Issue 3, 10/30/15

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

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The Campanile

Vol. XCVIII, No. 3

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

PAUSD enters Future Ready initiative White House program helps districts better prepare students for the changing world KATE DEANDRE

Friday, October 30, 2015

CAHSEE suspended for three years BETHANY SHIANG

STAFF WRITER

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alo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) is now part of the White House initiative Future Ready, an initiative wherein school districts aim to prepare students for 21st century challenges.

“We joined Future Ready because we believe that it will help further our district’s vision that supports all PAUSD students as they prepare themselves to thrive in a rapidly changing world,” Superintendent Max McGee said. “As any of the faculty members will tell you, I always say, ‘Our job is to prepare students for careers that do not yet exist.’”

In order to join the initiative, superintendents must pledge to “affirm the commitment of this district to work with students, educators, families, and members of our community to become Future Ready by engaging in a wide range of activities,” according to the Future Ready website.

We joined Future Ready because we believe that it will help further our district’s vision.

Max McGee PAUSD Superintendent Future Ready offers resources for schools to collaborate with students of different school districts to share their effective methods of education.

The program also helps students prepare for their futures in addition to helping superintendents transform their respective districts in order to focus more on digital education. Until recently, the district was not able

New California sex-education curriculum

STAFF WRITER

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ffective the 2015-16 school year, the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) will be suspended for three years due to its failure to align with the new Common Core standards, as stated by a recently passed state bill.

In the past, state laws required students to pass the CAHSEE in eight tries or less in order to graduate from high school. However, because the exam has been suspended, students slated to complete high school in 2016 and 2017 will be able to graduate regardless of whether they have passed the CAHSEE.

MAGGIE ROSENTHAL/THE CAMPANILE

to join the Future Ready program because of ongoing investigations by the Office for Civil Rights, according to McGee. “I understand that we were not initially accepted into Future Ready because of unresolved issues with the Office for Civil Rights,” McGee said. “In this past year we have taken important steps to resolve those matters.”

Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Jon Gundry echoes McGee’s sentiments and believes that PAUSD should be one of the leaders in Santa Clara County in the technology arena.

“I think it’s essential that we move in that direction, not just this district,” Gundry said. “I think there should be a lot of pressure on you to do that here, being right in the cen-

ter of Silicon Valley. You guys should be at the cutting edge of educational technology and using technological resources for learning and for collaboration. Not just collaboration in your classrooms, but collaboration as far as you can get it and with the technology available that can be all over the world.”

In order to qualify for the Future Ready program, according to its website, the school district must exhibit five components: meticulous learning methods, the ability to captivate students in education, parents’ contributions to the schools, devoted teachers and students enthused to establish leadership skills.

With these elements, districts can come together to explore other educational techniques and plan for the next steps in their districts.

Future Ready’s trained facilitators host regional summits each year to share concepts such as professional learning, technology, privacy and use of time and leadership.

McGee attended a meeting yesterday to obtain information on how to use resources and technology in order to make PAUSD more progressive.

“I hope and expect that the White House meeting will provide me with information, resources, and exemplary practices in how technology can personalize learning and also connect our students to human and educational resources far beyond our district campuses,” McGee said.

“Also, I will be sharing our Advanced Authentic Research Program as an example of authentic, purpose driven, project based learning that students need, deserve and desire.”

[State officials] really have a desire to not have a one-size-fitsall evaluation system for our schools and for students.

Jon R. Gundry Santa Clara County Superintendent of Education In May 2015, state lawmakers initially tried to pass a bill suspending the CAHSEE to create graduation standards more relevant to the new Common Core curriculum. The suspension of the CAHSEE will give state officials time to both revise the exam and to set new graduation requirements that will more closely follow Common Core standards.

“The [state officials] really have a desire to not have a one-size-fits-all CAHSEE

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Seniors come from behind to win Spirit Week ASB successfully incorporates several new events and scoring systems into annual competi-

MAGGIE ROSENTHAL

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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alifornia Gov. Jerry Brown recently approved a pair of bills that requires public schools to teach sex-education at least once in middle school and once in high school and to update the curriculum of existing sex-education classes. Among other things, high schools such as those in Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) must teach affirmative consent for sexual activity.

Living Skills, PAUSD’s sex-education class, already includes much of the new curriculum outlined in the bills, which is intended to keep up with the modern changes in sexeducation.

The teaching of affirmative consent means that students will be taught about an affirmative, “yes means yes” form of consent, in which consent must be given during each stage of a sexual encounter, rather than the now-outdated “no means no” form of non-consent. Previously implemented on college campuses in California, the teaching of affirmative consent has grown in popularity and is becoming the new and accepted way to help students learn to have more control over their sexual encounters. Safe sex, or the usage of protection in sexual encounters, is also a vital aspect of the curriculum.

Previously, sex-education classes were not required in California. If SEX-EDUCATION

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JACKY MOORE/THE CAMPANILE

Left: Seniors Henry Gordon, Bradley Brewster and Andrew Cho cheer during the first rally in 90s attire. Top right: Juniors Katie Passarello and Albert Hwang participate in tug-of-war, ultimately placing third, during Salad Dressing day. Bottom right: Students participate in a hamster ball race during Paly’s first ever night rally held on Oct 21.

JESSICA WONG

STAFF WRITER

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alo Alto High School’s Spirit Week came to a close last Friday after several days of tight competition. Featuring two separate streaking incidents, a new scoring system and a night rally, seniors finished the week victorious, with juniors in second, sophomores in third and freshmen in fourth.

Following a slow start, the Class of 2016 quickly pulled ahead on Tuesday to hold a substantial lead over other classes, eventually winning best dressed on four out of five days and claiming first place in six out of ten rally activities by the end of the week.

At the after-school rally on Friday,

when each class displayed its floats and spirit dances, the seniors took first place in both.

However, as with every Spirit Week, the days did not go by without heavy competition. While the seniors held a comfortable lead throughout most of the week, the Class of 2017 and Class of 2018 were neck and neck, vying for second place. Up until the final after-school rally, the sophomores held second by just 90 points.

The juniors went on to win second place for both spirit dance and float, claiming second overall with a lead of 2760 points over the sophomores, who took third and fourth for spirit dance and float, respectively.

Despite the Class of 2018’s third place finish, Sophomore President

Jaiveer Sandhu is optimistic about his class’s potential.

“I feel that our improvement from freshman to sophomore year was huge, and that we surprised a lot of people with our success this Spirit Week,” Sandhu said. “[Sophomore Class Vice President] Noga Hurwitz and I were very proud of all the work we put in and the results we had. We were able to stay ahead of the juniors and gave them some tough competition. We are definitely capable of upsetting the Class of 2017, and everyone should watch out for our performance in next year’s Spirit Week.”

Although the Class of 2017 struggled to pull ahead during the week, Junior Class Vice President Natalie Maloney is happy with her grade’s

performance and the overall outcome of the week.

“I am so proud to have represented the Class of 2017,” Maloney said. “It was absolutely incredible to watch and be able to lead them. I’m most proud of the fact that they took their spirit up a notch on the last two days when we were losing to sophomores, and that we pulled through to create an amazing float and choreograph a stunning dance. All the participation over the course of this week has helped create strong class unity and pride. Overall, I think this was a successful week for the Class of 2017.”

This year’s Spirit Week introduced a new point system and nighttime SPIRIT WEEK

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SPOTLIGHT

NEWS

Exploring the pros and cons of PAUSD’s weighted grading system PAGE B4-B5

Stanford Children’s Health’s new initiative to provide transgender care PAGE A3

Weighted Grades

LIFESTYLE

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Transgender Care Program Grateful Dead

Explore the history of the iconic 1960s band, made up of several Paly alumni PAGE B1

SPORTS

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Rugby World Cup

Read about Japan’s win over South Africa that shocked the world PAGE C4-C5

Friday, October 30, 2015

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NEWS TO KNOW

The Campanile

NEWS Crime in East Palo Alto drops sharply Police cite earlier community action and outreach programs for the 64 percent decrease SAMUEL YUN

STAFF WRITER

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@NPR WHO says processed meats, such as bacon, sausages & hot dogs, cause cancer. @nytimesworld A huge earthquake hit northern Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday, causing heavy damage

@nycjim Lawmakers close in on budget deal that includes $80B in increased defense and domestic spending.

@BBCWorld Angela Merkel reassures Germans that the country can integrate refugees who are putting services under pressure

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@MSNBC Ole Miss removes Mississippi flag containing Confederate emblem from its Oxford campus

@HouseGOP House Republicans have elected @PRyan of Wisconsin as their candidate for Speaker of the House.

@France24_en Clashes erupt as Turkey cracks down on opposition media.

@TheEconomist The vice-president of the Maldives is accused of conspiring to kill the president.

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@ABC Study: If carbon dioxide emissions continue, Persian Gulf will one day be too hot for humans

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ccording to the Federal Bureau of Investigation annual report, crime in East Palo Alto (EPA) has dropped by 64 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Since 2013, the epidemic of EPA crime has taken a brighter turn. According to Palo Alto Online, violent crimes have decreased from 347 occurrences to 124 from 2013 to 2014, while aggravated assaults dropped from 248 to 56. In 2013, there were eight reports of murder or manslaughter and in 2014, that number had dropped to five. Reported instances of rape have fell from 11 to eight while robberies dropped from 80 to 55.

“I had a person from [EPA] come in last week and said she’s lived in EPA for over 20 years,” Steve Wagstaffe, the San Mateo County District Attorney, said in an interview with the Peninsula Press. “The shocking thing is that since this all went public … she had not heard a gunshot or a police siren.”

The deaths of Chariece Chew, Christopher Baker, Jonathan Alcazar, Stoney Gipson and Lamont Coleman, all of whom were gang members, highlighted the ongoing issue of gang violence in EPA. Chew was shot by three of his rivals as he was driving onto Highway 101 in Sept. 2012 in an attempted murder. About a week after that, Baker was found dead on Terra Villa Avenue in EPA. Gipson,

SOURCE: PALO ALTO ONLINE

JEREMY FU/THE CAMPANILE

27, was shot by four men outside of a nightclub two nights later. In Jan. 2013, Coleman and Alcazar were both shot in a gang-related dispute.

These crimes forced former police chief Ronald Davis to declare the city in a “crime emergency” in an attempt to rid the city of its notorious reputation. Officers were forced to work overtime and were no longer allowed to take off-days.

Incidents of gang shootings in EPA are reportedly almost always the result of territorial disputes regarding where neighboring gangs can sell drugs. However, despite the fact that most gangs do not target innocent individuals, many citizens have claimed to have been caught in the crossfire. Three-month-old Izak Jesus was killed due to stray bullets from a gang fight, proving their complaints valid.

In November of 2014, Police Chief Albert Pardini was placed in charge of the EPA Police Department (EPAPD), replacing Ronald Davis. Although the decrease in crime occurred after Pardini assumed his role, he is still looking for ways to further improve the effectiveness of the police force.

One tactic that Pardini thinks will help his cause is getting the community to be more proactive in fighting crimes. If people are more willing and faster to report crimes, the police would have quicker response times and prevent the crime from harming bystanders.

“They are calling us early so we can get involved before things escalate,” Pardini said in an interview with the Palo Alto Weekly. “We’ve done a lot of intervention and that has reduced the violent crime. Getting the com-

munity to come forward when they witness crime is an ongoing effort”.

Police have also used social media to help solve cases. Using platforms such as Facebook, the department has been able to track the posts of individuals who have committed crimes that pertain to investigations. This implementation of social media has led to the indictment of 16 people, 11 of whom reside in EPA. Along with domestic-violence awareness and gang education programs, the department also holds monthly meetings where citizens can meet up and discuss issues with officers about their neighborhood.

“I will be doing [the meetings] in various parts of town.” Pardini said in an interview with Mercury News.

“It’s an opportunity to meet with community members I haven’t been able to meet with,” In addition to increased social outreach, the department has tried to become more transparent, posting updates and information to its website every week to inform the public and clear rumors.

The efforts to be more aware and understanding of the community coupled with better communication have proven effective for EPAPD. In the first half of 2013 alone, there were seven homicides. Since August 2014, there have been only two.

The department is striving to perfect the tactics that they have been using to make law enforcement more efficient and beneficial for both the city and its people.

Paly Theater prepares to School will modernize perform “The Odyssey” library with makeover Choir participates in annual fall concerts SUSANA CACHO

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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alo Alto High School’s art department has been busy putting on various events such as the fall choir concert, the Fall Band Festival, and the theater department is currently working on getting ready for its newest upcoming play, “The Odyssey.”

Paly’s theater has been preparing for its upcoming production of “The Odyssey” and will be directed by Kathleen Woods.

Performances will be held on Nov. 6, 7, 12 and 13 at the Paly Haymarket Theater. Tickets, which can be purchased online or at the door, are $7 for students and seniors and $10 for adults.

On Oct. 18, Paly’s Concert Choir participated in Compline, a performance held at Stanford University’s

Memorial Church. This event gave choir the opportunity to showcase their talent during the 30-minute performance.

Paly’s choir also held its annual fall concert on Oct. 25 at the Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto. The theme of this concert was “Gems,” including music from Randall Thompson, J.S. Bach, Moses Hogan, William Byrd, Claudio Monteverdi and more.

The concert also featured performances from other Paly choral groups such as Madrigal Singers, Spectrum Singers, Beginning Choir and Men’s Chorus along with special appearances by pop a cappella groups On Oct. 27, Paly’s band participated in the annual Fall Band Festival held at Jordan Middle School.

This event gave Paly students an opportunity to collaborate along with the Jordan Symphonic Band.

Remodeling will create new student space ABIRA BEREZIN

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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ew spaces focused on student collaboration and interaction will be formed in the library, while books will be moved to a new second floor, according to Palo Alto High School’s administration.

The school will begin a makeover of the library, this summer, and build additional science classrooms. The library will be cleared out and remodeled into a more modern two story building. The guidance office, college and career center and Associated Student Body will be located in the remodeled library on the first floor.

New additions to the first floor will include a makerspace, genius bar, collaborative classrooms, staff collaboration rooms, and a teacher work space. The library’s books will be moved to the second floor.

“[The library will be] very open, a lot of glass, skylights bring natural light in, so it won’t be dark,” Principal Kim Diorio said.

The addition to the science department will include four new science classrooms that will make up a wing that will run alongside the new gym.

All ongoing costruction projects are on schedule, including the new Performing Arts Center which should be done in a March or April.

The new athletics facility, The Peery, is named after the donor family who donated money for the new complex. The Peery currently has no setbacks and is looking to be an 18-month to 2-year project.

“I think the weather could affect things but I think that’s taken under consideration when they set up the game plan,” Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Lemonade will expand to Palo Alto Chain hopes to bring fast and healthy food options to residents JOSHUA NG

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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emonade, a chain restaurant originally established in Southern California, will open one of its first three establishments in the Bay Area on University Avenue in the Spring of 2016.

Lemonade looks specifically to serve people who desire a healthy meal, but lack the time or resources to prepare one. Lemonade is the solution to the ongoing difficulty of finding restaurants that are not only convenient for busy people, but that also provide healthy food options.

The company wants to instill the idea in the public that healthy meals can be quick and easy.

“We believe good food is in the tastebuds of the beholder and a mouthwatering, quality meal is for everyone,” the company’s description on its website reads. “We aspire to take the elitism out of conscious eating and put emphasis on convenience, flexibility, and affordability.”

The fast-casual eatery will provide a cafeteria type experience. Customers will have the option to choose from numerous vegetable based dishes, such as the miso glazed turnips

and carrots, red pepper flake roast cauliflower and summer kiss melon.

Though most of the dishes will be vegetarian, there are meat and fish options for those who do eat meat.

Lemonade will offer meat and poultry dishes such as seared ahi tuna, buttermilk baked chicken breasts and traditional beef short rib sandwiches.

I feel like having the option for healthy, cheap and affordable food in Palo Alto can’t be a bad thing.

Alice Zhang Junior An assortment of healthy desserts will be offered as well, from macaroons to custards.

A clear specialty of Lemonade are their lemonades. Lemonade will provide the following types of lemonades: Old Fashioned, Coconut Apple, Guava Limeade, Watermelon Rosemary, Blueberry Mint, Blood-Orange and Arnold Palmer.

Palo Alto High School students are ecstatic for Lemonade’s arrival and the various foods it provides for people who are looking to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle.

“I feel like having the option for healthy, cheap and affordable food in Palo Alto can’t be a bad thing,” junior Alice Zhang said. “I probably won’t choose it over fried chicken and burgers, but I’ll have it once in a while, and maybe it will inspire me to eat a bit healthier.”

Lemonade will replace three former La Boulange locations, which were left vacant after Starbucks closed the stores. New Lemonade locations will be at Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, the Metreon in San Francisco and University Avenue in Palo Alto.

The Bay Area is known for having a multitude of different styles of cuisines as well as a place where people are becoming more health conscious.

Alan Jackson, the founder and executive chef of Lemonade, believes that Lemonade offers both variation and healthy eats.

“Lemonade really is a perfect fit for these locations,” Jackson said in an interview with the San Francisco Business Times. “Bay Area diners have an experienced and demanding palate. They want the most delicious, freshest foods presented in unexpected and surprising ways. Lemonade delivers all of that and more.”

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ODYSSEY PLAY PREVIEW

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CSU/UC APPLICATION HELP

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2ND QUARTER PROGRESS REPORTS DUE

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It’s okay you’re not too old to go trick or treating.

You oughta-see it.

The SAT makes me SAD.

Do you see yourself being college bound?

Don’t worry seniors, colleges don’t care about this one.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

NEWS

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Stanford clinic to open for transgenders Spirit week increases Clinic for a growing population of transgender kids to open soon unity among Paly classes

ASB is happy with outcome of the lunch rally activities and the inagural night rally Continued From A1 heats of the hamster ball activity,

JACKY MOORE/THE CAMPANILE

Stanford’s Children Hospital is in the midst of developing a transgender clinic that will open in about eight to twelve months.

ANNALISE WANG

STAFF WRITER

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tanford Children’s Health has been offering services for transgender children and adolescents for ten years, and is currently assessing and developing a full-fledged multidisciplinary clinic to be opened in 8-12 months.

The announcement of the development of the program was just released to the public via an article published on Palo Alto Online on Oct. 8, and the clinic is estimated to open its doors in 8-12 months.

Dr. Tandy Aye is one of the lead developers of Stanford Children’s Health’s multidisciplinary transgender care clinic program and a pediatric endocrinologist for Stanford Children’s Health.

Kids and adolescents are a growing demographic of the transgender population and therefore there is ever the more need to create this clinic.

Aye has been working with children her entire medical career as a pediatric endocrinologist.

“I have seen transgender youth from four and a half up to 15 years so far,” Aye said. “ It’s a whole long journey and process that we at Stanford are here to support the family.”

As soon as parents show concern over their children’s gender identities it does not mean those children will start on hormones as soon as possible. The process is a gradual one, and Stanford Children’s Health simply provides the services to assist and assess the children to help with gender affirmation.

However, children and adolescents who identify as transgender have trouble accessing proper services for themselves.

There are many specialty treatments that transgender patients need during their transition. Aye practices pediatric endocrinology, the study of medicine that in relation to the endocrine system, the system that controls hormones.

“As a pediatric endocrinologist, it is especially important to me to provide safe services for transgender children and family,” Aye said. “This

multidisciplinary program will offer services of pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine specialists, urologists and gynecologists, social workers and patient-parent advocate groups.”

About 700,000 people in the United States today identify themselves as transgender. This number has been on the rise, as stated in a survey conducted by Lambda Legal, a prominent legal organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer advocacy. The increase at such a rapid rate is due to the efforts of communities all over the nation to take steps towards acceptance for people who identify themselves as transgender. However, children and adolescents who identify as transgender have trouble accessing proper services for themselves.

“Several factors, I think, that are impeding the access of transgender youth to proper healthcare services are being able to find enough providers in all the various specialties related to transgender care, insurance coverage for these services and social support,” Aye said.

All hospitals, including children’s hospitals, must legally provide service to and cannot turn away transgendered patients, as mandated by the Affordable Health Care Act initiative.

According to the Lambda Legal survey, of the 700,000 people who identify as transgender, a reported 70 percent are not receiving the proper care at medical facilities that they have a lawful right to due to their gender identity.

Currently, 16 states, besides California, have gender identity protection laws. A survey conducted by the American Psychiatric Association revealed what the previously mentioned 70 percent not receiving proper care are going through.

It stated that 28 percent of transgender patients put off necessary care in fear of not receiving proper treatment, 8 percent who required emergency care were refused emergency care, and another 8 percent were denied necessary surgery — all as a result of their gender identity.

The postponing of care is found to be that the patients had received improper, or even abusive, treatment by hospital staff in the form of physical

abuse, blame for their health status from health-care providers or technicians refusing to touch them.

In 2015, with rising numbers of transgender people, Dr. Dru Levasseur, the Transgender Rights Project Director for Lambda Legal, thinks this behavior is completely unacceptable.

Around 700,000 people in the United States today identify themselves as transgender.

“One of the things we still hear is that, when people are at their most vulnerable moment of need, like going to the hospital for emergency care, horrible things still happen,” Levasseur said in an interview with RH Reality Check, a reproductive and sexual health justice advocacy radio and newsletter.

People of the transgender demographic are more likely to be vulnerable emotionally and are 22 times more likely than the population to commit suicide, according to a study by the New York Times.

Stanford Children’s Health is making efforts to combating the issue by making their multidisciplinary clinic, which will offer medical needs for gender transitions and psychological support for children and adolescents seeking to change genders.

Gender conforming young transgender people requiring specialized care usually had to travel to clinics such as the Child and Adolescent Gender Center at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to receive complete care. This can be an extensive drive for all of the Bay Area residents.

“Pediatric endocrinologists in the area have been offering care for transgender youth for more than 10 years, and working in collaboration with Dr. Rosenthal at UCSF we felt it was important to assess the services needed in the community here,” Aye said.

This initiative will create a generation of non-gender conformists into a place they will be taken care of .

Acceptance is what the American public is moving towards through steps forward such as the development of this clinic for children and adolescents.

California passes a new sex-education bill

Organization is important for the future success of the school Continued From A1 curriculum in sex education classes ate is a standard of behavior, a paradistricts chose to teach the subject, there were certain state-imposed guidelines in place for the curricula.

One of the new laws, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2016, will result in few entirely new classes, as 96 percent of California school districts already teach comprehensive sex education classes, according to the California Department of Education. Parents will still have the option to excuse their children from the class.

In Palo Alto High School’s course catalog, Living Skills is described as a class intended to help students “make informed, responsible decisions about issues that affect personal health and well-being” and “establish and sustain healthy, rewarding interpersonal relationships,” among other things.

According to Living Skills teacher Letitia Burton, not much will change about the class.

“We already provide a comprehensive sex education curriculum,” Burton said. One of the laws requires the

to include “information about sexual harassment, sexual assault, adolescent relationship abuse, intimate partner violence, and sex trafficking.”

Students also must be taught “knowledge and skills they need to develop healthy attitudes concerning adolescent growth and development, body image, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, marriage, and family.”

What we want to create is a standard of behavior, a paradigm shift as much as a legal shift

Kevin de Leon California State Senator California State Senator Kevin de León, co-author of one of these bills, discussed the purpose behind the sexual violence portion of the bill in an interview with the New York Times.

“Sexual violence has always thrived in the gray areas of the law,” de León said. “What we want to cre-

digm shift as much as a legal shift.”

De León sees the bill as a way to reduce the incidence of sexual violence, by introducing the idea of responsibility for these issues to students early on.

“I firmly believe that by instilling in young minds the importance of affirmative consent and relationships built on love and respect, that we can reduce the sexual violence inflicted on young women,” de León said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, the current policy of teaching Acquired Immune Deficiency Sydnrome (AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention information will have to be combined into the sex-education classes.

The previous requirement of AIDS/HIV education and prevention curriculum allowed for the material to be taught in a separate class from sex education, the new change will create a more integrated class for students.

rally that contributed to the close race. The scoring system, designed to create larger gaps between class scores, featured a 200 point difference between first and second place for most rally activities. Additionally, float and spirit dance were graded on 1000-point intervals, making them a significant determinant of the week’s results.

The neon rally was filled with students in the stand dressed in their brightest clothes and waving an assortment of colors of neon glow sticks.

