Issue 3, 10/18/19

Page 1

Friday October 18th, 2019

The Campanile

Vol. CI, No. 1

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301 NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

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Palo Alto High School, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Palo Alto woman comes forward with Weinstein allegations Local mother Rowena Chiu alleges that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel 21 years ago By Kris Risano & Jace Purcell Staff Writers

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Palo Alto resident and former assistant of Harvey Weinstein Rowena Chiu has accused him of attempted rape that allegedly occurred 21 years ago. Chiu wrote about her experiences in an op-ed published by the New York Times on Oct. 5 and said the alleged assault took place at a hotel where both she and Weinstein were staying. She is also featured in the book “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement” by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.

“Multiple senior individuals acted to shut us down. Some outright laughed in our faces." Rowena Chiu

Weinstein, a former film producer, has been accused by over 80 women of sexual abuse. Chiu wrote in The New York Times that her nightmare started when she was asked to see Weinstein in his hotel room late one night to go over scripts they were working on for Miramax Films, a

company once owned by Weinstein and his brother Bob. Chiu was 24, and this was one of her first jobs in the film industry, a longtime dream of hers. After the incident, Chiu said she reported it to Weinstein’s superiors looking for support. To her surprise, they discouraged further action and pressured her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. “Originally we were adamant about not signing the NDA, and that we would expose Harvey to his seniors at Disney or that we would involve law enforcement,” Chiu said in an interview with The Campanile. “But it was clear no one would believe us. Most people that we spoke too said no one would believe us; in fact some of them even laughed at us.” According to Chiu, at this point the only option was to erase the incident from her memory. “We were told to treat that period of our lives as a black hole and never speak of it again,” Chiu said. Chiu said she was terrified for decades about coming out with her story. In an interview on The Today Show, she said the three main reasons she waited so long to tell her story were her children, the legal repercussions that could come as a result of a non-disclosure agreement she signed with Weinstein’s attorneys, and the personal ramifications. “It is not a story that is easy to tell,” Chiu told The Campanile. “Most times in the last couple of

years, I’ve been adamant about not coming forward because my kids are still very young. I really think that the personal cost is too high. In many sexual assault cases, the victim has already paid a huge price, and then, if you go on to sign an egregious non-disclosure agreement as we did, there is the sense of a double violation.”

“The message was always the same: Who would ever believe us over the most powerful man in Hollywood?" Rowena Chiu

Chiu said these fears were realized when a journalist showed up in her driveway and approached her spouse. “When your husband is cleaning out the car and a journalist from New York Times appears on your driveway, it is reasonable to fear the invasion of privacy that will come,” Chiu said. In 2018, as Chiu started hearing reports about other victims of sexual misconduct such as Palo Alto resident Christine Blasey Ford, she said she found comfort in talking with other survivors before she was ready to tell her story. She even met Blasey Ford at a Los Angeles event for women who

Rowena Chiu I A3

KAITLYN LEE/THE CAMPANILE

College fair attracts students and parents Advisory committee to Representatives from universities all over the world inform people about their school draft new curriculum By Kai Vetteth

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TIEN NGUYEN/THE CAMPANILE

PAUSD held a college fair on Tuesday night, Oct. 15th, offering a platform for students to communicate with college representatives. A student is stopping by one of the many college representative tables. Over 50 universities attended to inform Palo Alto students about their

By Tien Nguyen & Paige Knoblock

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Art & Photo Director & Multimedia Editor

aly held the annual College Fair in the Peery Center on Oct. 14, which showcased an array of colleges from all over the world.

“We’re just here to share our experiences with perspective students so I think that’s a key thing that pulls students to a school, that personal connection.” Caroline Wheeler

One of the booths at the fair was Carleton College, where two alumna came to speak about their

INSIDE the edition

News. . . . . . . . . . . A1-A4 Opinion. . . . . . . . . A5-A7 Editorials. . . . . . . . . . . A8 Lifestyle. . . . . . . . . B1-B4 Sports. . . . . . . . C1-C3, C6 Sports Spread. . . . . C4-C5 Science & Tech. . . C7-C8

