. Obama and the Democrats were ready to renew the tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans. If they pushed hard enough, it would have been a close vote, but they probably could have squeezed their plan through. They certainly could have tried. Now, at the same time this was all going on, there was a lot of other legislation that Congress had to deal with. Most importantly, extending unemployment checks for the millions of unemployed Americans. However, the Republicans decided that ensuring the richest two percent of the country got their tax breaks was their main priority and they announced that they were going to block everything, including unemployment, from going through Congress, until the rich got their tax cuts extended. You would think that Obama could have gone on television and told everyone what the Republicans were doing: they were prioritizing the richest Americans above the Americans who had gotten laid off during the Recession. That what they were doing went against any moral and just standard of right and wrong. But no. What did Obama do? He agreed to extend all the tax cuts, even those for the richest Americans. But Obama did go on television and get angry. With a much harsher tone than he had ever been able to use toward Republcans, he told liberal Democrats that opposed extending tax cuts for the rich that: principles are great, but practically speaking, they’re rather useless. Because after all, he so nicely explained to the liberals of America, you can stand on your principles all day long, but that’s where you’ll be left: standing on your principles, and you won’t get anything done. So thank you, President Obama, for explaining, to me, and all those “principled liberals” who carried you into office, why you refuse to stand on your principles. - Arno Rosenfeld, Co-editor-in-Chief

“He waved the white flag of surrender. He threw true liberals under the proverbial bus.”

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run newspaper, intended to cover topics from the perspective of students, and that are of interest to students. Thoughts and opinions expressed in The Observer are not necessarily those of the Jewish Community High School of the Bay. The Observer runs stories and covers topics of its choosing. Reporters and photographers are not given instructions by the school prior to writing or photographing. However, the final published product has undergone prior review by members of the professional community of JCHS operating under the instructions of the administration. While The Observer puts a very high value on the integrity of what they publish, stories you read may have been altered or censored to meet the standards required by the JCHS administration in order to allow publication of the paper. When deciding whether to publish altered or censored stories, The Observer weighs the impact of the alteration or censorship against the overall value of the story. If it is deemed that the alterations and/ or censorship does not diminish the story to such an extent that it is no longer of substantial value to the student body of JCHS, those alterations will be accepted.