The neon-themed night rally, which replaced the big gym advisory rally due to construction, took place on Wednesday night at the football field and included a hamster ball race, performance from varsity dance and new activity “Clean Your Room,” which involved 30 participants from each grade. In “Clean your Room” Competitors threw socks into the quadrants of other grades, with the intent of ending with the least amount of socks in their own quadrant.

In the hamster ball race, the seniors clinched first place for the win with sophomores follwing with a close second. The juniors came in third leaving the freshmen in last place.

The “Clean Your Room” competition was another win for the seniors putting them at the top of the board in point rankings. The At the end of the opening lunch rally on Monday, a male streaker ran across the football field towards Churchill Avenue and escaped in a waiting car.

In the midst of the rally on Wednesday night, another male streaker ran across the field between

prompting cheering from some students. Assistant Principal of Operations Jerry Berkson expressed disappointment with the incidents that occurred.

All the participation over the course of this week has helped create strong class unity and pride.

Natalie Maloney Junior Vice President “We have our eyes out for [streaking] but it’s hard to catch,” Berkson said. “There will be pretty serious consequences, hopefully that will be enough to deter people from doing it.”

Overall, in spite of the streakers, Associated Student Body vice president Anmol Nagar feels that this year’s Spirit Week and its recent modifications have been a huge success.

“This year blew my mind,” Nagar said. “The overwhelmingly positive participation in rallies, in spirit dance and at float building was amazing and I know I speak for many when I say that I made so many new friends from this year’s spirit week. I think that the changes in the point system were helpful. [Spirit commissioners] Cezanne Lane and Reid Walters were very proactive in changing the system a little bit to ensure less conflict between rankings. The night rally was another huge success that I hope we can continue next year, it was also a great way to involve over 100 people in a single rally.”

Even with major changes and suspensive results, hundreds of students enthusiastically displayed their Paly pride, demonstrating the true purpose of Spirit Week.

CAHSEE fails to align with Common Core Curriculum

Bill 172 passed that called for the CAHSEE to be suspended in order to revamp the exam Continued From A1 mon Core curriculum: The Smarter evaluation for students,”the Santa Clara County Superintendent of Education Jon R. Gundry said. “They want the local school districts to have some say in what the graduation requirements are and what the standards of the accountability should be.

But they are having a hard time coming up with a hybrid system where there’s a state test and also room for local accountability measures.”

However, officials did not know the CAHSEE test contract with the Education Testing Service expired in May 2015, so officials canceled the July administration of the CAHSEE, resulting in many Californian students who still needed to take the test being ineligible to graduate.

After the contract expired, state officials suggested to suspend the CAHSEE in 2015 rather than 2016 in order to provide relief for the 5,000 Californian high school seniors who did not pass the exam.

The CAHSEE was also used in calculating the Academic Performance Index (API) for state accountability purpose. API is a measurement of academic performance and progress of individuals. The results from the California Standardized Tests including the CAHSEE factors into a school’s API. The state board is trying to avoid falling into that system again with the revision of the CAHSEE. “I think the state board is doing the right thing and trying to avoid that simple minded accountability,” Gundry said. “That’s why it is taking so long because it isn’t easy coming up with a real assessment that means something and not just an arbitrary number. Some schools with higher API’s are not necessarily a good school.”

After the Bill was passed on June 1, school officials look towards another test that will provide data on how students are doing with the Com-

Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC). The SBAC is a test aligned with the Common Core standard tests students in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The SBAC was administered to schools that accept the exam, one hundred one schools, including Palo Alto High School, accepted the test, which will be distributed in the Spring.

In 2015 Paly juniors took the SBAC for the first time. But due to the low attendence of students, the data was not an accurate reflection of the junior class.

“By and large the SBAC questions require some higher order thinking skills and present some challenging problems to solve,” Superintendent Max McGee said. “Also, a lot of the questions are actually engaging and meaningful, and I think it’s a benefit for students to demonstrate what they know and can do something that matters.”

Once the CAHSEE is suspended, there will be no exam in place of the CAHSEE. Students who complete grade 12, or a subsequent schools year, and have met all the graduation requirements will be eligible to graduate.

Students who completed grade twelve in the 2003–2004 school year, or a subsequent school year, and have met all applicable graduation requirements other than passing the high school exit examination will be eligible to receive a diploma. This also includes students in adult education.

“Applicable graduation requirements” would include all local and state graduation requirements that were applicable to a student at the time he or she completed grade 12 “We are waiting to see what happens, I hope we come out with an accountability system that really means something,” said Gundry. “The good news is that we have a good state board that is trying to improve California’s education.”

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

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NEWS

Librarians attempt to digitize old publications Staff struggles finding funds to preserve Paly’s deteriorating newspapers and magazines using technology PETER MAROULIS

NEWS AND OPINION EDITOR

P

alo Alto High School librarian Rachel Kellerman began an initiative a few years ago to digitize every Paly newspaper and magazine article in the school’s 120-year history. Despite recently gaining traction, this project has not secured any type of steady funding and lacks interested donors, putting Kellerman’s goal of total digitization on hold.

Before making the push for a comprehensive online archive, Kellerman was initially inspired by Paly’s rich history of journalism.

When I came to Paly 10 years ago I was amazed by all the wealth of information in the publications, dating back to the 1800s. I was amazed that there was this great archive that told the story of Palo Alto.

Rachel Kellerman Paly Librarian However, upon becoming a Paly librarian, Kellerman noticed that the flimsy paper on which many of the publications printed would not hold up in the future. “[The publications] were not being preserved,” Kellerman said.

“There was a lot of degradation with the newsprint; things were deteriorating.”

Paly publications such as Verde, Madrono and The Campanile have been printing for generations, and a loss of hard copies would yield a loss of 120 years worth of Palo Alto histo-

ry and culture. Kellerman sees educational benefits in creating a database, as students, teachers and the community would have ready access to over a century of detailed local information.

“There’s a tremendous amount of local history that’s reflected on the national stage,” Kellerman said, citing a World War II-era article about Paly students of Japanese descent being put in relocation camps.

Thus, Kellerman’s mission has become to maintain old school publications, a mission she has set out to accomplish over the past few years through an online archive.

“We have about 40,000 pages and 120 years of Paly journalistic tradition to preserve,” Kellerman said. “In order for that to happen, we have to put our scans online and make them easily searchable.”

However, the process of creating an online archive for so many works takes a substantial amount of time.

Fortunately, a temporary solution was reached.

“The [Paly] alumni association donated thousands of dollars for preservation boxes so that at least the pages wouldn’t deteriorate soon,” Kellerman said.

The boxes themselves are free of sulfur, acid and lingen. Though aging will still occur, the papers will stay relatively safe as Kellerman works to put into action her plan for scanning material. Creation of an actual online database involves scanning all of the 40,000 pages and then sending the scans to an outside party to reformat into an online resource. Currently, the archiving project has reached a standstill despite the many volunteers and new scanner.

DAMI BOLARINWA/THE CAMPANILE

Volunteer Rachel Price scans 1987 yearbook with new, large format scanner, helping to digitize the history of Paly’s publications.

“The Media Boosters funded a large format scanner,” Kellerman said. “Once we get that recalibrated we’ll start the scanning process.”

After purchasing the scanner, Media Arts Boosters did not extend further funding to Kellerman’s digitation initiative, leaving her without any reliable source of money with which to hire database-making services.

Despite the tight financial situation, Kellerman has located and negotiated with a flourishing company, Veridian, which has a long history of making extremely successful online archives.

Veridian was responsible for creating an archive for Stanford University’s student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, as well as making a newspaper archive, spanning over 170 years, for the University of California, Riverside.

Given Veridian’s vast experience in archiving, Kellerman contacted the

company and brokered a deal for the construction of Paly’s future journalism database.

“The price, with an educational discount is $60,000, and the project will be done over three years,” Kellerman said.

In order to raise awareness for the archiving project, Kellerman has worked with Paly senior Rachel Price to create a website and a video devoted to spreading the cause of digitalization for Paly publication archives.

The video summarizes the need for an online archive, ending with a link to a crowdfunding website where viewers can give donations.

“The [donation] fund will be open to anyone who has an interest, personal or other, in donating to journalistic, historical or educational projects,” Price said. “Each donation, small or large, can make a huge difference.”

However, the project has received limited community interest

“I’m kind of stuck at this point with what’s the best way to raise this money,” Kellerman said. “I’m not really sure what to do.”

Kellerman has approached Principal Kim Diorio and Dean of Students Adam Paulson, both of whom gave their approval for the project but did not say how money can be raised.

Also supporting the initiative are Paul Kandell and Esther Wojcicki, both Paly journalism teachers, who participated in the fundraising video and have been strategizing with Kellerman to figure out an effective way to attract funding.

“It’s an awesome project and everybody in the Paly community ought to be excited,” Kandell said.

“But there’s a lot that’s still up in the air about the funding.”

Kellerman says that parents and alumni are the target population for potential donations. However the project still remains in limbo, with no funding.

MAC speaker series New athletic partnership kicks off in November Read it online at palycampanile.org New York Times tech writer and Pulitzer Additional robotics team formed Prize winner John Markoff to speak at Paly

Paly student provides alternative following overparticipation in club AVI TACHNA-FRAM

STAFF WRITER

D

COURTESY OF DIEGO PETTERSSON

John Markoff, senior writer for the New York Times, will talk at the Speaker Series.

KATE DEANDRE

STAFF WRITER

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n Nov. 3, Palo Alto High School’s Media Arts Booster (MAB) Club will introduce its first speaker from the “Great Minds” speaker series this season, to introduce students to accomplishments of people in the Palo Alto community.

Pulitzer Prize winner and senior writer for the New York Times, John Markoff, will start the series off for the season. He will focus on his new book, “Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots.” The book concentrates on human designers who construct robots and contrast artificial intelligence and real knowledge.

“What John Markoff has to say probably has the greatest relevance for students living in Silicon Valley, which is experiencing first-hand the advent of artificial intelligence innovation and application,” Guest Speaker Coordinator Michele Dulik said. “Whether or not students intend to work in this groundbreaking field or not, it is a fact that this technology will affect their lives in the future.”

Media Arts Center Great Minds at Campus considers this program to be a diverse way to encourage students to become further educated through a varied group of speakers.

“The mission of the series, as originally developed by the MAB,

is to provide, for the Paly and surrounding community, exposure to the ‘great minds’ of our time in a variety of fields,” Dulik said. “MAB wants to involve students, parents, teachers and neighbors in discussions of important questions facing us today.”

The event acts as a fundraiser for the media arts programs present at Paly though it was designed to unify the community. A ticket for the event is $10 for adults and $5 for students to purchase. In the past the Paly Media Arts Center (MAC) has come close to exceeding the space limit, so purchasing tickets in advance is recommended.

This series was launched in February of 2015, with former Energy Secretary Steven Chu discussing “Energy, Climate Change and a Path Forward.” The talk gained publicity and had approximately 125 attendees; unfortunately, not many were students.

“We were only able to have the one Great Minds event with Steven Chu last year; however, we filled almost all the seats in the MAC atrium, so I would consider that a success,” Dulik said.

The speakers will occur more regularly this school year, every six to eight weeks. MAB hopes to inspire students alongside adults to attend these events, which will expose them to interesting members of the Palo Alto community.

“MAB hopes that these presentations spark conversations on campus and in the community,” Dulik said.

ue to overcrowding in the Palo Alto High School club robotics team, junior Spencer Morgenfeld decided to create a new team for those who wanted to participate in robotics, but were cut from the current team.

“Team 8 [the Paly Robotics team] didn’t have enough room for everyone who was interested,” Morgenfeld said. “They had 100 people sign up to join and they had 90 people consistently showing up in the lab, and they only had room for 70 or so people.”

One of the reasons that Morgenfeld created the new team was to allow students who were cut from Paly Robotics, but still wanted to participate in a robotics program to be part of a team.

“I just want to make the robotics experience accessible to everyone who’s interested,” Morgenfeld said.

“I’ve had a great two years of robotics and I’ve had a lot of fun, and knowing that a lot of the kids who were cut were freshman, I know that without this new team they probably wouldn’t be able to participate and have as much fun as I did.”

Since [Paly Robotics] was so large, a lot of the work that went into it was just maintaining what was going on. With a smaller team I feel like it’s going to be a lot easier to manage everything.

Spencer Morgenfeld New Robotics Team Founder Many students who have been cut from Paly Robotics still want to participate in robotics; the team Morgenfeld created gives them the option to participate.

“I just thought it would be really fun to be part of it and help out with it,” freshman Donald Taggart said. “I wanted to join the original one, but I didn’t get in so I thought it would be really fun to be in the new one.”

The final decision about who to cut from the Paly Robotics team

COURTESY OF PAMELA MORGENFELD

Junior Spencer Morgenfeld starts to build a robot for his alternative Robotics team.

comes from Paly Robotics head coach Christopher Kuszmaul.

“There’s lots and lots of things that come into consideration,” Kuszmaul said. “But ultimately it’s my decision and I make an arbitrary decision at some level.”

The new team will face many challenges as they attempt to establish a competitive alternative to Paly Robotics, including a lack of membership. Only seven students have committed so far, but Morgenfeld believes that the small size of the team will increase its efficiency, making up for having fewer people.

“Since [Paly Robotics] was so large, a lot of the work that went into it was just maintaining what was going on,” Morgenfeld said. “With a smaller team I feel like it’s going to be a lot easier to manage everything,” Morgenfeld said.

The new team also faces the challenge of dealing with the sheer amount of time that it takes to build a robot. They solved this problem by working 15 hours a week during build season.

“The lab hours are so high because that’s what we feel is necessary for us to build a competitive robot,” Build Captain of Paly Robotics Kenneth Cheung said.

The new team does not plan to have any time requirement for their

participants. In addition, the new team will have to find its own source of resources as they cannot be affiliated with the school. Due to this regulation they will be operating out of Morgenfeld’s garage for the time being. The new team will be part of a group of teams in the Palo Alto area which includes, the Paly Robotics team, that shares resources.

“Sometimes you can’t [share resources] because you don’t have the resource or the time,” Kuszmaul said, “It’s not a promise that you can have anything you want, but I would view that team as a special member of a family of teams that were in.”

The new team also claims that it will not poach recruits from the Paly team.

“You cannot be on both teams, I have one person who’s joining my team from Team 8, but the rest were cut and the person who’s joining from Team 8 is a special case,” Morgenfeld said.

The new team plans to be funded mostly through grants and corporate sponsorships.

“There’s a grant from the organization that runs the robotics competitions that we’re going to apply for,” Morgenfeld said. “We’ve already applied for a NASA grant and we also are going to attempt to get corporate sponsors as well.”

The Campanile

Friday, October 30, 2015

OPINION

CLAY WATSON

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STAFF WRITER

ith an increasing amount of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) oriented schools, a proposal to reorganize Barron Park Elementary School and Juana Briones Elementary School into one neighborhood and one choice school was presented as an option to the Palo Alto Unified School District’s (PAUSD) School Board. The Enrollment Management Advisory Committee proposed a STEM program an option for the new choice school to consider.

Within PAUSD, there are choice schools, application-based public elementary schools that have alternative teaching methods. Currently, Ohlone and Hoover elementary schools are the only choice schools in the district. While the implementation of this plan of a STEM School is unlikely for PAUSD, this issue brings to light a one-track education style that can be detrimental when implemented as an option for young children.

Whitney High School in Rocklin, Calif. is an ideal example of how a high school can successfully implement a STEM program. Whitney is able to use its more focused academics to enrich its students’ learning experiences. STEM programs can be an advantageous educational approach in high school and in college; however, it has no place in elementary schools.

With increasingly stricter and time-consuming demands in California Common Core, California’s elementary school teachers already struggle to cover all aspects of education, which include reading, writing and social studies, in addition to STEM subjects. By focusing more heavily on, and possibly exclusively on STEM subjects, elementary students will likely be unable to devote time to develop these other essential skills. This would result in a lack of a broad and fundamental knowledge base. Potential attendees of the possible STEM elementary school would be at a disadvantage when entering into one of PAUSD’s middle schools.

In addition, Palo Alto is located in Silicon Valley, known to be the epicenter of STEM fields.

Pressure to excel in these fields would likely result

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in a large number of Palo Alto parents wanting to send their children to a STEM school. Asking high school seniors to commit to a college major and make life-altering decisions is already a stretch, given that most seniors have little idea what they want to study in the future. Incoming kindergartners obviously have even less of a sense of what they want to study, leaving the decision up to their parents when alternative education plans are presented. Narrowing the focus of a child’s education at such an early age would prove to be detrimental as it would limit children’s option.

In addition, PAUSD students who are interested in STEM fields already have other resources to further explore their interests. As PAUSD begins to shift toward complying with Next Generation Science Standards, further STEM resources will be available at all 12 elementary schools.

Even though the addition of a STEM elementary school to PAUSD seems highly unlikely, the whole concept of a one-dimensional education at such a young age is something that should be avoided in all school districts.

Media should put less attention on criminals ELI GWIN-KERR

O

STAFF WRITER

n Oct. 1, Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. experienced the deadliest mass shooting in Oregon’s history when a 26-year-old opened fire on a classroom, killing nine and injuring nine others. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in December 2013, there have been 15 cases in which someone has opened fire on campus with malicious intent.

Every time incidents like these occur, mainstream media erupts with controversial debates regarding gun enforcement laws, the National Rifle Association, mental health treatment and the background of the perpetrator.

There is no doubt surrounding the importance of debating how the firearm market is regulated and how mental health is treated in this country. Placing so much attention onto the personal issues of the shooter however, is of no significance in regards to the larger issue of how to prevent future shootings. More often than not, media outlets spend more time covering the personal history of the shooter and

the activities they did in the days prior to the incident than they do on the individuals who were affected by the incident, as well as how the incident affects current issues, such as the state of mental illnesses and gun control. By creating a faux-celebrity status for the shooter, more mentally unstable people may consider committing a similar atrocity.

The fact that school shootings in the United States have been on the rise is a testament to the mishandling of these situations by the American public. Or, more specifically speaking, the mishandling done by the media outlets that millions of Americans get their news from. Earlier this month, many television news stations covering the Umpqua Community College shootings also covered a recent blog post written by the shooter. The post was made in regards to the previous shooting of two television show anchors.

“I have noticed that so many people like [the shooter] are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world seems to know… His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet… Seems the

more people you kill the more you’re in the limelight,” Harper said in his post.

Channels such as CNN and MSNBC labeled the blog post the workings of a mentally ill person and covered more details of the shooter’s personal behavior. Despite these labels, the media outlets that showed the blog post made one of the biggest displays of media hypocrisy in recent history. Although most likely mentally unstable, the shooter was right that “the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight.” In this scenario, the mainstream American media was the source of the limelight. “[I will not] name the shooter. I will not give him credit for this horrific act of cowardice. Media will get the name confirmed in time ... but you will never hear us use it,” Sheriff John Hanlin said in a press conference after the Umpqua shootings.

Just as Hanlin said, the media did confirm and report the name of the shooter, immortalizing him for the American public. Coverage of the perpetrator often overshadows that of the victims, sending the message that their lives are not as important as that of the perpetrator.

Mainstream media should be more conscientious of the dignity of the affected, instead of jumping to negative reporting.

Worst of all, the media continues to mishandle coverage of these events, which are becoming increasingly common. The immortalization of mass murderers only serves to inspire copycats and is an insult to victims and their loved ones. Sadly, the U. S. is the only country on earth where such incidents can be described as happening “regularly.” One would think that the journalistic approach used to cover these issues has adapted.

Placing so much attention onto the personal issues of the shooter however, is of no significance in regards to the larger issue of how to prevent future shootings

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

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OPINION

Personal finance should be a graduation requirement

JEREMY FU ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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alo Alto High School does not have a single course that provides its students with personal finance education, despite the interest that students have in this area. A recent study by Sallie Mae, a consumer banking company, found that 84 percent of high schoolers have an interest to learn more about personal finance.

Students are not satisfied with the level of education they receive from the class, often finding that Living Skills spends too much time repeating information that students already know.

To graduate from high school in California, students must take required classes in core subjects and language or visual arts. However, financial literacy is never taken into account and students are heading off to college with little formal education on balancing checkbooks, keeping a good credit score or taking out student loans.

As a result of apathy on the part of the state, there are many free online resources for both educators and students online. Tim Ranzetta founded

NextGen Personal Finance (NGPF), which provides interactive financial resources, after volunteering to teach a course in personal finance at Eastside College Preparatory School.

“A lot of products are changing,” Ranzetta said. “I wanted to engage students, and teach them to be lifelong learners. Too much of personal finance curriculum that I saw was based off of definitions. Ultimately it is the decisions that matter, that’s all personal finance is, making strong decisions.

The state of California recently received an “F” from Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy for failing to require districts to provide students with the tools for financial success. California recommends a ninth-grade elective course in personal finance be offered, but local districts are not required to offer such a course.

As a result, it is often underlooked, even if educators recognize it is an important subject.

“I think financial literacy is essential,” Santa Clara County superintendent Jon R. Gundry said. “Local school districts should make the decision whether it is a graduation requirement, but it should be included in everyone’s academic program.”

Yet, Palo Alto High School is among the schools that do not provide such courses, instead providing students with a class called Living Skills, which is mandatory for graduation.

According to the course catalog, Living Skills’ main purpose is to inform students on making personal health decisions, forming interpersonal re-

lationships, managing life crises and cultivating “democratic values and behavior appropriate for a responsible community member.”

While these are important skills to have, students are not satisfied with the level of education they receive from the class, often finding that Living Skills spends too much time repeating information that students already know and not enough time covering equally important topics such as filing taxes.

“Living skills is supposed to make you ready for adulthood, but it doesn’t teach you how to get apply for a credit card, or how much living will cost in the future,” senior Ren Makino said.

Although integrating personal finance into Living Skills is one option, the school district could also opt to create a pilot standalone finance class.

By creating a pilot, the school can gauge student response and test out the curriculum before distributing it to the existing courses.

School is about giving students tools to succeed in the future, and the motivation to learn about personal finance exists. Even at home, many parents shy away from such discussions.

Money is among the lowest priorities in conversations between parents and their children — below talks about the importance of good manners and the benefits of good eating habits, according to a survey by Harris Interactive released in August.

“The missing piece is not only from an student education standpoint, but also from the need for parent educa-

tion,” said Ranzetta. “Students learn most of their lessons from their households, so it is also important to educate parents, so that generational learning can take place.”

Integrating personal finance coursework into the existing curriculum is not without challenges. Teachers will have to receive additional training, which will be an added expense, and in the end, educators may still not feel comfortable teaching the new material.

Maryland’s Carroll County, which chose to independently implement a standalone financial literacy course for all eight of its high schools, did so with just $37,700. It is also important to remember that incorrectly teaching financial literacy can have large impacts.

64 percent of Wisconsin teachers surveyed by the University of Wisconsin — Madison said they felt unqualified to address the state’s financial literacy standards, and few felt “very competent” lecturing a class on topics such as risk management and debt.

“Too often teachers don’t feel they have enough professional development time, because this is an area that is constantly changing,” Ranzetta said.

“Experts disagree on many areas, so it is important to be comfortable with ambiguity. I don’t want to teach kids what the right answer is, I want to teach them how to find the right answer.”

Ultimately, the burden of integrating financial literacy lies with the administration, even if the true damage is done on the students themselves.

Repeating skills that students have already learned in Living Skills is not beneficial to graduates.

Flipped classrooms lose advantages of traditional classes

Important skills are lost when classes switch to the flipped teaching style.

THOMAS RAUNER-SWAN

I

STAFF WRITER

n an attempt to challenge the traditional style of teaching, in which students listen to lectures, a new type of learning environment has become popular among teachers and parents — the flipped classroom. The flipped classroom attempts to incorporate deeper thinking by allowing students to watch lectures online for homework and using class time for activities such as hands-on projects and group discussions. Like many educational trends, this new type of teaching style is becoming very popular, even though it does not solve all the problems of traditional classrooms.

The flipped classroom model fails to highlight the engaging experiences that many students have when listening to a lecture. Those who criticize the traditional lecture and note-taking teaching style claim that traditional teaching styles are engaging as classroom discussions and activities. While this is sometimes true, a good lecturer can engage students by asking questions to individuals and to the entire class. Lectures can also incorporate classroom

discussions, and they often allow students to master important skills when they transfer lectures to notes.

