The Campanile Issue 7- March 7, 2014 by The Campanile

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

PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44

The Campanile

Vol. XCVI, No. 7

Palo Alto High School • 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 • www.palycampanile.org

Friday, March 7, 2014

Superintendent Skelly announces June resignation after serving for seven years Board of Education begins search for a new superintendent as Skelly prepares to leave

Student alters school transcript Administration takes preventative action to avoid future incidents By Will Snodgrass

Hillel Zand/The Campanile

Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Superintendent Kevin Skelly announced his resignation, which will take place after the 2013-14 school year ends. Skelly has served for seven years, but is looking for more personal and family time during his retirement. See SKELLY, A3

New California test replaces STAR testing Smarter Balance Test parallels Common Core State Standards By Lauren Gargiulo

Staff Writer

n Oct. 2, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill ending the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) tests that have been administered to students in California for many years. The assembly Bill 484 passed and will replace the STAR test with the Smarter Balanced Assessments, which will test to the newly-implemented Common Core State Standards. The Smarter Balanced Assessments were formed in order to meet the U.S. Department of Education’s standards, the Common Core was developed in 2010 and implemented this year. The Common Core “provides a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn...designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers,” according to Common Core State Standards. Juniors will take the Smarter Balanced Assessments this year on March 18 and 19. The major difference between the old STAR tests and the Smarter Balanced Assessments is that the Smarter Balanced Assessments “will use computer adaptive testing technologies,” meaning that instead of using pencil and paper, students will type their answers. Another aspect of the Smarter Balanced Assessments are its results. “The interesting thing about this test is that we are never going to see the results of the test — they are testing questions essentially,” Principal

See TESTING, A3

College Board implements major changes to SAT I testing Revised SAT diagnostic test debuts in spring of 2016; new scoring system, optional essay, 1600-point scoring system By Stephenie Zhang

Editor-in-Chief

he College Board announced that it will implement major changes to the structure and execution of the SAT Reasoning Test at the start of spring in 2016. Changes to the test are, most notably, the new scoring scale, the now optional essay, the removal of the guessing penalty and the replacement of esoteric words to those common in college courses.

David Coleman, president of the non-profit College Board since 2012, released the changes on March 5 in a speech given in Austin, Texas. He hopes that the revised version of the test will align more with the work that students are doing in high school and will do in college. “We hope [students] breathe a sigh of relief that this exam will be focused, useful, open, clear and aligned with the work [they] will do throughout high school,” Coleman said.

The SAT will return to its previous 1600 scale, with three sections: two mandatory and one optional. The two mandatory sections are the reading and writing section as well as the math section. The optional section is the essay. The math and the reading and writing sections will retain a maximum score of 800, and the essay score will be separate. Currently for the essay, students write about a given topic, using

See SAT, A3

Staff Writer

Palo Alto High School student gained access to school transcripts and altered certain grades, according to Principal Kim Diorio. Diorio recently notified the Paly community that the student used a staff member’s password to make changes to a transcript on Infinite Campus. “The system was not violated or hacked,” Diorio said. “It was not a brute force attack.” The administration was alerted in mid-January when an unidentified college notified Paly that it had two nonidentical transcripts for the student. Diorio said that the student received severe consequences and the proper educational institutions were notified, but withheld certain details regarding the severity of the punishment. It is undisclosed whether any criminal charges have been filed, but Diorio confirmed that the school has been in contact with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office and the crime in question is a felony offense. At this point, there is no evidence that any other students were involved. Diorio said that Paly will take precautions to prevent an incident of this nature from occurring in the future. The Paly administration will begin to keep a closer eye on student transcripts, with Diorio adding that the administration will review its transcript log every two weeks to prevent unintended changes. “We’re constantly checking and double checking,” Diorio said. “We’re pretty confident that the system is good.” Additionally, two information technology security experts from the Palo Alto Unified School District offices will visit Paly to speak with teachers and make sure that teachers are careful in maintaining secure possession of their cyber information. “They’ll talk about passwords and make sure that students aren’t using [their] school computer,” Diorio said.

New staff to fill positions for second semester Health technician and campus supervisor hired to replace retired staff members; new library assistant hired to increase staffing for daily student support in the library By Jensen Hsiao

Editor-in-Chief

s of this semester, Palo Alto High School’s staff has three new members: a new health technician, campus supervisor and library assistant. Both the health technician, Jennifer Kleckner, and campus supervisor, Chase Hartmann, have come from Jordan Middle School to fill newly vacated positions at Paly. “I’m just shuttling between Jordan and Paly until they have someone settled in at Jordan,” Kleckner said. “I’m [at Paly] early in the morning and late in the afternoon and at Jordan in the middle of the day for the moment. But we should have someone over there shortly; then I’ll be here full time.” The health technician that Paly hired at the beginning of the year re-

Jeffrey Ho/The Campanile

From left: Health technician Jennifer Kleckner works part time both at Jordan Middle School and Paly; library assistant Katie Hom works to assist the current librarians in many tasks during the day. signed when she received another job at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, according to Principal Kim Diorio. Kleckner’s move to Paly was in part due to the sudden opening, but also because she wanted to try something

different after working at Jordan for many years. “This is an opportunity for me to work with a high school population, which is a little different for me, and do something a little bit different,”

SPOTLiGHT

sPORTs March Madness

Kleckner said. “And of course my kids all came through here.” New campus supervisor Hartmann replaced Mary Puorro as Cam-

See FACULTY, A3

INSIDE N e w s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1- A 5 Opinion................................A6-A8 Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . B1, B7, B8 StudentLife................................B2 C o m m u n i t y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B 3 Spotlight ..................................B4-B5 Music......................................................B6 Sports..............................................C1-C7 OlympicsRecap....................................C8

LIFESTYLE School Traditions

Annual traditions are central to many students’ experiences. B2

Shmacking the System

The movement uncovers colleges’ true partying cultures. B4-B5

It’s almost time to get those brackets ready. C4-C5

Check out The Campanile Online Scan the QR code above

Friday, March 7, 2014

NEWS

NEWS TO KNOW

The Campanile

Proposal to expand shuttle program School Board Update

City council proposes to add $1.4 million to program annually

By Catherine Yu

By Ziv Schwartz

Staff Writer

Sports Editor

Flickr/Ivan Bandura

@NBCNews WH: VP Biden called Russian PM Medvedev, urged Russia to pull back forces and begin meaningful dialogue with Ukrainian gov’t.

@FoxNews Supreme Court denies appeal from German family seeking asylum to homeschool kids. @The New York Times North Korean officials expel elderly Australian Evangelist.

@ABC News With an estimated $76 billion, this US billionaire is back atop Forbes’ Top 10.

courtesy of the telegraph

@CBSNews S. African double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius on trial charged with murder for shooting his girlfriend to death. @Chicago Tribune Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill which would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays. @WSJ A stabbing attack at a train station in southwestern China left 29 people dead and 130 injured. @WashingtonPost U.S. cancels delegation to Paralympic games in Russia.

Courtesy of caroline Granycome

his past month, the Palo Alto City Council set up a proposal to expand the current city’s public transportation in hopes of relieving traffic throughout the city and freeing up parking downtown and around the city. The current proposal aims to expand Palo Alto’s small shuttle program, consisting of only two buses, by an estimated $1.4 million annually. Currently, the city has only the Crosstown Shuttle, which runs from downtown to East Charleston Road every hour. Under the proposal, this route will triple its service, with shuttles running every 20 minutes. City officials hope to add routes that would run along University Avenue and connect South Palo Alto to the Stanford Shopping Center, passing by California Avenue and Town and Country Village. Palo Alto High School students have mixed views about the proposal; some are highly in favor of spending the money on increased public transportation, while others believe that the money should not be wasted on a service that is not used that regularly. “I think transportation is a vital part of the functionality of a city, so it’s a worthy investment,” senior Edward Mei said. “However, with a shuttle system already in place, [the

Conner harden/the campanile

The Palo Alto shuttle program will triple its service and add new routes around the city.

city] could have used those funds elsewhere.” Junior Noah Hashmi voiced similar views as he is also in favor of spending the money on other outlets besides transportation. “I think that Palo Alto’s transportation services are already sufficient and effective given the number and frequency of shuttles that drive people around the city, and I don’t see a need necessarily for a million dollars to be allocated to these services,” Hashmi said. “This is especially true since two of our major libraries are undergoing painfully slow construction and the money should go instead to expediting this process to benefit Palo Alto’s residents.” On the other hand, senior Rajiv Vasudevan believes that the shuttle

service is heavily unused and therefore no money should be allocated to expand the program. “No one really uses the shuttles- at least I do not,” Vasudevan said. “Palo Alto is too small to have increased [public] transportation. Ride a bike. Walk. I think the money should go to other, more important outlets.” The proposal is also considering adding a shuttle that would connect to Bart at stations like Fremont or Millbrae, a way to make travel up to San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley much easier. There is no doubt that we have all been caught up in some traffic clog somewhere in the Bay Area and hopefully with an increase in public transportation, the frustration that results from traffic can be avoided.

Facebook acquires worldwide messaging app, WhatsApp For $19 million, Facebook purchased WhatsApp, an app with 450 million users worldwide By Esther Doerr

Staff Writer

acebook recently acquired the worldwide messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion. This acquisition is the largest for a private, venture-backed company, according to the Wall Street Journal. WhatsApp is a simple messaging application that aims to create real connections between people. Today, the app is used by over 450 million people worldwide. “This acquisition allows Facebook to become a major player in many big markets,” Om Malik, founder of Gigaom and an industry analyst, said. A surprisingly small amount of companies have surpassed 300 million monthly active users, but WhatsApp has already achieved just that. “As WhatsApp grew, [Founders] Jan [Kuom] and Brian [Acton] never lost focus on making it easy to connect with the most important people in your life,” Jim Goetz, a partner at Sequoia Venture and an investor of WhatsApp, said. “For example, that’s why they never adopted ads, which get in the way of communicating.”

The app is not free, but is attractive to many outside of the United States as it is cheaper than text message rates. It does not aim to merge with Short Message Service (SMS), but desires to stay independent, which the company will continue to do within Facebook. “[Facebook is] going to provide help with engineering infrastructure, marketing, recruiting and other things that are really important for WhatsApp,” Michael Buckley, the vice president of Global Communications at Facebook, said. What has people talking, however, is the money. Previous to this procurement, the big news was Google’s acquisition of Nest for $3.3 billion. The gap between $3.3 billion and $19 billion is far and wide and has many people wondering if WhatsApp is worth it. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg believes that, due to the sheer amount of the people that WhatsApp connects and reaches out to, the application is worth even more than $19 billion. In terms of the numbers, WhatsApp was paid $16 billion in cash, but mostly in stocks, and will receive another $3 billion as employee incentives.

Facebook sought to acquire WhatsApp, as it is a complement to Facebook’s current chat service. WhatsApp will not be integrated into Facebook messaging, but will provide more options for Facebook users, and Facebook will help WhatsApp to continue to reach more people. “Our ambition for Facebook is to build a great set of different mobile products that give people a lot of options for sharing and connecting,” Buckley said.

For Facebook, it is a threat of being eclipsed by this new personal network that is a problem. WhatsApp is one of the fastest growing apps in the world and is growing faster than even Facebook. Om Malik Industry Analyst

As Facebook looks to expand, it also has interest in acquiring future messaging giants to prevent more competition.

NEWS BRIEF

By Paul Mewes

By Seth Alston

he administration is planning a student-teacher shadowing program. Organized by school climate teacher on special assignment Eric Bloom, teachers will attend classes like a student and essentially live the life of a student for a day. There also might be a parental component of the Student Shadowing Program, in which parents will be able to shadow a teacher for a day. The objective of the Student Shadowing Program is for teachers to develop empathy for their students and for parents to develop understanding for their children’s teachers. “There are a lot of adults who think they know what teachers do because one thing we all have in common is that we have all gone to school and we’ve all had teachers,” Diorio said. “But, I don’t think people understand how challenging it is to teach until they’ve walked in a teacher’s shoes.” So far 10 teachers have volunteered to shadow students and the administration is hoping for more. The program will begin in March and will continue on into April.

he City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Unified School District are divided over a two decade old non-development agreement as part of their ongoing negotiations to renew the lease for the Cubberley high school site. On February 25 the Palo Alto City Council voted to remove a twenty five year old provision from its lease agreement with PAUSD which requires the City to pay the district in exchange for the district’s agreement not to sell land it owns in Palo Alto for development. Since 1989 the City of Palo Alto has paid $1.8 million to PAUSD annually as part of its agreement with the District, and this “Covenant Not To Develop” is now the main area of debate in the talks for renewing the agreement. In the late 1980s when student enrollment and property taxes where both lower than current levels PAUSD sought a way to increase funding by selling unused school sites to developers. However, the City wished to keep school sites open for later use. The sites of Jordan and JLS middle schools, Ohlone, Garland and Greendell were selected to be off limits to development, and the rights

Staff Writer

to lease 27 acres of the Cubberley campus were given to the city. This arrangement has stood since 1989. However, with all five sites in use, there is no reason for the city to pay for them not to be developed, and the city council made the unanimous decision to remove that provision from the new agreement being negotiated. The city council instead proposed to use the $1.8 million for renovations of the Cubberley site, which was closed as a high school in 1979. The District opposes the City’s decision which would deprive it of income. At the school board’s February 25 meeting the renewal was listed as a “financial uncertainty”. This conflict over the non-development provision is part of larger negotiations regarding the lease of the Cubberley site. For the last 15 years the site has been used as a community center and a site of Foothill College, as well as for athletic facilities. The City and District are now working to find a solution that allows for mixed use of the campus, with some of the 35 acre site being used for community purposes and some used by the district. With the lease set to expire at the end of the year the negotiations are on a tight schedule, but will continue until an agreement can be made.

“For Facebook, it is a threat of being eclipsed by this new personal network that is a problem," Malik said. "WhatsApp is one of the fastest growing apps in the world and is growing faster than even Facebook." This partnership now allows WhatsApp to focus on connecting people, as opposed to creating revenue, which is something that the company has struggled with. When it first appeared in the App Store, WhatsApp was a free application. However, WhatsApp does not host ads, which forced the founders to make it a paid application. Now, WhatsApp users pay an annual fee of 99 cents. Regarding global carriers, WhatsApp poses an opportunity for carriers in some countries to compensate for lost SMS revenues through WhatsApponly data plans. The carriers will gain money by selling data access. As messaging services consolidate, analysts of the industry confront the question of who will control the majority of the messaging traffic in the future. “It is how we saw a lot of people go after search and in the end we ended up with one, aka Google,” Malik said. “We are going to see the same here.”

UPCOMING EVENTs

Administration Cubberley to undergo changes Update Staff Writer

uperintendent Kevin Skelly announced his decision to step down on Feb. 18, which was an issue the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education discussed, among many other matters. Board members began by discussing steps to accommodate Skelly's resignation, and hope to find a replacement before his resignation on June 30. Next, staff presented an overview of their progress with the Energy Conservation Program. Three years ago, PAUSD entered a four-year partnership with Cenergistic, an energy management company, to reduce consumption of gas, water and electricity at PAUSD schools. During the last year of the partnership, PAUSD Board members hope to reduce carbon footprints. The Board also reviewed the 201314 financial reports. They deliberated the approval of a positive certification, guaranteeing that the school district can satisfy its financial responsibilities and obligations until the end of the fiscal year, as well as the next two years. Lastly, the Board discussed candidate choices for the CBSA assembly. The candidates are: Robert Benevento, Frank Biehl, Judy Hannemann, Nancy Newkirk, Pam Parker and Christopher Stampolis. The Board will review and vote on the list March 11 to fill the vacancies in the Santa Clara region.

MAR

CAREER MONTH

MAR

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

MAR

END OF THIRD QUARTER

MAR

ASB ELECTIONS

3-14 7-8 14

24-28 MAR

31-6

We obviously all want life after college.

Because we’re all prejudiced and proud of it.

You’re almost there! One more to go...

After all, school is a democracy.

SPRING BREAK

It’s been too long.

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

NEWS

SAT to change format Format of the SAT is changing to be similar to that of ACT, eliminating sections and penalty for guessing SAT, Continued from A1 evidence ranging from personal experiences to literary references. In addition, the College Board does not penalize for inaccuracy in essays. With the change, the essay — required — since 2005, will be optional. During the 50-minute essay, students will have to use a source document to write an analysis — how the author uses evidence and techniques to make his or her argument — requiring students to utilize a deeper level of thinking and analysis than they had to before.

It is time for an admissions assessment that makes it clear that the road to success is not last-minute tricks or cramming, but the challenging learning students do every day. David Coleman President of the College Board

keri gee/the campanile

Kim Diorio poses in the morning with pizza and coffee, hoping to bond students, parents and faculty together.

Diorio plans pizza, coffee meet-ups with students, parents this spring To increase communication with students, parents and Diorio plan to have more social sitdowns in mornings By Dami Bolarinawa

Senior Staff Writer

rincipal Kim Diorio has come up with a new plan to boost student-faculty while simultaneous boosting parentfaculty relationships. Ms. Diorio plans to connect students, parents and faculty members together. She has started with the connection of students to faculty members and parents by having morning coffees with parents and faculty members. This is to connect with the parents and faculty members on a more casual level. This will be implicated between March-April. To help connect with student life on campus, Diorio is organizing free pizza lunches with students to gain insight into student issues on campus. “I think she should have tried to do this at the beginning of the year, when she was new,” sophomore Tamari Dzotsenidze said. Other students enjoy the idea of free pizza offered during lunch. Some students believe that the pizza lunches will promote aware-

ness of students’ lifestyles both on and off campus. “I’m glad she is trying to get out in the community and educate the students as well as the parents of [palo alto] Paly on this new topic,” freshman Jordan Schilling said. Some students believe that the idea is will enhance student life on campus and help foster the Palo Alto community both on and off school campus. “I think it’s a good idea,” senior Josh Totte says of Diorio’s plans. “It will help to bridge the gap between student and faculty.” “I think it’s very good that Mrs. Diorio is starting to interact with the student body and the parents,” sophomore Albert Han said. “I see it is a great way for her to build a bond with the students, which is essential for her properly run the school, and continue to help fuel the bridge from student to faculty member. If Mrs. Diorio is really serious about this it will change students mindset on the idea that teachers only teach to teach not to really understand the students they come into contact with.”

The College Board will also drop the extra guessing penalty. In the current multiple choice section, the guessing penalty not only deducted a point for every incorrect answer, but also an additional partial point for every question omitted. In addition, the SAT will no longer require students to know abstruse vocabulary words, instead requiring students to learn words they might see in college, like “synthesis.” As of now, the SAT Reasoning Test lasts for three hours and

45 minutes, with the mandatory essay section lasting 25 minutes. With the change, the test will last for three hours, with the essay section an additional 50 minutes, slightly increasing the total testing time to three hours and 50 minutes. Students will also find changes in the structure of not just the test, but also the questions. College Board is changing the section “critical reading” to “evidence-based reading and writing,” increasing analyses of passages outside of literature and removing “sentence completion” questions. Every test will use passages from U.S. founding documents or prominent national texts. The math section will no longer focus on a broad spectrum of applications, instead will hone in on three specific areas: linear equations; complex equations or functions; and ratios, percentages and proportional reasoning. Additionaly, students may only use calculators for certain sections. The new SAT is taking on a format similar to that of the ACT, which currently has an optional essay and no guessing penalty. “It is time for an admissions assessment that makes it clear that the road to success is not last-minute tricks or cramming, but the challenging learning students do every day,” Coleman said. The new format will test students’ critical thinking abilities and academic skills instead of test-taking strategies. “Too many feel that the prevalence of test prep and expensive coaching

reinforced privilege rather than merit,” Coleman said. College Board will also partner with Khan Academy, an online video tutorial website, starting in 2015 to provide students free online tutorials on how to solve questions found in previous tests. The SAT has historically been the most widely used college admission exam. However, in 2012, more students took the ACT than the SAT for the first time. According to FairTest, approximately 1,664,000 students took the SAT while 1,666,000 students took the ACT. The change announced on Wednesday is the second SAT revision of the last decade, with the prior taking place in 2005, which was in large part due to criticism by the University of California system. In the 2005 revision, the writing section was added; with the essay, the analogy portion was removed and the total score was increased from 1600 to 2400.

