Issue 1

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. XCVII, No. 1

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

Monday, September 22, 2014

Mobile home residents receive compensation after park closes Jisser family to shut down Buena Vista Mobile Home Park after two years of resistance from residents Susana cacho

staff writer

O

n Aug. 27, the plan made by the Jisser family to close down the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park was approved.

The Jisser family is the current owner of the mobile home park and has been trying to close down the park for about two years, but had been

unsuccessful due to the park’s residents making a plea to keep the park open and appealing Officer Labadie’s decisions.

The Buena Vista Mobile Home Park is the only mobile home park in the City of Palo Alto and is known for its affordable housing.

Buena Vista is a 4.5 acre mobile home park located on 3980 El Camino Real in the Barron Park neighbor-

hood. The park consists of 104 mobile homes, 12 studio units and one single family home.

Administrative Hearing Officer Labadie, appointed to conduct hearings, resolve disputes and issue decisions, upheld the Jisser family’s plan and issued a 22-page document in which he explained his decision. The document confirmed that the Jisser family completed all legal require-

ments needed in order to continue with the plan to close down the park.

One of those legal documents was the Relocation Impact Report (RIR), which gave the approximately 400 residents an estimate of how much money they would be compensated with after their displacement.

The RIR had gone through a few alterations and revisions before it was approved by Officer Labadie.

Mitchell Park Library finishes renovations, set to open in Dec.

After lengthy delay, committee sets date for opening ceremony Miranda chen

P

Coby parker/the campanile

Left: The exterior of the new Mitchell Park Library, featuring an entirely eco-friendly design. Top Right: The front entrance of the building.

Bottom Right: Multiple electric car ports are stationed in front of designated spaces, promoting environmental consciousness.

ready made plans for the upcoming years.

Ziesenhenne hopes that these numerous changes to the Mitchell Park Library will be able to attract new people in a variety ways.

“We have plans for an expanded International Languages collection and hope to become a hub for new residents in our community who visit here from other countries,” Ziesenhenne said. “The Teen Zone will

serve the needs of young adults in a new way, having computers and a comfortable space all for themselves.”

The Mitchell Park Library began construction in 2010 and was slated to open in the summer of 2012, but issues with its general contractor, Flintco Pacific, Inc., caused an extensive delay to its development.

The City issued numerous warnings to Flintco Pacific, Inc. about its missed deadlines, decline in staff and

faulty work, but its lack of adequate progress prompted the City to terminate Flintco’s contract and to hire Big-D Pacific Builders to finish the construction project.

Junior Charlotte Hall has been affected by the library’s multiple delays.

“I’ve been seeing the construction for years, and I’m glad that [the library is] finally opening because it

library

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New superintendent creates district goals, hopes to establish unity among schools McGee aims to improve communication, accessibility and consistency grace kim

editor-in-chief

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dami bolarinwa/the campanile

McGee looks to utilize his past experiences to improve the PAUSD community.

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buena vista

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Freshmen elect ASB officers Claire dennis

staff writer

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staff writer

alo Alto residents can finally mark their calendars for the much anticipated grand opening of the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center on Dec. 6.

The city’s largest library will be a two-story, 56,000-square-foot complex with amenities such as quiet reading areas, a large multi-purpose event room, flexible classrooms, a basketball court in the community center and a small restaurant run by Ada’s Café.

In addition, the $28 million facility is designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold, or higher, standards of excellence.

LEED is a rating system used by the U.S. Green Building Council to determine how environmentally friendly or “green” a building is.

The water efficient landscaping, innovative wastewater technologies and the on-site renewable energies are some of the features of the new library that qualify it for LEED Gold standards.

"We are all excited for this beautiful new space to open," Library Director Monique le Conge Ziesenhenne said in a press release. “It is gorgeous and our staff is working extra hard to get it ready for the public."

The library staff is enthusiastic about the new features and has al-

Residents will have 10-14 days to prepare comments and arguments in response to the decision given by Officer Labadie. Officer Labadie will issue a final decision within a month.

On May 12 of this year, city residents protested in opposition to the plan to transfer Buena Vista to the Prometheus Real Estate Group.

fter the departure of Kevin Skelly last spring, Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) welcomes Dr. Max McGee as the new superintendent.

McGee has accumulated over 40 years of education experience, ranging from substitute teaching to working as the State Superintendent of Illinois. McGee most recently worked at the Illinois Math and Science Academy doing research, where after he took a year off to start a private school just outside of Princeton, NJ before coming to California.

New to Palo Alto, McGee’s plans for the district revolve around three central ideas: improving both in-

ternal and external communication, ensuring equal access to high quality education and balancing schools’ autonomy with a district central vision.

One of his primary goals for the beginning of this year is to improve communication within the district and with the larger Palo Alto community.

McGee aims to establish a more dynamic communication network that entails methods such as establishing a larger online and social media presence, more frequent newsletters, initiating student forums and more effort to keep in contact with alumni. McGee believes this will provide more effective and transparent communication that will benefit

mcgee

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he Palo Alto High School freshman class elected Jaiveer Sandhu and Claire Billman as freshman president and vice-president, respectively, for the Associated Student Body (ASB) on Aug. 28.

Sandhu brings extensive leadership experience from participating in student government at Jordan Middle School. He was the only student to be an officer on the student council for all three years and served as class president in eighth grade. Billman, however, never took part in student government during middle school, a decision she has since regretted.

“I had decided in seventh and eighth grade that I wanted to be in a leadership position, but I never had the courage to run,” Billman said.

“Looking back, I was full of regret in middle school and I just decided, ‘Why am I full of regret in middle school? I’m only 14 years old.’ So I decided to run.”

Both Sandhu and Billman agree that class unity is a top priority for the freshman class.

“I want to make sure our class gets to know each other so we can be more united,” Sandhu said. “Every freshman should be comfortable at Paly and feel that they have an important place in our class.”

Sandhu believes he can increase class unity by adding more social events and spirit days.

“I want to push for more social events, like dances, movie nights and other social gatherings to get to know each other more,” Sandhu said. “I think spirit days would be a fun way to for all students to dress up and show their spirit throughout the entire year instead of just one week.”

Sandhu also wants to improve communication between students and ASB, ensuring accurate representation of the freshmen class and a diversity of ideas.

“Many times students will have great ideas but they don’t always share them,” Sandhu said. “I want to be able to communicate all [of their] ideas to the rest of the school.”

Billman is impressed with all the talent that the freshman class has to offer and hopes to unify them throughout the year.

“I don’t think there has been or ever will be a group of freshmen more talented than we are today, so smart, so funny and so kind,” Billman said.

Both Sandhu and Billman are excited to participate in Spirit Week and show Paly all the spirit that the Class of 2018 has to offer.

“One of my main goals as freshman class president is to increase class spirit,” Sandhu said. “The upperclassmen better not underestimate the freshmen, because we have a lot of Viking pride and spirit.”

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Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

NEWS

A2

NEWS TO KNOW

Construction blocks major parking area Alternate routes to Town and Country have been developed for Paly students

ASB eliminates dance, ups parking permit prices ASB hopes to better their spending and build more united classes Jamie Har

Staff writer

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Courtesy of flickr

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Dami Bolarinwa/The Campanile

Palo Alto High School began the building of its new theater, removing parking spaces

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Wary of U.N. action, Australia unveiled a 35-year plan to manage risks to the Great Barrier Reef.

Staff writer

D

ue to recent construction, Palo Alto High School students have found their route to neighboring Town & Country more difficult than in preceding years. Paly began its construction this summer which will eventually result in an expanded and improved Embarcadero entrance and a new theater. The construction engulfs the front of the school, and as students hustle to get their lunches, they are forced to go one of two ways through the left side of the school. Students choose between traveling along the

bike path, an overpass that runs alongside the Caltrain, or along the sidewalk following the construction zone that has been put the in front of the high school.

In the previous years, the construction of the Media Arts Center had temporarily closed the route along the bike path. Due to the more recent construction closing the most efficient path to Town & Country, it has been re-opened. The alternative path, the sidewalk along the construction, was constructed this summer to help relieve the congestion during lunch. This path leads to the stoplight originally used to cross Embarcadero Road.

PiE Donation values at a record $5.1 million PAUSD plans to fund the enhancement of electives Mischa Nee

Staff writer Courtesy of flickr

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U.S. expands anti-ISIS fight with new airstrikes.

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Kei Nishikori makes tennis history by becoming the first Asian male to ever reach a Grand Slam singles final.

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artners in Education (PiE) released a recent report detailing the most money ever donated annually to the Palo Alto Unified School District, $5.1 million, with a substantial amount going to Palo Alto High School.

PAUSD funds the expansion of its support structure for students and enhanced elective classes through parent donations to PiE. Principal Kim Diorio, in collaboration with representatives of PiE, decided to spend the $691,098 designated to Paly on reducing class sizes for certain electives and maintaining

the Teacher Advisor program, Link Crew and College and Career Counseling. In addition, Paly has hired three more counselors through donations to give more aid to students.

“PiE also allows us to supplement our Guidance program in ways that promote greater student and adult connections on our campus,” Diorio said.

As another mechanism of help, Paly administration has staffed a new writing center in the library for help with college essays or regular English assignments.

Finally, PiE paid for more periods of previously overfilled classes: biotechnology, computer science and graphic design.

New dean of students joins administrative staff New program gives teachers a chance to improve learning environment Carissa Zou

Staff Writer

A

dam Paulson, the official dean of students for the 2014-2015 school year, is the newest addition to Palo Alto High School’s administration.

Paulson was the previous principal of Arundel Elementary School in San Carlos, Calif. He will be working with administration, technology, after school sports and events, testing and student discipline.

In a farewell message to Arundel Elementary School parents, students and staff, Paulson expressed the bittersweet transition from Arundel Elementary School to Paly.

“With many years of teaching experience at the secondary grade levels, it has been my goal to return to the high school level as an administrator. The downside is that I will be transitioning from the role of principal of Arundel School,” Paulson said.

The administration is also promoting Teacher on Special Assignment

(TOSA) this year, so teachers have the opportunity to take on specific roles in order to improve the learning environment for students and staff on campus.

As this year’s Professional Learning TOSA, freshman English teacher Kindel Launer will guide teachers in incorporating technology into learning as well as achieving overall school goals.

The EdTech TOSAs, science teacher Mindy Steiner and career tech education teacher Paul Hoeprich, look helpful ways to integrate technology in an effective manner.

History teacher Eric Bloom, the School Climate TOSA, works to facilitate activities such as Not In Our Schools week, Unity Day and Camp Everytown in order to create a welcoming community. “[My role is to] act as a conduit for communication and coordination among the various groups to best support each individual group’s efforts” Bloom said. “[I hope to] build a strong school climate committee that is making a measurable impact.”

he Palo Alto High School Associated Student Body (ASB) is making changes to beginning-of-the-year traditions and parking permit prices in hopes of better spending of their money and stronger class unity.

The freshman president and vice president have also been elected and have joined the ASB team.

The Back To School dance has been a long-standing tradition at Paly but hasn’t always been popular. This year, ASB is taking more extreme measures than in previous years by canceling the dance altogether.

“ASB has decided to save the money that we would’ve spent on the Back To School dance and use it to make our more popular dances, such as prom and homecoming, even better,” Junior class President William Zhou said.

In addition to getting rid of the Back-To-School dance, ASB is increasing parking permit prices from $80 to $120 in response to the loss of parking space to construction.

Paly’s increased parking fee is still less than the one at neighboring Gunn High School, which has charged $125 per permit for the past 10 years.

According to Zhou, ASB also made this change “to lessen the profit loss and to encourage carpooling and biking.”

Though handling money more wisely is one main goal, ASB also plans to change other school traditions. As Spirit Week approaches, ASB is no longer enforcing a maximum to the number of participants allowed in class spirit dances.

“We decided to open up the Spirit Week dances in order to boost class unity and prevent the exclusion that has happened in the past,” Zhou said.

“With our new rules, we hope to encourage participation in dances while still maintaining the fun and excitement of the dances.”

Junior Vice President Eli Friedlander echoes Zhou’s enthusiasm about the change.

“I think that with the greater numbers, the synchronization aspect of the dance could look awesome,” Friedlander said. “The greater numbers has potential to be really great.”

On Aug. 29, the freshman class concluded its elections for its ASB officers. The president is Jaiveer Sandhu and the vice president is Claire Billman.

“I think they’re bringing great energy to ASB, and I’m excited to continue to get to know them,” Friedlander said.

Theater prepares for upcoming performances Theater will continue its outreach program Grace KIM

Editor-in-chief

I

n a continuation from last year’s outreach, Palo Alto High School’s performing arts program will be performing the children’s play The Stinky Cheese Man on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

The Stinky Cheese Man is a part of Paly theater’s outreach program they began last year meant to encourage students’ interest in theater at a young age. After the start of the program last year, with their fall production of Aladdin receiving positive reviews, they decided to continue their children’s productions. Produced by Paly students, this will be performed to an audience of 500 elementary school students in the beginning of October. The Stinky Cheese Man is a comedy based off the children’s book written by Jon Scieszka. It features characters from a variety of popular fairy tales, including Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk. Despite it’s children audience, this play is promised to have humor that all ages can relate to.

“The cast and crew have less than a month to put the entire show together, so during rehearsals they are moving really quickly to get it up on

its feet,” senior Hannah Nguyen said.

“It’s a pretty whacky show that has a lot of silly, funny things going on, and it’s something that everyone would love.”

Tickets for this production will be $5 at the door of the Haymarket Theater for both students and the general public. Theater will also perform a second fall play, The Server of Two Masters.

A modern adaptation of the Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters, this is written by Tony Kienitz, and experienced member of the Bay Area theater community, and who most recently was writer and co-director of Body of Water, an A Theatre Near U production.

The Server of Two Masters is to premier in early November. Students a part of the performing arts program are excited for this upcoming year, while members of the community are encouraged to check out all of the theater productions throughout the year.

“The the rest of the student board and I are mainly looking forward to another year of fantastic theater,” Nguyen said. “We have great comedies coming up this year, and they’ll reflect the fun that we have making the shows.”

UPCOMING EVENTs SEPT

UC Application Essay Case Study

SEPT

Parking Enforcement begins

OCT

No School Enjoy!

OCT

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23

24

10

Learn how to write a college accepting essay.

No more parking in the lot, juniors!

Coby Parker/The Campanile

New dean of students starts this year.

The administration welcomes the new dean of students, Adam Paulson, and is promoting TOSA, a program that allows teachers to work in projects to improve the overall Paly ambiance.

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Learn more about your top choices!

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

A3

NEWS

NASA Ames Research Center to open campus

NASA plans to make their facilities open to the public for one day, inviting visitors to tour the grounds Jeremy Fu

Staff Writer

O

n Oct. 18, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center will open its campus for the first time since 1997, giving the public a chance to see the inner workings of the facility. The open house is part of the facility’s 75th anniversary.

“You can get a really unique aspect into NASA by coming to Ames,” Center operations director Chuck Duff said in an interview with the San Jose Mercury. “It’s really quite an amazing place for the wide variety, from aeronautics to space technology.”

Originally, tickets were free for the October event; however, all 120,000 general admission tickets were reserved within the first three days of their release. These passes can also be used for general admission. The gen-

eral admission tickets allow visitors to take a two mile self guided tour of the grounds, view multiple exhibits that showcase NASA’s space missions and view technologies that were invented at Ames.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to chat with Ames scientists and engineers at booths.

NASA is also releasing a limited amount of backstage passes for tours for each Thursday at noon until the event.

The backstage passes will grant visitors the opportunity to see certain research facilities such as the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel and the Vertical Motion Simulator.

The NASA Ames Research Center was founded in 1939. The center focuses on the construction of wind tunnels, using them for aerodynamics research.

The Ames Research Center leads mission operations for the Kepler, which is a space observatory that sur-

Mobile home park closure approved

Courtesy of Dominic Hart

The NASA Ames Center has given away 120,000 tickets to the public for tours on Oct. 18 in celebration it’s 75th anniversary.

veys the Milky Way for planets in the Habitable zone.

The Ames Research Center is also involved in several other missions including the International Space

Station, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer orbiter and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy research aircraft.

Information about these projects in addition to many of the other projects the Ames Research Center is involved in, will be provided at the open house.

Mitchell Park Library to open after four years of construction

Mitchell Park Library and Community Center grand opening set for Dec. 6 Student residents will be forced to move As the opening of the Mitchell Continued from A1 to study,” Code said. “It’ll be nice to out of the Palo Alto Unified School District Park Library and Community Center have new facilities.” has been a long wait,” Hall said. “It is frustrating that it hasn’t been open for a long time because now students have had time to adjust to not having a library close by,” Although the community has adapted to using other libraries during the renovations, sophomore Josh Code is still excited for the opening.

“I’ll go to the new Mitchell Park Library whenever I need a good place

The costly facility’s grand opening on Dec. 6 will be a day-long event, and all other branches of the Palo Alto City Library will be closed.

Before this main celebration, the City has planned a “Come Together” event on Sept. 27, which will feature a concert as well as tours of some of the new facilities that have been renovated, including the center’s public art, the El Palo Alto community room, the new Teen Center and Ada’s café.

approaches, the city hopes that the new community center will be a dynamic and vibrant place where Palo Alto residents can join together to enjoy the multitude of opportunities and services available to them.

“We know that the community has been waiting for this building and its services for a long time,” Ziesenhenne said. “Mitchell Park will be able to serve the community in an entirely new way.”

District under new leadership Dr. Max McGee replaces Dr. Kevin Skelly as PAUSD superintendent Continued from A1

Ella Mernyk/The Campanile

The Jassir family plans to close down one of the only affordable housing options.

Continued from A1

However, the group decided to drop the plan of buying the park. Since the terms of the purchase agreement between Prometheus Real Estate Group and Buena Vista are private, there is not a clear answer why Prometheus has decided to abandon the plan. It is unclear of what the space will be used for.

This mobile home park is home to students attending the schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District.

Fatima Lopez, a senior at Henry M. Gunn High School and resident of Buena Vista Mobile Home Park believes that the closing will impact her.

“Well I’m a senior at Gunn and I might be able to finish the year there and graduate but my younger siblings won’t be so fortunate,” Lopez said.

Lopez says the closure will greatly impact her and her family’s education.

“I have experienced studying at other districts and none are like Palo Alto. Our education is getting ripped out from our hands,” Lopez said.

Christina Spektor, a junior at Gunn High School, who has been living next to the mobile park, was shocked to hear about the closure.

“I was surprised, because they have been there for a while. It must be really tough for the students, because the school year just started,” Spektor said.

Spektor wondered if some of her classmates will have to switch schools.

“I don’t know where the people who are living there are going to go or whether or not their kids are still going to go to school here,” Spektor said.

An anonymous resident of Buena Vista expressed the uncertainty of his future.

“I’ll look for an apartment but the truth is I don’t know what I’m going to do,” the anonymous resident said.

individual schools as well as the larger community.

“It’ll entail common message points, delivered through multiple medias by multiple messengers,” McGee said. “I think individual schools do a good job. Both internal and external communication really enables us to tell our story, enables us to learn from each other.”

Along with better communication, McGee also aims to expand opportunities for students and ensure equitable access across all schools.

“To ensure that all students have opportunities and access to consistently high-quality education is essential,” McGee said. “An issue that we’ve had historically is consistency among schools, just trying to ensure that everyone has high-quality instruction, fair assessments and great opportunities to learn.”

Experienced with students pursuing opportunities beyond the classroom, McGee believes this is a frontier for the district to expand in and is among some of his goals for this upcoming year. Citing PAUSD’s high schools’ reputation for being very college-driven, McGee acknowledges this and adds this is not a finite goal.

“There’s some really cool things [students] can do, and so I realize that getting into college is important, but what matters to me is that you are ready for careers that don’t exist,” McGee said. “So what I’m trying to think of for the high schools is what kind of curriculum, instruction, opportunities can we provide, so that you’re ready to collaborate and com-

GRACE KIM/THE CAMPANILE

New superintendent Dr. McGee engages in conversation with senior Maggie Zheng.

pete internationally, so that you will make your own careers in your own fields, because just getting into college shouldn’t be a goal.”

We talk about getting from good to great, but how can we get from great to awesome?

Dr. Max McGee

PAUSD Superintendent Lastly, McGee plans to better link individual schools within the district.

By use of both an articulated collective goal and the support of individual schools’ goals, he hopes to better unify schools and foster a more effective relationship. McGee emphasizes though the importance of maintaining the diverse school character that has developed while still creating a better relationship between the district and the schools.

“There’s a culture in the district that every school is a separate en-

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tity and there’s so much autonomy that I think we lost sight that we’re also a district, and there’s a balance,” McGee said. “It’s how you balance a district vision, district strategic plan, district goals, this sense of a central mission and articulation along the way, and remembering that you are a part of a collective.”

McGee is excited to be in Palo Alto and even though these goals are intended for PAUSD, he believes that these are goals that all districts should strive for. Palo Alto is an incredible city for opportunity and McGee is eager to explore the talent here.

“We talk about getting from good to great, but how can we get from great to awesome?” McGee said.

“There’s incredible human resources [in Palo Alto]. There’s so much talent here that we can tap. Even in Chicago, there wasn’t the kind of human support, human resources, human capital, that we have here. Palo Alto has struck me because you can make dreams into reality, transform vision into action.”

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

NEWS A4 Zipcar coming to downtown Stoplights planned to Alternative car rental company expanding with 10 new vehicles

Current trio of traffic lights congest traffic

aiva Petriceks

Staff writer

Z

ipcar, an alternative to traditional car rental and car ownership has come together with Palo Alto to expand car sharing in the downtown area with the addition of 10 new vehicles located in four parking lots in the region. Zipcar announced its partnership with the City of Palo Alto on Aug. 27.