Advocates of flipped classroom say that the traditional lecture is not an effective way to share new information with students. Years of educational experience and research back this statement up. In 2014, Scott Freeman of the University of Washington, Seattle, completed a study that summarized 225 other studies and found that students in classes with pure lectures get lower grades than classes with student participation. However, flipped classrooms still use lectures as the way that student receive new course content. The only difference with flipped classrooms is that the lectures are watched for homework instead of in the classroom.

“Absorbing … long, complex arguments is hard work,” Molly Worthen, who teaches history at the University of North Carolina said in a New York Times article.“[This requires] students to synthesize, organize and react as they listen.”

Many important aspects of lectures are lost when classrooms are flipped. In-person lectures provide students a way to ask clarifying questions. In a flipped classroom, these students may not remember to ask their teacher during the follow-up class discussion.

The flipped classroom can also create problems for many low performing and disadvantaged students. Since class time is used to develop information that was learned through watching lectures the previous night, students who do not complete their homework are at an even greater disadvantage than students who miss homework in traditional classes.

Even students that only miss assignments once are just as likely to suffer from this snowball effect in a flipped classroom. This is because these students end up missing the whole lecture and are then unable to participate during activities in class.

In traditional classroom settings, teachers can ensure that students are paying attention to the lectures by engaging and interacting with them. In a flipped classroom, students are trusted to watch lectures online. If they skip the video entirely, they will fail to learn the new information. Students without reliable access to the Internet also miss the new information.

“A kid who does not do their homework normally will not watch the lectures at home even if you hold them accountable,” Chris Aviles, author of the Teched Up teacher blog, said in a post. “This is even more detrimental in a flipped classroom because now the kid can’t participate in that really cool activity you planned.”

The popularity of flipped classrooms does not necessarily make this new teaching style a solution to all educational challenges. Teachers should be careful not to lose many of the important elements of traditional classrooms such as lectures or note-taking. It would be a mistake to rely on this model exclusively because not every students thrives using these teaching practices, and all students will miss out on the opportunity to strengthen important skills.

The flipped classroom model fails to highlight the engaging experiences that many students have when listening to a lecture.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

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OPINION

Tutorial passes should be reinstated ANNA MORAGNE STAFF WRITER

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ith the recent change in the tutorial policy, there is now an influx of people in the library during tutorial, as students are no longer required to have a pass to be there during the now mandatory instructional period.

This has caused the number of students in the library at any one time to rise from last year’s upper limit of 80 students to this year’s 300. Consequently, the previously quiet workplace in the library has become noisy and almost impossible to effectively work in.

Now that the pass system is no longer in use, there are people sitting in large groups, talking loudly to friends and disrupting the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it is hard for those who actually want to be productive during tutorial to get their work done.

Even Palo Alto High School librarian Rachel Kellerman agrees that the library has become a significantly less productive place for students to work this year.

“My personal view is that it needs to be quieter,” Kellerman said. “I have a feeling [the new system] is not working for many students either.”

Tutorial passes need to be reinstated in the library so that people who wish to use their time during tutorial efficiently have the opportunity to do so. Paly’s administration has done its best to encourage students to use their time during tutorial wisely, but they also need to work hard to create environments in which students have the ability to get homework done and be productive.

Tutorial passes need to return to campus so that students who want to use their time effectively have the chance to do so.

Administration has tried to encourage students to go to places such as the Math or Science Resource Center.

The only problem is that these places do not hold nearly as many students as the library can and they do not hold all the resources students may need in order to get their work done.

It is hard for students to escape the chaos of the library since the Media Arts Center (MAC), the other large workplace on campus, has become no better during this time. For students who are trying to get work done in the MAC, it is hard to focus when there are distractions such as younger students using the MAC as their playground. The MAC provides resources for technology that are unparalleled on campus, as well as a seemingly good study location for students. Yet when it is not linked with a productive environment, the MAC may as well be useless.

Classrooms do not provide an easy solution either, since many classrooms do not have enough textbooks, forcing students to go to the library to use the additional textbooks there. Also, students who plan to do work for multiple subjects must bounce around between different classrooms, wasting parts of their valuable tutorial time.

The library used to be a good solution

to this problem, but now with the new policy, it is more difficult for students to get their work done.

A new type of policy needs to be instated in at least one of these areas so that students have the opportunity to use tutorial in a way that is meaningful for them to study or do homework.

There should be designated places on campus for students who want a quiet work space and other specific places for students who would rather talk to friends during this time.

One reason why the administration got rid of tutorial passes was so that as many places on campus were open to students as possible, in an effort to keep students at school during this time. They feel that having an open library will encourage more students to stay during tutorial and use it effectively.

However, the harsh reality is that any student who was not using tutorial effectively before is most likely not using it effectively now either.

Students who are staying on campus for tutorial but do not plan to do work have other places besides the library to congregate such as the quad.

When the library is open to everyone, it allows the noise and disruption to come in with the students who are not working.

Students also need to take responsibility and be mindful of their peers by not disrupting places that should be used for studying and doing homework. Students should understand and be able to take it upon themselves to go someplace where they will not interrupt others if they do not plan to work quietly themselves.

By simply reinstating tutorial passes, students who intend to study or do work can be in the library while those who wish to chat with friends could be elsewhere. When these passes return, students who want to use their time effectively in a quiet study environment will have the opportunity to do so.

Peers should grade anonymous work

GREG EUM SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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n order to prevent bias in peer grading, more classes at Palo Alto High School should look into implementing an anonymous peer grading system. After Palo Alto High School’s Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology students take a unit test comprised of a multiple choice section and a short answer, the students peer grade the short answer portion of a classmate. Using a rubric given to them by the teacher, the class works in pairs to grade two different short answer sections. However, these students do not know whose paper they are grading, as there is a student ID number at the top of the page instead of a name. The teachers then pass back the paper for the student to see. This type of anonymous peer grading is helpful in eliminating bias in grading and should be extended to more classes that use peer grading.

“The basis of [anonymous peer grading] is based on psychological research,” AP Psychology teacher Melinda Mattes, who implemented this system around a decade ago, said.

“There is an unavoidable preconceived notion about the students from teachers, and this prevents bias when they read a student’s name.”

If teachers are susceptible to this inevitable bias, then students will have the same preconceived notions about someone if they know whose test they are peer grading. In AP Physics, students receive a rubric for grading a test and peer grade. However, this process is not anonymous.

“Anonymous peer grading would help with eliminating [inevitable] bias, which would be ideal,” senior Aadit Narayanaswamy, an AP Physics student, said. “However, it is not absolutely necessary because the grading rubric is fairly clear and if students feel that their assignment was graded unfairly or with bias, they can consult the teacher and it will be cleared up.”

Even if peer bias is not a huge factor, it still exists, and classes should look to incorporate anonymous peer grading to prevent further unfair biases.

Mattes believes that any class with writing can implement this system and argues that anonymous peer grading has numerous benefits in preventing bias as well as helping students.

“It is very easy to implement, and it builds trust and confidence between the students that allows for a better understanding of not only the assignment, but also how to get better,” Mattes said. “With this anonymous grading, students can get honest feedback and get a bunch of different eyes on the paper, versus just mine.”

However, in order to set up an anonymous peer grading system, there should be guidelines to help the system thrive and prevent grades from being corrupt.

“You have to set up the right parameters within the system of the class,” Mattes said. “If the class was

just peer grading anonymously and the teachers were never looking at them, I can’t say that the overall effectiveness will be there.”

Yet another helpful aspect of peer grading is that students can see the rubric by grading their peers’ tests, which helps students understand how AP tests are scored and better prepare them.

This type of anonymous peer grading is helpful in eliminating bias.

“Since we get to see how the rubric works for the AP and see what it is like as an AP reader, we can improve our answers in the future,” senior Albert Han, an AP Psychology student, said.

Ultimately, with all of its practical benefits and simple implementation, anonymous peer grading should be installed in as many Paly classes as possible.

Friday, October 30, 2015

A8

The Campanile

EDITORIALS

Increased guidance needed in navigating the college process

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hroughout the college application process, there are often many unfamiliar steps and processes that seniors experience, from filling out cover sheets and requesting transcripts to adding recommenders to the Common Application. As the plight of early deadlines approaches, The Campanile believes that Palo Alto High School seniors should be given more guidance in the college application process, through more frequent and comprehensive advisory periods.

In the past school year, seniors have had a total of only three advisories, meaning that they have received guidance a limited number of times.

This lack of guidance in comparison to the difficulty of navigating the many steps in applying to college, such as filling out the Activities section of the Common Application and sending test scores to colleges, is something that should be changed so that seniors receive adequate support. While some of the important information has been discussed in senior advisories, there is much more involved in the college application process that has not been discussed.

The Campanile is aware that there are workshops provided by the College and Career Center (CCC) for students outside of class to cover such topics, but we still believe that there should be an attempt to cover more information during advisory periods.

This way, advisory time is used more efficiently, students who do not time to have time to attend these workshops are not at a loss when it comes to their applications and the CCC workshops themselves can be more specialized and personalized in the topics covered.

Clarity surrounding senior deadlines has been a prominent issue for many students. A packet was given out to students in the beginning of the year outlining deadlines for cover

sheets and transcript requests, but this packet alone is not enough.

As students are swamped with other coursework and activities, these dates are easy to forget, and more advisory periods around these dates should be planned in order to remind students of upcoming deadlines. The fact that these deadlines are difficult to find online along with the fact that students were rarely reminded of these due dates can cause unnecessary stress and create confusion surrounding these deadlines. To help seniors with this, Paly administrators or Teacher Advisors could post due dates on Schoology, a site used by many students, which would allow students easy access to these deadlines and would be a way in which students could be easily reminded of due dates.

Moreover, advisory periods should go further in depth outlining other forms besides the Common Application itself — many students are still left wondering what cover sheets, NACAC forms, and financial aid forms look like after advisory periods. The number of forms that students must fill out for Paly and other colleges can seem daunting, and we believe that advisory periods should include explanations what each form entails, where the form can be found and which students need to fill these forms out to avoid confusion. Doing so would help students and advisors alike, as students will fill out the correct forms according to the right deadlines, and advisors will not have to chase after students struggling to sort through these tasks.

Lastly, The Campanile believes that implementing more college planning advisory periods during second semester junior year would be beneficial as well. Currently, there are a couple introductory advisory periods during junior year used to remind students about Senior Profile surveys

Applauding new ASB Spirit Week additions

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and short forms, but these periods could be used to go over more college related topics and in greater detail.

Advisors could go over topics such as sending standardized test scores, as most students take standardized tests during their junior year, topics for main and supplemental essays and an overview of what the Common Application and other college application portals look like. If students have this knowledge going into their junior year summers and their senior years, they will be able to start the college application process earlier and more knowledgeably.

ith the construction of the new gym affecting the advisory rally and homecoming dance, the Associate Student Body (ASB) had to make major changes to Palo Alto High School’s annual Spirit Week. The addition of Paly’s first ever night rally and offcampus location for the dance were both extremely successful. The Campanile applauds ASB for its flexibility and creativity in forming new traditions to pull off an improved version of Spirit Week that prioritizes unified participation.

To begin with, ASB added a Wednesday night rally to this year’s Spirit Week agenda, replacing the Big Gym advisory rally. The Campanile commends ASB for the smooth transition, and believes that the night rally was a success, considering the high attendance on behalf of all four grades. Furthermore, students were advised to wear neon apparel of any color, not just the colors associated with their grade. This instruction served to promote school-wide unity, as opposed to furthering class divides.

Spirit commissioners Cezanne Lane and Reid Walters also chose to add a greater variety to rally the games, substituting a pumpkin carving contest for more athletically focused “Minute to Win It” games and

Moreover, advisory periods should go further in depth outlining other forms besides the Common Application itself — many students are still left wondering what cover sheets, NACAC forms, and financial aid forms look like after advisory periods.

Thus, The Campanile believes that there should be more guidance for the senior class during this busy time of year, and even during the last part of the junior year, so that students can navigate through the college application process as smoothly as possible.

attempting to include the blindfolded partner drawing (though there was not enough time to run the game).

“Name that tune” was also a new addition to this year’s Spirit Week.

“We want kids from all groups to feel comfortable participating,” Walters said. “Cezanne and I spent a lot of time trying to construct games that accomplished that goal. Name that tune, pumpkin carving and the blindfolded art activity were all games that brought in more artistic people but that were also visually appealing for the crowd to watch.”

These revisions align with ASB’s move last year to make spirit dance open to as many people that wanted to participate. While there remains controversy over this change with many students citing a decrease in dance quality, The Campanile maintains that allowing an unlimited number of participants (the seniors had the most dancers at 74 in this year’s Spirit Week) brings each grade together. The five points per dancer also adds an incentive to high participation — a system The Campanile believes should be extended to float building.

Overall, The Campanile believes that ASB has successfully stressed the importance of unity throughout Spirit Week through the revamps.

Paly should incorporate more AP course options

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alo Alto High School is held in high regard for the education it provides to its students. The key to this extensive education lies in the diversity of subject matter offered and the intensity of each course. Both aspects are illustrated by the number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the curriculum. Of the 34 total AP courses offered by the College Board, Paly provides 19 — a large number even for a private school, let alone a public school.

In almost every core subject at Paly, there are multiple honors and AP options. However, in the Social Science department at Paly, there are no honors classes and only three AP classes: AP United States History, AP Psychology and AP Macroeconomics. The Campanile believes that the administration should offer more honors and AP classes in the history and social science fields in order to offer more students more options at different levels.

The ability of students to take charge of their educations is hindered by the lack of availability of certain courses. Three courses in particular would be relevant to many Paly students and yet are not currently provided: AP Microeconomics, AP United States Government and Politics and AP World History.

Given that Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) has already made many attempts to align the curriculum of Paly with that of Henry M. Gunn High School (Gunn), establishing AP Microeconomics at Paly would be both beneficial and relatively easy, as Gunn already provides the course. AP Macroeconomics is currently one of the most popular AP classes at Paly, with 167 students having taken it in the 2013-2014 school year, indicating there would be interest in an AP Microeconomics class, if it were available at Paly.

Freshmen and sophomores are currently required to take World History, Contemporary World History and United States Government, respectively. In math, science and English, students are laned into classes that offer different pacing and inten-

sity from as early as their freshman or sophomore year. There is no reason for social studies to be any different.

Just as freshmen and sophomores are able to take AP courses in math, science and English, social studies should conform to this standard.

There are several economics teachers without full schedules of classes, as well as teachers in World History and United States Government and Politics who could teach the AP version of these courses.

Within PAUSD, there is an effort to decrease stress among students.

Some people say that can be done by decreasing the rigor of students’ course loads — reducing the number of AP classes they take, for example.

Principal Kim Diorio believes that this is not the right approach to take.

“Rigor is not homework and load, and that’s a common misperception for teachers parents and students. It’s [actually] complex, deeper levels of understanding,” Diorio said.

A better approach would be to have AP classes that implement more projects and research instead of just lectures, extensive homework and regurgitation on tests. This focus would require students to work in groups and gain a deeper understanding of their subject matter, as they would be researching certain aspects in greater depth. As Paly has successfully implemented the Science Research Project, it is apparent that the district has acknowledged the success of indepth, independent learning.

As for limiting the number of APs that students can take, offering more AP classes does not mean a given student would take more APs. Instead, it would allow students to take AP’s that actually interest them, instead of taking classes just for the AP credit.

“I feel like if the district’s going to limit AP’s, we should open up more options so that if you can only take two, you’re at least taking two in the areas you love,” Diorio said. “You’re not taking [AP] Bio and [AP] Chem knowing that you’re going to be a Political Science major. That doesn’t make any sense.”

BO FIELD/THE CAMPANILE

PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL’S LATEST CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

The Campanile Editors-in-Chief Miranda Chen • Stephanie Cong • Owen Dulik Lauren Klass • Mischa Nee • Nikhil Rajaram Online Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Fu News and Opinion Editors Claire Dennis Peter Maroulis

Lifestyle Editors

Business Manager Rachel Farn

Design Editor Bo Field

Aiva Petriceks Carissa Zou

Sports Editors Kai Oda Ethan Teo Photography Editor Dami Bolarinwa

Staff Writers Yael Ben-Shachar Josh Brigel Susana Cacho Kate DeAndre Greg Eum Joanna Falla Maddie Feldmeier Mackenzie Glassford Eli Gwin-Kerr

Jamie Har Cole Hechtman Antonio Kieschnick Masha Konkov Christina Le Will Leighton Tiffany Liang Anant Marur Mads McCluskey Jacky Moore

Anna Moragne Josh Ng Thomas Rauner-Swan Gillian Robins Maggie Rosenthal Bethany Shiang Tommy Smale Adrian Smith Noah Smith Jared Stanley

Avi Tachna-Fram David Tayeri Annelise Wang Sarah Wang Clay Watson Jessica Wong Catherine Yu Samuel Yun Alice Zhao

Photographers Abira Berezin Daniel Hammerson

Jacky Moore Jordan Schilling

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LIFESTYLE The Campanile

Friday, October 30, 2015 LIFESTYLE

Cruel Intentions EP A review of Tory Lanez’s new collaborative album with Shlohmo.

PAGE B3

The truth about college apps

AIVA PETRICEKS

LIFESTYLE EDITOR

ixty years ago, when Bill Kreutzmann was in sixth grade at Middlefield Elementary School in Palo Alto, his band teacher kicked him out of the band after the second class for not being able to keep on tempo.

However, this was not the end of Kreutzmann’s story. Soon after he was kicked out of band class, he bought his very first pair of drumsticks and began taking lessons from a local drummer named Lee Andersen.

“I remember those sticks to this day,” Kreutzmann wrote in his memoir. “It was like, ‘Ah, this is me! I’m holding me for once.’

I finally had something that really meant ‘Bill’. Something that I could identify with.”

Kreutzmann was exposed to soul music — a combination of R&B and gospel genres — in his childhood, and this contributed to his continued interest in drumming. By the early ‘60s, he began attending Palo Alto High School and formed his first band, the Legends. At this point, there was no stopping Kreutzmann and his passion for drumming. “[I] was high from the experience of playing music and the unexpected joy it brought me when I saw those kids dancing to my beat,” Kreutzmann wrote.

“I now had desire in my life.

Passion.”

Kreutzmann went on to become the drummer of the Grateful Dead — a legendary rock band that eventually made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Grateful Dead started off as a band called The Warlocks in 1965, but very quickly changed their name after discovering another band under the same name. Like Kreutzmann, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan also attended Paly in the early ‘60s. Other band members include frontman Jerry Garcia, guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Phil Lesh. Their first show was played at Magoo’s Pizza in Menlo Park, which has since been replaced by a furniture store. The members of the band were all younger than 23 years old at the time and lacked experience, but this group would go on to play over 2,300 concerts together.

It is difficult to classify the Grateful Dead under one genre, as they pulled influences from rock, country, blues, jazz and psychedelia genres among oth-

Text by Ethan Teo

ers. The band is with the Grateful most well known Dead in 1970 when for its lengthy imPigpen’s health beprovisational sets gan to stunt his ability in live performances to perform live, so the — many describe their transition was smooth concerts as jam sessions as opgiven the circumstances. posed to rehearsed repertoires.

The band’s career continTheir musical style is representative ued to follow a path to success, as of the counterculture movement that they were eventually inducted into started in the mid-’60s and fostered a the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in culture of sex and psychedelia among 1994. What was surprising, however, their fans, known as “Deadheads.” was the fact that Garcia did not atThe band expanded by adding tend the induction. While most mumembers early in their careers, one sicians would see the recognition as of the most notable additions being an amazing achievement and a oncedrummer Mickey Hart. With both in-a-lifetime celebration, Garcia felt Hart and Kreutzmann on drums, the rather indifferent towards the initiaGrateful Dead was again able to cre- tion. ate a unique sound with two drum“Jerry didn’t mean to make any mers — an unorthodox practice in grand statement by not attending,” music then and even now.

Kreutzmann wrote. “When he found In 1973, just eight years into the out about it, he just mumbled someGrateful Dead’s 30-year journey, the thing like ‘Nah, man. It ain’t for me.’ band experienced a major setback. When he said he didn’t care about Pigpen’s health had deteriorated due awards or recognition, he meant that to congenital biliary cirrhosis, an he didn’t care about awards or recogautoimmune disease of the liver. Al- nition. The more prestigious and exthough the band had known of his clusive, in his view, the worse.” genetic health condition prior to his The personal approach to mudeath, it still sic that the Their musical style greatly afGrateful is representative of the Dead adfected every counterculture movement member of opted may the Grateful have been that started in the midDead. what made 60s and fostered a “Death them so speculture of sex and is always a cial. While psychedelia among surprise,” many artists their fans known Kreutzmann perform to as “Deadheads”. wrote. “It’s alentertain auways a shock, diences and even when make money, you know the Grateful it’s coming.

Dead perI can’t recall formed to the actual funeral or the large, in- entertain themselves and even proformal gathering afterward. I was in moted piracy by encouraging fans to mourning. We all were.” distribute recordings of live shows Despite his supposedly hardy de- just to spread their love for music. meanor towards the media and the Even despite this, the Grateful Dead fans, to his bandmates, Pigpen was a is one of the most financially successcompletely different individual. ful bands, because of its strong fan“He dressed tough and he acted base. tough — but on the inside, he was Unfortunately, the ceremony was the sweetest guy anybody had ever followed by further dismay. In Aumet,” Kreutzmann wrote. “We used gust 1995, Garcia died of a heart atto laugh about it, because people tack. The decline of his health was thought he was kind of this badass, caused by a number of factors inbut he wasn’t. He was like a puppy, cluding his drug addiction, weight with an outer shell of motorcycle problems, sleep apnea, smoking and insignia, which didn’t really say any- diabetes. The emotional impact of thing on it.

Garcia’s death extended to nearly evThe band, however, was able to eryone associated with the Grateful move on from this tragedy and re- Dead, including fans. cruited Keith Godchaux as their new “Every ‘Deadhead’ remembers keyboardist. Godchaux had toured where they were and what they

were doing when they heard the news that Jerry Garcia died,” Kreutzmann wrote.

The death of Garcia was the death of the Grateful Dead. Although the surviving members have reunited a number of times from 1995 to the present, the spirit of the original band officially ended at that moment.

“I knew that, without Jerry, it could never be the same,” Kreutzmann wrote. “I think my bandmates knew that I was done with [the Grateful Dead].”

In 1998, a band by the name of The Other Ones was formed by former Grateful Dead members Weir, Lesh and Hart, along with several other musicians.

They kept the improvisational essence that the original Grateful Dead had, but the band was significantly less popular and constantly made changes to its roster. By 2000, Lesh left the band while Kreutzmann joined once again, and in 2003, the name of the band was changed to The Dead. After touring in 2004, The Dead took a five-year hiatus and continued to slip off the radar of the rock and roll scene.

“Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead,” a five-concert tour over the summer of 2015 — was stated to be the last time that the four remaining core members — Kreutzmann, Weir, Lesh and Hart — of the Grateful Dead would ever play together. Two of the five concerts were performed at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif, and both concerts were extremely close to selling out.

But the Grateful Dead is always full of surprises, and perhaps it is not the end for the them, despite Fare Thee Well.

Beginning on Oct. 29, Hart, Kreutzmann and Weir will tour with John Mayer as Dead & Company until December.

After 50 years, the once local Palo Alto band has transformed into a group of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends. Obstacles have gotten in the way countless times, but the Grateful Dead seems to have still survived them all. Even if the era of the Grateful Dead has officially ended, their legacy as masters of psychedelic rock and leaders of the hippie movement will likely live on for decades, and possibly even centuries.

“So [we may have] stopped touring, but the music never stops,” Kreutzmann wrote. “Nor will it.”

Design by Bo Field & Annalise Wang

Nov. 1 — for any high school senior, the thought of this date is often followed by a surge of anxiety, as it marks the due date for many early college applications. I have been in the college application process since Aug. 1, when my favorite website, www.commonapp.org, opened for the Class of 2016 to start its college journey. I thought applying for college would be this momentous time, filled with easy 250 word supplements telling the schools why I love them, and all would be well. It is most definitely not like that. To help 75 percent of the Paly population understand what college apps are really like and to get a “BUMPPP” from the other 25 percent, I wrote a column (rant).