Too many feel that the prevalence of test prep and expensive coaching reinforced privilege rather than merit. David Coleman President of the College Board

The newest revision was expected to be implemented in 2015, but has now been delayed until 2016. Students will be able to take the test in both print and computer mediums.

Superintendent Kevin Skelly announces resignation Skelly plans to spend time with family and friends By Jack Shapiro Senior Staff Writer

alo Alto Unified School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly announced his intentions resign from his position at the end of this school year in an email on Feb. 18. The resignation will go into effect on June 30 and will bring an end to a nearly seven-year long stint as Superintendent. The main reasons for the decision revolved around giving the School Board ample time to discuss and select a new superintendent, as well as a personal desire to take more personal time in his life. “I want the chance to spend some time dwelling in the possibilities for the next phase in my life,” Skelly said in an email. “There are many people [who] I love [and] want to spend more time [with].” Over the next months, Skelly hopes the board and community will

work together to select a worthy successor to take his place as superintendent. “The district community deserves a chance to have an inclusive, rich discussion about the characteristics they wish to see in their next superintendent,” Skelly said. “That process, combined with the recruiting and selection of someone worthy of the talents and promise of our students, will easily consume the next four months.” The process of choosing a candidate began Feb. 25, as the board discussed selection of a search firm, which would aid in picking Skelly’s successor. This method would mirror how Skelly was chosen and hired seven years ago, according to Board President Barb Mitchell. “In 2007, we hired a search firm [Leadership Associates] to facilitate our superintendent search process,” Mitchell said in an email. “They or-

ganized and solicited community inputs on desired superintendent attributes from students, staff and parents, advertised, recruited applicants, conducted reference checks and coordinated interviews.” According to meeting materials, the Board will discuss whether or not to employ a search firm, and if so, whether or not it will employ Leadership Associates once again or hear proposals from several other search firms as it did in 2007. If the Board chooses to hear from multiple firms, the final presentations will be given on March 11. In 2007, over 650 summary inputs from the community on desired superintendent attributes were gathered for the board by Leadership Associates. Specific outreach plans for this year’s process will be discussed with the selected search firm at a future Board meeting, according to the agenda.

New standardized testing to replace previous STAR tests

New staff hired for second semester

Students and administrators give mixed views to the new standardized testing that will be implemented this month

FACULTY, Continued from A1

TESTING, Continued from A1 Kim Diorio said. “What we are doing right now is kind of testing the test.” Though the new test seems promising, students at Palo Alto High School are upset about having to take the new test this year. Especially since students taking these tests will be second semester juniors who are already thoroughly stressed with the SAT, ACT and AP tests “ Students, including myself, tend to not try as hard on these tests,” ju-

nior Lydia Barry said, “Honestly it would probably be more helpful for students to be sleeping during that time." Recently, there has been some confusion involving the scheduling of the test and the amount of tests being taken. “We sent something home on April 14 that juniors will have to take the CST in English and math, we have since changed our mind,” Diorio said. “[ Juniors] only need to take the test if you are interested in applying to a CSU this year.”

Some students believe that standardized testing is unimportant in genereal and should be stopped. “The state should be looking at our transcripts to see our ability, not a long test that is irrelevant to most students,” Barry said. Despite all dissagreement the Smart Balanced Assignments will be taken on March 18 and 19 and the optional CST for juniors will be taken on April 14. Also, on April 14 sophomores will be taking the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).

-pus Supervisor since she recently retired. “I actually still currently work at Jordan,” Hartmann said. “I’m a Campus Supervisor in the morning and go over to Jordan immediately after. I’m the middle school Athletic Director over at Jordan.” The new Library Assistant, Katie Hom, was called in by Rachel Kellerman who felt she needed extra help in the library. Additional funding from the School Board made this possible. “We have so many extra students, we felt we didn’t have enough to go around, so Katie is definitely helping students, especially in the technology area,” Debbie Henry said. “She is def-

initely helping us in all the different tasks of the day.” Hom, recently graduated from San Jose State University with a Masters in Library and Information Studies. Hom will be assisting Henry and Kellerman with various library necessities. “Most of my role actually is to take over the four o’clock to five o’clock shift at the end of the school days,” Hom said. “Other than that I’m putting up displays and going through our collections to see what needs to be removed or added, so just some support.” With these new additions to campus the Palo Alto High School campus, hopefully things will more smoothly.

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

NEWS

Plan to split up California gains traction

California Secretary of State allows initiative to start collecting signatures for November ballot By Coby Parker

Staff Writer

he California Secretary of State has allowed a plan to split California into six different states to start collecting signatures, making it possible for the initiative to be on the ballot in the November election. The plan, created by Bay Area billionaire Tim Draper, would split America’s most populous state, with 35 million people, and the eighth largest economy in the world into several different states, each occupying the area of several different existing counties. Palo Alto would be a part of the state of Silicon Valley, which would encompass San Francisco to San Jose and the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. The proposed initiative would need 807,000 signatures in order to qualify as a ballot measure in the next election cycle. If Draper were able to get those signatures and the ballot measure passed, U.S. Senate approval would still be necessary prior to the creation of the states and their respective governments. Draper argues that the state of California is too large to be governable and regulation in the state does more harm than good solely because of its size. California is a diverse state, with the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, food production in the Central Valley and the technology industry in the Bay Area. With such

Courtesy of IHATEthemedia.com

California could potentially be split into six states, as shown above. diversity, Draper argues, the ability to ating their own state or being a part keep all needs in mind while creat- of their own state are the poorest ing laws is nearly impossible and the regions, and in the current system, need to do so is not necessary accord- they are not happy, because it is not working for them,” Draper said to ing to the proposed ballot measure. “We are all better off with more Time Magazine. “So if they had their local government; local government own state, I believe all of those states is more efficient, it’s more effective, it would become wealthier.” represents us better,” Draper said at a Local government is more efpress conference in the Bay Area. The plan has created some backficient, it’s more effective, it lash given that it would create both represents us better. the wealthiest per capita state in the union, Silicon Valley, and the poorest, Tim Draper Central California, which would rank Venture Capitalist and Initiative Founder even under the current poorest state in the nation in Mississippi. When confronted with the pos“For one thing, I’ve noticed that sibility that he is only attempting the people most adamant about cre- to better his own situation with the

creation of the state of Silicon Valley, Draper said that he is attempting to better the education and welfare systems for family, along with the entire state of California. The proposal would create six different states out of California, each with their own governors and state legislatures. The potential state borders were created out of existing county lines and can be amended. The states include: Jefferson, which is the northern part of California which is the closest portion to Oregon; North California, which contains Sacramento and all land north of the Bay Area and South of Jefferson; Central California, which would fall on the eastern part of the state and contains much of the Central Valley; South California, which includes San Diego; West California, which includes Los Angeles and its surrounding counties; and Silicon Valley. Peter Scheer, the Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition spoke out against the bill because he says it increases the power of special interests. “Draper’s far-fetched proposal to balkanize the Golden State is not a solution,” Scheer said in the Huffington Post. “The down-sizing and localizing of government tends to give special interests greater power, not less.” The state of California attempted to split into two states in 1859, but this measure failed in Congress due to the Civil War. It is unlikely that this initiative would pass in Congress if it became a ballot measure, but as Draper says, anything is possible.

New business registry to be formed on local jobs By Jonathan Ziegler

Online Editor

n a memo released on Feb. 24, Palo Alto City Council members Marc Berman, Pat Burt, Karen Holman and Larry Klein urged the Council to collect more data on local jobs. The information would be in the form of a business registry, and its main purpose would be to better track the local economy in Palo Alto. The four city council members stated in a memo: “Palo Alto needs a business registry as soon as possible to answer such basic questions as how many people work in Palo Alto and for what types of businesses. We should implement a Registry in 2014.” Palo Alto is “one of the few cities in the region without a business registry or a business license.” The new business registry would consist of an online database to reduce implementation costs, “fees limited to cost recoveries” and low cost questionnaire for small businesses, which would include questions about number of employees, types of business and other sorts data to better understand the market for jobs in Palo Alto. The most important issue that is preventing a business registry from starting right away is finding the right database solutions and getting all business to start inputting their data into the database.

California Avenue renovation plans approved by City Council Palo Alto aims to improve aesthetics, safety of popular local commercial district By Stephanie Cong

Staff Writer

enovations on Palo Alto’s California Avenue have been approved by City Council and are scheduled to begin this month after more than three years of discussion. Although California Avenue may not be as well-known as other commercial districts within Palo Alto, such as University Avenue and Stanford Shopping Center, the area has shown steady income growth and has gained popularity over the past couple of years. According to a report from MunicServices, LLC, California Avenue is the only area that has seen revenue growth every quarter since 2010. The area has also seen a 24 percent increase in cash receipts since 2010. Tommy Fehrenbach, Palo Alto’s economic development manager, told the Palo Alto Weekly that the growth is heavily dependent on the dining scene, as “restaurant activity has been increasing, and that pretty much tells the story of the increase in the area.” With this upward trend in popularity and revenue, the Palo Alto City Council has started to create a plan,

known as the California Avenue Area Concept Plan, in hopes of making the area more attractive to shoppers as well as safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. During a prior discussion, City Commissioner Michael Alcheck suggested that the city “encourage significant growth in the areas designated in this California Avenue Concept Plan” through densification. Since that discussion, Palo Alto city officials have welcomed plenty of new businesses to the area to help increase densification, including startups, high-tech companies, retail stores, restaurants and apartment complexes. Recently, companies such as Groupon and Yelp have started to rent offices in the area, and projects to start constructing residential units both large and small have begun to take off. Along with the addition of new buildings, the city has approved a streetscaping project to help the densification effort. This project will essentially shrink California Avenue to only two lanes, creating room to expand the sidewalks. This will make for a safer pedestrian environment, more space for construction and the potential

Conner Harden/The Campanile

Long awaited renovations have already begun on California Avenue, Palo Alto’s sole “priority development area.” creation of open plaza space capable of holding public, city-wide events. Densification of California Avenue has also been supported by Palo Alto city officials as it is a transit hub, for California Avenue is very close to the Palo Alto Caltrain Station and El Camino Real. As a result, city officials designated this area as Palo Alto’s sole “priority development area,” which is what makes the area

eligible for regional planning grants. Even though California Avenue is already a transit hub, the city is looking to improve transit within the area itself as well. The streetscaping project will not only provide a safer environment for pedestrians, but also safer for bikers as new bike lanes will be implemented. There have also been proposals for new parking structures for both

bikes and cars, and improved shuttle systems from the California Avenue area to places such as the Stanford Research Park and the local Caltrain station. Construction for the California Avenue Concept Plan is estimated to last until the end of this year. However only time will tell whether the improvements live up to the City Council’s expectations.

Google Fiber to make its debut in Silicon Valley

Service aims to increase internet speed for residents in Palo Alto, four other local cities By Nikhil Rajaram

Staff Writer

oogle recently made plans to extend Google Fiber, its broadband Internet service to 33 new cities, one of which is Palo Alto. Google Fiber, dubbed after the fiber-optic technology it implements to achieve high speeds, could potentially provide speeds up to one gigabit per

second — more than 100 times faster than the nation’s average broadband Internet speed. In a recent press release, Palo Alto city officials expressed their interest in collaborating with Google in order to receive fiber-based high-speed Internet service. “We are pleased to accept Google’s invitation to participate in this new phase of assessing how to bring one gigabit fiber to more communities,”

Palo Alto City Manager James Keene said in a recent press release. Having debuted its service with a beta test among select Stanford residential areas in 2011, Google has since then extended its services to Kansas City, Kan., Kansas City, Miss., Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas. Three plans are offered with Google Fiber: Gigabit+TV, Gigabit and Free Internet. In the first plan, one-gigabit download speed along

with a TV plan and will cost $120. The second plan includes one-gigabit download speed and will cost $70. Finally, the Free Internet plan will supply five-megabit downloads and will be free of charge to areas which have fiber. Google announced that it would bring its service to 33 new cities, five of which are in Silicon Valley: San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Google believes that as web, gaming and entertainment are merging, as well as more computing applications are moving into the Cloud, the demand for more bandwidth is increasing. With fiber-based Internet, Google plans to make a new infrastructure to distribute broadband Internet and focus on producing content for the Internet rather than worrying about connecting to the Internet.

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

NEWS

Affirmative action proposed for UC, CSU schools Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 would repeal much of Prop 209, allowing state to practice affirmative action; opposition to SCA5 blast the bill as racist, discriminatory and unfair to hard-working students

courtesy of Sy sTokes

COURTESY OF UCLA

Sy Stokes, a third-year Afro-American major at UCLA (pictured left), finds issue with the startlingly low number of black male freshmen at his alma mater, as described in his video “The Black Bruins.”

By Alvina Zou Ad Manager

alifornia lawmakers passed a proposed constitutional amendment, SCA5, that would repeal much of Prop 209, which prohibits state government institutions form considering gender, ethnicity and race in regards to public education and employment. More specifically, Prop 209 “prohibits the state, local governments, districts, public universities, colleges, and schools, and other government instrumentalities from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment to any individual or group in public employment, public education, or public contracting on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.” By repealing Prop 209, SCA5 will change how the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) — which total 32 campuses — admit incoming students. Whereas previously these universities didn’t consider race and ethnicity during the admissions process, the amendment will cause the universities to provide preferential treatment to individual groups based upon race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin by meeting a certain quota and also provide a cap for each group in order to ensure diversity. California State Senator Ed Hernandez introduced SCA5 to the state senate in hopes of allowing equal opportunities in higher education by increasing diversity. According to the newly proposed amendment, Hernandez wishes to remove parts from Prop 209 so that the previous actions do “not prevent state institutions of higher education, as defined, from implementing student recruitment and selection programs permissible under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.” “As far as California’s students are concerned, Prop. 209 has been a complete failure” Hernandez said on his website. “We have more than 15 years of history showing our campuses

have become less diverse, and qualified high school graduates are being overlooked and ignored as a result of this unsuccessful experiment.” According to data released by the University of California in 2013, Asians comprised 36 percent of the undergraduate students admitted while minorities such as African Americans and Latinos represented 4.2 percent and 27.6 percent respectively. According to data released by the California State University for fall 2013 undergraduates, Asians represented 15.7 percent of the student population while African Americans represented 4.6 percent and Mexican Americans represented 26.8 percent.

In principle, affirmative action is always going to be a touchy subject. Sylvia Targ Sophomore

The amendment has sparked controversy within the Asian community as residents across California attend meetings where they voice their opinions to their state assembly representatives. The site change.com has a petition, “Vote No to SCA5”, against the California state assembly that has gained momentum and recieved a total of over 85,000 signatures as of March 3. Among the most popular comments on the petition is a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Another petition, “California’s SCA-5 is against the ‘equal protection’ clause of the 14th amendment of the US Constitution” was created on the White House website on Feb. 14. Currently, the petition has 28,902 signatures. However, if the petition reaches 100,000 signatures by March 18, the White House will become involved in the issue. The main concern: the protection of admission to minority groups at

the expense Asian students. According to the Shanghai Daily, the president of the American Association of Scholars and Students, Xudong Sun, the current enrollment of Asian students at the University of California and California State University system is 36 percent of the total student population and that passing the SCA5 will cap Asian students admission to 13 percent of the total population. “Proponents of Proposition 209 argued that we could address longstanding racial disparities in our education system by ignoring race, but the facts speak for themselves,” Hernandez said. “You cannot address inequality by refusing to acknowledge it. California’s public universities and colleges should have all tools at their disposal to ensure their campuses reflect the demographics of our state.” Because of the democratic majority in the senate, the SCA5 reached the two-thirds majority necessary to pass in the senate. However, the proposed constitutional amendment will go through the California state assembly later and if the proposal passes, it could go to residents for voting in the future. However, SCA5 will only allow affirmative action to affect quotas in the public education system and will not apply to public employment. “This is about the long-term benefits college degrees bring to students and their families,” Hernandez said. “It’s about graduating the welltrained, diverse workforce we need to compete in a global economy. And most importantly, it’s about equal opportunity for California’s young people.” SCA5 is an issue many students take interest in as the ultimate decision could affect them and people they know. “I think personally that this intended new amendment is a good idea in the sense that it is important to consider the representation of minorities, especially in the UC system, because there has been a decline of Latinos and African Americans since the establishment of Prop 209,” se-

nior Ceci Yanez said. “For me, diversity is really important to establish in schools because it sets students up for the ‘real world’ by giving them the opportunity to work with a variety of people who have different backgrounds. In theory, I think affirmative action could definitely help create diversity, but in reality going forward with it or not creates conflicts between races and classes.” Sophomore Sylvia Targ gave a TEDx talk on biracial identity on Feb. 24 where she discussed the impact of her biracial identity on her life. “I support affirmative action in American colleges because I think it is beneficial to minority races who haven’t had access to the same opportunities and privileges as more affluent demographics,” Targ said. “I know too many overqualified Asian and white students who have spent their high school years grinding away and working their faces off who have suffered as a result [of affirmative action]. They’ve been rejected from every Ivy [League] and every one of their dream schools, as a result of the sheer quantity of qualified students fighting to get one of just a few spots at extremely selective colleges.”

We should give everyone an opportunity to get into the UC/ CSU of their choice and promote affirmative action so we can have a well-rounded college system. Ankita Avadhani Junior

While Targ does believe in affirmative action, she has a different opinion regarding its implementation in the UC/CSU schools, in which the UC/CSU serves as one of the schools where students will not be judged by their race, ethnicity or national heritage. “We teach children that race is irrelevant to academic ability and work ethic, while a white student with a more impressive application will be

turned away for a Latino student of a lesser caliber simply because of the color of her [or] his skin,” Targ said. “I don’t think affirmative action should be instituted in the UC/CSU system because nearly every other college in America utilizes it. The UC/CSU’s are a safety net for all of the over accomplished Asian and white students who may get turned away from selective colleges on account of affirmative action. In principle, affirmative action is always going to be a touchy subject.” Although many people reflect very distinct opinions about the amendment by acting for it or against it, many students understand and agree with parts on both sides. “As a half-Asian, half-white guy I’m not entirely sure where I stand in this situation,” senior Jonathan Kosaka said. “I’m also Jewish which doesn’t help. So it’s an interesting concept with pure groups. I like that they are trying to make their campuses more diverse, but they shouldn’t have to do it artificially.” While some students have just finished applying to colleges, others — such as high school juniors — have just start to understand and prepare for the admissions process. “I feel like affirmative action is actually something to be supportive of for the UC/CSU system,” junior Ankita Avadhani said. “I feel like diversity is important for a campus and we should allow an even playing field for everyone applying. I understand that although many people work hard to get a spot in the UC/CSU system, it is harder for certain minorities than others to make it in. Overall, I believe that we should give everyone an opportunity to get into the UC/CSU of their choice and promote affirmative action so we can have a well-rounded college system.” The debate over affirmative action within higher education continues to be a controversial issue. Although the state made a decision to pass Prop 209 in 1996, the issue has proven to be a topic that will not be easily solved and one that could possibly resurface in the future.

Multivariable Calculus moved from morning to after school

Course to convene after school to accommodate instructor, students from multiple high schools By Eli Weitzman Senior Staff Writer

ultivariable Calculus, a community college course offered at Palo Alto High School, has been moved to a new afternoon time slot. The class, which previously met before school each day, has now been moved to after school every Tuesday and Thursday. According to Radu Toma, Paly’s math Instructional Supervisor, the decision was made due to the inconvenience to both the teacher, Judy Choy, and the students of the class. Only in its third year of being offered, it has been a challenge finding a convenient time for the class to meet, since it must serve both stu-

dents from Henry M. Gunn High School and Paly. “The only option was either before school or after school,” Toma said. “We tried before school and it didn’t work the way we wish it had, so we looked for alternatives after school.” The option of holding class on Wednesdays and Fridays brought up concern that students who are taking four difficult classes already may have a difficult time sitting in yet another Advanced Placement or college level course. Due to the school’s increased interest in diminishing the amount of stress students experience, this factor is a concern to both Paly and Gunn administrations. “It made sense to go for Tuesdays and Thursdays where people only

have three periods that day, this being the fourth,” Toma said. “Also, because of the fact that Tuesdays and Thursdays students finish earlier both at here and at Gunn, we can start a half an hour earlier than we would otherwise.” The class will now be offered twice a week from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. These two hour sections are similar to how a regular community college course is offered. Toma explained that these two hour blocks allow time for teaching and testing that fifty-minute periods do not. “No solution is ideal,” Toma said. As of now, the students of Multivariable Calculus will have to stay after school.

conner harden/The campanile

Math Department Instructional Supervisor Radu Toma made the decision to switch Multivariable Calculus to the afternoon.