A membership is needed to drive a Zipcar. A yearly membership in Palo Alto is $25, with rates starting at $8.50 an hour and $74 a day. Other plans include a occasional driving plan, which is recommended for first time sharers, and a monthly driving plan, which is recommended for sharers who do not want to make a commitment. For avid sharers there is an extra value plan, which is perfect for sharers that know how often they’ll need a car.

According to zipcar.com, all rentals include gas, insurance and up to 180 free miles a day. Cars can be rented for as short as an hour as long as a week.

Zipcars can take about 15 cars off our streets and at the very least, seven.

Nancy Shepard Palo Alto Mayor

The company, which is based out of Cambridge, Mass., brings affordable and convenient options to those who don’t have a car. Members of the car sharing program can reserve a car online or via the Zipcar app.

Parking lots are scattered around cities where Zipcar is available. According to zipcar.com, to pick a reserved car, members hold their Zipcard to the windshield for a few seconds and the car will unlock.

When members are done driving their Zipcar they must return the car to the same reserved spot.

change on Embarcadero Chris Skokowski

Senior Staff Writer

T

he city of Palo Alto’s Planning and Transportation Commission is reviewing the section of Embarcadero between Palo Alto High School and Town and Country for possible adjustments.

The 1000-foot section is currently regulated by three traffic lights that often slow traffic to a near standstill.

Since the addition of the crosswalk near Trader Joe’s in 2009, the city has received many complaints regarding the bottleneck of traffic that forms during the morning and afternoon rush hours due to the three lights in close proximity.

Courtesty of Zipcar

Parking lots are scattered around the city and can be picked up at any time of day.

The cars will have designated spots in the Civic Center Garage (between Ramona Street and Bryant Street, Hamilton Avenue and Forest Avenue), Lot H (at the corner of Cowper Street and Hamilton Avenue), Look (at the intersection of Lytton Avenue and Waverley Street) and Lot N (on Emerson Street between University Avenue and Hamilton Avenue).

There will be a wide variety of cars, including a Toyota Prius, Volkswagen Passat, Ford Focus sedan, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra, Nissan Versa, Kia Soul, among others.

Palo Alto Mayor Nancy Shepard has high hopes for Zipcar in downtown Palo Alto.

“We [the city council] think it’s exciting as we begin to implement some of the traffic and parking reduction strategies for the downtown area,” Shepard said.

Zipcar will also bring a better experience for commuters in the downtown area.

“Zipcars can take about 15 cars off our streets and at the very least seven,” Shepard said. “[City Council] has been working to create a better experience for commuters on public

transit— or those that live downtown and don’t want to own a car.”

The car sharing company has been on Stanford University’s campus for several years now, with 53 vehicles available for use on campus.

“With continued success and a strong Zipcar membership base at Stanford University, our expansion into the downtown Palo Alto area gives our members even more access to a sustainable, convenient and costeffective transportation option,” Zipcar San Francisco General Manager Michael Uribe said in a press release on Aug. 27.

The addition of Zipcar to Palo Alto will increase the accessibility of the service to even more residents around the area.

“These new locations make Zipcar even more convenient and accessible to residents and students, which will help reduce demand for parking and overall congestion in the city,” Uribe said.

The idea to provide car sharing services within city-owned parking lots was recorded on Feb. 24 and the proposal was rewarded on June 23.

Zipcars are now available for use.

Palo Alto residents have repeatedly complained to the city in public letter, calling the section of Embarcadeo everything from “a bad joke” to a “nightmare.’’

In a report released Aug. 27, by the Palo Alto Transportation Commission, the city describes several plans it is currently considering for adjustments to the street. These changes range from simple additions of audio cues to walk or stop on the Trader Joe’s crossing to the removal of the current traffic light and crosswalk altogether as well as the construction of a new crosswalk on the existing intersection connecting the Paly and Town and Country parking lots.

With the new construction of walkways in the Paly parking lot and the increased frustration from drivers with the trio of traffic lights, it is likely that the city will opt to move the crosswalk to the main Town and Country intersection, connecting the new walking and bike paths at Paly to a pedestrian crossing.

Palo Alto residents have repeatedly complained to the city in public letters, calling the section of Embar-

cadero everything from “a bad joke,” to a “nightmare,” focusing their frustration in particular on the crosswalk near Trader Joe’s.

Critics of the pedestrian crosswalk to Trader Joe’s in particular have called it “unnecessary” due to the lack of students needing to cross for half of the day.

Students may have already noticed Paly staff directing them away from the Trader Joe’s crosswalk in the morning, an adjustment made to redirect the pedestrians in the morning so that traffic can move quickly.

The city has seen that by minimizing the amount of pedestrians using the crosswalk that traffic flows much more smoothly.

Plans to further streamline the street may also affect the Paly campus in addition to its students, as the city discussed the possibility of widening the street to accommodate for new turn lanes and the adjustment of corners to help the flow of traffic.

Adding an extra lane to Embarcadero would cut into Paly’s borders and could reduce the size of the parking lot. The parking lot and Southeast corner of Paly were also deemed dangerous by the committee due to the sharpness of their turns, forcing cars to enter the intersection before making their turns.

The report suggested rebuilding these corners with a larger radius in order to soften the sharpness of the corners and allow for smoother traffic flow out of the parking lot and onto Embarcadero. These proposed changes are likely due to parent and adult concerns, as students largely seem indifferent to changes to Embarcadero.

However, students would prefer the quickest route possible to Town and Country.

Marcelo Buxton, a senior at Paly who drives to school, did not see a benefit to the changes.

“Moving the [El Camino] crosswalk sounds like too much work, “Buxton said. “Just walk a few more yards to the crosswalk that’s already there.”

California relying on El Niño to alieviate drought Agricultural economic and employment decline due to the West Coast’s increasingly severe shortage of water Lauren Klass

News and opinion editor

L

ast year, California received the least amount of rainfall since it achieved statehood in 1850. Currently, the Golden State is in its third year of drought and conditions do not appear to relieve soon.

“California is short more than one year’s worth of reservoir water, or 11.6 million acre-feet, for this time of year,” meteorologist Brad Rippey wrote in a report released by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 100 percent of California was facing drought as of Aug. 28. As of Sept. 4, 58 percent of California is considered to be facing “exceptional drought,” considering that over 37 million people have been affected.

This year’s El Nino was expected to bring a good amount of rainfall to drought-stricken California. El Nino is a seasonal climate pattern that, depending on its strength, can bring impressive amounts of snow and rainfall to America’s West Coast.

However, due to elevating Pacific ocean temperatures, the chances of El Nino occurring this year have dropped from 80 to 60 percent since May. Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency and is urging state officials to take necessary actions to handle this drought.

Such actions include hiring additional firefighters, since a dry California leads to more wildfires. Though it is not yet mandatory, citizens are strongly encouraged to reduce their water usage.

The city of Palo Alto has implemented new water usage rules and though many Palo Alto High School students do not feel personally af-

Courtesy of world socialist

California is short more than a year’s worth, 11.8 million acre-feet, of reservoir water.

fected by the drought, many have taken some steps towards reducing the drought.

“To be honest, I have not been as conscientious about the issue as I should be, but I have definitely been wasting water less, turning the faucet off quickly, etc,” senior Sheila Subramanian said.

Junior Sean Jawetz has also been cutting down on his water usage, though he doubts the efficiency of his actions.

“To help combat the drought I’ve been shortening my showers,” Jawetz said.

California is the largest produce grower in the US and because of the drought’s effect on agriculture, economy will suffer.

It is very difficult for those who have not witnessed the impacts of the drought first hand to be able to understand just how bad the drought

is. This drought is expected to cost the economy $2.2 billion in lost jobs, crops, and other damage.

We pumped our own water from the river, and we ran out of water so all our crops and flowers died.

Bryn Sullivam Junior

“I lived on a farm over the sum mer and definitely felt the impact there,” junior Bryn Sullivan said.

“We pumped our own water from the river, and we ran out of water so all our crops and flowers died.

Now that I’m back in Palo Alto, I can’t really feel the effects here, but I try to be water conscious because I know how it is to be affected by it.”

courtesy of california climate and agriculture network

As of July 2014, every region of the state is in one of the three worst stages of drought.

Freshman Noga Hurwitz is optimistic, however, that there ways students and others can help reduce this drought.

“By spreading awareness and advocating for shorter showers, closing the tap when brushing teeth, reducing the times lawns are watered or transitioning to artificial turf, and hundreds of other small actions,” Hurwitz said.

The Central Valley will endure an economic loss of $1.7 billion this year.

The Central Valley will endure an economic loss of $1.7 billion this year.

The West Coast is home to more than 70 million people, and it is here that the effects of the megadrought will undoubtedly be felt first.

Furthermore, the implications are daunting for the national and global economy.

The Campanile

Monday, September 22, 2014

NEWS

A5

Robotics’ animation team creates new art group Paly robotics team incorporates new section dedicated to graphic design, storytelling, and sketching Rachel Farn

Staff Writer

P

alo Alto High School’s robotics team has decided to expand its preexisting animation group by forming a new art section within it in order to develop an understanding of art and to improve overall aesthetics.

Christopher Kuszmaul, the robotics team’s teacher and main mentor, was prompted to create the new art team after receiving numerous student requests and noticing a good display of student leadership.

“This change represents an ongoing organic growth of the robotics team’s development,” Kuszmaul said.

Headed by senior Griffin Bajor and supervised by graphic design and video production teacher Brett Griffith, the new team will be divided into four subgroups; animation, graphic design, sketching and storytelling. “[The robotics] team has extended its views to include a broader set of tools and skills,” Kuszmaul said.

With the addition of the art team, the robotics team will be able to achieve much more aesthetically.

Created by rachel Farn and Logo By Paly Robotics

Graphic design relates to things like the robotics team logo… animation relates to visualization and simulation of the physical processes of the robot

Christopher Kuszmaul Paly Robotics team mentor

“The purpose of the art team is [to] learn about art, fulfill team objectives in artistic competitions, [produce] artwork that supports the robotics team in terms of public relations, spirit and technical aesthetics and [educate] the general student population in the skills associated with the art team,” Kuszmaul said.

Working in unison with the web group, build team and Public Relations group, the art team will provide the robotics team with graphics for t-shirts, posters, banners, buttons and a website, as well as help pro-

The new art group of the Paly Robotics Team will assist in the team’s aesthetic aspects. This includes graphic designs for t-shirts, posters, websites, and publicity in general.

duce aesthetically improved engineering results.

Each individual subgroup plays into different aspects of robotics and has a variety of tasks cut out for it.

“Graphic design relates to things like the robotics team logo, animation relates to visualization and simulation of the physical processes of the robot, sketching is central to problem solving and prototyping in the design phase of robotics [and] storytelling connects to public relations, creation of documentation of the team’s processes and in establishing what more mundanely would be described as building process flow charts for team organization and mechanical and software design,” Kuszmaul said.

Griffith, an experienced graphic designer and video producer, will also provide insight and guidance for the robotics team.

“My general strengths as an educator are in storytelling, visual culture with respect to video production and professional-looking graphic design,” Griffith said. “I can help people with these things or point them in the direction of good materials.”

The art team will not only help to improve the current animation but it will also introduce the robotics team to the facets of art that can be incorporated into engineering.

“Robotics students are art students [and] art students are engineers,” Kuszmaul said. “Certain engineering efforts transcend functionality and become a valuable part of our sensory experience. I also hope that [robotics students] will see a similar result as [they] practice the artistic elements of [robotics in engineering courses].”

At the same time, the new art students will be granted multiple

opportunity to work with robotics students.

Robotics students are art students [and] art students are engineers. We know that certain engineering and scientific efforts transcend functionality and become a valuable part of our sensory experience.

Christopher Kuszmaul Paly Robotics team mentor

“[Art students] may learn that key elements of software and mechanical engineering can help them magnify the aesthetic of their work by increasing the precision, leveraging the tools and engaging the processes of science and engineering,” Kuszmaul said.

Most importantly, the addition of the new art team aims to further strengthen the robotics team’s long established philosophy.

“This ongoing change represents the continued long tradition of Paly robotics as a place where students exercise extraordinary autonomy in defining and running the team, coupled with an emphasis on the idea that everyone who walks into the robotics lab should feel welcomed, valued, safe and joyful,” Kuszmaul said.

The new addition to the animation sector of the robotics team includes an area for graphic design, sketching designing, and storytelling. Artistic students will now be able to contribute to engineering projects alongside the team’s animation group. Meanwhile, the robotics team now has the opportunity to improve the overall aesthetics of all the visual aspects of the team.

Flipped classroom teaching style introduced Physics Honors, among other courses, implements a new teaching approach that includes Blended Learning Nikhil Rajaram

and frees up class time for more labs and activities,” Vasudevan said.

However, supportive sentiments of the blended learning approach are not unanimous amongst all Paly students.

Staff Writer

T

his school year, the administration is introducing the “flipped classroom” to certain Physics Honors and Biology classes and modifying the dynamic of these classes to include blended learning.

Blended learning is a form of education where supplemental material is delivered to the students through technology.

Palo Alto Unified School District is increasing the presence of technology at several of its schools by implementing blended learning in subjects ranging from English to Math.

In a flipped classroom, students are required to watch lectures at home online, so that teachers are able to have more in-class interaction time with them. Students are then able to have one-on-one time with the teacher to ask questions and do practice problems.

Contrary to the traditional classroom where teachers lecture in class and assign homework for students to do in their own time, the flipped classroom aims to allow students to pace their own learning and give teachers more time to assist them.

Two Physics Honors classes instructed by Gul Eris, along with several Biology classes instructed

by William Erlendson and Mindy Steiner, are implementing the flipped classroom, having students watch video lectures at home and take online quizzes to confirm they have watched the lectures.

In the classroom, there is increased emphasis on in-class and laboratory activities. Over the course of the past year and last summer, 17

I think [the flipped classroom] is great because it gives students the opportunity to watch the videos and learn the material at their own pace, and frees up class time for more labs and activities

Arjun Vasudevan Junior

Nikhil Rajaram/The Campanile

Junior Adrian Wong works in his Physics Honors class, one of the courses that has adapted the new flipped classroom approach.

Paly teachers have undergone blended learning training and 15 more are scheduled to train this year.

Principal Kim Diorio is enthusiastic about this learning strategy’s deviation from the structure of the traditional classroom.

“I think [blended learning is] really great because it puts the student at the center of their learning and also allows students to pace the material in a way that’s a little more appropriate for them than a tradi-

tional classroom, where the teacher is just standing in front of the board and doing direct instruction,” Diorio said.

The implementation of the flipped classroom at Palo Alto High School has been part of a growing effort to merge technology and education.

“We’re really trying to get to the point where we have a device for every student and I would love to see in the next three or four years that

[students] bring [their] own devices into class,” Diorio said. “I think that’s just where we’re heading in technology and in the world.”

Junior Arjun Vasudevan, who is enrolled in a flipped Physics Honors class, echoes Diorio’s sentiments about the new blended learning approach.

“I think [the flipped classroom] is great because it gives students the opportunity to watch the videos and learn the material at their own pace,

Junior Adele Bloch feels that the flipped classroom is not beneficial to her overall learning experience. “[Because of the flipped classroom], I am forced to go learn a subject at home that I probably will not understand, and the following day I must implement the knowledge that I am yet to attain,” Bloch said. “I feel like I am not properly learning the basic knowledge when I teach myself from home and I often do not feel confident in the answers that I have with this new flipped classroom.”

Bloch went on to comment on the various benefits of the traditional classroom.

“I learn best when teachers specifically give me the information I must know,” Bloch said. “I enjoy learning during the allotted time period at school and I like having to figure out the problems at home based off of the knowledge that I’ve gained at school, not vice versa.”

The Campanile

Monday, September 22, 2014

OPINION

A6

Should teachers be punished for personal tweets?

A California teacher’s posts about her students on twitter caused controversy, raising questions of free speech and how much respect teachers should be required to give their students in their personal time

Jeffrey ho

online editor

Yes

E

ver since Twitter’s creation in 2006, the social media giant has accumulated hundreds of millions of users. For many, Twitter is the place for people to speak their minds, no matter what their mood.

The same may be said of Newark Memorial High School teacher Krista Hodges. Since April, Hodges has done exactly that — expressing her anger and resentment towards people on Twitter over a span of over two months. Tweets from her now deleted account, @kree49, did not specify any individual target, but consistently used hateful and potentially threatening remarks towards one specific group of people — her students.

For months, tweets such as “I already want to stab some kids. Is that bad?

19 more days” have floated around on her feed, until one colleague screenshotted her page and reported it to the Newark Memorial High School administration. Her punishment?

Hodges was recently disciplined with only a written reprimand and has apologized for her actions, as the Newark Unified School District had not previously established a policy to combat such behavior. Additionally, a police investigation regarding Hodges’ malicious messages on Twitter towards general crowds of students has now begun.

In this particular scenario, it is fair to question two things: why, from a moral standpoint, has the Newark Unified School District has issued Hodges with what really translates to only a sharply worded warning and why does Hodges still choose to teach high school students, given her two month-plus string of rants on Twitter that seem to show she would want otherwise?

Not many school districts establish teachers union contracts that enforce online safety and sanity due to its previously difficult nature. The same is also true of the Newark Unified School District, as there has never been an incident even remotely related to the situation Hodges finds herself in. As of now the written reprimand seems to serve as the only truly valid and legal justification for an offense that lacks a set consequence, according to Newark Unified

School District Interim Superintendent Tim Erwin.

Because of this and many other series of events across the nation, debates over free speech have sparked as the amount of questionable content teachers post across the nation has drastically increased over the years Twitter has developed. As cases of malicious threats have surfaced on the internet, it is time we really evaluate the extent of freedom of speech online, as cases of cyber threats and cyber bullying have risen at alarming rates. Despite the lack of documentation and reprimand for such actions, the recent incidents regarding Hodges’ tweets ought to be set as new precedent for the suspension and/or dismissal of a teacher.

It is important to note that Hodges did not show remorse of any sort directly after her first tweet. Frankly, she displayed no public concern of her tweets until she was notified that the tweets were inappropriate.

Although it is understandable if she were to delete her tweets within days, all she did in the weeks and months after was post more harmful tweets. Some of the tweets may not seem as alarming, such as “Ya know what sucks about summer school?

The kids I can’t stand, who failed, will be in that class. #SummerRuined”, but rather may be seen as a sarcastic, lighthearted tweet. However, to go as far as to say “So happy to be done w/ school for 10 days, but especially to be away from the ones who truly try my patience & make my trigger finger itchy” may be pushing the limit, as this may be and is interpreted by some as a legitimate threat to life especially given the numerous recent tragic school shootings across the nation. Although she has since apologized to the public and deleted her account, there still currently stands no guarantee that Hodges or any other worker will not physically lash out on other peers with weapons in real life.

Despite the lack of documentation and reprimand for such actions, the recent incidents regarding Hodges’ tweets ought to be set as new precedent for the suspension and/or dismissal of a teacher.

Considering others across the nation have been dismissed from their teaching jobs in school districts across the nation, it comes off as surprising to me as to why Hodges only received a written reprimand for her actions.

When a Pennsylvania teacher created a blog to insult her students, generally referring to them as spoiled, sneaky children, the courts ruled that her insults, despite being arguably less brazen than that of Hodges’, were not protected by the first amendment “because her comments were not a matter of legitimate ‘public concern,’

an oft-used standard in cases of free speech rights of public employees.”, according to the San Jose Mercury Santa Clara University law professor and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute Eric Goldman adds that whether or not Hodges was really joking around when she wrote her tweets, she has definitely crossed some sort of line.

“We all joke about the ways that we could maliciously behave in our jobs,” Goldman said in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News.

“That’s gallows humor. Going online gets problematic. With (Hodges) it was not just a joke, it was a running theme. At some point it crosses over from being a joke to a warning sign.

When it comes to government employees, we need to believe they are exercising their discretion properly because they are acting on behalf of the public.”

In comparison, if a student were to direct malicious threats at any individuals—even without naming specific names—or threaten to harass others physically, in person or on social media, consequences would include a minimum of a suspension and possible ACS counseling meetings; not to mention the possible criminal charges filed against such a juvenile.

For an adult to act this way against other students would prove more socially and ethically unjust, as not only would the adult be held to higher expectations, the criminal penalties would be even greater as well.

When it comes to government employees, we need to believe they are exercising their discretion properly because they are acting on behalf of the public.”

Eric Goldman

Santa Clara University We must also question why Hodges even wants to continue teaching in the Newark Unified School District, as she has expressed great disinterest to her students and tweeted as if she regretted her career path. Teaching is a career path often influenced by his or her admiration for the students in his or her classes, and because many may feel endangered by her presence, they may not view Hodges with the same prestige as she would be potentially hindered from being seen as a top notch teacher by these students.

In addition to this, her tweets tarnish the school district’s image, as it may be viewed as a district that does not necessarily prioritize student safety.

Such a security risk in public schools ought not to remain, and the most precautionary and reassuring means of action would be to either suspend or dismiss Hodges from the school district. If the district does not do this, more will follow in her footsteps.

Masha Konkov

Staff Writer

T

No

he Newark Unified School District is being criticized for the method in which they handled the punishment of high school teacher Krista Hodges after she posted aggressive and threatening tweets directed at her students.

Tweeting publicly under the name Mrs. Hodges, Hodges began to show her frustrations in spring of 2014. “So happy to be done w/ school for 10 days, but especially to be away from the ones who truly try my patience and make my trigger finger itchy,” Hodges wrote on Apr. 24. Later in June, Hodges tweeted detailing how she wanted to “stab some kids” and “dump coffee” on them.

After a colleague discovered the tweets and revealed them to the school board, Hodges was given a written reprimand but was not fired.

This story drew national media attention, and parents across the country argued that Hodges should have been removed from the classroom immediately. However, this situation is not only a legal issue; it also showcases the double standards in our education system and the disconnect from reality experienced through social media.

Most professions in which constant social interaction is required will cause the “professional” to feel anger and resentment towards his or her clientele from time to time.