Before we get into actual college apps, I need to talk about the young gentleman on the front of the common app website. This is probably currently the most disliked face by every high school senior. While I am sure he is a very nice person who has a future in modeling for other college application websites, no one should be so enthusiastic on a website built to ruin dreams about being #collegebound.

Writing your college essay is by far the hardest thing you will ever do, next to getting an APUSH extra credit question right. You think you should write about the most meaningful thing in your 17 years or so.

Update: you will not, because “everyone else is already writing about it.”

Instead, you will write about a random fact about your family or something you did that was semi-original, and then you will make it seem like it was a life-changing moment. To underclassman: instead of having a really meaningful summer, just chill with your dog for a while and your college essay will come to you — from how your dog is a metaphor for your life.

Supplements will be the death of you. These 100-500 word prompts may seem like they are sweet and easy, but they are not. Lots of seniors are applying to 15 or 20 schools and while some schools have no supplements, some have 15 (thanks Stanford), you will probably end up writing more than 20. There will be overlap in your supplements, minus specific school facts. Make sure you adjust things so you do not accidently talk about the Core Curriculum in Brown University’s supplement (for those of you that do not know, Brown does not have a Core Curriculum, that is Columbia University’s thing). It all takes time.

There is also the social side of applying. The worst thing you can say to a senior filled with anxiety about getting into college is saying, “Oh my god you will TOTALLY get into [insert really hard to get into school here].” Unless you are the admissions officer for the San Francisco Bay Area of that fine institution, you are just getting that person’s hopes up.

To the Class of 2016: good luck in your college application endeavors, and just think about how sweet second semester will be. Bye Paly Pals!

ENTERTAINMENT

A review of Ryan Murphy and his series

Ryan Murphy, producer, screenwriter and director of a multitude of television series including ìGleeî and ìAmerican Horror Storyî disappoints with his stylistic choices in new horror comedy ìScream Queens.î

ANNALISE WANG/THE CAMPANILE DESIGN BY ANNALISE WANG

PAGE B7

COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

DESIGN BY ANNALISE WANG

STUDENT LIFE

FASHION

Perspectives of Paly students that have parents as teachers.

Comparing different makeup trends from across the world.

Students and teacher parents PAGE B2

COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

LIFESTYLE

Global Makeup Trends

Autumn activities

PAGE B6

PAGE B8

Fall-specific ideas to remind you why it is your favorite season.

Friday, October 30, 2015

B2

Dear Jamie

The Campanile

STUDENT LIFE Benefits of having a parent as a teacher Students with parents as teachers form eclectic perspectives and unique relationships CARISSA ZOU

LIFESTYLE EDITOR

S

JAMIE HAR

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

DEAR JAMIE: When I first started at Paly, I didn’t know many people.

Though I knew that having “best friends” like the movies was unrealistic, I had had similar friends before and hoped to find more.

However, it’s been a while, and I still feel really down and alone.

Though I have friends who are lovely people, I feel like our relationships are formed out of convenience. I can’t remember the last time they asked about my life or how I was doing. I don’t mean to sound self absorbed, but I don’t think they truly care about me like I try to care about them. We don’t seem to have any common interests either, and I always feel like I’m on the edge of their friend group.

I’ve become so sensitive that remarks like “we’ll just have fun without you” carry more weight than they should. I want to cry over the silliest things, and it’s hard for me to feel motivated to do anything. For the first time in ages, I don’t look forward to school because there’s nothing for me there.

I’ve talked with my parents and joined an absurd number of clubs (I can’t even attend all the conflicting meetings), but I just can’t see things getting better when everyone seems to already have their friend groups.

-- ANON DEAR ANON: Transitioning to a new school feeling insecure and nervous is difficult, especially when reality doesn’t meet your expectations. I want you to know that you are not alone. Our friends may change over time, but as we overcome similar obstacles, we can also grow to better understand each other.

While it doesn’t hurt to hope for that “best friend” someday, it can help to learn what can be a “good enough” friend right now. Different people can embody aspects of your ideal friend. Since people tend to connect best with others who remind them of themselves, whether through a shared love of movies or refusal to eat certain types of food, recognizing one commonality to appreciate in each of your relationships may make you feel more fulfilled.

At the same time, you can look for new friends who will encourage your growth and offer empathy, joy and support. It sounds like you have a lot of interests, but instead of spreading yourself thin with multiple commitments, I suggest really dedicating yourself to one or two clubs. You will likely enjoy the activity more, have time and energy to create deeper relationships with similar people and feel more content with yourself and your relationships.

It can definitely be frustrating when your efforts to help others are not being reciprocated. Your compassion is something to treasure and nurture, but please remember to take care of your mental health too.

In terms of crying often and feeling unmotivated, do you feel sad most days of the week? Can you not enjoy things that you normally would?

If that is the case, you may want to talk to a trusted adult like your guidance counselor, pediatrician or other mentor.

It’s wonderful that you try to be loving and thoughtful to your friends.

Though you or they may not realize it yet, each positive action is improving people’s lives; remember this when people do things to help you too. If you express your gratitude for them, they will appreciate your acknowledgement and feel encouraged to return your thoughtfulness. Though school is partly about learning, it is largely about personal and communal growth. Continue making the community a better place by creating more cycles of love and appreciation, and in time, you will see your valuable impact.

WITH LOVE: JAMIE

tudents’ and parents’ lives are generally fairly separate.

Most parents of Palo Alto High School students might drop their children off at school, then go to work and the two will reconvene sometime later that day. But for students, between the six hours that a student is at school, parents are often out of sight and out of mind.

However, for many students whose parents also serve as teachers or staff on campus, the Paly campus fosters a completely different experience, providing a unique blend of both parent and teacher roles.

Senior Kevin Bowers is one of the many students who has experienced this phenomenon. His mother, Kathi Bowers, was a Paly mathematics teacher and has become Paly’s athletic director this school year.

Due to his mother’s presence on campus, Kevin Bowers sees his life at home merging with school life, as many classmates befriend his mother.

“My mother is brought up in almost every other conversation,” Kevin Bowers said. “It’s not the best thing having your mother be best friends with your friends, but it’s okay. ‘Hey, I’m coming over to see your mom’ is a text I receive quite often.”

Bowers finds that a benefit to having his mother on campus is her awareness of school activities.

“The biggest thing about having my mom around would definitely be the fact that she’s often more knowledgeable about on-campus events than I am,” Kevin Bowers said.

“She’ll talk to me at home and ask, ‘Oh, did you hear about what so and so did?’ and it’ll be something I had no clue about. She talks to all kinds of students, and because of that, knows a lot about us.”

Nonetheless, Bowers can not imagine being in his mother’s class, due to the awkward balance between mother and teacher.

“Love my mom, but there’s something strange about going between ‘pass me the salt’ and ‘pass me my test back,’” Kevin Bowers said.

Economics teacher Debbie Whitson has two daughters, both of which

attended Paly while she was teaching.

According to Whitson, the initial transition of combining her professional and personal lives was awkward, but ultimately provided a new and enlightening perspective into the lives of both her daughters and high school students in general.

“I had been here a while before my [first] daughter was here, so it was actually a little bit weird,” Whitson said.

“It does catch you by surprise a little bit and it’s an unusual peek into their lives because we [teachers] know what is going on with high school kids at school, while most parents have no idea. It’s nice — you know what they’re up to, you know what their possibilities are and what they’re doing and what they need to do.”

I felt like I learned how the school worked better through the eyes of the student and what’s being asked of them.

Debbie Whitson Economics Teacher DAMI BOLARINWA/THE CAMPANILE

Besides offering insight into the lives of high school students, teaching her daughter’s peers has allowed Whitson to better understand her students.

“As a teacher, it’s fun just because you know all [of your child’s] friends,” Whitson said. “The better you know your students, it makes your job more fun, for me anyway. You see some kids who you’d helped in kindergarten class at Walter Hays and all of a sudden ‘Frank,’ who you hadn’t seen in eight years is sitting in your class, so that part was fun — keeping up with the kids.”

When her younger daughter attended Paly, Whitson had the unique experience of teaching her. According to Whitson, finding the appropriate manner to treat a child as a student is difficult, especially with the innate personal bond between the two family members.

“You either are too nice to them or too mean to them, so you try to be kind of neutral and not call on them too much or not ignore them too much,” Whitson said. “It’s like you know that one kid so well and it’s a little awkward.”

Natalie Docktor helps her daughter, senior Mikaela Simison, with her homework.

Ultimately, however, teaching in the same place as her children allowed for Whitson to better understand both the student and teacher perspectives.

“I feel like I knew my kids really well through high school,” Whitson said. “I felt like I learned how the school worked better through the eyes of the student and what’s being asked of them. I saw that part of it and how tough and demanding school is. It was [also] nice to get other feedback from teachers who I know professionally and to hear what comments they had [about my children] from other adults that I knew and respected professionally.”

Love my mom, but there’s something strange about going between ‘pass me the salt’ and ‘pass me my test back.’

Kevin Bowers Senior Senior Mikaela Simison, whose mother is math teacher Natalie Docktor, has expressed similar sen-

timents to Whitson and has found having her mom at school to be a unique but enjoyable experience.

“A lot of kids ask me where my mom might be or what’s she doing and when her preps are and I’m more than happy to help them out,” Simison said. “In my sophomore year a bunch of my best friends had her as a teacher and that was fun. They just came over and made sure to have their math homework done. I think it’s cool that people know my mom.”

Docktor, who has another child at Paly, junior Jack Simison, commonly finds herself switching between teacher roles and parent roles.

“Well sometimes I have my teacher head on and I want them to do all of their homework and sometimes I want them to be my kid and have fun and relax, so it’s both,” Docktor said.

Overall, Docktor sees many benefits to having her children on campus.

“It is good to have other adults on campus that can say positive things and [say] ‘Yes, [your child is] doing well,’” Docktor said. “I have a very loving relationship with my kids and I do love having them on campus.”

Teachers demonstrate quirky habits in classes Casual Fridays, “The Clap” and eccentric ties liven up students’ learning experiences “When we find students who step up to lead it as well, it helps unify everyone,” Scott said. “It’s an effective way to get the class going and helps me manage the classroom.”

Scott has noticed that “The Clap” can also be relaxing and lighten the mood of before a test or quiz. Scott’s’ legendary clap has been perceived positively among students for many years and surely will be in the years to follow.

JACKY MOORE/THE CAMPANILE

AP U.S. History teacher Jack Bungarden wears one of his many fashionable ties from his diverse collection while teaching a class.

COLE HECHTMAN

STAFF WRITER

A

ll Paly teachers offer students opportunities to learn, though some of them also offer quirky, fun moments during class. These routines can increase student participation, relieve stress and are also quite amusing for most.

There are three Paly teachers in particular who carry out interesting daily or weekly traditions.

Bloom’s Belt Buckles and Converse Fridays Eric Bloom, a well-known history teacher in the Social Justice Pathway has a very distinctive custom many students may already recognize — Bloom wears a pair of Converse and a unique belt buckle every Friday. This habit originates from the idea that in Silicon Valley, attire worn on Friday is more casual.

Bloom’s trend started over 10 years ago and was not intended to become the weekly trend that it has become.

“I started wearing jeans, which made me think that I would start wearing converse, because I like converse, and then I started wearing belt buckles with my leather belts,” Bloom said.

Bloom’s closet has grown to eight pairs of Converse and roughly 10 belt buckles, but he constantly has his eye out for new additions to his collection. Although he had no other intentions other than to be casual and fashionable, he says the Friday routine has had effects on the class and his students.

“Kids don’t notice it right away, but once they do, I have kids that show me their belt buckles and converse,” Bloom said. “I think it shows me as a little bit less uptight than I might be perceived otherwise.”

Bloom plans on continuing this unique tradition for a long time unless dressing casually becomes prohibited. Be sure to look out for the man with the fresh pair of sneakers and a stylish belt buckle every week on Friday.

Kenyon Scott’s Clap If you have taken AP Environmental Science, you know about Kenyon Scott’s morning clap routine.

Even if you have not, you may have heard about “The Clap.” During the beginning of each class, either Scott or a selected student delivers a series of claps, containing different rhythms and pitches. The clapping usually lasts for about a minute and is typically a complete freestyle.

Scott believes that his clapping routine is very effective for starting class.

“Different rhythms help to focus the mind and get the blood going,” Scott said.

The long-term science teacher spontaneously began “The Clap” during his fifth period class in 2009 and it was an instant hit. From that time on, when they did not perform “The Clap,” students would start to complain. Scott uses “The Clap” to begin each class and grab his students’ attention. However, Scott will often ask for students to come lead the exercise.

Bungarden’s Terrific Ties The impressive tie collection of the renowned AP U.S. History teacher Jack Bungarden is nothing new for many. Dating back to the beginning of his teaching career, Bungarden began to collect ties. These ties, however, are unique and unlike the conventional business attire.

“They range from historical to sometimes goofy,” Bungarden said.

Bungarden explained that he bought the first ties of his collection once he started teaching. He found $5 ties from T.J. Maxx and from there, it is history. Some examples of eccentric ties from Bungarden’s collection include Dr. Seuss ties, a tie with Abraham Lincoln’s face on it, a tie with the text from the Emancipation Proclamation, a large collection of psychedelic Jerry Garcia ties and many, many more.

However, Bungarden was quick to credit his students’ role in the stockpile.

“My best ties have been gifts from students,” Bungarden said.

Throughout his years as a teacher, Bungarden says his tie collection has grown to well over 100 different ties.

He’s even had a student count all of his ties before. For those who have yet to have Bungarden or see his massive tie collection, there is no need to fear. Bungarden plans on wearing his many distinctive ties until the end of his career.

The Campanile

Friday, October 30, 2015

LIFESTYLE

B3

Tasty pumpkin snacks for fall Album of the Month: A pumpkin enthusiast’s guide of what to consume during fall Cruel Intentions EP and winter this year, all of which can be found near Palo Alto The rise of an up and coming Toronto rapper

MADDIE FELDMEIER

STAFF WRITER

BO FIELD

F

STAFF WRITER

all: that time of year when the leaves change color, the air starts to cool and when all the delicious pumpkin products arrive in stores. Nothing can add to a crisp, chilly fall day like the besttasting pumpkin treats in season.

Fortunately, many of the season’s great options are available locally.

Here are some of the best products to try this year.

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Mix This mix provides you with a delightful breakfast, snack or even dessert, and is best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This combination mixes the best of both worlds, allowing you to enjoy the warmth of freshly baked goods in your home while also keeping you from having to slave away in the kitchen. The entire process, from opening the mix to popping the loaf in the oven, takes no more than 10 minutes and a couple of dirty dishes. A sweet, warm, cinnamon aroma fills the room within minutes, allowing the smells of fall to fill the room. The result is a heavenly spiced pumpkin bread. It is soft with a crispy edge, moist and full of flavor.

Try throwing a cup of chocolate chips into the batter before baking for an extra sweet treat.

Fraiche Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt Fall in Palo Alto is not always as cool as one might expect. On those days when the sun is shining and you are looking for a cold treat, Fraiche’s pumpkin-flavored frozen yogurt is a delicious option to try. Not only is frozen yogurt delicious, but it is healthy too. Made from organic yogurt and real pumpkin, this yogurt offers the perfect transitional blend of spiced fall flavors with summer frozen yogurt – cool and refreshing with a strong pumpkin flavor. The yo-

I

n this new regular column, I will be reviewing and bringing to your attention some of my favorite albums for everyone to discover and enjoy. Subjective opinions, hyperbole and cynicism may occur, proceed at your own discretion.

DAMI BOLARIWINA/THE CAMPANILE

Trader Joes shelves are stocked full of the season’s best and tastiest pumpkin treats.

gurt is not overly sweet, which some will appreciate, but for those with a sweet tooth, pairing it with Fraiche’s chocolate frozen yogurt is divine and satisfying.

Peet’s Pumpkin Latte Occasionally, when the rain does fall in Palo Alto, fingers get numb and noses turns red. Those are the days when Peet’s Pumpkin Latte would be satisfactory. It is a twist on a traditional latte, providing a rich cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin flavor, not to forget that you are still getting your daily dose of coffee. You can feel the warmth travel through you as you sip the drink, making you feel comfy and cozy. The richness and creaminess of the milk and the sweetness of the pumpkin is something that you just cannot beat on a rainy day. Be sure to enjoy it now because it is only at Peet’s for a few months.

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese People wait all year for this creamy, spiced, pumpkin spread to come back in season during the fall. Though it is tucked away among all of the other cream cheeses at Trader Joe’s, it most definitely deserves some attention.

Try it on a freshly toasted bagel, English muffin or even as a frosting

for a new twist on the typical cream cheese. It has just the right amount of sweetness and its creaminess adds to the delight.

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Tortilla Chips People often get stumped when they have a craving for a delicious pumpkin snack but prefer something savory, not sweet. For those who experience this problem, Trader Joe’s has the perfect solution. Its Pumpkin Tortilla Chips are crispy, salty and have just a hint of cinnamon and pumpkin spice, not to mention that they are a beautiful orange color. They can be served in a variety of ways– as a festive appetizer with salsa or just straight out of the bag.

Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar Sometimes people are presented with a shortage of time. Most of the time, compromises must be made, but missing out on the pumpkin season shouldn’t be one of them. Pumpkin Pie Clif Bars are an easy and convenient way to get your pumpkin fix on the go, as they’re soft rectangular bar with a few nuts to add a crunch and a light drizzle of icing on top for some extra pleasure. There’s so much pumpkin goodness in it that you might wonder if it is actually a protein bar.

Tory Lanez - Cruel Intentions EP The last time Los Angeles beatmaker Shlohmo dropped a collaborative Extended Play (EP) with an R&B artist, the result was a record with so much replay value that it was perfect for putting on and just staring off into space drooling to, not processing anything because the songs were repeated so much and dug so deep into the psyche that focus on the music was irrelevant. In this way, the “No More” EP with Jeremih proved that beauty in this world is ultimately fleeting and too fragile for us to appreciate.

When it was announced this summer that Tory Lanez, an aspiring artist from Toronto with sparse solo material but ghostwriting claims for the likes of Travis Scott and Akon, would be collaborating with Shlohmo’s label and collective WEDIDIT (which includes festival staple RL Grime) for an EP, expectations were similar.

Whatever small amount of tracks offered were bound to be spun until their grooves wore out, physically and metaphorically. The project meets these expectations and more, delivering a powerful sonic statement with a lastingly fresh aesthetic.

The opener and single, “Acting Like,” blends Shlohmo’s spacey and frantic production with Lanez’s angelic crooning, which cascades through the beginning leading into a dark, swelling chorus that will worm its way into your head and infest your psyche in a way no mortal man is prepared for. This track can be played

daily, every time sounding more fire.

Come for the falsetto, stay for the 808s.

Another standout is “N.I.N.A.,” with production by electronic trap star Baauer, which lopes along with a rolling verse melody that will spiral up into Lanez’s glorious higher register every once in a while, feeling like a glorious splash of fresh water in the middle of a smoke-filled rave.

Underscored with seething bass and punctuated by occasional frenzied synth squeals, this could even be passed over as a sleeper on first listen, but will set your brain on a slow burn that builds to an inferno as you let it sink in more.

The project meets these expectations and more, delivering a powerful sonic statement with a lastingly fresh aesthetic.

The fifth and final song, “Honda Civic,” becomes the magnum opus of the project and ends the tape with a beautiful, smooth, emotional caress.

D33J, on production, blends clean guitar licks with muffled clanking snares and jazzy keys, a sultry and soothing combination. The lyrics stand out especially, telling a compelling story about young lust and gas money before segueing into a flighty, agonized chorus of indecision and contradiction. Powerful and too fleeting, this is the kind of outro that will make you desperately mash the little loop album button on your phone so you can start over before silence comes, the pain of which will be similar to that of a newborn exiting its comfortable womb to find a world full of pain and the reality of no more Tory Lanez until his album drops in 2016.

“Cruel Intentions” is available for free download at www.cruelintentions.us.

Friday, October 30, 2015

B4

The Campanile

SPOTLIGHT

THE WEIGHTED

PRO

The Breakdown DAVID TAYERI STAFF WRITER alo Alto High School and Henry M. Gunn High School appear to be on the eve of a conclusion to the long evolution of the use of

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SARAH WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER dvanced Placement (AP) BC Calculus is the same as Intro to Algebra. AP U.S. History is the same as U.S. History. AP Physics C is the same as Physics. From the standpoint of an unweighted grade point average (GPA), these statements are true. The first thing that anyone looks at when trying to measure a student ’s academic achievement is his or her GPA. In the case of Palo Alto High School, this means a student’s unweighted GPA. Though the unweighted GPA may seem like a fair, simple and clean way to quickly gauge the academic proficiency of a student, it is in fact an unfair, overly broad and inaccurate measurement, and should be coupled with a weighted GPA. High schools should calculate the weighted GPA, making it available on a student’s transcript and in the GPA context on the school’s profile, to provide colleges with a clearer idea of a student’s academic performance in high school. Seventy-two percent of high schools calculate weighted GPAs, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s 2013 State of College Admission Report, and so should the Palo Alto Unified School District.

A common belief is that the greater the risk, the more rewarding the benefits should be. This expectation is no different with AP and honors classes. These classes are inherently more difficult than unweighted classes, and should be rewarded as such. Just looking at the unweighted GPA, a student with a 4.0 GPA taking all nonhonors and non-AP classes looks the exact same as a student with a 4.0 GPA taking honors and AP classes. However, the latter student has clearly demonstrated much more academic rigor, something that is not reflected in the unweighted GPA. If the weighted GPA were calculated, the challenging courses a student has taken would be reflected, rightly differentiating them from their peers.

And just like any risk or challenge, taking harder courses means a higher chance of failing. The risk of earning a B or C in a weighted class is a major deterrent for many students considering taking AP or honors classes, because they fear that taking these classes will ruin their unweighted GPA. Schools should not discourage students from stretching themselves a little.

But in the case of the weighted GPA, a lower grade in these higher level courses has less of an impact on the GPA to reflect the difficulty of the class. With the weighted GPA available, students would be more inclined to take the risk and challenge themselves in a course that they might be very interested in but are afraid of not doing so well in, because the weighted GPA would provide a cushion with that extra grade point. If there is any right time to take the risk of taking a hard class, high school is the time to do it while the extra grade point is still available, since college will not provide that cushion. But what does this high school calculated GPA matter for?

Though it is true that some (but certainly not all) colleges recalcu-

weighted grades on high school transcripts.

Grades have been unweighted at Paly since at least 1999-2000, with on lythe unweighted grade point average (GPA) appearing on transcripts.

The only changes in that time period were made to the ranking system for GPAs.

Currently, Gunn’s school profile only provides a GPA context chart for unweighted grades. This change came in early October after over 10 yeras of both weighted and unweighted grades appearing on the profile.

However, Gunn will continue to give students the option to list both unweighted and weighted GPAs on

A

DESIG

SUCCESS

SARAH

SENIOR STA

JESSICA

STAFF W

JOANNA

STAFF W late a student’s GPA based on their own grading system when looking at applications, including University of California (UC) schools, a high

cluding merit scholarships for colleges and the admission process itself.

At a school as competitive and high performing as Paly, a student taking

IF THE WEIGHTED GPA WERE CALCULATEd, THE CHALLENGING COURSES A STUDENT HAS TAKEN WOULD BE REFLECTED, RIGHTLY DIFFERENTIATING THEM FROM THEIR PEERS.

school calculated GPA still has a huge impact on a student in the collegiate world. One major impact is on a student’s ranking. Though Paly does not rank its students, it does split up students into ranked quintiles in the GPA context chart available to colleges — and based on solely unweighted GPAs. These rankings are used for a variety of purposes, in-

many challenging courses with a few lower grades can end up in a lower category than a student with a very light course load and higher grades.

An example close to home is the Eligibility in the Local Context program, initiated by the UC system. In this program, California high schools submit the top 15 percent of each class to the program, which will then

use its own system to calculate the top nine percent, who will be guaranteed a spot at one of the UC campuses. This initial top 15 percent is based solely on the unweighted GPA, potentially squeezing out students who chose to challenge themselves rather than take all easy courses.