Friday, March 7, 2014

OPINION

The Campanile

American Mathematics Five-minute breaks should be Competition results mandatory during block periods Short breaks allow students’ brains to remain receptive, should not be public retain copious amounts of information during long lectures

By Mischa Nee Staff Writer

n the high-achieving environment that Palo Alto High School (Paly) is so well-known for, it can often be hard to resist the competitive atmosphere that comes along with this success. The Paly administration has made a clear effort in attempting to alleviate this stressful setting by making the decision to stop releasing decile rankings to universities. However, the public release of the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) results has been overlooked and is yet another source of stress that has not been dealt with yet. Every student who takes the AMC — which is required for students in the highest math lane — has his or her score posted in both the Math Resource Center (MRC) and online. Some teachers even take the liberty of posting the link on Schoology, giving students easy access to compare their achievements with others’. These comparisons provide unnecessary stress and embarrassment to lower-scoring students. Competition can sometimes lead to an environment in which people thrive under

the pressure, but as witnessed at Paly, it has only led to excessive anxiety. On a subconscious level, we constantly compare ourselves to others, whether we admit it or not. We see if we are better looking than the other person fighting for our crush’s attention, a better shooter than the person next in line during tryouts or more intelligent than the person sitting across from our desk. These comparisons, especially in academics, are often amplified amongst students in these high lanes whom are forced to take the AMC. A peer’s success should be applauded. However, this can be done in the way most other honors are given: public acknowledgment for the very top achieving students without completely broadcasting every other student’s personal information. Scores on homework, tests or other academic assessments ought to be shared at a person’s own discretion. By forcing students to take the AMC and to then proceeding to publicize all scores without any option otherwise is a complete breach of privacy. The administration may either force students to take the test and release scores privately or make it optional with public results. By enforcing both, every highlaned student’s intelligence is flaunted for better or for worse. For the sake of privacy alone, these results should remain confidential. Add in the advantage of minimizing stress and the competitive ambience that Paly has become known for, and it is clear that this simple matter ought to be changed.

By Haley Fang

Staff Writer

early every student can relate to feeling sleepy or spacing out in the middle of a lecture, and it is not always the student’s fault. With 90-minute classes, it is difficult for students to stay awake and focused throughout the entire period while glued to a desk; to alleviate this, five-minute breaks during 90-minute block periods should be mandatory. Students sleeping in the middle of class has become a daily sight that ceases to surprise anyone. The problem with inattentive students has gotten to a point to which some teachers do not even bother redirecting sleeping students’ attention, knowing that it would be useless. Implementing five-minute breaks would not only benefit the students by giving them a chance to stretch and relax after having to retain tons of information, but it would also allow teachers to take a break and prepare their lectures. A University of Illinois study strengthened the theory that the brain gradually becomes less apt at absorbing information over extended periods of time. The study contained the idea that the brain is built to detect

and respond to change, suggesting that prolonged attention to a single task can negatively affect the brain’s performance. Having time to relax and stretch during class is necessary in order for students to better retain knowledge and succeed in school. Another benefit of allotting time for breaks is that teachers who do so tend to have closer relationships with their students. Likewise, students are given an opportunity to bond more with their peers. As a result, students feel closer with their teachers and their classmates, which makes them less afraid of being judged in class and more likely to speak up and voice their opinions or participate. Teachers can provide a more comfortable learning environment for students simply by allowing them to talk amongst each other during these short intermissions. Trying to focus for a whole block period is unreasonable to ask of students. According to scholarships. com, students retain information best

in blocks of 45 minutes or less. Five minute breaks would allow teachers to cut each block class into two 45-minute periods, therefore comfortably satisfying students’ attention spans and helping them retain more of the information learned in class. Some argue that taking away five educational minutes from every class period adds up to a lot of time, significantly decreasing the amount of instructional time. The reality is that although this is true, students cannot be expected to stay focused for 90 minutes without a break. The results of this reform would be more attentive students, especially during periods during which the majority of the time is spent lecturing. This would then result in less time for students to be confused over homework and improved test scores. The time set aside for breaks may add up, but giving up a mere five minutes to allow students to refocus and regain themselves far outweighs the time a student may spend spacing out or falling asleep.

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

OPINION

Students should better utilize Naviance and its beneficial online resources

Our generation: most apathetic than all before

Database provides invaluable resources for students learning about college and career options

By Lauren Klass

By Sarah Tayeri

Staff Writer

f you have been to even a couple sessions of advisory during your high school career, you are familiar with Naviance, the college and career readiness online resource— or, at least, the concept of Naviance. Yes, we have all taken a couple surveys that magically reveal what learning style we get the most out of, and determine what career is best for us based on what electives we took freshman year. But past the “check this box if you enjoy solving jigsaw puzzles” surveys, there is a lot more to Naviance you probably haven’t had the courage to discover yet. I never wanted to be the one to ask in class. But what even is Naviance? Naviance is an organization that administers high school students with the tools necessary for mostly college, but also career preparation. According to a report by The Business Journals, “‘student success solutions’ reach more than 300,000 educators and 4.5 million students at nearly 5,500 schools in 84 countries.” Students might overlook Naviance as another site that bothers them to register for the SAT’s. However, the company provides a lot more. We have all been half-heartedly assured that since we go to a “tougher” school in the Silicon Valley, our GPAs are seen as more impressive than they would if we went to a less rigorous school. Is this true? Colleges give the average GPA and test scores

Hillel zand/The Campanile

Naviance allows students to see the likely hood of getting into different colleges based on their GPA and SAT or ACT scores. of their admitted students, but what should be realistic ranges for Paly students? Naviance includes programs like “Scattergram,” which use the admission results of Paly graduates to make a different “graph” for most United States colleges. The “scattergram” graphs show plot points of past students’ acceptances, rejections, deference and wait-lists on an y-axis of standardized test scores and an x-axis of GPAs. A similar page, “College Acceptance History” shows how many Paly students were accepted and enrolled to a specific college. Programs like these can give Paly students a better idea of the chances they have of getting into a certain school. Naviance’s programs give much more accurate data than what we’re used to, which are nationwide or statewide statistics.

Every four-year college in the United States has a college admissions representative assigned to each high school in the United States. Each college profile in Naviance contains the contact details for these representatives, who can help give you a ton of information about colleges you are interested in. Even more useful, some schools “College Contacts” include contact information of alumni from your high school who attend or graduated from that college. If you plan to visit a college, this contact information will be very helpful — getting to know a Paly graduate that attends one of your colleges of interest could offer you a whole new viewpoint of that college and about what college is best for you. Another over-looked tool of Naviance is its SuperMatch College

Search program. From greek life to gender balance, the tool uses over twenty search criteria to help narrow down students’ choices in schools in which the student it interested in. “Pinning” a school helps you keep track of the places you’re interested in, and later helps you compare colleges to one another based on your unique criteria. The SuperMatch program helps students discover schools they may not have otherwise detected on their own. So, instead of groaning about your responsibilities, take a look at Naviance. Rather than of putting off the college search, use the site to help give you realistic goals for your future and methods of getting you there. Since Paly has been shoving the site at us for a couple years now, it’s time to take a step back and appreciate what a great tool Naviance is.

Palo Alto needs to increase parking capacity in order to accommodate all citizens and visitors

Public parking requires expansion in order to offer relief from difficult parking situations tial blocks. The requirements are that the residents have a super majority on approval of the movement and that the block be 75 percent occupied during the daytime. Although the details are still being hashed out, I believe that this does not solve the issue of fixing the parking problem in Palo Alto. The measure is mostly designed to limit the number of outsiders who are parking on residential blocks because the downtown parking situation is too difficult to navigate on a day to day basis, or they don’t want to pay for permits in the downtown parking garages.

By Bowen Gerould Senior Staff Writer

hile sitting in my car on my way to school for the past few weeks, I have started to notice a significant increase in the amount of people driving to school during the rainy season. It creates huge lines on Embarcadero Road and adds 15 minutes to any normal morning commute around Palo Alto. Even worse, it presents a parking problem for many drivers, who are hard pressed to find any spots remotely close to Palo Alto High School in the Embarcadero parking lot, or a spot in general in the Churchill parking lot. This might be due to the construction, which has blocked off many potential spots causing chaos for any late drivers who are scrambling to get to class on time many of whom park on residential blocks instead. However, this problem will solve itself once the rainy season has stopped. Hopefully this will mean an increase the number of bikers commuting to school and once the Paly Media Arts building is finished, it will provide relief to the Paly park-

Zoe Tierney/The Campanile

Limited parking makes it difficult for residents to navigate through Palo Alto. ing situation and introduce more lot date for software development and venture capital expansion. spots. Because Palo Alto attracts such a The same cannot be said for the City of Palo Alto. Unfortunately, it broad range of people, it is becomis in need of serious adjustments if it ing increasingly difficult to accommodate the desires of all citizens in a wants to expand any further. Before the technology boom and way that is universally accepted. Techies want the city to expand the birth of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto was a small town with most of its traf- past its current capacity while longfic was headed towards to Stanford. time residents looking for small Many of the other people flocked to town feel want it to go back to what the area during the time when the it was when they first moved here. transistor and the integrated circuit This makes it almost impossible for residents to agree upon many things were founded. Although Palo Alto has been a in the town, including solutions to center of Silicon Valley since these parking issues. The city just finished discussion inventions, the city’s parking problem only began with the size increase in regarding a new parking rule which Stanford University and its hospital would allow disgruntled commucoupled with the transformation of nity members to significantly reduce downtown Palo Alto to accommo- parking by non-residents on residen-

Palo Alto needs to expand its public parking options and infrastructure in general in order to accommodate for the rapid growth of the city. This legislation only causes a bigger problem for the levels of congestion in the heart of Palo Alto, because the people will all be flocking to the parking garages instead. The frustration of citizens of Palo Alto is understandable and they are certainly entitled to their own spaces, but the proposed legislation is not the solution to the problem. Palo Alto needs to expand its public parking options and infrastructure in general in order to accommodate for the rapid growth of the city. The city can accomplish this by requiring businesses to provide adequate parking for their employees and by building smaller parking garages on top of the already existing ones.

We are Generation Z: the digital generation. We now live in a world surrounded by computers, touch screens and smartphones. We are fortunate enough to have been granted access to a constant pool of knowledge at the touch of a finger. Letters have been replaced with emails and phone calls or visits to friends have been replaced with texting and social networking. Though our generation is highachieving, it can also be very lazy. We have access to technology and can do good with it, yet we do not use it for that. The Internet floods you with information and problems occurring around the world. We get news from places from near and far, all compiled into one center of stories and information. This overload of information makes it hard to care for and focus on solving one problem. For example, Twitter will show you tons and tons of clips of news stories and while they are informative, they do not necessarily promote activism. Nowadays, we as students will wake up before going to school and instead of reading a newspaper, we will pull out our smartphones. We wake up and read what people tweeted while we were sleeping, or check what our friends updated on Facebook. Furthermore, we receive a wide variety of news daily. My Twitter feed, for example, is full of clips of news stories that I mindlessly scroll through. And even if I take the time to read each and every story, I generally do not retain much of the information. It is especially hard to focus on the important news stories when I am also looking at things my friends have recently posted. We get a mix of truly important news from around the world in addition to the gossip of the day. For example, you might see a news post about the protests in Ukraine and right below you may see a funny cat picture or selfie your friend has recently shared. This mix of the trivial with the nontrivial is confusing, for one begins to perceive both stories at the same level of importance. Nonetheless, everything you see on social media seems casual. Social platforms like Facebook or Twitter were originally intended for people to keep in touch with their friends, not as a source of news. This casual feel also subtracts from the significance of the news stories. Today, when you see something you care about online you generally “like” the status or “favorite” the post. In cases when you see a tragic picture asking for a share or “like.” You feel good about clicking that “like” button and that is just about where your involvement with that story ends. I would call that apathy, wouldn’t you? “Liking” a picture expresses minimal concern for a certain topic, but it does not actively help or make a change. Overall, apathy is a social problem that will take a while to solve, that is, if we ever even manage to start addressing the issue. However, that does not mean that there is not anything we can do in the mean time to try to solve this social issue. I encourage you to stand up and take action. Instead of simply liking a photo of, for example, a poor sick and starving child in Africa, put down your phone and help the community around you. Be an activist, do something meaningful and be aware of the mix of news and trivial stories that pop up on your feeds.

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

EDITORIALS

The end of a productive era: reflecting on the tenure of Superintendent Skelly

hen Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Superintendent Kevin Skelly took the helm of one of the nation’s most prolific and successful public education systems seven years ago, he surely could not have known of the many obstacles that would lay in his path. On Feb. 18, Skelly announced that he would retire at the end of the 2013-14 school year, effective June 30. The Campanile would like to express its gratitude toward Skelly for his efforts during his term. Skelly was a well known adminstrator throughout the district. He frequently visited schools and was a common sight on the Palo Alto High School campus. His devotion to interacting with teachers and students on campus did not go unnoticed and provided a reassuring sentiment that the district office was devoted to its youngest constituents. During the recent financial reces-

sion, Skelly did his best to minimize the effect that state and district budget cuts had on students. And, at the same time, he ushered in a new wave of massive construction projects, including Paly’s soon-to-be-completed revolutionary Media Arts Center and soon-to-be-constructed Athletic Complex. Marred by several lawsuits and “politically incorrect” moments, Skelly’s tenure was not always an easy one. His efforts to close the achievement gap were lackluster and his faith in taking action to do so wavered at times. Bullying at schools seemed to be an afterthought and protected against until a lawsuit and federal investigation commenced following bullying a bullying incident at Terman Middle School. Skelly’s view on how to handle bullying cases was unprofessional, according to many. In addition, the Department of Education opened an investigation into PAUSD during Skelly’s tenure.

the College Board itself costs $89. The administration spends the other $26 to subsidize the other categories. In the end, the administration either breaks even or is close to breaking even; the money left over, which is not much, goes back to student funds, thus returning to the students. The main cost outside of the test itself — in the $26 — is for paying for proctors to administer every single AP test, and the schools themselves have little control of the cost of the proctors. Palo Alto High School and Henry M. Gunn High School must search for out-of-school personnel to proctor the test, unlike schools that use their faculty members. PAUSD schools hire both in-district and outof-district workers to proctor the AP tests. The pay for proctors is preset by the district, as when the personnel are hired by the schools to become proctors, they officially become district employees. Although the prices for AP tests are high, higher than many other schools, the Palo Alto High School administration has justification for charging students over $100 per test: having to subsidize categories that other schools do not or have alternative methods of tackling. The administration has been working hard to organize and facilitate the AP test process, taking caution to make the whole testing process go smoothly.

Library database talks should target freshmen only, not students in other grades

y the time students enter their senior year, it seems every one of us at Palo Alto High School has sat through numerous database and research lectures given by librarian Rachel Kellerman. These talks, while somewhat helpful the first time, become extremely repetitive by senior year. Mostly, they provide help for students who are assigned research projects or papers. The reality of high school in today’s day and age is that much of students’ research will be done through easy to access mediums such as Google or Wikipedia. The librarian of today has become the cybrarian who knows how to access huge amounts of information quickly. We should take advantage of the wealth of information that Kellerman has to offer by having a defined curriculum for each year. The Campanile thanks Kellerman for her efforts to teach the students how to use databases and research, but we would like to make a few suggestions to improve the overall student experience. Freshmen have different needs from seniors and thus Kellerman should give one database talk to all freshmen at the beginning of their

high school careers to ensure that all students learn how to conduct proper research prior to being assigned their first research project. She should give different lecturers to sophomores, juniors and seniors. If new resources or tools become available, new tutorials could be included accordingly. The reality is that the talks can be redundant from year to year and contribute little new information about doing research. We would like to suggest that the teachers communicate more effectively across departments with each other and build curriculum guidelines for what library skills should be taught each year. The teachers need to coordinate with Kellerman, and she can make suggestions to the departments about what would be a good library curriculum for each year. For new students, The Campanile suggests Kellerman offer lectures during tutorial periodically throughout the year. This plan guarantees that all students who want guidance in conducting research receive the help they want, while avoiding the current issue of redundancy. With the new system students would benefit more from the talks and be more grateful to the librarians.

Quotes from third quarter

There was considerable controversy over his handling of the bullying case. Such blemishes brought unrest to the community and its effects could have been lessened if there had been more transparency between the PAUSD Board of Education and local families. Effective communication in the future will be crucial, but Skelly did make strides to amend problems created by his predecessor, Mary Frances Callan. The Campanile believes that PAUSD and our community is ready to bring in new leadership in the hopes of fostering a more diverse and open community in Palo Alto, one which Skelly certainly tried to promote, but was ultimately unsuccessful in achieving. Our staff thanks and commends Skelly for his service to the school district and to the community for the past seven years and wishes him future success following his resignation, including more personal and family time.

10) “Netflix > homework.” 9) “When in doubt, just nod.” 8) “I’ll wake up early and study in the morning.” 7) “Why don’t we have nap time anymore?” 6) “I’ll just Sparknote it.” 5) “Ehh who needs college?” 4) “When do I get to go back to kindergarten?” 3) “Isn’t it summer already?” 2) “Is it bad that I have 3 Ds?” 1) “I’m done.” -JACK PALADIN

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS Got something on your mind?

Submit a letter to the editor at theeds2014@googlegroups.com

COMIC OF THE MONTH

Advanced Placement test price increase is justified tarting Feb. 5, students have been purchasing the Advanced Placement (AP) tests they are planning to take in May later this year. Until Wednesday, March 5, most AP tests cost $115 per test, $5 more than last year’s price of $110. Certain tests — AP Chinese and AP Japanese — cost $145. From March 6-19, AP tests cost $145. Although the prices seem exorbitant on the surface, as many students take one if not more than one test, resulting in spending hundreds of dollars, a deeper look into the breakdown of the cost justifies the high price the administration tagged onto these tests. Palo Alto High School and Henry M. Gunn High School both charge the same price for consistency, so the administrators from both schools work together in determine a uniform costs: Assistant Principal Victoria Kim from Palo Alto High School and Assistant Principal Trinity Kline from Henry M. Gunn High School. While determining the price the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) high schools charge for AP tests, the administrators from both schools must account for all the preparation and transaction costs: the cost College Board charges per test as well as costs for the webstore-transaction fees, processing, setting up and paying for proctors. Just the test from

MARCH’S TOP TEN LIST

JEnsen hsiao/the campanile

A mirror has been missing from the boys bathroom in the art building. The Campanile believes one should be added.

The Campanile Editors-in-Chief Rachel Cui • Jensen Hsiao • Maya Kitayama Daniel Tachna-Fram • Hillel Zand • Stephenie Zhang News Editor Josefin Kenrick

Opinion Editor Jack Paladin

Lifestyle Editors Kian McHugh Michelle Yin

Sports Editors Julia Kwasnick Ziv Schwartz

Online Editor Jonathan Ziegler

Lifestyle Design Editor Irene Ezran

Spotlight Editor Emily Semba

Photography Editors Ahmed Awadallah Andrew Sternfield

Cartoonists Jane Gorelik Jacques Manjarrez Brian Kannappan

Business Managers Shivonne Logan Alvina Zou

Staff Writers Seth Alston Maya Benatar Galen Byrd Andrew Choi Stephanie Cong Parker Devine Esther Doerr Owen Dulik Haley Fang Bo Field Jeremy Fu Lauren Gargiulo

Bowen Gerould Lauren Giurata Conner Harden Jeffrey Ho Grace Kim Lauren Klass Emily Lee Zachary Levitan Tiffany Liang Claire Liu William Mendenhall

Ahmed Awadallah Andrew Choi

Paul Mewes Kevin Mullin Mischa Nee Hannah Nguyen Arjun Parikh Coby Parker Nikhil Rajaram Maggie Rosenthal William Shin William Snodgrass Owen Staiger

Photographers Conner Harden Jeffrey Ho

Angela Stern Heather Strathearn Alec Sullivan Nicholas Sullivan Sarah Tayeri Zoe Tierney Oliver Tucher Jacob van Zyll Leslie Wan Catherine Yu Lily Zhang

Grace Kim Andrew Sternfield

Advisor Esther Wojcicki

Letters to the Editors: E-mail all letters to editors to theeds2014@googlegroups.com The Campanile prints letters on a space-available basis. We reserve the right to edit submissions. The Campanile only prints signed letters. Advertisements: Advertisements with The Campanile are printed with signed contracts.