When workers are “burned out” and overworked, even the most patient people will develop aggressive feelings.

Nurses and doctors get fed up with patients, and customer service representatives get tired of being overly nice to callers, so why aren’t teachers allowed to feel any irritation towards students? They should be, but our society has established that once someone receives a teaching credential, you are also supposed to be granted with unlimited patience and are therefore forbidden to ever express any difficulties you are having with students.

Hodges is labeled as unprofessional for her actions, but her negative feelings towards students are not abnormal. She simply resorted to social media to share her frustrations because she felt as if there was no other setting to vent. Parents have

numerous support groups available to help them release anger caused by their children, and the verbalization of their emotions prevents them from following through on any aggressive and angry thoughts. In contrast, teachers don’t have a similar outlet but have to deal with these same kids, who can be disrespectful and rude.

If parents’ expressing annoyance with their kids is justified and there are many safe places created to do so, then why are teachers, who are dealing with the same children, expected to keep everything inside?

“I would never touch a student,” Hodges said in a telephone interview.

“The tweets came out of frustration with troubled high school students who often bring outside problems into the classroom.”

What needs to be changed is not Hodges’ employment at Newark Memorial High School but the support system that is set up for teachers.

There needs to be a safe and private place for teachers where they can ventilate their feelings about students, which will help teachers release tension and allow them to be more relaxed.

The school district’s decision to keep Hodges is supported by her students. “She has always opened up her classroom to all kids of all shapes, sizes and colors,” Newark Memorial senior Tristan Mosier said. “Whenever a student had a problem, she was open to them.”

Where Hodges went wrong was not necessarily the context of her “joking” tweets but rather thepublic platform on which she shared her feelings. The advances of technology and social media move more quickly than society’s capability to change its understanding of what is appropriate to post and what is not.

“When people go online, it doesn’t feel like the real world; it’s almost an extension of their imagination where they can say almost anything they want,” John Suler, a specialist in cyberpsychology, said.

There needs to be a safe and private place for teachers where they can ventilate their feelings about students, which will help teachers release tension and allow them to be more relaxed Although it is true that in many ways, Hodges has not treated her students with the respect she should, that does not mean we should not show her any sympathy whatsoever.

Hodges will never be looked at the same by her students, fellow teachers or parents, but she as an individual is not what needs to be reevaluated.

This ideal that we have for teachers, in which they must respect all of their students even when they are acting up, is what needs to be reassessed.

Maybe we just all need a reality check that teachers are humans too.

Test questions should be discarded when missed by all Teachers should take fault when an overwhelming majority of the students miss the tested concepts students failed to grasp the necessary concepts needed to accurately answer that question, it is at the fault of the teacher, not the students.

Grace Kim

If the vast majority of students failed to grasp the necessary concepts needed to accurately answer that question, it is at the fault of the teacher, not the students.

Editor-in-Chief

I

have been confused by many things during my high school career: chemistry, boys, driving, just to name a few, but one thing that continues to baffle me is a teacher’s resistance when it comes to dropping test questions.

Most high schooler’s have had that experience. Your teacher is handing out tests and it seems like everyone missed that one curve-ball question, sometimes your teacher will even admit that the majority of students missed that question. It seems obvious to me that if the vast majority of

Of course, this argument needs to be substantiated, not only by the actual percentage of students who missed that question, but also by how the teacher presented the information. This doesn’t apply to plot-based reading quiz questions, important scientific theories, or information clearly expected and presented, but what I truly don’t understand is when teachers refuse to give up pointless or poorly-worded questions.

This is true especially for math.

The whole point of math is to teach problem solving skills and concepts

Coby Parker/The Campanile

Teachers are docking students points on questions where the majority of the class has missed the question.

that will be useful and applicable later in life. So why is my grade affected when my teacher decides to add an unreasonably difficult question to my quiz or test?

That’s what this whole issue boils down to, was the question reasonable to ask? If the concept was not emphasized in class, or just not generally understood, then I would hope that the concept was not vital to our understanding of the material, and if it

was, then this is an obvious flaw in teaching skills.

The argument especially applies to poorly-worded or confusing questions. If a student can’t easily understand what the teacher is asking then that is the teacher’s fault, which they should acknowledge. There’s no apparent gain from these types of questions, so when the majority does not understand it, the question should be dropped from the final grade.

Another aspect to this argument I have yet to grasp is when teachers justify this decision based on their grading system. Whether it’s based on points or percentages, teachers should be sympathetic to students, especially when they are the one’s at fault, instead of docking points.

One or two points should not determine your grade, but I’d still like an accurate representation of my understanding of the material.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

OPINION A7 Price rise at T&C due to drought is a wake-up call People should be aware of the reasons behind the higher prices. California is a drought and we can do more.

Rachel PRice

Staff Writer

T

his year, some Town and Country restaurants have increased the price of the lunch specials they offer to Palo Alto High School students due to the increase in food product pricing caused by California the drought. Due to these prices, Paly students should take more initiative to be environmentally conscious.

While this one dollar increase may appear to be insignificant, the long term consequences of these rising costs may eventually be devastating to the average Paly student’s lunch allowance. What I call “one dollar today broke tomorrow” is the ultimate effect of this inflation. The insignificant dollar that we pull out of our wallets everyday at lunch, will amount to $20 additionally over the course of a month. In a year, that’s nearly $180 extra lost on lunch.

As the drought continues, it will only raise food prices more and consequently force restaurant prices to increase again and again and again, until that $180 turns into $240 and that $500 turns into $1000!

Luckily for us, there are still some prices that satisfy the frugal Paly customer. Although the drought has raised the price of meat, dairy and produce across the board and has caused most of these restaurants to reevaluate their regular priced items, some restaurants have maintained

the price of their lunch special, while Belcampo Meat Co. have lowered their prices.

“We have competition here so we were trying to put [the price of the lunch special] at a good number so that they are going to want to eat here, so that way we are not taking a bunch of money out of their pocket,” Kiley Boetcher, the manager of Belcampo Meat Co., said.

Boetcher’s effort to satisfy his customers’ budgets has brought him more business. “[Belcampo’s lower prices] definitely attracted more customers, our line is getting longer everyday,” Boetcher said.

The fairly new Belcampo Meat Co. has a six to seven dollar lunch special for their regularly priced eight and nine dollar items. While their prices are still affected by the drought, the restaurant raises the meat they sell at their butchery on their own farm and therefore might not suffer as severely from the same price inflation that affects other restaurants who buy from separate food supplier.

[Belcampo’s lower prices] definitely attracted more customers, our line is getting longer everyday

Kiley Boetcher

Belcampo Meat Co. Manager By promoting local farms, we are not only helping the drought, but also lowering the carbon footprint made by the process of importing, therefore putting money back into our own pockets. Wow, saving the world doesn’t seem like it will be so hard after all.

Yes, the drought has affected us here in Palo Alto. Our lunches could cost more than they did last year and while buying lunch and stressing about fighting your way through the

Ella Mernyk/the campanile

Due to the drought, farming has become more expensive, resulting in higher produce prices and leading to higher lunch prices.

mob of students trying to get across the street, you may have to consider where you will get the best bang for your buck.

However, businesses and customers that are affected by the Town and Country lunch special price increases are only some of many affected by the drought.

The overarching problem of the drought in California has dramatically affected the price of food for people that have no other reliable food source. A 2014 N.B.C. article, that speaks about the “Hunger in America study” says “drought conditions have created hardship for the San Diego Food Bank and the 370,000 people it serves each month, particularly families in agricultural communities facing unemployment.” Wow, that one dollar extra for lunch doesn’t seems so bad now, does it? So why California? Does mother nature just hate us?

Well, the U.S.D.A. says that “Because California is a major producer in the fruit, vegetable, tree nut, and dairy sectors, the drought has potential implications for U.S. supplies and prices of affected products in 2014 and beyond.”

The broad nature of the drought, affecting the entire country which depends on California produce, will ultimately affects on the food costs for our entire nation, causing people who depend on low food prices unable to feed themselves, and people who can afford raising food prices continue to send more. If this continues, the effects will be astronomical.

On a similar note, the U.S.D.A. explains the raise in dairy pricing “The drought has the potential to increase the price and decrease the availability of alfalfa, the primary feed for dairy cattle, which could drive up fluid milk prices. Increases in the

farm price of fluid milk are typically transmitted quickly and efficiently to retail food prices,” the U.S.D.A. said.

This continuous increase of price makes some things that are so essential and basic in our everyday lives, like going grocery shopping or trying to run a business, a lot more expensive, complicated and stressful.

While we may not be able to make it rain like Lil Wayne, we have the power to improve the drought by being conscious of our individual water usage.

Little things like turning off the faucet in between brushing your teeth or showering for a shorter period of time, doing larger loads of laundry, or watering your plants rather than using sprinklers.

Imagine getting paid for helping yourself and your fellow Americans.

That sounds like an excellent deal to me.

Current participation system is not Apathy towards drought in California is not acceptable beneficial to students’ education To end this drought, we must act immediately

Current participation system takes away from valuable learning time and adds unnecessary stress on students

Antonio Kieschnick

Staff Writer

T

he use of participation points has gone on for a long time at Palo Alto High School, but now it is time for the use of this flawed system to come to an end.

The participation points system — where students are given grade points every time they contribute to class — does not encourage student participation and learning. In fact, it encumbers it, leading to students’ grades taking unnecessary, and usually detrimental dips.

Students would learn much more if, instead of dragging out the answering activity, the teacher would move on to the lessons and lectures more quickly.

Constant pressure to raise ones hand and contribute to class discussions for a grade piles on unneeded stress and worry. Having to think stress about raising your hand enough times to accumulate sufficient points is a completely pointless addition, especially in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, where students already have to think about staying on top of homework and keeping up with what is being taught.

If teachers still want answers on a question with multiple responses, they should just randomly pick on a student.

One example of this method is the one used by John Bungarden in AP U.S. History. He randomly selects a student’s name from a stack of notecards. This method is more effective, as a student does not have to be constantly thinking about contributing some occasionally useless piece of information to the class discussion in a bid to gain a few participation points and can instead think about the class material.

Having a class participation points system also means that a teacher must set out activities in order to ensure adequate opportunities for students to get participation points. For example, in AP French, students can receive points by providing the answers to homework questions.

Students would learn much more if, instead of dragging out the answering activity, the teacher would move on to the lessons and lectures more quickly.

This would, however, only work provided that the participation points system be eliminated, otherwise there would most probably not be enough time for all of the students to get their points.

As an alternative, the participation points system could also be reduced rather than being eliminated all together.

“I would make [the points necessary] less because 20 points is a lot, or [French teacher Carla Guerard] can increase the amount of opportunities to participate,” junior Song Leng , an AP French, said. “Although increasing the opportunities to participate would most likely prove counterproductive, reducing the points necessary and as a result the class time wasted could also be a viable option. In this way, the students would surely be able

to achieve a greater understanding of the material.”

Of course it could be argued that the participation points system can prove beneficial to class discussion.

“I think [the participation points system] does work, because it encourages people to speak out and share their ideas more,” Leng said.

Rather than contribute to class discussions, shy students would prefer taking a zero in their participation grade It is true that the system encourages class discussion, but what about those too timid to speak up in class?

Their refusal to contribute is not due to indolence, lack of knowledge or anything of the sort, but rather because they are shy. Forcing these students to participate in class can be detrimental to their learning experience. Rather than contribute to class discussions, shy students would prefer taking a zero in their participation grade.

It is true the participation points system serves as a way for teachers to gauge their students’ learning. However, an alternative route the teachers could take is to save time up for the end of the quarter.

For example, instead of wasting a large portion of time at the start of class, teachers could work their way quickly through homework. They could then use the extra time at the end of the quarter to give each student a quick five minute verbal exam.

Through this exam, the teachers would be able to see the proficiency level of each student without the use of the participation points system.

Ultimately, participation points are not beneficial. Rather, they are a hindrance to a student’s education.

The sooner this system is eliminated from our classrooms, the better.

Esther Doerr

Editor-in-Chief

G

lobal warming, also known as climate change, was popularized by Al Gore and has since gained the reputation of being one of the most controversial, polarizing issues of the 21st Century. It has polarized right from left and those who are religious from those who are agnostic or atheist.

Most of the data concerning global warming presented today shows physical data related to climate change, such as green house gas emissions and the melting of polar ice caps. However, the issue of climate change is not just physical; it also has a very real, non physical aspect.

The greatest threat to the future of environment is human mentality. The indifference of the majority is the root cause for many of the physical issues and effects of climate change.

Apathy: n. A lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.

Apathy is a disease that has plagued many people into taking a stance of non action, of thoughtlessness. Many who hold this position seem to be under the false impression that leaving the issue alone will cause it to solve itself or others that may solve it for them. However, this is definitely not the case.

In fact, ignorance and apathy are what created and expedited the issue in the first place. By rejecting science and remaining ignorant, we became apathetic towards the issue. We chose apathy instead of responsibility and

apathy in exchange for monetary gain.

A local, prevalent example of the apathy towards climate change is how Californians have responded to the drought. Though the state was only a year late to acknowledge this crisis to its full extent, the state has been experiencing water conditions that have been deteriorating for the past few decades.

The state’s drought technically began in 2012, yet legislative members did not truly address this as a State of Emergency until this past January, even though last year was California’s driest year since 1895. So how do I propose we tackle this widespread condition? Through education.

In society there is a filter. This filter screens for scary realities that surround us every day, and with this filter, there is no hope of progress when it comes to changing mentality.

Images and stories that evoke emotions such as fear or sadness have the ability to trigger changes of perspective, so in order to change the mentality of the majority to one of action, we must expose the reality and stop shading the truth and feeding the population a false sense hope and security.

For example, many conservative news organizations, such as Fox News, frequently offer the idea that global warming is in fact a natural phenomenon and not something that has been severely exacerbated by human actions. This theory is thrown around gives us a false sense of security and hope that we are not responsible for the current condition, that is natural, and that we do not have a responsibility to fix it.

I completely reject this belief.

Whether or not we would like to acknowledge the issue, it is happening and quickly because of us, and it is our mentality, along with legislation, that desperately needs to change.

Considering the situation we are now facing, ignorance and apathy are no longer viable options.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

EDITORIALS

A8

Minimum day for handbook and drill review should be improved

O

n Aug. 29, the typical Friday ‘B Schedule’ was exchanged for an alternative agenda that consisted of class periods two through six, each period lasting 45 minutes long, and released students early at 12:20 p.m.

The purpose of the minimum day was to prepare students and staff for emergency situations on campus — second period was used to practice a “Code Red” drill and sixth period was set aside for a fire drill. Additionally, the alternative schedule was created to allocate time for teachers to review the Palo Alto High School Handbook, go over a presentation on bullying and harassment and to publicize the newly revised, pilot academic integrity policy, “Restorative Justice,” with students.

Despite administration’s extremely legitimate reasoning for crafting such a schedule, a staggering number of students did not attend school that day, choosing instead to call in sick or cut and spend the day resting, studying at home or going on day trips with friends. Although the day was by no means optional, some students perceived the minimum day as purposeless, as they would be forced

to spend hours sitting on the football field. Many of those who did go to class found the information presented to be valuable but felt that the manner in which it was taught to be overly time-consuming, boring and repetitive.

The Campanile applauds Paly administration for its efforts in prioritizing the protection of students during on-campus emergencies and recognizes school climate Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) Eric Bloom for his efforts to improve the academic integrity policy and to expand the bullying and harassment policies to more thoroughly include and educate students on issues regarding sexual assault and consent.

However, we also believe that in future years, these drills and highly significant policies should be presented in a way that does not allow students to opt out. For example, a “Code Red” drill would be more effective if implemented during a class period on an average day, like in previous years.

In addition, a presentation on bullying and harassment would reach a greater number of students if added to an Advisory agenda. By integrating drills and presentations into

Athletes deserve to chose what uniform to wear

regular block days, students will be less inclined to voluntarily miss these crucial informational sessions.

Additionally, The Campanile believes that crafting an interactive and engaging lesson plan is key to grasping the attention of students and productively educating them. The slideshow Powerpoints used for the presentations on the academic honesty policy and harassment and bullying conveyed key information in a visually appealing manner, but the review of the handbook was monotonous, typically just a teacher reading out loud to their class for the entirety of the period. Instead, teachers could encourage discussions of the school policies in way that would educate as well as engage students. In addition, incorporating nicely designed, captivating slideshows or even hands-on activities could boost student participation and comprehension of campus guidelines and policies.

By applying these modifications, the administration could be more confident in student awareness. Consequently, students would be aware of school policies and would never be caught off guard were an emergency to occur.

I

t is commonly believed that all members of a sports team should compete in a uniform that is standard throughout the entirety of their group. Doing so builds uniformity, which helps teammates feel united and also allows them to be differentiated from their opponents. However, The Campanile believes that when an athlete’s personal beliefs regarding their own self confidence, cultural, or religious beliefs prohibit them from wearing the required uniform, said athletes should not be prevented from competing.

The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League by-laws require that each member of certain sports teams — including tennis, volleyball, and soccer — “must be outfitted for all league matches in matching team uniforms,” and failure to do so will result in the disqualification of the match or the ejection of any player that does not comply. We feel that student-athletes should not be forced to make a decision between having to wear tight or revealing uniforms that they are not comfortable in and facing disqualification from a competition.

All athletes deserve to have the same level of comfort in their uni-

forms, and this should trump the desire for sameness that consistent uniforms allow.

We believe that if an athlete finds league standard uniforms to be outside what they feel comfortable wearing, that student should be allowed to compromise with their coach and teammates in order to reach an agreement about their uniform, including that it matches the school colors. If a replacement uniform can be decided upon that satisfies the physical requirements of a sport and also allows for easy identification of the contestant then there should be no official grounds for the exclusion of a player.

We are not suggesting that sports teams be required to purchase new uniforms that meet the standards of a single player. Rather, The Campanile believes that the coach and athlete should come to an agreement for a low or no cost alternative that can be applied on an individual basis. This way the problem would be solved without financial burdens on already limited athletic budgets.

The Campanile wants every athlete to feel comfortable while playing their sport, even if this means wearing a different uniform.

California needs a stricter tenure policy

T

he California ruling regarding teacher tenure released this spring was appealed by California Gov. Jerry Brown on Aug. 29. This was the ruling made

by California Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu this June that struck down teacher tenure laws on the basis that they deprive students of their constitutional rights, especially for minority students.

The appeal came a few days after Treu finalized the court ruling that claimed teacher tenure violated students’ rights under the California Constitution by depriving them of a quality education, and disproportionately infringing on the rights of minority students. Treu argued that job protections for teachers were keeping poor teachers employed thereby compromising student access to an effective education.

The process of firing a poor, tenured teacher may take anywhere between two to 10 years and could potentially cost the school $50,000 to $450,000 or more.

Rolf Treu

California Superior Court Judge As students who are a part of this system, we have experienced this first hand and support Treu’s decision. Although eliminating tenure and job protections altogether may be too drastic, based on our experience with protected teachers, teacher tenure should be refined and at least made harder for individuals to acquire.

Based on our observation, some teachers can easily, and often do, show a lack of motivation to teach the class, resulting in not only unmotivated students, but also a poor, minimally taught class. And unfortunately, due to these job protections firing this teacher can take years and cost the school substantial amounts of money. According to CNN, Treu said that the process of firing a poor, tenured teacher may take anywhere between two to 10 years and could potentially cost the school $50,000 to $450,000 or more.

When presented with these facts, it’s no wonder that this system especially affects minority students. Poorly-funded schools would have no way of facing this kind of expense. If it could potentially cost a school district $450,000 to fire one teacher, imagine if a school had a handful of poor teachers — it would have no way of funding these staff modifications.

Teacher job protections serve their purpose and just as we have experience with poor, tenured teachers, we have equal experience with amazing,

devoted teachers. There just needs to be a reasonable solution midway between our current position and no tenure at all.

On this issue, California is a part of the minority of five states where all teachers are eligible for tenure after only two years of continuous employment, according to SFGate. This is in contrast to the majority of states, who require three to five years of employment before a teacher may be eligible for tenure. A reasonable solution would be to extend this period for California schools to somewhere around five years.

This should not be hard for teachers who should receive tenure. If they are good teachers they should be able to remain on staff for that period of time, in which case they have then proven themselves.

In addition we suggest not only reviews by their peers, but also by their students, current and former.

Through this process, teachers up for tenure would be evaluated by those whom they are actually teaching. In the end, a teacher’s performance is measured by what students can take away from their class. Interviewing past students would help to quantify this, while interviewing current students would ensure that this is still an accurate evaluation However these changes would not completely solve the problem. This wouldn’t be a complete way to prevent a decline in teaching if there wasn’t an easier way to fire poor teachers. This presents a conflict though as tenure serves to protect teachers’ jobs. By reevaluating this would ensure teachers are continuing to give students a high-quality education.

A reasonable solution for students would be to have reevaluations every ten years. This is not an arbitrary number, but actually what is required of teachers on the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Teachers that are members of the NBPTS are the best in the country, and basing our system on the NBPTS would thus reasonably improve our education system.

We don’t in any way want to detract from the effort that teachers give to us. We are so thankful that there are dedicated teachers who commit to spending their time teaching us. But we just want to make sure that professionals entrusted with the future of our nation continue to be qualified enough to fulfill their duty.

Good teaching is critical for the future of our country. That is not an option if we want to have a well educated population. We need high performing teachers in all schools, not just in Palo Alto Schools. We are grateful for the high performing teachers we have. All students should have this same opportunity.