Even once a student has been admitted to a college, his or her high school unweighted GPA can still be a burden — a burden worth up to thousands of dollars a year. In the case of the University of Colorado Boulder, scholarships are determined by looking at the “weighted ninth12th grade GPA that is reflected on the transcript... [the university] will not recalculate GPAs, but take them directly off of the transcript,” according to the university’s website.

This means a student with only an unweighted GPA will be compared directly with students with weighted GPAs, putting the unweighted student at a disadvantage for being awarded a scholarship.

A common protest against weighted GPAs stems from the enduring concern in the Palo Alto community that Palo Alto’s high schools have overly high levels of stress. Some point to the high number of AP classes that students feel they need to take in order to be “successful” and go to a good college. They believe a weighted GPA would only encourage stress because students would attempt to take

one too many AP courses in order to boost their GPA, so weighted GPAs should not be an option in order to reduce stress. This belief that taking more challenging courses should be discouraged in order to reduce stress is absurd.

This year, Challenge Success, an organization based at Stanford University that partners with schools to improve learning environments, conducted a survey at Henry M. Gunn High School. Through 1,594 responses, researchers found that on average, students taking two or fewer AP or honors courses “reported significantly more academic worry” than students taking three or more AP or honors courses, according to the Stanford Survey of Adolescent School Experiences Report on Gunn.

The correlation between more stress and more challenging courses is nonexistent, so it cannot be assumed that more stress would follow the calculation of a weighted GPA. Every piece of a student’s transcript tells admission officers and others a little bit more about that student’s academic proficiency. All these elements, from courses to grades to GPA, are important, and adding one more piece to the puzzle by including the weighted GPA can only benefit a student. For these reasons, Paly should include the weighted GPA in addition to the unweighted GPA currently on a student’s transcript.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

SPOTLIGHT

B5

D GPA DEBATE their transcripts for the Class of 2016.

Future classes’ fates will be determined in the upcoming months at a school board meeting, according to Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent Max McGee. McGee has made aligning the two high schools’ reporting systems a top priority.

“We are a school district with a central vision and core beliefs,” McGee said. “The inconsistencies are a source of stress.”

The district is currently looking for student feedback as to whether Gunn should make the transition away from listing weighted grades on transcripts.

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“I am really interested in what students have to say,” McGee said. “I have already heard from many students on both sides of the debate.”

With this in mind, The Campanile takes a closer look at both sides of the argument that has divided the Palo Alto community, through the following student opinions.

CON CLAIRE DENNIS NEWS AND OPINION EDITOR

stress

H WANG

AFF WRITER

A WONG

WRITER

A FALLA

WRITER hough fads like “test optional” and “no writing supplement” come and go, the GPA has and will remain an integral part of the college application. Whether you received an A in Chemistry Honors or failed Advanced Placement U.S. History (APUSH), your grades are boiled down to four digits, a universal formula for colleges across the country to compare students near and far. As the college admissions process becomes evermore competitive, applicants are constantly looking for ways to rise above the competition.

Some suggest imposing weighted GPAs on transcripts, in which a student receives an extra point on their GPA for any honors or AP course.

Some believe that rewarding rigor is the way to go. Think again.

The extreme intensity of many college applicants is undeniable; some students are on the brink of insanity.

Earning an extra point on the GPA scale drives some students to increase the number of rigorous courses. This practice is horrible for student health, a topic which the community of Palo Alto already struggles with. Instead of rewarding students for pushing themselves, we should encourage students to understand their limits and balance their load, supporting the newly implemented suggestion of no more than two AP classes per year. Supporting unweighted grades supports the student who takes a mix

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of rigorous and manageable classes.

Supporting weighted grades, however, supports students who overload their class schedule, with the safety net that they do not have to earn as high of a grade. We need to remind students to stay in tune with their own mental health needs.

All of the GPA stress builds up to the pinnacle of college. High school is designed to prepare graduates for college work. If we are rewarding rigorous courses with an extra GPA point, we are then creating a false incentive. It represents a carrot in front of students, leading them to success.

Motivation should come from an intrinsic desire to learn a specific subject, not from a potential boost in college admissions. Regardless, this incentive will disappear once Paly graduates arrive on college campus. There is no “bonus” for taking particular classes.

If students learn to balance their course load and pick classes for genuine interest, they will be adequately prepared to select courses in college. Prioritizing unweighted GPAs teaches students that valuable lesson of self-motivation, which is necessary to be successful at college and beyond.

Others fear that an unweighted GPA will result in students not challenging themselves. For instance, taking fewer AP’s because they do not receive GPA weight will make stu-

AP tests. The GPA is one of the few metrics in college admissions that is relatively unsusceptible to variation.

Instead, the GPA intends to offer a numerical value for grades so that

INSTEAD OF REWARDING STUDENTS FOR PUSHING THEMSELVES, WE SHOULD ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO UNDERSTAND THEIR LIMITS AND BALANCE THEIR LOAD, SUPPORTING THE NEWLY IMPLMENETED SUGGESTION OF NO MORE THAN TWO AP CLASSES PER YEAR. dents less smart or prepared for the future. However, any minor change in APs will have little effect, overall, considering that Paly already excels in APs. According to Paly’s school profile, 50 percent of Paly AP tests earn a five, the highest possible score.

This can be compared to just 13.3 percent of tests nationwide that earn a five, according to the College Board, the organization that proctors the

admissions officers can compare the high school academic success of applicants. Granted, there is some degree of variability. For example, grade inflation or deflation can be a factor at certain schools.

However, this variability is only multiplied by comparing weighted GPAs. Part of this is due to Paly’s own inconsistent weighting. For example, in the 2012-2013 school year,

Chemistry Honors was deemed a weighted course by the UC/ CSU system. However, in the following school year of 20132014, Chemistry Honors was no longer given weight. A note included in the Paly course catalog states “9th and 10th grade courses are not eligible to receive weighted credit from [California State Universities/Universities of California (CSU/UC)]; therefore, this course will not count as a weighted course for UC and CSU purposes.” Thus, this inconsistency in grading would make it hard for any admissions officer to understand Paly’s GPA system year to year, given that it seems to be in constant flux. Since CSU/ UC schools do not look at grades from senior year, weighted credit is limited to junior year. This further encourages students to load up on rigorous courses during junior year, a year in which students already face the burden of standardized testing and challenging academics. If CSU/UC weighting were to differ from Paly’s own weighting, this would further confuse both students and colleges regarding GPA. The entire premise of the GPA is to provide a standard metric for grades, yet if we continually alter our weighting system, achieving that standard metric is impossible.

Additionally, weighted GPAs prove impractical when comparing applicants of different schools. Each school offers a different number of AP and Honors courses. Some schools even have unique weighting systems, giving a half or full point for Honors courses or offering bonus points for those involved in athletics or clubs. Therefore, some students would be able to earn a higher weighted GPA than others, if their school offered more rigorous courses. It would be ineffective to compare students with numerical values that are not comparable. For that reason, many selective schools find that the GPA is a less valuable tool for them when evaluating academics.

Some high-achieving students fear that eliminating a weighted GPA option will mask the rigor in their courses. However, regardless of the GPA scale used by high schools, colleges view the rigor on student transcripts above all. Colleges can specifically see in which courses the student excels or struggles and the rigor of those specific courses.

However, to get a quick and easy picture of a student’s academic abilities, unweighted GPA would serve a greater purpose because it provides a standard metric, that can then be verified and clarified through the full transcript.

“Academic performance is instead measured by grades in academic courses,” an admissions officer from Duke University wrote to The Campanile. “We look at the student’s transcript, course by course, grade by grade, to uncover the student’s four year journey through his/her academics.”

Ultimately, Paly should remain with its unweighted system, despite calls for a weighted GPA. Gunn should also make the move to unweighted GPAs, for the sake of consistency and the students.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

B6 FASHION Teen retailers face criticism for controversial sizing Popular clothing chain store attracts a majority of teenage customers with “One Size Fits Most” catchphrase MASHA KONKOV

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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atterned dresses, thin crop tops and pajama shorts can be seen all around the Palo Alto High School campus, popularized by the Italian company Brandy Melville.

The majority of the company’s stores are located throughout California, with a location opening in Stanford Shopping Center this past summer.

It is easy to fall weak to the Brandy Melville spell: they sell fashionable clothes offered at reasonable prices.

However, there is a catch — regardless of how far someone rummages through the clothing racks at Brandy Melville, they are not going to find a variety of sizes. The enterprise does not sell clothes by size, as their clothes are only made in one size.

All clothing in store is labeled with either “one size” or “small.” The majority of the skirts available on the store’s website have a waist measurement capable of stretching to about 25 inches, which is a size zero or two on denim size charts. By contrast, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, the average 16-year-old girl in the United States weighs 137 pounds and has a 31-inch waist.

One of the probable business incentives for this policy is the efficiency and increase in profit margin that comes from not needing to produce multiple sizes of clothing. Another in-store convenience is that the process of trying on clothing items is shortened because people do not have the option to try on other sizes if the initial item does not fit them properly.

Other previously popular retailers of young adult clothing have started to experience significant loss, with Abercrombie & Fitch closing 60

stores in 2014, at the same time that Brandy Melville was becoming one of the most popular teen brands.

None of the success that Brandy Melville has gained was due to traditional advertising. The popularity of these brands can be almost solely attributed to social media buzz.

American Eagle has attempted to copy Brandy Melville’s “one size” sales technique in order to attract more customers. In September 2014, American Eagle attempted to revamp its look by opening a pop-up shop called “Don’t Ask Why” in New York City, with styles nearly replicating those of Brandy Melville but at slightly higher prices.

From Brandy Melville’s and now Don’t Ask Why’s success, the implementation of the “one size fits most” policy has proven to be exceptionally successful.

Though one might think that the companies are losing profits by excluding a large amount of people from purchasing their clothing, it may be that the exclusivity of the product encourages those who can fit into the clothing to purchase it and display themselves as someone who, quite literally, “fits in.”

“You’ll get a loyal following from those who can fit into the clothing, hence the crazy amount of Instagram followers Brandy Melville has [2.9 million],” senior Emma Sternfield said.

According to the Huffington Post, Brandy Melville’s visual manager Sairlight Saller denied that their sizing policy potentially discriminates among shoppers.

“I don’t think it causes a negative effect on the body image of any one of our shoppers because anyone can come in the store and find something,” Saller said in an interview

JORDAN SCHILLING/THE CAMPANILE

Retailer, Urban Outfitters, with a store location at Stanford Shopping Center, faced controversy over its past clothing releases.

with the Huffington Post. “At other places, certain people can’t find things at all.”

There is no doubt that Brandy Melville is one of the biggest teenage brands on the market right now, but critics stick firmly to how the store has a high potential of perpetuating poor self-esteem, distorted perceptions of weight and social exclusion, particularly for those who see the store’s sign as a “Do Not Enter” sign.

Another American retailer often in the news for controversial clothing is Urban Outfitters. This past February, a $69 gray and white tapestry with pink triangles was put up

for sale. Many found that these triangles emulated the ones Nazis used to brand gay prisoners.

Months prior in September 2014, Urban Outfitters sold a “Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt” splattered with blood spots, clearly alluding to the shootings in 1970. During the $129 dollar sweatshirt’s time on the market, it was advertised as being on an “extremely limited run” and advised consumers to “get it or regret it.”

The retailer does not steer away from the sensitive topic of body image, releasing a T-shirt with the phrase “Eat Less” written across the fabric.

“How Urban Outfitters misuses their freedom of expression makes me not like their business model,” Sternfield said. “But it is a popular store among our age group.”

Sternfield criticized the brand’s lack of a size range, which limits the diversity of its customers.

“It also bothers me how the same type of girls are inside the Brandy Melville stores — there is really no diversity when it comes to their customers,” Sternfield said. “Despite how much I disagree with the store’s practices, they will be receiving my money, and that’s what really matters to the business.”

Cultural differences mirrored in evolving cosmetic fads American and Asian makeup trends deviate to reflect the divergences in international standards of beauty RACHEL FARN

BUSINESS MANAGER

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n ancient Chosun Korea and during China’s Qin and Han dynasty, women darkened their eyebrows with charcoal and powdered their faces to create white complexions. On the other side of the world, in early 20th century America, women used lemon juice for pale faces and massaged and applied hydrating creams for supple skin.

Beauty trends and standards across the world have always varied across cultures. Even today, the makeup trends and inventions in Asian culture are unlike those in western culture.

In Asia, most beauty products are centered around hydration. Although also commonly seen in America, masks and facial pads are particularly popular in Asia, especially in the form of tissue and sheet masks.

They are usually used to hydrate the skin and often include collagen — a protein that helps rejuvenate skin cells and creates supple, firm skin.

Facial mists are also popular in Asia.

Focused on external hydration, facial mists refresh the skin throughout the day and are often used for therapeutic and calming purposes.

Many people in Asia aim for a dewy, flawless complexion but also want products that protect the natural skin and preserve it. Blemish balm (BB), color correction (CC) and daily defense (DD) creams are all-in-one products created to do just that. BB creams, the most basic of the three, replace sunscreen, lotion, foundation and primer. The cream provides coverage along with skin moisturizing and protecting features. CC creams and DD creams provide the same features as BB creams, but CC

JACKY MOORE/THE CAMPANILE

creams have a lighter essence and help improve skin tone while DD creams target dry areas.

Recently, BB, CC and DD creams in compact cushion form have become very popular. In this form, a sponge is soaked in the cream and put in a container that is then sold with an applicator sponge. This compact is extremely common in Asia, as it is more portable and allows for more quick touch ups throughout the whole day.

Another trend in Asia is whitening skin products. Many moisturizers and facial creams include ingredients meant to lighten skin and get rid

of blemishes such as acne scars and freckles.

Beauty trends and standards across the world have always varied across cultures. Even today, the makeup trends and inventions in Asian culture are unlike those in western culture.

Asian beauty standards favor light, natural makeup. Besides a minimal amount of lengthening, thin mascara and tightlining, or applying eyeliner in the upper waterline, there is not a heavy emphasis on eye makeup.

Asians favor bright colors — reds, pinks and oranges — for their cheeks and lips. Instead of a simple solid colored lip, a popular trend in Asia is to create ombré lips with a vibrant, concentrated color in the center of the lip that blends out, creating undefined lip lines.

In America, makeup trends are much more dramatic. Just like in Asia, American beauty standards call for flawless, clear skin. However, the difference is that American beauty products focus a lot more on coverage and covering blemishes. It is common for people in America to use four layers of product — primer, concealer,

foundation and powder — to even out the skin.

At the same time, Americans favor more bold, sharp, arched eyebrows that are heavily filled in to match the heavy eye makeup. Beauty trends in America include dark, smokey eyeshadow paired with thick, winged eyeliner and clumped voluminous eye lashes.

To add to the dramatic effect, American makeup uses much more contouring and highlighting to bring out the cheekbones, thin the jaw line and give color to the face. Recently, clown contouring has become a popular makeup trend.

Clown contouring is an extreme method of applying shadow, highlights and blush to the face. Before being blended, the placement of the various products is similar to clown makeup, hence the name “clown contouring”.

Another recently emerging makeup trend is strobing. Instead of applying bronzer in contour areas, the opposite is done; highlighter is applied in highlighted areas and where light would naturally hit the face. This allows for certain areas of the face, covered in highlighter, to stand out.

For the most part, American makeup trends tend to use many neutral colors. Many people find nude colored lipsticks to be more attractive.

On the other hand, it is also popular to use more dark contrasting colors like deep reds or even purples.

Both Asian and American cultures aim for the same goal of achieving beauty, and both countries take different approaches. Because of the countries’ different interpretations of using makeup to attain perfection, Asia and America have come up with varying trends and beauty innovations.

Mid Peninsula Orthodontics STACEY D. QUO DDS, MS Specialist in Orthodontics

965 High Street Palo Alto, CA 94301 Tel: 650-328-1600 FAX: 650-327-6556 email: info@orthoquo.com

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

ENTERTAINMENT

Ryan Murphy fails with “Scream Queens” Creator of “Glee” and “American Horror Story” returns with unoriginal horror-comedy

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Best Places to Nap at Paly

MACKENZIE GLASSFORD

STAFF WRITER

D

espite the incessant wave of promotion for Ryan Murphy’s new horror-comedy, “Scream Queens,” the premiere was an entirely predictable disappointment, showing little difference from Murphy’s previous shows, “Glee” and “American Horror Story.”

“Scream Queens,” which is intended to mock horror movies, centers on the murders of the members of an elite sorority, Kappa Kappa Tau, run by the rich and entitled Chanel Oberlin, who is portrayed by Emma Roberts.

Within the first five minutes of the show’s premiere on Sept. 22, Chanel gives a monologue on what it is like to be president of the top sorority on campus and how blessed she is to be in such a position. After introducing all of her minions, Chanel describes the woman scrubbing the floors of their house, introducing her as “Ms. Bean,” but later referring to her as “white mammy,” calling her “essentially a house slave.”

Murphy prides himself on focusing on those oppressed and underrepresented in the media. He has been praised for filling his shows with people who would not normally be cast in other mainstream TV shows.

As the poster boy for representing the bullied and marginalized, Murphy sure has a lot of problematic depictions of race, racist jokes and racial stereotypes in all of his works.

As the poster boy for representing the bullied and marginalized, Murphy sure has a lot of problematic depictions of race, racist jokes and racial stereotypes in all of his works.

“Glee” seems like it would be the exception to the rule, with one of the most diverse casts on television. But Murphy ended up only marginalizing minority characters further by pushing them to the sidelines. For the most part, the characters of color were only there to push the storylines of the white characters forward. The only black character to have even half the presence of a white character was

TIFFANY LIANG

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF PMCVARIETY

Director Ryan Murphy, fourth from the left, poses with fellow cast members from his latest television creation, “Scream Queens.”

Mercedes, played by Amber Riley.

Unfortunately, Mercedes’ character was only there to pander the stereotype of the sassy black girl with a great voice and was usually there to heighten Rachel Berry’s, who is portrayed by Lea Michele, success. Despite these problems with “Glee,” the show was highly successful, going on for six seasons and winning upwards of 30 awards.

Murphy dealt with race much more explicitly in the third season of “American Horror Story,” “AHS: Coven.” Kathy Bates played a 200-year-old slave owner in New Orleans named Madame Delphine LaLaurie, who brutally tortured and murdered all of her slaves. When her severed head meets Queenie, who is portrayed by Amber Riley, the only black witch in the coven, LaLaurie speaks to her as if she is one of her slaves. Queenie then forces her to watch footage from the Civil Rights movement and clips from the movie “Roots.” By the end of the episode, despite her boasting that she had not watched any of the film, LaLaurie is visibly moved and there are tears streaming down her face as she realizes that her unjust actions towards her slaves were atrocious.

This feels like the start of the road to redemption for LaLaurie, which is undeserving. Much of LaLaurie’s history is shown in flashback clips and all of them are horrifying to watch.

One particularly graphic scene in-

cluded Madame LaLaurie using her slave’s blood as her face moisturizer.

Now are the viewers are supposed to feel sorry for her because she realizes she made a mistake? Even in the show, Queenie begins to sympathize with LaLaurie. It seems like the viewers are supposed to push the obvious racial issues that LaLaurie represents to the side just because she learned a valuable lesson.

Murphy and the stars of his shows have time and time again defended his brand of humor by categorizing it as satire.

“She’s a sadistic psychopath, not only sadistic to her slaves, but to her daughters, too — and you don’t recover from being that kind of person,” critic Kera Bolonik said to Medium Magazine after the series’ initial run.

“It’s who you are, even if you’ve been buried alive with your own thoughts for 200 years.”

“Scream Queens” is a continuation of Ryan Murphy’s traditional “satirical” humor as seen in the first five minutes, and it continues to escalate from there. Towards the end of the 2-hour episode, Chanel begins hazing the pledges, one being Zayday, who is portrayed by Keke Palmer. Chanel begins writing all of the pledge’s flaws on their half naked bodies with black eyeliner, and when she gets to Zayday, greets her with “Hello, hoodrat.”

She then proceeds to explain that she needs to go upstairs to get white eyeliner in order to be able to read the words on Zayday’s black body.

Pledges and sisters both react to these actions with a headroll. It seems that these responses are indications that this is something that the audience can just gloss over.

Murphy and the stars of his shows have defended his brand of humor by categorizing it as satire. And yes, all of his shows definitely have their moments and, judging by his viewer count, huge amounts of people find Murphy hilarious. But it gets less funny when the racist jokes are the only dialogue present. “Scream Queens” is meant to be a satire of a system that is traditionally very unfair — the Greek system — but instead of being funny, most of Murphy’s jokes are mean and so blatantly racist that they make viewers uncomfortable. It makes it even worse while realizing that Murphy is openly gay and, as a member of a minority, should be much more sensitive with the types of jokes he is making in his shows.

What is most disappointing about all of this is that Murphy’s shows are actually kind of good without the underlying racist theme. If he could just gravitate away from what he is used to and what viewers are used to seeing from him, he could produce some seriously funny content. It is time to forget the ‘laugh-at-hatefulness’ routine and move on.

Trevor Noah takes over as host of “The Daily Show” Jon Stewart leaves hole in comedic news show that Noah is struggling to learn to fulfill

COURTESY OF THE WASHINGTON POST

Trevor Noah hosts his first episode of the “The Daily Show” by sending off and praising his predecessor and mentor, Jon Stewart.

YAEL BEN-SHACHAR

STAFF WRITER

O

n Sept. 28, the new host of “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah, began his first night as host by likening former host Jon Stewart to a comedic father figure.

“Dad left and now it feels like the family has a new stepdad, and he’s black,” Noah said.

Noah was put in a position that no comedian or talk show host would want to be in — he had taken over as the host of a show which a comedic legend who had won 20 Primetime Emmy Awards had been hosting since 1999.

However, Noah has been performing rather admirably. He was a correspondent on the show for five episodes before he became the host.

Noah has sustained the integrity of “The Daily Show” and kept the same style that Stewart used. Similarities aside, he has still been able to incorporate his own personality in the show as well. While Stewart

was known for often being infuriated and exasperated at politicians to the point of stuttering and yelling, Noah is much more cool and collected.

Compared to Stewart’s harsh sense of humor, Noah’s humor consists more of light-hearted jokes, often centered around his South African heritage.

The show is now slightly less political than it was when Stewart was hosting.

For example, Noah discusses popular culture topics such as the Star Wars mania that has ensued from anticipation for the upcoming movie.

Noah is very charismatic and charming, but at times he tells jokes that are more groanworthy than amusing. During his first night hosting “The Daily Show,” Noah made a joke pretending to be cocaine, claiming it is better than crystal meth because “[it] took down Whitney Houston.” The insensitive joke was followed by silence and collective cringes throughout the audience.

“The Daily Show” typically revolves around politics, especially during a presidential campaign season.

Noah, however, did not cover the Democratic debate in a particularly interesting or comprehensive manner. He did not mention many of the important aspects of the debate and instead mainly focused on little, irrelevant events, like how many times Jim Webb commented that he did not talk every 10 minutes, as opposed to discussing more serious topics such as Clinton’s flip-flopping on major issues.

[Noah] has sustained the integrity of “The Daily Show” and kept the same style that Stewart used.

While Noah has had a multitude of missteps and unfunny jokes, he is still in the process of making “The Daily Show” his own. Just like in any other job, getting settled in takes time.

As he settles in and the nerves of taking over a show previously hosted by a late night legend subside, Noah will get into the groove of the show. With

time, his jokes will become wittier and the show will run smoother.

Among the cringeworthy ones, Noah has made many comical jokes, which are often self-deprecating or incorporate his South African background. For example, he compared Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump to African presidents.

One of Noah’s best moments thus far was when he was discussing Ben Carson’s remarks about the recent Oregon shooting, which entailed that if Carson was involved in a shooting, he would tell the other victims to fight back. Carson claimed that he was involved in a shooting at “Popeye’s organization,” so Noah made fun of Carson’s use of the term organization, instead of restaurant, and created the website popeyesgivesback.org.

Although Noah is often very entertaining, one area of his that needs much work is his interviews. When interviewing politicians or other talk show hosts, he is comfortable and outgoing. On the other hand, Noah is awkward when interviewing celebrities. These interviews usually consist of Noah sitting and smiling uncomfortably. The celebrities do most of the talking and Noah consequently gives the impression that he does not know the person at all. This is normally quite boring — it would be more entertaining if Noah talked more to keep the interview funny.