For more information regarding advertisements in The Campanile and their size options and prices, please contact The Campanile Business Managers by e-mail at campanile.ads@gmail.com. Note: It is the policy of The Campanile to refrain from printing articles that misrepresent or alienate specific individuals within the Palo Alto community.

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

L FESTYLE

Fla PPy Bird

By Jeffrey Ho

HUMANS OF PALO ALTO

ack in summer 2010, a photographer named Brandon Stanton began a project to create a catalogue of 10,000 New York City residents, thus beginning Humans of New York, otherwise known as HONY. HONY’s published compilation book is a number one New York Times bestselling book, while it also pulls in over four million followers on its social media sites. But that isn’t all – HONY not only has a worldwide fan base, but it also has penetrated our hometown, Palo Alto. While HONY has captured the minds of people worldwide, it especially impacted two Henry M. Gunn High School juniors, Calvin Wang and Brendan Wong, who decided they wanted to bring the same ideas behind HONY to Palo Alto through their own project, Humans of Palo Alto (HOPA). “Calvin approached me with the idea encouraging me to join the team and help them start up the site,” Gunn senior and HOPA photographer Michael Chen said. “I’ve been into photography for sometime and he saw me as a possible prospect to join his team. I was present with Calvin when he made the page.” Wang, Wong and Chen later added members from other schools to their team of photographers. The group now includes four Gunn students, two Palo Alto High School students and one Castilleja School student. “We’ve been expanding,”Paly senior and HOPA photographer Lizzie Rivette said. “We’ve gone downtown, to California Avenue, Stanford Shopping Center and Town and Country [Village]. We are just trying to get as many people as we can in order to get to know our area, where we’re from [and] where we live a little bit better and on a deeper level. The general idea is straight from Humans of New York.” Stanton’s idea started as a visual directory of people from different locations in New York City and morphed into a series of more random photographs of all types of people. This approach allowed for a celebration of the individuals in the photos and who they are rather than focusing on where they are from. HOPA aspires to follow a similar path, “capturing the uniqueness of individuals in Palo Alto with portraits and words of the people we find,” as stated on the HOPA Tumblr page. But just as Stanton’s original intentions for HONY differed from where the blog eventually went, the students behind HOPA are still unsure of where this project will take them. “We are still trying to get our footing,” Rivette said. “We are still trying to figure out how we want to go about this. We started in January and are going a lot faster than we thought we would.” While the group originally started with only Facebook page, they soon added a After the picture had been taken he said Tumblr and have recently added an Instathank you, picked up his flowers, and walked gram. away very quickly but smiling very hard to The HOPA page is approaching 1,500 himself. followers on Facebook and has surely grown in both readership and scope since its January start.

“What advice would you give?” “Appreciate what you have now because you don’t know how much time you have left.”

Photos courtesy of Humans of Palo Alto

By Maya Kitayama

In addition to this new social media site and ever growing popularity, HOPA is changing in other ways. The group has recently made a change regarding their photo captions and will no longer be including names. “The reason we keep the specific photographer of each photos private is that it doesn’t matter who took the photo,” Chen said. “We want the focus to be 100% about the person being featured.” When choosing who to interview, the HOPA photographers try to pick people at random. Upon choosing someone to photograph and them agreeing to be interviewed, HOPA photographers choose from their list of questions and begin the interview. Rather than reading a list of questions, these questions serve as a jumping off point. “We start with one of those questions then we go and we go on a tangent line and see what we can get out of the person,” Rivette said. “We want something personal, we want to get to know you in a quick, one-sentence way. It’s not an easy thing to do with [a list of ] questions, it’s so formulaic.” To further improve the quality of the caption, HOPA is trying to ask more pointed questions to get a more concise quote. Looking forward to next year, Wang and Wong will continue as seniors as the current seniors embark on their journeys outside of Palo Alto. “As seniors now, we haven’t started thinking about the future,” Rivette said. “We are just living in the moment. We are here on the team, we are going to do our interviews and get our photos. We are going to do as much as we can while we are still here in Palo Alto before we go off to college.” But maybe living in the moment isn’t the best idea, to quote one of HOPA’s photos, “My advice would be…first of all… to live everyday of your life like it is your last is stupid advice! The corollary is that you should appreciate every day that you get. Take deep breaths…appreciate what you have and understand that time goes by faster than you think. So appreciate what you have now because you don’t know how much time you have left.” Quotes like these, paired with intriguing portraits of their owners, are what draw readers to HOPA. The combination of the profound and the mundane, the serious and the lighthearted reveals who the humans of Palo Alto really are. The Humans of Palo Alto page is on Facebook at www.facebook. com/humansofpaloalto, Tumblr at humansofpaloalto.tumblr.com and Instagram at humansofpaloalto.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” “A sweeper truck to keep everywhere clean and also get money!” Text by

Heather Strathearn Senior Staff Writer Design by

Irene Ezran, Grace Kim & Mischa Nee Lifestyle Design Editor & Staff Writers

“What service did you serve to you country?” “I manned the US aircraft carrier and also served in the Vietnam navy and army”

“What was the happiest moment of your life?” “She. Birth of my daughter”

INSIDE

Christian music

Discover the genre that combines a positive message with contemporary sounds

By Emily Semba

Mardi Gras

Give thanks for the white girls

Learn about the traditional Fat Tuesday feast

By Catherine Yu

According to word-of-mouth, Twitter and my Instagram feed, scientists claim that a new species of human being has emerged from the depths of the inner Earth: the “white girl.” Those who are clearly identified as white girl are often seen in the standard uniform comprised of a Northface and yoga pants tucked into Ugg boots. This species has a tendency to make what researchers have named the “duck face,” an expression involving pursed lips. This face is most often seen on various forms of social media in the form of selfies. If you are to come in contact with a white girl, whatever you do, do NOT get in between the white girl and her Starbucks cup until she has acquired an Instagram-worthy picture of her incorrectly spelled name sprawled across the cup. Initially, I was shocked to learn of this newly-discovered race. However, after performing further research regarding this rapidly evolving species, I came to an unfortunate realization...I am a white girl. A couple years ago, I would have never felt threatened wearing Uggs, Instagramming my frappuccino or taking an un-ironic selfie. Now, there’s no place to hide my deemed white girl qualities. I find this newfound fear even more complex considering I am only half-white, but my potential behavior can sometimes allude to that of a (full) white girl. Unfortunately, I’m still fairly confused about to what extent I should be ashamed of my race. Take my identity, half-Asian, half-white and fully confused. For years, I was able to hide my shame of being categorized as a nerdy, bookish Asian girl behind my sliver of white within my racial makeup. Now, I’m done for. I no longer can hide behind one side of myself or the other, because I’m supposed to be ashamed of all parts of my racial identity! I find it interesting that after coining the negative connotations associated with being a white girl, there is no longer one race void of malicious mockery. Whether you’re white, Asian or black, there really is no solution; no one race that doesn’t host a brimful of stereotypes waiting to treat members of their respective groups with undeserved teasing. Have we managed to find something wrong with all of us? Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe this new species of human, the aforementioned white girl, has finally closed the gap between a supreme race and the inferiors. Now, we’re all inferiors; no one can claim superiority because all of the races that differentiate each other contain too many flaws to maintain a higher status. We ought to be more thankful for all the white girls in our collective lives. It is their contribution that has managed to create a level playing field. Finally, we all can recognize that none of us are supreme or inferior based on our race, rather, we’re just a bunch of funloving, judgemental humans with an uncanny ability to discriminate until there is nothing left for us to judge.

Male fashion

Elements of fashion that have come back into style

By Coby Parker

Friday, March 7, 2014

Listen to the birds

STUDENT LIFE

The Campanile

Sophomore makes art out of ordinary objects Sophia Xu utilizes her artistic interest and creativity to execute various craft projects By Lily Zhang Senior Staff Writer

W By Hillel Zand The following is told from the point of view of one of those annoying seagulls that hover around campus: Hey it’s me again. Yeah you know who. That annoying son-of-a-gun who becomes your personal Osama bin Laden during lunch everyday. Your own FBI’s Most Wanted… except for the fact that I’m in plain sight. Well me and my crew just wanted to let you know that you and us should get along more. It’s not fun when we swing by your central patch of grass and all you do is run away and cover your heads as if you’re anticipating the Blitzkrieg. Look, I know we have our differences and I’m sorry about Billy… you know, the one that always has to do his business right when we come see you guys. It’s just he gets nervous around teenagers and his, um, excretory system gets nervous, too. Don’t worry: he’s seeing a therapist, trying to get his issues sorted out and hopefully that issue will resolve itself soon. But forget about Billy. We’re really just like you humans and just want to be friends. How are we alike, you may ask? Well for starters, we both like food. Food brings humans together, it brings seagulls together and it should be able to bring humans and seagulls together. Don’t you see us eating your food when you run away? We’re trying to show you that we too love a good food wrapper or empty milk carton for a midday snack. Also, us avians also try to impress our friends. You know those cool flying formations? We never used to do that, but then one day some genius said, “Hey guys, I think humans will like us more if they see we fly in sick V-shaped arrangements. I’ve seen their war planes do that, so maybe it’s like a human thing; we should try it out.” Parties. Us seagulls love parties. We have one every day around your lunchtime — as you’ve probably seen — and we try to reenact human parties. We walk around all clumsily and fly into people we know, but all that ends up happening is they give us a weird look of annoyance. You know that feeling, right? Seagulls are shy, too, just like humans. You might notice that every time you walk towards us, we repel away from you. Why is this? Well, for many reasons. First of all, humans smell worse than bird poop. You know that kid in your class that smells so bad, but you don’t tell them? In this case, humans are that god-awful smelling student. But more simplistically, we’re just shy creatures and we don’t like meeting new people, kind of like those itty bitty freshmen on the first day of school. Most importantly though, we’re just like humans because we also like to gossip. You think Billy gets it easy? HA! All of us give him crap for, well, his crap. It’s only human — I mean animalistic? — to ostracize those we don’t like. So don’t worry, we’re prejudiced too. Ok, so now I feel like I’ve told you enough about me and my species for you to feel comfortable around us. I know it’ll take some time, but you have to start somewhere, right? Oh and I’m sure you’re wondering right now, “Seagulls have thoughts and feelings?” Well we do. Keep an open mind; you’re not the only intelligent life form out there and you don’t even have to get into big fancy metal ships and blast off into the sky to find them. Because sometimes things are, like I said before, in plain sight. Take a second and choose to look at them sometimes.

hat started out as a simple admiration for art transformed into a meaningful project for sophomore Sophia Xu. Xu began experimenting with clay, turning it into magnets, bracelets, earrings and necklaces during middle school. “I’ve always liked art and I was looking through some YouTube videos of people who make these charms and I got inspired and decided to give it a try,” Xu said. Once she took the initial steps to crafting these charms, her passion for art allowed her to continue to progress into more complicated and intricate ideas and projects. “I like to make these charms because it lets me de-stress,” Xu said. “I also especially enjoy listening to music when I do art.” Her motivation stems from the environment around her, as well as similar artists or crafters. “If I come up with an idea or see something cool (like on Instagram or YouTube), I want to try and make it,” Xu said. “The time I spend on each charm varies depending on its difficulty and how much detail I add to it. Some may take just a few minutes and other may go up to 10 or 20 minutes.” Now, Xu also applies her passion to her 20% Project for English, which includes weekly blog posts, while

courtesy of sophia xu

Sophomore Sophia Xu displays her homemade phone cases and earrings at the Paly Winter Glass Sale earlier this year. continuing to be inspired by YouTube channels and make more charms during her free time. “My favorite items are the ones that I spend the most time on (the more complicated ones) or the ones that I think look the best,” Xu said. “I really like the beach in a bottle necklaces. They’re both simple and cute.” Along the process, Xu discovered the business aspect of her continuous

art project. She began selling her art to students, adults, and participated in the Paly Winter Glass Sale as well. Earning a total of $319 at the sale, she donated the money to the Paly Art Program. Other sales she’s earned has gone to Lizbeth, a low income child from Ecuador, who her English class is currently sponsoring. “Donating the money makes me feel warm and happy inside know-

ing that I have done something for a great cause,” Xu said. Even with her other activities, Xu hopes to continue creating and selling more charms in the future. “I will definitely sell these charms to students if they would like,” Xu said. “The charms are $5-7 and the earrings and necklaces are $10-20 depending on the material cost and the difficulty for making it.”

Senior high school traditions compared Fourth-year students have unique way of commemorating final year of school By Lauren Giurata

Courtesy of ebay.com

Alice Wang’s first book, “Antarctic Wings”, is available for purchase on eBay.

Junior publishes picture books for children

Alice Wang’s new book tells of a dinosaur By Haley Fang Staff Writer

nown for her cute and perky personality, junior Alice Wang is one who many people might associate her personality with that of a fictional character found in a picture book, but few students are aware that she authors her own picture books that are published and sold. Since elementary school, Wang has been known for her artistic ability, but she has wanted to use her art not only for her personal pleasure, but also for others’ enjoyment. “I think [I was inspired to write books] because of the memory of being in preschool and having teachers read us all these books [that were] kind of inspiring,” Wang said. “I went to my nursery school, and I read to the kids there after I wrote my first book and I thought the experience — like seeing them smile and laughing — at the penguin made me really happy.” Her first book, “Antarctic Wings”, follows a penguin who aspires to fly like the other birds. “I started my first [book] actually near the end of seventh grade,” Wang said. “But then, I started putting it off for a while and I ended up finishing the summer of eighth grade.” Wang is currently working on her second picture book, which tells the tale of a dinosaur who wants to live forever and his plans to achieve immortality. Though making picture books may seem fairly simple, Wang has

learned that making a book is enormously time consuming. With the stress of schoolwork always in the back of her mind, Wang has been finding it increasingly harder to work on her project. “Usually, I start with an object and then I think around the object and a story comes,” Wang said. “Each picture takes me anywhere from half an hour to four hours [to draw], and there are 32 pages in each book.” As both the illustrator and author of her books, Wang must not only plan and draw each picture, but also go through a long process to come up with the text to accompany the story. “[The text] is actually pretty hard for me to write it really simply,” Wang said. “But, I start out writing everything and then I edit it and ask people to look at it and give me suggestions. Then, I go through it again .” As of now, Wang is content with her progress with her next book and hopes that she will finish soon. “Right now, I’ve finished drawing about half of the pages and I have a draft written down and pages coordinated with them,” Wang said. “[Next,] I’ll have to draw the other half and then draw details. I’m hoping [it will come out] by summer, but things happen and it usually doesn’t happen as fast as I’d hope.” Wang hopes that she can continue writing and having her picture books published in the near future. “I hope [I’ll be able to continue writing stories],” Wang said. “I’m just not sure I’ll have enough time in college since it’s supposed to be really busy, but hopefully.”

Senior Staff Writer

very school has its traditions. Such traditions tend to impact a student’s experience while at the school, as well as contribute to determining the environment on campus. Palo Alto High School, Woodside High School and Menlo-Atherton High School all have particular traditions that are central to their schools. At Paly, Streak Week is perhaps the most notorious tradition for seniors. During one week near the end of the school year, seniors streak through campus, normally directly across the Quad. Not every senior participates, but there tends to be a large number that choose to partake in the tradition every year. Some streakers run with just a few people, while others run in large groups. Over the course of the week, hundreds of students gather around the Quad, standing on benches whenever possible, waiting for the streakers to pass. Exactly when they will come is generally unknown, which creates an atmosphere of exciting suspense for the student onlookers. When the streakers finally make their appearance, cheers and gasps from their fellow classmates fill their ears as they dash across campus and make their way to their getaway car with their clothes in it and a driver that is waiting to whisk them off to safety. The tradition has been in place for many years and has received various comical variations, such as some streakers who tossed live chickens to the crowds as they ran across the Quad in 2011. In the past few years, students have faced serious punishment for their actions, and, due to a streaking incident earlier this school year, it appears that the current seniors will face a much stricter administration. Woodside High School in Woodside, Calif., also has a notable tradition called the Senior Run. Unlike Paly’s Streak Week, this tradition takes place on the same day every year, the last day of Homecoming Week, and does not evoke frustration or punishment from the school’s

administration because the students are clothed while they run. For the Senior Run, various seniors from the school proudly carry Woodside’s school flag as they run rambunctiously throughout campus, yelling loudly, knocking on the doors and windows of classrooms and overall distracting all other teachers and students. Like Streak Week, the tradition has been upheld for many years, and parents who are Woodside alumni with sons or daughters who are currently at Woodside High frequently recount their memories of when they took part in the high-spirited tradition during their years at the high school. Menlo Atherton High School in Menlo Park, Calif., has a less rambunctious senior tradition, but exciting nonetheless.

For the Senior Run, various seniors from the school proudly carry Woodside’s school flag as they run rambunctiously throughout campus. Every fall, the students organize a senior fashion show. Seniors work to find local stores that are willing to donate clothes for the fashion show. From there, the seniors are split into groups. Each group of seniors is assigned a particular type of clothing, such as evening wear, snow wear or athletic wear. The seniors then undergo weeks of practice for walking the runway over the weeks leading up to the show. Finally, on the day of the show, all their hard work consummates when they walk the runway with their groups. This tradition serves as a great opportunity for Menlo-Atherton students to practice involvement in large events that can be complicated to organize, as well as a one final time for the students, faculty, and parents to work closely together before the students graduate in May. Despite the differences between traditions at the schools, they all serve the same purpose: to tie together the student body by providing something for the students to look forward to and encourage school spirit.

The Campanile

LIFESTYLE

Friday, March 7, 2014

Students find political outlet in YMCA program Youth & Government helps California teens find their poltical voice within their local communities

Courtesy of Leonard Paulasa

The Palo Alto delegation poses at the 66th annual YMCA Y&G Model Legislature & Court Training & Elections Conference.

By Hannah Nguyen

Staff Writer

ost Palo Alto High School students spend their after school time participating in activities such as arts, sports and tutoring. Less common, however, are the select group of students who participate in the California Young Men’s Christian Association’s (YMCA) Youth & Government (Y&G) program. This statewide organization is based on the motto, “Democracy must be learned by each generation.” According to the organization’s website, Y&G’s hands-on programs hope to engage students in civic responsibilities and promote activism and leadership. Approximately 3,000 high school students participate each year. The organization hosts a wide variety of programs including a Model Legislature & Court (MLC), a Model United Nations (MUN), a National Judicial Conference (NJC) in addition to the Conference on National Affairs (CONA).The MLC program centers around three main con-

ferences. The first two gatherings, titled “Training and Elections Conferences,” (T&E) are held at Camp Roberts, a National Guard base in Paso Robles. Here, participants select a field of interest and learn more about it. Participants can choose from areas that range from national issues to State Assembly meetings. The third conference is hosted in Sacramento, where each delegate has a schedule tailored to his or her program of choice. In the months leading up to the statewide conferences, local delegations meet weekly to draft bills in preparation for Bill Hearing Nights, which take place at nearby city halls. Approved bills are then brought to Sacramento to be debated before delegate-run legislative committees. Bills that pass through committees are then debated on Senate and Assembly floors. The bills passed through houses and signed by the Youth Governor are then presented directly to California Governor Jerry Brown, carrying the weight of 3,000 high school voices behind it. This process not only teaches high school students about

government functions, but also allows them to participate in real democratic decisions. Senior Lande Watson has participated in the program since middle school. After six years in the program, she notes that her involvement plays an influential role in her life. “I’ve always been interested in government and being an active member of my community,” Watson said. “I can honestly say that out of all the activities I’ve participated in, Youth & Government has had the greatest impact on my personal development and my life in general.” At a T&E conference last year, Watson founded a mentorship program designed to promote female assumption of leadership roles, called Female Leaders in Power (FLIP). After noting that she was one of just three girls out of 14 total candidates running for Youth Governor, she created FLIP to help inspire young women in the program and strengthen their leadership skills. Over the last year, FLIP has made leaps in its growth as a program.