“At least I can wear what I want”

Created by Bo Field

The Campanile Editors in Chief Seth Alston • Esther Doerr • Grace Kim Claire Liu • Coby Parker • Sarah Tayeri News and Opinion Editors Lauren Klass Lauren Gargiulo

Lifestyle Editors Paul Mewes Stephanie Cong

Sports Editors Kevin Mullin Owen Dulik

Business Manager Haley Fang

Online Editor Jeffrey Ho

Photography Editor Conner Harden

Staff Writers Dami Bolarinwa Galen Byrd Susana Cacho Miranda Chen Clara de Martel Claire Dennis Rachel Farn Bo Field

Conner Harden Danny Hammerson

Jeremy Fu Sara Gram-Knutsen Daniel Hammerson Jamie Har Angus Huang Antonio Kieschnick Masha Konkov Mischa Nee

Joshua Ng Rachel Price Nikhil Rajaram Bryce Rockwell Margaret Rosenthal Emma Scott William Shin Katya Sigal

Photographers

Zoe Tierney Ella Mernyk

Dami Bolarinwa Sara Gram-Knutsen

Chris Skokowski Noah Msith William Snodgrass Owen Staiger Alec Sullivan Jake van Zyll Catherine Yu Carissa Zou

Nicole Berry Danielle Bisbee

Advisor Esther Wojcicki Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to theeds15@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 email 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

Monday, September 22, 2014

LIFESTYLE

New gourmet meat restaurant opens in Town and Country Antonio Kieschnick

B6

Technology and Loneliness

N

obody likes being lonely. Humans are social creatures touch their presented selves and control what parts of them and community is essential—people need each other. people see online while also avoiding real-time interactions that Today, with advanced technology and extensive social make them feel vulnerable. networking, connecting with others is that much faster, easier “You can end up hiding from each other, even as we’re all and dependable. constantly connected to each other,” Turkle said.

Yet, according to the National Science Foundation’s GenPeople love being around others but are afraid of intimacy.

“Technology appeals to us most where we are most vulnerable eral Social Survey, “unprecedented numbers of Americans are … [because it gives] us the illusion lonely.” Duke University researchof companionship without the ers revealed in a study published demands of friendship,” Cohen in the American Sociological resaid. view in 2006 that “the number of The number of people who said they People convince themselves people who said they had no one had no one with whom to discuss that they can comfortably conwith whom to discuss matters [of personal importance] more than trol their relationships with their matters of personal importance] devices and keep all the perks doubled, to nearly 25 percent” more than doubled to nearly 25 between 1985 and 2004, while of real friendships when in fact, percent between 1985 and 2004 neither is true. To avoid becom“the mean number of people with whom Americans can dising vulnerable through close incuss matters important to them teraction, people end up hiding dropped by nearly one-third, behind illuminated screens. from 2.94 people in 1985 to 2.08 People all want to be heard, and in 2004.” listening is a fundamental part of any healthy relationship. However, text messages and chats have increasSo, if technology has seemingly allowed people to ingly replaced in-person or even phone conversations create huge communities of “friends” for themselves, when ranting to friends about struggles or thoughts. The audiwhy are they still so lonely? Could technology promoting social ence provided by technology, such as Twitter or Tumblr followmedia possibly be the problem? As it turns out, it just might be. ers, gives people comfort in a dependable, automatic group of Technology has revolutionized how people relate to each listeners. Because of this, people turn to technology for consolaother and self-reflect. According to TedX speaker and MIT Social Studies Professor Sherry Turkle, technology has cretion and to feel cared for and important, but this artificial conated “a new way of being alone together.” Although people are nection is “more like a symptom than a cure” for the underlying sending text messages of “I completely understand —I’m here disease of loneliness, according to The Innovation of Loneliness. for you!” and typing out their empathy to online friends, at the In searching for their identities, people often turn to technology to create a “self.” By using instant messaging, posts and same time, individuals are remaining within their own virtual statuses, a person can share his thoughts immediately as he has bubbles, ironically being isolated while still linked online. them. These shared thoughts then shape and define who the perThe modern, western world presents people with a selfconflicting ideal that both celebrates individuality and also son is. Turkle summarizes this phenomenon as “I share therefore discourages people from being too different, since differences I am.” Rather than a strong identity shaping what is shared, the can lead to separation, isolation and eventually loneliness. To shared thoughts become the building blocks of a technologyavoid being lonely, people use social networks and technology based identity. To feel alive, people fake virtual experiences and to increase their number of “friends.” However, though one emotions. To have a sense of community, they connect more and may have several hundreds of Facebook friends or Instagram more. All the while, they become increasingly isolated. followers, the maximum number of people a person is capable Sometimes being alone can be beneficial; when people are of intimately knowing is only around 150 members, according alone, they can reflect on their relationships, circumstances, to the video The Innovation of Loneliness (Shenkar College thoughts and actions most honestly. However, the issue presentof Engineering and Design, 2013) designed by Shimi Cohen. ed here is not about being alone; rather, the problems people face today are their inability to stand on their own It turns out that many of these virtual friends are not “real friends” at all. To create a stable relationship, a person without feeling lonely and their overdependence must be willing to go out of his way to have in-person on technology to avoid loneliness. conversations, which involve eye contact, voice intonaPeople have developed the false belief that tion and other physical senses that online interactions always being connected will make them feel take away. However, technology offers the ease of texless alone. They’ve put technology on a pedting silently from separate rooms and replaces the efestal and made it The One and Only Solution. fort, time and deep care put into active relationships.

But as Cohen sums up nicely in The InnovaPeople end up sacrificing true connections for a paration of Loneliness, “If we’re doxical self-actualization ideal by focusing on quantity not able to be alone, rather than quality. They give up we’re only going conversation and intimacy for to know how mere connection. to be lonely.”

Though striving for individuality, people simultaneously submit their identities to the power of technology. Humans love control — over where attention is put and over one’s perceived personality — and technology allows people to customize their lives. As shown by photoshopped photos, tweaked posts and long-planned texts, people get to edit, delete and re-

What makeup companies don’t want you to know Stephanie Cong

B2

INSIDE

Paly alumnus starts charitable clothing brand

B3

Tiffany Liang

B6

Company creates nail polish to aid rape prevention

Lauren Gargiulo

News and Opinion Editor

Bryce Rockwell

Staff Writer

Recently, a team of four college students at North Carolina State University created a seemingly revolutionary product named “Undercover Colors” — ­ a nail polish is packaged as a tool to combat sexual assault and protect women against date rape.

When the nail polish comes into contact with any date rape drug, the product will change color. This allows the nail polish wearer to stir her drink with her finger to see if her drink has been tampered with. A date rape is defined sexual assault when the rapist and the victim know each other, and are, perhaps, on a date. A date rape drug like Rohypnol, Xanax or GHB is used to intoxicate a victim in order to allow the perpetrator to perform drug-facilitated sexual assault.

Though this product was made with good intentions, it fails to address the root problem of sexual assault. Yet again it puts women in a position where they are forced to take precautionary measures to ensure their safety. In response to the product, Jessica Valenti, writer for The Guardian, wrote that “anything that puts the onus on women to ‘discreetly’ keep from being raped misses the point. We should be trying to stop rape, not just individually avoid it.”

Some critics have even referred to the polish as a “modern day chastity belt,” yet another measure women must take to prevent being raped.

This product is like the many “prevention tips” that have long been said to young women — “Don’t drink too much,” “Make sure to never be alone at night.” Similar to these tips, Undercover Color tells women they have to protect themselves from rape, as opposed to addressing ways to stop rapists from raping.

Another problem with this product is that it only helps those who normally wear nail polish — women.

Many forget that men also make up a portion of the nation’s sexual assault victims and are vulnerable to being drugged in a date-rape situation. Because the product targets solely women and is gender specific, it excludes an undeniable population of potential assault victims and cannot be considered a viable, inclusive solution to the rape crisis.

Instead of constantly protecting women from rape, we should be tackling the issue head on. Society needs to start holding rapists accountable for their acts, administering just punishment and start treating them like the criminals they are. We need to teach men and women the definition of consent and under what conditions one can legally give it. Today’s world is not an ideal place when it comes to sexual violence. Although products like “Undercover Color” have the potential to save many women from assault, we must not get distracted from the real problem at hand. It is not a woman’s job to protect herself from rape; it is society’s job to teach its citizens not to rape.

New futuristic video game released Bo Field

Monday, September 22, 2014

B2

U.K. verses Palo Alto high schools

LIFESTYLE Cosmetic industry hides more than flaws Harmful ingredients in cosmetics often unknown to users Stephanie cong

lifestyle editor

sarah tayeri

editor-in-chief

Over the summer, while on vacation, I had a last minute opportunity to leave my family in France and take a transnational train ride to visit an old friend in England—and of course, I took it.

While the trip getting there was itself full of confusion—having no cell or internet service and having to make 8 train stops was pretty chaotic—it was the wonders of the British schooling system that had me asking the most questions. While I was visiting, my friend was still attending “college”, the UK equivalent of high school, so I got to go with her to school for a few days. The following is just a short list of some of the stark differences I observed between her educational experience and ours: 1. The “Smoking Cage”: This had to be addressed first. Let me begin by telling you that this school was beautiful—it was on a hill, surrounded by grass fields and had beautiful brick walls. One thing disrupted its beauty, and it was probably the first thing I noticed when we walked onto campus: a large chain-link fence surrounding an ugly asphalt blacktop, packed with students and a cloud of cigarette smoke hovering overhead.

I learned from my friend that the school is not legally allowed to prohibit cigarettes from campus, so the most the school could do was restrict smoking to a specified area. Upon closer inspection, there was a fair number of teachers inside the cage as well. Definitely not something one would find in Palo Alto.

2. Sophisticated British style: I’m not saying good fashion is hard to find at Paly, but I think it is fair to assume that many of us have adopted a comfort-over-style approach. This is definitely not the case in England.

For boys, it was button down shirts, sweaters, which are called “pullovers” in the UK, and even a few pairs of suspenders, or “braces”. Girls wore pleated skirts, tights and a lot of winged eyeliner. I also found everyone’s hair—boys’ and girls’—to be perfectly styled. The whole school was dressed to impress, and they definitely did.

3. Assessment: At Paly, and most high schools in the United States, final grades are given based on homework, quiz and test scores, class participation, presentations etc; most of our semester finals have some weight, but not a lot. In the UK, class grades are almost entirely dependent on end of the year finals - at minimum, worth at least 75 percent of final evaluation.

Tests are rarely given throughout the year, and when they are they’re used as benchmarks to test yourself--they almost never count towards students’ final grade. Homework is not assigned, rather it is “suggested” - and it is not scored. To say the least, we are under a lot less stress during finals week than British students are.

4. Class schedules: Math, Science, English, History—the four core subjects that every high school student gets more than enough of by graduation. Although it’s unlikely that you have a place in your heart for each of these subjects, we are all still required to take all of them in hopes that it will give us a more “well rounded” education that we will come to appreciate someday. In England, students only take around three classes per semester, they get to decide what to narrow in on. I spoke with a girl who had not taken a math class since she was 14.

By the time students apply for university, pretty much everyone knows what they want to study. The catch: if a student suddenly decides they hate what they’re studying, it’s very difficult to change paths.

Attending school is very different in England than it is here at Paly, and both systems definitely have their pros and cons. If you are intrigued by a well-dressed, cigarette-smoking school, where you’ll only have to take three classes and never have any homework, school in England just might be for you. If you hurry, it might not be too late for you to move across the pond and finish your studies there.

The Campanile

F

oundation? Check. Concealer?

Check. Eyeliner? Check.

These days, the use of cosmetics to alter the appearance of women and some men is very normal — according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the average American woman uses 12 beauty products a day. Makeup users can clearly see how their cosmetics are altering their exterior but many are unaware of how beauty products affect their interior.

This is a question that many may overlook, and the answer is one that big cosmetic brands wish to conceal.

Just how much harm can a beauty product do? First, since the vast majority of cosmetics are applied to skin, it must be taken into account that the skin is not a solid barrier.

Skin has pores which allow toxins to be released from the inside out, but conversely allow for anything applied onto the skin to be “consumed”, or absorbed from the outside in. Essentially, applying a product on skin has the same effects as directly ingesting or inhaling that product. Now, this is not necessarily harmful. Just as eating healthy food is beneficial for our bodies, skin absorbing substances such as Vitamin D is beneficial as well.

However, the problem is that a large number of ingredients in cosmetics are not beneficial, but detrimental for one’s body.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics conducted a study in 2012 which revealed that 61 percent of lipsticks contained detectable amounts of lead.

Most people barely bother to read food labels, let alone the labels on cosmetics. After all, the average person has no idea what the multisyllable chemical names on the back of the bottle mean anyway. Cosmetic brands take advantage of the fact that consumers generally do not look at or understand ingredient labels before buying products and do not hesitate to use chemicals that may potentially interfere with one’s health.

For example, many soaps and deodorants may contain a chemical

known as Triclosan, which, according to the Breast Cancer Fund, is classified as a pesticide and can affect the body’s hormone systems, interfering with metabolism and development.

Eighty-nine percent of all ingredients in cosmetics have not been evaluated for safety by any publicly accountable institution.

Many products also contain large amounts of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and lead. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics conducted a study in 2012 which revealed that 61 percent of lipsticks contained detectable amounts of lead.

Once again, according to the Breast Cancer Fund, lead is a proven neurotoxin linked to learning, language and behavioral problems and has also been linked to miscarriage, reduced fertility in men and women and delays in puberty onset in girls.

It is surprising to know that cosmetic products have such dangerous ingredients. Cosmetics and neurotoxins are not usually two words which go in the same sentence.

After all, one would think that there are policies in place which would stop the usage of such harmful ingredients. This duty would fall under the obligations of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA), which is defined on its website as “responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics and products that emit radiation.”

An easy way to solve the problem of dangerous ingredients in cosmetics would be to simply ban these harmful chemicals and conduct tests to ensure that products do not contain these chemicals before they hit the shelves of drugstores. However, it turns out that the FDA’s control over cosmetics is different from other products it regulates — the FDA really has no control or legal power over the cosmetic industry, even though it is charged with the oversight of cosmetics. According to the

FDA website, cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA premarket approval authority, with the exception of color additives. As a result, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, 89 percent of all ingredients in cosmetics have not been evaluated for safety by any publicly accountable institution.

Even if a certain product or ingredient has been proven to be harmful, the FDA is not authorized to issue a recall. To put this into perspective, there are only 8 ingredients banned in use of cosmetics in the U.S., whereas according to the European Commission of Health and Cosmetics website, over 1,300 ingredients are banned in the use of cosmetics in the European countries, a figurative world of a difference.

The most that the FDA can do is advise that beauty companies use safe ingredients and test their products, as there are no regulations which enforce testing of products or that cosmetic companies share their safety information with the FDA. According to the FDA website, companies and individuals who manufacture or market cosmetics, not the FDA, have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of their products. In order for this to change, large improvements in legislation would have to occur.

The most that the FDA can do is advise that beauty companies use safe ingredients and test their products, as there are no regulations which enforce testing of products.

The use of harmful ingredients has been a long standing problem in the U.S., complicated further by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR). The CIR is the cosmetic industry’s selfpolicing panel, which should supposedly make up for the lack of control and oversight of the FDA in the industry. However, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, only 11 percent of ingredients have been tested by the CIR and the CIR does not look into the long-term effects of these chemicals on personal health.

Furthermore, compliance with the

rules and testing of the CIR are only “voluntary,” another factor in the looseness surrounding regulations in the cosmetic industry. Moreover, because the CIR exists, it is harder to get legislation that pushes for stronger oversight by the FDA over cosmetics off the ground.

Mentioned earlier in this article was the suggestion to read ingredient labels before buying products. However, there are some problems surrounding that as well. Just as regulations are extremely casual regarding the testing and approval of ingredients, so are the regulations which surround the labeling of ingredients and products themselves.

This means that labels on products can be misleading and can even exclude ingredients companies do not wish to list. Additionally, there are no legal definitions for the terms “organic,” “all natural,” “environmentally friendly,” “hypoallergenic,” “not tested on animals” and “cruelty free” as applied to cosmetics. This means that companies can plaster these words on their packaging in every which way they so please. Organic products can potentially be full of pesticides and cruelty-free products may not have been tested on animals, but the ingredients themselves may have been. Additionally, any ingredient from nature is considered “all natural”, so a cosmetic with a something like poison ivy could technically be “all natural.” These misleading labels function to manipulate the consumer into thinking that the product he or she is buying is somehow better for him or her, better for others or better for the environment, even if it is not necessarily so.

Reading this article might make beauty consumers scared and clueless about how to protect themselves.

While shopping smart might seem like a good idea, what good is it if ingredients are not listed and labels are misleading? The world of makeup is a confusing place for the consumer, but it does not have to be. Joining movements such as the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics or simply spreading the message about this issue is a step in the right direction — a step towards actual responsibility for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of cosmetics.

MAC and Classroom Building construction completed Media Arts Center, new math and social studies building provide stimulating atmosphere for students paul mewes

lifestyle editor

A

fter what seemed to Palo Alto High School students to be an eternity, the construction of the two new buildings, the Media Arts Center (MAC) and a new building for math and social studies, has been completed.

Both buildings have two stories, but the two differ greatly in design.

The MAC has a central atrium surrounded by offices and classrooms that look onto it, while the math and social studies building is less unique in design — resembling more of a typical school building.

The MAC houses the MAC100 classrooms. The lower floor of the second building holds all the social studies classes, the 600 room numbers, while the floor above is for the math classrooms, the 800s.

Students are not only relieved to see the construction end, but they also love the new buildings as well and the new recreation spaces they provide.

“The new buildings are pretty nice,” sophomore Ciara Bleahen said.

The new buildings differ from the older buildings on campus with completely different furniture, a more open layout and more electronic additions.

Students have generally expressed their appreciation for this change in scenery.

“The new classrooms are very nice because the environment they provide help improve general learning,” senior Raymond Li said. “I think that the surroundings you’re in while learning are very important and the

new buildings are able to provide good surroundings that will last for many years.”

These open areas also provide places for students to do homework, socialize and collaborate on group assignments.

“I love the new buildings,” senior Eliza Ackroyd said. “I love the cool new furniture and how in the Media Arts Center there are lots of places for kids to hang out, like the atrium.

The tables and bean bags are really

I especially enjoy the universitylike style of the new building.

Siddharth Srinivasan Junior

nice to sit and do work in.”

Students on publications are especially grateful for the MAC, as it provides personalized classrooms for them to utilize.

“From being on staff in Verde in the small room in the English building to now having access to the new building, I really have noticed the difference between the two,” junior Siddharth Srinivasan said. “I especially enjoy the university like style of the new building.”

According to math teacher David Baker, the new environment improves learning.

“I like the fact that it has a fresh atmosphere,” Baker said. “It sometimes makes kids feel like they’re getting a fresh start just to be in a new place, especially with the natural light that we get in many of the classrooms.

The new buildings do, however, have flaws. Both buildings have elec-

Conner harden/the campanile

As seen from the second floor of the recently opened Media Arts Center, students utilize the atrium after school for socializing and studying. This building was opened this school year in partnership with the new math and social studies building.

trical and plumbing issues. They also offer minimal cell phone and internet services, and the stairways in the math and social studies building form bottlenecks during passing periods.

“The wireless connection is really bad so that kind of delays class,” Bleahen said. “And the whole stairs situation is kind of difficult because people block the steps and everyone has backpacks so you are bound to get hit by one. Other than that the new

building is pretty cool to have class in.”

Students and teachers hope these will be addressed quickly, but otherwise the new buildings are useful areas everyone should check out if they have not already.

“If all these things can be addressed, however, I think the new building will be a great space for students and teachers,” social studies teacher Christopher Farina said.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

B3

LIFESTYLE

Recent grad creates clothing line New rap artists emerge Eclectic new groups bring refreshing change

Alumnus Kian McHugh starts clothing line with a charitable cause

DANNY HAMMERSON

STAFF WRITER

A

CREATED BY BO FIELD

Alumnus Kian McHugh’s collection of clothing, GET WETTER, donates a portion of its proceeds to the Charity Water Foundation.

TIFFANY LIANG

STAFF WRITER

A

ccording to United Nations Water’s website, 780 million people in the world live without access to clean water, and every 21 seconds a child dies from a water related disease.

Palo Alto High School graduate Kian McHugh, class of 2014, started a project called GET WETTER, a clothing line that donates 20 percent of its proceeds to the Charity Water Foundation to help bring clean and safe drinking water to developing nations.

McHugh started this project during the summer when he was presented with a lot of free time.

“When all my friends had already left to college and my friends in high school were already in class, I had a lot of time to pursue any opportunities that I had been putting off until this period of time,” McHugh said. “I had always really wanted to do something in the design or clothing industry so really I just said ‘you know what, I’m gonna go for it.’ So then I just started doing some designs and I came up with the whole [give] 20 percent [to charity] idea” McHugh says that TOMS, a charitable shoe company, has definitely inspired part of his project. He believes that not many companies allow consumers to give to charity while purchasing a product for themselves.

Although there are many charities similar to Charity Water, McHugh chose this foundation specifically because it is one of the most prominent.

“Charity Water is a very reputable charity, and they send their water and their donations to people who actu-

ally need it,” McHugh said. “A number of charities and foundations are actually using a lot of their donations for advertising and for paying people who work for them so Charity Water is definitely a organization that makes a large impact.”

McHugh’s passion for pop culture, fashion and making a difference shows through his project GET WETTER, which he describes as “a clothing line that allows you to look wet and give to a great cause.”

You’re gonna really embody the wet lifestyle and you’re also gonna be wet because you’re donating money to a good cause through buying clothes. You’re gonna look wet.

Kian McHugh

Founder of GET WETTER

“‘Get wetter’ means to become cooler,” McHugh said. “Wet has always been a joke and a major word in my vocabulary. People always make fun of me for saying it, I make fun of myself for saying it and I overuse the word. It has almost become part of my personality so I used that as a chance to make it actually meaningful.”

GET WETTER’s clothing does not target a certain crowd. On their Indiegogo campaign the company states that GET WETTER is for everyone and that by buying a simple sticker pack, or even just sharing the campaign with a friend, one can help people around the world get one step closer to access to clean water.