Noah has yet to fill Stewart’s tremendous shoes; however, it is only a matter of time before he does. The Daily Show’s ratings have dropped by 33 percent since Stewart left, but once viewers get used to Noah’s humor, the ratings should go back up.

Noah must prove that Stewart made the right choice when choosing who would carry on the role as host of “The Daily Show.”

There is no denying that everyone has those days where not even the glory of a Douce France chai latte can wake you up. It is third period and the four precious hours of sleep you got last night are catching up to you.

The sleep deprivation has made you shameless and you need a nap. You ask yourself in desperation: Where in the world can I nap peacefully and comfortably on this campus? Well, you are in luck. As one of the world’s leading napping connoisseurs, it is my passion to unveil the napping secrets of Palo Alto High School.

The Media Arts Center (MAC): The state-of-the-art journalism building does not only exist for late night productions, but is also the ultimate spot to nap at Paly. Filled with only the best polyvinyl chloride pellets, the adored bean bags of the MAC make for prime time napping.

Scared of napping out in the open and being the victim of someone’s Snapchat story? Not to worry. The colorful blocks of the MAC make for good fortress building, as long as Pkandy allows it. If that backfires, take a scenic hike up the stairs, gaze off into the distance and admire the assortment of James Franco’s art.

Your hike will take you to yet another underrated nap spot — the journalism library of the MAC, located in room 205. The journalism library is a wonderful area for private napping.

Adorned with colorful couches, bean bags and pillows, you will fall into a deep slumber, wondering why James (yes, it’s a first name basis kind of thing) hasn’t responded to any of your DMs on Instagram and Twitter yet.

The Library: Although it gets a little loud at times and sometimes even R. Kelly cannot calm the storm, the lounge chairs in the library do a fantastic job of simulating the feeling of lying down. It may be a little adventurous to nap so out in the open, but any chance to nap is a chance worth taking. Remember these words of wisdom, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you do not take.” Again decked out in Franco’s art, the library is a great place to stare at the bizarrely painted ampersand (&) and contemplate Franco’s state of mind at the time he painted it, until you slowly drift off to sleep, wondering about the universe and the random bananas on that other painting. Paired with the fast click-clacks of computer keys, sounds of textbook flipping and occasional lecture to a food criminal, you will be fast asleep to pass the time during the lockdown that is Tutorial 2.0.

The Senior Deck: Of course this venue is limited to seniors only, unless you want to risk an endless stream of dirty looks. It is a great place if you are in desperate need to lie down and get your share of Vitamin D. Unlike the overwatered grassy quad, you will not be in danger of accidentally laying down in a puddle or getting unique lawn marks all over your body. Not only is the senior deck possibly the most sunshine soaked place to nap on campus but, it is also all natural. But being the most organic area at Paly comes with its costs — the risk of being on someone’s Snapchat story is very high.

Then again, since you have decided to make the choice to nap at school, you are officially deemed #shameless.

Take this as an opportunity not only to satisfy your sleeping needs, but also to seize the day! If you really want to kill two birds with one stone, this is the perfect opportunity to try and fulfill your dreams of becoming Snapchat famous.

Friday October 30, 2015

The Campanile

B8

LIFESTYLE

Text and design by

Gillian Robins

Autumn Activities

staff writer

Design by

Aiva Petriceks

Lifestyle editor

A

utumn is arguably the most hyped season for Instagram pictures of teens doing cute, seasonal activities. A typical fall picture will likely include some combination of Uggs, pumpkins, leaves and scarves. The season has its own distinct aesthetic that populates countless, newly-turned orange-hued social media feeds.

It may be hard to find fall-friendly activities around Palo Alto and the larger Bay Area, but the trek is well worth it for that one, Instagram-worthy picture. To create more time to edit those essential fall pictures and spend less time searching for autumnal “adventures”, here are some seasonal pursuits that can be found around the Bay, as well as a few interests that can be enjoyed right in your own home.

The Classic Pumpkin PatcH Pumpkin patches can be found all around the Bay Area, but a few that have a rural, farm feel are in Half Moon Bay, like Farmer John’s Pumpkin Farm, and Pastorino’s. There are a few that can be found on San Mateo Road in Half Moon Bay. To make the most of the pumpkin-picking experience, one must dress the part. The recommendation is a sweater and boots, and then pose for the camera holding a prized pumpkin amid the hundreds scattered across a field, with a backdrop of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Have a tea party in your backyard

If you are feeling particularly Pinterest-y and are up for the preparation, an autumn tea party in your own backyard is the way to go. Force some friends to come over and bribe them with food.

Make a pumpkin treat, such as mini pumpkin bundt cakes, triangle sandwiches and brew a spiced, fall-flavored tea. It does not matter if tea is not your cup of tea, because it looks cute and artsy people drink tea. If a nice tea set is on hand, use that to sip the tea, or just take a picture midpour. The precisely placed tea and bite-sized food, begs for a photo to be taken of it. To get inspiration for the photo, look at famous food Instagram accounts, and pretend to be them. While in a backyard, look up and admire the fall foliage of the trees against the grey sky.

(Pumpkin) Spice up a Night with friends

Autumn in California means being buried alive in pumpkin flavored foods. Every year Trader Joe’s continually whips out new, daring products during fall. Use this as an opportunity to invite some friends over and have them bake or bring their favorite pumpkin or fall treat. Trader Joe’s comes in handy here — if baking a pumpkin treat takes too much time, just grab a pumpkin mix or other pumpkin product from the infinite choices the store offers. Once everyone has chosen their food, put them all together and Snapchat the array of pumpkin magnificence. While munching on the seasonal treats, choose the latest American Horror Story episode, or a scary movie, to watch.

Fall Hikes

Although California does not get the full force of autumn like the East Coast, the state still has noticeable changes in the color of leaves, that gives a sense of the transitioning seasons. The Skyline Ridge Open Nature Preserve, located on Street A Skyline and Street B Alpine in Los Altos, offers moderate hikes that provide a view of redwood, oak and fir forests with fall foliage. Pop on a beanie, a sweater and some hiking boots, and assemble in front of the fall foliage for someone to take a picture. For the picture, there is a choice of whether to smile at the camera, or stare admirably at the beauty of nature with your back turned to the camera — however either pose works.

Make your house cozy

As the weather hardly gets colder, the interior of your home should adopt a cozy atmosphere, with a verging on oppressive, pumpkin spice smell in the air. If it is difficult to decide from the five pumpkin scented candles at Bath and Body Works, they also sell “Fresh Apple, and the conceptual “Autumn”, “Leaves” and “Sweater Weather” candles. To add to the fall feel, stop by Trader Joe’s and pick up mini pumpkins to adorn a windowsill or two. If you have a night in, draw a bath and light the candles. Baths are a great way to relax after a long, tiring week and adding bath bombs and other playful bath objects can make the experience fun, and make your skin soft and smell good. Lush Cosmetics has a Halloween collection of bath bombs and jellies that will make any bath time magical. Throw in a sparkly pumpkin or two, snapchatting a picture in the bath after the bubbles have formed and the water has turned a pretty color. Before hopping in the tub, create a fall playlist on Spotify with mellow, acoustic songs to create the mood. Soak in the suds, and the magnificent scent of artificial pumpkins.

1

in

2000

This edition featuring:

Kyle Powell with The Campanile’s own

Aiva Petriceks

The Campanile (TC): So how is your day going?

Kyle Powell (KP): It’s okay. I mean I’m going to meet my tutor later, nothing really new. So far okay.

TC: So you were in the sophomore spirit dance…

KP: True.

TC: You had a great solo…

KP: So true.

TC: How was that.

KP: It was really f—ing amazing, like really amazing.

TC: Would you say that Beyonce is your queen?

KP: True, she is sooo my queen, so my queen. She is the fabulous goddess that no one deserves, but she is still on this earth.

TC: Since the queen will be able to lead our country soon, if Beyonce ran for President in 2020, do you think she would beat Kanye?

KP: F— yeah, she would totally beat him. What am I talking about, Kanye ain’t gonna win.

TC: What is your spirit animal?

KP: My spirit animal? I don’t think I have one, I’m sad.

TC: Why don’t you have a spirit animal?

KP: I don’t know. I have never really thought into that before.

What would be something fun and creative?

TC: I don’t know, I feel like my spirit animal would be a koala.

KP: Maybe a unicorn. I’m full of rainbows and joy.

TC: What is the best part about sophomore year?

KP: The best part of sophomore year is… I really do not know what to say. Sophomore year kinda sucks, but I am trying to see the highlights.

You get to do more exploring, you get to find yourself and see where you belong.

TC: What is the worst part about sophomore year?

KP: The homework, it sucks. So much.

TC: Do you think it will get better junior year?

KP: No. It ain’t gonna get better, it only gonna get worse.

TC: I could tell by your Instagram that you draw a lot, do you want to talk about that?

KP: Drawing is a hobby of mine.

Since I was doing a challenge on Instagram called Inktober where you draw a picture of everyday of the month, but because I have been so busy with homework and tests lately, I haven’t been able to. It is a good way to relieve stress.

TC: How would you describe your aesthetic in one word?

KP: I have three words: b–chy, sassy and queen.

TC: Queen?

KP: Queen.

TC: In relation to the queen herself, Beyonce, where are you on your queen level?

KP: In relation to Beyonce, not even close. Normal standards, a little bit more or halfway. Not full, but maybe a good 80 [percent there].

TC: Also, you have fantastic hair.

Do you want to describe your hair to our readers?

KP: It’s ratchet as hell, it looks really ugly, but in style it’s okay.

TC: Would you say you are hair goals?

KP: I just want it to be fabulous. I just want it to have luscious color and be fabulous, but it can never be that.

TC: Any last words for Paly?

KP: Stay fierce, stay fabulous and stay strong no matter what.

The Campanile

Friday, October 30, 2015 ATHLETE OF THE Wide receiver MONTH

SP RTS

Eli Givens’ remarkable speed and reflexes give the football team unprecedented momentum.

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TEXT BY KAI ODA SPORTS EDITOR

Team Rituals: A Bonding Experience

CLAIRE DENNIS/THE CAMPANILE

KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE

A

down if the quarterback throws a bad pass. In cross country, individual performance is unconnected to how well teammates do at a meet because runners receive individual times.

However, there are two reasons that runners attend these social gatherings: nutrition and interaction.

The cross country team is comprised of separate girls and boys teams, and the two train separately. Pasta feeds are one of the few times when the boys and girls teams can interact.

Senior Samuel Desré enjoys pasta feeds because they bring together two similar teams that are otherwise isolated.

“Since the boys and girls teams train separately, pasta feeds create an opportunity to make connections with members of the other team,” Desré said. “These connections then help during the meets since both teams cheer each other on.”

Senior Portia Barrientos, captain of the girls team, believes that people attend pasta feeds because of the nutritional benefits, not the gender attraction.

“Before every meet, the cross country team has pasta feeds because runners like to [load up on carbohydrates] before their race so that they have extra energy to help them perform,” Barrientos said. “Sometimes [pasta feeds] lead to wonderful relationships, but generally people just come for the food.”

The girls cross country team also has an exclusive program called “Secret Buddies.”

Girls are secretly assigned to a teammate, and give gifts to each other throughout the season.

“It’s really fun because you get to give gifts and receive a lot of stuff, and you never know what you might get,” Barrientos said.

single pineapple stands proudly in the center of a ring of water polo players. A few players bow their heads in reverence while others gaze lovingly at the semi-rotten fruit. Finally, senior Kevin Bowers rises from the circle and gently caresses the spiny exterior. The pineapple is then whisked away and the players slowly come out of their trance. They pull on their goggles and speedos before jogging out of the changing room, prepared for their game.

“We have a team pineapple,” Bowers said. “He doesn’t have a name, but he means a lot to us. We bring YOU GET A BETTER FEELING him around before the game, we take him out to dinner FOR YOURSELF THROUGH THE and we touch him. Every time we’ve done that, we’ve PINEAPPLE. THE TEAM JUST won.”

FEELS MORE CONNECTED BE“Praising the Pineapple” is the boys water polo team’s pre-game ritual. The process allows the team to reflect CAUSE YOU CAN ALL RELATE on their lives and connect to one another. No matter TO ONE THING. the stresses the players encounter in their lives, the time KEVIN BOWERS spent with the pineapple is calming for the team.

SENIOR “If I’m having a bad day, the pineapple is there for me no matter what,” Bowers said.

Most sports at Paly have some sort of ritual, though none are quite as unorthodox than that of the boys water polo team. Team rituals can appear as silly, unnecessary activities to non-athletes, but they are often an integral part of team cohesion and game success.

“You get a better feeling for yourself through the pineapple,” Bowers said. “The team just feels more connected because you can all relate to one thing.”

Rituals are what bond the team off the field. During practice and games, players learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but off the field, they can be complete strangers. Additionally, a sports team brings a diverse set of individuals together, which often creates problems. In order to truly work well together, players need to understand not only how their teammates act, but also how they think.

Volleyball

Tangled hair, loss of voice and deafness are a few of the side effects of the girls volleyball team ritual. Before games, they gather in a tight circle and scream the lyrics to “Shots”

by LMFAO. This deformed version of karaoke motivates the team and readies them to spike the ball into the faces of the opposing players.

NOTHING IS REALLY CONSTANT, “Our team thrives on energy, so when we have our BUT HAVING A PRE-GAME RITUAL team ritual it helps us get super pumped up,” junior BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER, ENJessica Lee said. “At the end we’re ready to play.”

SURING THAT THEY WORK AS Unlike other team rituals, “Karaoke in the Gym” A COHESIVE TEAM WHEN THE exists to drive the team into the frenzy. By the end of the song, the girls are ready to destroy the opposGAME COMES. ing team. Junior Fiona Green uses the ritual to forget FIONA GREEN all other distractions and focus in on the upcoming JUNIOR game.

“In games, nothing is really constant, but having a pre-game ritual gives players a constant and brings the people together, ensuring that they work as a cohesive team when the game comes,” Green said.

Football

Football is a sport that demands team unity. In order to increase its interactions off the field, the Paly team eats dinners together the night before its games. Junior Sean Romeo feels that this ritual encourages a level of openness that is key to team chemistry.

“The coach will bring up a topic in the form of a question and we discuss it within our groups,” Romeo said. “Some examples of questions are, ‘What are your goals for the entire season’ or ‘Why do you play football at all?’”

As the players discuss these core questions among themselves, they get a better feel for how everyone on the team thinks. For the football team, open conversation between players helps break divisions between age, ethnicity and social standings.

“Team rituals are about being open and being honest,” Romeo said. “[They] create an environment where you can get on the same level as everyone else, even if they are not people you normally interact with.”

Romeo feels that without their weekly dinners, the football team would be divided, and the players would lose their motivation.

“I feel that [our dinners] are really something that has really brought us together as a team on and off the field,” Romeo said. “They are why we keep on playing.”

The Big Idea

Although team rituals range from the worship of a rotten pineapple to incoherent singing, their place within sports teams is essential. A team brings together people of wildly different backgrounds and interests and forces them to work towards a common goal. Rituals help integrate new players, embolden introverts and push the team towards success.

“Team rituals bring the team together,” Bowers said. “Now why? It’s because [they’re] something that every member of the team can relate to. Automatically I have to accept people into the team because [they] have touched the pineapple and I’ve touched the pineapple and [we] have to be friends. It’s a matter of tradition, it’s a matter of family and it’s a matter of the team.”

Cross Country

However, not all sports use team rituals for bonding purposes. Cross country organizes a “pasta feed,” which is similar to the football team dinner. However, the team uses pasta feeds as events to socialize rather than as intimate bonding rituals. Football requires team cooperation in order for an individual to succeed — a wide receiver cannot score a touch-

KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE

SPORTS

COURTESY OF SCMP

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JACKY MOORE/THE CAMPANILE

INSIDE

Rugby Upset: The Game of the Century

Although rugby was developed in Japan, the team has never had a foothold in the Japanese rugby union due to lack of interest and support. Now, they attempt to take the world title from South Africa.

DESIGN BY

MACKENZIE GLASSFORD STAFF WRITER KAI ODA SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY OF DAVID GEIER

ALICE ZHAO/THE CAMPANILE

COURTESY OF MALCOLM SLANEY

Discover the pros and cons of starting sports at a young age.

What it’s like to be injured during the season and how to recover.

Sports Injuries

Gym Ratings

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Starting Young

Find out which Palo Alto gym is the best fit for your workout style.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

SPORTS

C2 VIKING RECAP

Cross country victorious in spite of injured players Roster depth and improvement of young runners will contribute to the team’s success

AVI TACHNA-FRAM

FOOTBALL

STAFF WRITER

RECENT GAMES

espite being set back by injured players, both Palo Alto High School’s crosscountry teams are set to succeed at Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs.

Although there are several injured runners, including boys captain senior Sam Desré and girls captain senior Emma Raney, the team is still optimistic about its chances at CCS. In total, three members of the boys team are unable to race due to injuries including varsity runners Desré, junior Kai Oda and junior Naveen Pai, both of whom ran at the California Interscholastic Federation state finals last year.

The boys have done well at their two most recent meets even with an injured roster — the Baylands and Monterey Invitational meets.

At the Baylands meet on Oct. 20, the boys team averaged 30 seconds faster than Los Gatos High School. “[The Baylands meet] was more of a training meet than a meet that we were trying to win and get best times in, but either way we still did really well and destroyed that meet,” junior and varsity runner Ben Beaudry said.

Young talent was evident in freshman Henry Saul, who came in 13 out

Paly vs. Fremont 10/16/15, W, 62-13 Paly vs. Los Gatos 10/23/15, L, 42-20 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly vs. Homestead 10/30/15, 7 p.m.

Paly vs. Wilcox 11/13/15, 7 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL RECENT MATCHES

Paly vs. Homestead 10/22/15, W, 3-2 Paly vs. Saratoga 10/27/15 UPCOMING MATCHES

Paly vs. Gunn 10/29/15, 6:45 p.m.

Paly vs. Los Gatos 11/3/15, 6:45 p.m.

GIRLS WOPO RECENT GAMES

Paly vs. Vintage 10/17/15, L, 5-3 Paly vs. Saratoga 10/20/15, W, 9-1 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly vs. Los Altos 10/27/15, 3:30 p.m.

Paly vs. Lynbrook 10/29/15, 6:45 p.m.

BOYS WOPO RECENT GAMES

Paly vs. Gunn 10/15/15, W, 10-8 Paly vs. Monta Vista 10/20/15, L, 11-10 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly vs. Los Altos 10/27/15, 5:45 p.m.

Paly vs. Wilcox 10/29/15, 5:00 p.m.

XC RECENT MEETS

Sunnyvale Baylands 10/20/15 Palo Alto City Championship

10/6/15 UPCOMING MEETS Crystal Springs

11/3/15 CCS Championship 11/14/15

GIRLS TENNIS RECENT MATCHES

Paly vs. Lynbrook 10/27/15 Paly vs. Monta Vista 10/29/15 UPCOMING MATCHES

None

GIRLS GOLF RECENT MATCHES

Paly vs. Wilcox 10/22/15 SCVAL League Tournament

10/27/15 UPCOMING MATCHES

None

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COURTESY OF MALCOLM SLANEY

A strong group performance by Paly’s cross country team at the Sunnyvale Baylands meet helped improve their already stellar record.

of 206 and sophomore varsity runner Sam Craig who came in ninth place, adding to the boys team’s success at Baylands.

Coming off of these successes, the boys team is sure that it can perform well at CCS even with the injuries.

“Injuries are never a good thing to have, but we have depth in our team’s roster so I think we will not struggle too much,” Desré said. “I still think that we’re going to be really good at CCS.” As for the girls, Raney’s injury has hindered the success of the team.

“Because Emma’s injured, it’s unlikely that we’ll go to States, but we can definitely compete at CCS and for a good showing there,” senior and girls captain Portia Barrientos said.

While the loss of Raney has hurt the girls team, they are still performing well. At the Baylands meet, they placed third out of 13 teams.

“Although we lost senior Emma Raney because of her ankle injury, we were still able to turn in a great performance,” Barrientos said.

At the Monterey invitational, the girls team placed fourth out of the

15 teams. The team believes that if younger team members step up and some of the injured players come back from the bench, they will have a legitimate chance of being a force to be reckoned with.

“Once CCS rolls around, [our performance] depends on improvement with the newer kids that we brought in,” girls team coach Paul Jones said.

“Hopefully at least one or two of the injured ones return. It’s going to be a bit iffy whether they can be effective by leagues, but there’s a good chance that they will be back by CCS.”

Girls golf team shines as it heads into Leagues and CCS Momentum from wins in the second half of the season gives team a positive mindset JOANNA FALLA

STAFF WRITER

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he girls golf team sought revenge as it defeated Los Gatos High School by a score of 191-200 — its best score this season — after losing to them in the first match at the beginning of the season.

The team has felt momentum gaining in the second half of the season, despite losing to Henry M. Gunn High School on Oct. 14, and freshman varsity golfer Jasmine Choi believes the game shaped the team’s attitude.

“Our team played really well against Gunn even though we lost to them,” Choi said. “The score we got was the best one since the season started, and that was the moment when we all realized that we could improve more.”

Playing on the team as the only freshman and seated as the number six player, Choi has adapted well to playing at the high school level and believes that the lack of seniors has strengthened the team.

“I was the only freshman but all of my teammates helped me a lot, especially when I went to the new courses that I wasn’t entirely familiar with,” Choi said.

After the team’s most recent win against Los Gatos with its lowest score yet, the girls solidified their

COURTESY OF DOYLE KNIGHT

Junior Candace Wang surveys her shot at the SCVAL league tournament in Santa Teresa.

place as the fourth best team in the league with an overall score of 9-4-1.

With the current Santa Clara Valley League (SCVAL) rankings, coach Doyle Knight believes that the team is on a positive slope for the league championships and possibly for the Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships.

“The girls are playing really great right now, which is good going into Leagues and CCS,” Knight said.

“Doesn’t necessarily guarantee us anything but it gives us a good shot to do well.”

In past years, the team has been known as a powerful force in the League, but this year, the girls had to fight to stay on top.

“We have played well all season long, it just seems the other teams we lost to played better on that day,” Knight said. “Our average score all year long is within one stroke

of Gunn, who won the league title again, but that is pretty much nothing in golf.”

Throughout the season, the team has worked hard to overcome its impediments facing CCS, but the girls do not think that the team’s lack of seniors has held them back during the season.

Knight recognizes the potential in each of the girls’ playing ability, and is proud of how the team has adapted compared to the other teams in the league.

“I’m real happy with the way they are playing and coming together as a team,” Knight said. “The nice surprise this year has been Jasmine Choi, our freshman. She has improved steadily all season long with junior, Celia Willner.”

Not only have other players improved their technique, others helped give the team consistency throughout the season, according to Knight. “[ Junior] Stephanie Yu has the lowest average on the team, and [junior] Emily Hwang has played solidly all season,” Knight said.

Choi is confident that the team will have the mental and physical strength to win during SCVAL, but the girls must transfer what they learned in training onto the course.

“I think we are ready for the tournament, we just want everyone to hit their average score,” Choi said.

Football tries to make playoffs Girls tennis team is underdog Record is 3-5 as the season nears the end contender for postseason spot ELI GWIN-KERR

STAFF WRITER

T

he Palo Alto High School football team has continued its season with mixed results following its first few league games.

The Vikings carried on with an average performance, receiving two league wins and two league losses.

On Oct. 9, the Vikings headed to Milpitas High School to play their second league game. They were led by senior quarterback Justin Hull and faced former teammate Oliver Svirsky. Svirsky played for Palo Alto until after his junior year, when he transferred to Milpitas.

The following week, the Vikings played against the Fremont High School Firebirds on Oct. 16 in Sunnyvale, winning 40-13.

“It was a fun night in Fremont,” junior left guard Sean Romeo said.

“Especially coming after the loss against Milpitas, the game gave us the push we needed to get us in the right mindset for the rest of these league games.”

The Vikings played Los Gatos High School at their Homecoming

football game on Oct. 24. Both the Vikings and the Los Gatos Wildcats came into the game with two league victories and one league loss.

Los Gatos took the lead with a touchdown only 21 seconds into the game. Shortly after, the Wildcats intercepted a pass from senior quarterback Justin Hull intended for junior running back Paul Jackson III. Three minutes into the first quarter, the Wildcats extended their lead to 14-0 with another touchdown. Ten minutes after that, they intercepted another pass and scored, increasing their dominating lead to 21-0.