Junior Christian Miley presents a bill at Bill Hearing Night.

“This year the mentorship program grew to include over 120 female delegates,” Watson said. “We hosted events at all three conferences, including a female leadership training and a women in leadership discussion. At our final FLIP session in Sacramento, [California’s] Secretary of State Debra Bowen came to speak about female leadership.” Two years ago, Watson inspired her close friend and fellow Paly senior Kelly Patterson to join the Y&G program. “[Watson] knew I was really passionate about social issues, specifically gender equality, and she thought I would really enjoy the program,” Patterson said. Patterson noted that the FLIP sessions hosted by Watson were a highlight of her Y&G experience. “It’s just really cool to see your friend in a leadership position where she’s inspiring girls to run for positions or even just stand up to talk,” Patterson said. For Patterson, Y&G was not only a learning experience, but also an opportunity to gain confidence in herself. “The biggest thing I’ve gained from the program is the confidence to express

Courtesy of Lande Watson

my opinions,” Patterson said. “Y&G provides this really encouraging environment where no one really judges you and people really listen to you whether they agree with you or not.” Junior Adam Asch agrees that Y&G has boosted his self-confidence and opened his mind to world issues. “[Y&G] has given me confidence... and an [interest] in the world at large and all [its injustices] as well as a passion for repairing them,” Asch said. Senior Hannah Wilson, who was also influenced by friends to join Y&G, agrees that the social environment of the program is a major highlight of the program. “It is a fantastic community,” Wilson said. “You are able to meet so many people from all over the state and really get to know the delegation.” For its participants, Y&G is more than just an after-school activity. It is an opportunity to voice their opinions so they will be heard. The program helps foster critical public speaking skills and well-rounded political views.

Flappy Bird creator removes app from stores Numerous knock-offs appear after game’s creator says legal issues not reason app taken down By Jeffrey Ho Staff Writer

s an increasing number of mobile apps flood Apple and Android App Stores, it seems the entire world devotes an increasing amount of time to the most popular games on the market. The vicious cycle continues in full force today, as millions are hooked on the newest “trending” app, Flappy Bird. However, despite its increasing popularity in the beginning months of 2014, Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen removed the game off all platforms’ App Stores, making it increasingly difficult to hop on the Flappy Bird bandwagon for free. Flappy Bird, known for its simple yet painstakingly frustrating objec-

tive of navigating an animated bird between green pipes, has accumulated quite the fanbase since its sudden spike in popularity in mid-January. Before its removal from all App Stores, Flappy Bird has a total of over 50 million users, while being number one on Google Play in 11 nations. To many people’s surprise, Nguyen removed the app from both the Apple and Android App Stores on Feb. 8. The sudden 22 hour warning and official removal announcement left many curious as to why the game was removed given its recent successes. Nguyen notes that the removal of Flappy Bird was on his own volition, rather than because of legal issues. “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed,” Nguyen said in an interview

with Forbes. “But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.” Many still question Nguyen’s decision to remove the app from both Apple’s App Store and Google Play, but some believe that Nguyen’s actions may be financially beneficial. Junior Nihar Pol believes that the removal of Flappy Bird actually benefits Nguyen. “The decision to take down Flappy Bird is good because [Nguyen] avoids legal issues when other apps are similar to his in behavior and interface,” Pol said. “When an app becomes really profitable, a good option is to make your money and to get out of the market.”

Pol also suggests that despite what could be a continuation of Flappy Bird’s increased popularity, Nguyen’s decision may be more financially profitable in the short term. “[Nguyen] probably increased the probability that people are playing the app because Flappy Bird is not available in the store anymore,” Pol said. At least for a short period of time, he is probably getting more money from the app because then it would be a privilege to own the game.” Flappy Bird’s influence on the App Store has caused other makers to replicate the game with other animals and settings. Currently, six of the top 10 free games on Apple‘s App Store are variations of Flappy Bird. The first to rise to the top of the

App Store was Splashy Fish, which features a fish that navigates around golden pedestals. Splashy Fish lasted at the top of the App Store for two weeks, but was topped by other apps on the week of Feb. 24. Two apps have since captured the spotlight: Flying Cyrus and Flappy Wings both model Flappy Bird’s game objective, but Flying Cyrus contains wrecking ball and sledgehammer obstacles, while Flappy Wings is just a more colorful, pixelated copy of Flappy Bird. Luckily, if you own a Windows phone, you can get a fake version of the now obsolete Flappy Bird; just make sure to get it before Microsoft reports the app for copyright infringement. Otherwise, it looks like you are completely out of luck.

Friday, March 7, 2014

SPOTLIGHT

The Campanile

$ AVAILABLE PROGRAMS

TUITION

STUDENT : FACULTY RATIO

AS SEEN IN COLLEGE GUIDES

DISTANCE FROM HOME

prestige

GRADUATION RATE

JOB PLACEMENT RATE

STORY BY HILLEL ZAND, EDITOR-IN-CHEIF; DESIGN BY EMILY SEMBA, SPOTLIGHT EDITOR and Sarah Tayeri, Staff writer

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VY LEAGUE OR BUST. That’s what

everyone says.” Palo Alto High School junior Kelly Swanson is one of the millions of high school students beginning his or her yearlong journey of finding the college that he or she hopes to soon call home. This process has typically relied on the credibility of ranking systems, compiled yearly by the likes of Forbes, Princeton Review and — the granddaddy of them all — U.S. News & World Report. In the eyes of Paly college advisor Sandra Cernobori, things haven’t changed that much in the way that students she has worked with attack the college search. “When it comes down to it, things are all over the place,” Cernobori said. “They’re using U.S. News & World Report, they’re using the College Board and then some of them are saying, ‘No, I’m just going off of word of mouth, suggestions from friends, families, upperclassmen.’ I don’t feel like there’s a lot of consistency, and for me, that’s how it’s always been.” Swanson uses a private college counselor who recommends colleges that would suit her She also uses empirical data to drive her search. “I just go on Naviance and look at the test scores and see if I could fit into that [demographic],” Swanson said. “Academic rankings would probably be the biggest push for me to want to go somewhere.” Acceptance rate, student-faculty ratio and class sizes are just a few examples of prototypi-

cal criteria students begin to size up an academic institution. But even though the numbers never lie, sometimes they don’t tell the whole truth.

Delving Deeper

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FAN OF COLLEGE

review gurus like Fiske Guide and “The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges,” Cernobori stresses the importance of objective resources, but recognizes that some may be “more encyclopedic in nature,” so she is “also encouraging students to look at other things.” In the past decade, student review sites such as College Prowler, Unigo and StudentsReview have opened up new pathways for curious high school students. Categories such as “Girls,” “Guys,” “Greek Life,” “Nightlife” and “Campus Strictness” are given grades by current tertiary students. The goal: to emphasize the highlights that the colleges already profess and bring out the dark sides that the institutions may wish to keep to itself, such as friendliness, individual value and even the percentage of teaching staff that do not speak satisfactory English. However, it’s the online reviews themselves that make Cernobori more trustworthy of the Fiske and Insider’s Guides; she says compiled research from multiple testimonials gives a more well-rounded profile. “I think every experience is what you make of it,” Swanson adds. “So I don’t think that looking at reviews is necessarily all that helpful

because some people are going to love a school that you might hate.” In addition to word of mouth, the advent of Facebook has brought along with it a behindthe-scenes look into a college’s social scene. A survey conducted by Zinch, a college scholarship website, reported that 68 percent of students use social media to research potential schools and that 38 percent use it as a resource when deciding which school to enroll in. High school underclassmen and upperclassmen alike can now browse through albums of former graduates they know and tell just how crazy — or how nonexistent — their school’s party life is. Now imagine this on steroids.

The Birth of a Movement

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EET 20-YEAROLD Jeffrie “Yofray” Ray.

As a high school senior in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Ray began documenting his final year at school through film. The final product was a 45-minute home movie, but most of it was accidentally deleted. As his high school buds began to leave for some of the top public and private universities in the nation, Ray decided to forgo college and finish what he had started. “I planned to visit my friends at their schools and make video displaying a week in the life of a college student and that is when the idea truly became what it is now,” Ray said.

Ray and partner-in-crime Arya Toufanian have monopolized a previously void market with the success of I’m Shmacked, a series of online videos that give viewers a behind-thescenes look into the party scene of colleges and universities across America — from as small as Ithaca College to as big as the University of Alabama and, having recently filmed at the oldest college in the nation, as prestigious Harvard University. In less than three years, the I’m Shmacked movement has garnered over 19 million YouTube views, over 109,000 Twitter followers, nearly 100,000 Facebook likes and a reputation for showcasing the extreme and the taboo. “We do not advocate or encourage any behavior seen in the videos, we simply film,” their YouTube channel reads. “Please do not submit footage or try to recreate what you are watching.” In addition, most videos are captioned with the mysterious disclaimer of “No alcohol or illegal substance is used during filming, just props.” Ray and his team capture every parent’s worst nightmare: beer bongs, ice luges, marijuana joints and bong hits, scantily clad girls and total apocalyptic inebriation. The videos showcase everything the respective colleges don’t want prospective to see and certainly the scenes that don’t appear in their charming pamphlets mailed home. Borderline conscious and visibly incoherent students vie for camera time as they yell, “I’m (insert expletive here) shmacked!” into the lens, preaching the 2012 College Word of the Year of “shmacked” as if it were a religious command.

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

SPOTLIGHT

DIVERSITY

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CKING TEM ALCHOHOL USAGE

LOCATION

SPORTS TEAMS

AS SEEN IN ‘‘I’M SHMACKED’’ VIDEOS

GREEK LIFE

DRUG USAGE

SEXUAL PROMISCUITY

DAY ARE BEING JOINED BY THE GUERRILLA FILMAKERS OF THE FUTURE POSTSECONDARY WORLD

Rachel Diamond, a first-year student at The Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio, experienced the movement firsthand when I’m Shmacked stopped in town while on their 2013 fall tour. “When I’m Shmacked came to OSU, people were spending weeks preparing,” Diamond said. “When the cameras came to football block, people were drinking a lot more than they should have and were acting crazier than usual. I didn’t go to the [actual] event I’m Shmacked put on, but based on the video, it was ridiculous. Students living in houses or apartments off campus had crazy parties so the I’m Shmacked people would hear about them and come to record footage of the party.” Although Ray maintains that the videos portray the schools accurately, he admits that more students go out and party when they hear I’m Shmacked will be visiting their school. He added that no campus has ever prevented I’m Shmacked from filming on its campus, “but some local bars or businesses have [tried to prevent I’m Shmacked from filming] once or twice.” For better or worse, the social phenomena has captured the attention of teenagers across the country and keeps the allure of being a rebellious college student alive and well. As for the craziest thing to happen so far while filming? Ray says he’s “saving that one for the book,” which may come soon since he and Toufanian are signed to talent agency DGI Management as a way of perpetuating their brand’s growth so as to expand into new markets.

Revolutionizing the Process

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THINK THAT OUR

videos absolutely changed how high school students research and decide on what school they attend,” Ray said. “Freshmen and sophomore[s] now that I've met told me that my videos helped them decide. Should these videos play a role in your decision-making process? Of course. You can look up anything about a school, sports, academics, graduation rate but you can’t put what social life is on a piece of paper.” For those who do not have the financial resources to go and visit schools they are applying and want to find out more than what the college’s website propaganda has to say, I’m Shmacked provides a depiction of what a select demographic of that school looks like. “Kids don’t want to read anymore,” Toufanian told the New York Times in 2012. “Seeing a video is a much more fun way to learn about a school.” Ray cautions students to not base any college decisions solely on I’m Shmacked videos, but guarantees that on-the-fence viewers “will be influenced.” “Words are so one dimensional and don't resonate with kids,” Ray said. “If you have a video with action, commentary, music, excitement and a depiction of college that isn't candy-coated, [it] allows you to emotionally feel what the school is like and the vibe it gives.”

Although the explicitness of I’m Shmacked is what draws viewers and is what distinguishes it from the monotony of college brochures, it also may be its weakness. While a high school student like Swanson doesn’t shy away from the prospect of having a lively social life, she says, “I don’t need drunk and wasted people to [convince me] to go to a college.” As for the demographic that I’m Shmacked targets? “They’re plenty of students on any college campus who just aren’t going to parties,” Cernobori said. “So I think for the people who want to go to parties, [I’m Shmacked] could help. But for the people who are not looking for that, [the school] might lose other applicants.”

The Implications of Success

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OR EVERY C O L L E G E APPLICATION that

results from viewing an I’m Shmacked video, a jaw dropping out of disgust by another student likely follows. “I’m Shmacked has put a negative light on college campuses,” Diamond says. “The videos portray us students as people who love to binge drink, do drugs and have sex. They don’t show anything about studying, volunteering or having a good time without drugs and alcohol. OSU also has great sports team[s], amazing student organizations and a very intelligent stu-

dent body, and none of those aspects are shown in the video.” When Ray and Toufanian hit the streets of Newark, Del., on Sept. 9, thousands of students from the University of Delaware flooded the city, dancing on rooftops, knocking over trash cans and allegedly burning a car, according to the Huffington Post. The school’s men’s club rugby team was suspended for five years for its connection to the event, which led to the arrests of five individuals — including an I’m Shmacked cameraman — and a letter from the school’s administration shaming the "embarrassing, dangerous and costly episode.” A January 2012 article by ABC News highlighted the implications that appearing in such videos may have on the intoxicated students, to which Toufanian responded: “At this point, if they don't think we're drinking in college, that's a bit naïve." Whether or not I’m Shmacked is politically correct is independent of the socio-cultural impact it has had on social media, pop culture and the college search process. Through exposing the presumed taboo culture of drinking, drugs and dumb antics that take place at colleges throughout the nation, Ray and his team have created a new resource for high school students beginning their college search journey. A refreshing change of pace from the conventional college ranking systems, I’m Shmacked has grown from a mere novelty to a nationwide movement for curious teenagers. As for Ray himself, he says to forget the likes of U.S. News & World Report. “They don't know what they're talking about.”

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

MUSIC

Christian music scene makes headway in 2013 Despite being uncharted territory for most listeners, Christian music is attracting more fans with unique sounds

Susan LLoyd/Titletrakk.com

Evalyn Crystal/Aquamoon.blogspot.com

From left to right: band members Matt Hoopes and Matt Thiessen of Relient K, and Switchfoot perform some of their most noteworthy songs during their tours to Christian and non-Christian audiences alike.

By Emily Semba Spotlight Editor

Jeremy Camp

Album: “Reckless” Genre: Rock “Reckless” employs Camp’s classic rock sound, with empowering lyrics that challenge listeners to take action and be bold in their faith to God. “Reckless” is Camp’s ninth studio release, is ranked 31 and is the most sold album on Billboard 200. However, as audacious and compelling as the lyrics may be, Camp could afford bigger risk-taking in terms of musical technique, as the tracks all employ a similar overall sound and lack a fresh, unique use of beats and instrumentals. Similar Artists: Shinedown, Theory of a Deadman

Switchfoot

Album: “Fading West” Genre: Alternative Rock Switchfoot’s popularity dramatically increased after several tracks, including their hit “Dare You to Move,” was featured in the 2002 film “A Walk to Remember,” rocketing their music into the mainstream Billboard Top 20. Their latest album ventures out past their alternative rock roots with a more fresh, summer-pop beach vibe. The album shares the name with their documentary released last spring about the band’s passion for surfing, and makes use of inventive textures and techniques. The album experienced a mostly favorable reception, debuting at number six on the Billboard 200. Similar Artists: Foo Fighters, Counting Crows

Relient K

Album: “Collapsible Lung” Genre: Alternative Rock, Punk Pop This Grammy-nominated band has had two albums placed in the Top 15 of Billboard 200. “Collapsible Lung” is their seventh release. This album is a mishmash of musical styles, ranging from sunny piano ballads to a more classic punk and alternative sound. Though the album has received criticism for being lyrically shallow, with themes of one-night-stands, the bar scene and objectification of women, the songs reflect the brokenness and imperfection of today’s world, tied together by the last song of the album, which sings of “los[ing] sight of what might matter the most.” Similar Artists: Jimmy Eat World, Bowling for Soup

Hillsong Young & Free

Album: “We Are Young & Free” Genre: Electronic, Dance Pop This vibrant, synth-filled live dance album bursts at the seams with energy, passion and an infectious beat, pairing uplifting lyrics with the sounds of mainstream electropop music. Even the album cover and music videos emulate the vibe of secular electronic artists, using colorful psychedelic images and artwork. Jonathan Andre of Indie Vision Music wrote, “boasting a great electronic keyboard and percussion musical backdrop, [these songs], with altered lyrics, could work quite well when played in a nightclub.” Their partner band, Hillsong United, is currently producing an album of EDM remixes of previous hits. Similar Artists: Icona Pop, Dragonette

Britt Nicole

Album: “Gold” Genre: Pop This album’s title track reached both the Christian and mainstream audience, gaining airtime on pop radio stations across the country. Nicole’s powerhouse voice is complemented by bubbly pop instrumentals and strong synth beats, with dubstep and rap mixed into select tracks, highlighting the vocals without overpowering the listener. The album has been well-received, peaking at number 41 on the U.S. Billboard 200 list. Andy Cooper of Cross Rhythms, a Christian radio station, said of this highly danceable album, “this is faith-filled pop bringing a bright hope and an infectious, youthful smile to everyone.” Similar Artists: Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson

Students look forward to upcoming music festivals Coachella and other music festivals utilize their own unique styles to make them suitable for all music enthusiasts By Parker Devine Senior Staff Writer

ccording to the lunar calendar, 2014 is the year of the horse. Apparently, it is also the year of ridiculous music festival lineups. Coachella, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, Firefly, Electric Daisy Carnival, Outside Lands and the Governor’s Ball all have promising lineups featuring both mainstream and indie artists. Coachella will mark the first reunion of hip-hop duo Outkast since 2003, as well as ample more bands and musical groups that will perform on two weekends: April 11-13 and April 18-20. Along with Muse, Beck, Lana del Rey and too many electronic dance music (EDM) producers to name, Coachella will present Chance the Rapper and a variety of prominent artists, both old and young.

Many Paly students will be attending Coachella this year as well. With the second weekend taking place the weekend after prom, many students will flock to Indio, Calif. to celebrate the three-day celebration of music. “I’m stoked that I get to go to Coachella this year,” senior Audrey DeBruine said. “I’m pretty excited to wear [my] flower child outfits and to hang out with my friends. I guess I’m excited about the music, too.” Thousands of others and several Paly students will be joining DeBruine, but even more Paly students will be able to go to Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco in the summer. The lineup for the festival is set to be announced within a couple of months from now, but the festival has been confirmed to take place on Aug. 8-10.

Unfortunately, only a few of these festivals are geographically accessible for Paly students. Outside Lands and Coachella are the only music festivals that are close enough to Palo Alto for Paly students. The others, although also boasting incredible lineups, will not be attended by more than a couple of Paly students. Junior Luke Schroeder hopes to attend the popular Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Del. “If I’m able to go, I can’t wait to see Outkast, the Arctic Monkeys, Griz and Portugal the Man,” Schroeder said. Firefly will host a wide array of genres including hip hop, indie rock, 90s rock and pop. Festival-goers will be able to experience musicians like Weezer, The Foo Fighters, The Arctic Monkeys, Outkast and Portugal. the Man.

Andrew Sternfield/ The campanile

Coachella brings young adults together to celebrate a multitude of music styles.