McHugh describes the clothing featured on GET WETTER as

a type of clothing he would want to wear.

“It’s what I would wear and they are based off designs that I’m interested in,” McHugh said. “For example one of the designs is based off of Basquiat, who is my favorite street artist, and another design is based off of your traditional pocket tee, so these are things that I personally think are wet. You’re gonna really embody the wet lifestyle and you’re also gonna be wet because you’re donating money to a good cause through buying clothes. You’re gonna look wet.

The clothes are cool. Bo [Field and I] designed them, they’re tight.”

On GET WETTER’s Indiegogo campaign, GET WETTER has eight products available so far ranging from a sticker pack for $5, to custom t-shirts for $150, to a product available named “You are the Wettest” for $1000. This products includes an entire line named after you, in addition to receiving every piece of clothing available on GET WETTER and having your picture on the website.

McHugh will be attending University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) wnext year and hopes that GET WETTER will be up and running as a business and also as a major donor to the Charity Water Foundation.

“I am really hoping that I get it up and the website running as soon as we can,” McHugh said. “All the designs for the first line are finished so really I’m hoping that it just is received well. I’ve had people from publications reach out to me and people are really liking the idea so I know that it has potential. I really just want to make it happen, so we’ll see where it goes.”

t the moment, there are hundreds of rap artists coming out with new music everyday, and a large amount of this music is very similar and unoriginal. However, there are some groups making their way onto the hip hop scene in their own remarkable way.

TeamSesh Bones and TeamSesh are doing many things to distinguish themselves in the hip-hop community with their unique lyrics and flow.

Bones is 19-year-old rapper from Los Angeles and has released hundreds of songs since early 2012.

To accompany these songs, he usually films very psychedelic videos using old Video Home System (VHS) cameras.

He commonly collaborates with former members of the Raider Klan, a very prominent underground rap group. He has also collaborated with rappers Yung Lean and Spooky Black.

Bones has other rappers in his group TeamSesh, and they are starting to release their mixtapes. On Sept. 3, Bones released a 17-song mixtape for free. You can download the mixtape on his website teamsesh. com.

He is performing at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco on Sept. 26.

Sadboys A little over a year ago, Yung Lean started making his obscure tunes with accompanying videos. Over time, the Swedish teens popularity grew because of his unique music and fixation with Arizona Iced Tea. In July of 2013, he released an album titled Unknown Death 2002. He is most known for a single released in December 2013, titled “Kyoto.”

The video for this single is his most viewed video, with more than 3 million views.

After this, he released his first single from his upcoming album Unknown Memory 2002, which comes out Sept. 23. Other members of his crew include producers Yung Gud and Yung Sherman.

The Pack Berkeley natives Lil Uno, Lil B, Young L and Stunnaman gained a nationwide audience in 2006 when they released their hit single “Vans.”

They made a couple albums as a group but never surpassed their original fame. Despite this, members of the band have been able to have successful careers.

Most notably, Lil B aka “The BasedGod” has had quite a successful music career. He has released thousands of songs and continues to release mixtapes periodically.

He has gained a cult following, and his unique style continues to surprise the rap community.

“Let’s Be Cops” movie good for a laugh Off-beat comedy may appeal to some JAKE VAN ZYLL

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

E

dgy, funny and perhaps a bit offensive, “Let’s Be Cops” is everything a decent buddy comedy should be.

The film centers around slacker Ryan, played by Jake M. Johnson, and his insecure roommate and best friend Justin, played by college football player, is unemployed and tries to relive his glory days on the field by “coaching” young children in football.

Justin is an unhappy video game designer who lacks the courage to stand up for the games he creates. The two are going through a hard time, and Justin thinks it may be time to move from Los Angeles back to Ohio.

One night, the duo goes to a masquerade party, which Ryan mistakes for a costume party, dressed as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers. After leaving the party, they realize the public believes they are cops and therefore respect them.

Ryan and Justin continue dressing as cops and the situation soon escalates to the point where Ryan buys a police car off eBay. Though Justin, the voice of reason, is skeptical about continuing their highly illegal escapades, he continues because he relishes the newfound respect and confidence. Ryan continues

because he has finally found something to occupy his time, something which has given him a purpose in life.

However, things get serious when our protagonists begin investigating the Albanian mafia, headed by the suave and brutal Mossi, played by James D’Arcy.

With exceptional comedic timing and great supporting roles, including Keegan Michael Key, as an eccentric drug dealer and Rob Riggle as an actual LAPD officer, this comedy lacks a dull moment.

The fact that Ryan could have joined the Police Academy and become a cop rather than putting in so much work to impersonate one is definitely a drawback from the film.

Another drawback is that the film is tasteless at some points, from a minor character blurting out, “I want to shoot at cops, I don’t wanna be one” to a morbidly obese man dragging his genitals across Ryan’s face.

There are undoubtedly a few moments that will not go over well with some viewers.

“It had a couple plot holes, but “Let’s Be Cops” is an exceptional comedy with great jokes and a strong cast,” senior Alex Dees said.

The perpetual laughs and overall strong performances easily make “Let’s Be Cops” a movie worth watching.

Catering for all Occasions 477 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94306 (650)-329-0700 izzysbb@gmail.com www.izzysbrooklynbagels.com

Monday, September 22, 2014

B4

The Campanile

SPOTLIGHT

T

hroughout history and across regions, there have almost always been limitations on what women and men can wear, especially in professional environments.

In academic institutions, such rules are packaged in the form of what is commonly called a dress code. In recent years, dress code has become a serious topic of conversation, producing notable perspectives from both those who support outfit guidelines and those who strongly oppose it.

From Orange Park. Fla., to our own Palo Alto, people have been calling into question the validity of certain aspects of the dress code. Recently, in the wake of the new school year, sophomore Miranda Larkin of Oakleaf High School in Orange Park, Fla., became one of many students affected by schools’ dress codes.

On her third day of school, Larkin was dress coded by her school administration for wearing a skirt that was deemed to be too short. Larkin was punished with a dress code violation outfit, which consisted of a neon yellow shirt reading “DRESS CODE VIOLATION,” along with sweatpants that contained the same text.

“The school has said [that the dress code punishment] is [used] to embarrass you,” Larkin said to ABC News.

“It’s supposed to embarrass you so you don’t do it again.”

Occurrences like these have caused controversy and debate throughout the nation over whether dress codes should be implemented in schools, and this trend has recently spread to Jordan Middle School. Revisions in Jordan’s dress code have become a prevalent subject of discussion, and while most people think that the dress code has valuable aspects, other facets of the dress code have raised doubts about the purpose and legitimacy of these limitations set by Jordan.

According to Jordan Middle School principal Gregory Barnes, Jordan’s new dress code rules concerning yoga pants increased and tightened with the recent increase in popularity of yoga pants.

“The current rule is that if your yoga pants are deemed to be seethrough, you need to cover up,” Barnes said. “That could mean a long shirt, or it could mean that you could change into your PE shorts.”

Jordan is one of many schools that has a dress code constituting what students may wear, having rules like “shorts and skirts must reach below the length of the fingertips” and “straps on shirts must be at least 1-inch wide.” Although Jordan does have these rules that limit girls’ clothing choices, many other schools across the country push even greater restraints and limitations on their students, banning some clothing, such as yoga pants, entirely.

According to Jordan, “it is expected that students dress in a style that is conducive to learning.” In other terms, the dress code is used to prevent students from distracting other students.

“The point of the dress code is to make sure that you are wearing the

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appropriate clothes for your environment,” Jordan Middle School principal Gregory Barnes said. “As adults would say, [the clothes which] are ‘distraction free.’”

While the dress code is not gender specific, rules like “shorts/skirts must reach below the length of the fingertips” and “pants must fit appropriately meaning that there should be no panty lines, [meaning that] they should not stretch across the skin where the fabric is taut and pulled,” generally speaking, are applied to the female side of populations, due to trends for young women. Many students have noticed this gender bias.

“The dress code is all about girls,” sophomore Victor Carlsson said.

“The only thing it says about guys is to not sag.”

Though I respect everyone’s right to expressing their individuality, I also think it’s important to respect other people’s comfort zones.

- Huda Navaid, Senior

Barnes accounts the disparity between the amount of rules for women and the amount of rules for men as being a result of recent fashion trends.

“Girls and boys adhere to the same length of short policy,” Barnes said.

“For the length of shorts, it applies more to girls fashion nowadays than it ever did for mens’ fashion; there’s not a big concern for short shorts for guys.”

However, junior Elana Rebitzer believes that the multitude of rules for girls compared to the small amount of rules for boys shows that the dress code is used to police and limit girls much more than it does for boys. “[The dress code] supposes that boys are unable to control themselves when they see girls who aren’t as clothed because they are so attracted to the girls, but there is no equivalent dress code rules that prevent guys from wearing sleeveless t-shirts that show their muscles or other parts of their body that could distract girls,” Rebitzer said.

Supporters of the dress code believe that dress codes keep the school environment comfortable for all cultures. Senior Huda Navaid feels that being flashy and showing one’s body is not necessarily suitable or appropriate for the school environment.

“Though I respect everyone’s right to expressing their individuality, I also think it’s important to respect other people’s comfort zones,” Navaid said. “Especially at school. For this reason, I think it’s important to uphold a dress code just because school should be a place where everyone feels comfortable.”

At public schools especially, where there exists a wide variety of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, supporters of dress code, like Navaid, believe that these dress codes allow people of all different values and traditions to find an intermediate that allows all students, no matter what their individual cultures may be, to feel comfortable at school.

However, opponents of the dress code believe that by sexualizing just women’s bodies, schools are also suggesting that boys cannot control themselves from distraction and thus cope with this by forcing girls to change themselves and their clothing to compensate for boys’ uncontrollable thoughts.

Senior Phoenix Jarrell-Desch agrees with this and suggests that schools should focus on teaching boys to view girls and the way they dress in a better light instead of solely blaming women for what m e n think. “ Yo u need to t e a c h boys to pay attention in class instead of teaching girls to cover themselves up from boys who can’t control themselves,” JarrellDesch said.

Junior Gabi Rossner believes that the dress code’s strong limitations on women’s clothing propagates the stereotype that men are overly and unmanageably distracted by women’s bodies to the point at which they cannot control their thoughts and actions.

“Dress codes paint boys to be uncontrollable sex maniacs, which is very harmful to men,” Rossner said.

“It creates these binds and gender stereotypes and this burden of masculinity.”

Firm believers against dress code, such as Rossner, believe that because society forms the stereotype that boys are full of uncontrollable hormones and are instinctive sexual animals, the dress code faults girls and essentially forces them to change themselves for the thoughts of boys. As well, many students believe that dress code rules associated with girls’ clothing choices teach men to look at women in a sexual and objective way, which often is

You couldn’t we expressed w because you had focused on if pre boys would get a they saw a bra s

- Gabi Rossner, Ju

The Campanile

Monday, September 22, 2014

B5

SPOTLIGHT

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hool Dress codes on Young students in today’s age

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one of many root issues that grow into larger rape culture concepts.

Palo Alto High School principal Kim Diorio worries that dress codes teach young girls negative and dangerous connotations about their bodies. “ [ T h e idea of dress code] goes back to the whole conversation of rape culture and the mind-set that it’s easy for people to find that if a girls dresses provocatively or if a girl behaves in a way that’s seductive that she’s passively giving consent based on her appearance or her behavior,” Diorio said.

Similarly to Diorio, Rossner believes that the dress code brings about the stereotype that women’s bodies are innately sexual and are constantly attracting the attention of boys.

“The [dress code was used] to make sure boys weren’t distracted and to make sure girls weren’t hyper sexualized, which I think is double-bind,” Rossner said. “When you say a 13 year old girl is being sexy when wearing those clothes, that is sexualizing a 13 year old. When in reality, she’s wearing those clothes because she thinks she looks good and because it’s hot outside.”

Rebitzer also believes that schools and dress codes unproportionally and unfairly target girls for what they wear.

“Does it really make sense to be telling teenage girls that because they are girls, they will automatically be objectified?” Rebitzer said. “That they

ear clothes that who you were d to be so epubescent aroused if strap or not.

unior

are only allowed to use their bodies in ways that won’t distract the boys? Does anybody ever tell the boys don’t get distracted? No.” Rebitzer has felt the lasting and harmful effects of the dress code and believes that by punishing girls who do dress more provocatively or who do show more skin, schools in turn teach girls that exposing their bodies is shameful.

“I think the most important thing is that these are girls who are 11 to 14 years old, which are really formative years in a girl’s life.” Rebitzer said.

“Making teenage girls feel like their bodies aren’t even theirs is something that’s likely to lead to eating disorders or dysphoria. As a high schooler, with no dress code, I sometimes try on clothes that I know look good on me and accentuate parts of my body which I don’t mind showing, but I feel uncomfortable wearing them because I know they don’t fit the middle school rules of the dress code that we were taught for three years and forced to respect.”

Rebitzer’s experience with her school’s dress code is not a stand-alone occurrence; many young students have experienced similar senses of shame and disgrace because of their school’s dress codes, such as Larkin and Rossner.

“In middle school [the dress code] taught me to be ashamed of my body,” Rossner said. “[The dress code taught me to be] angry and ashamed because you couldn’t wear clothes that expressed who you were because you had to be so focused on if prepubescent boys would get aroused if they saw a bra strap or not. There was one time in 7th grade where I was wearing a tight t-shirt that covered my body. I was told it was ‘too tight’ and that my boobs were ‘too big’, and I had to go change into a baggy PE shirt.”

Although some girls have not experienced being dress coded, the majority

of students have witnessed some violation of the dress code and have seen the shame that it brings to people, including Jordan eighth grader Ellie Krugler.

“Some teachers dress code people who are really wearing what everyone else is wearing,” Krugler said. “One girl got dress coded for wearing athletic shorts, and it’s a really embarrassing thing when you get dress coded.”

“Dress codes teach girls to be ashamed of their bodies and other to shame them for wearing clothes that they like,” Rossner said. “There is no motivation behind [those punishments that publicly shame girls] other than to make girls feel bad. That’s wrong.”

While opponents believe that these dress codes should not focus on sexualizing women and shaming them as a punishment, many students believe

“In a school environment, it makes sense that schools and administrators want to lay certain limits on what they find appropriate,” Rebitzer said.

“Drugs and alcohol, for example, are completely illegal for middle schoolers to partake in. So it makes sense that school teachers want to limit that exposure.”

Navaid also believes limits made by the dress code keeps a standard that should make everyone feel safe at school.

“While I believe that everyone should be able to express themselves, in a school environment, I feel as though the line has to be drawn somewhere at some point,” Navaid said. “If there were no lines drawn, things could get out of hand.”

Although schools put these limitations on their students, Diorio still feels that it is important that girls and boys have a conversation with their parents about what is appropriate to wear in his or her own household instead of looking towards the dress code as a guideline for what to wear.

“I think that people come with very different cultural backgrounds and religious backgrounds that we can’t assume everyone agrees with or disagrees with it,” Diorio said. “I hope that when my daughters are in middle school, we can have a discussion as a family, and we can talk about what’s more appropriate for school versus what’s more appropriate when you’re going to a dance or hanging out with your friends outside of school.”

Navaid mirrors Diorio’s belief that students should dress accordingly to their cultural and religious beliefs.

“I wear a head scarf and I know that it can often be too much for some people,” Navaid said. “I would never, however, enforce wearing long clothes and a head scarf on anyone. It’s a personal choice for myself.”

Jordan dress code and dress codes all around the country set limitations on what students can wear, and the effect that it has on an individual widely varies both across regions and within schools. While some believe that the dress code is beneficial because it teaches youth what is appropriate to wear at school, others have felt shamed and humiliated by the dress code and believe that the dress code propagates several gender biases.

With this ongoing debate of whether dress codes should continue in schools and what limitations are acceptable to push onto students, schools need to find a median between the two extremes. There are various ways to accomplish this middle ground, and different schools across the nation will have different limitations and rules depending on its community and its environment.

For Palo Alto, Diorio believes that the best option is to allow students and their parents to independently choose the clothing that makes them feel best in a school environment.

“Wear what makes you feel comfortable,” Diorio said. “Wear what makes you feel good about yourself.

Wear what you think is going to help you best at school.”

Wear what makes you feel comfortable. Wear what makes you feel good about yourself. Wear what you think is going to help you best at school.

- Principal Kim Diorio

that the dress code has some facts that are valid. Rebitzer believes that prohibiting illegal or dangerous activities such as the consuming of drugs and alcohol or the promotion of gangs has value and significance, as these activities pose realistic and actual threats towards young children, unlike prohibiting clothing because it may be distracting to others.

Monday, September 22, 2014

B6

LIFESTYLE

“Destiny” revolutionizes franchise Shooter-MMO hybrid provides endless entertainment in interplanetary setting

Will and Will: Senior Polls We’d Like To See

Bo Field

Staff Writer

I

n December 1994, upstart video game studio Bungie began its production of revolutionary and quality games with its first person shooter “Marathon”. The game introduced mouse controlled free look to gamers who had previously been trapped by restrictive view controls in early shooters like “Doom”. This feature later became ubiquitous in shooters and other games following it. But Bungie was just getting started.

In 2001, “Halo: Combat Evolved” was released as a launch title for the original Xbox and started one of the most popular and lucrative franchises in the history of gaming. But after the release of “Halo: Reach,” the polarizing fifth game in the series, Bungie decided to leave their beloved universe in the hands of 343 Industries.

This was not a decision made out of fatigue or abandonment, rather the studio simply had bigger and better things than “Halo” to move on to.

This new project had been rumored and speculated on since 2009 and was officially announced in 2012 as an ambitious, genre-bending game titled “Destiny”. But does the game live up to the hype that it has accumulated in the anticipation of its long awaited release?

“Destiny” is by gameplay a firstperson shooter, but it tries its best to avoid being pigeonholed into one genre. Incorporating elements of massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft, “Destiny” requires an online connection at all times to play and matches you with other players online as you explore the open world or tackle intense raids and strikes that would be impossible without teamwork. This social aspect is what the game is centered around and it works smoothly and benefits the story and gameplay in equal parts.

The story of “Destiny” is based on a mysterious sentient celestial orb called the Traveller, which came to earth from deep space and proceeded to share its knowledge and powers with humanity to propel us into a golden age of colonization and advancement throughout our solar system. However, the Traveller’s sworn enemies, called the Darkness, followed it and proceeded to destroy all of humanity’s progress. The game is set in post apocalyptic planetary wastelands and involves fighting endless swarms of various alien species bent on your destruction. The goal of the game is to uncover the mysteries of the past and make a final push for humanity’s survival.

William SHin Will Snodgrass

Senior Staff Writers

Bo Field/The Campanile

A Titan, one of Destiny’s three classes, poses in front of The Traveller, the mysterious celestial orb that drives the game’s story.

From the minute you start the game, with the versatile character creation system and intense first mission, the level of detail and thought put into every aspect of the game is apparent. The environments feel rich and full, and its graphics look strikingly beautiful and realistic, even on previous generation systems. The maps are expansive, the enemies are varied and the design of the hundreds of guns, armors and other collectibles is elegant and intricate. This attention to detail helps the game be a truly immersive experience from the very beginning.

By combining the best elements of shooters and MMOs with a compelling original premise and lore, the game aims to capture the interest of even the most jaded gamers.

As you move forward through the campaign missions and level up your character, you unlock different locations and abilities. The game’s universe consists of Earth, the Moon, Mars and Venus, each with its own expansive map that is freely explorable. The locations are all beautifully designed and despite being limiting by only encompassing one area of each planet, warrant many hours of exploration before you’ve seen everything.

The story makes these familiar planets fresh and exciting through elements like having Venus be a terraformed jungle world with volca-

noes that spew toxic chemicals, or the Moon having a huge network of underground catacombs and temples infested with undead space wizards.

The combat in “Destiny” is commonly described as a mix between “Halo” and Activision’s other property, the beaten-to-death prepubescent cash cow “Call of Duty.” Thankfully, the similarities with the latter end at the left trigger “aim down sights” system employed in many shooters today.

While some of the enemies behave in similar ways to the “Halo” series Covenant army, the plethora of different alien races in the game continuously forces you to think differently about how to approach a battle based on the foes’ specific strengths, weaknesses and behaviors. This variety also keeps the combat interesting through the sometimes lengthy time you spend grinding to level up.

No competitive first person shooter (FPS) title is complete without a competitive online multiplayer mode, and the game’s more than delivers.

A key aspect of success is weapon types, and although the game’s algorithms adjust the damage statistics of guns to make competition more even, other stats such as accuracy, rate of fire and “super” attacks that upgrade based on level matter significantly. This encourages grinding, exploration and leveling up in the story modes of the game in order to earn weapons and gear that work better for you in player vs. player matches.

In addition to the standard team deathmatch mode, there are gametypes such as Conquest, in which you fight to control certain strategic points

on a map, and free for all, where the only goal is kill anything that moves.

Bungie has stated that “Destiny” doesn’t really start until you reach the endgame level cap of 20, and they intend to make good on that promise.

Once the game’s story is over, you can continue to replay all the missions at higher difficulties for better rewards or freely patrol planets to grind and gain more XP. There are also weekly strike missions that promise to challenge players in different ways and expand on the story. The culmination of this is the high level raid on the Vault of Glass, which is a six person collaborative effort that aspires to be one of the most difficult and intense FPS experiences to date. In addition, two downloadable content packages are scheduled for release within the next few months, which will add new missions and locations, further broadening the game’s universe.

“Destiny” is an incredible game on both current and previous generation consoles, and breathes fresh air and innovation into a genre that suffers from stale franchises and repetitive iterations of the same kind of gameplay.

By combining the best elements of shooters and MMOs with a compelling original premise and lore, the game aims to capture the interest of even the most jaded gamers. The budding franchise also promises to keep expanding and rewarding gamers throughout the next upcoming ten years, with 3 planned sequels and numerous expansions and additional content for each. Bungie has big plans, and “Destiny” is merely only the beginning.