The Vikings’ first touchdown came in the second quarter with a pass from Hull to senior Riley Schoeben, although the Wildcats managed to block the point after touchdown.

With the score at 21-6, Paly struggled to pull ahead. Both teams scored at the end of the second quarter, raising the score to 28-13. The third quarter saw both teams score again, with senior Eli Givens returning the kickoff for a touchdown. Los Gatos scored the final touchdown off a 30-yard pass at the end of the fourth quarter, leaving the final score at 42-20.

CCS is on the line for the remaining few games DAVID TAYERI

STAFF WRITER

P

alo Alto High School’s girls tennis team, with a record of 8-10, is in fight-or-die mode as it hopes to win its last league matches in order to make the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) championships.

Should Paly lose either of the two matches, their season will be over and they will be focused on rebuilding for next year.

The undermatched Vikings fell to Los Gatos High School at home on Oct. 13, despite a valiant effort by Paly’s number one doubles duo. Their match went to the third set but they lost, as did all of their teammates.

On Oct. 16 and 20, Paly lost again at Homestead High School and Los Altos High School, extending their losing streak and making a post-season even less likely.

Most recently, the Vikings triumphed over Lynbrook High School by a score of 5-2. Only senior Christina Le and junior Avanika Narayan lost their matches against their Lynbrook counterparts.

Paly’s only hope to make the SCVAL championships now is to win against Monta Vista High School, on Oct. 29. The Vikings last played Monta Vista on Oct. 6, when they were thoroughly routed.

Junior Meredith Cummings is optimistic about the Vikings chances in their last match of league play and thinks that there is talent on the team.

“Monta Vista is a tough opponent, but I’m confident in my team’s ability to beat them and go on to the postseason,” Cummings said.

Should Paly lose either of the two matches, their season will be over and they will be focused on rebuilding for next year. The team will lose several star seniors including team captain Halle Biorn, while still needing to compete at the same level they did this year.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

SPORTS

Boys water polo looks to finish strong after recent loss The team loses its winning streak but intends to succeed during both CCS and SCVAL ANNA MORAGNE

STAFF WRITER

T

he boys varsity water polo had its last home game of the season against Monta Vista High School, and lost its winning streak when Monta Vista took away the win on Oct. 20, ending the game with a score of 10-11. It was a very close match and the team fought hard, but ultimately the Monta Vista team showed its strength and won the game.

After their defeat, the boys are working hard to improve their playing in order to do well in the upcoming tournaments.

“We just need to work out some miscommunications in the water,” senior and captain Justyn Cheung said.

“Once we get rid of that, I think we will be unstoppable.”

COURTESY OF KRISTEN ANDERSON

Senior Cameron Khan sets up for a shot against Sacred Heart Preparatory.

Earlier, the team had started to pick up its playing level when it played Mountain View High School on Oct. 13 and beat them 12-8 at home, making it its sixth win of the season. The energy from this game carried over to the next as the team played its rival, Henry M. Gunn High School.

The rivals faced off at Gunn, since the Palo Alto High School pool is

closed this year, but the game ended in a win for the Vikings, with an ending score of 12-8.

“I feel really good about our win against Gunn,” Cheung said. “The team really pulled together and there was a lot of teamwork that helped bring us the win.”

The boys made big improvements and were able to redeem themselves from when they last played Gunn

this season and lost 5-14. There are no future games scheduled against Gunn again, but it is very likely that the two teams will face off in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) tournament and the Central Coast Sectionals (CCS) tournament later in the season.

Finally, the team played Los Altos High School on Oct. 27. The boys were able to redeem themselves in a close match and beat Los Altos 1210.

With both the SCVAL and CCS tournaments right around the corner, the boys have been trying to step up their game in order to excel at both tournaments.

“Our goal for the remainder of the season is probably just to hold our defense to the high standard that we have it at right now and work more cohesively on offense,” Cheung said.

Struggle to maintain enthusiasm affects girls water polo The team hopes to improve on its last few games after suffering from many difficult losses JACKY MOORE

STAFF WRITER

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ollowing the end of its sixgame winning streak, Palo Alto High School’s girls water polo team has struggled to put points on the board. Previously averaging over eight points per game, the Lady Vikes scored less than five points in four of their past five games. All four matches were losses in which no player scored more than three points.

Sophomore and varsity player Hollie Chiao cites a lack of energy as the reason behind the team’s recent slump.

“We’re still working on maintaining a consistent hype during our games,” Chiao said.

Although the girls team beat Los Altos High School in early September, the team lost 4-10 on Oct. 6. Senior Gigi Rojahn led her team in scoring, with three points, while sophomore Sabrina Hall added one point to the Vikes’ score. Junior Joanna Falla and sophomore Claire

Billman had a combined 28 saves; however, it was not enough to continue the team’s winning streak. The team went on to lose to Los Gatos High School on Oct. 8. Chiao and Hall were the only Vikes to score, each with one goal.

“We lost that game because we were playing as seven individual players instead of playing as a team,” Billman said.

Chiao added to her teammates remarks, mentioning the team’s tactical shortcomings and their struggle to maintain intensity.

“Our defense was pretty weak, and our energy was too low,” Chiao said.

She later credited the match against Los Gatos as a catalyst for the Lady Vikes’ improvement.

“We’ve definitely started playing more like a team, and we’re still working on maintaining a consistent hype during our games,” Chiao said.

Following a 12-6 win over Mountain View High School, the team lost 3-4 to Henry M. Gunn High School, once again making fewer goals than

COURTESY OF BOB DREBIN

Varsity players pose for a picture after winning the Aptos Invitational Tournament.

its 8.3 season average. Hall contributed one point alongside Francis and Rojahn, two of the league’s leading scorers.

The Lady Vikes later defeated Foothill High School 6-5 and Liberty High School 8-2, then suffered three straight losses to St. Mary’s High School, Northgate High School and Vintage High School. However, the team rose up to beat Saratoga High School 9-1, with Rojahn leading her team with three goals. Alina and Claire Drebin, Katie Francis and Hall

each added one point to their team’s score.

The Lady Vikes’ overall record is 10-7, standing 5-4 in league. This places them in fourth place in the Central Coast Section pool of seven teams behind Los Altos, Gunn High School and Los Gatos, respectively.

Billman, however, is not phased by her team’s recent losses.

“Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been bonding, and getting back into our groove,” Billman said. “We’re excited for our game this Tuesday.”

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Volleyball team finds its rhythm MADS MCCLUSKEY

STAFF WRITER

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alo Alto High School’s girls volleyball team is halfway through its season, and has been playing very well. With four wins and two losses under its belt, the team is excited to finish the season as strong as it started it.

The Lady Vikes played against Henry M. Gunn High School on Oct. 8 at Gunn’s Bow Gym and came away with a 3-2 win. The Titans put up stiff competition, but the Lady Vikes eventually crushed them in their closing sets. The team will play Gunn again on Oct. 29 in an away game.

“I thought we did a really good job adjusting to the huge crowd and focusing on our game,” junior outside hitter Katie Passarello said. “It was a tough fight but I really think we pulled through as a team in the end and I look forward to doing that again.”

More recently, Paly lost a close match to Los Gatos High School in an away game on Oct. 13, with a score of 3-0. The Lady Vikes will play Los Gatos again on Nov. 3 as a home game.

The team has completed 630 assists, led 149 serving aces and blocked 94 times over the course of the season.

Compared to other teams, the girls have been doing very well. Gunn’s record is one win and six losses, Saratoga High School’s record is two wins and five losses and Homestead High School’s record is one win and six losses. However, even with the strong team, many girls still cannot predict the outcome of this season.

“League is up for grab this year – lots of the teams are changing and forming new styles – so [it’s] interesting to play the same teams but for them to have different systems than before,” Passarello said.

The team is standing fourth in the league behind Los Altos, Los Gatos and Mountain View, but is excited to bring up its ranking throughout the season.

Friday, October 30, 2015

RUGBY WORLD CUP

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The Land of the Rising league is home to over three quarters of the Japanese national team. Considering the fact that the league is still slowly edging its way to a professional level, this left many of the players with little to no outside experience playing at the highest level. Although this could have worked in Japan’s favor,

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the aforementioned Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers are actually named after the Kobe Steel corporation, founded in Kobe, Japan. The steelers were formed in 1928 to serve as the company rugby team for Kobe Steel, but as with most modern Japanese professional teams, the Steelers became open to non-company players once they joined Japan’s Top League.

However, vestiges of their previous purpose still remain in the form of the name of team. As opposed to modern U.S. team practices, Kobe Steel does not actually have to sponsor the team, because that is simply their founding name. For a U.S. example, let’s take the Pittsburg Steelers. Imagine if the Pittsburg Steelers were bought out by Nike, so that they had to change their

name to the Nike Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, the Steelers would still be able to maintain their original name, or the ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ part of the name. ‘Kobe Steelers’ works in much the same way for the rugby team.

So these company teams, while having been established decades ago, only played at an amateur level against each other without any league structure governing the way they organize their games.

However, the story does not end there, because the question of university teams still remains. University teams are just what they sound like: university sponsored teams. The only difference is that university sports in Japan are not quite as big as they are in the U.S. However, university

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where most of the players played for the same team, there is such an even spread across the league that the players had little experience playing together outside of the national team.

However, it is interesting to note the history of rugby teams in the country itself: most of them have been around since the 1920s. The Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers, the first ever winners of the new Japanese rugby league, were founded in 1928. It seems bizarre, then, that with a governing body (the Japanese rugby union) founded in 1926 and a decent quantity of teams founded before 1950, that Japan would not have had a professional league before 2003. Not only this, but Japan currently has the fourth largest population of rugby players in the world and is the only team outside of the “Six Nations” (England, Italy, Ireland, Wales, France and Scotland) to have a seat alongside New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Canada on the World Rugby Executive Council.

The answer comes in the form of company teams. Yes, company teams. A phenomenon relatively unknown in the U.S., company teams were formed in Japan as a way of encouraging bonding within a corporation. These teams were originally formed to be composed solely of players from a specific business, usually one of the larger ones in Japan, and played against other teams from other companies at a purely amateur level. These teams usually took on the name of their company. For example, K

Through all of this, it is worth noting that Japan’s team itself was generally composed of players plying their trade in the local league. While still professional, the league lacks the prestige of England’s Aviva Premiership or the Super Rugby League, a league composed of teams from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Despite all of this, just a few months into his tenure, the appointment of Jones as coach already looked like a masterstroke by the Japanese Rugby Union, with Japan winning a game on European soil for the first time against Romania.

Having qualified for the World Cup, things began to look up for Japan as they seemed to come together as a more cohesive and exciting outfit. Japan had improved almost every facet of their game, but being placed in a tough group with South Africa and Scotland looked like it would surely end Japan’s hopes of an even decent outing at the World Cup. South Africa has been a rugby powerhouse for essentially as long as the sport has been around. Their rivalry with New Zealand is a perennial talking point in rugby circles, and they were already favorites coming into the tournament, with some of the better rugby players in the world on their side and decades worth of experience, having won the quadrennial championship twice since its inception in 1987.

According to senior Ren Makino, a Japanese rugby fan, it is ultimately the cultural divide that separates the two nations out. Japan’s status as a rugby team could almost be compared to that of the U.S. soccer team. While both exist and have a professional league, they are not particularly popular. In contrast, South Africa’s major teams participate in an international rugby league that is hugely popular. The sport itself is by far the most popular in South Africa, with around 650,000 registered players and countless more unregistered ones.

The Japanese rugby league was established in 2003, and having only been around for 12 years, it is still in its infancy. However, the Japanese

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very sport has its own “Mighty Ducks” story — one where a ragtag team of cast-offs appears to either mount a serious challenge or a shocking upset. In baseball, the Oakland Athletics, with their “moneyball’ continue to rewrite the rules of the modern game. In soccer, Greece’s national team, composed almost exclusively of second-tier players, went on to win the European Championships in 2004.

Although rugby was introduced to Japan in 1899, the country has never achieved real success in the sport. One of Japan’s most memorable results in the last century was a 23-19 victory against New Zealand’s second string team in 1968, an insignificant victory by any other team’s standards.

Going into this year’s Rugby World Cup, not much was expected of Japan’s team. They had performed poorly at previous World Cups and, on top of that, they were not particularly physically imposing — one of their best players, scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka, was the shortest player going into the tournament at just 5 foot 5 inches.

However, Japan did have one card up their sleeve: their coach.

Eddie Jones is generally considered to be one of the better coaches of modern rugby. He was instrumental in leading Australia to the 2003 World Cup final, where they lost to a last minute drop goal (the equivalent of a field goal in football, only in rugby, the player attempts to drop-kick the ball in between the two rugby posts) in extra time. He then went on to serve as a technical advisor to South Africa’s team in their 2007 World Cup triumph. During the tournament, Jones was praised as being key to South Africa’s success. Four years earlier, while coaching in Australia, Jones had received an offer to coach Japan’s team, which he had turned down, but this time, fortunately for Japan, he accepted.

It didn’t take long for Jones to make his mark on the team. He began by eschewing the foreign players imported by his predecessor and encouraging the local players to find their own playing style.

Furthermore, Jones drastically improved the team’s fitness, declaring them the fittest team in the World Cup, which some pundits agreed with.

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The Campanile

[Japan’s victory over South Africa] could best be described as a “Mighty Ducks” story, if “The Mighty Ducks” ended with thousands of Japanese rugby fans in tears. It was the perfect example of a team’s dedication and work ethic allowing them to punch far above their weight, and boy, did they do just that.

Text and Design by Antonio Kieschnick Senior Staff Writer Design by Anna Moragne Staff Writer

The Campanile

Friday, October 30, 2015

RUGBY WORLD CUP

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g Sun: Japanese Rugby teams, much like in the U.S., predate any professional-tier teams. For example, one of Japan’s most successful university teams happens to be Waseda University, which, having been founded in 1918, is also the oldest team in Japanese rugby.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Japanese rugby is actually the way it evolved at such a fast rate. Rugby, it seems, has had a decent presence in Japan. In 1932, when the Canada national team toured around Japan, their meetings with the Japanese national team drew crowds of around 25,000. While this would already be an excellent turnout for any modern professional team, it is absolutely breathtaking for a team in 1932 Japan, without the sort of advertising power or public presence of a modern team, to attain those spectating figures. To give a rough idea of what that means in modern terms, it is about 5,000 less than average Major League Baseball viewing figures and around 7,000 more than the average attendance for the National Hockey League and the National Basketball League in America.

This popularity does not seem to have fallen off, as Japan currently ranks fourth in the world in terms of the population of rugby players, with 125,000 currently playing.

The popularity of Japanese rugby can in part be attributed to the success of Kemari in Japan since the seventh century. Kemari was introduced into Japan during the Asuka period

by Chinese officials. The basic premise of the game consists of keeping a ball in the air for as long as possible.

The game is composed of elements that are relatively similar to soccer, a sport which was pivotal to the invention of rugby.

Furthermore, many Japanese took quickly to the chivalric values promoted by rugby. These gentlemanly values are heavily emphasized in rugby and mirror those core to Japanese society.

Despite the early success of rugby in Japan, the lack of a professional league meant that Japan never truly developed into the rugby powerhouse it should have been, and as a consequence, they did not look like they stood a chance against South Africa, for whom rugby ran through their veins.

This set the stage for perhaps one of the greatest upsets in modern rugby, and arguably, in all of sporting, history. In a tense back-and-forth game where Japan demonstrated their high levels of fitness, the two teams went hard at each other.

The game started the way it ended: with 15 Japanese players sprinting full-tilt at the South African line.

Only, at the time, the South Africans weren’t quaking in their boots yet.

The Japanese, a sea of soul-patched 5 foot 5 inch tanks, didn’t look like they would be going anywhere for the next 80 minutes.

For the first five minutes, it looked like the South Africans were intent on finishing the game quickly, but they had no idea what they were about to face. First, South Africa attacked fast, but Japan kept them at bay with ease. Every which way the ‘Springboks’ tried to find a way through, they came up against a barrier of raw muscle. The way the Japanese defended, it felt like lions taking down a buffalo, at one point, there were three Japanese players essentially hanging off of one of the larger South African players, hanging on with the sort of grim determination that would make Mufasa quake. Then, in a flash of red and white, Japan broke, and they broke hard. It was like watching the first tendrils of an oncoming tsunami creep its way up a beach. Through sheer brute force, the Japanese had worked themselves into an excellent position and a penalty that Ayumu Goromaru, one of the aforementioned soul-patched tanks, converted with ease. The Japanese were ahead.

That in itself was a shock and as one elderly Japanese fan — decked out in his red and white — would later come to realize, it was just the beginning of an awesome hurricane.

And the hurricane did not abate either. The Japanese gale-force winds whipped and lashed at the South African defence, brushing them aside as one might a leaf. Within a minute, the Japanese had another penalty, only this time, Goromaru fluffed his lines and hooked his kick just wide.

Nonetheless, the South Africans had been jolted awake. They tried to raise their pace, they tried to increase the intensity of their game, but every time they did, it felt as if the Japanese did too. There were points where it felt like the Japanese were toying with the South Africans like 15 Poseidons playing ping-pong with a fishing skiff. At times, it seemed the only way the South Africans could keep the Japanese from scoring was by aimlessly hoofing the ball upfield in the hope that, in a fit of mercy, the Japanese might take pity on the South Africans. Unfortunately for the South Africans, the Japanese only knew one kind of mercy: ruthless mercy. They seemed more intent on ending the game in the first

10 minutes than actually playing a clare a victor. These were two teams proper game of rugby, and they were that were going to match each other not doing a bang-up job of it either. stride for stride, hit for hit. Not only However, the South Africans fi- this, but it felt like a never nally recovered their composure, and ending one-upping contest, from there, it was gruelling. The only where way they could move forward against every the Japanese was by working time inch by inch until, by virtue of their largesse, they eked the ball across the try line to take the lead.

Suddenly, it was as if the Japanese had been reminded of their status. They should be losing and they had no business upsetting the natural order of things. At the same time, South Africa began to grow in confidence, they started to attack the Japanese back line with a verve t h e that had been absent in the South Afrifirst 10 minutes. Soon after, cans raised the they almost scored a second intensity, the try, only for the ball to go Japanese reout of play at the last moturned the favor ment. with interest.

All it took was a The trend confailed attempt for Jatinued throughpan to be jolted back out the second awake, they swept half as both teams C forward once again. OURTESY went bar for bar, OF A P/R This time, they were blocked try for try, inch for EUT ERS off at the one-yard line by a deterinch. As the pace mined South African phalanx. The increased, so did the excitement as South Africans waited there, Ro- murmurs of anxiety surfed across the mans awaiting the crazed Visigoths tense crowd. streaming forward, and they stood And so the game progressed, the their ground. Or at least as long as South Africans took the lead again, anyone could hold their ground only for the Japanese to peg them against a horde of Visigoths before back. Once again, South Africa took they gave away to the blind insanity. the lead, only this time, Japan did Through sheer force of will, the Japa- not catch up as South Africa scored nese inched their way over the try another three points. They were too line. This time, Goromaru made no far ahead. It was over. The natural mistake, and the Japanese were back balance of world rugby had been rein front. stored…

It was after this that the fans Only it had not. With 11 minwatching finally grasped exactly how utes left, Japan scored a try. They were even the matchup they were watch- now just three points behind. Then, ing was. Within minutes, the South with little more than a minute left, Africans had worked their way back they won a penalty. up the field to retake the lead, but In this situation, a penalty means this time, no one was about to de- the opportunity to kick the ball between the posts and thus score another three points. In the Rugby World Cup, ties are allowed. If Japan took the tie, it would already be an excellent result. For the pundits watching, it was an opportunity they should have taken... should have. It was in this moment that the sheer audacity of Japan’s rugby team was made evident by their choice to reject the penalty in favor of a scrum, or possession of the

ball. Now, more than ever before, Japan’s intent was clear as day: they were going for the win.

At first, it almost felt like South Africa was taken aback, offended, by the utter impertinence of such an action. Then it became fear. Japan’s nickname is the ‘Brave Blossoms,’ and here, they were living up to that moniker. There are times, when the intensity is racked up to its highest, that you can look into another person’s eyes and see that they will stop at nothing to accomplish their ultimate purpose. When the South African players looked into those of their Japanese counterparts, that was all they could see.

So the Japanese team spilled forward in what seemed like never-ending droves. First, they tried their luck one way, then the other.

And then, in the final minute of the game, Japan found space out wide on the left. While most momentous events seem to go in slow motion, this one played out at break-neck speed. The ball was passed over to wing Karne Hesketh (originally a New Zealander, who switched to the Japanese national team in 2014), who lowered his body and, at full tilt, rammed past the last South African wing and over the try line.

There was no silence when the ball crossed the try line. There was no moment of shock. Every nonSouth African fan in the stadium had been waiting for this moment for the last 10 minutes. No. They may not have known it, but they had been waiting for this moment for the last century. It felt as if rugby had been invented with the sole purpose of providing these last 10 minutes of wholesome, vicious rugby. And so they waited in silence, some with bated breath, some less so. But once that ball crossed the line, the stadium heaved with the chaotic screams of 29,290 fans, some in anguish, some in joyous delirium, all in shock.

The victory could best be described as a “Mighty Ducks” story, if “The Mighty Ducks” ended with thousands of Japanese rugby fans in tears of joy. It was the perfect example of a team’s dedication and raw work ethic allowing them to punch far above their weight, nay, their stratosphere,, and boy, did they do just that.

Additional information provided

by Ren Makino

Friday, October 30, 2015

C6

The Campanile

SPORTS OPINION

Starting to compete in sports at a young age is beneficial Participating in sports from a young age can benefit an athlete later on in life and teach basic skills like teamwork MADS MCCLUSKEY

STAFF WRITER

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any children start playing sports at young ages, however, many wonder if this is actually beneficial to their developments as athletes.

Junior Natalie Maloney has been playing soccer since the young age of six. Now, a junior, she will be starting her third year on Palo Alto High School’s varsity soccer team.

“I have always had a passion for soccer and have enjoyed almost every minute of it,” Maloney said.

Looking for a future in soccer, Maloney is glad she has been playing for so long. She has been granted amazing opportunities to travel, play and bond with her team. However, not everyone is as fortunate.

“Well, I’m going to say [the selectivity of sports teams is] fair given the competition level at Paly,” Maloney said. “There are other leagues that a student can play for, but Paly’s level of play and competition might be very overwhelming and too challenging for a first time player or someone with less experience.”

Our sports system caters to those who are more experienced and talented. More playing opportunities and training programs are presented to the students who have been playing for a longer time. Because of this, parents who want their children to succeed put their kids into a specific sport at a very young age in order to develop their skills sooner.

One reason for this is that college is becoming increasingly difficult to afford, so by starting kids in sports early, parents hope that their kids will qualify to enter the pool of scholarship-worthy athletes and that colleges will pick them out of the thousands to join their program.

Starting early can prove to be extremely beneficial to athletes in multiple aspects. Practicing sports from a young age allows children to learn

discipline and cooperation in order to achieve a common goal. In addition, participating in a variety of sports introduces children to different ways of approaching a challenge.

“Being able to stick with a sport for this long is a huge accomplishment for anyone and shows their dedication and heart for the game,” Maloney said.

With the many benefits of starting a sport young comes many drawbacks. Children younger than five years of age do not understand what is going on on the field. Furthermore, children who involve themselves with sports from a young age are more likely to experience burnout and quit their sport sooner.

“If you focus on just your sport at such a young age two things can happen: you get burnt out and you don’t know what else to do because you have not been exposed to the other sports other than maybe in P.E., and number two, you get to cross train and not have the same injuries that you would have,” sports medicine teacher Stacey Kofman said.

The solution for many injuries in sports is cross training. Cross training is when an athlete practices a sport that is not their main sport. This allows them to develop their muscles and improve overall fitness and performance.

“It will make you a better athlete in your specific sport if you cross train more often,” Kofman said.

As children develop, so do the time commitments of their sports.

Along with school teams, club and travel teams are added to the list of extracurriculars. Student athletes end up practicing their sport all year round, which while creating excellent athletes, can lead to many overuse injuries and academic stress.