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

LIFESTYLE

Men’s fashion steps back in time

Second Semester Seniors speak the truth

Retro-styled pieces such as bow ties, suspenders, straight edge razors, other 20th century trends make return to center stage By Coby Parker Staff Writer

n many ways, culture is cyclical, and so the return to popular approval of old-time male fashion trends — the bow tie, suspenders and the safety razor — could see a greater growth in the coming years. The bow tie was a prominent fashion symbol in the late 19th century and the early 20th century in the United States. First created by the Croatians to hold together the tops of shirts, the bow tie was mainly replaced by the necktie in the late 20th century and the early 21st century. Now, mainly among the younger generation, bow ties have become a fairly popular fashion symbol, able to portray a fun, alternative style while also creating a more formal look. According to sales associates at Brooks Brothers at Stanford Shopping Center, the item has seen a recent upsurge since the release of the blockbuster historical film “The Great Gatsby,” as the main characters are seen wearing bowties on multiple occasions. Junior Josh Kaplan likes to wear bow ties because of their look, the alternative style it portrays and the fun of learning to tie them. “I wear bow ties when I’m trying to have a relaxed yet formal look,” Kaplan said. “The fun of bow ties is that you can choose among many different designs while still having the signature look. Another great part is pulling the tie out at the end of the night which gives a very casual look.” Another new — yet antique — trend has started to emerge in the fashion world: suspenders. The old and classic look, which has been in and out of popularity in the last century, has had a recent surge in popularity following the success of business-oriented movies, such as “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Junior Sebastian Poupin has noticed that suspenders have become more popular in the “hipster” movement, which features old fashion elements in order to be counter-culture.

By Will Mendenhall and Michelle Yin

Conner harden/the campanile

A man walks past The Art of Shaving, a store at Stanford Shopping Center that sells old-fashioned straight edge and safety razors, one of a handful of century-old fashion trends that has experienced a modern resurgence. “I’ve seen a lot of hipsters wearing suspenders,” Poupin said. “It seems to be becoming more popular in American culture, with this movement and also its portrayal in movies.” The third and final classic trend which has seen a recent resurgence is the shaving devices that were replaced by modern cartridge razors. The straight razor and the safety razor have seen much more popularity in recent years, with a new store in Stanford Shopping Center — The Art of Shaving — a chain created almost exclusively for its sale. The straight razor is merely a blade with a handle, which is put on the face at an angle which creates a very close shave. The safety razor, on the other hand, is shaped much like a

cartridge razor, yet is very sharp and also used at an angle to the face. Alongside these, the use of a shaving brush and traditional shaving cream has also resurfaced, as it creates a more comfortable shave as opposed to shaving cream in cans which prevents close shaves.

The fun of bow ties is that you can choose among many different designs while still having the signature look. Josh Kaplan Junior

Junior Nate Jacobi uses safety razors because they produce a close

shave and allow him time in the mornings, which he appreciates. “The nice thing about safety razors is the process,” Jacobi said. “From creating the shaving lather with a brush to inserting the blades into the razor, every step is necessary and the entire system is really fun to do. I feel like I’m living in a different century.” Gary Porter from The Art of Shaving has noticed customers buying more straight and safety razors. “I think there’s been a surge in [straight and safety razor] use,” Porter said. “The people that come in here are old guys and young guys, it’s not just one set demographic. Everything is cyclical and things come and go, but the Internet has definitely helped to grow its popularity.”

Mardi Gras: king cake, crazy costumes French festival celebrated in both traditional, unique ways

Mardi Gras-goers celebrate the festivities on the streets of Boston.

By Catherine Yu Staff Writer

n March 4, people around the world gather to engage in Mardi Gras with family and friends. Mardi Gras is a French

Courtesy of Boston Life

translation of “Fat Tuesday,” the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the Christian season of Lent, where people partake in a ritual fasting. Lent begins on the following day: Ash Wednesday, which fell this year on March 5.

During this wild celebration, people travel and gather in large cities like New Orleans to celebrate. Usually, Mardi Gras is commemorated with a parade of enormous floats. Party-goers put on exciting masks and extravagant costumes, sporting the colors of purple, green and gold. From the floats, people can catch beads and necklaces, adding to the elation of the festivity. A common treat that comes to mind while on the topic of Mardi Gras is the King cake. It came to be when three kings gathered, bearing gifts, to visit baby Jesus in the manger. Thus, explaining the cake’s name and as well as the baby figurine. Essentially, the cake is roundshaped, with a tiny baby figurine hidden inside. Whoever locates the baby in their slice of cake, is said to become the “king” or “queen” of the night. Due to its French roots, many French Palo Alto High School students celebrate it on a greater scale than the average student. “If Mardi Gras happens to be on a school day, then I would spend the afternoon making crepes that we would eat at dinner,” sophomore Emmanuelle Poivet, who has lived in France, said. “If it isn’t on a school

day, which often happens, I would go to the carnival in Paris and of course go home and eat crepes.” However, anybody can celebrate Mardi Gras, regardless of the festival’s cultural ties. People can dress in bright costumes and eat significant amounts of food. “Mardi Gras is great because you get to dress up and it is a day where we celebrate,” Poivet said. “It is so amazing that you can eat as much as you want without anyone to judge you. It’s also especially fun to watch the street carnival with the enormous floats and performers.” Additionally, Paly students enrolled in French classes participate in in-class celebrations. Many teachers prepare craft activities, such as maskmaking. For optional extra credit, they can even make the well-known Mardi Gras cake to share with their classmates. “Celebrating Mardi Gras during class is great,” sophomore Leili Najmabadi said. “I especially enjoy the food, the music, the decorations and learning more about French culture and history.” This food-filled holiday is an acceptable time to let go and enjoy time with family and friends.

IZZY’s Brooklyn Bagels All proceed will be donated to Right To Play Charity Session A (Girls) : June 2-6, 2014 Session B (Boys) : June 9-13, 2014 Session C (Girls) : June 16-20, 2014 www.lacessoccercamps.com arjun@lacessoccercamps.com

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3:25 p.m. It’s Friday afternoon and the sound of the school bell ringing fills Johnny’s ears with excitement. He then lounges around with friends for an hour on the quad, tossing around frisbees and footballs here and there, trying to figure out the plan of attack for the rest of the night. 4:25 p.m. Due to indecision and crushing laziness, Johnny and his friends find themselves kickin’ it in front of the TV, still planless. 8:30 p.m. After four hours of watching “Gossip Girl,” playing Grand Theft Auto 5 and growing boredom, Johnny is wondering where the party’s at as he texts everyone on his contact list trying to find the “open house.” 8:45 p.m. Johnny’s phone lights up with a text saying, “Dave’s parents just left. 1234 Churchill Road, blow it up!” They all hop in Johnny’s car without thinking about who the designated driver should be. 9:15 p.m. Johnny and his friends show up to Dave’s house, and as he opens the door, they get a whiff of pungent cheap beer and liquor. Unlike in movies where teenagers have to steal their parent’s alcohol, it is easily attainable courtesy of college friends, older siblings and fake IDs. There are about 35 people already in Dave’s house, and white ping pong balls are flying, getting bounced into red Solo Cups and passed around at a table along with four 30-racks of “Natty Ice” and a handle of Smirnoff. Music blasts in the background and excitement fills the air. Johnny and his friends play a friendly game of Rage Cage and proceed to get wasted. 11:30 p.m. After having participated in eight beer pong and three Rage Cage games, or drinking the equivalent of around eleven beers, Johnny is suddenly hit with the feeling of that fat Ike’s sandwich he ate for lunch traveling up his throat as he rushes towards the bathroom. He pushes the wasted girls out of the way, as he frantically searches for the toilet and only makes it about 20 percent into the toilet. Afterwards, he staggers and heads back out to the party to keep on raging. 1:00 a.m. “It’s the cops, get the hell out!” Johnny sprints towards the back of the house and shatters a large glass window as he hurls himself into the backyard and over the fence. In a state of impaired judgement, Johnny frantically jumps into his car as his friends pile in behind him, unsure of how else to run away from the cops and a potential minor in possession ticket. Slamming on the gas pedal, Johnny drives away in a drunken haze. He passes an intersection without stopping, and does not see an oncoming car, which he hits and injures a family including himself and his friends. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 10,322 people died in drunk driving crashes in 2012 alone. In situations such as the hypothetical one described above, where teens have not organized a designated drivers, they may often find themselves driving home drunk especially when parties are invaded by police because they see no other way of leaving. The Silicon Valley should consider re-opening their Safe Ride Club, because it would provide teens a safer way to get home when drunk and reduce the risk of injuring themselves as well as other innocent victims on the road.

Friday, March 7, 2014

LIFESTYLE

Insider’s Guide to Hiking Although the Bay Area is generally known for its high-tech industries, there are many places for tourists and locals to appreciate nature and escape our technology-filled world. Many students have begun to take more interest in hiking trips with friends and family because it is a great way to spend time with people you love and exercise in a beautiful setting. Here is a review of several places to hike in the Bay Area to encourage more students to go on local adventures.

Muir Woods

Owned by the City of Palo Alto, the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve is a combination of forest and grassland that is rich in wildlife. Arastradero Preserve is also home to Arastradero Lake; while swimming is not allowed, there are beautiful views around the area. It is also open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. Many people enjoy running at Arastradero Preserve because the trails are relatively flat. You can also volunteer on Saturdays to help restore the natural habitat by removing weeds and watering plants. It can get busy on the weekends, so it is better to go early in the morning. The best time of the year to go to Arastradero Preserve is in the spring when the grass turns green and the plants flower. Since there are not many trees, it can get very hot hiking in the summer.

2000

Mount Tamalpais State Park

The Muir Woods National Monument is located north of San Francisco. It is a great place to hike on a hot day under the shade of the Sequoia Redwood trees with a variety of trails to explore, from the easy paved roads to the narrow dirt trails for the more ambitious hikers. There is an admission fee of $7 for anyone over 16 years of age. After the hike, it is nice to stop at the Muir Woods Trading Company, a cafe that serves locally grown food. There is also a gift shop to explore at the entrance of Muir Woods. However, since Muir Woods is close to San Francisco, it can get filled with tourists and is busier than other places in the Bay Area.

Arastradero Preserve

The Campanile

Located north of the Golden Gate Bridge and with an elevation of 2,574 feet, Mount Tamalpais is the highest mountain in Marin County. The Main Hills are part of the Northern California Coast Ranges. At the top of the peak, there is a great view of Mount Diablo, the Farallon Islands, San Francisco and the East Bay. Because of the high elevation, the temperature of Mount Tamalpais is generally cooler than that of San Francisco. There are over 50 miles of hiking and biking trails, along with several areas to have a picnic. In addition, the East Peak Summit has a Visitor Center where guests can learn about nature, and the Gravity Car Barn, a museum to discover railroad history.

Windy Hill Foothills Park

Located in Los Altos Hills, Foothills Park provides a space for hiking, fishing, boating, picnicking, camping, playing and discovering nature. There are 15 miles of hiking trails and visitors are often able to see deer that come out at sunset. Those with fishing licenses may go to Boronda Lake to catch bass, catfish and sunfish. Foothills Park has several picnic tables in the center of the park, as well as grass fields where friends can gather for a game of football. In addition, between May 1 and Oct. 31, visitors can rent canoes and reserve camping spots in Towle Camp. The Nature Interpretive Center has directions and explanation to help visitors learn more about nature in the park. Although the park has many activities to do, there is a residency requirement, so the park is available only for Palo Alto residents and their guests.

Photos by

Jensen HsIAo

Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, located in Portola Valley, is a 1,335 acre regional park available for hikers, dogs, mountain bikers and even horseback riders. Although only the first mile is shaded by trees, there is wildlife such as deer, coyotes and snakes along the six mile trek to Skyline Boulevard. Many bicyclists enjoy the Spring Ridge trail, which goes from Skyline Boulevard to Portola Valley. Some trails have steep hills, which is great for the more advanced hikers who want a challenging experience. The best part of Windy Hill is the beautiful view of the Bay along the entire hike. It is also a great place to practice hang gliding, paragliding and remote control gliding if you have a special activity permit.

Text by Irene Ezran Design by Coby Parker

This edition featuring

Melanie Reilly and Isabella Saliba Long with The Campanile’s own Kian McHugh and Maya Kitayama

The Campanile: Tell us a little bit about your relationship on Snapchat. It has been said that you are best friends on Snapchat. How did that start? Who sent the first Snapchat? Isabella Saliba Long: I think I sent the first to [Melanie]. Melanie Reilly: Thinking back to that day, I think that Bella sent many to me. She spammed me with Snapchats. TC: Are they only selfies, or other types of pictures? ISL: Generally they’re really ugly selfies. Sometimes I’ll get bored and turn them around and show me watching TV. TC: What’s the wildest or craziest Snapchat you’ve sent to each other? ISL: There was one of her room covered in baby powder. MR: I dropped some baby powder in the room, and I thought it looked funny. TC: You guys are sophomores. Are you hoping to get asked to Prom this year by an upperclassman? ISL: Well from Melanie’s InFocus section, she does want to go to Prom. MR: I would secretly like to be asked to Prom. TC: If someone were to ask you to Prom, what type of person would you want that to be? MR: I don’t think I can reveal that one. I want him to be tall, multi-lingual and has to play badminton. ISL: They have to only speak one language, preferably not English. I like the language barrier. TC: What is your ideal Prom ask? Basically, how would you want to be asked to Prom? MR: It has to do with badminton. I think it’s a very admirable sport. There’s a lot of conditioning that is required. Some people can’t take it. ISL: There was one last year where they carried someone in. That was pretty cool. It has to be a set thing that you know you’re going to Prom with, like it would be awkward if someone asks you, and then you want to say “no.” TC: If someone was carried in to ask you to Prom would you say “yes?” MR: If they played badminton. TC: Are you trying out for badminton for this season or next year? MR: No, I wouldn’t. TC: Do you think that the sophomore class is better than the freshman class? MR: I love freshmen. I love the ones that are really nice and friendly. ISL: And share your love of sports. TC: What is the story with you and this freshman that you are talking about? ISL: Basically her and a freshman are very good friends now and they have overcome all conflicts. TC: What were these conflicts that you had with your freshman friends? ISL: Junior conflicts. TC: Describe your relationship with each other in three nouns. MR: Stoichiometry, badminton and freshmen. TC: If you were to introduce each other in front of a large crowd before giving a speech in one sentence what would you say about each other? ISL: This is Melanie, she likes badminton and is afraid of freshmen. MR: This is Bella, schoolgirl by day, stripper by night.

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

SPORTS

SoFTBaLL After victories early in the season, the Lady Vikes have high hopes for a successful season. C3

MAKING A SPLASH Sophomores Reed Merritt, Mimi Lin make a name for themselves as future leaders on the diving board as they enter the 2014 season By Jeremy Fu Staff writer

ophomores Reed Merritt and Mimi Lin were introduced to diving in very different fashions, but both have risen to the top of Palo Alto High School’s diving team. Last year, Lin won the girls crown at Santa Clara Valley Athletics League (SCVAL) De Anza League finals by scoring 462.20 points in her 11-dive program, ranking third in school history. At the same time, Merritt nearly broke the school record when he scored 504.70, narrowly missing Cole Plambeck’s (`13) mark of 505.65. “It definitely felt great to win gold at leagues last year, but missing the record by less than a point really annoyed me,” Merritt said. “Now I have something to strive for and I hope to shatter that record this year.”

If diving in college means getting tuition funds, then I’ll do it. Mimi Lin Sophomore

Lin began diving at the age of 12 after quitting gymnastics because of the sport’s extensive time commitment. Many times, gymnastics took more that 12 hours a week. “After quitting gymnastics I was looking for a new sport,” Lin said. “The doctor recommended swimming because my body was damaged from gym[nastics].” Much like Lin, Merritt started diving in eighth grade, also having left the sport of gymnastics, after However, he was not the one who chose to begin diving. “My mom enrolled me in a dive class after I finished gymnastics to get me back into a sport and I really liked it so I stayed with it,” Merritt said.

After starting the sport of diving, Lin soon realized that the sport melded very well with her gymnastics background, as seeing familiar flips and spins brought Lin back home to the days of tumbling in the gym. The freedom she lost on the ground could now be found over the water. “I saw people doing flips over the water and as an ex-gymnast I was like ‘Yay flips!’ so I talked to the coaches and got started,” Lin said. Palo Alto High School head swimming and diving coach Danny Dye has shown high regard for the abilities of Lin and Merritt. “I knew [Merritt’s] talent level when he came in,” Dye said in an interview with Palo Alto Weekly. “He’s got natural talent. [Lin] is so strong and athletic. They’re great athletes and they’re only going to get better. It’s great to build a program on [divers like them.]” Lin hopes to be an inspiration to the team and a good representation of the sport to everyone. While high school diving may not be considered a time-consuming sport; club diving outside of school takes a lot of training, and requires precision and skill. “Sometimes I wish they’d [Paly divers] work harder to prove that diving is a serious sport, but it’s a high school team,” Lin said. Much like other sports, diving is about discipline and dedication. Although daily practices may seem excessive to some, it has become normal to Lin and Merritt. For Merritt, the best way to improve is through repetition because “the more you do a certain dive the better you get at it,” Merritt said. Diving has taken Merritt and Lin all around the world. Every year both of them attend many diving meets around the nation with the Stanford Diving Club. At these events, Lin was able to create many memories with her team, as well as with other

divers. Being able to interact with divers from different states has given Lin many new perspectives on life. “I really liked nationals in Knoxville, Tenn., a few years ago because the pool was awesome and I did really well,” Lin said. “I had a good time there and made many memories.” Although diving meets give Lin a chance to show others her talent, it is not the reason she loves diving and has stayed with it for four years. “The best times are when we had a fun day at Stanford and got to do whatever and do crazy stunts off the tower and springboards or when I spend time with my diving peeps,” Lin, who also competes for the Stanford Diving Club, said. Both Merritt and Lin hope to dive in college. One of the biggest reasons Lin continues to dive, despite the large time commitment, is for a college scholarship. Many athletes are able to get substantial scholarships at colleges if they are willing to continue to do their sport. “Cole Plambeck (‘13) got a full ride scholarship to Duke [University] because of diving,” Lin said. “If diving in college means getting tuition funds, then I’ll do it.”

I hope to dive in college, as any athlete who enjoys their sport immensely would want to. Reed Merritt Sophomore Merritt mirrors Lin’s statement. “I hope to dive in college, as any athlete who enjoys their sport immensely would want to,” Merritt said. Merritt’s ultimate goal is to participate in the Olympics. “I would want go to the Olympics, but I still have a long way to go,” Merritt said. In the meantime, however, both are currently striving for gold as the Paly dive team begins its 2014 meet season.

Conner Harden/The Campanile

Sophomore Mimi Lin dives for the Stanford Diving Club, which practices at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center, in addition to Palo Alto High School’s diving team.

CHeer Paly cheerleading takes their talent to Nationals. C2

INSIDE

OLYMPIC RECAP

The Campanile shares its picks for the NCAA basketball tournament. C4-C5

What really happened at the Sochi Olympic Village... and more Olympic news. C8

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

Cheer team performs at Nationals in Las Vegas

Team placed third out of seven teams in its division, hopes to replace seniors, succeed next year By Tiffany Liang

Staff Writer

he Palo Alto High School (Paly) competition cheer team placed third out of seven teams at JAMZ Nationals this year in Las Vegas, an improvement from last year’s sixth out of seven team placement. “We practiced every Monday since September and as the competition neared, we added Friday practices and some morning and weekend practices so a lot of time and effort were put into our routine,” senior Shiri Arnon said. “We hit all our stunts, which was very satisfying and was a great accomplishment. . . overall it was extremely fun and an experience worth the time and energy,” Arnon said. The Paly cheer team felt satisfied with its performance this year. Coach Mandie Bowen feels as though last year’s placement motivated the team to improve this year. “We were disappointed with how we placed last year, and that really motivated the team heading into our competition season this year,” Bowen said.