T&C butchery falls short of big potential The fairly-priced, meat-centric sandwiches of Belcampo Meat Co. need improvement Antonio Kieshnick Staff Writer

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his past summer, Belcampo Meat Co. opened at Suite 161 at Town and Country Village.

A good way to sum this restaurant up would be Belcampo: part butchery, part restaurant, all meat.

Founded in 2012, Belcampo prides itself on its organic, high-quality meat.

It may be a good butchery, but as a restaurant, Belcampo still needs to find its feet.

All of Belcampo’s meat is locally sourced from farms located at the base of Mount Shasta. The meat is organic and pasture-raised, and the quality comes through in the taste. However, this leads the chefs to rely too much on the meat alone to provide enough flavor for the rest of the dish.

A prime —pun intended—example of this over reliance on the quality of meat is the Braised Lamb Belly Bun, which is priced at $5.00. The lamb belly bun consists of a slice of lamb meat, arugula and feta cheese on a brioche bun. The slider as a whole is fairly odorless with the only real smell coming from the toasted bun. The feta and arugula seems to be a nice idea, but, unfortunately, the feta overpowers what would otherwise be quite a welcome addition with the arugula.

The lamb itself is an utterly exquisite cut of meat, cooked to perfection, albeit poorly spiced, almost to the point of blandness.

The lamb bun is a fairly good reflection of Belcampo as a whole: Wonderful produce with incredible potential and interesting ideas, but still failing to impress. The restaurant’s head chef may just need a little more time to fully develop all of his dishes to their full potential.

The Pulled Pork Bun, priced at $5.00, is a good indication of that potential. This dish consists of pulled pork with red cabbage coleslaw on a brioche bun. The red cabbage coleslaw and pulled pork pairing is a stroke of genius. This bun looks spectacular upon being served, with the golden brioche, the earthy pork and the vibrant coleslaw combining to form a brilliant medley of colors.

The freshness of the slaw together with the smoky flavors of the pork is a wonderful mixture. All those flavors combine with the delightful airiness of the bun to engage the sensorium in a creative cacophony of sights, smells and textures. In other words, it was fairly tasty.

If the Pulled Pork Bun is sublime, then the Barbeque Chicken Bun, priced at $5.00, is atrocious.

The chicken bun consists of a pulled chicken and barbeque sauce combination inside a brioche bun. The quality of the chicken is rubbery at best. The barbeque sauce itself is overly sweet, while the sparse smattering of lettuce proves a sorry excuse for a salad topping. Although the brioche roll works well with the Pulled Pork Bun, here it is overpowered by the toughness of

the chicken and the strength of the barbeque sauce. The choice of brioche for the bun produces a texture that did not in any way provide a good compliment to the chicken and sauce.

It may be a good butchery, but as a restaurant, Belcampo still needs to find its feet.

Much like the Braised Lamb Belly, the small Chili, priced at $5.00, has all the spice of a Fresno mayoral election.

The chilli is made with beef, pork and Rancho Gordo pinquito beans. There is once again a heavy overreliance on the quality of the beef and not enough zest.

The presentation, however, is superb. The cheese crusting to a beautiful golden brown with a scattering of spring onions on top, which contrasts nicely with the dark red chilli.

Although the other dishes are pretty much either a hit or a miss, the best dish on the menu by far is the Meatball Sandwich, priced at $11.50.

The sandwich is made with beef and pork meatballs and tomato sauce on a brioche loaf. As soon as the paper is unwrapped, the sandwich-eater is immediately hit by the beautiful kaleidoscope of colors: the vibrant red tomato sauce, the dark brown meatballs and the golden brioche bread. The basil comes through as the strongest smell, already a good sign of things to come.

The sandwich itself is a fantastic blend of tomato, pork and beef, with

the basil and cheese as a nice touch.

This is all encased in a crispy brioche bun that manages to both soak up the juices of the meatballs and not fall apart at the same time. In many ways, the Meatball Sandwich is not a conventional one, mainly in the fact that half the filling is not left on the plate once the meal is finished.

The restaurant itself seems a little cold, with whitewashed walls and one sign outside saying “Belcampo Meat Co..” It all feels kind of like the allpowerful company in some anti-corporate film.

The same complaint, however, could not be made of the staff there, who were friendly and warm upon entering. The service was incredibly fast. It took just eight minutes to make what was an ostensibly large order.

Although aesthetically pleasing, the cardboard boxes in which the food is served are fairly flimsy and cumbersome—a handle or metal tray would help.

One last complaint would be the absence of any vegetarian options whatsoever. Although, if a non-meat eater wants to have a good meal, I doubt a restaurant that takes pride in being a butchery would be the best place to look.

Ultimately, if you know what to order, Belcampo is a nice place to go for lunch. Although the menu can be inconsistent, the produce is topdrawer, and I’m sure those working at Belcampo will perfect their dishes soon enough.

Out with the old, and in with the new!

We have two things to celebrate today. Firstly, last year’s columnist Will Mendenhall has been succeeded by a more charming duo, Will and Will, and secondly, that the Class of 2015 has taken over the school. That means that we’re finally given the opportunity to rock the senior deck and continue the traditions of camo, “senioritis”, and, of course, the senior polls.

The senior polls offer the class of 2015 a chance to award fellow classmates for what they’re best known for or to predict who they’ll eventually turn out to be. The two people we choose as the “couple we’d like to see” could very well turn out to be a majestic couple, possibly the next Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady. However, there is the very minute possibility that our prophecies could be a little off. Tom Brady was voted “biggest geek” at Serra High School, aaaaaaaand 19 years later he’s a super bowl MVP and even more importantly, married to a brazilian supermodel with a multi-million dollar house. So you could say that voting him for biggest geek was a poor prediction.

Thankfully, in our first column we won’t be predicting the senior polls! Rather, we’ll be suggest a few new ones and maybe, just maybe get a few of these interesting categories pushed into the senior polls for the Class of 2016, (but probably not).

Most likely to go to jail: Our first suggestion goes out to the people that you have to think twice about. Maybe you’ve seen them doing sketchy things, or maybe they just flat out scare you. Whether they’re already on the path to becoming a notorious felon or they just look like a future felon because of their unique clothing style or interesting personality, it’s your duty to vote for them!

Most likely to live with their mom: This person might currently be one of the most popular people in the entire school, but in 10, maybe 15 years if they’re a late bloomer they’ll be quite the opposite. In fact, this award goes out to the individual who never grew out of his adolescent habits. They will probably be living alone in their parents basement reminiscing on their glory days of high school … try not to be this person.

The next Oprah Winfrey: Whoever comes to mind when you think of the smooth talker, the counsellor, the friend you go to in a time of crisis; yeah, that’s the future Oprah Winfrey you’re looking at. We’d say this is a prestigious honor … I mean you’re projected to be the next Oprah frickin’ Winfrey. You’ll be a celeb with cred, and even better, you’ll own your own television network in your name.

Underdog smarty: At the end of every year there’s always that person who makes you think to yourself, “Wow! How did they get into Stanford or Harvard?” When you’re talking to them they don’t seem smart in any way or form, but they actually do well in their classes and are slightly intelligent These people most likely do not have what we call street smarts, but they are secretly book smart and the type of people who’ll shock you at your reunions with their deep pockets.

Most judgemental: This is the person who always looks at you with a funny face. Whether you’re eating lunch with friends or studying alone, they’ll give you a weird look from across the room. Most of the time you probably don’t know why they’re looking at you, but deep down you know you are being judged.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

student life

B7

Building character

Mischa nee

Staff Writer

Dami Bolarinwa/the campanile

Senior Ella Mernyk uses Quizlet, an online flashcard creation website, to make a personalized study guide for her psychology class. Quizlet is one of many academic websites.

Seven resourceful websites for students Educational websites have become popular among students due to their helpfulness

Nikhil Rajaram

Staff Writer

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ike it or not, in most classes you’ll need more than just the textbook to help you pass. But don’t fret, the internet is here to save you. Even though the internet is sometimes a distraction, it can also be helpful.

Whether it be supplementary learning material, assistance in productivity, or study tools that you need, the internet has it. Here is a list of several educational websites that can help get you through high school (and college).

1) Khan Academy If you have a class taught by an incompetent teacher or you just don’t understand half of the curriculum, Khan Academy is the website for you. On the website, there are video lectures of subjects ranging from sciences to arts, and for each subject there are periodical quizzes that test your understanding of the subject.

Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, has created almost 5,000 information-packed video lectures that allow you learn anywhere you have access to a computer or smart device with an internet connection.

Through the lectures, you can pace your own learning and touch on information that perhaps your teacher didn’t explain well or just didn’t go over, as well as on material that might have confused you.

2) YouTube In a similar boat with Khan Academy, YouTube tutorials can be great supplemental material to a course.

John and Hank Green host a channel called CrashCourse on YouTube that can be extremely helpful if you’re taking chemistry, biology, literature, history or psychology.

Additionally, Brightstorm on YouTube provides lectures on physics that are quite informational (once you get past his unnerving enthusiasm for physics). There are many other educational playlists and individual videos on YouTube, and if you have any qualms with a certain subject, YouTube is a good place to turn for explanation.

3) Wolfram Alpha There’s just about nothing that Wolfram Alpha can’t solve. I mean, it even knows how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop (3481, in case you were wondering). But seriously, if you’re hung up on a math homework involving com-

plex functions that a simple calculator can’t solve, Wolfram Alpha can save you hours.

4) Quizlet Ever felt the urge to make a set of index cards, but found that you had none in your possession? Save yourself a trip to the convenience store and make a set on Quizlet. Along with providing you virtual notecards, there are many free features on the website that help you. For example, there are games and quizzes.

Beyond the traditional studying features, there are also a couple games that make learning interactive. Quizlet is especially useful if you have vocabulary that you need to memorize (whether it be for SAT prep or for a language class).

5) APStudyNotes.org With a wide database of notes for Advance Placement (AP) courses, APStudyNotes.org can save you much tribulation in studying for AP classes. APStudyNotes.org is a great tool for aggregating material to put in study guides for tests, and can help you review chapters in the textbooks without having to completely reread them.

There is also a huge multitude of practice tests on each subject, along

with outlines and sample essays that are useful to build your comprehension of a subject.

6) Wordreference.com Wordreference.com is a very dependable word translator (as opposed to its dubious counterpart, Google Translate, which sometimes spits out convoluted translations) that is recommended by many teachers who are instructing a language course. It also is quite useful for conjugating verbs and explaining verb conjugations if you’re ever caught up on verb forms.

7) College Prowler If you’ve ever felt lost or overwhelmed by the mass of colleges out there, College Prowler can help you find colleges and majors that are attuned to your interests and likes. By filling out a basic survey, College Prowler can give you an idea of the kind of colleges that would be interested in admitting you.

From there, you can select certain colleges that you would like to attend, and it will give you further suggestions on colleges you may not have heard of that you might consider applying to. For each school, users post reviews that evaluate several aspects of the school, from the quality of academics to parking availability.

New parking policy calls for alternatives With parking enforcement approaching soon, students will need to find other options Catherine Yu

Staff Writer

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or most students at Palo Alto High School, driving to school is both convenient and preferred, especially for upperclassmen.

However, with the ongoing construction and upcoming demolition of Paly’s gym, the school has been forced to cut down on the amount of available parking spots. As a result, parking permits have only been issued to the senior class whereas previously, both juniors and seniors could purchase the permits.

Parking permit enforcement begins on Sept. 24. This poses a problem for the juniors and sophomores who can drive, but will not be allowed to park in the school’s parking lots. For those of you who fit into this criteria, there are several alternative parking options that may not be as convenient, but will allow you to keep your bike where it belongs — at home.

1. Carpool with a senior Beep beep! Your ride is here! If you are lazy and do not want to walk the extra 200 feet to school, try finding a senior who has a parking permit. Besides the environmental benefits of carpooling, carpooling with a senior gives you the opportunity to form inter-grade bonds. With luck, you will find someone who does not mind driving a little extra to get both of you to school. However, they may ask you to pay for gas money.

2. Park on a side street Close to the Churchill parking lot, there are several small residential streets that you can park on. If you don’t have a parking permit, a few of the many streets to consider

Dami bolarinwa/the campanile

Biking to school is a great way of getting to school for those who are unable to obtain a parking permit due to the new rules.

are Manzanita Ave., Mariposa Ave. and Emerson St., which are all fairly nearby.

Although there are no warnings in these areas, there should be signs that say “beware of residents.” Some of the streets, including Castilleja Ave., have homeowners that dislike the presence of high school students parking in front of their property.

According to some Paly students, the residents have been known to key cars and even call the police to issue tickets. Not all residents live up to that reputation, though, but it would be best to park on these side streets with caution.

3. Take the bus You never know, the person you sit next to may be your newest love interest. For those who don’t get out much, taking the bus provides an opportunity for social interaction and

meeting new people. Not only that, but bus fares are also considerably cheaper than the price of gas. If the lack of parking availability eliminates driving as an option, it would not hurt to look into taking the bus.

Fortunately, Palo Alto makes this task fairly simple. Buses that have stops near Paly include the Palo Alto Embarcadero Shuttle, the Marguerite Shuttle and Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Line 22. Of the three, only the VTA costs money.

Given these benefits, the bus may be the most suitable option for you, so why not?

4. Bike. Or walk.

“I never bike,” junior Emma Sternfield said. But that doesn’t mean you can’t! Palo Alto is a bike friendly community and Paly has an extensive amount of bike racks located around the school. You can lock your bike in

the bike racks near the senior deck, the science building, the old math building and behind the Media Arts Center.

Biking is a healthy and ecofriendly method of getting to school.

Much like taking the bus, biking is also an interactive experience. Biking also saves you some gas money.

Imagine all the money you could save by biking to school. You can form a bike crew with your fellow students and catch up on the latest Paly drama.

Plus, you can make a fashion statement with a unique helmet!

One of the most commonly used routes for biking is the Bryant Bike Boulevard. Biking to school additionally allows you to avoid the early morning commute traffic. If you don’t own a bike, or simply refuse, a final alternative is to walk. Have fun strolling the streets of Palo Alto.

Most high schoolers have developed a collection of embarrassing, awkward, even scarring tales of “character building” exercises our parents forced us into. Maybe it was that humiliating sport you’ve tried to keep hidden for the past eight years, an extracurricular you never wanted to do in the first place, or maybe you were made to share your room in some unwanted sibling bonding time. Although we don’t like to admit it, we look back on these with thankful eyes. The skills learned through these, whether intentional or not, have saved us from a lifetime of awkwardness. But I don’t know, maybe that’s just me.

Now think back to school dances, house parties, or wherever it may be where a guy decides to whip out some moves. For most guys, after “loosening up a bit”, they soon realize these moves aren’t as smooth as they hoped.

Why? He didn’t do ballet.

Sure some people are born with that natural rhythm, but starting ballet when you’re six years old can do wonders later when you need it. Yes, in order to acquire some dance skills I had to wear tights and make-up, get over it. If you still haven’t done either by now, I feel sorry for you.

You’re surrounded by 40 girls in tutus and your only competition is two other guys. Any fear of cooties you once had has been left in the minivan and you become a ladies’ man before any of the baby fat has even started to disappear. The boys that still can’t walk up to the cute girl and introduce themselves? Yeah, they didn’t do ballet either.

Now you can get the girl, good for you. Unfortunately you’re a bit older, so grades are constantly on your mind. How are you going to get the “A” when you have to give a dreaded oral presentation? No problem, you took debate.

Just one year of learning how to politely sass your opponent over terrorism and health care in the hopes of outwitting, outplaying and outlasting them, was by far the most helpful thing I’ve learned at Paly so far. You learn how to research, work hard, but most importantly, how to prevent the inevitable sweat stains. A few napkins from the snack bar stuffed under your pits before entering a round and some practice gesturing while keeping those elbows against your side and you’re good to go. When giving a business presentation, the debater will be the one walking out with the job while the sweat-stained opponent has to keep on scouring the newspaper. Should’ve done debate. #Sorrynotsorry.

Finally, the thing I know many of us have endured-sharing a room with a sibling.

Now, when you’re younger it’s not all that bad. But as a freshman boy with a senior sister in a crowded apartment bedroom, it reaches a whole other level of “character building.” Despite only getting five hangers in the closet, having bras littered across the room and dealing with wet swimsuits every time I entered the shower, one good thing came out of it. I finally learned some fashion.

If you don’t have a sibling it can be quite a struggle to figure out the perfect #OOTD. And even with a sister, middle school me was at a loss when it came to picking out an outfit every morning. But after “sharing” a room, wearing plaid shorts, striped polo shirts and flip-flops year-round just didn’t cut it when I wasn’t allowed out of the house without her approval. And thank God for that, because it’s true, fashion is everything.

So go home and thank your parents for all their tough love, you’d be a hell of a lot more awkward without it.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

LIFESTYLE B8 this seasons best: Back To School Fashion Stephanie cong

lifestyle editor

Nikhil rajaram

staff writer

Back to school? More like back to having to look decent everyday around your peers. As much of a pain as that might sound, it is much easier than you think. With just a few tips and staying on top of the season’s trends, you should be good to go every morning with a fresh outfit perfect for whatever weather Palo Alto throws at you. Here are some trends selected especially for back to school time this year.

Kimonos

Technically, the term ‘kimono’ is not quite accurate for this type of outerwear, but it has come back into style this summer season under this name anyway. Kimonos are essentially large, bat-wing cardigans, made out of lightweight, breezy chiffon material, perfect to throw on for those cloudy summer and autumn mornings.

Since these are not as heavy as knit cardigans, you can keep them on throughout the day and will not be as much of a burden to carry as a cardigan. Kimonos come in a variety colors and patterns, especially jewel toned colors and tribal patterns. They can act as the highlight of an outfit, or just a basic layer, depending on whether they are solid colors or patterned. Kimonos can also accompany most tops, pants, and dresses. These can be found at a variety of stores, from Forever 21 to Brandy Melville to Urban Outfitters — but make sure to get them before autumn’s chill really sets in.

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Fishtail Parkas

Fishtail parkas have been pretty hyped in the past year and for good reason. In the colder months, a fishtail parka can provide an extremely versatile and warm piece of outerwear. Fishtails are also often referred to as M-51 jackets, which comes from the army designation. They were first introduced during the Korean War in order to insulate soldiers by providing the option to tie the “tails” around the legs to prevent drafts from reaching the body. The M-51 has since been dubbed the “fishtail parka” because of its signature shape in the back, which resembles a fish tail. The ideal length for a fishtail is somewhere about halfway between your hips and knees so that you can tie the tails together and take full advantage of the jacket’s functionality. Bonus points if the parka is army green, but other colors are also acceptable. Good-priced fishtails are somewhat of a rarity, and local military surplus stores will probably be your best bet if you are looking for a sub-$100 jacket. Used clothing sites like eBay and Grailed.com also often have listings for fishtails, look out for the brand Alpha Industries in particular.

Headbands

Accessories may be the icing on the cake, but that technically means that an outfit isn’t quite complete without them. An accessory that can be added to spice up your outfit in a matter of seconds is headbands. Whether they are casual, or more jeweled and more intricate, these accessories are very flexible and affordable. Jeweled headbands can make outfits a bit more formal and glamorous, while more casual, fabric headbands can add a more laid-back, effortless look to outfits. Admittedly, the best part of headbands, however, is being able to make that “bad-hair day” hair look a bit more manageable without too much stress or time spent that morning in the bathroom with a brush in one hand and a straightener in the other. Any clothing store should carry numerous types of headbands and at least one should fit your fancy.

Joggers

Pants are majorly overlooked in the composition of outfits. However, pants can be the piece that ties an outfit together, or the piece that makes an outfit look awful. Jogger pants are a great option if you want to showcase your sneakers, or if you just want to wear sweatpants without looking like you put in no effort. The ribbing at the end of both leg openings help to keep warm in the colder months, and the fleece material will ensure your comfort. Cotton On is a great place to get decent quality joggers for a good price.

Oversized Tees

Harem and Palazzo Pants

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in

Skinny jeans and yoga pants might have been the popular types of pants in the past couple years, but the trend is taking a turn towards looser pants, such as Harem and Palazzo pants. These pants, just like kimonos, are loose and breezy and made out of softer, silky material. Although Harem and Palazzo pants are generally grouped together, there is a difference between the two, as Harem pants have a tight band at the bottom, whereas the end of Palazzo pants flare out, similar to bell bottom jeans. The easiest way of integrating these pieces into your closet would be to pair them with tighter crop tops or halter tops, and after you get more comfortable, you can start experimenting with brighter colors, more vivid patterns and pairing other types of tops with these pants. These pants may be a bit hard to find for a good price, but thrift stores will definitely be stocked with them and cheaper versions are starting to hit stores like Target and Forever 21.

To stray from the norm of “well-fitted” crewneck t-shirts, instead consider picking up some oversized or scoop-neck t-shirts. T-shirts are often overlooked and denoted as basic pieces, but they can be the centerpiece of an outfit. Implementing long t-shirts into an outfit is an easy way to make an outfit unique and more interesting than it would be if a regular t-shirt was employed.

An easy way to include long t-shirts into outfits is to pair them with a slim bottom and chunky sneakers. Scoop-necks, with their slightly deeper and more rounded neckline, are ideal for layering if you are wearing a collared shirt or jacket over it. If you’re willing to drop the cash, Alexander Wang tees have very interesting, unconventional cuts, but will run upwards of $80. H&M and Zara also often stock flowy t-shirts and scoop-necks at a more realistic price point.

This edition featuring

Alex Ramirez with The Campanile’s own

Seth Alston and Galen Byrd The Campanile: How do you feel about nomination for best ride?

Alex Ramirez: I feel more then content with my senior poll election, I really did not think that people would pull through for me. It feels like they’re happy that I was selected. I guess you could say I’m a dark horse for the winning selection, I think Jeremy Revlock has some competition coming his way.