personal experiences at the school in hopes of helping students get a more personal sense of what the school has to offer. Caroline Wheeler graduated from Carlton in 2018 and was interested in coming to meet prospective students at Paly. “For us in particular, we don’t work for the school, we’re alumni,” Wheeler said. “We’re just volunteering, (and) we’re just here to share our experiences with perspective students, so I think that’s a key thing that pulls students to a school: that personal connection.” The fair showcased a multitude of pathways, including recruiters from the Armed Forces and The U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard attended the fair to show students different pathways after college and the different ways students can pay for college through the Minuteman scholarship and the ROTC program. Richard Chapman, commander of South Bay recruiting, was one representative hoping to inform juniors and the seniors on

alternative career paths and ways to pay for college. “I’m not actually the recruiter (for Paly), but I have a good visibility of the entire country when it comes to this,”Chapman said. “I’m in the San Francisco Bay, (and)we have seen a 10% increase in people interested. And in fact, we actually have to turn away nearly 70% of people because they don’t qualify.”

“In fact, we actually have to turn away nearly 70% of people because they don't qualify.” Richard Chapman

Both Peery Center gyms were filled with students from Paly and Gunn. Paly junior Dani Colman said she went to the fair to find out more about colleges and universities. “It’s really finding out

Opinion

Affirmative action should be based on socioeconomic status. PAGE A6

College Fair

PIXABAY

Minecraft

How Minecraft shaped an entire generation, then disappeared. PAGE B4

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newly formed Advisory Steering Committee, consisting of both teachers and students, will investigate blending the successful aspects of current advisory curriculum, such as close teacher-student relationships, with new ideas like socialemotional learning. Assistant Principal and ASC Co-Chair Clarisse Haxton said the committee hopes to expand the advisory curriculum based on student and teacher feedback. The committee intends to make recommendations to Paly administrators by the end of the 2019-20 school year. “We started this work together last year by doing a survey of all students about advisory,” Haxton said. “I did student focus groups with students about their advisory experience.” According to Haxton, the ASC will also examine student and staff feedback from previous years of advisory.

“They think you’ll steal from them. Don't give them your money. Instead, spend it in places where your business is appreciated.” Kristine De Lorimier Dworkin

“This year, the steering committee is a more formal look at data and history, and student voice and staff voice,” Haxton said. “Once we build all that foundational knowledge, then we'll use all of that to make recommendations about changes to advisory moving forward.” Haxton said the ASC also plans to incorporate the opinions of teachers who are currently serving as teacher advisors. “This work is really just start-

Sports

Lifestyle

UGA CAES/EXTENSION/CC BY-NC 2.0

Affirmative Action

more but also just like learning about because there’s a lot of these schools here, most of the schools here, I didn’t even know existed,” Coleman said. “So I’d say that pretty much just finding out more.” The fair attracted many colleges and universities, both nationally and internationally, with schools from Canada, England and Japan. Representatives from Waseda University in Tokyo hope to get more students from the U.S., as their university is quickly growing in popularity among those in Japan and internationally. Dr. Yoichi Aizawa, who came to represent Waseda University in Japan, said that the school is interested in having more students internationally. “We’d like to welcome more international students to Waseda University… we have an Englishbased program we started 10 years ago,” Aizawa said. Some students deem it nec-

Online Editor

PHOTO BY CHOOYUTSHING/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Cupping

The ancient Chinese practice that athletes use to recover faster. PAGE C6

ing, and then we have scheduled to share it with the teacher advisors as a whole at different points along the way, basically, to keep them updated with the work,” Haxton said. “Then, we'll build them how to get their feedback as we move more towards the recommendation status.” According to Haxton, the committee plans to work with related groups, such as Sources of Strength and the Paly Wellness Committee, to better address issues of mental health and socialemotional learning within advisory curriculum.

“We have an Ace Hardware that handles it a little differently. They actually cater to the kids needs with a lunch counter and carry stuff that kids want.” Jeff Phillips

“Given that (social-emotional learning) is a priority for our schools, (we’re thinking about) how we (can) best incorporate it to advisory,” Haxton said. Senior Leo Marburg said that while some parts of the advisory curriculum, such as the lessons for seniors regarding college applications, are helpful, there is lots of room for improvement. “I'm generally happy with the advisory curriculum,” Marburg said. “I think it would be improved by having more activities that engaged with students, as right now, advisory only consists of presentations and I see many students zone out or play video games.” Marburg said he would support efforts to further integrate social-emotional learning into the curriculum. “In previous years I know people have made fun of content

Advisory Committee

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Science & Tech

SOUHA NAHRI/CC-BY-NC 4.0

Corporal Punishment

How physical discipline affects children psychologically. PAGE C7


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