Maloney has experienced exactly this situation. Dedicating so much time to soccer, she has endured many injuries, including bruised ribs, concussions and sprained ankles. She

CATHERINE YU/THE CAMPANILE

also does not have as much time for homework, a typical struggle of dedicated athletes.

“Especially now that I’m older and have to deal with junior year homework, it’s definitely a huge time commitment, but I love to play so if that means I stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning doing homework, that’s worth it to me,” Maloney said.

Injuries have become increasingly common in high school athletes. Students from the ages 14 to 18 experience over two million injuries each year.

Additionally, high school students account for over 30,000 hospitalizations each year, according to professional athletic trainers John W. Powell and Kim D. Barber-Foss.

“I think [starting playing one specific sport at a young age] is doing kids a huge disservice,” Kofman said.

“I see more and more student athletes who are not as coordinated with overall sports, they’re really good at let’s say soccer, but they have no hand eye coordination for tennis, ping pong, basketball, any other sports that [PE classes] go out and just play.”

When children get older and go into high school, school teams be-

come increasingly challenging to join.

Many of the varsity team sports are filled with kids who have been playing ever since they could walk and if a student who has not been playing that long tries to join, they are at a disadvantage and typically unable to.

Eventually, it escalates to the point where it becomes a social right of passage to join a sports team. If a student does not make the team they can often feel left out and held back.

“The solution is, especially at the [freshman] or JV level, to get kids who are really interested in playing to come out and play,” Kofman said.

“And you’ll let the numbers take care of itself as far as who wants to play in the higher level or who wants to be challenged.

You need to find those kids who work hard even if they play the sport just for the season.”

Participating in a team sport during high school is extremely important because it gives students a sense of belonging and provides them with many health benefits.

Students time management improve greatly when students play a sport. This allows the student to clear his or her mind and come back with

a fresh perspective, allowing them to be more time efficient.

The training a sport gives a student is applicable to academic work. “[Playing a sport helps you academically] because when you’re not playing a sport, you allow time to take over and then you obviously feel pressed for time at the end because you’re procrastinating,” Kofman said.

“But when you are an athlete you have to be on top of your time management.”

Students are continuously aided by sports, whether in school or on the field. Even if it is not at the highest level, sports will help student athletes connect with others and learn to focus. Sports give you more awareness, better time management, a sense of belonging and more coordination.

However, it is important that student athletes spend the correct amount of time doing a sport that they love in order to get the full effect.

The life lessons and characteristics people acquire through participating in sports can help athletes with the rest of their life, regardless of whether or not they continue to play, or even after college.

Proper nutrition vital Athletic department revamp needed to help injury recoveries to athletic performance Coaches should familiarize themselves with all athletes’ injuries TIFFANY LIANG

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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lthough athletes carry the responsibility of showing up to practice prepared to inform their coach of a supposed injury, coaches should take more action, making sure they are familiar with an athlete’s recovery plan.

Generally, an athlete partakes in a sport they love and cannot wait to get back to practice. In some cases, the coach may be the ones wanting their player to get back to the game as soon as possible, which may lead to injuries becoming more severe.

It is crucial that coaches are wellinformed about their athletes’ injuries as well as the severity to prevent their athletes from returning too early, which may cause injuries to become more serious.

Coaches are responsible for doing what they think is best for the team, but they must also be empathetic with an athlete’s limits regarding injuries even if it does impact the team’s performance.

“I had a really bad concussion last year,” senior volleyball player Bryce Rockwell said. “It was so bad I couldn’t leave my bed. The volleyball coach last year was not familiar with my recovery plan, he kept pressuring me to come back.”

Rockwell was unable to attend school for a large portion of first semester of her junior year.

Her anticipated recovery time was one week from the time of her injury but, giving into her coach’s pressure, she continued to practice, resulting in a longer recovery time.

This year, a football player endured a similar experience.

“I fractured a bone and tore a ligament in my thumb last year,” senior Cam Huard said.

“My coach actually wanted me to keep playing with a cast on my hand, but I told him I wasn’t going to do that. Ultimately, I quit and they were pretty understanding.”

Huard holds no doubt that abstaining from practicing will lead to a fast recovery.

“If I had kept on playing I’m sure it would’ve gotten worse,” Huard said. “I’m really glad I made the right decision.”

One suggestion that may help a coach understand an athlete’s recovery plan is for them to be familiar with various injuries that may commonly occur in their sport. Due to her coach’s familiarity with concussions, senior volleyball captain Clara Chiu had a positive experience with her concussion recovery her junior year.

My coach actually wanted me to keep playing with a cast on my hand, but I told him I wasn’t going to do that.

Cam Huard Senior “[Although] my concussion was minor, my coach still knew about the recovery process,” Chiu said. “My coach was somewhat familiar with my personal recovery plan because some other girls on the team have had concussions as well.”

The more educated and informed coaches are about injuries as well as their athletes’ recovery plans, the more likely they will be able to help their athletes recover. Exercising more compassion may decrease the pressure some put on their athletes to return to the sport. At the same time, it also decreases the pressure athletes put on themselves to come back prematurely.

A crucial part of treating injuries while playing a Paly sport are the trainers. They are on campus during after-school practices, and examine athletes with any pre-existing injuries and make sure those who are freshly injured are taken care of. Overall, athletes have had positive experiences, saying the trainers are knowledgable,

but there is one repeating request to increase the number of staff.

“The trainers are really friendly,” Chiu said. “It’s hard that there are only a few trainers. They are not always easy to find when you need them.”

Senior water polo captain Gigi Rojahn mirrors Chiu’s opinion about locating the trainers.

“It was difficult for me to track them down,” Rojahn said. “The trainers were pretty helpful and efficient [but] if it were to be improved I think they should be easier to track down for athletes . . . especially when they aren’t available during our unusual practice time and place.”

Both Rojahn and Chiu partake in Paly sports that practice off-campus due to construction of the two gyms and the aquatic center. Practicing offcampus in addition to practicing at abnormal hours makes it harder for athletes like them to get checked out as soon as possible if an injury was to occur.

There is a large number of Paly athletes while there are only two trainers resulting in long lines at the trainers’ office as well as a difficulty locating them during regular practice hours, not to mention off-campus practices.

Injuries from athletics can severely impact an athlete’s life outside his or her sport. An injury can impede on an athletes ability to focus in school and study at home.

It is obvious that injuries are not 100 percent preventable but if coaches were to be more cautious and informed of specific injuries that occur commonly in their sport, as well as taking the time to become familiar with their injured athlete’s recovery plan, it would lead to shorter recovery times for athletes and ultimately safer practices.

Although Paly has an overall strong athletic department, we must foster a proactive athletic community and be better equipped to help athletes excel in their sporting events.

Diet containing carbohydrates and water is essential prior to starting sporting events

CATHERINE YU/THE CAMPANILE

TOMMY SMALE

STAFF WRITER

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efore practice or a game, an appropriate diet increases performance and can help one have an edge over opponents. A proper diet is important for preparation, which is vital and applicable to all sports and activities. To test the influence proper diet has on performance, I tried the nutrient packed goji berry before a water polo game.

Goji berries positively impacted my personal performance during games. These berries, which contain more protein than whole wheat, were easy on the stomach, which made me feel light and did not cause any gaseous problems. The high amounts of potassium, iron and vitamins provided my body with sufficient nutrients to carry out the task of treading water and sprinting back and forth across the pool.

Proper nutrition is vital to player performance because it prevents low blood sugar and provides the body with energy. Symptoms of low blood sugar include dizziness, muscle fatigue, and nausea. These symptoms drastically lower performance during games and practice.

Carbohydrates are a great source of nutrition as they break down faster than fat and protein, making them safe options for quick energy before exercise. Foods high in carbohydrates

are pasta, rice and various cereals.

Small amounts of protein and fat such as meat, fish and dairy products are advisable as well.

It is important to eat bland foods, that do not cause a spike in blood sugar. Foods such as candy or anything with high amounts of caffeine, cause a rapid blood sugar increase, that only lasts momentarily before blood sugar quickly falls back down.

This causes a sugar crash. It is important to eat foods packed with healthy nutrients that raise your blood sugar and maintain it.

Besides avoiding foods with lots of caffeine, meals high in fiber should also be avoided. Excessive amounts of fiber can cause one to be gaseous and uncomfortable, lowering performance effectiveness. Water is an essential that is often overlooked.

Drinking lots of water the day of the event is important, but drinking lots of water the day before is important too. Various meals take different times to digest, so eating the right sized meal accordingly is critical.

Meals should be eaten three hours before the desired event, according to a study done at the University of Illinois. These meals should consist of 500-1000 calories, according to dietician Cynthia Proscia.

Eating a small nutritious snack before certain athletic activities, can drastically increase athletes’ levels of play.

Friday, October 30, 2015

The Campanile

SPORTS C7 Using academic concepts is beneficial for athletes Athletes use a combination of math and science in order to gain a competitive edge in their respective sports JOANNA FALLA

STAFF WRITER

“J

ust throw the ball harder,” the coach says to the athletes practicing drills on the field.

The team members look to each other for help but continue to practice, not improving through the coach’s vague critique. When learning new techniques to become better athletes, some students get by with the same vague pointers. On the other hand, athletes who look to get the edge on other students use critical thinking and a mathematical backgrounds to understand their sports and how to improve.

Depending on the sport, different aspects of a student’s academic background can be implemented frequently.

Junior figure skater Caitlin Drover has learned to look at the sport with a physics background to cement stronger technique.

“A lot of [figure skating] is about balance,” Drover said. “[While] spinning you have to be centered in all directions, and for jumping it’s more about not leaning too far back or forward.”

For a sport as elegant as figure skating, many factors must be considered and can make the difference between sticking the jump or falling on the ice.

Drover often connects figure skating to physics in order to strengthen her techniques and skills.

“Instead of just going faster, I like to think of it as, ‘if you pull your arms in tighter you’ll spin faster’ sort of thing,” Drover said.

While any athlete can follow generic instructions told by their coach, students who learn to connect their sports to their knowledge from school will be able understand the most valuable skills and have a more structured understanding when moving on to more difficult techniques.

“Balance is one of the first things you need to learn in figure skating because the blades are thin and you

need to be able to use your edges to turn before you should attempt jumps or spins,” Drover said. “You need to know that so you can spin faster on the ice and during jumps before you can move on to more difficult ones.”

Even though Drover’s approach does not actually involve using numbers, she uses a more critical style of thinking to help her stay safe on the ice and to stand out from any other figure skater.

“I think it is because learning fundamentals in ways that will help make you remember them are important in anything you do on the ice,” Drover said. “You don’t have to think about skating from that specific kind of academic thought process but it’s important to understand the things you can apply to skating to improve your skill level.”

Student athletes like Drover can take advantage of their academic backgrounds to have better understandings of what must be done to properly execute techniques or complete a coach’s orders. Junior Naveen Pai, on the other hand, uses actual numbers to literally calculate the best course of action to take while competing in cross country.

“Well it’s nothing complicated,” Pai said. “I just think about how to pace different courses and make sure the way I run makes sense mathematically, and I do that by keeping track of my mileage during the week.”

Pai knows what to do, but what makes him stand out is that he knows how to look back on his progress and what needs to change to make himself a better runner.

“You want to make sure you’re running at an even pace and your mile splits have low variance,” Pai said. “If they aren’t you can look back and see what went wrong or what could have gone differently.”

According to Pai, his approach to his sport does not require the academic skills of a genius, but the willingness and the drive to work harder, whether it is through overall strength training and endurance or

PHOTO COURTESY OF MALCOLM SLANEY

Palo Alto High School cross country team members frequently use math and science skills in order to better their performance.

improving on one section of one’s performance.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it requires an academic background, but it does pay off if you’re in a more advanced place in math,” Pai said. Just in general to have a critical thinking mindset helps you train. The actual advanced mathematical concepts themselves don’t really apply to running.”

It is important to have the right mindset and skills to become a stronger athlete.

“A right mindset is important especially in cross country because you have to strategize in order to win meets,” Pai said. “It’s important to logically think about how you train and figure out ways to improve, and looking at statistics definitely helps with that.”

For some sports, athletes may not be as fortunate to have a coach who will apply these academic concepts to further develop basic skills but current Athletic Director and former math teacher Kathi Bowers understands fully the importance of

a mathematics background when it comes to sports.

“I think coaches absolutely teach angles in different sports; they teach you how to use your body,” Bowers said. Most pitching coaches will teach the physics of throwing: why the ball will spin, why it will drop.”

Bowers also recognizes the importance of the use of statistics to find that extra edge, that athletes such as Pai implement.

It’s important to logically think about how you train and figure out ways to improve, and looking at statistics definitely helps with that.

Naveen Pai Junior “Statistics are used in baseball, football, and other professional games behind the scenes,” Bowers said.

“They might do something totally different because if the statistics say otherwise, the coaches will take that chance and put their fate in the numbers instead of their intuition, in

order to get a more positive outcome for the team.”

Looking at the facts and having a different understanding of certain techniques is certainly a helpful trait, but Bowers believes that any student can do well regardless of his or her academic background, as anyone who can understand the math will do well.

“Any athlete that understand the math will have an advantage; if you’re against somebody who doesn’t know about angles you have a significant edge,” Bowers said. “Athletes who can assess a situation quickly have the advantage.”

Bowers also argues that coaches must make a greater effort to reach the most demographics by coaching in different styles.

“For a number of kids [academic coaching] would help, but for some kids, explaining ‘why’ you do it that way would be very beneficial,” Bowers said. “The biggest benefit in learning is from actually seeing it through a different perspective; if a teacher stood up there and talked the whole time you wouldn’t understand it.”

Daily fantasy sites under fire NBA season begins Legality of sportsbetting websites debated among new popularity Drastic roster changes occur in offseason JOSH BRIGEL

ADRIAN SMITH

STAFF WRITER

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W

STAFF WRITER

aily fantasy businesses have harbored majorities of normal fantasy football and baseball participants, raking in over $2 billion in revenue in the past year.

Daily fantasy sports attract customers willing to place bets on day-to-day basis on players in sports leagues.

After customers buy in, daily fantasy companies let the gamblers assemble a team of players and pick their own lineups given a “salary cap.”

Each player on the fantasy team has a value that varies depending on the player’s daily or weekly performance. The website tallies up the points for the team based on each player’s performance and places the user in the pool of millions of other users, giving or taking money depending on their team’s success.

If the users are not placed as highly as they bet, they lose their money. Daily fantasy has expanded normal fantasy sports into a gambling platform with huge sums of money involved. Daily fantasy practice is legal in 44 states and the companies that provide this service claim that the game takes skill, with users intensely studying stats to pick lucrative lineups. In 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which prohibits gambling businesses from accepting bets or wagers over the internet. This law effectively shut down the online poker and sportsbetting companies in the United States, although the was established before daily fantasy was created, making the illegality of the companies confusing. In actuality, this law ironically ends up protecting daily fantasy games.

In reference to what people can place bets on, the law states, “The contest cannot be based on the score, point spread or any performance of a single real team or an individual

COURTESY OF MAGUZZ.COM

Winners of the King of the Beach Tournament receive the grand prize of $1 million.

athlete in a single real sporting event to get points.”

In these daily fantasy games, the gamblers pick their team based on who they think will do well in the sport.

Therefore picking the right players based on prior knowledge and study is considered skill and thus distinguishes daily fantasy from other, illegal gambling services. The reason daily fantasy is considered to require skill is that the team the user assembles is a “fantasy” team. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is investigating highly profitable companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings for illegal online gambling.

Bharara is determined and motivated to prove these companies violate federal law, examining the balance of skill and chance when the gamblers pick their team.

Since the team does not exist in a real sports league, the “fantasy” lineups are picked through knowledge of the game and the sports league, not a guess.

According to an article published

by Fortune, “DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has said that he welcomes oversight of the industry. But he also

likely did not anticipate just how much oversight and scrutiny of this business would come in such a short time period.”

The popularity of daily fantasy is in part responsible for losses in casino profits and is thus banned in six states, most notably in Nevada.

Nevada game regulators have risen to defend their profitable casino taxation by prohibiting usage of daily fantasy websites without a license.

Those who do not comply with these laws could face felony fines and up to 10 years in prison. The daily fantasy companies are able to obtain licenses and permission to continue their service, although this would go against their claims that the betting has to do with skill. If the companies acquire licenses, they will stand in direct contradiction to their previous advocacy, leaving them vulnerable to a guilty verdict for violating the UIGEA. Daily Fantasy can be considered one of the most profitable loopholes of online gambling in the United States and are dominating the face of normal fantasy sports and forcing money into smaller competition. competition.

ith the regular season just starting, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has begun to go back into its normal routine after a five-month break. Many of the same teams that ended on top look to continue their success including the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets.

While a couple of these teams did not change much in terms of the management and roster, the other teams, most notably the Spurs, made drastic changes. The Warriors and Cavaliers - last season’s finals competitors - look nearly identical, with the news of Cleveland player Tristan Thompson ending his holdout. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Spurs, who picked up all-star forward LaMarcus Aldridge and still have their core, with Kawhi Leonard at full strength. The Rockets are a little weaker than last year due to injuries but look to improve with the arrival of talented but troubled guard Ty Lawson.

Being one of the quieter offseasons in recent history tradewise, only a few big names such as Aldridge moved around. The Atlanta Hawks lost key pieces in forward Paul Millsap and small forward Demarre Carroll which will hurt the up and coming team. The once-great Rajon Rondo was traded to the Kings, and was somewhat swapped for new Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews.

The only loss for the Warriors this offseason was rotation player David Lee who was sent to the Celtics early in the summer.

On a more interesting note is the arrival of a new group of rookies looking to make a splash in their first season in the league. To add to the already young and talented Minnesota Timberwolves is University

of Kentucky graduate and number one overall draft pick Karl AnthonyTowns. He will be playing alongside last year’s first draft pick Andrew Wiggins, who also won Rookie of the Year.

Many rookies this season came out of college powerhouses Duke University and Kentucky like Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor, Willie Cauley-Stein and Devin Booker. All will most likely made immediate impacts.

Though not on a very strong team, one of the most promising rookies, D’Angelo Russell, will debut for the Lakers this season after being taken second. A similar style player is Emmanuel Mudiay, who the Denver Nuggets took early in the draft and have high hopes for the future.

Altogether, this draft class seems to have the potential to be a highly successful one that will be important in years to come.

November will not only mark the beginning for many long careers, but will also be a redefining year for star injured players. Two of the most recognizable faces in the NBA, former Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant will recontinue his career after being sidelined for the majority of last season with a foot injury.

Kobe Bryant, a future hall of famer, is also looking to continue his success that has brought him championships, records and fans in the past.

After having two consecutive seasons wasted, this will be the start of the final stage in his long career.

Alongside Bryant will be Julius Randle, who missed all of last season and is making his debut season a year late.

In the same boat as Randle is Jabari Parker for the Milwaukee Bucks who had a strong chance to win rookie of the year before going down early in the season as well.

All of these players this season are looking for a chance to either redeem their past glory or prove their worth in this expansive league and hopefully win a championship.

Friday, October 30, 2015

C8 Text and Design by Alice Zhao Staff Writer

The Campanile

SPORTS

Palo Alto Gyms looking for a new place to exercise? If Palo Alto High School’s weight room is simply not “working out” for you, Palo Alto offers an assortment of gyms that vary in their in equipment, price and amenities.

Equinox - 10/10 gains: Walking into Equinox is comparable to walking into a futuristic room full of fit individuals who smell like fresh eucalyptus. On the first floor, there are more facilities than one can possibly imagine — a cardio area, strength training area, a yoga studio, a pilates studio, a cycling studio, a kids club, a juice bar, a spa, COURTESY OF EQUINOX.COM locker rooms and a place for group classes — all with state-of-the-art equipment. The second floor has a rooftop saline pool. Equinox presents the most amenities by far out of any of the gyms reviewed — it practically exudes elegance.

Senior Alisha Kumar is an avid Equinox member and enjoys the variety of classes Equinox offers.

“My favorite class is the Ropes and Rowers class, which is basically a circuit class,” Kumar said. “I think circuits are the best workouts ever because they are high intensity for a very short time. My friends and I love the [Danceation] class and we always make a point to go every week. I also love the yoga studio — they offer a really wide range of yoga classes from Hot Vinyasa to Yin yoga and all of the teachers are incredible.”

Kumar also appreciates the lavish and unsurpassed amenities Equinox has to offer its members.

“They have an Earthbar in the lobby with the best smoothies,” Kumar said. “The showers are incredible, with Kiehl’s products all over the locker room and in the showers.”

The monthly membership for students breaks down to $110 after a year is paid in the full $175 monthly membership.

ALICE ZHAO/THE CAMPANILE

Form Fitness - 8/10 gains: Found in Downtown Palo Alto, Form Fitness’ accessible 2-story location makes it the primary gym for local busiCOURTESY OF FORMFITNESS.NET ness employees. The first level has a weight room and locker rooms complete with showers. The second floor has a mat room, a cycling room and a cardio room, complete with ellipticals and treadmills.

Form’s membership includes an introductory personal training session and unlimited group workout classes. Form Fitness offers yoga, jiu jitsu, float, senior fitness, strength training, zumba, kickboxing, tai chi and power cycling classes on a regular basis.

Form is an exemplary standard gym with all the essentials, making it a practical place to work out. The gym is neither over-the-top, crowded nor intimidating; however, it does not have a “wow-factor.” According to the Form Fitness website, the gym’s modest surroundings are meant to encourage members to focus on their health and work out effectively without distractions.

Senior Hannah Subega works and exercises at Form Fitness regularly.

“Everyone there makes the effort to learn your name [and] the community is great,” Subega said. “I’ve taken a wide range of [classes]. I prefer classes [over individual workouts] because they are more motivational.”

In order to have a membership at Form Fitness, there is a $250 initiation fee along with the $139 per month.

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Amity Crossfit - 8/10 gains: When heading south on El Camino, one can see Amity Crossfit’s spray-painted, warehouse-like facade. The large gym is noticeable, standing alone between an abandoned field and an auto shop. While the gym may not have an luxurious appearance — the inside is bare with ample room to work out — the ground is padded with flooring conducive to exercise and the walls are pragmatically lined with weights and bars. Amity is the only gym in Palo Alto that specializes in crossfit, offering a unique workout experience unlike any other gym in the area.

“Crossfit is not specializing in any one form [of fit- COURTESY OF CROSSFITAMITY.COM ness],” Amity Crossfit owner Zack Height said. “We do every [exercise] in combination so we get a broad general fitness and increase overall health. We are working on being stronger, we are working on cardiovascular fitness, we are working on mobility and we are rolling that in all into one program in an organized way.”

Because Amity focuses mainly on hardcore exercise and practicality, the gym does not offer any luxurious amenities such as locker rooms, televisions or showers. Instead, Amity’s large space is used as various workout stations.

Junior Teddie Stewart is one of few Paly students who attend Amity.

“There’s a wonderful, friendly environment that’s competitive but not in a bad way,” Stewart said. “[Amity] really focuses on your form because with crossfit [there is] a mixture of weightlifting and cardio. Zack [Height] has taught me how to work my muscles for the best results that make me stronger without risk of injury.”

Single classes are $25 and monthly memberships that include up to five classes a week are $199 for students.

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Bar Method - 6/10 gains: Located right in Town and Country, Bar Method’s location is convenient and accessible for Paly students. According COURTESY OF BARMETHOD.COM to the Bar Method website, “the Bar Method [workout] starts with a free-weight exercises and pushups. Then [it] moves on to isometric leg work at the bar, followed by abdominal work at the bar and on mats. The Bar Method workout’s fast pace challenges both your cardio vascular system and your muscle strength throughout the class, delivering a high level of overall fitness.”

Bar Method seems to focus on the specific demographic of women, making it harder or awkward for men to join. Additionally, its small location does not allow room for amenities such as locker rooms or showers.

For senior Lori Huang, Bar Method provides her with a more musical and convenient way to work out. “[The Bar Method] was a lot more rhythmic and group-based than your average method of exercise, which I really liked,” Huang said. “I’d describe the class as a mix of ballet, yoga and general dance, but picture it to a never-ending track of late 2000s pop music. It was kind of a community — everyone was incredibly sweet, friendly and kind possibly because the class tied in yoga.”

Single classes are $27, and monthly membership is $99 for the first month and then $180 per month thereafter, which includes unlimited classes per month.