Overall I feel pretty good about it, I feel grateful just to be in the spot I am right now.

TC: Do you intend to win?

AR: You always have to attend to win, no hard feelings for everyone else but I’m pretty sure I’m going to win, at least that’s the attitude I have to have.

TC: So you left Paly for a year?

AR: Your right, good observation.

TC: How is it coming back for your senior year?

AR: Senior year is probably the year I wanted to be here just because I wanted to graduate with all my fellow peers. It’s good seeing everyone again.

TC: People draw parallels between yourself and LeBron James with your return, how do you feel about that comparison?

AR: Really LeBron said he was coming home and that’s how I feel.

Home is where the heart is, and also where your wifi is.

TC: How were your first two weeks of fantasy football season?

AR: Week one sucked! I can tell you that Aaron Rogers did not pull through for me. I am not one of those fantasy fanatics, but I do it for fun and am at a record of 1-1. The second week I really improved, well I guess my players improved since I didn’t really do anything.

TC: You can take credit, give credit where credit is due.

AR: Well the thing is I manage people best in my league, but I definitely have to stop picking players who eventually get suspended like Ray Rice, Josh Gordon, and Ray McDonald. It has literally killed a third of my team.

TC: What hobbies do you have other then fantasy football?

AR: I play video games and I like playing basketball.

TC: Oh ball is life.

AR: Yes exactly that’s exactly what I was going to say: I am the king of the court, people fear me at the YMCA. TC: What’s the most people you’d sleep with in one night?

AR: I’m confused on the term sleep with.

TC: Have sexual relations?

AR: I plan on saving myself for Jesus, I feel like I should be responsible because I want people to look up to me and see me as someone who has got their act together, no nonsense.

TC: So no partying for A-Ram? AR: Oh clever, clever answer, I mean I think Kesha put it best “The party don’t start till I walk in.”

TC: What are four adjectives you would use to describe yourself?

AR: The best, humorous, friendly and eye candy. I mean I don’t even know why I wasn’t even mentioned for best to bring home to parents for senior polls. Or they should have made a new poll for me, just “best.”

TC: Any advice for the Paly community on how to be Alex Ramirez?

AR: You can’t be me, in order to be the best you have got to beat the best and there’s no beating the best in this situation.

The Campanile

Monday, September 22, 2014 ATHLETE OF THE MONTH Justin Hull is

SP RTS

almost as smooth off the field as he is on it: check him out.

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Zhang wins bronze at 2014 Youth Olympic games

Paly grad first to win table tennis medal at Olympic level, starts preparation for 2016 Olympics

Courtesy of Lily Zhang

Courtesy of www.NEWS.CN

LEFT: Lily Zhang poses at the London Olympics, where she was the youngest player of the table tennis competition. RIGHT: Lily Zhang at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, where she would go on to win a bronze medal.

Josh NG

Staff Writer

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ily Zhang, Palo Alto High School alumnus, became the first American to win a table tennis medal at the Olympics or the Youth Olympic Games this summer.

Zhang, who graduated in 2014, won the bronze medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games Nanjing, China.

The Youth Olympics, which include sports events such as 3x3 basketball and badminton, have talented players that range from ages five to 18. Zhang had a large advantage over her opponents because she just touches the age limit.

Zhang won the medal after defeating Japanese table tennis player Miyu Kato, whom she had lost to in the Under 21 Women’s singles event at the 2014 ITTF World Tour Korean Open — Super Series in June. Zhang knew that Kato, who is ranked fifth in the junior world ranking, would be her toughest opponent in the tournament after the Korean Open loss.

“Miyu is an amazing player,” Zhang said in a Shanghai Daily interview. “I was able to calm myself down by telling myself to not think about the points. A lot of times I rush too much and then I keep losing more points. Winning here in China is an amazing experience.”

It’s just an amazing honor to be here. Both events are huge, and it’s just really humbling to wear the U.S. flag and go out there and represent my country.

Lily Zhang Her third place match with Kato did not come easily. Zhang gave up the first set with a 12-10 loss, but bounced back in the second set with an 11-9 win.

Starting from the fourth set, Zhang started to become focused on the idea of getting the points and winning the match and not the game itself. Zhang knew not to get ahead of herself and stay level-headed. Re-

membering the strategy and not focusing on the outcome.

Besides her strong mentality, another factor that contributed to her were her friends and family.

“My parents, my uncle and aunt and my grandma all came to watch me play which just made me feel so loved and definitely gave me that extra push of support whenever I needed it,” Zhang said. “My coach there and my coaches and clubs back home worked non stop to help me improve, whether it be my mental game or physical abilities. My friends always encouraged me and wished me luck.”

Her coach, Lily Yip, for the Youth Olympics had to remind her constantly about the strategy for the upcoming game.

“After Lily lost the fourth game, I told her not to worry, don’t play too safe, work harder and fight,” Yip said in a Palo Alto Online interview.

In a Team USA interview, Zhang describes how it feels to be the first American to win a medal in the Youth Olympics or Olympics for table tennis.

“It feels like a dream honestly, I just can’t put words to describe it because it feels like I’m floating,” Zhang said. “It’s just an amazing honor to be here. Both events are huge, and it’s just really humbling to wear the U.S. flag and go out there and represent my country.”

I’ve gotten a lot of congratulations from many people, but when I hear young kids say they look up to me and want to play like me, it’s honestly a feeling like no other.

Lily Zhang Zhang’s table tennis career began at the age of seven when she started playing with her father, a former Stanford math professor as well as a former table tennis player from Xi’an. Table tennis was originally just a hobby, however, Zhang’s love and passion for the sport allowed her to flourish and advance. She began going to the India Community Center

in Milpitas in order to bring her skills to the professional level, practicing three hours a day, 18 hours a week.

When Zhang wasn’t practicing during the Youth Olympics, she immersed herself in the culture of Nanjing. She felt honored that the people of her home place came to cheer her on. Zhang knows how to speak Mandarin Chinese and used her skills to converse with the villagers and volunteers of the games.

As Zhang is ranked 109 in the world and she often gains gratification from other players that look up to her.

“I’ve gotten a lot of congratulations from many people, but when I hear young kids say they look up to me and want to play like me, it’s honestly a feeling like no other,” Zhang said.

Zhang will come home to attend UC Berkeley, one of the top two schools in table tennis, and plans to major in Psychology. She will continue to practice with the mixed international team as well as prepare for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

courtesy of the Associated press

Table tennis players from Germany, China, Japan and the Netherlands compete at w Exhibition Centre during the 2012 London Summer Olympics, in front of thousands of spectators from all around the world.

What YOu nEED TO KnOw AbOut FantasY FOOtbaLL

INSIDE

ROGEr GOODELL In light of the recent exploits

Allow us to guide you to victory

CICI BELLIS GOES TO THE U.S. OPEN

this season with some basic do’s

Atherton 10th-grader

Rice, the NFL commisioner

becomes youngest girl

has some questions to

since 1996 to win a main-

answer.

and don’ts of the fantasy football lifestyle.

C4-C5

draw match at the U.S. Open. C7

of Adrian Peterson and Ray

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Monday, September 22, 2014

C2

The Campanile

SPORTS

Football team starts the season off strong After a close win against Sequoia High School, the team finds trouble on the road against San Benito

Ella Mernyk/The Campanile

Members of the football team gather around their coach after a hard practice to discuss new tactics to win their upcoming games against Palma and Wilcox High Schools and to point out areas they are able to improve on.

OWEN DULIK

SPORTS EDITOR

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he Palo Alto High School football team started its season off with a bang, with an exciting last second victory against Sequoia High School.

Paly was leading the game 20-7 up until the third quarter when Sequoia mounted a comeback and took the lead 21-20.

Sequoia went on to score another touchdown to lead the game, 28-20.

Paly was able to add another touch-

down to narrow Sequoia’s lead to one point late in the fourth quarter, but the vikings also had to take the ball away from Sequoia. Paly’s defense stood strong, as it was able to force a punt. “[Stopping them] felt amazing,” junior linebacker Shaun Pike said, “we all played together as a team and we played physical and we played hard. We all knew we had to make a stop and come up big for the team and we got it done.”

Junior quarterback Oliver Svirsky led Paly down the field to the

red zone, where the team settled for a field goal from junior kicker, Jose Patino. The field goal cemented Paly’s victory 30-28.

“The Sequoia game was a great game,” Svirsky said. “I thought we played hard throughout even when things didn’t go our way. We kept fighting as a team and that was the thing that made it such a great game.

I made a few plays but it was a great team effort and that’s why we won, because we believed in each other and stuck together. It was a great game and a great win it was a great feeling,

but we need to bring that attitude every week,” Paly secured the huge first victory on the road by batting down all of Sequoia’s hail mary attempts on the ensuing drive.

On Sept. 12, the team travelled to San Benito where it faced the Haybalers.

This game was noticeably different from the first game, as Paly lost 33-0 in a game where disorganization and mistakes ran rampant.

“We didn’t execute our plays as a team, and [we] just didn’t play Paly

football,” junior free safety Riley Shoeben said. “It’s a big punch in the face losing a game like that and I hope it motivates us for the rest of the season.”

The Vikings had their first home game on Sept. 19 against rival powerhouse, Archbishop Mitty. The game was definitely an exciting one.

After Mitty, Paly will go on to face Palma High School on the road on Sept. 27 and following that, Wilcox High School at Paly on Oct. 3. Paly will hope to be 4-1 after the Wilcox game, but this won’t be easy.

Volleyball gears up for season Girls golf has high hopes for upcoming season opener versus Gunn High New volleyball coach bring new approach and leadership

Team is confident after first win, 205-214

Claire Krugler/ Paly Voice

Senior Olivia Johnson fine tunes her driving skills at Shoreline Golf Links .

Haley Fang

Business Manager

T

COURTESY of Shelly Chryst

Sophomore Jessica Lee jumps to save a ball at a volleyball meet. The team has a new coach and is ready to take on the season.

Jeremy Fu

Staff writer

Bo Field

staff writer

P

alo Alto High School’s volleyball team is gearing up for its first game against Henry M. Gunn High School on Oct. 23 following an extremely successful season last year.

The Lady Vikes made it to the quarterfinals of the Norcal State Championships, however the team failed to advance to the State Championships after losing to Granite Bay High School. Yet, team morale remains extremely high.

“I’m excited for the season simply because the team is made up of such

a great bunch of girls,” senior Jade Schoenberger said. “No matter what, win or loss, I know I can count on them on and off the court.”

Junior Clara Chiu agrees with this statement, saying that the team has great chemistry.

“I think everyone is going into the season with an open mind,” Chiu said. “We are definitely setting goals for ourselves to be the best team, so we’ll see how the season turns out.”

This year the team also has a new coach, Danielle Desiderio, who began playing professional volleyball in Italy at the age of 15. He was a member of the Italian Men’s National Team for indoors as well as a member of beach volleyball team. During his 20-year career as a player, he helped win the

Champions League, the Italian Cup, as well as the DCEV Top Teams Cup twice.

“Desiderio runs things really differently, but I’m excited for the season,” Chiu said.

Desiderio replaces David Winn, who coached the team for eight seasons, and led them to two California Interscholastic Federation state championships. He is coaching Mountain View High School’s Girls Volleyball team this year.

“It’s always fun playing Gunn, the rivalry is definitely present, but just like any other game we can’t take them lightly,” Schoenberger said.

“Every game starts 0-0, giving both of us a chance. If we play our game, I think things will lean in our favor.”

he Palo Alto High School’s girls golf team is confident and hopes to improve from last year’s performance.

Following a great previous season, co-captains senior Michelle Xie and sophomore Emily Hwang (‘17) are hoping to be able to replicate that success. “[Last year] we came runner up at the league tournament,” Xie said.

“We won CCS, we came runner up in [the Northern California Competition] and we placed fourth at states.

We plan to make it back to states this year” After losing two seniors, the team has added four girls to the team.

“I think we’ll be okay [without the seniors],” Xie said. “We have two [new] freshmen and two [new] sophomores. Some of them are looking pretty good in our top six, so we’re hoping to play well this year.”

Along with great players, the golf team not only has the privilege of working with Doyle Knight as the coach, but one extra co-coach as well.

“Our coach is really cool,” Xie said.

“And we have one senior from last year who is helping us coach a little

bit this fall before she leaves for college.”

After much preparation, the team had its first match on Sept. 11 against Los Gatos High School at the Los Lagos golf course. The team won 205-214.

“It wasn’t as big of a margin as we would have liked,” Xie said. “But we still won. The top three [players] didn’t play our best games and we all left shots here and there.”

Even though starting weaker than hoped for, the team is willing to work hard for success.

“Our freshmen played pretty well, but also have some room to improve,” Xie said. “If we minimize mistakes, we could potentially score very low for a girls’ golf team.”

After this successful win, the team is confident that it will have a successful season. The victory has encouraged captains and teammates to train hard and look forward to improvements this year.

“We’re hoping to go undefeated and beat Gunn [High School] this year in both our matches and hopefully win the league tournament and get automatic bid into CCS,” Xie said. “From there we hope to do as well as we did last year and hopefully make it to states.”

Monday September 22, 2014

The Campanile

SPORTS C3 Cross country team off to an exceptional start The Palo Alto High School cross country team plans to stay healthy and sets a goal to go to states this year Noah Smith

Staff writer

T

he Palo Alto High School cross country team is off to a great start this season after first place wins in freshman, sophomore and junior boys at the scrimmage with Henry M. Gunn High School on Sept. 4.

The girls cross country team has been off to a strong start as well.

“Paly results were solid,” Paul Jones said, the girls cross country coach.

The top girls’ runners were senior Ariana Tindall, junior Bryn `Carlson, and sophomores Maddie Feldmeier and Maya Rebitzer. Revitzer placed fifth, Feldmeier placed third, as did Carlson and Tindall placed seventh overall.

Boys’ cross country Coach Kelsey Feeley has high hopes for the 2014 season.

“My goal this year is to go to States,” Feeley said. “It is a realistic goal and if people stay healthy it is definitely a possibility.”

Jones also has similar goals for the girls team this season. “[My] goals are to improve results in both [the] Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) and [in] Central Coast Section (CCS) and hopefully qualify for State,” Jones said.

Feeley has been the head coach for boys cross country since last year. It will be her third year coaching at Paly this spring.

[My goal is] to improve results in ... [the] Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL)

Kelsey Feeley

Boys cross country coach Last fall, the boys’ team suceeded in placing at CCS. They went to CCS by placing third at the league meet.

At CCS, they placed ninth.

“That placing would have been much higher had we had a healthy team,” Feeley said. “Our top runner, Lucas Matison was injured and he had ran a CCS winning time two

Daniel Hammerson/The Campanile

Senior Rick Takeuchi smiles and poses for a photograph before practice on Palo Alto High School cross country team.

weeks prior to the meet but unfortunately was unable to run.”

Junior Sergio Valente, a first year runner on Paly’s cross country boys team, comments that the team is made up of mostly younger runners.

“We definitely have more freshmen and sophomores than we have juniors and seniors,” Valente said.

Junior Andrew Baer, who has been on the cross country team since freshman year, says that many of the new freshman are talented athletes. Baer pointed to sophomore Kent Slaney, junior Samuel Desre and senior Lucas Matison as some of the fastest runners on the team. Unfortunately, Slaney was injured and could not run

his race at the Gunn meet, although Desre had a good run and finished first in his event.

Feeley predicts that the boys cross country team will have sixth and seventh place be the tie breakers.

“I feel like we will have another successful season even though we have a very young team,” Feeley said.

Girls water polo loses opener Boys water polo rebuilds from loss of key seniors Team is positive despite loss this season Maggie Rosenthal

Staff Writer

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he Palo Alto High School’s Girls Water Polo team opened the season with a discouraging start after a disappointing finish last season, ending without advancing to the Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships. The team lost two key players from last year, captains Emma Wolfe and Hannah Bundy.

Following an informal scrimmage against Woodside High School on Sept. 5, the team played in the Saint Francis Invitational Tournament on Sept. 12 and 13. After losing its first game 13-3 against Davis High School, the team went on to play against Archbishop Mitty High School losing 7-2. The Lady Vikes continued with a win against Burlingame High School, a game with a final score of 13-4. The team concluded the tournament with a final game against Saint Ignatius High School, losing 10-3. Sacred Heart Prep ultimately won the tournament, going undefeated.

Despite the losses, junior Alina Drebin was happy with the team’s overall performance.

“Our performance definitely improved through the tournament, especially between the first and second days,” Alina Drebin said.

Junior Katie Francis also thought the team played well.

“I believe that the team learned from the tournament,” Francis said.

However, Francis recognizes that the team has room for improvement.

“There were some really great things that we can build on this year,” Francis said. “I believe that finishing through on our shots is definitely something that we should be working on for games in the future.”

Alina Drebin agreed with Francis, adding that the team missed many chances to score during the tournament.

“We need to work on finishing our shots. We had a lot of opportunities this weekend that we didn’t take advantage of,” Alina Drebin said.

Junior Claire Drebin echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that though the team performed well, they needed to improve.

“We have some work to do to improve to the level of some of the teams that were there but overall I think we did a good job,” Claire Drebin said.

The team played against Homestead High School on Sept. 16 and won 14-6. They have two more league games against Saratoga High School and Mountain View high School before facing the Menlo Varsity Tournament on Sept. 26 and 27.

“We hope to improve with our league games before then,” Claire Drebin said.

The team remains hopeful.

Team looks to last years success as motivation for upcoming year

Courtesy of Barbara Schroder

Senior Lucas Novak gets ready to pass the ball in a Sept. 16 game, in which paly beat Homestead High School.

Chris skokowski

Staff writer

T

he Palo Alto High School boys water polo team kicked off its season on Tuesday Sept. 16, when it faced Homestead High School. This year, the team hopes to capitalize off of last season’s success, which nearly took the team to the CCS finals.

Tonight should be a good test to see how we can implement our training

Luke Schroder Senior

Courtesy of kelly falla

Sophomore Joanna Falla attempts to black a shot in a game against Davis High School

Last year the team finished in fourth place in California after a loss

to Bellarmine College Preparatory in the CCS semifinals. While the team has lost key seniors including Sam Kelley and Omri Newman, it will retain integral players such as junior Winston Rosati, senior Lucas Novak and sophomore Andrew Jozefov and will also be led by third-year coach Brandon Johnson.

With 11 players graduated, the team will still have to rebuild in order to maintain the level of play it held last year, but the players are looking forward to the challenge.

“I’m excited for the season,” senior Luke Schroder said.

The team has been practicing for several weeks now, as training began with Hell Week before the start of school in August.

“Tonight should be a good test to see how we can implement our train-

ing” Schroder said before the Homestead game.

Construction on the pool would have forced the team to practice off campus which would have limited practice time and would have done away with any home-pool advantage.

Last year, Paly faced Homestead once. The matchup occurred without many of the players that led the team to victory last year.

The team will play Monta Vista High School on Sept. 18 and cap off the week of competition with a tournament at Henry M. Gunn High School. The team entered with Gunn, Rio Americano High School, St. Mary’s College High School, Leland High School, Sir Francis Drake High School, Archbishop Mitty High School and San Ramon High Schools.

Tennis team hopeful in lower division after losing talented, key players Palo Alto High School’s girls tennis team works on improving the team, looking to win league Catherine Yu

Staff Writer

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his fall, the Palo Alto High School girl’s tennis team dropped down from the De Anza League to the El Camino league as a result of losing several players. However, the team is working towards an successful season.

Coming into the season, coach Andy Harader knew the team would be losing a large amount of talent.

With seven seniors graduated, the spots have been filled to maintain a roster of 12 players.

“Last year, I was really nervous because all of [the seniors] were our main players and they were all in our starting lineup,” junior Halle Biorn said. “But this year, we got a lot of new talent, and our team really came together. I think that we have a very good chance of winning the league.”

Senior Haley Fulker, previously on the junior varsity team, considers the drop in leagues to be a positive change.

“I think it was a good idea to move down a league because of our loss,” Fulker said. “It will give us a chance to rebuild and start off strong and confident”.

Moving down to the El Camino League seemed to be considered unanimously as a good decision by coach Harader. According to Fulker, the challenge the girls tennis team faces this year is working on bonding with each other in order to present themselves as a strong unit for the rest of the season.

Despite their confidence, the girls are heading into the season with a realistic view of the chances they face “Sacred Heart Preparatory is always a good match. They are usually pretty strong,” Biorn said.

Zoe Tierney/the campanile

Senior Madeline Lee , co-captain, of the girls’ tennis team, practices her backhand by returning a .shot from a fellow teammate

One team that the team has continued to face off against, despite dropping down a league, was Aragon High School. In the non-league scrimmage against Aragon on Sept.

4, the Vikings lost 3-4.

In another non-league match against their neighbors from Castilleja High School on Sept. 10, the girls’ tennis team came up short, losing to the Gators 5-2. This was a devastating loss.

The girls’ next big match is the Paly Invitational Tournament that It will be held at Paly on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20. It will include schools from and outside the El Camino League.

It begins at 10 a.m. on Sept. 19.

Monday, September 22, 2014

C4

The Campanile

The Campanile

Fantasy Football

Monday, September 22, 2014

Fantasy Football

THE CAMPANILE’S FANTASY FOOTBALL ADVICE The 2014 National Football League (NFL) season kicked off on Thursday, Sept. 4, and with it fantasy football also began. Millions of people worldwide have been obsessed with fantasy football for several years now, and it seems to only grow more and more popular each year. Although fantasy football drafts have already happened and the season has started, there is still an entire season to be won or lost. Here are all of the of the steps you need to take in order to become a champion and to get the most out of your fantasy football experience.