“Everyone tried to put 110% into every full out [routine] to prepare for the stress of those two and a half minutes,” freshman Eve Merritt said. “The team really killed it at Nationals. . . we all went out on the floor and gave it everything we had.” Arnon, also satisfied with the team’s placement, said, “We were only two-tenths points away from taking second place and the first place champions have usually been in a higher division in years past, so it wasn’t too bad to come in behind them.” Junior Maya McAuliffe feels proud of the outcome of the competition. “I’m incredibly proud of how hard my team worked for this competition,” McAuliffe said. “For most of us, this was only our first or second time at Nationals and to get third when our coaches have only been here for two years is definitely something to be excited about.” “I couldn’t be more proud of this year’s outcome,” junior Ella Higashi said. “The fact that we placed and went home with the bronze is probably one of the best feelings ever . . . but next year we are getting first.”

courtesy of rt productions

Palo Alto High School cheer team performs a mid-air stunt. The team placed third out of seven teams in its division at the Las Vegas Nationals and hope to continue its success next year.

WINTER SPORTS RECAP Boys basketball ends season Girls soccer wins game, after successful run continues in playoffs Team lost to Menlo Atherton 43-51 last Friday night By Lauren Giurata Senior Staff Writer

By Alec Sullivan

Staff Writer

ith the 2013-14 league season having come to a close, the Palo Alto High School boys varsity basketball team ended with an 8-4 league record and a record of 14-10 overall. Although the team did not accomplish its goal of winning the De Anza Division, it finished the season strong in the last home game on Feb 21. against Los Gatos High School, securing the second place spot in the league. “Obviously, we hoped to win league, but nobody expected us to come close,” senior center Matt Fogarty said. “I am definitely proud of what we have done.” “Our biggest improvement over league season was team defense, and that’s something we can bring every game,” senior Noah Phillips said. A large number of parents and Paly students showed up to support the team in its last home game, which was also the team’s Senior Night. Despite being behind for most of the game, Los Gatos fought back in the fourth quarter. However, the Vikings pulled out a win with a final score of 54-52. “I thought we played pretty well...although we were a little sloppy on defense and rebounding in the second half,” senior center Matt Fogarty said. In general, over the course of the season, Phillips says he believes the team accomplished a lot and played some great basketball. As the first game of the Central Coast Section (CCS) tournament approaches, Phillips says that the team is focusing on taking it one game at a time, winning as many games as they can and progressing as far as possible.

“We are all pumped to play in the last basketball game that will ever be played in the Big Gym before construction starts and it is torn down,” Phillips said. On March 1, Paly faced off against the Menlo Atherton-Bears in their second game of the CCS tournament. The Vikings lost 43-51 and will therefore not be continuing on to the CCS semifinals. Senior Keesean Johnson had 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss, while junior Kevin Mullin added 20 points. Paly was dominated on the boards by the bigger Menlo Atherton team, leading to many second chance points for the Bears. The team exceeded expectations at the beginning of the year and will have eight returning varsity players next year, when they will look to win the coveted league title before having to undergo more rebuilding.

Team looks to play Los Gatos in its next game on March 5 By Paul Mewes

he Palo Alto High School (Paly) girls soccer team finished its regular season with an overall record of 10-4-5 and a league record of 6-2-4. This record put the team in fourth place in the De Anza League, behind Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Gatos High Schools. There was not much to separate the top four teams: Mountain View High School’s team finished with 26 points, Los Altos High School with 24, Los Gatos High School with 23 and Palo Alto High School with 22. The fifth placed team, Saratoga, finished with just 12 points. “[Fourth place] doesn’t represent how good we are as a complete team,” senior captain M e g a n Tall said. “We are

clockwise from top right: courtesy of noah phillips and ahmed awadallah, andrew choi, conner harden/the campanile

Girls basketball season ends in semis

Boys soccer season ends

Youthful team looks forward to hopeful future By Seth Alston and Lauren Gargiulo

Team loses CCS match after quarterfinal win By Hillel Zand

Editor-in-Chief

fter being shut out in the second quarter, the Palo Alto High School girls basketball fought back in the second half to secure a 57-54 victory against Mountain View High School in the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division I quarterfinals on March 1. “It was basically the second half [when] we came back,” senior Hope Crockett said. “We picked up our energy level and just played some good ‘d’ [defense] and [shot the ball] a lot better. A lot of good ball movement in the second half. It was all the second half; we got the jitters out and the energy came together well.” Freshman standout Lauren Koyama, who has averaged 11.5 points per game this season, scored 22 points against the Spartans. Sophomore Maddy Atwater contributed 13 points.

Staff Writer

The 12-person team features ten underclassmen, many of whom were playing in their first playoff game. “They’ve all been handling it pretty well,” Crockett said of the underclassmen performance during the postseason. “I think the regular season prepared them. We play in a tough league and I think that some of the tough games we played in the regular season prepared us well for [CCS.]” The Lady Vikes faced off against North Salinas High School on March 5 in the semifinal round. After taking an 8-5 lead early in the game, North Salinas took advantage of Paly’s foul trouble and came back to tie the score at 17 at halftime. North Salinas went on to extend their lead in the third quarter and stayed ahead, ending the Lady Vikes’ season with a 51-41 victory.

just as good, if not better, than the teams that placed before us and we could easily have placed better. But a few games just didn’t go our way, for a number of reasons.” Bad luck rather than lack of skill kept the talented team out of the top three places, according to Tall. “The games we lost this year were all extremely close,” Tall said. “We have had bad luck with referee calls that could have gone either way, but went against us and led to goals for opposing teams.” Senior captain Sunny Lyu has a more positive outlook. “In some ways, [we deserved to finish in fourth, but in some ways, [we did not],” Lyu said. “We had bad luck with [referees] calling some game-deciding calls like penalty kicks, red cards and the disallowing of goals we scored.” The team may have been disappointed with its league results, but so far it has had much success in Central Coast Section (CCS) Playoffs. The team will face Los Gatos next, in the semi final on March 5. The team is confident about it chances to beat its rival and move on to the final. Tall expects that, if Paly beats Los Gatos, it will play Santa Teresa in the final. Santa Teresa upset Mountain View High School in the quarter final. Regardless of who Paly faces in the final, Tall is confident that the team can win. “We can beat any team if we play to our full potential,” Tall said. With CCS drawing to a close, any game could be the seniors’ last, and both captains hope that they can play in as many more games as possible. Regardless of what happens in CCS, the team hopes to continue playing at a high level next season. With only four seniors graduating, most of the team will return next year.

Staff Writers

he Palo Alto High School boys soccer team ended its season on Feb. 14 with a 2-1 loss to Los Gatos High School, leaving the team with a league record of three wins, five losses and four draws and an overall record of seven wins, eight losses and five draws. Despite their loss to Los Gatos, the Vikings managed to win their previous game against Fremont High School by a score of 4-3. This was vital in order for the team to stay in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) De Anza Division and not be bumped down to the El Camino Division, the lower league in which it competed in during the 2012-13 season. “I think we did pretty well considering we were in the lower division last year and we lost 10 seniors and eight of them started,” senior

goalkeeper Tony Maharaj said. “I think the new guys stepped up and helped us get fourth place.” The end of this season also marks the end of the Palo Alto High School soccer careers for seniors Cina Vazir, Neal Biswas and Maharaj. “[It’s] kind of sad to have finished my soccer career but overall it was a good experience, and I’ll miss the guys on the team” Maharaj said. With a young team this season, Palo Alto looks ahead to improve on its record next year, as well as to solidify its position in the De Anza Division. Potential leaders on the team next year are sophomore Reuben Kramer, and junior Fernando Rodriguez, who are both top scorers on the team. Freshmen Thomas Crouch and Jack Stoksik also have a chance to stand out next year during their sophomore campaign. “I think a big jump in ability comes between sophomore and freshman year, “ junior Wesley Woo said. “Our two freshmen have the ability to stand out next year.”

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

SPORTS

Softball team starts season with strong performances Players accredit opening victories to strong rapport with fellow teammates as new coach takes the helm By Hannah Nguyen Staff Writer

n their opening game of the season, which took place on Feb. 24 at home, the Lady Vikes faced South San Francisco High School and defeated them by a final score of 8-2. This victory instilled a sense of confidence in the team, which had already been inspired by winning one of two pre-season scrimmages. The intensity continued in the team’s second game on Feb. 27 against Mercy High School in Burlingame, where they took won by eight runs. Junior outfielder Maddy Jones noted that a strong relationship amongst the players of the team helped them win the game. “Currently we are coming together as a team,” Jones said. “If we continue to play as a team rather than individuals then I feel that we could have a very strong season.”

The intensity and level of commitment is not even close to last year’s lack of effort Casey Glassford Junior

The team was relegated from the De Anza Division to the El Camino Division in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) following a disappointing season in the spring of 2013 with a final record of three wins and 24 losses, but since then, the team has undergone key changes that will contribute to what the team hopes will be a successful season. “The intensity and level of commitment from everyone is not even close to last year’s lack of effort,” Glassford said. “Also, the senior class is doing a great job leading everyone on and off the field,” Glassford said. In addition, the team gives the new coaching staff some credit for

Keri Gee/the campanile

Junior pitcher and shortstop Casey Glassford takes a swing during a game. Former professional pitcher Bill Laskey is entering his first season as the team’s head coach. its early success. Bill Laskey, a former San Francisco Giants pitcher, took on the role as the team’s head coach, taking the place of former head coach George Marshall. “Obviously there is room for improvement, but we’ve made huge strides already with our new coaching staff,” Glassford said.

Boys tennis defeats rival Gunn

Jones also credited the new coaches for some of the team’s success. “The coaching staff [is] very supportive of us and there is a mutual respect between [the team and the coaching staff ]” Jones said. Many upperclassmen on the team noted that the strength of sophomore catcher Maddie Martinson and fresh-

man third baseman Teddie Stewart on the team will be key factors that might help the team succeed. “I think the team is doing great,” Stewart said. “We are a good team with good players. We need to focus and I think we will do amazing.” Glassford feels that the team has reached a point where they have the

potential for success that could carry them throughout the remainder of the season. “Overall we are now playing at the level that we always knew we were always [capable] of playing at,” Glassford said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season goes.”

Preseason injuries plague track and field team

Season opens season with narrow 4-3 victory Team looks forward to more significant meets down the road By Bo Field and Catherine Yu

Staff Writers

he Palo Alto High School boys tennis team expects big things in the upcoming season. The team participated in their first match against the Henry M. Gunn High School team. The Paly varsity boys tennis team defeated its rival 4-3 showing its resilience and ability to win close games when it is most crucial, something that is crucial in winning big games later in the season. “Gunn really gave us a battle today especially with their top three singles players,” varsity senior Niall Patrick said after the match. “They made it a very close match.”

Sophomore Ronak Baldua ended up in fourth place and senior Austin Leung in third. “Going further into the season one essential tool for high school tennis, that we will be looking to build upon is camaraderie,” Patrick said. “We’re going to take it one match at a time and put all our efforts in practice towards the next match.” “[Seniors] Jack Paladin and Aditya Mahadevan helped the team by winning a clutch match 6-3, 7-6 and first place in doubles,” Leung said. “We could have won a couple of more matches, but it was good to walk away with a win.” Paly looks to improve upon its strong start this season when it plays against Lynbrook High School next week.

By Mischa Nee and Lauren Klass

Staff Writers

alo Alto High School’s track and field season began early February, and coaches and athletes look forward to a successful season, but recently, the team has faced unexpected challenges: two of the team’s top long-distance runners suffered from injuries. Junior Lucas Matison was hit by a car and freshman Kent Slaney overtrained, fracturing his femur. “I might have shed a tear — and then broke my water bottle,” Head Coach Kelsey Feeley said of hearing of Matison’s injury. “I just feel terrible for the kid. He’s a junior, this is the year that colleges are looking at you, he was doing so well, his training was

going perfectly. Then this happened, for the second time this year.”

I might have shed a tear — and then broke my water bottle Kelsey Feeley Track and field coach

Matison is not expected to walking until May; however, Slaney has already begun training again and hopes to be fully recovered soon. All coaches agree that in order to keep hopes for both Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) and Central Coast Section (CCS) championships alive, new runners will have to rise to the challenge. Co-head coach Taylor Motts hesitated to name the team’s top distance runners, but Feeley identified junior

Aaron Chandler, sophomore Samuel Desré and freshman Naveen Pai. “They have a great coach, they are driven [and] they’ve done well in the past,” Feeley said. “I think they’re ready to step up to the challenge.” The first meet of the season is set to be March 13 against Henry M. Gunn High School. “I won’t be as good as I could have been at Gunn, but by the end of CCS I think I’ll be ready,” Slaney said. With the recent injuries, Motts looking past the Gunn meet. “It’s a big rivalry and I told the team that I’m not really concerned about that,” Motts said. “We’re thinking ahead of time. With the devastating news about Lucas, it’s kind of a big bummer. But we’re still looking ahead towards states and CCS and more important meets.”

Boys lacrosse team working hard in practice after strong tournament wins Wins against St. Francis, Los Altos and Archbishop Mitty during preseason highlight early season success for Vikings By Dami Bolarinwa and Nikhil Rajaram

Staff Writers

ollowing a triumphant performance in their first tournament, the boys lacrosse team is looking forward to an exciting season. In the tournament, the team won all three of their games against Saint Francis High School, Los Altos High School and Archbishop Mitty High School. “I was really impressed with how well we played as a team and our level of intensity,” senior Jordan Gans said. “There is still a lot we need to work on as a team in order to play at the level we are capable of playing at and there is a lot I need to improve on as well.” “We have been practicing hard, learning new plays and getting in shape,” Gans said. “Everyone is excited for our first game, and finally getting the chance to play another team at home. “Practices have been going well everything seems to be coming along just fine,” senior captain James Harrison said. “We believe we can win this

game like most games we play if we stick to our game plan.” However, injuries plaguing the team could be detrimental to the start of the season. Senior Zach Rizk will not play for the rest of the season following multiple knee ligament tears. “I still do expect the team to achieve the preseason goals [winning SCVAL championship] we set up,” Rizk said. “People will just need to step up and I know there are guys ready to do so. I’ll still be out there with them supporting the guys and doing whatever I can to help them out.” Though there were concerns about how the departing seniors would affect the team, the current juniors and seniors have eagerly filled their positions. “I think our team will be able to make it farther in the playoffs than we did last year,” Harrison said. “Losing Zach hurts our defense, but other guys should be able to step up in his place. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him. As a team our goals don’t change. It will be tough playing without him but we have a good team and I think we will be very competitive this season.”

Conner Harden/the campanile

Senior Zac Rosenbaum checks sophomore Cole Tierney as Tierney attempts to run past him during a recent lacrosse practice.

Friday, March 7, 2014

SPORTS

The Campanile

March M By Kevin Mullin

Staff W

As the college basketball season comes to a close, millions of March Madness brackets across the nation are filled out. Every year, 68 teams compete in a tournament that never ceases to entertain those who watch it. March Madness is the culmination of everything

Top Teams the tournament favorite. Arizona is another favorite to win it all, a young team led by the all around athleticism of Archbishop Mitty High School graduate Aaron Gordon and scoring of Nick Johnson. Arizona is also lockdown defensively, allowing only 58 points per game. T.J. McConnell provides veteran experience and outside shooting to the already dangerous offense. Coached by Sean Miller, the Wildcats have the firepower to make a deep run in the tournament.

Flops Duke is a team that makes the NCAA tournament every year. This year, Duke has a solid team, boasting a 23-6 record. While this record would indicate that the Blue Devils are ready for a serious run at the title, there are too many problems with the Duke team this year to consider them a contender. First, the Blue Devils suffered all six of their losses on neutral courts or at away games. This does not bode well for their tournament chances, as all games in the tournament are held at neutral sites. Secondly, Duke is ranked a measly 244th in defensive rebounding. This means that the Blue Devils are liable to be dominated on the boards, leading to easy points for the other team. Combined with their weak rebounding is the inconsistency of Jabari Parker. While Parker has shown that he can score in bunches, he has also shown a tendency to underperform in games where Duke needs him most. In a crucial loss to Notre Dame, Parker managed an underwhelming seven points on just two of 10 from the field. Performances like that should be enough to warn against the scary inconsistency of Duke. Creighton is a team that simply relies too heavily on its star player too have a legitimate shot at the NCAA title. Doug McDermott, also known as “McBukkets”, is a bonafide scorer and NBA prospect who has carried the Bluejays on his back for the majority of his career. However, a good basketball team requires more than one star. McDermott, who has been scoring over 25 points per game this season, is by far

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The current number one team in the nation, Florida, has exhibited complete dominance, losing only twice during the regular season — both times to ranked opponents. Head Coach Billy Donovan has led his team to two national titles in the school’s three championship games. The Gators are led this year by senior forward Casey Prather, who is currently averaging 15.4 points per game (PPG), and by redshirt sophomore forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who is averaging seven rebounds per game (RPG). As of right now, they are

the Bluejay’s best player. If he is stopped, the entire system breaks down as shown in a disappointing loss versus unranked George Washington. Creighton has shown the ability to beat the best teams in the country, but also to lose to some of the worst. We view Creighton as a boom or bust team, and you can’t afford to put your bracket hopes on a high risk team like this. Last year, the Shockers shocked the nation by making it to the Final Four as an underhyped nine seed. This year, it seems like the opposite is bound to happen. Wichita State has climbed the rankings to #2 in the country, despite the fact their best win came against a struggling Saint Louis team. The undefeated Shockers have talent, athleticism and size, but so does every other team making the tournament. Wichita State competes in a conference with a meager five teams over .500. Strength of schedule is extremely important and it seems that too many people have forgotten the level of competition Wichita plays against. Northern Iowa, Missouri State and Evensville are but a few of the low caliber teams Wichita State has whipped this year. None of these teams are even remotely respected for their basketball teams, yet ESPN experts seem to drool over Wichita’s undefeated record. Come March, Wichita will see some real competition that will expose the biggest flop in college basketball this year.

courtesy of bleacherreport.com

SPORTS

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Pac-12 Bears have shown an excellent offensive production. The Golden Bears have also been successful in being able to get many defensive rebounds to limit scoring from their opponents. If given a good section of the bracket, the Golden Bears might be looking at their own Cinderella story. Another Pac-12 team that will most likely make the tournament is Stanford. Having posted a solid 18-9 record so far, Stanford has the tools for a solid tournament performance. Competing against several ranked opponents, Stanford has proved that when they are focused, they can make anything happen. Additionally, the tournament will most likely feature both Colorado and Arizona State University, due to their impressive performances this year. ASU will be the fifth Pac-12 team to make the tournament, and will be featured most likely as a seven, eight or nine seed. The Sun Devils have performed well this season, but only time will tell about their ability to play under pressure in the tournament. Colorado has shown streaks of greatness, with their defeat of Kansas for example, and should expect to be between an eight and a 10 seed.

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The season is not over yet, but it looks as though four Pac-12 teams are going to make the tournament. Barring any crazy upsets, the Arizona Wildcats are hoping for an easy run to the Final Four. They have proven that they can hold their own against heavyweights, yet have had some difficulty, having lost to unranked Cal. The Wildcats know they cannot risk any upset losses, so they will surely be playing to their full potential during the tournament. UCLA is almost guaranteed second place in the Pac-12 behind Arizona and will be seeded somewhere between fifth and seventh. Having lost games to top ranked teams and non-tournament bound teams alike, UCLA might not be looking at a very long stay in the tournament if they continue that way. Cal will most likely be seeded in the higher single digits this year and looks poised for a long, deep run. Their several losses have been to ranked teams. However, Cal has also had several impressive victories, one of which includes a buzzer-beater to defeat Arizona while the Wildcats were ranked number one in the nation. Led by senior point guard Justin Cobbs, the Golden

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The Campanile

Dark Horses Although this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bracket will be full of perennial powerhouses, there is still room for underdogs. Among the likely lower seeds, Harvard has performed very well in the difficult Ivy League. Led by junior Guard Wesley Saundersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 14.3 PPG, the Crimson are looking to continue putting up a great number of points during the tournament. Following their first round loss last March, New Mexico State hopes to continue this seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success and attempt to get deeper in the bracket this year. Even though they are most likely going to be seeded in the double-digits, both Vermont and BYU have the talent to pull off a major upset and destroy any bracket.

The University of Virginia is possibly the least hyped title contender in the country. The Cavaliers possess a balanced attack led by a six-foot six-inch sharpshooting senior named Joe Harris. Harris provides more than just leadership, as he averages over 11 points per game and is shooting 42 percent from behind the three point line. Playing in a very difficult league, Virginia has already clinched the ACC title with a win over number four ranked Syracuse. Currently riding a 13 game winning streak, Virginia has proven time and time again this season it can compete with anyone in the country, so look for the Cavaliers to make some serious noise in March.

courtesy of roanoak.com

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

SPORTS

Girls swimming and diving season begins Informal meets give swimming and diving teams valuable practice for upcoming league meets in regular season By Stephanie Cong

Staff Writer

oth of Palo Alto High School’s girls swimming and diving teams have started off their seasons with low-pressure home meets. A swimming tri-meet took place on Feb. 28 and the swimming and diving Paly Spring Invite will take place on March 7 and 8. Even though the weather during the tri-meet was poor and wet, and the team was missing a few swimmers, the girls swim team was able to win the meet against both Menlo School (124-41) and Menlo-Atherton High School (99-65), to start off the season with a record of 2-0. “Overall, I think the meet went very well,” senior swim captain Karina Goot said. “Even though it was rainy and windy, everyone stepped up to the challenge and swam their best. We were swimming with a partial lineup, as some of the girls are competing at a meet in Texas, so I was very happy with how we did overall.” The tri-meet on the Feb. 28 was a successful start to the season, but does not count towards the league title the team is hoping to win back from rival Henry M. Gunn High School. “This meet doesn’t count towards leagues,” sophomore varsity swimmer Emily Zhang said. “But it is helpful just for everyone on the team to see where they’re at.” Although the team performed well at the meet, Goot knows that there is more the team can do to further improve its times. “After this meet, we are looking to improve on stroke, and continue working on technique, starts and turns, because that’s where we can drop more time,” Goot said. Swim practices have been going smoothly, but getting increasingly rigorous as the season progresses,

zoe tiereny/The campanile

The girls swimming team starts the season off on a high note with two wins against Menlo School and Menlo-Atherton High School. The tri-meet did not count toward the league title, which Paly hopes to reclaim the league title from crosstown rival Henry M. Gunn High School, but is a good indication of the season ahead. with daily afterschool practices and up to three morning practices a week. Like many other Paly athletic teams, the girls swimming team is hoping to bond throughout the season, beginning with dressing up in costumes on days of meets. “Varsity girls are going to wear flannels because our coach, Danny

[Dye], has been wearing them a lot lately,” Xu said. The girls teams will both compete at home during the Paly Spring Invitational on March 7 and 8. Similar to the tri-meet, the meet will be quite informal, and will not count towards the leagues, but will be a good way to ease into the season.

“The meet isn’t a high pressure meet, and should be just a nice [introduction] to the season,” senior diving captain Phoebe So said. The diving team’s performance at the Paly spring meet will be an indicator of what the team should focus and work on before they begin swimming in postseason meets.

“We should all try our best and it’s a chance for [Coach] Danny to see where we are and how we should prepare for the rest of the season,” So said. The teams will compete in their first league meets next week Homestead High School, swimming on March 13 and diving on March 14.

Intramurals should be offered as alternative Less competitive, time-consuming option

By Julia Kwasnick

Owen Staiger/the campanile

Varsity starters Maya Benatar (8) and Paige Bara (5) chase down a defender in their game against Menlo-Atherton High School on March 5. Benatar and Bara are both returning players that look to lead the girls lacrosse this team.

Girls lacrosse sports experienced team An experienced roster denotes a successful season ahead By Tiffany Liang and Nikhil Rajaram Staff Writers

he Palo Alto High School girls lacrosse season has just started, and kicked off the season on March 5 at home against Menlo-Atherton High School. Compared to last year, the team has a much smaller group of novices and many returning players, so they are looking forward to a stronger team. An abundance of inexperienced players plagued the team last season, so players are looking forward to having a more skilled team.

“This year we only have eight players who are new to the sport as opposed to having a majority of last years team being new so we’re hoping to have a stronger team than we did last year,” sophomore Christina Park said. “As of now we’re missing our goalie, who is still in CCS [Central Coast Section playoffs] for soccer, but I think that we’ll get by.” The team is also anticipating a successful season regardless of the fact that junior varsity and varsity will be sharing one coach, Jamie Nesbitt, following the resignation of junior varsity coach Leah Boyll. “Ideally, we would have liked a JV coach but we usually all practice to-

gether as a program anyway so we’ll have to make it work,” senior Ami Drez said. “It’s definitely harder this year coaching both teams, but our coach is handling it great and we have full respect and confidence in her,” sophomore Mikayla Spaizman said. “Our goal is to be undefeated this season and I think if we work hard, then we can accomplish that.” Sophomore Clara Chiu also praises the coach for her hard work in coaching both teams. “Jamie is absolutely amazing.” Chiu said. “She is so dedicated to the Paly lacrosse program and somehow makes it work.”

Sports Editor

f middle schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District offer intramural activities, then the high schools should as well. Intramurals provide an opportunity for students to participate in school sports without having to commit an excessive amount time to do so. The highly competitive and intense Palo Alto athletics culture makes it difficult for the students who are not savants of a sport to represent their school. With the exception of a few sports, such as track and field and cross country, all sports have a round of cuts to determine the team members. If a student wants to play school volleyball, but has not played on a club team since they were in elementary school, spending hundreds of dollars a season in the process, it is unlikely that said student will be able to play on the team (perhaps he or she will make the freshman or junior varsity squad as an underclassman, but making varsity is likely out of the question.) Thus, Paly should offer intramural sports, either during lunch or after school, for those students that

do not have the training to make a school team. Also, intramurals are less intense, as well as less of a time commitment, so students who already participate in extracurricular activities such as theater or debate are able to play sports. Students not being able to play school or club sports because of other, time-consuming, extracurriculars is an easily remediable problem; intramural sports would not have practice, and would require low levels of commitment. Students could show up when the activity was taking place, and play a relatively organized game. Some people do not like highlycompetitive activities, which is the reason why club and school sports do not appeal to them. Low-key intramurals would provide an opportunity for even the noncompetitive students to play a sports. Also, intramurals would allow people to test how much they liked a variety of sports, because it would be straight-forward to traverse between different activities.

The highly competitive and intense Palo Alto athletics culture makes it difficult for the students who are not savants of a sport to represent their school. Paly should provide school-organized intramural sports during either lunch or directly after school so that students who do not have time for a time-consuming school sport, are not highly competitive and are not highly-trained in specific sports can play.

Leonard W. Ely III

Serving local commercial and industrial real estate needs Phone: 650-255-3640 Email: lely@renault-handley.com

The Campanile

Friday, March 7, 2014

SPORTS

Boys swimming, diving start strong

Athlete

Team hopes to go undefeated this season, take down West Catholic League powerhouse “We are going to take down Bellarmine at CCS,” senior Ethan Look said. “It’s going to take a lot of work, but our team is more than capable.” Look is hopeful the success on Friday will energize the team. After the meet, he is confident the team will go undefeated in the league. “Expectations have not changed since the meet, if anything, expectations have risen because of our success yesterday,” Look said. “We have high hopes that everyone on our roster is going to take this immediate success as inspiration towards working harder on a daily basis.”

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Conner harden/the campanile

We are going to take down Bellarmine at CCS. It’s going to take a lot of work, but our team is more than capable. KERI GEE/THE CAMPANILE

Captain senior Omri Newman practices his butterfly stroke to prepare for the upcoming invitational meet this weekend.

By Jeremy Fu and Grace Kim

Staff Writers

fter a successful first trimeet on Feb. 28 against Menlo-Atherton High School and Menlo School, Palo Alto High School’s swim team has increasing confidence for a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) De Anza Division

and Central Coast Section (CCS) championship. While both Menlo School and Menlo-Atherton High School have had strong programs for the past few years, Paly has been extremely successful against them and wants to continue this throughout the season. Senior varsity captain Omri Newman is confident that the team will continue to follow the pattern of winning from previous years.

“My predictions for the season are that we go undefeated in league meets and go on to win the SCVAL league championship just like we have done the past three years I’ve been at Paly,” Newman said. Ever since the end of last season, Paly’s swimming and diving teams have focused on taking down Bellarmine College Preparatory at CCS, after Bellarmine’s 29th straight CCS title.

Ethan Look Senior

Newman mirrors Look’s remarks. “I think the team needs to continue working hard at practice just like we have been doing so far, and we will continue winning,” Newman said. While the team’s future is uncertain, Look is certain that they “just need to continue to work hard like we have been doing the past four weeks.” in order to win CCS.

Badminton season brings new challenges Moving up to higher league, different scoring format shakes up team during preseason By Jeffrey Ho

Staff Writer

he Palo Alto High School badminton team looks to continue their intense training as they prepare for regular season matches beginning March 25. The team has completed a long and tedious tryout process, and are now starting to train for preseason matches. Head Coach Wesley Hsieh is pleased with the new roster and hopes his players will work hard to get in shape. “We have a lot more people on our roster this year than expected,” Hsieh said. “This is due to the high number of outstanding participants who tried out this year. My hope is that we use [the preseason] to build on our foundation and get people back into shape.” Sophomore Eric Chiang thinks that with more practices and a stricter attendance policy, the team will be able to train harder and win more games. “We have many more practices right now, compared to last year,” Chiang said. “[The team] has a new attendance policy now — three tar-

Ahmed awadallah/the campanile

Senior Bryce Verplanke smashes the birdie at a practice before the season starts. dies and you’re off the team. With the team’s new rules, our discipline as a team will be better, hopefully that means more wins.”

The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) has adopted last year’s junior varsity scoring format to all of this year’s varsity matches.

Rather than playing each match as a best of three series to 15 points, each match has been reduced to one round played up to 21 points. However, despite Hsieh’s confidence in his team’s training, he emphasizes the importance of precision, especially given the new format of play. “The 21-point system affects training, as we do less physical [conditioning] now,” Hsieh said. “The biggest challenge for our new varsity players is to keep the shuttle in play. The game just got a lot shorter for those who cannot [do this].” Overall, Hsieh believes that given all the team and league changes this year, Paly’s overall outcome will be determined by the effort they put in from the start. “What we need to improve on is our accuracy and consistency,” Hsieh said. “These components will help dictate if we win or lose during the season.” The Vikings have recently played in a preseason game against Evergreen Valley High School. They begin their regular season at home against last year’s De Anza League champions, Monta Vista High School, on March 25.

Baseball remains hopeful after rocky start After two losses to open the season, team looks to bounce back in league play By Owen Dulik and Owen Staiger

Staff Writers

alo Alto High School’s varsity baseball has had a rough start to their season with two losses. The boys lost by narrow margins to both St. Ignatius College Preparatory, losing 3-5, and reigning Central Coast Section (CCS) champions St. Francis High School, losing 4-5. The run differences in both games speaks to the team’s potential for a great season, illustrating their ability to hold their own even without home field advantage.

Coach Raich does a great job preparing us to play guys who are supposedly better than us. I think it all comes down to executing in the games. Isaac Kasevich Junior

Junior Isaac Kasevich attributes the St. Ignatius loss to silly mistakes and missed opportunities. “We had two chances [to score] with the bases loaded and one out and didn’t get a run either time,” Kasevich said.

Paly also made five errors in the game, which gave St. Ignatius the edge they needed to win. Kasevich compares Paly’s performance against St. Ignatius with their performance against St. Francis, thinking the Vikings should have beaten St. Ignatius but are not overly disappointed with the St. Francis game. “[The St. Francis game] was not a loss that we should hang our heads about,” Kasevich said. Junior Walker Ritchie weighed in on Paly’s performance against St. Francis, one of the best teams in California. “We played a hard fought game and showed a lot of mental toughness as a team,” Ritchie said. Mental toughness is often what sets apart a good team from a great team in baseball and could be the difference between a win and a loss. The Vikings have more challenging games ahead as they face Junipero Serra High School, last year’s CCS playoffs runner-up, before the league schedule begins against Saratoga. Kasevich is confident in coach Erick Raich and his coaching abilities. “Coach Raich does a great job preparing us to play guys who are supposedly better than us,” Kasevich said. “I think it all comes down to executing in the games.”

KERI GEE/THE CAMPANILE

Junior Michael Pappas works on improving his pitching during practice.

This edition featuring

Andrew Cho with The Campanile’s own Seth Alston and Conner Harden

Sophomore Andrew Cho, who began swimming at Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics (PASA) at a young age, recently grabbed a Junior Nationals cut in the 200-yard breaststroke at the Speedo Championship Sectional swim meet. The Campanile: Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? Andrew Cho: I am currently a sophomore, and I’m currently 15-years-old. I swim for PASA and I also swim for Paly on varsity. TC: What’s your favorite food? AC: My favorite food, I would have to say Korean barbeque because I feel like it represents me ‘cause I’m Korean. TC: You were in Texas this weekend swimming at a pretty big meet. Why don’t you tell us a little about that? AC: The Speedo Championship Sectional swim meet in Texas at Texas A&M. It was basically all the fast swimmers through the nation swimming and competing against each other. Our PASA team ended up winning by a significant amount of points, and we we’re pretty glad about that. TC: How did you contribute to that win? AC: My 200 backstroke was my best contribution, as I went to the finals. I don’t remember what I got in the meet, but I know I placed 10th in the nation overall as a 15 year old. TC: How did you get into swimming? AC: Actually through my brother. He swam through high school, and my parents wanted me to follow in his tracks, and that’s also how I went to water polo too, but I had to quit last year. TC: What inspires you to swim? AC: I always had a devotion to getting better, and I want to succeed in my swimming career and also maybe push myself to maybe be recruited by colleges. TC: Is there anything else that you do for fun, besides swim really fast? AC: I would have to say hanging out with my friends. TC: How fast did you swim your 200? AC: I went a 1:45.8, and that was my fastest by five seconds. I dropped five seconds in that event for the whole meet. TC: How did you feel after that race? AC: It was kind of surreal, and it still hasn’t hit me that I got Junior Nationals because I didn’t know until like 10 minutes after my event when Andrew Liang came up to me and told me that I got the Junior National cut. I still cannot believe I got my Junior National cut. It hasn’t hit me yet. I’m pretty happy still. TC: Can you think of one phrase that encapsulates your whole athletic mentality? AC: Thank you based god. Stay based, stay rare. TC: Do you have any goals for swimming going forward? AC: I would love to get summer Junior Nationals, which is one step higher, and to get recruited to a college. TC: What’s the best part about swimming? AC: I like hanging out with my friends. I think it’s mostly the social aspect, and the feeling of being on a team. Being united. TC: Are you looking forward to swimming with Paly this season? AC: Yeah I am actually. I feel like it’s going to be a good season. I think it’s going to be fun.

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Campanile

OLYMPICS RECAP

SEX

OLYMPIC

By Arjun Parikh

in the

Senior Staff Writer

hree thousand of the most talented athletes on this planet at the end of a four year qualifying grind, and what you get is a “sex fest,” a term coined by U.S. Soccer Women’s National team goalie Hope Solo after the 2010 Summer Olympics in London. American target shooter Josh Lakatos, who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, spoke at length about what he had seen during his stay in the Olympic Village in a interview with ESPN. “I’ve never witnessed so much debauchery in my entire life,” Lakatos said. “The entire women’s 4x100 relay team of some Scandinavian-looking country walks out of the house, followed by boys from our side. Following the 2000 Olympics, Olympic officials placed a standing order for 100,000 condoms per Olympics, after 70,000 was not enough. In an interview with ESPN, Solo was by far the most forthcoming with details.

“I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open,” Solo said. “On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty.” Athletes have only recently become open on this issue, with past Olympians responding to questions from reporters with variations of “What happens in the Olympic Village, stays in the Olympic Village.” In an article for the Times of London, former Olympian Matthew Syed claimed sex was quite commonplace at the Olympics. “Olympic athletes have to display an unnatural ... level of self-discipline in the build-up to big competitions. How else is this going to manifest

VILLAGE

itself than with a volcanic release of pent-up hedonism?” Syed said. And according to psychologist Judy Kuriansky, who has attended multiple Olympics, sex in the Olympic village makes sense from a psychological standpoint. “You are psychologically turned to an earlier sense of camp or college. They sleep in these little bunks in suites with common areas. It lends itself to that kind of lifestyle,” Kuriansky said in an interview with ABC. “There is a sense that they are special. They are special” Not everyone agrees with what the majority of the media says about the Olympic Village. Some athletes, such

as cyclist Jill Kintner, feel the media does a disservice to the athletes who compete. “There are thousands of athletes who compete at the Olympics,” Kintner said in an interview with ABC. Everyone is there to put their best foot forward, but not everyone is going to medal and be super busy. Once the job is done, there are parties and celebrations all over the city hosted by sponsors or whoever to unwind a bit. The stress and pressure of the Olympics is unparalleled, so I think it’s normal to want to have some fun after the job is done.” Senior Lily Zhang, who attended the 2012 Summer Olympics in Lon-

don, was able to share first hand accounts of life in the village. “There were definitely parties at the Olympics, and since alcohol is technically not allowed inside the Olympic village, a lot of athletes went into the city for parties or the U.S.A. House, which was always very lively,” Zhang said. At the same time, Zhang says it might not be what it’s built up to be in the media. “As for sex, I personally don’t think it’s as crazy as the press blows it up,” Zhang said. It’s not like there are athletes just doing it in public or anything. It’s pretty private for the most part. However, Zhang confirmed that the press isn’t simply making everything up. “They do provide condoms and everything and another athlete told me they ran out when he went to go get some,” Zhang said.

WHAT DO WE DO NOW? When the Olympics come to a close, cities are faced with a dilemma: how to utilize their billion-dollar facili-

By Nick Sullivan Senior Staff Writer

osting the Olympics is a huge honor for any city and once assigned, the city spend years preparing for the historic games. By the time the games come around, people from all over the globe crowd into enormous venues to witness the top athletes of the world compete. However, after the closing ceremony, spectators and athletes return home, abandoning these gorgeous venues and leaving it up to city officials to determine what purpose the venues should serve from then on out. Beijing National Stadium, the location of the 2008 Summer Olympics, was built mainly for the purpose of hosting the event. The venue cost $428 million to construct and plans on the location of the arena were set as early as 2001 when China placed a bid for the 2008 Olympic games. During the Olympics, The Beijing

National Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletic events and the football final. Today, the stadium does not get much use outside of tourism, which does draw 20,000 to 30,000 people a day. Aside from hosting a few soccer games and concerts, the stadium has gotten almost no use and it costs $9 million to maintain a year. Due to the lack of use, the paint has already started to chip in some areas. Olympic Park in Salt Lake City, Utah was one of the many venues built to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. Plans for this venue were announced in 1990 with Salt Lake City bidding to host either the 1998

or 2002 Winter Olympics. Once it was announced Salt Lake City did not win the bid for the 1998 Olympics, construction slowed and it was finished in late 1992. When it was announced the city won the bid for the 2002 Olympics, transformations began in the summer of 1998. Today the park serves as a training location for Olympic athletes and a recreational monument in the state. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, hosted both the 1932 and

1984 Olympics. After the 1932 Olympics, the Coliseum got a lot of use with Los Angeles Rams making it their home from 1946 to 1960. The Los Angeles Dodgers used it as their home ballpark from 1958 to 1962 until the Dodger Stadium was built. The Raiders also used it from 1982 to 1995. Today its main use is for University of Southern California football games. Aside from that, the Coliseum has hosted the LA Rising festival and Stadium Super Trucks. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. One extreme condition of a former Olympic venue can be found by examining the current state of the bobsled track.

During the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, the track was severely tarnished, especially during the Siege of Sarajevo where it was used as a makeshift field artillery. Almost all of the venues were damaged during the war, with the Women’s Alpine Ski area being the only unaffected area out of all previous Olympic venues.

After the closing ceremony... city officials [have] to determine what purpose the venues should serve from then on out. It remains to be seen what will become of the venues in Sochi, Russia. There are plans to have the media center transformed into a mall, but there is speculation that Sochi could become the next ghost city in the long line of abandoned Olympic venues.