Home Picking Your Lineup

• Always wake up and check your lineup before the 10 a.m. Sunday morning to make last minute changes based off of gametime decisions • Don’t choose your starters based off of projections entirely (Go with your gut and start the guy projected for 10 points, not the injury prone guy with 15 projected) • Don’t drop a defense, tight end or kicker just because they are on a bye, someone else will steal them off waivers; instead, drop that fifth wide receiver that you know you will never play • Don’t drop a star if they are out for a few weeks, bide your time and keep them on the bench • Know who is guarding your player (The overall defense may be bad, but their number one cornerback could be an elite player who is matched up with your number one wide receiver) • Check the rankings of the defenses that your players will face to ensure they will perform up to task • Get a good player on your favorite team they’re available and you could use them; it is much more fun to root for your team even harder than for that random tight end on a team you don’t care about • Always know your players role (You don’t need the guy who gets a 60 yard rush, you can get the hard-nosed running back who punches in the one yard TD on the goal line for the same points) • Don’t tinker; if you have what you think will work, close the computer and don’t second guess yourself • Don’t have a lineup set in stone, performance varies week to week

MY TEAM

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Services

• Follow the best fantasy experts on Twitter, (Matthew Berry, Eric Karabell, Christopher Harris and the rest of ESPN Fantasy) • Get NFL Redzone so that you can watch your players perform instead of just staring at stats • Read Matthew Berry, he is the single best fantasy guru and his “Love/Hate” article gives you the information necessary to make the decision of who to start and who to bench • Watch “The League.” If you love fantasy, it will be perfect for you • Ask your friends for their opinions. It’s good to hear what other people think about your particular situation, although you should be the one who decides the final lineup

Trades/Acquisitions

• Be active, make trades. Trade a player right after a really good week, you will get the most value for them • Monitor the waiver wire religiously for sleepers and bye week replacements • If you can avoid it, don’t pick players that play on bad teams. Just because they’re a starting running back doesn’t mean they’re a good starting running back

WR

Owen Dulik

WR

Kevin Mullin

DE

Galen Byrd

DE

Coby Parker

KEY WR = Writer DE = Designer

Things to Avoid • Trash talking before the game is actually over. This can lead to some awkward situations after Tony Romo throws three interceptions in the first half and loses the game for you • Don’t talk about fantasy every available second of the day. An occasional remark regarding football is always welcomed, but don’t make it the focal point of every conversation • Never draft players based on their physical attractiveness. Just because Tim Tebow is undeniably adorable doesn’t mean he’s going to be productive on the field. In fact, he’s not even in the NFL which is going to make it hard for him to produce.

• Don’t trade for a player until you do an in-depth background check. There will be a lot of people out there looking to dump off Ray Rice or Adrian Peterson because of their off the field issues. You want to avoid these players who have trouble with following the law. A little research can go a long way!

• Don’t only play guys who are on your favorite team. Fantasy football is about the individual, not the team as a whole.

• Never hop all over a player who has one big game. Every player in the NFL has talent and athletic ability, that’s why they’re playing. Use this to your advantage: don’t wait until a player has a terrible game to trade him. If a player has their best game, that’s usually when their value is the highest. Buy low, sell high.

Sports Editor Sports Editor Senior Staff Writer Editor-in-Chief

C5

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

SPORTS

C6

Summer preseason training gives athletes time to reacclimate When many athletes decided to rest during the summer, others use the time to prepare for next season

Conner Harden-The Campanile

Both football players and cross country runners train over the summer in order to improve their own performance.

Owen Staiger

senior staff writer

T

o perform at competitive levels, sports teams must start training far before their seasons start. These workouts are necessary for athletes that may have gotten out of shape in the offseason and for reacclimating athletes to the specific skills required by their sport.

Preseason is also used to teach strategy of the sport and specific strategy of the team. many Palo Alto High School teams, such as cross country, football, wrestling and lacrosse employ preseason training.

Cross country, a fall sport, starts up almost as soon as school does.

In order to prepare new runners for the season ahead, optional preseason training is available during the summer. Runners who take advantage of this time will benefit from applicable

workouts, acclimation to the program and gauge how they are running by checking their running log and testing out their legs. Cross Country preseason takes place on Wednesdays in July. “[Preseason] is more about acclimation than training,” junior Alys Olmstead said.

Runners are expected to be training on their own and keep a log of their miles ran in the offseason. Acclimation includes introductions to specific running routes that athletes will use during the season as well as an introduction to the coach.

Another fall sport to benefit from preseason practice is football. Since football games start within the first month of school, it is imperative to have summer practice. Football preseason starts during early summer and includes conditioning and lifting

as well as technique training.

Senior Jaime Martinez believes the workouts were beneficial.

“The workouts totally helped, I feel stronger and faster” Martinez said. “We talked strategy, techniques, and ran through plays.”

The workouts totally helped, I feel stronger and faster. We talked strategy, implemented technique, and ran through plays.

Jaime Martinez Senior

The preseason football workouts are not required but strongly suggested if players want to improve and show the coach dedication.

Not all sports have summer workouts. Wrestling, a winter sport, gets a head start on the season in early September. Optional training is fours day a week in the wrestling room for specific training and the weight room for lifting.

Senior James Giaccia appreciated the reacclimation time as a time for him and the program to improve.

“Everyone’s just getting a feel for the sport again” Giaccia said. “It gets you in shape and ready for the season.”

Like cross country and football, the wrestling preseason helps athletes get to know the coach and the program. Wrestlers can work on strategies one on one with the coach as well as show him they are serious about their season.

Lacrosse, a spring sport, has started preseason workouts in Sep-

tember. Paly coach D.J. Shelton has designed a weekly workout plan for the team. The plan includes diverse cardio workouts, strict lifting and morning circuits. Senior players lead the workouts and take attendance so coach Shelton knows players’ levels of commitment.

Lacrosse preseason also includes morning practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:15.

Regardless of the sport, Paly athletes put in a lot of work. Preseason work shows commitment, allows players to hone their skills and acclimates them to the respective programs. Serious competitors should find out what offseason work they can do from returning players.

“What you put into [your sport] is really what you get out of it. If you are willing to put in the work then you will get results,” Olmstead said.

Ray McDonald should not play until proven innocent National Football League should handle domestic violence cases with ethical approach, rather than business

Galen byrd

senior staff writer

R

ay McDonald, San Francisco 49ers’ defensive end, should not be allowed to play through the opening weeks of the National Football League (NFL) season.

McDonald was arrested August 31st after being accused of a domestic abuse encounter with his pregnant fiance. He later posted $25,000 in bail and scheduled a hearing for Monday, Sept. 15 that was postponed while the investigation continues to an unknown date. The 49er leadership and organization have always spoke their minds about their no-tolerance approach to domestic violence situations, but in this case are letting McDonald play until his trial fully unfolds.

“Again, I would much rather walk the line of due process,” 49ers CEO Jed York said in an interview with San Francisco’s KNBR radio station.

“I think again we’ve said very clearly how we feel about domestic violence.

And I would much rather take shots to my reputation than to put somebody down and judge them before an entire investigation has taken place.”

Although his trial has not played out, and so he has not been found guilty yet, these accusations are so serious that players found in this situa-

tion should not be given the opportunity to help their team win until they are proven innocent.

In the US legal system, cases are treated as innocent until proven guilty, but the NFL can handle them differently, and should.

Teams, as well as league officials should handle these cases with a more moral lens as opposed to their current business view. It is unfair to put wins ahead of ethics, even in a league where every game is of such high value.

Additionally, in light of the Ray Rice situation in Baltimore, the league should be handling domestic abuse cases especially conservatively at this moment. For that matter, the NFL should be handling all court cases conservatively considering how many run ins with the law players have been getting in lately.

Ray McDonald (domestic abuse),

It is unfair to put wins ahead of ethics, even in a league where every game is of such high value.

Ray Rice (domestic abuse), Greg Hardy (domestic abuse), Adrian Peterson (child abuse), Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount (DUI/marijuana) and Aldon Smith (weapons/ DUI) are only a few out of the 38 legal cases involving NFL players in 2014 alone, according to the NFL Arrests Database.

For a league with around 1,000 players it is unacceptable to have almost 40 individuals in trouble with the law. These players are role models for kids growing up, with dreams to play football professionally.

The NFL must regain public opinion and letting players accused of such appalling crimes play throughout their trial is not a step in the right

Courtesy of GETTY IMAGes

Ray McDonald was arrested this August for domestic abuse against his pregnant fiance. Despite the National Football League’s notolerance policy, McDonald continues to play on the San Francisco 49ers while league officials wait for the investigation’s results.

direction. Additionally, it would be easier for the NFL to apologize for suspending a player who is later found innocent than apologizing for allowing a player to play who is later

found guilty.

It is unacceptable for anyone, especially professional athletes and role models, to find themselves in such an unfortunate situation with the law.

Players should value their time in such a highly strived for profession, take all precautionary measures possible and to put it simply not do anything illegal or abusive.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

SPORTS

C7 CiCi Bellis becomes youngest player to win Athlete of the first round U.S. Open match in 18 years month

This edition featuring

Justin Hull

with The Campanile’s own Owen Dulik

Junior Justin Hull plays both offense and defense for the Paly football team, received 70 yards and grabbed a touchdown in their first game.

Courtesy of Chris Trotman

Fifteen-year-old Atherton native Cici Bellis cheers herself on after winning a point during her match against 12-seeded Dominika Cibulkova at the U.S. Open in New York.

Sarah Tayeri

Editor-in-chief

O

n Aug. 26, 15-year-old Catherine “CiCi” Bellis became the youngest woman since 1996 to win a main-draw match at the U.S. Open. Bellis, who lives in Atherton, Calif., defeating her 12th seed opponent Dominika Cibulkova in three sets.

A home-schooled 10th-grader, Bellis played aggressively throughout the entire match, breaking several of Cibulkova’s serving games. Bellis did not let the pressure of the match get to her, and won the match 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 against an opponent 10 years her senior.

Bellis did not enter the Grand Slam tournament expecting to triumph.

“I went into the match thinking it was going to be such a great experience, but I never thought I would come out on top winning,” Bellis

said to The Daily News. “I’m still in shock.”

Bellis was able to push aside any pressure she may have felt on the court. “I wasn’t thinking out there at all,” Bellis, who is currently ranked 431st in the world, said. “I just played.

I train and train and train four or five hours a day, then the matches just come naturally for me. I am a naturally smart player, but I don’t think it had anything to do with intelligence.

It’s tennis IQ.” Bellis is currently the No. 2-ranked junior player in the world. She earned a wild card spot into the U.S. Open by winning the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Girls’ 18s National Championship in San Diego only 17 days earlier. Bellis was also the youngest to win that tournament since Lindsay Davenport, one of the tennis’ all-time greats, won it in 1991, also at age 15.

Bellis’s former coach, Michael Jessup, knew the young player would

soon become a force to be reckoned with.

“I’ve coached a lot of really good players, but she stood out, with her spunk, her spark,” Jessup said. “She didn’t see pressure. She saw a challenge. She saw it as fun.”

Bellis first picked up a racket at age three, but didn’t focus primarily on tennis until she reached 11 years old. Only four years to become a profesional tennis player.

Since then, Bellis has gone on to win a number of USTA matches, including a doubles title in a International Tennis Federation tour, as well as finishing as a runner-up in doubles in the 2013 French Open Junior Tournament.

Bellis would be eligible for taking home at least $60,000 for her first round win, but is leaving the money on the table - accepting the cash reward would mean going pro, and the young player is not yet ready to make such a commitment.

“I think I’m definitely going to stay an amateur right now to keep my options open for college, in case an injury or something else happens,” Bellis said. “But I’d love to be a pro one day.”

Despite an incredible first win, Bellis lost to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas, currently ranked 48th in the world, in the second round of the U.S Open on Aug. 28. However, her defeat does not mean the end of her tennis career. Bellis’s fan base has grown immensely over the past few weeks, and sports reporters continue to rave about her incredible performance. Bellis’s aggressive nature and well-placed shots will definitely make her a player to look out for in future matches and tournaments.

In the meantime, Bellis is soaking up the overall experience.”I never thought I would be practicing or sharing a court with, you know, a player I watch on TV,” Bellis said. “I mean, it’s crazy. I love it.”

NBA players sacrifice time off to represent country USA Basketball brings home gold from Spain FIBA World Cup without big names alec sullivan

senior staff writer

S

tar NBA players are confronted with a career-changing question every four summers. That question is whether to represent their country and play in the FIBA international tournament or to sit out and rest for the next NBA season.

There are pros and cons to both sides, and the choice ultimately comes down to the player’s personal preferences. Some players may choose to lower the chance of suffering a serious injury, and opt out of representing their country. Others may place their pride for our nation over any potential consequence of playing in the World Cup tournament.

This past summer, a lot of news was made when Indiana Pacers shooting guard, Paul George, tore his ACL during a team USA scrimmage. This not only hurts George for the upcoming season, which he will not be able to play in, but it also hurts his future prospects in regard to upcoming seasons and his contract leverage with the Pacers. Shortly after George’s injury, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant dropped out of the USA squad.

While Durant is the only player to drop out of the squad, he is not the only one who decided to opt out from playing. Fellow superstar LeBron James made the decision not to play for team USA this summer. Many of

courtesy of USA Today

Team USA’s reaction to Paul Gerorge gruesome injury in a preseason intrasquad scrimmage held in the Thomas & Mack Center.

the players have cited the need to rest for the next NBA season as a reason not to play, however the main reason they are passing on the opportunity to play for their country is because of the risks involved. This year in particular, is one where the players may feel that the cons outweigh the pros being that it is not an Olympic year there are chances of injuries being involved.

Many smaller countries would need all of their stars players to par-

ticipate because of the limited talent on the roster, however the USA is not in that situation. The USA has the most talent of any country in the world and quite frankly it isn’t even close. The USA’s roster consists of 16 perennial NBA all stars while the next best team, Spain, only has 2 NBA all stars. That being said, it is not unpatriotic of our superstars to sit out and protect themselves and their future. Players have every right

to choose not to play for the national team and cases like that of Paul George simply reiterate the fact that there is always a possibility of injury.

Even with the risk of getting injured, many of the greatest NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have participated in the FIBA tournament for team USA. While there is a chance of suffering an injury, many players remain willing and wanting to play for their home country.

The Campanile: You are on the varsity football team. What positions do you play?

Justin Hull: Wide receiver and strong safety.

TC: Were you a varsity team member last year?

JH: Yes I was.

TC: Did you have as much of a role last year and how much have you improved your ability to help the team?

JC: I did not have anywhere near as big as a role as I did last year. Last year I was in on certain packages and certain defences, this year I’m pretty much in on a lot of stuff.

TC: How would you describe the feeling after beating Sequoia after the first game in the season?

JC: It was great. Everyone put in a lot of time over the summer and the beginning of the school year and it was great to see all the hard work paid off.

TC: I understand that the San Benito game did not go as planned and you guys lost. How are you guys going to come out different for the Mitty game?

JH: Yeah, that was definitely not how we would have liked to ended. The week before the San Benito game we didn’t practice very well it was kind of a bad week and so this week has been much better and we’re practicing very hard.

TC: What are you most looking forward to accomplishing this year in the football season?

JH: Let’s just say at this point I’m only concerned of beating Mitty.

TC: How would you say it’s different playing with the new coach as opposed to Earl Hansen this year?

JH: It’s just different coaching styles.

Hansen has been here for a while and knows exactly how he wanted things.

Halas is very intense, he has what he wants us to do and we do it. If you do everything the way he says you should be fine. They’re both good coaches.

TC: So, this season you have already demonstrated your ability to have a great relationship with quarterback Oliver Svirsky. How would you describe that?

JH: I’ve known him for a while. Last year none of us really played that much, so this year we kind of just help each other out.

TC: Are you a love for all things football or are you just a regular football player?

JH: All things football. I love watching football on TV. TC: Who are your teams?

Stanford, Texas, 49rs TC: Would you say it’s difficult to transition from one varsity sport to another very quickly as you have to do multiple times a year?

JH: Yeah, that’s probably the hardest part. Coming from football and trying to get back into basketball and then coming from basketball and going to baseball is not easy.

TC: I’ve also heard that you have another member of your family who is a fantastic athlete. Would you say your sister is better than you?

JH: I’m not doing that.

TC: Are you saying that you’re the better athlete?

JH: Is that seriously a question?

TC: Do you play fantasy football?

JH: Yeah.

TC: Would you describe yourself as successful in fantasy football?

JC: Yeah.

TC: Who did you lose to this week?

JH: Who did I lose to this week? I didn’t lose to anyone this week.

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Campanile

SPORTS

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Roger Goodell should resign as commissioner of the NFL Goodell’s flawed regime as leader of the NFL must come to an end in order for league to improve overall climate, move toward unity and equal punishments not influenced by drive for power

E

ver since Roger Goodell replaced Pat Tagliabue as commissioner of the National Football League in 2006, Goodell’s leadership has been controversial and outrageous.

In 2007, Goodell made his existence known with his first of many policies, the NFL Personal Conduct Policy. This is a perfect example of a good policy, as NFL players are employees that represent both the NFL and the sport of football and should be subject to policies that regulate how they carry themselves off of the field.

But Goodell strayed from the path of smart leadership almost immediately when he fined Dallas Cowboys quarterback coach Wade Wilson $100,000 and suspended him for five games, because Wilson used banned substances to treat his diabetes. Goodell’s argument was that Wilson’s penalty was more severe, because Goodell holds “people in authority in higher regard than people on the field.”

This was completely unnecessary.

How many times do you see children with posters of quarterback coaches on their walls and not of actual NFL players?

While Wilson did violate a policy and did deserve punishment, it seems like a player who promoted, funded and facilitated dog fighting should be punished more severely than a quarterback coach. In 2009, then Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick was

guilty of this, and only received a measly two game suspension. This is completely questionable. Are the actions of Vick somehow not as bad as the innocent mistake of a quarterback coach?

Goodell must be in denial to actually think that he is being consistent and using precedent correctly.

Another major scandal occurred in 2007 when New England Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick was caught attempting to videotape the New York Jets practice. While Goodell did the right thing in fining Belichick the league maximum of $500,000, he (irrationally) fined the team $250,000, as well as taking away the team’s first round draft pick in 2008—a complete power move.

Just because a coach violates the sanctity of the game on one occasion does not mean the entire organization should be reprimanded so drastically as to have its first round draft pick, something vital to an organization’s growth, taken away.

One of Goodell’s most infamous rulings came in 2012 when it was announced that New Orleans head coach Sean Payton installed a “bounty system” within his team that offered money to players for injuring

opposing star players. While this is rare, Goodell made the right decision in suspending Sean Payton for an entire season. Payton organized this disgusting act, which violated the ethics of the league, and received a harsh but just punishment.

All of these major rulings bring us to 2013 where Goodell’s series of blunders ascended into one of the worst policy changes in the history of any professional sporting league ever. With new discoveries of concussions

s u f fered by ex-NFL players, Goodell decided he had the power to greatly alter the way the game is played and has been played for decades. Goodell started outrageously fining defensive players for the smallest things, such as slightly grazing an opponent’s helmet while making a tackle, resulting in a 15 yard penalty instead

DOUG KAPUSTIN/MCT

Owen dulik

Sports editor

of suspension or fine, if the defensive player was lucky.

Goodell was not only using this policy to protect players but also to make the game more exciting— something that he has no right to decide. By limiting the defensive players’ abilities, Goodell created a higher scoring, more “exciting” game that would draw more fans and make h i m more

money. The defensive players are just playing the style of football they were taught to play while growing up, and Goodell is trying to change this.

Why should a commissioner suddenly become the sole decider of who decides what is enjoyable to watch or

not? Why should Goodell be able to change the way the game is played?

Goodell’s fines and suspensions do not make sense and do not correlate punishments with severity or repeat offenses.

Perhaps the worst thing Goodell has done as commissioner took place this year and will hopefully result in his firing or his resignation. In February 2014, a TMZ video surfaced of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice dragging his u n c on s c i o u s thenfian-

c e e , now-wife Janay Palmer, out of an Atlantic City casino elevator.

In June, Goodell met with both Palmer and Rice to discuss the situation and to decide a suitable punishment. In July, Goodell’s decision was announced, saying that Rice was suspended for only two games, much less than what a player would face for marijuana use. For reference, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended for an entire season this year for failing a marijuana drug test.

Countless people, from reporters to women’s rights activists to myself, were disgusted with this verdict. How can a man who brutally knocked out his wife on video be given such a light slap on the wrist?

On Sept. 8, TMZ leaked the video recording from inside the elevator, depicting Rice savagely swinging his fist into his wife’s face, something more horrific and appalling than was previously thought of the situation.

After this, the Ravens decided to terminate Rice’s contract and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.

Roger Goodell seemed to be a hero, because it looked as if he was in the dark earlier, but now that he had seen the tapes, he of course made the right decision, making him exempt to his previously relentless criticism. However, there is one problem with this.

It turns out that voicemails and Rice’s public admission reveal that Goodell allegedly had seen the most recent video from inside the elevator in April and was only now making it seem like he had just seen the video to save his own image.

This is a horrific cover-up that should have already resulted in Goodell’s firing. Goodell does not prioritize correcting current offthe-field presence of his players and condones domestic violence. Goodell simply wants to look good and that is why he thinks it is okay to blatantly fabricate the truth to the public to make it seem like he did the right thing.

Right now, ex-FBI director Robert Mueller, along with New York Giants owner John Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers owner, is conducting an independent investigation to see how grossly mishandled the Ray Rice situation was. Hopefully, Roger Goodell will no longer be the commissioner of the NFL, either by resignation or by firing, very soon.

The next issue is who would replace Goodell as commissioner of the NFL. The obvious answer is Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State. Rice is a stable, strong woman who did not give into peer pressure in Washington and will do the same as the commissioner of the NFL. Rice has always been a huge fan of the NFL, and has always wanted to be the commissioner of the NFL. Rice has the experience, as she has been a very successful conservative leader and manager. Rice would be a voice of reason as commissioner.

While Condoleezza Rice would be the best candidate for the commissioner of the NFL, that can wait.

The top priority right now is to get Roger Goodell out of office.

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